Despite his usual arrogant antics, Sonic wasn't without his share of weaknesses, that much he could freely admit. His cool demeanour tended to slip when it came to open bodies of water and he did like to the centre of attention more than he was willing to admit, but neither of those issues were plaguing him today. No, today's grievances were derived from a two related yet contrasting sources; the need to plan and being forced to wait.

His issue with the latter was more obvious, his pseudonym was the blue blur for a reason after all. Sticking around in one place just wasn't his style, he had to feel the beat of ever-changing terrain beneath his sole and watch his surrounding rush by so fast that he could scarcely make them out. No matter how much people watching he did, tapping his right foot all the while, hanging around outside the third costume shop they'd visited today wasn't achieving the same purpose.

A sigh slipped through his lips as he readjusted his grip on the overlarge boxes stacked up to his chin, each of them a different colour and sealed with a bow. He couldn't blame anyone but himself for his present position… but if he was asked, he'd absolutely point fingers at Rouge, Knuckles and the girl he was presently waiting on. His claim for the echidna was admittedly the lousiest, as this was all happening without his knowledge, but he was the central cause. Having heard that the master emerald's guardian had never had a birthday party, the bat had seen fit to organise one. The bat's chosen party type of fancy dress was the hedgehog's reason to blame the girl currently rummaging through boxes and coat-hangers somewhere behind him, trying to pick out matching costumes.

In truth, Sonic knew that his current circumstance was entirely his own fault. Rouge had passed out the invitations months ago and Tails had literally read the letter to him, just to be sure it wasn't forgotten. The fox had also reminded him of all this last week but there being seven days till he had to act meant seven more days to put it off. It'd taken Amy's intervention, a mere half day before the party was set to start, to get him on the right path.

To his credit, while running through station square, Sonic had made a mental note of a hat that seemed to be Knuckles' style and would make for a good enough gift… but the hedgehog hadn't given a single thought to his own costume. Apparently being fashionably late and undressed for a surprise costume party was too much of a faux pas. Well, he knew it was but that didn't mean it hadn't been destined to happen.

Amy had dragged him out to buy the hat on the spot before insisting that she would help him pick out an outfit. The serious yet excited look on her face had left him unable to come up with a quip or excuse. He supposed he could just have run, just as he could now, but he'd told himself if he showed up late after her offer she'd have a genuine excuse to be mad at him. That was what he'd told himself, but the truth was that his inability to refuse the pink hedgehog was third weakness of his, especially when she'd so plainly planned this out. She'd probably known this was how it'd all play out upon first reading her own invitation.

Her aid had come with a few catches, the first being his status as her luggage caddy for the day; that wasn't so bad, though he couldn't help feeling the boxes were meant to weigh him down. It was the other two that were filling his stomach with butterflies; he wasn't allowed to pick out what he'd be wearing, and he had to stand outside while she picked out all the pieces. He'd stepped into the first costume shop and been overly thoroughly measured before being promptly kicked out. Every garb and accessory she'd brought out since was so thoroughly packaged that he had no chance of guessing what was in store.

He'd tried not to think too about it too much, but boredom had made him laps a handful of times. They were here for his costume, not hers, which implied Amy had already picked out what she was wearing. The moment she'd insisted on her plan he'd known they'd end up matching or contrasting in some way, and that'd only fed his potential embarrassment. The most savoury hypothetical that he'd managed to imagine was that he'd be the knight to her princess, at least the visor of his helmet would hide his embarrassment. With Amy at the reigns though, and all the time she'd had to plan, he really doubted it'd be so simple.

Sonic shut his eyes and leaned harder against the side of the building; just how much longer would she take? They'd been to three different costume shops, three! Whatever she had planned had to be elaborate; he would have picked up whatever was nearest the door and called it a day or wrapped himself in toilet roll and claim to be a mummy.

Amy plainly had a vision for what he was going to wear. Maybe she'd pull something specific from one of those corny romantic movies she liked to watch? Perhaps he'd end up more princely than knightly, dressed in some overly restrictive ensemble? That was what bugged him the most, not something he didn't like but that it'd keep him from movi-

"I should have known I'd find you here, Big Blue," He didn't have to open his eyes to know who'd said that; he fought to make his grimace a grin.

