A/N: The only thing that this fic has more than coffee is fluff. If neither of those are your thing, I feel sorry for you.

Coffee store AU! Because every fandom needs one.

Code Geass (or more relevantly, Suzaku Kururugi) doesn't belong to me.

Suzaku decides eventually that he's exposed to enough caffeine on a daily basis to not have to go to the trouble of consuming it. The smell of coffee has pretty much invaded his entire life- he finds hefty doses of it on his clothes, his pillows, his hair and his hands.

However, he knows very well that this is a small and inevitable price to pay for having worked in Camelot Coffeehouse upwards of two years – ever since Bismarck pointed out, none too gently, that if he was going to hang around the place so much he might as well be useful- and nowhere near as bad as Gino's apparent curse of having to constantly maintain the caffeine levels in his blood at nearly a hundred per cent. Besides, he likes this job: his boss treats him surprisingly well, going as far as to let him sit in on job interviews for potential recruits and offer opinions. Any claims of favoritism are quickly smothered by the time the early morning rush is over, because no one who's ever witnessed the coffee-distributing maniac Suzaku transforms into come seven-thirty a.m. –Gino calls it the Miracle of Kururugi- have grounds to dispute his efficiency. Suzaku, in short, does the work of three very good baristas and no one in the vicinity forgets it.

This particular morning, Suzaku fidgets absently with the collar of the regulation tight-to-the-point-of-indecency white T-shirt (complete with the logo of two stylized C's on the upper left) as he parks himself behind one of the cash registers. Anya's pushing buttons in rapid succession on the other, and together, they get the process down to an art form.

Anya was Gino's friend, initially, the same way everyone who Suzaku comes into contact with regularly is Gino's friend. But then she showed Suzaku some of the pictures she'd taken of the shop during a break and then they'd started hanging out together. There were more pictures to come, and Anya explained each memory attached to them in a quiet, measured voice, pointing out the details that she'd wanted to capture. Anya's photos reveal an unexpected, slightly odd worldview, so sometimes he bursts out laughing when he clearly isn't supposed to, but when he tried to apologize the first time it happened, she placed a small hand on top of his and said that she liked how he saw the world, too.

Suzaku's good at seeing. He can pick out a single person through the comfortable jostle of a Saturday morning in a coffee shop, and that skill, in particular, helps out when the clock settles on eight o'clock precisely and the door opens to let in That Boy.

That Boy. Quite possibly the prettiest boy in the world.

Suzaku tries valiantly not to get flustered –Miracle of goddamn Kururugi, he reminds himself sternly- as That Boy moves closer through the line. That Boy always wears a school uniform –his school's uniform, and Suzaku can't help but feel betrayed by that because he's yet to see That Boy even once at Ashford Academy- but today, he's exchanged it for a black turtleneck and a red leather jacket that looks intimidatingly good on him.

Suzaku tries to focus on the long, rambling order of the girl at the front of the line –Tina- and on flashing her a smile and a hey, you get a haircut or something? It looks good. It becomes harder to keep up, especially when he realizes that there's still one more person between the counter and That Boy, which means that he's going to end up at Anya's register and not his.

He stifles a sigh and doles out more of the same as the next customer steps up, trying not to let his disappointment show, when: "Suzaku will get your order. I'll come back shortly."

Anya brushes past him to the restroom, face as impassive as ever. Suzaku projects a wild and unfettered thankyouthankyouthankyou at her, which she acknowledges with a hint of a smile.

He takes a deep breath, hands Jeremy his receipt, and smiles as steadily as he can at a pair of bright amethyst eyes. "Good morning," he says. "What can I get for you today?"

"A large mocha, with syrup and chocolate sauce, and a medium drip," That Boy answers.

Suzaku tries to ignore the butterflies that erupt in his stomach after hearing That Boy's voice –reciting his coffee order, no less- and says, boldly, "Lelouch, right?" like he's got any actual doubt in his mind.

Out loud, the name sounds as elegant and mysterious as his eye color, which is why Suzaku almost never uses it even in his head.

He begins punching buttons furiously, and so almost misses the brilliant smile that gets sent his way. "Yeah, it's Lelouch," he says, and he actually sounds a little surprised. "I suppose I have been coming here quite regularly."

