AN: So remember my friend who dared me to write the first part of this? Blame him for this part too.
The café they were meeting at was just off campus, in a little strip mall that was almost always occupied by other college students. Mario stood outside the café, tugging nervously at the cuff of his red and blue hoodie. He hadn't worn anything fancy, it was just a coffee date after all. A coffee date with somebody very attractive that less than twelve hours ago he'd been making out with after having what, a half hour conversation?
Out of all the ways he thought he'd get a date, he hadn't envisioned this in the slightest.
"Hey Mar."
Mario jumped and looked next to him where Sonic had managed to sneak up on him, chuckling at yet another priceless reaction he'd gotten out of Mario. "Man, are you always this jumpy?" he asked, playfully shoving Mario's shoulder. "Or are my unbelievably good looks makin' you nervous?"
"Neither," Mario replied lightly as he opened the door to the café, letting Sonic step through before he entered through the door. "You just caught me off-guard, that's all."
Sonic hummed as he scanned the menu allowing Mario to take a peek at Sonic, with his perfect hair that he must have used an entire tube of hair gel on to keep it in place. He was wearing the same Chaos-branded sports jacket like the night before, though he spied a band t-shirt underneath that he couldn't quite make out the name of.
"Enjoying the view?" Sonic slyly questioned, and Mario sheepishly lifted his head to find Sonic smirking at him with a hand on his hip. "The menu's up there, by the way." he informed with a snicker and Mario rolled his eyes, lifting his eyes to the menu.
"I was curious about the shirt you were wearing." Mario replied, which wasn't a total lie after all. Sonic glanced down with an "ah" and removed his jacket, showing off the shirt beneath which displayed a band Mario hadn't heard of before.
"Ever heard their stuff?" Sonic asked, and Mario shook his head as Sonic slipped back into his jacket. "Dude, they're one of the best rock bands. Remind me to play you some of their stuff sometime, it's great."
Mario nodded as they reached the front of the line, with Mario ordering a small coffee and Sonic ordering an iced latte. Moving aside to wait for their drinks Mario gazed at Sonic curiously. "So, question."
"Yeah?"
"How long had you been watching me last night?"
It was Sonic's turn to look embarrassed as he looked down at his shoes. "Uh... pretty much the whole time you were there? I mean, I saw you walk in, an' you kinda just... migrated to that one corner an' stayed there. So for one, I was makin' sure that nothin' bad was gonna happen to ya, an' two... I was tryin' to come up with a good pick-up line."
"It took you nearly two hours to come up with a pick-up line?" Mario dryly commented. Sonic only shrugged.
"Well hey, I was there with my crazy friends. Well, Red's not so bad, he just likes tellin' horror stories. Pit on the other hand is, well, Pit. There's really no other way to describe him."
"Are they your roommates?" Mario asked as the blue-haired girl behind the counter handed them their drinks and they went and sat at a booth near the back of the cafe.
"No," Sonic replied, taking a sip of his latte. "Though I am friends with my roommates, they're pretty cool. Rock is into robotics, and Pac is into 3D modeling." he flashed Mario a grin. "But enough about my roommates. We're on a date, an' since we got family out of the way yesterday... where are you from?"
"Toad Town, in the Mushroom Kingdom." Mario responded, to which Sonic raised his eyebrows.
"That's pretty far..." he murmured. "Y'know, I've always wanted to visit there. What's it like?"
"Toad Town is pretty small," Mario described. "Only about 1,000 in population, and there are forests everywhere. Tourism is pretty high though thanks to Peach's Castle, and there's always festivals being held." Mario gestured towards Sonic. "So where are you from?"
Sonic frowned, stirring the straw in his drink. "I was born on Christmas Island, though we didn't live there very long as my father hops around a lot thanks to his work. That's kind of been the situation my whole life, but I'd consider Station Square to be the place I grew up considerin' we lived there the longest."
"What work does your father do?" Mario inquired, and Sonic gripped his cup tighter as a shadow cast over his face.
"Y'know the robot factories all around the world, Eggman Industries?" when he received a confirming nod from Mario, Sonic continued, "Well, you're lookin' at the next heir to the throne, so to speak."
Mario reeled back in shock as all the information he knew about the franchise was pushed to the front of his mind. "Y-You're father is the mastermind behind Eggman Industries?"
