Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia: Axis Powers. All rights go to their creators.

Chapter 2: Newbie

Arthur had to go through a virtual program to get his food handler's license, Berwald sent him the link through email and it took like an hour to get his certificate on his laptop.

Berwald told him to come in early that morning, he'd called his cellphone, so that he could teach him how to use the coffee machine. Arthur tried smiling in the mirror, but realized he wasn't going to be a cashier so it wasn't needed. Great for him because fake smiles hurt his face.

Arthur made sure to paint his nails black yesterday, and to touch up his eyeliner, he'd be making closer eye contact with people than usual.

He put back in his earrings and nose ring, cleaning them of their grime before shrugging on his leather jacket and leaving for work. He didn't bother fixing his hair.

Berwald let him in and flicked on a few lights. Berwald plugged in the coffee machine, its screen lighting up after a few seconds.

He watched just over the man's shoulder, he could just see over him. The man was very tall, well past six feet.

He was taught how to steam milk for the expresso coffee and how to pour ice coffee as well as replace the beans, as well as the filter.

Arthur tried it a few times, having mixed up the cup for ice coffee and melting it when pouring in hot coffee. And was efficient enough to serve orders.

Arthur was taken to the back locker room and given locker 31. He was also given a polo shirt, a baseball cap, and a name tag along with an apron, what he could assume was his uniform.

Soon it was time to open the cafe. The woman with pigtails that he saw yesterday bounced in through the front doors.

"Berwald, I'm so happy you were able to fill the barista shift. It was so hard to keep track and fill orders with no help." The woman gave a pout.

Berwald gave the woman a nod before she went toward the back room.

Arthur drummed his fingers against the counter. His station was already set up, he just had to wipe down a little with a wet rag.

The woman with pigtails came back dressed in uniform and she slid her way beside him, behind the counter.

"Bonjour! I forgot to introduce myself yesterday! My name is Michelle!" Said woman held out her hand for him to shake.

He did so, "Arthur, a pleasure."

"Sooo are you any good?" Michelle popped open the cash register and added a few fresh, crisp bills to the bottom for change.

"At being a barista? Not particularly it's–"

"Non! Your music! You had a guitar right? So you're a musician."

Arthur pursed his lips, "Of course I am. I'm just going through a rough patch."

"I get that, I'm working to put myself through my studies at Heta U. I have another job as a mechanic's assistant at an Auto shop not too far from campus."

"What are you studying?"

"Marine biology! I've always loved the ocean, and I've always felt at home near the beach."

Arthur gave her a nod, a more tropical climate than this one seemed to fit her, why is she here and not some place warm? It wasn't his place to pry.

The door to the cafe jingled and in walked a woman who was a bit on the heavier side, cinnamon brown skin, and her hair in dreadlocks cascading down her back.

"Alondra look, I have help!" Michelle gestured to him as said woman approached the register.

"Don't you play out in Times Square?" She asked him.

"Yes I do."

"Glad to see you're still alive. I remember checking your pulse one time."

Arthur felt the tips of his ears burn. "What!?"

"I don't go past Times Square anymore but like a year ago, you were in fucking bad shape, passed out with a guitar. I was scared you were dead, but you were just sleeping. So I just left some change and a sandwich."

Arthur had always wondered who had left that ham sandwich for him.

"I-I uh….thank you?"

"It's no problem," she waved him off, "I don't like to see people down on their luck, you know?"

Michelle grinned, "Well that's quite a coincidence!"

Arthur introduced himself and Alondra did the same before going toward the back where their lockers were.

"Alondra makes most of the treats on this shift, Berwald has a few home recipes he added to the menu too." Michelle said to him.

Arthur listened as Michelle then went into a tangent about how delicious the cinnamon rolls were, they're a trade secret that only Berwald knows the recipe to.

She said she'd talk to Valeriu and see if he could save him one because they usually throw out the food at the end of the night on the afternoon shift.

"Really it's not necessary."

"You just have to! You're a newbie!" Michelle pouted at him.

"I wouldn't want you to do anything special for me."

"It's not special for you, I've done it before. And you're acting like I wouldn't be asking for myself as well." She let out a giggle, "So what do you say?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Fine."

