Chapter Text
A brisk breeze is cast into the kitchen as the back door swings open; yawning the male steps into the room rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“You’re here, finally.” The soft voice of the blond causes his gaze to flick up.
“Has to be the morning shift.” Xingqiu sighs, he moves with grace to the old machine in the corner grabbing the thin slip with his name on it and clocking in, barely listening to the blond behind him.
“Can you refill the coffee grinder; oh and make sure to restock the drinks fridge- the night shift didn’t...” The drawling faded off like a little buzz in his ear.
Xingqiu sighs once again; walking over to the coffee machine; and pulling the tub out, scrunching his face up at the lingering remnants of a few weeks, he pulled the lower tray out after a moment; it would need water in too and cleaning, great, wasn’t Venti supposed to do that yesterday?
“Who was on the night shift?”
“Venti, Xiangling-”
Ugh, Typical. He huffs; pulling the tray over to the sink and getting to work on throwing away the old remains and refilling it before scrubbing the bottom tray clean. It takes him just about five minutes; restocking the drinks takes another twenty due to the fact he couldn’t find the stored boxes for a good five minutes thanks to them being pushed to the back of the wrong closet. Finally, he leans against the counter,
“Shop opens in ten...I got the ice cream machine working and checked the tills out- someone forgot to empty them last night.”
Xingqiu nods, pursing his lips before pulling out his phone; flicking open the group chat for work;
Venti: *is typing*
Venti: Maybe...but, I have a great reason!
Hu Tao: Oh-ho-ho? A great reason?
Venti: ...a good reason!
Xiangling: Oh, is it like the reason you told us you had to skip work 2 minutes before opening because Xiao was taking you on a date?
Venti: …
Venti: I have a reason!
Albedo: Spit it out.
Venti: Right so- you seee~ We had like a lot of customers, it was so busy- right
Xiangling: Like 7 people came?!
Venti: That’s real busy for a night shift!
Venti: Anyway- so, there were these reaaally cute guys.
Xingqiu: Good heavens.
Hu Tao: Oh this is great!
Albedo: Venti. Please tell me you didn’t spend the entire night talking to them instead of doing your job?
Venti: Ehe~ well...since you asked, I won’t!
Albedo: Venti.
Hu Tao: Is someone getting fired? :D
Venti: Albedo loves me too much for that.
Albedo: You can come in an hour early tomorrow and pick the gum off the tables.
Venti: :(
Albedo: Scrap the gum off tables or find a new job.
Venti: You’re so mean to me. U-U
Xingqiu: honestly, not mean enough.
Venti: Wah, don’t you start too!
Hu Tao: Hush hush- not important anymore you know what is important, did you get either of their numbers?
Xiangling: Tao!
Venti: Ehe- unfortunately not.
Hu Tao: what a waste, you could’ve paid Albedo Back by getting him a boyfriend.
Albedo: I do not need a boyfriend; I am perfectly capable of looking after myself. Thank you very much.
Hu Tao: teehee~ but you’re missing out on all the fun, late nights curled up on the couch~
Xiangling: Braiding each others hair! Making dinner together! Eating dinner together!
Hu Tao: staring lovingly into each other's eyes while you cuddle
Venti: We get it! You're a happy sappy couple! Save us the confessions of love!
Hu Tao: eheheehe, like you were any better.
Xingqiu: She has a point, remember when you and Xiao were together, and you would spam our chat with how much you loved him, and all those heart emoji’s and screenshots.
Venti: I have done no such thing-
Hu Tao: I have receipts! *Attachments 1*
Venti: Clearly a forgery!
Xiangling: Oh come on you old fart!
Hu Tao: You were so in looooove
Xingqiu: Head over heels.
Albedo: And then he dumped you.
Hu Tao: Cold, ‘bedo, cold.
Venti: you’re all so mean! Shoo! Shoo, isn’t the café opening now?
Albedo: Ack. Xingqiu, Register.
He clicks off the chat before stuffing the phone back in his pocket, jumping off the kitchen counter and stretching. He can hear the blonde muttering as he walks out the front to flip the sign and unlock the door.
