Chapter Text
Madeleine’s laboured breath escaped into the rainy atmosphere, the harsh splatter of precipitation on the pavement echoing throughout his mind. One moment, it had been sunny, blue skies, warm sunshine and not a cloud in sight. Silently, the Paladin cursed the weather, wondering if he had done something wrong. He ran past tall trees, leaves of red, orange, yellow and brown, not having enough time to appreciate the autumn beauty.
His foggy breath disappeared into the atmosphere as he came to a slow, looking around what seemed to be some shady part of town. As he looked around, all he could see were closed shops, and not a soul in sight. Madeleine had moved to this quiet town three days ago, wanting to escape the noble life and find a new perspective. Of course, being new to this town, he had quickly gotten lost. And he had forgot his phone. Had he done something wrong and angered the Divine? Or was the Divine deciding to play tricks on him?
Madeleine pondered to himself as he wandered around the alleyway, trying to see if he could take shelter in any of these. Most of them, sadly, had barricaded doors and windows, and Madeleine was not going to be committing a crime today, thank you very much. As he reached the end of the alley, he had almost given up hope. That was, until he saw a small light at the corner shop.
He would later go on to thank the Divine for the rain, his forgotten phone, and his shriveled-up appearance as he walked in through the doors of the café and stood face to face with the prettiest barista he had ever seen.
He was about the same height as Madeleine, with short brown hair that gracefully brushed his shoulders. His hair was parted, covering up half of his face, yet could still never come up the beauty of the barista. A white, milky swirl went through the bang, as well as two pinkish-cream and one black streak. His hair was tied up into a small ponytail. The round glasses that framed his face, the slightest freckles on his face. Madeleine could probably go on, but he was snapped out of his thoughts by said barista.
“Welcome to Rainy Day Café,” he said with a polite smile, adjusting his appearance to look his best (and not because he was startled by the jingle of bells as the Paladin had walked through the doors). Madeleine smiled, walking up to the barista to take his order. “What would you like to order today, sir?”
“A pumpkin spice macchiato, please,” he asked. The barista nodded, quickly entering his order.
“$4.60, sir. Is that takeaway or eat in?” Madeleine answered to eat in and sat at one of the few booths there. “Towels are over there if you need to dry off, sir.” Madeleine blinked, looking up at the barista and towards the basket of clean towels. He grinned in appreciation, walking over to the basket.
“Ah, thank you! And please, call me Madeleine. Sir is much too formal.” The barista nodded, turning back to the coffee as Madeleine began drying his hair, or at least as best he could. He discarded it into the nearby ‘Used Towels’ basket and returned to his booth.
He could faintly here the sound of sizzling and looks up in curiosity as the barista soon placed his macchiato in front of him, as well as two sugar-glazed donuts. “Ah, what are these for?” Madeleine asked, gesturing towards the donuts. The barista smiled.
“Thought it would make you happy, Madeleine,” he replied with a smile. Madeleine could feel the warmth spread through his body at those words. He smiled back, the barista’s grin contagious.
“Thank you! And what would your name be?” he asked. The barista flicked his nametag that the Paladin had somehow missed this entire time. On the nametag, it read ‘Espresso’. “Ah, thank you then, Espresso!” Madeleine exclaimed. Espresso chuckled.
“It’s nothing, Madeleine. Thank you for visiting,” Espresso brushed off. Madeleine stared at Espresso, blinking before turning to his coffee and drinking it. His eyes widened, looking towards Espresso in awe.
“This is the best coffee I’ve ever had!” Madeleine praised. And he wasn’t exaggerating. The Republic had some great coffee, yes, but nothing compared to this. Espresso looked away in embarrassment, standing awkwardly.
“It’s not that good…” he mumbled. Madeleine shook his head in disagreement, quickly finishing his coffee to try and prove his point. Espresso stared in slight disbelief. “That’s-.”
“You make great coffee, Espresso, don’t say otherwise,” Madeleine said, looking up at the other. Espresso remained silent, but eventually gave a hesitant nod of acceptance. The Paladin beamed as if he had won some unsaid argument, eating his donut.
He probably should’ve eaten slower, so he could stay for longer, but they were donuts! Madeleine loved donuts, and he couldn’t help himself… Ah well, there was always next time. “Ah, Madeleine,” Espresso called out. Madeleine turned around after leaving $11.30 on the table. A blue umbrella was handed towards him. “It’s still raining, thought you might need this.”
“You’ve really come prepared! Thank you, Espresso! I’ll make sure I return it to you tomorrow!” Madeleine thanked, accepting the umbrella. Espresso smiled, handing over $6.30. “Huh? What’s this for?” Madeleine asked, giving the other a puzzled expression.
“Your change,” Espresso explained. Madeleine shook his head.
“That’s your tip for great customer service!” Madeleine explained, pushing Espresso’s hand to their chest. “Keep it.” Espresso looked dropped his hand and nodded.
“There’s no changing your mind, your stubborn customer,” Espresso teased. Madeleine rolled his eyes in response, going outside and quickly opening the umbrella.
“That was only because you were too stubborn to see how great you are,” Madeleine mumbled. Espresso sighed, but eventually smiled as Madeleine closed the glass door behind him. The two stared at each other for a moment, maybe more. Eventually, Madeleine waved, walking off. Espresso waved back, the two departing.
Madeleine couldn’t wait to see him again.
Now what was the way back home…?