Hello there. Erm... just bear with me a moment. Ah, er, yes. This isn't my first fic, but it is my first Sonic fic. So if die-hard fans notice Discrepancies between it and the games or comics or whatever, I'm sorry. Sonic belongs to SEGA, blah, blah, blah... Please leave feedback, good, bad, even flame me if you must, but if you do at least have the guts to leave your e-mail. Thanks. Enjoy the story!
Sonics' Blue
The neon lights of the Casino Night zone mingled perfectly with the with the soft back ground music that was pumped through any number of pink fluorescent speakers to create a atmosphere only slightly more pleasant than having your body vigorously rubbed with a cheese-grater. Not for the first time, Sonic wondered just what the hell he was doing there. He supposed it was just his nature that he would seek out the dankest depressing place he could when he was feeling low. He lifted his head an inch or so from the bar and hummed softly along to the tune. After all, hell was what you made it.
He was in a seedy club in a seedier section of the zone. Several women had propositioned him on his way. He winced inwardly at the memory. The last one had been a hedgehog. Devilishly cute but disturbingly young and bright yellow, Sonic had lost his ordinarily absolute cool, smiled inanely and got the hell out of there. So there he was, ultra-marine spikes drooping and trainers soggy in a way that he hated, and, most damningly of all, there wasn't even a good reason for it. A fine mist of rain had settled over his fur and was making him feel uncomfortably hot, like he was being smothered by the zone. He was just blue. Both literally and figuratively.
Propping up the bar and eyeballing the five empty tequila shot glasses lined up on the table, Sonic tried to take stock. He supposed he was just wondering what the point of it all. He'd thrashed Robotnik since he was old enough to thrash, and it seemed like he'd be protecting Mobius for so long now, he'd stopped living in it. It was like bad habit that had crept up on him without his noticing. He'd just woken up one morning and realised it. Even now it wasn't over. Robotnik was obviously hidden away deep in some industrial portion of the planet searching desperately for some means to take over Mobius and enslave the populace. And when he came, Sonic the Hedgehog had to be ready. There was Knuckles and Tails of course, but the fox was still young and lacked experience, and Knuckles... well lets just say that he'd been duped by Robotnik once before. Sonic was the glue holding them together, they needed him, and Sonic couldn't turn his back on them. He way as well be honest, he needed their support as much as they needed his. He was just tired. He'd come to a pit stop in his life, and he was looking back over the choices he'd made, and silently wondering what his life would be like if he'd made different ones. Sometimes he longed for the mundane. He wanted to settle down. He wanted to love and be loved.
That was another thing that was getting him down. He was sick of being alone. He wanted someone. He sighed deeply and downed his sixth tequila. Now he cursed the-not-so-long-ago days where he'd pushed Amy Rose's affections aside in order to focus on something else, usually saving the planet. It wasn't that he didn't like Amy, make no mistake about that, it was just that when she'd been interested in him, he'd hardly noticed her. He hated himself for that. Now she didn't express her feelings as much as she used to, in fact she hardly said anything to him anymore. She was probably tired of being given the cold shoulder, and Sonic couldn't blame her one little bit.
Through gritted teeth, Sonic glanced down at the Shot glass that he'd been holding in his clenched fist. A thin spidery network of cracks had appeared up the side of it under Sonic's palm. Surprised at his own strength, Sonic carefully set the glass on the bar top and thankfully it didn't shatter. He began to think about Amy. He loved the way her quills fell either side of her head, following the contours of her face. He loved the way she had a little tuft of unkempt fur at the front of her head, much like his best buddy Tails's. He loved the goofy hair band she always seemed to be wearing, and he loved her incredibly cute dresses. Then there were her eyes. They weren't quite blue, and they weren't quite green, but you get the idea. When she looked at him though... it was like she could stop his heart.
He felt a tingle at the pit of his stomach at thinking of the hedgehog and he could feel his face beginning to flush. He decided that that definitely meant that she meant something to him, but even in this depressed state Sonic the Hedgehog was not about to be seen blushing in public. So he went back to staring dejectedly at his empty glasses. He began to hum against the flow of the awful repetitive background music, and became so lost in the song in his mind that he murmured a line of it to himself without even realising it.
"Life... Some- times- it-washes over me..."
Presently, the bar door was pushed open and in waddled a penguin wearing a grey trench coat and ridiculous matching trilby. The hat and coat were soaked, and in the brief moment the door had been open Sonic had heard the tell-tale pitter-patter outside, so he leapt to the conclusion that it was persisting down. Not that that would matter to an oily Arctic seabird. Sonic looked toward the door and felt a pang of worry for the yellow hedgehog that he'd seen earlier. He closed his eyes briefly. He prayed silently that wherever she was she was safe and out of the rain.
