Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Eclipse stared at the human, Stone, as it brewed coffee for it and Shadow. He sat on the table in this room, kitchen, while eating the sweet, crumbly circular things, cookies, that the long furred human had given him. The brown stuff that got stuck on his hands had a really, really nice taste. He was glad that he'd copied Shadow's tongue shape, tasting food was even easier with a wider tongue.

"Sit in the chair, not on the table." Shadow said to Eclipse with a frown and pointed with his thumb towards the chair. 

Eclipse looked towards the chair. It was different from the other "chair" he'd used before though. It had a weird… bulge on it. It looked similar to a poison or infected sack… But Shadow looked even more irritated when Eclipse didn't do as he said, to the point that those ears tilted backwards.

He didn't want Shadow to be angry with him and punish him. He jumped down from the table and approached the chair with two cookies still left in his see-through bag. Eclipse poked the green mound to feel its texture. It was soft… and there wasn't a liquid in it either. He pressed his hand down on it to test if it would burst. But his hand sank down into it…

Shadow let out a soft scoff as he sat down on another chair opposite to Eclipse. His brother looked off to the side with a frown as the human was still doing… something . 

He copied Shadow and carefully sat down on the plushy mound on the chair while being careful of his tail. It was… soft. Eclipse looked down at where he sat and shifted back and forth. It was really soft and nice to sit on… The closest he could compare it to was fresh flesh, but flesh was still hard even if it had some give. But this was really soft.

It was like that "sofa" thing that the human had… And that thing on the floor that they had given Eclipse in his "room". Just not as soft

His… He had a room just for him… Eclipse took another bite of a cookie and let the sweetness in his mouth take over his thoughts. It was good. He liked tasting things. He hadn't thought eating could be something to do for fun and not just because you needed to. He didn't understand why Shadow ate so much before he tried out food. Eclipse looked forward to trying the different flavours the Stone human could make. It was useful that way.

"Right, here's coffee for you." Stone human set a cup in front of Shadow with a smile. Then another cup in front of Eclipse.

The liquid in Shadow's cup was dark, almost black brown. But the one in Eclipse's cup was more… white. With some streaks of brown. He paused his chewing to look between the drink and the human.

"It's a mocha latte with extra steamed milk. Since you didn't like the bitterness of coffee, I added some chocolate." Stone human answered his question without Eclipse needing to ask as Stone human sat down next to Shadow.

Eclipse didn't know what chocolate was, but the human had given him a lot of sweet things to try since he said he had liked the taste "sweet" best. Sour and spicy had also been good, but not bitter that shadow liked. 

Stone had said it was okay to not like the same things Shadow did, that it made them into unique people. That it made Eclipse more of a brother and a person since he didn't like the same things. Because everyone was supposed to like different things…

It still felt like he'd failed by not liking coffee like Shadow did. Because he was supposed to do better, do things that would make Shadow see and accept him, but he couldn't like the same things Shadow did. Eclipse set down the remaining cookie on the table (it got a little crushed but he'd pick up the pieces later) and gently picked up the cup. He looked at Stone and Shadow to see how they were drinking it. A small sip… And he felt that it was warm through the cup. So he needed to be careful or the sensitive nerves on his tongue would get burned and he'd get hurt in his mouth.

He carefully blew on the surface of the liquid, then took a small sip. An explosion of creamy and sweet flavour with a small hint of that smell that came from Shadow and Stone's drink. Not so much that it became bitter and bad. 

Eclipse's body reacted with the warm feeling in his chest and mouth as his tail started to wag and his ears perked up and forward. He took quiet note of this reaction… So that was the reaction for good interest? He knew what tail wagging meant, and curling, but he'd eventually learn how these new ears reacted to emotions.

"Right, now that we're going to live together we need to establish some rules." Stone human said while glancing between Shadow and Eclipse. "First off, Shadow. I don't want you to hide when you are getting an overload of memory triggers. If it happens again, I want you to tell us and let Eclipse help you filter through it before it gets worse."

Shadow frowned with his ears tilted back towards his head. He glared at Eclipse, then looked down at his cup with a small nod. Eclipse shrank down slightly as he took another sip from the hot but sweet drink. What would he need to do for Shadow to see him…? To accept him..? Stone human said it would take time, but how long -?

"And Eclipse." The firm stare Stone human aimed his way made Eclipse frown. "You're not allowed to attack anyone. That includes the Wachowki family and any other visitors we get to our cafe. If you want someone to do something for you, you need to talk . Do not react by attacking them."

"Attacking is easier to make them understand immediately." Eclipse argued with a frown. Because talking didn't make sense to Eclipse. Why couldn't they just have a hive mind where you'd immediately be able to send signals of what you wanted? Or just reinforce behaviour through praise and punishment?

"Attacking people will not make them understand what you want from them, Eclipse. Remember how the blue hedgehog reacted?" Stone human countered with raised eyebrows. Eclipse didn't understand what that expression meant… "He tried even harder to approach Shadow even if it was the opposite of what you wanted. You need to tell them why you react a certain way or they won't understand why you are acting violent."

"They should just understand immediately…" Eclipse huffed and took another sip from his drink. He wasn't used to using words… 

"I need you to promise, Eclipse. To both me and Shadow. It's really important to both of us that you don't attack anyone." Stone human leaned forward slightly on the table. "You are much stronger than any human. It's extra important that you don't use that power against the people who live here."

Eclipse curled up in his soft chair and looked away from the Stone human. Of course he was powerful, he was a higher lifeform who was powerful and immortal-.

"I can't promise that you'd be allowed to stay if you attack someone."

The warm liquid in the cup spilled on Eclipse's fur and the table as he dropped it to quickly stand up. His heart beat erratically in his throat and his blunt claws dug into the table and he stared at Stone with wide eyes because please, no, don't toss him away don't toss him away again -.

"D-Dont! Please don't I'll be better!"

"I know you will try your best." Stone human said in a very gentle voice. Stone human reached out towards Eclipse and he flinched, prepared for it to hurt, but-. But it didn't… Stone human placed its hand on Eclipse's shoulder and it felt similar to when Maste- B-Black Doom had praised Eclipse through the hive mind but it was focused on one place that was touched and not through his whole body and it felt nice so he wanted to relax but Stone human said he might be forced to leave .

"I'm just telling you what's at stake. That is the most important rule in this house that you have to follow. As long as you stay good, as long as you talk rather than attack, we can let you stay. But you have to listen to us and what rules we set for you, alright?"

Eclipse could feel himself trembling slightly. He let his hands relax against the table. Because they… weren't tossing him away. Stone human explained what the punishment for attacking someone was…

Eclipse swallowed and nodded. He felt a prickling sensation at the back of his head and his back as the.. quills he had relaxed… So as long as he didn't attack anyone, he'd be allowed to stay…

Eclipse's breath hitched slightly, because he had attacked someone he'd attacked the blue pest and the red things and-.

"D-Don't punish me for breaking the rule, I didn't know, don't toss me away…" Eclipse frantically looked between Stone human and Shadow and both of them furrowed their forehead.

"We know, and it's alright. The three colourful aliens are the only ones who would be able to handle your attacks, especially Sonic, so you're not in trouble for attacking them today. Fighting them is… fine. But you should never fight them to hurt them."

Okay so… So those three were okay to attack… But attacking anyone else would lead to punishment and the punishment was to leave and Eclipse didn't want to leave when he just found a use again. Eclipse's brow furrowed slightly as he stared at Stone human.

"Without hurting…? But fighting is meant to hurt."

Shadow let out a heavy sigh and Eclipse saw his brother pinch the space between his eyes. "I'll demonstrate what that is some other day… The important thing is to not attack anyone. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes." Eclipse was quick to agree when Shadow gave him a firm glare. He then flinched when something rubbed against his chest and he saw the Stone human stand there with a dark piece of cloth.

"Easy, I'm just cleaning off your mocha." Stone human said with a smile and stroked the cloth against Eclipse's fur again. So many things humans made were soft… "Did you like drinking it?"

Eclipse let out a soft sound of agreement and watched as Stone human wiped the liquid off his fur. He hadn't even noticed that it had gotten wet… And the table was wet too. It wasn't as thick as blood and had spread a bit and was dripping on the floor.

"Then I'll be sure to make it again." Stone human guided Eclipse to stand up, something he followed along with because Stone human was important to Shadow and Shadow listened to Stone human so Eclipse should listen too. Stone human continued to wipe off the wet from his fur. "Do you have any questions, Eclipse?"

… Many. Too many. He tried to reach out to Shadow to share them with him, to make Shadow understand just how many he had. But he just hit a wall, he was closed off from connecting their thoughts. Shadow still had three of those powerful emeralds, the other 4 had been given to the red thing. If Eclipse had those… Would he been able to connect with Shadow like he wanted to…?

Since there were too many to even begin, Eclipse shook his head at Stone human's question. He shouldn't show weakness or insecurity… He was supposed to be perfect, better, if he showed weakness now he wouldn't be allowed to stay.

"Good. Don't hesitate to ask if you're curious about anything, alright?" Stone human stood up with a small smile aimed at Eclipse. "We'll be adding more rules as we get to know each other. But for now, that should be enough. Let's watch some TV."

That was the moving picture transmission that many humans could see using their screen things. Eclipse straightened slightly in interest and followed Stone human.

Eclipse will need to be careful… He'd stay useful and stay… nice . He wouldn't attack anyone and he'd help Shadow with his memories. He was allowed to attack that blue pest if needed but otherwise shouldn't attack anyone… That should be… fine. He'd do it for Shadow. Everything is for his sake, so Shadow would see him. So he wouldn't be alone. So he'd have a family…

He really, really wanted this to work. He had nothing left but this. He didn't like his new form much, but Shadow liked it. So he'd like it too, eventually. Someday.

Eclipse was very confused over what was happening on this TV most of the time, and he preferred to sit on the floor because his head got stuck in the soft sofa. But he was expected to watch and learn something. So he couldn't ask things or he wouldn't have focused and he'd fail. So he had to watch and understand on his own.

For Shadow, he'd do anything.

It was night. So Eclipse was told he should sleep in his room. (His, something that was his, that no one was allowed to enter without his permission, he couldn't believe something like that even existed)

He had tried to sleep. He really, really had. But without the usual buzz of other husks in his head it felt so… empty . And Shadow still didn't let him in. He kept those emeralds in his chest that helped him block out Eclipse and helped him not pass out from memory overload but Eclipse needed something . 

