#and thus doesn't even pick up on the idea that martin might want to be a vampire

[the-laridian]

OTP questions, 8 for Rowan and Max please

I remembered the name of an old TV show and thus our good buddy M. Callahan is in here too. Name of the fic is as close as I could make it match with coffee. Also this is the first time I have written a coffee shop AU that was longer than 75 words. Rowan & Martin's Latte-In "I don't think this is going to work," Martin droned. "It... probably will," Rowan said. "If we don't get some sales, we don't get tips, we're out of a job - " "I hate your pep talks," Martin said. He adjusted his mascot head. "How do I look?" "Like the walking embodiment of our corporate mascot," Rowan said, and it was true. He didn't know why Martin was assigned to mascot duty; Martin's delivery tended to scare people off. "Good luck."

Whether Martin was bringing in customers, Rowan didn't know; people bought Moonbrew coffees no matter what, because it was everywhere and standardized. Like McDonalds, Rowan thought, with the coffee as mass produced as anything else, given the meaningless label "gourmet" and - damn, he'd better pay more attention. At least he wasn't the only one behind the counter. The morning rush slowed, Martin was still out there, and Rowan, Ellie and Parvati got a chance to clean and catch their breath. "I'm goin' out for a smoke break," Ellie announced. "See, if you guys smoked, you could get extra breaks too." "That's not how it works," Parvati said, wiping down the counter. "Why d'you think Martin likes that mascot job? It's so he doesn't have to work in here. Even if the suit smells like someone peed in it." Ellie went out the back door. "Rowan, can you handle register for a while? That one Karen - " "Yeah, sure. Go take a break if you want. It's quiet, I can handle things, or I'll scream if I need one of you," Rowan said, and tried to smile. "Thanks," she smiled back. "Oh, hey, it's your regular!" she chirped, in a way that sounded very staged. "I'll be back in two shakes of a cat's tail!" "That's not - forget it," Rowan muttered as Parvati also went out the back door. His regular? The only person coming in the shop was that administrator guy from the college. "Welcome to Moonbrew," Rowan began, "where every flavor - " "Yes, yes, you don't have to repeat it," the customer said. "Cafe Americano, two shots." That's right, Max. Maximum caffeine, zero sugar. "Anything else, sir?" "What do you recommend from those?" Max pointed at the display of pastries and other baked goods. "Uh... well, they're all trucked in, none of them are made on site." Why was he even saying this? "But - " Max didn't have sweet coffee drinks, might not want a sweet pastry? "If you want something that's actually good for eating, like to save for lunch? I'd go with the eggs and cheese box lunch. The hot ham and swiss is good, but if you have to wait, the box lunch is better." "The box lunch, please." "Yessir." Rowan wrote "MAX" on the drink even though nobody else was here. (What were Ellie and Parvati doing, anyway? Girl talk?) Rang up the customer's total, "Here you go." "Thank you, Rowan." No surprise that Max knew his name, everyone had name tags, but it was nice to hear someone refer to him by name. "When is your lunch break?" "Me? Uh..." Do not say anything negative about employment here. "It's... whenever. You know." Rowan waved a hand vaguely. "Then eat this whenever you have that time." Max handed back the box lunch, picked up his coffee, and left. Rowan looked at the box in his hands, confused. Max had just bought him lunch? Did Rowan look that bad off? Well... he couldn't put it back in the fridge now, if he didn't eat it, he'd have to throw it out. "Hey, dingus, how'd it go?" Ellie was back, smelling of smoke. "How'd what go?" She rolled her eyes. "The guy who's so into you. Did you talk to him this time?" Rowan had no idea what she was talking about. But - Max had bought him lunch. Was that supposed to mean something? Other than being nice? "Whatcha got there?" Ellie pointed at the box, like she couldn't tell what it was. "Lunch. For me, I mean." "Livin' the high life now, huh? Go eat before the next crowd comes in."

#answered #coffee shop au #rowan dane #vicar max #the outer worlds #martin callahan #ellie fenhill #parvati holcomb