Metal was going through some kind of crisis, which admittedly was a bit funny at first. After our birthdays, he was constantly flustered and a little shouty. I honestly thought I might've broken him a little from fulfilling the gown promise. I thought he'd cool off after being on his own for a little while, but he came back to my house the day after and acted the exact same way.



I sipped my tea while he stood in the corner of my living room, glaring at me with his head angled down.



"You gonna sit on the couch with me?" I asked.



"No."



"Looks awfully uncomfortable just standing like that," I hummed.



"You will not concern yourself with my comfort, Amy Rose." Oh yeah, he was calling me my full name again. "In fact, you should bring me discomfort. Fight me."



I laughed. "Why do you want me to fight you?"



"You...!" He pointed at me, which made me want to laugh again. "Because I am incredibly threatening and violent! You need a reminder!"



"Wait, I think I know what's happening now," I said. "Are you regretting being vulnerable?"



"I am not vulnerable. My body composition is impossibly strong. I dare you to strike me."



I smiled wide. "I was scared when you gave me the flower in person... Are you scared about how happy you were the other day?"



He stared at me for a long time, and then finally, he said: "You speak nonsense."



"We've been romantic with each other for a long time now... Is it finally starting to set in what a peaceful life means to you?"



"Rrrrgh..." He rubbed his head, then dug his claws in. "N...No! No! I am a powerful weapon!"



I tilted my head, smiling at him. "You can have both, Metal. You think loving you has stopped me from doing my own thing? From fighting? It even fuels me more. The desire to protect is a really strong motivator."



"You do not need to protect me. I am incredibly strong. I am stronger than you."



"Uh huh," I replied. I put my cup of tea down and walked over to him. As soon as I got close enough to touch him, he took a step away from me. I took another step forward and he went even farther away from me. I gestured at him. "Why are you shrinking away from me if you're so much stronger than me, then?"



"Y... You will bewitch me no longer, Amy Rose. Keep your distance."



I rolled my eyes. "You're acting like happiness is a virus! Weren't you the one who brought up marriage before?"



"... Malfunction," he mumbled.



"Oh yeah? Prove it. Say you don't want to marry me. Right now, say it. I dare you." I took another step forward, making him bump into the next wall near the kitchen.



He averted his eyes and told me nothing. After a while, he said: "Your house should no longer be considered a neutral ground."



"No! We're not fighting in here! Admit you're just freaking out!" I yelled.



I reached to touch him, and he suddenly disappeared. I clicked my tongue and looked around. He didn't open any doors, so I knew he was still in the-- he was floating right below the ceiling and even held the back of his robe so I couldn't grab it. "You will get me to admit nothing, woman! You have far too much information!" he hissed out.



I climbed onto my kitchen counter and stared at him at eye-level. We had a stand-off.



I jumped for him and he disappeared again. I growled and darted my eyes around the room, watching him appear and disappear as he sped around. I followed a hunch and immediately dove behind me. My arms clutched around Metal's torso, putting him off balance and knocking him backwards.



"Ha! Got you!" I shouted.



"Rosy! Unhand me!"



"Pry me off since you're such a scary weapon!"



He yelled in frustration. "Annoying... You are annoying!" He grabbed the back of my head, but notably did not try to pull me off. His claws threaded through my quills, and he growled more, knowing he liked touching me more than pushing me away. His body felt really warm... I put my hands around his cheeks and playfully touched the spikes on them.



I lowered my head down to his face and brought our muzzles together. I kissed him... Ahh...~ The jolt it gave. My tail wagged. His kiss felt so nice...



I gently separated my mouth from him. "You called me Rosy again," I said with a soft smile. "So I'm still your Rosy after all?"



He gave me such an intense glare. "Yes! You're mine!" he yelled. Hehehe. I twirled my quills near one of my shoulders.



He just as quickly deflated and averted his eyes, his hands falling down to his sides. He didn't say anything else, but I had a feeling about what was going through his head.



I gave a more sympathetic smile. "You're changing maybe a little more than you expect, and that's... you know, it'll scare anybody." I rubbed his cheeks again. I gave him a moment, since he was clearly thinking.



