Chapter Text
Natasha rapped her pen against the counter. “There’s this girl who works in the boutique across the street. She’s cute.”
Steve sighed, “Aren’t you supposed to be taking orders, not playing matchmaker for me?”
Natasha smacked her bubble gum. “There’s no one here. Look around, old man,” she said gesturing to the empty coffee shop.
Steve spoke, “just because I like Frank Sinatra and thought ‘lol’ meant ‘lots of love’ does not mean I’m an ‘old ma-“
“You use the word ma’am,” Natasha said.
Steve looked indignant. “It’s polite.”
“Whatever you say, old man.” Natasha left the counter and walked to the back of the shop, leaving Steve to continue arranging and rearranging the empty coffee cups. Steve rolled his eyes. Natasha had been calling him old man since they were in high school together. He hadn’t really expected her to stop now.
With Natasha in the back, manning the oven, the shop was almost eerily quiet. The only sound came from a few notes of smooth jazz playing from some old speakers Natasha had found at a garage sale.The silence wouldn't last long though, the morning crowd had all left, but the lunch crowd would arrive soon. Not that the little coffee shop ever had much a crowd. The lunch crowd was usually just a few lone hipsters.
The bell above the door rang. A man sauntered through the doorway and walked over to Steve. He leaned against the counter, seemingly unaware that the sleeve of his sports jacket was resting in a coffee spill. He said, “well if it isn’t the Star Spangled Man himself???”
Steve wondered what was with his friends and their tendency to giving him annoying nicknames. “Hello, Tony.”
Tony smiled. He looked even more disheveled than usual. His Black Sabbath tee shirt was wrinkled and decorated with a myriad of stains.
Natasha called out from the back room, “Is that Tony? Tell him to go fuck himself.”
Steve said, “She wants you to go fuck yourself.”
Tony laughed. “Yeah but she called me Tony, not Stark.” He shouted back, “see I told you you’d warm up to me!”
“пошел на хуй маленький человечек” Natasha yelled.
“No wonder there’s no else here but me. She’s probably scaring all the customers away,” Tony said and then stared at the menu.
He stared at the menu for so long that Steve had begun to suspect he had fallen asleep while standing. “Are you gonna order?” Steve asked.
“Oh right. Right. Yeah I want a venti espresso to go,” Tony said rubbing his head.
“We don’t sell espresso in a venti size.”
“Why not?”
“Because that’s 20 shots of espresso and we have a strict policy against customers dying.”
“I’m not gonna die.”
Steve sighed. He had been doing that a lot today. “You’re an idiot and you’re getting a latte, with one shot of espresso, not twenty.”
Tony groaned. “Do you have any idea of the scientific discoveries that the earth is being deprived of, because stickler Steve Rogers won’t give me the caffeine I need to stay awake for three days straight.”
“Uh huh,” Steve said, while steaming the milk for Tony’s latte.
Natasha emerged from the back room, holding a tray of muffins. “So, Tony, I’m trying to set Steve up with someone. Know anyone cute?”
Steve groaned. “Please don’t drag him into this.” He poured the milk into the cup of coffee.
“There’s this girl, Sharon, that works in HR. She’s nice,” Tony said. “Oh wait. No I slept with her. Or maybe it was her sister. I don’t remember.”
“Jesus Christ, Tony,” Natasha said, shoving the latte into Tony’s hand. “Вы роговой немного ублюдок”
“I don’t know what you just said, but I’m going to assume it was an insult,” Tony said. He laughed as he walked out of the shop.
Natasha turned to Steve, “please tell me that latte was decaffeinated.”
“Yeah” Steve said. “Pepper called ahead of time, warning that he would be coming in. She said under we were not to give him caffeine under any circumstance. Apparently he hasn’t slept in 4 days.”
Natasha finished putting the muffins in the display case. “Hey will you watch the shop? Clint just texted me saying that he lost his dog again.”
“Yeah sure,” Steve said. “How many times has he lost that dog now?”
Natasha grabbed her coat and scarf from under the counter. “I don’t know. Hopefully the stupid dog learns its name soon, cause I will not keep leaving work to help Clint trace down the mutt.” Natasha walked over and opened the door. “Thanks again.” The bell let out a soft jingle as Natasha walked away, her heels clicking against the pavement.
Steve went to the back to see if the scones were done and then started organizing the change in the cash register. He had just finished counting the 20s when he heard the bell jingle.
He looked up to see a man walk through the door. The man walked up to the counter, and said, “One coffee, black.”
Steve nodded and started making the coffee. Every day, for two weeks now, the man had had come into shop and ordered “one coffee, black.” Those were the only words the man ever said. After he left Natasha would always amuse herself by speculating why this stranger was willing to pay for a $5 cup of plain coffee, seemed to only own one ratty hoodie, and always had dark circles under his eyes. Steve told Natasha that she was being absurd and that the man was just a regular customer, but every time he came in Steve always found some reason to be in the back of the shop.
Steve asked, “Name?” without making eye contact. Steve knew he was being ridiculous, but there was something about the stranger’s blank gaze that made him want to look away.
The man said, “Bucky,” with the same expressionless tone that he had ordered in.
Steve nodded again. He started writing the name on a tall cup with a Sharpie, but he dropped the pen before he could even start writing the ‘u’. “Goddamn it,” Steve said under his breath. He went to grab the pen, but it rolled under the counter and settled beside the stranger’s boots. Steve blushed “Sorry I guess I’m just a bit of a klutz today.”
Without saying a word, the man picked up the pen and held it out to Steve. The man smiled and Steve started to blush again. He grabbed the pen, murmured “Sorry”, and thought Thank god Natasha isn’t here to see this. Steve finished writing Bucky’s name and turned the coffee maker on. For a while both he and Bucky stood there in silence, listening to smooth jazz and the drip of coffee.
Steve fidgeted with his apron a bit and said, “So… I guess you’re a bit of a regular here now.”
Bucky nodded and the silence began again. Usually customers were always eager to share a bit of small talk as they waited for their order, but this man seemed to have an endless tolerance for awkward silence. Steve thought about trying to start a conversation but instead just started fiddling with the coffee machine, pretending he was actually doing something.
The machine beeped, indicating the coffee was done. Steve popped a lid on the cup and hastily handed it to Bucky. He expected Bucky to just grab his coffee and go. Instead Bucky walked over to a small book shelf in the corner, grabbed a book, and sat down at a table in the corner to drink his coffee and read. Steve stared at Bucky. He didn’t remember Bucky ever staying the shop before. Whenever Natasha had served him, he had just grabbed his coffee and left. Steve knew it wasn’t that weird, a customer getting a coffee to go sometimes and staying in the shop sometimes, but there was something about the man that irked him. Maybe it was the man’s dark attire, the bags under his eyes, or the vague sense that Steve had seen him somewhere before. Steve realized he had been staring at the man for a while now. Bucky glanced up from his book and Steve hastily averted his eyes. Steve started wiping down the counters, even though he had just cleaned them a few minutes ago.
After 15 minutes, Bucky stood up, threw his coffee in the trash, and returned the book to its shelf. Steve couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when Bucky finally walked out the front door.
Natasha showed up a while later, with dirt in her hair and mud on her boots. When Steve asked what had happened she told him that if Clint ever called the shop again, Steve was to tell Clint that both he and his stupid dog could go to hell. Steve didn’t question her further. The rest of the shift went by uneventfully. As per usual just enough customers came in that he and Natasha didn’t have to worry about the business going bankrupt, but not much more than that.