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Chapter Text

With a swift motion of her foot, a fireball directed at her target goes flying and lands on its head, immediately catching on fire and burning it to a crisp like a torch. Normally, Blaze would be proud of an attack like this, and would even consider it the end of her training. This time, however, she’s not training to improve. She’s training to release anger.

If there’s one thing she hates it’s being treated like she’s fragile, she thinks as she practices kicking the air around her training dummy, leaving trails of sparks with each motion and eventually and with enough strength built up, turning on her heel and landing one stronger kick on its chest, sending it flying a good distance in the yard she uses to train. Blaze huffs, opening and closing her hands trying to loosen up. 

In a way, it’s perfectly fair that her security council wanted to assign her a bodyguard after the… incident during that meeting with the Prime Minister of Plant Kingdom. It was in no way Blaze’s fault, or the Prime Minister’s for that matter, it was just an unfortunate coincidence that a hit like that was planned during an event with so much press coverage.

That bullet barely touched Blaze, anyway. 

It wasn’t and it would not be the first or last time something like that happened. The elites the Sol Empire has business relationships with are nothing if not resentful, and with her recent decisions to cut ties with groups that associated with the Pirates, it was to be expected that they’d resent her after it.

Besides, Blaze could take care of herself. The only thing that puts her in danger during those events are the uncomfortable garments she’s forced to wear. Dresses that go down to her ankles might look nice, but they’re terribly inconvenient in the event of an attack like that. She did not need a bodyguard of any kind, she needed to be allowed to fend for herself.

Angrily, she kicks the dummy back so hard she can hardly see it in the horizon once it stops. Squinting her eyes, it appears to have reached the gardens, as she could hear the surprised yelp of one of the castle gardeners. When he turns around to see her, she waves apologetically. The koala doesn’t wave back, so she awkwardly puts her hand down and huffs, grabbing her hips with her hands and walking back to the training area.

Perhaps it’s not that bad. Her security council might be allowed to overpower her choices in terms of safety, but she should still be able to control how involved this bodyguard is in her life. Perhaps she could simply order them to only follow her in public, and let them know that either way she is perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

If only it were that simple. Reaching the bench against the wall of the training area, she grabs her water bottle and takes a few sips, looking up at the sky afterwards. It’s a sunny day. She might go visit the farmers on the outskirts of the kingdom later in the week if the weather stays this lovely. It would be a nice gesture to improve the bad publicity the media has been creating about her ever since her decision to cut deals with those material providers. Not that it affected the farmers, in fact she had made that decision in order to promote local production. However, she’s well aware of how certain newspapers have a way of wording things against her no matter what. She’s not very fond of these actions, as she prefers to make good PR through her political decisions rather than through performative gestures, but she can’t deny it’d be a good idea.

Her bodyguard being there might make things more difficult, however. She groans, looking back down. If only it was more simple. 

The door to the training garden opens and Blaze jumps at the noise, before recognizing her assistant. “Gardon, don’t sneak up on me while I’m training,” she chuckles. “Unless you want a fireball on your face.”

Gardon laughs back politely. “My apologies Miss Blaze, I was just here to tell you that the security council has decided on a candidate for your new bodyguard…” He trails off when he sees Blaze’s expression. “Ah, or would you rather meet him later?”

Blaze rubs her temple with her fingers. “No, no, it’s quite alright. Better get it done today.”

Gardon nods, and steps closer to Blaze carefully. “I’m sure you’re not fond of this idea, Miss Blaze. To be fair I’m not completely fond of it either,” he smiles as he says this, “I tried to protest it with the rest of the council. But their decision unfortunately overpowers yours.”

Blaze chuckles as she crosses her arms. “If only I was more authoritarian, right Gardon?”

The koala chuckles politely, clearly not happy with this joke. “It would make my job a whole lot harder.”

She nods in agreement. Gardon is, officially, her head of security and personal guard, but since Blaze has always been independent, he’s taken the role of her personal assistant as soon as she grew old enough to take the throne. But besides that, he’s one of the few people around the castle who she feels actually has her best interest in mind. He’s been there since he could remember. The idea of a total stranger replacing the role of her biggest confidant makes her feel uneasy, Gardon does his job perfectly, why does she need more guards?

“Either way, Miss,” Gardon speaks again, “your new bodyguard is waiting in the hall. Well, candidate , I should say.” He adjusts his hat nervously. “The final decision is yours, however I would advise following along to avoid more issues with the security council.”

Blaze reluctantly nods. “Understood. Thank you, Gardon.” She takes a deep breath and shakes her head slightly, as if shaking off the anxiety. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

Gardon sighs, seemingly in relief. “Go up to your bedroom to get changed if you wish, I’ll tell him to meet you in your office.”

“Alright.”

