With a sigh Lance takes his coat from his locker and exits the changing room of the veterinary practice. He’s five hours into his shift, only halfway done with the day, but feels already utterly exhausted.
On his way outside he knocks on the counter of the reception, giving his co-worker Shay an encouraging smile. She looks just as exhausted as him, but already had her breakfast-slash-lunch break an hour before him, so she can’t leave her desk to take a nap or something. Lance reminds himself to get her some coffee on his way back.
The temperature outside is slowly rising, and the thick coat Lance is wearing is already a bit too much, but he doesn’t really mind. He’s rather too warm than too cold and shredding the few extra layers is just too much work for his coffee-deprived body right now.
It only takes him five minutes to reach his regular coffee shop down the road. A little bell on the door announces his arrival to the staff and few other people lounging on the chairs and loveseats that are splattered around the room. The shop is usually half-empty when Lance arrives for his breakfast-slash-lunch coffee at half past nine, and today is not different.
The warm air is filled with the delicious scent of coffee and pastries, all of Lance’s favorites. He takes off his jacket on the way to the counter and greets the cute server behind it with a wink. The warm smile he receives makes him feel all bubbly inside, and his own smile brightens a bit.
“You look tired today,” Ryan notices after a long look at him.
“Yeah,” Lance answers, stifling a yawn behind his hand. “We had so many patients, and on top of it a dog got hit by a car and had to get surgery. And all that in less than five hours.”
Ryan gives him a sympathetic smile. “Seems like you need some coffee. The usual?”
“Please.” Lance rummages through his jacket for his wallet. A recipe from his grocery shopping yesterday falls on the floor, and while picking it up he remembers that he has something he wants to ask Ryan today. “Do you have-“
“Still no almond milk,” Ryan interrupts, smile turning apologetically. “Sorry.”
Lance puts the money on the counter before shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it.”
Ryan takes the cash and starts to prepare the order. There are usually more people working behind the counter, but Lance always manages to budge in between rush-hours, where everyone beside Ryan is either changing shifts or taking a break.
The clatter of the coffee cups and machines are a familiar sound in Lance’s ears. He likes watching how his lattes are prepared and watching Ryan in particular always has a calming effect on him. That’s one reason why Lance always takes the extra minute to walk towards this coffee shop instead of the one right in front of his workplace.
The other reason is the taste of the coffee. Lance grabs the finished cup eagerly out of Ryan’s grasps and takes a deep breath of the heavenly drink before moving to his regular seat in the corner next to the counter. As soon as it’s safe to drink, he takes a sip and lets out a quiet moan.
Lance can feel all the pressure and tiredness from the last few hours drop from his shoulders, leaving him relaxed and happy. He snuggles a bit more into the pillows around him, takes another sip and watches Ryan clean the area behind the countertop, savoring the aromatic taste and the pretty view for the next twenty minutes.
The bells rings and the delicious smell of hazelnuts and chocolate warms him from the inside. Lance goes straight to the counter, leaving on his jacket and wallet already in his hand. He doesn’t have much time today, since they are understaffed and barely scrape by. A spring flu is going around, binding human and animals to their beds and giving the people of the veterinary practice a hard time.
Ryan greets him with a small smile. He looks just as exhausted as Lance this time, the staff at the coffee shop even more vulnerable to the flu than he is at his workplace.
“Hey, how are you?” Lance asks instead of ordering right away. A little bit of small talk with his favorite person in this shop won’t hurt. “You look tired.”
Ryan gives him a weak smile. “I’m fine. Just a lot of work right now.” He looks up from the screen of his register and gets a proper view of the black rings under Lance’s eyes and his mussed up hair he didn’t manage to fix for the last three days. “You look just as tired.”
“I have a lot of work myself since the flu is taking victims. We’re only three assistants right now instead of six, so we have to do extra shifts,” Lance explains while leaning his weight on the counter. If he stays like this for a few more seconds, he is sure he will fall asleep.
Ryan nudges his arm to get him out of his thoughts. “Coffee?”
“God, yes please! But to go today, I have to get back quickly.” He runs his hand through his hair, probably messing it up even more, but he doesn’t care. He’d rather watch Ryan follow his movement with a smile before he starts to type in his order.
That reminds him… “You wouldn’t happen to have-“
“Still no almond milk, Lance.” Ryan’s smile turns apologetic again, like every time they have this conversation. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Lance assures quickly. “Can you add two regular lattes? This is actually just a coffee-run, not a proper break.”
Ryan types in the two extra coffee and takes the cash from the counter before moving towards the coffee machines. While he’s at it, Lance takes his time walking over to the high counter where the staff usually place the finished drinks and leans his arms and head on the wood.
With the extra order Lance has more time to watch Ryan do his magic. He already feels more relaxed as his eyes follow the swift movements of gentle hands preparing coffee and milk before putting it together.
Lance accepts the three drinks in the cupholder with a sigh. “Thanks. My colleagues will kill me if I don’t bring them any salvation in the form of caffeine.” He checks again if he has everything he needs before taking his leave.
“Don’t get killed,” Ryan says as Lance opens the shop’s door.
Lance turns around with a cheeky smile while walking backwards through the door. “I’ll try my best.”
He lets Ryan and the shop behind him and walks back to the veterinary practice in a brisk pace. His coworkers greet him with a smile and make grabby hands for the coffee immediately, so Lance leaves the cups on the counter and moves to the back to switch back into his work clothes.
