title: tranquility fandom: Shadowhunters pairings/characters: Clary Fray/Maureen Brown warnings: none a/n: This is written for the Clary/Maureen squares on both my Rare Pair and tmifemslash bingo cards. It’s also written as an (extremely late) entry for @shadowhuntersaumondays coffee shop au Week. Huge thanks to @valoisqueens for the beta!! ON AO3
Warm sunlight streamed through the windows at the front of the little coffee shop while quiet music drifted through the speakers overhead, filling the space with a sense of tranquility it didn’t normally have. Between the customers coming and going and the baristas practically having to shout orders to one another over the noise of the machines, peace was hard to find when it was busy. Even though it was not necessarily a good thing, Maureen was glad that it was quiet. It gave her some time to focus on things other than orders, like experimenting with drink flavours or trying to create a new kind of dessert.
There was only one customer in the entire shop. She was sitting at one of the sun-soaked tables, her hair falling over her shoulder as she leaned in to closely examine the project in front of her. Maureen thought she was probably drawing – she had an art student kind of vibe to her – and she desperately wanted to go and look over the girl’s shoulder to see if she was any good. It was a bad habit, Maureen knew, but she was nosy by nature.
Maureen couldn’t help herself. She poured some of her experimental drink into a clean cup and brought it over. Her plan was to ask the girl what she thought of the drink, but that kind of went out the window when she saw what she was drawing.
“That's… me,” Maureen said, obviously startling the girl.
The customer didn’t try to cover the picture or deny it, but her cheeks started to turn bright pink and Maureen couldn’t help but grin. “Yeah,” she said, her eyes glued on the table. “It’s for an assignment. We’re supposed to practice faces and you’re so beautiful, I couldn’t help myself.”
It was Maureen’s turn to blush, she just hoped it wasn’t as obvious as it felt. “It’s really good,” she said softly. The words hung there between them until Maureen introduced herself.
“Clary,” the other girl replied, finally meeting Maureen’s gaze.
“So, where do you go to school?” Maureen asked, looking back at the drawing. It was a great picture, much better than Maureen had expected.
“The Brooklyn Academy of Art,” Clary answered, tucking one of her long locks behind her ear. She continued without giving Maureen a chance to reply, “I don’t know if I’m misreading the signals, but would you want to grab coffee sometime? You know, when you’re not working.” She grinned and Maureen couldn’t help but smile too.
Maureen opened her mouth to say something when the little bell above the door jingled and a group of customers walked in. “I’ll be right back,” she told Clary before going back to the counter to take their order.
One group turned to two, and after that it seemed like a new customer came in every time Maureen finished the previous order, giving her no time to continue her conversation with Clary. Their eyes met a few times, and Maureen couldn’t help the disappointment in her chest when she saw Clary pack up her things and leave.
When the steady stream of customers finally stopped, Clary had been gone for over twenty minutes. Maureen went to clear her table and found the drawing sitting there. On the back, Clary had left a note that read, ‘Call me if you wanna grab coffee sometime.’ Below the note was her phone number and her name with a little heart next to it.
Maureen made the call as soon as she got home.