Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Elliot’s day had started out fine and dandy as it always did, he had risen from his bed, blinking though the soft rays of sunlight peeking out of his thin curtains, prepared a quick breakfast he shoved in his mouth on record time, then off he was, jogging to the pizza place where he took his keys and started the process of opening the pizzeria. He had felt accomplished with how normal the day had been in a way, singing under his breath to the same few lyrics of a song stuck in his head while cooking up a few orders to go in the quiet morning of another uneventful day at the pizzeria.

But now, all Elliot could feel was tired, just a few feet behind him builder brothers' pizzeria was burning to complete ashes, firefighters and civilians running around hysterically, graffiti all over the walls. Elliot had been freaking out at first, too, internally of course as he didn't want to alarm anyone else, but when he had gotten over his surprise and had actively started to try and help those around, he had found that the culprit was one small little red rascal he had then held up by his shirt collar and taken outside, who now clung and hid behind the nervous figure of his father.

‘I'd be absolutely furious if i wasn't already getting used to this’ Elliot thought and huffed almost imperceptibly, Seven had been apologetic about the chaos his kid has caused, despite his teenage years of rebellious behaviour and hacking, he had sort of shown he had changed his ways, but his kid seemed determined to follow on his fathers teenage footsteps ‘i get its difficult to be a single father but…’

‘Someone needs to parent that kid’ he thought furiously, looking at the wet cat looking man that stood in front of him, who bowed while nervous apologies tumbled out of his blubbering mouth.

“Sorry! I'm really, really sorry Elliot. I swear!” said the man, sweat sliding down his brow behind pink glasses. however the expression of the kid who stood at his feet told a different story, clinging to his father, barely hiding his giggling behind brown khakis. “You know he's a good kid…”

Elliot wasn't paid enough to deal with this, his father's pizzeria or not, no money in the world was worth dealing with this, but still, he dealt. He just nodded at the man, trying to not be an asshole and get the situation over with so he could call his dad and talk about how to proceed, waving him away. even when he tried to hide his anger, he knew Seven had noticed as the man had lowered his head ashamed and quickly scurried away with his son in arms.

Hours later, only when he found himself sitting alone on a chair in his home, pondering the situation once more while breathing out the flowing smoke of a cigarette, did Elliot allow himself to somewhat relax. Tapping the stick on a makeshift ashtray he had made of his untouched glass of water, he let his thoughts wander. Head tilting back, blond curls jumping and racing over like waves on his forehead and freckled cheeks, he hummed quietly.

‘That kid needs a parent that's not a total pushover…’ Elliot continued tapping the cig on the rim of the glass, following a faint rhythm even though there was no more ash to tap away. He kept Remembering the nervous way Seven had fidgeted and curled around himself, apology through apology elliot didnt want to keep on hearing. and yet. ‘...maybe…’

Maybe, maybe, maybe. A crazy idea, insane, perhaps, But right now, Elliot was kind of operating on maybe’s, unemployed and uncertain of the pull of tomorrow, the long haired man began to daydream in a makeshift world where Elliot helped that family to grow, nurturing the kid and the fathers lives and decisions with careful but firm hands. In between his fingers, the stick of tobacco slowly burned itself to complete ashes, and Elliot continued the dreaming he knew would get him nowhere.

an opening and opportunity presented itself days later, on a cold autumn morning, Elliot had taken one look at his empty fridge that held the sorry sight of a soggy tomato and a packet of hot sauce, armed himself with his warmest gear, and set out to buy groceries.

Usually he would go to the grocery store closest to his home, but today he decided against it, seeing as he was relying on his savings for the time being while the pizzeria was being rebuilt and repaired, he might as well be careful with how he spends his money.

Stepping outside, his body involuntarily shivering, he heard a voice call for his attention.

“Well, if it isn't the handsome young man next door!” His neighbor, an old gray haired lady that lived next door to his, loudly announced his presence to anyone within hearing range. He decided it was worth it to stand a few more minutes in the cold to talk to her, seeing as she was also heading out, it seemed, even when he could see his breath fogging in front of his face.

She was really the nicest old lady out here, helped him settle when he had moved into his new place, and taught him to cook quite a lot of meals from her own personal recipes that helped him prepare himself a meal with anything and everything he had in his fridge, which he took to easily with his experience with cooking, helped when one lived on a budget and needed to keep some savings. Also gifted him quite a lot of handmade crochet sweaters, gloves and scarfs, which he wore now, as those were the nicest and warmest pairs he owned.

After exchanging formalities, and promising a visit for tea and cookies soon, he finally entered his vehicle and drove off. Head bobbing and Humming to whatever was on the radio and wishing the heating in his car worked, Elliot reached his destination in a flash.

He parked his car as close to the entrance as he saw possible, and speedwalked to the inside of the beaten down grocery store, his breath already fogging in front of his face despite his red scarf wrapped tightly around his face and neck.

Taking the first of the grocery carts he came across that were left around by other customers, then cursing its wobbly wheel, he scanned his surroundings and pushed the shaky cart around the scarcely lightened ailes.

Elliot was in the process of evaluating if a particularly shriveled head of lettuce was worth it when not so far his ears caught onto the tail end wailing of a familiar voice, his shoulders jumping up to his ears in surprise.

He had thought about ignoring them, and walking as far away as possible in the medium store, but his only escape route was right behind the duo that stood now just a few steps from him. settling what he had in his hands down carefully, he turned around and faced the scene happening right behind him like a man accepting fate.

“NONONO! No i dun’ wanna!” C00lkid currently sat on the dirty floor of the dimly lit hall, waving his arms up and down rapidly, chubby red clawed fingers curled into fists. Seven seemed to be completely done with this situation, pinching the skin between his furrowed brows in tired exasperation and exhaustion only a parent could have.

“Look, kiddo,” Elliot wrinkled his nose at the fact he was close enough to be overhearing their conversation, and pondered at the scarce space between the man and the aisle, looking for a way out that wouldn't have to involve speaking to the two. Unfortunately, Seven chose that exact moment to lift his gaze from the pouting figure of his son to scan his surroundings, reading label after label on the shelf before landing on Elliot, who was just standing there. “I just think it might be better if you actually tried some mushrooms before rejecting them entirel…y..”

The two adults now stood staring at each other, Seven’s face did this complicated, kinda constipated expression before smoothing itself out, Elliot felt the same way. Though, the blond could admit he found himself feeling a kind of sympathy for the man over his current position, he himself related to it.

Caring and cooking for Mia as a teen with a workaholic father himself made him deeply familiar with the concept of picky children, so, cursing the awkwardness and his social nature but still being unable to combat his need to interact and empathize, he approached the two of them in purposefully slow strides. He knows he must look goofy, but he is at least trying.

“Hey,” Seven seemed to be stunned into silence by the fact Elliot was directing his gaze and words at him. This might have thrown the blond off were he anyone else, but Elliot is a professional at customer service-ing, so he kept his face plainly neutral “You two alright?”

“Elliot! Yes, of course. How have you been? With the whole..” Seven winced, already seeming to regret the words he had spoken. He gestured nervously at Elliot, waving in his hand a tin can labeled ‘mushrooms’ “you know”

Elliot almost laughed at the absurdity of the question, what do you even say in this situation, ‘oh no, i'm totally fine. Amazing even! Thank you for this forced unpaid vacation, man. I'm certainly enjoying the uncertainty of the future that awaits me!”

“It's fine” Elliot coughed to disguise how the question had kinda thrown him off. C00lkidd, who was at this bored of the two adults having a stilted conversation above him, had seemed to be done with laying on the cold floor of the store, and was now tugging at his father’s pants looking for his attention, then seemed to get distracted by an empty place in the shelves “you know, canned mushrooms are really gross, id recommend switching to fresher ones. Those are weirdly salty sometimes”

Seven watched Elliot for a moment, not understanding what the blond was even talking about, before a loud shrill voice pitched into the still conversation.

“Yes! They taste soooo bleghh” both adults turned around, and found that C00lkidd had shoved himself into the shelves, his words slightly muffled, she shelf then shook strongly. “We should just eat pizza instead, all the time!”

