Blaze the cat didn't consider herself a nosey person, observant was closer to the term she'd use. While she didn't gossip or snoop in a traditional sense, the now queen of the Sol dimension couldn't deny that she noticed things that others typically would not. Identifying the small failings, like developing faults in an opponent's guard, and obscured intents, like those of the various stakeholders who approached her to meet, came as second nature to the guardian, it was almost reflexive. When it came to her husband however, the feline's perceptive abilities heightened even beyond that.
She'd first picked up on his most recent subterfuge around two months ago, when she'd been awoken one morning by him getting dressed and slipping from their room in the wee hours of the morning only to return through the door mere moments later. She'd debated keeping her knowledge a secret, knowing that it was only natural that he'd try to hide something at this time of year, but watching him flounder as she caught his stare had been more than worth it. The only explanation Silver had dared to give was that he'd been someplace else and doing something really important, his phrasing had only bolstered her teasing. Teasing that had only increased when she caught him again the following month.
Now however, albeit incompletely, Blaze knew the nature of his efforts on that morning. Behind her the hedgehog in question was still getting dressed, having spent admittedly far too long picking a shirt for today's meeting. Meanwhile, the cat had gone to their shared desk, parallel to their shared bed, to flip through the itinerary for the present week. While everything across those seven pages fit with what the cat remembered, she'd dared to look just a little further. On the Monday still to come, scrawled in his unmistakably messy handwriting, was just four words. Tenth Anniversary: Week Away.
The cat could assume a few things immediately, owing to her knowledge of him. For him to have left the room yet reappear so quickly, she'd assumed some sort of dimensional or time travel had been performed. They hadn't had many holidays, though their workload had greatly decreased, but those they had taken so often involved vanishing like that and almost immediately reappearing, days having passed relative to them but mere minutes for this world. Still, for him to schedule this successfully without it coming to her attention prior was an undeniable feat.
Despite her wiliness, as she heard her footsteps approach from behind, the cat gently flicked back a few pages. She felt his arms brush at her sides, settling to gently hug just above her gut as he leaned in to rest his head upon her shoulder. Blaze had been wise to flick back, without looking she could tell that he was looking over her shoulder. To match his hold, feeling his nuzzle, she brought her right hand up to cup the back of his head and pull him in closer. Everything about him just felt so soft, her want to take advantage of this stolen knowledge was blooming.
"How do things look this week?" He asked, stifling a yawn by kissing her cheek.
"Busier than usual, but still better than we're used to," Her fingers found the back of his ear, she allowed herself to play with it, "Today we're due to oversee the shifting of royal relics in a half hour, a couple of our more ceremonial duties too..."
She heard him hum contently, simultaneously feeling him lean more of his weight into her, "We've got the parents' night tonight too, don't we?"
Despite the somewhat sleepy manner with which the hedgehog was holding himself, the two had already been up for over an hour. They'd taken breakfast as a family and made sure their eight year old daughter was ready in time for Gardon taking her to school, as he did whenever they had morning meetings. While initially she took pause considering how the hedgehog would factor the young feline into their trip away, that thought was interrupted by another. There had been a moment, before coming here to prepare for their first meeting, where they had been separate. Had he snuck off again to plan more while still in his pyjamas? To make some last minute additions or changes to whatever plan he was hiding from her?
"It's factored in, I'm certain we'll both be able to attend this time," Blaze mused aloud, flipping back to the Wednesday it was scheduled. She couldn't help herself as she finally looked at him, catching the sleepiness in his gaze, "Are you okay? You sound tired."
"I probably overthought my outfit, it feels like my head's spinning," It took him some effort but he pulled back, gesturing to himself, "What do you think?"
On the surface there was nothing wrong with his choices, it was a simple shirt, tie and trousers combination. The choice of colours did however arch the cat's brow. While there wasn't anything inherently wrong with wearing a light blue dress shirt with darker stripes and black formal trousers, he'd made a third choice that tore her attention from that normalcy. For whatever reason, the hedgehog was wearing a, heavily clashing, two tone yellow tie. While the two of them had over the years transformed their role as royals, pushing it to focus more on them being guardians of the islands and only ceremonially part of their politics, a certain professionalism was expected.
"Don't you think the tie is a little," She saw his excitement waver at her pause, her urge to tease spiked, "Distracting?"
"Oh, well, that's the point," He gestured to his trousers, "Night sky," Then his shirt, "Day sky," Then his quills, bound back into a ponytail, "The clouds," And finally, his tie, "The sun."