Meanwhile, the penguin had hung up his hat and hopped onto the barstool right beside Sonic to his right. He placed a shiny black wing on the bar.
"G and T, please," He said to the dog barman. The canine smiled politely, and turned to mix the penguin's drink. Sonic took this opportunity to catch the barman's eye and point at the empty glasses. The dog nodded at him. Sonic wasn't sure what breed he was, possibly mixed, but he looked like a boxer. He was brown, mostly, save for a white patch covering his right eye. He turned back and placed the penguin's drink on the bar in front of him. The penguin reached for it, took a sip, and allowed himself to slouch in his chair a little, contentedly. It was only at this point that he actually noticed Sonic at all, as he glanced sideways at him.
"Quiet night, huh?"
Sonic grunted at him, and made no effort to convey his opinion on whether it was or indeed was not quiet tonight. As it happened, they were the only two at the bar, but there were a couple in one of the booths at the back of the club. The penguin studied Sonic more closely.
"You look familiar." He said in an attentive voice. "Have we met before?"
Sonic tuned his head over on the bar to face the penguin. "No, I don't think so."
At this the penguin's eye's widened.
"My god!" He cried. "You're him!"
The word 'bugger' swirled slowly around Sonic's mind as he made frantic hand gestures to get the penguin to keep it down about the fact that he was indeed 'him'.
"Jerome," The penguin said happily, offering Sonic his flipper. "Jerome Hordern."
Sonic took the bird's wing and shook it lightly.
"Sonic," he said unnecessarily.
"I thought it was you!" the penguin beamed proudly. "You know, you saved my brother Alex from the Oil Ocean zone a while back."
"Did I?" Sonic replied absently, returning to lying with his head face down on his arms.
"Yes, you did." Jerome continued. "He was trapped inside an Aquis for eight months." He shook his head in disgust. "Nasty."
There was a short pause as Jerome waited for half of the conversation that wasn't coming. Presently, he leaned in close to Sonic's ear and whispered conspiratorially:
"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
Sonic visibly shrugged, yet made no effort to allow the bird to see his face.
"Well, I was just wondering," The bird still whispered, "why do you always wear those white gloves?"
There was a brief ten second pause before Sonic sat up. He looked down at his hands. Why did he always wear those white gloves? He didn't know himself. It was just something he'd always done.
"I don't know myself," Sonic confirmed. "It's just something I've always done."
Jerome stared at him blankly. Sonic caught his expression out of the corner of his eye and turned to face him, relenting.
"Well, I suppose it's just because I like to keep my hands clean and they seem to go quite well with my trainers."
"That's another thing," Jerome said quickly. "Your hands. What do they look like?"
Sonic stared at him.
"They look like hands," Sonic replied exasperatedly. "Why do you care?"
"Just curious. I mean I've always just wondered what they look like."
Sonic blinked several times as he rolled this information around in his head.
"You're telling me," Sonic said slowly, "that you while away your wee small hours wondering what my bloody hands look like?"
The bird shrugged at him.
"Can I see them?"
The hedgehog blinked and shook his head a little, not to deny the request but to try and clear the alcohol that was just beginning to touch the back of his brain. This was turning into quite a surreal night. He shrugged. He supposed that there was no harm in it.
"You can see one." Sonic said, shooting a narrow sideways glance at Jerome. Slowly, sonic worked the middle finger out of his left-hand glove, and using the slack that this created, pulled the glove off slowly. With a flourish he set the glove on the bar, and turned to face Jerome. He held out his hand for the bird's inspection. The back of his hand was as blue as his quills, and it created a sharp clash with the tan of his arm. Slowly he turned his hand over and Jerome could see that his palm and his finger tips were the same colour as his chest and cheeks, albeit a little paler, and the area in-between was blue. At the end of each slender finger there protruded by a few millimeters a thin black claw.
"Happy now?" Sonic said sardonically.
"Man," The penguin said, draining his drink, "Are they ugly."
Jerome set down the glass, threw a five casino dollar bill on the bar and pushed open the door to leave, pausing only briefly to retrieve his hat. Sonic caught a faint 'See ya!' as the door swung shut. Sonic stared at the space Jerome had occupied for a few moments before he turned back to the bar and picked up his tequila.
"Yeah, well," He sighed to no-one, knocking his drink back, "That's another reason I wear the gloves."
