The atmosphere following Iblis' defeat was strangely comforting to Blaze. She knew the monster would return in a few weeks and its flames still dominated the city but as she lay, sprawled across an old couch with a poetry book in hand, those facts found no quarter in her mind. Instead, she found herself whisked away by the words in front of her; thoroughly capable of indulging herself.

Well, the beast's defeat wasn't the only factor contributing to her comfort. The good health of a certain grey hedgehog, lounging atop a beanbag chair just a little out of reach, relieved her to no end. Silver the Hedgehog, her partner in combat and in life. After the battle with Iblis, they'd had more than a few injuries to tend. Both Blaze's shoulder and knee had been injured during the fight but Silver's wounds had been relatively minor. A grazed elbow where he hadn't fully deflected a hurled boulder and a small burn on the right side of his muzzle were really the only ones of note but, of course, she'd tended his wounds as thoroughly as he'd tended hers; despite his protesting over the difference in scale.

Daring to throw him a glance, Blaze was forced to suppress a giggle. He'd thoroughly sunken into his chair, legs crossed in front of him while the rest of his body arched back. His arms were stretched toward the ceiling as he slowly flicked his way through a book. She had no idea how he could find the position comfortable but, for now, she concluded there was no harm in his silliness. After all, she wasn't sat upright either.

As her eyes returned to her book a yawn managed to slip past her lips. They'd, perhaps, made themselves a little too comfortable in their new home. What'd once been a youth centre, a gathering place for teenagers and young adults, had been converted into a two-floor house. The first floor didn't see much use, the street-level was too susceptible to monster attacks, but the second floor had been thoroughly customised. Powerless computers and televisions had been thrown out, quickly being replaced with books and board games. Posters of bygone football teams had been replaced with maps of the world and star atlases, they'd constructed a bed in a snug room with no windows and brought with various additional comforts. Safe to say, she slept more easily here than she had in their prior, ramshackle, homes.

The fact she was wearing pyjamas likely contributed to her sleepy state. She'd chosen them over her usual garb for the sake of comfort, donning a mauve tank top had allowed Silver to easily tend her shoulder and her black shorts kept her injured knee free from chafing. Still, regardless of intent, the usual purpose of these softer clothes was too heavily ingrained; another yawn broke free and tears filled the corners of her eyes. Deciding she'd won enough fights today, Blaze set the book atop her chest (careful to keep her page) and allowed her eyes to close.

For a while she simply lay there, content to drift asleep, but a voice managed to rouse her, "Blaze?"

"Hmm?" She hummed, managing to half acknowledge her partner.

"How much do you know about kissing?"

Blaze's eyes shot open; she raced to sit up, almost sliding from the couch as she did so. His words had granted her a pulse-pounding second wind, her tiredness was fully transmuted to surprise, "Wh-What?!"

Silver, meanwhile, despite what he'd just asked, was still sprawled atop the beanbag; looking at his book rather than daring to face her, "I was just wondering how much you know about kissing because… I don't really get it?"

"Where did you even learn that word?" That was stupid to ask; of course Silver knew what kissing was. He'd surely read about it at some point, "W-Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, it just came up in this book I'm reading?" Silver replied, "I've known about kissing for a while but this story makes it seem a whole lot more important…?"

He finally shifted to sit upright, his quills briefly cascading into his face before being pushed back by a wave of psychic energy. As Blaze caught sight of the book in his hands she felt her blush grow brighter still; all of a sudden she was on her feet, fists clenched as she struggled to keep herself from snatching it. There was no mistaking the book's title, it stood out so clearly against the book's otherwise featureless navy cover. Emblazoned on the front, written in a cursive font, were the words, 'The Cure for a Petrified Heart.' It was a romance novel aimed at teenage girls. A romance novel a certain, fire manipulating, purple, teenaged feline had read several times.

