The bubble tea place was pink and frilly, and it smelled like strawberries and sugar. A cute Black waiter with a warm smile greeted them and offered them menus at the counter. James was immediately overwhelmed by the enormous selection of teas and flavors he didn’t recognize– grass jelly, purple sweet potato lattes, cheese tea… what? Ollie was admiring the waiter’s coiled hair which was split-dyed into half pink and half purple. He sighed longingly and nudged James, “Remember your magenta hair?”

“No,” James answered, addressing the unspoken question. The warehouse guys would not let pink and purple hair fly.

Ollie pouted, but his smile reappeared when the waiter came back. There was a little They/Them pin on their shirt below their name tag, and their name was Bee.

“Can I help you two with the menu?” They asked.

“I heard you had dogs,” Ollie answered, drawing a sharp look from James.

“Oh yeah! They’re so cute, what flavor do you want?”

James just let it ride. It turned out this cafe specialized in hyper realistic dog cakes, not like cartoonish cupcakes, but tiny sleeping puppies. When they sat at a table they each had a wee sleeping dog in front of them, complete with skin folds and shiny dark noses.

James looked at his for a moment, weirded out. The dog-cake was staring at him and James was staring at it. The idea of poking his tiny fork in it worried him. James poked it and felt a shiver go down his spine. He glanced at Ollie who seemed to be suffering from the same dilemma.
“It feels like a crime,” James said. 

Ollie nodded and shoved his fork in the dog’s head. “Murder,” he said simply, before putting it in his mouth.

James cringed, but the dog indeed turn out to be made of cake. “So,” James inhaled deeply, “Connor is still at our place.” He sipped through the thick straw and chewed the tapioca balls that shot into his mouth like gummy bullets. “What’s up with that?” 

“He’s cute.” Ollie licked some crumbs off his lips then gulped down some of his tea, avoiding the pearls. “Why?” 

James shrugged. Ollie disliked it when he was unnecessarily suspicious. James wasn’t a fan either. “He’s all right, I guess,” he muttered. 

It wasn’t a lie. At least James thought that Connor seemed decent enough and he hadn’t done anything awful. He hadn’t done anything wrong at all. But…James thought, trying to pinpoint the reason why he disliked Connor. “I don’t know? He didn’t go home yet.” 

Ollie tilted his head. James didn’t like that look that look that called him dumb in three different languages. “Because he’s new in the city - he’s new in the country - and doesn’t have friends, so he’s probably just lonely.” He shoved his tiny fork in James cake and stole a quarter of a long floppy ear. “And Victor doesn’t have friends either. This can be good for him, he needs someone to talk to. Having friends is healthy.” 

“He has us!” James said. “He’s not an abandoned...” James looked at his dessert, “puppy.” 

“No,” Ollie said, “but he’s alone most of the time since we’re so busy with school and work. I worry for him when he’s all alone. What’s wrong with having a friend?” He leaned over, his eyes wide. “I love friends. I want to befriend that waiter, right now.” 

“I’m not stopping you.” James chuckled.

Jame’s mind drifted back to Victor’s friends when they’d met him. Lucas, Luke, or whatever his name was, was a dick, some guy who only wanted to drag Victor along to parties and encourage him to drink way too much. Victor’s teenage drinking was fueled by more than bad friends, but they certainly had a strong hand in it. 

And there were other more nefarious friends too, he didn’t remember their names. He remembered some older guy at a warehouse party trying to get his way with an unconscious, drugged up Vic. Could Connor be like that too? No, that seemed like a stretch, but it made James uneasy. 

James wanted to rant and let his feelings out, he was never good at keeping his thoughts to himself. He looked at Ollie, his mouth open to start complaining, but Ollie was looking at his cake like a lizard had just emerged from the buttercream.

“What wrong, sweetheart?” James asked, leaning forward. 

Ollie pouted. “What? Nothing.” Then his eyes got teary. 

James forgot about Connor. “Aw, babe. Love. Sunshine, are you crying?” 

“No?” Chubby tears rolled down Ollie’s cheeks. He sniffed and shoved a piece of dog butt in his mouth. “I’m fine!” He hiccuped and sipped some of his boba tea, still dodging the pearls, then shook his head hard, curls swinging. “I’m not fine! I’m so stressed, Jamie. There are so many papers and I can’t find my textbook. And I think Ms. Basil hates me. I don’t hate her. I might hate her if she doesn’t start liking me. I didn’t do anything to her. Well… maybe one time, two, three times I was late, but that wasn’t my fault, traffic is always bad.”

James spread his arms. Without hesitation, Ollie sprang into them, climbing onto James’ lap and burying his face into James’ shoulder. Ollie wasn’t the most organized person in the world, and he’d hated doing his school work since highschool. But back then, it was easier to copy Victor’s.

He sniffed and James patted his back in a gentle soothing rhythm. It was the best he could do.

“Are you… smelling me?” James asked after a moment.

“Yes.” Ollie nodded. “You smell nice,” he muttered. “Very manly.” 

James squeezed him. If Ollie was showing his crying face, then it was serious. He had a whole schtick about not being cute when he cried. 

He shifted Ollie in his lap, “There there, it’ll be okay. I can help you wake up on time if you need it. And Vic can help you with homework, like he did in highschool.” James chuckled. “If you want I can wait around Ms.Basil’s car with my arms crossed. I can also frown.”

Ollie squealed a laugh through his tears, “Are you going to intimidate or seduce her?!” He pulled back, “James,” he gasped, “can you get me an A?”

“Whatever it takes, babe.” James nodded, smiling. “I’ll even take her out to dinner if that’s gonna help.” 

“That’s so nice of you!” Ollie hiccuped and wiped his tears. “Can I come?” 

“I thought it was my job to get you an A.” James fixed Ollie’s curls and kissed his nose. “But I bet she won’t be able to say no to you, look at you.” 

Ollie nodded. “I am very cute,” he agreed, appeased. 

James squeezed him again and kissed the top of his head. “Do you want to finish your cake, then we can head home?”

“Yeah.” Ollie sniffed, smiling. “I want to get Vic some cake too. He likes cake.” 

James nodded. “Of course, sunshine.” 

“You guys are so cute,” the waiter commented, passing by with a chuckle. 

Ollie gasped and hid his face in the crook of Jame’s neck. “We areeeee,” he wailed. “But thanks.” He hiccuped. “Please know I’m way cuter when I’m not crying!”

The waiter nodded sagely and offered him a handful of napkins to dry his eyes, and a cookie on the house. Ollie later said that this was certainly an official sign of friendship. 

When they got home Connor was finally leaving. He sneered at James on his way out, brushing him with his shoulder as he passed. James bit his tongue and followed Ollie to give Vic his horrifying dessert.