Chapter Text
The lady in the corner of the room is staring at Sonic. She has been for a lengthy amount of time. While the azure hedgehog would like to blame his dashing good looks, he’s fairly certain she’s grossed out and disturbed by how much he’s eating. Objectively, it isn’t actually a lot of food; it’s barely enough to be considered a hearty meal. It is, however, more than what everyone else is eating, but Sonic doesn’t think he should get blamed for eating the food piled on a table with a sign marketing it as free. Every sign in the city about this exhibition marketed the food as free, too. Just because everyone else is treating it like it isn’t there doesn’t mean Sonic has to. The lady in the corner will simply have to deal with it because Sonic isn’t stopping until his belly is full (doubtful), a worker tells him to step away from the refreshment (increasingly more likely), or the table runs out of food (it’s a coin flip).
Unfortunately for Sonic, the lady starts whispering to one of the security officers wearing the dull colors of Clean Sweep Co.—a.k.a., the people who have the authority to pull Sonic away from the table. They could also find out that Sonic doesn’t actually have a ticket. He really doesn’t need anyone finding out that he snuck in for the food. Or that he snuck in at all. For many reasons, Sonic would rather stay out of the law’s limelight. It’s easier for everyone involved, especially him, and that’s all he really cares about.
Sonic winks at the lady, giving her an award-winning smile despite the tough position she’s putting him in. She, obviously, doesn’t appreciate his mannerisms. It sucks for her, though, because that’s the last she’s ever going to see of Sonic. He steps directly into the crowd shuffling along to the open doors on one side of the room. Sonic weaves his way through the masses, setting himself somewhere near the edge without directly being there. He slouches enough to duck his head beneath the majority of the crowd without getting too low. He needs the commuters around him to think he’s a stupid teenager, not a never-convicted felony trying to escape yet another close encounter with the law.
Once he’s sufficiently in the crowd, Sonic tilts his head upward. There are large signs hanging above the doors they’re all approaching. At this distance and angle, it’s nearly impossible to read any of those white letters printed so tinily against the blue and purple of the sign. Sonic finds that the words are more than likely unnecessary, though. The door, after all, is surrounded by tissue paper and stabled decoration that resembles the ocean dotted with cartoon fish and other sea creatures. While childish, it does its job of telling people what they’re likely to find on the other side of the doors.
If Sonic didn’t already know what the exhibition was about from all the signs he’s seen plastered all over the city, he still wouldn’t have been surprised the moment he stepped into the dark room. The walls and floor are covered in black curtains, thick enough to blot out almost all light. This makes the spotlight in the center of the room all the more prominent. The crowd parts around the light. A lot of people linger for as long as possible, but the crowd eventually shoves them forward into the next room because everyone wants to see what’s at the center of the room.
Well, almost everyone. Sonic doesn’t actually care. He didn’t when he snuck in through the front doors while the ticket masters weren’t looking. He didn’t when he was stuffing his face in the main room because he never knows when his next meal is coming. And part of him still doesn’t even as he’s unceremoniously shoved toward the centerpiece because the others around him want to get a closer look and he’s in their way.
The spotlight falls over a tank. Every single part of it is made from glass so clear that not a single smudge reflects on the glass. While the tank is filled with water, all eyes are directed at the figure sitting on an artificial rock in the water. The creature’s top half looks vaguely like a regular Mobian. There is roseate fur with pink-cream bangs forming something akin to a mohawk. Her quills are pulled back by yellow beads, and she has a few small braids framing her unnatural eyes. They are completely green—no pupil, no iris, no sclera. They’ve all been combined in this all-encompassing, jewel-like green.
And this isn’t where the unnaturalness ends. Instead of legs, it forms directly into a fish-like tail. The scales seamlessly match the color of her fur and quills, but they are still notable when they glitter in the spotlight. The creature has the tail wrapped around the rock they’re sitting on. Their hands are clasped together over the brown-and-green crop top they wear. The creature’s mouth is open, but not a single sound escapes the watery tank. Just from a glance, though, Sonic knows that this creature is making noise; the crowd just isn’t able to hear it.
The soundproof tank is definitely for the best. Sonic knows this because he glances down at one of the pedestals right beside the tank. He taps his fingers against the edge. He doesn’t get very far in his reading, but he discovers that this is a siren named Thorn. She’s trying to use her singing voice to enchant everyone in this crowd to drown themselves. Rumor has it that sirens feast on Mobian and human flesh. Sonic isn’t certain about that. Thorn looks healthy enough, and he doubts Spagonia University is feeding their merfolk living creatures. At least, Sonic is reasonably confident they wouldn’t be showing those merfolk to the masses right now.
Thorn tilts her head to the side. Much to his annoyance, she looks in his vague direction. The people around him suddenly back up with spooked and awed noises leaving their mouths. Sonic is left standing beside the podium with his disinterested expression on full display. It gets even worse when Thorn looks directly at him. He meets her eyes unflinchingly, deciding that she’s better than meeting some random crowdgoer’s eyes. This is his thought process until he feels a shiver down his spine. Thorn might be trapped behind soundproof glass, but he still feels like her magic is looping around. He isn’t compelled to drown, of course. He doesn’t want to get closer, either. He just feels… her emotions—her desperation to be heard.
Thorn turns on the rock. She reaches her hand toward him. Her fingers splay across the glass, revealing the membrane between each one and the scales starting to peek through the fur. The crowd has another reaction to this. So do the security guards standing near the door. Sonic bites the inside of his cheek to keep from cursing. He turns away from Thorn. He feels more than a few gazes burning against his back—possibly including the damn siren—but Sonic does not stop until he’s rejoined the crowd leaving through a tunnel made from curtains to the next room in this exhibition.
Everything in this room is so much larger than it was in the previous one. The far walls obviously are, and they aren’t covered in any curtains, only the windows beneath the ceiling are and not that well. But no one is going to pay attention to that when the center of the room dominates the space. This tank is infinitely bigger than the one Thorn was in. This is likely because this tank is built into the room. This is the actual home of the merfolk on display right now. It has to be this large if it’s going to create a dome around the top of the sunken ship at the bottom of the ‘seafloor.’
According to the infographic, the ship is called the Angel’s Voyage. It sank over a hundred years ago some 200 miles from Spagonia’s coast because of a storm and rocks. It killed the captain and the crew. The latter were able to pass on to the underworld; the former, however, lingers as a ghost. Captain Dread, the most fearsome pirate of the golden age for them, continues to exist on this material plane. He’s bound to the Angel’s Voyage, so Spagonia University had to bring the ship from the ocean to their institution to bring the captain along with it. This was for research purposes since ghosts—especially waterbound ghosts—are hard to come by. Something must have gone terribly wrong for them to showcase Captain Dread and the Angel’s Voyage like they’re an imitation and reconstruction rather than the genuine articles.
Then again, Dread isn’t paying any amount of attention to them. He’s running around his ship, glowing a bright red color that allows the people peering down at him to see him no matter where he goes. He’s swinging his sword around, fighting invisible opponents that only he can interact with. Sonic wonders if the great pirate even knows he’s being watched. Dread lived in a time when something like Spagonia University would have been an impossible feat of architecture and engineering. To him, they might just be part of the afterlife he thinks he’s a part of.
A sad existence, Sonic supposes, but he isn’t here to cast judgement on merfolk he doesn’t know or care to learn about. Dread will pass on to the afterlife at some point or another. Sonic, on the other hand, needs to worry about his own life. There’s no one final goal he needs to accomplish, after all. He needs to get food at least every few days, a place to sleep every night, and if he’s feeling particularly disgusting, somewhere to wash off (maybe that’s why the lady was looking at him. Sonic might have thrown himself into a fountain for a while to get the grime off, but he knows that ‘his kind’ will always have an unavoidable scent permeating from them).
With that reminder, Sonic dances around the people pressing into the dome to get close-ups with their cameras. No one glances at him for a second. Sonic’s lips twitch up into a smile. Finally, he’s not leaving a room in this university because he’s getting chased out.
After another hallway marked by curtains (Sonic is certain these are larger rooms that he and the other guests just aren’t allowed to look at), Sonic and the crowd are deposited to a room with nothing except a sign. Ignoring the bright colors and the paintings, Sonic realizes that the sign is apologizing. The kraken is ‘sick’ right now and therefore will not be making an appearance. Several people are grumbling about false advertisement or other buzzwords that Sonic merely shrugs his shoulders at. While seeing a kraken would have been more than a little cool, Sonic doesn’t need to get himself invested in any of this. He isn’t here for sight-seeing like the others. He just needs to get through the rooms and displays that way he can loop back around to the refreshments.
Without a single word, Sonic moves on. The next room is bigger than Thorn’s room but smaller than Dread’s room. However, like Dread’s room, there aren’t any curtains covering everything. This room has no windows to the outside world. Instead, one of the walls has been replaced entirely with glass. Obviously, there’s water on the other side. There’s a whole artificial ecosystem. This room looks more like an aquarium than any of the other rooms did with the added detail of everyone being pressed to the glass. They’re looking for whatever merfolk is being put on display in this room.
Sonic remains at the back of the crowd, unbothered with the fact that he hasn’t seen the merfolk. He sets his sights on the entrance to the next hallway. He stops when he sees something in his peripheral vision. Sonic turns his head. A kid is flying over a sign that says ‘employee’s only.’ He’s pushed open the door with the same exact words written across it. Sonic narrows his eyes. He should leave it alone. He doesn’t need to get caught sneaking around back there. That bee is going to get himself in trouble; that’s none of Sonic’s business. It isn’t like they’re in a very dangerous place filled with merfolk, including but not limited to a sick kraken.
Sonic curses his own kindness as he jogs over to the door. He pushes it open with his elbow, glancing behind him to make sure that he isn’t being watched. Thankfully, the security guards are trying to keep the crowd from breaking the glass by slamming into it. Without a single eye on him, Sonic leaves the room.
And the entire building, apparently. The sunlight is bright and painful against his eyes. Sonic lifts his paw to create a canopy for himself. After his eyes adjust, he realizes he’s in a space between two of the university’s wings. He jogs across grass growing through broken concrete to find the kid. Sonic, fortunately, doesn’t have to go far before the orange that alerted him to a presence earlier reappears. The unlucky part is that the kid is flying to the roof alongside a metal ladder. Sonic has a very bad feeling about all of this, but he races up the ladder two rungs at a time. He doesn’t know the child’s name, but surely, repeatedly calling out for the bee to look at him should have gotten his attention already.
The top of the ladder leads to the roof. Sonic guesses it’s a fire escape of some kind because there’s an entrance back into the building on the other side of the roof. It’s just Sonic’s luck that the kid decides to go through it. If Sonic wasn’t a homeless thief, he would file a complaint to Spagonia University about not locking their doors from the outside. The shitty security is all Clean Sweep Co.’s fault, and Sonic can’t send them a complaint, either. He can only huff in annoyance before bolting forward to follow after that kid.
The other side of the door brings Sonic back into the building. He’s standing on a metal catwalk above the open top of a tank. He’s on the widest catwalk, the one that wraps around the perimeter. There are thinner ones intersecting the room, though, including one that leads to a staircase descending toward a wide platform that is more than likely used by the scientists and professors when they are studying the merfolk. Sonic quickly prays that they are not standing over the kraken’s tank.
His prayer is ended when he finally sees the kid. He’s flown over the railing to approach the water’s surface. He isn’t that far from the platform. Sonic starts running along the catwalks to get to the platform along the side of the room. Once he’s near where the bee is, however, he calls out, “Hey, kid!”
Finally, the bee responds to Sonic. His eyes are wide with shock and surprise as he turns around. He stares up at Sonic with this muddled expression. Sonic nearly sighs in relief. He leans over the railing, reaching his hand out to the bee. “Come on, we shouldn’t be here right now. We’re going to get into so much trouble.”
“But I have to find—” Sonic doesn’t get to find out what the kid needed to find. Because of his bobbing in the air, the edge of his jacket is soaked in the water. The kid leans down to wipe the water off. This causes one of his wings to get wet. In an instant, he plops directly into the water. He sinks within seconds as if he was never there to begin with. Sonic startles, releasing a startled noise. He grips the railing in front of him like a vice. The metal almost contorts from his squeezing. He stares at the water with widening eyes. His chest heaves with panicked breaths. The unsteady sound of waves crashing against the shore and someone screaming for him echoes inside his mind.
Memories of the past push Sonic into action when his mind is so far away from him. He throws his legs over the side of the railing. He drops down from the catwalk to the tank. He crashes right into the water. The pain ripples through his entire body. The panic nearly drives him to freaking out beneath the water. His muscles have a memory of their own, however, and he’s instantly searching the dark waters for the bee while he’s swimming downward. The kid, thankfully, is wearing colors that stand out against the blue-black, and he’s floundering around so much that Sonic finds him quickly. The azure hedgehog corrects his motions. Arm over arm, legs kicking behind him, he swims to the bee.
Once he gets to the child, he has to convince him to calm down. It isn’t easy to do so, though. The child likely primarily uses his wings, and they are currently useless from being wet. Additionally, his jacket is thick enough that Sonic knows it was already heavy even before it was wet. The kid is being dragged down, and some part of his mind knows it. He’s trying to save himself, but he’s only making it worse for himself. If he doesn’t stop, Sonic won’t be able to save either of them. He refuses to let that happen… never again.
With that thought, Sonic just wraps both arms around the kid. The hedgehog presses him against his chest. He uses his other arm and his legs to get themselves to the surface. After being restrained, the kid does relax somewhat. He’s still fidgety in Sonic’s grasp, but he doesn’t pull himself free. Sonic manages to get them to the platform. He throws the kid over the side first. Once the bee is flattened against the white surface, shivering in a growing puddle of water, Sonic starts to drag himself onto it. Sonic is still halfway trapped in memories of the past, but he claws himself free to ask the kid, “Hey? You good? Awake? Talk to me, kid. Please, I can’t—”
“I’m good,” The kid tells him in between ragged breaths. He pats his cheeks. “I held my breath the whole time!”
Despite the child sounding way too happy for someone who almost died, Sonic sighs in relief at the kid being alright. He stares down at the white platform in between his paws. He asks himself if he’s ‘good.’ Everything in him screams ‘no,’ but he decides to answer that question with a ‘yes’ because there’s no way he’s traveling down that rabbit hole again. While he usually ignores these memories and the emotions they make him feel, he finds it especially imperative to do so now when he’s got young, bright eyes staring at him like he’s some kind of hero (he isn’t. He’s never been, and there’s no way he ever could be now).
Sonic raises his head back to the kid. He lifts one knee to his chest, getting one foot under him. He’s about to get the other and start convincing the kid to head back with him when he feels something around his ankle. It is warm, wet, and covered in scales. These are the only sensory information he’s allowed to process before it pulls him back. Sonic trips forward. His face lands against the platform. He claws on the platform in front of him, but the smooth surface provides nothing to latch onto. Sonic is mercilessly pulled back under the water with the bee’s panicked expression being the last thing he sees.
The force doesn’t let up even when Sonic is completely submerged. He continues to be pulled downward. Sonic struggles against it. He kicks with both legs. He bends his body forward to pull at what’s latched onto him. Unfortunately, this causes his wrists to be latched together by another appendage similar to the one around his ankle. They’re tentacles, he realizes, staring at the orange-gray scales and feeling the suckers. He isn’t an expert on marine biology, but he isn’t an idiot, either.
Another tentacle rises from the darkness to grab his other ankle. They two connect to bring his legs together in the same way his wrists are. The fourth moves around his waist, and he feels a fifth creeping around his neck. Sonic, however, refuses to let this sea creature kill him. He continues struggling, pulling and tugging and doing everything he can to reach the surface high above him. He isn’t necessarily making progress, but it seems he’s slowed down his inevitable demise.
A figure suddenly appears in front of Sonic’s face to stare at him. Sonic continues fighting for a second longer, but then he completely stops. He freezes. His expression slackens into emptiness. He recognizes the figure. He knows that warm orange fur and the baby blue eyes and the flicking ears. The angry expression is unfamiliar, but Sonic would never fail to recognize his little brother. Painful hope strikes Sonic’s heart like an arrow, burrowing deep enough that he nearly willingly succumbs to the drowning by opening his mouth.
Tails’ face gradually untwists from the anger. He seems more confused now. This causes his grip on Sonic to slacken. The hedgehog moves his paws forward. He doesn’t try freeing itself. He cups his brother’s cheeks, cradling him close. The minute his gloves press against warm flesh, a smile creeps onto Sonic’s face. He isn’t hallucinating; this is real. His brother is right here. Sure, he has tentacles like an octopus instead of two legs and two tails, but it’s fine. Sonic doesn’t care. He never cared what Tails looked like. His little brother was exactly that regardless of his appearance, and Sonic hopes every day that Tails knew that.
Tails is completely startled by the touch. Cautiously, he leans into the touch. Sonic’s smile grows wider, and he struggles with keeping his lips sealed. He really isn’t about to give in when Tails suddenly jolts. His entire body goes slack, including the tentacles that were once dragging Sonic down. In an instant, Tails floats away from Sonic, reaching a hand to his neck. Sonic’s smile drops. He reaches his hands forward to check on his little brother.
He doesn’t get a chance to. Another force grabs onto him. Sonic struggles, kicking against the force even after realizing that it’s pulling him upwards. Tails stares at him, half-betrayed and half-upset—all of it, however, is locked behind a tough exterior. Tails disappears, descending deeper into the water. Sonic jerks toward him, but he isn’t given any freedom to move.
Sonic is thrown against the platform. He coughs against the white surface. His entire body starts shaking from the cold. The moment he’s got his wits about him, however, he’s stumbling to his feet and trying to run back toward the water. Hands grab onto his shoulders, causing Sonic to jerk forward before falling back onto his heels. He looks on either side of him. There are two security guards from Clean Sweep Co. One of them is wet, so he probably took Sonic out of the water. It wasn’t a rescue, however, and Sonic tries telling them that so that he can get back to the water—back to his brother.
The security guards do not listen to him. They are voiceless goons carrying out their orders. They drag Sonic out of the large room into a hallway with industrial lights and concrete walls. There’s another guard in the hallway. They’re carrying the bee in their arms. The kid looks pleased to see Sonic, and then he’s confused about why Sonic’s being dragged by two guards from under his armpits. The bee gets to go in the opposite direction, and Sonic gets the distinct feeling that he’s the only one he’s going to get punished.
Sonic only starts cooperating when they reach a stairwell. Dragging his heels is too painful for this. The second they leave the stairwell, however, Sonic is dragging them again. His wet shoes scrap against the thin carpet. He’s already dripping water onto it. Sonic doesn’t feel the least bit sorry, however, knowing full well that this is probably going to be the last act of rebellion he gets to perform. The squishing sound also helps him remember that he isn’t there anymore (it’s security guards dragging him, not hospital staff, and Sonic needs to keep that in mind).
The security guards open a door at the end of the hallway. They throw Sonic into the room. They shut the door even before he’s fully settled on the ground. Sonic still lunges against the wood. He shoves his shoulder against it, scrambling to repeatedly twist the door handle. It doesn’t budge in the slightest. For as stubborn as he is, even Sonic knows there are times to give up. If he wants to escape this room, he needs to look for another route like a window or a vent.
Sonic whirls around. He takes stock of the environment. It’s an elaborate office filled with ocean memorabilia. There aren’t any windows. There is, however, a person in the room. He sits at the desk, looking at something on his computer. The printer starts to hum to life. Sonic narrows his eyes at the toxic green opossum. The man, however, smiles at Sonic despite the hostility in the other’s gaze. “Forgive us for the rough treatment. We weren’t sure you would come otherwise.”
“What do you want?” Sonic demands, pressing his quills against the door to protect his back. “What am I doing here?”
“The real question is what do you want?” The opossum states. He speaks with such friendliness and charisma that the depths of his tone are almost hidden. It isn’t fully, though, and Sonic already knows that’s on purpose. The opossum knows he has all the power in the situation. He knows that Sonic knows it, too. Yet he’s going to pretend that Sonic has choices and autonomy within the confines of this office. Sonic’s fingers squeeze into fists. He isn’t fond of people like this.
Registering Sonic’s anger, the opossum chuckles faintly. “Ah, you just want me to answer the question. Very well. You are here because you have broken several rules. You entered without a ticket. You entered restricted areas. You touched one of the merfolk without having a license. Did you know that one is a federal law?” He leans forward as if sharing a secret. “But breaking the rules isn’t new for you, is it, Sonic? Town by town, you’ve stolen quite a lot and slept in more than a few places you weren’t supposed to.”
“Are you that pathetic that you need to gloat about catching me before sending me to the police?” Sonic asks. He crosses his arms over his chest. He projects the image of nonchalance. He keeps his eyes steady on the opossum. He buries the slight tremor in himself at the thought of going to prison. He also hides how he’s still searching for an escape route. The door isn’t a complete lost cause. He can throw one of the chairs at it. He could pick the lock if he finds thin enough materials.
The opossum shakes his head. His smile is wide enough to reveal a golden tooth. “No, no, you have me pegged wrong. I’m not much one for gloating. Too many risks involved with that. I brought you here because you suffered. You were injured during my exhibition. This will reflect poorly on Clean Sweep Co. if what happened today is revealed.”
My exhibition. Clean Sweep Co. It seems Sonic has the privilege of speaking to Clutch, the head of the company. He was the one to reach out to Spagonia University about putting on this exhibition of the merfolk their staff was studying. That’s all Sonic knows about it. He has no idea why Clutch decided to do this, or what he’s getting out of his deal with the university. Therefore, Sonic doesn’t know how to bargain with him.
“I won’t tell anyone. There. It’s that easy,” Sonic says with a shrug. The opossum narrows his eyes slightly. Sonic exhales out one side of his mouth. He puts his paws on his hips. “You can give me some hush money if that’ll make you trust me more.”
“I like the way you think, Sonic,” Clutch smiles. He pushes away from his desk. He rises onto his feet. A cane helps him move across the room to a printer. Clutch pulls out a stack of papers. He drops it onto his desk. He gestures for Sonic to come look. With a heavy amount of suspicion, Sonic pushes against the door. He walks across the room, leaving damp footsteps on the carpet. He tries standing as far away from Clutch as possible while also looking at the papers. Clutch remains standing in place as he explains what he’s trying to get from Sonic. “I need your help. When the exhibition is over, I’m going to need someone to stay here for the summer. Every week, you’ll call me to tell me about how you are doing.”
“You want me to be your spy?” Sonic questions.
Clutch chuckles. “Do not be so crass. It is nothing so extreme. You will be a janitor, mostly. You will be assigned certain rooms every day, Monday through Saturday, to clean. You will do so. I’ll even let you get paid for it. And if that isn’t enough hush money, I’m willing to arrange your accommodations during your stay in Spagonia. A job for the summer with boarding and a paycheck. All I ask for in exchange is a phone call every Sunday. Doesn’t that sound nice and easy?”
“Hardly,” Sonic mutters. The problem is that it’s too easy. He’s been looking for permanent work since he first ran away. He’s done seasonal jobs before. They were grueling and lackluster, nothing compared to what Clutch is offering right now. But those jobs were also a lot more honest and upfront about what was needed. Sonic prefers when he’s blatantly getting the short end of the stick because he knows that he still is right now… he just can’t figure out how. Why does Clutch want to spy on Spagonia University? Why wouldn’t he choose an actual spy with experience and skill? Sonic’s just a vagabond.
“It’s this or prison,” Clutch reminds Sonic, back with that deceptively light-hearted tone. He knows that Sonic is going to sign these papers; he knows that Sonic has no choice.
“Sounds the same to me,” He mutters. Still, Sonic would rather the cushier prison that has multiple escape routes than whatever concrete cell law enforcement is going to put him in. It’s for this reason that Sonic signs his name on the dotted line.
No matter how diplomatic Clutch appears, that smile is nothing but feral. Sonic rolls his eyes. He crosses his arms over his chest. Clutch takes the papers with him. He holds them against his chest. “You’ll start work on Monday. If you would please, stay here. I’m going to arrange your accommodations now, and it’ll be easier for my workers to tell you the address if you’re still here.” Clutch walks to the door. He purposefully gives a show when he easily opens the door, and the metaphor isn’t lost on Sonic. “Goodbye. It was a pleasure doing business with you. I hope our partnership will last.”
“I hope you go bankrupt,” Sonic responds, turning around to lean against the edge of the desk. Clutch doesn’t respond. He laughs and closes the door. Sonic sighs, throwing his head back. He’s still cold and wet. He’s trapped in a contract with one of the shadiest people he’s met in his nineteen years of life. All of this just because he followed that kid.
Sonic shakes his head, letting his eyes fall shut. No, he’s glad he followed that kid. He could have drowned if Sonic wasn’t there. The mere thought of that outcome makes Sonic want to vomit. He throws himself forward, hunching over and putting the heels of his paws against his knees. Staring at the carpet, Sonic finds himself even more grateful because if he hadn’t followed that kid, he wouldn’t have met the merfolk that looks like Tails. Sonic… he knows that it isn’t really Tails, but… there’s got to be a reason they look so similar. Hopefully, Sonic will be cleaning rooms near that specific tank. From there, Sonic will find answers.
And he’ll also find a way to escape his current predicament. If there are two facts to be said about Sonic, it’s that he’s resourceful and he always gets his freedom in the end.
Notes:
I've got so much planned for this. Right now, I've got 11 chapters completely planned. I know what's going to happen in the others; I just need to finalize details and arrange them in a way that'll make sense
It's a lot of relationship building. That's what the brunt of this book is going to be about. Sonic will develop bonds with both the merfolk and the regular people. Lots of character conflict and then dealing with grief. That's another big part of it. A few characters, including Sonic, have lost someone, and they're all just figuring out how to deal with it. Maybe they'll help each other
Chapter Text
Monday
First Day
Sonic doubts that it’s a coincidence that the place Clutch is renting for him is within walking distance of Spagonia University. All it took was a few turns and several hundred steps to bring him to the grand learning halls. It makes sense that Clutch would want him to be close to the location that he’s ‘spying’ on. It also means that Sonic doesn’t need to pay for transportation. It does bring up the question of why Clutch would spend any money at all on Sonic. The hedgehog knows that even if the motel isn’t the best in quality, it’s definitely close enough to the main street and the university that it is worth a pretty penny. Clutch spent that willingly, and Sonic knows that there’s so much more to all of this than him simply being an informant.
While getting answers is important, it’ll have to wait for Sonic. The gray-blue jumpsuit his job required him to wear makes him stand out among the students and faculty pouring into the gates. That, or his azure quills roughly arranged in something resembling a style give him away. Either way, a figure standing on the steps of the university suddenly jolts when they make eye contact. She smiles brightly, waving her arm over her head. Although he knows that it’s for him, he sees several people wave at her. She chuckles sheepishly, turning to wave at them. A friendly person—Sonic can work with that.
Once he’s standing a few steps down from her, the roseate figure claps her paws together. Because her quills are arranged as a bob, Sonic didn’t realize she was another hedgehog until he’s staring directly into her peridot green eyes. “Hello! My name is Amy Rose.” She offers her paw to him for a handshake. “I’m an assistant at the university. I’ll be your guide for the day!”
“Thanks. I’m Sonic,” He replies. He takes her paw into his own, shaking it firmly. Her smile increases tenfold at the gesture. Sonic chuckles uncertainly. Do people usually refuse to shake her paw, or are janitors treated with a lot more respect at this establishment compared to other places Sonic has done some work at?
“Sonic! I’ll be sure to remember that,” Amy Rose tells him. She turns her body to the side, lifting one foot onto the step right above the one she was standing on. She gestures to the same doors that other people are constantly walking in and out of. “Shall we get started with the tour, Sonic?”
“Lead the way,” Sonic responds. He decidedly doesn’t say her name. While it could be chalked up to the fact that he’s insanely good at remembering names (a habit from the days when he was also a friendly individual), he mainly just doesn’t care enough. Their jobs are so different that Sonic doubts they’ll be interacting with each other in any meaningful way on a daily basis. If they do cross paths, Sonic is confident in his ability to bluff his way through it if he somehow doesn’t remember a name as simple as ‘Amy Rose.’
Amy Rose claps her paws together. She turns her body the rest of the way. With a pep in her step, she finishes climbing the stairs. Sonic follows after her in a slight jog. He’s careful not to lag behind or surpass her. He also makes sure he’s constantly aware of everyone around him. He doesn’t need to be bumping into anyone on his first day on the job. Making enemies isn’t what he wants, and it probably isn’t what Clutch wants for him, either, even if the current ‘enemy’ is only a college student.
Amy Rose and Sonic pass through the doors into the first great hall. Sonic recognizes the place. Although the decorations were taken down, this was the first room that everyone walked into during the exhibition. The signs pointed them toward a hallway on one side of the staircase dominating the far end of the hall. It would take several turns down that smaller hallway to get to the wing where the exhibition officially started. They couldn’t exactly move the tanks, after all, so the guests were given special access to a part of the university that isn’t normally open to the public.
Amy Rose slows down enough to walk beside him, making sure that her voice is loud enough that he can hear her over the din of conversation. It pulls him right out of his memories of the day his life was completely fucked over just because he decided to save a life. No good deed, huh? “This is the main entrance to Spagonia University. I’ll show you where another entrance is later. You’ll probably want to use that other entrance since it’s less crowded and leads directly into the south wing, but it’s good to know where this entrance is. Ah, the south wing is where we work! All of the annexes have been specially modified to accommodate sea life, including the merfolk. I’m sure you’re excited to learn more about them!”
Amy Rose tilts her head to him with bright, expectant eyes. Sonic smiles back at her. He even throws in a thumbs-up for good measure. Amy Rose is satisfied with this response. She turns away from him, facing forward once more. Sonic’s smile drops into something a touch more tired. Honestly, he isn’t excited about the merfolk as a whole, but he would like to know more about the one who looked like his brother. He knows merfolk are often gifted with supernatural abilities, but he doesn’t know of any that can mimic someone else’s appearance. He doesn’t even know where that creature would have learned what Tails looked like since he and Sonic never came to Spagonia University. Did they happen to meet in the ocean before the creature was captured? It’s another answer Sonic will be searching for.
“We should swing by the security office first. They’ll have an ID for you. You’ll use it to unlock the entrance I mentioned earlier. It can also open any of the supply closets in the building, not just in the south wing. And most importantly, you can use it to buy food in the cafeteria. When it gets closer to lunchtime, I’ll show you where the cafeteria is,” Amy Rose explains, turning back to him. Her brows furrow together when she notices that Sonic is no longer at an even pace with her. His thoughts about the strange creature he met made him slow down. Sonic hurries to catch up with her. He doesn’t fail to notice that Amy Rose slows her stride, perhaps thinking she was the problem all along. Sonic doesn’t correct her.
Amy Rose and Sonic head down the hallway opposite from the one he was led down during exhibition day. While the two hallways don’t look too different from each other, Sonic puts all his hope in going the right way in Amy Rose. He doesn’t trust her, of course, but he does trust her to not get them both lost. If she does, he’ll have to delete all the memorization he’s doing of the university’s layout (a habit developed from all the odd jobs he’s done. He’ll only get himself in trouble if he mistakes one building for another and gets lost. People who hire seasonal workers are rarely the kindest; in Sonic’s experience, they’ll take any opportunity to cut the paycheck. Sonic doesn’t even know what he’s getting paid yet, and he’s already making sure he gets every cent of it).
Thankfully, Amy Rose proves herself knowledgeable. She takes Sonic right to the security office. It’s a large room divided up into several smaller spaces. They do not tour the entire space. Amy Rose only takes him to one of the nearest subsections that isn’t hidden away behind glass or half-walls. A figure sits at a desk, typing away what Sonic believes is a report on their computer. Amy Rose knocks on the side of their table. The Mobian whirls around to look at her. Amy Rose’s smile stretches across her face. “Hello! My name is Amy Rose. This is Sonic. He’s the new janitor that the marine department hired. We need to get his ID card. Are you the person we’re supposed to come to?”
The Mobian looks between Amy Rose and Sonic. After a moment, they look back at their computer. They flash through a few tabs. Amy Rose remains patient and kind. Sonic leans forward to read the new tab. It’s a document all about him, as he expected. There’s even a half-decent picture attached to the document. It looks enough like him that the security officer nods their head. They look back at Amy Rose and Sonic. “You’ve come to the right person, yes.” They notice Sonic staring at the paper. Their annoyance trickles away into acceptance. They gesture vaguely to the picture. “Would you like this one on your card, or should we snap a new one?”
Sonic hums in contemplation. The picture on the digital document must have been taken from a security camera from the exhibition. He isn’t looking at the camera, but he’s looking somewhere in its vague direction. Sonic can see his own deep green eyes and tangled quills. He doesn’t look any better now than he did in the picture. If he takes a new one now, he’ll only be leaving additional records. Sonic would rather keep that to an absolute minimum. For this reason, he nods at the security officer. “We’ll keep that one.”
The security officer is hesitant. Eventually, they shrug and mutter, “Less work for me.”
They open an entirely new tab. This time, they put in a decent amount of effort to keep Amy Rose and Sonic from looking at the screen. It isn’t enough effort that they can’t peek, but Amy Rose does the kind-hearted thing of pushing Sonic’s head away to make sure that he doesn’t do that. Sonic rolls his eyes in such a way that Amy Rose can’t see him doing this. He still thinks she knows he did, however, because she stares at him with narrowed eyes when he turns back to her.
Or, she could be fully processing how weird this situation is. Sonic knows universities aren’t the kind of places where people are hired within days, even in positions like a janitor. Clutch obviously pulled strings, but with who? How many people know about this? Does Amy Rose know that he was only put into this compromising spot a few days ago, or does she and the security officer think he was in and out of interviews for weeks? Sonic would love to simply ask, but he shouldn’t be suspicious. He also needs to find someone he can ease answers out of. Amy Rose is friendly, yes, but he needs to gauge her loyalty to Spagonia University. For all he knows, she, too, could be someone stuck in Clutch’s trap.
“Stay here,” The officer tells them. They rise from their chair. They start walking away. Amy Rose and Sonic are, obviously, left behind. Amy Rose isn’t going to let him wander off, so Sonic leans against the wall. He crosses his arms over his chest. He meets Amy Rose’s eyes. While she is staring at him, it isn’t with any intensity. There’s no emotion in her gaze. She’s passively observing; she might even be lost in thought.
Disturbed by the situation, Sonic clears his throat. As Amy Rose regains her bearings, Sonic asks something to distract her. “You said you were an assistant. What’s that like?”
While there are certainly people in this world who don’t like talking about themselves, Amy Rose proves herself to be outside of that category. At the very least, she’s very open about talking about her job. “I’m an assistant of Professor Pickle. You’ll meet him later. He’s the head of the marine department and the lead researcher into merfolk. I signed up for a summer job at the university. It’s to help give me experience. I’ll be enrolling in the fall, after all, and I wanted to get a headstart. I haven’t been here for much longer than you—only a week or so. I haven’t done much, but I enjoy being an assistant! We get to work directly with the merfolk! I’ve also gotten to look into ancient artifacts and see rare marine animals. While you probably won’t get to see them as closely, I’m sure you can see some interesting stuff, too. I might even sneak some stuff out to you.”
Sonic doesn’t like Amy Rose’s smile. It’s more than cordial; it’s actively searching for companionship. She isn’t just a friendly person. No, she wants them to be friends. Sonic shifts where he stands. Sonic doesn’t have rules for himself. He skips town when he feels like it, and while he’s there, he allows himself to make friends. Still, he doesn’t think he should in this particular situation. He’s stuck here until the summer ends because of blackmail. Getting close to Amy Rose isn’t a good idea unless she’s in a similar boat to him regarding Clutch. Otherwise, he’s only putting her in a position where she can get hurt.
Before Sonic can construct a decent rejection, the security officer returns. They march right up to Sonic. On instinct, the azure hedgehog turns to face the officer. They attached a metal clip to the flap of the pocket on the front of his jumpsuit. A card with Sonic’s name, picture, and a few other miscellaneous details hangs from the metal clip over the pocket. Sonic runs his fingers along the laminated surface. His gloves create a smear over the transparent material. Sonic drops his paw to his side.
The officer takes a step back to admire their handiwork. “There you are, kid. Don’t lose it. If you do, you can come get another one from me, but… don’t lose it. Wear it all the time while you’re here. Do you know what you aren’t supposed to do?”
“Lose it,” Sonic answers.
The officer nods. “You’ve got it. Well, that’s all you needed to get from me. You’re in the system now. Anyone part of campus security will be able to pull up the records. We’ll know what entrances and exits you take. We’ll know when and what you buy from the cafeteria. It will be used to confirm that you’re supposed to be on campus. That’s all I’m legally allowed to tell you that it can do.”
“It can do more than that?” Sonic arches a brow. The officer deadpans at him. Sonic laughs under his breath. He snaps his fingers, pointing at the officer. “Understood. Thanks for getting this to me. I promise I won’t lose it.”
“That’s the spirit,” The officer raises their first. They drop back into their chair, returning to the report they were typing when Amy Rose and Sonic first arrived. Sonic turns to leave with nothing more than a wave that the officer absentmindedly returns. Amy Rose is the one who gives a whole long farewell with an additional line of gratitude for helping them out. Sonic doubts the officer is listening by the end, but Amy Rose is content with herself when they reach the hallway outside.
“Now that you’ve got your ID card, I’ll give you a tour of the south wing! This is the place you’ll be cleaning. It’s very special to me, so I hope you’ll do a good job… Oh, but if it’s too much work, make sure to tell the professor! He might be a little obsessed with cucumber sandwiches, but I swear he isn’t crazy. He’s definitely not tyrannical. He’d be more than happy to help you out with whatever you need! You can go to him even if it isn’t about your work.”
“Are you sure you should be recommending your boss as a therapist to me?” They start heading in the direction of the antechamber that splits off into this hallway and the one that apparently goes to the south wing.
“He’s not a therapist. I don’t think he’ll be able to help with those kinds of problems, but he does have a lot of friends. He could recommend a therapist to you,” Amy Rose responds. She crosses her arms behind her back, glancing away from him with thoughtful eyes. “I’m only repeating what he tells everyone when he meets them. Well, not everyone, but you know, enough people. Plus, he knows how important this is, so I’m sure he’ll give you special treatment.”
“What do you mean? Do you need a janitor that badly?” While there are people who would think cleaning was a job beneath them, Sonic is fairly certain that there’s a lot of people in Spagonia who either would be desperate enough for a job to accept this one or genuinely have a desire to be the university’s janitor. It isn’t Sonic’s personal dream, but he doesn’t judge.
As they start walking through the hallway on the other side of the main staircase, Amy Rose shoots him a strained look. She stumbles through her words for a few moments. Eventually, she grabs his upper arm. She pulls him closer to herself. Sonic manages to keep his balance as Amy Rose whispers to him. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but, well, it’s kind of hard for us to find custodians. Rather, we don’t usually keep them. A lot of people have joined in an attempt to get closer to the merfolk. They’ve broken the rules to approach the merfolk in areas they aren’t supposed to go to. And well, let’s just say the specimens that we currently have aren’t the nicest. No one has died or gotten seriously injured. They’ve only been frightened. This has led them to quit. Thai is bad for the department. We need our wing to be clean for inspections and also because we’re scientists. We can’t have contamination. It’s… rough. Mr. Clutch swore that he found someone who wouldn’t get overly involved with the merfolk or get frightened by them.”
Sonic looks away from Amy Rose. He’s definitely not going to get spooked by them. He isn’t going to approach any of them, either, especially not the one who looks like Tails (though he will be asking questions soon enough). The only issue with Amy Rose’s statements is that Sonic is a rulebreaker, through and through. He’s a lawbreaker, too, which is the only reason he’s landed himself this job in the first place. He really doesn’t need the people of this department heralding him as someone greater than he is.
“Don’t tell anyone I told you all of that! Everything here is perfectly safe and contained as long as you follow the rules,” Amy Rose continues, immediately contradicting Sonic’s own thoughts. He is not going to last the summer, is he?’
Before Sonic can spiral, Amy Rose squeezes his forearm and throws her paw forward. “Oh, here we are!”
‘Here’ is literally just a hallway. It’s wide enough that Sonic can be persuaded into thinking it’s a room with several doors on the sides of it, but it still isn’t anything impressive. Amy Rose, however, looks like an extrovert at their birthday party as she leads him down the hallway. “All of these doors are classrooms. You’ll need to clean them in the morning because classes are held in the afternoon. I could tell you what they’re usually used for, but since this is summer courses, I’m not sure. We could ask the professors themselves.”
“I’ll pass. I don’t need to know the class to clean the room.” Sonic and Amy Rose don’t enter any of the classrooms, but they poke their heads inside to give Sonic a rough layout. The rooms aren’t necessarily small, but they aren’t as large as Sonic thought they would be. Only a few more inches in volume than the classrooms at the high school Sonic used to attend. It has a similar design, too, but that’s probably because private academies are designed to be similar to universities as prestigious as the one in Spagonia.
They also find a supply closet. Sonic got to open it with his ID. Amy Rose cheered for him, and Sonic gave her an amused smile. Sonic knows he’ll be spending a lot of time in this room, so he steps inside to check out the space. He’ll probably reorganize it at some point for his own convenience. By that, he means make everything a mess that only he can understand. Amy Rose continues holding the door by both sides of the handle. She nods her chin toward a clipboard set in a plastic receptacle attached to the inside of the door. “It’s to help you keep track of what rooms you’ve cleaned and the supplies you currently have. If you run low on something, there’s a slip you’ll have to fill out and turn into the professor. He’ll take care of the rest for you.”
“Got it,” Sonic nods. He leaves the room. Amy Rose shuts the door for him. Once that’s settled, she grabs onto his arm. Without any preamble, she starts dragging him down the rest of the hallway. At the very end, there is a pair of twin doors made from metal when everything else was made from wood. Amy Rose uses her own ID to open the doors. This leads Sonic and Amy Rose into yet another hallway, but it eventually leads to a very different place from any they’ve experienced before.
“Get ready for the best part!” Amy Rose chirps. She throws her arms wide and spins into the new location. She grins widely at Sonic. He looks around. They are in an observation room. The walls are made from dark material. There’s glass taking up an entire wall. On the other side, there are gallons and gallons of water. There’s an entire ecosystem of underwater plants along the bottom. Sonic can see movement between the plants, but he doesn’t see what’s causing it.
“This is the observational room. It’s where guests come to look at the merfolk. This one is for Thorn, the siren. Through those doors, there’s a room for Dread, the seabound pirate; Nine, the nine-tentacled octopus; and finally, the kraken. You aren’t allowed in that room under any circumstances. No one except Professor Pickle and one other person is. The observation rooms are something you’ll have to clean, but only once a week or so. The classrooms out there only need to be cleaned every three days. This is because you have an even more important place to clean,” Amy Rose explains. She starts walking to a door toward the back of the room. Sonic lingers behind to stare through the glass. He remembers Thorn. As indifferent as he is to the situation, he’s glad Thorn is in a bigger tank.
“Sonic?”
The azure hedgehog tears his eyes away. He jogs over to Amy Rose. She holds the door open for him. He steps into a space between two buildings like when he went after that bee. Coincidentally, just like that time, too, Amy Rose brings him to a metal ladder. They climb onto the roof. Beat for beat, Amy Rose takes him to a door that leads back inside to a second floor filled with catwalks and a platform on one side.
