Just like you asked, Pilot_Fair

ding

Asuka's head perked up from the box of napkins she'd been digging in at the sound of the door. She stood up and turned to face the incoming customer, taking care not to knock over the new espresso machine with her thick tail; she was still on thin ice after the last one.

The new customer looked to be about her age, and seemed to be rather nervous. She snorted, she'd be nervous too if she was that scrawny.

"Grawwrarg?" she asked, trying to keep in mind her manager's words about her aggression.

The boy finally looked at her directly and blinked. He blinked again, and then just seemed to freeze midstare.

Asuka was many things; strong, proud, an apex predator to be sure. But patient was something in short supply in her large noggin.

"Grawwrgra?" she growled.

The boy jumped, fear pulling him from his stupor. "Uh, I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" he asked.

Asuka rolled her eyes, her slit pupils narrowing. Why was she always stuck with the dumb ones?

"Grawr. Grawrg. Grawgraw?"

"Uhm, I'll have a medium espresso, and a small latte?" the boy squeaked.

The juvenile carnatorous snorted, spraying the boy in the face. Now came the hard part. Reaching down with her massive head, she carefully punched in the buttons into the register. Unfortunately her coworker had broken her grabby arm, leaving her pathetically short arms completely useless.

"Uhm, excuse me."

Asuka paused, before looking back up with a frustrated grunt. Didn't he see that this was already annoying enough without distractions.

Apparently her annoyance was plainly visible as the customer flinched briefly. He seemed to take a second before continuing.

"Is- is that your grabby arm?"

He pointed at the broken tool sitting on the counter behind her.

"It's broken right?

Asuka nodded, expression unchanged.

"May I look at it?"

Her hunter's eyes narrowed in suspicion, before sighing softly. Why not? Not like it mattered, it was going in the junk heap after her shift anyway. Carefully turning around again, she lightly picked it up with her mouth before dropping it on the counter in front of the boy.

Attention now focused on the grabby arm, the boy's movements were a lot more confident as he raised the instrument to eye level and looked closer.

"The rubber bands are snapped. I had one of these kinds when I was younger. I can fix this."

Pulling new rubber bands from his pockets, his hands flew across the grabby arm with precision, pulling off scraps off the old worn rubber and slipping on fresh ones.

"There," he said, holding it out to her handle first, "good as new."

Asuka had raised an eyebrow when he had pulled the bands from his pockets, but her eyes lit up in joy upon seeing the finished product. Reaching as far as she could with her tiny little arms, she managed to grab hold as the boy stretched to cover the distance.

Waving it around to her side, she did a little dance in place as she purred. With her eyes closed she didn't notice the boy's soft smile at the sight.

'She's pretty cute when it doesn't look like she's gonna eat me,' he thought.

After she settled down, she looked over at him with a grin. At least he thought it was a grin.

"Grawr rah grr?" She asked.

"My name's Shinji," the now named boy said, "what's yours?"

"Grrhah"

"Asuka? That's a pretty name."

There was that smile again. There was a pause, a not quite awkward silence as the two just looked at each other. Just boy and dinosaur, alone in their own little world.

"Uhm-"/"Gra-" the two both started at the same time before stopping. There was a beat before both giggled a little.

Asuka waved her grabby arm in a sort of "after-you" motion, and Shinji's smile got a little bigger.

"I was wondering, did you maybe, uhm, wanna go get coffee after your shift?"

Asuka looked around the shop they were in before looking back at him with a raised brow.

He blushed, "right, uhm, then do you wanna go for a walk in the park?"

She smiled. Stretching her legs sounded really good after a day stuck behind the counter. Her eyes closed with a smile as she nodded.

Shinji's face lit up. "Great!" He said, "What time does your shift end?"

"Grarh rrah"

"Cool, I'll pick you up then!"

Shinji hopped on his toes for a second, grin still wide on his face, before turning and fast walking towards the door. Once out, he started sprinting home to get ready. He'd gotten a date! With a really pretty girl. With cute eyes and teeth!

Asuka watched with a bemused expression. He didn't even wait to finish his order. She really did get stuck with the dumb ones.

Oh well, at least he was sweet. And pretty cute.