Coffee Shop AU

[automatmods]

COFFEE SHOP

An absolute staple. No matter what side of the counter you're on, the coffee shop is the absolute center of your life. Whether you're a barista, or just camped out in the corner with the good outlet while you write your novel. Perhaps you just really want to tell the cute person behind the counter that you've loved them since they gave you that coffee six months ago. Or you're overwhelmed with orders and nothing is going right. For good or bad, everyone needs their caffiene. ♨ Post a top level with your character and canon. Include any preferences you may have. If you're feeling bold, write a starter! ♨ Tag around, make your own world. ♨ Please mark any potentially triggering content

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[lacunas]

[ Coffee tastes different than it did in the 1930s and vastly different than it did during the war when rationing was everything. It's less like tar or watered down tar, and actually tasty. Especially when it's got heaps of sugar and cream — none of that non-fat or soymilk bullshit for Bucky Barnes.

Caffeine doesn't actually affect him anymore, not with everything Hydra did to him, but it's habit and routine and even though it tastes different, a reminder of easier times. Well. It still had been rough, what with the Depression and then the war and all, but he'd been whole. Had family, friends, a mind that didn't leak and the nightmares had been manageable. He wants to capture a little of that, hold on to what memories he can.

So now, he finds his way down to the StarkBucks as Steve's nearing the end of his run, orders a black coffee with room for cream (and liberally pours in the cream and goes through enough packets of sugar that the baristas have to restock the bar) and waits for Steve to return. It's still too early for him, but he likes seeing Steve wander in, likes knowing Steve's okay.

Bucky settles into a corner where he can see all the exits and waits. ]

[about45seconds]

Some mornings Steve got a late enough start that he didn't get back from his run until after the first school field trip tour had started, which sometimes meant that he was accosted by elementary school kids as soon as he was through the doors to the lobby.

Sometimes he even did this on purpose.

Today, however, he'd gotten an earlier start than usual, and on his way out had waved to the barista in charge of the opening shift before anyone else had really gotten to work, let her know that he'd be back in a couple hours for his usual and had gone on his way. Almost two hours exactly he was back through the lobby doors and practically bounding down the three wide stairs to the cafe. He actually missed Bucky on his first visual sweep, but caught sight of him on the second, once he'd actually made his order, grinning easily over at him before quietly ordering a second muffin on the same plate.

He carried his coffee -some fluffy thing with chocolate and whipped cream and cinnamon- and the plate with the muffins over, sliding in across from Bucky, automatically sitting at a careful angle so as not to block direct line of sight to the exits, "Morning."

[lacunas]

Bucky knew that grin, which meant he wasn't surprised when there were two muffins on the plate Steve carried over. He didn't immediately reach for it, however; some habits were hard to break, now that he'd gotten his memories back, and making sure Steve ate was one of those habits.

Still, he looked over the coffee Steve bought, leaning over to sniff it, inhaling the scent of chocolate and cinnamon. "You're a disgrace, Steve," he said, his voice teasing. "Drinking these fancy things, all that sugar and whipped cream."

Bucky's coffee probably had just as much sugar in it, so he shouldn't really talk, but really. What was the problem with regular coffee?

[about45seconds]

He laughed, defending his choice even as he broke both muffins -one lemon and one blueberry- in half, "Hey, if the caffeine isn't actually going to do anything for me, I figure I should at least enjoy the taste."

Sure, it was essentially a hot chocolate with a couple shots of espresso in it, which could hit him, sometimes, if he hadn't eaten, or had lost a lot of blood, but both of those things were rare, "Though, anything's better than the pondwater they tried to tell us was coffee in the mess." And there had been jokes about it being pondwater even at the time.

[lacunas]

"Nothing wrong with good ol' coffee, sugar, and milk." He smiled at Steve across the plate of muffins, pulling his cup of coffee closer, inhaling the smell and taking a sip as Steve split the muffins.

"Steve, actual pondwater beat out that crap." And crap it had been, the pot stretched thin, refilled with what probably was pondwater in order to last the entire day. And sometimes longer. "Gotta give it to the future, they have managed to make coffee taste better and cigarettes unhealthy."

[about45seconds]

"Pretty sure they were still unhealthy then, we just didn't know it." He shook his head, talking around a bite of muffin, "Though we probably should have realized that a 'protective coating of tar' on the inside of your lungs wasn't a good thing."

Another head shake, "The one that always gets me is the bacon. Regular bacon's unhealthy now, so we've got seven other things they call bacon but aren't, and then things like 'rustic' bacon, which is almost what we used to have."

