Chapter Text
Amy’s house was decorated in pretty lights. The soft pink and red lit up the windows and cast a warm hue on the garden below. Sonic smiled, seeing Tails’ yellow fur become a violent orange as they made their way down the flower-lined path. The camellias seemed to glow under the light too, heightening their already pink petals. He took the time to pause and run a finger over one of them, admiring the perfect bloom. Despite the sweltering summer days, the night was pleasant; a cool warmth compared to the morning. A light breeze wafted through, ruffling his fur. But otherwise the night was still.
They were here for a little get together. To celebrate a recent win over Eggman. Though, to be honest, the fight wasn’t all that special. Just the usual: big robot disturbing the peace. Metropolis was going to need some repairs for sure, but there had been nothing out of the ordinary. Standard Eggman battle. He supposed it was just an excuse for them all to hang out really. But Sonic wasn’t sure why they needed the pretence of a victory for that. Amy was probably planning it beforehand anyway. She liked hosting parties. A lot.
Sonic couldn’t hear any music pounding from the house yet, which probably meant they’d arrived before Rouge. Because Sonic had stopped for a moment, Tails was closest to the door. The fox rapped his knuckles on the pink wood and waited patiently, hands clasped behind his back and rocking in place. As Sonic approached, he traced the familiar spiralling rose carving on the door with his eyes.
A muffled call from inside greeted them.
“One moment!”
Sounded like Amy was still setting things up. They must have left the house earlier than expected. No matter; Sonic would be happy to help if it took the burden off Amy. Sometimes she went a little too crazy with the prep. But the house always looked so pretty and the food was amazing. Well worth it.
Amy opened the door, looking a little out of puff. She brightened upon seeing the brothers. Tails gave her a hug while Sonic lingered just out of range. He was in a particularly no-touchy mood today; Tails was his shield.
“Sonic, Tails!” Amy said. “You’re early!”
He loved Amy. But sometimes she really pushed his boundaries, forcing her way into his personal bubble. Sonic wasn’t the biggest fan of physical touch to begin with, but today was a bad day for hugs. He was still recovering from the re-opening of very raw wounds. His new guitar had helped, but last week had been rough. It was always rough.
The anniversary of leaving the palace.
Sonic shook out his fur. He couldn’t think about that right now. It would just make him feel low again. He was only just coming out of that gloomy fog; no need to fall back into it.
But he had to remember to thank Amy for the guitar. He’d already bought his brother a tin of mixed mints but he hadn’t had the chance to thank the pink hedgehog yet. She was the one who had actually gone into the music shop to purchase it after all. Sonic had been thinking about how to make it up to her for a while. Maybe he should have brought her some flowers or something. Oh, why didn’t he pick some flowers this morning? Idiot.
“An accident,” Sonic said with a chuckle. “But perhaps a good one; need any help, Ames?”
“I won’t say no to a couple extra hands,” she responded, beckoning them inside.
He’d escaped without a hug for now. But he might have to be on alert for one later in the night.
The brothers followed Amy inside and awaited the assigning of their tasks. It seemed the pink hedgehog had been in the middle of tacking up some bunting onto the walls when they’d knocked. Little pink and red flags were pooled on the floor. Tails was directed to finish up the decorating, since he could fly, while Amy tucked the stepladder away in the broom cupboard. Then Sonic and Amy slipped into the kitchen.
Some snacks, he could see through the door, had already been placed on the dining room table. A bowl of tortilla crisps had been put to the left. Beside that were two smaller bowls; salsa and guacamole. He snorted. Guac. What a fun word. There was a plate of cornbread too. On the other end of the table were some chocolate chip cookies.
In the kitchen, Sonic could already smell pizza. And chili. And there was a competing sweet smell, not as pungent but still breaking through. There was a cake cooling on the counter. Chocolate. Sonic was happy it wasn’t strawberry; Amy must have noticed that he had avoided the cake last time. She asked him if he could get the pizza out the oven and take the pot of chili to the table. Apparently she’d set aside some hot dogs for Sonic and Tails, but the chili was meant to be served with the cornbread.
Sonic did not like cornbread. He wasn’t sure why. But he appreciated Amy looking out for him. She paid attention. It was nice.
Even if he felt a little guilty for making her work harder…
He turned off the oven first, pulling out the pan inside with Amy’s pink oven mitts. Then he transferred the pizza – pepperoni, a safe choice – onto the provided large plate. The pizza cutter glided through as he cut out the slices. It joined the other savoury items on the left side of the table. Then Sonic walked back through to the kitchen to grab the pot on the hob. A placemat had been set for the hot pot to protect the pink tablecloth, so Sonic knew where to put it. He went back to the kitchen, intending to pilfer some bowls for the chili, but he stopped to watch Amy decorate the cake instead.