“Huh?” Seven instead of answering, simply blinked, surprised, but Elliot didn't give him any time to process or speak about his comment, immediately taking his leave while the man was surprised, speed walking out of there. The man stood shocked for a minute before finally reacting by a tug on his shirt, looking down, he saw C00lkidd who had gotten out of in between the shelf, now standing on his tippy toes and tugging once again at his shirt, loudly exclaiming that he was bored and wanted to go home.

‘I don't even like mushrooms either’ Seven now examined the can in his hand before placing it gently into the shelf. Lifting c00lkidd and placing him on the shopping cart's little seat, he kept shopping.

Elliot himself simply continued his trip around the store, checking prices and tossing whatever he was going to buy inside cart

‘Mia loves these ones, but they're sort of small to buy just one or two. She might finish those in under ten minutes’ he pondered the price on the bag of heart shaped cherry lollies, and decided ultimately to throw them in, he had come to like them, too. ‘i should just buy a whole bag, they're cheap anyway’

The blonde spotted the pair once again in the checkout section of the store, C00lkidd was trying his best to crawl out of the cart to the candy bars that were beside the cashier, who looked slightly uncomfortable but ultimately done with it all as every part time job having teenager seemed to be, Seven trying to hold him back with one hand and trying to scan his card and pay with the other.

Looking around to see if there were any other ones available he found that they were overfilled with long lines of customers, all of them sending badly concealed glances filled with nervousness and disdain towards the pair. He heard Seven release a sigh of relief at the ping of the machine that finally took his card. Elliot, who had already been placing his items in the conveyor belt, watched the cashier relax slightly as Seven hurried to place all of his items in a cloth bag, C00lkidd still grabbing longingly at the direction of the candy that were now too far to reach.

Like any adult who has had a positive experience with kids, Elliot was weak to the cuteness of children, even if those children had weird fire starting tendencies, so, opening the bag of lollies the cashier had already scanned he placed one in c00lkidd’s hand. The kid made a surprised noise at him, then giggled and immediately tore open the plastic wrap with his sharp teeth, chomping right at the candy without a second thought.

‘Figured he'd like those, like any little kid under ten, just pure solid cherry flavored sugar’ the cashier smiled tiredly at him and Elliot just shrugged, having been shoving his items while they were being scanned quickly in a red cloth bag, he was up and ready to pay and go.

“What is that? What’s in your mouth?” Seven asked his son, who he had now in one arm, the cloth bag hanging off his other one. c00lkid was covering the stick connected to the lollie with both hands, and just looked at his father ‘innocently’ “did you steal that? You know you can't steal, right? Oh no, im-”

“dude, chill,” Elliot was confused on why C00lkidd hadn't told his dad that it was him who gave him the candy, but figured that maybe the kid was just trolling his father, as he seemed to enjoy doing “i gave it to him, thought he could use something to distract him, he was getting fidgety”

Seven seems to finally have noticed Elliot was there, head snapping upwards at his voice. Elliot, already done with the man’s earlier stammering and apologies and the awkwardness every time they encountered each other, lifted his bag to his shoulder, and took off towards the sliding doors of the supermarket, not without waving thanking at the cashier, wishing him a good day. He could hear Seven walking behind him too, talking softly to his son, both of them stepping out to the cold air at the same time.

“Dad, It's freezing…” c00lkidd said, clinging to his father searching for warmth, Seven simply sighed, seemingly used to it and held him tighter and up.

“I told you it would be cold, you should have let me put your scarf on” the man mumbled and adjusted the bag on his arm, while c00lkidd whined and his teeth chattered “Take my scarf, I cant put it on you myself, my hands are occupied..”

‘Should have taken my keys out while I was inside, this is what happens when you are impulsive and impatient’ Elliot was checking his pockets for his car keys, feeling increasingly cold, bag placed at his feet. while checking his pants back pockets, he glanced at the pair who was still beside him.

C00lkidd was cozy now in his dads big scarf, snuggling into the warmth left in it by his father, but Seven didn't look warm at all, in fact, he could see the man's nose rapidly turning red while balancing the bag and his son in his arms.

‘It's so cold, I should have bought c00lkidd’s scarf, at least the walk home is not that long’ the man, having already practiced this routine a few times, turned his back to the blonde in the direction of his home. He was prepared to deal with the cold, even though his nose was already sniffling wetly from the cold, he couldn't help thinking of snuggling into his cozy bed back home, when something started strangling out of nowhere from behind, it was only years of practice with the fidgety toddler that was c00lkidd that helped him keep ahold of his son and their groceries while struggling against his attacker. ‘What the hell! Is someone trying to kill me?!’

Seven risked a glance backwards, and there he was, that thing that was strangling him turned to not be a weapon at all, but a brilliantly soft red scarf, that now laid wrapped tightly around his neck, Elliot simply stared at the man, narrowed his eyes as if defying him to say anything at all and turned in direction of his car, walking stiffly but decisive, bag in hand.

The man continued to stare as the blond loaded his groceries into his car quickly, sat in the driver's seat then took off in only a few moments. Only then did Seven continue his journey home, blinking in disbelief at what just happened, and slightly flustered at the feeling of being taken care of, even if it was by the man he seriously thought hated him.

Meanwhile, Elliot continued driving his car, the radio turned up to a familiar song from his childhood, and grumbled to himself about his now lost scarf, and how he was going to explain to his neighbor why he wasn't wearing it anymore.

‘I'm never getting it back, am i?’ He was an idiot, Seven lived quite far from where Elliot's house was it seemed, judging by the direction the man had walked to. But he couldn't find it in himself to be too upset, yes, it was one of his favorite scarves, but the man was on a straight path to catching a cold if he kept that up, and he couldn't let someone go if they needed help, it would weigh him down all day. Even if it was 007n7 ‘It was necessary, i guess, i have a car so i can get home faster than he can, who knows how far his house was from the supermarket’

While Elliot continued justifying his own actions to himself, he heard a loud ping, then buzzing slightly beside him. He quickly glanced down and found that someone was calling his phone, the words ‘EMO’ and a matching picture of his little sister glaring viciously at the camera flashing besides a few texts.

‘NEED candy’ ‘bring candy’ ‘ELLIOT’’elliot elliot elliot’

He slowed the car to a stop at a red light, took those precious few moments to bring his phone close to his face, and thought about answering the texts he knew Mia had sent desperately, then he promptly pressed the ignore button, placed his phone screen facing down, and continued driving home, now a smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

“If she wants candy that bad, then she can come visit me, heh” he spoke out loud to himself, giggling softly imagining how angry his sister must be right now at being ignored. His phone kept buzzing through the whole drive home, Elliot simply resumed humming to songs, now more enthusiastic and joyful.

Chapter Text

“We're still not hiring, sorry sir!”

And there Elliot went out the sliding doors, flat on his metaphorical ass. After a while of these words being repeated over and over again, one might start getting used to them, maybe start thinking about the possibility of giving up, but the blond refuses to get accustomed to failure; he hadn't given up when he had been the only personnel working at the pizza place, he wouldn't give up now.

He refused to give up.

‘It might take a while,’ his father had said, Elliot having called out of pure boredom to inquire about the pizzeria’s progress. Yes, of course staying home was fun and relaxing at first, but he had been going stir-crazy after a few days, there was only so much painting and renovating one could do to their home while on a fixed budget. ‘Maybe you could move back in the meantime?’

No way, he was an adult already, he could manage for a while by himself. So, Elliot was out once again in the cold streets of Robloxia, and today he is looking for a job. ‘Maybe something I already know how to do, like cooking!’ he had once foolishly thought, which quickly turned to ‘or a part time job, i can be a cashier, i'm not picky!’ Now it was all down to Elliot just praying for almost anything to pop up, anything!

And as if the day couldn't get any worse, he felt a cold drop of something land right on his shoulder. He lifted his hand and pressed two fingers against the spot, moving them close to his face to take a look.

