It’d been a while since John Watson had stopped by here -- there had been a lot going on. Work was busy -- his schedule was erratic at best and often he worked the hours that Audrey might be in her shop, anyway. On top of that, there had been the whole singing spree thing (he hadn’t been interested in leaving his house during these times), and then case stuff with Sherlock. And if Sherlock demanded his time, John found it impossible to tell his roommate no.
But today he was free, and so he made it a point to stop by. Because he missed the coffee? Sure.
The place had good coffee. Better tea. And even better pastries. Audrey was alone behind the counter when John came in. She was reading a newspaper, and must have thought he was someone else, because when he approached the counter, she spoke without looking up at him. "You should put out a want ad in here. 'Looking for romance? Nah, just need to get laid.'" Grinning, she turned to face him. And the grin melted into a very embarrassed, shocked expression. "John. You're not Brian."
John found himself both disturbed and tickled at her words. Not to mention a bit confused. He rose his eyebrows in that expression that was solely his own -- blank, a little confused, a little amused all wrapped into one tilt of the mouth.
“I’m really not,” he agreed, letting her off easy, because he was nice like that. “SWM, looking for coffee, mostly.” That was his want ad, please and thank-you.
“That I can definitely help with.” Her freckles had faded as the flush crept up her cheeks. She turned around to fill a cup, kicking herself for not checking before she opened her fool mouth. “Sorry, one of my employees, Brian, and I have this running... gag. It’s stupid.” She turned back around with his cup and set it on the counter, then one of her hands lifted to her hair.
“Sounded funnier than it did stupid,” John said, smiling a little at the way she touched her hair. It was cute. And she seemed to do it a lot when he was around. Then again, she might have done it a lot even when he wasn’t around. Not like there was really any way of him knowing, right?
“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.” It had been such an unreserved, spunky joke, and he liked that -- it made him wonder why she always seemed to shy around him. “Thank you -- for the coffee.”
Gee. Wonder why she was always so shy around him. “Sure. Of course.” She said with a smile. It was, afterall, Audrey’s job to serve him coffee. “Oh! You should try these new cookies I developed.” She said, reaching into the pastry case to pull him out the little box of egg-shaped cookies and edible paint. “You can use the brush to paint the royal icing on the cookie. The little pots are different flavors. It goes on just like food coloring, but gives a little extra... umph.”
“Umph?” Watson repeated, raising his eyebrows up before taking a sip of his coffee. He never seemed to sit down at this particular cafe, but instead linger at the counter the entire time. “What are the other flavors?”
“The pink’s strawberry, the yellow is vanilla and the green is apple.” Audrey said. She picked up a cookie and painted on it. Pink hearts, green circles and yellow stars, then held it out to him.
While John wasn’t sure how he felt about apples and strawberries on the same palette, he supposed that he ought to at least trust Audrey on this one -- after all, she was the one who worked with flavors. He just worked on weird cases involving jewel thieves with his roommate, and then at the hospital. John Watson was cookie ignorant.
So he tried it, and was oddly unsurprised when he found he liked it. “Brilliant,” he said, amused.
“I’m so glad you like it!” It was more generic, sweet than it was tasty apple. But it worked. Somehow she’d made something really cute and fun, that didn’t taste like ass. A nice alternative to Peeps and Cadbury Creme Eggs for the holiday.
“I haven’t seen you in a while,” Audrey mentioned. Not that she’d been holding her breath, or anything, but she noticed when her favorite customers didn’t come in. “...you’ve been busy at work?”
“Yeah,” John said, leaning his hip against the counter and looking out over the seating area, not quite scrutinizing. “Had to up the work flow when half the nurses were singing through the day.” That was just how things went, he supposed. “And I’ve been helping my friend -- roommate -- out with some things...”
“The one who doesn’t eat?” Audrey asked, curiously. He didn’t talk a whole lot about his roommates, so she was interested when they came up.
“One and the same,” John agreed with an easy nod. Peter probably wouldn’t have eaten either, but he had a girlfriend who seemed to remind him to do so from time to time. “He’s a bit a … consulting detective.”
