Despite outside appearances, Sonic didn't really consider himself the partying sort. Sure, whenever a party happened he'd show up for a while, but the blue blur would never linger long. He'd grab some grub, share some laughs, and then speed off before things could get stale. Sometimes that meant hanging around for five minutes, sometimes he'd last up to an hour, but rarely if ever would the hedgehog linger till the end of such an event. Perhaps that was why no one ever invited him to help set up a party. Well, he'd hadn't been until today.
Sonic the hedgehog was stood looking out at the sea, his foot tapping against a varnished wooden deck and stomach only slightly churning. His fear of water was usually quelled by the security of a vehicle, frequent flights in the Tornado had more than proven that to him, but there was something different in the air today. It wasn't that the boat he stood upon was constructed by Marine the Raccoon, he'd rode her vessels before too. They hadn't even left port yet; the anchor was buried in the depths and the ship was bound to the dock. The waves weren't even splashing high! No, this present discomfort was something else.
Well, he had already spent his social quota and partying at sea meant no escape, Maybe things were that-
"Need some help Sonic?" A familiar voice asked, arriving to lean against the taffrail beside him, "Looks like you're working way too hard."
"Hey Ames, how's it going?" He worked up a smirk, turning to her, "Is that all the baking done?"
"Just iced the last layer of the cake, but the host insisted on preparing a couple of things by her lonesome and sent me off on an investigation," She relayed, a smug look claiming her muzzle, "We couldn't help noticing the tables haven't been set."
"Oh, really?" Sonic feigned ignorance, leaning back against the ship's wooden railing.
"Yes," Amy hummed, "It seems someone went to the effort of getting the tables tables and chairs from the palace, tossed a table cloth over each, and then just dumped all the cutlery and placemats on top before calling it a day. They didn't even get the glasses from below deck."
"I wonder who did that," The blue hedgehog had to look away.
"I have my suspicions," He felt Amy push in closer.
"I guess we'll never know..." He half sang, a hand in his quills.
Sonic felt a hand on his chest, both pinning him in place and pulling his gaze back to her. The pink hedgehog still had an apron on, worn over her red dress, that instructed him to kiss the cook in writing that was overly speckled with hearts. She'd pulled her quills back into a ponytail for the work, but just one quill had slipped astray of her scrunchie. An icing smudge marked her left cheek, on that same side. She was leaning in much too close, now walking her fingers up to his shoulder; a game had begun.
"I could see myself to finishing that work, taking on that important task abandoned by a certain somebody..." Her fingers stopped just before the left side of his collarbone, "But I'd want them to do something for me in exchange."
"Oh? "In that moment, Sonic saw his opportunity, "And just what would you want that hypothetical person to do?"
Before she could answer, Sonic reached to cup the pink girl's cheek. With a brush of his thumb the icing mark was removed, their eyes locked and he caught the sparkle in her emerald eyes. He ever so deftly reached with his index and middle fingers to push back that stray quill, looping it into taut green ribbon at the back of her head.
"Marry me?" She breathlessly asked.
Seizing her moment of surprise, the blue blur slipped out from the pink hedgehog's grasp to spin around and position her against the boat's edge with his hand now shifted to her shoulder, "That's a real steep price for forgetting some placemats, I don't think I can make that deal Amy."
"Oh, so now you're admitting to shirking your duties," She rolled her eyes.
"Well yeah," He smirked wider, "I'm winning."
"Of course you are," She smothered a laugh, her gaze dropping, "You're entirely at ease."
"What's that supposed to mean? I totally am," He leaned in further, managing to relock their eye contact.
"You've totally not been hiding over here, dodging the work you promised would be no sweat, because you're overthinking spending some time at sea," That truth was followed by another, "That and, well, the energy on deck is admittedly a little tense. Doesn't seem like your scene, at least at the moment."
Ah, perhaps that was the real reason he'd retreated to the bow of the ship. The vibes on the ship had been positively electric at first, but tension had travelled like chain lightning from one person to another. Today's host was the original source of that shift, no number of passing jokes had seemed able to quell the anxiety plainly bubbling within her. That much was to be expected from most party hosts, but the guardian of the Sol Emeralds seemed rather new to this particular duty. An overthinking Blaze on a very wooden boat was an undeniably dangerous combination.
"You're not wrong," He confessed, though put on his strongest smirk yet, "But, I mean, between us, I am winning right now."
"I don't know about that either. I'm exactly where I want to be," Now her eyes were sparkling again, "And you're exactly where I'd want you."
The wind fully dropped from his sails as his hand left her shoulder. When it came to Amy, even winning meant he'd lose, just a little. Sonic swivelled around to lean beside her again.
