"So, how long have you two been dating now?" Blaze felt her ears spike, her fur prickled down her back as she looked from her teacup to the café's surroundings and then finally to the source of the question; Amy. The pink hedgehog was pouring herself a fresh cup of tea, eyes still locked on the amethyst cat she was tormenting; she'd lured the princess in with talks of exploration and whether customs differed between their worlds but now her true intent had been revealed. Amy had an air of confidence that Blaze had never understood, she'd first encountered it through the hedgehog's pursuit of Sonic but following her reunion with Silver she'd seen it utilised in an alternate manner; playing cupid. Blaze quickly scanned their vicinity, they were in a rather small café in station square; one Amy had insisted was her favourite, while it was busy fortunately no eyes were upon them. Yet at least.

Looking back to Amy Blaze was confronted with a raised brow and an over-eager smile. The cat was growing redder by the second; she felt her hands shake, cursing internally she reached for her teacup and answered; "S-Six months."

"And you're still so embarrassed? Come on Blaze, you're halfway to your one year anniversary! You should be loud and proud about it by now." Blaze, thirst suddenly evaporating, pulled away from her teacup, clenching her fists in her lap. With a small sigh, the hedgehog continued; "He's the sun to your moon, the land to your sea; the prince to your princess for Pete's sake! Yet you're scared to admit how long you've been together? Are things going that badly?"

"N-No! It's going great!" The Princess cringed feeling herself shout; she closed her eyes in an attempt to ignore their surroundings as well as Amy's piercing eyes. "We're just… we're just not that public. I like to keep thing private, b-between Silver and I. I-It's our relationship after all."

"Aww but that's no fun!" Blaze cracked an eye open, she could feel the potential stares of the other café-goers piercing her armour. Amy was tapping against the table restlessly, lips pursed into a small frown. "I wanna know all the details! I'm sure there's a bunch of romantic stuff he's done with that power of his, I tried to give him some pointers when you two started. He was so embarrassed, I had to start calling him Pink instead."

"Pointers?" Blaze immediately regretted asking, a devilish smirk grew on the young girl's face before a sweet smile took its place.

Amy closed her eyes, swaying her forefingers as if conducting an orchestra. "Just the obvious things, little things I'm sure even he would have figured out; like upside down kisses and pulling you a little closer when you're sat beside one another. Blowing kisses and sending a little psychic spark for you to catch, rearranging the clouds to spell out messages for you; you know that sort of thing! Sweeping you off your feet, literally! All very rom-an-tic!"

The singsong tone that hung in that last word only furthered Blaze's embarrassment; her tail was now stiff against her back. "He hasn't done any of those ones yet."

Amy frowned for a moment before a bolt of realisation seemed to strike her. "Oh, he hasn't done any of those ones... yet? Yet, as in, you think he will? But he has done something, hasn't he? I was certain he'd just follow my advice, take things obvious step by obvious step, but oh my; is he more of a romantic than I thought?"

Blaze could feel sweat on her brow, Amy was smashing at her defences; the hedgehog's green eyes were pleading to be let in. "W-Well, he's not… he has done a lot with it; whether he knows the actions to be romantic or not is another matter." Amy let out a sound somewhere between the whistle of a kettle and giggling, Blaze scoped the rest of the café; now they were getting a couple of strange looks. "If you can stop shouting I… I'll tell you some of the things that we've done."

A toothy grin spread over Amy's face, she raised a gloved forefinger to her lips and leant in close to whisper; "Well if you're sure you're okay with it…" She was attempting to be nice but deep down there was a sparkle in her eyes that suggested she'd pursue these stories to the ends of the earth. "Start small and build up, I want a narrative."

Blaze wasn't sure she'd get through one story, let alone build some elaborate palace of romantic storytelling. She brought her hands back up to the table, wringing her wrists, brows furrowed in thought. "I… I suppose that means the first story should be from early in our relationship. But what I value and what you do are probably very different…"

"I'll be happy with anything as long as you found it romantic, don't think so hard about it." Amy's expression had toned down significantly, holding back that bombastic joy perhaps in anticipation. Blaze managed to force down the remainder of her tea, the heat inconsequential when compared to the burning she felt in her face.

