This is really late. Sorry.
It became a routine. Kevin hated routine.
The barista boy, the one that just so happened to be Ben Tennyson, also known as the boy who he attempted to maim when he was a kid, had taken a liking to him, so now here he was. At a small little coffee shop on the outskirts of town, making small talk with the boy who once was his mortal enemy.
Weird how things pan out.
If Kevin were to be totally honestly, then he'd say he actually enjoyed some healthy human communication that didn't involve shady deals in back alleys with guys he wouldn't trust as far as he could throw them. He feels a bit pathetic, really. So starved for human contact he would resort to this? But it's the way Ben is that draws him to be around him, he tells himself. Ben Tennyson had the sort of smile and easy going personality that could make even the coldest necrofriggian feel like they were taking a trip down the Sahara Desert. He was warm and friendly. Welcoming. It had Kevin coming back every time he promised he wouldn't.
The free cups of coffee Ben insisted he have certainly helped matters. Not that he took advantage of the generosity. Kevin always came prepared to pay, but the boy just wouldn't have it.
It was sometime around ten, a cold summer night, as August was almost coming to a close, and Kevin was sitting at the far end of the island, listening to Ben chat animatedly about a trip to the lake he had taken with his cousin.
"... she falls face first into the water, her phone gets ruined, even putting it in rice wouldn't fix it. All the while she blames me, but no one told her to be so cocky. You don't play chicken with the reigning champion of the lake."
"Is that a self-proclaimed title?" Kevin asks with a smirk.
"Doesn't matter, because it's true." He says, as if daring Kevin to prove him wrong.
Kevin just gives him a short chuckle in response, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Why does the cafe stay open so late?" Kevin finds himself asking one day. Ben is distracted cleaning up the coffee machines. For a second, Kevin thinks he didn't hear him, but before he can call the brunets name, he gets a response.
"After the Starbucks opened downtown, this place started losing a lot of business. The owner decided the best way to maximize profits was to keep it open as long as possible, even if that meant hiring more help." Ben turns around, finished with his tinkering with the machines. Grabbing a cloth from his apron, he starts wiping down the counter. "Between you and me though, our coffee is probably better than Starbucks anyway. The owner, Mr. Briggs, gets all the coffee imported from his families own plantation."
"And you like the night shift?" Kevin continues, slumping a bit forward in his seat.
"I don't always take the night shift. You just always come on the days I have it." He shoots Kevin an easy smile.
"How do you know I don't come other days?"
Ben appears to be at a lost for words. Cheeks tinted a slight shade of pink, he finally responds, "because I'm friends with Julie. She's never mentioned you." He averts his eyes from looking at where Kevin is slumped on the chair. "Um... I'm about to close up so um..."
Kevin nods. He's afraid he's made things awkward, and though he really wants to say something, he's not sure what it is he's supposed to say. Or why he wants to say something so bad.
He settles on a quiet goodbye and heads out the door.
It's late August the next time he shows up. It wasn't his intention to have spent so long without making an appearance at the cafe, but he'd gotten caught up in things. Alien tech doesn't sell itself and trying to steer clear of wherever Ben Tennyson was going to make an appearance while he was conducting said illegal activities was proving to be more difficult than he thought.
"Haven't seen you in awhile." Ben's voice doesn't sound as warm as usual, causing Kevin to cringe.
He doesn't explain himself to people. Ever. Kevin does what Kevin wants, no questions asked. But Ben isn't one of those people he can just dismiss inquiries from. "I got caught up... with things." It's vague enough. Ben doesn't seem satisfied with the answer, but doesn't push the matter either.
"Well, you've been missing out on some very good coffee." His usual warmness is back now. "Mr. Briggs recently bought a bunch of new cappuccino products. Thought you might want to try some."
Kevin blinks. He's not sure what to think of Ben's offer. "Um... what kind of cappuccino?" Truth be told, Kevin has no idea what cappuccino's even are. He's heard of them before, but never ordered one and has no idea what to expect. Not that he'd ever admit that to the brunet.
"Any one you'd like! We have french vanilla, low fat," he begins listing off different flavors, but Kevin is lost.
"Why don't you just bring me whatever you think sounds good?"
Ben nods, heading over to the coffee machine.
Kevin has no idea what the boy has given him or whether or not the contents of his cup are drinkable. Deciding he has nothing to lose, he takes a gulp. Surprisingly, it's not bad. It tastes like vanilla and what he's guessing must be hazelnut.
"Do you like it?" Ben has this sort of hopeful expression. Sort of like a puppy who wants to be pet behind the ears. Kevin can't make eye contact with him. He just nods and mutters a "it's good."
