Archive of Our Own

Cover Art by Electrikitty

‘That’s not a battlecarrier, Rouge.’

Rouge looked back at him and raised her eyebrows. He’d stopped on the wooden stairs leading down to the beach, and he was gazing out over the water. ‘Really?’

‘It’s a cruise ship,’ Shadow said flatly.

‘Are you sure?’

‘… It has a water slide attached to it.’

She laughed and took him by the hand, tugging him down the last of the steps. ‘Looks like there’s been a mix-up. GUN wanted us to surveil a military vessel that entered the United Federation’s waters –‘

‘No, they didn’t.’ Shadow stumbled to a halt, kicking up sand, and gave her a frustrated look. ‘There is no military vessel, and there never was. This is a farce, and that’s all it is.’

She leaned forward and pointed over her shoulder. ‘I mean … It’s not like there isn’t a ship to surveil, though.’

‘Rouge!’ Shadow snapped. ‘That boat says “Carnival Cruise” on the side of it!’

Rouge stared at him. Then her shoulders slumped, and she turned away from him. ‘You know what? Forget it. I don’t want to do this today. I don’t know what your problem is, but you’re being even more of a pain in the ass than usual.’

Shadow glared at her. ‘We wouldn’t be having this conversation if you didn’t keep dragging me along on your escapades under the guise of a mission –‘

Rouge whirled around and snapped, ‘You never give me a choice! You refuse to take time off, and you’re married to your work. I have to trick you into having fun, for heaven’s sake – because my only alternative is to let you try to work yourself to death or to rot in your miserable concrete room beneath GUN’s headquarters.’

‘I don’t need or want time off,’ Shadow growled. ‘I don’t need breaks.’

‘But I do,’ Rouge retorted. ‘I need a break from your attitude.’

‘It’s never bothered you before –‘

‘It’s bothered me more times than I can count! The only reason I put up with it is because I know all the reasons why you act this way. You’re insufferable, and the only reason you don’t realise it is because the only person you spend time with is me, and I never call you out on it.’

Rouge turned away from the railing and began to trudge down the wooden steps. ‘The fact that you don’t know how to enjoy life isn’t my problem. Stop taking your misery out on me. I’ve had enough.’

Rouge crossed her arms more tightly and padded down the creaking wooden steps. The summer heat felt like silk on her skin, and she could taste the sea spray. She set foot on the sand, feeling it shift and give beneath her feet as she walked.

She couldn’t change him, nor did she want to. But she wasn’t going to let him ruin her mood. Maybe they both just needed a break from each other.

She didn’t hate him. She hated everything that had been done to him – all the things that had made him this way. And she hated the fact that the only way she could break through to him was with force – raised voices, arguments, and fights. He understood violence in all its forms more readily than anything else –

She heard someone clattering down the stairs, and she turned to see Shadow hit the sand running.

‘Rouge –‘

Except he wasn’t running – he was skating – and his shoes ploughed deep into the sand. He tripped and sprawled headlong. The acrid smell of scorched sand mingled with the scent of sea salt.

‘S-Shadow?’ Rouge took a faltering step, then she rushed over to him. ‘Are you all right?’

He got to his knees, and sand poured from the thrusters and vents in his shoes. He looked panicked. ‘R-Rouge, I …’ His ears flattened, his pupils shrank, and his shoulders curved inwards. ‘A-Are you leaving me?’

‘What do you mean?’

His pupils became black pinpricks, and he became motionless. ‘I don’t … I don’t know.’

The only person you spend time with is me.

Rouge’s eyes widened. Then she put her frustrations aside and knelt beside him. ‘Hey, sweetheart. Calm down.’ She put her hand on his shoulder. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’

‘But you said you’d had enough.’

‘… Yeah? I had to leave and cool off before I said something I’d regret.’ His ears flattened even further, and she took his hand. ‘Come on. If you can get over yourself, we can still make a day out of this.’

Shadow looked up at her. His eyes looked like amber in the harsh sunlight. ‘… If you hate me so much, why would you still want to spend time with me?’

‘When did I say that I hated you?’ Rouge leaned forward, and she could hear alarm seep into her voice. ‘When?’

