Chapter 7
As the doorbell echoed through the Mayor's mansion, Sally glanced at the clock on her bedside table. 'Seven on the dot, wow, talk about punctual…' She pulled her second shoe in place (a strappy, black, high-heeled sandal that matched her satin cocktail dress perfectly), straightened her hair in the mirror one last time, and then darted out the door of her room.
The elderly butler opened the door, staring down his nose at the shorter, blue-furred humanoid, "May I help you, sir?" he inquired, the politeness in his voice forced and thin.
Sonic was clad in the same attire he'd been wearing for school that day with the exception of a freshly washed dark-green polo T-shirt. "Hey, pops, Sal around?"
"I'm here!" she called out from the top of the stairs, hoping to keep her dear servant from having to respond (his disapproval was sure to match her father's).
"You, erm, know this young man, Mistress?" Nigel inquired stiffly, raising an eyebrow disapprovingly at her as he craned his neck around to look up the stairs at Sally.
"Wow, smokin' dress, Princess," Sonic remarked with a grin, his hands folded behind his head.
"Ah, thank you," she said, blushing as she hurried down to the foyer, "And yes, Nigel, this is Sonic. We're going out to dinner tonight."
"NIGEL!" came a thundering voice from another room, "Who's at the door!?"
"A boy who thinks he's leaving the premises with your daughter, sir," the butler called out.
The mayor stormed into the room, his expensive suit creased from the unexpected leap he'd made out of his chair just seconds prior. He slowed to a more dignified pace, smoothing out his suit with one hand quickly as he padded towards his daughter, arms spread wide, "Sally, you look ravishing," he commented warmly, ignoring Sonic completely.
"Thank you, Daddy," she said, echoing his tone, taking hold of his hands, "Come to see me off?"
"If I must," he sighed, rounding on Sonic. He straightened up to his fullest height, extending a gloved hand civilly to the hedgehog, "Maximillian P. Acorn, Mayor of Mobotropolis."
"Sonic Hedgehog, nice ta meet 'cha," the younger humanoid smiled, slapping the mayor's hand in a friendly manner (rather than give the anticipated handshake).
Perturbed, the male chipmunk cleared his throat. "Indeed," he said stiffly, "Tell me, Mr. Hedgehog, where exactly will you be taking my daughter this evening? She was a little…fuzzy on the details."
"Aw, c'mon, Mr. A, that'd ruin the surprise," Sonic laughed, punching the elder gentleman playfully on the shoulder.
Mayor Acorn chuckled airily and then leaned down, closer to the teen, "I suggest not doing that again, son – I could have you arrested."
"Okay!" Sally said, hiding the nervousness in her voice with as much good humor as she could muster, and taking hold of Sonic's arm (conveniently placing herself between the two males in the process), "Well, this has been fun, but we really have to be going."
'Talk about not havin' a sense of humor- I figured the guy would hate me, but geez…' Sonic raised an eye-ridge at the politician, but merely shrugged, "Yeah, we'll catch ya later, Mr. A."
"Sally, aren't you forgetting something?" the mayor inquired, again choosing to ignore the repulsive hoodlum.
Before she could protest, a flock of about twenty men in black suits filed into the room from either side, coming to a stop in an intimidating cluster behind her father. With a mortified groan, she covered her face with one hand. "Daddy, you didn't…"
"Well, given your current company, my chief of security and I agreed that it would be necessary to increase the size of your detail…"
"The hell-?" Sonic asked, more confused than ever.
She took a deep breath and managed to flash him a weak smile. "This is my security team…times about ten tonight…"
"Well that won't get awkward," he chuckled, his laid-back attitude allowing him to take such daunting news in stride, "Gotta tell you, I'm not sure I have enough dough on me to pay for all them too…"
"You mean you still wanna do this?" she asked, eyebrows arched. Standing just a foot or two away, the mayor looked equally surprised.
"Yeah, c'mon, let's bail."
"Uh, right…" she said, following hurriedly as he strode back out the front door. Scanning the semi-circular driveway, she asked, "Did the valet take your car?"
"Car?" he repeated, taking the steps two at a time, "Don't need one."
"Then how do you get around??" She darted a glance back up at the doorway, where the suits were trailing after them.
He blinked, staring at her in a mixture of confusion and disappointment, then he let out a short laugh, "Guess Knux didn't tell you much about me, huh? Actually, the way Deputy Downer goes, that's probably a good thing…"
"Probably," she nodded.
