Chapter Text
Hooray. Another day at work.
Honey twirled her pigtail around her fingers distractedly, watching the bustling outside from the view of the store’s front glass door. The store was a cozy little place, with shelves lining the sides of both walls and racks full of more clothing, spaced evenly enough apart for some walking space, plus two fitting rooms in the back of the store near the register. They sold a small variety of clothing including dresses, skirts, shirts and pants, shoes, and a counted selection of purses occasionally. It was mostly marketed towards feminine individuals. Being located at a small shopping center, the entire front of the store was glass, with no windows or doors located elsewhere, save for one more door in the back for employees to exit.
Working in a boutique had once been her dream job—she has always wanted to start selling her own line of clothes someday, so working in a clothing store would give her just the experience she needed to begin pitching her own sales and researching what styles customers enjoy! When she was approached with this job opportunity, she knew she had landed the jackpot. What could possibly go wrong??
Oh. Right. The fact that her store was always dead.
“Honey? You went quiet all of a sudden.”
The voice sounding from her phone jolted her out of her thoughts, reminding her that she wasn’t quite fully alone. “Sorry Mina,” she laughed half-heartedly. “Just… thinking how boring it is here!!”
“Hey, I’m sure someone will show up at some point,” her friend reassured, though Honey doubted her words. She appreciated the attempt at reassurance, though. “I’d show up myself to hang out if I weren’t getting ready for my gig tonight.”
“The gig that I’m not even gonna make it to because of work,” Honey grumbled, slumping down against the register desk even more than she was before. Her yellow mongoose friend was a talented singer, occasionally landing small gigs in local restaurants and such; Honey always did her best to be there for as many as possible. In fact, today’s gig would be the first one she didn’t make it to in the year since her friend started.
“Hey, don’t worry about it! I know you can’t help it,” her friend reassured. “It’s not like there’s many other employees there you could’ve swapped shifts with.”
The amber-colored cat sighed, twitching her tail to and fro. “Well… I just hope it all goes well for you.”
A figure moving closer towards the door caught her attention again; at first she suspected it was a passerby, on their way to one of the local restaurants or grocery stores. They appeared to be crossing the street to their side, though the longer they walked, the more they appeared to be headed straight for this location after all.
“Oh hey, looks like I’ll have a customer after all,” Honey remarked, standing on her toes to get a closer look, trying to judge what they might be looking for before they even walked in.
The longer she stared, though, the faster her heart began to beat. They were an armadillo with a dark red shell and deep blue eyes. They appeared to be on the phone as well, smiling at some point in their conversation, making Honey audibly gasp without even realizing what she was doing.
“Honey? Did you hear me?”
The armadillo raised his gaze to the door and made eye contact with Honey, and she let out a startled squeak and ducked behind the counter out of his sight. “ Oh no he’s hot!! ”
“What?” Mina was now dying of laughter from the other end of the conversation, and Honey flattened her ears out of embarrassment. She knew she had no reason to be embarrassed though—this was her best friend, her partner in crime, the person she shared all of her darkest secrets with!! And yet she could feel her face flushing dark red, and her fur frizzing up. “Wait, hold up, scale from 1 to 10?”
“I don’t know I can’t look again or he’ll know I’m staring!!” Honey thought to herself, trying to conjure his image in her head once more. “Probably like an 11 or something dude, he’s hot!!”
“Ohhhh,” the mongoose’s voice giggled. “Dude, go shoot your shot! He’s coming into your store isn’t he? You gotta acknowledge him anyways! Besides, I gotta go meet someone before this gig.”
“Wait Mina don’t go—”
“You got this, girl! Love ya! Byeeeeee!”
Click . The phone call ended.
“Ughhh!!” Honey groaned, kicking her feet a little. She was tempted to curl up into a ball and tuck her head between her legs, but instead she tapped her cheeks gently with her fingertips. Snap out of it, you got this!!
She grabbed a random stack of papers from one of the shelves on her side of the counter, standing back up as the bell rang, signaling the customer walking in. “Welcome to Vivienne’s Vibrant Boutique,” she called, placing the stack of papers on top of the desk, trying to play it cool as though the reason she ducked in the first place was simply to pick it up.
He was no longer on his phone, having apparently ended the conversation before walking in; he smiled shyly and mumbled a small “H’lo”, gazing around. He had a kind of lost expression on his face, giving Honey the impression he had genuinely no idea what he was doing here.
She walked out from behind the store counter, her heels clacking with every step; the sound caused the armadillo to lift his gaze again, realizing he was being approached. “Anything I can help with, doll??” she asked, giving him a smile, though she was quite convinced it came across as a goofy grin rather than comforting and inviting.
