A/N: This is for Misty Ishida and PezAngst because I've been dying for a request and they reviewed It's Raining At The Bridge, Too, and they both suggested a Daikeru/Takedai. This is also for everyone else who reviewed that story, because I honestly didn't think people would like it. I love you guys! Anyways, the summary of this story is basically Takeru has a new job at a place that gets absolutely no customers, so Dai and all of the others go and visit him and eat there. Cute, short, pointless. I also managed to stick in Taito. It's so easy to stick in Taito in a story without a different Tai or Matt pairing. I love it. I'm sure you don't want to hear me rambling anymore, so here you go.
Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon or the characters, but I do own Joe and Eat At Joe's (the restaurant).
Eat At Joe's
Takeru hit the empty glass on the counter with the spoon, delighting in the noise it made. He hit the next one, and then the next, smirking at the difference in sound due to the other glasses being filled with different amounts of water. He began trying to make a song, but he couldn't seem to get the right notes.
He heard the sounds of the TV in the back room, where he was sure his boss was sleeping on the small couch he kept back there. He considered going back there and watching TV with him, but he heard the little bell over the door jingle and turned happily to greet their first customer of the day. It was around five in the afternoon, mind you, but they hardly ever got customers anyways.
He wasn't surprised when his boyfriend and all of his friends ran into the building, some panting. His boss practically sprinted out of the back room, a huge smile on his face and fixing his shirt, but his face fell when he saw who it was.
"Oh, it's you."
"You sound so happy to see us, Joe," Daisuke remarked, smirking and sitting down on a bar stool.
"You should be happy, you know, since we're your only customers and all," Sora informed him.
"And we are going to order this time," Taichi said, plopping down next to Yamato.
"Good, you had better," Joe replied, going back into the back room, though smiling.
"What'll you guys have?" Takeru asked, unable to stop smiling brightly. Now he wouldn't be so incredibly bored.
"We're all dying of thirst. You have no idea how *hot* it is outside," Daisuke whined, wiping his sweaty forehead.
"Get us all our usual drinks and ice cream, please," Matt said, checking his wallet to make sure he had enough money for both him and Tai, since Tai almost always forgot to bring his own money.
Sure enough, he heard Tai groaning beside him and poking him. "Matt, I forgot my money again, can you-"
"I got it covered, Tai."
Tai hugged him around the waist and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."
Sora pulled her feet up onto the bar stool and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Have you guys redecorated this place?"
Takeru nodded and handed Dai and Tai their cokes. "We were so down yesterday about no one coming all day that we began moving stuff around and trying to make the place look nicer."
"Maybe you should consider working somewhere else, Takeru. I mean, at least it'll be better pay, and you won't be doing nothing all day," Koushirou said, laying his feet across Jyou's lap and leaning back against Mimi's side.
"I've thought about it, but every single time I consider leaving, I think of how miserable Joe would be. No one else would ever want to work here, and if he never got anyone to help him around here, he might have to close the restaurant."
Takeru handed Matt, Koushirou and Mimi their tea and Kari, Jyou, Ken, and Iori their Sprite.
"You're a good person," Miyako told him, smiling. He smiled back and shrugged.
"I guess I am, yeah."
He handed Sora and Miyako cups of water and began making the ice cream. When everyone had their ice cream, Takeru made one for himself, got himself a drink, and sat beside Daisuke on a stool.
He sighed wearily and Daisuke put an arm around him. "You work too much," the redhead told him.
"You play too much," Takeru replied.
Daisuke grinned. "There's no such thing as playing too much. Everyone should be able to play and play to their heart's content."
"I guess you're right," the blonde said, smiling and leaning his head on Daisuke's shoulder.
Daisuke ruffled his hair and kissed the top of his head. He licked at his chocolate ice cream and smiled when Joe wandered over and plopped down on a seat, holding his own ice cream cone.
"Tired from all the work, Joe?" he joked, smirking. He laughed when Joe lightly shoved at his shoulder.
"Shut up, Dai." Joe smiled a bit. "I'm just sort of down that this place never got popular. Is the food good? Does it have bugs it in or something?"
"The food's great, nothing's wrong with the place. You just have to wait for more people to come. Your restaurant isn't exactly in a place where everyone could see. You're behind that big bank, you know."
Joe shrugged. "I guess you're right. I should just wait for more people to find out about it. I've only had the restaurant for six months."
"If it'll make you feel better, Joe, we'll tell our parents about this place, and ask them to tell their friends or coworkers to try it out."
"Would you guys do that for me?"
"Sure we would!" Taichi smiled. "We love this place, you know."
"Well, you come here practically every day, but I thought that was just for Takeru."
"No, it's for Takeru, you, and the restaurant."
"Jyou's right, Joe. Heh, two Joe's. Anyways, we come here for both of you guys, and the restaurant. You do have the greatest root beer floats, you know."
"You're the only one that likes them, Yamato."
"Uh, so? At least that's one person, right?"
