Chapter Text
"Yasha. Tell me I'm not making a mistake."
"You're not making a mistake, Molly."
"Are you sure? Cause it's new and scary and different."
"I'm sure." Molly leans into Yasha, burying his head. They're standing in front of his new job, and he's slightly terrified.
"As long as you're sure," he mumbles into her shoulder.
"Were your tattoos a mistake?" She whispers into his hair.
"No."
"But they were new and scary and different."
"Stop using logic against me," he mutters into her shoulder.
"Stop being silly," she mutters back.
"You're right, you're right. I guess I better go in, huh?"
"That'd probably be smart," Yasha said with a hug. "Go. You'll be great."
"Always the charm," he states with a smile. Leaving her on the sidewalk, Molly walks into the tattoo parlor. He's still a bit nervous, having just finished his mentorship. But excited too, especially with Yasha cheering him on.
And his morning goes by perfectly. He's able to get a customer within the first hour, who seemed completely enamored with his work. The design was fairly complicated and kept him busy most of the morning. Before he knows it, lunchtime has arrived, and he steps out of the shop with no plans and a rumbly stomach. A quick glance up and down the street reveals 'Widogast's Books & Cafe' two stores down, and across the street. Cafe sounds promising.
The door jingles pleasantly as it opens and smells of fresh baked bread fill the cozy interior. It's not a huge store, but the quantity of books he can see just from the entrance is staggering. The cafe is in the front of the store, with seating in the area by the front window and 'Crazy' by Aerosmith can just be heard in the background.
Walking over to the counter, he watches, entranced, as a very attractive red head stares at a complicated coffee machine with the most adorably furrowed brow. A quick glance around shows that he's the only customer, currently. With a smile that surely leaks into his voice, he addresses the red head.
"I'm not planning on ordering coffee, if that helps, love." The man starts, slightly, and turns to Molly. And oh, what blue, blue eyes he has. Molly turns up his smile.
"Oh, uh, sorry. I didn't hear you come in. What can I get for you today?" And Molly somehow manages to smile even wider at the accent. He flicks his eyes down then back up, taking in the frumpy librarian look, white t-shirt and brown cardigan, and, more importantly, the name tag that says Caleb.
"Well, Caleb, what would you recommend? It's my first time." He deliberately makes it sound just a touch dirty. He's amused, and enamored, when Caleb doesn't appear to notice.
"Oh, well today's special is the chicken pesto panini," he points to a chalkboard that lists the ingredients. "And it is also my favorite."
"Sounds marvelous." He leans into the counter, slightly into Caleb's space. And is further amused as Caleb simply writes the order down without noticing. Those blue eyes look up again and lock on him.
"Anything to drink?" Molly's smile turns slightly lascivious. He purses his lips in a hum of consideration. "I, uh, recommend the mint tea," Caleb adds after a few seconds.
Glancing up at the menu, Molly decides the mint tea does sound refreshing. "And is that something you can make?" He asks, with a quick glance at the coffee machine. Caleb smiles slightly, a small huff of breath for a laugh.
"Ja, the cold teas are brought in from Caddy's Tin. I just have to pour it into a glass."
"Caddy's Tin?"
"It is a tea shop down the way. He sells tea bags and loose tea mixes, but we have an arrangement for the shop for prepared chilled teas as well as the bags." Caleb gives him his total, having added it up (in his head!) while talking. Molly pays.
"I'll have to check that out. I'm new in town. Haven't seen much of the city, yet." He's fishing for a date, but doesn't expect anything. Caleb seems fairly oblivious to the flirting. He's merely amused when Caleb hums and heads to the back to make his sandwich. His eyes do a slow circuit of the space. Books are everywhere, but it feels very organized. There are a few plants, a comfy looking chair with a table next to it. Probably meant for reading. Some locked cases with more books. And stairs leading up that he can just make out through an open door at the back that states 'employees only'. He's completely turned around at the counter, leaning back against it when a whirlwind of blue hair flies through the door.
"Oh my gods, Cay-leb, I am sooooo sorry!" Comes a bouncy, lilting voice. She runs up to the counter and sees Molly watching her. "Oh, hi! I'm Jester," shoving a hand at him. He takes it, but instead of shaking, brings it to his lips to press a quick, chaste kiss to her knuckles. She curtseys as he releases her hand.
"Charmed. Mollymauk Tealeaf, Molly to my friends." He turns with her to look at Caleb, having just arrived back at the counter holding Molly's food.
"Uh, here you are Mollymauk. Enjoy." Molly smiles at him again, taking his food to a table where he can watch the two.
"Cayyyyy-leb! I'm so sorry! My alarm didn't go off, and the bus was late, and..."
"Jester, it's fine. But," and he turns to the coffee maker exasperated, "I haven't had coffee all day because I can't figure out how to make a plain cup of coffee using this infernal contraption. Please?" Jester rushes around the counter, already pulling out the needed items.
"Oh no, Cay-leb! I'll get you some coffee, super, super fast, I promise. You can go back to the books and I'll bring it so fast. Okay?"
