#the suite life of anubis: coffeeshop edition

[zackmartin]

okay like you do not have to to this but zack and mara or kt and maya coffee shop au ideas?

No but this is exactly what I wanted to do, thank you, Annie 💕💕💕

I’m actually going to combine them cause, why not? But, it starts out with Mara and Zack and then KT and Maya get added later.

Send me an AU and I’ll tell you how I would have it play out!

So, Mara starts working at the same coffeehouse as Zack

Maybe I’m too obsessed with romances where it starts out that they don’t like each other, but I genuinely can’t picture them getting along at first 

Like, Zack NEVER cleans, which is already somewhat of a turn off for Mara, but also. I hate to say this, but it’s a known fact that Zack’s lazy as hell and once he realizes she’s the type that wants to do a good job and likes things a certain way, he would take advantage of that and leave a lot of the work to her, even going so far as to tricking her into doing his shit for him. Like, purposely stacking the cups wrong and then just being like “well, why don’t you show me how you would do it, then?” until it ends up that she does the whole thing

Of course, she’s not stupid, so she catches on pretty fast, but that just makes her that much more annoyed with him

 She does eventually get him back though, because she just forces him to keep doing it until he does it right. Like, he purposely knocks over all the cups, asks her if she wants to show him again, and she’s just like “I already showed you four times. But, no big deal, we’re not busy, so you can just keep trying until you get the hang of it :)”

(honestly, she can’t fathom how he hasn’t already been fired. He’d be trying to take 3 hour breaks for a part time shift lmao He just happens to be really good at making the drinks; his lattes have yet to be rivaled, and he’s charming to the customers and usually leaves them happy so he can get away with more than he should)

And Zack feels like she’s nagging him (even though she isn’t, she’s just rightfully irritated with him) so even though he thinks she’s really pretty, that’s a major turn off for him 

Not only that, but she’s like the epitome of that meme that’s like “I’m going to get a good grade in being a barista, something that’s both normal to want and possible to achieve” so even on nights when it’s one hour until closing and they only have one (1) customer that already has their order, she’s insisting they could always be doing something, like mopping or cleaning the espresso machine 

Idc how cheesy and cliché it is, there must be a scene where their little grievances with each other come to a head and they fight with the whip cream but they end up having fun with it and getting covered 

And that’s when we reach a turning point; when Zack realizes he’s been a jerk and apologizes (he even admits that she’s way more fun than he originally thought) and Mara apologizes for being a little overzealous by insisting they should always be working and explains to him that she isn’t trying to nag when it comes to keeping things clean, it’s just, they work in food so it’s a matter of public health (and also, it’s just gross, but he doesn’t care about that like she does lol)

And of course he pretends like he’s fluffing it off, like he doesn’t care, but from that point forward, she notices subtle changes. Like, maybe he won’t mop the whole floor, but he’ll at least wipe up the counter if he spills something. Baby steps. 

(Also, if he does a good enough job, Mara will comment on it, and praise from a pretty girl is praise from a pretty girl, ya know)

Also, they’re allowed at least one drink during their shift just as a perk of working there, and Mara always drinks the exact same thing (sometimes decaf, if she doesn’t want to be up all night. If she knows she wants to be up all night to study for a test or something, then it’ll be caffeinated, but either way, it’s always the same) 

She usually takes it home with her, and there’s one day where she’s getting ready to leave and she goes to make it, and Zack just wordlessly slides one over to her 

From that point forward he always has one waiting for her before she even has the chance to insist he doesn’t need to do that 

There also has to be at least one scene where it’s taking them longer than usual to do their whole closing routine, and she’s either freaking out about not making it back before curfew, or freaking because there’s a test tomorrow that she wants to squeeze in one more study session for, or something, so Zack can be like “you know what, I’ll take care of this, you just go” 

And he’s like, physically pushing her out while she’s going “But don’t forget to take inventory” “i got it” “and don’t forget that every part of the espresso machine needs cleaned-“ “I know” “And you have to be certain to lock the register-“ (or, is it till? I’m sure my American is showing with this list alskdjf) "I know!" “and return the key to-“ “Mara, I can handle it. Just gooooo” 

She goes in early the next morning, because she’s certain there had to be at least one thing he forgot (either that, or his standards aren’t quite as high as hers, so she’s fully prepared to redo whatever half-assed job he did the night before aldskjf) but everything’s spotless and perfect. She’s thoroughly impressed

There also has to be at least one (1) scene almost like in Love, Victor where they’re cleaning up after closing, and Zack starts playing music, and they end up dancing together. It HAS to happen, sorry, I DO make the rules

Zack also walks her home on nights when they’re closing and she doesn’t have anyone to walk with her so she doesn’t have to do it by herself in the dark. Even when they’re in the stage where they “hate” each other, he hears his mother’s voice in the back of his head telling him to be a gentleman so he does it, albeit begrudgingly alsdkjf

(But that’s also a tiny start to her realizing he’s not a complete jerk, he's actually sweet when he wants to be, he’s just lazy lmao)

(Also, I just like the thought of them walking together and it starts out as awkward silence but as their relationship progresses, you can just tell they get more comfortable with each other, and this is really the time where they learn about each other. Also, he makes her laugh on several occasions)

ALSO okay. Sorry this is kinda all over the place, but I'm saying things as I think of them. The first time she sees him interacting with customers, it's a group of girls close to their age that he would consider hot so of course, he's flirting. And the person after that is a guy close to their age, also someone he would find hot, so there's more flirting.

Mara rolls her eyes, thinking it's going to be a situation where he's only nice to those customers he finds attractive and that he can potentially get a date out of, but he's nice to everyone.

