Like You More

Amy had a wonderful birthday celebration with her friends! Everyone she knew showed up, brought her gifts, and they played games and had some delicious cake! They had to cut the party a bit short since Knuckles didn't want to be away from Angel Island for too long, and of course, Sonic was always busy saving the day anyway. Amy didn't mind at all; she was happy to see her friends and spend whatever time she had with them. The rest of the day was all hers to do whatever she wanted! Hmm... But what did the birthday girl want to do? She got a nice amount of birthday money, so... Time to go to the shops in town!



She hummed as she walked down the street in the town near her home. A bright orange and green party hat replaced her favorite red ribbon; she proudly lifted her head as passersby noticed, grinned back when adults smiled at her. She wasn't sure what to buy for herself, though the world was her oyster! She could get some new clothes, get some cute new toys... ooh, maybe a really big set of colored pencils. All of them? Ah, she'd budget it out.



She paused. Some of the adults around her were acting strange. They walked quickly as they passed her and stared cautiously behind them. Amy tilted her head... Was everything okay? She turned the corner from where others came from—



"M-Metal Sonic?!" Amy squeaked to herself. Metal Sonic stood right there on the sidewalk! He wasn't going to get the upper hand on her this time; she brought out her trusty Piko Piko Hammer and puffed her cheeks as she approached him. "Hey!!" she shouted.



He was facing a window at one of the shops... A bakery. He completely ignored Amy's call and just... stared at whatever was on the other side.



Actually, he ignored everyone. People were a little freaked out, but they opted to cross the street or pass by quickly. Amy's curiosity moved her forward, but there was no way she'd put her hammer away just yet.



As she got closer, she saw his focus was on a huge frosted cake with candy decorations. It almost looked tastier than the strawberry cake she had for her birthday. Why was he watching the cake? Maybe he had to run an errand, or... malfunctioning, maybe...?



...



Dink! She lightly touched his head with the tip of her hammer.



His entire head swiveled towards her.



"Eep!" Amy jumped back. She steeled herself and puffed up her chest, pointing her hammer right at him. "Y-y-you! What are you doing out here, Metal?!" she called in her loudest, most confident tone of voice.



He examined her... glanced at her hammer, then her head. His eyes lingered on Amy's party hat for a while.



...



He turned his head back towards the window.



"Um..." Amy dropped the arm holding her hammer. She shuffled her feet. "... Are you... not here to cause trouble?"



He didn't reply to her... Honestly, she wasn't sure he could. He never said a word to her before, so... His total lack of movement told her that maybe he wasn't interested in fighting, at least. She took very slow, cautious steps towards him, clutching the handle of her hammer to her chest.



"... That's a pretty cake," she hummed. "Do you like—" she paused. He didn't have a mouth to eat with, so of course he didn't like cake. Her cheeks flushed and she frowned. "Sorry," she squeaked. "What's got you so interested in it, anyway? Do you know someone else having a birthday?"



... Oh, geez, was it Eggman's birthday? She scowled to herself. She didn't want to share a birthday with that horrible old man!



Well... Maybe it wasn't. She didn't know why, but Metal looked a little... sad? Something in his eyes told her.



Her eyes widened. "... Is it... your birthday?" she asked.



He slightly turned his head, eyes flicking in her direction, then immediately flicking away as if he wasn't interested. He crossed his arms... Eventually, he hung his head.



She was right. "... Um...! Have you ever celebrated your birthday before?"



He shook his head. The answer didn't necessarily surprise her, but him replying at all certainly did.



Her face brightened. "Well, um..." She brought out a conical party hat similar to her own from her skirt pocket, then placed it on his head, right behind his ears. "Happy birthday! It's my birthday too..." She slowly put away her hammer. "I had an extra hat in case I lost my current one. Aren't they cute?" She gave a bashful grin. The one she gave him was yellow and red, similar in pattern to her orange and green. He focused on the window, eyes no longer on the cake, but rather his reflection. He gingerly touched his hat with his claws, then looked at her again.



Something about Metal not getting a birthday party didn't sit right with Amy. He was a bad guy, but... Maybe he wouldn't be so bad if someone appreciated him! And since they shared the same birthday, who better to do it than Amy herself? She gave herself a confident nod.



