Cinnamon

- pretty pretty -

Josh acted like a gentleman at the very start, pulling out a chair for Tyler. Huge green flag. He wiggled his hands by his sides so Josh couldn't see.

"So, Josh, what is your uh... favorite color?" Tyler asked after he watched Josh sit down, not sure how else to start a conversation. Josh laughed.

"Mm, I've never really been asked that, maybe like light red purple-ish?" Josh responded easily. "I was gonna dye my hair purple at some point but eh,"

"Dude you would look great with colored hair," Tyler said, and he meant it. Josh smiled big, thinking to himself.

"Thanks dude, I might as well go get some hair dye on the way home," Josh joked, which made Tyler grin. Josh would look so hot with colored hair.

Tyler and Josh had chatted for a while now, starting at the basics like favorite colors, and eventually moving to the what do you do for a living and why.

"Well, I do music, I haven't really released much, but I'm in the process of writing more," Tyler said, remembering his song from last night about Josh, and how he was experiencing that free-falling feeling once again.

"Dude, that's so sick! What's your artist name?" Josh asked eagerly.

"Oh uh, we're called Twenty One Pilots, my friends play guitar and drums, and uh.. I'm the lead singer," Tyler said that last bit with pride.

"Why is it called Twenty One Pilots if there's only three of you?" Josh asked. Tyler sighed deeply, he had been asked this many times, and the explanation was not pretty. Josh saw the annoyance in Tyler's sigh.

"I'm serious! I'm intrigued," Josh crossed his arms in defense and pouted his lip, which Tyler found extremely adorable.

"Oh, you'd think I'm crazy." Tyler shook his head with a smile, knowing how many people had probably regretted asking that question. "Save yourself before I start yapping." 

"Ha, alright. You can yap next time we meet," Josh said, which made Tyler excited at the consideration of a next time. 

"So, what do you do? I bet you like, skydive or something," Tyler asked. Josh laughed at that.

"I could never, heights are my enemy. I uh, mainly just work here, it's chill. Sometimes I volunteer at the guitar center down the road though, I've met some pretty great dudes with pretty sick beats," Josh shrugged. Tyler wondered if Chris had ever bumped into Josh there, considering the fact that his drums were pretty banged up.

"That's very punk rock of you, Mr. Guitar Store. Unlike me and my ukulele down in the basement," Tyler said, and made a little tootling noise.

"I don't know Tyler, ukulele's pretty punk rock to me," Josh said, which made Tyler burst out laughing. They laughed together for a while, and then they were able to sit in comfortable silence for a minute or two.

"So, uh, why did you ask me to meet you, again?" Tyler asked softly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Tyler could've been imagining it, but it looked as if a blush appeared on Josh's cheeks. 

"Oh uh, I don't know. I guess I've seen you around before, and you seem pretty cool. I've been eyeing you for a while, actually." A red tint was for sure creeping up onto Josh's face. "You're pretty pretty, Tyler," If Tyler wasn't also blushing before, he sure was now.

"Really?" Tyler asked, smiling bashfully towards Josh.

"Yeah," Josh said, his voice going soft. 

"Well, you're um.. you're pretty pretty too," Tyler said in a voice so close to a whisper. 

"Um, This might sound super weird probably, but do you want to maybe exchange numbers?" Josh asked suddenly, tapping his leg nervously below the table, enough to have Tyler notice.

"Yeah-yes. Yes. I would like that." Tyler was internally freaking out for millions of reasons, but the main reason was probably how soft Josh's eyes looked when he looked at Tyler. If they were in a cartoon, an arrow would've been shot through Tyler's heart, and his eyes would turn into hearts themselves. Josh was still speaking in that soft tone that melted Tyler in just the right way.

...

"Well, lunch break is over," Josh was looking at his watch. He seemed to be genuinely disappointed that their time was up. 

"It was really nice talking to you," Tyler said, smiley and warm inside. 

"It was. I'll text you later, Ty," Josh said, making Tyler melt at the nickname.

"Text you later, uh, Jishwa," Tyler said, trying his best to come up with a good nickname and immediately regretting it. Josh only laughed, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"I'll take it. Ty and Jishwa," Josh said, and gave Tyler another wonderful wink, which sent Tyler's head spinning. He walked out the door, no coffee in hand, only the smell of Starbucks and Josh.