#tbh this is garbage

this isn’t exaclty the prompt but it kind of ran away from me oops….

Shiro blinked, sleeping still clouding his vision. God, he didn’t even like coffee, butthere was no way he was going to survive his 7 am exam after pulling an all-nighterwithout at least some caffeineflooding his system.

The line moved forward, and yes, finally, it was Shiro’s turn to order.

“Hi, what can I get you?” Chirped a voice that was far too enthusiastic for the morning.Shiro looked up, his eyes finally focusing, and wow this guy was cute. Brightblue eyes crinkled at the ends thanks to the large smile plastered on his face.His tan skin looked soft to the touch, and ohhow Shiro wanted to touch it. His brown hair was messy, covered by theridiculous baseball cap with the company logo the employees were required towear. “Um?”

Shiro shook his head, eyeing the other man’s nametag, “Hi,sorry, a large caramel macchiato?”

Lance giggled, grabbing a cup. “Name?”

“Shiro.”

The barista nodded and copied the name down, rattling offthe price while he did so. Shiro handed him two dollars and murmured for him to“keep the change.”

Shiro went to the other side of the bar and waited for hiscoffee, his head in his hands. He should have flirted. Then again, he hadn’t gottennearly enough sleep and was about to take an exam. He could just come backtomorrow, right?

Shiro went back two days later, finally having caught up onsleep, and ready to flirt, but the coffee shop was busy, and didn’t want tobother Lance when he was busy.

And so, a pattern formed. Shiro went to the coffee shoptwice a week before his early class. Always, Lance was either too busy, orShiro was too tired to flirt properly, although he had managed to slip in some flirtatiouslines here and there, always making the other man blush briefly.

But the finally, one blessed day, Shiro finally had the opportunity and wit to impress Lance. He saunteredinto the café, strode right up to the counter, where there had luckily been noline, and said, “I like my coffee how I like my men: hot and tan.”

Lance blinked, comprehending what Shiro had just said. Aheartbeat passed, then another, then Lance tilted his head back and laughed,long and loud, drawing the attention from the other employees behind thecounter making coffee.

“Oh, man. You’ve been here for weeks, and that’s thefirst non-coffee related thing you say to me?” He laughed.

Shiro blushed, “Uh, um, yes?” Oh god, how could he have been so stupid. Lance was probably not intoguys, especially ones that hit on him while he’s working. He was soembarrassed. “Okay, sorry, nevermind. Just give me a medium caramel macchiato,please,” Shiro flung a few dollars onto the counter and bolted from the otherman’s laughter.

Shiro sat down at a table and buried his head in his hands,mortified. He replayed the interaction in his head for the next few minutesuntil he heard the chair across from him move.

“I prefer my men like hazelnut coffee, personally,” Lance’svoice came from across the table, “strong and a little bit nutty.”

Shiro looked up to see the other man smiling shyly at him,holding a to-go cup for Shiro. Shiro blinked a few times, sure his eyes were playingtricks.

“I didn’t mind that though, but you may need to work on yourdelivery a bit. You can try again next time if you’d like?” Lance held out thecoffee. Shiro took it, still silent in shock.

With one last smile, Lance went back to work, and Shiropulled himself away from the table and headed to class. He looked down at thecup, ready to take a sip and saw black marks written on the cup.

Lance loved early mornings, before anyone else was awake, and the only sounds were those of the mice scampering around the counters. Lance may not enjoy waking up early, but he was very much a fan of the way everything felt prior to the rest of the team, and today he had a reason for being awake before everyone else.

A month ago, after a mission where Keith had gotten hurt, feeling had spilled between he, Lance, and Shiro, the blue and black paladins having bonded over their mutual love for the other man while he was in a cryopod. When he had finally come out, safe, if not a little cold, Shiro had picked him up and carried him to Keith’s room, Lance following close behind. Shiro had set him on his bed and lay next to him, Lance climbing into the bed on the other side, and both men held Keith together until he was warm and Hunk had brought them all food. They had spent the night talking about affection, which had made Keith slightly uncomfortable, but by morning, Lance had two beautiful, awkward, and overall incredible boyfriends.