Archive of Our Own

Sethos burst into the coffee shop. He was a regular here and frequently picked up a coffee on his way to work. He knew most of the staff fairly well, though, lately, he had been trying to cut back on caffeine so his visits have been reduced from five days a week to three. He noticed the store had hired on a few new people, and with his less frequent visits, he hadn’t really gotten to know them yet.

Today was a day that he was not supposed to get coffee. However, he had gone to the company potluck dinner last night, and something wasn’t sitting right with him. 

It was probably Collei’s dish because it looked kinda funny. No one else was eating it, though and Sethos felt bad for her so he took a big helping. 

Whatever it was didn’t matter. Sethos desperately needed to get to a bathroom. 

He recognized the barista as one of the new ones who always seemed to be frowning. Despite his usual frown, something about this other man was intriguing. Maybe it was the fact he was elusive and never at the register when Sethos ordered. Maybe it was the guarded expression and pretty eyes. Most likely it was the way he always seemed to wear different name tags. Today he was “Nahida.” However, Sethos was hoping that he would be recognized as a regular customer here and get the bathroom pass without placing an order. 

“Hi! Excuse me,” Sethos called out to the barista, who was doodling on one of the cups. 

The barista glanced up at him without moving his head, only his eyes moved to look up through his dark bangs, meeting Sethos’s look of desperation. 

“Can I please have the bathroom pass?” Sethos asked with a sheepish smile, instead of waiting for the barista to say something. He silently cursed that it wasn’t one of the baristas that he was more familiar with, though he had been looking for an excuse to meet this new guy, too. That being said, this wasn’t exactly an ideal circumstance for befriending the new employee.

The barista gave him a once over, noticing Sethos’s bag and lack of coffee in hand. “The bathroom is for paying customers only,” he dismissed, returning to his doodle on the cup. 

“Ah, right,” Sethos said. He resolved to purchase something later, though it was likely to make him late for work now. “I’ll buy something.” 

“Cool,” the barista said, “you can order over there.” He pointed to the other end of the counter where there was a line of people waiting to place their orders. 

Sethos frowned at this. “Please, it's an emergency. Let me have the bathroom pass first and I’ll order after! I’ll even leave you a big tip.” 

“A tip!?” the barista clasped his hands in mock-excitement before dropping the act and rolling his eyes. “I don’t need your tips. Besides, it’s store policy.” The barista was grinning at him now as if he was enjoying denying Sethos the pass to the bathroom now. 

Sethos was just about to give up and try the coffee shop down the road, though he wasn’t positive he would be more successful there. Just then someone grabbed his attention, shouting a little louder over the crowds of people. 

“Hey babe? I didn’t expect to see you here,” the voice came from the person at the front of the line. It was a tall, muscular gray-haired man in a black trench coat and a briefcase. “I’m about to order. Do you want your usual?” 

Sethos just blinked at the stranger. He wasn’t sure if the man was addressing him. He had never seen this man a day in his life before. 

“Your usual latte?” the gray-haired man repeated, definitely looking right at Sethos. “Or do you want something different today?” The man shifted his gaze from Sethos to the cashier.

Suddenly Sethos caught on. This kind stranger had overheard his bathroom pleas and was coming to his rescue. 

“Uhh yes! Just my usual vanilla latte would be lovely! Thanks… babe,” Sethos added for good measure. 

The gray-haired man finished paying for his order and took a step over to Sethos where the mean, short-haired barista was still watching everything unfold. 

“According to your store policy, my boyfriend should be allowed to use the bathroom pass now,” the man said to the barista. 

The barista frowned in response, and didn’t say anything. He squinted between the two of them before reaching under the counter and handing Sethos the magnetic door key for the bathroom. 

“It’s over there,” the barista waved vaguely in the direction of the bathroom. 

Sethos grabbed the key in a hurry and rushed over to the bathroom.

