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Deacon hid nervously behind his mom's legs. His mom had taken him to a park to burn off some excess energy. Normally, Deacon would have his younger cousin, Chase, to play with, but today he was alone with his mom.
"Go on…go make friends or whatever kids are supposed to do here."
Deacon looked over at the kids playing in the playground. They were all having fun together, but what if they don't want to play with him?
At his mother's insistent urging, Deacon started walking towards the playground. The other kids were loud and scary. Deacon quickly ran back to the comfort of being tucked behind his mother.
"Oh come on, Deacon! You can't stay behind me forever!" Before more could be said, a different voice spoke up.
"Hewoh!" Deacon looked over to see another kid around his age. The kid was wearing a dragon onesie and holding a plastic dragon.
"Would you like to pway dragons with me? You can have and power you want!" Deacon arched his head in curiosity.
"Even a water dragon?" The other kid nodded.
"Sure! And I'll be…I'll be a fwire bweathing dragon!"
Slowly, but surely, Deacon left his hiding spot behind his mother and had the best afternoon a seven-year-old could ask for.
After that day in the park, Deacon was able to open up more to other people. He never did see that kid again, but the memory of playing dragons would stay with him permanently.
~~~~~~~
Deacon groaned. He had a midterm coming up and needed to study. He had been studying for hours, but the information wasn't perculating into his head. Maybe he just needed to clear his head and move to place that wasn't his stuffy dorm room.
Sammy's Cafe was a place Deacon’s friends had recommended, but he never got around to going to. When Deacon reached his destination, he was greeted by a pastel pink building.
A bell chimed announcing his entrance as Deacon took in the sights. The inside of the building was just as pink as the outside, decorated with frills and teddy bears. Silver would love this place.
"Welcome to Sammy's Cafe, where every drink is served with extra love and a smile. Five percent gratuity per smile." Deacon looked over at the counter to see a very grumpy barista.
The barista had dark curls and even darker eyes, the kind that stare into your soul. On their uniform was a named tag that read "CENE" in all caps.
"I'll, uh, have a regular Sweetheart Sparkle Spresso?" Deacon’s voice came out awkwardly. Something friendlier sparkled in their tired eyes.
"That'll be $4.95," the barista stated. Deacon tapped his card on the reader and moved over to the pick-up area.
"Sweetheart Sparkle Spresso for Deacon!" The barista, Cene, called out. Deacon walked up to the counter to pick up his beverage.
The drink was dark with shots of expresso and topped with cold foam and edible glitter. Deacon grabbed his beverage before making his way to one of the pink couches to work on stuff.
Deacon pulled his laptop out of his bag and pulled up the professor's study guide. With a crack of his neck, the college student got to work.
About a half hour into his study session, Deacon noticed a presence out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to see the barista from earlier holding out a box of chocolates.
"Complimentary chocolate from Sammy's Cafe."
"Do you give this to all your customers?"
"No, only the cute ones," the barista said with a wink before turning around and leaving.
Deacon felt his face flush. Did…did the barista just flirt with him?
~~~~~~~
Deacon wasn't sure why he was drawn back here, but after another day of struggling to focus in his dorm, he found himself outside the pink café once again.
Deacon entered the door to see the same barista stationed at the register. He placed his order and stood at the pick-up. This time he ordered a cappuccino.
When his drink was ready, Deacon looked down to see a heart drizzled into the top of his drink.
Deacon sat down in the same booth as last time and began typing his assignment. A short while later, Deacon once again noticed the presence of the barista.
"Complimentary tea cake courtesy of Sammy's Cafe."
"You guys are gonna run out of business if you keep giving away free stuff to every person you find 'cute'."
"Well, good thing it's just you then."
"I-uh-um," Deacon sputtered.
"Don't worry, I won't charge you the 5% smile gratuity fee either," the barista stated with a smirk.
"Thanks?"
"Don't mention it. See you around, cutie!"
~~~~~~~
Despite the odd sense of nervousness Deacon felt around Cene, he found himself becoming a regular at Sammy's Café. It's gotten to the point all of the workers know him by name. Every once in a while, he still is given complimentary treats.
The entire thing comes to a head when Deacon catches himself staring across the café at Cene. Has Cene always seemed this pretty? When did their eyes turn from soulless to the vast expanse of outer space that Deacon would lose himself exploring?
Fuck.