He wrapped his arms around me and tugged me down fully to himself. I happily returned his hold, closing my eyes and enjoying our closeness...



I let out a light sigh. "Will you talk to me, Metal?" I gently asked him.



His grip tightened on me.



Whiirrrr...



Wait. That wasn't a 'flustered' kind of turbine whirring. "Metal--"



He rocketed out my back door, slammed it closed with his foot, then took off at an insane speed.



"METAL!!" I screamed. His arms trapped mine, so I could do nothing! He was too big for me to tip over to change his trajectory! He was taking me somewhere to fight me, I just knew it! What a stubborn-- ugh!! "Take me back home RIGHT now!!"



He surrounded us in a kind of electric shield barrier... then his eyes flashed red. He went even faster. He was ignoring me! There had to be a way I could wiggle out or distract him.



"M-Metal...! You're scaring me!" I dramatically cried out, nuzzling my head against him. "Were you suddenly controlled by Eggman? What's going on?!" I put on my best sniffles. "I take it back... You're really scary! Please talk to me if you're in there!"



"Your pitiful tricks will not dissuade me!" he yelled back.



Dammit. "I still got you to talk!"



He growled at me, then didn't respond further.



I let out a dramatic sigh. "You remember when I made you wait outside that store so I could buy something?" I touched the rim of his belt. "You know, the one with all those lacy bras and gowns?"



His eyes flicked down to me. I fluttered my eyelashes.



"I might be wearing it right now...~ You wanna see?"



His pupils narrowed in shock. He suddenly dropped me!! What the hell?!



I grabbed the back of his robe. Ha! Freedom! He dispelled the barrier and went at a slower speed, turning over to try to grab me again. I kicked his arm away and avoided his turbine, climbing onto his huge, spiky head.



"Rosy!" He snapped, reaching for me. I was able to tip him over with my body with this angle.



He flipped himself completely upside down, making me grab onto his quills to not totally fall off. Our faces were very close to each other. He was being difficult, but I couldn't help but find him so handsome... I stared at his muzzle.



Wah! He grabbed me again, then righted himself. I distracted myself that time... He won fair and square. I sighed.



"You can be so aggravating," he said in a low tone.



"You're flying me somewhere without my consent!" I shouted back.



"Does it make you angry?!"



"I... Yeah! It kinda does!" I huffed. "You're being a drama queen because you won't be honest with yourself!"



"I am not a drama queen!" he yelled.



"Yes you are!"



"No!"



It was my turn to yell in frustration. "Okay, I want to fight you now!!!"



He suddenly stopped mid-air. I blinked. He flipped upside down again and held me tightly as he rocketed down towards the ground. I saw a massive rain forest-- I genuinely wasn't sure if this was around Big's place or not since I was, uh, distracted by Metal.



"Hey! H-hey! I'm not made of metal! Stop!" I exclaimed.



His eyes flashed red and he went even faster. Jackass!



He stopped on a dime, knocking the wind out of me. He dropped me onto the ground, then suddenly disappeared. "Alright, you're successful! You've pissed me off!" I shouted, grinding my teeth. "You want your fight, asshole?! Will that make you feel better?!"



"Yes," he said into one of my ears from behind. I gasped and whipped around with my hammer.



Pi-ko!



I... hit him? He smashed into a nearby tree, then he flew towards me, brandishing his claws. He swiped at me-- I backed away as far as I could go because of his longer reach. He should've been much faster, though. I knew he wasn't going to go for hard hits with me, but--



He reappeared behind me and kicked me into a different tree. I thought that way too soon. I quickly righted myself and immediately swung at him as soon as he got close. I didn't anticipate his next move-- I brought my hammer to the ground and launched myself in the air, curling up and swinging my hammer vertically before making my landing.



He blocked my next hit with his arm. I was admittedly angry enough that I wanted to get another good hit on him, so I swung multiple times in quick succession. He blocked each one and I was getting more pissed that he wasn't trying to fight back despite wanting to fight so much earlier.