Only when he puts his coffee on the table next to his locker he sees the little message Ryan has scribbled on the cup.
I hope you have a nice day.
It’s just a short line, a few simple words, but it warms Lance’s heart nevertheless and gives him energy to power through the rest of his double shift.
Spring is almost over, the flu it brought only a memory Lance doesn’t want to think about and his thick winter coat he likes to wear on early shifts replaced by his favorite blue bomber jacket. All of his coworkers are back to full health, as well the animals that come to them, since most of them just need their annual shots or some deworming treatment and stuff against fleas.
Overall everything is back to normal, and Lance is glad, because it feels like ages since he spent a proper breakfast-slash-lunch break in his favorite coffee shop. He missed Ryan’s easy company even more than his coffee, because the caffeine doesn’t manage to fill up his batteries as much as a simple conversation with the cute barista does.
Today seems to be different though, because Ryan is even more silent than usual, not picking up any of the small talk topics Lance throws his way. Instead he stares at his register while taking Lance’s order, not even looking up when he’s finished and turns around to start working on his coffee.
Lance takes it as tiredness, or stress at work or something similar, and hopes that he hasn’t scared Ryan off with his constant chatter and annoying questions for something that won’t happen anytime soon.
When Ryan places the finished coffee in front of him on the high counter, Lance takes it with a smile and gets to his favorite seat in the corner, rearranging a couple pillows to make it more comfortable before leaning back and taking the first sip.
He expects the same aromatic taste of his favorite latte, but this time something is different. Lance takes another sip, and another, until he finally realizes that instead of the usual aromatic taste of coffee and milk, his drink tastes more like… almonds?
His head shoots around, just in time to see the sheepish barista look away. Lance gets up from his seat, cup still in hand and makes his way back to the counter. “Ryan, is that-?”
Ryan smiles shyly and looks at everything but Lance. He gives him a short nod, and Lance has to stifle his own cry of joy, so he doesn’t disturb the other patrons. What he can’t suppress is the huge smile he gives Ryan instead.
He’s practically bouncing on his feet, and if he had a tail it would be wagging from side to side. “When did you guys start serving almond milk?”
To Lance’s confusion, Ryan’s smile turns apologetic again. He shrugs slightly and turns his head to the side. “We didn’t.”
Ryan turns around, but Lance is not having it. He parches half of his body on the counter, balancing on his tiptoes and grabs Ryan’s sleeve with his free hand. He tugs a few times until Ryan finally faces him again.
Lance crooks his head in question, bringing out his best puppy eyes so that Ryan doesn’t turn him down again.
It seems that only one look is enough to make Ryan’s resolve break. “You always ask for it, so I brought some myself,” he says almost timidly.
Lance flops back on his feet. “Oh my gosh, Ryan!” He tries to whisper, but it comes more out like a quiet scream. “You can’t just-“
Lance runs his fingers through his hair, his other hand still clutching the cup absentmindedly. Ryan watches his silent outburst with amusement, keeping quiet himself as Lance spins around himself a few times before stopping right in front of him. Their eyes meet.
“I have to pay you back.”
“No, you don’t,” Ryan answers immediately, probably already guessing what’s going through Lance’s head right now.
It’s only more frustrating to him though that Ryan won’t accept anything in return. It’s not in Lance’s nature to take presents, even the smallest ones, without anything to offer himself. “No no no, I can’t have you go out of your way and buy almond milk just because I’m noisy.”
Ryan’s head picks up and his eyes grow wide. “You’re not noisy,” he insists while he drops his hands on the counter and leans his weight on them, as if to make a point.
Lance doesn’t know what to say at first. He’s happy that Ryan isn’t annoyed by his constant questions and daily presence, but that doesn’t help him with his bad conscience about it. His voice drops even more when he carefully phrases the next words. “Still, I want to pay you back.”
There is a long silence between them, and Lance is glad that no new customers decide to show up right now. Even the other patrons seem to be more occupied with their own lives than the weird scene playing out right in front of them.
Ryan clears his throat, snapping Lance out of his thoughts. His eyes roam over the counter, where both their hands and the forgotten cup of coffee are nestled almost too close to each other before he settles on Lance. He looks unsure, contemplating about what to say, so Lance just lets him think.
“I-“ he starts, but stops himself immediately. Lance crooks his head again to motivate Ryan to keep on going.
“I wanted to ask you for a while…” He swallows, takes a deep breath. “Would you go on a date with me?”
Lance feels totally floored for a second time that day. “What?”
“Don’t feel obligated because o-“
“I want to.” Lance quickly grabs Ryan’s hands from the counter before he has a chance to turn away again or even take back his words. “I really want to.”
“Oh…” Ryan’s eyes go wide, unbelieving of the fact that Lance accepted. He tries to catch himself, but fails miserably because his brain stops working, as well as his mouth and all he can press out is a simple ‘great’.
Lance doesn’t mind his sudden loss of words, already used to the comfortable silence that tends to engulf them; that engulfs them right now. He smiles brightly, feels a blush spreading on his cheeks but he doesn’t mind. Not for this reason.
The bell at the shop’s door gets them out of their trance. Lance takes his phone and slips it over to Ryan, so he can enter his number before taking another sip from his coffee and moving back to his seat. He still has ten minutes of his break left, ten minutes he can watch Ryan prepare more coffee, ten minutes he can’t stop his own smile getting brighter whenever their eyes meet.
Gosh, he can’t wait to tell Shay what has happened when he gets back to work.
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