Work Text:
Ajax groans, pulling at his ginger locks. It’s 11AM after pulling an all-nighter and he still hasn’t finished writing the draft of his upcoming fantasy-romance book. ‘Finished’ is over-exaggerating it. He hasn’t even written more than three sentences, and the deadline to hand it in was next month.
He blearily rubs his eyes and shuts his computer. Maybe a change of atmosphere would be best, he tells himself, getting out of his chair. He exits his building, and starts walking down the street, trying to find somewhere he could write.
It wasn’t hard to find a coffee shop, only a few blocks away from his apartment. It looks new, he thinks, and enters. The jingling of the bell announces his presence, and the warm air from the heater welcomes him to a cozy little cafe.
Then a shriek pieces the air, and Ajax’s eyes instinctively dart towards the commotion.
“Get your hands off of me!” An angry voice says, the owner of it being a young female. It was directed towards a smug-looking man who had his hand near her hips. Other customers looked alarmed. Ajax frowns and starts walking towards the pair. He couldn’t just watch this happen.
“I didn’t do anything, miss.” The man as a disgusting smirk on his face, sneering at the young woman. “You were probably imagining it-“
He’s cut off by a barista punching his face, and damn, Ajax’s in love.
She’s gorgeous, Ajax thinks. The barista has short, chin-length blonde hair and the eyes that looked like molten gold. He noted the height difference between himself and her. It was perfect! He noted the name on her tag, Lumine. Lumine, Lumine. Silently mouthing her name, it smoothly rolled off his tongue. He decided it was his new favorite word now.
The furious look on her face only served to make her look hotter. She was like… a butt-kicking ninja angel, he thought dreamily, as her leg shot out from her skirt to kick the man’s shin.
“Do you want to report him?” Lumine asks the woman, who shakes her head slowly, looking a bit shaken, but unharmed. The barista gives her a final once-over before nodding.
“You’re lucky she let you off. Now, sir, I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
The now quivering man practically trips over his feet in his haste to get out the door, away from the terrifying, approximately 156.2 centimetres tall woman.
Ajax snaps out of his lovestruck daze and goes to help the woman up along with Lumine, who reassures her that the man wouldn’t be coming back to the coffeee shop anytime soon, or ever.
For a second, he meets Lumine’s eyes, and he swears that he could see pure, untainted sunshine shimmering. His heart almost stops for that brief second that seemed to stretch out for eternity, only going back to normal when she turns away to go back to the counter.
Right, we’re strangers. He tries to quell the disappointment welling up in his chest, but bubbles rise up his stomach to his throat when he goes to the counter. To Lumine.
“Uhm…” He looks at the menu, desperately trying to ignore the goddess in front of him. “Uh….” Think, think, think! He nervously scans the coffee names written in chalk, before remembering his sister’s usual coffee order. “Could I have a tall, non-fat latte with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and ten pumps of vanilla please?”
Great, now the hot girl is looking at me like I’m crazy , he awkwardly smiles, but that doesn’t stop him from the next thing he says. “And I’ll also take two brownies. Actually, make that four.” What? He needed his sugar, especially after staying up all night.
“Name?”
“Babe,” He answers, because yes, sleep deprived Ajax still has the energy to flirt with pretty girls. He’s impressed he even managed to keep his face straight while his heart is combusting inside, his mind chanting no no no no no you just blew all your chances with the cute girl, abort mission, ABORT MISSION.
Her eyebrows furrow (which is adorably cute , his mind unhelpfully supplies) then scribbles the name with black sharpie onto the cup.
-
“One tall, non-fat latte with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and ten pumps of vanilla with four brownies for ‘Babe!’” Lumine calls out, face deadpan and not looking the least flustered or even annoyed.
Childe walks to the counter and picks up the future cause of his diabetes, quirking his lips up at the blonde barista, before going back to his table with his sugary order.
He discovers that she, like many baristas, misspelled the given name. From ‘Babe’ to ‘Baib,’ which he has no doubt that she purposely did. It’s also accompanied by the words ‘Real cute, Baib’ scrawled on the clear plastic cup. Ajax briefly glances at Lumine, who meets his eyes and smirks . Her soft pink lips curled up mischievously, eyes twinkling playfully.
