#actionidolshipping

Pokemon Fankid Week Day 5: Romance/Shipping

Read The Dance here!

Summary: Losing a Grand Festival sucks--both Briar and Allie know that. Actionidolshipping. One-shot.

I was going through my things and found this actionidol coffee shop AU I started writing over 3 years ago. I have no idea where I was going with it, but this one scene is complete, so I figured I’d just post it here anyways. Enjoy!

Briar could have never imagined how much of a process it was to make a simple drink until he started working at Celadon Coffee. Each customer who walked into the store had their very own specifications for their drink—two pumps of caramel or light on the cream or no milk—that it felt as though no two cups he filled were exactly alike. It was a lot to learn at first, but soon enough Briar was finding himself getting into the swing of things.

As he wiped down the counter, Briar took a look around the store. For a Thursday afternoon, the place was relatively busy—Celadon University students filling nearly every table in the shop. Many of them had books and laptops out, completely absorbed in their work. Briar grimaced at the painful reminder of the art project sitting on his desk at home. It was due tomorrow, and he still had a good amount to get done. He scolded himself internally for putting it off until the last minute.

“Hey, Briar.”

Pulled from his thoughts by the sound of his name, Briar blinked to see his boss, Kenny, standing a few feet behind him.

Straightening out, Briar fixed his apron. “Yeah?”

“You any good with chalk?” Kenny asked, holding up a yellow box.

Briar’s brows furrowed in mild confusion. “Well, more or less, I guess. I mean, I’ve used it before for projects and stuff,” he said, looking back to Kenny. “Why?”

“Good enough,” Kenny decided, placing the box in Briar’s hands. “Since we started selling that spiced apple chai today, I wanted to advertise it on the chalk board out front.” He cracked a lop-sided grin and scratched a cheek with his finger. “But Leona says I’m not exactly the artsy type—so do you think you could whip something together for me?”

Briar’s brows raised in surprise as he looked down at the box in his hands. Upon opening the box up, he saw several different colors of chalk looking back up at him. Taking a quick breath, Briar shot his boss a smile and nodded. “I’m on it.”

“Awesome,” Kenny said, sounding relieved as he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it off to Briar. “Just write this on the board—maybe draw an apple or two.” He gave Briar a pat on the shoulder and winked. “Go wild.”

With that being said and done, Briar made his way outside to the chalkboard that was mounted on the wall outside of the store. Using a cloth, he wiped away the old writing until the board was clean. He looked down at the piece of paper Kenny had handed off to him.

‘Come in and try our new spiced apple chai today! Limited time only!’

It was simple enough and gave Briar plenty of room to play around with potential fonts, boarders, and images. Taking out the first piece of chalk, he began his work.

He had to admit, a part of him was glad that he got the chance to spend a little bit of his work shift outside that day. It was the first warm day that they had had in a while, and the amount of people sitting at the outside tables was an indication of that.

Briar was able to pick out a few regulars sitting around him. At the table nearest to him were a blonde girl and a dark haired girl whose names he remembered being Kierra and Skye. A mountain of books sat in front of them, and Kierra was pointing at an equation written in the notebook she held in her hands. Skye was slouched in her seat, looking away with mild disinterest as she swished the drink in her hand. Briar had always assumed that they chose this coffee shop for some kind of tutoring set-up.

Sitting near them he saw another girl, Lizzie, appeared to be completely absorbed in the book she held in her hands—so much so that she failed to even notice the boy sitting behind her spill his coffee all over the table. The boy, whose name Briar was pretty sure was Nick, only laughed and began wiping it up with a napkin. The girl sitting across from him was blushing furiously and looking around to see if anyone was staring. Briar wondered if they were on a date.

Over all, it was a relatively normal day at the shop, and Briar felt thankful that he got to spend at least a little bit of time out in the good weather. Taking a step back, Briar observed his work thus far. He had been attempting to go for a large, bold font that would catch the eye of anyone walking past the shop. The boarders were light and curvy, as to draw more attention to the actual words in the center. Now all he had to do was draw some apples and be done with it. Stepping back forward, Briar pulled out the red and green pieces of chalk and started to sketch the outlines of the fruit across the board.

“Wow, you’re quite the artist, huh?”

The voice made Briar pause, and he looked away from the apple he was drawing to focus his attention on the girl who was now standing next to him. She looked as though she had just come out of the shop, a coffee in hand as the door just happened to shut behind her. She brushed her fingertips against the ends of her light brown hair as her sharp eyes focused on the chalkboard with curious interest.

Briar blinked a few times, processing as he looked between the girl and his drawing before quickly shaking it off. He let out a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Oh, thank you,” he said, offering a smile. “My boss wanted me to ‘go wild’.” He looked back to the apples on the board. “But I think you can only go so wild with apples.”

The girl put a hand to her mouth, letting out a small giggle. “Well, I like it,” she complimented, and for whatever reason Briar felt his cheeks flush just the slightest. The girl didn’t seem to notice as she leaned over to get a better look at the sign. “Spiced apple chai, hm?” she mused.

Inhaling quickly, Briar shook it off and cracked a smile, holding up a finger. “Yeah—it’s our new flavor,” he explained matter-of-factly before closing his eyes. “But for a limited time only.”

“Then I’ll have to get it before it’s gone,” she said, adjusting the strap of her purse. “I’ll be sure to try it the next time I’m in.”

Briar grinned. “I’m sure my boss will be happy to know that.”

The girl let out a small laugh, but then blinked when her phone began to buzz. Blinking, she looked down and pulled it out. “Oh, sorry. I have to take this,” she apologized. She began to turn her back to him, but then looked at him once more, cracking a smile and shooting him a wink. “Keep up the good work, Briar.”

With that, she turned around and walked away.

Briar felt the heat returning to his cheeks as he began to wonder how she knew his name. His thoughts were broken when he heard a snort coming from Skye. Blinking, he turned around to see her snickering in her seat—presumably having watched their interaction. Kierra scowled, leaning over the table to swat her head with a piece of rolled up paper—scolding her to pay attention.

Briar pursed his lips in embarrassment before turning back to the chalkboard. As he did, he noticed the light reflect off of a piece of metal pinned to his chest. Looking down, he suddenly felt stupid.

His nametag.

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