Norm Spellman usually noticed small things about his coworkers like they were science experiments, like the way Grace's always relaxed after her cigarette of the day or the way Jake's eyes shone when his ideas were heard for once without judgement.

This time, however, it was how you took your coffee. Like most people in that lab ─── or the whole RDA base, actually ───, he liked to start his day with a cup of warm coffee to wake him up to his senses. He also really liked Pandoran coffee, which was a bit more bitter yet much more effective than Earth coffee.

Anyway, he started to notice how you filled your cup of coffee, how many cubes of sugar you used, if you added milk, the way you stirred the coffee with those flimsy wooden coffee mixers the lounge room offered... it was safe to say he was kind of obsessed.

You never noticed his gaze whenever you went to refill your cup or just to serve yourself in the morning, you didn't even thought about it...

That was until a cup of the exact way you took your coffee started to appear in your desk when you arrived in the lab. Norm was always there early, his gaze locked on your face as if wanting to check your reaction ─── and whenever you hummed at the good taste, he'd smile proudly, so you quickly connected the dots.

One evening, you were late because Grace held you back to talk about something in your latest research, and Norm had already placed your coffee down in your desk, the steam rising and dissipating into the air as he waited for you to arrive.

When a few more minutes passed, he tried to shrug it off your lateness, but the way his leg bounced in nervous energy under the table was kinda obvious. He immediately relaxed as soon as he heard your steps coming down the hall, letting out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

"Oh, there you are. I thought you finally ditched me for your beauty sleep."