stealhearted | are you hurting the one you love?

[He gives him what is becoming a commonly withering look, and then turns his attention to the plate of food he's presented with. He hesitates a moment before sliding into a bar chair in front of it, nodding.]

Yes, yes. I can't very well go bouldering in these circumstances, anyway.

[ Akira thinks the withering looks are cute but knows better than to state this outloud. ]

Was it one of the hobbies you liked? [ Akira knows that there's a lot of things Akechi did just for what it would get him -- muscles, maybe, or people thinking 'that's so unusual and cool'. But he doesn't know everything about Akechi, and doesn't know how much of it was real.

Not for things like bouldering, anyway. ]

[He takes a bite of the egg and rice plate, mulling the question over. He knows what he's asking-- was it something he did because he liked it, or for the sake of being an influencer? He hums, swallowing and nodding slowly.]

Bouldering and cycling were two things I genuinely enjoyed.

I feel like I've been teaching you a lot, so maybe you can teach me how to boulder. [ Not now, but in the future. He wants to learn about the things that Akechi really likes. Akira feels like there's such a short list of things Akechi genuinely likes -- bouldering, cycling, Akira (mostly), the rest of the Phantom Thieves (mostly), carrots, coffee -- and he wants to expand that list, learn more things.

Learn the things that make him happy. ]

[He takes another thoughtful bite of his eggs, chewing and turning to look at Akira as he swallows, smiling slightly.]

Sounds like a deal to me.

Cool. [ It's like planning a future date, which is still wild, given that Akira didn't think either of them would have a future and now here they both are. Boyfriends. Eating eggs. Domestic almost-bliss.

Close enough, given what they've been through.

After that, Akira lapses into silence to veritably inhale his food, in true teenager fashion. ]

[Akechi watches in vague horror for a moment before going back to his own eggs, eating them at a much more reasonable pace and not quite finishing them before he sets his utensil(s) down.]

I won't go easy on you, with bouldering. You'll be lucky to be learning when I'm rusty.

Please teach me well. [ Akira says, only partially joking, offering Akechi a smile. He waits until he's sure Akechi is done, and then he gathers the plates, automatically -- he does not bother saving the remnants of Akechi's breakfast, just mentally notes the portion Akechi ate for later. ]

I'm sure it'll come in handy in the MetaVerse.

[He eats less for breakfast than most other times-- he doesn't eat much to begin with, but he eats maybe a third of what a normal person would eat when it comes to breakfast. It started as a habit, so he would be hungry when he went places for his food blog, enough to eat most of his plate without feeling or being sick afterward. He returns the smile Akira offers, folding his hands on the counter.]

It has in the past. Don't suppose I could bother you for another cup of coffee? [Caffeinate him, please.]

I'm not going to tell my best customer no. [ It's funny because Akechi has not paid for coffee in approximately sixty two years, but. It's kind of a part that they both play, sometimes: the flirty barista and the innocent customer. It's a much more comfortable thing to play than most of then other masks they've both worn.

Akira surveys the beans for a moment before selecting a darker, sweeter roast; more of a dessert coffee. A nice finish to breakfast. ]

I would have to be paying to be a customer, [He chides, and it's... Comfortable. It's strangely comfortable. Nostalgic, even. He closes his eyes against the immediate urge to pull away from the comfort of it, clasping his hands and resting his face against them. He's trying. It's hard, but he's trying.]

I didn't say you were the customer who spends the most money. [ Just the best customer. The one he likes the most. The one who spends the most time at Leblanc, which is a definite award Akechi can take at this point.

But he brews the coffee. This roast gets a little bit of sugar dissolved into it, pressed through the filter to have a nice froth on top when he sets it down. It's a little adventurous. More trendy than Sojiro would ever do himself. ]

Special blend, just for you.

[He rolls his eyes.] Oh, of course, my mistake.

[He picks up the cup and smells it, tilts his head, looks up at Akira, tastes it. His face slackens in surprise and he sets it down.] ...it's good.

[ Akira takes a sip of his own cup and then grins, clearly delighted that his experiment came out so well. ]

Good. Don't tell Sojiro, but I've started learning about some new coffee trends... Some of them are pretty tasty.

