#and they don’t usually make decaf coffee frappes

[rhysstrongforksfagswag]

I need to stop drinking caffeine on an empty stomach because I know it messes with me. Right now I feel cold and my chest feels weird and I’m experiencing tactile hallucinations but coffee tasty.

#I could drink decaf but I forget you see #and asking for decaf espresso always makes me feel needy and a bother #and they don’t usually make decaf coffee frappes #krakoan original

[danime25]

Someone To Watch Over Me

masterlist // ao3

*Summary: Six had done everything right up until this point. Everything he did was in Claire's best interest. Who would have thought that he'd risk it all for a barista?

*Rating: +18 for explicit mature content

*Content/Tags: Smut, Slight Angst

*Status: Oneshot/Complete

Rain drops fogged the glass of the coffee shop. There wasn’t another soul in the restaurant except three baristas behind the bar. Two of them were having a semi-private conversation about their mutual friend, while the third… The third was where Six’s eyes went when something happened in the restaurant. When the door creaked, when an umbrella tapped against the floor, his eyes gravitated to her. He scrolled through his phone aimlessly and occasionally brought the warm cup up to the tip of his lips and drank the coffee that she had prepared for him. He had hardly even walked past the threshold of the store and there she was, with a warm cup waiting for him.

“I must come too often.” He said, carefully taking it from her grasp

“That’s okay.” She smiled at him, “We rely on regulars here.”

“Thank you.” He smiled back at her, “I’ll just sit over here at my usual spot, if you don’t mind.”

“Go right ahead. Sorry I can’t make much conversation today, I have some things I need to take care of.”

“That’s alright.” He took a seat and looked out the window. His gaze turned towards her as she hummed along with the song over the radio. He kept a cool face as he listened in to what she probably thought was between her and God. She never seemed to notice the way his gaze lingered a little longer on her than her coworkers, but that was okay with him. The less she knew of him, the better. He glanced at the watch on his arm, and noted how much time he had left before he needed to go and pick Claire up from school. Good. Plenty of time left.

“Another coffee?” She had snuck up on him, he jumped up a little bit in his seat

“No, I’m fine.” He shrugged it off, “Would it be too much to ask for a glass of water?”

“Not at all.” She scurried off and got him the glass a second later. He nodded and took a sip from it. He looked her up and down as she walked back behind the bar, noticing the fatigue in her steps. He went back to scrolling, and heard the door open and shut no less than four times. Probably a shift change, but she was still there. He came back up to the counter and the teenage girls ran to the back to go and gossip, leaving him to deal with her once more.

“I changed my mind.” He said softly

“Okay.” She smiled back at him

“Can I get… a coffee to go and one of those coffee smoothie things.”

“A frappe. Is it for Claire?”

“Yes.” He replied quickly

“Decaf?”

“Please.” She nodded and got to work on the new order. He stood waiting on the other end of the counter

“You could have stayed over here. When it’s this slow I don’t mind handing the drinks to you.”

He wanted to argue that it’d breach etiquette, but also didn’t want to be rude so he scooted back across so that he was facing her as she pressed the coffee down into the filter.

“Other than me, how is business going?” He asked to make small talk

“Good… good actually, I don’t know if she’d be interested, but I have a bunch of kids going off to college, and I’d be happy to hire Claire.”

“I’d have to ask her.”

“I’ll even let her keep the tips she earns.” She joked with him. He gave her a half-smile but couldn’t give her a firm commitment. He’d have to check with Claire first, then make sure that she had a good balance between school and work. Already he was getting too far ahead of himself. “There’s the coffee.”

“Thank you.” He took the cup from her as she handed it off to him. She excused herself and stepped away to find a back-up syrup for the drink Claire liked. He waited in silence for her to come back, and matched a look with one of the other girls working there. Probably around Claire’s age. She covered her mouth with her hand and said something into her friend's ear after breaking eye contact with him. Her friend laughed, before also going to hide her mouth behind her hand. He heard the back door alarm go off and go off again a second later.

“Sorry, I had to break down a box.” She apologized for her longer than intended absence

“I understand.”

“Let me get back to this then, so you can be on your way.”

“Okay.” She finished his drink quickly and put a lid on it. She handed it off to him and told him to have a good day. He replied back with a quick ‘You too’ and headed out the door. He drove to Claire’s school and picked her up, handing her the drink after she was settled in the passenger’s seat.

“Isn’t that shop great?”

“Yeah. Good coffee.”

“It’s okay to say you like something Six.” She rolled her eyes

“I like the store. Best coffee in this town.” He replied before starting the drive back home, “You know that barista you’re friends with?”

“Yeah?”

“She…” He was about to tell her about the job offer, but realized rather than get her hopes up and risk having someone find Claire Fitzroy he put his foot in his mouth. “She’s also nice.”

“Yeah she is, isn’t she?”

“Yeah.” He let out a little sigh. He’d been holding his breath in longer than he had realized. They pulled into the driveway of their little home and Claire rushed off to go and relax in her favorite spot in the backyard. Six picked up his coffee and was about to bring it in, when realized that he must have finished it while driving. He sighed and took the cup over to the trash can. He looked at the bottom of the cup before tossing it, and saw that it was a note from the gossiping girls.

“She likes you! XXX-XXXX” He threw it harder into the trash can than he intended but knew that he couldn’t give into the feelings that made him a man. No, first and foremost was Claire. He couldn’t take another chance. He had barely managed to keep her safe once, if someone from the agency found her and took her away? Fitzroy would never forgive him. He’d never forgive himself. This was a part of what he promised when he joined the Sierra squad. His life was not his anymore. He let out a heavy sigh and went into the house. He looked out over the kitchen counter at Claire before looking back down at his hands and started mentally preparing himself to make dinner. The rest of the evening went as normal, Claire told her adoptive father about the school day, talked about a particular story she had been working on in her creative writing English class, and he told her about the minute errands he had run. They wished each other good night and this pattern continued. Every three days like clockwork, Six would show up at the cafe and talk to her. Sometimes Claire would be in tow, there to study somewhere different. She never brought the job offer up again, despite Claire and her chatting for nearly an hour every time they came in to visit. He decided to ask her about it one day.

“Did you ever get any more kids to work here?”

“Yeah I got a couple, they’re not great but it’s better than nothing.”

“That’s good… if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Yes?” She looked up from the latte she had just finished pouring foam on

“Why didn’t you ever bring the job up with Claire?”

“Well. I figured you had told her, and she wasn’t interested. I didn’t want to press the issue.” She replied so nonchalantly. Maybe he had misread her feelings for him. Maybe there wasn’t anything there but a rapport between a worker and her regular customer.

“I…” His voice trailed. He almost told her the reason that Claire never applied, but decided it’d hurt less if he just gave her a quick ‘Thank you’ instead

“You’re welcome.” She replied automatically, placing the drink at the end of the bar for the other customer. She wandered back to him and leaned against the counter. Their faces were only a couple of inches apart from one another. Six backed up so as not to invade her personal bubble of space.

“Hey.” One of her male co-workers said and touched her shoulders. Six could tell that he made her uncomfortable by the way her shoulders folded underneath his touch. Six looked quickly at him but the guy didn’t seem to pick up on the ‘I will hurt you’ vibes that Six was putting down. “We really need you working on drinks. A lot of soccer moms just pulled into the lot.”

“Okay.” She said, wriggling her way away from the man and getting back to work. Six sat down in his normal spot. She made the drinks as the order came rolling in, like it was as simple as breathing. He breathed through his nose and attempted to keep himself in his seat and not absolutely demolish the guy behind the bar as he came up to the soccer moms and bragged about how it was hard making all their drinks. She quietly stepped to the side and let him take all the credit for her work, which made Six disappointed. He didn’t talk to her much the rest of that day, as she was busy serving, waiting hand and foot on the entitled women but he did manage to throw a 10 in the tip jar for her. Whether she’d actually see it and knew it was from him, it was anyone’s guess but he wanted to make sure that she felt appreciated. It’d be a couple of days before he came back and when he came in, he noticed the guy visibly upsetting her. She looked up at the door as it made its usual noise and seemed to smile at him. Not like she was being saved by him. She stepped aside and went to take Six’s order, this time requesting a new, and time consuming drink so that hopefully her coworker would leave her alone. They talked about how Claire was doing in school, what she wanted from the future.

“She’s a really sweet girl.” She remarked when she had finally finished her drink

“I’m proud of her…” He said

“You should be. You raised her well.” “She’s… thank you.” He nodded and went to his normal seat. He kept the corner of his eye open in case she was bothered again. She walked from behind the counter to start sweeping around the dining room. After he had been sitting there for over an hour, he saw her leave for the bathroom. He immediately got up from his chair, and he made the walk over to the bar in what probably looked like one stride. “She’s not interested in you.”

“What?” The other barista asked him

“She’s not interested.” He said, more firmly, “She’s just too polite or bound by being a nice coworker to tell you to fuck off. But I will. Gladly.”

“What? You think you know her like the back of your hand because you’re in here once a week?” He laughed at Six, “She’s more than just your eye candy.”

“I know that. All I’m saying is, nothing she does is with the intent of being your eye candy.” Six replied

“Let’s take this out back if you think you’re such a white knight.” The dude threw off his apron. Six huffed and said,

“Leave her alone. Or else.” Six walked out of the shop. When he got into his car he saw that the man was keeping a distance from her. She looked out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of her savior, only to be greeted by the empty parking lot. She made a point to mention it the next time Six had visited.

“Thank you.” She says, handing him a mug. “Extra whipped cream on the hot chocolate.”

“Thank you.” He smiled at her before taking a second to process what she said, “What are you thanking me for?”

“Mark’s been off my ass more lately… and it’s because of you. He seems terrified of you. I had to move him to the night shift, actually, because of it.”

“That’s a shame.” He smiled at her

“A shame.” She agreed with him, “I’m about to be off… do you mind if I sit with you for a little bit?”

“I don’t mind. Come join me whenever you’re free.” He offered to her

“Thanks.” She smiled and went back to work. She seemed to speed through everything it was that she needed to do before clocking out. The last thing she did was make herself an iced mocha and sat down across from Six in the other, equally comfortable, chair. She let out a deep breath and eased herself into the chair. “I finally have a vacation tomorrow and I haven’t packed anything.”

