Work Text:
Ace is cleaning the counters when the bell by the door jingles. He looks up, and… huh. It’s not one of their regulars (he knows them all by now), so it’s definitely a new customer, given how Ace has never seen this boy before. Well, he’ll just have to do the best he can.
“Welcome to 810 Degrees,” he chirps in his usual customer service tone. “What can I get for you today?” The boy doesn’t answer immediately, eyes flicking between the menu boards hanging above the counter, and Ace takes the time to gaze at who's in front of him. He’s particularly well-dressed (unlike most of their usual customers), with a dark red argyle vest and a beige cardigan, and there’s a book bag slung over one shoulder.
What strikes Ace the most though, is his rose-red hair, neatly combed with a little heart of hair in the middle. He’s cute. And with that bag, he’s probably a student. I wonder what school he goes to, Ace wonders, idly drumming his fingers on the countertop.
“Do you not have tea?” The boy finally says, and it snaps Ace out of his train of thought.
“Nope, just coffee, sorry.” Ace internally braces himself for a scolding, but it never comes, and the boy just nods instead.
“Very well then. In that case, I’ll have a black coffee, as strong as you can make it. To-go, if you would.”
“Alright! Three thaumarks please.” The boy takes out three bills, and Ace quickly rings him up. “Can I have a name for the order?”
The boy raises an eyebrow and smiles amusedly. “I’m the only one here.”
Ace can’t help but chuckle at that. “Yeah, I know, but it’s procedure.” He pulls a paper coffee cup from the stack beside him and clicks his pen open with a grin. “So, name for the order?”
“First and last, or..? Ah, never mind. Just Riddle is fine.” And in that very moment, Ace realizes he’s never met someone with such a pretty name.
~-~-~-~-~
The bell dings again while Ace is in the back cleaning the coffee machine the week after, and he scrambles to his feet. “Give me a minute!” He shouts as he hurriedly wipes his hands on his apron. He rushes to the front, leaning on the counter short of breath before glancing up with a sigh. “Sorry, I was working on the coffee machine in the back. What can I- Riddle?”
Riddle nods, even as he crosses his arms. “Are you the only one working here?” He asks with a frown and a tilt of his head. “I thought there’d be more people around.”
“I mean, yeah, there are. There’s other people who cover different days, but this place isn’t exactly the busiest, so I don’t mind being the only one here.” Ace straightens up and folds his hands on the counter. “Speaking of which, I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
Riddle’s frown turns into a light smile, and he shrugs. “The coffee is good, even if there’s no tea, and there’s hardly anyone else here. I don’t see why I wouldn’t return.”
“You have a point. Same as last time?”
“If you would. I’ll leave the money here.” Ace does a mock salute, which makes Riddle laugh, and five minutes later, Riddle’s out the door and gone again. As Ace goes to the back to finish cleaning, he makes sure to add tea leaves to his grocery list.
~-~-~-~-~
Ace glances at his watch, then at the door. If Riddle is as punctual as before (seriously, who comes at the exact same time two weeks in a row), the redhead would be coming in the next few minutes.
A familiar head of red hair appears in the side window, and Ace grins as he grabs his makeshift addition to the menu and hoists himself onto the counter. He hooks the extra board onto the bottom, and jumps down right as the door opens. “...Were you just on the counter?” Riddle says bemusedly.
“Like I’d step on the counters I just wiped down,” Ace retorts, but it doesn’t have any heat to it. “Course I wasn’t.”
“No, I think I just saw you jump-”
“You saw nothing.” Ace smiles as innocently as he can, hoping it’s enough to get rid of the other’s suspicions. “Same as before?”
Riddle glances up at the signboard and blinks when he sees the new addition. “Since when did you have a mystery drink?”
“Since five minutes ago. Wanna try it?"
“So that was you I saw on the counter.” He shakes his head and sighs, hesitates, but eventually nods. “I don't see why not. One mystery drink then.”
“Right, three thaumarks please! I’ll be right out with it.” Ace ducks into the back and pulls out the shop’s new tea steeper (courtesy of yesterday’s grocery run) and their new black tea leaves (also courtesy of yesterday’s grocery run). Three minutes later, he’s pouring milk and tea into Riddle’s to-go cup, and he grins as he comes back out and puts the cup on the counter. “One mystery drink for you! Enjoy, Riddle.”
