ThoLuc – They Call Me Tim (That's Not My Name)
Thoma is practically dead on his feet by the time he manages to stagger through the coffee shop door and to the front counter. Really, he should be used to getting up at 6AM, but apparently summer has completely undone all of the hard work he's put into his college sleep schedule. Well, at least he's feeling better than he did freshman year, when he was under the impression that he could stay up until 3AM partying and still be functional for his 8AM organic chemistry lecture. (Hint: He couldn't.)
"You're not on something, are you?" he hears someone grumble, reminding him that he's spent the last few moments zoning out instead of placing his order.
Thoma shoots the black haired, douchey looking guy a glare. He's just tired, not high.
"I'll have a, uh, medium mocha," Thoma finally says, squinting up at the drink menu on the back wall.
"Name?" Douchey guy asks, picking up a disposable paper cup.
"Thoma," Thoma replies, grimacing as he watches the guy scribble down 'Tim' on the side of the cup. Whatever. It's not worth the trouble of trying to get him to change it.
He pays and tries not to get too annoyed when the guy puts his change down on the counter instead of directly into his hand, but it's fairly difficult. He supposes there's a reason why this guy got stuck with the very early morning shift. Thoma sighs and makes his way down to the drink pick-up area, leaning up against the counter and pulling his phone out of his pocket.
He blinks blearily down at the screen before letting out a little groan and shoving it back into his pocket. He's too tired to focus on much of anything right now. Instead, he finds himself glancing over the counter at where the barista is making his drink – and hello gorgeous.
Thoma decides that it's way too early in the morning to deal with a shoulder to waist ratio that perfect. Or eyes that multi-colored. Or, you know, all of this guy.
"Mocha for Tim?" the barista says, glancing over at Thoma, and it's all he can do not to start drooling.
The barista frowns and squints down at the name scribbled on the side of the cup before looking around at the pretty much empty coffee shop again. Archons, Thoma is pretty sure it he's going to completely go mush once he hears the guy call out his name to –
Oh. Wait.
"Shit, um, that's me!" Thoma blurts out, his cheeks heating. "I'm kind of useless without caffeine, so. Yeah. Sorry."
"Right," Hot Barista – Diluc, according to his nametag – says, eyeing him skeptically. He hands over the coffee, though.
"Thanks, man," Thoma replies, smiling weakly. Clearly Diluc already thinks he's a weirdo.
"Have a nice day," Diluc answers, his voice gruff, but it seems at least a little bit sincere. A little bit.
"You too," Thoma says before hightailing it out of there. He's pretty sure every minute he spends in the guy's presence is equal to another embarrassing thing that comes out of his mouth. He's practically a volcano of awkwardness. It's a problem.
"Well, there's another coffee shop I'm never going to again," Thoma mutters to himself once he's safely out of the building.
Really, he's a hopeless case.
He goes back the next morning. Ayaka's right – he's horrible at knowing when to give up and cut his losses. Maybe he has some sort of humiliation kink, which, yeah, he probably shouldn't be examining too closely when hot-as-fuck barista Diluc is standing less than ten feet away.
"Name?" Douchey guy – who's apparently 'Scaramouche' – asks, his tone less than friendly.
"Thoma," Thoma replies, letting out a little sigh and resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he watches Scaramouche write 'Tim' again. Maybe he should just go with it, start calling himself 'Tim' or whatever. It would certainly cut down on the awkward explanations he has to give to people on how, yes, his name actually is Thoma, and, yes, it's his given name, thank you very much.
Nah, he likes it too much to give it up now.
Thoma meanders on down to the drink pick up area again, his hands shoved into his pockets as he does his best to subtly admire Diluc the Barista. He's not being that creepy, is he? And a tough looking guy like Diluc would tell him off if he was, right? Then again, maybe he's so used to people checking him out that he doesn't notice anymore.
Damn, those pretty eyes, though.
"Here," Diluc says suddenly, thrusting his mocha at him with a scowl and breaking Thoma out of his increasingly vivid daydream.
