An arrangement of coffee makers and cute little cupcake stands lined the walls of the shop, people filing in line to get their hands around one of the warm mugs. It was a particularly windy day in Venice today, and everyone was getting out from work, chit-chatting about how their days went, or trying to teach tourists a word or two of Italian. Little did the poor tourists know, but the Italians were teaching them to say a rather long string of obscenities.
Despite the cold, a black and green hedgehog sat outside on the nearly deserted dock, watching the gondolas pass along the waters of the canal. Tourists flashed cameras in every direction, while the gondola driver rolled his eyes and pushed the slim boat further along.
The hedgehog gave a slight smirk, then took another sip of his coffee, sighing.
No. Being alone was no fun at all.
Entering the coffee shop now was a couple of girls, scarves wrapped tightly around their necks and bright smiles on their faces. One of them was a hedgehog, the other a cat. The black and green hedgehog, going by the name of Sam, watched as one of them—the hedgehog, who had regimental fur and rather large eyes—paid for four hot chocolates.
"I want some gelato," said the cat girl.
The regimental female raised an eyebrow, saying, "Cosmos, it's freezing outside!"
The cat girl shrugged, "Gelato's good anytime of the year. You of all people would know that, Nodoka. You've gotten it, like, every day since we got here!"
The girl named Nodoka sighed, but smiled. "Alright, fine." She stepped into the gelato shop, beginning to dig through her purse.
Sam wasn't exactly sure what made him do it, but he stood up, completely forgetting about his coffee. He slipped through the back door of the shop, into a crowd of civilians. He pushed through them, not paying any attention when several of them made irritated noises. He watched as the girl took out her wallet and started to hand the cow shopkeeper a few euros, a curious smile on his face.
He hid behind a wooden column, poking his head out from behind, the smile growing amused. The shopkeeper was beginning to look irritated as the girl ordered massive amounts of sprinkles and mint gelato.
When she finally had her hands full of gelato cups with little pink spoons, she handed him all the euro. The shopkeeper counted them, then gave her a shake of his head. She didn't have enough.
The hedgehog blushed, almost dropping some of the cups. "Oh…oh, really? I…um…I'm sorry, I don't think-"
"Need some help, miss?" Sam tapped her on the shoulder, a very charming smile on his face.
Nodoka blinked, slightly startled by his sudden appearance. "Oh, no, I'm fine, I jus-"
"Here. On me." Sam passed the shopkeeper three more euro, then turned to the regimental female, "I see you like gelato."
"Um, thank you, sir, but you didn't have to do tha-" She began.
He cut her off, simply raising a hand and saying, "Hey, it's no sweat. Anything for someone in need," he smiled, looking into her eyes, "I'm Sam." He extended his hand.
"Er…Nodoka." She replied, hesitantly shaking his hand.
"Pretty name." He told her. "So where are you headed?"
She gave an uneasy smile, replying, "Oh, uh, just out with one of my friends." Her cheeks grew red as he continued to grin at her. "So, yeah, er…thanks." She then proceeded to turn and begin to walk away.
"Hey, wait." Sam reached out and grabbed her shoulder, causing her to jump and drop two cups of gelato…which Sam caught. He snickered slightly, giving them to her. "Hey, no offense, but I can tell you're new to the area. How about I show you around?" He asked, trying to appear genuine.
"Oh, I don't think that's necess-"
"Yes, please!" Came a voice from behind Nodoka.
Nodoka turned to find a grinning Cosmos, who was looking at Sam with something that could only be described as a damn-nodoka-i-didn't-know-you-could-do-this-good-you-actually-found-a-hottie look.
"We would love for you to show us around, wouldn't we, Nodoka?" Cosmos told Sam, winking at Nodoka, who had turned beet red.
"Cosmos, I-"
"Yep, she definitely wants you to guide us." Cosmos interrupted.
"Great!" Sam exclaimed, his face lighting up. "How about I show you the mask maker?" He asked.
Nodoka's eyes rose to meet his, curiosity replacing her embarrassment. "Mask maker?" She raised an eyebrow.
"You haven't heard of the mask maker? Venice is famous for its beautiful masks. Trust me, you'll wanna see it," Sam told her. "Just follow me."
The trio stepped outside of the shop--Cosmos a bit more eagerly than Nodoka--and began walking down the streets of Venice. Nodoka stared at the ground as Sam grinned at shopkeepers whom he had known for years. He knew Venice like the back of his hand.