Sonic retrieved the puffed out hand accessory from the bar top and miserably pulled it back on. He somewhat drunkenly surveyed the bar. No one there. Boring.
"Bartender," Sonic said rapping the bar lightly with his freshly sheathed mitt, "One more."
The dog looked at his severely.
"I don't know," He said softly. "You've had seven already. Are you even good for it?"
Sonic stared at him unblinking for a few seconds. Then he spoke.
"Do you know how many times I've almost been shot, stabbed, crushed, choked, drowned, guillotined, electrocuted, burnt, blown up and generally been killed trying to protect you, your family and everyone else on this planet?"
The bartender's features softened. He turned and poured an eighth shot and plonked it down in front of Sonic.
"On the house."
"I could tell you y'know." He said sadly to his tequila. "And I could also tell you how many solid relationships I've been involved in the last year."
He made his thumb and forefinger into a zero and held it up for the bartender to see.
"You're having a dry patch." The dog said sympathetically. "It happens."
Sonic snorted a laugh. "It's been happening to me my whole life."
"Oh, come on." The dog said softly. "It's not all that bad. Say, weren't you dating Princess Acorn for a little while?"
Sonic sat bolt upright. "You know about that?"
"Ah c'mon everyone knows about that. See? It's not that bad."
"That... that was like another life time ago." Sonic said, chuckling slightly at the memory. "It was just a kiddie romance really. We finally both realised that we didn't have anything in common and parted on good terms."
The bartender smiled a small smile at him. "You'll meet someone."
Sonic grunted, a sound that could be taken as either positive of negative. He looked up suddenly.
"What's your name by the way?"
"Me?" The dog said. "Simon."
"Well Simon," Sonic said, downing the shot, "one more, and have one yourself."
Simon grinned. "Whatever you say, sir."
Sonic shook his head smiling. Simon poured two more shots and handed one to Sonic. They clinked glasses before downing the shots in unison. Simon closed his eyes for a few seconds afterward.
"Hits the spot doesn't it?" Sonic laughed. Simon nodded vigorously, unable, for the time being, to speak. It was at about this time that the door swung open and a new visitor entered the bar.
Tails was getting fed up with this. He'd trudged all over this rotten zone in search of Sonic, and so far had caught no trace of him. He'd lost count of the number of dark seedy smoky urine soaked dives he'd visited, and the number of times he'd narrowly avoided a good honest kicking. Now, his thin rain coat was slick with rainwater and clung to his saturated shivery body like a second skin, and what was worse, he was beginning to smell like the zone around him. Yeah, well no more. He'd search this last bar, and if Sonic wasn't in it, screw him. He could take care of himself anyway. Tails pulled the collar of his raincoat up high around his neck, sighed a deep sigh and pushed his way through the door. He was met with the strong smell of tequila that hit him like a slap in the face. Then he saw Sonic. He was leaning lazily over the bar top, his stool tilted back slightly at a precarious angle. His quills were drooping sadly and his trainers were soaked. He looked a sorry sight. It looked like he was drunkenly chatting to the barman.
"Sonic!" Tail cried. Sonic swung haphazardly around on his stool in the direction of the voice. He stared dizzily at Tails. It took him a few seconds to recognise him.
"Tails!" Sonic shouted. "Join us."
"Sonic, what the hell are you doing here?" Tails said, striding to the bar and hanging his saturated coat on the rack next to the door.
"I'm getting drunk!" Sonic announced proudly, his gaze following Tails to his chair with some difficulty. "Aren't I Simon?"
The barman smiled slightly in Tails's direction.
"It would appear so, now wouldn't it?" He said, having regained the power of speech. He smiled slightly at the fox. Tails shot a disapproving look at the barman, then turned his attention back on Sonic.
"No, I mean... why are you here?" Tails said, wondering weather he'd be able to get any sense out of the pissed hedgehog.
"Oh right, that," Sonic said, instantly losing all of his mirth, as if he himself had just remembered why he was there. "I came here because I was feeling depressed, and I thought I'd indulge in little sorrow drowning."
"So you came to the most depressing zone on Mobius to so it?" Tails asked sceptically. "No offence." He said quickly to Simon.
"None taken." The dog replied.
"I don't understand it either," Sonic said, throwing his arms in the air. "I wondered the streets for a little while, and then I just found myself here."
"Well..." Tails said, not sure how to continue. "What are you depressed about?"
"Don't get him started." Simon interjected. Tails shot him a look.
"Oh, I don't know." Sonic sighed. "I just feel like I've been saving Mobius for so long, I've stopped living in it. And the worst part is... I can't stop. Not ever."
