Hot Coffee

"Um, Sonic?"

"It's around here, I'm sure of it."

"You said that five minutes ago."

"Really? Thought it was ten."

"It was ten minutes ago. Then five minutes ago. Then now. So five minutes from now, when I ask you if you're sure you know where this big surprise is, you're going to tell me that, and I quote, 'I'm sure it's around here.'"

"Oh." He looked at her and gave a small smile. "Y'know, that might not happen."

"Why?"

"Because five minutes from now, we'll have found it."

Blaze let out a groan.

This was a mistake. It had all been a mistake. Accepting Tails's invitation for a surprise party for Sonic had been a mistake. Coming back to this dimension was a mistake. Staying around for the hedgehog's birthday party had been a mistake. The whole thing with that big black monster, that might have been out of her control, but it felt like a moment of cosmic karma. A reminder that by coming here and engaging in such frivolities, she'd put herself, and by extension, her entire world at risk. If Eggman (or rather, the Eggmen) hadn't been defeated, if she'd been stuck in limbo forever, who would have protected her own world from an Eggman worse than either of them? That was to say nothing about the effects of tearing through time and space in this dimension, and what it might mean for hers. At the end of the day, with the space-time continuum restored along with the polarity of neutrino flows (well, according to Tails at least), she knew she should have just gone home.

And yet she'd let herself be suckered into whatever the heck the miscreant had promised her. She'd been fine, thank you, but no, he insisted – he'd seen something in his latest adventure that she just had to see. That no, he couldn't tell her, she had to see it with her own two eyes. Yeah, it was in Station Square, which was a whole hemisphere away from South Island, but the white space the Eggmen had created remained, along with the portals, so they could just hop into it, use the portal to get to Station Square, see this so-called amazing sight, and then she could just hop off back to her own dimension. Normally, she'd have said no, but still, it was the guy's birthday, and from what she understood, birthdays for most people meant being indulged. So she'd said yes, said her farewells to Cream, and followed Sonic to the city known as Station Square. A city larger than any in her own world, and filled with humans at that – part of a kingdom called the United Federation that wasn't actually a kingdom.

That had been an hour ago. In that hour, they'd walked (not run, walked) around town looking for this amazing sight.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure it's around here somewhere."

Five minutes already?

"Just if we can-"

"No"

Sonic stopped and looked at her. "What?"

"I'm not doing this," she said, folding her arms. "It's your birthday, and good for you, and best wishes and whatever the heck I'm meant to say, but there was nothing in the deal that means I have to wander around this concrete jungle looking for something you saw that you just had to show me."

"…what do you mean, whatever you're meant to say?"

"I mean that I'm done," she snapped. She looked around – the people walking around them were trying their best to not look in the direction of the hedgehog and cat, but they weren't doing a good job. "I'm not staying here a moment longer."

"I'm telling you Blaze, I-"

"For Sol's sake, you were running through this city a matter of hours ago!"

"Yeah. Running. Also with an entire squadron of robot monkeys driving police hover-cars after me."

She raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"I know, right? Like, I never even did anything."

"Really."

"Yeah." He twisted a foot behind the other, looking sheepish. "I mean, okay, I did kind of break and enter a building here awhile back when I was searching for Amy, and maybe that echoed throughout the space-time continuum, but…" He held up his hands. "Clean slate, okay?"

"Right…"

"I mean, this city's cool with me. I mean, I did save it from a giant water monster."

"Yes, I heard about that. Though didn't you save it after it was laid to waste?"

"Hey, coulda been worse."

"I bet." In her experience, things could always be worse. Like, for instance, it was bad enough that she was in a city surrounded by humans who were giving her funny looks, while she was doing her best not to hiss at them given her experiences with Eggman Nega. Things would get a lot worse if she or anyone else gave into their prejudices.