As the first sets of customers came in, Arthur managed to mess up a few orders, misplacing cups and lids that he needed, switching them around, forgetting some flavorings for the iced lattes. It didn't help that they were impatient. And when a few customers demanded he correct the orders, having to make them all over again irritated him with how condescending they were about it. He tried to put on a polite smile but was this close to throwing hot coffee on someone.

And when the morning rush slowed down, Arthur let out a sigh. Michelle put a hand on his shoulder, "You did good!"

She hadn't been any help at all, and sometimes he swore she was laughing at him when he wasn't looking. He gave the young woman a glare, before muttering he was going to go take a ten minute break.

"But your break isn't until noon."

Arthur continued out the door. He fumbled for a cigarette with trembling hands. Upon finally lighting it, he took a long drag. He stood against the adjacent wall toward the alleyway where the trash bins were.

This is shite.

Honestly, was a steady paycheck worth it? Wouldn't it be easier to just give up and go home? But damn his pride wouldn't let him show up empty handed, to say it wasn't a waste.

Arthur breathed out through his nose before taking a few puffs, it had only been a few hours, nearly not enough time to warrant feeling defeated. So he was going to go back in there and finish 5 more of his hours.

When he finished up and walked back in, Berwald was there steely yale blue eyes and all. Arthur jumped, startled.

"I-I Berwald–! I was just–! It was–" He floundered for the right words before he frowned, meeting the man's gaze. "You threw me to the wolves! It was either that or you have a lawsuit on your hands."

If he was going to get in trouble, might as well own up and make no excuses for it.

Arthur crossed his arms as the man continued to stare at him. He placed a cup full of water in front of Arthur and slid it toward him.

"What's this?"

"For you to cool down." Berwald said.

Michelle giggled, "He was worried about you after I told him you took a break."

Berwald gave him a nod.

"A comedian hmm?"Arthur clicked his teeth. Then he took the water and gulped it down.

Berwald replaced Michelle in her spot behind the counter.

Michelle turned to him with a grin, "Well that is it for me! Little Lili should be coming in to take over as cashier in about an hour or two."

She then went back toward the lockers to change out of her uniform.

Berwald was a calm presence and his tendency not to drone on with mindless chatter made working with him easier than he would have assumed despite his intimidating appearance. He made some customers uncomfortable when they were up to order though.

"How about we trade spaces? I'm still not that comfortable with the coffee machine yet."

Berwald nodded, Arthur had been watching Michelle at the cash register occasionally; it couldn't be so hard to take orders.

Arthur put on a plastered fake smile and the hour went by smoothly. A small blonde girl with teal green eyes entered the cafe, her hair was cut just at her jawline. She gave them a polite wave before heading to the back locker rooms.

She reappeared, changed into her uniform and apron. She was the cashier and Arthur was back to being a barista.

"Hallo, you must be new. I'm Elise, but everyone calls me Lili. What's your name?"

She put her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels.

"Are you even old enough to work? Isn't there a labor law against hiring a 12 year old?"

It was almost time for his actual break, Arthur twisted one of the rings on his finger.

"Yes sir, but I'm 19. I know I look young, I've heard it often." She looked away from him, an almost abashed expression on her face.

"Well anyway my name is Arthur." Arthur muttered glancing at his watch, and once it was his actual break he went into the locker room, sat down on the bench and put his head in his hands. God fucking damnit, I'm being a right twat to a child, for what?

He grabbed a cheese sandwich out of his locker to munch on for lunch.

When his lunch break was over he rejoined Lili behind the counter. The petite girl had just finished making a vanilla latte with a heart inside. Arthur noticed the heart when she slid the glass mug to a brunette who was going to dine inside the cafe.

Lili jumped a bit startled as she caught him staring.

"S-sorry! I'll get out of your way." She moved over to her place in front of the cash register.

"How'd you learn to do that?"

"The heart?"

Arthur nodded.

"HetaTube. I thought it would brighten up the customers' faces. I don't work as a barista often so I get them in when I can." Lili moved a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"How thoughtful of you."

"Did you want to try it? It's not so hard to get it down with a little practice." Her eyes were wide and hopeful.

