Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Banana?" The manager of the little campus cafe called his name from behind the busy counter.

Banana stood abruptly, having gotten lost in thought. He paced over to the counter, or rather, around and behind it, as the manager directed. There was only one other person on shift at the moment, a boy with brown hair tied into a low ponytail. He was moving too quickly for Banana to make out much more of his features, but that was the least of his worries.

It was his first shift at his new on-campus job. Well, his first job ever, if he didn't count doing yardwork for his parents every few weeks in middle school.

And, personally, he didn't.

"Yes ma'am." Banana responded, now facing the middle-aged woman who'd interviewed and subsequently hired him. Her nametag was smudged out, and he couldn't for the life of him remember her name, so 'ma'am' was a safe bet.

"You'll be training with Bread over there, he'll show you how to make the drinks and what all the pastries are called. Some of the egg bites look similar at first glance; always check the label." She explained in a rushed tone, already gesturing for him to join the other boy— Bread, at the cash register.

The line went out the door, as it had been since Banana had walked in.

No wonder they hired him on the spot. Jeez.

"Bread," The manager said, her volume rising over the sound of the next customer rattling off their overly-complicated order, "This is Banana, your new trainee. Think you can handle showing him the ropes while I finish up his onboarding paperwork?" She didn't wait for an answer, gently pushing Banana into Bread's personal space before turning on her heel and walking off towards the office.

"Uh… hi." Banana mumbled, taking a decided step back so he wasn't crowding the seemingly overworked boy, "I'm Banana." He said, redundantly.

"One sec—" Bread said, cutting himself off, "Yes, you said two pumps of vanilla in that? Awesome, that'll be $7.25." He recited on a script, the tell-tale customer service voice Banana had grown accustomed to hearing from a customer's point of view. Hearing it from behind the counter was a new experience.

And wasn't that what college was all about? New experiences. It was his first week here and he'd already landed a job and gotten a week ahead in all of his classes. Sure, he was still second-guessing his choice of major, but that was a problem for his insomnia later tonight.

Right now, he had training to do. Or something.

He stood politely idle as Bread finished with the line of customers, a solid twenty minute block of nothing but cappuccinos and americanas and far too many ridiculous names for basic muffin flavours. Banana tried to keep a mental note of how Bread was making every drink, but he was moving with such practiced ease it was hard to monitor, so Banana settled for staying out of his way until the line died down.

It did, eventually, die down. After Banana had successfully been clocked in and doing fuck-all for nearly half an hour.

"Sorry about that, rush hour sucks balls. You said your name was—?" Bread trailed off, sheepish about forgetting. Banana couldn't blame him, though, with all that was going on.

"Banana. You're Bread, right?" He asked, remembering his name but not his own manager's. Good going, idiot.

"Ye— Yeah, you definitely listen better than I do." Bread joked, letting out a shy laugh, "Um, here, let me give you a little tour. I can talk you through some basic drinks, and when the next customer comes in I'll show you how to make whatever they order. Sound good?" He asked, meeting Banana's eyes expectantly.

Banana was taller than him, but not by very much.

"Yeah, sounds good." He responded, following Bread over to the drinks station, "Have you worked here a long time? The year just started and you already seem to know everything." He attempted to make small talk, or get to know this guy better. Either worked.

Bread coughed, "Not really, no. I'm a freshman, I just worked at Starbucks in high school so I kinda know my way around the average overpriced cafe." He explained, leaning back against the counter and sighing, "What about you, any prior experience?"

Banana shook his head, "This is my first job. I didn't really do much in grade school except skip math class and play Minecraft." He admitted, probably hastily. Admitting to both truancy and being a gamer in the first ten minutes of talking to someone wasn't fantastic grounds for a positive connection.

Welp.

Bread, to his immediate worry, laughed.

"Yeah, you look like the type of guy to skip class and play Minecraft. I play too, but I'm terrible." He said. Banana was still processing the insult to his looks that it took him a moment to register that Bread also played Minecraft.

Maybe this interaction was salvageable after all?

"You speedrun at all?" Banana asked.

Unfortunately for him, that moment was precisely chosen by the gods above to have a customer walk in.