She balled her fists and focused on Metal with a sparkle in her eye. "Y-you don't need a cake to celebrate your birthday! There's lots of fun stuff you can do... I can show you!"



He pointed at himself and slightly leaned his head to the side. The way his head was angled made his stare look more quizzical.



"Yeah, you! As long as you promise to be nice today. Come on." Amy grabbed his arm and tugged him to follow her down the sidewalk.



He walked behind her without much resistance, then caught up to her side. She grinned wider.



"What kind of things do you normally like doing?" Amy cheerfully asked.



Metal's eyes flashed red and he showed one of his fists.



"... Okay, well, we're not doing that! Maybeeee..." Amy gasped. "I know!"



Amy and Metal went to a colorful building covered with neon lights. The inside was darker and bathed in indigo lighting; as they entered, the white parts of Amy's shirt glowed a white-purple, while Metal's... everything, kinda glowed. There were tons of different game machines around, some tables, booths with toys inside...



"Arcades are always fun! And there's plenty of games, so we can see what you like the most! There's one with guns. Maybe you'll like that one," she said with a firm nod. "We gotta get tokens first. Follow me." She guided him over to a prize counter, far taller than the both of them; the tips of their ears and their party hats were visible to the tiger man at the counter.



He chuckled: "Well, hello."



"Hello!" Amy echoed back. She stood on her tip-toes and placed a small collection of coins on the counter. "Can me and my friend have some tokens, please?"



"Sure thing, kid. Are you at a birthday party?" the man politely asked. He took the money and brought out the appropriate amount of tokens for them.



"We're making our own birthday party. It's both of our birthdays!"



"Have a few extra tokens on the house, then. Happy birthday!"



Amy's tail excitedly wagged. "Yay~! Thank you!" She grabbed at the tokens, then examined them. "Ummm... Okay, so we can have five each!" She handed five tokens to Metal Sonic. "Does anything stick out to you?"



Metal Sonic's focus flicked from machine to machine throughout the arcade... Eventually, he settled on two machines in the far back. They had long tracks and a hard clear plastic case covering numbered holes. The name 'Skee-Ball' displayed in bright, colorful letters at the top of the machines.



Amy's smile widened. "Yeah, that's a fun one! C'mon." She guided him by the arm over to the skee-ball machines. "Have you ever played before?"



He shook his head.



"Okay! It's easy. First, let's start our games..." She put a token in the slot, then gestured for him to do the same. Hard plastic balls went down a smaller track to their right. Amy picked up one of the balls by her machine and passed a grin Metal Sonic's way. "You roll the ball and try to get them in the holes that give the most score! They're the trickiest ones to aim for, but I'm pret-ty good if I do say so myself." She gasped. "Oh, that's right! Higher scores mean more tickets, and you trade tickets in for prizes. We could get a birthday present!"



Metal Sonic picked up one of the balls and stared at it for a while. Amy focused back onto her machine, then launched the ball in her hand down the track.



Clunk! She got the hole right in the middle, giving the second-highest score.



"Yay!" she beamed. "Okay, you try."



He launched the ball the same way, though it ended up rolling a bit too fast—



CRACK! It smacked against the plastic covering so hard that it could've shattered into pieces... It did get in the middle hole, though.



Amy blinked. "Okay, maybe roll it without acting like you're fighting somebody," she muttered. She cautiously looked around, then grabbed another ball. "It's just a game! You don't have to get intense. Be elegant, like me," she huffed, standing up straight. She rolled the ball again with a smug look on her face.



Her ball just barely whiffed the target with the highest score and instead went to the one with the lowest.



A vein popped on her head. "Arrrgh!!!" She hastily grabbed the next ball and shot it down the track.



Thunk! Her ball harshly hit the plastic covering and clattered into one of the targets with a mid-tier score.



He stared at her with crossed arms.



"... What?!" Amy blushed and grabbed her next ball. "F-focus on your own game! Let's see who gets the highest score."



Metal let out a machine-like beep. That was the first noise she heard from him that day! Her ears perked up and she looked back at him. She wondered what he was trying to say... He focused back on the skee-ball machine, so maybe he was telling her something like, 'you're on.'