‘It’s just the way that you were talking –’

‘I don’t hate you.’ She tried to tamp down her frustration and said, ‘But the world isn’t going to end just because I say that I’ve had enough of how you’ve been acting.’

His eyes flickered, and he hesitated. ‘Is it really that bad?’

Rouge abruptly looked away. ‘No. But it could be better.’

‘I don’t know how to be … better.’ The sadness in his voice made her ears twitch, and she turned back to him. ‘I don’t even know how to have fun. I’m not good at it.’ He lowered his gaze and gritted his teeth. ‘And I don’t like doing things I’m not good at. But you keep dragging me along on these fake missions, and I don’t know how to say no, so … here we are.’

‘You could always learn how to have fun,’ Rouge said quietly.

‘You think I would have learned by now.’ He held one of his feet in his hands, tipping the sand out of his thruster ports. It trickled down like sand through an hourglass. His voice tightened. ‘It’s been a long time.’

‘Maybe you’re just a slow learner.’ She reached out and took his hand. ‘Come on, sweetheart. Get out of your head. It doesn’t sound like a fun place to be.’

He hesitated, looking up at her. Then he placed his hand in hers, allowing her to help him up. ‘… I’ll try.’

‘That’s the spirit.’ Rouge turned on her heel and walked off, pulling him with her. ‘Come on –’

Shadow tripped, nearly crushing her hand as he tried to regain his balance. ‘Can you slow down?’

She turned and looked down at his shoes. ‘… You should probably take those off.’

‘Do I have to?’

‘No. But you can’t skate out here, and you’re just going to end up flying headlong.’

He reluctantly prised his air shoes off and slung them over his shoulder, holding them with one hand. ‘What if something happens?’

‘Sweetheart, this is Emerald Coast.’ Rouge squeezed his hand and led him onwards. ‘The only thing you have to worry about is getting eaten by orcas if you swim out too far.’

‘Swim?’ Then, as though he had only just registered her entire sentence, ‘… Orcas?’

She laughed and put her arm through his. ‘Relax, would you? Come on. Let’s go have some fun.’

His gaze softened slightly. ‘Meaning?’

‘What, have you never been to a beach before?’

‘No.’

Rouge stumbled, kicking up a spray of sand, and he quickly steadied her. She looked up at him with surprise. ‘Not even for a mission?’

‘I…’ Shadow blinked several times and his gaze unfocused. ‘Maybe once. I can’t really remember. I could have sworn you were there.’

Rouge shrugged and kept walking, putting his arm through hers. ‘Well, I’m here now.’

‘Yeah.’ He looked back at her, only to squint as her sunglasses reflected dazzling light into his eyes. ‘… Yeah.’

Rouge stopped beside a pair of beach towels beneath a shade umbrella and knelt on one, patting the other. ‘All right, come on.’

Shadow cautiously knelt beside her and placed his shoes to one side, as though worried that the brightly coloured cotton would bite him somehow. ‘What are we doing?’

‘We’re doing it.’ Rouge lowered her sunglasses and fell back onto the towel with a sigh, crossing her arms behind her head. The wind was picking up the saltspray from the foaming waves, and the air felt warm.

Shadow’s ears pricked up, and his gaze darted across the beachgoers scattered across the shore of Emerald Coast. He began to fidget with one of his inhibitor rings.

‘For heaven’s sake, relax.’

That’s like telling someone to calm down. It very rarely has the desired effect.’

Rouge raised her sunglasses slightly, weighing him up. ‘… You really don’t know how to take it easy, do you?’

His fur bristled, then slowly flattened. He didn’t respond right away, as though he were biting his tongue. ‘I never learned how.’ He shifted restlessly and shook the sand from his fur. ‘This doesn’t feel right. It feels like I’m supposed to be doing something.’

Rouge raised her eyes to the sky, only to be met with the red and white stripes of the umbrella above her head. ‘… You work day and night so you don’t have to think about your problems. Of course this isn’t going to feel natural.’ She sat up and delved into a cotton tote bag that she had brought here earlier, hunting for something.

‘Is this what people do at the beach? They just … sit?’

Rouge spluttered with laughter. ‘Of course not. People go swimming or surfing, and those of us who don’t want to get our fur wet read trashy romance novels in the shade.’

