platonic yandere rottmnt x barista reader
(brought to you by my fixation with good coffee great coffee)
A/N: a massive massive MASSIVE thank you to my most beloved supporter and close friend mr juice for beta-reading my drafts and providing support every step of the way!!!! you are THE best,,, literally.
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You’d never really thought you’d become a barista. Through a series of convoluted events however, you’d somehow managed to land a job in a cozy cafe somewhere around a corner of your street — convenient and a miracle compared to your terribly unsuccessful job search.
It’s a good work environment. Your coworkers are pleasant, your boss is understanding, and your hours are slightly flexible. The only downsides are dealing with rude customers and the… regulars.
You wouldn’t say they’re horrible people — maybe just a little, well, eccentric.
The first of the four brothers you met were two turtles in blue and orange bandanas, dressed in loose hoodies and baseball caps to hide their green skin. They’d ordered simple drinks, and judging by the way they looked around your humble workplace, it was their first time stepping foot in it.
They ordered something small, and after a short period of sitting near the window and sending you the occasional glance, left without much of a word. You thought that was it, a few odd customers here and there is normal after all.
A mere day after, you found yourself face to face with the blue one again, this time without his orange companion. You greeted him with the standard smile, waiting for him to respond with an order. He just kinda stared.
Seconds turned into minutes, and your smile slowly fell, glancing off to the side every few seconds to ease the discomfort of being pinned under his gaze. He didn’t even blink once.
Two minutes in, he snaps out of it at the sound of your voice asking him for his order again, glancing at the line that had begun to accumulate behind him before plastering a smile on his face and forcing a laugh, claiming he’d just been ‘looking at the menu’ behind them, a clear lie as his eyes flit over the board for a split second and he clears his throat to sputter the first thing that comes to mind.
“An americano, okay.” You nod slowly, pulling it up in the register and watching him scurry off after paying. He didn’t even tell you his name.
The next day, he seems like more of a normal person, apologizing for his behavior with a sheepish grin and sliding cash across the counter for another americano.
“It was really good!” The guy you now know as Leo smiles at you, “Couldn’t stop myself from coming back for more.” He orders a hot chocolate to go, ‘for his brother’, he says, trying to keep himself in conversation with you as long as possible. He only walks off once you tell him to wait for his drinks in a seat, and you note he picked the table closest to you.
He continues to visit the shop, squeezing in as many jokes as he can into conversation before it becomes obnoxious just to hear you laugh until your ribs ache. He establishes himself as a regular in under a week, sometimes coming in more than once a day.
Then his brothers start coming.
The orange one you saw before, Mikey, is always there to support you in anything you do, complimenting your work first before he does anything else. You find yourself pleasantly surprised with how often he manages to get a genuine smile out of you, always enthusiastic about every drink you make him. Maybe far more enthusiastic about you, actually.
A caramel hot chocolate one day, a honeycomb coffee the next, all topped with whipped cream — it makes no difference to him as long as you’re the one making it, he’s always sure to rave about the taste before enjoying his drink at a seat nearby.
He seems the most friendly of the four to you, and manages to hold the longest conversations without tipping you off on his weirdness when compared to his brothers, though April quickly takes his spot on the leaderboard when she starts coming in.
Raph and April come as a pair the first time you see them, despite Raph’s large, spiky frame and April’s bat, they end up talking about their brothers with such a warm tone you couldn’t help but relax, adding them to the mental list of ‘Leo’s family’ that grows every time you clock in. The red mask was another tip he’s a part of it.
April might actually get a job as a barista and work alongside you just to get more opportunities to talk, though there’s no guarantees she’ll manage to keep it for longer than a week.
She’s also the quickest to form a further friendship away from being a regular at your cafe, as well as the only one you’ll (sparingly) hang out with outside of your workplace’s walls, Leo is very jealous.
Being the only sibling of the Hamato family you’ll meet up with, April takes advantage of this hangout/outing(?) time to cement herself as your favorite, footing the bill for meals and drinks past your insistence and getting you lots of gifts that subtly remind you of her. She considers her greatest achievement to be gifting you a mellow green jacket you wear often.
Her regular drink is a hot almond latte, and she’ll sometimes ask you to draw mayhem’s silhouette with the steamed milk when she wants to watch your focused expression for longer. “No, uhm, he’s a little bigger than that, so just add some more— Uh-huh. Yeah.” She is very glad she remembered to turn the flash off this time.
Raph tends to look out for you quite often, reminding you to be careful around the machines and staying near the counter to watch you make his drinks, worriedly commenting every time you work with hot liquids and the coffee grinder. You have to reassure him you’ll be fine 24/7 — god forbid you get injured while he’s watching.
He’ll gift you a crocheted toy every now and then, excited to see your happy reaction more than anything, and you’re more excited to be gifted stuff. Even if they’re plushes of characters or animals you never told him were your favorite.
He’s the most likely turtle to get desserts alongside his drink, a double shot mocha with two cookies for his brothers and a muffin being his favorite combo to order most of the time. When he’s not worrying all over your coffee-making process, he talks about anything and everything, mentioning the Teddy Bear Town branch he visits often.
Donnie is the last sibling you meet. He comes in a little more dressed up than the others, almost every surface covered with cloth. You realise he’s another one in the family when you look up to greet him only to find a purple bandana and, surprisingly, thick brows framing his eyes.
Unlike his brothers, he isn’t very sociable, at least at the start. He’ll open his mouth like he’s about to start a conversation or throw a comment out, then psyche himself out of it, expression scrunching and rapidly changing before he shuts it, leaving you both in silence. He stays the longest, typing away on a sleek looking laptop until closing.
It doesn't take very long for him to open up. A mild comment in passing about your phone acting up and he perks up with the most excitement you've ever seen on someone's face, scrambling to tell you he can help. Barely any prompting and he'll go off on a tangent about his several projects.
He comes the next day, and the next, and the next, easing himself in as a quiet constant in your day until it's normal for him to snatch a seat when you clock in and stick around until your shift ends.
Donatello declares you’re not ‘the worst’ barista he’s met. Then proceeds to down his vanilla latte in under five minutes and return for more.
They tend to treat you like a part of their family. It’s a little startling how quick they fell into it. They’ll stay until closing and offer to help you clean up, insistent on making sure you won’t have to lift a finger for anything they can control.
You get lunchboxes from Mikey to eat during your lunch break and consistent supervision by one of the five at all times, almost like you’re being babysat. It’s a little suffocating, if anything. You’re constantly invited to dinners at their place and a weekend out, but you turn them down in favor of work.
They know a little too much about you. Things you’ve never mentioned in conversation before come up so easily, and you catch the split second of panic in their eyes when you say so before it smooths into false confusion, asserting ‘you did, actually, maybe you just forgot’ and getting someone to back them up when they can.
You feel like you’re being watched on your way home. Hearing an extra footstep when you’re sure you’re walking alone. The dread eases when you let April walk you to your apartment, but it’s almost always there, lurking behind you.
Small trinkets and objects go missing.
The window opens when you’re not looking.
They’ll get you soon enough. They just have to be patient.
eugh sorry if it's formatted weirdly,, i wrote this all on notion + my notes before moving it here,,
if you liked any part of this,, do consider reblogging so i'm encouraged to write more here :) !!