[lacunas]

"Not that it matters much for us," Bucky points out. "At least now." He doubts cigarettes would have any effect on either of them, even with the butchered version of the serum Bucky has.

He smiles at Steve over the muffins, picking at one of the halves. It's tasty, and he's savoring it, and also watching how much Steve is eating. Easier to do that. "Going to the store and trying to figure out what the hell to buy when I want bacon and eggs is a nightmare." And not just because of the people. "All these choices. It's a wonder people can make any decisions."

[about45seconds]

Steve knew he was being watched as far as making sure he got enough to eat, which was part of why he was eating at a steady pace, not just inhaling half of each muffin and not picking at them, either.

He nodded at the edge of an oncoming rant, because it was one he was familiar with, one he'd had himself once or twice, "I'll tell you what though," He said around a mouthful of muffin, barely finishing swallowing it before he continued, "Bodega on the corner's still going to be a bodega, got everything you need in there." Mostly he'd been thrilled to find out that they still existed and were much the same as they had been, even if they weren't quite as prolific as they had been.

[lacunas]

It was an old habit returning and it wasn't really one he was going to try to break. Steve still needed people to watch out for him, as far as Bucky was concerned.

"Complete with the grumpy owner and the cats," he agreed, another faint smile touching his lips. He liked those bodegas, they were easier to deal with and familiar. "At least a few things haven't changed that much since we was kids."

He fell quiet, picking at the muffin, eating it a little slower than Steve was eating his half.

"How was your run this morning?"

[about45seconds]

"Like you didn't have half the owners in the old neighborhood charmed." He replied to the first. Steve, on the other hand, had always been friends with the cats. Of course, most of the owners knew him as Sarah Rogers' boy and were friendly towards him by extension, which usually worked out in his favor.

He nodded at the question, however, "It was good. Went up to the park instead of down towards the river." He tended to like taking his run along the riverfront later in the season, towards fall when it wasn't as busy with tourists. Granted, the park was full of them any time of year, but most of them stayed off the jogging paths, and he appreciated that.

[lacunas]

"Only half? Please, Steve, I had most of them wrapped around my finger, would hit them with the old Barnes smile." He grinned at Steve, some of that old smile coming back for a moment or two. It was hard to keep it up, with the weight of everything on his shoulders, but in these moments with Steve, he could manage. They were just two friends, reminiscing.

"The park?" Bucky made a soft sound under his breath, looking out the windows that faced the street, and made a mental note to go check out the park, just do a casual search around the place. "Maybe one of these days I'll drag myself outta bed early enough to join you."

[about45seconds]

"The day you're willingly out of bed that early is the day I start to actually worry." He replied, teasing. though, like any tease there was an edge of truth to it, because being awake that early because of nightmares, or still being up that early after a mission didn't count, those were different categories of being up as early as Steve went for a run.

He probably wouldn't actually worry, at least not for long, but he knew that Bucky liked to sleep in as much as he could, and Steve didn't begrudge him that.

[lacunas]

"Are you implying I'm lazy, Rogers?" Bucky's voice was just as teasing. And truth was, he was unlikely to get out of bed early. He'd earned his rest, as far as Bucky saw it.

"Finish your coffee. Want anything else?" The muffins hadn't been much, and Bucky knows Steve needs to eat quite a bit, thanks to the serum.

[about45seconds]

He shook his head, "I'm alright, I'll make some actual breakfast when we get upstairs." Mostly the muffins had been to make sure Bucky ate something, as well as to keep his energy from flagging before he even managed to make himself the actual breakfast.

"I'm thinking spinach and cheese omelettes, bacon, maybe some toast. Some of the berries if there's any left." He couldn't remember if he'd seen them in the fridge when he'd pulled out a water bottle for his run or not.

[lacunas]

Bucky nodded, in complete agreement with that — muffins hardly made a decent breakfast and certainly weren't enough to hold either of them over until lunch.

"There's uh, no more berries." Bucky ducked his head, pushing away his cup and standing up. There had only been a small handful left, and he'd finished them off. "Sorry."

[about45seconds]

"That's fine." He replied with a smile, "They weren't going to last much longer anyway." And better they'd been eaten than having to be thrown out. Even now, or perhaps especially now, Steve hated to waste food.

Steve took the last sip of his coffee before unfolding to his feet, scooping up both cup and plate from the muffins to leave in the bin next to the counter. He knew someone would clear them away eventually, but since it was easy enough for him to do on his way out, he always did.

He bumped Bucky's shoulder lightly with his own, "Think I can trust you to make the toast while I deal with the eggs?"