Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bad was in the back of the café with Red while Antfrost took orders. Bad was the owner and head pastry chef of Munchy, Redvelvet, who is Ant's boyfriend, is Bad's helper. Dream handles the finances and George keeps check of the stock. Sapnap is just his roomie who hangs around Munchy a lot.
Munchy is a fairly popular Café with many regulars.

"Bad! Can you make the elcairs while I make the Cakes?" Red asked, Bad nodded his head and went to start a fresh batch of eclairs. He loved making eclairs, so many different possible flavor combinations that were yet to be created. But he's sticking to making normal chocolate eclairs filled with creme this time.
He started with the batter, the only hard part of this recipe since it was quite simple to begin with. It was quick, simply piping the batter onto a baking tray and letting them sit in the oven for 15 minutes.

He looked over at Red's station, he was making the chocolate decadence cakes which were basically pure chocolate but still delicious. While waiting for the pastry to bake he went to the next thing for the day, finishing up the macarons for this morning.
Everyday they would create macarons to be left overnight and be assembled in the morning, so there were fresh macarons everyday.

There was an assortment of flavors, coconut, cherry, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and lavender. The vibrant colors always attracted customers to their shop. He prided himself in his creations that he always tried to make perfectly.

"Bad! I need you up here real quick!" Bad heard Ant call him so he glanced at the time left before heading to the front counter with a small skip in his step. "What's up?" Bad asked once he got there, leaning over the counter slightly.

"Can you restock the display? My hands are kinda full up here." Ant motioned to the glass case display next to them and Bad nodded. "Yeah 'course. Gimme a sec." Ant thanks him and goes back to taking the orders of those in line.
When he got back, Red had taken the eclairs out for him already. "Thanks Red, I'll be back. I'm just gonna restock real quick." Red nodded and continued with his miniature cakes. Red kinda had a knack for making amazing cakes, his specialty being red velvet cakes. (No surprise there)

Bad set a couple batches of macarons on a tray, as well as madaleines and croissants. Those were usually what they put on display, and when Red and him finish their current deserts then those will be added to the display as well.
He walked out the kitchen and to the front desk, opening the display case and setting each pastry a certain way to look neat and pretty. He was crouched down and when he glanced up he noticed another guy crouched across the glass display. He tried to ignore his staring and continued placing the pastries.

Once finished he stood up, the man did too. Bad smiled and was about to leave but froze when he watched the tanned male lean against the glass. "Ah! NO! DONT TOuch the glass..." There was no point, his fingerprints were already smudged on the glass that he barely cleaned this morning.
He sighed and his shoulders slumped, the slightly shorter male grimanced and stood away from the glass. "Sorry.." he mumbled, looking regretful.

Bad shook his head dismissively and grabbed a rag from behind the counter before going around and cleaning the glass the second time that morning. "No worries, you new here? I haven't seen you around before." Bad chatted, admiring his display.

"Yeah actually, just moved here a couple days ago to burn some cash." The tanned male replied, a bit suprised. Bad nodded with a small smile. "Oh nice, hopefully you like Munchy! See ya around." Bad waved and went back towards the kitchen to finish his eclairs.

The guy sighed and ran a hand through his hair, he'd been staring at the cute chef for awhile now and he totally embarrassed himself instead of looking cool like he intended. He got into line and decided to order something, hopefully he could catch a glance of the chef again if he ate on the outside patio...

Bad got back to his station and assembled the eclairs, drizzling chocolate on them and filling them with creme. He was about to call them done but he felt like adding a little extra. So he sifted some powdered sugar over them to give them a more finished look. He hummed pleasently and put them on a tray so he could take them out soon. Bad assembled a couple more macarons before heading back out with the tray.

"That guy's still here." Ant spoke, handing someone a bag.
"What?" Bad asked, putting more pastries in the case.

"The guy from earlier, who flirted with you."
Bad still shook his head, not exactly catching on yet.
"The one who smudged the glass!" Ant finally said and Bad realized who he was talking about.

"Oh? He wasn't flirting... But uh yeah people stay here to eat so that's normal?" Bad replied, still focused. "He was totally flirting with you. And yeah but he already finished eating and still hasn't left." Ant pointed outside, where the tanned male sat alone.

Bad quirked a brow. "So?"
"Soooooo go get his number, he obviously is giving you googl-y eyes." Bad chuckles and looks out on the patio to prove to himself that no one is flirting with him. But to his surprise, the guy is indeed staring at him. He even looked away when Bad caught him looking.

"Uh he probably just thinks I'm such an amazing chef, duh. Imma go and help Red. Bye Ant." Bad had joked, waving off Ant's claim. Ant could only sigh but shook it off, no point in trying any harder.
"Hey Bad I finished the cakes. Need anything done or should I just make whatever needs restocking?" Red asked, cleaning his hands with a damp rag.

"We still have a lot of macarons to finish so let's at least get I don't know... 100 more done?" Bad shrugged, already making a couple. With Red's help this should go a lot faster
Red hummed in approval and started piping the filling and putting the cookies together, equally paced with Bad. They never talked much while baking, they just got too absorbed into making things perfect. Seems like a habit that most chef's have, they just strive for perfection all the time.

.
.
.

