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"Oh, that was awesome." Adam said excitedly.

Their chef nodded, "The other two are a shrimp thing, that I should really have remembered the name for by now, and a steak. Both are fish sauces, kinda like soy sauce but richer, but different to each other. The steak is served as cubes, which is just pretty, with zucchini and onion. The shrimp is a bit of a show, there'll be lots of fire, and I'll serve it atop a fried rice."

"Adam, you're the expert." Penny shuffled a tiny bit closer to him, "What do you think? Should we take the risk?"

"Definitely." He nodded, "Kaito's never led me wrong."

"Except the octopus, that one time."

Adam burst out laughing, "Oh man. I always forget about that. Why can't you let me forget about that?"

Sora raised an eyebrow, "Octopus?"

"I'd never cooked octopus before." Kaito laughed, "I simultaneously over and undercooked it, and it was the worst thing either of us had ever eaten. So Adam and I got plastered on saki to try and clean our mouths out."

She turned expectantly, "You there, as well?"

Liam shook his head, "Not that time. But... I did hear about it. For weeks, afterwards. Kaito's dad is still salty about it."

"Do you and Adam know each other, Liam?" Penny asked an obvious question that Sora probably should have.

Adam shook his head, "Not really. I mean, I've seen him at the restaurant, but I'm just a customer."

"Why the coffee place, if you're training up for here?" Sora tried to make up for missing it.

Liam shrugged, "Well... That's a bit of a story."

"His ex owns it." Kaito said stiffly, and began readying the equipment for their dinner. "She put in some bitchy clause into his contract saying that he has to pay out if he breaks it early. And because he's contractor and not an employee, it's legal."

Liam sighed, "Yeah, yeah. You always have to remind me that you told me not to help her out."

"Yes. I did. Bex's crazy." Kaito said, and then seemed to cut himself off from saying something else, with a furtive glance at Sora.

Sora rolled her eyes, "You two must be decent friends. And you can mention putting dick in crazy in front of me. I'm not going to complain about Liam's past. I've got a regret or two in my back pocket, too."

"I'm not asking." Liam said, hinting.

Penny laughed, "Oh, nothing major. Sora's too quiet to attract the really crazy ones. Me, on the other hand, I try a bit too hard. So people never take me seriously, unless they take things obsessive."

Liam looked at Adam with a blank expression, "Dude. She's hitting on you."

"Wha?" Adam said in shock.

Liam shrugged and smiled weakly at Penny, "Sorry. He wasn't going to get it any other way."

"She... Wasn't..."

"Kinda... Was... Poorly..." Penny said, turning red and facing away from him.

Liam shrugged at Adam's dumbfounded face, "Sorry, man. I just couldn't sit here all night. She's been flirting hard with you, and you just... Yeah."

Adam turned and stared at Penny, "That... I... Holy shit. How long...? I've been a total idiot, haven't I?"

She nodded silently, still red and staring at the ground.

Liam laughed, "So, Kaito. I don't think we're quite up to saki, but I wouldn't mind a beer. Anybody need to drive home?"

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Chai was doing her best to climb inside her husband's mouth as they all left the restaurant, Kaito waving them off. Penny had an arm wrapped around Adam and kept leaning in to kiss his cheek, before hesitating and trying to pretend to be doing something different.

"I had fun, tonight." Sora said, looking up at the stars.

Liam patted her back once, "Yeah. It was nice."

She sighed and grabbed her phone.

$ Did I screw up?

He pulled his out, and looked at the message in surprise, and then at her. "Uh... No? I really did have fun. It was nice. Was... Was I giving you the wrong impression? I liked it. It'd be fun to do something, again."

Sora breathed in raggedly, hands tingling, and bit her lip. Then she whispered, "You... Wouldn't... Um... Kiss me? Would you?"

"Not unless that was an invite."

She glared at him.

Liam's face split into a grin, "A peck? Or more?"

She turned bright red.

He leaned down to her, putting one hand on her hip. His lips met hers, and Sora practically melted into him. Her lips were cracked, but his weren't. Soft, and moist without being too much. Warm, against her. She found herself leaning up on her tippy toes, breathing through her nose as the kiss she'd expected to be short and nothing, turned into something she didn't want to end.

His scrappy beard rubbed roughly against her chin, but his moustache was soft, almost softer than her hair. Silky. It tickled at her nose as she struggled to decide if it would be okay to french him. She didn't doubt that he could do it well. His kiss was perfectly in sync with her, responding in time with her.

