The Reluctant Inquisitor

Alright, final fic for OC Kiss Week (because I am notoriously incapable of sticking to deadlines)! Here we have a modern AU, featuring @vcook10‘s Viktor Trevelyan, a writer with a penchant for frappes, and Varlen Lavellan, a disgruntled cafe employee who’s just trying to pay the rent.

(Full fic under cut -  ~4000 words) <3

It was loud – louder than usual. Thanks to a rather large group of tourists that had been passing through the area and decided to stop in for lunch, the Nug’s Nook cafe was packed to bursting. There were regulars arguing over chairs. Not-so-regulars staring with vulture-like intensity at anyone with an empty cup who had yet to ask for the bill, waiting for that brief window during which they could snipe the table. Every corner, every inch, was filled by a body, which as you could imagine, made working the floor a rather difficult endeavour.

“What the blighted hell are you doin’? Get out there! Idiot…” A sharp shove on his back knocked Varlen both out of his reverie and out of the kitchen, where he had taken pause to catch his breath before diving back into the throng. Glancing back sharply at Ed, their resident asshole chef, Varlen rolled his shoulder, trying to coax out the stiffness of the muscle, before heading over to the coffee machine, dodging the people seated at the counter. There were already three drinks ready to go to their respective tables. The Barista, Dalton, gave Varlen an apologetic smile from behind the rattling coffee machine, nodding towards the long list of orders that had yet to be filled. A single blonde strand had sprung free of his ponytail, and was ghosting down the side of his face. The true sign that they were too busy to function properly.

“Sorry, kid.” He said, and was genuinely apologetic. “Looks like it’s going to be non-stop for you today. Okay, these two there are for the couple at table six, and this one here…” He nodded at a tall, rather frilly drink, topped with whipped cream. “Is for—”

“— the regular at the corner table. I know.” Varlen let a small smile curl on his lips as he picked up the tray, balancing it carefully despite his already aching arms, and Dalton chuckled, an almost knowing look in his eyes as Varlen narrowed his own quizzically.

“Ahh, of course you know.” He laughed again, his attention once again returning to the backorder of coffees. “Go on then, but don’t hover today, all right? Ed’s is already stressing out, and you know he’ll take it out on whichever of us screws up first, no matter how minor the offense.”

“Yeah, no joke. That guy’s always on a power-trip when the manager isn’t around.” Varlen scoffed with a sharp eye-roll, but before he did as was instructed, he reached behind the counter, picked up a cherry by the stalk from one of the containers, and popped it into the fancy drink, earning another knowing chuckle from Dalton, but no further comment.

Submitted by @vcook10