"You wanna see how I get around?" he inquired slyly, cracking his neck back and forth once.
She glanced back at the guards. "Sure. Thrill me."
"Can do," he nodded, scooping her up into his arms, "I'd hold on if I were you," he stated casually (needed to give the girl fair warning, after all), before he fired forward at what he considered to be roughly a third of his top speed. It was a little much, perhaps, but hey, if it impressed her…
She was so shaken, and the wind so thoroughly knocked from her, that she barely registered the sound of gunshots in the distance, only becoming truly aware of the panic her sudden departure must have caused when she was finally able to open her eyes and could see the bullet that had reached the farthest seemingly slowing to a stop in midair a foot or so away. Bewildered, and unused to the enormous force of the wind bearing down on them, she shut her eyes again, clinging to the hedgehog tightly.
Sonic, quite used to such pressure, grinned proudly, pausing to flick the projectile away as one might an irritating insect. There would be no use trying to talk to her at such speeds, what with the noise from the wind pressure, but it wouldn't be long until they reached their destination anyways. 'Still, maybe she'll appreciate the scenic route,' he thought as he ran with the artistic mastery of a tightrope walker along one of the middle country's (which they had entered after only two minutes or so) numerous mountain passages, his feet moving so fast that they barely seemed to be touching the thin, metal railing that separated the safe roadways and the miles long drops.
When she dared to open her eyes again, she was staring over the edge of a canyon, and with a yelp, she turned upwards towards the hedgehog, her overwhelmed expression speaking volumes for her.
He leapt, gracefully bypassing an entire winding passage way (which worked around a rather steep valley) and landing on the other side of the road. In a flash, the former obstacle was nothing but a speck in the distance behind them as he continued on, pouring on more speed. They'd reach Oceanopolis in less than a minute now; he glanced down at her for an instant, winking knowingly, then turning his attention back to his path. Everything moved in such slow-motion compared to him that it wasn't always necessary to keep his full focus on what lay ahead.
She lurched forward only slightly when he came to a stop, as his hold on her was amazingly strong. Heart racing, she couldn't get her fingers to work well enough to loosen their grip on his shirt. "Wow…" she managed weakly, "That's…a helluva way to travel…"
"It gets me from A to B," he smiled, content to simply hold her for a moment while she recovered.
"Where are we?" she asked, as the scenery came into focus around her.
"Just outside Oceanopolis," he replied, just a hint of pride in his voice.
Her eyes widened, "And there's only one Oceanopolis in the country, right? On the northwest coast?"
"That's the one," he nodded, walking slowly up the side of the hill where they'd stopped, the dust from the dirt path discoloring his shoes slightly. The lush trees and forestry surrounding the little-used walkway caused the shadows made by the evening sun to dance frantically around them on the ground.
"When you said 'let's bail', you really weren't kidding, huh?" she mused, happy to stay in his arms (as she wasn't sure she could trust her own legs just yet) as she marveled at the remote scenery.
"Trust me, I didn't have a date planned for twenty-two…" he grinned.
"I really have to thank you for that," she said, staring out at the path ahead of them, "I haven't been able to go out entourage-free since before the election."
"I had a hunch," Sonic replied as the lines of trees flanking them suddenly stopped as they reached the top of the hill, "It's no problem: I think we'll have a better time without Tall, Dark, Ugly and the crew…"
Her laughter at the comment dissolved into an audible gasp as she gazed up at the lighthouse they'd come upon. "Oh my…"
He paused to breathe deeply, taking in both the sea air and a faint trace of her delightful perfume. Carefully, he adjusted her weight in his arms, hoping to stave off the slight burn of lactic acid that had begun to build up around his muscles from remaining in one position for so long.
Realizing just how long he'd been holding her as she gaped at the scenery, she cleared her throat shyly. "I, um, I think I'm alright to walk from here…"
"You sure?" he asked politely (though his gaze had begun to travel towards less courteous territory).
"Yeah," she nodded, "Can't have you carrying me all night long," she added with a grin.
"As you command, Princess…" he chuckled, gently letting her feet touch the ground again.
Blushing, she straightened up, smoothing out her skirt. "What's with that nickname?" she asked, amused to note that, in heels, she was just abit taller than he was.
"Just seems to fit you," he shrugged, placing his gloved hands in his pockets, "You're rich, well-spoken, a leader, related to the closest thing our town has to royalty…"
"Suppose I can't argue with that," she said, now fussing with her hair, which had become extremely untamed during the trip.
