Chapter Text
𝟏𝟏:𝟒𝟑 𝙋𝙈 𝟏𝟐/𝟒/𝙓𝙓
You knew the exact moment he stepped into the bar. All the way down to the second, if the digital clock behind the counter showed that much. It wasn't on display because it didn't match the interior design of the bar, but like hell you were gonna squint across the entire room to read that old grandfather clock in the back corner.
It wasn't often someone like him came here. You were meant to be mixing up whatever it was that the patron in front of you wanted, even though he was already few drinks deep into ranting about his lack of a love life. He was still coherent (unfortunately) and revenue was revenue, no matter if the pocket's owners were annoying as shit. It was only by total happenstance that your eyes had fluttered in the direction of the door as it opened, but damn were you glad they had.
You had been working at this bar for a while now, and since the pay, the workers, and the vibes were all great, you didn't mind the late hours too much. You were more of a night owl anyways, so this was much more productive than scrolling on your phone or binging Attack on Titan for the nth time.
Just like every other business in this bustling city, there were a lot of competitors around you. You found out early on that there were a good amount of loyal customers and a set ratio of newcomers that visited this bar weekly though, so despite competition you were never too worried about income. You figured the amount of customers was partially due to the fact that you were located in a nicer area, but the aesthetic of the interior was the real reason you chose to apply for work here.
All of the furniture and fixtures were a mix of mahogany and a rich russet brown, and the warm but dim lighting set a more intimate and friendly mood among the patrons as the conversed and bought beverages. From the cushioned seats and wooden tables to the plants and the music, every part of this place was so well curated that stepping inside for the first time felt like you were visiting another universe. You'd go on, but you didn't want to sound like a walking advertisement.
Your shift had been going pretty well already, all things considered. There had been no disputes over prices, no entitled college students demanding the bill to be split after ignoring the initial offer to do so (you hated when that happened), and best of all, no weirdly touchy, flirty douches lingering too close for anyone's comfort. Sure someone had dropped a glass on accident, but you didn't mind cleaning that up much since it had fallen behind the counter. You were mixing a drink in your metal shaker when you decided to look around the bar to make sure everything was going smoothly. That was when he walked in.
The reason you knew the exact time? Your gaze had lingered on the man for a little too long, at least long enough for his to find yours back. You immediately snapped your focus away and onto something else, landing on the clock behind the counter as you caught your breath, your nerves flaring up just from a single look. You peeked up to try and find him again as he made his way through the crowd of people talking by the door.
"Dude…" You whispered as you stepped over to the other bartender on duty, Yuki, nudging her to look over at the door. "I think an angel just walked in.." Naturally, as any human being would, she glanced over in the direction you had been looking. She had done everything in a thankfully casual manner too, before making eye contact with you again and nodding. He was Yuki approved.
Yuki had been there when you were first hired, about a year and a half ago at this point. She was the one you shadowed on your first days, learning how they did things here. It wasn't your first time bartending, but you still shuddered at the thought of your last workplace. Long hours, horrible pay and even worse customers. Yuki's voice brought you back into the moment, quickly snapping your walk down memory lane away.
"You're talking about the one in the white shirt, right? If he comes and sits down in my section I'll leave him to you then." She winked and nudged your shoulder back playfully before heading off to tend to another patron.
You knew you couldn't mess this up. You focused on mixing the cocktail already in your hands, swishing the metal shaker around before spilling it into a nice crystal glass, watching the liquids dance as they settled, topping it and sliding it over the counter absentmindedly.
You glanced around at the people sitting along your side of the counter to check for anyone else that needed your attention, making sure everyone was happy with their drinks in the same action. Lo and behold, the man of the hour was sitting down a few steps away, already looking at you. You briefly wondered how he had gotten from the door to the counter so quickly, especially considering how crowded it was tonight, but you supposed with his stature things of that nature were much easier.
You walked over while giving yourself the best pep-talk you could put together, smiling warmly as you greeted him. It wasn't like you could stall getting his order after making dead on eye-contact anyways. It wasn't the first time a beautiful person came by the bar either, this damn city was bursting with them for some reason. None quite like this one, you hummed to yourself as you planted your feet to stand in front of him.
"Busy night, huh? Got through the crowd okay?" You decided that you could lay it on a little bit thicker tonight, because who knew if you'd ever see him again.
"Just barely," of course his voice was nice too, "I thought it'd be busier by the counter though."
"People usually just get their drinks and go off to socialize.. What can I get for you?"