"Long time no see, Rouge," Sonic said, keeping his eyes shut so as to avoid the smirk that was surely on her face, "I figured you'd have already picked out your outfit, given that you planned this whole shindig."

"Oh I have, you don't have to worry about that sugar," The hedgehog couldn't help but hear another set of footsteps come to a halt just in front of him, "Why don't you go stand next to him, Shadow. You two are matching after all."

At that, Sonic's eyes snapped open. Rouge nigh perpetual flirtatious gaze was present, as expected, but just left of her was a figure more obscured by boxes than he was. If it wasn't for the dark quills poking out from both sides of the tower, and the presence of some metal boots, identification would have been impossible. Without warning, the figure stepped directly toward him, clearly unable to tell where it was going. Sonic took a step to the left only for Shadow to fill where he'd been standing.

"I'm glad I left sorting Red's outfit to Tails, Amy must have predicted I'd have my hands full," That was a half-truth, Amy and Tails had talked the bat into handing over that job after hearing what she'd schemed for the guardian, "I'll see you tonight then, assumedly on Amy's arm?"

The bat slinked off laughing through the automatic doors, only half covering her mouth with her hand. As soon as she was out of view, the blue blur returned to his prior head raised and eyes closed position. That was just a taste of what was to come tonight… at least the birthday boy would get a laugh out of it.

He opened one eye, glancing to his partner in embarrassment. Though the black hedgehog was a natural scowler, but the look on his face was truly tremendous. He was staring into the box in front of his head as though he was willing it to explode. It looked like, at any second, he might just faint beneath his own exhaustion and frustration at this whole situation.

Seeing a silver lining to this dower situation, and an opportunity to distract himself, Sonic opened his mouth, "So, Shad-

"Not a word," Shadow cut him off, "I'll be dealing with your nonsense enough later, I'm sure."

"Aww, come on, I want to guess what you're going as. Rouge has a sense of humour; it'll be something like a vampire, right? That way it won't be hard for you to stay in character," Sonic teased.

For a moment, icy silence hung in the air. The dark hedgehog's eyes closed, "I don't care what she's picking out."

"W-Wait, you trusted Rouge to pick your outfit?" After he asked that though, realisation struck him. Trust had nothing to do with it.

"I don't care," Shadow flatly insisted.

"That's what your mouth says, but your face says you didn't have a choice," The blue blur smirked, "Amy stopped her from picking Knuckles' costume for a reason you-

The sound of the automatic doors sliding open, and the footfalls derived from a familiar set of boots cut Sonic off. His blood ran cold as a long box was added as a new peak for the mountain he was carrying. He scarcely managed to see a set of pink ears line up in front of him.

"Alright my darling, that'll do," Amy Rose had returned, Amy Rose had finished her creation, "Let's get you home and try it all on!"

"Alright, let's do it," He managed to grin as he poked his head around, locking eyes with the girl in red.

Immediately he was of two halves, the look on her face had split him in twain. She was beaming with excitement; the red on her cheeks, the smile on her muzzle and brightness in her eyes was overbearing. The hedgehog was so plainly happy with what she'd made, so overjoyed that all she'd planned had come together. That happiness struck him to his core and made the waiting worth it, but it also brought him certainty that this outfit would be his undoing.

She only managed to walk a couple of paces, her happiness unyieldingly blunt in her step, when she came to a sudden halt and looked to her left, "Shadow? Is that you?"

The set of legs beneath a mound of boxes gave no response, so Sonic spoke for it, "Rouge is picking his outfit for tonight."

"Oh, Shadow…" The sympathy in Amy's voice only lasted for a moment, being quickly replaced by a lecturing tone as she puffed up her cheeks, "Well, after tonight I'm sure you'll have learned your lesson, just as I'm sure my darling Sonic will."

Up until her last claim, seeing Amy talk down to the once named ultimate life form had been the highlight of the speedster's day. Instead, it was just another source of conflicting joy and fear. Like two ships crossing in the night, without another word, Sonic walked past Shadow to catch up with Amy.

He wasn't used to moving like this, walking slow to keep everything balanced. Usually, the only thing he could see was what was directly in front of him, now he was reliant on Amy to carve him a path through the people walking Station Square. Just looking at her from behind all these boxes, the sight of her red dress and boots, was conjuring more theories. He'd ended up a werehog due to one of Eggman's schemes, would she make herself red riding hood? Maybe they'd visited so many places because she'd been looking to perfectly recreate that style?

