Work Text:
Jesper hated working the morning shift, he had never been good at getting up in the morning, and it meant he had to do all of the things that the closing shift was meant to do before locking up.
Mornings also tended to be slow, usually there was about an hour or two of activity for the morning rush when the place was actually busy. Other than that though there wasn’t really anything to do, which meant Jesper got bored.
The busy periods were his favorite time, he always felt right at home in the high tempo of the work, having to think on his feet, but even that was less fun in the morning since most of the guests were cranky from not having gotten their caffeine yet. Jesper preferred the afternoon rush, when guests were more sociable, and more susceptible to his charm.
The one good thing with the morning shift was that he got to work with Inej, she was by far the nicest of his friends, and likely the only one that would put up with him in the morning, which was one of the many reasons she was his favorite person.
"You know, the coffee grounds won't refill themselves," Inej said, rudely bringing Jesper out of his daydream about his bed. The rush had just ended and he was sitting on a counter, hoping the caffeine of his third coffee would kick in soon.
"Can't you do it? I'm trying to see if I can teleport into my bed by focusing on it enough," Jesper said, keeping his eyes closed.
"None of that now, come on, get up, stop being so lazy" she said, making Jesper regret calling her his favorite, even if it had only been in his head.
"Ineeeej," he whined, getting down from the counter, "I'm too tired for work," he could practically feel her eye roll from where he was standing.
"It should be classified as torture forcing people to get up this early for work," he said as he emptied a bag of coffee into the machine, making Inej let out a huff of laughter.
"I guess you should've tried harder to win against Nina then," Inej said, sounding far too amused at the situation if you asked Jesper.
"She's absolutely impossible to beat though," Jesper protested, his voice high pitched from incredulity.
The only reason Jesper was there was that he had stupidly bet Nina that he could win against her in poker. He had been drinking all night and had just had a winning streak, making him certain that he was untouchable. In his folly he had forgotten who he was playing against.
Nina was scarily good at reading people, able to sniff out a lie as if they were freshly baked waffles, and sometimes he swore she could hear his heartbeat.
They hadn't decided on the wager beforehand, he had been so eager to play, sure that he would win. After winning she decided she wanted him to work the morning shift.
The real cruel part of it was that it hadn't even been Nina's shift she wanted him to take, no she made Jesper switch with Annika.
For the last few weeks Nina had been raving about some new regular, swearing that he was so Jesper's type , and that Jesper just had to come in during the morning to see for himself, refusing to tell Jesper anything else about the guy.
Jesper was skeptical though. Both he and Nina tended to have a pretty shit taste in men, they liked to joke that it was a bisexual thing, but Jesper was afraid that it was really just a them-being-them thing.
Exhibit A: Jesper's ex-boyfriend Mark who had cheated on Jesper with the one classmate that Jesper 'totally didn't have to worry about'.
Exhibit B: Nina's current boyfriend Matthias, who, while nice enough now, had been a prejudiced asshole when they first met.
So yeah, when Nina of all people said that a guy was Jesper's type, that didn't really inspire confidence.
Still, she had been adamant, and when Jesper lost the bet against her she jumped at the opportunity to get him to meet the guy. As a form of protest Jesper had stubbornly refused to flirt with anyone that he thought fell into the category of guys that both he and Nina would find attractive.
"It's not like it’s my fault she's like a human lie detector, I mean, she could’ve warned me she was some sort of poker genius,” Jesper continued his protesting.
“You were the one that insisted on poker, she even suggested doing something else but you were pretty adamant,” Inej said, crossing her arms and shooting Jesper an unimpressed look, her eyes tingling with mirth, “You claimed that you were a poker wiz and asked if she was scared of playing you,” she was showing absolutely no mercy for Jesper’s predicament.
“I can’t believe I ever called you my favorite,” Jesper told her with narrowed eyes, causing Inej to laugh out loud.
“Um, excuse me,” came a voice from behind Jesper, startling him. Jesper quickly spun around and came face to face with what might very well be the most attractive guy he had ever seen.
“Hi,” Jesper said, sounding unacceptably breathless.
The guy had feathery brown hair that looked soft to the touch, and he had a nice smile that made him look kind. His pale skin was speckled with freckles and Jesper wondered absently how much of him they covered. The thing that really drew Jesper in though was his large, expressive doe eyes, framed by long, dark eyelashes. Jesper found himself stuck in them.
