Chapter Text
People don’t really smile at Aphelios which his sister, Alune, thought was understandable. They both worked the same shifts and most of the time their usual customers just want their morning coffee immediately, with the occasional frappé orders here and there in the afternoon. They were always in a hurry too, she explained. Not that he really cared about people smiling at him; it was fine if they didn’t. He just found it annoying when some of them gave him crap for doing his job. He got used to dealing with them, though “dealing with them” usually only just meant pointing to his sister when they start asking for the manager because the real manager was almost never there.
So it was really strange when the next customer had a huge grin on his face. Not that unlikely, but he seemed to be really happy about something. Maybe he was excited for his coffee. Aphelios was tall, around 6 feet, but this man just towered over everybody. It was like looking directly at the sun.
“Next please” Phel said loud enough to usher him towards the counter. The man sauntered to him, hands in the pockets of his red hoodie which matched his messy dark scarlet hair.
“What’s the sweetest thing on here besides you?” he said with a toothy grin.
“Iced caramel macchiato, sir”
“Sure, that. You know, you’re kinda cute” the customer said, brushing his hair upward. It didn't really do anything since his hair was kind of short. Phel thought it was pointless.
“What size would that be?”
“The small one. I’m in a hurry, but don't worry; I'll drink it here so I can see your pretty face longer” he winked.
“You mean tall?”
“I AM tall; thanks for noticing” he waggled his eyebrows before continuing “Handsome, too. And also built like a Greek go-“
“One tall iced caramel macchiato for here. That would be 150g.”
“Uh, sure. Let me just-“ in contrast to his confident persona, the customer fumbled for money in his backpack, clumsily spilling three 50g bills from three different pockets onto the counter before returning the smirk in his face.
“And your name?”
“It’s…” the man hesitated for a while before continuing “Dan.”
Phel wrote on the cup before setting it aside.
“That’s spelled D-A-N, by the way” the stranger said even after he was already done writing.
“Thank you for your assistance,” Phel retorted. He’s not sure the Dan guy got the sarcasm, though, as his bright smile was still on full display.
“No problem-” he stopped for a second to read Phel’s name tag “Aphelios.”
The man looked for a seat before settling down. Phel got started with working on the drink since there were no other customers and his sister was still busy with whatever Frappuccino “Arhi with an H” ordered. It was more convenient to work on so he finished his in no time before mustering as much energy as an exhausted opening shift employee can to let out an “Order for Dan.”
Dan, however, made no move to get his beverage. He just sat still, winking at the weary barista. Phel just looked him dead in the eye before increasing the volume on his “Order for Dan.”
The customer finally stood up as if finally realizing the drink was his before hurrying towards the counter. He stumbled but quickly regained his composure, elbow on the counter and palm on his left cheek.
“Thanks, cutie.”
“Goodbye.”
“What?”
“Come again soon, sir.”
“I definitely will” he started going towards the door before Phel heard a “wait, I’m not leaving yet” followed by the man sitting down on his previous spot. He took a sip of his drink before instantly recoiling in disgust.
'So it wasn't sweet enough' Phel thought to himself before noticing the man shifting his focus from the drink to him. Hopefully, the man won't complain.
Instead, his eyes went wide before putting back the smug grin on his face after doing the same gesture he did before he took his drink. He tore his gaze away from the man, realizing he was staring, and busied himself with looking at the cash register instead. Did Phel look like a creep? Why was he staring in the first place? And why was the customer amused with it? His presence was a little bit unnerving.
Phel mentally told himself not to think too much about it. For the past few months he's been working at the café, he's never seen this guy before. It would be reasonable to think he wouldn't see him again soon, right?
Chapter 1: Dan