The Shop
Autumn leaves flew across the near empty, dirt-speckled stone pavement as only the coffee shop door swung open, revealing the shop's interior,
It was a small, serene area filled with sunlight, the building was mostly made from wood, and there was display cases filled with pastries and desserts.
Tables littered the area, and the lights that hung from the ceiling were nearly always off- the natural light that came in through the windows was almost always enough to keep the place bright.
It felt like, if the place had to be described akin to a person, that it was caring, kind, and sweet.
And then,
over by the counter, where a register sat, employee behind it,
stood the employee who could be described as the shop just was.
Caring, kind, and sweet.
Adjusting her nametag, Amy Rose stood at the register, idly tapping her foot against the wooden flooring of the shop as she waited for any customers.
The shop, despite it's serenity, and warm, welcoming environment,
was completely empty, but for a mere handful of employees.
One of which had just returned from their break-
charging through the opened door as they entered the shop once again, the leaves flying into the air like they've just been struck by a gust of wind as he sped past them,
eventually entering the shop, where his running came to a swift halt.
"Hey, Ames!" The blue hedgehog yelled as he brushed off dirt and dust from his uniform, a barely visibly flag hung over his back.
"Hi, Sonic. Really slow business day today." Amy replied in a tired voice, resting her head on her shoulder as she yawned, rubbing her eyes shortly afterwards.
"Yeah, I kinda got that. Reallll slow." Sonic spoke, looking around the shop for a moment, silent before he revealed the flag he was once carrying on his back, speaking,
"I got this, though! Some new stuff for the store- It was looking a bit bland in here.", revealing the pride flag as he sped over to the register, hanging the flag above it.
"Huh. Neat." Amy replied, raising her head off her shoulder as Sonic walked past, heading into the kitchen as he spoke,
"Welp, that's all I've got today. Cya!- I'm gonna go check on Tails." Sonic continued as Amy stared at the flag for a moment, before nodding in response.
Amy leaned on the counter as Sonic entered the kitchen, swinging open and closing the door behind him.
The kitchen, not too much unlike the rest of the shop, was beautiful-
Minus coffee stains here and there that Sonic forgot to clean,
it was bright, calm, and had what they needed to craft orders.
Tails stood in the corner of the kitchen, a coffee stain on her scruffy, messy fur, as she was reading through a 250 page hardback book about planes.
"Hey, Tails! Whatcha readin'?" Sonic asked as he ran over towards Tails, who was leaning against the fridge, too immersed in her book to notice Sonic at first,
taking a moment to realize his presence.
...
Tails then noticed him, turning away from the book as she placed it onto the kitchen counter, having put an orange bookmark on the page she was originally reading.
She then replied swiftly after, in a joyful, excited tone of voice much like she had something important to say.
"Hi, Sonic!", her eyes lighting up as she raised her hands, shaking her hands happily,
"Okay, so- I was reading this new book about planes- Shadow got it for me from the library, and-" She continued, her fangs shining slightly as she took a deep breath, preparing to yell,
"IT'S SO FREAKING COOL!- It makes me wish I had my own plane!- Other than the miniature one I've been working on, because this stuff is SO AWESOME! Sonic, you NEED to read this after me!!!" She then yelled, almost jumping on the spot as her two tails rapidly wagged.
"Aw, sweet!- Nice to hear you enjoy it, Tails! Y'know, that tech stuff isn't for me- I'm not as good as you at it- but I'll give it a read, sometime!" Sonic spoke, giving Tails a thumbs-up as he climbed onto the counter, sitting on it.
Meanwhile, Amy's boredom soon came to a close, as a very interesting- somewhat peculiar, even- customer entered the shop,
It felt like the entire place got warmer.
Like, suddenly, a living flame had walked into the shop,
and gone unnoticed.