It was too quiet. His fur and quills stood on end and the sensation felt weird . He gently stroked his fingers over his palm and wrist, where he'd let his skin still be covered with scales like he's used to. The finger stroking up and down, but the motion didn't help him calm down.

It was so quiet . That other place hadn't been this quiet, there had been soft beeps and hums of what Stone human called electricity. It had still been hard but he had managed to sleep but now he couldn't.

And Shadow still wasn't letting him in .

Eclipse sat up on the soft mattress with this smaller soft thing, pillow, being stuck to his head. He pushed it off with a frustrated hiss and heard the fabric rip but that didn't matter. He needed something or he would-. He-. He wouldn't be able to stay nice , his skin was crawling and he wanted to crush something under his fingers-.

He opened the door and stepped outside into the dark hallway. He had perfect night vision so the little light that came from the windows was more than enough to make him able to see. 

The TV… That sounded a lot, that made noise. Eclipse ran over to the TV and stood in front of it.

"TV, show pictures." He told it while pointing at it.

… Nothing happened. And it made Eclipse confused. He reached out to touch the screen like he had seen that human hostage do with its phone thing. But the TV didn't react… He pressed on it harder, but still careful because everything was fragile, but it still didn't react. 

He let out a frustrated groan and stepped back with his hands flexing. "Show pictures! Why won't you listen to me?? You listened to the Stone human!"

Still no reaction… Maybe that thing also slept like humans did? These squares were a hive mind, so maybe when humans slept these things also slept because no one was awake to give them something to show? But Eclipse needed something to make sounds!

"Will anything make sounds!?" He shouted into the room, just to see if there was another hive mind piece that was still awake. But no, nothing. Nothing listened to him and nothing reacted to him either! A deep growl settled in Eclipse's throat as he went over to a square… thing that was weird, striped and colourful. 

"Is everything asleep when it's dark!?" He picked it up from the table. And the form of this cube thing crumpled under his grip with a "crrsh" sound. A sound. Something. He let go and squeezed it again and the box made that sound again, but it wasn't as loud as the first time. There was something white sticking out of the top of it.

Like ripping out the insides of a creature's belly, Eclipse stuck his hand into that hole, grabbed what was inside and ripped it out. He was suddenly covered by soft, thin, white things as all of it fell out of the square colourful thing. It all fell to the floor with a "paff" noise. Eclipse stomped on the pile of white but he only heard his own stomp. He moved his foot around in the white and he heard it rustle.

Noise. It was noise, something. He looked at the square box thing that was partially stuck to his hand and quickly reached into it to pull out more of that white, light stuff to cover the floor. He then crouched down to put both hands into it and rubbed them back and forth. There was that noise again, something he could focus on. And he could clench his hands around these thin, flimsy things and they didn't crumble but just wrapped around his fingers. 

He laid down in these thin, light things with his back first and rubbed his head and body back and forth. Because that's how he got stuck on soft things, could he get stuck on these too? When he sat up, he was very happy to hear the rustling following his movements and that pieces of white had gotten stuck to his quills. 

They did! They did get stuck! And now, they were making sounds when he tilted his head back and forth and it was close to his ears so it would be easy for him to hear it. (It was so weird that he could direct his hearing with these ears but this way it was useful)

He was still instructed to sleep, so he should sleep. But this was only noise when he moved, he didn't know how to sleep while moving. So while he was a little more settled hearing the rustling close to his ears as he walked around, he still needed to find something that made noise without Eclipse moving around.

A brief thought of asking Shadow for help came to mind. But it was just as quickly dismissed. Shadow didn't like him, not yet. If Eclipse asked Shadow for help, he would be seen as less useful. And Shadow would hate him even more. He needed Shadow to like him, he couldn't ask questions that were obvious, questions Eclipse should know the answer to. He's seen Stone and Shadow interact with objects to make noise, he just had to find them and… and activate them.

He found a big tube thing in a cupboard. Something that he recognised and it made his ears perk up. Stone human has used this to dice things into paste! This made a loud noise, this could work. So he teleported up onto the table and set it down. The top part of the tube thing fell off and clattered to the floor, so Eclipse teleported again to fetch it and set it on top of the… cube.

Why was everything shaped like squares and cubes? Humans had a weird fascination with that shape…

He remembered the human touching the front of this to make it dice things to paste… So he touched it. … But nothing happened. Nothing. Nothing at all.

Eclipse threw away the tool with a frustrated shout, grabbing at his quills and making the thin, white things rustle with the motion. "Why doesn't anything start!? You should be grinding things when you're touched! Are you broken or are you just asleep!?" He glared down at the paste-maker with a snarl. Things that didn't serve its purpose shouldn't exist…

His foot collided hard with the paste maker to crush it, only for Eclipse to fall back with a pained shout when something cut into his foot. He held his hurt appendage with a soft whimper, barely able to look past the tears clouding his vision. There was something stuck to his foot… There was something sharp in that thing!? He reached out with a trembling hand towards the object.

Only to flinch and hiss when the light suddenly turned on, snarling towards the offender. Stone human. It stood there with different coloured clothes on and it was frowning at Eclipse on the floor.

"Eclipse…? What are you doing up so late? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

Right, yes, he should be asleep because that had been his task, but he couldn't when everything was so quiet -.

"I don't need more sleep!" Eclipse hissed again, then focused on the thing lodged in his foot. Black blood seeped from the wound and he let out a choked whimper when he ripped it out. The wound closed soon after, but the pain was still there for a while longer. "I was trying to make these things… work . Is that part of your hive mind too? Does all of your hive mind sleep when it's dark? It's defective!"

Stone human looked at Eclipse. Then at the paste maker that was shattered on the floor. It then let out a soft sigh as he walked away. "Stay there, I'll be back."

Eclipse didn't like what that sigh meant… He didn't understand what that sound meant. Was he in trouble? Had he done something wrong? When Stone human returned, Eclipse was ready for some type of punishment for doing wrong. But instead, Stone human crouched down in front of Eclipse and pointed towards his foot.

"Can I take a look at your foot, please? I need to clean the wound."

Eclipse looked between his foot and the Stone human. "It's already healed."

"Well, I still need to clean your foot." Stone human said with a small smile. "So can I?"

Eclipse didn't know how to reply. Was… being clean important? Right, yes, Shadow thought it was important. Shadow had cleaned up every stain he saw on himself. If Shadow thought it was important, Eclipse should too. So he held out his foot towards the Stone human.

Stone's grip was gentle… Eclipse didn't need to remind Stone to loosen its grip because it was already gentle with him. Eclipse didn't need to endure a harsh grip because it was something he should handle. Stone human was just… gentle and kind…

Eclipse had tried so hard to make the husks be gentle with their hugs because Eclipse was strong but he didn't have as much muscle mass to handle high amounts of pressure. Sure, humans couldn't make that sort of pressure, but the fact that Stone human didn't even try was strange. Why wouldn't it? Eclipse had tried to destroy its planet. Why was it interacting with Eclipse like it interacted with Shadow?

"There, all clean." Stone human set aside a black stained cloth, then reached out towards Eclipse's head. The human surprised Eclipse again by being gentle as it started to remove the thin, rustling things from his quills. "Why do you have tissues all over your quills?"

"Let them be!" Eclipse moved away from the Stone human's hand with a snarl. Because it was rustling, it was noise, he couldn't not have them or it would be too quiet. "My reason doesn't concern you, human ."

"It does concern me since I was the one who bought those tissues for drama nights." Stone human countered with a raised eyebrow. "And what were you trying to do with the blender?" It gestured towards the paste maker Eclipse had stomped on.

"It was defective! It didn't make a noise and made paste when I touched it. So I destroyed it." Eclipse crossed his arms with a huff and straightened his back. "Something that doesn't fulfil its function doesn't deserve to exist."

"Eclipse, that's not-." Stone human stopped speaking, then reached up a hand to rub at its forehead. "It's too early for this… We can show you how to handle kitchen tools tomorrow. But for now, please go back to bed and sleep."

Eclipse tensed, that was the second time he had been given that order. First by Shadow, now by Stone human. Both wanted Eclipse to sleep and he was failing that task because he couldn't .

"What? What's wrong? Do you have trouble sleeping?"

"No! I just don't need it! And I'm bored." Eclipse stood up quickly as he frowned down at the human. He couldn't admit that he failed the task. He couldn't admit that he was less than perfect because then they wouldn't need him and he'd have nothing and he couldn't handle not having anything-. "You should amuse me instead! Wake up the TV so it will show pictures."

Stone looked at Eclipse with an expression he didn't understand, then stood up with a nod. "Alright, I'll help you start it. Be careful of the plastic on the floor."

Eclipse was then led to the soft sofa and instructed to sit down. The human then showed Eclipse a stick with strange shapes on it that the human called buttons. It directed the end of the stick towards the TV and pressed the button closest to where it was pointing. The TV woke up and started to show pictures. The Stone human then showed Eclipse what other buttons did, to change the pictures showing and how loud the TV was. It then went towards the kitchen part to leave Eclipse there…

Sounds. There were sounds again. Eclipse increased the volume coming from the TV and he felt his tensed muscles relax. Eclipse didn't even focus on what was happening in the picture, he was just content to be included in knowing what was happening in the human's hive mind. Noise that he could filter out but still be a part of.

The thin pieces of white, tissues Stone human called them, rustled when Eclipse leaned back against the sofa's soft surface. He let out a soft sigh as his eyes grew heavy. This was the type of noise Eclipse needed… Eclipse fell asleep only moments later with the sound of the TV and the human's hive mind lulling him to rest.

Chapter Text

When Eclipse woke up, he immediately noticed how quiet it was. The TV didn't show pictures any more and there was a soft thing that was covering him and keeping him warm. He pushed it off him and he shivered at how cold he felt immediately after. But he was also so warm that he was getting sticky under this… fur and it felt uncomfortable. He shivered and rubbed his arms up and down but that didn't help very much.

There were things moving outside, the room was a lot brighter than before. The sun had gone up and the "day" had started. It was so strange that there was a sky and it could light up like that… Actually-.

Eclipse got up and was very glad his head wasn't stuck to the soft sofa this time. He then went over towards the window to look outside. The area above them was blue with some spots having white things slowly moving over it. Shadow had called those "clouds" when Eclipse had asked about them on the way here. Places in the sky where water gathered so tightly it became a cloud. And those only existed in the sky.

