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The first time was truly a coincidence.
Mike didn’t usually go into the local craft store just to harass the cute employees. He barely interacted with anyone outside of his two friends. He wasn’t even going to the store for himself, his sister wanted to paint her own DnD figures. Holly, a few of her classmates, and his friend’s younger sister demanded he make a campaign for them. he was practically finished with it, but something was missing.
Anyway, Holly left her book back in the store, one about fighting cats or something, and begged him to turn the car around so she could get it back.
Mike wasn’t completely heartless, he couldn’t just let his sister pout (even if their family had the money to buy the entire series if they really wanted to). He’s not a creep.
He’s just a caring brother.
Holly was about 12 feet ahead of him in the store. She weaved through aisles effortlessly. “Hurry up! What if someone takes it?” She snapped at him frantically.
“Where did we go? I think the paint area, right?” Holly was absolutely distressed, running around like a headless chicken.
“We were gone for 10 minutes at most, Holly. I promise you it’s still wherever you dropped it.”
She glared at him then dashed down another aisle (spoiler: the stupid book wasn’t there either). “I was gonna finish it tonight, Mike! I can’t just lose my place!” He followed behind her nonchalantly, absentmindedly glancing at the various art supplies piled on the shelves.
The siblings ended up in the miniature aisle. They didn’t even go down this one, but whatever. Holly was evidently not paying attention to where she was going, just freaking out and seemingly going off of her own weird instincts.
Holly suddenly stumbled back, barely catching herself and falling over herself. Mike instantly went into ‘protective big brother’ mode and speed walked to catch up with her. Before he could even ask if she was okay, she was already being helped up.
“Are you okay?” The softest voice he’d ever heard asked. She nodded, grabbing the guys arm to pull herself back up. The guy was shorter than him with slightly curly dark brown hair. He fully turned around to face Holly.
‘Will’, his nametag read.
The best way Mike could describe this stranger was bunny-like. He had these wide hazel eyes framed with the prettiest eyelashes. His lips were pink and soft, his two front teeth poking out when he gave the two a friendly smile. His hair was dark brown and slightly curled at the ends, matching perfectly with his sun-kissed skin. The mole above his lip was the cherry on top.
Reiterating: Mike was not a creep nor a stalker. He just paid attention, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Especially for someone who enjoys writing. No, you’re the one being weird.
So anyways, bunny-like.
“I’m so sorry, uh,” Mike blurted out. His mind was filled with unnecessarily cute details about this guy, way too full for him to be talking properly. “My sister lost her book. You wouldn’t happen to know where it is?”
“It’s called Warriors!” Holly cut in, “It’s like, bluish-grey with an orange cat on the front. Have you seen it?”
“No,” Holly deflated ever so slightly, “but I’ll help you guys look, if you want?”
“Please. I need it.” She sounded dead serious. Probably was.
“What aisles did you guys go down?” The guy, Will, put down the small mushroom house he was looking at. His eyes met Mikes, and Mike felt his heart flutter.
Bunny.
Or deer, his brain stupidly supplied. He was so lucky Holly was here. He might’ve said something stupid if he was by himself.
“Paints, miniatures, and clearance maybe?” Holly thought aloud. “I might’ve put it down to look at something. But we already checked those.”
“Did you see someone take it?” The panic began to return to her voice.
“I’m sure nobody took it,” Will soothed her. He was better at this than Mike was. And Mike is completely fine with that. “What’s the book about?”
Like a switch, Holly brightened up almost instantly. “It’s about this cat society in the woods, they’re wild so they don’t have owners, but the main character…”
She went off on the very familiar spiel, one Mike had heard one too many times before.
Will nodded along. Whether he was listening or not, Mike couldn’t tell. He followed behind them quietly like a shadow. The employee didn’t pay him much notice, probably because he wasn’t the 9 year old freaking out about her lost book, but he still took it a bit personally.
God forbid a guy wants to get to know someone.
“Since they’re from different clans, they aren’t allowed to date. But they do anyway, and…”
“Is that it, right there?” Will spoke for the first time in the five minutes Holly had been talking. Her eyes snapped to where he was pointing. The book laid, untouched, next to a display of ‘how-to’ drawing books.
“Yeah! Mike, we found it!” She called back unnecessarily.
“I know, I’m right here.” His voice sounded a bit more breathy than he would’ve preferred, but he figured it was rational. Who wouldn’t get nervous around someone pretty? “Thanks, by the way. You didn’t have to.”
Will looked up at him through his eyelashes (an image that’s still burnt in his brain to this day) and grinned. “It’s nothing. Really.”
See? Completely normal.
The second time, he also had to actually go to the craft store. At least it wasn’t for the stranger-employee. He really, truly needed something.
When he walked into the store, Will was doing something at a cash register. There were barely any other customers. Good. Maybe they could actually talk this time.
