There's a knock on Shadow's doors, the small suburban house with white walls and an old wooden bench that's been there on the porch for years. It's already evening and he's careful but he sees in the window a familiar silhouette with bat wings so he goes to greet the visitor.
"You. Weren't you recovering?"
There's some edge in his tone, an impatient kind of worry that's just below the surface of their typical annoyance. But a worry, nonetheless.
Her face is just as passive and seemingly uninterested as usual. She's dressed in her typical tight suit with visible bold cleavage... Also with visible scars from the accident from a few weeks prior, which she wears proudly.
Piercing teal eyes stare hard at Shadow; with arms crossed, she shifts her weight to another leg.
"Get your keys. I'm taking you on a ride."
Mirroring her stance, Shadow leans his hip against the doorframe of his house. His eyes flick behind the woman then back at her.
"The whole premise of taking someone on a ride requires one's own vehicle, Rouge."
Rouge's expression changes barely noticeably in the shade of a poor street light in Shadows' front yard, her eyelids lowering a pinch. She taps her foot clad in a high boot with heels.
"Well I don't have one, so your junk must do. Let's go."
Suspicious of her weird request (demand?), Shadow stands in place for a while longer, eyeing the bat guest. She, already standing next to the vehicle in question parked just in the front yard, shrugs her shoulders, giving an impatient attitude.
Yes, they're usually at ends, but Shadow never really had any reason not to trust her. Besides, after risking her life for him, he decides he owes her.
Few weeks before
During a dangerous mission, both of them were assigned to work together. Something about combining brains and brawn for it. The target was some kind of a bionic chimera monster.
There's a clash during the fight. Shadow insists he can work independently while Rouge has spotted weak points of the creature and constantly yelling and reminding Shadow to aim for them. He didn't listen, launching attacks that only enraged the beast more. So it came to a point where Shadow got briefly incapacitated and the monster was close to unleashing a finishing blow at him, Rouge jumped into action.
Although she's not as powerful as Shadow, Rouge is still a strong fighter. She manages a few earth-shaking kicks shattering the metal parts. When the organic body showed, the creature attacked in rage and desperation, its claws slashing, maw roaring with blood and other liquids spitting around. Rouge grabbed a huge shovel laying around and, led by pure spite and anger, she started hacking the body and pierced through its open jaw into the roof of its mouth. The beast wailed and toppled to the ground, dead.
Wheezing heavily, Rouge dropped to her knees as well, just next to Shadow who was trying to wake himself from the daze.
He noticed the woman, her body slashed with the monster's claws.
She looked at him "This… is… how it's… done".
"Its claws were poisoned." Shadow heavies himself off the ground, staring at Rouge's eyes wide. "You took it all."
She let out a weak noise that was meant as a laugh. But, holding her stomach seeping with blood she felt herself become weaker.
Her eyes raised at Shadow with one message in them.
Help me.
Before she collapsed.
Shadow agrees. "Alright". He grabs his motorcycle keys along with a spare helmet and locks his house, curious about what Rouge might possibly want from him at this hour. "Where are we going?"
She's already getting onto the seat behind the hedgehog. Her grip around his torso is strong and serious. "I sent you GPS"
Looking at his comm, Shadow drives off, following the coordinates.
The ride is quiet and uneventful, the man not being able to ask questions about this escapade until they arrive at the destination - a remote location on the outskirts of the city where the view is great, but the atmosphere is both calm but creepy as well; after all it is middle of the night.
Shadow pulls up, shuts the motor, and turns in his seat to look at Rouge, waiting for her explanation. She scoots a bit back on the seat to make some room between them. For now.
The hedgehog looks around, growing impatient by the secrecy of the event, his frustration just itching under his skin, being held back by steel calm.
"Charming". He comments on the dirt and the sounds of the forest in the background. "So, will you tell me why exactly are we here?"
"Why, exactly" Rouge repeats, leaning back in the seat, casually propping her arms behind the back of the seat. The scars showing on her cleavage shone slightly in the moonlight. "Why do you think, Mr ultimate?"
They're both straddling the motor while sitting face to face, the position seemingly open but they're both tense and uneasy.
A muscle in Shadow's face twitches as his annoyance grows slightly. He doesn't like the way she treats him or how she plays her little games.
"Just say it already."