Tails remained tactfully silent for a few moments. He wasn't sure how to respond to something like that. He hadn't expected to find Sonic in any state like this. Sonic shook his head and sighed.
"Ah well. Have a drink, Tails."
"No, I don't think I should..."
"If you want to help me you'll have a drink." Sonic cut him off. Tails frowned at him, then relented. He smiled a small smile.
"I'll have a vodka." Tails said.
"Yeah, make it a double," Sonic said quickly. Simon reached for a bottle and poured a double measure. Disturbingly enough, the label of the bottle featured a colour picture of Robotnik's fat face. He handed the drink to Tails, who took a sip and then winced deeply.
"So how did you find me anyway?" Sonic asked absent-mindedly.
"With extreme fucking difficulty," Tails replied irritably, taking another cautious swig from his Vodka. "I've spent hours traipsing 'round this zone looking for you."
"Sorry," Sonic muttered, whilst looking extremely glazed.
"So you bloody well should be," the fox ranted. "Look at me, I'm a wet smelly mess! Do you know that I was propositioned twice?"
"By a yellow hedgehog?" Sonic asked swiftly.
"Er, no." Tails said, thinking back. "It was a rabbit and a, erm... a squirrel."
"Tempted?" Sonic grinned drunkenly at him. Tails frowned back, then relented and shrugged.
"No, not really. To be honest, I don't really go for the whole inter-species thing."
Sonic thought about this. Made sense.
"How did you know I was in the Casino night?" he asked presently.
"Oh," Tails replied, "I asked some monkeys. They said they'd seen you running in this direction."
Sonic nodded quietly. For a few moments silence reined between the pair before Sonic spoke up again.
"And another thing I'm fed up about," Sonic said, picking up the tail of their previous conversation. "Is being lonely."
"Lonely?" Tails asked blankly. Sonic turned to face him and arched an eyebrow.
"Ohhh," Tails murmured, realising. "Well, who did you have in mind?"
"Oh, no one." Sonic answered quietly, avoiding Tails's gaze. Tails noticed this and narrowed his eyes and moved his head in an attempt to see Sonic's face better.
"Sonic?" Tails said shrewdly.
"What?" Sonic said sleepily, setting his features to neutral before facing Tails.
"Who?" Tails said in a maternal voice.
"Who?" Sonic repeated numbly. "Who what?"
"Who did you have in mind?"
Sonic snorted a false laugh.
"No one. Honestly."
"Sooooonic?"
"Oh all right!" Sonic snapped. "Amy, okay? Amy bloody Rose!"
"Ha! I knew it!" Tails laughed, partly because he had got Sonic, and partly because Sonic was now desperately and unsuccessfully trying to hide his blush. He suddenly went back to lying on top of his arms face down on the bar-top. Tails decided to stop gloating.
"Well, why don't you just ask her out then?" Tails said as though this were the simplest thing in the world. His younger years tended to show when he was presented with problems like this. "I mean you know that she likes you."
"Do I though?" Sonic said quickly. "I know she used to like me. Now I've finally noticed her and she hardly speaks to me anymore."
"Well, you'll never know if you don't try."
"S'pose." Sonic mumbled. Tails took another sip of his vodka.
"Say," Sonic said suddenly, "Why do you wear gloves?"
"What?" Tails laughed.
"Your gloves." Sonic said seriously. "Why do you wear them?"
"I... I don't know." Tails faltered. "I suppose it's a habit I picked up from you."
Sonic nodded, satisfied.
"That's a good answer." He said. "Wanna know why I wear them?"
Tails stared ad shrugged.
"Because I have ugly hands." Sonic laughed loudly. Tails stared at him as if he were insane, then got caught up in the giggles. The pair sat laughing for almost ten minutes. They looked quite a sight, propped up against the bar, both their bodies racked with peals of laughter. It created a slightly hysterical scene. When the giggles finally subsided, Tails checked his watch.
"Listen," He said with a smile, "It's half two. We'd better get going."
"Okay," Sonic said reluctantly. He stood up from his stool and almost overbalanced in the process. Tails moved quickly and grabbed his friend by the arm, stopping him from falling over. Still holding onto Sonic, he lifted his glass from the bar and sunk his vodka. He gasped and swallowed hard. Sonic lifted his leg, and pulled a fifty from his shoe. He tossed it on the bar.
"Keep the change," He said to Simon. "I think I cracked one of the glasses." He waved a gloved finger at the lined up shot glasses.