Riddle hums and nods, taking his cup as usual. “Thank you for your service as always, Ace.”
“You’re welcome! See you again next week!” They wave at each other as Riddle leaves and the door swings shut, but Ace keeps his eye on the redhead as he turns the corner like usual. A few seconds pass as Riddle sips from the cup, and then… it happens.
Riddle’s eyes sparkle as his heart-shaped antenna shoot straight up. His expression is full of wonder as he gazes at the cup, then through the window at Ace. Ace only winks and shoots two thumbs up at Riddle, who awkwardly smiles and does the same with his free hand before disappearing from view.
After Ace climbs back up to remove the mystery drink sign, he pulls his phone out and makes a little note, unaware that he’s smiling just as wide.
Riddle likes milk tea :)
Riddle’s visits became regular from then on, and Ace could count on him to show up every Thursday after the lunch rush. At first, he came for his drink and left, just like he had before. Yet somewhere along the line, Riddle started staying later and later, sipping his tea and the occasional coffee at the corner table as he pored over textbooks and notes from his tablet.
Ace, finally having something to do other than clean the counters for the third time in an hour, often approached him if the shop was empty, and they started to talk. Ace learned that Riddle was a first-year pre-law major at Night Raven University a few blocks away, he shared an apartment with three other people in the same year as him, and his friend Cater (the name sounded familiar, maybe a friend of his manager) had recommended this place to him.
The next week, he told Riddle that he himself wanted to go to Night Raven- Riddle wished him luck on that, considering how prestigious it was- and how he wanted nothing more than to graduate as soon as he could just to move on.
Riddle’s parents had wanted him to go into medicine, but he’d changed his major immediately (“and they still don’t know,” he’d said with a playful wink). Ace’s brother had graduated from Night Raven with an entertainment degree, but Ace himself still didn’t know what major to take.
Riddle mentioned how he thought it’d be nice to have a sibling since he was an only child, and laughed when Ace suggested taking his instead. Riddle was consistently top of his class while Ace stayed around average, and Ace warned Riddle of the dangers of having a girlfriend when the topic had come up.
Ace’s friends came and went, while Riddle had known Trey and Che’nya (Ace was surprised to hear his manager’s name) for all his life. Ace learned from a later visit that it was thanks to them Riddle hadn’t ended up as strict or overbearing as his mother, that it was thanks to them that he could finally do what he wanted after years of being oppressed.
(From the look on Riddle’s face, Ace suspected there was another side to that story, but he wasn’t about to pry. Not now, at least.)
Experience by experience, story by story, he was beginning to know Riddle the person, not just Riddle the weekly customer. Ace actually looked forward to coming to work now, because work now meant his weekly chat with Riddle instead of hours doing his homework and waiting in an empty shop. It had started off with coffee as all things did, but somewhere along the line… yes, somewhere along the line, they had become friends.
Ace doesn’t even need to turn his head when the bell dings in the middle of his routine maintenance; there’s only one person it could be at this hour, after all. “Hey, Riddle,” he calls, waving as the redhead strides over to his usual table. “Class go well today?”
“It was the same as usual. Studying past cases, why people got the verdicts they did. It’s quite interesting if I’m being completely honest, but I won’t bore you with the details,” Riddle replied as he slid his book bag onto his usual chair and came up to the counter. “Ah, and before you start the usual, I’d like something else.”
“Oh, no tea? Rare.” Ace grins and leans against the counter, gazing up at Riddle. “Alright, spill.”
Riddle slides four thaumarks across the counter, watching as Ace puts it in the register. “Cater told me the lattes here are good, so I was wondering if I could have one.”
“Oh yeah, I’m great at those! Gimme a min.” It takes him a few minutes to get the coffee and heat the milk up, but once he’s done, he heads back out and places the cup of coffee on the counter. “I’m gonna do something real cool, ok? Blink and you’ll miss it.”
“But what else can you do with a cup of coffee?”