He rolled the ball down the track with much less force; he missed the highest target the first time, but got it the second time and even the third time after that! Amy steeled herself, then aimed for the same goals.



They used up all the balls, and eventually, their scores flashed up on the screen. Amy got 45,000 and Metal Sonic got... 50,000?! Tickets poured out from the machines.



"Beginner's luck!" Amy huffed... Then she smiled. Her tail eagerly wagged. "Did you like it?" she asked in a cheerful tone.



He stared at her for a while, then averted his eyes. Maybe that was a 'no'...



"Umm...! Well, we have four more tokens. Let's see what else is there." Amy grabbed their tickets and stuffed them inside two different skirt pockets. "Maybe something that can't break... Uhh... Oh!" She took his hand and walked over to another machine. "This one is a two-player game for real! And it has guns."



They went up to an arcade cabinet with a wide screen and a platform with stools they could prop themselves up with. The front of the cabinet had two toy laser rifles connected by wires to the machine itself.



"I haven't played this game, but I bet it's fun! Looks like we have to defeat a bunch of evil..." Her ears suddenly flattened. The name of the game was 'Killer Robot Invasion!' and the demo screen had a player completely decimate a bunch of silver animal robots. "Oh, it's— Uh, let's play something else!"



She was about to step away, but Metal tightened his hold on her hand. He slightly tugged her back over to the machine.



"Y-you want to play anyway? Okay... We gotta do one token each, like last time." Amy glanced down to their hands... He gently let go so he could grab one of his tokens. She did the same. Her face felt a little hot. Maybe embarrassed...



They climbed the stools, then picked up their guns. Metal made a sound that didn't seem too happy. When Amy checked, he was looking over the gun and waving it like he was feeling its weight.



"Does it not feel like a real gun? I mean... It shouldn't 'cuz it's a game! Do you, uh... I mean... Have you used real laser guns?"



He gave a more blank stare her way. She had the impression that he hadn't, but he really wanted to.



"I haven't either, if that makes you feel better!" She exclaimed. "Okay, let's play. We're a team in this game, but I think we'll have our own individual scores."



Amy aimed her gun at her screen and clicked its trigger to start the game. They were thrown into a story about the planet being taken over by robots from another world, and they had to go through several stages to get to the final boss.



"I'll take the bad guys on the left, and you take the bad guys on the right!" Amy pointed her gun at the screen and stuck her tongue out in focus.



The stage started inside a city on fire, buildings with smoke billowing out from windows and rubble. Tons of robots came out and aimed at their player characters on the other side of the screen. Metal watched how Amy played, then he followed suit. He eventually took out every enemy on the screen at a rapid pace.



"H-hey! I want tickets too!" She whined.



He let out a small beep, then left more of the screen alone. Amy had the impression that he got carried away in aiming for the targets.



"It's okay... I think we'll need your quick aim for the harder stages!"



Each stage ended with a mini-boss that they had to take down together. This one was a robot holding sticks of dynamite; Amy and Metal had to shoot the dynamite before it got too close.



Several shots later, and...



"Yay! We beat stage one!" Amy beamed. "This is easy. We're gonna get like a million tickets." She grinned at Metal.



He briefly looked at her, then rigidly looked away. She frowned a little.



"Um...! Are you sure you're okay with—"



He tapped her arm and pointed at the screen. Stage two was about to start. She regained her focus and lifted her gun to the screen.



Stage two took them through a forest outside of the city... There were crocodile robots that took a few extra hits and frogs that had to be shot with glowing weak points on their chests. The path on the stage took them through a swamp, then out to a huge canopy tree...



The tree itself was a robot! Its branches turned into mechanical tendrils, and the trunk sprouted an evil red glare! Metal focused on getting rid of all the projectiles thrown at them, while Amy aimed to damage the tree. One of Metal's attacks stunned the tree, allowing them both to mow it down with their laser rifles.



The tree caught on fire and exploded... They won!



"We did it!" Amy exclaimed. She already sent them to the next stage.