“You should work on that.”

“No, I like packing at the last moment. Makes me less likely to forget things. Until I remember things I forgot on my trip.”

He tried to hide a laugh behind the rim of his cup, but it was no use, she could see him plain as day. She smiled and looked down at her feet.

“Anyway, I’ll be fine.” She reassured him, “It’ll be a nice change of pace from here.”

“Where are you going?”

“My family and I go on a yearly vacation together. Though this is the first year I’m going in a while… got too busy with the coffee shop to bother asking off.”

“Hopefully, they’ll appreciate your effort to meet with them this year.”

“Thank you, I hope so too.” She replied. Conversation with her flowed so seamlessly, she talked about her family. Six kept hiding behind questions and stories about Claire that Fitzroy had gladly volunteered to him, but it felt like he knew the essence of who she was from just that talk. That and the many other talks they had when she had a free second, in between drinks.

And still… It wasn't enough for him. He wanted to see her more. He wanted to walk in with Claire after a day at school and she’d be there waiting for them. She’d hold Claire like she was the most important thing in her world and when Claire went to the backyard, she’d kiss him like it’d been years since they had last seen each other. With a tenderness he knew he’d never know. A touch he’d never feel. He had to dash these thoughts. He placed his hand over the pocket that he would normally have a pack of gum, and felt a noticeable weight missing.

“Is something wrong?” She asked him, seeing the almost fear brewing in his eyes

“No. It’s fine. I just need a piece of gum.”

“I don’t have gum, but I have a pack of breath mints.” She offered him the option

“That’ll work. Where are they?” He asked, sitting at the edge of his chair ready to go at her beck and call

“No, you don’t need to get up. And they’re in the employee area.” She apologized and went to the back before coming back with the tin can, “Brought a couple, just in case.”

“You’re a life-saver.” He thanked her

“It’s nothing. What’s it you say to Claire? It’s just another Thursday?”

“Yeah.” He was shocked that she had picked up on the phrase he used between him and his daughter

“Yeah. I like that. It keeps me grounded in a way. Reminds me that things will get better.”

“That’s not really what it means.” He started to explain

“What does it mean to you then?” She looked at him

“It’s more of… ‘I’m okay, I’m living’.”

“But it grounds you, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. It does.” He pondered the thought for a second. Her phone buzzed and she caught a quick glance of it before resting her bag on her shoulder

“I’m sorry, I need to go.”

“You’re going to pack?”

“Yes, actually.” She swiped her bangs back behind the back of her ears, “Bye.”

“Bye, I’ll see you when you get back.” He said it in solemn tone that turned it rom a statement to a promise

“I’ll look forward to it.” She shook her head once and walked out to her car, his eyes keeping a constant line of sight focused on her until he knew she was pulling away safely. He sat in silence for another moment before the usual crowd of school kids filtered in. He got up from his seat only to see that Claire was just outside the door. He looked down at his watch and realized that he’d been late for pick-up. He dashed out the door and apologized to her.

“It’s okay. I’m fine, I just took the bus here.” She placed a hand on his shoulder to calm his anxiety over the situation

“Should we go home?” He asked

“Where’s…” She started

“She left. I mean, she’s done for the day.”

“Aw man. I made her something.”

“What did you make?”

“It’s just a little pencil cup.” She pulled the ceramic piece from her backpack, “But I thought she’d like it for organizing her sharpies.”

“That’s thoughtful of you.” He held his hand out and she let him inspect it, “We’ll have to give it to her when she gets back.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s going on a vacation.” He replied

“Aw.” Claire sighed

“It’ll be okay.”

“Who are you telling that to? Me or you?” Claire raised an eyebrow

“You, obviously.” He scoffed and got into the car. He went back the next day just to make sure that she was actually vacationing and not just tired of seeing him. That and he was a little worried work would force her to come in anyway. He got his normal drink but it just wasn’t quite the same. It didn’t leave him in a very contemplative mood, so he packed it up and drank the coffee back at home. For the first time in months, he was able to attend to some projects he’d been neglecting in favor of getting coffee. He and Claire visited the shop a couple more times during her vacation, but even Claire agreed something was off without her. When she returned it was like she had never left. Six entered the shop and before he could say anything there was a coffee cup in his hands.

“Welcome back.” She told him

“I think I should be saying that to you.” He replied, taking a sip of his drink, “How was vacation?”

“Nice.” She replied. “Talked a lot about life with my family.”

“Ah. That’s always fun.”

“It wasn’t so bad.” She shrugged it off, “How was it here?”

“Quiet.” He replied

“I suppose not much would change whether I was here or not.”

“Claire missed you.”

“That’s sweet of her.” She grinned

“I’ll bring her by tomorrow. If that’s not too much trouble for you.”

“No, it’s not a problem. It’d be nice to see her actually.”

“Sounds good.” He went and sat down in his chair. He listened as it seemed like there was a small argument in the back and saw her walk towards him, but kept her distance. She had her coat resting on her forearms and her bag slung on her shoulder.

“Sorry you heard that.” She apologized to him

“It’s okay, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I just had a little cough. It’s not a death sentence.” She crossed her fingers, “But my boss just wants me to take better care of myself.”

“Since when has she worried?” Six asked her

“My vacation wasn’t all time spent with my family.” Her eyes darted away from his

“Oh.” He said, “You don’t have to say anymore.”

“Thank you.” Her voice broke quietly, “So yeah. I’m just going to go home and recuperate.”

“Do you need a ride home?”

“No, I’ll be fine.”

“Drive her.” Her boss shouted from the back, “I’ll drop her car off later.”

“Are you sure?” Six yelled back

“Yes!” She replied. The barista sighed and Six escorted her to his car. She got in the passenger’s side and rested against the headrest. He slowly put the car in reverse and drove around town. He was about to make the turn off the freeway to his house, but realized that it wasn’t Claire in the seat next to him. He looked over, ready to ask her where she lived, to see her head drooping to the side by the window. He didn’t want to wake her up, and only had a half an hour before pick up, so with a heavy sigh he drove towards Claire’s school. He pulled into a spot and saw her shift her weight, but she was out cold. He thought maybe stopping the vehicle would wake her, to no avail. He turned on the radio and flipped it to something calm. The rain started to drip down along the side of the vehicle. Quiet… safe. He felt at ease. Claire came running and nearly screamed when she saw a body laying in her normal seat. He opened the back door and she hopped in.

“What’s she doing in our car?” Claire asked

“Her boss asked for a favor from me.” He replied, “Said she was sick.”

“Do you even know where she lives?”

“No.”

“What are we going to do?”

“I was going to keep driving.” He started the car back up and saw her move. She rubbed her eyes and looked up

“Where am I?” She yawned and looked around. When she saw it was Six she seemed a little less panicked but was at the very least still confused

“You’re in my car.”

“Oh.” She replied, “Sorry I fell asleep. Did I keep you for long?”

“No.” He responded

“Good, I’d hate to be a burden.” She sighed, “Here, can I use your phone?”

“Why?”

“So I can pull up the directions to my place. I don’t know where we are.”

“Okay.” He unlocked the phone and pulled up Maps for her to use. She punched in the address quickly and started the directions. He followed it to a tee.

“Thank you…” She said as she stepped out of the car. Rain fell on top of her head and the inside of door

“You’re welcome… Get some rest.” He told her in a tone that sounded more like a command than a statement

“I will… Good night.” She closed the door behind her and made a mad dash for the door of her building. Six sighed and started the car back up and drove them home. Claire pulled the cup she had made and put it in her back for the next time she went to the cafe. Six went back the next day and saw she wasn’t there so he paid for his coffee and left. This went on for two more days afterwards. When she was back she looked so happy… What had changed? He cautiously opened the door and she turned to face him. She smiled at him with the radiant smile he had come to love and handed him his drink.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yes. I never got to thank you properly.” She said, and pushed a small plate holding a cookie towards him, “It’s not a note, but I thought you’d like this more.”

“It’s appreciated.” He took the plate in his hand over to his spot and sat down. The mood had shifted in the shop. It went from a bubbly warmth to something else entirely. He couldn’t put a finger on it until someone messed up the store playlist and changed it to something he’d never heard before. One of her co-workers pushed her up to Six and made her sit down across from him.

“Sorry… everyone’s been acting weird.” She said, she wasn’t able to look even in his direction

“Is something wrong?” He asked, looking directly at her. He shifted his weight in the chair to give her his full attention

:Well I couldn’t help but notice how often you come in here. But I don’t want to assume anything.” She started. He didn’t want to hear the rest of what she had to say. He knew he couldn’t offer her anything. So he stood up. He noticed the girls on the other side of the bar watching the two of them and quickly walked out of the coffee shop. He didn’t look back. He couldn’t. She sat in the seat for a second but ran out to the car before he could get in. “If you don’t like me that way that’s okay… but just don’t let me keep my hopes up. Are you seeing someone else?”

His chest heaved. No lie he had ever told, no words he would ever say to anyone would hurt as much as the next pathetic puffs of air that came from his mouth.

“Yes.”

“Oh.” Her whole body crumpled in on itself, “I’m sorry if I interpreted that this was anything more than a regular and a barista.”

“Bye.” He replied curtly and drove off. He couldn’t go home, he couldn’t face Claire and tell her what he had done.

But everything was for her. For her safety, for her protection. She would be another liability. A loose string that would lead all the way back to him and Claire. He couldn’t risk that. He couldn’t lose Claire. He couldn’t tell Claire that a woman was more important than their bond. He went back and forth in his head trying to convince himself that he had done the right thing. No level of cognitive dissonance or self-justification seemed to ease his worries. He found himself heading back towards the coffee shop and decided to watch from afar. She was leaving the shop, but in the doorway she was being held by her manager. He didn’t have a clue of how long she had been standing there but her body looked limp. Her boss took an arm and slung it over her own shoulder, guiding Six’s barista to her car. She helped her get buckled in and started backing up. Six used this opportunity to get away, heading home. Six didn’t go back to the coffee shop. He didn’t want to hurt her anymore. He had to try and let go of her. It was for Claire’s safety. He focused on these thoughts. He focused for days. Claire noticed that he’d been avoiding the shop and took matters into her own hands. When she opened the door, the barista turned around and smiled.