After a few seconds Jesper realized that the guy had been talking, and Jesper had been staring at him instead of listening. He shook his head slightly, trying to shake off the daze.
“I’m sorry, would you mind repeating that?” Jesper asked sheepishly with a slight grimace on his face, feeling like such a creep.
“Oh, um, a cappuccino please,” the guys said, sounding kind of disappointed. Jesper cursed at himself silently for already messing this up.
“Of, course, what’s your name?” Jesper said quickly while picking up a to-go cup and getting ready to write on it, keeping his voice eager in the hopes that he hadn’t entirely squandered his chances and could still turn this around.
“What?” the guy asked, a slight blush spreading across his face as his eyes widened in something akin to alarm.
“Uh, for the cup,” Jesper explained, holding it up, trying to keep his focus on the conversation instead of how cute the guy looked while blushing.
“Oh, I was thinking I’d sit in here,” the guy said, his tone unsure, as if he wasn’t certain he was welcome to stay in the shop.
“Ah, of course, sorry,” Jesper said, cursing some more at himself, he really should have asked if the order was to go or not.
What Jesper should have done right then was throw the empty paper cup in the bin under the counter in front of him, and just gotten rid of the problem. Instead what Jesper did was try to put it back on top of the stack of cups, which might have worked if he hadn’t been as flustered as he was from seeing a cute guy. What ended up happening was Jesper hitting the stack of cups, causing them to go flying down onto the floor behind the counter.
“Shit, sorry,” Jesper said, quickly bending down to pick up some of them that were still in a stack, standing up again he put them back on the counter, until he remembered that they’d just been on the floor and tried to throw them in the bin, missing with most of them so they ended up on the floor again.
“Shit,” Jesper cursed, looking back at the guest and realizing that he should probably help him instead, “shit, a cappuccino, right,” as he spoke he turned around to reach for one of their porcelain cups, but as he did he tripped on one of the paper cups on the floor, having to catch himself on the counter behind himself to not fall on the floor.
“You need help Jesper?” Inej asked, walking up behind him. Turning towards her, Jesper saw Inej look at him, look to the cute guy, and then finally to the empty cups on the floor.
Inej clearly tried to hold back laughter as she turned to the guest, and Jesper wished a hole would open up in the floor and just swallow him whole.
“A cappuccino right?,” Inej asked in an unfairly calm voice, “you can take a seat and one of us will bring it to you,” Jesper had his back turned to the guy, so he didn’t know how he reacted, but Jesper hoped that it was a good sign that he was still willing to stay for the coffee.
Jesper rarely got that flustered, he was usually really smooth and good with flirting, but on the other hand, very few people were that cute.
Inej didn’t say anything as she walked up and reached for a cup, but the way she was looking at Jesper said plenty. If there hadn’t been guests around she would have been laughing her ass off at him right then. Jesper resolutely ignored her as he started to pick up the cups from the floor, leaving the cappuccino to her since he wasn’t entirely sure he wouldn’t mess that up right then.
Just as he had thrown away all of the cups and made sure that there was a new stack of fresh cups by the register, Inej showed up at his side, the finished coffee in her hands. She put it down in front of him and motioned with her head towards the table where the cute guy had sat down, silently telling Jesper to bring it to him. Jesper frowned and gave a slight shake of his head, not ready to relive the embarrassment quite yet. Inej leveled him with an unimpressed look and then promptly shoved him towards the end of the bar, forcing him into movement.
“So not my favorite person,” he told her with a glare as he picked the coffee up before walking up to the cute guy’s table.
“There you go, one cappuccino,” Jesper said while putting the cup down in front of the guy, and before he could get an answer he quickly added, “don’t worry, Inej prepared it,” Jesper gestured towards the counter somewhere behind him.
“Oh, okay,” the guy said, sounding somewhat confused as he looked up at Jesper.
“Sorry about all of that, I’m not usually that clumsy,” Jesper said sheepishly, part of him wondering why he was still talking. The guy likely wanted to be left alone, and not be bothered by the awkward barista. Jesper took a step backwards, getting ready to walk back to behind the counter, if Inej was feeling kind she might allow him a few minutes to go scream in the walk-in fridge.
