Work Text:
Hinata definitely did not like the new guy.
Hinata had been working at this coffee shop for the past two years. He knew his regular customers by heart, he never spilled coffee on himself anymore, and he could make a killer hot chocolate. He was a great employee.
But Hinata couldn’t make latte art.
Kageyama, on the other hand, was the freaking Van Gogh of latte art.
He had only been working at the coffee shop for the past month, and already his masterpieces had drawn more attention than the managers could have ever dreamed of. Soon enough, the shop was advertising a new special— “latte art of the day,” where Kageyama would sculpt some beautiful dragon or a frothy tidal wave into the top of your coffee.
Thankfully, Kageyama wasn’t the perfect employee, because he was awful with customers. He had a handsome face, sure, even Hinata could see that and he was as dense as a brick. But he was always scowling, like he wasn’t happy with whatever he was dealing with. And after getting to know Kageyama, Hinata quickly found out that this was absolutely the case. Kageyama was extremely grumpy and an insane perfectionist. His first day on the job, he criticized Hinata for accidentally dropping the replacement coffee lids onto the floor. And sure, Hinata was clumsy and maybe deserved to be scolded, but not yelled at in front of everyone and their mother.
Hinata was not a fan of this guy. But he knew talent when he saw it and Kageyama had talent to spare.
He could draw perfect leaves and trees, the kind you see teenage girls posting pictures of on their blogs, swirling the milk around just right so that the image cut through the espresso foam. Hinata could only stare the first time he witnessed this artistic process, and when Kageyama noticed his coworker ogling he scoffed and said, “You think that’s impressive? I could have done that in my sleep years ago.” Hinata could remember exactly how Kageyama’s lips curled up in a self-satisfied smirk before he turned back to the espresso machine.
No, Hinata wasn’t jealous. But he was competitive, and he wasn’t going to let Kageyama get the best of him, even if he was some kind of artistic genius. So he did the only thing he could think to do.
“Teach me how to do latte art!”
Kageyama blinked once, then twice. “Huh?”
Hinata bowed at the waist, humbling himself before his rival. This hurt his pride immensely, but it would be worth it.
“Please teach me how to make art like you do!” Hinata repeated, his voice hoarse with embarrassment.
“…Why should I?”
Hinata stood back up straight with a jolt. “Because we’re coworkers, duh!” He put his hands on his hips, stood up to his full height, and put on his most convincing scowl. If this was gonna come down to a battle of wills, Hinata was ready. He had years of experience arguing with his little sister. He could handle convincing this guy to help him out.
Kageyama eyed him warily. “There’s no way someone as clumsy as you could ever make latte art on my level. You have to be precise and delicate, and from what I can tell, you can barely fill a cup without sloshing it all around,” he said, his words so blunt that Hinata felt winded momentarily. “Plus, why the hell do you want my help? You don’t even like me.”
Hinata’s frustration was quickly replaced by confusion. “What does that matter? You don’t like me either,” he retorted. And it was true, wasn’t it?
Kageyama’s glare darkened, and Hinata jumped back a couple feet out of fear. They stood there staring at each other, unmoving, for several grueling seconds until the silence was broken by the light jingling of the doorbell.
“We’ve got customers,” Kageyama grumbled, turning around to prepare the machines. “Go man the register.”
“Yes, boss,” Hinata said with a roll of his eyes. Before he greeted the customers, though, he quickly chirped, “But don’t think I’m going to stop bugging you about this! I’m gonna get you to crack, just you wait!”
…
Their shift ended at 1:00, and instead of ignoring each other like they normally did as they left work, Hinata stuck right by Kageyama’s side during his walk home.
“I’m gonna keep walking you home and talking your ear off until you change your mind about helping me, you know. And I mean, come on, it wouldn’t be so bad! I could buy you a treat each time you teach me something. Heck, I could bake you cookies! I’m not the best cook, but the last batch of cookies I made were only like, half burnt. Do you even like cookies?” Hinata paused, genuinely curious about the answer. He wondered if someone as bitter as Kageyama even liked sweets. But like hell was he actually going to say that out loud right now, while he was trying to get the guy’s help.
Kageyama seemed to be pointedly ignoring Hinata’s rambling, as he had been throughout their entire shift after their first conversation. But it looked like he had something to say. So why wouldn’t he just spill it?
Hinata waited for a moment. But... he had never been a very patient person. After a few seconds he was elbowing Kageyama in the side—gently of course—and pleading with him to say something.