"Thank you very much sir," Simon smiled warmly. The hedgehog grinned. Tails hooked Sonic's arm over his shoulder and led him towards the door. He grabbed his coat from the rack with his free hand and folded it over his arm.
"Come on Sonic," He said. "Let's go home."
"D'you know what I wanna do tomorrow?" Sonic slurred to Tails. "I wanna go see Amy."
"Yeah?" The twin-tailed fox smiled. "We can do that."
Tails clumsily managed to get the door open, and the pair stumbled out into the rain.
E N D
Well that's it. This was intended to be a one shot fic but depending on the feedback I get I may turn it into a series. Tell me what you think! Ta.
Sonics' Blue
The neon lights of the Casino Night zone mingled perfectly with the with the soft back ground music that was pumped through any number of pink fluorescent speakers to create a atmosphere only slightly more pleasant than having your body vigorously rubbed with a cheese-grater. Not for the first time, Sonic wondered just what the hell he was doing there. He supposed it was just his nature that he would seek out the dankest depressing place he could when he was feeling low. He lifted his head an inch or so from the bar and hummed softly along to the tune. After all, hell was what you made it.
He was in a seedy club in a seedier section of the zone. Several women had propositioned him on his way. He winced inwardly at the memory. The last one had been a hedgehog. Devilishly cute but disturbingly young and bright yellow, Sonic had lost his ordinarily absolute cool, smiled inanely and got the hell out of there. So there he was, ultra-marine spikes drooping and trainers soggy in a way that he hated, and, most damningly of all, there wasn't even a good reason for it. A fine mist of rain had settled over his fur and was making him feel uncomfortably hot, like he was being smothered by the zone. He was just blue. Both literally and figuratively.
Propping up the bar and eyeballing the five empty tequila shot glasses lined up on the table, Sonic tried to take stock. He supposed he was just wondering what the point of it all. He'd thrashed Robotnik since he was old enough to thrash, and it seemed like he'd be protecting Mobius for so long now, he'd stopped living in it. It was like bad habit that had crept up on him without his noticing. He'd just woken up one morning and realised it. Even now it wasn't over. Robotnik was obviously hidden away deep in some industrial portion of the planet searching desperately for some means to take over Mobius and enslave the populace. And when he came, Sonic the Hedgehog had to be ready. There was Knuckles and Tails of course, but the fox was still young and lacked experience, and Knuckles... well lets just say that he'd been duped by Robotnik once before. Sonic was the glue holding them together, they needed him, and Sonic couldn't turn his back on them. He way as well be honest, he needed their support as much as they needed his. He was just tired. He'd come to a pit stop in his life, and he was looking back over the choices he'd made, and silently wondering what his life would be like if he'd made different ones. Sometimes he longed for the mundane. He wanted to settle down. He wanted to love and be loved.
That was another thing that was getting him down. He was sick of being alone. He wanted someone. He sighed deeply and downed his sixth tequila. Now he cursed the-not-so-long-ago days where he'd pushed Amy Rose's affections aside in order to focus on something else, usually saving the planet. It wasn't that he didn't like Amy, make no mistake about that, it was just that when she'd been interested in him, he'd hardly noticed her. He hated himself for that. Now she didn't express her feelings as much as she used to, in fact she hardly said anything to him anymore. She was probably tired of being given the cold shoulder, and Sonic couldn't blame her one little bit.
Through gritted teeth, Sonic glanced down at the Shot glass that he'd been holding in his clenched fist. A thin spidery network of cracks had appeared up the side of it under Sonic's palm. Surprised at his own strength, Sonic carefully set the glass on the bar top and thankfully it didn't shatter. He began to think about Amy. He loved the way her quills fell either side of her head, following the contours of her face. He loved the way she had a little tuft of unkempt fur at the front of her head, much like his best buddy Tails's. He loved the goofy hair band she always seemed to be wearing, and he loved her incredibly cute dresses. Then there were her eyes. They weren't quite blue, and they weren't quite green, but you get the idea. When she looked at him though... it was like she could stop his heart.
He felt a tingle at the pit of his stomach at thinking of the hedgehog and he could feel his face beginning to flush. He decided that that definitely meant that she meant something to him, but even in this depressed state Sonic the Hedgehog was not about to be seen blushing in public. So he went back to staring dejectedly at his empty glasses. He began to hum against the flow of the awful repetitive background music, and became so lost in the song in his mind that he murmured a line of it to himself without even realising it.
"Life... Some- times- it-washes over me..."
