NAGISA;
Nagisa leaned forward, his face practically pressed against the counter top, while Haru spelled out his order. “Ohhh,” he said after it was clear Haru had finished, “an iced vanilla latte? Those are always yummy! And, lucky for you, I make the best ones in town. Really. I swear that’s not an exaggeration– just ask Makoto!”
After folding the menu, Nagisa threw it back in the drawer. Then, he rung up Haru’s total on the cash register, but didn’t ask him for his credit card. Instead he reached into his pocket and swiped his own card through the expecting slot. The machine dinged when it spit out the receipt.
“This one’s on the house.” Nagisa winked and handed Haru the slip of paper. “So just wait a sec, ’kay? It’ll be right out!”
One dazzling smile later and Nagisa was fiddling with the coffee machines behind the counter. He moved so fast it was almost as if he was the protagonist in a sped-up video game, blurring in and out of sight while he filled a cup with Haru’s order. Once the drink was complete, he grabbed a can of whipped cream to top it off, swirling the tip like it was an ice cream cone.
“Aaaand here you go! One iced vanilla latte, brewed to perfection, but still one hundred percent alcohol-free!” Nagisa looked around in mock-suspicion and then lowered his voice. “There’s a little extra whip, but don’t tell anyone, okay? It’ll be our secret!”
With one eye on his book, and one eye on Nagisa, Haru waited for his drink. Nagisa seemed to be really good at his job, and Haru wondered how long he’d been working there.
Once Haru’s drink had been passed over to him, he took it gratefully and took a sip. He smiled at Nagisa’s joke, fiddling with the pages of his book. Suddenly, his expression turned grave, and, as if he’d taken Nagisa’s joke to heart, he nodded, crossing his heart as if to say, “I won’t tell!”
And then he smiled and laughed, quiet and soft.
“Thaaank...y-you.”
He took another sip of his drink, and closed his book. He looked around; there was no one else who needed their order filled. The cafe was only populated with the occasional person sitting at a table on their laptop, taking advantage of the free wifi.
Haru found he had more confidence with fewer people around.
“Th-This is...verrrry good. I-I’ll have...to come h-here...more offfften, um...” He trailed off, looking at Nagisa’s nametag, before picking up again to finish off his sentence. “...N-Nagisa.”
