Damian couldn't help the small smile at Lumi's dry question. "Yes, please," he answered quietly, pulling out his wallet. "Thanks, Lumi." In all honesty, he couldn't remember if the barista ever introduced themself or if he just read the other's name tag, but he always addressed the neko by name; it seemed more courteous. Plus, he had worked at a bar until… well, he had worked at a bar and knew it was nice to be acknowledged by customers past the exchange of goods and money.
"How–how has your day been?" Damien asked in a shy attempt to converse. Was it sad to say he was proud of himself?
Lumi glanced up at the question, his green and yellow eyes catching the light for a brief moment. "Mm? Oh, you know… the usual, I guess. Getting yelled at by middle-aged women who probably still think I'm a child, which I think makes it worse personally." They scribbled down Damien's name and order onto a cup and tossed it to a coworker to make the drink. "I guess they don't care how much it hurts my ears." He pointed to one of his cat ears. They were more sensitive to loud noises because of their enhanced hearing, and that was a pretty well known fact about nekoes. And since he was only five feet tall, he knew that most customers probably assumed that they were a kid.
They sighed softly and ran his fingers through his hair. There wasn't anyone else in line right now, so they weren't necessarily wasting time by chatting. "I guess you go to the college around here?" They asked, attempting to small talk.
Damian nodded along in sympathy. People like that drove him crazy, not that he was bold enough to stick up to them. But really, it's not that hard to be polite. "Yeah, I'm studying supernatural biology and psychology," he said, pleasantly surprised that he was actually having a conversation with the cute barista. Or trying to, at least. "I want to be able to help supernaturals get the treatment that works for them instead of just throwing human medicine at them." Damian knew from experience how ineffective it was to assume a one-size-fits-all mentality for treating a variety of beings. "
"I'm definitely not smart enough for all that, but it sounds helpful." Lumi shrugged. "I haven't exactly gone to the doctor all that often anyway. Too expensive." He yawned and stretched, glancing over to see how his coworker was getting along with Damian's drink. "The few times I've gone they didn't really know what to do with me. I haven't gone in years, though. I just deal with my own issues." They thought for a moment, considering how to continue a conversation when they didn't have much experience. "I don't know what I'd do if I went to college. I don't really have a lot of interests or skills."
"You deserve better than that," Damian said with a frown. This is why he wanted to be a supernatural specialist doctor. No one should go without treatment because their doctor refuses to understand their needs. "And I didn't know what I was going to do at school until second-year biology. I'm sure there's something you would be interested in." This was an entire conversation now. Wow. Despite the somewhat serious topic, Damian was happy to be talking to Lumi.
Lumi simply shrugged and scratched behind his ears. "Eh… it's mostly my own fault I haven't gone. I mean, the doctors weren't great either, but I was on my own. Not using what little money I have to go to the doctor." They drummed their fingers on the countertop, not entirely sure what else to say. Few people actually made an effort to talk to him, after all, and he didn't usually try very hard either. Damian seemed to somewhat know what he was doing, at least. "I'm not really very good at anything that I could make a job of."
Damian leaned forward onto the counter, resting his elbows and tilting his head to look at Lumi. "I doubt that," he replied, uncharacteristically confident. This was going well, right? Damien really hoped so "What do you enjoy doing? You can make a lot of things into a job, and I'm sure you have something. "
Lumi blinked a couple times and flushed lightly when Damian got closer, clearly not expecting it. "Ah, well… I really don't enjoy a lot of stuff. I like cats? Normal ones, that is… I don't run into a lot of other nekoes, but we probably wouldn't get along. I… do parkour type stuff sometimes? But you can't really make a job out of that. It's not exactly safe, anyway… I just haven't learned how to do a lot of stuff in general. I didn't go to school much."
Damian's face broke out into a bright smile. "See, right there! I can already see potential," he said delightedly. "You could work at a vet or animal shelter since you like cats. If you're into parkour, I assume you're pretty athletic, so you could do some physical training." He finished and took a breath, having rattled off rather quickly. Blushing, he ducked his head, "Anyway, yeah…" he trailed off.
"I dunno… I definitely couldn't work at a vet. You need a lot of school for that and I don't have any. I'm probably fine to do this for now? I'm not super passionate about anything so it doesn't really help me to think about it." Lumi shrugged. He jumped when his coworker called Damian's name to let him know that his drink was ready.
Damian was also startled, looking over at the pick-up counter to see his drink. "Well, yeah, anyway," he stuttered, again nervous. "Sorry for talking your ears off, but just… think about it, maybe?" With that, he stepped away to grab his drink, mentally berating himself.
He did have some coursework to get done, so he moved over to a table in the corner, settling in and doing his best not to look over at Lumi every ten seconds.
"It's fine… don't worry about it." Lumi replied equally as awkwardly. When Damian had walked off, Lumi's coworkers teased him and he huffed, telling them to piss off. After a while, it seemed like either Lumi's shift had ended or they were on break. They hesitated, clearly conflicted, but then tentatively came over to sit down across from Damian at the table.
Damian looked up and blinked in surprise, not quite knowing what to do for a moment.
"Hello," he finally said after a moment, a soft smile coming across his face. "How long has it been? Are you on break?"
"My shift is over… I worked in the morning." Lumi replied awkwardly. He fidgeted with his hands, unsure what to do. They didn't usually make much of an effort to be around other people. "You usually come after your classes." They said, more of a statement than a question. "So I guess you're not busy either… or you have homework or whatever, I dunno."
"Oh, okay. Yeah, I have some homework, but I'm almost done!" Damien replied happily, leaning forward and resting his elbow on the table between them. He was oddly flattered that Lumi even noticed when he usually came in. It was nice. "How was your shift? Are you leaving?" Damien hoped they weren't, maybe this was another chance to get to know him better!
"Uh… it was fine, I guess. I don't really have any plans or anywhere to go, if that's what you mean." Lumi scratched at his ears and cleared his throat, clearly unsure what to do. Damian seemed to like being around them, for whatever reason, but Lumi just wasn't used to actually talking to people. People typically only liked them until they opened their mouth.
Suddenly having to repress the sudden desire to pet the neko's ears, which would be incredibly rude, Damian gave a small smile. "Well, um, you're welcome to hangout with me, if you like?" he offered, biting his lip shyly.
"Mm?" Lumi glanced up. His ears twitched and they did look a bit hopeful and interested. "Uh, yeah, sure… like I said, I don't really have any plans or anything, so… you know…" He replied awkwardly. They glanced over to their coworker, who gave him a thumbs-up. He'd probably been encouraged to go talk to Damian, but hey, they were here regardless.