Nodoka started to turn at a street corner, but Sam grabbed her wrist, saying, "Nah, that way's always filled with tourists. It's better to go this way." He jabbed a thumb at an alley, where a glass-making shop was positioned on the corner. "If we're lucky, maybe Jonathan will let us have some free candy. His shop is at the end of the alley."
Nodoka nodded, though she wasn't sure whether to believe Sam. Cosmos elbowed her, whispering, "Come on, it's fine. This guy knows what he's doing. Plus he's the dreamiest guy I've seen since we got here." She snickered, then followed Sam, leaving Nodoka to sigh and do the same.
They stopped at the candy store, in which each received a small bag of multi-colored candies and peppermints from "Jonathan." Even Nodoka had to admit that they were delicious, and she couldn't help but grin when Sam started licking at an absolutely giant lollipop.
"I'm going to be so fat by the end of today!" Cosmos cracked up, taking another bite of strawberry gelato.
"Don't worry, meals are always in small portions here, and, as you can see, most people walk to get around town, so we get plenty of exercise." Sam explained, stealing a bite of Nodoka's gelato, which caused her to bite her lip to keep from giggling.
As he stuck the spoon in his mouth, he winked at her, and she blushed madly…again.
Cosmos sighed. Nodoka was a complete sucker for sweet guys.
"Ah. Here we are. Vinny's." Sam gestured to a shop window, fully decorated with absolutely exquisite masks. Cat faces with long, sweeping feathers lining each edge, glitter sprinkled across the cheeks. Masks made to look like leaves, with deep shades of green, red, purple, and gold were positioned on mannequins, while others were double-faced, jester-like, or had musical notes painted on the foreheads and across the lips. All of them were lovely.
"Come on, I'll introduce you to Vinny." Sam took Nodoka's hand, and Cosmos followed closely behind. "He's the mask maker here, and I personally think he's the best in all of Venice. Fortunately for me, he's not very well known, so I get to see all his new masks first." He grinned.
The actual store was even more amazing than the window. There wasn't a single spot on the wall that wasn't taken up by a mask of some sort. The place was absolutely bursting. It was almost hard to get through, as even tables lining the walls were piled high with masks. But Sam led Nodoka and Cosmos through it with ease, probably because he came here nearly every day. Vinny's work simply fascinated him.
Nodoka and Cosmos were looking at the walls with jaws dropped, and eyes practically bugging out of their sockets. Sam chuckled with amusement, as he practically had to drag them to the back room.
"Sam, this place is simply…there's no way to-" Nodoka was cut off by Sam pressing a finger to her lips.
He whispered, "Shh. Look," he pointed to a cheetah civilian sitting at a work desk. He wore half-moon glasses and a long, blue jacket, and was completely absorbed in his work. His paintbrush swirled intricate patterns across a triangular-shaped mask.
Sam smiled, saying, "Sometimes I sit here and watch him for hours. He never notices me. It's like he's in a completely different world."
Nodoka's face lit up, a smile appearing. Sam couldn't help but notice her sparkling te- oh, wait. He already had noticed them.
He grinned. Yep, he liked this girl. He most certainly liked this girl.
Nodoka was still entranced by Vinny. "Sam, he's amazing!" She whispered.
"He is…" Cosmos breathed.
"He practically raised me." Sam told them. "I'm emancipated, so he's a kind of father to me."
"You're emancipated?" Nodoka asked, her eyes finally straying from Vinny to meet Sam's.
"Yup. Have been for quite a while now. I personally like it. Gives me a lot more freedom than most people," he replied.
"Ah. There you are, Sam. I wondered when you'd get here."
The trio turned to find Vinny rising out of his chair, smiling. He was a man of about fifty or so, with soft grey eyes but vibrant fur.
"Heya, Vinn." Sam replied, then gestured towards Nodoka and Cosmos, "these are some girls I met at Angelo's gelato shop. Ya know, the one nearest Cyrus' place."
"Ah, yes. The one you get all that chocolate gelato from, hmm?" Vinny eyed Sam, the smile growing wider.
Sam gave a sheepish smile, saying, "Yeah, that one. Heh. Anyway, this is Nodoka. Oh, and Cosmos." He quickly pointed over at the aqua blue cat.
Vinny lowered his glasses, looking at the two. "Nodoka and Cosmos. I've never heard of you before." He then looked at Sam, saying, "Well, I must say, if you had to pick tourists, these two are certainly an excellent choice."