‘Huh, water?.... At least it's not bird poop’ Elliot had been so glad to not have stained his beloved jacket, a gift from his little sister for his 18th birthday, now slightly discolored from past washes and years of drying in the harsh summer sun, he had even sighed with relief happy to keep at least a bit of good luck.

Forgetting completely that birds usually would migrate to warmer weather this time of year due to cold temperatures and rain, like a fool.

That small little drop of water that had seemed so inconsequential turned out to be his doom, snowballings into a small flood all around him, and Elliot, almost completely drenched, took cover under the small plastic cloth roof of a closed store, standing on his tippy toes trying to keep his sneakers and their insides from getting wet from the water that slid over the pavement, all that to just to be completely unsuccessful.

‘Damn, should have taken a look at the weather this morning’ Elliot thought annoyed at himself, and looked around hoping for a better cover, maybe the inside of a store or something. This flimsy roof wouldn't stand though the heavy rain any longer, old rips on the cloth opening more with the brute force of the falling water, dripping coldly right onto him.

But it seemed that all stores were closed or closing down. Well, yeah, who would want to keep their store open when customers won't come? It was a raging storm all around, everyone had either fled to their homes or were planning to.

Though, from the corner of his eye, he could just barely see a bright light illuminating through a window, in between grayish walls and rapidly appearing fog.

Elliot turned and strained his eyes trying to see inside the building, it was obscured due to badly taped posters and a layer of condensation opaquing the crystals of the shop that evidenced the warmth inside, the worn out sign above the entrance spelled out ‘coffee’ in bold, grand lettering, yet all that remained of the last ‘e’ was the silhouette, the letter probably having fallen down through the many changes in climate the place had withstanded and been open for.

A place that looked truly worn down from years and kinda sketchy, forgotten throughout the race of time, was now what Elliot would call an oasis in his current situation.

He was cold, his socks were uncomfortably wet and squishy, his bag and its contents were on its way to be soggy too, while his stomach thought this was the best moment to remind him that he hadn't eaten at all that day, but a single miserable red apple he had grabbed in a hurry.

So arming himself with rapidly depleting confidence, or desperate need for survival and hopefully a hot drink to warm his already trembling body, he covered his head with both arms, more for theatrics than protection from the weather, his clothes already more than halfway drenched, and absolutely booked it across the street, chanting various synonyms for ‘wet’ and ‘gross’ in his head, feeling the water splash across what was left dry of his sneakers and pants.

The moment he reached the door, Elliot pushed open the heavy wood door, a chiming bell above him announcing his arrival, and momentarily enjoyed the warmth that radiated from the store upon contact with his cold skin, closing his eyes briefly with relief while he left a puddle right by the door, he decided that apologizing would be best in this situation.

“Haah…. I'm so sorry for the mess, it's pouring outside and this is the only store open!" Elliot panted, feeling the drenched clothes he wore like shackles weighing him down, brushing his wet hair from his eyes briefly and glancing up, smiling apologetically at the person he could hear breathing almost imperceptibly in the direction of the counter.

And right there, just behind the counter with a glass in hand and a rag in the other, stood 007n7, who looked at Elliot with pure unashamed surprise, mouth slightly open, eyebrows raised, the man stood still in the presence of the blonde. The younger man froze as well and blinked at the other, who seemed to be thrown off by his apology entirely.

“It's you…” it was barely a mumble said by the blonde, but you could tell the surprise in his tone, nothing overwhelmingly positive or bad, simply unexpected and slightly disdained, Elliot had not accounted for the possibility of encountering Seven at all during his trip to the busiest part of the city of Robloxia, as they were plenty far from where he had calculated the father and his kid to be living.

In any other situation Elliot would have made it seem like he didn't notice the others presence at all, would have turned around and left quietly, blending in expertly with the crowd and escaping an awkward social interaction with years of practice in the field of dealing with people. Now, with no crowd to hide and no place safe to leave to, Elliot put on his best apologetic smile and asked the man for a towel, if he would be so kind.

Seven all but ran to comply with his request, shoes squeaking and stumbling through what appeared to be the staff room of the shop. The blond was soon ushered to a table and seated.

“Thanks, it's raining cats and dogs out there” Elliot had said once the silence became too much, the only towel Seven had managed to find on his head, an old rickety radiator was also placed beside him, facing him and warming him up as best as it could, he had taken his ponytail down, sneakers, reluctantly, and jacket off, but refused to remove anything else, and was now sitting in a table tucked right in the corner of the shop, waiting for what he had ordered from off the yellowish paper of the menu Seven had provided.

‘my boss has cameras but they don't reach far, this table is off its field of vision’ had said said the man in glasses, implying the need for Elliot to be hidden from view as gently as he could manage, now, Seven placed a steaming mug right in front of Elliot and stood next to the table, hands wriggling nervously like they do every time he is his presence, the blond noted.

It was weird, what was once a man he knew thrived in chaos and his own witty remarks looked now subdued, almost shy in the way he interacted with the world around him.

Seeing as Seven was not going to do anything at all but stand off to the side and stare, Elliot took the warm mug between his hands, lifting the drink and admiring it, there was a small flower drawn in foam on the top, the latte looked almost too good to drink in this weather, and warmed him nicely upon contact with the palms of his hands, so the blond decidedly took a sip.. then immediately wished he hadn't.

‘This is the worst coffee i've ever had.’ The blond's face contorted, scrunching into something sour and tight for a moment, even his eyes teared up a little, though he controlled his face just a second after as he had the habit to do. Resigned to using the mug as a hand warmer, he went back to staring as Seven returned to his place at the counter, scrubbing an invisible stain and cleaning already specless glasses.

As the man scrubbed attentively, a lock of hair fell from the seemingly slicked back hair under that ridiculous burger hat, right over where his brow furrowed in concentration, and where the piece would usually be as lightish brown as the rest, this one shone lightly a gray colour with the lights above. Suddenly, the man in glasses snapped his head towards Elliot, likely sensing the weight of the blonde’s gaze, and he had to quickly look away and seem like he was completely lost in thought.

‘a gray-streak?!’ Elliot hummed low under his breath, slightly surprised at the man with shiny new grayish locks intermingled with brown, this opened a can of worms the blonde had been sitting on for quite some time. ‘He's still young too, I knew dealing with a kid could be stressful, but that is on a whole other level!’

Seven, Elliot thought, had changed a lot from the twenty-something, cocky bastard of a man he had been in youth.

They hadn't known each other that much more than in passing glances and acknowledging nods, but to a freshly eighteen year old Elliot, with untamed curls, cheeks covered in hundreds of freckles and less than a year left to get off his braces, the young man had the cool vibes of a bad boy and the attitude to back it up.

The blond had delivered a lot of pizzas to the dorm rooms where Seven had inhabited at the time, at first thinking him the entitled usual frat boy he had seen in all of those movies as a teen, but through conversations he had eavesdropped each time him or his roommate received the pizzas, the man was incredibly smart and witty, staying late nights to work on projects, ‘gotta do our work somehow, pizza is just our fuel’ they had mumbled during a late night delivery where the heavy bags under their eyes looked especially prominent, just enough for Elliot to ask.

Then one day, they left. Elliot stopped getting orders to deliver to the dorm room, Seven, along with his roommate seemed to have just vanished into thin air and eventually, he lost interest too.

“Elliot…is everything okay?” The flood of memories was stopped by a waving hand right in front of his face, Seven was calling to him with an expression of uncertainty. A plate was placed beside the coffee mug, a small piece of chocolate cake on top accompanied by a small fork. “I brought your cake”

Elliot mumbled his thanks, bringing the fork down onto the treat to cut a small piece, where he had gone with high expectations with the coffee, the blond now just prayed for the cake to be edible.

The slice ended up being the best he had eaten in a while, rich and sweet creamy chocolate graced his palate and Elliot was glad to finally have something to fill his empty stomach. The cake was absolutely worth every penny.

