mocha and mustaches in may
INJECTS ESPRESSO SHOTS DIRECTLY INTO MY BLOODSTREAM im so sorry it’s been months life i s ha r d
ALSO THANK @cnrb FOR THEIR ART OF MY FIC IT GAVE ME SOME MOTIVATION TO FINISH WHEN I WAS RLY DISCOURAGED
title grande or venti [ao3] chapter chapter 3 mocha and mustaches in may [ao3] pairing LPMM (slow burn?) words 2278 summary A newcomer disrupts Mastermind’s baristia routine. The newcomer falls asleep... again.
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SPECIAL OF THE DAY: Caffè Mocha
We combine our rich, full-bodied espresso with bittersweet mocha sauce and steamed milk, then top it off with sweetened whipped cream. The classic coffee drink to satisfy your sweet tooth.
. . .
Psyker had had a long day.
He could recall a certain someone nagging him in the back of his head about not juggling the course load he was taking currently, but it was only days like these that he’d actually heeded said nagging. Psyker brought up a hand to the side of his neck, rubbing at it wearily as if pressing against the skin would massage away the tiredness blurring the edges of his vision. As he walked along, he contemplated hitting up the gym, as he would most days but at the moment he just couldn’t muster the strength to even think about all the repetitions he’d push himself to do. Instead, he found himself before a familiar see through door, windows covered with well-placed ads of new coffees and pastries.
He exhaled a soft breath, watching the door fog up from the puff of warm air. A smile made its way to his face as he reached for the door’s handle, nudging it open gently as he was welcomed with the equally familiar jingle of a bell’s tune, greeted and wrapped in the warmth and cozy atmosphere that he knew only this café could provide.
And as much as he would rag on about coffee to Mastermind, the smell of the grinded beans was almost therapeutic. The rich and smooth flavors’ scent filling his nose were so bold that he swore he felt a little more pep in his step from the smell alone—coffee be damned.
Entering the coffee shop was his favorite, taking in the smells, the sounds and meshing in a ball of chilled, relaxing aesthetics.
—why, if only his roommate could hear him now.
He shook that scary thought from his head as he proceeded onto the next favorite part about visiting the shop; the entire reason he’d visit in the first place. (Lately, anyway.)
“No, as I said before, that drink is without coffee. But I can add coffee if you’d like, for an additional charge.”
Or, perhaps, it’d be better to say not what he came to the shop for but for whom he came to the shop for. Right on cue, Psyker picked up on the blatant lack of patience he heard laced in Mastermind’s voice the first time they had met. It seemed to happen without fail, the annoyance prickling and dripping in each syllable of his far too done voice on almost any given shift Mastermind had.
He felt sorry for the poor thing.
“No! … no,” he could hear Mastermind trying to restrain his voice. “No, we do not offer these drinks in the trenta size.” Psyker forced back a chuckle, listening to Mastermind try, once again, to come off as less of a… well, asshole losing any remaining patience.
In any case, it was days like these that—when Mastermind was busy with the unfortune of having difficult customers and when Psyker was feeling a little worn—he was happy to simply find himself an unoccupied table, somewhere that would be in Mastermind’s line of sight lately—and sit there, not wanting to further stress him.
He placed an elbow on the table, using it to prop up his chin and gaze aimlessly at the sea of people around him.
Normally, Psyker didn’t find the appeal of just sitting around and doing nothing—but when it was here, just sitting around wasn’t as novel as he thought but the weary Psyker found his opinion changing as of late. Itching to be productive, the atmosphere was great for getting busy. He could get work done too, free from distractions at home. However, by the time he assessed what it was he needed to do, he pulled off his puffy red and black winter jacket that he bundled himself in and placed it down on the table, folding it to make a makeshift pillow.
It wasn’t the first time that the shop’s soft beats over the radio, mixed with the mindless white noise of people chattering, had lulled him to close his eyes a bit and just rest.
