Work Text:
Three weeks. That's how long Maki has endured suffering. Maybe suffering is a strong word, but what these three weeks have done to her heart is not a laughing matter, in spit of what her so called friends may say.
And all because of a now regular customer who's order Maki remembers without thinking. A regular who also happens to share her major. Nobara Kugisaki.
And perhaps a better phrasing for "suffering" would be "whipped and doesn't know what to do about it".
"Earth to Maki~ Your girlfriend's here," Maki's coworkers could be annoying at times(except for Shoko), but Gojo was a whole new definition of it. For being older than her, he sure didn't act like it.
"She's not my girlfriend," Maki said, the other barely dodging a halfhearted attempt to elbow his side.
Everyone had already seemed to sense that Maki liked taking Nobara's order, but they all did it in such an obviously annoying way.
"Maki! You're looking as pretty as ever," Nobara always started out her conversations with Maki like that, and it made the other flush every time.
Yet she told herself not to get ahead of herself. Nobara's a nice person, and doesn't sugarcoat or exaggerate often. It doesn't necessarily mean she's flirting.
"You flatter me, Nobara. Your usual?" The green haired girl asked, unable to resist smiling around the other.
Nobara gave her a thumbs up and Maki went to work. Her order was so consistent that Maki felt a calming methodicalism when preparing it. Dealing with more complex orders during the morning was draining, but this one was familiar and for the smiling woman that had so unexpectedly stole her heart.
"Here you go," Having finished, Maki handed the coffee over to the orange haired girl.
"See you later than, Maki," She winked and Maki tried not to collapse there and then.
She had contemplated writing her number on the cup many times now- something she'd never admit to Gojo or Inumaki should she want to spare herself even more teasing. It just felt too risky in the case Nobara flat out rejected her. What if she never came to get coffee from here again? What if she avoided Maki in their lecture halls instead of picking up conversations with her? That was a future she did not, under any circumstances, want to face.
So what if it meant not confessing for a little longer?
Plus, Nobara always hung out with two others, one of which was Maki's distant cousin Megumi and the other who was the ever sociable Yuuji. They seemed nice enough, and Nobara was her own amazingly bright person. It was more likely she liked one of them before she liked Maki.
Sighing aloud, Maki leaned on the counter with her head in her hands. This romance shit was confusing. Mai knew more about these things than her, but letting her twin in on anything about her private life felt like a suicide move.
"Someone's got it bad for-"
"Shut it before I call Shoko out," Maki snapped before Gojo could tease further. It only made things a little better to see him panic and pretend to be hard at work.
The next morning proceeded as it always did. Louder, more impatient customers walked in early just to make Maki's life a little more hellish. Gojo accidentally pissied off a customer and Shoko stormed out to fix whatever mess had happened. Inumaki wisely decided to stay out of things until he switched the sugar with the salt when Maki wasn't looking.
Sudden grunts of disgust when one customer drank a coffee with extra salt was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to the chaos this job brought. Maki, although only a part-timer, couldn't wait until the morning rush died down. Her shift later in the day after classes was calmer, save for the few who came to get a double shot espresso with way too much sugar at 5 in the afternoon.
What made the unfortunate work mornings better was when Nobara walked in. With her, she carried this presence that just made Maki feel more at ease.
"Your eyes aren't sparkling as much as usual Maki- are you tired?" Nobara asked, reaching a hand up to the other woman's cheek. This action caught her so off guard that she unintentionally pulled away a little.
"Sorry. Yeah, just a little. There's only so much coffee can do," Nobara nodded in understanding to this. She pulled back her hand and leaned on the counter, head resting on it as she looked up at the other with her pretty orange eyes. Maki tried not to let her dissapointment at losing the small gesture.
For the moment, at least, she could pretend that this was enough.
"Hmm, in that case, how about I treat you to dinner later?" Nobara asked, surprising Maki yet again as her face flushed.
"You don't have to."
Did Nobara somehow feel indebted to her? If anything, Maki felt it was the other way around.
"I want to though-" The orange haired girl paused, standing upright again and seeming to contemplate something.
"Nobara?"
"What I mean is, do you wanna go out with me?" Nobara asked with a small huff. It was cute- not that the green haired girl had much time to think over that.
"You wanna go- with me?" Maki managed to stutter out, her eyes wide in disbelief.
"Yeah? I've kinda been flirting the whole time."
And by now they're both blushing brightly. A cup slides onto the counter in front of Maki, and for once she doesn't feel like slapping Gojo for medddling.
Without thinking, Maki grabs the pen from her uniform's pocket, and writes carefully on the paper wrapping of the cup. Nobara looks on in confusion until the other hands the cup to her, when it becomes apparent that the green haired girl had wrote her phone number on it. A smile grows on the orange haired girl's face, and Maki tries to keep her calm.
"Then I look forward to it."