The City Lake

XV

Jeremy's lips were decidedly less disgustingly crusted now that they had unlimited water back. Caleb sat across from him at the Jiving Java, enjoying a second coffee together. They both knew better than to stay up horribly late, but did it anyway.

"Ugh," Caleb groaned. "I hate you."

"That's not nice," Jeremy said. He grinned over his coffee until the heat fogged up his glasses.

"I don't want to be nice. Remind me never to invite you over to my place again," said Caleb, drinking his caffeine to have some semblance of awakeness for his shift.

Jeremy drank from his coffee again and went to go push up his glasses, missing and leaving a fingerprint on the lens. He made a sound of distraught before pulling them off his face and wiping them on his shirt to be rid of the oily fingerprint and condensation.

Caleb leaned over in his seat and put his hand in his bag, grabbing and pulling out the object that felt like wool. He placed the scarf in his lap and waited until Jeremy was done his futile attempt at cleaning his glasses.

"Jer," he said. "I made something for you. It was just practicing, really, so there might be some holes, but. Yeah. Here."

Then he unceremoniously pushed the scarf across the table and into Jeremy's hands for his friend to look at.

"It's, um," Jeremy said, stretching it out and examining it. The scarf was green, as there was a value bin of green wool when Caleb had gone out to get knitting supplies. There were no special patterns of stitches either. Just a plain, value-bin-green scarf. Despite it being drought-warm outside, he happily wrapped it around his neck. "I love it."

Caleb smiled. "If you're sure."

"I am," Jeremy said genuinely, fluffing the scarf around his neck.

"You look ridiculous," Caleb said. He loved every minute of it anyway.

Noah came over, their apron already on. "Ready for your shifts? You're almost late."

"Yep!" Caleb said, holding up his nearly finished coffee. "We'll be right there."

Jeremy gulped down his coffee quickly, putting the lid back on his cup when he slammed it on the table, then threw it vaguely in the direction of the multi-bin trash can. He got up and put the cup into the proper bin for recycling when it missed. Caleb threw his cup over as he finished his drink. It was going to miss, but Jeremy caught it and disposed of it while he was still in that direction.

"There is no throwing cups in the Java!" Lucas declared from his position at the till. The customers that frequented the coffee shop were casual enough not to mind the loud announcement as they waited in line or enjoyed their purchases at nearby tables.

Caleb rolled his eyes, figuring he wouldn't get fired again so soon after he was rehired. He made his way to the staff-only area for his apron and let Jeremy help put it on. He returned the favor for his friend.

Jeremy had become a proficient drink-maker, so Caleb and him usually worked in tandem to take and fill orders during the slow periods. This was the beginning of the rush hour, and Noah and Lucas would stay on the clock to help as an extra pair, then leave until later in the day when it got busy again. Jeremy being at work alongside Caleb was weird, but they were both getting used to it, and Sophie claimed their teamwork was good for business.

The morning rush was still going strong when Sophie pulled Caleb aside for a moment.

"Was it the cup throwing?" he asked when he entered her office, focused on her even though he saw a person in his peripheral.