Work Text:
Day in and day out are the same. Nothing really stands out. Follo's here to work and get a paycheck.
The first thing he notices are gloves. 'That's odd.' He thinks, his consciousness actually flicking on during work for the first time in weeks.
Follo had already gone through the motions greeting this person and taking their order but he realizes just how striking they are.
White fluffy unruly hair that faded to gray tips, striking red eyes, a seemingly permanent resting bitch face, and his oversized gray gloves.
His glove is extended. He looks a bit confused and annoyed at Follo.
Follo blinks and realizes he is holding this person's order. Shit. Think of an excuse. He hands him the bag with an actual warm smile and not a default customer service one. "We have a rewards program. If you purchase things here nine times you get the tenth free."
Those red eyes stare at him, his expression softening just a bit. "Thanks."
It's blunt and to the point, his tone is flat yet grateful. Follo has no idea if this guy was actually happy from that or not.
He takes the next person's order on autopilot while his brain runs in the background mulling over the situation prior. Why did he notice this random customer?
It didn't matter. Odds are he wasn't seeing him again even if he was interesting.
Not two days later Follo saw him at the same time as before. This time he was paying attention from the beginning.
He was wearing baggy clothes as he looked over the pastry options with a glint in his eyes. He looked elated while looking angry.
Tomme smirks and elbows him. "I've never seen you stare at a customer before."
Follo flushes and looks away from the white haired cutie. "I'm not. I'm waiting on him." He lies.
"Mhm... sure." Tomme looks around. When she doesn't see Gris watching she slides him a cookie. "You can give this to him for free."
Follo hates how his heart flutters. Shit. He has never taken interest in anyone before, let alone a customer. Hell, he doesn't even know his name!
He waits at the register while observing the guy as he finally decides what he wants. He gets something different from last time.
Follo feels like a spotlight is on him as he packages the pastries up. He can feel those red eyes staring at him. Maybe he's hopeful but he swears even if for a moment the strangers gaze lingers on him too.
Follo smiles at him again and shows him the cookie. "And I'm throwing this in for free."
They seem shocked, then glare suspiciously at him. "Why?"
Follo knows that tone well. It's the 'I've never been treated nice by strangers in my life, what do you want from me?' Tone.
He's now determined to show this guy some strangers can be friendly.
"I baked some extra for my friends," He lied. "And wanted to give some to nice looking customers."
The wording was intentional. It could be a flirt of their appearance, or it could be a friendly way to call someone nice.
The glare relented but now the guy just looked confused and embarrassed with some guilt. "O-oh. Sorry." He takes his bag and pays with cash, this time leaving a tip.
Follo watches him walk over and sit nearby subtly. He sweeps to pretend like he is doing something.
The guy is excitedly taking the pastries out. He doesn't remove his gloves, and eats with them on. Follo can see he has bandages under his sleeves which is also strange. A wound maybe?
Tomme snaps him out of his thoughts. "Man you are oggling him!"
Follo squeaks and blushes hard. He reaches up and tilts his hat downwards out of instinct. "Shut up! Don't let him hear you."
Tomme snickers and waves her hand. "It's fine... just stop sweeping in one place."
Follo mumbles a thanks and moves around while glancing at the guy. He needs to get his name..
It's cute how he eats. Both gentle and yet eager, biting hard and tearing bites off. He eats everything, cleans up the table, and leaves without any evidence he was ever there.
Follo hopes he sees him again.
It's two days later and it's pouring rain outside. There hasn't been a customer in hours thanks to that. Follo’s cleaned everything three times and is so bored.
He sees movement outside and looks over to see what can only be described as a hand me down truck pull into the parking lot outside.
To his shock, he sees that guy step out and rush in then shake his hair like a dog. He is wearing crocs and shorts this time. He locks eyes with Follo and he swears he sees the guy's ears dust a bit pink before he waves at him.
Holy shit his heart is hammering in his chest. This was not normal. His brain is in automatic customer mode. "Welcome! How were the roads?"
The other shrugs and as he walks the crocs make a loud squeaking noise. "Bad. Lots of flooded streets. Not anymore though. Do you have warm drink options? Not coffee, I don't like that."
Follo stares at him, then down to his shoes. He is soaked from head to toe, like completely drenched.
