#himbo!

Pining in a Coffee Shop

The sounds of chatter and clacking of cups and silverware, most people would associate with a higher society party, but the warm and welcoming atmosphere was made to reassure otherwise. It was a comforting reminder of the change in atmosphere, and attitude. The smell of coffee and pastries were potent, and you could only smile larger as your favorite customer approached the counter. 

“The usual?”  You asked, turning to the register and already typing in the order. 

In front you was none other than Sans, a skeleton monster that towered over you and just about everyone else in the small shop you worked in. Sometimes you wondered how he even squeezed his large form into the doors of the shop. He was just as wide as he was tall, and seeing how his black and red, pressed suit was perfectly unwrinkled, you could only guess. 

He wore a nervous grin, a little tighter than his usual one, and you could see sweat slowly start to form on his skull as his bright red eye lights darted too and fro. “yeah, yeah. the usual.” Whatever confidence he usually had while ordering was absolutely gone, and you couldn’t help but worry. 

Sans was the air-headed type. Despite that he wore that fancy suit and usually a hat to match, along with his sharp grin and teeth, he was always very kind to you and the other patrons of the shop. He was a big pushover, and couldn’t ask for extra cream or sugar without getting nervous. Sometimes he would blank out when you asked a question, and you found him stumbling around your shop to avoid bumping into others or objects often. For being such a behemoth of a man, he wasn’t as scary as he seemed, as long as you watched him for a few minutes longer. 

When you first met him, he fumbled with the tiny coffee cup, and seeing the way his eye lights bugged out when he almost dropped it, was enough to cause you to stifle giggles. His face immediately erupted into a hue of ruby red and he tried to stutter out something to convince you that he wasn’t as much of a mess as he seemed. And from there, you two hit it off. 

Sans was an absolute sweetheart. He would always tell you a new joke whenever he visited your shop, and when you asked why, he would always respond with “i jus’ like to see a smile on yer’  pretty face.” Both of you were immediately flustered by the comment, and turned away with pink tints, not long after. It was safe to say you were crushing on him for a long while because of his sweetness. 

But he had been enamored with you for so much longer. 

It was likely you didn’t remember him, considering that it was dark and humans didn’t have the same night vision that most monsters had, but he remembered the night you stood up for one of his lackeys in a back-alley. The kid was around 17 and a part of Sans wished he didn’t have to take them in; they were a dreadful reminder of times that were less than savory to him. They’d gotten themselves into a scuffle that was a little more than they could handle, and when you showed up with your pepper spray and curse words, he could only watch in shock as you chased away the would-be winner. You picked the teen up, dusted them off, and patched them up with what little light you had in that alley. The kid whined and complained and cursed at you constantly, insisting that they didn’t need help, but you weren’t having any of it. 

“I don’t care!” You cried with determination set in your expression, highlighted by the moonlight. “You can act tough all you want, but at the end of the day, if I hadn’t come in to help, you would be beaten to a pulp, or dead. Whether or not you wanna admit that, I don’t care. What matters now, is that you learn from this event, got it? Don’t go picking fights, you dumbass. You’re still young. Don’t become a tragedy. The world has too many of those already.” 

Your lecture shut them up quickly, and you bid them goodbye as soon as you finished wiping away the blood from their nose. When you were finally out of sight, Sans appeared from the shadows, glad that you’d taught them the lesson that Sans was about to for him, and entranced by the tough love you’d applied to a stranger. Not to mention the tears that rolled off the teenager’s face as they pondered your words with a warm feeling in their chest that they’d almost forgotten. 

“m’ guessing i ain’t gotta tell ya anythin’ right?” Sans asked, just in case. He earned a curt nod. “good. don’t think ya would’ve listened to me ‘nless ya gotten yer’ ass beat anyway. lucky you.” 

It was by chance that he’d stumbled across you again, in this quaint little shop he’d never batted a socket to. He was doing a coffee run for his brother, a task usually left for their lackeys, but Papyrus wanted to make sure they didn’t get his order wrong again, and it wasn’t as if Sans was doing anything. So when he found you again, all wide-eyed and smiles in this little shop in broad daylight. He fell, hard. 

You were everything he didn’t know he wanted. Bright and sunny, funny, magnetic. Talking to you was the easiest thing he’d done in such a long time, and he found himself coming back again and again. Lucky for him that Papyrus absolutely loved your coffee. Unluckily for him, he found himself stumbling over his words every time you laughed at one of his dumb jokes. No one laughed at his jokes unless they were pressured into it, or they were asking for something from him, but you? You didn’t know who he was. What he was. Your laughs were genuine, and he loved every single one. 

He could go on for hours about how much he adored you, but today, he was on a mission. Today he would finally muster up the courage to ask you on a date. Of course, he’d said that the last four times he’d visited, but this time he had the teenager you saved giving him a thumbs up. Cedar, they called themselves, was looking in through a window from outside, making motions to encourage him as his gaze flickered to the window, back to you, and then the floor. He felt like an idiot. He always did whenever you were around. His mind would suddenly shut down, his metaphorical tongue would go lax, and his hands would stop working the way he wanted them too. He always made a fool of himself in front of you, but you only called him all the more “charming”. 

“Sans?” You knitted your eyebrows together as you waved your hand in front of his face. “Are you ok? You look a little pale, are you sick?” He was ready to just - abort the whole “mission” he and Cedar came up with. You were too much - too kind to him, too innocent - you shouldn’t be tainted by him or what he was capable of. 