Bread brisked his way right back up to the register, slotting into the allotted space so easily he looked almost robotic. Jeez, the shit customer service will do to a man. Banana stepped up behind him, trying to watch the screen over his shoulder as he took the order, so he could learn a thing or two.

Oh. Bread's nails were painted. Autumn colours, red, orange, yellow. They were quite well-done, too.

Focus, dipshit! Banana chastised himself, trying to catch what buttons Bread was pressing, but he was too late. The screen was already on the payment page, the receipt printing.

"Okay, did you see what she ordered?" Bread asked, turning to face him.

"To be honest, no, not at all." Banana admitted, hoping honesty would get him into Bread's good books, since clearly attention-to-detail was failing him today.

Bread sighed deeply, but composed himself quickly, "She ordered a latte. C'mere, I'll show you how to make it." He sounded irritated, which felt a bit quick-judged, but it did look to be a stressful shift for him, so maybe he was resenting the downtime Banana had cut into with being a trainee. Yeah.

Banana watched carefully as Bread showed him how to make a latte, specifying what buttons did what, and which buttons to never fucking press because they would, for some reason, glitch out the whole machine. Sounded safe enough.

After the customer had her drink and was on her way, there was a moment of silence, spare the faint whirring of the coffee machine.

"Fuck this shift, man." Bread breathed, "I've barely had a moment to breath all morning." He added, by way of elaboration. Banana just nodded slowly. He had a feeling responding would sound condescending, considering he'd only been on the clock for an hour.

And in that time he'd done… fuck all, still. He should probably do something.

"Uh, is there anything I can do? While we wait for customers?" Banana asked, figuring he should start actually earning his minimum wage.

Bread sucked in a breath and glanced around, biting his lip, "You can… sweep? Broom's in the back. I'm savouring the moment of peace, personally." He gestured vaguely towards the back of the store, just past the closed office. Why was it that managers made more while doing less work?

Banana shook off his internal questions about the structure of customer service jobs in America, walking over to pick up the broom and dustpan that both looked like they would request assisted suicide if they were sentient.

From a quick glance around, the shop didn't appear to really need to be swept. It was surprisingly spotless for the supposed morning Bread had had— but, then again, how much mess could really accrue on the floors of a coffee shop? If this were a McDonalds, Banana might expect a bit more mess.

Still, he didn't want to continue standing around doing nothing, so he stepped out from behind the counter and began sweeping the small seated area. He began in the furthest corner so he could make his way back to the counter. See? Tactics.

As he swept, he kept flitting his eyes over to see what Bread was up to. He'd never gotten his speedrunning question answered, nor any of the follow-ups his brain had formed in the time between that conversation and now. He was curious about this guy; the first person he'd really spoken to since the semester started.

Banana hadn't really had any friends in high school. He had study groups, and people he spoke to in class, but never anyone he'd hang out with after school or on the weekends. Mostly, he filled up his spare time with Minecraft, fleshing out his survival world he'd had since he was fourteen.

It wasn't that he wasn't social, though. He enjoyed talking to people, making jokes, and trying to make friends. He was just… unlucky. And also picky. Part of him kept people at arm's length out of fear they wouldn't get his humour or click with him on a deeper level. That apprehension kept him from pursuing most attempts at friendship beyond asking to study together during lunch.

But, he reminded himself, he was in college now. There weren't anymore excuses for his lacking social life. And if there was one place known for it's ability to push lifelong friendships together, it was college.

So maybe, Bread also being a Minecraft player was a sign. A sign to make a friend.

Banana finished sweeping, pushing the pile of dust and straw wrappers he'd gathered into the dustpan before picking it up and dumping it in the large bin behind the counter. Bread was still leaning back on it, scrolling on his phone. Was he allowed to do that? More importantly, did Banana even care?

Okay. Friendship. He could do this.

He walked towards Bread, about to open his mouth and speak when movement caught his eye in his peripheral vision. Fuck, a customer. Phenomenal timing, universe.

Bread looked up and met Banana's eyes, following his gaze towards the woman approaching the register. He sighed softly, slipping his phone into his pocket before his customer service face reappeared.