“Come on, Kageyama, I know you don’t wanna show me how to do it but I’m a quick learner! And I’ll make sure to clean up when I spill stuff. And I even offered to bake you cookies! So couldn’t you at least try to teach me?”
“I never said I wouldn’t teach you!” Kageyama yelled, whipping his head around to finally look at Hinata. His face was unusually red, and his glare looked even scarier than normal. “I just said you wouldn’t ever be as good as me. And…” he looked away again, focusing on the sidewalk in front of him, “I never said I didn’t like you, either.”
Hinata was at a loss for words. With just a couple sentences, Kageyama had turned from a scary monster into a… cute, frustrated (but still really arrogant) monster? And all Hinata could do was say, “Awww.”
“Shut up!” Kageyama spat, his face even redder than Hinata thought humanly possible. “It’s not that I like you either, idiot, I just respect your stupidly stubborn work ethic. And that you’re good with customers. And people, in general,” Kageyama admitted, his voice getting quieter with every word.
Hinata let out a hearty chuckle he didn’t know had been trapped in his throat. “Who woulda thought? You aren’t mean, you’re just awkward and grumpy!” he smiled at his coworker with newfound affection. “That’s adorable.”
“You know what, screw you, I’m not helping you with shit,” Kageyama said, his voice not quite as steely as he probably would have liked. He started jogging away, and Hinata could only laugh some more.
“No, wait! I’m sorry!” Hinata called after him. He started jogging, trying to catch up to the dark head of hair racing away in front of him. “I promise I won’t ever call you adorable again! Come back!”
…
Around 10:30 every morning, the shop hit a quiet lull where it was too late for morning coffee and too early for lunch coffee. It was the perfect time to whip up a latte and utterly fail at creating art.
“What the hell is that? Some kind of toad?”
“Psh! No! Are you blind? It’s obviously a heart!”
“That is the lumpiest looking heart I have ever seen.”
“Well I would have been able to smooth it out if you’d just let me use your stick thing to add details.”
Kageyama sighed and rubbed his forehead aggressively. “I already told you. You have to master pouring the milk in properly before you do any detail work. You should be able to make a heart by just pouring. It’s easy.”
Hinata pouted. “If it’s so easy then why can’t I do it? I’ve tried three times now!”
“You’re not going slowly enough when you’re starting off. You can’t just plop the milk in like a frickin’ maniac. You need to be patient.” Before Hinata could grumble something about how patience was not one of his virtues, Kageyama was standing behind him and holding Hinata’s hands in his own. “Here. Just… shut up and let me show you.”
Hinata was not prepared for this kind of contact. That’s the only reason his heart was speeding up, mind you—he was startled. He hadn’t expected Kageyama’s hands to be so big, or soft, or tight around his wrists. Actually, no, the tightness made sense. Kageyama was totally the type to not be gentle when he was frustrated and he must be frustrated if he was resorting to puppeteer-ing Hinata’s hands and suddenly he let go and said, “And there you go. See, easy.”
Hinata looked down into the coffee cup below him. There was a perfect heart, white blooming out of the dark brown. It was really cute. And Hinata had no idea how it got there.
“So now you know how to do it on your own, right?” Kageyama asked, stepping to the side to look Hinata in the eye. Hinata stared back blankly.
“I totally wasn’t paying attention at all.”
Right at that moment a group of students walked into the shop, only to see Kageyama slapping Hinata upside the head, shouting obscenities as the smaller boy begged for forgiveness.
…
“Kageyamaaaa,” Hinata whined, sprawled out on the counter next to where his coworker was washing out the already clean whipped cream container. “Stop doing that and make a latte with me.”
With a huff, Kageyama turned the water off and shot Hinata his patented “you’re an idiot” glare.
“You do realize we’re here to actually work, right? Not just play around with coffee all the time?”
Hinata sighed. “I know,” he said, “but you haven’t taught me anything other than how to pour milk! I wanna get detailed, like you always do, with all the swirls and the shwoops!”
Kageyama looked down at Hinata skeptically. “Shwoops?”
“Yeah, you know!” Hinata mimicked the look of the line he was describing by pinching and pulling his fingers, but all Kageyama did in response was roll his eyes.
“You have the vocabulary of a child.”
Hinata squawked and propped his hand up on his hips. “Coming from the guy who can’t split up tips without having to count on his fingers!”
Kageyama’s glare transformed into its darkest form and Hinata nearly jumped out of his skin.
“Alright. Fine. I’ll make something for you,” Kageyama said with an evil sneer. He stalked over to the espresso machine, filled up a cup with coffee, and slammed it down on the counter in from of Hinata. “Here’s a demonstration on how to make something detailed without using a mixing stick. All you need to do is pour the milk and not be a complete fucking idiot.”
