(literally) falling for you; a deancas au
SPN Writing Challenge | @padaleckhi vs. @cutiepiejared
Prompt: Coffee Shop AU
Pairings: Destiel
Word count: 3k
Tags: Teen and Up Audiences, Fluff, Awkward Encounters, Doctor!Dean, Barista!Cas
Summary: Cas’s luck with attractive customers isn’t the greatest, so Balthazar is determined to give him pointers when a cute doctor with green eyes comes into their cafe.
Author’s Note: I’m not going to lie, this is nowhere near what I originally planned when writing this fic. It was going to be longer a lot more angsty, but now we’ve got awkward coffee shop owner Cas and plastic surgeon Dean instead? Notes before going in: warning for a very, very, very, very, VERY unrealistic doctor encounter, probably cheesy dialogue, and unbeta’d writing, okay?
Let’s open a twenty-four hour coffee shop, she said. It will be fun, she said.
Fun? Fun, my ass, Cas thinks to himself as he cleans the espresso maker for the upteenth time that night. The burn on his hand from earlier throbs when he brushes it against the still warm machine, and he’s pretty positive that there is a nice line of chocolate sauce on his forehead from a latte gone wrong.
With a sigh, Cas throws the rag he was using in the sink and leans back against the counter. The clock reads 10:39 PM, and the first of the morning crew won’t be in until five. He can feel a headache coming on from the combination of overwhelming coffee stench, Gabriel’s playlist blaring over the speakers, and loud customers, so Cas breaks his own rule and leaves the counter unattended. He trudges over to the break room and throws open the door, then lets out a breath of relief once the noise is gone and he can hear himself think again.
When Anna came to him five years ago and asked him to open up The Celestial Cafe, he was completely enamored with the idea. It was always a dream to own a business, and Anna’s location on Fifteenth Avenue with the aged, brick walls and the rugged charm was too good to pass up. He never knew the amount of work that would be needed for running a twenty-four hour cafe would require though. Coverage for the night shifts was almost impossible to find, and usually fell to the him and Anna working with their brothers, Gabriel and Balthazar, until the morning people came in at five. The staff of college students they hired to work during the day could not figure out what “cleaning up” meant, and usually left coffee grounds spilled over the floor for Cas to vacuum when he came in at night. Plus, working with family wasn’t always the easiest walk in the park. While he loved each and every one of his brothers and sisters, being stuck in a six hour shift with them wasn’t always pleasant. Balthazar was usually too busy flirting with anything that walked to actually run the register like he was supposed to, and Gabriel’s constant snacking on the pastries they sold usually left sticky fingerprints all over the work area. If it weren’t for Anna’s calm demeanor keeping them all together, Cas is positive this place would’ve gone under long ago.
He breaks out of his reverie when he hears the door open behind him. Anna enters with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyebrows pushed down into a line.
“Cas, where is Balthazar?” she asks with a plastered on grin, but there is a clear tone of annoyance in her voice.
“Probably trying to chase down Beyonce while she’s in town,” he deadpans, walking out of Anna’s way when she angrily brushes by.
“He was supposed to be working the register tonight!” she exclaims. “I just came out of the back room and found a line of three people waiting to be served.”
Cas blushes and rolls back on his heels. “Uh, sorry about that, Anna. I was covering for him and I left my post.”
Anna runs her fingers through her hair and plops down on the break room couch. Her eyes have bags under them from the already long night and Cas walks over to take a seat next to her. “You shouldn’t have to cover for Balthazar when it’s not your turn to run register. Luckily I came by and was able to help before Gabriel got his hands on the customers. They were three very attractive ladies and I can only imagine the lewd things he would say to them.” She lets out a frustrated groan as she pulls her knees up to her chest and lays her head back on the couch. “Why is running a business so difficult?”
He reaches over and brushes the hair out of Anna’s face. “Perhaps we should get some actual help for the night shifts instead of relying on our erratic brothers,” Cas suggests with a head tilt.
Her lips turn up in a mischievous grin. “Then who would entertain us? Balthazar and Gabriel practically are a show unto themselves. How boring would three AM be without them?”
“It’d be like watching paint dry,” Cas replies, and Anna knocks him on the shoulder with her own. “As frustrating as they are, we do need them around to keep afloat.”
“Now that is a scary thought,” she says, then gets up from the couch before reaching over to ruffle Cas’s hair. “You’re a good brother, you know that?”
“Why, I am flattered!” a voice calls from the doorway. When Anna and Cas turn, Balthazar is there in an obscenely low cut black t-shirt, his work apron tied around his waist like a jacket. “I didn’t know that you cared, Anna Banana.”
“Don’t you dare call me that when you’re an hour late for your shift,” Anna says sternly as she points a finger at him. “We’ve got customers, you know.”
“And I’m sure that Cassy and Gabriel handled them perfectly while I was away,” Balthazar replies. He unties the apron from his waist and throws it on before continuing. “Besides, did you really want me coming into work unshowered after having a ménage à…what’s the French word for twelve?”
Anna’s nose crunches up in disgust while she glares at him. “Your depravity is beyond comprehension, brother.”
“And yet you love me anyway!” Balthazar calls loudly, and Anna just shakes her head before she leaves the room.
“Ah, sisterly love. There is nothing like it,” Balthazar says with a smirk, then turns his attention to Cas. “Now, let’s get down to real business. How angry did Anna seem before I came in?”
Cas picks at the flaking paint on the wall next to him and tries to avoid eye contact with his brother.
“That bad?” Balthazar questions when Cas doesn’t answer.
“She was already angry at Gabriel for eating all of the crepes. Your lateness just pushed her ever further.”
“Dammit,” he mutters under his breath. “I need her in a good mood tonight!”
“Do I want to know why?” Cas asks with a raised eyebrow.
Balthazar rubs the back of his neck and says, “I need to get off work for a R.E.M concert…on Black Friday.”
Cas just tosses up his hands and tries to push past Balthazar, but his brother is blocking the door. “You’re joking.”
“I wish I was, Cassy!” he exclaims, “but you need to understand. It’s a reunion concert! R.E.M will probably never tour again and I need to be there!”
“Not on Black Friday! It’s our busiest day of the entire year and it’s all hands on deck all day long. Anna will never let you go.”
“But I need to go to this concert,” Balthazar whines like a petulant child. He practically pouting now, his mouth pushed down into a hard line while he leans against the door frame. “Do me a favor and talk her into it, Cas.”
Cas can feel his eyebrows fly up at Balthazar’s obtuse request. “Do you really think that I am going to Anna on your behalf? Why would I do that?”
Balthazar grabs him back the back of his t-shirt and turns him towards the little window that looks out into the cafe. “That’s why,” Balthazar says as he points at a customer sitting by the window.
