Somber

It had been Rouge's idea, to begin with. Amy had quickly taken up the duty of hostess, as she was always enthusiastic for that sort of thing, always presenting it as a "team-building" opportunity. "Team-building" ended up being a funny word for it.

And so the night began. Quiet, awkward at the start, gradually growing with livelihood as others showed up.

Amy had set up the most beautiful lights as decoration, along the walls, the outdoor rails, the tables. Not to mention her baking was phenomenal as always. Everyone told her so, but she only waved it off and said it was all thanks to Vanilla's instruction.

They congregated, in the living room, eventually moving to the back patio, where they stayed for the majority of the time. Amy was relieved, as most hosts are when the party moves outside. It was a bit easier to keep track of everyone then, a little less likely for accidents to happen.

(She was very generous, but she had the capability to actually harm someone if they happened to wreck her furniture. She was always very protective of her furniture).

For a moment, she stepped back and watched her party, from the second step of her back porch.

Blaze and Rouge, chatting casually over wine as they were prone to do during meetings. It was an odd pair, to some, but they had found that at times they enjoyed each other's company, perhaps both of them looking for some diversity from their usual companions. Rouge tended to do things that Blaze was uncomfortable around, at times. Like the way that the bat would randomly choose to flirt with nearly anyone, including herself. Despite this, they generally got along alright. Perhaps Blaze was learning to loosen up, sometimes.

Silver was talking with Knuckles and Espio, though he gave those quiet, quick looks towards Blaze every now and then, as if asking for assurance. Blaze didn't always notice, but when she did she would nod at him in acknowledgment and then he would put his focus back on his current conversation. It was sort of cute, the way he still depended on her company at times, especially social settings. Even though he was very capable himself, and he knew this.

Knuckles always had a way at gatherings. Though he was a solitary creature, he seemed to occasionally come up out of his shell and it was then that words just seemed to tumble out of him. From her place on the deck steps, Amy could see that his mouth hadn't shut since he began the conversation. Silver and Espio looked amused by what he was saying, even though Knuckles seemed to draw on.

Espio was another story. In any circle of conversation, he was the one who just watched and nodded. He made eye contact in a very firm way, a way that one might find unsettling if they didn't know him. If he ever contributed a word to a conversation, it was usually brief, and it would usually stick in the minds of the listeners for a long while.

Marine, Cream, and Charmy were standing in a circle- twirling about rather than standing still exactly, and rather than talking they seemed to be chanting. Amy tried to overhear it, but the only words she could catch were "sea-bound, sea-bound, seashells" and after that she concluded it was probably something Marine had made up. She had a tendency to do that. It was interesting to see the way that they formed their dynamic, as they all grew to know each other. Marine was always assuming the commanding position, determined to teach the best tricks, or the coolest games if she could help it. She was slightly older than the other two, and she liked to remind them of this anytime they questioned her authority.

Cream tended to be the cautious follower of the group. She seemed very concerned with safety, so long as the other two were around. Quite frankly, they needed it. She was the more grounded one, the "mother" of the three, despite the fact that, yes, she was a child too. She was not always very assertive of what she liked to do, but when she did convince the others of a certain game, they nearly always told her that her ideas were the best. She remained very proud of this fact, though quietly, as she was the most humble of anyone there.

Charmy was the rebellious prankster of the group, occasionally following in line with Marine, but more often protesting just for the sake of proving his better judgement. Marine and him often butted heads, sometimes literally, even though at the end of the day they'd be just as happy playing together. If it weren't for Cream, Amy couldn't imagine all the trouble they'd get into alone.

Apparently, the two soon faded into debate over the words "sea-bound" or "ocean-ward" and Amy watched as Cream tried to mediate the situation.

Sonic and Shadow, to her surprise, were the other ones talking. They seemed to be in heated conversation, though, and to this Amy wasn't surprised. Sonic was animated when he spoke, and that didn't stop when he was frustrated. His arms were flinging about passionately, perhaps overdramatically, and he nearly knocked Shadow in the ears.

Shadow, she could nearly hear from there, growled at him with disapproval. His arms were crossed as always, and he still had that impenetrable scowl on his face. He spoke back sharply, she could tell from the way Sonic stepped back, and just as she was about to intervene, Vanilla stepped between the two, speaking in a way falsely oblivious to their argument. Vector was left standing awkwardly without her conversation, and he sipped at his coke to fill that empty silence.

It was then that Amy realized that no one had approached her to speak to her yet, not since more than three people had arrived. She felt a pang of emotion- sharp and pulsing- until she saw that Tails wasn't in any of the groups that she had seen either.

She turned around to see if he had gone inside, but as she did she saw that he was standing up on the porch, a plate of greens at hand and looking out at the party just as she had.

She approached him with an ever-ready smile. "Hey, Tails! How have you been since I- well, since you got here?"

"Oh, I'm fine. How are you?" There was an unenthusiasm in him that was fairly uncommon. She noted this immediately, but replied anyway.

"I'm well. I'm so glad that I was able to have everyone here tonight."

It was then, distinctly, that his eyes became distant. "Yeah, it is really lucky, isn't it?"

Amy looked out at the crowd gathered in her yard again, the smiles and conversations that lasted throughout it.

She turned back to Tails with his expression on her own face, the hostess in her vanishing in favor of revealing a friend instead.

"Tails, do you want to come inside with me? I've got some tea, if you like that. Or hot chocolate. I think I prefer that, anyway."

"Sure, Amy."

The two of them went inside, and consequently found themselves sitting on Amy's small pink loveseat, with hot chocolate in holiday mugs, (because it was the only mugs Amy really kept, she said it was really cheery no matter the season), and they talked, but they mostly listened. The conversations outside carried on without them, the smiling didn't cease. And maybe this was why the melancholy that they shared felt all the stronger, all the more proven to them.

They had a few laughs together, despite it all.

Outside, after several moments, Sonic looked up at the window and realized Tails and Amy must have gone inside. With a pang of guilt, he wondered if he should go check on them, before the insecurities of questions came to mind. His place in relationship to them, if they were avoiding him right now, if he had been kind enough to them from the start of the party. And would they be angry to see him now? And had they left just to have happier conversations together? And, if that was true, wasn't it best for him not to intrude?

Across from him, Shadow felt conflicted as to whether he should drop out of the conversation, especially now seeing that Sonic was glancing away from him. He wondered if he should go back to Rouge, conversate with whom he was familiar with, or if it was worth it to make new company, even if he hated that company's annoying ways. He wondered if Sonic had a genuine interest or some ulterior motive to speaking with him. He wondered if he did, himself.

In yet another area of the yard, Blaze was beginning to drift out of listening. Rouge's words were always open and unfiltered, contrasting her own, and she pondered upon if this was undesirable in a companion, or simply a difference in opinion. She thought about Silver, and if he felt like she was abandoning him, or if he was happiest to exercise his strengths without her.

And so it was, with everyone. The questioning, the wondering, the contemplating of relationships and relational status. It was exhausting, and it seemed to come to them in an endless stream of thoughts.

A/N: I can't be the only one who feels this way at most parties, so I wrote this for anyone else out there who relates to this feeling. (Or really, just anyone who wants to read it, too).

Fun Fact: This story sort of diverged from my original idea, and so I started a second one and….that one became something else entirely lol. I'm posting that one as a second chapter to "Total Fluff" (which I plan to change the name of), despite that previously being just a oneshot. What I wrote isn't exactly a sequel to that, but it has the same mood, so...