"Our restaurant is just a little past the lighthouse," he explained, continuing on causally up the hill, the evening breeze sending ripples across his loose, semi-formal shirt.
"Ahh, I was wondering why we were up here," she said, falling into step beside him, "I mean, it's beautiful, but I didn't think you were hiding a picnic in your pocket."
"Sorry, maybe next time," he replied, flashing her his most charming smile.
"Okay," she nodded. Already, a 'next time' didn't seem like too bad of an idea.
'She didn't say 'we'll see'. That's a good sign…' "Just fair warning: you might be a little overdressed, but it's cool- they'll just think yer rich."
"Which wouldn't be too off-base," she said.
"Exactly," he agreed, "Ah, there we go," he pointed to a well-lit building approximately half a football field away from the lighthouse. It was a small diner, situated near the edge of the cliff overlooking the sea, the neon-red sign atop (which simply read 'EAT') flickering occasionally.
She put a hand to her mouth. "It's…adorable."
"And the food's awesome too," he stated, taking her free hand in his, "C'mon, let's go!" With that he started off towards the structure at a normal person's jog.
Laughing in surprise, she allowed herself to be pulled along. 'Overdressed' was a bit of an understatement, she realized the moment they stepped through the door, but any awkwardness she may have felt soon dissipated. The interior was charming, quaint, and simple and the atmosphere was quiet. Not the stifled, forced quiet of the places she usually dined with her father and his associates, but the comfortable quiet of patrons who seemed to have all left their problems at the door.
Sonic waved casually with his free hand at one or two of the passing waitresses (mostly middle-aged females), all of whom waved back cheerfully, "I know it's probably not like the places you usually go to, but good food can be bought for under $50," he said, leading her towards the back of the restaurant.
"I know," she laughed, "I used to actually eat that sort. Back before the days of State Dinners and personal chefs."
"Guess a lot changes when you're in the spotlight so often, huh?" the blue-furred humanoid asked as he pushed open the door at the back of the diner marked 'To Balcony', his tone fading subtly from jovial to contemplative.
"I'll say," she nodded, "So much so that sometimes I really wonder how much goes by that I don't…" her voice caught in her throat as they stepped out onto the tiny deck overlooking the ocean, "…notice…" she finished quietly.
The last traces of the evening sun, seen mainly through its brilliant plethora of orange and red hues reflected against the partially cloudy skies, shimmered off the calm, ever-moving sea. The salty-air drifted up steadily from the ocean, mixing interestingly with the delicious aromas coming from the kitchens, "Well, the more you have on your plate at once, the less attention you can give to the little things…" he offered, gesturing for her to take a seat at a table close to the edge of the wooden balcony.
"I can't remember that last time I actually had time to enjoy a sunset," she mused, eyes still on the horizon as she sat down.
"Doesn't look that great from our neck of the woods- not through all the smog, anyway…" he added, sliding into the seat across from her.
"True," she nodded, "I never thought I'd miss the suburbs, but the air quality is definitely something to be desired in the middle of a city like ours."
"Yeah, it gets better out towards the outer city where me an' my uncle live," he agreed, his menu sitting untouched in front of him as they patiently awaited their waitress, "Your dad sure picked an odd time to run for office, what with Robotnik and all…"
"It wasn't even completely his choice," she said, chin in one hand, "The humans that are his advisors now approached him with the idea after the previous mayor announced his retirement. Honestly, I could never quite figure out how they talked him into it."
"Dunno- even stranger that they'd pick a humanoid."
"I know…sometime I wonder if they just wanted a scapegoat – someone to take the heat for all this shit and use as an example why we should leave running the country to them…" she frowned, then caught his eye and blushed, "I'm sorry, this isn't exactly standard first-date conversation, is it?"
"Well, political intrigue isn't in my usual range of topics, but it's better than most shoptalk," he chuckled, motioning lazily with one hand for one of his waitress acquaintances to come over.
The woman, 'Lynette' by her name tag, strolled over casually. "Heya hon, good to see ya back. And who's this pretty little thing, hmm?"
"This is my date, Sally," he said as means of introduction, both his arms draped over the back of his chair, his feet tipping his seat incautiously back on two legs, "How's business, Lyn?"
"Not bad for as far out in the sticks as we are," she said, "What can I start you kids off with?"
"Two chili dogs with fries and a large of whatever soda's got the most caffeine," Sonic responded automatically, handing her back his unused menu.
"The usual, got it," she nodded, "And you, sweetie?"
