Work Text:
“I mean these,” said Remus, shaking his bare forearm before his friend’s face, “have got to be the most ridiculous Words ever.”
Lily frowned as she nibbled at her pasta. It was certainly not the first time she’d seen him rave woefully about his Words. “They are rather common, I have to agree.”
And it was certainly not the first time she had said this in return. Having grown up as next-door neighbours, Remus and Lily had been right up best friends since their early years until Lily left for a boarding school at London. Despite the distance, they had been meeting up every few months whenever she would visit Greenwich for the holidays. Their regular meetings continued up until now when they were attending separate colleges.
Remus sighed and rested his elbow on the table. He wearily stared down at the Words scrawled across his wrist: Welcome to Starbucks, may I take your order?—which Remus was sure could make the Top 50 Most Irritating Soulmate Words list. What in the world was he supposed to make of this? Was he meant to stalk down every single Starbucks in England just to hear how each barista would greet him?
He tugged his bracelet down his wrist to cover up the Words. “You’re much better off. How long’s it been since you and James met?”
“Three months and counting.”
A few months ago Remus’ flat phone had rung, announcing that Lily’s Words had gone black.
She patted him on the back. “Aw, cheer up, Moony.” She adjusted her muffler and stood up from the couch. “Come on, let’s go grab some coffee.”
“Sure,” said Remus as he followed her up and out of the restaurant, but his enthusiasm wiped itself out when she led him towards the familiar green and white logo. “Seriously, Lily? You’re making me go in there after listening to me grumble for the millionth time?”
“Moony, you’re bound to meet your Soulmate someday. That day may very well be today, for whoever that knows. And remember—check for the shivers,” she added.
Grimacing, Remus reluctantly allowed himself to be dragged towards the coffee shop.
There was a temporary phase in his teens when Remus was eager on meeting his Soulmate. He would bike around the avenues after school to drop by every single Starbucks in sight just to listen to the greeting he’d get. Mostly, the staff acknowledged him with a completely different greeting. Sometimes they would get it slightly wrong like, “Welcome to Starbucks, can I take your order?” There was a time at the Starbucks down by the city centre when the barista had missed out by adding an extra “please” at the end.
But there were times when the employee had greeted him with the Words on his arm, word for word. Eighteen times, to be exact. Every time that had happened, Remus had walked up to the cashier, struggling to keep a straight face, placed any order that first crossed his mind and observed the barista’s reaction. But none of the eighteen baristas had even batted an eye. So after a glance down at the corner of his Words to check that they hadn’t changed, Remus had taken in his failure and accepted his sad cup of coffee.
So it wasn’t a surprise when Remus slowly began to lose heart in finding his Soulmate. Anticipation had begun to pain him. He became fed up with being let down. Remus’ monthly Starbucks receipts began to lessen until at some point, he realised that he hardly visited the franchise except for when Lily visited and hustled him towards a shop. He had become practically afraid of trying.
“Welcome to Starbucks, may I take your order?”
Remus heard the sharp intake of breath beside him. He would have done the same had he not steeled himself before setting foot in the store. Turning a deaf ear to Lily’s suppressed excitement, he headed for the counter.
In spite of his past failures, he studied the girl’s face before him. She had a happy looking face and brown eyes. Her dark hair curled down to her aproned chest as she waited for their order.
“A tall peppermint mocha, please,” ordered Lily and elbowed Remus for him to order.
“One white chocolate mocha grande.” If this doesn’t work, it’s going to be the nineteenth close call.
The girl gave him a big smile. “Two mochas coming right up.” Remus and Lily stared at the back of her head as she prepared their orders. All the time, she was acting quite normal. Too normal. “Your orders,” she said with that same bright voice as she handed over their drinks. She caught sight of Remus gaping at her. “Your orders, sir,” she repeated.
“Yeah,” he said, trying hard not to show how mortified he was. “Thanks.”
“Let’s go,” Lily muttered as she ushered them both towards the doors.
Remus left with a numb heart. And this time he had thought he’d gotten there. If fate could take human form, Remus didn’t know what sinister things he would do to it.