Haphazardly poking his head out from behind the pile, seeing an opening, he rushed forward to walk next to her, "So…"

"So?" She cocked her head, plainly already aware of what he was going to ask but enjoying dragging it out.

"Now that you've picked everything out, I get to know what I'll be dressed as. That was the deal," He reminded her.

"The deal was that I get to pick out your outfit and you don't get to know what it is," She responded, rubbing her chin and pretending to be in deep thought, "I don't remember saying I had to tell you what it was."

"So, I can just open the boxes now?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well, I didn't say that," A sing song tone had entered her voice, "Besides, do you want to reveal my decision with all these eyes around?" That was a fair point, if he was set to be the nutcracker for an evening, he didn't much want to pull the outfit out now, "My flat's just a couple blocks away, after all this, I'm sure you can wait five more minutes."

"Just five minutes till the embarrassment really starts," He hummed, being forced in behind her by the passing of a group.

"Don't you trust me, my darling?" She sounded from ahead.

"Ames, I trust you with my life," Sonic honestly responded, but he wanted to match her teasing, "But I know not to trust you with the little things, you know you can take advantage of those."

"Well, if my choice really embarrasses you, we can always swap. I'm sure I'll look quite dashing in what I've picked you out, almost as handsome as you would," She grinned back at him again and he had to duck behind the boxes, for whatever reason his face felt hot.

"Y-Yeah, well," He muttered, biting his tongue. The only comebacks the came to mind played similarly to the half compliment she'd just given; he didn't have the will for that sort of teasing right now.

As a result of his heavy tongue, the remaining walk back to her place was relatively quiet and left him with far too much time for speculation. The elevator trip up to her apartment was even more difficult, being side by side with her meant perpetually catching her excited grin and the dual mirrors in the metal box didn't much help him avoid it. Amy Rose would never truly hurt him, physically or emotionally, he knew that for sure, but teasing was more than fair game. After all the times he'd jokingly run off and talked about dates, this did rather feel like karma.

He didn't drag his feet though as they alighted the elevator and took the small walk to her door. The instant it was unlocked however, the scent of flowers just about knocked him from his feet. He'd been in Amy's flat a handful of times, mostly just to escape the rain or crash for a night, and it never failed to perfectly reflect its inhabitant.

It was as if he'd stepped into valentine's day as he made his way through the door and into her combined kitchen-dining room; pink, red and white were absolutely everywhere, from the tablecloth to the walls to the painted wooden fixtures. Even in the middle of the table, perfectly pristine and unwilted, sat a large bouquet that contained half a dozen red roses and various pink flowers he couldn't identify. Admittedly only this room was that overpowering, her living room was far more regular looking, but the space's first impression was certainly strong.

Finally, Sonic managed to set down the ludicrous pile of boxes on the kitchen table. Quickly, he managed to separate out the round ribboned hatbox that contained his gift for Knuckles and set it aside. A cold sweat swept down his back as he looked upon the four other boxes, he'd been made to carry for so long. While only one of them truly had any heft, Amy had made sure to have them sealed as though they were presents. The serious of difficult to carry shapes this had resulted in were not only difficult to carry but truly gave zero clarity regarding their contents. If he had to guess, he'd say the heaviest box contained shoes, but he didn't have to wait any longer!

As Sonic reached to undo the first bow however, a single finger came down to hold the knot in place, "Not yet, my darling."

"Eh?" He looked up only to be met with the pink hedgehog's bright green eyes, "What's holding up the show?"

"What you said before hurt me so badly," Amy pouted, "I need to prove that you can trust me with the silly little things."

"What're you getting at Ames?" His bit back a stutter, totally lost about what was on its way.

Bounce still in her step despite the theatrics, the pink hedgehog slipped around the table and into her kitchen. She quickly returned with a pink dishtowel in her hands and a cunning look in her eyes. Immediately Sonic understood her plan and an embarrassed, wiry, smile crept onto his lips.

"I said you don't get to know what your costume is," When it became apparent that he didn't understand her plan, she smiled oh so sweetly, "If your blindfolded, you'll have to trust me to put your costume on."