"Hit me!" I yelled.



He didn't answer me. I knocked him back with the end of my hammer to create more space between us, then wildly spiraled to create a heavy gust of wind. He sprang above me, making me jump back and launch myself against a tree. I channeled all my energy into my next swing--



Pi-ko!



Direct hit! He went flying far in the distance by no choice of his own. I heard the crackle of a tree way out of my sight. I caught my breath. I didn't realize how tense I was until that moment... Even though I knew he wasn't hurt, I let my temper get ahead of me. I felt guilty.



I scanned around... He wasn't anywhere. There was no way that hit knocked him out. I stayed alert and listened closely.



...



I heard the whirring of wind-- I craned my head up. I gasped and jumped out of the way.



Another hammer just like mine crunched the dirt and broke the ground under it. Another pink hedgehog-- wearing exactly what I wore, with the exact same face and body as me-- unfurled and stared me down.



My eyes were wide in shock. I... Wow. I was so dumb.



Metal elegantly twirled the hammer in his hand, then dashed towards me, aiming for a direct hit of his own. I clashed his hammer with my own, catching him somewhat off guard. He wouldn't beat me at my own game.



We both used our hammers to launch ourselves in the air and hit each other. He used the trees as additional platforms just like I did. He flipped in the air and aimed both his legs together to hit me on the head; I blocked him with my hammer and forced him away.



He went on the offensive now that he turned into me. I had to react quicker and show him I knew some tricks he wasn't aware of. He lobbed a heavy rock at me with his hammer, making me deflect it with my own. He took the opening to speed over to me and swing at me. I dodged him, but just barely. He was giving me a workout...



We created cyclones at the same time and tried to one-up each other. I blocked all of his hits, he blocked all of mine. Our hammers hit each other's, over and over and over. The piko sound echoed through the forest and scared away all nearby wildlife.



We were in sync, each move mirroring the other. The way we moved around each other felt exactly like a dance. His gaze was serious, trained on me the entire time. Nothing broke his focus.



"Is this why you wanted to fight me? To get my combat data?" I asked. The sky above darkened from clouds, thunder rumbling.



He spoke with my voice: "No." Even though it was my voice, he had a very clear, deep tone that I honestly didn't think I could make until then. We jumped towards each other at the same time and clashed once more. "Combat is a joy I've always known. It clears my head."



"Why didn't you just say that?!"



"You didn't want to fight--" He swung at me and wow he actually hit me. I rolled against the ground and saved my stance, quickly bounding back up and going after him again.



I spun around and successfully hit him, too. I don't even know if he did it on purpose or not, but I was glad to whack him. "You can be just as aggravating, you know that?!"



When he next went for me, there was a grin on his face. I focused so he wouldn't get another hit on me.



It began raining down on us as our fight synced up again. Water slung off of the edges of our hammers as we smashed them to the muddying ground and barreled towards each other.



It was pouring down at some point, but neither of us stopped. Along the way, I felt an undeniable adrenaline, an excitement. Fighting was invigorating and the rain woke me up even more.



We fought relentlessly for ages. I adjusted my strategy, so I was able to get a few hits in on him... but he adjusted his strategy in turn and got me too. I had to think quickly, because he would figure out how to counteract everything I threw his way. He was only using my own abilities, too... I had to admit this fight really helped me hone my skills.



Piko!



I got a direct hit on Metal and he skidded against the grass... He didn't save his stance or get up. He lay there, hammer in one hand, eyes up at the sky.



He laughed aloud, a mix between joyful laughter and cackling. I stood defensively away from him, but exhaustion was catching up to me. I didn't know how long we did this for. It could've been hours.



"What?" I asked, keeping my distance.



He sighed. "I'm satisfied."



"Satisf--" I went over to him and nudged him with my foot. "What, was it a game for you the whole time?!" I was about to-- Gah! He took my arm and dragged me down to him.



He quickly rolled us over and pinned me to my back. Though his eyes looked like mine, I knew they were his. "No... You helped me. You always do," he said.



