Captivating Stranger

NorPan?? In MY 2020? More likely than youd think.

A/N: I don't know how to title story parts, forgive me.
I didn't think I would post this. But I am. And I did.
I wrote this... a while ago. I guess yall can read it while I burn myself out on other stuff :peace_sign:

"One coffee, black." Lukas told the barista at the counter as he dug into his wallet and produced the exact amount needed to pay. He had ordered this drink a thousand times at this very coffee shop for over five years. It was his favorite place to go, and it made the best coffee in the town he inhabited. Nothing was better than starting a morning off right with burning hot coffee from this shop.

The barista smiled and nodded, then turning around to fix Lukas his coffee. Lukas, in the mean time, leaned against the counter and looked around the shop. Five of the six little tables in the shop were occupied by early risers; some men in suits biding their time until it was time for them to head off to their jobs, some students probably rushing to finish last nights assignment, and some just sitting to sit and to drink a cup of good coffee. There was nothing really remarkable about any of these people, though Lukas didn't find many people worthy of being called remarkable. People just generally didn't interest him all that much.

"Here's your coffee, mister Bondevik," the barista spoke up from behind him, sliding the coffee onto the counter. Lukas turned and took it. This particular barista had been working here for as long as Lukas had been coming. There was nothing special about her in Lukas's eyes, though unlike with most people, he did care to know her name.

"Thank you, Gertrude," he said, offering her a kind nod.

Now with his drink, he walked to the only open table by the door of the shop. He sat down and popped the lid off of his cup to blow on the steaming liquid inside. His eyes wandered as he did so, bringing him to be staring out the window at the slightly frosted scenery outside. A light fog blocked him from seeing too far out, but Lukas wasn't really paying attention to it anyway. He was more zoning out than anything.

He took a distracted sip of his coffee as the bell on the door rang, signaling someone new had entered the shop. Lukas sent a disinterested glance towards the newcomer. It was a young man, looking to be around Lukas's age, dressed rather nicely in a caramel-colored overcoat, unwrinkled khaki pants, polished brown dress shoes, and a blue plaid scarf wrapped around his neck. It wasn't an eye-catching outfit in the slightest, but even so Lukas's eyes couldn't seem to look away. Though perhaps that wasn't the fault of the man's clothing. Perhaps it was the fault of the man's little round face, framed neatly by smooth strands of raven black hair. A face with slightly pink cheeks and nose from the cold air outside. A face with dark brown eyes that Lukas couldn't help but stare at. Something about those eyes... They were so... strange. Out of place. They felt out of place. But not in the bad way, in a more captivating way. In fact, this entire man felt and looked that way. Captivatingly, intriguingly out of place.

Must be a tourist.

Lukas tore his gaze away from the man at the sound of Gertrude's cheerful "How can I help you today?" He instead stared down into his cup of coffee, using all of his willpower to not give the man a second glance. The last thing he heard before tuning out was the man slowly asking Gertrude for a green tea.

Lukas exhaled on his coffee, watching the liquid ripple away from where the air hit. The coffee, he found himself thinking, was just a little darker than the eyes of that man. The man that his mind definitely shouldn't be lingering on, and the man that his mind lingers on anyway. He has never once met a stranger who stayed in his thoughts before. It's so... weird. Is he sick or something? He began raising a hand to his face only to nearly knock over his cup when an unexpected voice spoke to him.