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Arthur sighed as he wiped down tables, exhaustion heavy on his shoulders and boredom weighing down his eyelids. He’d been working extra shifts at the local 24/7 coffee shop to pay for holiday gifts. It wasn’t ideal, but after a few years of making money by himself since being cut off by his father, he was used to it.
It was the same every year for the past three.
He’d take normal morning shifts like he was scheduled, then he’d pick up the late night and before-dawn shifts no one else wanted to.
The holiday season made working at the coffee shop worse than usual. Older women and men coming in, demanding their perfect orders, and throwing a fit when it was one degree off in temperature or Arthur tried to explain that no, sir, we don’t serve the seasonal pumpkin lattes anymore.
It was quieter during the night shifts, though, the only people coming in being mostly other people who worked night shifts. Arthur liked them. They were kinder, more patient. They got it; they knew the exhaustion of the night shift—understood. He appreciated them. They were why he didn’t mind taking the night shifts…until the exhaustion kicked in.
Arthur’s hands moved at a snail’s pace as he cleaned off the few used tables from earlier, dragging his feet as he moved around. By the time he finally made it back behind the counter again, considering cleaning the espresso machine to pass the time [despite having just cleaned it], he was just about ready to collapse into a puddle and sleep for a decade. Maybe fifteen.
Briefly, he considered locking the door and curling up in the back for a nap. No one would have to know, he rationalised. It would just be a one-time thing. It was almost one in the morning; he could get away with it. He deserved it! He’d been working hard.
In the end, though, before he could succumb to his wants, the bell above the door chimed and Arthur had to suppress a tired groan. Despite his disappointment, though, he straightened up his posture, popped a tight smile on his face, and walked over to the register—meeting the customer right as he got to the counter.
“Hello, welcome to Camelot Coffee. How can I help—” Arthur’s voice cut off, breath catching as his eyes met the deep blue gaze of the man across the counter. His heart fluttered in his chest and a light heat rose to his face. “—you…”
The man was breathtaking.
His hair was dark and messy, and his cheekbones were strong and his lips—were moving. Oh, his lips were moving...? Oh! Arthur snapped out of his daze with wide eyes at the realisation the man was talking. His flush only deepened when he also realised he hadn’t heard a word the customer had said.
“I’m—could you…repeat that?” Arthur found himself asking, a touch of uncertainty in his voice. Only slightly embarrassed. The customer cocked an eyebrow, so Arthur let out a small chuckle, tacking on to the end, “Sorry, been a long night.”
A sort of recognition dawned in his captivating eyes before he chuckled, a wry grin pulling at his lips. “I’ve been there. I’m a nurse over at Albion gen’s emergency department—” It was only then Arthur noticed his dark-coloured scrubs. He cringed internally. “—long nights are…kind of our thing.”
Silently, he chastised himself. Complaining about long nights to a nurse. Gods, he was probably exhausted. Now that Arthur was paying closer attention to the customer, he looked exhausted. Arthur bit his lip lightly, eyes flicking to the register before back to the nurse.
“Right,” he chuckled awkwardly, “med—that’s a stressful field.” What was he saying? What was he saying? “What was your order again?”
“Largest caramel macchiato you can make with three extra shots,” the nurse told him, something like amusement in his voice.
Arthur nodded and quickly punched the order into the register. “Name for the order?”
Normally, he would have only asked if there were many other customers, so he made sure the drink got to the right person. It wasn’t necessary at the moment, though, since he was the only person there. It was, however, necessary in the sense that… Arthur really wanted to know his name.
And maybe he was more transparent than he thought because the nurse just smirked and tilted his head. “Merlin,” he told him, before letting his eyes fall to the name tag on Arthur’s front. He snorted softly when he read it. “Arthur—your name is—oh, gods. The sleep deprivation is getting to me. Your name is Arthur? Like the King?”
“It’s a normal, very common name!” Arthur defended as he input the name for the sticker, “Merlin on the other hand… Your total comes to five twenty-three.”
“My mother was an ornithologist, and it’s a perfectly respectable name,” Merlin shot back as he dug around in his pockets. His face dropped after a moment, and he looked back to Arthur mournfully—absolutely heartbroken. And when he spoke, his voice was so defeated. “I left my wallet in my locker…”
Arthur’s heart clenched. Poor guy… He’d probably been working all night—this was probably the only break he’d get if the hospital was as busy as it normally was… He’d never be able to make it there and back to grab his wallet before being back on the clock. Arthur watched as Merlin’s shoulders sagged and really, that was all it took for him to decide.
“Hey,” he said, smiling his most charming smile. Merlin’s eyes flitted up to Arthur’s face, curious and sad. “It’s on the house—” he cleared the order as he spoke, “—don’t even worry about it. Go grab a seat and I’ll cover the cost.”
Merlin’s face lit up and Arthur’s heart stuttered at the sight. Distantly, he wondered how inappropriate it would be to ask out a customer on the job.
“Are you sure?” Merlin asked, “I can just—”
“No, it’s no issue, really.” Morgana would understand why her present wasn’t as expensive this year. She’s always been way too invested in his love life anyway. Not…that this had anything to do with his love life. No, he was just helping a customer. A nurse.