There’s a knock on her office door as she fixes her jewelry. Checking the clock on the wall, she notes the punctuality of this candidate, as he’s at her office at precisely the minute Gardon told her he’d be. She raises her eyebrows, pleasantly surprised and lightly reconsidering her attitude towards this situation.

“Come on in,” she says firmly and the door opens almost instantly.

Blaze turns on her heel to see the new bodyguard. Escorted by Gardon, a hedgehog stands at her door frame with a strangely firm posture, as if attempting to make himself seem bigger, which would be unnecessary, taking in mind he is considerably taller than her. Golden cuffs rest on his wrists, contrasting the greyish white of his fur and quills, and he holds his hands together in front of him. When her eyes meet his, she notices first the odd shape of his quills, but mostly the bright color of his eyes.

She finds herself frozen in place for a brief few seconds, suddenly overtaken by a strange sense of familiarity when looking into his eyes. Strange, seeing as she has never met this hedgehog before in her life.

As if nervous under her gaze, the hedgehog strengthens his posture and looks slightly above her, letting Gardon introduce him.

“Good afternoon, Miss Blaze, this is the candidate the security council chose to be your bodyguard,” the koala speaks nervously, seemingly noticing the strange tension that just formed between the two. “The council picked him among several other candidates, you may ask him anything you feel necessary, but I’m sure you’ll be satisfied with our decision.”

Blaze hums, her eyes still on the hedgehog, who seems to still be avoiding her gaze. Where has she seen him before? She’s absolutely sure it’s her first time seeing anyone that looks like him, but she can’t shake the feeling that she knows him. Or knew him. 

“...Well, I’ll leave you two to it,” Gardon says, clearly uncomfortable, before quickly frowning at Blaze as he leaves, as if saying don’t mess this up.

The door closes behind the hedgehog. A few seconds of silence go by as the tension in the air seems to be attempting to decide who shall speak first. Strangely, Blaze feels as if a sense of animosity has formed between the two of them. Something about his avoidance as he maintains his posture makes her angry, almost like she’s upset at how calm he seems. Maybe she’s gotten too used to intimidating people.

Either way, she can feel her expression shifting into a frown as resentment forms in her chest, when the whole situation dawns on her and she realizes how little choice she has in this scenario. She trusts her security council, and more specifically Gardon, to have made the perfect decision on this hedgehog, and knowing that she will be unable to find a flaw in this man big enough to justify denying him angers her. Damn, even his demeanor is perfectly collected. 

“You’re burning a hole in the carpet,” he finally speaks.

Perplexed, Blaze takes a few seconds to notice he means it literally, as she looks down and notices her foot is burning the carpet of her office. She lifts it and shakes off the heat she accidentally created, likely due to her frustration. It’s a common effect of her powers, since they have always had reactions according to her emotions. She can hear the hedgehog chuckling as she does, and this just makes her angrier.

Embarrassed, she turns to him and stomps the carpet with her foot, firmly holding her chest out. “What’s your name?”

“Silver,” he says calmly, briefly glancing at her foot as if to confirm if it’s still on fire. 

Blaze huffs. “Very well, Silver.” She crosses her arms, quickly thinking of what to even say to him. “I assume you’re not very nervous about your current position.”

He finally meets her gaze. He seems relaxed. Infuriatingly so. “Should I have reasons to be nervous?” Silver says as he shrugs, and it dawns on Blaze why the council picked this hedgehog for this role. It’s a whole lot harder to deny someone who is not intimidated by her in the slightest.

“Many people are,” she responds, attempting to match his chill demeanor despite the heat she feels forming at her fingertips again. “Are you aware of why you’re here?”

He nods, and a slight grin forms in his face. “Because you were almost killed the other day during your meeting.”

Her frown deepens. “Incorrect. I avoided an assassination attempt by my own means, and my security council decided to appoint you to me either way. I was not almost killed.”

“Is there a difference?” Silver responds immediately. 

Blaze stumbles over her words for a second. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Avoiding an assassination attempt… and almost being killed, they’re the same thing, that’s all.” 

The princess holds back an angry hiss as her tail begins to wag slowly. “I avoided it myself.”

“Maybe you just got lucky,” he shrugs.

“I don’t need a bodyguard,” she finally growls. “And I certainly don’t need one who speaks to me this way.”

To her surprise, rather than taking the hint, Silver has the audacity to laugh. 

“What’s so funny?” she says, clearly on edge.

“Nothing, nothing,” Silver responds as he raises his hand as if to calm her down. “I just got the strangest sense of deja vu, sorry.”

Blaze’s frown fades, along with most of her anger, replaced by her surprise. He felt it too? Strangely, this seems to calm her down, for a reason she can’t quite name. 

She clears her throat as she dusts herself off, coming down from her anger and recovering her composure. “Well, uh, either way, it’s not like I have much of a choice. We might as well get acquainted with each other quickly.” She huffs. “I’m not sure what your instructions were, but I presume you’ve been instructed to follow me at all times.”