“Just watch! Promise you won’t be disappointed.” Ace lifts the coffee cup and starts to pour the milk in, and once it reaches the top, he deftly swirls his hand around. Petal by petal, a tulip design forms in the center, and Riddle’s mouth drops open in amazement when he sees it.
He picks the cup up and gazes at it in absolute wonder, carefully turning it in his hands so as not to spill what was inside. “W-wait, what did you- that was incredible! You can do that with just milk and coffee? It’s beautiful!” Riddle puts the cup down and gazes at Ace with a wide grin. “Do it again.”
“Uh- again? That’s yours, y’know, you already paid for it.”
“Just one more time, please!”
“Ok, ok. Lemme just get more then!” Ace runs back and grabs a stack of empty cups, plus the entire carafe of coffee; he has a feeling Riddle will want him to do it some more afterwards. “You want a different design for this one?”
“There’s more ?” At this point, Riddle’s eyes are practically sparkling. “Ace, please, you have to!” Ace nods with a grin; it's the first time he's ever seen Riddle so wonderfully excited, so he pours coffee into all the extra cups and starts to draw. A rose forms in the first, a heart in the second, and a swan in the third; with each design, Riddle comes ever closer to the cup and watches Ace draw with the milk with rapt attention.
Before long, Ace finds he’s run out of milk… and there’s six lattes sitting on the counter. Riddle snaps out of his wonder, coming to the same conclusion that Ace has, and he turns away, hiding his face with both hands. “Uh… Riddle?” Ace’s gaze flicks between the cups and Riddle. “It’s fine, y’know, I can just-”
“No, I’ll drink them.” The redhead slaps a twenty onto the counter, still refusing to meet Ace’s gaze as he carries the cups to his table two at a time. “I… I’m not going to waste your hard work. Especially when I’m the reason you made this many in the first place.”
“I was gonna say that I can drink them myself. But we can at least split fifty-fifty, cause I don’t think you should be drinking that many all at once.”
“I already gave you the money, Ace. Just let me drink in peace, thank you very much.” With that, Riddle sits and props a textbook up in front of him, effectively hiding his face and ending the conversation.
Ace can’t help but crack a smile as he sweeps the empty carafe and milk jug into his arms and strides into the back. “Whatever you say~”
Riddle stays until closing that night, adamantly hiding behind his book (Ace swears the pages aren’t even turning, he’s just sitting there) as the lattes disappear one by one. The redhead half-walks, half-stumbles out the door as he continuously refuses to let Ace walk him back, and not thinking anything else of it, Ace bids him a good night and closes the shop up.
That is, until the next week.
This time, Riddle doesn’t come alone; another boy with side-swept bangs and elaborate braids introduces himself as Jamil. Once Ace makes sure Riddle has his drink, Jamil leans in close to him and warns him to “make sure Riddle never gets that much coffee again if you value your life” and despite all better judgments, Ace just asks why.
It’s right then and there that Jamil smirks and launches into a detailed retelling of everything that happened at their apartment last night, despite all of Riddle’s desperately flustered pleas for him to stop. Ace doesn’t catch much, but he does hear that they apparently had a dance competition until midnight before Riddle promptly passed out on the floor, and that another roommate of theirs (Jamil mentions the name Azul) has a whole video of it if Ace wants to see.
At that, Ace tries and fails to hold in his laughter at the way Riddle’s little heart antennae seems to be permanently sticking up and how his face has turned the same shade of red as his hair, but even though he’s full on cackling, he still manages to get Jamil’s order down and properly make his drink. Then after goodbyes and ‘thank you’s, Jamil drags Riddle out the door before Ace can ask anything else, but that’s fine. They’ll see each other again next week, after all.
~-~-~-~-~
…Well, Ace does want to see Riddle. But he doesn’t want Riddle to see him like this, not with a 40-something year old screaming at him for not getting the temperature right, and he has to pretend he can’t see Riddle’s barely concealed concern out of the corner of his eye. He loves his job, really- just not some of the customers that come with it. “Honestly, what kind of barista doesn’t know to make coffee at 191.7 degrees?!” The lady in front of him screeches.