"Alright Ames, let's cut to the chase," Maybe he had won now, she looked annoyed that he'd left that position, "What's happened and what do you actually want me to do?"
"I might have tried to calm Blaze down, only to end up making things worse," She admitted through gritted teeth, "She really wants Silver's surprise party to go well..."
Ah yes, the reason they were all here, Silver's birthday. Invitations from Blaze had arrived atop the Master Emerald a little more than a week ago, along with requests for specific aid from some individuals. Knuckles and Tails had seen to delivering Blaze's writs and everyone from Vector to Big had agreed to attend and offer their aid in setting up a surprise party of the psychic. A boat based shindig with music, fireworks, and food.
"I've got to be honest, he doesn't seem the type to care all that much for parties in general. I'm kind of shocked she even thought to do this, neither of them are the partying sort," Sonic recalled aloud, "Ninety percent of the time they're all duty and justice and hard working. It's only the ten percent of the time that we see them around each other that I'd say they're anything close to social."
"That was my thought too, I tried to get her to sit down for a while and relax, leave this to us," Her gritted teeth turned into a full blown grimace, "That went..."
"Poorly?" Sonic suggested.
"Poorly," She confirmed, "When I made that suggestion, she insisted that she bake some things by herself..."
Realisation struck the speedster, "Didn't she specifically write that she wanted your help baking? Because she can't-
"Yes," Amy cut him off, "So, actually, we should probably hurry and sort this out before things can get any worse."
"Alright, what's the plan," Sonic asked, finally starting to grasp the seriousness of the situation.
"Well first I'm going to drag you back onto the deck to finish setting the tables, I'm going to help you with that," Miss Rose first insisted, "When you see an opportunity, I want you to slip over and talk to Blaze. Try to get her to calm down and take a proper break from giving orders?"
"Woah, Ames," Sonic raised his hands, "What makes you think I can talk her out of this? I peeled off for a reason."
"You've helped her before Sonic, you're better suited to this than you think," Amy sweetly nudged him.
"Helping her work with others to save the world is one thing, I just went with the flow and trusted my instincts on that," The blur professed, "Helping her get less anxious about party planning? Wouldn't you be better at that? I've never planned-
"I might have also, sort of, been teasing her about Silver while we were working together," Amy cut him off to sheepishly admit, "I really don't think I can be the one to do this now..."
"What do you mean teased her about Silver?" The speedster tilted his head.
"Sonic," Her tone was chiding, "Are you really that oblivious? Why do you think she's going all out like this?"
The blue blur blinked, racking his brain for an answer, "Because-
"What do you mean he's on his way to the palace? If he makes it, he'll realise I'm not there!"A shout, plainly not befitting of a princess, caught the pair of hedgehogs' ears, "We need more time!"
"Alright, I'll give it a shot, regardless of the reason," Sonic cringed, pushing to make his way back to the deck, "Just don't blame me if things end up even worse."
The deck was already in a partying state, even if the vibe didn't match it. It was as if Blaze was commanding a deck of sailors battling pirates at sea, rather than a group of friends setting up decorations. Tails was toward hull of the ship, currently entangled by a mess of wires while attempting to program a fireworks display. Knuckles was carrying goods from shore, ranging from more boxes of fireworks to fruit and lighting for the coming evening. Espio, aided by Charmy, was scaling the outer edge of the boat to hang banners and other party fixtures. Vector was handling communications, relaying secret messages from Marine. As a result, the crocodile was receiving most of the cat's current ire.
Blaze was positioned near the centre of the deck, behind a pop-up oven that Marine had purportedly made specifically for the event. The cat's hands were bristling with embers as she loomed over the device. Her sharp eyes gouged Sonic, so he quickly busied himself- doing as he'd promised. This was going to be tough.
"Apparently fishing her scuttled ship from the ocean was a lot easier than she thought," Vector barked back, "It's already back on the west dock, good as new."
"Tell her to drag her feet and kick up a fuss, to slow him in town as much as possible," Blaze responded immediately, not giving the reptile a moment to breathe.
"She says she'll do her best, but she doesn't seem confident," The crocodile awkwardly responded, "Look, Blaze, maybe-
"We need to speed things up!" The cat cut him off, "Tails, are the fireworks ready?"
"Almost!" He called from the back, "They'll be ready well before sunset."
"Get them finished as quickly as possible, I need you to help Big set up the music," The smaller cat insisted.
Big himself was wandering around with a massive set of speakers in his gloved mitts, thoroughly lost but also plainly unaware of the tension on the ship. Sonic managed to clear his way across the deck, setting glasses and placemats and more as he went. He could have been going faster, of course he could have, but the hedgehog had no idea what he was going to say. Regardless, he'd began to slip into position.
"Cream," The cat called out, "How is the paper-craft going, are you almost done?"