Bad was right, the job was finished much quicker thanks to Red. "Thanks red! I'm gonna bag these up and put them out for Ant." Bad was already on the move again, today was quite busy which makes sense. Most of the pastries sold out the day before since it was a Sunday and they were open longer.
Luckily today they close in the afternoon and he'll be able to get a break soon.
He loved his home, right on top of the café! Just up some flight of stairs and he's basically never late to work.

He had a goofy grin on his face while he bagged the macarons by color, life was just great and he couldn't be any happier. He was stood farther away from Ant, working behind the counter.
"Hey." Bad slows what he's doing and looks up, it's the guy from before. Hasn't like over an hour passed already?
"Hey?" Bad replied confused, remembering how Ant claimed he was flirting but brushed it off because, no way.

"Uh well you already know I'm new here and I was just wondering uh what's your name?" The boy muttered. Bad's eyes widened but he kept his gaze on the macarons.
"Uhm, my name's Darryl but my friends call me Bad... What's your name?" He felt giddy, meeting a new friend.

"My name's Zak, my friends call me Skeppy though." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "You the owner?" He asked.
Bad nodded, a proud smile adorning his face. "Yup! Red and Ant work here with me, some others too but they arent here today." Bad explained, finishing up the macarons and placing them beside Ant on the counter. Ant made sure to give Bad a little nudge with his elbow and a fairly obvious wink. He rolled his eyes and went back to talking with Zak.

"That's cool, damn uh, sorry but I just thought you were super cute and ughh can I have your number?" Zak rushed out, getting flustered towards the end. Bad was surprised to say the least, he didn't expect Zak to be so bold.

"Oh! Yes sure! Uhm. Hold on.." Bad holds a hand up and takes the pen from his pocket, searching for something to write on. "Here just write it on my hand." Zak said, putting his arm across the counter for him to write on.
Now Bad was getting embarrassed since so many people were around them.

"Okay then." He grasped Zak's hand and started to jot his number onto his palm. "There we go, I work until 6 today so I won't be on my phone until then." He really didn't have to say that but he did for some reason. Zak grinned and nodded. "Great! Thanks so much, I'll be going now." Zak waved with the ink stained hand and walked out the door, pulling his phone out in the process.

"What'd I tell you?" Ant laughed from next to Bad, causing a blush to grow on his cheeks. "Shut up or I'll fire you." Bad huffed, crossing his arms.

"Yeah ok, do it." Ant tested, knowing Bad would never. Bad groaned and went back into the kitchen, trying to escape the teasing. When he walked in he was surprised to see George, not even noticing when he came in.
"Hey George!" Bad trotted over, smiling wide.

"Hey Bad, just checking for what needs to be stocked up. Anything you need specifically?"
Bad brought a hand to his chin and hummed in thought. "Oh, could you get hazelnuts and matcha? A pound of both. I wanna try a new recipe." Bad remembered his earlier thought about the endless combinations of eclairs, wanting to try something out himself.

"'course. Also I saw you score yourself a cute boy-"
"Oh my goodness George no I didn't we're just friends getting to know each other." Bad groaned, placing his hand in his face dramatically.
"Uh-huh, it starts out as friends, just wait." George laughed, writing things down on his clipboard.

"You should know huh? With dream and all that." Bad teased back, causing George to go straight faced and give him the silent treatment. "Ok I'm done, see ya later Red!" George waved and walked out the kitchen, ignoring Bad completely but that just made him feel victorious.

Chapter Text

As Bad poured himself a coffee, the door to the house opened and he was met by Sapnap. "Hey sap! How was school today?" He grabbed another cup and poured more coffee out for Sapnap.

"Eh it was boring as usual, BUT George told me you got a boys number." Bad groaned but remembered that he forgot to check his phone like he was supposed too. "Yeah whatever, there's some coffee and croissants on the counter for you." He grumbled and took his phone out, a message from a number he hadn't seen before on display.

'hey, it's Zak!'

Bad smiled a little unconsciously.

'hey Zak ^•^ what's up.'

"Oooo are you texting himmm." Sapnap teased, taking a sip from the coffee. Bad rolled his eyes and drank his coffee. "Yeah? So what?" Bad responded snappily, causing the two of them to burst into laughter.

"Is he cute?" Sapnap asked through the laughter. Bad thought back to this morning when he met Zak and flushed just a tiny bit. "Yeah he is.."

Sapnap couldn't hold back his teasing. "Yah? Is he your type? Wanna date him?" He sat on the couch and threw his backpack to the floor lazily. "Oh my goodness we are just friends! And so what if he is my type?" Sapnap chuckled "I'm just saying..."

Bad grumpily drank his coffee and sat next to Sapnap on the couch. "Whatever. What do you want for dinner today?"

"Man I'm so glad my roommate is a chef, I want something yummy." Bad smiled triumphantly, walking over to the kitchen to make their dinner.
His phone vibrated and he took it out his pocket.

'ah nothing much, I spent most of today exploring. What about you?'

Oh right Zak is new to town.

'hey maybe after work tomorrow I can show you around. Also I'm just making dinner right now.'

Zak was quick to respond

'really?!'
'that would be great!'
'should I go to munchy at around 5 tomorrow?'

Bad grinned and leaned against the kitchen counter.

'yep, I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to make dinner now, bye!! :D'

'byr! Have a nice dinner'

Did he just score himself a date? No no, they're just friends! He reminded himself, putting away his phone and turning on the stove.