Windows weren't supposed to be broken or opened, so he stayed there with his ears tilted towards it and eyes focused on the sky. The sound of soft humming, footsteps and voices helped him settle a little bit. And watching those cloud things was… strange. Stone human had asked if Eclipse had seen shapes in them, but he hadn't then. So he tried to see shapes now, because it was a task he hadn't been able to do before so he'd try again now.

That was… an egg pod. And that one looked like the tuft on Shadow's chest. Only a little… That looked like-... That looked like one of those cup things.

Eclipse's ear twitched when it picked up the sound of footsteps behind him. Heavy, with a light "splat", soft feet. That should be the Stone human-. "Eclipse? What are you doing by the window?"

He was right, he had guessed right! He was getting better at hearing the difference in sounds. The tip of his tail wagged slightly at the success but he kept on looking at the sky.

"I'm looking at shapes. I can see some. There." Eclipse pointed at the cup shaped cloud and heard Stone human walk up closer behind Eclipse. Stone human was too weak to be a threat so Eclipse wasn't worried about it. "That's a cup thing. And over there is a sofa thing."

"Hm, you're right. That looks like a cup." A hand settled on Eclipse's shoulder that made Eclipse look up at the Stone human. The human was smiling at Eclipse, so he'd done a good job! He'd completed the task Stone human asked him yesterday! "Would you like to join me for breakfast? I can make another mocha coffee for you."

Oh! That was the sweet coffee drink that Eclipse had yesterday! He nodded and his tail wagged a little more. He'd like to have one, it was a good drink. So he followed Stone human towards the kitchen and sat down on the soft chair while he watched Stone human make it. He saw that paste maker thing in pieces on the table, broken from Eclipse's stomp. 

"I'm surprised Shadow isn't up yet…" Stone human said as he was doing… something that made the sound of "crrrsssh". "Did you see him during the night, Eclipse?"

"No, I haven't seen Shadow." He frowned slightly and looked towards the door that would lead into Shadow's "room". He then reached out through the hive mind, feeling only static from everything except for Shadow. And he was surprised to… feel Shadow. 

He shot up from his seat with his eyes wide. Eclipse could feel Shadow, he could-. Shadow would never want to let Eclipse in, he hadn't when it was night, but now he was and that was such a relief but that also meant that Shadow was wrong because he only let Eclipse in when something was wrong-.

"Eclipse…?"

Eclipse teleported to Shadow's side without answering, because that would be useless anyway. Shadow was resting with his quills splayed out over the soft "pillow" thing and head turned to the side. In the hive mind, Eclipse could feel a form of distress, but also peace. Like what Shadow was seeing was nice but also that something was wrong about it. He was deep in those memories and that worried Eclipse even more, because Shadow had slept for so long when he'd been this deep but having those emeralds should have solved it -.

"Shadow!" Eclipse reached for Shadow's shoulder and shook him. "Shadow, wake up! You said you didn't want to be that deep again."

No response… The door to Shadow's room opened and Eclipse faced it with a snarl. Shadow couldn't react, he was vulnerable, it was up to Eclipse to protect him from any threat and he wouldn't let anything get close to try and hurt Shadow-.

Oh. Stone human. That one was too weak to hurt Shadow in any way. And the human was frowning. "Is something wrong with Shadow?"

"He's in deep again!" Eclipse told the human, then turned back to Shadow. If shaking didn't work, then it was really, really tangled… "I gotta pull him out… He didn't like being deep that long last time." Eclipse gently cradled Shadow's head between his hands.

He didn't focus on what the human said, but focused on diving into Shadow's mind. Now that the wall between them was down, it was easy to dive in and part the space between his own and Shadow's mind. Like any other time, Eclipse entered Shadow's mind space by bursting out of dark liquid that covered the ground. 

There was a large, orange scar in the sky of the mind where Shadow had "sealed" the rest of the hive mind from leaking into him. And in the middle was Shadow standing waist deep in this shifting liquid with his head down. Eclipse ran forward and grabbed hold of Shadow's form and started to gently pull Shadow out, piece by piece. He saw flashes of what Shadow was experiencing because of this.

A room with soft lights and a TV that showed pictures. Something that felt warm and comforting.
A white room with many things attached to him that felt irritating and tiring.
A view of trees, a lake, surrounded by mountains and darkness slowly creeping over the view. Comforting and warm but also a little bit afraid.

Eclipse managed to pull Shadow out of the black goo and retracted from Shadow's mind now that he was out. Eclipse "came back" to himself with a soft sigh and opened his eyes. Shadow opened his eyes only a moment after.

Shadow glared at Eclipse with a snarl. "You invaded my mind again -!" Shadow sat up in his bed and Eclipse quickly stepped back with his hands raised.

"I wasn't! You weren't waking up!" Eclipse winced when the wall between himself and Shadow was once again set up. But the rage, worry and distrust that he'd felt before made it very clear how unhappy Shadow was by waking up seeing Eclipse first thing in the morning….

It-. It shouldn't hurt, Eclipse knew Shadow didn't trust him, but he was trying so hard and Shadow still didn't like him-.

"He's right, Shadow. You weren't waking up." Stone human stepped in between them, because Shadow was still snarling and angry. "Eclipse told me you were in too deep. So he pulled you out. You almost slept for multiple hours again."

Shadow's ears tilted backwards when Stone human said this and he looked between the human and Eclipse. He let out a soft huff and looked away, then stood up from his bed. Shadow's quills relaxed slightly, and Eclipse took that as "okay fine I'll let it slide". So it made Eclipse relax too. 

The three of them had this "breakfast" meal ritual together. Eclipse got a mocha drink, Shadow and Stone human got coffee. The human also got food in the form of a square soft spungy thing with a round meat slice on top. Eclipse didn't know what that breakfast food was, but he focused on his mocha. It was good. Sweet and with a hint of that coffee stuff that Shadow liked. 

Stone human mentioned that they needed to go "grocery shopping" and that Eclipse was supposed to come with them. Eclipse argued against this, because he didn't want to walk among lesser beings like those humans. But Shadow scolded him that he should learn how to be among humans because Eclipse had chosen this. That Eclipse had chosen to live amongst humans and needed to learn how to be around them and talk to them with respect. 

Eclipse didn't want to treat those creatures with respect, it felt degrading. They should be the ones worshipping him and Shadow! Because they were the perfect beings, the perfect creations! (Okay, Shadow was more perfect than Eclipse but he was trying! He'd been trying really hard his whole life, so he had to become perfect one day.) None of those humans has done anything to deserve Eclipse's respect, none! So why should he treat them with respect when they haven't done anything to even deserve it?

Eclipse didn't say this out loud because then Shadow would get more angry, but Eclipse really didn't like that he had to interact with those… humans …

The outside was loud. The air moved and he could feel it so much clearer with fur and quills that the air could pull on. He hissed at it and he felt his eyes gather fluids when the moving wind made them feel uncomfortable. Wind wasn't energy it wouldn't listen to Eclipse because that was like smells that just hovered and existed without a master. But that movement was uncomfortable .

"What are you doing?" 

Shadow's voice stopped Eclipse in his movement of slashing at the air to try and make the movement go away . He looked at his brother to see him frowning.

"How can this air movement stop ? It's irritating." Eclipse swiped his claw through the air, but the air movement was still pressing into him and it didn't feel nice at all , not at all like that little air movement that just carried scents around.

"It's the wind, the weather, it's not something anyone can control." Shadow let out a scoff and grabbed hold of Eclipse's wrist when he'd been ready to claw at the air again with Chaos energy. Eclipse let out a soft yelp at the tight grip and how Shadow pulled him along. He let out a soft whine, but Shadow's grip didn't let up at all-.

"Don't ever use chaos energy among humans. You could hurt these people."

"It was just a claw attack!" Eclipse pulled at his arm until Shadow let go. He held it closely to his chest with a small glare aimed at Shadow.

But when his brother turned towards Eclipse flashing fangs, any arguments he had died in his throat.

"A "claw attack" is still enough to level a building and kill anyone it touches. You will not use chaos energy like that, do you understand ?"

(Eclipse remembered Shadow pinning him down, hovering over him with fangs bared and fist raised to kill him-.)

"R-right…" Eclipse nodded quickly, holding his aching arm close as he followed behind Shadow and Stone human.

There were square things with… 'wheels' that moved down the flat surface. They looked similar to that "helicopter" thing he'd seen before. There were also humans walking around. Some stopped and looked at Eclipse. Looked at him and Shadow as if they were something new and interesting. Eclipse heard one human say "there's another one?". He turned towards that human with a snarl, ready to defend his presence here because how dare that human ask why he was here when it should be obvious to that lower being-.

Only for his ear to be tugged on by Shadow and pulled him along. Shadow told him to not snarl at people, but that didn't make any sense! If he didn't snarl, how would they know that he was displeased by what they were saying!? All of these… rules were frustrating and his skin was itching because this wind stuff was tugging it back and forth and Eclipse didn't want to be here.

They reached a large building with wide openings all over. … Wait, no, that was glass. Something you shouldn't break because it's not supposed to open. And there were a lot of those squares with wheels on them all over the flat open space in front of it. And there were humans here too, walking around. going towards the large building with windows.

Eclipse stopped to stare at a human who was walking with a little human. Similar to the one Eclipse had been disappointed that the husks had killed. Short, fur that was brown on its head. The little human was holding onto the large human's hand… The little human looked at Eclipse. And it started to smile and moved its arm back and forth in the space in front of it. Why was it smiling? Why was it happy to see Eclipse? Shouldn't it be afraid? And what did that motion with its hand mean? Eclipse looked at his own hand, then back to the little human. He copied its strange wave movement.

The human's smile grew even larger and it pulled on the large human's hand while pointing towards Eclipse. Eclipse's ear twitched as he heard the little human tell the large human "Mom! Mom, look, it's another Sonic!"

Eclipse frowned with a soft growl at the back of his throat. He was being compared to that blue pest ? He was much better than that thing , Eclipse was the superior lifeform. He looked like Shadow , not like that blue brother stealing freak -.

"Eclipse! Come over here!"

He looked over towards the Stone human and saw the human standing by the largest window of the building with Shadow. With a quick teleport, Eclipse was by their side but glanced over his shoulder to glare at the small human. Stupid humans comparing him to something so inferior …

Shadow and Stone human walked into the building. Eclipse started to follow, but then something slid shut right in front of him and there was glass in the way. He stopped with his quills flared, partially staring at his own reflection and the forms of Shadow and Stone human as they walked further inside. The Stone human was pushing something along? What was that? Why did the glass open for them but not Eclipse?