"Oh, er…" Sally stammered, giving her menu another quick skim, "I'll have the same, actually, only I'll have a salad instead of fries."
"Coming right up."
"Wow, I've finally found one," Sonic said, looking across the table at her, impressed.
"One what?"
"A girl who doesn't mind eating," he explained, "Technically I should watch what I eat, bein' on track team an' all, but I never gain an ounce with my metabolism," Sonic sighed, glancing down at his exceedingly thin form, "And then there's the running…"
Blushing, but with a hint of pride in her smile, she told him, "This is the first chance I've gotten to in a while. I'm just glad you don't mind."
"Hey, it's fine by me," he assured her, "Having a good metabolism is like life: gotta enjoy it while it lasts."
"Not a bad motto to live by," she nodded.
"I like to think so," he grinned.
"If we had ordered as soon as we got here, we could've drank to it," she added.
"Damn."
'Goddamn, all these things look exactly alike!' Knuckles growled, narrowly resisting the urge to yank on his dreadlocks in frustration as he wandered around the women's underwear section aimlessly, treading carefully to avoid stepping on any of the garments strewn about the floor by customers simply too inconsiderate and thoughtless to be bothered to clean up after themselves. His mood had deteriorated rapidly over the last hour and a half, from merely surly to downright livid.
It started with the fact that his well-intentioned but mildly irritating human, teenage, female coworkers kept stopping over for a quick giggle, or to offer him some useless bit of advice, but either way it ended with him getting his head-fur or dreads ruffled. Maybe it was that phone-call about the push-up bras that had pushed him to the edge of his patience, but it could have just as easily been the patrons of the store, most of whom (when resisting the urge to give him strange, condescending, or suspicious looks) insisted on asking him questions about things he didn't and never wanted to know- which lead to him having to call over one of the other girls. Which lead to said aforementioned fur problem…
To make matters worse, the 'reshop' (returned items that needed resorting onto the floor to be disgustingly resold) kept piling up. Once he had managed to finally figure out where the hell his first cart of mess belonged, a second and third had already filled up for him at the fitting room, meaning he had to go collect it. Which, again, lead back to the fur-tousling…
As he rounded another identical corner in the veritable maze of fabric, the walkie at his hip buzzed to life. "Hey Knuckles – can you head back over to the fitting room? I've gotta take my lunch before I hit the six-hour mark."
He sighed miserably, removing the portable communication device from its place on the corner of his pocket, "Yeah, sure, I'll be right there…"'Cuz, even more than Lingerie, I totally know what the hell to do in the dressing rooms…'
"Kay, thanks!"
Leaving his cart in the middle of the floor, Knuckles walked through the seemingly endless rows of clothing racks over to the fitting room, shaking his head and muttering grumpily to himself.
From behind a nearby display, watching cautiously as he left, Rouge the Bat let out a sigh of relief. 'Thank goodness…' After getting his message, she'd been hoping to catch up with him – but not here of all places! She couldn't afford to shatter his idealized image of her so soon after she'd finally gotten him to admit he shared her feelings. 'How could I have forgotten he works here?!' she lamented, eyes still on his retreating form, 'Idiot…' She shook her head and turned to depart, and escape the chance of an embarrassing encounter when something sparkly caught her eye. With a wicked grin she glanced back towards the fitting rooms. Maybe this trip wouldn't be a total loss after all…
"Okay, I'm here," the echidna announced as he reached the dressing rooms, "Have a good lunch…"
"You're the best!" the blonde behind the counter chirped, hopping up from her seat, "Be back in a half-hour. Thanks again," she said as she strode past him, running her hand along the top of his head as she went.
Knuckles growled irritably once she was out of earshot, trying to smooth out his fur with one hand as he sat down behind the counter. It wouldn't have been so bad if they all couldn't do it, but being humanoid he had most likely already met his height limitation…
"Well, aren't you popular? Wonder if I should be jealous…"
The red-furred humanoid looked up in a mixture of horror and disbelief, "R-Rouge?" he stammered, jumping up clumsily from his seat, "W-What're you doing here?"
"Shopping," she said casually, "Or maybe I just missed you," she added, leaning over the counter, "The message you left me was very sweet."
He blushed furiously, trying hard not to stare too blatantly at the (perhaps unintentionally provided) excellent shot of her well-developed bosom he now had, "Just tellin' the truth, that's all…" he mumbled.
"Honestly like that deserves a little reward, I think," she said matter-of-factly, straightening up and raising both hands up, revealing a dozen different selections of lingerie in each.