"Dorkin, it's two in the morn-"
"Chase, I think I'm not as straight as I thought I was."
"Woah, uh, okay that was not what I was expecting when you called, but how about you start from the beginning?"
"So basically, there's this barista at a café I like to go to, and they've been flirting with me, right? But I didn't think it was working until today when I couldn't take my eyes off them. They're really witty and fun to talk to even if they look dead inside half the time. They're also really attractive? Like, I don't even know why? It's just that every part of them and every little quirk they have just turns me into a disaster."
"Wait, you said that they were flirting with you?"
"Yeah, they give me free food and call me cute."
"Well, why don't you flirt back?"
"Chase, I suck at flirting. You know this!"
"Well then, just do it the Dorkin way. Write notes on how you want to ask them out, then go do it."
"I mean…I guess I could try that?"
"Good. Now if that's settled, I need my beauty sleep, so I don't get wrinkles!"
"Okay. Thank you, Chase, for helping me."
"Of course, dude! Now go get your person!"
~~~~~~~
The next day, Deacon found himself outside Sammy's Cafe, notecards in hand. He was all night trying to plan on how he wanted to do this. With a deep breath, he entered the café.
"Ah, hello, my favorite bookworm! Your usual?"
"Uh, yes, please!" Deacon took a deep breath as Cene rang up his order and began to work on his drink.
Deacon fidgeted with his notecards as he watched Cene pour the steamed milk into his drink. Cene's dark eyes looked up at him.
"Got a presentation or something?"
"Oh, erm, no," Deacon admitted.
"Oh? Then what's with the notecards."
"Oh, those are actually cause I, uh, have a test coming up! Yeah, super crazy test. I made flash cards," Deacon said with a nervous chuckle.
"Right…anyways, cappuccino for the studious student!"
"Thank you, Cene," Deacon said, carefully cradling the mug.
"Anything for you, cutie!" Deacon nearly spilled his drink as he awkwardly walked to his booth.
Once he was away from the counter, Deacon placed his head in his hands. A test? What was he thinking! He definitely lost his chance. As if Cene could read his mind, the barista walked over to his booth with a coffee cake.
"So, what type of test are you studying for?"
"How to ask someone you like out. I already failed by the way," Deacon groaned into his hands.
"Well, I think you'd get a passing grade. Maybe not full credit since you didn't ask directly. Maybe you're entitled to a retake?"
Deacon perked up and looked over at Cene.
"You…you think so?"
"Yeah! You're grade will be whichever score is higher."
"Well in that case, Cene, would you, uh, maybe want to catch a movie or something sometime?"
"I'd give that a solid A! And, I'd be glad to. I find it endearing that you took notes."
"Yeah, I, uh, have trouble socializing especially around people I find attractive, so I wrote notes in case I froze up. Still managed to fuck it anyways, but that's besides the point. Does Thursday at 7 sound good to you?" Cene nodded.
"Yep! See you then!" Cene gave a wink then made their way back to the counter.
~~~~~~~
It was about a month after they started dating before Deacon had first visited Cene's apartment.
Deacon stood nervously in front of the door waiting for Cene to answer. The door knob twisted, and the door swung open to reveal the other person.
"Hey! I brought the popcorn!"
"Awesome! Come in!"
Cene's home was cozy. The small apartment was mostly open concept aside from two rooms off to the side, the bed and bathrooms.
"Make yourself at home! I'm gonna put this in the microwave."
Deacon looked around the room. On the shelves were several framed photos from various points in Cene's life. Deacon spotted one that made his jaw drop.
"No way!"
"What's up?" Cene called from the kitchen.
"Is this kid you?" Deacon asked holding up the picture. It was a kid in a dragon onesie.
"Oh yeah! That's me. I had a dragon phase as a kid, still kinda do."
"Cene… I think we've met before."
"You think so?"
"Yeah! When I was like seven, my mom took me to a park, and I had such a hard time socializing because the other children were scary until a kid in a dragon onesie came up to me. We played dragons in the park that day, and it was the first time I realized that not all of the other kids are scary." Breif recognition flickered over Cene's face.
"Holy shit, I remember that! You had a lot more freckles back then."
Cene walked over and planted a kiss on Deacon’s table.
"So, what I'm hearing is that we're meant to be."
"I suppose so!" Deacon laughed before turning to face his partner. Deacon leaned over and pecked a kiss on Cene's lips.