Chapter Text
ness had never intended to take a lunch break in the book stores cafe. usually, ness spends his 45 minutes doing more important things, which in his head is reading fantasy books in his car.
but on the way back to his car, he spotted someone in the corner of his eye.
a girl—a beautiful girl—working on some ugly, worthless, probably dirty person’s drink.
that was when ness decided that that girl is more important than reading magical books in his car.
he hides behind a bookshelf, immediately pulling out his phone.
he googles.
hwo to filrt with girl u HAVENT MEET BEFORE
does cafe take cash
does cafe take cash 2025
how much is the cheapest item in cafe
how much is flirty amount of tip
how to flirt with girl
how to flirt with VERY preety girl
by the time he peeped out from behind the shelf, she was laughing with another evil spirited person.
he was glaring a bit too hard for just seeing a girl for the first time, but in his mind, theyve already met and theyll meet very very soon the the future. so they basically know eachother.
ness was so distracted in his mind and trying to embellish his own thoughts that he didnt see the beautiful lady giving him a polite customer service grin.
ness swiftly ducks behind the shelfs again, which make him look even more suspicious. “oh geez, oh geez oh geez…” he whispers. in the process of panicking from a single girl looking at him, he knocked over around 2 books. which in the silence of the book store, rang across nearly the entire shop.
he picked up the books quickly, before running out of the shop.
“theres no way shell ever love me!.. not after this… geez i ruined it before it even began!!” he screams in his car.
and yet, the very next week, he found himself walking towards to cafe on his break.
“i wonder if they have the herbal tea i prefer..” he mumbles to himself to occupy his thoughts, except he does know they have it, hes memorized the entire menu.
the truthful reason why hes even going up to her and not just looking from afar is because he had a plan. well, it was truly kaisers genius.
ness needed to become a regular to the cafe.
over the next week, his visits every lunch becomes daily, hes memorized the shifts of everyone in the establishment and changed his hours to be around yours.
though hes never talked to you besides giving you his name (“m-my.. name…? um.. a-alexis.. do you need me to spell.. it..? n-no? okay..”) he feels like he still understands you on a spiritual level.
today, he did his usual thing, order something cheap then tip around 50% so it looks like hes rich, even though she know he works at this crummy store.
yn, of course, still treated him like a normal customer. even though ness doesnt want normal, he wants favorite.
“heres your Chamomile tea sir! enjoy ur reading”
this time, he didnt even have to tell her what kind of tea!
oh.. she remembers me..she.. notices my interest… eek!!!:333
from your pov, you had no idea. you had memorized a few faces in her time of working here, yes, but with the constant flow of people and the fact that ness comes nearly every time at rush hour (around his lunch break). it was her natural politeness and that chamomile sounds like a nice word.
he grabs the tea and pain u chocolatey from the pick up counter exactly 5 seconds after hes name was called, because if he walked up >1 second before he wouldve looked desperate to her.
he is but she doesnt need to know that
he tried to talk to her while she was still up at the counter, nervously following the advice kaiser gave him 3 days prior.
“t-thank you… for.. u-um. the tea…” he stammered even though kaiser told him that he should sound collected like he normally does.
over the next couple days, ness listens to kaisers rather broad advice.
“make small talk”
“be nonchalant”
“say her voice is okay sounding”
“dont be nonchalant actually, it wouldnt look good on you”
the only things ness can comment on without sounding stupid is the weather, praise about the cafe’s ambiance, and new books he thinks she might like.
though it often came out in one breath ending with a embarrassing silence.
by the end of the week, he was shaking slightly as he approached the counter, rehearsing his greeting repeatedly in his head: “h-hello…uh…tea…uh…please…thank you…dont trip…dont trip…dont trip…” he nearly collided with the counter as he fumbled around in his wallet, dropping coins in a clatter that made yn glance up from the order screen thingy, “are you okay?” she asks.
“ahh y-yeah!! yes.. perfectly fine.. t-thank you for asking…”
he mutters before sweeping all the fallen coins and shoving them in the tip jar.
as he took the cup around 4 minutes later, grazing her fingers in the process.
in bed, later that day, he rolls around in bed, lost in his head again. that there was a possibility yn didnt know he existed.
he had become a regular, crossed that threshold from customer to her favorite customer.
every morning he wakes up, thinking about whether shed be there or not, whether she would see him and think “woah its my favorite customer!!;3”, whether he would be able to muster up the courage to say anything coherent.
and so, as the last rays shined through the bookstore windows before he clocked out. ness made a promise to himself: he would find a way to make you know, you two are both soulmates.