One billion years since the last time I posted about Nymph but hi hello
I still read the asks I get, they're super sweet and gave me boost knowing people like my works. I'd love to answer them someday but I've been so strained with sonic I'm just not mentally all here. I do hope to draw more of my kids soon
A finger fruitlessly clacked on the backspace key, clicking around the screen proved to be similarly ineffectual, and yet her laptop was wheezing as though she was strangling it to death. Blaze the cat, head of projects administration, did not attempt to hide her displeasure as she struck a twelfth tally mark in her notebook. By the day's end, she was certain that he work laptop would surpass its previous record for hard crashes (fifteen). She doubted those in IT would appreciate the inevitable presentation of her findings, but something had to be done about this. Tails would at least try to offer his sympathies, but would surely lack the time nor energy to help given the state of his coming workweeks. Then again, at this rate, no one would be scheduled for anything and he'd have ample time to hear her complain.
Six months on, Green Hill Logistics was still recuperating in the aftermath of a change in ownership. Chief Executive Officer Big had been largely hands off with the business- happy to hire staff that would make his day to day work breezy, letting the heads of respective departments make improvements largely on their own accord. His amicable personality and trust in others had seen the once tiny company open offices and depots worldwide. They'd fostered a reputation not just for quality work, but being a great company to work for. Blaze wasn't certain that she'd considered him a good boss per say, but she certainly couldn't deny that he was approachable and had a good heart... even if he lacked a mind of business. That reality had been reflected in his lackadaisical handling of personal finances.
When tech entrepreneur Ivo Robotnik purchased the company it'd seemed like a strange fit. As a business, goods transport required people for roles ranging from delivery drivers to engineers to lawyers to client liaisons and beyond. The automation that had earned the doctor his ludicrous net worth hadn't seemed like a good fit for the their day to day operations. Time had proven that assessment to be correct.
Finally, Blaze's computer finished smothering itself. She gave it a moment, staring at her reflection in the dark screen. Would her draft of the schedule have saved itself before the machine died? No, absolutely not. When she next opened the document, presuming the computer even managed that, she would again be presented with what Gamma (Eggman Incorporated's proprietary artificial intelligence) suggested for the resource planner based on its tracking of communications across the entire company. Needless to say, she would have to clear it all out and start afresh.
Why did her reflection look so exhausted? Yes it was Friday, but that was hardly an excuse. Her white shirt was wrinkled, her ponytail was leaking from its binding, and somehow her ID laniard was twisted to hang behind her rather than in front. All that was ignoring the bags under her eyes and the coffee moustache on her white muzzle. Though she loathed to, Blaze pressed the power button on her laptop and used its boot up time to begin neatening herself. Then again, it wasn't as if she was expecting to see-
As her scrunchie hung from between her lips, a cheerful knock sounded against the cubical wall. Blaze knew who it'd be even before she looked. Amy Rose, head of personnel resources, had poked her head around the pseudo-room's doorless entryway. Despite the state of things her white shirt with its floral embroidering still looked clean, and her red pencil skirt was pristine to match.
She was beaming with a joy unhindered by their workplace woes, "Is now a bad time?"
"Good as any," The cat hummed, quickly tying her hair back up, "What do you need?"
"Can't a girl just want to check on her friend after a long week?" Amy pouted.
"Is that really what you're here for?" Blaze flatly asked, initiating the computer's recovery mode.
"Well," Amy seemed to chew on the thought, "Partially?" She finally fully entered the space, "I was also wondering, just if your not to far along with the schedule... could you pencil me in for a meeting with my work husband?"
Blaze was less than surprised, "Has he ended up with another speeding ticket?"
"Oh no, no," Amy circled a quill around her finger, "It's a parking ticket this time. Barely even an infraction, but I need to take a statement and you know how he is with forms. If I email it to him, it'll sit in his inbox forever- he never checks it.."
"Indeed," Blaze hummed, signing in to her computer.
"Anyway, I'm pretty sure he only got it so that he could come see me again on company time," Amy fantasised, "It feels so scandalous, you know? Not only is he acting out to get my attention, literally forcing us to spend time together, he's also paying for it!"
"Oh?" Blaze let the hedgehog ramble on as the laptop resumed its humming.
"Yeah, I mean, we had our meet cute when he got his first speeding ticket so it's kind of tradition now. It's our thing, you know? Like how Rouge will borrow Knuckles and Shadow to act as her so-called muscle on some of her trips," The mere mention of the bat was enough to irk the cat; the change seemed to pull Amy from her daydream, "Anyway, can you schedule that?"
"I'll try, but I'm not certain he'll manage it next week. We're even more short staffed than we were, Jet walked out last week so we're down yet another driver," Even with her attention on the screen, the cat could feel Amy's pleading eyes, "I might be able to find him some time the following week."
"You're the best Blaze!" Suddenly the hedgehog's arms were around her, pinning the cat back against the plush of her chair, "And I know just how to make it up to you."
Blaze also immediately knew where this was going, but she was powerless to resist from this restrained position. Amy's phone was already in hand, first the cat was subjected to a lock-screen of Sonic mid chilli dog, then a home screen of him pulling a stupid face while the pink hedgehog navigated to her photos. Immediately the cat was bombarded with more images- mainly of Sonic of course, but amongst them were other coworkers drinking, eating and partying.
"Some of us are heading to that bar again tonight, Chaotix, the one a few blocks down? It'll be tons of fun, I promise!" Amy explained, still flicking through photos, "Just about everyone has promised to buy you a drink, all you need to do is show up..."
The pink hedgehog lingered on a particular photo, a candid shot of a familiar white hedgehog grinning. Instantly the cat felt envious; for all of Amy's offers to join a work night out, she'd never mentioned that he was in attendance. When had they last managed to talk, or even just message? The cat was so reliant on him starting their conversations, and he hadn't reached out for a little while now. She'd lived with the man for almost three months and still failed to snap a picture half as good as this surely casual shot by Amy. Well, that was probably because Amy had the guts to take his picture while he was awake...
"Thank you for the offer," The cat hummed, pulling her attention away from Amy's phone, "But as you know, I'm not much of a drinker..."
"I'm sure their offers weren't limited to alcohol. You can have as many chaos colas as your heart desires," That offer didn't sound any more enticing, "Think of it as a team building exercise, when did we last do some proper team building?" Amy begged, "Like you said, there's less of us now than ever, we need to stick together! It'll raise your spirits, I just know it."
Blaze tried her hardest not to sound like she was being rude, "It's just not my kind of thing..." She absolutely failed.
"I know, but I really think it'll be good for you," Amy pleaded, "The only time I've seen you outside of work is when I bumped into you at the supermarket, and that was half a year ago..."
"I've got a lot planned this weekend," Blaze again attempted to excuse herself.
"Like what?" Amy boldly questioned.
"I'm baking a souffle," Blaze responded on impulse, her mind still on the white hedgehog.
"A souffle?!" Amy squeaked.
"Don't sound so surprised," The cat replied, perhaps too harshly.
"I just didn't think you could..." Amy seemed to catch herself, "D-Didn't know that you bake, I mean," But an intrusive thought must have won out, "And shouldn't that take less than an hour..?"
"It's a particularly difficult souffle," Blaze continued to lie, "Thank you Amy, I really do appreciate what you're trying to do, but I get enough social interaction through our talks. Tell the others I am grateful for their offers, but I must decline."
"If you're certain," Finally, the pink hedgehog released the cat, wandering to the doorless entryway, "You know I'll be back to try again next week."
The head of personnel management waved her off, "I'll look forward to it."
Despite Amy's pushing, that small break had genuinely reenergised the cat... though that rejuvenation vanished at the sight of Gamma's newly proposed schedule. Sonic's Monday now included a mutated mess of deliveries squashed into a single Monday afternoon, set to occur only after a closely clustered group of morning meetings featuring one Amy Rose. The first was to discuss a speeding ticket, the second to discuss a parking ticket, followed by a meeting to discuss inbox management, and then a meeting to discuss taking on Jet's whole workload (all of which he was now set to do on that very Monday afternoon). That was ignoring the talk with Amy that'd been added to Blaze's own Friday-
Another knock at the wall pulled the cat from her work, this time when she turned around a set of aquamarine eyes caught her yellow ones. Rouge the bat, head of client services, was wearing an expression so smug that it surely violated the office dress code. Before the cat could ask what she wanted, the white furred woman silence her with a raised finger which quickly became a point.
Using the tone reserved for her subordinates, never breathed in the direction of clients, she ordered, "I expect to see you in the bar at five thirty. Don't be late," And simply walked away.
Blaze's frustration flared, their roles were very different but they were in equal standing at this company! For months now the bat had been lording her sole showing of generosity and camaraderie over the cat with no ending in sight. She was at the bat's beck and call, too often modifying a fair and just schedule to curve around Rouge's wants first and foremost. Her requests were usually subtle manipulations, hedged in implication, not so blunt and juvenile as this!
Blaze clawed the grimace from her face and tried to regain her poise, to knuckle down and finally get the schedule done, but her face crumpled anew at what she saw. A new item had been added to today's itinerary- team building exercise at Chaotix Bar and Grill. When she went to erase the errant entry the cursor became a spinning circle which then hitched at the two o'clock position. The cat's forehead met with the keyboard. An already gruelling day had just stretched itself so much longer.
---
The floor was sticky, her clothes were wet, and she didn't want to be here. This dingy little spot was entirely empty save for Blaze herself and the staff- she'd secured a seat at the counter, the closest one to the door. A gruff looking crocodile was stood behind the bar, he'd initially tried to make small talk but the cat had failed to carry the conversation beyond recommendations for dinner. Judging by the selection of hotdogs on the menu, this place surely appealed to Sonic above all others- he'd never submitted an expense that didn't include a truck-stop chilli dog. Her hopes weren't exactly high for their tempura platter but apparently it was the chef's specialty... it just happened to also be the most expensive thing on the menu.
Finishing work at five meant there hadn't even been time to change before coming to the bar, Blaze's flat was a full half hour's walk from the office and it wasn't as though she'd brought a change of clothes. The result was that she had arrived frightfully early, but now it was almost half past. Where was everyone? The sooner they showed up, the sooner she could make her excuses and leave...
The head of personnel management unlocked her phone, catching sight of a certain white hedgehog behind a wall of applications. It was a far worse photo than the one Amy had so casually displayed of him. He was asleep on her couch with his quills splayed and mouth agape. All she really had left to remember him by was that picture, as well as the hand written recipe book he'd left her as a parting gift. Well, that and the mug he'd left behind and a forgotten t-shirt...
Blaze opened their messages and immediately found herself faced with a prior failure. He'd sent her a list of awkward praise and recommendations response to her picture of a blackened souffle that'd overflowed down the side of its ramekin. When he'd offered to come over and help with another attempt she'd frozen up, mulled over possible responses for more than a day, before telling him she was too busy- complaining about mandatory overtime, a true frustration that truthfully wouldn't have stopped them from meeting up. Was it any wonder he hadn't started a conversation since? He'd told her to take care of herself and reach out if she needed anything, putting the impetus on her. It'd been three weeks already...
Finally, she opted to send him something simple, "Hey, are you coming-
A shadow fell upon her shoulder! With panicked speed the cat shut off her phone, only to realise it was a waiter approaching rather than anyone she knew- a bee who looked a little too young to be working in a bar, headphones in his ears. He set down her plate with a smile, but when he went to turn away the crocodile coughed an oversaturated reminder into his fist- loud enough to make the cat jump.
"Oh, uh," The bee, named Charmy judging by his pin, pulled one covering from his ear, "Do you want any more sauces or..." His brain seemed to misfire, "Anything?"
Blaze looked at the plate of fried fish and sweet chilli, not a vegetable in sight. The pile of prawns, calamari, crab, and some kind of white fish didn't look unappetising though it was very greasy. Picking at it would surely suffice until she could escape home and microwave something.
"Could I get some cutlery?" The cat requested.
"Oh, yeah, sure," He gave a thumbs up, either to her or the gator, and hurried off toward the back.
"Kid's been here a year and a half, but he's still learning the ropes," Blaze heard the barman sigh as he refilled her water cup.
Blaze smothered her want to ask the boy's age; if he was just old enough to work in a bar now, he surely hadn't been more than a year ago! The cat managed to stifle her concern as the bee swung back around to drop off a fork and knife, without any sort of napkin- but then the cat supposed she hadn't been that specific. She opted to spare him another trip with a simple nod and a thank you.
The cat had just picked up her fork when the door opened, a pair of familiar faces had stepped into the space- not the colleagues Blaze had already encountered today, but two that she thankfully knew well enough to hold conversation with. After all, they were interns she had interviewed herself.
"Miss Blaze!" Cream the rabbit, the ever professional intern working under Amy called out, "I didn't know you were coming today."
"I imagine most people won't," The cat responded as they approached, "It's good to see you both; things have been so busy, I feel like I've not seen you in months," Something clicked in the cat's mind, "You especially, Marine."
"It's been hectic, ain't it mate," The much less polite intern who was supposed to be Blaze's aide responded, "You probably lost track of me be when Tails asked for help with the tech and never gave me back."
"That sounds about right. My computer problems have only gotten worse in your absence," Blaze hummed, "We should really circle back and discuss how to better distribute your hours. I'm certain that Tails needs help, but he shouldn't-
"Mate, we're at a bar, I don't want to talk about work nonsense. I'm here to have fun," The raccoon stuck out her tongue in disgust, "I've already spent the whole trip over listenin' to Cream worrying about finding somewhere else to work now that she's sick of us."
"It's not like that Marine!" The rabbit seemed to catch herself, she went from annoyed to sullen, "You know that's not the reason..."
"I forgot. Your apprenticeship must be coming to an end soon," Blaze verbalised, "Of course you're making plans for what to do next.."
"Miss Amy is really trying to make my position permanent, but..." The youthful rabbit clenched her fists, "Even if she could, I'm not certain I'd stay. Things have just got so much more hectic, if I'm doing this much now I don't think I'd be able to cope with a proper job in the company," Her big brown eyes gleamed at Blaze, "Please don't tell her."
"Of course I won't," Blaze promised, taking the younger woman's hand and gave it a quick squeeze, "But I think she would understand if you spoke to her. We're all struggling, but I can only imagine how rough it has been for you two."
The pairs' internships did pay an okay wage, that had been ensured under Big, but even if they were made permanent- Blaze doubted Ivo would approve any wage increases and their duties would become even more gruelling. The initial wave of firings when the entrepreneur took over had been followed by employees quitting on an almost weekly basis, their roles rarely refilled. If Cream was looking for a job driving the trucks she'd stand a chance, but office positions were now so very limited.
The rabbit seemed to relax, "Thank you, Miss Blaze."
"Can we cut out the sappy stuff too, I want to party!" The raccoon yelled, "Are you really drinking water, mate? Come on, I want to see you loosen up for once!"
"Yes I'm quite happy with water, thank you Marine," The cat bluntly responded, releasing Cream's hand to look at the barman, "But if you two want anything to drink, I will happily pay for your first."
"Just the usual then?" The crocodile asked the pair, reaching for a glass.
Marine threw her hand up, "Hold on, if she's paying, we can-
"Just the usual please, Mister Vector," Cream pointedly cut in, giving Marine a hard stare for impoliteness.
"Fine, just the usual," The other intern grumbled before piping up anew, "And the remote for the karaoke machine!"
Blaze had just tapped her card to the reader (paying for Marine's chaos cola and rum, and Cream's chaos soda float) when the door reopened. Before the cat could even turn her right side was blocked by something pink and she was pulled into a hug with twice the crushing force of that earlier in the day. Needless to say, Amy Rose had arrived.
"You came!" The hedgehog shouted into the cat's ear, practically bouncing up and down, "I'm so glad. Knuckles just got back from Apotos, the whole gang's going to be here!"
"I'll stay long enough to see everyone," Already the cat's social battery was running dry, "But I won't be around for too long."
"Of course, of course. You've got a souffle to make," Amy slightly released her hold, turning to look back toward the door, "You were right Shadow, I owe you a drink."
"I'll just have the usual," The darker hedgehog responded, wandering past to claim a seat two stools down.
"Same for you Amy?" Vector asked from the bar.
"You know it!" She took the closest stool, drawing out her purse, "I see Marine's already fiddling with the karaoke machine. I think Tails uploaded some new songs to it last time..."
"I didn't know you baked, Miss Blaze," Cream prompted after a sip of her drink, "Although, Mister Silver did mention your sweet tooth.."
"He did, did he?" Blaze questioned, immediately concerned what details he may have shared.
"He talks about you quite a lot," Amy confirmed, "You two used to work together, didn't you? At the Soleanna office."
"Yes, though I left some time before it was shuttered..." Blaze hummed.
That unfortunate reminder seemed to cast a wave of silence over the conversation. While Green Hill logistics still had depots across the globe, their offices were now consolidated into the singular station square location. This was yet another impact of Ivo Robotnik's purchase of the company, one that meant the frequent use of faulty translation applications and countless unforeseen complications that having local staff would have avoided. The cat had moved as part of her promotion to head of personnel management over a year prior to the ownership change. Silver's transfer had not been so successful.
"Maybe we should hold some kind of competition?" Cream piped up, trying to revive the talk, "I bake, I know you do too Miss Amy, and I think Mister Silver does."
"That's a brilliant idea! It'd be nice to do a different sort of get together," While the implication was nice, Blaze was already dreading such an event coming to pass, "I can imagine Tails doing some culinary science, and Sonic's competitive spirit might make him join in," Amy elbowed Shadow in the side, "If he's competing, I know you'll want to."
"I doubt he'll have the patience for it," The dark hedgehog hummed into his drink, "It would hardly be a challenge."
"That's the spirit!" Amy practically knocked him over before turning back to Cream, "We can arrange judges, maybe even get some prizes sorted out," The shine in her eyes faltered, "Although, I doubt we'll get any funding for it. I imagine Eggman prefers his cakes assembled by production line..."
"Eggman?" The head of personnel resources questioned.
"Oh, that's just what Sonic has been calling Ivo lately," Amy explained, though she seemed to sense her coworker opening his mouth, "I know Shadow, I shouldn't be encouraging name calling in the workplace..." A small smile crept onto the young woman's muzzle, "He really does look like an egg though. It's even worse over the webcam, his chair looks just like an egg cup."
Blaze was about to enquire further when the door opened. By the sparkle in Amy's eyes, the cat knew who had arrived. Before she could really register it the pink hedgehog was on her feet and running across the bar, quickly caught in the arms of Sonic. The fastest delivery driver in the fleet was flanked by Knuckles and Tails- both of whom looked thoroughly exhausted.
"Blaze, long time no see!" Sonic called over, wandering over with Amy coiled around his arm, "Glad you could make it."
"I'm only stopping by," The cat clarified once again, "Don't assume you can pull me into your usual nonsense. I've seen Amy's photos of these nights..."
"Right, that makes sense," Embarrassment flashed across his muzzle before being replaced with its usual cockiness, "Does she at least get my good side?"
Before the cat could answer, Amy piped up, "Always!"
