"Okay, okay," she wheezes out," next question."
He draws in a quick breath, trying to keep from laughing. "Who went last time?"
"Uh, I think I did," she answers, gaze dropping briefly to the cards in her hands. Drawing one out, she hands it facedown to him.
"Hmm."
"What?"
He looks up, an amused light in his eyes. "You drew this one on purpose."
"No, I didn't."
"You totally did," he grins. "I mean, favorite flower? That has your name all over it." She rolls her eyes.
"Look, just because I have Rose in my name doesn't mean - "
"Yeah, yeah," he says. "Don't think I didn't know about that garden of yours." Her mouth falls open, and in the back of his mind he could almost think that the flustered expression she wears is cute. Watching her lightly blush and avert her eyes from his staring only deepens the thought, and his smile grows.
"How did you know about that?" she finally asks.
"Cream told me."
A sigh.
He pushes her playfully. "Oh come on, the garden couldn't be that secret, right? I'd honestly be more surprised if you didn't have one." She shakes her head.
"It wasn't really a secret," she says with a distant look, "more like a surprise." He raises an eye ridge at that. "I wanted to plant a specific kind of flower and - " she fidgets for a moment " - give it to you."
"...Oh," is all he can manage to say. There's a strange twinge of his heart at the confession that he's not quite sure what to make of.
A few beats of awkward silence (is it awkward? He can't focus enough on the present to tell) lingers before she speaks, albeit with a forced cheerfulness. "But to answer your question, my favorite flower is..."
"Sonic?"
He snaps out of his trance on the television, looking over at an expectant fox. "What is it?"
In response, Tails lifts up a box of chocolates. Sonic stares a moment before his face lights up.
"Looks like someone has a secret admirer, huh?" he chuckles. "But aren't they sending it a little too early? January just started."
"No, actually, Amy made these."
"...Ah," he says. "So - "
"She used dark chocolate, though," Tails says, "and I'm not really a fan. You think you could return it to her?"
"Why can't you do it?"
"Because I'm busy."
"Then do it when you're not busy."
"That won't be for a while. So you go."
"...There's something you want me to get, isn't there?"
"Ran out of speed tape."
He sighs and shakes his head. "You'll have made so many changes to that plane by the time it's retired I won't even recognize it!"
"Oh, Sonic," Amy says before she even has the door open all the way. "What brings you here?"
He taps his fingers once against the box before pulling it around into her sight. "Tails doesn't really like dark chocolate, so - "
"Oh!" She takes the sweets, holding it gingerly in her hands. "Sorry, it was all I had left."
He waves it off.
"So..." She looks a bit nervous.
"Uh, so - I gotta get going - "
"You wanna come inside?"
They pause. Amy looks down at the chocolates, a faint tinge of pink dusted across her face. "Sorry. You probably have things to do, huh?"
For some reason, he wants to say that he doesn't.
"Yeah...I gotta get something for Tails. For his project. Science stuff, you know?"
"Yeah," she echoes, still staring at the box.
"But, um, maybe later, we can go somewhere?" She looks up at that with a hopeful air.
"Really?"
"Yeah," he says, a bit more confident. "There's a bunch of cool - heh, pun intended - ice caves just outside of Holoska I've been meaning to check out, if you wanna come with..."
She smiles at him. He can't help but return it. "I'd love that! Come by tomorrow morning, then?" He nods. She squeals in excitement, the blush more prominent. He could almost think that she looks adorable this way.
As he leaves - for some reason he's not quite sure of - he feels incredibly light.
"I hate this," she bemoans. He slides back in front of her, reaching out a hand. She quickly takes hold, putting all of her weight onto it. "How do people stay balanced on these things?"
"Just practice."
She lets go and holds her arms out, still barely keeping upright. "I wish Shadow was here to help."
Sonic pretends to be hurt. She just rolls her eyes at him. "You gotta admit, he is better at this than you are." He dramatically clutches his hand over his heart, mustering the best look of betrayal he can. But it isn't long before they're both laughing.
"Hey, look."
"What?"
He nods towards her shoes. "You're standing perfectly still." He flashes a grin. "Guess you're a fast learner."
She giggles. "Yeah. Guess I don't need Shadow after all." He pretends to be relieved and she laughs.
She has the best laugh.
"I do?" she questions, and he freezes. A fitting pun, he considers, given their environment.
"Did I say that out loud?"
Amy stares at him, looking as lost as he feels. Wait - no - she's red now, shifting her gaze away. "Thank you," she says. "I like your laugh too."
For eternity there is silence. It is almost deafening.
There's something about the way the air is visible when she exhales, past her too cold lips, and he feels like he should say something before it gets too awkward.
He doesn't speak.
