I set a goal for myself of writing a cute, innocent coffee shop AU story. I did not succeed. Well, at least it has coffee in it. Enjoy!
"I'd like a large iced coffee with two creams and four sugars, please!"
"Sure. Name?"
"Flint."
While he waited for the employee to finish making his drink, Flint scanned Donphan's Donuts (he still wondered why it was named for the donuts when practically all their customers came for the coffee) for a place to sit. As usual, the popular shop was crowded, and it was an arduous task.
There weren't any entirely empty tables that day, but Flint's eyes lit up when he finally found a seat. It was even next to a window and an outlet, too! He grinned at his luck as he thanked the employee, took his drink, and strode swiftly to the table before anyone else could snag the seat.
As he approached, the table's sole inhabitant, a serious-looking bespectacled man with spiky blond hair, looked up in curiosity from his metallic, midnight blue laptop. Flint smiled widely.
"Hey, you're Volkner, right? I'm Flint. I think you're in my Differential Equations class over at the university!" he said with a friendly grin. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
Volkner blinked his wide, blue eyes at Flint before nodding slightly, barely showing a tiny smile. His gaze then promptly snapped back to his laptop, and he continued clacking away at his keyboard.
"Thanks," Flint said, though he knew Volkner probably couldn't hear him by that point, what with how focused he was on his work. Flint didn't know him very well, but Volkner was always like that in class: quiet, focused, and intense.
Flint leaned over to plug in his own dark red laptop, and Volkner just barely had the presence of mind to scoot over and allow him to do so, muttering a quiet apology before returning to his work. As Flint waited for his computer to boot up, his attention lingered on the other man for a moment. Volkner never raised his hand in class, but when he was asked questions, he always knew the right answers. Flint liked to make a point of befriending pretty much everyone he met, but something about Volkner had kept him at a distance thus far; his serious, dedicated personality made him pretty unapproachable.
The password input prompt came up on Flint's screen. He subtly peeked over the lid of his computer to watch Volkner as he typed in the correct letters.
The man's brow was wrinkled slightly, and his tongue poked out of the side of his mouth just a bit as he concentrated. His bright blue eyes remained cool behind his lenses, which reflected some of the light from his computer. Volkner sat next to the window at such an angle that Flint could clearly see the screen in its reflection and make out a simple word processing document, the darkness of the tinted glass making it easy to see.
Flint ducked back down to hide his smile. Volkner was mysterious, that was for sure, but he thought something about the man was...cute. Innocent, somehow. It would probably just take a bit for the man to open up, Flint figured as his Welcome screen popped up.
Flint had been working for about fifteen minutes when a tired sigh came from the man across from him. He peered curiously around his laptop to see Volkner stretch his arms above his head, sighing again as his back let out a popping noise. The man then lowered his arms and pulled a case from his jacket pocket before carefully removing his spectacles, placing them in the case, and putting them away. His focus shifted seamlessly back to his work.
Flint's eyes widened, and he tried to hide his staring. He'd never seen Volkner without his glasses, and it was amazing what a difference it made. Without the frames in the way, Volkner looked much less...restrained, perhaps?
Volkner's eyes flicked up to Flint's face. "Something wrong?" he asked calmly.
Flint cringed internally; apparently, he hadn't been subtle enough. "Nothing," he muttered dismissively, averting his gaze from Volkner's blue orbs, which suddenly seemed to possess almost a wild sort of quality without the glasses in the way.
Volkner shrugged and clicked away again. Flint returned to his work for another twenty seconds or so before he looked up again, but this time, his eyes drifted curiously to the reflection in the window behind Volkner. Something seemed different about it this time; it definitely wasn't the word processer from before.
Flint shifted to try to get a better look. He squinted at the image, but it quickly became obvious what it was. When it did, Flint's jaw literally dropped, and the next bit of his own typing ended in a frazzled "vblivsvf." Flint choked and hurriedly downed some of his sugary coffee. He was unable to stifle a few panicked coughs, but he hid his mouth behind his hand to try and mask his reaction.
It didn't work. "Flint? You okay?" Volkner questioned casually, an almost indiscernible knot of concern making its way onto his forehead.
Flint swallowed uncomfortably. "Yup. I'm good. Just...uh...coffee went down the wrong pipe, that's all," he stuttered awkwardly. Volkner raised a brow before returning his attention to his screen.
How...just how are you sitting there with that expression?! Flint thought frantically, silently glancing at the man's still impassive face. You are looking at porn! PORN! IN A COFFEE SHOP!