Having shaken most of the rain from their forms, Knuckles and Tails had joined their blue ally. Blaze wasn't exactly certain how the three of them had met, let alone became such good friends. Tails was a relative new start at the company who had secured his position almost a year before the acquisition- letting him get comfortable upgrading their systems before the so-called Eggman gutted them. Knuckles had been at the company for quite some time, but he rarely got to stay in one place for long- his deliveries often took him on globetrotting adventures, acting as security for cargo worth a dozen times his salary. Finally there was Sonic, a more local driver of express packages and the bane of their new boss's existence.
"No sign of Rouge yet?" The brawny red echidna half commented, half questioned, "Then I guess I'm free to let off some steam," He casually chucked his jacket toward a booth in the corner of the bar, "Marine, what's the deal with the karaoke machine!?"
"I don't know, I feel like I've been fiddling with it for ages!" The raccoon intern shouted over, "Tails, what did you do to it?"
"Its been acting up ever since I installed all your sea shanties," The fox yawned, crossing the space behind Knuckles, "I'll get it sorted."
"You coming?" Amy offered the cat, nodding toward the soon to be rowdy corner.
"In a while maybe," Blaze answered, "I'm still acclimatising."
"Take all the time you need," The pink hedgehog smiled, before leaning in close, "I'm sure he'll be here soon."
Before the cat could question what Amy was implying, she was skipping away with Sonic. Even Cream left for the growing din in the back corner of the room, thankfully allowing the cat a half measure of peace to recover. Blaze had completely forgotten her food, it was surely now lukewarm at best. She finally pierced a calamari ring, raising it to-
"What does Rouge have on you?" Shadow broke the calm so bluntly that the cat very almost dropped her fork.
Blaze blinked at him, "What?"
"I know that you haven't attended these get togethers previously, despite being invited, and it certainly doesn't seem like you're here for the food," Shadow analysed aloud, "I also know that our heads of both personnel resources and client services spoke with you today. My conclusion is that Rouge is manipulating you, am I wrong?"
Shadow was often considered the stick to Amy's carrot, brought on to handle the personnel resource issues that her sweet personality often wasn't suited to. Encounters with Shadow were generally regarded as an omen of upcoming unemployment- not that Blaze really put much stock in that belief. On the few occasions Blaze had communicated with him, the hedgehog had seemed to her to be a useful professional, albeit one with a serious demeanour even beyond the cat's own. Evidently, she had never truly sat in his scrupulous crosshairs. Blaze didn't very much like the attention.
"Perhaps I simply decided to try something new," She coldly responded, before turning his assumptions back upon him, "Why are you here, Shadow? This hardly seems like an outing suited to you, and yet it seems as though you pay close attention to these social events."
"I am here to ensure those fools do not besmirch the company name and confirm that they make it home safe," He replied, without changing his tone, "You are an unknown factor that I now have to mitigate for. I would like to understand why Amy was so glum in our end of workday, having tried and failed to secure your attendance, only for Rouge to so easily changed your mind."
Blaze grit her teeth, "She is a talented professional with skills in negotiation."
"Of course," He sipped his drink, some kind of coffee cocktail, "If you do not wish to explain her actions, then you do not have to. I simply feel it is my duty to enquire. My interest is purely professional, not personal."
"She previously did me a significant favour," The feline delicately answered, "So when she asked me to attend, I felt obligated. It is as simple as that."
"This favour," Her tail spiked straight, "It relates to her assistant, doesn't it?"
Blaze felt her ears buckle, "It sounds like you already understand the situation."
"No one has told me anything, but I have my own interpretation of events," He informed her, "I would be interested to hear yours."
The sound of Knuckles and Marine screaming out a duet was obscuring their quiet conversation, the barkeep had even moved to give the pair of them some privacy. What was the worst that could come of this? Replacing theirroles at this point, with the company in the state it was, seemed especially unlikely. Perhaps the three of them would be chastised, but resources were limited as it was. Was there the time and budget to pull each of them into private talks, file the information, and pass judgement? Surely not. Although, telling the personnel resources deputy had the potential to solve her bat problem... or it might encourage Rouge to make her life even worse.
"Silver had all but secured a position at our office before the change in ownership, there was only some paperwork left to finalise. He'd gone on break, using the last of his paid time off from his prior role to plan his move. When he returned, ready to sign the form, that job no longer existed. Even if he'd been in a position to return to the Soleanna office- its shuttering had already been announced," Blaze quietly explained, "Without a job, he had to give up his apartment. I offered to let him stay with me for a while, to repay him for helping me out when we'd first worked together," Memories of that period played in her mind's eye, "You know him, he's a hard worker and an honest soul. He spent months applying for jobs, but..."
"We're in difficult times," There was the slightest tinge of sympathy in the hedgehog's voice.
"When Rouge started to advertise her assistant position, I knew wasn't the kind of job he was looking for, but I enquired about whether she would consider him suitable for the role," The cat finally explained, "When she said yes, I had him reach out. Shortly after, he was hired."
"And that is the debt you feel you owe her," He nodded, saying, "I presumed as much," Before speaking no more.
Blaze was left aghast, the deputy head of personnel resources refused to so much as meet her gaze as he continued to drink. Was that it? He wasn't going to give his opinion, he just wanted confirmation?! She'd barely eaten today, yet her hunger had vanished without a trace. It felt as though something was impending, regret now filled her gut. She'd surely now spend the whole weekend awaiting what action Shadow would make- that was, assuming he was even going to act. The fallout could be weeks away, if it ever did arrive.
She was considering finally rising, going over to join the others' nonsense just to get away from the brooding assistant, when movement outside caught the cat's eye. The closing of an umbrella beneath the bar's canopy revealed a pair of white furred individuals; the sight of them, arm in arm, set the cat's teeth on edge. Of course the bat had predicted she'd see!
The white hedgehog remained in the doorway for the moment, trying to loose the rain from the bat's umbrella. Rouge left him to strut toward the pair of them. Her jacket was thrown, Shadow caught it as though it were the most normal thing in the world. Revealed beneath the long coat was an expensive looking cocktail dress, crimson and tight and far too low cut! That certainly explained why she was so late; the head of client services was ludicrously overdressed for the event.
"Shadow, Blaze," The woman greeted, "Keeping your distance from the party I see, I should have expected as much."
"Rouge," Shadow stood up, "I have been made aware of some potential impropriety in the workplace."
"Oh gosh, no," The bat dramatically put the back of her hand to her forehead, "Not potential impropriety,"
"Hiring one person for the purpose of currying favour with another cannot be tolerated, regardless of how well suited he seems to be to the role," Panic set in, the cat's blood froze, was he really going to do this here? In public?! "Proving the intent of such an act is difficult, but you cannot be seen to receive special favour from others as a result of hiring choices- regardless of intentionality, it would be an ethics violation."
The head of client services looked to Blaze, having processed the hedgehog's legal-speak, "You're really only here because of that?" The bat feigned a pained expression, clasping a hand over her chest, "I thought you did what I asked because you like me, you really think I'd hold my hiring of Silver over you?"
Flabbergasted as she was, Blaze felt the need to push her position, "So you're not holding it over me? We're even?"
"I hired your boy toy on his own merits. There was never any debt darling, of course we're even," Rouge smirked, "Although, I wouldn't say no to drink if you're buying..." The sound of the door closing made the bat's ear twitch, "On second thoughts, I'll take it later."
Ever so casually, the bat sashayed past to take Shadow's arm. The gruff looking fellow scarcely managed to down his drink before being pulled toward the booth with the others, an act that was met with the sound of cheers. Though a small part of the cat's mind was reminding her to thank the dark hedgehog for his intervention, that part and all of the rest quickly became focused on the familiar figure now approaching.
Silver was still in his workwear- the removal of his jacket revealed a white shirt was desperately in need of ironing and the knot of his blue tie was hanging much too low. Despite carrying Rouge's umbrella he hadn't been spared from the rain, presumedly having been too focused on shielding her rather than himself. While his coat had mostly protected his shirt, the wetting of his quills had slicked them back.
"You came," His smile was infectious.
"Amy has been inviting me for a while," She swallowed a mention that she wouldn't be here for long, "I decided to finally accept her offer."
"Oh?" He took the seat closest to her, "What made you change your mind?"
"I might have seen you in one of her pictures and realised we haven't met up for a while," That was too honest, she felt her tail swish, "That, or I heard good things the food."
"Oh, I've never tried the tempura platter," Had he completely missed her first statement?!
"Help yourself," She pushed it between them.
Table manners had never been his strong suit. Rather than request another fork from Vector, or that bee boy who was taking orders from the crew in the corner, he so very casually plucked a squid ring from the plate and popped it in his mouth. She more elegantly matched him, skewering a piece on her fork. Despite being colder the lukewarm the squid was quite lovely, albeit more than a little greasy. The sweet chilli sauce was tastier than the typical bottled sort too, perhaps it was made in-house?
"You're right, that is really good!" Despite the social faux pas of talking with his mouth full, he seemed to remember some manners with his next question, "Can I buy you a drink?"
His ask made it three times she'd been asked that question on this tumultuous Friday night. Unlike the prior offers, she chewed on his ask for a moment rather than immediately refusing. What harm could one drink do? It wasn't as though she owned a car, let alone intended to drive home- she was closer to her flat now than she had been at work.
"That would be nice," She answered.
"Vector," The barman's head swivelled, "What wine do you guys have?"
"Only one sort, and it comes from a box," The crocodile honestly confessed, Blaze could have guessed as much.
The assistant looked a little sheepish, "Is it red or white?"
The box was placed on the counter before them, "Pink I think?"
Silver looked to the cat, she shrugged, "That'll do. We'll take the whole thing."
Blaze certainly wasn't a frequent drinker, and yet he had recalled the cat's preference from their past. After the hedgehog tapped his phone to the payment terminal, the crocodile set down a pair of glasses- narrow tumblers rather than wine glasses- Silver quickly half filled them. As she took her cup, he raised his to toast.
"To us finally meeting up again?" She suggested.
"To finally getting together again," When their glasses tapped his grin got just a little more cunning, "And Amy, for showing you those pictures."
His time with their head of client services was plainly having an affect, the younger hedgehog she recalled would not have been so bold. The liquid tasted primarily of artificial sweetener, it had a flavour profile that suggested it was meant to be bubbly but it was extremely flat. Still, Blaze was certain that the two of them had shared worse drinks.
"Rouge must be keeping you on your toes, it's been a while since we've even texted," She reminded him before popping another bite in her mouth.
"Yeah, she has me mostly handling her mail- physical and digital. You wouldn't think that would take up much too time, but she gets a lot in and has to send even more out," He professed, taking another morsel for himself, "That and whenever she's off in another part of the world, I usually end up taking calls from the clients. I don't think I've messed that up too badly yet, but I've come close..."
"Are you still looking for work elsewhere?" The cat's previous talk with Marine and Cream was playing in her mind, "I know this isn't exactly the job you were hoping for..."
"Not really," That was surprising, "To be honest, I sort of like the Station Square office. The folks we work with are all nice, we look out for each other. I certainly think I could be in a much worse spot," He seemed to catch himself, "That's, of course, despite how awful things are with Eggman in charge. If it weren't for his changes, I'd probably be pretty happy... then again, I'd probably have got my planned job if it wasn't for him."
"You don't need to sugarcoat it, it's been awful lately. Gamma seems to get worse every day, it's popping up places where it shouldn't be. I can barely move out of my chair without it telling me how much time I've wasted and creating three illegible graphs. It's no wonder we all leave our devices in the office now," Complaining to him felt good, "The worst part is, I've almost accepted the fact it's always listening. Whenever I go to make the schedule there's always some new nonsense, I should really be more annoyed about how much it's spying on me," An example popped into her head, "Did you say something to Knuckles about gardening today?"
"Not Knuckles, but I mentioned to Rouge that I started renting an allotment downtown," He recalled, chewing on a prawn, "My vegetables kind of, sort of, disappeared. She did joke about me hiring Knuckles as security for them, said he could use the extra cash..."
"That would explain it. You were scheduled to discuss carrot security and plugging leeks with him," Blaze recalled, piercing another ring of squid, "Sounds like it might actually be worthwhile though..."
He snorted, "Probably, but she wouldn't like me stealing away his time."
"That sounds about right," The cat agreed, "Based on Gamma's suggested schedule, she's constantly talking about her boy toys..."
"I hope I don't end up one of them," The last tinges of jealousy faded from the cat's mind, "Do you know the kind of nonsense she has Knuckles and Shadow doing?"
"Trust me," She winced, a forced grin spread across her muzzle, "I am all too aware."
His chuckling earned him an elbow in the side, which only seemed to make him laugh more. She didn't want to stare, but she couldn't help herself. The way his slightly wet quills jostled as he laughed, the way his slightly wetted shirt framed his shoulders, and the small tuft of chest fur breaking beyond the open top button of his shirt- it was all just so distracting. Despite the dismay that time had brought him, she'd noticed so many changes when he'd returned to her life that second time- perhaps she'd just been too focused on her own new role to truly notice. Of course, given the state of things (let alone their position as coworkers), she hadn't dared act on those observations.
"I've really missed this, talking about our struggles over some greasy food. It's sort of like when we basically lived together," Of course she felt the same, she just wasn't blunt enough to say it, "For the first time, I mean, back in Soleanna."
"We ordered out a lot in those early days," Blaze recalled of their young adult selves, "More in a week than I would in months now."
"I only learned to cook because you were annoyed about how much we were spending," She had made a spreadsheet at one point, "I'm still pretty awful at budgeting."
"I still don't think you cooking while I shopped were equivalent chores," He'd always insisted on paying his half, not even a three fifths to two split.
"I could have made something awful," Silver countered through a sip, "I didn't want you paying extra for that."
"You never did," Blaze felt a more genuine smile crease her lips.
"Really?" He seemed genuinely surprised, "Not even at the start?"
"You were never that bad," The cat mused, turning away, "And you only got better."
Despite how he'd grown, Silver still carried that innocent charm that had drawn her to him. He'd still been new to his role when she'd joined the company, it was simple coincidence that she'd moved in three doors down from him. They were young and skittish, new to the city and the workforce as a whole. She could still remember him panicking, calling out from behind her that he wasn't following her after they'd bumped into each other on the way home three nights in a row. It'd taken comparing keys and landlords for her to be suitably convinced- but from then on, she'd found it hard not to trust him implicitly.
"I miss living down the hall from you," He confessed, "I'd say I miss living in the same place as you too, but I was kind of panicking the whole time. It'd probably be nicer now."
"Would it be rude to say I miss having a live-in butler?" She'd swallowed her want to say househusband, "Despite your lacking laundry skills."
Breakfast in bed had become a mainstay of that difficult time, he'd worked hard around the house to make up for the so-called trouble he was causing her. Returning home each day to find dinner ready, he'd run all kinds of errands without her even asking... she'd certainly picked up some bad habits by the time he left. Her place didn't really have space for the two of them, but they'd quickly made it work. When he'd called out to her for a towel, post-shower on the first day, they'd joked that they'd got the most awkward thing possible out of the way. In reality, that had come three days later when they'd fallen asleep together on the couch and she ended up drooling on him.
"Hey! You two!" In the calm following a third sea shanty, Sonic had shouted over to them, "Can we get the meeting done? We want to party!"
Meeting? Blaze looked to him, but he was already rising with his attention turned to the greater group. He only turned back to her after downing the dregs of his glass; judging by his expression, there'd been more still to go than he was prepared for.
He half coughed."Alright, let's get this over with," Before quickly pouring another small splash of the cheap wine into the tumbler.
She followed him across the room, after setting back the cold scraps of her tempura platter and getting herself just a little more from the box. By the time she had joined him the boisterousness of the karaoke had fully quietened down, the whole group had tightly filed themselves into a single booth- leaving no space for the cat and hedgehog to sit. He took a position with his hands on the end of the table, Blaze opted to just hover ever so slightly behind him.
"Before we start, just to be safe, does anyone have any work devices with them? I've got the faraday bag with me," Tails announced, setting a thick looking yellow satchel on the table.
This all suddenly felt a lot more serious than a mere work night out, Blaze patted her trouser pockets to double check that she had left hers in the office. Thankfully she had, but Marine passed hers over with an awkward grimace and a grumble about hoping it hadn't heard her on the walk over. Cream looked especially frustrated by the reveal, especially as the raccoon struggled to avoid her gaze.
"Alright, we're good to go!" Sonic whooped, punctuated by Tails zipping up the bag, "Silver, take it away!"
"Thank you all for coming," Blaze's eyes caught on the hedgehog, his expression had tightened to match the tension she'd felt in the air, "In the time since we last met up, Jet, Wave, and Storm have left the company. It doesn't seem likely their roles will be replaced. Thankfully, it sounds like they've secured new employment. We can only wish them the best and thank them for their help, enduring for so long even as things worsened," His fist clenched atop the table, it was almost as if he was giving a eulogy?! "They got lucky, they found somewhere else, but we can't assume the same will be true for us! Ivo's wanting to integrate AI more and more into our work, we know he's working on driverless transport. He won't be content until he's the only one employed, lording over a staff of robots. Now more than ever, we need to stick together!"
As whoops of agreement sounded from their coworkers, Blaze could only gawk in awe. Her comparison to funeral felt so very correct; it was as though Silver was a preacher riling up his congregation. The intensity with which he was speaking, so sincere and heartfelt, it was as if he was bearing his soul with power enough out to touch theirs. He spoke of the company as if he had seen its future first hand, as though the reality was clear as day to him. Blaze couldn't help but stare, in all their time together she had never seen this side of him... and she certainly didn't dislike it.
"I'm glad Blaze is here now, because it means I can finally tell you all the truth," Everyone's eyes leapt to the cat, what did she have to do with this?! "Without her, I wouldn't be fighting for us to do something- I wouldn't even be here. When the position Big had offered me vanished, I lost my apartment, I didn't know what I was going to do, but Blaze reached out to me. It'd been years since we'd met up in person, but she let me stay with her until I found my feet again- and it just happened to be with you guys," Of course she'd trusted him, it wasn't like he was a stranger, they'd still messaged; now all those eyes were looking at her in awe! "From the moment I rejoined, I saw how bad things had already got, and they've only gotten worse! I realised that I wasn't alone, that other people are going to struggle like I had, and we can't let that happen! We had a good company, a friendly company, until Ivo Robotnik stole it from us!"
More hollers sounded, including a whistle from Sonic, at least their attention was back on Silver. She had brought this out of him?! He hadn't ever acted like this around her, there hadn't been so much of a hint of it- he'd been drowning in panic and despair. Had he only come to this realisation in hindsight?! At least he hadn't been so foolhardy as to announce that she'd secured him his job with Rouge...
"I'm so glad that Blaze is with us now, I'm just so happy we're all together! People's job shouldn't be the most important thing in their lives, but I'm certain that by improving the company we'll make our lives so much better. No more phones listening to every word, no sensors tracking our every pause, and no more worrying about being made obsolete- we can do this!" As he took a big swig of his drink, another applause again filled the air, "That all being said, I think Rouge has something more... immediately important to say."