The way he looked at me made my face heat up, but also, this was really weird. I pushed his face away a little. "Don't look like you're about to kiss me when you look like me," I grumbled.



"Is this better?" Sonic's voice. He looked like Sonic then, giving me a sly grin.



"Ew. No. Never do that again," I said, pushing him away further.



He laughed again, then finally shifted back into his Neo form. He took an entire minute to admire me. He was big enough to keep all the rain off of me, though both of us were absolutely soaked from the terrible weather.



"I don't think you've earned the right to check me out," I huffed again, putting my hands over his eyes.



He gently grabbed my wrists and moved them down, looking at me lovingly once more. "Rosy... I don't regret telling you anything." He averted his eyes. "Admittedly, I temporarily regressed."



"Mm."



He still didn't look at me. "I read your last letter to me two hundred and forty-two times so far. Each day that goes by, I think of it more and more. You rightfully state that my upbringing garners incredible hatred. Even though I have always loved you, this hatred is an undeniable part of who I am. It is something deeply ingrained within me, tuned and sharpened over my entire existence. You know this of me. However, I realized, after our night..."



My heart was pounding out of my chest and I didn't know what to say. We were quiet for a long time. The rainfall roared around us... I watched as a stream of water spilled down his head and trailed all the way down to his nose. My focus went back to his eyes, gazing at me once more.



He let go of my wrists and brought his arms under me, then he tightly held me to his chest. His elbows and legs were still planted on the ground. I wrapped my arms around him too... The way he held me made me feel like I was his lifeline.



"The love I feel is an even greater part. It consumes me... I thought it would take away who I am. Battle with you reminded me otherwise. You spoke with me a language I could understand... You were stunning."



Man... what made me angrier was that I couldn't stay mad at him. The weather was all moody, he held me close to him and every word that came out of him made my heart skip a beat. "J...Just... Just tell me you need to fight next time you're in your head! Don't be all demanding or weird about it!" I exclaimed.



"Okay." He loosened his hold to look at me directly, then tilted his head. "I'll do anything for you..."



I blushed so hard. I knew he meant it. "Y... You're so difficult!! I'm mad that I'm not mad at you!"



"Why aren't you angry?" he asked, tone lighter.



"Because you say a bunch of cute, sappy stuff that makes me forgive you!" I puffed my cheeks and looked away from him. "You were never losing yourself, Metal. You're becoming more of yourself. Ugh." I flicked him on the forehead.



He openly laughed, a kind of laugh I don't think I ever heard from him. It was so cute and it messed me up... "What do you think, then?" he sweetly asked.



"O-of what?"



"Of me."



I gave myself a second. "I think that your creation was a false memory. You were somehow plucked from my dreams and made real, because I swear I love you more every day..." I lifted myself and gave him a little kiss. "Even though you can be very dramatic."



"A trait we both share," he teased, brushing one of his thumbs to my cheek. "However, I will make this up to you." He got off of me, then gently picked me up. He floated in the air, surrounding us in another barrier and preventing the rain from hitting us further. "Both of us are covered in mud... Let's fix that first."





We were back in my house; the nice thing about a flying boyfriend is that we didn't track any mud inside. He took me to the bathroom and placed me in the tub while still floating. I was really shy about undressing in front of him, but I had to do it since I didn't want either of us to leave the bathroom without being clean. I stood in my bathtub and pulled my clothes off with an exhausted sigh.



I thought he'd go back to being all flustered, but instead, he squinted at me.



"What?" I asked, flushed.



"You lied to me. You were only wearing your normal garments."



"I-I was trying to get you t-to take me home!!" I yelled, somehow blushing even more.



"I am disappointed you would deceive me by using my desire."



"S... Stuff it! You don't get to be disappointed after your stunt today." I handed him my clothes to put on the bathroom counter, then washed what mud I could off my boots before taking them off. I handed them to him next and he placed them on the floor nearby.



Metal examined my dress, checking it for something. He took my laminated photo of us out from the dress pocket, stared at it for a little while, then wiped it dry. He placed it gently on a clean spot on the counter.