“That’s okay Jesper,” the cute guy said with a small, almost fond smile, his words stopping Jesper in his tracks.
“You know my name?” Jesper asked, confused, he had recently lost his name tag, and hadn’t worked up the courage to tell Kaz that he needed a new one yet - it would be the third one in fewer months.
“Um, your coworker, she, um, said it,” the guy answered, sounding flustered as his face turned an adorable shade of red.
“Oh, okay,” Jesper said, feeling intrigued at the reaction. That wasn’t the reaction of someone simply annoyed by Jesper. No, that was the reaction of someone feeling afraid that they had accidentally come on too strong. It was very possible that Jesper hadn’t messed up too badly, and still had a shot. The thought made a smile spread across Jesper’s face.
“Well, now I feel like you have me at a disadvantage, since I don’t know your name,” Jesper said, leaning one of his hands on the table so that he hovered above the guy, forcing him to crane his neck to look at Jesper.
To Jesper’s utter delight those doe eyes widened further as they tracked Jesper’s movement with clear interest.
“Wylan,” he answered with a swallow.
“Well, Wylan,” Jesper said, lowering his voice and dragging out the name, really tasting it as he spoke, “enjoy your coffee,”
Then Jesper stood up to his full height again, and walked away. When he had returned to behind the counter he looked back at Wylan, pleased to see Wylan jolt and quickly look down again, the blush still evident on his face.
For the next hour Jesper had trouble keeping his eyes off Wylan, looking over at him several times. In the beginning Wylan seemed to be looking at Jesper just as much, nervously looking away each time their eyes caught each other. Jesper found it utterly adorable. As time went on though Wylan seemed to get caught up in drawing something. Jesper figured that finding time to draw was likely why Wylan had come to the café in the first place, they were fairly close to campus so it was possible that he was studying art at the university.
After a little over an hour Jesper was practically vibrating with the urge to talk to Wylan again, and decided that wiping down the tables was as good of an excuse as any. It had been a slow day, and there wasn't much of a reason to wipe them down quite yet, but if Inej came out from the kitchen he wouldn't look like a total idiot.
Once he stepped out from behind the counter though Jesper looked over at Wylan who was looking down at his painting, not seeming to notice Jesper moving. Jesper knew he was being ridiculous, but the lack of response made him lose his nerve, and instead of moving over towards Wylan he went to the table furthest from him, starting in that end of the café. As he worked his way across the floor, slowly getting closer and closer to Wylan, he tried to wrangle his mind into figuring out what to say once he reached Wylan, but he wasn't having much luck with that.
Jesper's mind was still horribly empty when the only table left without a guest at it was the one next to Wylan's. He kept looking at Wylan as he wiped it, probably spending more time there than necessary for the task.
Wylan was focused on the paper in front of him, biting his lip in concentration and he had a small divot between his eyebrows that Jesper wanted to smooth out.
"Um, would you like a refill of that?" Jesper asked when he saw that Wylan's cup was empty, disappointed at himself for not thinking of anything better to say.
"I'm sorry?" Wylan said, looking at Jesper like he hadn't been aware that Jesper was there. Like he had been so wrapped up in what he was doing he'd lost track of his surroundings.
"Your cappuccino, would you like another?" Jesper clarified, pointing at the cup.
"Um," Wylan said, looking down at the cup with a slight frown on his face, and Jesper worried he was annoyed at being disturbed.
"On the house," Jesper hurried to add, smiling in a way that he was sure looked more awkward than the flirty he was going for.
"Oh, okay," Wylan said with a slight nod, looking up at Jesper in astonishment, and Jesper just hoped that Wylan was used to people making fools of themselves to get his attention. Considering how pretty Wylan was Jesper imagined it had to be a daily occurance.
Jesper took Wylan's cup and hurried off behind the counter, doing his best to not look back at Wylan as he fixed him a new coffee. It was fortunate Jesper had been doing this for a few years now, or he would definitely have messed up.
When Jesper went back out he walked up behind Wylan to put the cup down on the table, leaning over the chair next to Wylan, and as he did Jesper caught a look of Wylan's drawing. It was of a man, laying draped across a sofa, and though the drawing was still unfinished it was obvious he was meant to be undressed.
