tadeo glanced up at the entrance of his shop, watching the door come to a stop behind a
new customer. "buongiorno a te! are you just browsing or looking for anything in particular?"
the customer snorted and, without even looking at tad, began observing his row of roses on display. "that's new. being welcomed in english, right here in the heart of italy."
"oh- oh, sorry, my utmost apologies," he rushed from behind the counter to explain himself. oh, what an idiot, he had slipped into his american accent too. "but- but you speak english, so it's alright, right?"
"usually i'm irritated by foreigners trying to steal my business, but really, i can't criticize you for making a small language error. and i can tell you're not deliberately snatching up my clientele." he cleared his throat. "samuel."
"what?"
"sam. that's my name."
tad chuckled nervously. why was it so hard to just converse like a normal person? "right, right, right. haha. um, nice to meet you, samuel. i'm tadeo."
"i know. it's in the name of your shop." sam had a small, snarky grin on his face, but it wasn't like tad could tell if he was being genuine or not. "anyways. the cafe just recently picked up crepes from france. picked up as in, well, i learned how to make them and plan to sell them for way too much. you want some?"
tadeo coughed and observed this odd kalon. curly brown hair, a basic chic sense of fashion, and well over 6 inches shorter than himself. he must be local with how fondly he was speaking to a complete stranger. "you own the cafe across the street? weird how i've never seen you around! and well, about the crepes, i don't really, uh. i don't think i-"
"they're on the house. does it hurt to wanna get to know my new neighbor? come on before i change my mind, flower guy."
he paused for a moment to smile, blinking to his cashier (who gave him a thumbs up- bless her soul) and back to samuel. "well then. don't mind if i do."
crepes, ever since he met samuel, have been something close to his heart. not just because they tasted good, because they absolutely did, but because they were made by his best friend. the novelty behind them is more meaningful than any fruit topping could ever be. and in return, sam gets the roses he wishes for.