smash_logs | Unlike Sonic, I don't chuckle. I'd rather flex my muscles.

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Unlike Sonic, I don't chuckle. I'd rather flex my muscles.

Who: Knuckles and Rouge.
What: Knuckles is Gyming and gets a visitor.
Where: The Gym. Where the Gyming happens.
When: Wednesday afternoon because why not.
Warnings: Possible innuendo or what have you. I mean. It's Rouge. So...

He hadn't had any luck finding the masks.

He felt like he'd scoured every inch of the forest, every inch of the rubble that had once been half of the school, and every inch of everywhere else he could look that wasn't denied access. (He wasn't about to start going through people's dorms, for example.)

He'd even tried that weird bush-headed guy's toilet recommendation! Let me tell you, it's no fun sitting in every available stall talking loudly to yourself about how there's no toilet paper.

So, he was frustrated. World's greatest treasure hunter stumped by three masks and a giant, incoming moon.

Today, he was taking that frustration out on the punching bag, letting that thing Have It, firing on all cylinders, working through his aggression in the most mature way possible - beating the everloving snot out of something that didn't fight back.

Not the most welcoming of images. I get that. But he's still open to interruptions!

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~~Greatest treasure hunter? OHHOHO THAT'S A GOOD ONE~~

Rouge had managed to track him down. She wasn't surprised he'd be at a gym of all places. She was very familiar with his ability to punch things. He wasn't bad at it.

She quietly entered the room and sat gracefully on the edge of the bench of one of the machines, crossing her legs and wrapping her hands around her knee.

"My my my, such aggression! What's the matter, handsome? Sonic diss your intelligence again?"

~~It's canon OK! Well. Sonic says it so it must be true. Probably. Possibly.~~

"....not today." Knuckles replied, grabbing the bag and slamming it down on the gym floor. He used to be kind of unnerved by the fact that the bag had eyes. How weird was that!? But after being assured that it definitely wasn't alive, he'd warmed up to it.

"Just angry that I can't find those three stupid masks. They got stolen out from under everyone's noses and now I've wasted days looking for the stupid things with no luck. I probably oughta be sleepin', but I'm way too wound up."

He walked over to his gym bag and pulled out a bottle of water for himself. Thought about it for a moment. Then pulled one out for her, too.

Manners.

"Thirsty?"

Good job, doing the manners!

"Why, thank you~" Rouge purred, taking the water from him and setting it down beside her. She shifted her tone to a more serious one. "It's not your fault if you can't find them. Whoever took them must be pretty clever, and what with all of us coming from different worlds or dimensions, they could have hidden it anywhere."

She stopped and glanced at the sandbag. It looked tempting. She stood up and walked over to it, stroking her chin as she pondered it for a second. Bracing her footing, she swung a foot straight in its middle, sending it flying and bouncing off the walls.

"You're only one echidna," she said as she turned back to him while brushing her boot off. " ...I could help you find them. If you want." She shrugged, trying to keep an air of indifference.

Knuckles watched the bag fly off and smack into the walls. She DID have a pretty powerful kick.

"That'd be nice, and all. But I've looked everywhere short of goin' into people's dorms and I don't think I could do that. Invasion of privacy and all."

....though he was sure she wouldn't have a problem with that.

"Anyway, what about you? What have you been keeping busy with." he asked, hoping for a distraction from his annoyance over those stupid dang masks.

Well, to his credit, Knux had beaten it up pretty well already, but her kicks were very good, yes.

"You just haven't had ME helping you out yet. I'm pretty good at tracking things down, as I'm sure you know," Rouge said with confidence.

She strutted up to him, shrugging her shoulders. "Oh, the usual. Listening in on people's cell phone conversations. Gazing longingly at precious gems." She paused and considered telling him about her recent life changes. Yes, this would paint her in a good light, she was sure.

"Though I've gone straight, I'll have you know. No more stealing things. I've thrown in the towel when it comes to thievery. This bat is earning an honest living now." She smirked, side-glancing at him as she awaited his reaction.

That DID make him smile.

"I know. You mentioned that. I'm... uh. Y'know. It's good."

It was nice, actually. Without that tension present, where he was constantly guarded because she might try to take things from him, he could actually loosen up a little. No Master Emerald here for her to take, after all.

"So, what are you doin' in the gym? Come to work out?"

It worked! Well, of course it did. She was a master of manipulation and he was dense as a brick, she figured. She almost felt bad for playing with him this way. Sort of. She walked closer still, making sure to swivel her hips as much as possible.

