Chapter Text
(Omg first time using rich text I Lav it)
Your day started as per usual. Getting up early was not something that you liked to do but in order to do your job it had to be done. Ever since you were little you dreamed of owning a café and here you are, living your dream. It was never quiet in your café, yet it wasn’t too popular either; you didn’t mind as it meant you would usually not get too stressed throughout your workday.
Something you always looked forward to was when one of your regulars came in. It didn’t matter which one, you had gained quite a few returning customers who would often order something different each time they came in but there was one, who stood out. He was very tall and not just tall, he was huge! Having to duck under your door to even get inside the store and being built nearly as wide as the doorframe itself he always stood out from the crowd; he also stayed consistent with his order, always ordering the same black coffee with one of your cat cookies to go along with it. He once said that he thought they looked cute which made you chuckle a little.
He usually came in around the same time everyday and you’d always be happy to see him. Sometimes you also didn’t see him for days on end, wondering if he was okay but then he’d return like always, continuing his little tradition of coming to your café.
At first he scared you, his height, his build, the sniper hood he always seemed to wear along with his tactical gear, his icy blue eyes and how he usually didn’t say anything unless it was to tell you his order. But gradually he seemed to warm up to you a little more, striking up small conversations from time to time and when you added a new pastry to your display he’d ask to try it as soon as he took notice of it.
He was actually a sweet person, he just didn’t show it much. You figured he was the quiet type from when you first met him and when he sat down in the far back of your shop, observing people as they entered, ordered, sat down and chatted with others he’d quietly finish his order and leave, always putting a tip on the table and waving a small goodbye as he walked out.
As always he returned to your shop at 12:00 sharp. You asked him how his day had been so far and he told you a little about his day and the things his fellow soldiers have been up to.
(Again I will mostly include people from Taskforce 141 as I’ve just seen more about them sorry!!)
You had gotten to hear a lot about a few of his comrades; Ghost and Soap who bickered a lot; Captain Price who according to König is the only one there who has a full beard growing and Gaz. You didn’t know them personally but you hoped that König was enjoying his life there with them.
You got him his usual order and he thanked you with what you always assumed was a kind smile, as you saw his eyes squint up a little before he sat down at the very back watching the people come and go.
Getting a start on your chores for today you wiped down some more tables and restocked some of your pastries in the display until the bell chimed again letting you know you had a customer. “Hello, what can I get you today sir?” You said with your usual polite smile. He looked to be in his mid 50’s, definitely around the 6’ mark (~1,80m) and he had a few scars. He looked to be a retired officer or soldier. Eyeing you up and down he said “Well you could get me your number, cutie” at that you were weirded out. Did he have no manners? Men like these annoyed you to the core, thinking they can just hit on people especially while they’re at work. But having to stay collected you said “I cannot do that sir, is there something else you’d like?” The Café was nearly empty, it was an hour before the rush would start so most people were still at work or in school. You hadn’t noticed that someone else took notice of this customer, slowly getting up from their seat and making their way to the front equally as slow, as to not alert the creep at the counter.
With a creepy smile the customer said “Yeah if I could have you that would be perf-“ he didn’t even get to finish his sentence before a large hand grabbed his shirt, picking him up and turning him around. He was now at eye level with König who looked like he was ready to murder. “If you do not leave this instant I will not hesitate to smash your head in.” König said, tightening his grip on the man’s shirt. You’ve never seen König like this, granted he is only a customer but he had always seemed very sweet with only Kind intentions. But right now he looked like an absolute demon; standing at his full height, eyes wide and looking even bulkier than usual with no skin visible made him look inhuman.
You were actually slightly amazed at the duality of him. Just a few minutes ago he was chatting with you, a slight smile never leaving his face and being slumped down a little to talk to you better. Now the man looked absolutely terrified and you swear if looks could kill he would’ve already died 30 times over. The man hadn’t answered König yet, likely out of pure shock and terror but König was not having that. “Answer.” He simply said, tilting his head slightly, somehow making him even more terrifying. The man quickly scrambled together an answer “Y-yes s-sir! O-of course sir!!” Then, without a word König let go of his shirt making the man fall to the ground before he quickly scrambled out of your café.
