Chapter 2
Perfect hot cocoa weather apparently meant fancy artisan hot cocoa at a cafe a few blocks away from the campus library that Jaylin didn’t know existed.
Miyazaki asked if Jaylin wanted to walk over, and Jaylin was relieved to agree.
Even though Miyazaki was Aditi’s friend, Jaylin hadn’t been looking forward to getting into a car with a quasi-stranger.
He had done that enough to last a lifetime.
It was only a few blocks, but they were long blocks, so it was a bit of a walk.
Normally Jaylin wouldn’t mind since he was well-used to walking or public transit-ing pretty much everywhere, but it was cold and windy and he was wearing Brent’s coat, not his nice warm one, so he was shivering badly by the time the cafe came into sight.
He also felt kind of bad, because he was pretty sure Miyazaki had driven to the campus library, but he had chosen to walk over to the cafe with Jaylin. So now not only was Miyazaki also red-faced from the weather, but he’d have to walk back to get his car.
Great first impression, Jaylin told himself miserably, as they finally approached the cafe.
The walk over had been okay though. It had been too windy for much conversation, but Miyazaki had asked how Jaylin knew Aditi, which was a safe topic, and then he’d talked about his own relationship with Aditi and her family in general.
It was interspersed with funny stories that Jaylin might have teased Aditi about later if he were braver and they had had that kind of relationship.
His own responses got more stitled the longer they walked, but that was only because he had to focus on keeping his teeth from chattering.
Miyazaki got to the door first and opened it, then held it instead of going right in. It took a second for Jaylin to realize that he was holding it for Jaylin. He hurried inside, unable to quell his sigh at the welcome rush of warm air.
“Much nicer in here than out there,” Miyazaki said, pulling off his gloves and unwinding his scarf. Jaylin couldn’t help but notice how well-made the gloves seemed, sleek but undoubtedly warm, how soft the scarf looked.
He shoved down the pangs of envy, but caught himself unable to look away from Miyazaki as they walked further into the cafe.
Miyazaki’s hair was windswept but managed to look good, effortless in that dumb, model-type way that Jaylin, until just now, had figured didn’t actually exist in reality.
It made Jaylin even more self-conscious about his own unstyled curls, and he had to fight the urge to touch his hair to feel the damage.
“But I’m sorry,” Miyazaki continued.
Jaylin didn't know what he was talking about. “What for?” He asked.
“Suggesting we walk in this. I didn’t realize it was that cold out until we were a few minutes in.” Miyazaki ran a hand through his tousled bangs. “I would have offered to drive you, but I wasn’t sure how you’d feel getting into the car of a man you’d just met.”
“Oh,” Jaylin said faintly, unprepared for the way Miyazaki’s concern warmed him. Jaylin had gotten into the cars of plenty of men he had just met, often for not very long.
It wasn’t an experience he particularly enjoyed.
“It’s okay,” he said. He was still freezing, but the warmth was starting to penetrate. “I’m used to the cold.”
At Miyazaki’s sudden frown, Jaylin added quickly. “I-I mean, it happens every year, right?”
“Right,” Miyazaki said after a second. “Well, here, it’s time to warm up, yeah? Pick anything you like. My treat, like I said.”
Jaylin nodded. “Thank you, I appreciate that.” He was out of his element with Miyazaki, because the man was a friend of a friend and someone Jaylin wanted to impress, but at least Jaylin had learned how to accept being treated graciously without making it too weird.
It was all about not looking a gift horse in the mouth.
This was a far cry from the interactions Jaylin usually had with men more powerful than him though. Those were all about him angling to get a meal or cash from them in exchange for the only thing Jaylin had to give.
He still didn’t know what Miyazaki’s game was. What the man wanted.
Why he was acting so nice.
Jaylin looked up at the menu as a distraction from the worry, but his heart sank as he took in the hand-lettered chalkboard. All the menu items and prices were written in cheerful bubble letters that bled into one another.
Jaylin couldn’t read them.
“Does anything look good to you?” Miyazaki asked after Jaylin had spent too long trying to pick apart even one of the menu items. He sounded careful again, like he was worried Jaylin might bolt.
Jaylin cringed. He knew he had to be making a terrible impression.
“Just a lot of options,” Jaylin said. He summoned up a smile.
It wasn’t one of his best, but it would do.
Time to just fall back on what he always did, when he was out with someone else and he couldn’t read the menu.
Certainly Brent never minded the chance to jab at how even a simple menu was difficult for Jaylin to read.