And Ajax knows that he’s supposed to be working on his darn book due for next month, but damn, he sure was going to be a lot less focused now.
-
Tartaglia stumbled, falling down to one knee as the vicious goddess sent him tumbling with one strike of her deadly whip. Her piercing golden eyes seemed like it could kill thousands of men with just a glance of those beautiful golden pools of honey and amber, and it drew even him closer, wanting to take her head in his hands and
Fuck.
Ajax Novikov groaned, slamming his head down on the hard wood of the table before leaning back to see his progress.
It’s been more than an hour, and he managed to write about 6000 words. 6000 words all about the perfect barista he met today.
Am I ever going to finish my book? He cried mournfully. All that were left of his brownies were now crumbs and he had even managed to finish his heart-attack-inducing coffee order.
Rosalyne’s going to kill me , Ajax slumped, then yawned. It had been more than 27 hours since he had last slept, and he could barely see straight. The warmth of the cafe, the comforting smell of coffee, and the plush chair he was sitting on seemed to beckon him, to… close his eyes just for one second…
Then he suddenly feels his arm being gently shaken, and wakes up with a start. The first thing he sees are strands of golden hair lightly brushing his face and the face of Lumine hovering one inch above his. In all his sleep-deprived glory, he manages to groggily blurt out the first intelligent thing that comes to mind. “Angel is you because you hurt when you fell from heaven?” He wants to throw himself inside a ditch. The cheesiest pickup line in humanity and he, an accomplished author, used it and even managed to mess it up.
Then she throws back her head and… laughs. The angel is laughing. It’s possibly the most heavenly sound Ajax has ever heard in his life. Her airy laughter rang out clear and light, her golden eyes sparkling. He suddenly found it physically hard to breathe, yet he feels like he could die happy now. Lumine’s giggles sound sweeter than the tall non-fat latte with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and ten pumps of vanilla and the four brownies he previously consumed, sweeter than even the cake his mother baked for his eighteenth birthday.
That’s when he thinks, God I want to marry this woman.
When the laughter dies down, Ajax finds himself a little disappointed, but it dies when her hand brushes his arm to remove a piece of lint. His cheeks almost tint pink, but he fights the urge blush.
“You were asleep for almost seven hours, Baib.” She chuckles, and he sheepishly rubs his neck.
“Ajax. It’s Ajax.” He makes a show of looking at her name tag nonchalantly. “And you’re… Lumine?”
“Lumine Viatrix, co-owner of Viatrix Cafe! I run with place with my twin brother, Aether.” Lumine grins. “You must have been really tired to have a seven-hour nap, Ajax.” She glances at the laptop in front of him curiously.
“I’m a writer. A novelist.” Ajax answers after seeing her questioning gaze. “The deadline’s next month, hence the tall, non-fat latte with-”
“Whipped cream, chocolate syrup and ten pumps of vanilla, I know.” She gives him a blinding smile again, her perfect white teeth peeking out underneath soft pink lips. “Annnd four brownies. The sweetest order I’ve seen this month. What’s your book about?”
“It’s a fantasy-romance.” He sucks in a breath through his teeth, an embarrassed look on his face. “Let’s just say I haven’t had as much progress as I would have liked.”
“Not your usual genre, huh?” The golden-haired barista gives him a sympathetic look, quietly tidying up another table.
“What can I say? I love challenges.” Ajax winks at her, making Lumine roll her eyes but smile. Then flinching like she just remembered something, she glimpses at clock and her eyes widen.
“It’s fifteen minutes past closing time!” She gives him an apologetic (and somewhat disappointed, he would like to think) look.“Sorry, I have to ask you to leave now. I still have to finish cleaning up.”
“It’s fine, Lumine.” Ajax flashes her another smile, his emotions a strange mixture of reluctance and relief (reluctance to leave her, and relief to finally go back home and sleep). “We, uh, can do this next time?” He tries to shoot her a flirty quirk of his lips, but he’s pretty sure he ended up looking like a complete idiot.
“Sure, next time.” The golden-eyed girl agrees, returning his (pathetically idiotic) smile, her eyes glimmering with an unknown emotion. Attraction? He wonders. Probably wishful thinking, he scolds himself.
