Short Stories

Pity Party (Part 2)

Summary: An alternate ending in which Nikei waited a bit longer.

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"Are you alright, honey? Do you want to order now?"

Nikei didn't look up at the waitress, not wanting her to see him about to cry. He considered just leaving right now. Setsuka and Mikado clearly didn't care about the date he'd worked so hard to set up.

But for some reason, he found himself talking. "I'm fine. Just, still waiting for my partners to arrive."

Here came the whispers. Again. God damnit, why can't people mind their own business?

The waitress gave him a sad smile and left. Nikei fiddled with his sleeve, trying to distract himself from the tears that were about to fall.

Nikei could feel eyes on him. Stop looking at me, he begged silently.

He should just leave. They weren't comi-

"Nik! There you are!"

Nikei looked up, and a smile made its way onto his face. Setsuka and Mikado were hurrying towards his booth, all dressed up. They looked like they had been running. They quickly slid into the booth on both sides of him.

"We're so sorry we're so late!" Setsuka hastily apologized. "There was huge foot traffic on our way here, some sort of accident happened, I think. We could barely get through the crowds."

"It was extremely frustrating." Mikado said, shaking his head. "But we're here now! Did you order anything yet?"

Nikei could still feel tears in his eyes, although this time they were out of relief rather than rejection. They hadn't stood him up. They'd just been really, really late.

"No, I haven't. I was just waiting for you guys to get here." He answered, leaning on Mikado. God, he needed some sort of comfort right now. Mikado, sensing that, put his arm around him, and Nikei snuggled into it.

"You're too sweet, doll." Mikado gently said. "You didn't need to wait."

Setsuka nodded. "Here, I'll wave down the waitress. We can get a quick appetizer before our meal, since I'm hungry." She took a quick glance at the menu. "Do breadsticks sound good enough for you?"

Both Nikei and Mikado agreed, and Setsuka put her hand in the air.

The waitress came back over to the table, and looked surprised for a brief moment due to the sudden appearance of two more people. Afterwards though, she smiled, happy that Nikei hadn't been stood up after all.

"You're all ready to order now, I assume?" She asked, flashing a smile at Nikei, who returned it.

"Sure! We'll take three glasses of water and some breadsticks for an appetizer, for now. We'll order our actual meal a bit later." Setsuka said.

The waitress wrote it down and left.

Nikei started hearing whispers start again, though he wasn't sure if they were good or bad this time. He did notice someone looking towards him, though. And immediately, Nikei saw Setsuka and Mikado meet his gaze steadily, and he looked away.

"So, now that we've ordered..." Setsuka started. "Has anyone told you yet how good you look in that suit, Nik?"

Nikei flushed red at the unexpected praise. Mikado chuckled.

"I'm gonna take that as a no. Well, we'll tell you that now. You look amazing, doll." He said, kissing Nikei on the cheek.

All that accomplished was flustering Nikei more. "Guys, we're in public." He half-heartedly complained.

"So what? Everyone should know how beautiful you look." Setsuka teased.

Nikei was saved from replying by the waitress, who returned and gave them their breadsticks and water. They thanked her and ordered their actual meals,and she went away.

Mikado picked up a breadstick and took a bite. "Back on what Setsuka said, I'm honestly pretty surprised no one complimented your outfit, doll. You look amazing."

Setsuka placed a hand on Nikei's arm. "I agree with Kado. How could they not?"

Nikei grumbled. "Guys, stop. You've already almost made me cry from distress tonight, so help me god if you make me cry from embarrassment-"

"Hold up." Setsuka's expression changed. "Distress?"

Shit. Nikei hadn't meant to let that slip.

"Er, nothing, don't worry about it." He said quickly. "Just me talking nonsense, that's all."

"I highly doubt that." Mikado said. "I don't think mentioning that you were about to 'cry with distress' is you talking nonsense, doll."

Nikei avoided both of their gazes. "I'm fine. Just drop it."

"I don't think you're 'fine', Nik. I noticed you didn't look too good when I first saw you here. Pretty sure that and you mentioning that you almost cried isn't a coincidence." Setsuka retorted.

Why did Nikei open his mouth? Now his lovers were worried about him. They were supposed to be having a good time.

Setsuka and Mikado had clearly picked up on his train of thought, but before they could say anything, the waitress returned with their food, oblivious to anything being wrong.

Nikei was glad for the distraction, as it allowed the conversation to drift away from him, for at least a little bit.

It didn't last long though, as after five or ten minutes of them getting their food, Mikado and Setsuka were back on Nikei's case, gently interrogating him. It went on for the duration of their meal, and eventually Nikei had enough.

He stood up once they had all finished and paid for the meal. "Let's just go." He said, beckoning to his lovers. "I'll explain once we leave."

At that, Setsuka and Mikado quickly followed him out of the restaurant. They stayed silent until about halfway through their walk home, during which Mikado and Setsuka walked on both sides on Nikei, each taking one hand.

FInally, Setsuka asked, "Nikei, what happened in the restaurant before we arrived?"

Nikei hesitated for a moment, and Mikado squeezed his hand comfortingly, Setsuka quickly doing the same.

"I thought you guys stood me up." Nikei admitted finally. "I was sitting alone, and you weren't there, and people were staring and talking about me, and all I could think was that you guys just didn't care and left me to be abandoned." He hung his head after that confession, ashamed.

Setsuka and Mikado shared a shocked and concerned glance over Nikei's shoulder, and then Setsuka hugged Nikei, making him yelp.

"Oh, Nik, you know we'd never abandon you." She said. "We're so sorry we made you feel like that. We were late because of an accident, that's all." She grimaced. "And people shouldn't have been talking about you, that's just rude."

Mikado joined in a second. "I wish time travel spells existed. Oh, my sweet doll, you never deserve to feel like that. We're so, so sorry. We'd never abandon you, I swear. And if in some alternate universe that godforsaken thing happens, may lightning strike us dead and drag us to hell."

"That's a bit extreme, but it gets the point across." Setsuka said, kissing Nikei as she spoke. "We'd never abandon you."

Nikei's eyes watered again, and he brought his hand up to wipe at his eyes, sniffling.

"Oh, no, doll, did we say the wrong thing?" Mikado asked, panicking a little bit.

"N-No." Nikei said. "I'm just... really happy."

Setsuka smiled. "Let's get back to the dorm. You'll feel better then."

Nikei nodded, and they quickly headed back to their dorm, where they immediately set up a cuddle session, with Nikei in the middle. It was filled with reassurances and warmth.

And Nikei had never felt more loved.