Chapter Text
The new coffee shop was one people couldn't talk about with a straight face. Eyes stared in incredulous disbelief at the name, followed by laughter, before people actually went inside and found...some of the best coffee they'd ever had, actually. Despite the name, the silly motto, and ridiculous beverage titles...the coffee was pretty damn good.
Rin stared at the storefront deciding if he really, really wanted to go in or not. His eyes couldn't leave the large sign...
Grounds For Divorce
"Coffee so good, you'll leave your spouse for it!"
He sighed and stepped into the door. He'd been banned from three Starbucks in the area as well as a few locally owned places, so he was actually running out of options of places to go for his coffee fix. Why couldn't people just make his drink right? Then he wouldn't have to get so pissed off and demand multiple remakes until it was the way it should be!
Rin took a moment to take in the atmosphere. Soft jazz music played through the cafe, and he spotted a good number of tables with comfortable chairs, some soft chairs, and even a couple couches. No one seemed to be in today, and he noticed one girl at the register diddling her nails while another barista...a taller, blank-faced raven-haired boy...just stood in front of the espresso machine and stared at it. Great..just great. They had idiots manning the place! But, grumbling, he stepped to the counter, and glowered at the girl until she took notice of him.
Haruka's blue eyes turned briefly towards the redhead, then moved disinterestedly back to the espresso machine, as if expecting it to get up and move on its own. Rin let out an annoyed sound, then launched into his order...
"Large quad-shot one-third decaf ristretto latte, part soy, part breve, whole milk foam, done thick not watery, about this much," showing with his fingers, "a dash of vanilla and almond syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg on the foam, with a dot of caramel sauce in the center. At exactly one-twenty degrees."
The girl simply stared slack-jawed and glassy-eyed at him, mouth agape and hands holding the cup and marker in hand, unmoving. However, Haruka was moving, deep blue eyes focused on the task at hand. If he was annoyed he actually didn't show it, and he didn't look away from the machine as he spoke.
"Just charge a large add shot, add syrup, add soy. And get his name."
"Rin. You could have asked me yourself, you know!"
"Busy."
Rin's mouth opened then shut, and he just smirked a bit. He paid the still gawking chick and moved to the pass-off station, waiting. Rin leaned on the counter, watching Haruka grab the bottles of syrup and toss them into the air, flipping them and catching them by the necks, dashing a touch of each flavor into the cup. Haruka had already ground the espresso a bit finer than normal, and Rin silently counted in his head as the shots poured, and his eyes noted the amount of espresso.
The breve-soy monstrosity was steamed, and Haruka's eyes never left the thermometer. The steaming was promptly stopped, checked, then poured at the same time as the espresso shots, and then the whole milk foam was made. The foam was checked, scooped, checked again, before shakers of nutmeg and cinnamon were passed over top, with the finishing touch of caramel sauce, just a touch, in the exact middle. The lid was placed, sharpie strokes given over the top, then passed over .
"About time," Rin grumped, taking the drink.
"You're welcome," that stoic voice replied, and those eyes went back to watching the machine.
Rin made a face and sipped the drink, fully expecting to have to launch in to what was wrong with it straight off...and found himself taking another sip. He scoffed slightly as he turned away, heading out and taking a longer, deeper drink. His eyes saw the lid for the first time, and the name written there, and nearly spit out his drink, coughing and choking a bit, hitting his chest.
RinRin.
He stared at the name and managed to catch his breath, smirking. Cute. He looked over his shoulder and made an amused sound...the guy wasn't even LOOKING at him...he'd gone back to just staring blankly at the machine, as if waiting for it to dance. He hadn't even gotten the dude's name. Taking another sip of his drink, he grinned to himself.
He'd just have to come back tomorrow, that's all.
The next day it was a bit busier, and Rin moved to stand in the line once he'd checked to make sure the odd, stoic guy was working. The register was being manned by someone different today though, some bouncy blonde boy. Was he even old enough to work here? And what was UP with some of these drink names?
"Hi, what can I get you today?" the little blond chirped.
"An Interracial Marriage, please."
What? Seriously? Rin turned his eyes to actually look at the menu. Who the hell called a black and white mocha that?
"Thank you!" the chirpy blond took the guy's money and moved on to the next.
"I'd like a Broken Marriage, please. And my wife would like the Gay Marriage Frappe."
Rin's eyes sought out the names quickly, trying not to laugh his ass off. A salted dark chocolate mocha...and...god, what was the point of so many fruity flavors in one blended drink? Could you even taste all that? What was WRONG with people? At least HIS drink was perfectly normal, thank-you-very-much.
"I need one Caught Cheating," the next man said. Vanilla, caramel latte. "One Lawyer's Fee," black coffee, three added shots, "and for the kids we need two Full Custodys and one Split Custody." Hot chocolate, black and white hot chocolate.
Finally...FINALLY, it was his turn. Before the annoyingly chirpy little blond could even get a word out, he launched into his perfectly normal drink order. And the boy WHIMPERED. Christ, were those pink eyes welling up with TEARS!?
"HARU-CHAAAAAN! This one's being mean!" the boy's arm flailed wildly in his direction.
Haruka's oceanic eyes turned to Rin and then looked back to the drinks he'd been making. He was already working on the last order.
"Charge a large latte, add shot, add syrup, add soy," Haruka said simply, putting the drinks in a carrier before passing them out to the customer.
"Hmph," the little blond turned, punching in some buttons on the register before grumpily announcing the price.
"Hey, that's more than it was yesterday."
"You got the grumpy customer charge," the boy declared, crossing his arms, face set.
"WHAT?!"
"You're grumpy. You pay extra," the boy stated as if it made total sense.
"It's best not to argue with Nagisa," Haruka said, somehow making himself heard over the grinding coffee, despite not raising his voice.
"That's fucked up. Who's the manager?"
"Nagisa," Haruka said, shrugging.
Rin sputtered and gawked, and Nagisa simply placed his hands on his hips, puffed out his chest, and grinned broadly.
"If you wanna pay regular price, you gotta say 'Sorry I'm a Mr. Grumpy-Pants!'"
"Fuck you," Rin huffed, paying.
Nagisa made a face and stuck out his tongue, taking the money and handing Rin his change. Rin made his way over to the hand-off and leaned on it, watching Haruka work, though this time he was watching the man and not the coffee.
"So...your name's Haru-chan?"
"No," Haruka said, eye twitching just a touch.
Rin raised his brows and waited expectantly. And he waited. And waited. Rin frowned, tapping his fingers on the counter, and Haruka continued to focus on the drink.
"Well?" Rin finally said, annoyed.
"Well what?"
Rin blew out air in exasperation. Fuck, the kid was dense! Either dense, or doing it on purpose. Rin's eyes narrowed, because he could almost swear he saw those lips curl up in a teensy smirk. But it was gone so fast he wondered if he imagined it. When Haruka passed over his drink, Rin actually did thank him, and got the tiniest of smiles in return.
The RinRin on top of the cup made him smirk softly. If anyone else had called him that, he likely would have ripped them a new one. But when it was on top of a cup filled with delicious coffee...he could deal with it.
Throwing out his cup later on, he almost missed it. Rin couldn't help but be awed, wondering when the hell the guy had managed it, but...there it was, written on the bottom of his cup...Nanase Haruka. Rin was impressed.
He'd definitely found his coffee shop!