The Grinning Blue Barista (Shance Modern Coffee Shop AU)

Chapter 8

Exams are over, yay! I hope I have more time to write here, but I have more exams in three weeks, and my German certification in four, so let's see if I can squeeze in a few short chapters sometime. Enjoy! Please vote and comment. I love comments, seriously.

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Lance wasn't going to make it. He couldn't. Not sitting in his apartment alone, with only his thoughts to keep him company. And those thoughts were, of course, revolving around Lotor. What was he doing right now? Was he with another guy, complaining about how annoying Lance had been, how he was so glad he'd cut it off between them? Or, worse, had he completely forgotten about Lance, not even thinking about him? Was Lance pathetic for thinking about Lotor, for being miserable and sad and- lonely? So, so lonely. Lance had never felt so much like the world had abandoned him, as if the universe had forgotten he existed, like he had turned into dust, blown away by any small gust of wind. Torn apart, strewn throughout the world, each separate particle of his being in pain.
Lance forced himself to stand up, when had he sat down by the kitchen table? It didn't matter, he wouldn't sit here and wallow in self-pity.
So Lance put on his favorite t-shirt, some of his comfier pants, ran a brush through his hair, and walked out the door. Where was he going? Not a clue in the world, but he was determined to get there.
Walking to the park, Lance day down on an empty bench. Surprisingly, he was staring to feel better, less like dust and more like a sad person. It might've had to do with the sunshine caressing his cheeks softly, or the sound of children laughing and dogs tapping happily. It seemed that even if he had been feeling so awful alone in his apartment, other people were still out enjoying their days, playing and dancing and laughing. Lance was sure there were also people somewhere who were feeling awful, maybe they should walk outside, let the positivity of the simple happiness around them bring up their mood, even if it was just a little bit.
Lance closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of fresh grass and mid morning air, sure that he would be okay, at least for a little while. He knew going home to his empty apartment was inevitable, but there was no way he was going back now.
When Lance opened his eyes, he noticed, sitting on the bench beside him, a cat. It was sleek, a beautiful light gray color, not tabby though, just one shade of gray. It had green eyes, maybe hazel? Could cats have hazel eyes? It was stretched out beside Lance, probably trying to get as much sunshine as it could. And it was staring right up at Lance. Did cats usually just lie down close to complete strangers? If this cat was a child, Lance would've been telling it not to go up to random people, but how do you tell a cat that? With words, Lance decided.
"You shouldn't just lie down next to strangers?" Lance started. "What if I wanted to eat you? Or make a coat out of your fur, Cruella DeVil with cats? You could get hurt. You're really pretty, you know that? You'd make a cute coat. Of course, I wouldn't fit into a coat so small. More like a coat for another cat or something." Lance paused. He probably sounded like a crazy person, but the cat seemed to take in his every word, it was almost... comforting.
He wished he knew whose cat this was, they were probably missing him. Lance looked around, spotting a woman sitting on the next bench over, reading a book and smiling, in her own world. Lance didn't want to break her happy spell, so he looked to the other side. Two benches over was another woman, tying her shoelaces. Lance picked up the cat carefully, then made his way over to the woman.
"Hey. Do you run here often? Do you know whose cat this is?" Oh no, he hoped that didn't sound like flirting and scare her off.
"Ah. You picked up one of the strays. There's a ton of stray cats here, sometimes people will pick one up, though. If you ever need a cat, just come find one here rather than buy one. Give it a home."
Wow, she conveniently knew that off the top of her head? Boy, was Lance lucky. And double lucky. He wanted to keep this cat, make his apartment less empty.
But that meant that Lance had a big, important decision to make... what should he name this addition to his family? Names had always been important for him, it defined how people would perceive you and how you would portray yourself. Lance stared into his new friend's eyes. Not an easy decision at all.

*Note: Comment ideas for the cat name if you have any.