WRITE ESPIN- *gets shot 57 times*
I was then shot 57 times in the chest /ref
ANYWAYS of course beloved Espinfinite mutual requests Espinfinite. Lucky for you, alongside my long fic, I have a fic of Espinfinite oneshots I wanted to work on! So, thanks for encouraging me to write that. Here's the first, like, 500 words or so of the first story. Freaky Espio enjoyers, come get your juice!!!!!!
Cw: Stalking
“Looks like you’ve got a secret admirer, bud!” Barry exclaims, tapping his arm excitedly. Zero just stares at the envelope, slowly blinking.
“Don’t you think it odd? I never got these before.”
“Well, you just moved here. We have a few regulars who definitely would’ve noticed, and someone probably thinks you’re interesting.”
Zero furrows his brows, staring at them for a long, long time. He meets their eye and balls up the letter, shoving it into his apron pocket, before turning his back to them and beginning to sweep.
“I don’t have time for a secret admirer,” he hisses, tail twitching behind him. The quokka’s expression shifts, but they seem to keep their smile.
“Well, that’s a shame, you know. I think there’s a lot to like about you!” they hum. But they leave him be, heading off to the back and leaving him to sweep. He shakes his head as he watches them, grumbling as he sweeps.
“Hopeful fool--” Zero mutters, watching the ground as he sweeps it. A secret admirer. It was so utterly stupid. There was nothing about him to admire. He was nothing but a failed experiment with a hole in his heart.
His ear twitches suddenly, and he turns his gaze up, brows furrowing. The atmosphere had shifted suddenly, and he couldn’t place why. He looks up, almost expecting to see something looking back. But when all he sees is the same ceiling, he shakes his head and continues his work. He couldn’t go home until it was finished, after all, and he really wanted nothing more than the comfort of his own bed. That was what normal people longed for, right?
It takes him a while, but he finishes his work after swallowing the feeling of being watched and putting his nose down to concentrate. He certainly isn’t cut out for menial tasks like sweeping a cafe, but it’s all the future holds for him, it seems. And he throws his broom back behind the counter, clocks himself out on the main computer, and discards his apron, completely ignoring as the balled up note rolls out of the pocket. He wants to be out.
The air is cold as he leaves, the light of encroaching dusk barely visible over the horizon, and he keeps his head down as he walks.
Maybe, if he had looked up once or twice, he would have noticed the pair of golden eyes following him from down alleyways and around corners. He would have seen his second shadow, or felt the movement behind him, matching his footsteps perfectly. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t catch anything until rounding a corner, down the street to where the pathetic little apartment he shared with his boss and their worthless little boyfriend sat.
As he rounds the corner, watching the last traces of light slip beyond under the tide of night, he freezes. Either the exhaustion of dealing with relentless stupidity for hours on end was catching up to him, or there was somebody behind him. He blinks, and slowly, cautiously, he turns. But there’s nothing there. Nothing but the sidewalk and street he had already left behind.
While he’s distracted, something is shoved into his paw. It snaps him back to reality, and he lifts his paw to look at it.
In it sat the letter he had been given. The creases had been smoothed out as much as possible, and the envelope resealed with care. When the hell would anyone have had the time to do this? It makes his stomach turn. He hovers his paw over it, considering opening it, before shaking it off. No. He wouldn’t humor the fantasies of some admirer. He had to get home… even if he was now certain he hadn’t made his walk alone. He would talk to Barry about it later. He crumples up the note again, but as he goes to discard it and continue walking, he’s grabbed firmly by the wrist, keeping him in place.
“I don’t like being ignored, Infinite.”