"Where did you find that?! Th-That's a…" She didn't dare finish her sentence, the words 'Romance Novel' weighed much too heavily on her tongue. "You don't read… those. You read history books and books about nature, n-not young adult fiction about "

Blaze knew she was being more than a little hypocritical; after all, she'd only recently started reading romance novels herself. Her first had been The Cure for a Petrified Heart, the very book he now held. She'd mistaken the tome for a poetry book but, having finished her other tomes, she'd decided to give it a go. Blaze wasn't willing to admit how quickly she'd fallen in love with the story, let alone its characters. She'd become immersed in the tale a teenaged hedgehog named Ivory, a girl who spends most of her time studying to appease her restrictive parents, and her burgeoning affection for her best friend, a feline by the name of Star. Of course, the hedgehog's feelings come into conflict with her need to study and soon she's fighting to choose between stargazing with her beloved and doing advanced trigonometry.

"I know it's not what I usually read but I saw you reading it a while ago. Whenever you did, it looked like it was making you really happy, so I figured it was worth reading myself," He must have caught the shock in her eyes, wincing slightly he asked, "Should I not have? You left it on the shelf ages ago and you hadn't marked a page, so I thought you were done with it. If you're not you can have it back, I'm sorry."

Ignoring his query, she couldn't help but ask a question of her own, "How much have you read?"

"I think I'm about halfway through it? Ivory has been hiding up in her room, pretending to be sick and not even going to school, because Star keeps accidentally distracting her in class and her grades have started to slip. Her parents aren't happy about it and neither is she, but she's sure that if she doesn't study on her own things will get worse," Silver expunged and, as he did, Blaze felt her blush grow brighter still, "Star doesn't seem to understand that he's the problem though, judging by the chapter I've almost finished. He made copies of all his notes to give her but, rather than just give them to her parents; he climbed her wall to knock on her bedroom window."

Of all the scenes in the book, Blaze knew that one the best and that truth embarrassed her most of all. She had read and reread that chapter on no fewer than twenty separate occasions; she could recall it from memory, practically word for word.

"He wanted to give her the notes and leave but she took his hand instead, it was raining so she insisted that he stayed for a while. They talked for a bit, she kept looking at his lips and, well, eventually they just… kissed," He concluded, so very bluntly.

That moment was the reason Blaze was embarrassed that he was reading the book. It was during that chapter that the Blaze couldn't help drawing parallels between the studious, serious, hedgehog and herself. Ivory's feline lover on the other hand, contradictory as it was, matched Silver all too well. The character of Star was painfully honest, overly curious, genuine and very naïve indeed; going out of his way for Ivory far more often than he truly should have. Additionally, although Blaze had never lived as a normal girl in a normal house, the concept of Star scaling Ivory's wall to see her could so easily be swapped with Silver floating his way to Blaze's windowsill to stay for a little while. Just long enough for a kiss of course, long enough to sweep her off her feet but not to carry her away; enough to leave her wanting just a little more.

Blaze would never admit, not even to herself, how many times she'd imagined and reimagined that scene.

The only response she could muster were two, quiet, words, "I-I see."

"I've been enjoying it, it's really nice to see what high school was like way back when it existed, but kissing keeps coming up. Ivory kept thinking about him kissing her, she kept considering kissing him and stuff like that. I thought when they actually did it I'd be able to understand why she thought about it so much, but I still don't?" Silver embarrassingly extrapolated, "They built up kissing as this wonderful thing and that it's really special, but isn't it just two people pushing their mouths together? I've read about kissing in encyclopaedias, and kisses have been mentioned in other stories I've read, but it never seemed all that important to me. Ever since I started this book, I can't stop thinking about it."

Blaze tried her hardest to keep her tail under control as those last words slipped free from his lips. Her arms folded across her chest, her ears pinned back and her eyes found themselves magnetically drawn away from his face and toward by a patch of burnt carpet.

"Well, um," She tried her best to think of some brief, yet thorough, explanation but embarrassment forced the truth from her, "It's rather difficult to describe the appeal of kissing."