"I... see," She stifled a laugh at the seriousness of his explanation, "You're still so naive."
"What, do you not like it?" He asked, looking surprised.
"I didn't say that," Blaze tutted as she smirked, "It's very you."
"Th-Thank you?" He stuttered, trying to squeeze a compliment from her joking chide.
"Whether it's suitable for signing off on the moving of historic artefacts... well, I'll leave that to your imagination," The cat rose to her tiptoes, stepping in to kiss his cheek, "Though I understand if everything else is in the wash, you seem to have been working overtime lately."
She felt confusion quirk across his cheek before she left it, indicative of deep thought as he tried to determine what the cat had implied. Blaze abandoned him there to consider her implication, moving close to the door out of the room and putting on a set of formal black boots. In theory at least, of the two of them, she was less formally dressed but better put together. A white frilled shirt with puffy lantern sleeves and black trousers, a relatively simple and more comfortable garb than her constantly worn long-coat. Recently she'd had him cut her hair short too, wanting a change after having kept it long for much of her life. It was simply nice to alter her appearance without risk of scrutiny, now that they were less prominent in the public eye.
By the time she'd tied her shoes and risen back to her full height, he'd moved toward the door... still wearing that ridiculous tie. Today's meetings weren't too important; the aforementioned shifting of castle relics to a public museum so that they could by preserved more properly and be seen by the public, the first of their twice weekly communes with the Sol Emeralds and then a trip to the docks for a boat naming ceremony. These were regular things, casual and small in comparison to the loads they'd once bared.
Perhaps on another day, a day she hadn't noticed the oddity in their journal, she would have let his choice go unmentioned. Today however, the now thirty six year old cat saw an opportunity. They surely had a little while longer till the start of their first meeting.
She heard him step to the entryway and saw him reach for the handle, "Should we head down-
A reserve of speed, most often harnessed in combat, was used to catch the hedgehog and push his back against the brown wooden door. While her left hand met with the wood just left of his head, her right immediately went for that stupid tie around his neck to hold it by the knot. Though she was still shorter than him, despite her boots, the psychokinetic was immediately under the pyrokinetic's control.
"Silver," She called, locking her gaze to his tie.
"Blaze?" He responded in kind, surprise evident in his tone.
"Silver," The cat repeated, just to hear him say her name again.
"B-Blaze?" His voice cracked.
"I know you've been up to something," Her eyes shot up.
As she'd anticipated, their gazes immediately crashed, panic was clear on his expression, "Up to something?" He parroted.
"Yes indeed," She confirmed, refusing to break eye contact "And I'm going to get to the bottom of it."
"O-Okay?" He didn't look away, but she could both feel and see him straining, "Get to the bottom of what?"
The sight of him all buttoned up and proper still felt so fresh, even ignoring his fashion choices. A small part of her did want to preserve that visage, as she knew it would need to be restored in time for their first meeting, but a much larger aspect longed to make a mess of him. She supposed it would be quick to neaten all she'd do. A shirt untucked, quills unfurled and that stupid tie entirely removed. Although, that latter feature she'd rather stay where she'd undoubtedly end up placing it.
"Well, that's the question isn't it? Just what is it you've been hiding from me?" Blaze pried, certain she wouldn't get an answer.
"I don't think I could really hide anything from you," He obfuscated, as expected.
"Well, I wouldn't say that," She hummed, "You're just not good at hiding the fact that you are keeping a secret. The details of said secret are themselves lost on me."
The hedgehog bit his lip, as if trying to keep secrets that were set to explode from the tongue caged within his mouth. There was something just so endearing about seeing him trapped and flustered, a truth she'd come to accept well over a decade ago now. No matter how powerful he became, whether or not he was as short and adorable as he had been before, seeing the fluffy time traveler so cutely flapped was undeniably cathartic. Perhaps that feeling was tied to the embarrassment she'd once frequently felt.
"Maybe you shouldn't know the details," He managed to eep out, "What even makes you think this secret is something to do with you? I-It could be something personal."
Blaze let the silence hang for a moment, stepping in closer still. Her knee found the door, presumedly between his legs, and so the distance between them was reduced to naught. She brought his tie to loosen and so her thumb brushed his neck, a shudder or flinch rocked through him. Either way, Blaze felt her excitement bristle hotter.
