Chapter Text
You sighed happily as you got off the bus and opened the doors of Jorvik City Mall. Despite not being able to go very often, it was one of your favorite places on the entire island. The small book stores and brand-name tack shops were relaxing and brought on a feeling that you just couldn’t quite get anywhere else. Even the coffee shops couldn’t compare, despite not being family-owned and selling the same pastries and drinks as other locations. Sometimes, you just need a little bit of retail to center you. Or, that what you were thinking as you made a beeline for everyone’s favorite coffee shop, Jorbucks. The line wasn’t very long, so you took your time deciding on what you wanted as you tiptoed towards the register. You were debating on whether you wanted a hot drink or a cold drink when you heard a familiar voice.
“Just a black coffee. Hot, please.”
“Is there anything else I can get you, ma’am?” The cashier asked, already punching in Sabine’s order.
Your heart fluttered at the sight of her, standing tall in her black platforms and street clothes. You had never seen her in something so casual, and damn if she didn’t look drop dead gorgeous. Stunning. Amazing. You couldn’t think of the proper word to describe how good the tight red pants and leather jacket made her look. You felt your face go hot as she shifted from one foot to the other and-
You were staring. Staring, without any shame whatsoever, at Sabine’s legs. God, get a hold of yourself, you thought, blinking and tearing your eyes away. In the few seconds it had taken you to ogle Sabine, realize it, and stop yourself, she had already shaken her head and was about to hand over her card to pay. Before you could think about what you were doing, you stepped forward.
“Actually, is it okay if I change that coffee to a pink drink please? And could you add something else to the order as well? Thank you so much.” You smiled and handed the cashier your card, telling them your order and taking Sabine’s card in exchange.
You turned to her with your heart pounding as you realized what you just did. “Hello Sabine.”
“What do you think you’re doing?” Sabine looked you up and down, her face only slightly curled into a sneer as her gloved hands took her card from you. She looked pissed, her eyes flickering with the inconvenience of, well, you. Your eyes flickered to her plush lips and how the scar pulled on the corner of her mouth before refocusing. Now was not the time to get distracted, by the most gorgeous pair of lips you’ve ever seen or otherwise.
“I’m paying for our drinks, duh,” you said with more confidence than you felt. You smiled at her and turned around to give the cashier your name, and put your card back in your wallet. “Let’s sit down, yeah?”
Sabine merely blinked at you incredulously and followed you. When you sat down in a window booth, Sabine sat down across from you, still looking like you had pissed in her cereal.
“What if I don’t like this… ridiculous ‘pink drink’ that you ordered?” She asked, inspecting one of her perfectly-manicured nails.
“Then, I will get you your, admittedly pretty boring, plain black coffee. Piping hot, just for you.” You winked. You congratulated yourself on your confidence, although you had absolutely no idea where it was coming from.
Sabine huffed, crossing her arms and looking away from you. Was she… blushing? The lighting in the cafe was a bit off, but there was no mistaking the red in her cheeks and the tips of her ears. Sabine was blushing. Because of you. You wanted to comment on it, but decided not to.
Before you could speak up, your name was called from the counter and you jumped up to get the drinks. The barista who served your drinks was a friendly-looking girl with big glasses and curly hair. She tapped the lid of your drink.
“Make sure you really enjoy it,” she said conspiratorially, adding a wink at the end of her statement before walking away.
You blinked, looking at yours and Sabine’s drinks as if they were going to bite you before turning around and going back to the table. Sabine had been inspecting her nails when you sat down, and she looked up at the pale pink liquid you slid in front of her.
“You expect me to drink that?”
You took a sip of your own drink and nodded. “Just try it.”
Sabine sighed and looked at the beverage with such pure disgust that you couldn’t help but giggle. Then she leveled her glare onto you, and you stopped guiltily. Sabine picked the cup up with two fingers, as if even touching it would poison her, and swirled it gently, staring it down reluctantly before throwing her head back and taking a sip. You watched her swallow a few times before putting the cup down, significantly less-full than it was before.
“So, what do you think?” You asked, nearly bouncing in your seat.
Sabine didn’t respond, instead she was staring at your own drink with the same look she had given her own a few seconds ago. “What is that?”
“Huh? What’s what?” You turned the cup around, trying to find what Sabine had been glaring at. At first, you couldn’t see anything, but then you noticed the black, Sharpie-d on numbers, with a flirty little “text me ;)” underneath. “Oh, shit.”
