Chapter Text
"Oh quiznak." He didn't say those words out very loud but they were still heard by the exact right (or maybe in this very case wrong) person. "Not again, Lance." Shiro sighed and was already reaching for his phone. Was he for real? "This is the fourth time this month already. The fourth!" All Lance could manage was a very frustrated moan. "It's not my fault!" he cried. "Those things plotted something against me, or whatever!" "After the third time, I might have believed that. Really. And when the water tank got cracked I might have believed it was just bad luck or a coincidence as well. But now I'm slowly starting to believe that you like breaking our coffee machines!" "I'm not doing it on purpose, I swear! I don't know how this always happens!" Lance really tried to defend himself, but Shiro just shook his head and started dialling.
And this was the day it all started.
In reality this day didn't even start that bad for Lance McClain, student on his part, but also self-proclaimed barista at "Paladin's" (and who the hell thought it would be a good idea to call a coffee shop "Paladin's"?!). He managed to get up on time, managed to get to his first class that day on time (even if it wasn't the class he was supposed to be in), he had a wonderful lunch (a microwaved can of Ravioli) and reached his workplace right on time. All in all it was not a bad day at all and now this. Why did this stupid thing had to break right now?!
Lance resisted the urge to give that stupid machine a good kick. Because first of all it would look really stupid to pull up his leg that far and second of all Shiro (his boss, by the way. And if he wasn't pissed because of a broken coffee machine, also his friend) wouldn't get a better mood for sure should he catch him doing that.
"Keith is coming over tomorrow. Can't make it today." Shiro announced and proceeded with his actual task of wiping down the counter. "You're really lucky this happened right before closing time, my friend." "It's not like it was on purpose..." Lance murmured and opened the lid of the water tank. He did his best to wave away the small black cloud in the most discreet way possible. Sadly, he wasn't as discreet as he thought he would be because he could basically feel the looks Shiro was throwing him, drilling into his back. Maybe his coughing was also a slight giveaway to call Shiros attention onto himself. How unfortunate.
"Why is Keith only coming over tomorrow?" Lance asked instead but just to switch the focus of their talking away from the damn broken coffee machine. Damn was a damn good word for all this. Not that he cared for knowing why Keith would move his ass over only the next day. Because Keith was an idiot and if there was a reasonable reason for Keith to be his mortal enemy then Keith would be his mortal enemy. Even though the other one's pure existence was a good enough reason for that. But still: He didn't care one bit why the good man had no time today but he chose to be polite in front of Shiro and ask him about his brother at least once.
"Because he still has a customer today and it seems to take quite some time. And because he deserves to have some time off work." "Some time off work? But I don't have that either!" For a second, Shiro looked like he wanted to chuck the wet towel he was still holding right into Lance's face. "Yeah, but you only started working after lunch." "Right. But I was at the university this morning! I was hard at work." This time, Shiro chucked that towel for real - right in his face. "...you went to the wrong class. You sat there for a whole hour! And you didn't even realize!" "Yeah, because I never get the stuff they teach anyways! And, wait, how did youeven get to know that?!" Lance complained and chucked the towel back. But it didn't hit Shiro and he had to hastily catch it, before it dropped to the floor. "That's not a good thing!" He obviously tried to sound serious but he couldn't stop the laughter that escaped him. "Pidge told me some time ago when she was here and you just went to the storage room. But no, for real. Don't you think you should start at least trying?" Lance made a face. "Nah," he said. "I like what I have, right now. And besides," he added, when he saw that Shiro was about to continue talking. "And besides, let’s just not talk about my university career and start closing the shop instead. Alright? Alright!" "Hey, wait a minute! I'm the boss, not you! And we're closing when I say that we're closing!""Yeah yeah, shake a leg!" "How the hell dare you speak to me?!" Shiros shout was stage-worthy, as he pounded his fist to the counter. "Aw, come on, Shiro. I know you want it too." Lance purred and winked at him (and luckily he didn't exaggerate at all). "Okay, you're fired." "Ahw, nooo." "Okay, you're not."
And if Lance would have been only half as good as he was supposed to be with percentages, he could have calculated how many of his evenings at work ended like this.