Ding...
The chimes rang as the glass door gently swung open, and a short man with a head of fluffy, slightly unkempt and damp blonde hair walked in. The smell of fresh coffee brew wafted through the air as he found a seat by the window that overlooks the rain pelting down on those below.
Greg is a college student studying veterinary nursing, usually seen with a smile on his face but today, a slight frown can be seen and that is concerning. He would always face things with a smile or at least a grin when faced with problems.
He pulls out his laptop and study material and gets to work, not even getting up to order anything as he usually would, and a certain barista at their station notices. Today is a particularly slow day so there haven't been many customers, other than those who would take shelter from the rain so he had time to monitor the poor, damp blonde closely as he worked away.
Clunk.
A cup of freshly brewed bicerin coffee is placed right beside the busy Greg, and he looks up to see Dave is the source of the coffee.
"Your usual," he says, scrutinising Greg before sighing, "and please do dry yourself off, you may get a cold like that."
He hands a towel to him and walks back to his station, but not before a quick thank you is squeaked out by Greg, surprised but appreciative of this gesture of care from the usually stone-faced Dave.
Now, Dave is a tall man with scruffy brown hair and a prosthetic right leg. He would also be the barista of the coffee shop, but don't let the gentle waft of coffee and his skill fool you, as he is a very cold man. One that never shared a conversation with a customer and only focused on taking and serving orders. Nothing more and nothing less. This led to only those that appreciated the quality of his coffee frequenting his shop.
To the knowledge of Greg, whenever he tried talking to Dave he would either ignore or stare blankly at him, only grunting or nodding along to whatever he said. A gesture of care was far beyond what he would expect of Dave, but maybe he was reading too much into it. Yeah, that might be right, he just doesn't like the sight of him being damp and shivering in his shop and provided a solution to a problem.
This was Greg's thought process, how he thinks that Dave would go through his life thinking.
It was an entirely different story for Dave though.
Dave has always had an interest in Greg ever since he first visited his coffee shop, every time he would strike up a conversation he would become very attentive and not disturb him to keep listening to the next story. Always preparing the usual as soon as Greg would come in, and always softening as soon as he would sit down in his shop. He knew what this feeling was, but he could not act upon it, quite self-aware about how he comes off to others, he is afraid to make the first move lest that push Greg away from him.
And for that, he stays cold-faced.
A few hours pass and the rain is starting to settle down. Still quite cloudy, but at least there won't be a pseudo-shower later in the evening. Dave is cleaning out one of the mugs as Greg stands and stretches his arms and legs, he has worked hard and solved his problem because now, his smile is back. Dave notices and chuckles a bit, before slapping his mouth.
Fuck.
Why did you let that out?
Greg immediately snaps their head to the source, and that smile becomes just a bit brighter, now having tidied up his work spot he can focus solely on Dave. He picks up his bag and mug and starts walking towards him.
In response, Dave quickly berates and recomposes himself, nodding towards Greg, ready to take that mug off of him so he can start the process of cleaning.
Before he could begin to take it though, Greg cuts him off.
"So would you like to go on a date with me?" Greg asked, leaning on the counter and getting so close to his face that he could practically see the sparkle in his eyes.
Dave starts to stammer and almost falls over himself from the sudden proposal of a date. Certainly not what he had expected in hundreds of years, but now this goofy-looking college student is asking him out on one.
Taking a deep breath, he responds, "8th July at 2 pm, meet me at the City Centre," quickly writing his number on a piece of tissue and handing it to Greg, "don't be late."
"Wouldn't even consider it!" He replies, that smile of his brighter than ever, he pays for the coffee and starts to leave the shop. Just before he leaves though, he catches a glimpse of Dave.
Dave has a light blush and a smile on his face.
'I'm so going to use that against him' that cheeky thought passes through Greg's head, and that thought will become reality on their first date and further as time passes.