“Wow, you got her number?”

Colin was too busy channeling all his focus in the game to put in a bit more emotion on his words, but he was happy for Dane all the same.

Dane flinched a bit as Colin sent an attack on her character. “Yeah, and we got to text a bit before I got here.”

Colin chuckled. “That was fast. How did the convo go?”

“It was chill as heck. She’s kinda pushy, but not enough to peeve me off.”

“Nice to hear that, Booker,” Colin said, biting his lip afterwards as he pressed on the controls. “When’s the first date?”

Dane’s concentration was blown away in an instant, and her character was obliterated. She glared at Colin, who was looking smugly at her.

“That was uncalled for, Colin!” Dane blurted out.

“You weren’t just concentrating enough,” Colin said condescendingly. “How could such a casual question throw you off anyway?”

Dane fumed and crossed her arms. “Look, we’re not—we’re just textmates, nothing more. We’re going to be just friends. There, I’ve drawn the line.

“But then, you’re bound to meet up every once in a while. Friendships won’t last with just texting, Dane.”

“Alright, we’ll be meeting each other, but only because that’s what friends do.”

Colin turned away. “And lovers, too.”

“What?”

“Nothing. So, how about we team up in that multiplayer game I bought last week?”

Colin set up his PC while Dane pulled out her gaming laptop. After getting the hang of the multiplayer game, the two binged on the animé series they missed and had a healthy discourse on the episodes. Dane was cynical on her opinions as usual, which is somewhat tamed by Colin’s optimistic outlook.

“This episode is okay for me and all,” Dane continued as she leaned back into her seat. “But what upsets me is that she had to confess her feelings in the middle of a critical situation! Well yeah, finally we get to see an LGBT+ character, and I definitely joked about it being her, but man…this is something that will take me a while to process.”

“Would her feelings be reciprocated, though?” Colin asked.

“I don’t know. But this gets me even more worried. My ship is fighting enough ship wars as it is, then suddenly this character comes clean about her hidden affections. Now I’m even more certain that my ship wouldn’t be canon. I’m gonna lose a bet to an eleven year old kid!”

“What?”

“Mateo,” Dane answered, her voice laced with utter sorrow. “We made a bet as to who would end up with who, and from the looks of it, he’s gonna win this thing.”

“How much were the stakes?”

“A hundred pesos.”

Colin guffawed. “What?! A hundred pesos? Your biggest ship…your ultimate OTP…your coolest fictional parents ever…are only worth a hundred pesos? Dane, how shameful of you!”

“That bet was made a long time ago, and it was lower back then. We started at twenty, and then it escalated up to a hundred just recently. Colin, there is a crisis in our hands as we speak.”

Colin shook his head. “Nuh-uh, don’t even drag me into that shipping hell you’ve put yourself in. I’m content with the last ship I boarded on. At least the fandom there is peaceful and quiet.”

“The one with the Japanese girl and the noble-born British heiress? I joined that ship right after its show’s tenth episode! That series was lit, it’s basically Japanese Harry Potter.”

The game night ended at two in the morning, and Dane headed home to catch what little sleep she could get.

-+-

Talia regretted staying up late, a far too common consequence every time she gets struck with ideas in the wee hours of the night.

She cradled her coffee mug as she slumped on the couch, staring idly at the painted canvas she had worked on several hours earlier. It was an abstract piece, consisted of swishes and toothbrush patters of varying colors. She had named it “Thrill”, and as to where the name came from, she could only guess that it was from a certain conversation she had on the phone last night. The memory put a weak grin on her face, which soon faded when a sharp jolt of pain grazed across her forehead. She slowly stood up to grab some Paracetamol tablets in the kitchen drawer. Her phone then beeped as she rose from the couch, and with suppressed curses, she checked to see if it was from any of her unscrupulous clients. To her surprise, it wasn’t any of them.

Dane: [Wanna go out for coffee today?]

Talia chuckled. Coffee after a short conversation on the phone? How bold.

She downed a tablet and headed off to the bathroom to take a shower.

-+-

“Fuck you, Tin-tin!” Dane bellowed.

Dane grabbed her phone from Tin-tin and hurriedly checked what her housemate sent, swearing loudly after she had read it.

”Look, you have today off so why not put those precious hours to good use?” Tin-tin said with a menacing smile. “And sheesh, to have me send the invitation is an embarrassment. I won’t always be here to do things for you, you big baby.”

“I didn’t even ask for it, you bitch!” Dane screeched.

The phone beeped. Dane made sure to grab hold of the phone before Tin-tin did and quickly read the message.

Talia: [Where and what time?]