Presently, the bar door was pushed open and in waddled a penguin wearing a grey trench coat and ridiculous matching trilby. The hat and coat were soaked, and in the brief moment the door had been open Sonic had heard the tell-tale pitter-patter outside, so he leapt to the conclusion that it was persisting down. Not that that would matter to an oily Arctic seabird. Sonic looked toward the door and felt a pang of worry for the yellow hedgehog that he'd seen earlier. He closed his eyes briefly. He prayed silently that wherever she was she was safe and out of the rain.
Meanwhile, the penguin had hung up his hat and hopped onto the barstool right beside Sonic to his right. He placed a shiny black wing on the bar.
"G and T, please," He said to the dog barman. The canine smiled politely, and turned to mix the penguin's drink. Sonic took this opportunity to catch the barman's eye and point at the empty glasses. The dog nodded at him. Sonic wasn't sure what breed he was, possibly mixed, but he looked like a boxer. He was brown, mostly, save for a white patch covering his right eye. He turned back and placed the penguin's drink on the bar in front of him. The penguin reached for it, took a sip, and allowed himself to slouch in his chair a little, contentedly. It was only at this point that he actually noticed Sonic at all, as he glanced sideways at him.
"Quiet night, huh?"
Sonic grunted at him, and made no effort to convey his opinion on whether it was or indeed was not quiet tonight. As it happened, they were the only two at the bar, but there were a couple in one of the booths at the back of the club. The penguin studied Sonic more closely.
"You look familiar." He said in an attentive voice. "Have we met before?"
Sonic tuned his head over on the bar to face the penguin. "No, I don't think so."
At this the penguin's eye's widened.
"My god!" He cried. "You're him!"
The word 'bugger' swirled slowly around Sonic's mind as he made frantic hand gestures to get the penguin to keep it down about the fact that he was indeed 'him'.
"Jerome," The penguin said happily, offering Sonic his flipper. "Jerome Hordern."
Sonic took the bird's wing and shook it lightly.
"Sonic," he said unnecessarily.
"I thought it was you!" the penguin beamed proudly. "You know, you saved my brother Alex from the Oil Ocean zone a while back."
"Did I?" Sonic replied absently, returning to lying with his head face down on his arms.
"Yes, you did." Jerome continued. "He was trapped inside an Aquis for eight months." He shook his head in disgust. "Nasty."
There was a short pause as Jerome waited for half of the conversation that wasn't coming. Presently, he leaned in close to Sonic's ear and whispered conspiratorially:
"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
Sonic visibly shrugged, yet made no effort to allow the bird to see his face.
"Well, I was just wondering," The bird still whispered, "why do you always wear those white gloves?"
There was a brief ten second pause before Sonic sat up. He looked down at his hands. Why did he always wear those white gloves? He didn't know himself. It was just something he'd always done.
"I don't know myself," Sonic confirmed. "It's just something I've always done."
Jerome stared at him blankly. Sonic caught his expression out of the corner of his eye and turned to face him, relenting.
"Well, I suppose it's just because I like to keep my hands clean and they seem to go quite well with my trainers."
"That's another thing," Jerome said quickly. "Your hands. What do they look like?"
Sonic stared at him.
"They look like hands," Sonic replied exasperatedly. "Why do you care?"
"Just curious. I mean I've always just wondered what they look like."
Sonic blinked several times as he rolled this information around in his head.
"You're telling me," Sonic said slowly, "that you while away your wee small hours wondering what my bloody hands look like?"
The bird shrugged at him.
"Can I see them?"
The hedgehog blinked and shook his head a little, not to deny the request but to try and clear the alcohol that was just beginning to touch the back of his brain. This was turning into quite a surreal night. He shrugged. He supposed that there was no harm in it.
"You can see one." Sonic said, shooting a narrow sideways glance at Jerome. Slowly, sonic worked the middle finger out of his left-hand glove, and using the slack that this created, pulled the glove off slowly. With a flourish he set the glove on the bar, and turned to face Jerome. He held out his hand for the bird's inspection. The back of his hand was as blue as his quills, and it created a sharp clash with the tan of his arm. Slowly he turned his hand over and Jerome could see that his palm and his finger tips were the same colour as his chest and cheeks, albeit a little paler, and the area in-between was blue. At the end of each slender finger there protruded by a few millimeters a thin black claw.
"Happy now?" Sonic said sardonically.
"Man," The penguin said, draining his drink, "Are they ugly."
Jerome set down the glass, threw a five casino dollar bill on the bar and pushed open the door to leave, pausing only briefly to retrieve his hat. Sonic caught a faint 'See ya!' as the door swung shut. Sonic stared at the space Jerome had occupied for a few moments before he turned back to the bar and picked up his tequila.
