Chapter Text
Ghost let himself be dragged around by Jason into the coffee shop. It was named The Sealie Cafe.
What a weird fucking pun.
Ghost was an easy person. If it was up to him, he would’ve went to the same coffee shop he’s always went to and would continue going to that one until the day he died. However, it had changed… something. All of the tea and coffee, no matter what he got, tasted off. Not bad, off. Like they had changed suppliers or something.
For some reason, changing cafes entirely was much easier for him than having to adjust to the horrible change.
His friend, Jason, was talking to him, though it was a bit hard to make out his words. He spoke too fast and Ghost still felt really jet lagged. He had just come home for leave and this bastard had picked him up from the airport literally the night before. Before coming home, he had been in fucking Mexico and spent forever in a plane and he had woke him up at too fucking early o’clock to go to a coffee shop that would be open all day.
The inside of the coffee shop looked cozy. Rustic wood furniture, lots of windows to let in light, a menu that looked simplified but Ghost couldn’t put his thoughts together to read it. There was also a small display with little deserts and pastries and he considered eating for just a moment but nothing caught his fancy.
“They have earl gray tea.” Jason decided to help him out, noticing the way Ghost’s eyes unfocused every time he looked at the board with everything on it.
“Thanks.” He mumbled to Jason, not bothering to look at the menu any further. Ghost went to let Jason order for both of them before seeing the barista.
His nametag read Soap. Funny name. But that wasn’t where his focus was.
Soap looked gorgeous. He had a mohawk and gold earrings, studs with a matching hoop. No rings, probably due to his job, but he had black painted nails.
The gold was what got Ghost’s attention initially. They glittered gently as he moved, holding the light and almost glowing.
But then he focused on him a little more. Soap had the most striking blue eyes.
Ghost shoved Jason to the side. “One London Fog Latte and a White Mocha, please.” He caught Jason’s confusion before he put on a stupid smile.
“Of course, what’s the name?” Soap had a scottish accent. It was thick and added some gravel to his voice. Standing this close, Ghost could also see their height difference a little better. Soap wasn’t a small man, but when put next to Ghost, he didn’t look very tall at all. He had to lean back and look up so they could make eye contact.
“Ghost.”
“Just Ghost? That’s a funny name.” Soap teased him but wrote it on the cup. His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, but he was working food service, Ghost couldn’t blame him. “I’ll have that right out to you.”
He felt his face heat up at the teasing but luckily he was wearing his ski mask. Blushing like an idiot in front of the hot barista would be embarrassing.
Jason tugged his sleeve and Ghost realized he needed to get out of line.
Soap had a smile on his face, this one seeming just a tad bit more genuine like he knew Ghost had gotten distracted by him.
Nevermind, this was already embarrassing.
He let Jason tug him away to a table.
“Knew you’d think he was hot.”
“And you didn’t warn me?? I would’ve tried to look nicer.” Ghost groaned and buried his face in his hands.
Jason took a moment to look at what Ghost was wearing. Dark jeans, white shirt, leather jacket, tons of rings and bracelets that glittered. Only skin showing was his hands and wrists.
“Dude, you literally don’t have nicer clothes than this.”
“Get fucked.” Ghost scoffed at him.
Jason laughed. “I mean I guess you could’ve taken off your mask.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Exactly! Not like you have to worry about having a bad hair day… do you even have hair under there?” Jason smiled at him, clearly teasing.
“Yes. I have hair. I refuse to shave it.” Ghost glanced over to Soap again. Soap swayed just a little as he made the drinks. He was captivating.
“Dude, you’re staring again.”
Ghost quickly looked back at Jason who was smiling.
“Is he single?”
“I don’t know man. Ask him.” Jason patted him encouragingly. Ghost stared at him, thinking of nothing he wanted less than to do that. If Soap wasn’t single, he’d have to kill himself expeditiously. He didn’t want anyone to have that guilt on their hands.
Soap actually brought their cups to the table, something that caught Ghost off guard since that wasn’t usually what baristas did. He smiled at Ghost immediately and set the cup in front of him. Jason’s drink just got set to the side.
Ghost grabbed the cup, not wanting to take his mask off to drink it in front of him. “Thank you.”
“Not a problem Ghost! Come back some time.” Soap winked and walked away.
Jason stared at Soap’s back as he walked away before glancing at Ghost. “I’ve never seen such blatant flirting before. How does it feel to be God’s favorite?”
Ghost blushed more. “I don’t know if that was flirting.”
“He winked.”
“Well, yeah, but maybe that’s just his personality.”
Jason stared at him before reaching for his drink.
Ghost went to take a sip of the latte before noticing the foam. It had been shaped like a heart with lavender buds on it. Lavender wasn’t unusual for Earl Grey drinks. Not unusual at all. But the piece of honey comb was, along with the way it had clearly been made to look cute. He felt himself blush more.
Before he had an opportunity to point it out, Jason had tilted his drink to him to show that he had, in fact, not gotten the special treatment.
“Dude is flirting with you so fucking hard man.”
“Okay, maybe he is.”