Setting the cup atop saucer she gave it another moment's thought. It wasn't that she struggled to think of moments, far from it, it was finding moments she was comfortable discussing… let alone with Amy, let alone in such a public place. Blaze decided on a simple one, embarrassing for her but not so impassioned that she would struggle to tell the story. "Well… around a month into our relationship, following a return from this world, I got quite sick…"

I was bedridden with a fever, being from an alternate dimension my body was ill-prepared to handle the diseases of your world and so I had been confined to my room lest I spread the disease to the populous. I wasn't allowed visitors, Marine had been ordered to stay away on pain of losing her sailing privileges and even Gardon was keeping his distance; speaking through the door to signal a meal had arrived, asking how I was, before vanishing down the hallway. I'd slept from six in the evening till midday that day; my companions the books I struggled to read through the headache, the small flame I used as a reading light, long baths in the en-suite and the cold compress atop my head.

That changed when I heard a knock, not at my door but at my window. I slowly rose, dressed in my baggiest pyjamas and utilising my white duvet as a cloak, and waddled over to the window. I pulled back the curtains; recoiling at the sudden brightness. A voice came from the other side of the glass, "Oh geez Blaze, you're looking a little…" My eyes finally adjusted to the light and there he was, Silver was floating outside my window. There was a rucksack on his back and an wide smile on his face.

I cut him off before he could say anything he might regret, "Silver you shouldn't be here; you know I'm sick." A wave of embarrassment spread over me, I somehow hadn't considered this before; Silver had a far more direct route of reaching my bedroom… no one would have to know. I pulled my eyes away from his.

"But that's why I'm here; to help you get better." There was a genuine concern in his voice, audible even through the glass. "I brought you soup and some other little things, I'll look after you just like we used to each other."

"Silver; I'm not letting you pointlessly catch this flu. Go visit Marine, I'm sure she'll appreciate the company." I refused, going to close the curtains only for him to press against the window.

"But I'm from the dimension where you caught the disease so I should be immune right? I've probably already had it. Please Blaze I want to help you. We're together now, right? I should do more for you than I did for you before, not less." My hand loosened on the blinds, I knew it was a poor argument; he was from the future, the sickness could have evolved or mutated since it was the illness I had, but looking into those golden eyes I felt a weakness take hold. He'd gone to a lot of effort, Silver was still new to cooking back then and I was certain he'd never made soup before; I had no idea what else he could have packed. I fumbled with the latch before gently pushing open the two giant door like windows, without a moment of hesitation he flew in and embraced me; still floating so rather than simply wrap his arms around me his legs brushed my sides to. The covers around me shifted to accommodate him. "Thank you Blaze. I'll try my best not to get sick."

My head was still pounding, I felt myself burning up, but the embrace felt comfortable; I began to lean into his grasp. "I suppose I was beginning to feel a little isolated, thank you Silver." I was on the verge of purring when I felt the touch of a cool draft blow through the window, despite my fever, the weather chilled me to the core. He must have felt my shiver, landing and closing the window with a flick of his wrist; curtains left slightly ajar to maintain the light. The bag left his back with a hefty thunk, from the sound alone it was clear to me he'd far over prepared.

He began to rummage, "I think there's enough in here for four days… after that, I'd have to leave to-

"Silver," I sighed, waddling to the bed and sitting near its centre; replacing the compress atop my head and wrapping the duvet around me. "You can't stay trapped in here with me for three days, you're certain to get ill that way."

He shot up from his search, his honeypot eyes pushing into my own; "But Blaze-

I closed my eyes, averting the gaze, I was putting my foot down; "It is as much my job to keep you well as it is yours to help me while I'm sick, is it not? If you stay here and get sick I'm the one responsible." I tried not to look at him, knowing he'd continue to protest if I met his eye. I fought the silence for what felt like minutes, finally looking back to him only to find a small pout on his face; he'd resumed his search.

He sighed; "I guess…" I thought I'd ended it there but, truth be told, he would spend the next three days up there with me; I'd always drift off before I could chastise him into leaving. The collection of objects was vast, from giant flasks to sweets to library books to board games and all kinds of miscellaneous things. He said he'd packed enough for three days; it looked enough to last a month. "Are you hungry?"

I looked to the breakfast meal Gardon had left me, once warm oatmeal and honey I'd left to fully revert back to solid. "No, but I probably should eat."