It had been cut in half and put back together with a light brown buttercream. Now she was putting some finishing touches to the top. Amy was piping some cute alternating light and dark brown swirls along the edge. A deep red fondant rose was waiting on some parchment paper to the side.
“What’s the filling?” Sonic asked.
“Salted caramel,” Amy replied.
Sonic’s mouth was watering already. The lighter brown was salted caramel flavoured buttercream. He’d definitely nab himself a slice of this one. After his chili dogs, of course.
Snapping back to the task at hand, Sonic scoured the cupboards for bowls. He found them in the third cupboard he tried; he always forgot where she kept them. Then he set them out beside the chili pot. As an afterthought, he grabbed a handful of spoons too. Then, mission completed, Sonic retreated to the living room to see how Tails was getting on.
The fox was just finishing up as the doorbell rang.
“Can you get that for me, boys?” Amy called from the kitchen.
“Sure thing, Ames!” Sonic called back.
Tails ended up being the one to open the door. Shield still engaged. The first guests to arrive – after the brothers – were Vanilla and Cream. Sonic kept his distance, waving to the rabbits. Cream smiled at him but did not try to approach. Sometimes, he thought the little rabbit had some sort of sixth sense for his fluctuating touch-tolerance. When he wasn’t in a huggy mood, Cream instinctively knew to give him space. So did Tails, but at least the fox had known him for a long time now. Even if he wasn’t sure how the rabbit had picked up on that, he was eternally grateful. Chao were similarly able sense that sort of thing, so Cheese didn’t fly over to him either. They were way more intelligent than people realised.
Amy rushed out of the kitchen to greet the rabbits. She’d put her gloves back on, so Sonic assumed she was finished with the cake. Cream gave her a big hug. Sonic admitted that Cream’s hugs were some of the best he’d ever had – not that he’d accepted many in his half-solitary life – but he thought he might actually cringe out of his fur if anyone touched him tonight. He felt very… fragile, for lack of a better term.
The Chaotix weren’t far behind, with Knuckles in tow. Apparently, they’d run into the echidna on the way over. Knuckles went to clap Sonic on the back but Tails thankfully intercepted him first. Sonic turned to talk to Espio instead as Vector and Charmy made their way over to the rabbits. Cream would probably keep Charmy busy; Sonic wouldn’t have to worry about him. And Vanilla almost assuredly had Vector covered. Espio wasn’t a physical sort of person. So that just left Amy and Knuckles to watch out for.
And possibly Rouge. Sonic wasn’t sure how touchy-feely she was to be honest. But he had to account for that, just in case. If he couldn’t avoid everyone’s touch tonight, he had to at least bide his time long enough to mentally prepare for it.
There was a collective sort of acceptance that no one was to take any food until all the guests had arrived. Completely unspoken. It just felt right. Even Charmy kept his distance from the table. Like every get together, it was all the same. Everyone mingled in the living room, sharing their news or what they’d done in the day. Sonic drank in the calm atmosphere with Espio for a moment. They were leaning together by the wall, enjoying a moment of peace. There was something about Espio that put Sonic at ease. He was waiting for Cream and Amy to finish speaking though; he hadn’t thanked her yet.
When the rabbit skipped away to play with Charmy, Sonic dipped his head respectfully to the quiet chameleon and made his way over to Amy.
“Hey, Ames,” Sonic started. “I never did thank you for getting me that guitar last week.”
Amy waved him off with a smile. She fixed her skirt and turned to face him fully. He tried not to fidget under her gaze. Which was incredibly challenging. Those warm green eyes stayed glued to his, but eye-contact was just another thing he’d always been bad at.
“Don’t even worry about it,” she said. “Tails told me how you were eyeing it. Why don’t you ever buy yourself anything?”
“I didn’t need it.”
“Well, do you like it?”
Sonic paused for a moment. The guitar meant more to him than she’d ever know. He didn’t have the words to tell her exactly how seeing in it his room had made him feel. It was a swirl of emotions really. Many of which he didn’t even know the names of. So how could he possibly answer her question accurately? Nothing he could say would do his gratitude justice. So he went with he best he could do.
“… I love it, thank you,” he said quietly.
“Then what’s the problem?” Amy asked.