"Yeah, well," He sighed to no-one, knocking his drink back, "That's another reason I wear the gloves."
Sonic retrieved the puffed out hand accessory from the bar top and miserably pulled it back on. He somewhat drunkenly surveyed the bar. No one there. Boring.
"Bartender," Sonic said rapping the bar lightly with his freshly sheathed mitt, "One more."
The dog looked at his severely.
"I don't know," He said softly. "You've had seven already. Are you even good for it?"
Sonic stared at him unblinking for a few seconds. Then he spoke.
"Do you know how many times I've almost been shot, stabbed, crushed, choked, drowned, guillotined, electrocuted, burnt, blown up and generally been killed trying to protect you, your family and everyone else on this planet?"
The bartender's features softened. He turned and poured an eighth shot and plonked it down in front of Sonic.
"On the house."
"I could tell you y'know." He said sadly to his tequila. "And I could also tell you how many solid relationships I've been involved in the last year."
He made his thumb and forefinger into a zero and held it up for the bartender to see.
"You're having a dry patch." The dog said sympathetically. "It happens."
Sonic snorted a laugh. "It's been happening to me my whole life."
"Oh, come on." The dog said softly. "It's not all that bad. Say, weren't you dating Princess Acorn for a little while?"
Sonic sat bolt upright. "You know about that?"
"Ah c'mon everyone knows about that. See? It's not that bad."
"That... that was like another life time ago." Sonic said, chuckling slightly at the memory. "It was just a kiddie romance really. We finally both realised that we didn't have anything in common and parted on good terms."
The bartender smiled a small smile at him. "You'll meet someone."
Sonic grunted, a sound that could be taken as either positive of negative. He looked up suddenly.
"What's your name by the way?"
"Me?" The dog said. "Simon."
"Well Simon," Sonic said, downing the shot, "one more, and have one yourself."
Simon grinned. "Whatever you say, sir."
Sonic shook his head smiling. Simon poured two more shots and handed one to Sonic. They clinked glasses before downing the shots in unison. Simon closed his eyes for a few seconds afterward.
"Hits the spot doesn't it?" Sonic laughed. Simon nodded vigorously, unable, for the time being, to speak. It was at about this time that the door swung open and a new visitor entered the bar.
Tails was getting fed up with this. He'd trudged all over this rotten zone in search of Sonic, and so far had caught no trace of him. He'd lost count of the number of dark seedy smoky urine soaked dives he'd visited, and the number of times he'd narrowly avoided a good honest kicking. Now, his thin rain coat was slick with rainwater and clung to his saturated shivery body like a second skin, and what was worse, he was beginning to smell like the zone around him. Yeah, well no more. He'd search this last bar, and if Sonic wasn't in it, screw him. He could take care of himself anyway. Tails pulled the collar of his raincoat up high around his neck, sighed a deep sigh and pushed his way through the door. He was met with the strong smell of tequila that hit him like a slap in the face. Then he saw Sonic. He was leaning lazily over the bar top, his stool tilted back slightly at a precarious angle. His quills were drooping sadly and his trainers were soaked. He looked a sorry sight. It looked like he was drunkenly chatting to the barman.
"Sonic!" Tail cried. Sonic swung haphazardly around on his stool in the direction of the voice. He stared dizzily at Tails. It took him a few seconds to recognise him.
"Tails!" Sonic shouted. "Join us."
"Sonic, what the hell are you doing here?" Tails said, striding to the bar and hanging his saturated coat on the rack next to the door.
"I'm getting drunk!" Sonic announced proudly, his gaze following Tails to his chair with some difficulty. "Aren't I Simon?"
The barman smiled slightly in Tails's direction.
"It would appear so, now wouldn't it?" He said, having regained the power of speech. He smiled slightly at the fox. Tails shot a disapproving look at the barman, then turned his attention back on Sonic.
"No, I mean... why are you here?" Tails said, wondering weather he'd be able to get any sense out of the pissed hedgehog.
"Oh right, that," Sonic said, instantly losing all of his mirth, as if he himself had just remembered why he was there. "I came here because I was feeling depressed, and I thought I'd indulge in little sorrow drowning."
"So you came to the most depressing zone on Mobius to so it?" Tails asked sceptically. "No offence." He said quickly to Simon.
"None taken." The dog replied.
"I don't understand it either," Sonic said, throwing his arms in the air. "I wondered the streets for a little while, and then I just found myself here."
