Warnings: caffeineaddict!Neku, barista!Joshua, a bit of sexual content (read Joshua being a perv)
Author's Notes: so based off randomization, a chat friend picked the number 55. Thus this was born (especially after talking to my brain twin and she told me waiting meant coffee to her lol) If you want to be the next person to pick a number, friend me on Skype (username is cloudsgrl), and just let me know who you are on here. Totally up for having tons of friends :D
55. Waiting
It wasn't often that Neku Sakuraba craved for caffeine in concentrated doses. Typically he enjoyed just sipping some iced tea occasionally, or even a soda if he was extremely desperate. But today, his body was just screaming for coffee, with shots of espresso, enough to overpower the flavor of the sweetened drink the average chain store would give. The college student stretched his hands high above his spiked hair, adjusted his huge earphones and began the search for a coffee shop.
Avoiding the chain stores and the groups of college and high school students wandering about in the winter air, Neku found himself wandering onto a slightly abandoned street. Snow had piled onto everything, and it appeared as though the city didn't even bother with shoveling the roads and salting it. Hidden behind an overly large street sign, advertising something all the way on Udagawa was a small coffee shop called WildKat. It looked quaint, very quiet, and it appeared only the two people running the store were inside.
Neku stepped inside, and as soon as the door was closed behind him, he was untying the scarf around his neck and pulling off his gloves. It was set up almost like an ice cream parlor-or what Neku envisioned one to look like-with the checkered floors, the booths around the edges, the bar with elevated stools... The only thing really lacking was the bright colors or the cheerful music. When Neku lowered the volume on his headphones, he could hear the melancholic tune playing in the shop while the two employees were wiping down coffee cups.
The college student sat at the bar, placing his scarf and gloves on the bar stool beside him and rubbed his hands together. Even indoors it was quite chilly. Out of the two employees, the younger of the two with ash-blond hair practically strutted over and leaned inside Neku's personal space. The other employee seemed to choke on his spit (or was attempting to hide his laughter) as Neku leaned away from the barista with a raised eyebrow.
"What can I get you, dear?" This question was followed by a feminine giggle that had Neku glancing over at the other guy questioningly.
Neku shrugged. "I need caffeine, preferably in a large quantity." The ash-haired employee nodded, immediately grabbing the coffee and a few other things to begin mixing him a drink, giggling to himself. The other employee shook his head, humming along with the piano playing over the speakers.
The college student heaved a sigh, slipping out of his over coat and slumped somewhat against the bar. The heat in the room was finally getting to him, and it was making him tired. But all he wanted was his coffee, and then he could step back out into the freezing cold winter and head back home after a long day of classes. The longer Neku sat, waiting for the cup of concentrated caffeine, the longer he had the urge to take a nap.
There was a jingling, and the cafe door opened, admitting a gaggle of girls. All of which took one look towards the ashy-haired man before giggling. The barista paused in making Neku's drink, whipping around and glaring at the group of girls as if they were hell spawn. He flipped some of his hair over his shoulder and crossed his arms. "Yes, you are here, I see you, what the hell do you want?" The girls paused and even Neku paused in his relaxing thoughts at the hard edge lining the guy's voice.
Some of the girls looked as if they were immediately going to burst into tears, the other's glaring as if immediately pegging him as completely rude. The other barista chuckled, "Come now Joshua. These girls are our favorite customers. You could stand to be a bit nicer to them."
The younger barista, the one Neku now knew as Joshua, scoffed and went back to Neku's drink. "You deal with them Sanae. I can't stand them." He flipped his hair once again. Neku glanced back at the girls, not seeing anything really wrong with them. Maybe a bit too focused on keeping up with the current fashions, judging by their attempts to maintain a look of cute and hip.
Then one of the girls giggled again, and Neku noticed the way the Joshua tensed up, as if wanting to chuck something in their general direction. Joshua did not care for their giggling... that made Neku curious as to why Joshua hated it so much. The girls finally made their way to the bar, ordering something they called 'just normal coffee', to which Sanae laughed (in an obnoxious booming voice) and quickly poured them a couple of cups. Neku briefly wondered why their coffee was so quick whereas Neku's was taking so fricken long.
Joshua finally nodded, as if pleased with whatever concoction he had made, and poured Neku an abnormally large glass of coffee, placing it in front of Neku on a coaster. Neku brought the coffee cup closer, and Joshua leaned against the bar, resting his head in his hand and watched Neku take a drink with a leisurely smile. Neku nervously took a sip of the steaming cup of coffee before closing his eyes in bliss. This had to be the best cup of coffee he had ever tasted.
Joshua giggled effeminately once more, and Neku quickly realized it was the way he giggled that the girls were making fun of. But he quickly forgot about how offended he almost felt in place of Joshua when he took another drink of his coffee. He placed the cup on the coaster and couldn't help the small smile he had on his face as the caffeine craving disappeared.