She was frowning, looking at him in that way she did when Sonic did something to confuse her. For a moment, it could have been his sister staring at him with such intensity. But then the illusion melted away. There was a softer, almost sad quality to her expression. But why? If he didn’t want to buy things for himself, why was that such a big deal? His finances were more often than not a factor. Besides, there was no point buying something he wouldn’t use, it would be a waste.
And a guitar wasn’t cheap. He knew that for a fact, even if he didn’t know his guitar’s specific price tag. It was modded. That had to have brought up the price…
“It was probably so expensive, Ames.”
“Don’t you dare try to pay me back for it, Sonic,” Amy said. “I won’t accept even a single ring. Besides, you never buy anything. It’s ok to treat yourself sometimes, you know.”
Amy reached out to pat his arm. He moved to scratch the back of his neck, narrowly dodging her hand. He pulled it off smoothly enough that Amy hardly noticed. Her hand backed off and Sonic felt the muscles in his abdomen steadily relax. Close one.
“I know…” he mumbled.
“Buuuuuut,” Amy sang. “If you want to help me get drinks for everyone while we wait for Rouge, I would be very appreciative.”
“Sure thing, Ames,” Sonic said, returning the smile she sent him.
Amy went to take drink requests from Vanilla, Vector and the kids. So Sonic asked Tails, Knuckles and Espio. Then he converged in the kitchen with Amy once more to pour out the drinks. His teammates had both asked for Chaos Cola. Espio just wanted a water. Once he’d given out the drinks, he helped Amy disperse her own – Chaos Cola for Charmy and Cream too, though he didn’t catch the older mobians’ orders – and then he went back to the kitchen to grab himself a drink. He chose to join Espio with a water.
He did not like Chaos Cola either. Maybe there was something off with his tastebuds? Or maybe he should stop overthinking every little step he took.
By the time he was back in the living room, the doorbell was ringing again. Everyone else was talking, so Sonic waved to Amy from across the room. He mouthed that he’d get the door. She sent him a thumbs up.
Sonic swung open the door, startled momentarily to see Shadow lurking behind Rouge. The grumpy hedgehog didn’t usually attend these sorts of gatherings. Certainly not willingly. He wondered if Rouge had bribed him. It was very possible; the bat could be rather sneaky like that. Sonic supressed a grin at the thought. He bet Shadow fought tooth and nail not to come tonight. Yet, he still showed up.
“Hey guys,” Sonic greeted. “Wasn’t expecting to see both of you.”
“He needs to get out more,” Rouge said, gesturing over her shoulder.
Shadow just grunted. He looked as thrilled as ever.
“I agree,” Sonic said. “You know, isolating yourself isn’t healthy, Shads. You could do with some social interaction.”
Shadow pushed past him, grumbling. But Sonic genuinely meant what he’d said. He knew from experience how damaging isolation could be, especially when it was self-imposed. Because even when you were around people, you could still isolate yourself quite easily. Far too easily… Sometimes, Sonic felt like a lot of the population didn’t realise that. That some people felt alone whether they had a group of friends or not. Whether they had family or not.
Sonic was only trying to help…
But if Shadow didn’t want to hear it, he didn’t want to hear it. There was nothing that Sonic could do about that. He knew that mindset all too well. Often, he still struggled with letting people in. Sonic could acknowledge that. But he was getting better. Slowly.
Very slowly.
But small steps were still steps. He had to keep reminding himself that. Sonic promised himself that he’d talk to Shadow at least once tonight. But if he was particularly grouchy, Sonic wouldn’t overstay his welcome. Boundaries were boundaries and Sonic would try his best to respect them. He’d tried his hand at forcing Shadow to spend time with him, but after his little guitar session last week, Sonic had realised two very important things.
One: pushing Shadow like that was extremely hypocritical and wouldn’t help anything. It would only thrust him away further. That’s not what Shadow needed.
And two: seeking out Shadow like he did was just reflective of Sonic’s desire to overcorrect his own isolation. Sonic had been lonely for a long time. He jumped at any opportunity to make friends now, even if he had to force himself through an interaction to achieve that. It was tough and, he realised, just as unhealthy. It was so hard to find that balance.
So to avoid emotionally exhausting himself any further, he’d make the effort to tone down his efforts. For both their sakes.
That being said…
Sonic waited for Rouge to drift further from Shadow. He watched her spot Knuckles by the dining room door and stalk her way over. The echidna was in for a surprise; his back was turned. Sonic smirked. Then he shook his head and padded after Shadow, who was making his way over to the corner. He had a mission. Laughing at Knuckles’ pain could come later.
