Spun Sugar Entremet

With a rush of crisp autumn air, Sonic launched over the coping of the half-pipe, azure quills splaying outward as gravity lost track of the speedster. The red boots of his inline skates glinted in the bright early afternoon light as he reached down for a grab. Sonic twirled a full rotation, massive smile spread wide across his face, and reentered the half pipe backwards. He winked at Amy as he pumped down the transition to regain speed and zipped up the other side. Amy’s camera drank up every frame.

Today, Amy was sporting her mirrorless camera. Lighter weight than her DSLR (newer, too), it also had faster autofocusing, allowing it to follow Sonic about as fast as Amy’s eye could. The shorter battery life was a bummer, but this afternoon being for fun rather than a gig meant Amy wasn’t stressing about that for once.

Cresting the opposite coping and facing away from it, Sonic twisted in the air. He landed on edge in a grind, his forward skate perpendicular and his back parallel, sliding along balanced on its soulplate. He threw up a quick round of finger guns across the pipe towards Amy’s lens before dropping down again. A few seconds later, he popped on her side again and landed onto table, bending his legs to eat up his momentum.

Straightening, he grinned, panting heavily, “You get all that?” He pushed a forearm back and over his head, smoothing down his unruly, wind tussled quills.

Lowering her camera, Amy sucked air through her teeth. “Oh, yeah about that. I’m all out of film. Sorry!” She gave him a teasing smirk.

Sonic blew a raspberry at her and Amy laughed. “Come on, come on, Ames. Let me see!” He rolled towards her.

“Okay, okay. You’re so impatient.” Amy unlooped the camera strap from her neck and navigated to the recent captures. Even as Sonic took the fragile device in both hands, she kept one of hers protectively gripping the strap. Replacing the camera would cost far more than what she had in her bank account.

“Jeeze, Amy, I’m not going to drop it.” Sonic’s brow raised like he was rolling his eyes, but his irises were locked on the small screen.

“Famous last words.” Amy replied. “I can’t afford to let you drop it, mister.” She’d begged and borrowed enough from her parents to afford her equipment. She claimed she would pay them back, but the promissory note had several years of interest accrued so far.

Sonic’s thumb rapidly tapped through the images as fast as they could load, effectively making a video out of the thirty shots per second the camera had produced of his run. “Nice!” Sonic piled accolades on himself as he perused the album. “Sick! Damn, these are good, Amy.” Amy was used to receiving Sonic’s praise.

In her darker moments, she suspected he was leading her on, trying to artificially bolster her confidence. However, Sonic had never dimmed in his enthusiasm, so she just ended up feeling guilty of falsely accusing him of duplicity, even if just in her thoughts. Sonic could tell a fib on occasion, but he just wasn’t wired for a long-term lie. Amy on the other hand…

Reaching the end, Sonic returned the camera to Amy. “Great work as always, Ames!” His green eyes shone. “I can’t pick a favorite. I love ‘em all!” He gave her a thumbs up.

“Are you going to go again?” She asked, replacing the strap around her neck.

“Yeah, just gimmie-!” Sonic stopped midsentence, his eyes darting over Amy’s shoulder. For a moment, his face relaxed, smile dimed slightly, gaze focused away. Then all at once, his ear perked, a big dopey grin split his muzzle, and a slight blush colored his cheeks. “Silver.” He mumbled. Amy couldn’t help but smile as well, watching how smitten Sonic was.

She turned and spotted two new arrivals standing outside the fence of the skate park. A lanky hedgehog with an off-white coloration with a light purple cat beside him. So, this was the hedgehog Sonic couldn’t stop talking about the past few weeks.

“Okay, Ames,” Amy turned back to Sonic, “Real quick. I met Silver on an app, okay? Ixnay on the whole work meet cute, okay?” He implored.

Amy’s mouth quirked incredulously. “What?” She leaned down to grab her camera bag and skate bag, shouldering both.

Without asking permission, Sonic took the skate back from her and slung it across his chest. Amy didn’t resist the show of chivalry. “Look, Silver’s roommate doesn’t know we met at work and it’ll be a whole thing, so can, like, just do this one thing for me?”

“Sonic…” Amy groaned as they decided the stairs of the halfpipe.

“Come on, Amy. I don’t want to ruin it with Silver on our first date.”

Amy sighed. He better stay far away from Silver’s roommate. Sonic had a bad case of vomit of the mouth. “Which app?” She asked.

“What?” Really?

Amy rolled her eyes. They both stopped as a trio of teenagers rushed past on trick scooters. “Which app did you meet on?” She turned to him.

Sonic stopped to think, but Amy kept walking. He caught up quickly, zipping by and leaping to grind on a round rail. He hopped halfway along, twisting to face her. “I dunno, it doesn’t matter. Rutter, I guess?” Sonic shrugged as he dropped off the end of the rail.

