Amy + Sonic

Lecture Love

Professor Amy Rose hurried along the pavement as the clock ticked ever closer to nine'o'clock, trying to ignore the sweat that stained her suit. Her mother had had this suit especially made for today and she didn't want it to be ruined. 'This is all his fault.' Amy thought bitterly although she knew she had some part to play in why she was running late. She knew better than to go out drinking all night before the most important lecture of her archaeological career. Not only would her students be eagerly listening to her discovery but so would the media and some of the most respected individuals in her field.

Her stomach growled at the lack of breakfast and the briefcase in her hand awkwardly twisted her fingers. This would not be a good start to her lecture with a red face, stained suit, aching fingers and growling stomach. Still, persevere she must! The University of Fortuna only accepted the best students and teachers so it was an honour to work there. An honour she might throw away and replace with a few bottles of beer and an incredibly handsome stranger... 'STOP IT AMY!' Her mind betrayed her and she found herself slowing down as last night's memories took over. Calling him a stranger was unfair, Sonic and her had grown up in the same town although they weren't personally close growing up. That was no longer an issue. Guilt churned her stomach for leaving while he slept on and she was grateful for the lack of food in there. It might be cruel but her career was at stake. Surely he could see himself out, he was a grown man for goodness sake!

Reaching the university with about ten minutes to spare, Amy hurried inside her lecture hall and began to set up. Thankfully, it didn't seem to just be her running a bit behind as the empty room greeted her. Taking out her laptop, she quickly scanned her appearance, letting out a sigh of relief that she didn't look like she'd slept in a hedge. Although, considering her discovery, that might have been appropriate. The anicent arrowheads of Fern dated back to a civilization now four thousand years old! Fern Forest remained little more than a mythological character from ancient legend but the jungle of which her legend was famous for had certainly existed at one time. Now, industrialisation and deforestation meant it no longer thrived like in the stories but history will always be remembered. Arrowheads like these were particularly fragile so it was nothing short of a miracle that they had survived for so long. While Amy herself questioned the full truth of the myth, she wasn't arrogant enough to dismiss it to falsehood and fiction like some people. All legends sprung from truth somewhere.

Amy had been blessed with enough good fortune to be at the dig where they found them: A trio of arrowheads all perfectly preserved, save for their colour, with such intricate detail they rivalled that of a royal crown. She regrettably hadn't been the one to find them but as the lead archeologist on the team, she'd wrote up the report. Now she was about to give a lecture on a potentially career defining find which would forever have her name attached to it. And a gorgeous blue-haired athlete who also needed a drink last night had sucked a lot of the excitement out of ot and replaced that with...a different excitement, but also a lot more nerves!

Once her presentation loaded onto the screen, she took great care in assembling a replica of the arrowheads found. While she would have loved to use the actual thing, only a few weeks after their discovery meant that they were still being examined by senior archeologists. Her replica nearly matched the real thing though, her art skills were also nothing to sneeze at. Her mother ran the biggest global fashion company in the world so she'd had plenty of time growing up for creative endeavours. While she knew it wasn't fair, her family's money had also made her career progression easier: She could afford the better equipment, better education, better opportunities and faster connections. When your mother's company designed and sold the specialist clothing needed to survive in harsher conditions on digs, you ended up in the know. When Amy had actively pursuing a career in archeology, many people around her had been confused: Why would she spent time, money and effort into a career that sounded cool but was probably a lot less cool than the media depicted it to be, with insecurity over when she would work and for how much, be constantly stifled and over-shadowed in a male dominated field, when she could inherit her mother's multi-billon pound business instead?

All too soon, the lecture hall started to fill up. A handful of her more achieving students arrived first and then a small group of fellow archaeologists who would rip her to shreads if she messed up. If today didn't go well, her career could be set back years. A section of the hall near the door was reserved for members of the public if they also wanted to listen in on this historical new find. Once the clock struck five past nine, as was her custom for slower pupils, Amy cleared her throat and introduced her lecture. "Hello everyone, nice to meet you all. I'm Professor Amy Rose and today I'll be talking about the recently discovered Arrowheads of Fern. Now, can anyone tell me about the legend of Fern? Yes, Chloe? Well done. Now, while this might be a fictional story, there must be something to go off as these arrowheads perfectly match those in the story. Now if you look at the ingravings, you can see that these particular leaf patterns date to around 3500 BR which explain the lack of rust on these arrowheads..."

After a couple of hours, Amy rounded off her lecture and opened the floor for questions. "Please anyone, don't be shy. Yes?" One of the members of the public raised their hand.

"Professor, what does the future look like for finds like these arrowheads?"

She paused for a moment, the voice and question sparking something in her. "Well kind sir, a find like these rather small arrowheads could lead to greater digs at a higher frequency as it could indicate a greater existence. Also, it could be the first of a few discoveries that hint to some truth in legends and myths. Anyone else?" A few shakes of heads concluded her lecture. "Well, thank you for listening, I hope you all learned something. Goodbye." The people began to file out and Amy started to pack up. However she stopped when she saw someone approach her. 'You have got to be kidding me.' She blinked in confusion at the sight on front of her.

"Hey Ames, great lecture." Sonic grinned at her from under a hat, holding a bag in one hand. "Did you like my question?"

Speechless, Amy nodded, still shocked. She'd told Sonic last night that a question exactly like the one he'd asked her would be a dream question. "You remembered?" She squeaked out, not meeting his eyes.

He came closer and rested on the podium. "Sure I did, it would help you. Plus, I made you breakfast. Here." He passed her the bag which contained a sandwich and a drink.

"How did you know I hadn't eaten?" Amy asked, gleefully accepting the food.

Sonic chuckled. "I grew up in a cafe, food is a love language as well as a huge indicator of a person for me." He went silent for a moment as he watched her eat. "I hope I didn't ruin any plans you had or anything, you left in a rush."

Amy shook her head. "I know I'm sorry, that was bad etiquette on my part...What?"

"There's no such thing as morning after etiquette but okay."

"Anyway I hope you can forgive me."

Sonic smiled. "Hey don't worry Ames, water under the bridge. However I did enjoy our talk last night. Once you've finished that do you want to go around town and then get some lunch?"

Amy smiled at him and took his hand. "I would love to Sonic, thank you."

I hope you all enjoyed this one-shot, I did. Quick thank you to Chen2Gella for voting on this story so far. The next two stories will be up next weekend. I hope you all have a nice week. Bye, bye.