You say that as if me telling Sakura anything benefits me in any way. [He sips at his coffee, clearly enjoying it.] Come sit with me.

[ Akira does. Honestly, it's hard to imagine Akechi even having a conversation with Sojiro that wasn't coached entirely in anxious keigo, but. Maybe that'll come, one day. ]

You might want to blackmail me one day. With my nefarious coffee deeds.

[He can have basic conversations with him, but-- they're mostly about the paper. Or crossword puzzles. And less than four sentences.]

[He has to set his cup down, and-- Akira isn't ready for the way he laughs, suddenly. It's a little... odd, because he doesn't laugh overmuch, not in a sincere way, but there the fuck it is.]

[ Akira looks vaguely surprised at the way Akechi laughs, because it's so -- off guard and genuine. He hasn't seen a lot of genuine laughter or genuine smiles from Akechi, so he immediately files it away in his memory bank as a really nice thing.

He wants to see it more often.

He doesn't even know how to react in response, he just -- looks vaguely confused up until he gets this soft, kind of dorky smile on his face. It's the patented "Akira looking lovingly at Akechi" smile. ]

[He doesn't laugh especially long, but as it peters off he turns and sees that dopey look on Akira's face and the laugh dies out completely, but not in a bad way. He just... stops breathing, he thinks? And he's suddenly smacked in the face with the full force of Akira's fondness, and it crashes over him like a wave of syrupy goo, melting into his chest and making him warm in a way he doesn't know what to do with.]

[So he just smiles, helplessly, and then turns to look at his coffee again, going steadily red in the face like a teenage girl with the vapors.]

[ It's genuinely so cute that it's overwhelming. Like, what is he supposed to do with that, when Akechi is acting like the heroine of a shoujo manga? Of the kind of manga that Ann has definitely made Akira read?

Akira drinks his coffee back, a little too quick, and then takes his cup around to wash out; gives them both a chance to recover from... the mere sight of Akechi laughing, which shouldn't seem to have such an effect, but it -- does?

Belatedly, Akira realizes it's because it's a sign that Akechi is actually happy for the first time in -- ]

Oh, Sojiro's almost here.

[Yeah, it's-- it's definitely that. He can't remember the last time he was honestly and sincerely happy. It's foreign and terrifying and he's lightheaded, so he just finishes his coffee and offers Akira the cup.]

So he can't know your nefarious deeds.

Thanks. Now you're an accomplice, you know. [ Which he's pretty sure Akechi is okay with, but Akira steps over to wash the cups as Sojiro opens the door, surveys the cafe, sees that everything is already done, and flips the sign to open with a quiet thanks to Akira. ]

We're heading out today, if you don't think you'll need help. [ Sojiro does not think he will need help for the approximate six people he expects to show up, he says, unfurling his newspaper onto the counter as he makes his own coffee. ]

[There's a funny little quirked grin on his face, which lends to the idea that yeah, he's pretty okay with being an accomplice, and he watches Sojiro make his coffee with a cautious nod in greeting and a smile.]

[He fidgets while he waits for Akira to finish up and get permission from Sojiro to head out, lacing and unlacing his fingers a handful of times and wishing his gloves wouldn't look so strange with a short-sleeved shirt. Hell, they'd look strange to begin with in the spring, but he likes them, damn it.]

[ Akira either makes the situation worse or better by snagging Akechi's hand in his when he passes to tug Akechi out the door as he offers Sojiro a parting nod. They're in date land now, which means subdued handholding and gross smitten looks and Akira insisting on buying them souvenirs.

He does let go of Akechi's hand once they're outside, but it's a slow thing, his fingers drifting up Akechi's wrist like he doesn't quite want to let go. He doesn't, but he doesn't think Akechi is quite ready for PDA in the middle of the daytime. ]

[He's tense in Akira's grasp, but allows it, squirming as he walks and visibly trying to not recoil from his hand. He sort of sags in relief when Akira releases him on his own, reaching up to idly tuck his hair behind his ears several times, like a nervous tic.]

Um, Kuru-- ... [He grimaces, briefly, squaring his shoulders and raising his voice, almost a little too loudly.] Akira, [He shrinks back from his own voice, wheezing without opening his mouth. He reaches out to brush his fingers over the back of Akira's hand, and tries again, more reasonably.] ...Akira.

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