“This is where the researchers do their observing. This is also where we distribute food, check the water, throw in equipment, that sort of thing. There’s one of these kinds of rooms above every tank. You won’t be cleaning the catwalks, but you’ll have to scrub down that platform over there if something ever happens. Mainly, though, you’ll be cleaning what lies beyond those doors.”
Sonic follows Amy Rose through the maze to reach a pair of metal doors just like the ones that brought them to these interconnected annexes. As she’s doing that, Sonic hears a splashing noise. He tilts his head over his shoulder. He sees a head poking up above the water’s surface. Those completely green eyes are captivating in the artificial light. Sonic, however, is aware that thought isn’t his own. Before the siren can start singing to him, he and Amy Rose leave into yet another hallway (there’s so many of them).
Amy Rose finishes up the tour with a long list of rooms he’s not allowed to enter, rooms he is allowed to enter, and of those, which ones he’s meant to clean. It’s mainly private offices and personal laboratories that he isn’t supposed to enter, but there’s also the opening to the kraken’s tank. That creature must be extremely violent or extremely valuable, if not both. Another one he isn’t allowed to enter is the underground portion of the south wing. Amy Rose claims that it’s just one giant tank for the Angel’s Voyage. Sonic suspects there’s more, but he isn’t curious enough to learn what it could be for himself.
When they’re done with all of that, Amy Rose takes him to the cafeteria. On the way—and while they’re there—she quizzes him about the different places he’s allowed to go and the procedures that he must follow. Sonic scores higher than he thought he would. Amy Rose is so impressed that she gives her desert to him. As someone who knows the value of food, Sonic accepts it without hesitation, and he takes whatever else she’ll give him to eat. Sonic is a notorious food thief, but no one knows that in Spagonia yet. If Amy Rose is serious about being his friend, she’ll have to reconcile with this fact.
“The cafeteria is only open to everyone because it’s the summertime. If it was during the regular semesters, you’d be eating in a room reserved for the faculty,” Amy Rose says as she’s walking him to that secondary entrance she mentioned earlier in the morning. Sonic glances at her from the corner of his eye. Does she think that he’s going to be staying for that long? He’s leaving the minute Clutch tells him that he can, if not before that depending on if he can finesse his way out of this gig.
“Interesting,” Sonic responds, anyway, rolling his shoulders. He doesn’t tell Amy Rose about his limited time here. It’s none of her business, and honestly, it’s more questions than he wants to deal with.
Amy Rose doesn’t press him for anything. This might be because they’ve finally found the entrance. It’s on the first floor before the observation rooms. It’s inside one of the classrooms, actually, a glass door leading directly into a parking lot. Amy Rose speaks as she pushes open the door. “This classroom is often used as a study room, so the entrance/exit is open for anyone part of the marine department. That includes you and me. Sometimes I come in early, but our workdays technically start at the same time. We might be able to see each other!”
Yeah, she’s definitely looking for a friend.
“Oh! I almost forgot something! I’ll be right back!” Amy Rose tells him. She suddenly races away, out of the classroom and into the hallway. Sonic doesn’t see a reason to remain inside. He steps out into the heat of the early summer day. It is made hotter by the enclosed space of the parking lot. It’s a rather small one that can only handle a bike rack and a few vehicles. One of these precious spots is being used to park a motorcycle. Sonic walks up to it. Once he’s a foot away, he squats. The sunlight nearly blinds him as it reflects off the metal parts of the motorcycle. Sonic leans his body just enough to save his eyes. He doesn’t look away, however, not even when he hears the door open again and footsteps approach him.
“I wouldn’t steal it if I were you,” A stern and emotionless voice commands. Sonic throws his head against his shoulder. He squints because of the sunlight, half-grateful that the person talking to him decided to stand in just a way that their shadow is cast over him. It makes it easier for Sonic to look at them, too. Surprisingly, it’s yet another hedgehog. This one has black fur and quills with highlights as red as his eyes. Sonic has never seen anyone like him before. He has, however, seen unique individuals before, so he easily turns his attention away from the ebony hedgehog.
“I’m not going to steal it,” Sonic replies. His gaze sweeps across the entire motorcycle. After a hum, he smirks slightly. “I can’t until I figure out how much it’s going to fetch me. An advanced one like this… $10,000, at least. Is that how much you paid for it?”
Sonic tilts his head back to look at the ebony hedgehog. He is entirely unimpressed with Sonic. Jokes on him, Sonic isn’t kidding. He’s never stolen and sold something as expensive as this motorcycle, but there’s a reason Clutch has leverage over him. Sonic has pissed off more than his fair share of owners throughout his many travels. He wouldn’t mind seeing what anger looks like on this one.
The door opens again. Sonic sees a flash of pink in his peripheral vision. Amy Rose appears on Sonic’s other side, trapping him between the two figures. To minimize this, Sonic pushes against his knees. He stands upright between the two. Amy Rose smiles warmly at Sonic with something now in her pocket. “Do you have a motorcycle, Sonic?”
“Nope. I used to have a biplane, though. Can’t be too different,” Sonic tells her. He swings around to meet the other hedgehog’s eyes, steadily creeping into his personal space. “What do you say? Willing to let me take a spin to prove my point?”
The stranger steps away from him without answering. As he gets onto his motorcycle, he glances at the roseate hedgehog. “Better watch your friend, Rose, or else.”
Sonic snorts, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. He refuses to flinch away from the stranger no matter how hard he glares. Sonic gets reward for his behavior other than annoying the stranger further, which is technically its own reward to Sonic. Amy Rose, on the other hand, squares her shoulders and with a voice that’s far too excited, she says, “I will!”
It’s probably because this stranger called Sonic her ‘friend.’ Geez, he’s not escaping her, is he?
The stranger on the motorcycle drives away. Once they can no longer hear the humming engine, Sonic gestures after him. “Who was Mr. Tough Guy?”
“Oh! That’s Shadow. He’s that researcher I was talking about earlier. He’s one of the only two people allowed to interact with the kraken. He’s actually an expert on them and other deep-sea creatures. He came from the ARK before it was shut down,” Amy Rose explains. A frown appears on Sonic’s face. He remembers the ARK. It was an underwater colony. Despite having a lot of success in all the research about merfolk, the program was shut down. All the scientists and workers were brought back to the surface. It was on the news. Sonic never thought he would meet someone from the ARK, though.
He’s going to be fun to annoy.
“Is that the end of the tour?” Sonic asks, wiping his brow of any sweat that collected.
Amy Rose nods at him. “That’s it! I couldn't find Professor Pickle, after all. I'm sure he's away today. Once he comes back, I'll introduce the two of you! Oh, and I'll introduce you to the other workers. In the meantime, I’ll see you tomorrow!”
Sonic is already walking away. He thinks about ignoring her, but something compels him to wave over his shoulder. “See you tomorrow.”
Notes:
Sonic is only calling her "Amy Rose" because they aren't close yet. Once they become friends in his eyes, he'll move to calling her Amy
Chapter Text
Tuesday
Second Day
The morning breeze is particularly chilly against his sweat-soaked fur. Sonic raises his forearm to wipe his forehead against the blue-gray of his jumpsuit’s sleeve. He ruffles the fabric, only managing to clear away a little bit of the stickiness. The cold remains with him, as persistent as an old friend without any of the comfort. In Sonic’s astute opinion, every single part of the summer should be, at the very least, warm. It makes no sense for June to be descending upon them while the air continues to drop into temperatures far more common in the northern cities during the autumn season. Unfortunately, mother nature doesn’t take any requests, not even from him. It’ll remain chilly in the mornings, especially for those who decide to jog from their apartment to their job.
An exhale tumbles right out of his lips as he slows from a jog to a stop along the opening to the small parking lot to one side of the university. Sonic waits for a moment. He stretches his limbs, grateful for the heat that seems to compound within the relaxing muscles. The difference in temperature from inside his body to its exterior is somewhat nauseating, though that could also be because of Sonic’s poor eating habits. He’s really got to figure out a stable diet because eating anything he can find whenever he has the chance is not working out for him when he’s no longer on the streets (even if it’s only been a few days).
Sonic’s arms drop to his sides at the same time his ears lurch in the direction of a steadily approaching humming noise. Sonic glances over his shoulder. Sure enough, a motorcycle is barreling down the road, taking full advantage of the lack of traffic to pick up speed. Although jumping out in front of Shadow in order to get an insurance claim does cross his mind, he ultimately decides to take a step back. This is the wisest decision because Shadow only slows enough to turn without crashing. He makes no attempt not to hit Sonic. He doesn’t immediately jerk to hit him still, though, and Sonic applauds the first impression he gave Shadow yesterday for the reason he gets to keep his bones unbroken.
Shadow pulls into the same parking lot he had yesterday. Sonic definitely needs to put something there one of these days to force Shadow to park elsewhere. Since he doesn’t have anything today, though, he just leans against the lamppost that’s still on despite the pale morning light falling upon them. Shadow turns the motorcycle off. The minute the engine finishes humming, Sonic whistles as loud and clear as a bird. Shadow glances at Sonic, not quite a glare but it will be soon if Sonic continues pushing. Sonic cuts the whistle off with one last hurrah of sound. Before Shadow can look away, Sonic gestures to the ebony hedgehog’s entire body. “Isn’t it recommended that you wear a jacket? You know, in case you crash? A helmet, at least, must be regulation.”
Shadow swings his leg over the side. He snaps his gloved fingers over his keys. He blatantly searches Sonic’s expression. The azure hedgehog doesn’t let a single twitch occur across his features. He maintains a light-hearted smile and bubbly eyes. He doesn’t have an angle, contrary to what Shadow might be looking for. The only real detail to notice about this interaction is Sonic’s faux concern for the rules when he could care less about them.
“I don’t crash,” Shadow finally answers. His tone is simple. There is no arrogance, only fact. Sonic laughs all the same. Shadow’s expression twists at the sound. He either doesn’t like it or likes it too much. For the sake of his ego, Sonic decides that the latter is the most likely answer, and that only makes his grin widen. Shadow rolls his eyes so hard that his entire body turns with it. He steps up onto the concrete sidewalk along the outside of the building. Before he’s even crossing over the shallow indent between the slabs, Sonic’s completed his job by crossing the parking lot. For the first time in a long time, he’s grateful for how quick he can be.
“Lovin’ the confidence,” Sonic tells Shadow. He keeps pace behind the black-and-red hedgehog, only leaning forward enough to glance at Shadow’s face from around his shoulder. “Rose said you were a kraken researcher. What’s that like? Is it as terrifying as the rumors say? Or is it just a big baby that throws a tantrum when people poke at the glass?”
Shadow scowls at Sonic. The sprinter has clearly struck a nerve, yet he isn’t sure which one or how. He’s dangerously curious about it. Something about Shadow just makes him intently interested. He wants to dig deeper into every reaction; he wants to cause even more of them. He can already tell that it’s going to get him into a lot of trouble if he pushes the matter, but Sonic has never been good at avoiding trouble. Running straight toward it and wearing it like his favorite pair of running shoes? Yeah, that’s what he does best.
Shadow trades his motorcycle keys for his ID card. He slides it through the scanner beside the door. He pulls it open just enough for him to slip inside. With more force than necessary, he slams the door shut before Sonic can join him. Sonic watches Shadow leave the classroom without so much as a glance back through the glass. Sonic leans his elbow against the threshold, refusing to move until Shadow is well and truly gone. Sonic shakes his head, unclipping his ID card from his jumpsuit’s front pocket. As he swipes it through the scanner, he mutters to himself, “It’s always the hot ones.”
Fortunately for Shadow, Sonic does not try seeking him out once he gets inside the building. He merely goes to the supply closet. He scans his ID card again, getting himself into the room filled with cleaning supplies. Sonic inhales deeply through his nose. He regrets this action when he starts hacking up a lung from the unbearably sterile stench in the room just barely masked by floral and citrus. Blinking away a burning sensation in his eyes, Sonic starts loading up a cart with everything he thinks he’s going to need to clean the classrooms. If he discovers that something else is needed, he’ll just come back to this room, no problem.
Sonic pulls the cart out of the supply closet. He starts at the end of the hall, moving from classroom to classroom. He wanted to be as professional as possible on his first day, but boredom eats him alive until he’s putting in earphones. Clutch made the mistake of getting Sonic an expensive, high-quality phone. Knowing himself as well as he does, he knows that it’s going to break soon. Until it does, Sonic’s going to play music without worrying about it having to buffer between each note. Sonic realizes with a snort after the third song that he doesn’t think he’s ever heard a song from start to finish without it needing to stop and load several times through the duration.
The music carries Sonic so far. He closes the remaining gap by dancing while he’s cleaning and playing little games with himself. This isn’t Sonic’s first cleaning gig, after all. He knows a thing or two about getting through this as quickly as possible without his work suffering for it. It’s almost ironic that Clutch ended up with him. He could have stolen whatever sap off the street to make into his puppet, so it’s honestly lucky that he got someone with some experience in this field. Then again, Sonic can’t completely discredit the possibility that Clutch already had him picked out and was going to set him up somehow. Maybe that kid was in on it.
Doubting a child’s innocence in the scheme that landed him this job is the last coherent thought Sonic has before he feels pressure against his shoulder. He whirls around with the broom he was holding. The stick slams directly into Amy Rose’s forearm with a noise so loud, Sonic can hear it even with his music blaring. He pulls one of his earphones out by the wire. He drops the broom onto the ground, using that paw to turn down his music. He looks at Amy Rose with a wince, and it only gets more apologetic when she suddenly rubs her forearm with her gloved paw.
“Sorry ‘bout that. I shoulda been paying more attention,” Sonic tells her. He reaches the paw that’s still holding his earbud toward her. He stops himself before he touches her, deciding he’s done enough damage. He keeps his eyes on her as he leans down to pick the broom up. His fingers scramble on the ground for a little while until he’s gotten hold of the stick. He starts rising from his squatting position.
Amy Rose waves her paw dismissively at him. Her smile is both large and genuine. “Don’t be. I’m the one who surprised you. And honestly, my brother hits me way harder than that. He owns a gym, so he’s always working out. I work out, too, so you don’t need to worry about him. I’m tougher than I look.”
Amy Rose raises her arm. She pulls down her sleeve to show off her flexing muscles. Sonic must admit that there are more defined muscles there than he thought there would be. He should reassess his personal biases. That sounds like a lot of work, though, so he’ll postpone that until he’s struggling to fall asleep and needs to kill a few hours.
“Good for you. Keep working hard,” Sonic tells her, pumping his fist into the air encouragingly. Surprisingly, Amy Rose copies his actions with a sincerity that makes him feel bad for a moment. He pushes the ickiness away, deciding against feeling too strongly about anything today. It’s all calm waves and peaceful vibes for him, or whatever that homeless surfer told him while she was high three cities ago. “What brings you here? Is it about time for your classes?”
“Ah, no. Well, kind of. I only have an hour and a half, give or take. But that’s not why I’m here. I was looking for you,” Amy Rose tells him, crossing her arms behind her back. Her sleeve falls back to cover her arm, but it’s still pushed up to reveal her wrist. She’s wearing a bracelet. It’s made of a material that’s able to catch the light, but Sonic doesn’t stare long enough to figure out what it is.
“Looking for me? Damn, and here I thought I was doing decently,” Sonic leans against the cart’s handle. He looks around the room. It genuinely looks good to him. Sure, it is probably due for a deep clean within the next week, but at a baseline, Sonic is leaving it better than he found it. One would think college students aren’t as messy as elementary kids, but they just make different kinds of messes. Sonic is still undecided about who he prefers cleaning up after.
“You’re doing amazing! I saw a few of the classrooms while I was looking for you,” Amy Rose earnestly assures him. “That’s not why I was looking for you. The cafeteria opened not too long ago. I wanted to see if you’d like to eat lunch with me.”
Sonic has to make a conscious effort not to sigh; she really does want to be his friend. Sonic taps his foot against the ground, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. The fluorescent lights do not provide him with a clear answer, but at least he doesn’t have to look directly at her hopeful gaze. He considers the matter. He’s not against making friends (he actually loves making them wherever he goes). He isn’t against being friends with Amy Rose (she seems nice enough). He isn’t against lunch (he’s already mentioned that he accepts whatever food he can since he can be forced to go days without it). He isn’t against going to the cafeteria (he thrives in social places where he can still slip away).
So… what’s his hang-up? Why does he hesitate? This isn’t like him at all, and he can’t find a single answer. Unable to justify it to himself, Sonic locks eyes with Amy Rose. “Sure. Just let me put the cart back in the supply closet.”
Amy Rose’s entire face lights up with joy. Sonic chuckles under his breath. How was he ever supposed to refuse her friendship?
Amy Rose—perhaps just Amy, if they’re going to be friends—walks with Sonic to the supply closet. She tells him about what the cafeteria will be serving today. The university usually has a wider selection, but since it’s the summer, they’re limited. It should still be good, though. Amy promises it. Sonic doesn’t strictly know how trustworthy Amy is, but he doesn’t see any reason to doubt her. She oozes with too much sincerity for him to ever consider her a liar.
The conversation shifts on their walk to the cafeteria, entering into the main part of the campus to get there. “I didn’t see you this morning. Did you swing by for breakfast? Or did you come in through the side door?”
“Side door,” Sonic answers. He didn’t know Amy was looking for him this morning. It doesn’t surprise him, though. Should he meet up with her tomorrow morning? Eh, that’s too much for him. They can eat lunch together, but walking in together and getting breakfast? That crosses a line in Sonic’s mind. To keep Amy from asking (since his answer is just going to disappoint her and he doesn’t want that), Sonic speaks before her. “I came in at the same time as Shadow.”
“Oh! That was super early, then. According to the professor, he never comes in when his work day actually starts because, in Shadow’s own words, that’s ‘too late’. The other assistants think it’s because the ARK was run like a military base. I just think he likes punctuality,” Amy shares. Sonic is learning more about Shadow from Amy than he is from the biker himself. “Did you two talk?”
“You could say that,” Sonic shrugs. “I’m going to become his friend.”
Amy laughs. She doesn’t look like she believes that’s possible, but that doesn’t stop her from encouraging him. “Good luck with that. No one else has managed to get close with him, but you definitely seem like the type who can easily become anyone’s friend.”
“I’ve been told that. Not strictly as a compliment, but I’ve always considered it as one,” Sonic admits. A lot of people have commented on his apparent friendliness, from the most influential figures of Sonic’s past to strangers he only interacts with for a single night. It is one of Sonic’s key characteristics, a snippet of his personality that’s rather blatant to anyone who decides to engage with him. Sonic believes them; he knows that he’s managed to become ‘friends’ with even the hardest, coldest of souls. Still, he doesn’t think his abilities are as bone-deep as others might say. He doesn’t actually get close to anyone, after all.
Not since his brother, anyway.
Swallowing thickly, Sonic pushes open the doors to the cafeteria. It isn’t empty by any means, but it feels that way. The room should be filled with tables, but a lot of them have been folded up and shoved against the far walls. This leaves behind a lot of empty space just begging to be filled. The remaining tables aren’t filled that much, either. There’s a handful of college-aged young adults and the faculty meant to guide them through their summer courses. Almost everyone is sitting with someone else. There are only a few glued to their textbooks or screens, entirely dead to the world. Sonic would have been like them if it weren’t for Amy. He gets the feeling she’d be in the same boat as him despite how she seems to be the same type of person as Sonic—one who can befriend anyone.
Amy and Sonic cross the cafeteria to where the trays and food are. They shuffle directly into the line. Sonic hears the kids in front of them complaining about already being given homework. He catches someone further ahead talking about an approaching heatwave followed by another one asking about the likelihood of a tropical storm. Sonic exhales out his nose, only wanting to fill his mind with thoughts of the food in front of him. That, and one other figure that Sonic asks about. “Will Shadow be joining us?”
Amy shakes her head. “He doesn’t come to the cafeteria. Rumor has it that he eats with the kraken.”
“What a shame. Well, since I can’t have a treat for my eyes, I suppose I’ll just take an extra treat for my belly,” Sonic says as if he wasn’t going to take his chances by grabbing two desserts instead of just one. Amy gives him an odd look. Sonic arches a brow right back at her. Is she questioning his comment about Shadow (he may have a prickly personality, but he’s also objectively good-looking) or him getting two desserts? Her expression doesn’t have enough emotion for Sonic to make the call.
Answers don’t present themselves to Sonic (they never do) because he and Amy make it to the front of the line. Before she scans her ID card for the lunch lady sitting beside the screen, Amy snatches the second dessert plate from Sonic’s tray. She sets it on her own in the place where a dessert plate would have been if Amy had originally gotten herself one. The lunch lady didn’t even realize this happened, but Sonic absolutely did. He makes a protesting noise. Amy slams her paw over his mouth, showing off that strength that she boasted about earlier. Sonic is silenced by the stinging pain. He doesn’t end up saying anything as he scans his own card, though that’s almost entirely because the lunch lady smiles at him—a tad more personally than she did for Amy. “Have a good day.”
“You, too,” Sonic replies, nodding at her. It must be camaraderie since they are both faculty members doing the less glamorous and underappreciated jobs. Sonic doesn’t mind having that kind of friendship. It makes unionizing a lot easier (as if Sonic ever would. He’s stuck in this job at threat of imprisonment. Before this one, he’d just up and leave whatever job was treating him badly. There are some benefits to being a vagabond).
Amy leads Sonic to the end of a table that’s occupied on the opposite side. As they’re settling across from each other, Amy puts the dessert plate back on Sonic’s tray. He smiles at her. Amy snorts. “We wouldn’t want you getting in trouble, now would we?”
“Definitely not. I cause my biggest messes on day five. Gotta make it till then,” Sonic salutes her. Amy openly laughs. Sonic’s heart feels warm in his chest at invoking such a positive reaction. This warmth persists even as he and Amy delve into different conversational topics—mostly sticking to what they’ve done today instead of getting to anything personal or abstract. Sonic prefers it this way. He doesn’t want to lie to Amy, after all, and that’s all he’ll do if she asks him anything about his life before this very moment.
As they are going to throw their trash away, Amy’s phone buzzes. She shifts her tray into one arm. She reaches her paw into her pocket. When she glances at the screen, her eyes widen. A startled noise escapes her lips. “I almost forgot!” Amy flips the trash into the can and then sets her tray down on the windowsill into the kitchens where someone is washing dishes. Sonic and Amy wave gratefully—if absentmindedly, in Amy’s case—at the Mobian washing the dishes. Amy grabs onto his forearm as they’re walking away. “Of course, I asked you to eat lunch with me because I wanted to be friends, but I have something else I need to ask you!”
“Shoot,” Sonic shrugs.
Amy smiles. “Did you save a kid the other day? A bee?”
Sonic eyes her warily. Amy blinks innocently at him. Sonic has no idea where this is going, but lying makes him want to squirm out of his skin. Maybe she’s trying to subtly let him know that they are both working for Clutch. If that’s the case, Sonic should participate in this alliance with her. “Yeah, I did. What about it?”
Amy hurriedly, excitedly clicks into her phone to show Sonic a picture. He sees the bee that he saved alongside an older crocodile and a chameleon about his age. Amy pulls her phone back down. “That’s Charmy. It’s a bit complicated how I know him, but I can guarantee that we’re close. I’m close with all of them! When I was telling them about you, Charmy recognized you as the one who saved him! That led Vanilla to—Ah, this is Vanilla.” Amy swipes to show Sonic a picture of an adult rabbit with what has to be her daughter beneath her arm. “Anyway, Vanilla wanted to invite you to dinner with us, Friday night. It’s a thank-you for saving Charmy, They would really like you to come. I’m going to, if that makes you more open to the idea.”
“I’ll, uh… I’ll think about it,” Sonic says, sounding more optimistic than he feels. He knows this to be true because Amy’s face continues to shimmer with hope that he’s going to accept the suggestion. Sonic gives her a thumbs up. Amy returns the gesture, and they repeat this with a goodbye wave later when they’re made to split apart by Amy’s afternoon classes and Sonic’s first time cleaning the showrooms, offices, and the observation platforms.
Thorn and Dread do not make appearances when Sonic cleans those areas. He doesn’t stick around long enough to prompt them, either. Nine’s platform, however, requires a bit more elbow grease. Sonic even had to bring out a ladder to do it. He sits on the top with a sponge and a bucket, trying to get out what’s definitely a bloodstain but Sonic is almost certain it is the blood of a fish. Nine is just a messy eater, it seems, and he’s also slightly creepy as he peers up at Sonic from the very surface of the water, trying to keep everything except his eyes below the water. He can’t very well listen to music when Nine is a dangerous predator exposed to his back, but the silence is killing him as much as the bloodstain is (why won’t it just come out already?!), so Sonic makes a brilliant decision.
He talks to Nine.
“I don’t know if you remember me. You tried drowning me the other day. You also tried drowning this other kid. A bee. His name is Charmy, apparently. I’m sure you care about as much as I do. Well, his name doesn’t matter. The fact that I saved his life does, and now his family wants to thank me by inviting me to dinner. Free food is tempting, but I’m still not sure about it,” Sonic explains, glancing over his shoulder at those frighteningly familiar irises. Sonic tears his eyes away, clearing his throat. “What do you think? Should I go?”
Sonic leaves a pause for an answer, but he doesn’t expect one. It was a formality, a set-up for him to continue airing out his problems through this faux therapy session with a merfolk. Nine, however, surprises him by lifting his entire vulpine head out of the water and saying, “I did not try drowning that bee.”
Sonic exhales shakily. Nine doesn’t sound like Tails. That’s good for him. The sudden response does startle him slightly, and that’s why his heart thunders painfully in his chest. “Didn’t know you could talk.” Nine narrows his eyes at Sonic’s muttering, implying that he’s hearing is exceptional, too. Sonic wears a half-smile, returning to his task at hand. “What do you mean by that?”
Nine huffs, swimming closer to the edge of the platform. He peers over the side of it, meeting Sonic’s eyes whenever the hedgehog looks away from the stain to his unconventional conversational partner. “I did not try drowning that bee. He fell into my tank due to his own stupidity. I did not do anything to him except watch. If he drowned, it would have been his fault.”
It is true that Charmy was decidedly tentacle-less when Sonic dove beneath the water to grab onto him. Nine also has this air about him. It’s a truthfulness similar to Amy, but the difference is that Sonic trusts Amy’s words because of her kindness. Sonic trusts Nine’s words because the mer sounds like he literally doesn’t care enough to lie—doesn’t see a reason to. Sonic, arguably, trusts that more. He isn’t about to tell Amy, Nine, or anyone else in the world that, though.
“Guess that means I got special treatment, huh?” Sonic cheekily retorts. Nine didn’t try drowning Charmy; that’s a fact. What’s also a fact is that he did try drowning Sonic. He’s aware that he should feel some type of way about that, but he doesn’t. There’s nothing in his heart; there’s only a stone sinking in the depths of his stomach. That’s (probably) nothing to be concerned about.
“I… thought you were someone else,” Nine admits softly, a flicker of shame in his tone.
Sonic freezes. He closes his eyes, letting the darkness behind his eyelids guide him right back to his smiling face and laughing voice. His whisper sounds like a promise, ghosting alongside a long sigh. “You and me both… you and me both…”
Sonic breathes in deeply and sharply. The pain shoves the memories right out of his mind. Sonic opens his eyes and starts scrubbing again, finally making progress. He’ll be out of this room soon, so he returns their conversation to the initial matter. “Well, anyway, what do you think I should do? Should I attend this dinner and receive their thanks for saving the kid?”
Even if doing so fucked him over.
“Do what you want,” Nine responds. Sonic hears a splashing noise. He doesn’t need to turn around to see that Nine is no longer there. A smile remains on his features as he mulls over the entire conversation.
Sonic squeezes the sponge over the bucket after he finishes removing the stain from the wall. By then, it’s time for him to leave for the night. Sonic climbs down the ladder with his sponge and bucket. He starts putting everything back where it goes. As he’s standing in the doorway, he calls out into the room with a wide grin on his face. “Thanks for the advice, Nine. You’re right; I’m doing to do exactly what I want.”
Chapter Text
Friday
Fifth Day
Day of the Dinner
The difference between the motel room and the concrete porch on the other side of the door is stark. It is the dissimilarity between the temperature that hits him first. The motel room is kept freezing cold. The A/C is constantly blasting, leaving Sonic shivering even when he’s sitting in the desk chair beneath the one window’s glow. The environment outside the room, however, is packed tightly with the afternoon heat. The air is thick with humidity, only adding to the oppressive warmth. A full-body shiver tears right through him as it adjusts.
At the same moment, his eyes are also forced to adapt. He keeps nearly all the lights off inside the motel room, navigating by the tiny bulbs on the appliances or the sunlight streaming in from the window when he doesn’t have the curtain pulled tight over the glass. Since Sonic did have the curtain in place, he’s forced to squint at the light pouring right into his eyes, even as he stands beneath the awning. He raises a paw over his eyes when he steps off the concrete porch onto the parking lot.
“Sonic!” A merry voice chirps. Sonic’s eyes slide to the corner of his vision. He first finds himself staring at a car. The passenger side window has been rolled down. Amy sits in the driver’s seat, but she leans over the center console to look at him through the open window. Sonic walks toward the car. His eyes roam across it. Not his usual style, but he wouldn’t be against ‘borrowing’ it. He would, however, return it, only because Amy has quickly become a good friend to him (anyone who lets him snag food off their plate is a good friend, though. He’s never claimed to be better than a stray animal).
Sonic leans down. He crosses his arms over the window’s frame. He peeks his head inside the car. The front is relatively clean, but he sees a lot of random items thrown across the backseat include clothing bags and gym equipment. Amy did mention a brother who owned a gym at one point. Based on her tone alone, she seems decently close with him, so Sonic can believe that she’s doing her brother a favor by letting him keep stuff in her car. They might also be sharing the car. Or maybe she just needs to drive this stuff somewhere specific instead of keeping it in here. It’s not Sonic’s business.
“Well, look at you! You clean up nice!” Amy tells him. She settles back into her leather seat, but she continues to lean against the center console to speak with him.
Either because her smile is infectious or because he’s weak, Sonic smiles right back at her. He keeps his arms folded on the frame, but he does take a step back. He looks down at his outfit. It isn’t much of an outfit, though. Sonic wasn’t going to wear anything special to this dinner, but he remembered how the closet was filled with clothes. And it wasn’t just his extra copies of his uniform. There were suits and other ‘fancy’ clothes. Sonic isn’t wearing an entire suit, but he did snag one of the jackets. It doesn’t completely fit him. It’s close enough. Sonic doesn’t care enough to put in any more effort.
“Thanks. You look great, too,” Sonic compliments, gesturing his paw toward Amy’s own outfit. Although he cannot see much from this angle, she seems to be wearing a red sundress. She has a hairband pushing back her roseate quills, showing off her peridot green eyes. Sonic has only ever seen her in a lab coat or an industrial apron, so this is something he’s never seen before. He thinks it’s nice, for what it’s worth.
“Thank you!” Amy’s grin widens. She reaches over to pat the seat beside her. “Don’t be shy! Come on in! Everyone else is already on their way. We’re probably going to be the last ones to arrive.”
It’s still afternoon. Then again, Sonic is always in favor of eating sooner rather than later, so he decides against arguing with Amy. He opens the door, plopping down on the leather forming the passenger seat. As soon as he slams the door shut behind him, Amy presses a button on her side to roll the window up. Without the heat from the outside, he realizes how cold Amy keeps her car. It’s exactly like his motel room. Sonic’s brows furrow together, keeping a shudder at bay through sheer force of will. He can hardly believe that he’s stuck with this temperature fluctuation yet again. If this pattern continues, the house is also going to be really cold. Sonic is glad for his suit jacket, though he probably should have brought a winter coat.
“This is actually a convertible. The next time we’re both off, we should go driving around. Oh, and I could give you a tour of the city that way!” Amy exclaims. There’s a softer quality to her voice as her attention is entirely dominated by driving the car without crashing. She keeps her eyes on the road ahead of her and her paws tight against the steering wheel. Sonic appreciates it. He isn’t the best driver. He’s too reckless and aggressive on the road, he’s been told. He also doesn’t have a legal license, but the fake one he has works well enough for the purposes it needs to fulfill.
“That sounds like fun,” Sonic earnestly admits. He leans forward to turn the air vent off on his side. Noticing this, Amy turns the air down almost completely. He glances at her from the corner of his eye. She doesn’t return his gaze, but her smile takes on a flare of understanding. Sonic turns away from her, murmuring a quick, “Thanks.”
Amy beams brighter, but she leaves the matter there. Sonic leans back in the seat. He places his elbow on the window frame, pressing into the glass. He wonders if she would let him roll down the window again. Although he doesn’t want to experience the cold, pressurized air, the wind blowing around the car is something he’s itching to feel against his fur. He just smushes his cheek against his knuckles. He doesn’t need to be abusing Amy’s kindness so soon into their friendship.
To an extent, he doesn’t want to lose this. It’s nice to have someone to eat with at lunch. Amy is excitable and tends to lean hard into her obsessions, but she’s not one to let the conversation die. Sonic likes the noise as much as he appreciates the news Amy shares. He wouldn’t know about half the things going on inside the university or Spagonia at large if it wasn’t for Amy. And this is without mentioning how much food she provides him with. It’s only been a few days, so he wouldn’t be too upset if they stopped interacting with each other, but he would rather not force that inevitability to come sooner than it has to.
A silence has enveloped the car after the A/C was turned off. She could have turned on the radio, but Amy decides to fill it with her voice. She’s mostly talking about nonsense. More about the city and its upcoming events. She does, however, sprinkle in anecdotes about herself and the people she’s close to—the people he’s about to meet at this dinner. She isn’t against using names, so Sonic has a vague idea of who these people are and what they’re like based on what they’ve done.
When there’s a brief break in Amy’s talking (she was probably inhaling or trying to recall a specific detail), Sonic’s voice breaks through to ask, “So… Are we sure about this?”
Amy’s brows furrow together questioningly. Sonic shifts in the seat. He realizes at that moment because of her look that he actually asked a question. He doubts he’ll be able to take it back, so he takes a deep breath and explains himself. “I mean, the dinner. I was the one who saved that kid—Charm or whatever—but I don’t, like, know these people. They don’t know me, either. Are we really sure I should be going to this dinner?”
“They want to show their gratitude,” Amy replies. Sonic could mention that this doesn’t make him feel any easier about the situation. He settles for giving Amy a disbelieving look. She releases something between a sigh and a laugh, showing that she understands where he’s coming from. “Vanilla is a very kind person. Vector is someone who doesn’t like being in another’s debt. That’s why they want you to come. And you’re forgetting something, they might not know you, but I do. I trust you, and I trust them. It’ll be fine, I promise.”
Sonic is torn between asking Amy how she could possibly trust him and asking if they’ll at least make his death quick, if not painless. He decides against asking those questions, however. He doesn’t want to ask the first one because he knows Amy will be entirely earnest in her reasonings. Sonic doesn’t need to hear that. Kindness often hurts worse than cruelty to Sonic, and not just because the hedgehog Amy has grown acquainted with over these past few days is someone who’s only partially a real person. The other part is a fabrication made by Clutch for reasons the possum hasn’t revealed yet.
He doesn’t ask the other question because Amy turns them into a residential area. She starts talking about the houses, recalling memories that Sonic wasn’t part of. He enjoys hearing about them all the same. “Don’t let me forget to mention how close the university is. You could probably walk there. Of course, you knew that since you can also walk from your motel to the university. Are you house-hunting for a more permanent residence? I can help you find a good place. There’s a house just that way—” she points through the windshield at a concrete road they do not go down. “—that’s both safe and cheap. Though, most of these houses are for families, so I get if you don’t want to buy here. We can—”
“You don’t need to do that,” Sonic interrupts. Amy’s paw falls back to the steering wheel. Sonic smiles lazily, staring at the houses they’re passing by. Although smaller, the structure is familiar to Sonic. He feels like he’s walking right back into his nightmares. Amy’s presence makes it easier to digest. “I’ll be fine on my own.”
“If you say so. Just remember that I’m always up to help a friend,” Amy promises. Sonic nods in response, but she doesn’t see it because she’s making sure she can pull her car to the curb to a specific house. Once she’s parked, Amy starts turning the car off. Sonic exits the vehicle first. He keeps the door open, hooking his elbow over the top to stare at the house. He stares at it for a long moment. He searches for similarities and differences between everything in his past. Thankfully, the latter overpower the former. There’s almost nothing that this place has in common with the prison in his thoughts.
Amy gets out of the car. As she’s shutting the car door, the house’s front door opens. It’s almost in sync. Sonic wears a mildly impressed look. Amy runs onto the lawn (compared to the neighboring houses, it needs to be mowed, but it isn’t bad by any means. Still, Sonic could offer his services). Two children run out of the house to meet Amy in the middle of the yard. Sonic recognizes the bee. This is Charm… No, Charm-ee. Charmy? Something like that. It’s the kid he saved from drowning. Sonic recognizes him because of his species and the jacket that almost got him killed.
Sonic doesn’t immediately know who the other kid is, but he has an accurate guess. Amy did mention a little girl named Cream during her stories. Sonic supposes that’s how this is. He shrugs his shoulders to himself. He can find out so easily if he just goes and introduces himself to the kids. Sonic steps away from the car. He shuts the door (not as kindly as Amy did but softer than the slam he did earlier). He walks around the side of the car. He hesitates a second to step onto the grass, but Amy and the kids are trampling all over it. He also doesn’t see a sign telling him to keep off the grass. He doesn’t follow rules, anyway, so he jogs on over to where Amy has practically sat herself onto on the green.
“Hey! You’re him!” The bee shouts. He flies toward Sonic. The hedgehog leans back, but the kid has enough control not to slam directly into Sonic’s nose. He’s still far too close for Sonic’s liking. He arches a brow at the bee’s bright eyes. Like a sponge filling with water, the kid’s face fills with excitement. He whirls around, nearly hitting Sonic with his stinger. The bee throws his arm back to point at Sonic while addressing the rabbit girl. “Look! Look! This is the man who got me out of the water!”
The rabbit girl lifts her gaze from Amy to Sonic. He smiles at her, tossing his fingers to the side in a wave. Amy shifts to be behind the girl, gently nudging her forward. When she looks back uncertainly, Amy nods encouragingly. The girl, then, only has a little hesitation as she steps toward Sonic. She takes a deep breath. She smiles at him with a brightness that causes the sun to pale in comparison. “Hello! Thank you for saving my friend! I’m Cream, and this is—”
“I’m Charmy Bee!” The other interrupts. Sonic snaps his fingers. He knew he was right. Maybe he’s better at remembering names than he thought. While Sonic is congratulating himself, the bee turns back to Amy with a frown after she poked him. “What? I wanted to say my name!”
Amy opens her mouth. Before he has to listen to a lecture, Sonic squats down to look into Cream’s eyes. This action is far more familiar than the houses are. Her irises are brown and her fur is more tan-brown than orange, but it all rushes back at him. It wraps around his heart, squeezing tighter and tighter. It is only through his superior acting skills that he manages to keep that pain and sorrow out of his voice. “Hello, Cream, Charmy. I’m Sonic the Hedgehog. You can just call me Sonic, though. And there’s no need to thank me. A lot of people would’ve done what I did if they were there. Let’s just make sure a situation like this doesn’t happen again.”
Cream nods her head solemnly. “Momma said the same thing. She said that Charmy—”
Cream is once again interrupted by Charmy. This time, it’s because of the kid’s groaning. “I already heard enough of this from Vector and Espio.”
“You need to hear it a million times more,” Amy says. She rises her feet. Before Charmy can react, Amy wraps both of her arms around him. She pulls him close. It’s almost like a hug, but it’s clear that she’s only doing this to keep him from flying away from her. That doesn’t stop Charmy from squirming, however. Cream shifts back, hiding her laughter. Sonic doesn’t bother. Amy tries talking directly into Charmy’s ears. “You can’t go off on your own like that! You can’t go into areas marked ‘employee’s only’! You shouldn’t have gotten that close to the water in the first place!”
“Amy—!” Charmy complains the entire time.
Sonic gets out of his squatting position. Amy and Charmy don’t notice; Cream looks back at him. He smiles at her, nodding his head toward the house’s open door. “I have a feeling they’re going to be here for a long time. I’d rather meet everyone else.” Sonic puts his finger over his lips and whispers the next part, “And maybe see food I can sneak before dinner…”
Cream nods her head. Sonic doesn’t expect it, but Cream grabs onto his paw. She holds it, tugging him along behind her. Sonic swallows thickly, looking away. He isn’t paying attention to Cream until he hears her say his name. “...Mr. Sonic?”
“First, you can drop the mister. I’m not one for formality,” Sonic snorts. He looks down at the suit jacket he’s wearing without the suit underneath it. Cream looks at it, too, but she doesn’t seem perplexed in the slightest. Sonic shrugs his shoulders. “Second, do you mind repeating that? I didn’t quite catch it.”
“Of course! I said that you didn’t need to sneak food. I know Momma would give you a snack if you ask politely,” Cream responds. Sonic has a feeling that her ‘of course’ did not include dropping the ‘mister.’ He huffs to himself, dropping the matter. People will be themselves. If Cream was raised in a household that enforced respectfulness and formality, that’s just what she’s going to do. Sonic knows what that’s like. At least Cream seems happy, well-fed, and uninjured.
Cream and Sonic pass through the threshold to the front door. It’s a mudroom. Sonic glances to the side. There’s a wooden stand. Jackets are hanging on hooks, umbrellas are put into containers on the sides, and there’s plenty of shoes along the bottom. Sonic trails his fingers across the designs on the exterior. Cream hurriedly brings him away from it, however, and they enter the living room. Through arches and half-opened doors, Sonic can see the dining room and a sliver of the kitchen further into the house.
As Sonic glances around the house (the street rat in him picking out objects that would be easy to steal but also sell well even though he’s not going to be doing that here), his eyes land on the couch. There are three animals on the leather. The most striking of the animals is a black dog. Despite relaxing on the cushions, their pale blue eyes are sharp. The dog does not react in the slightest as a tiny, yellow-tan kitten with blue eyes runs all over them. The kitten even hops around. This is contrasted by a brown cat resting on the back of the couch, soaking up the sunlight pouring in from the window.
The animals are interesting enough as they are, but once the dog catches sight of Sonic, they are instantly on their feet. The kitten falls off their side, and the kitten’s yelping noise causes the brown cat to lift their head and look around. The cat witnesses Cream panickingly screaming, “Gemerl, no!” right as the dog tackles Sonic onto the ground. Sonic knew the dog was big when they were lying down, but ‘big’ got a whole new meaning in his head when the dog shoves Sonic’s chest down with their front paws. He growls in Sonic’s face, showing off sharp teeth. He feels more disgust at the slobber getting on him than any fear at the precarious situation he’s found himself in.
Sonic has his fair share of experiences with dogs—both guard and street ones. They are a violent breed of creature, but only because they’ve been trained that way, either by a master or by life. He’s gotten bitten and chased by these faithful companions many times.