He didn’t seem to take notice of her awkwardness, however, and his eyes brightened a little, looking somewhat relieved. “As a matter of fact, yeah,” he answered. Honey’s heart fluttered more as he spoke. His voice was somewhat smooth and bright, not extremely deep but not too high pitched either, perhaps… boyish? It was rather handsome — wait, can voices be described as handsome?? Is that how that works?? “I’m looking for a gift for my younger sister; she’s been wanting some new boots, but I can’t quite decide what she likes…”
“Well you’ve come to the right gal!!” Honey giggled, immediately wishing she could smack herself. “So what does she generally like?? What activities are they going to be used for??”
“Hmm…” The armadillo rested his hand against his chin, pondering. “She’s kind of introverted, honestly. She likes to go on hikes though. So probably just for that, and school.”
“So normal wear and tear, enough for hikes though,” Honey mused, glancing around the selection available. Her eyes landed on something simple, a smooth black, slightly higher than ankle length, with zippers along the side as well as standard shoelaces, with black soles. The material was faux leather, and it was a reasonably affordable price, in her opinion.
“These are a good option,” she suggested, pointing them out to the customer. “Faux leather but very good in quality and budget-friendly too!! I own a pair of these myself in red, and really like them!!”
He looked them over, intrigued, but not quite fully satisfied, it would seem. “They do look nice… but she likes to doodle on her shoes, and I’m not fully sure these would work for that…”
How cute!! She couldn’t help but smile at the thought and at this armadillo’s thoughtfulness.
“Then this may be closer to what you’re looking for!!” she replied, passing him a different pair towards the left. The soles were rubber as well, but the outside of the shoe was white and made of hemp, providing a smoother texture. This pair lacked the zipper, and though it had shoelaces they didn’t actually tie anything; they were made more for simply slipping on and going.
“These are a little cheaper in price but still good quality as well!! Also comes in other colors and is much more ideal for drawing on.”
His expression brightened, and almost as soon as he looked at the shoe she was holding out to him, his gaze darted toward the other pairs, looking at the other colors presumably. He seemed to find what he was looking for, a shade of light green, and once he picked out the correct size, he pulled out the box and handed it to her with an adorable grin on his face.
“So what’s the occasion, a birthday or something??” I asked, walking over to the register with him so I could ring him up.
“Nah, just… her current shoes are falling apart at the soles, she needed something new, so I figured I’d pick some up for her since I got paid today.”
“Fair enough,” she replied, setting down the box and scanning them with the handheld scanner.
“So, it doesn’t look like it gets too busy here, huh?” he mused, looking sideways, almost as if… avoiding eye contact?
Is he trying to make conversation with me??
“Yeah, not really,” she laughed awkwardly, placing a hand behind her head and subconsciously rubbing behind her own ear. “Uh. Small businesses, ya know how it goes.”
“True,” he replied, glancing back at me and giving a small smile. “I work for a small construction company, so I don’t work a lot in between contracts, unfortunately. Have to pick up side hustles here and there, where I can.”
“Wow, it must be tough.” Honey was lucky enough to live with a relative, so she didn’t have to rely on bills and such, and was mainly focusing on saving enough money to enroll in a fashion design course at the local university.
“Yeah, it has its challenges for sure, but I try my best to make it work,” he responded, pulling out his wallet to pay as I finished ringing him up. “Oh, uh, not that I’m trying to brag or anything — ”
“Oh don’t worry, I get you,” Honey giggled, handing the armadillo his receipt. “Here you are! Anything else you need?”
“Um, yeah actually… I was wondering if I could get your number?”
“HUH?!?!” the cat exclaimed loudly, her fur and tail frizzing up with surprise. “Wh — huh — just like that?? ”
His gaze was warm and steady but he was flushing furiously. “I always figured a direct approach is the best way, right? I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“Nonono, not at all.” Honey was shaking her head frantically, though that was perhaps also because she was a bit shaky. Her heart was beating so fast and her head was spinning. “Just — no one’s ever been so direct with me before. Not that it’s a bad thing at all!! Normally it’s a lot of beating around the bush and then I have to make the move — which, I don’t have an issue with, it’s what I’m more used to. Just, this is new but not bad!! I think you’re really cool,” she confessed quickly, realizing she was rambling. “I like your aura, and you seem really sweet , and you’re handsome , and I’d love to get to know you better!!”
“Is that a yes?” he pressed cautiously, his small smile getting slowly wider.
“Yeah!!” Honey answered, pulling out her phone to enter his contact info. “Oh, wait um — this sounds so silly!! But… what’s your name??” She realized that she also hadn’t introduced herself, but he probably already knew her name from the name tag on her blouse.
“Oh, of course!” He smacked his forehead softly, shaking his head. Once he gathered himself, he met Honey’s eyes again. To Honey, it almost felt like a scene from an anime, where the main protagonist’s hero or savior introduces themself by name in a big, epic reveal.
“My name is Mighty. Mighty the Armadillo.”