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It all started when Shidou took Charles to a cafe as a break from studying for their respective finals.
Anyone who was friends with them were perfectly aware that the duo and coffee do not mix well together, a theory that had been put together and confirmed by a certain Itoshi Sae–someone who did not enjoy accompanying them on these coffee runs.
The first time Sae went with the two, he had to sit and watch them for thirty horrific minutes. It mainly consisted of Charles practically vibrating in his seat, yapping very loudly about dumb things he had heard on the internet while Shidou responded just as enthusiastically.
Sae had no prior intentions of learning about the awful internet sensation skibidi toilet until he listened to the teenager ramble about it for half an hour.
Even the poor workers were annoyed, something Sae could easily spot as they side eyed the boys while they talked. After that day, he had started to regularly carry both Excedrin and a pair of noise-canceling earbuds for whenever he hung out with the two.
It became a regular thing, the three of them going to a specific cafe that would always leave Sae with the worst head pains. As much as he wanted to deny it, he couldn't; Charles was a great kid. He was smart and energetic, and decent at soccer as well. He was currently studying at their university, but, unfortunately, as an exchange student.
Shidou had practically adopted the youngest of the trio as their son the first minute they had met him (despite Sae’s protests–he was not ready to be a parent yet). It made sense because of their similar explosive and weird personalities, which easily led to them becoming attached by the hip.
Much to his annoyance, they had even begun calling each other the “zesty duo.”
When Shidou first suggested going out to the cafe, Sae immediately denied. He did not want to hear about the things the two had seen on the internet, instead preferring to continue his studies for the finals that were coming up–after all, it was his second to last year of university. He couldn’t afford any grade drops if he wanted to stay on the sports scholarship.
However, when Shidou had his mind set on something, there was nothing anyone could do to prevent it.
It was something Rin had learned the hard way after being kicked in the face by his boyfriend.
After at least fifty thousand “pleases” (not an exaggeration, seriously), as well as promising to pay for Sae’s order as well, he had finally agreed.
That’s how Sae found himself accompanying them on their post-studying coffee run, ready for a migraine the size of a whale to tear his cranium apart.
They hadn’t even stepped into the cafe, instead they were just in front of the windows when Charles suddenly stopped. Sae pretended not to notice, keeping his eyes on his phone as he watched him from his peripheral vision.
He had twitter open, mindlessly scrolling through tweets he didn’t bother reading. Charles turned to Shidou, a blank look on his usually bright face as he opened his mouth to speak. It was completely out of character, and a small voice in the back of his mind told him he should be worried. “I can’t order. There’s no way I can order.”
Shidou frowned, cocking his head as he studied him. Sae watched in silence as the tallest of the three turned to look inside, squinting his eyes to find the problem—which reminded Sae that he needs to schedule an eye appointment for his boyfriend.
A few weeks prior he had started to complain about his eyesight, telling Sae that Yukimiya had “spread his blindness” to him (which he had told him off for because that was absolutely ridiculous).
“Aww Chevy, are you scared of bangs or something?” Shidou teased, wrapping an arm around the blond as he laughed. He leaned in close, whispering in his ear (in a volume that Sae could hear), “Or are you perchance in love?”
“You can’t just say that,” Sae snapped, scoffing at Shidou’s word choice. He looked up from his phone, eyes immediately finding the topic of Charles’s fear: a dark haired boy with bangs covering half of his face. He seemed only an inch shorter than the blond, perhaps around his age, and at that moment it became clear to him exactly what Shidou had teased him for. He definitely had a crush on the boy.
Shidou stuck his tongue out at him, unwrapping his arm around Charles in favor of wrapping it around Sae instead. He didn’t bother in shaking him off of his shoulders, instead leaning into the warmth. He ignored the way Shidou’s face lit up, preferring to motion at the door. “You’ll be fine. Let’s go.”
Walking inside, Sae relaxed at the warm air that brushed past him. If he had to pick a coffee shop as his favorite, he would probably choose this one as well. It was the place he had met Shidou in (no, they hadn’t met during their classes), and it was the place the three of them had first hung out together in. As much as he refused to admit, the two meant a lot more to him than he let on.
Charles whispered to Shidou, “you know my usual,” ere making a beeline to their usual table.
The demon didn’t look very happy at that, turning to Sae to speak his mind. “I think I might just narc on him to his little crush.”
“Absolutely not,” Sae scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You make that kid cry and I’ll beat your ass.”
Which was true, except for the part where Sae would be able to beat him. Sae may have had little to no sympathy toward others, but for Charles, he would light an entire city on fire. He was sure his boyfriend would do the same. After all, he had beaten the shit out of someone who made a joke of Charles’s prominent fang.
“What? I’d never! That’s my son, I’d never do anything to hurt him,” Shidou gasped, his left hand moving to clutch the area of his shirt that sat superficial to his heart, but he knew he wasn’t offended by it. He removed his arm from Sae’s shoulder, pulling out his wallet as he pointed to where Charles was sitting. “Go and sit down, I’ll bring you your drink, your highness.”