Instead, she cups her hands to her face, shivering slightly. "We should...probably go back to the village," she decides. "They'll have a fire there, and we can warm up."
All he can do is nod.
The sound of the alarm is an unwelcome one, but persistent. He cracks an eye open, groaning when he sees that it's 4 AM. Before he can turn it off, Tails speeds into his room frantically, yelling something incomprehensible as the alarm splinters and flies everywhere.
Fully awake now, Sonic sits straight up, watching in disbelief as Tails mercilessly attacks the clock. "What...what are you doing?"
"The alarms have been driving me crazy for days!" the fox shouts, glaring at the device. "I've been trying to fix it but no matter what I do it just keeps resetting itself." Sonic doesn't quite know what to make of that, so he opts for getting up early instead. Tails follows him downstairs after a moment, asking for pancakes.
The speedster frowns as he opens the cabinet to find it near empty, checking high and low just in case before he turns around. "Looks like I gotta make a quick run to the store."
"I'll go with you."
Sonic looks back, bemused. "There aren't any fast food places open at this hour, y'know. You're just gonna have to wait." The kit huffs in disappointment, but stays sitting at the table.
"You better hurry," he warns. "I might waste away here." Sonic shakes his head.
"Always serious about your pancakes," he says lightly. "I'll be back in a flash."
Of all the people in this town, she was the very last person he was expecting to see at this hour. But there she was, walking through the aisle - though she hadn't looked away from the shelves yet to notice him. A part of him wants to run.
He doesn't.
She seems surprised to see him as well, when she finally does look away. She greets him cautiously. "What are you doing here?"
"Just getting some stuff," he says. "What about you?"
"Same. This is a store, after all."
"So it is."
Neither of them speak for what seems a long while, before Amy abruptly spins on her heel and takes a few steps forward. She looks back at him. "Do you...want to come over later? To see my garden? It's not much right now, though, but - "
"Sure," he says, at a pace that even surprises him. "That'd be nice."
She blushes - it seems like she's been doing that a lot lately - and nods. "Okay. Just come by whenever you're ready, then?"
"Sure," he says again.
As he watches her walk away - for some reason he's beginning to know - he feels incredibly warm.
The wind is especially calm today, he realizes, as he is kneeling next to Amy in front of her not quite yet flower bed. "So far I have New Guinea impatien and columbine," she is saying. She twists around to point back to her porch, where a wall of thick vines twist around the columns and railings in an almost intricate pattern. "That is silver lace vine," she clarifies, now standing up. He is quick to follow.
"You sure know your flowers," he remarks idly as they start to go back inside. She nods.
"I like seeing life," is all she says.
The house is much cooler, he finds, and almost wishes that they were back outside. But he says nothing, instead carefully holding the cup of nearly frozen water that she had offered.
"So," she begins.
"So..."
She looks away for a second, then down at her own water. She seems to be having an internal debate.
"How is Tails?" she finally asks.
For some reason Sonic can't help but feel a touch disappointed by the question. "He's doing well."
"That's good."
They sit in silence for a while, until the grandfather clock begins to chime and Amy blinks and shifts in her seat, almost as if coming out of a trance. "I...tried skating again," she says.
"Did you win a gold medal?"
The question is out of place enough that Amy cannot resist a small smile.
"Not yet," she replies. "But I didn't fall once, so I'm getting there." He smiles along with her. She keeps her eyes trained on the clock, taking a tiny sip of water. "Did you really mean that, what you said? About my laugh, I mean."
"I - yeah. You have a nice laugh." She hums, a shadow of something he doesn't know clouding her face. Still, she doesn't look at him.
He wishes she would.
He does not say that.
Distantly, he hears the wind begin to pick up, and he thinks that is his cue to leave.
"Wait," she speaks.
"What?"
She - at last - turns her head towards him. "I think you have one too." He feels warm.
"Thank you," he mutters.
She approaches him, looking up. "I mean it."
"I know you do."
The house doesn't seem as cold as it was before.
"It's Valentine's Day, you know," she says.
"Is it? I haven't been keeping track." She huffs, though it is more out of a tired familiarity than anything. She looks further up, staring perfectly into his eyes.
"That is like you," she says, "but I wouldn't have it any other way." She takes his hand slowly, sliding fingers together until they were connected. He feels like he should say something.
He does not.
Instead, he takes her other hand in his own and leans down. The wind stops.
When he moves back, she is wide eyed, mouth agape.
"Amy?"
She blinks. "You - " Reaching a hand up to her face, a trace of pink shows. "You - "
"I know."
She smiles, looking back up at him. Then she giggles. "You're blushing."
"Heh," he says. "It's really hot in here."
He loves that laugh.
"I love you," she says to him.
"I know," he smiles. She gives him one back.
"Tell me," she says.
He does.