this was...a drabble request that got away from me, as they do. frequently. the request was for "a sweet kiss" :D

The cute boy at the cafe always smells like pastries and cake, and Judal wishes it was less weird to ask to smell people. He always seems a little stressed, but he keeps smiling, hair in a messy bun, and his intriguing mismatched eyes look bright and friendly.

The coffee isn't even that good, but the desserts are to die for, enough that Judal comes back every week, more if he can, and he always takes extras home with him. If he could live on chocolate croissants and peach hand pies, he would. Honestly, he might try anyway... They're good enough that he'd happily die of malnutrition if it meant he could eat pastries from the cafe for every meal.

"You come here a lot," he tells Judal when he hands him his tray of goodies, "so I gave you a sample of something I'm working on."

Judal breaks out into a wide grin. "Ahh, really? Thank you!" He looks over the pastries and sees a cannoli nestled in with everything else. Apparently the cute boy is the one that actually makes all the delicious sweets he's in love with? That's exciting.

He turns to walk to a table before realizing that this is it, this is the moment he's been waiting for, they're finally having a conversation. "Hey, what's your name?"

The baker looks taken aback but answers anyway. "Hakuryuu."

"Cool, I'm Judal! What time do you get off?" Judal's just going to go for it, after months of sneakily watching him from across the cafe. The worst that happens is Hakuryuu - oh, Hakuryuu, and he realizes he loves the sound of his name in his head - says no, and then Judal will feel stupid every time he comes here, but nothing is going to keep him away from these pastries. Besides, he feels stupid all the time. How bad could it be?

Hakuryuu glances up at the clock and then opens his mouth like he's going to answer, before a confused look crosses his face. "Um, why?"

Judal plows ahead, before good sense can catch up with him. "I think you're cute, and you make the best croissants I've ever had. So. You should let me take you out for dinner. Or something like that, but I figured you wouldn't want to go out for coffee after being here all day."

He gets to watch the prettiest blush form on Hakuryuu's cheeks, and even if he says no, Judal got the gift of seeing something that cute.

"I- Um. That's very nice of you, but. I don't...really date," he begins. "Or at least not customers. Because that would be unprofessional."

Judal feels his smile drop, just for a moment, before he forces one back on his face. "Yeah, that makes sense. That's uh. Fine. Lemme just go eat these before I make a fool out of myself anymore." He laughs awkwardly. "I'll tell you if the cannoli is good, I guess, I just. Yeah. Sorry."

Hakuryuu leans forward. "But I get off at 4, and I stop at the park down the street before I head home," he says softly, and Judal stares at him for a beat before he understands what Hakuryuu is trying to tell him.

"Oh! Nice," he says lamely. "I like that park."

Judal still feels kind of stupid as he walks over to a table, but he's pretty sure that Hakuryuu actually wants to see him later. And he gave him a free thing to try out, which has to mean something.

Probably.

He'll try it, at the very least. Cannoli are best fresh, and he trusts that Hakuryuu would make it right, especially since he's never had a bad thing here.

Judal takes a sip of his coffee, and is reminded that wait, yes, he has had a bad thing here. The coffee is always bitter and weird no matter how much cream and sugar he puts in it. The slice of tart he's eating first is delicious though, rich dark chocolate topped with fresh raspberries and a small swirl of whipped cream making him feel decadent and important.

Oh god, he hopes kissing Hakuryuu tastes this sweet.

He decides that the croissants are going to go home with him so he can eat the cannoli while it's fresh. It's everything he could want from one, perfectly crispy shell and tart but sweet cream inside. The chocolate dipped ends are just as wonderful as the other chocolate treats they sell, and it pairs perfectly with the bite sizes chunks of chocolate through the cream.

Some of the cream drips out the end onto the tray, and Judal shamelessly uses his finger to save it. He's not letting something this delicious go to waste. He happens to glance over at Hakuryuu when he goes to lick it off, and they lock eyes as Judal carefully licks the sweet white cream off his finger.

Inappropriate and shameless? Yeah, but he watched the way Hakuryuu's eyes followed his tongue, and that makes it so worth it.

Judal finishes up the rest of his cannoli, savoring every bite of it, and packs the last of his sweets into a bag. A quick look at his phone tells him it's 3:15, giving him about 45 minutes to prepare for his- date? Meet up? Whatever it is, he wants to be ready.

x･x･x

Judal sits on a bench in the park, idly swinging his legs back and forth. It's just a tiny bit of green space in the city, on the corner of two busy streets and barely taking up half the block, if that. But it's pretty and noticeable, and Hakuryuu is going to be here. He's so excited he can barely contain himself.

Worry creeps at the back of his mind, trying to crowd out the excitement with insecurity, but Judal works to ignore it. Hakuryuu is too nice to string him along like that, or at least he hopes so.

At 4:05, he twitches nervously. It shouldn't take that long to get off work, right?

At 4:15, Judal starts to think he may have remembered the time wrong. He's shit with time and numbers but he really thought he knew this one.

At 4:30, he's pretty sure he's been stood up. He wants to blame his memory or something else, but Judal isn't that stupid. Half an hour is a long time to be late.

At 4:32, as Judal is gathering his stuff up, resigned to his own stupidity, he hears someone calling his name.

Hakuryuu rushes down the block and waves at him, looking winded and worried, and Judal feels so relieved. "I'm sorry! I got caught late at work, and I was sure you would have left by now."

Judal laughs, his insecurities melting away. "It's fine, I've got a crappy sense of time anyway."

"Really, thank you. I wasn't trying to be rude, but-"

He cuts Hakuryuu off. "Can I kiss you?"

Hakuryuu looks lost. "What?"

"You know, to make up for being late," Judal explains. "I want a kiss."

Hakuryuu's cheeks flush bright red. "Oh. I. I see."

Judal takes a step forward into Hakuryuu's personal space and grabs his hand. He waits a moment, seeing if Hakuryuu pulls away or looks uncomfortable, but he just looks nervous. He can work with nervous. Judal brushes some hair out of Hakuryuu's face, tucking some behind his ear, and gives him a small smile.

They're just about the same height, Judal thinks to himself as he leans in.

He just wants a quick kiss, brief and soft, enough that he can feel Hakuryuu's lips on his, but when they meet Hakuryuu pulls him closer. He can't help but kiss him deeper. There's an arm wrapped tightly around his waist and oh, he tastes sweet and comforting and Judal doesn't ever want to stop kissing him.