King Max paced the floor before his throne. Sally stood in front of him, arms crossed and frustration clearly present on her face; the two had been through this before: an argument of whether Sally and her beau, as her father called him, should get married and start on continuing the royal bloodline, then the mentioning of Sonic’s known infidelity, or as Sonic called it, “experimentation”. Sally hadn’t questioned it but wondered why he was “experimenting” with other women while he did enough in his earlier days, according to his previous girlfriends. As for men, few took a stand and proclaimed their sexual history with the hero, though even fewer were believed and left unharmed from the absurd proclamation. Sally hadn’t believed them at first, but the more nervous Sonic became at the thought of more men stepping forward, the more suspicious she got.
She had asked him about it once, a single time, and he had freaked out on her and ran out on her. Of course, she hadn’t asked at the right time either; being asked about your assumed homosexual background in the middle of heterosexual sex did put a bit of a damper on the mood. He had even held a grudge a few weeks later on.
[flashback]
“So, Sonic, about the gay thing—“
“Don’t worry ‘bout it, Sal. It’s cool.” Sally was dumbfounded. She hadn’t expected Sonic to get over the insult so quickly.
“You sure?” Sonic’s smile quickly shifted into a frown.
“Of course not, Sal! Do you know how inappropriate that was! I was and still am embarrassed to hell! Me? Gay? The heroic ladies’ man? Are you serious?” He huffed and Sally could feel how his anger had compressed into hot air. “I can’t believe you!”
Then again Sally knew Sonic well enough to know he never fully got over anything.
[flashback over]
That had been over two years ago, early on in their relationship and soon after King Max had started suggested marriage. As the years increased, so did the King’s passion to marry off his daughter and the public’s negative towards the men who came forward. She understood; if someone came between the royal daughter and her hero boyfriend, they had to be taken down, no matter what they had done. Marrying power with more power cemented the royal family’s stay and lessened the possibilities of riots and conquerors, King Max had said to Sally when she was young, and along with that came even more power. If the hero went and ran off with someone else, the public was more likely to go with the hero. Sally didn’t know if her beau had any opinion that harshly differentiated from her father’s but if he did, he never voiced them.
And now here she and her father were, still fighting on whether to marry power with more power. “Sally… I think it’s time the two of you married.”
“You know how he feels about that, dad.”
“Oh, yes…” He grimaced and then, “Experimenting.” He took a seat in his throne, huffing like a child at his only daughter. “So you’ll allow the love of your life to continue romping about with whores and—He gags here—men while you’re still at home? Alone?”
”No… He just wants to see if he’s ready for marriage, y’know. He’s not used to being settled down. If he’s not running without restrictions and is being forced to be in one spot, he’s not really Sonic anymore…”
“Your grandfather wouldn’t have settled with that. If he hadn’t arranged my marriage to your mother, I would’ve never settled down.” He sighed, face feeling with guilt that left Sally worried. It was never a good thing when that happened. “He wouldn’t have settled and I won’t either.” He put on a stern face and sat tall with perfect posture. “As of now, you, Princess Sally Acorn, and your beau, Hero of Mobius Maurice ‘Sonic’ Oglivie, are now engaged. You will announce your engagement at the Winter Ball tonight and plans for the wedding will begin tomorrow.”
“Dad!”
“My mind is made.” He looked around the room and his eyes landed on a clock. It was near twelve fifteen. “Where is Sonic? He’s supposed to be here to cement plans for the Ball.” He looked over his fuming daughter. “Especially this one.”
“He should be here in a few—“ A strong breeze knocked her to her butt and she huffed her bangs out of her eyes. “—seconds.” Sonic grinned wide and chuckled in embarrassment.
“Sorry, Sal. Just of side effect of dating the Fastest Thing Alive!” The king rolled his eyes at the young male’s arrogance. “So. What’s going on?”
“Sonic, look—“
“As of now, the two of you are officially engaged. You will be announcing your engagement at the Ball tonight and you will begin plan for the wedding tomorrow.” Sonic laughed at first, thinking it was a joke until he caught Max’s stern glare and Sally’s guilty eyes.
“Wait, you guys are for real? You’re really going to force me to marry her?” Sally gasped, hurt, and Max glared through him. “Oh, wait—I didn’t mean it like that! I mean, I like you a lot, Sal, but marriage?” He fingered the peach fur on his shoulders in an attempt to avoid their glares. “I don’t know if I can swallow that right now.”
“So… you don’t want to be married to me?”
“I- I don’t know.” Sally sighed and hugged herself close. “But look. If it’s marriage you want, I guess I can think about it.” The king rolled his eyes at the two, finally realizing why the blue hedgehog had been able to stall for so long: his daughter was a pushover when it came to his charm and lies.
“There is no thinking to be done, Sonic. You two will be married. Nothing less, nothing more. Understand?” Sonic glared, searching for words, but settled for an angry gagging sound and stormed off to the meeting room to help with the Ball’s last minute plans.
…
“How could you let him do that!”
“He’s my father. What was I supposed to do?” She tacked a tag labeled Engagement Announcement on a board of the events that were to happen at the Ball. Between Greeting People of Mobius and Dance of the Royal Couple seemed just fine. It was usually Elias and his wife but since it would be Sally and Sonic announcing their engagement, it’d be them dancing instead, which added more to the hell Sonic melodramatically dubbed as his life a few moments before.
“You could’ve said no! But noooooo, you went with what your dad wanted to do with our lives instead of coming to me first!” He broke a pencil in half in an attempt to unleash a bit of anger. “You’re Sally Acorn! A main part of the Freedom Fighters! You’re strong… so- so why aren’t you fighting this?” Sally sighed; she knew this was coming.
“To be honest, I’m tired of waiting too.” Sonic looked her in disbelief. “I mean, you’ve been stalling for about five years and the accusations of these men… I’m starting to wonder.” She leaned against the cork board, her hot forehead a harsh contrast to the cool cork. “Are you really in love with me? I mean, you said you liked me a lot. What the fuck does that mean?” She snapped back around and made Sonic jump. She was upset and Sonic understood why. She finally realized he didn’t love her like she loved him. But now she was planning to take him down with her. “You need to start acting like my boy—fiancé. My fucking fiancé.” Sonic gulped and nodded. “Next time the word ‘love’ or ‘wedding’ comes out of your mouth, I want a smile on your face.” She threw a pile of paper at him, making him yelp and finch as the paper fluttered around him, a good dozen having had cut up his face. “Get to writing the speech.”
Sonic knew he was going to be in a shitload of trouble as this progressed.
