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Damian sighed tiredly on his walk; the air was cold, and the snow crunched beneath his boots. He would often just take his car, but the place he needed to go to was a quick walk away.
Jeopard, his business partner and friend, had decided to throw a party to celebrate not only the winter, but also a full year since the launch of their tech company ‘Repair-O’, and now Damian was forced to go pick up the desserts that Jeopard had ordered.
Not to say that Damian didn’t enjoy desserts, he had always had a major sweet tooth. The issue was that he had forgotten his gloves before he left, and now his hands were freezing. Putting them inside his coat had helped, but he could feel them becoming numb as he continued to walk.
He finally slowed as he reached the location that Jeopard had hastily given to him, “Bunny Run Bakery.” Damian rolled his eyes at the cheesy name but just sighed and pushed the door open.
He was hit immediately by warm air that smelt of sugar. It felt like heaven to Damian after being stuck in the cold for so long.
He took in a deep breath and sighed as the bell above the door rang out, quickly closing the front door to not let any cold air in.
“Hello! Welcome to Bunny Run Bakery,” the voice from the counter rang out in Damian's ears, and he paused for a moment. The voice was soft and warm, seeming genuinely sincere.
Damian turned as his eyes widened.
A handsome middle-aged man was looking over at him, his eyes filled with kindness. He had long, greying hair that had two braids within. He was the most beautiful man that Damian had ever seen.
He was wearing a pink apron with the name of the bakery on it. He has wonderful arm muscles– DON'T THINK ABOUT THAT.
Damian must’ve been zoned out for a second as the man cleared his throat.
“Is there something you’re looking for?” The man asked, and he had an accent, but Damian couldn’t tell from where.
“Oh, right, I apologize. I’m here to pick up an order for Jeopard?” Damian spoke quickly, trying his best to sound normal.
“Ah, of course, Mr. Jeopard, I’ll get it–”
“No, no, I’m Damian, I work with Jeopard at Repair-O.” Why did he feel the need to clarify that? Who cares?
The man laughed, it made Damian feel a bit warm, “Oh, I see. My name is Raj. I own this bakery. It’s an honour to meet you. I’ve heard of your company, it is quite successful!”
Damian just nodded; he didn’t want Raj to stop talking. His voice was so smooth and friendly.
“I must say, and sorry if this is rude. You have very beautiful eyes.” Raj continued, making eye contact with Damian.
Damian felt his brain panic as he stammered out a thanks. Often, people comment on how blue his eyes were, but never call them beautiful…
“Ah, how rude of me! Here I am talking, and you don’t even have your treats yet!!”
“It’s quite alright, you have been very nice to talk to.” Damian tried his best to smile. Raj grinned back at him. Raj turned slightly and called out.
“Taiga!” his voice calm as he yelled into the back room. Damian’s eyes followed where he was looking to see a teenage boy wearing a backwards cap, who popped his head out.
“Yeah, Dad?” The boy, presumably Taiga, answered.
“Could you get the cake boxes for order 29?” Raj continued, his voice warm and loving.
Damian shook his head to snap himself out of it. He shouldn’t be thinking about this! This man was a father and probably a husband to a very lucky partner.
“I’ve been looking forward to giving this order out. The man on the phone seemed very insistent on all the varieties of desserts, and I’m hoping they’re to your liking.” Raj continued, leaning on the counter.
“If they were baked here, I assume they’ll be great,” Damian said before he could think about it.
Raj perked up at that, blushing slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck, “You’re too kind!”
Damian didn’t even have time to panic as the boy rushed back in with boxes; he had to hold them with both hands to make sure he didn’t drop them.
“TA-DA!! I hope you have a taigatastic day!” Taiga spoke happily, Damian assumed that word, ‘Taigatastic’ must’ve been a catchphrase or maybe the company slogan? He wasn’t sure.
Raj cleared his throat and looked at Taiga, raising an eyebrow.
“huh…OH, RIGHT!” Taiga stuck his hand out in greeting, “Nice to meet you, mister!”
Damian nodded. He often wasn’t a fan of touching people when he wasn’t wearing his gloves; people's hands were always so sweaty. But he didn’t want to be impolite and shook the boy's hand.
“WOAH MAN! Your hands are freezing!” Taiga spoke without a bit of sugarcoating.
Damian took his hand back immediately, putting them in his pockets.
Raj sighed. Damian could tell he was embarrassed. “Thank you, Taiga…you can go back to your homework now.”
As Taiga patted back and shut the door. Damian turned his attention back to Raj.
“I’m so sorry about him, Mr. Damian. He’s kind, he just sometimes isn’t the best with his words.” Raj apologized, and Damian smiled internally at the kindness this man possessed.
“It’s fine, I assume he’s correct. I forgot my gloves when heading over, so I assume my hands are quite cold. And please, just call me Damian.” Raj stared at him for a moment in shock. Damian was worried he had said something wrong.
“That's terrible! You walked all this way without gloves? You poor thing.” Damian tried to ignore the fluttering in his chest as he spoke. “Here, take these. They’ll keep you warm.”
Raj took off his own gloves and handed them to Damian. Damian stared at his outstretched hands for a moment, soft yet rough with age.
Damian tried not to focus on the fact that Raj did not have a wedding ring on. But his eyes kept gravitating towards his empty ring finger as Damian took the gloves, their fingers touching for a slight moment.