"Oh, uh, thanks," Thoma replies, fumbling with the coffee cup and nearly dropping it, Diluc eyeing him like he's a disaster just waiting to happen. Which, admittedly, he is, about seventy five percent of the time.
Thoma's brain screeches to a halt, though, as he realizes that Diluc hadn't called out his name (or, well, 'Tim'), but had instead just handed him his mocha. Diluc had remembered him.
Of course, now Diluc's giving him an odd look, which probably means he's grinning like a loon.
"You should get a travel mug," Diluc says suddenly, bringing Thoma back down to earth.
"What?" Thoma replies, not entirely sure what Diluc's trying to tell him.
"You should get a travel mug," Diluc repeats, staring at the paper cup in Thoma's hand pointedly. "You get ten cents off your drink. It also saves on paper waste."
"So you like the environment," Thoma says, berating himself as soon as the words leave his mouth. He sounds so awkward. Then again, he supposes he can't really be blamed for not being able to function in the face of such hotness.
"It's my major," Diluc replies, shrugging.
"The environment is your major?" Thoma asks, confused.
"Environmental studies," Diluc clarifies.
Oh archons, please let the earth swallow him up now in order to save him from further humiliation.
"That's cool," Thoma replies, now guiltily fiddling with the paper cup in his hands.
Diluc nods.
"Right," Thoma continues when Diluc makes no move to say anything else. "I should probably get going now."
Awkward.
He goes back anyway. Of course he goes back. He blearily makes his way towards the counter and really, it's hard not to just make grabby hands when he gets there, still too out of it to form coherent words.
"Medium mocha," he manages, but just barely, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "For…"
"Tim, right?" the person at the counter says, making Thoma freeze. He carefully opens his eyes to get a good look at the person addressing him, only to realize that it is not, in fact, Scaramouche. Instead it's Diluc staring at him with an expression he can't quite decipher.
"Where's Scaramouche?" Thoma blurts out – not that he actually wants to see Scaramouche again, mind you.
"He quit yesterday," Diluc replies.
"That's nice," Thoma says absently, freezing and looking over at Diluc with wide eyes once he realizes what he'd just said. "Er, I mean, that's not…"
"He was horrible at dealing with customers and even worse at making drinks," Diluc interrupts, and Thoma is relieved to find that his tone is amused. It even looks like he's trying to suppress a smile.
"So are you single, then?" Thoma asks.
Diluc stares at him, clearly taken aback. Thoma frowns in confusion, pausing for a moment to sleepily go through what he just said again, wondering why…?
"Shit! I mean, like, is there anyone else working with you during this shift," Thoma clarifies, and he's quite certain that his face is now bright, bright red. "Because Scaramouche is gone."
"Are you looking for a job?" Diluc asks, raising one eyebrow at him, although Thoma thinks he might see a tiny bit of pink dusting his cheeks. Then again, that's probably just wishful thinking.
"Hm? Oh, no, I already have a paid internship with the police department," Thoma answers, waving off his question. "I was just wondering who else I'm going to be embarrassing myself in front of, before I've had my morning hit of caffeine."
"Well, someone else should be joining me soon, but I don't know if they'll be a new hire or someone who already works here and is willing to change shifts," Diluc replies. "There'll be someone eventually, though."
"Oh," Thoma replies, trying not to sound too disappointed about not having Diluc all to himself.
Not that Diluc is his in any way, shape, or form. They've barely talked three times.
"You have a travel mug today," Diluc says, changing the subject as the silence between them starts to get awkward.
"Yep. Go environment." Thoma replies weakly, realizing how pathetically obvious his little crush-thing must be.
"Most people don't bother when I tell them about it," Diluc admits, and oh my god, he almost sounds shy. Thoma majorly wants to cuddle him, but that's probably not appropriate for a guy who's a virtual stranger.
"Yeah, well, I only have to buy, like, one hundred mochas to make the purchase financially worth it, right?" Thoma says, smiling wryly.
Not that he was that broken up about spending ten bucks on the cheapest travel mug he could find at target. Truth be told, he'd probably continue buying all of those mochas, with or without a travel mug, just to see Diluc's face (and other assets) in the morning.
