Knuckles had fists of Iron, Rouge had thighs of steel.
Knuckles was a treasure hunter and a guardian, Rouge was a thief and a renegade.
The two of them were diametrically opposed, in every way they clashed against one another, at every opportunity they lashed out. Each wanted dominion over the other, whether they admitted it or not.
They did have one thing in common, however- They were both bruised and beaten, by each other.
Both of them were sprawled out on the sandy floor of some ancient ruin, only feet away from each other, Knuckles on his back wiping away a small trickle of blood from a cut on his head caused by Rouge's heels. Rouge was on her side, still somehow looking seductive while she was heaving and sweating from the heated confrontation they had just had.
The both of them were covered from head to toe in welts and bruises.
Over what? Well, Knuckles would say it was over the defacing of ancient history. Rouge would say it was over a couple shiny trinkets. Either way, the historical artifact in question now lay in a heap of rubble around their fallen bodies, and the Gemstone that had been set in the artifact had been shattered to pieces.
Neither of them were Winners. Neither of them actually cared.
It was about the sport now. There was a thrill in opposing each other, a release of tension with every hit they landed on each other, the heat of the pursuit. The two of them never made contact unless they were hitting each other, so they hit each other. Just for a little touch.
Once upon a time they fought over important things, but over the time they knew each other the reasons became more and more superfluous, more and more just to see eachother, more and more just to be together.
Rouge was aware of it. Knuckles was not, or at least he denied it.
The bat woman hated him for that willful ignorance, she hated him for it even now when she had better things to hate him for. She looked at his fallen body through a strained gaze, then sighed and buried her sweat covered face in her arm. "Huff... You're too much for this girl's heart to handle, Knuckie." She panted, her voice muffled from being nuzzled in her arm.
"-Hmph. And you're batty." The echidna grunted in response, his eyes closed. Rouge rolled her eyes. Always the same insults. Good old reliable Knuckles, infuriating.
Rouge was just thinking about getting up and making her exit when Knuckles sat up, sad tumbling out from his quills. She raised her eyebrow as he stood and looked down at her, looking a little crooked from a rapidly swelling eye. He had a curious look on his face… One she couldn't quite pin down- at least not from what she'd seen from him before.
He was silent when he offered his hand to help her up, which she took without much hesitation, a flirty smile pulling at her cheeks.
"Always the Gentleman. Do you beat up all the girls you like?" She asked with an amused edge to her tone, fluffing her hair in the back to make sure she still looked halfway decent.
"No. Only you." Knuckles responded in a surprisingly cooperative tone. Rouge took a moment to register what he said, her ears pricking up. She turned to face him with a slightly alarmed expression- he had always been full of denials before, and if he ever did slip up and accidentally admit he liked her, he always corrected himself.
Knuckles was not correcting himself.
Rouge raised a brow at him. "Really, now?" She said in a low purr. Knuckles didn't make Eye contact, he was too busy staring at the floor, arms folded across his chest, a red flush crawling across his cheeks. There was a thick silence between them. This wasn't how things usually went.
Knuckles eventually stopped contemplating the ground and pinned his eyes to hers.
"...Y-Yeah." He sputtered, then, flushing an even deeper pink, straightened up and took on a more confident pose, though it lacked any real substance, raising his head to the sky. "A-anyway- Now that my treasure hunts been ruined, I guess I'd better go back to Angel Island and make sure the maste- HRK-" While Knuckles was attempting to avoid the situation by clumsily changing the subject, Rouge had slid closer to him and grabbed him by the chin, turning his face to look at her.
She wagged her other hand's finger in front of his face, a coquettish grin on her face.
"I don't think so, Knuckie, I'm not gonna let that one slide~" She said in a low, seductive tone, her face ever encroaching on his blushing one with each word. Now this was a new type of battle, her sadistic side endlessly amused by the way the big strong Knuckles squirmed before her.
"B-Back off! You m-must have misunderstood me!" He shouted and practically lept away when their noses touched. He stood, looking like a terrified mouse before her, practically rippling with a new type of anxiety- This was gonna be fun.
Rouge chuckled, allowing him to back away from her, then beat her wings, lifting herself a foot above the ground. "Nuh-uh. Not this time." The woman said with a wink, then flew up and away from the echidna without so much as a farewell.
Knuckles stood staring up at where she disappeared, baffled and wide-eyed. His face was hot, he rubbed at it with his gloved hands, casting his eyes back to the floor. Knuckles suddenly felt like he had made a huge mistake.
The echidna took a few minutes to gather himself back together, then turned to leave the ruins. He had only taken a few steps when a whooshing sound came from above, he turned and pulled up his fists only to meet a pair of pink lips. Knuckles was immediately staggered by the kiss, reeling back from a blow much more powerful than any diving kick.
She was hanging there in the air with that smug look on her face. "See you back home, tough guy." Rouge said, finally satisfied, twisting back up through the air with a fresh kind of energy.
Knuckles swallowed thickly, making every sort of face he could to express the complexity of his feelings. "Y- YOU BETTER BE THERE!" He shouted after her, shaking his fist- then smacked himself on the forehead.