Ace puts his hands up in a futile effort to calm her. “Ma’am, I heated your coffee for the right amount of time. The thermometer said it was ready. But if you say otherwise, then by all means, tell me how you can tell the temperature more accurately than something built for that exact purpose.”
“It’s because my tongue is a thermometer, you idiot! Shouldn’t you know that by now?!”
“With all due respect, ma’am, this is the first time you’ve been in here.”
“You-!” Ace knows what’s coming as soon as the woman lifts her arm. He swerves to the side as it comes down and the lid of the cup flies off. Most of it splatters onto the floor behind him; yet as good as his reflexes are, it still manages to splash on him, and his hair and clothes. Ace blinks as it drips down his face and the woman storms out (no tip either, which he expected really), before sighing and heading to the back to grab the mop.
Riddle’s stare burns into his back as Ace quickly mops the floor, and awkward silence fills the room. “...Are they always like that?” Riddle finally asks, closing his book as he gazes at Ace worriedly.
“Some of ‘em are, but not all of them. That’s the first one I’ve gotten in a while. Don’t worry though, I’m used to it.”
“But that doesn’t make it right!” Riddle’s voice suddenly echoes through the cafe, and Ace stops to glance at him. “She just did that to you! Th-that’s assault! You could easily file charges against her, perhaps ban her or something!”
“Riddle, don’t.” Ace sighs tiredly, leaning on his mop. “It’s more trouble than it’s worth, trust me. As it is, the most we’ll get is a bad review or something, but taking it all the way to court is just too much.”
“B-but you got attacked! I know my professor would be more than happy to help, and she’s a renowned prosecutor-”
“I mean it, Riddle. I know it’s not right, but going any further is just asking for trouble.” Ace drops the mop back into the bucket and wheels it to storage, coming back out with a towel in his hands. “So thanks, but no thanks.”
“...Alright.” Ace smiles as best he can, but right before he’s about to start cleaning, Riddle speaks again. “Ace, could you come here for a minute or two?”
“Hm? What for?”
Riddle waves him over, and Ace eventually sits in the chair next to him. “This won’t take too long, don’t worry. Just duck your head for a while.”
Ace looks down at the floor, thoughts whirring through his head as he wonders what Riddle’s going to do, but it finally clicks when the towel rubs against his head. “Riddle, that was supposed to be for wiping the counters, y’know…”
“You can get another one, it’s fine. I don’t want it dripping into your face, and you’re far more important than the counters anyway.” Riddle hums as he finishes, and his hand drops back to his side. “There. Much better. Now look up.”
“Eh, for what?” Ace watches Riddle slide a first aid kit out and place it on the table, pulling a tube of something out of it. “Do you just carry that around with you every single day?”
“I was raised to be a doctor, why wouldn’t I have a first aid kit handy?” Riddle frowns as he gives Ace a once-over and starts gently rubbing cream on the other’s face. “See, there’s burns forming already. Hopefully this will help reduce the swelling later on.”
“I don’t know what that means, but that’s good, I guess.” Riddle’s hands are… much smoother than Ace thought they’d be, and they’re incredibly gentle even though his face stings from the touch. “Your hands are soft.” As soon as he says the words, his brain quickly catches up and Ace clamps his mouth shut. He did not need to say that, he did not need to say that, he’s so, so stupid!
“Is that so? No one’s ever told me that before.” Ace glances up, and ah, Riddle’s laughing as he finishes up and tucks the kit back into his bag. “Thank you. Now, if those don’t heal well, make sure to see an actual doctor, alright?”
“Yeah. I… will. I definitely will.” Ace finally lets out the breath he’s been holding, terribly aware of how warm his face is, and his shoulders slump as he stands back up. “Welp, guess I gotta finish the-”
“Ace, your uniform’s stained as well. You can’t be working like that.”
“I left my spare at home.” He sheepishly rubs the back of his head as he starts wiping the counters down. “Argh, these stains are gonna take forever to get out…”
“Nonsense. It’s highly unprofessional to be working with a stained uniform.” There’s a rustle of fabric, and when Ace turns, Riddle’s holding his jacket out to him. “Here, take this.”