As soon as the sound of untimely merry bells tailed off behind them, Lily turned to him. “I’m so sorry, Remus.”
Not knowing how to react, Remus absent-mindedly sipped at his cup. It was only then when he realised that it was the first time Lily had been with him when the barista said his exact Words. “It’s fine. Wasn’t the first time anyways.”
She eyed the drink in his hand. “Since when did you get your coffee sweet?”
“Since never.” He made a face at the flavour. “I wasn’t paying attention while ordering.”
“Oh. Want to swap with mine?”
“No, it’s fine.” Remus decided to drink up the too-syrupy liquid along with all his distress. Sugary sweet self-torment. Totally what he needed.
❖
A month had passed since Remus had waved good-bye to Lily on her train back to London. Christmas was nearing, and so was the December iciness. Remus had left his scarf on the drying rack the day before and was regretting it while shivering in the darkened streets. He scanned the streets for a café he could stop by for a brief refuge. A Starbucks logo came into view. Of course. He made a note to expect a Starbucks down in Hell.
His instincts told him to turn around, to find another place. But he was just so done. Remus Lupin wasn’t going to stay in the cold just to avoid being let down by a bloody sentence inked on his arm. He headed towards the homely lit shop with a defiant air. Warm ventilation gushed out when he pushed the glass door open.
“Welcome to Starbucks, may I take your order?”
Hah. He’d passed the twenty close-call checkmark, Remus smirked to himself, shivering a little despite the heating. A week ago, he would’ve at least glanced up in surprise. Now he couldn’t even bring himself to care.
“Give me the hottest thing you’ve got,” he grumbled and looked up when the barista didn’t reply. “What? It’s freezing out.” He saw a young man about his age with ruffled long hair who was gawking at him as if Remus had just grown a third eye.
“I don’t believe this,” the man muttered to himself—quite loudly. Loud enough for Remus to hear.
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve said my Words.”
Now it was Remus’ turn to gawk at the man. “I don’t believe you,” he promptly said.
The man rolled his eyes and rolled up the sleeve of his blouse. Indeed, there were the exact words Remus had just uttered. “Check your own Words, if you’re that skeptical a person.”
Remus tugged up his sweater sleeve to find that his Words had indeed gone black. “But I didn’t feel anything.”
“Didn’t you get the shivers when you walked in?”
“But that was because of the cold.”
The man cocked his eyebrows. “Apparently there was some other reason for that.”
“I guess.” Although Remus was managing a straight face, his mind was ready to throw a panic round. How could he be more awkward? His Soulmate was going to think he was a total dunce.
“Honestly, I couldn’t believe it when my Words first came to me, like, who would bloody say ‘Give me the hottest thing you’ve got’ ?”
“Well,” Remus flushed. He couldn’t take his eyes off the counter. “It is freezing outside.”
“Yup, and you’re just in time.” The man bent down and picked up a specials menu written on chalkboard. “Name’s Sirius Black,” he said. “and I’ve got a piping hot vanilla latte as our daily special. If you don’t mind your drinks sweet.”
“No, I don’t mind,” said Remus in more of an exhale than an articulation. He was drinking in the view he had before him—how Sirius’ long hair was tousled in such a natural manner, how his cheekbones gave way to his narrow how the green apron straps were knotted in a careless loop by his waist side. His Soulmate. This was just unreal.
“Great.” Sirius tapped out the order. “Size?”
“Grande.” In a daze, Remus handed over the bills and pocketed his change without checking them—which was so unlike himself that he could feel a small part of him die. As the barista turned towards the coffee counter to put together his order, Remus just stood there with his eyes on the man like a total halfwit.
“You know, the latte isn’t the hottest thing we have here.” Sirius pushed the steaming drink across the counter. He dug into his apron pocket and put a small paper card on top of the cup along with a straw. “Here’s what you really ordered.”
Remus received it with a frown, which quickly gave way to disbelief as he read the printed phone number. “It’s—”
“The hottest thing we’ve got.”
“You are—” he stopped to search for an appropriate word. “You’re impossible.”
Sirius grinned. “Text me.”