He grabbed one of the flasks, popping the top and having a sniff. "Well, I've got chicken and leek, ham and pea and general vegetable. But if soup isn't-

"Silver whatever you've got there will be fine." I allowed myself to lie back, propping myself up against the backboard. He'd gone back to rummaging through the backpack, eyes wide with a twisted expression; worry clear in his face.

He scratched at his back quills, pulling away from the rucksack; "I… might have forgotten cutlery." He was back to rummaging, objects spreading from the floor to the air as he used his psychokinesis to aid in the search. Board games, toiletries, bowls, blankets and pillows flew through the air… but no cutlery. I looked to him, the bag now empty, his head was slumped and redness had overcome his muzzle. I turned to the spoon Gardon had supplied… sticking out of the oatmeal, sullied. "Y-Yep… I packed all this but forgot a spoon. I-It's not blended so it's not like you can just drink it… " He was clearly upset he'd made such a simple mistake, flask in hand and refusing to meet my eye.

That was until some sudden realisation overtook him, the redness dulled and a smile came over his face. Unscrewing the top he filled one of the tin bowls he'd brought and made his way over. As he sat down I immediately understood his plan, I turned away. "You can't be serious."

He blinked at that; "What? You know what I'm going to do?" He seemed surprised but it was far too obvious to me. He paused for a moment, "Well… you have to eat."

Embarrassment shuddered through me as aqua light entered my vision. I dared to look. My suspicions were confirmed; floating above his forefinger was a globule of steaming soup, tinted teal. I couldn't look him in the eye, my mouth slowly opened. I felt the heat enter my mouth, brushing past my teeth before gently lowering onto my tongue. It was maybe a little much but it did taste good, there was quite a lot of pepper to the soup with larger chunks of chicken and leek throughout. As I swallowed, a more gentle heat spread through my core; less pronounced and more comfortable than the heat my compress was combatting.

I finally looked to him; there was a dopey smile on his face, he was clearly unaware of the intimacy of the situation. I tried to act like I wasn't either; "Thank you Silver, it's very good."

That seemed to embarrass him far more than the act of feeding me, looking to the bowl and floating up another rough spoonful to hide his embarrassment behind. "Th-Thank you, do you want more?"

"W-We might as well finish what we've started." I opened my mouth again, acting a good patient I was quite careful not to bite down until the soup was released. I could gradually feel my strength return; with every bite I felt the ebbing pain of my headache eased. By the third mouthful, I was fully content eating from him, embarrassment had faded and comfort took its place; I could feel my smile growing and gentle purrs radiating between mouthfuls.

The meal finished, Silver floating the bowl somewhere it wouldn't be knocked over, I loosed a contented sigh, lowering myself to lie down properly. The purrs were still being loosed; I could feel a smile on my face matched by his. It was a realisation that pulled me from bliss, embarrassment burning far hotter in me than the fever or the soup. I gestured to the dry oatmeal. "Y-You could have just washed off this spoon instead, I could have fed myself."

His cheeks grew red, "Uh…I-I mean what we did was more fun though r-right?"

"M-More fun!?" I near shouted at him, using embarrassment to fuel confidence I began to tease. "Is my sickness a game now? Are we playing doctor?"

He flinched a little at that before responding, "You were making cute faces…" He wasn't meeting my gaze, "I…uh…I…Ugh…" He took his head in his hands, still sat at the foot of my bed. Though his hands I heard him mumble; "You make me not good with words. What I-I mean is I like it when you smile, i-it means I know I'm doing good and you smiled there in a way I don't know you would otherwise. I-It's not like I realised I could do that though, I-I didn't even know this place had a bathroom!" He was looking me in the eye again, embarrassment plain in his face. "I'm not used to us being like th-this yet, I don't really know what I'm doing but I know I should be making you smile."

I let that sit for a moment smiling to myself before gently kicking him from beneath the covers. "What else have you got to make me smile?"

"Aww," Amy cooed, hands clasped over her heart and a Cheshire grin on her face. "Did he get sick too?"

"Of course he did." Blaze could feel herself glowing far more comfortably, a small smile on her face. "I looked after him as well as I could; having spent so long away from my duties I couldn't stay with him as he had me but every evening I would leave the castle grounds and spend the…" The realisation of how open she was being hit, Blaze felt herself lock up slightly. "S-Spend the night. I remember being quite angry with him for the first day b-but by the evening it was gone."

