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Rouge glanced up at her reflection in the mirror and made a face. Her shimmery blue eyeshadow was perfect as usual and it complimented her dress, a beautiful flowy gown. She had thought it was the best looking one when she snatched it from its place in the store, unnoticed, but now it was the only thing giving her grief as she finished getting ready. She was getting ready to infiltrate a ball, accompanied by Knuckles. They were planning on taking back an emerald that had been recently sighted nearby the palace. It was supposed to be an easy mission, or at least easier than some of the others she'd done for the government, but Rouge was having second thoughts now.
How important really was this emerald?
She was struggling with her dress. The back had been part of why she chose it, the open cutouts perfect to accommodate her wings and the rest of the detailing elevating her style. Unfortunately she was having trouble properly tying it. No matter how she twisted her arms and bent her arms made it any better. Any more struggling and she would be qualified to label herself a contortionist.
She sighed, trying to figure this out. "Come on. This isn't the first time you've put on clothing."
Rouge gave the ties one last tug, trying to get the dress to sit in place safely. It still wasn't working. Was there anything she could do? A safety pin to hold something in place, an old trick from a grandma to use? There was a knocking sound coming from the door and Rouge anxiously looked over.
"Do you need something? I'm not done."
"How much time does it take you to put some clothes on?" Knuckles complained outside the bathroom. "I've been waiting outside forever and it's almost time to go."
Rouge tried to pull some haughtiness into her voice. "It takes time to look as good as I do, Knuckles. Not like you'd actually know."
"Hey," Knuckles responded, not sounding too bothered by her verbal jab. He didn't make another remark, so Rouge assumed he went back to doing whatever he was doing.
As she ran her eyes along the products lining the sink, an idea came to her. "Knuckles, could you actually help me? My dress isn't tying too well."
"You want me to come in?" Knuckles sounded a bit apprehensive, a bit of strain appearing in his voice.
"Uh, yeah," Rouge called. "The door should be unlocked."
The handle on the door slowly turned and Knuckles stepped into the room. There was a sharp intake when he saw Rouge, but she didn't think too much of it. He probably found her looks strange, growing up isolated like he had been. He joined her in front of the vanity and they made eye contact in the mirror before darting away.
"What do you need me to do?" He asked. If Rouge didn't know any better, she would have said that he looked a little more red than usual, but it was clearly just the lighting in the bathroom. Just the candles.
"Could you lace up the back? It's just giving me some trouble," Rouge explained, handing him the ties.
"Uhm, sure. No problem." He leaned closer, inspecting what she had gotten done. "I'm going to have to undo some of this, okay? I think you'd want it to be symmetrical."
Rouge nodded. "Thanks."
She felt his hands trail up her back, his spikes accidentally grazing her wings as he fixed the lacing. It wasn't often that she was touched like this. Usually she was engaged in a fight, the touches too fleeting or too rough to count as anything. Other times it was people trying to get close to her, maybe to take her home or to go a step farther, but those intentions always made her feel icky and gross, like she wasn't being seen for who she was or like she actually mattered to them. Just because she was pretty didn't mean that she was easy.
Now though, Knuckles was touching her with more gentleness than she thought he could ever muster up. She typically pictured him as blunt and rough, to the point where he could seem mean. Everything about this moment contrasted with her image of him and it left her feeling a bit confused. His hands spanned her back, brushing against her spine as he crossed the ties of her dress and fixed them into place. He adjusted a spot where her wings had been pressed into the dress and freed them. Rouge let out a little sigh, feeling strangely content.
Perhaps, like everything else this night, it was the candles. The scent was getting into her nose and muddling up her brain, turning it into mush. Maybe it was the light they cast, making the moment feel softer than it was.
Knuckles leaned impossibly closer and Rouge swore she felt his breath fan her neck. "I'm gonna tie it now, so tell me when it's good," he mumbled into her ears.
"O-okay," she agreed, snapping out of whatever daze she had been entranced in. She braced herself against the counter and Knuckles began tugging the ties, tightening the dress. The neckline began to sit in place and the shiny blue fabric outlined her form.
She nodded. "It's good now. Thanks, Knuckles."
"Anytime," he responded, removing his hands from her waist.
The lack of contact, or more, the sudden lack of warmth surprised Rouge. She didn't think she would miss his hands on her as acutely as she did.
He shifted away from her. "Is there anything else you'd like for me to do?"
"I don't think so," she said. "I've just got a necklace to put on and then we'll be good to go down to the ball."
"Can I do it?" Knuckles asked her, picking up the necklace from the counter. "If that would be okay with you, I mean."
Rouge's eyes widened. "If you really want to, I guess."
"I do," he said, stepping towards her again. He looped the necklace around her neck and Rouge felt his hands fiddling with the clasp. He leaned closer to see what he was doing and she held her breath.
Knuckles finally connected the ends together, and he patted her shoulder. "All done."
"Hey, thanks again," Rouge said, turning towards him.
"Yeah." The chemicals of the candles must have been messing with him too, because after a moment, he shyly added "You look very pretty."
Rouge flushed, but she hoped he wouldn't notice. "We better get to the ball!" Her voice came out pitched differently than usual, higher than she normally spoke. "That emerald won't find itself!"
She quickly moved out of the bathroom, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. She wasn't sure that she wouldn't do anything stupid if she stayed in the small room with Knuckles.
He lingered for a moment, wondering if he offended her somehow. She was a bit of a strange woman sometimes, and he wasn't quite sure how she would react to his comments and compliments. Knuckles blew out the candles and followed her out of the bathroom.
Some things don't need to be thought about too hard. Maybe this was one of them.