‘I’m sorry – what?’

She pulled a book out of her bag and waved it in his general direction before delving deeper. ‘They’re called “beach reads” for a reason.’

‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ Shadow muttered. ‘How far out do I have to swim before I get mauled by an orca? That sounds like an appealing alternative right about now.’

‘The book is for *me*, you idiot.’ Rouge pulled out a bottle of sunscreen and shifted her weight, leaning over to him. ‘Come on. If you need something to do with your hands, stop fiddling with your rings and help me out.’

Shadow raised his eyebrows. ‘With what?’

She opened the bottle and pressed it into his hand. ‘Help me put some of this on.’

He did a double-take, and she could have sworn that a hint of colour lit his cheeks. ‘You don’t need my help. You’re flexible enough.’

‘Oh?’ She leaned even closer, and her shoulder brushed against his. ‘You think I’m flexible, do you?’

‘Rouge!’

She batted her eyelashes at him. ‘What?’ Then she feigned shock and said, ‘Oh, you terrible man –’

He abruptly snatched the bottle out of her hand and removed his gloves. ‘You’re unbelievable,’ he muttered. ‘You just want me to touch you.’ Then, as though realising what he’d just said, the tips of his ears burned red.

‘I mean, you’re not wrong –‘

‘Enough!’ He tipped some of the sunscreen onto his paw pads and turned her away from him. ‘You wouldn’t be having this problem if you wore more clothing.’

Rouge looked down at her white two-piece swimsuit and raised an eyebrow at him. ‘… Are you really telling me, of all people, to cover up at a beach?’

‘Don’t put words in my mouth. I’m telling you that you’ll get sunburnt more easily,’ Shadow muttered.

‘We’re in the shade. It’s just a precaution.’ She stifled a smirk as he gingerly placed his hands on her back and began to rub the sunscreen in. ‘What’s the matter? I thought you’d enjoy the view.’

It was barely perceptible, but she felt his fingers twitch. Then he sighed, and his hands kept moving. ‘Rouge.’

‘What?’

He didn’t answer. Then she felt his hands travel from her back to her wings. Her eyes widened with surprise. ‘What are you doing?’

She glanced over her shoulder, and he had a bewildered look on his face. ‘They’re a part of your body, aren’t they?’

She looked back to the ocean and drew her legs up to her chest, folding her arms over her knees. His touch felt as though he were painting on stretched canvas. She’d pulled this same trick with countless men, and not a single one of them had thought to put sunscreen on her wings. They’d been too distracted while applying sunscreen to other parts of her. Or maybe they just hadn’t cared.

Rouge lowered her head, looking back at him from beneath her lashes. She wasn’t used to people touching her wings. There wasn’t anything particularly “exciting” about it, but it still felt unfamiliar.

‘… That tickles,’ she whispered.

‘Did you want me to be rougher?’ Shadow’s voice was matter of fact, and she couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not.

‘No! No. Well …’ She turned to face him and gave him a smirk. ‘On second thought –’

Shadow sighed and held the bottle loosely in his fingertips. ‘Are we done?’

‘You only got fifty percent of me.’ She pointed towards her front, being intentionally vague.

Shadow’s gaze dipped below her collarbone, and he stiffened. Then he exhaled, tipped more sunscreen into his palms, and cupped her face in his hands. ‘Nice try –’

‘Wait, stop! I’m already wearing makeup! Shadow!’

He gave her a weary look. ‘Why are you wearing makeup at the beach? What happens if you go in the water?’

She blanched and said, ‘Ugh. I’m not going in the ocean. I don’t want to get my fur wet.’

‘Unbelievable.’ He carefully removed his hands from her face and pressed the bottle back into her hand. He looked down at the sunscreen on his paw pads with distaste. ‘What the hell do I do with this?’

‘Use it,’ she said promptly. ‘You might be covered in fur, but your muzzle can still get sunburnt.’

He grimaced and buried his face in his hands for a moment, rubbing it in.. ‘Fine.’ Then he looked out over the water again.

He still looked restless. She couldn’t blame him. If she pressed him about it, he’d make some comment about how he hadn’t been created to relax – he’d been created to save the world.