"Thank you, Silver," The head of client services took the centre of attention, "After much deliberation, I can confirm that one Princess Elise of Soleanna would be interested in adding a controlling stake in Green Hill Logistics to her portfolio."
Whooping sounded from all around- only one person seemed to be half as confused as the cat, Knuckles, who voiced, "A princess? How did you get an audience with a princess?!"
"Don't you know better than to ask such silly questions," Rouge brushed him off, "But interest alone is not enough. Unless Ivo is actively looking to sell, it is unlikely that she will be able to purchase a significant portion of the company- the imbalance of capital is simply too great and we certainly can't count on him to act above board," The cunning stare caught Blaze's confused gaping, "Which is exactly why we aren't," Her stare jumped to the young yellow fox, "Tails, how is Omega coming along?"
The computer wiz looked to have very almost fall asleep in his seat, "My hours have been awful, so progress has been slow. In testing, Omega doesn't care enough to spy on anyone or force recommendations into documents, but the current version has a few unfortunate quirks. It keeps calling me a meatbag, no matter how often I tell it to stop, and it won't stop talking about about how much it hates other software..." He released a loud yawn, "If we want this thing to leave us alone but really annoy Eggman, its tone needs to be more in line with Gamma- otherwise he'll know something is wrong when we swap them. In its current state, Omega would just go through all of our computers and delete every program it came across."
"That sounds good to me, we'd be back to pen and paper in no time," Sonic snorted.
Blaze could barely believe what she was hearing, were they really doing this? Not just meeting up to air their grievances and pull together, but actually fighting back against their own employer? No wonder he hadn't been flustered by her initial mention of pictures, he'd assumed both answers were a joke- that she was here for this meeting! Why hadn't Amy told her what this was, did she just assumed the cat knew?! Again Blaze caught the bat's knowing stare; did she still think she was owed a favour!?
"Needless to say then, we're still a ways from replacing our current useless AI with an even less effectual one. We should perhaps consider other methods to deal with Gamma in the meantime," Rouge summarised, "For now, our key weapon remains malicious compliance. We still need to maintain our quality of work, if we lose our clients and the company goes bust then there's no point in any of this, but its up to those of us in higher positions to cause Ivo as much strife as possible. Getting rid of us is far more difficult than drivers and assistants."
"We can still do our bit though!" Sonic grinned, before slamming down a thick wad of citations in plastic wrap, "You can get a ton of parking tickets without a problem and, unlike speeding, they won't take away your license."
"You realise you're going to have to pay all of those out of pocket," Shadow cut in, not incorrectly, "And even if Ivo was paying them, it wouldn't make a dent in his finances."
"Every little helps. Each time I get one, he has to sign off on all sorts of pointless forms. Plus, if I park somewhere really annoying, it's a bad look all around," Sonic fired back, "What exactly are you doing for the cause, Shadow?"
"I am pretending to be his non-computerised eyes and ears about the office, covering up for the actual sabotage your more competent coworkers are doing," The assistant boasted, "Not to mention wasting company time setting up bogus meetings with non-existent clients."
"Small acts can only go so far, we're running out of time," Knuckles huffed, "Like I warned you guys a couple of months ago, Eggman is looking to take on some truly awful clients. He had me present for a demonstration with a weapons manufacturer, to show that we have experience transporting high security and hazardous goods. The deal only fell apart because I intentionally made a mess of things, now I'm suspended for two weeks. He won't bring me along to do the same next time..."
"If you need cash, I'm sure I can come up with some odd jobs for you Big Red," Rouge offered, leaning into the large echidna.
Silver's fist hitting the table stole attention away from the bat's teasing, "Knuckles is right. We need to do more before this gets any worse," He turned back to look at the cat, the intensity in his eyes cut straight to her core, "Blaze, do you have any ideas?"
The cat's mind went blank, was she really expected to be more than just an observer? She supposed everyone but Cream and Marine, two interns, had contributed something- even if it was just a pile of parking tickets. Did she want to be a part of this? It felt so risky, this was so chaotic. She hadn't had time to plan or consider actions, she'd just been taking her work day by day in the hopes Ivo would give up and resell the company!
"I have been fighting Gamma to fix the schedule every week, but whenever my computer crashes it overwrites all of my edits," Blaze's mouth had moved before her mind could catch up, but she let it keep going, "Usually I'll keep trying until a version properly saves, but would it be worth me failing to fix it one Friday?" Most of the group seemed to understand the implication, but the cat still elaborated, "I could say Gamma overwrote it, I doubt that would be enough to make Robotnik give up on the program entirely, but it might give us a day free from it. It would also cause chaos across the company on Monday morning- slowing work to a standstill and showing staff at all levels just how awful the AI is, but I could have a replacement schedule sorted by midday to ensure the damage to clients and our reputation is limited."
When the others started to mull over that plan, Rouge spoke up above them, "We could make it even easier to hide, when did you last take a sick day, Blaze?"
Blaze blanched, "I don't think I ever have."
"Perfect. Without warning, take one next Friday. With you suddenly gone, and no one set up to fill your role, Eggman himself will be forced to sort the schedule," Rouge predicted, "He'll probably spend the whole day struggling with his own tech."
"No," Tails spoke up, suddenly very awake, "He'd just assume the AI was doing the job for you- he wouldn't even realise how much of a mess it was until it was too late."
"Then you get to come back and fix everything, you'd be a hero," Silver was grinning back at her, "It would once again show how important people are, at all levels of the company. Everyone would know about it."
"It's a brilliant idea!" Marine shouted, "We get the first half of Monday off! Maybe you could even stay sick till Tuesday..."
"I think a half day of panic is more than enough for all the drivers," Blaze disagreed, surely plunging herself even deeper into this nonsense.
"Then it's settled! We have a plan for next time, that's the meeting done," As Sonic tried to wrap things up, the bar's sole waiter approached with a tray of drinks and one frankly ludicrous looking hotdog, "Just in time, thank you Charmy!"
"Huh?" The bee went to uncover one of his ears but seemed to think better of it, "Oh, yeah, I'll go get you a fork."
Blaze was fairly certain she was the only one to notice what the young bee had said, everyone else was gathering up their drinks. Amy wriggled her way out of the booth and pulled out her phone, gesturing for both Blaze and Silver to get in close. While the hedgehog got on his knees to align better with the height of the others, unwilling to brave the sticky floor, Blaze just crouched against the edge of the booth. The whole group raised their glasses, the cat moved to match, trying her hardest to avoid blocking anyone as Amy attempted a group selfie.
"To the true power behind Greenhill Logistics," Rouge called out, more than a little nefariously.
"To unity amongst workers and friends," Silver more justly cheered.
"To taking down Eggman!" Sonic shouted as all the glasses met with his chilli dog.
Quickly, chaos once again took over the very loud corner of the otherwise quiet bar. A scramble for the karaoke microphones was won by Shadow and Sonic... who then proceeded to fight over what song they were going to sing. Meanwhile, Marine was trying to get Cream back on her side with promises to buy her sweet treats and Rouge was actively haggling with Knuckles regarding potential additional work.
Before the cat could be dragged into the nonsense she made for the bar and the abandoned box of cheap wine to properly refill her cup. What had she just got herself into? She had no idea her coworkers were capable of organising like this, the whole endeavour bordered on the creation of a union. Then again, perhaps their present actions were more underhanded than those of a typical true union. Would it make sense to formalise what they were doing? If they did, Blaze supposed Ivo Robotnik would crush their efforts instantaneously.
"I take it you didn't know what that meeting was supposed to be," Silver had followed her, a slightly sheepish look on his face, "Most of us aren't really big drinkers. This started as just an excuse to talk and plan without Gamma listening in on us. From there I guess it sort of naturally evolved, I had the thought we should start to fight back and the others agreed."
"That would explain why I never heard about it around the office," The cat rationalised, "You've all been very careful."
"Everything I said was true," As he said that, her gaze fell down to her drink, "You really did inspire all of this, but..." The hedgehog took her hand, pulling her gaze back to his face, "You don't have to be a part of this if you don't want to, if you felt pressured in the moment I can tell the others-
"I want to help," Blaze cut him off, "This company used to be a wonderful place to work. Too many people have lost their jobs to Ivo's useless innovations and pointless attempts to streamline. We were doing fine before he took over, Big's personal spending was his undoing rather than companywide issues," Admiration was shining in his eyes, "It may be impossible to go back to how things were, but we can at least make things better than-
A squeal to her left turned the cat's attention; Amy had evidently photographed them and was plainly incredibly proud of herself. Quickly their hands parted; his went to his still soggy quills while hers clasped around her glass. That shift in poses only prompted a few further clicks from the pink hedgehog
"Oh, Blaze! I just realised I didn't ask permission," Evidently, professionalism finally overcame the head of personnel resource's lust for photography, "Given the nature of this whole thing, are you okay with me taking your photo? I can delete the ones I've already got, it's not a problem."
"It's fine," The cat assured Amy before recalling the image that had almost tempted her to come, even prior to Rouge's coercion, "Just as long as you send me a copy of everything you take."
---
Blaze's head was ringing, her mouth was bone dry. She was still fully dressed in her work clothes despite being beneath the covers of her bed. As she blinked the sleep from her eyes, adjusting to what little light was slipping through the curtains, her gaze fell upon a tall glass of water. Oh yes, now she remembered, a certain someone must have left for her.
With a stretch and a groan, the cat took the glass and drank deeply. When she set down the two thirds empty cup, she found her phone by its side- plugged in, surely not by her. When the cat went to check the time (just after half past nine), she couldn't help but notice that she'd received a flurry of messages. She'd been added to a group chat titled The Resistance, that felt more than a little silly but not entirely inaccurate.
Scrolling up, she noticed that Amy had sent a bundle of all her photos from the night- presumedly just after getting home. As she began to flip through, the memories all came flooding back to her- the group photo after the meeting, some silly shots, and then her and Silver having that deeper conversation. Rouge with her arms around an exhausted looking Shadow and a flustered looking Knuckles, exactly where she wanted to be. Cream screaming into a karaoke microphone with all her might, letting it all out to some metal song, while Marine stared on in awe. A selfie of Amy with Rouge and Blaze pulled into a hug- the cat had been talked into putting up a peace sign after refusing to do a kissy face...
Things only got more chaotic from there. Silver setting up a colossal tower of cider cans, blissfully unaware that Marine was mid-flight on the way to drop kick it. Sonic and Shadow arm wrestling, then doing a push up contest, then doing handstands. Tails struggling to hold back a drunken Knuckles in the midst of a shadow boxing demonstration. Amy herself dancing on top of a table, whipping her jacket around her head. The staff of the bar now on the karaoke machine, including an unfamiliar looking chameleon, followed by photos of her coworkers goofing off mixing drinks themselves. So much for the group being light drinkers... were they serving other customers?
Blaze tried not to consider the legality of that, flipping faster through the photos. There were far too many pictures of Sonic in general, most of them not very good- taken when he wasn't looking. Whenever the blue blur caught Amy taking the shot, he'd pull the ugliest face imaginable. Of the lot, there were maybe one or two good candid shots and three or four decent funny faces. Naturally, the cat found herself lingering longer on the photos of herself and Silver.
The two of them at the bar, talking before the secret meeting. Her mid laugh, his eyes upon her. Both of them made to pose, her head upon his shoulder and his arm around her. The last of them was particularly goofy- Blaze riding Silver's shoulders as they walked down the street, her holding his jacket up to use as a rain cover. He'd insisted on carrying her all the way home...
A realisation dawned on the cat, she'd been granted access to the whole chat. Scrolling up, she found the picture that Amy had lingered on during their impromptu office meeting. Silver's quills were smoothed back, evidently it had been raining just a little more on that day. He still had his jacket on, making his already considerable shoulders appear just a little bit wider. He was sat at the bar, holding out a can of cider (the drink she had long known was his preference), reaching just far enough to expose she shine of a golden cuff at his wrist. Of course his face held her attention the longest, Amy had somehow captured him at his most embarrassingly handsome. Needless to say, he looked better put together than the cat had ever really seen him. Blaze saved the image on impulse, but hesitated in her phone's settings.
She rolled out of bed, glanced at her mirror, straightened her shirt, fully relieved her hair tie of its duties, and stepped out. Silver was exactly where she'd anticipated, lying on her couch with his mouth wide open in a snore. He'd managed to get the top four buttons of his shirt undone before drifting off, resulting in the fluffy at his chest being fully on display. His quills followed the tilt of his head, fully collapsed to the right with one skirting over the top of his eyelid. The sun was breaching through the curtains, scattering a line of light up his chest and across the right edge of his muzzle.
Of course Blaze couldn't help herself, just as she couldn't those months ago. She supposed this new image made a slightly better home screen than the last, she had been bold enough to take the picture from slightly closer, but that wasn't the point. Amy, Rouge, Sonic, any of their coworkers could have taken that picture of him at his best. This view of him was hers and hers alone.
The cat made for the kitchen, intending to repay all those breakfasts he'd brought her... and hopefully not awaken him with the fire alarm.
A finger fruitlessly clacked on the backspace key, clicking around the screen proved to be similarly ineffectual, and yet her laptop was wheezing as though she was strangling it to death. Blaze the cat, head of projects administration, did not attempt to hide her displeasure as she struck a twelfth tally mark in her notebook. By the day's end, she was certain that he work laptop would surpass its previous record for hard crashes (fifteen). She doubted those in IT would appreciate the inevitable presentation of her findings, but something had to be done about this. Tails would at least try to offer his sympathies, but would surely lack the time nor energy to help given the state of his coming workweeks. Then again, at this rate, no one would be scheduled for anything and he'd have ample time to hear her complain.
Six months on, Green Hill Logistics was still recuperating in the aftermath of a change in ownership. Chief Executive Officer Big had been largely hands off with the business- happy to hire staff that would make his day to day work breezy, letting the heads of respective departments make improvements largely on their own accord. His amicable personality and trust in others had seen the once tiny company open offices and depots worldwide. They'd fostered a reputation not just for quality work, but being a great company to work for. Blaze wasn't certain that she'd considered him a good boss per say, but she certainly couldn't deny that he was approachable and had a good heart... even if he lacked a mind of business. That reality had been reflected in his lackadaisical handling of personal finances.
When tech entrepreneur Ivo Robotnik purchased the company it'd seemed like a strange fit. As a business, goods transport required people for roles ranging from delivery drivers to engineers to lawyers to client liaisons and beyond. The automation that had earned the doctor his ludicrous net worth hadn't seemed like a good fit for the their day to day operations. Time had proven that assessment to be correct.
Finally, Blaze's computer finished smothering itself. She gave it a moment, staring at her reflection in the dark screen. Would her draft of the schedule have saved itself before the machine died? No, absolutely not. When she next opened the document, presuming the computer even managed that, she would again be presented with what Gamma (Eggman Incorporated's proprietary artificial intelligence) suggested for the resource planner based on its tracking of communications across the entire company. Needless to say, she would have to clear it all out and start afresh.
Why did her reflection look so exhausted? Yes it was Friday, but that was hardly an excuse. Her white shirt was wrinkled, her ponytail was leaking from its binding, and somehow her ID laniard was twisted to hang behind her rather than in front. All that was ignoring the bags under her eyes and the coffee moustache on her white muzzle. Though she loathed to, Blaze pressed the power button on her laptop and used its boot up time to begin neatening herself. Then again, it wasn't as if she was expecting to see-
As her scrunchie hung from between her lips, a cheerful knock sounded against the cubical wall. Blaze knew who it'd be even before she looked. Amy Rose, head of personnel resources, had poked her head around the pseudo-room's doorless entryway. Despite the state of things her white shirt with its floral embroidering still looked clean, and her red pencil skirt was pristine to match.
She was beaming with a joy unhindered by their workplace woes, "Is now a bad time?"
"Good as any," The cat hummed, quickly tying her hair back up, "What do you need?"
"Can't a girl just want to check on her friend after a long week?" Amy pouted.
"Is that really what you're here for?" Blaze flatly asked, initiating the computer's recovery mode.
"Well," Amy seemed to chew on the thought, "Partially?" She finally fully entered the space, "I was also wondering, just if your not to far along with the schedule... could you pencil me in for a meeting with my work husband?"
Blaze was less than surprised, "Has he ended up with another speeding ticket?"
"Oh no, no," Amy circled a quill around her finger, "It's a parking ticket this time. Barely even an infraction, but I need to take a statement and you know how he is with forms. If I email it to him, it'll sit in his inbox forever- he never checks it.."
"Indeed," Blaze hummed, signing in to her computer.
"Anyway, I'm pretty sure he only got it so that he could come see me again on company time," Amy fantasised, "It feels so scandalous, you know? Not only is he acting out to get my attention, literally forcing us to spend time together, he's also paying for it!"
"Oh?" Blaze let the hedgehog ramble on as the laptop resumed its humming.
"Yeah, I mean, we had our meet cute when he got his first speeding ticket so it's kind of tradition now. It's our thing, you know? Like how Rouge will borrow Knuckles and Shadow to act as her so-called muscle on some of her trips," The mere mention of the bat was enough to irk the cat; the change seemed to pull Amy from her daydream, "Anyway, can you schedule that?"
"I'll try, but I'm not certain he'll manage it next week. We're even more short staffed than we were, Jet walked out last week so we're down yet another driver," Even with her attention on the screen, the cat could feel Amy's pleading eyes, "I might be able to find him some time the following week."
"You're the best Blaze!" Suddenly the hedgehog's arms were around her, pinning the cat back against the plush of her chair, "And I know just how to make it up to you."
Blaze also immediately knew where this was going, but she was powerless to resist from this restrained position. Amy's phone was already in hand, first the cat was subjected to a lock-screen of Sonic mid chilli dog, then a home screen of him pulling a stupid face while the pink hedgehog navigated to her photos. Immediately the cat was bombarded with more images- mainly of Sonic of course, but amongst them were other coworkers drinking, eating and partying.
"Some of us are heading to that bar again tonight, Chaotix, the one a few blocks down? It'll be tons of fun, I promise!" Amy explained, still flicking through photos, "Just about everyone has promised to buy you a drink, all you need to do is show up..."
The pink hedgehog lingered on a particular photo, a candid shot of a familiar white hedgehog grinning. Instantly the cat felt envious; for all of Amy's offers to join a work night out, she'd never mentioned that he was in attendance. When had they last managed to talk, or even just message? The cat was so reliant on him starting their conversations, and he hadn't reached out for a little while now. She'd lived with the man for almost three months and still failed to snap a picture half as good as this surely casual shot by Amy. Well, that was probably because Amy had the guts to take his picture while he was awake...
"Thank you for the offer," The cat hummed, pulling her attention away from Amy's phone, "But as you know, I'm not much of a drinker..."
"I'm sure their offers weren't limited to alcohol. You can have as many chaos colas as your heart desires," That offer didn't sound any more enticing, "Think of it as a team building exercise, when did we last do some proper team building?" Amy begged, "Like you said, there's less of us now than ever, we need to stick together! It'll raise your spirits, I just know it."
Blaze tried her hardest not to sound like she was being rude, "It's just not my kind of thing..." She absolutely failed.