“Hi Claire.”

“Hi.” She smiled back, “Can I get a frappe?”

“Of course.” She made the drink and handed it to her

“What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean how are you? I haven’t seen you in over a month.”

“Oh.” She nodded, “Nothing much. Shop’s still the same as ever. I made some changes to the playlist. You’re in here often enough I feel like I can ask. Any music you want to hear more of?”

“You should add ‘Silver Bird’.” Claire suggested

“Let me go get the tablet.” She shuffled off and came back with the device, “If I don’t add it now, I’ll probably forget it.”

“Let me see.” Claire held a hand out and she gave the tablet over, “This one.”

“Thanks. Anything else?”

“Not that I can think of right now.”

“Cool.” She smiled and took the tablet back to its charging station. Claire used the second she was in the back to look around the store. It was dimly lit by artificial light, but more than made up for it with natural sunlight. She could see her dad sitting there and working on his phone. She came back and started cleaning up the espresso machine quietly before asking Claire. “How’s school going?”

“It’s going well. Oh! Here, I’ve been holding onto this before you went on your vacation. Hope you can use it here.” She fished the cup out from the bottom of her bag

“Oh god, this is so nice… you didn’t have to do that.” She took the cup and almost hugged it against her chest

“I wanted to… everyone else made something for their moms.” Claire looked down

“Oh.” She looked down at the cup that was so clearly meant for her and wanted to give it back to Claire. After all, shouldn’t she have done something for Court’s girlfriend? Claire sensed her apprehension and reassured her,

“I just don’t have a figure like that in my family right now… but the teacher was adamant.”

“Oh ew.” She laughed, “I hate it when teachers think they know better.”

“Yeah.” Claire smiled. Now that she was at ease, she tucked the cup behind the register and got back to work

“I hope you weren’t carrying it around for too long.”

“No, I had it on my shelf while you were gone.”

“Okay good. It’s lovely, but it looks like a pain to carry on top of textbooks and laptops in your bag.”

“It’s not that bad.” Claire shrugged. She felt her phone vibrate and looked at it. A message from Six.

“Where are you?”

“At… the coffee shop?” She said out loud while typing

“Hm?” The barista’s head perked up as she heard the noise

“Just texting my dad. I kind of skipped out on pick up.”

“Oh. I’m not going to get in trouble for having you here am I?”

Claire shook her head, “You’ll be fine.”

“Okay.” She gave her a half-smile and went back to her work. Claire kept looking at her phone, timing Six. On a normal day it’d take the two of them 20 minutes to get to the coffee shop, but she figured it’d take him fifteen minutes. As she looked, he was at 10 minutes. Five minutes later he entered the shop. On the dot.

“Claire.” He said, “I was worried.”

“I’m sorry. I know I should have told you, but I was about to miss the bus here.”

“You could have texted me.” He huffed a little bit before looking over at the barista and apologizing, “I’m sorry about this. I hope she didn’t cause you too much trouble.”

“No it’s okay, I’ve missed seeing her.”

“And me?” He raised an eyebrow

“I don’t mind seeing you either.” She replied, “I already made Claire something, do you want anything?”

“Sure.” He nodded and she made him a drink. He took it carefully from her grasp and took a sip from it. It was still perfectly made. He sheepishly looked at her and said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She replied. He noticed her phone light up from behind the bar. He saw a quick name that definitely belonged to a man before the screen turned dark again.

“We should be going.” Six said after a minute

“Okay.” Claire sighed, “See you soon.”

“See you.” She smiled at Claire, “And… don’t be a stranger again. I miss having someone to talk to.”

“Okay.” Six replied and went out to his car. Claire followed behind him and got into the car before talking with him

“What’s going on?” She asked him as the car quietly revved up

“What do you mean?”

“I mean why are the two of you so icy?”

“It’s nothing Claire.”

“No. Six. Tell me what happened. You go one week from talking with her and driving her home, to getting out of the cafe like you’re running from a grenade. Tell me.” She demanded of him

“Alright, fine.” He exploded, “I lied to her.”

“What did you tell her?” She asked him again, her tone raising. He pulled off to the side of the road and stopped the car

“I told her I was seeing someone else!”

“Why?!”

“Because I couldn’t risk anything for your safety!” He looked at her. She looked back at him with blood boiling in her eyes.

“Don’t try to hide behind me for how you feel! If you don’t like her that’s fine but don’t tell me it’s for my own good or it’s to keep me safe when you’re too afraid to let someone near you!” She screamed. The silence in the car hung for a solid minute before he started the car back up. No words were exchanged between the two until they got home. “I know… it probably wasn’t right of me to say that Six.”

“You’re right, it wasn’t.” He said back, quickly

“But you told my uncle you’d do whatever it took to protect me.”

“I did.”

“That doesn’t mean you need to act like I’m a glass vase, and anyone getting close to me or you will break me.”

“I…”

“Don’t. Just go make this right.” She turned around and went into the house. He threw the car into reverse and went towards the coffee shop. He walked in to see that the girls were gossiping.

“I don’t know, if I was her I would not have been able to handle it that well.”

“Well that’s just because she’s so nice.”

“Girls.” He said in a low voice that made the girl who was facing away from him jump a foot off the ground

“Oh it’s you.” The girl that was facing him said, “I know it’s not really professional of me, but you’re kind of an assh…”

“I know. Spare me. Just… Could you tell me where she is?”

“She’s off.”

“I know that… You know what, I'll go look for her myself.” He stormed back out and started driving to her apartment. He saw her outside her apartment with an outfit on, much fancier than what she’d wear to the cafe. He made sure the car was parked safely before slamming the door shut. The noise startled her a little bit as she was about to get into her car. She looked behind her and saw him walking up to her.

“Court?”

“My name is Courtland Gentry. I am the adoptive father of Claire Fitzroy and I was assigned as an agent to protect her on orders from my superior officers Margaret Cahill and Fitzroy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I thought… to protect her I couldn’t let anyone near us. I didn’t think that I could find love. Or didn’t deserve it. That I was keeping everyone away for Claire’s safety. But then you came into our lives.”

“I… I’m about to go on a date…!” She yelled

“And I’ve fallen for you.” He yelled back, “I lied and told you I was with someone else to keep you away from me. But I still care about you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you for weeks.”

“Court… Courtland.” She said with tears streaming down her face, “Just let me go.”

“Just tell me… do you still like me?” He asked. She remained silent for a second before saying

“Yes. I do like you.” She shook her head, “And it’s probably a mistake to be with you after all that’s happened, but I want to be with you.” He closed the distance between the two of them and pulled her into a kiss. She returned his kiss with an intense passion and pressed her hands up against his cheeks. He placed his hands on her waist and let his fingers sink into the fabric. She wrapped a leg around his back and he pressed his weight into her, making her stumble back towards the apartment door. She pulled away from him to open the door and pulled out her phone.

“What are you doing?” He asked

“I’m not rude, I’m going to text my date and say I won’t make it.”

“Oh.” He replied. He thumped the floor gently with his foot while he waited for her text to get sent. Waited in agony. What was probably only about 15 seconds felt like hours when Six was this close to having her. She tucked her phone away and ran down the hallway to her apartment. Six followed her and moved his hands back onto her hips as she opened the door. She dropped her keys and bent over, offering Six a wonderful view. She picked them up and he pressed his front half into her butt which startled her a little bit, forcing her to pick the keys up again. Not that he minded. She finally opened the door and threw her bag to the floor, tossing the keys onto the counter. She had hardly turned around to face him when Six picked her up off her feet.

He supported her with one hand on her back, her body flush against his, and let one hand linger up to her head. He ran his fingers through the roots of her hair and kissed her once more. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. He threw her down on the couch first and straddled her. Underneath him, she ripped her clothes off over her head and worked furiously at unhooking her bra. He threw his jacket and shirt onto the ground next to them. She grabbed at the waistband of his pants and worked them down as far as she could underneath him. He finished the rest for her and worked on her. He moved in and pressed his lips onto her neck. Her arms snaked behind him and rested on his shoulders as he did this. The kisses were soft, but rough around the edges and desperate. The hairs of his beard tickling her skin with every gentle move in to close the gap between their bodies. One of her hands moved from his shoulders to rest up at the nape of his neck. She ran a finger along the straight line where his hair ended and his skin started. He shivered and begged for her to touch him like that again. She did as he asked and made him shiver once more. After he got over the goosebumps forming on his arms he took her hands off him and got up. She sat up and looked at him before his eyes darted to the door to her bedroom. She nodded and followed behind him.

She got on the bed and laid flat before him. He moved quickly to get up on top of her again and thrusted into her. After he bottomed out he started off slow and watched her face to see how she was feeling. Her eyes shut for a second as she adjusted to the feeling, but opened her eyes back up when she got used to it. She looked back up at him with a look that told him to keep going. His pace remained slow for a bit as he tried to make sure he wasn’t pushing her too far. Her hands ended up back on his shoulders and he sped himself up. He worked from a slow, controlled pace to fast but even-tempo. Each pump of his body was more rugged than the last. He needed to be closer to her. He leaned over her and propped his body against hers. Her hand moved to rest on his shoulder blades, then lower when she saw him wince. She arched her back as he hit deeper inside of her. When he had found that sweet spot, his pace sped up and his thrusts were more erratic. His voice went from soft words to broken grunts and groans as he slammed into her. She moaned under him and bit his lip as he kissed her. He moaned into her mouth as he came inside of her. He rode out his orgasm and held onto her tightly as his body went limp. He laid on top of her and wrapped his arms around the center of her body. She held him tightly and kissed his cheek.

“What are we?” She asked

“I want to be with you.” He said confidently, “If you’ll have me.”

“I want to be with you too… Court?” She sounded confident up until she said his name

“Call me Six.” He kissed her lips

“Six?”

“Yeah, it was my code name… Claire still uses it with me.” She nodded as he explained himself. He rolled off her and onto her side. She rested her head on his shoulder and let her head roll to the side and she kissed his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and held her close. She listened to his breathing as it slowed down and her breathing synced with his. Her eyes fluttered shut and he pressed his nose into the crown of her head. His eyes got heavy and he felt himself drift to sleep. He felt comfortable with her there by his side, and he wanted this moment to never end.