That’s probably why he isn’t scared even when Cream is panicking and trying her hardest to pull the dog (Gemerl?) off of him. Sonic only smiles. He lifts his wrist slowly, putting it in the space between him and Gemerl. He feels saliva drop onto it. He feels a hot breath. After a second, though, he feels a cool inhale rather than teeth biting down. Once Gemerl has sniffed him, Sonic moves his paws to hold the sides of the dog’s head. He leans his head upward, ignoring the strain in his neck and shoulder. He shakes the dog’s head back and forth, causing Cream to stop and stare at him. Gemerl’s growl increases in volume, but he doesn’t attack. Sonic laughs whole-heartedly. “Aw! You’re just a little baby, aren’t you? You just wanted someone to pet you and play with you, huh? Gotta have some excitement around here from time to time, yeah?”
Gemerl allows Sonic to sit upright. Sonic continues petting the dog and pushing his muscles around. His actions cause the dog to steadily relax, though he still keeps himself on guard. Cream stares at Sonic with wide eyes. He winks at her. “Works every time. Dogs love me.”
Sonic has found ways to make them. He had to if he wanted to survive without being torn apart.
“That was so cool!” Another voice calls out. Sonic, Gemerl, and Cream look toward the front door. Charmy flies into the house. Amy walks in behind him, shutting the door behind her. Charmy gets close to Sonic and Gemerl. The dog has as much patience with Charmy as he did with the kitten. “How’d you do it? Can you teach me?”
“No can do, buddy. This is a Sonic-exclusive trick. I’ve never seen it work for anyone else,” Sonic admits. He will always feel bad about the other runaways who tried emulating him and got bit or scratched for their efforts. In Sonic’s humblest opinion, he thinks the actual trick is just because it’s him, not because he’s doing anything specific. His confidence, immediate trust, and kindness are what gets him into most dog’s good graces. Only the sternest and loyalist of the canine kingdom are immune to Sonic’s charisma.
Charmy pouts. Amy leans down to pet the top of Gemerl’s head, getting a favorable reaction from the canine. “It’s a good trick. I’ve never seen Gemerl warm up to anyone this quickly.”
“If you knew that, why did you invite me here without warning me?” Sonic arches a brow at Amy. He reaches his paw toward her. He isn’t sure what he means to do, but Amy grabs it. She easily hoists him onto his feet, even helping him balance once he’s up. Sonic knew she was strong, but he’s still surprised every time he bears witness to the evidence.
“It slipped my mind, honestly. I thought he would be in his cage, anyway,” Amy answers. She clasps her paws together as if begging Sonic to believe and forgive her.
Sonic does so immediately, but Cream speaks before he can tell Amy that. “Momma said to put Gemerl away, but Vector disagreed. He told me and Charmy to leave Gemerl out.”
Charmy nods. Amy’s face twists with confusion. She even goes so far as to tilt her head to the side. Sonic doesn’t share in her emotions. He can guess why Vector would leave Gemerl out. From what Sonic can gather, Gemerl is likely a guard dog. In this case, Gemerl being up and about means that he’ll be there to protect everyone from strangers including Sonic. And if the hedgehog’s trick hadn’t worked, he would have been reliant on the members of the family to keep Gemerl from attacking him. It’s a more thoughtful plan than Sonic would have expected from Vector considering the stories Amy chose to tell him about the crocodile, but on the other hand, Amy told him that Vector was an acclaimed detective. He’s likely intelligent even if he gets himself into a lot of precarious and silly situations that make wonderful comedies after the fact.
“It’s about time I meet this Vector, no?” Sonic sets his paws on his hips. Amy, Cream, and Charmy share a look between each other. While at different levels, they are all consumed by excitement and eagerness. Cream takes Sonic’s paw again. Realizing what she’s done, Charmy takes the other. Sonic nearly trips as the children start dragging him forward. Amy and Gemerl—and Sonic thinks the cat and kitten, too—accompany the trio deeper into the house.
When they enter the kitchen, Sonic sees a woman who looks remarkably like Cream standing at the countertop. She’s manning the stove and cutting something on a flat board in front of her. She glances over her shoulder. Sonic locks eyes with her. She doesn’t recognize him at first, but then her memories snap together to remind her of the stranger she invited to this dinner. Cream stops for the woman’s sake. Charmy does not. Sonic stumbles over his feet, forced to keep moving with Charmy. Cream’s grip is too light, and his paw slips from her own. She whirls to look at him and Charmy. Even Amy calls out, “Wait, Charmy—!”
“Vector first!” Charmy tells the others. The bee doesn’t need to open the back door because someone else from the other side does it for him. It is a purple chameleon, and he shoves himself against the door to get out of someone’s way. The chameleon’s eyes widen when he notices Charmy and Sonic, mainly because the former refuses to stop. The chameleon, like everyone else, tells him to do exactly that. Though his voice is quieter, it’s firmer and more demanding. There’s a reason he’s telling Charmy to stop. The bee doesn’t listen, but Sonic does. He digs his heels into the kitchen floor. He realizes now why the chameleon told them to stop. A crocodile—Vector, more than likely—is entering the house with a huge pan balanced on the oven mitts he wears. Charmy is a second away from running into the steaming metal and Vector. Sonic, however, manages to get them both away, though he does trip over Gemerl and crashes right into Amy. The dog yelps. Amy and Sonic make just as dramatic noises when they hit the ground. Charmy only exhales when he lands on Sonic’s chest.
“What just happened?” Vector asks, looking between everyone.
“Charmy,” The chameleon answers, gesturing to the bee that sits up on Sonic’s chest. He remains seated only because Gemerl has trotted over to lick his face and push his helmet around. Sonic is kept on the ground by the kitten jumping onto his face. The little feline turns around to stare into his eyes, kneading their tiny paws into his cheekbones.
“Oh, dear, is everyone alright?” The woman says. She rushes over. She scans everyone involved with the fall, likely searching for injuries. Sonic gives her a thumbs-up. Amy grumbles under her breath, but with Cream’s help, she quickly gets off the floor. Amy and Vanilla handle Gemerl and Charmy respectively. Cream pulls the kitten off Sonic’s face. She holds the little one against her chest. She wears a concerned frown as she meets Sonic’s eyes.
“I’m sorry about Cheese. He loves meeting new people,” Cream tells Sonic, referring to the rambunctious kitten in her arms.
“Charmy is the one we should be apologizing for,” The chameleon says under his breath. He helps Sonic onto his feet. Once the hedgehog is no longer on the ground, the chameleon introduces himself, “I’m Espio.”
“I’m Sonic,” The azure hedgehog answers. He turns toward Vector and Vanilla. He repeats himself, a touch louder this time and with a few more words. “I’m Sonic. Thanks for inviting me to dinner.”
“Thank you for coming! I’m Vanilla, and this is Vector. I apologize about the… chaos,” Vanilla answers. She reaches her paw forward. Sonic shakes it. In a single word, Sonic would call Vanilla’s demeanor ‘motherly.’ It’s an odd word since Sonic didn’t really have a mother—not one like Vanilla, anyway—but he thinks it’s accurate, especially when Cream tucks herself against Vanilla’s legs. Their proximity really highlights how similar they look to each other beyond the fact that they’re both rabbit Mobians. Another point of similarity is the brown cat rubbing against Vanilla’s other leg with a satisfied purr, deriving comfort from the point of touch alone.
“It comes with a territory when there are so many of us,” Vector laughs with his entire chest. He sets the pan down on top of the stove, beside the pot Vanilla was watching over previously. Despite his back being to the group, Sonic knows what the crocodile is talking about. The kitchen is crowded with all of them being inside. It was no wonder that they ended up crashing into each other and falling. Sonic thinks it’s lucky that no one else fell and no one got seriously hurt.
“We’ll head outside, then,” Amy promises in response to those words. Vector glances over his shoulder at her with a shrug. Vanilla, however, smiles gratefully, glad that people will be leaving without her having to kick anyone out. Vanilla nudges Cream forward. The girl carries the kitten with her and whistles for ‘Chocola’ to follow them. In an effort to beat Cream outside, Charmy flies out the kitchen first. Sonic can hear his victorious screaming. Espio mutters something about another noise complaint before following Charmy and Cream. Sonic waits at the threshold, looking back at Amy. She points between the two. “Call me if either of you need help.”
“We will, dear,” Vanilla assures Amy, squeezing the roseate hedgehog’s upper arm supportively.
Vector searches through the cabinets for something. When he feels eyes upon him, he answers after a moment of thought. “The only thing I’ll need help with is your brother. He’s manning the grill at the moment.”
“Oh! He’s already here! I’ve been wanting to introduce you two for a while,” Amy says, grabbing onto Sonic’s arm. She looks back over her shoulder at Vanilla and Vector as she leaves. “Remember what I said! I’ll see you two later!”
Amy doesn’t let them wait for a response. She drags Sonic into the patio. It’s a decent sized backyard. There’s a tree with a tire swing tied to it. From one side of the fence to the opposite side, there’s plenty of grass and wildflowers. Because of the way the fence is designed, the side yards are included in the area. Sonic sees a shed in the far corner. Closer than that, however, is the grill that Vector mentioned. It sits on the edge of the patio, almost in the sunlight but still secure in the shade. Amy drags him right over to it and the person standing in front of it.
Sonic has to do a double take when he gets close enough to look at the echidna. While there are a significant number of differences, this echidna looks eerily similar to Captain Dread. As someone who has been stuck cleaning the areas surrounding the ghost pirate, he knows what that echidna looks like, so he knows what he’s talking about when he compares the two in his head. Though, he doubts the pirate would ever wear a white and pink apron decorated with red strawberries.
“Knuckles!” Amy calls out. The echidna lifts his attention away from the patties, sausages, and hotdog weenies (which, by the way, fills Sonic with so much happiness that he might just cry. He loves hotdogs. Now, if someone were to make some chili, he definitely would cry). His familiar violet eyes look between Amy and Sonic. They mainly stay with Sonic, however, scrutinizing the azure hedgehog. Amy squeezes Sonic’s arm tighter between her own. “This is Sonic. He’s the one I told you about, remember? The new janitor that’s working at the university? Sonic, this is my brother, Knuckles.”
Knuckles looks Sonic up and down. The azure hedgehog lifts his paw for Knuckles to shake. The crimson echidna grunts a response and ultimately turns away. Sonic is so shocked that a laugh escapes him, bubbling and bright. Amy’s face flares with indignation, but Sonic shakes his head at her. He lets his arm drop back to his side. He shrugs his shoulders. “It’s no sweat. Pawshakes aren’t for everyone. I’d rather him stay focused on the grill, anyway. We wouldn’t want to burn anything.”
“I never burn anything,” Knuckles notes. He doesn’t sound like Captain Dread, at least. Additionally, he has the kind of voice Sonic would expect to come from his crimson frame.
“That’s not true. He’s burnt many foods while trying to grill or cook or bake,” Amy informs Sonic. Knuckles glares at her. Amy sets her paws on her hips, looking at him chidingly. “Just because you still ate it doesn’t mean it wasn’t burnt.”
Knuckles’ glare grows heavier, but it doesn’t ever sharpen. He isn’t actually angry with Amy, only minorly annoyed. Sonic supposes that’s fair. He’s seen many siblings with this exact dynamic. He hasn’t personally experienced it, but he can understand where these feelings are coming from.
“I’m back, I’m back,” A voice calls out. Sonic and Amy turn around to find Vector hurrying toward them. He has a tray in his hands, but it isn’t covered in anything. He sets it down on the side of the grill. Knuckles lingers for a moment longer. He gets out of Vector’s way when the crocodile confiscates the spatula from him. Once Vector has checked everything, he meets Knuckles’ eyes. “When’s that broad showing up?”
“She said they were on their way a few minutes ago,” Knuckles responds, retrieving a phone that seems impractical in his large paws. He manages to work it, however, to bring up his text messages.
Vector deadpans at him. “I don’t need to see that—”
“Hey! Shouldn’t you be telling Vector not to call her broad?” Amy hisses, pinching her brother’s side. He tilts barely a single degree to accommodate for the pain as if he doesn’t feel anything at all.
“It just means woman?” Knuckles responds, confusion knitting his brows together.
“It’s about connotation, dumba—”
“That must be her,” Vector interrupts. He gestures vaguely toward the other side of the house. Sonic doesn’t know what the crocodile is talking about until he hears a familiar noise. It’s a motorcycle engine. More than that, it’s the one that belongs to Shadow’s motorcycle, Dark Rider (Sonic somehow managed to get the name out of him). The others are less surprised by the noise. Knuckles, in fact, immediately peels away from the group. As soon as he swings around the side of the house, Sonic jogs after him. Knuckles shoots him an odd look, but he doesn’t stop Sonic from continuing to follow. He unlatches the wooden gate as large as a door, letting them into the front yard.
As expected, Dark Rider pulls into the driveway, staying at the very end behind the other vehicles. Shadow drives the motorcycle. Another person is with him. They get off in smooth, graceful motions. They take their helmet off, setting it down on the leather seat. The person is a bat Mobian with bright teal eyes. She mentions something to Shadow. He doesn’t look happy, but he nods his head. She smiles at him. As soon as she whirls around, she observes Sonic. She doesn’t do this for very long as Knuckles reaches her side. Sonic is close enough to hear them talking to each other, but the second he hears a stupid, gooey nickname, he tunes them out.
Plus, Sonic would much rather devote his attention to Shadow. Sonic leans against the side of the motorcycle, nearly sitting on the leather like the bat Mobian did before him. Shadow openly glares at Sonic. “Get off.”
“Hmm… how about…” Sonic taps his finger along his jawline. When he’s finished, he shoots Shadow a charismatic smile. “...no?”
Shadow does not fall for it. His glare only hardens, preventing Sonic from determining anything concrete about his emotional state. “Get. Off. I’m not staying.”
Sonic’s eyes widen. He continues leaning, but he turns his body sideways. He ignores how this causes him his discomfort (especially because of the fall he took earlier). “What do you mean? You have to stay!”
“I don’t have to do anything,” Shadow retorts.
Sonic rolls his eyes. “For sure, for sure, but really? You aren’t going to stay? It’s free food. And it’s not like you’ll be alone. You’ve got the person you dropped off. You’ve got Amy and me. We’ll hang out with you.”
Shadow looks at him incredulously. Sonic’s cheeks puff out with his emotions. He makes an executive decision. He pushes against the side of the motorcycle. Before Shadow can take advantage of Sonic’s movements, the azure hedgehog turns the keys. He yanks them away before Shadow can stop him. Now, Shadow is really glaring at him. If looks could kill, Sonic would have been dead a long time ago, but this definitely would have incinerated his ghost. Still, Sonic only smiles, clasping his fingers around the keys. “A few minutes, yeah? Just come say hello to everyone.”
Sonic pulls Shadow’s arm. He could make this impossible for Sonic, but Shadow has the decency to be kinder than that by getting off the motorcycle properly. He even kicks the stand before they get out of the vehicle’s vicinity. Sonic continues to drag Shadow along, wondering if this is how the kids felt earlier. As they reach the gate, Shadow asks, “What are you even doing here?”
Sonic grins. “I was invited. I saved Charmy from drowning last Saturday.”
“You saved someone?” Shadow questions.
“I’m just as surprised,” Sonic shrugs. He looks away from Shadow to hide his expression. He fears it’s a little too serious compared to what they were talking about. Shadow doesn’t know about Sonic’s failed history at saving people. He’s never going to know, of course, and there’s no reason to bring down the mood right now, either.
Sonic and Shadow make it to the place where the side yard meets the backyard. Before Sonic can start dragging Shadow around (to either introduce him or realize that Shadow is friendly with the people here), they are stopped by Vanilla’s appearance. Her smile widens at the sight of them both. “Shadow! I didn’t know you were coming today.”
“I wasn’t,” Shadow admits, looking down at where Sonic is holding his arm.
Sonic doesn’t let go nor does he blush in embarrassment. He’s as confident as a stage performer when he squeezes Shadow’s arm. “I convinced him to join us for a little while.”
“Blackmailed,” Shadow corrects under his breath. Sonic’s eye twitches. He’s never had a problem with blackmailing others or getting blackmailed himself, to an extent, but this situation with Clutch has rubbed him the wrong way since the very beginning. He just needs to wait for Sunday or Monday. Clutch swore he would call then, and hopefully, Sonic will get some actual answers.
Vanilla doesn’t look like she heard Shadow’s additional comment because her voice remains kind. “I’m glad to hear it. We don’t see you enough, Shadow. You’re always welcome here.”
“I know,” Shadow confirms. The thickness in his voice tells Sonic plainly that there’s more to this situation than he’s aware of.
“As long as you do,” Vanilla nods. She turns her attention back to Sonic. She presents the plate she was holding to him. He looks at it curiously. Vanilla has cut an apple into slices. She’s even cut a triangle out of them to make them look like little bunnies. She sets the plate into Sonic’s awaiting paws, forcing the azure hedgehog to temporarily release Shadow. The jet black hedgehog doesn’t run, however. He leans forward to look at the plate alongside the emerald-eyed sprinter. “Cream mentioned that you wanted a snack. I usually don’t do pre-dinner snacks since I think they ruin appetites, but I’ll make an exception this time for you.”
“Uh…” Sonic starts. He completely blanks until Shadow nudges his shoulder. This makes a smile snap onto Sonic’s face. He aims it at Vanilla. “Thank you. I’ll enjoy this. And I promise not to ruin my appetite!”
“I’ll hold you to it. I should head back inside. Enjoy your snack, Sonic, and remember that you can stay for as long as you like, Shadow,” Vanilla tells them. She turns around, cutting through the patio to return to the house. Sonic and Shadow watch her go. Sonic looks away first to stare at the apple slices. Carefully, he picks one up and eats it.
“Are you always eating?”
“I wish I was,” Sonic laughs even though Shadow clearly isn’t joking. Sonic eats another slice. As he lifts the next one, he turns toward Shadow. “Here, you should try one, too.”
“I don’t want it.” Sonic ignores Shadow’s complaints. He continues shoving the apple slice in Shadow’s direction. The ebony hedgehog uncrosses his arms to bat Sonic’s attempts away like the other is only a pesky bug. Eventually, however, Sonic’s stubbornness grants him a victory when he manages to push the apple slice into Shadow’s mouth when the hedgehog parts his lips to threaten Sonic. The azure hedgehog throws one of his arms into the air victoriously (his other paw, obviously, is busy making sure the plate doesn’t fall to the ground).
“You can’t spit it out. That would make Vanilla upset. She worked so hard to make these. You saw how she cut them to look like—eugh!” Sonic pitches forward. The pain from an elbow being shoved into his stomach radiates outward. He coughs for several long seconds, choking on the gruff sensation in his throat. He nearly tips the plate he’s holding over. Sonic manages to keep it upright, however, and soon, he isn’t coughing any longer, either.
Shadow’s body language is pointed away from Sonic. He’s crossed his arms over his chest. He points his nose into the air, literally looking down upon Sonic. The azure hedgehog squints at Shadow. For someone who’s trying to act all high and mighty, he’s made the critical error of remaining close to Sonic. The azure hedgehog folds the paper plate. He pours the rest of the apple slices into his mouth. As he’s chewing—unintentionally dribbling some juice across his lips and chin—Sonic sets the plate on the grass. It remains there as Sonic turns back to Shadow. Those carmine eyes lock onto Sonic’s for a split second, widening in surprise as if he didn’t think Sonic would retaliate.
But Sonic definitely is, and he does so by tackling Shadow right to the ground. He capitalizes on Shadow’s whiplash to force the ebony hedgehog’s back against the grass. Shadow recovers quicker than most, however. He hits Sonic’s stomach with his fist (same place he struck with his elbow, too, the jerk—) before pushing Sonic off of him. The azure hedgehog doesn’t let him go far. He drags Shadow with him. His knee is in place to dish out payback for what happened to his own stomach. Afterwards, his heel collides with Shadow’s knee. The ebony hedgehog’s body flops without the support. Sonic didn’t think this through since this fact means more of Shadow’s weight is on top of him. It holds him down in a way he doesn’t like, but he’s too busy trying to pull Shadow’s wrist away as a paw is shoving the side of his face into the dirt.
Violence tends to pollute the flow of time. Sonic doesn’t know how long they’re doing this for, but he knows that his paws are now pulling on Shadow’s quills and there’s a knee pressed so tightly into his chest that he thinks his heart is now in Shadow’s thigh. They’re fighting is stopped by a high-pitched whistle. They both turn toward a figure standing a few feet away from them. The bat Shadow came with has her hands on her hips. Between her arched brow and amused smile, she’s clearly enjoying the display. “If you two are done roughhousing, dinner is ready.”
“He started it,” Shadow defends. He pulls away from Sonic first, hissing when it takes a moment for Sonic to release his quills. Sonic does, however, let go, and he also rises to sitting up. His body burns with pain. His lungs heave from exertion. He’s covered in sweat and dirt. But he also feels more relaxed than he did when Amy first brought him around. Kindness? Gratitude? Thoughtfulness? It seems those aren’t for him.
“I started it?” Sonic doesn’t know why he’s starting an argument; he knows that he’s the one at fault. “You’re the one who elbowed me.”
“Because you shoved an apple slice in my mouth,” Shadow narrows his eyes. Sonic stares at him for a long moment. He didn’t notice it before, but now that he’s relaxed, he can recognize it in Shadow, too. The ebony hedgehog was as tense as a live wire, especially when Vanilla was standing in front of them and offering her endearing, boundless compassion. Maybe they were both on edge. Sonic is happy that the fight was able to help them both, even if he knows that Shadow will never admit that it did anything for him.
“I was only sharing my snack with you,” Sonic tuts. He kicks his legs up and leans back, putting himself onto his toes within a single leaping action. His upper body remains low. He runs forward, snagging the paper plate from the ground. Once he’s got in his grasp, he turns on his heel. He continues running, but this time, his back is straight. He glances over his shoulder to wave at Shadow and the bat. “Well, come on, it’s time to eat!”
“I’m going to kill him—”
“Oh, trust me, dearest, you’re most certainly are not—”
Sonic stops listening to the two of them. He returns to the patio. The others are sitting around a table that must have been set up while Sonic and Shadow were interacting with each other beside the house. There is a mishmash of chairs, stools, and coolers around it. Everyone is bustling about, preparing and passing their food.
Vector gives Sonic an odd, knowing look. Sonic doesn’t question it, however, as Amy calls out for him to come sit beside her. The azure hedgehog slows into a walk. He plops down in the seat beside her. He sets his paper plate on the table. Vanilla plucks it from the table as she passes, going to throw it away. Sonic leans against the arm of the chair to stop her. Amy accidentally pushes him back into his chair as she puts a new plate in front of him. This one has a plain hotdog on it. Sonic glances at it. Amy smiles. “You can put whatever you want on it! Oh, you can get a burger, too, if you want. I just remember you mentioning your love for hotdogs.”
Sonic nods, expecting as much. He looks over the rest of the table for the condiments. His gaze stops when he sees a pot with glorious chili inside of it. He clasps his paws together. Just as he swore earlier, he’s close to tears. He can’t manage to get them to appear in his eyes. He doesn’t even feel the soapy burn. Sonic huffs, deciding against trying to force the impossible. When Sonic looks up, Vector is in a similar position to him. The crocodile tilts his head to the side. “Are you also religious?”
The earnestness of the question freezes the quip that slides across Sonic’s tongue. He swallows it, leaving room for a more sincere answer. “Not exactly. I haven’t really thought about it. Sorry about, uh…” Sonic quickly drops his paws from the praying position they were in a moment ago. He trades them for the spoon of the chili. “I’ll just… eat my dinner.” He gives Vector a thumbs up with one paw while the other one maneuvers the chili from the pot to his hotdog.
Vector, thankfully, leaves that particular conversation alone. He instead starts chatting with Espio, who has been typing away on his phone. With his attention focused on his hotdog and bombarded with the many conversations happening around him, Sonic doesn’t really listen to Vector and Espio. He does catch Charmy’s high-pitched voice singing a song about Espio’s ‘boyfriend’ to which Espio vehemently denies such claims. Sonic snorts. Love lives are tricky. They’re also usually hilarious from an outside perspective, but that’s not Sonic’s place.
Sonic settles back into his chair. He lifts his chilidog decked out in everything the table had to offer. Amy sets a can of chaos cola in front of him. She stops before leaning away to stare at his chilidog. She whispers under her breath. “What in the world…?”
“You are looking at perfection,” Sonic tells her. He reverently looks at his chilidog. He leans in to sniff it. The smell is the greatest in all the world. His heart thumps wildly in his chest with excitement.
There is, however, the sharp prickle of nostalgia. Or, rather, perhaps hiraeth is a better word. He feels that longing for a home he can never go back to because the person who made it ‘home’ isn’t there anymore. If Sonic closes his eyes, he’s back in the kitchens at near midnight, giggling as quietly as they can with his little brother, cooking a late-night snack that their parents would punish them for. When he opens his eyes, he’s seated among a pseudo-friend and strangers, siphoning the warmth from their familiarity and kindness with each other like a parasite.
“I want a dog like that one!” Charmy says, pointing at Sonic’s and tugging at Espio’s arm since the chameleon is the one making Charmy’s plate.
“Your farts stink enough as it is,” Espio tells him, genuine horror in his eyes as he recalls Charmy’s farts.
With the assumption that he’ll be gone before Charmy’s stomach starts doing its business, Sonic grins wickedly at the bee. “You wouldn’t be able to handle all this.”
As expected, Charmy rises to the bait. He demands a decked out chilidog. Espio glares at Sonic when he responds, “If I make you one, you’re sleeping outside tonight.”
Vector nods his head. He stops when Vanilla gives him a specific look. Vector coughs into his hand, setting his burger onto his plate. He looks over at Espio and Charmy. “If Charmy wants to try everything on his hotdog, let him. And stop threatening to make him sleep outside. We’re not going to do that.” Vector hurriedly adds an extra thought, “But Charmy, I swear to God, you better stay away from the fan if you eat this whole thing.”
Sonic laughs openly. He hears Amy giggling beside him, and even Knuckles, on Sonic’s other side, snorts. Espio has a thousand-yard stare, perhaps recalling the time Charmy farted near a fan. Even still, the chameleon makes the chilidog for the bee. Cream promises she only wants her plain hotdog (which Sonic crazier than the concoction he and Charmy are indulging in, but whatever, give him the weird looks). When the chilidogs are ready, Sonic stands and leans across the table to toast with the bee. They take a bite together. Sonic falls back into his chair, boneless from bliss. Charmy chews for several seconds. He eventually nods his head, enjoying the chili dog. Espio and Vector share a look, clearly expecting and hoping that Charmy would hate the chilidog. Sonic shakes his head at them; no one can go back once they’ve had a taste. Underestimating the power of a chilidog piled high with every condiment and additive is a bad decision.
As Sonic continues through his chilidog, Knuckles turns toward him. “Amy says you’re a janitor at the university.”
Sonic nods as he swallows. “She would be right. I was hired recently. CEO Clutch recommended me. I think I’m doing pretty good, for what it’s worth.”
“Are you from around here?”
“I am not. I’m from West Side Island. Well, I was originally born on Christmas Island, but does it count if I can’t remember it?” Sonic answers, leaning close as if he were sharing a secret. Knuckles’ nose twitches at the scent of Sonic’s chili breath. Though not for his sake, Sonic does lean away. “Let’s see: I was an orphan. I was adopted. I ended up here for work. I’ve taken on custodian positions in the past. All good reviews so that’s probably why I was accepted into my position. I’m 19. And Amy is just a friend. Is that all the questions you were going to ask?”
Knuckles nods. “I believe so.”
Sonic and Knuckles are content to leave it at that, but Amy nudges Sonic’s shoulders to push him into Knuckles. They look at her. Amy’s cheeks are slightly colored (maybe from Sonic implying that Knuckles would ask about Sonic’s intentions with her), but her voice is strong. “That cannot be your conversation! Ask each other about your hobbies.”
“I don’t really have any,” Sonic shrugs. Nothing legal, anyway. Anything legal he once did for fun has been tainted by bad memories and no access to the appropriate equipment. Ever since Sonic got this position as a janitor, he hasn’t done much of anything. He just goes back to his motel, sleeping for way longer than a regular person should. It’s mainly because he isn’t used to a consistent schedule. He used to be able to sleep whenever he wanted. And he did so a lot, and that was likely because of the lack of food.
Speaking of, Sonic has finished his chilidog, and Amy’s plate is still covered in chips. He keeps his body facing Knuckles (as much as it can in a chair, anyway), but leans back to snag some chips from her plate. Amy doesn’t swat his paw away. She just continues eating her burger.
“I own a gym. I workout. I teach others how to work out,” Knuckles answers about his hobby.
“Well, you can tell me about that. I’m a good listener,” Sonic smiles. Knuckles considers it. With a shrug, he starts talking about his daily workouts. Sonic, true to his word, listens attentively. He might not understand everything Knuckles says, but he talks about what he can. He also isn’t afraid to ask questions. Sonic thinks, at a certain point, that Knuckles is actually enjoying the conversation because of Sonic’s interest.
After his millionth chip, Amy leans close to whisper, “You know you can get seconds, right?” Sonic regards her skeptically. Amy’s brows twist with her own confusion. After a long moment, Amy sighs and smiles. “Nevermind. You can keep eating off my plate. Do you want me to make another chilidog? Or maybe a burger this time?”
“Do what you want,” Sonic shrugs and grabs another chip. He tosses it into his mouth, returning his attention to Knuckles. While he was distracted, the bat—Rouge—infiltrated the conversation. She changes it to something about her bar. She even brings up an upcoming event that will be happening next Saturday. Sonic listens to that as intently, though he doesn’t ask nearly as many questions. Mainly because he understands Rouge’s words and she carries the conversation along just fine.
It continues like this, actually. The conversation grows to encompass everyone. Each person adds something new, gradually shifting the topic at hand to something else entirely. Sonic participates a healthy amount. He’s mostly preoccupied with cleaning Amy’s plate (especially because she put a chilidog down, ripe for the taking), but that’s really only for the two of them to know.
When the evening treads into night, everyone starts cleaning up. Instead of fighting, Shadow and Sonic just get into a competition about who can do the most. Shadow boasts that he won when they’re finished, but Sonic’s laughing so hard that he knows he was the winner, regardless of how much trash was picked up by either of their paws.
Amy volunteered to tuck the children into their beds, and Espio went with her because he was carrying Charmy. Shadow stayed in the kitchen to help Vanilla with some last-minute cleaning. Knuckles and Rouge stand at Dark Rider, talking quietly to each other in the moonlight. This leaves Sonic sitting on the porch steps, holding Gemerl’s head in his lap. As he’s petting the dog and staring out at the houses across the street, Vector joins him. The crocodile is drinking chaos cola, but he carries the heaviness of someone deep within their alcoholic cups.
“Were you being honest earlier with Knuckles?”
Sonic takes a moment, but he realizes what Vector’s talking about rather quickly. He nods his head. “For what it’s worth, I’m not looking for a relationship with Espio, either.”
“That’s not—” Vector starts. He huffs, cutting himself off. He shakes his head. He stops beside the railing. He leans against it, staring up at the moon and stars above. Sonic returns his gaze to the warm light shining through the curtains of the window. “I find it hard to believe you, Sonic.”
“You tried to ‘detective’ my past, didn’t you?” Sonic asks. He curls himself further around Gemerl. The dog breathes raggedly into Sonic’s stomach. Despite the sun having disappeared, the air remains thick with heat. Sonic thinks his breathing is going to be affected soon, too, since every breath in feels like he’s gulping down water, and that’s undoubtedly going to ruin him in the long-run.
Vector exhales out his nose, bordering on humored but not quite making it across that chasm. “Yes, I tried to ‘detective’ your past.”
“You won’t find much. My adopted parents and I… we didn’t end things on the best of terms. They had enough money to spare to erase their connection with me. Since I’m an orphan, the only past I had belonged to them.” It helps that Sonic left behind that name they gave him. There’s barely any threads connecting him to his past. Nightmares, mostly, and an all-consuming grief and guilt.
“Who are you, then?” Vector asks.
“You know, most people spend their entire lives trying to answer that question,” Sonic remarks. Vector turns his eyes to Sonic, but he doesn’t change expressions. The moonlight highlights his features. Vector is entirely present in the moment. He cares about it. He just doesn’t feel any particular way about it. It is the face of a true seeker of knowledge, Sonic supposes. For that, Sonic decides to give the most honest answer he can. Sonic rises to his feet. Gemerl watches after him as does Vector. He steps onto the grass, putting distance between him and Vector. He turns around to face the crocodile, locking eyes to show the sincerity of his words. “You’re right to doubt me. And you probably shouldn’t trust me. I’m not a good person. I’m not a bad one, either, though. I’m just a person who lives day-by-day. I’ve never done anything grand or special. I never will. Last Saturday, I followed Charmy on a whim. I saved him because someone had to. Believe me when I say that if anyone else was there, I would have let them take care of it. Is that enough for you, detective?”
Before Vector can answer, the front door opens. Amy and Shadow step outside. The former is telling the latter something, but her voice trails off when she notices how Shadow’s attention immediately snaps between Vector and Sonic. Amy frowns, brows furrowing together. “...what’re we talking about?”
“I was just thanking Vector for inviting me. I had a good time tonight. The food was great, and the company was even moreso,” Sonic says. He makes sure to direct his wink at Shadow, earning a scoff from the ebony hedgehog.
Amy’s entire face lights up with cheerfulness. She leans down to pet Gemerl as the dog trots toward her. “I’m glad to hear that!”
“I am, too. You should come back sometime,” Vector says with his merriment. Sonic smiles in confusion at the crocodile. Did he imagine it when he told Vector that he wasn’t a good person, and he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to save Charmy if someone else had been there? No, surely he said that part aloud.
“I need my keys,” Shadow declares, interrupting the moment. Sonic nods at him. He reaches into his quills to pull out the keys to the Dark Rider. Before he can decide if he wants to tease Shadow with them, the ebony hedgehog has grabbed them and started walking away. Sonic rolls his shoulders and eyes at the same time.
Vector and Gemerl go back inside. Shadow and Rouge drive off. Knuckles gets into the passenger seat of Amy’s car. Amy and Sonic walk toward the car, but she slows them down by grabbing onto Sonic’s arm. She forces him to look at her before she quietly says, “You can be honest with me. Did you really have a good time tonight?”
Sonic thinks about it. His belly is full. His skin is hot because of the weather, but his insides are warm, too, from the lingering conversation and the companionship these people offered him so willingly. His stomach still hurts from Shadow elbowing him and making him laugh harder than he has in a long time. And Amy looks at him now with a face that implies she would do just about anything to make this night better for Sonic if it sucked for him, and he doesn’t really understand why. What has he done for her? What has he done for anyone here?
Still, he squeezes her arms encouragingly, smiling with an expression he thought only Tails had been worthy to see. “Yeah, it was amazing.”
“That makes me so happy to hear! I wanted you to enjoy it. You deserve it.”
Do I? After everything, do I really?
Notes:
This was way longer than I thought it would be lmao
Chapter Text
Monday
One Week
Sonic wouldn’t consider himself close with anyone at the Spagonia University except Amy and possibly Shadow. He minds his own business, focusing on cleaning as quickly and efficiently as he can. He makes sure to keep his head down. He avoids anyone he thinks is going to be troublesome for him which means he avoids almost everyone because ‘troublesome’ has multiple meanings. Amy makes the trouble worth it by being a good friend, and Shadow is fun to mess with. Everyone else is too much effort for too little reward, so Sonic maintains a friendly attitude without revealing anything about himself or learning anything about everyone else.
It is for this reason that Sonic doesn’t know anyone who’s standing in the hallway. He can guess based on outfits and uniforms what rank they have within the university, but he doesn’t know a single person’s name. He doesn’t care enough to look at their nametags. He will continue to tread forward in his ignorance just as swiftly as he pushes his cart through the thick crowd of bodies. As they mindlessly get out of his way, Sonic knows for a fact that they don’t know him, either. They don’t know his name, and if asked later what the janitor looks like, the closest some of them might get to accuracy is remembering that he’s blue. Such is the nature of their work and ideologies, Sonic supposes.
The hedgehog stops at the double doors that everyone is keeping a fair distance from. Usually, he has to pull out his keys for these doors, but he finds that they’re already unlocked. He holds it open with his foot, shoving his cart inside. He hurries inside before the cart can roll far enough to land in the water. He doesn’t reach it in time to stop it from sliding into a crimson puddle of water and blood. The cart swerves, and Sonic has to hug the sides to stabilize it. He hears the doors slam shut behind him. Beneath that noise, he hears—but mostly sees—a few objects fall off the cart’s shelves. Sonic hums a short noise to himself in acknowledgement. He leans down to pick the items up. It’s only a few cans of spray. Some are air freshener while others are for scrubbing. All of them are now wet from rolling in the puddles, and all carry at least one red stain, even if it’s on the smaller size.
As Sonic is putting everything back on the cart, he hears a splashing noise. He feels an urge to whirl around, but he isn’t afraid of Nine—even when the rust-colored water is making his shoes soggy. All Sonic does is tilt his head enough that his voice carries over his shoulder even when his eyes guide his hands to the mop. “You know, next time, try to injure the employees inside your tank. Someone else has to clean that.”
Sonic drops the mop onto the ground. His nose wrinkles at the wet slapping noise, but there isn’t anything he can do about his disgust. He just pushes the mop forward and backward, wishing he could play his music. The only reason he can’t is because he was informed by Professor Pickle that he can’t have any ‘sensory inhibitors’ while being so close to the merfolk. It’s for safety reasons. Sonic doesn’t usually follow this rule—safety be damned—but there are people right outside who would throw a fit if they caught him with his headphones on. Flying under the radar has served him well this past week; he doesn’t need to change that now.
“Shouldn’t you be discouraging me from hurting others?” Nine replies. Sonic’s lips twitch upward into a smile. Not at what Nine said, but just the fact that he’s talking. They haven’t had many conversations (though, they did talk about Sonic’s dinner at Vanilla’s since Nine was technically responsible for Sonic going in more ways than one), but more than zero is enough to impress Sonic. He didn’t even know the merfolk could talk prior to meeting Nine. Sonic hasn’t gotten Thorn to say anything, and while Dread talks, he doesn’t converse. The hedgehog isn’t going to give up, however. He’ll do it one day. Maybe. If it takes less than a summer, he supposes.
“I mean, probably, but that’d just be hypocritical of me,” Sonic shrugs. Violence is not a foreign concept to him. Even now, he can still feel the phantom pains of his first fight, the paws wrapped tightly around his throat and the eyes he knew would never love him staring at him with such hatred and arrogance. Sonic survived that encounter, and it planted a seed inside of him. He got better at fighting over the course of his years on the run. He defended himself and his food. Sometimes, he would defend others, too, but that’s not an anecdote he normally shares. “And anyway, you probably had a good reason, right? I know the scientists here can be… er, cold.”
Nine makes a noise. It takes Sonic a moment to identify it. He doesn’t know why; it’s only a wry snort. Still, Sonic’s brows lift up, only partially out of surprise. He supposes that if a creature can talk in the common language, they’re more than capable of other sounds like laughter. Sonic dares not call the noise Nine made ‘laughter,’ though. There’s a distinction to be made because Nine isn’t happy, though not unamused.
“They were trying to draw my blood,” Nine admits with an odd carefulness in his voice. Sonic glances at him. Nine’s head is above the water, a few feet away from the edge of the platform. He’s looking at the far wall. His ears are pinned downward, and although the distance makes it hard to tell, Sonic thinks Nine’s cheeks are a tad more red than they should be. He looks embarrassed.
Sonic doesn’t know why until a thought pops into his head. It nearly drops the mop. The wooden stick lands against his shoulder. Sonic turns toward Nine with his whole body. He waves his arms out, letting go of the mop’s handle. “Are you scared of needles?”
It’s a shot in the dark. Sonic doesn’t expect to be right. It’s proven that he is when the redness in Nine’s cheeks grows more prominent. The mer’s expression twists together with a kind of anger that only appears when someone is trying to hide the emotions they’re genuinely feeling. He makes the mistake of turning to meet Sonic’s eyes. This might be to show that he’s being honest, but it only shows Sonic that Nine is lying. “I am not afraid of needles! I am not afraid of anything!”
Sonic covers his mouth with his paws to hold back his laughter. He might as well have laughed with how Nine glares at him. Another might cower—especially since they would still be standing in a puddle made from Nine, apparently, throwing someone out of the water hard enough that they bashed their head—but Sonic doesn’t. He can’t. Nine looks too much like Tails for Sonic to ever be scared, especially when the mer’s face is like that. Tails was the same way. He would swear up and down that he wasn’t afraid of needles, but the truth would always come to light when the doctor would pull the syringe out. Sonic would know since he was always the one to take Tails to the doctor, and soon, they’d set up a whole system for it.
Sonic removes his paws from his mouth. He moves them forward and back in front of him to show his innocence and acceptance. “Fine, fine, you aren’t afraid of anything, especially not needles. You know that they’re still going to come collect your blood, right? Either you scare the scientist in your tank, or you let them take what they need. They’re just trying to make sure you don’t have diseases, after all.”
While Sonic never had to convince Tails not to attack the scientist, he did have to reason with the kit about why he needed to get his blood drawn or why he needed to take his shot. The memory is so present in Sonic’s head that he doesn’t think anything about showing his palm to the scowling Nine. “Hey, I can hold your hand if that’d make you feel less ‘not-afraid’.”
Sonic lets his paw drop immediately. He grabs onto the mop still balancing on his shoulder. Sonic looks across the floor. He doesn’t have that much more to clean. The faculty told him to hurry when they called for him (and committed the cardinal sin of interrupting his music time). He’ll hurry, alright. He’ll finish here in barely a few more seconds, and then he’ll return to cleaning the classrooms and listening to his music. Maybe he’ll get Thorn to talk to him today or Dread to mention something other than his ship and former crew.
“...would you?”
“Would I… what?” Sonic responds absentmindedly. It isn’t until he’s putting the mop back into the cart that he realizes he heard Nine speak and that he spoke himself. Sonic’s lips twitch into a frown. He glances over his shoulder. The mer is right at the platform, paws tentatively holding the edge. He lowered his head to put his mouth beneath the water, only those painfully familiar and also equally unfamiliar baby blue eyes staring at him. Sonic arches a curious brow. He sees bubbles appear in the water in front of Nine’s face. Did he sigh or try to talk?
Nine lifts his head back up. He refuses to meet viridescent eyes. Sonic could blame Nine’s embarrassment being sharper on the simple fact that the mer is closer, but he genuinely thinks Nine is more ashamed now than he was earlier. It isn’t enough to keep Nine from speaking, only enough to quiet his voice. “Hold my hand… when they draw my blood…”
Sonic pauses. Even before his mind has fully wrapped around the request, a startled laugh leaves him in the same breath as his words, “You know that’s illegal, right? I’m not allowed to touch you guys. Don’t have a permit or whatever legal document it is.”
Touching Nine is the whole reason Sonic’s in this situation in the first place, after all. Sonic should avoid repeating that unless he wants to dig an even deeper grave for himself. Six feet below the surface is fine by him.
Nine’s face remains stony, but his eyes twitch. Sonic can read these irises as well as he could Tails’. He folds for them just as easily, too. Sonic huffs, setting one paw on his hip and rubbing the back of his neck with the other. “You know what: who cares? I’ve broken worse laws before. I’m sure the scientists can look the other way to get what they want. But you’re going to have to tell them. They aren’t going to believe me.”