While the girls remained in the cafe, Joshua stayed near Neku, as if worried the girls would take advantage of his being alone. Neku was unbothered, as long as the guy let him drink his coffee, he had no issues with the man. At one point, Joshua even ignored the idea of personal space and ran a hand through Neku's hair. The college student was so wrapped up in his coffee he really couldn't care less.
Finally the girls finished their drinks and waved to Joshua. "See you next time," they twittered. Joshua shot them a glare, Sanae laughing obnoxiously and waved back. As the door shut behind them, Joshua muttered under his breath, "Hope you get hit by a bus." which caused Neku to practically do a spit take and for Sanae to admonish his coworker. Neku chuckled behind the brim of his cup as Joshua and Sanae debated the finer points of being kind or rude to customers and why those particular females weren't worth the niceties.
When Neku stared at the bottom of his coffee cup almost longingly, Joshua giggled once more and pulled it from his grasp. "Let me pour you another one."
"Will it take as long as last time?"
Joshua gave a giggle and immediately placed a new cup in front of him. Neku almost stared at him in awe. Joshua gave another giggle before walking around the bar. He sat beside Neku and began twirling a strand of hair around his fingers. "I was wondering if I could ask you a favor...?"
Neku raised an eyebrow, not really caring one way or another. The coffee was too damn good for him to care at the moment. Joshua nodded, as if expecting Neku's nonchalance. "Every day after work that group of girls tries to follow me home. A bunch of stalkers if you ask me." He heaved a dramatic sigh and glanced over at Sanae. "Sanae thinks they are just playing around, but I know they're up to no good. Would you mind walking me back to my place? I'd appreciate it, especially if the girls don't follow me home tonight."
Neku paused mid-sip before putting the cup of coffee down. The words were out of his mouth before he realized it, "What's in it for me?"
"Well," Joshua drawled, humming along to the suddenly cheery music playing in the cafe. Both glanced at Sanae, who was currently messing with the stereo system, attempting to appear like he wasn't listening in on the conversation. "You walk me home every day after work, and all the coffee you drink will be on the house." Neku tried to ignore the way Sanae seemed choke a little from hearing that particular phrase.
"Everyday?"
"Except Sundays and Tuesdays."
Neku took another sip of his drink and couldn't believe he was actually contemplating this. He barely knew the guy, and yet here he was asking Neku for his help. The college student met Joshua's eyes and took another sip of his drink. "You give me another cup of whatever the heck this is and you have a deal."
The smile Joshua gave him was practically blinding. Sure it meant waiting, tons and tons of waiting, but he would get free coffee and possibly even a friend out of it. Neku couldn't have asked for a better day. The barista practically hopped over the bar, poured him a drink to go and began getting suited up for the cold weather outside. Joshua's jacket was something Neku thought was completely fluff, all faux fur and no actual substance to it to keep him warm.
Neku finished up the bit of coffee in the cup before pulling on his jacket and gloves. As he pulled those on, Joshua grabbed Neku's scarf and began the process of tying it around Neku's neck and tucking the ends underneath the zipper of his jacket. Once Neku was all readied up, coffee in hand, he adjusted his headphones, something Joshua giggled at, and opened the cafe door. Just outside, as the snow was slowly beginning to fall once again, stood the group of girls all gathered around the sign for Udagawa. Neku rolled his eyes and led Joshua around the group. The girls stopped chatting and watched as the two boys walked past, standing all close together for warmth.
Joshua seemed to press closer to Neku, once again acting as if just being nearby would help keep the girls away. Neku allowed the barista to cling close, surprised at the amount of warmth the jacket of fluff was actually giving off. Neku grabbed his mp3 player and turned up the music, just enough for a bit of background music. Joshua peeked at the screen, humming at the song title before practically humming along with the tune he couldn't hear.
As they walked the streets of Shibuya, the girls stayed a safe distance behind. Each turn the two made, the girls were not far behind. Neku finally stopped Joshua when they were at the Scramble Crossing, surrounded by hundreds of miscellaneous people that would easily help hide the duo from the girls. Neku pulled Joshua off to the side, close to the street one would take to head to 104.
"Let's pass through some shops, just to be sure we lose the girls." He glanced back towards where they came from, spotting one of the taller girl's hair in the crowds. "We might have to get more creative as the time goes on, but eventually they should give up." Joshua nodded, still humming to the tune playing in Neku's ears.
"It'll take some waiting occasionally," the barista smiled, linking arms with Neku.
The college student shrugged. "I'll be doing plenty of that anyway. As long as you don't mind me doing school work at the cafe."
"Not at all." Joshua tugged on Neku's earphones, changing the tune on the mp3 player. Neku rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his coffee and letting his annoyance slip away. And there was no need to get all uppity, it was a good song. Joshua glanced about, leading Neku farther inside the street. "Want to waste some time?" Neku gave a curious look. "We could always go and uh... find a corner?"
Neku choked slightly on his coffee, trying to ignore the way his face undoubtedly turned bright red at Joshua's suggestion. "How about next time?" Joshua's answering smirk was enough to make Neku second guess his response. Something told him the barista was definitely going to hold him to it. Oh well, if Neku had to wait a lot, Joshua could do the same.