Kageyama began slowly pouring the milk into the cup, and with just a few delicately placed swirls and a flick of his wrist, he created a hand that was very clearly telling him to go to hell.
“That’s for you,” Kageyama scoffed, setting down the milk pitcher with a resolute thud.
Hinata was speechless for a moment, and then he burst out laughing.
“Oh my god,” Hinata gasped between bouts of laughter. “That’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever made! You’ve gotta show me how to make this.” He felt himself tearing up and wiped at his eyes. When he finally reopened his eyes he was face to face with… what looked like a star struck Kageyama. His eyes were wide with what was probably awe, like he was looking at a shooting star instead of Hinata’s dumb laughter tears.
Hinata was struck, too, for a moment, with the sudden thought that Kageyama actually looked quite nice when he wasn’t scowling. But before Hinata could make fun of him for making such a stupid face, Kageyama shook himself out of it and shifted his features into a smirk.
“Fine,” Kageyama said with a jerk of his shoulder, beckoning Hinata over to his side. “But you’re gonna have to actually take your time with this one, you know. And you still suck at taking it slow.”
“Yes, Kageyama-sama,” Hinata said as he rolled his eyes. “I am not worthy of your teachings, Kageyama-sama.” This time, Kageyama used his actual hand to tell Hinata to go to hell, and Hinata chuckled under his breath as he filled up another cup with coffee. He sidled up next to his coworker and nudged him with his elbow as his way of saying thanks, and a few moments later Kageyama hesitantly nudged him back.
…
After a week and a half of lots of practice and many poorly decorated lattes, the manager found out about all of the coffee that had been wasted and gave Hinata and Kageyama a firm scolding. Neither of the boys had thought about the consequences of using so much coffee so frequently. Needless to say, they both felt pretty sheepish.
Now most of their practices consisted of Hinata peeking over Kageyama’s shoulder as he did his latte art for actual customers. Hinata was allowed one free coffee a day, though, and Kageyama was as well. It wasn’t much, but it was still practice. And he needed the practice, because Hinata apparently had “the artistic abilities of a potato” (Kageyama’s words, not his).
And he had made some progress. It wasn’t a lot of progress, sure, but he could at least pour the milk into some simple shapes, and that was a lot better than what he had been capable of two weeks ago.
During Hinata’s attempt of the day several days later, Kageyama was unusually quiet. Most of the time while Hinata was trying to make some sort of picture (this time it was a cute kitten) Kageyama would be constantly criticizing him from over his shoulder, telling him how to make the proportions more believable or yelling at him to keep his hand steady so that his lines weren’t shaky. But this time he wasn’t saying anything, and so when Hinata finished up, he turned around and shot Kageyama a confused look.
“Have anything to say?” he asked his coworker, who looked like he did indeed have something on his mind. It took him a few seconds, but after a while Kageyama’s expression hardened and he spoke up.
“Why do you even want to learn how to do this?”
Hinata had not been expecting that kind of question.
Apparently his confusion showed on his face, because Kageyama rolled his eyes and continued. “I mean, I get that it looks cool, but why are you so determined to learn how to make latte art? Is it just because you want to be better than me or something?”
“Pfff, don’t flatter yourself,” Hinata said as nonchalantly as he could, although he could feel his face heat up because unfortunately that was kind of close to the truth. “It’s not that I want to be better than you, I just… I want to be the best I can be, you know?” Hinata said, biting his lip. “And I don’t like it when there’s something I can’t do. It makes me feel like I’m a failure.”
Kageyama nodded slightly, not breaking eye contact with Hinata. “I understand the feeling.”
Hinata chuckled. “Yeah I know you do, mister perfectionist,” he said with a smile. He turned back to his latte and waited a few moments before asking, “Why did you learn how to make latte art?”
Kageyama stayed quiet for several seconds. Hinata almost turned back around to ask why he was taking so long to answer, but just as the thought crossed his mind Kageyama finally spoke up.
“It’s embarrassing.”
Hinata spun back around immediately. He had never heard Kageyama sound so shy before and he really, really wanted to see that expression on his face.
It was a cute look for him.
“Well now you have to tell me!” Hinata said, his voice light and teasing. He elbowed Kageyama in the side. “Come on, please?” Kageyama was frowning, but when he caught a look at Hinata’s puppy dog eyes he sighed and relented.
“It’s how my parents met. My dad made lattes at a shop and he drew dumb, flirty pictures in my mom’s coffee whenever she came in. And I thought it was romantic, so I asked him to teach me how to do it.”