Xingqiu makes his way to the til, leaning against the counter as he clicks it on. There’s a moment of silence as the blonde returns to the kitchen; the fresh baked goods already set out in the display cases besides a few extra batches in the ovens. He pursed his lips, tangling the long strang of blue around his fingers, thinking; what kind of people would stumble in this morning? Drunkards from the weekend who have yet to go to bed? Early risers on a morning jog, or college students trying to decide if 3 coffees every two hours is a sign of an addiction.
The bell chimes and he straightens his posture looking over. A tired looking red-haired man walks into the building, letting the door nearly swing shut and slam into the face of the man a few inches behind him.
“Can I get a double whipped, seven sugars, dark chocolate tea - and an eclair.”
“Oh- get the extra sweet expresso-” Hummed the second man catching back up to the redhead and earning a glare.
“Yeah whatever.”
“Would you like any cream with that?” Xingqiu hums, tapping the screen before him.
“No thanks.”
He nods, turning to the machine behind him. The chime of the bell once more signifying the start of the day. He runs through the motions of the day with ease; like sleepwalking through the blurr of taking orders, smiling, turning to the appropriate machine, picking the appropriate food; requesting refills from Albedo- the mundane drill of the work.
The bell chimes; he turns from pouring another cup of tea placing it before the lavender haired girl with a smile and letting his gaze flick over to the door. He blinks; the door swinging open and the motions of the day shift to a sudden halt. The man that sweeps through the door is a familiar face with dark hair and green streaks through the messy locks, golden eyes narrowed as he twirls round to hold the door for the blond he is lost in conversation with. They approach the counter and Xingqiu smiles, the usual spiel of asking what they want flows off his tongue.
Idle chatter as he poured the drinks,
“So how have you been? It’s been a while!”
“Fine. Oh, Aether this is Xingqiu...”
“Pleasure, Xiao here used to be a regular, we have the best coffee around as he says-” Xingqiu grins
The blonde smiles as Xiao rolls his eyes ushering him away to a table. The bell chimes; ringing in his ear and he turns his attention back to the door to the fleeting faces passing in and out. Back-to-back mundane, borning orders;
“A Frappuccino”
“A Mocha lattee...”
“Eclairs with apple crumble.”
“Do you still do ice cream sundaes?”
He exhales stepping back into the kitchen with a huff and a nod towards Albedo who glances up from shutting the oven,
“Going on break.” he mumbles. “Oh, you won’t believe who came in-”
“Xiao’s new boyfriend?”
“Xi- hey- come on you’re supposed to not instantly guess!” Xingqiu huffed, lifting himself onto the counter and pulling out his phone, the blonde rolled his eyes heading out to the register.
Xiangling: You are not siding with Venti!
Xiangling: When have I cooked something back! Ever!
Venti: Ehe~
Xingqiu: I never said it’s bad, just unorthodox. You did try to put marshmallows with cheese and burgers with sugar mixed into them-
Xiangling: It was a creative experiment a sweet burger!
Venti: What about the time you added hot sauce to chocolate cake, with brown sauce and pickles, and salt-
Xiangling: Okay, that one was a mistake-
Hu Tao: Don’t forget the time you added coco powder to a pizza base ^^
Xiangling: Hey! Who's side are you on!
Hu Tao: ayayayaya, I'm just telling it how it is Xiang~
Xingqiu: What are you planning this time anyway?
Xiangling: Banana and chocolate sandwiches :(
Venti: You siad you made the bread yourself with a secret ingredient!
Xiangling: It’s wheat, sugar, chocolate, vanilla extract...
Xingqiu: Honestly, you should just try it Venti she won’t stop until you do.
Venti: I’ll die of sugar overdose!
Hu Tao: aya- but on the bright side, you would get out of Albedo’s punishement~
Venti: What time do you need me?
Xiangling: 3:15PM!
Hu Tao: I knew you’d come around!
Albedo: Xingqiu, can you come up front.
Xingqiu: It’s not rush hour yet?
Albedo: There’s some drunk guy trying to snort the sugar packets.