Flint forced his stiff fingers to continue jabbing the keys, trying his hardest to keep his thoughts coherent, but he couldn't stop his gaze from straying back to the window. Yup. There it is, he thought awkwardly. That is most definitely a picture of a man fucking another man. He tore his eyes back to his own work for a while, but he couldn't help but look back to the reflection again when he saw it change.
Their table was small enough and Flint was close enough that it wasn't hard at all to distinguish this image, either, which consisted of two men jacking each other off this time.
Flint leaned back and pretended to rub his face with his hands to hide his blush for a moment, hastily drinking more of his iced coffee. He could feel the back of his neck burning.
The image in the reflection continued to change as Volkner lazily scrolled down, the same bored expression glued to his face as he went, each picture more erotic than the next. Realizing he was getting absolutely no work done, Flint swiftly unplugged and shut his laptop, almost slamming it in the process. He jammed it into his bag and packed up to leave.
Volkner looked up, and his piercing blue eyes nearly pinned him to the spot. "You leavin'?"
Flint looked away forcefully and nodded. "Uh, yeah...gotta get home. See you in class later," he muttered, speed-walking out with his coffee cup in hand.
He was almost out the door before Volkner noticed something important and tried to call out to him. "HEY, FLINT, WAIT! YOU FORGOT YOUR...nevermind," he trailed off quietly. It was too late; Flint was out the door.
"A large iced coffee with two creams and four sugars, please."
"Name, please?"
"Flint. Oh, and did anyone happen to leave a power cord here yesterday, like for a laptop? ...No? Okay, that's fine...thanks."
Flint sighed and again started the painstaking task of finding a place to sit in Donphan's Donuts, but it seemed he was in luck; a hand waved to him from the back. He excitedly waved back before looking to see who the hand belonged to—only to see that it was Volkner.
Flint's smile twitched, and he weighed his options.
He'd already waved to Volkner, so he couldn't very well pretend he didn't see him, and it would be rude not to accept the invitation. There weren't any other seats again anyway, so he had no choice. He stiffly shuffled his feet forward toward the same table from yesterday, trying not to let his smile crack as he took in his companion's cool features. Flint was unable to break eye contact with Volkner and considered it a stroke of luck when he didn't miss his chair on the way down.
"I have something for you," Volkner said simply, reaching down to dig through the bag on the floor next to him as Flint sat rigidly in his seat, still gripping his coffee cup tightly. His expression brightened, however, when Volkner pulled out a long, black cord from his bag.
"Dude, that's my charging cord!" Flint gushed gratefully. "You found it!"
Volkner gave a subtle half-grin and leaned his chin into one of his hands. "You left it here last night, so I held onto it. Kinda figured you might need it."
"Perfect," Flint sighed happily. "Yeah, my laptop's about burnt out right now. I need it for my next class, too, so charging it here was about my only choice today." Relieved, Flint gave his customary smirk. "Thanks, Volkner!"
Volkner's eyebrow cocked in curiosity. "What's your next class?"
Flint groaned. "Ugh, it's a chemistry lab," he said sourly. "I always come here for coffee before chemistry; there's no way I'd survive without the caffeine! It's my least favorite subject, but I had to take a science this term. It's such a pain in the ass!"
Volkner adjusted his glasses, and Flint swore he saw a glint in Volkner's eye when he replied, "That sucks. Want me to plug it for you?"
Flint froze. "Um...plug what?"
Volkner raised one eyebrow mildly and held up his end of Flint's cord, still casually leaning his chin in his other hand.
Color rushed to Flint's cheeks. "Oh—OH, RIGHT! That plug. That's...uh, yeah. Thanks," he stammered awkwardly.
"Mmkay. Whatever," Volkner responded quietly, amused confusion apparent in his features. He plugged Flint's computer in and opened up his own laptop to continue working on what appeared to be—much to Flint's relief—another word processing document.
Flint calmed down. He needed to stop overreacting to things; so what if Volkner's phrasing had been weird? He obviously hadn't meant THAT kind of plug. Volkner had been the one looking at porn in public, so how was it that Flint was the more perverted one here? He finished logging into his computer and booted up his programs, briefly darting his eyes over to Volkner.
The man's blue orbs were calm and subdued behind his spectacles, and he was typing diligently once again. Flint relaxed again at the sight. What was I so worried about again? he reassured himself, shaking his head silently. So Volkner looked at a few dirty pictures, and maybe he's not as innocent as I thought at first. That doesn't mean he's some kind of creep. This line of thought continued running in Flint's head for the next five minutes as his computer charged up and he got some work done.
