𝗼.ffice hours

nine

"Why am I here?" Nanami thinks out loud, glaring pointedly around the unlit dive bar. It's unglamorous, walls garbed in eclectic music paraphernalia, references that go right past him. Flurries of reds and yellows and oranges in the decor cut brightly, shining through the dim atmosphere. Seriously, would it kill them to switch a light on? It bustles with life; university kids, Nanami is subjected to think based on the... unique fashion sense present in the room. Street wear, torn jeans, crop tops way too short to be considered shirts anymore. He cringes, feeling entirely too dated to be hanging amongst this kind of crowd. His leg bounces restlessly under the ledge of the bar, and he turns to look at you. "Why are we here?"

You're smiling—actually smiling—flagging down the bartender. "You knew we were coming to a bar," you cut yourself short, holding up a single finger to him whilst you relayed your order to the older gentleman behind the bar. A rum and coke, you asked politely before glancing toward Nanami. It took a moment for him to realize what that look meant.

"I'll have scotch, neat. Thanks."

"As I was saying," you steal back his attention, "I made it clear we were coming to a bar. What's the problem?"

There was a hint of an attitude catching at your words, and Nanami felt his brow twitch in frustration. "You failed to tell me that we'd be in..." He grimaces, peeking back over his shoulder to the sea of youthful patrons slinging over nearly every stool and booth. " . . . Mixed company." God awful pop music fizzles through the speakers, twisting and crackling with pops of static; fuel to the billowing flames of Nanami's overstimulation. "I was expecting something a bit more sophisticated."

"I can tell," you're laughing as you give him a once over, and he gets a shiver of Deja Vu from the coffee shop where you pulled the same exact move. You tweeze at the expensive cotton button down, plucking the bunched fabric of a sleeve at the crease of his elbow. "Thought we said no more fancy clothes?"

Tonight he threw together a plain white shirt and a pair of slim fit khaki pants; the quintessential dad outfit, sure, but fancy? Nanami didn't think so. "I'm dressed down."

"Nixing the suit jacket and tie didn't do much. You still look stiff, man." Two glasses are brought over, one placed before either of you respectively. Nanami stares down into the glass, a foggy, brown abyss. His alcohol looks watered down and piss cheap. "You stick out, it's kind of embarrassing."

"Oh please, you're too kind." Nanami rolls his eyes, hunching over the bar and downing a swig from the scotch. Yeah, It was definitely watered down. Fuck this place.

Your hand slaps his back. "So dramatic. I was kidding Nanami, you look fine." A cheeky laugh reaches his ears before you tack on, "very handsome."

Now he knows you're messing with him.

You grin into your cup. "Stop sulking. It's not so bad here." Nanami would beg to differ. A debate that isn't worth having because frankly, it's a Saturday night and he doesn't have nearly enough energy to draft a list of all the cons that this joint has to offer. "We got booze," you raise your glass. "Booze makes everything better."

His forehead wrinkles. "That's a horrible mindset to have, Y/n."

Your boisterous laugh outweighs the ambient chatter, and you take a hearty gulp. Nanami follows suit, albeit a bit awkwardly, tipping more spirits down his throat. You look surprisingly comfortable, slinking against the bar counter with a hazy smile that welcomes strangers in. This time, you weren't wearing a flowery dress; instead, a low cut shirt and jeans, both equal parts dark and tight. The neckline plummeted deep, exposing slivers of your bra cups and entirely too much cleavage. By God, was his self restraint something to write home about.