"I guess that makes sense.." He ordered a nice cocktail and you couldn't help but smile. Even his tastes were pretty. As you went to grab the ingredients, you decided to make some small talk to get things going.
"Have you been here before..? I'd think I'd remember it if you had.."
He smiled at that, shaking his head as he replied, "I have, but that time I was sitting near the back. My friend was the one who dragged us out in the first place, so we decided that it was only fair he got us the drinks.. He's pretty memorable himself, white hair, blue eyes, and pretty tall?"
Your face lit up as you snapped your fingers.
"Oh my god my coworker thought he was like really really cute! Said something like 'he'd never see a face like that again.' Guess it makes sense that you two are friends though." You hadn't really meant to say the last part, but it had slipped past your lips faster than you could catch it.
"Yeah? Why's that?"
Great, now you had to think of an answer that didn't give away the fact that you thought he was heaven sent.
"Well, I mean…birds of a feather flock together or something, y'know.." You shrugged your shoulders as you distracted yourself by pouring ice into the shaker. You could see him hide a small smile behind his hand.
You knew you had wanted to be a little more outgoing, but you felt all of your ideal responses fall apart every time he looked at you for a reply. It didn't help that you realized that he was the kind of person that made constant unwavering eye contact either.
A plus side to mixing his drink right in front of him was the fact that you got to learn a few things about him though, even if it gave you more time to make a fool out of yourself. You found out that his name was Suguru Geto, that he had a more refined taste for drinks, and that he was surprisingly friendly and open to talking with you. When you slid his finished cocktail over the counter, you also noticed that he didn't make any move to get up, keeping his eyes on yours. You couldn't help the question lingering in your mind.
"Not up for mingling?"
"What, you wanna get rid of me?" He tilted his head lazily as he lifted the glass rim to his lips, and you felt your stomach do a little flip.
"No, definitely not." As you glanced away to break the eye contact, you heard an amused huff leave his lips. You felt your ears warm as you continued where you left off in your initial response, "I'm still on the clock, but I can keep you company."
"Sounds perfect to me." He sounded perfect. You were so glad he sat down in your section. While you were making orders for other people as they came in, you let your gaze linger on him every now and then. Now that he wasn't directly in front of you, you didn't have to hold back.
He was beyond attractive, but you already knew that much. In normal lighting, like in the bright of day, he would probably already look gorgeous, but in this dim bar with the sultry music and low lighting carving out his features? It was unfair. You were sure angels cried the day he was born. The way little wisps of his hair curled into his neck and down his shoulders, the contrast of his dark strands against soft skin and the collar of his shirt, some of his hair pulled back into a knot to keep out from his face and the little strand he kept out to frame it. From the side you could also see the straight slope of his nose as well as the gauges in his ears.
You finally looked back at your customer when you realized how long you had indulged yourself in your most recent glance at Geto, finishing up her margarita and handing it over. She was real stunning too, but even as her pretty fingers grazed yours and her eyelashes batted, you couldn't take your mind off the man a few seats away.
You made sure to check up on him every now and then between your orders, but as the bar started to get more busy around midnight, he noticed you were stretching yourself out too thin.
"I'll be here for a while.." He reassured you, "Focus on the other customers right now."
You were sure of it then, that he was an angel among this crowd of humans. Anything else would certainly fall short of his perfection. However, you weren't one to be swayed so easily, fixing him another drink on the house to compensate for your absence. It wouldn't make up for the fact that you really wanted to be there instead, but it would keep him company nonetheless.
.
.
.
As the bar started winding down, you were allowed enough grace to take a breather. You felt the cold surface of the counter top against your palms as you leaned against it, and as you stretched your arms out above your head you could feel something in your back crack. Upon glancing over to check if Geto was still there (a habit you had acquired amidst the chaos of the previous hour) you decided to pull the stool from behind the counter out and sit across from him for a little while.
"You know… this stool is here 'cause someone threw it in a bar fight and a leg broke." You shifted to balance on it properly.
Instead of laughing at the story or being surprised at the idea, his eyebrows furrowed softly as he asked, "Do people get that rowdy in here often?"
"I mean as much as every other bar I'm sure, but we've got this rugged bouncer guy—his name's Sukuna and he's got tats and spiky pink hair, you'll know when you see him— and he's a demon at keeping drunks in line. That fight happened before I got hired here though."
You could see his shoulders relax in relief, and although you were unsure why he was so worried in the first place, you found it cute.
"You won't get hurt on my watch, promise."
He was worried about you, nitwit. You still had yet to figure that part out.
You finally noticed that his drinks had been empty for some time now, set to the side as what was left of the ice melted.