Unfortunately, it was interrupted when Volkner once again stretched and removed his glasses. Flint looked up before he could stop himself and, sure enough, the wilder, more unrestrained tone had returned to his face. Flint did his best to ignore how the blue eyes somehow went from cool to electrifying, but in doing so, he'd unwittingly directed his attention to the window—which displayed not a document, but another series of inappropriate scenes.
This time, they had a definite theme. There were a few dildos, vibrators, and other toys involved, but most of the men were using—of all things—butt plugs.
Oh, what are the fucking chances... Flint thought bitterly. He almost got up to leave again, but then he remembered that he really did have to finish charging up his laptop before his next class, so he was trapped. He sure as hell wasn't getting any work done, either; Volkner had good taste in porn, and most of it was distracting as hell. There were some things Flint wasn't into, but Volkner generally didn't linger on them too long. Maybe we have the same tastes...god, this is weird.
With nothing else to do, Flint switched his subtle glances from the window to Volkner's face. His face remained astoundingly blank at all times no matter how extreme the images got. Flint couldn't say the same for himself; he knew for a fact that he was blushing at a lot of these. He might have found Volkner's ability to remain stone-faced admirable if the situation weren't so awkward and bizarre, but he instead found himself stealing glances at Volkner's individual features, from his strong, smooth jawline to his narrow, pointed nose to those beguiling eyes, each feature somehow looking completely different without Volkner's glasses.
Flint looked back to the computer's reflection only to find that he'd moved onto riding crops. That wasn't a kink Flint had, so his eyes strayed over to Volkner's lips instead. They were pale in color, and Volkner absently gnawed at one edge of the bottom one briefly. It was almost certainly just done to scratch an itch or something like that, Flint thought, but its effects on him weren't so innocent. Flint subconsciously licked his own lips.
BEEP!
Flint nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden electronic noise. Wait...what was I just doing? Volkner merely blinked and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Flint flicked his eyes down to his computer battery and checked it, laughing nervously. "Ah...that sound just means it's done charging. Probably should have turned down the volume. Whoops." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, uh...I'd better get to class then," he fibbed. He had another twenty minutes, but he thought it would probably be a bad idea to stick around.
Volkner nodded blandly. "Mhm." He appeared to pause and think for a moment before adding, "You're a good coffee buddy. I'm saving you a seat from now on."
Flint's eyes bugged out of his skull in panic. "C-coffee buddy?! B-but...we don't even talk, really!"
Volkner nodded again. "Exactly. You don't bother me, so I like you. I'm saving a seat for you from now on." He abruptly turned his intense gaze back to his laptop, apparently accepting no arguments on the topic.
Flint sighed. Well, he was the one who'd wanted to get to know Volkner better in the first place. He just didn't know he'd be getting to know him THIS well.
Volkner was true to his word. From that day on, Flint always had a seat at Donphan's Donuts...for better or for worse. He almost regretted telling Volkner when his chemistry classes met.
It wasn't long before Flint caught on to Volkner's pattern: he always did normal work for fifteen minutes, but then he stretched and removed his glasses, and the other Volkner came out of hiding to start the pornfest. He even picked a different obscene theme for each day: one day, it would be bondage; the next, threesomes; then, weird locations and positions...after the first couple of weeks, he even moved from pictures to full-on porn videos. That had been a shock, but at least he always broke out his earbuds for those. Above all, Flint had to admire the variety. The men could be any height, age (no one who seemed underage, though, for which Flint was quite relieved), weight, build, hair color, race...pretty much everything.
Well, he may be a pervert, but at least he's not prejudiced, Flint had thought wryly at one point.
He did settle into a rut eventually, though, seeming to decide on young, slender blond men with glasses...much like himself, Flint had noted. Strange, Flint thought, but it works for me, so I'm not complaining.
Flint had made the excuse to himself that he still came by because Donphan's Donuts had good coffee and it was in a convenient location, what with being so close to the university. He also reasoned that it would be rude to Volkner to just disappear; the man did seem to enjoy his company. He'd taken to smiling whenever he saw Flint and occasionally asking him how he was. They even chatted sometimes after class, which was more than he'd seen Volkner do with anyone else. He was finally starting to come out of his shell, if only a little bit.
These were the reasons Flint had decided on. He very stubbornly ignored the voice in his head that suggested maybe he was actually just enjoying the porn aspect. Acknowledging that would mean confronting the possibility that maybe, just maybe, he was just as perverted as Volkner was, and that simply couldn't be the case. No, certainly not!
One afternoon, things got a little out of control. True to form, Volkner had done his fifteen minutes of work, stretched, and taken off his glasses, and Studious Volkner had given way to Wild Volkner. He'd been scrolling through a page of particularly graphic fanart for some anime about swimmers when he heard a familiar voice call out behind him.