Although it wasn't exactly a living flame, someone who could control fire certainly entered the shop-
A purple cat with iridescent eyes that looked like they contained endless flames-
Who wore a purple tailcoat jacket, a white shirt underneath that, alongside a golden necklace embedded with a variety of precious gems, a pair of white trousers, and a pair of white gloves with fluffy cuffs, also having rose, high-heeled shoes with with similar cuffs.
She calmly, slowly walked into the shop as she approached the register.
"Excuse me- I'd like to order a coffee, please." She asked politely, standing infront of the register as Amy replied,
"Oh-" Or, went to reply, anyway.
The second she looked into Blaze's eyes, she was lovestruck.
She stood in silence, for a brief moment, frozen before snapping out of it-
"Right! Yeah, sure- uhm, what kind?" Amy continued slightly awkwardly, blushing as she waited for the rest of Blaze's order.
"..."
"..."
Blaze was silent, staring at the menu in thought for a moment, almost nervously.
In all honestly, she hadn't exactly thought of what kind of coffee she'd order-
She just stood there, in awkward silence, trying to think of what to order-
Until Amy spoke,
"I'll just...get you whatever!- If that's okay, of course." walking over to the kitchen as Blaze nodded in reply.
Amy then dashed into the kitchen, asking Sonic & Tails to make a coffee- letting them know they've got a customer.
".....What kind?" Tails asked, raising her eyebrow in confusion as Sonic sped around the kitchen, gathering supplies for it.
"Crap!- Uh,- any?" Amy replied as she nervously shrugged, before heading back to the register.
"Okay- Hi! Your order'll be with you in a minute!" Amy said to Blaze awkwardly as she returned to the register, sighing in relief.
"Thank yo-" Blaze went to speak, but couldn't even finish her sentence before a blue blur ran towards her, holding a coffee in his hands.
"Here you go! One order of coffee." Sonic spoke confidently, passing the coffee to Blaze, who smiled at the two of them before leaving, another entering as she left-
"Hey, Amy- why were you so nervous? We had that handled." Sonic asked after a brief silence, turning to Amy who stood absolutely shocked.
"Soni-" She went to speak, but only lowered her eyebrows in absolute confusion.
"You-"
"You know who that is, right!? Blaze!? Princess of the Sol Empire!?" Amy then spoke, leaning her hands on the counter.
"......Sorry Ames, but I've never heard of her. Just didn't notice, I guess." Sonic replied, rubbing his neck awkwardly, before noticing something-
Or, more accurately, someone.
Shadow,
Who was holding his head in his hands, clearly irritated as he walked towards the two of them.
"Sonic. Amy." He said disapprovingly, continuing,
"All of you rushed. There was a million better ways you could've handled that scenario- For starters, if you didn't freeze up whilst talking to a customer, Amy." as he crossed his arms, Sonic giving him a disgruntled look-
"But..."
Shadow sighed, begrudgingly speaking, almost in response's to Sonic's disappointed gaze,
"You all tried your best. Do better next time."
Rouge had decided high morale would also be important at the shop- And, although Shadow didn't enjoy failure, he was trying not to be so harsh, at times-
And Sonic reminded him of that.
There was silence, as Shadow turning away from the two, looking off into the distance.
.
.
.
"It's getting late. We'll have to close up shop, soon. Sonic, are you and Tails sleeping here, or have you found other accommodation yet?" Shadow spoke, trying to distract everyone from his previous sentence- he didn't want himself to seem too heartfelt.
Sonic smiled slightly as he looked around the shop, before replying,
"Nope- we'll be sleeping here, again. I'll help close up shop in a second, then."
Soon after, they closed up shop-
Amy headed back to her apartment,
Tails went to bed as Sonic skimmed through the plane book Tails left on the counter, trying to gather as much info on planes as he could to impress his sister,
and Shadow drove off on his motorcycle, to who knows where.
All Amy could think about, that night, was Blaze-
She was worried she messed up their first meeting- which, usually wouldn't be much of a problem, except-
She had a crush on Blaze.