Did... did this guy stay out in the rain to clean gutters that were stopped up..?
"Hello?"
Right. Shit. "Sorry. Yeah." Follo sits up a bit and grabs a menu then leans over the counter to show him. "Tea and hot chocolate are good alternatives to coffee. What do you not like about it?"
"Too bitter. Gross aftertaste. Not sweet." He shrugs. Red eyes land on his nametag, then up to his face. "Not to be rude.. but can you even make a good hot chocolate?"
Wow that actually came out really rude. Follo doesn't know this guy, but while part of him is ticked off, he sees how soft his gaze is.
Huh. Not very socially smart. Follo bites back his more annoyed side. "Yeah. My good friends and boss taught me how."
That seems to relax the other despite not knowing these people. "Good. Cus I've had hot chocolate everywhere and they are always the prepackaged cheap shit or so watered down it's disgusting."
Follo realizes he has an opportunity here and now to really flirt with this guy. Impress him, get his name, and learn more about him. He wants to as well.
"I'm your guy then." Follo grins and gets to work. As he makes the drink, he glances over to the other often. "So why are you soaked?" He can see him shivering but pretending like he isn't cold.
"Oh, uh.. I cleaned some gutters."
Holy shit, Follo was right? He actually did that? How selfless was he? "Thats really nice of you."
"It is?"
Follo had to turn away to bite his tongue. He was adorable and stupid. Fuck. He focused on making the best hot chocolate of his life.
"Yeah. It helps everyone driving on the road and keeps things safe. How do you like your drink by the way? Milky? Lots of whipped cream?"
He shrugs and looks away. "Well.. my truck can't drive through flooding. That's why I'm late."
Late? He had somewhere to be then. "Oh crap, am I taking too long then?" Follo sped his movements up.
"What? No. To here."
What?
Follo looks over at him. "Late to what?"
"Well, that other worker, I think her name was Tomme, told me you guys make fresh batches of pastries at 8am, 12pm, and 4pm.." He mumbles.
Follo looks at the time to see it's almost five pm. He doesn't know how long his drive is, certainly less than fifteen minutes, so those gutters must have taken a lot of time to clean.
Just to.. get here? Wait. This meant he visited every day if he talked to Tomme too. Wait, HE KNOWS HER NAME!?
Follo bites his cheek and finishes the drink, adding the whipped cream. He puts a lid on it and slides it to him.
"Order for..?" Follo trails off.
He stares at the cup, then to Follo. "Rudo."
Rudo. A simple and cute name. Follo likes it. He watches Rudo take a curious sip and sees his eyes light up.
Follo hates how he is head over heels for Rudo.
Rudos drenched in rain, clearly cold and shaking, yet looks delighted without smiling as he damn near burns his tongue as he drinks the hot chocolate like it's the best thing ever.
Follo quickly leaves and grabs a towel, then returns and hands it to him. "Use this for now."
"Why..?" Rudo asks, once again suspicious and unsure, but his tone is a bit more calmer than last time.
"You're dripping water everywhere." Follo says, but really it's because he's worried Rudo will catch a cold.
Rudo takes it and pats himself dry including his hair, then holds it as he drinks his hot chocolate.
Forgetting to tell Follo if he likes it...
Follo clears his throat. "Is it to your standards?"
Rudo nods. "Quite. Best I've had."
Follo just knows Rudo is going to order that every time now. He's got to get good at making them constantly..
"Shit I forgot to pay." Rudo looks for his wallet and pulls it out. It's soaking wet, including the bills.
The both of them stare at it.
"Uh.. I trust you. Just pay for the drink next time you're here." Follo says, damn well knowing if he touched those bills they may tear with any force applied.
"Sorry." Rudo grumbles, pissed off at himself.
"Nah, don't be." Follo slides him a free cake pop. "On the house."
Rudo looks hesitant again but reaches out and takes it. Usually people eat it in bites. It's dense and dry yet full of flavor.
So he's baffled when he sees Rudo eat the whole thing in one bite and lick the stick clean, then toss it in the trash and go back to drinking his hot chocolate.
Fucking hell of course he crushes on a freak of nature like this. He should have realized that the second Rudo walked into the store in crocs, to be fair.
