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"Dream, do you have a favorite customer yet?"
Dream looked over from the dishes he was washing. "Um, no?"
Blue chuckled. "You will. You've only been here a couple months but you will."
"...Do you?"
"Yup! His name is Sans. He comes in every week or so, he's always got a cheesy joke for me. I pretend to hate them but I don't. I think it's cute." Blue smiled upon thinking about him.
"Sounds like you have a little crush," Dream smiled. "Have you tried talking to him outside work or giving him your number or something?"
"Mm," Blue said, his smile fading. "He's got a boyfriend. His name is Lust, I think, and he's significantly hotter than me."
"Oh," Dream said. "I'm sorry. That sucks."
"Oh well," Blue shrugged. "It's not like I really know him anyway. I'm content with just a cute joke every week."
"So, does everyone here have a customer like that?"
"Well, they have favorites. Not necessary ones they're, um, crushing on, but just ones they enjoy seeing. Regulars, you know."
"And you're saying I'll have one too?"
"Oh, it's inevitable."
Dream laughed. "If you say so."
–
Dream wasn't sure Blue was right so far. It'd been another two months and every customer was just… a customer. Sure, he liked some more than others, and he knew all the regulars by now, but there was no one that he really looked forward to seeing. It just felt like a job, which it was.
It'd been a weirdly slow day today. Usually they were very busy in the mornings, but apparently everyone had decided to skip their coffee today.
Dream was standing at the counter with his chin in his palm, staring boredly at the door, waiting for someone to come in. Hell, he'd be happy even if his stingy boss came to give him something to do, no matter how much he hated hearing "if you have time to lean, you have time to clean." He'd cleaned just about everything in the shop at least twice by now. It went on like that for another hour, with Dream pretty much twiddling his thumbs trying to find something to do.
Then finally, finally, someone walked in. He was a fellow skeleton monster, and he'd be significantly more terrifying if he wasn't so short. Still, the sharp teeth and blood red eyelights were a bit unsettling, completed by his edgy clothing choice.
Dream was usually very good at reading people; he could often tell what kind of customer someone would be as soon as they walked in. This guy, though, he couldn't quite tell. Either he was as mean as he looked, or he was one of those tough looking guys that were secretly big teddy bears. Dream was so bored he'd honestly be fine with either.
"Hello, welcome! What can I get for you today?" Dream greeted brightly as the monster approached.
"hey, sweetheart. lemme get a medium black coffee n thas it," he said in a deep, gruff voice.
"Sure thing," Dream said, turning to make his order.
"so, whas it like workin here?" the stranger asked casually.
Ah. The type to make small talk, apparently. Usually Dream didn't care for it, especially from customers that he'd forget about as soon as they left his sight, but he was bored enough to be intrigued by this guy.
"Oh, it's alright. The pay is okay and the working conditions are good," he shrugged.
"what about the customers? ya get any difficult ones?"
"Yeah, you'll get difficult people anywhere," Dream said. "But you learn not to take anything personally."
"hm. ya the only one workin today?"
"No, there's a couple people in the back."
"are they all as cute as ya?"
Dream paused. "Oh, ha, um… Y-yes?"
The monster cracked a grin. "well. maybe i'll come back sometime and see if thas true."
Dream smiled awkwardly, his cheeks slightly flushed. He'd never had anyone flirt with him before. "U-um… here's your coffee." He poured the coffee into a cup and sealed it, handing it to the monster. "That's um, 7 g."
"damn. prices are goin up," the monster mumbled, pulling out his wallet and counting out the coins. "there ya go. don' work too hard, hon."
"I won't," Dream smiled.
The monster smiled back before he turned away. Just before he reached the door, he turned back. "what was yer name again?"
"Oh! Um, Dream," Dream said, realizing he'd forgotten his name badge this morning.
The monster smiled again. "i'm red. see ya, dream."
He left, and Dream was stuck wondering if he really would come back. He hoped so.
—
Red did come back, just a few days later. He gave Dream a dumb pickup line that made him laugh but he still blushed at it. Blue eventually picked up on Dream and Red's interactions, and would smirk at Dream every chance he got.
"Why don't you just put your number on his cup at some point and see if he calls you? Then you'll know if he's really interested or not," Blue told him one day.
"No, that'd be so awkward. What if I'm just reading too much into it? What if he just goes around and flirts with baristas all the time? I'm not special," Dream said.
Blue rolled his eyes. "I think it's worth a try. I mean, the worst that would happen is he ignores it and doesn't come here again or something, and then you'll at least know he wasn't actually interested. But I think he is. He doesn't act like that with anyone else here, it's only you."
"You really think he might be into me?" Dream said hopefully.
"Yeah! Just write your number on the cup and see what happens," Blue said, beaming.
Dream took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. He usually comes in on Wednesday, so… I guess I'll just have to wait till then."
