Berwald tried hard not to stare when Tino walked out of the bathroom. The shirt was massive on him, looking more like a poncho.
"Um, thanks a ton…" Tino paused, looking up. "I didn't quite catch you name…"
"M' name's Berwald."
"Well, thank you Berwald! I'm Tino!" He thrust out a hand. Berwald hesitated before he gripped it lightly.
I know. I've seen you with your friends here sometimes.
Berwald decided that was too creepy to say out loud.
It was a good day for Tino. The sun was shining and the air was sweet, or at least as nice as it got in this part of the city. The blond had to admit, despite all the obscene graffiti on the kid's playground in the park nearby the place certainly was nice. He smiled as he passed a sidewalk artist carefully crafting dragons and Chinese characters on the pavement. He nodded to a pair of brothers carrying bags of groceries, mostly tomatoes. (He assumed they were brothers. They both had the same weird hair thing.) He even laughed when he saw his friend Eduard pacing along the edge of the playground, kicking up wood chips.
"Eduard, what's wrong? You look like someone just hacked into your computer and deleted all your plans for that MMORPG you're making."
"…Don't even joke about something like that. It's my life's work!" Tino sighed while Eduard pushed up his glasses. Eduard took everything too seriously, though Tino supposed it was wrong of him to joke about something his best friend had been working on since middle school.
"It's just that Raivis ran off again and I can't find him anywhere. I worry about him, you know."
"The boy is fifteen already Eduard. You don't have to worry about him that much. I think that's him there!"
Raivis was Eduard's little brother, and was incredibly shy. He didn't like talking to anyone really. He stuttered and was always shivering, despite it being summer. But he his self confidence was getting better.
You could tell he was getting better, the way he was laughing and hanging out on the swings with another boy about his age. His friend looked like he was brimming with boldness, as he flung an arm around Raivis, wiggling his thicker-than-usual eyebrows while pointing at a group of cute girls. Raivis burst into a fit of giggles.
Tino smiled. He had always seen Raivis as his own little brother as well, and was glad to see him so happy. He didn't notice Eduard staring at him, a bit confused.
"That shirt looks a little uh…big on you, Tino."
"Huh? Oh this? Heh, this isn't mine actually." Eduard raised an eyebrow.
"Well you see I finally got to talk to that cute guy at that café we always go to today. He kind of um...tripped and spilled some coffee on my shirt. He was really embarrassed about it too. It was sweet." Tino rubbed the back of his neck.
Eduard was about to say something, when Raivis walked back up to say hi to Tino.
When Tino didn't come back to the café at noon for his something-sweeter-and-a-muffin, Berwald was worried. Did he offend Tino? Was he radiating stalker beams? Was Tino scared of him? Berwald tried to not seem scary to other people, but really it was harder than he thought.
And when Berwald heard the chimes connected to the door, he whirled around, hoping he had a chance to redeem himself. But it was just Peter. Berwald wasn't sure whether to feel disappointed or not.
When Peter had come into the café for the first time, he was fighting back tears, muttering something about his "jerk-face brother still treating him like a little kid". Denny had asked him if he was lost, but what he got as a reply was a screaming, sobbing thirteen year old boy. Berwald had been mopping up in the corner, but his heart melted when he had heard Peter. Berwald always had a soft spot for kids. But he didn't want the other customers to be disturbed, so he did the first thing he could think of. He picked Peter up and sat him down on the sidewalk.
"Wha's wrong?" Berwald sat next to him, before turning to get a better look at the kid.
"None of your bloody business you-" Peter had gotten a look of Berwald's face, and shrunk. Internally, Berwald cursed the gods for making him look like such a creeper while he was trying to help someone out.
"G'wan." Peter looked at his feet. A car and a couple bikes passed buy on the street.
"….My brother. He's a jerk."
"Re'lly?"
"Y-yeah. He keeps saying how I'm not ready to do anything even though I'm fully capable and he's the one who has the drinking problem, and I'm the one who's trying to convince him to go to rehab, but he's all 'Noooo~ I don't have a problem Peter~! You're a silly little tot Peter~!' Ha. I'm not the one who's being a silly git."
Berwald blinked at the boy's sudden change in tone. He almost wished he could do the same thing. But Berwald only had two personality settings; Default and Bumbling Idiot.
Peter looked like he was about to cry again. Berwald gave him what he hoped was a sympathetic look and patted his head.
"Don' w'rry. I'm s're he'll turn around. Especially wit' a br'ther like y'u. Y're a sma't kid." Peter sniffled, looking surprised.
"Let's go 'nside. I'll m'ke y'u a hot ch'clate or som'thing."
Peter had been like a little brother to him ever since.