They (mostly himself, in his opinion) awkwardly stare at each other for a few more seconds, before he finally clears his throat. “Well, I’d better get going now.” He rises out of his chair. “It was nice meeting you, Lumine.”
“You too.” She gives him a small smile, which is dazzling all the same, and walks with him to the entrance (or exit) of the small building.
“See you next time.” He finally says, walking out, and happiness bubbles up inside when he sees her nod. But when he’s about a few feet away, she suddenly calls out his name.
“You said you liked challenges, right?” Lumine smiles at him from the door.
He turns around, a smirk on his face. “I do, why?”
“Maybe you’d like this one then.” His jaw drops, and she teasingly tilts her head. “It’s not really a challenge though, if you ask me.” She gives him a wink he can’t tell is jokingly playful or serious, and shuts the door, turning the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’ before he can get another word out.
Ajax turns around and sighs. How do I get her out of my head now? And what the hell did that wink mean?
-
After Ajax finally gets more than eight hours of sleep, he neatly combs his hair for the first time in four days and gets dressed in smarter clothing. He even sprays on a touch of his cologne. I look pretty good, if I do say so myself. He wraps a red scarf around his neck.
He looks at himself in the mirror, satisfied and confident. Then he picks up his laptop and makes his way to the cafe.
-
That confidence Ajax felt earlier that morning? Gone. It crumbles to dust when he sees Lumine the second he steps into the cafe. When she notices him, she happily waves and gives him a cheerful smile. He’s stupidly grinning and energetically waves before he realises what he’s doing. Be cool, be cool, he tells himself, and casually strides up to the counter.
“Hey, girlie.” His voice is higher than usual and he clears his throat, swallowing nervously. “Sorry, ahem, sore throat.”
“I’m sure.” She gives him a look like she can see through him, and he wouldn’t be not surprised if she could. I’m being so obvious right now, he grits his teeth.
“I’d like a, uhm-“ He briefly glances up at the menu, and chooses the first thing he sees. “A ‘foamy reef,’ please.”
“Name?” Lumine asks, feigning ignorance.
“Darling?” It comes out sounding more like a question than an answer, and he’s pretty sure his voice cracked in between. “It’s D-A-R-L-I-N-G, don’t misspell it again, pretty girl.” He smirks at her, trying to seem confident and flirty again.
She gives him a look bordering on amused and disappointed, but scribbles it on anyway. Lumine rudely shoves the cup in his face, showing him the clear and bold word ‘DARLING.’
“Feisty, are we today, Lumine?” Ajax winks at her, and she laughs, much to his joy.
“I think I liked you better when you were sleep-deprived,” she shoots back, but her lips are curved up in a dazzling smile. “At least you actually ordered something interesting. A foamy reef is so boring compared to a tall, non-fat latte with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and ten pumps of vanilla.”
“Do you go memorising every customer’s orders, or am I only one?” He leans closer to her, ignoring the pounding in his chest. “Looks like someone’s interested.”
“You wish.” But he can spot the hint of a blush on her cheeks, and smirks in victory. Excitement sparks up within, and he wants to keep talking to her-
“You’re holding up the line, dude.”
He turns his head around to see a bored teenager who’s narrowing his eyes in annoyance. Ajax lets out a disappointed sigh before making his way to the pickup counter, looking longingly towards the blonde-haired barista.
Well, I should get back to work on my novel. If I write 1500 words each day, I should be able to make the deadline. The writer grudgingly thinks, picking up his drink and making his way to the nearest table, sitting himself down and turning on his laptop. Let’s make some magic happen.
Three hours later, Ajax has filled his page. All about Lumine. Not again, he moans, and bashes his head on the keyboard. He gets ready to delete yet another document, and clicks on ‘yes’ for confirmation. He sighs, and makes a new document.
After staring at the screen for half an hour as if it would give him some ideas, he gets a message from one Rosalyne-Kruzchka Lohefalter, otherwise known as his editor.
“Fuck,” he mutters under his breath, and drags a hand down his face. He dreads what’s written inside as he open the message, only to have his face go slack from shock.
From: Rosalyne
To: Ajax
Good writing, but tone it down on the romance, will you? It’s pathetically cheesy. And if this is all you’ve written, you better step it up, Novikov. 80,000 words by next month, or you’re dead. Get to writing, you imbecile.