For a month, Suzaku wants desperately to say. Like clockwork. With the same two orders, and by the way, which one is yours?

He's beaming like an idiot though, and his cheeks are getting steadily hotter as he ducks his head and admits, "It's an unusual name."

Lelouch smiles again, quick and bright, before glancing at the line behind him.

"Bet you get that a lot, though," Suzaku says quickly. It wouldn't do if caffeine addicts stampeded over That Boy in their impatience. "Would you like your receipt?"

Lelouch nods, as usual, and says, "Yes please."

He takes it and slips towards one of the windows, leaning slightly against the wall. It takes Suzaku nearly half a minute to tear his eyes away from the long graceful fingers playing with the receipt he'd just given him, folding and refolding without conscious thought.

Anya's back behind her register by the time he calls, "Medium drip and mocha for Lelouch," and she actually returns the grin he gives her.

That Boy smiles again – Suzaku's mind offers a simple, heartfelt whoa- and comes up to accept it. Then he follows that up with slipping three dollars into the tip jar and placing whatever it was that he'd been making out of his receipt on a corner of the counter.

After he's gone, Suzaku quickly peers over to look, and feels a huge grin break across his face when he recognizes a perfectly-made paper crane.

Gino shows up just when the first tide of caffeine seekers has dwindled down to an unsteady trickle, and makes a series of loud noises for no other reason, apparently, other than that he can. He slings an arm around Suzaku's shoulders –which, if he hadn't been braced for it, probably would have knocked him clean to the ground- and blinks at the paper crane he's currently holding in his hands.

"Suzaku, is that origami?" he says excitedly. "Will you teach me how to do it?"

"Yes, and no." Suzaku says, carefully stowing the paper crane on Bismarck's desk to collect later. Even Gino was careful around that desk. "Also, indoor voice, Gino."

"Lelouch made it," Anya offers.

Suzaku groans as Gino leans even more of his weight on him. "Lelouch, huh?" he ruffles Suzaku's hair. "Was he asking you out?"

"Gino," Suzaku says, meaning for it to sound reproving, but the effect's utterly ruined by the blush he can feel rising on his cheeks. "He was bored. He wanted something to do with his hands."

"That's what she said," Gino says, clearly out of habit. He winces at the glare Suzaku sends his way. "Sorry, sorry, couldn't help it. What I meant to say was, did you want him to ask you out?"

"I, um," Suzaku fidgets. Gino waits expectantly. "Yeah," he mumbles at last, shamefaced.

Anya snaps a picture.

"Well," and Gino makes a face that warns Suzaku that the blond boy was about to not only pull something out of his ass that was wholly ridiculous, but try to pass it off as common sense as well, "in my experience, you don't get anything that you aren't willing to give yourself."

This proclamation, appropriately, is followed by a silence.

"…what?"

Gino shrugs. "Means you've got to stop waiting for him to take the first step. Be assertive." He shrugs. "Either way, you have to play an active part in the path of lurve."

So it turns out Gino's a gigantic fortune cookie, and Anya –he glares- is recording away diligently, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"We have work to do," Suzaku points out. "And contrary to popular belief, we aren't fourteen year old girls. No discrimination intended, Anya."

"None taken."

They make their way back to the counter in the shop, Suzaku stomping pointedly and Gino loudly arguing the merits of sushi for lunch against Italian behind him. Suzaku's about to turn around and tip the scales in sushi's favor –after all, he had to suffer through whatever eccentric choices Gino cared to make as well- when he realizes that there's someone standing on the other side of the counter.

A jet black-haired, violet-eyed, pale-skinned someone.

"…we're closed," Suzaku blurts.

Behind him, there's a very loud snicker and the unmistakable sound of a shutter clicking.

That Boy looks confused. Attractively so. "I thought- I'm sorry, I was just-"

"I meant, we're closed on national holidays," Suzaku says. He has a vague idea that he's possibly making things worse for himself, but that doesn't matter, because Lelouch is standing in front of him.

Looking adorably confused.

A little awkward, too.

Suzaku takes a deep breath. If there's a medal for digging one's own grave, he and his big mouth surely deserve it. "What I'm trying to say is," he says carefully, so that Lelouch –this incredibly good-looking, (probably) maddeningly intelligent boy- won't think that he's a complete idiot, "what would you like?"

