"One banana pudding, banana bread and pine nut milk!" Romano called and an old woman with a handbag that looked like it carried Narnia (and probably more) raised her hand. Romano passed her the plate with a polite smile.
"Thank you, sweetheart," she said fondly.
"No problem, enjoy!" Romano nodded, biting back a scowl as she pinched his cheek. Mrs Park was a regular customer, and she bought at least sixty percent of the shop. Daily. Now that was one person that dickhead Alfred wouldn't let him mess with.
"One chocolate and almond mousse, please," a smooth voice said politely.
Romano looked up to see a tall man with soft brown hair falling into his way-too-green eyes and a casual t-shirt that showed his toned arms. A dimple appeared as he smiled, looking around curiously at the shop. Suddenly, beautiful blooming roses appeared around the stranger and angels came flying out of nowhere to sit on his shoulders and play a heavenly melody. All metaphorical, of course.
He was gorgeous.
"Uh, I..." Romano flustered before attempting to calm down. "Um, one chocolate and almond mousse coming up."
The man smiled again and Romano tried not to drool. "Thank you... Romano?"
Romano stared, suspicious. The flowers wilted and the angels were using their harps as weapons to point at the stranger. Was this guy a stalker? "How do you know my name?"
"It's says on your nametag," the man pointed out, and Romano looked away, blushing slightly. The flowers returned and the angels continued thrumming their harps with renewed gusto.
"Oh, uh, yeah," he muttered, cursing his lack of coherency as he avoided eye contact.
"Chocolate and almond mousse," Arthur called, handing the plate over with a smile that was a little too knowing. Romano ignored him determinedly.
"Would you like to add anything?" he asked politely.
The other male had a thoughtful look on his face. "Like, cream?"
"Yes, or ice cream on the side, syrup, or a drink."
"No thank you," he said, smiling in delight when Romano passed him the plate back. "Wow, it looks amazing."
"Can I... ask your name?" Romano mumbled, trying to quell the blush on his cheeks with one of his infamous scowls.
"Antonio," the other male smiled brightly.
Despite trying not to feel affected, Romano's heart swelled as Antonio poked lightly at the mousse, eyes wide with awe. Spanish, huh? They weren't too different then.
"Enjoy," he muttered. Antonio looked up at him to smile.
"I will," he said brightly, bowing his head slightly before walking away to sit at one of the tables. Romano watched as he pulled out his phone and took a picture of the mousse before digging the spoon in.
Romano banged his head on the table, making Arthur jump. He slid to the floor, only to pathetically pull himself up so that he could get another look at Antonio.
"You're staring," Arthur snorted from behind him. Romano turned to glare at him.
"Was not," he argued, determinedly looking anyway but at the beautiful stranger with the beautiful body and the beautiful voice and...
"You're still staring."
"I wasn't not staring," Romano snapped, ignoring the fact that he had just subtly snuck another glance at Antonio.
Apparently, he wasn't subtle enough.
"Was," Arthur sang smugly before smartly disappearing before Romano exploded and shoved whipped cream up his ass.
"Why would you shove whipped cream up his ass?" Antonio asked, eyebrows furrowed in a confused expression.
Romano froze.
"Uh?" he asked intelligently, determined to ignore Arthur who was now cackling loudly in the kitchen.
"Why would you shove whipped cream up someone's ass?" he repeated, grinning in a slightly bemused way.
Romano blinked.
"Um... Can I get your number?" he blurted, before giving up on life and banging his head on the counter. "Urgh, sorry, I don't know why I said that, please forget that ever happened."
Romano distinctly heard Arthur snort loudly and chose to ignore him.
"You'll get brain damage if you keep banging your head on the counter," Antonio said cheerfully and honestly, who the fuck was nice enough to worry about strangers and the state of their brains? This guy was too cute.
"Brain damage sounds good right now," Romano muttered to himself.
Antonio tilted his head slightly as he appraised Romano.
Alfred happened to walk in at that time, clutching five bags of god=knows-what and sporting a new pair of sunglasses.
"Guys, I just got back and you would not believe," he babbled and he leaned on the counter next to Antonio, his fingers automatically going to Antonio's hair to ruffle his hair and scratch his head like a cat.
