heleanor | ♠ ＧＯＬＤ ♥ ＧＵＮＳ ♦ ＧＩＲＬＳ ♣

It is!

[Their waitress picks that moment to return and Oikawa realises he hasn't even thought about the menu. As if he's going to have something other than cabonara and whatever wine they feel like matching to it today.]

Have you thought about what you're going to have, Tadashi? All the food here is wonderful.

[Yamaguchi laughs awkwardly, and glances away from Oikawa and the waitress with an embarrassed look.]

I haven't, sorry! I'm actually not familiar with many Italian dishes, Sak...T-Tadao!!

[He knew he'd forgotten something. Now he gets to look like an idiot in front of his...date? Yamaguchi forgot how intimidated he was even without worrying about being spotted by a rival gang.]

[His date - really Yamaguchi should have realised this is in no way a platonic meeting by now - thinks it's fairly cute that he's forgotten that food gets eaten at restaurants.]

Do you like fish? I'm sure the special is special. [Bad joke but what can you do.

Their waitress smiles and outlines the dish, a fish fillet with tomatoes, anchovies, clams and mussels steamed in foil with a side of potatoes and asparagus. It almost makes Oikawa want to change his own order. Almost.]

[But he still has a hard time believing anyone would request a date with him, despite all evidence Sakeguchi has shown to the contrary.

He listens to the dish as she lists it out, completely sold by the time the waitress reaches 'potatoes.']

Sounds great! ...I-I mean, yeah, I'm going to order the special... [He doesn't think to order any drinks; he's still underage by another month or so and rarely thinks of that anyway outside of Karasuno's front-end business (where Hinata takes full advantage of being known by name to the bartending staff).]

Perfect. [Oikawa orders his cabonara, not nearly as flashy as Yamaguchi's food will inevitably be but Oikawa likes to be safe with his food and he enjoys cabonara.]

Do you drink, Tadashi? [It feels strange to call Yamaguchi that when he doesn't know something as simple as his opinion on alcohol. He doesn't want to order a bottle of wine rather than just a glass and discover that he'll be the only one drinking it.]

Er, I don't...sorry, Tadao!! [Arghh, this is embarrassing...]

I'm still nineteen until November. ...But, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, while you're here...! So please order what you want!

Don't be silly, Yama-chan. Why would I be uncomfortable on a date with someone as cute as you?

[He orders half a glass of the suggested wine, still smiling a little that Yamaguchi would even care. He honestly didn't consider Yamaguchi might have a problem drinking when underage. He hasn't given that a thought since he was seventeen.]

But do you want something else? They have plenty of juice mixes and things.

[It's not so much that Yamaguchi has a problem with it, as it's illegal. And he doesn't have a fake ID with his real name on it, for weird and unforeseen situations like this–

whoa whoa waitaminute, what was that first part again???]

You—Sake–...I mean, T-Tadao-san...!?

[NO ONE...THINKS...YAMAGUCHI IS CUTE OR THEY'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DID HE JUST MISHEAR THAT]

[Ah right, legality. He forgets about that. It's not like any of the waitstaff would check his ID.]

Tadashi?

[So that would be a "no" to the juice?]

Y-You...umm... [...]

Jah...er...juice, yeah, that's great! That's what I'll have!!

[He wants to ask for 100% clarification on what kind of 'date' all evidence points toward this being. But, Yamaguchi hasn't got the guts.]

[Trying hard not to laugh as he does, he orders one of the lychee mixes for Yamaguchi since it doesn't seem like Yamaguchi is in a position to order for himself. Their waitress nods and scurries off into the kitchen.]

Are you okay? [He asks once she's gone. It seems like it's something he's needing to ask a lot with Yamaguchi.]

Eh? Y-Yeah, I'm okay...why? [Is he acting sick?]

[He's acting all sorts of things.]

It's just... it's almost like you'd rather not be here. [All flustered before they got to the table and then stumbling all over his order it's probably not that.]

!? What? No way! I really want to be here!! I'm sorry if it's hard to tell and seems like I don't...!

[Yamaguchi looks startled and a little hurt at the suggestion, considering how if he didn't want to be here he'd probably have run making excuses from the restaurant the second he saw the name 'Oikawa' on the reservation list.]