That Cheshire grin flashed devilish for a moment; "Did you share a bed? You mentioned he brought pillows but there was only one bed in there, right?"

"H-He used my desk chair the first night but…" Blaze's fiddled with her teacup, "And when he was sick we… we certainly shared, yes."

Amy let out a bizarre sound, a mix of whooping and giggling and quickly released some words Blaze had zero chance of understanding. Immediately Blaze could feel the eyes upon them, conversations around them stopped dead as the hedgehog's legs kicking started kicking as she pounded on the table. "You two are so cute! I never thought he'd have the nerve to do that, he might not have understood; a-and him floating to your window, has he done that again? It's so romantic! His power's perfect for a tryst, you could be locked away in your tower but he could still reach you!" The hedgehog caught herself, reclining in her chair.

"You said you'd keep quiet." Blaze hissed, her ears lowered and brow furrowed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Amy loud whispered, pouring them both a new cup of tea. "I kept it in while you talked at least, if you keep going then I won't have time to talk."

Blaze sighed, she knew she couldn't just walk out with a full cup there; she added the milk but took no sugar (Amy took three lumps) and began to think. "I'll do more but you need to promise me you won't do that again."

"I promise, I promise." She took a long sip of her tea before continuing to talk in her hushed town; "If that's the one you started with though I hope it wasn't your best. Only a month in and he flew to your window? You were even sharing a bed all the way back then, but you're embarrassed to say you've been together for six months? You should have shut down completely at that, fainted even."

"That's because it all happened in private." Blaze admitted, "P-Public stuff is far more embarrassing. If it's just me and Silver then I feel a lot more comfortable, like I can do... m-more than normal."

Amy's grin widened again, Blaze braced, fangs bared, but the onslaught never came. Instead, Amy rose; "I'm going to get something to eat. Do you want anything?"

Looking to the hedgehog Blaze could tell she was struggling to keep her excitement internalised, a breather would probably do her some good. "No I am fine, thank you, Amy." It was a moment longer to decide the next event to share. There were of course events on the battlefield, sacrifices made for one another, but Amy clearly wanted things more typical to a relationship… the very things Blaze was terrified to talk about. Each story would have to be more romantic than the last, that'd be the only way to both keep Amy quiet and prevent her interruption. Blaze saw little choice. She would have to talk about their dates; a story immediately came to mind; a date Blaze herself had set up but he had completely co-opted with his powers.

Blaze almost jumped as Amy set her plate down, a square of millionaire's shortbread and a tiny fork. Sliding back into her seat the hedgehog had noticeably calmed down, cutting off a chunk of the shortbread for herself. "Have you picked the next?"

"I believe so…"

We were four months into our relationship at this point. The dates I set up with Silver usually have a natural twist, while both our past lives were spent in urban desolation in this lifetime only his was; he'd never known the rustling of leaves nor the colours of flowers as I had come to so casually accept in this life. Upon remembering our past lives my ability to appreciate nature was reinvigorated, I now understood a world without these things, so introducing Silver to them was high on my list of priorities. It was a late Summer night, I'd had a long day of governmental work and I needed him to help me unwind. A walk on the beach, a relatively simple date but the ocean was still so new to him.

It was a moonless night with the stars ever so rarely peeking out from behind a dense cloud barrier. That meant he was the only light around for miles. The ebb and flow of the waves sounded in my ears, I felt his hand in mine; my pinkie slipped between his middle and ring finger and thumb atop his, but it was the sight I truly adored. Our vicinity was cloaked in a calming colour, everything was cast in a darkened teal; it guided our steps and made us more than mere silhouettes; shadows stretching to the edge of the glow. It was a comfortable light, soft enough to sleep in but bright enough to see through.

He broke the silence between us, "Blaze?"

In his light, with only the sea to watch us, I felt content. My wall was down; I didn't feel the need to use words, "Hmm?"

"Is this all good enough, should I be doing more?" I could feel his golden band rubbing against my wrist as he awkwardly shifted, "Just… is this what you had planned?"

I stopped, looking to him. "Yes, why? Is it okay for you?"

"Y-Yeah! It's just… I feel like I should be doing more. I've tried to research what I should do, reading lots of books and watching movies from your world and mine, and I know what I want to do… but when it comes to doing it. I-It's much harder than thinking about it." Silver explained.