He pressed his hand against the glass, he'd seen it slide to the side so he carefully tried to push them there. But he couldn't get good leverage… He took a few steps back to look at it, maybe there was a handle? Only to tense up when the glass slid open. So… now it was open…? Why? Eclipse tried to walk in, but it closed right in front of him again. He growled at the glass, his hands clenching and unclenching being VERY tempted to punch through it. He heard some form of high pitched sound behind him, sound that cut off and started in short periods. He turned to see that little human again, the little human whose smile was very very large as it looked at Eclipse.

Why was it so happy? He should show that thing how superior he is compared to Sonic… But Shadow was getting further away. The glass wouldn't let him in, so he found his connection to Shadow and teleported inside.

There were sounds of fear around Eclipse when he appeared and a hand grabbed firmly onto his shoulder.

"Stop teleporting in public." Shadow said with a soft growl, tightening his grip slightly before letting go. Eclipse took a small step away from Shadow with a frown.

"That glass wouldn't open when it should! It didn't let me in! The Human hive mind is inefficient." He looked at Stone human. "How did you make that open?"

Stone looked between the glass that had stopped Eclipse, then at Eclipse. "It's triggered by motion sensors… Just stay close, alright? And if you're curious about anything in the store, you can just ask."

Eclipse nodded. Not knowing what things were in this building meant that he had failed in gathering information on his own. He needed to learn, and understand. He couldn't be a failure. Stone held out one hand towards Eclipse while the other held onto a metal thing with lots of holes on 4 wheels.

A hand… Stone human was offering a hand. Was that like the little human did with its larger human? What did it mean? Was Eclipse supposed to do that too…? Since it was the Stone human, Eclipse should follow the order. And since the human was fragile, Eclipse needed to be careful. So he reached out to place his hand in the Stone human's outstretched one. Stone human tightened its grip, but Eclipse didn't. Because humans were fragile and Eclipse was strong. If he hurt Stone human, Shadow would be angry. And he wouldn't be allowed to stay.

This grip was… warm. And it was easy to follow close to the Stone human and look around at the same time when it held Eclipse's hand to gently pull him along. Shadow was on Eclipse's other side. He offered his hand to Shadow, in case Shadow wanted to have the nice warm feeling around his hand like Eclipse was. 

Shadow looked at Eclipse's hand, frowned and looked away. So… that was a no. But holding a hand felt nice. Maybe it's because it was Eclipse who offered… Eclipse will offer again another time. For now, he stayed quiet, listened and tried his best to learn what Stone human and Shadow were putting in the cart to "buy" with their "money". It was strange how much food there was in one place… And that ALL of these things were food things. There were so many colours and smells… 

Stone human didn't let go of Eclipse's hand even once. Shadow fetched the things Stone human asked for and they went down multiple "roads" inside this building. It was so much larger than it had first seemed. There were so many things that drew Eclipse's attention but he would observe, learn, and he couldn't make any mistakes. So while Stone human said it was alright to ask questions, Eclipse knew that was a lie. It had always been a lie, because Eclipse was supposed to already know the answer to the question he asked.

There were people who walked up to them to ask questions. Stone was the one who talked while both Eclipse and Shadow observed. Or, well, Shadow looked at Eclipse as a warning because Eclipse  didn't like that those humans spoke to him so casually. His quills flared and there was a low growl at the back of his throat. But Shadow didn't want Eclipse to do anything, so he couldn't do anything even if he wanted to. It was frustrating… He didn't like it. 

At least there was noise. At least there was noise and movement all around them. This type of noise, things moving, soft beeping, it felt like a similar bustle as the Black Arms Hive mind had been. It was comforting… If he ignored that he was among lesser beings like humans, he might find ways to enjoy being among them. Only because of the noise they make.

Stone human talked with Eclipse about the "checkout". Where all the items they had gathered would be "scanned" and then they would use "money" to pay for the goods they had scanned. And after that, it was theirs to eat.

So… Humans were limited in their food by this "scanning" and "money"? That was inefficient. If they need something, they should be able to have it. Why go through so many steps when you could pick it up from those shelves? With the hive mind, they could do the "scanning" and "paying" from those phone things couldn't they? Or is it really that inefficient that they really have to go through all of these steps? They really needed to improve their hive mind.

Stone human let go of Eclipse's hand and told him to help Shadow carry the food bags. So he did, looking into these flimsy bags to see its contents. There were so many different containers with so much colour. And all of these were food? What did humans use all of these for? He'd have to wait and see… There were some nice smells coming from it.

"Alright, let's go." Stone human said with a smile as he walked forward. Eclipse was close to Stone human this time so when the glass opened for the human, Eclipse could follow through as well. "We have a cafe opening to prepare for. And lots of sweets to make."

"Sweet? You're making sweet things?" Eclipse asked, immediately a lot more interested in the conversation.

"Yes. And I would like to have your and Shadows help. I'll teach you how to use kitchen appliances."

Stone human's smile confused him…. What was that word he used? What would he be taught? When he saw Shadow nod in confirmation, Eclipse was quick to nod as well. If Shadow wanted to help, then Eclipse would help too. Maybe it would make Shadow hate him less if Eclipse was good towards Shadow's human. It seems to be working so far, so… Eclipse would continue doing that.

As long as Eclipse didn't think of the creatures as humans , it was slightly easier to walk back to their nest. Wait, no, building? Eclipse wasn't sure if he could call it a… home . But it might be that, eventually, when Shadow liked him more. As long as he was with Shadow and Shadow liked him, that could be his home. That had to be his home. He didn't know what else could be a home now when he-... now when he had nothing. 

Once they got to their building, Stone human instructed him and Shadow where to place the food stuff. Then, Stone human brought out some rectangle-like thing… wait, no, book . Eclipse sort of recognised those. There was text inside, and pictures. Stone human called it "recipes" and asked Shadow to follow one to make a "mud cake" while Stone human and Eclipse would make "cookies".

A lot of things were put in a bowl, then Stone human told him how a "mixer" could get turned on and used to mix all of those things in the bowl. Eclipse was surprised that the pile of grainy stuff could turn into some form of… mass? Like a weak lump. And it could get squished really easily. Then Eclipse had to wash his hands, because being clean was important, and Stone human told him how to make this squishy thing into spheres.

It was even more fragile than anything else Eclipse has touched before. One little squeeze and it became warped and flat. He could see Shadow working hard with a determined frown to follow the "recipe" and make that cake thing, Eclipse had to do the same! He'd make these cookies and Shadow will be impressed with how careful he could be and-. And yeah, he needed to do good at this.

It was clear who made which spheres when they were all placed on the "baking tray" that Stone human would put in the hot cube called oven. But Eclipse was still happy with the effort he put in and wanted to share it with Shadow. But Shadow just told him to stop when he shared the view with his brother... How would shadow otherwise know he'd done a good job? There were so many things that humans used in their hive mind that could do so many different things. Or was the oven part of the hive mind? It didn't show pictures and barely made any noise. It is activated with a button and a twist of a knob…

What was the criteria that it was part of the human hive mind? It needed to either make noise, show pictures or do both. The oven made a little bit of noise… So it should be part of the hive mind too. The mixer was part of it as well. Those doors that moved also made noise, so they were part of it too. And it moved on its own! And the paste maker that Shadow used was also part of the hive mind. How come Shadow could use the hive mind things but Eclipse couldn't without any help? Was it because he had been around humans long enough that he'd become part of their hive mind too?

These things worked when Stone human told him to do things. So Stone human was controlling its activation but Eclipse was controlling its movement and the intensity. He'll learn how to make this hive mind work for him eventually. And now he knew how to make noise with this mixer thing so he'd be able to sleep when Stone human and Shadow told him to. 

After the spheres had been in the oven until that ticking thing let out a loud ring, it smelled really sweet. Sweet and-. And something. Eclipse couldn't describe it, but it made the whole space smell really good. And even if Eclipse's spheres hadn't been as round as Stone humans, the cookies that had been made from them looked good. He hadn't imagined that the spheres would melt and become flat on the baking tray. It looked like those cookies that other dark,  long furred human gave him!

Eclipse reached out to grab one, but Stone Human's hand stopped him from touching it.

"Be careful, Eclipse. It's hot."

He looked at the human with a frown. These were things that Eclipse made! Sure, sharing was important so everyone could have their share, but if Eclipse made it, it was special and only those worthy of having Eclipse's things could have them. Eclipse was more than worthy to have one!

"I made them, so I will have them." He said with a growl and yanked his hand away from the Stone human's hold. Then reached out to grab the cookie again.

Heat seared against his scaled fingertips and he quickly pulled his hand back with a hiss. What!? How could that be so warm!? It wasn't supposed to be warm-!

"It needs to cool down first, I'm not going to prevent you from having some." Stone human said as he pulled out a tool from a drawer. Something flat that he pushed under the cookie to lift it onto a plate. "Most of these will be added to the cafe. Good job at making your first cookie batch."

Eclipse straightened slightly at the praise of doing a good job and Stone human then turned towards Shadow.

"Shadow, is everything going alright?"

"Hm. It's going well." Shadow nodded as he was looking between the book and bowl in front of him. "I'll need the oven soon."

"Not a problem, we're done with it for now. Just say the word if you need any help."

Eclipse almost scoffed at the thought. Shadow? Needing help? Hardly. Shadow didn't need any help from anyone, he was perfect after all. If there was anyone who needed help it was Stone human, clearly. Since it had Eclipse and Shadow carry those bags with food.

… And maybe eclipse needed some help but it's not like he'd ever ask for it! He was a superior species, he could figure out everything on his own. He would observe and learn and do everything right.

The three of them continued to make sweets. Stone human let Eclipse have only two cookies once they had cooled. Why? Eclipse didn't know. Because when he tried to argue that any human who came to 'visit', like Stone human said they would, didn't deserve the cookies Eclipse had made, Shadow cut him off. And Eclipse couldn't argue against Shadow no matter how much he wanted to… He needed Shadow.

And soon after they were done with making sweets, Shadow had some trouble unravelling a memory mess. So Eclipse helped with that too. So… Shadow needed him too. He hoped Shadow would hate him just a little less. Just a little. 

Chapter Text

The flat square (TV?) showed things called "episode". And it was a good way to see what humans did, enjoyed and feared. It was something Shadow and Stone human liked to look at after they had performed their late food ritual "dinner" and Eclipse liked it too. All of them sat in the soft sofa with Shadow sitting between Eclipse and Stone human and leaned back against the soft pillow things.

