Walking home seemed like a great idea at first, but the wind that day seemed intent on blowing even a sturdy guy like Reiner off his feet. Eyes stung dry, he barrelled himself inside the closest store that was good enough for him to take cover.
He at least had the decency to duck his head in embarrassment when the few customers inside raised their heads. The strong aroma of coffee and sweet pastry filled his senses and he figured he landed himself in a café.
The place was mostly empty, the only sound in the small cafe was the bustling of staff and howling wind outside but the quiet, almost inaudible sound of fingers tapping keys suddenly drifted in his ears. He turned to see a boy about his age sitting by the window, staring hard in concentration at his laptop screen.
His fingers were long and bony, and Reiner watched as they danced above the letters with ease.
A woman pardoned herself and Reiner quickly stepped to the side, realising how stupid he looked standing in the middle of the café. He approached the table slowly, slightly amused when the boy proved too immersed in his work to notice his presence.
"Mind if I sit here?" he asked in a fit of boldness and sure, Reiner was a confident guy, but he had never done anything like this before.
The typing came to an abrupt halt and he heard the backspace button being hit a few times. "No, not at all," the boy said politely, though Reiner caught the nervous side-glance at the other empty seats Reiner could have taken.
He made himself comfortable in front of the other boy, staring openly. He must have been from the school near the other end of town; his uniform was a lot more formal than his own, blazer buttoned up and tie snug around his neck. Reiner, on the other hand, couldn't even bother to tuck his blouse in and had pushed his sleeves up enough for them to crease.
The boy took to typing with one hand as he lifted his mug again and Reiner caught a whiff of chai. Olive eyes flitted towards him curiously before focusing on the screen again.
"You from that fancy-pants school?"
The typing didn't stop this time. "I guess."
He tried again. "I'm Reiner."
The boy peered at him, longer this time. "I'm Bertholdt."
"Bertholdt," the name rolled off his tongue naturally.
The boy's eyes narrowed, and after a moment of contemplation asked if he knew him from somewhere.
"Nah, I just felt like sitting here. Should I go?"
"That's not what I meant," even though it probably was, partially. "I just feel like I've met you before."
Reiner made some embarrassing joke about fate, heart skipping a beat when Bertholdt actually smiled.
"I don't think it works like that."
Well, progress was progress. Even if he was being a cheesecake. "You must be mistaking me for someone else, because I definitely would have remembered you."
The brunette seemed surprised by the statement and sure, it was probably a little forward, though he recovered quickly enough. "You got guts, saying that to an uptown boy like me."
"Am I too downtown for you?"
Bertholdt chuckled, gazing down bashfully. "No."
"Good," Reiner said and fuck, this guy was adorable. "Sorry I called you fancy-pants."
He opened his mouth to answer before pausing abruptly, "Excuse me," he pulled a phone out of his pocket, "Hello? Umm, a bit busy…" his eyes flicked towards Reiner fleetingly, "Really? Why can't you do it yourself?" he sighed deeply, "Fine. Okay. I'll be there in a few."
He smiled apologetically as he pocketed his phone, "I'm sorry, I have to get going."
"Will you be okay?" Reiner glanced outside pointedly.
"Yeah, I drove here," Bertholdt closed his laptop and stood, gazing out the window to watch various objects fly past in the wind. He chewed his lip worriedly. "Do you need a lift?"
"Sure."
No way was he going to pass up this opportunity.
A/N: new chapter may or may not be added later.