Nine looks like he would rather die, but he nods his head. Sonic smiles at him before turning around. He pushes his cart to the wall right beside the double doors. He knocks on them. Sonic jumps to the side, saving himself from how the doors are thrown open. Sonic whistles, dropping his paws into his pockets. He watches as nearly everyone in the hallway pours into the room. They carry their conversations with them, filling the echoing chamber with noise. Nine pushes away from the platform, swimming backward. He bobs in the water, but he doesn’t allow himself to sink. The scientists take this as a good sign—an opportunity. Despite swearing he wasn’t afraid of anything, Sonic knows the second he looks into Nine’s eyes that all he does is feel afraid. It thoroughly consumes him, paralyzing him in some instances and making him violent in others.
This, Sonic thinks, is one quality Nine shares with him rather than Tails.
Sonic turns on his heel. He pushes through the crowd. They don’t notice him; they don’t care to notice him. Sonic makes it to the edge of the platform without anyone giving him so much as a sideways glance. It is only when he drops onto both knees, letting his paw hover above the water. Sonic hears people shouting at him, but their voices fade when he feels his gloves dampen. Nine stares right at their paws as he intertwines their fingers (Sonic realizes that all the merfolk must have gloves made from a unique material as he feels their paws side-by-side with each other). Nine squeezes tightly, either a remnant of his fear-born violence or because he doesn’t want Sonic letting go. The hedgehog isn’t going to. He squeezes back, gentler and with a benign smile. “See? You aren’t afraid of anything.”
Nine’s gaze lifts from their paws to meet Sonic’s eyes. It takes a moment, but a tiny, wavering mimicry of Sonic’s smile appears on Nine’s face. Sonic feels pride swell in his chest. It grants him enough confidence to turn toward the scientist who has latched onto his shoulder. They’ve stopped trying to drag him away, but their surprise over Sonic and Nine’s interaction contends with unhappiness and displeasure over the same situation. Sonic smiles cheekily. “I made a deal with Nine. He would let his blood get drawn if I held his hand. If you want to get your blood, you’ll have to make an exception.” With his free paw, Sonic presses a finger against his lips. “And keep this a secret from the government, of course.”
The scientists look between each other. The students huddle closer together, radiating with nervous energy. Finally, one scientist—the one who looks like she’s the boss—huffs and waves her paw. “If this is what it takes, so be it. We needed that blood yesterday. Might as well take what we can get. Is the stuff ready?”
“Ready!” Someone calls out from the back. Sonic looks back at Nine. He dares not touch the mer more than what’s already been permitted (both by Nine himself and the scientists), but he finds that he doesn’t need to. Nine locks eyes with Sonic. He doesn’t look away even when the university’s faculty surround Sonic on all sides. They pull Nine’s other arm onto the platform. The mer’s countenance is remarkably composed for someone whose eyes are minutely trembling. Nine winces very slightly when they start drawing the blood. Although it’s been years, muscle memory forces Sonic to make a funny face. Nine looks more bemused than amused, but it distracts him all the same.
In no time at all, the blood is drawn, and the scientists are going to store it and maybe immediately study it. Sonic stays with Nine, not letting go until the mer does. “There we go! That wasn’t so difficult, was it? Now, we can go get ice cream!”
“Ice cream?” Nine questions in a way that implies he’s just as confused about what ice cream is as he is with why Sonic would bring it up. Sonic would much prefer answering the first question. He doesn’t want to explain that along with holding Tails’ paw, he also had to get the kit ice cream. He can just hear their arguments about it in his head.
(“Why do you want mint chocolate chip? That’s, like, the worst flavor of ice cream.” They were walking on the sidewalk. Tails was a little ahead because he kept jumping over the cracks in the concrete.
But he’d stopped to turn toward Sonic. The hedgehog kept walking past him, but he could hear Tails’ defensive voice call out. “You’re the worst flavor of ice cream!”
Sonic had laughed. He slowed his pace, waiting for Tails to catch up with him again. As the kit passed, Sonic lightly tapped his head. “Excuse you, I’d be blueberry ice cream. People would eat that up.”
Tails hummed, already distracted. “What kind of ice cream would I be?”
Sonic looked over at his brother’s fur. He shrugged. “Orange?”
Tails wasn’t happy with that. “I wanna be mint chocolate chip!”
“Sorry, kid, should’ve been born green.”
Tails’ little face twisted with a poor imitation of a scowl. Suddenly, his face lit up with an idea. “If I eat a lot of mint chocolate chip, will I turn green?”
Sonic chuckled. “That makes logical sense to me.”
Tails’ grin was brighter than the sun as he turned around. He grabbed onto Sonic’s paw, dragging him forward by running backwards. “Come on, come on! I gotta eat a lot!” And like always, Sonic gave in easily with little more than a loud laugh and a struggle to chase after Tails when he was being forced to lean forward at the same time. It was worth it, though, to see Tails enjoying his ice cream and then growing upset when he didn’t immediately turn green.)
Sonic taps his finger against the platform beside his knee. “It’s something sweet. It’s also cold.” Sonic glances over his shoulder. With none of the scientists around, he leans forward to whisper to Nine. “If you promise not to tell the scientists, I’ll bring you some.”
Nine holds his emotions like treasures in a vault. One manages to escape containment, however, and that’s his happiness. It doesn’t pull his lips into a smile or causes a laugh to leave him. It does, however, make his eyes glitter when he silently nods in agreement. Sonic smiles at him. Now, he’ll have to figure out how to sneak ice cream into this room, and if the mer can even eat ice cream. Maybe he’ll rope Amy into this just so he’ll have someone to ask.
“Alright, uh… Sonic, right?” Someone calls out. Sonic looks away from Nine. The woman who looked to be in charge stares down at him. Her eyes occasionally glance at Nine, but she focuses on Sonic when he nods in confirmation. “Thanks for helping us out. You can leave now.”
She says ‘can’ as if she’s saying ‘should.’ Sonic gets the message. He lifts his fingers. He pulls his paw away from Nine when he stands upright. Sonic gives the mer a thumbs-up. “I’ll see you next time, okay?”
Nine doesn’t get it completely right, but he manages a thumbs-up. Once he finishes with it, Nine sinks into the water. He disappears quickly. The scientist stares at the water thoughtfully. Sonic takes the opportunity to leave. He gets a few more glances than he would like as he’s fleeing, but he doesn’t mind so much. If the cost of helping Nine is all this attention, he doesn’t regret his choice. He doubts he ever will even if he already knows that his life is about to get a lot less simple.
Case in point, later when he’s trying to go home for the night, Sonic is nearly tackled to the ground as he’s leaving through the side door. He doesn’t fall, and after seeing a flash of pink, he doesn’t Amy fall, either. He does, however, regard her with a specific look. She doesn’t seem to notice. She doesn’t even let them get out of the way of the door. Sonic feels it against his shoulder, wanting to close but being unable to. Amy moves her paws to grab onto his forearm, squeezing tightly.
“I heard what you did! How did you do it?” Amy nearly squeals. Sonic is very happy that she doesn’t. He usually has a high tolerance, but he does not like headaches.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I do a lot of things,” Sonic sagely informs her. To be fair, it does take him a few seconds to figure out what she could possibly be referring to.
Amy’s cheeks puff with her indignation. She squeezes his arm tighter and starts rocking on her heels. “You know what I’m talking about! You kept Nine from attacking anyone!”
“That’s a stretch. He attacked a guy before I showed up. Honestly, I had to show up because he attacked someone,” Sonic explains. He starts trying to get his arm out of her grasp when he realizes that her strength is proportional to her annoyance. He’s getting on her last nerve, and she’s about to make sure to hit all of his pain receptors. “Calm down! I didn’t do anything special. I just talked to Nine. I asked him if he’d let them take his blood if I held his hand. He agreed. That’s it.”
Amy lets go of his arm. Sonic rubs his forearm, realizing maybe he should get a subscription to Knuckles’ gym, too. Amy, for her part, ignores his suffering. She clasps her paws together in front of her chest. She swings around, spinning across the parking lot. She stops to look at Sonic with an expression that’s so reverent he feels uncomfortable. “You don’t understand how miraculous that is, Sonic! We’ve been trying to communicate with the merfolk ever since they came to Spagonia University. We barely got interactions from them before you came along. Now, Nine is talking! He’s conversing! He let you touch him! He let the scientists touch him! We’ve reached several milestones in a single day!”
“Do I want to know how badly the university has been treating Nine for him to only start talking now?” Sonic mutters. Not quietly enough, it seems, because Amy gives him a perplexed look. Sonic crosses his arms over his chest, leaning the side of his head against the glass door. “I meant what I said, Amy. I didn’t do anything special. I talked to him. That’s it. I don’t know what conversation starters you guys were using, but they must have sucked. Just… be friendly, I guess. That’s how I did it. By being friendly.”
Amy opens her mouth. Her response is cut off by another voice coming from behind Sonic. “Move.”
“What’re you going to do if I don’t?” Sonic asks, glancing over his shoulder.
Shadow’s glare intensifies. “Move. You’re in my way.”
“Better to be in your way than to never see you,” Sonic smiles. Shadow’s nose wrinkles. A one-beat laugh echoes in Sonic’s chest, though it doesn’t quite make it out of his lips. Regardless, Sonic shrugs his shoulders and moves out of the threshold. He holds the door open for Shadow just to be nice. “Have a good night, Shadow. Don’t do anything too crazy. We still have work tomorrow.”
Shadow glares at him when he passes. Sonic’s smile never drops. Amy hurriedly tacks on, “Oh, yeah, have a good night, Shadow! See you tomorrow!”
Shadow doesn’t tell either of them goodnight. He marches right to Dark Rider. Sonic lets go of the door handle, watching the door fall shut. Amy’s brows furrow together when she looks between him and the door. Sonic gives her an innocent expression. Both of their ears flick to the side when the motorcycle’s engine rumbles. Shadow gets onto the bike. Before he leaves, he calls out, “Sonic.”
The azure hedgehog’s eyes widen at being called for. He shares a surprised look with Amy. She grabs his shoulder, spinning him around to face the scowling motorcyclist. “Remain wary around the merfolk. Friendliness is… dangerous. Only vigilance will see you through to the end.”
Before Sonic (or Amy) can react, Shadow is already driving out of the parking lot. The two hedgehogs left behind are frozen, staring blankly at the place he once was. Sonic moves first. He leans back and tilts his head just enough to whisper to Amy, “Was he worried about me?”
Amy’s grip tightens on his shoulder. She nods very slowly, returning his whispers with one of her own. “I think so.”
Sonic whistles, setting his paws on his hips (careful not to elbow Amy since she’s standing so close to him). “Now, it might just be me, but I think making Shadow worried for me is far more impressive than getting Nine to talk.”
Amy laughs breathily in disbelief. Sonic joins her a second later. As he stops laughing, he hears a jingling noise. He glances at Amy. “Your phone is ringing.”
She pushes against his shoulder with her paw. “Your phone is ringing.”
“I don’t—” Right, he does have a phone. He only uses it for music, so he forgot it had other purposes. Sonic reaches back into his quills. He pulls out the device. He expects spam; he feels dread when he sees Clutch’s face. Sonic grumbles, debating if he should press the red button instead of the green one.
“Do you need a ride home?” Amy asks, gesturing to her car. She asks him this every day. He always refuses her, so he isn’t sure why she keeps asking.
At least this time, he has an excuse. Sonic shakes the phone in his paw. “Nah. I have to take this. It’s… private. My boss. You go on ahead.”
Amy nods. As he said, she goes on ahead. As she’s getting into her car, Sonic accepts his miserable fate by pressing the accept button. He sets the phone against the side of his face. He turns, beginning to pace the length of the parking lot while he listens to the slimy voice of the possum. “Sonic! Have you been well?”
“Yup. Fed, bathed, clothed, and no injuries, to boot. I’m living the good life, Mr. Clutch,” Sonic answers. He says it with some amount of sarcasm, but he means it a lot more genuinely than he would like to. Having food, a clean water source, and multiple clothes really is a luxury. And although he did acquire some bruises from Vanilla’s house (he got knocked down on his ass twice and then he fought Shadow, after all), he hasn’t gotten anything more than that. He really is living a solid life.
“That’s good to hear. I like making sure my employees are well taken care of. Let me know if anything changes,” Clutch says. He sounds earnest. He would probably look that way, too, if Sonic were talking to him in person. Sonic knows he’s not. Clutch is doing the bare minimum to keep Sonic from making him look bad. Clutch will prevent Sonic from keeling over, but the hedgehog doubts he’ll do much more than that. “I have to apologize. I meant to call you yesterday on your off-day, but there were a few unexpected meetings I couldn’t get away from. But it doesn’t seem to be all bad. If I had called you yesterday, I would have had to wait an entire week to hear more about your encounter with that octopus merfolk.”
Sonic holds back his groan through sheer force of will. He doesn’t like that Clutch has such thorough tabs on his life that the possum knows about events that happened today. He also doesn’t like the idea that Clutch is going to call him on Sundays. He has one off-day a week; why must he be stuck dreading it because of conversations like these?
“Not much to tell you, I’m afraid. They called me in to clean some blood. I took a page out of your book and bargained with the merfolk that way I would have less to clean. The scientists allowed it because they wanted their samples. It’s one of those rare situations when it worked out for everyone,” Sonic answers. He is very concise in his wording. He doesn’t want Clutch knowing that he has any kind of companionship with Nine. Sonic isn’t sure of Clutch’s intentions, and sentiments like that are only going to be used against Sonic. Additionally, appealing to Clutch’s ego might earn him a few points of favorability.
“Desperate enough to break the law, are they?” Clutch hums. Sonic freezes up at that. He looks around. He’s standing in the corner of the parking lot. He can hear vehicles on the other side of the fence, but he doesn’t hear people. That’s good. Sonic needs as few people realizing he broke the law today as possible. He really didn’t want Clutch to know. Does he have someone else on the inside who can get information to him? Does he have access to the security cameras?
Clutch laughs slightly—a cheery noise that wants to put Sonic at ease. He refuses to let himself relax. He tenses, covering his front with his arms. “I can’t say I haven’t been in the same position before. I’m sure you know what it’s like, as well, Sonic.”
He does, unfortunately, and he hates that this puts him in the same category as Clutch (and those scientists, even).
“As much as I love conversing with you, I’ve just had a long day of work. How about we get to all the items on the agenda sooner rather than later?” Sonic asks, starting to walk the perimeter again.
Clutch laughs again, and it’s more pronounced. “I will admit that I am fond of straightforward conversation. Thankfully, there isn’t anything else to say. I’ve confirmed that you’re doing well, and you’ve shared sufficient details with me about what happened today. I’ll call you next Sunday. When I do, I hope you’ll have… more to tell me. You are soon to become my only means of information. I would like for you to get used to it.”
At least this is confirmation that he is a spy. “Sounds like a plan. Talk to you next Sunday.”
“Talk to you, then. Have a good night, Sonic, and have an even better week. After all you’ve done, you deserve it.” With that, Clutch ends the call. Sonic brings his phone down. He stares at it. Ironically, this is the same paw he used to hold Nine’s paw… and years ago, he held Tails’ paw with this one, too.
What is it with people telling him what he deserves lately?
Notes:
Tails is going to haunt this narrative lmao
Next chapter, we're going to finally meet the kraken!! I'm so excited. Cream will be with him. I'm just spoiling the story, aren't I?
Chapter 6
Notes:
Early chapter because I don't think I'll be able to write one Saturday
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Wednesday
Tenth Day
In one of the classrooms, Sonic wears the headphones connected to the phone in the front pocket of his uniform. He occasionally sweeps the floor, but he’s mostly using the broom as either a dance partner or an imaginary microphone in its stand. He’s still making good time as he cleans the classroom alongside showcasing his sick dance moves to an audience of no one. At least, none that he’s aware of, and he does not care if there is someone watching him from the security cameras or any of the windows. He was bored beforehand, and now he’s having a great time jamming with his newly curated playlist.
Sonic whirls around in a tight spin. When he lands, he slides to the side. He flicks his paws to the side, careful to keep his thumb hooked around the broom’s handle to prevent it from slipping from his grasp. As Sonic lifts the broom, he catches it, pretending to play a guitar in time with the music. This is the hundredth—more or less—time he’s listened to this particular song, so he thinks he’s finally figured out what all the chords are. If he were given an actual guitar, barring some time to readjust to playing one, Sonic would be able to mimic this part of the song without any trouble, even though he’s never seen a proper music sheet for it.
As the guitar solo comes to an end, the door across the classroom opens. Sonic doesn’t really freeze, but he does stop dancing around. He drops the bottom of the broom back onto the ground. He lifts his fingers to his headphones, pushing one side off his ear. While he’s adjusting himself, Amy Rose runs into the room, expertly weaving through the desks Sonic pushed aside to give himself space to sweep (and dance). After a particular sharp turn, Sonic realizes that Amy isn’t alone. She’s dragging someone behind her, and that ‘someone’ is a short rabbit kit named Cream.
“Uh… can I help y—”
“Yes, you can! Please watch her! Just for a little bit! I totally forgot about my test today! And the big project! Oh, I’m going to be so late!” Amy interrupts him (noticeably not complimenting his dance moves). The roseate hedgehog swings Cream around her body. She nudges the girl toward Sonic. He grabs Cream’s shoulder to keep her from falling backward. Amy is already hurrying back toward the door, quite literally jumping over any desks in her way with the grace of a track star (Sonic should know; he used to be one himself). “Thank you! I’ll get you a fruit basket! A chilidog basket! Food! See you later…!”
Amy is still shouting miscellaneous words over her shoulder even after she’s rounded the corner into the hallway. Sonic’s music continues blaring in one ear, and the sound of her hurried footsteps and a slamming door enters through his other one. Eventually, however, it does go quiet. Amy gets to where she needs to be for her test and big project and whatever else she’s forgotten about today that cannot be accomplished in the presence of a little kid.
Speaking of which, Sonic looks down at the child he’s been stuck with. Cream turns around, tilting her head back to stare at him with large, innocent eyes. She doesn’t say anything. Neither does he for a long moment. He has some sense to turn his music down. It is a soft humming noise in the back of his thoughts as he tries figuring out what he’s supposed to do about this child.
“Can I offer you some cleaning supplies in these trying times?” Sonic asks. He doesn’t take his eyes off of her, but he does tilt his body to accommodate his arm reaching backward. He randomly grabs something from his cart. He presents it to Cream. While he doubts there’s anything truly bad on his cart, he feels lucky that it’s only a spray for cleaning glass, especially because Cream takes it without any hesitation. She holds it in both paws, placing it near her chest. She’s still looking at him, however, and he gets the impression that he’s supposed to tell her what she’s allowed to do.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t know what she’s allowed to do. No one gave him the run-down on where children are permitted to go and do while at the university. He just cleans things and listens to music, occasionally holding one-man concerts for his own entertainment. But, hey, if that’s what he does, why can’t Cream do it, too? Child labor laws don’t mean anything to him. Amy might beat him up if she finds out that Sonic made Cream do a part of his job for him, but he knows how to bribe children.
Sonic squats in front of Cream, holding the broom against his shoulder. Cream’s eyes follow him. She’s entirely earnest for her own good. He’ll have to teach her how to mask her emotions, but that will come on another day. For now, he tells her, “Alright, I’ve got to babysit you, but I also have a job to do. You’re going to help me. We’re cleaning this classroom. In exchange, I’ve got ice cream with your name on it.”
“I’ll help you even without ice cream! I help Mama all the time!” Cream chirps. She hurries around his body to the cart. She snags a rag from the side. She continues until she’s at the windows. They’re too tall for her, but Cream proves herself to be a problem solver. She pushes a desk against the wall. She climbs into the attached chair. She still can’t reach the very top of the window, but she can certainly reach more this way.
“Most parents get a pass from the government, though, and let’s be honest, even if I got pardoned, Amy would still have my…” Sonic trails off. Cream giggles, perhaps knowing what word he isn’t going to say in front of her or thinking about how Amy is going to punish him for forcing Cream to clean with him. In his defense, he didn’t know he was going to be babysitting today. If he’d been forewarned, he could’ve brought coloring books or whatever children do these days. Sonic shakes his head. He pulls his headphones down to wrap around his neck. As he’s turning his music off, he notes, “And hey, it’s ice cream. I bought way more than necessary. You can have whatever flavors Nine doesn’t like.”
“Nine?” Cream questions. Sonic opens his mouth to explain who Nine is, but he stops himself when he discovers Cream is staring at him. Based on the look in her eyes, she knows exactly who Nine is; she’s just curious about him. Sonic shouldn’t be surprised. Cream does seem close with both Amy and Shadow. They both work at the university in the merfolk wing. While Shadow doesn’t seem like the talkative type, Amy certainly is, and with how passionate she is, Cream has obviously been informed about this entire world.
“Yup. I sort of made a kind of deal with him. Told him I’d bring him ice cream. You’re not allowed to tell anyone that,” Sonic admits. He goes back to sweeping the floor. He does it properly this time since there isn’t music compelling him to dance and sing. His conversation with Cream, however, is a sufficient replacement.
“Got it!” Cream makes a motion of zipping her lips, locking them, and throwing away the key. Sonic snorts. Cream turns back to the windows. She cleans them well enough. It seems that she wasn’t kidding when she said that she would clean with her mother. Sonic did think Cream and Vanilla were the types to clean together. They probably have to all the time with a dog and two cats.
“You know, if you do a good job, I’ll take you to see the merfolk,” Sonic tells Cream. Depending on how long he has to watch her, he was going to have to bring Cream to see Nine, anyway. He can, however, take her to see Dread and Thorn, too. There’s definitely a lot of dangers with this course of action, but on the flipside, there isn’t. Not really, anyway. Sure, Thorn’s voice leads to people wanting to drown themselves, but Cream can wear his headphones and he hasn’t fallen for her songs yet. In the case of Dread, he hasn’t interacted with Sonic much at all, and even if he suddenly did today, he’s a ghost that can’t affect the physical world.
“Really?!” Cream excitedly calls out. Sonic nods at her enthusiasm. Cream’s smile makes all of his plans worth it. He also likes that he was able to give her proper motivation. The promise of seeing the merfolk makes Cream a diligent little helper. Sonic is going to mourn on the days he won’t have her at his side.
Once they are done with the classroom, Cream is absolutely buzzing with energy. She bounces with every step, looking halfway to running toward the merfolk even without him. She manages to hold onto her patience long enough for Sonic to write down information on the sheet hanging inside the supply closet and to pick up the ice cream from a freezer in one of the classrooms (the freezer is meant for samples, but it is currently empty and he’ll clean it later to prevent contamination). He has to applaud her composure, and he’s definitely going to send his compliments to Vanilla for raising such a well-behaved child. He just hopes Vanilla didn’t raise a snitch, but they’ll have to see if that’s true or not after today. The anticipation is going to kill him.
Not before it massacres Cream, though. The girl holds onto the handles of the doors leading into the merfolk section like a river is trying to drag her away. Sonic has the thought that this likely means Amy has never brought Cream to see the merfolk. This, obviously, sets off warning alarms in his mind. Either Cream isn’t allowed around the merfolk for one reason or another, or children in general are not permitted by the rules. Sonic considers going back on this whole thing, but Cream’s smile has him locked into place. He couldn’t refuse her now even if he tried.
Still, he lays out the ground rules as he closes his fingers around the keys. “Stay with me at all times. No wandering off. We don’t need another Charmy situation. And listen to exactly what I say. I’ve been around these guys more than you have. I’ve learned a few tricks. I’m also an adult. I’ve been told that’s a reason you should listen to me, but between you and me, I rarely listen to adults. I probably shouldn’t be teaching you this…”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Sonic, I know all the rules! I’ll be on my best behavior the whole time!” Cream tells him. She lets go of the door handles to grab onto the paw he’s left hanging at his side. She squeezes it in her grasp. Cream’s grip is adorably light. He doesn’t know what she’s trying to do, but it will be a long time before she bruises him. Although, considering her whole demeanor, he doubts Cream would hurt a fly.
“Best behavior,” Sonic repeats sternly. Cream nods her head vehemently while Sonic is unlocking the door. He pushes it open for Cream. She goes inside first. She takes a few steps, but she doesn’t go further than that. She rocks on her heels, waiting for Sonic to drag in the cleaning cart and lock the doors behind him. Before they continue, Sonic sets his headphones on top of Cream’s head. It’s a little difficult considering the shape of her ears. Sonic doesn’t even know if he’s properly stopped her from hearing anything else. He can only hope that whatever music he plays is loud enough that she can’t hear Thorn’s siren call.
Cream tilts her head to the side in confusion at him. Sonic smiles. He gestures to the first room they’re going to enter. “That’s Thorn. She sings this song that’ll make you go a little—” Sonic rotates his finger around the side of his head to show ‘crazy.’ “—can’t let that happen to you.” Sonic sets the phone in Cream’s paw, purposefully angling it to where she can see it. “Now, what do you want to listen to?”
“I’ll listen to this,” Cream tells him, pointing at the bar at the bottom of the screen that shows what song is currently playing. Cream can’t hear it since he turned it all the way down when they were talking earlier. Sonic arches a brow. He steadily turns the volume up. He gauges Cream’s reaction the entire time. She’s surprised by the sound, but she doesn’t seem displeased by it. She gives Sonic a thumbs-up to show that she’s fine with it. Sonic shrugs. He’ll never be the one to judge others for their music taste (especially since this is his taste since this is his playlist).
With the safety measures put in place, Sonic and Cream make their way to the room at the end of the hallway. Sonic drags the cart behind him with one paw since the other one is being held by Cream. Her other paw holds his phone, showing how the song transitions into the next one. Cream doesn’t even glance at the screen. Sonic doubts she’s paying attention to the noises entering her head. Every sense is dialed directly to the doors they steadily approach. She helps him push them open. Cream lets go of his paw when they enter the observational room. Cream is already standing in front of the glass. Sonic pulls the cart with him as he stands beside her.
Thorn’s tank is filled with rocks, plants, and coral. Amy told him they were all real. Thorn was incredibly resistant to being trapped in the tank until her cage was transformed. The siren spends the vast majority of her time hiding inside the vegetation or behind the rocks. There’s even an artificial cave somewhere along the back wall where she sleeps (and, as Amy continued, all the merfolk have incredible circadian rhythms. It doesn’t matter what light level the scientists hold the tanks at; the merfolk know when to fall asleep and wake up. This, of course, applies to everyone except Dread who doesn’t sleep but still shows an awareness of the time based on the fractured sentences the scientists have recorded from him).
Thorn doesn’t like people. If her singing is anything to go by, she wants them all dead. This is arguably worse than Nine’s behavior, and in fact, the faculty have started ranking her worse since Nine shows an aptitude for interacting civilly with certain individuals (like Sonic, for instance). Despite this, though, it seems that Thorn’s greatest crimes are simply destroying any machines that tread into her territory. The good people working at Spagonia University might not agree with him, but Sonic firmly believes this is fair. He wouldn’t want people throwing cameras and microphones and whatever else into his motel.
Sonic feels Cream tugging on his sleeve. He glances down at her. Cream’s eyes are wide. She rapidly looks between him and whatever she is pointing at. While her finger is making a tapping motion, she doesn’t touch the glass. If she weren’t wearing headphones blaring music, he would have told her why he’s proud of her for picking not only the kindest option but also the one that’s least likely to get them killed. Self-preservation is a skill that should be encouraged in every child, or so Sonic’s opinions go.
Another point for Cream is that she’s already found Thorn. Sonic wasn’t really looking, but if he were, he thinks Cream still would have beaten him. Thorn’s body is mainly covered in greens, grays, and blacks that blend in well with her environment despite her pink coloration. Her eyes might glow, but they’re also green; this isn’t too dissimilar from the bulbs running along the far walls of the tank to mark its dimensions. She blends in well. Thorn knows this, yet she still puts in the extra effort to make sure that she isn’t seen unless she wants to be.
Thus, Thorn likely wants to be seen right now. She swims forward, emerging from the plants (seaweed, maybe?) growing from a rock or so thickly around it that it looks close enough. Cream grabs onto Sonic’s arm. He releases a surprised noise when he’s forced down. Cream is clinging to his forearm like it’s a stuffed animal. Her eyes peer around the side, wider than should be possible given her facial features. Those eyes are pointed right at Thorn. The siren is staring at Cream, too, but her eyes are more narrowed like a predator rather than a child consumed by excitement.
Thorn remains tucked against the ground. The silt between the glass and Thorn’s artificially constructed reef kicks up. The yellow-brown cloud surrounds Thorn, partially obscuring her appearance. Her face, however, peeks through the front. It is at this moment that Thorn turns her eyes from Cream to Sonic. The azure hedgehog sucks in a tight breath. This reminds him of the way she looked at him during the exhibition. He still doesn’t know why she did that. If she hadn’t done that, Sonic would’ve stayed in that room for a little while longer and none of this would’ve happened. Charmy could have died, though, so maybe Sonic shouldn’t be too upset.
Per usual, Thorn opens her mouth. Sonic shudders. Cream gives him an odd look. He can’t really hear Thorn’s song because of the glass, but he can sort of… feel it, perhaps is the best way to explain it. He can understand how someone would be manipulated by her song. It’s just a more powerful version of an upbeat song pumping someone up or a sad song making them cry. Sonic can feel the itch inside of himself to draw closer, to either break the glass or find a way to the top of her tank. He just wants to hear it without the interference. He wants to know more about the songstress. He wants to dance and sing along, embracing the reverie he’s being invited to join. Sonic shuffles closer a half-step. He feels a buzz inside his throat. He’s humming. The melody rises here, and it holds for a few seconds, and it fades back to a quick, darting kind of noise, and—Wait—isn’t this—
Sonic startles when Cream suddenly shouts. He whirls around to look at her. Cream stumbles away from him, tossing the headphones off her face and dropping his phone. It isn’t on purpose, however. The song on his playlist shifted to something that was way too loud for her. The flash of pain on her face makes him wince, and her surprise causes Thorn to fling herself away from them, going back to hide among her reef. Cream looks between the phone on the ground and the glass with a guilty look in her watery eyes.
“Hey, hey, no, don’t cry. It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s just a phone. I don’t care, like at all. And Thorn does that all the time. It’s alright,” Sonic promises. He immediately pauses the song. He shoves the phone into his front pocket. He doesn’t even bother with the headphones. He drops onto one knee and touches Cream’s shoulders. She looks at him, swallowing thickly. Sonic smiles at her. “I’m sorry. I should have been paying more attention to you. Do your ears hurt? Do you want to go back to the classrooms? I’ll go ahead and give you your ice cream.”
Cream thinks about it for a moment. Once she’s decided, she rubs her eyes. As her paws fall back to her sides, a resolute expression appears on her face. “I want to meet the others, too.”
Sonic’s grin widens. “Well, look at you being brave. If you change your mind, let me know. But if you really want to, let’s go meet the pirate, shall we?”
Sonic grabs onto his headphones. He loops them back around his neck, but he doubts he’s going to be listening to music again today. Sonic thinks about it for a moment. With his uniform on, his quills shouldn’t be a problem. He turns around on his toes and shows his back to Cream. It takes a second, but once she figures it out, she throws her arms around his neck. Sonic lifts her up in a piggy-back ride. He loops his arms behind her knees so his paws can push the cart to the doors that lead into the hallway that goes to the infamous captain.
As he and Cream are pushing the door open, he glances over his shoulder. He isn’t able to find Thorn in such a short amount of time, but he does feel her gaze on them. He remembers the song she was trying to sing for them and the thoughts that melody conjured. He might be completely wrong, but he thinks he’s come to a realization about something. He’ll have to test his theory tomorrow.
Today, he and Cream enter the next observation room. Sonic leaves the cart beside the door. He carries Cream over to this tank. Cream nearly flips over his shoulder with how far she’s learning forward. Sonic readjusts her weight. Cream whispers in a voice filled with reverence and awe. “Is that the Angel’s Voyage?”
“The one and only. They excavated it from the ocean’s floor. Did you know that?” Sonic tells her. While the majority of what Sonic knows about the merfolk comes from Amy (and the internet during the few times he remembers how he now has access to it whenever he wants), Sonic knew a few details about the Angel’s Voyage prior to his shift in careers to janitor. It wasn’t of his own volition. Tails was the one who was into transportation—ships, trains, cars, and especially planes. The Angel’s Voyage, apparently, is a unique ship. There was something about its design that made it impossibly fast and sturdy given the time period it was made in. The designer died soon after its completion, and the ship went down before anyone could properly investigate it. People could study it now, but the ship is mostly rotten and a lot of it was left in the ocean.
This is all without going into how the crew and their captain might be the most famous pirates of legend in the modern day, so of course Sonic has heard facts about it even without Tails’ fascination with the Angel’s Voyage being brought into the equation.
“I did! Amy says they needed as much of it as possible,” Cream informs him. Captain Dread’s soul is tied to the ship. If the university didn’t have the ship (or the vast majority of it), the ghost wouldn’t be able to appear here for study and observation.
“You’d be right about that. Do you see the pirate?” Sonic asks. Usually, he can see Dread running around the deck of the ship. The captain seems to be stuck in a battle—perhaps the last one of his and his crew’s lives.
“I…” Cream begins, trailing off in the hopes of finding the pirate. Sonic senses Cream moving her head around. Her voice suddenly cuts off. Panicked, she shouts, “Duck!”
Although the animal does flash in Sonic’s head, he’s been around the block enough times to instantly drop into a squat. If Cream wasn’t on his shoulder, he would’ve even rolled forward to get further away from whatever he’s dodging from. In this case, he learns that it’s Dread himself. The ghost has appeared in the observation room with them. He swings his saber over Cream and Sonic’s head. Even if they hadn’t dropped down, they wouldn’t have been beheaded. They just would’ve felt terrible pain wherever the blade had gone through for a while. It is called ‘phantom pain,’ as ironic as that is, and Sonic can confirm that it’s not worth it. Dodging will always be better than enduring, at least in this case.
Dread shouts words in a deep accent. Sonic is used to interacting with people with thick accents, but Dread is in a class of his own. Still, Sonic has heard him shouting battlecries enough to know that he said something along the lines of: “Ay! You’ll never take me alive!”
“Captain! Would you chill? There’s a child here!” Sonic shouts back at the pirate. Dread ignores him, per usual, leaving Sonic to dance away from every slash of his saber. Thankfully, Cream is giggling rather than crying. At a certain point, she even joins Sonic in trying to get the pirate to stop attacking them with her voice.
Unfortunately, while her assistance is appreciated, it isn’t helpful. Dread doesn’t stop until he’s slashed Sonic’s side. There’s no wound, but the azure hedgehog is brought down to his knee regardless. He hisses in pain. He grabs onto his spot. He’s almost surprised by the lack of blood spilling over his gloves. Meanwhile, Dread is laughing, shouting victoriously in a language Sonic has a passing comprehension of.
Once Dread disappears, Sonic sets Cream back on the ground. She has ceased her giggling. Her eyes are filled with concern as she moves around him to look at his front. Sonic presses the heel of his paw into the source of the pain radiating throughout his entire body. Under his breath, he mutters, “What is his problem?” Sonic glances up at Cream, meeting her eyes. He speaks more directly to her. “Mark my words, I’m going to have a coherent conversation with him one day.”
Cream tilts her head to the side and taps her finger against the side of her jaw. “Maybe he just wants to fight with swords with you. Charmy has a foam one that looks exactly like his sword.”
Sonic lifts his paw from his wound, wagging his finger. “You might be on to something. Do you think Charmy would let me borrow his sword in exchange for some ice cream?”
Cream shrugs her shoulders. “Charmy would let you borrow it for a really cool rock.”
Sonic rises to his feet. He tries not to stumble toward the cart beside the door. Based on how Cream hovers around him, he doesn’t think he’s doing a good job. “Do you frequently trade rocks with Charmy for his stuff?”
He grabs onto the handle. He leans his body weight against it. Cream frowns. “Only the coolest rocks, and only for a little while.”
Sonic grins. He shows Cream his paw. She high-fives him. “That’s the kind of mentality I can get behind.”
With Sonic leaning against the cart, they head toward the next observation room. This time, however, they do not linger at the glass. They instead hurry to the halls and stairwells that take them to the second floor. It’s a challenge both with the cart and Sonic’s ‘wound,’ but he’s managed this trek alone before and Cream is more helpful than she is not.
Before they enter Nine’s room, however, Sonic has another talk with Cream. “This is an open tank. The water is right there. You can’t get close, got it?”
Sonic doesn’t think he could handle saving another kid from drowning. It would make him feel guilty rather than heroic. He would also prefer not putting Cream’s life on the line. The only reason he’s letting her into this room is because he swore he would bring ice cream to Nine, and since he didn’t do it yesterday, he has to do it today. Additionally, he doesn’t think this situation is too dangerous. Nine isn’t a wild animal; he’s a merfolk. He has consciousness and awareness. He can make his own decisions. Sonic trusts him not to hurt Cream.
That doesn’t stop Sonic from calling out, “Hey, I’m bringing another kid. You better not try drowning her,” once he enters the room and sees Nine’s head poking up from the top of the water.
Nine flounders, splashing the water around him. “I didn’t try drowning that kid!”
Sonic chuckles. “I know, I know. But still, keep her out of the water.”
Nine rolls his eyes. He keeps his distance from the edge of the platform. If Sonic were alone, Nine would be clinging to it like he wanted to pull himself out of the water. Cream’s presence, however, keeps Nine away. But Nine hasn’t submerged himself. He hasn’t shown signs of agitation, only wariness. The moment this changes, Sonic will escort Cream out. For now, he just sets his paws on Cream’s shoulders to present her as harmless. “This is Cream, Nine. She’s…” the daughter of a woman my friend knows? The friend of my friend? My friend? Who is Cream to him? “...not going to do anything to you. She’ll be eating ice cream with us.”
Nine hums. Cream’s paws clasp over her chest. She tries making her eyes dart away, but they inevitably return to Nine. Frankly, Sonic doesn’t entirely understand, but he supposes most people would be impressed and awed by the merfolk. He’s under the impression that he’s part of the nonchalant minority.
Sonic retrieves a plastic bag from his cleaning cart. He carries it over to the edge of the platform. He flops down, crossing his legs at an angle. He gestures for Cream to approach him. She hurries to him. Sonic points at the place for her to sit that way his legs are between her and the water—and also between Nine and her. Sonic wants to make them both safe and comfortable. How else are they supposed to enjoy their ice cream?
As Cream folds her legs beneath her, Nine steadily makes his way closer to the edge. He’s about an arm’s length away. That’s all he needs to be, really, so Sonic doesn’t try bringing him closer. Instead, Sonic focuses on pulling out the small containers of ice cream he purchased and the plastic spoons. Sonic looks between the two of them. “Aight. What flavor do you two want?”
Nine’s expression locks up. This means that he’s confused but doesn’t want other people to know (it’s a pride thing). Cream, on the other hand, leans forward to look at her options. She eventually points out a pale container. Sonic smiles, tossing it to her. “Strawberry—a classic.”
Cream smiles at him. Although she’s excited to eat her ice cream, she waits patiently for Sonic and Nine to get their containers. Sonic will eat any of them. He bought them all because he knew he would devour whatever was left. He is not a picky eater by any metric. If there was one he was hesitant about, it would be— “I want the green one.”
Sonic feels water splash onto his legs as Nine brings his arm out of the water. He points at ‘the green one,’ also known as mint chocolate chip. Sonic’s throat restricts. He forces a laugh through the tension as he grabs the green container. He holds it above the water, murmuring to himself, “...should I even be feeding you this…? Maybe we shouldn’t—”
Nine pushes his paw against the edge of the platform. This gives him enough momentum to jump above the water. Sonic and Cream are able to see the part of his body where it turns into tentacles. Nine grabs the container. He brings it down into the water with him. The splashing causes Sonic and Cream to turn away from him.
Sonic turns back first. He bears witness to Nine about to shove the container into his mouth. Sonic startles. He reaches out, patting the water to get Nine’s attention. The mer freezes, staring at Sonic. The azure hedgehog smiles at him. “Let me show you how to eat it.”
At random, Sonic grabs the vanilla ice cream. He shows Nine how to open the lid. Then, he gives Nine a plastic spoon to show him how to scoop the ice cream. Before he puts it in his mouth, he feels the need to mention. “Don’t eat the spoon, just the ice cream on top of it.” Sonic gives a demonstration. He notices that Cream is mimicking his actions, perhaps to help Nine feel comfortable with copying them, too.
With the understanding of how to eat ice cream now known to everyone, the three of them start eating their ice cream. Nine remains somewhat close. Cream shifts forward until her knees are brushing against Sonic’s folded legs, but she doesn’t dare cross the invisible line keeping her away from the mer she was mesmerized by.
“How’s the ice cream?”
“Yummy!” Cream informs him with a giggle, finishing her last spoonful of strawberry.
Sonic and Cream glance at Nine. He turns away from them but keeps eating small spoonfuls of his ice cream. “It’s… yummy…?”
Sonic would love to laugh at Nine’s confusion over the word ‘yummy,’ but he instead feels his stomach drop when he hears someone fiddling with the doors. Sonic yanks the ice cream and spoon out of Nine’s paws. The mer looks prepared to fight Sonic over it, but no one gets any fighting done as the doors push open the entire way. Sonic doesn’t know who he was hoping for, but Professor Pickle—the director of the whole program and Sonic’s legal boss (in contrast to his illegal boss, Clutch)—is the worst choice imaginable. Sonic hopes the professor doesn’t look their way. It would be so nice if he didn’t. Please, let him walk in the opposite direction, and—
“Oh! What’s going on here?” Professor Pickle said, changing his course to approach them. Since he’s wearing his classy brown suit, he refrains from stepping onto the platform. Sonic hopes this means that he can hide the mint chocolate chip on the other side of his leg.
“Professor! Hello! I’m just hanging out with my good friends since I’ve already done all my cleaning for the day. This is Cream, and this is Nine. Would you like some ice cream?” Sonic says. He might be laying on the charisma a little thick, but he would rather too much than too little. If he’s confident, he can pretend that he wasn’t thinking and didn’t know this was against the rules. That won’t save him from trouble, but unwillful breaking of the rules is treated better than the opposite.
“Not unless you have cucumber flavor,” Professor Pickle chuckles heartily. Sonic and Cream laugh alongside him. Nine looks ready to murder, but Sonic is pretty certain Professor Pickle can’t see Nine’s face, only his upright ears.
“Well, I can’t stay here long. I only came to grab some papers that my assistant left behind. Enjoy your hang-out, Sonic. Don’t forget to clock out on time. Oh, and I would not give any ice cream to our dear Nine. We do not know how dairy impacts the merfolk yet.” With those parting words, Professor Pickle gets the paperwork he mentioned and heads right back out the doors.
Sonic breathes a sigh of relief, nearly deflating against the platform. He stops himself when Nine slams his paw against the edge. Sonic arches a brow at the mer’s determined expression. “You heard the prof. You can’t have dairy.”
“I can have dairy,” Nine argues.
Sonic snorts. “Can you even tell me what dairy is?”