Like, there's a regular that comes in that's probably in her late 50s, and he enthusiastically greets her by her first name and asks her if she wants the usual

And this is just standard practice for him; he's like this with all the customers that are nice in return

She's also pretty impressed with the way he deals with the rude customers; you know the ones that are being pricks for the sole purpose of getting a rise out of you. But, Zack's like, completely unbothered by them, which just pisses them off even more alsdkjf but he literally Does Not Care

Bonus points if he ends up saving her from a rude customer

Like there’s that one that’s being a full blown Karen all because Mara made a tiny mistake (I think it should be a white American tourist cause we’re just Like That. I hate it here)

(Except it wasn’t a mistake, because Mara knows she asked for no whip. But, she wants to keep the customers happy so she just calmly is like “sorry about that. I’ll add some now”)

And when it gets to the point where this bitch is like “I wanna speak to the manager”, Zack just steps up and is like “hi, i’m the manager, how can I help you?” (he obviously isn’t, but she doesn’t know that lmao)

Except he doesn’t care so instead of doing the usual spiel of like apologizing and offering to make it right he just goes “well, actually, I was standing right over there, and I also happen to know you asked for no whip. And even though you changed your mind in the rudest way possible, my associate here still tried to make it right, even going so far as to making your whole drink over again. So, I don’t see why we should have to pay for your mistake :)”

Of course it gets to the point where she’s storming out and insisting that she’s going to call their corporate office (when she asks for their names, Zack tells her his name is Cody and Mara’s is London) and when she says some shit like “I’ll never step foot in this place again!” Zack’s just like “do you promise?”

He and Mara are definitely laughing at her for like 10 minutes afterwards

(If you wanted to turn this into a proper slow burn, you could have it that Mara is hesitant to act on her feelings towards Zack either because she’s worried about things getting awkward if they break-up and have to keep working in close quarters OR, depending on when this would take place in the HOA universe, she watches him flirt with literally every attractive young person that enters that place alsdkjf and is worried about getting her heartbroken again) 

(And if you went with the first option but wanted to go full on cliche rom-com, you could have her eventually admit that she’s hesitant to date a co-worker so he’s like “okay” and then immediately gives his two week notice because he “can always find a new job”)

Idk why I'm giving options aldksjf like idk who besides myself is gonna look at this and be like, "yeah, I'd like to write this" but just in case lmao

Now to introduce KT & Maya

So, Maya starts working there when Zack and Mara are in that place of like, they’re clearly into each other but they’re still in deep denial about it 

But, it’s very clear to her that they’re into each other. Like, there’s definite flirting happening on both sides

(Maya finds them wholly annoying at times because she’s the only one working the register and making drinks in the middle of a rush because Mara and Zack are too busy making heart eyes at each other to notice that there are other people in that shop besides the two of them. She has to physically put herself between them to be like “hello?! Customers! and lots of them!!”)

Maya becomes fast friends with both of them, and since she’s new to that whole location and doesn’t really know anyone outside of them, Mara introduces her to some of the girls from Anubis house

(Idk where Zack and Maya are going to school in this AU, but I guess it’s not with Mara. Idk why but that’s the way it is lmao) 

Of course, this is where she meets KT and there’s an instant connection

KT starts frequenting the coffee place, conveniently whenever Maya seems to be working 👀

Maya always has a new recommendation for her, depending on what she liked and didn’t like from previous visits 

And of course, every single time, they’re basically doing the exact same thing as Zack and Mara, where they’re staring at each other with hearts in their eyes and no one else exists

Zack and Maya are always constantly teasing each other about their respective crushes, and insisting that they should ask them out, but then they’re both like “but I don’t like her like that, you’re clearly misinterpreting things”

(I don’t know if I would do it, but i suppose if someone wanted to go the slightly angsty route, you could have Mara overhear that. Like Zack saying something along the lines of “Please, we’re barely friends. We’re basically just coworkers that happen to get along”)

(Okay, wait. Now that I’m thinking about it, maybe I would go this route, only because I love trash and I love cheesiness and I love the thought of her being upset because she thinks he’s embarrassed to have a crush on her, but that’s genuinely not it, he just never thought someone like her would have a crush on someone like him, and he basically just gives her a big, grand, rom-com speech about how amazing and wonderful she is, and anyone that can’t see that isn’t worth her time) 

Anyway

Zack watches this all go down with KT and Maya for WEEKS and is finally like “you know what, I’ll make her order today” and there’s obvious push back from Maya but Zack’s just like “well, if you don’t like her like that, then what’s the issue with me making her drink instead? :)” 

And Maya’s somewhat stubborn, so she refuses to give Zack the satisfaction of being right, and she’s just like *through gritted teeth* “fine. Go ahead”

And when Zack hands KT her order, he’s just like “I wrote Maya’s number on the cup. You should text her sometime ;)” and KT just makes eye contact with Maya who is now wildly blushing and on the verge of strangling Zack and is like “okay. I will 😏”

*Maya, in her best Ben Wyatt voice* “Did you just hit on KT…for me?” “Well, someone had to do it!” 

And so after KT walks out, Maya immediately turns to Mara and is like: “Hey, Mara, what are you doing on Saturday?” “I don’t think anything. Why?” “Wanna go on a date with Zack?”

Zack, to Maya: “Wait, what?!?” Zack, a second later to Mara: “wait... do you, though?”

And after Mara says yes, Zack’s just kinda like “ya know, I could’ve done that.” Maya: “Then why didn’t you? 😏” 

And that’s pretty much it in a nutshell even though it’s like a million miles long laskdjf anyway, thank you so so much, this was so fun and exactly what I wanted to do, you’re literally the bestest 🥺🥺💕💕