Against all odds, a slow, rich smirk curls That Boy's mouth. "Medium drip," he says. He makes a show of peering over the counter to check Suzaku's nametag and blinking. "…Lancelot."

The move is so ridiculously theatrical that Suzaku can't hold back the sunny grin. "It's, uh, shop policy. The owner's kind of eccentric." He looks down at the register because he can't stop smiling.

"Thematic," Lelouch says, and there's a note of amusement and… well, almost frustration there, like Suzaku's being purposefully difficult. Suzaku ducks his head lower, heart thumping giddily. "All of the employees are given a knight to emulate?"

"Yep. All twelve of us, including my manager." Suzaku fiddles with the buttons, tries to tamp down on his grin, before looking up and saying, casually, "My name's Suzaku."

Color rises on That Boy's pale cheeks, and he glares at Suzaku, violet eyes narrowed. Suzaku beams back, unable to help himself.

"Well, Suzaku," he says, crossing his arms, "I'd also like a white chocolate and raspberry cookie."

He stares at That Boy stupidly. "You mean you're not leaving right away?"

Stupid mouth. He backtracks rapidly, flushing. "I mean-"

"No, it's fine," Lelouch is reddening pretty fiercely as well. Suzaku watches with something close to awe as the blush dips gradually towards his neck, then looks away hastily. "I have to wait a few hours, so I thought I'd do it here."

"Right, that's-" incredible, Suzaku wants to say. He brings his hand up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'll get your order right away," he says instead, and Lelouch nods, biting his lip and smiling like he couldn't help it any more than Suzaku could, and wanders off towards a corner table.

After Suzaku has mumbled the words Miracle of Kururugi to himself soothingly a couple of times, he turns around to a flash of light.

"Recorded," Anya tells him, lowering her camera.

Beside her, Gino's shoulders are shaking. He has a fist stuffed in his mouth and there are actual tears in his eyes.

"Don't start," Suzaku says, not meeting their eyes and cursing the warmth of his cheeks. "Seriously. I'm telling Bismarck the truth about the Great Whoopie Pie Theft of 2009."

"Our charges were formally dropped," Anya reminds him. "And Suzaku was our leader."

He huffs and threatens and comes out of it relatively unscathed –except for the time Gino collapses on him momentarily, howling with laughter as Suzaku sketches a stick figure holding a sword in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other underneath the standard Lelouch! he scribbles on the cup with a black marker. He draws in a crane as well, but it's not terribly visible, more of a squiggle with a beak. Gino thinks this is the funniest thing ever- to set down the coffee and a plate in front of That Boy.

Lelouch looks up from the book he's reading, eyes slightly unfocused before he blinks, and the vivid violet of his eyes is more present than ever. He gives Suzaku a smile. "Thank you, Sir Lancelot."

That- that little bit of teasing suggestiveness- makes Suzaku's heart hammer frantically against his chest. Lelouch's smile begins to grow at his instant deer-in-headlights reaction, only to freeze over when Suzaku recovers enough to murmur deferentially, "I aim to serve, your highness."

Lelouch turns a fetching shade of fire-engine red, and Suzaku is…well, overjoyed doesn't even begin to describe it.

"Yes. Well," That Boy says, eyes flittering around. They catch on the cartoon on the cup of coffee and widen. Suzaku watches as Lelouch draws it towards him for inspection immediately.

When he's done, Lelouch looks up at him, ink-colored bangs falling framing his face, wearing the biggest and most heart-stopping smile yet. "You saw the crane?"

Suzaku clears his dry throat, and almost chokes in the process. "Yeah," he clears his throat again. "Yeah, I saw it. You, uh," must be good with your hands, "it was really pretty. They never managed to teach me," he adds.

Purple eyes meet his questioningly. "They?"

"My parents, cousins. Neighbors." Suzaku shrugs and grins. "For a while, the entire Asian community was offended by my inability to make a paper crane."

"I see." That Boy steeples his fingers together in front of his mouth, but not before Suzaku sees the way his lips curve. He looks directly at Suzaku next. "Care to keep me company for a little?"