Hu Tao: Ooooeh that’s not
Xiangling: Better go, justice boy!
He stands up almost instantly, glancing towards the oven to check the timer before walking out of the Kitchen.
“Sir, please, you don’t need 11 packets of additional sugar- you have already taken seven-” Albedo sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Across from him is a silver haired man, grabbing handfuls of the small sugar sachels his red eyes fixated on the objects; occasionally he lifts one up and sniffs it before biting the package. Xingqiu hums, sweeping around the counter and gently tapping his arm
“Is there anything I may assist you with, Sir. If you’re looking to add extra sweetness to your drink we can always mix it with additional sugar or honey.” He smiles as the man lowers the packet staring at him for a moment.
“mhm... no, just sugar.”
“Sir, you can’t just eat the sugar packets.”
The man pauses a look of utter betrayal flickers across his features.
“Would you like a glass of water, you can sit down if you’re having trouble with a hangover-”
“No. Don’t drink.”
Xingqiu pauses, he blinks staring at him for a moment before glancing back to Albedo who shakes his head, before handing over another coffee to a young blonde woman who was side-eying them. The chimes of the door and the clatter as it is roughly swung open; an Ashen-blonde rushes into the café, his face is slightly red and he’s panting, bending double as he approaches the counter,
“So-sorry, sorry.-achk- forgot my- wallet- had to-” He coughs, heaving in another breath.
Naturally the entire café stares at him for a moment; watching him huff and puff as he leans on the counter.
“Razor, did you order our food- and- what was the pri-” He turns to the silver haired youth who shakes his head, holding up the sugar packets he had chewed
“Sugar dipped sauce very weird, say can’t buy-”
Xingqiu sighed, “You can’t just come in and eat the sugar packets...Please, can I take your order?”
“Razor- oh god, I'm so sorry- Uhm, Well I just want an ice cream sundae, Razor was going to try the sugar dipped strawberry slushies- Those are sooo good.”
Xingqiu smiles, clicking his fingers, “right on it, Albedo will ring you up for the price, just please, don’t take any more of the sugar packets...”
Razor snatches his hand away from the tray as Xingqiu glances at him straighten his posture as if he wasn’t just reaching for another handful. The blonde laughs awkwardly grabbing his arm,
“Yeah! Totally, sorry-”
He turns back to the kitchen; as Albedo begins sorting the order with a sigh. He checks on the cakes before sitting himself back on the counter and pulling his phone out once more.
Venti: So? That could be super romantic! Don’t judge a book by it’s cover; when I met xiao I was passed out in a flower pot!
Xiangling: You threw up all over yourself from drinking and he just happened to find you! He was concerned you were dead.
Hu Tao: Was hoping you would be, aayaya, alas shame, maybe if he left you a little longer.
Xiangling: Tao!
Hu Tao: ayayai! Kidding! Kidding! Boo!
Xingqiu: Yeah, well not all of us are quite as lark about as you Venti. I Don’t really go looking to chat up the customers every shift.
Venti: It’s not every shift!
Xiangling: But you admit to chatting up the customers!
Venti: Ehe~ the tips are good, you should try it! A little smile, here, fluttering lashes there, a little lean too far, laugh at a bad joke once or twice-
Xingqiu: Do we really want to trust the drunkard who crashed his only relationship with his own ego?
Hu Tao: Burnzzzt, you’re gonna need some Aloe
Venti: Why must you guys bully me.
Xiangling: You make it so easy!
Venti: Tis I the one to pay for all the sins of this group, tis all I shame acclaim to my cringe and be at peace!
Hu Tao: Yayaya, that’s the spirit, at least you admit it!
Xiangling: A poet in his own right, Oh Tao you should get ready for your shift!
Hu Tao: ayayaya don’t remind me!
Xingqiu: Who’s on the closing shift anyway?
Venti: Ehe- that would be me.
Xingqiu: Make sure you do your job this time.
Venti: But what if a cute guy starts eating the sugar packets on my desk :0
Xingqiu: Then I hope you enjoy eating tinned beans in a cardboard box for the rest of your life. My breaks ending, Later guys.