His eyes widened in surprise, his mouth going completely dry in an instant, "Th-the fitting rooms are…back that way," he managed, pointing feebly behind him with one finger.
"Thank you," she said, moving slowly off in that direction, "I'm not sure about some of these, though – I may need your opinion."
Wiping away the tiniest speck of saliva from the corner of his mouth, Knuckles nodded shyly, "Kay…"
"Be back in a bit," she told him, her voice just about as sultry as she could get it (which really didn't take much effort), "Don't run off now."
"R-right," he managed, slumping back down into his seat, 'I'm at work, this just…can't be good…'
Slipping into the nearest stall, Rouge had to cover her mouth to stifle a girlish giggle. 'Talk about spinning circumstances in your favor,' she thought proudly, 'Now let's see…which set to test run first…?'
"Damn that was good," Sonic sighed contentedly, pushing his somewhat messy (albeit empty) plate slightly forward, then he stretched his arms stiffly over his head, "How's yer rabbit food?"
"Not bad," Sally said wryly, "Though any nutritional value it may have had at one time is now drowned in dressing."
"But you have to drown it - lettuce has no taste…" he said in mock-seriousness, lifting his 'Mountain Dew' up to his lips to take a sip.
"Now that we can drink to," she grinned, raising her own glass towards him.
He paused in mid-sip, swallowed quickly, then leaned forward to clink the edge of his glass against hers, "Sounds good to me."
Setting her glass down again, she sat back, sighing contentedly as she watched him chug down the rest of his drink.
"See somethin' ya like?" he asked cheekily, setting his empty cup back down.
Blushing, she straightened up. "N-no, I mean, well yeah, but…"
Sonic smiled, both
elbows resting on the table, his chin held in his hands, "So…you
gonna pick at that all night, or are you ready to hit the
town?"
Still considerably flustered, she took a last look at
her salad before pushing it towards the middle of the table. "I'm
ready. Lead the way."
He stood up eagerly (a twenty dollar bill already nestled under the check, which was partially obscured by the napkin holder), crossing to her side of the table and offering her his hand, "Let's go, Madam Prez."
Rolling her eyes, she took it, and then linked her arm with his. "Where to?"
"Well, we'll see where the winds take us, okay?" He grinned, leading her over to the fence surrounding the edge of the wooden balcony. Below them was a rather steep drop down to the beach. Sonic's eyes lit up in excitement as the cool sea air whipped around him. He swept the chipmunk off her feet, hopping up onto the railing, "Let's go!" Without a second thought, he leapt from the creaky edging.
Sally let out a cry that started as his name and ended in more of a high-pitched shriek as they fell and echoed across the beach, bringing the restaurant staff out in a hurry.
"There he goes again…"
"Hope he doesn't scare the poor girl off, pulling stunts like that."
With his legs moving at super-speed, the hedgehog managed to easily create enough wind resistance beneath him to break his fall. The instant he touched down on the sand they were off again, roaring towards the city, "Whoo!" he cried jubilantly, glancing down at her, his face lit-up like that of a child on Christmas day when presented with the year's haul, "Now that's what I call livin'!"
"Just be sure you don't kill us, okay??" she told him, her voice stern in order to be heard over the wind, but smiling none the less.
"Aww you worry too much- Knux used to do that too, but he's learned by now," he called back, weaving in and out of the bustling inner Oceanopolis traffic as if the vehicles were standing still.
"What are you saying?" she asked, flinching as they passed between two semis heading in opposite directions, "That I should just trust you?"
"That's entirely up to you," he sidestepped up onto the concrete sidewalk, screeching to a halt in front of the entrance to an expansive, city-exclusive outdoor shopping mall, "But I hope you will," he finished quietly, gently lowering her back onto her own two feet,'Dammit, she's taller than I am…'
She eyed him carefully. 'He actually really handsome when he's sincere…'"Well, we're still alive so far," she conceded, "So I guess you're off to a good start."
He took her hand lightly in his, "C'mon, let's do some window shopping- normal speeds only, I promise."
"Sounds good to me," she nodded, interlacing her fingers with his.
"You know, I'm really on the fence about this set," Rouge said, turning before the triple mirrors outside the stalls, "Do you think it rides up too much?"
Knuckles could only stare at the many different angles of Rouge, now clad in what could only politely be described as very risqué lingerie, "S-seems fine to me…" he whispered, simply awestruck by such a display of feminine beauty.
She smirked. "It is a good color for me, and the fabric is comfortable. You sure it looks alright from the back?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him.