“Isn’t that a hook up app?” Amy crossed her arms.

“Shit!” Sonic braked to a stop. “I mean, one of the other ones.”

Amy lowered her voice as they approached Silver and his companion. “Does he know which app to lie about?”

Sonic began skating backwards beside her. His brow furrowed. “Damn it, Amy, cut me some slack!” Sonic threw up his arms.

“Cut you slack about what?” The cat beside the greyish hedgehog asked and Sonic jumped and turned. The cat raised a brow, giving Sonic an unamused look through the chain linked fence separating the concrete tricks area from the rest of the riverside park.

“Don’t worry about it.” Sonic said absently as he looked at Silver. “Hey.” The blue hedgehog managed.

Silver grinned back. “Hey.” He was bundling well against the cold by a light brown felted coat and a bright teal scarf wrapped around his neck. He sported a luscious head of quills, five anterior fronds flaring back over his head with long dorsal sets trailing down his back. Thin in a way that made him seem taller than he was, if Amy didn’t know any better (and she certainly did), she’d describe Silver as handsome. Though she wasn’t sure how much of that feeling was due to antiquated notions regarding hedgehog fur tonality.

When neither boy seemed interested in doing anything other than stare at each other silently, the cat gently coughed. She wore an especially fashionable wool pea coat a slightly darker shade than her fur with thickly feathered cuffs. Her companion started. “Sorry.” Silver apologized meekly. “This is Blaze, my roommate.” He said, motioning at her.

“Nice to meet you.” Her voice was deep and mature. Golden colored eyes considered him, taking in every inch of Sonic in minute detail. Sonic seemed oblivious to the scrutiny, but Amy wasn’t. She did not begrudge the cat her caution. “Silver hardly stops talking about you, Sonic.”

“B-blaze,” Silver looked away, a blush very apparent on his pale muzzle, “That’s not true.”

Sonic seemed to achieve even new heights of excitement. “Really?” He reached forward and gripped the braided wire separating them. Behind him, his tail wagged up and down eagerly. Amy had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from *awww!*ing. Instead, she jabbed him gently with her elbow. “And this is Amy!” Sonic was much more animated with his presenting flourish.

“Hello!” Amy waved.

“That is a very impressive camera you’ve got there.” Blaze commented, gesturing to the device hanging from Amy’s neck.

“Thank you!” Amy gingerly lifted it slightly, “I’m a professional photographer.”

“Wow, that’s cool.” Silver grinned, but his attention immediately pivoted back to Sonic. “You didn’t tell me you skated. Do you know any tricks?”

Sonic’s eyes fell half-lidded as his dopey grin turned into a smug smirk. “I know tons of tricks. Come on in, I’ll show you.”

Amy and Sonic followed Silver and Blaze as they circled the skate park to the entrance. Unhappy with the pace of progress, Sonic zipped ahead, peeling through the gap in the fence to backtrack to Silver. The male hedgehogs laced fingers and Sonic pulled Silver forward. “Oh gosh, slow down!” Silver protest was blunted by the laughter that shook every word.

“Eager, isn’t he?” Blaze commented dryly, finally reaching the entrance to the skate park herself.

Amy giggled. “That’s Sonic for you. He lives life on fast forward.” She retrieved the skate bag Sonic had abandoned by the entrance. “It’s charming when it’s not infuriating.” She grinned.

Blaze chuckled, mutedly. Silver watched as Sonic rolled around the deep bowl from the edge of the empty swimming pool-like structure the park featured. Blaze and Amy found an unused curb to sit on. The raised, elongated concrete block with a metal border around the top edge was great for slides and grinds, and, as it happened, doubled well as a bench.

They’d just settled when Sonic rolled over, pulling his maroon hoodie off over his head, messing his quills up further. He tossed it to Amy, who gave him a displeased stare, but bundled it up into her skate bag nonetheless. “You’ve got quite the flair, there.” Blaze commented.

Sonic grinned. “Oh, those were nothing. Amy’s kinda my official, unofficial camera guy. Uh, girl. Shit, I mean, uh, anyway, she could show you some of my sickest runs.” Sonic shot Blaze with finger guns.

Blaze smiled politely. “Maybe later.”

“That was awesome!” Silver exclaimed, coming up beside Sonic so close they brushed shoulders. Amy noted Sonic leaning into the touch. “Did you see him spin? I could never!”

Sonic flicked his thumb across his nose. “Don’t sell yourself short. I bet you could start catching air today.”

Silver frowned, turning to face Sonic fearfully and shaking his hands in a warding off motion. “Oh gosh, no way. I’ve never skated before.”

Sonic rolled closer to Silver, leaning towards him. “I could teach you.”

