So I read this rather very specific prompt "i'm a med student who has a huge crush on the hot guy who works at the coffee shop who always gives me free drinks when i'm stressed and calls me princess even though i pretend i think it's annoying but i'm extremely concerned about him because he always smells like smoke so i always give him lectures about how terrible cigarettes are for you and i may have made a powerpoint which is probably excessive but lung health is extremely important and oops it turns out he's part-dragon or something hahahaha oops" AU

"I admit, when you asked for my email, I wasn't exactly expecting a PowerPoint with the hazards of smoking. Nearly puked when I saw those cancer pictures."

Maka at least had the decency to blush and look down at him tamping the espresso grind down. He really did have gorgeous tattoos, well at least from what she could see peeking out from under neath the rolled sleeves of his button down.

Well, all of him was beautiful actually. As much as she kept coming back for the coffee, the coffee shop was kind of out of her way, but the barista was the main draw.

Gorgeous in the strangest ways, she swore she could cut glass on his cheekbones. He really was beautiful. Silvery hair that was obviously unmanageable (it looked to soft and on too many occasions she'd been tempted to run her fingers through it), red eyes that made her brain go dumb and think of red wine and rubies, and sharp teeth (her brain was less dumb when thinking about his teeth, just a hell of a lot more in the gutter).

The only downside to the hotness of the man that made her coffee? He reeked of smoke. Spicy, warm, delicious smoke and Maka hated herself for loving how good he smelled or imagining how hot he looked with a cigarette between his lips when it was so bad for him!

"Have you considered nicotine patches? To help you quit?" she asked him with a frown when he was done frothing the milk for her latte.

He shot her a look over the espresso machine and sighed. "You going to class right after this like usual?"

"The uh, library actually."

"Can you wait like fifteen minutes? I get off my shift and I wanna show you something." He handed her drink over and then blushed when he realized he'd done a heart in the foam and their fingers brushed.

Maka nodded, somewhat perplexed but found a seat and waited. Sure, they had a nice little over the counter friendship, and he knew her name (first time he ever wrote it on a cup it was spelled the Irish way as Macha which she thought was kind of cool) and when she has asked for his, she thought he said Soul but then that couldn't be right. So instead he was either Barita or Hot Barista, depending on who she was talking to.

Per usual, the coffee was perfect. Foam like velvet, complex and deep flavor, just a little sweet, which made her smile. He never charged her for the shop's specialty vanilla bean syrup, just added a few drops, and handed the cup over with a wink and then a blush.

"Good?" he asked as he walked up next to her. He had flecks of milk foam on his shoulder and a dusting of cocoa powder on one side of his face.

"As always, swear you use magic to make it taste so good. You um, have some cocoa dust right here." She tapped her own cheek but he brushed the wrong side of his face. "Ah, no here." She dusted it off gently and then realized how close they were. "So, um?"

He gave her a little grin and said "thanks" quietly.

They walked out together, he held the door for her and then shrugged when she thanked him. The spicy smoke clung to him even more strongly and she wondered if he'd had a cigarette before he joined her. Maka whacked his chest, "You have to stop smoking! It's so bad for your lungs! I went over that in the PowerPoint!"

The "oof!" he let out almost made her feel bad, but she needed to get her point across. It'd be better if she actually knew his name. But it was kind of awkward to ask at this point.

"Damn, tiny woman! Wanted to talk to you about that, I don't smoke cigarettes." He caught her hand and didn't let go of it.

"But you smell like smoke all the time!' Maka didn't pull her hand away, it felt strangely right.

He looked around the street and then pulled her down a small residential one way. "Look, I smell like smoke, but I don't smoke. In the traditional sense." It was still day time was but the sky was beginning to darken a little. He stopped by a bench under a tree. "Not really supposed to tell anyone either."

Maka sat down next to him. "Tell anyone what?" This was not at all what she was expecting.

"Only reason I am telling you is because I am pretty sure you're going to keep sending me PowerPoints with awful pictures in them." He exhaled and a plume of smoke curled out of his mouth.

It took her a moment to process that no, he wasn't smoking, there was no cigarette or e-cig or anything that would create smoke, expect for the barista in front of her. Who's name she still didn't. Which, wow not cool when he was apparently trusting her with… whatever this was. "How?"

"Half dragon." he said it so simply, like "oh, the sky is blue." or "careful, your coffee is hot."

"Ex-excuse me?"

"I'm half dragon. That's where the smoke comes from. It isn't bad for me. Promise." He blew a smoke ring up into the air but avoided looking at her.

Now, the existence of magical creatures was a known but unspoken fact. The Fae were the most outgoing, but most creatures were private. Dragons most of all. There still had never been a confirmed sighting for a full grown adult, and the only official communication from them was that yes, they existed, and they would be keeping to themselves.

There were a few at her university, but she had never had much contact with anything magical. Other than the fact that her favorite barista was apparently half dragon.

Maka finally blurted out, "What's your name?" Which made Soul choke on the smoke rings he was puffing up into the air. She whacked his back trying to be helpful but not entirely sure if she wasn't make it worse.

"Easy, god damn, you hit harder than half my friends. Just told you I'm half dragon and you don't even know my name?" He gave her a wry grin and then scrubbed his hand through his hair. "Told you it was Soul, couple weeks ago."

"When that jerk spilled his drink on me and then tried to blame it on me. You gave me one of the t-shirts you guys sell. I thought I misheard you." Maka gave him her best apologetic smile. "Thank you for that, I love that shirt." (It had stopped smelling like coffee, but it was so soft and frequently wore it to bed.)

That earned her another smile from Soul (it did sort of fit him), and she bumped his shoulder with her own. "I think, I would ask you out to coffee, Soul, but considering you work at a coffee shop, that would be sort of lame. So, something else?"

"I'd like that. And, for the record, I appreciate the concern about my smoking habits. But please, no more PowerPoints."