Arthur cleared his throat and pointed over to a small group of tables. “I just cleaned those tables over there if you want a freshly sanitised one.”
“Thank you,” Merlin sighed, “really. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing, seriously,” Arthur smiled. Merlin gave stared at him for a moment, lips pulled into a soft smile and an indiscernible look in his eyes. He opened his mouth, as if to speak, then closed it again and shook his head before walking off towards the tables Arthur motioned to.
Arthur watched him, eyes lower than perhaps professional. Only once he sat down and turned to stare out the window at the dark streets outside, did Arthur push away from the counter and get to work on Merlin’s order.
It was a rather simple order compared to others he had to make—he was done fast. As he stepped around the counter to carry the drink over to him, though, Arthur paused. His eyes locked onto the napkins sitting on the customer’s side of the counter. A risky idea fluttering through his thoughts.
Arthur glanced back to Merlin. He was still staring out the window, blissfully unaware of Arthur’s internal debate. When Arthur noticed his head drooping and his shoulders relaxed, his stomach flipped, realising Merlin was dozing off. It was so endearing…
It gave him the confidence he needed.
Setting the coffee down on the counter, Arthur tore a napkin out of the dispenser. Then, he slipped back around the counter and dug around by the register for a pen, stifling a victory cry when he found one. His hand shook only slightly as he pressed the napkin against the counter and tapped the pen tip to the paper of it.
He began to slowly write out the words on his mind, only to stop himself halfway through. Arthur stared down at the loopy handwriting spelling out ‘will you go out’ and cringed. What was he doing?
This wasn’t a cheesy romance movie…
There was no way this would work. If anything, it would just weird Merlin out…
Arthur sighed and dropped the pen aside before crumpling the napkin and tossing it in the nearest under-the-counter bin. Stupid idea cast aside, he rolled his shoulders and grabbed the coffee once more. This time, he completed his trip over to Merlin and set the cup down gently.
“Merlin,” he said, clearing his throat. He had to suppress a small laugh when the nurse startled awake, almost falling out of his chair. “Your drink.”
Silence filled the small coffee shop for a moment, before Merlin finally looked to the cup on the table and grinned. “Oh! Right, thank you. Sorry—long night.”
Maybe it was the teasing tone to his voice, but Arthur was nearly positive he was making fun of Arthur’s earlier words. So, taking a chance, Arthur snorted softly and crossed his arms.
“I’ve been there.”
It was the right thing to say, he found out much to his relief. Merlin’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he laughed, shaking his head. It was one of the loveliest sounds Arthur had ever heard. His heart thudded madly in his chest. It was horrible of him to fall so hard and so fast for a random customer, but he couldn’t help the way Merlin’s bright grin made him swoon like a medieval maiden.
“Hey,” Merlin said after composing himself, a curious but nervous tone to his voice.
Arthur straightened up, dropping his arms to hang at his sides. Attention piqued.
Merlin hesitated. He reached out and grabbed his drink, staring at the black lid as he bit his lip. The air around them was fragile and Arthur couldn’t help but hold his breath. Nervous. Had he noticed how Arthur had looked at him? Was he trying to find a way to tell him? Was he going to complain?
“I—know this is probably odd for me to ask,” he finally continued, laughing softly—awkwardly, “but ah… Would you maybe want to grab breakfast, later? We could go to the café down the street, and I won’t forget my wallet then, so I can pay and…make up for letting you pay for my drink.”
Arthur’s heart skipped.
For a moment, he was unsure he heard right. Unable to believe it. Yet, Merlin didn’t take it back or laugh. He just stared up at him with hopeful eyes from where he sat at the table.
“Like…as a date?” he asked, quiet—almost whispering.
“I-I mean, not if that’s…weird?” Merlin laughed, holding his cup tightly on the table.
“No! No, I mean, I don’t think it’s weird,” Arthur assured him, “honestly, I was…thinking of asking you out myself, but I thought you’d think it was strange because I’m a stranger.”
“We all start as strangers, don’t we?” Merlin shrugged. “How are we meant to become more if we don’t take that step. Yeah, I’d like to take you on a breakfast date. When you get off your shift—if you’d like.”
Arthur bit back a grin, trying to keep his composure. It was very hard considering he’d been practically drooling over the man since he’d walked in. “I would like that. I think that would be very nice. I get off at six.”
Merlin looked down to his cup, smiling in a soft way that made Arthur feel beyond lucky he was given the chance to meet him. He pushed himself to his feet, gently shoving the chair back as he did.
“I should get back to the hospital,” he explained, voice soft. “I’ll meet you here at half past six to go to the café?”
Arthur nodded. “It’s a date.”
“It’s a date,” Merlin agreed. “Thank you for the coffee.”
Then, he walked out the door, a small bounce in his step. Arthur watched him through the window, excitement thrumming in his veins for his date and newfound energy to finish his shift. Once he could no longer see Merlin walking away, he turned and walked back to the counter, grinning ear to ear.
Maybe he would clean the espresso machine again now to pass the time…