Rooftops At Sunrise

7

Damian enters Lucas's car as soon as the young man arrives, without a bout of hesitation.

It does not take him more than a single second to understand why Lucas had been so adamant about giving these pancakes away.

Next to the driver's seat is not one, nor two, but six entire, thin white cardboard boxes stacked on top of one another! Damian narrows his eyes at Lucas. "Do you seriously think I can eat all that by myself?" he blurts.

Lucas nudges his round, pink-tinted sunglasses down, until they sit a little lower on the bridge of his nose. He glances Damian's way. And as he does so, Damian suddenly recalls why he'd gotten his number in the first place, for his dark, piercing gaze causes Damian to pause.

Lucas has a poof of long violet, wavy hair, that he keeps neatly tied up in a pony tail—this hairstyle appeals to Damian, very much so.

Damian tugs at his shirt's collar. He gulps, then averts his gaze from Lucas's own. "Well..." the young man shrugs. "I guess, maybe I could... it's not like I've ever tried, after all..."

The same scoff Damian had heard while on the phone with Lucas fills the air once more. His savior revs the car's engine. Soon after, he breaks the news to Damian that half the boxes are not for his safe-keeping. "I'm a chef, not a murderer!" He points to the pile that's almost as tall as a passenger would be in said seat. "The rest is for my brother."

"At this hour?" Damian raises a brow.

Lucas laughs again. "He's probably playing videogames. I'm sure he'll appreciate it. But anyway," Lucas clears his throat, "can you tell me where your place is again? Uh, what was it... Alex?"

Damian scratches at the back of his neck. He gives Lucas his address. "No, the name's, um... Damian." For once, Damian regrets having used a fake name when they first met. He also isn't sure as to whether or not he will edit Lucas's contact name in his phone, once he has been dropped off, to make it say Used, between two parentheses.

As Lucas starts to drive and make small talk, Damian stares out the window—to the town's cracked, and empty sidewalks that look like they are made for ghosts.

He wonders what Aoi is doing.