"You're so naïve. You did research?" I teased, fairly certain I understood. "I'm in no rush, I just want to relax after a long day. This is all still new to both of us, let these things come naturally; don't force yourself." I went to keep walking but felt his hand drop from mine, my step caught and I went to look back to him only to feel his arm wrap around me; hand a little above my waist.

He was looking ahead, cast in blue it was hard to tell whether he was blushing but by the crumpled smile on his face and jitters radiating from his body I could tell he was clearly embarrassed. "I-I'll just take some small steps then."

I gently took hold of his far shoulder, stepping in to rest my head against him. "That sounds wise." He was shivering despite the relative warmth of our surroundings, "Just one step at a time." We set off again; it was a little awkward for the first couple of steps; trying not to step on each other's toes in such close proximity but we soon we were walking normally. My head against his shoulder I couldn't help loosing a gentle purr, a first for a public place… albeit I still had not among the public. The gentle rolling of the sea, our closeness and the psychic light that guided my vision mixed together to form a feeling of true bliss.

I was so enraptured that I didn't notice what he was doing. My foot met with something bizarre, we seemed to be glowing far brighter than we had been and yet the light was being cast upon us rather than radiating from us. Looking to the ground I was met with only teal, the sound of waves had grown far louder. I quickly realised what had happened, we were standing on solidified water; we were walking on the sea. The waves were veering off as they came toward us, our surroundings went from teal to being aquamarine; the ripples of the water being reflected in the light cast.

"Well… I-I thought about doing this a while ago. I had to figure out if it would work, I got soaked a couple of times. Marine helped, she tested it mostly." Our footsteps crackled, we got some way out to sea before aligning to trace the rim of the beach; to still make our way back albeit it would take longer to do so. My heels clicked against the psychic floor, small sparks flying with every step. I wondered how far away we'd be seen; perhaps some ship would notice the ethereal glow on the water.

I leant against him a little more, feeling the band of my ponytail catch the crook of his neck. "It is nice to use these powers outside of combat but if you feel tired don't be afraid to go back, it is very beautiful Silver."

"I can keep this up for a while, don't worry." His voice was calmer now, perhaps focusing on the water was keeping him from worrying and reducing his embarassment.

I felt myself draw close to yawning, so content in our meandering upon the sea, my eyes closed and mouth was about to open when a drop of rain struck me in the centre of the forehead. Before I realised what had hit me the sky opened, heavy rainfall battered against the stilled waves. I looked up to Silver but he had become rather still, quite rigid in this posture. A couple of seconds must have passed before I called out to him, "Silver are you going to put up a barrier? Can you not do it at sea?"

It took a moment for Silver to react, shuddering suddenly as if awakening from a dream, but with a wave of his hand the psychic glow from the waters around us was concentrated, a dome hardened around us; its edge was a little close but perhaps that was due to our position. I allowed small flames begin to spread eating away at the rain the clung within our fur, teal light being broken by wisps of red and orange. He'd keep me dry as I'd keep him warm. Our pace had remained at a standstill, I felt Silver shift as he watched the water shatter and bounce against his barrier; the rhythm of rainfall filled my ears. His voice cut through it; "You'd think I'd be used to this by now, it's still all so wonderful."

I lifted my head from his shoulder, looking to him; face tinted a mix of orange and teal as he looked out into the dark. "Wonderful is the right word." I pulled closer again, closing my eyes and letting the sound wash over me. "Let's just take our time."

As Blaze's second story came to an end, feeling far less embarrassed having told a story that didn't involve being psychokinetically spoon fed, she took a sip of her tea. Glancing across to Amy she was met with a puzzled look, the hedgehog downed the sizable remainder of her shortbread in one bite before a rage entered her eyes; her brow deeply furrowed.

"That's it!? He didn't kiss you in the rain?" This time Amy caught herself, left fist clenched while the right gripped the table she pulled in close and began to loud whisper; "He said he did research but he didn't kiss you in the rain? What did he even watch?"

"K-Kissing in the rain?" Blaze was caught completely off guard, "We… I… I-Is that a thing people do?"

