A Wilted Red Rose (Hawks x Reader)

A Tempting Offer

Where are they... where are... oh! Is that it? ...no. No, that's off brand... he eats like crap, but... not even he would drink that garbage.

Your focused eyes scanned the drinks aisle, searching almost earnestly for a can that matched the one in your head. You had seen him drink it so many times now, yet you only recently started to actually care about what it was that he liked to drink, for whatever reason. Eager eyes darted from one row to another, with no luck of finding it.

Wha...? Isn't this like, the top brand of coffee, or something? Hell, if the second-best pro hero loves it, then they should be promoting the hell out of it, I would think.

The moment your body turned 90 degrees to look elsewhere, your sights landed to a machine packed to the brim with it, the letters displayed and lit up brightly at the top.

Wax Coffee.

Gross. But at least the search is over.

~~~

The paper grocery bag jostled along with your steps as you huddled it close against your torso, struggling to balance all the junk you had managed to fit all in one bag. It was packed so full that you couldn't see the road ahead of you. You had found yourself outside your home before the sun fully left the sky for once, the low orange hues of the sunset helped to guide your way back home.

Wow. This is much easier.

Just as your foot advanced another step, a loose chunk of concrete caught your toes, prompting you to tilt over and almost eat the dirt as you wrestled with gravity to reorient yourself. In the chaos, a can of Wax Coffee toppled from the overstuffed bag and began rolling down the rugged path. All the while, you watched this transpire and groaned dreadfully upon the can hitting the edge of a rundown building overlooking an alleyway.

Nah. No way. This has 'evil mugger villain waiting to ambush me if I go any closer' written all over it.

You decided to cut your losses and stepped off the sidewalk to walk in the road temporarily to avoid the alleyway and continued your trek home. A moment later, an amicable yet flaunting voice rang through the area behind you, calling out to you from a distance, but you didn't stop. The muffled noise got clearer as they got closer, and your meek steps gradually hastened in response. Eventually the voice ceased, and you paused for a moment to turn back to verify your hopeful thoughts, a sigh of relief flowed through you upon another successful avoidance of social interaction.

"Don't you know it's rude to leave when someone calls out to you?" The same voice scolded as a mysterious civilian stood in front of you as you squealed in surprise.

How... how did he get in front of me...?!

"My sincerest apologies, my dear. It wasn't my intent to frighten you, honest." The tall man tipped his dark brown top hat to you.

"Uh, um... well,' you stuttered, your stumbling hands readjusting their grip on your paper bag out of nervousness. "You can't really blame me... It looks like you're wearing a ski mask. That has 'mugger' written all over it. Unless..." your feet began to shuffle backward defensively. "That's still what you're planning to do...?"

The man pitied you with a chuckle, his dark orange shirt and green necktie jittering with the movement. "I wouldn't stoop so low as to concern myself with such ungracious nonsense like petty theft. No," he raised his open hands up to his chest, presenting his palms to you before his fingers and palms began moving and twisting as if he were kneading a magic ball. "I merely wanted to return this, to you." The can of Wax Coffee you dropped then materialized out of thin air and into his open palm before gracefully offering it to you.