“Consulting detective?” Audrey asked, now even more intrigued. “I didn’t know that the police consulted. Do they do that? Bring in outside help? Or something along those lines? Well, they must, if that’s what he does for a living.” Now she was babbling. “Are you working on a case with him?”
“I think he’s the first,” John said, a bit abashed. “He’s really quite good. Uncanny, really. Although a might hard to talk to because of it sometimes.” For as much of a mess as his roommate was, it was clear that John had a great affection for the man. Sherlock was, of course, as close as John had to a best friend -- even if the Detective might not have agreed with the sentiment a bit.
“I worked with him the other day. It’s all a bit --” he made a wild gesture, because he had no real explanation, otherwise. “Mostly I drive him about.”
Audrey nodded, listening. It was sweet how John talked about his friend--how he had such obvious affection. “He sounds fascinating. You should bring him in here sometime.” She said, turning to lean against the counter. “I’d love to meet him. See what this strangeness is all about.”
“I don’t think so,” John said with a laugh before sipping at his coffee. Of course, he realized nearly immediately just how rude that probably sounded, and so he quickly tried to make amends of his words. “It’s just that he’s not -- the socializing type. He doesn’t do random outings or meetings like this. He’s very... well. Eccentric. I hate to say so, but I’m sure you wouldn’t like him.” Not many people did.
“Hey, there are very few people in this world that I don’t like.” Audrey said. And, to be fair, it was true. He’d have to be like, Hitler, for her not to like him. “Wait, does he dislike baked goods? Because I’m not sure that’s forgivable.”
“I don’t think he has an opinion on them,” John said. Again, he could not stress enough how much she wouldn’t like him. And he wouldn’t like her. “Probably, he thinks they’re irrelevant.” Sherlock seemed to say that a lot, anyway.
“Oh.” Audrey gave a little nod, and decided to give up that argument. It wasn’t worth trying to convince him that she was hard to offend. She gave a little shrug of her shoulders. “Well, I’m glad you’re feeding him well, even if he has no opinion on pastries. You’re welcome to bring him some of mine. See if he likes those.”
“I’ll do that,” John agreed, because apparently Audrey was a bit stubborn about it. And if nothing else, and his roommate didn’t like the pastries, well. More for John, right?
“Good. Always looking to make new customers. I mean, friends.” She said, giving him a smile. “Just let me know what pastries you think he might like, and I’ll put together a little care package. Let him know that he’s welcome here anytime. Y’know, just like you are, too.” She lifted a hand and ran it over her hair once more, turning to the espresso machine to steam up some milk.
“I don’t think he’d care for the cookies,” John admitted, but took a moment to glance at the pastry case, anyway. “Maybe the -- scones?” He seemed a little lost on the subject. He didn’t know much about pastries, beyond the fact that Audrey made them well, and he rather liked eating them.
“He likes things a little less sweet? Some of the muffins are really good. There’s one with flax seed and dried fruit, he might like that one.” Audrey suggested. “Or the cornbread one. Those are both a little less sweet than the rest.”
“Whatever you think is best,” John said, nodding sagely. “You are the master in this regard. I’m only a novice. If that.”
Audrey put together a care package for John to take home to his roommates. A couple of scones, a couple croissants, and a couple muffins. She put them all into a bag, and slid it across the counter to him. “Make sure that your roommates eat. And tell them they’re welcome here anytime.”
John gave an appreciative grin, looking just a little bashful over it, too. “I will, I will.”
Audrey really liked the look of his grin. He was handsome. She couldn’t help but smile in return. “Good.”
The door’s chime went off as it opened, and Audrey’s employee came wandering in. This time, it was Brian. He gave the two of them a cheeky grin, then hurried around the counter, pulling on his apron.
“I should get to it. We were supposed to train on the espresso machine today.” Audrey said to John, apologetically.
“No problem,” John said quickly -- he assumed at this point Audrey wasn’t going to charge him for the goods -- but that didn’t stop him stuffing a quick twenty into the tip jar -- hey, he had to even it out, right? “I’ll see you next time, yeah?”