Sora broke the kiss, leaning back down onto her heels breathlessly. She smiled broadly and blinked her eyes. "Oh wow. Oh wow."

"It's not too eager of me to ask you for another date, on the spot, is it?" Liam gave a stunned half-smile.

She looked up at him, "Eh... Never thought I'd ask this... But... Uhm... Woo. How do I say this? Um... Do you want me to make you breakfast, in the morning?"

"Breakfast date? Sounds great." Liam replied with a grin, totally missing her meaning.

She felt crestfallen. It hurt, even though she knew he wasn't intentionally rejecting her. She just didn't know how to try, a second time. "Um. Yeah. I like fruity things. You?"

He picked up on her tone, brows furrowing, but answered, "Pancakes are always appreciated. But, I'm more used to being the one doing the treating. How about I make you strawberry pancakes, in the morning? Actually, why don't I treat you? See that place, over the road? Amazing pancakes I couldn't dream of matching. Let's go there. Then you don't have to worry about me coming to yours, or you coming to mine."

She felt and buried the urge to kick him in the ankle. "Oh. Yeah, that sounds nice. Ugh. Fuck. I've got work in the morning. It's going to have to be early. Like... Rudely early. Seven? Are they even open?"

"They open at five. And have amazing coffee." Liam continued to miss her hints. "Also, they've got this stack which comes with strawberries, covered in an amazing hazelnut sauce thing. It tastes way richer than it actually is. It's guilt free, but it doesn't remotely taste that way."

How could he be so sweet whilst being so cruel?

Sora smiled sweetly and kissed his cheek quickly, unable to stand it. "Sounds great. I'll see you then."

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Bloop!

Sora froze up, one of her hands too messy to touch anything. She reached over with trepidation for the phone, and checked the messages.

% I'M AN IDIOT!

% I am, right?

% You were... Hinting?

% Please tell me I'm not reading into things, now.

She rolled her eyes and sneered.

$ Total idiot.

Bloop!

% Oh god.

% You must hate me.

% That took some courage.

% And I was oblivious.

She nodded, glaring at the phone.

$ Yes.

$ Not hate.

$ Just...

$ You suck.

$ But I would have.

$...

$ Forget that last one?

Bloop!

% I am so very, very sorry.

% I'm a dumb, stupid guy, who can't take a hint.

% I'm so dumb, I need help.

% How do I fix this?

% I don't have a wedding dress. And my hammer can't call lightning.

Sora felt her irritation vanish. She smiled and shook her head at his attempt at a joke.

$ Well...

$ A photo in a wedding dress would have been nice.

$ But I guess...

$ I'll settle for a photo.

$ Please?

$ I just asked for a pic, again.

$ I swear, I'm not a pervert.

She put down her phone, and ran back to the lounge, ignoring that she was only wearing her work shirt. She snatched the cat ears off the ground and headed back to the room.

She jumped back onto the towel on her bed, and then rethought that. Towel was cleaner, but nowhere near the sexy impression she wanted to send. She tossed it to the floor, and then unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt.

She fished around on the ground for her underwear, that had one leg of her pants turned inside out and pulled through them. She fought to free them for a second, and then slipped them back on.

Sora looked around for a second, and then jumped off the bed, and angled her lamp, turning it on and the main light off. She pulled it back so it lit most of the room, but still kind of haloed the scene.

Bloop!

She then fluffed her pillow, set it against the bedhead, and sat up against it. She put her hand back down, but just rested it there. Sora lifted her phone and tried to look like she was giving a happy gasp.

Two dozen photos later, and two dozen deleted photos later, she took one last one, and didn't look before she sent it.

Then she noticed that he'd already sent his reply.

She grinned slowly as she opened it. She'd asked for a photo after being disappointed that she'd asked a guy back to her place for the first time, and he'd turned her down. She'd half been afraid he might misread her and send a dick pic.

Just like the other photos, it was almost artistic.

Liam had taken her joke about him cross-dressing and found something that made her feel warm inside. He was wearing a cute onesie, with a hood with a unicorn hood on it. He also had a very serious face, despite her spying several well placed plushies in the picture.

She'd managed to find a guy who didn't mind admitting he like cute shit.

$ I wanna cuddle you!

$ Geeze.

$ Way to make a girl jealous she can't snuggle!

$ I love it.

$ Sorry about mine...

$...

$ Kinda being a different sort of mood.

