Chapter Text
141 Cyprus Street
Simon looked up at the building before him. His eyes flicked down to his phone to confirm the address and the name of the establishment.
New Leaf Latte
Yep. He was at the right place. Simon wondered what Price was playing at, having them meet up at a coffee shop when they both preferred tea. Either way, he pocketed his phone and pushed his way into the shop.
Immediately, his senses were overwhelmed by everything coffee . The smell of espresso was strong, but not unpleasant. The shop had a very earthy feel; the walls were a mural of rich browns and greens to somewhat stimulate a foresty vibe while each of the tables, while different, sported some form of green in them.
Simon looked around for his target. Seeing no sign of Price, he settled at a table close to the door. He slumped in his seat, a simple skull mask situated safely over his face. Now all he needed to do was wait.
Fortunately, Simon wasn’t kept waiting long. He was sitting right in front of the window so he had a good view of Price coming up to the door. His eyes remained on the older man as he stepped into the shop. He watched Price as the man looked around.
“Over here, old man,” Simon grunted, sitting up.
Price looked over to where Simon was sitting. He quickly approached but didn’t sit down. “Simon. I’m surprised you actually came.”
Simon shrugged. “I’m a man of my word, Price. I said I’d be here, so here I am. You gonna sit down anytime soon?”
“I didn’t invite you to a coffee shop just to talk. I’m going to get a drink. What do you want?”
“Nothing.”
Price huffed. “I’m getting you some tea, stubborn bastard.” He walked off before Simon could argue.
Instead of putting any energy into protesting, Simon just let out a little puff of air. He watched Price walk up to the counter, watched the person behind the counter take his order. Simon had to do a double take.
The man was stupidly attractive. His lips were pulled into a smile that revealed his teeth, including a sharp canine that Simon didn’t want to admit did something for him. The man’s eyes were a stunning shade of blue and he boasted thick, dark eyelashes. The hair could use some work, though. The mohawk was a tad juvenile. Still, it did nothing to distract from the man’s beauty. It did nothing to make Simon want to bite into those thick, muscled arms any less-
“Oi! Earth to Simon!” Price waved a hand in front of Simon’s face, drawing said man from his less-than-innocent daydream.
Simon grunted and turned his attention to Price, ignoring the way the mark wrapped around his left arm tingled. “What?”
Price rolled his eyes and sat across the table. “You were staring, lad. John’s attractive, I know, but have a little decorum.”
“John?” Simon’s brow raised.
“Don’t even start. It’s a common name.” Price shook his head with a little grin.
Simon let himself smirk the tiniest bit. “So what happened to our drinks?”
“They’ll bring them out when they’re done. Now.” Price leaned forward. “On to the reason I asked you to join me here.”
The smirk dropped and Simon sat up a little straighter. Price had been pretty insistent they meet, talk about something in person. The older man wouldn’t say what he needed to talk about, just that it was important.
Price was silent for several moments. Simon would never admit it, but the silence had him sweating. He was used to noise and chaos, disarray. Being left to sit with his thoughts, even if only for a second or two, was not Simon’s idea of a good time.
“I’m getting married.”
Simon let out a deep breath and slumped back. He let out a loud groan and dragged his hand down his face.
“Fuckin’ hell, old man, I thought somebody had died!” Simon grumbled, reaching across the table to punch Price in the shoulder.
Price was laughing, head thrown back as he took the hit. Simon just shook his head, tired of the man’s antics. His own father had been a piece of shit, so Simon considered Price to be a father figure of sorts. Of course, in true fatherly fashion, the man thought himself a comedian!
“So, you finally asked him, ey?”
Price shook his head as he calmed down from his bout of laughter. “No. Funnily enough, Nik got tired of waiting on me and took it upon himself.”
Before Simon or Price could get another word in, they were interrupted by the man Simon had been ogling. He cut across to their table with their drinks.
“Alright, lads, here ye are. Mocha with two extra shots for my favorite customer. Aaaand an Earl Grey with two sachets, two creams, and five sugars for his bonnie friend.” The man sent a wink Simon’s way.
Price grinned and took his drink. “Ah, thank you, John.”
Simon was too busy staring to respond. His stupid heart was pitter pattering like nobody’s business. John was… he was way prettier up close. Simon had heard of something called “gay panic” and immediately deemed it stupid. Tell you what, he was feeling pretty stupid himself, just gawking at the blue-eyed man.
Price snorted loud enough to draw Simon out of his little crisis. “John, this is Simon, he’s a good friend of mine. Simon, this is John, but people call him Soap.”
“Nice to meet you, Simon. I havnae seen you around here before. You new in town?”
“No.” Simon nodded once at the greeting. He didn’t want to admit that he was far too horny to be talking to that man. He’d never been one to ogle before, but holy shit Soap was hot.
Price let out an exasperated noise. “He’s not the most social, doesn’t really get out much.”
Simon rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, not appreciating the digs at his expense. He shuffled uncomfortably, especially as the tingling in his arm got stronger. He did not need to be reminded of his stupid fuckin’ soulmate mark. He ignored the feeling and grabbed his cup.
“Och, it’s no big deal. Well, you two enjoy your drinks. I’ll be behind the counter if you need anything else. Simon.” Soap shot a wink Simon’s way, making the man inhale so harshly he nearly choked on his uvula.