Diluc opens his mouth, about to say something, but then Thoma hears someone behind him pointedly clearing their throat. He blushes as he turns around to realize that there's a woman standing there patiently, probably waiting to order. Well, at least it looks like Diluc hadn't noticed her either, if he chagrinned look on his face is any indication.
"I'll have your mocha ready in a few minutes," Diluc says to Thoma before turning back to the other customer and giving her his most charming smile. Diluc's lucky he's pretty, because otherwise she looks like the sort of person who'd give him a strongly worded complaint. As it is, she leaves her change in the tip jar. Lucky bastard. What must it be like to get paid for being hot?
Thoma settles himself near the drink pick up area, bracing his forearms on the countertop and leaning on it, idly watching Diluc work. Thankfully, Diluc's too occupied to notice Thoma's wandering eyes, because otherwise this would probably get awkward pretty quickly. Thoma briefly toys with the idea of rolling his sleeves little more so that when Diluc looks up to give him his drink, his biceps will be nicely on display, but he discards the idea. He'll probably just look ridiculous at best.
"Sorry about that," Diluc murmurs as he hands Thoma his drink, glancing over at the other customer, who's still watching the two of them closely.
"I should be the one who's apologizing," Thoma replies, his heart stuttering slightly when their fingers brush as he accepts the coffee mug. "I shouldn't have distracted you from your work."
"It's no problem," Diluc says, shrugging. "It's normally pretty quiet this early in the morning. People don't really start coming in until eight."
"Okay," Thoma answers, unable to keep a small smile off his face. "I suppose I'll, uh, see you later, then."
"Bye," Diluc replies, before going back to make the other customer's drink.
Thoma goes through the rest of his day with a huge grin on his face.
"So what's your major?" Diluc asks, glancing over at Thoma, who's got his foot up on the table and is sitting there, like he owns the place. It's probably some sort of employee or health code violation or something, but Diluc hasn't asked him to move yet. He did roll his eyes, though.
"Criminal justice," Thoma answers, pausing to take another sip of his mocha. "I swear, my dad nearly laughed his head off when I told him. Said something about how he was glad I was finally learning about the law instead of breaking it."
"Breaking it?" Diluc parrots, sounding like he's regretting letting Thoma inside the shop. Which, you know, he probably should be.
"You know, trespassing, vandalism, grand theft auto, kidnapping," Thoma says, forcing himself not to grin. "The usu'."
"Kidnapping?" Diluc asks, looking seriously concerned right now.
Thoma bursts out laughing.
"Oh archons, your face," Thoma says once he manages to catch his breath again.
"You were joking," Diluc replies flatly, but he still sounds mildly skeptical.
"Um, okay, so not actually," Thoma answers, smiling a little sheepishly. "But hey, I was high on chili peppers plus I solved a murder, and I was, like, sixteen so they didn't charge me."
"I'm not enabling your mocha habit tomorrow if you don't start explaining," Diluc says, leaning up against the counter next to Thoma and abandoning his attempts at sweeping the floor.
"Okay, so there was, like, this creepy hermit who lived right up next to the woods on the edge of town, and my dad's the sheriff, so I heard they'd found half a body kind of nearby," Thoma admits, already launching himself into story mode. "So I was like, 'Hey, Ayato, wanna find the other half?' – Ayato's my best friend, by the way – and that's where the trespassing part came in. Because, you know, we were technically snooping around this guy's property."
"I guess that's not too bad – a couple of teenagers messing around in the woods," Diluc says, shrugging.
"Hey, quiet! I haven't even gotten to the good part yet!" Thoma chastises, and although Diluc gives him an annoyed look, he falls silent again. "Anyway, Ayato has issues, and he somehow managed to drop his marijuana, so we were trying to find it in the dark when we literally tripped over the other half of the body."
"No shit," Diluc says, looking mildly impressed.