He discovers he sent the document to his most recent contact instead of deleting it. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. He slams his laptop down. Well, I’m not going to get anymore work done today, that’s for sure.
“Ajax?”
He looks up and sees the concerned face of one Lumine Viatrix. “Hi Lumine. Come to see me wallow in my misery?”
She chuckles, but shakes her head. “A brownie, on the house.” She sets down a plate, steam wafting off the chocolate confection. “Thought some sugar would perk you right up.”
“Thanks, girlie.” Cheering up a bit, he takes a bite of the brownie. It’s delicious. He stuffs the whole thing in his mouth. “Ish ‘eally goo’.” He compliments, voice muffled. Lumine hands him a glass of water, which he gratefully drinks. “I mean, it’s really good.”
“So, what’s got you so worked up?” The blonde asks, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear.
“Deadlines suck,” is all he grumbles out, but he can feel his stress slipping away each second as he talks to her. “My editor being a pain-in-the-ass doesn’t help either.”
She gives him a sympathetic pat on the arm, and he practically feels jolts of electricity. “You’ll get your inspiration soon, I’m sure.”
From out of nowhere, a burst of confidence sparks within him, and he looks at the barista meaningfully. ”I already have my muse for the romance, at least.” The implied meaning of his words are obvious, and Lumine flushes bright red.
“I, I have to go now!” She squeaks, and scrambles away. Ajax laughs at her bashfulness.
-
The next few days are both heaven and hell for him as he keeps trying to write his novel and go to the cafe. On one hand, it feels like he’s found the love of life. On the other hand, he can’t write anything about his novel, only about Lumine.
So one day, he finally marches down to the coffee shop, determined to confess. My legs are shaking, he grimaces. Calm the fuck down, Ajax.
He does his usual song and dance at the cafe. Order a drink, try to write his novel, talk with Lumine, flirt with Lumine, and wait until all the other customers eventually go home. Gathering up his courage, he takes a deep breath and exhales nervously as he sees Lumine making her way to him. He stands up.
“How was business today, girlie?” He starts off, because it would definitely be weird if he just shouted out Lumine you are a badass, hot, and smart girl and I want you to marry me and have my babies because that would just be weird.
“It wasn’t bad.” The blonde beams at him, pearly whites peeking out. “How’s the writing going?”
“Great- uh- actually, not that great. Uh, that was actually what I wanted to you talk to you about. The thing is-“ Ajax stops when he sees Lumine’s curious and somewhat confused expression. “I mean-“ He lets out a defeated sigh. “Look, I can’t write my novel because I can’t stop thinking about you.” He runs a hand through his hair nervously, averting eye contact from Lumine. “Every time I try to write something, I end up writing about you. How your hair looks like spun gold, why your eyes are so beautiful, how your laugh is the most heavenly sound I’ve ever heard.” He gulps. “H-how I… I… love you.” He shuts his eyes tightly, willing himself to disappear. Maybe she wasn’t ready, maybe this was too fast for her-
“You really are a dumb idiot.” He winces, heart squeezing his chest painfully. “I gave you so many hints about how I felt for you!”
What? He opens his eyes, a dumbfounded look on his face. “So does that mean- are you saying- you feel the same way as me? You, you love me?”
“Yeah, you dumb-dumb.” Lumine is smiling, and he thinks it’s possibly the most beautiful one she’s given him. It’s soft and warm, and fills his insides up with sappy, lovey-dovey things like honey and flowers and sunshine.
His trembling legs finally give out, and he collapses into his chair, Lumine giggling. It’s the happiest Ajax Novikov’s felt in his twenty-six years of living, and he wonders if anything else could beat it.
Then she pulls him into a kiss, and the intense feeling of happiness increases tenfold. He could smell her coffee scent, rich and earthy with hints of chocolate. Her soft lips tasted of milk and honey and her hair felt so silky as his fingers wove into her hair and above all, it just felt so… right. Ajax and Lumine. Lumine and Ajax. Lumine and I. Me and Lumine, he thought giddily.
When they pulled apart, they were both flushed and breathing heavily, but wearing the biggest, lovestruck smiles on their faces.
“Maybe I’ll write a romance about a barista and a writer one day,” is the first thing he says, and she just laughs and kisses him again.