♆ g h o s t ♆

abel occultum ▽ puer spiritum ▽ nocturne

[habitualhauntings]

Shortcake for Breakfast

[rentheweenie]

”..Huh?” He blurted as his face turned red, what even was this?? Was it some sort of weird confession?? Well.. At the moment he didn’t have any plans on dating this stranger but he still couldn’t help but to feel embarrassed over the fact that Abel had apparently only come around to the bakery to see him. 

Ren had to take a moment with this, he never even thought of liking someone or dating anyone for years, not since he had left Rin’s home so long ago.. She was the only person he thought about in a romantic way and that didn’t end too well.. He only hurt her due to all of his.. Problems, it was something he definitely did not want to happen again.

After taking a few minutes to calm himself and relax enough not to give a panicked answer, he reached up and scratched at his head a little. “Well..” Another nervous laugh had escaped him.

"Obviously we don’t know much about each other other than our names so.." He leaned towards the counter again, motioning for Abel to come over. "Would you like to exchange numbers?" 

[habitualhauntings]

Trading numbers? Abel couldn't even remember the last time he'd done something like that and it was obvious that he was hesitating. Despite his frequent infatuations, he wasn't usually caught so off guard. Things were typically orderly and required so much planning. This Ren kid was throwing him off guard.

Reaching into his coat pocket, Abel took out his phone and unlocked it before stepping toward the counter and offering it toward the other. 

"Uh... Put your number in and send yourself a message so that you can save me." He glanced around as he waited for the other to be done putting in his contact information. 

"Don't get the wrong idea or anything... I'm not trying to court you." 

[habitualhauntings]

Shortcake for Breakfast

[rentheweenie]

Ren blinked a few times at the sudden loudness from Abel, causing him to straighten up and stare at him in shock, perhaps he overstepped a line with his teasing? He didn’t expect to be yelled at and it left him confused for a little bit before he turned around to see if anyone was going to come from the back because of the shouting. 

"It kind of seemed like you were, but if not-" He shrugged finally, it was okay if this guy was just curious but just being curious and not flirting is.. A bit odd to him, why would anyone be curious about some guy who works in a bakery.

[habitualhauntings]

Could he embarrass himself any further in the next couple of minutes? It seemed like Abel was digging himself into a hole. He almost regretted coming out today. Almost. Despite it all, this was the most of an exchange that the two had ever shared.

"Okay, maybe?" It would probably be better to just tell the truth right about now. What's the worst that could happen? 

"I really only come around here to come see you. I didn't know anything about you except your name but.... You interested me?" He confessed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he continued to focus on the floor instead of Ren. Tile seemed so much more interesting when he was anxious. 

[habitualhauntings]

Shortcake for Breakfast

[rentheweenie]

"Abel?" Hmm? It was an interesting name to say the least, and the ways he was suddenly acting was if he got caught in a shady act which was frankly pretty amusing to Ren, he wanted to tease him.. How even hold was this Abel? He definitely looked a few years older than him at most, but with this shyness Ren couldn’t help but to refer to him as a ‘kid’ mentally.

"Well, Abel.. If you were going to flirt with me you should have started with that!" Maybe he hadn’t tried this before? Doing this kind of thing to someone who worked at a place they kept going to, or maybe he had just never flirted with anyone at all ah.. Older with no experience?? It was kind of cute, in a way.

[habitualhauntings]

"Flirt?!" Abel had no control over how loud he sputtered the word out, eyes widening at the other's accusation. It felt almost like the tables had turned here. Now he was the one being put on the spot and he wasn't sure how comfortable he was with that. Abel had frequent... infatuations, he could not help those, but it was not frequent that he'd get this sort of response to his behavior if any at all. 

"I wasn't..." Well he definitely was interested, but his interests came and went and not once before did he get called out for it. 

"--wasn't flirting... I was just. Um. Curious about you." He cringed a bit, frowning at himself over how odd he must seem. Curious was definitely an understatement but like hell if he was admitting that. 

[habitualhauntings]

Shortcake for Breakfast

[rentheweenie]

Did he give out too much information? Maybe he could have left out that he lived with the owner, he didn’t want to give out any wrong ideas but it was too late to change it, he had already mentioned that he lived with her and now this giant looked a lot more curious than he did a few seconds ago.

A small, nervous laugh escaped Ren as he reached up to brush his bangs out of his face a little bit, even though they simply just fell back into the same place that it was before he even touched it, there wasn’t much to say right now with the silence that they had, he didn’t even know the customers name, and here he was answering questions about himself.