"Not at all. I came to see you, actually. I thought, being old friends now, we should do some catching up, don't you think?" It was a stretch, claiming they were so friendly with each other, but she wanted to push the envelope.

"What about you? What drew you to this school of all places?"

"Oh, you came here to see me...?"

There was a flash of pink in his cheeks before he crossed his arms and shrugged. Geeze. Way to let something like that get to you, Knuckles.

"Master Emerald sent me here, actually. I can't even go back through the same portal Sonic uses. Well. I mean. I couldn't before that and every other way out of the city closed down. I figured the Emerald must have had a reason for sending me here, so, I tried to figure out what that reason was and settled on getting stronger by enrolling in this fighting academy."

"The Master Emerald sent you, eh? Interesting. I didn't know it was that... sentient." That gem. It never failed to surprise her. She might actually have given up her vow of no-stealy for that sucker. Alas, this sexy chump echidna was on it like white on rice. Too bad.

Rouge slid her arm through his and hugged it with pointed sympathy. Envelope, thou hath been shoved.

"Pauvre fille," she pouted. "You must be heartbroken. Or worried sick. How mature of you to keep an optimistic view on the situation. Now that the school is demolished, what do you plan to do until you can get back?"

Edited 2015-12-03 06:07 (UTC)

"It is. It.... has a mind of its own. It doesn't always communicate in ways that are easily understood, but when it needs to, it gets its point across." Knuckles confirmed. "It showed me a picture of the Island that floats above this school. When I leaned in for a closer look, it sent me there. No explanation for why, though."

Because that would have been super useful.

He definitely blushed much harder as she grabbed his arm. The contact was still a little unfamiliar, but very pleasant.

"Hey, you have to keep on keeping on, right? Mopin' about it ain't gonna get me anywhere. I spent time trying to figure out why it sent me here and as best as I can figure, it's to get stronger. To protect this place and become a better guardian. This is my home, now. This is my Island for as long as I'm stuck here, so, I better make the most of it."

He paused.

"...which means gettin' better at being around people. Learning how to deal with them and be better at being social."

What an interesting color! Ohoho!

"I can tell your efforts have paid off. You carry yourself differently. Less of a scowl, more willing to let people in."

Rouge didn't let go of his arm. She just kept talking. She was enjoying making him blush, but she didn't want him to overheat and die or something exaggerated like that.

She whispered in his ear ("ear"). "I like it."

He has ears! They're hidden under his dreadlocks. Some... where...

As she whispered into it, he squeaked. Yes, squeaked. That's the only word for it. It was highly irregular. Not a noise he'd ever made before, to his recollection.

"O-oh. Um. I'm... glad you do. I... uh."

His brain was literally two pounds of warm mush between his hard to spot ears.

Rouge burst out into giggles. She couldn't hold back her amusement anymore. Her act had been more successful than she'd anticipated, and it tickled her pink. She still had her edge!

"PFffffahahaha!! Oh, sweetheart. You're too precious." She turned away from him and stretched her arms. "In some ways, you haven't changed a bit. Even with the world's end looming, there are still some things that never change." ~~You're still so easy to manipulate. But here, have a lack of explanation for you to possibly brood over.~~

Oh. So. She was just messing with him.

He probably should have been mad - he didn't relish being made a fool of and it happened a little more often than he'd like. It seemed like a pastime for most of his friends from home. And it usually pissed him off something terrible.

But her comment struck him dead center in the chest. Yeah. The world was ending. Maybe. Probably. And there were ways in which he'd grown and ways in which he hadn't. His temper hadn't really gone anywhere and maybe it was time for that to change, even if they only had a little time left.

"Yeah. Well. Whatever. I'm done with beatin' up this sandbag for the day. You wanna... get coffee or somethin'?"

There. That was kind of non-committal and stuff, right? If she said 'pfft haha no' he could just be all like 'so what who cares more for me anyway'. But if she said 'Yeah, sure' then that was... good? Right?

~~Rouge you're such a bitch~~

Rouge noticed his shift in mood. Oops, maybe that wasn't the best notion to bring up. This is one of those things that happen when you play with people's feelings: they get hurt. She was still getting used to her newfound awareness and wasn't pleased with all the guilt it caused. Damn it.

"Sure. It beats bottled water and the smell of man-sweat." She shrugged and motioned to the gym walls. There. Picking up and heading into Niceville made her feel better for the time being.

