"So Kal, are you a top or bottom? I'm having trouble deciding."

I choke. My recently sipped water is sucked into my lungs as my life flashes before my eyes.

Wren and Kal both glance at me with concern, but it quickly diminishes and they get back to their seemingly more important topic.

Kal just shrugs nonchalantly, not nearly as affected by Wren's random question. "Switch. Either one... or both, just depends."

"Ah, that makes sense. I was leaning towards power bottom—"

"Guys!" I manage to get out, finally done coughing. "As riveting as this conversation is, I'm not sure it's quite work appropriate."

She flicks her wrist at me. "It's life appropriate. Besides, look around: we've been dead all afternoon."

She's right, we've only had a handful of customers since we arrived at work an hour ago. The cafe's lobby is empty but for one lonely customer who's sitting in the corner with headphones on, bobbing their head to the music.

I'm antsy today. And distracted. I slept pretty decent after our walk last night and now I just can't quite sit still.

We only stayed out for a short time last night before both of us started getting tired again and we decided to head back. When we got back home I went to the bathroom to pee and wipe my feet off, and as I walked back to my room I saw that Kal had left my hoodie hanging on my bedrooms doorknob. A sticky note was stuck on my door right above it, "thanks" with a tiny heart. I huffed a chuckle, took them both in my room, tucked the sweatshirt back in my bottom drawer— towards the front this time —and stuck the note on top of my nightstand before going to sleep.

And so today I keep getting distracted, keep doing stupid shit without thinking, keep bouncing around, keep starting one task and forgetting about it to work on another.

Wren and Kal have definitely noticed, given me funny looks, raised eyebrows, and shaken heads, but they haven't said anything. I'm pretty sure they're just glad to have the amusement since it's fairly slow.

The bell over the front door rings, and I'm elated to actually do something productive.

A young woman walks in, her shiny black hair pulled over her shoulder with pops of little white daisies braided throughout. Green, almond shaped crinkle in an effortless smile towards us and her loose floral dress is paired with purple Dr. Martens which clomp heavily in the mostly quiet cafe.

"Aster!" Wren exclaims, smiling ear to ear. "I didn't realize you were coming to visit today!"

"Yeah, I thought I'd pop in on my lunch break! Maybe grab a bite to eat and see how the newbies are doing. And to visit you of course!" Aster looks at me next. "Aiden, good to see you behind the counter, how's it going?"

"Great so far, still a lot to get used to, but Wren's a good teacher."

She smiles at Wren before turning to our newest addition. "And you must be Kalum! I'm glad to finally meet you, it's pretty cool that your working here and one of our new housemates too."

"Yeah it's great to finally meet you too. Wren won't shut up about you. All good things though, don't worry." He reaches a hand over the counter and they shake. "Hopefully you'll get to meet Ronan soon too."

"Oh we actually met already! We have a microbiology class together this semester. He sat right next to me our first day and we got to talking about why we were taking the class. I'm a geoweaver with a plant affinity, and he mentioned he was majoring in marine biology! I didn't realize he was our new roommate though until Wren said something about you guys the other day!

"Actually," she continues, "speaking of taking classes together, I think we took a class together last year... Weaving Philosophy II, if I remember right."

Kal tilts his head in thought, "Huh, yeah I did take that, with Professor Gillian?"

Aster nods. "Yep! It was a big class, I don't expect you to remember me. I only noticed because you sat in front of me for a little while, next to... shoot, I forget their name... it started with an H..."

"Harper? Damn, yeah. She was talented." Kal replies cryptically, eyes glossed, lost in the past.

It was quiet for a pregnant moment before Wren chimes in, "You're just gonna leave us with that lame answer? Somehow I get the feeling your not talking about schoolwork?"

Kal returns to the present, "Ah, sorry. Yeah, no... we messed around for like a month, casual thing. She got a boyfriend and I got to switch seats."

Wren barks a laugh, we all giggle a bit and continue to talk about our classes this semester. One drink, one pastry, and one conversation later, Aster heads back to her job at the flower shop down the road.