I kneeled in the tub and turned on the lower faucet to cover my head with as much water as I could. Not only were my quills messy, but they were caked in dried mud from the times I fell to the ground. I probably had some wood chips in there somewhere too. It even hurt to pry my headband off. "Owowow..."



I felt Metal's stare while I was trying to deal with my quill situation. I didn't take a true shower yet since I wanted to get rid of the biggest parts of mud first, lathering my quills with shampoo and trying to get what I could out. I turned off the lower faucet and turned on the upper one, taking the shower head off its handle and closing the curtains to not splash water everywhere.



He poked through the curtains by the faucets and gestured me to turn away from him. From there, he gently picked more of the mud out and helped me clean my head. He used his claws as a brush, which worked surprisingly well... I found the way he touched me really soothing. He didn't pull my quills or hurt me at all... And finally, my head was clean.



"Whew... Thank you." I focused on taking a real shower then and Metal backed away to give me privacy. I thought that was really sweet of him even though I was getting used to him being around at this point. "Give me just a minute, and then I want to hose you off, too. I noticed you're not as muddy though despite literally laying in it earlier."



"I was in a different form," he replied. "I cleaned myself when I changed."



"What? So you can clean yourself in an instant and you haven't?" I asked, bewildered.



"... I want you to clean me," he mumbled.



"Spoiled." I was glad he wasn't looking at me because my face was on fire.



"Does that mean you will?" he asked.



"O-obviously I'm going to clean you!" I shouted.



We went into an admittedly relaxing moment of quiet as I focused on cleaning myself, which thankfully, didn't take too long. I turned off the shower, dried myself with a towel I grabbed from the nearby rack, then wrapped myself in it before opening the curtains.



I pointed down to the tub. "Get in here!" I huffed.



He was definitely having a good time with me even though I was still deciding on whether or not to yell at him some more. I washed the mud off of his legs and his arms, though there was still some residue. When the big stuff was gone, I eagerly got out to grab the new rotating brush mechanical thing.



It had this soap attachment inside it so it automatically lathered when you turned it on and used it. I started using it on Metal's leg and it was weirdly satisfying. The mud was gone in an instant and he was so shiny.



"I think you like this more than I do," he said in a light tone.



"This thing cleans so well!!!" I was just going to focus on the parts he got messy, but now I was gonna clean all of him. I wanted to see how shiny his quills could get.



Cleaning him also made me actually examine all of his intricate parts. Metal, truly, was beautifully built. Every part of his had a purpose and a design, and all of it combined to make... him. He was so precious to me... I held one of his hands and stared at it for a while, looking at all the joints that made up his claws.



"Wh... What are you doing?" he asked. I glanced at him and his eyes were looking away from me, clearly a bit flustered.



"Sorry... I don't often take the time to appreciate how you're built... You're gorgeous," I sighed, blushing. I cleaned his hand with the brush.



"Nothing compares to you, Rosy," he said quietly.



"Aw...!" I turned my head away and shifted a little. "I thought you were just going to agree you're gorgeous."



"I am, but my point stands."



I giggled and continued on. I loved cleaning him. He enjoyed the attention and he looked so cute as he did. When I was done, I rinsed all the soap off of him and dried him with a different towel. He leaned down so I could get his head instead of him just drying it himself because he was way too used to me pampering him. When I was done, I gave him a gentle kiss.



We walked out of the bathroom together and I went to go toss my clothes into the washer. I got into some pajamas and slumped myself onto the couch. In that very moment, exhaustion took me over and I didn't move an inch.



Metal walked up to me, then he gently wrapped me in a blanket. "Is there anything you desire?" he asked.



"Food..." I planted my face in one of the couch pillows.



"Consider it the first of many gestures to make it up to you." He caressed my head, then walked away from me.



I honestly wasn't irritated at all with him anymore... I loved him more, if anything. But I definitely wasn't gonna complain if he wanted to do more for me. It was nice to be pampered in return...



I let out a softer sigh and thought about all that happened today. How much would we change in the future?