"Well," The cat began to posit, "It's only natural that I'd presume you're plotting something, we both know what date's approaching and I know that you've been sneaking out."
"Date?" He was trying so hard to keep a straight face, but his lie was far too obvious, "What date?"
"Silver, we've been reunited for twenty one years, married for almost ten," The pyrokinetic bluntly reminded him, "You couldn't get away with such an obvious fib even when I'd first met you," She pushed further, "You're an awful liar."
"Um," He swallowed hard, "I'm sure you've been up to something for that day too, right? Maybe I've just planned something small, to try to keep out of the way of your plans."
"Well, I might have been willing to believe that," Blaze professed, "If I hadn't checked ahead in our planner this morning."
"A-Ah," He squeaked, "So you did see."
Still holding his tie, the cat allowed herself to push against his chest. She felt the pushback from his presently restricted chest fur and heard the door bump to being as fully shut as possible. It only opened inward, he stood no chance of escape. Her efforts had surely untucked his shirt, he was growing messier by the moment. She dropped her hand from the side of his head only to quickly return it to that spot, having snatched up his right hand in her left to pin it beside his head.
She allowed the quiet to linger, waiting for him to speak but enjoying the sight of his face growing pinker and then redder as bashfulness set in. If his clothes were supposed to represent the sky, his white quills included as the clouds, then now his cheeks could acts as the tones of sunrise and sunset. True, it was a little strange for that portion to be set above the day's sky and far from the dark of night, but to see him like this was more lovely than any solar event.
"Do you really want to know what I'm hiding?" He almost whimpered, finally breaking the quiet.
"What do you think?" Blaze asked, half curious and half teasing.
"Th-That you're just enjoying having me trapped like this?" He quickly responded, trying to lean in only to find himself stuck.
"Perhaps you have grown wiser with age," The cat almost laughed but, unlike him, was able to maintain her poker face, "That's a very astute observation."
Finally she brought her head fully close turning it so as to achieve an ideal angle. Her lips first found his neck, her chin brushed the collar of his shirt and she again cursed that tie. If it weren't for it then his top button might have been undone, allowing her more premiere access to the intended site. Still, perhaps it was a blessing. It would surely be uncouth for him to arrive at meetings with a fresh mark upon his exposed skin and photos would surely be taken later today.
Blaze worked her way toward his lips, pecking his cheek twice, "I think you might be onto something."
Her lips collided with his, mere seconds after processing the warmth and softness of that contact she noticed the taste, or rather a lack thereof. Their morning kisses typically tasted of their respective breakfasts, often his sweet meal would clash against her dark coffee. This morning however, the syrup from his pancakes and sweet of orange juice weren't so pronounced. That was all it took to solidify one theory, he had slipped away to plan more.
With that truth in mind, Blaze melted deeper into him as if to make up for the time he'd stolen. She felt the ring on his finger as their grasp intensified, the rubbing of that metal against the joints in her fingers. It served to remind her, almost as much as their lip-lock, of how far they'd come. Even now, with him literally pinned against the door and their daughter on her way to school, this didn't seem entirely real.
"I anticipate that you've planned a journey, to someplace outside of our typical space and time," The Queen hypothesised between kisses, "To put your mind at ease, you don't have to worry about our plans clashing."
The cat had prepared a couple of things in advance of their tenth anniversary, albeit in a manner much more subtle than the hedgehog's own vanishing acts. With the space that would be created by moving the artefacts from their storage, she had elected to have erected a new room in its place. Since they'd had their daughter a few sections of the castle had been renovated, just to make things more like a traditional home. Unfortunately however, up until now they'd never really had a proper family room, just the royal library. With this change though, there would be plenty new space for games and time spent together.
Realising however that her gift to him was also technically something for the two of them, as well as their daughter, she had seen to sorting a couple of additional items. A new photo album, giving a timeline of the first ten years of their marriage, it was the kind of tangible thing that could be built upon for the decades to come. As well as that, more foolishly but certainly likely to excite him, to replace the suites for armour they'd be losing in the coming days, she'd gone about getting a set that would fit him. Admittedly she wasn't certain what he'd do with it, but she could already imagine his surprise and joy upon seeing it.
When they paused again to breathe, just as Blaze was about to resume the kiss, she felt his free hand catch her shoulder. He'd fought to put some seriousness back into his gaze, "I can just tell you if its worrying you, but I'd rather keep this a surprise until the day. Is that alright?"