The cafe is mostly empty, as usual at the time of night. There's a red head at the counter, talking with Ben. Her posture is rigid and she looks to be annoyed by something. Kevin thinks she looks familiar, but isn't exactly sure.
"Kenji!" Ben greets as he walks in, a broad smile on his face. The red head he was just speaking to turns around.
"Hey." His own greeting isn't nearly as exuberant, just a nod and a slight quirk of the lips.
"This is Kenji?" The red head asks. "Ben's spoken about you."
Ben talks about me? Kevin thinks, surprised. He can't decide if that's a good or a bad thing.
"I'm Gwen." She hold out her hand for him to shake. With a slight hesitance, he takes it.
"Oh, so you're Gwen." The smile she gives him makes him uneasy.
"What kind of cappuccino do you want this time?" Ben asks. He'd managed to get Kevin hooked on them, and now he can't stop trying them out.
"Whatever you suggest," he replies. He still doesn't know the name of anything having to do with coffee and always just lets Ben choose for him.
In a few minutes, Ben is back with a medium sized cup. It smells like pumpkin and cinnamon and something else he can't place. "It's called pumpkin spice. I added a dash of cinnamon and hazelnut crème. A girl earlier ordered it. Thought you might like it."
Kevin takes a tentative sip and isn't surprised when he finds himself enjoying it. He's not a fan of cinnamon, but the addition isn't exactly a bad choice. "It's great."
The red head coughs to get their -really, Ben's- attention. "I'll be heading out then. We'll continue our conversation later." Her shoes make clacking noises with each steps she takes. Clack, clack, clack. Ben doesn't speak until he hears the bell's jingle.
"Don't mind Gwen, she's just a little stressed."
"So that's your fiery cousin?" Kevin gets this feeling in his gut. It tells him to run. To leave town and not come back. But his feet don't move and he's still taking tentative sips of his cappuccino.
"Don't mind her. She's usually hostile."
"Noted."
By this point, Kevin almost has Ben's schedule memorized. While it would be much wiser to just show up whenever he isn't working, by now Kevin has thrown all logic out the window. He comes by at least three days a week, and Ben is thrilled.
They both must be starved for companionship, Kevin thinks. Why Ben sees Kevin as a worthwhile companion, Kevin isn't too sure. But beggars can't be choosers.
"Good morning!" Ben is surprisingly chipper for someone working the morning shift, though Ben suspects it has more too do with the coffee he saw Ben downing just a few seconds ago.
Kevin forgoes a greeting. "I thought you didn't like coffee."
"I really don't, it makes me pretty hyper and I don't really like that feeling," Ben is babbling at a mile a minute and Kevin is having trouble keeping up. "But I had a pretty late night playing Sumo Slammers and totally forgot I had a shift this morning oh what bring you here so early?"
It takes a second for Kevin to process Ben asked him a question. "I haven't been able to sleep." He doesn't elaborate on why, and Ben by now knows to not ask, though he's so jittery on coffee he's probably not even thought about asking.
Ben just nods his head at Kevin's response. "So uh wanna try a ristretto? It's suppose to be pretty powerful, and I'm positive I've gotten the hang of making them by now."
Kevin doesn't let him notice that he thinks it taste awful, as Ben is far too excited at how he thinks he's made it expertly. Kevin is sure that Ben must have messed up somewhere while making it.
"When is your shift over?" Kevin had debated for a few seconds whether he should ask, said to hell with it, and asked anyway. If Ben asked, he'd say its because he's concerned Ben will fall over on the job, considering the only thing keeping him upright is a cup of coffee.
"I started working early so uh..." Ben blinks and thinks for a few minutes, as if he's somehow forgotten his schedule. "Twelve? That's when Julie comes in... I think she has a long shift today since I've been covering most of them." His cheeks tinge a bit red at the last part, like he hadn't meant to say that.
"Perfect." Kevin doesn't say that aloud. Instead he says something along the lines of "good, you'll need some rest, since it looks like you're about to fall over."
Ben ends up gushing at Kevin's car, which he had just given a new paint job. They go out to lunch, Ben craving Chinese food, and Kevin takes him home afterwards.
Nothing more.
A/N: I've never read a coffee shop au. I've read stories where a main character works at a coffee shop, but never an actual coffee shop au so I have no idea how they work. So sorry if this is not what's expected.
Also, remember last chapters authors note? Forget what I said about Ben using the omnitrix by the end of next chapter. This chapter still takes place before he dons it.