Relocation - Part Ten

[churbooseanon]

Wherein I return triumphantly to the story. Hooohah! Mostly, though, Donut is a gossipy person, Alex presses him for information, and maybe a little intimidation happens.

Relocation - Part Ten

“Well hi there, Wash. Oh, and you brought Alex with you… Interesting, very interesting,” Donut crooned as David pushed through the cafe doors. All he could do was sigh and flip the cheerful man off, earning him an ‘oooh girl’ from Caboose who was busily restocking the pastry case.

“Woah, no need to get into a fight ladies, I’m just his ride.,” Alex chuckled, raising his hands defensively before him.

“And just why did he need a ride?” Donut immediately questioned, and David sighed as he started for the back room. He was more in the mood to get ready for his shift before the other red shift employees showed up than he was for banter. The reds were frequently noisy when they came in to get ready for work, and honestly David wanted to be in and out of the back room before they showed.

“We’re neighbors, Donut, nothing more,” Alex explained while David opened his locker, and his hand froze on the catch.

Nothing more. That… hurt in a way that David didn’t want to think about. He pulled his coat off and stuffed it in the locker along with his personal effects like wallet and keys and quickly moved to grab an apron. It was easier than thinking about how nice it had been to sit in his apartment and watch Alex as the older man cooked for him. Of course he could just as easily get caught up in thinking about how they had sat together on his couch, plates in their laps, coffee mugs and feet on the coffee table, and joked around while they had eaten.

“Oh. I still don’t get why he needed a ride…”

Nothing more.

David tied the apron in place, typed his information into the small computer set up for clocking them in, and composed himself before heading back into the store proper.

“Clocking in, Connie,” David announced, readjusting the ties on his apron as he strode over to the display case.

“Awesome,” Connie called from the row of coffee machines, her attention clearly on setting them up to run new batches. “Donut, you’re free to go. And please don’t harass Alex too much.”

Donut scoffed as he slipped past David and made for the back room, and something told David that he wasn’t anywhere near done seeing Donut for the day.

“You’re a bit early,” Connie observed as she approached to hug him. “Feeling better today?”

“Nothing a lot of alcohol, some sleep, and a damn good meal couldn’t cure,” David agreed. “Thanks for last night. And… Well…”

“Will you just thank her for the sex already and get a move on?” Tucker demanded and all David could do was turn toward the other man and stare at him, eyes wide.

“Wait, what?”

“Eww,” Connie added and shuddered as if to reinforce the point. “Tucker, why don’t you just focus on your station until Grif and Sarge get here? And David, I’d love to chitchat more, but you do have a customer to deal with, so…”

David frowned and followed Connie’s dismissive gesture and found himself staring at Alex and Donut, sitting together at one of the booths near the door. Right. He’d somehow managed to forget about that. With a sigh David snatched an order pad from under the counter and made his way over to the booth just in time to hear the last thing he wanted to from Donut’s mouth—okay maybe not last because there were probably a lot of things in the world he didn’t want to hear in general—bursting right out for all the world to hear and judge.

Worse. For Alex to hear and judge.

“Let’s see, what else have I missed? Oh! Our new worker, I guess you’d know him as your new neighbor, is going on a date with one of our regulars. His name is Shaun. Your visits here don’t overlap with his, but he was the one who was supposed to be at the picnic this past weekend but he got hurt and ended up in the hospital. I think that was why Wash disappeared so suddenly. Clearly it’s a match made in…”

David slammed the order pad down on the table and glared at Donut.

“I can’t even begin to see how any of this is your business, much less his,” David growled, and for a moment he was pleased to see the way Donut flinched away from him. That didn’t call any of the words back, though. Didn’t take away the expression Alex was wearing that David couldn’t read beyond a general status of 'pensive.’

“Oh, well Shaun was asking after you this morning when I served him and Daniel their breakfasts. He was really concerned when you weren’t here. I’ve got to say, he’s going to have some pretty impressive scars,” Donut breezed and David wasn’t sure which part to process first: Donut talking to Shaun, or the fact that Shaun had been worried over his lack of presence.

Strange how David hadn’t even remotely contemplated that possibility when he’d been sitting in his kitchen eating omelets with Alex and laughing together over the assurance that he really didn’t have to give Alexa money for the bleaching.

“It’s a pity date,” David pleaded but the could see the doubt on Donut and—more importantly—Alex’s faces.

“A pity you hadn’t been here to date him earlier,” Donut teased and David just rolled his eyes because that was easier than trying to make him understand.

Especially when he didn’t believe it himself. He knew why he was doing it, and from the flash in Alex’s eyes, the older man had a suspicion as well.

