Inspired by a post by the lovely and talented askmiraculousheroes blog on tumblr.


The Regular


"I know you're messing with me," Ivonne grumbled as she wiped down the counters between customers. "I get it, the new girl has to be hazed. Har har." It was like this at every restaurant. At least she wasn't being sent next door to the neighboring restaurant to borrow a '"coffee sponge''' this time

The boy that was training her kept right on counting out one dollar bills with a playful grin. "I'm telling the truth. Every Tuesday at four."

Ivonne only rolled her eyes and knelt to grab the refill box of napkins from underneath the register, where Jasper was making change. "Well it's three till, Jasper. At 4:01 I reserve the right to run you through the espresso machine for messing with my head."

"No need," Jasper grinned. "Here he comes."

Despite herself, Ivonne shot upright so fast that she would've smacked her head on the register drawer if Jasper hadn't quickly slammed it shut. Lo and behold, Jasper told it true. There he was. Chat Noir, in the flesh, pushing open the door and slinking right into the Starbucks like he belonged. The bell dinged behind him as the door slipped shut. Oh man. Oh man. Ivonne had seen the town heroes from afar but she'd never had the good fortune to meet either of them face to face before, and truth be told she was a bit of a fangirl when it came to the famed Chat Noir.

Keep it cool, girl. She schooled her face into what she hoped was a lax expression as Chat approached the register. If she made a fool of herself Jasper was never going to let her live it down.

"Hiya, Chat." Jasper drifted over to lurk behind the display case that housed all the baked goods Starbucks offered, and eyed Ivonne with a wordless 'I told you so.' "You look distracted today. Everything alright?"

Chat, who had been staring thoughtfully at one of the pastries with his hand on the back of his neck, jumpstarted to life. "Ye– No. I mean, yes. Everything's great!"

"Mhmm." Jasper nodded sagely, then hid his face behind his hand to mouth at Ivonne, 'Lady troubles.'

Meanwhile, Chat had gone back to staring at the pastries with an even more intense look on his face. Don't you dare say anything stupid, Ivonne warned herself as her mouth opened to speak without her permission. "So what'll it be?" she asked him.

The ears on Chat's head flicked toward the sound of her voice, but the rest of him went right on staring at the pastries. His eyes were glazed over. "Same," he replied absently.

Ivonne blinked. "What?"

A cup appeared on the counter in front of her, and she looked up to see that Jasper had set an empty 'grande' there. Ah. Jasper probably already knew what the hero liked. It was obvious Jasper was holding back a laugh as Chat Noir continued to regard the pastries as though they held the secret to life, the universe, and everything.

"Okay," she said slowly, then picked up the cup and the black sharpie from atop the register. That's when her training reflexes finally kicked in. "Name?"

Only after it slipped out did she realize what a monumentally asinine question that was. She opened her mouth to laugh it off, and–

"Adrien," Chat said.

Ivonne froze with the sharpie to the cup. What.

In a panic she looked to Jasper, who appeared equally aghast at what had just come out of Chat Noir's distracted mouth. They both glanced out at the two customers sitting at a table by the window, who were staring as well with matching dropped jaws. Chat went on gazing at the pastries, blissfully unaware. The customer on the left gestured a frantic 'X' signal with his arms, while the other one shrugged at the two baristas manically and turned her attention back to her laptop, presumably to pretend she had not just heard that.

That was… probably best.

Jasper gently tugged the cup and marker from Ivonne's frozen hands and wrote the words 'Chat Noir' on the side.