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In truth, Sero could have been making his coffee at home. His order isn't anything interesting - just a simple black coffee. It's not reason enough to be coming into this particular coffee shop every day since he moved here.
No, the real reason is the man behind the counter.
"Good morning!" Sero cheerfully greets once again, grinning wide as he usually does on his way into the shop.
"Shut the fuck up," the barista growls. He doesn't even look at Sero.
It's hilarious.
"I'm so glad you're here today, you're the only one who makes my coffee right!"
The barista's name is Bakugou, if the print on his apron is to be believed. They've never introduced themselves to each other though, so Sero refuses to say the man's name on principle.
It's more fun to get progressively more and more friendly while watching the barista get more and more irritated.
His eye twitches now, as if Sero's mere implication that Bakugou is good at his job is a crime worthy of punishment.
Which tells Sero that yesterday's coffee was messed up on purpose, and Bakugou had been hoping it would've been enough to keep Sero away.
It was not, of course. This is gold.
"Get me my usual please," Sero says with his most charming smile.
Bakugou glares at him just long enough to be considered rude before he punches in the order. Sero leans over the counter just enough to be notable as he hands over his card.
Bakugou refuses to lean away to maintain polite distance, of course, and he looks just about ready to bite Sero's hand off.
Sero keeps up his smile throughout the transaction.
Bakugou manages to make even turning away to make the coffee look like a chore. When he returns with the steaming cup, he places it on the counter and yanks his hands back.
That's fair. Sero has tried to grab his hand while it's still on the coffee multiple times. Once or twice he's succeeded.
"Thank you so much," Sero grins, taking the cup and pretending to take a sip right there in front of the counter. He knows it annoys Bakugou because the coffee is too hot to actually drink, and also Sero is obstructing access to the counter for other customers.
There's only one person behind him, so Sero drags it on a moment longer, smacking his lips in appreciation of the coffee he didn't actually sip.
Bakugou doesn't return his thanks, instead just glaring at him. "Next customer," he grits out once he realizes Sero won't move by himself.
Sero steps to the side. He continues to stand there and pretend to sip until the other customer's order is done. Then the customer attempts to step to the side as well, so Sero has to vacate that space.
He leaves. In the reflection of the windows he can see Bakugou's red eyes following him.
He sips his coffee outside, now that it's cooled a bit.
It's still too hot. He burns his tongue.
Next day, for once, Sero is in a worse mood than Bakugou.
This doesn't happen often - Sero is one of the giggliest motherfuckers he knows - but it's not the first time it happens, either.
It's hard to tell when Bakugou is in a good mood, and very easy to tell when he's in a bad mood.
Today the whole exchange happens in silence. Neither of them speak. Neither of them look directly at each other. Sero pays and gets his coffee without lifting his eyes higher than Bakugou's name on his apron. Bakugou keeps his own eyes on his hands while he works.
Sero leaves the coffee shop and gets on the bus without tasting his coffee. He takes his first sip as he steps off the bus.
There's caramel in it. Sero frowns at it. On the second sip, he decides he likes it.
"Get me what you got me yesterday."
Bakugou blinks at him, bewildered. It's Friday, so this is going to be their last interaction for the weekend. "Ha?"
"You messed up my order yesterday," Sero smiles. "I liked it. Do it again."
Bakugou cycles through several expressions, each more weirded out than the last. Finally he gathers himself enough to make himself look annoyed, though he's red in the face. "Shut up."
Sero watches him make the coffee. It's a syrup he pours in there, the rest of the order as Sero knows it.
He places it on the counter, yanking his hands back quick.
Sero smiles. "Thank you so much. How much is it?"
Bakugou is tense, all over. "...On the house."
Sero blinks. "Sorry?"
"On the house," Bakugou repeats, snapping at him. "Cause I messed up yesterday, or whatever."
"I said I liked how you messed up yesterday. That's why I'm asking the same today, old pal."
"I'm not your pal," Bakugou snarls. "And you didn't say jack shit yesterday, so fuck you. I couldn't mess up an order you didn't even ask for."
Sero nods and pretends to sip his coffee. "That's fair. Thanks for the free coffee though! I'll see you Monday."
He turns and leaves. A quiet "...Right." follows him to the door.
Sero sips the coffee on the bus. He likes it.