"Really, Ames? I can't even dress myself?" He snorted, trying to play off her suggestion as a joke.

"Well, considering your usual attire, I'm not sure you know how to," She only half fought back her laugh, "Have you ever even worn a shirt?"

"I've…" His mind went blank as he thought back, "Worn jackets?"

"You never even button them up though. You just sling them over your shoulders and decide that's good enough, regardless of the weather," She correctly established, but, rather than cockiness or excitement, a certain sincerity crossed her face, "I want your first view of it to be the full picture, everything put together," She seemed to be aware of just how foolish this was, but it seemed like she'd planned it too, "There's not that much to it, just some accessories, it'll barely take me five minutes."

Sonic hesitated, feeling his face grow warmer. He'd said no to Amy in embarrassing situations like this countless times, she'd ask for a date and he'd run off and she'd follow, that was the way things worked. Sure, he'd let her catch up in the end and they'd hang out for a while, usually doing something close to what she had planned, but by that time he'd have cooled off and come up with quips. With how late he'd left all this, there was no time or space to run. Unless he truly said no to her, he'd just had to face whatever she'd schemed up. Though he said no to her a lot, it'd never been wholeheartedly.

"At this point, what's five more minutes," He sighed, running his hand through his quills, "If it's really what you want, then fine," It was just so embarrassing, he had to do something, "No pictures or anything until after I've seen it though, alright?"

By the time he'd dared look down her eyes were sparkling like emeralds, enthusiasm had claimed her, "Deal!" She pushed the tablecloth into his gut, practically bouncing, "Put it on and don't peek, I'll try to be quick."

Swallowing his embarrassment, the hedgehog tied the cloth behind his head. For a moment there was silence between them, by the wind on his nose he could tell she was doing something to check he was truly blinded.

Suddenly, a set of hands were on his shoulders, "You'll need to bend down just a little," He acquiesced immediately, and her fingers left him, "Now, where to start…"

"The beginning probably," His nerves had forced a quip loose, he really hoped his muzzle wasn't as red as it felt.

Her snort, followed by the shifting of boxes, only made that heat worse. Something about her contact, so gentle when she knew she could be so strong, struck a chord deep in his gut. Amy rivalled Knuckles in terms of strength, Sonic had seen her swing her hammer hard enough to behead metallic titans. Having her take control away from him and then so gently ask him for something she could take was just so heart wrenching yet surreal.

Her next contact sent the same static up his spine; she took hold of his right hand, raising it to be more accessible. Her fingers went from loosely locked around his wrist to fiddling with the hem of his glove and soon that garment was fully removed. Soon after, equally gently, a glove made from a thicker material with a wider cuff made its way onto his hand.

Reflexively, Sonic raised his left for easy access only to hear, "Thank you," Uttered in response.

Trying to guess an outfit from the internal feeling of a single glove was foolish at best but when he closed his fist, he didn't feel pointed nails. Well, that probably ruled out him going as the werehog. Puzzlement crept into his mind again as she finished with the left hand; the gloves were matching, that was clear.

Before he could think any further, her voice caught his ears, "Turn around."

He spun on his heel, trying to make the action look cooler than it had any right to be. The hedgehog felt anything but cool however when she stretched over his back, pressing a loose shirt to his back before pulling the sleeves along his arms. It took her a little bit of shifting to fit the holes in its back, likely custom cut in the shop to fit his spines. He managed to keep cool until she moved at his neck, plainly fiddling with the shirt's collar, before reaching around to do up his buttons. Did there have to be so many of them? This was why he never closed his jackets, it felt so restrictive! He was getting hotter and hotter in the face.

Well, it was a fun excuse to think about. She seemed to hang on the top two sets of buttons for a moment, as if debating closing them, before opting not to. Now with two distinct articles of clothing on, Sonic had no idea what he was set to be, but he felt reasonably confident ruling out that they were going as a knight and a princess. The next garb served to confirm that theory, it was some sort of loose waistcoat that she'd slung over his shoulders like he would a regular jacket.

Things got more confusing with the addition of what felt to be a large belt that was tied around his waist. That wasn't too bad but then he felt another's buckle on his shoulder, soon followed by her hand slipping beneath the supposed waistcoat and around his back; for whatever reason, she'd opted to bring that second belt out through one of the spine holes in his back. It was so bizarre, was there something on the belt? He was getting the feeling that he was being dressed as some sort of handsome prince when she reached for his midriff again, looping something new across the belt on his gut.

