Hanji happily bounced into the small little corner cafe, not caring at all about the snow flurry happening outside. The brunette was still mentally absorbed in the research that she'd left back at her apartment. In a dreamlike trance, wondering for the millionth time how the chimps were doing back at her lab, she ordered her usual coffee. "One large caramel mocha, triple shot of espresso, add chocolate syrup and whipped cream, only on the top, and a strawberry cupcake." She said monotonously, barely noticing the unfamiliar barista at the counter. Usually it was that friendly boy Armin, a sweet little blonde who would let her babble about her latest experiments. He was just trying to pay his way through college, but he wasn't only nice to Hanji because she was a great tipper. However, this new, older man, looked anything but cheerful and pleased at her presence.
"….I am not making that," The barista said flatly, looking up from the untouched cash register to Hanji's face. She finally paid enough attention to spot his name tag, proclaiming that he was "Levi A". "If you want coffee, order something decent, Glasses." He rolled his eyes. The scientist was broken out of her daydreaming haze by his rudeness, the smile dropping from her face as she adjusted her spectacles.
"Where's Aaron….Andy, uh…" She stuttered, unable to remember the boy's name.
"Armin?" Levi raised one slender eyebrow. "He's off today."
"B-but he always works on Thursdays…He always gets me what I ask for, which happens to always be this." Hanji crossed her arms defensively.
"Well, tough luck, Four Eyes, Armin has midterm exams. I will give you either a plain caramel mocha, or I will give you espresso shots. You aren't getting them both together. And you definitely aren't adding whatever else into it." He said calmly, with a perfectly emotionless expression.
"….I want a caramel mocha."
"I'm not putting espresso in it." He warned, ringing up the order and holding his hand out for cash. Once handed a ten dollar bill, the man gave back the proper amount of change, minus four dollars, then turned to make her drink.
Hanji counted the money she was handed, frowning slightly when she found it to be short. "Uhm, excuse me…why am I missing money here?" She asked. He had counted it right in front of her, did he think she was stupid?
"I deducted my tip." He replied as he worked on making the coffee.
"Your tip?" She blinked twice. The brunette tipped quite generously, but Levi was just going to take money himself?
"Yes, my tip. What's the name for the order?" The rather short man asked, grabbing a sharpie to write on the cup.
"H-hanji…" Emotions battled inside her, unsure of whether to make her annoyed, or furious, or…what was the feeling that was making her cheeks turn just the slightest bit pink?
"….I'm not going to listen to you whine about how I spelt it wrong, how do you spell it?"
"H-A-N-J-I."
"Go sit down then, Hanji." He commanded, his tone casual but firm, as if it was perfectly natural for customers to take orders from a barista.
In her shock and confusion, Hanji obeyed and sat down at a nearby table. This stranger was….interesting, to say the least. The strange interruption had made her forget all about her experiments, her chimps, her little ramshackle lab fifteen minutes away. All that was on her mind was the piercing eyes, rimmed by tinges of blue and purple from sleeplessness, how bored they looked, but how intense at the same time…She noticed her thoughts trailing, and tried to refocus on the research notes she'd stopped in the middle of. Sonny was acting rather strangely, and she'd meant to find out what was going on with the chimpanzee.
"Four Eyes, your coffee is ready!" Levi yelled, his voice too loud for the minimal noise of the café. She sighed, pulled out of her mental test-planning. All that fuss over her name, and he insisted on calling for Four Eyes. She stood up, going to see the same nickname written on the paper cup. "Thanks." She muttered, ignoring the scalding hot liquid that she could feel through the cup.
Hanji began to walk off with her coffee, but was caught by a gentle yet firm hand grabbing her by the arm. "You forgot your cupcake." Levi added, turning her around to face the counter again. He pulled the freshest strawberry cupcake from the glass case of baked goods, handing it to the brunette.
She was taken aback by the surprise contact, but was grateful that she had been stopped before she'd left. "Ahh, thanks," The mumbled reply came, her cheeks bright red from the embarrassment of being pulled about like a rag doll. "Bean wouldn't know what to do without his cupcake…" She muttered, mostly to herself. The test chimp usually ended up eating nearly half of her cupcake, when she forgot about it and left the treat out amongst her experiment papers.
The barista shook his head, deciding to ignore the last statement. He'd obviously flustered the woman, and that gave him some small, secret sense of satisfaction. "Same time tomorrow, Glasses?" He asked, going to wipe down a spill on the counter.
Normally Hanji only had her cupcake and coffee once a week, every Thursday as a treat, but the male seemed so insistent, so unquestioning in his logic, that she couldn't help but agree. "Uh, yeah, same time, same order." She muttered. The amateur scientist then quickly took her order and rushed out of the café, cheeks still pink and her gaze glued to the floor.