"Yo, Flint! What's up?"
Flint turned around in his chair and grinned widely when he saw a young boy with a red and blond ponytail coming his way. "Hey, Buck! What're you doing here?"
Buck crossed his arms and smirked. "Picking up some donuts. How's it going?"
Flint smiled back at him. "I'm doing great! Hey, Volk, this is my little brother, Buck!" Volkner looked up and nodded in acknowledgment. "Buck, this is Volkner. He's from my math class. Volk—"
Buck kept approaching, and Flint stopped as something occurred to him, and he looked over his shoulder at the reflection in the window as panic struck him.
Little brother. Porn behind me. Twelve-year old little brother. GAY PORN BEHIND ME.
SHIT!
"Ah...uh, HEY! Wh-why don't we get something to eat, huh!" he stuttered in his rush to protect his brother's innocence. He packed up his stuff in record time and gave Volkner a wide-eyed look as he hurried frantically. "N-nice to see you, Volk, but I gotta get going! See you in Diff EQs, huh? Bye!"
Buck cocked his head at his sibling's behavior. "But I wanted donuts! What's the rush? We—"
Before Buck could get any closer to the table, Flint leapt out of his seat and power-walked away from it, placing a firm hand on Buck's shoulder and practically dragging the young boy away with him. "Nope. Donuts are bad for you, and I don't want you to get fat," he insisted, hoping the teasing would diffuse the weird situation.
It worked somewhat. "Hey! I'm not fat!" Buck looked over at his shoulder at Volkner. "Uh...nice to meet you..."
Volkner didn't even look up, too invested in his "work." Buck looked back up at Flint.
"Bro, your friend is weird," he muttered.
Flint sighed. "You don't know the half of it."
The next time Flint saw Volkner, it was not at Donphan's Donuts, but after class the next day. After the other students and the teacher left the room, Flint confronted him.
"Volkner...this is going to be a little...awkward, but I need to talk to you about something."
Volkner looked up at Flint's stilted statement, eyes wide with curiosity behind his lenses. "Something wrong?"
Flint averted his eyes uncomfortably and leaned against the long table next to Volkner. "I've...for a while, you've been...I mean...I couldn't help but notice that've you've been doing something a little..." All that day, Flint had been rehearsing how to confront Volkner about his habits from the coffee shop, but he still couldn't figure out how to phrase things.
Volkner's brow knotted in confusion. "You okay, Flint?"
Flint opened his mouth, hesitated, and shut it again. Calm down, Flint. You're just confronting a hot guy on his public porn-viewing habits, that's all. No big deal. He took a deep breath to steady himself. "I...I know what you do. At the coffee shop, I mean." Flint could feel heat spread across his cheeks with embarrassment, even though he hadn't said anything inappropriate.
Volkner cocked his head, concerned. "What are you talking about?"
Dammit, Flint thought in irritation. He's not going to make this easy on me, is he? "When we're at Donphan's Donuts and you have your computer out, you search some pretty...explicit things on the internet, and...I think it's best if you stop. I...I'm sorry, I know this is awkward." Flint bit his lip worriedly, and his fingers fidgeted with the edge of the wooden table.
Much to Flint's frustration, Volkner just frowned again, adopting a perplexed expression. "'Explicit?' What do you mean?" He stood up out of his chair to reach Flint's height and started casually putting away his notebook and textbook.
Flint took another deep breath and glared at the floor for a moment. Nothing left to do but be blunt. He's not going to give in otherwise. He looked back up and locked eyes with Volkner, determination on his flushed face. "Volkner, I know you look up porn right there. In public." Finally, Volkner's eyes widened. Flint crossed his arms and continued. "Yesterday, my twelve-year-old brother almost walked up and saw it. You can't keep looking at that stuff in public! What if a kid sees it?"
Flint had been prepared for many reactions: embarrassment, anger, mortification...but he wasn't prepared for what actually happened.
Volkner's wide-eyed expression warped with astounding swiftness into a smug smirk. He placed his glasses back into their case, and Flint finally got to see Wild Volkner up close and personal. His blue eyes swam with a maelstrom of mischief and triumph. "Finally."
Flint felt his blood run cold. "...'Finally?'"
Volkner's smirk grew. "I was starting to wonder if you'd ever say anything." He shifted to lean with one hand on the table Flint was leaning back against. "You know, most guys get scared off after the first day. Why do you think I wanted you as a coffee buddy?" He laughed. "I'll give you a hint: it wasn't for the coffee." He watched Flint's Adam's apple bob as he gulped next to him.