Nine’s silence is telling. His desires are not to be underestimated, however. A tentacle loops around Sonic’s wrist. Nine’s paw reaches forward to take the container and spoon, dragging it back with him. Sonic rolls his eyes. If Nine wants to find out he’s lactose intolerant the hard way (or potentially get himself killed), that’s his business, not Sonic’s.
Sonic looks back at Cream. “Remember, you can’t tell anyone about this, not even Amy or Charmy or Vanilla or whoever you’re close with.”
“I promise!” Cream tells him. She extends her pinky finger to him. Sonic instantly hooks their pinky fingers together. Before he lets go, Sonic’s eyes slide to the side. Nine stares at Sonic and Cream. There’s nothing particularly apparent in his expression or those dark blue eyes. Even still, Sonic finds himself moving his arm toward Nine. The tentacle remains around his wrist, but it doesn’t stop him from extending his pinky to the mer. Nine tilts his head, looking at it from several angles. Eventually, Nine decides to mimic Sonic and Cream again. He pinky swears with them. Cream giggles happily, and Sonic smiles at him.
“I promise.”
Notes:
I'd like to apologize. I thought this was the kraken chapter. It is not. The kraken chapter happens not next chapter but the one after that. I figure this out after reviewing my notes. Next chapter will have a lot of Thorn content, and the one after that will involve Sonic, Cream, and Charmy seeing the kraken. I'm sorry about getting anyone's hopes up
Anyway, that's all (^^)b
Chapter Text
Thursday
Eleventh Day
Although he wears his usual janitorial uniform, Sonic does not push around his cart today. He has left it behind in the closet, locked away with the rest of his miscellaneous cleaning supplies. Instead, he carries a plastic sword vaguely designed like mid-century pirates in his paws and has an acoustic guitar slung over his shoulder. While he could have gotten the former from a bargain with Charmy, Sonic actually bought both of this from a thrift shop. This would explain their less than prime conditioning, but it isn't like Sonic wanted to spend his hard-earned paycheck on two plans that very well may not work.
Sonic carries his store-bought goods through the halls of the university. The two people he passes both give him an odd look, but neither of them stop him in his tracks to ask questions. Sonic is more than glad for that. He knows honesty is the best policy, but he really doesn't know how he's supposed to explain this. He doubts blaming Cream is going to win him any points, after all, so he's have to take the brunt of the embarrassment for these plans himself.
Well, it isn't as if it's all embarrassing. When Sonic enters the observation room outside the dome showing the Angel's Voyage, he feels a tightly coiled spring of excitement and anticipation in his stomach. Sonic sets the guitar on the floor by the door. He sets the flattened edge of the sword's blade against the palm of his paw. The plastic is dark gray, but there's just enough of a reflective quality for him to see a blurry blue smear. He runs his fingers across it, letting a smile rise onto his lips. Even if he doesn't achieve success or victory, Sonic doesn't doubt he's going to have an interesting time. It'll be a story to laugh about with his friends (what few he has, anyway) at a later date.
Sonic stops in the center of the room. He glances at the security camera. The red blinking light seems a touch judgmental. Sonic grins wider at the sight of it. He turns his attention to the glass. He points the tip of his sword at the central mast of the Angel's Voyage. Sonic coughs slightly into his closed fist. When he pulls it away, he tucks it behind his back. With a cleared throat, Sonic calls out in a loud, commanding tone, "Captain Dread of the Angel's Voyage, face me now or submit to your own cowardice!"
Sonic has no idea what he's talking about. He watched a few movie clips of fighting pirates for inspiration and direction, but he's not a pirate himself. He doesn't care for the ocean—hates it, really, after what it took from him. He also isn't a swordsmaster. He was in track and field, but they never brought out swords during the competitions. Sonic is flying by the seat of his pants right now, and that's without even factoring that he's challenging a literal ghost. Sonic wouldn't have it any other way.
A chill descends throughout the room. Although Sonic shivers at the feel of it, he can't stop the widening smile on his features. Colors begin to emerge and condense into the figure of an echidna wearing authentic pirate clothing. Sonic feels like a fraud next to Dread—and for good reason since he is a fraud in more ways than one—but Dread doesn't seem like he's acknowledging that. Between Sonic's expression, issued challenge, and the sword in his paws (because Dread probably doesn't know what plastic is), Dread has decided that Sonic is an authentic challenger. Not one to be treated with respect, necessarily, but certainly someone who could impact Dread's pride and reputation if he were to chicken out or even lose in this duel.
"Ha!" Dread laughs. He shakes his head with half-closed eyes. Even as he continues laughing, he manages to speak in his thick accent, "Look at this boy standin' up to me! Get done sucklin' your ma's tit, have you?" Sonic's nose wrinkles at the comment about a mother he's never known. Thankfully, that's not where Dread leaves it. The captain draws his own sword. It was once made out of metal. Now… it's made out of ghost-metal? No better or worse than plastic, Sonic guesses. "If the boy wants to be a man, I will give him his first taste of battle!"
For the record, this is not Sonic's first 'battle.' His first one with swords, yes. Also his first one against a pirate… and a ghost. But otherwise, Sonic has been in several fights before. He was in one with Shadow the other day, though that one was marginally less violent than Sonic's usual encounters. Street kids and runaways—they'll do anything for food. At least, Sonic will. They might have been fighting for prestige or territory. Whatever the case, this is not Sonic's first battle, so he doesn't feel any fear when he notices the predatory grin on the captain's face.
Sonic isn't going to die today, but if Dread somehow gets what he wants in defeating Sonic, at least it's a cooler way of going than starvation.
Pirates are not known for their fairness, so Sonic was already expecting Dread to rush at him without any indiction that the fight had officially begun. Sonic just puts his blade up. Luckily, since it's plastic, he can put his other paw behind the edge without risking cutting himself. With his combined strength, his sword handles being struck by Dread's own. It does raise a few questions about how Dread's sword even works since it goes through flesh like a traditional ghost would, but Sonic thinks such questions are best left for the scholars. He's just a janitor dueling against a ghost pirate with a child's toy.
What the fuck is his life anymore?
Their swords do not remain pushing against each other for long. Sonic pushes forward to get some of Dread's downward pressure off of him. From there, Sonic tries stabbing the sword at Dread's stomach. This is a terrible idea because Dread easily pushes his sword aside. Sonic continues hurtling forward. Dread shifts his body positioning to knee Sonic, but the azure hedgehog barrels right through the pirate. He hits the ground in a roll. He feels like a bowling ball as he crashes into the glass dome. The disorientation leaves him on the ground for several seconds, but fight-or-flight sees him through when his conscious mind fails.
Dread's sword curves downward. Sonic flings himself to the side. He stumbles right back onto his feet. Dread whirls around. With a cheery grin, he swipes his sword several times in Sonic's direction. The hedgehog might not be good with a sword, but he's good at dodging blades. A few jumps backward, a little sway from side to side, ducking low and dropping into a squat—it isn't too difficult. It is, however, annoying for the other party. Dread's voice is tinged with it, making his accent even thicker. Sonic completely misses the first part, but he understands Dread's final question, "…are we fightin' or dancin', boy?"
Sonic chuckles. He twists his sword to let it clash against Dread's blade. Sonic takes the opportunity to step closer to his companion. He meets those bright violet eyes (they really are similar to Knuckles own… and the shape is like Amy's… maybe he should ask her about this). Sonic winks at the captain. "A little bit of both, I'm afraid. I'd much rather be singing a shanty than fighting with swords. Think you could teach me one or two?"
Dread pushes Sonic back with enough force to send the hedgehog onto his butt. He winces at pain shoots up his spine, but he keeps his eyes wide to look at Dread adjusting his weight on his heels. Dread does, however, start laughing with his entire body. Honestly, this is Sonic's favorite kind of person; he loves people who laugh with everything they've got. More than that, he loves when he's the one who makes them laugh like that.
"What a fool of a boy. You were your family's shame, were you not?" Dread asks. A cold that has nothing to do with interacting a ghost fills Sonic's body. He doesn't stop smiling, though, because Dread is wrong. Sonic was the pride and joy. Even after everything he did, he was the favorite. And that fact just kills him more and more every time he remembers it. He hopes, at least, when he left that house, that they were ashamed of him. He hopes they learned their lesson and figured out their priorities. Unfortunately, he knows people like that rarely ever change. And even if they did, it's far too late… for all of them.
Sonic's mind floods with pain. He snaps himself out of his thoughts to discover that Dread has slashed his ankle. Although there's no wound, there's no shortage of pain in the exact line where Dread's ghost-sword went through. Half-panicked, Sonic tries kicking Dread's wrist to make him release the sword's hilt. His foot goes right through, reminding him once more than he has no understanding of how ghosts work. He does know, however, that his sword seems to have some properties. He throws it forward. Dread jerks away from it, taking his sword with him since Sonic's flesh provides no resistance.
Sonic hops back onto his feet. His tolerance is greater than it would be for the average person, so Sonic doesn't have any problems with balancing upright. He races forward. Dread steps in front of Sonic's sword with his one raised. Sonic ducks beneath the wide arc Dread's sword makes. He dives right through Dread's body, feeling nothing but a slight chill rippling across his fur and quills. Sonic's fingertips touch against the ground. He throws his legs into the air. As his body twists around, Sonic grasps onto the sword's hilt. He lands on the balls of his feet. He turns around to brandish his weapon toward the captain.
Dread's eyes glow with an unnatural light. "Been holdin' out on me, boy?"
"Only a little," Sonic chuckles between heavy breathes from all this exertion. There's a part of him wants to find a way to put a stop to this, especially after the wrongful accusation regarding his family, but Sonic has to admit that this is a lot of fun. While it definitely isn't anything like the races and relays he used to participate in, he has a similar competitive drive in his chest now that he did all of those times at the track.
Despite this, Sonic knows he isn't going to win this fight. There really isn't a viable way to win. Dread is already dead, so killing him is off the table. Sonic can't injury him because only their swords can touch each other. Sonic might have a fair bit of endurance, but he can't outdo a creature that literally doesn't get tired in any category. And really, technically, Sonic has already achieved his goal. While the conversation topics aren't what he wants to get into, Dread is acknowledging Sonic's presence. They are conversing, to an extent, which is what Sonic wanted to happen. He's won in one way, and he's going to inevitably lose in another.
And he does. Dread's sword goes right through Sonic's neck. The pain almost makes Sonic wish Dread could actually behead him. Sonic flops right onto his back. He struggles to breath for at least a few minutes. When the phantom pain has significantly decreased, Sonic finds himself struggling because of how much running around and other acrobatics he's done in a short time period. Sonic will bounce back quickly, but his sweat-soaked body will remain on the floor until it does.
In the meantime, Dread kneels down beside Sonic. His sword has been put away, back in the scabbard attached to his belt. He doesn't look at Sonic. Rather, he's staring into the distance, and even though they are indoors, Sonic can see the reflection of a sunset in Dread's violet eyes. The captain might actually be looking at a sunset, though, because there's a serene smile on his face that only nature or love can invoke. "You put up a good fight, boy. I'll make a man of you yet."
"Does this mean you'll teach me a sea shanty?" Sonic murmurs with a cheeky expression.
Dread's eyes travel down to meet Sonic's viridescent gaze. The captain shakes his head with another full-belly laugh. As he rises to his feet, he sets a paw on top of his captain's hat. With a knowing grin, he clicks his tongue. "Fine, boy. As long as you don't go sqauwkin', I'll teach you the work song of my crew."
Dread tips his hat. Then, the colors forming his body disappear. The room steadily rises a few degrees in temperature. Sonic throws his arms over his face. That went a lot better than he was expecting it would. And he's going to learn a new song from the infamous captain of the Angel's Voyage. Is it a work song because he's noticed Sonic cleaning the observation room? Or is he letting Sonic be a temporary member of his crew because he's going to teach Sonic how to be a man, whatever that means?
Well, Sonic supposes it doesn't matter. He kicks his legs up. He lands on the balls of his feet. As he rocks back on his heels, he straightens his spine and lifts the plastic sword he brought along. He's definitely going to have to tell Cream about this. He doesn't know when he's going to do it, but she deserves to know that her plan worked. And hey, maybe they can both be members of the Angel's Voyage's crew together.
For now, it's time to put the plan Sonic came up with on his own into action.
It is not a surprise for the room above Thorn's tank to be filled with music. Whenever she senses signs of life, she will immediately start singing even before her head has broken the water's surface. On the other side, most scientists will have their chosen song blaring in their ears from headphones or earbuds. There aren't many who just put noise cancellation devices in their ear. It's easier to combat the supernatural energy (magic?) woven in her powers with another song, after all.
However, as far as Sonic is aware, no one has ever played an instrument inside this room, not even one as easy to carry around as an acoustic guitar. Therefore, the sound of him strumming the strings is unique for this room. Despite this, the song Sonic is playing should be familiar to anyone who has thrown themselves into the water because of Thorn. With how memorable the song is, Sonic is surprised he's the only person who's ever drawn the connection. Then again, it isn't like this is a popular song by any measure; Sonic only accidentally learned it during one of his multiple week-long stays for some job. He's grateful that old woman taught him the notes after he grew fascinated with this song she was singing while the day-laborers were trying to fall asleep.
She didn't just teach him the notes, though. She also taught him the words. Sonic is good at picking up other languages, so he doesn't sound completely terrible as he starts singing the lullaby. It's a rather sad song, though. It's from the perspective of a parent wishing their child all the joy in the world among the moon and stars. The woman explained that it was originally a mourning song for infants who died. She didn't know how it became a lullaby for children of all ages. Sonic doesn't know, either, but he thinks he understands why Thorn would sing it so often. Just as those parents miss their child, she must have family or a home that she misses just as intimately.
Sonic settles on the edge of the platform, dangerously close to the water. This fact becomes truer when Thorn lifts her head from the water. Her lips are pressed shut. Her eyes are pinned on him with an expression he finds familiar. He was right. That's an expression of pure, unadulterated longing. He's seen it in the mirror a few times, so he knows that she's grieving. Sonic wouldn't know, but he's been told that grieving with someone else can lessen the burden on the heart.
Thorn slowly approaches the edge of the platform. She sets her clawed paws against the edge. She could easily grab onto Sonic, pulling him so far beneath the water that he'll never breath fresh air again. She doesn't, though. Thorn pulls herself onto her elbows to get closer to him.
Or to the guitar, if her eyes are anything to go by. After a moment of watching the strings vibrate per Sonic's guidance, she starts singing alongside him. Her voice is louder than his. It's fuller, too, more melodic and other technical terms that Sonic doesn't know. What he does know is that they're harmonizing. She adjusts for his sake since he doesn't know how to change his voice. Sonic takes this as a sign to continue what he's doing, so he doesn't slow down or stop singing about the way the stars will gently hold his little one.
The entire song, not just that one line, reminds him of Tails. Maybe that's why he learned this song. After the old woman told him the meaning, he thought it was something less cruel than fate that allowed him to learn it. Many of the lines resonated with how he felt about the loss.
How he still feels. The emotions in his voice make that clear. There are emotions in Thorn's voice, too. It's also the faint supernatural energy wrapped around her song. It isn't coaxing Sonic to drop into the water, but it does stir the emotions he's left at the bottom of his heart. He was hoping to abandon them, but it seems that everything he didn't want to feel is becoming the bridge that allows him to connect to a fellow wandering soul.
The song naturally comes to an end. Sonic lets the strings vibrate for a moment longer. He shuts his mouth. He needs a drink of water, but he refuses to stand up until Thorn makes her move. He doesn't want to drown, after all. He also doesn't want to ruin the moment between them. It feels as special as it is fragile. Sonic wouldn't want to carelessly destroy what little good will he's managed to established. It might be an unrealistic fantasy, but he would like to comfort Thorn… well, even if it isn't unrealistic, it's certainly hypocritical.
"Wh…" Thorn makes a noise. Although her facial features aren't entirely similar to that of a Mobian, it is close enough that he recognizes her discomfort. Before he can tell her that she doesn't need to push herself, Thorn does exactly that. Her voice is scratchy. There's an odd cadence to her words. She inflicts the wrong syllables like she's speaking with an accent. But she does speak to him, and Sonic will make every effort he can to match her hard work by understanding. "Whe-re did… you learn that… la-la?"
Sonic hopes she can understand him. Just in case, he enunciates as best he can. "Someone I used to know taught me. Boscage, right?"
Thorn's eyes widen at the mention of the island. She doesn't need to tell him that he was right. After realizing what song Thorn was singing, Sonic researched it as best he could. He eventually spelled the lyrics close enough to their originals for him to learn it was a song from Boscage. It was an island nation that was reportedly close with the seafolk. It was more than a symbiotic relationship; it was like their civilizations were intertwined. A small, underdeveloped island like that, however, was no match for larger companies. The island and the oceanic environment around it were almost entirely destroyed due to pollution, over-harvesting, and just a general negligence toward the life.
Sonic's research lead him to finding out the pods of seafolk around the island were almost entirely wiped away because they started fighting back but didn't have the weaponry to win against the companies. Spagonia's government stepped in to stop any more damage from being done. This included taking in one of the surviving sirens, Thorn. She'll be at this university until Boscage's reefs are healed to a certain percentage. At least, that's what has been promised. Sonic knows not to trust it, and part of him thinks Thorn doesn't trust it, either.
"Bos-cage," Thorn repeats. She folds her arms over the platform. She sinks her head between her forearms. Although she's dripping with water, Sonic thinks she's starting to cry. He can hear it in her voice when she continues whispering her homeland's name, getting closer and closer to Sonic's pronunciation of it. "Bos-cage… Bo-scage… Boscage…"
"I'm sorry about your home," Sonic whispers. Unfortunately, Sonic can't exactly relate. He's never really had a home. Not one he could miss in the same way Thorn misses Boscage. There has never been a place that he's stayed for any length of time that he decided to award that prestigious title. There's no place that he wants to get back to with all his heart. When he closes his eyes, it is not a structure that appears behind his eyelids. It's a field of wildflowers beneath the afternoon sun… it's a boy whose smile shone brighter than that same sun.
"Boscage," Thorn says. She reaches out to grab his thigh. Her paws are wet. He can feel her claws touching against easily sliceable flesh. She could pull him into the water. She only holds him, though. Thorn just wants their eyes to remain locked together. "Boscage… beautiful…" Her voice grows wistful, and she moves her other paws to lightly touch the edge of his guitar's neck. As long as she doesn't snap it or the strings, he'll be fine. "We all… sing together…" Thorn's eyes slide shut. Her head sways from side to side as she quietly hums.
Sonic doesn't know what he's doing, but he tries following along with her humming with his own voice. Thorn's eyes lift open halfway. She nods toward the guitar. It's even more of a challenge to figure out how to play a song he doesn't know with this set of strings, but Sonic tries his best for Thorn's sake. No matter how badly he fails, Thorn doesn't let him know. She continues humming, guiding him along. Her swaying doesn't slow. Her eyes fall back shut. They are locked in another moment.
Like this, neither one of them needs to speak. They understand each other plenty. She has a home she mourns and he has a person. While their experiences and attitudes and physiologies are wildly different, this one thread of connection is stronger than any small-talk ever could be. By sharing this pain with someone who understands, they've built a comfortable bubble around themselves where they may release their feelings freely without any judgment. This might be why Thorn allows her tears to fall. Sonic doesn't cry (he doesn't think he can), but he also lets his guard down, just a little.
It doesn't last forever, of course. Thorn eventually tires, returning to the depths of her tank. Sonic has to leave to actually do his job. But that fleeting moment will remain with them both. Sonic just hopes this means they can start talking to each other more often. At the very least, could she stop trying to drown him when he comes in here to clean?
Amy had something to do during lunch, so she bombarded his phone with messages about how he needed to wait for her before he left for the day. She claimed they needed to talk. Based on the emojis she paired with it, Sonic knows this is going to be about what happened with Dread and Thorn. He doesn't really want to talk about it—he would rather as few people know as possible, especially after Nine, especially after Clutch—but he had his own question for her. He might as well indulge her.
Sonic is standing outside the back entrance by the parking lot. He's leaning against the wall. The guitar leans with him, but the plastic sword has been crudely tied to his pocket in a way that definitely isn't going to last long. He scrolling on his phone, trying to learn as much about Boscage and the incident surrounding it as possible. If Professor Pickle wants to talk to Sonic about what happened today after word gets to him about what happened (because it obviously is, much to Sonic's chagrin), Sonic is going to beg to know what's happening with Thorn's rehabilitation.
He might even ask what's the deal about Nine and Dread, too. Are they also here to rehabilitate themselves? Or are they just experiments?
And why does he care? Sonic throws his head back, letting it thump against the bricks. He squeezes his fingers around his phone, not quite turning it off. With his eyes pinned on the early evening sky, he reminds himself that he shouldn't be getting involved with any of this. It isn't his business. In fact, it's going to get him into a lot of trouble. He's not even allowed to touch these guys without breaking the law; why is he involving himself in their affairs?
Sonic puts these concerns on the back burner when he hears the door open. Sonic's eyes flick to the side. Amy is not the one to step outside. Sonic doesn't feel any disappointment because he enjoys seeing Shadow just as much. A smile rises onto Sonic's lips. He tilts his head back down, straightening his spine as best he can without making either the guitar or plastic sword drop onto the ground. That would be more embarrassing than just simply having them, though Sonic would argue nothing is embarrassing if one just owns up to it. For this reason, he sets his paw on the hilt of the sword, hoping to emulate even a fraction of a pirate's natural coolness factor.
Shadow doesn't even pretend to notice. Once those carmine eyes lock onto a viridescent pair, he refuses to look away. Sonic would be flattered if Shadow didn't look halfway to pissed. He marches closer but disappointingly, retains a fair bit of distance. "I thought I told you to stay away from the seafolk."
"Relax. Nothing bad happened. In fact, a lot of good happened. If you didn't hear, I had conversations with both of them. I've had conversations with all three of them. All it took was listening to them. Nine wanted someone to talk to. Dread wanted someone to fight. And Thorn wanted someone to play music with her," Sonic explains himself. He taps the guitar's neck and the plastic sword's hilt to further his point. Shadow's lips pull into a scowl. Before the lecture can continue, Sonic's smile reforms into a smirk. "What do you think the kraken would like?"
Shadow does something kind of like a startle. "…what?"
Sonic chuckles. "I've befriended all the seafolk except for the kraken. Amy said that you're one of the only people who's allowed to get close to the kraken. So… what do you think they'd like? Let me guess, it's also going to be a song. A creature from the depths? Oh, they're definitely going to enjoy some quality music."
"Stay away from the kraken."
Shadow says each word so clearly and forcefully that Sonic knows he won't be forgiven for getting mixed up with the remaining member of the seafolk. Unfortunately, Shadow's insistence makes him all the more eager to check out the kraken at least once before he's let go of this job.
Since Shadow cannot read Sonic's mind, he continues speaking. He looks pained, but he eventually asks, "Can you even play that?"
"The guitar? Yeah, of course," Sonic laughs. He lifts the guitar, wrapping the strap back around him. On instinct, he starts playing one of the songs he's been listening to on repeat while cleaning. He doesn't play the entire thing, however, just enough for Shadow to get the message. He crosses his arms over the body, smiling up at his ebony friend. "Do you have any requests? I'd be more than happy to oblige. I can also play electric, if that's more your style."
Shadow rolls his eyes, though not necessarily disbelievingly. Sonic will take it. He continues strumming the chords as Shadow walks away. The ebony hedgehog gets right to his motorcycle. He lifts his helmet. Shadow is seconds away from putting it on when he suddenly sighs. With a grimace, he glances over his shoulder at Sonic, "Would you… like to make a few extra bucks?"
"I'd go on a date with you for free," Sonic winks.
Shadow scowls. He hisses, "Shut up, that is not what I'm talking about." Shadow takes a deep breath. He twists his helmet around his paws, staring down at it with hardened eyes. "Rouge has a thing on Saturday at her club. We just need someone to play a couple songs just until this one… guest leaves. She asked me to ask you. I guess Amy told her what happened today. Or Amy told Knuckles and Knuckles told Rouge. It doesn't matter. She'll give you some money. Or free drinks. I don't know how she runs her business."
"Well, I never say no to money and drinks," Sonic says. He should probably check Spagonia's drinking laws. He's totally going to break them if he's too young; he just wants to know how hard he should try hiding what he's sipping on. "Are you going to be there?"
"I don't see how that matters." Shadow throws his leg over his motorcycle. He makes eye contact with Sonic again. "Are you in or out?"
Sonic grins. "I"m in. I hope to see you there."
Shadow huffs. "We'll see. Have Amy give you Rouge's number."
"Can I ask her for yours, too?"
Shadow looks rather constipated. He puts his helmet over his head. He waves his paw in a way that Sonic is going to choose means 'yes, of course, I actually hoped you were going to ask, I'm so sorry I can't give it to you myself.' Sonic decides he's going to oblige as soon as Amy arrives. In the meantime, he watches Shadow drive away on his motorcycle.
Thankfully, it doesn't take Amy long to show up. She runs right out of the door. Sonic shifts slightly to meet her. He hurriedly grabs the guitar's neck to keep it from falling when Amy crashes right into him. She grabs his upper arms with wide, searching eyes. A single word makes it from her lips, "How?!"
"I told you before, I'm not doing anything special. Cream was the one who thought I should try sword-fighting the captain. And it was a coincidence that I recognized Thorn's song. It would've been terrible if I hadn't known how to play guitar," Sonic answers.
Amy rocks back on her heels. She lets go of him, wrapping her arms around herself. She shakes her head, but there's no shortage of awe and fondness in her features. "You really are an enigma. It seems Mr. Clutch has sent us a guardian angel in disguise."
Sonic feels more like the lying serpent, but that's neither here nor there.
"I'm the enigma? I could say the same about you and Knuckles. Why do you both look so much like Captain Dread?" Sonic turns the conversation around.
Amy blinks, startled. A confused smile appears on her face. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew. Knuckles and I are Captain Dead's descendants." Sonic's shock must be evident because Amy giggles and explains further. "Yeah. It's why I was really excited to start working on this project. Knuckles and I share a mother, and her great… great…" Amy starts counting with her fingers. Eventually, she shakes her head and shrugs helplessly, "Some number of greats grandfather was Captain Dread. It isn't really that special. He left more than a few kids behind, so we're not the only bloodline."
"Give yourself some more credit. That's really awesome. Your ancestor is one of the most infamous pirates in all of known history!" Sonic exclaims. He wouldn't know if he had cool ancestors since he never knew his birth parents. He used to imagine there was someone unique in his lineage, but these days, he couldn't care less.
Amy blushes from embarrassment, but there's a wide smile on her face. "Yeah, I've always thought it was awesome, too. Knuckles doesn't seem to share in my excitement, but I think, deep down, he also loves knowing his ancestor was so powerful and influential… though, Captain Dread also wasn't a good person, so maybe Knuckles has the right idea out of the two of us."
"I don't think the captain was a bad person. He just did what he wanted. He never backed down, no matter what he was threatened with or what he suffered. That's admirable," Sonic shrugs. He decides against telling Amy that he isn't a good person, if only to avoid any arguments that might ensue. "Anyway, Shadow told me to ask you for his and Rouge's contact information. Playing for a siren and not dying must be good enough for Rouge to let me play a few songs at her club."
"Oh, I'm so happy you're doing it! I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun. Here, let me send the stuff." Amy pulls out her phone. She hums as she gets everything situated. Her thumb hovers above one button. She gives Sonic an odd look. "Did Shadow really say you could have his contact information, too?"
"Yup. I think I'm starting to grow on him." Shadow didn't say he couldn't have it. He should have known this was going to happen, so Sonic doesn't feel bad. Amy must know it, too, because while she doesn't look like she believes him, she sends the contact information, anyway. Sonic grins at her, and she returns his expression with a faint smile.
"You should let me drive you to your place. You can tell me all about what happened with the captain and Thorn on the way."
Sonic shakes his head. He moves the guitar to loop around him. He holds the sword hilt in place. His phone bumps against his thigh from its position in his pocket. He starts walking away, looking at Amy from over his shoulder. "I'll pass, but you can call me later. I'll tell you everything about dear ol' granddad."
"You're forgetting a couple of greats!" Amy calls back. "And I also want to hear about Thorn!"
Sonic waves his paw goodbye. He'll tell her about Thorn, too. As much as he wants to keep this all secretive, Amy has become his friend, and a good one at that. This isn't just about her ancestor; this is about her field of study. Sonic doesn't mind giving her the edge she needs to ace her classes and programs and whatever else she has going on.
And maybe, hopefully, he can push all of his concerns and responsibilities onto Amy, freeing him from the burden of compassion and longing.
Notes:
We actually learned quite a bit about Sonic in this one. He's got a whole past that he doesn't like discussing haha
And we finally learned an important fact about Amy, Knuckles, and Dread. That's the only explanation you guys are going to get for why the seafolk look similar to some people. Thorn-Amy are explicitly written to have differences in their appearance, so they don't actually look that much alike. Dread looks like Knuckles because genetics. And then, Nine looks like Tails for... a mysterious reason? No reason at all? Unclear. Possibly won't be answered. Could just be for the sake of plot.Okay, I'm for real this time, next chapter WILL have the kraken. It's in my notes and everything
Anyone got any theories about what's up with the kraken before we go meet them? Or theories about anything. I would still love to hear those :D
I love theories about my work
Chapter Text
Friday
Twelfth Day
One Day Until Performance at Rouge's
Sonic sits on the floor in the main hallway of the merfolk studies wing. One leg is spread out in front of him, but the other is pulled closer to help prop up his guitar. He plucks the string in accordance with the music sheet Rouge sent him. While he technically isn't obligated to play this particular song, Sonic sees no reason to refuse Rouge's personal requests, especially since this entire matter seems to be happening because she really wants to secure the client coming on Saturday. It isn't a difficult song, anyway; Sonic honestly feels like he's heard it before.
Sonic suddenly leans to the side. He keeps his shoulder off the cold tiles beneath him, but he has to get close to make sure that he isn't poked by the bottom of a broom. Sonic finishes the last note of the song. As it rings out into the hall, he lifts his gaze from his phone to the person holding the broom. Sonic arches a brow at Charmy. The bee drops the broom's strands back onto the ground, leaning against the handle with a pouting expression. "I'm tired of cleaning! When are we going to sword fight?"
Sonic's eyes flick toward the open door across the hall. Cream stands at the threshold. She tucks the rag and window spray Sonic gave her behind her back as she shrinks in on herself. He can tell that she's wearing an apologetic expression. She tilts her head further towards him. She looks conflicted. Sonic decides to give her the benefit of the doubt, so he asks Charmy, "Who's going to sword fight?"
Charmy's brows furrow together. With his free hand, he points between himself and Sonic. "Us… I think?"
"I mentioned to Charmy that you might come to borrow his sword. I didn't tell him anything else, I promise," Cream inputs. Sonic figured as much. Although Cream's kindness could imply that she would reveal the secret to Charmy if he pestered her, Sonic gets the feeling that promises are important to Cream. A broken one will hurt her more than it would other children, at the very least.
Charmy looks between Cream and Sonic. The uncertainty disappears from his features, replaced with a stalwart—and childish—stubbornness. "I'm sword-fighting against someone!" He crosses his arms over his chest, getting the broom handle caught up in his movements.
Sonic considers his options carefully. Charmy definitely isn't going to be able to keep a secret. Sonic hasn't known the bee for long, and he can already tell that dishonesty isn't in Charmy's nature. He's overly honest, constantly oversharing in a way that's only adorable because he's young. He might grow out of it; he might not. That's more Vector's problem than it is Sonic's, except for this specific situation. Sonic can maybe get people off his case about making Charmy and Cream clean while he practices (he knew Charmy was too eager to help out when Amy first dropped them both off for another session of free babysitting). He isn't so sure about bringing the kids near the merfolk.
However, he didn't get into any trouble for bringing Cream directly to Nine by Professor Pickle, the department head. As long as Sonic keeps Charmy and Cream from breaking any laws (like touching the merfolk), this can all work out. Sonic probably isn't ever going to meet Vector again, so only Charmy will have to answer to the crocodile. Worst case scenario, Vector tells Amy not to let Sonic babysit Charmy ever again. Sonic likes the kid well enough, but… Well, maybe that's all he needs to say about the matter.
"Fine. I'll let you in on a secret between Cream and I, but you have to promise not to tell anyone," Sonic says. He shoves his phone into his pocket. He uses the wall to help get back onto his feet. He swings the guitar's strap over his shoulder. He holds it tightly while meeting Charmy's eyes. The bee already buzzes, but he's vibrating in midair at the prospect of joining a secret.
"I promise! I promise! I—"
"Shh," Sonic warns, putting a finger over his lips. Charmy stops screaming, but he's still shaking in the air which produces a noise all on its own. It's better than Sonic's guitar playing, at least, and it isn't like there are any classes in session at the moment in this hall (he thinks Amy mentioned going to the computer lab or something).
Cream races over from the door's threshold to his and Charmy's side. She squeezes the rag and spray bottle between her paws. Her face is bright with excitement because obviously, Sonic isn't going to take Charmy to see the merfolk without bringing her along with them. It wouldn't be safe to leave her behind. It wouldn't be fair, either, since she likely wants to see for herself what he's done with the merfolk. He did, after all, give Amy permission to tell Cream about it since he couldn't tell her himself (he doesn't have her or Vanilla's number; he wasn't going to ask for it, either. He also wasn't going to randomly show up at their house for no reason).
Sonic squats to be closer to Cream. Charmy naturally slides down the broom. Its weight nearly knocks him down, but he manages to keep himself upright to listen to Sonic's whispering. "I brought Cream to meet the merfolk. The reason for the sword is because I had a duel with Captain Dread of the Angel's Voyage." Cream and Charmy's face both brighten with pure, unadulterated wonder. He can already hear their whispered questions, so he chuckles softly under his breath. He adds, unsure if he's going to regret this later, "I'll take you two to see them all again if you promise to behave and not to tell anyone."
Cream nods her head vehemently. Charmy opens his mouth, but Cream quickly shoves her paw over it to muffle a response that was going to give them away before they'd even begun to break the rules. Charmy's annoyance slips into gratitude. He decides to mimic Cream by nodding his head with even more vigor compared to her. Seeing their reactions now makes Sonic curious how in the world he could ever be so nonchalant about the merfolk in the first place.
"Best behavior," Sonic repeats, looking between them both with a warning expression. They, obviously, aren't going to start acting up immediately, but Sonic decides that their current state is good enough justification to rise to his feet. He taps the neck of the guitar, nodding his chin toward the supply closet. "Let's go put everything back in its place, and then we'll go, okay?"
"Okay!" Both kids respond with. They immediately run toward the supply closet. Sonic chuckles. He's slower approaching it, making a show of pulling out the keys that will open the door. Charmy continues trying to open the door through brute force. Cream has wisely given up on a pointless endeavor. She grabs onto Charmy to pull him and herself out of Sonic's way. He smiles gratefully, putting the key into the lock. A forceful twist, and the door opens up for the three of them.
Charmy and Cream put the cleaning supplies in the cart Sonic left in the closet. He, on the other, secures his guitar in a safer space that's relatively away from the chemicals. With everything prepared, he turns around to find Charmy holding a plastic sword. It doesn't take long for Sonic to realize that it isn't the one he bought despite that sword also being in the supply closet. This must have been the one that Cream mentioned Charmy owning, the one he could have borrowed.
"That's definitely not going to become a problem," Sonic mutters with a snort. He decides, however, not to take it away from Charmy or force the bee to leave it here. It might be better to bring it along just in case Dread sees them as opponents rather than friendly faces.
Cleaning supplies stored away and weapons in place, the three set off for the other area of the Spagonia University. The walk is made shorter by Charmy and, surprisingly, Cream practically racing through the halls to get to the end. If Sonic were to use the speed he trained his entire life to have, he would've beat them no problem. He didn't use that speed, though. He just made sure that he was directly behind him the entire time. Sonic, at least, made sure neither of them were at risk of falling (Cream more so than Charmy since the bee is literally flying).
As soon as there's a crack in the door at the end of the hall, Charmy has flown through. Cream and Sonic have a little more grace about entering the observational room for the Angel's Voyage. Sonic remains beside the door. He holds the handle without twisting, leaning against the solid surface. Cream steps forward a handful of paces, but she falls motionless eventually. Charmy is the complete opposite. He flings himself from one corner of the room to the next with a rowdiness that makes Sonic question if the bee drank coffee before he arrived or maybe inhaled too many of the cleaning supplies.
Charmy only settles when Captain Dread appears in the observational room with them. He freezes in midair, only his wings fluttering as the rest of his body tenses. Dread's dark violet eyes find Sonic first. The hedgehog shrugs his shoulders and nods his chin toward the bee. This directs Dread's attention elsewhere. Once their eyes lock onto each other, Charmy dives straight forward Dread like he's missile on a mission. Sonic drops his forehead into the crook between his index finger and thumb, and he continues downward until he's squatting.
Cream bumps her shoulder into his. Sonic lifts his gaze. Charmy and Captain Dread are sword-fighting. The ghost remains stationary in one place, merely moving his phantasmal sword around. Charmy zips from one direction to the other. Honestly, it feels more like he's trying to slam sticks together rather than engage in a proper duel. At least Dread doesn't look like he's been slighted.
"This is super dangerous, right?" Sonic asks.
Cream nods her head. "Right."
"And we should really stop them, right?"
"Right."
"But we aren't going to, right?"
"Right."
Sonic laughs breathily. Cream grins, bumping their shoulders together for a second time. Sonic bumps back, gently so as to not knock her off her feet. Conversely, Sonic rises onto his own, stretching his back as he does. He pats the top of Cream's head before walking away. "We've let them have their fun for long enough."
Realistically, not much can go wrong. Dread's sword cannot physically injure Charmy. It will only cause a lot of phantom pain that Sonic wouldn't be able to deal with. He would be stuck listening to Charmy cry or complain, knowing that he can't do anything to help. Sonic isn't a big fan of helpless situations, so he would rather avoid it entirely. It also helps that keeping Charmy from being pain will make for less questions later. If no prompts Charmy to tell them about his day, he might not even spill the secret.
For this reason, Sonic grabs the back of Charmy's jacket. The bee struggles against his restraints, but when he doesn't break free, his entire body loses tension. Charmy nearly hits the ground because Sonic wasn't expecting the influx of sudden weight. He stumbles forward, pulling Charmy against his chest. As he's wrapping both arms around the bee's midsection, Captain Dread narrows his eyes at Sonic. "What are you doin'? Never get between fightin' pirates."
"Yeah!" Charmy agrees, throwing the paw that isn't holding his plastic sword into the air. Sonic leans back to avoid getting hit in the face.
"I kind of need this kid to be alive at the end of the day," Sonic admits to the captain.
"I would not have killed the baby," Dread defends himself. He unfurls his index finger from where it was holding his sword's hilt to poke at Sonic's chest. At least, he tries to. Sonic doesn't feel anything. He thinks Dread was actually a few millimeters from actually touching him. Dread doesn't notice, however, and Sonic isn't going to comment about it.
"I'm not a baby!" Charmy screeches. He suddenly has all the strength in the world in his limbs as he kicks and throws his arms. Sonic holds the bee away from himself to avoid being collateral. He doesn't even try to save Dread since the ghost shows no signs of saving himself when Charmy's fists and kicks go through his body rather than against it.
"Good form, baby! You will be a great bar brawler!" Dread pumps his fist in the air with a legitimately proud expression.
"We're moving on to the next room before Charmy starts repeating what you say," Sonic says (though, in Dread's defense, Sonic agrees. Charmy's movements are weak but sporadic, making them perfect for easily distracted opponents—in other words, the drunk ones). Sonic glances over his shoulder at Cream. Although she stares at Dread with awe in her features, she doesn't argue with Sonic about moving on to the next room. Dread doesn't argue, either, only tipping his hat to them and disappearing back to the Angel's Voyage. Charmy is the one who argues, and Sonic can't tell if he just wants to spend more time with the captain or if he wants a rematch for the sake of his 'honor.'
Charmy stops wiggling around when they enter their next destination. Because of this, Sonic lets him go. The bee wants to fly around chaotically, but Sonic and Cream manage to herd him into the room where the scientists check over Thorn. Sonic has some reservations since he didn't bring his guitar along. He does, however, have his voice, so he'll hopeful be able to pull the same trick as last time to keep her from sending Cream and Charmy to their watery graves.
Then again, even the thought of that makes Sonic's heart beat irregularly. Faintly, as if in the distance, he can hear sirens and hushed murmurs. Dragging himself back to the present, Sonic speaks, "You know what, you two, let's go to the next—" Sonic's mouth snaps shut right as his eyes widen.
Cream stands at the edge of the platform. Thorn swims right up to her. Sonic jerks forward. He's stumbles to the side when he accidentally bumps into Charmy. The kid's loud noise doesn't distract Cream or Thorn. The latter holds her webbed fingers to Cream, and the rabbit just takes them. She holds Thorn's paws in her own. A soft smile grows on Cream's face as Thorn babbles a mixture of the language Cream speaks and the language of Boscage. There are even lyrical parts that must some from the underwater reefs she used to be part of.
"Are you two competing to see who can kill me first?" Sonic complains into his paws. Thorn and Cream continue conversing with each other in the best way they can considering they only partially understand the other's language. Charmy joins in, but he has the decency not to plunge into the water. He remains a good distance away from Thorn. It's less distance than Sonic would like, but he'll take what he can get when it comes to these two troublemakers (for Cream is a troublemaker, too, she's just better at hiding it than Charmy).
Thorn gets louder. Sonic looks up to find she's staring at him. Thorn smiles widely. Sonic smiles back at her, unable to hide the twinges of panic that continue to shiver through his body. Thorn notices only to the extent that she's confused. Sonic doesn't explain it for various reasons.
"I like this better than last time," Cream chirps, looking over her shoulder at him. Last time, Cream hurt her ears when Sonic's music started blaring too loudly. This time, she's breaking the law. Sonic doubts a court of law is going to hold her more liable than him. Incredibly unfortunate, in his opinion.
"We should head to the next place," Sonic says.
"Why?" Cream frowns.
"What's the next place? Is it another pirate?" Charmy asks, flopping over Sonic's forearm.
"It's Nine," Sonic tells Charmy. He looks back at Cream. His attention flicks momentarily to how their paws are still connected, but he quickly drags his eyes back to her. "We wouldn't want to leave him waiting for too long."
"That's true," Cream agrees. She turns back to Thorn. "Goodbye! I hope we can play together one day!"
"I wanna join!" Charmy says, shaking Sonic's forearm to help draw attention to himself. Sonic has half a mind to pull the bee off of him, but he doesn't. Charmy will let go when he does, and Sonic isn't in the market for a bad mood from the kid.
Thorn responds to them. She even waves at Sonic. She drops back into the water only after he's waved back. Cream hurries to him, and Sonic grabs her paw before she can pass him. The three of them head toward the door together. Charmy finally gets off Sonic's forearm when they enter the hallway. The bee leads the way to Nine's room.
While Charmy is entertaining himself, Sonic glances at Cream. "You shouldn't have gotten so close. What if you'd fallen in?"
"You would've saved me," Cream says plainly, no hint of hesitation in her voice or eyes when she stares up at him. It's an expression he's seen before. It's also one he cannot stand.