“Hey. Do you have any poster boards?”
Will looked up from whatever he was doing. His eyebrows raised slightly in surprise. He stepped out from behind the cash register and beckoned Mike to follow him. “Nice to see you again.”
Mike truly didn’t know how to respond without sounding like a loser. Will pointed at the aisle behind himself. There were, in fact, a large variety of multi-colored poster boards. “Thanks,” he had choked out. Now he needed something else to justify still talking to him.
“Have you ever played Dungeons and Dragons?” He blurted out, desperate to keep the conversation going.
Will smiled slightly. “Oh! I used to. Between school and work I haven’t had much time.”
“Cool, cool.” Mike sucked in his bottom lip. “So you’ve run a campaign before?”
“Oh, no. I’ve always just played. I sometimes helped draw maps, though.”
There’s his in. He was dogshit at drawing, so obviously he’d need an artist's help to bring the campaign to life. “Perfect. I actually was wondering exactly about that.” He really wasn’t. “So what kind of materials would you use?”
“Materials?” Will’s face scrunched up slightly, a small grin growing ever-so slightly. “Have you never drawn before?”
“I have!” Mike quickly corrected. Couldn’t look like a complete idiot, of course. “I just… haven’t…in a while. And you seem like you know a lot, so…”
The full blown smile on Will's face was worth it.
The next time wasn’t really a coincidence. He had somehow convinced Holly (and himself) that they needed to return to the craft store. DnD, first session, some bullshit he could barely believe himself.
“Do we really need to make scenes for our characters? Can’t we just use my old toys or something?” Holly asked, tilting her head to the side a bit. “I still have some old dollhouses, I think.”
“Yeah! Don’t you want it to be immersive for your friends?”
She shrugged. “Erica said we already had everything we needed, and she’s been playing for a few months now.”
Mike rolled his eyes as they entered the store. He instinctively looked around for his favorite employee without gracing Holly with a response.
Will was talking with a girl around their age. She looked just like him, but shorter in height and with longer hair. Was this his girlfriend? Mike frowned. He needs to get to the bottom of this.
“Hey!” Mike almost felt bad for interrupting their conversation but this information was more important than manners.
The two looked over at him. Will's face lit up slightly, which was a good start, but the girl he was with just looked confused. “Oh, hi again. How’s the campaign going?”
“We’d be ready to start if Mike didn’t keep delaying it,” Holly stood beside him with her arms folded over her chest. He had better things to worry about. Like how to bring his dilemma up without being obvious. “He’s doing anything but working on the map he said we need.”
Mike argued back instantly. “What? No! When have I ever-“ Holly opened her mouth to speak. “Be quiet.”
“Anyways, we were just in the area and I saw you and your girlfriend in the window.” Perfect. He is so smooth.
“What do you mean, in the area?” Holly lowered her voice to mock Mike on the last three words. “You drove here-“
“Girlfriend?” Will parroted with an amused smile. “No, this is my sister.”
Oh thank god.
“Jane,” the girl gave a shy wave. She looked between Will and Mike, giving her brother a pointed grin. Will turned a light shade of pink. “Are you the customer that keeps coming here right before we close?”
Nevermind. She might’ve noticed. “…yes.”
“That’s strange. I work the closing shift all the time and I’ve never once seen you,” Jane hummed with a cocked head.
“Guess I’m just…elusive.”
“Maybe.”
“So!” Will cut in, “what’re you guys looking for? We have a new shipment of how-to drawing books.”
Fuck. Mike hadn’t thought of an excuse this time. He looked down at Holly then the most genius idea popped into his brain. “Yes, the how-to’s. Do you guys have the ones with cats?”
Holly perked up. Mike felt so smart. “They should be fully stocked-“ Will began.
“I can show her,” Jane finished. Will looked at her gratefully.
“Cool!” Holly nearly squealed, her pouting instantly forgotten. She followed Jane down the aisle, not looking back at her brother or Will.
“So you and your sister work at the same place?” Mike started once the two were out of earshot. “That’s cool.”
“Yeah. Just part-time, though. She’s going to move in with my brother once she figures out what she wants to do,” Will replied as he set down the paintbrushes he was fiddling with. “Do you have any other siblings?”
“One older sister. She’s a journalist or something, I don’t know,” Mike shrugged and Will huffed out a laugh. He shouldn’t be as proud of that as he is, but give Mike a break. The laugh sounded nice.
“How’s the map going? Can I see?”
Oh right. The poster board had been sitting in the basement with NOTHING on it.
That’s what he was supposed to do this week. “Artists block.” Hopefully that’s a thing.
“Oh, that’s the worst. Unfortunate timing too.” Will tilted his head empathetically.
Great. Mike tried to not look too enthusiastic when he nodded along. His eyes drifted down to the tiny sketchpad Will had tucked under his fingers. From what he could see, it was a pretty good drawing of a dragon. “Did you draw that?”