Antonio, to say the least, looked confused.
"Um, Alfred..." Romano began, his eye twitching at his annoying boss.
"There was this dude in the subway and oh my God, he was soooo annoying-"
"Why are you treating a complete stranger like a kitten?" Arthur frowned, clearly bemused as he arrived at the scene.
Alfred glanced at Antonio before gaping. "Wow. Um. Hi. Sorry. Shit."
Arthur giggled quietly.
"I thought he was Heracles, shut up," Alfred said, looking embarrassed. "You look like Heracles from behind.
"Leave them alone, they were flirting. I bet they were seconds away from getting each others number," Arthur said in a knowing tone, looking smug, taking Alfred's hand. Alfred sent a surprised look in Romano and Antonio's general direction but followed Arthur into the pantry.
"No fucking in the pantry," Romano yelled, because this was Romano, and Romano and spite go hand in hand.
Antonio blinked.
"Sorry," Romano said, flushing slightly. Ugh, did he have to be so damn embarrassing all the time?
"You're slightly strange," Antonio laughed. He grimaced. "Wait, no, that sounded offensive."
Romano grinned almost shyly. But obviously not shyly, because he was Romano and he was never shy. It just seemed shy to the untrained eye. He swears. "So, in a good way?"
"Definitely."
He wondered if they were flirting. Was this flirting or was this a casual conversation with a stranger? Was there a textbook definition?
"Well, I should be going now," Antonio commented, elbows on the counter as he stared deeply at Romano, not making a move.
"You don't look like you're going," Romano smiled uncomfortably, slightly shaken by Antonio's intense stare. Damn, his eyes were a really pretty shade of green.
Antonio straightened up with a small smirk. "Well, since you're so eager on making me leave," he sighed dramatically, straightening up and running a hand through his thick dark locks before pausing.
"Wow. You have really pretty eyes."
"Thank you," Romano replied automatically, taken back. His brain whirred. Was he making fun of him? Was he mocking him? Did he think Romano had ugly eyes? Oh my god, Antonio thought he had ugly eyes and it was true because look how pretty and bright Antonio's eyes were and how dull his were and-
"Well, bye," Antonio smiled as he stretched slightly, interrupting Romano's brain of thought when a glimpse of his stomach was revealed. Romano tried not to drool. "Loved talking to you."
"Likewise," Romano replied, avoiding eye contact and desperately ignoring Alfred's giggling from the pantry. When he found him, he was going to murder him, boss or not.
Antonio handed the plate back and, with another smile, left.
For extra clarification, Romano did not stare at his ass as he walked to the door.
"ROMANO, QUIT STARING AT HIS ASS AND GET OVER HERE!" Arthur bellowed.
Romano flushed as Antonio paused before slipping through the door with a barely-concealed laugh.
"I'm going to fucking murder you, Arthur," Romano snarled, lunging for the other male and a brawl broke out, eventually broken up by Alfred when he realized that there was one less burger than he ordered in the bag and begged Arthur to accompany him to the shop.
-SEVERAL LONG HOURS LATER-
Romano was sitting at one of the chairs as they began to close the shop up when Alfred screamed.
"OI! ROMANO! ANTONIO LEFT HIS NUMBER!"
Romano paused. So did Feliciano.
"Antonio?" Feliciano repeated, confused.
"Just some guy I was talking to," Romano explained gruffly . "It's nothing. Seriously. They're exaggerating."
"Lover Boy left his number?" Arthur asked, popping, quite literally, out of nowhere. Feliciano jumped.
"Don't call him Lover Boy," Romano scowled. Arthur sent him a skeptical look.
"I'm sorry, but did you seriously expect me to actually listen to you?" he laughed.
Alfred appeared from the pantry, grinning. "He stuck a post-it note under the plate with his number and smiley."
Romano reached for the post-it note in Alfred's hand, grumbling 'Who even carries post-it notes?' but Alfred stepped out of the way.
"Nuh uh. You're not getting this post-it until I'm satisfied."
"Oh," Feliciano said, looking mildly sorry. "Looks like you're his slave now."
Romano groaned.