Stage three was a beach with a giant crab robot, stage four was an alien temple in the middle of the sea with a snake robot, and then stage five— the final stage— was a mothership in space, the origin of all the trouble they faced. Each stage got progressively more difficult, but the final stage was--



"GAME. OVER." The game called to them in a monotone voice, followed by evil, mechanical laughter.



Amy groaned. "Aw, man...! We were on such a roll! Ooh, look at our tickets, though." She grinned as a pile of tickets came pouring out in front of both of them.



Metal didn't even glance. He put in another token and tapped her arm again.



"We gotta get to that big boss, right?" She asked.



Another beep. Amy felt like that was a resounding yes!



They played through all the stages again, primed and ready for the final—



"GAME. OVER." More maniacal, mechanical laughter.



Amy groaned in aggravation while Metal Sonic let out a string of frustrated beeps.



Both of them put in their next tokens without even asking each other. The game started again. "Okay! We need strategy! You're faster at hitting the targets, so let me focus on the bulky guys and you get all the little guys! And if there's no little guys on the screen, you can help me."



He gave a thumbs up, then briefly tapped the screen where it would say they had special power-ups to use.



"That's right!" she gasped. "We gotta save those power-ups for the part giving us the most trouble. We can do this!"



Metal triumphantly clenched his fist. Amy giggled.



The two of them continued their journey to fight off all the evil robots... Their efforts eventually brought them to the final stage one more time.



"Okay, Metal... I'll save my power-up for the big wave of bots! I'm not sitting in a great spot, though..."



He patted her on the shoulder. She smiled; was he encouraging her in his own way? The stage started and they refocused themselves.



Amy noticed he started to aim for enemies on her side of the screen when she felt overwhelmed. Amy's cheeks flushed more. She wasn't sure whether he was being sweet or saying she couldn't handle the game. She took a deep breath to center herself. They were about to get to the section they died at twice already.



Both of them saved their special in-game moves for this moment. Amy used an ability that cleared the screen once, while Metal used a scatter-shot afterwards that cleared multiple enemies when he defeated one at a time. They braved the huge wave of enemies, finally taking them to the final boss.



"You're toast, space robot overlord!!" Amy shouted. "We're gonna kick your butt!!"



The final boss revealed themselves, multiple mechanical arms stretching, terrifying jaws, a long, spiky tail... The battle began.



... Amy and Metal only lasted a few seconds.



"GAME. OVER." Mechanical laugh—



"AAUUUGH!!" Amy shouted in dismay. Metal beeped in irritation and threw his head back like he was groaning.



Amy put her hand on his right before he put his final token in the machine. She gave a weary smile.



"Can we play something else with our last tokens? This game's dumb and rigged anyway," she mumbled.



Metal stared at her for a while, then his gaze dropped to their hands. He moved his hand away and looked away from her.



"Oh, um... Is that a no? If you really—"



He tightly grabbed her hand, still looking away from her. He picked up his pile of tickets with his free arm and took a step off of the machine.



"... Oh, right!" Amy cheerfully picked up her tickets too, then stepped off with him. "Umm... What would a fun final game be, then?" she asked, tilting her head. "Maybeee..." She gasped. "I know! This is one of my favorite ones!" Amy eagerly took him over to a nearby set of two platforms connected by a large screen in front of them. The platforms had four large pink and blue arrows as buttons per set. Amy freed her hand and took a moment to organize her tickets and put them back in her pockets; she did the same for Metal's.



Metal watched the platforms, then the screen. This game was apparently called 'Ultra Dance Mania!' and the demo gameplay showed animated characters dancing and hitting arrows that floated to the top of the screen.



"Okay! So, for this game, you hit the arrows on the floor in time to the ones on the screen as the song plays! The idea is to dance along with the beat." Amy hopped up to one of the platforms and eagerly demonstrated how to play. Her feet tapped one arrow ahead, then behind... She giggled and hit two arrows at once, gleefully jumping from arrow to arrow. "Do you wanna play?"



He stared for a little while... Eventually, he stepped up to the other platform.



"Yay! One token is three songs to dance to! I know some extra fun ones." Amy put in her final token, Metal following suit.



He patiently watched as Amy hummed to herself and searched through each song.