Hinata pressed his hands against his cheeks and let out a slightly muffled “Awwwww!” he giggled and slapped Kageyama on the back. “That is the cutest thing I have ever heard. You starry-eyed sap.”
“Shut the hell up, asshole. I am not a sap.”
“You may be a potty mouth, but that doesn’t make you less of a sap.”
“’Potty mouth?’ What are you, six? If you use that phrase ever again I will kick your ass.”
“Okay, then what about… toilet face-hole?”
“That’s it. You are officially dead to me.”
…
Everything changed three days later.
Their shift was almost over. One of the newer employees working the evening shift—Hinata was pretty sure his name was Yamaguchi—was already in the shop, sitting at a table in the corner. Another customer was standing by the bar, waiting for their latte. The rest of the shop was empty and quiet, except for the white noise of Hinata and Kageyama’s near-constant bickering.
Hinata could hardly remember the days when he and Kageyama used to never speak to each other. It felt like they had always been… friends? Partners? Rivals? He didn’t really have a good word for it. The only one that seemed appropriate was “close.”
And just as their relationship had progressed, so too had Hinata’s latte art skills. He could make simple designs now, and he could even write short messages. Still, though, Kageyama said that Hinata’s penmanship was too shoddy to use on actual customer’s drinks. So whenever a customer ordered a latte, Hinata would just casually look over Kageyama’s shoulder and watch him work.
“I thought today you were drawing birds,” Hinata murmured, looking down at Kageyama’s art. Kageyama usually only stuck to one drawing a day, and so far today he had been drawing a flock of birds swirling around the edge of the cup. But the picture he was working on now certainly didn’t look like any bird Hinata had ever seen. It looked more like an intricate pattern—maybe a rose, or a mandala of sorts.
“I was,” Kageyama said, his voice low and his eyes filled with concentration. “But the shift’s almost over so I thought I’d try something new.” Hinata glanced away from the art and up to Kageyama’s face. He was sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth, the way he only did when he was focusing really hard on whatever he was doing. It was always so adorable, and it gave Hinata this weird fluttery feeling in his stomach whenever he saw it happen. But Hinata would never admit that. Nor would he admit that he actually really liked the way that Kageyama’s bangs fell across his forehead when he was leaning over like this, or the way his neck looked so elegant at this angle, or the way his dark eyes shone through the steam rising out of the coffee cup beneath him.
The words were out of Hinata’s mouth before he even knew he was thinking them.
“Holy shit you’re gorgeous.”
Kageyama looked up from the cup and shot Hinata a questioning look. “What did you just say?”
Hinata’s shoulders shot up to his ears and he all but screamed, “I SAID HOLY SHIT I WANT TO GORGE MY EYES OUT.”
“Wha—the word is gouge, not gorge—wait, where the hell are you going?”
Hinata didn’t turn back to respond. He just kept running out the door.
This was the only thing he could think of to do. He just needed to run as far away as he possibly could and then maybe he could leave those stupid thoughts behind and he wouldn’t have to look at Kageyama’s stupidly beautiful face ever again—
“HEY.”
Hinata stopped dead in his tracks.
That was the most ferocious voice he had ever heard come out of Kageyama’s mouth.
Hinata had never been more scared for his life than he was in that very moment.
“What the fuck are you doing? Thank god Yamaguchi was there early to cover for us, but for fuck’s sake, Hinata.” He heard Kageyama’s footsteps behind him, heading toward him at a quick and angry pace. “You can’t just take off like that.”
Hinata’s heart was slamming against his chest. It felt like he’d been running a marathon, instead of just racing down the block. “You didn’t have to follow me,” he said, still refusing to turn around.
“Of course I did,” Kageyama replied without hesitation. “I had to make sure you were okay.”
Hinata was flattered. Probably too flattered for his own good. “Well, I’m fine, thank you for checking.”
“You don’t sound fine.”
“I am.”
“Then look at me.”
Hinata really, really did not want to look. He knew it was weird, that he didn’t want to see Kageyama right now. And he knew that he was going to have to eventually. So he figured he might as well rip the bandage off in one go.
He turned around, took two steps forward until he was just inches away from his coworker, and grabbed the sides of Kageyama’s face.
Kageyama looked shocked, for a moment, and then his expression settled into something that looked shy and quietly determined. His cheeks were hot underneath Hinata’s hands.