"Okay, fair's fair," said Sonic, patting her on the shoulder (and getting far too familiar for her taste, but whatever). "Five more minutes, okay? If we don't find it by then, you can head home, and I can…well, do whatever."

"Breaking into more skyscrapers perhaps?"

"Hey, it was a different time, and I'm older and maturer now."

"Right." Blaze smirked. "Maturer."

"Yep. Maturer. Now come on. I know it's here somewhere."

Maturer isn't even a word you know. Still, poor grammar aside, she followed him. As insufferable as the blue hedgehog was being, she felt more at ease in his presence than in the presence of the people around her. The way they stared at her, as if they'd never seen a talking cat before.

Well, maybe they hadn't. She didn't understand the politics of this world, only that humans and non-humans tended to keep together in pretty segregate societies. Her world, with the exception of Eggman Nega, only had the latter. She'd say it made things simple, but as a guardian and princess, like the realization that things could always get worse, she'd also realized that things were never simple either.

"One more minute," she said.

Sonic glanced at her. "You're counting?"

"Yes," she lied.

"Oh. Okay." He quickened his pace a bit. "Come on, come on…"

In reality, it was more like three minutes. But she'd had enough of this. Of this city. Of being stared at. Of Sonic's antics.

"Thirty seconds," she said.

"I'm telling you, it's around here somewhere."

"Twenty-five seconds and-"

"Found it!"

Sonic came to a stop. So did Blaze. She looked at him as his cast his arms out as if to reveal a new attraction.

"Saw this when I was running through this place from the portal," he said. "Thought you might want to see."

Blaze did see.

"Pretty neat huh?"

She didn't just see, but stared.

"Like, I was worried for a minute that it might be a quirk of the space-time continuum." He gave a little laugh. "Funny. No-one here knows they were erased for a few hours, but hey, time travel. You, me, everyone else, we're probably the only one who know. Well, except Eggman, or Eggmen, or Robotnik, or-"

"Sonic," Blaze whispered. "You spent an hour looking for this?"

"Um, yeah," he said. He gestured up to the banner above the tea shop he'd taken her to. "Coffee Blaze."

"You brought me here…to show me a tea shop…that happens to have my name on it?"

"Um…yes? I mean, I saw some other weird stuff, like E-123 Omega Road, and Espio Drive, and-"

"You idiot!" She grabbed him and began shaking him.

"You moron?! You dragged me through a city, wasted an hour of my life, made me delay my return home for a damned coffee shop?!"

"Um, Blaze?"

"You're an idiot, you know that?! You're short-sighted, self-centred, arrogant, conceited…"

"Blaze, you're on fire."

"I don't care about your flattery, I just want you to know that-"

"No, seriously, you're on fire. It's hot."

"I am not hot! Mildly attractive maybe, but-"

"No, not that hot! The other hot!"

"I…oh."

She let go of the hedgehog. Which was just as well, because she was on fire, and if she let herself burn any longer or brighter, she might have done serious harm to the hedgehog near her, not to mention everyone else.

Oh preserve me.

People were staring at her. Some in fear. Some in bewilderment. Some of them were even pointing strange rectangular devices at her.

"Congratulations," Sonic whispered. "You're a star."

"What?"

"You'll be on the 'net in less than an hour."

"Nets? What nets?"

"I mean, you won't be as popular as me here, but hey, early days yet and-"

Blaze let out a yell. Sonic recoiled, as did the people. Fire erupted from her body, burnt in her eyes, and the pavement below her began to let out steam. It was only a for a moment, but as she let the fire subside, Blaze realized that it was a moment that would live on forever. In the minds of the people, and in the minds of whatever fish lay in nets.

I like fish.

She looked at Sonic. He was looking at her with a mixture of concern and amusement.

Just go.

That was what instinct told her to do. But instinct had gone the same way as her intellect – taken into a net, and devoured by fish. So instead, she grabbed Sonic's arm and began dragging him.

"Hey, what gives?"

"Shut up," she snapped. "We're here, so we might as well get some damned coffee."