Shit, it’s my call.

Dane: [At Francesco’s. How does 9:00 sound?]

Talia: [Sure. I’ll see you there.]

Dane let the phone drop from her hand and slunked back onto her bed. Tin-tin took the phone and read the conversation, chuckling a bit.

“Smells like a first date,” Tin-tin said.

Dane frowned. “No, it smells like Doomsday.”

“You’re such a wimp. Hurry up and get dressed, you have at least—“ Tin-tin peeked at her watch. “—less than an hour before your meet-up.”

And with that Dane bolted from her bed and rushed to the bathroom for the quickest shower she’d probably taken in her whole life. Tin-tin snickered as she watched Dane scurry back and forth, grabbing a shirt here, combing her damp hair there, applying deodorant here, and looking for some socks there.

“For someone who says this isn’t a date, aren’t you hurrying too much?” Tin-tin managed to jest.

“Shut up,” Dane said, putting on her jeans. “Wait, I think I chose the wrong shirt for this.”

“Nah, you’re fine with that shirt.” It was one of Dane’s customized t-shirts, yellow with the name of a pairing from a fantasy web series.

“I’m going to kill you if this doesn’t go well,” Dane said, almost growling.

“It’s up to you on how your meet-up’s going to go. I’m not the one who’s rushing to get to Francesco’s. Where’s your wallet?”

“Right here.” Dane patted her pocket. “Shit, where’s my phone?”

Tin-tin handed Dane her phone with a smug smile, rekindling the flame of irritation Dane had towards her. Tin-tin escorted Dane out the door.

“I won’t be long, leave some dinner for me,” Dane said.

“Oh yeah, sure, as if you wouldn’t have Talia for dinner,” Tin-tin muttered.

Dane stopped. “You said something?”

“Nothing. Just have fun out there, no pressure.”

Dane started walking to the bus stop as Tin-tin looked on.

“Don’t forget to use protection!” Tin-tin said with a smile as Dane got on the bus. Dane responded by flipping her off, then the bus drove away. Tin-tin watched as the vehicle disappeared further up the road.

-+-

Why am I so worried about screwing up? It’s just a casual meet-up, Dane thought as she fiddled with her phone.

Dane would have been binge-watching a gambling school anime series that day, but no...she had to go to a coffee shop for a meet-up she didn’t even plan. As much as Dane was furious at Tin-tin for messing with her phone, she figured she couldn’t undo what has been done. Texting Talia and telling her it was all a prank would be rude, so she decided to just go along with it and hope for the best. Her innate anxiety had other things in mind, however, and at that moment she was sitting in a bus in cold sweat.

She reached Francesco’s on the exact time of their hangout, but Talia was nowhere to be seen. Dane chose to sit at one of the outdoor tables so Talia could easily spot her. She instinctively raised her head at the sound of a motorcycle coming close to her area.

Talia alighted from her motorcycle and removed her helmet, her hair billowing down. Dane almost dropped her phone at the sight, then she shook her head and ran a hand through her hair to compose herself.

She’s not even trying, Dane thought. I’m doomed.

Talia spotted Dane at the tables and joined her. “Hi,” she greeted.

Dane raised a palm in return. “I hope I didn’t text you at a bad time,” she said.

“No, not at all,” Talia assured. “So, coffee?”

Dane volunteered to head to the counter and asked Talia what she wanted to order. As she lined up to the barista, she tried to come up with interesting ice-breakers. Dane racked her head for ideas, but as she took a glance at Talia, panic got the best of her and she was left with none. Dane was astonished at herself for keeping a good hold on their orders despite her hands shaking.

When was the last time I got this nervous? Dane thought.

A face started to form in Dane’s mental vision and she shook her head to keep the thought away. She had no time for unnecessary visions and she was internally freaking out as she is.

Dane turned to the streets in order to gather her thoughts—and whatever amount of willpower she had left. Talia took a few sips from her coffee and sent a confused look at Dane.

“Are you okay?” Talia asked.

Dane snapped up in her seat. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You were zoning out or something. Is something the matter?”

Dane blinked for a moment, then she sighed heavily. “I didn’t send the message.”

“What?”

“I wasn’t the one who texted you for coffee. It was my housemate.”

It was now Talia’s turn to blink. She then hid a smile behind her palm and started giggling. The giggle erupted into poorly-suppressed laughter, and Dane made the cliche wish of being swallowed up by the ground, chair and all.

“Really?” Talia said after recovering from her fit.

“Yeah, really,” Dane answered. “This whole thing wasn’t in my mind to begin with. She grabbed my phone earlier and poof, message sent.”

