an unexpected meetup
AU: bookshop/coffeshop, avery is an artist, derek is a writer synopsis: avery usually works the night shift at The Crossroads, a shift that only gets one consistent regular: Derek Hutchins. he was already surprised to see him enter the coffee shop in the morning, but is even more surprised to find out that Avery knows him by another name author's note: this is the first fic i've fully written in forever and i didn't do much of a proofread i just really wanted to post it cuz i love slimeknight. there may be some issues/bad writing but i didn't use AI so i still have that.
Avery wasn't prepared for the hustle and bustle of the morning shift. A majority of the botany courses at his college took place in the morning since it was the best time to analyze the plants they were covering, so it forced him to find a job with an available night shift. Luckily there weren't many students wanting to work the night shift at The Crossroads coffee shop, the morning shift had the best hours available and a better chance for getting tips from fellow students who understood the struggle of working during the semester. The night shift was a drag, usually slow save for the few med students who needed a boost for their cram sessions. Avery didn't mind it at all, it usually gave him time to sneak in a few assignments and to sketch out ideas he had for drawings that he just couldn't get out of his head.
This week was spring break however, so Avery didn't have to worry about the classes that spared him from having to work this early in the morning. The manager had to beg him to take on the shifts so they'd have an extra hand, only managing to convince him once they mentioned adding on a couple cents to his pay for the sudden change in hours. It was an offer he couldn't refuse in this economy, he was still paying off his credit card which he had no choice but to use to purchase his senior year textbooks, some of the heaviest and most expensive that he's had in his four years. It was a fact that had him debating whether or not to continue on with getting his Ph.D in the topic, but that was a thought he could linger on for a moment since he still had his fall semester to worry about.
Avery was constantly moving with no time to get back to the little doodle he had on a crumpled up napkin nearby. The others knew the opening checklist better than him and he didn't want to get in the way, so he took to his usual hobby that he used to pass the time. Drawing was a way of letting go of all the ideas that popped into his head and distracted him during his study sessions, usually of alternate story lines of things he's read over the years. He didn't have much time to dedicate to sitting down and reading a big, multi-chapter story, so he took to reading short stories that people posted online. They were usually better than some of the stories he's found in bookshops before that were only focused on current trends and making a bunch of money, the stories he read online felt authentic and truly cared for. He often liked to post his drawings for them to see to let them know they were appreciated and have them writing more, but his drawings could never match how impressive their storytelling capabilities were.
His sketch of the knight in shining, gold armor would have to wait in front of the cash register for now as the line in front of it was a few customers away from going out the door. His hands were already aching from constantly operating the different machines without having a second to breath, he had to put extra effort into holding the cup steadily as he waited for the coffee to fill it up. He served a few customers that were waiting for their drinks with a smile before making his way back to the register to take the next order.
"Welcome to The Crossroads, what can I-" he started with the basic greeting he learned in training, but cut himself off when his eyes met with who was ordering. It was Derek Hutchins, a customer who was a regular during Avery's night shifts. He worked at a bookshop a couple buildings up the street that was called The Golden Gates, a name that Avery always thought seemed weird for a bookshop, but it's not like The Crossroads made much sense for a coffee shop either. He was tall and slim, his skin a sepia, reddish-brown with long, unkempt hair that usually covered half of his face. Most of that hair was tied back in a ponytail today letting Avery see both of his deep-set, tired eyes that were a warm shade of brown, and he thought he noticed a slight tinge of gold when the light hit them just right. Avery realized he was staring a bit too much so he gave Derek a nervous smile, "It's you!"
"It's me." Derek responded with a soft smile of his own as he moved closer to the register, making sure that his monotone voice could be heard over the talk of all the college students around them. Avery knew that Derek didn't go to their college, at least not anymore. Even before he started visiting The Crossroads regularly, he heard word about Derek from a few of the students on campus about how he dropped out in his sophomore year. It wasn't because he was the popular type, at least not in the traditional sense of popular. He definitely had a reputation around campus, but it was mostly for him having knowledge about practically everything about anything making him a very reliable tutor for a lot of students. Sometimes he was reliable for just doing their assignments if offered enough money since he didn't seem to care about getting caught for academic dishonesty at that point.
Avery got to learn a bit more about his reasons for dropping out as they talked a bit more, it was a lot easier to do that during the night shifts when they would usually be the only two people in the shop. He was a coding major, apparently in the top of his class and already being offered to test out of certain courses so he could graduate early and make his way into the industry sooner. The life of a gifted student led to a lot of burnout and sessions of deep thought where Derek debated if it was even worth it to end up in a corporate job, worked to the bone as he sat in a sad, gray cubicle for hours on end to contribute to something he wouldn't even be passionate about. Much to the dismay of all the academic advisors and professors on campus, he left at the end of his spring semester, working at The Golden Gates to save up money as he started to figure out what he wanted to do.