Just like he never asks for Bakugou's name, Sero never asks for his new order's name. Is it even caramel in his coffee? It could be any sweet, vaguely honeybrown syrup.
But he's a regular at the coffee shop, so when he asks Bakugou for the same, he gets the caramel coffee. When he asks for the usual, he gets the black coffee.
When Bakugou isn't in, Sero always gets a black coffee. Picking on the perpetually-annoyed barista is fun, but Sero is embarrassed to ask the preppy barista what kinds of syrups they have. Seems weird, when Sero is known as the plain black coffee guy.
In any case, Sero doesn't have to do this song and dance long. One morning he comes in just as a disgruntled Bakugou also comes in. Sero watches with sheer delight as Bakugou goes to the back to put down his things, comes back a few minutes later tying his apron.
Sero is standing there with a shit-eating grin, waiting to have Bakugou take his order.
The preppy barista looks between them with a smile. "Your favorite customer is here, look."
"Shut the fuck up," Bakugou says, as he often does.
"You're my favorite coffee man, bro," Sero says. He waits for Bakugou to look at him then bats his lashes in a truly atrocious manner.
"Don't call me that," Bakugou grumbles. "The fuck do you want?"
"I'll take the same as yesterday, thank you." Sero hands over his card with a lean over the counter, as he often does.
Bakugou surprises him though; instead of standing still or leaning back, he leans forward into Sero's space.
For the first time in over two months, Sero notices that Bakugou is shorter than him.
"You're the most annoying person I've ever met," Bakugou hisses right in his face.
Sero opens his mouth and turns off his fliter. "Oh my gosh bro are about to kiss right now?"
Bakugou, to his credit, scoffs and pretends to retch before he pulls back to complete the transaction, even as his coworker falls to her knees in stitches over this.
Thankfully she's still losing her shit while Bakugou puts the coffee together, so Sero has time to gather himself from whatever the hell just came out of his mouth. He knows his fight-or-flight is to be stupid and hope the other person gets confused first, but that was wild even for Sero.
Damn.
Bakugou places the cup on the counter and Sero grabs his hand around the coffee. Bakugou tries to take his hand back, but Sero holds fast.
It's fucking hilarious. It's not like Bakugou can yank himself away, he'll spill the coffee. And it's not like Sero has reason to let go of it, it's not his hand getting burned on the thin paper cup.
Bakugou doesn't seem bothered by the temperature though. If anything, he seems more annoyed at the touch than anything else.
The preppy barista has finally pulled herself together and up to her feet, wiping tears from her eyes and tucking pink hair behind her ear.
She takes one look at them and falls back to a pit of howling laughter.
Bakugou's lip curls. "Take your coffee and leave."
"I'm taking my coffee," Sero grins.
"You are not," Bakugou informs him. "You are actively keeping your coffee in place."
"I need to grab my coffee in order to leave here with it."
Bakugou's eye twitches. "You've grabbed me. Let me go and grab your coffee."
Sero smiles. "You're holding onto my coffee."
Bakugou snaps forward, fuming. "If you let me go, I can let go of your coffee."
Sero leans close as well. "Bro you're gonna drop the coffee."
Bakugou's eye twitches one more time. From this close, Sero can see flecks of orange in the red of Bakugou's iris, and tired red veins in the whites of his eyes. He looks every bit the irritated asshole he presents himself as.
Bakugou kisses him.
Sero doesn't even realize both his hands go slack until after Bakugou's put the coffee down and let go of it.
"Take your coffee," Bakugou tells him, red up to his ears, "and leave."
Sero stares for another moment. He takes the coffee on autopilot, pretends to sip. Neither him not Bakugou break eye contact.
The preppy barista has taken to gasping behind her hands.
Sero puts the coffee on the counter. "I don't like it."
"I literally made it how I always make it."
"I don't like the cup. Write your number on it."
Bakugou glares at him. His coworker, helpfully, nudges his hand with a marker.
Bakugou takes the marker with a scowl and picks up the cup. He writes on it. He puts the cup down.
Sero takes the cup and pretends to sip.
He grins. "It's perfect now, thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."
And he turns and leaves to the silence of the two baristas processing what just happened.
In the reflection of the windows, Sero sees Bakugou watch him leave.
Just as he's about to turn the corner and break line of sight, he looks back over his shoulder and brings the cup to his mouth. He takes a real sip, staring right at Bakugou.
He burns his tongue.