Psyker’s final thought that crossed his mind was how it was ironic he could still find the café quaint enough to fall asleep in, despite Mastermind’s irritated voice fading into the background until sleep had claimed him.
>>>
When Psyker finally woke from his slumber, the first thing he noticed was that his neck and back hurt and felt stiff, and that thought was then followed by the fact that he was drooling into his jacket, which meant he wasn’t using his pillow. Which meant he wasn’t in his bed at home.
The next thing Psyker noticed was that, upon realizing he was not at home, he jolted awake to find that he was in the little chair in the now quiet, and empty, café that Mastermind worked at.
Mastermind…
“—shit!” He cursed under his breath, because this was the second time he’s done this now to Mastermind. What time was it even? He rubbed at his heavy eyelids, forcing them to open as he peered down at his way too bright phone screen, cursing again as he fumbled with it to turn down the brightness only to drop it in his haste. Quickly, he lunged for it only to come short when he saw long limbs blocking his way.
“Hey, careful. You’re going to ruin the drink I just made you.” Mastermind glanced down then quickly averted his gaze to the tray he was carrying, steadying it.
Meanwhile, Psyker tried his best to calm his beating heart, thumping from jolting out of his sleep suddenly but also from the shock of Mastermind appearing out of nowhere before him. “You scared me!” he whined aloud.
Mastermind ignored Psyker’s outburst and placed the tray on the table, then easily bent down to where Psyker was, rolling his eyes as he simply picked up Psyker’s still too bright phone and offered it to him. “You dropped this,” Mastermind snarked, lips quirked up in a smile now.
Psyker could tell that hidden behind that smile, Mastermind was trying to force down a smirk, especially with the amount of sass he could detect in his voice, as if he were trying to mute a laugh that threatened to spill over. “Gee, thanks.” And then he made a face, something akin to playful annoyance because it wasn’t as if he couldn’t get his own phone! So, he voiced that.
Mastermind picked up on his sour face and a small chuckle slipped passed his lips as he turned his head the other way, feigning as if he hadn’t just laughed. But Psyker totally noticed. “That so? Well, you didn’t. I am trying to clean up and close, you know.”
It wasn’t hard to hear the playful tone Mastermind was chastising him with, considering how late it must have been and that he was interrupting the process of closing down the shop. Again. “Oh… !” Psyker bit back a curse in the presence of Mastermind. “I didn’t mean t’ fall asleep again, I was, ya know, just waiting.” He ducked his head, mumbling under his breath as he explained.
Mastermind seemed taken aback by the sudden genuine reply Psyker offered but it was true! Psyker noticed Mastermind fidgeted a bit before slowly replying, “I know, I saw you, but it was really busy today… I appreciate you stopping by though!”
Psyker looked up from his defeat somewhat timidly, meeting Mastermind’s gaze and upon the words sinking, he positively beamed at the barista’s response, the corners of his lips tugging up just a bit that he was sure would not go unnoticed.
The way Psyker lit up seemed to throw Mastermind off as he fidgeted once again, holding eye contact with him until he began to fidget again, eyes averting from Psyker’s and smiling, albeit a bit awkwardly, in return.
The exchange between the two fumbling males was every bit of awkward both sides felt it to be. Why? They weren’t sure themselves, probably, and Psyker certainly was unsure but because it felt so they found themselves smiling in the companionable smile despite one another and themselves. In fact, a small laugh surfaced, escaping from Mastermind, each one light and bubbly, without any embarrassment. This seemed to dispel the slightly awkward tension the two were holding onto, as he tried to look Psyker in the eye once again. “Hey now, don’t let another one of my perfect drinks go cold on you.” Gingerly, he sat the tray opposite of Psyker’s belongings that were scattered rather haphazardly on the table, choosing to bite back a comment on the mess. “You look like you could use it on the trek home.”
Psyker seemed to snap out of his trance as well, eyes trailing Mastermind’s movements as he placed the drink before him. “Hoh, what’s it today?”