The dark hedgehog had predictably picked the quietest corner, so Sonic could make his suggestion without anyone overhearing. Perfect.
“Hey, Shad?”
“No.”
Sonic didn’t let the gruff hedgehog’s response deter him. He had an idea that might just work. And if it would help Shadow feel more comfortable, he had to try. All Sonic wanted to do was help Shadow, even if he didn’t know he needed it. He didn’t want the dark hedgehog to find out how much he needed people around him the same way he had. That had been a painful realisation.
“Maybe you could spend some time with Espio tonight?” Sonic suggested. “He’s quiet and won’t talk your ear off like me.”
He laughed. It felt wrong, but at least sounded normal. Small victories. A small victory was still a victory. He couldn’t let its size bog him down. Slow breaths. Bright smiles. Anything to appear better than he was. Because he absolutely had to be fine. For everyone else.
After a moment’s pause, Sonic reluctantly forced his walls down slightly.
“Sometimes it’s nice to have a moment to breathe,” he added, a little quieter. “Espio’ll understand, that’s all I’m saying.”
Then Sonic slipped away into the group. He didn’t stick around to see if Shadow would take his suggestion. But he’d said what he wanted to say, so now he could scratch off talk to Shadow from his mental checklist. If he couldn’t help Shadow directly, he’d take indirectly. Shadow assuredly didn’t need Sonic in his life, but he needed more than just Rouge and Omega. And there was nothing wrong with that by itself. Frankly, Sonic was glad he had someone in his life already. He just needed more. Espio could be that.
Sonic had accomplished two things tonight, so he felt he could allow himself to relax a little.
That was something else he’d been working on recently. Trying not to set too many goals. Sonic had noticed that he did that a lot. And that burdening himself with so many things was causing him to get overwhelmed and fold in on himself. Well, fold in private. Still not a good thing. So instead of taking too big a bite out of a situation, Sonic would nibble and set it aside for later.
But maybe he’d save Knuckles first.
Rouge was doing her usual flirting routine. And Knuckles was struggling, all flustered and frustrated. So Sonic weaved around Cream and Charmy, who were chasing Cheese around the living room, and made for the bat. He sidled up to her, shooting Knuckles a grin. When Rouge noticed him, she turned her head. Her ear flicked.
“You’ve been here for five minutes and the house is still quiet?” Sonic teased. “Rouge, I’m surprised.”
Rouge’s eyes widened. She made a show of being surprised, putting a hand to her chest. Sonic snorted. A bat after his own heart with the theatrics. Though, he had employed them in his own life for a different reason, he was sure.
“You’re so right, Big Blue!” she cried. “What was I thinking? I’ll catch you later, Knuckie; I have a job to do first.”
Rouge ran a hand down Knuckles’ arm as she was walking away, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Sonic laughed when the echidna pulled his arm away from her, affronted. Hey, he may have been trying to help but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the echidna’s frustration as well. Knuckles glared after her before turning those violet eyes on him. The glare had softened somewhat but was still present for a beat.
“You’re welcome,” Sonic said with an exaggerated bow.
“Yeah, whatever, hedgehog,” Knuckles huffed.
But the echidna was smiling when Sonic rose from his bent position. He just caught the tail end of Knuckles’ eyeroll. But he’d missed the warning sign before Knuckles dragged him into a side hug. Sonic grit his teeth behind his lips, forcing his body to relax. He knew someone would break through his defensive barrier sooner or later. It was so hard not to squirm away from Knuckles though. The arm lying across his shoulders, the echidna’s side against his own, felt too warm. Way too warm. Like lava pressed against his flesh. But he endured it. Because sometimes, he had to. That was just how it was.
Sonic didn’t know what his deal with being touched was. It was just one of those things that had been with him for as long as he could remember. He wished he didn’t feel all gross when someone touched him. That’s why, when he was relatively ok, he tried not to shy away too much anymore. But it was still so difficult. And right now was even harder because Sonic wasn’t feeling all that great.
Tails caught his eye from inside the dining room. He looked apologetic. Sonic sent him a smile to assure the fox that everything was ok, even if he wasn’t ok on the inside.
The rest of the night passed pretty smoothly. Rouge picked a soft song to play in the background, something not too intrusive for their little get together. It had a pleasant melody that Sonic appreciated. Sonic noticed that Shadow had drifted over to stand with Espio and the two were actually talking for a moment. It was short lived, but Sonic felt an odd surge of pride. Good on Shadow. He had his chili dogs – three – and had snagged himself a piece of chocolate and salted caramel cake as the gathering was nearing its end. Vector and Vanilla wrangled Cream and Charmy and had just set off to put the kids to bed.
