OneShots with Various Ships

Human! Kanaya x Rose Coffeeshop AU

Rose POV

I work at the local coffee shop, where one girl consistently comes to eat and drink tea. She always gets the same thing: a cinnamon bun with extra drizzle and green tea. She always sits at the window seat, and she is always fashionably dressed.

I've noticed that I started to dress more stylishly than I had, although I don't have too much money. I work mornings before college classes, and evenings afterwards. I can always count on that beautiful dark-haired girl to be there when I come in every morning.

My morning passes uneventfully, with the beautiful girl coming in and asking for her tea and cinnamon bun. I draw a little smiley face on the cinnamon bun with the glaze, then hand it to her in the napkin. It makes her smile a little, showing perfectly straight teeth with vampirelike canines. You might be wondering, why don't I know her name? We use regular tea cups for tea instead of names on them like with coffee. You just wait at the counter for your tea instead of leaving the line.

I stop her at the counter. "Miss..."

"Oh! You're that same girl who serves me every morning! I suppose I should tip you... Oh! I completely forgot to pay," she says, flustered.

"It's all right," I reply, seeing her green eyes lock onto mine. "I was just wondering, what's your name?"

She pauses. "My name?" I nod, smiling. "I'm... Kanaya."

"That's such a nice name! I'm Rose, as you can see on my name tag."

She smiles at me. "Nice to meet you, Rose." Then she sits down in her usual seat, and I get ready to go back to school.

My classes pass, all boring except for my favorite, English Lit. We've been studying Shakespeare's plays, and I'm analyzing A Midsummer Night's Dream. The girl next to me is analyzing Romeo and Juliet, which I think is a little amateur for college, but whatever. She slams her book closed in confusion.

"Ugh! I can't figure out the dynamic between Romeo and Rosaline!" I lean over to her. "Can you help me out... Oh! Are you Rose?"

"Yes... wait! I know your voice! Jade?" Jade was my Internet friend from back in middle school, and we kept talking until around sophomore year of high school.

"Great to finally meet you in person," she says. "Now can you help me out here! SOS!" I laugh and we get to work, annotating her copy of the play.

After class is over, I return to the coffeeshop for my night shift. All of a sudden, Kanaya rushes in, her dress rumpled and her purple sash disheveled.

"Coffee please, with-- Oh... Rose." It's obvious she wasn't expecting me. "Sorry. Um, coffee... with extra..."

"You want a latte?" I  say, making her the coffee.

"Thank you," she gasps. "I have no idea how to order a coffee." She sits down in the normal seat. It's late now, the store's about to close, so I'm the only employee here. I switch the sign to Closed and start to set the chairs on the table.

"We can just talk," I say, turning off the machines and dropping $5 into the cash register for the coffee, and a pastry. I also swipe a slice of red velvet cake, which I promptly split in half and give some to Kanaya.

"Thank you," she says, gratefully drinking her coffee. "I needed some caffeine."

"Do you want to talk about what happened just now?"

"Oh... um..."

"It's okay if you don't want to! I just thought maybe..."

"No, it's okay. I just need a moment." She takes a bite of the cake. "Well, I just got fired from my designing job. Apparently my designs were getting old. And a girl that I used to know, Vriska? She got my job."

"Oh, Kanaya..." I rest my hand on hers. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you. This means a lot, you know. I don't really have many good friends. I mean, I have one good friend, his name is Karkat, but we live far away."

"Well, hopefully we can be friends too," I say, blushing a little. She nods, still sipping her coffee. I take off my apron and hang it up, letting Kanaya out. "Do you want me to walk you home?"

"That's all right, Rose. Thank you, though."

I wave goodbye to her, then lock the shop and start the walk to the bus stop. It's a long way home to Mom and my cat.

The next morning, I walk into the shop to see Kanaya waiting for me. I make her the pastry and the tea, and add another smiley face with glaze. She smiles at me, and sits in the normal spot. I smile, and then notice her writing on the napkin. She eats quickly, deposits the teacup into the designated spot, and rushes out.

"What's this?" I pick up the napkin. On it, in jade green pen, is:

753-909-2726. Thank you, Rose.