"What? The Gym stinks, just like Echidnas do?"

He shot her a smirk. Hey, no hard feelings. It wasn't as though Knuckles wasn't used to her somewhat caustic wit. And her reaction to his reaction was a little more somber than he'd expected. He'd assumed she'd just keep teasing. But she didn't.

So, he'd play it where it fell.

"Let me guess... you like fancy coffee, right? Mocha frappe chai latte cappuccino?"

And he could give as good as he got, when he wanted to.

Rouge returned the smirk. She was grateful he hadn't taken her jabs to heart.

"No. I honestly don't really care about coffee. I was just going along with it so I could get away from the smell!" She chuckled. She was planning on just getting a hot chocolate to combat the cold weather, but since he brought it up, she figured she'd might as well be honest about it.

"Well, I sure care about it. Stayin' up late to find masks hasn't done my sleep schedule any favors." he commented, opening the door for her.

"I like it real simple. Black, unsweetened. And the gym doesn't smell THAT bad, does it?" he asked, nose twitching a little.

"Interesting. I didn't know you were an echidna of such good taste!" Rouge raised her eyebrows, quite impressed, while she walked out the door.

She shrugged at his comment. "It's... obnoxious. A little too 'ripe' for my liking. But then again, I have nothing against the scent of a man worked into a sexy sweat." She, yet again, grinned seductively at him. This is essentially Rouge's default expression, but it's cranked up to 11 in Knuckles' case.

"Heh. OK."

She had nothing against a man worked into a Sexy Sweat. He'd keep that in mind. (Oh man that Smile...)

He started towards the school gates. From there, they could head to the coffee shop nearest to town.

"I didn't have coffee on the Island, obviously, so it's somethin' I've learned about since coming here. Like protein powder and jello cups, I dunno how I ever lived without 'em."

It was a chilly night, and she shivered as the cold air engulfed her skin. Yeah, wearing what she wears in late Autumn isn't always fun.

"Mmmn. You wanna get there quicker?" she asked, ignoring whatever dribble he was saying about food or... something as equally uninteresting. She hopped onto the wall of the building, latching onto it and glancing at him over her shoulder.

"Come on, big red. You can glide, can't you? What do you see we skip the scenic route and play acrobat for a while?"

"...now you're talkin'!" He replied, jumping at the wall and climbing it till they were hung there, shoulder to shoulder.

"You want to race, right? That's what this is?"

Because he Got that. He Got racing. He liked competition. There was nothing to be self conscious about, nothing to worry over beyond winning. He could Do that.

Well, that revved him up quite well, didn't it?

"I was just going to allow you to escort me on a romantic romp around the rooftops, but if you think you can beat me going ANYWHERE, you've got another thing coming!"

Rouge booped him on the nose.

"First to the nearest coffee shop wins. Ready? 3... 2..." And boom, she was skittering up the wall like a frickin' spider monkey. She didn't even wait until she finished saying the word "two." Give Rouge an advantage and she'll use it.

"Hey!" He called, noticing how she definitely did not wait until she was done counting.

Well. That was fine - He wasn't going to get his socks in a bunch over it. He just doubled his own efforts, climbing as quick as he could.

"See you there, Rouge!" he said, passing her by and then jumping for the long glide to the coffee shop. It was a cold day, so, he had no thermals to glide on and he hoped that wasn't going to let him down in the end. Unlike her wings, his dreadlocks could not flap to gain him extra height.

Unfortunately for Rouge, while she did have the advantage of being able to fly, Knuckles was a faster glider than she was. She'll have to use her nimble bat reflexes to beat him there!

"I'll see you... Hup!..." She ran and jumped a building, gliding over to an adjacent rooftop. "...when I... hup!..." jumping to another roof... "win and introduce... hah!..." a glide to another, "...you to... *pant pant* yah!..." jump, gliiiiiide, "new levels of humiliation!"

With her crafty maneuvers and tactical use of wind currents, she'd managed to gain a lead on him.

He put his hands closer together and drew in his dreadlocks a little. A calculated risk - it increased his speed, but caused him to drop altitude quicker.

"....you know if this was a foot race, ya wouldn't even stand a chance, right?" he called back to her as he managed to edge in on the lead by a nose.

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Unlike Sonic, I don't chuckle. I'd rather flex my muscles.

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jkldas super cute icon.

thanks! glad I could finally use it :D

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