i'm trying to finish off some half-completed pieces in my drafts so behold, whatever this is. it was originally supposed to be my entry for last years sonamy week prompt: gender bender but clearly i never got it done on time (shocker lol) hope you enjoy!

i'm gonna need those scissors

Sonic brushed her quills out of her face with an air of exasperation. Chaos, those things were getting long. She couldn't even remember when she'd last gotten them cut. Perhaps it was that time she'd gotten so impatient she'd hacked them off herself only to be met with the horrified looks of her friends as she reappeared with choppy, uneven quills.

She'd never received a reception quite like that ever since, she thought with a smile, jolting to a stop as she reached into her quills for a spare hair tie. She blew an annoyed raspberry as her hands came up empty, finding only the spare chaos emerald she kept on hand for emergencies.

It must have fallen out on one of her countless runs across the globe she decided, lifting an unruly bang from her face and scrutinising it in the sunlight.

Perhaps cutting her quills herself wasn't such a terrible idea. She'd already practiced once after all; how much worse could she possibly do a second time? And anyway, anything was better than having it crowding her vision all the time.

The girl blew the overgrown bang out of her face and took her bearings.

Ames didn't live too far. He would definitely have some scissors lying around somewhere or other she concluded, spinning on her heel as she headed towards the outskirts of town. She dragged her feet to a stop as she spotted his house in the distance.

From her vantage point, she could see a pop of pink floating around the garden and she smiled instinctively. It was just like Ames to make the most of the gorgeous sunshine by tending to the flower garden, his pride and joy.

She would never admit it to him, but his garden with all its lush foliage and vast array of plants was one of her favourite places in the world – and Sonic had seen a lot of the world.

"Hey bud," she called as she neared, pushing open the gate hard enough that the momentum meant it swung shut behind her. The move had taken her a long while to perfect, much to Ames' annoyance. "How goes it?"

Ames' pink head popped up from behind some nearby shrubbery with a wide grin. "Sonic!" he called happily, rushing over and pulling her into a tight hug.

"Come on Ames, let a girl breathe," she groaned through his bone crushing hug.

He released her with a bright smile. "What brings you my way?" he asked happily, his green eyes sparkling like emeralds in the sunlight.

The boy had let his hair grow out past his shoulders and the usually loose quills were tied back in a loose ponytail as he worked, a style she found suited him much more than it ever had her.

"Well, actually," Sonic drawled, pulling out her infamous grin. Ames' face dropped instantly, and he took a cautious step away from her.

"Oh no," he muttered. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"I'm gonna need those scissors," Sonic said plainly, pointing to the garden shears in the boy's hands. Ames pulled them close to his chest with a frown, shaking his head.

"Yeah … that's not happening."

"Oh, come on. I'm sick of all this … inconvenience!" she said groaned, tugging her quills out to demonstrate. "Everything I do ends up with me getting a mouthful of my own quills. And believe me when I say, my shampoo does not taste as good as it smells."

Ames pouted his lips, clutching tightly to the shears in his hands as if he feared Sonic might attempt to grab them from him – and if she was being honest, she had considered the thought – but then he said something that surprised even her.

"Let me cut it for you."

Sonic bit her lip as she considered the offer. She doubted Ames had ever cut any hair that wasn't his own, but there was no way he could be as bad as she was. And if that was what it took to achieve shorter quills, then sure, why not let him cut it.

"Alright," she agreed, and a wide grin spread across her friend's face.

Minutes later Sonic found herself standing in the bathroom as Ames whipped out a folding chair from seemingly nowhere. "Here, sit down," he said, angling the chair so it faced away from the mirror.

"Where did you get that from?" Sonic asked as she took a seat, craning her head back to try and catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror. It was no use. With Ames stood behind her, she couldn't see a thing, which she supposed had been his intent in the first place.

"I'm prepared for anything," Ames said and Sonic frowned, unsure what to make of the statement as she sat back, waiting for the whole ordeal to be over with.

The first snip echoed in her ear's moments later, followed by another and another. Ames parted her quills this way and that, the scissors flashing as he cut away at small sections at a time. Sonic was surprised at how easy he was making this look. At one point, she was sure she'd caught him smelling her hair and had to bite her lip to hide her smile.

When it came time to cut the bangs at the front of her head, she was already tapping her foot impatiently on the tiles below. "Will you cut that out," Ames said, kneeling beside her as he lifted the hair at her forehead. "You're making me nervous."

"Sorry," she grumbled back, forcing her feet to still. Her eyes drifted towards Ames, and she was surprised to see the intense look in his eyes as he snipped away at her quills. She'd never really noticed how handsome he was before, but up close, it was undeniable.

Ames had the cheekbones of a god. Sonic was almost tempted to reach out and touch them, and if not for the unfamiliar way her cheeks were blazing at the thought, she actually might have.

"Are you done yet?" she snapped irritably, trying to distract herself from the way he was suddenly making her feel. He shook his head, pausing as he caught sight of her face before moving on with a little frown.

After several long minutes, or maybe longer - Sonic had gotten bored and given up keeping track of the time – Ames stepped back with a proud look in his eyes.

"Ta-dah!"

Without waiting for any other instruction, Sonic jumped to her feet and stepped up to the mirror. Her mouth fell open in shock as she caught sight of the hedgehog who stared back at her.

She leaned in closer in disbelief, reaching up to touch her much shorter quills. They still framed her face in a shock of cerulean blue and still had the wild quality she loved, but they were also … pretty.

That was the only way she could describe the cut Ames had given her and she saw him watching her in the mirror, wondering where on earth he had learned to cut so well. "It … it's incredible," she said softly, turning toward the real Ames whose gaze turned shy at her attention.

"I'm glad," he said, already beginning to clear away the mess of quills that had fallen to the bathroom floor. Sonic stepped closer, reaching out a hand towards him before changing her mind and grabbing the chair instead.

Ames didn't seem to have noticed and she was glad, not quite sure why she had wanted to touch him in the first place. That same burning sensation flooded her cheeks again and she frowned as she packed up the chair.

"Thanks again Ames," Sonic said as the pair found themselves out in the garden again a little while later. She reached for the ends, bobbing them dramatically. "I really do love it."

"It was nothing," Ames said humbly. "Will you be on your way now?"

His face remained as bright and smiling as before, but Sonic noticed the slight note of sadness in his tone and knew she didn't want to leave just yet.

"Actually, I was hoping I could stick around for a while. Maybe I could cut some shrubs to repay you," she said with a smirk.

"Please don't," Ames responded, looking horrified at the prospect of her being anywhere near his precious plants with anything sharper than a cushion.

"Or I could just stick around and keep you company," she amended, watching as his face softened. He picked up his scissors and she followed after him as he headed towards the roses at the far side of the garden.

"Hey, Ames," she called out as she traipsed behind him. "Will you cut my hair for me next time too?"

He didn't stop walking, but he did turn to look at her over his shoulder with a small smile. "I'd like that."

"Me too," she said quietly, a small smile of her own greeting his. Sonic wasn't sure what the strange fluttering sensation in her stomach was, but she found it wasn't entirely unpleasant.

She was very much looking forward to her next haircut.

thank you so much for reading! just a heads up, this is going to be the last instalment in this collection (twenty-five is a nice number to end on, i think) i hope you enjoyed all the stories and had a good time. stay safe out there folks, and maybe i'll see you in another collection in the future, who knows. until then, chao for now :)