A young bat and her crush have a discussion with a young wolf barista during his lunch break at an outdoor cafe.

Coffee Bat

Athena closes her eyes in relaxation while enjoying a freshly made mocha latte. The coffee makes her relaxed, allowing her to fully savor it. At the same time, Athena had ventured to the diner out of interest, wanting to try it out.

“Enjoying your coffee, Miss?” A male brown wolf approaches the table, his tail wagging softly. In his hand is a bag lunch as well as a backpack around his shoulders.

“The coffee is good.” Athena glances up at the wolf, curious about his presence. “Are you looking for something?”

“Oh! Nothing big; just looking for a place to sit.” the brown wolf replied simply. Then he points out an available spot at the table Athena is sitting at. “May I sit with you?”

Athena gestures for the wolf to sit while offhandedly mentioning, “Go ahead. I'm waiting for my fiancé to arrive so we can dine together and talk more. Just casual stuff.”

While the young bat shrugs her shoulders casually, the brown wolf nods in understanding and remarks, “So you're in love, huh? I won't pry or anything, but I can help out. What is your name, by the way?”

“Athena. And thanks, by the way; but we don't need any help. Thanks for the offer.” Introducing herself to the brown wolf, Athena politely declines the wolf’s assistance, thanking him for his offer afterwards.

“No problem, though. My name is Woody.” The brown wolf replied, introducing himself in return. “Nice to meet such a beautiful woman as yourself.”

“Aww, thank you.” Athena blushed, melting at the compliment. The bat adds, “I don't mind the compliment at all. Even my crush calls me that at times.”

Woody blinks at the bat and swells up, impressed, “You're dating someone? Congrats! Hope he turns out well for ya!” The brown wolf slides into an adjacent seat to Athena’s left while mentioning, “It's nice to hear someone's planning on eventually getting hitched soon. I haven't thought much about it, myself. But I wouldn't mind settling down on my own either.”

Athena nods in understanding, and goes back to her drink. Her crush, Drizzle, enters the shop a few minutes later after Woody seats himself next to her. Thinking nothing of it, the chocolate bat proceeds to the front line, unaware of the curious brown wolf having his purple eyes on him. Finally, Athena gets his attention by calling him out.

“Hey Drizzle! Over here!” Athena waves to the chocolate bat in order to get his attention. Upon turning to Athena seated at one of the tables, he notices the brown wolf seated beside her. Jokingly, the brown bat implies, “Are you two dating? Cause Athena is mine!”

Woody's face turns beet red and he nearly chokes on his lunch. Athena, however, rolls her eyes at the allegation and relates, “I offered him a place to sit, so there is nothing between us other than the usual conversation and lunch together.”

“And I work here! I don't even have a significant other yet! Not that I was planning to anyway!” Woody protested after his recovery.

“I'm only joking, but I understand. Sorry for the trouble.” Drizzle apologized. He waltzes towards Woody and implies, “So you work here? You must be on break. Are you the only worker here?

“There's other staff here but most of them are on break.” Woody replied, directing Drizzle’s attention to the empty counter. The wolf then makes an agreement, “If you want something, I can make it for you. Everything is still hot and warm, so you shouldn't have to worry about anything cold.”