"If my King is so set on keeping his secrets, then I suppose I have no choice but to accept that," Blaze sarcastically sighed, "It must be a matter of some extreme royal importance."
Technically speaking, Silver wasn't legally regarded as the King of the Sol Kingdom, but the phrase was one the cat enjoyed so very much. She hadn't enjoyed royal monikers when she was alone, they'd felt isolating and alienating. With him though? The way those keywords fell from his tongue, so often whispered in their quietest of moments, was the sweetest delight atop all others.
In their early years of dating, thinking of him with a title had been both thrilling and embarrassing due to the related truth in conjured. The former feeling was still stoked now but the latter had been replaced with total comfort. Regardless of what he was in the public eye, he was her King and no one could contest that.
Silver responded in kind, finally mustering some courage, "I'll do whatever my Queen desires, even if that means spilling the contents of my heart."
"Is that so, my King?" She raised her hand from his chest for a moment, only to gently return it to a site not far away, "Then I think I'll have you do away with this tie."
In a single swift movement, her forefinger set upon the top of the garment's knot and she tugged sharply downward. The movement, started smooth but did admittedly force him to almost bow and bring his lips close to hers again. Still, she then managed grasp further up and slip the whole thing over his head, unintentionally popping his shirt collar as a result. From there, so very casually, Blaze threw the ill-matching garment over her shoulder and onto the floor.
"A-All that just to get my tie off?" He seemed to slump slightly, but he was smiling.
"Just to get it off? That's quite the assumption," Her hand retook its place on his chest, the door creaked, "I haven't let you go yet, have I? Who knows what will come next?"
"I think I do," She felt his grasp on her hand and shoulder tighten, "Perhaps it's my turn to surprise you."
He leaned in, not quite able to push off the door but far enough to bump his lips against hers. Again warmth flowed from her to him and back, unending effort and unabashed comfort. Now, nearing ten years of marriage and years spent dating prior, the both almost instinctively knew how to match the other. There was no more crashing of teeth, no underestimations or overstepping. They were simply and entirely comfortable, both with each other and their positions.
For them, surprises had once been associated with fear. When their home had been broken and burning, a surprise was an unseen foe or a cave in, a life or death situation more often than not. Even during their second lives, Blaze hadn't thought positively of shocks until they'd reunited; surprises had most often taken the form of unexpected meetings and attacks perpetrated by Eggman Nega. Now though? He might surprise her with breakfast, she could sneak up behind him for a kiss or, not uncommonly, they'd end up simultaneously surprising each other.
In truth, Blaze had her thoughts and theories for what Silver had planned next week. It was possible that Soleanna was his intended destination, it was a frequent romantic stop for them, despite certain memories. The fact his planned trip was set to be a surprise though, and that he'd seemingly disappeared multiple times, told Blaze that there was more too the situation. Was he taking her someplace new? Possibly, but the need to disappear so often suggested there was more to it. No, a tour of countries or sites seemed to make more sense.
Blaze pulled back just slightly, forcing the hedgehog to squirm in her grasp as he tried to follow. The moment he blinked his eyes open, the cat pounced, reclaiming the contact and control with a simple push of her mouth against his. Things were growing more intense, her tail was wound around his waist and she could feel her temperature rising. He was just so soft, so pliable beneath her.
Of course, this whole time, the cat hadn't actually wanted to know what he had planned. The thought of that happy unknown ahead was worth more than the kind of peace of mind that came with certainty. If he wanted to keep this a secret up until the day, then she had no reason to deny him that excitement and enjoy her own surprise. Besides, she was set to surprise him; to prevent him from matching her would hardly be fair.
A knock at the door forced their lips to part, the hedgehog would have flinched and pushed off if she wasn't so strongly holding him, "Excuse me, Queen Blaze and Prince Silver? Are you both still in there? The museum curators are set to arrive soon, does the meeting room need prepared?"
The queen recognised the tone as belonging to one of the palace staff, a maid if she recalled correctly. Blaze very almost went to respond, only to detect an opportunity. She wasn't the only royal in this room, capable of assuaging the maid's worries and making a decision... even if she was the best candidate to do it.
Blaze looked at him with a certain slyness, as if to wordlessly say, "You promised to do whatever your Queen desires, now buy us just a little more time."
In truth, Blaze knew their fun couldn't last much longer. Time had surely flown by and Still, she'd make the most of this and watch him squirm for as long as possible. Though they had a fairly full itinerary today, they were hardly life or death situations and their presence was primarily a formality. A decade ago she would have panicked about being a mere moment late, but now that stress was far lighter.