Sonic looks away. If Cream wasn't gripping his paw as fiercely as she was, Sonic would have let it go. "You shouldn't trust me with anything, least of all your life."
Before Cream can question him, Charmy opens the door to Nine's room. Sonic steps in first, feeling the most kinship with this mer compared to the other two (despite all his similarities to Thorn, Nine will always be the one who looks like Tails). Sonic walks all the way to the edge of the platform. He stares down at the surface of a deep tank, searching for a glimpse of orange in the twisting blues and blacks.
Sonic does not search alone for Charmy and Cream appear on either side of him. The hedgehog startles. He instantly grabs onto Charmy, remembering what happened last time the bee was in this room. As Sonic is reaching for Cream, she asks, "Do you think the dairy made him sick?"
"Dairy? Like, milk?" Charmy asks. The kid looks around Sonic's midsection as he holds both children under his arms. Their lazy attitude leads Sonic to conclude that neither of them mind the position. Then again, he gives it barely a minute before Charmy starts squirming—or worse, starts hitting Sonic with the plastic sword.
"Yes, we—there he is!"
At Cream's words, all three of them look toward the water. Nine partially surfaces, lifting his ears and eyes out of the water. He stares at the three of them for a long moment, remaining a few feet away from the edge of the platform. He eventually rises high enough to reveal a tired scowl. "Why do you keep bringing people here?" Nine's expression tightens even further. "And why are you holding them like that?"
"They're both hooligans who will jump into the water if I don't," Sonic admits. He pointedly looks at Charmy. "We wouldn't want another accident, now would we?" Charmy chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. Nine scrutinizes him. It doesn't take long for him to recognize Charmy. His expression hardens, unwilling to reveal anything. Sonic, however, thinks he can gather bits and pieces of what Nine feels beneath the surface. It is for this reason that Sonic decides not to push the matter. He just smiles at Nine again. "I brought them because they wanted to come. We had a lot of fun talking last time. Why not invite someone new to join and bring some fresh ideas?"
"I don't want to talk to any of you," Nine says, turning around. He sinks lower in the water, but then he stops. He rises back up just enough that his voice isn't muffled by the water. "I had a long day." He completely submerges himself after this final statement.
"I—" Sonic calls out, but he can't stop Nine. He can only frown at the disappearing bubbles. He wants to hear more about Nine's day. He wants to figure out how he can help. But Nine wants some peace and quiet right now. Sonic has an obligation to give that to him. He'll just talk to Nine tomorrow or Monday—or any time soon, really.
"I guess that's it for us," Sonic tells the children. Once he's stepped off the platform, he finally puts them down. He still ushers them to the doors, though.
When they're in the hallway, Charmy spins around in the air. "Are we going to see the kraken?"
Sonic remembers how the kraken wasn't viewable by the public. He remembers Amy telling him that only two people are allowed to meet the kraken. He remembers Shadow telling him not to interact with the kraken. With all this in mind, Sonic deadpans at Charmy. "The only we're going to see the kraken is if you misbehave so badly that I have to feed you to them."
The bee looks ready to argue, but Sonic turns away from him. He looks toward the girl tugging on the sleeve of his clothes. Cream stares at the ground with a touch of pink against her cheeks. She stands in what Sonic would assume is an uncomfortable position. "Sonic… I…" Cream cuts herself off, so Sonic doesn' know what she's trying to say.
Charmy seems to know as he rather loudly declares, "She has to pee!"
"Charmy!" Cream shrieks. She looks at Charmy with narrowed eyes, but the way her cheeks change from pink to red shows that she needs to use the restroom in some capacity.
"And I have to poo!" This kid really has no shame, does he? "Where's the bathroom?"
"Come on, it's over here." Sonic guides them to the end of the hall. The door to the bathroom is right beside the door that leads down to the observation room for Nine. Since they'll be leaving that way, Sonic mentions it while opening the door for whoever is going to use the restroom first. Cream goes in, either to get revenge for Charmy's earlier words or because she genuinely does have to 'pee' while he has to 'poo' (time management and all that).
"Ah, Sonic, can you come help me with this real quick?"
Sonic glances over his shoulder. A scientist holds the threshold of their door, leaning all the way out. They likely need him in his capacity as a janitor or for his strength. Sonic shouts back, "Be there in a second!" Sonic glares at Charmy. "When Cream's done, use the bathroom. If you get done before I'm back, both of you are to stay here."
Sonic turns on his heel. He jogs over to the scientist. It's the first time he's been in one of their offices, but he doesn't get a tour. Instead, he finds that they are using him for his strength. He has to help them move a few pieces of equipment. It's all heavy machinery, emphasis on the 'heavy.' It does take a good while for Sonic to get finished. It isn't too long, of course, but it is enough time that Sonic isn't surprised so much as extremely disappointed and panicked when neither of the children are in the hallway.
It could be kidnapping, but Sonic hesitates to call it that when he's missing his keys. It wouldn't be too much of a problem if they went back to Thorn or Dread. Unfortunately, there is a chance that they went to see the kraken. If they did, Sonic needs to check there first, just in case.
It's been years since Sonic has been in track, but he really puts his former skills to use as he throws himself down the stairs and runs down the observational room and the hallway to the final building—the one only two people are allowed to enter. The one that two people that aren't supposed to be there have entered.
Sonic busts through the open door. The observational room is dark. There are no windows nor are their any lights in this room. The only illumination comes from lights set up in the tank. This casts the entire room in a dark blue glow. It directs all attention to the glass. Charmy and Cream are in front of the glass on this side. And what Sonic knows can only be the kraken is approaching from the other side.
Sonic runs across the room. He knows there is glass separating the kids from the kraken, but he slides right in front of them, too. Sonic stares down the kraken. It is a strange creature, to say the least. It is slimy, even in the water. It looks to be made from black leather. There are hints of red along the front, and the tips of each tentacle is violently crimson. The eyes are, too, and there are more than two along both sides of a bulbous head. In some strange, sickening way, Sonic is momentarily memorized by the creature. Although it has no facial features Sonic could decipher emotions from, he thinks the kraken is unusually calm, perhaps even a little curious. Drawn by a power greater than he—a little similar to Thorn's singing—Sonic touches the glass, spreading out his fingers and pressing his palm flat against the surface. In turn, the kraken does the same from its side, just gently nudging the glass to show it recognizes what Sonic is doing on some level.
Sonic's half-open smile is dropped from his face when he feels Charmy and Cream shift behind him. He remembers that they're here with him. He remembers where they are, and why they shouldn't be here. Sonic doesn't have to look long to find the security camera. The red blinking dot mocks him as much as it spurs him into action. He wretches his paw away from the glass.
He grabs Charmy and Cream with a lot more forcefulness than he did every other time today. He practically throws them out of the room. He slams the doors shut behind them. One of them dropped the keys on the ground. Sonic picks them up. He tries ignoring how his paws are trembling, but it becomes a problem when he's trying to lock the door back. Sonic somehow manages it, however, and just in time for his anger to reach its peak.
Sonic whirls around to face the kids. They look properly abashed even before Sonic starts yelling. "What were you two thinking?! You broke the law! You put yourselves in danger! You could have—"
Sonic isn't sure what cuts him off. It could be the kids' expressions. It could be the way he can't breath. It could be how he can feel the sun against his neck and the sand beneath his legs and the scream caught in his throat and the hands grabbing onto him, trying to drag him far, far away from the deep blue and salty breeze that snuffed out the only light he ever believed in.
It is certainly the combination of all of this that forces Sonic to collapse. He sits on the ground, curling himself into a ball to hide how pathetic he's being. The sirens have grown louder in his ears. The muffled voices are clear enough for a few words to be understood, and he hates every single one. Charmy and Cream's voices intersperse with their own statements, but Sonic can't focus on anything other than his own breathing. If he slips away even once, he suddenly won't be able to breathe at all, and he can't pass out in front of these two.
As he forces his panic to the far recesses of his mind, he realizes that Charmy and Cream are sitting on either side of him. Remarkably, they are both patiently waiting for him with expressions of worry and guilt. Sonic throws his head back. Despite his exhaustion, he pulls the two of them closer to his body, hugging them tightly. "Never again. Don't do that shit again."
As the kids start swearing that they won't, Sonic finds himself staring into yet another security camera. It reminds him that he's probably going to get fired, and that means Clutch is going to send him to prison.
Well, at least the only life he's ruining is his own.
Chapter 9
Notes:
Suspend your disbelief for this one, boys. There isn't anything particularly fantastical, but I do feel like many parts are unrealistic. My fault for writing someone who plays guitar when all I can do is be shit at the saxophone (but I can play Hey, Ho, Nobody's Home like it's no one's business lmao)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Saturday
Thirteenth Day
Day of Performance at Rouge’s
“—onic! Sonic!"
An azure hedgehog—the 'Sonic' in question—startles. His head violently shakes in opposing direction, leading a tremble to rumble down his spine. As soon as his wandering mind settles back into his body, he glances in the direction that the noise came from. It takes him a few seconds of rapidly blinking to piece together that he's staring into Nine's eyes. The mer is hanging off the side of the platform. He peers at Sonic with something akin to concern in his gaze. Although Sonic only heard a muffled version of his voice, he thinks there was genuine worry in his tone, too.
"Right here!" Sonic grins. He gives Nine a thumbs-up to accentuate his point. Unfortunately, the mer doesn't look the slightest bit convinced. Not one to back down even before he's been officially called out, Sonic barrels right past the moment where Nine could ask him any questions about his mental welfare. "What did you need me for, bud?"
Nine opens his mouth. He closes it after a moment. His fingers drum along the platform. Only after the noise becomes rhythmic enough for Sonic to drift away again, Nine stops. He lifts one paw—more specifically, one finger. He points across the room. Following the directional cue, Sonic finds himself staring at a digital clock embedded directly into the wall right beside the door's uppermost corner. Sonic stares blankly at the red-illuminated numbers, searching for meaning in the way they bend without curving.
Finally, he realizes why Nine was pointing it out: it's after Sonic's shift. While it hasn't been too long, Sonic is usually gone the moment the clock strikes the final hour. He didn't even realize that they're rapidly approaching the half-hour mark.
"Oh," Sonic murmurs. He slaps his cheeks with his paws. When the sting starts crossing into painful, Sonic drops his paws. He turns to Nine, presenting a huge smile to the mer. "Thanks for letting me know! I guess I got distracted."
Sonic really is grateful. If Nine didn't coax him out of his head, he probably would have been here for another hour. While that is terrible in its own right, Sonic also has something to do tonight. He can't be late for it if he wants to make the money Rouge offered him in exchange for this favor.
As Sonic hurriedly cleans the area, Nine speaks up, "What has you so… distracted, as you say?"
"It's…" Sonic trails off. He doesn't know how to get the words out. He's been waiting for someone to come talk to him all day, and no one has. He hasn't even been given a warning, though he knows that going into an off-limits room with two children is definitely worth more than a warning. Hell, he's even waiting for Vanilla or Vector to come for him for letting their kids disappear from his sight and interact with a dangerous creature. No one has, though. Sonic has been left entirely alone.
Frankly, what worries him the most about getting fired is that Clutch will go ahead with his incarceration. Sonic refuses to go to jail, and he would rather not let running away from Clutch become his entire life. It isn't easy to get away from the rich. Sonic gets the feeling that Clutch will be even harder to get away from than most, too. He seems more like a mob boss than a regular boss, after all, and Sonic has been warned against getting mixed up with organized crime.
So, whoever saw Sonic on those cameras holds his entire fate in their hands. Sonic doesn't like that in the least bit, but he doesn't know how to go about this. There's a chance—however slim—that no one saw it, which is why no one has come to see him. There's also a chance that whoever saw it wants something from him. Sonic is already getting blackmailed by one creep; he would rather not have two of them breathing down his neck.
This is what he deserves for being the one to survive.
"You didn't finish your statement."
Sonic glances over his shoulder. They have interacted with each other long, but it's easy to tell how Nine feels. He's being patient with Sonic right now. That kindness is notably rare for Nine, but he's indulging in it for Sonic's sake. It makes Sonic's heart twist. The words linger on his tongue, ready to explain to Nine that this may very well be the last time they see each other. How is Nine going to react to that? Will he care? Will he curl back in on himself, erasing all the progress Sonic has made to coax him out of his shell?
How will Dread and Thorn react?
Sonic shakes his head. He can't tell them. He would rather disappear. Saying 'goodbye' is too personal. He shouldn't care about the merfolk, and they shouldn't care about him, either. Their lives intersected by chance. They are stuck together because of blackmail on Sonic's end and entrapment on the merfolk's side. Sonic can have bonds, but not dangerous ones, not ones that have built their structures too close to his heart.
"It's nothing. I've just got a lot on my mind. Nothing you need to worry about," Sonic concludes, giving Nine the 'finished statement' he desires.
Nine's cheeks flare with color. "I wasn't worried."
Sonic chuckles. "That's perfect, then. I'll see you Mo—again. No, around. I'll see you around." That makes the most sense. No sense giving specific dates when that might even be true.
Sonic begins to leave the room, taking all of his janitorial equipment with him. As the door is shutting, Nine yells out one more time, "Sonic!"
Against his better judgment, Sonic can't pretend that he didn't hear Nine. He pushes the door open as far as he can. The mer has swam to the edge of his tank so that Sonic can see him through the door's crack. The mer looks conflicted. Sonic feels the urge to bolt in his stomach, but he keeps himself rooted in place. Eventually, Nine realizes how he's holding Sonic up with a tilted glance toward the clock. Nine sighs, sinking into the water. His mouth isn't covered, though, so Sonic hears him say, "Good luck at your performance tonight."
Sonic knows that isn't what Nine wanted to say, but he's so grateful that it's what Nine ended up declaring. It is something easy. Unfortunately, there's just a touch too many honest emotions in Sonic's smile when he meets Nine's eyes. "Thank you. Have a good night."
The door shuts, separating the two of them. It doesn't feel like their conversation has snapped, however, until Sonic is at the end of the hall. He glares at the bathroom door, momentarily blaming it for all his problems. By the time he passes it, the responsibility has landed right back on his shoulders. He should have been more careful about his keys. He should have warned Cream and Charmy better about the kraken, and he shouldn't have left them all alone for even a moment. His foolishness is going to get them all in big trouble. His only consolation is that none of them died. Sonic really doesn't know what he would have done in that case.
Well, he has some idea, but it's not something he's going to tell anyone.
Sonic puts away his equipment in the closet. The halls aren't much darker than usual, so Sonic doesn't have trouble finding the door they always exit through. He does take a moment to question if he's gone through the right one since everything looks different. He finds out why when his brain points out that Dark Rider and Amy's car aren't here. This makes sense since they've likely both left already.
Sonic literally sighs in relief. Yesterday, after he managed to calm himself down, he dropped Charmy and Cream off with Amy. He left immediately after without saying anything else to her, them, or anyone else. This trend continued this morning, too. He avoided Amy and anyone else who looked like staff members. He thinks Shadow was trying to talk to him about something, but Sonic made himself scarce. It's all for the best. He knows he'll slip up with those two since the panic is still so fresh. He needs time to come up with a plausible story with enough details and internal consistency that they won't question him.
Sonic also needs to figure out how to rid himself of the guilt, but that's always an ongoing process. He'll just tack on yesterday's shame with the growing ball of it that has been building in his soul since three years ago.
It feels a little lonely to walk home without saying goodbye to anyone, but Sonic has been in less comfortable silences. He just listens to the vehicles whirring past on the road. At some point, he checks his phone. Seeing so many messages from Amy isn't surprising. Seeing one from Shadow mentioning that they need to talk definitely is. Sonic still ignores it in favor of telling Rouge that they're still on for tonight.
When Sonic gets to his room, he takes off his uniform. He sniffs around himself. For a few solid minutes, he considers himself to be fine. Eventually, the rational part of his body overrides his fear of water to tell him that he smells like sweat and fish. It isn't flattering in the slightest, so the shower is where Sonic goes. At least it isn't a bath. Those are the ones Sonic absolutely despises. A shower, however? It's like a little rainstorm inside the bathroom. Sonic loves the natural world, so there's a certain fondness in his heart reserved explicitly for the rain.
Once he's done showering, Sonic decides that's the most he'll do. He dries himself off, watching a video series on his phone. He continues standing in the bathroom with a towel around his neck even after he's completely dry. Sonic doesn't leave until an unknown number messages that they're here to pick him up, and even then, he has to hurry back inside to put a pair of gloves and socks on (he can't go out naked, after all, even if he isn't wearing any other kind of clothes).
Sonic hurries out of his room to the parking lot. He doesn't have to look around long. Knuckles' truck isn't subtle by any stretch of the imagination. Sonic has to pull himself up into it because of how tall it is. Where others might be annoyed, Sonic finds himself excited. He's never been in a truck like this before. He looks around at everything while settling himself in the seat, pulling the belt over his chest when Amy's nagging feels like an additional presence in the vehicle with them.
Knuckles turns the radio down. He was previously listening to music without any lyrics but plenty of bass. Sonic wouldn't have minded listening to it at full-blast, but he takes the quietude for the golden opportunity it is. Sonic turns, crossing his arms over the center console. Knuckles glances at him from the corner of his eye, a tad skeptically but mostly amicably when he notices Sonic's bright smile. "Hello, Knux! How have you been since I've last seen you?"
Knuckles mouths the nickname 'Knux,' but he doesn't tell Sonic that he can't call him that. Sonic's grin widens. He's going to make that Knuckles' contact name. It's the best and most flattering of all the potential nicknames Sonic had for Knuckles (although there are many reasons Sonic doesn't want to get fired, one of them rapidly becomes so he can continue calling Knuckles by all the nicknames he had prepared).
Knuckles, of course, answers the question asked of him. "It's been good. We got a few more memberships at the gym, so… business."
"Business." Sonic snorts at Knuckles' nodding. After a moment passes, Sonic leans even further forward. Knuckles' suspicion increases proportionally, but Sonic doesn't back off. "How many do you think are going to stick around for the long-game?"
"I don't—" Knuckles starts. Sonic arches a brow. Knuckles rolls his eyes. He pretends to (or maybe he actually) checks his side mirror. "One of them is going to quit in two weeks. The others… have potential."
"That sounds great," Sonic says. He leans back in his seat with a dramatic huff. "I've been doing pretty good, too, but your sister keeps pawning off her children on me."
"Amy doesn't have children," Knuckles frowns. Sonic opens his mouth, but the truck suddenly lurches. Knuckles has turned to look at Sonic. The azure hedgehog chuckles worriedly, constantly checking the road on Knuckles' behalf when the crimson echidna is glaring at him. "Does she?"
"No!" Sonic says. Knuckles sighs in relief. He looks back at the road. Sonic, however, can't blame Knuckles. He was an older brother, too. If he found out that Tails had a kid he didn't know about, he would have reacted in much the same way. A lot worse, actually, since Tails was several years younger than Amy is now, and she's pretty young herself. That is a can of worms Sonic isn't going to open, so instead, he continues to explain, "I meant Cream and Charmy. Amy was babysitting them, but she's had to leave them with me from time to time because of her studies."
Knuckles hums. "It's good that she's focusing on that."
Sonic laughs, dropping his face into his paw. The top of his head bumps against the window. He shouldn't have been expecting Knuckles to be on his side when they're talking about his sister. Well, Sonic should change the subject. He pushes against the side of his head to help him swing around the other side. He looks at Knuckles again. He almost doesn't know what to talk about, but it doesn't take long for the words to find him. "Amy told me that you two are descendants of Captain Dread."
Knuckles' brows furrow together. "Oh, right. I remember that. Amy and her dad thinks it's the coolest thing."
Sonic sets that information aside for a latter day. For now, he focuses on the statements as they're being presented. This makes him shrug carelessly. "I think it's pretty cool, too. I've spent some time with the captain. He looks really similar to you."
"So Amy tells me."
Sonic frowns. "Have you never seen him for yourself?"
Knuckles focuses on bringing them to a parking spot. It's the closest one to the club, though it's still going to be a bit of a walk. Knuckles gets out first, taking his keys with him. Sonic hops out of the truck. As soon as he catches up with the echidna, Knuckles answers him, "No."
"Do you want to?"
Knuckles glances at Sonic. There's a depth to his violet gaze, but he doesn't give much more away than that. He looks away, muttering, "I'll stick to my gym. Amy can have all that."
Sonic doesn't entirely get the division, but he stops talking when Knuckles brings him into the alleyway beside the club. Despite being muffled, the music is loud enough that conversation becomes difficult to maintain. Knuckles and Sonic don't even try to as they enter through the back. There isn't anyone in the hallway they enter, but Knuckles eventually presents Sonic to Rouge's office where the bat herself is.
"Sonic! You're here, and in one piece, too!" Rouge exclaims happily.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Knuckles asks.
"Nothing against you, love. I just know Sonic is among the reckless sort," Rouge tells him. She approaches Knuckles and Sonic. She grabs onto Knuckles' shoulder. By pulling down, she rises onto her toes and presses a kiss to his cheek.
When Rouge looks back at him, Sonic puts his paws up like the cops are aiming a gun at him. "Guilty as charged." He drops his paws, crossing his arms over his chest. "Anyway, should I go start already?"
"Not yet. The client hasn't arrived. I want to make sure to mark her entrance with her favorite song," Rouge admits. She looks down at her phone. Sonic can tell that she's checking something. It might be where the client currently is, but there's no point in assuming.
Sonic leans against the doorframe. He glances around at the richly decorated office. When Rouge sets her phone aside, Sonic meets her turquoise eyes once more. "This client must be pretty special if you're going to all this trouble. Let me guess: they're offering a lot of money."
"More than I'll ever know what to do with," Rouge agrees.
"I'm sure you'll think of something," Sonic smiles. Rouge narrows her eyes slightly, but there's only amusement in her gaze. She even smiles right back at him, something akin to agreement without quite crossing into that boundary.
"She definitely will," Knuckles huffs, looking away from them.
Rouge reaches over to pat the side of his face. "He says this as if he and his gym don't benefit from my many gifts."
Knuckles doesn't dignify that with a response. He glares when Sonic snorts. The azure hedgehog has dealt with worse, so he doesn't give Knuckles a reaction. He turns his attention back to Rouge. "I'm sure I could benefit from a gift, too."
Knuckles' glare hardens. Rouge taps her finger against her chin. "Hmm… I have a few ideas in mind."
Knuckles looks at her incredulously. Rouge mouths 'later' to him. Sonic doesn't know what that's about, but he hopes that whatever these ideas are will benefit him in the way he wants. Honestly, though, Sonic's standards are low, so he doesn't have anything to worry about. While Rouge does seem mischievous, he doubts she's going to put literal shit in his paws, and that's the highest bar Sonic has.
"Come, come, sit. I need to warm up my conversational skills," Rouge says, gesturing to the comfortable lounging area built directly into her office. She and Knuckles automatically go to the couch. There's no hesitation in their movements, so Sonic assumes they usually sit there. Since he doesn't have assigned seating, he plops down in one of the chairs across the coffee table from them. He grabs the throw pillow, setting it down in his lap. He kicks his feet up on the edge of the coffee table and drums his fingers along the tasseled side of the pillow. Even without being told to make himself comfortable, Sonic already does.
It's a habit, honestly. Sonic always does this because it usually throws whoever he's talking to off their rhythm, and that's often the best Sonic can do to give himself the advantage. Runaways like him don't often have that, after all.
Knuckles seems perplexed by Sonic's attitude. Rouge holds her cards against her chest. With no real desire to answer to any of them, Sonic dives straight into conversation. He's almost surprised to get a genuine response from them. They delve into different topics like their jobs or hobbies. Arguably, it's all meaningless. Sonic thinks Knuckles wants to know more about him for Amy's sake. If Sonic were to guess, Rouge might be probing him for Shadow's sake. Sonic entertains them up until he gets a feeling that they might be conversing with him for that simple reason alone—just to converse with him. Strange. It sends a tingle down his spine, filling his internal organs with a warmth that they don't usually receive.
Sonic just blames it on how much he's laughing, and how proud he is of himself for making the other two laugh as well.
While Knuckles is the midst of retelling a story from his and Amy's childhood (providing further evidence that the two of them share a mother but not a father based on Knuckles' use of the pronouns 'my,' 'her,' and 'our'), Rouge's phone goes off. This isn't the first time it has, but the unique ringtone draws her eyes to the screen. Knuckles and Sonic glance at her, the story trailing off into silence. Rouge grins, snapping her phone against the palm of her hand. "It's showtime, darling! My client is on her way. It'll be some time before she gets here, but I'm sure you want to test out the instrument I set up for you, no?"
"That would be appreciated. I'd hate to make a fool of myself in front of your client," Sonic says, rising to his feet. Rouge is already bounding toward the door. Knuckles is slower to get up, but he doesn't let them leave him behind.
"Do you make a fool of yourself in other situations?" Knuckles asks as they pass through the door into the hallway.
"All the time," Sonic gracefully admits. It isn't untrue, necessarily. The only thing Sonic tries to do is to stay off the authority's radar. He doesn't care how other people view him. He doesn't mind playing the fool.
The conversation continues on in bits and pieces, but it's hard to hear anyone over the din of conversation and music. It's hardly muffled by the walls and curtains when Rouge brings him to a backstage area. This space isn't very large, and the stage itself isn't either. It's good enough to fit a DJ. There usually is one there, but the usual person has been given a couple hours off to give Sonic all the space he needs. Again, considering how tiny the stage is, this is for the best. Sonic is going to need space if he's to give a performance good enough to excite a crowd. One of the few times he's glad for that time he spent at that bar. He might've been too young to drink, but he learned how to mix the drinks and how to wow the audience. At least, he learned the basics; it'll be enough for him to survive the night.
Rouge's people have already done a majority of the set-up. Sonic is the last piece they need to slot into the puzzle. They do so quickly and honestly, all at the same time. Someone is brushing through his fur and quills (he's so glad he did some of this himself before he left or else they would've been working with a rat's nest). Another hands him the guitar he's meant to be playing. They are trying to shout instructions over the crowd. Sonic catches every other word, but the sign language the person uses at the same time is good enough for him. Thankfully, there aren't too many rules to follow, lowering the likelihood of Sonic breaking any of them (he has a bad habit about that, the previous day being only one example).
Rouge tells him something about relaxing and doing his best before she heads off with Knuckles. Sonic's smile follows her. It remains on his face even after Rouge is gone. The person using sign languages gathers his attention again. With his guidance, Sonic goes through testing the electric guitar. More musically savvy individuals than he have made sure all the notes are properly tuned (Sonic is good at it, but he's not perfect). With everything in order, Sonic is shoved onto the stage. This is a warm-up, though, because the client hasn't arrived yet.
Sonic needs the warm-up. Although he was practicing all-day yesterday, he would practiced a little this morning when he couldn't sleep. He didn't bring his guitar to work in case he was fired, and also because if he wasn't fired, he didn't want to give them a reason to do so. Sonic takes the opportunity for what it is, getting through a few of the songs Rouge put near the bottom of the list to get himself in the right mindset.
After the second song, Sonic finds more motivation in the crowd. Shadow sits at the bar. He's nursing something in his paws, but Sonic is too far away and the stage lights are too bright for him to tell what. He just knows that Shadow is staring directly at him. His usual neutrality falls across his face as a mask. The alcohol must be making it slip, however, because Sonic catches a hint of emotion in those carmine eyes. It isn't the emotion Sonic wants, so he endeavors to play the absolute best he can. This might be his last night of freedom, and by the seas, he's going to make sure to get underneath Shadow's skin in whatever way he can before he rots in a cell.
Sonic makes it through a few more songs. He doesn't know how much progress he's made on the Shadow front, but the reason he was invited to do this appears when Rouge hurries along the perimeter of the building. She waves her paw in his general direction. Sonic hates cutting off a song when he's already a third of the way through, but he treats himself like a playlist and Rouge like the one controlling it. Sonic nods minutely at the person backstage controlling the speakers that play Sonic's accompaniment (for what is a song that is only electric guitar?). They don't question him, instantly switching to the next song. The more sober guests give him an odd look when he switches the song, but everyone who's drunk on alcohol or mirth—likely both—are happy to dance to this new song like they were doing for the last song.
A teal hedgehog enters the club. She looks around the area. Her eyes first drift to him. Sonic smiles with a wink, continuing with what must be her favorite song. Her attention then goes to Rouge as the club owner introduces herself. Rouge brings them to a VIP lounge on the terraces above the dance floor and bar. The teal hedgehog pays more attention to Rouge than anything else, but Sonic doesn't stop playing the guitar, entertaining both the special guest and all those partying on the floor.
He doesn't know if he's entertaining Shadow, but the ebony hedgehog keeps his eyes on Sonic. This must be a sign of something. Sonic can delude himself into thinking that way, anyway. Life isn't worth living without a few fantasies along the way.
It is largely uneventful from that point forward. Sonic keeps playing the songs from the list Rouge sent him, doing his best to hype up the crowd with his dancing and cool guitar tricks. Shadow stares at him from the bar, only occasionally getting refill (or ordering something else? His glass does look different from before). Rouge and the teal hedgehog discuss business on the terrace. Knuckles is sometimes seen up there, more than likely running a protection detail. The clubbers are having fun without knowing anything about what's happening around them; they wouldn't care about Sonic's personal issues, either.
Sonic expects the police to bust down the door. While they still might later in the night, they don't before Rouge finishes her business. Sonic can't tell how it went, but neither she nor the teal hedgehog leave the VIP lounge with sour expressions. Rouge is the only one smiling, though. Sonic thinks that's a personality thing; he's going to blame it on that. He doesn't want to assume Rouge has automatically failed, after all. She's too put-together. If she's a failure, what is he?
Since the teal hedgehog has left, Sonic could stop. He's going to, of course, but he finishes the song he was playing, not wanting a repeat of earlier. Once the last note is shaking the foundations of the building, Sonic swings the guitar around his body. It flattens his bottom quills, especially when Sonic bows forward. The crowd erupts with cheers and hollering. Sonic is covered completely in sweat, but he still laughs and screams with the people. He finds enough energy to jump into the air, fist pumping in time with the background beat from the speakers.
Halfway to exhaustion, Sonic ducks backstage. There are still way too many people rushing about. One of them slows long enough to shove a cold water bottle against his chest. He doesn't appreciate the condensation splashing on his fur, but he doesn't complain one bit as he downs the entire bottle. Sonic holds the plastic between his paws. Once he no longer feels dead on his feet, several people shove their way to him. Well, they aren't there for him. One of them wants to throw the trash away. Another wants the guitar. The person from earlier is telling Sonic that Rouge would like to see him.
Sonic hopes she's got good news and an envelope of cash, not a warrant for his arrest.
Outside of the backstage area, he's rushed by a few members of the crowd. It's only a small fraction, but it's still more people than he wants to deal with. Sonic smiles, moving his paws in front of him as if that will help him get space. It doesn't. Everyone wants to tell or ask him something. A few even want him to join them on the dance floor. A tempting offer, to be sure, but not one he can partake in since Rouge needs him.
Sonic's savior appears before him like a dashing hero. Though, 'hero' probably isn't the right word for Shadow considering the dark aura he gives off. Either way, the ebony hedgehog effortlessly makes his way through the crowd. Once he gets to Sonic, Shadow grabs his wrist. He drags Sonic forward, getting him through the crowd without trouble. He takes the brunt of people's frustration and disappointment which leaves Sonic only with the weight of his own exertion.
"We need to—"
"Thanks for the save! I owe you one!" Sonic winks. He pulls his paw upward so that he's holding Shadow's paw instead of Shadow holding his wrist. Before he can hear any complaints, Sonic drags Shadow with him to where Rouge is patiently waiting for him beside Knuckles.
"It is too early to say anything for certain," Rouge prefaces with a serious expression. It melts away into a large smile. "But I really think we did it. Thank you, Sonic, Knuckles." She looks between them. Her eyes invariably descend upon Shadow, flicking toward the paw intertwined with Sonic's own. He glares at her, but Rouge's smile widens. "And thank you, too, Shadow, for all the moral support."
Shadow releases Sonic's paw, turning to face the azure hedgehog. "Sonic, we need to—"
"Party!" Sonic interrupts, throwing an arm around Shadow's shoulder.
"Now that's an idea I can get behind!" Knuckles cheers, pumping his fist into the air. It's surprisingly at the same time as the beat which only further increases Sonic's excitement, brushing away all the exhaustion he thought he was feeling before.
"Drinks are on me," Rouge tells them, tapping her fingers against the bar's lacquered surface. The bartender says nothing, only nodding and getting to work on something behind the counter. Rouge narrows her eyes at the three of them, scrutinizing them with a businesswoman's approach. "To an extent."
Knuckles shrugs. "Fair."
"We won't abuse your kindness," Sonic promises, dropping his arm from Shadow's shoulder to join the festivities. The ebony hedgehog looks like he's rather die than participate, but he remains close to the other three. It does not take long for them to begin their reverie, and Sonic has a feeling tonight is going to be a good one.
He's going to make it one, anyway, since he's probably going to face his own personal hell tomorrow. Since his world is ending, might as well party like the entire planet is.
"Where are we going?"
They are in a stairwell. The steps are carpeted, and though Sonic isn't touching the material, he assumes it'll be scratchy. The walls aren't painted or decorated, showing off exposed brick. It is illuminated by a singular light bulb hanging at the top of the stairs. Its warm yellow-orange light contrasts greatly with the neon that dominated the club area down the hall on the other side of the heavy metal door and the surrounding brick. With such thick materials, the club's noises are muffled even more than they were in the hallway around Rouge's office.
It is because of this that Sonic can clearly hear his own voice. He subtly coughs into his paw, trying to clear whatever has gotten clogged in his gullet. He feels like he's loosened something, but he won't know for certain until he speaks again. He would like to wait for a response to his question, but Shadow remains tight-lipped ahead of him. Likely because of lowered inhibitions (or maybe he's naturally like this), Sonic leans forward as far as he can to poke Shadow's side. He manages this, and when he falls, he catches himself with the heel of his paw against one of the higher steps.
"Where are we going?"
Shadow sighs. He looks at Sonic with partially disgust in his carmine eyes when he glances over his shoulder. "We're going upstairs. I can actually think up there." Oh, maybe he's more disgusted with the club than he is with Sonic… no, it's probably both. "And you need to sober up for this conversation."
"I am sober," Sonic pouts.
Shadow's expression screams doubt so loudly that Sonic can practically hear it. The azure hedgehog rolls his eyes. "Okay, fine, I'm not sober, but I'm not drunk, either. Only a little buzzed. See? Complete sentences and no slurring."
"You just said three incomplete sentences, and you are slurring some of your words," Shadow retorts at the top of the stairwell.
Sonic's face scrunches up. He mutters under his breath, "You should have invited me to your graduation from grammar police academy."
Shadow makes a sound. Sonic might be more drunk than he thought because that sounded like a snort. It was definitely amused. Was it what Sonic said, or is the azure hedgehog's garbling worse than he thought? He sounds fine in his own ears. Which words are running together? It can't be too many if Shadow still understands him. Unless Shadow is messing with him. Is Shadow capable of that?
Sonic's internal questions are cut short when he finally notices that Shadow is gone. He disappeared on the other side of the wooden door at the top of the stairwell. He left the door ajar for Sonic. The azure hedgehog only stumbles once as he makes his way to the top. He didn't fall, though, so Sonic counts that as an absolute win. He would have a victory dance about it if his attention didn't become completely entranced by the room he's just stepped into.
Or, well, the rooms beyond it. The mud-room he's in now isn't too exciting. There's nothing here except for a singular pair of shoes. There's not even decorations on the wall or a coat rack. Beyond the mud-room is an open floor plan where a living room and kitchen meld together, only separated partially by a bar. There's a hallway branching off the living room, opposite to the kitchen. Because of how the hallway is set up, Sonic can't see anything except for a part of a wall lit by the kitchen light Shadow turned on. The rest of the actual apartment—which is surprisingly silent for being above a club and beside a street overflowing with rowdy people—is bathed in shadows.
"Be honest, which of my flirts convinced you to take me up to your apartment?" Sonic asks with a bright smile stretching across his features. He spins in slow circles as he approaches the living room. This place is sparsely decorated, but all the right furniture is here. Sonic should get Shadow a picture frame or a painting for the walls because it's rather depressing. Even Sonic's living space has an abstract painting on the wall above his bed. He doesn't get it—hardly likes it—but it's something.
"No, you—" Shadow huffs. His back is to Sonic in the kitchen, meaning Sonic can't hear anything he mumbles. Eventually, though, Shadow spares Sonic by speaking up louder. "This isn't my apartment. Rouge owns it. I just… stay here from time to time. I tried saying this earlier, but you wouldn't listen. You and I need to talk."
"I'm all ears now," Sonic says, sitting on the edge of the coffee table. It isn't hard to since there's nothing on the wooden surface other than a television remote. They need to get a magazine or tiny statue of an animal.
Shadow makes a 'hmph' sound. He exits the kitchen. He's holding a glass of water. There are ice cubes in it and condensation sliding along the sides of it. Shadow shoves it directly into Sonic's paw. Before Sonic can ask questions, Shadow has his wrist and is forcing Sonic to take a drink. More than a drink. Sonic has to gulp the entire thing down before Shadow releases his wrist. Well, as much of it as he can since some of it dribbles down his chin into his lap. Shadow can't complain about the mess later.
Shadow sets the empty glass on the coffee table for Sonic since the azure hedgehog is preoccupied with refilling his lungs with air. Sonic glares weakly at his companion. The red-eyed asshole isn't looking at Sonic. He messing around with something on his phone. Shadow sits down on the edge of the couch right in front of Sonic. Their knees are close enough to share body heat. The kitchen light illuminates his silhouette, and his phone splashes cool light onto his features, reflecting partially in his eyes. It shows off his seriousness. Whatever he needs to talk to Sonic about, it's important.
"I brought you up here for this."
Shadow turns his phone around to show Sonic. It's a video. It's not a long one, maybe a minute or two. It shows Charmy and Cream running into the observation room of the kraken. Sonic runs through next. Emerald eyes stare right at the camera, unintentionally meeting the gaze of his future self. The past version of Sonic drags Charmy and Cream out of the room. The video loops back to the beginning as soon as all three figures are out of the room, before the door has even slammed shut.
"What a way to sober me up," Sonic mutters. There's still alcohol in his system, but 'buzzed' is not the correct word for him right now. Sonic leans forward, setting his elbows on his paws. He glares at Shadow, letting the rest of his features fall into an apathy he feels completely submerged in. "What do you want, hmm? Are you firing me here, or is this blackmail?"
Shadow turns his phone around. He stares at the screen, watching the entire video for himself. Sonic doesn't move an inch. Shadow exhales. He turns the phone back around, shifting so he can Sonic can see it. Shadow taps the screen, then deletes the video. He shows Sonic how he goes to trash to permanently erase the video's existence from his phone. He turns his phone off, putting it away in his quills. Shadow meets Sonic's skeptical gaze unflinchingly, only the barest hint of hesitation cascading across his features. "The only people who are permitted to look at the security footage for that room is me and Professor Pickle. I saw it, and he didn't. I erased it. I told him it was a mistake on my part. He knows that it wasn't, but he hasn't questioned me. He won't be able to find this. When I said erased it, I meant it."
Sonic freezes. At least a minute passes of complete silence. Sonic spends the entire time trying to figure out Shadow's angle. He doesn't come up with anything. Before this point, he thought Shadow just barely tolerated him. But this? He's helping Sonic break the law. He's helping Sonic get away with something he explicitly told Sonic never to do and something that put two children in danger. Shadow doesn't know about Sonic's deal with Clutch… unless he does. Sonic feels a whirlwind of emotions in his chest at the mere thought that Shadow could be tangled with Clutch, too.
But there's no way of knowing without asking. If Sonic wants answers, he has to get them himself. "Why would you do that?"
Shadow sighs. He sounds tired. Look that way, too. Conventional wisdom suggests that he is tired. But he answers Sonic's question with sincerity. "Nine, Thorn, Dread… they need you. You're the only one they've responded to. We can't loose that." Shadow closes his eyes. "Cream and Charmy don't deserve punishment, and your actions were to save them." Shadow's eyes snap open. He leans forward. Because of the fact that Sonic hasn't leaned back, they are extremely close. It is to the point that even though the only light is behind Shadow, Sonic can see that Shadow means his threats. "But this can never happen again. I'm not saving you a second time. Do not let anyone in that room ever again. No more accidents."
Sonic nods rapidly, a surge of hope rising in his chest. He isn't being fired, and he isn't going to prison. Shadow starts to lean back, content with the message he's given Sonic. Before Shadow can start to rise to his feet, Sonic throws himself forward. His arms snag around Shadow's shoulders. He clutches as tightly as he can, pushing Shadow in the corner space between the couch's back and arm. Most of his body is on the cushion, however, just because of the angle. Sonic is right on top of him, barely keeping himself from sliding by pushing his toes against the hardwood floor.
"What are you doing?" Shadow questions, leaving his arms at the awkward angle they were shoved into when Sonic initiated physical touch.
"Hugging you. Do you know what that is? Did your parents give you enough of them?" A laugh trickles out of Sonic. He isn't entirely sure which emotion is the driving force behind it. Delirium is certainly one answer. But once the laughter pitters out, a strange warmth fills his chest. Shadow was so kind to him, and maybe that's what drives Sonic to earnestly add, "Don't worry, my parents didn't really hug me, either."
Or maybe he just said it because of the alcohol.
Shadow will likely blame it on that later because he only pauses for a few seconds. Afterwards, he's pushing Sonic off of him. Sonic lets it happen, and when gravity tugs him down, he flops his back onto the remaining cushions. Shadow situates himself on the couch to sit upright, tucked away in his corner. Sonic's feet happened to end up in his lap. As Shadow is trying to push them off, he starts talking about how Sonic better not fall asleep.
Sonic snorts once. Between the long day he's had, the performance, the drinking and subsequent partying, and this sobering conversation, Sonic is exhausted. Darkness claims him quickly, only giving him enough time to hope Shadow at least closes the dumpster's lid when he inevitably dumps Sonic into one since he hates getting covered in morning dew.
Notes:
Oh my goodness. I've had a long day. I woke up earlier to spend it with my grandma. She talks a lot, btw. We did some shopping at the mall. We saw Fantastic Four: First Steps (awesome movie, btw). We did a bit more shopping. Went to see her sister, and as someone who has only recently gotten into a place where she's not scared of dogs, it was tough. Also, because I've had such a consistent diet over the summer, I can't eat as much large portions, but I kept trying to when I was eating with her because I wanted to finish the food she'd bought for me, and I've just felt heavy and sometimes in pain all fucking day. And now, we're at her house, and I'm staying the night, but her house is so warm that between it and my full stomach, I'm so lethargic. And I've got shit to worry about with some stuff about my future living arrangements not being, well, arranged the way it's supposed to, and lots of negativity on my Tumblr (for good reason? I don't know. I'm not even part of that fandom, but seemingly everyone I'm following is lmao)
Anyway, that's all about that, but I've got bad news for you guys:
So, as I mentioned before, new living arrangements. This conincides with what I'm starting to do on Wednesday. This means that my schedule is going to be altered. I just don't know how yet. I'm confident there won't be a chapter next week, but after that, I couldn't tell you. I'm just trying to figure everything out. Just know that no matter how long the wait is, I have NOT abandoned this story. I will NOT abandon this story. Updates just may be slower.If I've lost you, I'm sorry it had to be this way. I appreciate you for reading what I've written so far. I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors. Go forth into the world and conquer
If I haven't lost you, thank you so much. I appreciate you all just as much as the ones I've lost. Your patience means the world to me. I can't wait to show you everything I have planned for this story
Chapter 10
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Sunday
Fourteenth Day
Sonic brushes along the edges of wakefulness. To force himself across that invisible line, he pushes his eyelids open. Light strikes his pupils immediately, eliciting a groan from his lips and causing him to curl up into himself. His eyelids remain open, however, so light still interacts with his vision even when he's looking away from the immediate source. He's at the heights of wakefulness at this point, and therefore, he can start determining where exactly he is.