There were so many colours! And while Eclipse didn't know much of the context behind everything that was happening, he could see humans interacting with each other and talk with each other in this rectangular thing. This "Juan" human did a lot of things for that other long furred human. And apparently they were also a "man" and a "woman". Eclipse didn't understand why they had those titles, but he wouldn't ask either. 

He was supposed to be better, he was supposed to learn quickly and not ask stupid questions that he was supposed to know already. Because if he asked questions, he hadn't listened properly and understood. So he couldn't ask questions to things he was supposed to understand.

So… while these "episode" were confusing they were also a good source of information. He'd preferred that they killed each other more than they talked to each other, but Eclipse already understood that humans preferred using words than performing actions. Which was… inefficient. Actions could tell so much more so much faster. Like, attacking someone could show a bunch of different things. If this "Juan" human attacked that "Pablo" human it could get that long furred human a lot easier. But the biggest problem was that they were brothers… Obviously you wouldn't want to kill your own family. But "Juan" human also always acted like the "Gabriella" human was super important to it while the "Pablo" human didn't seem as important. Even if they hated each other, they were still family. But they didn't even try to help each other, they only fought over the "Gabriella" human using words. 

Was family between humans a lot more complicated than Eclipse thought they were…? How many family members could you have? Eclipse knew of "Father" and "Brother" and "Wife", but… But what else could be family? Who did Shadow consider as family? What did it mean to be someone's "lover"? And why did humans call another human a "brother" even if they weren't made by the same humans?

It was confusing… humans were confusing. They seemed to like making everything complicated.

Stone human's small rectangle let out a soft sound and he took out the rectangle thing. It was…. a "phone". Or a "remote"...? No, the remote was something that you pointed towards the flat rectangle thing to start it and play sounds and moving pictures.

"Shadow, the Wachowski family wants to invite you to dinner tomorrow. Would you like to go?" Stone human said to Shadow with a small smile. Eclipse and Shadow's ears both perked up at this and Eclipse was tense as he looked at Shadow.

Dinner… that was the special food ritual. Something those who lived together did. Shadow lived with Eclipse and Stone human, Shadow was supposed to perform that ritual with him. Not with those-. Those things-.

"Yes." Shadow answered with a nod and Eclipse couldn't see his expression when he said this. Eclipse sat up, but his head was tugged back against the pillow thing-. 

"W-Wait, what about your memory problem!?" Eclipse protested quickly, struggling to sit up properly because something kept his head against the pillow but he wanted to stop Shadow cause dinner was something he was supposed to do with Eclipse because they were family-. "That blue pest made your problem flare up really badly, I gotta be there too-!"

"I won't let you step foot in their home." Shadow shot him down with a snarl and a glare aimed at Eclipse. "You're going to overreact to things that aren't a bother and will cause problems for everyone. You're going to stay here." Shadow turned back to the Stone human. "I'll have dinner with them. Thank them for the invite."

"No! I can't leave you alone with those trash! They'll hurt you!" Eclipse said with a growl of his own, claws digging into the pillow thing behind him as he tried harder harder to pull away. He heard a soft ripping sound and he quickly found himself pinned back against the pillow by Shadow grabbing his throat.

"Stop destroying the sofa." Shadow hissed and tightened his grip around Eclipse's throat. He immediately relaxed, ears pinned back against his head. Cause that worked, right? Pinning them back showed he was sad and sorry, right-? 

"This is exactly why you can't be trusted. You're an outsider, an alien and a monster that destroys everything you don't like. The Wachowski family is important to me. I won't let you ruin that for me so you will stay away."

Eclipse was weak from exiting his transformation. Shadow hovered over him, eyes glowing orange with chaos energy. Eclipse's arm had been broken, Shadow's eyes were so full of anger and hate and his arm was burning and hurting so much but Eclipse had just wanted to kill that blue pest to take back his true brother and stop the mind poison from making Shadow hate them so much. 

Eclipse trembled as that memory came to mind. It felt so similar to now, Shadow hovering over him and snarling with hate, forcing Eclipse to stay put-. Eclipse tensed up his jaw, forcing his mouth shut because if he pleaded it would only get worse. If he pleaded, the threat would become a punishment and he hated pain and he hated punishments and he didn't want Shadow to hurt him or hate him-.

Shadow's grip around his throat relaxed slightly, and the intensity in his eyes lessened a little. Eclipse wouldn't beg, he wouldn't struggle, he needed Shadow-.

"Eclipse. Don't argue against me going to see them again."

A command. A silent promise of a punishment if Eclipse doesn't follow it. So he nodded what little he could, completely stuck between the sofa back pillow and Shadow.

Shadow let out a soft huff and let go of his throat. Only to reach behind Eclipse's head and grab his quills. Eclipse tensed up at the touch, because it was weird. He could feel the touch both where the quills came out and in the quills themselves and it was just so different from his usual head protrusions but also similar but smaller pieces instead of one compact thing.

He let out a soft, pained whimper when Shadow tugged on them and pulled him off the sofa back pillow. But… he was still pulled back by the sofa back pillow…

"How did you get this stuck in the cushion…??" Shadow asked with a frown, his gaze focused on the back of Eclipse's head. He tugged on Eclipse's quills again and he shivered at the sensation. It was just so… weird… And a little painful…

"Hold on, let me help." Stone human said as he stood from the couch, only to move behind Eclipse. Eclipse could feel Stone human's hands brush through his quills, tug on them and then tug on the sofa back pillow. Or… "cushion"...? Is that what Shadow called it…?

"This is... really stuck in there…" Stone human said with a strange tilt to his voice that Eclipse couldn't place. He was too focused on Shadow to really pay attention to it… "Eclipse, what did you do to get this stuck?"

"I just… sat…" Eclipse replied quietly, watching Shadow's frowning expression. His… gaze wasn't focused on Eclipse any more. Only his quills… So.. So Eclipse promising not to argue against Shadow interacting with those… things was enough for Shadow to not be mad with him any more? 

He didn't seem angry any more, only irritated… So-... So had he been angry? If he'd been angry, he would've done something worse… But now Shadow and Stone human were slowly working on releasing Eclipse from the sofa cushion's hold together. Shadow from the front and Stone human from the back…

Had Shadow been angry? Or had he been irritated? The memory of Shadow pinning Eclipse down and almost killing him had made Eclipse think he was truly angry with Eclipse… (He only wanted Shadow to be safe and not be in so much pain when his memories triggered) But… But maybe Shadow hadn't been angry…? Maybe he'd been irritated… And he pinned Eclipse and told him to stop destroying the sofa-.

Did he pin Eclipse to stop him from destroying this cushion thing…? Or was it to put him in his place…? Or maybe it was both…? Eclipse couldn't tell. But now they were focused on releasing Eclipse from the cushion.. Stone human seemed to be careful. And Shadow was a little harsher, but Eclipse knew he could pull even harder but he didn't. Shadow didn't pull on Eclipse just to make Eclipse feel more pain. He pulled to… release him from the cushion. It still hurt, but only a little.

So what was it…? Was Shadow mad…? Irritated? Was-... Was Eclipse safe from punishment…?

As long as Eclipse didn't hurt anyone, Eclipse could stay in this house. And as long as he didn't argue against Shadow going to see those things he wouldn't… what? What would happen if he argued against it? What would be the punishment for that? Eclipse didn't know… And he didn't want to find out either.

It took a few minutes, but Eclipse was eventually freed from the sofa cushion. And when Shadow told him to turn and look, he did. The cushion he'd been leaning against had a lot more holes than the places Shadow and Stone human had leaned against…

"Right, this means that this is your spot from now on Eclipse." Stone human told him with a small smile. "If you sit on the sofa, you sit here where the cushion is already partially damaged. You need to learn how to not get your quills stuck in them."

Shadow let out a soft sound in agreement and moved off Eclipse completely. He was both at a loss and relieved that Shadow moved away… 

"You need to lean back and move your upper body upwards. If you tilt your head back while leaning against it, your quills will get stuck." Shadow said while crossing his arms. "And they are sticking up in different directions. Fix it."

But he didn't know how that happened in the first place… Eclipse quietly reached back to brush his claws through his quills a few times. "Like that…?"

"No, that's not-." Shadow let out a sigh and pinched the space between his eyes. "We'll need to get you at least a quill brush… And fur brush, your chest fur is becoming a mess… You'll get one tomorrow."

… Why was having quills so difficult? It felt as difficult as humans interacting with each other… And like what he needed to do to make Shadow satisfied. Eclipse let out a soft huff of his own and brushed his claws through his quills again. It was… weird. He was still getting used to it.

"Shadow, I agree with Eclipse's worry in a way. If your memories trigger and you're in too much pain, you should come back home." Stone human said to Shadow as he leaned against the back rest of the sofa between Eclipse and Shadow.

"I could also teleport…" Eclipse added while looking at Stone human and Shadow. "If I feel you in pain, I could get to you immediately and unravel it…"

"I told you, I don't want you near the Wachowski family." Shadow's fierce glare returned. "You attacked Sonic as soon as you saw him. Stay away from them."

Eclipse flinched and looked away from Shadow. He just… wanted Shadow to be okay. But he couldn't make sure that Shadow was safe and free from pain if he couldn't be there…

"Perhaps you should let Eclipse help if it gets too bad, Shadow. I don't want you to be hurting unnecessarily. Or collapse while you're there." Stone said in Eclipse's favour and reached down to settle his hand on Shadow's shoulder. "I don't want you to be in more pain than absolutely needed. I think it's too early to spend time with them alone, but I also know how much they mean to you..."

Shadow's quills flared out as his glare was now aimed at Stone human instead. "I can handle myself. I am accepting their dinner invite and you-" Shadow looked at Eclipse again. "-are not going after me."

Eclipse didn't answer… Because he couldn't just-... not go if he felt his connection with Shadow open up and feel Shadow in pain. That's just… not Shadow. Eclipse had one purpose now, that purpose was to help Shadow lessen his pain and arrange his memories that had gotten scattered when the hive mind collapsed. 

Shadow pushed Eclipse off the couch and onto the floor as he stood up. He loudly declared that he was going on a run as he walked towards the exit. Eclipse didn't feel any pain from falling onto the floor, but something in his chest twisted at how Shadow slammed the door closed. 

Stone human stood up with a soft sigh. He then looked down at Eclipse (still lying on the floor) with a small smile. "Let's… give him some time. I doubt he enjoys having to admit that he's vulnerable when his memories act up. Do you want some mocha latte?"