“Need anything to drink?” David asked, turning his attention fully toward Alex.

“I don’t suppose I could get a coffee with some cinnamon sprinkled on top,” Alex asked, smiling softly and David resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He really shouldn’t have let Alex have a sip of his coffee earlier. Now he had two extremely hot guys he was going to run into on a daily basis that he wouldn’t be able to help but imagine kissing with the taste of cinnamon on their lips.

“Wow, that sounds pretty strange,” Donut observed before smiling up at David. “I’ll have…”

“You can get your own order, Donut,” David sighed, running his fingers through his hair as Alex smiled softly at him in that warm way that made him shiver.

“It’s actually quite good. A friend of mine turned me on to the flavor combination recently,” Alex told Donut before returning his attention to David with a faint smirk. “Add in a pecan roll if you would.”

He wanted to point out that there was no way Alex should have room for more food considering how large the omelets had been, but the last thing he wanted to do was give Donut more ammunition.

“Alright!” Tucker cheered just before the chime of the door cut through the air and a low bickering that could only be the arrival of Simmons and Grif tore through the cafe.

“Leave it until you’re off shift,” Connie called as she did every morning, and David could hear the sigh of relief from Tucker at the glimpse of freedom he was being offered.

“Donut,” Simmons asked as the argument stopped on their way to the back room, “what are you doing out here?”

“Oh, I covered for Wash this morning. He was spending time with his neighbor.”

There was a part of David that really did wish that looks could kill.

* * * * * *

David was fuming, and while Alex knew he should have felt bad for the guy, he was actually kind of cute when he did that. He didn’t let himself smile at David because he honestly didn’t want the other man to think he was amused by the situation. Not that David was paying any attention to him anymore. The arrival of red shift had distracted the blond long enough to have him ultimately walk away from the table to deal with the order. That moment of respite given Alex turned his attention back to Donut and gave his best friendly smile.

“So, tell me about this Shaun,” Alex asked, trying to sound more unconcerned than he really felt.

“Oh?” Donut asked, his lips curving into a pleased smirk. “And just why are you interested in that? Could it be you’re interested in…”

“Finish that sentence or ever suggest such a thing to him, and I’ll tell Alexa who it was that accidentally scratched her car at the picnic last year,” Alex cut him off, forcing steel into his voice, and resisting the urge to smile viciously as Donut actually started to quiver in fear before him.

There were truly advantages to being Alexa’s twin. Using her as a threat to buy silence was definitely one of the sweeter ones.

“So, um, Shaun is this regular that has been with us for years. He’s a professional locksmith who sometimes works with Tex for some reason. Which is why he got hurt, btw. Um, he’s a pretty nice guy. Connie doesn’t like him because he’s sort of a player, if you catch my drift. But I don’t know, he seems to be pretty serious about Wash. I mean, he left him his number on the first day, and kissed him on the second day and well, I’d put my money on those two getting seriously involved in the future,” Donut provided, and the whole time Alex was silent, nodding attentively.

“So are you…”

“Seriously, are you really looking to piss Alexa off?”

Donut sighed and shook his head, going quiet just in time for David to return with Alex’s order.

“Okay,” David smiled as he moved the coffee and pecan roll to the table in front of Alex, “you’ve got to explain just how you got Donut to shut up. That’s going to be a good talent to have in the future.”

Alex smiled softly at Donut, whose eyes were flashing speculatively back and forth between them. “The secret is having a scary sister.”

“Oh… Yeah, I kind of get that,” David sighed. “Donut, Grif and Simmons are looking for you.”

“Really? Oh wow,” Donut cheered, sliding easily out of the booth and rushing for the back room.

“They don’t actually want him, do they?” Alex chuckled before sipping at his coffee.

“Nope,” David smirked right back. “You looked like you might need a breather. He’ll probably be back later anyway. I… Also wanted to say thanks for this morning. Don’t worry about paying your check, I’ll cover it.”

“You really don’t have to do that,” Alex observed, setting the mug aside.

“I’m pretty sure you spent more on breakfast than this costs,” David sighed, a hand going up to push through his hair. Alex wished briefly that he could be that hand, and then smiled easily up at his neighbor.

“It was just stuff I had in the fridge,” Alex insisted.

“Maybe the ham, but the bacon package was unopened, the egg carton was full, and no one keeps bell peppers in their fridge just in case,” David argued. “And the grocery store logo was still on the bag.”

“Ah,” Alex chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah. That. Not going to make you believe it was a coincidence, am I?”

“Not a chance,” David smiled softly. “So I just want to say thanks. For being such a good friend.”

