Little side note, I got the idea for this story from a Shadilver group that helped me figure out what I wanted to do for my first Shadilver fic. All characters are of a different age category in order to fit my own headcanons on the story. Also the synopsis for this fic might be a little controversial but just to avoid any backlashing comments I might get, I would like to make it clear that I myself am transgender and writing a personal headcanon as well as venting through my favorite character and my favorite ship on the same pitfalls of falling in love and fearing you won't be accepted.
with that explanation, you may read and enjoy, constructive criticism is very welcomed.
It was an early morning one day in Mobotropolis, the sun wasn't up yet but despite that alarms were going off for some people, buses were just starting up to start their day of transporting people, some business was just setting up for a busy day. One on a crowded lane with other shops and stores was a humble looking bakery. Simple yet welcoming design on the exterior with large letters on a wide window reading, 'Little Shop of Sweets.' A silver colored hedgehog walked out of the bakery's door with a slight but pleasant ring as he stepped outside, he sets down a welcome mat and looks across the street. From there he takes a glance to the other side of the street, there was a shop, a tattoo parlour to be precise. He scanned the shop, looking at the large glass window that his own shop also used for something. He squinted a bit, slightly leaning in.
"Silver, what are you doing?" A voice chimed in behind him, this caused Silver to flinch and turn around.
He saw a purple cat dressed in casual wear with an apron over them. "Silver, you okay?" She asked.
He gave her a smile and waved his hand. "Yeah, I'm fine, just lost in thought Blaze."
"Well come on then, we're about to open and I need to get the kitchen in order." Blaze, the purple cat informed him, walking away.
Silver looked at her and back to the tattoo parlour, he sighed disappointedly and went back in the store. He followed Blaze into another room through a doorway behind the display case. They found themselves in a sizable kitchen; the room has several ovens along the wall with a larger one in the corner of the room, an island of counters in the center with a rack above each of them with various pots, pans, and utensils. There were several heavy-duty doors one wall to their right with labels on them marking which were 'Fridge' and 'Freezer'. On the left were normal looking doors with labels of 'Pantry' and 'Manager's office.'
Blaze walks over to a large oven, she starts tinkering with it while Silver leaves her to it and goes to a door that leads to a pantry, he takes out some items that they will need when they start baking. He takes out various ingredients of chocolate chips, baking soda, baking powder, etc. He sets them on the countertops, heading to some shelves on the opposite end that had more pots and various sized bowls, he took some of them that he believes they would be using and set them on the counters. He looks to where Blaze was, finding her not there, hearing a door open he turns his attention to the fridge, where he sees Blaze pulling a sheet pan rack out of the fridge behind her. The rack was filled with sheets that had various baked goods laid neatly grouped together.
"I'm going to bring these to the front, you got things here?" She asks.
Silver nods his head and Blaze pulled the rack out to the other room, Silver then looked at his set up, he made sure he had everything he needed before he headed towards the fridge, he grabbed another rack and pulled it to the front. Passing Blaze and instead went to the store and placing more baked goods on displays that had the appropriate label near them. While he was doing this, the door opened with a slight ring to it. Both him and Blaze looked up to a see a white bat, her hair swept to the side as she takes off her jacket. She looks at Silver and smiles, making her way over to him.
"My baby boy, how are you today?" She cooed, bringing him into a hug.
Silver squeaks, feeling a great pressure being put on him as he is hugged by her. The woman slightly rocks from side to side, while having Silver in her arms before she finally let's go.
"I'm fine, mom. Just setting up is all." Silver explains, brushing himself off.
Blaze speaks out. "We're almost done here so we'll get baking soon, any orders come in Rouge?"
The white bat, Rouge shook her head. "Sorry Hun, none so far but I can assure you that once I enter that office I'm going to be swamped." She sighed, patting Silver's head.
"I'll be there if you need my help with the register." She bids goodbye, slipping behind the counter and to the door towards the kitchen.
Silver and Blaze went back to work with filling out the displays and making the shop look appealing. When they were done they pushed the racks back into the kitchen and got started to bake. In another three hours, they would open so they needed to get baking immediately.
Not even long after opening, the shop was already filled with customers browsing the displays, purchasing a few of the baked goodies but not only that but during that time they got a mess of orders. They were mostly orders of cakes for some special occasions on this day. Silver and Blaze went to work pushing out multiple orders for them while baking their own stuff they needed for their storefront. Rouge occasionally came back to get trays of the baked goods and refilled the displays or to give them more orders she got on the phone or from customers in line as she worked the front.
Blaze packed the orders and set them to the side as Silver passed them to her as he got them done until they were done, Blaze took them and loaded them in on the company van, then leaving to bring them to their respective customers. Silver was left alone baking and refilling the displays out front and filling in-house orders. He was a little stressed and worn from all this work, but he was a determined person who never gave up simply because he was tired. He powered through it until Blaze came back and they both worked together. The entire day was blurred from the work until it was closing time. They had shooed the last bit of customers away with their purchase and turned off the open sign. They closed earlier than most shops around four o'clock, so they can have time to bake and restock their supply of baked goods. Blaze was taking down the remaining displays and packaging them out. They were going to cycle out these recipes and use different ones for the next several days, it was their way of keeping things new and fresh and gave them some popularity.