He nodded timidly, staring down at her shapely, nearly bare, bottom. It was hard to keep his thoughts in gentlemanly territory when presented with such a prospect…
"That settles it then," said, nodding definitively, hands on her hips, "They go in the 'keeper' pile." She turned, then smiled at her own reflection. "I don't why, but everything always looks so much sexier in heels, don't you think?" she asked, raising one stiletto-clad foot up in a magazine-esque pose.
"Definitely…" he mumbled, crossing one leg conspicuously over the other to hide the most obvious physical betrayal of his attraction to her, 'Dammit I wanna ride that so bad- ahg, fuck, stop it, Knuckles, you know better than to think that way! You're not an animal…'
"Boy, I don't think there's anything here I'm not taking home with me," she said with a laugh, leaning into the stall she'd been using, "You're a very good salesman," she said, flashing him a grin before ducking back inside to change.
"Haha, um, thanks," he smiled weakly, breathing a small sigh of relief, "I guess it's hard to choose just a few things when everything looks so good on you…"
"You are just too sweet," she said, emerging from the stall, fully clothed once again, her arms loaded down with everything she'd tried on.
He blushed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "It's the truth, that's all."
"Well keep it coming, I'm loving it," she said, leaning over to kiss him on the nose, "Call me when you get off work, okay?"
"Okay," he nodded obediently, his mind still reeling from the sensory overload that was Rouge clad only in her underwear, an image he was quite happy to have burned in his mind- it seemed less like he was disrespecting her as a person when his thoughts remained just that (though it still seemed wrong to keep his focus solely on the physical aspect of the intriguing, intelligent, sassy bat).
"See ya later, Red," she told him, shooting him a final wink as she headed off towards the front of the store.
Knuckles slumped down slightly in his chair, "Bye…"
No sooner had she vanished from sight then the girls from the department appeared, seemingly out of thin air, each one smiling broadly. "Who was that, Knuckles??"
The blood that had just begun to recede from his cheeks returned in an instant, bringing reinforcements along with it. He straightened up quickly in his seat, "M-My…girlfriend," he explained hastily, glancing up worriedly at the plethora of young females, 'Kinda like the sound of that, actually, although might not technically be true- we haven't even really been on a date yet…'
Automatically, they all began chattering at once.
"You have a girlfriend and didn't tell us?"
"Damn, she's hot!"
"I'm kinda jealous."
"That's so sweet!"
"She's so lucky!"
"No kidding! A figure like that and him for a boyfriend!"
'I both love and hate my life…' Knuckles sighed, feeling someone's hand begin to (what else?) ruffle his head fur.
"I don't think that's such a good idea, Tails…" Silver said, leaning over the fox's shoulder.
"Silver, you see that computer over there? Feel free to use it to, I dunno, stalk Amy's Facebook or something…" Miles sighed, his video game controller clutched tightly in his hands as he concentrated on the screen.
Face flushed, the white hedgehog pushed off the couch. "I'm not a stalker…" he mumbled as he slid into the desk chair in front of the computer. He didn't need to check Amy's Facebook, or MySpace page, or LiveJournal for that matter. Sonic was off on a date with another girl and he knew exactly what they'd say. And he wasn't sure he could take it…
"Sorry," Tails said, letting out a short groan as his character died yet again. He pressed the 'start' button to pause the game, turning to face the white-furred hedgehog, "I didn't mean it like that; I'm just frustrated at this stupid thing, that's all…" he jerked a thumb back at the screen, "Why don't you just try asking her out sometime?"
"I have," he insisted, swiveling around in the chair, "She just…never realizes that that's what I'm doing…" he finished quietly, forefingers pressed together in front of him.
"Have the words 'would you like to go out sometime?' ever left your mouth?"
"W-w-well, no, but…"
"Here, you take this stupid thing," Tails said, tossing his wireless controller towards Silver, "It's a Friday night, I'm sure Amy's got nothing better to than hang out on AIM and update her blogs; I'll ask her for you."
"Wait what?!"the hedgehog cried, nearly falling out of the chair as he scrambled to catch the device.
Tails hopped over the back of the couch, glad to have free range of the house to himself for once. His parents were out for the night- it was sadly ironic that their son, the younger, supposedly more vibrant, energetic one, was at home playing video games and hanging out with a friend on a Friday night while his parents (essentially ancient by teenage standards!) were out enjoying themselves. He walked over to the computer seat, "Don't worry, I don't mind."