It isn't where he thought he would be. Sonic was certain that Shadow would deposit him in a dumpster outside the club. He thought, if nothing else, he'd be cast upon the floor, left to shiver against the hardened surface. That would take less energy while still keeping Sonic from leaving his filth upon the surface he didn't exactly choose to sleep on the previous night.
But he's in the apartment. He's resting on the couch. There's been no attempts to restrict how much space he's taking up, not even by the thin blanket left to hang against his shoulders. Sonic brushes his fingertips against it now. Although his gloves limit how much sensory information he can intake, he knows that this is a blanket of good quality. It was not something that needed to be washed or thrown out. It implies a level of care that either Shadow or potentially Rouge afforded Sonic, even if neither outcome seem likely in the slightest.
Sonic pushes the blanket off his shoulders, tossing it back over the side of the couch. He swings his legs around. As soon as his feet touch the ground, he hunches forward. His head feels a little achy, but it isn't screaming with pain. Sonic knew he was only a little buzzed. He's probably more dehydrated and hungry than anything else right now. He'll have to take care of the food problem elsewhere, but surely no one will begrudge him getting a handful of water from the faucet.
The hedgehog pushes his paws against his thighs, rising into an upright position. He glances over his shoulder toward the kitchen. It isn't empty. Sonic didn't notice at first because he's still rousing from his comfortable slumber, but there are muffled noises coming from that direction. Whoever is working seems to be doing their best not to be too loud. Sonic appreciates the effort, ignoring how he's automatically suspicious of it as well.
A few long strides brings him to the kitchen's main area. It isn't a surprise to see Shadow there, though Sonic is intrigued by watching the ebony hedgehog make breakfast. Shadow's gaze flicks between the instruments in front of him and a phone with a video playing on its surface. As Sonic finds his way deeper into the kitchen, he is included in this rotation of Shadow's gaze.
"Good morning," Sonic says. Shadow considers the words, eventually deciding a nod is the best response. Sonic will take what little acknowledgement he can get from Shadow. It means that much more coming from him than it would anyone else.
Sonic heads straight for the sink. He considers his next actions carefully. It doesn't take long for him to decide that he doesn't care enough to be proper. He takes off one of his gloves, holding it in the other paw. With that same paw, he turns the faucet on. By leaning down, he's able to scoop some water into his mouth. It's a rather messy process, but Sonic manages to keep most of the water on himself rather than the floor.
He jumps a little when he hears a loud noise right beside him. His eyes flick to the side to find Shadow standing beside him. The ebony hedgehog has slammed a plastic cup onto the counter right beside the sink. He's pointedly looking away from Sonic, a mixture of disgust and embarrassment coloring his features. Sonic hesitates to accept the offer, but Shadow shoves it forward. Helpless to argue, Sonic takes the cup and decides to drink as a modern Mobian would.
Shadow has returned to the cooking. He's almost finished as far as Sonic can tell. The azure hedgehog makes certain of this by snagging a piece of bacon from one of the plates on the countertop. Shadow glares at Sonic, not at all amused by Sonic hiding how he's eating the bacon behind his cup. "That was my plate."
"I know," Sonic says, voice muffled by both bacon in his mouth and a cup in front of his lips. Shadow's glare intensifies, seemingly more annoyed than outright angry. Sonic reaches to snag something else from the plate, but Shadow is quick about switching the plate Sonic was aiming for to for the other one that was just beyond it. This plate has more food on it, so Sonic assumes that it's either the one where Shadow is putting the finished food or Rouge's plate (if she's here. Sonic can't tell).
Either way, Shadow is outright encouraging Sonic by doing this, so the azure hedgehog doesn't hesitate to take off pieces of bacon and toast. He even gets to try some of the eggs when Shadow hands him a fork with an expression that tells Sonic what happened before at the sink cannot happen again. Sonic snorts, accepting the gift with all the gratitude in his heart.
"This isn't awful. Is it your first time cooking?" Sonic asks. He leans forward to check that the video Shadow was watching was about cooking. He only sees a few seconds of it before Shadow is shutting off his phone and storing it away in his quills.
Shadow exhales out his nose. He glances at his plate, seemingly picking at the food rather than eating it. "I don't usually eat… breakfast."
Ignoring the odd pause, Sonic focuses on a different matter entirely. "Why'd you make it, then?"
Shadow often looks at Sonic like he's stupid, but there's a touch more forcefulness in his gaze now. Sonic arches a brow. Shadow still hasn't given him a response, so he questions, "Wait… did you make it for me?"
Shadow rolls his eyes. "You need to eat, don't you?"
"I…" Sonic pauses. He looks back at the plate Shadow slid his way. He was ignoring it before, but he has to confront the simple fact that this plate was prepared for him. Sonic taps the side of the plate. His throat feels tight. He knows that he needs to eat more—he always needs to eat as much as he can, just in case—but he doesn't want to know. No one has made food specifically for him before. He's only ever benefited from what has been made for others. And to think that Shadow did it—the same Shadow who likely put a blanket around his shoulders and definitely didn't throw him into a dumpster.
"Finish your plate," Shadow says, depositing his empty plate into the sink. He's starting to walk away. Sonic shoves a bit more food into his mouth before realizing that Shadow is pulling his shoes on.
"Where are you going?"
Shadow freezes. He takes a deep breath, finishing pulling his shoe over his heel. Glancing out the windows, he answers, "Morning run."
Sonic's eyes widen. He takes what else he can off the plate, hurriedly setting it into the sink. Shadow is perplexed by his actions, and he grows more disgusted when Sonic calls out through a mouth full of food, "Wait for me!"
"You're not coming with me," Shadow tells Sonic, remaining rooted in place as Sonic swallows and scrambles for his own shoes. Shadow crosses his arms over his chest, glaring down at the azure hedgehog. "You don't have the speed or endurance to keep up with me."
"You don't know anything about me," Sonic says coolly. Shadow's expression shifts, perhaps taking those words as truer and more serious than Sonic intended them to be. To remedy the situation, Sonic leaps onto his feet. He smiles widely and hooks his thumb towards himself. "You're looking at a field and track star. I also did a lot of marathons for charities and stuff. And let's be honest with ourselves, running is in my veins."
That statement actually is far truer and more serious than he actually intended it to be. Ever since the moment he could walk (which happened quicker than his peers, according to the orphanage workers), Sonic has been running. It's what has gotten him in and out of every mess he's ever been in. It's the focal point of his life, something he can't escape from because he'll always inevitably return to it. There's nothing Sonic can do about his nature, so he's accepted it as an immutable truth.
Sonic coughs into his fist. He uses his other paw to open the door behind him. He holds it open for Shadow. With a smile pressed into his features, he says, "So… try to keep up, yeah?"
Shadow scoffs, but he accepts the challenge with his own small, half-smile. "It will be you who has to keep up with me."
"Game on~!"
They had down to the stairs Shadow led him up the previous night. There's no clubbers left partying, but there are a few people cleaning up all the messes that were left behind. Rouge and Knuckles are not among any of the people Sonic can see. Shadow's long, unbreaking stride makes him think that Rouge, at least, isn't anywhere in this building. That, or she definitely is and Shadow doesn't want to be seen with Sonic. Both are possible, Sonic supposes, and he leaves those thoughts with his janitorial comrades as he and Shadow step into the cool morning air.
"Follow my route," Shadow tells Sonic as he's stretching his limbs. Sonic mimics the type of his action, but he has his own rotation of familiar stretches. As he moves through them, his eyes flutter shut. It's difficult to fully sink into the past with the sound of traffic and the faint whiff of the ocean permeating through every hall, but Sonic's mind still pulls him toward that distant horizon known as memory. For a moment, fleeting as it is, he's back to being the track star of his high school, the pride and joy of his entire community, the one who was going to soar far beyond the expectations laid upon his shoulders by those who effectively bought him for his skill. Their influence taints the memory, but Sonic really did love track.
He loves running, too, which is why his eyes are back open and he's staring expectantly at Shadow. The ebony hedgehog huffs, clearly still uncertain about how to handle Sonic. The other shrugs his shoulders. He points in every cardinal direction. Shadow doesn't point out the way, but he does twist on his heel. He jogs down the street, and Sonic is, obviously, quick to follow.
They do not start out at a harsh pace. It really is just a jog. Sonic doesn't know if this is what Shadow always does or if he's going this slow to test if Sonic is capable of keeping up. Since the latter is a possibility—a slim one, but still an existent one—Sonic decides to gradually increase the pace. Shadow notices after a second. A grim warning flashes in his eyes. Sonic blatantly ignores it, mainly because it's hard to see what's behind him (he can't very well turn around since he doesn't want to trip or get run over).
Shadow doesn't stay behind him, though. It's barely a second before Shadow is right beside him. The ebony hedgehog is not pleased. At least, he doesn't want to be, but there's a competitive fire in his eyes that's burning brighter and brighter, only enhanced by the carmine coloration of his irises. Sonic's lips lift into his own smile. His legs are starting to heat up, his chest moves a little quicker than before, and he can feel something between a buzzing and drumming noise filling his entire head. This is a challenge—it's a race. Sonic hasn't done a proper race that's only about pride and exhilaration in a long time. This isn't about survival, though does want to impress Shadow as much as he wants to push his companion to beyond his very limits.
The sidewalk begins to curve. Sonic naturally pushes into Shadow's shoulder. He earns a glare in response. When the curve starts straightening out, the buildings surrounding them disappear. It is replaced with a metal railing, slightly rust. The other side is the downward slope of a field. There's a collection of various rocks, piled high and poking out. The ocean is further beyond that, unseen but not unheard.
Shadow finally shoves back. He does so with enough force to send Sonic off the sidewalk. He stumbles into a parking spot lined up on the side of the road. Sonic's nose wrinkles at the move, but nothing is unfair if there weren't any rules established. With that in mind, Sonic immediately heads back to the sidewalk. He makes it a little ways before he realizes that Shadow isn't on the sidewalk.
Sonic looks around. He finds Shadow at the bottom of the hill, beside the rocks. Sonic glances back. While he was in the parking spot, Shadow turned down a concrete staircase leading to the bottom. Sonic will have to go back to race down that staircase. It is going to be far too much work and take up a lot of time which is why Shadow didn't tell Sonic about it.
Nothing is unfair if there aren't rules, though.
Without hesitation, Sonic grabs the metal railing he's standing beside. He throws himself over the beam. He lands on the ground, immediately rolling down the hill rather than racing down it. His limbs hit against rocks at nearly every juncture. He slams into the ground a little harsher than he should, too. There will be bruises in the coming days, but there isn't going to be a single regret as he pops back onto his feet to close the distance between him and Shadow.
As soon as he does, he pushes Shadow toward the rocks. The ebony hedgehog just has to get his bearings immediately. He weaves around the rock. He doesn't come back around the other side, however. Sonic realizes that Shadow is now running inside the rocks, using the labyrinth-like structure to his own advantage. Sonic can't have that, so he climbs onto one of the rocks. As he balances, he starts running across the others, climbing up and down to keep up his momentum.
At last, he finds Shadow. The excitement over this causes Sonic to lose his footing. He barely gets any time to dictate the direction he's going to fall before he does. This leads him to landing on top of Shadow. He makes a loud, startled noise. Shadow tries freeing himself and getting Sonic on top of him, but it's difficult when they are rolling. When they eventually hit a rock that's tall and heavy enough to keep them from continuing in their motion.
They are as silent as they are still, filling the space between the towering rocks with their heavy breaths. Sonic stares down at Shadow, lying partially on top of him. The ebony hedgehog's gaze slowly focuses on the person practically sitting on his stomach. Breathlessly, with a hint of anger and something else entirely, Shadow declares straightforwardly, "You're insane."
Sonic laughs, just as lacking for breath. "Batshit, I've been told."
Shadow shakes his head. Sonic pushes off Shadow's chest to help himself rise to his feet. He reaches a paw down. Shadow takes it after a few seconds of contemplation. Sonic pulls him up without any of that hesitation. As Shadow is checking for injuries, Sonic looks around the space they've found themselves inside. "Do you run through this place often?"
Shadow's head remains down, but his eyes flick from side to side. He shrugs one of his shoulders. "On Sundays. I have a different route the other days since I also have work."
Sonic hums. He genuinely considers having his own morning run. He's done it plenty over these past three years, but never recreationally. Why not do it now? There really is nothing holding him back because no matter how much running has taken from him, he will never shake off how wonderful this feeling is. His blood rushes, his heart pounds, his head both swims and clears. He feels like he's a bolt of lightning or a whirlwind, swirling across the planet's surface with all the forcefulness of nature's mighty wrath accompanying him.
"I also… follow me," Shadow says. He doesn't give Sonic a chance to argue. He's already heading off, going deeper into the rock formations. With both an insatiable curiosity and an interest in Shadow guiding him, Sonic plants his feet in the prints Shadow is leaving behind in the sand that collects across the hardened ground.
The more they walk, the more the ocean's waves echo around them. It is a swelling sound, doubling and tripling over itself. There's something both beautiful and terrifying about it. Sonic, for his part, feels genuine horror building inside his chest. He starts to spin as he walks, searching the rising walls around for a light that rapidly disappearing. The shadows grow thick and long. Sonic feels ensnared in the darkness, and it, in turn, intensifies upon recognizing his fear. It even dares to fool him, casting figments of illusions in every direction except where he can directly look. Each one skims his form with their fingers, coaxing him further into a sound that threatens to drag him to the very depths he's avoided ever since it took the one person Sonic was living for, crushing the one who was loved and then crushing the one who loves.
A pressure firmer than the illusions seizes Sonic's shoulder. It pulls, and he helplessly stumbles back. Like a freight train, light smacks upon his side. The sun is the distance, clearing away the darkness and all the fears who hid within it. Only one shadow is permitted to exist in the golden beams, and it is the one standing in front of Sonic, standing close enough that a forest of carmine leaves is all he can see. Buried beneath that canopy, the question of wellness is being asked.
Or, perhaps, Shadow is speaking that one aloud. Sonic doesn't know because he's too busy focusing on how he can feel Shadow's heartbeat. He feels it so clearly that he hears it directly in his ears. That noise, illusory or not, overpowers the sound of waves that is still present but no longer overwhelming, forced to the far edges of his awareness in the pursuit of protecting himself.
When he realizes what he's done, Sonic gives Shadow a smile, hiding the wave of exhaustion that inexplicably struck him. "That was weird. Thanks for helping me out. I'm good now."
Shadow isn't convinced. He rather looks like he's going to argue with Sonic's claims. Luckily, he doesn't get a chance to. Another voice yells out, and Sonic can tell by looking over his shoulder that the message is for them. "You're here early! Oh, and you brought Sonic."
"Hello, Rouge," Sonic shouts back. He pulls away from Shadow. The ebony hedgehog has the same look he did yesterday, the one that Sonic has learned means 'we will talk about this later.' Sonic isn't going to do that. He doesn't even know what they would talk about, after all. Nothing happened, and if it did, he doesn't really understand the details. It just sort of… happened.
"Hello, Sonic. Good morning to you both. We're set up over there if you want to head over," Rouge tells them, jogging closer. She's gesturing in the direction of the water. Sonic turns that way. He sets a paw over his eyes. The shadow falling over his face lets him see that there's a whole group of people gathered together beneath sun umbrellas and on towels.
"Early morning swim?" Sonic questions, arching a brow.
Rouge glances at Shadow as she's talking to Sonic. "He brought you, but he didn't tell you what this was." Shadow glares at her. Rouge rolls her eyes over to Sonic. "It is an early morning swim. Vanilla and Cream used to come to the beach to play. Apparently, they do it now to avoid a lot of the tourists. Vanilla invited Vector and Amy one day, which lead to Charmy, Espio, and Knuckles coming. I was invited recently, and of course, I had to bring Shadow along. I wonder who you'll end up bringing to these mornings at the beach."
"You never know. I could bring—" Sonic's words are cut off by his phone ringing. Sonic frowns. He reaches his quills, pulling out the device. Upon seeing the contact on the screen, he huffs a sigh, muttering, "Not him." Sonic presses the phone against his chest. He smiles apologetically at the others. "I have to take this. I'll be over there when I'm done, yeah?"
"What—"
"See you over there," Rouge interrupts. She locks arms with Shadow, pulling him away from Sonic. They whisper to each other, but the noise is too faint for Sonic to make out. All he can tell is that Shadow shoots him a very specific look over his shoulder. Sonic smiles and salutes, letting both his lips and arm fall when Shadow turns back to the ocean and the others.
Sonic clicks the accept button, pressing the phone to his ear. "Good morning, Mr. Clutch."
"Good morning, Sonic. I'm so glad I was able to call you today. Sundays are always the opportune time for matters such as this one," Clutch responds. "Is there any news? Or anything you would like to tell me?"
Fuck off and leave me alone, are the words Sonic wants to tell him. He keeps them locked inside his chest, however, as he continues, "I've been doing my job as a janitor. Haven't been any complaints about that."
Clutch hums. "And the merfolk? How is your relationship with the one from last week?"
Sonic shifts uncomfortably. He recalls the conversations he's had with Nine in the past week. A decent amount of words were exchanged earlier in the week. Friday and Saturday were difficult, though. They each had a reason not to speak to the other, and Sonic only knows his own reason. But he isn't about to divulge that information to Clutch. "It's been fine. He's an… interesting conversationalist. Has a completely different perspective from me."
"Those are the best people to talk to," Clutch admits, divulging it like a trade secret. "What about the other mers? The siren, the pirate… the kraken?"
"No one is allowed in the kraken's room," Sonic reminds his superior. There is no way Sonic is going to tell Clutch the truth. He's sooner admit it to Professor Pickle. "As for the others… I can't we're close, but they aren't as hostile around me anymore. It's probably the familiarity."
There's a moment of silence before Clutch responds, "I would like to hear about any and all developments in this area. If that is all, though, I will let you go. You're a busy man, and I'm sure you don't want to talk to your boss on your day off."
"You're too generous," Sonic mutters sarcastically.
"Enjoy your time there, Sonic."
And then he hangs up, making it sound like Sonic is pestering him and wasting his time. Sonic rolls in his eyes, as frustrated as he is exhausted. He shoves his phone back into his quills. He has half a mind to run to the motel he's been staying at right now. It's far, though. And Sonic doesn't want to be alone right now. He doesn't want to be in the water, either, though, so he sets his sights on the person sitting underneath one of the umbrellas—Vanilla.
It doesn't take long for Sonic to get to her. Once he does, he sees that Charmy and Cream are swimming with Vector and Amy. Shadow, Rouge, Knuckles, and Espio are playing a game with a ball. It seems vaguely like volleyball, but there isn't a net or anything to mark the dimensions of their arena. They must be playing with their own rules. Under normal circumstances, Sonic would find a way to squeeze himself in, but these aren't normal circumstances. At least can blame it on him being an odd number (even though Amy would join his team in a heartbeat if he asked).
"Sonic! It's good to see you again!"
The azure hedgehog tears his eyes away from the players. Vanilla is patting the spot right beside her. Sonic plops down. It is nice without the sun beaming against him, raising his temperature as if to cook him. His limbs appreciate being able to relax. His mind still wants to find its own rest, though, so Sonic looks at Vanilla. "What have you been doing this past few days?"
Vanilla glances away from where she's staring at the people in the water. In the few seconds her eyes are on him, Sonic feels like she discovers something that she wasn't supposed to. It makes him uncomfortable, but that eases away once her eyes are back on the distant ones. Vanilla talks to him, though, faithfully answering his question, "On Saturday, the day after our dinner with you, I went to a movie showing all by myself. They were rerunning a film I saw as a girl. It was nostalgic. There were these flowers in the movie that I liked very much. The very next day, while I was out shopping with Cream, I found the seeds for those flowers. I was not certain about it, but I eventually took those seeds. I've already planted them. They are not anywhere close to blooming. I hope they will…"
Vanilla continues, recollection after recollection, anecdote after anecdote. It is all interesting to Sonic. It is all worth paying attention to. Sonic really wants to catch every single sentence as they pass. He wants to respond to Vanilla when she pauses for breath. But he doesn't. He can't. His eyes continue slipping downward, coaxed along by the steady, rhythmic quality of Vanilla's voice. If he didn't know any better, he would think she were doing it on purpose. She must be, though, because she can clearly see him dozing off, yet she does nothing to reprimand Sonic for his disrespect.
He wishes she would because he finds himself slipping right under. It could be for a few seconds or for a few minutes. Whatever the case, he resurfaces to nothing but the sound of the ocean. Each wave smacks the shoreline with such ferocity that Sonic wonders what has angered the beast of the natural world so much. No one should be swimming right now. They're going to get hurt. They're going to drown. He's going to drown. Tails is swimming right now. Tails is going to drown. Sonic fell asleep. He shouldn't be asleep right now. He needs to be watching his brother. Why did he—
Sonic is on the ground. No, wait, he was already on the ground… wasn't he? No… no, he tried getting up. His eyes are staring at the ground between his paws—the same paws holding him up and not pulling him out—why is here, and not out there in the waters, the same waters that took away his brother, and what—
It is not light that finds Sonic this time but warmth. A gentle paw resting against his back, a blatantly concerned face in his peripheral vision, a calm voice coaxing him into breathing steadily and reminding him that no matter where his mind has wandered, there's a place for him to come back to. He doesn't need to fly blindly into the panic when there is someone who will keep him tethered to the ground without dropping him into the ocean's abyss.
Sonic should have gone back to the motel.
He wants to go home.
He wants to go home, but his home has been dead for three years.
He wants to go home, but his brother has been dead for three years.
There's no one in the water. There's no reason Sonic can't fall asleep on the beach. There's no one waiting for him to save them. He doesn't need to be aware of the world.
He wants to go home.
But he'll settle for the next best thing, so when Vanilla opens her arms, he slips right into them. Her warmth surrounds him, and she shields him from both the sights and sounds of the ocean. The smell doesn't exactly go away, but he doesn't let that trick him into thinking this isn't nice. It's good enough that when he falls asleep this time, there's no panic that drags him right back to the surface.
Notes:
This so could've been written better, but oh well
Went to my first concert earlier. Got an autograph. I'm with a new friend group rn, and I can already tell I'm the weakest link. I think I'm just someone they'll hang out with but won't go out of their way for, y'know? Which is fair, Ig, since we're all so new to each other. It's not like I really needed new friends, anyway. I kind of just need people to hang around, fill the time and space around me so I don't look like a weirdo. Really, I probably shouldn't have gotten buddy-buddy with them. They're great, don't get me wrong, but I don't think we really vibe together. Then again, I haven't with anyone here. I can't exactly get a moment to talk. The conversation always flows with me as a bystander. This has never happened before. I'm usually pretty good at getting my two cents in. Well, whatever, not you guys' problem, just my observations. I use Ao3 end notes as a diary lmao
Chapter 11
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Monday
Fifteenth Day
Thorn surfaces immediately when Sonic enters the room beside her tank. He glances at her over his shoulder. Her eyes are shimmering brightly, jewel-like even in the clinical light filling the room. Sonic turns away from her. He looks back at the cart he's dragging into the room. He has to make sure it doesn't bump into anything or that something falls off, and this task isn't made any easier by the piercing stare stabbing right through his body. Despite the violent nature he knows she possesses, her stare doesn't make him feel unsafe, only a touch uncomfortable, and he knows how to ignore his discomfort until he isn't feeling anything at all.
Sonic parks at the cart right beside the door. As it slams shut, he examines the room for what supplies he's going to need this time. There isn't any blood covering the walls (there hasn't been blood in any of the merfolks' rooms in a long time, honestly). There isn't any oil or metal shrapnel from technological devices Thorn has ripped apart and threw back to the scientists she blatantly despises. The look in her eyes told him she was in a good mood, but the environment surrounding her confirms this as truth. In fact, it means she hasn't misbehaved since Saturday, the last time he came into this room.
"So-nic," Thorn's voice calls out impatiently. She doesn't pronounce his name correctly, but it's close enough that he knows she's trying very hard. With a little more repetition, she'll be able to sing his name as clearly as a wind blowing through a grassy field.
"Thorn," Sonic responds. He swings his body around to look at her. She seems to be pulling herself from the water onto the dock. He doesn't know enough about sirens to know if they can be outside of water for long periods of time, so he hurries toward her to make sure she doesn't put herself on the platform extending from the main floor. He nearly trips when he gets to the edge. He catches his balance while making direct eye contact with Thorn, half-surprised that there's no anticipation in that wholly green gaze. Sonic should have known Thorn doesn't want to drown him anymore, though.
"Music," Thorn says. She keeps her claws on the edge of the platform, seemingly holding her head above the water through the muscles of her arms rather than the strength of the tail flapping beneath her. "Saturn's day. Satur's day… Hmm… Music… how did—how did it… leave? Go. Go! How did it go?"
Sonic's lips lift upward into a smile. He kneels on the edge of the platform, setting himself closer to the siren. Before he speaks, he considers his answer. He could tell Thorn everything—and she likely wouldn't stop him—but he does want her to understand what he's talking about. She's been so excited every since she learned that Sonic was practicing in order to perform for an audience. Thorn must have worked really hard in order to piece together her question today, and although she stumbled, she made it through the entire line without too much trouble. Because of the pride he has for her, he wants to make sure Thorn gets a return for all the anticipation she's been carrying in her heart since the knowledge entered her head.
"Good," Sonic starts, giving her a thumb's up. Thorn mimics the action with both of her thumbs. Sonic snorts, and Thorn smiles, pleased with the noise she caused in Sonic without fully understanding what it means. Sonic's eyes drift away from the pinks, browns, and greens of Thorn's form. They rest uneasily on the blues and blacks of the deep water surrounding her. It is entirely too much like the ocean, but it has to be this way to bring Thorn comfort. No one cares if Sonic has any problems with it, not even Sonic himself.
"Everyone was… happy," Sonic continues, softer than before, torn between the memories of the night in Rouge's club and all the scattered pieces of the ocean he has carefully discarded inside his head (not carefully enough if he can remember any detail about them). "Everyone was dancing. Do you know what dancing is?"
Thorn's lips part. They move, back and forth, up and down, sealed tightly together and far apart between each breath. When they complete a dance of their own, Thorn nods her head slowly. "Dancing." Thorn's eyes fall shut. The room feels that much darker for it. As a trade-off, however, a steady noise fills the room. Thorn hums a melody, occasionally stopping to recapture the previous note in a different way. As she does, she sways back and forth, fingers gracefully gliding about like the waves lapping against Thorn's shoulders and chest.
Sonic closes his eyes. He has never heard this song before in his lifetime, but he recognizes it as a dancing song. It is upbeat with a quick tempo, easy enough for multiple instruments to have a version written for themselves. It is through this music that Sonic is able to borrow stolen memories, seeing flashes of firelit beaches where the people of Boscage danced with to the music of their oceanic companions. Perhaps the sirens, too, found a way to dance, a theatrical performance right above the water's surface for all to see. And if they did, who's to say Thorn was not part of it? How is to say that she did not just lend her voice to the reverie but also her body, illuminating the festivities with a spirit that knew nothing but peace and light?
Thorn stops humming. Sonic's eyes flutter open, meeting her own. The very second silence consumes them both, so does a permanent melancholy. The singing and dancing on the beaches of Boscage will never happen again. Thorn has already participated in her final one, and she likely didn't even know it at the time. She was part of a harmony that can never be returned to her, every voice except her own brought to silence through the greed of mankind. The fires that once lit up beautiful smiles and sandy beaches was unleashed upon the homes of those who only wanted to befriend the sirens, who wanted to celebrate with them and spread the festivities.
And Sonic will never get to see it. Thorn's magic might have given him a glimpse, an implicit understanding of what occurred without too many details. It will never be his memory, though. It will never be colored by his emotions, his merriment and delight and pleasant exhaustion. Boscage is too far away for him to get to without money and resources, and even if he did, the loneliness of an island that was once people's actual homes would surely suffocate him, leaving yet another body floating in the ocean.
"Well, doesn't this suck?" Sonic asks, a thin outer layer of amusement doing nothing to mask the sheer weight of grief in his voice. Sonic looks away from Thorn. There's a tingling burn in his eyes, but there aren't any tears. There will never be tears, even if he thinks simply letting them fall would make him feel better.
And he would like that… to feel better. He would like to think about the good times without feeling like there's a knife plunged directly into his heart. Sonic thinks Thorn is the exact same way. She, too, wants to remember her past and home when it was peaceful and jubilant and as perfect as it could be. But she, like Sonic, cannot shake off the residue splattered across everything that came before because of everything that came after. One defining moment—a few seconds in Sonic's case, and a shadowed night in Thorn's case—is all it took for levity to turn to despair, and warm love to turn into cold self-loathing, and the beautiful songs to turn into a haunting wail, and the ocean to turn into a casket.
"Dancing," Thorn repeats again. She stares at the platform. She starts drawing, or perhaps writing, something in the water droplets, careful not to let her claws scrape against the surface. When she's finished, her head tilts back. Although she doesn't have an iris or pupil, he can tell that she's staring right at him—into his eyes and the soul lying right through the window. "You… dancing. You—" Thorn hesitates, jaw set as she questions her choices. She decides on one, though she seems unsure of it. "—made dancing."
Sonic nods slowly. He gets the meaning she's going for. At least, he gets one of the potential meanings, and he's going to roll with that. If he's wrong, he'll deal with that at a later date. "I did. People danced because of me… because of the song I was playing." He mimes strumming on his guitar for Thorn's benefit.
Her face brightens, and just like that, it feels like the tragedy she doesn't wish to remember is washed away. He knows it lingers in all the hollow spaces, but when she smiles at him like this, he knows that she's focusing on all that is whole within herself and her life. Sonic gives credit where it's due, and the more he learns about Thorn, the more he knows that she's due the respect of the world itself.
"I—"
Whatever Thorn was going to say it cut off by the doors. They are being pushed open. Sonic lifts his head to them quickly, shuffling away from the edge as subtly as he can. The scientist standing at the doorway notices the brightly colored cart first. Their eyes light up upon seeing it. They meet Sonic's eyes without any urgency to get him in trouble.
"You're the janitor, right? Um… Sonic?" The scientist questions. Thorn hisses, setting herself in Sonic's shadow for reasons he doesn't understand. She's the more dangerous one out of the two of them. Sonic can't provide her any more protection than she herself can, so she must be using him as a flesh-shield.
"Just to confirm, this Sonic is not in trouble, is he?" The azure hedgehog asks. He rises onto his feet. The scientist steps down onto the platform. They hurry across it, their footsteps contrasting with Thorn's sporadic hissing and the water's surface thumping beneath her tail. Sonic feels water droplets soak into the back of his uniform. If Thorn's claws weren't far too close to his legs (shoes, be damned), he would tell her to knock it off.
The scientist laughs politely. "No, no, of course not. I actually needed your help with something. It's clear that the merfolk prefer your company over ours. I also heard that my coworkers were able to get invaluable information about Nine because of you. I was hoping you could work some of your special magic for me, too. You see, we really need to get this information about Thorn… I can't disclose too much, but… bad things are going to happen if we don't."
Sonic bites the inside of his cheek to keep himself from asking what those bad things are going to be. He knows the scientist isn't going to tell him. No matter how friendly she's being or what he's achieved with the merfolk, he's just a janitor, and one on loan from a company that the university may or may not like. Sonic understands completely if she has a lot of misgivings about him, or if she quite literally can't legally tell him anything. Sonic has made it his mission to stay on the right side of the law ever since what happened with the kraken and the kids.
But he glances back at Thorn. She's stopped hissing and thumping her tail. She's staring up at him. There's a blank quality to her features, but Sonic hasn't built up a mutual understanding with her for nothing. He can't tell exactly what she's feeling, of course. He only has hints. He can string together those hints to form conclusions, though. He knows that Thorn doesn't like the scientist. She especially hates technology. She isn't going to like this, even with his assistance.
"…bad things are going to happen if we don't."
Bad things include messing with her tank, taking things away or adding stuff that she won't like and can't destroy. Bad things include only giving her the basic amount of nutrients to survive, flavor and preferences be damned. Bad things include screwing with the schedule of her rehabilitation, or even potentially preventing her from ever returning to Boscage.
That, Sonic thinks, is what Thorn would hate the most out of everything. She longs so deeply for her homeland that being kept from it for the rest of her days would completely destroy her. It might be too soon to call them friends, but it isn't too soon for Sonic to know that he doesn't want to see Thorn waste away. One day, he hopes to find her tank empty with everyone telling him she was brought back to Boscage.
With a sigh, Sonic glances at the scientist from the corner of his eye. "Let me… try. No reporting me about my methods, though."
The scientist makes a movement in his peripheral vision, but Sonic is already turning toward Thorn. He sits himself down, folding his legs near his stomach to let him get closer to the edge. Thorn's eyes are widening. Sonic leans forward, whispering rather softly and annunciating his words as if that'll make it easier for Thorn to comprehend. "They want to help." He gestures to the scientist. "I want to help." He gestures to himself. "Will you," he gestures to Thorn, "let us help?" He gestures to him and the scientist again for extra measure.
Thorn's eyes narrow. Her head tilts toward the scientist and Sonic, back and forth. While the scientist smiles back encouragingly, Sonic's face remains neutral. Tension threads through each of the features. It should make Thorn turn away, but the honesty seems to weaken her hostilities. Eventually, she sets her paw on the platform, her palm facing upward. She nods to it with her chin. Sonic doesn't understand. Thorn's nodding gets more vigorous, leading Sonic to remember the last time he performed his 'special magic,' as the scientist called it.
Sonic doesn't know how Thorn knows about that (can the merfolk communicate with each other?), but he sets his paw in Thorn's grasp. Her fingers close around his own in an instant. Sonic smiles slightly. Thorn grins widely at him. This grin disappears when she regards the scientist, but she does offer her other arm to the white-clad Mobian, so Sonic supposes some amount of progress has been made.
The scientist takes the opportunity presented to them. They practically run across the room to grab everything they need. Sonic listens but doesn't watch. He keeps his eyes pinned on his and Thorn's paws, tangled together as they are. For this reason, he sees before he feels how her claws start digging into his gloves. At the same time, he hears her growling, and the scientist murmurs both apologies and directions that Thorn either doesn't understand or doesn't care to follow.
Her claws have torn through the pale fabric. Tiny dots of red appear against the white like blossoming flowers. They start to bridge together, creating an even larger stain. The claws continue deeper into his flesh. The pain starts to register in his mind, but he doesn't do anything about it. He doesn't pull his paw away, doesn't let Thorn know somehow, doesn't even let his face change. He simply stares at how enough blood is spilling for it to move through his glove and drop onto the platform below. There's a flicker of annoyance in his bones since he'll have to clean that up, but other than that, he doesn't feel very much emotionally.
He feels plenty physically. The pain is sharp. It is potent. It rattles up his arm, flooding his mind with warnings and demands. Even still, he remains motionless, allowing the harm without being too bothered by it.
It reminds him of what someone he met as a runaway told him. This was after a few months of them traveling together, bridging toward friendship. On one quiet evening, sitting on the posts of a wooden fence, listening to the sounds of dozing farm animals, waiting impatiently for the train they were going to hop on to arrive, Sonic's friend whispered, "You let yourself get hurt a lot. Did you know that?"
Sonic didn't know that. He didn't know what compelled his friend to say that, either. It was for these reasons that he didn't reply.
Ever since he was told that, though, Sonic has thought about it. And it's the truth. Even before his adoption, he was a child that didn't care about getting hurt if it meant he was getting something in return for his pain. The other kids thought he was weird for it. The caretakers at the orphanage thought this was yet another reason why he was a problem child. Sonic, for his part, just thought that everything in life comes with a price, and a little bit of pain was arguably nothing in the grand scheme of things.
"All done!" The scientist calls out, their chipper voice jolting Sonic out of his memories. The scientist turns to him with a bright smile. They show off their clipboard like Sonic knows what any of those abbreviations means. It is in this moment that they also realize there's blood on the platform. They trace it upward to discover Thorn's claws still breaking into flesh. "Sonic!"
The hedgehog blinks at the sound of his name. Thorn flinches back at how loud the scientist was, and this causes her to finally realize what she's been doing. The siren pulls her paw back, slamming it against her chest beneath the surface. Sonic's blood mixes with the water. It floats around, almost ribbon-like in its nature. Sonic is mesmerized by it. Thorn is horrified by it.
"Wait, wait, wait—" The scientist calls out. Again, they run across the room, leaving behind a lot of the equipment they were using (including machinery that Thorn would normally destroy without hesitation). They toss the clipboard against a counter. Scrambling through the drawers leads them to finding the bandages and disinfectant. They pull them out, running over to Sonic to help him.
Sonic takes the bandages and disinfectant. He pulls his glove enough to start treating his wound. The scientist respectfully looks away, even if their fingers twitch to help. Thorn, on the other paw, doesn't look away for second, eyes still wide with emotion. Sonic snorts at both the scientist and the siren's reactions. "I'm fine, both of you. All good." He gives Thorn a thumbs-up to accentuate his words.
Unlike earlier, she doesn't return it. She remains frozen in the water, paws tightly bound together against her chest. Sonic doesn't know what to say to make that frown she wears disappear.
"You should head home," The scientist breaks the uncomfortable silence with a gentleness that Sonic would like to say is uncharacteristic but he doesn't know this scientist. He can't say anything about them for certain. He just knows that they were a guilty expression right now.
"I still have to clean Nine's room," Sonic reminds them. He also has to clean this room. He started talking to Thorn before he could do that.
The scientist shakes their head. They walk over to the cart, ready to push it forward themselves. "Don't worry about that. I'll talk to Professor Pickle. You can just head home early today. Have a good day, Sonic. Thank you for your help." The scientist pushes the cart into the hallway. They linger to hold open the door, waiting for Sonic to join them.
With little else to do, he huffs and complies, a touch disappointed but also relieved that he won't have to talk to Nine today.
Sonic walks through the many halls. He stares at his bandages the entire time, pulling his glove upward to see the curve of the white material. He only pulls his eyes away when he passes a very specific hallway. A figure has opened the door at the very end, slipping through into the same hallway Sonic was walking past. He doesn't freeze so much as stop, meeting a pair of carmine eyes.
Shadow is the one who freezes. He's tucking his gloves beneath the golden bands he's always wearing around his wrists. His quills are dropping, and Sonic realizes why when the light catches on the water droplets still clinging to Shadow's body. Sonic arches a brow, but he can think of plenty of reasons why Shadow would be drying off considering where they are right now.
"You coming from the kraken?" Sonic asks before Shadow can start the conversation. He doesn't think Shadow is going to mention how off Sonic was yesterday when he woke up from his nap in Vanilla's arms (or how Sonic acted inside the rocks that echoed the ocean's mighty roars), but Sonic would rather make that a certainty. He's already been avoiding Amy as it is, though that's also because he still hasn't come up with a sufficient apology for ignoring her for the past few days.
Shadow's lips press together. His steps are methodical and silent as he walks closer to Sonic. When he steps onto the edge of Sonic's shadow, Shadow glances over his shoulder. He swallows thickly, saying his next few words like an admittance of guilt. "I was."
Sonic nods slowly, accepting the answer and ignoring all the weirdness. "How is it?"
"It?" Shadow questions, glancing back at Sonic with a tense expression.
Sonic's lips lift into a half-smile. He shrugs his shoulders, incidentally letting his glove fall back over his paw and the bandages encasing it. "Them. Her. Him. Whatever they want to be called, how is the kraken?"
Shadow looks like he's considering something deeper than what Sonic's words would imply. "I—" He cuts himself off. He pauses. Sonic waits, wondering if Shadow is going to start speaking again. When Sonic is about to carry the conversation on himself, Shadow starts walking forward, going past Sonic but still speaking to him. "You shouldn't concern yourself with the kraken… but he's fine."
Sonic jogs to catch up. Once they're shoulder to shoulder, he grins at Shadow, continuing their walk in the same direction, perhaps to the same destination. "That's good to hear." Sonic gathers his courage together, glancing away from Shadow in order to ask, "You know, I'm curious… why does the university have a kraken? I can kind of get having the other merfolk, but everyone knows how dangerous the krakens are, especially after that attack on Westopolis some years back."
Shadow doesn't wear discomfort in the same way other people do, but Sonic knows instantly that's what he's feeling, even if he isn't sure where his certainty comes from. "Krakens are dangerous. The entire species is. You shouldn't involve yourself." Shadow takes a deep breath, straightening his shoulders. "This… kraken is a rescue from the ARK. Because he was trained, he fought against the other members of his species in Westopolis. He was brought here afterwards since he'll never be safe in the ocean again."
"Damn," Sonic says. Shadow shoots him a specific, withering look. Sonic looks away, purposefully lowering his voice when he continues, "I guess we have that in common."
Shadow's look isn't less withering, but it does subtly shift into something else. "What do you mean by that?"
Sonic shrugs. He meant too much by that, honestly. In these cases, he's quick to change the subject, especially since they're nearing the door and Sonic will have a viable excuse to escape this conversation soon. "I saw you this morning."
"You—" Shadow starts, all annoyance and anger. It fades with a long sigh, prompting a smile to curl onto Sonic's lips. Shadow rolls his eyes. "I saw you this morning as well. You should be more careful when crossing the street."
"And miss the chance to get hit by Dark Rider?" Sonic cheekily asks.
Shadow scowls. "Don't touch my motorcycle."
"I only dream of it every night."
Shadow's scowl deepens. To rid himself of such emotions, he takes the Sonic approach of changing the subject. "I didn't know you ran in the mornings."
"I didn't. You inspired me," Sonic tells him. "I liked running again. I haven't really done it in a while. And if you're willing to change your route, I'll be more than willing to run with you again."
"Avoid the rocks, you mean?" Shadow arches a brow, gearing up to ask about them—or, rather, Sonic's reaction to them.
Sonic bristles, hiding his discomfort with a smile. "Nah, that's fine. I meant running near the motel I'm staying at. We can run through the rocks together if you want to. I'll beat you all the same."
Shadow hums which isn't a disagreement. Sonic pushes open the door into the parking lot. The afternoon sun falls upon him, chasing away the chill the building left him with. Sonic whirls around since Shadow is remaining inside the building, having more work to do and wondering why he let Sonic guide him all the way here. Sonic wonders, too, but instead of looking confused, he laughs and declares, "Just let me know. You have my number, and you haven't blocked me yet."
