Title: The Grumpy Barista Aesthetic™
Summary: Jim hates morning shifts with the passion of a thousand burning suns. Much to his disgust, Ariel's smile makes every second worth it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Treasure Planet or The Little Mermaid.
AN: hello rarepair hell how are you doing today
The bell chimed and Jim didn't even bother holding back his groan.
Mx. Sunshine was back again.
Jim scowled at the bubbly redhead, a teal beanie pushing forward the short curls so that they perfectly framed a shining smile already directed his way. The clock above the door read 6:30 am (it was Saturday) and Jim's scowl grew darker.
What type of asshole did Mx. Sunshine have to be to look so cute and-and sunny before a respectable hour?
Or even just look that way before coffee?
Honestly. Rude.
Mx. Sunshine bounced up to the register just as Jim finished typing in their order. "Four eighty-five."
Mx. Sunshine blinked at him. "Wha?"
"Four eighty-five," he repeated, holding out his hand and wriggling his fingers for the change.
Mx. Sunshine looked flabbergasted.
They even make confused look good.
Jim narrowed his eyes at them.
Ass. Hole.
Mx. Sunshine looked from his open palm to his face and back again. "But I...haven't ordered. Yet?"
Jim sighed. He had stupidly begged for a shift at a godforsaken hour, his binder was poking his arm pit, and he did not have the brain capacity at the moment to properly function around ridiculously attractive customers. "One caramel frappachino with extra caramel, chocolate chips, and whip cream. Plus your normal addition of extra sugar and a couple of pumps of hazelnut creamer." Jim wrinkled his nose at his baffled customer. "All of which is so sugary it should've rottened your teeth out months ago but by some miracle they're still standing."
Mx. Sunshine's lips (which he totally wasn't staring at nope not at all) were curling into a happy grin and they looked rather...impressed. Jim tried not to think about it too hard as he raised his hand and eyebrow to the redhead. "So, four dollars and eighty-five cents."
"Well then," Mx. Sunshine drawled as they dug through their pockets for their wallet. They fished out some bills and squinted at Jim's chest. "Tell me Jim, do you remember all of your customers' orders?" They grinned mischievously, eyes sparkling underneath dark lashes. "Or am I special?"
Jim nearly swallowed his tongue as his heart did something funny in his chest.
Much to his disgust, it felt oddly wonderful.
Mx. Sunshine rested their elbows on the counter and cupped their chin. Jim resisted the urge to gulp as they bit their lower lip and their shoulder length curls brushed their oddly appealing collarbones.
(Thank god Jim didn't have his usual expresso this morning or else he'd have a heart attack.)
(Honestly, what an asshole.)
Jim scowled. "Not that special. I never bothered to remember your name," he told them proudly, back straight with pride.
Mx. Sunshine looked delighted. "But I am special?"
Jim blinked. Shit I didn't mean to say that.
Mx. Sunshine held out their hand and beamed. "I'm Ariel. Nice to officially meet you!"
Jim stared at their hand for a minute before shaking it. "I'd same the same but I really shouldn't take morning shifts and I hate everything."
"Aww," Ariel cooed, looking far too excited to seem even remotely sympathetic. "Couldn't beg anyone into switching shifts?"
Jim snorted. "Other way around, I begged for these shifts."
Ariel's jaw dropped before Jim realized what he had said. A burn swept through his cheeks to his ears and Jim forced a cough in the resulting awkward silence.
For the record, completely Ariel's fault he blurted that out. Obviously that never would've happened had they not look so adorable this early when his brain was already fuzzy from lack of sleep.
Then Ariel melted, giving him a happy-mushy-shy smile that made their eyes light up and- oh shit do NOT have a heart attack Jim that'd be awkward.
"...I'm going to go make your coffee now."
Jim stared at Ariel for another minute before clearing his throat roughly and squatting beneath the counter to hide.
Stop blushing stop blushing stop blushing-
Ariel laughed from the other side of the counter, trailing off with a dreamy sigh like an asshole. "M'kay Jim, I'll leave you to it."
Jim sprung up and hit the top of his head on the counter with a loud thud. "OW."
"Jim?"
Jim scrambled away from the counter and shot it a glare as he rubbed his new bump. "Wait Ariel but-"
Ariel was standing a few feet away, looking like a fucking model as they glanced over their shoulder and sending Jim's heart galloping again.
Jim's cheeks went from warm to burning.
"I-uh…"
A large smile split Ariel's cheeks and they skipped back over to him. "I thought you hated it when people talked to you as you made coffee."
Yeah, everyone but you you asshole.
Something must have shown on his face because Ariel beamed.
Jim was never going to live this down.
Ariel bounced on their toes as they leaned over the counter, blue eyes sparkling and much too close for Jim's health. (Admittedly though, he'd go to the hospital if it meant Ariel hung around him more. He wouldn't even hate it that much and oh wow, now he's getting sappy.)
Ariel hummed happily. "And you say I'm not special."
"But-I-uh-uhm-mghrg-"
Ariel laughed at his sputtering and waved him away. "So you don't mind if I ramble about anything while you do your job?"
Jim just shrugged with a grunt, hunching his shoulders so that hopefully his burning ears weren't as noticeable. He started dumping ingredients into the cup, looking as lazy as he could while carefully mixing Ariel's drinks. And if he put in a couple of extra pumps of caramel, it was all out of spite, really.