Okay then.

[Oikawa relaxes and makes sure it should be visible to Yamaguchi.]

So you don't eat out much? Or just not Italian?

...Little of both... [Before Karasuno, he simply never had the money to eat out much. Nowadays, he rarely has the time; and besides that it still feels weird to be spending money that hardly feels like his even if he's rightfully employed.

Also, he's never known any people that liked Italian enough to get it over other things, so there's that.]

I completely understand. There's something nice about a home cooked [well, Iwaizumi cooked, he doesn't have time to cook for himself. And neither does Iwaizumi but he claims it's easier than getting someone else to cook something that Oikawa will eat] meal made exactly to your tastes. But I do like this place, simple and nice for Italian food.

And I have good company.

[Yamaguchi almost wants to launch in with a story about his teammates' cooking habits, lip quirking upward as he remembers that no one in the gang ever bothers to eat or cook properly except for Kiyoko, judging by appearances...but. He bites his tongue, deciding against it. It feels duplicitous to bring up Karasuno when they operate in secrecy for their own protection, and furthermore, they likely don't even know that Yamaguchi's here tonight and talking about them to a stranger.

Luckily, there's something else in Sakeguchi's statement to grab his attention. At least when Yamaguchi coughs to buy some time and gives the words another moment of thought.]

Home-cooked? ...Ah. You must have someone that cooks for you, huh.

[And judging by age, and the fact that he's a transfer student, it's probably not family. Yamaguchi doesn't know how to feel about the thought of Sakeguchi already having a...what? Partner? Roommate? 'Made exactly to your tastes' doesn't leave much to the imagination, that it's something intimate...]

[Oikawa's taken-aback. Where did Karasuno find this boy? And do they have another? He wants someone who can put that together from nothing. Sure, part of it might be his natural assumptions tend towards that kind of thing but Oikawa could train Yamaguchi up and into reading cues that are actually important in no time if he was a part of Seijou.]

Only so I don't starve. I'm not very good at keeping myself fed. [He keeps his tone light. But it really is a problem when they get loaded down with work and eating slips down his priorities.] He claims it's because me starving would look suspicious and he'd be top of the suspect list.

[They found him in a butcher shop. With a doctor...it was sort of a two-for-the-price-of-one deal, recruiting Yamaguchi alongside his uncharitable (but far more talented) best friend. That Yamaguchi turned out to be pretty good at reading and getting along with various people along the gang's phone tree was only a lucky coincidence.]

You don't know how to cook? [That seems odd, though Yamaguchi may be giving 'Sakeguchi' more credit than he's earned simply because he acts like someone with a lot of class and knowledge about the world.] Or, is it just a matter of not having enough time in the day?

[Yamaguchi certainly knows how that goes.]

A bit of both. [He says with a half shrug. Honesty will make keeping his cover straight easier down the line.]

I can make rice and eggs but that's about it, my friend claims I need to eat vegetables or I'll die but I think he just buys too many and then needs to find someone to eat them. [If he keeps talking about Iwaizumi he's going to have to think of a cover name for him soon.] Apart from that work keeps me busy, it's terribly hard being the only competent one in the office. [Who can't cook toast, but that's irrelevant.]

Really? You can't? That's kinda surprising, Sa...Tadao!

[Yamaguchi actually stifles a small laugh into his hand—he's trying not to be impolite, but it's probably a welcome change anyway from how tense he's been all evening.]

Hope he doesn't make you eat like that till you get sick...

[Like Nishinoya does, if he gets the chance.]

[It's a very welcome change, his date is cuter when he smiles.] Well, I can't be entirely perfect, can I?

And no, he doesn't do that but I think it's mostly so he doesn't have to clean it up. [He does clean things like that up, grumbling the entire time while Oikawa hovers and tries to make someone else take over.]

[He blinks, Sakeguchi's joke (he's joking, right?) about being perfect taking a moment to sink in before Yamaguchi laughs again.]

He sounds like a good friend. Have you two known each other a long time? [Because that's the vibe he's getting from Sakeguchi's descriptions secondhand.]

Forever! I can't remember when I didn't have him by my side.

[School, sports, then getting in over his head, finding his feet again and rising through the ranks - Iwaizumi's always been there.]

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