#ariryuu

Ari:

OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY

(sent 7:55)

I was exhausted after work and 

closed my eyes and passed out 

for like three hours ;w; 

sometimes I get so tired with all my 

allergies and stuff or forget to take my vitamins

and my body is like. nope. and crashes...

Ryuu??

Ryuu:

Ari!!

(sent 11:30)

I'm so sorry, I thought I hit send!! ;w;

I was up early for a shoot and thought

you might be around after work.

Hope you had a good nap... 

though you might be asleep again now.

time zones.

anyway if you are still awake,

can I call you?? we just got a new collab 

and I wanted to tell you about it! 

we have lunch break, so I can chat for a few minutes.

Ari:

YEAH! I'M AWAKE STILL HANG ON

PHONE OR VIDEO CHAT?

Ryuu:

Oh! Video would be fun

Gaku and Tenn are here

Ari:

crap. lemme grab a sweater 

fix my hair. hang on.

Ryuu:

you don't have to do anything special

it's just us.

Ari:

I'm going to pretend you didn't say that~~

Ryuu:

???

Ari:

:3 okay I'm decent now

call away

Ryuu hit the facetime button, taking a bite of his sandwich as the call started to ring in. Ari's face lit up the screen, wearing a dark blue thin-strap nightgown and oversized cardigan on top, hair clipped up into a messy updo. He tried to avert his gaze from her breasts, peeking over the lacy edges of the pajamas. Maybe he wouldn't share her with Gaku and Tenn after all~

"Ari! Hi!"

She waved hi, eyes still sleepy, but with a beaming smile.

"Hiiii! Nice to see you again! It's lunchtime for you already?"

He nodded, holding up the sandwich and taking another bite.

Gaku leaned over into Ryuu's personal space.

"Oh is that the baker girl again??~"

Ryuu's cheeks flushed slightly but he nodded. "I wanted to tell her about--"

"Oh?~" Tenn leaned in from the other side, peering at the screen with a little wave. "Hello."

She smiled back, returning the wave. "Hiiii! Good to see you guys again."

Gaku elbowed Ryuu, ♡"Translate for us, right?"♡

♡"Yeah, yeah. I want to talk to her first though. I asked her to call."♡

♡"Mhm, mhm, your cute little girlfriend?~"♡

Ari waited on her end, blushing too when she recognized the word kanojo in passing.

"Ryuu?"

He was busy scolding Gaku, but turned back to Ari, clearing his throat. "Yes?"

"You said you had something to tell me about? A collab?"

"Ah!" His face lit up and he pull the camera closer. 

"We're actually filming today! There's another idol group called Roirom and they wanted to collaborate with us! We're learning the choreography from one of their songs and they're learning ours! We have a joint interview later too that Nylon will publish on their site!" He panned the camera up behind his shoulder to show 2 new idol boys, practicing a dance. "We've had a lot of fun together! I'll make sure to send you the videos and interview once it's live!"

Ari was grinning, putting one hand on her cheek. "That's so exciting!!! I'm glad you're having fun!!! I can't wait to see you guys dancing when it drops! Oh, and!"

She leaned over the phone to reach her desk, accidentally giving Ryuu (and the other boys) a closeup of her boobs. Ryuu's ears flushed red, tilting the phone screen down for privacy while she looked for something.

Gaku smirked. ♡"Shit dude, I didn't know she had--"♡

Ryuu glared daggers. ♡"Shut up, Gaku. She didn't mean to..."♡

Tenn snicked, taking a sip of his drink. ♡"For someone who's 'not dating' she seems pretty casual with you, Ryuu~"♡

♡"She probably just didn't think about it--"♡

Ari's voice came from the lowered phone. "Ryuu?? You still there?"

"Ah, hai!" He raised the phone again, cheeks still flushed. "What did you... Oh!"

"Tah-dah!!" She held out 2 Trigger CDs proudly, showing off VARIANT and the single for Places. "I want to get more, but this is all I could get for now!! I know cd sales help support you guys for the music rankings, but the import fees can be steep. I'll get more when I can."