"Damn, that's really good," Jesper said before he could help himself. Wylan jolted in front of him, pulling the drawing up against his chest to instinctively hide it and looked up at Jesper with a frightened look.
"What?!" Wylan squeaked nervously. Now Jesper felt bad for taking a peek at the picture, Wylan obviously didn't want anyone to see it.
"Ah sorry, I didn't mean to… it's just.. your drawing, it's really good," he stammered out, awkwardly repeating his earlier comment, not knowing what else to say.
"Oh, um, thank you," Wylan said, sounding unsure as he looked down bashfully, but there was a small smile on his face.
"So, um, that your boyfriend?" Jesper then asked, and immediately regretted every single decision he had ever made that led him to this moment. He had never, in his entire life, said anything as awkward as that. He was just about to open his mouth to apologize and extract himself from the situation when Wylan's answer interrupted him.
"No!" he said intensely, shocking Jesper slightly, "it's the class model," Wylan explained, and even though it was stupid Jesper still felt somewhat relieved at the words.
"Wait, so that actually happens? Like, they legit have someone pose naked in front of the entire class?" Jesper asked once the words fully hit him.
"Yeah," Wylan said, nodding his head, "I'm pretty sure it's a paid position," he explained, making Jesper's eyebrows raise in thought.
"Really, dude gets paid to be naked in front of a bunch of people?" Jesper asked incredulously.
"I guess," Wylan said, shrugging his shoulders slightly. Jesper made a contemplative hum, wondering to himself how much money a position like that could pay.
"I don't have one," Wylan said, interrupting Jesper's thoughts.
"Huh?" Jesper asked.
"A boyfriend, I don't have one," Wylan clarified, meeting Jesper's gaze head on in a surprising display of confidence for someone who had been blushing and looking away anytime their eyes met earlier. It kinda stunned Jesper, throwing him for a loop.
"Oh, cool," Jesper said, immediately regretting how rude that made him sound.
"No, I don't mean, not cool like… I just mean like… you know," Jesper said trying to salvage the conversation, but feeling more like he was watching a car crash in real time, wishing he could just shut up.
He was saved by the bell above the door, signaling the arrival of a group of what looked like college girls, laughing and talking amongst themselves as they approached the counter.
"Sorry, I have to go help them," Jesper said awkwardly before turning around and leaving Wylan without looking back, feeling absolutely mortified.
Helping the girls took him at least 20 minutes, several of them wanting large lattes with flavored syrups in them. Once Jesper was done with them he was feeling slightly better from having had something to do, and being able to talk and joke with the girls as he prepared their drinks. Deciding he needed something nice as a pick-me-up he made another caramel latte and sipped on it as he cleaned up his station.
For the next hour Jesper kept looking over at Wylan, just like before, only now, whenever their eyes met, it was Jesper who got flustered and looked away. He tried to work up the courage to go talk to Wylan again, but never managed, blaming it on having too much to do behind the counter, like taking inventory of everything, cleaning out the steaming nozzles, refilling the coffee grinds, and doing another inventory.
About a half hour before the midday rush usually started Wylan packed up his things and got up to leave. Jesper tracked his movement across the room, wondering if it was worth taking more morning shifts, or if he had blown his chances with Wylan.
Then, just before he reached the door, Wylan hesitated for a second before turning and walking up to the counter. Jesper subconsciously straightened at his approach, nervously drumming his fingers against the counter.
"Hi, could I get a hot chocolate to go?" Wylan asked.
"Of course," Jesper said, wincing at how enthusiastic he sounded before turning around with a paper cup in hand. As he wrote Wylan's name on it he came to a quick decision and added his number with a heart next to it before he could think better of it. This way, Jesper wouldn't be forcing Wylan to reject him to his face, he could just ignore the number.
"There you go," Jesper said as he reached the cup towards Wylan and accepted the payment.
Wylan then bid him goodbye and gave him a small wave before walking away, leaving Jesper standing there like an idiot with a stupid smile on his face.
Once Wylan had walked around the corner and out of sight Jesper opened the cash register to put away the money, as he did he noticed a piece of paper among them. On it was a hastily written phone number with a heart next to it.
The goofy smile never left Jesper's face for the rest of his shift.
It would turn out that Nina had been talking about Wylan all along, and once she found out she was absolutely insufferable. Jesper considered it worth it though, since it had landed him a date with Wylan.