"Yeah, I was pretty freaked out, Ayato just looked like he found his true calling," Thoma replies, rolling his eyes. "And then we heard someone coming our way, so we freaked and hightailed it out of there. Problem was, Ayato still didn't have his stash, so we had to go back the next morning to look for it… only the body was also gone. Like, moved gone. And then the guy who owned the property saw us and shooed us away, which was, you know, suspicious."
"Let me guess, you and Ayato decided to trespass again," Diluc snorts, but he sounds kind of amused, so Thoma takes it as encouragement.
"Hell yes we did," Thoma says, grinning. "We actually went 'round the house and noticed that there was a spot where the ground looked disturbed–"
"So you dug it up," Diluc guesses, his eyes going a little wide. "Is that what you meant by vandalism? Please tell me you didn't actually find a body."
"Oh, we found a body alright," Thoma answers. "We called the police, got the guy arrested, but he pleaded not guilty, and, honestly, Ayato and I weren't quite sure if he'd actually done it. See, there was this other person, Rhinedottir, who we thought might have been stalking the dead lady, but she was only a year older than us, so the police weren't really taking it seriously."
"Why do I have the feeling that this is where the grand theft auto and kidnapping come in?" Diluc asks, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"Because you're an amazingly smart person?" Thoma says with a grin. "Anyway, we were pretty sure Rhinedottir had photos to prove the stalking thing, so we stole a prisoner transport vehicle and I held her in it while Ayato dug up the photos. Thankfully they were pretty incriminating, which is probably the only reason I never went to juvie."
"I'm not so sure my boss would be too happy about me letting criminals loiter around his shop," Diluc snorts, but his tone is playful.
"I'm a paying customer, thank you very much," Thoma huffs in mock offense.
"You're much more talkative when you're caffeinated," Diluc says, his comment a little out of the blue.
"Maybe you're just easy to talk to," Thoma replies, attempting to be casually flirtatious.
"I'm pretty sure it's just you," Diluc snorts, although Thoma thinks he might just see Diluc's ears turn a little pink.
"You already know me far too well," Thoma says, grinning. "I'm pretty sure my dad entertained the thought of buying me a muzzle when I was a kid."
"Why didn't he?" Diluc asks, making Thoma let out an indignant squawk.
"I'm pretty sure that's child abuse," Thoma grumbles, taking another sip of his mocha.
"You're the one who's assaulting people with your voice," Diluc shoots back.
"Please, you love my voice," Thoma says, winking at Diluc.
In fact, it almost, for a moment, looks like Diluc's blushing. Diluc opens his mouth to make an undoubtedly snappy comeback, but he cuts himself off as another customer enters the coffee shop and makes a beeline for the counter.
"Sorry, I have to…" Diluc starts, but Thoma cuts him off, shaking his head.
"I should probably be going anyway," Thoma says, getting up from his seat. "I'll see you tomorrow, though, right?"
"Right," Diluc replies gruffly, the barest hint of a smile ghosting over his lips.
Thoma spends the rest of the day humming the most chipper tunes he can think of.
Thoma stumbles into the coffee shop, practically dead on his feet. He's running on fumes at the moment, having only managed to catch a handful of hours of sleep, because he'd had to stay up late finishing a paper.
Which is why he's currently staring blankly at the person manning the cash register with only enough brain capacity to think, "Not Diluc."
"Good morning, sir," Not Diluc says, her voice far too upbeat for this hour of the morning. "What can I get for…"
"Medium sized mocha for Tim, and don't forget to give him the reusable mug discount," Diluc interrupts, appearing behind Not Diluc out of nowhere.
"Got it," Not Diluc replies, punching buttons on the cash register before looking back over at Thoma. "So you're a regular?"
Thoma makes some sort of noncommittal noise while holding out his travel mug, nearly dropping it in the process.
"Don't bother trying to engage him before giving him coffee," Diluc tells Not Diluc, clapping her on the shoulder before accepting Thoma's mug and moving over towards all of the fancy coffee-making machinery that Thoma's overtired brain can't even begin to understand, much less identify.