Will instantly looked a little embarrassed. He fully covered the drawing pad with his long sleeve and nodded shyly. “That’s amazing.”
Will huffed with a smile and tried to wave him off, but the reddening of his cheeks gave him away. “Thanks. It’s nothing, really.” Definitely didn’t look like nothing, but alright, Mike thought.
The fourth time, Mike couldn’t think of an excuse.
He’d been stalling the campaign, Holly and her friends were getting impatient, and he couldn’t keep blaming the delay on school work. Nonetheless, he had dragged Holly to the craft store after her school released its students to buy something. He hadn’t thought of what they should buy, only thought about his favorite employee.
“Mike,” Holly groaned. Obviously, she was getting sick of this. “We don’t need anything.”
“Don’t you have that project coming up?”
Her nose wrinkled slightly, looking every bit like Mike. “What project?”
“That one project…for that one class? That’s due…soon.”
The siblings were stopped in the doorway, just staring at each other. Mike was pleading with her to fall for it and she was trying to figure out if he’d genuinely gone insane. “You suck at lying,” she huffed but followed him deeper into the store.
Mike scanned for what, who, he was looking for. This time Will was back behind the cash register. Jane was sitting on a stool chipped with paint. “He’s here,” Jane giggled. Will looked up instantly, pen stilled mid-stroke.
The Wheeler siblings walked over to the check-out counter. Holly took the initiative this time, standing on her tippy-toes and peeking at what Will was drawing. “Hey guys,” Will greeted. “DnD going well?”
“It’s not going anywhere. Mike still hasn’t made that map he promised,” Holly answered for the both of them.
“I’m still drafting it!”
“It’s freakin’ blank!” Holly shot back. She turned back to Will, who was very obviously trying to not laugh. “You drew that?” She pointed at the napkin underneath his pen.
“Yeah but it’s nothing special.”
Holly pursed her lips and thought for a bit, like she was considering something. “Can you help Mike draw the map for the campaign?”
Shit. No. He loves Holly, but she’s not going to ruin this for him. “Oh! Uh,” Will bumbled with his words for a bit. “Of course! I mean- if you’re okay with it.”
On second thought, maybe he loves Holly even more. “Yeah. Yeah, that’d be really cool actually. You- yeah. You’re great at drawing.”
“Great! Great. I’ll bring my art supplies. When are you free?”
“He's free tomorrow. And the rest of this week. As soon as you can get to him,” Holly interjected. Okay, rude. Sure, he didn’t have any plans, but she didn’t have to assume he didn’t.
Will huffed out a soft laugh along with Jane. “Sounds great. Can’t wait to see you,” he replied softly. Mike damn near melted at the gentleness, but hopefully nobody noticed.
“Perfect! Uh, yeah! Can’t wait to see you too!” Mike rushed out. He was smiling so hard his cheeks were beginning to hurt.
“Wait, you need his number,” Jane spoke up. She grinned at Will, who blushed and got the pen he was using to draw.
Thank god she said it. It’s not like he was going to sit there and actually ask someone for their number. He’s not insane. Suddenly, a folded napkin was placed into Mike's palm. It faced upwards with the numbers slightly smudged from the ink. Right below it, so small Mike had to squint to make it out?
A heart.
Holy shit. When he looked back up, Will was staring at him expectantly with flushed cheeks. The moment Mike met his gaze he looked away quickly.
“Finally! Thank you, Will!” Holly beamed, grinning. She tugged on Mike's wrist slightly. Mike on the other hand was just staring at the number offered to him, entire body feeling hot, feeling like his brain was melting out of his ears.
The doorbell chimed, indicating another customer came in, and Will smiled apologetically. “Sorry but uh-“
“No, yeah! It’s fine.”
“But maybe you can call me later?” Will asked, his cheeks turning pinker.
Mike had never nodded so quickly in his life. “Great. See you.”
Jane watched her brother walk away to greet the customer. She craned her neck then cupped her hand around the side of her mouth. “He’s single,” she whispered, grinning, then hopped off the stool she was sitting on.
Holly managed to drag him out to the front doors store, probably because he was feeling as light as a feather. He didn’t care. The look Will gave him when they left was 100% worth it, added a few more years to his lifespan. Holly dropped his wrist once they were stopped at the barrier between tile and cement then slowly turned to him. “Wait a second.”
“What?” Mike sounded more breathy than he’d care to admit.
“You didn’t want us to have an ‘immersive first session’, you just wanted to flirt with the employee!” She accused with a scowl.
“Whatever, we’re going to finish the prep, anyways!” Mike hushed Holly. Jane’s little snicker did not help. Clearly she heard. Holly narrowed her eyes at him.
“You’re so gross. I’m telling them the real reason we’ve been delayed for weeks.”