Sam's cheeks blushed bright red, "I…uh…Vinn, that's-", he quickly changed the subject, "So, um, yes, what're you workin' on?"
"Nothing much, son. I can't seem to get the pattern on this here mask correctly. It just ends up looking smudged." The cheetah scratched his chin, sighing. "Plus I just got a whole other order of masks that I need to do, and I'm just not sure if I have the time."
"Maybe we can help?" Sam asked, looking back at Nodoka and Cosmos.
Nodoka stepped back. "Er…I'm not great at artwork, I me-"
"For once, you are not ruining this for me." Cosmos told Nodoka, grabbing her arm. She then told Sam, "We'd love to help."
Vinny's face brightened considerably. "Really? Ah, I'd love some helpers! Sam, you haven't sat down with a paintbrush in hand since you discovered gelato! Now, come on, I'll show you the supplies."
He led the trio down a staircase to a work room of sorts, with boxes of paints and glitters and feathers and tools lining the sides and clean tables lying in the middle of the room. A section of the wall displayed a large collection of pure white masks, ready to be turned into a work of art.
"Take your pick," Vinny told them, and Sam immediately burst forward, grabbing for the half-face one, the one that reminded him of the Phantom of the Opera. Cosmos also picked quickly, grabbing a cat mask, naturally. Nodoka took a bit more time, weighing all of her options. Finally, she decided on one that had what looked like a wing coming out of the left side of its face. She thought it would look lovely once finished. That is, if Vinny did it. Knowing her own artistic skill, it was bound to look awful.
She came over to the table to sit next to Cosmos, but Cosmos scooted far to the left, forcing Nodoka to squeeze in next to Sam. Nodoka sent her a glare, but Cosmos just snickered and started grabbing paints from a box.
"Paints are over here, feathers here, beads and buttons there, and glitter here. Super glue here…yep, that's about all you'll need. Any questions?" Vinny told the group.
"Nope!" Sam exclaimed, and immediately dove into his work, splotching red and green across the mask, though he would shoot glances at Nodoka every once and a while, smiling when he saw her brows furrowed in concentration.
Nodoka watched his brush strokes, the way he flicked his wrist when making small accents but kept it steady when making a long line. Slowly, she began to copy his work. She had to admit it was fun, and it was nice to do something that actually felt Venetian. But it still didn't look anything like she wanted it to. She bit her lip, then asked, "Is there an example I could look at?"
Sam looked up at her, and smiled. "Sure. I'll take you over to the closet."
She nodded, then followed him to a closet on the opposite side of the room.
Cosmos grinned up at Vinny, and the cheetah sent her a wink.
"Right over here." Sam opened the door to the closet, and gestured for Nodoka to come in. The closet was the same as most of the rooms in the shop, lots of masks everywhere, only these didn't seem quite as intricate. Like rough drafts.
Sam put a hand to his chin, scanning the walls for the right one. "I know there's one that looks like yours…I saw it yesterday…"
"Oh…oh, you did?" Nodoka asked, trying to make her way over to Sam through the crowd of boxes. "I didn't think I-ahh!" She tripped over a stack of papers and fell right on top of Sam, creating a rather domino-like effect that knocked down several book shelves.
When the dust cleared, Nodoka found herself positioned on the ground…on top of Sam's chest, who was both grinning and blushing madly.
"Why, hello there," he said, as her cheeks turned from peach to pink.
"Oh, I-I'm…Oh, God, this is really awkward, isn't it?" She asked him, her face an absolute mess of embarrassment and humiliation.
And then Sam started laughing. Hard. Nodoka jumped, startled, and watched as he just lay there and rocked back and forth, unable to contain himself. A slight giggle pressed its way past her lips, though she couldn't see what was so funny. And then she was chuckling, and soon the duo were, put simply, laughing their asses off.
Then, rather suddenly, Nodoka turned and firmly planted her lips onto his.
Cosmos, who could probably hear their laughter from a mile away, just smiled and continued her work. But she couldn't help but think…
Heh. Called it.
Short and sweet, and probably a little rushed. But, hey, it's just a prize for a bet.
Yep, I made a bet (a rather foolish one, at that) with ADarknessInHeaven and he won. I suppose I should have known. So, here's your reward, bud! Hope you liked!
Sam, Nodoka, and Cosmos belong to ADarknessInHeaven.
Vinny belongs to me. XD