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Amy sighed as she walked down the stone pathway to her cottage, slightly limping from the battle she’d just come back from. If she’d expected anything more than a simple grocery store trip, she would’ve prepared more thoroughly for the fight, notably by bringing her Piko Piko Hammer and dressing in better clothing for combat, but she couldn’t dwell on her motor oil stained shirtdress or her grocery-free hands for too long without being interrupted by a surging pain in her ribs as she tried to stretch herself up. She hunched over and cursed softly, pulling out her keys to unlock the door, only for it to open on its own, her metallic boyfriend on the other side. She immediately shifted her expression from one of annoyance to a grin to attempt to soften the way his red eyes widened in shock, but that did little to stop him from hurriedly picking her up like she weighed nothing and carrying her over to their couch as he took out their first aid kit. She peeled off her dress, throwing it to the side, and put on the T-shirt Metal offered her.
“You didn’t bring groceries.” the robot stated curtly, more to himself than to her as he unscrewed the cap of a brown peroxide bottle. He pressed a saturated cotton ball onto a wound on her wrist and Amy failed to stifle the resulting howl in pain. He quickly jerked the ball away from her arm, but she sharply exhaled and put her arm out again for him to inspect it. Carefully, he continued to clean as she bit her nail sheepishly.
“Gee, thanks, you think I didn’t notice?” she replied sarcastically as she tried not to chew through her fingernail. Rouge had painted all ten a nice coral the other day, and while the bat would definitely kill her the next time she saw her for getting them chipped during the fight, if they were bitten to stubs like they usually were, well, Amy didn’t want to think about the hell that’d break loose. “There was a whole robot situation down there while I was looking for carrots, no one got hurt, but- Ow! Metal, ow, ouch, that hurts- Oh, yeah, I also didn’t have my hammer, but I managed to find this piece of metal, and- Ouch, ouch, ow-!” Amy opened her eyes, not even noticing she’d squeezed them shut, to see Metal roll his eyes at her and put the cotton back on the wound, more gingerly this time. She pouted at him and silently seethed until he threw the bloodied cotton ball into the garbage beside him and went to grab some gauze.
“I should have gone with you.” He decided, unrolling a roll of gauze until he judged it was of adequate length and ripped off a piece with his fingers. “The last time you got ambushed, you didn’t get hurt. I was there.”
“Metal, it was just a grocery store trip, besides, on that day, didn’t you…” She trailed off.
“Cause ‘major property damage’, yes, Rose, I remember.” The robot made rabbit ears with one of his hands and bent his two fingers to simulate quotes. Amy had no idea where he’d picked up on that gesture, but she had a feeling it was the same place he’d gotten his apathy for destroying private property… Specifically the mayor’s house. “You still came back unscathed.” Metal applied the surgical tape to the wrapping around Amy’s wrist, and she flexed it a bit, sharply inhaling a little when she felt a low ache near her shoulder.
“I just don’t think the world’s ready for you just yet Metal, y’know? It took weeks for Cream to stop looking at you funny for Chao-napping Chocola and Cheese, like, years ago. I think keeping a low profile for a while would be best…” She said, attempting to get up off the couch, but Metal stopped her, Amy pouting at that.
“Amy, you should rest. Please allow me to take care of you.” He insisted.
“C’mon, you don’t need to do that, I’m fine, see?” She jumped up, intending to do a couple pushups on the spot as proof, but the pain in her ribs came back and she crumpled. Metal stared at her, his expression not changing, and she smiled sheepishly, putting up a weak thumbs up, until she saw his arms cross and eyes roll. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Alright… Fine. That doesn’t sound too bad, but I’ll be up on my feet before you know it!" She laid back on the couch, crossing her arms.
Amy, unknowingly, found herself dozing off after that. Metal shifted her arm so her pulled shoulder wouldn’t be disturbed, and put a pillow under her neck to support it. She hadn’t even noticed how heavy her head felt on her shoulders before she rested her back against the couch, and before she knew it, she’d fallen asleep. When she awoke, it was to the smell of something nostalgic, vegetable soup on the coffee table, and the sound of a movie playing in the background.
Oh, and the sight of Metal, right beside her on the couch, his damned red eyes piercing into her very soul, watching her intently.
Her eyes, which were only peeking at her living room, shot open and she yelped a little at the sight.
“Oh, you are awake. I apologize if I startled you. You looked peaceful and I was waiting for you to wake.” He said, looking less scary. She looked past him at the television, where some rom-com was playing. Seemed to be a cheesy one, too, the two identical looking main heart-throbs were confessing their undying love to the protagonist. Oh, whichever could she choose?
“Mmmnph… Sorry, Metal, was just surprised. What’s on TV?” She stretched the best she could, being mindful of her battered body this time, and yawned a little.
