Work Text:
The first time Tobio sees him it’s 3:30 on a bitterly cold Wednesday, and the tall blond is wrapped in a large knitted scarf looking like he’d only just rolled out of bed. The cafe is nearly empty, just a few college kids chatting quietly while Sugawara-san wiped down tables, so Tobio pauses restocking bags of coffee grounds and moves behind the counter just as the new customer approaches.
The blond makes it to the register, and Tobio takes the moment to appreciate the smooth curve of his lips, the defined angle of his jaw, and Tobio finds himself turning red when the customer shifts his gaze to meet his eyes. For someone that seems about as enthusiastic as a boulder, his amber eyes are razor sharp. Tobio speaks around the embarrassment of being caught staring.
“Hi, what-what can I get you?”
“Caramel macchiato, venti, skim, extra shot, extra-hot, extra-whip.” He says it with monotone familiarity, and Tobio feels his eye twitch a bit. Suddenly, his customer was much less attractive. Sugawara-san is looking at him over the customer’s shoulder; a subtle warning for Tobio not to complain about the order. Even if the order was stupidly complicated. So, Tobio just nods and takes the payment before asking for a name for the order. The man smirks at him and Tobio curses the way his face heats up again.
“It’s Tsukishima.”
----
Kei waits for his drink at the pick-up counter in a distracted state. He’d been up until 5am working on his economics paper, and still needed to edit it and add citations. The sound of cardboard sliding over the counter makes him look over. If there’s any bright side to this, it’s that his caffeine is being served by a pretty dark haired barista. If the barista’s hand shakes a bit when their fingers brush in the exchange of the cup, Kei doesn’t mention it. Instead, he tosses a smirk over his shoulder with a “thanks”.
Walking back to his dorm room, he turns the cup in his hands, partly to keep them warm, and partly to give him something to do. The writing on the side catches his eyes, and he lets out a scoff.
肉島 (nikushima)
Typical starbuck’s barista.
----
The next time Tobio sees him it’s a Tuesday morning, and he has a line eight people deep. The blond makes his way to the counter behind a group of office workers, and Tobio has to catch his breath. He looks much better than he did last time, more awake. His eyes no longer bore purple crescents under them, and he held himself straighter. Tobio thinks the air of arrogance surrounding him suits him well.
“What can I get for you?” He’s glad his voice comes out less choked than last time. He doesn’t want this guy to think he’s weird. His customer’s lips quirk just slightly and Tobio already knows what he’s going to say, and he would give just about anything for him to say something else.
“Caramel macchiato, venti, skim, extra shot, extra-hot, extra-whip.”
God fucking dammit. He glances around for help, but finds none. Sugawara-san is on the phone with an upset customer, Sawamura-san is pouring fresh frappuccino mixture into the machine, and Hinata is cleaning up a spill near the entrance. He sighs through his nose, feels his mouth warp into a scowl, and he nods, takes the money.
“Name?” Tobio swears the smirk on this guy’s face makes him about 100% more annoying. And, if he’s honest, about 150% more attractive.
“Tsukishima.”
Tobio grabs a cup, looks at his line-oh god, is it longer now?- and gets to work.
----
It makes Kei laugh to himself when the pretty barista bites back a comment about his pretentious- yes, he is well aware that his drink order is ridiculous- coffee, and instead turns to write on the cup. When Kei is walking out the door with it a good five minutes later, he has to laugh again. Kanji certainly wasn’t this barista’s best subject.
月竜 (tsukiryuu)
----
It becomes a habit for the two of them; the blond comes in every time Tobio is working, always around 9 am. Kei orders his over priced coffee while inadvertently turning Tobio into a blushing mess, and Tobio continues to use incorrect kanji. Their little back and forths have been happening for a few weeks now, and Tobio is slowly warming up to his new regular. When he’s not making backhanded compliments or too-specific drink orders, Tobio finds to Tsukishima to be...well, not quite pleasant, but Tobio admits he doesn’t hate seeing his face anymore.
Today is slower than it ought to be, but Tobio isn’t complaining. It’s quiet at the moment, Azumane-san is taking inventory in the storage room, and Sawamura-san disappeared into the back office with Sugawara-san about a half hour ago; Tobio has no intention of disturbing any of them. He is quite content to run the counter on his own. Especially since he is currently looking up into amber eyes as he leans his elbows on the counter.
Right now Kei is explaining the difference between the kanji for ‘melon’ (瓜) and ‘claw’ (爪) but Tobio can't pay attention. His mind is too focused on making a mental list of pros and cons of his customer.
Pros:
He's hot
He has a nice laugh
He’s smart
He's actually pretty funny when he's not being an asshole
He's really hot
Cons:
His stupid fucking drink order
“-ama,” Tobio tunes back into the conversation when Kei says his name, and he thinks he likes the way his name sounds in that low tenor, “Kageyama, are you going to take my order, or are you going to stare at me all day?” Tobio makes no effort to hide his irritated sigh.
“Fine.” Kei opens his mouth again, but Tobio beats him to it, “Caramel macchiato, venti, skim, extra shot, extra-hot, extra-whip.”
The smirk Kei gives him makes his heart pound a bit faster. “Right. And, since you can’t seem to write my name correctly, I took the liberty of doing it for you.”
Kei pulls a folded paper out of his pocket and pushes it between Tobio’s hands. The barista opens it, and he has to reread it thrice before his mind catches up with him. The characters on the page are written in neat, even strokes, and Tobio’s face feels like it’s on fire.
月島蛍 (Tsukishima Kei)
A phone number is printed just below it and Tobio wonders just what the hell he’s supposed to do with this, but Kei laughs and edges at him to start making his coffee. Tobio is grateful for the out, and grabs a cup. He pauses for just a moment, marker hovering a millimeter above the cardboard, before steeling his resolve and touching ink to paper.
The burn in his cheeks hasn’t subsided by the time he slides the cup to Kei, and the way he murmurs a ‘thank you for coming’ makes the blond snort. Their fingers touch as the drink is exchanged, and maybe they linger a bit too long, but neither of them move away. The quiet of the cafe is almost deafening to their ears, and the air around them seems too warm to breathe fully. Kei is the first to speak, his voice thrumming like a pulse in Tobio’s head.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Kageyama.” Tobio’s own voice comes out softer than he intends.
“I don’t work tomorrow.” Kei sends him a rare smile, sends Tobio’s heart rate skyrocketing.
“I know.” The taller male pulls his drink from Tobio’s fingers and turns on his heel, and Tobio watches him leave. He reaches into his pocket, fingers the folded paper inside.
----
Kei waits until he’s two blocks away to stop and take a breath. That had gone better than he’d hoped for. The pretty barista he’s slowly fallen for had accepted the note, and hadn’t thrown it back in his face. Not that he could do that while on the job, but still, Kei counted it as a win. Thinking of his note, he glances down at his cup, idly wondering if Kageyama had finally managed to write his name correctly. Instead, he chokes back a laugh. Written in the, by now familiar, bold scrawl was a phone number and a single phrase.
馬鹿野郎 (Asshole)