You blinked at the writing blankly, frozen on what to do. You glanced at the counter, where the barista from before was polishing her glasses casually. She looked up and smiled at you, winking again. Your face went hot with embarrassment and you looked back down at the cup. You couldn’t pretend you hadn’t seen it now, but you really didn’t want to hurt her feelings. You swallowed and looked back up at Sabine, who was also looking at the barista… with another one of her signature “I am not impressed,” looks. Her jaw clenched, and you saw her hand twitch, like it wanted to punch something. Or someone.
Your eyes flitted back to the barista, who was absolutely not taking the hint despite clearly having seen Sabine’s face, and blew you a kiss.
“We’re leaving.”
You wanted to protest, but before you could get a word out, Sabine had grabbed your arm and was pulling you to your feet. She snatched your wallet, which had been resting on the table, pushed it into your chest, and dragged you away, holding onto your wrist like a lifeline. You fumbled with your wallet before putting it in your bag and trying to pry your wrist from Sabine’s grasp. She only let you go for a split second, but then intertwined her fingers with yours, just as tight. Then you were out of the Jorbucks and into the mall proper.
“Sabine, what is going on?” You asked, trying to keep up with Sabine’s long legs and hurried stride.
“I said we’re leaving. We’re going to do some shopping. Because that’s what the mall is supposed to be for.” She sounded relatively okay, despite the edge to her voice. She took you into the tack store farthest away from the coffee shop, and only then did she relax. And by relax, you meant she didn’t look like she was going to murder someone. You considered that a plus, but she was still gripping your hand with as much force as she possibly could. But she wasn’t hurting you. Her nails were careful to not even touch your skin, and her thumb was caressing the back of your hand gently, almost like she was soothing you .
It took a moment to settle in. Sabine was holding your hand. Sabine’s hand, soft and warm and plush, was engulfing yours because of the barista who had given you her number.
What the fuck? Was she… jealous? No, there was no way she could be jealous. Not because of something so petty. Right?
“Are… Are you okay?” You looked up at her. Her mouth twitched.
“I’m fine. Come on, pick something out.” Sabine didn’t seem to want to talk about what had just happened, and you decided to drop it.
“What do you mean ‘pick something out?’”
“You bought our drinks. I’ll buy you whatever you want here.” Sabine nodded in reference to the store, and you looked around. It was a pretty high-end shop, with good quality saddles and other tack.
“Uh, Sabine, this shit’s expensive,” you murmured, hesitantly looking back at her.
She just shrugged. “Consider it payback for introducing me to a new drink.”
You gasped delightedly. “So you do like it? Oh thank goodness, I was kinda worried you’d think it was too sweet. But that’s not fair payback, the drinks were like 15 shillings at most , I wouldn’t be surprised if we had to pay to be in here, besides – oh I’m rambling aren’t I?”
Sabine nodded, looking much more amused now than she had a few minutes prior. “Yeah. Don’t worry about the price.”
You sighed, but relented. “Fine. But um, would you mind loosening your grip a bit? I think I’m starting to lose feeling in my hand.”
She seemed to finally realize that she was still holding your hand, and dropped it like you burnt her. She immediately turned away from you and took immediate interest in a pair of black breeches with red stitching. With her back turned to you, you let out a silent, fangirlish scream of delight (she held your hand! And it wasn’t even on purpose! Well, it was, but she hadn’t even realized it!) before taking a deep breath and finding yourself something that (hopefully) wasn’t too expensive.
You found Sabine when you were ready to check out, with only a handful of items. Sabine had a whole armload of stuff, and she looked at your meagre findings. She had apparently finished her drink, because it was nowhere in sight. You just shrugged at her raised eyebrow, and followed her when she went to the counter. This time, when she pulled her card out, you didn’t stop her. You did, however, grab her free hand with yours again, and gave it a gentle squeeze.
Sabine looked at you, but she didn’t pull her hand away, which you considered a win. As you left the store, Sabine pulled you towards one of the display tables outside without saying anything. She put everything down and motioned for your Jorbucks cup, which was still not fully drunk yet, and pulled out a marker. Confused, you handed it over and watched as she scribbled on the cup, then handed it back to you, with whatever she wrote on it facing you.
“Enjoy,” Sabine purred, before capping the marker and putting it away. You looked at the cup curiously, and found that not only had she crossed out the barista’s number, but she had put her own down.
Sabine had given you her number. Holy shit.
Holy. Shit.
“Keep up,” called Sabine from ahead of you.