”..Do you have a name? Or are you going to just keep asking me things about myself?” With even the slightest change of his tone he could have sounded rude, but he kept his light, joking tone of voice.

As he spoke though, Ren leaned up against the counter again to keep a better gaze on the curious giant.

[habitualhauntings]

Oh great. He'd succeeded in creeping the guy out. Way to go Abel. Could have just taken the cake and gone home but no, standing here and fucking everything up instead. 

The taller of the two averted his gaze, cursing himself mentally for overstepping his boundaries so quickly. 

"Abel." He mumbled, fidgeting with some loose strings hanging off his sleeves so that he wouldn't have to lock eyes with the other for the time being. At least the fact that he wanted to know his name meant he wasn't completely creeped out. Unless he was jotting it down for the banned customer list. 

"--that's my name. Abel."

[habitualhauntings]

Shortcake for Breakfast

[rentheweenie]

Well, it was pretty obvious that he would stay here, but he did end up asking and the face the taller male wore as he replied was very.. Interesting to watch. “Alright, alright.” Ren replied with a laugh as the slice of cake was set onto a small light pink plate, placed on the counter in front of the customer along with a small soon.

He tried not to focus on the nervousness that the tall male seemed to have, the lip biting and shifting around seemed pretty obvious, perhaps it was just because nobody else was in the bakery currently, so everything this one customer did was noticeable to Ren.

"Enjoy, okay?" 

The words came out must softer than he had intended it to be, honestly by the way this kid was acting it was surprising when the plate and spoon were taken without another word to him, maybe he wasn’t very interested in talking after all?

After watching him get seated, Ren slowly took the cash that was laid out for the cake and counted it before putting it in the cash register, humming lightly to himself, there wasn’t anyone else to help still, so he felt just a little bit odd standing at the counter while the single person ate by themselves.

A few times he glanced in the direction of the male, noticing their eyes kept locking which caused him to end up blushing a little- Guh! 'Why am I getting embarrassed?' Ren asked himself, scratching at his head lightly. Making eye contact wasn’t anything to be embarrassed about and here he was..

"Do you work here full time?"

While he was standing there recovering from being so embarrassed over meeting someones eyes he hadn’t noticed that the tall one had finished eating and was about to exit.

"Ah? Well.. I live with the owner, so I’m the only real worker. If I’m not here it’s probably because I was unable to come in." There were a few temp workers that came when he was sick or when it was too busy, but mostly it was just him. 

[habitualhauntings]

So Ren was the only permanent worker after all, an assumption he'd made before but couldn't confirm until now. Not that they really needed much more help, that blue haired shorty was more than capable. Abel's second time in the bakery was actually in the afternoon rush hour. The place was filled with school girls looking for an afternoon treat, couples hanging out, and mothers buying sweets for their kids. What a disaster. Abel was overwhelmed just being there, he couldn't even make an order before taking his leave, yet Ren handled it all quite well.

What concerned him moreso was the living conditions mentioned. Living with the owner... Maybe they were family? Or maybe the guy was really just dirt poor, trading work for shelter. It wasn't uncommon in a place like New York, everyone had to make a living somehow, no shame in that.

The curiosity was obvious on his facial features, an eyebrow raised at the comment and his eyes seeming to light up. He'd learned so much with such a simple question, it didn't seem Ren was too keen to keep these type of things to himself. Maybe he could ask something else and it wouldn't be too weird... 

"Oh? You look so young, I thought you were just a high school part-timer before but I kept seeing you here." 

[habitualhauntings]

Shortcake for Breakfast

[rentheweenie]

"Coffee beans and breakfast?" He asked, curious as to why he’d get coffee beans and not return home immediately.. Since this male did come everyday, it wasn’t necessary to come for breakfast, but strawberry shortcake didn’t sound too much like breakfast to Ren, more like a brunch snack or something..

Slowly he moved back from the counter, shifting over towards the display case to grab one of the slices and take it out to move towards the back counter, setting it down gently. “Are you going to eat it here? Or take it back home so you can drink some coffee with it?” Ren said a bit teasingly, of course they had tea and coffee sold here for those who decided to eat their pastries here, but since this odd customer had mentioned just buying coffee beans, Ren decided that it would be rude to ask if he wished for a drink as well. 