Hinata hadn’t been sure why he wanted to do this. It wasn’t just to prove to Kageyama that he was okay, that’s for sure. No, he wanted to be close to him, and he wanted to see if he got the same fluttery feeling he had when he was looking at Kageyama bent over his latte art. And yeah, the feeling was definitely there.
The next question was, was it a platonic fluttery feeling? Something like admiration, or respect, the kind of feeling you get when you’re looking at a work of art? Or was it a romantic feeling, like he wanted to kiss the crap out of the cute, grumpy face that was currently squished between his hands?
It was definitely both.
“Yup!” Hinata chirped, his voice nearly cracking with just the one word. “Totally fine.” He moved his hands off of Kageyama’s face and clapped them onto the boy’s shoulders. Kageyama looked like he was about to say something, but before he could open his mouth Hinata said, “Well, I gotta run, but I’ll see you tomorrow!” He stumbled backward, gave probably the most awkward wave ever, and ran down the road. And this time, Kageyama did not run after him.
Well. That happened.
…So what was he going to do now?
…
Hinata had hardly gotten any sleep last night.
He knew what he wanted to do. He stayed up for hours thinking it through, exactly how it was going to go down. He came into the shop thirty minutes early just to prepare everything. And now he was standing there, just inside the entrance to the café, holding a coffee cup in his hand and waiting for Kageyama to come in for their shift.
His throat felt dry. His hands were shaking, and he tried to will them to stop so that he didn’t disturb the liquid in his cup. He couldn’t mess this up. This was too important.
He stood there, waiting, for a few minutes until finally the door opened and Kageyama made his way inside. He locked eyes with Hinata immediately, then looked away and scowled. “I see you got here early for once,” he grumbled, and he started walking past his coworker, still staring at the ground.
“Wait!” Hinata exclaimed, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. “Please. I have something to say.”
Kageyama slowly looked up at Hinata. He looked like he hadn’t gotten much sleep last night either. Hinata felt a pang of guilt, and he quickly held out the cup in his hand.
Confused, Kageyama looked down at the cup and then gave a quiet gasp. Hinata had written a message into the foam of a latte.
I’m sorry I was a dick
Kageyama was quiet for a few moments, and then he said, “Well, good. You should be.” But his words had no bite to them, and the glare he shot at Hinata was incredibly subdued by the blush on his cheeks.
Hinata set the cup down on the table beside them and held out his hand to Kageyama. “There are a few more in the back,” he said quietly, embarrassed about what was yet to come. Kageyama looked at the hand extended to him and then slowly took it, interlocking Hinata’s fingers with his own.
Hinata quickly led his coworker behind the counter and revealed a line of coffee cups that stretched down the bar. Each cup contained a milky latte and a short message. Kageyama looked down at the first one in line.
I was just nervous
Hinata tugged on his hand and led him to the next one.
Because I realized _ _ _
“Is that supposed to be an ellipsis?”
“Yeah. Dots are hard.”
“Oh, okay.”
Kageyama wasn’t moving, his eyes glued to the cup in front of him. “…Well, come on,” Hinata said quietly, “there’s still more to read.” They moved to stand over the next latte.
I think you’re amazing
Kageyama took in a sharp breath. Hinata could feel his heart stop, but he quickly pulled his coworker over to the next cup.
And beautiful
And talented
And I like you a lot
Kageyama stared at this cup for a long time. Hinata couldn’t bring himself to look at his face.
They moved on to the next latte.
So I want to ask
Kageyama was the one pushing Hinata this time, trying to get to the last cup.
Will you go on a aate with me?
Hinata blanched at the sight of the message. “It’s, uh, supposed to say ‘date.’”
Kageyama chuckled softly. “Your handwriting is terrible,” he said, squeezing Hinata’s hand just a little bit tighter.
Hinata finally looked up at the boy beside him. The sight of Kageyama smiling softly down at the coffee cup in front of them almost left him speechless. Almost. But he still had something he needed to ask.
“So… is that a yes?”
Kageyama turned away from the latte, pressed Hinata against the wall, and kissed him.
It was one of those kisses where everything just fell perfectly into place. Kageyama kissed Hinata, and Hinata kissed him back, and suddenly everything was right.
Then, several minutes later, Kageyama pulled away, his breathing just a bit labored, and shot Hinata a teasing smile.
“Are you even going to have any money left for a date after you pay the shop back for all of these lattes?”
“…Shit.”
Kageyama laughed, and Hinata thought it was probably the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard. “We’ll figure something out.”
Hinata grinned and reached up to press another kiss to Kageyama’s lips, which was quickly returned with enthusiasm. At this point, there was absolutely no doubt in his mind.
Hinata definitely liked the new guy.