#barista!lance

Word Count: 829

Summary: Lance is stuck working on Christmas

Ok so @whalechief, I’m your secret valentine. I did shklance for you, so I hope you enjoy. Oh quick thing, ‘hai dozo’, basically mean ‘here you go’ in Japanese. The italicized word in normal quotation marks are being spoken in Japanese but while I have studied it, I’m not really fluent in Japanese except for the basics. So again, happy Valentine’s Day and I hope you enjoy.

Lance blinked sleepily at the semi crowded room. He was tired, college classes were getting to him.

“You doing ok?” he looked over to where Hunk was cleaning the expresso machine.

Lance nodded, “I’m just tired from all the work I have to do. I still need to get my astronomy and Japanese class grades up.”

“Are you still eavesdropping on the really good looking couple?”

“The one with the both equally strong looking guys who look good enough to eat? The same ones I’m really hoping I heard were poly, yes Hunk, yes I am.” The couple on his mind were good looking and from the very interaction, quiet nice. They were going out, if the kiss the shorter one gave his boyfriend the first time they came into the shop was anything to go by, but when they sat together, they’d speak Japanese to each other. Lance, learning Japanese, would eavesdrop on their conversations just to test his listening skills. He had been sure they had been talking about another guy they had tried dating. Either that or his wishes were messing up with his hearing, which would be bad. But honestly, he really wanted a chance with them, if he could ever ask them out.

“They’re gonna catch you one day.” Hunk warned.

“I’ll deal with that then.” Lance let out a yawn behind his hand, rubbing his eyes. He was really tired, and his brain did feel kinda frazzled.

He didn’t notice that the two guys he had been hoping to see walk into the shop but he did notice the very angry customer stomp over, slamming his half-filled cup on the counter, making him jolt.

“You!”

“Um, yes?”

“I had asked for a soy decafe latte.”

“Um, ok?” Lance was pretty sure that’s what the guy had in front of him, not to mention that it was half drunk. “Uh, sir. This is a soy decafe and it’s half drunken.”

“Are you calling me a liar? I have superior taste buds and this is not what I ordered.”

Where the hell was Hunk? When did he disappear? And did the guy have to yell? Lance was sure that he had called out the correct order when the guy came to pick it up. He never corrected him. He couldn’t deal with this guy coming up and yelling at him with no support.

“Hey asshole! Instead of lying, why not just leave cause you’re causing an unnecessary scene.”

That when he noticed them, the two guys he had been crushing on. The smaller one had his long hair tied into a ponytail, his purple eyes glaring at rude man in front of him. His boyfriend looked just as annoyed, but not as angrily powerful. He was sure that was not an easy feet to achieve.

“Excuse me?”

“They tell you you’re drink when your name is called. That cup is half empty and there are stains on the cup from drinking. You can’t honestly think you can get a free drink out of this. That order is correct and now you’re bothering the workers for no reason. So get lost or I’ll be more than willing to do it for you.”

The man looked like he was ready to argue more but taller boyfriend stepped forward. The guy was tall and really muscular. Lance was sure that the scar on his nose made him seem more terrifying, though Lance just thought it added to his hotness. Sure enough, the man took his cup and stormed out. Lance finally felt like he could breathe.

“Hey, are you ok?” he looked up to see the taller man. His mind finally put a name to the face, Shiro. He had gotten his name from him whenever writing down names, he was surprised he forgot. Maybe his mind was a bit more frazzled than he thought.

“Uh, yeah. Um, thank you.”

“You looked overwhelmed. I’m glad we were able to help a bit.” Shiro said. His boyfriend, Keith –what was with his head supplying the names so late? – didn’t look as mad before, but still looked slightly annoyed.

“I really hate it when assholes think they can just get away with stuff like that.” Keith said.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Shiro asked

Lance nodded, “I’m fine. Thanks.”

Hunk came out from the kitchen, “I heard yelling. What happened?”

“Just a rude customer. I got it, don’t worry.” Lance said, calming Hunk down before he turned back to the other two. “What can I get for you? On the house for helping me.”

“Oh, that’s really not necessary.” Shiro said

“Please, it’s the least I can do. Plus I barely use the free employee discount I’m given anyway.”

“Are you sure?” at Lance nod, Shiro continued, “Ok, but I’m still getting my regular. Passion fruit frappe, for Shiro.”

“Peppermint latte for Keith.”

“Ok, passion fruit frappe for Shiro and peppermint latte for Keith. Alright, I’ll bring it over when it’s done.” The two went to their regular table, while Hunk pulled Lance away a bit.

“I was gone for two minutes to help Coran, what happened? Was it that weird guy with the shifty eyes?”

“Basically this customer was being really rude and yelling and my mind was already frazzled so I kinda almost broke down if they hadn’t come and saved me.” Lance explained

“And of course you offered free coffee. Please tell me you’ll try and ask them out. Trust me, normal people would jump for free stuff. They didn’t until you insisted.”