Alex forced the smile to his lips as he thought about how nice it had been to spend the morning with David, to cook for him, to watch him get this little smile on his lips as he ate or sipped at his cinnamon rich coffee. But Connie was right, David didn’t need that right now, not from him. Probably not even from this Shaun character, but there was nothing he could do about that but smile and be a supportive friend.

A chime made David turn away, but Alex didn’t have to look at the door given his clear view of the counter to know who it was. The way Connie was holding herself, tense and ready with a hand towel told him everything he needed to know. It even gave Alex a chance to brace himself for the shout that might have scared someone else.

“Good afternoon, Rebecca!”

David groaned and Alex shook his head as he returned to his coffee. “Looks like I’m going to be losing your company to him.”

It was amazing, the fact that he managed to keep the bitter edge out of his voice. Still, the words were enough to make David look back at him and smile somewhat sadly.

“It’s the job,” David answered with a sigh and an amused light in his eyes. Alex forced the smile to stay in place as he watched the fragile younger man stride away from him.

Watch and pray that this Shaun didn’t break him further.

If he did, Alex was going to figure out just how much damage Alexa could inflict on someone before they started pleading for mercy. It would be fun.

* * * * * *

“I thought you only came in mornings and evenings,” David 'greeted’ Shaun as he got settled into his both and tried not to think about the lack of Daniel on the other side. Still, he smiled up at David as widely as he could without tugging his wounds too much, and gave a little wave.

“Yeah, well, normally I work through the day,” Shaun admitted with a shrug. “The problem is the docs don’t want me doing anything strenuous so…”

“So you’re dodging work for no good reason,” David observed with a sigh and Shaun put on his best feigned hurt expression.

“Says the guy who didn’t show up for work this morning.”

“Keep talking like that and I might think the player I keep hearing about is just a poor desperate fool in truth,” David warned, a slight smirk curving his lips.

“Wow, look at all the credit I don’t get,” Shaun sighed, but kept his smirk in place. “Seriously, I was worried about you this morning. No one seemed to know where you were, and Donut had all sorts of ideas of things that might have happened.”

The way David looked at him, with a strange mixture of amusement and annoyance, told Shaun that he didn’t believe it at all. Honestly Shaun was pretty sure that he’d think the same thing in David’s place. Hell, if Daniel were here his friend might have been giving him strange looks. But he had been worried first thing that morning, when he’d come in and it had been Donut who had greeted them instead of David. He hadn’t been able to explain it in the slightest so he’d tried to keep it to himself, but he had felt uncomfortable with the other man’s absence.

“What can I get you, Shaun?”

“You still haven’t given me your number, but I suppose that’s over shooting until I wow you on Thursday. Make that cinnamon mocha and a…”

“Blueberry scone,” David finished for him, blushing hard. “You know, I get the message. You can order something else.”

“Maybe it isn’t a message anymore,” Shaun smiled widely. “Maybe I just like the flavor combination.”

“You’re an ass.”

“Who you’ve agreed to go on a date with, so what does that say about you?”

“I’ve always lacked taste when it came to men,” David countered easily, a slight bitter edge to his voice as he turned and strode off to fill the order.

Just what the hell was that supposed to mean? Shaun sighed and frowned down at the table, desperately wishing he’d managed to drag Daniel along. But no, D had waved him off, insisting that he had to get the checks cut for supplies by the end of the business day, leaving Shaun bored and listless and ultimately dragging himself here, seeking something he couldn’t explain. Something that he’d found immediately when he’d seen David just inside the cafe doors, chatting with the tall blonde Shaun had been introduced to the day before.

There was something boring about being in a cafe alone, Shaun finally decided as he stared down at the table and waited for David to return, listening to the chime of the door opening and closing, the hiss of the espresso machine, the quiet and steadily growing murmur of noise that was the other customers. He’d never been much of one for people watching—except when he was actively trying to find someone to get to see a bit more up close and personal—he didn’t like to eavesdrop on people’s lives, and frankly while he was a fiend for coffee there was such a thing as the scent of too much caffeine in the air. This place practically dripped with that scent, for all that he had barely noticed it before today.

The door chimed open, chimed closed. Chimed open, chimed closed, and David appeared at the end of his table with a haggard look and his order.

“I’d love to stay and chat, really I would, but it seems someone forgot to mention that there was a play on campus today and…” David trailed off with a sigh as he moved Shaun’s order to the table. “Wave me over when you’re ready to pay, okay?”