"That'll be two dollars and fifty-two cents, please," Not Diluc says, and Thoma spends a few moments fumbling with his wallet before producing three bills. "I'm Lumine, by the way."
"Morning," Thoma finally replies, managing a sleepy smile.
He's pretty sure he hears Diluc let out a snort of laughter in the background. Asshole.
Lumine's pretty awesome once Thoma is awake enough to properly appreciate her. Unlike Diluc, she doesn't complain when he sits with his feet up the table. In fact, she even joins him when things get really slow. Diluc rolls his eyes, but doesn't say anything on the subject.
"So are you and Diluc…?" Lumine asks when Diluc disappears into the back of the coffee shop in order to restock.
"What?" Thoma replies, confused. He's already drank half his mocha, so he should be reasonably awake, but he's not exactly catching onto what she's implying.
"Are you his boyfriend?" Lumine clarifies, making Thoma' eyes widen.
"I wish," Thoma sighs, laughing slightly. "But, I mean, that would be like a rock getting together with Mount Everest, you know?"
"Kind of?" Lumine says, her nose scrunched up as she puzzles through his analogy. "I dunno, though, you're pretty cute."
"Uh huh," Thoma snorts. "Sure I'm kind of cute if you're into pale and scrawny, but Diluc's practically a Greek god."
"Well I'm pretty sure he likes you," Lumine counters, shooting Thoma a smile.
"Right," Thoma says, giving her a skeptical look in return.
"He has your order memorized, at least," Lumine points out, shrugging.
"That's only because I come in here practically every day," Thoma grumbles, pausing to take another sip of his mocha. "And anyway, it's only your first day. I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to psychoanalyze coworkers without knowing them for at least five days."
"I'm pretty sure I'll be saying the same thing in five days," Lumine replies, and Thoma opens his mouth to protest, but then Diluc walks back out from the back room and he has to cut himself. He really doesn't need Diluc to hear all about his awkward crush.
It's really hard not to stick his tongue out, though, when Lumine sends him a knowing smile when Thoma loses his balance and falls backwards only for Diluc catch him.
Thoma has fallen into a very comfortable rhythm over the past few months, in his coffee shop routine at least.
Then, of course, he sleeps through his alarm. It's nearly eleven by the time he stumbles into the coffee shop, and Diluc's shift has probably long since ended.
"I'll have a, uh, medium mocha…" Thoma starts, only to startle as the blue haired woman at the register lets out a triumphant noise and levels him with a look that immediately sets Thoma on edge.
"For Tim, right?" she says, barreling on before he can correct her. "I'm pretty sure Diluc nearly sent out a search party when you didn't show up this morning, you know."
"What?" Thoma replies, because, really? A search party? She's got to be exaggerating. Diluc's a master of minimalist speaking and stoicism – there's no way he'd overreact in even the slightest way to Thoma missing his coffee once.
"You are Diluc's Tim, aren't you?" she asks, although she doesn't seem like she needs that much confirmation.
"Uh," Thoma says awkwardly. "I guess."
Fuck, he feels so sleazy right now. What's he supposed to say to her, though? That, yeah, he's the guy she's referring to, but he's been lying to Diluc about his name for the past few months? That'll go over well.
"You should call him to let him know that you're alive," she continues, making Thoma stare at her, under-caffeinated and confused. "Give me your phone and I'll program in his number."
"Uh," Thoma says again, feeling a little steamrolled. "Are you sure he'd be okay with you giving out his number to random strangers?"
"Please, I've been trying to get him to finally ask you out for at least a month now," she snorts, making Thoma boggle. "I'm done with him pining."
"Pining?" Thoma repeats weakly, watching as the woman snatches away his phone, her fingers flying over the screen deftly.
"Oh yes," she replies, sounding simultaneously amused and exasperated. "Tell him to thank Eula, too."
"Okay," Thoma answers, feeling a little dazed once he finally is shooed away from the register, staring blankly at his phone screen, where Diluc's number is now entered.
He's pretty sure he spends a solid hour staring at it when he gets home.
Not that he actually calls Diluc or anything.
