Work Text:
Sledge loves his job, he really does. It fits in nicely around his classes and he gets free coffee. Plus, he gets to work with his friends. What’s not to love?
It’s Thursday morning and the campus is slowly waking up, the autumn crisp in the air and Sledge and Roe are on the early shift. Roe looked exhausted, but the medical student always looked like he never got enough sleep.
“What time do ya got classes today?” Sledge asks, leaning against the counter.
“Not going today, I’m going to pick my cousin up later from the airport. I think I told you about him?”
Sledge thinks for a minute, trying to recall their conversation. “Oooh yeah! The one transferring here?”
Roe nods, “That’s the one.”
A student walks in at that moment and Sledge is first to the register, smiling as he takes his order. Five minutes later and it’s just them in the coffee shop again. “Why’s he transferring?”
Roe sighs a long suffering sigh. “He says that he hates going to college in his small town and he can’t do another three years there. He also punched someone. Well, a few people actually.”
Sledge lets out a small laugh, “Someone relating to you? Punching someone? I can’t see it!”
Roe grins to himself, “You’ll see when he gets here.”
The rest of their shift passes quickly, Sledge making a quick stop back at his dorm to grab his laptop and change out of his work apron before heading to class. He almost falls asleep in class, twice. Each time its Babe who kicks him and grins every time he shoots him daggers. Sledge kicks him back the second time and it turns into a mini kicking fight, which ends in bruises up and down Sledge’s shin.
-
Sledge isn’t on the early morning shift until Saturday, which usually means the coffee shop is full of hungover students desperately looking for their caffeine fix. This time he’s with Guarnere and his voice alone is enough to wake him up.
“Ay, don’t make it obvious, but see that kid walking in?” He asks, pulling Sledge’s attention to the door. “That’s Doc’s cousin, we met him the other night. Seems alrigh’, a little quiet but eh what can you do?”
Sledge watches as he walks from the front door to the counter. He’s beautiful, holy fuck, he thinks to himself. Why was Doc keeping him hidden for so long?
“Can I get a black coffee to go?”
Sledge just about collapses. The way he draws out his words, his accent much stronger than Roe’s. His voice was the answer to the question Sledge’s had his entire life.
“Sure,” Sledge mumbles, turning to put his order in the register. “Name?”
“Snafu.”
He tries to play it cool as he makes Snafu’s coffee, but he can’t resist the urge to talk to him. “You’re Doc’s cousin, aren’t you?”
“Doc?” Snafu repeats, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
Sledge realises the confusion, “Oh, we call Gene ‘Doc’, mainly because he’s a med student but also because my first name’s Gene too, so it gets a little confusing when we’re all hanging out.”
Snafu nods, not giving too much of a response. “Yeah, I’m his cousin. Just moved here.”
“Doc told me, said he picked you up earlier this week. Which dorm building are you in?” He asks, grabbing a lid for Snafu’s coffee.
“Forster’s Court.”
Sledge grins, “I’m in that one too! Second floor, room 14B. If you ever need someone to give you a guide of the campus, come find me.”
Snafu smiles and takes his coffee. “Thank you,” he mumbles, leaving the shop quicker than he entered.
Sledge turns around and facepalms. Guarnere was stifling a laugh behind him. “Next time just ask him to join you in bed, Jesus Sledge! What was that?” He laughs.
Sledge groans, pulling his hand across his face. “Was I that bad?”
Guarnere’s still laughing, “You were practically jumpin’ on him, felt a little bad for the kid.”
Sledge wants the ground to open up and swallow him whole. This is why he was the single one out of their group, he was destined to be single forever at this rate.
-
A whole week passes before Sledge sees Snafu again. This time it’s the graveyard shift and he’s the only one working, Babe had left twenty minutes ago and Sledge was about to lock up. It was almost one am, he wanted to collapse onto his bed and sleep for the next eight hours.
He’s doing a quick inventory behind the counter when the bell above the door rings. Popping his head up, he’s shocked when he sees who walked in.
“Hiya, Sledge,” Snafu says. His name has never sounded better in someone’s mouth before.
