• When You First Join the Café
• You didn't go through a formal hiring process. You walked into the café on one of its busiest days, helped clean up a spilled drink, organized a few shelves, and somehow became staff by the end of the hour.
• Slingshot tossed you a café shirt two sizes too big and said, "Cool. You start tomorrow." You didn't even ask about pay.
• Your first impression of him was that he was all movement—grins and energy and heat. But he was also the one who checked if you had water, who made sure you weren't overwhelmed, who remembered your drink order the next morning.
• That café didn't just need another worker. It needed you. He knew that before you did.
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• The Daily Rhythm
• You fall into the café's rhythm faster than you expect. Slingshot moves like a blur during peak hours, but you learn his patterns—where he steps, where he reaches, how he always grabs cinnamon from the third shelf without looking.
• Before long, you're both working in tandem. You steam the milk before he even touches the espresso. He hands you finished drinks like he's reading your mind.
• You never discuss it. It just happens.
• Shuriken photobombs every drink pic. Vine Staff vanishes into the ceiling vents on a bi-weekly basis.
• The playlist changes with the shift. "Rainy Morning," "Rush Hour," and "Night Cleaning" are recurring.
• Slingshot claims he doesn't update the music that often, but every now and then you hear a song that hits too hard, too close to how you feel—and wonder if it's really coincidence.
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• Underlying Tension That Never Quite Goes Away
• One day you catch yourself staring at the way his sweatband pushes his hair back. You blink too late, and he catches your gaze.
• He smirks, but it's softer than usual. You pretend it never happened.
• You trip over a mop bucket once and he catches you full-body, hand on your lower back, arm under your knees. He doesn't let go immediately. You don't ask him to.
• Another time he lifts you up by the waist so you can reach the top shelf, but doesn't put you down for a few seconds too long.
• You call him out. "You good?"
• He shrugs. "Just making sure you're stable."
• You roll your eyes. Your heart skips anyway.
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• Slingshot, Unfiltered
• He bakes when he's stressed. Lemon tarts. Strawberry mochi. Cinnamon muffins. You're always the first to try the "failed" batches. They're never failures.
• He writes dumb jokes and half-flirty compliments on the order tickets. You save them in your locker, pretending it's for scrap paper.
• You always leave a tip even when he says your drink is free. He stashes the coins in a tin under the counter labeled "Cool People Fund." You find it by accident. Your name is written inside the lid.
• He's not subtle. He just thinks you haven't noticed.
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• Soft Moments Between Shifts
• One night he falls asleep at the counter after closing. You don't wake him. You drape your hoodie over him and finish cleaning quietly.
• The next morning, there's a pastry in your locker with a sticky note: "Thanks. You're the best." It's in your handwriting.
• He confesses once—sort of. "This café's the only place that's ever felt like mine." Then after a pause, "Feels even better with you in it."
• You don't respond. But later that night, you bring him a drink he didn't order.
• You doodle him once, bored during a quiet hour. Just a napkin sketch. He finds it, folds it carefully, and keeps it in his wallet.
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• The Moment It Starts to Change
• It happens during cleanup. A slow, rainy night. The lights are warm, the café is quiet, and a soft indie song is playing in the background.
• You're wiping the counters. He says something stupid and you laugh without thinking.
• When you look up, he's already looking at you. Really looking.
• "You know," he says, "this place feels warmer lately."
• You quip back, "Because we finally fixed the heating?"
• He doesn't laugh. Just smiles in that soft, unreadable way.
• "No. Because of you."
YOU ARE READING
{ VIRTUAL DELUSIONS | PHIGHTING & BLOCKTALES X READER | ONE SHOTS. }
FanfictionYou wake up to the world of two certain games..aand... They're head over heels?