"M'kay... I got our setlist! What kind of music do you like, Metal?" she cheerfully asked. She caught herself right as she did: "Sorry, that's not an easy question to answer... But I'd love to know sometime!"



Metal waved his hand in dismissal since she clearly felt guilty for asking him a question that couldn't be answered with 'yes' or 'no'.



"I can choose how easy or hard the song will be... Um, I know you like a challenge, so we'll play on 'medium'! Trust me, 'hard' is waaay too much, especially since you never played before. It's too much for me, even."



He crossed his arms, but had no protest. She started the game and they waited for the stage to load. The very first song Amy picked was cheerful, bubbly, and upbeat. The screen turned pink with colorful heart-shaped bubbles floating by... It definitely seemed like a song Amy would pick.



"This one's a bit easier to warm us up a bit! The last one I chose I think you'll like. Uhh, hopefully." Oop! The song started. "Okay, here we go!"



Metal watched the arrows drift to the top of the screen as he listened to the music. He reached for the first arrow on the platform, hit it correctly, then went for another. He moved rigidly, trying to hit the notes on time but not necessarily letting himself be more natural. He glanced at Amy; she watched the screen with a grin on her face and playfully stepped on each arrow.



He stood up straighter and tried to copy her. He moved his legs the same way... Then he swung his arms the same way she did. They moved completely in-sync with one another. Amy giggled, then accidentally missed one of the arrows. Metal briefly stopped— when she got back on track, he did, too. He watched her more than whatever was on the screen.



Amy glanced over to him and gave another wide grin. Metal quickly looked away and attempted to follow the arrows on the screen instead.



"You learn really quickly! I guess that makes sense, huh?" Amy mused. "Don't be afraid to let the music move you! It's about having fun!"



The song picked up in its pace near the end. Metal went back to looking at her. He eventually stopped tracking her feet and instead focused on her face. He stopped playing the game.



...



He just noticed he stopped playing. He went back to focusing on the arrows in hopes of not being too noticeable.



The song ended and their scores were displayed on the screen. Amy had quite a lead!



"Yay! That was fun. The next song is my favorite song ever! It's a little harder, though." She kept her focus on the screen and balled her fists. "You can do this!" she huffed to herself.



The next song began.



Metal put more effort in actually playing the game, keeping in mind how Amy moved the previous song and attempting to do something similar. He moved with more fluid motion, though he wasn't sure how to let the music 'move' him like Amy suggested.



The song itself was just as bubbly as the last, but the beat was much faster and more hyperactive. There was a moment when the beat dropped and the chorus went at a rapid pace! Amy completely locked in to the rhythm, her focus sharp. She looked kind of... intense.



Metal couldn't help himself. He kept watching her and lost track of his own progress.



She messed up a note. "Oops!" She jumped back in the center and made up for her missing steps. She excitedly danced however the arrows would allow her to and eagerly hummed along to the song itself.



Something was... wrong.



As the song ended, their scores displayed on the screen. Amy was the more experienced player, but Metal's score seemed a little low, especially compared to the previous song. She looked at Metal to see his arms crossed and his head turned away completely.



"Um...! I-it's okay," she said, slightly frowning. "Not every game is for everybody. Y-you don't have to play the last song."



He ignored her and looked at the screen when the final song was about to start. She picked the final song with Metal in mind; it was intense, a little angry, and kinda spooky. The beat quickly picked up, allowing Amy to forget about her troubles as she played.



Metal made a kind of beep that made Amy feel like he was frustrated. She looked at him; his head jerked towards the screen, previously looking at her. It clearly wasn't his kind of game. She appreciated he tried, but—



Metal twisted his legs wrong and tripped. Amy instinctively moved to catch him.



"Are you okay?!" she asked, frowning. She helped pull him up.



Puffs of steam came out both of his ears. He pushed her off and took a step away.



"S-sorry," she muttered. "I guess that was dumb of me, huh?" He didn't necessarily feel pain when hitting the floor; at least, she didn't think so. Maybe he was offended...



Before they knew it, the song was over. Their scores were fairly mediocre... All their tickets sputtered out from the machine.



Amy sighed. "Well, thank you for trying the game. We're out of tokens now, but we got a lot of tickets. Maybe we can afford something nice?" Amy organized their tickets from the dancing game, then handed Metal his. She brought his other tickets out from her pocket and offered the rest.