#the gray man #the gray man 2022 #sierra six #sierra six x reader #fanfiction #fanfic #my writing #my post #my fic #ryan gosling character

[holycatsandrabbits]

Dead Eye

Original fiction ficlet, rated G

Written for the Morning Coffee zine, a free, original art and fiction zine on the topic of coffee. The art pieces were even painted in coffee! Thanks to @yummi-gummi-zines for modding!

It took Gayle an embarrassingly long time to realize that something was off about a certain customer at the coffee shop where she worked. It should have been rather obvious. For one, the man, Craig, spent time every day in the shop, but he didn’t drink any coffee. Craig carried a silver travel mug with him, but he never bought anything to go in it. He didn’t even use the free creamer like a lot of rude people did, bringing coffee from home just to help themselves to what extras the shop put out for free. In fact, Gayle had never actually seen him take a drink from his mug.

For another thing, Craig didn’t talk to anybody. That in itself wasn’t so strange, some people just weren’t social. But it was also the case that nobody ever talked to Craig. When people sat at the table he was occupying, no one ever said Excuse me or Mind if I sit here? And if Craig continued to sit by them instead of moving, they completely ignored him. Gayle only knew his name because she’d tried to strike up a conversation once. He’d given her a bit of a surprised look and introduced himself, but he hadn’t seemed to want to talk to her either.

And finally, Craig was dressed like someone who was employed— nice slacks, dress shirt, and a tie— but he showed up in the coffee shop at all kinds of weird hours, and he never brought any work with him, not a computer, or notebook, or even a phone. He just sat in a chair, usually the one by the window, with his mug in his hand, and watched people.

Even with all that, it still didn’t dawn on Gayle that the man was dead. It took her co-worker Maggie mentioning the coffee shop ghost for Gayle to finally put it all together.

“What ghost?” Gayle asked, as they were cleaning up after closing.

“Oh, I should have figured you hadn’t seen him,” Maggie said, with a dramatic sigh. “You don’t have a psychic bone in your body, I can tell.” She pointed to the table by the window. “I saw him, right there. Wish I hadn’t, though. He’s bad luck. Right after that I broke two china mugs. Jess saw him and she twisted her ankle on her way home. Grant dropped his phone and cracked the screen. It was a couple of days later, but it still counts.”

“What’s he look like?” Gayle asked.

“Nothing scary. Just like a customer. Brown hair, brown eyes. Handsome. Grant saw him twice, and says he carries a silver mug. Nobody ever sees him come in or leave, he’s just in here sometimes.”

“So how do you know he’s a ghost?” asked Gayle.

“Because he doesn’t order anything, doesn’t work on anything, and doesn’t talk to anybody.”

“Oh,” said Gayle. “Huh.”

Maggie went into the kitchen then to mop the floor, and a voice spoke up behind Gayle. “The ankle and the phone weren’t my fault. But I may have been responsible for the mugs. I don’t like Maggie. She always makes the half-cafs full-decafs.”

Gayle turned around to see Craig sitting on the counter she’d just cleaned, his mug beside him and his feet swinging in space.

“You, on the other hand,” he said, “I like. You only sabotage the orders of rude people.”

“Huh,” said Gayle, again.

“Want to know what happened?” Craig asked.

“Sure.”

“I had a heart attack.” Craig pointed to that table by the window. “Right there. Five years ago, before you or Maggie started here. I never saw it coming. I was an athlete, ate a good diet. Maybe I drank too much coffee.”

“You do look healthy,” Gayle said. “I’d never have guessed you were dead.”

Craig nodded. “I was wondering how long it was going to take you to figure it out.”

Maggie hollered from the kitchen. “Who are you talking to out there?” She poked her head out into the seating area. “You better not have let in a customer—” She looked around— counters included— and apparently saw no one.

“Just thinking out loud,” Gayle said, and Maggie went back into the kitchen.

“Nobody sees or hears me as well as you do,” Craig said. “Not a psychic bone in your body, my ass.”

Gayle started cleaning the glass display case. “So how come you didn’t pass on? You know—” She waved her hand. “Go upstairs? Downstairs?”

“No idea.”

“No grander purpose? Unfinished business? Didn’t commit some atrocity and get damned to stay here until you make amends?”

“Huh,” said Craig slowly. “I didn’t think of that last one.” He slid himself off the counter. “I mean, it wasn’t an atrocity.”

“What did you do?”

Craig put his hands up sort of defensively. “Well, look, nobody died. But I may have… possibly… robbed a bank.” Craig looked slightly remorseful.

“You robbed a bank,” Gayle said.

“Well, I worked at a bank. Made it easier. I just used a computer program.”

Maggie came out from the kitchen. “That’s good enough. Let the morning shift handle the rest.” She frowned at Gayle. “Are you okay? You don’t usually talk to yourself about robbing banks.”

Craig popped up again the next Saturday morning when Gayle came in by herself to start the baking. He appeared by the oven, wrinkling his nose at the orange-cinnamon scone batter. “I never liked those,” he complained. “So how does one make amends?”

Gayle gave him a surprised look. “Why are you asking me?”

“Because there’s literally no one else I can ask.”

“Well— I guess you apologize to the bank.”

“Can’t. Most people can only see me for a few minutes at a time, and nobody can hear me except you.”

“Well, then you swear not to to it again.”

“Can’t do it again, I’m dead. What would I even do with money now?” Craig scowled at a platter of blueberry muffins. “This doesn’t make any sense. If I’m supposed to make amends to the bank, why am I not haunting the bank?”

“It does seem like poor organization,” Gayle agreed.

Craig looked thoughtful for a moment, and then he said, “Well, maybe I’m supposed to help you. Since you can see and hear me so well. I mean, you don’t want to work in a coffee shop all your life, do you? You’ve got to have dreams.”

“Oh, I do,” Gayle assured him. “One of them is owning this place. I’ve always wanted to have a coffee shop. I’m going to school for my MBA right now.”

Craig stared at her a moment and then said, “Huh.” He seemed to sort of phase himself through the counter until he was sitting on it again.

“I’ve already included you in my plans,” Gayle said. She pointed out toward the seating area. “When the shop is mine, I’m going to put a sign on that chair you like— Reserved for the Ghost.”

“A haunted coffee shop?” Craig said, looking rather impressed.

“If we get TV crews in, could you give them a bit of a show?” Gayle asked.

Craig nodded. “I can do stuff like with Maggie and the mugs if I try really hard.”

“I’ll probably have themed drinks, too,” Gayle mused. “Ghost white. Phantom Frapp. Dead eye already works.”

Craig cocked his head. “That all sounds nice, but I have to say that helping you make money doesn’t really seem like a good deed on my part. Not exactly making amends.”

Gayle frowned. “Well, I was thinking of having a policy of giving all my day-old food to the needy.”

Craig snapped his fingers. “That could work.”

Gayle paused halfway through filling a muffin tin. “Do you think you’ll move on, then, when I’ve got it all set up?”

Craig shrugged. “I guess we’ll see. I’d almost hate to, though. Sounds like it would be fun. So how long do we have to wait for all that?”

“Well, I’m almost done with school. But I’m going to have to save up enough to buy the place.”

Craig looked thoughtful. “You know— I might know where you can get the funds.” When Gayle raised her eyebrows at him, he said, “The bank never caught me! I died before they could. Money’s just sitting around in an account I set up and nobody even knows about it.”

“Well,” said Gayle, “it’s certainly not doing anything sitting around in some account, is it?”

“Definitely not feeding the needy,” Craig agreed.

The door to the kitchen banged open as Maggie came in. “Sorry I’m late,” she said. “I didn’t want to be here. Are you talking to yourself again?”

“No,” said Gayle. “I’m talking to the ghost.”

Maggie gave her a confused look. “Don’t try to be funny. You aren’t.”

That day Maggie broke three mugs.

Find me at DannyeChase.com and on my Linktree

#Dannye writes #original fiction #original fiction zine #coffee

[trelleste]

It has come to my attention that a lot of people don’t know how to order coffee/don’t know what is in the drinks they order and get embarrassed about it. For a better coffee experience, I’m going to write down the contents of a handful of popular drinks so you can scope out which you’d actually like next time you try coffee.

Basics first:

- steamed milk is made by piping steam into milk at a high power and temperature, ideally making it sweeter and expanding it into micro bubbles until hot (140 degrees farenheight).

-an espresso shot is kinda like super condensed coffee. They come in 1 or 2 oz shots which are multiplied according to the size of your drink, so they offer great coffee flavor and a lot of caffeine without overpowering your drink. I believe 1 oz espresso is equal to the caffeine of an 8oz cup of coffee (please correct me fo that’s wrong).

Now the drinks:

Caramel Macchiato: steamed milk with vanilla sweetener and an espresso shot tossed on top (it doesn’t blend with the milk so the first sip is sweet and foamy). They top it with caramel sauce - some places chose to add caramel to the drink itself but that isn’t the standard.

Caramel latte: For people who don’t know why macchiatos aren’t hitting the spot. Steamed milk, 1 espresso shot, caramel is mixed in with the milk so it has a full caramel flavor throughout the drink

Vanilla latte: personal favorite. Vanilla sweetener, espresso shot, steamed milk

Frappichino: (frappè and frap are both just nicknames, not different drinks) essentially, this is melted ice cream blended with ice, espresso shot(s) and your flavor of choice. Very sweet.

Mocha: all mocha means is chocolate. This is basically a standard latte with chocolate sauce as the flavor and sweetener. It’s basically hot chocolate with espresso, but usually a little more bitter since dark chocolate is more common in coffee drinks instead of the milk chocolate hot chocolates.

White mocha: also called a white chocolate mocha or a white chocolate latte. This is the same as the standard mocha, but they use white chocolate sauce instead of dark chocolate. This is much sweeter and is often paired with other flavors like strawberry or raspberry (though these combos require a heck of a sweet tooth)

Cold press: cold brew coffee is coffee steeped like sweet tea in the fridge. The coffee soaks in cold water for a MUCH longer time, making it heavily concentrated with a unique flavor. Cold press is usually diluted with water if it is highly concentrated, but it can be made with less coffe and more water if you have the fridge space.