"Hi! What can I get started for you?" He asked, the chipper tone to his voice slightly serrated.

'Talk about a bad day.' Banana thought, actually paying attention to the order screen this time. The woman ordered a plain black coffee, thankfully simple, and Banana watched aptly as Bread punched it in. There were loads of customization options under the black coffee option, but fortunately, it looked like he wouldn't have to worry about all that yet.

Bread cashed her out, turning and nearly bumping into Banana.

"Sorry." Banana mumbled, stepping back out of his space. Bread just hummed, walking past him towards the coffee machines. He poured plain black into a to-go cup, pressing a lid onto it before passing it to the customer over the counter.

"Kinda thought you'd show me that one." Banana half-joked, after the woman was safely out of earshot, "Meant to be training and all."

Bread turned to look at him, his expression unreadable, "Uh, yeah, sure. I'll show you the next one." He said, although it sounded lackluster.

Something was telling Banana he wasn't too keen on training him.

Not a minute passed before the next customer walked in, a young guy who looked to also be a freshman, based on his awe at everything around him. Banana did the same song and dance of watching Bread punch in the order, but this time it looked far more complex. He ordered multiple coffees and pastries, apparently for a group, and not a single thing was without modifications.

Well, he wanted to learn. Now the only question was if Bread wanted to teach him.

"Grab a to-go cup." Bread instructed, making Banana's eyebrows shoot up. Okay, he was going to make something. Awesome. Slightly nerve-wracking.

He did as told, eyes never leaving Bread, "Now what?" He asked, feeling a bit dumb.

Bread gestured to the coffee machine, "Fill it about halfway, then fill the other half with milk." He said, paying more attention to the drink he was working on than on directing Banana. Maybe it was a show of trust.

Banana picked up the coffee pot, the weight of it feeling heavy and unfamiliar in his hands. It wasn't like this was his first time ever making coffee, but the payroll pressure was on now and he was feeling it. Still, he remained calm, successfully filling the to-go cup halfway.

What was next?

Oh, milk!

He set the coffee pot back down, reaching for the milk carton to—

Crash!

Banana jumped, spilling hot coffee all over his shirt. The coffee pot hadn't gone all the way back into it's slot, and it had just hit the floor and shattered into a million pieces. Insult to injury, really. Fuck.

"Sor—" Banana started to speak, but Bread cut him off.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" He sounded exasperated, "Seriously?" He asked, rhetorically, burying his face in his hands.

Unsure what else to do, Banana reached for the nearest napkin dispenser, pulling some out to start sopping up the coffee and glass.

"Stop—" Bread interrupted his motions, "Get the mop— or, I'll get the mop, actually. Don't want you breaking that too, somehow." He mumbled the last bit, but Banana caught it anyway. Why was he being so rude? It was an accident!

"Well maybe if you were actually training me I wouldn't have fucked it up!" Banana snapped, impulsively. It probably wasn't the smartest move, but he was soaked and smelled like coffee and there was glass all over the floor so he could barely take a safe step, and the guy who was supposed to be showing him how to do his job was being a dick.

Bread whipped around from where he'd been heading towards the back, "Oh fuck you, man! It's not rocket science to pour coffee into a cup!" The words hit Banana like a smack in the face, harder than he was expecting. He'd just met this guy, and he was the one being an asshole, so why did it bother him so much that he was being yelled at by him?

"Fine, I quit." Banana threw his hands up, feeling the coffee— now cold— drip down his arms the other direction. Gross.

He didn't give Bread time to respond, walking out from behind the counter and speeding out of the cafe, ignoring the bewildered look of the poor guy who'd been waiting on his order, and the belated shouts of his name that came a half-second too late.

Chapter Text

The next day was a Saturday, a day off from classes. The first week of his first year of college had gone smoothly, no real homework being assigned quite yet, and Banana was happy to have free time.

Normally, he would spend any and all free time on Minecraft, but today he decided to focus on a much more important objective: scouting out a study group.