“I stopped paying attention long ago, some human drama. I was cooking in the meantime.” He moved the bowl on the coffee table over beside her, large chunks of vegetables floating in the soup. Despite Metal usually doing things methodically, like, for lack of a better word, a machine, the vegetables were cut into large chunks, similar to how Amy made soup around him. She blushed a little at the thought of Metal watching her and copying her to a T like that, even the way she hastily cut carrots, but then she looked at the kitchen, confused, because she was convinced they’d run out of them. She spotted two large paper bags and her wallet on the counter, and realized Metal must’ve gone to the grocery store for her while she was asleep. ‘So much for keeping a low profile…’ she’d thought, but the gesture was nice. How long had she been asleep if he got so much stuff, though?
She turned her attention back to Metal, and he had lifted up a spoon with some soup and moved it close to her, looking at her expectedly. When he was met with confusion, he pointed at his "mouth" with his left hand. Her face flushed a little bit, and she was about to explain that it’s not really socially acceptable to spoon feed people without asking, but she sighed and opened her mouth as he happily fed her. She’d remembered “not socially acceptable” meant “shouldn’t do this to anyone else, but Amy probably likes it” to Metal, which, in his defence, that was usually the case even if she didn’t want to admit it.
After she’d slurped up all the soup, he laid her back onto the couch and got her a blanket, draping it over her body. Amy began to feel tired again, for whatever reason, and squeezed herself next to Metal. She shared the blanket with him, and he didn’t seem to react other than carefully putting his right arm around her, which was fine by her. She yawned, trying to watch the movie, but it wasn’t making much sense to her. The woman in the movie picked the man with a freckle near his right eyebrow instead of the guy who had a single dimple when he smiled, and it seemed like they were married now, but they threw around pet names like they were still in highschool. “Babe” and “darling” made sense, but what the heck was “pumpkin sugarmuffin”? Amy turned to Metal, about to make a sarcastic quip about the movie, but she saw him staring at the TV attentively, like he usually did when Amy was talking about her day, or when Tails was telling him what a swear word he heard in public meant. She’d also noticed there was some sort of residue on his face, and when she moved her hand up to pick at it, he snapped out of his haze.
“I polished myself before you came home. You like it when I do that.” He said, wiping his face inelegantly with the blanket.
“I do like it when you do that. You look nice.” She replied, and she rubbed him behind the ears. Metal jerked unceremoniously at that, producing a few approving beeps in surprise, but he quickly switched back to his vocal synthesizer, making a noise like he was clearing his throat. Amy, amused at the reaction, smoothed her hand over his cheek and smiled, and Metal returned a few embarrassed chirps again as he leaned into her hand. The “petting” continued, though it was more like Amy ruining the work Metal did polishing himself because she wanted to touch him, and at one point he did something akin to purring, where his entire body vibrated low. He’d abruptly stopped once he realized what he was doing, like he was confused, and Amy thought it was sort of endearing, even though Metal seemed horrified at how his body was reacting.
Amy didn't know how, but eventually, she'd drifted off to sleep without even noticing again, but this time, when she woke up, she'd somehow ended up in her room, on her bed. Metal must've carried her all the way upstairs, huh? She faced her closet, which had her noticeably motor oil free shirtdress hung up, and silently thanked her partner for everything today. Wondering where he was, she turned her body over, careful to not rub a tender bruise on her side too hard, to see him on the bed too, far, far away from her.
"Metal?" She asked in the dark, a little too loud. "I can see your eyes glowing, come here, please."
"Amy, you are hurt. I can't. If I touch you with my body, with my… Hands…" the vocal synthesizer crackled a little bit as Metal trailed off, not finishing his sentence. "Please go back to sleep."
So it was one of those nights for Metal, huh? Amy inched closer to the metal body.
"I don't care, you won't hurt me, I know it." She wrapped her arms around him and he trembled, even if it was just for a minute. He stilled as she held his hands, clenched fists loosening just for her. Lacing her fingers in between his sharp ones, he relaxed slightly. "See? I know you can be gentle. So turn around for me? Please?"
"I'm sorry." Metal said, as he slowly dimmed his eyes from where he lay opposite to her, and finally turned to face her.
"You need to understand you're not just a weapon anymore, Metal. Your body was built to destroy someone, but that's not you. I don't care if you're sharp, smooth, whatever. You're you, and like, I really want to cuddle you right now," Half of what she said was muffled into Metal's chest as she pressed kisses into him, but he made out enough anyway. "You understand?"
"Y-Yes," he somehow stammered out. Amy wasn't even sure his voice module was able to stutter, she didn't think it was. He was clearly flustered, but managed to wrap his arms around her. He buzzed a little when she shifted up to kiss his muzzle where his mouth would be, satisfied.
"Goodnight Metal, I love you." she said.
"I love you too…" he paused, not sure what to say. He definitely wasn't just going to leave it at that. He cleared his throat, contemplating what he should end it with. "Sweetheart." he'd decided, and Amy finally realized why he paid so much attention to that garbage movie they watched earlier.
"Oh, you're such a dork, Metal, you know that?"
"You keep calling me that word, I don't know what it means."
Metal wouldn't get an answer that night, because for the third time, Amy had fallen asleep.