From the corner of his eye he could see Seven sneaking glances at him, as subtle as a hit from a pan to the back of the head, he didn't even seem to try and disguise the fact that he was staring between tasks at Elliot with a furrowed brow, biting the inside of his cheek. It seemed like the man had a method to his madness, wiping with a wet rag on the counter for a while before slowly turning his head towards the blonde, eyes jumping from him, to the table then towards him once again, then back to where he was cleaning, and repeat.

The blonde was on the verge of just letting the frustration take over, of taking the man by the collar of his blue shirt and shaking him, yet, he remained seated and focused all his leftover energy in finishing the piece of cake. Eventually, through the span of several minutes and continuous bites Elliot had from the chocolate cake, it seemed Seven gained enough confidence to approach the table, he reached for the younger mans empty plate of cake before his hand was caught in a deceptively strong grip.

“Sit” was all the blonde said, and Seven did so immediately and obediently, dropping across him on the empty seat, staring at Elliot like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “You've been staring at me, why?”

‘Straight for the jugular, it seems’ Seven thought, smiling nervously at Elliot, though the other seemed otherwise unbothered and mostly annoyed by it all, his long wavy hair not helping his furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. Now dry thanks to the radiator Seven had turned on for Elliot to warm up with, were now completely curled up and voluminous, and the blonde looked like a cat with its fur puffed up.

“Ah, yes! It's just, I really am sorry for all the trouble man.” Seven apologizes, unable to stop his own mouth from voicing the words he had been thinking since Elliot burst into the coffee shop, dripping and shivering at the cold air outside “C00lkidd is sorry too! He just gets really bored sometimes, he's a good kid, you know?”

‘I don't want your apologies! I want you to teach your kid to do better!’ Everytime Elliot hears the man apologize, he feels his blood boil and the urge to scream intensifies deep in his chest. Elliot's father had always been soft, usually only demanding an apology from both and some financial compensation from the man in glasses for repairs, the blonde, on the other hand, while he understood kids will rebel, thought c00lkidd took it too far sometimes, and ended up implementing the ban, even if it only worked for a little while.

Arson was also not something kids usually thought to rebel with, either, someone needed to do something about that.

“It's fine, just keep an eye on him, so it won't happen again” as soon as he said it, they both winced, knowing it would absolutely happen again, as it always did “...this place is nice, you're working here now?”

Elliot was honestly curious, the place looked old but cozy, padded seats in a dark faded red tone, warm brown and beige all around painted into the walls, it was also squeaky clean from what he could see,aside from the occasional cushion that seemed worn out and peeling. Seven simply nodded, eyes wandering too, looking around the coffee shop with a soft tired smile.

“Yes, my boss was kind enough to give me the opportunity for the job. his father founded this coffee shop, like, just a little bit over thirty years ago.” Seven nodded, dropping that little bit of history with a smile, grateful for the change in subject. “A lot of it is as it was back then, too”

“Huh, really?” The blonde blinked, surprised. “Well, it's nice, I guess, though the sign outside is…”

“It looks sketchy, right? I tried to tell my boss but he is so imposing! I've just been implying it, but he just won't catch on…” Seven sighed, placing his chin on his open palm “it doesn't help with the customers at all, though i might have also something to do with that..haha..”

All Elliot could do was nod at that, because, yeah, people would usually avoid Seven everywhere he went, not like many people like to associate with someone who could turn your life on its head with a few taps of his fingers on a digital tablet. He could imagine Seven trying to be nice about it, and ending up being seen as disingenuous, they both knew. Elliot kept on staring at the man, and he seemed to take it as a sign to continue his story.

Once seven started, he just couldn't stop himself from speaking his mind, it seemed, the man passionate about it, hands moving around, jumping in effort to explain whatever he was talking about.

“You know this place has this bubblegum machine outside that the owner really likes, like he told me as a kid he used to buy all of his candy at the machine, but it's so rusted right now and the candies are so old..” Seven shuddered, his hand waving towards the shops door “i've thought about restoring it, like in those programs c00lkidd watches on tv, but it seems difficult and my boss really loves it so-”

‘This man needs friends, desperately, he's obviously lonely’ the topic of the one man conversation they had going on had gone from all of the vintage machines in the place to Seven ranting all about the difficulty of finding parts for repairs ‘i guess it is difficult to keep company when company keeps running away..’

Elliot once again, thought about how Seven had changed, from an edgy teenager to a father, he had filled up, more of a belly now than he had with his fast metabolism years ago, even through the countless pizzas he used to consume, round around edges where he was once rough, angular and unruly, yet, Elliot couldn't shake the sense of wariness he felt everytime they crossed paths.

He had once known him as the dude who was older and cooler, now he just looked like, well, an adult, also, his way of parenting pissed him off, though Elliot kept to himself about that, he didn't have any kids so what would he know? Still, the man had given him a place to take refuge from the rain and he seemed excited to have someone to talk to in the otherwise quiet shop, so Elliot decided, and stayed right where he was, nodding and occasionally giving his input into the conversation.

‘I also can't say much about the friend department, until today the only other person i've talked to has been my neighbor, Dad and Mia’ He had nothing else to do either way, the rain didn't seem to be stopping at all outside.

“Seems unsanitary to keep the candy machine out for anyone to buy from, doesn't it? Since it's rusted…” the blonde said quietly, watching the rain pour from a window nearby, Seven hummed affirmatively at that, quieting down as the younger man spoke “The pizzeria used to have candy machines outside of the building and up inside on the walls, but they discontinued them a while ago, and dad decided to take them down. The Skittles bubble gum was my favorite, i was sad when they stopped making them, got to have the last ones in the pizzeria though”

That won Elliot an enthusiastic response and another, longer, increasingly confident rant about discontinued candy and nostalgia.

Gradually, the customer service smile and barely contained disdained face Elliot was so used to showing while around the man in glasses morphed into something slightly less performed.

Seven was charismatic, when not nervously stumbling through an awkward conversation, and the way he spoke had Elliot engaged, this had the blonde thinking that, if it wasn't for his troubled past and the danger Seven presented right now with his son, they might have become great friends, in another life, maybe if they had met earlier.

“..It's ridiculous, C00lkidd hates the new formula for the gummy bears, reminds me of me as a kid, i used to be obsessed with the crystal bloxy cola, it was nuts! i-” a buzz, loud amidst the quiet atmosphere of the shop and the now soft pattering of the last of rain, that seemed to startle Seven back into his nervous self, muttering quickly to excuse himself he slides off the cushy seat and speedwalkes to the counter, grabbing a phone with a horribly cracked screen, unlocking it with a few taps, bringing it up to his ear.

Elliot watches him go, suddenly feeling slightly colder than before, he doesn't mean to, but keeps staring as Seven gestures with his hand to no one and massages the space between his furrowed brows in growing frustration. Trying to give him at least a slight bit of privacy in what looked to be a serious call, Elliot averts his eyes to the closest window he can find and outside, where the blonde had assumed he would find the storm that had brought him to the store, was a sudden dry day, the leftover drops of the rain that had drenched him hours ago slid and fell onto still wet pavement but otherwise, the sky had cleared and the rain had left.

Surprised, and slightly disconcerted about the time passing without him noticing at all, he managed to catch just the tail end of Seven's words as the call seemed to come to a close.

“You can't just bail now, man, yes I get off at five but it's still an hour until I get home! C00lkidd can't stay alone that long, please!” he sighed, frustrated, and hung up “shit, alright..just, i'm on my way”

‘Five?! It cannot be five pm already!’ While Seven dealt with whatever that was, the blonde scrambled to his phone to check the time, and seeing how late it had already become, Elliot started to gather around his things, crouching down, he slipped his shoes on and tied a neat bow of his white shoe laces, his jacket was also fortunately dry if a little stiff at the pieces that got considerably wet and his hair was as dry as it could be, too.

Biting the hair tie, using the window as a makeshift mirror the blonde tried gathering his curls in control and into a tight grip to make a ponytail. While he was busy with that, the other man finished his call and approached the other hesitantly.

“Hey, seems like the rain stopped, huh?” the confident man from before was all but lost, the one before him fidgeted once again and Elliot stared quietly at him from the corner of his eye, unsure if the annoyance he felt now was because of his presence as a whole or for the moment that was stolen just minutes ago.