"Yeah but…" Silver's mind was racing, scrambling for a reason to avoid the almost imminent, humiliating, rejection, "Wha…what're you gonna say, exactly…?"
"Nothing much, just that it might be time to move beyond Sonic and you'd like a crack at 'er."
If it were possible, the crystal white hedgehog would've paled. Instead, he went a bit blue in the face. "A…a 'crack' at her…?" he echoed hollowly.
Settling into the seat comfortably, Tails double-clicked the instant messaging icon, quickly booting up the program, "Let's see here…ah, there she is- told ya," the two-tailed fox-humanoid smirked, "So let's say 'hello'…"
Curled up on her bed, surrounded by tear-soaked tissues, in a T-shirt much too big for her petite frame, Amy Rose sniffed feebly, fingers working across her laptop keyboard. Maybe it was silly pouring out her soul to the vast emptiness that was the Internet, but it was the only outlet she had, and it did help a little, getting her feelings into words.
Mid paragraph, she was interrupted by the familiar square pop-up of a new instant message and she paused. 'Tails…wonder what he wants?'
TwotailsMPR:hey there
GhostofaRose:hi
TwotailsMPR:sup?
GhostofaRose:nm – u?
TwotailsMPR:nm. hangin' out w/silver, playin' some video games. ::has very little life::
GhostofaRose: lol
GhostofaRose:s'all good – tell Silver 'hi' for me
TwotailsMPR: can do. guess no babysitting tonight then? (silver's says 'hi')
GhostofaRose:nope, lucked out tonight – at least, it would've been lucky if I ever had plans for the weekend ::also has very little life::
TwotailsMPR: wanna come chill? my rents are out for the night
GhostofaRose:sure - why not? I could use some company. gimme a bit to get my things together and I'll be over in a half-hour or so
TwotailsMPR:awesome! see ya soon!
GhostofaRose:yep! later!
GhostofaRose has signed off.
She shut the laptop and set it aside, then slid off the bed. Half an hour. That gave her 20 minutes to figure out what to wear, and then ten to cross the few blocks between their houses. No sweat.
"There, see? Now you can actually ask her yourself," Tails said proudly, leaning back in his chair.
"She's coming overhere!?" Silver asked in a tone of voice somewhere between terror and panic, no longer looking at the screen (where a bullet had just been put through the back of his character's head- oddly, the hedgehog empathized…).
"Why do you make it sound like a bad thing?" the fox asked, one eyebrow raised, "Didn't you want to see her?"
"W-Well, yeah, of course!" Silver stammered, dropping the controller down onto the couch, "I just thought I'd have a little more time to prepare, that's all…"
"Didn't realize it took gearing up for," the younger humanoid said, bemused, "I guess we should see if my dad's got any clean shirts that'll fit you, though. You got pizza sauce on yours."
"Aw, sonofa- you see! This, this is the kinda shit that happens to me!"
"Do you think if we lived here, this sort of place would lose its appeal?" Sally wondered aloud between licks of her soft-serve ice cream cone as she and Sonic sat on a bench along the outdoor mall's main street.
"Probably," he shrugged, dabbing at his lips with a napkin, "But I think it'd be the same no matter where you live…"
"So the only way to keep the novelty from wearing off would be to keep changing locations before it got the chance," she said, eyes on the scores of passersby.
"That's why I take a cruise around the country most nights," he stated, "Always something new to see, some place new to visit…"
"How much do you think you've seen?" she asked, turning towards him curiously.
"It's a pretty big country," he said evasively, "But enough to know there's a lotta life beyond our crime-ridden city."
"You're lucky," she said airily, "I wish I could see more of it…"
"The night's still young, Princess," he smiled. He stood up, popped the last remainder of his ice cream cone into his mouth, the offered her his hand, "You can have free reign of life as long as you're with me; wanna go see what else Oceanopolis has in store for us?"
Smiling, she polished off her own dessert and took his hand. "Yeah, I do."
"Okay, I think the next place should be open by now."
"I don't care that the ceremony is tomorrow, Alicia, I need you on the next plane now!" Maximillian Acorn cried, pacing about his office, cordless phone in one hand, "You're daughter is out of control!"
"My daughter?" the feminine, somewhat-affronted voice on the other end of the line crackled through (reception between countries could get fuzzy, even in this day and age of modern technology), "Let me explain something about biology to you, bucko…"
The male let out an aggravated sigh, "Alright, alright – our daughter."