Metal snatched the tickets and hoarded them to himself. His turbine was on for some reason, whirring loudly as they stood there.



Amy's ears flattened. "Well, uh... The prize counter's back where we talked to that man. Let's go." She walked over to the desk from before. Eventually, Metal followed behind.



Amy went first, placing the pile of tickets on the counter. The tiger man used a machine to count and store the tickets away. "You got two hundred tickets," he cheerfully said.



"Hmmm..." Amy looked at the different toys on display on glass cases under the counter. While she was deciding, the man was counting Metal's tickets. Her ears perked up again. "Can I have this one?" she asked, pointing at a toy that looked like a baby chao. That had to be a good pick as a present because everyone liked chao! She never knew anyone who didn't.



She was handed the toy, her eyes sparkling. "Thank you!" She squeezed the toy— it let out a little squeak! She smiled, then frowned again, looking over at Metal. He had his head tilted as he stared at the potential prizes... Eventually, he waved for the man's attention and tapped the display case.



He was handed a toy that looked like a pink bird with a red heart pattern. Huh... She didn't expect him to pick something like that. She shyly shuffled over to Metal; he turned to look at her. There was an awkward silence between them.



"I feel like this might've been a disaster," she muttered, frowning more. "I'm sorry we didn't play any games you really liked, other than the one that wouldn't let us win... Which is annoying on its own! Ugh! But..." She averted her eyes and blushed. "Happy birthday anyways." She offered him the chao toy. "I got this for you."



He stared at the toy.



"I— liked— the games," Amy's voice echoed from Metal, her words chopped from different sentences she spoke that day. Her eyes widened.



He gently took the toy from her hand, then replaced it with the pink bird he had.



Metal couldn't look at her. "Happy birthday," Amy's voice played back again.



... Amy's eyes sparkled. "You got this for me?" she squeaked.



He nodded.



She hugged him. "Thank you!! I love it!" she beamed. Metal slightly flailed his arms, not exactly knowing what to do with them. She let go and showed him her big grin once more. "You liked the games? I'm not very good at reading how you feel, then... I'm sorry!"



He crossed his arms and tapped one of his feet, making him seem impatient... but the way his head was turned away made him look more nervous instead. Amy tilted her head as she watched him.



"Like— you— more," her voice played from Metal again.



"M-m-me?" Amy asked. "... You like me?"



He tightly grabbed her hand, still not looking at her. He slowly nodded.



Her cheeks flushed. "N-no one's ever..." Her voice trailed off. "U-um... I... D-do... Do you wanna keep hanging out?" she muttered.



He nodded again, then put his first birthday gift away in a panel on one of his arms. Luckily, it was small and malleable enough to be concealed without much trouble.



"Okay...!" She closed her hand around his and started walking. He caught up to her side and walked with her, seemingly happy with wherever they were going to go next.



Each step she took, she got more flustered.



"Uh...!" She took a deep breath, staring at her new gift. "Y-you're not so bad! I guess... But if you're mean, I'll still kick your butt. You caught me off guard before! That's all!" She put the toy away in her pocket.



"— Big boss," Metal replied with Amy's voice.



She glanced at him, then giggled. "Are you calling yourself a big boss?"



He nodded more confidently.



"Well... I had more fun when we were protecting the world together from evil space robots," she huffed, puffing her chest out. "Let's do it again sometime. Okay?"



Metal slightly squeezed her hand. She had a feeling that was him saying 'okay' too.



She grinned. "I know where we can play next! Follow me." The two of them continued down the street.



One the way to their destination, Amy did a bit of window shopping and stopped at a kiosk that sold drinks and some fast food. She excitedly took Metal through the town, allowing him to experience it in an authentic way he never got to before.



Amy's nerves melted away the longer they were together, making her much more of a chatterbox than she was before. It was like she didn't even care who he was and him being a robot didn't seem to bother her at all.



Metal wasn't extremely responsive, but she wasn't bothered by that, either. He liked to listen and she had a lot to say.



"Thanks for letting me get somethin' to eat, Metal," she said with a shy smile.