"Oh, let me get you another-" as you placed your hands on the counter to push yourself up off it, you felt his hand gently reach out and wrap around your wrist. You tried not to freeze or tense up at the sudden contact, looking over at him with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't need anything else.." he insisted, and his smile was so sweet you couldn't help but give in, "Just mind my musings?"
"Yeah.. okay." your voice came out a little breathy as you sat back down, your hand dropping back to your side. You missed the way his hand twitched, as if it wanted to reach back out for yours again before it fell.
You listened as he talked about getting called in on his day off and you sympathized with him. You were relaxing, your head resting against your palm as you listened to him ramble, before Yuki suddenly called you from the other side of the counter. You had almost forgotten you were still at work. Biting back a groan, you reluctantly got up after apologizing quickly to Geto. You headed over to where Yuki was standing, conscious of the way that you walked in case he was looking, before shaking your worries off. What was this, high school?
You relaxed your tense shoulders as you went to see what Yuki needed you for. Unfortunately it was actually something important, so you couldn't really hold it against her for interrupting you.
You cupped your hands around your mouth, making sure to be loud and to enunciate as you called out to the crowd to let them know that you were doing last calls before closing down for the night. Even if you had a megaphone, you knew there would always be that one person who would say they didn't hear the call and ask for another drink past the cut off.
After making the last few drinks for a few stragglers, you started putting everything in your section away and wiping down the counters. You got to Geto's area and were planning to leave it for later, but he wordlessly lifted his glasses so you could clean under them. You smiled thankfully, and afterwards you took the glasses from him, noting how he did his best to avoid touching the counter after you had cleaned it. He seemed to be a bit sleepier now, and you found yourself wondering if it was because he got that way with alcohol in his system or if it were because it was damn near 3:00 in the morning.
You walked over to where he was nodding off with your cleaning towel draped over your shoulder, gently tapping his shoulder as to not startle him. Sure, you were tempted to pat his head, to rub his back or even let him sleep as you cleaned, but you had just met him and realistically, you needed to get this place cleaned up so you could go home.
"Hey… want me to close you out?"
He blinked a bit before groggily nodding, starting to correct his posture. "Yeah, that would be nice."
"Saw you nodding off… We'll get you home soon." You laughed, printing out his check to hand over to him. In a burst of sudden courage, you decided to scribble down a little note in the free space at the bottom of the reciept.
'Come back soon?'
Short and simple. You quickly slid it over, walking to the now emptying tables to clean up before he could read it.
You heart was in your throat the entire time you wiped the tables down. What if he was just being friendly the entire time and you had just made a complete fool of yourself? Technically if you saw him again you could just let Yuki or whoever else was behind the counter with you take him, but still.. You'd be lying if you said you wouldn't be totally bummed out. I mean, he had grabbed your wrist and asked you to keep him company. That had to mean something.
You were in your head the entire time you cleaned up, and before long you had wiped down the last table, put all the last glasses away for the night, stacked all the chairs up and mopped the floor clean.
You had waved goodbye to him as he left after handing Yuki his receipt, probably not wanting to stand around as you stacked up the chairs and bars stools for the night. You were headed back behind the counter to check registers and everything before closing out, when Yuki pulled you to the side by the sleeve of your uniform, holding out something in front of your face for you to see.
The receipt Geto had just handed to her. The one you had written on for him.
You felt your face heat up in embarrassment as you groaned, pushing her hand away with the evidence of you desperation, "Okay, I know it was cheesy, you don't have to rub it in-"
"That is not what I'm talking about right now."
You raised an eyebrow and glanced back at the receipt, her finger guiding you to the point she wanted you to look at this time.
The tip. He had tipped you the cost of his drinks. Technically it wasn't a crazy amount because he had only gotten one or two things, but that was a 100% tip. That was beyond crazy. You watched as Yuki's finger slid down to where you had written, and you found a slightly smaller, sleek style of writing underneath yours.
'Come back soon?'
'Of course. Thank you for listening to me.'
You glanced back at Yuki, your mouth hung open slightly. No way that had worked.
"Are you pranking me?"
She swatted your shoulder, giggling at your confusion, "Oh come on, you know I wouldn't do something like that. He handed me his receipt because he didn't want to bother you. I couldn't tamper with it anyway, you know my handwriting."
You stared back at the note, reaching out to hold it in your own hands. It didn't feel real. It was a little thing, but it made you feel excited to come to work. A silent promise that you'd see him again. Even if you didn't know exactly when that would be, you were looking forward to it all the same.