~

When he returned, he was feeling much better, but he almost jumped out of his skin when he saw the man from before waiting for him with coffees in hand. He had basically forgotten about this kind stranger.

“Here’s your coffee, babe,” the man greeted him, vanilla latte in hand. 

Sethos laughed, feeling only a little uncomfortable at the ongoing roleplay. He took the coffee and held out his hand to introduce himself. 

“I’m Sethos. Thank you, by the way,” he said.

“You’re so terrible at this,” the gray-haired man rolled his eyes and tilted his head back towards the counter where the scowling barista was sitting, looking straight at Sethos. The stranger then took Sethos’s outstretched hand in his own and laced their fingers together.

Sethos tensed at the action, but they were still being watched, so he tried his best to act natural. The gray-haired man started towards the door and swifty led the both of them out of the shop. They kept holding hands until they were around the corner, and out of sight from the coffee shop.

“Was all of that really necessary?” Sethos asked once they stopped holding hands.

The other man shrugged. “I don’t know. Can I ask why you have beef with a barista? Is he your ex or something?”

“My ex!?” Sethos exclaimed, redding at the implication. “No, no I just get coffee here often.” 

“Interesting. Well, have a good one, Sethos,” the other man turned to leave. Sethos stopped him.

“Wait! What was your name?” Sethos asked. 

“Alhaitham,” the man said simply over his shoulder, continuing to walk away.

“Oh okay! Let me pay you back for the coffee, Alhaitham!” 

Alhaitham just shook his head and waved him off. “It’s alright. I see you around.” 

With that, Alhaitham crossed the street and turned around the corner. Sethos was left alone with his thoughts and a latte he shouldn’t really have. To get to work, he normally would have had to go back the way he came. However, part of him didn’t want to risk walking past the coffee shop’s windows again, so he took a long, roundabout path and ended up being late to work. 

-

It was the next week before Sethos found himself in the same coffee shop again. Over the weekend he had mostly forgotten about his encounter with Alhaitham and the mean barista.

It was just his luck that that same barista was working again today. Though this time, he had been assigned to work the register it seemed. Today he was wearing a name tag that said “Layla.” 

“Long time no see!” Sethos went for a friendly greeting, hoping to win the barista back over to his side.

“Oh it’s you again,” the barista said, sounding slightly more cheerful than he did last week. “Where’s your tall and handsome boyfriend today?”

Sethos gave a nervous laugh, unsure of how to answer that, he said, “Oh he must be at work.” 

The barista narrowed his eyes at Sethos, “Suuuuure.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Just that you two obviously aren’t dating. Can I take your order?” 

“Hey, hold on! You can’t just accuse me of lying. I am a paying customer!” Sethos replied indignantly. The barista was technically right, but Sethos was insulted by this bold claim of his. 

“You technically haven’t paid for anything yet. Do you want your usual vanilla latte again today?”  

Sethos blinked at this, a little taken aback that he had remembered his order from the previous week. Though, to be fair, it wasn’t the world’s most complicated order. 

“Yeah,” he finally answered and handed his card over to pay. 

“Oh! Look who’s here!” The barista clasped his hands together in mock joy. Just then the door swung open and in walked none other than the tall and handsome “boyfriend” in question. 

“O-oh!” Sethos exclaimed. “Uhh, I thought you were at work.” 

Alhaitham assessed the situation as he approached the counter. “Didn’t expect to see you here… babe.” 

Sethos cringed at the pet name and the fact that this virtual stranger was still willing to go along with this act for him. He waved his hand, dismissing the comment. “I just ordered. Let me get yours today.” 

“Sure,” Alhaitham said, coming to stand at Sethos’s side. 

He turned back to the barista who was giving him a knowing smirk.

“So what’s his order then?” 

“Um…” Sethos hesitated, trying to remember what he had seen Alhaitham holding in his other hand last week when he had brought Sethos his coffee. 

“He doesn’t even know your coffee order, you should honestly dump him,” the barista said to Alhaitham.