"Y-you mean...you knew that I...?"
Volkner nodded proudly.
"A-a-and...you did nothing?"
Volkner chuckled, and his canines gleamed dangerously. "Did you really think you were being subtle about watching me?" He shuffled closer, standing just a foot away from Flint. "Surely you noticed I had a theme every day. Didn't you know why I did that?"
Flint observed the growing proximity, but Volkner's intense gaze locked him in place. He refused to admit to himself just what effect the suggestive look had on him. "You...why...?"
"I had to test you, of course," Volkner explained. He started advancing lazily on Flint's unmoving figure. "And the results were quite...fascinating."
Flint's eyes narrowed in suspicious curiosity, and he stood up a little straighter. "What do you mean, 'test me?' What did you find out?"
A deep laugh rumbled in Volkner's throat. "Not only do I know your every kink by now..." Flint balked and paled at this, but he kept speaking. "...but I also found out..." He smoothly closed the rest of the distance between himself and Flint and leaned in, sliding his hands onto the edge of the table on either side of him when he didn't make a move to escape. "...I'm exactly your type," he finished with a confident smirk.
Flint paled. "You're...what?" He cleared his suddenly dry throat and shivered as Volkner's heated gaze ran down his body, then slid back up to meet his eyes in an intimidating stare. "How did you...what?"
Volkner leaned in closer, and Flint almost thought he was about to kiss him. He didn't, though, instead moving in to mutter into his ear seductively. "It was a simple matter, really. I changed the subjects in the material and observed your reactions. Want to know which types you responded most to? I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count."
"...Responded to? What types of responses?" Flint looked back up when Volkner leaned back to look him in the eyes again. Well, that explains why he only showed blonds after a while, Flint realized.
"I am a very observant man, Flint," Volkner clarified clinically. He ran a finger up Flint's neck and gripped his chin firmly. "By the way, you're cute when you blush," he taunted.
Flint went from flustered to indignant within seconds. "Hold on! I'm not cute!" he spat, ignoring Volkner's soft chuckle at that statement. "B-besides, that's not the point here. You can't look at porn in public!"
"Oh? I can't?" Volkner questioned, pouting sarcastically. "But I look up porn when I'm bored! If I can't do that, what can I do for fun~?" he fake-whined, smirk still in place.
Flint couldn't bring himself to glare. "Then...that's up to you! I don't know what you do for fun!"
"Well, if it were up to me, I wouldn't change a thing," Volkner admitted shamelessly. "But since you're SO insistent on me stopping," he drawled, and he leaned in to whisper the next part in Flint's ear again. "Why don't YOU entertain me?" Volkner's fingers slid to Flint's sides, and he stroked them heatedly. His smile turned into a full-on leer.
The implications hit Flint like a ton of bricks, and he could feel his face burn even more with the sensations Volkner's fingers were inflicting. Volkner's leg slipped between his thighs, and Flint gasped, his eyes fluttering shut. His hands latched onto Volkner's shoulders in an attempt to anchor himself. He forced his eyes open again. "Uh...you want me to entertain you?" he asked hesitantly. Volkner nodded smugly a few inches from his face. "F-fine. L-let's go out then. Wanna...uh...go get something to eat?" he offered with difficulty, trying to stay focused.
Volkner had the nerve to laugh. "You are just so adorable!" His dark chuckles rang out, embarrassing Flint further. "No, Flint. I'm not going to go out to eat with you," he rejected harshly.
Flint frowned in frustrated confusion. "If...but...what?"
"I don't want a boyfriend," Volkner told him. "I'm hungry for something a little...more," he emphasized. One of his hands made its way down Flint's spine to slip into one of his back pockets, and he squeezed possessively to get his point across.
Flint bit his lip to stifle a moan at the suggestive phrasing and groping, especially when the movement pulled him flush against Volkner and made his leg rub against Flint's crotch again. His eyes glazed over with lust, and he buried his face in the handsome man's neck.
"...Okay. I'll do it." He felt more than heard the victorious chuckles erupting from Volkner's chest.
"Good choice, Flint. Enjoy sitting down on the city bus on the way to my house, because you won't be able to sit for a long time by the time I'm through with you..."
It's all to protect the innocence of the children, Flint insisted to himself, blushing as Volkner led him away, one hand still gripping his ass. I couldn't have allowed the public porn-watching to continue, that's all.
That's what he told himself. That had to be it, of course, because there was simply no way he was just as perverted as Volkner was. No, certainly not!
The end
Bonus points if you noticed I recycled Flint's coffee order from another story of mine, and even more bonus points if you know which one!