Did he need one yet? No, but he knew it was only a matter of time. Studying with other people was easier than studying alone, where his laptop was inches away to temp him with a new realm or map. Finding a group of fellow Math majors would set him up for the year.

It should, hypothetically, be a simple task. In fact, he had it all planned out:

Step 1: Camp out at the library until a group of students with calculators show up

Step 2: Introduce himself to said group and weasel his way in

Step 3: ????

Step 4: Profit

…Or something like that.

Banana was already at the library, halfway through step one. He'd set up at a table in the corner, where he could easily see the doors to keep tabs on who entered.

Okay, that sounded creepy. It was for academic purposes!

Thankfully, it didn't take long for everything to fall into place. Ten minutes into staring at the library doors like they owed him money, a trio of very clear Math majors walked in, archetypal calculators and laptops in hand. It couldn't have been more perfect.

He walked over to them before they were able to pick a table, his approach getting their attention in a casual, low-stakes way. Smooth.

"Hey, are you guys also Math majors?" He asked, keeping it conversational. It wasn't like he was aiming for friends— not with Math majors, that was for damn sure. Frankly, he hated math, the only reason he was studying it was because his parents pushed him to, but that was a musing for another day.

Right now, he had a study group to infiltrate.

"Yeah, freshmen." One of the guys said, "We're forming a study group, you looking to join?" He asked.

Score!

"I am, actually." Banana lilted his voice in mild surprise. His plan was flawless, don't get him wrong, but for it to work out this perfectly was downright suspicious.

Well, he would take the win either way.

He followed them to the nearest table, settling down with his own laptop and small stack of papers he'd been given the past week. Mainly syllabuses, but still, it made him feel productive.

"Okay, I think we should go over the foundationals syllabus first, just to get an idea of what we'll be learning this year. We might have different secondary classes, but we can go over those next." Another guy said, taking immediate control of the study session. Everyone startled opening laptops and rustling papers, and math terms began floating across the table like politics on Thanksgiving.

Banana very quickly remembered every single reason why he hated math.

Maybe he should've chosen a different major.

Yeah, if he wanted his parents to stop paying for his degree. Wonderful idea, truly spectacular.

Sigh. Okay, focus.

He bore into the syllabus like it owed him— nope, he's made that joke already. The concepts they were supposed to be learning that year were, shock of all shocks, more complex than what he'd done in high school, and the detailed explanations the guys in the group were giving to each other were soaring over Banana's head. In one ear, out the other.

Despite his best efforts, his flawless plan was foiled by his own stupidity.

A tap on his shoulder cut off his line of mental ramblings.

Banana turned to his right, expecting the guy sat there to be looking at him. Except he wasn't, and as Banana kept turning, he saw—

Bread?

He didn't look like the same Bread from the cafe, though. No, off-shift Bread was like… well, he was just standing there, arms crossed, neutral expression above… snake-bite piercings. His hair wasn't tied in a low ponytail anymore, but free and curly, framing his face like a halo. He was wearing a sweater that matched his autumn-themed nails, and— oh, he was wearing rings. Lots of rings.

"Uh, hey." Banana said, accidentally sounding more offended than he'd intended to. He was more surprised than anything, he couldn't imagine why Bread was seeking him out after he made such a fool of himself yesterday morning.

"Can we talk? I need to apologize." Bread explained, tone of voice terse.

Oh. That was not what Banana had been expecting. Granted, he wasn't expecting shit, this interaction was about as unpredictable as it could get for him, but still.

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure. Excuse me." Banana said, directing the last bit to the guys in the group, who were now all silently watching this interaction unfold. Wonderful.

He stood up from his seat, following Bread as he turned on his heel and led the way between two bookshelves, where they could speak out of earshot of everyone else populating the library.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry for being a dick yesterday. I was having a rough day, which is no excuse, but it's the truth and it affected how I spoke to you. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot, and I'd like to correct that if possible." Bread poured out, dodging full eye contact as he spoke.

Banana was, reasonably, surprised as fuck. That, and, less reasonably and more confusingly, elated? Yeah, he didn't have time to unpack that emotion, considering Bread was now staring at him, awaiting a response.