"I've reread that passage a ton and I just don't get it…" He nodded in agreement, "Kissing is supposed to feel nice, I can tell that much, but, in the book, it's described as feeling like an explosion in your chest? But Ivory also says that it feels soft and sweet and tender, how can it be so many different things?"

"I'm," She nervously swallowed, now pondering on it herself. Thinking back to how she imagined kissing Silver would feel, "N-Not entirely sure."

"And why didn't people kiss more often? If it feels so amazing, wouldn't you want to do it all the time? Wouldn't lots of people just… kiss each other?" He'd asked yet another question, Blaze felt like she had to give some kind of answer this time.

"W-Well, I always thought that it wasn't kissing itself that feels like that, it's the fact you are kissing the right person; that's what makes it feel so wonderful. It's the fact that you're sharing such an intimate moment with someone you care deeply for; the person you care for the most. You're showing them how much you care about them by drawing them in close and exchanging a touch reserved for them and no other. The two of you get to share a moment born of your intimacy, m-made real by your closeness. You couldn't ask just anyone to kiss you and expect it to be wonderful, it has to be that special person. If it wasn't, then it wouldn't matter so you wouldn't get that feeling," The feline felt herself stumbling over her words. Though her understanding of kissing was clearly more developed than his, she, of course, hadn't actually kissed anyone. "At least, I think that's how it's supposed to be…"

"No, I think you're right. I think that makes way more sense than just touching lips and feeling a magic spark or some kind of nice earthquake. It having to be the right person would explain why everyone wasn't kissing all the time..." Silver seemed to pause for a moment, deep in through, "Can we try it?"

What puzzled her most of all was how nonchalant he was being. Had her explanation been that poor? Did he not understand he'd been reading a romance novel? Did he really think it was some kind of historical document, detailing an actual young girl's time at high school? Even then, the book focused so much on Ivory's crush while her schooling was more of a backdrop that occasionally pushed the narrative in an interesting direction. He had to know kisses occurred between loved ones rather than friends, didn't he? Despite how flustered she felt and how her blush was surely showing, he seemed totally unfazed by their situation; not in the least bit bashful about his proposal! Had she not explained this was one of the most intimate acts a pair could perform, reserved for only-

"I care about you more than I care about anyone or anything else, so if kissing works like you said then you're the person I should be kissing," He explained, entirely serious and more than half confident in his hypothesis, "Right?"

It was as though her brain was misfiring, Blaze was left completely speechless. Here he was, asking if he could kiss her and asking her to kiss him. There was zero hesitation in his voice, not an iota of contemplation or a speck of bashfulness. As was ever so common, the hedgehog's heart was on his sleeve and his intentions were much too easily discerned. They cared a lot about each other, the bandages they wore were more than evidence of that, but for him to so bluntly surmise their mutual care still caught her off guard. Not only that, but he truly wanted to try it; he wasn't joking, he wasn't the type to do that, Silver genuinely wanted to try kissing. He wanted to kiss her.

She must have been staring into space for too long because, when he finally broke the silence, concern hung on his voice; "We don't have to if you don't want to Blaze, it's ok-

"N-No I…" Blaze caught herself before she could finish that sentence; she swallowed her stutter and steeled herself, "Get up! You want to do this so we're doing it!"

"Really?!" The smile on his face was overwhelming, Silver bounded to his feet without hesitation but he paused before he could approach any further, "Are you sure? I don't know much about kissing, but the book made it out to be a big deal. A person's first kiss especially, that one's supposed to be really special. "

"I just agreed, didn't I? I'm more than certain, " A realisation dawned upon Blaze, she posed a similar question, "Are you okay with me being your first kiss?"

"Of course I am Blaze! There's no one else I'd even consider, you're really important to me and this is meant to be really important so it only makes sense," He was beaming at her, clearly overexcited, "As long as you're sure, I'm sure. As long as you're okay, I'm okay."

"Just," She felt a warmth she could only describe as bubbling giddiness; it was growing too powerful, "Give me a moment."