“...yesh, id hash” the blond mumbled through the hair tie between his teeth, when he got an acceptable form of ponytail in a firm grip, he took the hairband in his hand, looped the mess of curls into the elastic a few times and sighed with relief “i should get going, so, uh”

They both stared at each other, they both couldn't deny that the time they spent together was unexpectedly, at least for Elliot, pleasant yet they were both still unsure on how to cut the impromptu hangout short, continuing to stare at each other. Seven was simply glad the evening had gone without a fight or some kind of conflict, and he was pretty grateful about the company for the day, it gets lonely in an empty coffee shop, but still the brunette simply couldn't find a way to express the help Elliot had been to him simply for staying around…even if he didn't seem to have a choice at all, considering the rain.

“..bye Seven” at last, Elliot decided for them both and waved awkwardly at the man, spinning on his feet and walking to the door at what he thought was an acceptable pace. He hoped it was, as Elliot had been implementing this move since he had developed a conscience, and he wasn't about to stop using it.

Behind him, Seven waved and continued waving until Elliot was off his field of vision.

‘Fuck, i gotta take the train now or i wont get home on time’ thought Seven, already feeling overwhelmed with the responsibility of getting home to take over caring for his son so Noli could go back to his duties. So he tightened the apron tied around his waist and dashed from side to side in the store trying to tidy up. The store was clean, as he always kept it, so it wouldn't be much work.

The moment Elliot was out of the store, he decided to walk through the quickest route to his home, fearing the strong rain coming back to get him once again, this time with no refuge and no company, he would surely catch a cold. that was the reason why, only once he was home a thought came to him that left him unable to sleep comfortably in his bed.

Laying on his freshly changed clean sheets, with his washed and dried hair beside the one plushie he had bought as a gift for Mia that had come as a pair for them to match beside him, he was mortified to realize.

“I didn't pay for the coffee and cake, fuck, i'm a horrible customer” he gaped at the roof, and scrambled to search for his phone, typing desperately to the one person he knew would be awake at this hour and might respond to his sorrow.

‘Mia’ ‘mia i'm such a bad person’ ‘i feelso bad i forgot to pay 4 a coffe an a cake i cannt believe myself’

He typed desperately, and immediately three dots appeared, Mia was typing back.

‘LMAO’ ‘lololol how do u forgor to pay didnt any1 see?????’ ‘idk go back and pay or smth’ ‘im busy’ ‘cod zomb nite w frens’

Elliot huffed at that, and left her on read. As unhelpful as her response seemed, it calmed him down slightly seeing that Mia didn't seem to think the situation to be a big deal, but just a situation of absent-mindedness and not the blonde turning evil.

Repeating that it was not that big of a deal in his head, and reminding himself that the shop where Seven worked was probably closed right now, so no, he couldn't actually get up now to pay immediately to get that weight off his shoulders, it calmed him down enough to feel the pull of the exhausting day he had. so while feeling slightly anxious but mostly tired, he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

The next morning Elliot woke up early and cursed his internal clock for waking him to not having anything to do, as he was still as unemployed as he was yesterday and the day before that, he took his time staring at the window where the light sneaked into his room and hyped himself up to get up and face the cold temperature the room had descended to his room through the night.

‘I have to get up, I had something to do today. What was it..’ he closed his eyes and tried rubbing the sleepines off of them with his palm unsuccessfully, forcing his brain to power up and conjure the reason his belly was still rolling anxiously since last night. Then a thought sneaked upon him though the haziness of a still half asleep brain ‘should print more copies of my resume, might come in handy.. gods the coffee yesterday was horrible, i can still taste it, eugh’

Finally, the imaginary lightbulb over Elliot's head blinked with light, and he remembered the one problem that haunted him the night before.

“Ah, i have to pay for that today, of course” he mumbled out loud to no one at all, feeling at least a little rested and ready to begin the day, he scooted to the edge of the bed and began preparing for what's to come. He was out of the house an hour later, after fighting with his breakfast for a few minutes he decided to just eat on the way.

‘Just like yesterday, i gotta repair that toaster’ Elliot thought, taking a bite of an apple he had found shoved in a drawer inside his fridge, it was still cold and made his teeth sting, his body shivering with its temperature.

While jingling and twirling his car keys between two fingers, he rests his back against the cold surface of his car and takes out his phone to check the weather for the day. He refused to be taken by surprise again, or risk his safety out there, he is not in the mood for a repeat of yesterday.

When Elliot checked out everything and found the day acceptable, he jumped into the driver's seat and took off, tapping the steering wheel and humming to himself trying to stave off the cold, keeping an eye out for any notices for help wanted. Seeing as he was unsuccessful at catching anything during the drive, he resigned himself to go asking around just like yesterday, not like there's much he can lose just for asking.

There seemed to be even more traffic than he had anticipated, but Elliot simply assumed that was because he just hadn't driven around at all yesterday.

He parked his car and got to work, hah! yes, Elliot went around checking in places where he thought would be easiest finding a job, resigned to asking for part time jobs like a teen in need of a few bucks for a new pair of cool shoes, he spent at least an hour roaming and repeating the same few words like a machine, he even felt extremely stiff in his movements after a while.

When his hands were almost emptied of copies and he couldn't take another step even if he wanted to, the blond sat down on a bench, exhausted and hungry. To his right, temptations on wheels stood by him, “CREPES’ read the front of the metal cart, around the word a bunch of hand painted drawings of delicious crepes were calling to the blonde, a stranger, pieces of black hair stood out of a gray beanie, dressed with the puffiest jacket he had ever seen and an apron tied with a bow on their waist, Elliot could feel slight warmth from the machine in the cart that was used to cook, but mostly enjoyed the quiet ambience and the rich smell of street food that surrounded their general space.

“... are you alright?” The stranger spoke lightly, and Elliot freezed for a moment, trying to gauge if they spoke to him or were simply speaking to themselves. It had happened quite a few times to the blonde, he really wouldn't be surprised. “Yes, i am speaking to you, you're Elliot, son of Mr builder, aren't you?”

Elliot was at a loss for words, flustered at being recognized at this state, exhausted and disheveled after looking all over the city for a job. He looks up at the stranger and figures, why not? The blond nods with a small smile, they return it as well.

“Aha.. yep, that's my father!” Let it be said that Elliot never forgets a face, so this stranger is new. Usually people approach him like every other person on the street, he is known, of course, his father is one of the owners of builder brother's pizza, one of the biggest fast food places on all of robloxia, right beside his uncle, but living in the city a lot of people recognize him, if not for his family by him being around all of his life helping around. “And you are?”

The stranger smiles wider, and from beside him produces a small paper cup and a medium sized blueish thermos, full of faded stickers, the newest sticker that's been glued on spelled “tea” in fancy handwritten lettering, and the stranger pours the steaming liquid onto the cup and hands it to Elliot.

“You look cold, take this” they all but shove it into the blonde's hands, Elliot takes it, mostly because of the surprise about being offered than with the intention to drink it, and stares at them “no need to be wary, its tea, we sell it usually but you can have a cup… would you like a crepe?”

Elliot is about to decline, while the intention is nice, he doesn't make it a habit of accepting surprise gifts or drinks from strangers and they look slightly, well, unsettling, smiling too wide and standing too still, this was a big no-no, in Elliot's books.

Rapidly approaching steps interrupt his line of thinking, the stranger and him turn towards the noise.

“Two Time, stop scaring away our clients! I leave you to care for the cart for five minutes!” the first thought that comes into Elliot's head at the sight of another robloxian approaching is about the big hat that's perched atop of their head, the next is how they are matching with the one they called Two Time, big jacket, but instead of a gray beanie he wore gloves of the same color “i'm so sorry, my partner is awkward with strangers, we moved here just a month ago and were still getting used to having this much people around”

“Ah, it's alright, he just gifted me a cup of tea?” Elliot smiled awkwardly, lifting the small cup, the heat was nice in his hands, feeling it through his gloves at least and the smell wasn't bad, sweet, fresh and aromatic.