"W-We'll be down in a moment to sort it, don't worry, we're just," Blaze tenderly shifted, careful not to push him harder against the door, and pushed to kiss beneath his jaw. She could feel his pulse skyrocketing, her effort seemed to spark his synapses, "We spilled some coffee, got a little mess to deal with. We won't be long!"
Of course the taste of coffee had been on his mind, just as it was on her lips.
It wasn't a good lie, but it seemed to do the trick, "Ah, I see. My apologies for the intrusion. If they arrive ahead of schedule I'll ask them to wait in the foyer."
"Thank you," He called back, just as Blaze ceased her efforts. Then, much more quietly, but just as flustered, he grumbled, "D-Did you have to do that?"
"Your Queen desired it," She chastised, simultaneously glancing to their bedside clock, "But I am willing to admit that I let myself have a modicum too much fun. We should probably hurry down there."
She went to step away, but only managed a half move. His hand at her shoulder haphazardly held her still, his other had managed to sneak its way around her waist. It took her just a half second to notice that her tail had taken his side in this effort, having come to coil around his leg.
"Just," He'd looked so very sheepish a moment ago, but now there was a certain bravely lurking behind those sparkling yellow eyes, "One more?"
"Just one?" The cat stepped close again, again putting her knee between his pair.
He flinched, his gaze dropped, "Well, f-for now, not forev-
Of course she let him have it. Her lips and his collided with his once more, she pushed into him but he pushed back with equal measure. The embrace was shorter than those that had come before, and it was gentler in some ways, but the passion still burned with that same intensity. Blaze allowed her hand to slip from his chest, up and into his quills to tussle and tease. Now he tasted of coffee too, she couldn't recall quite when that had happened.
She pulled back and squeezed his hand, rousing him back to his senses, "Satisfied?"
"Nope," He gleefully hummed, "I'll always want another, you know that."
"Well, there will be time for more evening," She took another half step back, releasing his head and then his hand, " Perhaps I'll finally manage to top you off," She glanced down at herself, finding her shirt unkempt and moving to sort it, only to catch the hedgehog staring as if still pinned to the door, "Hurry up, we've got a meeting to attend."
As if roused from being paralysed, the psychic quickly pushed himself from the entryway. A few of his quills had come loose, in hindsight she had been a little rougher than intended but that had generated the desired effect. He hurriedly neatened himself as he once would never have thought to, not back when they were young. His shirt was tucked first, he brought his thumb around his waist to ease the material into his waistline. A flare of psychic energy re-flattened his quills, pushing them back into a bobble which had once been hers. A glance was thrown its way, but he didn't dare go for the tie.
Oh, now she'd been staring. The cat straightened her sleeves, repositioning the flared material to neatly cover her wrists before tucking her own shirt back in. She'd ended up quite a lot neater than him, but reaching up and pushing so thoroughly hadn't left the princess entirely unruffled.
By the time she was done he'd opened the door. She swept past him, snatching up his hand as she went and leading him out into the hall. He stumbled, caught off guard, but soon managed to keep pace with the cat's brisk pace.
"I presume you've factored our princess into your plan, whatever it is," Blaze checked, throwing him a glance.
"Of course," The hedgehog confirmed, a wily smile on his face as he now came to be beside her, "She knows her part to play in all this, she has for a while now."
At first she let those words sit for a moment, considering what he might have schemed with that kitten of theirs, before a smile broke onto her muzzle. That smile was soon followed by a laugh and that laughter eventually made her slow. A truly silly truth had crossed her mind.
"W-What's so funny?" Her husband asked, slowing to match her pace.
"She already has a better poker face than you," The cat managed to snicker out, "She hasn't revealed a thing."
Ten years of marriage, many prior spent together, and yet their own child was already better at hiding the truth from her than Silver. On one hand, she supposed that was to be expected. She'd know him long enough to read the hedgehog like a book and the same was mostly true of him with her, he could detect her emotions from a mile away. On the other however, he probably should have learned at least one technique to better hide surprises from her; at least so much as to not write his surprise in their shared diary.
"Well," A blush crept its way across his muzzle, coming to fully reclaim it, "G-Good, clearly she takes after you with that regard. I'm sure you've got something schemed too, not that I have a clue what it is."
"That I do," She resumed her prior pace, her wiry smile softened as she resumed leading him, "And that's all you get to know."