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Spagonia was beautiful at night.
The same could be said for a lot of cities Sonic's passed through on his journey to repair the planet, but it held especially true for this place. Lovely architecture, somehow elegant yet homely, lit by a faintly orange glow. Sights to enjoy on top of the pleasantly warm weather, only a light breeze to brush through chocolate hair and white-tipped quills, he couldn't complain about having to come visit again. Even if it was just for business.
At least, that was what he was supposed to be at Professor Pickle's laboratory for. It’s a good thing that the important stuff's gotten out of the way before something else managed to divert his focus. That something—someone, actually—did have a penchant for magically appearing out of nowhere to distract him.
"Sonic!"
As his attention was ripped away from his conversation with Tails, he whipped his head to see the girl who’d just barged into the main room of the lab. In all the years Sonic has known Amy, she's never held back from expressing her ridiculous amount of affection for him. No matter where they were or what they were doing at that moment, she'd tackle him right on the spot, nuzzling her head against his face as she lovingly crushed the air out of him. This time was no different.
"Wha—A-Amy!?"
"You're here! Oh, I missed you sooo much!" she gushed, grinning wide as her arms locked tight around his shoulders.
Well. In some ways, it was different. For one, she was nuzzling against his chest, because at this time of the day he was a few inches taller than usual. Bulkier than usual, on the whole. If he was as light and lithe as he normally was, the force of her hug would've knocked him back.
"Nice to see ya again too..." While her enthusiasm outweighed his by a long shot, he let her win with a resigned sigh...that came out more like a huff. Everything about him was rougher and gruffer thanks to whatever Eggman had done to him up in the airship. Including his voice, now much deeper with an ever-present growl. Even though he was getting used to his new powers, that didn't make the transformation any less jarring. And for more than just the obvious reason.
"Jeez, visit more often! Spagonia's great and all, but it's way better with you in it," she remarked flirtatiously. He fought back the urge to roll his eyes.
"Hah, well, y'know how it is. Chip and I've been busy saving the world!"
His floating companion gave an enthusiastic hum and bob of his head. No more than that since it was, evidently, rude to speak with your mouth full of chocolate.
"All that stuff about the broken planet's been all over the news," Tails chimed in. "You've heard about it, right, Amy?"
"Hmm, I guess you're right about that. Still, you're not getting away from me this time, Sonic!"
"Yeah, yeah..."
If he had a ring for every time he heard that, he'd be set for life. But the words rang differently, considering that the last time they saw each other, he left before she could say anything to him.
The memory extinguished itself with the sudden absence of a pink hedgehog from his side. Sonic blinked as he watched Amy willingly, without repeated protests for her to knock it off, stop hugging him. If that wasn't an indication that something was up, the way she averted her gaze afterward would've been. The emerald hues of her eyes drifted to a corner of the room as she linked her arms behind her. Kind of like when she pushed him away the first time she saw him in this bestial form, but here she was still smiling.
Was she nervous? Around him? Amy Rose, whose sense of shame disappeared in front of her one sweet passion. Pinch him, he must be dreaming.
"But, actually," she interjected, her eyes returning to his confused face. "There's something I need to talk to you about! If you're done here, can we go somewhere private?"
What an ominous request. What could she possibly be thinking that she couldn't say it here for? That they had to be alone for? Amy shouted every emotion from high to low.
He spared a look at Tails, mildly panicked. The young fox merely offered a shrug. That's it, he was doomed.
"Uh, sure thing," Sonic agreed. While he was certain he didn't have a choice in the matter anyway, it was only aided by the fact that his curiosity was getting the better of him. "Where do you wanna go?"
"How about the roof? It's really nice up there."
She didn't seem upset, but that didn't help his unease much. Actually, not at all: when she was upset, he at least knew how to handle that. As much time as she spent admiring him, an equal amount was devoted to chasing him around with her hammer.
But this? This was different. Even if she put on a cheery face, she seemed serious. Was it all a ploy to win him over? After all, standing on a rooftop at night sounded suspiciously romantic.
Oh well, she hasn't given him a reason to reject her so far. After a moment's hesitation he wound up agreeing to that as well, and on the way up, she's oddly quiet (mark another tally under "odd behavior"). Both of them were content to remain silent until they opened the door to the roof and walked into the night.
"Wow, look at the stars! Isn't it romantic?" Amy swooned, holding her cheeks in her hands. With the way she looked at him, you might have been fooled to think his presence alone was the cause for such a beautiful sight. Maybe to her, it was.