Silver nods. “Pretty much, yeah. I think it’s overkill, but I assume they’ll calm down after they see you’re not in that much danger.”

Blaze sighs in frustration. So he agrees with her? If he does, why would he purposefully anger her by challenging her opinion? This hedgehog is already getting on her nerves, and she’s dreading the following time she’ll have to spend with him. “I hope that doesn’t take so long…” she mutters under her breath.

Her ear twitches at a noise above her, and she identifies it as glass shattering above her desk a split second too to move out of the way. Instinctively, she grabs her head and kneels to the floor, expecting something to land in her office through the window. Confused, she lifts up her head out of her hands, and looks around the room for whatever it was that just shattered her window.

Blaze’s eyes widen when she sees what’s floating above her head. Hundreds of glass shards hover in the air, wrapped in teal light that seems to be holding them in place. Her eyes immediately move to her new bodyguard, whose hands are glowing with the same light.

He takes a knee and offers his hand to help her out of the way, which she instinctively takes. He pulls her out of the way of the glass and then lifts up his hand, letting go of the glass with his light and letting it fall where Blaze was just standing. 

Silver looks around the room until he spots the thing that just broke Blaze’s window. Grabbing it from the floor, he looks at her and chuckles. It’s a ball. “Are there any playgrounds around here?”

“I…” Blaze feels around her chest, noticing her increased heart rate, and takes a deep breath. “The… the courts in the garden…” 

He throws the ball in the air and catches it again, and smiles at her. “Someone got a little too excited playing tennis I guess.”

Blaze’s breathing begins to calm down, and her eyes trail down to his hands, only now noticing the circles on them that have remains of that glowing teal light. 

Chapter Text

Blaze taps her foot on the wooden floor of the tailor’s studio, mind focused on keeping her powers from making her set the cloth around her on fire.

She was informed after the incident in her office that her new bodyguard needed a uniform, to match with the rest of the guards and not be confused with an intruder around the castle. But Gardon was kind enough to let her know it was so the rest of the court knew to let him in wherever Blaze went. 

So not only is she getting her autonomy taken away, she’s also being denied privacy. She takes a deep breath and huffs, noticing a tiny steam cloud coming out of her nose. She bats it away with her hand before the tailor can notice it as well when she comes out of the back of the studio to see Blaze.

“So what do we need today, gorgeous?” the elder koala says as she steps into the main room of her studio. When she sees Silver, she pulls her glasses down to eye him properly. “Ooh! A suit for your boyfriend, honey?”

Blaze coughs up smoke as soon as she tries to respond. She jumps on her feet and pushes Silver behind her, noticing how the hedgehog seems to be holding back laughter. “J-Jasmine, did the guards not tell you?” 

The koala waves her cigarette in the air as she chuckles. “Yes they did, sugar, I just wanted to see your reaction!” 

Jasmine’s studio is as small as she is. The koala is about Gardon’s age, and the only reason Blaze knows this is because she’s been tailoring her dresses and clothes ever since she was a kid, a little after Gardon became her personal guard. Her studio was placed near the gardens, as per the koala’s request to gain inspiration from the flowers outside her window, however, Blaze always had a suspicion it had more to do with watching the younger gardeners work. Jasmine’s little room seemed to become smaller every time Blaze went to see her, as more and more clothes and materials decorated her walls, desk, and floor; eventually feeling like the entire room was made of cloth. It always felt safe for Blaze to run to when she wanted to be alone, although it eventually became borderline a fire hazard – much like several rooms in the castle in days where Blaze was in a bad mood. Although Jasmine’s insistence to smoke with a long cigarette holder whenever she was working didn’t add to the safety of the studio.

Blaze awkwardly turns to Silver, who looks away, presumably identifying Blaze’s discomfort and deciding it’s best to not instigate more tension between them. At least he learns fast. Blaze makes a vague gesture towards him to Jasmine. “He needs a uniform, something that matches the other guards but distinguishes him from them.” Her tone is resigned, accepting the situation without expressing her frustration to Jasmine.

The koala walks up to Silver, and looks up at him with considerable effort, as she seems to barely reach his hips. Jasmine is small, but the hedgehog is also quite taller than Blaze, who Jasmine is used to. She adjusts her round glasses as she eyes him for what seems to be an uncomfortable amount of time for him, judging by his face. Still, he remains firm in his position and keeps his hands behind his back, avoiding eye contact with the koala.

Jasmine talks to Blaze, keeping her gaze on Silver. “Did you pick him, sweetheart?”

Blaze huffs, “Obviously not.”

The tailor turns to face her and taps Silver’s leg. “Strange, he seems like just your type of eye candy.”

Silver’s expression tenses as he tries to maintain his composure, though visibly uncomfortable. “Alright,” he mutters under his breath.

