Title: A Brew, indeed, a Fluid Friend
Author: WithinLivesDarkness (AO3: Bloody_Jeans)
Rating: T just to be safe.
Summary: Anteiku gets a sudden influx of customers, so Kaneki is forced to share a table with a complete stranger. He doesn't expect what's to come of it.
Chapter: 1/5
Warnings: Yaoi/Slash pairing (HideKane), choppy scenes, and confusing plot twists.
Extra Notes: Available on Ao3. Title based off a poem by 'Emmett Lee Dickinson' that I found on an image online. I don't know if that person is real or not, but apparently, he's Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed at her request? If you want to find the image, you can find it at the Ao3 Version of this fic.
A Brew, indeed, a Fluid Friend
Chapter One: Blonde Boy
"We're sorry, but there are no seats left," the barista at the entrance, Touka-san, says.
Kaneki glances around, and his eyebrows furrow. She's right.
The small coffee shop is jam-packed, even the private booths in the back, which is odd. The nineteen-year-old has been going to the same spot for the past two years, and it's never had these many people in an entire week.
So what's with the sudden influx of customers?
"We've recently added some new items to the menu, and they've been a hit so far," Touka-san explains, and Kaneki flushes in embarrassment when he realizes he spoke aloud.
"Oh, alright," he murmurs. "I guess I'll come back another time, then."
A surge of disappointment barrels through him. The only reason he'd ever gone to Anteiku in the first place was for its privacy and availability, and now that's changed as well. Sure, the coffee's great and the location's nearby, but there are closer, better spots, though none of which as quiet and comforting as Anteiku.
Kaneki hitches his backpack further up his shoulder and turns to go, but a voice interrupts, "Excuse me," stopping him in his tracks. He turns his head to look in surprise.
A handsome young man with short, dirty blonde hair and dark roots stares back at him, brown eyes friendly and toothy grin inviting. He's only slightly taller than Kaneki and about the same age.
The dark-haired student feels as if he recognizes him from somewhere, but that's just ridiculous. He would definitely remember meeting someone as attractive as the person before him.
"I couldn't help but overhear—well, I could, but I didn't—I mean, uh...," the blonde stammers. Kaneki resists the urge to giggle. Taking a deep breath, the stranger continues, "You can sit with me if you'd like? I'm not expecting anyone, and there's space." He gestures towards the table next to his waist.
Kaneki's eyes widen, and he considers this for a moment. So far, he's the only one offering... though it may be distracting to be near him. But I've already read this book twice now, so I should be fine, right?
Both Touka-san and the stranger are looking at him now, and he suddenly feels guilty for wasting their time. Nibbling on his lower lip, a nervous habit he'd thought he'd curbed in high school, he agrees, "I'd like that, thank you."
The blonde grins at him and sits down at one end of the circular table, shuffling papers over to make room. Kaneki carefully seats himself across from the other man and unzips his bag to bring out the latest and greatest novel from his favorite author. It's only been two months since he's bought it, but this is already his third time reading it.
Touka-san comes over again and pulls out her notepad. "The usual for both of you, then?" At their nods, the younger girl retreats to the counter, and the two are left in silence.
Oddly enough, Kaneki feels comfortable in the other's presence instead of distracted like he'd thought. Neither tries to start up any conversation, which he's grateful for. He's not entirely sure what he would say in the first place, as he still has trouble talking to his own cousins. Just imagine tea—or rather, coffee—talk with an utter stranger whose name he didn't even know.
This is why I don't date, a distant part of his mind reminds him, but once it starts wandering into a dangerous territory with its "maybe's", Kaneki shakes it off.
No, instead, the blonde boy immediately refocuses on the papers before him with admirable dedication upon sitting down, not even glancing up to sip at his drink as he scribbles something down furiously. If Kaneki has to take a guess, it's probably an overdue project or the like.
Blinking as he realizes he was staring for far too long, Kaneki turns back to his own book, zeroing in on a particularly complex sentence he still hasn't been able to figure out the meaning behind despite all his best efforts.
After about an hour, the stranger glances up at the clock hanging above the counter, quickly packs up shop in his own knapsack, drops a couple yen on the table, and then rushes out, the bell above the entrance clanging his departure.
Kaneki watches him go, half-way done through his novel. Outside the cafe, almost as an afterthought, the blonde turns to the large display window Kaneki's sitting at and gives him a bright smile and light wave.