"A-Are we about done?" His stutter caught him off guard and shut him up.

"Very almost," She sounded so pleased with herself, but that sound was followed by the dragging of a chair across carpet followed by her hands again arriving on his shoulders, "Sit down, the chair's just behind you."

He followed her lead only to then feel her, left hand grazing across her shoulders, walk around to face his front. After a little bit more shuffling he felt her hands in his quills and was relatively confident a crown of some sort was coming. The end result was strange though, he felt something pass between his quills and then heard the familiar sound of fabric knotting. As if that wasn't a strange enough addition, the touch of her hand on his ear was followed by something cool and metallic being left behind. If he was set to be a prince, it wasn't like any he could visualise.

"Wait right there, don't peek, I need to get one last thing!" The excitement had put a tremble into her voice, matched only by the sound of the skip in her step as she rushed past him and through a door.

They hadn't been exceptionally talkative, but something about the still silence her absence brought perturbed him. Once again, he had been forced into a position of patience. There was a reason he was known as the blue blur and not the azure anchor, stillness like this, unless he was snoozing or distracting himself some other way, just wasn't his style. Though his face felt cooler, his thoughts were lingering on the various sites she'd made contact across his body. Words like intimate weren't commonly thought of, let alone used, by the hedgehog, but feeling her fasten button after button couldn't have been described any other day.

She was just so bouncy and jubilant most of the time, capable of throwing herself at him without a care. Amy Rose wasn't afraid to use her strength, in moments of need and casual excitement, but her potential for softness always hung beneath those efforts. He'd seen her gently look after Cream and handle flowers with such softness. She was an adventure in and of herself, capable of being so surprising. Maybe that was why, no longer how far or for how long he ran, he'd always let her catch him again, eventually.

Sonic heard the door reopen, but Amy's pace was bizarrely slow. He could hear the rubbing of fabric and the pad of very slow footsteps. Was she wearing some sort of long dress? That would validate his prince and princess theory, but he really didn't feel like what he understood of his outfit matched it. The fabric rubbing sounded like some sort of strange flapping, it was as if she was waddling in her rapid approach.

"Here's the final part of your ensemble, just a little something for you to carry!" She shouted bringing his head to snap, eyes still blind.

"Ames, wha-

He was cut off by a sudden form jumping into his lap, a form that weighted the exact same as Amy Rose but was weirdly textured. Whatever she was wearing, it was covered the entirety of her lower half. Anticipation and contemplation built toward climax as he felt her hands on her shoulders again. The feeling of her wrists sliding beyond the sides of his head absolutely renewed the warmth on his muzzle.

While his vision had been very red, the blindfold had been thin enough that his eyes barely had to adjust. He was greeted by Amy's green eyes and wide grin first, but his eyes were quickly drawn to her forehead and a seashell headdress. From there his gaze was brought down and came to collide with a loose-fitting red shirt. Its sleeves were long rippling, almost like there were waves in fabric. Just beneath her midriff, he identified the source of her slow movement; made of what looked to be a red plastic material, dotted with sequins, was a fish tail.

As he looked down at himself too, it all clicked. Brown mariners gloves for handling ropes, a loose white shirt, a blue overcoat, buckles and belts and sashes. Sonic reached up, feeling what she'd attached to his ear and put through his quills, he was wearing an earring and an orange bandana. She'd made him pirate and herself a mermaid.

"Do you trust me now?" Mermaid spoke with mocking befitting of his stupidity.

"With my life," The pirate cheekily grinned back.

"What about with everything else?" She asked, putting on a joking pout.

"Well," He stuck his tongue out, "I trust you with my outfit at least."

"I suppose that's a start," Amy hummed, "I'll be trusting you to carry me to Tails' airship and back here tonight, I'm afraid that walking's not my strong suit."

"Well, swimming up to a flying island does sound difficult," He mock rubbed his chin, in thought.

"And I've got just the thing to help you," She reached across and knocked the top off the last, and heaviest, of the boxes. Hitched on two of her fingers, up came a set of brown, "I figured, unlike everything else, you could handle the shoes," A grin, more teasing than any prior, claimed her muzzle, "You're used to those after all."