It wasn't that bad actually.

The waiter had put them in the corner for reasons that Blaze suspected had to do with what had happened outside. That, and when she'd asked for a catuchino, he'd specified that it was called a cappuccino. Blaze, not in the mood to learn the culture of these barbarians, had said "fine" and waited for the so-called cappuccino to arrive. And having sipped it…

Not bad at all.

People were still staring at her, but it wasn't as bad as outside. She was in her element here. As a guardian and princess, she'd been taught numerous skills over the years, and one of them was decorum. Or at least decorum when it came to conducting oneself at the table. Indeed, she might extend this afternoon tea to one of the eclairs in the display case. Certainly Sonic might like it, as he'd barely touched his own coffee.

"You know," Blaze said, taking another sip. "It occurred to me that if you remembered this place's name, you could have just looked it up on these nets you talk about."

"Net," Sonic grunted.

"Net," she repeated. She looked around. Half the people were still staring at her. The other half were plying nets through rectangular devices, some held in their hands, some rested on the tables. "An interwoven net of knowledge then."

"Yeah, pretty much." He pushed his coffee forward to the centre of the table. He'd barely touched it.

"Not to your taste then?" Blaze asked.

"Nah. Too bitter."

"It's coffee. It's supposed to be bitter."

"That's not what Vanilla says when she puts sugar in it."

"Sugar?" Blaze laughed. "Who but a child would put sugar in their tea or coffee?" She took another sip. "I think when I return home, I'll have to take this cappuccino recipe with me."

Sonic grunted. He leant back in his chair and began whistling something.

Just go, she thought to herself. It's not your problem.

Sonic was bothered. Which was fine. She could finish her cappuccino, get out, head to the portal, travel home, and be there in time to stop whatever plan Eggman Nega had no doubt cooked up in her absence.

Seriously, just go.

Instead, she sighed, and murmured, "what is it?"

"What? What's what?" Sonic asked.

"This," Blaze said.

"This?"

She sighed, ignoring the voice in her head telling her that she was dealing with an idiot, and was above such peasants who couldn't appreciate coffee. "Ten minutes ago you were just begging me to keep on getting here. Now that we're inside, it's like you can't wait to leave."

He shrugged.

"Listen…" Blaze said. She took a sip of the coffee, choosing her words carefully – she was the last person to deal with these kinds of issues because usually she was the one who remained quiet. "You want me to tell you about tea? I can. You want me to teach you about coffee? I can. You want to get it off your chest as to why you're really here? That's on you."

He looked at her and she frowned – he looked younger. Not as young as that other Sonic who had turned up in the mess of a few hours prior, but still, younger.

"Just thought I might like the coffee," he said.

"What?"

"Yeah. Just, year older, and I get that other people drink coffee when they're older."

She frowned. "You care about that."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

She smirked. "Didn't think you cared about any of that. Thought you were mister free wind, free runner, freedom freedom something."

"Yeah, well, getting older. Has that effect."

"You get older every year, and from what I understand, you celebrate it every year as well."

"Well, yeah, but…" He trailed off, raising an eyebrow. "Wait, you understand? What do you mean you understand?"

"I understand that people celebrate the day they were born for reasons that lie between materialism and genuine affection," Blaze said.

"But…you mean…"

"I don't celebrate my birthday. No-one does."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I'm the guardian. My deeds are to be celebrated, not my mere existence." She sipped her coffee. "Of course, my deeds aren't celebrated that much now, as they're expected of me but…" She trailed off, smiling. "I think I know what this is."

"Seriously, you don't celebrate your birthday?"

"I don't think it's just the coffee. I don't think it's about you getting older."

"I mean, that's-"

"I think (and granted, I'm no oracle), that the reason you're thinking about age is that you saw your younger self. You see how you used to be, you're made aware of how you are now, and you wonder what you'll be in the future." She took another sip and pushed the empty coffee cup to the centre of the table. "How quaint. You're having an existential crisis."

