Souls Intertwined – a Cinos-Rouge OneShot

A/N: This is my first oneshot, so go easy on me. Our hero is feeling a little lonely in the bitterness of the winter, and all is well when a familiar bat-friend comes along with a bunch of Christmas cheer!

Souls Intertwined

He walked along the icy streets, his two layers of gloves doing nothing to keep his hands warm. He fumbled around in his pockets for his keys, only to find that he left them at home. Cinos had missed the bus earlier. He was coming home from a weekly shop, which was especially hard during the holidays. He had homework, too. It definitely put a damper on things. His head throbbed, as the effects of winter sat in. Though it was his favourite season of them all, he hated it with a passion tonight. The seventeen-year-old hedgehog decided to take a rest and text Banjo to say he'd missed the bus and would be late home. They always looked out for each other. That's what friends are for, right? He asked himself mentally. Cinos's fingers were numb. Very numb. It made it hard to text. Finally done with the text, he turned to pick up the shopping. It was gone. He saw some kids running off with two big paper bags full of groceries. Well shit, he thought, scowling. He sat on a bench. The park was always beautiful at night, especially at Christmas. He felt a little better, and it made him realize that scowling wasn't going to do him any good. Cinos looked around, his hat firmly secured on his spiny head. It was pretty peaceful. His mind raced with thoughts about what he was going to do now. In total, he had spent a good O120 on that shopping (120 rings). That was all of his benefit (mostly). Cinos turned his head. A flapping of wings could be heard in the snow. The smell of nothingness turned to a sweet scent of perfume. Rouge. There was no mistaking it. Even in the winter, she wore the same aroma. It was fond to Cinos though, so he didn't give a damn.
"Hey, Rouge." He said, waving a hand effortlessly.
"Hi, Crystal." She replied, doing the same. There was silence for a while. Rouge had sat down and seemed to be pretty comfortable. Cinos's arse was sore, though. All of his body ached. He looked to Rouge, then said: "how's stuff?"
"Eh, it's okay."
"I thought you went shopping." Cinos thought she'd bring this up. Rouge knew everything.
"I was mugged by 10-year-olds…" Mobius was still cold, Rouge was still listening, and Cinos was still pissed off.
"Aww, shame. Whatever next? Giving away free food are you, now?" Cinos chuckled a bit. Rouge was a character, no doubt. Heck, he'd even say she was a little bit cute. She always flirted and had some plan to make him blush. He loved it when she did that. For example, every time she called him "crystal", Cinos would blush like mad and feel better if he was in a gloomy mood (which he often was) when she came round. He supposed that she'd make him blush more in a while.
"So, is your brother still into you, or what?" Rouge didn't mean to hurt Cinos, but offending Sonic's sexuality was pretty upsetting. He couldn't help it. That was just the way he was. Rouge was right though; the amount of times that Cinos had been found showering after waking up from a wet dream by his brother and being sucked off were unreal. Okay, that never happened. Cinos was probably just dreaming that too. He had a lot of weird and kooky dreams. Not trips, but kooky dreams. A lot of them were nightmares. They never bothered him; he was used to it. They had happened all the time since his dad had died. Rouge stared at Cinos, whose face was evidently filled with thoughts and questions.
"Whatcha thinking about?" She asked. Cinos snapped out of it.
"Oh, nothing." He smiled. Rouge thought his smile was cute, because it ended up so strange sometimes. It was still nice to her though. Cinos would beg to differ. He hated smiling in photos and a lot of his school pictures would be him staring blankly into the camera, which made him look a little bit angry with the world. Cinos looked up at the stars, and began to sing.
"Nothing can survive the will to stay alive, cuz if you try… You can do anything…" he carried on his song until he finished, then sat up again. Rouge laughed at him. The blush was unreal. Cinos decided that in the falling snow would be a good idea to say something. He wasn't sure what.
"Um.." Cinos was fully aware of the sprouting plant over his head. He wished hard for it to disappear, or at least, that Rouge wouldn't see it. "Say, Rouge… The amount of times I've looked into the stars and found your face in the constellations is countless. The stars have always meant a lot to me, as have you. I think that you both have a lot in common. Your gaze, the brightness of your eyes, your beauty… Every time we have a conversation, you have some way to make me blush or embarrass me in front of all the guys, but that's besides the point. All I'm saying is that I've had a crush on you since junior high, and if you don't feel the same, I understand fully, but—"
Rouge placed a finger over Cinos's lips. He blushed hard.
"Shh… It's okay… I'm not exactly sure I feel the same, but I come pretty close… Wait a minute—is this a confession?"
"Well, yeah…" Cinos's face was as purple as his quills. His voice cracked a bit, and he took his coat off. He was getting way too hot. This was dumb. He was going to get rejected.
"Aww, that's cute! So, do you wanna go out with me or something?" Cinos's ears perked up. Was he hearing things?
"Umm… if it isn't too much trouble, I'd actually really like that." The mistletoe was at nose level for both hedgehog and bat. It was traditional to linger, but they took no time at all leaning in. Cinos's lips smashed against Rouge's. Their tongues twisted, fighting for dominance. Cinos felt Rouge grab the back of his head as he was pulled downwards. He fell hard of the park bench, but lay there in the snow, not giving two shits. This was bliss. They moaned at the same time, making Cinos feel more passionate about the situation.. This wasn't just an ordinary kiss. This was the most powerful kiss ever. Rouge sat up and gasped for breath. Cinos's action was ditto.
"Where the hell did that come from?" The bat asked. She was laughing her head off. Cinos laughed as well. Eventually, they were nothing but a mess of laughter and love.
"I have NO idea," Cinos hollered with laughter one final time, coughing a bit. Rouge checked her watch.
"Oh my god… It's getting late. I should get home." The wind was howling. A blizzard was blowing. This was like Ice Cap Zone all over again. Cinos stood up and picked up his rucksack. He began w=to walk home.
"See ya, Rouge!" He called through the storm.
"Hey! CINOS!" she screamed back. "You have a long way to walk! Wanna come back to my place!? I'll jack you out with some cocoa and marshmallows!" She wasn't surprised; the man just walked back, agreeing with the idea strongly.
"Sounds like a plan," he confirmed. The two linked hands, and strode into the fog, a new door of opportunities opening to both of them.

END

So, how did I do? Pretty good for my first oneshot, huh? Don't for get to R&R, and who knows, maybe I'll write some more in their legacy! For now though, I've been Burger Bun Gaming, signing off. Have a good evening!