When he looked back at Ariel to ask them if they were going to talk or not, he was met with an arched brow. Jim just scowled at them and mimed dumping their drink into the sink, Ariel laughing and moving along the counter. They started chatting about some biology class, and while Jim was more of a mechanics man, Ariel somehow managed to make cell structure sound interesting.
Or maybe that was just Ariel.
Jim frowned at the coffee dispenser. He stuck out his lip for extra emphasis as he dumped the frappachino mixings into the blender and held up a finger to Ariel before starting the blender. Which for the record, was just so he didn't have to listen to Ariel's spiel again and not because he cared about what they said.
Obviously.
Ariel was grinning at him as he shook the whip cream can. "Your frown suits you, y'know."
Jim instantly switched to a deadpan look. Ariel laughed delightedly, sticking their tongue out as he gave them a flat look over the swloosh of the whip cream. And just for that, Jim gave them an extra swirl of whip cream.
I hope you get this on your shirt asshole.
Jim put on extra caramel for good measure (I hope your teeth rot) and only took a quick second to scribble his number on Ariel's lid before carefully capping the drink. "One disgustingly sugary drink for Mx. Sunshine," he said, thrusting the drink over the divider at Ariel.
"Awww, you even gave me a nickname, I am special," Ariel teased, grabbing their drink before Jim could drop it in his sputtering. Ariel pressed their fingers to their lips as they winked, eyes flying open as they suddenly froze. They smiled nervously at Jim from behind their hand before dropping it. They turned on their heel with a little heh and scurried towards the door, and Jim suddenly had to face the fact that he was disappointed they didn't actually blow them a kiss goodbye.
A loud gasp from the door cut off that line of thinking but before Jim could do more than glance at the back of Ariel's head, his phone started ringing.
Jim yanked his phone out of the back of his pocket and hit accept without even checking caller ID. Technically he wasn't supposed to (and Silver would have his hide had the other man been here) but there wasn't a customer in sight and it's not like just anyone had his number.
Not that he really cared.
"YOU GAVE ME YOUR NUMBER?!"
Jim flinched at the weird double-echo shout and whipped his head around to gape at Ariel, who was gaping right back.
Jim's brow pinched, mouth still open like an idiot. "We're still in the same shop…?"
Ariel beamed, bouncing on their toes and waving their drink in excitement. "I've been trying to work up the courage to give you mine for weeks but you know how it's gross of customers to give workers numbers and I didn't want to flirt too much but I really-really-really like you and you gave me your number and-"
"Breathe!"
Ariel gasped, their chest heaving as though they had just ran a marathon. They were still on their phone like an idiot and smiling this stupidly happy smile at Jim that was making his knees weak and Jim was abruptly grateful that they were still the only two in the shop.
Thank god for early Saturday morni- WHAT WAS HE THINKING?!
Jim shook his head, trying to shake off whatever made his brain all fuzzy, only to look back at Ariel and have his brain go back to mush again. I'm so fucked.
"You called my number ridiculously fast." Jim gave them a flat look. "Desperate."
Ariel raised their eyebrow at him. "I'm ecstatic right now, who cares? Now I have a way to see you that doesn't require me waking up at 5:45 in the morning!"
Jim froze. Mentally rewound the past ten seconds. Gaped a bit. "You mean…" Jim shook his and scowled at Ariel. "You mean you've been waking up early so you could see me?"
Ariel cocked their head at him. "Yeah…"
Jim bit back a scream. "But that's what I've been doing! I hate mornings!"
Ariel's jaw dropped before they went all mushy on him again. "You took early morning shifts just for me? Awwwwwwww…"
"No no no, you do not get to coo over me like I'm cute."
"You are cute though." Ariel snickered at Jim's wounded sound and shooing motions. "And you liiiiiiiiike me."
Jim grunted, scowling as his cheeks continued to burn. "Shut up."
"Oh! You're blushing." Ariel put their hand over their heart like a total asshole and pretended to swoon. "Blushing's a good look on you y'know, especially since you liiiiiiiiike me."
"Yeah I do."
Ariel froze, their mouth dropping. Jim rolled his eyes. "Shut up. Now leave, you're distracting the workers."
That broke Ariel out of their stump. They snorted and blew them a loud air kiss like an idiot, making Jim's heart do stupid things. "Fine fine, I'll let you get back to your overwhelming crowds of customers. You do realize I'm definitely calling you later for a movie date this week though, right?"
Jim snorted. "I gave you my number for a reason, what else would you do." He paused to frown. "Wait aren't you supposed to flirt first before asking me?"
Ariel shot him an incredulous look as they pushed the door open. "I don't flirt, or at least not well, I'm just lucky you're easy."
"You're an asshole, you know that right?"
Ariel cheerily waved through the window and snickered when he flipped them off. "Of course I am, did the cheeriness in the morning not tip you off?"
Ariel's lips curled into a smug smirk, Jim's snappy retort dying on the tip of his tongue as Ariel posed just so in the early morning sunlight to wave goodbye before disappearing from view. Jim stuttered as his heart swooped up to his throat, brain all staticy as he mentally replayed the last two seconds of Ariel looking absolutely heavenly.
Ariel chuckled, their voice warm in his ear and making his stomach curl pleasantly. "Bye Jim, I'll talk to you soon."
Jim stammered his goodbye, forgetting to actually hang up as the static in his ear mixed with the static in his brain.
Ariel was an unrepentant asshole and he.
Was.
So.
Screwed.
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