Price laughed and took a sip of his drink. He was watching Simon far too closely for his liking. Simon just grumbled and pulled his mask to rest below his chin before drinking his tea. He was pleasantly surprised to find that it tasted way better than he was expecting.
“So, how long ago did your little predicament occur.”
“Predicament?” Price raised a brow with a scoff. “Yeesh, Simon, I know you’re no romantic but come on.”
Simon’s lips curled into a grin. “I’m only takin’ the piss, Price, calm yourself. But seriously. I’m assuming you didn’t bring me all the way out here just to give me this announcement.”
The other man nodded. “Quite right, son. I was uh… I was actually going to ask you to be my best man. Y’know, if that’s something you’re up for…”
Simon paused. He’d never seen Price so unsure of himself, but that was no surprise. The last wedding Simon had attended was his brother, Tommy’s, and… well… Simon didn’t really like to talk about Tommy much these days.
Still, he would be lying to say that he wasn’t honored. His chest swelled with warmth that Johnathan Price, the man that had been a better father than his own, wanted Simon standing next to him at his wedding.
“Simon?” Price looked a little apprehensive.
The man blinked back to reality, stuck for a moment in his thoughts. “Sorry. I’d be honored. Does that mean I’m going to have to organize the pre-wedding shit?”
He saw Price let out a relieved breath. “Only if you want to. I know how you get with social shit, so I’m not expecting a huge stag-do or anything.”
“Price, you are absolutely out of your mind if you think I’m not planning the most extravagant night-before party. Expect to get kidnapped.” Simon grinned and took another sip of his tea. As right as Price was about Simon’s social limits, it wasn’t about Simon. He was going to plan a great stag-do for his friend if it killed him.
Price just sighed and shook his head. “Just be careful with me. I am, as you keep saying, a frail old man.”
Simon rolled his eyes and finished his tea.
He honestly didn’t know why he went back to that coffee shop. Yeah, the tea was good, but Simon was a busy man and the café was nowhere on his way to anywhere he needed to be. It was in the opposite direction of his gym, it was several blocks out of the way of his job, and it was nearly a thirty minute walk just to get there.
So when Simon pushed his way through the door and heard the little bell ding, he took a moment to wonder why he was even there.
“Welcome in!”
Ah. That’s why.
Simon walked up to the counter where the man from last time was standing. Soap, he remembered. What a stupid nickname.
“Oh hey, I remember you. You’re John’s friend, right?”
“Yeah.”
Soap grinned from ear to ear. “Well, what can I get for you then?”
Taking a look at the board, Simon realized he was way out of his comfort zone. He didn’t ever order specialty teas. He just made it at home, the bagged shit that never tasted as good as it should.
“I want what you made the other day. Whatever Price ordered for me. It was good.”
Soap nodded and punched his order into the terminal before telling Simon the price. He winced.
“Jesus, it’s just tea, why’s it so expensive,” he complained but handed over the cash anyway.
The man behind the counter shrugged and handed Simon his change. “It’s fuckin’ ridiculous, if you ask me. There’s no way a brew should be that much. It’ll be ready for you at the end.”
Simon grunted an affirmative before moving to stand at the end of the counter. Where he was positioned, he had a good view of the man as he worked. It was pretty impressive how Soap and the other person he worked with, a young woman with rich skin wearing a hijab, moved in tandem to make the drinks.
It was pretty unlucky that Simon had shown up during what looked to be a rush to him. There were six other people in the shop, four singles and a couple.
Soap was busy adding syrups and shots to the drinks before his, moving with a speed and efficiency he hadn’t seen since his very short stint in the military. He handed them off to his coworker, who was heating up two different types of milk at once. She moved just as steadily as Soap, finishing the lattes with a nice swirl of whip cream and handing them out.
Eventually, Soap moved to start on Simon’s tea. He watched as the man filled a little measuring cup with steaming hot water and dipped a couple Earl Grey Breakfast Blend tea sachets to steep. Soap grabbed a cup for hot drinks and added a couple pumps of syrup in the cup before adding five packets of raw sugar and two packets of cream. Once he was done with that, he took the tea bags out of the measuring cup and added them to the hot cup, tucking the paper tags under the rim so they wouldn’t fall in. He transferred the tea into the hot cup and topped it off with some hot milk before stirring it and adding a lid.
Soap whirled around and presented the cup like it was a diamond. “Here ya are, Simon!”
Simon slid the cup closer and pulled his mask down to take a sip. It was piping hot and burned his tongue and lips, but he could tell it was just as good as before. He nodded appreciatively.
“What did you put in it?”
Soap seemed to beam, eager to explain how he had made Simon’s drink. He straightened up, nearly puffing his chest out with pride. “It’s just a regular hot tea with just a touch of steamed oat milk and one and a half pumps of raspberry flavoring.”
Simon hummed, cheeks heating up as he pulled his mask back into place. “Fuckin’ mint.”
“Glad you like it. I’ll make sure to keep it in mind for next time.” Soap winked at Simon, same as he had the last time he had been in. Simon hated the way the attention got him hot under the collar.
Instead of responding, he gave Soap a polite nod and left with his tea.