They got to take home the remaining baked goods after the day was done, Silver had finished packaging his and his mother's portion in two separate boxes. He looked up and out the large window by the cash register. His heart then leaped when he saw a figure standing in the window across the street. The figure he saw was a tall male hedgehog, his black quills streaked with red; they looked as if they were cleaning their tools. Silver stood dazed as his eyes scanned what he can see of the black hedgehog, he pouted at the fact that his view was heavily limited by the space between their shops. He sighed, disappointed as he grabs the box of goodies. He stops, looking down at the box and back to the hedgehog in the window. An idea came to mind, a spur of the moment at best and one he was sure to regret but he was going purely on his determination to go through with it and beat himself up over it later.
He took one of the boxes, going outside and walking several feet down the street to wait at a crosswalk for traffic to cease for him to pass. His eyes glued to the tattoo shop as he crossed, his pace quicken as he got closer until he broke into a short jog to the shop's door. He preened his quills to make them look presentable, breathing in deep and exhaling as he pushed the door open. A soft ring was heard as he entered the store, it was noticeably different than his own shop as it sported a very dark look to it. The walls were painted black, the furniture was leather and a deep red color with decorations being figurines of a dark macabre feel, the only thing that wasn't so off-putting were framed photos of various tattoos of different styles from just pictures, just words and a combination of both. It was oddly comforting to see them, and he felt a little out of place in here. The fact that the speakers in the room were playing metal band music didn't make him feel any more like he belonged here.
"Can I help you?"
Silver nearly jumped, his head snapping to his side. He saw the same Black hedgehog he saw earlier standing behind a counter, his hands on a book as he put it down on the counter. Silver was like a deer in the headlights, this was the first time he saw them this close and was able to behold the center of his fixation in their full glory, he couldn't help but stare. His eyes scanned them, from their perfectly sculpted face to his perfectly proportioned body, and his that white puffy chest hair of his- my god- He felt himself drooling a little. The tank top only showed a bit of the top part, but Silver can only imagine what the rest looked like under it.
"You okay?" The hedgehog asked, his eyebrow quirking.
Silver snapped his attention back to them, He couldn't say anything. He was stunned and terrified, he had what he wanted to say in his head, but all his mouth would produce was silence. His eyes darted around the room for anything to get him out of this situation until he spotted a small card holder holding a stack of them. They looked like business cards, so he reached for it.
"I was just in here for once of these!" He blurted out, panicked and smiling awkwardly. "Yep, just had to see what the rave was about this place. Had to see what everyone was talking about- "
He then quickly looked at the card and saw the name of the shop and the owner, Shadow the hedgehog. He final knew his name after just senselessly staring at him from afar for months. Realizing the silence, he created from staring at the card he snapped back to the conversation.
"Yeah, just had to see what the deal was with 'The Devil's parlour' and the wonderful owner that is, Shadow the Hedgehog!" Silver was nervous, sweating beading down his face as he constructed his lie on the spot.
Shadow just stared at him, tilting his head to the said as he replied. "Thanks? It's nice to know the word is getting around." He then opened the cash register's drawer, counting the profits he made.
Silver bite his lip, he had to latch onto this or risk looking awkward and like a creep. "Uh, yeah! Heard lots of great things about this place from friends of mine, and just general chatter in public areas. You are a really skilled artist to be able to produce the same design or create a new one from entirely just scratch!" Shadow seemed to be caught off guard by this, almost embarrassed as well. "Uh, thanks. Not every day I hear that."
"What? Really? Not even while you're working? Well, that's a bummer because you must be the best damn tattoo artist I've ever seen." He was really kissing ass with his overuse of compliments, but he didn't know any other way to talk to them without rambling.
Shadow seemed to look down at a bit and back to Silver. "Thanks." He simply said.
Silver still had his nervous smile on his face, the pressure building up inside him as he observed the taller hedgehog. Then without expecting it, Shadow gave him a small smile, oh boy that's done it. His face lit up red seeing Shadow's smile, his heart racing as he just slammed the box of baked goods down and ran out the door. He didn't bother looking back as he ran across the street barely avoiding getting bumped and dodged into his own shop. He ducked behind a wall, his heart pacing as he peaked out and saw Shadow just staring at where he ran to and down to the box. Silver groaned, his back pressed firmly against the wall, sliding down in shame.
"Why did I do that…" he moaned, covering his face.
He couldn't believe he just made awkward conversation with him, the man he fucking adored with his life and now fucked it up because he couldn't take seeing that man smile like that. It was so, warm and welcoming how can he not overreact to that? He shook his head and looked back out the window again and did not see the hedgehog there, he sighed. He got up and walked back to the counter to which he heard Rouge's voice.
"There you are, Blaze was looking for you. She wanted help with baking the bread and you know I can't help with that." Rouge said, holding up her perfectly manicured nails.
Silver smiled nervously, he nodded and headed back into the kitchen where he saw Blaze hard at work. She was placing the risen dough into pans and trays with effortless grace as she has done this time and time again with years of practice. It was the very reason he wanted her hired on, she was fast and efficient as well as careful. She never did anything half-assed, so she was the perfect for helping him with the baking, without her he wouldn't know what to do if it was just him. He walked over to a sink and quickly washed his hands and getting an apron on, he headed over to a counter and started to create his own dough. Blaze seemed to have noticed him but somehow with the look in her eye, she knew he was dealing with something, so she left him alone. He appropriated this, deciding to take his anger out on this dough when it's time to knead it.
There was one thing he knew, never to go near Shadow ever again.