He took them from her, matching her expression, "Didn't want to leave the gloves up to chance though, good call."

"Well, it's not every day you let me hold your hand," She repositioned herself, sliding to rest her shoulder on his, "So, seems like I planned this all pretty well then."

"I can't deny it," He shrugged, more than content. Sure it was all a little tight around the chest, but it could be worse and at least his legs were free.

"I'd love to bask in this more, but we should probably get going, the actual party still needs set up and it seems like Rouge could use the extra hands," The pink hedgehog leaned up and reached for the table, gathering up the boxes that contained their respective gifts for Knuckles and the keys to her flat.

"Only one set of feet though, apparently," Sonic joked, shifting to hold her before rising, only to be struck with a realisation, "With us decked out like this, Shadow's gotta have drawn the short straw."

"Try not to tease him too much, he'll be embarrassed enough as it is," Amy half insisted as she was walked toward the door.

Between her as the arms and him as the legs, they managed to make it out and close the door, "Yeah well, if he's hit rock bottom then I can't push him down any lower."

Their back and forth over how much to tease Shadow didn't get very far by the time they'd reached the bottom floor. The moment they arrived there though, the talk didn't stand a chance of surviving; with Amy in his arms, Sonic shot off like a rocket. He tore across pavement, skidding and weaving around people and over roads as if they were nothing.

In a matter of moments they'd reached the city's edge and then, a further three moments later, they'd ran across enough green grass to sight Tail's workshop. Above, just visible from this distance, Angel Island was hanging. He couldn't help thinking that Knucklehead would probably be surprised he'd shown up on time, let alone with a halfway decent gift and a good outfit. It'd be a surprise within the greater surprise.

The hedgehog duo slid into the open door of the massive workshop, finding the scent of oil quickly caught up with them. At the heart of the space stood the overlarge plane that Tails had modified to transport not only the party people but the party goods. The mechanic himself was to the back of the room and looked to have just finished putting on his own costume. It was jokingly low tech compared to his usual work, plainly made from carboard boxes with slap on buttons made from loose junk, but the youngster had made himself into a carboard robot. He'd scarcely be identifiable if it wasn't for the outfit's cut face and tail holes.

"Hey Tails," Sonic called across, getting his attention, "Cool costume!"

"You look so cute!" Amy shouted from his arms.

"Thanks guys," The youngster beamed before throwing a knowing look, "I see Amy caught up with you."

"Well, I mean, it looks more like I caught her," Once the words fell from his mouth, he realised he hadn't played this whole situation off as well as he'd planned. Instead, he tried to change the subject, "What did you end up picking out for Knuckles?"

"Oh, I just put the finishing touches on it," He picked up what looked to be a heavy-duty briefcase, flipping it open, "I figured he'd want something cool and practical, something that could double as a proper gift."

Inside was a set of ornate hand axes, a metal breastplate, a pair of metal shoes and a traditional knight's helm. The whole get up was admittedly giving Sonic some very strange flashbacks to events he was only half certain were dreamed, but he couldn't deny that the metalwork looked superb. It was all exactly to Knuckles' style and, if that perhaps dream was to be believed, it'd look great on-

The sound of fast moment coming to a sudden stop, punctuated by three quick footsteps, pulled the blue blur from his thoughts. That was a sound Sonic knew well and could only associate with one prickly fella. It was finally time to see what the bat had made of him.

"Hey Big Blue, fancy seeing you here on ti-

In an instant, the prior gloating confidence seemed to hitch in Rouge throat as Sonic turned and the two pairs came eye to eye. The blue blur found his counterpart dressed in red and brown, with knotted ropes punctuating leather shoes and gloves. A belt with a golden buckle, a red overcoat with shoulder flares, a tricorn hat and an eyepatch made for a dissimilar yet still much too familiar view. The familiarity was again shoved to the forefront with Rouge, the tail that'd come to replace her legs was black and she'd opted for a pale crop top with a matching shark tooth necklace, but the intent so blatantly matched Amy.

Somehow, just as they'd ended up at the same costume shop, both girls had settled on the same concept to share with their partners who'd waited far too long to pick out an outfit.

"Well," Rouge blinked, for once entirely deadpan and serious, "Two of us need to change."