Eclipse sat up with a small nod and quickly followed Stone human as he went into the kitchen. Eclipse sat down in the chair, like he usually did when he was in the kitchen, and watched Stone human as he took out a bunch of different containers. Stone human paused, then turned around to gesture with his head towards the counter.

"Help me make coffee this time."

With a focus of chaos energy, Eclipse was next to Stone human immediately and looked up at him with a large grin. Stone human jumped slightly at the sudden teleport and scolded Eclipse for teleporting inside the house. But Eclipse brushed it off, because it was a lot easier to teleport than walk everywhere. If he could make coffee, he could make Shadows coffee and that might make Shadow like him more!! He needed to know how to make coffee!

So Stone human went through the steps with him, repeatedly reminding Eclipse to be gentle as he handled the box thing that made coffee. They needed to grind beans, then put the powder in a circle cup thing with a handle… then pour water in the box and-. There were so many steps to just make one drink. Eclipse asked why Stone human bothered to go through these many steps for just one drink but the human just said that the result of the taste was worth it.

Making coffee was a lot harder than Eclipse thought it would be… Maybe he wouldn't be able to make Shadow coffee. Not unless he practiced… He could practice, but then he'd need to taste it. And he really didn't like coffee. And if he broke something while he practiced, both Shadow and Stone human would be angry with him because both of them really liked coffee.

So… Something Eclipse would try to do whenever he could. He would get better each time. He was sure of it! He was the greatest vanguard of the Black Arms and memorised multiple ways to kill another being. He could memorise how to use this coffee making thing! And the way it was plugged into the wall also showed that the coffee making thing was part of the human hive mind… so Eclipse wouldn't be able to use it without Shadow or Stone human present anyway.

He wanted to ask why everything in their hive mind had so many steps and was so inefficient, but that also felt like it would be a stupid question to ask. That Eclipse was supposed to find the answer himself. So… He didn't ask even if it really irritated him. 

At least the mocha latte drink he made tasted really good. And he got a cookie that they were supposed to "sell" tomorrow which was even better. Eclipse sent a mental image of this to Shadow, just to share it because Shadow wasn't here to see or experience it so Eclipse wanted Shadow to know what they were doing. But Stone human… didn't have the cup of coffee Eclipse made. Stone human had some warm water with a weird smelling bag placed in it. It made Eclipse frown at the human.

"If you hadn't been Shadow's human, I would have broken your bones with how ungrateful you are."

Stone sat up straight in his seat and stared wide eyed at Eclipse. "Pardon…? Why would I be ungrateful?"

"I made that coffee for you because you showed me how to make it!" Eclipse pointed towards the cup that held coffee on the counter, because Eclipse had insisted on making another. "And now you won't have it! It's great because I made it and it's even better than yours because of it!"

"Ah, no, sorry I didn't mean to be rude like that Eclipse. You did great handling the coffee machine." Stone human said with a small smile while holding his strange warm water drink. "But I can't have coffee when it's this late in the evening. I won't be able to sleep otherwise."

"Sleep isn't that important! I made it so you'll have it!" Eclipse stood up, walked over to the abandoned cup of coffee and firmly sat it down in front of Stone human despite his protests. The liquid spilled over a bit, but Eclipse didn't care. Because he needed to know that he was right, that the coffee he made was better than the Stone human's.

"Drink it!" Eclipse pointed at the coffee. "Shadow said it's bad to waste food and you're wasting it! And it's made by me so you know it's going to be perfect!"

Stone human paused for a few moments, then let out a soft huff and smiled. "Alright, I'll have it."

He waited with bated breath as Stone human picked up the cup and brought it to his mouth for a sip. No, he wasn't nervous. He knew it was good. He'd tasted his mocha latte and it was amazing. So he knew he did a good job.

He just-... He just wanted to make sure that Stone human thought the same thing too.

The human set the cup down with the smile still in place. He reached out towards Eclipse, making him tense up slightly, but Stone human settled his hand on Eclipse's shoulder just like he did for Shadow. Wait, that felt warm and comfortable like Stone human holding his hand in the store-.

"It tastes great, Eclipse. Thank you."

Warmth spread through Eclipse's whole body at the praise. Similarly to how Mast- Black Doom used to fill his body with emotional warmth but this came from inside Eclipse. And it came from his chest and spread out all out to his toes and fingertips. He could feel his tail wagging but he had no reason to stop it. Because-. Because that felt really nice. Like-... Like a hug that was inside of him. But it came from just a smile and a thank you.

"R-Right… I knew it was good." Eclipse said with a small nod, then returned to his seat to eat the rest of his cookie. His face was starting to feel even warmer even if Eclipse had willingly lowered his body temperature when making this body. Why was his body having this type of reaction to praise? He's gotten praise before! He's done good things and gotten praise for it and he felt really, really happy when he got praise for it then too!

He felt happy now, of course, but this was-... It was softer somehow. Warmer somehow. Eclipse didn't understand how this feeling from praise could have been even better than what he got before from Mas- Black Doom. Is it something only Stone human could do…? Was that the influence he could make with his chaos energy? Because it felt similar to chaos energy, this warmth. Stone human must have a great mastery of Chaos energy then… But how did that work? Stone human didn't even have chaos energy himself. But could Eclipse still learn that too? Could Eclipse help Shadow feel this nice too?

He hoped so… And this also explained why Shadow chose this Stone human to be his human. This feeling was really, really nice… Maybe Eclipse will do more things to have Stone human praise him in this way if it made him feel this nice and warm. And maybe Shadow will see that Eclipse is being good to Stone human and will let him come with to keep Shadow safe and free from pain everywhere he goes.

He needed to do things that would make Stone human praise him like this again. Definitely. Not destroying things and making things instead seemed to be things that Stone human liked. And something that didn't make Shadow annoyed. He'd make more things, then. He'd figure out how to make more things! 

Shadow still hadn't come back when Stone human told Eclipse it was time for them to sleep. And after he had brushed his teeth like Stone human told him to (he wasn't as meticulous since Shadow wasn't there who he needed to impress) a very crucial thought came to him.

Eclipse has only been taught how to destroy things… How would he figure out how to make things in order to get that nice warm feeling from praise….?

Eclipse hated how silent the nights were. He needed noise, everything was so still and quiet. 

Eclipse had pulled out some thin papers from that new box Stone human had bought and attached them to his quills before he went around to look for some noise. The flat screen didn't listen to him again, even when he pointed with that rectangular "remote" thing towards it like Stone human had done. So he had to find something else. And he needed something immediately so thin rustling papers in his quills it was. Some noise was made when he opened small doors and pulled out things to drop them to the floor, but that was brief noise. And only noise that happened when he interacted with it. He couldn't sleep while doing something at the same time!

How could anyone stand this silence? Sleep was only used to spare energy, there was no other function tied to it! At least not to the Black Arms. But Eclipse had to sleep because Stone human told him to sleep so he had to listen and sleep. (Shadow still hadn't come back where was Shadow was he safe was he okay?) But he just couldn't do it, especially not when it was this silent.

… Okay, well, sleep was not completely useless because sparing energy with sleep still made him more energetic the next day and he did get tired. But that's only because Eclipse was special! Because he had such a high amount of chaos energy, it constantly leaked out. And sleeping was one of the best ways to gather new chaos energy. At least, that's how Master had explained it-.

Eclipse's breath hitched slightly and he shook his head to make the thin papers rustle. He tried to reach out to the hive mind again but all he received in return was static. Static and a wall that blocked him off. 

He was Black Doom and he was dead… And he had thrown away Eclipse before he died… Eclipse was a failure, his mind had been poisoned and hadn't been able to be trusted-.

But how could he have gotten poisoned…? He hadn't been poisoned, he hadn't! He just wanted Shadow back… He just wanted Shadow to be alive and be with them… Because Shadow was his brother. Eclipse was made to support Shadow, that was his goal and purpose and Mast- Black Doom had wanted to take away his purpose… To kill Shadow… But if Shadow had been dead, Eclipse might as well have been dead too because someone who doesn't hold a purpose doesn't deserve to be alive-!

Eclipse let out a soft whimper, took hold of his quills and pulled on them painfully. Stop. Stop! He didn't want those thoughts, his thoughts felt so LOUD and he didn't like it, he wanted those thoughts to be gone and he needed noise because they were just so loud!

"Eclipse…? Again?" A very tired voice called out and Eclipse tensed up as he turned to look at the Stone human. There were a lot of metal containers surrounding Eclipse that he'd stacked on top of each other to make clanking noises.

"Your hive mind still doesn't work when I tell it to!" Eclipse gestured towards the metal round containers. "I'm bored again, I don't need sleep. Wake something up!"

Stone human let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead. "We should… try and get you a hobby sometime soon. Are you worried about Shadow?"

Eclipse twitched and looked away from the human, placing another round metal container on top of a larger one. To make his tower higher. "No… Shadow is strong. Nothing on this stupid planet could hurt him, much less kill him."

He wasn't worried. He wasn't! He just wanted to make sure Shadow came back… That's all. And it was too quiet! He wasn't worried about Shadow being gone, nope.

"Come on. Let's put these back and I'll start the TV for you." Stone human said as he approached the metal tower Eclipse made. But Eclipse quickly teleported in his way and held his arms out to protect it. Because he-! It was a tower and not just metal containers!

"No! I made this so they stay! You won't touch it." He bared his teeth towards Stone human with a soft growl.

While Stone human didn't react in fear from his threat, at least Stone human stopped walking towards the metal container tower. Instead, the human nodded. "Alright, it can stay until morning then. I'll turn on the TV for you. Is there something special you'd like to watch?"

"Just something." Eclipse walked after Stone human and sat down on the sofa, in the place that was "his" now.  He pressed down his quills with his hands as he leaned back, to make sure they wouldn't get stuck again. Stone human pointed the small rectangular remote towards the flat rectangle and the screen came to life. A strange creature with an unhooked jaw suddenly launched towards the screen with human screams in the background. 

Stone human jumped at the picture, but Eclipse only relaxed. That was a hive mind picture of some human being attacked. He wondered where that was happening… It would have been a good candidate to join the Black Arms with how violently it was tearing into its victim.

But the picture quickly shifted to a serene looking forest instead where there was a human voice talking about its properties and an animal that lived in it. Stone human let out a soft sigh, settled the remote thing on the table and gave a light pat to Eclipse's shoulder.