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Turns out the whole "slow afternoon" thing was a complete farce.

As soon as Aster left, a slow trickle of customers came in, and then that trickle turned into a flood.

I probably should've known better, Saturday's are for sleeping in. Especially for college students who are up late on Fridays partying or studying. And if they have plans for tonight, they may want the extra caffeine too.

Normally the cafe operates with two baristas. Wren is awesome, but considering Kal and I are both brand new, the combined equivalent of the three of us was one-point-five, maybe two, decent baristas.

We were trying, and considering it's only our second day, I think we're doing pretty good. I think it helps that we make a good team: Wrens emotion affinity makes her great at the register, Kal's ice affinity is perfect for cold bar, and I'm killing it on the hot drinks.

The downside is we're all feeling the somewhat literal burn.

Wren is a super enhanced empath. She's tried to describe it to me a few times, and essentially the more she reads emotions, the more she feels them too. When she gets done with busy shifts, or if she goes somewhere really busy and emotionally charged, she walks out of there completely mentally drained. She gets super disconnected and usually needs to spend some time alone to "refresh her vibes" with her crystals.

She's learned to adapt, just like all of us have, with her particular downfall. She can tune some of it out, only focus on one or two people at a time, but a lot of it still leaks through. I think she's gotten used to working here, the nuances of the busy shifts. When she first started working here she came home drained all the time.

Now, it's not nearly as bad, but by the end of today's shift she's still pretty tired.

Kal's not much better off. His sweater choice today was a dark multi-colored cable knit, and he's got his hands tucked so far up his sleeves he reminds me of a turtle with Rudolf's red nose.

I ended up having to take my apron off, because even that one extra layer was too much. I've got an athletic material polo shirt on, and started off with two buttons done up, now it's wide open and I'm pulling at the fabric to fan myself. I think I fared worse than usual too if only because of how restless I've been all day. I had already been moving around, jumping between tasks. So when we got slammed I was still flitting about, moving more than was probably necessary and now it's taking it's toll.

It slowed down just before closing, so we managed to clean up fairly quickly despite all three of us being fried in our way.

"Alright guys," Wren chimes in, "all that's left is to count the cash drawer, so I'll head back in the office and finish that up. Just hang here for a bit, rest, warm up or cool down or whatever you need to do."

Kal shivered an agreement, and I panted mine before she ducked in the back. We were left in the empty cafe, the sign flipped to closed, the window blinds pulled down against the sun's beginning descent.

Kal curls up in one of the leather chairs, and I plop down in the one next to it. Splaying my arms out, I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths to clear my foggy head.

We sit in silence for a time, the only thing breaking the quiet is the faint clink clink of coins being counted from the back, Kal's shaky, shivered breathing, and my own puffs of hot air.

I peek my eyes open slightly and peer over at his curled, cooled form, envy rearing it's head.

He peers back at me over the neck of his sweater which had been pulled up over his nose.

"Cn ah chry semfin?"

I huff a laugh. "You want to try that again, maybe without the sweater muffling it?"

He pulls it off sheepishly. "Can I try something?"

"I guess it depends on what it is...?"

He sits up then and scoots closer, and I raise my head a bit, intrigued.

"Well," he begins, "you're hot, I'm cold, right? Maybe we can, I dunno, help each other?"

I narrow my eyes, even more curious.

He continues, "Ok for example, my extremities—hands, feet and nose— get especially cold, as I've mentioned. Is there somewhere that gets especially hot for you?"

I think for a moment before answering, "Everything gets warm, but I suppose it's the worst in my head, neck and chest. Basically those core areas; essentially the opposite from you which I guess makes sense."

"Alright well then-" he stands up and I move to sit upright, unsure of what he's doing, "No, sit back like you were." I tentatively lean back again and he comes to stand behind me. "I'm gonna touch your forehead, ok?"

"Uh, I wouldn't do that right now—"

I try to lean forward again so I'm out of his reach, but he's quicker and he slaps his palm against my forehead, stopping my momentum.