He beeped in response; he clearly didn't mind.



"We're almost at one of the most fun places ever! I bet you'll like it more than the arcade... And it'll be a perfect way to cap off our birthday!" Amy eagerly explained.



Metal made another curious beep.



Amy grinned. "Yeah! Let's go!"



After walking down a few more streets, they came across a path to an amusement park, where there were colorful attractions, some roller coasters, and even a huge ferris wheel!



"There it is!" exclaimed Amy. "There's a lot of rides and fun stuff! I think I have just enough money for the both of us." She guided him over to the admission booth right at the front of the park. A meerkat lady smiled at the two of them. Metal wasn't used to the relaxed responses... Maybe the party hat made him less intimidating.



He glanced at Amy. She... wasn't exactly intimidating when she was smiling like that, either.



"Hello, how much for two independent kids?" Amy asked, holding up two fingers.



The lady chuckled. "Ten dollars total," she said, amused.



Amy's eyes sparkled. "I have enough!" she eagerly whispered to Metal, then slapped the money on the table. "Two tickets, please!"



The lady took the money, then handed them a ticket each.



"Yay! Come on, Metal!" Amy dragged him into the park, their entry possible with their newly acquired tickets.



He showed her the ticket and beeped as they stepped inside.



"... Are you asking what to do with it?" she asked, tilting her head.



He nodded.



"Well... You can throw it away now if you want since we're through the gates... Or you can keep it as a memory! I like to keep them," she explained with a light blush. She put her ticket into her pocket.



After a moment, Metal did the same, putting the ticket away in his other arm. Amy's tail wagged.



"Maybe we'll have other memories we can save here, too! Don't worry, though... I don't wanna make you carry back a bunch of stuff. Having fun is a birthday gift on its own!" she beamed. "We can, umm..." She looked around. "Ooh! Okay, let's do this one first." She dragged him over to some bumper cars. "It's like driving, but you're supposed to crash!"



The two of them hopped into some cars: Amy chose a bright pink one, while Metal went for a deep blue one. Some other people were around, families and other children around their age. Metal warily looked at them, then focused on Amy again. She happily grinned his way.



They played with the bumper cars, knocking into others there, then eventually forging a battle of their own. Amy joyfully laughed as she tried to knock Metal's car to one of the edges, then yelped when Metal managed to do that to her instead. At some point, they ended up 'racing' each other, only to bump again. The ride turned off and they were ushered out to let the next round of people in.



They tried quite a few rides together! They went on a wooden roller coaster next; the speed didn't impress Metal, but he did like the rush of wind. Amy threw her arms up and screamed excitedly as they zoomed down the dips on the track and made some wild twists and turns. Her quills were slightly out of place by the time they were done. She fixed her quills and vigorously shook her head.



"There's another roller coaster even faster and it has loops! Come on!" She eagerly ran down the walkway, only pausing when she realized she forgot to grab Metal.



He caught up to her and took her hand. She blushed and continued forward at a calmer pace.



This roller coaster was better. It was made of steel unlike the other one and the incline to the peak was a lot taller. Amy's laughter rang in place of screams when they tipped over and went barreling down the track. Metal found himself focusing on her rather than what happened in front of them...



Her laughter quieted down to soft giggles when they got to the end of the ride. She threaded her fingers through her quills again. Puffs of steam shot out of Metal's ears, making him quickily turn his head away.



"The coasters are my favorite," she eagerly told him. "What about you? Did you like it?"



He rigidly nodded.



"I'm glad!" Amy got out of the seats with him following behind. She remembered to hold his hand this time. "Is it kinda like racing for you? That's how it feels to me, anyway!"



He nodded again. "Faster," Amy's voice repeated back to her.



She giggled. "You're faster?"



He nodded, then lifted his nose up in the air.



"Heheh, I believe you! But It's nice I get to go that fast for a change," she mused. "We can definitely fit some more rides in before it gets too late! C'mon!"



They went on another ride that raised them up in the air and rapidly dropped them down to the ground a few times, then a 'calmer' ride that had them sit in spinning teacups. Metal figured out they'd go faster the more force he used to spin the wheel in the center, making them practically whip around. Amy howled with laughter and only half-heartedly tried to stop him.