The black-haired boy tries not to examine too closely the pleased shudder that travels down his spine at the action. Touka-san wanders by and grabs the man's leftover coffee and payment.
Soon, Kaneki finishes up his own espresso before leaving as well, still dropping a tip near his cup despite the complications in his seating—though it turned out quite well for him, anyway.
His only regret is that he'll probably never see the stranger again.
Okay, he's wrong.
The second day follows the same pattern, though Kaneki comes in at an earlier time, right before his first morning class. Anteiku is still throbbing with people, and there are still no seats for him until he still gets an offer from a person who's not a complete stranger anymore.
Blonde Boy, he dubbed him late last night while he was taking a slightly-chillier-than-normal shower.
After Kaneki sits down upon invitation again, concealing his excitement, Touka-san takes their orders. Kaneki orders his usual, but Blonde Boy tries a cappuccino this time. Again, the dark-haired boy rereads a novel, and the stranger scrambles to finish a paper—at least, that's what Kaneki continues to assume.
However, at the end of the hour, he decides to spruce things up.
As Blonde Boy stands to leave and pulls out his wallet, Kaneki clears his throat, meeting the other man's—wow, pretty color, long lashes, no, don't think about it again—gaze.
"Please leave it. I'll pay for you," he says and then glances back down at his book, breaking eye contact. It's almost a relief. "As a thank you."
Blonde Boy stares at him for a couple seconds—almost a minute, Kaneki counts—and then he grins, pocketing the yen. "Hey, thanks, man. I appreciate it."
"It's no problem," Kaneki murmurs after the other boy leaves.
For whatever reason, he doesn't mind—feels thrilled, actually—that he's just spent his hard-earned money on a random (good-looking) person.
"Hide."
Kaneki glances up from his work. The third time, he's the one overloaded with papers, while Blonde Boy plays something on his phone.
"What?"
It's the first time they've talked when they haven't needed to.
Blonde Boy looks up and meets his eye, and thoughts from yesterday come running back to Kaneki. "My name. It's Nagachika Hideyoshi, but you can just call me Hide if you want."
The dark-haired boy smiles, just a little, but enough to get his message across. "Kaneki Ken," he answers, and Blonde Boy—Hide—nods, going back to whatever he's doing on his phone. It takes Kaneki takes a little longer to focus on his essay.
"So what do you do for a living?" Kaneki asks.
It's been two weeks since they've met, and each and every time, Hide is the one to initiate the conversation. The dark-haired boy decides it's time for that to stop and picks the first question that pops to mind.
Both of them are relaxed just then, and it's almost dark out but they're still sitting there with their finished coffees and respective work. Hide tenses and hesitates, the first time Kaneki's ever seen him do so and the last thing he wanted to happen, and bites his lip. Just as Kaneki's about to retract his statement, the blonde opens his mouth.
"I probably shouldn't be telling you this; it's private, but I... trust you. A lot," Hide answers, and a shock shoots down Kaneki's spine at both his previous and next words. "I'm a CCG investigator assistant."
The dark-haired boy doesn't know what's more surprising. He'd assumed Hide was a college student like him, and that's been the basis of his identity to Kaneki for the past two weeks. But also, how can the blonde already trust him? They've barely even discussed favorite colors (though he's uncovered a new one just recently—a nice shade of yellow and brown mix).
As if reading his thoughts, Hide adds, "I only recently dropped out of Kamii University to join the force." He doesn't elaborate on the trust factor, however.
"Oh," Kaneki murmurs distractedly, the dots connecting somewhere in the back of his mind. "We used to go the same college, then."
Hide's eyebrows reach for his darkening hairline (and Kaneki hasn't been told this, but he knows the other man bleaches it weekly). "Really? Maybe that's why you're so familiar."
"Maybe."
That doesn't seem right, though.
It's been a month since their first meeting. By now, the crowd has drastically died down, the popularity of the new cakes going with it, much to the relief of the regulars and the employees, though the owner, Yoshimura-san, seems rather glum about it.
Technically, Kaneki and Hide, who's now an official regular, can sit separately again.
Neither one of them comments when Hide calmly slides down across from Kaneki the next day and unpacks his suitcase full of documents. Kaneki hides a smile and concentrates on a new book, this time from a different novelist.
Author's Note: Based off this Tumblr prompt: "Forced to share a table at the coffee shop a couple days in a row because crowded coffee shop and no room AU".
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! If you did, please be sure to leave some feedback, as I thrive off of comments. Until next time.
- xoxo Jo