“Maybe uh, you could order for me? Since you know what’s good. ”
“That’s a heavy responsibility,” Miyazaki said with gravity. “Hot cocoa is serious business. Are you sure you trust me that much?”
Jaylin couldn’t help his startled look. Miyazaki had to be joking. Right? “Sure,” he said weakly.
“Right,” Miyazaki said decisively. “Then I accept my mission. Any allergies I should know about?”
Jaylin shook his head. “Um, no.”
Miyazaki nodded, considering. “Are you a sweet person or a savory person?”
“I-I like both?”
Miyazaki tapped his lips in thought. “How to do you take your coffee?”
“However I can get it,” Jaylin said bewildered, not expecting the deluge of questions.
“Not a picky coffee drinker, huh?” Miyazaki asked, looking amused.
“Not, um, not really,” Jaylin said, stomach fluttering for no reason.
“Okay,” Miyazaki said, and he really seemed bent on his “mission” to get Jaylin the perfect hot cocoa. “But if you had a choice, what would you prefer? Cream? Sugar? Black?”
“Cream and sugar I guess,” Jaylin said.
“Okay, one last question,” Miyazaki said. “Do you like potato chips?”
“What do potato chips have to do with hot chocolate?” Jaylin asked before he could stop himself.
Miyazaki laughed, rich and deep. “Nothing,” he said, shooting Jaylin a grin that made his ears burn. “I’m just learning what flavors you like. But I think I’ve got it. I’ll go order, if you want to find us a table?”
“S-sure.” Jaylin could do that. He curled his hands around the straps of his backpack and set out.
The cafe was busy but not overcrowded, which was sort of a miracle considering it was Saturday on a college campus.
It was still on the earlier side of the morning though, just after ten fifteen, so Jaylin guessed that might be why.
After some searching, he was able to find a small table right next to the window.
It wasn’t his first choice, because it was colder near the glass no matter how well-insulated the window was, and he hadn’t completely warmed back up yet.
But he wanted to make sure he had a table ready when Miyazaki came to find him.
He kept his jacket on and sat down, hunching over and trying not to shiver. His insides were cold, which was the worst. It was so much harder to warm up when your insides were frozen.
In many ways, Jaylin had been lucky. He’d never spent time on the street. He’d always had a roof over his head. Sometimes he hadn’t been able to afford heating the room that roof belonged to, but what could you do? He knew there were plenty of people worse off than he’d ever been.
“Here we are,” Miyazaki’s voice said, and Jaylin startled, jerking his head up to see the man setting a tray down on the table. Two steaming mugs, one with a dollop of whipped cream and a caramel drizzle, and a little plate of cookies shaped like snowflakes.
Jaylin blinked down at the tray, then back up at Miyazaki as he took a seat opposite him.
“I guessed on the cookies,” Miyazaki said. “But they’re shortbread, and it’s hard to go wrong with shortbread.” He slid the cup with whipped cream across the table toward Jaylin. “And a salted caramel hot cocoa.”
“Thank you,” Jaylin said, immediately wrapping his fingers around the warm mug. It helped a lot. “That sounds, um, really good. What’s yours?”
“Mint chocolate cocoa,” Miyazaki said, chuckling when Jaylin wrinkled his nose automatically. “Not a fan?”
“It’s okay,” Jaylin said. “I just think a lot of mint stuff tastes like toothpaste.”
“Fair enough,” Miyazaki grinned. “If it helps, this is a mild mint. It’s more of an accent flavor.”
“If you say so,” Jaylin said doubtfully.
Miyazaki opened his mouth, then seemed to rethink what he was about to say. “I’ll buy you one to try next time,” he said after that brief pause. “And then you can just get something else if you don’t like it.”
Next time? Jaylin wondered. He didn't understand why Miyazaki was so sure about helping him out after knowing him for twenty minutes. Aditi must have really laid Jaylin’s incompetence on thick.
“Okay, next time,” he said instead of mentioning any of that. He was baffled by Miyazaki’s smile in response.
It was unfair how nice a smile it was. Warm and open, like he was genuinely pleased by what Jaylin had said.
Jaylin wasn’t on the receiving end of smiles like that very often.
Sometimes he got encouragement from teachers, but that always felt like it was layered with frustration.
Brent wasn’t a smiler. He smirked, had this hard little quirk of his lips when Jaylin said or did something he found amusing.
It always felt mean, like Jaylin was the butt of the joke.
Miyazaki felt different from Brent. From a lot of the men Jaylin had experience with. Just from their brief interactions so far, Miyazaki didn’t seem like a man who smiled when someone else was struggling.