hmm... sonic and amy, 37 "try to eat something"
here ya go! post-forces
///
“Try to eat something,” Sonic encourages, and it’s clear from the reassuring look on his face that he’s trying, in his own way, to make her feel better. But the thought of eating right now just sends another wave of anxiety-nausea through Amy.
“I’d like to see you try to eat something, if you were about to go speak in front of… of…”
“The whole planet?” Sonic says encouragingly. “You’re right. That’s why I’ve got the best public speaker this side of Mobius to do it instead.”
“Ough.” Amy leans over a potted plant, and Sonic politely looks away as she gags. Maybe he needs to try another strategy here…
Sonic peels off his gloves then licks his finger and thumb. He fixes up a few of her quills that have been in disarray all day – they’ve been bothering him just to look at, and he’s sure that she doesn’t want to be on TV with her quills out of place.
“Are you messing them up?” she complains.
“Would I do that?” Sonic asks, and continues tidying them up until they’re all laying perfectly in place under her headband. Satisfied, he slips his glove back on. Then, he rests a hand on her shoulder. “...Feeling any better?”
“If I made a joke about faking my death to get out of this,” Amy says, “Would you see that as insensitive?”
Sonic just snickers.
Amy groans, then finally gets to her feet. Her knees are still shaking. “Do we even really need to give a speech? You gave one already, didn’t you?”
“To Tails, another version of me, and that guy who saved me from space jail – by the way, do you like, usually send rookies to bail out your MVP? No offense, and I’m grateful for having someone bust me out, but I kind of was expecting you or Knuckles or Tails-?”
Amy’s eye twitches.
“Anyways,” Sonic says, and smoothly stands her upright, “It wasn’t a great speech. Because I’m not a speech-maker. You on the other hand – I bet you could make everyone feel safe and hopeful again.”
“What if I just copy what you said?”
“Again, the speech I gave, just to me, alternate-version-of-me, Tails, and rookie? Or the one after mini-me went home? Because I’m pretty sure neither of them lasted more than thirty seconds, and I can’t remember any of it.”
“I thought it was fine,” Amy says. “Maybe that should be the time estimate I’m rooting for too, come to think of it…”
Sonic chuckles and pats her on the back. “Whatever you think is best,” he says. “But I wasn’t kidding about eating something before going up there. You look like you’re about to pass out.”
Sonic plucks a tiny protein bar from his quills. Amy blinks.
“Perks of having longer quills – I still can’t believe you keep them so short,” he says, and passes her the bar. “Eat, okay? And drink some water. And remember the most important thing about speech-making!”
Amy nibbles on the bar, unwilling to admit she already feels slightly better. “So you do have actual advice?”
Sonic winks and shoots finger guns at her. “Leave them wanting more.”
“So I should keep it under thirty seconds.” She sighs, then glances down to the cards she’s meticulously plotted out. Why can’t these be tarot cards instead? She’s much better at reading those. “Oh, man…”
With that, Sonic starts for the exit, ducking out and only dipping his head inside. “You’re gonna do great,” he says, more kindly this time. “I’ll be in the front row, okay? No matter what happens, I’ll make sure everyone cheers.”
With that, he closes the door behind him.
Amy takes a deep breath, then gathers the cards in front of her again.
Then, shreds all but one and walks to the exit, herself. Short, sweet, and to the point. They have a world to rebuild, after all.