"I know, but I really think it'll be good for you," Amy pleaded, "The only time I've seen you outside of work is when I bumped into you at the supermarket, and that was half a year ago..."
"I've got a lot planned this weekend," Blaze again attempted to excuse herself.
"Like what?" Amy boldly questioned.
"I'm baking a souffle," Blaze responded on impulse, her mind still on the white hedgehog.
"A souffle?!" Amy squeaked.
"Don't sound so surprised," The cat replied, perhaps too harshly.
"I just didn't think you could..." Amy seemed to catch herself, "D-Didn't know that you bake, I mean," But an intrusive thought must have won out, "And shouldn't that take less than an hour..?"
"It's a particularly difficult souffle," Blaze continued to lie, "Thank you Amy, I really do appreciate what you're trying to do, but I get enough social interaction through our talks. Tell the others I am grateful for their offers, but I must decline."
"If you're certain," Finally, the pink hedgehog released the cat, wandering to the doorless entryway, "You know I'll be back to try again next week."
The head of personnel management waved her off, "I'll look forward to it."
Despite Amy's pushing, that small break had genuinely reenergised the cat... though that rejuvenation vanished at the sight of Gamma's newly proposed schedule. Sonic's Monday now included a mutated mess of deliveries squashed into a single Monday afternoon, set to occur only after a closely clustered group of morning meetings featuring one Amy Rose. The first was to discuss a speeding ticket, the second to discuss a parking ticket, followed by a meeting to discuss inbox management, and then a meeting to discuss taking on Jet's whole workload (all of which he was now set to do on that very Monday afternoon). That was ignoring the talk with Amy that'd been added to Blaze's own Friday-
Another knock at the wall pulled the cat from her work, this time when she turned around a set of aquamarine eyes caught her yellow ones. Rouge the bat, head of client services, was wearing an expression so smug that it surely violated the office dress code. Before the cat could ask what she wanted, the white furred woman silence her with a raised finger which quickly became a point.
Using the tone reserved for her subordinates, never breathed in the direction of clients, she ordered, "I expect to see you in the bar at five thirty. Don't be late," And simply walked away.
Blaze's frustration flared, their roles were very different but they were in equal standing at this company! For months now the bat had been lording her sole showing of generosity and camaraderie over the cat with no ending in sight. She was at the bat's beck and call, too often modifying a fair and just schedule to curve around Rouge's wants first and foremost. Her requests were usually subtle manipulations, hedged in implication, not so blunt and juvenile as this!
Blaze clawed the grimace from her face and tried to regain her poise, to knuckle down and finally get the schedule done, but her face crumpled anew at what she saw. A new item had been added to today's itinerary- team building exercise at Chaotix Bar and Grill. When she went to erase the errant entry the cursor became a spinning circle which then hitched at the two o'clock position. The cat's forehead met with the keyboard. An already gruelling day had just stretched itself so much longer.
---
The floor was sticky, her clothes were wet, and she didn't want to be here. This dingy little spot was entirely empty save for Blaze herself and the staff- she'd secured a seat at the counter, the closest one to the door. A gruff looking crocodile was stood behind the bar, he'd initially tried to make small talk but the cat had failed to carry the conversation beyond recommendations for dinner. Judging by the selection of hotdogs on the menu, this place surely appealed to Sonic above all others- he'd never submitted an expense that didn't include a truck-stop chilli dog. Her hopes weren't exactly high for their tempura platter but apparently it was the chef's specialty... it just happened to also be the most expensive thing on the menu.
Finishing work at five meant there hadn't even been time to change before coming to the bar, Blaze's flat was a full half hour's walk from the office and it wasn't as though she'd brought a change of clothes. The result was that she had arrived frightfully early, but now it was almost half past. Where was everyone? The sooner they showed up, the sooner she could make her excuses and leave...
The head of personnel management unlocked her phone, catching sight of a certain white hedgehog behind a wall of applications. It was a far worse photo than the one Amy had so casually displayed of him. He was asleep on her couch with his quills splayed and mouth agape. All she really had left to remember him by was that picture, as well as the hand written recipe book he'd left her as a parting gift. Well, that and the mug he'd left behind and a forgotten t-shirt...
Blaze opened their messages and immediately found herself faced with a prior failure. He'd sent her a list of awkward praise and recommendations response to her picture of a blackened souffle that'd overflowed down the side of its ramekin. When he'd offered to come over and help with another attempt she'd frozen up, mulled over possible responses for more than a day, before telling him she was too busy- complaining about mandatory overtime, a true frustration that truthfully wouldn't have stopped them from meeting up. Was it any wonder he hadn't started a conversation since? He'd told her to take care of herself and reach out if she needed anything, putting the impetus on her. It'd been three weeks already...
Finally, she opted to send him something simple, "Hey, are you coming-
A shadow fell upon her shoulder! With panicked speed the cat shut off her phone, only to realise it was a waiter approaching rather than anyone she knew- a bee who looked a little too young to be working in a bar, headphones in his ears. He set down her plate with a smile, but when he went to turn away the crocodile coughed an oversaturated reminder into his fist- loud enough to make the cat jump.
"Oh, uh," The bee, named Charmy judging by his pin, pulled one covering from his ear, "Do you want any more sauces or..." His brain seemed to misfire, "Anything?"
Blaze looked at the plate of fried fish and sweet chilli, not a vegetable in sight. The pile of prawns, calamari, crab, and some kind of white fish didn't look unappetising though it was very greasy. Picking at it would surely suffice until she could escape home and microwave something.
"Could I get some cutlery?" The cat requested.
"Oh, yeah, sure," He gave a thumbs up, either to her or the gator, and hurried off toward the back.
"Kid's been here a year and a half, but he's still learning the ropes," Blaze heard the barman sigh as he refilled her water cup.
Blaze smothered her want to ask the boy's age; if he was just old enough to work in a bar now, he surely hadn't been more than a year ago! The cat managed to stifle her concern as the bee swung back around to drop off a fork and knife, without any sort of napkin- but then the cat supposed she hadn't been that specific. She opted to spare him another trip with a simple nod and a thank you.
The cat had just picked up her fork when the door opened, a pair of familiar faces had stepped into the space- not the colleagues Blaze had already encountered today, but two that she thankfully knew well enough to hold conversation with. After all, they were interns she had interviewed herself.
"Miss Blaze!" Cream the rabbit, the ever professional intern working under Amy called out, "I didn't know you were coming today."
"I imagine most people won't," The cat responded as they approached, "It's good to see you both; things have been so busy, I feel like I've not seen you in months," Something clicked in the cat's mind, "You especially, Marine."
"It's been hectic, ain't it mate," The much less polite intern who was supposed to be Blaze's aide responded, "You probably lost track of me be when Tails asked for help with the tech and never gave me back."
"That sounds about right. My computer problems have only gotten worse in your absence," Blaze hummed, "We should really circle back and discuss how to better distribute your hours. I'm certain that Tails needs help, but he shouldn't-
"Mate, we're at a bar, I don't want to talk about work nonsense. I'm here to have fun," The raccoon stuck out her tongue in disgust, "I've already spent the whole trip over listenin' to Cream worrying about finding somewhere else to work now that she's sick of us."
"It's not like that Marine!" The rabbit seemed to catch herself, she went from annoyed to sullen, "You know that's not the reason..."
"I forgot. Your apprenticeship must be coming to an end soon," Blaze verbalised, "Of course you're making plans for what to do next.."
"Miss Amy is really trying to make my position permanent, but..." The youthful rabbit clenched her fists, "Even if she could, I'm not certain I'd stay. Things have just got so much more hectic, if I'm doing this much now I don't think I'd be able to cope with a proper job in the company," Her big brown eyes gleamed at Blaze, "Please don't tell her."
"Of course I won't," Blaze promised, taking the younger woman's hand and gave it a quick squeeze, "But I think she would understand if you spoke to her. We're all struggling, but I can only imagine how rough it has been for you two."
The pairs' internships did pay an okay wage, that had been ensured under Big, but even if they were made permanent- Blaze doubted Ivo would approve any wage increases and their duties would become even more gruelling. The initial wave of firings when the entrepreneur took over had been followed by employees quitting on an almost weekly basis, their roles rarely refilled. If Cream was looking for a job driving the trucks she'd stand a chance, but office positions were now so very limited.
The rabbit seemed to relax, "Thank you, Miss Blaze."
"Can we cut out the sappy stuff too, I want to party!" The raccoon yelled, "Are you really drinking water, mate? Come on, I want to see you loosen up for once!"
"Yes I'm quite happy with water, thank you Marine," The cat bluntly responded, releasing Cream's hand to look at the barman, "But if you two want anything to drink, I will happily pay for your first."
"Just the usual then?" The crocodile asked the pair, reaching for a glass.
Marine threw her hand up, "Hold on, if she's paying, we can-
"Just the usual please, Mister Vector," Cream pointedly cut in, giving Marine a hard stare for impoliteness.
"Fine, just the usual," The other intern grumbled before piping up anew, "And the remote for the karaoke machine!"
Blaze had just tapped her card to the reader (paying for Marine's chaos cola and rum, and Cream's chaos soda float) when the door reopened. Before the cat could even turn her right side was blocked by something pink and she was pulled into a hug with twice the crushing force of that earlier in the day. Needless to say, Amy Rose had arrived.
"You came!" The hedgehog shouted into the cat's ear, practically bouncing up and down, "I'm so glad. Knuckles just got back from Apotos, the whole gang's going to be here!"
"I'll stay long enough to see everyone," Already the cat's social battery was running dry, "But I won't be around for too long."
"Of course, of course. You've got a souffle to make," Amy slightly released her hold, turning to look back toward the door, "You were right Shadow, I owe you a drink."
"I'll just have the usual," The darker hedgehog responded, wandering past to claim a seat two stools down.
"Same for you Amy?" Vector asked from the bar.
"You know it!" She took the closest stool, drawing out her purse, "I see Marine's already fiddling with the karaoke machine. I think Tails uploaded some new songs to it last time..."
"I didn't know you baked, Miss Blaze," Cream prompted after a sip of her drink, "Although, Mister Silver did mention your sweet tooth.."
"He did, did he?" Blaze questioned, immediately concerned what details he may have shared.
"He talks about you quite a lot," Amy confirmed, "You two used to work together, didn't you? At the Soleanna office."
"Yes, though I left some time before it was shuttered..." Blaze hummed.
That unfortunate reminder seemed to cast a wave of silence over the conversation. While Green Hill logistics still had depots across the globe, their offices were now consolidated into the singular station square location. This was yet another impact of Ivo Robotnik's purchase of the company, one that meant the frequent use of faulty translation applications and countless unforeseen complications that having local staff would have avoided. The cat had moved as part of her promotion to head of personnel management over a year prior to the ownership change. Silver's transfer had not been so successful.
"Maybe we should hold some kind of competition?" Cream piped up, trying to revive the talk, "I bake, I know you do too Miss Amy, and I think Mister Silver does."
"That's a brilliant idea! It'd be nice to do a different sort of get together," While the implication was nice, Blaze was already dreading such an event coming to pass, "I can imagine Tails doing some culinary science, and Sonic's competitive spirit might make him join in," Amy elbowed Shadow in the side, "If he's competing, I know you'll want to."
"I doubt he'll have the patience for it," The dark hedgehog hummed into his drink, "It would hardly be a challenge."
"That's the spirit!" Amy practically knocked him over before turning back to Cream, "We can arrange judges, maybe even get some prizes sorted out," The shine in her eyes faltered, "Although, I doubt we'll get any funding for it. I imagine Eggman prefers his cakes assembled by production line..."
"Eggman?" The head of personnel resources questioned.
"Oh, that's just what Sonic has been calling Ivo lately," Amy explained, though she seemed to sense her coworker opening his mouth, "I know Shadow, I shouldn't be encouraging name calling in the workplace..." A small smile crept onto the young woman's muzzle, "He really does look like an egg though. It's even worse over the webcam, his chair looks just like an egg cup."
Blaze was about to enquire further when the door opened. By the sparkle in Amy's eyes, the cat knew who had arrived. Before she could really register it the pink hedgehog was on her feet and running across the bar, quickly caught in the arms of Sonic. The fastest delivery driver in the fleet was flanked by Knuckles and Tails- both of whom looked thoroughly exhausted.
"Blaze, long time no see!" Sonic called over, wandering over with Amy coiled around his arm, "Glad you could make it."
"I'm only stopping by," The cat clarified once again, "Don't assume you can pull me into your usual nonsense. I've seen Amy's photos of these nights..."
"Right, that makes sense," Embarrassment flashed across his muzzle before being replaced with its usual cockiness, "Does she at least get my good side?"
Before the cat could answer, Amy piped up, "Always!"
Having shaken most of the rain from their forms, Knuckles and Tails had joined their blue ally. Blaze wasn't exactly certain how the three of them had met, let alone became such good friends. Tails was a relative new start at the company who had secured his position almost a year before the acquisition- letting him get comfortable upgrading their systems before the so-called Eggman gutted them. Knuckles had been at the company for quite some time, but he rarely got to stay in one place for long- his deliveries often took him on globetrotting adventures, acting as security for cargo worth a dozen times his salary. Finally there was Sonic, a more local driver of express packages and the bane of their new boss's existence.
"No sign of Rouge yet?" The brawny red echidna half commented, half questioned, "Then I guess I'm free to let off some steam," He casually chucked his jacket toward a booth in the corner of the bar, "Marine, what's the deal with the karaoke machine!?"
"I don't know, I feel like I've been fiddling with it for ages!" The raccoon intern shouted over, "Tails, what did you do to it?"
"Its been acting up ever since I installed all your sea shanties," The fox yawned, crossing the space behind Knuckles, "I'll get it sorted."
"You coming?" Amy offered the cat, nodding toward the soon to be rowdy corner.
"In a while maybe," Blaze answered, "I'm still acclimatising."
"Take all the time you need," The pink hedgehog smiled, before leaning in close, "I'm sure he'll be here soon."
Before the cat could question what Amy was implying, she was skipping away with Sonic. Even Cream left for the growing din in the back corner of the room, thankfully allowing the cat a half measure of peace to recover. Blaze had completely forgotten her food, it was surely now lukewarm at best. She finally pierced a calamari ring, raising it to-
"What does Rouge have on you?" Shadow broke the calm so bluntly that the cat very almost dropped her fork.
Blaze blinked at him, "What?"
"I know that you haven't attended these get togethers previously, despite being invited, and it certainly doesn't seem like you're here for the food," Shadow analysed aloud, "I also know that our heads of both personnel resources and client services spoke with you today. My conclusion is that Rouge is manipulating you, am I wrong?"
Shadow was often considered the stick to Amy's carrot, brought on to handle the personnel resource issues that her sweet personality often wasn't suited to. Encounters with Shadow were generally regarded as an omen of upcoming unemployment- not that Blaze really put much stock in that belief. On the few occasions Blaze had communicated with him, the hedgehog had seemed to her to be a useful professional, albeit one with a serious demeanour even beyond the cat's own. Evidently, she had never truly sat in his scrupulous crosshairs. Blaze didn't very much like the attention.
"Perhaps I simply decided to try something new," She coldly responded, before turning his assumptions back upon him, "Why are you here, Shadow? This hardly seems like an outing suited to you, and yet it seems as though you pay close attention to these social events."
"I am here to ensure those fools do not besmirch the company name and confirm that they make it home safe," He replied, without changing his tone, "You are an unknown factor that I now have to mitigate for. I would like to understand why Amy was so glum in our end of workday, having tried and failed to secure your attendance, only for Rouge to so easily changed your mind."
Blaze grit her teeth, "She is a talented professional with skills in negotiation."
"Of course," He sipped his drink, some kind of coffee cocktail, "If you do not wish to explain her actions, then you do not have to. I simply feel it is my duty to enquire. My interest is purely professional, not personal."
"She previously did me a significant favour," The feline delicately answered, "So when she asked me to attend, I felt obligated. It is as simple as that."
"This favour," Her tail spiked straight, "It relates to her assistant, doesn't it?"
Blaze felt her ears buckle, "It sounds like you already understand the situation."
"No one has told me anything, but I have my own interpretation of events," He informed her, "I would be interested to hear yours."
The sound of Knuckles and Marine screaming out a duet was obscuring their quiet conversation, the barkeep had even moved to give the pair of them some privacy. What was the worst that could come of this? Replacing theirroles at this point, with the company in the state it was, seemed especially unlikely. Perhaps the three of them would be chastised, but resources were limited as it was. Was there the time and budget to pull each of them into private talks, file the information, and pass judgement? Surely not. Although, telling the personnel resources deputy had the potential to solve her bat problem... or it might encourage Rouge to make her life even worse.
"Silver had all but secured a position at our office before the change in ownership, there was only some paperwork left to finalise. He'd gone on break, using the last of his paid time off from his prior role to plan his move. When he returned, ready to sign the form, that job no longer existed. Even if he'd been in a position to return to the Soleanna office- its shuttering had already been announced," Blaze quietly explained, "Without a job, he had to give up his apartment. I offered to let him stay with me for a while, to repay him for helping me out when we'd first worked together," Memories of that period played in her mind's eye, "You know him, he's a hard worker and an honest soul. He spent months applying for jobs, but..."
"We're in difficult times," There was the slightest tinge of sympathy in the hedgehog's voice.
"When Rouge started to advertise her assistant position, I knew wasn't the kind of job he was looking for, but I enquired about whether she would consider him suitable for the role," The cat finally explained, "When she said yes, I had him reach out. Shortly after, he was hired."
"And that is the debt you feel you owe her," He nodded, saying, "I presumed as much," Before speaking no more.
Blaze was left aghast, the deputy head of personnel resources refused to so much as meet her gaze as he continued to drink. Was that it? He wasn't going to give his opinion, he just wanted confirmation?! She'd barely eaten today, yet her hunger had vanished without a trace. It felt as though something was impending, regret now filled her gut. She'd surely now spend the whole weekend awaiting what action Shadow would make- that was, assuming he was even going to act. The fallout could be weeks away, if it ever did arrive.
She was considering finally rising, going over to join the others' nonsense just to get away from the brooding assistant, when movement outside caught the cat's eye. The closing of an umbrella beneath the bar's canopy revealed a pair of white furred individuals; the sight of them, arm in arm, set the cat's teeth on edge. Of course the bat had predicted she'd see!
The white hedgehog remained in the doorway for the moment, trying to loose the rain from the bat's umbrella. Rouge left him to strut toward the pair of them. Her jacket was thrown, Shadow caught it as though it were the most normal thing in the world. Revealed beneath the long coat was an expensive looking cocktail dress, crimson and tight and far too low cut! That certainly explained why she was so late; the head of client services was ludicrously overdressed for the event.
"Shadow, Blaze," The woman greeted, "Keeping your distance from the party I see, I should have expected as much."
"Rouge," Shadow stood up, "I have been made aware of some potential impropriety in the workplace."
"Oh gosh, no," The bat dramatically put the back of her hand to her forehead, "Not potential impropriety,"
"Hiring one person for the purpose of currying favour with another cannot be tolerated, regardless of how well suited he seems to be to the role," Panic set in, the cat's blood froze, was he really going to do this here? In public?! "Proving the intent of such an act is difficult, but you cannot be seen to receive special favour from others as a result of hiring choices- regardless of intentionality, it would be an ethics violation."