“Hope he didn't offer you a crepe, this one is terrible at cooking” they say, giggling, Two Time mutters quietly to himself and while otherwise it would have been lost, the quiet around lets the sound carry and be heard by their two companions.

“Such a meanie, Azure” Two Time pushes the other slightly with their shoulder, and walks to the bench where Elliot is sitting, plopping themselves beside the blond with a huff “watch what words are that you dedicate to me, such a mean boyfriend”

Elliot wants to laugh at the pout Two Time has, but refrains, instead asking a question.

“And how are you guys adjusting? Robloxia is nice, though around in the center of the city, is a little bit cramped a lot of the time, so I understand if you guys feel overwhelmed” amused by their behaviour and curious about the newcomers, Elliot inquires about their stay in the city, it's always interesting to head different perspectives to living on your city. “You guys live close to here?”

“Ah, we are currently renting a cheap room to a nice couple, but it's temporary and we gotta move out soon, were looking for somewhere else to stay that's slightly more permanent” azure smiles softly at Elliot, takes a bottle seemingly full of batter and shakes it in his hand, blending its contents in a practiced move “i bought this cart and i've been working on selling crepes ever since, it's decent money actually, especially at this park! Two Time is looking for a job but, well…”

“No soul around appears to need my service, so I am currently dissmissed of all duties” says Two Time, he doesn't seem frustrated with his situation, simply accepting the fact. Azure, though, looks more annoyed at it though, seemingly not at their partner but more at their circumstances.

“Nobody seems to be hiring, or when they are hiring the positions are awful! Nobody can work 12 hours everyday, that's just abusive," Azure exclaimed, spreading a thin layer of batter in a sizzling pan, two time hums but doesn't say anything else, letting their partner rant “but, at least it's better than back on our old…town”

Two times nods at this, and they both share a private smile, and it's so sweet Elliot feels cavities forming in his molars. They both were sweet, their interactions were filled with the banter and comfortable moments of a long time relationship, the one many only dream to have, they seem to have known each other for a long time.

‘Maybe they're childhood friends turned lovers!’ Elliot thought, and wasn't that nice ‘how sweet!’

“Yea, its exhausting, the pizzeria was shut down a few weeks ago due to, uh, an accident involving fire” for some reason, he felt slightly uncomfortable sharing the cause of the pizzeria burning, even if he was angry at Seven and his son, these people were new in the city and they didn't need to know that, at least right now, no need to sour them with his stories “I've also been looking for a job, something part time while i wait for the pizzeria to be repaired, but everywhere I go they already have someone there ready to take on the job, i've gotten to the point where i just leave my resume and ask them to call me if they need me, haha!”

Talking to Azure felt like talking to a longtime friend, in a way, the man felt like he was open in a manner very few were and the blonde felt comfortable with him, it was nice, it wasn't like Elliot kept many friends around, had a lot of trouble connecting with people as a teen, as he grew up, he just found it easier to focus on work and family and so Elliot stayed alone.

But through the conversation, The blonde remembers he still has an errand pending for the day, and decides it's best to take his leave now, better he not forget again and go to bed to a restless night.

Though Elliot felt bad, they both seemed young, and in the way they spoke of their past home it was implied it wasn't the best one, the blonde was weak to people, especially kids and teens in need, even if they didn't seem to be much younger than himself. so he reached into his bag for a pen and wrote his number on a blank piece of the copy of his resume, ripping it out and handing it to Azure.

“You guys are nice, so take this! I think it would be good if we kept in contact, so that if you guys need help you can call me, alright? I'll stay on the lookout for anything that comes around, too” Elliot stood up, and took a sip of the now lukewarm tea he had been served before “oh wow, this stuff is good!”

“Thank you, it's from my personal cultivated blends” azure hums, delighted at the compliment, preparing a crepe with ease, whipped cream, strawberries and chocolate syrup it looks amazing and now Elliot regrets not being unable to buy one because of his lack of time “oh, you're going already? Take this, it's on the house!”

“Ah, thank you!” The blonde is shocked to discover the sweet treat Azure had been making for him, so he takes it, grateful to the young couple “yes, i have something to do before it gets too dark, but i'll be around, i'm still kinda looking for a job so, see you guys later!”

Elliot always felt awkward while saying goodbye, especially to new people who were so nice, so he exchanged some hurried goodbyes and left the pair, who already started conversing by themselves the moment he turned his back to them.

He ate the crepe in record time, practically shoving it into his mouth, cheeks bulging at the pace he ate the sweet treat, Elliot happy at finally having something to remedy the hunger that was assaulting his body and weakening him.

Elliot tries tracing back his steps to the day before, trying to find the way to the coffee shop where Seven worked, but he is unsuccessful. He was hurrying through the streets yesterday and the walk back home was practically automatic, he knew the way around these streets with the ease of years of delivering pizzas around town, yet, the shop where Seven currently has seemed to be nowhere to be seen

‘Damn, and Seven said he got out at five, I think. I need to find it quickly. I really want another piece of that chocolate cake’ eyes swerving from side to side, Elliot desperately searching for the place, he even counted the Robux prior to walking out of home, placing it neatly nside his wallet. ‘is that? The bubblegum machine!’

It really looks nasty from up close, he hadn't had time to look at it before, being in a hurry to get somewhere warm, but now that he could he saw what Seven meant, the weather really hadn't been doing it any favours through the years it seems. He tries peeking inside through the glass but is unsuccessful in catching even a single look at Seven, so he resigns himself to entering the shop unprepared. The same bell from before clinked at the newcomer, and Elliot scanned the place for any sign of the man and his burger hat.

Inside, the counter where Seven was supposed to be seemed vacant of any staff, the blonde ventured inside further.

‘Maybe he has already left.. Or someone else is in turn now’ Elliot thought, eyebrows furrowed, he was hesitant to call for anyone in the store, but he really needed to pay for what he had ordered, he didn't want to be known for dining and dashing.

“Hello? Anyone here?” the blonde called, and immediately a crash resounded throughout the entire place, the staff door opened with force and slammed against the wall. Elliots shoulders hunched and went up to his ears, his heart skipping in his chest at the unexpected movement.

Seven walked out, sweating and smiling nervously while tapping on his phone. The moment he seemed done, he slipped his phone into his pocket, and lifted his gaze to the door.

“Ah, welcome, what would you- Elliot?” Seven seemed confused, blinking as the blonde nodded, already having his wallet out and the robux between his hands. “What- i mean, hello, hi”

“I- i forgot to pay yesterday, for the coffee and the cake, so, here” Elliot plopped the robux in front of Seven, in the hardwood of the counter, and they both stared at the money. The younger msn didn't really know what to say, this was more awkward than he had anticipated “sorry”

“Uh, Elliot” Seven was not confused anymore, he guessed, but it was fine. He had already paid for the blonde’s food yesterday, it wasn't really any trouble, he was usually allowed to drink as much coffee as he liked anyways, and the cake was definitely in the cheaper side “its fine, i paid for it yesterday, keep the Robux”

“No, take it” Elliot insisted, stubborn and almost desperately, he didn't want to owe anything to anyone, much less to Seven, he pushed the robux closer to the man in glasses, The other shook his head, pushing the money back to the blonde, insistent.

“No, its a gift, keep the robux” Seven could also be stubborn, and he also knew how to bargain, having a stubborn child at home certainly helped him a bit, so with a tone of finality, he said “take it, at least a small bit of compensation for the pizza place fiasco, c’mon”

That got Elliot to quiet down with the payment, the man in glasses got nervous once again, thinking he had fucked it all up, talking to Elliot like he was a mere child, but the younger man simply sighed, mumbling out a positive response at Seven with a huff.

“Well, then give me another piece of the chocolate cake from yesterday, please” Elliot asked the man, unable to help himself to another taste of that chocolate cake, and well, maybe he could take advantage of the trip anyways. Seven smiled crookedly, taking from the robux enough to pay for the cake Elliot ordered and pushed back what was left.