"Sure is," Sonic bitterly replied. "But don't think for a second that I'm anythin' like him, 'cause I'm not. Hell, I'm supposed to be studyin' business or somethin', but screw that! I'm takin' control of my own life, followin' my own interests, an' once Miles is eighteen I'm gettin' us far away from anythin' related to our father."
Mario nodded, and after a moment of hesitation reached across the table to pat Sonic's arm. "I think it's good that you're following your own passion. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
Sonic smirked into his latte before he lifted his eyes to meet Mario's. "Let's get outta here."
"What?"
"Let's go back to my dorm. My roommates aren't around right now an' it gives me a chance to let you hear some of this band on my shirt. Waddaya say?"
Mario felt a blush creep onto his cheeks and a smile crossed his face. "Sure, that sounds nice."
/~/
The common room in the dorm was surprisingly clean. Mario took in the simple furniture, the tan couch in front of the CRT TV with a few game consoles on the shelving unit. "A Genesis?" Mario asked. "Yours?"
"Sure is!" Sonic grinned. "Though Rock uses it as well sometimes. The NES is his, an' the Atari is Pac's."
"I grew up playing the NES." Mario fondly remembered. Sonic gave him a sly look.
"An NES fan, are ya? I guess that makes us rivals, huh?"
"I suppose it does." Mario mused, both him and Sonic giving each other a glare before they both snickered and Sonic pointed towards a door with a tattered poster of an emerald.
"That's my room in there. C'mon, let's go."
Even though the common room was clean, the same couldn't be said for Sonic's room. Papers were scattered all over the desk and floor surrounding it, while a pile of hoodies was stacked on a chair in the corner. A stereo with a stack of CD's was next to the bed, and a guitar case was propped against one of the walls.
"Here," Sonic grabbed one of the CD's and placed it in the stereo, turning the volume up a bit and flopping down on the bed, motioning for Mario to join him. When he noticed Mario hesitating he rolled his eyes. "I don't bite unless you want me to."
Mario snorted and sunk down onto the bed with Sonic, listening to the music playing from the speakers. "So... what exactly are we?"
"What do you mean?" Sonic asked, and Mario ran a hand through his hair.
"I mean... was this date a one-off thing and we'll just be friends from now on, or is this going to be something more?"
"Why, are ya seein' someone else?" Sonic pried. Mario shook his head.
"No, you?"
"Not currently. An' if I'm bein' honest, I don't want this to be a one-off thing. Even though we haven't spent much time together I like spendin' time with ya, and to be honest... I wouldn't mind ya as a boyfriend."
Mario blinked. His mouth ran dry and he could swear that his heart was trying to leap out of his chest. His mind raced and without thinking about it he closed the gap between him and Sonic. And while Sonic's eyes widened momentarily, they fell shut a moment later as he brought Mario in closer to himself.
"So uh, is that a yes?" Sonic panted when they finally broke. Mario couldn't help but chuckle.
"Because the spontaneous kissing wasn't enough of a clue for you?"
"Well hey, I was just checkin'!" Sonic defended, placing his hands up. "You could've accidentally fallen onto me and our lips just happened to be in the collision course!"
"Of course it's sì." Mario replied, and Sonic quirked an eyebrow.
"Ooh, so does that mean I'll start pickin' up on some Italian by bein' around you?"
Mario simply smirked and pressed his lips against Sonic's again, all while the music still thumped from the stereo. "I like this band." Mario hummed during a quick pause.
"Yeah, an' you'll always remember what you were doin' the first time you heard them." Sonic laughed as he leaned against the headrest and pulled Mario on top of him, crashing their lips together again. Sonic's head hit the pillow as he tugged at the zipper on Mario's hoodie while Mario made a move to take off his jacket...
And the spell was broken when they both heard the front door of the dorm open, and Sonic - slightly disappointed - sighed and gave Mario an apologetic look. "An' that would be one of my roommates," he groaned, sitting up and fixing his clothes and hair while Mario got off the bed and zipped his hoodie back up, his face a light tint of pink. Sonic turned the music down and stood, clasping his hand in Mario's. "So c'mon, new boyfriend of mine. I guess it's time to introduce yourself to my friends."