The head of client services looked to Blaze, having processed the hedgehog's legal-speak, "You're really only here because of that?" The bat feigned a pained expression, clasping a hand over her chest, "I thought you did what I asked because you like me, you really think I'd hold my hiring of Silver over you?"
Flabbergasted as she was, Blaze felt the need to push her position, "So you're not holding it over me? We're even?"
"I hired your boy toy on his own merits. There was never any debt darling, of course we're even," Rouge smirked, "Although, I wouldn't say no to drink if you're buying..." The sound of the door closing made the bat's ear twitch, "On second thoughts, I'll take it later."
Ever so casually, the bat sashayed past to take Shadow's arm. The gruff looking fellow scarcely managed to down his drink before being pulled toward the booth with the others, an act that was met with the sound of cheers. Though a small part of the cat's mind was reminding her to thank the dark hedgehog for his intervention, that part and all of the rest quickly became focused on the familiar figure now approaching.
Silver was still in his workwear- the removal of his jacket revealed a white shirt was desperately in need of ironing and the knot of his blue tie was hanging much too low. Despite carrying Rouge's umbrella he hadn't been spared from the rain, presumedly having been too focused on shielding her rather than himself. While his coat had mostly protected his shirt, the wetting of his quills had slicked them back.
"You came," His smile was infectious.
"Amy has been inviting me for a while," She swallowed a mention that she wouldn't be here for long, "I decided to finally accept her offer."
"Oh?" He took the seat closest to her, "What made you change your mind?"
"I might have seen you in one of her pictures and realised we haven't met up for a while," That was too honest, she felt her tail swish, "That, or I heard good things the food."
"Oh, I've never tried the tempura platter," Had he completely missed her first statement?!
"Help yourself," She pushed it between them.
Table manners had never been his strong suit. Rather than request another fork from Vector, or that bee boy who was taking orders from the crew in the corner, he so very casually plucked a squid ring from the plate and popped it in his mouth. She more elegantly matched him, skewering a piece on her fork. Despite being colder the lukewarm the squid was quite lovely, albeit more than a little greasy. The sweet chilli sauce was tastier than the typical bottled sort too, perhaps it was made in-house?
"You're right, that is really good!" Despite the social faux pas of talking with his mouth full, he seemed to remember some manners with his next question, "Can I buy you a drink?"
His ask made it three times she'd been asked that question on this tumultuous Friday night. Unlike the prior offers, she chewed on his ask for a moment rather than immediately refusing. What harm could one drink do? It wasn't as though she owned a car, let alone intended to drive home- she was closer to her flat now than she had been at work.
"That would be nice," She answered.
"Vector," The barman's head swivelled, "What wine do you guys have?"
"Only one sort, and it comes from a box," The crocodile honestly confessed, Blaze could have guessed as much.
The assistant looked a little sheepish, "Is it red or white?"
The box was placed on the counter before them, "Pink I think?"
Silver looked to the cat, she shrugged, "That'll do. We'll take the whole thing."
Blaze certainly wasn't a frequent drinker, and yet he had recalled the cat's preference from their past. After the hedgehog tapped his phone to the payment terminal, the crocodile set down a pair of glasses- narrow tumblers rather than wine glasses- Silver quickly half filled them. As she took her cup, he raised his to toast.
"To us finally meeting up again?" She suggested.
"To finally getting together again," When their glasses tapped his grin got just a little more cunning, "And Amy, for showing you those pictures."
His time with their head of client services was plainly having an affect, the younger hedgehog she recalled would not have been so bold. The liquid tasted primarily of artificial sweetener, it had a flavour profile that suggested it was meant to be bubbly but it was extremely flat. Still, Blaze was certain that the two of them had shared worse drinks.
"Rouge must be keeping you on your toes, it's been a while since we've even texted," She reminded him before popping another bite in her mouth.
"Yeah, she has me mostly handling her mail- physical and digital. You wouldn't think that would take up much too time, but she gets a lot in and has to send even more out," He professed, taking another morsel for himself, "That and whenever she's off in another part of the world, I usually end up taking calls from the clients. I don't think I've messed that up too badly yet, but I've come close..."
"Are you still looking for work elsewhere?" The cat's previous talk with Marine and Cream was playing in her mind, "I know this isn't exactly the job you were hoping for..."
"Not really," That was surprising, "To be honest, I sort of like the Station Square office. The folks we work with are all nice, we look out for each other. I certainly think I could be in a much worse spot," He seemed to catch himself, "That's, of course, despite how awful things are with Eggman in charge. If it weren't for his changes, I'd probably be pretty happy... then again, I'd probably have got my planned job if it wasn't for him."
"You don't need to sugarcoat it, it's been awful lately. Gamma seems to get worse every day, it's popping up places where it shouldn't be. I can barely move out of my chair without it telling me how much time I've wasted and creating three illegible graphs. It's no wonder we all leave our devices in the office now," Complaining to him felt good, "The worst part is, I've almost accepted the fact it's always listening. Whenever I go to make the schedule there's always some new nonsense, I should really be more annoyed about how much it's spying on me," An example popped into her head, "Did you say something to Knuckles about gardening today?"
"Not Knuckles, but I mentioned to Rouge that I started renting an allotment downtown," He recalled, chewing on a prawn, "My vegetables kind of, sort of, disappeared. She did joke about me hiring Knuckles as security for them, said he could use the extra cash..."
"That would explain it. You were scheduled to discuss carrot security and plugging leeks with him," Blaze recalled, piercing another ring of squid, "Sounds like it might actually be worthwhile though..."
He snorted, "Probably, but she wouldn't like me stealing away his time."
"That sounds about right," The cat agreed, "Based on Gamma's suggested schedule, she's constantly talking about her boy toys..."
"I hope I don't end up one of them," The last tinges of jealousy faded from the cat's mind, "Do you know the kind of nonsense she has Knuckles and Shadow doing?"
"Trust me," She winced, a forced grin spread across her muzzle, "I am all too aware."
His chuckling earned him an elbow in the side, which only seemed to make him laugh more. She didn't want to stare, but she couldn't help herself. The way his slightly wet quills jostled as he laughed, the way his slightly wetted shirt framed his shoulders, and the small tuft of chest fur breaking beyond the open top button of his shirt- it was all just so distracting. Despite the dismay that time had brought him, she'd noticed so many changes when he'd returned to her life that second time- perhaps she'd just been too focused on her own new role to truly notice. Of course, given the state of things (let alone their position as coworkers), she hadn't dared act on those observations.
"I've really missed this, talking about our struggles over some greasy food. It's sort of like when we basically lived together," Of course she felt the same, she just wasn't blunt enough to say it, "For the first time, I mean, back in Soleanna."
"We ordered out a lot in those early days," Blaze recalled of their young adult selves, "More in a week than I would in months now."
"I only learned to cook because you were annoyed about how much we were spending," She had made a spreadsheet at one point, "I'm still pretty awful at budgeting."
"I still don't think you cooking while I shopped were equivalent chores," He'd always insisted on paying his half, not even a three fifths to two split.
"I could have made something awful," Silver countered through a sip, "I didn't want you paying extra for that."
"You never did," Blaze felt a more genuine smile crease her lips.
"Really?" He seemed genuinely surprised, "Not even at the start?"
"You were never that bad," The cat mused, turning away, "And you only got better."
Despite how he'd grown, Silver still carried that innocent charm that had drawn her to him. He'd still been new to his role when she'd joined the company, it was simple coincidence that she'd moved in three doors down from him. They were young and skittish, new to the city and the workforce as a whole. She could still remember him panicking, calling out from behind her that he wasn't following her after they'd bumped into each other on the way home three nights in a row. It'd taken comparing keys and landlords for her to be suitably convinced- but from then on, she'd found it hard not to trust him implicitly.
"I miss living down the hall from you," He confessed, "I'd say I miss living in the same place as you too, but I was kind of panicking the whole time. It'd probably be nicer now."
"Would it be rude to say I miss having a live-in butler?" She'd swallowed her want to say househusband, "Despite your lacking laundry skills."
Breakfast in bed had become a mainstay of that difficult time, he'd worked hard around the house to make up for the so-called trouble he was causing her. Returning home each day to find dinner ready, he'd run all kinds of errands without her even asking... she'd certainly picked up some bad habits by the time he left. Her place didn't really have space for the two of them, but they'd quickly made it work. When he'd called out to her for a towel, post-shower on the first day, they'd joked that they'd got the most awkward thing possible out of the way. In reality, that had come three days later when they'd fallen asleep together on the couch and she ended up drooling on him.
"Hey! You two!" In the calm following a third sea shanty, Sonic had shouted over to them, "Can we get the meeting done? We want to party!"
Meeting? Blaze looked to him, but he was already rising with his attention turned to the greater group. He only turned back to her after downing the dregs of his glass; judging by his expression, there'd been more still to go than he was prepared for.
He half coughed."Alright, let's get this over with," Before quickly pouring another small splash of the cheap wine into the tumbler.
She followed him across the room, after setting back the cold scraps of her tempura platter and getting herself just a little more from the box. By the time she had joined him the boisterousness of the karaoke had fully quietened down, the whole group had tightly filed themselves into a single booth- leaving no space for the cat and hedgehog to sit. He took a position with his hands on the end of the table, Blaze opted to just hover ever so slightly behind him.
"Before we start, just to be safe, does anyone have any work devices with them? I've got the faraday bag with me," Tails announced, setting a thick looking yellow satchel on the table.
This all suddenly felt a lot more serious than a mere work night out, Blaze patted her trouser pockets to double check that she had left hers in the office. Thankfully she had, but Marine passed hers over with an awkward grimace and a grumble about hoping it hadn't heard her on the walk over. Cream looked especially frustrated by the reveal, especially as the raccoon struggled to avoid her gaze.
"Alright, we're good to go!" Sonic whooped, punctuated by Tails zipping up the bag, "Silver, take it away!"
"Thank you all for coming," Blaze's eyes caught on the hedgehog, his expression had tightened to match the tension she'd felt in the air, "In the time since we last met up, Jet, Wave, and Storm have left the company. It doesn't seem likely their roles will be replaced. Thankfully, it sounds like they've secured new employment. We can only wish them the best and thank them for their help, enduring for so long even as things worsened," His fist clenched atop the table, it was almost as if he was giving a eulogy?! "They got lucky, they found somewhere else, but we can't assume the same will be true for us! Ivo's wanting to integrate AI more and more into our work, we know he's working on driverless transport. He won't be content until he's the only one employed, lording over a staff of robots. Now more than ever, we need to stick together!"
As whoops of agreement sounded from their coworkers, Blaze could only gawk in awe. Her comparison to funeral felt so very correct; it was as though Silver was a preacher riling up his congregation. The intensity with which he was speaking, so sincere and heartfelt, it was as if he was bearing his soul with power enough out to touch theirs. He spoke of the company as if he had seen its future first hand, as though the reality was clear as day to him. Blaze couldn't help but stare, in all their time together she had never seen this side of him... and she certainly didn't dislike it.
"I'm glad Blaze is here now, because it means I can finally tell you all the truth," Everyone's eyes leapt to the cat, what did she have to do with this?! "Without her, I wouldn't be fighting for us to do something- I wouldn't even be here. When the position Big had offered me vanished, I lost my apartment, I didn't know what I was going to do, but Blaze reached out to me. It'd been years since we'd met up in person, but she let me stay with her until I found my feet again- and it just happened to be with you guys," Of course she'd trusted him, it wasn't like he was a stranger, they'd still messaged; now all those eyes were looking at her in awe! "From the moment I rejoined, I saw how bad things had already got, and they've only gotten worse! I realised that I wasn't alone, that other people are going to struggle like I had, and we can't let that happen! We had a good company, a friendly company, until Ivo Robotnik stole it from us!"
More hollers sounded, including a whistle from Sonic, at least their attention was back on Silver. She had brought this out of him?! He hadn't ever acted like this around her, there hadn't been so much of a hint of it- he'd been drowning in panic and despair. Had he only come to this realisation in hindsight?! At least he hadn't been so foolhardy as to announce that she'd secured him his job with Rouge...
"I'm so glad that Blaze is with us now, I'm just so happy we're all together! People's job shouldn't be the most important thing in their lives, but I'm certain that by improving the company we'll make our lives so much better. No more phones listening to every word, no sensors tracking our every pause, and no more worrying about being made obsolete- we can do this!" As he took a big swig of his drink, another applause again filled the air, "That all being said, I think Rouge has something more... immediately important to say."
"Thank you, Silver," The head of client services took the centre of attention, "After much deliberation, I can confirm that one Princess Elise of Soleanna would be interested in adding a controlling stake in Green Hill Logistics to her portfolio."
Whooping sounded from all around- only one person seemed to be half as confused as the cat, Knuckles, who voiced, "A princess? How did you get an audience with a princess?!"
"Don't you know better than to ask such silly questions," Rouge brushed him off, "But interest alone is not enough. Unless Ivo is actively looking to sell, it is unlikely that she will be able to purchase a significant portion of the company- the imbalance of capital is simply too great and we certainly can't count on him to act above board," The cunning stare caught Blaze's confused gaping, "Which is exactly why we aren't," Her stare jumped to the young yellow fox, "Tails, how is Omega coming along?"
The computer wiz looked to have very almost fall asleep in his seat, "My hours have been awful, so progress has been slow. In testing, Omega doesn't care enough to spy on anyone or force recommendations into documents, but the current version has a few unfortunate quirks. It keeps calling me a meatbag, no matter how often I tell it to stop, and it won't stop talking about about how much it hates other software..." He released a loud yawn, "If we want this thing to leave us alone but really annoy Eggman, its tone needs to be more in line with Gamma- otherwise he'll know something is wrong when we swap them. In its current state, Omega would just go through all of our computers and delete every program it came across."
"That sounds good to me, we'd be back to pen and paper in no time," Sonic snorted.
Blaze could barely believe what she was hearing, were they really doing this? Not just meeting up to air their grievances and pull together, but actually fighting back against their own employer? No wonder he hadn't been flustered by her initial mention of pictures, he'd assumed both answers were a joke- that she was here for this meeting! Why hadn't Amy told her what this was, did she just assumed the cat knew?! Again Blaze caught the bat's knowing stare; did she still think she was owed a favour!?
"Needless to say then, we're still a ways from replacing our current useless AI with an even less effectual one. We should perhaps consider other methods to deal with Gamma in the meantime," Rouge summarised, "For now, our key weapon remains malicious compliance. We still need to maintain our quality of work, if we lose our clients and the company goes bust then there's no point in any of this, but its up to those of us in higher positions to cause Ivo as much strife as possible. Getting rid of us is far more difficult than drivers and assistants."
"We can still do our bit though!" Sonic grinned, before slamming down a thick wad of citations in plastic wrap, "You can get a ton of parking tickets without a problem and, unlike speeding, they won't take away your license."
"You realise you're going to have to pay all of those out of pocket," Shadow cut in, not incorrectly, "And even if Ivo was paying them, it wouldn't make a dent in his finances."
"Every little helps. Each time I get one, he has to sign off on all sorts of pointless forms. Plus, if I park somewhere really annoying, it's a bad look all around," Sonic fired back, "What exactly are you doing for the cause, Shadow?"
"I am pretending to be his non-computerised eyes and ears about the office, covering up for the actual sabotage your more competent coworkers are doing," The assistant boasted, "Not to mention wasting company time setting up bogus meetings with non-existent clients."
"Small acts can only go so far, we're running out of time," Knuckles huffed, "Like I warned you guys a couple of months ago, Eggman is looking to take on some truly awful clients. He had me present for a demonstration with a weapons manufacturer, to show that we have experience transporting high security and hazardous goods. The deal only fell apart because I intentionally made a mess of things, now I'm suspended for two weeks. He won't bring me along to do the same next time..."
"If you need cash, I'm sure I can come up with some odd jobs for you Big Red," Rouge offered, leaning into the large echidna.
Silver's fist hitting the table stole attention away from the bat's teasing, "Knuckles is right. We need to do more before this gets any worse," He turned back to look at the cat, the intensity in his eyes cut straight to her core, "Blaze, do you have any ideas?"
The cat's mind went blank, was she really expected to be more than just an observer? She supposed everyone but Cream and Marine, two interns, had contributed something- even if it was just a pile of parking tickets. Did she want to be a part of this? It felt so risky, this was so chaotic. She hadn't had time to plan or consider actions, she'd just been taking her work day by day in the hopes Ivo would give up and resell the company!
"I have been fighting Gamma to fix the schedule every week, but whenever my computer crashes it overwrites all of my edits," Blaze's mouth had moved before her mind could catch up, but she let it keep going, "Usually I'll keep trying until a version properly saves, but would it be worth me failing to fix it one Friday?" Most of the group seemed to understand the implication, but the cat still elaborated, "I could say Gamma overwrote it, I doubt that would be enough to make Robotnik give up on the program entirely, but it might give us a day free from it. It would also cause chaos across the company on Monday morning- slowing work to a standstill and showing staff at all levels just how awful the AI is, but I could have a replacement schedule sorted by midday to ensure the damage to clients and our reputation is limited."
When the others started to mull over that plan, Rouge spoke up above them, "We could make it even easier to hide, when did you last take a sick day, Blaze?"
Blaze blanched, "I don't think I ever have."
"Perfect. Without warning, take one next Friday. With you suddenly gone, and no one set up to fill your role, Eggman himself will be forced to sort the schedule," Rouge predicted, "He'll probably spend the whole day struggling with his own tech."
"No," Tails spoke up, suddenly very awake, "He'd just assume the AI was doing the job for you- he wouldn't even realise how much of a mess it was until it was too late."
"Then you get to come back and fix everything, you'd be a hero," Silver was grinning back at her, "It would once again show how important people are, at all levels of the company. Everyone would know about it."
"It's a brilliant idea!" Marine shouted, "We get the first half of Monday off! Maybe you could even stay sick till Tuesday..."
"I think a half day of panic is more than enough for all the drivers," Blaze disagreed, surely plunging herself even deeper into this nonsense.
"Then it's settled! We have a plan for next time, that's the meeting done," As Sonic tried to wrap things up, the bar's sole waiter approached with a tray of drinks and one frankly ludicrous looking hotdog, "Just in time, thank you Charmy!"
"Huh?" The bee went to uncover one of his ears but seemed to think better of it, "Oh, yeah, I'll go get you a fork."
Blaze was fairly certain she was the only one to notice what the young bee had said, everyone else was gathering up their drinks. Amy wriggled her way out of the booth and pulled out her phone, gesturing for both Blaze and Silver to get in close. While the hedgehog got on his knees to align better with the height of the others, unwilling to brave the sticky floor, Blaze just crouched against the edge of the booth. The whole group raised their glasses, the cat moved to match, trying her hardest to avoid blocking anyone as Amy attempted a group selfie.
"To the true power behind Greenhill Logistics," Rouge called out, more than a little nefariously.
"To unity amongst workers and friends," Silver more justly cheered.