Then König turned to you, while the look of shock and amazement never left your face. It was even more shocking to see how quickly his posture changed again. Now his shoulders were rounded again, eyes softer and head tilted forward a bit. You weren’t sure but he looked… almost embarrassed? Like he didn’t want you to see this side of him. „Thank you“ you said, quickly gaining his attention again. Your face didn’t have shock written all over it anymore, instead you sent him a sweet smile, grateful that he stepped in when he did because you would‘ve probably not been able to get rid of that guy on your own because you had to stay polite and kind while working.
He looked surprised at this, like he was expecting for you to run away in terror like that creep did moments ago or for you to kick him out and tell him to never come back. Instead being met with a thank you and a smile. All words in the English language left his mouth as he could only respond „Bitteschön“ before he quietly went back to his table and finished his order.
As he left you bid eachother goodbye like everyday as you continued on with your work. Just before you closed up shop you heard the bell ring again. You turned around only to be met with a bouquet of flowers, they looked a little crooked like they were picked by hand but that made them so much prettier. You looked up to see who the person holding it was and to your surprise it was König, looking at anything but you. „For you“ he said, bringing the bouquet a little closer to you. This left you surprised, why would he get you a bouquet? „Thank you König, may I ask why tho?“ you didn’t know why he’d bring you flowers; he had no reason to. „As an apology. I thought I maybe scared you.“ He looked down now, seemingly embarrassed by his actions this noon. At this you let out a light laugh to which he shrank Into himself more, thinking you were laughing at him.
When you put your hand on his biceps he perked up again. „You have no reason to apologize König, I’m very grateful for what you did and you never have to worry about scaring me“ you told him truthfully and with a smile. Now he was looking at you and he was shocked. Did you say you were grateful? And not scared? He couldn’t believe it. Usually people shied away from him as soon as they saw him but you weren‘t. Taking the Bouquet and brushing against the flowers, inspecting them a little you said „They‘re beautiful, thank you König“ You‘d gotten Flowers before but for some reason these felt far more personal. He had handpicked them, each and everyone of them instead of buying a bouquet from a store. Sure it wasn‘t professional and it didn‘t look the most appealing when you first look at it but knowing it was König, the soldier, the busy guy, who took time out of his day to pick flowers for you made them more gorgeous than any other bouquet in the world.
König on the other hand felt like he was in another world. He knew the flowers he picked didn’t look very pretty, honestly he thought they were quite the opposite, some of them were bent or slumped, some crooked from him gripping the bundle of flowers too hard because of his nerves. But after giving them to you and seeing you be happy over them, calling them beautiful and knowing you were telling the truth because of the way your eyes shone and your hands brushed over the little flowers, he couldn‘t help but think the same.
He started coming to your shop almost as soon as you first opened it, just wanting to try the coffee and cake you had because he knew everyone made them differently and he was curious. When he entered the first time you were overjoyed to have a customer and he had noticed that you could barely wipe the big grin off of your face. Yet he also took note how you tried to keep atleast a little more distance between you two as he intimidated you. That‘s when he started to make himself a little smaller for you, sometimes striking up a little bit of a conversation. He was surprised at himself for doing this because he hated to initiate a conversation. It always felt awkward when he started it and somehow he never knew what to say. But he felt different around you and he couldn’t describe why. That‘s why he started coming around more and more, quickly becoming one of your regulars. When he entered he noticed how your polite customer smile changed to a genuine one, how your posture slightly changed to be more upright. He took notice of every detail of you; when you did your makeup differently or got a new haircut.
You didn‘t know how you made him feel and he wanted to tell you but the thought of any form of rejection made him shy away. He didn‘t want to ruin something like this with him maybe coming off as creepy or making you scared of him. But your words from earlier made his heart beat faster; „you never have to worry about scaring me“ he was so used to people being scared of him in many ways. His height, his eyes, his frame and his getup; his existence alone made most people uncomfortable at best. But there you were, talking to him like he was just.. a guy.
You quickly scrambled to the back to get a little Vase for your bouquet and König couldn‘t help but stare until you were out of sight. Suddenly the room felt colder. He didn’t understand it; how could you brighten up a room so much by just being in it? He didn‘t feel like this with anyone else. He never felt like going out everyday just to see someone and he cared so little about how people perceived him most of the time. But with you he wanted you to know he never meant harm and after today he thought you‘d hate him. He didn‘t know why you‘d hate him but you looked so shocked after he lifted a man off the ground with one hand and made him scramble off, simply with a few words, that he wanted to hide away again, never having to look at you again because he’d be too embarrassed to do it. But you had thanked him, even sending him a smile. He was baffled and couldn‘t form any English sentences for the next 2 hours. He was so out of it that even his teammates noticed but they couldn‘t get him to talk. Even if they did they wouldn‘t have been able to understand him since none of them spoke German.