Nibbling at the words, Rouge finally sighs, getting the words out, still not looking at Shadow. "I guess I wanted to do something nice for you- rescuing me, the last time…"
Surprise crosses over Shadow's face at her explanation, his cautiousness and frustration fading, as he realizes that this… is just a gesture of gratitude. A little twisted and all, but… It's Rouge. Her reserve to display her feelings was evident for Shadow since day one, despite them not seeing eye to eye ever. In this department they're very much similar, having difficulty expressing themselves when it matters.
Clearing his throat, Shadow responds. "Okay… I see. Well, thank you. That's… nice of you"
"I'm not being nice!" She snaps, huffing to calm herself. "I'm just… paying back. That's all."
Paying back. Because, despite their differences and frequent clashing, Rouge had jumped in front of Shadow to defeat the threat… And in return, he made sure she received proper medical attention.
Shadow smirks slightly, leaning back against the handlebars of his bike, appearing casual to defuse the tension.
"I would have done that for anyone, you're not special, Rouge."
Their eyes meet. The odd pair search within the colors of the eyes whatever tease or ribbing they could pull off. His crimson peering deep into the moonlit waters.
Hoping there wouldn't be anything else to her plan (highly unlikely), Shadow takes a breath.
"Are we done then?"
The woman's wings sway gently behind her as she looks at Shadow with a darker gaze, her shoulders drawn in an alluring way, dangerously, the atmosphere shifts.
"Well… there is something else…"
She leans forward, closer to Shadow.
The change in her body language is evident to the skillful eye of the hunter. But it seems he is starting to become the prey… if he hasn't become one already, unbeknownst to himself.
Despite his gut feeling and growing assumptions, the dark hedgehog nods slightly, giving the woman his full attention.
And Rouge embraces the sight.
She smirks, her eyelashes batting around as she's pretend-thinking.
"Hmm… look at us: two misfits in the city that never sleeps, hanging around where no one else can see us… What do people usually do in these circumstances in those cheap movies?" She chuckles, looking at Shadow from a little bit of an angle, her big ears twitching minimally.
"Dinner, walk, probably end up in a cheap motel…" Shadow's eyes involuntarily flick down Rouge's deep cleavage again. She notices. And congratulates herself secretly.
She smacks her lips. "Everything is cheap, huh?"
"Not you" Shadow blurts before he can stop himself. His emotions have been all over the place ever since she showed up at his doorstep. This damn tight suit of hers… All her teasing hints and provocations. He grimaces.
Vanity scratched, and Rouge smirks at Shadow's words. "Oh? You think I look rich?"
"You look… good." He settles at that, heart beating too fast for his comfort. Too fast.
"What makes you say that?" She asks, leaning forward closer, her chest almost bursting out of her jacket.
Shadow curses his mind, unable to deny the attraction he has towards the woman, but he remains collected.
"Nevermind. You said there was something else."
Her head tilts as she returns to her original thoughts.
"Okay look. We're not friends." She starts, pointing out the obvious, bluntly. "But…" Her demeanor changes again and as Shadow straightens in his seat before her, Rouge scoots even closer forward, her knees brushing against Shadow's. "For what you did for me…" Her hand reaching to caress his knee, the nervous bounce of his leg stopping under her touch. "I wanted to offer you something… Something good."
She revels in the way Shadow's throat bobs, the sign of her temptation working. Yes, they've had many conflicts over the span of knowing each other, but despite that, she knows she could have this effect even on such a hardened soldier like Shadow the Hedgehog.
And even though he's closer to being seduced, Shadow considers their history and rivalry and all the times she's been nasty to him and annoying and gorgeous and petty and bitter… Gorgeous?
Waiting for his response, Rouge teases further, dragging her finger up his knee, prolonging the building intimacy, and making Shadow's thoughts race.
"Just a casual fling, to help both of us cope with loneliness. We can go back to hating each other after." She chuckles in a low seductive tone. "Or during, if you're into that~".
Is it insulting and annoying, that she assumed Shadow needed any coping with the alleged loneliness he might have? Maybe. But despite his negative reception, his emotions say something else; the rush he feels in his body at her touch amplifies something else. He has to admit that he craves the feeling, his body longing for… this.
So, having nothing to lose, he decides to take a chance and leans in towards Rouge, his eyes meeting her smug, smug face. As he scoots closer, he forces her legs even more apart to the point of being uncomfortable, making Rouge stifle a groan.
His voice caresses her face with a warm breath. "Fine. I wanted to see those scars anyway."
Rouge's hand raises to play around Shadow's chest, rubbing sensually his fluff. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."
Letting out a huff, Shadow suddenly pulls Rouge onto his lap, holding her steady, as flush to himself as they could, the heat rising between them with a promise of a good time.
"Deal"