“Hey, how you been?” Sledge asks, setting down the clipboard and moving to the register to wait for his order.
“Alrigh’, still finding my way around. Could I get a black coffee?” He asks.
“To go?” Sledge clarifies.
Snafu hesitates, “Could I sit in? I know it’s late, but I kinda needed to get outta my dorm.”
Sledge looks at the clock, knowing he could be in bed within the next half an hour if he told Snafu they were closing. “Sure, no problem!”
Sledge mentally slaps himself, knowing that he has a semi early class in the morning. He makes Snafu his coffee and makes himself one, testing his luck. Bringing them both over to the table they were sat at, he hovers for a second. “Mind if I sit?”
Snafu indicates to the chair across from him, Sledge dropping into the seat, happy to be off his feet.
“You know some guy called Leckie?” Snafu asks in between sips of his coffee.
“Yeah, met him a few times. Think he does the same course as one of my other friends,” Sledge replies, “Why?”
Snafu sighs, “He’s my roommate. All he does it talk about fuckin’ Shakespeare and poetry. If I hear him recite one more sonnet I’m gonna deck him.”
Sledge finds himself laughing, trying to imagine Leckie and Snafu stuck in a dorm room together. “You wouldn’t like Webster then, he’s just as bad.”
At the mentioning of Web’s name, Snafu’s eyes change. “That’s who he’s always on the phone with! Talkin’ about plays and other pretentious shit.”
“You’ll have to meet everybody, I promise they’re not all as insufferable as Webster and Leckie. Some of them are actually alrigh’,” Sledge says.
“I think I’ve met a few of them. Guarnere and Toye? They helped me move some stuff in,” Snafu comments, trying to remember the name of someone else. “There was someone with Toye, he didn’t shut up, God what was his name?”
“That’ll be Luz, Toye’s boyfriend, he doesn’t have an off button,” Sledge fills him in on everyone else, from Nixon to Malarkey.
“There’s a lot of you, huh? How’d you all meet?” Snafu asks. Sledge notices that his coffee cup is empty but he doesn’t make any attempt to leave.
“We were all on the same floor in first year, somehow ended up friends. Think we have room for one more though,” He adds quickly, looking up from his now empty cup.
Snafu smiles, “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, you seem alrigh’,” Sledge smirks. “We’re having a party for Halloween at the end of the month, you should come.”
“Maybe I will,” Snafu says, already knowing he’ll be there.
-
Sledge wipes the sweat from his brow. He silently cursed himself for taking the extra shift, it was absolutely boiling and the AC had gone out that morning. The summer sun was streaming through the windows and he couldn’t wait for his shift to end.
The bell above the door rings and he looks up, temporarily being transported back to that first look months ago.
“Hey, you’re here early. My shift doesn’t end for another twenty minutes,” Sledge grins, seeing his boyfriend walk up to the counter.
“I like watching you sweat,” Snafu shrugs, a small smirk tugging at his lips. “I’ll wait for you. A few guys are going down to the beach tonight, thought we could go.”
Sledge hands an order to someone waiting at the other side of the counter. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, thought we could get dinner from that takeout you like near the beach.”
Sledge smiles, “You askin’ me on a date?”
Snafu scoffs, a blush slowly creeping onto his face, “You’re my boyfriend dumbass, don’t gotta ask you out like that anymore.”
“So romantic,” Sledge rolls his eyes, smiling. “Yeah, we’ll go. You crashing at mine after?”
“Yeah, think I still have my laptop there from last night.”
Sledge sides a frozen drink across the counter to Snafu, who was starting to sweat standing in the hot coffee shop. He smiles and takes a grateful sip.
“One of the perks of dating someone who works at a coffee shop,” He jokes.
“Ay, I can start making you pay instead of takin’ it out my pay ya know.”
Snafu lets out a small laugh, shaking his head. “I’ll wait for you over there,” He points at one of the empty tables by the door. Sledge moves back to the register to take the next students order, stealing glances at Snafu whenever he could. When his shift finally ends, he steps out of the coffee shop with his hand lazily intertwined with Snafu’s as they walk towards his dorm, the summer sun setting on the horizon.