“You can, uh, sit wherever. I'll bring your order to you, anything to drink?” the Blonde shook his head while pocketing what was left of the robux, Seven gestured around all the empty seating options of the place and Elliot chose the same one he had been seated at last time. The older man got to work, cutting a perfectly triangular piece of what was left of the chocolate cake, placing it on a white porcelain plate with a singular small fork on the side, wrapped up in a napkin.

The moment the cake was placed in front of Elliot, he dug in as quickly as the mini fork it came with let him, shoveling small pieces into his mouth like a man starved. Seven hid his face as he smiled at this and went back to his place behind the counter, the silence wasn't as plagued with awkwardness as it could have been so it was peaceful, Elliot too focused on what he had ordered and Seven simply enjoying the quiet company.

When Elliot finished, he debated leaving, but he quite liked the calm of the coffee shop, it wasn't as cramped as other places and it felt great to just relax a bit outside of his home, the whole place was warm, and he walked quite far from his car to get to the coffee shop, so he preferred to stay at least a little while while he worked up the strength for the walk back to his vehicle. The comforting smell of recently baked goods traveled around the place, Seven placing a tray of muffins on the counter to cool down, covering them with a think cloth.

The bell above the door rang once again, Seven greeted the new customer amicably and they both began to chat at the counter. The man was dressed in a fancy suit with a black fedora to match, smirking and laughing while they ordered.

“Give me a hot chocolate, wont ya’, it's freezing out there!” they laughed, fiddling with a golden coin in his right hand, the thing flipped in the air with a flick of their fingers and got grabbed halfway down “and a, huh, two muffins, yea, the one with the chocolate chips”

“Ah.. Nice choice, The chocolate muffins just finished baking,” Seven praised, took the cloth off the tray to show them that the muffins were still steaming “you can wait while i prepare your order, i'll call you uh…?”

“Hell yeah! Name’s Chance, Pal. all of that to go, yeah?” the man, Chance, flashed Seven another cocky smile before wandering through the seating options, Elliot, who had been watching both of them didn't look away fast enough, and crossed gazes, uh, maybe, since their eyes were covered with dark sunglasses, but chance took that as an opportunity to plop himself in the seating right in front of the blonde “hey, you. Wait, I know you..”

“Ah, I'm Elliot? Maybe we have seen each other somewhere before!” okay, he had definitely seen the man, maybe at the pizzeria, he recognized his smooth talking and confident smirk, but never paid him enough attention to remember his name before, well, now he knew “nice to meet you!”

“Yes, you're the kid that works at that pizza place! Man, i saw what happened, the pizza was good, i-you know what? never mind” chance shook his head, and waved a dismissive hand at what he said to the blonde “im sure youve heard all about it, you must be pretty tense with it all, huh? Why don't you take a trip to my casino? Get a drink, gamble a bit, So you can relax, kid”

“Oh, I'm sorry, I don't usually go to places like those, so i dont think id, uh, go” Elliot turned him down immediately, he wasn't used to going to casino’s, only sometimes to deliver some pizza in the past, and he wasn't about to start now “if i were to wind down at the most id grab a drink in a bar or at home, sorry”

Plus, he already had ways to cope with his job going up in flames, which were the same he mentioned to chance, but he preferred to do those things off the eyes of the public, comfortable at home.

“It's alright, it's not everyone's scene, but if you want an introduction into the casino life, i'm your pal” chance rummaged into his pocket, taking a sleek dark leather wallet, opening and taking from the inside a flashy glittery call “here”

Chance’s eyebrow jumped up and down, urging Elliot to take the piece of laminated hard paper, the blonde felt awkward but reached out for the card either way, the man with the fedora was about to say something by the way his smirk widened, but they were interrupted by the call of Sevens voice.

“Mr chance, your order is done!” Chance grumbled about the ‘mister’ title, something about not being that old, before he nodded at Elliot and stood up to receive his order, he exchanged a few words with Seven before tipping his hat and walking out of the shop, taking the hot chocolate and the bag in one hand and flipping the coin with the other.

The blonde took the moment to check the card out while Chance pushed the door open with his shoulder. The shiny particles of the card shone brightly with the lights above him, all that read in the card was a phone number and chance’s name in the bottom. Elliot decided to pocket it into his wallet, it could be useful in the future, who knows, though..

‘Was that fuckass comic sans?’ The blonde blinked, trying to get the card out of his wallet once again to take a look, he was startled by a hand lifting the empty porcelain plate from the table, then the fork and balling up a few napkins Elliot had used to clean after himself following the devouring of the chocolate cake.

“Elliot, can I get you anything else?” The man in glasses questioned the blonde, he took a rag that was hanging off his arm and wiped the corner of the table slightly, the younger man hadn't seen any stain there but figured Seven was just doing his job. “A latte, or- or a coffee?”

“Ah, no, it's fine” said Elliot with a shrug, pulling his bag strap up and around his neck. Seven nodded at the blond with a nervous smile, turning around and going back behind the counter, from there he could hear water running, again, Seven was staring at him, he could feel it.

‘Maybe he wants to chat with me like last time’ Elliot lightly tapped two of his fingers against his chin, the blonde thought about it for a moment, finding strangely that he really wouldn't mind, maybe the sudden change in routine from his unexpected vacation was making him slightly insane, deciding to just get it over with, he crossed glances with Seven, willing him with his eyes to approach.

‘Oh gods he caught me staring’ when Seven lifted his eyes from the muffin tray he was scrubbing at the small sink behind the counter, he found Elliot's eyes practically piercing a hole thtough his skull, he jumped in slight surprise and his eyes jumped from side to side before landing once again in Elliot’s own dark ones. ‘He's looking so intensely at me, should I say something? I feel like I'm watching the countdown of a bomb!”

Meanwhile, all that Elliot had going on in his mind was different intonations and synonyms of the word ‘come here’ or ‘approach’, with his eyes narrowed he watched as Seven got more and more nervous, sweating intensely at the impromptu staring contest.

‘Oh cmon, what's taking so long, can't you see me calling you with my eyes?’ Elliot wasn't going to approach first this time, it might give Seven the impression he had enjoyed his company the first time they had ‘hung out’, no, he was going to make Seven approach first if he wanted to chat in any way or form, even if he himself did not notice the supposed call of his eyes seemed like a threat to the older man ‘just get here, dammit…okay this is getting awkward’

A phone rang, the same way as yesterday, and Seven jumped to answer his phone, sighing quietly with relief as Elliot let up his staring and looked out the window once again, now feeling slightly annoyed, so annoyed in fact he couldn't help overhearing once again one side of the conversation Seven was having on his phone.

“Yes, I understand.. Uh, alright, i'll get some on the way home, nothing else though, I don't think i can carry a box of donuts all the way home on the train. Tell c00lkidd that maybe tomorrow” Seven risked a glance at Elliot who seemed uninterested, looking out the window, lost in thought “yes, i know, there's still time. Noli-! alright..”

‘Noli? Isn't that his roommate from college?’ Elliot raised his eyebrows in surprise, the reflection on the window copying him too. Behind him, Seven approached the table the blonde was at in slow steps, instinctive, tapping on his phone for a moment before pocketing it.

“Uhm, Elliot i-” Seven searched for what to say, he was out of his depth here, talking to Elliot always felt like a shortcut to embarrassment, walking into a tricky situation where all his options led him to the blonde despising him.

Yet, the last time they spoke Elliot had been welcoming in a way, yes, he had seemed slightly uncomfortable, but he didn't pull away from the conversation with that blank smile he seemed to implement into their every interaction, nor had he stayed respectfully quiet and unresponsive. It had felt natural, Seven craved that, Noli was a great friend, but he was going away soon and Seven already felt lonely as it is, maybe.. Maybe he was jumping the gun but-

“You know you can just sit right? There's no need to do all those turns and mental gymnastics around it” Elliot cut through Seven spiraling thoughts, a clear invitation to sit across him disguised behind a tone of fake disinterest, he seemed strangely shifty, almost nervous “this table must have been the one you sat for a break, wasn't it? I stole the spot, just claim it back”

‘That's not really the reason, but i'll take it’ when Seven sat across the blonde, the younger man seemed to smile for a second, though quickly furrowed his brow and hid his mouth behind the palm of his hand ‘must be imagining things, even if im kinda desperate for company, Elliot must have so many friends, i feel like such a loser’

“Ah, thank you” Seven quickly sat on the side of the table, stared intensely at the wood like it was the most interesting thing in the room, under the table he felt his leg accidentally bump into Elliot's, the older man startled enough to lift his gaze to smile apologetically at the blond, who already had his eyes trained on his face. “um, sorry, how's everything?”