Everything was fine. Better than fine.
That was, until Rouge piped up from the living room. She was talking to Amy at the time, but they’d soon garnered everyone’s attention. And really, it was no surprise they had.
“Really?” Amy had cried, sounding intrigued.
And that was the start of the end for Sonic.
“I swear to you,” Rouge said. “They claim to be the children of the late Queen Aleena.”
Just hearing the name made Sonic feel terribly nauseous. He’d been sitting on the windowsill, plate of cake on his knee. His hand stilled sharply halfway up to his mouth, the piece of cake that had been balancing on his fork tumbling to the plate, then bouncing off onto the floor. He couldn’t even bring himself to pick it back up. Sonic was frozen.
He no longer wanted the rest of his cake. A shame too; it had been really good.
“Wasn’t she the last Monarch of Mobius?” Knuckles asked. “I thought she died.”
Sonic grit his teeth again. He winced when he felt his teeth grind against each other.
“She did,” Rouge confirmed. “But apparently she had some secret children before she passed. At least, that’s what these two are claiming.”
“How do you know about this?” Knuckles asked.
How did she know, indeed? Sonic was dying to know. But also, dying to be away from this conversation. It was agony. Pure agony. Oh, why did they have to be talking about this now? Curse whatever god had set him up. He wasn’t in the right headspace to be hearing any of this. And he certainly wasn’t brave enough to interject.
“Rouge said one of them is coming to Central City soon,” Amy responded. “They’re coming to talk to G.U.N. about something.”
Sonic’s whole body went cold. They were coming… here? One of his siblings was leaving Robotropolis and coming here? His breathing might have been picking up. No one else seemed to notice.
“Something about re-opening Mobotropolis’ borders,” Rouge said. “And re-establishing them as a proper city again.”
“What even happened with that old city anyway?” Amy wondered.
And then his brother, his sweet, informative brother, decided to pipe up. Someone up there really hated him, huh?
“No one knows,” Tails mused. “Mobotropolis had been the home of Mobius’ Royal family for a very long time. But one day communication with the city went dark. The rest of the world assumed the Queen had been killed in some attack and adjusted accordingly. That’s why our world leaders act independently now.”
Sonic widened his eyes, finally turning to face the other occupants of the room. Amy and Rouge were on the settee. Tails was sitting on the floor at the base of it with his own plate of cake. Knuckles had brought a chair from the dining room in to join them. Shadow was still leaning by the wall where he’d been all night, lurking more than apart of the conversation. But they all seemed so disconnect from him. Like he was watching them through foggy glass from outside.
No one knew what really happened? Sonic and his siblings had assumed everyone knew. All of Robotropolis believed the rest of the world were afraid of challenging the man who had taken over the throne. Or that they were wisely strengthening their own defences to deter the man from coming after anyone else. But in reality, no one had even known? No one verified anything? They hadn’t thought to check in with the city properly they just… moved on? Forgot the Queen? Pretended it didn’t even happen?
Why did that feel so much worse?
The world could have rallied together. They could have fought against Eggman back when he’d been Robotnik. With the whole world against him, Robotnik would have surely lost. The city would have been saved before it had gotten as bad as it had. The mad doctor wouldn’t be out there now, causing so many world-ending problems on a daily basis.
His mother wouldn’t have died.
“If I can intercept them, maybe I’ll ask what happened,” Rouge said.
Sonic rose from his spot on the sill, faking a stretch and a yawn. He left his plate there. It felt rude but Sonic just… he just needed to leave. He could apologise to Amy at a later date. But if he didn’t leave right now he might just vomit on her carpet instead. And that would be considerably worse. Not to mention all the eyes on him. Nightmare scenario. Tonight was already bad enough without adding that dumpster fire of a reaction into the pot.
“I’m gonna turn in,” Sonic announced. “Thanks for the party, Ames.”
“Oh, are we leaving?” Tails asked.
The fox looked down at his half-finished cake. Sonic didn’t want to rush Tails or drag him away when he was having fun. That wasn’t fair. Besides, he kind of needed a moment to himself. Desperately. So he ruffled the kid’s head fur, meeting Knuckles’ eye briefly. The echidna seemed to know what he was asking before he opened his mouth. He received a nod in confirmation.
“You stay a little longer,” Sonic said. “I’m sure Knux will drop you off later. I’m just feeling a little wiped.”
With that, he waved to the group and disappeared out the door. He’d made good time too; halfway down the path, his eyes were just starting to burn.