Published // 080217

Coffee dad! This was the first idea that came into mind when I planned to do a oneshot for him. Again, title alliteration.

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A: I'm up for anything sweet, but I absolutely love milk tea.

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A small bell chimed, signaling a new customer for the Coffee Spoon. Mat looked up from the person he just finished serving, and a wide grin came upon his face.

"(Your Name)!" he beamed, walking over to you. The two of you shared a special handshake that was made a few months back, and the man motioned you to take a seat. You gladly do so, sitting down on one of the very comfy couches of his café as he sat beside you.

"I thought you'd be back in Maple Bay much later," he said, looking up at the clock. It was only two in the afternoon, and you told him that you'd arrive at around four.

"The flight from Japan to here arrived earlier," you explained, checking your wristwatch.

"I left the country at around three in the morning and just slept the whole trip."

A yawn escaped your lips to prove your lips, and Mat laughed lightly.

"You wouldn't mind giving me my usual?" you politely asked, taking out your wallet from your pocket. Before you could take out the amount you needed for the coffee, a hand stopped you--it was Mat's. He shook his head at you and was about to say that it was on the house, but you couldn't accept that; Mat already gave you a free drink for this month, or rather he spoiled you enjoyed coffee and puns just like him.

"Nuh-uh, mister," you pouted, taking out the money and putting it in his hands before he could react. Mat shook his head at your stubbornness but went ahead to make your drink.

"Hi dad!" a voice greeted after the bell chimed. You turned back to see Carmensita walking into the coffee shop, and she immediately noticed you and some of the plastic bags you were carrying. She happily greeted you before walking to sit beside you.

"How was the Japan trip?" she asked casually.

"It was great, thanks for asking," you said with a smile.

"What did you do there? Did you try the ramen? Do you have pictures? Did you get each person something since you have these plastic bags?"

You laughed and ruffled her hair. It was good to know that she was very interested in knowing your week-long trip to Japan. After Amanda left for college, you wanted to travel for a little bit since it had been a dream of yours that was put off for the sake of Amanda. Your daughter was ecstatic at the idea (albeit a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to go with you and take pictures) and suggested that you go to somewhere eccentric. After a while of looking, she helped you settle for Japan and here you were back in Maple Bay after a week.

"Don't you two go off telling stories without me," Mat joked as he walked over to you and Carmensita. He handed you a cup of your coffee, and you accepted it gratefully. Mat took the space on your left as his daughter was on the right. Once you got a sip of your drink, you asked them what they wanted to know.

"Can we look at the pictures you took?" Carmensita asked, excitement in her voice. Her father told not to rush you, but you reassured him that it was fine. You took out your phone and went to the pictures, swiping to the start of your trip and even playing some videos that you took.

"Who's that?"

Mat's sudden voice made you jump a little as were explaining to Carmensita about the festival you went to in the current picture that you were showing. You looked again at the picture; it was you and a Japanese woman wearing traditional yukatas posing and holding up peace signs with fireworks in the background. You glanced at Mat to see him with a pout, and you turned to Carmensita for an answer. She had a bit of a smirk on her.

"She's pretty, right (Name)?" the girl asked innocently, zooming into her face. You said that she was, and you swore you heard Mat flare his nostrils.

"Uh, are you jealous of her Mat?" you asked out of the blue. Mat choked on his spit, and his daughter had to turn away to hide her giggles.

"Me?" he said incredulously.

"Jealous? What? Of course not! Why would I be jealous of a woman with you? I mean, I can't say whoever you can like and don't like or maybe be with, but I'm just saying. Like, I'm sure she's great but what if that woman had some hidden intentions? I wouldn't want someone stealing--"

By this time, you and Carmensita were laughing at how cute he was during his rambling. Mat had finally caught on what to what you two had done, making him blush. He turned away and hid his face within in hands, mumbling to himself that he went to his motor-mouth self.

The man felt a hand on his shoulder and turned back. Immediately, Mat is met with a kiss to the lips. When you pulled away, the man's eyes were wide and awestruck. You titled your head at him (something that you did often, and he thought it was very cute) before playfully punching his shoulder.

"Dude, she was the tour guide for the festival, surprisingly older than me, and has a husband."

Oh.

"Besides," you kissed his cheek, "you and I are together, and nothing's gonna change that."

As you stared into each other's eyes like in a cheesy romance movie, you heard someone clear their throat. The both of you turned to Carmensita who had her arms crossed with a smile.