Blaze feels heat in her face and at the top of her head, quickly rubbing it with her hand so neither of them notice. “Jasmine!” she scolds. 

The koala takes a puff of her cigarette and extends her hand for Silver to grab it. A bit confused, he does, and she pulls him further into the studio, in front of a mirror with a curtain separating the entrance from the dressing room. “Well, well, in that case I’ll see what I can do.” She grabs the curtain and closes it in front of Silver, and before getting in she whispers to Blaze, “Don’t worry honey, he won’t look ugly,” with a blink under her big glasses.

The curtain closes before Blaze can protest this again, so she just puts her hand on her face and sighs, letting out more smoke as she does. She sits on the cushy stool behind her and takes a deep breath.

Perfect. This is exactly what she needed. Noting her own sarcasm, she resigns to just letting Jasmine do her job. It’s not the first and it certainly won’t be the last time Jasmine attempts to do this to Blaze. The tailor reads tabloid magazines, she watches soap operas, so Blaze can’t say that she’s surprised at her insistence on setting her up with someone. But, by Sol, she wouldn’t think of getting involved with someone in her own court, let alone him . Someone who can’t even respect her short temper or privacy.

Well…to be fair to him, maybe she’s judging him a bit too early. In the short time they’ve known each other all he’s done is push her temper and save her from getting covered in broken glass, so it’d be unfair for her to judge him based on a few interactions. He seems competent enough at his job, despite his personality and attitude towards her having the potential to be a problem. 

Blaze’s eyes move to the curtain he’s behind. The light Jasmine turned on casts shadows of their silhouettes on the thin curtain, and she can clearly see his as the smaller koala takes his measurements and holds up fabrics and different shades of the purple of the court uniforms up to him, presumably to see which matches his fur color better. Ridiculous, and Blaze is sure that Jasmine doesn’t go through that trouble with the other members of the court. 

She rests her head on her hand while she follows his silhouette, weirdly fixated on the shapes, now that it’s all she can see. To give him, and the guards credit, he seems quite strong purely by the shape of his body. Not so much that it makes him look huge, but his shoulders are broad and his chest seems bigger than his waist, although that might be an illusion caused by the big patch of fur around his neck and chest. Even if that was the case, his height also seems ideal for the kind of job he needs to do. Even from just standing next to him he’s tall enough for Blaze to feel like he towers over her. Maybe the strangest thing about him is the shape of his quills, but even then, it distinguishes him from the other hedgehogs she’s met before. Looking at his face angers her, but his eyes are a really bright yellow, she can tell from a distance. 

She shifts in her seat as she blinks and looks away from the curtain. She doesn’t like him, but, well… Blaze does have eyes, he’s not exactly ugly. Not that it matters. He looks competent enough for his job, is what she’s thinking. Not that it should matter either, she’s almost completely sure the main reason he was picked was because of his powers. But, well, it’s a bonus. It’s just not the kind of bonus Jasmine is thinking of.

Blaze puts her head in her hands again. What is she thinking? She’s completely against this idea. It doesn’t matter how good he is at his job, she should protest this until they let her be by herself again. By Sol, Blaze, get it together. 

The curtain opens slightly and Jasmine peeks her head out. “Sugar, I think you’ll be very proud of me for this.”

The koala finishes opening the curtain to reveal Silver standing next to her with what seems like a prototype for the bodyguard uniform Jasmine designed just now. 

It seems to be one of the usual purple guard jackets cropped just above his waist, around which Jasmine tied a golden piece of cloth serving as a belt over the pants that match the color of the jacket, which was modified to slightly resemble a more formal uniform than the regular guards wear; with golden buttons and details and shoulder pads, matching the belt and the cuffs on his wrists.

Silver seems uncomfortable. “Maybe the gold is kind of overkill.” He’s referring to how formal the uniform is, and he would be right. Male mobians don’t usually wear clothes on the lower half of their bodies, aside from shoes, unless it’s a formal occasion, and the general dress code of the court demands formality in the uniforms, including the male ones. However, he would be right, as gold is a color only the monarchs wear around the court. 

Blaze takes a second to respond, while she stands up and eyes the uniform from top to bottom, which seems to make Silver tense up a little. She turns to Jasmine. “I agree, isn’t that a bit much?”

The tailor blows smoke from her cigarette directly into Silver’s face, which he politely bats away. “Well, he’s not a regular ol’ guard, is he honey? He’ll be walking around next to you at all times, and he needs something to separate him from the other guards, don’t you think?”

Blaze scratches the back of her neck while her eyes meet Silver, and they both seem to be thinking the same thing; it makes him look like a monarch rather than a bodyguard. But Jasmine is right, and they can both recognize that. 

Blaze sighs. “You’re right,” she admits. “We’ll come back when the suit is finished. I have a meeting soon.”