Characters belong to SEGA.

001. Latte

"Gosh, what's with all these prices?!" Rouge huffed, "5.99 for one small latte?! That's ridiculous."

Shadow only just rolled his eyes, cheek buried in one hand as his other held the menu. "You wanted to come here and you knew all the prices were this absurd."

"Hey! It's quality over anything, my friend!" The bat then crossed her arms, a smirk arising her lips. "And besides, there is a reason why we're here anyway..."

The hedgehog caught her stare, and raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"

His question was answered when a new voice piped up into their conversation. "Shadow, Rouge! How may I help you today?"

Shadow stiffened, his grip on the menu loosening as his stomach began to do countless of backflips that he could have thrown up at any given moment. He stared forward, before his eyes slowly travelled over to an orange frame of an echidna.

A uniform. She was wearing a uniform.

She... worked here?

"Tikal!" Rouge greeted her with a smile, pretending to seem surprised that the girl had indeed worked here, "Such a pleasure to see you!"

Shadow had shot a glare to the bat, grumbling lowly as he seemingly went through the menu, his sudden unusual behaviour wanting to be unnoticed.

"Thank you, you too!" Tikal giggled, bringing out a small notepad and pen, "What would you both like to order?"

"I want to order this latte, small, but the price is a slap in the face!" Rouge complained, jabbing her finger on the menu, "Seriously, who comes up with them?!"

"I think so too," Tikal agreed, "But I've had this latte before, and it's actually really good," she smiled, "How about I give you both a discount on it?"

"You'd do that?" Rouge asked, her eyes widening.

She laughed again and nodded. "Of course! You're my friends after all."

"You're an angel, Tikal," Rouge said, smiling, her gaze flickering over to Shadow, "An angel."

Shadow's grip on the menu grew tighter.

"It's no problem!" Tikal wrote down their orders, "I'll be right back with your drinks!"

She went off and Rouge turned her head to face Shadow, a smirk of amusement plastering her face. The black hedgehog removed the menu off of his face and laid, almost slammed, it down onto the table.

"Hate. You."

Rouge waved him off. "Oh come, you need this!"

"Why?"

"Because I'm sick of seeing you going lovey-dovey over her from a distance."

Shadow's eye twitched. "I do not do that."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Too."

"Not."

"Yes."

"No."

"Here we are!" Tikal's voice interrupted their argument. Shadow looked over to see two insulated cups of latte in her hand before she carefully put them down onto the table, "I asked my manager if I could make this order free for you guys, since it's your first time here," she clasped her hands, "She said it was fine!"

"Thank you, sweetie," Rouge said, her hand over the cup, "I don't know where the hell you've come from, but I'm glad I have you."

The echidna smiled bashfully, a blush forming onto her cheeks. "Thank you," she said. She turned to glance at Shadow, who hadn't touched his own cup since, "Shadow?"

Shadow nearly jerked in his seat. A stifle from Rouge was heard and he had to refrain himself from putting on a face.

Tikal was concerned. "Do you not like latte? I can get you something else if you want."

"No," he finally glanced over to her, "It's fine."

Tikal smiled again, nodding before turning her head to Rouge, who had stood up. "Going so soon?"

"Sadly," the bat replied, putting on her jacket, "I've got some errands to run for the rest of the afternoon," she smirked again, eyes locking onto the hedgehog's, "Shadow will still be here though."

"Oh, you will?" Tikal inquired, looking at him. Shadow only threw a scowl at the bat, inwardly wanting to bang his head onto the table.

She just had to, didn't she?

"Yup," Rouge said, walking off with her drink, "I'll see you both later. It was nice talking to you, Tikal!"

"You too, Rouge!" the echidna called back, bidding her a farewell. Once she was out of sight, Tikal paid her attention to Shadow and sat down across from him. "Are you okay, Shadow?"

"Yes," he replied, a little too quickly. But luckily, she didn't question it and nodded.

"I'm asking because your face looks a little red," she said, inspecting him, "I suppose it's quite hot in here."

Well, crap. So much for not supposing to let his guard down.

And no. The weather was totally not the reason why his face was unbelievably red, and he probably looked like a blasted tomato by now.

Oh, Rouge was totally going to pay for this misery. He will give that bat no mercy.

"Perhaps," he responded calmly, despite his rigid thoughts, and took a sip of his drink.

Tikal only smiled again. "My shift is actually over now," she checked the time on her wrist watch, "Would you like to go for a walk to cool off?"

Shadow almost spat out his drink. A walk? With her?

To cool off?

No, no, no. He'd actually be warming up rather than cooling off.

Sitting across from her was enough.

But walking with her? Side by side? In public?

He'd rather just shoot himself to save the embarrassment.

He averted his eyes to her, seeing that she was waiting for an answer.

"Sure," he told her, shocked to find himself even speaking at this point, "I would like that."

"Excellent!" she beamed, clasping her hands together before standing up, "I'll just go get changed!"

Shadow nodded as she walked off and he let out a small groan, glaring down at his latte. He shook his head and took off the cap, but before he took another sip, he noticed a funny looking shape decorated into his drink. He blinked, taking a closer look at it.

A heart.

If Shadow wasn't already burning, he was now.

Author's note:

Aha, I suck at humour.

a late birthday gift for my girl, Ru! I hope you liked this, omg.

prompts are appreciated, thank you!