Oliver comes back on Wednesday morning, grinning as he saunters into Matcha & Milk. His emotions soar as Robin’s face brightens.

“Hey there,” Oliver greets.

“Morning,” Robin returns. “I had a feeling you’ll be back.”

“Did you?” Oliver slides over black rectangular box. “A gift.”

Robin blinks. “You—wait, what?”

“A gift is a present that one person gives to another,” Oliver slowly explains.

Robin raises one eyebrow at him, and opens it up. Inside, there’s a bowtie. A bowtie with cake patterns on it.

Oliver grins widely when Robin looks up, both eyebrows raised.

“To match with your cake cufflinks!” Oliver says, doing his best to be serious.

Robin rolls his eyes, but his words are sincere: “Thank you, Oliver. They’ll match perfectly. Now, if you’ll wait a moment…” Robin goes into the back kitchen and returns with a gift bag.

Oliver stares. “Wait, what?” Glancing at Robin to affirm that this is happening, he accepts the gift bag and pulls out the item inside.

It’s a small strawberry shortcake plush, complete plush strawberry on top.

“...Oliver?”

“It’s so bloody cute,” Oliver says, giving it a squeeze. As he releases, it slowly expands back into its rectangular-y triangular-y cake slice shape. The fabric is soft, with just enough weight in his hands. “I can’t believe we both got each other a gift.”

“Great minds think alike,” Robin drawls.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Oliver quips back.

Robin’s eyes crinkle, the corners of his lips going up. “And what were you after today?”

“Oh yeah,” Oliver quickly glances at the various items in the display counter. “Something to eat, and a coffee, if possible,” he says, handing over his cards.

Robin nods. He starts the expresso process, and takes a large muffin from the tray of muffins. “Jackfruit coconut muffin and a sweetened flat white,” he says.

Oliver accepts the jackfruit muffin with curiousity. It smells tropically sweet, and he can’t help but take a bite.

There are pieces of fruit on top of the muffin—jackfruit, he assumes—and it tastes like mango and banana and pineapple rolled into one. The fragrant coconut notes hit second, creamy with the sweetness of the fruit, and the soft texture of the muffin itself rounds it all out.

“...Could I have another?” Oliver says. “These are much better than the stuff in the company kitchen.”

“On the house,” Robin says immediately.

“Robin,” Oliver says sternly. “If this is how you operate, you’re going to go bankrupt!”

“But there’s only one Oliver Campbell,” Robin says. He leans forward and winks. “Don’t tell the manager, alright?”

Oliver’s cheeks warm up. “Ugh. You are the manager.”

A few minutes later, Oliver’s leaving the shop with the gift bag and bag of muffins (one half eaten) in one hand, and his coffee in the other.

He still can’t believe that Robin got something for him. Should he put the cake plush on his bookshelf? Should it go on his bed...

His friends—Nina, Kyle and Anderson—are in the lobby of the company building, and Oliver’s smile doesn’t dim a bit.

“Morning!” he greets them.

“...Who are you and where is Oliver?” Nina teases. “...Hey, isn’t that from that dessert shop?”

“No comment,” Oliver says.

“And that?” Kyle points to the gift bag. He moves into Oliver’s space and peeks inside. “It’s something?”

“It’s a gift,” Oliver says sternly. “Surely you’ve heard of such things.”

Kyle’s chastened, and he takes a half step back. His eyes narrow. “From that guy?”

“...Yes.”

Kyle gives him a look of surprise, and then pulls a smirk. “I see. No wonder you haven’t been down to the club lately.”

“The one you said is gay?” Anderson says slowly.

“Yeah,” Oliver says. His lips tighten. “I need to get to work."

“Ooooohhh,” Kyle says, leering. “I’m surprised you’re carrying that gift around in public.”

“I really should start clocking in for work,” Oliver says flatly, holding the gift bag and muffin bag against his chest.

“Is he serious?” Nina asks, brows furrowing.

“What do you mean? We’re friends.”

Kyle scoffs. “Er, clearly not. How old are you, again?”

“Why don’t you bring him with you to a poetry reading then?” Nina continues. “As your friends, it’s imperative that we meet him.”

“I told you, he has work.”

“Lunch?”

“Also has work.”

Nina’s eyes narrow. “Is he purposefully avoiding meeting us? That’s not a good sign, Oliver.”

Oliver stares at her in disbelief. “What the eff—that’s seriously not it! Have you seen his opening hours? He’s busy!”

“No way he works seven days a week,” Kyle says. “We both saw there were other workers.”

Oliver scowls.

“Brunch,” Nina says. “You know it’s a sign of an abusive relationship if—”

Oliver’s lips twist. “Fine, I’ll ask if he wants to do an early brunch. But I’m not promising anything.”

“Just batter your eyelashes,” Kyle says slyly.

Just then, Mia appears across the lobby. She immediately waves at him. “Oliver! Finally, come on, we have a meeting with the music director,” she says.

“Of course!” Oliver quickly says bye to his friends (and ignores Nina's reminder) and hurries to Mia’s side with a grateful smile.

Mia looks back at him. “Is that the mango muffin from that bubble tea place?” she asks, peeking at muffins through their clear bag.

Oliver blinks at her in confusion as they enter the lift. “No, it’s jackfruit.”

“Never heard of jackfruit. I thought the mango muffin from there was really good though,” Mia says.

“I bet it was,” Oliver says, smiling a little to himself. Is it weird to feel proud that other people like Robin’s desserts?

“If you want, I could give you half of my second muffin.”

Mia’s eyes narrow. “...Are you offering for real?”

“Yeah. Really.” He shifts the bag of muffins to Mia. “I trust you to split the uneaten one in half.”

“Thanks,” Mia says with a smile.

And that’s how they end up eating jackfruit muffins side by side in the meeting.