Sae nodded, ignoring the last comment as he narrowed his eyes at Shidou. “Don’t do anything stupid, Demon.”
“No promises.” Shidou grinned, winking at the shorter of the two. Sae didn’t answer, instead turning around to join Charles at the table.
The boy didn’t look at him as he sat down, his eyes fixated on Shidou and the register boy. Sae pulled his phone back out, not remembering when he had put it up.
He opened his messages app, sending Rin a text to remind him to study. His brother opened it immediately but didn’t respond, instead leaving him on read. He was probably with that one cyan-haired boy he met when Rin graduated from high school.
He swiped back to twitter, actually reading tweets this time as he waited for Shidou to return with their drinks. Ever since Charles and Shidou introduced him to brain rot, his feed had been flooded with American humor that he didn’t find funny. He only saved the tweets to show to the french boy, not for his own amusement.
After a few moments of comfortable silence, Charles turned to look at Sae. His voice was light as he hummed in thought. “Do you think Shidou would help me?”
“Don’t take the Demon’s lukewarm advice,” Sae advised, his teal eyes not leaving his phone screen. “Unless your purpose is to scare him off, of course.”
Charles leaned over the table into his personal space, a pout situated on his face. “Then what do I do? I just want his number!”
If it were anyone else, he would have shoved them away with a disgusted grimace on his face. There were only two people that were the exceptions, and he was currently out for coffee with the both of them.
Sae peered up, raising an eyebrow. The answer was obvious, and he had no problem with voicing it. “You speak to him. Easy.”
Charles leaned back into his seat, groaning as he covered his face with his hands. Sae cracked a slight smile at his antics before immediately covering it up with his usual poker face. God forbid either of the duo see it—the ego boost would be unbearable.
“But how ? I’ve never dealt with… romance before.”
To be honest, neither had Sae. Shidou had been his first, and he had zero intentions of letting the male get away any time soon. Sae was not good with romance or affection—he even had a hard time verbalizing it. For most of his life, he believed that love was lukewarm and that he’d never get it. Of course, it changed when he had met Shidou.
He sighed, placing his phone face down on the table. He leaned forward, folding his arms as he watched Charles. The poor boy's leg was bouncing in nervousness. “Shidou was the one who made all of the advances prior to our relationship. All I can suggest for you to do is to be casual. I don’t know, tell him you think he’s cute or something.”
Charles shrunk in his seat, uncovering his face, his arms flopping to his sides. His voice was small, laced with insecurities as he began to speak. “And you’re sure it’ll work?”
Sae shrugged, looking behind Charles as Shidou walked their way with their drinks in his arms. He returned his attention back to his friend. “It’s better than what Shidou would tell you to do. Seriously, just be yourself.”
Charles nodded, his yellow eyes brightening in determination. Sae internally cheered as his attitude returned to how it was before—seeing him so nervous was something he was not used to, nor was it a sight he liked.
Shidou slumped into the seat next to him, passing them their coffee orders. Sae silently sighed as the two started talking about something called “my new character”, choosing to zone out so he wouldn’t have to listen to it. Brain rot was bad for the brain. He already had enough of it already.
After half an hour, Charles stood up, straightening his shirt. He looked at Sae, snapping him back onto Earth as he opened his mouth. “I’m going to order something to go, and I’ll ask for his number.”
Sae nodded as Shidou loudly whistled, earning annoyed looks from other patrons. He watched Charles as he walked up to the counter, confident in himself. Sae smiled at the sight because he knew Charles would succeed, especially since he had the half-assed help of himself.
Shidou turned to him, resting his head on his fist as he gave Sae a teasing look. “Did he really come to you for advice?”
“You say that as if it's impossible to be true,” Sae responded, rolling his eyes. “I’m sure it’s better than what you would have given him.”
Shidou snorted, moving to take a sip of his drink before continuing. “You’re probably right.”
Sae gave him one of his rare laughs. “I know I am.”
The two turned their attention to Charles, watching as he conversated with his crush. It seemed as if it was going smoothly, the worker laughing a few times at something Charles said.
Sae knew he should’ve just been himself—if someone didn’t like him as himself, then it meant that they weren’t meant to be. He just hoped that the two would be able to last.
Sae’s eyes focused on the worker's hands as he wrote something down on Charles’s to-go bag. He held in a knowing smirk at the sight, instead watching as Charles began to beam, waving brightly at the boy before turning around, making his way back to them. When he got back, his face was incredibly joyful as he cheered for himself. “I did it, Sae, I got his number by being myself!”
Sae smiled.
“I told you so. Now let’s get back to studying.”
“Can I get a dozen macarons to go, please?”
Charles asked, leaning onto the counter as he smiled at the boy behind the counter. Looking down at his nametag, he added, “Niko.”
Under his bangs, he watched as Niko slightly blushed, nodding as he punched in his order. He cleared his throat before asking, “Anything else?”
Charles grinned. “Is your number on the menu?”
It was a cheesy pick-up line, sure, but it worked—Niko gaped at him, hand subconsciously brushing his bangs back, allowing Charles to drown in his eyes. They were beautiful.
After a moment, Niko smiled at him. “Only for you.”