As soon as you came back, Vase filled with water and flowers in them, the room brightened up again, warmth flowing through him at the sight of you. You had arranged the flowers in the Vase so beautifully, that he couldn‘t even imagine how you‘d made his ugly little bouquet into something so beautiful just with your touch.
You noticed that he was staring at you and you thought you might have smudged your makeup or may have some frosting on your cheek. „Do I have something on my face?“ you asked him, trying to wipe something non-existent off your face. Your words snapped him out of his daze and he replied „Nein! I mean uhm no you don‘t. I got lost in thought is all“ If he wasn‘t wearing the sniper hood you would‘ve seen his ears and cheeks tinted a dark pink but in this moment he was so greatful to have it, that he sighed a little in relief.
You were also very relieved to know that you weren‘t walking around with anything on your face, completely oblivious to it. For some reason you never wanted to look flawed infront of him. You didn‘t mind if you happened to have icing on your cheek infront of any other costumer; after all it showed that you were working hard to give them the best pastries possible. But with König? You hated to think you may come off as a little dumb or clumsy sometimes. It made you embarrassed thinking about it. At times like these you were jealous of his covered face because you couldn’t tell if you were blushing or not and you’d prefer to cover it if possible.
You had lost track of time and it was already way past closing time. You quickly scrambled to get everything cleaned up, while König just stood there, not knowing what to do. Wanting to help he brought some of your baked goods to the back, not even knowing if he placed them in the right spot but he didn‘t care. He just wanted to spend more time in the café with you.
You had noticed that he was trying to help and you‘d thank him as soon as you two got done cleaning the shop.
„Thank you so much for your help König“ you said sighing in relief and lightly chuckling „I completely lost track of time“. He loved your laugh. It was like music to his ears and he could listen to it all day long, just like your voice. You knocked the words out of him everytime you spoke. Then an Idea came to your mind. You had learned a bit of German in school but you could hardly recall any of it. So in an effort to thank him for all of today you said „Dankeschön“ and that was his undoing.
Before this he never knew how much he wanted to hear your voice in his native tongue but now he never wanted you to stop. He loved the way you said his name and how you had an accent while trying to pronounce it. And now, you saying thank you, just gave him the rest. He felt like passing out. His heart was beating so rapidly in his chest and he hoped to dear god you wouldn’t be able to hear it. He only managed to let out a little Uh-Huh, while sounding like a lovesick fool.
Up until this point he was denying his little crush on you but this drove him over the edge. There was no more denying it. You had him wrapped around your finger and you two weren‘t even that close. He was staring again and he was fully aware of it this time. You did things to him that he couldn’t even describe and the only thing he wanted to do was hold you close, to take in the smell of baked goods you always had and to call you his.
During Königs inner turmoil about his feelings for you you were just staring into his eyes, mesmerised by them. Earlier they had a murderuous gleam in them but now those same icy blue eyes were so soft, so beautiful. They were the only thing you could see under the mask and somehow that was all he needed to express himself. You could tell just by his eyes how he was feeling and it amazed you. Those eyes were something you could get lost in, even drown in but you wouldn‘t mind if you did.
You were both in a trance until your phone rang. Snapping out of it you got it out of your pocket. It was your friend and neighbour Dylan. You picked up and she started bombarding you with questions on why you weren’t home yet, where you were and if anything happened. She always worried about you, you thought it was incredibly sweet how she was always looking out for you. Before she could say anything else you told her you were alright and you had just spent a little extra time at the café and would be going home soon enough. Being the worried friend she is she wouldn‘t let you off the hook just yet. She had to tell you to call or text before you stayed late again because you both knew how worried she‘d get if she didn‘t hear from you. You assured her that you‘d tell her next time and hung up.
“I‘m sorry König, I have to go now. Same time as usual tomorrow right?“ you said to him grabbing your purse and coat. He looked at you with those beautiful soft eyes saying „Yeah, same time as usual“ „The regular again?“ you‘d asked with a smile.
“The regular please“ and with that you‘d both exited the café, locking it behind you and going home.