Drizzle hums in thought before replying, “I’ll just take a coffee - large hazelnut with extra cream.”

~~~~~

After taking the time out to fix Drizzle’s coffee as well as adding a vanilla frosted doughnut as complimentary, the two bats and the wolf held a small conversation about life in general between them. The two bats were also surprised to learn of Woody's line of work in the military.

“So you're in the military as an army captain?” Drizzle mused, staring at the wolf with a newfound sense of respect. “How is that working out for you?”

“There's not much responsibility to it other than the occasional routine training and scenario pieces we do.” Woody shrugged, unsure of what to make of the situation. “Honestly, it's a little boring. But I will say this - we are in peacetime, so that's better than active conflict.”

“I don't know anything about the military but it does sound pretty entertaining.” Athena commented thoughtfully.

Woody chuckles, “It does sound entertaining but the initial entry is the hardest part. Other than that, you spend most of your time on assignments around the world, mostly patrolling or on guard duty. But enough about me - what about you guys? You two look like a cute couple.”

Shifting the conversation topic away from himself and towards Athena and Drizzle, Woody inspects the two bats to gauge their reactions; both of them end up blushing and gazing at each other. While Drizzle whistles innocently, Athena leans over to muzzle his cheek and mentions, “We met not too long ago and hit it off. Well, to put it in lighter terms, we started developing mutual feelings for each other. But we’re taking it slow; no need to rush into things.”

Drizzle clears his throat and adds in recollection, “Yeah, it's best to be slow and gradual rather than rush into things. You don't know how deep the waters are until you start swimming or end up drowning. And I have seen and heard many stories related to that.”

Athena nods and mentions, “I’m new to this myself but I am willing to give it a shot. Although I have never contemplated this moment. What about you, Woody? When do you think you’ll find a mate?”

“Honestly, there are more men than women out there, so the probability of that happening is very low.” Woody claimed. “Plus, the thought of dating hasn't crossed my mind as I explained earlier. Are you guys scared?”

The two bats share funny looks with each other and shake their heads in denial. Drizzle declares, “I’m confident it’ll work out, but I'm taking my time with this beautiful bat lady.”

“I’m actually a little nervous but I'm hoping our relationship will work out.” Athena looked forward to a positive outcome for her relationship with Drizzle, which is an ongoing work in progress at the moment.

“Well I'm happy for both of you and I wish you well in your blossoming.” Woody congratulates the two bats on their mutual expression for each other when the conversation steers back towards him.

“So Woody, how long have you been a coffee maker?” Athena inquired, satisfied at the conversation.

“About a few years. I honestly wanted to be a barista because of my love of coffee.” Woody admitted. Then he ironically reveals, “I don't drink coffee that much but I love it; same with tea, juice, and hot cocoa. Now I drink those more than coffee.”

“I see. You don't look like a coffee drinker at all.” Athena assumed tentatively. “But that does sound pretty ironic.”

“What is your favorite tea?” Drizzle inquired curiously. “And your favorite juice?”

“I love chamomile and vanilla chai - it's a toss up between the two.” Woody claimed, somewhat unsure. Then he adds, “As far as favorite juice is concerned, it would be orange juice.”

Athena sticks her tongue out in disgust, “Yuck! I hate orange juice; it tastes nasty.”

“So you have tried orange juice before.” Drizzle declared matter-of-factly. This makes Athena nod and direct her gaze away, though the male bat chuckles at her reaction, “No hard feelings, Athena. I don't like grape juice.”

“Prune juice is the worst, but it helps. Just like honey lemon tea is horrible, yet it helps.” Woody claimed. The two bats stare at him in interest when a beeping tone suddenly interrupts the conversation.

Hearing the noise, Woody recognizes this as his alarm and he quickly retrieves his smartphone, letting out an annoyed huff. He kills the alarm and excuses himself from the bat couple, “I have to return to my shift. I was enjoying our conversation until my alarm ruined it. But I will see you guys around!”

“Bye Woody!” Athena waves goodbye to the departing wolf, watching him collect his things and leave the dining area. Once he's out of earshot, Drizzle turns to Athena and muses, “His name is Woody?? That's an odd name to give someone.”

Athena hums while drawing her finger against the table in a circular counterclockwise motion, “It's a rare name, but not an odd name. I can think of even worse names to give boys and girls.”

Drizzle frowns with uncertainty, “Please don't go there, Athena.”

“Wasn't counting on it.” Athena claimed, resting her eyes on Drizzle intently. With a subtle stare, the pink bat affirms, “I was counting on spending my day with you.”

Drizzle’s smile returns where he declares, “Any day with you is a good day in my book.”

~~~~~

Athena and Chocolate Drizzle belong to Zoey Hyena (ToyHouse); Woody Allen belongs to me!