“Harry, cover for me for a bit would you?” You took off your apron and moved around the counter before he could even process what was going on. You took his hand, dragged him to a corner table by a window, and sat him down, placing a hot cup of hot chocolate in front of him. “I thought maybe coffee wouldn’t be the best idea if you weren’t feeling too well. I hope you still like marshmallows, even if it is a little early in the morning.” You took a seat across from him and patted his hand. “Sans, are you ok?” You asked again. 

Gods, he just wanted to tell you now. How much he cared about you. How much he wanted to keep you safe. How much he loved you. But instead… “darlin’ i uh - uh…” He felt his shoulders tense up. shit, shit, shit! The world was really against him on this one huh? Not that he would blame it. “ya’ really ain’t need to do this fer’ me.” He was stalling, and he could see Cedar from the window behind you, staring at the two of you with wide eyes, watching his every movement. Usually he did pretty well under pressure, but Cedar was definitely not helping. “i ain’t even paid for this-” He gestured to the cup in front of him, but you shut him up quickly. 

“It doesn’t matter.” You straightened your back a little as you looked him in the eye sockets. “I paid for it for you. You always left me such a big tip, that I was starting to think I was a sugar baby!” You were only joking, but Sans would have choked on that hot chocolate if he had started drinking it. You saw the distressed look on Sans’ face and chuckled. “I’m joking, but seriously, what’s wrong?” 

“n-nothin’ much darlin’, just uh-... well, i was wonderin’.” Why was this so difficult? You were the sweetest thing in this whole cafe, why was he so worried about this leaving a bitter taste in his mouth?

“OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE!” The sound of the door slamming open with the little bell jingling intensely caused Sans to jolt out of his seat and stand protectively in front of you. For a moment, he switched from your teddy bear of a friend, to the mafia boss he was infamously known as. Only for it to fall away a second later when he saw just who had burst through the door. 

Cedar stormed up to him and grabbed him by the shirt, which was really just near the bottom of his ribcage, and shook him with as much strength they could muster. “JUST ASK THEM OUT ALREADY! This shit is painful to watch!” They hissed. 

“Wh- what’s going on?” You stood from your seat, startled by the teen’s sudden appearance and the statement that made your cheeks flush a little pink. 

“buddy, i thought i told ya not to-” Sans cursed under his breath, but couldn’t stop from turning red as you stared at him expectantly. 

Cedar let go of his shirt, but stepped back and gestured to you dramatically. “I ain’t gonna wait here all day!” They cried, throwing their hands up. 

“Sans?” You glanced up at him again, and the skeleton could only feel his mind blank out more. You were so cute, looking up at him with that attentive, flushed stare. You looked almost… hopeful? M-maybe… maybe you liked him too? 

He felt the giddiness from the months and months of pining he’d done begin to surface, and soon he was wearing that shaky grin again. “uh... w-would you go out with me?” His voice cracked, and he shrunk into himself a little bit. 

Cedar looked at him with wide eyes. Sans was a mafia boss, known for his ruthlessness and cunning. When did he suddenly turn into a middle schooler with a crush? They knew he had it bad, but they didn’t think it was this bad. Even Sans was screaming internally at his embarrassing delivery of the question. 

“Pfttt…” You covered your mouth with one hand, but Sans could see the joy sparkling in your eyes. Soon enough you went from stifling your giggles to laughing freely. He didn’t know how to take it, considering that you had yet to answer. Of course, he didn’t think you were cruel enough to laugh at him for asking, but there was always that nagging voice at the back of his mind. 

“S-Sans, you absolute doofus.” You sputtered, wiping away a tear of laughter from your eye. “That’s what you’ve been nervous about for weeks??” 

His shoulders tensed, his eye sockets wide. “y-ya’ knew i was nervous before too??” His face flushed a little redder. 

“Of course!” You placed your hands on your hips. “You were my friend. Of course I would notice if you suddenly started acting weird.” 

His mind stalled, staring at you in shock, before it turned to wonder, then confliction. “wait - were?” You could hear the worry in his voice. 

“Yes, ‘were’.” You crossed your arms. “I’m not your friend anymore.” You paused for dramatic effect, but couldn’t stop your smile from breaking through. “I’m your new datemate.” 

You could see as his mind stalled, processing your statement.

One…

Two…

Three…

A dopey grin broke out wide enough to stretch across his whole face, and before you knew what happened, you were suddenly swept up into his arms and into a bear crushing hug. 

“ya’ really mean it? really? ya’ ain’t pullin’ my leg or nothin’?” His eye lights were so bright that you could barely look right at them. 

“Yes, I mean it, you dork!” You chuckled. 

You could have sworn you saw his eye lights switch to hearts before he smothered you in a tighter embrace again.

…

And then there was the sudden eruption of clapping and cries of encouragement. It seemed as though the entire shop had seen your little interaction and confession, and Harry stared at you smuggly from the other side of the counter, clearly the one who started the cheering. 

Both of you erupted into pink-red blushes, embarrassment spreading thickly over you in realization of the scene you’d both made. 

“so... how’s dinner next week sound?” He asked you in a more hushed tone as he set you down into your seat, his cheeks still not clear of color. 

“It sounds great.” Your face was still red hot as well. 

…

Everything was going perfectly! Now, all Sans had to do was to make sure you stayed far far away from his line of work.