Suzaku smothers his inner Gino ruthlessly and looks around the lazy stirring of the shop. The hours between ten and twelve are sleepy at best and stone dead at worst, and besides, both Anya and Gino were already here anyway.

He looks back and grins at That Boy. "Sure," he says, and slips into the chair opposite Lelouch. "So," he prompts, bold with joy, "come here often?"

Lelouch looks away, flushing, and mutters something under his breath and Suzaku laughs. He nudges Lelouch's leg with his to get his attention, then freezes instantly when heat and electricity lick out between the point of contact. Lelouch's eyes go very wide.

Suzaku jerks his leg away hurriedly and reaches up a hand to adjust his too-tight collar. Three deep, steady inhale-exhales later, he's ready to face Lelouch again.

"Tell me about the crane," he says softly, even managing to smile a little to diffuse the tension. Because he simply couldn't let this get tense and uncomfortable. "Who taught you to make them?"

That Boy searches his face sharply for a second. Then, his shoulders drop, and his features relax into a less startled expression. "My sister," he says easily, despite a hint of a blush still lingering on his cheeks.

Crisis averted. Suzaku nearly knocks over the napkin dispenser with his sigh of relief. He watches Lelouch take a sip of the coffee, and remembers: "Is she the one who orders the mocha?"

Lelouch sets down his coffee and reaches for his cake. There's a subtle grace about the way he moves, the way every single muscle in his body seems to be perfectly under his control, adding flair and a sense of drama and purpose to even the smallest of movements. Suzaku, unsurprisingly, is in awe.

Suzaku feels his eyes growing to the size of saucers as Lelouch's mouth opens as the fork approaches. He's about to look away guiltily –some warning about addictive things and high doses surfacing in his mind- when Lelouch says, placing a piece of cake in his mouth delicately, "Oh, no. That's for Shirley."

…And there it is.

Suzaku, to his credit, only flails about for maybe half a minute before coming up with, "Um, Shirley? As in Shirley the swimmer?"

Shit, it sounds like an insult. Or a really bad nickname. But he can't really remember anything else about her that's neutral enough to not make him sound like a jealous whiner with a crush (Shirley the swimmer, at a glance: pretty, athletic and scary nice, hardly the sort of thing you brought up in front of the guy you had a pathetic coffee-centric crush on and may or may not be her boyfriend.)

But then again, jealous whiner with a crush? Yeah, that pretty much describes him perfectly. Except for the whining part. He's the type to suffer in silence.

That Boy's eyes narrow, but he picks up on a different part of the sentence than Suzaku expected. "Swimmer? You know her?"

"Yeah, she's, uh, in Swim Club with me." Suzaku says nervously, and tries not to wince as the amethyst of Lelouch's eyes grows sharper, darker. "I guess this would be the time for me to tell you that I go to your school."

Those striking eyes widen fractionally, then re-narrow. "Impossible."

"Right? That's what I thought. You've been coming here for what, a month? And it's not even that big of a school, you'd think I would have seen you in the hallways or something." He rambles, panicking.

Lelouch, surprisingly, replies with a mischievous smirk. "Why, were you looking for me?"

Suzaku's heart does something very strange indeed. "No," he gives a strangled gasp, and Lelouch looks terrifically amused. "No," he adds in a more collected voice, once his strange heart attack/asphyxiation episode is over. "I was just – it was logical to think-"

"Oh, naturally," Lelouch smirks some more. Suzaku glares at him resentfully. "Cake?"

He pushes the plate towards Suzaku.

Suzaku looks first at the dessert, then at That Boy. "Um," he says. "What?"

Lelouch's eyebrows rise elegantly, and Suzaku says hastily, "No, you ordered it, you should eat it."

"I'm full."

Suzaku's sure his eyes are bugging out. Sexy and sophisticated, that was him. "You barely touched it."

Lelouch shrugs gracefully. "What can I say, I don't have much of an appetite."

He is unhealthily slender, Suzaku muses. The only other person he knew who was so skinny was Kaguya, whom he's seen polish off plates stacked higher than the length of her head. He'd just assumed that all thin people were part magic.

Apparently not.

Thin looks good on Lelouch, though. It emphasizes his innate grace and the anorexic-chic thing he's got going on.

