Chapter Text
"Welcome to Roosterteeth, home of The Cockbite."
Admittedly that wasn't the most family-friendly slogan, but when Burnie first heard it (drunk to the point of paralytic and overworked to the point of comatose) he had written it on the chalkboard outside before he had stopped laughing. Ray and Geoff just shrugged and went with it.
Roosterteeth was a small cafe in the middle of Austin, surrounded by big department stores and shiny offices where big, important looking people would walk in and out of business meetings wearing dark blue suits and earpieces and carrying briefcases. Michael was just glad he didn't have to wear a suit.
Roosterteeth (Or 'The Cockbite Coffee Shop' as Burnie had affectionately called it, wasn't big. It was about average size for a coffee shop, with one side painted red and the other blue, as if to divide the customers. Come to think of it, nobody ever changed sides. All 18 tables had the company logo painted in the corner, and every seat was padded against back pain. If he didn't have to work here every evening, he would love the place. As it was he just spent most of his time there silently cursing at customers and loudly cursing at the equipment and Lindsay.
Oh, Lindsay. Lindsay was what would happen if you took Michael's dream guy and gave him boobs and a vagina. She was pretty and smart and cute and just the right amount of nerdy. If she was a guy, he would be all over her.
"Oh Michael. If you were a guy, I'd be all over you too." That one pissed him off a little.
In all seriousness, watching late morning Pokemon marathons with her was the closest thing he'd had to a relationship in months. He was starting to consider asking every guy who came in if they wanted to go out for a drink or get married or watch a movie or something.
And then Gavin happened.
He didn't see the sandy haired idiot approach. They were never that busy at night, usually insomniacs and vampires who always seemed to pay with the exact amount of cash required. People were weird. When the door had squeaked open, Ray had been trying to make a pyramid out of paper cups and Michael was throwing packets of sugar at it. The dopey looking, skinny jean wearing, sandy haired 'Patron' was holding the door open for a pretty blonde, both of them talking in such loud voices he wanted to smash their heads together. He slowly made his way behind the counter, dragging his feet.
Who the fuck gets coffee at 2am?
"Hi, my name is Michael and I'll be your barrister." the same ten words he gave to every customer. "What can I get you?"
The dopey looking guy looked up at Michael, with a stupidly fucking cute look in his eyes.
Ask his name, idiot!
"Uhhh, hi. I'll have a white tea, and Barbara will have..."
"Barbara would like a hot chocolate." she almost yelled, clearly to enthusiastic for the current time zone. Lindsay scooted up next to him, opening the cash register with a loud cha-ching!
"That'll be 5 dollars." she smirked, to excited. Was he the only person that understood it 2am on a sunday? "Can I ask your name?"
"Gavin." answered the guy. It took Michael a second to realise the fruity accent the guy had was british.
Don't fall in love, don't fall in love, dont fall in love.
Lindsay pulled a black sharpie from her pocket and wrote 'Gavin' in big block letters on the tea. She added 'Barbara' to the side of the hot chocolate, and handed them over the counter, and for a brief second her finger rubbed against his.
Back off bitch, he's mine.
The adorable brit thanked them, said they were top (What.) and walked out with the pretty blonde, leaving Michael in a puddle of self pity and envy.
"Umm...Michael?" Lindsay was holding a piece of folded paper in one hand, and a cluster of dollars in the other.
"What." she handed the small strip of paper over to him, smiling. He opened it, half expecting a crudely drawn picture of a dick. A string of numbers were written down in neat, organised handwriting over a small message.
Call me. Barbara. X
"Sound's like you pulled, Mr Jones." she waved at him gleefully and walked into the back of the cafe, laughing.
Fuck.