Arthur shook his head, "I'm not good at making coffee just yet. But I'll keep that offer in mind for another time." Arthur looked down briefly and muttered, "It's still my first day."

"O-oh right of course." Lili let out a nervous chuckle.

And the next two hours went by smoothly, Lili managing to hand him the right cups before he made a mistake, destroying a plastic ice coffee cup for example. And she managed to get out the chai tea container for a chai tea latte, an order Berwald hadn't demonstrated for him previously. She talked him through making it.

And honestly he was a bit sad he'd have to leave her alone when his shift was over.

The bell jingled above the door to the cafe and he locked eyes with Lovino, the brunet who he had disdain for.

But Lovino's gaze quickly shifted to Lili and his expression turned pleasant. He approached the counter, "Lili, ciao bella." He leaned over the register to grab her hand. "How's my favorite girl doing this afternoon?" He asked, pressing a kiss to her knuckles, voice dripping with honey.

To which Lili giggled, cheeks pastel pink with blush. Arthur furrowed his eyebrows.

"Stop, you're killing me."

"What? It's true."

"You say that to everyone." She waved him away and in response Lovino shook his head, but with a rueful smile on his face.

"That's not true. I only say that to you. I guess I can assume the ogre you had to work with didn't bother you too much." Lovino's gaze shifted to him.

Arthur narrowed his eyes and lifted up the counter space. In response Lovino's eyebrows raised as he stepped over to him.

Lili stopped her giggling to pout at him, "Oh Lovino don't say that."

Lovino shrugged, "I'm just watching out for you Lili."

Arthur let a breath out of his nose and stepped around them to go toward the backroom to get his things out of his locker. Having the morning shift, he still had enough time to street perform in the afternoon. He'd still have to go back home to get his amp and guitar.

Arthur shrugged on his leather jacket. And turned to see Lovino in the doorway, mouth in a frown, blocking his exit.

The brunet crossed his arms, "I was serious about you bothering Lili. She's really naive."

Arthur rolled his eyes, "I suggest you move, den mother, before I knock your teeth in."

Lovino moved back and Arthur still managed to shrug past him. He walked past the counter, giving Lili a nod as she waved at him, and he made his way out the door.

It was later than usual, so he missed the lunch rush.

He got less as a result by the end of the night, hopefully it could hold him over until his next paycheck.

Back at his apartment he mustered up the courage to tell his father he wasn't coming home. He'd changed his mind, but he would be back for the winter holidays.

Arthur could hear something that sounded like disappointment in his voice, but the inflection changed and Arthur thought he was just reading too much into things.

After scrolling through the local channels Arthur found himself watching a game show that involved spinning a wheel to guess letters in a sort of less demented version of hangman.

Asleep on his mattress that was all but ripped to shreds, Arthur could reflect slightly on today's events.

Today was a nightmare but at the very least he could see two reasons to stick around.

00000

Alondra came in the following Monday morning holding a brown paper bag. Michelle bounced on her toes as Alondra's smirk widened.

"I've got the goods from Valeriu." She said reaching into the bag to hand Michelle and himself cinnamon rolls.

Arthur took his, wrinkling his nose. "You saved these from Saturday?"

"You wanted them fresh? You better be thankful I was able to snag these! Ber's rolls usually sell out fast."

"I am! I am so thankful, my queen." Michelle mock bowed to her. Alondra patted the other woman's head.

"You don't need to do all of that Michelle." She chuckled.

Arthur took a bite, and they were fucking right these were to die for. They were just sweet enough, flakey, and buttery and just overall amazing.

And then Michelle and Alondra were staring at him. To which his ears burned as he realized he'd let out a pretty loud moan only amplified by the emptiness of the café.

"I told you they were good!" Michelle giggled.

"Cheers to that." Alondra said before taking a bite of her own.

His shifts came and went throughout the rest of the week. He watched as Lovino seemingly flirted with Lili each time he came in. His gaze would cut to Arthur, and honestly he wasn't sure if Lovino genuinely liked the petite blonde or if it was some sort of thing to spite him.

But it was silly for him to think the latter because he was new and didn't really know the dynamics of everyone working at the café. Maybe he was looking too much into things. He wasn't romantically interested in Lili, but she was really the only one here he genuinely liked, and he didn't want Lovino's opinion of him to influence her in any way.

