It's 5:30 AM, why the fuck am I up I have an appointment later---
Compelled to write because I felt I hadn't done enough for 24 hours.
So here we go.
There's a lot of Rouge in this, but I did add Shadow too!!
And I won't spoil, but I have a feeling he'll start to show up a lot more after what happens in here 👀
AYO.
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Rouge made a schedule for you, showing all the days she was at work, for how long, as well as the days she was off work, which gave the two of you an opportunity to spend time together.
Not only did you cook dinner for her, you also took on making her nutritious lunches she could bring with her to work.
She seemed grateful, returning with a warm thanks for the meal, the container always empty when she came back.
It made you happy someone enjoyed your food so much, so you kept on doing it.
Before you knew it, you'd been with Rouge for a month.
You'd settled pretty well into this new life!
You could use a laptop and type way faster now, though you still had to look at the keyboard to see what you were doing, but you were quickly teaching yourself how to do it without looking.
You'd be a pro in no time!
"Don't you get bored, hun?" Asked Rouge one evening, after the two of you had finished dinner.
"Bored?" You asked, carefully placing a plate into the dishwasher.
"I mean all you do here is cook and clean, right? I could get you a job if you'd like." A job?
"Would I be useful to you if I got one?" You asked, rinsing a plate under hot water before placing that into the dishwasher as well.
"Well, my secretary is going on maternity leave. I could really use a hand while she's gone." Secretary?
"It'd be a great help to me if you took the job." How could you refuse if she said it like that?
Smiling, you nodded.
"Okay, sure! I'm definitely going to need some guidance at first, but I hope I'll be of use!"
And that's how you started working for Rouge.
She bought you a white dress shirt with a few ruffles as well as a black circle skirt the very next day, along with comfortable shoes (with just the hint of a heel) to seal the deal.
You admittedly were a bit nervous.
What if you couldn't do it?
But Rouge seemed to have a lot of faith in you...
Hmph!
You could do it!
You were the daughter of Mephiles the Dark.
There was nothing you couldn't do!
You were seated in a room by yourself, with Rouge's office behind you, a door being the one thing cutting you off from her.
You had a computer before you, and Rouge explained to you the ins and outs of how to do this job, which you intently listened to.
You even wrote a few things down, just in case, and Rouge knew she'd made the right choice in hiring you.
Yes, you technically weren't qualified, but did that stop her?
Of course not!
If something like that stopped her, she wouldn't be as successful as she is right now!
You'd learn with time.
"And when the phone rings, you answer with 'Hello and thank you for calling Visionsoft, my name is Y/N, how may I help you?'" Rouge said, to which you nodded, repeating with the same tone she'd had.
"You're a quick learner." She said, patting your head.
"I think that's all. I've got some files here that need to be organised. Think you could do that? The inbox trays are all labelled, so it should be easy enough. And if you have any questions, you just knock, okay?" You nodded, before turning to the giant stack of papers.
Well, better get cracking.
You were about halfway through, placing an invoice into the correct tray, when Rouge exited her office, and looked at you, shocked.
"Wh-what?" You asked, wondering if you'd done anything wrong.
"Oh, sorry hun. It's just that I've never seen anyone work with such speed." She took a stack of papers from the inbox tray and flipped through them, surprised once again.
"While doing it correctly. You're something else, you know." She continued, placing the papers back into the tray.
"I'm off to a meeting. Keep at it." You jumped in your seat slightly, overjoyed at the praise, and happily continued, briefly watching as Rouge left with a few papers in her hands.
You didn't think further of it, continuing to sort the papers you'd been given.
With less than a third left, you heard the door open.
Naturally, you expected Rouge, though to your surprise, it wasn't.
"Oh, Mr. Shadow!" You said with a smile, briefly looking at your papers before placing one into a tray.
"It's you." He said, looking to the papers you were sorting.
... Hm.
"Y/N, wasn't it." Oh, he remembered your name!
"That's right! How may I help you?" You asked, the smile brighter than before.
"I'm looking for Rouge." He said, to which you swiftly replied.
"Oh, she's at a meeting right now! I can take a message if need be?" Meeting?
Yeah, that sounded about right.
"No matter. I'll tell her when she comes back." You tilted your head, but didn't pursue the subject.
If it was none of your business, it was none of your business.
You didn't pry into what other people did.
By the time Rouge got back, you'd finished with the papers.
Record-time too.
She seemed genuinely impressed with what you'd done, before she gave you another task.
Organise the files in the computer before you.
You were surprised at how much of a mess it was when you opened the documents folder, but you quickly got on with it, organising it to the best of your ability.
Before you knew it, it was lunch time.
You'd finished organising the files, and Rouge had outright demanded you go eat, not wanting you to collapse from hunger, so you followed her to the cafeteria, though as you'd brought your own lunch (as well as Rouge's), you didn't need to buy anything.
"Delicious as always, hun." She said, having just swallowed a bite.
You beamed, clearly happy she was enjoying her meal, before digging into your own lunch, talking away with Rouge.
The rest of the day went swimmingly.
You were given more tasks, all of which you completed without a fuss, and you felt quite satisfied with what you'd done for the day, especially with how Rouge praised you.
Yeah, you could totally do this!
And the fact you were helping her out made it better.
It was pretty much the only reason you were doing it in the first place, after all.
To help out.
"By the way, sugar." Said Rouge as she was driving the two of you home.
"Shadow's coming over tonight. Don't bother making anything for him though, he refuses to eat. Always have, always will." Hm?
That was odd... didn't mortals need to eat?
Or was it just out of politeness he didn't eat at someone else's place?
Hm...
So you made a meal for him anyway, worried for his health.
"Hon, I-" Said Rouge, though was interrupted by the door to her apartment opening.
You beamed at Shadow, who seemed a bit confused at the fact there were three plates on the dinner table.
He'd explicitly said that he does not want to eat.
That didn't stop you, of course.
Eating for mortals was important or they'd die!
"Well, she went through the trouble of making it for you." Said Rouge, sitting herself down.
"May as well try it, right?" Ugh... he wanted to refuse.
But there was something about your smile that made him unable to, no matter how much he wanted to.
"... Fine." He said, relenting.
"But after that, it's straight to business." He said, clearly not happy about the situation he'd been put in.
You sat yourself beside Rouge, with Shadow across from you, and he reluctantly took a bite.
And his eyes widened ever so slightly.
It... wasn't repulsive?
Ever since he could remember, he'd despised eating.
None of it tasted right, no matter who made it or how it was made, hence his aversion to food in general.
He could drink just fine, but eat?
He avoided it.
Not needing to eat made that easy, he was the Ultimate Life Form!
But this... this wasn't repulsive to him?
It was actually... really good?
What the hell?
He looked to you who were happily eating, not a care in the world, when you glanced up, noticed him staring, and sent him a smile.
Remaining silent, he ate, not once feeling the urge to retch.
Who exactly were you?
He had no idea, but he was determined to find out.