"I'm not used to seeing you in the mornings, it's usually a different barista each time I come. Nice to see a more familiar face this time." Derek made up for the sudden silence caused by Avery's slight shock from being able to see him. He wouldn't have said it out loud to avoid making things awkward, but he was kind of disappointed to be working the morning shifts since Derek was one of his favorite customers. Sometimes the conversations were a bit one sided, with Avery venting some of his frustrations about college life and falling behind with his grades. It didn't seem like Derek seemed to mind, but it did leave Avery wishing for an opportunity to get to know more about him since he practically knew nothing.
"I'm glad to see you- I mean, a familiar face too. Morning rush has been crazy," Avery said as he heard one of his coworkers clear their throat paired with a hand movement indicating for him to wrap it up, "Just the usual or do you switch it up for the morning crew?"
Derek shook his head as Avery began to type in his usual order, a frozen coffee with a few pumps of their mocha syrup. He remembered it seeming like such a strange order for someone like him the first time he typed it in, but Derek said something about him usually getting shakes from one of the shops around town and how he'd been needing more caffeine as his sleep schedule got worse. Avery ended up making a cup for himself once to see if it really could be a substitute for the other and decided nothing could beat the real deal, but probably better for someone who lacked as much sleep as Derek.
Avery swapped over to making drinks as his coworker took over on the register who made a slight remark about spending too long gawking over some of the customers as they passed by. He shook his head at the comment, a slight flush on his face coming from both the embarrassing jab at his customer service skills and the idea of him fawning over Derek. He had to admit that he was a bit stricken the first time Derek had walked into the shop, but surely that was only because he was a bit surprised at the opportunity to finally put a face to the name he heard around campus before, he even joked to some friends afterwards that it was a bit like seeing a cryptid. He did think that Derek was more attractive than he expected him to be and always ended their conversations feeling happier than he did before, but it wasn't anything beyond having a good regular in the sea of often rude customers.
Avery finished making the drink and made his way over to the pick-up station where Derek was patiently waiting with a napkin in his hand. He thought it was strange considering that there wasn't any food to go with the order, but his eyes widened when he noticed the graphite smudges in the corner and the heavy amount of wrinkles worn throughout it.
"I saw this by the register and didn't want to see it get tossed away. Is this yours?" Derek held the napkin sketch to face Avery and didn't flinch or jerk his arm away when the other quickly reached out to snag it. Avery already had lost a lot of the sketches that he made during his time working here, often tossing them away after accidentally mixing them with napkins he used during his lunch break, or forgetting them at the register before leaving just for someone on the morning shift to most likely throw them out. Had Derek not grabbed it from the register this napkin too would've been lost in the rush of things, and he was kind of glad that it wouldn't be. He really enjoyed the story that this drawing was for and wanted to flesh out the sketch digitally to show the creator.
Avery nodded as he shoved the napkin into the pocket of his apron, "I like to doodle on the job when things get slow. I managed this one before the rush really started, just thinking about this story I read online that I'm really excited to see the ending of. The cliffhanger of the first part was insane, I'm really excited to see what's next for the knight." He looked at Derek's face that had a bit of a blank expression that he couldn't really place. Disinterest? Surprise? Annoyed at how much Avery was holding things up? No, that would be the expression of his coworkers around him which reminded him to hurry up with the interaction and get to the next order, "Sorry, you've been waiting long enough and I won't keep you from your store. See you around?"
Derek took his drink and smiled before raising his voice just slightly to be heard over the growing sea of customers, "I just wanted you to know it's a really great drawing, you're very talented. I hope you'll let me see the finished product." Avery's face grew a bit warm as he watched Derek turn and walk out of the door before quickly being plunged back into the anxiety and chaos of the morning rush, much more disoriented than he already was.
The walk back from The Crossroads to The Golden Gates was unnecessarily long for just a cup of coffee, but it was one Derek was happy to make just to see Avery. He had the suspicion that the barista was the owner of his favorite art account after referencing some personal posts that he made in the past about campus life and his boring part time job, but he started going there just to be sure he was right. He pulled out his phone to examine the photo of Avery's sketch that he quickly took to do a deeper analysis of the art style. Even just the 'quick doodle' as he had worded it was enough to compare it with his drawings online, the similar anatomy, linework, and subtle texturing was the same as the art of TheMostMayo. Derek just couldn't believe he was making art of one of his own stories.
There was a small community of eldritch horror writers he became familiar with a few years ago and lately chose to start publishing some of his own, his most popular being about a young knight falling into a strange world making note of his journey as he pushed further for the truth, coming face to face with a horror he couldn't fathom. He didn't expect the story to get any attention - not any positive attention at least - since it was his first story and he could already see some potential plot holes with the second part to the story he had planned. The community was very supportive though and looking forward to the next part, and as nice as it was it put a lot of stress on him to meet their expectations.