Blaze fully turned away from him in an attempt to compose herself, her eyes shut and arms still tightly folded across her chest. A bizarre shudder raked through her; she imagined it was the combined symptom of anticipation and, admittedly, a little bit of fear. Though she'd thought about it, Blaze hadn't anticipated something like this actually happening for years, if it ever did. She'd assumed, at the very least, neither of them would have the will to broach the subject until after Iblis was defeated for good. Furthermore, she'd imagined it'd be her dropping hints and to struggling to gently show interest. This was all just a little too fast, all just a little too sudden. Blaze felt her tail wriggle and writhe, it was as though her embarrassment was attempting to break free of her body and manifest as its own, awkward, entity. Were it not for today's endeavour, had she not fought and drained herself, Blaze was certain that her flames would have sprung forth long ago.

It was only as she reopened her eyes that she noticed he'd shifted. Not only had Silver drawn a few steps closer but his bright yellow eyes were shining down on her, carrying upon them an innocent worry that pierced her heart.

"I'm fine, I said I was… you're so naïve," Blaze caught herself half growling, reflexively puffing herself up in an attempt to look more confident than she actually was. One of her arms fell to her side, her remaining hand still gripping at her elbow. She sighed, trying to relax just a little, "This is all very new to me too and I want to do it right. I'm trying to think how we should… start."

"We could just do it like they did?" Despite her state, he still seemed oblivious to the connotations of their immanent embrace. She couldn't tell if that was for better or worse, "Like Star and Ivory."

The first kiss between Star the Cat and Ivory the Hedgehog, while not as heated as kisses she'd read about in later books, was a rather intimate affair. As she recalled, it remained surface level (that, or anything beyond the lips was left purely to the imagination) but the position they managed and the time spent in lip-lock was a feat in and of itself. To call that moment between them their first kiss would be to put it too lightly, too simply; it was much more than an awkward peck. But it wasn't too much more, she hoped at least.

"L-Like Star and Ivory," Blaze managed to repeat, half reflecting on what she wanted out of this first kiss and half on what she thought was possible, "I don't think that's beyond being possible?"

Having said that, Blaze did realise (now putting herself in Ivory's shoes) she would have to guide him. Even though he knew the hold, she was going to imitate this. Blaze, struggling not to turn away as her embarrassment maximised, reached across with her left hand; fumbling to find his hand only for him to find hers. Their fingers slowly interlocked and, as they did, she gingerly crossed her thumb across his.

"W-Wrap your arm around my waist," With the embarrassment behind her breath, it sounded almost as though she'd commanded him.

Despite her rashness, his arm immediately coiled around her waist. Blaze stumbled forward slightly; her chin had almost met with his chest fur. The gap between their frames was so very small; as her gaze dropped again she saw that her feet were between his. As she felt his right hand come to rest, only her tank top kept his fingers from her hip and his palm from the small of her back.

It was close, but this wasn't quite the complete hold Star and Ivory had shared. After all, Blaze still had one free hand. She wasn't brave enough to sink her fingers into his quills, not yet at least. For now, the less intimate contact would do; she'd have to build up to it.

Another realisation struck, only furthering Blaze's embarrassment. Despite the fact she was leading, despite her telling him what to do and how to kiss her, she was almost half a head shorter than him. The feline wore her heels so often (and she'd been so distracted by her embarrassment) that she'd completely forgotten the difference between their heights. Getting Silver to bend down and kiss her was, somehow, more embarrassing than the alternative. She would have to rise, climbing to her tiptoes in order to kiss him. It wasn't helping that, with so little distance between them, she was on eye level with the lips she'd soon be kissing. Try as she might, she couldn't stop staring.

"Is this okay Blaze? Am I holding you too tight?" He innocently inquired.

"N-No, that's good, I…" Her mouth felt dry all of a sudden, she assumed it was the heat, "We'll also need to tilt our heads, o-otherwise our lips won't meet properly," He blinked at her. Once again, he hadn't fully understood, "Lets both tilt right?"