Shaun didn’t even have a chance to thank him before David was gone, swallowed up by the growing number of customers that Shaun had only just started to realize were present. As he cast his gaze about he saw that practically the entire cafe had changed while he was trying to deal with the lack of Daniel. The blue shift had disappeared completely from behind the counter, leaving Grif and Sarge frantically working while Simmons, no doubt, was in the back and Connie was wherever she disappeared to when red shift came on to work. David, though, was flowing around the cafe with surprising grace and coordination, taking and reciting back orders with minimal notes on his pad. It was amazing to watch him work, always smiling, always moving, and when he carried a full tray of orders he didn’t seem to spill a single drop of any of the nearly overfilled drinks.

No wonder Connie though so highly of him. The way David moved was beautiful and oh so very tempting.

“We need to talk.”

The declaration is so sudden that Shaun actually jumped as he turned his attention to the towering blond that stood by his table, coffee mug in hand. He’d had his gaze so riveted on David—his mind partially preoccupied in a fantasy of bending David over one of the tables and drawing everyone’s eyes to them—that he hadn’t noticed the arrival of the other man, Alex.

“And here I didn’t wear my serious conversation pants,” Shaun couldn’t resist saying, and Alex just raised a questioning eyebrow.

“So you’re the kind of guy who requires his pants to do the thinking for him? Honestly, I’m not surprised,” Alex observed, his voice oddly dry for the soft smile on his lips; and damn they were lovely lips too, what was with all these hot people at Connie’s these days.

“Just what is that supposed to mean?” Shaun asked, letting his voice drop into a lower, colder area that he only reserved for people he didn’t like—which were few and far between—such as the man Tex sometimes worked with who went by 'Wyoming.’

“It means from what I’ve heard, you tend to think a bit… below the belt,” Alex continued, still smiling warmly and damn that was pretty when mixed with the flatness to his voice.

“From what you’ve heard, you clearly don’t like me,” Shaun observed, breaking off the conversation to smile up at David when he walked by and frowned down at the pair of them before whisking himself off toward the counter.

“No, I honestly don’t,” Alex admitted, and Shaun couldn’t help but nod respectfully to the man.

“At least you’re willing to come out and say it. Bravo. So, what’s the beef?” Shaun demanded, lifting his drink to his lips and savoring the better part of the flavor of David’s mouth. Damn he could get addicted to this mixture of chocolate and cinnamon.

“I think you should… be a bit more cautious with David,” Alex said after a bit, sipping at the mug in his hands. Was it just Shaun, or was there the scent of cinnamon coming from that? Interesting…

“And your right to say that to me comes from…?” Shaun prompted, smiling widely at Alex.

“He’s a friend,” Alex said, a firmness to his voice that made Shaun smile. Well, that was good to know. He hated those rare times when he was accidentally the other man. Hell, he hated the times when he was the other man on purpose. Especially when the first man was someone who looked like Alex. Not that he was scared of the blond just because he was bigger. No, there was something in the way he held himself that worried York.

“Well, I can assure you that as his friend, my intentions aren’t really the slightest bit of your business,” Shaun answered, sipping his drink again and rolling the flavors on his tongue.

It was a stalling tactic and he knew it. The fact of the matter was that even he wasn’t sure of what his intentions on David were just yet. There was something about him that just… threw a lot of his habits right through the window.

“I’m concerned because he just came out of a bad relationship and I would hate to see him hurt by someone just out to get their kicks with the new guy,” Alex sighed, shaking his head.

Well, it was nice to see that people were at least concerned for David. That he had friends, for all that he was new in town. Shaun couldn’t begin to imagine how he would have handled the move to this poor excuse for a city without Daniel.

“I can assure you, Alex, that while my reputation may not agree, I don’t leave the people I’m with behind me in pieces,” Shaun sighed. “I’ve never…”

“I don’t care what you have and haven’t done, or what you claim,” Alex cut him off, voice hard. “All I know is that if you hurt him, I will see to it that you don’t get the chance to bother him again.”

“Is that… a threat?”

“No,” Alex chuckled as he slid from the booth and stood, leaving his mug behind. “It’s a promise.”

There was a quiet kind of intensity to the statement that halted Shaun with the scone halfway to his mouth. A kind of intensity that made Shaun believe Alex’s words as surely as if they had been delivered by Tex herself. So he was left to sit there and stare after Alex as the man walked away as if nothing had happened. The door chimed open, chimed closed, and Shaun smirked to himself as he put his scone down.

“Shaun?” David asked, pausing at the end of his table with a laden tray. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. Perfectly fine,” he breezed, smiling wider.

Poor Alex. Didn’t even seem to realize that he’d only managed to make David that much more interesting.