Eventually, they did stop. Amy held her head and kept swaying around, still giggling to herself. Metal gave her a moment, then helped her out of the teacup ride. She hugged his arm to keep her balance. Metal went back to being completely rigid and refusing to look anywhere but forward.



She finally went back to normal and righted herself, though she still kept her hand on his. "All that excitement's makin' me tired... Let's do one more thing before we leave... Umm... Maybe we can try the ferris wheel?" She pointed over to the ferris wheel at the end of the park. "Do you wanna?"



He nodded and began walking forward, taking her along. She eagerly skipped by his side.



The lines weren't long at all, luckily. They got into a seat that would lift them up and turn them around on a slow-moving vertical wheel. As they got in together, a bar went across their laps to secure them in place.



The ride started and they began moving. Metal quizzically looked around them.



"It's a slow ride on purpose," Amy said with a giggle. "It's just to relax and take in the sights around us! The city is really pretty, isn't it?" she asked. "And there's lots of trees, too."



After a short moment, Metal relaxed back in his seat and watched the scenery open up before them. They rose above the amusement park, allowing them to see the city skyline and the forests that surrounded them. The ferris wheel took them up and down a few times... Then, finally, it stopped right at the top.



They calmly watched the sky together. The sun was beginning to set, blue shades of the atmosphere turning to warm purples and pinks.



Amy glanced at Metal, then to the sky... then back to Metal. She fidgeted in her seat, eventually fixating her gaze towards the ground.



"Ummm... I'll tell you a secret," she muttered. She brought out the pink toy bird from her pocket and began playing with it.



She took another deep breath.



"I... used to spend a lot of my birthdays alone too, so I didn't like my birthday... Last year was the first time I ever celebrated it for real. But when I did, it was so much fun..." She was quiet for a short moment, then gently petted the beak of the toy bird. "I don't want you to dislike your birthday either."



Metal watched her, his hands gripping onto the bar in front of them.



"... I have a question..." She gathered the courage to look back at him. "Y-you said you liked me earlier... Uh... What do you mean? Do you mean, like... normal like?" She averted her eyes again. "Or, like... like like...?"



"What—?" Metal asked back in Amy's voice.



"N-nevermind! Forget it! It's stupid..." She fidgeted more, her cheeks as pink as the rest of her fur.



He nudged her, clearly wanting her to say more.



"It's just...! I-I guess... no one's said they liked me before... And I thought you were way meaner than you are, so... I'm a little confused, that's all," she murmured. "A-and, I never got to spend time with someone like this... I... I like our party more than the party I had with my other friends... But in a weird way. I don't know."



"... You like me?" Metal replayed a phrase Amy said back at the arcade.



Amy slightly kicked her legs in her seat as she feverishly looked away. She tightly held the toy to herself. "I don't know...! Maybe! What if I did?!" She yelled out.



There was a moment of quiet.



"Happy." Amy's voice came from Metal once more.



She managed to look at him again. They stared at each other... Amy couldn't piece together what was so different about Metal's gaze, but it... It didn't seem angry or mean. Her heart skipped a beat. She was the first to break eye contact again, watching the horizon ahead.



The ferris wheel started up, sending them back down to the ground. Neither of them spoke again. She shyly took Metal's hand when they stepped off and she quietly led him out of the amusement park.



They walked together for a while, then ended up standing in front of the same bakery Amy found Metal at hours ago.



"It's getting late, huh?" Amy quietly asked. "You probably have to... go back and see your jerkface of a dad."



Metal stared at her for a few seconds, then slightly nodded.



"Um...! Well... I-if... If you wanna celebrate next year, we can..." She shyly shuffled her feet. "D-do... Do you want to?"



He nodded again and gently squeezed her hand. She smiled to herself.



...



She clenched her free fist and took a deep breath, then puffed her chest.



She smooched him on the cheek—!!



Piko!



She bonked him on the head with her hammer before he could respond to the kiss. He got knocked onto the ground, then rubbed his head as he regained his bearings.



Amy ran to the end of the street and hastily turned the corner. Just like that, she was out of sight.



Metal stood up while facing the direction she went. He touched his cheek.



"Happy."