“Just a mocha, not too many shots though because coffee this late isn’t a smart idea.” Mastermind paused for effect, “And because I wouldn’t want to offend the coffee-hater.”
Now Psyker’s lips pulled into a smirk of playful rebelliousness as he offered Mastermind a toothy grin. “Coffee tastes horrible.” Despite saying so, he pulled the cup to his lips and before taking a sip murmured, “you’ll never let that go huh?”
There was no verbal response. And there was no need. All the barista did was shift his weight on one leg, crossing both his arms over his chest as he offered the coyest smile Psyker had ever seen on the male yet. Still silent, he wore an upturned smile, not kind but instead playful with how he raised his eyebrows while tilting his chin up with just the right amount of defiance to still come off as teasing. All of this to suggest just what Psyker had said earlier—that there was no way he’d let this go.
Psyker’s heart jumped to his throat, just a little.
… particularly, because the jump-starting smirk Mastermind gave—was still giving him damnit—just a few mere seconds ago was now being replaced by quivering lips, forcing back an obviously muffled laugh as he bit down on his lips to stop the sound from escaping.
Unsure of what could possibly be so funny in such a short span of time, Psyker bristled just a little. “A-and jus’ what’s so funny?!”
Mastermind tilted his head the other way, hardly trying much at all to hide his laughter at this point.
“Well! What is it?”
Still, Mastermind would not yield, refusing to answer him.
“Have I somethin’ on my face… ?” Because that was the sneaking suspicion that Psyker was getting what with how Mastermind was now staring at what felt like his face. (And given how he could hardly hold eye contact earlier, he was like almost one hundred percent sure.) Suddenly feeling self-conscious, he swatted at his face and then placed a hand to his cheek, holding it there.
“N-not there!” Mastermind murmured out between chuckles hidden behind his hand.
Not there on his cheek, Psyker figured, so he moved his hand across his face towards his mouth and—he blinked because, “really? Whipped cream?” Psyker ran his tongue across part of his upper lip and tasted more of the vanilla sweetened substance.
After what seemed like forever to the slightly red Psyker, Mastermind ceased his laughing fit enough to finally speak. He stood upright, shaking his head, “I’d only put a small dollop, unlike the kids who wants a whole handful helping of the stuff, but still you managed to get a cream-stache.”
Whatever taunting reply Psyker had in mind was interrupted by the rough vibrations of his phone against the table nearest them. “Oh?” His eyes grew wide when he realized, again, what time it was and that it was probably his roommate wondering where the hell he was. Mentally, he cursed. A lot. “This is becoming a really bad habit,” he mumbled offhandedly, more so to himself than to Mastermind.
At first, Psyker couldn’t tell if Mastermind was offended, upset, or confused. Or all three. Before Mastermind could jump in, he decided it’d be best to clarify, “My staying late. I mean, it’s not bad. For you!” Psyker stumbled over his words and inhaled, taking a quick sip of the mocha he’d been holding. Licking his lips he tried again, “I don’t mean to keep holding ya up like this. It’s…”
… just so nice to be around someone like you.
Psyker didn’t feel so bold with those choice of words, syllables dying on his lips as he suddenly felt self-conscious and nervous again, but for different reasons than earlier.
Again, Mastermind looked like he wanted to jump in to speak, but this time he refrained, eyes darting down. Pensive or upset, Psyker was at a lost to differentiate the two.
“It’s just a lot of fun you know.” Psyker tried again, cutting through Mastermind’s silence, this time offering a lopsided smile and nudging Mastermind gently to catch his attention in hopes of getting him to look up again. “You’re a pretty great guy.”
Fidgeting Mastermind finally stopped to look up at Psyker. There was some hesitation, but a smile graced his features eventually. “You’re not bad yourself, Psyker.”
“Thanks.”
“… for a coffee-hater anyway.”
They shared a knowing look, one of inside jokes and laughs.
Psyker found that, despite the nickname being true, it was really starting to grow on him.