"Better," Alicia remarked. She was sitting in her hotel room with only the nightstand lamp on, leaning against the pillows as she worked on typing up her initial notes, one ankle crossed over the other. She adjusted her reading glasses to get a better view of her laptop screen, the cell phone headset saving her the trouble of having to hang on to a phone, "What's the problem this time, Max?"
"…I can't find her."
"…Can't find her?? Max, I know it's a big house, but come on…"
"No, no, that's not what I mean," he groaned, running a hand tiredly through his head-fur, "She had a date tonight with some punk that she neglected to tell me about, so I upped her security and the minute she was out the door, the damn spikehead just took off like a shot! Must be one'a those freaks with 'abilities'; anyways, I don't know where she is- she's not even in the city!"
"You mean she's out? Right now? With a boy?" she asked, ears perked up.
"Dear, why do you sound excited about this? Did you miss the part where she abandoned her detail and left for parts unknown with someone you've never met? Was that not clear?"
"Max, you're overreacting," she said, leaning back against the multitude of pillows the hotel staff had seen fit to provide her with, "Sally's a smart girl, she wouldn't just run off with someone she didn't trust. And I'm sure she has her cell phone on her, right? Didn't you put some sort of crazy tracking device in that thing before we gave it to her?"
"Yes- she's all the way on the other side of the country in Oceanopolis!"
"Wow…the boy really does have a gift doesn't he?"
"I don't like him."
"You're her father – she could bring home the Prince of Allistar and you wouldn't like him."
"I've met the Prince of Allistar- he's a very well-adjusted, polite young man," Max grumbled, sitting down at his desk and opening up his laptop, "I'm emailing you this, this hedgehog's transcripts and disciplinary records from school- he's trouble, I tell you…"
"Alright, I'll look it over on the plane ride back," she said, pulling her e-mail server up, "You really want me to catch a redeye? I can, if you really need me, but my editor's not gonna be happy."
"Tell him that if he has a problem he can get on the damn phone and complain to the Mayor of Mobotropolis," Maximillian stated importantly.
She let out a giggle, "You're awfully sexy when you're self-important, honey."
His ego sufficiently punctured by this one, simple, jab-in-a-compliment, Max slumped down in his seat, flustered, "Very funny, dear…"
"I'm booking a flight now," she told him, "Actually, if I catch the earliest one, I should be back by late tomorrow morning."
"Excellent- that'll give you time to sleep a bit, freshen up, and join me and Sally for the party Saturday night."
"Party? Oh no, not that dreadful 'Night of a Thousand Stuffed Shirts' you're hosting…" she moaned, suddenly remembering why it was she'd agreed to fly half-way around the world to report on a 15 year-old's coronation.
"It's going to be a gala event in honor of the contributors to my last campaign," Max replied stiffly, standing up again to allow him to pace around the room, "And hopefully encourage them to start making re-election donations. And it is not the night of whatever you just said," he snorted.
"Promise me there'll be booze," she sighed, arms splayed out across the much-too-large-for-one-being bed.
"Only if you promise to be a happy drunk after the party's over," he grinned, glancing over at the mostly closed door to the room in a semi-paranoid effort to check for eavesdroppers.
"As long as you provide me the means, I'll be as happy and drunk as I was the night you dragged me into our hotel room after our wedding reception."
He blushed slightly, unable to help but smile, "I'm twenty-five years older than I was then- I'm not sure my back could take you being that wild, but I'll do my best."
"You always do," she said, "That's what I love most about you."
"The fact that my exuding effort impresses you most is worrisome, actually…"
She laughed, "You know what I mean. There are other things I love about you, too – many, many things…"
"Good. Care to list them, one by one with details, right now?"
She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. With the flight she'd just booked she only had a few hours to sleep before she'd be on her way back to her homeland. Then again, who needed sleep when you had a husband at his wits end worrying about a teenage daughter out on her first date in ages? "Certainly…let me see…I think I'll start with your eyes – I've always loved them. The kids got theirs from you, you know."
"Thankfully that's pretty much all they got of mine- you've always been the beauty…and the brains…and until recently the money too…" he laughed, glad for any distraction from his current worries.
"Oh, you give yourself too little credit, Max," she assured him, "Trust me, I didn't marry you just to save myself the hassle of artificial insemination."
"It certainly wasn't for the glory of being the wife of a Mobotropolis public defender," he retorted, "But I'm not complaining- I married up."
She laughed again, "Suppose I can't deny that without insulting myself, so I'll let you have that one."
"Good. Now, you were saying…?"