“Yet you’re still here, despite not planning it.”

“It would be rude of me to text you later on that it was all a prank or something like that. I thought I’d just go along with it.”

Talia nodded. “I see. But it was nice that you went through with this, though. Our conversation from last night wasn’t really that enough.”

Dane almost choked on her coffee, which sent Talia giggling again.

“I’m sorry...I’m just not used to all of this,” Dane said, wiping her mouth. “I have really serious anxiety issues.”

“So it seems,” Talia said with a smile. “It’s kinda cute, seeing you flustered all over.”

Shit, you could have warned me before you said that, Dane thought. “Well, that’s just one of things I got going for me, being the cute one.”

Talia let out another laugh while Dane managed to chuckle.

“I had no idea you’d be a funny person.”

“I’m not always that fun, actually.”

“Come on, don’t downgrade yourself. I’m pretty sure you’re a bouncing ball of sunshine on the inside. You just need a bit more coaxing.”

“Nah, this hilarious thing I become? It’s just as rare as a blue moon.”

“I don’t believe you.” Talia took another sip from her coffee.

“You should,” Dane countered.

Talia giggled. “If this were a date, I’d say this was way too early.”

“Blame my housemate. She’s so excited at me making a new friend that she set this up without my consent.”

“It sounds like you’re the kind of person who rarely goes out with people, so when you finally make a new friend, it’s like a miracle.”

“That’s true. I couldn’t talk to anyone to save my life, actually. The only friends I have are my housemates and my colleagues at the library. People who are at a very close distance from me.” Dane chugged the last of her coffee down, probably to gain a bit more guts. “You...you’re different. I mean, we’re definitely worlds apart and yet here we are, sitting pretty at a coffee shop because of an unnecessary text message.”

“So this meet-up is unnecessary as well?”

Dane raised her palms. “Oh, no. I’d be texting you for something like this eventually...it’s just that, I didn’t think it would happen sooner than I expected.”

“Why blame your housemate for something as nice as this, then?”

“Well,” Dane said, biting her lip. “I do believe there’s a right time for everything. At that moment I just figured that asking you out for coffee a night after we first texted would be rushing things. But then...I guess the universe had other things in mind.”

“The universe works in mysterious ways, so to speak.”

“Yeah. I think that’s it.”

Dane suggested ordering some pastries, to which Talia gladly agreed. Soon after, two plates of apple pie slices were placed on their table. Dane checked at her watch, feeling a bit lighter at how things were going well so far. She quietly ate her pie as she listened to Talia talk, commenting when her mouth was no longer full with the pastry.

She noticed a stray bit of the pie on the corner of Talia’s lip. “Hey, um...” she said, subtly pointing to Talia’s lip.

Talia couldn’t grasp what Dane was pointing to, so Dane instinctively picked up the napkin and wiped off the pastry from her lip. Dane only realized how forward—too forward—the act was when she had put the napkin down.

“You got something on your lip, I had to...” Dane said to fill the silence.

“Uh, thanks,” Talia said, blinking. “Wow, this pie’s good. Better than how I make it.”

“You bake?”

“Occasionally. My aunt taught me when I was younger. I’m not one to brag but, I’m a hall-of-famer in our neighborhood’s annual bake-off.”

“Woah. No way.”

“It’s true. Ever since I joined when I was twelve, I won every year. When I held the title for seven times, I was inducted into the Hall of Fame. People tell me it runs in the family. My aunt, my grandmother, my great-grandmother...they were all hall-of-famers. It felt like it was a big duty for me to win consecutively in order to keep the family name in the Hall of Fame. Then my aunt told me that they were chill with me not even making it there.”

Dane blinked a few times before she spoke. “That must have been...deflating.”

“Imagine my dismay! Seven years of working my butt off on the first Sunday of May every single year...only to find out that my folks weren’t expecting too much from me. She just wanted me to have fun."

Dane let out a chuckle. “You were such a competitive baker, I had no idea.”

The plates were empty soon after. Dane turned to her watch, whooping a bit since it was almost noon.

“Anywhere else you’d like to go to?” Dane asked. “Or would you rather we stay here?”

“Wanna ride with me to the city’s outskirts?”

Wow. “That sounds like a nice idea. I’m in.”

The two left the coffee shop and got on Talia’s motorcycle. Talia had brought another helmet, for reasons Dane would rather not ponder on, and they drove away.

Inside the coffee shop, the barista had been watching them. His colleague nudged him on the shoulder.

“I’m telling you, they’re totally dating,” the colleague said with a smile.

The barista nodded with a hum.