A/n: So for a bit of a change I thought I'd do some fluff. As opposed to hurting characters... no I'm not going to do a sneaky and do something nasty towards the end of this one it is fluff I swear. And I'm pretty happy with this so let me know what you think! Enjoy. :)
"Here's here again."
"Who?" Droosha rolled her eyes, but she could tell from the telltale rise in pitch of her workmate's voice who the customer was. And it was nine am. He was always right on schedule.
"The overgrown puppy, as you so like to call him," Nerissa replied, raising her voice a little.
Droosha cleared her throat as she turned around and came face to face with the cop waiting right at the counter. He was far too close, and she strongly suspected Nerissa had spoken as loudly as she had for his benefit.
"Um… hi, Droosha," he said. He was already starting to turn a little pink. That usually didn't happen until halfway through placing his order.
"Good morning, Boxter." After what Nerissa had just pulled she should at least let him know she remembered his name from last time. He knew hers because he had read her tag, and she only knew his first name because he'd given it to her when she'd asked who to call for the coffees. Like it was hard to remember they were for the only two cops in the cafe. But hey, she'd kinda wanted to know.
Boxter shifted his big hands on the counter self-consciously. Overgrown puppy had been what Droosha had first called him, before she realised he wasn't just taking a half-hearted crack at chatting up the coffee chic. He couldn't have been any older than her, and his movements were like a growing puppy that hadn't yet realised it was now big enough to knock over damn near anyone, and was still wondering what it was supposed to do with its giant paws and muscled arms…
Droosha forced herself to look back up at his face. How long had she been staring? "What can I get you?" she said, feeling herself flush.
"Well I was going to ask…" Boxter began. He only managed to hold her gaze for a second before looking down at his hands on the counter again. "Um… two coffees please."
The second officer, waiting a little too obviously away from the counter, rolled his eyes and let out a huff, then grabbed a menu off a nearby table and pretended to read it.
"It'll be just a second," said Droosha.
Boxter counted out the correct change awkwardly into one hand, and dumped it into both of Droosha's. Nerissa moved over to the coffee machine and started on the coffees. Droosha eyed her colleague suspiciously as she sorted the coins into the register. She wouldn't put it past her to scribble her number on that cup when she wasn't looking.
A loud crash sounded from outside. Everyone jumped, and the coffee machine let out a startled hiss. Nerissa swore at it.
Outside the shop front, visible through the big plate glass window, a disgruntled SheZow sat up in the body-sized dent she'd made in the roof of the parked police cruiser. "Ow… damn it," she muttered, rubbing at her head.
Boxter bristled, balled up his fists, and stomped outside, pushing past his partner, who just stood there wide eyed. "SHECOW!"
So much for puppy, that was a full-fledged bark. Droosha slipped around the counter and followed him to check whether SheZow had broken anything belonging to the coffee shop. And to make sure an angry, broad-shouldered police officer didn't scare away the customers remaining outside. Not that there was much chance of that if a superhero plummeting into a parked car hadn't spooked them.
"Oh nice, haven't heard that one before." SheZow jumped down from the top of the car and began to brush imaginary dust off her sleeve.
Boxter stared at the car. "You've completely smashed in the roof… I…" he let out a huff. "I can't…"
"You trying to say something, sweetheart?" SheZow said with a sigh.
"You trashed police property!"
SheZow waved a hand dismissively. "Pfft. Happens all the time. You'll get used to it."
Boxter looked at the car and groaned. "I don't believe it." His shoulders slumped. The puppy was back, and he looked like he'd just been kicked. Did cops have to pay for that kind of damage? Her manager got grumpy enough when one of his staff dropped a not-quite-empty milk carton.
Droosha sidled up next to him and winced. "Ouch. Um… those coffees are on the house. If it helps." It probably didn't.
But Boxter looked at her like it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for him. "Aw thanks… but I already paid you for them."
Oh yeah.
Boxter glared at SheZow again, who had stopped dusting herself off and was now watching both of them suspiciously. He squared his shoulders, and for a moment Droosha thought he was going to have another go at giving the superhero a serve. But instead he turned to her and said: "You know, I've been meaning to ask… if you wanted coffee. I mean, I guess you do coffee all the time, so it's probably… but I don't know if dinner is appropriate I mean I hardly know you and…" He started to turn pink again.
"You're asking me on a date?" Droosha said, before he completely tripped over his words and died of embarrassment.
"You're asking her on a date?" said SheZow, her eyes narrowing. Why was she even still standing there?
"Yeah, what's it to you?" Boxter frowned.
SheZow stiffened. "Um… nothing. I have superheroing to do. Just make sure he's… ahem… nice to you." Then she shot up into the air and was gone.
"Guys are always nice to me. At least, they'd better be…" And she'd just said that out loud. Oops. Droosha glanced across at Boxter. He'd heard her alright, but he just looked mildly startled before smiling at her faintly.
Droosha felt herself flush. "I finish at three," she said. "If you're free then, I can get us those on the house coffees."
Boxter's face lit up. "I… yeah, okay. I'll see you then."
Boxter's partner was collecting their coffees from Nerissa at the door, and the two had their heads together like co-conspirators. Droosha swore he finished up by saying something that sounded like: "About bloody time."