Cold press latte: this is made with cold brew coffee like above, but instead of diluting with water, you dilute it with milk. This creates an extremely flavorful and refreshing summer drink and is usually made with flavored sweeteners like vanilla, caramel, or white chocolate.

Brevè: breves are essentially lattes, but they are made with half&half instead of just milk. This makes a MUCH richer and more filling drink and requires less sweetener. Keep in mind that the lipids in the cream will help your body break down the caffeine and you’ll get more bang for your buck caffination-wise (so don’t order a double shot if you don’t want to be jittery)

Flat white: this is another heavily debated one, bit the small coffee shop standard is a flat white is essentially a latte. Ask specific places to be sure or you may end up with a macchiato or a cafe au lait.

Cafe au lait: (‘caffay oh-lay’) this is kinda like a latte, but instead of espresso, it’s made with black coffee - I believe it’s traditional double brewed black coffee though most places only brew once, making it milder. It takes more black coffee than it would if and with espresso, so the drink has a stronger coffee flavor and is a less-rich version of a latte. Some places also heat the milk without steaming it, so it’s more basic and robust instead of the light airy latte. Again you can add flavors and sweeteners to this as you wish.

Macha latte: this is essentially a latte except instead of using an espresso shot, a ‘shot’ is created with matcha powder (highly condensed green tea stuff) and water, whisked together till silky smooth. They just pour some steamed milk over this and it usually works up with the same consistency as a latte and does latte Art nearly as well, but it’s a gorgeous green color. It tastes really unique and if you don’t like green tea, it’s not for you. Usually sweetened with honey or vanilla.

Cappuccino: This is a fluffy and relatively bitter drink. Cappuccinos are traditionally much smaller than lattes but use the same amount of espresso. The milk is steamed to be extremely airy, to the point it is no longer sweet. You can order cappuccinos wet or dry in most places. Wet me as it’s steamed basically like a latte and is sweeter (less air=more milk as well) while dry cappuccinos are the people who really want to taste the espresso and the milk is steamed almost to a full foam. Though it’s a drink, it really is ‘dry’. If you dont love coffee yet, don’t be fooled by the sweet ‘cappuccinos’ at gas stations, those are more like hot frappes. Cappuccinos are dry.

Cortado: since I’m comparing everything to lattes, this is like the strong 4oz latte. Usually made with a double shot of espresso (2oz) and 2 oz of milk, this is a baristas biggest test. Since there’s nothing to cover the flavor, this is the best drink to order to test your barista’s skill. They’re judged by the art on top, the amount of beige foam (should be just under a centimeter I believe) and the espresso can’t have separated. This is a baristas drink and often bitter.

Macchiato: a macchiato is like a latte, but steamed with more air so the milk has a seperate foam which sits softly on the top of the drink. To not ruin this foam, the espresso shot is poured in after the milk, making a small brown splotch (the spot isn’t a mistak, it’s perfect!). Since the foam is stiffer, this drink can hold a sauce (usually caramel or a kind of chocolate) on top whereas with any other drink it would class to the bottom. These are the cute drinks with the caramel drizzles you see on Instagram. Very well rounded and sweet. Perfect ‘I want to learn to like coffee’ drink.

Let’s talk black coffee.

Drip coffee: this is the standard and it’s what most people think of when coffee is mentioned. Black coffee is made by putting ground coffee beans in a filter and letting boiling or hot water drip over them. The water absorbs the flavor and drops into your pot. This is what you make with basic coffee pots and keurigs.

Pour over: this is a highly refined ‘drip’ coffee for one. Since you aren’t making a full pot of coffee, just a cup, it gives more time and opportunity to focus on specifics. The grind of the beans and the way the barista pours water over them are both highly specialized, landing you the perfect stunning cup of fresh black coffee. It costs a little more but is way better than what’s sitting in the percolators.

French press: be prepared to get a “pot” of coffee if you order this at a shop - several cups worth. This coffee is best made with a light roast so it is robust, fruity, and high in caffeine. The coffee grounds and hot water are poured into a French press (a special pitcher with an internal strainer that moves up and down inside the pitcher). You pull the strainer part up to give cofffee room to brew and it basically it’s like a loose leaf tea. Push the strainer down when the coffee is ready and when it is pressed firmly against the bottom, it can’t mingle with the water to brew more. This is a collage kid favorite because it’s a lot of caffeine for cheap and you can pull the strainer up and down at any time to make the coffee stronger to your liking.

Quick tip about roast: Medium roast is the most common and my personal favorite. It has the most flavor. Dark roast is from beans roasted longer. This makes a more bitter flavor and actually roast some caffeine out of it, so if you can than for much caffeine, dark roast is the wat to go (on that note, decaf coffee is just coffee that has been roasted for a l o n g time until it has very little caffeine left - much more bitter and never completely free of caffeine). Light roast is hardly roasted, so it has a much higher caffeine content. Because it hasn’t broken down as much, this gives you the full flavor the the unique coffee plant. It usually has a citrus, nutty, or fruity flavor that rubs off form the beans growing environment, but it tends to be much more acidic.

I think I hit most of them, let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to know about! Good luck!

[phylumhearts]

unfinished draft (rare truffle cafe)

the almost-complete first chapter of that coffee shop au I started literal years ago. kinda want to rewrite it completely if I go back to that project so here’s what I’ve got.

1.3k, aeleus/dilan

Aeleus had never planned to become a regular at the Rare Truffle Cafe. By now it was just a habit - he'd always slipped easily into routines - but buying drinks on the go had always seemed wasteful. As much as he loved the nebula nectar latte, he kept coming back for something else: the barista. He’d been spending 350 munny several times a week for a “thank you, here’s your drink” from a handsome man.

It was a familiar disappointment, walking in to see the tiny blonde girl behind the counter. Sweet as she was, she wasn’t who he was hoping to see.

“Good afternoon, Aeleus.” 

“Naminé.” She’d memorized his name and order some time ago, and he thought it only fair to return the gesture.

“The usual?”

“I’ll try the special.” He placed his ceramic travel cup on the counter, along with exact change.

“One bijou bean frappe. Soy milk?” 

“Still no almond?” he asked, knowing the answer. She shook her head.

“Sorry.” 

“Soy, then.” He nodded once before heading to his favourite seat beside the window. It was a quiet day, so he’d barely scanned the headlines in the day-old newspaper before Naminé was calling him to pick up his drink.

“Thank you.” Grabbing his cup, he started turning to leave before Naminé stopped him with an outstretched finger.

“Dilan is picking up a delivery right now. When they get back, it will be time for their break. Why don’t you take a seat?” Aeleus’ expression didn't change, but his ears flushed pink with embarrassment. What did she mean? Was he really that obvious? 

“I-” Naminé silenced him with a wave of her hand. 

“You wanted to talk to them, right?” she smiled, eyes closed. “Now’s your chance. Just sit in the booth closest to the back. You’ll be ok, I promise.” Stunned, he shuffled to the booth and sat down hard. Who was this girl? A mind reader? He stared long and hard at the drink in his hand before taking a sip. 

After a few minutes fiddling with his latest tangle puzzle and wondering if he should pace himself with his drink, Aeleus’ wait was over. A bell jingled cheerfully as a large figure nudged the door open with their hip. A broad shoulder hefted several sacks of coffee while a sculpted arm kept an uncertain grip on two stacked milk crates. 

“Naminé, some assistance please.” Their voice was deep and smooth, if a little strained.

“You don't need to carry it all at once, you know,” chided Naminé, hurrying to relieve Dilan of a crate. She struggled a little under the weight as Dilan effortlessly shrugged the remaining crate into a more secure position.

“I prefer to make a single trip.” They strode toward the counter, and Aeleus tried not to ogle them too blatantly as they walked past his booth. Naminé followed, flashing Aeleus a grin.

After the thumps and clatters of shelves being restocked faded, a terse conversation drifted out from behind the counter.

“No, Dilan, it's your break now. I can handle it alone for another twenty minutes. Don't worry about it.” There was a grumbled response, but it became apparent that Namine’s will had won out when Dilan appeared in Aeleus’ view.

“I hope you don't mind if I sit here.” It wasn't a request, but they waited for Aeleus to nod before sliding into the free side of the booth. They deftly plugged their phone into an outlet hidden under the table, then started picking at a small container of stir-fry. Every part of them stood up to close inspection - golden-brown skin just as flawless up close, facial hair just as perfectly shaped, braids just as smooth and silky. Even their fingernails were flawless, long and painted a glossy black. Aeleus ran a hand over his own hair, suddenly very aware of the way it stuck out at the back. He struggled for a conversation starter - when would he get another chance like this? - but came up blank. He needed to calm down and think. He took a gulp of his drink.

“Nrgh.” Aeleus clutched at the sudden stab of pain in his head. Dilan glanced up, eyebrow raised. “Brainfreeze,” said Aeleus, wincing. Dilan snorted.

“That’s all those frappés are good for.” 

“Not a fan?” Aeleus’ brain still ached, but he refused to let a conversation slip through his fingers now.

Dilan made a noncommittal noise. “Can't speak poorly of my own products on the clock.” They rolled their eyes.

“You're on break,” said Aeleus, trying to sound convincing, “and Naminé made this one.” 

“Hah.” Dilan dropped their air of customer service politeness. “Fine. Those drinks are nothing but the whimsy of a narcissistic simpleton.” Aeleus blinked at the sudden venom, but they carried on unabated, as if they’d been waiting too long for an opportunity to vent. “They’re a waste of good coffee and of my time. [ADD SOMETHING IN HERE?] Really, customers notwithstanding, all the issues in this place are her fault,” they spat, eyes narrowing. Aeleus raised an eyebrow.

“You don't mean Naminé?”

“Of course not. She’s a veritable ball of sunshine.” Dilan’s tone did not soften. “No, it's that pink-haired layabout of a manager that's the problem. She struts in, rearranges the furniture, makes up some absurd special then we don't see her again for a month. I can only assume she's doing the books correctly because the tax office haven't called in, but I've never seen any evidence of her actually doing work.”

“Leaving the work to you?”

“Mm. More than once now I've been saddled with a trainee to teach with no warning, let alone compensation. It's absurd.”

“Not your dream job, then,” commented Aeleus.

“Far from it. But even a menial day job is worth doing well.”

