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It was rare that Max had any time to himself, or wasn’t busy due to taking care of Niku, dealing with college stuff, or spending time with his new found family in Lord X and his crew. But the one time he had a morning to himself… he decided to just run. That damned itch was becoming hard to ignore and he needed to shut off his brain. So he decided he was going to run all over the city till he felt tired, or felt that his brain was quiet enough. So for a good couple of hours, that’s all he was doing since he has a high endurance (all thanks to his parents).
Upon stopping to catch his breath does his ears pick up the sounds of off-key saxophones playing from somewhere. When he looks in the direction in which they were coming from does he see in big neon psychedelic colors THE GROOVY TRAIN on the top side of a building. The building looks like another basic building excluding its brightly colored doors that are the same colors as the sign above them. Curiosity gets the better of the pink male so he decides to enter whatever this place was supposed to be. His pointy black nose twitches immediately picking up the smell of roasted coffee beans the moment he steps inside. The inside was very very colorful mostly being of bright pinks and seafoam greens. There is a lot of 70s retro styled furniture with circular swivel chairs around equally circular tables and separate chairs similar in shape hanging from the ceiling. All the tables are decorated with a singular lava lamp in the middle. The atmosphere seemed colorfully hazy and he wasn’t sure if it’s the lighting or some special effect going on. The place seems trippy yet oddly calming…
“Welcome to the Groovy Train.”
Max yelps with an effeminate voice speaks over the off-key saxophones playing in the background. Standing next to him is a female Mobian cat with black fur and large deep green eyes dressed in an outfit that Max would refer to as ‘mystic’ or ‘occult’ wondering if she had any magical powers.
“My apologies. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
He waves a dismissive hand. “It’s no biggie!”
“Oh, well, that’s good.” His eyes follow one of her fingers that trails to one side of the shop. “If you go over in that direction you should find the order counter.”
Oh. That was helpful! He flashes her his best grin. “Why thank you! I don’t think I would have found it in this trippy atmosphere.~”
The woman seems amused by him. “You’re welcome.” She pauses upon walking a few steps away having a green eye peering over a dark shoulder. “Just keep your inhibitors on, and you should do fine here.” Then she almost phased out of sight alongside the psychedelic fog.
Max stands a little straighter feeling sweat along the back of his neck. Guess I got my answer… He thinks to himself as he scurries in the direction that was pointed out to him a moment ago.
As he finds himself drawing closer to the order counter, that’s decked out in tye dye and colorful beads, does the man recognize familiar spiked up blonde quills and fiery red eyes. An eyebrow arched in confusion with a frown is scowled in his direction when Max finds himself getting excited. His little striped tail starts wagging and there’s an excitable gleam in his grassy green eyes. That only seems to make the younger man take a step back away from the counter. “Uh, welcome to The Groovy Train. What would you like to order…?” He asks Max despite giving him a suspicious glare.
“You’re X’s little friend Fleetway!~ Hello!~ It’s so nice to finally meet the actual person.~” The pink male giggles gleefully when he realizes he’s actually taller than the blonde male (by a couple inches at most). He’s so small and cute. No wonder X was a blushing mess over him.~
Fleetway goes from being guarded to absolutely surprised. Who was this girly looking weirdo?? But he feels his heart pitterpattering in his chest. The man knew his name and face, specifically equating his presence with X. What had X been saying and showing him?? “Uh… Who the hell are you and how do you know X?”
“Oh! Where are my manners?~” It was a little unnerving how he wasn’t phased by Fleetway’s outburst. He extends a hand to the shorter man. “My name is Max.~ And X is a student in my class. Assuming he’s mentioned me, you might know me as Chef Rose.”
A little light bulb lights up in his mind. Wait. That was the guy who helped him make his Valentines Day gift for X! Also, why the fuck is this dandy taller than me?? Oh, how his muzzle turns as red as his eyes! “Uh, yeah. X has mentioned you a couple of times…” Is all he can think to say.
Grassy green eyes peer over a bony shoulder to see if there were people forming a line behind him. When he realizes it’s just himself he doesn’t get into a rush. “So~-” Fleetway sweats anxiously upon hearing the pink male’s chipper tone. “How did you like your… gift?” A knowing expression appears on his face when he smiles with narrowing eyes.
The younger man coughs into one of his hands feeling his words get instantly stuck in his throat. His face feels on fire as he averts his gaze. “...it was delicious…” He admits with his ears pinning back in embarrassment.
Max slaps his hands together and his striped tail wags a mile a minute. “That’s great!~ I knew you’d like it. And poor X, he was so worried you’d hate it! Poor thing was so anxious!~”
The tips of his ears are burning by this point, and his heart is beating so fast! The thought of X fretting over his gift while making it makes his insides turn to mush. “So uh-” A finger nervously scratches the side of his scruffy muzzle. “-X say any good things about me?” He then huffs trying to compose himself. “Not that I care or anything! He can say whatever!”
Aww, he’s so cute trying to act all tough!~ “Well, if my memory serves me correctly…” He notices the young man perk up a bit in curiosity. “I think he said you were cool and tough and badass.~” Max giggles to himself when he watches Fleetway immediately cover up a teeny tiny smile. He wanted to seem him smiling over X and he knew how he was going to do it!~ A gloved finger motions in his direction as he leans towards the other man. The other finger rests against his lips as he winks. That grabs the blonde’s attention which has him leaning one of his pierced ears close to Max’s face. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. X thinks your singing voice is hot.~” He whispers into his ear.
And bingo. The young man’s face is completely red hot and his pupils have multiplied into heart shaped rings. At first there’s a shocked toothy o on his muzzle, but then he’s smiling the goofiest lovesick grin!~ Fucking adorable.~ Max thinks to himself with a proud grin.
Fleetway was on cloud fucking nine!~ X thought he was cool and tough and badass and called his singing voice hot! Like ohmygodohmygodohmyfuckinggod!!~ It takes him everything in his power not to tap his feet in giddiness while squealing in excitement! When he realizes he’s been smiling too much (especially in front of someone else), he tries to lock back into his tough persona pushing his smile down into a neutral expression. No one needed to know how ecstatic he was over his crush saying those things, yeah. “So, uh, are you gonna order anything? Or just stand there being weird?”
It dawns on Max why he was at the ordering counter to begin with. Plus, when he looks over his shoulder again, there’s now a few people behind him. “Oh, right…!” His ears flatten in annoyance. Of course they all have weird names…! Thank God the ingredients are listed underneath them! When he pulls out his wallet to pay for the drink, a gloved hand is raised up at him as to say ‘stop’. “It’s on the house, this time (just don’t expect freebies all the time…!).” Fleetway tells him with averted eyes and pinkened cheeks.
Those cheeks darken as Max beams a smile down at him. “Oh, why thank you!” But then it falters into a mischievous smirk. “No wonder X likes you. He must like getting free coffee from such a sweet fella.~”
Soft pink cheeks flare into fiery red at that comment. “Get out of my line!! Next!!” Fleetway hollers at him while using an arm to slide him out from in front of the counter.
Max is having a laughing fit as he sits down now waiting for his drink. Worth it!~ He thinks gleefully.