Amy heard Blaze making an unimpressed *uh-huh…*and glanced over to see the cat drilling into Sonic with a pointed stink-eye. Amy moved mountains to stifle her desire to laugh.

“Really?” Silver brightened.

“What a lovely offer, but I don’t see a rental establishment and sadly, we didn’t bring skates with us.” Blaze sounded mildly annoyed.

“That’s okay.” Amy broke in, winking at Sonic. “I brought my quads.” She dug in her skate bag and produced a pair of traditional roller skates. “I hope you don’t mind that they’re pink.” Bright pink. Eye wateringly, neon pink. The same pair she’d been using for years, having gotten them back when she didn’t mind to draw attention to herself.

Without missing a beat, Silver answered, “Not at all.” He took the offered skates, but then frowned and looked down at Amy’s boots. “I don’t think they’ll fit me though.” His ears wilted.

“Naw, you’re all good!” Sonic exclaimed. “I, uh,” He rubbed the back of his neck, “checked…”

Blaze snorted. She raised her hands in surrender. “Well, have fun, then I guess.”

“Don’t worry, we will!” Sonic pushed Silver down on the curb beside Blaze and knelt to help him get the bright pink skates on.

Silver let Sonic handle him like a doll. The blue hedgehog had the grace, in his haste to get Silver’s boots off, to pull up the cuff of Silver’s sock when his boot threatened to take along for the ride. “These look a lot different than yours, though.”

Sonic slipped on the first skate. “Well, duh, man. Mine are aggressive, but you don’t want to start with those. Learning curve or something, you know.”

“Aggressive?” Blaze asked, brow arching.

“Sounds, uh, violent.” Silver chuckled nervously. He squeaked as Sonic jammed the second skate on a little roughly. Sonic laid his ears back and mumbled a soft apology.

“It just means they’re designed for tricks.” Amy explained. “The wheels are smaller, and the soul is really reinforced for grinds. And the cuff is really hard like a ski boot so Sonic doesn’t snap his ankles like twigs.”

“Har har, like that’s ever gonna happen.” Sonic quipped as he laced the skates. A tip of pink poked out between his front teeth as he concentrated.

Sonic pulled Silver up and the lighter colored hedgehog wobbled and cried out. “Be careful!” Blaze scolded, rising to her feet to steady Silver.

“We will be, mom.” Sonic stuck his tongue out at Blaze, who bristled at the afront, the hair on her tail poofing out. “Kay, thanx, bai!” He took both of Silver’s hands in his, pulling him away.

Blaze sat back down in a huff and Amy couldn’t stifle her giggles anymore. “I promise Silver’s in good hands.” She managed to assure the protective purple cat. “Sonic is a goof, but he knows what he’s doing, believe it or not.”

“Sonic, slow down!” Silver was ridged as a board as he was dragged away, Sonic skating backwards to navigate them to a flat part of the park.

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Blaze sighed. Then she chuckled, “Expertly done. Bravo.”

“Huh?” Amy feigned innocence.

“It’s rather convenient that you happened to bring an extra set of skates.” Blaze side eyed Amy, but the cat grinned knowingly, breaking the tension.

Amy laughed. “To be fair, me and Silver having the same shoe size was pure coincidence. It was fated.”

The pair watched Sonic skate lazy circles around Silver as the lighter hedgehog windmilled his arms, attempting to maintain his balance, despite remaining stationary. Every time Silver started to tip over, Sonic was there in an instant, gently pushing Silver back onto his feet.

Time to fulfill her role as roommate interference. “So,” Amy began, trying to make small talk, “What is it you do?”

Blaze crossed her legs. “I’m in-house counsel for a pharmaceutical company.”

Amy’s brows flew up, but, luckily, Blaze’s attention was still on the menfolk. Well, that explained Sonic’s request. “Silver works for a drug company, too. Is it the same one?”

“Yes.” Blaze grimaced. “I’m technically Silver’s boss’ boss. But that’s just when Silver’s on the clock.” Yes, Sonic wasn’t joking earlier. Him and Silver dating was a clear conflict of interest, one, if not disclosed quickly, was probably going to get them both fired…but it wasn’t Amy’s place to tell Sonic what to do. Now, she’d still tease him about it, though. And be there to commiserate while he whined once the whole situation blew up in his face.

A chime issued from Blaze’s pocket, and she retrieved her phone. “Speaking of work.”

“You have to work on the weekends?” Amy asked.

“I work the same hours as my boss. Which happens to be all hours.” She snorted. Blaze thumbed the security lock off her phone and angled it away from Amy. Amy looked away. Sonic was in the center now, with Silver slowly rolling a circle around him, their hands connecting them.

“Is that your boss now?” Amy asked absently. She raised her camera, zooming and capturing a few shots of Sonic and Silver. The unbridled happiness on Sonic’s face was heartwarming. Amy felt the corners of her own mouth rising. Silver wore a mask of ghostly panic.