$ I'm really snuggly, now.

$ Not... Horny.

$...

$ Okay. Your turn.

It took Liam a good long while to respond, and Sora was considering putting her phone on charge and just going to sleep by the time the next set of messages came crashing in.

Bloop!

Her phone sounded painfully loud at this time of night, even though she could barely hear it during the day, and often missed that it had gone off at all.

% Okay...

% I feel like this is unfair.

% But...

% I don't know what kind of pic you'd find sexy.

% Help a guy out?

Sora was immediately as lost as he was. She had put in effort for hers, but a guy enjoyed a pantyshot. That's all she really needed to do. What kind of thing did she think she'd like from him?

$ Um...

$ Screw the pic.

$ Tell me what you'd do.

$ If you were here?

Bloop!

% This is you... Snuggly?

She put the towel back on the bed, and spread it out carefully. Mostly giving Liam some time to self-destruct after sending that last message. He seemed to be the kind to overthink everything, just like her. Punishment was easy. Just hit ignore.

She was allowed to flip back and forth about what she wanted. First, he was the idiot who didn't get that she was inviting him over. Second, it was late, she was tired and just a teeny-tiny bit tipsy from the one and a half beers she'd had at the restaurant. Together, that made her feel justified in going back and forth on it.

She wanted to invite him over. Again.

Sora had never been anyone's booty call, before. She definitely hadn't called anyone else for the same thing. However, she just felt like things with Liam were... Inevitable.

She'd be feeling his scratchy beard on her thighs, sooner or later, but she really wanted it to be sooner. He understood that he'd missed out on that opportunity, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal to invite him around and give him a second chance at it, would it?

Where was the line between being a flirt, and being a slut? Sora did actually want this to work out. She didn't want to do a Penny and end up with a fun night and a relationship that just couldn't work out. She wanted... Needed it, to mean something.

One group date and a bunch of flirty texts were all they had. She really wanted it to mean something. Maybe she was just being desperate and weird.

Bloop!

It wasn't a text message. It was an email, from Adam.

~ Hey, Sora

~ Whel rn't u the pretiest girl on the spindle? I rot it 4 u. Jus cos u didn't freak out at how weerd I am. To mak u feel nice.

~ Ur really preety. Hope this hits the spot fur u.

~ Adam

~ (Attached) "Office Supplies v1draft2.doc"

Sora stifled a laugh. Adam sounded like he was completely wasted. She doubted that Penny would be getting any, tonight. Though... It was kind of weird he was emailing another girl when he had one who had done her best to be all over him, before the night was done. Had they had a fight or something?

Or maybe Penny had just passed out before he had?

She shrugged and opened the attached tale.

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So, as she chatted idly to her secretary about work things... Knowing both of them knew she was exposed... She could feel herself starting to leak for a completely different reason.

Jill knew her face must be starting to go red. She needed to find an excuse to escape. Get to the bathroom and get herself some relief. Any relief.

Her secretary was still talking, "- and then you have a meeting with the chair of Atco."

"Can you hold that thought? I need a minute." Jill said without thinking, pushing back her chair to try and run from the room. Her secretary acted dumb, standing still and confused, but in her way. She bit her lip and did a bit of a dance, "Um... Abel? Can you... Scoot?"

He smiled at her, turning and locked the door to the office. Jill felt her throat catch, and then he waved to the blinds, "Open... Or shut?"

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Sora stopped reading, looking at the email first in revulsion, because the secretary prick wasn't just controlling. He was reminding her way too much of Crowley. Adam had sorely missed the mark on what she liked. Then the revulsion started to become an even more uncomfortable feeling as she put a few things together.

He wrote it for her.

His name was Adam, his character's name was Abel.

She was his boss, and he tried his best to help her out around the office. Sometimes getting drinks, mostly trying to field problems before they needed to get to her. Like a secretary.

Bloop!

She cringed and felt everything horny in her dry up, completely.

Sora suddenly didn't want to go into work tomorrow. She really didn't want to face Adam after he sent through this drunken email. She could pretend not to have seen it, but he'd probably still ask her if she would. She'd already given him a touch of encouragement.

She didn't want to face Penny, knowing why Adam was so oblivious to her, now. Keeping Adam's secret crush from her would feel wrong, but letting her know was also something that would make Sora feel all kinds of dirty.

"Nope, nope. Not doing this!" Sora tossed her phone down the side of the bed, dove under the blanket and pulled it over her head, and tried to make herself fall asleep.