"So.. probably a weird question." Rudo mumbles, not meeting his eyes. "What days do you work?"
Oh hell. Rudo was interested in him! Follo feels his heart race. "Mainly every other day and weekends." He can see Rudo logging that information and refrains from reacting at all.
"Good hot chocolate every other day.." Rudo then nods. "Seems good to me."
Holy shit. Had Follo been reading the room wrong? Was he seriously going to visit just for his hot chocolate...? No. No. This was good. It meant Follo would see him every shift. He would look forward to something and get to talk to him.
He still had a chance!
Unsurprisingly, Follo saw him on his next shift at 4pm exactly. He was putting out the freshly baked pastries Gris made and smiles at Rudo.
"Hey Rudo. What will you be ordering today?" Follo asks and stands up, getting his tongs ready.
"A hot chocolate and uh..." Rudo mulls over what he can see. "Your favorite."
Follo's face goes beet red. He nods and gets his food, and takes his payment, noting that there was extra for last time’s drink. He glances over watching Rudo eat while he makes the hot chocolate.
Tomme had seen the entire interaction and was giving him a shit eating grin the entire time. Follo ignored it and when he was done with his drink walked over to Rudo's table himself and set it down.
He could tell Rudo was debating if this was a friendly gesture or a worker one but couldn't decide which. "Thanks." Rudo said and takes a sip.
Since he's sitting, Follo can see how his leg bounces a bit. Maybe that means he's happy? He's taking many, many mental notes..
"No problem. Hope you like it." He walks off to go to his job but keeps an eye on Rudo.
This time he is wearing baggy clothes again. A big sweatshirt, ripped jeans, durable old boots, and still those bigass gloves.
Follo can't help but stare at his adams apple as he drinks the hot chocolate.
"Dude you're down bad." Tomme remarks.
Follo closes his eyes and sighs. Yeah. Even he had to agree there. "This has never happened before."
"I mean.. he is a cutie. When he comes in he asks for you. Hurts my soul to tell him you aren't working.."
Follo was going to die. His heart was beating so fast in his chest. "It's because he likes the hot chocolate I make."
"Really?" Tomme raises an eyebrow at him. "I seem to recall reviewing the tapes and seeing you two talk for a while before. He visited in the monsoon outside for JUST hot chocolate?"
....she had a point. Rudo didn't even know about the drink then. Yet he had been so determined to get here.
"I don't wanna get my hopes up." Follo crosses his arms. "I don't know if he is gay or even into me. Hell, he may be flirting with me to get free stuff!"
Tomme looks like she is about to hold back laughter. "Flirting? Rudo? Dude, he's talked to you more than me and even I know that guy can't flirt for shit. I bet he has no idea you're crushing on him either despite it being obvious as hell!"
Follo blushes red and covers her mouth. "Tomme! Just-- ugh! Be my wingman...."
"Absolutely." Tomme waggles her eyebrows.
This does nothing to make Follo feel confident in her abilities to help him befriend and potentially date Rudo.
It was a rare day they were swamped. Follo hadn’t had a second to breathe his entire shift as he dealt with wave after wave of customers. It was so busy they ran out of some pastries even after a restock.
It was only when they were closed did he realize he hadn’t seen Rudo that day. At least he hoped he hadn’t been in automatic customer service mode and tended to him without realizing..
Right now he was sat counting their money in the register. His feet ached and all he wanted to do was go home, shower, and sleep.
When he was done with his tasks he got up and went over to Tomme. “Ready to go?”
Tomme was closing down their lights as she just got done cleaning the bathrooms. “Yeah. Today sucked ass. You see your almost boyfriend?”
“No.” Follo’s shoulders slumped as he took off his apron and grabs her keys and hands them to Tomme. He did have to carpool with her often.
“Just ask him next time he comes in. Oh, you should totally get his number too!” Tomme grins at him as she walks out with him, getting in the car and turning it on. She waits until Follo sits and buckles to pull out.
“Yeah.. next time.” Follo mumbles, weirdly unsure. He won’t know until his next shift anyways..
Follo hates watching the time. It makes the day pass by so much slower. Still, when it’s near 4pm, he can’t help but keep glancing outside while he restocks the freshly made pastries.