"Soooo I hear you and Lovino are fighting over Lili." Michelle said one morning.

"What?" Arthur was stocking the treats from the bakery. Alondra had just given him a tray of doughnuts. She would be coming out with the cupcakes.

"For the past week it's been tense when Lovino comes in and you have to leave…so I've heard."

Arthur shut the display case and squared his shoulders, now facing her. She quirked an eyebrow.

"I'm not–we're not– There's no competition. That's just plain idiotic."

Michelle shrugged, "I don't know. Do you have a crush on Lili?"

"No of course not! It's none of my business if she's going out with Lovino or whatever. They're both adults." Arthur crossed his arms.

Michelle made a humming noise, "Sure, whatever you say."

"Or maybe Lovino's just trying to fuck with you." Alondra said, appearing with the platter of cupcakes. "Because it obviously bothers you."

"It doesn't!" Arthur glared at her.

Alondra shrugged, but the thought of Lovino doing all of this to spite him stuck with him.

And then he had a particularly funny idea to move the sugar and utensils out of reach, once his shift was over. Lovino was definitely shorter than him. He wasn't particularly tall himself but on his tip toes he could reach the top shelf.

Lili watched him, "What are you doing?"

"U-uh moving this to a secure spot."

"Where no one can reach it except for you?"

Arthur gave her a nod before grimacing. How infantile, to give excuses as though she could be of any authority to him. "Just a little ribbing between co-workers really. It's not bad, to be honest he's in on it ."

There were worse things he could have done.

He had also rearranged the orders of the cups, and Lili hadn't noticed that. He'd gotten the hang of how they typically were arranged.

"If it's all in good fun," She nodded, closed lip smile, warm and radiant.

Lili said she attended HetaU as well to study Computer Engineering. Which Arthur thought was pretty ambitious. She said it was quite intimidating being one of the few girls in her classes.

000000

"You little bastard."

Arthur couldn't help the haughty smirk that twitched onto his lips as he looked into angry hazel irises.

"I beg to differ. I would say I'm rather tall compared to you."

"You think you're funny huh? Well I'm not laughing. This job's hard enough, I don't need your help to screw it up more."

Arthur set his guitar down, and placed his cigarette in between his fingers. Lovino stepped up to him and pointed a finger to his chest.

"What happened to staying out of each other's way?"

He noticed the man had some kind of loose curl that protruded to the front of his head. It was an odd trait.

"Ask that to yourself."

"I didn't do anything to you!" He watched Lovino for a moment while taking a drag.

Arthur clicked his teeth, "What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be at work by now?"

Lovino crossed his arms taking a step back, "It's my day off."

"And you're here with me? Should I feel special?" He asked before taking another drag of his cigarette.

"No, I've got some errands to run, bastard. I didn't want to yell at you in front of Lili."

There was something earnest in his tone.

"I'm surprised you didn't, it would've been easy to paint me as an arsehole then." Arthur muttered, letting a breath out of his nose.

Lovino raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Don't act like this isn't part of some game for you. You don't like me so you'd rather Lili not either."

"Slow your roll! I admit I might have jumped to conclusions the first time, but after that I could give two shits about who you talk to. I wouldn't put her in the middle of our beef, that's insane."

Arthur gave the man a hard stare, flicking his cigarette butt onto the ground.

Lovino avoided his gaze briefly. "Che, you think you occupy that much space in my head? You're delusional." Lovino made the 'cuckoo' gesture with his hands.

"Is that all?"

"You're not gonna mess with me anymore, right? You got that all out of your system?"

Arthur gave the man's zipper a flick, "Hmm perhaps." He kept his eyes on the small glint the metal reflected from the sun, before he looked up again.

Arthur decided he liked the uncomfortable look on Lovino's face as Lovino smacked his hand away.

Lovino rolled his eyes with a muttered, "Goodbye bastard," before he disappeared within the midst of bustling New Yorkers.

And really did they need to get along? Picturing Lovino being…whatever it was he was with Lili to himself made him ill, so if he could keep them scowling at each other he would.

A/N: Alondra is Nyo! Cuba.

Thank you for reading!