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In Your Eyes - Chapter 1
Written by Felicia Rondo, Published: 7/20/2018
Summary: When Sonic comes to Rouge asking about Shadow’s whereabouts, she decides to play a little game - how long can she make Sonic spend time with her before he hates her? To the shock of her and no one else, there’s a lot to like—even love—about her. However, there’s something hidden behind those shining emerald eyes of Sonic’s, and she’s just the treasure hunter to find it.
Contains: Thievery, Bisexual Tension, Metamours who don’t really know each other, and Normalized Polyamory.
With nothing but the sound of wind filling her ears, Rouge flew through the busy Westopolis night sky. She had quietly swiped a necklace or three earlier that day, but managed to keep out of trouble for it. “It’s just jewelry,“ Rouge justified it, “the people who make these things are pretty well off.“ She didn’t much care, but, as an agent of the U.S. Government, she felt like she must have some sort of ‘off-record explanation’ to give to her superiors if the news ever broke.
Then, penetrating the sound of wind in her ears, came the pitter-patter of sneakers running at supersonic speeds. Looking down, she saw a blue blur keeping up with her. “Oh, big blue, don’t spoil my fun now…“ Rouge said to herself, before flying faster and making an effort to lose the heroic hedgehog - no doubt arriving to put a stop to her thievery like the do-gooder he always was. She took as many turns and tried to stay out of sight of the hedgehog for as long as she could, but her cunning was no match for Sonic’s speed this time around.
Landing gracefully on a rooftop, she was met with two emerald eyes shortly after Sonic had run up the building. “Hey, Rouge,“ Sonic smiled. Rouge privately wondered if the speedster had a single judgmental gaze in him, but kept it to herself, listening on to what she presumed would be a long-winded speech about how stealing is ‘wrong’ and ‘gee why can’t you just think about those poor rich people for once.’ To her surprise, Sonic instead asked, “Have you seen Shadow around, lately?“
Eyes widened, Rouge was almost taken aback by the hedgehog ignoring the felony she had committed, so sure that he would take ultimate offense to it. “Why do you ask, handsome?“ A mischievous look appeared in her gaze as a smirk grew on her lips, before she slyly teased, “You aren’t hoping to get some kisses in with our favorite grump, are you?“
Not batting an eye, Sonic teased back, “What if I am?“ Eliciting a chuckle from the bat before him, which caught on to the hedgehog as well. “I know you’re closer to him than I am,“ admitted Sonic, as his chuckles died down, giving the bat pause, “I just wanted to know where I might find him. I get the feeling he could use having some more friends around and, if he’d like me to be part of that, I’d love to… y’know, be there for him…“ He knew it sounded corny, as did most of what he had to say, but he only had his honesty to give. “That’s all, I guess…“
As the hedgehog spoke, Rouge thought of the two hedgehogs’ friendship—how perhaps it would do the dark hedgehog good to have someone else around not solely interested in getting something out of him. In truth, she had lost track of him over the past week, expecting to see him again in the next recon mission G.U.N. had scheduled for them as Team Dark… but, Rouge thought, that didn’t mean she couldn’t have her fun with Sonic in the meantime. “Okay, big blue, I’ll tell you,“ she told the hero, causing that goofy grin of his to appear on his face, but, before he could thank her, she added, “but I’ll need you to prove I can trust you, first.“
This, to Sonic, was very amusing. “Oh, so you’re having trouble trusting me, huh?“ chuckled Sonic, a look that almost betrayed his unassuming demeanor flashing in his eyes. The bat knew he was right not to trust her, as she was deliberately deceiving him at that very moment, but she couldn’t resist acting ‘harmed’ by the hedgehog’s apparent judgment on her—giving him a little pout, though it did little to change the hedgehog’s mind. Crossing his arms, Sonic asked, “How do I know you aren’t lying and just playing games with me?“
Giving the question a moment of thought, Rouge simply smiled back at the hedgehog and answered, “You don’t.“ With a wink, she walked away from the hero, letting him believe she was going to leave it up to him to decide, while knowing full well she was playing him just as he suspected. Turning back around to face him after a handful of steps away, she gave him an expectant look, awaiting his response.
Uncharacteristically slowly, a smile grew on the hedgehog’s face - a smile so bright and warm, it could melt the coldest ice cap. “Okay, I’ll play,“ responded the hero, “how can I earn your trust, Rouge?“
It was funny, to the bat, how much the sapphire hedgehog smiled. Was there really so much for him to smile about, all the time, she wondered? She would soon find out, she supposed, before telling the hedgehog, “First, I want you to make some time tomorrow to spend with me. We hardly get the chance to, in between all the adventures—and it’d be easier to trust you if I knew you better, don’t you think?“
Accepting her logic with a nod, Sonic replied, “Yeah, I guess so.“ Looking back at the late night sky, he told the bat, “So, ‘guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then.“ She could see the stars reflected in his eyes - eyes that greatly resembled the beauty of a precious emerald gem, which she always had a particular fondness for, among her other fascinations with all sorts of shiny things.
“Now hold on a minute, big blue,“ Rouge called the hedgehog’s attention, for just one more last moment, “this is going to take a lot of patience, and you’ll have to be seen with me quite a lot. Are you sure you’re going to be okay with what that’ll do to your reputation, emerald eyes?“
With one last nigh-insufferable smirk of his, Sonic said, “What, you think I’m gonna get cold feet ‘cause people might say things about me hangin’ out with a lady like you?“ Walking towards her until they were barely a foot away from one another, Rouge saw something new in Sonic’s emerald gaze as he simply stated, “We hardly know each other, Rouge, let’s not get too caught up in assumptions before we start.
“In point of fact, as much as it may surprise you, I really don’t care about what people think of me—even if it means they start thinking I’m some kind of bad guy. I wouldn’t make it too far as a hero if I worried about that, don’t you think?“ With that, he began to step away, giving her a thumbs-up before running off of the rooftop and into the night.
Maybe she was surprised. Maybe she was in for a good stretch of surprises until the next time G.U.N. called on Team Dark. Rouge could only smile as she took flight once more, flying off to her hideaway to put away the recently-stolen jewelry in her possession, meaning to swap it out with some shiny things she had stolen in the month before. She allowed herself to laugh a little, imagining him wandering aimlessly, searching for her the following day. “What a fool…“ she thought, “he forgot to ask for my number.“
She was in for an interesting time, she knew. She could count on Sonic to give her that much.
To Be Continued
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