"Like this?" Without hesitation, Silver tilted his head too far right. His muzzle was pressing against his shoulder, it seemed she would have to take more initiative than simply rising to her tiptoes.

"A little less, more like…" Blaze, without even thinking, reached up and sunk her hand into his quills, thus completing the hold as described in the book and the position they'd often taken in her mind's eye. Lines she'd read about pairs sharing passionate embraces, fingers running through hair and quills alike, quickly rushed to the forefront of her mind. Despite this, the feline couldn't bring herself to remove her hand from his overgrown spines. As she tilted her head to match his, she convinced herself that her hand should stay there. This way she could course-correct if they made a mistake, "There, th-that's perfect."

Innocent, excited, yellow eyes sparkled, but at this distance Blaze managed to spot something interesting. Now, with that promised kiss no more than a few moments away, a pink tinge had gently spread across his cheeks.

"Are you starting to understand? I've been feeling like this ever since you asked about kissing. Warm and nervous and…" Blaze forced herself to continue the explanation, after all; she was supposed to lead this, "Like my heart is exploding."

"I-I," He very almost forgot her hold as he shot up straight, eyes widening at his own stutter. Suddenly, his eyes darted to part from hers; unfortunately, there weren't many other places to look. He managed to half mumble, "I think I am."

"Do you still want to…" She led, once again finding herself unable to finish her sentence. It wasn't that she wanted to stop, in fact now she'd faintly invigorated, but she had to be sure he was comfortable.

Those bright yellow orbs flickered back to her amber ones as he gave as best a nod as he could, "I'm starting to get it, b-but now I want to know what it's actually like."

Silver's blush was creeping further, threatening to scale his ears with each passing moment. Well, at least they were flustered together; to Blaze, that somehow made this all just a little less embarrassing. She didn't have much time to consider that though, the tension between them seemed to be growing thicker by the second. She felt those often-described butterflies in her stomach but, as long as he did too, she knew that was fine. As long as it was mutual, as long as they were on the same wavelength, she knew everything would be okay.

"Alright, I'll lean in and, once I start kissing you, try to make your lips match mine," She instructed, managing to properly hold eye contact for the first time since he'd asked.

The hedgehog's brow furrowed, "What do you mean?"

"Just," She had no idea how to elegantly phrase what she wanted to say, "When I push my lips against yours, you're supposed to push back…? You can use your neck a little but I-I think you're supposed to just use your lips," Clearly still befuddled, Silver started to shape his lips into various (likely useless) forms. Not wanting to add humour to the dangerous concoction of emotions she was feeling, she quickly told him, "W-Watch and feel as I lead, I think the best way to learn is by doing it."

A look of realisation overcame his muzzle, fighting against his blush, "Oh, okay. So this is like practice?"

"If that helps then yes, th-think of it like practice," Blaze wasn't sure what she was saying at this point.

Practice for what? Practice for who? The only person she'd ever considered kissing was Silver and he'd only started to question kissing today, he'd even admitted she was the right person for him to kiss. Did he mean practice for the future? When she'd agreed, did she mean practice for the future? Blaze felt her hands grow sweatier as she contemplated that. She knew that even if Silver couldn't feel her sweat, he'd surely feel the heat that accompanied it. Thankfully, he hadn't mentioned it yet.

Swallowing one last time, she felt her grip grow just a little tighter, "Are you ready?"

"I-I think so?" Once again, caught off-guard by his own stutter, the blush on his cheeks grew a shade warmer. He managed to return her query, "Are you ready?"

"Yes," Blaze half-nodded, there was nothing more to do. The moment was finally upon them, "Close your eyes and stick out your lips, I'll…" Synapses failed to fire as she struggled to give her final instruction. Eventually, she decided to draw upon their reference material, "I-I'll be Ivory, I-I'll lead and you … just do what you can."