"I'll go back to bed. Don't stay up for too long, Eclipse. Shadow will be alright and he'll return in the morning." Stone then put a blanket over Eclipse's lap and left to go back to his room.

Eclipse didn't bother to reply, because that's when the picture shifted to show something standing on a leaf. But he'd seen leaves… Was this creature as large as a leaf? But then it was really small! How could something so small be called a hunter? Now he was interested to know about it, because anything that was a hunter was more interesting than boring passive humans. Preying Mantis… Eclipse liked that thing. He shared a view of it with Shadow, because he might like that too.

Shadow came back inside through teleporting later into the night, right when the show about the Mantis was coming to a close. Eclipse and Shadow looked at each other for a few moments. Shadow slightly dirty from being out. Eclipse sat in front of the flat rectangle "TV" with a blanket around him to push down his quills so they wouldn't get stuck again. Shadow let out a soft scoff, then walked towards the bathroom.

"Stop sharing your vision with me…" Shadow said, but his voice didn't hold as much bite as it usually did when he reprimanded Eclipse. Then, he closed and locked the bathroom behind him, something inhabitants on this planet did to show they wanted to be alone. Same as when they went into their personal rooms.

Eclipse didn't understand why that felt… soft. It felt almost like a thank you from Shadow but he didn't have any reason to thank Eclipse. He hadn't even done anything? Eclipse focused on the TV thing again, but this time it was less interesting. Only about a place filled with a lot of cold and tons of white… Eclipse fell asleep to the noise, not even hearing or registering when Shadow was finished in the bathroom. Didn't even notice when he was pushed down to lay on his side to sleep rather than sitting up. Eclipse slept through it all as Shadow retreated back to his room to take his own rest for the night.

It was the "grand re-opening" for this… coffee shop stuff Stone human did. It meant that the three of them had eaten breakfast (only Stone human having something to eat while Eclipse and Shadow just had a warm drink) then they had started to clean the space downstairs. Just like they had done when they first came to this nest… home… house… something. (It wasn't a home, not yet, but maybe it will one day-.)

The plastic handle in Eclipse's hand let out a cracking sound and he quickly eased up on his grip. This "feather duster" thing was good at removing something called "dust" but Eclipse didn't even know what that was. So he stroked it against flat surfaces like Stone human had told him to. Table, chair, counter… All of them were flat surfaces so they must've gotten this "dust" thing.

Eclipse's nose twitched as he caught a very sweet and nice scent. He looked over to see Stone human and Shadow coming out from the downstairs kitchen room with trays. Where one tray held very familiar looking cookies.

"Hey! I made those!!" Eclipse dropped the feather duster thing to point at the tray Stone human held. "Those should be in the cookie box!"

"No, these were made to sell in my shop. I already told you." Stone human set the tray to be displayed in that glass case and Shadow had a tray with strange brown square things, a similar brown to whatever Shadow had made on his own when Eclipse made the cookies. Eclipse went over to look at the trays through the glass.

They all seemed… bright. Strange shapes where some were taller than others. One half having more green than the other. Eclipse's cookies were on the "no green" side of the container. Were these things all for the humans who would come in here…? He frowned up at Stone human. 

"Humans don't deserve to have the cookies I make. They're weak."

"They're our customers." Stone replied with a shake of his head and went off towards the coffee maker thing. "They come in and pay us money to have coffee, pastries or sandwiches. As long as they pay the amount they cost, the customers will get what they want. It's the same process as when we bought food to fill up our kitchens."

Hearing this made Eclipse pause and look between the things in the glass case and Stone human. Was… Stone human going to be part of the hive mind to go through this process…? Would he also gain that blank stare and bleak smile as those in the "store" had? But… how would they be scanned? None of these things had that black box with streak thing like the things in the store. 

Ugh, it was so confusing to think about… Eclipse didn't know what any of these things were called so he couldn't think it all through in a way he liked either. Okay, a step back, he could give it his own name and look it over in another way. Eclipse picked up the feather duster thing to continue stroking it against flat surfaces.

So… humans needed this "money" in order to get what they want. They didn't take things. They gave money so they could have the thing they wanted. That's something Eclipse understood even if it was stupid.

Stone human and Eclipse created those cookies so they could be given away so Stone human could get money… And Stone human used that money to get food things so he could eat and make the "lunch" and "dinner" ritual with Shadow and Eclipse. Shadow and Eclipse both ate as much as one human so Stone human was thankful that his money wasn't stretched as thin even with the two of them living here…

This "Coffee shop" Stone human had was a way for Stone human to get money from other humans by giving them cookies, coffee and the other things in that glass case… So this was the way Stone human got money so he could use that money to get Shadow, Eclipse and Stone human the things they wanted.

So… This coffee shop place was a way to get money so Eclipse could get what he wanted to get… But how would humans know how much money they should give Stone human to get what they wanted? And why should they give out the things the other trash humans asked for? They could take the money and just not give them the cookie they wanted. Eclipse's cookies were special! They were worth more than normal cookies. So humans should give even more money to get his cookies. And that would help Stone human too.

Eclipse nodded slightly to himself. He'd make sure that the Stone humans got more money from the cookies Eclipse made. Then Stone human could get more stuff, he'd praise Eclipse for being helpful and Shadow would see that Eclipse was doing good things to his human and Shadow would like Eclipse more! They'd exploit other humans for their money to get more money for themselves! 

It took the three of them another few minutes to get the space "ready for customers" and Stone human stood in front of both of them with no clear expression Eclipse could describe. Maybe it could be seen as a serious one.

"Alright, we'll be opening up our coffee shop soon. So let's go over the rules again." Stone human looked between both Eclipse and Shadow. "No teleporting inside unless it's an emergency. Don't be rude to the customers which means no condescending or mean comments. If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything."

"And no hurting them because they have the money we want." Eclipse added while straightening his back. He felt very proud that he understood that part!

"Yes, no hurting them either." Stone human nodded while Shadow gave Eclipse a frowning side eye. "Don't eat anything that's on display. And lastly, you will do as I say. Any questions?"

Eclipse had many. But most of them seemed irrelevant to what was about to happen… Except for one that he'd thought about earlier. 

"How much money do you take from humans when they want something we made? The things we made are super special!" Eclipse pointed towards himself and Shadow. "Trash should give even more to have something made by us."

"The prices of everything are listed on the boards behind the counter." Stone human said and pointed towards those black flat squares with letters and numbers. Huh… "While you two did really well at baking the brownies and cookies, we won't charge more for those. That would be unfair to our customers. The cookies you made aren't more special than the ones made by others."

"Of course they are! I made them!" Eclipse pointed to the cookies in that glass case. "I never make stuff, of course they'd be special!"

"Eclipse, we are not charging more money for a specific cookie. The customers won't be happy and will refuse to come back if we change how much they cost depending on the cookie they chose." Stone human crossed his arms with a firm frown. "This is not up for debate. Money is exchanged for goods and services. We provide both. If we want them to come back, we must provide what they expect from us. Which means, no fluctuating prices or too expensive items."

But Stone human could get so much more money and get more things if he did that! Eclipse wanted to argue more, but Shadow put a hand on his shoulder to pull Eclipse back. So he stayed quiet…

Right, listening to the human was one of the rules… If Eclipse went against the rules, then Shadow would be angry. He didn't want Shadow to be even more angry… So Eclipse looked away with an irritated huff.

"Right… Shadow, you will be on the floor taking care of dishes and giving out customer orders. Eclipse and I will stand behind the counter." Stone human said with a small nod. "We'll start out with this and see how it goes. Eclipse, do you remember how to handle the coffee machine?"

"Of course I do." No, not really but he couldn't admit that-. "But your hive mind things don't work when I try to tell it to do things."

"It's not a hive mind, it's technology." Shadow said with a scoff and let go of Eclipse's shoulder. "It works with conditions and interactions, not automatically through thoughts."

Eclipse whipped his head around to Shadow and stared at him with wide eyes. Wait, what-?

"Alright boys, time to open the shop." Stone human walked forward towards the front doors with a smile. He raised the cover over the windows and there were humans in front of the door just… standing around and waiting.

Eclipse quickly teleported behind the counter as Stone human unlocked the door. Shadow reprimanded him for it, but he was just surprised by how many humans there were! And they'd all been staring in! Eclipse felt his quills raise as Stone human opened the door to greet these trash with a smile and gestured them inside.

That smile… didn't seem fake. So Stone human hadn't connected with the human hive mind yet to start that "selling" process. … Wait, Shadow said it wasn't a hive mind… But then how-?

"Oh aren't you precious?" A loud voice said suddenly, which made Eclipse turn towards the sound with a snarl and flexed claws. A human with white fur on its head and strange lines all over its face. It flinched back from Eclipse's snarl, like it should-.

"Sorry, don't mind him. He's new to interacting with people." Stone human stepped up next to Eclipse and placed a hand between his ears. The touch was… warm. Very warm and very nice. Eclipse's snarl disappeared to look up at Stone human instead. It felt similarly warm as when Stone human held his hand in that food store… Head pats were for praise. Right, Eclipse didn't attack this human cause it was too weak to be a threat. Was Stone human praising him for not attacking, then? Eclipse stroked his arms to make the fur on them stop standing up.

"I see, nothing to worry about." The human relaxed and aimed a small smile towards Stone human. "So you're the one taking care of our two new hedgehogs. It's nice to see you again, dear."

"The pleasure is all mine, miss." Stone human said with a smile and went past Eclipse to approach the strange flat screen sitting on the counter. "What type of coffee would you like?"

"A dark roast, please." The white furred woman said as it reached into a section of its clothes to pull out something small and rectangular. What was it with humans and using square and rectangle things?? Did they just like the shape?

Eclipse watched as Stone human touched the flat, glowing rectangle. Then the white furred human held a thin rectangular thing towards the contraption Stone human was handling and made it beep. That sounded like the scanning beep from the store… Was that device registering what thing the white furred human wanted?

"Eclipse, could you fetch a coffee cup? The smaller one." Stone human said as he walked towards the coffee box. And with one jump, Eclipse landed on the back counter to reach the stack of small cups. He was careful when he picked up one of those small cups and held it out towards Stone human.

"How do you enjoy Green hills so far, little hedgehog?"

Eclipse looked towards the white furred human, its face lines were warped strangely when its mouth formed into an up curve, a smile. Hedgehog…? Eclipse wasn't a hedgehog, he was a Darkling, part of the Black Arms, the greatest race in the universe!