Lance looked over his shoulder to where the table was. He saw Keith glance at him before continuing to talk to Shiro. “We’ll see. Can you help me with the drinks?” the machinery was a bit closer to their table, so Lance was able to hear the tones of Japanese come to his ears. Lance knew it seemed rude after they helped but him, but he slipped back into the habit of eavesdropping.

“You can get really protective can’t you?”

“He looked like he was about to cry. I didn’t want to see that on him. He always has a smile. One that makes his eyes shine.”

Wait, where they talking about him?

“They do shine don’t they? It looks like the ocean. He’s pretty cute, which is why we should you know…”

Tell him he wasn’t hearing things? Were they talking about him? And saying he was cute?

“Hunk,” he whispered, “I think they’re talking about me. They mentioned Keith saving me and my ‘shiny blue eyes’. I think they called me cute.”

“Why do you look so surprised?” Hunk asked as he started pouring Shiro’s finished drink into the cup. “You always call yourself cute and so do I.”

“There’s a difference between the two hottest guys I’ve been crushing on since I met them and my best bro, who I love deeply.”

“Glad I feel special.” Hunk joked, spraying whip cream on.

“Are we going to ask him out?” Shiro asked

Keith let out a sigh and it took everything not to turn around to see his face. “I do, I really do, but I’d rather wait until before we’re about to leave in case he’s not into us.”

“I’m sure that our favourite barista is.”

“Ok. Now I’m pretty sure it’s me they’re talking about.” So they were interested in him. Lance couldn’t help the giddy smile on his face.

“Wait, really? You didn’t mix words up?”

“I really hope not. Actually, I have an idea. Are you done with Shiro’s?”

“Yeah. But what are you planning?” Hunk asked, handing the cup over.

“Trust me, if I tell you, I might talk myself out of it, or you’ll try and I might let you.” Lance carried the two drinks over to the table. The two stopped talking when Lance approached.

“Hai, dozo.” Lance said in Japanese, as he set the cups down. The two started responding in Japanese but stopped before looking right at him. “Just so you know, I’ve been studying Japanese for the past two years. I do feel bad for eavesdropping but I’m not upset about what I heard.”

The two stared at him before Keith hid his face in his hands, “of course you understood us. Why not add to my embarrassment?”

“If it makes you feel better, I had my fingers crossed that you were actually talking about me or this conversation would be really weird. But just so you don’t have to wait, I am interest in going out with you two. If that’s what you were getting at?”

“Yes, actually. We’ve wanted to ask you for a while, but we’ve actually gotten a bit shy. After seeing you today, we decided we were going to ask today, but it seems that you beat us to it.” Shiro explained, his face actually looking a bit red. Keith was still hiding his face. The guy might be willing to yell at strangers, but it was cute to see him so flustered. “So, where did you learn, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Oh, I’m minoring in Japanese at Voltron University.”

“Wait, you go to Voltron? How come we’ve never seen you?” Keith asked, immerging from his palms.

“Well I major in childhood education, so that might be why.”

“Let’s not forget we live off campus Keith. You barely want to be on campus as much as it is. In fact, did you want to come to our house for dinner of Friday? I think it’ll be a good excuse to avoid everyone and still be together, since it’s Valentine’s Day. I’m even willing to pull out Japanese recipes.”

“You can cook whatever you want. I’ll just bring a ton of chocolate.”

Keith swiped the sharpie attached to Lance apron and wrote a number down on a napkin before handing both items to Lance. “That’s my number. Text tonight so we can fill out the details?”

The same giddy smile made it back to Lance’s face as he took the items from Keith. “Sure. I’ll leave you to it.” He gave them both a smile before heading back behind the counter. Hunk was giving him a knowing look.

“Well that went really well.”

“I did not want to embarrass myself like that.” He heard Keith moan.

“He said yes, so let’s be thankful for that.”

Word Count: 1, 080

Summary: Keith is an insomniac in the wintertime. Lance is a cheery barista with a flirty side.

Word Count: 617

Summary: "Um, are you still open?"

Lance looked from where he was kneeling on the floor in front of small fridge to see who had spoken. There was a guy in a, honestly, dorky red jacket and black skinny jeans, with dark hair a little to similar to a mullet. Despite the questionable fashion choices, the boy was fairly cute.

Word Count: 7, 201

Summary: Keith is an employee at Galra Pastries, a local bakery he was forced to work with under the advising of his brother Shiro. While he hates his job, he certainly does not hate the person it introduces to him

Word Count: 1, 984

Summary: Keith is crushing on cafe employee and highschool graduate mate Lance. Lance is just trying his best. They have barely spoken in all the time they've known each other. What's a better time to talk than being trapped in a snow storm with no power together?

Word Count: 4, 569 

Word Count: 4, 870

Summary: Lance works at a coffee shop and he likes his job. That is, until his new coworker arrives: actual human nightmare Keith Kogane.

(And if anyone asks Lance whether he's attracted to said coworker, well that's between him and his own fantasies, thank you very much).