“It sure is. We’ve got a project that keeps growing more and more legs.” She groaned. “And, simultaneously, the PR team is having a fit over some new media story. If I have to explain the difference between libel and slander again, so help me…” Blaze let the threat trail off.

“Oof, that sounds frustrating.” Amy sympathized as she watched Sonic slowly push Silver slightly up a gentle slope and then release him. Silver looked like a statue as he rolled back down. Then Amy heard something like I don’t know how to stop! and giggled as Sonic launched after him. Amy took more pictures.

“Comes with the territory, I’m afraid. You don’t survive law school without a high tolerance for enduring the anxieties of others.” Blaze put her phone away. “But enough about me. Sonic said you do action shots for him? Can I see?”

“Oh, sure!” Amy took her camera strap off over her head and navigated to the pictures she’d captured earlier. She handed the camera to Blaze, who began to look through them intently. “I’ve got more on my Promptagram account. Let me pull it up.” Amy fished in her camera bag for her phone.

Amy thumbed on her phone and saw a notification from her dating app. Barry had sent her a message. I got a plus one invite to this single launch party for an artist I did some editing work for. Want to come? I don’t really like going alone, but if you come it could be really fun! No worries if not though, just thought I’d toss it out there. Amy’s fingers hovered over the keyboard, unsure how she wanted to reply.

She and the rusty red quokka had been messaging consistently for a while now, but hadn’t yet met in person. They had been so sweet so far and not pushy at all, allowing Amy to set the pace of their exchanges. Should their first impressions be at a party, though? It certainly wasn’t the type of event that Amy normally attended…at least not as a guest.

“These are…” Blaze’s voice snapped Amy out of her thoughts, “Really good.” Blaze commented, as if surprised.

Amy chuckled, trying to choose to be happy about the complement rather than annoyed at what it implied. “Well, Sonic’s always been an adrenaline junky, but he’s been practicing for years.”

“No, I mean- Well, yes. He’s really impressive. But what I meant was your photography. You’re really good.” Blaze held up the camera, the viewer showing Sonic mid grab in the air. “These are raws, too, right?”

“Sure are.” She brought up her Promptagram profile, which she used as a portfolio of all of her best work. “Here’s my other stuff.” Amy exchanged her phone for her camera.

Blaze’s eyes lit up as she scrolled through Amy’s portfolio. “You don’t just do sports shots.”

Amy chuckled. “No, I’ll shoot just about anything. I’ve even done some crime scene shots before.”

Blaze looked up suddenly, brow pinching. “Oh, nothing crazy. It was just a break and enter larceny case.” Blaze relaxed and returned to scrolling. Amy continued to explain, “The client thought the police would be useless, so they hired a private investigator who brought me in.”

“Did they catch the thieves?” Blaze didn’t look up, engrossed with Amy’s pictures.

“Sure did!” Vector had been pleased as punch. One of Amy’s shots of the crime scene had caught a tiny strand of fiber caught on the splintered shards of a broken chair leg. The little bit of evidence had led to a whole cascade of clues, leading eventually to the culprit: the client’s nephew.

“You do weddings?” Blaze’s tone suddenly contained a strand of excitement.

“Of course!” Amy laughed. “I love doing weddings. They’re so fun!” She lied. No one gave her more grief about her composition and shot angles than brides. “Here, let me show you.” Her finger expertly navigated her profile as Blaze held Amy’s phone. “If you happen to know anyone in the market for some freelance photography, I’ve got some openings coming up.” For once, she wasn’t bullshitting. Between shoots for Rouge and the increasingly strange job of watching Liam, Amy was actually busy for the first time in her career.

Blaze nodded slowly, but her eyes were lit, devouring the shots from a small wedding Amy had worked last year. “I just might know someone.” Blaze turned to her, her golden colored eyes almost hungry. “Do you have a card?”

“Oh, sure!” Amy leaned down, digging through her camera bag. Shit! Where were her business cards? Who even asked for business cards anymore? Whatever. Didn’t matter. Amy had had them printed years ago and barely handed out any. There!

Amy straightened and held out a card that was worn around the edges. “Sorry, it’s a little beat up. Normally people just reach out via my socials.”

Blaze took the card and looked at the front and back. “I don’t have a Prompatogram account. Thank you.” Blaze held up the card and then slipped it into the pocket of her coat. “I mean it, really.”

“Of course! Feel free to rea-“ Amy froze as she caught a flash of green from the corner of her eye and her head snapped around. “Oh no.” She breathed. Blaze hummed in confusion, her brow furrowing. “That’s not good.”

“Well as I live and breathe,” A shrill voice called over the concrete, the green hawk dismounting his skateboard and toeing it into his hands. “Is that Sonic Hedgehog I see? How are you doing, faggot?”