“What would you rather do?”

“I play oboe. I plan to make a career of it.” Dilan stared at Aeleus, jaw tense, ready for dismissal or ridicule. 

“Oboe…” Aeleus scoured his memory for information beyond probably a musical instrument. “That’s a little like a clarinet?”

Dilan rolled their eyes, but visibly relaxed. “They are superficially similar, yes, but the reed - the part that truly defines the sound - is very different. The clarinet is easy to pick up, if difficult to master, while it can be a challenge for an oboe novice to make any pleasing sound at all. It’s a woefully underappreciated instrument.” Aeleus nodded thoughtfully, but Dilan trailed off. He slurped his frappe, racking his brain for something to keep the conversation going, trying not to stare too much at the possibly celestial being eating snow peas at the other side of the table. How did talking work, again?

“So what about you?” 

“Me?” 

“You’ve listened to all my griping, but I haven’t heard anything about you. What do you do?” Their features twisted into a wry smile.

“Oh. I work at a club.” When someone offers information about themself, it's appropriate to give similar information about yourself in return. That’s how talking works. “I prefer to be behind the bar, but they mostly put me at the door - I can’t imagine why.” Dilan’s smile softened, and Aeleus’ heart leapt into his throat. 

“I see. That would be why you get decaf in the mornings - you’re on your way home to sleep?”

“You noticed that?” “It’s unusual.” Their expression was neutral again. 

[HHHHH MORE CONVERSATION PROBABLY IDK]

Dilan glanced at their phone and raised their eyebrows. 

“I should get back to work. Thanks for the company.” They gathered their possessions and started sliding out of the booth.

“Before you go,” interrupted Aeleus, “Namine uses singular they pronouns for you. Is that your general preference?” Dilan blinked, frozen half-standing at the end of the booth.

“Er- yes, it is.” They straightened up, clearing their throat. “Yourself?”

“He/him is fine. Have a good afternoon.” 

Dilan nodded once then hastily disappeared behind the counter. 

[how 2 end chapter??]

Aeleus sat at the booth for a long time. 

[Note: Probably should work in them telling each other their names somewhere lol]

#god I wrote most of this so long ago #aeleus got a lot more developed since then so I want this to go a little differently now #unfinished drafts #fic #rare truffle cafe

[purple-urself]

Friendly Neighbourhood Red Riot - krbkweek2019 Day 2

Rating: Teen & Up Warnings: None Pairing: Kiribaku Summary: A vigilante hero calling himself 'Red Riot' has been causing quiet a stir, and Detectives Bakugou and Midoriya have been tasked with hunting him down.

For the @krbkweek2k19

Read on A03

It starts with Deku, slapping a newspaper down onto Katsuki’s desk on a rainy Monday morning.

“Red Riot - Neighbourhood hero, or public menace?”

The headline states, and Katsuki scoffs at the thought of calling the masked troublemaker a ‘hero’.

“He’s started to gain a following.” Deku says, pointing at the blurry picture that accompanies the headline.

“No shit.” Katsuki pushes the paper away in disgust. The guy calling himself ‘Red Riot’ was probably just a kid looking for some sort of attention, and he was getting it. Twitter had been going crazy for weeks, with people from their city posting grainy videos of the ‘vigilante’ fighting crime. And now apparently the newspapers had caught wind of what was happening, and wanted in on the action. Soon, the whole city would be talking about the so called hero.

“Bakugou! Midoriya! My office.” Deku’s eyes widen at the order yelled across the busy precinct.

“Yes sir!”

Katsuki rolls his eyes, but follows the nerd into the captain’s office.

Aizawa barely glances up from his papers as they enter, telling them to take a seat after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

“I’m assuming you both know about the man calling himself Red Riot?” They nod, Katsuki accompanying his with a scowl. “The higher-ups think he’s a cause for concern, and to be honest, I don’t care enough to argue with them. I want him found, got it?”

Great, Katsuki thinks, he’s being relegated to babysitting duties instead of actual police work.

He goes to argue, but surprisingly, Deku beats him to it.

“I understand why the higher-ups want him off the streets but sir, I’m not sure what we can even do to stop him? It’s not like he’s doing anything illegal, he’s just…” Deku flounders for a second under Aizawa’s cool gaze. “...getting in the way a bit?”

“Two of the criminals he has previously captured sustained minor physical injuries, and want to press charges, should we capture him. As of this morning, there’s a warrant out for his arrest. The DA will most likely let him off with a slap on the wrist, but his capture will hopefully deter any copycats wanting to get a piece of the action.” Aizawa levels them both with a calculating stare. “I understand both of you are more used to homicide and drug cases, but I’m trusting you to bring this guy in. Don’t disappoint me.”

“Yes sir,” both detectives chorus at the same time, Deku slightly more enthusiastic.

They make their way over to their desks again, Katsuki flopping down into his seat and groaning at the prospect of trying to hunt this fucker down.

“Cheer up, Kacchan.” Deku tells him, pulling up his own chair to Katsuki’s desk. They’ve done this so many times, it’s second nature to both of them at this point. “If we just treat this as a missing persons case, we’ll find him in no time.”

“No, that won’t work,” Katsuki frowns at the thought, “With a missing person, we already know who the hell we’re looking for; their family, friends, where they live, and work. But we don’t have anything on this guy.” Katsuki gestures at the newspaper still in front of them on his desk.

Deku stares at it, getting a fire in his eyes that always tends to make Katsuki a little nervous, not that he’d ever admit it. Deku can be very intense sometimes.

“I wouldn’t say we have nothing.” Deku says slowly. “In fact, I think we have more than enough to begin our investigation. The whole city is watching out for Red Riot, and people post online wherever they spot him.”

Katsuki dreads to think where this is going. “You really think we should find whackos on the internet as witnesses?”

“It’s a logical place to start.” Deku shrugs, “Even if not all of them are telling the truth, I’m sure we’ll find at least some people that can give us an accurate statement.”

Katsuki doesn’t give Deku the satisfaction of telling him he’s right. Katsuki can already sense this entire case is going give him one hell of a headache.

-

Deku suggests they start by mapping every picture and video taken of Red Riot. It’s a good first step, if a bit tedious, and confirms a suspicion Katsuki had been entertaining since being put on the case; the majority of Red Riot’s appearances are centered around their precinct and the surrounding area, leading both detectives to believe he’s a local in their part of the city.

“Now that we have that confirmed, we can move on to individual sightings.” Deku says, eyes flicking over the cluster of red pins currently sticking out of the map attached to Katsuki’s corkboard. “But I have no idea where to start.”

“Needs to be somewhere public,” Katsuki chips in, “Much higher chance of him being caught on security cameras, instead of shitty cell phones.”

Deku hums in agreement, still looking over the map. Katsuki rolls his eyes, knowing that he’s the one that will make this judgement call. Deku is rather indecisive when it comes to investigation, where as in the field he’s usually the first into action, Katsuki being the one to plan out their strategy. Aizawa tells them it’s why they make such a great team, but Katsuki is convinced that it has more to do with the fact they basically grew up joined at the hip.

“The corner of Prince Avenue, we’ll go there first.” Katsuki says firmly, “There’s a coffee shop right next to the area of the sighting, plus a jewelry store across the street. Should be able to get at least something.”

“Great idea Kacchan!” Deku chirps loudly, earning a couple of rolled eyes from the officers working closest to them.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s just go. Sooner we catch this guy the sooner we can get back to regular cases.”

“Only you would be excited to get back to gruesome murders.” Deku says lightly, and Katsuki punches him in the shoulder.

“Shut up, nerd.”

-

When they arrive at Prince Avenue, they decide to split up, with Deku instantly calling the coffee shop lead, and leaving Katsuki with the jewellery store. Deku is as predictable as ever, and Katsuki makes him promise to get a decaf frappe-latte-mocha whatever the fuck Deku’s usual order is. The only thing worse than being forced to work a useless case, is being forced to work a useless case with Deku jacked up on caffeine.

Katsuki strides into the jewellery store, and right up to the counter. The assistant has a customer service smile on his face as he greets him, which instantly drops as soon as Katsuki produces his badge from his back pocket.

“I need to speak to whoever’s in charge.”

“I’ll go and get my manager,” the assistant scuttles off, and Katsuki takes a moment to look around. The store is right opposite their area of interest, and he silently prays the manager will give him any recordings without him having to request a warrant.

The assistant returns with an older lady who he guesses is the person he needs to speak to. He flashes his badge again, and the woman grimaces.

“I’m not entirely sure what this is about officer…?”

“Detective Bakugou,” Katsuki introduces himself emphasising his title. “And I’m here investigating an assault that happened outside your store about two weeks ago. Are there any security cameras set up outside the store?”

“Yes, we have two cameras facing the street,” the lady confirms.

“Great, can I have a look?”

The lady considers him for a second, but eventually nods. “I don’t see why not.”

After around 30 minutes of scrolling through footage, Katsuki finds what he’s after, only to be disappointed. The video quality is hardly any better than the cellphone footage they already have from twitter, and most of the fight takes place out of frame.

Katsuki downloads the content anyway, hoping that Deku has had better luck with the coffee shop.

He finds the nerd sitting at the counter, sipping on a beverage that looks like it’s made up entirely of whipped cream.

“-ended up being punished for it! Can you believe that?!” Deku was saying to the barista behind the counter, who seemed to be listening attentively whilst polishing a latte glass.

“Well, that’s hardly fair. He started it!”

“I know, right?” Deku laughs, and Katsuki has heard enough to know what this conversation is about.

“You gave as good as you got, nerd. You deserved those push-up drills as much as I did.”

Deku whips around at his voice. “Kacchan! I didn’t think you’d be done so quick.”

“Place was a bust,” he informs Deku as he sits in the stool next him. “What about this place? Or have you been too busy fueling your addiction to do your job?”

Deku pouts at him, gesturing to his drink. “It’s decaf, I swear.”

Bakugou looks towards the barista, hoping for some confirmation, but the guy is just watching them, an amused look on his face.

“So you must be the partner Izuku was telling me about, huh?”

It’s so typical of Deku to be on a first name basis with a coffee shop barista he only met 30 minutes ago.

“Unfortunately.” Katsuki responds dryly, and the barista laughs.