For a moment he hesitated, perhaps he thought he'd be taking the hedgehog's position, but he quickly complied; closing his eyes and puckering up. He looked more than a little silly, clearly not sure of what to do with his mouth and his brows were strongly furrowed, but it was rather endearing. Just as neither of them knew what this would feel like, neither of them really knew what they were doing. For whatever reason, that thought relaxed Blaze just a little.

Blaze took a deep breath, squinting incredulously at Silver; expecting reality to, somehow, fall away before their lips could meet. She shifted onto to her tiptoes, maintaining her stare as matched the hedgehog's height. His eyes were shut much too tightly and his shoulders looked much too tense; it was as though he was bracing for a literal explosion rather than a figurative one. Deep within her chest, Blaze felt a fluttering warmth. It was soft and yet, somehow, prickly. It was calming yet exhilarating; soothing yet overwhelming. It was as if her blood had been replaced with crackling energy; fuzzy feelings were flowing throughout her body but her heart couldn't handle the strain. As the distance between them shrank her temperature continued to rise, the feeling was just as contradictory as the books made it out to be. It was too strange to verbalise yet unabashedly wonderful.

Her eyelids grew heavy, her head tilted to mirror his alignment and three stuttered words managed to slip from her mouth. It was a phrase she couldn't help but use whenever these feelings grew just a little too palpable, "Y-You're so naïve…"

Eyes fully shut, Blaze pressed her muzzle against his; their lips met for the very first time. Surprised caused his fingers to tense, his grip around her waist tightened so suddenly that Blaze very almost ended their lip lock there and then; but her own hold on his quills kept them connected. Admittedly, however, a muffled, not unlike a squeak, did push past her lips. She kept hold of the back of his head, trying to make sure that he didn't mistake the sound for some kind of regret. Blaze felt herself almost melt into Silver, despite the strength with which they were surely holding each other; three of their four contact points faded into obscurity while the fourth drew all of her attention.

Electrifying was a word Blaze had never truly understood, electricity belonged to a long lost past, but, finally, she could match a sensation to its definition. Despite the heat and her nervousness, or perhaps even due to it, Blaze was thoroughly enjoying this.

It was only as she began to understand this feeling that it metamorphosed into something even greater. Silver had overcome his surprise and was fighting to return her kiss! She felt him shift in her grasp, contrary to what she'd advised he'd shifted his head and leant in closer still; pressing his mouth into hers. Despite the clumsiness behind his effort, it was more than enough to draw muffled purrs from her throat and send what remained of her senses into disarray. She felt her tail whip wildly and her ears press angle down further; as if urging her to somehow close the distance even further.

This was achieved by tugging his quills, she'd tilted his head just a little more and thus allowed their contact to deepen. His lips pushed against hers, he'd overcome his shock and remembered her advice. The warmth of her face now mingled and matched with that in her chest, culminating in a combined heat the likes of which she'd never felt. It was unlike any flame she could conjure and must have been the antithesis of Iblis' lava. It was like a roaring hearth, a heat that comforted despite its ferocity. Blaze found herself sifting through his quills and felt herself unravel just a little more; giving in to feelings she'd previously quarantined. If it was only going to be this once, this one and only test, she wanted to make the very most of it.

When they finally separated the sound of their panting filled the room and Blaze felt more than a little lightheaded. Were it not for their shared grip, one of them would have surely stumbled. Blaze wasn't sure how long that silence lasted but, equally, she didn't care. She was much too distracted by the lingering warmth on her lips.

"That was incredible, Blaze! I-I think I get it now!" Silver, meanwhile, was recovering in his own way. Trying to reassure her thus reassuring himself. Still, he wasn't wrong, "I-It's even better than the book said!"

With her embarrassment returning to its highest point, Blaze's voice was robbed from her and her eyes returned to that patch of burnt carpet. But, regardless of her capacity to speak, the feline's uncontrollable purrs were most certainly conveying mutuality of his statement.

"Can we do it again?"