Need to Want

Chapter 7: Tessitura

Morning had arrived in Arch City, and the sun had made a quick impression over the citizens in the city as it rose. It had just begun peaking over the horizon; the heat disturbing people in the city from their sleep. At the castle, Blaze slowly opened her eyes and swallowed what little saliva there was in her dry mouth. Her windows were closed last night, and it made her room even hotter. She sat up in her bed and moved her thin silk purple sheets off herself as she smacked her lips. It was really hot today.

Blaze hopped out of her bed and went into her bathroom to clean herself up and get dressed. Because of her abilities, the heat did not bother her. She got thirsty, but the scorching heat did not bother her. She looked forward to seeing Sonic's reaction because she knew he might be unprepared for the sudden heat wave. So she carried on as she usually did with a stoic face, changing out of her nightclothes, calm and collected as she readied herself for the day. When she finally opened her door and left her room Sonic, and Marine looked miserable as they came out of their respective rooms. Their feet trudged on the floor as they greeted her a good morning.

Sonic and Marine's tongues hung out and Sonic wiped his forehead with the Yellow Chaos emerald in his hand. "When is the A/C coming back on?"

"Was it not on in your room while you slept?" Blaze asked curiously.

"Well, yeah it was... but it's still so hot..." Sonic said miserably.

"Give me the Emerald Sonic." Marine said, holding out her hand. Sonic obeyed, not even looking in her direction, and she put it in a new brown backpack she was wearing. Marine trailed off as she spoke "If we find anymore today… you know…"

Amusement was present on Blaze's face in the form of a cheeky smirk from the blank expressions on both of their faces. She turned to walk down the hallway. "We will eat before we leave."

Sonic pointed accusingly at her before she could walk any farther. "Hey, wait a minute. Why aren't you suffering too?"

Blaze kept her smile, glancing back at the pair. "By whatever do you mean, Sonic?"

Sonic knew it was pretty obvious that she did not at all seem fazed by the sweltering heat. But the heat made it hard for him to be as coherent as he wanted to be. "Well…" he said, looking for the right words, falling sideways to the nearest wall and fanning himself with his hand. "Look at you! You don't look hot at all…"

"Yes." Blaze said simply with a smile still on her face.

"The heat doesn't affect Blaze Sonic..." Marine said looking annoyingly at Blaze, envious of her abilities over fire that let her avoid the heat.

Sonic removed himself from the wall "Oh no fair."

"Let's just go eat…" Marine said in a grumpy tone as sweat beads rolled down the side of her face.

Marine quietly moved past Blaze and Sonic looked curious about Marine's new grumpiness. Blaze tried looking innocent. "It's just the heat talking."

Sonic then shot a look of accusation at Blaze as they began walking down the hall. He fanned himself with his hand again. "That's easy for you to say."

"Yes, I know." Blaze said still smirking.

This made Sonic chuckle, unable to argue with her teasing, and Blaze, instead of becoming stoic, did to this time. This time she did not hold herself back as she had always done; only for him. She felt comfortable in her new found presence with him after their talk last night, and she even felt it to be a strange new feeling. To be able to let herself go with the flow… to let her feelings be free…

She had never really been his open with anyone, and it made her feel cautious about stepping so far outside her usual self. As they made their way down the scorching hallway and boarded the elevator to go down to the dining hall, Blaze looked at Sonic out of the corner of her eyes. She felt a sensation build up in her stomach…