A/N Hello again! Firstly, I want to give a BIG thank you to all the people who put "First Times" under their favorite or followed. You are amazing!
As I previously said, I tried to take part of the Rainbow Snowcone week on Tumblr, but when it comes to writing I'm awfully slow... (also, one of the prompt turned into a multi-chap that has already three chaprters *cries*).
My biggest thank goes to IcandyCo for checking this little monster.
Hope you'll enjoy it!
Disclaimers: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or William Joyce's characters.
She was late for work. This alone was alarming since she was never late for anything but Thia, hardworking student at Burgess Languages College with 2 part-time jobs, was a mere human after all and humans made error. Like not sleeping for 3 nights in a row. Both Mr. Sanderson and Mr. North, her two bosses, were getting worried about her lack of sleep and Edward, not only her co-worker at Nicholas North's Bookshop of Wonder but also best friend and classmate, was fretting over her health.
God, she was pissed. Really, she appreciated the efforts her friends were making to help her, but if Bunny left another cup of tea on her desk (which she never drank because it made her even sleepier and she needed to stay awake), she was going to murder him, possibly painfully and slowly.
So, she was late. Also, if she didn't get caffeine in her veins within three minutes she was going to fall asleep on the floor; for this reason she texted Edward and informed him she wouldn't be at work on time (she refused to skip a day of work, even if it meant she would pass out while she was arranging the shelves). She was looking around for a café when she spotted something colorful on her right: it was the showcase of a little shop, filled with cupcakes, chocolates and candies of every kind. A vintage-looking signboard hanging in front of her read "Winter Wonderland" and, as she stepped toward the door, Thia decided she already liked the coffee shop. Her first impression was reinforced when a gust of warm air and the jingle of some bells above the door greeted her and the smell of sweets and peppermint made her tense shoulders involuntary relax. Her gaze wandered around and the young woman was mesmerized by the insane amount of snowflakes painted on the navy blue wall; the little pieces of art were incredibly realistic and she could easily tell that whoever drew them took a great care in making every one of them different from another. Thia was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't see the boy near the counter nor hear him when he let out a gasp of surprise. "A customer! Wait for a moment, I'm comi- Ack, Hiccup! Put these boxes where I can't trip over them!" His words were rushed but they were enough to make Thia turn towards the counter, just in time to see him jumping over it and running to her. "Hi I'm Jack!" as her mind tried to process the information, the boy swiftly took her hand and shook it. "I'm sorry for the mess" – he continued, pointing at the carton boxes and the half-filled library – "I still haven't finished unpacking everything… actually, you're my first client! What can I get you?"
The woman was a little surprised before, but now that Jack was smiling her mouth went agape. He had the fricking whitest teeth she had ever seen! Now that she was properly looking at him, he was cute. Like, hot damn cute. Although the white hair were unusual, they weren't unpleasant to see and added to the pale complexion and vibrant blue eyes that give him a particular appearance, which kind of reminded her of winter. She was so caught in her daydreaming that she voiced her thoughts without wanting to: "You know, your teeth sparkle like freshly fallen snow…" Wow Thia, great move to make a perfect first impression! Very smooth! She always had a passion for teeth (which earned her the nickname "Tooth" in high school) and, whereas her friends didn't mind one bit, it wasn't exactly the best way to introduce herself to a stranger, a hot one nonetheless.
She was contemplating all the possible ways to end her awkward life when Jack grinned. "Your smile is cute, too" he said, no mocking in his voice and, as he showed his pearly teeth again, Tooth suddenly understood the word 'swooning' in all its facets. "So, do I get to know what do you want? And your name, if you don't mind?" he asked with nonchalance and she was finding very tempting the answer 'You with your perfect molars on a silver plates, please' but thank god she succeeded to blurt out a "A black coffee, thank you". She waited for Jack to go away so she could finally bang her head against a wall for her idiocy, yet he was still here, watching her. Oh, her name. He actually asked for her name! The woman let out a forced chuckle, then she said something very fast, very Indian and very long; at Jack's confused (and kind of upset) face she added "You can call me Thia" and he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
Five minutes later Jack was returning from the kitchen, her coffee in his right hand and a plate of cookies on the left. When he saw her he had to hold back a chuckle: she was dozing off, her eyelids half closed and her hand under her chin. He didn't need to be a genius to understand why she had wanted some caffeine; still, he liked the girl and he felt the strange urge to make her relax a little. As he went back to the counter, a smirk found his way on his lips.
"You know, coffee can't replace sleep."
Thia jumped at the sudden voice and her mind was foggy for a moment before she remembered where she was. She put the blame on her comfortable hoodie and cozy armchair, but she knew that what Jack had said was true. "Although it doesn't" she said, taking a sip from the cup in front of her, "it's a good surrogate and I need to…" She stopped for a moment as the waiter watched her with a smug grin.
"… This isn't coffee." It had sounded a lot less lame in her head but it was the truth: the beverage was sweet and creamy. Definitely not coffee.
"Well, it is coffee" replied the boy, "even if I may have added a thing or two… It's on the house, only for our first customer!"
"Jack. I asked for coffee."
"You asked for coffee because you want sleep, I can't give you that."
"Jack, I wanted a coffee! I still want a coffee!"
"Is it so bad?"
No. Hell no. She wasn't going to fall for his puppy eyes. He wasn't going to win, not with that. She was a strong, independent woman…
"Of course not, it's delicious!"
… Who apparently couldn't resist puppy eyes.
"Then, where's the problem? Enjoy the drink, Madame!"
She was ready to answer with a witty comeback, but Mika's melodious voice singing Stardust prevented her from doing so. She picked up her phone, partially glad to see Edward's name on the screen. "Aster! What… calm down, I don't- what do you mean 15 MINUTES AGO? Oh god, I didn't realize it was already this late! Of course I'm coming to work Ed, there's no need to-" Really, Jack should stop doing things that can ruin her life, like flashing his perfect incisor or stealing her freaking phone.
"Hello, Mister!" exclaimed Jack, voice dripping with cheerfulness "Are you Thia's… Bunny? I can't believe it's you, kangaroo!". With the last word a memory hit her like a brick in the face and, as Jack mouthed the words "high school", she recalled Bunnymund and his tales about the 'punk ass kid who like to dump snow into your jacket'. Jackson Overland, said 'punk ass kid' and infamous troublemaker in Burgess High, had been Edward's top enemy for more than a reason; however, she clearly remembered the time Jack's basketball team had beat Bunny's. Jack in particular, number 68 in the Blizzard team, had scored most of the points and her best friend hated him since then. "I'm sorry Bunny, but Thia is going to take some days off work!". She was going to have an heart attack, that was it. She tried to take her phone from Jack's hands until he shot her a grin.
Ah, those pearly whites would be her death.
Song: Lollipop - Mika [Pop Rock]
(Guess who love Mika *wink*).