All I can think is, "Ohhhh shit that feels good."

Kal laughs and I realize I just said that out loud.

"Yeah that about about sums up my thoughts too," he responds, still chuckling.

He slowly pulls me back down with his hand and I relax again with my eyes closed.

The human ice pack on my head feels amazing. The random, bouncing thoughts I've been stuck with all day just melted away, and the flaring heat clouding my head begins to diminish.

It's far from perfect, I'm still really hot, but just that one point of contact makes it a hell of a lot more manageable.

"Sorry for just touching you like that," Kal says quietly. "Normally I'd ask first. I know your uncomfortable with it, but I figured just this once the best way of convincing you was to just do it."

I smirk, "It's fine, I'll forgive you this time since it's totally worth it... are you sure I'm not burning you at all?"

"Nope, it doesn't hurt at all. The heat actually feels great on my hand. Now my other hand is feeling left out. Actually, hang on... just tell me if it's too much..."

I feel him shift, his stomach brushing against my hair before his other hand sweeps along my neck and settles on my upper chest between my shirts collar.

We both inhale a sigh at the same time.

"Gods, I'm pretty sure this is the least cold my hands have ever been. See, I'm brilliant! Told you it would be beneficial!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's only temporary though."

"Mr. Pessimist. It might be temporary, but I mean we live together, and work together... I'm literally just a call away."

"...What do you mean?"

"I mean I can be your call-guy!" He chuckles, "Kidding, kidding... mostly. Seriously though, think about it, this works really well for both of us, so if your super hot just give me a call, and vice versa, if I'm ever super cold I'll ask you for help too."

I open my eyes then to find him perched right above me. Averting my eyes I reply, "Mmmm.... That's kind of weird isn't it?"

"Well, kind of I guess. But if it helps us both, why does it matter?"

He pauses and I'm not really sure what to say yet, but then he continues, "Look, I know it's kind of weird. We don't even know each other, right? Personally, I'm used to jumping into a physical relationship without the whole 'friends thing' first, if you get my drift... but I would venture to say that this," he gestures between the two of us, "is a bit of a unique situation."

I nod. "Yeah, I'd definitely say so. I'm just not used to people... touching me, I guess."

He smirks, intrigued, and I realize what he thinks I admitted.

"No, I don't mean I'm a virgin or anything, you dog. I just meant—"

"I get it."

I open my mouth to finish explaining, but he forges on. "You're afraid to burn them right? I go through the same thing sometimes, albeit to a lesser degree. I've hurt people when it gets out of control, but unlike your heat my frost doesn't leave scars on contact. In fact, the physical contact helps to warm me up and makes me feel better instead of worse. Its part of the reason I tend to go searching for it I suppose. But still, I do get it."

I smile grimly. "Nail on the head." After a deep breathe I continue, "I know you've assured me I won't hurt you, it's just...new. The only people I've ever trusted myself with are either my best friends or other pyroweavers."

"Hmm, so was it a friend, a pyroweaver, or both?"

"What? Who?"

"If you're not a virgin, who'd you lose it to?"

I bark out a laugh, even as I glare at him, "Oh screw you!"

He laughs, "I'm kidding... mostly... I am curious now. But no, just messing with you. I'm definitely not a pyroweaver, but I could be a friend. What if we tried to get to know each other first, before rushing in with our hands all over each other. We can take it slow— Gods, now I sound like a virgin. Seriously though, innuendos aside, we can start as friends and start small. My hands are on you now, and it's not too overly weird is it?"

I grin, "I know what you mean, and yeah that's true. Just sitting, talking with you has made it less weird I guess. And it's worth a little bit of awkwardness, because I hate to admit how much it's really helping."

"Alright, well that's what we'll do then! Just hit me up when you need me, I'll do the same. We can just hang out, talk, do random shit normal friends do and test out the touchy parts of it. See, progress!"

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[A/N]
Yay! An understanding is struck, it all begins here! (ˆ▿ˆc)