He made a noncommittal grunt in response. "Romantic" wasn't a word he would think to use, but she wasn't wrong. The twinkling sky above contrasted against the auburn city below made for a view that was, quite honestly, breathtaking. Not that it really did anything for him, not in the way she wanted it to.
She was looking him up and down in a way that maybe kinda sorta got to him. But it shouldn't have. She stared at him all the time. When he tensed under her gaze, her lovestruck blush faded as she dropped her hands.
"What's up?" he asked, partly in an effort to dispel the weird air.
"Um..." Her smile turned sheepish. "I'm really sorry I didn't recognize you at first, Sonic! I didn't mean to shove you, but you really caught me off guard. You look totally different now, so I thought—"
"That you mistook another hedgehog for me again? How many times does that make it?"
Her embarrassment was badly masked with an indignant huff. "Very funny, mister. Don't make me pull out my hammer!" she exclaimed, jabbing him in the arm with her gloved finger.
"Hey, take it easy!" Laughing, his fanged teeth were bared in a grin as he held up his hands in defense.
After a bit of faux consideration, she shook her head. "Okay, fine. Since I like you so much, I'll let it go this time."
"Lucky me." One of his hands lowered while the other moved to rub at his neck. "I get it, though. It was a shock to me, too."
A small, sympathetic frown pulled at her muzzle. "Oh, my poor Sonic... Look at what that evil Doctor Eggman did to you." As she stepped closer, he instinctively moved back, the humor wiped from his expression.
"Huh? I-It's fine, Amy. You know I've been through worse."
"Really? 'It's fine'?" Uh oh, wrong answer. She crossed her arms. "Then why did you run away as soon as you saved me?" The look she gave him was as accusatory as her words: a merciless one-two.
Just when he thought they could move on without talking about it. It was wishful thinking to assume she would forget about that slight. A few days ago, he saved her from a group of people possessed by Dark Gaia's underlings. After pummeling those monsters with his stretchy arms and sharp claws and huge fists, he'd picked up the collapsed Amy from the ground, gently set her down—and then ran, no, swung away from the city's hub before she could turn around. Not one of his proudest moments, he'll admit.
"I mean, I didn't even get to thank you back there. You could have told me it was you! Did you know I had to talk with the professor just to get caught up?"
"...Uh..." Was it really that big of a deal to her? It didn't matter who told her, right?
But it's not like he hadn't done anything wrong. While it wasn't unusual for him to leave her behind, he never did immediately after a fight. He hadn't even checked to see if she was doing okay first.
"I hate not knowing what's going on with you, Sonic."
And in that moment he decided that he didn't like the sound of his name then, empty, lacking in her fangirlish awe. He never knew how to respond to that, how she was able to fit so much into two syllables, but at least it wasn't piercing and strange and faintly sad.
"...Yeah. That's my bad," he half-muttered. "Didn't mean to make you worry."
The furrow in his forehead betrayed his guilty conscience, and upon seeing it her anger deflated. He always did that to her. Without having to lift a finger, he made her feelings go topsy-turvy, again and again.
Oh, how she loved him so. She sighed. "It's okay, I forgive you."
Instead of acknowledging what didn't need to be said, he opted to look down at himself. "It's weird, right? The fur, the teeth, the arms." Especially the arms. He chuckled dryly. "And what's with these shoes?" he questioned, lifting one leg to point at the spiked cleats he was wearing. "Someone decided the claws weren't enough?"
A girlish giggle escaped her. "It's not the worst," Amy replied. "...Not that I like this better! No way!" She shook her head feverishly. "Believe me, I still can't believe it's you inside that thing. Your normal self is way more handsome."
"Gee, thanks."
"I'm...just saying that it isn't all bad." Once again, she came closer, but this time he just watched with mild confusion as she leaned her head against his arm. "Your fur is really soft," she continued earnestly, glancing up at him. "and you've got these strong arms now."
"Wh-Wha...?"
Now what was he supposed to say to that? As if to emphasize her point, she shifted her arms to wrap around his much bigger one, pushing her cheek against navy fur. She sighed contently, shutting her eyes.
"You're like a big, cuddly teddy bear, Sonic!"
Disgruntled at her mushy talk, he let out a groan, but otherwise didn't try to stop her from using him as a pillow. He used his free arm to fuss with the thick quills at the back of his head, pointedly avoiding her eyes.
Silence fell over them. It's toeing the line between comfortable and not, purely because he couldn't remember the last time it had been anything close to quiet with Amy around. To distract himself, he tilted his head up to watch the stars.
If she found something good about his slow, clunky night form, and if it made her cling to him and say his name like nothing had changed, then...
Maybe indulging her wasn't so bad, for a little while.