Work Text:
Tango took the twenty dollar bill from the customer, scanning the barcode on the back of the book as he did and handing it back to them. As quickly and cleanly as he could, he counted out their change and handed it to them. They smiled at him and swept up their book, turning to one of the opening pages before even exiting the store.
When he realized there weren’t any customers in his immediate vicinity, Tango slumped back in his chair and let the customer service smile slip off his face. He blew out a breath, looking around the counter. There was nothing of note, other than the cash register and a small display of bookmarks and miniature cards. Under the counter they kept the gift cards, a trash can, and a copy of a romance novel that looked like it had been read at least 20 times. He assumed one of his co-workers books they had left there during their last shift. It could have been Bdubs, who would read it willingly, or Etho, who would have been forced into reading it by Bdubs.
It was ironic he worked in a bookstore, because he didn’t read all that often. In highschool he was known to pick up a book or two, and he didn’t dislike reading at all. It wasn’t something he particularly liked either. Tango was indifferent to it. He had taken up the job to earn money while he was attending the local college.
The bookstore was housed in a small building, placed on Main Street in their small college town. The words painted on their glass door announced it as ‘BEST Books’. Inside was cozy, bookshelves lining the walls and cushy armchairs scattered around. Lamps hung from the ceiling, a mix of stained glass shades and fabric white shades. Overall, the entire place looked cobbled together, but it wasn’t the worst place to spend his time. The atmosphere provided an excellent place for him to do schoolwork.
Tango leaned down to pick up his computer out of his bag (he was in the middle of an essay about redstone) when he heard a shuffling in the shelves, and light footfalls approaching the counter. He straightened up, forcing a smile on his face. The customer put a fairly large fantasy book on the counter, smiling down at him. Tango barely glanced at him, taking the book in hand and scanning the back.
“This whole store is cute,” the customer commented, leaning against the counter. Tango nodded, clicking a few buttons on the store computer. “It must be nice to work here, and read all you want.”
“I don’t actually read all that much,” Tango replied, turning the card reader around to face the man. “Swipe here.” The man looked baffled, taking out his wallet and card. Tango placed his book back on the counter carefully, studying the cover. On the cover were two figures, humanoid with what appeared to be antlers. The title covered most of the top half of the cover. “‘Empires’. What’s this about?”
“Have you seriously not heard of it?” Tango shook his head. “It’s a really popular book!” The man exclaimed, picking up his book and shoving it in his tote bag. “You work in a bookstore, and you don’t read?”
“Yep! Do you want a bookmark with that?” Honestly, he was on auto-pilot through the conversation, going through the motions of the book sale, but when he looked up and, instead of seeing the customer leaving, he was staring at him incredulously. Tango was thrown off of the routine, just sitting there and waiting for him to leave. “Uh… do you. Do you want a bookmark with that?” He held out the bookmark (pressed with their store logo).
“Sure.” The customer plucked the bookmark out of his hand, throwing it into his bag. He pushed his cyan hair out of his face, though it settled back into basically the same place. Tango couldn’t help but stare at him a bit while he started talking about the book. “Okay, so, the book is about two princes, and one of them turns evil? And the other one takes on ruling their empire, and there’s a bunch of other empires. He falls in love with the ruler of the swamp empire—I recommend the book. I’ve read it before, but I want to own a copy.” He smiled at Tango, finally making his way towards the door. “Maybe you should read it.”
“Um, yeah, maybe.” He heard the bell on the front door jingle, and the door shut quietly. Tango kept looking ahead, scratching at his arm. Eventually he got out his computer to work on his essay, and forgot about the whole interaction.
The second time he met the customer, it was about a week later. Tango was doodling on one of the spare bookmarks, though not very well in his opinion. It was just a small caricature of himself, but cooler because he had fire for hair. Two books were placed on the counter, and he started going through the steps to sell them. He didn’t even recognize the customer at first, because he was so intent on getting back to his doodle as fast as possible.
“Did you ever listen to me and read the book?” Tango looked up, taking a second to remember what he was even talking about. The blue hair rang a bell in his mind, somewhere, and he vaguely recollected the interaction a week prior.
“Oh! Uh, no, I didn’t.” He watched the customer swipe his card again, taking a look at his books this time. “‘Empires Two’. Lame name for a sequel.” That got a small laugh out of the man, and Tango couldn’t help but feel good about himself. “And ‘Third Life’. Is this another popular book I gotta knowificate about?”
Instead of answering his question, the customer held out his hand. “Can I have a bookmark and a pen please?”
“Yeah, here.” Tango took a pen out of a cup and one of the bookmarks, handing both over. He watched, puzzled, as the man bent down to scribble something on the bookmark and place it in the ‘Third Life’ book. He slid it across the counter, winked at Tango, and took the other book, heading for the door. “Wait!” Tango called, but the small bell was already jingling, and he was gone. “Uh.”
He looked down at the book and its simple cover. There were three hearts drawn horizontally, in the order of green, yellow, red. It was a hardback, with no dust jacket (strangely). He opened it up to the page the bookmark had been left in, and took it out.