‘What’s the point in protecting the world if you can’t even let yourself enjoy it?’ Rouge murmured.

At first, she couldn’t tell if he had heard her. Then his lashes lowered, and regret flashed across his face. ‘Like you said. I don’t know how to enjoy myself.’ He hesitated. ‘… I don’t even know why you still want to spend time with me.’

‘I called you out on your behaviour once.’

‘But –‘

‘Once,’ she said, more firmly this time. ‘It’s not the end of the world.’ She heard a faint growl rumble in his chest, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was digging his claws into his arms. ‘Don’t do that, sweetheart.’

‘I don’t have a choice.’ His grip tightened. ‘If I don’t take out my anger on myself, I’m going to take it out on you … and look how well that went.’

Rouge pressed her lips together and held out one hand. ‘Give me your arms.’

‘Why?’

‘I’m the team leader, remember? Arms. Now.’

He abruptly uncrossed his arms and held them out to her. He’d spent far too long working for GUN, hadn’t he? It wasn’t as though he followed all of their orders – far from it – but he still responded to commands as though with muscle memory.

Before he could protest or stop her, she pulled a red button-up shirt from her bag and slipped his arms into it.

‘… Rouge?’ Shadow stared down at himself with a mix of alarm and disgust. ‘What is this?’

‘A gift. If I’m going to bring you on these outings, you’ve got to look the part.’

‘You’re the one who brought me in the first place.’

‘Hush. Besides, I don’t know what you’re complaining about. The red brings out your beautiful eyes.’

His lips twitched. He didn’t smile, but he could tell that he was tempted to.

‘On that note …’ She leaned forward, snapping open a pair of sunglasses and sliding them onto his face. The golden lenses gave his eyes an amber hue. ‘Now you can stop squinting. You’re going to get frown lines, you know’

‘They’ll smooth back out eventually.’ He raised the sunglasses, sitting them on his head. He didn’t need them in the shade, after all. He glanced down and began to fasten the buttons of the shirt, but Rouge swatted his hands away.

‘Leave it open.’

‘Why?’

‘So I can look, you idiot.’

Shadow’s hands fell into his lap, and he stared at her. His lips twitched again. Then he abruptly turned away and covered his mouth with one hand. He sounded like he was choking, and his shoulders shook with laughter.

She could feel herself softening. It wasn’t easy to make him laugh, and she’d been subtly trying to cheer him up ever since he’d panicked and fallen headlong across the sand while running after her.

Had he really thought she would leave him? Just like that? That she would walk down those stairs, kick him out of Team Dark, and never speak to him again?

‘You know I’d never leave you. Right?’

Shadow caught his breath, and his smile faded. ‘A lot of people have left me … one way or another. You wouldn’t be the first.’

‘Well, that’s not going to happen. No matter what, I’ll always be by your side.’ A strange echo filled her head, as though she had said these words before … perhaps in another life, or a different timeline. ‘But if I’m not leaving you, then I have to call you out on your shit every now and then. I don’t care if you don’t like it. It is what it is.’

‘Mm.’ Shadow flexed his hand, and she could tell that he was fighting the urge to dig his claws into his palms. ‘I just … hate to disappoint people. I hate to fail. I’ve failed far too many times before.’

Rouge looked up at the searing blue sky and saw the distant outline of Space Colony Ark, floating behind the ghost of the broken moon.

‘You’re not failing. You’re just … struggling. Aren’t you?’

He didn’t answer.

‘The only way you could disappoint me is by refusing to let me help you. We’ve been through far too much for you to keep shutting me out.’

‘I don’t think you’re going to want to let me in. Not when I’m like this. I haven’t … changed.’

‘Even at your worst, you’re still better than a lot of people I’ve known. And I would far rather deal with you at your worst than pretending that whatever that was –‘ she pointed to the wooden stairs, ‘– is you at your best.’

‘Is that really what you want?’

‘Yes. Now stop fretting and let me enjoy the view.’

Shadow shifted out of the way, assuming that she was referring to the beachside vista, but her eyes tracked his movements, coming back to land on the swathe of black fur framed by his open shirt. He turned scarlet. ‘Are you serious?’