Tenn sniffed, elbowing Ryuu this time. ♡"Tell her to get Trois next."♡

Gaku chimed in, ♡"She might like the single for Suisai too."♡

Ryuu stood up. ♡"Okay, I'm going to find some privacy! Bye!"♡

Tenn clicked his tongue with a "tch" and Gaku returned to his lunch, laughing to himself. Teasing Ryunosuke was one of their favorite pastimes, but he was more sensitive to the other three when it came to relationships. (For good reason, he had been at the center of a tabloid relationship scandal and he didn't want to go through that ever again).

Ari stared into the camera, curious. "Everything good over there?"

Ryuu nodded, walking down the hall towards the changing rooms/bathrooms. "Yeah, we still have a little time before we practice again and then film. We've almost got all the choreo down."

She smiled, leaning back into her pillows. "Thanks for letting me call. I love seeing what you're up to."

"You should chat me from the cafe some time! I like seeing your life too." He paused, smiling softly. "And thank you, for buying our cds. It means a lot..."

"I'll make sure to bring my filming stand with me next week! And of course! I love your guys' music. I'm so glad you came into the cafe! Lucky..."

Ryuu sat down in the changing room, leaning his head back against the wall. "Yeah. Lucky..." Smiling, he looked at the screen, trying again to not stare. "I guess I really haven't seen you since we were in your office. Just texting."

"Aha, yeah, you're right. That was nice though." Her eyes softened, a warm smile on her face. "Kinda weird we can't sit together like that now, huh?"

Ryuu nodded, wiggling his fingers. "We'll just have to imagine."

"I'm there in spirit." She grinned, tapping the camera with her finger. "Maybe by some magic I'll close my eyes and boom!! I'll transport through the wires and be right there next to you."

"And my next magic trick is...!!" Ryuu grinned, laughing with her. "Maybe one day it will come true."

"Maybe so~" She smiled, letting the warmth of the moment sink in. "I'll let you go, I don't wanna take up all your lunch."

"It's all good, I don't mind." Ryuu sat up, brushing back a stray lock of hair.

"Yeah, but you need your off time too. And I gotta sleeeeep."

"Okay, okay. Talk to you soon?"

She nodded, finger hovering over the end button. "See ya later! Goodnight. Er, afternoon??" 

Ryuu laughed, giving her a single nod. "Goodnight~"

The call ended, returning the text screen and turning black as Ryuu shut his device off. Leaning back onto the wall again, he let out a long breath. 

"Nothing's going to come of it… Just a random thing." She reassured herself out loud. "Stuff like that doesn't happen to me. I had a brief moment of luck. Gotta keep going."

Twisting her hair up into a claw clip, she tied on her apron with the store branding and pulled the music up for the morning, flooding the shop with chill lofi for the early risers.

Most of the morning patrons were there to just grab coffee and sweets or quiche and head out for work. The real crowd would start closer to work hours when people used the rental work booths in the back as a remote office.

Ari worked hard to make sure the shop was a good blend of accessible, fun, and relaxing. Comfy chairs for the book readers or gamers. Spacious but comfortable dining tables with bigger tables for the gamers. And the individual cubicles for work off the side.

Being a space the community could come to was one of her proudest achievements (all the art on the corkboard walls from patrons was proof enough).

Other back-of-house employees would be there in a few hours for the rush, but for now it was just the smell of fresh baked goods and the cool summer breeze from the open windows.

Walking to the front window, Ari clicked on the pink and turquoise neon open sign, complete with a heart (it wouldn't be Sweet Hearts Cafe without the aesthetic).

A few usuals got out of their cars as soon as the sign lit up, and she rushed back to the counter, opening the computer system and starting the usual routine.

Order. Pay. Collect items. Receipt.

With the rush of customers and focus on steps, she didn't even notice when Ryuu and Ansesagi walked into the shop, the front bell ringing as they stepped inside.