"…I'm sorry too, for storming off and being an idiot." He started, figuring wiping the slate clean was a good idea, "Can… Okay, in the least douche-y way possible, can I ask why you cared enough to hunt me down?" He added, hoping his preface softened the connotation of what he was asking enough.

Bread's eyebrows raised momentarily before settling in their usual position, "I just… well, besides the fact that the cafe is horrendously understaffed, I was— and this might be stupid, but when you mentioned you play Minecraft, I was sorta hoping I'd have a chance to make a friend?" His voice peaked higher at the end, unsure of his words.

"It's not stupid at all. I was thinking the same exact thing, dude." Banana assured quickly.

Bread sighed in relief, "Okay, yeah, that's good. Sorry, it's just, I've always been a bit of a loner, so I'm not phenomenal at the whole socializing and making friends thing. I like Minecraft, you like Minecraft, it's the most elementary school rationale ever, but I figured I'd give it a shot." He explained.

Banana let out a small chuckle, "No, I get that, because same. Uh, so, does this mean I still have a job?" He asked, oddly excited about the idea of returning to the cafe to continue being trained. Despite his unceremonious 'quitting,' he did kind of love the idea of having his own money.

Bread laughed, "Yes, please do come back, actually. Um, do you wanna play Minecraft after work? Or, after classes, I should say." He sounded timid, but like he was trying really hard to hide it.

"Absolutely." Banana replied instantly, "Here, let me give you my number so we can set up a time when we're both out of class tomorrow." He explained as he pulled his phone out, "Or just type in yours." He amended, passing his unlocked phone to Bread, who typed for a moment before handing it back.

A quick glance at his new contact showed that he'd set his name as the bread emoji. Hah, clever.

"Um, I've got class now, so I'll see you tomorrow at work?" Bread asked, the same unsureness peaking his voice.

Banana nodded fervently, "I'll be there." He affirmed. Bread smiled tightly and turned to walk off, and Banana made his way back to his study table.

"How was your argument with your boyfriend?" One of the guys asked, his tone making it abundantly clear he was picking fun. Okay, asshole.

"He's my coworker, and it wasn't an argument." Banana shot back, not entertaining the lame humour of a 19 year old college kid who thought he was cooler than everyone else.

…Which wasn't to say his own 19 year old college kid humour wasn't lame, but… you get the point. At least his humour didn't take the piss out someone he'd just met and wasn't chill with like that.

Banana attempted— really attempted to focus on his study session. Truly. But for some ungodly known reason, Bread kept permeating his mind. Maybe it was the high of making his first potential friend of the year causing Bread's apologetic tone to loop in his head, causing Bread's curly brown hair to flash in his mind's eye like an eidetic photo, and causing him to picture Bread's autumn-themed nails anytime he looked at his own hand holding his pen.

He was definitely overly-fixated on this whole friend thing. It was like he was trying to memorize everything about Bread, anything a 'friend' should potentially be able to recall, on the extreme off-chance he was pop-quizzed about the exact shade of reddish-hazel Bread's eyes were, or how many piercings he had and where.

In Banana's defense, he didn't know what friends were supposed to remember about each other. He was playing it smart, being over-prepared. If this were an all-advancements run, he'd be on track for world record.

The study group eventually disbanded for lunch, and Banana, having absorbed absolutely fuck all, trudged his way back up to his dorm room to eat whatever snacks he still had laying around as a consolation prize for his lack of hard work.

He checked his phone idly as he opened his dorm room door, noticing immediately a text notification he hadn't had a few minutes ago.

🍞 What do you usually play in mc? Servers, survival, ect?

Banana started typing before he'd even sat down or dropped his bookbag, only slightly overexcited.

🍌 i LVOE survival but i also speedrun sometimes, not srsly tho im not dream

🍌 ive got a 4ever world i play in like everyday

Bread started typing almost immediately, and Banana took the opportunity to drop his bag and plop down on his desk chair. He pulled his phone up to his face right as Bread's message came through.

🍞 I also play survival. I didn't get into the game until last year tho, so my world's not very old yet.