The bell above the door rang as he entered The Golden Gates, flipping the closed sign over back to open now that he was back from break. He made his way behind the front desk to grab his laptop that was haphazardly hidden under the register, not many people even knew this small shop existed so theft wasn't much of a concern. The Golden Gates was a passion project these days since he took ownership when the owner passed a few months ago. It was an unexpected turn in his career but not unwelcome as he slowly fell in love with working at the shop the past couple years. Dropping out of college was a sudden but necessary decision he made without any plan of what he was truly wanting to do with his future, and the bookshop gave him a peaceful place to take a deep breath and relax while making enough money to get by.
The bookshop wasn't that busy when he was just an employee and it wasn't any busier now that he was the owner. Luckily he had a decent set of other skills he could use to work some side gigs online for money, at this point the shop began to feel like a glorified office that people would walk into sometimes. He wasn't in any dire need of money at the moment so he opened to his empty document that was designated to be the second part to his cliffhanger, the part where the prince goes on a search for their devoted knight despite the letter they used their last will to send begging the prince to turn away. He attempted to write the story multiple times before but couldn't find the right words, gravitating towards writing other short horror stories instead as a form of practice until he felt ready. Thankfully his fanbase - something he never imagined he'd ever have to begin with - still appreciated those short stories that he decided to post for the sake of staying active and providing something.
The hour hand on the clock ticked forward, the sun slowly left the sky, and throughout all the time that moved not a single word appeared on the document. His head was aching as he stared at the screen and struggled to think of what to type, so he simply sighed and rested his head on the counter. Maybe something would come to him on the walk home. He'd have to stop at The Crossroads again on the way, Avery wouldn't be there but his newfound caffeine addiction was still screaming at him by amplifying the pain in his head. He just had to go back to the office and finish up a bit of paperwork before making his way out.
He couldn't have heard the ring of the doorbell when shut inside the office hunched over the desk focused on the repetitive action of signing papers, the light sound of the pen and his pounding headache keeping him fixated on the task. As soon as he finished and locked up the office door, his soul almost left his body when he turned around and saw Avery by the desk, looking at his laptop with a shocked look on his face.
"I can't believe it, you're derlord3!" Avery's face was completely lit up at this point, his green eyes shining as he scanned through the document containing the first part of the story that Derek opened for reference. Derek could tell he was freshly off the shift, his locs now free from the hair tie that kept them pulled back and his apron thrown over his shoulder, a frozen mocha coffee in his hand.
"Hearing the username out loud for the first time makes me a bit embarrassed I never changed it," he said, reflecting on how he opted to use his childhood Minecraft username instead of coming up with a new one, "Yeah, it's me. Judging by your art style, you must be TheMostMayo."
Avery's expression quickly shifted and he looked away blushing, "Guess we both have embarrassing usernames, huh? How'd you know?" Derek answered by simply pulling out his phone and showing off the photo he took of Avery's sketch from work, causing the other to almost instinctively grab it out of total embarrassment. "I can't believe you saved that, it's even crazier you could recognize my art from it."
Derek chuckled at that, "Is it really that unbelievable? It's just as amazing as your other pieces." Seeing how flustered Avery was, he tried to change the topic by pointing to the coffee, "Are you copying my order now? I thought you only liked the lattes there."
"Thought that you might want your late night coffee made by your favorite barista," Avery laughed nervously as he handed the coffee over, "You still remember my order?"
"I remember pretty much everything you told me, especially when you'd talk about disliking your own art. Now that I know I've seen it before, I have to ask why you'd say that? Your art is amazing."
Avery shifted nervously as he tried to make a light joke of it, "You know, artists and being perfectionists about their own stuff and all that. I'm getting better with not making those types of comments, I swear!" When Derek raised an eyebrow and motioned towards his apron, Avery reached into the pocket and pulled out the original napkin drawing. "Alright, but this one's actually just a doodle! You're just being too nice with this one!"
Derek couldn't help but laugh while he made his way back to the counter to pack up his laptop, hoping to get some words on the page once he got home. He took a few sips of his coffee that tasted as amazing as it always did when Avery made it. Finishing with all the closing preparations, he stood next to Avery, "I genuinely think it's amazing, so much so that I was planning on asking if you could draw the cover when I finally finish this next part. I'd be happy to pay you of course."
Avery's face went back to the same shocked expression he had when he first walked in, he froze in place before Derek started to guide him towards the door. The cold wind blowing past them as Derek locked up brought him back to reality, "Are you serious? I'd be happy to just do it for free, call it a collab! Are you almost done?"
Derek cringed, "Almost."
Avery was doing a poor job at hiding the giddy excitement he was feeling, his smile beaming which made Derek's heart skip a beat when he turned around. The two stood at the entrance of The Golden Gates, enjoying the silence before Avery spoke up, "Crap, I've got another morning shift tomorrow, can't believe I agreed to all of these. You'll come see me in the morning right?"
"Of course, you're my favorite barista." Derek had to hold in his laughter at the way Avery was immediately taken back by the same joke he made earlier, completely unaware of the fact that Derek was completely serious when he said it. He watched as Avery walked away, excitedly waving goodbye until he was completely out of sight.
If there wasn't already any pressure to get his story written, there definitely was now.