Bought this for you cutie. Read more! ;)
Tango could feel his face heat up, and in an effort to hide it, took the book and put it in his bag. It stayed at the back of his mind for the rest of the day, drifting to the front whenever the store was too quiet. When he went to the backroom to tell Skizz he was going back to his dorms, his co-worker questioned why his face was so red. Instead of telling him it was because there was a customer whose name he didn’t know flirting with him by buying books, he made up some excuse about how the store was too warm.
On his walk back, he took a look at the back of the book. It seemed entertaining enough, so when he got home, he sat on his couch and turned to the first page. Mostly because he was curious, but also because it seemed rude to not read a book bought for him by a stranger.
Tango went to bed later than normal that night, leaving the book on his bedside table for the next day.
“I don’t know, Skizz,” Tango said, moving one box of book copies to the other side of the room. “He seems to only come in a ton when I’m working in the front.” Using a pocket knife to tear open the box, he was faced with the same cover about twenty times.
“I dunno what to tell ya, Top, but the man has been flirting with you for weeks!” Tango grunted in response, taking a few copies out to bring to the shelves. It had been a few weeks since he had been bought a book by a stranger, whose name he now knew was Scott because of the various times he had visited. Part of him was starting to think that he only kept visiting to see Tango, but that thought always got shot down immediately.
Still, there were at least two more books on his bedside table (mostly finished) and bookmarks with small notes to go with them. Lots of time he would have spent on his phone was now spent curled up in bed, or on the couch reading one of the books Scott had got him. It made him feel happy to do so, and he would always have something to say to him about the books when he next came in.
(For now, he was ignoring the way he got increasingly nervous around Scott. And the way it felt like his brain went a little numb when he re-read the bookmark messages. And the excitement he felt when he walked into the shop.)
Skizz followed him to the front of the store with his own stack of books for shelving. “He literally bought you three books! You should say something to him.” Tango located the section he needed and pushed some of the books aside, making room for the new ones.
“This is true, but I don’t know what.” He sighed, fitting the last book in and leaning against the shelf. Skizz was kneeling on the ground, trying to find the correct place to fit his books near the floor.
“Well, you like him right?” Skizz said it without skipping a beat. Tango, though, hesitated, biting his cheek.
“Uh huh,” he admitted, looking away.
“Great! Just write your number on one of the bookmarks he gives to you, and give it back to him. Easy.”
“That sounds terrifying,” Tango said. Skizz stood up, nodding.
“Absolutely. You should do it.”
Tango started walking to the back of the store again, thinking it over.
The bookmark with his number was made four days in advance. It sat, waiting, on his desk for the next time Scott came into the store. Tango also sat, impatiently waiting, his leg bouncing up and down as he waited for Scott. There was no distinct schedule, and anyone who didn’t have to sell books to him might not have noticed a pattern at all.
Tango did, and he didn’t think about that too hard.
He ignored when Scott walked into the store, only glancing at him when his back was turned. The sweater he was wearing bore a sunset coloring, from purple at the top to light pink at the bottom. Tango went back to his book almost immediately (it was the sequel to the first book Scott had gotten him, and he liked it very much).
Soon enough, two books were set on the counter, ready for him to scan. Tango took his time, chatting to Scott a bit about the sequel and where he was in the story. Scott listened intently, a soft smile on his face. He handed the pen and blank bookmark to him almost automatically after he had scanned the books. Scott took it, the smile turning amused.
“You like these bookmarks I write for you?” He asked, and that was the first time Scott had acknowledged any of what he did. Tango laughed, biting his cheek.
“Yeah, they’re excellent.” Even with his head bowed, Tango could still see the way Scott snickered. When he straightened back up, he pushed the book and bookmark across the counter, putting the other one in his bag.
“Here you go, then.” His hand lingered on the book maybe a little too long, long enough for Tango to brush it when to pick it up. Scott started to make his way out the shop, Tango’s eyes following him all the way out.
He hadn’t even finished the blurb of text on the back before he remembered. Tango looked over and there, sitting patiently as it had been for the past four days, was the bookmark. About a few thousand thoughts ran through his head, the most prevalent of them being ‘HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT OH NO’. Tango just froze in his seat for a second, staring at it, before he grabbed it and raced out the door. His feet pounded against the ground as he reached the sidewalk, looking around hurriedly.
He spotted Scott walking down the street. He raised his hand and called his name, speed walking towards him. His face was burning, and he had no doubt that it was fully red, but Tango didn’t care. Scott stopped and looked back at him, confused. Tango marched up to him and held out the bookmark, avoiding eye contact.
“I have a thing for you. I meant to put it in your book, but uh. I forgot.” Scott took the bookmark, taking a brief look at it. Tango watched his shoulders let out a bit of tension in them, and Scott smiled softly.
“I see my notes were very well received then.” Tango only nodded. “Did you read the note this time?”
“Uh, not yet…”
“Hmm. I think you’ll like it.” Scott smiled. “I’ll see you, Tango.”
Tango waved hesitantly, watching him go. Back inside, he flipped the book open and read the note.
Can I buy you coffee instead of books?
And then a phone number. Tango barked out a laugh, grinning from ear to ear as he flipped open his newest book.