"To taking down Eggman!" Sonic shouted as all the glasses met with his chilli dog.
Quickly, chaos once again took over the very loud corner of the otherwise quiet bar. A scramble for the karaoke microphones was won by Shadow and Sonic... who then proceeded to fight over what song they were going to sing. Meanwhile, Marine was trying to get Cream back on her side with promises to buy her sweet treats and Rouge was actively haggling with Knuckles regarding potential additional work.
Before the cat could be dragged into the nonsense she made for the bar and the abandoned box of cheap wine to properly refill her cup. What had she just got herself into? She had no idea her coworkers were capable of organising like this, the whole endeavour bordered on the creation of a union. Then again, perhaps their present actions were more underhanded than those of a typical true union. Would it make sense to formalise what they were doing? If they did, Blaze supposed Ivo Robotnik would crush their efforts instantaneously.
"I take it you didn't know what that meeting was supposed to be," Silver had followed her, a slightly sheepish look on his face, "Most of us aren't really big drinkers. This started as just an excuse to talk and plan without Gamma listening in on us. From there I guess it sort of naturally evolved, I had the thought we should start to fight back and the others agreed."
"That would explain why I never heard about it around the office," The cat rationalised, "You've all been very careful."
"Everything I said was true," As he said that, her gaze fell down to her drink, "You really did inspire all of this, but..." The hedgehog took her hand, pulling her gaze back to his face, "You don't have to be a part of this if you don't want to, if you felt pressured in the moment I can tell the others-
"I want to help," Blaze cut him off, "This company used to be a wonderful place to work. Too many people have lost their jobs to Ivo's useless innovations and pointless attempts to streamline. We were doing fine before he took over, Big's personal spending was his undoing rather than companywide issues," Admiration was shining in his eyes, "It may be impossible to go back to how things were, but we can at least make things better than-
A squeal to her left turned the cat's attention; Amy had evidently photographed them and was plainly incredibly proud of herself. Quickly their hands parted; his went to his still soggy quills while hers clasped around her glass. That shift in poses only prompted a few further clicks from the pink hedgehog
"Oh, Blaze! I just realised I didn't ask permission," Evidently, professionalism finally overcame the head of personnel resource's lust for photography, "Given the nature of this whole thing, are you okay with me taking your photo? I can delete the ones I've already got, it's not a problem."
"It's fine," The cat assured Amy before recalling the image that had almost tempted her to come, even prior to Rouge's coercion, "Just as long as you send me a copy of everything you take."
---
Blaze's head was ringing, her mouth was bone dry. She was still fully dressed in her work clothes despite being beneath the covers of her bed. As she blinked the sleep from her eyes, adjusting to what little light was slipping through the curtains, her gaze fell upon a tall glass of water. Oh yes, now she remembered, a certain someone must have left for her.
With a stretch and a groan, the cat took the glass and drank deeply. When she set down the two thirds empty cup, she found her phone by its side- plugged in, surely not by her. When the cat went to check the time (just after half past nine), she couldn't help but notice that she'd received a flurry of messages. She'd been added to a group chat titled The Resistance, that felt more than a little silly but not entirely inaccurate.
Scrolling up, she noticed that Amy had sent a bundle of all her photos from the night- presumedly just after getting home. As she began to flip through, the memories all came flooding back to her- the group photo after the meeting, some silly shots, and then her and Silver having that deeper conversation. Rouge with her arms around an exhausted looking Shadow and a flustered looking Knuckles, exactly where she wanted to be. Cream screaming into a karaoke microphone with all her might, letting it all out to some metal song, while Marine stared on in awe. A selfie of Amy with Rouge and Blaze pulled into a hug- the cat had been talked into putting up a peace sign after refusing to do a kissy face...
Things only got more chaotic from there. Silver setting up a colossal tower of cider cans, blissfully unaware that Marine was mid-flight on the way to drop kick it. Sonic and Shadow arm wrestling, then doing a push up contest, then doing handstands. Tails struggling to hold back a drunken Knuckles in the midst of a shadow boxing demonstration. Amy herself dancing on top of a table, whipping her jacket around her head. The staff of the bar now on the karaoke machine, including an unfamiliar looking chameleon, followed by photos of her coworkers goofing off mixing drinks themselves. So much for the group being light drinkers... were they serving other customers?
Blaze tried not to consider the legality of that, flipping faster through the photos. There were far too many pictures of Sonic in general, most of them not very good- taken when he wasn't looking. Whenever the blue blur caught Amy taking the shot, he'd pull the ugliest face imaginable. Of the lot, there were maybe one or two good candid shots and three or four decent funny faces. Naturally, the cat found herself lingering longer on the photos of herself and Silver.
The two of them at the bar, talking before the secret meeting. Her mid laugh, his eyes upon her. Both of them made to pose, her head upon his shoulder and his arm around her. The last of them was particularly goofy- Blaze riding Silver's shoulders as they walked down the street, her holding his jacket up to use as a rain cover. He'd insisted on carrying her all the way home...
A realisation dawned on the cat, she'd been granted access to the whole chat. Scrolling up, she found the picture that Amy had lingered on during their impromptu office meeting. Silver's quills were smoothed back, evidently it had been raining just a little more on that day. He still had his jacket on, making his already considerable shoulders appear just a little bit wider. He was sat at the bar, holding out a can of cider (the drink she had long known was his preference), reaching just far enough to expose she shine of a golden cuff at his wrist. Of course his face held her attention the longest, Amy had somehow captured him at his most embarrassingly handsome. Needless to say, he looked better put together than the cat had ever really seen him. Blaze saved the image on impulse, but hesitated in her phone's settings.
She rolled out of bed, glanced at her mirror, straightened her shirt, fully relieved her hair tie of its duties, and stepped out. Silver was exactly where she'd anticipated, lying on her couch with his mouth wide open in a snore. He'd managed to get the top four buttons of his shirt undone before drifting off, resulting in the fluffy at his chest being fully on display. His quills followed the tilt of his head, fully collapsed to the right with one skirting over the top of his eyelid. The sun was breaching through the curtains, scattering a line of light up his chest and across the right edge of his muzzle.
Of course Blaze couldn't help herself, just as she couldn't those months ago. She supposed this new image made a slightly better home screen than the last, she had been bold enough to take the picture from slightly closer, but that wasn't the point. Amy, Rouge, Sonic, any of their coworkers could have taken that picture of him at his best. This view of him was hers and hers alone.
The cat made for the kitchen, intending to repay all those breakfasts he'd brought her... and hopefully not awaken him with the fire alarm.
A finger fruitlessly clacked on the backspace key, clicking around the screen proved to be similarly ineffectual, and yet her laptop was wheezing as though she was strangling it to death. Blaze the cat, head of projects administration, did not attempt to hide her displeasure as she struck a twelfth tally mark in her notebook. By the day's end, she was certain that he work laptop would surpass its previous record for hard crashes (fifteen). She doubted those in IT would appreciate the inevitable presentation of her findings, but something had to be done about this. Tails would at least try to offer his sympathies, but would surely lack the time nor energy to help given the state of his coming workweeks. Then again, at this rate, no one would be scheduled for anything and he'd have ample time to hear her complain.
Six months on, Green Hill Logistics was still recuperating in the aftermath of a change in ownership. Chief Executive Officer Big had been largely hands off with the business- happy to hire staff that would make his day to day work breezy, letting the heads of respective departments make improvements largely on their own accord. His amicable personality and trust in others had seen the once tiny company open offices and depots worldwide. They'd fostered a reputation not just for quality work, but being a great company to work for. Blaze wasn't certain that she'd considered him a good boss per say, but she certainly couldn't deny that he was approachable and had a good heart... even if he lacked a mind of business. That reality had been reflected in his lackadaisical handling of personal finances.
When tech entrepreneur Ivo Robotnik purchased the company it'd seemed like a strange fit. As a business, goods transport required people for roles ranging from delivery drivers to engineers to lawyers to client liaisons and beyond. The automation that had earned the doctor his ludicrous net worth hadn't seemed like a good fit for the their day to day operations. Time had proven that assessment to be correct.
Finally, Blaze's computer finished smothering itself. She gave it a moment, staring at her reflection in the dark screen. Would her draft of the schedule have saved itself before the machine died? No, absolutely not. When she next opened the document, presuming the computer even managed that, she would again be presented with what Gamma (Eggman Incorporated's proprietary artificial intelligence) suggested for the resource planner based on its tracking of communications across the entire company. Needless to say, she would have to clear it all out and start afresh.
Why did her reflection look so exhausted? Yes it was Friday, but that was hardly an excuse. Her white shirt was wrinkled, her ponytail was leaking from its binding, and somehow her ID laniard was twisted to hang behind her rather than in front. All that was ignoring the bags under her eyes and the coffee moustache on her white muzzle. Though she loathed to, Blaze pressed the power button on her laptop and used its boot up time to begin neatening herself. Then again, it wasn't as if she was expecting to see-
As her scrunchie hung from between her lips, a cheerful knock sounded against the cubical wall. Blaze knew who it'd be even before she looked. Amy Rose, head of personnel resources, had poked her head around the pseudo-room's doorless entryway. Despite the state of things her white shirt with its floral embroidering still looked clean, and her red pencil skirt was pristine to match.
She was beaming with a joy unhindered by their workplace woes, "Is now a bad time?"
"Good as any," The cat hummed, quickly tying her hair back up, "What do you need?"
"Can't a girl just want to check on her friend after a long week?" Amy pouted.
"Is that really what you're here for?" Blaze flatly asked, initiating the computer's recovery mode.
"Well," Amy seemed to chew on the thought, "Partially?" She finally fully entered the space, "I was also wondering, just if your not to far along with the schedule... could you pencil me in for a meeting with my work husband?"
Blaze was less than surprised, "Has he ended up with another speeding ticket?"
"Oh no, no," Amy circled a quill around her finger, "It's a parking ticket this time. Barely even an infraction, but I need to take a statement and you know how he is with forms. If I email it to him, it'll sit in his inbox forever- he never checks it.."
"Indeed," Blaze hummed, signing in to her computer.
"Anyway, I'm pretty sure he only got it so that he could come see me again on company time," Amy fantasised, "It feels so scandalous, you know? Not only is he acting out to get my attention, literally forcing us to spend time together, he's also paying for it!"
"Oh?" Blaze let the hedgehog ramble on as the laptop resumed its humming.
"Yeah, I mean, we had our meet cute when he got his first speeding ticket so it's kind of tradition now. It's our thing, you know? Like how Rouge will borrow Knuckles and Shadow to act as her so-called muscle on some of her trips," The mere mention of the bat was enough to irk the cat; the change seemed to pull Amy from her daydream, "Anyway, can you schedule that?"
"I'll try, but I'm not certain he'll manage it next week. We're even more short staffed than we were, Jet walked out last week so we're down yet another driver," Even with her attention on the screen, the cat could feel Amy's pleading eyes, "I might be able to find him some time the following week."
"You're the best Blaze!" Suddenly the hedgehog's arms were around her, pinning the cat back against the plush of her chair, "And I know just how to make it up to you."
Blaze also immediately knew where this was going, but she was powerless to resist from this restrained position. Amy's phone was already in hand, first the cat was subjected to a lock-screen of Sonic mid chilli dog, then a home screen of him pulling a stupid face while the pink hedgehog navigated to her photos. Immediately the cat was bombarded with more images- mainly of Sonic of course, but amongst them were other coworkers drinking, eating and partying.
"Some of us are heading to that bar again tonight, Chaotix, the one a few blocks down? It'll be tons of fun, I promise!" Amy explained, still flicking through photos, "Just about everyone has promised to buy you a drink, all you need to do is show up..."
The pink hedgehog lingered on a particular photo, a candid shot of a familiar white hedgehog grinning. Instantly the cat felt envious; for all of Amy's offers to join a work night out, she'd never mentioned that he was in attendance. When had they last managed to talk, or even just message? The cat was so reliant on him starting their conversations, and he hadn't reached out for a little while now. She'd lived with the man for almost three months and still failed to snap a picture half as good as this surely casual shot by Amy. Well, that was probably because Amy had the guts to take his picture while he was awake...
"Thank you for the offer," The cat hummed, pulling her attention away from Amy's phone, "But as you know, I'm not much of a drinker..."
"I'm sure their offers weren't limited to alcohol. You can have as many chaos colas as your heart desires," That offer didn't sound any more enticing, "Think of it as a team building exercise, when did we last do some proper team building?" Amy begged, "Like you said, there's less of us now than ever, we need to stick together! It'll raise your spirits, I just know it."
Blaze tried her hardest not to sound like she was being rude, "It's just not my kind of thing..." She absolutely failed.
"I know, but I really think it'll be good for you," Amy pleaded, "The only time I've seen you outside of work is when I bumped into you at the supermarket, and that was half a year ago..."
"I've got a lot planned this weekend," Blaze again attempted to excuse herself.
"Like what?" Amy boldly questioned.
"I'm baking a souffle," Blaze responded on impulse, her mind still on the white hedgehog.
"A souffle?!" Amy squeaked.
"Don't sound so surprised," The cat replied, perhaps too harshly.
"I just didn't think you could..." Amy seemed to catch herself, "D-Didn't know that you bake, I mean," But an intrusive thought must have won out, "And shouldn't that take less than an hour..?"
"It's a particularly difficult souffle," Blaze continued to lie, "Thank you Amy, I really do appreciate what you're trying to do, but I get enough social interaction through our talks. Tell the others I am grateful for their offers, but I must decline."
"If you're certain," Finally, the pink hedgehog released the cat, wandering to the doorless entryway, "You know I'll be back to try again next week."
The head of personnel management waved her off, "I'll look forward to it."
Despite Amy's pushing, that small break had genuinely reenergised the cat... though that rejuvenation vanished at the sight of Gamma's newly proposed schedule. Sonic's Monday now included a mutated mess of deliveries squashed into a single Monday afternoon, set to occur only after a closely clustered group of morning meetings featuring one Amy Rose. The first was to discuss a speeding ticket, the second to discuss a parking ticket, followed by a meeting to discuss inbox management, and then a meeting to discuss taking on Jet's whole workload (all of which he was now set to do on that very Monday afternoon). That was ignoring the talk with Amy that'd been added to Blaze's own Friday-
Another knock at the wall pulled the cat from her work, this time when she turned around a set of aquamarine eyes caught her yellow ones. Rouge the bat, head of client services, was wearing an expression so smug that it surely violated the office dress code. Before the cat could ask what she wanted, the white furred woman silence her with a raised finger which quickly became a point.
Using the tone reserved for her subordinates, never breathed in the direction of clients, she ordered, "I expect to see you in the bar at five thirty. Don't be late," And simply walked away.
Blaze's frustration flared, their roles were very different but they were in equal standing at this company! For months now the bat had been lording her sole showing of generosity and camaraderie over the cat with no ending in sight. She was at the bat's beck and call, too often modifying a fair and just schedule to curve around Rouge's wants first and foremost. Her requests were usually subtle manipulations, hedged in implication, not so blunt and juvenile as this!
Blaze clawed the grimace from her face and tried to regain her poise, to knuckle down and finally get the schedule done, but her face crumpled anew at what she saw. A new item had been added to today's itinerary- team building exercise at Chaotix Bar and Grill. When she went to erase the errant entry the cursor became a spinning circle which then hitched at the two o'clock position. The cat's forehead met with the keyboard. An already gruelling day had just stretched itself so much longer.
---
The floor was sticky, her clothes were wet, and she didn't want to be here. This dingy little spot was entirely empty save for Blaze herself and the staff- she'd secured a seat at the counter, the closest one to the door. A gruff looking crocodile was stood behind the bar, he'd initially tried to make small talk but the cat had failed to carry the conversation beyond recommendations for dinner. Judging by the selection of hotdogs on the menu, this place surely appealed to Sonic above all others- he'd never submitted an expense that didn't include a truck-stop chilli dog. Her hopes weren't exactly high for their tempura platter but apparently it was the chef's specialty... it just happened to also be the most expensive thing on the menu.
Finishing work at five meant there hadn't even been time to change before coming to the bar, Blaze's flat was a full half hour's walk from the office and it wasn't as though she'd brought a change of clothes. The result was that she had arrived frightfully early, but now it was almost half past. Where was everyone? The sooner they showed up, the sooner she could make her excuses and leave...
The head of personnel management unlocked her phone, catching sight of a certain white hedgehog behind a wall of applications. It was a far worse photo than the one Amy had so casually displayed of him. He was asleep on her couch with his quills splayed and mouth agape. All she really had left to remember him by was that picture, as well as the hand written recipe book he'd left her as a parting gift. Well, that and the mug he'd left behind and a forgotten t-shirt...
Blaze opened their messages and immediately found herself faced with a prior failure. He'd sent her a list of awkward praise and recommendations response to her picture of a blackened souffle that'd overflowed down the side of its ramekin. When he'd offered to come over and help with another attempt she'd frozen up, mulled over possible responses for more than a day, before telling him she was too busy- complaining about mandatory overtime, a true frustration that truthfully wouldn't have stopped them from meeting up. Was it any wonder he hadn't started a conversation since? He'd told her to take care of herself and reach out if she needed anything, putting the impetus on her. It'd been three weeks already...
Finally, she opted to send him something simple, "Hey, are you coming-
A shadow fell upon her shoulder! With panicked speed the cat shut off her phone, only to realise it was a waiter approaching rather than anyone she knew- a bee who looked a little too young to be working in a bar, headphones in his ears. He set down her plate with a smile, but when he went to turn away the crocodile coughed an oversaturated reminder into his fist- loud enough to make the cat jump.
"Oh, uh," The bee, named Charmy judging by his pin, pulled one covering from his ear, "Do you want any more sauces or..." His brain seemed to misfire, "Anything?"
Blaze looked at the plate of fried fish and sweet chilli, not a vegetable in sight. The pile of prawns, calamari, crab, and some kind of white fish didn't look unappetising though it was very greasy. Picking at it would surely suffice until she could escape home and microwave something.
"Could I get some cutlery?" The cat requested.
"Oh, yeah, sure," He gave a thumbs up, either to her or the gator, and hurried off toward the back.
"Kid's been here a year and a half, but he's still learning the ropes," Blaze heard the barman sigh as he refilled her water cup.
Blaze smothered her want to ask the boy's age; if he was just old enough to work in a bar now, he surely hadn't been more than a year ago! The cat managed to stifle her concern as the bee swung back around to drop off a fork and knife, without any sort of napkin- but then the cat supposed she hadn't been that specific. She opted to spare him another trip with a simple nod and a thank you.
The cat had just picked up her fork when the door opened, a pair of familiar faces had stepped into the space- not the colleagues Blaze had already encountered today, but two that she thankfully knew well enough to hold conversation with. After all, they were interns she had interviewed herself.
"Miss Blaze!" Cream the rabbit, the ever professional intern working under Amy called out, "I didn't know you were coming today."
"I imagine most people won't," The cat responded as they approached, "It's good to see you both; things have been so busy, I feel like I've not seen you in months," Something clicked in the cat's mind, "You especially, Marine."