[habitualhauntings]

"Ah yeah. For here." There would be absolutely no point at all to this outing if he were to just take the cake with him and leave and Abel was almost offended, only then reminding himself that it was only polite of Ren to ask... Just part of his job. 

Biting down at his bottom lip, he shifted his weight from one leg to the other as he rummaged through his pockets for his wallet. The brunette was feeling far too awkward now and decided it might be a good time to retreat so he picked out some cash and set it on the counter, sure that it was more than enough to cover the cake. Well, he could just keep the tip. It was the least Abel could do, a small thank you to the bakery worker for becoming the unknowing focus of his attention.

It didn't take long for him to pick up his cake and bring it close to him, taking his leave to the table he'd picked out as his own. God, he missed his chance. He'd definitely convinced himself that he was going to have an actual conversation with the guy today yet here he was. Again. 

No it wasn't too late, he still had a chance. But first-- light optics gazed down to the shortcake, fumbling with his spoon before beginning to eat it.

He took his time, humming a bit as he glanced over, only occasionally locking eyes with Ren and having to look away quickly. In the end he couldn't finish more than half of it and stood up to throw the rest in a nearby waste bin, standing up a bit straighter because he had to pass by the counter again to get to the door. Just a few steps. Still no customers. 

"Do you work here full time?" He practically blurted the question, furrowing his brows in annoyance at himself because this wasn't the order.. The way he'd set things out for himself.

"--I mean... Of all the times I've come here you're usually on shift. Missing only maybe once or twice." Not that he'd come on those hours again.

[habitualhauntings]

Shortcake for Breakfast

[rentheweenie]

Eight days, eight days in a row this same male has come into the bakery.. Not at the same time during the day, but always every day, at this point Ren highly doubted he was coming just for the pastries, he had obviously taken a notice to the glances at him but attempted not to think anything of it and think that perhaps he was a normal customer that enjoyed the pastries the woman who owned the store always made- They were delicious so he didn’t doubt that was part of the reason.. But still.

"Hi again… Uh, Ren. Right?"

He seemed.. A bit shy if anything, for someone so tall- Wasn’t it a thing that all tall people had to be confident or something? Ren didn’t think about it too much until now anyways.

"That’s right." He finally confirmed as his gaze went down to the tag that was placed on his apron, the question confirmed the fact that this guy had come for him in a way.. Right? Nobody else had ever questioned his name, or even said it even though it was right there in an obvious place.

"You’re kind of early today, aren’t you?" As the question was asked, Ren leaned against the counter a little, closer to the other male.

"What would you like?"

[habitualhauntings]

Abel didn't miss a beat, watching as the other leaned against the counter and taking note of the tiny details that could be easily dismissed when not at a close proximity. 

"Mn." He nodded, fingers fiddling with the hem of his jacket as he pretended to look around at the pastries that were out for display behind the glass. It's not like he came here for anything specific, in fact he didn't particularly like sweets all that much, he always ended up with the same order. 

"Slow morning. Went to pick up some coffee beans... I was all out at home... and decided to stop by for some-- Uh. Breakfast." That question was probably rhetorical and now he felt a bit ridiculous for sharing. Maybe he was too tired to function, it'd benefit him if he came at a later time, mentally at least. This morning was actually perfect, though, he was really the only person there, having entered just as a small old lady had just taken her exit. 

"Strawberry shortcake..." 

[habitualhauntings]

Shortcake for Breakfast

       His name was Ren-- or at least, that's what the tiny nametag, neatly pinned onto his work uniform suggested. Abel had snuck a look at the little plastic pin on multiple occasions, and the lettering always remained the same: black, all caps, helvetica, REN. The first time he'd noticed it, he'd rolled the name around behind his teeth as he drank his coffee (three sugars and no cream because that is really the only way to handle a monday morning) the second and third were spent with occasional glances up to the counter of the bakery he now chose to frequent. It wasn't unusual for Abel to have his interests piqued by something out of the blue, but it usually did not take the form of a blue haired guy serving him cake. 

It was probably the eighth day in a row that he'd come to the bakery, never quite at the same time. It was a slow morning so he figured he needed a pick me up in the form of a 'welcome back, what can I get you'. When Abel was younger, his mother always told him not to stare for too long-- that it was rude. That was just one thing he completely disregarded. It wasn't that he meant to be rude, not really, he was just so easily fascinated. 

"Hi again... Uh, Ren. Right?" As if he would have forgotten.