Off-Duty [Open to One]

That day was one of the somewhat rare days Huayan had forced himself to go out somewhere instead of staying holed up inside. For the most part, he really wasn't a huge fan of partaking in most activities that could lead to unplanned socializing but at the same time he knew avoiding it entirely was not a good thing for him in the long term. Which was why on this particular day he found himself getting coffee at the shop rather than making his own, trying to find some solace in the fact that at least the atmosphere here wasn't too terrible.

It was all mostly fine, up until the moment he had decided to be nice to a couple that came by and could no longer find a free two person seat, only belatedly realizing that he then didn't know where to move to sit himself, finding himself awkwardly standing off to the side with his cup in hand. Maybe it'd be better to just stay standing....even if he was likely getting some odd glances from some of the customers for that choice.

Why had he decided this was a good idea again....?

"..."

Having been quite focused on the million and one regrets there were to be had over the situation and thus kind of spacing out while standing there, it took Huayan quite an extended bit of time to actually realize that the words spoken were aimed towards him. Honestly, if it weren't for the man actually mentioning his previous actions to link the two situations together, he likely would have had that completely fly over his head.

"Uh..."

Nevertheless, even if with a delay he would shift in his spot eventually, glancing towards the blonde man making his offer. He hadn't intended to bother anyone, finding the idea far more uncomfortable than just settling with standing for the rest of his time here. However now that someone made the former decision for him...well, he couldn't pretend to ignore it, unless he wanted to flip things upside down and look rude instead.

"I suppose...if you really don't mind." He would do his best to stride over without looking too awkward about it, settling on the seat, still clutching the cup in his hand for now as his brows drew into a very faint furrow. "Hello...My name is Huayan Fei." Well, at least he didn't forget to greet in kind, wherever that would go...

He had to mentally bite his tongue there so he wouldn't say something stupid along the lines of 'I'm not' in response to that. Really, he was far more worried about himself than the man in this situation, but of course without context that would have not come off the right way at all. So he would just resort to a nod instead, his posture kept straight in contrast to the blonde. Still, despite his seeming tension, the young man didn't appear to be genuinely ready to bolt or afraid, a bit of a mixed bag perhaps when it came to trying to figure him out.

Anyway...

Right, the drink. He would finally set the cup on the table for now, having been reminded of it. "Coffee...though I do like both." In fact, he did drink tea a little more often, as too much caffeine on accident did nothing to help his already unfortunate tendency to act more anxious than he needed to. Still, it was nice once in a while.

Trying to figure out his brain would most likely send one for a loop, as he was by all means not quite like what the average teenager would be expected to be. He was most certainly rather...underresponsive, for the lack of a better word. He did appear to be listening to what the man was saying, but there was an obvious lack of active engagement as far as the general vibe he gave went. Then again, the fact that he was here alone and had not sought to sit with someone on his own was perhaps enough of an indication that he was hardly the chatterbox type by default.

Nevertheless, he did register the question thrown at him, his initial response a faint hum as he rested his hands loosely on the edge of the table, absentmindedly tapping his fingers against its surface a bit, seemingly in thought about what to say for a couple moments. "I'd choose green tea...coffee usually has a somewhat less preferable taste." It wouldn't do good to always drink the very same stuff though, so some variation was necessary. "I typically make my own though. I don't...like crowds, so I do not go out like this very often." When he did, he liked to choose less frequented hours, or he stuck around for a relatively short time only. It was frankly enough that he had to consistently deal with rowdy crowds at school, adding to it outside of that was far more than he wanted to deal with on most days.

He would look a bit more directly at the man at that point, a somewhat questioning expression on his face for once. "You seem like a people person." Well...a resonable assumption to make, given the man was pretty eager to invite a stranger to sit with him, and engage in quite a conversation with them just because.

"Most people like coffee...it's useful to learn to at least tolerate it." One less thing to be the odd one out about, which was kind of a plus. Besides as far as situations like this and ordering a drink, coffee was far more likely to be on the menu than tea, and with many more options for types as well. Luckily for him, he had been relatively neutral towards it from the start, so it wasn't the worst habit to try to pick up on. It not being bad was enough to be able to say that he kind of liked it, without needing to explain much further.

Tastes and decisions aside, the young man would shake his head lightly. "It's okay. I'm used to it." He had no other option after all, many people liked to socialize and especially ones around his age. "I try to not...get stuck just being inside. It's not helpful long-term." By all means, he could choose the seemingly easier option to avoid everything that was uncomfortable in any way, but what would that lead him to in the end? He wasn't foolish enough to think the outcome would have been positive.

At that one, Huayan would only offer a faint hum of acknowledgment, seemingly not having much to comment as far as different ways of drinking coffee went. He didn't pay much attention to others' preferences, not leaving him with a lot to try to compare against.

"Arcades are bright and noisy...that's not very fun. I'd rather go somewhere more calm and quiet." He would shrug lightly. The idea wasn't really worth the headaches and the games were usually very simplistic too. "Do you not believe that's what actually happened?" The rumors seemed to be of a slightly more interest to him...or perhaps he was just curious why would the man have such a take. Heresy was a pretty vague term to use, so it would be hard to disprove the possibility, unless you actually wanted to think it wasn't true at all.

"Books...I suppose I do, mostly to study though." He didn't read storybooks as much, unless something genuinely managed to catch his attention. He was far more likely to pick up an encyclopedia than a fantasy novel, although that was not to say an exception could never happen.

"Mm...those could do." As long as it wasn't during the busiest time at the park, of course. Families with kids and the like could make for quite the chaos after all. Preferences aside, he'd blink at the explanation given, a distantly thoughtful look on his face, almost seeming somewhat unfocused. "I see...so it was probably something worse, but since it was not made public, people simply make up vague rumors?" Well, that wasn't impossible, perhaps. He did get the feeling that a lot likely happened in secrecy to some extent, whether because people felt the need to hide their actions, or there were other reasons to not reveal information. People turning to lies when it benefitted them was part of human nature, apparently...

The sudden switch up to the man finding the topic of studying funny would send him for a mildly confused loop as he just kind of stared at the blonde somewhat unsurely for a couple moments. "Well...everyone has different interests. How old is he...?" Honestly, there were more kids that didn't like to study than those who did, so he was likely among the minority personally.