🍌 i can make a world ofr us to play on ? smp style but no wars (or some wars up 2 u)

Waiting for Bread's answer was the most anxious he'd been since… well, probably since the last time he'd spoken to Bread. Making friends was not for the faint of heart. Intense business.

🍞 That sounds fun! Maybe a liiiittle war, as a treat?

Phew. Okay, official first plans with official first friend were made. Damn, he was really succeeding at all of these flawless plans this year. He'd secured a job, a study group, AND a friend in the first week!

Now he just had to make sure he didn't fuck it all up. Easier said than done, but Banana was good at saying things.

Chapter Text

"Hey! Banana!" Bread called out as he approached the cafe counter. Wow, enthusiasm for his arrival? Either they were particularly busy today, or Banana was really good at this whole making friends thing.

"Morning Bread!" Banana greeted in response, deciding to match his energy. Not like it was difficult; he had multiple reasons to be excited today. For one, he still had a job. For two, he and Bread would get to play Minecraft together later that day.

And, sure, Banana was probably going to play Minecraft anyway, but it'd been a long time since he'd played with someone else who wasn't his well-meaning but decidedly non-gaming mother.

Hm. He made a mental note to not bring that up. The last thing he needed was for Bread to think of him as a total loser. Just a mild loser would suffice.

"Okay, training day, take two. It doesn't usually get busy this day of the week, so we should have the time and space to actually teach you things." Bread explained, gesturing vaguely at the (notably new-looking) coffee machine. Oops.

"Hopefully no casualties today." Banana joked, biting his lip in anticipation for it to land. Maybe bringing up his property damage was a bad move.

To his relief, Bread laughed, shaking his head in disapproval. Phew, in the clear for that one.

"Alright, let's just go through the basics."

Work went smoothly. So incredibly smoothly, actually, that by the time his shift was over and he was told to clock out, he didn't really want to leave.

Since he was a trainee, his shifts were shorter than Bread's by default, so Bread was stuck for another hour. Banana didn't have class until noon, so he figured what the hell? He'd hang around and be annoying. It was his special skill, after all.

Maybe he should put it on his resume. Banana Mate, Special Skills: Annoying.

"'Kay, so, what do you call a Bread that's spent too much time outside?" Banana asked, having somehow steered their on-off conversation between customers to the topic of corny jokes with bad set-ups.

Or rather, Banana made one corny joke with a bad set-up, and now he was determined to actually make Bread laugh from one.

Bread sighed, "What? Toast?" He asked, foiling Banana's plans.

"Uh…" Banana trailed off, "Burnt toast! See, it wasn't toast!" He defended.

Bread rolled his eyes with a smile, "Not even close to laughing, though."

"Just means I'll have to tell more bad jokes." Banana threatened.

"Oh god, please don't. Let it end." Bread covered his ears, expression turning pained. Banana laughed. God, this was so easy! Talking to Bread almost made him forget that he'd argued with him just a few days ago.

A customer walked in, tearing Bread's attention away from where Banana was stood leaning against the counter. He was still in his uniform, just opposite the side where he'd be if he was still on the clock. He watched Bread's movements as he took the order and made their coffee, half to see if he could pick up on anything useful, half because, well, something about Bread had seemed off the entire shift, and he couldn't quite place it.

His eyes trailed from Bread's hands, ring-less for food safety reasons but still adorning autumn nails, to his black and purple cafe shirt, to his face. Pale, soft, the faintest dusting of freckles across his nose bridge.

Something was missing.

His piercings!

Banana jumped in his place, his mouth forming an 'o' in surprise. That was what he'd been looking for! Bread's piercings were out.

Speaking of Bread, he'd just handed out the order and was walking back to Banana's section of the counter.

"What do you look all surprised about?" He asked, clocking him immediately. Not that Banana was particularly hard to read. He was quite expressive, thank you very much.

"Your piercings are gone! Do they make you take them out here?" He asked. He didn't have extensive knowledge of food safety, despite having had to watch a youtube video about it during the hiring process, but surely face piercings didn't affect food and drink handled by, well, hands.

Bread groaned, "Yes, and it's so fucking dumb. I'm surprised you noticed, to be honest. Detail oriented?" He probed.