“I was actually doing my job Kacchan,” Deku defends. “The manager won’t be back for another ten minutes, but Eijirou here was actually working when the assault happened, and we were talking about it.”

“And somehow you managed to turn an interview with a witness into a bitch fest?” Katsuki questions, and Deku flushes brightly.

“You shouldn’t be too hard on him, I was the one who asked about his partner,” the barista says lightly, and Katsuki can’t help but let his gaze flit over the man in front of him, suddenly curious about their first potential eye witness.

He seems to be as tall as Katsuki, with a stocky build. Katsuki could tell he works out more than the average person, muscles bulging underneath the tight shirt of his barista uniform. His hair was tied back, and covered in a tacky flame pattern bandana. His smile was laidback and friendly looking, but there was something about his eyes that had Katsuki on edge, almost as if he was-

“Kacchan!” Deku was waving a hand in front of his face. “Eijirou is trying to talk to you, stop staring into space!”

Katsuki snaps back to attention, shoving Deku’s hand out of his face.

“Alright already!”

Eijirou is failing to hold back a laugh at their display, and Katsuki inwardly prays their “unprofessional attitude” doesn’t make it back to Aizawa. Again.

“I was just going to ask if you wanted to order anything, but it looks like you might really need the caffeine.” Eijirou speculates, amusement sparkling in his eyes.

Katsuki glares at him, and he hears Deku snorting into his hand.

“I’ll have a green tea.” Katsuki says petulantly.

Eijirou chuckles again, pulling a mug down from a shelf, “Coming right up!”

As Eijirou sets to work, Katsuki turns to Deku, who is still trying to hold in a laugh.

“Where do you find these freaks?” Katsuki mutters in jest, and Deku slaps him on the shoulder.

“You’re just jealous I can actually make friends with people.”

“Shut up, Deku.”

They spend the remainder of the time waiting for the coffee shop’s manager discussing what Katsuki had gained from the jewellery store. Deku seemed just as disappointed by the lack of new information, but was annoyingly optimistic about the potential evidence that the coffee shop cameras might reveal.  

Katsuki sips on his green tea, listening to Deku babble about potential leads. With any luck, they'll have this case solved within the day.

#kirishima eijirou #bakugou katsuki #kiribaku #bakushima #bnha #krbkweek2k19 #my fic

[twinniepie]

Sheith Participation Week - Day 1

Day 1: Share a headcannon

Shiro is a tea drinker extraordinaire and Keith is a coffee snob.

They know each other’s drink order like the back of their hand.

Since Shiro is usually the one who wakes up first, he prepares both his and Keith’s drinks. Keith tried to make Shiro’s tea one time and it didn’t turn out so well.

Shiro goes for lighter teas- green tea, peach tea, hisbiscus, etc- and then darker teas when he’s had a bad day or just really needs the caffeine.

has a whole tea cabinet designated for his different flavors of tea, some in bags, some in sachets, some loose leafed in tins.

Keith likes to tease Shiro that he just likes tea because it makes him look fancy.

Shiro definitely has and uses a Japanese tea cup on a daily basis even though Keith calls him extra

has both a modern/high-tech tea pot and a more traditional tea pot passed down to him from his grandparents

known to get fancy with his iced teas

drinks milk teas in the winter

Keith is a MAJOR coffee snob and will fight you on everything from beans to brewing methods.

Don’t you DARE offer him decaf. It will be like you just slapped his first born he’d be so offended. Give him instant coffee and he will literally stab you

has ordered almost every form of coffee off of the menu (save for some of the really sugary/milky ones)

owns one of those coffee machines that looks like it has a blender on the side and one of those big coffee mugs that fits about three cups or so of coffee (Shiro likes to use it to eat soup or when he’s drinking hot chocolate)

drinks frappes only when he’s feeling shitty.  

secretly gets Starbucks every now and then; Shiro always manages to get photographic evidence and uses it as blackmail whenever needed.

had to give up coffee for a week due to a bet and was an insufferable human being. Shiro was extra affectionate and patient the whole time.

#sheithparticipationweek #sheith #headcanon #coffee #tea

[myoldbeatheart]

Coffee Quest 419

When I see the words “Coffee Quest 419”...my interest is immediately piqued. You might say it’s my dreams come true--a reason to spend excessive time and money in local coffee shops. While Christina and I love coffee and usually make at least one coffee shop stop a weekend, we almost always go to Plate 21. We know we love their product and vibe--and, by this point, we’re familiar to them and that’s a nice feeling (I never have been one to dream big-- just please notice me, adorable barista). The Coffee Quest 419 pushed us to visit coffee shops we rarely or never visited. While not every experience was perfect, the overall experience was worth it. So, next you’ll find a little synopsis from my perspective of each coffee shop stop and a snarky (or not) one-liner from my wife, who lives and breathes to say it like it is.

Plate One: First stamp Ordered the nitro Best decaf coffee ever Baristas were noticeably quiet Spacious environment (which  made it feel empty and cold) Christina- “Best decaf ever.”

Dragon’s Roost: Second stamp Ordered the coconut frappe (painfully sweet) Torani brand syrup Desserts Games-shop and play there if you bring your own Big tables Super friendly baristas Serve Glass City Roasters coffee Perfect napkins Christina- “I think you should do your review and then have one liners from me. Like, that Dragon Ball Z place? Wtf?”

Brew Coffee Bar: Third stamp Ordered an iced matcha latte Offer blended drinks but no fruit smoothies Cookie Doughlicious Boochy Mama’s Kombucha Toledo-opoly Quiet atmosphere Many students working on their computers Hartzler Dairy Christina- “Why does this taste like milk? My stomach hurts.” Christina

Maddie & Bella Perrysburg: Fourth stamp Ordered the Cherry Cordial cold brew Super friendly baristas So many drinks sounded awesome--they helped us decide Nice vibes Christina- “[eyebrow arched] Cute.”

Black Kite Coffee & Pies: Fifth stamp Went for the beer sampling (which was a little awkward but I’m a little awkward, so) Kristin Kiser was super friendly Christina- “Good vibes.”

Glass City Roasters: Sixth stamp Ordered the smoked bourbon hazelnut cold brew with a “little cream” Small space Friendly barista Great vibes Barista helped us decide on what to drink Christina- “My second favorite.”

Maddie & Bella Toledo: Seventh stamp Ordered cold brew with vanilla Out of cherry, out of root beer, in the middle of brewing a tea we wanted, made two teas instead of one but gave us both Relatively friendly baristas Really cold (temp-wise) inside Made friends with a super nice person and her daughter while sitting outside the coffee shop Christina- “Why do you have things on the menu that you don’t actually have?”

Plate 21: Eighth stamp Ordered the coffee frappe with vanilla (all house made syrups) and chicken pesto panini Best baristas Sandy gave us bones for our dogs and said “They’re our customers, too.” Best coffee frappe on planet earth--just the perfect amount of sweetness with the best coffee flavor Serve Madcap coffee Friendly, welcoming environment Efficient in getting orders out Christina- “My absolute favorite, hands down. Not sure why people go anywhere else in Toledo.”

Sip: Ninth stamp Ordered cold brew Friendly baristas Awesome seating areas--plenty of space upstairs to hangout and set up shop to visit or get work done Offer blended drinks, including fruit smoothies Christina- “Don’t bother with coffee here, but the mango smoothie is on point.”

Claro: Tenth stamp Ordered the matcha frappe (effing perfect) Baristas aren’t super friendly Kind of a cold, quiet environment but really nice poetry on the walls and a useable record player, typewriter, and Toledo coloring books Christina- “Love the poetry on the walls, prefer their smoothies to their coffee drinks.”

The Flying Joe: Eleventh stamp Ordered cold brew Multi-roaster Flat vibe-not somewhere I want to hang for long which works well because it’s located at Levis Commons--byeee Christina- “Uhhmmm?”

Flatlands: Twelfth stamp Ordered nitro and a latte Extreme multi-roaster Limited menu Heavily focused on the coffee flavor (as opposed to adding flavored syrups to their drinks) Christina: “The food is just as good as the coffee.”

#coffeequest419 #plateone #plate21 #dragonsroost #brewcoffeebar #maddieandbella #flatlands #theflyingjoe #clarocoffee #glasscityroasters #toledoohio

[goldstandardcoffee-blog]

Coffee Orders of RWBY

As I actually work at a coffee shop I take it as a matter of semi-professional fannish interest to figure out who would order what at a Starbucks. And I am bored today. So let’s see what we can come up with.

Team RWBY:

Ruby Rose: Ah, miss “I drink milk”. I mean an order of cold milk seems obvious. But we know that by the end of the most recent season she does drink coffee. With an unholy amount of sugar in it. If we assume that this is just the best that can be done then we may extrapolate. So Ruby Rose, if given the choice, Marbe Mocha Macchiatto. It’s sweet, it has two kinds of chocolate, and it does contain coffee.

Weiss Schnee: Canon we know she feels Ruby’s coffee is insanely sweet. And she was raised with access to the finer things in life. Like as not she wouldn’t ever set foot in a Starbucks on her own. She would prefer upscale local cafes. However if she was in one she would want to test the barista and get an espresso macchiato. Which she would just call a macchiato and get annoyed if they thought she meant something else

Yang Xiao Long: somewhat older and more wary than Ruby, total adrenaline junkie, enjoys wild nights out. More easily found in a bar than a cafe. Tastes run fairly simple. Honestly she’s the one I see as most likely to just order a coffee.

Blake Belladonna: Grew up in an interesting life. Spent a lot of time drinking bitter coffee with Adam. It has to many memories for her, so she buries the taste of coffee beneath cream and sugar and flavor. Breve vanilla latte.

Team JNPR

Jaune Arc: Hot Chocolate but he asks them to say that it’s a mocha. I mean, come on, just look at the guy.

Nora Valkyrie: We all know what happens when she gets coffee. Even the most jaded baristas are cautious. Strictly decaf, no matter what she actually asks for. Probably also with lots of sugar in it, probably caramel drizzle. Just, like, half a bottle of the stuff in her cup. Favors iced drinks so she can see the caramel is really there.

Pyrrha Nikos: Definitely going to be one of those customers who apologizes for how difficult their order is, when it isn’t really that difficult to make. Change in milk and one syrup in there. So probably a soy or nonfat latte with... I’m going to guess hazelnut.