"So I kind of have a huge problem," Thoma says without preamble as he slumps down onto the living room couch next to Ayato.
"Yeah?" Ayato asks, looking away from where Iron Man is playing on the TV screen.
"Okay, so you know how I've been going to the coffee shop sometimes?" Thoma starts, chewing on his lower lip.
"You mean every day, because you want to ogle the hot barista dude?" Ayato teases, giving Thoma a knowing grin.
"Shut up," Thoma retorts, blushing a little. "Anyway, so one of his friends told me that he might be attracted to me."
"Then go for it, dude," Ayato says, shrugging. "Why not?"
"He thinks my name's Tim," Thoma grumbles, attempting to glare holes into the carpet.
"Why?" Ayato asks, frowning.
"There was this douche who worked there the first few times I came in, and he kept writing my name wrong on my coffee cup, but I let it go because I thought it wasn't that big of a deal, you know?" Thoma sighs, sinking further into the couch cushions. "But Diluc thought it was my actual name and started telling other people that it was my actual name, and I wasn't sure how to correct him without making things awkward."
"So now everyone thinks your name is Tim?" Ayato clarifies. "That sucks."
"I can't just tell him now," Thoma groans, leaning over against Ayato's shoulder. "I've been lying to him about my name for months."
"Hey, well it started off as an honest mistake, right?" Ayato says, patting Thoma on the shoulder. "Just explain it to him."
"And lose him and my daily dose of caffeine in the divorce? I don't think so," Thoma snorts, shaking his head.
"Okay, how about this?" Ayato starts, wrapping a comforting arm around Thoma. "I'll go with you to the coffee shop tomorrow and I'll tell you whether or not I think he's likely to get really pissed at you. If I think he's nice, then you should go for it. If not, you can just not say anything."
"You do realize that you'll have to get up at, like, six for this, right, Ayato?" Thoma says, looking at Ayato skeptically.
"The things I do for you," Ayato sighs, overdramatic.
"Dude, who are you and what have you done to my best friend." Thoma says, mock seriousness.
"Admit it though, you wuv this side of me." Ayato teases, grinning and making over exaggerated kissing noises at Thoma.
"You better know that I'm not going to wake you up, though, so if you snooze, you lose." Thoma deadpans, pushing Ayato's face away from him. Ayato rolls her eyes, but he's smiling slightly.
The next morning is nothing short of a disaster.
"That's him?" Ayato hisses, gesturing over at Diluc. "Seriously, Thoma?"
"I know," Thoma sighs, downtrodden. "I don't have even the slightest chance, do I?"
"Dude, he looks like a fucking serial killer," Ayato says, making Thoma give him an affronted look – on Diluc's behalf of course. Not that Diluc doesn't look at least a tiny bit serial killer-ish, Thoma must admit. "He's gonna murder you if you ask!"
"I thought you were here to be supportive!" Thoma whines, frowning at Ayato.
"That was before I knew he could probably crush my face in with one hand!" Ayato protests, flailing a little.
"Dude, seriously, he's not that bad," Thoma says, placing a hand on Ayato's lower back in order to steer him towards the register. "He has, like, this marshmallow center, okay? He has this whole campaign about saving the wolves and shit."
"Yeah, because he probably is one," Ayato hisses, glancing over at Diluc nervously. Thoma rolls his eyes and practically shoves him towards the counter. At least Lumine's working the register today, with her bright sunshine-y smile. Hopefully that'll calm Ayato down a little bit.
"Hey, Tim," she says, already reaching out to accept his travel mug. "The usual, I'm guessing?"
"And a medium caramel latte," Thoma adds, because Ayato had insisted on Thoma paying for his drink if he was going to get up at six am to help him solve his Diluc issue. "This is Ayato, by the way."
"Oh," Lumine says, her smile suddenly looking strangely forced. "Nice to meet you, Ayato."
"You too," Ayato replies, giving her his most charming puppy dog smile. Thoma narrows his eyes and elbows Ayato lightly in the side, because he's supposed to be helping figure out the Diluc situation, not flirting with Lumine. Even though they'd make a disgustingly cute couple.