The blue blur tossed down a few placemats, roughly in the right places, still moving down the deck.
"I've ran out of ideas Miss Blaze," The rabbit almost sobbed, "I can't think of any more decorations, I've cut out so many Chao faces..."
"Just do your best, don't worry about making replicates at this point. Timing is what matters most," Though her words were kinder, panic still undercut the cat's words.
Sonic flattened a bunched section of tablecloth, still making his way around, trying his hardest to be subtle.
"Knuckles, how much is still piled at the dock?" The cat asked, her attention turned.
"Just the presents, everything else is set," He answered, setting a massive box down, "Can I take a breather?
Sonic found himself at the head of a table, he started to pull cutlery from a box and mindlessly spread it out. Only a few more steps and he'd be right in front of the purple feline.
"After the presents are on board, he'll know what's about to happen if he sees them," Blaze instructed, giving the echidna no quarter.
The cat continued to check in and give orders, going from person to person. Though she was never overly harsh with anyone, Sonic could see a pressure mounting beneath the surface. If he didn't step in, catastrophe would eventually come. Was party planning supposed to be so intense? No wonder he'd dodged it for all these years.
"Hey, Blaze," Sonic slid in front of her, positioning himself to spare anyone else her interrogation.
"What's going wrong now?" The cat grumbled, lit daggers in her eyes.
"Whoa, nothing is, I promise," Sonic took a half step back, hands up, "Just saying sorry for vanishing, had to get my party face on," His right hand slipped back to scratch at his quills, "Maybe you should take the time to do the same? You've been going all out since-
"That's because I need to keep on top of things, to ensure this is perfect," The feline bent down to the rickety oven, "The table needs set, these cupcakes will be-
The cat opened the oven door. Smoke immediately obscured the princess' entire form, flaring up to darken the sky. There was a single beat of silence, the deck seemed to freeze despite the sudden skyrocketing of temperature. From within the dark void a hint of red quickly expanded, soon the grey of smoke was thoroughly mixed with sparks of flame.
Sonic thought fast, dashing back to a table Amy had been setting. A pitcher of water was snatched up in one moment and just as quickly thrown. A splash resounded over the silenced deck; the flickering flames within the smokestack were snuffed and but moments later the grey clouds themselves fully vanished.
The revealed feline was thankfully dry, her conjured flames looked to absorbed the majority of the water, but she looked as regretful as a soaked kitten. Wide amber eyes looked out over the deck, lingering on those who were helping her. Sonic couldn't help but cringe, the cat was surely meeting bewildered and concerned stares that she'd loathe to feel bearing down on her. He had to act, go with the flow.
"Come on Blaze, let's go for a walk and get some air," He tried to shoot the feline a grin, though quickly turned to the pink hedgehog by his side, "Ames, you can pick up the baking in the meantime, right?"
"On it," Amy was keeping up her bubbly tone, "Everything will be ready for Silver arriving, I promise!"
By the time he'd turned back to Blaze, the cat was already stepping down the gangplank and off of the ship. He followed behind, giving her just a bit of space so as to both let her breathe and give himself a moment to figure out what to do next. In situations like this, going with the flow could only get him so far...
The sturdier grounding of the dock was a welcome change from that of the ship. A good five metres separating them, the pair paced past a gathered pile of gifts wrapped in various coloured papers. When the gang had first arrived the dock had been fully stocked with things to move and set up, now it was almost empty. Just those gifts-
"I know I'm being foolish, but I must look completely mindless," Sonic heard the cat grumble before turning to look back, "I'm sorry I didn't accept your suggestion immediately, leaving immediately would have been for the better..."
"Hey, it's no big deal," Sonic shrugged, "No one got hurt, don't think you left a scratch on the deck."
Realisation seemed to strike the cat, "I didn't check, I need to go back there. Getting the wood replaced will take-
"Whoa, whoa, Blaze," Sonic put his hands out, halting the cat as she turned. "Remember why you left the boat, take a moment, have a breather."
The cat did hesitate, he could tell she was anxious to return to the ship but beyond that the cat's thoughts were completely lost on him. Sonic usually prided himself on being good at reading the room, but when it came to the likes of Blaze or even Shadow only the most extreme of feelings were plain to him. For the feline, that usually meant noticing long built frustration mere moments before it was primed to detonate.
"This whole party thing really has you wound up," Sonic pointed out the obvious, stalling, "Gotta be honest, it seems pretty minor compared to your usual work. There's something else going on, right?"
"No, there's nothing else going on. It's just this party," Blaze refuted before biting her lip, "Although, I don't think I've explained the full context of it," Her fists balled, "This is Silver's first birthday."