Shadow releases a 'hmph' noise, which—again—isn't a disagreement. Shadow turns away, heading deeper inside the building and back to his job. Although he didn't get an allowance, Sonic walks away with a skip in his step, the pain in his paw a long-gone memory.
Notes:
It has not felt like it's been a week lmao
Next chapter, Sonic will finally learn more about the merfolk as a whole. We're getting lore and necessary biology knowledge for you guys to know what the fuck is going on with the kraken. It's going to be great. Also, Sonic and Nine will interact again, so there's also that to look forward to
Moving on to my diary entry of the day, things have gotten better. I'm still the weakest link of that friend group, but I don't feel like I'm falling behind quite as much. Additionally, I'm making more friends and acquittances with whom I can spend a certain amount of time with. Crazy what can happen in a week, amirite?
Chapter 12
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Friday
Nineteenth Day
Sonic lies on his stomach. The platform was cold when he first laid down, but it has long-since warmed beneath his body heat. He lifts his upper chest so he can look down at one of the books he borrowed from the university's library. The pages are primarily filled with words printed in a small, black script. There are occasionally pictures and diagrams, however, that clarify the overload of information being delivered to a reader that's assumed to have an intermediate amount of knowledge on the primary subject.
"I still don't get it," Sonic huffs. He drops down. His cheek smushes into the page, and his arms spread out on either side of him. His fingers stretch out for a beat, but they relax against the platform before anything can happen.
"Of course you don't," Nine huffs. Per usual, he's positioned right beside the platform. He's around the side of it. If he weren't dripping with water, Sonic would have loaned him one of the books from the large stack the library just let him walk away with for some reason (his janitor card is useful for more tasks than just opening supply closets, apparently). Nine pulls himself a little higher, trying to look over whatever Sonic was reading over. When this fails because of Sonic lying across both the pages, Nine sinks back into the water and asks, "What don't you get this time?"
Sonic's face wrinkles at the assumptions Nine is making. Unfortunately, they aren't entirely inaccurate. He hasn't been able to understand nearly anything within these textbooks. Sonic was never good at immediately understanding information. Back when he was in middle and high school, he would spend the entire night pouring over his textbooks, listening to explanatory videos, and making nearly everything into a note in his journal. Ever high grade was fought for, all because he wanted to stay on the track team… all because he wanted to get out of that house with Tails at his side.
All of it feels pointless now. He hasn't used anything he learned in those classrooms. He definitely didn't learn anything that makes what he's reading right now any easier to comprehend.
"It's talking about the merfolks' magic right now. Except, apparently, scientists don't call it magic. I think that's stupid. Call it what it is. We don't need all these big words to explain that a siren's song can mess with the mind," Sonic informs his companion. He lifts his head. He turns the book around, sliding it closer to Nine. He's careful not to slide it too close, though, given the aforementioned water dripping from Nine's fur. It is, however, close enough that Nine is able to quickly read over the contents, mouthing each word as he goes. Sonic can't help but smile softly; he does the same exact thing when he's reading textbooks.
"I don't get what's difficult to understand," Nine informs him with a vague hint of arrogance in his voice.
Sonic rolls his eyes. "Geniuses."
Nine looks like he's eaten something sour, but Sonic knows he's only pretending to be bashful. Nine considered Sonic's words to be compliment. They were, technically. Sonic is proud of Nine for being so smart. He just wishes the mer could share some of that intelligence with him.
Nine must senses this because with a heavy sigh, he rephrases what Sonic just read. "When sirens sing, they are emitting two layers of sound. The first layer is what landfolk hear. While they can't hear the second layer, it still registers in their minds. It activates certain nerves and bio-chemicals. Researchers specifically know about sirens' abilities to draw people toward them. They're still researching how sirens can manipulate emotions. There are also speculation that a siren song can cause hallucinations, which helps them direct a person's movements."
"It also lets them share memories," Sonic notes. He looks back at the page. He runs his fingertips across the fine print. A heaviness feels his stomach, enough to pull his lips downward. Sonic can't say he likes the explanation. It feels too… objective for him. What Thorn is able to do genuinely feels mystical. Proper, scientific reasoning takes away how special it feels.
"It can also do that," Nine nods, his voice quiet with his own remembrances. Sonic wonders if Thorn and Nine have ever met. They likely wouldn't have hated each other since they're both mers, but do the different species of mer automatically like each other? Their circumstances could have pushed them to be civilized with each other. Unless, Nine knows Thorn can push memories onto people because she did it to hurt him, not to comfort him.
Sonic shakes his head. Thorn is definitely dangerous and violent, but he doesn't think she's willing to do something as cruel as that. She longs for her homeland so badly that she wouldn't torture others with a glimpse of their own unless they wanted to see it.
"What else does your book say?" Nine asks, pulling Sonic's thoughts away from a siren who isn't even here.
"Let's see, shall we?" Sonic remarks. He flips through the pages. As he's searching for something that he and Nine can really sink their teeth into, a question slips from him. "How do you know how to read this?"
Sonic hears a splashing noise. His eyes flick up from the page. Nine's expression is as uncomfortable as his body language. Sonic is about to remind him that he doesn't need to answer when Nine does. "It was part of my… tests. This was before I came to the university. I learned because I wanted to, though." Nine meets Sonic's eyes. For as stony as he tries to be, there's something childish about the hope in his eyes. "I like learning."
Sonic can't breathe for a second. It goes on for long that he has to duck his head, gasping for breath in the darkness between his chest and the platform below him. He refuses to let Nine see how much he's affected Sonic. Every reminder of his little brother rips right through to the point that he wonders why he bothers coming here at all.
Well, it's probably because he's being blackmailed… but that answer doesn't explain why he's here now, lying on the platform and chatting with Nine about what he's learning in the textbooks he himself borrowed because he wanted to—what? Learn more about the merfolk? The same merfolk he told himself not to get involved with?
He's in too deep, and he's only going deeper still.
Sonic returns his eyes to the book. Nine is staring at him with worry in his bright blue gaze, locked behind a poorly constructed mask of indifference. Sonic snorts despite himself. He is still impressed by Nine's insistence on acting more aloof than he actually is. At least he's trying, though. Sonic should take a page out of his book.
Speaking of book, Sonic has finally found something that can shift both of their attentions away from what just happened. In fact, it's so good at doing it that Sonic can't even remember what he was thinking about before. "Hold on, you guys can turn into people?"
"We are people," Nine says decisively.
Sonic shakes his head. "Sorry, that's not what I meant. I mean—here look at this," Sonic turns the textbook back around, letting Nine read its contents. "It says that powerful merfolk can take on the appearance of landfolk. You can get legs and you won't dry out under the sun. I don't care what words the textbook tries calling it; that is magic, plain and simple."
"You didn't know this?" Nine asks, brow furrowing together.
"No. I didn't know about merfolk before I came here," Sonic explains. He vaguely remembers the kraken attack on Westopolis but only because it was mentioned in class. Tails was more interested in mechanics than he was in biology—marine or otherwise—and Sonic's schedule was busy enough as it was with school, track, and caring for his younger brother. He just never developed an interest in the merfolk like his classmates did.
"His magic is always clinging to you," Nine scrutinizes Sonic, searching for a lie.
"So, you admit there's magic!" Sonic chirps. Nine rolls his eyes. It is now that Sonic realizes what exactly Nine said. A frown makes his prideful expression disappear. "What do you mean by that? Who's magic is clinging to me? What kind of magic is it? How does magic even cling to someone?"
"I see now why you're studying so much." Nine looks over at the stack of books Sonic brought with him—books that he has to return next week, so he's got a lot of reading to do if he wants to get through them all.
"That's not an answer," Sonic reminds Nine. When he gets a deadpan in response, he finds himself smiling, only slightly annoyed. He shrugs his shoulders as best he can from his position on the floor. "Fine. Don't tell me. Nothing has really changed for me, so it must not be that bad." His shoulders drop back onto the ground, and he reaches for the book. As he's turning it back toward himself, he asks, "Can all merfolk do this?"
Nine shakes his head. "Certain species can't do it. Captain Dread isn't able to do since he's a marine ghost. Thorn and I could, though, because we're the same species."
"I thought she was a siren?"
"She is. That's a subspecies," Nine explains. He points at one of the books Sonic has already 'read.' Sonic decides against addressing the allegation that he didn't understand what he read. Nine, thankfully, doesn't force it to be voiced, either. "Another factor is how powerful that mer is. It is a type of magic, no matter what landfolk—" he sneers at this word, enough hatred to make Sonic feel a little guilty for his entire species. "—call it. You need a lot of magic to transform and maintain the transformation."
"I see. Does that mean you and Thorn can't transform?" Sonic asks.
Nine's eyes slide away. "We currently can't, no."
Sonic hums in response. He peeks at the pages once more, searching for any information that Nine hasn't already told him. He's about to ask if the kraken would be able to do it when his phone buzzes. Both he and Nine look toward it, but only Sonic can pick it up and look at the screen. A text message has been delivered by an unknown number about if he's still coming tonight. It's only unknown because he forgot to give Vanilla a contact. He does that now after sending a confirmation. All the while, he's picking his books up, tucking them against his chest.
"What happened? Where are you going?"
"I've got babysitting duty," Sonic answers. He didn't want to do it at first given what happened last time, but Vanilla assured him that he was watching them at her house, a place that decidedly doesn't have krakens or other dangerous merfolk. Additionally, they really needed someone. Amy is busy with a college project, and Espio got sick. Sonic is the only person they were able to reach out to. With the pay looking good and Vanilla promising free food, Sonic couldn't reject the offer.
"You're watching those two kids, aren't you?"
"Yup! Cream and Charmy!" Sonic calls over his shoulder. When he notices Nine's look, his eyes widen. "Aw, are you jealous?"
Nine bristles, slamming his fists down against the edge of the platform. "I am not jealous."
"You totally are! Don't worry, little buddy, I'm sure the professors are going to find another mer just like you to hang out with."
Nine sinks deeper into the water, murmuring, "I'm not jealous about that." And he says it in such a way that Sonic thinks he's jealous about something else, but what else could Nine be jealous about other than Cream and Charmy having each other to spend time with? Does he want to be babysat one day? That doesn't seem much like him.
Then again, how much does Sonic really know about Nine? Not very much, he would wager. And everything he thinks he knows might just be him projecting either himself or Tails onto the nine-tentacled octopus. It isn't fair to him. Sonic has to stop. The only way to stop is to leave Nine alone, and he really should be doing that.
He gets the feeling he won't.
"Of course. You aren't jealous at all," Sonic says as kindly as he can. He sets all of his books on top of the counter in the corner of the laboratory part of the room. Once he's done, he looks back at Nine. He puts a smile on his face. "Have good night, Nine. Make choices you won't regret."
"Goodbye, Sonic. Enjoy your night," Nine responds cordially but distantly. He disappears back into the water. Sonic turns around, leaving the conversation in this rather awkward position.
He's going to keep doing that for a long time. Such is the nature of companionship and loneliness.
Sonic stands in the hallway. Gemerl stands beside him, reaching his head up to lick Sonic's glove. Chocola lies on top of his foot, twirling his tail around Sonic's ankle. He doesn't know where Cheese is, but he can hear the kitten's quiet meows elsewhere in the home. He should probably investigate what trouble the little one is getting himself into, but Sonic's responsibilities do not start until Vanilla and Vector have left the house.
Currently, they are both standing in the mudroom beside the door. Vanilla is squatting down in front of Cream. She's hugging her daughter and kissing all along her face, whispering sweet words of love and kindness. Conversely, Vector is practically begging Charmy to be on his best behavior, to not create any messes he can't clean up or to not give Sonic too much trouble.
"Are you sure you're willing to do this? I know it was such short notice…" Vanilla calls out, drawing Sonic's attention away from the pets pressing into him or the one that he can't see. She remains at Cream's side, looking over the girl's head and into Sonic's eyes. There's a genuineness there. If Sonic told them he couldn't do this right here and now, when he's already agreed to do this and already shown up, Vanilla would immediately stay. She would personally cancel her and Vector's reservations. She would get out of the beautiful outfit she must have diligently picked out.
"You don't have to worry. Neither of you do. I'm a certified babysitter, didn't you know?" Sonic tells them. He isn't technically lying. Ever since he moved into his adopted house, he's been Tails' primary caretaker. The housekeeper certainly helped when they were younger, but at a certain point, it was Sonic who was making sure Tails stayed alive every day. If he could do that for ten years with one kid, he can certainly do it for two kids in a single night (honestly, one and half kids, because Cream is so mild-mannered that he doubts he's going to have trouble with her… then again, Charmy might count for two kids in and of himself). "We'll be fine. You two should enjoy your date."
Vector's entire face lights up at the mention of this being a date. Either they haven't been on a date in a while or Sonic was wrong when he assumed they were already dating.
"Thank you," Vanilla says. Both of them return to their children to give one final sentence ("I love you so much"/"please, please, be good—"). Sonic's eyes trail down to Chocola and Gemerl, who haven't moved that much. Cheese comes running down the hallway. As he leaps onto Gemerl's head, Sonic lifts his gaze to the photographs hanging on the walls. The hallway is too dim for him to figure out what all of them are, but the one that's eye level with him is clear enough. Vanilla is in the photograph, holding a baby that must be Cream. There's another rabbit in the photograph, too. He's holding a puppy that looks like Gemerl, and there's another dog at his side. Chocola and Cheese aren't there. Vector, Espio, and Charmy aren't, either.
Sonic's vision is abruptly obscured. He realizes that it's Charmy's entire body. He pulls the bee off of him. As he's holding Charmy away from him by the collar of his jacket, Cream approaches, holding Cheese in her arms. The usually rambunctious as settled in her embrace, rubbing his tiny head against her chest. Chocola continues lying on his feet, but the feline swings his tail around Cream's ankle instead of Sonic's own. Gemerl stops licking his paw, staring at Charmy and Cream with his large, soulful eyes.
"Let's sword fight!" Charmy declares, all bubbly and bright.
"I didn't bring my sword."
"I have a sword," Charmy explains. Sonic arches a brow at him. Charmy doesn't explain himself further, fully letting the implication that he wants to beat Sonic silly with a fake sword settle in all of their heads.
"I want to have a tea party," Cream intervenes.
Charmy sighs. His body deflates, giving up on freeing himself from Sonic's grasp (he must have already gotten used to it since Sonic finds himself holding Charmy like this a lot). "We always have tea parties."
"They're fun," Cream frowns, curling further around Cheese. She grabs onto the fur on Sonic's forearm, gently tugging on it as if Sonic's attention wasn't already on her. "Mr. Sonic, tell Charmy that my tea parties are fun."
"It's Sonic," He corrects her. When she nods, he looks at Charmy, "Her tea parties are fun."
"You've never been to one!" Charmy complains.
"True, but I have a sixth sense for these kinds of things. If something's fun, I just know it," Sonic says. He does so with such seriousness and nonchalance that both Charmy and Cream instantly believe him. He can tell because they're too young to know how to hide their emotions.
Charmy shakes away the coolness factor of Sonic having a sixth sense for fun faster than Cream does. "I don't want to have a tea party."
"And I don't want to sword-fight."
Charmy squints at Sonic. Then, he shrugs, rather gracefully accepting defeat. He shimmies his way out of Sonic's hold. The bee starts flying away, putting himself halfway between Sonic and Cream in terms of elevation. "No tea parties, and no sword-fighting."
"What else is there to do?" Cream asks innocently, giving up on having a tea party. Sonic looks at them both skeptically. They're being too accommodating of each other. Vector and Vanilla must be really good parents. That checks out, unfortunately.
"We could watch cartoons!"
Sonic shakes his head, remembering what Vector told him about Charmy's screen-time. Although Sonic is all for breaking the rules, he knows that they should do at least one activity that's going to rid the children of some of their energy. If he doesn't, bedtime is going to be a lot harder than it has to be. "We'll watch cartoons later."
Charmy crosses his arms over his chest. Cheese meows softly. Cream looks down at him. She runs her fingers over his head, soothing him gently. When Sonic's attention moves to the pale kitten, he remembers what Cheese was doing earlier—hiding. This gives Sonic an idea that he's going to call brilliant in the moment even though he knows there's a wide margin of failure. "How about we play hide-and-seek?"
Charmy and Cream look at each other. Although they say nothing, a conversation is definitely happening. Sonic always knew children were secretly telepathic. Well, they might not be, because Charmy instantly blitzes away, yelling, "Not it!" over his shoulder. Cream's face is entirely surprised at the unexpectedness of Charmy's action. She freezes up, looking between and Sonic with an agape mouth.
Sonic chuckles. He pats her head. "You can go hide, Cream. I'll be the seeker first." With his permission, she instantly hurries off with Cheese still in her arms.
Sonic steps closer to the wall. Chocola is not pleased about his bed moving. Gemerl doesn't care in the slightest. These two stick with him as he counts. They didn't decide on a number to count to beforehand, so Sonic keeps going until he feels like he's given the children enough time to hide.
"Ready or not, here I come!" Sonic yells. Gemerl barks, but that's the only response he gets to his proclamation.
Sonic takes one step forward. He freezes instantly, realizing that they never established which rooms were off-limits. He sighs, dropping into his face into his paws. He knew he shouldn't call this idea brilliant. Charmy is going to be in the fucking vents—he already knows. At least he can count on Cream to be in a reasonable spot.
He thinks, and is, of course, proven wrong. Neither of the children are in any of the 'easy spots.' Sonic shakes his head, but a smirk lifts on his lips. What these children don't know is that Sonic is competitive. There is no length he isn't willing to go in order to win (short of, like, murder… sometimes). Additionally, Sonic used to play hide-and-seek with a literal child genius inside a mansion. He's already beaten this game on hard mode, so Charmy and Cream are in for the game of their lives.
Sonic proves this by checking the vents. Surprisingly, Cream is the one in the vents. She smiles sheepishly at him, a little disappointed to be the first one caught. Her tune changes immediately when she joins Sonic in looking for Charmy. They find the bee tucked in the back of a closet, having buried himself in literal junk. He was saddened upon realizing his hiding spot had been revealed and was, therefore, unusable in subsequent rounds.
Sonic proves this conjecture wrong in the very next round. Cream found Charmy first, and it took them forever to find Sonic. They had to resort to cheating by using the land-line to call his phone. Honestly, Sonic can't even be mad. He values their ingenuity—encourages it, really.
This would prove to be his undoing because the children take that as a sign that they should be smarter. Their cleverness makes it a lot harder for Sonic to find them when he's the seeker or when he's helping the other kid search for them. This house is reasonable large and full of stuff, but still, Sonic doesn't think it should be this difficult to find them every time. But he likes the challenge, and with the kids playing him like a fiddle, he doesn't feel bad about using his own sly tricks to avoid their detection.
(During one of the rounds, Sonic has hidden himself close to the hallway where the seeker counts. Cream was the seeker that time. When she finished, she hesitated to yell. Sonic thought it was because she saw him, but no, it was because she saw the photograph hanging on the wall. She had to tilt her head back to see it, and the lighting must have been different for her than it was for him. More than anything, though, Cream's heart must have felt different emotions than his own when she looked upon younger versions of everything she's known, including herself… and also the presence of that other figure. Cream snapped herself out of it. She yelled, and then she went to seek Sonic and Charmy, the pets flanking her as if they saw what Sonic did—the grief in her eyes. Although it reflect his own, he didn't say anything to her about it since it's not his place.)
As Sonic predicted, playing hide-and-seek with the children tired them out. When their movements became sloppier, Sonic lifted them both off the ground. He tucked them against his sides, letting their limbs dangle to the ground. They giggled with every bounce. Their laughter grew louder when Gemerl licked their faces and Cheese tried jumping off the ground to land on them. Chocola remained calm, trotting behind Sonic with knowing eyes.
Sonic left the children and the pets in the dining room. He went into the kitchen, heating up the food Vanilla left behind for them. By the time he's finished, the children are trying to fit both of them and the pets all in one chair. Sonic makes their plates as they quickly discover that their goal is just impossible. Their determination extends beyond games of hide-and-seek, though, because they push their chairs together to make the space. Sonic arches a brow, holding both of their plates in his paws. "I don't know why you're doing that. I'm about to go feed them."
"Food!" Charmy demands, making grabby hands at Sonic. The hedgehog rolls his eyes. He could demand respect from Charmy, but he doesn't care enough. He sets the plate in front of the bee and the rabbit. Charmy does 'thank-you' alongside Cream, so maybe he isn't the hooligan Sonic thinks he is. No, he definitely is, but he's all bad.
Sonic walks out of the dining room. Gemerl, Chocola, and Cheese's food and water bowls are in the kitchen, right beside the back door. Vector showed him where the feed is for all three of them, so he gets to work on that. Only Gemerl's bowl is in need of water, so Sonic finishes with that part quickly. He reminds himself to let them out when they're done as he returns to the dining room.
Sonic freezes at the door way. Cream and Charmy are seated. They are eating from the plates Sonic made them (one of them messier than the other). There is, however, a third plate nestled between the two of theirs. It matches with the space they've created between them. Sonic smiles, feeling a little light-headed with the kindness.
Sonic, per usual, lifts Charmy by his collar. The bee shouts something like 'why me?!' as Sonic slides into the space they've granted him. He sets Charmy on his thigh, giving the bee a much-needed booster seat. While it isn't by a significant margin, it does make Charmy a less messy eater since he can reach his food a lot easier.
When they're done eating, he sends Charmy up to take his bath first since the bee desperately needs it. There's a small argument, but the promise of desert convinces Charmy to go. Sonic lets Gemerl outside to take care of business. Cream holds Cheese to make sure the kitten doesn't follow. Despite having a litter box, Chocola darts outside. Cream promises the cat will return because he always does. Sonic will hold Cream to her word.
While they're waiting for Gemerl to finish his business and Charmy to get out of the bath, Sonic and Cream wash the dishes. Well, Sonic washes them. Cream dries them off. If they belong in the cabinets she can reach, she'll put them away. If they're from the upper cabinets, she'll point Sonic where they need to go. It doesn't take them long to finish, and it coincides with Charmy getting done. As Cream is going in for her bath, Sonic lets Gemerl and Chocola (it seems Cream was right) inside and then personally dries Charmy off because the bee did a poor job (he just hopes Charmy's drying skills don't reflect his washing skills).
Cream doesn't need Sonic's help drying off, so he's able to immediately give them the cookies Vanilla made for them if they were 'good' for Sonic. He doesn't see a reason to revoke their desserts (especially since he already promised Charmy his cookie if he took his bath without complaining for another second).
Sonic has gotten their energy out. He's given them food. They've taken their baths and hopefully done any other bathroom activities (like using the toilet or brushing their teeth). He can tell that they're both fighting off their sleepiness. It is now that Sonic smiles at them. He presses his finger against his lips like he's telling them a secret. "How about we watch some cartoons now?"
This is something they both automatically agree on. The three of them—plus the three pets—head into the living room. They arrange themselves while Sonic figures out how to put an animated, family friendly movie on. Sonic finds his place on the couch. He tries separating himself, but it doesn't take long for everyone to migrate toward him. It becomes very warm with them all cuddled together. This should send the children off to sleep, but as irresponsible as it is, Sonic thinks he's the first one to fall asleep, carried away by a pleasantness in his chest that he hasn't felt in a very long time.
Notes:
Timeskip! Usually, the timeskips won't be this long, but you know, we're chugging along
We got some lore about the merfolk. Sonic doesn't get into the weeds of it, but in this universe, there is an actual debate among researchers about the abilities of the merfolk being science or magic. Now, I know there's technically not too much of a difference, but think about aesthetically. Some researchers believe there's hard facts, proper names, variables. They think there are natural laws to what the merfolk can do, treating them as talented landfolk or even just animals with gimmicks. Others do not. While there might be names for what the merfolk does, they consider the merfolk to be supernatural, not a part of their natural world and therefore not abiding to the laws of reality. It's a whole thing. Sonic himself isn't going to get into it, but the other characters, especially ones like Amy and Shadow and Pickles and obviously the merfolk themselves, have their own opinionsBut fuck that! We got some bonding! Hints of Sonic's past, a smidgen of Nine's past, a sprinkling of Cream's past. Everyone has a story to tell, and a lot more characters than you would think have someone or something to grieve. It'll hopefully all come together
Chapter 13
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Saturday
Twentieth Day
Sonic wakes up because he's suffocating. There's a weight against his chest and another one settled directly on his face. These two weights are not enough to keep air from getting into his lungs, however. No, it is a putrid scent so thick it physically clings to the inside of his mouth and nostrils. It permeates throughout his entire body, corroding everything it touches. Sonic can feel his body burning up from the smell alone. Even his eyes are watering, and he almost never cries.
Self-preservation kicks in. He violently throws his body to the side. He slips right off the couch. The two weights that were settled on him—Cream and Charmy, respectively—wake up as their bodies are bumped around. Cream remains on his chest, but Charmy rolls beneath the coffee table. Both are displeased about being forcefully awoken, but their words fall swiftly into silence as Sonic chokes, hacking up the lungs that were damaged by what he assumes was act of terrorism disguised as a fart.
Skies above, Charmy definitely ate something radioactive while Sonic was asleep because how the fuck did that smell come from such a tiny body?
From the corner of Sonic's awareness, he hears a fast-paced thumping noise like a drum or footsteps. It reveals itself to be Vector. The crocodile rushes into the living room. His arms are swinging away from him in wide arcs, but his eyes are still tainted by sleepiness. Sonic can hear it even more clearly in his voice, "What happened?!"
"You're son tried assassinating me!" Sonic complains. He turns onto his side. Cream makes a soft noise as she tumbles from his chest to the carpet. The distance isn't great enough for her to get hurt, so she's immediately crawling onto her knees to check on Sonic. While she's completely concerned, Charmy is holding back his giggles and Vector looks extremely disappointed and annoyed. Sonic digs the heels of his paws into his eyes, trying to remove both the tears and the physical residue left by that fart. "That's a chemical weapon right there! He needs to see a specialist—I am not kidding."
"The doctors say there's nothing wrong with him. His body just… does that," Vector shrugs, gesturing to the bee who has lost the fight with his giggles and become consumed by them. Once Sonic no longer feels like his eyes are going to be torn out by a smell, he glares at the little shit. He resolves to never babysit these two again; bad things happen when he does. It's going to actually kill him at this rate.
Sonic readjusts his body. He sits upright, reaching across the coffee table for his phone. Cream tucks into his side, not exactly watching what he's doing but not looking away, either. Honestly, she's probably just searching for the warmth that Sonic bestowed upon her when they were lying on the couch together.
He would have let her, too, if he didn't notice what time it is. Sonic's eyes widen with panic. He jumps onto his feet. He ignores the others as he rushes into the mudroom. As he's struggling to put his shoes on, Gemerl comes bounding out of the kitchen. The dog nearly knocks Sonic off his feet since the hedgehog isn't balancing himself that well in the first place.
"Gemerl!" Vector whistles. The dog's ears move to the crocodile before his entire body goes. Sonic's shoulder collides with the wall, and he manages to pull the rest of his shoe on without anyone disturbing him. He's about to leave the house when Vanilla's head pokes through the kitchen door, too.
"What about breakfast?"
"I really have to go. I don't want to be late, and I still have to get my uniform," Sonic explains. He tries calculating how long this is going to take him. If he really puts all his energy into this, he should be able to get to the motel and to the university before his shift starts. He might be able to negotiate being a few minutes late with anyone who catches him, but Sonic isn't sure he can afford it right now. He's on thin ice with Shadow as it is. There's no telling who else he's been upsetting by getting close to the merfolk. If they get him fired, Clutch is going to get him arrested.
"Give me one second," Vanilla tells him. Sonic decides to allow it, if only because it gives him the opportunity to stretch. He wouldn't want to accidentally hurt himself in his pursuit of going as fast as he used to.
By the time Sonic feels sufficiently stretched (not nearly as much as his old coach would tell him to be, though), Vanilla hurries out of the kitchen. She reaches the mudroom and immediately sets an actual lunch box in his paws. It is bright blue in color with black straps, easily able to hang over his shoulder and rest against his side. Sonic doesn't have to time to identify the contents, but based on the dinner Vanilla made last night, he knows it will be extremely good.
"Have fun today. Make good choices. Thank you again for babysitting the kids," Vanilla tells him, patting his cheek with her paw. Struggling to handle the straightforward affection in her eyes, Sonic looks away from her. This is the wrong decision. The others are looking at him, too. Vector is holding onto Gemerl with Charmy on the dog's back. Cream stands beside Espio (when did he come down?) who holds the cat and kitten in his hands. Their expressions are exactly like Vanilla's, but there's a lightness and even happiness to each of them that causes Sonic to hurriedly make his way out of the house, muttering an excuse about needing to go now and telling Vanilla he'll bring the lunch box back as if that's a good amount of gratitude to give in a situation like this one.
With the lunch box around his side, Sonic bolts—getting away from that house and getting closer to the motel. He's so caught up in his thoughts that he nearly passes it. Thankfully, he sees the flowers in the window box in his peripheral vision, and their familiarity guides him to his front door. He's struggling with the keys, but he doesn't stop until the door swings. For some reason, he has just enough time to compare how cold and dark the motel room is to what Vanilla's house is like.
He, then, reminds himself that Charmy tried to kill him, and it becomes easy to push all of those thoughts away in favor of getting his uniform. He's tempted to leave the lunch box behind, but his paws are throwing it over his shoulder before he can even think about it critically.
The run from his motel to the university isn't so long that one can't feasibly walk it, but it isn't exactly a short route, either. Fortunately, Sonic has been running this way for a few days. Because Shadow's with him during those times, he pushes himself to run faster and faster. It's a little difficult to push himself without Shadow here, but the reminder that he can't be late helps carry him through the burn in his lungs and muscles, the subtle ways his body demands a relief that isn't going to come until he enters through the glass door from the side parking lot.
Sonic does not make it with time to spare. In fact, he's a few minutes late. It isn't anything terrible, he hopes, especially since he's hunching over. He thinks he's about to throw up. He should not have run like that not long after Charmy fumigated him. Sonic has never been the best at keeping himself away from pain, but he's never told his body in so many blatant words that he hates it and hopes it will stop functioning. He's going to need something healthy or go to a spa or something to make it up with his very flesh.
When Sonic has calmed his breathing to an almost-reasonable rate, he hurries to through the classroom to the hallway. He's aiming for the closet where he keeps his supplies, but he's stuck like a deer in headlights when someone calls out his name. He whirls around to find Amy talking to someone. The other person has their back to Sonic. At least, they do until Amy sidesteps them, speed-walking down the hallway with long strides to get to Sonic's side. She turns Sonic around, throwing her arm around his shoulder. "Here he is! I told you he'd be quickly done in the restroom!"
Amy does not look directly at him, but there's something in her expression meant only for him. Sonic picks up on it immediately. He coughs into his paw, trying to rub as much sweat off his face as possible. The person Amy was chatting with—a young human, perhaps a college student like her—walks toward them. The man eyes Sonic skeptically. The azure hedgehog grins. "Yup! I was fighting for my life in there. That's why I look like this."
Amy and the human give Sonic weird looks. He smiles, unflinching in the face of their judgment. Eventually, Amy chuckles awkwardly. The human doesn't mimic her, but something in his body language settles upon hearing such a normal sound. "Anyway—! You were telling me that Professor Pickle was looking for Sonic…"
With her prompting, the human remembers why he was looking for Sonic. "Ah, yes! The professor specifically asked for you, Sonic. He wants to have an official meeting."
"That's…" shit. "…wonderful. I cannot wait to have a meeting with him. Should we go now?"
"Yes," The human nods. He takes a few steps forward. When he's about to pass Sonic and Amy, he freezes. He looks hesitant, and he refuses to meet Sonic's eyes. He is, however, only talking to Sonic when he whispers, "Er, unless you need to… return to the bathroom…?"
"I'm good now," Sonic assures him. The human nods, swallowing thickly. He walks away, heading down the hallway back toward where the rest of the college is. Sonic will have to follow him closely since he doesn't think he's ever been to Professor Pickle's office.
Before he does, however, Amy pulls him down by his shoulders. She hisses directly into his ear. "You owe me."
Sonic laughs softly. He's about to say something when he looks into Amy's eyes. She's not angry, no matter what her tone might sound like. A little annoyed, perhaps, but mostly, she looks like she would do this a thousand times more for him. She looks like she would do a lot more for him, too, and Sonic knows this to be true because she already has. There was a definitive hiccup in their friendship, but Amy never asked him any questions about it. She just accepted him back. As much as he'd like to joke with her, honesty slips from his tight control. "I owe you a lot more than this. Thanks, Ames."
Before Amy can make a big deal out of his words, he shakes off her arm. He runs forward, catching up to the human at the detriment of his chest. He really needs to take another minute for himself, but there's nothing he can do when the man in charge of this entire department is specifically searching for him. Sonic doesn't know the reason, but he doubts it's anything that can wait. He also knows that it isn't going to be anything good.
The human doesn't stick around after dropping Sonic off in front of a wooden door with Professor Pickle's plaque along the side. He mentions something about needing to get some work done since he's an assistant. Sonic didn't really catch it. His blood is pumping too fast, his muscles are burning too hot, and his head is spinning too much. He isn't sure if this is a consequence of his running or if he's starting to panic at the prospect of seeing the professor.
Deciding both are unbecoming of who he is as a person, Sonic knocks on the door without an ounce of hesitation. He declares his name as he pushes open the door, peeking inside first just in case he sees something he's not supposed to and needs to back out immediately.
He does not see anything like that. An old man with the bushiest eyebrows Sonic has ever seen sits at an impractically large desk, holding a sandwich between his wrinkled hands. Sonic can't really see the old man's eyes, but he can tell that he's turned to look at Sonic. The old man smiles, pushing the wrinkles around his face. After setting his sandwich on a plate that Sonic can hardly see from this angle, the old man waves for Sonic to come into the room.
Sonic slips into the room. He tries shutting the door behind him, but he forgot about the lunch box resting against his hip. He has to shove it behind his back before the door can close completely. Once it does, Sonic shoots a smile at the old man. He moves deeper into the room. He casts curious glances around, but he isn't even sure how much of this he is going to remember after this meeting (he might not have to remember anything depending on how this goes).
"Please, sit down," The old man—more than likely, Professor Pickle—tells Sonic, gesturing to the chairs on the other side of his desk. As the hedgehog is sinking into one, the professor's head turns to something across the room. He nods his chin to it. "Would you like a cucumber sandwich?"
"Uh… That'd be lovely, thank you," Sonic nods. He's never had a cucumber sandwich before; he didn't even know that was a sandwich option. But he never refuses food. Other than what's in the lunch box, this might just be his last meal as a free man. Sonic is pretty certain they feed people consistently in prison, but he still wants to prolong how long it's going to take him to starve as much as he can.
Additionally, he didn't eat breakfast, and that is starting to catch up with him.
Professor Pickle rises from his chair. Old age has hunched his spine forward and created a jitter in his legs, but there's a unmistakable vigor to his motion. Life still resides in these bones, even a youthfulness if Sonic is being generous. Professor Pickle might be old, but he isn't dead yet and the man knows that. He wouldn't be the head of the department if he didn't.
The professor himself makes Sonic's sandwich. Sonic would offer to do it, but he shuts up when he hears Professor Pickle listing very specific parameters for what makes an acceptable cucumber sandwich. Sonic knows that he would never make a sandwich that follows those rules.
When Professor Pickle is done, he brings a plate over to Sonic. The hedgehog takes it with a gracious smile. Professor Pickle smiles back, returning to his chair. When they both have their plates, they start eating the sandwiches. It isn't bad. Sonic would even dare to call it good. That doesn't mean much when he'll eat literal trash, but that's not the point. Sonic isn't a critic, so no one should be asking for his opinions.
Sonic finishes his sandwich first. The professor is savoring his for some reason. This does not stop Professor Pickle from starting the conversation. "Good morning, Sonic. How are you?"
"I'm doing great," Sonic replies, and he definitely means it. "How about you?"
"I'm also doing well," Professor Pickle beams. Oh, he probably actually does mean that. Sonic snorts, shaking his head. "I brought you here to ask you about something."
Please don't ask about the kraken, please don't ask about my past, please don't ask about my relationship with Clutch. "Go ahead. I'm an open book."
Professor Pickle grins, something too earnest about his expression for Sonic to feel comfortable. "As you may know, about three weeks ago, we held an exhibition where we presented the merfolk to the public. This exhibition was very important for several reasons. I am afraid that I cannot tell you about many of these reasons, but I can tell you that we are having another exhibition in about two weeks. This one will be different. Important guests are coming, including a few of my superiors, agents from the government, and even a few specialists from other colleges. Over the course of four days, they will be introduced to the merfolk individually in order to prove we are taking care of them and we are making progress with them. This will allow us to continue the contract we have with the government and prove to the board that this program is vital. I am asking for your help regarding this matter."
"My help?" Sonic repeats, arching a brow.
Professor Pickle nods. His smile reminds kind, and Sonic doesn't doubt that his eyes would be, too, if he could see them. "I am very much aware that you have a close bond with the merfolk. They respond better to you than they have anyone else. For the safety of everyone, including them, we require their cooperation. I was hoping you would assist us in ensuring this by asking the merfolk if they would participate and helping them with anything that would make them more comfortable."
"Anything that would make them more comfortable?"
Professor Pickle chuckles. "Within reason, of course, but we are willing to… ignore that you do not have the proper documentation to touch the merfolk. I know that Thorn and Nine respond better to touch than other methods."
"Okay, I get that I'm good with them or whatever, but I'm literally just a janitor. I clean stuff. I'm not…" Sonic trails off. He doesn't want to demean himself and make it sound like he's insulting all janitors. The others are awesome; he's just a fraud. "Any of your scientists could do what I did if they would actually listen and treat the merfolk like they're people worthy of respect—because they are, mind you."
"Forgive me for being frank, but I do not agree with you, Sonic. There is more to this matter than basic decency. As I have observed, Nine does not care for the scientists due to the nature of their profession. It has little to do with their actual personality. I once believed Thorn to be similar, yet I have discovered through viewing your interactions with her that it requires genuine empathy. You understand her pain as she does with yours. Captain Dread could develop a bond with the scientists, but they are too analytically minded for him. He requires someone with creativity and willingness to step into a role," Professor Pickle explains. "I must also disagree with your assumptions of yourself. You are more than a janitor. This is only the job you are currently working. There is more to you, and because there is, you have made connections I previously thought were impossible."
"You give me too much credit," Sonic says, looking away from the professor. It feels wrong to know that Professor Pickle has picked apart his interactions with the merfolk. It makes him feel even worse to hear everything else.
"And you do not give yourself enough," Professor Pickle remarks. "You are not failure, Sonic."
"How do you—" Sonic cuts himself off, whirling back to look at the professor. He swallows thickly. Professor Pickle doesn't know anything. He just made some random statement to make Sonic feel better, and Sonic was the one projecting onto it. The azure hedgehog takes a deep breath. He stares down at his shoes. The lunch box is in his peripheral vision. With a heavy sigh, he smiles. "Fine. I'll help with the exhibition. But if they don't want to do it, I'm not helping you force them."
"If they do not want to do it, we will not have them participate at all," Professor Pickle assures him. He leans back in his chair, a weathered but bright smile on his face. "Thank you, Sonic."
"Yeah, well… don't thank me yet," Sonic mutters. He pushes against the arms of the chair. The rest of the conversation—sharing the exact dates and time before exchanging niceties—goes by as a blur in Sonic's mind.
Everything is a blur, honestly. Leaving the office, cleaning the classrooms, even going to the various rooms to ask the merfolk if they would like to participate. Sonic knows the three he asked all agreed with varying levels of hesitancy and follow-up questions even if he can barely remember the conversations after they all concluded. Sonic knows he should have paid more attention. He should have really listened to them like he told Professor Pickle that the scientists needed to do. Between that conversation with Pickle, Amy covering for him, and the food preserved in the lunch box (which really was good, but Sonic already knew it would be), Sonic feels adrift in his own damn life.
He hasn't felt anything like this since Tails died.
Thankfully, it isn't as bad now as it was back then because everything—sound, color, consciousness—pops right back into place when a paw lands on Sonic's shoulder. He jolts, feeling like he's been suddenly awakened (by something less fatal than a fart). Sonic turns to look at who's summoning his awareness to them. He expects it to be Amy. She would obviously have questions for him about what the meeting was about, and he could ask her questions about the exhibition.
It isn't her, though. It's Shadow. The ebony hedgehog squeezes Sonic's shoulder. Sonic thinks Shadow is trying to hurt him, but he's only grounding Sonic instead. Sonic wonders if Shadow would let go if he knew.
"… what did you say?" Sonic asks, prompting the conversation when Shadow only glares at him silently.
Shadow huffs a sigh, and it doesn't sound quite as aggrieved as he likely wants it to be. "You weren't there this morning."
Sonic's eyes widen. There's nothing funny about it, but the unexpectedness of it causes Sonic to laugh. Shadow's glare only sharpens, and he lets go of Sonic's shoulder to cross his arms over his chest. Sonic finally quiets down long enough to talk. "Amy had plans and Espio got sick, so Vanilla asked me to babysit the little ones. I am never doing that again." Sonic crosses his own arms over his chest. "Charmy woke me up by farting on my face." At Shadow's deadpan expression, Sonic feels the need to explain further. "You don't understand, Shadow. He practically dropped a chemical weapon on my face. I nearly died this morning."
"How unfortunate he failed," Shadow retorts.
Sonic gasps dramatically, setting a paw over his chest. "That is hurtful. There are a million other ways I'd rather go than a fart to the airways. I need my gravestone to say something epic. That, or nothing at all. I wouldn't mind being a mystery."
"Do you think about this a lot?" Shadow asks, arching a brow.
"Probably more than I should." Sonic snorts. Shadow doesn't find it nearly as funny as Shadow does. His opinion doesn't matter to Sonic, though, so the conversation cuts off there.
This, therefore, would be a good place for them to part ways. But they don't, and really, it's Shadow's fault. He's the one that points to the lunch box. "You're bringing that back to Vanilla's house."
Sonic glances down at it. While not technically a question, it totally was in 'Shadow-language.' Sonic answers him, "I am. I was going to do it now that way I don't lose it or forget."
Shadow nods. He turns toward the street, letting his arms drop to his sides. "Come on, then."
Shadow walks toward the entrance to the side parking lot. Sonic jogs to catch up with him. When they're shoulder to shoulder, Sonic raises a brow at him. "What are you talking about? Are you coming with me?"
"I did not beat you this morning. I must do it now," Shadow explains as if that's a normal justification.
But Sonic accepts it because he enjoys the company. The only problem is that Shadow was slightly off. "I think you mean I'm going to beat you now, like I do every morning."
"I assure you, I do not." They get to the spot they deem the 'finish line' in the mornings. As they are preparing to start running, Shadow has a smirk on his face. "But I would like to see you try."
Sonic smiles right back at him. "Challenge accepted."
And with that, the two hedgehogs begin their race.
Notes:
This is going to be our first mini-arc, so to speak. Sonic and the merfolk are preparing for the next exhibition. A lot of stuff is going to happen, both good and bad. After this mini-arc, Mighty is finally going to show up. And then some really traumatic stuff, and then we'll be on our way to the finale. I bet none of this made sense. I'm just looking at my notes while I yap
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