"It's been hectic, ain't it mate," The much less polite intern who was supposed to be Blaze's aide responded, "You probably lost track of me be when Tails asked for help with the tech and never gave me back."
"That sounds about right. My computer problems have only gotten worse in your absence," Blaze hummed, "We should really circle back and discuss how to better distribute your hours. I'm certain that Tails needs help, but he shouldn't-
"Mate, we're at a bar, I don't want to talk about work nonsense. I'm here to have fun," The raccoon stuck out her tongue in disgust, "I've already spent the whole trip over listenin' to Cream worrying about finding somewhere else to work now that she's sick of us."
"It's not like that Marine!" The rabbit seemed to catch herself, she went from annoyed to sullen, "You know that's not the reason..."
"I forgot. Your apprenticeship must be coming to an end soon," Blaze verbalised, "Of course you're making plans for what to do next.."
"Miss Amy is really trying to make my position permanent, but..." The youthful rabbit clenched her fists, "Even if she could, I'm not certain I'd stay. Things have just got so much more hectic, if I'm doing this much now I don't think I'd be able to cope with a proper job in the company," Her big brown eyes gleamed at Blaze, "Please don't tell her."
"Of course I won't," Blaze promised, taking the younger woman's hand and gave it a quick squeeze, "But I think she would understand if you spoke to her. We're all struggling, but I can only imagine how rough it has been for you two."
The pairs' internships did pay an okay wage, that had been ensured under Big, but even if they were made permanent- Blaze doubted Ivo would approve any wage increases and their duties would become even more gruelling. The initial wave of firings when the entrepreneur took over had been followed by employees quitting on an almost weekly basis, their roles rarely refilled. If Cream was looking for a job driving the trucks she'd stand a chance, but office positions were now so very limited.
The rabbit seemed to relax, "Thank you, Miss Blaze."
"Can we cut out the sappy stuff too, I want to party!" The raccoon yelled, "Are you really drinking water, mate? Come on, I want to see you loosen up for once!"
"Yes I'm quite happy with water, thank you Marine," The cat bluntly responded, releasing Cream's hand to look at the barman, "But if you two want anything to drink, I will happily pay for your first."
"Just the usual then?" The crocodile asked the pair, reaching for a glass.
Marine threw her hand up, "Hold on, if she's paying, we can-
"Just the usual please, Mister Vector," Cream pointedly cut in, giving Marine a hard stare for impoliteness.
"Fine, just the usual," The other intern grumbled before piping up anew, "And the remote for the karaoke machine!"
Blaze had just tapped her card to the reader (paying for Marine's chaos cola and rum, and Cream's chaos soda float) when the door reopened. Before the cat could even turn her right side was blocked by something pink and she was pulled into a hug with twice the crushing force of that earlier in the day. Needless to say, Amy Rose had arrived.
"You came!" The hedgehog shouted into the cat's ear, practically bouncing up and down, "I'm so glad. Knuckles just got back from Apotos, the whole gang's going to be here!"
"I'll stay long enough to see everyone," Already the cat's social battery was running dry, "But I won't be around for too long."
"Of course, of course. You've got a souffle to make," Amy slightly released her hold, turning to look back toward the door, "You were right Shadow, I owe you a drink."
"I'll just have the usual," The darker hedgehog responded, wandering past to claim a seat two stools down.
"Same for you Amy?" Vector asked from the bar.
"You know it!" She took the closest stool, drawing out her purse, "I see Marine's already fiddling with the karaoke machine. I think Tails uploaded some new songs to it last time..."
"I didn't know you baked, Miss Blaze," Cream prompted after a sip of her drink, "Although, Mister Silver did mention your sweet tooth.."
"He did, did he?" Blaze questioned, immediately concerned what details he may have shared.
"He talks about you quite a lot," Amy confirmed, "You two used to work together, didn't you? At the Soleanna office."
"Yes, though I left some time before it was shuttered..." Blaze hummed.
That unfortunate reminder seemed to cast a wave of silence over the conversation. While Green Hill logistics still had depots across the globe, their offices were now consolidated into the singular station square location. This was yet another impact of Ivo Robotnik's purchase of the company, one that meant the frequent use of faulty translation applications and countless unforeseen complications that having local staff would have avoided. The cat had moved as part of her promotion to head of personnel management over a year prior to the ownership change. Silver's transfer had not been so successful.
"Maybe we should hold some kind of competition?" Cream piped up, trying to revive the talk, "I bake, I know you do too Miss Amy, and I think Mister Silver does."
"That's a brilliant idea! It'd be nice to do a different sort of get together," While the implication was nice, Blaze was already dreading such an event coming to pass, "I can imagine Tails doing some culinary science, and Sonic's competitive spirit might make him join in," Amy elbowed Shadow in the side, "If he's competing, I know you'll want to."
"I doubt he'll have the patience for it," The dark hedgehog hummed into his drink, "It would hardly be a challenge."
"That's the spirit!" Amy practically knocked him over before turning back to Cream, "We can arrange judges, maybe even get some prizes sorted out," The shine in her eyes faltered, "Although, I doubt we'll get any funding for it. I imagine Eggman prefers his cakes assembled by production line..."
"Eggman?" The head of personnel resources questioned.
"Oh, that's just what Sonic has been calling Ivo lately," Amy explained, though she seemed to sense her coworker opening his mouth, "I know Shadow, I shouldn't be encouraging name calling in the workplace..." A small smile crept onto the young woman's muzzle, "He really does look like an egg though. It's even worse over the webcam, his chair looks just like an egg cup."
Blaze was about to enquire further when the door opened. By the sparkle in Amy's eyes, the cat knew who had arrived. Before she could really register it the pink hedgehog was on her feet and running across the bar, quickly caught in the arms of Sonic. The fastest delivery driver in the fleet was flanked by Knuckles and Tails- both of whom looked thoroughly exhausted.
"Blaze, long time no see!" Sonic called over, wandering over with Amy coiled around his arm, "Glad you could make it."
"I'm only stopping by," The cat clarified once again, "Don't assume you can pull me into your usual nonsense. I've seen Amy's photos of these nights..."
"Right, that makes sense," Embarrassment flashed across his muzzle before being replaced with its usual cockiness, "Does she at least get my good side?"
Before the cat could answer, Amy piped up, "Always!"
Having shaken most of the rain from their forms, Knuckles and Tails had joined their blue ally. Blaze wasn't exactly certain how the three of them had met, let alone became such good friends. Tails was a relative new start at the company who had secured his position almost a year before the acquisition- letting him get comfortable upgrading their systems before the so-called Eggman gutted them. Knuckles had been at the company for quite some time, but he rarely got to stay in one place for long- his deliveries often took him on globetrotting adventures, acting as security for cargo worth a dozen times his salary. Finally there was Sonic, a more local driver of express packages and the bane of their new boss's existence.
"No sign of Rouge yet?" The brawny red echidna half commented, half questioned, "Then I guess I'm free to let off some steam," He casually chucked his jacket toward a booth in the corner of the bar, "Marine, what's the deal with the karaoke machine!?"
"I don't know, I feel like I've been fiddling with it for ages!" The raccoon intern shouted over, "Tails, what did you do to it?"
"Its been acting up ever since I installed all your sea shanties," The fox yawned, crossing the space behind Knuckles, "I'll get it sorted."
"You coming?" Amy offered the cat, nodding toward the soon to be rowdy corner.
"In a while maybe," Blaze answered, "I'm still acclimatising."
"Take all the time you need," The pink hedgehog smiled, before leaning in close, "I'm sure he'll be here soon."
Before the cat could question what Amy was implying, she was skipping away with Sonic. Even Cream left for the growing din in the back corner of the room, thankfully allowing the cat a half measure of peace to recover. Blaze had completely forgotten her food, it was surely now lukewarm at best. She finally pierced a calamari ring, raising it to-
"What does Rouge have on you?" Shadow broke the calm so bluntly that the cat very almost dropped her fork.
Blaze blinked at him, "What?"
"I know that you haven't attended these get togethers previously, despite being invited, and it certainly doesn't seem like you're here for the food," Shadow analysed aloud, "I also know that our heads of both personnel resources and client services spoke with you today. My conclusion is that Rouge is manipulating you, am I wrong?"
Shadow was often considered the stick to Amy's carrot, brought on to handle the personnel resource issues that her sweet personality often wasn't suited to. Encounters with Shadow were generally regarded as an omen of upcoming unemployment- not that Blaze really put much stock in that belief. On the few occasions Blaze had communicated with him, the hedgehog had seemed to her to be a useful professional, albeit one with a serious demeanour even beyond the cat's own. Evidently, she had never truly sat in his scrupulous crosshairs. Blaze didn't very much like the attention.
"Perhaps I simply decided to try something new," She coldly responded, before turning his assumptions back upon him, "Why are you here, Shadow? This hardly seems like an outing suited to you, and yet it seems as though you pay close attention to these social events."
"I am here to ensure those fools do not besmirch the company name and confirm that they make it home safe," He replied, without changing his tone, "You are an unknown factor that I now have to mitigate for. I would like to understand why Amy was so glum in our end of workday, having tried and failed to secure your attendance, only for Rouge to so easily changed your mind."
Blaze grit her teeth, "She is a talented professional with skills in negotiation."
"Of course," He sipped his drink, some kind of coffee cocktail, "If you do not wish to explain her actions, then you do not have to. I simply feel it is my duty to enquire. My interest is purely professional, not personal."
"She previously did me a significant favour," The feline delicately answered, "So when she asked me to attend, I felt obligated. It is as simple as that."
"This favour," Her tail spiked straight, "It relates to her assistant, doesn't it?"
Blaze felt her ears buckle, "It sounds like you already understand the situation."
"No one has told me anything, but I have my own interpretation of events," He informed her, "I would be interested to hear yours."
The sound of Knuckles and Marine screaming out a duet was obscuring their quiet conversation, the barkeep had even moved to give the pair of them some privacy. What was the worst that could come of this? Replacing theirroles at this point, with the company in the state it was, seemed especially unlikely. Perhaps the three of them would be chastised, but resources were limited as it was. Was there the time and budget to pull each of them into private talks, file the information, and pass judgement? Surely not. Although, telling the personnel resources deputy had the potential to solve her bat problem... or it might encourage Rouge to make her life even worse.
"Silver had all but secured a position at our office before the change in ownership, there was only some paperwork left to finalise. He'd gone on break, using the last of his paid time off from his prior role to plan his move. When he returned, ready to sign the form, that job no longer existed. Even if he'd been in a position to return to the Soleanna office- its shuttering had already been announced," Blaze quietly explained, "Without a job, he had to give up his apartment. I offered to let him stay with me for a while, to repay him for helping me out when we'd first worked together," Memories of that period played in her mind's eye, "You know him, he's a hard worker and an honest soul. He spent months applying for jobs, but..."
"We're in difficult times," There was the slightest tinge of sympathy in the hedgehog's voice.
"When Rouge started to advertise her assistant position, I knew wasn't the kind of job he was looking for, but I enquired about whether she would consider him suitable for the role," The cat finally explained, "When she said yes, I had him reach out. Shortly after, he was hired."
"And that is the debt you feel you owe her," He nodded, saying, "I presumed as much," Before speaking no more.
Blaze was left aghast, the deputy head of personnel resources refused to so much as meet her gaze as he continued to drink. Was that it? He wasn't going to give his opinion, he just wanted confirmation?! She'd barely eaten today, yet her hunger had vanished without a trace. It felt as though something was impending, regret now filled her gut. She'd surely now spend the whole weekend awaiting what action Shadow would make- that was, assuming he was even going to act. The fallout could be weeks away, if it ever did arrive.
She was considering finally rising, going over to join the others' nonsense just to get away from the brooding assistant, when movement outside caught the cat's eye. The closing of an umbrella beneath the bar's canopy revealed a pair of white furred individuals; the sight of them, arm in arm, set the cat's teeth on edge. Of course the bat had predicted she'd see!
The white hedgehog remained in the doorway for the moment, trying to loose the rain from the bat's umbrella. Rouge left him to strut toward the pair of them. Her jacket was thrown, Shadow caught it as though it were the most normal thing in the world. Revealed beneath the long coat was an expensive looking cocktail dress, crimson and tight and far too low cut! That certainly explained why she was so late; the head of client services was ludicrously overdressed for the event.
"Shadow, Blaze," The woman greeted, "Keeping your distance from the party I see, I should have expected as much."
"Rouge," Shadow stood up, "I have been made aware of some potential impropriety in the workplace."
"Oh gosh, no," The bat dramatically put the back of her hand to her forehead, "Not potential impropriety,"
"Hiring one person for the purpose of currying favour with another cannot be tolerated, regardless of how well suited he seems to be to the role," Panic set in, the cat's blood froze, was he really going to do this here? In public?! "Proving the intent of such an act is difficult, but you cannot be seen to receive special favour from others as a result of hiring choices- regardless of intentionality, it would be an ethics violation."
The head of client services looked to Blaze, having processed the hedgehog's legal-speak, "You're really only here because of that?" The bat feigned a pained expression, clasping a hand over her chest, "I thought you did what I asked because you like me, you really think I'd hold my hiring of Silver over you?"
Flabbergasted as she was, Blaze felt the need to push her position, "So you're not holding it over me? We're even?"
"I hired your boy toy on his own merits. There was never any debt darling, of course we're even," Rouge smirked, "Although, I wouldn't say no to drink if you're buying..." The sound of the door closing made the bat's ear twitch, "On second thoughts, I'll take it later."
Ever so casually, the bat sashayed past to take Shadow's arm. The gruff looking fellow scarcely managed to down his drink before being pulled toward the booth with the others, an act that was met with the sound of cheers. Though a small part of the cat's mind was reminding her to thank the dark hedgehog for his intervention, that part and all of the rest quickly became focused on the familiar figure now approaching.
Silver was still in his workwear- the removal of his jacket revealed a white shirt was desperately in need of ironing and the knot of his blue tie was hanging much too low. Despite carrying Rouge's umbrella he hadn't been spared from the rain, presumedly having been too focused on shielding her rather than himself. While his coat had mostly protected his shirt, the wetting of his quills had slicked them back.
"You came," His smile was infectious.
"Amy has been inviting me for a while," She swallowed a mention that she wouldn't be here for long, "I decided to finally accept her offer."
"Oh?" He took the seat closest to her, "What made you change your mind?"
"I might have seen you in one of her pictures and realised we haven't met up for a while," That was too honest, she felt her tail swish, "That, or I heard good things the food."
"Oh, I've never tried the tempura platter," Had he completely missed her first statement?!
"Help yourself," She pushed it between them.
Table manners had never been his strong suit. Rather than request another fork from Vector, or that bee boy who was taking orders from the crew in the corner, he so very casually plucked a squid ring from the plate and popped it in his mouth. She more elegantly matched him, skewering a piece on her fork. Despite being colder the lukewarm the squid was quite lovely, albeit more than a little greasy. The sweet chilli sauce was tastier than the typical bottled sort too, perhaps it was made in-house?
"You're right, that is really good!" Despite the social faux pas of talking with his mouth full, he seemed to remember some manners with his next question, "Can I buy you a drink?"
His ask made it three times she'd been asked that question on this tumultuous Friday night. Unlike the prior offers, she chewed on his ask for a moment rather than immediately refusing. What harm could one drink do? It wasn't as though she owned a car, let alone intended to drive home- she was closer to her flat now than she had been at work.
"That would be nice," She answered.
"Vector," The barman's head swivelled, "What wine do you guys have?"
"Only one sort, and it comes from a box," The crocodile honestly confessed, Blaze could have guessed as much.
The assistant looked a little sheepish, "Is it red or white?"
The box was placed on the counter before them, "Pink I think?"
Silver looked to the cat, she shrugged, "That'll do. We'll take the whole thing."
Blaze certainly wasn't a frequent drinker, and yet he had recalled the cat's preference from their past. After the hedgehog tapped his phone to the payment terminal, the crocodile set down a pair of glasses- narrow tumblers rather than wine glasses- Silver quickly half filled them. As she took her cup, he raised his to toast.
"To us finally meeting up again?" She suggested.
"To finally getting together again," When their glasses tapped his grin got just a little more cunning, "And Amy, for showing you those pictures."
His time with their head of client services was plainly having an affect, the younger hedgehog she recalled would not have been so bold. The liquid tasted primarily of artificial sweetener, it had a flavour profile that suggested it was meant to be bubbly but it was extremely flat. Still, Blaze was certain that the two of them had shared worse drinks.
"Rouge must be keeping you on your toes, it's been a while since we've even texted," She reminded him before popping another bite in her mouth.
"Yeah, she has me mostly handling her mail- physical and digital. You wouldn't think that would take up much too time, but she gets a lot in and has to send even more out," He professed, taking another morsel for himself, "That and whenever she's off in another part of the world, I usually end up taking calls from the clients. I don't think I've messed that up too badly yet, but I've come close..."
"Are you still looking for work elsewhere?" The cat's previous talk with Marine and Cream was playing in her mind, "I know this isn't exactly the job you were hoping for..."
"Not really," That was surprising, "To be honest, I sort of like the Station Square office. The folks we work with are all nice, we look out for each other. I certainly think I could be in a much worse spot," He seemed to catch himself, "That's, of course, despite how awful things are with Eggman in charge. If it weren't for his changes, I'd probably be pretty happy... then again, I'd probably have got my planned job if it wasn't for him."
"You don't need to sugarcoat it, it's been awful lately. Gamma seems to get worse every day, it's popping up places where it shouldn't be. I can barely move out of my chair without it telling me how much time I've wasted and creating three illegible graphs. It's no wonder we all leave our devices in the office now," Complaining to him felt good, "The worst part is, I've almost accepted the fact it's always listening. Whenever I go to make the schedule there's always some new nonsense, I should really be more annoyed about how much it's spying on me," An example popped into her head, "Did you say something to Knuckles about gardening today?"
"Not Knuckles, but I mentioned to Rouge that I started renting an allotment downtown," He recalled, chewing on a prawn, "My vegetables kind of, sort of, disappeared. She did joke about me hiring Knuckles as security for them, said he could use the extra cash..."
"That would explain it. You were scheduled to discuss carrot security and plugging leeks with him," Blaze recalled, piercing another ring of squid, "Sounds like it might actually be worthwhile though..."
He snorted, "Probably, but she wouldn't like me stealing away his time."
"That sounds about right," The cat agreed, "Based on Gamma's suggested schedule, she's constantly talking about her boy toys..."
"I hope I don't end up one of them," The last tinges of jealousy faded from the cat's mind, "Do you know the kind of nonsense she has Knuckles and Shadow doing?"
"Trust me," She winced, a forced grin spread across her muzzle, "I am all too aware."
His chuckling earned him an elbow in the side, which only seemed to make him laugh more. She didn't want to stare, but she couldn't help herself. The way his slightly wet quills jostled as he laughed, the way his slightly wetted shirt framed his shoulders, and the small tuft of chest fur breaking beyond the open top button of his shirt- it was all just so distracting. Despite the dismay that time had brought him, she'd noticed so many changes when he'd returned to her life that second time- perhaps she'd just been too focused on her own new role to truly notice. Of course, given the state of things (let alone their position as coworkers), she hadn't dared act on those observations.