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Sora sat up, hair sticking out wildly, and eyes wide open, when her alarm went off. She glared down at where the phone had fallen, enormous bags under her eyes, refusing to believe that it was time to get up and go to work... Because she hadn't actually fallen asleep, yet.

She grabbed the phone before the alarm made her scream, and switched it off, when she noticed that she actually had a couple more messages from Liam.

She opened them, cringing and feeling like now that things had gone wrong with Adam, the entire world was going to go sideways on her.

% If you were here?

% I'd sit you on the couch. Wrap a blanket around you.

% Melt real chocolate. Warm milk.

% I have no marshmallows, and leaving your side would be too far.

%...

%?

% I'm going to hope you fell asleep.

% Sleep tight, and dream of a world full of warmth and snuggles.

Sora stared at his messages, her chin wobbling as she tried not to burst into tears. She was just feeling out of things because she was overtired. It made her emotional. She wasn't just crying because she'd found someone who was sweet.

And had even said goodnight after she accidentally ghosted him.

She took a deep and ragged breath, her chest feeling like it was about to collapse. The overtiredness was actually making her feel dizzy and out of things, more than just emotional. But life kept going, whether or not she wanted it to.

$ You're working today, aren't you?

$ Can you get that card ready for me?

$ I need soooo much coffee.

$ And someone to listen.

$ Please?

She grabbed her suit and headed to the shower. The hot water didn't help at all. She felt like she was going to pass out before she finished washing her stubborn hair. She didn't really get all the kinks out, before she was stumbling out of the heat.

Dizzy and exhausted, Sora slipped into her heels, and out the door.

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Two of the regulars at Barnhaus were sitting on their stools, griping about the third having a reserved sign on it, when Sora came in the door, scratching at her itchy head. Why did being tired always make your scalp so freaking itchy?

One of the two waitstaff behind the counter of the tiny cafe thumbed towards the stool, "Be with you in a minute, Sora. Jen, can you take over here?"

Sora squeezed sideways, stepping sideways to get by the line heading to the other door, and sat down awkwardly at the stool. She tried to avoid the glares from the two older men.

Liam's braid was absent as he leaned down on his elbows, smiling broadly at her. He passed over the rewards card, "So, firstly, this is yours. Fifty on it, like I said. When I first sent you a message. But... Get the feeling you could care less. Though you do look like you need to either have a litre of coffee, or lay off altogether."

"Adam's got a crush on me."

He smiled at her and nodded, "Yup."

"Fuck." Sora cursed, squeezing her eyes shut, "I... I don't want to deal with this. I really don't want to deal with this."

"He's not the kind of guy to act on it. If you pretend not to notice, he'll just keep on being kinda nice, and kinda nervous." Liam said reassuringly, "Or that's the feeling I got, anyways."

She winced, looking at him, "We have to work together. And then there's the whole... Him and Penny thing. Oh. And also my boss is the most handsy dickhole in the universe. He threatens to... Touch me. When he gets mad. Only threats, nothing anyone can prove. So... You're nice. Tell me something nice? Restore my faith in the male species?"

"Wow. Your boss needs to get buried. You're just kinda broken, this morning, aren't you?" Liam said sympathetically, "So... How about I make you that hot chocolate? First time using your card? You can sit and try and think only about you, and I'll make some terrible jokes that will make you rethink associating with me. Sound good?"

Sora smiled weakly, "God, that sounds nice... I'm already late. Screw it. Make me a treat."

"Liam, whilst you're flirting with the customer, do you mind also doing the art for two cappuccinos?" His partner said with more than a touch of irritation.

"Sure, Jen." Liam replied, and smiled just as easily at the two waiting women, "Any requests, this morning?"

"A phone number wouldn't fit, would it?" One of them flirted openly.

Liam shook his head, "Sorry, that one doesn't come so easily. I can do unicorns, rainbows, and treasure guarded by a leprechaun, but my art is restricted to what is possible."

"Oh my god." The other said, "I am so sorry. Is she your girlfriend? We didn't mean..."

Liam glanced over at Sora, "Oh, I don't know if she's the jealous type. But... How about I make it a pair of unicorns? Be a fun story to explain when you get to the office."

Jen and Liam switched places, and the woman started making some more drinks at the machine in front of Sora. She stared at her for a bit, and then asked, "How the fuck did you manage to get Liam's attention? You see what people are like with him, right? Just... How?"