Page 9 of Johann

But that would be weird, right? Humans didn’t rub up against other humans they barely knew.

So no rubbing. And also, Jay had been counting something. What had he been counting?

Right, the ways in which Alexei was intimidating.

So for three, his handsome face was always kind of stern, those dark-golden brows often drawn together in a subtle frown. Not quite a scowl but also notnota scowl.

The nice thing was, though, those stern eyebrows always kind of relaxed around Jay. He liked watching it happen, the moment Alexei caught his eye and that frown softened to… One couldn’t quite call it a smile, exactly, but it was definitely neutral at the very least. That always made Jay feel good.

Today Alexei had on a black pullover sweater and worn-looking jeans. He didn’t seem to wear a coat as often as other humans. Maybe when a human was that big, they didn’t get cold as easily? Jay would ask Danny about it later. His nurse friend always knew important medical facts like that.

Anyhoo, Alexei wore a lot of black and gray. Enough that Jay might normally have considered his fashion sense kind of a bummer to look at. But Jay’s new favorite regular got away with it because he had those colorful eyes and the prettiest hair Jay had ever seen. And even though Alexei always wore that pretty hair up, and Jay really (like,really) wanted to see it down, there were always these little strands that would escape around his face, and that looked quite nice.

So really, Alexei didn’t need to wear anything super bright to still be the nicest-looking thing in the room.

And oops, now he was there, at the counter. Jay had been staring again. Luckily he’d also been waving like mad, so maybe Alexei hadn’t noticed.

“Jay,” Alexei greeted, his voice all gruff and gravelly from the cold outside.

“Do you think I’d look good with a little bun?” Jay asked, studying Alexei’s golden topknot. “My hair’s not quite long enough yet, but if it were…” He reached up and tugged as many of his dark strands as he could into the semblance of a bun, even though only half of them actually made it into one, the rest falling back down around his ears. “What do you think?”

Alexei tilted his head, considering Jay’s efforts carefully.

Jay liked that so, so much—the way Alexei often studied him, so intent and serious. He never brushed off Jay’s questions with a laugh or an eye roll like some people did. It was why he was Jay’s new favorite regular.

That and maybe also the way he smelled. Sogood. Like vanilla and sugar.

“I think you could pull it off,” Alexei finally answered, that not smile, not scowl on his face.

Jay beamed at him. “Me too. What can I get you today?”

Alexei did that other thing Jay liked so much, where he leaned down low over the counter so they were both closer to eye level with each other. Jay liked it because he could see all the pretty colors in Alexei’s eyes even better but also because the human smelled so, so good. It always made Jay’s beastie perk up in interest (well, perk up more;his beastie was always very interested in everything Alexei).

“Are you sure you haven’t been baking cupcakes?” Jay couldn’t help but ask. Alexei had told him no the other day, but maybe it had just slipped his mind. He seemed like a guy who had a lot going on. Busy and important, probably. Why else would someone look so serious all the time?

Alexei huffed a not quite laugh. “No cupcakes, kotyonok.”

Jay’s heart warmed at the nickname Alexei had started giving him. It meant “kitten” in Russian. Jay didn’t think Alexei knewheknew that, but Jay was afraid if he told him, Alexei might stop, so he kept his language knowledge to himself.

Alexei leaned just a hair’s breadth closer. “Do youlikecupcakes?”

“I like anything with sugar,” Jay answered honestly.

“I see.” Alexei’s gaze traveled down to Jay’s lips, just for a second. Was he imagining Jay eating a cupcake maybe? Jay felt a little hot and squirmy at the thought, which honestly happened a lot around his new regular. Something about him always had Jay’s little beastie wanting to rise to the surface, as if it wanted a closer look. It had Jay half-afraid his fangs were going to pop out at any moment, which would be majorly embarrassing.

He was raised to have better control than that, after all.

Jay shook a mental finger at his beastie, pushing it back. “Your order?” he asked again. His voice sounded a bit breathless to his own ears.

“Americano. Iced, please. With a pump of…peppermint today, I think.”

“Iced Americano with a pump of peppermint,” Jay repeated dutifully. Alexei never ordered the exact same thing twice. “How festive!”

Alexei’s brows rose slightly. “It’s February, kotyonok. The holidays are long over.”

Jay shrugged. “Still very festive.”

“It is, isn’t it.” Alexei wasalmostsmiling, his lips soft and relaxed, and Jay was beaming, and their faces were very close, and oh, Jay just really, really wanted a nibble. Just a little nibble of the delicious-smelling regular with the handsome face and pretty eyes and strong-looking forearms with his sleeves rolled back.

---