"What? How's that possible?" Sonic blinked, "Has there been some sort of time travel mistake? Has he been turned into-
"No, it's simpler than that," Blaze shook her head, "Not simpler. More foolish. Naive."
"I mean, simple things can still cause stress," Sonic quickly responded, still befuddled, "If you wanna explain, I'm all ears."
"I probably should, just to... so that I don't seem quite so pointlessly terse," The cat unclenched her fist, taking a deep breath, "Silver doesn't know his true birthdate, he never has. Growing up in a long destroyed world, what mattered to him were seasons rather than specific days or months. The cold of winter and warm of Summer were far more important to him than any given day. Regardless, there was no one to maintain any sort of calender."
"Right, that makes sense," Sonic thought aloud, putting two and two together, "So there must be some reason we're doing this today of all days? Like, if the date wasn't an issue we could just push it back and avoid all this stress."
"He picked a birthdate for himself, he picked it in a suitably foolish and naive way," The guardian responded, "After my own birthday, I thought to ask him about his only to find out the truth. When I suggested picking a day he..." Sonic swore he could feel her temperature from these metres away, "He picked the day we'd met again, the day we'd reunited."
"Oh wow, that's pretty intense," The blue blur blinked.
"It wasn't for him, he just suggested it off the cuff, so stupidly casually," Blaze recalled, looking to the ocean, "His exact logic was that good things are meant to happen to people on their birthday. Since that was, in his words, the best thing that ever happened to him... he decided that day must have been his birthday."
"I mean... there's a sort of logic there," Sonic concluded, not really following the psychic's train of thought but going along with it, "But the stress you're feeling makes a lot more sense now, of course you're worried about today going well..." Sonic scratched his ear, "It's like it's you guys anniversary or something."
"Don't be so blunt!" Burning eyes returned to Sonic for but a moment before tumbling to the dock, "But.. yes, and with today being his first... it's a lot and it has been weighing on me, even prior to today," Her fists clenched as she took a step toward the boat, "I need to get back to work."
"No," Sonic raised his hands to halt her, again just going with the flow, "Don't sweat it, I'll handle the set up from here."
"You can't be serious," Exhaustion was plain in the princess' voice.
"Hey, when am I anything but serious?" His joke didn't land so he tried another angle, "But, I mean, look at it this way, why did he pick today? You said it yourself."
"Because it's the day we reunited?" Blaze bluntly replied.
"Because reuniting with you was the best moment of his life, the best day," Sonic reinforced, "I think he'd rather be with you today than spend so much time apart. Think about it, he'd get onto the boat only to be swarmed by other people when you're finally together again. He'll barely get to spend any time with you," The hedgehog hypothesised, "Does that sound right?"That took the cat a moment to process, "It does, but I-
"And if you're really so worried about the party, think about it this way," She was surely frustrated at being cut off, but he had to make sure she understood, "You were worried about him arriving early; now you can make certain he doesn't. Just leave it to us, we'll let you know when everything's ready."
"I..." Words seemed to fail her for a moment, "No, you're right," And then for a moment longer, "Silver isn't even expecting some party, he just thinks I'm busy with work today. I can arrive and he won't suspect a thing," Relief began to buzz through Sonic's head, "That and... you're right, he'd probably rather spend today with me than being led around by Marine."
"Go to him and spend some time, get here when you get here. Don't rush or keep him away," Sonic advised, "Just kick back for a while, you've earned it."
The cat looked as if she was going to fight him again, but that expression faded into contemplation, "Alright, I'll just, um," She did walk past him, toward the ship, but stopped at the pile of presents to collect a long box wrapped in blue paper, "Right, yes, he's on his way to the palace. I can beat him there if I hurry."
The guardian began to race across the dock, no longer hesitantly pacing as she had before. As if it was a cape tossed from her shoulders, the apron that had covered her front was thrown from her form to land on the flat wooden floor. It was only as she reached the land that Sonic thought to say some final words.
"Blaze!" He called to the cat, cupping his mouth.
The feline stopped in her tracks and turned back.
"Don't forget to have fun, that's the whole point!" He shot her a thumbs up, "And we both know that's what he'd want, more than anything else!"
The cat didn't return his gesture, instead giving just one last nod before hurrying off with that gift under her arm. Sonic wiped the sweat from his brown, a wave of relief washed through his form as he crossed his hands behind his head and turned back to the ship. He made it around three paces before realising someone was staring down at him from the top of the gangplank.
"You know you've just promised to take her place, right?" A familiar voice called from the ship, "Now all of this is your responsibility," Now close enough, he could see Amy's taunting smirk, "No more slacking off."
Sonic's struggled to keep up his smirk, beginning to rise the gangplank, "Well, no good deed goes unpunished."
He had no idea what he was going to do, but he knew he'd done a little bit of good. That had to count for something, right?