"It's annoying. And inefficient." Eclipse said with a huff and scrunched up his nose like Shadow did when he was irritated.

The white furred human's smile dropped and it tilted its head slightly. "Inefficient? Well, I'd say it's the opposite with most things. Where do you come from that makes Green Hills seem inefficient?"

"He's still coming to terms with how our technology works, ma'am. I'm sure his opinion will change soon." Stone human answered before Eclipse could and he aimed a small smile towards the other human. "We will bring out your coffee to you. Eclipse, could you handle the rest?"

Stone human gestured towards the coffee maker box. And Eclipse could see that strange circle cup with a handle was on the counter with some powder filling it in a small mound. Then… Eclipse miiight remember what was next. So he gave Stone human a nod and went over to stand on the stool in front of the coffee box. Stone human started to talk with another human to hear what they wanted.

Flatten out the powder… Then put the circle handle thing in its slot and twist it until it clicks. Then… uhm… The glowing circle…? No, that made the machine stop making buzz sound, Stone human pressed that one after the coffee was done. Then which circle was it…?

"It's the cup that's half full, Eclipse." Stone human's voice came up next to him and the human aimed a small smile towards Eclipse. He then pointed towards the circle.

Huh… It did have some form of picture on it. That was a cup that's half full? Eclipse touched the circle to make the box beep, then quickly moved to get the cup under the machine to catch the liquid that came out. Now that he looked at those other circles next to the "half full" one, he could see that they showed different levels of how full a cup should be. He'll remember that.

"Bring that to the counter and call for Shadow to bring it to the miss when it's done." Stone human said and pat Eclipse on the shoulder, then started to grind beans for the next cup of coffee.

So when the coffee was done, Eclipse put it on a small coffee plate and set it on the free counter space. Shadow came over before Eclipse even got to call him.

"Who is it for?" Shadow picked up the coffee cup as he asked this. And Eclipse shared the view of that white furred human with him as an answer, that was a lot easier than telling him.

It made his brother twitch and snarl at Eclipse. "Stop doing that."

"But it's easier! Now you know which human it's for." Eclipse frowned in return. Shadow let out a soft growl towards him, then went over towards that white furred human Eclipse had shown him. See? Super efficient! Showing pictures was a lot easier than just talking about it.

Eclipse helped Stone human serve a few more cups of coffee and with more humans came more noise in the building. Eclipse found himself relaxing in the busy atmosphere, this was sort of similar to the hive mind… Conversations instead of feelings. One picture with moving creatures instead of many pictures of many creatures. It was… comfortable. Maybe Eclipse wouldn't mind humans being around him if they weren't so weak, fragile and tried to talk with Eclipse as if they were equals. They made good noise in the background…

"Eclipse, can you put a brownie on a plate?"

He quickly went over to Stone human again, took a plate that he pointed towards. Then…. he looked at the things in the glass container. Which one was-...? Brownie…? Brownie… a brown 'inie' thing? There's two brown things, one that's cookies and the other darker brown that Shadow made. Eclipse could see a human on the other side of the glass and it was pointing towards the thing Shadow made with a small smile aimed at Eclipse. 

Well, he already figured that out, trash. His nose wrinkled slightly, but he didn't say anything as he reached out with a hand to grab it-. His hand got lightly moved away by the Stone human.

"No, not with your hand. With the thongs." Stone human pointed towards a strange tool that looked like a V. "You used them when you put the cookies in the box. We don't want to grab anything the customers are eating with our hands, alright?"

… That was a stupid rule. Grabbing it with your hand would make it so much easier. But he was supposed to listen to Stone human so he'd do as the human said. Eclipse was careful with the tool and was even more careful (tongue sticking out a little between his front teeth cause that made it easier to be careful) when he grabbed the brownie square thing. Even if he was careful it still got a little squeezed, but it was mostly square. He put it on the plate and Stone human lightly pat Eclipse's head when he passed.

That warmth came again, those head pats felt really, really nice. It wasn't verbal praise but it was a type of praise that Eclipse has never gotten before and he wanted more of it from Stone human. He'd do good and make both Stone human and Shadow like him because he was good at following the rules and because he learned quickly. Everything was stupid and complicated but Eclipse would do it!

"Oh you're so adorable." The brown long furred human said with a soft laugh when Eclipse placed the brownie plate in front of it. "Thank you, little one."

The human reached out to take the plate, only for Eclipse to remember something. This was made by Shadow! He pulled it away and held it out of the human's reach.

"This is worth more than any brownie thing you'll ever have! Give more money for it."

The human looked at Eclipse with wide eyes, then its eyes narrowed with a frown. "Excuse me?"

"Eclipse, don't-."

"This was made by Shadow! Of course it's worth more than normal, he's the best at everything. So give more." Eclipse then held out one hand towards the human while still holding the brownie plate away.

The plate Eclipse held was taken and Stone human pushed Eclipse to the side. He wasn't bothered by Eclipse's growl but only smiled at the other human. "Sorry for him, here, your brownie."

The long furred human looked between Stone human and Eclipse. Then it started to smile and took out its strange square thing. "Oh, I see how it is. My kids would do this too." The human then took out a small round thing and held it out towards Eclipse. "Here, little one. Is this good enough to get your brother's special brownie?"

Eclipse stared at the round thing while he sniffed in the air. Metal… That little thing was metal. He took it before Stone human could protest and looked it over. It had a 1 and a 0 on it… 10. He'd seen these small things get handed in the store. This was a money thing humans used! Eclipse's tail started to wag as he looked at this small circle thing. Good! Humans should know that the things he and Shadow made are worth more like this!

"Hm. Good! You can have it now." Eclipse nodded towards the human. He got 10 money things! He placed the small metal circle behind the glass case close to Shadow's brownies. His ear twitched when he heard Stone human say "thank you" softly while the other human replied with "no problem". Then, there were no more humans to talk with and Stone human went to clean the coffee box.

Eclipse smiled towards Stone human with his fluffy chest puffed up. "See? They are worth more since they're special!"

"You can ask them, but don't get angry or disappointed if they decline, Eclipse. They are still our customers. And they need to be treated with respect."

Eclipse's smile disappeared at that… Why was Stone human not praising him? Eclipse was getting them more money! He let out a scoff and crossed his arms.

"Trashy humans don't deserve my respect… They should be thankful I'm not killing them."

He flinched when his ear was flicked and he turned towards Stone human with a deep growl. But Stone human pointed a finger towards Eclipse's face. "Don't pull that attitude with me. You don't say things like that."

Eclipse moved to bite at that pointing finger, but he moved slow enough that Stone human could pull away. The growl in his throat increased in volume. "I could tear you apart limb from limb before you even became aware of it, human."

"If you say one more thing that I disapprove of, you won't get the special treat after work."

… Treat…? The growl came to a sudden halt and his ears perked up. Treat meant reward… but a food reward. And a food reward was something sweet. Stone human had mentioned it, but Eclipse had forgotten about it completely. He wanted that treat…

So even if Eclipse was irritated that he didn't give Eclipse the praise he deserved for getting them more money, he wanted that treat… So he turned away from Stone human with a huff and watched Shadow instead. His brother was talking to the humans, stroked a cloth over tables and took plates and cups towards the back.

Eclipse got some more extra money for Shadows brownies and his cookies. A small stack of "10" money metal circles was made by the glass case and Eclipse felt very proud over it. But then, he started to see signs of Shadow being tense… His quills were more stiff. There was a tightness to his jaw. His eyes were narrowed and when Eclipse lightly pushed against the bond, it didn't feel as firm of a wall like usual. Something was up. 

Eclipse quickly went into the kitchen space after Shadow and watched his brother stack the dishes in containers. "Stop interacting with those trash if they irritate you."

Shadow twitched when he heard Eclipse, but otherwise didn't stop arranging the cups and plates. "I'm fine. Focus on helping Stone with the orders."

"You're not fine, you can't hide it from me." Eclipse countered with a huff. "You're distracted and irritated. You don't have to talk with trash if you don't want to."

"Shut up." Shadow snapped back with a growl. He was about to say more when the door to the kitchen opened and Stone human stepped inside.

"Shadow? Is something wrong?"

"No." 

"He's irritated." Eclipse said and ignored Shadow's glare. "And distracted. He doesn't like talking to those trash."

Stone human was about to say something, paused and let out a soft huff. He then focused on Shadow. "Are you feeling overwhelmed? You can take a break if you need to."

"I'm fine. I can continue." Shadow straightened up when he said this, but Eclipse let out a disbelieving huff. He could still somewhat feel Shadow, so he was not okay.

"It's time for lunch anyway." Stone human said as he glanced to the thing attached to his wrist. "You take first lunch, Shadow. Eclipse, could you take the floor? Just do as Shadow did, cleaning tables and such."

"Fine. They should be thankful to be given things by me."

"Thank you. Take 45 minutes to rest, Kalbi. It's alright." Stone human crouched down to place a hand against Shadow's shoulder. Eclipse saw how his brother relaxed from the touch and gave Stone human a small nod.

Good. Now Shadow would be better. Eclipse didn't want to interact with humans, but it was better than Shadow being tense and uncomfortable. Eclipse gave Shadow a small nod before he went out into the coffee shop again with Stone human. There was a coffee cup on the counter and Stone human directed him towards a human with fur on its face. So Eclipse carried the cup over and set it down in front of the human.

No words were exchanged. So Eclipse went to another table to pick up an empty cup to carry it towards the kitchen. After a few more walks back and forth, and not replying to any humans who tried to talk with him (they had nothing important to say to Eclipse so there was no use in talking with them).

One human was surprisingly quiet and stayed in the coffee shop for a long time. It wanted many cups of coffee while it looked over a rectangular thing that it had open and moved thin sheets back and forth.

Book… Eclipse faintly remembered that it was a book. Things that the husks read to get information about earth during the war… So Eclipse got curious. He looked at the book the human was reading and it took him only a few moments to sort through the information he had so he could read it as well. Knight? Princess? Rose garden? What were all of those things?

"Are you also interested in reading?"

Eclipse looked at the human, then the book. It was a way to get information… And Eclipse needed more information so he wouldn't have to ask questions and get punished for it. This human could be worth speaking to.

"Tell me where I can get those." Eclipse pointed towards the book. 

The human smiled towards Eclipse. And that's when he learned about libraries from this human. It was useful information and he told the human that it had been useful and gave it a pat on the head to show praise. Eclipse would find and use a "library" as soon as he could. He needed the information that books had.