He began to draw his shirt shut, but Rouge held up a finger, chiding him, then straightened his shirt again. That’s more like it. The frame makes the painting, and the clothes make the man, as they say –‘

Shadow choked and coughed sharply. ’T-There’s nothing to see!’

‘Oh, come on.’ She rested one hand on his chest with a teasing smile. ‘I’ve seen you training. You’ve got washboard abs under all that fluff and fur –‘

He caught her wrist and exhaled through his teeth. ‘If you keep this up, I’m going to toss you in the ocean. You need to cool off.’

‘Nice try. I’ll just fly over the waves. You, on the other hand …’ She stared at him. ‘Hang on. Can you swim?’

‘I can’t drown,’ Shadow said flatly.

‘That’s not what I asked. Do you know how to swim?’

‘It can’t be that hard. You just move your arms and legs.’

‘If it were that easy, there wouldn’t be so many swim schools for kids.’

An inexplicable look flashed across Shadow’s face. ‘Swim school?’ He slowly tipped his head to one side. ‘Well, we didn’t have that on board the Ark.’

‘No kidding. You probably learned how to manoeuvre in zero gravity instead.’

Shadow cleared his throat, and he covered his mouth with one hand. ‘Ahem.’

‘What?’

‘It’s nothing.’

‘Oh, come on. Let me in on the joke.’

‘We actually were taught how to move in zero gravity. Everyone had to undergo training after there was an accident in one of the zero gravity facilities.’ He cleared his throat again. ‘Nine months later, we found out what the accident was.’

‘You’re joking.’

‘No.’ Shadow’s eyes creased at the corners. ‘They called the new zero-gravity safety measures the “Tower” protocol. They had an acronym based on the letters of their surname and everything –‘

Rouge burst out laughing, and she could barely breathe. It struck her how rare it was that Shadow could speak about his past in a neutral way, let alone laugh about it. He really didn’t have a lot to laugh about, did he?

His laughter began to fade, and she shifted closer, leaning into him. But his gaze was fixed on something in the far distance.

She looked up and squinted. Two young children were sitting near the frothing waves, and she saw the gleam of a plastic bucket.

‘What are they doing?’

‘Sandcastles.’ Rouge tore her eyes away, and she realised that he was still looking. His ears twitched. ‘… Hey. Give me a minute.’

She got up, glancing back to check that he wasn’t following her, then she padded across the sand until she was standing over the kids. ‘Hey, darlings.’

They looked up at her suspiciously. ‘Mom told us not to talk to strangers.’

‘You don’t have to.’ Rouge produced a crisp $20 bill from thin air, as though by magic. The kids’ eyes immediately locked onto it. ‘If you let me borrow your …’ She gestured vaguely at the brightly coloured plastic toys, ‘… things, for a bit, then you can take this and go get yourself some ice cream.’

The kids glanced at each other. Then they snatched the dollar bill from her hand and rushed off to the ice cream stand on the plaza above the beach, waving as they left.

Rouge turned and beckoned to Shadow. He abruptly stood up and crossed the sand, rejoining her. ‘What?’

She held out a plastic bucket to him and winked. ‘Sandcastles.’

Shadow buried his face in one hand, reluctantly accepting it from her. ‘… Did you steal these things from those kids?’

‘No! I mean, I’m not above it, but I didn’t want to get into an argument with their parents.’ She knelt on the sand, picking up and examining a blue plastic shovel. ‘I just bribed them.’

‘Of course you did.’

Rouge sat on the sand, and after a moment of hesitation, he sat with her. ‘... What am I supposed to do?’ he asked.

‘You just do it.’ Rouge filled one bucket with sand and tipped it out, making a small tower. ‘It’s not hard.’

He looked up and down the beach. ‘But how do you know where you’re supposed to –‘

‘This isn’t a mission, Shadow. I’m not giving you geospatial coordinates. You’re going to have to use your imagination.’

‘What if I make a mistake?’

Rouge began to fill the bucket with more sand, giving him a skeptical look. ‘Is that a genuine concern of yours, or are you just messing with me?’ His ears slowly flattened, and she felt a twinge of guilt. ‘You’re the one making the damn castle. It’s yours. You can’t make any mistakes.’