“Fine, im..” he knew he had kinda started the whole interaction in a way, staring at Seven and insisting on his presence at the table, yet he was slightly hesitant, still, Elliot carried on.

because the man gave up his resting table with the blindspot of the camera for him, because he paid for the meal he had yesterday, because he had helped him dry off before the rain could make him sick. Excuses upon excuses piled up that gave Elliot the last push off the edge to talk with the man in glasses about anything

“I decided to go out and get some fresh air for the day. I needed something to do, uh, i ate a crepe. I met the two people running the stand, they're a couple I think. One of them is looking for another job..” Elliot mumbled the last part as he wasn't sure how the couple would feel if he divulged that facts with anyone, so he kept it vague.

‘As am i, but better not tell him that, i want to dodge those apologies of his as much as possible’ those were his thoughts as he watched Seven light up at Elliot’s words, scrambling to get his phone in hand, Elliot watched with and eyebrow raised as Seven scrolled hurriedly on his phone ‘what in the hell’

“Oh my god, C00lkidd absolutely adores crepes! Though i think he just likes anything sweet enough to produce cavities, look, here he's trying his first crepe” the pic shown on the cracked screen of Sevens phone was a sweet one, C00lkidd seems to be at least a year smaller than he is now, smiling widely showing off his sharp fangs, he has a green hat on his head and on his upper lip he has a whipped cream mustache, the kid is evidently a messy eater, as pieces of whipped cream lingers even around the rim of his bright green hat.

‘He kinda looks like a tomato’ thinks Elliot immediately upon seeing the picture, the colour contrast of the green hat and his red skin make him think about the fresh tomatoes they used for sauce in the pizzeria, it was kinda funny, he could also see in the corner how the photo was favorited in Seven’s phone, a star icon pressed presenting the pic as one of Seven’s treasured photos ‘He must really love his kid, huh?’

“Isn't he just the cutest? used to have the chubbiest cheeks I had ever seen on a baby! Not that he isn't chubby now, or i had seen many babies before.. Ah, but don't tell him i said that to you, he gets furious when i bring it up, i just” Seven made many indescribable sounds he would only be able to describe as screeches and baby talk “he was such a quiet baby too, at most he babbled, but what he lacked in noise he compensated in excitement, used to escape his crib a lot to walk around the house, i had to stay alert with alarms through the night so he wouldn't get injured”

imagining c00lkidd simply escaping his crib as a mere baby, surprised a snort out of the blond, it was short and almost imperceptible, muffled by the hand still pressed firmly against his lips, Seven felt his heart speed up, anxiety, maybe, or some kind of excitement at being able to interact with Elliot and make him laugh.

He was used to people staring at him all the time, he was a known ex-hacker, but the way Elliot's eyes held the disdain he felt towards Seven behind the thin veil of a plastic smile, felt especially draining, yet he knew Elliot never feared him, sometimes he narrowed his eyes like daring him to do anything at all, and strangely enough, it was freeing, being seen as more of a person more than a dangerous possibility.

Conversing with the blond though, even slightly awkward, was easy, when Seven was young, lamky and stupid he had called it ‘the pull’, he though everyone felt it, the urge to interact, to taunt, to make Elliot react to anything, even though his roommate told him otherwise later on, he wanted Elliot to see him in a way, to notice, and notice he did, though now he wasn't proud of it at all.

Stupid, stupid teenage Seven.

yes, Elliot was always a competent worker, but it was his personality that won him employee of the month every time, cheery, attentive, a charismatic individual, the one you'd naturally gravitate towards, his appearance didn't hurt either, he looked charming, the kind of guy anyone would love to take home and introduce to their parents.

Not that Seven knew about any of that, no sir, but he has eyes! That's kind of the reason why the hard stares Elliot sent his way made him the most uncomfortable of all, even if the blonde was nice enough to hide them behind a smile that looked like a grimace most times, but Elliot was nice, nicer than most people he knew.

He was nicer like this, trying and failing horribly to hide his snorting laughter at all of the anecdotes of C00lkidd growing up he had to tell, it was nice to be able to tell someone about it, the only ones he would be able to talk to about these things were his cousin or Noli, but they were mostly there to watch c00lkidd grow up, so, yes, new experiences.

It was a little bit later that the day started dimming in its light and it was time to go home, at least for Seven, though he was late to figure it out and if it wasn't for Noli spam calling his phone he wouldn't have noticed at all, Elliot also had to go home to, uh, do absolutely nothing actually, maybe catch an episode of that zombie show everyone was talking about on the forums, maybe check out those job offers that are surely fraudulent online.

As the blonde stared at Seven he was conflicted once again to admit the day had been.. less lonely, pleasant, maybe. But there's was no time to debate himself the day at all, Seven finished up quickly, Elliot having been subconsciously waiting outside for the older man startled as Seven appeared, stepping out with a suspiciously familiar scarf wrapped around his neck, it was layered thick around Sevens neck, and the man closed his eyes in contentment at the soft feeling of it.

‘That's the one I lent him… should I ask for it back?’ Elliot blinked, his breath fogging in front of his face, Seven stared back at the blonde, confused, lowering his eyes to the piece of clothing he had snuggled into a moment ago. ‘But.. it's cold. And i don't need it right now anyway’

“Elliot! i, i'm so sorry i shouldn't have-” Seven fumbled with the scarf, trying desperately to unwrap it from his neck but Elliot was quicker, halting his movements with a firm grip on his wrist, both of their cheeks were flushed, if embarrassment or the cold was the cause, no one here would know. “Elliot?”

Seven froze, confused, once again Elliot held his wrist firmly, it felt like he had done this many times before, both men stood still for a moment, the blonde’s eyes narrowing and signaling to Seven to stop, once the older man started to lower his hand from the scarf, Elliot let go, Sevens hand falling gently downwards towards his side.

“...goodbye Seven” elliot couldn't help but feel embarrassed at the vibes of the situation, there was some weird tension here he just wanted out from, his heart beating slightly faster at the confused expression Seven was showing, meanwhile the other was puzzled and slightly flustered, Elliot's eyes were just so intense!

Elliot stepped back, turned around and waved goodbye over his shoulder with a stiffly lazy gesture of his hand, wandering off awkwardly into the vague direction he remembered leaving his car at, Seven once again watching him go.

“Bye then…” Only when the blonde was long gone did he find the words to say goodbye. It seemed, Seven hurried up to the other side of the street where Elliot left, he had stood too long outside and he could feel feet freezing in his shoes.

“I can't believe I just let him keep it, it's my favorite scarf man!... but if i took it back i would have felt bad letting him walk off into the cold though, and i'm not ready to give him a ride home…” Elliot muttered to himself then bit his lip as a breeze ruffled his curls and made his whole body shiver, he felt his nose start leaking, it was cold and his whole face felt like it was frozen “not that i'd ever give him a ride, haha, of course not. welp.. What's done is done, not like i'll be getting it back, i'm not going back to that coffee shop”

Elliot shrugged, finally reaching the beat up figure of his car, taking his keys from his pocket into his hand and unlocking the vehicle, he stepped inside, seating himself into the driver's seat, sliding his hands up and down his arms trying to warm himself up, his teeth chattering.

“Ill just stay away from that area, there's plenty more around! goodbye forever to that hacker…” Elliot giggled hysterically, all alone inside of his car, before placing his keys into the ignition, turning the key two or three times until the car startled to life, he patted the console with his hand thankful for the car having turned on. “Good riddance, I say!”