“I can’t just take your jacket, Riddle, that’s yours. And I’m fine, it’s not like anyone’s going to come in between now and closing anyways.”
“There’s a possibility, is there not? And whatever happened to that ‘the customer is always right’ mentality?” Riddle grins mischievously and shoves it into the other’s hands. “You will take my jacket whether you like it or not.”
“But it’s yours.”
“Yes, and if it’s mine, it also means I can do whatever I want with it, including give it away to other people. So now you don’t have a choice.”
“Eh, now you’re just being difficult…” Ace pouts, but takes the jacket anyway. “Thanks, Riddle. This means a lot. But what if you need it later?”
“You’re welcome, of course, and don’t worry about that. All you have to do is wash it and then return it to me when I return next week. I don’t mind.”
“Well, if you’re sure… thanks again.” Ace slips his arms into it and wraps it around himself. “See you next week then?”
“Yes, as always. See you next week.” Riddle finishes his drink, gathers his things, and leaves with a wave- just as he always does. Ace waves back and watches the redhead disappear from view before tugging the jacket tighter around himself.
“It’s warm…”
Ace makes sure to properly take care of Riddle’s jacket after he gets home, expertly dodging all of his mom’s questions like “whose jacket is that” and “oh, do you have a lover now”. He hurries up to his room and slams the door, heaving a sigh of relief that Lance is still halfway across the country; the teasing would never have stopped if his brother was here.
He slips the jacket into the next load of laundry and steals it back to fold it himself. It stays safely in his closet until it’s time for his next shift, and once Ace steps back into the coffee shop, there’s nothing he can do but wait. He stays in the back, scribbling answers to his math homework in the margins of the paper, and glances up excitedly whenever the bell rings.
The first three times, it’s not Riddle- which Ace expected, considering how early it still is. But when the bell dings after their usual time and it’s still not him, he can’t help but be discouraged. Before he knows it, his homework is finished, it’s closing time, and Riddle’s usual table is still empty. Ace gazes forlornly at the folded jacket behind him before scooping it into his arms and closing up the shop with a sigh.
The situation repeats the very next week- except this time, there’s no customers to keep his hands (and mind) busy. Ace takes apart the coffee machine for a deep clean just to have something to do, but his gaze wanders to Riddle’s jacket again and again.
His head tries to rationalize it; Riddle’s a student, so maybe exams or classes held him up, and besides, it’s a miracle that he could make it so many times in a row. His heart, on the other hand, does the exact opposite.
What if he doesn’t come back? What if something’s happened to him?
He’s not just a regular, he’s my friend and I don’t want him hurt. Wait, but what if I did something wrong and he never wants to see me aga-
A sharp pain jolts Ace out of his thoughts, and when he blinks, there’s a drop of blood welling on his finger from where he’s apparently cut it on the metal. He hauls himself to his feet and grabs a bandage from the first aid kit, tearing the package open with his teeth.
As he wraps it around his finger, Ace can’t help but remember how gently Riddle took care of him after the scalding incident, and… damn it, he needs to stop thinking. He slips the first aid kit back into its usual spot, and before Ace gets back to the coffee machine, he stares at the front from behind the counter. And the empty room stares right back.
~-~-~-~-~
The bell dings. Ace has managed to condition himself not to automatically glance up anymore, so he focuses on drying the cup he’s holding first before heading out front. Muscle memory takes him behind the counter even through closed eyes and a sigh, and he launches into his usual spiel. “Welcome, what can I get for y-”
“Come now, you don’t need to use that on me, Ace.”
Ace’s eyes snap open, and his heart swells with relief as he meets the stormy gray eyes he’s been wanting to see for weeks. “Riddle! It’s great to see you again, but where have you been ? Wait, wait, before you answer that!” Ace darts into the back and grabs Riddle’s jacket, handing it over with a grin. “Here’s your jacket back. I made sure to wash it, don’t worry.”
“Ah, thank you.” Riddle tucks it into his bag and smiles. “My apologies for not coming in recently. I’ve been rather… occupied.”
Ace raises an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. “Really? Oh no, now you gotta spill.”