After a long silence, Shadow picked up one of the buckets, stood up, and began to walk further up the beach. ‘If you say so –’

‘Hang on. I know what I just said, but you have to use wet sand. Come back.’

‘What about the tide?’ He slowly sat back down, and he looked torn. ‘I thought the water would wash it away.’

‘Yeah. It’s part of the process, sweetheart.’

He fell silent, filling the bucket with wet sand. ‘Hmph.’

‘Look on the bright side. If you don’t like how it turns out, then you get a do-over.’

His eyes softened. ‘You don’t need to hand-hold me, you know.’

‘I know. But I like holding your hand.’

He half-smiled. The wind was picking up, but it was still warm, and she could hear the cries of gulls as they circled overhead.

It really was cruel, wasn’t it? He didn’t know how to have fun. He didn’t know how to play. For heaven’s sake, the only game he knew how to play was Five Finger Fillet. She’d seen him weaving a knife between his fingers in one of GUN’s mess halls. He’d never cut himself once, not that it would matter, with how fast he healed.

‘Do I just keep doing this?’

‘You can use your hands.’

Gradually, the towers clustered on the sand began to take shape, becoming something larger. She’d been pretending as though she were working on her own sandcastle, but she quickly gave up. She’d only been doing it so that he would be more willing to try it.

Soon enough, he was finished. The sandcastle was fairly uninspired, but competent. At least, that’s probably how he would describe it. He’d nicked out some “windows” with his claws.

‘Is that it?’ Shadow asked.

‘You’re the one building it. You tell me.’

‘I don’t know.’ He looked at it critically. ‘It seems … done.’

‘You could always add to it. I gave those kids a 20 – we might as well get our money’s worth.’

‘Hm.’

Suddenly, he turned away and began to work on something else. A tall, complex building began to take shape, accompanied by streets and gridlines etched in the sand with his claws. It was only when he drew a “G” on one side with his claws that Rouge burst out laughing. ‘Did you just build GUN’s headquarters?

‘Maybe.’

‘Maybe?! That’s a 1:1 replica! Why did you go to so much effort?’

‘Well…’ Shadow looked his creation up and down. Then he lifted one foot and slammed it against the sandcastle, knocking it flat and scattering wet sand across the shoreline. Then he fell back onto he sand, and a brief smile flashed across his face. ‘Does that answer your question?’

Rouge stifled a laugh with one hand. The reality was that he could just as easily destroy the real headquarters building in Central City. But he was longsuffering, and his desire to use GUN’s resources for his own benefit outweighed his desire for catharsis.

‘Maybe you wouldn’t be so grumpy if you did stuff like this more often,’ she murmured.

‘Building sandcastles?’

‘Messing around. Having fun. I know you don’t think you’re good at it, but you’re doing all right so far.’

His smile abruptly vanished, and he looked out at the slowly approaching tide. ‘I’m trying. I really am. But it feels …’

‘Feels?’

‘It feels like I shouldn’t be enjoying this.’ He began to etch a circle in the sand. He only added a few lines to it, but she immediately recognised the silhouette of the Ark. his voice tightened. ‘I don’t understand why I get to live the life that she was supposed to have. It doesn’t feel right.’

‘Do you believe that you don’t deserve to be happy?’

‘I don’t know what to believe.’ His claws sank into the sand. ‘She wished for everyone to be happy. I no longer follow her wishes, but I feel like I’m still failing her, even after all these years.’

‘You don’t owe anyone your happiness,’ Rouge said quietly. ‘You’re not failing. If anything, you’ve been failed by a lot of people.’

‘… Mm.’

Rouge heard the pattering of footsteps on the sand, and she looked up to see the kids from earlier returning. She sighed and got to her feet, dusting herself off. ‘Geez, that was quick. 20 bucks doesn’t get you much time these days, does it?’

Shadow got up and joined her, and the kids gave him a wary look as they left.

A moment later, they heard high pitched voices, and Rouge glanced back just in time to see them staring at the sandcastle as they finished their ice creams. One of them said, ‘They’re not very good at this, are they?’

Shadow turned, glared, and started walking back, but Rouge grabbed his arm and hauled him off in the other direction. ‘Come on, Shadow. They’re just kids.’