Lie Ren: Green Tea, usually hot. Occasionally a matcha latte or matcha frapp if he is being goaded into celebrating. Otherwise, this one is pretty canon as green tea.

Team CFVY:

Does not go into starbucks. They have a fully operational industrial espresso machine hidden somewhere in their room.

Adults:

Professor Ozpin: Carries a coffee mug with him, wants something simple that isn’t going to go away by his next incarnation. Probably drinks it black. Coffee. Discerning palette that tends towards single origin roasts.

Oscar: Still not used to coffee, and possibly discouraged from drinking it by Ozpin.

Qrow Branwen: All coffee is Irish coffee. So probably something simple that mixes well with booze. Iced Coffee or Cold Brew, optionally sweetened.

Professor Oobleck: Honestly I don’t even want to know what he keeps in that thermos.

#RWBY #JNPR #Gold Standard Coffee #fictional coffee orders #Ruby Rose #nora valkyrie

[thelittleredheadedmusician]

Jives and Java

For the final day of Cassiestephkara Week the prompt was Favorite Troupe. Now I couldn’t think of a favorite troupe besides the high school au and I wanted to keep that as a verse for me to play around with more later. As such this is a mesh of a coffee shop au, a meet cute, and an identity reveal. Can also be found here on ao3. Rated G; 1,723 words Cassiestephkara

Steph knew she had to find a summer job but she was hoping to avoid working as a barista. As usual, her luck didn’t quite hold up so she found herself wearing a baseball cap and apron, working a cappuccino machine for the summer. Tim had offered to get her a paid internship at WE but she was still averse to him doing and buying things for her. Though he insisted on coming to her for his coffee and tipping extra, but it was a small, family owned shop with quality brew and pastries so Steph didn’t mind him doing that.

One afternoon as she was wiping down tables the bell over the door jangled causing her to glance up. Tim waved at her as he walked in, trailed behind by two boys and a pair of blondes. Steph’s coworker motioned that she was to come take Tim and company’s order. She grabbed her towel and weaved her way between the tables to behind the counter.

“Hey there Timbo,” she said with a grin. “What can I do ya for?”

Tim smiled and searched his pockets for his wallet. “When do you go on break?”

“Whenever I want. Why?”

“I want you to meet my friends, you know, outside of uniform,” Tim gave her a conspiring wink. Flipping out one of his credit cards he just asked for his usual and whatever the others wanted. She tapped his extra-large black coffee and chocolate croissant into the system and wrote Timmy-boy onto a cup with a little bat, because she thought she was clever. He went off to find a table and the tall dark-haired boy came up to the counter.

“Welcome to Jives and Java! How can I help you? And don’t bother paying, Tim’s already got it covered,” Steph gave her most charming grin as he studied the menu.

“Hi, yeah, uh… I have no idea what I want,” he admitted with a slight grimace.

“Well, do you like sweet or bitter?” Steph asked brightly.

“I’ve got it Kon,” the blonde with curly hair laughed. “Whatever Tim got, give him the exact opposite.” The others all laughed and Steph smirked.

“Well, I normally do that too so I’d go with the cotton candy frappe,” Steph suggested.

The boy wrinkled his nose but the other girl smiled. “I’ll take one of those!”

Steph tapped in the order. “Can I have a name for the cup?”

“Kara, K-A-R-A,” The girl spelled as Steph scribbled it down. On a whim, she drew a heart after the girl’s name.

“Can I have a decaf macchiato with whole milk?” the other boy asked and Steph bobbed her head. “A medium?” Steph grabbed the proper cup and uncapped her sharpie once again, patiently waiting with the tip just above the paper. “Bart. As in Bartholomew. But just the first four letters,” he told her, rapid fire. She wrote it down and added a squiggly lightning bolt on the end. Placing the cup in line on top of the machine she turned back to the last boy, who was actually the first.

“Can I have a cinnamon apple tea? That’s for Conner with an E-R at the end. I know, lame,” he chuckled.

Steph wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Nah, your order is actually the easiest and so my favorite,” she shot the group a smile. She hadn’t realized that Tim was going to introduce her to his Titan friends, well introduce Steph seeing as how Batgirl already knew them all. Since taking their orders she knew exactly who they were, three of them didn’t wear a mask anyway.

The final girl had finished studying the menu and came closer to the counter. “Can I get a large caramel mocha and a strawberry crepe? For Cassie,” she smiled warmly and Steph returned it. Scribbling the name down she added a star over the I and at the end. She finished ringing everything up and swiped Tim’s card, passing it to Cassie.

Her coworker had already started on the drinks so Steph plated the pastries and grabbed her own cotton candy frappe. “I’m going to go on break then.” Her coworker just shrugged as Steph grabbed the tray and walked to the back corner where the teen heroes had commandeered a table.

She handed out the drinks before flopping into the booth next to Tim, slurping her pink and frothy drink up her straw. Tim practically inhaled the first third of his coffee before realizing that everyone was waiting on him to make introductions. Steph knew she could just introduce herself but she liked forcing the boy blunder to be social. When he realized that he was who they were waiting on he settled the paper cup on the table and self-consciously ran his finger over the black ink of his name. His eye caught on the bat and he shared a self-deprecating grin with her.

“So, this is my friend Steph. Steph these are my, uh, camp friends. Kon, Kara, Cassie, and Bart,” he pointed to each in turn.

“Camp?” Steph asked with a raised brow. “Tim. Really? Camp.” His cheeks colored and the others squirmed uncomfortably. Steph waved her hand at them. “Relax. I know. My only question is, where’s Tam?”

Tim swallowed his coffee quickly before answering. “She’s on vacation with her family. I thought you knew?”

“Practically and actually a Wayne are two very different things,” Steph responded dryly.

Kara’s eyes widened. “No way,” she whispered.

Steph laughed and nodded. “So, what’re you lot doing in Gotham? You know we have strict rules around here.”

“We know he’s off world right now,” Cassie smirked. “Tim said we had to check out the best coffee shop in Gotham, while we could.”

“He also said that it had the best look barista in all of Gotham too,” Kon said with a wink. Steph nearly whacked the back of her head on the booth she laughed so hard. Tim’s eyes narrowed to half Batglare™ level at his best friend. Kon was able to shrug it off but suddenly doubled over with an “Oof!” From Bart’s laughter and the girls’ grins they had apparently elbowed him in the stomach simultaneously.

“I like you friends,” she stage whispered to Tim.

“We like you too! I mean I do, uh like you that is,” Kara stopped as her face reddened.

Bart smiled at her before turning back to address Steph. “You ever in Cali let us know!”

“Trust me, I will. No way I can afford a hotel out there on these tips,” Steph laughed.

“You’re more than welcome to crash in my room,” Cassie said with an easy smile.

“Thanks! I’ve got to head back,” Steph said. She finished her frothy pink drink and slid out of the booth. “I get off at three if you guys are still in town and wanna hang?”

“We were going to head back to the manor and play video games,” Tim said as he looked at the table for their responses.

“Why don’t you guys game and Kara and I can meet Steph and hit the shops?” Cassie suggested.

Everyone nodded and Steph grinned. “Ok! I’ll meet you here at three then,” she said before walking back to the counter.

***

Steph stuffed her apron and hat into her messenger bag as she waved to her coworkers. Cassie and Kara were waiting patiently outside the shop. Kara with her sundress and Cassie with her jean short overalls and crop top, they looked like any two teenagers hanging out on a warm summer afternoon. Not a single Gothamite passing by would have guessed two of the most powerful people in the world were right there playing Pokemon Go. Then again, they didn’t realize the true night life of their first family either.

“Hey guys!” Steph called as she walked towards them.

They both raised their heads from their phones and smiled at her. Kara waved it toward her excitedly. “Look! I caught an Eevee! I know they’re not much of anything but I think they’re adorable. I have about 10 and every evolution,” Kara trailed off as her cheeks started to turn pink.

“Kara, I’m not the type to judge one on their favorite pokemon. Now what team you’re on is another story entirely,” Steph raised her eyebrows imploringly.

Cassie burst out laughing. “Valor all the way!” Steph gave her a victorious high five as Kara’s cheeks turned a deep red. “She’s on Instinct,” Cassie said.

“Aw. That’s actually really cute. Don’t tell anyone I told you this, cause he’d totally kill me, but so is Dami.” Steph clapped Kara on the shoulder. The other girl just looked at her incredulously. “On my own grave I swear it!”

Cassie winced at that. “I don’t mean to be rude but uh, are the death jokes necessary?”

“As Jason says, ‘They’re a coping mechanism’,” Steph shrugged.

Kara exchanged a concerned look with Cassie. Steph noticed Cassie pursing her lips back at Kara. If she knew Cassie better than Steph would have been able to see the concern in her expression too.

“Why don’t we go hit the shopping district? Tim left me his card so we can have some fun,” Steph said, trying to dispel the slight chill that had fallen over the three girls.

“Ok,” Kara said with a bright smile.

“I’m always down to spend Wayne family money,” Cassie smirked.

The three girls left the front of the coffee shop and headed downtown, their blonde hair fluttering in the wind. The rest of the afternoon was a whirlwind of fun. Cassie told them all about her mom’s latest exhibition in Peru and how she had been helping in her free time. Kara talked about moving to the Kent farm and helping with the chores. Feeding the newborn calves was her favorite. Steph entertained them with tales from the coffee shop. Regaling crazy costumers, crazy orders, and just plan odd encounters.

By the end of the day the three had made plans to meet again, this time to go Pokemon hunting in San Francisco. Steph had been so glad that Tim had introduced her, Stephanie Brown that is, to Cassie Sandsmark and Kara Danvers. Hanging out as Batgirl, Supergirl, and Wonder Girl was certainly fun, but as three average girls was ten times better.

#dc comics #cassiestephkara #cassiestephkara week #my fic #writing #own writing #the blonde brigade #stephanie brown #cassie sandsmark #kara danvers #tim drake #conner kent #bart allen #batgirl #wonder girl #supergirl #red robin #superboy #kid flash #teen titans #coffee shop #meet cute #identity reveal #the batgirls are better than you #everybody just needs more wondergals period