Work Text:
The sun was shining down, with a gentle breeze kissing his face, as Angelo turned around the corner, onto a less crowded street. He squinted against the sun, looking far down the road, trying to find the cafe Corbeau had told him to meet him at. A few meters away, there was a small sign with a little coffee mug on it, assuming that was the cafe he was looking for, he picked up his pace, walking confidently down the path towards the decorated cafe front.
As he approached, he realised Corbeau was nowhere to be seen, at least outside the cafe, he never specified if they would meet inside or outside. Eventually he reached the front, there were little flower beds filled with beautifully blossoming bushes, and fairy lights adjourning the top of the windows. Angelo took one last careful glance down the street, in case he had missed Corbeau, before looking in through the massive front windows. It didn’t seem that he had gone in without him, so he decided he would just wait for him to arrive outside.
Whilst he waited, he took a chance to take in his surroundings, the street was less busy than the ones he’d walked to get here, yet the trees that decorated the middle of the roads were a jolly and healthy green thriving in the crisp afternoon air. He turned back to the cafe, the windows, large and exceptionally clean, were carefully painted with a scene of small pokemon in a patch of flowers, a design which covered just the bottom of the window, as to let in the daylight.
Angelo was mesmerised by the art, taking a moment to fully absorb and inspect every tiny, beautiful detail, sucked briefly into his own world where all that could ever matter was him and this adorable, intricate window mural.
“Hey.” A voice suddenly broke out behind him, causing him to spin around in momentary alarm.
“Oh my Arceus! I didn’t hear you arrive, you scared me!” He exclaimed, teasingly pushing Corbeau’s arm. “Don’t go doing that again!” He added.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I assumed you would have heard me coming… You arrived early?” Corbeau said, shaking his head in mock remorse, and taking his turn to admire the decorative touches of the cafe, “This place looks sweet, I’m glad I found it, and surprised it’s so empty…” He stated, already reaching to take Angelo's hand in his, and lead them both into the cafe.
“Hello!” An upbeat voice called out, as an energetic young lady came bounding out from behind the counter, “My name is Danielle! This place is technically self seated, but I do love to show people the best seats for them! I assume you want two seats? But the real question is do you want a bright seat with a nice view? Or a cozy seat out of the way?” She asked, untiying and retying her apron as she had previously tied it too tight.
“Hm” Angelo thought, already thrilled by the kind energy this lady was radiating off of her, “I think somewhere cozy! What about you?” He said, turning to Corbeau to hear his answer.
“Somewhere cozy and out of the way sounds good.” Corbeau agreed, nodding approvingly.
Danielle clasped her hands together in clear delight, bounding on the spot before walking the couple to the back of the cafe, “If you follow me, I have the best suggestion for you! Of course you can sit wherever you want, but maybe you’ll like my offer?”
Corbeau walked with Angelo at his side, following the energetic waitress to a table in the far corner, placed right below a beautifully painted image of Yveltal. They thanked the girl, deciding the table was perfect for them, and sitting down.
They made themselves comfortable, as the waitress vanished back behind the counter. Once they had both set down bags and removed unnecessary jackets, Corbeau looked across the room, focusing in on the menu posted up above the counter. “The menu is up there,” He said, pointing towards the wall opposite them, “What drink do you want?” He asked, before adding, “Are we going to get food?”
Angelo looked over at the menu with Corbeau, reading the barely visible text, “Hm, I mean, I didn’t eat breakfast, so i’ll probably get food, you don’t have to though.” He answered, “What drink are you getting?”
“I’ll probably get a plain coffee, I’m not in the mood for anything fancy today…” Corbeau replied, “And if you’re getting food, I think I will too, the menu looks quite nice.” They picked their drinks, and then some food to go with it, Corbeau noted it all down on a napkin so he wouldn’t forget, and took himself up to the counter to order, two drinks and two small pastries.
After a couple minutes, he returned to the table, with a little cardstock sign reading their order number, so that the serving staff could match their drinks to the correct table. They sat, Corbeau telling Angelo all about how his arbok had managed to get itself stuck in a doorway the night before, because it had attempted to pass through at the last second, and the door shut onto it, it was stuck there for 15 minutes before Corbeau found it, he had no idea how it had got out of its pokeball, or what it was trying to do, but he helped it get unstuck regardless, and put it back away in its pokeball. They kept talking for a few more minutes, until a nervous looking barista came over with a tray.