"As much as I'm very happy for the two of you being together, that's too much PDA for one day," she sighed, shaking her head playfully.

"Well, you'll have to get used to it," Mat said with the same tone his daughter used. She shrugged.

A song of a band you didn't know suddenly played. Carmensita took out of her phone and checked it, her eyes going wide.

"I almost forgot!" she panicked. "I'm supposed to meet up with a friend at the park! I told you about this, right dad?"

"Actually, I was wondering when you needed to go since you just told me it was 'some time in the afternoon'," he said.

The girl quickly gave her dad a hug and a wave to you as she exited the shop. Everything was reduced to silence besides the shop's music and coffee machine whirrs. You remembered the main reason why you visited Mat (well, wanting to see him after a long while was your main, main reason), and went to pick up one of the two plastic bags you had.

"I got some stuff for everyone," you explained, rummaging in the bag. Mat waited patiently for what you had in store, and since your back was facing him, you had the chance to take something out and hide it behind your back.

"How do you feel about soda?" you asked.

"Why?" he asked back.

"Don't answer my question with a question, just answer."

"I enjoy a good soda every now and then," he shrugged. "You know very well I'm a coffee person, though. We are in my coffee shop."

"I know, I know," you said, unable to contain excitement.

You pulled out the item behind your back and handed it to him. Mat took it from your and examined it, a curious expression on his face.

"Is this marble soda?"

You nodded.

"It's 'Ramune'. The name comes from 'lemonade' transliterated into Japanese," you explained, gesturing to the name.

"I had a couple of these there, and I thought maybe you could try it. Have you tried it before?"

"I haven't, but I heard it tastes like regular soda," he said.

"It does just taste like regular soda," you confessed. "But there's some super weird flavors. Can you imagine Wasabi soda? Chili Oil? Teriyaki?"

"You're messing with me... right, (Y/N)?"

You took out your phone to show him a picture with the weird bottle flavors.

"I wanted to let you try one weird one but I couldn't subject you to that torture after trying the Octopus flavor."

He cringed, imagining with that tasted like.

"Anyway," you said, changing topic, "what's fun is opening it. Do you know how to open it?"

This time, Mat took a closer inspection of the bottle. The shape was interesting to say the least. A perk of knowing vast knowledge in drinks was that he read a bit about sodas. The bottle was a Codd-neck bottle based on the inventor, and the marble was what kept all the pressure in. His eyebrows furrowed together in an attempt to remember how to open it, but after a minute he gave up after thinking too hard.

"Okay, I'll show you," you said with a little giggle, taking the bottle from him and putting it on the coffee table.

"So first things first we remove the seal."

While removing the seal, Mat noted that it had the instructions. You waved him off, saying that no ones reads them and that you're just going to demonstrate it to him.

"Then, this plastic thing," you took out a plastic that was over the blue cover of the bottle.

"I'm sure you know the marble's the one keeping the soda, so this is the thing that you use to push the marble inward."

You handed the plastic to Mat and told him to push the middle of it. Thanks to his Dad strength (or just how weak the plastic is; which ever you want to believe in), it popped out with ease.

Without telling him what to do, Mat took the little plastic screw and put it on the hole where the marble is. He turned to you for affirmation as you nodded, and holding it firmly he pushed it down, and the marble in the soda popped in. (He also held in the cork as the pressure left the bottle, which you were grateful for because it would've fizzed and caused a mess. Both of you wouldn't want that.)

"That... was actually more gratifying than I expected," he laughed. You agreed with him as he tilted the bottle, making the marble roll around the bit. You were about to tell him how to keep the marble from blocking the drink, but Mat easily kept the bottle within the grooves at the side and drank the soda.

When he was finished drinking one-third of it, he offered it to you to drink. You mumbled a few things under your breath, and Mat caught it.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

"No, it's not you," you said, staring at the bottle.

"... It's just that it took me a couple of tries to stop the bottle from rolling when I first drank ramune, and you did it with ease."

The man let out a hearty chuckle as he wrapped his arm around you, pulling you closer. You smiled at him as you leaned your head on his shoulder, drinking the soda as you both engulfed yourselves in the cozy warmth and listened to the music of the coffee shop in the background.

"Is it childish for me to want the marble?" Mat asked as you got up from the couch and stretched. You looked down from where he sat and saw he was really serious about wanting that marble. You grinned at him.

"Do you want go to the safe route of removing the blue cap with heat, or the dangerous route of breaking the bottle?"