"Blaze you can't be serious… we have so many films to watch, we'll have to have a movie night." At that realisation a sparkle entered her eyes, "A double date! You can bring Silver, he can help me catch Sonic, and then we can all do some research as he called it. It'd be perfect!" Her whisper kept breaking into a shout.

"I still don't understand, kissing in the rain?" Blaze was frowning slightly, gripped by curiosity.

Amy leant back a little, "Well in lots of movies when a couple has been separated they'll run through the rain to reunite with a passionate kiss. It's a really common trope, but perhaps it just doesn't exist in your dimension… I'm sure he must have considered it though; you said he stalled when the rain started? Didn't put up a wall? How suspicious, how scandelous."

Blaze felt embarrassment flare, she lowered her teacup to the saucer and tried to look past Amy. "I doubt it, he was probably just caught off-guard. We hadn't even kissed back then…"

Amy had to scrape her jaw from the floor, "Four months in and you hadn't even…" But as her jaw realigned it quickly formed into a dastardly smirk, "But that means you had your first recently, doesn't it Blaze? In the past two months? You said you hadn't kissed back then, not that you haven't kissed yet."

Heart in her throat Blaze tried to speak, "T-T…Two weeks ago. We-

The hedgehog held up a forefinger to Blaze, the cat sealed her lips and braced for the oncoming storm. Amy was shaking, the fingers of her left hand cracking holes in the table. "It took you two five and a half months to have your first kiss?"

"W-Well neither of us had kissed anyone before… I-I was scared I'd make some mistake. I-It wasn't like I could practice." Blaze was quaking, her teeth ground; it was taking most of her focus not to catch alight.

The chunk of table Amy had been gripping snapped clean off, quickly realising what she'd done the hedgehog tried to hide the mass beneath herself; she took a sip of her tea to overcome the brief embarrassment… giving Blaze time to hang in anticipation. Finally, Amy spoke; the excited look had somewhat relaxed to a wily smirk, the spark was still plain in her eyes. "Well, you should have asked him to practice before you got together. That way you'd know if he was any good at it and get some practice in."

"W-We took half a year to kiss for the first time Amy, I hardly think asking before we were even together was a possibility…" Blaze massaged her brow, trying not to. "B-Besides…" Blaze immediately bit her tongue.

"Besides what?" The devilish smile had returned, "Did it go better than you thought? Oh! Who led? You might as well tell me the story at this point, I'll just keep asking for details you know." Amy weighed the teapot; evidently deciding it was too light and opting to pour for Blaze. "I don't even mind if his power comes into it… but is it upside down?" Amy cut herself off, "No no, you said he didn't take my advice. Just tell me the story; no more spoilers."

Blaze watched, burning yet frozen in place, unable to resist as Amy poured her the last cup of tea. The seating around them had cleared out completely; Blaze hadn't seen any of the staff leave the desk since Amy's first outburst. In this deep, could things get any worse? Regardless of whether it could Blaze could see no way out, Amy had a knack for pursuit; Blaze would only be delaying the inevitable, she'd be cornered at some social gathering or following the next prevented disaster and hounded. Blaze pointed to Amy, "No more after this, no more prying into our relationship after this,"

Amy pressed her hand atop her heart; "I, Amelia Rose, promise not to ask Blaze the Cat for stories regaling her relationship with Silver the Hedgehog for one year to this day."

Blaze thoroughly understood that wording; it shielded her from the hedgehog's prying but not Silver. She gave that a moment's thought but, in truth, she felt she had suffered enough while he had avoided this outing entirely. "I suppose that will do."

Amy leant in, feet kicking beneath the table.

The first leaves of autumn were beginning to fall, a chill swept through the southern island. As I previously mentioned I liked our dates to have a natural tinge, not just for him but as I have grown so used to more high society life I enjoy getting away from urban centres and into the countryside; an afternoon picnic among the leaves seemed a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, the trees on southern island, being palm trees, don't shed their leaves, at least not in the sought after red and brown autumn colours. There's a forest island further west, deciduous trees making up its majority, that would be spectacular at this time of year. The only problem was getting there. Marine would have offered her services but she always came with some… baggage, the racoon had sat in on a couple of our dates and her running commentary had proved rather distracting. This left the alternate, flying with Silver himself.