"I've really missed this, talking about our struggles over some greasy food. It's sort of like when we basically lived together," Of course she felt the same, she just wasn't blunt enough to say it, "For the first time, I mean, back in Soleanna."
"We ordered out a lot in those early days," Blaze recalled of their young adult selves, "More in a week than I would in months now."
"I only learned to cook because you were annoyed about how much we were spending," She had made a spreadsheet at one point, "I'm still pretty awful at budgeting."
"I still don't think you cooking while I shopped were equivalent chores," He'd always insisted on paying his half, not even a three fifths to two split.
"I could have made something awful," Silver countered through a sip, "I didn't want you paying extra for that."
"You never did," Blaze felt a more genuine smile crease her lips.
"Really?" He seemed genuinely surprised, "Not even at the start?"
"You were never that bad," The cat mused, turning away, "And you only got better."
Despite how he'd grown, Silver still carried that innocent charm that had drawn her to him. He'd still been new to his role when she'd joined the company, it was simple coincidence that she'd moved in three doors down from him. They were young and skittish, new to the city and the workforce as a whole. She could still remember him panicking, calling out from behind her that he wasn't following her after they'd bumped into each other on the way home three nights in a row. It'd taken comparing keys and landlords for her to be suitably convinced- but from then on, she'd found it hard not to trust him implicitly.
"I miss living down the hall from you," He confessed, "I'd say I miss living in the same place as you too, but I was kind of panicking the whole time. It'd probably be nicer now."
"Would it be rude to say I miss having a live-in butler?" She'd swallowed her want to say househusband, "Despite your lacking laundry skills."
Breakfast in bed had become a mainstay of that difficult time, he'd worked hard around the house to make up for the so-called trouble he was causing her. Returning home each day to find dinner ready, he'd run all kinds of errands without her even asking... she'd certainly picked up some bad habits by the time he left. Her place didn't really have space for the two of them, but they'd quickly made it work. When he'd called out to her for a towel, post-shower on the first day, they'd joked that they'd got the most awkward thing possible out of the way. In reality, that had come three days later when they'd fallen asleep together on the couch and she ended up drooling on him.
"Hey! You two!" In the calm following a third sea shanty, Sonic had shouted over to them, "Can we get the meeting done? We want to party!"
Meeting? Blaze looked to him, but he was already rising with his attention turned to the greater group. He only turned back to her after downing the dregs of his glass; judging by his expression, there'd been more still to go than he was prepared for.
He half coughed."Alright, let's get this over with," Before quickly pouring another small splash of the cheap wine into the tumbler.
She followed him across the room, after setting back the cold scraps of her tempura platter and getting herself just a little more from the box. By the time she had joined him the boisterousness of the karaoke had fully quietened down, the whole group had tightly filed themselves into a single booth- leaving no space for the cat and hedgehog to sit. He took a position with his hands on the end of the table, Blaze opted to just hover ever so slightly behind him.
"Before we start, just to be safe, does anyone have any work devices with them? I've got the faraday bag with me," Tails announced, setting a thick looking yellow satchel on the table.
This all suddenly felt a lot more serious than a mere work night out, Blaze patted her trouser pockets to double check that she had left hers in the office. Thankfully she had, but Marine passed hers over with an awkward grimace and a grumble about hoping it hadn't heard her on the walk over. Cream looked especially frustrated by the reveal, especially as the raccoon struggled to avoid her gaze.
"Alright, we're good to go!" Sonic whooped, punctuated by Tails zipping up the bag, "Silver, take it away!"
"Thank you all for coming," Blaze's eyes caught on the hedgehog, his expression had tightened to match the tension she'd felt in the air, "In the time since we last met up, Jet, Wave, and Storm have left the company. It doesn't seem likely their roles will be replaced. Thankfully, it sounds like they've secured new employment. We can only wish them the best and thank them for their help, enduring for so long even as things worsened," His fist clenched atop the table, it was almost as if he was giving a eulogy?! "They got lucky, they found somewhere else, but we can't assume the same will be true for us! Ivo's wanting to integrate AI more and more into our work, we know he's working on driverless transport. He won't be content until he's the only one employed, lording over a staff of robots. Now more than ever, we need to stick together!"
As whoops of agreement sounded from their coworkers, Blaze could only gawk in awe. Her comparison to funeral felt so very correct; it was as though Silver was a preacher riling up his congregation. The intensity with which he was speaking, so sincere and heartfelt, it was as if he was bearing his soul with power enough out to touch theirs. He spoke of the company as if he had seen its future first hand, as though the reality was clear as day to him. Blaze couldn't help but stare, in all their time together she had never seen this side of him... and she certainly didn't dislike it.
"I'm glad Blaze is here now, because it means I can finally tell you all the truth," Everyone's eyes leapt to the cat, what did she have to do with this?! "Without her, I wouldn't be fighting for us to do something- I wouldn't even be here. When the position Big had offered me vanished, I lost my apartment, I didn't know what I was going to do, but Blaze reached out to me. It'd been years since we'd met up in person, but she let me stay with her until I found my feet again- and it just happened to be with you guys," Of course she'd trusted him, it wasn't like he was a stranger, they'd still messaged; now all those eyes were looking at her in awe! "From the moment I rejoined, I saw how bad things had already got, and they've only gotten worse! I realised that I wasn't alone, that other people are going to struggle like I had, and we can't let that happen! We had a good company, a friendly company, until Ivo Robotnik stole it from us!"
More hollers sounded, including a whistle from Sonic, at least their attention was back on Silver. She had brought this out of him?! He hadn't ever acted like this around her, there hadn't been so much of a hint of it- he'd been drowning in panic and despair. Had he only come to this realisation in hindsight?! At least he hadn't been so foolhardy as to announce that she'd secured him his job with Rouge...
"I'm so glad that Blaze is with us now, I'm just so happy we're all together! People's job shouldn't be the most important thing in their lives, but I'm certain that by improving the company we'll make our lives so much better. No more phones listening to every word, no sensors tracking our every pause, and no more worrying about being made obsolete- we can do this!" As he took a big swig of his drink, another applause again filled the air, "That all being said, I think Rouge has something more... immediately important to say."
"Thank you, Silver," The head of client services took the centre of attention, "After much deliberation, I can confirm that one Princess Elise of Soleanna would be interested in adding a controlling stake in Green Hill Logistics to her portfolio."
Whooping sounded from all around- only one person seemed to be half as confused as the cat, Knuckles, who voiced, "A princess? How did you get an audience with a princess?!"
"Don't you know better than to ask such silly questions," Rouge brushed him off, "But interest alone is not enough. Unless Ivo is actively looking to sell, it is unlikely that she will be able to purchase a significant portion of the company- the imbalance of capital is simply too great and we certainly can't count on him to act above board," The cunning stare caught Blaze's confused gaping, "Which is exactly why we aren't," Her stare jumped to the young yellow fox, "Tails, how is Omega coming along?"
The computer wiz looked to have very almost fall asleep in his seat, "My hours have been awful, so progress has been slow. In testing, Omega doesn't care enough to spy on anyone or force recommendations into documents, but the current version has a few unfortunate quirks. It keeps calling me a meatbag, no matter how often I tell it to stop, and it won't stop talking about about how much it hates other software..." He released a loud yawn, "If we want this thing to leave us alone but really annoy Eggman, its tone needs to be more in line with Gamma- otherwise he'll know something is wrong when we swap them. In its current state, Omega would just go through all of our computers and delete every program it came across."
"That sounds good to me, we'd be back to pen and paper in no time," Sonic snorted.
Blaze could barely believe what she was hearing, were they really doing this? Not just meeting up to air their grievances and pull together, but actually fighting back against their own employer? No wonder he hadn't been flustered by her initial mention of pictures, he'd assumed both answers were a joke- that she was here for this meeting! Why hadn't Amy told her what this was, did she just assumed the cat knew?! Again Blaze caught the bat's knowing stare; did she still think she was owed a favour!?
"Needless to say then, we're still a ways from replacing our current useless AI with an even less effectual one. We should perhaps consider other methods to deal with Gamma in the meantime," Rouge summarised, "For now, our key weapon remains malicious compliance. We still need to maintain our quality of work, if we lose our clients and the company goes bust then there's no point in any of this, but its up to those of us in higher positions to cause Ivo as much strife as possible. Getting rid of us is far more difficult than drivers and assistants."
"We can still do our bit though!" Sonic grinned, before slamming down a thick wad of citations in plastic wrap, "You can get a ton of parking tickets without a problem and, unlike speeding, they won't take away your license."
"You realise you're going to have to pay all of those out of pocket," Shadow cut in, not incorrectly, "And even if Ivo was paying them, it wouldn't make a dent in his finances."
"Every little helps. Each time I get one, he has to sign off on all sorts of pointless forms. Plus, if I park somewhere really annoying, it's a bad look all around," Sonic fired back, "What exactly are you doing for the cause, Shadow?"
"I am pretending to be his non-computerised eyes and ears about the office, covering up for the actual sabotage your more competent coworkers are doing," The assistant boasted, "Not to mention wasting company time setting up bogus meetings with non-existent clients."
"Small acts can only go so far, we're running out of time," Knuckles huffed, "Like I warned you guys a couple of months ago, Eggman is looking to take on some truly awful clients. He had me present for a demonstration with a weapons manufacturer, to show that we have experience transporting high security and hazardous goods. The deal only fell apart because I intentionally made a mess of things, now I'm suspended for two weeks. He won't bring me along to do the same next time..."
"If you need cash, I'm sure I can come up with some odd jobs for you Big Red," Rouge offered, leaning into the large echidna.
Silver's fist hitting the table stole attention away from the bat's teasing, "Knuckles is right. We need to do more before this gets any worse," He turned back to look at the cat, the intensity in his eyes cut straight to her core, "Blaze, do you have any ideas?"
The cat's mind went blank, was she really expected to be more than just an observer? She supposed everyone but Cream and Marine, two interns, had contributed something- even if it was just a pile of parking tickets. Did she want to be a part of this? It felt so risky, this was so chaotic. She hadn't had time to plan or consider actions, she'd just been taking her work day by day in the hopes Ivo would give up and resell the company!
"I have been fighting Gamma to fix the schedule every week, but whenever my computer crashes it overwrites all of my edits," Blaze's mouth had moved before her mind could catch up, but she let it keep going, "Usually I'll keep trying until a version properly saves, but would it be worth me failing to fix it one Friday?" Most of the group seemed to understand the implication, but the cat still elaborated, "I could say Gamma overwrote it, I doubt that would be enough to make Robotnik give up on the program entirely, but it might give us a day free from it. It would also cause chaos across the company on Monday morning- slowing work to a standstill and showing staff at all levels just how awful the AI is, but I could have a replacement schedule sorted by midday to ensure the damage to clients and our reputation is limited."
When the others started to mull over that plan, Rouge spoke up above them, "We could make it even easier to hide, when did you last take a sick day, Blaze?"
Blaze blanched, "I don't think I ever have."
"Perfect. Without warning, take one next Friday. With you suddenly gone, and no one set up to fill your role, Eggman himself will be forced to sort the schedule," Rouge predicted, "He'll probably spend the whole day struggling with his own tech."
"No," Tails spoke up, suddenly very awake, "He'd just assume the AI was doing the job for you- he wouldn't even realise how much of a mess it was until it was too late."
"Then you get to come back and fix everything, you'd be a hero," Silver was grinning back at her, "It would once again show how important people are, at all levels of the company. Everyone would know about it."
"It's a brilliant idea!" Marine shouted, "We get the first half of Monday off! Maybe you could even stay sick till Tuesday..."
"I think a half day of panic is more than enough for all the drivers," Blaze disagreed, surely plunging herself even deeper into this nonsense.
"Then it's settled! We have a plan for next time, that's the meeting done," As Sonic tried to wrap things up, the bar's sole waiter approached with a tray of drinks and one frankly ludicrous looking hotdog, "Just in time, thank you Charmy!"
"Huh?" The bee went to uncover one of his ears but seemed to think better of it, "Oh, yeah, I'll go get you a fork."
Blaze was fairly certain she was the only one to notice what the young bee had said, everyone else was gathering up their drinks. Amy wriggled her way out of the booth and pulled out her phone, gesturing for both Blaze and Silver to get in close. While the hedgehog got on his knees to align better with the height of the others, unwilling to brave the sticky floor, Blaze just crouched against the edge of the booth. The whole group raised their glasses, the cat moved to match, trying her hardest to avoid blocking anyone as Amy attempted a group selfie.
"To the true power behind Greenhill Logistics," Rouge called out, more than a little nefariously.
"To unity amongst workers and friends," Silver more justly cheered.
"To taking down Eggman!" Sonic shouted as all the glasses met with his chilli dog.
Quickly, chaos once again took over the very loud corner of the otherwise quiet bar. A scramble for the karaoke microphones was won by Shadow and Sonic... who then proceeded to fight over what song they were going to sing. Meanwhile, Marine was trying to get Cream back on her side with promises to buy her sweet treats and Rouge was actively haggling with Knuckles regarding potential additional work.
Before the cat could be dragged into the nonsense she made for the bar and the abandoned box of cheap wine to properly refill her cup. What had she just got herself into? She had no idea her coworkers were capable of organising like this, the whole endeavour bordered on the creation of a union. Then again, perhaps their present actions were more underhanded than those of a typical true union. Would it make sense to formalise what they were doing? If they did, Blaze supposed Ivo Robotnik would crush their efforts instantaneously.
"I take it you didn't know what that meeting was supposed to be," Silver had followed her, a slightly sheepish look on his face, "Most of us aren't really big drinkers. This started as just an excuse to talk and plan without Gamma listening in on us. From there I guess it sort of naturally evolved, I had the thought we should start to fight back and the others agreed."
"That would explain why I never heard about it around the office," The cat rationalised, "You've all been very careful."
"Everything I said was true," As he said that, her gaze fell down to her drink, "You really did inspire all of this, but..." The hedgehog took her hand, pulling her gaze back to his face, "You don't have to be a part of this if you don't want to, if you felt pressured in the moment I can tell the others-
"I want to help," Blaze cut him off, "This company used to be a wonderful place to work. Too many people have lost their jobs to Ivo's useless innovations and pointless attempts to streamline. We were doing fine before he took over, Big's personal spending was his undoing rather than companywide issues," Admiration was shining in his eyes, "It may be impossible to go back to how things were, but we can at least make things better than-
A squeal to her left turned the cat's attention; Amy had evidently photographed them and was plainly incredibly proud of herself. Quickly their hands parted; his went to his still soggy quills while hers clasped around her glass. That shift in poses only prompted a few further clicks from the pink hedgehog
"Oh, Blaze! I just realised I didn't ask permission," Evidently, professionalism finally overcame the head of personnel resource's lust for photography, "Given the nature of this whole thing, are you okay with me taking your photo? I can delete the ones I've already got, it's not a problem."
"It's fine," The cat assured Amy before recalling the image that had almost tempted her to come, even prior to Rouge's coercion, "Just as long as you send me a copy of everything you take."
---
Blaze's head was ringing, her mouth was bone dry. She was still fully dressed in her work clothes despite being beneath the covers of her bed. As she blinked the sleep from her eyes, adjusting to what little light was slipping through the curtains, her gaze fell upon a tall glass of water. Oh yes, now she remembered, a certain someone must have left for her.
With a stretch and a groan, the cat took the glass and drank deeply. When she set down the two thirds empty cup, she found her phone by its side- plugged in, surely not by her. When the cat went to check the time (just after half past nine), she couldn't help but notice that she'd received a flurry of messages. She'd been added to a group chat titled The Resistance, that felt more than a little silly but not entirely inaccurate.
Scrolling up, she noticed that Amy had sent a bundle of all her photos from the night- presumedly just after getting home. As she began to flip through, the memories all came flooding back to her- the group photo after the meeting, some silly shots, and then her and Silver having that deeper conversation. Rouge with her arms around an exhausted looking Shadow and a flustered looking Knuckles, exactly where she wanted to be. Cream screaming into a karaoke microphone with all her might, letting it all out to some metal song, while Marine stared on in awe. A selfie of Amy with Rouge and Blaze pulled into a hug- the cat had been talked into putting up a peace sign after refusing to do a kissy face...
Things only got more chaotic from there. Silver setting up a colossal tower of cider cans, blissfully unaware that Marine was mid-flight on the way to drop kick it. Sonic and Shadow arm wrestling, then doing a push up contest, then doing handstands. Tails struggling to hold back a drunken Knuckles in the midst of a shadow boxing demonstration. Amy herself dancing on top of a table, whipping her jacket around her head. The staff of the bar now on the karaoke machine, including an unfamiliar looking chameleon, followed by photos of her coworkers goofing off mixing drinks themselves. So much for the group being light drinkers... were they serving other customers?
Blaze tried not to consider the legality of that, flipping faster through the photos. There were far too many pictures of Sonic in general, most of them not very good- taken when he wasn't looking. Whenever the blue blur caught Amy taking the shot, he'd pull the ugliest face imaginable. Of the lot, there were maybe one or two good candid shots and three or four decent funny faces. Naturally, the cat found herself lingering longer on the photos of herself and Silver.
The two of them at the bar, talking before the secret meeting. Her mid laugh, his eyes upon her. Both of them made to pose, her head upon his shoulder and his arm around her. The last of them was particularly goofy- Blaze riding Silver's shoulders as they walked down the street, her holding his jacket up to use as a rain cover. He'd insisted on carrying her all the way home...
A realisation dawned on the cat, she'd been granted access to the whole chat. Scrolling up, she found the picture that Amy had lingered on during their impromptu office meeting. Silver's quills were smoothed back, evidently it had been raining just a little more on that day. He still had his jacket on, making his already considerable shoulders appear just a little bit wider. He was sat at the bar, holding out a can of cider (the drink she had long known was his preference), reaching just far enough to expose she shine of a golden cuff at his wrist. Of course his face held her attention the longest, Amy had somehow captured him at his most embarrassingly handsome. Needless to say, he looked better put together than the cat had ever really seen him. Blaze saved the image on impulse, but hesitated in her phone's settings.
She rolled out of bed, glanced at her mirror, straightened her shirt, fully relieved her hair tie of its duties, and stepped out. Silver was exactly where she'd anticipated, lying on her couch with his mouth wide open in a snore. He'd managed to get the top four buttons of his shirt undone before drifting off, resulting in the fluffy at his chest being fully on display. His quills followed the tilt of his head, fully collapsed to the right with one skirting over the top of his eyelid. The sun was breaching through the curtains, scattering a line of light up his chest and across the right edge of his muzzle.
Of course Blaze couldn't help herself, just as she couldn't those months ago. She supposed this new image made a slightly better home screen than the last, she had been bold enough to take the picture from slightly closer, but that wasn't the point. Amy, Rouge, Sonic, any of their coworkers could have taken that picture of him at his best. This view of him was hers and hers alone.
The cat made for the kitchen, intending to repay all those breakfasts he'd brought her... and hopefully not awaken him with the fire alarm.
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