He shrugged her off and fell back into step with her. ‘It’s none of their business.’

‘Ignore them. You don’t need to be good at something to enjoy doing it.’

Her words distracted him enough to let her drag him off, but then she heard one of the kids say, “That lady didn’t even finish hers. Maybe she didn’t know how?’

Rouge whirled around, and Shadow laughed, putting one arm around her shoulders and steering her back in the direction they had been walking. ‘What were you saying just now? They’re “just kids”?’

‘Rude kids,’ Rouge huffed. ‘I gave them 20 bucks. You think that would buy us some politeness, but I guess not.’

‘Good thing you don’t want kids, then.’

‘The only enjoyable thing about kids is trying to have them –‘

Shadow coughed sharply and choked, steadying himself against the sea wall behind the expanse of sand. ‘For Chaos’ sake, Rouge. We’re in public!’

‘You think that’s inappropriate? There’s a cocktail called  –‘

‘Rouge!’ Shadow looked mortified, and he backed away from her. ‘You can’t be serious –‘

‘I’m teasing. Come on.’ She tipped her head to one side and gave him a grin. “What? You and me, under the stars, no one else around, with the moonlight on the waves … Doesn’t that sound nice?’

Shadow nodded towards the building complexes towering above the shore of Emerald Coast. ‘There’s a hotel right there, you shameless woman.’

‘Oh? Are you going to take me there later?’

‘Not if you keep carrying on like this.’

‘Boo.’ A bright flash of colour caught her eye, and as they walked past, she turned to see the same ice cream cart she’d noticed earlier. She tugged on Shadow’s sleeve, forcing him to stop. ‘Hey. Wanna get ice cream?’

‘No.’

‘Too bad. It’s a mandatory beach activity. Either that or we get fish and chips.’

Shadow balked and shook his head. ‘Ugh. Fine.’

Rouge leaned forward, looking the selection of ice creams through the glass. Her necklace glittered, drawing attention to her cleavage, and the cart owner stuttered slightly when giving her a greeting. She bit back a smirk and glanced at Shadow. ‘What do you want, sweetheart?’

He frowned. ‘Whatever you’re having.’

‘I don’t think you’re going to want “bubblegum blast”.’ He grimaced, and she said, ‘What about espresso swirl’?’

He shrugged and nodded, and she leaned forward, giving the cart owner a wide eyed look. ‘I’m so sorry, I seem to have forgotten my wallet. I’ll be right back.’

‘No need.’ He took the popsicles from the case and handed them to her. ‘On the house.’

‘Aw, aren’t you sweet?’ Rouge batted her eyelashes. She didn’t go out of her way to charm others into paying her way for her, but she certainly wasn’t going to stop them.

Shadow stepped forward, muttering something under his breath and fishing around inside one of his wrist guards. He pulled out a battered credit card sleeve. ‘Unbelievable. Ignore her – she does this all the time.’

‘No, I don’t!’

‘Yes, you do!’

The man waved Shadow away and said, ‘Nah, that’s not it. I met my wife on this beach. You two seem like a nice couple, you know? Enjoy yourselves.’

Shadow’s ears flattened. ‘That’s not –‘

‘Huh?’ Rouge demanded, leaning on his shoulder. ‘Don’t contradict the nice gentleman.’

‘I wasn’t going to!’ Shadow averted his eyes. ‘It’s just not … necessary. That’s all.’

‘Afraid it is,’ the man said. ‘My card reader’s broken, and your lovely girlfriend seems to have run out of $20 bills.’

‘She’s not my girlfriend.’

‘Wife?’

‘No.’

‘Friends with benefits?’

‘No!’

Rouge’s brow furrowed. ‘Choose your next words very carefully –’

Shadow stiffly put an arm around her shoulders, guiding her back down the wooden stairs. ‘She’s my partner. Damn it, are people of Emerald Coast incapable of minding their own business?’ But he briefly raised his hand in farewell as they left.

‘You should be nicer to people,’ Rouge chided.

‘No.’ He tore the wrapper off and bit off part of the ice cream.