Joe laughed, and then got an idea. He stood and went to the side of the restaurant, stopping in front of a jukebox that he had gotten a month ago that they never turned on. He brought two dollars out of his pocket and slipped them in, then went through each page of CD covers, carefully selecting each song.
In seconds, a song began playing. Takeru and Daisuke immediately looked up and grinned at him; Joe knew it was one of their favorite old songs. Takeru stood up and held an arm out to Daisuke, who grinned and blushed slightly, taking his arm and standing up as well.
"A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile," Takeru sang.
"And I knew if I had my chance, that I could make those people dance and maybe they'd be happy for awhile," Daisuke sang back, surprisingly well.
They danced through the verse, and everyone sang the chorus.
"So bye, bye Ms. American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry, them good ol' boys were drinking whisky and rye, singing 'This'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die'."
The music got faster and Taichi pulled Yamato off of the bar stool and began dancing with him. Sora and Mimi dragged Joe towards the "dance floor" and began dancing with him, and Miyako and Kari started dancing with Ken and Iori. Jyou and Koushirou decided to go along with it and began dancing the tango.
Takeru smoothed the hair back from Daisuke's face and grinned when it just flopped back into place. Daisuke kissed the other boy and put his arms around his neck. Takeru rested his head against Daisuke's and gently ran his hand down his back, knowing that he was lucky to have such great friends to go and visit him at work like this. Only they could turn an incredibly boring day into a fun day of dancing to a jukebox in a lonely restaurant.
He looked over at his other friends, and smiled as he watched Sora and Mimi place a kiss on either of Joe's cheeks, telling him to cheer up, that his restaurant would soon be the most popular in town, and everyone would crowd in here and that he would need all of them working there because there would be so many people.
He watched as Tai and Matt whispered things into each others ears and smiled so peacefully that you'd think all of the wars in the entire world had stopped, that there was no violence, that all was right and wonderful with the world. He watched as Miyako, Kari, Ken, and Iori had slowly become Miyako dancing with Kari and Ken dancing with Iori. He watched as Jyou pressed a hesitant kiss to Koushirou's cheek and Koushirou's face turned redder than a stop sign.
He smiled at them all and nuzzled Daisuke's neck.
"Everything's going to be okay, right, Dai?"
Daisuke smiled and nodded, feeling Takeru's soft hair brush against his face as he did. "Yeah, TK. Everything's gonna be okay."
Just then, they heard the bell above the door jingle and they all looked up, surprised to see a family of five standing there, staring at them all.
"Is the restaurant still open?" the man asked.
Joe quickly went to the cash register, nodding. "Yes, we're still open. What'll you guys have?"
The family ordered food and Takeru happily went about preparing it. The rest of the Digidestined all sat in booths and smiled as they watched Joe swell with pride at having five customers. While the family was eating, two more people entered the restaurant, and Takeru was again rushing about to prepare food and Joe was happily opening the cash register to give the man back his change.
While the customers were all eating, Daisuke got up and motioned to the others that they should help out. More customers began arriving. Apparently, they had heard the music coming from the place, and they found the restaurant and decided to stop and try it out.
"We should keep putting music on, then," Takeru said, smiling and washing glass cups in the sink.
"Yeah, apparently," Joe replied, smiling wider than he had in days.
Daisuke poked his head into the back room. "Joe, we need two more sundaes. Everyone seems to want ice cream today."
"Thanks, Dai." Joe turned to Takeru. "Could you get that?"
"Sure." Takeru dried his hands and went out of the back room.
They served six more customers that day before they finally reached closing time. Joe turned the Open sign over to read Closed. He turned and smiled at the kids. "Thanks for all of your help."
"No problemo," Tai replied, grinning.
"If you ever do need our help again, just call us over, and we'll help you out."
"None of us have afternoon jobs, so we'd gladly help you out whenever you needed us."
"Thank you all. You really are my number one customers." Joe grinned at them all. "Okay, I'll give you guys a call if I need you all."
"We're still going to hang around, you know," Yamato informed him.
"It'd be boring without you guys," Joe admitted.
"Great! So we better be going. See you tomorrow, Joe."
"Bye Takeru. Bye everyone."
"Bye Joe!"
The twelve friends left the lonely restaurant and went to their cars. Takeru walked alongside Daisuke, turning back once and smiling at the restaurant. "Sora and Mimi are right. One day, we're going to be famous, and everyone is going to want to eat here."
"I'm sure, Takeru," Daisuke replied, smiling. He slipped his hand into Takeru's and they slid in beside Kari in Tai's car. Matt got in the passenger seat and Tai turned the car on and drove them away.
Takeru turned around in his seat to stare out of the back window at the restaurant. He watched as the light outside the restaurant turned off and the lights from the inside went off as well, and slowly turned back around in his seat and stared forward, smiling and wondering what the next day at work would bring him.
A/N: Yay. There you go. A little Daikeru, a little bit of other couples thrown in, and a lot of mush. Great. I just wanted to write a fic where someone had a job and was visited by all the others. Review and tell me if you like or don't like. See you in the next story! I love you all.