“Uh, hi! I’m Seth…” He glanced back to the counter where Danielle gave him a thumbs up, he was clearly new, “Here are your drinks…” He added, placing two mugs of hot liquid on the table. Angelo reached out to pull his drink closer to him, and Corbeau did the same. “And your pastries…” Seth added, carefully placing two plates onto the table, “Everything is fresh so it’s quite hot, please be careful…” He quickly murmured, before scurrying away, disappearing into the back of the cafe, most likely a store room.
Angelo looked over at the worker, watching them disappear, before looking back at Corbeau, chuckling lightly, “do you think they’re new?” He asked, looking sympathetic, “they were interacting with us like we were gonna knock them dead!” He shook his head in amusement, pulling his own plate with his pastry towards him. “This does look delicious though!” He said, reaching to take a bite.
“Didn’t he say it was hot and to be careful?” Corbeau reminded him, reaching over to stop him from taking a bite.
“Oh! Yeah, I almost forgot!” Angelo looked embarrassed, putting the pastry back down, opting for just picking at the little flakes that had fallen from the outside of the warm food.
“Your hair looks really cool today! Did you style it differently today?” Angelo asked, blowing at his drink to cool it down whilst he spoke.
“HM, didn’t style it differently…” Corbeau said, running his hand through his hair, “Although, I did have to use a different shampoo from usual, I ran out and wanted to go buy some, but the one i usually get wasn’t in stock… kinda sucked to be honest, I really like my usual shampoo…” He said, looking as if he was reliving the annoyance of learning his favourite shampoo was out of stock.
“Awh! I’m sorry, I really like your usual shampoo too! It makes your hair really soft! And it always smells great!” Angelo said, an enthusiastic look on his face, “Although, your hair looks great like this, so I guess it’s not all bad!” He added, hopefully.
Angelo look a cautious sip of his drink, hoping it to be cooler by now, but regardless, winced slightly, as it was still a little warm, though not that bad. Corbeau subtly chuckled at his reaction, already biting into his own pastry. The food and drink was finally starting to cool to a tolerable temperature, so for just a few moments, their conversation went quiet, as they enjoyed the fresh foods and high quality drinks. The food and drinks was notably much fresher tasting than the usual cafe foods and drinks they would get, everything in here was clearly hand made, the pastries hand baked, coffee beans hand pressed, opposed to the usual cafe practice of reheating and using pre crushed coffee bean packs.
Once they had both taken a first taste of their own orders, and were satisfied, they fell into a steady balance of eating, talking and drinking, as their quiet conversation started back up, as Angelo told Corbeau about a hobby he recently attempted and thought was very entertaining. Their conversation went on for a couple hours, as their mugs emptied, and their plates cleared. Corbeau took one last sip from his mug, scrunching up his nose in disgust, as the drink had gone cold, and despite the delicious, fresh coffee that it was, it still had the usual bottom of the cup coffee sediment, making that final sip less enjoyable.
Once they finished their food, they sat for a bit more, talking, until eventually deciding to end the date. Corbeau took the mugs and plates, placing them on a tray on the collection trolley, so it could be returned to the kitchen and washed. Angelo picked up both of their jackets, lingering whilst he waited for Corbeau to return the cups.
“Shall we go?” Corbeau asked, nodding thankfully towards the staff, before turning to look at Angelo, taking his arm in his, and leading him out of the coffee shop. They stopped outside the cafe, putting on their jackets, and then left to head to Angelo’s house, Corbeau insisting to walk him home.
They walked in peaceful quiet, after talking for so many hours, until it started to rain, only lightly, but it was enough for them to both put their hoods up. Angelo looked over at Corbeau awkwardly, giggling softly, “Bad timing to decide to leave huh?” He said, smiling a little,
“Hm, Yeah…” Corbeau sighed, “I almost brought my umbrella with me, but it was sunny when i left!” Corbeau chuckled, pulling his hood further over his head.
“My place is only around this corner, so I’ll be out of the rain soon!” Angelo said hopefully.
“Yep! Although I still have to walk all the way home…” Corbeau said in dismay.
‘Oh… yeah…” Angelo said, thinking for a minute, “You can come and stay around mine tonight?” He suggested, shrugging.
“Not tonight… I have arrangements tomorrow, and I don’t want to bother your nice lay in in the morning…” Corbeau said, looking at Angelo apologetically.
“Awh! Okay…” Angelo said, stepping forward towards his door, “Anyway, I’ll part here…” He said, looking at Corbeau, “Thank you for today, the cafe was wonderful!” He said, leaning forward to give Corbeau a peck on the lips.
“Of course! Maybe we can find some other unknown food place next week? Make a date out of it?” He suggested, returning the kiss, and stepping back, “I’ll message you when I’m home safe!” He said, turning to walk away down the street.