"I think I will watch so I can have coffee if this ever happens again." Upon seeing her face he quickly adds, "which I am sure will, probably, never happen. But good to be prepared, yes?" She nods and gets to work. Caleb watches her intensely through the whole process and smiles when she hands him a cup of plain black coffee.
Realizing he's been staring and not eating, Molly takes a bite of his sandwich and groans. It might just be the best panini he's ever had. Possibly the best sandwich. Two sets of eyes meet his. He gives them a rueful smile.
"This is amazing," he mumbles through the food. He takes a sip of his tea, a slightly softer moan this time. "This, too." He smiles up at the two, taking another bite.
"I'm glad you're enjoying it, Mollymauk," Caleb states, eyes meeting Molly's for a second before looking down into his coffee. Molly thinks he might be blushing just slightly.
"Thank you for the recommendation," Molly smiles at him before continuing his lunch. Caleb cheers with his coffee before heading to the register by the door, settling down with an extremely thick book. Molly watches him through his lunch, doing his best to not stare directly. Caleb never looks up, turning the pages occasionally as Molly stares. Not stares. Definitely not staring. Okay, maybe staring. Finishing, he brings his dishes back to the counter and catching Jester's knowing eyes.
"Heyyyyy Mollyyyyy. Did you enjoy your lunch?" She has the nerve to wink at him. But Molly doesn't mind. Placing his dish on the counter he glances back over at Caleb before meeting her eyes.
"Absolutely." And he winks back. Dropping some coin into the tip jar he heads to the door. "See you tomorrow," he calls as he heads out the door.
Caleb noticed. As vibrant purple hair and tattoos swept out of his store, he noticed. When Mollymauk leaned into his space while giving his order, he noticed. When Mollymauk fucking groaned with pleasure while eating, he noticed. And while he was reading and felt eyes on him, he noticed.
He lets out a shuddering breath as the door shuts behind Mollymauk. Maybe now he can retain some of what he's reading. He flips back to where he started.
"Heyyyyy, Cayyyy-leb." Jester is standing directly in front of him. He hadn't heard her move. Her grin is a warning.
"Uh, yes, Jester?" He looks up at her.
"That Molly was pretty interesting, dontcha think?"
"If you say so, Jester," he answers going back to his book. He knows that tone. Thankfully, another customer walks in and heads to the cafe, saving him from her prying. She huffs before sprinting back to her post.
The rest of the day passes much like any other day. Except everytime the bell above the door rings, Caleb looks up. It takes him until closing to realize he's looking for purple hair and chides himself for being foolish. Mollymauk isn't going to come back today.
"Oh man, we were so busy today. I feel like I barely got a chance to talk to you!" Jester's bouncing around the cafe cleaning and straightening as she goes.
"We see each other everyday, Jester. I'm sure we will get a chance to talk tomorrow." Except he knows what she wants to talk about, and he doesn't really want to talk about it. Maybe he'll get lucky and she will forget by tomorrow. He sighs, knowing that isn't likely.
"Mmmm, true. But guys who look like Molly don't come in and eye fuck you everyday, so like, I feel like we have sooooo much to talk about today."
"He did not eye fuck me, Jester. You are being dramatic."
"Maybe a little, but he totally stared at you the whole time he was here. Like, the. Whole. Time. It was very, very intense."
"Uh, if you say so, Jester."
"Oh, I do. I drew a penis and held it up and wiggled it in his direction for, like, 10 minutes and he didn't even notice." Caleb looks up at her surprised. He really shouldn't be, but he is.
"You wiggled a penis drawing at a customer?" Caleb asks with mild disappointment in his voice. Jester has the good sense to look reprimanded.
"Well, I mean. I was pretty sure he wasn't going to look at it. Probably. And he seems like he has a good sense of humor. He would have totally found it funny. Probably." Caleb just stares at her. "Okayyyy, fine. It was technically a bad idea, technically. And I probably won't ever do it again. But my point stands! He only had eyes for you."
"If you say so. Jester, please, no matchmaker. I will see you tomorrow, ja? And on time?" Time to end this conversation before Jester starts getting ideas.
"Yes, yes, of course. Goodnight Caleb."
After wishing Jester a good night, Caleb heads upstairs to his flat. Frumpkin meets him at the door, meowing pitifully to be fed.
"Ah, yes schatz, you are truly starving. You haven't eaten since this morning. How could I leave you for so long?" He murmurs down to the cat as he fills the food dish on the ground. He gets himself ready for bed, then proceeds to read entirely too late into the evening.
Well, he reads so late because his mind keeps drifting back to Mollymauk and he's determined to read something before going to sleep. He's very aware that Mollymauk was flirting with him earlier. He's just not sure if he was flirting because of interest, or if that's just his personality. His behavior towards Jester seemed to indicated the latter, which depresses Caleb more than it should.
Sure Mollymauk is a very attractive person, but they've only just met. Caleb meets lots of attractive people who aren't interested in him. Nearly everyday. Of course, most of them don't flirt with him.
Determinedly shutting that line of thought down, he goes back to his book, reading until he can't keep his eyes open. His last thought before drifting off is if Mollymauk will come by for lunch tomorrow like he said he would.
He dreams of that fucking groan.