"Yeah."

"If you say so," she says, dubiously. "So how's Fujieda-san doing? Is he coming over tonight?"

"Yeah."

She grins at him then starts getting ready for work.

Towa is still a bit tipsy when he walks into the bar but he has years of dealing with "tipsy" and it doesn't impact his performance. Especially since, as a waiter, beyond taking and delivering orders his main job is being sufficiently personable; he's able to be a person, and that counts, in his opinion.

Besides, he knows all of the regulars, so it isn't hard to slip into a comfortable default with them. He will probably come off as slightly quieter and more taciturn than usual, but nothing too off.

Rei is also a waiter at Roost, and his shift today starts a couple of hours after Towa's. When he arrives he acts pretend mad at Towa for being left alone in the park but he had clearly expected it and didn't actually mind.

The bar gets progressively busier as the night goes on, but Honami was right, it doesn't get too busy, and with Rei there Boss calls Towa aside on his smoke break.

"Towa-kun, are you sure everything's á̴͚̗̉l̴̳͙͘r̴̠̤̓̔i̶̎͐͜g̶̮̾h̵̘̺͋̎t̶̯̋̾?"

...okay, maybe he's coming off as a lot more taciturn than usual.

"Yeah."

"I see."

And he leaves it at that.

He thinks Boss got more out of this conversation than it looks like he did, but it would be really hypocritical of Towa to complain about it.

Towa's shift today goes until 1AM, which was the reason why he said he wouldn't see Ryō tonight: Fujieda often comes to Roost after work, when Towa is working there, and spends a while there before going back home, but he never drops the lawyer act, and by the time Towa came back home Fujieda would be asleep. And Towa thinks that part of the reason why he'd been acting the way he did at lunch was because he'd forgotten Towa would work until late tonight, and had expected to be able to talk at home later.

Which is incredibly out of character for him, forgetting this kind of thing. Towa doesn't know what to make of it, and he's terribly curious, but there's nothing to it.

Fujieda arrives around 11PM and makes a beeline for the bar. "Good evening," he says to the manager.

The very first time he visited, everyone found it bizarre. Now, they're unfazed; he's been doing it often enough. So no one really makes any fuss.

"Evening, Fujieda-san." He looks over Fujieda's shoulder. "Towa-kun is taking that table's orders and should be done in a minute."

Fujieda follows his gaze then looks back at him and nods. "Thank you," he says, taking a seat at the bar.

"What will it be today?"

"Gin and tonic."

"Roger."

Rei notices Fujieda before Towa does and walks over to him. "Hiya!"

"Good evening, Izumi-san."

"Honestly, you with your Izumi-san this Izumi-san that. We've known each other for months!"

He smiles a bit but doesn't respond.

"Yeah, yeah," Rei sighs. "Boss already get your order?"

"Yeah."

"Alright! Well, if you need me for anything, just call."

He nods, then looks over his shoulder again, trying to spot Towa.