Thoma pays for their drinks and does his best not to roll his eyes.
"Hey, Ayato, I need to introduce you to Diluc, too," Thoma says, linking their arms together and dragging Ayato over to the drink pick up area.
"Thoma, I don't…" Ayato starts, but Thoma cuts him off with a loud, chipper, "Hey, Diluc! How's it going?"
Unfortunately, Diluc just grunts noncommittally, not even bothering to look over at Thoma from where he's making the drinks.
"This is Ayato," Thoma continues when Diluc makes no further move to contribute to the conversation.
Diluc growls something which might be 'hello,' but Thoma can't really tell. Things don't really go much better from there. For some reason, Diluc will hardly say more than one syllable, and he purposefully avoids Thoma's eyes when he hands over the drinks. Thoma is pretty sure he's never felt more cold-shouldered in his life.
"Let's get out of here," Ayato mutters, leaning in and pitching his voice low, probably so that Diluc won't hear him.
Thoma nods dejectedly, only sparing one glance backwards as he follows Ayato towards the door. Diluc's already disappearing into the back room.
"Hey, Diluc," Thoma says, forcing an upbeat attitude, as he walks into the coffee shop the next morning. "How's it going?"
"I would have backed off if you told me I was making you uncomfortable," Diluc says, completely out of the blue.
"What?" Thoma asks, confused.
"The flirting," Diluc clarifies – not that he's really clarifying much, because what? When exactly was Diluc flirting with him? "I'm not going to murder you if you reject me."
"Diluc, what are you talking about?" Thoma says, frowning and moving closer to lean across the counter, Diluc carefully avoiding his eyes all the while.
"Look, I know you made up a fake name, okay?" Diluc sighs, running a hand through his hair. Thoma is suddenly struck by how tired he looks, prominent shadows under his eyes. "You could have just told me that you weren't interested or that you had a boyfriend and I would have backed off."
"Wait, you're not talking about Ayato, are you?" Thoma asks, his eyes widening. "Diluc, no, he's like my brother."
"You're not…?" Diluc says, looking up quickly and finally making eye contact with Thoma.
"Fuck no," Thoma answers, folding his arms over his chest a little self-consciously. "And, uh, for the record, you're wrong about the flirting, too. So. You know. Flirt away."
"Look, I already told you that I'm not going to do anything to you if you ask me to stop," Diluc replies, his tone harsher. "I'm not going to hurt you, contrary to what your friend thinks."
Thoma stares at him, unsure what to say for a few moments.
"Diluc, no, I didn't – it was an accident, okay?" Thoma sighs, running a hand through his already messy hair. "I wasn't trying to lie to you."
"Which is why you kept telling me that your name was Tim," Diluc replies, deadpan.
"Okay, first of all, I never actually told you that that was my name," Thoma protests, protectively crossing his arms at Diluc. "And for the record, this only happened because that douche who used to work the register kept getting my name wrong and I didn't want to make a big deal of it, but then you started using it and telling everyone else that it was my name!"
"Well then why didn't you tell me sooner?" Diluc snaps, although he sounds more hurt than angry.
"I don't know! By the time we got to know each other it was at the point where it would be awkward for me to try and correct you," Thoma replies, scuffing the toe of his shoe across the wood floor.
"Oh," Diluc says awkwardly.
"So, you know, it wasn't because of the flirting," Thoma continues tentatively, a little nervous. "Go ahead and continue flirting if you want."
A complicated, unreadable look passes over Diluc's face.
"Or we could just go out to dinner sometime," Thoma says quickly, his face flushing. "So I can, like, apologize for lying to you and stuff."
Diluc still looks mildly dissatisfied.
"Or it can be a date!" Thoma finally adds, flailing a little bit.
"A date sounds good," Diluc says after a beat of silence, and it takes all of the self-restraint Thoma has to not leap for joy.
"I'm Thoma, by the way," Thoma says, smiling slightly.
"Nice to meet you, Thoma," Diluc replies, smiling back.