"Welcome in! What can I get you--?" Finally focusing on who had walked in, her words faltered, realizing it was actually Ryunosuke. Eyes widening in surprise, her breath caught, forgetting what she was supposed to do or how to interact after the night before.

"Hi!" Ryuu grinned, carrying a bag and walking towards her. "Do you have a minute?"

Ari glanced back at the kitchen, calling one of the part-timers to manage the desk, then nodding back. "Here, we can use my office." She motioned over, leading him to a door marked "private" and ushering him in.

The whole office was pastel vaporwave themed, continuing the theme of the shop, and Ryuu chuckled, glancing at all the shelves and computer setup.

"You really have everything coordinated, huh?"

"I like what I like~" She grinned, sitting in the hot pink gaming chair that served as her desk chair. "I didn't think I'd see you again after last night…"

Ryuu sat down on the aqua blue couch with the vaporwave dolphin themed blanket and cd-shaped accent pillows and nodded. "Last night. I should apologize."

"No no no, it's okay." Ari stammered, cheeks flushing. "I should have brought your shirt back too, I just didn't know you'd be here!"

"Wait you have it??"

She nodded, cheeks burning. "You tossed it at me and then Anesagi-san sped off and I didn't know what to do, so I took it home…"

Laughing warmly, Ryuu waved his hand. "Don't worry, keep it. I'll get another when I get home."

"Mmmh. Okay." A moment of silence passed between them, somewhere just between the realm awkward and comfortable. "Was. There a reason you--?"

"Ah! Yeah, this is for you. I wanted to apologize and... It's usually done best with a gift in our line of business so. We went to the local chocolate shop and got something. A 'please forgive us for inconveniencing you' apology gift."

Bowing, Ryuu presented the box of truffles to her with both hands. "On behalf of all of TRIGGER and Yaotome Productions. Please forgive our behavior last night."

Carefully taking the box with both hands as well, Ari received the gift, bowing back.

"You don't have anything to worry about. I won't leak any pictures or anything."

"Did you take some??" Ryuu sat up, relaxing back into the couch and smiling.

"Yeah!! You wanna see em?"

He nodded and waited as she walked over to the couch. Sitting next to him, Ari flicked open photos and showed him the ones from dinner. Ryuu leaned in close to get a better look, his arm instinctively wrapping over her shoulder. Sucking in a breath quietly, Ari hoped he didn't feel her heart pounding or notice the small tremor in her hand.

How does he smell so good?? It's not fair.

The last picture was a selfie with a very drunk Ryuu and she blushed again, flicking away from the image. "I can send any of them to you on rabbichat, but I won't post them online. Promise."

"We took one together?" Ryuu moved his hand, resting it on the back of the couch.

"Y-yeah. I was taking a few for everyone and you asked if we could…"

"Ah." The tension in the air was thick now, close to breaking.

Ari looked up at him, lips pursed. "I--I don't know what this is. And I don't want you to feel obligated. But when you go home, would you still rabbichat me?? I feel like we have some chemistry and I don't want to miss this connection."

Ryuu grinned, the air now clear, and nodded his assent. "I don't know either, but I feel comfortable with you. We both have our own lives, oceans away. But I want to keep getting to know you."

Giggling, Ari sighed, leaning back into his chest for a moment and closing her eyes. Ryuu reached down, grabbing onto one of her hands and playing with her fingers.

"Long distance anything is complicated but we can figure it out, right?"

She nodded, wiggling her fingers. "Time zones will be hard, but we'll make it work."

Ryuu's phone screen lit up with a text from Anesagi: ♡"Did you get lost?? How did it go??"♡

Grinning, he used his free hand to type a reply. ♡"All good, I'll be back out in a minute. Did you order brunch?"♡

♡"Yes. It's here waiting. And so am I."♡

Ryuu chuckled, closing his phone and glancing down at Ari, who was nestled securely into his chest. Leaning down, he rested his chin onto the top of her head and sighed.

"I know you have to get back to work…"

"Don'twannagoyet. This is nice."