They are slow today and as expected, three minutes past four that dinky looking truck that's rusting and probably older than Follo himself pulls in.
He already starts the hot chocolate as Rudo approaches the counter holding a bag and looks a bit.. Flustered?
“Wlecome back. How’re you doing?” Follo starts, hoping Rudo would tell him why he wasn’t at the store two days ago.
“Oh, uh, fine. Works work.” Rudo shrugs and slides the bag to Follo. “For you.”
For.. him? Follo finishes the drink and hands it to Rudo and opens it while Rudo pays. Inside he sees a metal rectangle. Pulling it out he sees his name is engraved on it, painted in white.
It’s hand made.
“I, uh, welded it.” Rudo mumbles, sipping on his hot chocolate, very obviously embarrassed.
He welds? Actually, that adds up. Follo turns it around to see a pin is attached to it. He takes off his old nametag and puts on the one Rudo made with a smile. “Thank you Rudo, this is awesome. I didn’t know you welded.”
Rudo realizes he hasn’t told Follo anything about himself. He looks around to see he’s the only customer so he isn’t bothering Follo and leans against the counter. “I am a mechanic for vehicles, so it's sort of hand in hand. I like things like that.. Fix up items, weld, sew..” Rudo shrugs.
Follo glances to his truck outside. “So, uh, your truck..?”
“Oh it’s completely fine.” Rudo takes another sip of his drink. “I reuse parts of trucks that are completely fine. I got that truck for free by making it myself.” Was that even legal..? Follo decided he wasn’t going to ask.
“It has a really good engine.” “So why couldn’t it go through the flooded streets?” Follo asked.
Rudo raises an eyebrow at him. “No cars can go through water really. Once the engine drowns out, battery fries ‘n shit. I’m not risking my friend like that.” Friend? Follo finds that cute. “Does it have a name?”
Rudo goes really quiet and his warmer neutral expression drops to something else. Had Follo said something wrong?
“His name is Regto.” Rudo says flatly, then sips his drink again. “You have a car? I’d love to give you discounts if you bring it in.”
“Trying to get me to spend money?” Follo teases, trying to move far away from the sadder topic before. “I don’t have a car. I pay Tomme gas money to carpool me places.”
He says this to keep up conversation but also just to see if Rudo can take a hint.
Rudo really, really is oblivious and does not take the hint, but he still comes to a similar conclusion.
“I.. mean if you want I’d like to hang out with you. Driving you occasionally would be fine.”
Follo bit back his excitement that Rudo was actually on the right track of this. He was very positive that at minimum they’d be friends. “I’d pay for gas of course.”
Rudo scratches the back of his own neck. “Uhm.. if possible.. Maybe you can just throw in a free pastry sometimes instead..?”
Seriously, Follo kept falling more in love with him by the minute. He rolls his eyes and grabs a random one and slides it to Rudo. “Yeah? We will need to exchange numbers to be able to talk about driving.”
Follo was kicking himself with how stupid he phrased that. It wasn’t smooth at all!
Rudo pulled out his phone that Follo swore was at least eight years old with a very well used case and handed it to Follo.
He was not judging him at all. Not that he had no password or that his background was a photo of an old photograph of Rudo as a kid next to an adult, maybe a parent. Follo puts in his contact and takes a photo of himself to add it as an image, then hands it back to Rudo.
Rudo stares at it, then texts him a simple ‘Hi’, then puts his phone back in his pocket. “I can’t drive you today, but I promise next time I can if, uh, you still want that?”
Follo’s heart leapt. Of course he did. “Yeah, if that’s fine with you? Tomme can drive me here but you can take me back home.” Another clear flirt that he watches fly right over Rudo’s head.
It was half cute and half annoying. Figuring out if Rudo was into him was going to take a lot of trial and error.
“Sounds good to me.” Rudo hears the door open as a customer enters. “Before I go, what’s your favorite fast food?”
The hell? Wait. Was he asking him on a date of some kind? “Oh, uh, any is fine, I don’t mind.”
Rudo nods and waves goodbye to him and leaves. Now that Follo’s paying attention, despite the rust on the truck he can hear how the engine is in good quality. He doesn’t know much about cars to be fair.
Of course when this next customer leaves he tells Tomme the good news.
For once he is looking forward to his next shift.