We were to meet at the pier, I'd arrived early naturally, it was around noon on Saturday, the tide was in and a layer of cloud hung overhead; the sun occasionally breaking through to brighten the oncoming cold season and reveal the orange sunset sky. Despite the hour and imperfect conditions, the beach was fairly active, perhaps the last big beach day before the end of the year. There was a gentle wind but knowing I would be flying with him fear held no domain over me. Lost in my thoughts, immersed in the scenery, I almost jumped in surprise as two cyan runes closed over my eyes. My tail twisted wildly behind me at the initial shock, I could hear him laughing; I'd let my guard down and he was taking full advantage. I felt the heat rise; placing my hands on his wrists I blindly called out, "Silver please, people are watching."

His hands released as he flitted over my head; now was smiling at me upside-down. Mere centimetres away but by the big goofy smile on his face the intimacy wasn't fazing him, that or as was more likely he didn't even notice. "You left yourself wide open, it's nice to see you relaxed. Good afternoon Blaze."

"Good afternoon Silver," I returned his smile but from the beach I could feel eyes upon us, I was certain I heard muttering just outside earshot. "I trust you're prepared?"

"I think so." He pulled a bag off his shoulders, weighty but not nearly as weighty as the one he'd brought when I was sick. "I managed to get some good fish, there were a lot of people selling these weird vegetables I'd never seen before… whatever a squash is, whatever a marrow is, so I gave them my best shot; are those autumn things?"

"Ahh, the farmer's market; yes. There should be a harvest festival soon to celebrate." Festivals were good in that, while they were work, it was work Silver could not only help with but being with him made the event far more enjoyable.

"Alright… um…" Silver paused for a moment, still floating before me. "Do you want me to pick you up or do you want to just hold hands or? We could really take any position."

I looked at the beach, a couple of people were looking in our direction but nothing significant. I fought through the embarrassment, reaching up and catching my hands behind his neck; pushing myself into his arms. "I-I'm fine like this, l-lets go above the clouds though." With him floating my head was around chest height; tufts of his fur pushing into mine.

His arms wrapped around my back, pulling me in a little closer. "A-Alright." The white before me was quickly cast blue, my feet left the pier and the early autumn wind was replaced by the wind of flight blowing against our fur. Pink clung to his face as it surely did to mine; I knew it not to be wind chill. He vanished from my vision for a moment as we broke through the clouds, almost on instinct I dropped my head into his chest; refusing to let go. I did yelp when we broke free of the cloud layer, not due to some sudden change in light so much as a shift in Silver's position. Without hesitation he'd gone from floating standing straight to floating on his back, if I wasn't already deep in his fur I would have been thrown there; pulling my head up I looked up at him; brows furrowed.

"What are you doing?" The smile was back on his face, arms gently held around me as a psychic glow ebbed from him; no longer coating me rather forming a small bubble around us. "We're going a little slow aren't we?"

"I figured this would be more comfortable right? This way you're freer to move, rather than things being stiff." There was nothing but honestly to his voice, "I mean, we could stand instead if you want to? Or I could put a layer over you if you're feeling tense?"

We were truly alone up here, as private as a bedroom, clouds obscuring the sea or what land lay beneath us. I felt a small burst of confidence, pulling myself up to loom above him. "Freer to move? And just where would I move up here Silver? Your body is the only place I can go." I flushed at my own wording.

The pinkness returned to his face, quills bristling with psychic energy, he was looking away. "I-I guess I didn't think that far through? I just didn't want to feel like I was restraining you. Th-That and it is pretty up here right? I don't think I've ever taken you this high."

My eyes wandered to the sky around us, I pushed myself up; hands now in his chest fur. The sky was clearer up here, as one would expect; sun hanging low in the orange turned sky, yet it was the sight of the clouds that truly caught my attention. If above us was a sky I knew then beneath us was a landscape like no other, populated by wisps of pink, orange and red. It was a naturally peaceful, relaxing sight; naturally shaped yet like nothing in nature I had ever experienced. Great fluffy masses passed one another, some colliding and fusing and mingling to make shapes of all descriptions; great orange rabbits tinted red, stars spreading and spiralling toward their inevitable separation.

Mountains, hills and valleys were formed of cloud; it was an ever-changing and completely alien landscape. I leaned close to him and reached down to the thick layer below, right hand trailing just outside his bubble and brushing through the water vapour. I couldn't help wondering whether anyone else had experienced this; people could fly within planes sure but to float so peacefully across the sky. There was nothing to see or hear us, lying body to body as we drifted across this wondrous landscape.