“Hey! You can’t say that!” Sethos exclaimed. 

The barista just shrugged. 

“Why don’t you know his order? You apparently know mine and you barely started working here!” Sethos continued, his voice slightly raised. Thankfully, there weren’t many customers in the shop. It was a slow day. The barista said nothing, but wore that shit-eating grin on his face. Sethos wasn’t sure why he was so adamant about keeping up this lie, but the barista was sincerely starting to piss him off. 

Alhaitham placed his hand on Sethos’s shoulder and gently pulled him back from the counter. “I change my order often. Today I’ll just have a soy latte.” 

The barista glanced briefly at Alhaitham and then to the hand on Sethos’s shoulder, before returning his gaze back to Sethos. Sethos handed his card to Alhaitham who passed it to the barista to pay. 

A tense silence settled amongst the three of them while the order processed. Alhaitham got Sethos’s attention by waving his hand.

“What?” Sethos asked. The barista returned the card to him.

“How about you go wait at a table. I’ll bring your drink over,” Alhaitham said. Sethos frowned, unwilling to accept another kind deed from this guy he barely knew. However, he was grateful to put some distance between himself and this situation, so he nodded and peeled off. 

He crossed the cafe and took a seat at one of the stools by the window. Outside, people leisurely strolled past, enjoying the early autumn weather. A single leaf floated down from the trees and landed on the sidewalk. It was promptly crunched under a passerby’s foot. 

Sethos turned his back to the window to check on the situation at the register. He was shocked to see Alhaitham talking to the barista. Sethos couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but he could clearly see the barista’s expression. He had his usual displeased scowl. Sethos sighed, about to get up and try to rescue Alhaitham this time, when something happened. The scowl faltered. The barista’s eyes widened at something Alhaitham said. Sethos had never seen this sort of expression on his face. He usually seemed so cocky and sure of himself. Something Alhaitham said clearly caught him off guard. 

Though, this stumble lasted mere seconds as the barista composed himself again, and returned to scowling. He crossed his arms over his chest and retreated back behind the counter into what was presumably the kitchen. Alhaitham walked away as well to await their drink orders. 

Sethos watched to see if the barista returned, but he never did. Some other employee came out with their drinks and then proceeded to take over the register. Sethos wasn’t sure why he wanted the mean barista to return, but for some reason he kept looking at the door where he had disappeared. 

Sethos kept his eyes trained on the unmoving door until his vision was blocked by Alhaitham returning with their drinks. The two of them headed toward the door and exited the shop without a word. 

“Did you say something to him?” Sethos asked once they were outside. He didn’t have to say who. 

Alhaitham shrugged, “I told him we weren’t really dating.”

“You WHAT!? ” Sethos exclaimed. 

“He was clearly being a dick because he was jealous,” Alhaitham explained. “I come here too often to deal with hostile service. Besides, it’s not like you’re going to get banned for faking a relationship to get a bathroom pass.” 

“Jealous?” Sethos repeated, incredulously. He shook his head. “No way.” 

Alhaitahm raised an eyebrow at him. Without a word, he gestured to their drinks which Alhaitham was still carrying both of. 

“Oh right. Thanks,” Sethos said, collecting his drink and taking a sip. 

“No, no. Look at your cup,” Alhaitham said. 

Sethos frowned, wondering if the mean barista had spit in his drink or something while Sethos wasn’t watching. Turning the cup in hand, something scrawled in black marker caught his eye. 

A phone number. 

He gasped. 

“See?” Alhaitham said. “Anyway, I have a meeting to get to. I’ll see you around.” 

“B-bye,” Sethos gaped as he tried to think of a response. His mind was racing, trying to replay every interaction he had had with the barista. Alhaitham was already gone. 

Upon closer inspection, Sethos realized one additional word was written underneath the phone number.

He clutched the cup close to his chest, realizing this had to be the name of the barista. 

Kuni .