“It’s a rather long story.” Riddle fidgets with the strap of his bag as he puts three thaumarks on the counter. “And I’d rather not bore you with all the details.”
“Well lucky for you, there’s no one else around. I’ll get your usual and be right back~” Ace can’t help but sing a cheery little tune as he prepares Riddle’s milk tea and delivers it straight to his table. “Here you go!”
Riddle takes a sip and hums in approval. “Mm, I missed this. It’s still as good as ever.”
“D’aw, thanks! Alright, now spill the tea! Not literally though, I just made that and don’t feel like scrubbing the floors again.”
The redhead cracks a smile and sets the cup down on the table. "Of course I won't do it literally. Now, about three weeks ago, my professor announced a big test that was worth a significant amount of points. Failure is absolutely out of the question, so I started studying everything she said was going to be on it. I started after dinner around seven, but before I knew it, I’d been reading well into the early morning…”
“And no one thought to tell you to stop?”
“Well, about that…” Riddle wraps both hands around his cup with a slight frown. “I told them at the beginning of the year never to interrupt me while I’m studying unless it’s extremely important, and they certainly made good on that.”
Ace frowns, a question on the tip of his tongue, but he holds it in. “Ok, so when you say early, how early are we talking here?”
“Perhaps three or four in the morning.” He winces at Ace’s sudden gawk and waves a hand to distract the other. “D-don’t look at me like that! And besides, that’s not the point here! The point is, I may or may not… have done that for two nights straight…”
“So you didn’t sleep for two freaking days?!” Ace slams his hands on the table in disbelief. “Dude, how the hell are you alive?”
“I barely am, trust me.” Riddle huffs and looks down at his cup. “The reason I haven’t been around recently is because I fell ill on exam day, but insisted on going to class to take it even through chills and a high fever. Once I got back, I apparently passed out for two days straight, according to Azul and Kalim, and the two of them alongside Jamil forced me into bedrest until I recovered.
“That was only supposed to be for that week, but I thought resting for that long was absurd, so I made the unfortunate decision to call Trey hoping he’d take my side in the matter… and all that did was extend my house arrest.” The redhead drinks from his cup with a sigh. “Though in hindsight, I suppose that was a good thing, considering how I was still ill even after the first week.”
Ace blinks slowly as his mind whirs with the new information. “So what you’re telling me is you studied too hard, got sick, and wouldn’t rest until your roommates forced it on you?”
“Essentially, yes.” The gears in Ace’s head finally finish turning, and he glares at Riddle for a few seconds… then smacks him across the head. “Gh- Ace?! What was that for?”
“Riddle, you’re always reading from textbooks and shit, how can you not even understand something as simple as self-care? You may be the smartest person I know, but man, you’re stupid. Actually, y’know what?” Ace reaches into his pocket and pulls his phone out. “Gimme your number. Now.”
“Ah? What for?”
“So I can check up on you and make sure you’re not doing something stupid like staying up two nights in a row.”
“Ace, you really don’t have to…” Riddle sighs once it’s clear that Ace won’t budge, and takes the phone himself. “Alright, alright, I’ll put my number in.” A few taps later, Ace gets his phone back with the new contact still on the screen; Riddle’s taken the liberty of putting in not only his number, but his occupation and address too. Ace unconsciously smiles as he swipes back to his messages and taps out a quick “hi :D”, and a few seconds later, Riddle’s phone pings with the new message.
“And hello to you too,” he says with a chuckle when he sees the notification. Riddle finishes his drink and stands once he sees the time in bright numbers across the screen. “Ah, I should be going. I told Azul I’d help tutor Kalim today. I’ll see you again next week, Ace.”
“As long as you don’t skip out again,” Ace chuckles with a wink. “But seriously, it’s good to see you back. It’s been quiet without you.”
“Likewise, it’s wonderful to see you again. I missed this. The drinks, the atmosphere, our conversations, all of it.” Riddle pushes the door open, and the bell jingles happily. “I’ll be off now.” The redhead disappears around the corner, and Ace sighs with a smile as he finally returns behind the counter.
If it was thanks to his job that he was able to meet someone like Riddle… maybe he should ask Trey for more shifts.