fic: The Barista, Chapter 1 [PG-13]

[tielan]

TITLE: The Barista - Part 1: Monday's Child
SUMMARY: In which Teyla prefers tea.
CATEGORY: AU, romance, drama
RATING: PG-13
PAIRING: John/Teyla
NOTES: This first chapter was an entry for the teylafen Prompt Battle. It's still a WIP, with about 10 chapters to go, but I'm hoping to post it over the next fortnight at the rate of one every couple of days. Thanks to allisnow for going through and assisting my Americanisms.

The Barista - Part 1: Monday's Child

John noticed the new barista immediately.

Old Sharon made a damn good cappucino, but she wasn't quite so easy on the eyes. The new girl, on the other hand, had hair that went to honey in the sunlight, lashes like curtain falling, and a smile that played on her lips like a secret kept safe in the soul.

Which, John thought to himself as he fronted up to the counter with his order, was weirdly poetic coming from a guy who didn't have much romance in his soul.

She seemed to be working alone this morning, no sinecure for the reasonably busy Athos Bean shop, just outside the major bus stop for Cheyenne University, CA. The coffee shop was full of students, but John seemed to have come at a quieter moment, and he was the only one at the counter.

Which meant he had the full attention of the barista as she rapped out the old grinds from the handle and arched a brow at him, inviting him to make his order.

"Good morning." It never hurt to be polite, especially to a pretty girl. "One caramel skim latte, one soy double espresso, and one regular cappucino," he said, leaning down on the counter as she took a fresh shot of grinds from the grinder and set it up on the machine. "You're new, aren't you?"

Laughter danced through tip-tilted eyes as she collected mugs and set them beneath the taps. "New to working here," she said as she turned dials and flipped switches. "Not to making coffee."

"I can see that." Given the way she was handling the machine and the milk jugs, a kind of dance along the grinders and taps, John had quickly figured she wasn't a novice. "So what brings you to the Athos Bean?"

Small hands deftly hefted the jug up to the steaming wand and her hands measured the temperature of the milk as she heated it. "Work."

It wasn't quite the answer John had been seeking. Still, he worked with what she gave him. "So...you'll be working here for a while?"

One corner of the wide mouth twitched slightly - a fleeting smile, come and gone. "Perhaps. At least a week." She set the jug down with a tap, wiping the steaming wand with a cloth before she poured out the frothy liquid into the first mug, rippling the milk so it made a fern pattern with the coffee syrup. "Caramel skim latte."

"Ah," John said. "So you're on probation." With the kind of expertise she was showing, she wouldn't be on probation very long. He watched, impressed, as she expertly steamed a second jug of milk. "Well, if you're regularly on this shift, you'll probably get to know us fairly well," he indicated the table over in the corner. "We're in most mornings."

She glanced over to the table where Elizabeth was skimming the paper and Rodney was on his cellphone, noisily arguing figures over the background of Carrie Underwood's acoustic version of 'I'll Stand By You'. "Well, that's not good enough, Radek! The Pegasus proposal tables tonight... What do you mean, it's ten thousand? It's...wait, wait! Tell me you haven't got the pre-storm calculations? Because that hit us hard and we don't... No! You have to get them from the new file! What do you mean I never...?"

"I see," she said as she poured the next mug out, this time rippling the frothy milk in a shamrock pattern. "Regular cappucino."

"Rodney's not always that noisy," John apologised. "I'll settle him down when I get back there..."

Again, the smile danced across her lips as she heated the last milk for his order. "And a soy double espresso," she said. "Eight dollars and thirty cents, please."

John paid the money and she rang the order through on the register, with only a moment's hesitation as she found the appropriate buttons. "So," he said, his mouth moving before his brain could censor the words, "same time tomorrow?"

She rallied well, although her eyes laughed at his embarrassment. "My mother warned me about talking to strangers."

He figured he was better off brazening it out. "Well, I'm John. John Sheppard. I like Ferris wheels, college football, and anything that goes more than two-hundred miles per hour. And a good cappucino." He indicated the mug onto the tray.

Her smile came and went, a flash of white teeth between dusky lips. "Pleased to meet you, John Sheppard. My name is Teyla. And I prefer tea."

And with that, she moved away to clean out the machine, leaving John standing there feeling like an idiot.

- TBC -

NOTES: The idea originated during the last couple of debates about race, bigotry, and prejudice in Stargate fandom. While the idea was conceived in a spirit of mischief, the decision to actually post this story has been problematic. In the end, I doubt any minds will be changed on the score of my writing abilities, personal opinions, or shipping preferences.

2: Music And Miss Piggy

Comments

[goodisrelative.livejournal.com]

Dude... if you are a bad writer, then the rest of us are screwed!

But anyway, ignore them and listen to me! This is a great first, teaser chapter and I want more. More More More! But then I am always greedy when it comes to your fic.

Anyway. It's good so far and I can't wait to see where this is all going!

[tielan]

Thank you. *wry smile*

And I think I've given the wrong impression in my last notes. *even wry-er smile*

[goodisrelative.livejournal.com]

Oh, I wasn't actually thinking of your ending note as being related to the story in anything other than you were writing a John/Teyla fic because of the debates... I didn't actually take it to mean you were writing a John/Teyla fic that dealt with bigotry and idiots and entrenched ideas and close-mindedness and all that.