Fanfic / It's the Little Things That Get You When You Weren't Paying Attention

Miorine has been buried in her career ever since she turned eighteen, and the idea of anything new in her life leaves her at a complete loss. Suletta's life was flipped on its head only a few years ago and she's barely found her feet.

A chance meeting leads to a friendship that feels like it was meant to be.

And in time, blossoming feelings may lead to something more...

When Nika calls in sick from work, Miorine Rembran has to take time out of her busy schedule to get coffee for the entire office. Luckily for her, the barista both knows the order by heart and is very easy to talk to. It doesn't take long before she adjusts her schedule to pick up coffee every day, just for the chance to talk to the friendly barista. Meanwhile, Suletta Mercury has her own troubles to deal with, including custody of her seven-year-old sister and a mother trying to get back into their lives.

As these two strangers navigate their respective troubles, perhaps they can find the time to get closely acquainted, and maybe teach each other that there is more to life than work and responsibilities.

It's the Little Things That Get You When You Weren't Paying Attention is a Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Coffee Shop AU Fic by The Valaxy, set in a modern setting where Suletta works at a café to earn enough to take care of her sister Ericht, and Miorine is the CEO of a successful medical corporation. The fic can be read Here on Archive of Our Own.

It's the little tropes

• Abusive Parents: Prospera has yet to appear, but not only is Suletta clearly traumatized by how her mother treated her, she has custody of Ericht for a very good reason.
• Adaptational Gender Identity: Elan (the one that Suletta befriends in the anime) in this fic is nonbinary.
• Age Lift:
  • Suletta is thirty, with the rest of the anime's teen cast also being in that age range, which was done because the author felt that most fics focus on them with their canon ages.
  • Ericht is an interesting example in that she's seven, which is the age she appears to be in the present day of the anime. However, unlike the anime, she actually is seven years old, and Suletta's younger sister, whereas in the show she's actually Older Than They Look.
• Best Friend: Sophie and Suletta have known each other for over a decade, and are currently co-workers. Suletta at one point bemoans how Sophie knows her well enough to see through her excuses, she is usually the one to push Suletta to take some time for herself, and when Ericht needs a babysitter, Sophie immediately volunteers herself and Norea.
• The Cameo:
  • Felsi and Guel have not appeared in the fic proper, but are mentioned as respectively one of Suletta's co-workers, and Elan's boyfriend.
  • Word of God is that Ericht's friends from school are Lfrith Ur and Lfrith Thorn.
• Coffee Shop AU Fic: Of course, Suletta is a barista and Miorine is a customer who falls in love with her. It is complicated slightly by the fact that a good deal of the fic takes place outside of the café, but it still retains the core.
• Cool Aunt: Sophie and Norea are Ericht's Honorary Aunts and she's clearly fond of them, happily accepting being babysat by them. Suletta at one point tells Sophie to get Eri in bed by her bedtime, but knows they won't.
• Creator Provincialism: While the city the story takes place in is fictional, Valaxy based it on the city of London, with some downtown Manhattan thrown in for flavour.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best:
  • Nadim died a few years before the present, but Suletta remembers him fondly and misses him greatly.
  • Likewise, Miorine still keeps Notrette's greenhouse and reminisces fondly about her.
• Honorary Aunt: Sophie and Norea are not related to the Mercurys, but Sophie is Suletta's best friend and they are described as Ericht's gay aunts.
• Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Assuming Guel is as macho as he is in the show, he and Elan have this going on. Elan mentions that they are currently having an argument about interior decor, and scoffs at Guel's lack of understanding for colour matching.
• Placebo Effect: Apparently the coffee Miorine has been using to keep herself working despite being exhausted was decaf, she just didn't know.
• Practically Different Generations: Suletta is thirty in this fic. Ericht is seven.
• Promoted to Parent: Because their father is dead and their mother is abusive, Suletta has custody of Ericht and raises her alone.
• Shout-Out:
  • Ericht likes Power Rangers, and watches one of the movies with Sophie who's had it since she was a kid. Suletta at one point hums the theme song.
  • In the Karaoke storyline, there are tons of references to songs. In chapter 6, Norea hums a song that Suletta doesn't recognize but Word of God is meant to be "Eat Your Young" by Hozier, Suletta has Judas Priest and Iron Maiden shirts, and someone at the bar is singing "Crying In The Rain" by a-ha.
• Tsundere: As per usual, Norea is very cold and stoic to hide that she has very strong emotions. At one point she says that she's helping Suletta because she's Sophie's friend, but Suletta can tell that she means that Norea is her friend too.
• Same-Sex Triplets: Elan #4, #5, and Elan Ceres are triplets in this version.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Played for Drama. Suletta avoids looking in the mirror as much as she can when wearing her biker helmet because she looks too much like Prospera and she hates it.
• Struggling Single Mother: Suletta has to provide for both herself and Ericht, and is clearly struggling, but tries to give her sister a normal childhood anyway.
• Subverted Catchphrase: While telling Elan that she's going out to karaoke, Suletta gets halfway through her "If you run, gain one" catchphrase, before stopping herself. Presumably she does not want to use a phrase she associates with her mother.
• Switching P.O.V.: The fanfic alternates between Suletta and Miorine's point of view, with Miorine in odd-numbered chapters, and Suletta in even-numbered chapters.
• Workaholic: Miorine is nearly constantly working to keep her company afloat, having a schedule so tight that she barely even has lunch breaks, and then bringing work with her back home to work all night as well.

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