"That's only a couple days. Do you ever flirt back to him?" Blue asked curiously.
"Uh, I dunno, I don't really know how? I… kinda get too flustered to… think."
Blue chuckled. "You should find some pickup lines to throw back at him. It'd be fun to see his reaction and maybe that'll give you a clue to whether he's serious or not."
"Yeah, I guess I could try that," Dream said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'll help you find some good ones!" Blue said eagerly.
During their lunch break, they had fun looking up the worst pickup lines they could find, picking out which ones Dream should dare to try with Red. They decided on a few coffee-related ones. Dream rehearsed them several times. He was almost to the point of not even blushing when he said them.
Wednesday, after the morning rush, Dream was a bundle of nerves. Blue kept trying to reassure him but Dream still looked at the door every time he heard it open, waiting for Red.
Around 9 am, the door opened and Red walked in, like usual. He grinned at Dream when he saw him, and Dream panicked and forgot all his lines.
"H-hi Red, how's your morning going?" He said instead, pretty much the same thing he always said.
"hey, sweetheart. s'alright, but could always be better with a cuppa from ya," Red winked.
Dream blushed like always. "Medium black?"
"yep, please n' thank ya."
Dream got to work making the coffee, trying to think of when to say the line he'd decided on. First he grabbed a cup and scribbled his number on it shakily, before filling it with the fresh coffee. He sealed the lid and kept it until Red had paid, and then handed him the cup.
"Um," Dream said. "I just wanted to say, um… I- I like you a latte." His face was as bright as could be, and he was looking down at his phalanges instead of at Red.
Red paused, and then smirked. "well, i jus can't espresso how much that means to me, babydoll."
Oh, god. Babydoll?? Dream felt his knees go weak. "haha, um, yeah."
"y'know, yer hotter than the coffee ya jus gave me," Red said, his smirk widening as Dream's face flushed somehow deeper. "but i really should be goin now. thanks sweetheart, see ya soon."
"b…bye," Dream said breathlessly, watching Red grin at him and turn away, walking out the door.
Blue was, of course, watching the entire thing. "Oh My Stars you are so in love with him!" he said, making Dream shove him away.
"I am not, I don't even really know him! Shut up."
"You will soon enough now that he has your number," Blue grinned. "You have to tell me what happens. Maybe he'll text you tonight!"
"Yeah, right," Dream said, trying to get rid of the heat on his face.
"I'm serious! Whenever he does, tell me. I already ship you guys so hard."
"Blue, that's weird."
—
Blue was right. Red did text him that night. Dream's soul practically jumped out of his chest when he got the text.
'nice pickup line. this is red btw'
Dream spent several minutes trying to figure out how to respond, thinking of enlisting Blue to help but deciding against it.
'I'm glad you liked it!'
He waited for Red's reply anxiously. It took a minute or so, but eventually his phone lit up again.
'it worked.'
Dream stared at the message, wondering if that meant what he wanted it to mean. A few moments later, another message showed up.
'ya free this saturday?'
Dream squealed.
—
The date went well, and so did the date after that, and the date after that. Red had asked to make it official after the fifth one, and Dream had given him an enthusiastic yes.
They'd been officially dating for about a month now, and they both worked full time so they couldn't always see each other, but Red still always visited Dream at the coffee shop every Wednesday morning.
One day, though, Red didn't have a joke for him. "hey sweetheart," he muttered. "gimme the regular but add a shot a' vodka."
"Um, I don't think we have that here," Dream said. "What's wrong?"
Red sighed and put his face in his hands. "lost my job," he mumbled into his palms. "said they're havin to cut down, n i guess i wasn't good enough to keep. but now i'm screwed cause my rent is due soon and it takes me ferever to find jobs, nobody wants to hire this ." He gestured to himself.
"Oh," Dream said. "I'm sorry, Red. I wish I could help, but life takes up most of my income, too."
"it ain't yer fault, darlin. jus wanted to vent. i'll figure it out," Red sighed.
Dream handed him his coffee, getting an idea. "...Y'know, we're pretty much always hiring here. Maybe you could be a barista with me."
Red glanced at him. "oh yeah? i dunno if i'm the barista type."
"You'll get free coffee," Dream tempted, smiling.
Red mulled it over. "welp, guess i don' have many options, do i? and i'll get to see ya every day. what the hell, gimme an application."
—
"Happy first day on the job!" Dream said cheerfully, fastening Red's name tag to his shirt. "I'll train you up and soon enough you'll be serving coffee in your sleep."
"god, i hope not," Red said. "i like my sleep."
"You know, Blue told me after two months of me being here that I'd have a favorite customer. I didn't believe him, and then you walked in."
Red grinned. "am i still yer favorite customer?"
"No. You're more than that now," Dream smiled. "But you're gonna have a favorite customer someday too. It's inevitable."
"nah," Red said, nuzzling their teeth together. "don' need one. i already got a favorite barista."