under cover
He should've known.
The sky had been grey all day, and by the time he was heading home, the clouds had grown downright ominous. He'd seen the forecast for rain, but had decided to gamble that it would hold off on raining until he was comfortably in his pajamas, curled up on the couch.
Of course it didn't.
There was only a moment's warning, a handful of sparse sprinkles, before the rain fell in a deluge, and as fast as he reacted to put himself under the shelter of an overhang, it still wasn't fast enough. Lea bit out a curse, his clothing soaked through in just a half minute, the glue holding his hair in place breaking down and sticking to his skin, the cover above him was doing little against the rain that slanted with each fresh gust of wind.
He glanced at the storefront responsible for the shoddy cover: a Cosi. Through the window, he could see a fire burning merrily, beckoning him inside. He sighed and pushed his hair back, and went in, wondering how long it would be before the staff kicked him out for loitering. He made a show of examining the menu to make it longer.
"Can I help you?"
Lea dismissed the counter person with a shake of his head. "Still deciding." He pulled at his shirt, feeling nearly suffocated now that he was inside, the air close and damp. If he was lucky, the rain would let up soon, and he could walk the rest of the way home. A glance outside made that seem unlikely, though, the rain still coming down in sheets.
Lea kept his eyes resolutely on the menu—it wasn't even for show anymore (nearly four dollars for a small tea? What?)—for several minutes, before he was finally interrupted again. Rather than a "have you decided yet?" there was a quiet, but obvious, sigh as the counter person came around with a wet floor sign. The door behind him emitted a bell noise as another person entered the café. And then, "Excuse me, sir," firm, in that passive-aggressive tone that customer service workers were so good at. "Are you going to order?" The girl glanced from him to the person behind him.
Lea gave a half-smile. "Well…" He fished in his pockets, knowing well that hadn't brought any money with.
"What did you want?" The voice behind him sounded nice, and he turned to see its owner. "I'll buy." He was…Lea tried not to stare, but he looked good, his eyes a brilliant aqua, and his hair silver. And his face was flushed, his lip bitten. "You're Lea, right? From American Lit?"
Oh. Oh. He'd noticed the guy in his class before, but Lea was so used to him having his head down, covered by a beanie, that he almost didn't recognize him. "Yeah…what's your name again?"
"Riku." There was that flush again. "I've been…wanting to, anyway. Buy you a drink sometime." He turned his eyes to the ground.
Lea smiled. "Okay."