Banana shrugged, "Maybe? Not really, you just have distinctive piercings." He said.

"Thanks, I think." Bread smiled sideways, his head tilting ever so slightly.

"It's a compliment." Banana rushed to clarify. At that exact moment, an alarm started buzzing in Bread's pocket.

He pulled out his phone, silencing it.

"That's the end of my shift. I've got class in twenty minutes and I need to change first, so I'm dipping. Still down to play Minecraft later?" He asked in an increasingly raised voice as he walked towards the cashier screen to clock out. Banana gave a thumbs up, not wanting to shout across the counter. And, like, he totally would, but he was a little afraid Bread would yell at him again.

The two of them left the noisy cafe into the even noisier halls, splitting to go their separate ways.

Banana felt the emptiness hit him far harder than he'd been expecting.

🍞 2pm work for you?

🍌 ya !

2pm rolled around, and with both boys safely out of class, the time for Minecraft had come.

The first challenge? Agreeing on gamerules.

"We don't need keepInventory." Banana insisted, the world creation settings pulled up on his laptop. He was sat on his dorm room floor next to Bread, having felt weird about only having one chair at his desk. If one of them had to sit on the floor, they'd both sit on the floor.

Besides, the floor was comfy, especially with all of Banana's blankets sprawled out to make it more comfy. Bread had complimented his Star Wars one, which made Banana feel a bit better about his boring ass dorm.

Having Bread in his dorm felt like having a model in a whore house. Er, which was to say, he looked too good to fit in properly. Banana had only seen him dressed in something non-work attire twice, sure, but both times it was like he'd walked straight off a Pinterest board. Cute patterned sweaters, rings and necklaces, his usual piercings, and way too much aura.

A Pinterest board boy was sitting on a Star Wars blanket in a room that resembled a jail cell more than it did a college student's bedroom.

"If we don't have keepInventory on, there is a non-zero chance I will ragequit if I die and lose all my shit. Your choice, really." Bread responded, shrugging non-commitally.

Banana chewed on his bottom lip, considering his options. Ah!

"Idea— I'll follow you around anytime you go somewhere dangerous like a cave, so if you do die, I can pick up your stuff." He posited, already hitting Create World.

"I— Okay, sure, that works. Be my little bodyguard. Your funeral." Bread said, glancing at his screen to watch the world load up. He joined a few seconds after it loaded in, spawning just a block away from Banana.

"My funeral? I thought we were discussing your funeral, B."

"B? It's been three seconds and you're already giving up on saying my full name?" Bread teased, punching him in-game. Banana laughed, punching him back in real life. Gently, though. Bread was so pale he was worried he'd bruise.

Ironically, like a banana would.

For a first Minecraft session with someone he'd been arguing with less than 48 hours ago, it had gone surprisingly well. He and Bread traded banter like it was nothing, like they'd known each other much longer than they really had. Within just a few hours, they had a nice spawn set up in their world, complete with some basic farms and even a few diamond tools.

"At this rate, we may as well beat the dragon. Speedrun." Banana suggested, enchanting his armour.

"Day one and you're suggesting beating a woman? Wow, Banana, I didn't take you for a misogynist." Bread teased.

"Wha— OH!" Banana got the joke. He always forgot the Ender Dragon was female. He really should make a note of that, since the joke potential there was astronomical.

"Although," Bread continued, checking the time on his phone, "Maybe tomorrow. I've got an early class in the morning, so I've gotta get some sleep."

"Aw, man." Banana complained, "This was fun! Tomorrow again, absolutely." He agreed, watching as Bread logged out and shut his laptop, standing up.

Belatedly, Banana stood up as well, setting his still-open laptop aside so he could see Bread out.

"Have a good night, Banana." Bread said, his tone oddly wavering. At least Banana wasn't the only one feeling awkward. Playing together was easy enough, they could play off of the environment and shared references to make conversation. But something about saying goodbye felt weird, like they were missing some step.

"Goodnight, Bread." Banana said back anyway, smiling and attempting to wave, before aborting the move. Bread nodded once before leaving the dorm.

Why had that felt so strange?