“I can’t take these. You’ll need them for later.” Damian tried to argue, but Raj just shook his head.
“It’s alright, you’ll be going out a lot sooner than I am, besides. You need to have fingers if you want to complete your tech projects,” Raj joked. Damian’s face felt warm with gratitude as he gripped the gloves in his hand.
As Damian stepped outside, he placed the cake boxes down as he slipped Raj’s gloves on. A perfect fit. Fuck. He thought to himself. He picked up the boxes and made his trudge back to his office. The entire time thinking about Raj. Every little thing about him that he could remember. He had to go back and repay Raj, take him out for dinner. Kiss him– No, no. Too far in advance. Damian sighed and shook his head. He hoped the party didn’t go on for too long.
—
Damian tried his best to be quiet, which was easy over all the loudness of the party blaring on from outside his office. He slipped on his coat, pocketing Raj’s gloves before slipping his own gloves on.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Jeopard spoke, surprising Damian as he turned around to face Jeopard. He had assumed that Jeopard would be amidst the party and that he would’ve been able to sneak out easily.
He had to think of an excuse. Quick….Well, no, he did. He was Damian. So he just spoke plainly, “I don’t want to be here, Jeopard. You know I don’t do well at parties.”
Jeopard rolled his eyes. “Cmon, man! It’s literally a celebration about us; you have to be there. Can’t you just stay for a little bit? I mean, you can’t just go back to your house. It’s all sad and shit.”
Damian didn’t want to mention that he was, in fact, not planning on going back to his house immediately, but he knew if he said something, Jeopard would tease him about it, and he just bit his tongue.
“I will not enjoy myself here.”
Jeopard laughed, he knew Damian too well, "C'mon! Stay for two hours.”
“Half an hour.”
“An hour!”
“...Deal. But I would like more of the desserts that you bought.”
“Ha! Yeah, sure, you can have whatever you want, Brother.” Jeopard said, wrapping his arm around Damian.
Damian sighed, but tried his best to enjoy himself.
—
Once Damian was finally permitted to leave by Jeopard, he left almost immediately.
Jeopard rolled his eyes and laughed, but he didn’t know why Damian was so urgent to leave.
He just hoped he wasn’t too late as he stepped back out into the cold weather. His now gloved hands are gripping Raj’s gloves inside his pocket. He walked quickly, hoping that the bakery hadn’t closed by the time he got back.
Luckily, he had made it just in time as he saw Raj at the entrance locking the door. He looked just as beautiful to Damian as he did before, just now wearing a fluffier coat, which had been expected due to the cold.
Damian made haste and walked up to him. Raj looked up with that warm smile. It made Damian’s chest feel all gooey in a way that he had never really experienced before. He didn’t know what to say. Why didn’t I think of something to say? I had so much time to plan this out accordingly.
He didn’t realize how long the silence had been until Raj spoke up, “Damian, are uh, you alright? Were the cakes not up to Jeopard standard?” His voice filled with concern.
Damian immediately shook his head, “No, no. It was great, they were more than satisfactory. I wanted- um. I wanted to give you your gloves back.” He tried so hard for his voice to sound neutral as he handed over the gloves.
Raj stared in shock for a moment, “I wasn’t expecting to get these back so soon!”
Damian nodded softly as Raj took the gloves from him, “I didn’t want to forget and for your hands to get cold. Also, I knew you’d still be here.” Was that weird to state?
Raj smiled at him, his cheeks rosy from the cold, at least that's what Damian assumed. The silence was broken by a loud voice.
“DADDD ITS COLDDDD!”
They both turned and saw Taiga standing there, complaining in the snow. Beside him, a younger boy was staring up at Damian awkwardly.
Damian stared back for a moment as Raj bent down to talk to Taiga at eye level, “Ah, sorry, Taiga. We’ll be leaving in a second.”
He stood back up, brushing off his coat and turned to Damian. “Sorry, Damian, my children are often complaining.” Damian saw Raj smirk as Taiga made an accusatory noise at the comment.
Damian shook his head, “...your children?”
“Ah, yes, Taiga and– Forest, would you like to introduce yourself?” Raj spoke sweetly, gesturing over at the smaller boy. “You remember Damian, from earlier.”
“YEAH! The guy with the weirdly cold hands!” Taiga announced.
Raj just sighed and nodded, “Yes, the man with the cold hands.”
“HEY MAN! My name is Taiga! And this is Forest,” He gestured to the smaller boy next to him. The boy, now named Forest to Damian, just hid himself more into Taiga’s jacket. He did wave slightly at Damian, which Damian made sure to return.
“He’s a bit shy, but I promise, he’s a very sweet boy.” Raj smiled proudly. “Thank you again for my gloves. I hope that you enjoyed all the desserts.”
Damian licked his lips awkwardly; he didn’t really know what to say. “I– when will you be open again?” Damian winced slightly at his own stupid question. There was a schedule outside the door.
But Raj didn’t seem to mind as he spoke, “We’ll be open tomorrow, around eightish. I will, maybe see you there?” He smiled and looked into Damian’s eyes as he put his hand out.
Damian shook it. “Yes…maybe you will.”
Then, Raj turned and walked away, following his two kids as they chatted to him.
Damian paused for a moment to process how close they had just been. He didn’t even realize there was something in his hand until he looked down at his gloves.
A small piece of paper with a phone number on it, at the end; a small heart was drawn.
Damian smiled warmly.