Chapter Text
Monday: 10:30 PM
It was a regular night. Seth had sent most of his staff home, he was manning the counter. Seth kept his coffee shop open later than most purely because he knew he could make some cash selling to people going on the night shift. The bell above the door chimed, Seth looked up only to be greeted by the sight of a man with bleach blonde hair, with a neck tattoo of a skull tattoo with the american flag print on it and little wings on the side of the head, he was also wearing a suit, an actual three piece suit. That's not something you see often, where did this man even come from and did Seth really want to know? “Welcome to 392Dport, what can I get you, sir?” Seth put on a customer service smile. “I'll take a black coffee.” Seth was surprised, this man rivaled him in being extra but he was ordering a bland coffee? “Right away sir.”
Seth went around the corner before taking out his phone. His phone was decorated on the back with crocheted flowers that took ages to make. Seth discreetly snapped a photo of the man and sent it to his brothers Roman and Jon in their group chat with the caption ‘a three piece suit, bleach blonde hair and skull tattoo in the American flag colors. I've never been so aesthetically concerned for someone lol’. He filled a bland cup with bland black coffee. One of Seth's favorite parts of making coffee was making art with coffee, he didn't see the appeal in the boring. He didn't understand how anyone else could see the appeal either. He decided he would give this guy one of his special straws to pretty up the coffee. Seth made paper straws that had nice designs on them, he chose one that was covered in little horned frogs.
He went back to the counter with the sad coffee and straw. “That'll be $3:35, here's your bland-I mean black coffee and straw.” the man smiled. Seth liked that smile. He paid and tipped and put the straw in the straw holder near the counter. Seth felt his mouth twitch into a frown but quickly made himself smile again. “Don't like straws?” Seth asked. The man shook his head. “No, I don't use straws to drink coffee.” Seth felt an internal eyeroll. “But did you look at the straw? It's pretty.” Seth picked up the straw and showed it directly to him. “Oh…I mean yeah, yeah but I just don't think coffee and straws go together.” Seth bit the inside of his cheek, nodded and put the straw back. “Have a good day sir.” Seth turned on his heel and walked into the back, too annoyed by the man to want to stay in the front. He heard the bell ring as the man left. Seth sat by the espresso machine, grabbed his tote back and took out his latest crochet project, a tiny glittery shield and began angrily continuing. “None whimsical bitch….”
Seth heard a ding from his phone, picking it up. It was a response from Jon and Roman in the group chat.
Jon: LMAO
Roman: Why's he dressed like that? And why are you taking pictures of other people?
Seth huffed before replying.
Seth: because I've never had someone looking like that walk into my shop at 10:30, and I have no clue why he was dressed like that, I'm not sure why anyone would dress like that, have a neck tattoo like that or have that type of bleached hair. I might've asked but he was being a bitch.
Jon: How?
Seth: He ordered a bland black coffee and when I tried to improve things with one of my pretty straws he put it back!
Roman: 🙄 chill out, it's not that big of a deal.
Seth: Oh go die!
Seth threw his phone back into his bag opting to focus on his crafts. Roman didn't understand the work he put into making everything pretty just for it to be disregarded by annoying customers.
Tuesday 10:30
It was the same time as yesterday when that man walked in again. He looked tired this time with heavy bags under his eyes. “Hello sir, glad to see you've made a return.” He shouldn't have, Seth was already bugged by his presence, hopefully this time he'd order something exciting. “Yeah, I like the coffee blend you guys use and this place is really close to my work so it's convenient. I think I'll take a cup of espresso this time, nothing in it.” Seth clenched his fists and smiled. “Right away, sir.” Seth grabbed a boring coffee cup and filled it with boring espresso, he heard the espresso machine make weird sounds. He looked around until he saw Bron, he was cleaning up the back with Bronson. “Hey Bron, you're taking care of the machine like Bronson showed you right?” Bron looked up and nodded. “Of course boss, every day.” Seth nodded and went back up front handing it to the man. “That'll be $5.88.” The man paid and tipped like before, taking a sip of straight espresso. “That's good stuff.” Seth didn't need to be told that, it was his blend, he knew it was good otherwise he wouldn't be selling it was bad. “So you gonna be coming back here more?” Seth was hoping he'd say no. “Oh definitely. I'm gonna be working nights for the next few weeks so you're gonna have a regular.” the man explained. “How lovely thank you for choosing 392Dport as your nightly dose of caffeine.” Seth wanted to tell him to fuck off but you can't say that to customers. “And thank you for the coffee-” the man paused and looked down at the bedazzled name tag on Seth's glittery apron. “Seth, thank you, Seth.” He hated customers actually using his name. “Thank you sir. I hope you have a good night at work.” The bleach blonde smiled at Seth before leaving. “...What a bitch.”