"You aren't anorexic, are you?" he asks suspiciously, just to be on the safe side. Maybe it isn't the most polite question in the world to be asking from a customer, but Suzaku wants to know what he's getting himself into.

Or not, he thinks glumly. Shirley the swimmer. Right.

Lelouch snorts. "Hardly. Nunnally made me stuff my face with scones before I left."

The fuck?

"And Nunnally is…?" he prompts from between gritted teeth.

Lelouch examines the picture on his cup fondly. "Absolutely lovely, yes." He says innocently.

Oh, of all the infuriating…

"She's my sister," Lelouch says, raising laughing violet eyes to his.

Suzaku rolls his eyes and tries to hold back a big silly grin. He stabs at the cake, crumbling an entire side and scooping it up.

Lelouch makes a huffy little noise. "So you're one of those people, I see."

Suzaku looks at him questioningly.

"The ones that lay waste on your food before eating it." Lelouch says with a sniff. "In other words, barbarians."

Suzaku puts down his fork to look fully at him. "Lelouch," he says, "was this a test to judge my personality from the way I ate a piece of cake?"

"It's indicative." Lelouch looks like he's fighting laughter as well. His cheeks are alarmingly red, and he's biting his lip. "Of core values."

Suzaku bursts out laughing. After a while, Lelouch joins him, quieter, his chuckles holding the same level of amusement and warmth that Suzaku's feeling right now.

The vibrations of the table take them both by surprise. Suzaku laughs a little more when Lelouch picks up his phone –which, he reflects fondly, had probably been on silent its entire life- and says, without taking his warm, delighted gaze away from Suzaku, "Hello?"

His expression doesn't change as he listens. Suzaku makes a show of squashing the rest of the cake to pieces, and Lelouch gives a little giggle.

"Yes, I'm still at the coffee shop," Lelouch says. He makes an indignant noise at whatever that's said next, and when Suzaku raises his eyebrows, he flushes brilliantly and makes an expansive gesture that states in pretty calligraphy, it's fine. "Ask Sayoko to drop you here."

Suzaku sets to work on the rest of the cake as Lelouch recites the address of the shop. Some hand-waving and a genuine goodbye later, Lelouch places the phone back on the table.

"Your sister's coming over?" Suzaku guesses around a mouthful of cake.

Lelouch nods. "That's what I was waiting for, her piano lessons to be over." His fingers tap against the surface of his phone thoughtfully.

Suzaku offers him a small smile. "That's actually kind of sweet," he says, half-teasing. "You willing to wait for her instead of wandering off and doing whatever."

Lelouch dismisses this with a flamboyant flick of the wrist. Suzaku hides a smirk.

There's a comfortable patch of silence while Suzaku eats more cake. He's thinking that he ought to recommend it more –all the knights had a favorite dessert, and until this point, his had been the milk chocolate chip cookie- when Lelouch looks up and meets his eye.

"She wants to meet you," he says in a rush. He bites his lip, and clarifies, "Nunnally, I mean."

Suzaku blinks. Then stuffs even more cake in his mouth to make sure he doesn't say something utterly mortifying. Once he's done chewing, he's able to say, with some degree of calm, "Okay."

"Okay?"

Suzaku shrugs. "Is it a big deal?"

"No, it's just that," Lelouch, incredibly, stumbles. "She doesn't get to meet a lot of people, so…" his eyes fix on a spot behind Suzaku's shoulder and widen. "Nunnally!"

Suzaku whips around, and spots a girl with long hair and closed eyes. She's on a wheelchair. Oh.

Oh.

Suddenly, a lot of things clear up in Suzaku's mind.

He follows Lelouch across the shop. Lelouch sounds almost angry as he crouches down and takes her hand in his, saying, "Where's Sayoko? She let you come here alone?"

"I told her to wait outside, big brother," the girl says sweetly. She brings up her other hand as well, holding Lelouch's between both of hers. "Is Lancelot here?"

Suzaku's eyes go wide and round. He looks at Lelouch, who refuses to look back, and then back at Nunnally.

"Yes, he's here," Lelouch's face has turned the color of rhododendrons. He glares pointedly in Suzaku's general direction.

