stealhearted | are you hurting the one you love?

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.

[ Do not call him cute, Akira tells himself forcefully, as he turns to look at Akechi. He watches the way he tucks his hair behind his ear, the way his voice chokes on the first attempt, and he does not comment on any of it, just offering him a smile.

He also does not return fire with Goro's first name. Too much, too fast. ]

Yeah?

You're-- this-- [He pulls his hand back, tapping his fingertips to his thumb in a sequence from his forefinger to his pinky and back.] This is supposed to be a date, right?

I'd like it to be. [ Akira says. He doesn't think Akechi would say no to him, at this point -- Akechi seems as desperate to make Akira happy as Akira is to make Akechi happy, which is slightly worrying and slightly reassuring at the same time -- but he still wants to give him an out, an option to say "no, it's not a date".

But -- they're dating, aren't they? They agreed. So. It's a date. ]

[He's relatively certain his skin is just going to be permanently crimson, for the day. He'll call it sunburn if Ryuji or Ann ask. Swallowing audibly, he takes a step forward, reaching out and curling his fingers around Akira's, frowning at them with an expression like he's swallowed a bug or is feeling the onset of food poisoning.]

...then, um. You're in charge, I have no idea how this is meant to work.

Okay. Well, first we're going to go to the park, and we're gonna ride the little boats. [ He curls his fingers through Akechi's, tightening the grip enough and giving him a reassuring squeeze. It's nice, because it's an easy, gentle contact, but it's also an easy way for Akechi to -- quite literally -- tap out if he gets overwhelmed. ]

Then we can walk around. You probably don't want anything to eat since you're getting crepes later. [ Maybe Akira can get something and Akechi can try it and Akira can finish the rest because he has a true teenager metabolism. ]

[His hand is-- probably sweaty, he realizes in mild horror, but it's fine, he squeezes Akira's fingers back, uncoordinated. He doesn't say anything, just nods, bunched up where he's standing and looking at anything that isn't Akira.]

[God help him.]

[ Akira doesn't mind the sweaty hands, really. It's hard to mind when they've already had some arguably gross sex in the Metaverse, after all, so he just -- holds on regardless, and leads the way.

Eventually, he starts making idle conversation, which is less a conversation and more of Akira just talking to help soothe Akechi's nerves. ]

Ann's going to want to get so many crepes you're going to wonder how she can eat it all, but she'll really put it all away. Be prepared to buy at least two for yourself because she'll definitely eat your leftovers.

[He takes to smoothing his thumb along the grain of each of Akira's fingernails, tapping intermittently, but never in the 1-2-3 pattern, and the anxious motion slows as Akira continues to natter quietly. He hates, just a little bit, how easily soothed by his voice he can be.]

I cannot fathom how she keeps her figure.

She's started working out more often. She decided she wants to be a really good model. [ Akira still is not entirely clear on how working out a little and buying more clothing makes her a better model when the previous better model was, in fact, just cheating her way to the top, but he will wholeheartedly support her regardless. ]

She's planning to go study abroad soon.

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