‘He gave us free food –’

‘Free food is not the be-all end-all of social interactions, despite what you often say. Besides. I’m nice to you.’ His expression clouded. ‘Most of the time. Isn’t that enough?’

‘You’re nice almost all of the time.’ She steered him down to the edge of the water, and they began to walk along the shoreline as the waves lapped at their ankles. He looked wary at first, but then they soon fell into a rhythm. ‘Hey,’ Rouge said quietly, hiding behind her ice cream as his memories of their fight began to trickle back. ‘… Do you really hate it when I take you on these outings?’

‘I don’t hate it. But I don’t like it when you refuse to be straightforward with me.’

Her shoulders slumped. ‘But you never want to do anything that I invite you to do. I don’t have a choice.’

‘That’s not …’ Shadow slowed to a halt, and saltwater washed over his inhibitor rings. ‘That’s not … true.’ His eyes widened. ‘Is it?’

Rouge winced. ‘Pretty much.’

He fell silent, only to realise that his ice cream was dripping onto his claws. He wolfed it down in a few bites and cleared his throat. ‘If you tell me what we’re doing, I’ll … try to come more often.’

‘I want you to come along because you want to. Not because we struck some kind of deal.’

Shadow hesitated, turning the popsicle stick in his fingers. ‘I do want to spend time with you. Even if I’m not good at it.’

‘You’re truly not as bad as you think you are.’ Rouge hid her expression behind the melting remains of her ice cream and muttered, ‘And I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.’

Shadow said nothing at first. Then he awkwardly placed an arm around her waist and gave her a rough kiss on the cheek as they walked. He still didn’t say anything … but maybe nothing more needed to be said.

‘So …’ Rouge tilted her ice cream, finishing the last of it. ‘If I said that I wanted to take you out for dinner on the restaurant at the pier and spend the night at the hotel over there … Would you go along with it?’

Shadow grimaced, and she could only imagine the thoughts that were going through his head. He didn’t like trying new foods, and the fact that he didn’t physically need to eat often reminded him of the facts of his creation and frustrated him. And even as they had become closer, he still struggled with intimacy.

She wanted to cross her fingers behind her back and plead, beg and coax. She couldn’t bear the thought that he might slip out of her grasp and leave her by her lonesome. But while she might be selfish, she wasn’t that selfish. Was she?

‘You look miserable,’ Shadow said. ‘Aren’t we supposed to be having fun?’

‘I know, but … I just really want to be by your side.’

His eyes softened, and he held her hand. ‘It means a lot that you still feel that way, despite everything.’ Then he stood in place, seemingly waiting for her. It was then that she noticed the popsicle stick in her hand had a string of alphanumeric characters on it. The code meant that you could turn it in for a prize. Shadow looked up at the hotel above them, then back at her, and gave her a reluctant smile.

She’d won.

A smile lit up her face and she grabbed him by both hands, turning and sprinting off. ‘Come on, let’s go!’

‘Rouge!’ Shadow yelped. ‘Slow down!’

She ignored him and scooped him up in her arms, grabbing her bag and his shoes as they zoomed past. ‘Not a chance!’

‘We’re not even dressed for dinner!’

She continued to ignore him, setting him down at the top of the stairs and tugging him along to the restaurant’s entrance. ‘It’s a beachside restaurant, love. No one’s dressed for dinner.’

As they waited to be seated, Shadow pulled his shoes on, and Rouge slung her bag over her shoulder. She could smell cooked fish and wafting candle smoke, and fairy lights lit the rafters of the tin-roof shelter above the outdoor tables and chairs.

‘I’m trying, you know.’ Shadow straightened up, giving her a tired smile. ‘I’m just not good at this.’

‘At what?’

‘Being loved. Being cared for. It’s overwhelming. It makes me want to run away.’ An approaching waiter said something to him that she didn’t quite catch, and he raised two fingers before looking back at her. The sun was beginning to set. The candlelight played over his eyes, reflecting on his sunglasses. ‘But apparently you don’t need to be good at something to enjoy it.’

There was so much she wanted to say in response. So much. But if he was already overwhelmed, then the last thing she wanted to do was push him even further past his limits. So she merely put her arm through his, and the two of them followed the waiter inside, disappearing into the dusk like a passing sea breeze.

The End