I clambered up his body, the shield protecting me from the wind; my tail coiled around him. Confidence was welling within me, bolstered by the privacy and intimacy of our situation. My hands reached his shoulders before embarrassment set in, I felt my face begin to burn. "Are you sure you didn't think this far ahead? Usually, when you're trying to be romantic, you plan ahead; it would be especially naïve of you to break that constancy."

His ears spiked up to their highest, his eyes flickered around beneath my gaze. "I-I mean… I-I can be pretty naïve right? I-It's not unthinkable. I-It's not like I know this any better than you, y-you planned today; not me."

"I suppose… this will come as a s-surprise then?" I'd said that but while I wasn't certain what I was doing I knew what I wanted to do. My head began to lower, eyes still wide; locking then unlocking then locking with his. He leant up a little; despite the heat I felt he was clearly the more nervous of us. I would have to lead, I sunk from my hands on his shoulders to my elbows; hands gripped near the base of his two giant quills. My eyes closed, even this close I had no idea what to do with my lips. I felt his nose push against mine, we were close; so close, I pulled back and turned my head; an eye opened for only a moment to better angle myself. He was very red, his eyes sealed shut; shudders coursed through his body. My eyes closed again, angle corrected I held my breath and leaned in.

Lips finally contacted, it took a moment to understand the feeling. I was far too tense to understand what I was doing, Chest to chest, a mess of limbs floating above the clouds; face-to-face. It was warm, wet and spread a comfort throughout my person that quickly overcame my embarrassment. It could have lasted a second, it could have lasted an hour; time wasn't of particular concern in the moment. His body turned from rigid to putty beneath me, head turned to deepen the kiss; arms enveloped around me as though they were always meant to be there, his heartbeat slowed in time with mine.

Being atop him I was the one to pull away, still inches from his face; his head in my hands, he'd tried to follow when I raised my head away but realising the kiss had finished full-blown embarrassment quickly returned; his arms went stiff, face exploded red and his golden eyes were clearly unfocused; "I-I… uhh…" He seemed to be laughing, clearly sweating quite a lot. "Th-That was… f-fun? N-No! W-Well it was but… I-I mean… i-it was g-good, I-I mean…" He seemed to regain some semblance of control, "…Th-Thank you?" But perhaps not as much control as he'd hoped.

I smiled down to him, "Y-You're welcome Silver, thank you for being a part of it."

He still wasn't in a particularly tactful state of mind, eyes focusing on me again he blurted out; "C-C-C…Can we do that again?"

Amy was leaning in, head resting on her fists; "So…" There was a singsong tone to her voice, "Go on, did ya?"

Blaze finished sipping her tea, "I promised to tell you the story of our first kiss, nothing more."

Amy's smile broadened, not as wild as it had once been but that air of razzing still shone through. She pointed to the cat, crushing a giggle to the best of her ability. "That's a yes."

Blaze's cup clattered against the plate, lowering quite a lot faster than she'd anticipated. "It was the end of the story, there will be no more as per our agreement."

Amy reclined, looking at the ceiling and released a contented sigh. "Well, it was worth it. I can't wait to tell you stories like this about Sonic, you two have certainly set a high bar. It's lucky I'm such a romantic; otherwise, we'd never stand a chance. I'm feeling competitive." Looking back down to Blaze, "I'll have him within the year, otherwise you can't tell me any more stories."

"S-Sure Amy." Blaze wasn't nearly as interested in competitive romance as the hedgehog but if it meant she could avoid this embarrassment again then she would fully embrace it. "I wish you the best of luck."

"I won't need it, now I'm more motivated than ever! Soon you'll see, this'll be a yearly event! Just think about it, as the others fall in love we can invite them; lead by example. It'll be perfect!" That was a little scarier but, Blaze supposed, it could be some time until Amy finally caught Sonic; by that time perhaps she'd finally feel confident in talking about her and Silver's relationship. It was moving slowly but surely moving.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Blaze tried to gently ease her down, "Perhaps eventually, but I won't rush my relationship for stories."

Amy's mischievous smile would return; "Of course not, one step at a time right? But I want to know about each and every step you take with Silver."