His next shift started a while ago. It was well past four pm. Rudo hadn’t shown up. He had texted him yesterday asking if he was still driving him home, and Rudo said he was.
So he tried not to let his anxiety take over that this was all a long con set up just to disappoint him.
Fifteen minutes before closing he saw Rudo’s truck pull in and him sheepishly enter. “Is it alright to order this late?”
For him Follo didn’t mind. “Yeah. But why are you showing up now?”
Rudo stood near the counter, confused. “You wanted me to pick you up after work. I didn’t want to come here twice in one day. I feel like that’d bother you too much.. Like last time. Too many customers.. You looked swamped.”
Oh. Oh! He was changing the times he visited from 4pm to near closing. It would be good too since there’d usually be no customers. Plus it seemed Rudo detested big crowds.
Follo noticed the bag he was holding and saw it was from a fast food place.
Were.. they not going on a date of some kind?
Rudo saw where he was looking and seemed to get a bit happier. “I wanted to get you something to eat after your shift. I love eating after mine so I thought since I’m already getting food before I come here I can get you an order too.”
Follo blinked as he processed that information. It really was sweet of him to think of him like that. Still he was a bit saddened by the idea they wouldn’t have a hangout session after.
“Thank you.” Follo munched on the food while he did the closing activities after he got Rudo his order made.
Tomme walked out and grinned seeing Rudo sitting at a table sipping his hot chocolate while staring at Follo. It was obvious to her how much Rudo was into him. She also saw how Follo was eating some food and damn well knew Rudo bought him food from somewhere.
She walked over to Follo and elbowed him softly. “You two dating yet?”
Follo turned red and shook his head. “I don’t think he’s into me.”
Tomme rolled her eyes. She was not having this. “Yes he is. You’re just as oblivious as him.”
“How can you tell?” Follo raises an eyebrow at her.
“He bought you food and is about to drive you home. You can’t tell me that someone you met like last week is just casually okay with this without crushing on you.” Tomme then pokes the register. “Finish this. Don’t leave him waiting too long.”
“Stop distracting me.” Follo grumbles and goes back to his tasks of counting the money down, then putting it in the safe in the back. When he is done he takes his apron off and goes to Rudo in the front area. “Are you still sure about this?” He asks Rudo.
“If I wasn’t I wouldn’t offer or be here.” Rudo says and stands up, carrying his drink out. He gets into his truck and turns it on.
Follo hops in and he smells metal, rust, oil, and leather. Glancing back, the whole bed of the truck is full of random items, tires, and furniture Rudo probably found on the side of the road.
He really wasn’t shocked by this after Rudo said he basically recycles everything in a way.
“Sorry for the mess.” Rudo mumbles and sets his cup in the cup holder and pulls out.
He’s a good driver and keeps the speed limit as Follo tells him where his house is. In between him giving directions they chat about small things, learning more about one another.
Really, he is enjoying this.
Follo can’t help but try to figure out of Rudo does like him or not. He decides to risk it.
“Are you busy tomorrow?” Rudo blurts out.
Follo had just opened his mouth to ask something similar, so he was taken aback. He doesn’t work tomorrow, and while he planned to clean that could easily be paused.
“No,” He glances at Rudo. “Are you?”
He can see Rudo’s gloved fingers fidgeting against the steering wheel. He’s nervous, and Follo tries not to get his hopes too far up.
“In the morning I am, but if you want we can go get lunch somewhere and.. Talk? Outside of your job?” Rudo offers.
Follo looks out the window, his heart beating a bit fast just from joy. At bare minimum this is really good. They’d get a proper maybe-date too. ”Fine, but I’m paying since I owe you.” He grins at Rudo.
Rudo rolls his eyes and sighs, giving in. “Fine, but then I’m paying next time after that.”
It’s quiet for a moment as both of them realize they were already discussing future hang outs. They were both testing the water.
“It’s a deal then.” Follo then points down a driveway. “That’s my place.”
Rudo pulls in and parks his truck then gives Follo a very faint smile. “See you tomorrow then?”
Follo opens the door and returns the smile, finding Rudo very charming right now. “Absolutely.” He gets out and closes the door, waving to Rudo before going inside.
He just knew this was the start of something amazing.