Suzaku drops to his knees. "I'm here," he affirms. "My name's actually Suzaku."

She reaches out with one of her hands, and Suzaku catches it after a glance at Lelouch. Her hand feels tiny in his, pale and fragile-looking against his tan one.

"Suzaku," she repeats, pronouncing the unfamiliar syllables carefully like they might break. "My name's Nunnally."

She clasps their hands together gently. "You have kind, strong hands," she says. "You're a good person, I can tell."

Suzaku's so taken aback he can only stare at her. "Nunnally?" he says uncertainly.

She giggles. "Of course, if big brother likes you, then you can't be anything else."

…was that mischief in her voice?

Lelouch makes a squawking sound as Suzaku laughs along with his sister. He snatches his hand away from Nunnally and glares at Suzaku, but it's empty of bitterness. His violet eyes are sparkling. And from this close, Suzaku can see the way his thick dark eyelashes curl towards his pale face and count every single one.

Suzaku swallows.

"Suzaku?" Lelouch says, and the blush and the smirk tell him that Lelouch has some idea of what Suzaku's thinking.

"Sorry, what was that?" he asks sheepishly, and Lelouch swipes at him across the head for not listening.

"I said, we can visit you here any time, right?"

"Of course," Suzaku says instantly. He gets to his feet, and Nunnally lets his hand go with a secretive smile. "Now, is there anything you would like? My treat."

"Oh, no." Suzaku looks at Lelouch for permission and stands behind Nunnally's wheelchair, guiding it carefully towards the counter. "My tutor had made some lovely scones, and she made me eat them all."

"I heard," Suzaku bites back a smile and looks over his shoulder at an oblivious Lelouch, who's scribbling something on a piece of paper. He pushes his curiosity aside and says, "Do you like your lessons?"

"Very much. Big brother used to come too, but now he pretends to know everything." There's a sea of affection under her slight teasing.

"Like folding paper cranes," Suzaku recalls.

"Did he make you one?" Nunnally sounds approving. "I wonder if he's going to make a thousand of them after all."

"That's a lot of work for a single wish," Lelouch says, coming up behind them.

"You mean you're too lazy to do it," Suzaku challenges.

Lelouch crosses his arms in exaggerated annoyance. "You," he tells Suzaku, "are insidious."

"You love it," Suzaku parries, nimbly tipping two cookies into a paper bag. He pushes it into Nunnally's hands (trying to ignore the pedo connotations, damn Gino and his weird commentary kicking up in the worst possible situations) and brushes away their protests with a "I end up eating most of those anyway, so we make plenty. They're chocolate chip cookies, after all."

"It's a miracle this place turns any profit at all," Lelouch says.

Suzaku grins. "Our employer only seems interested in coming up with new recipes, to be honest." He shrugs. "I'm not complaining. I get to eat the cookies, after all."

Nunnally gives a tinkling laugh and Lelouch rolls his eyes. He begins to push the chair back towards the door, saying, "I'll see you next Monday, then."

Suzaku hopes his stab of disappointment doesn't show. "Yeah." He trots up to Nunnally. "It was great meeting you," he says, slipping his hand into hers briefly. He raises his head to look at Lelouch. "Technically, that extends to you, too."

Nunnally squeezes his hand before she lets go. "Thank you for the cookies," she says. "And for keeping my brother company."

"No problem," he grins. He moves out of the way.

As he passes, Suzaku catches Lelouch's wrist. "Maybe I'll see you at school?" he asks hopefully.

Lelouch smirks. He doesn't say anything, but a piece of paper is pressed into Suzaku's hand.

"Maybe," Lelouch allows. His smirk turns decidedly wicked. "If you're lucky."

"Bye Suzaku!" Nunnally calls as they go out, and Lelouch raises his hand without looking back.

Suzaku waits until they get in a car outside –driven by a Japanese woman wearing a scarf- ad drive off. Then, with shaking fingers, he unfolds the paper in his hand to discover the receipt on one side, and on the other, in elegant, flowing script:

Sir Suzaku,

I command you to ask me out sometime.

-Lelouch

Underneath is a local phone number.

Suzaku looks up at the place the car was parked. That Boy, he thinks, dazedly.