"An existential what?"

"And clearly you have nothing to fear, because you're a child in your past, and you remain a child now." She leant over and patted him on the head. "Well, cheer up. It's your birthday. I assume you're meant to be happy on that day."

"Hey, I am happy."

"Good. Glad to hear it?" She got to her feet. "Now shall we go? You've got a whole day to be happy, and I've got to return to my world and no doubt deal with people who aren't happy."

Sonic just sat there. Looking at her. More specifically, looking at her in a way that she hadn't seen before.

"What?" she asked.

"You seriously don't celebrate birthdays?"

"No. Shall we leave now?"

"Like, not at all?"

"I just said no."

"So, like, if you saw your younger self right now, and she'd never had any birthdays, and if you told her you didn't get any birthdays, you…"

"Don't talk about my younger self," Blaze whispered.

To the idiot's credit, he stopped talking. Well, almost. "I just-"

"Your younger self when you saw him – he seemed happy, no?"

"Well, yeah."

"If I saw my younger self…she would not be like that," Blaze said. "And that's why I hope that Eggman Nega never tries something like what your Eggmen did."

"But wouldn't you want to see your younger self?"

"No," Blaze said. "Because somewhere along the line, I'd have to tell her that it doesn't get better."

Sonic ended up paying for the coffee. Turned out that power rings were an accepted form of currency within the United Federation. Blaze, for her part, had requested the cappuccino recipe but had been turned down. When she'd offered to rename it catuchino, she'd been ordered to "sod off." Under normal circumstances, she'd have stood her ground and defended her honour, but then again, this wasn't her world. She had no honour or standing to maintain here. Besides, her little eruption from earlier had probably ruined whatever reputation she had for the rest of her life.

Still, she didn't feel too bad about that. If nothing else, the coffee had been good. So when they stepped outside, she looked at Sonic and said, "I believe it would be befitting to inform you that today's beverage was of above average quality, and that you, as the sole provider for said beverage, are thus owed thanks. So to you, I give my gratitude, and dare hope that this is sufficient reciprocation towards your generosity."

Sonic stared at her.

"I'm saying thank you."

"Oh. Right. Got it."

She smiled. He was still an idiot, but if idiocy meant she could forgo such formal speech in the event of afternoon tea, then it was a condition that she found somewhat tolerable. So, still smiling, she got ready to run off.

"Y'know, we should do this for you sometime," Sonic said.

She looked back at him. "Pardon?"

"Yeah," he said. "Like, you've never had a birthday, so maybe Cream, the gang, and myself should pop over and-"

"You'll do no such thing."

"Come on, least a card. Or a little gift. Anything."

"You'd tear a hole in the space-time continuum to send a piece of paper?"

"Cardboard actually. And, yeah. Sure. I breach the space-time continuum every time I enter the Special Zone."

"The what?"

"Come on, just tell me – what day's your birthday on?"

"This is insane."

"Do it."

"No."

"Do it, or I'll chase you all the way back to the portal, and you know as well as I do that I can keep up."

That, she had to give him. Sonic might be without pyrokinetic, telekinetic, or any kind of ability that ended with "etic," but he easily made up for that with his raw speed. And if it was a choice between the oaf hounding her all the way home, or enduring a piece of cardboard, then the answer was clear."

"Fine," Blaze said. "It's November twenty-third. Happy?"

"Yeah. Very happy."

"Good. I'm…glad you're happy. It's your birthday after all, and…well, at least one of us deserves to be."

"Never said I'm the only one who deserves to be," Sonic murmured.

She smiled at him one more time.

Then in a burst of flame, she zoomed off.

A/N

So, yes, this is me taking the "Coffee Blaze" billboard from Sonic Generations (as seen in Speed Highway) and running with it. No idea why it has streets named after characters like Espio though - maybe breaking the space-time continuum does that?