"Well..." Tails said, not sure how to continue. "What are you depressed about?"
"Don't get him started." Simon interjected. Tails shot him a look.
"Oh, I don't know." Sonic sighed. "I just feel like I've been saving Mobius for so long, I've stopped living in it. And the worst part is... I can't stop. Not ever."
Tails remained tactfully silent for a few moments. He wasn't sure how to respond to something like that. He hadn't expected to find Sonic in any state like this. Sonic shook his head and sighed.
"Ah well. Have a drink, Tails."
"No, I don't think I should..."
"If you want to help me you'll have a drink." Sonic cut him off. Tails frowned at him, then relented. He smiled a small smile.
"I'll have a vodka." Tails said.
"Yeah, make it a double," Sonic said quickly. Simon reached for a bottle and poured a double measure. Disturbingly enough, the label of the bottle featured a colour picture of Robotnik's fat face. He handed the drink to Tails, who took a sip and then winced deeply.
"So how did you find me anyway?" Sonic asked absent-mindedly.
"With extreme fucking difficulty," Tails replied irritably, taking another cautious swig from his Vodka. "I've spent hours traipsing 'round this zone looking for you."
"Sorry," Sonic muttered, whilst looking extremely glazed.
"So you bloody well should be," the fox ranted. "Look at me, I'm a wet smelly mess! Do you know that I was propositioned twice?"
"By a yellow hedgehog?" Sonic asked swiftly.
"Er, no." Tails said, thinking back. "It was a rabbit and a, erm... a squirrel."
"Tempted?" Sonic grinned drunkenly at him. Tails frowned back, then relented and shrugged.
"No, not really. To be honest, I don't really go for the whole inter-species thing."
Sonic thought about this. Made sense.
"How did you know I was in the Casino night?" he asked presently.
"Oh," Tails replied, "I asked some monkeys. They said they'd seen you running in this direction."
Sonic nodded quietly. For a few moments silence reined between the pair before Sonic spoke up again.
"And another thing I'm fed up about," Sonic said, picking up the tail of their previous conversation. "Is being lonely."
"Lonely?" Tails asked blankly. Sonic turned to face him and arched an eyebrow.
"Ohhh," Tails murmured, realising. "Well, who did you have in mind?"
"Oh, no one." Sonic answered quietly, avoiding Tails's gaze. Tails noticed this and narrowed his eyes and moved his head in an attempt to see Sonic's face better.
"Sonic?" Tails said shrewdly.
"What?" Sonic said sleepily, setting his features to neutral before facing Tails.
"Who?" Tails said in a maternal voice.
"Who?" Sonic repeated numbly. "Who what?"
"Who did you have in mind?"
Sonic snorted a false laugh.
"No one. Honestly."
"Sooooonic?"
"Oh all right!" Sonic snapped. "Amy, okay? Amy bloody Rose!"
"Ha! I knew it!" Tails laughed, partly because he had got Sonic, and partly because Sonic was now desperately and unsuccessfully trying to hide his blush. He suddenly went back to lying on top of his arms face down on the bar-top. Tails decided to stop gloating.
"Well, why don't you just ask her out then?" Tails said as though this were the simplest thing in the world. His younger years tended to show when he was presented with problems like this. "I mean you know that she likes you."
"Do I though?" Sonic said quickly. "I know she used to like me. Now I've finally noticed her and she hardly speaks to me anymore."
"Well, you'll never know if you don't try."
"S'pose." Sonic mumbled. Tails took another sip of his vodka.
"Say," Sonic said suddenly, "Why do you wear gloves?"
"What?" Tails laughed.
"Your gloves." Sonic said seriously. "Why do you wear them?"
"I... I don't know." Tails faltered. "I suppose it's a habit I picked up from you."
Sonic nodded, satisfied.
"That's a good answer." He said. "Wanna know why I wear them?"
Tails stared ad shrugged.
"Because I have ugly hands." Sonic laughed loudly. Tails stared at him as if he were insane, then got caught up in the giggles. The pair sat laughing for almost ten minutes. They looked quite a sight, propped up against the bar, both their bodies racked with peals of laughter. It created a slightly hysterical scene. When the giggles finally subsided, Tails checked his watch.
"Listen," He said with a smile, "It's half two. We'd better get going."
"Okay," Sonic said reluctantly. He stood up from his stool and almost overbalanced in the process. Tails moved quickly and grabbed his friend by the arm, stopping him from falling over. Still holding onto Sonic, he lifted his glass from the bar and sunk his vodka. He gasped and swallowed hard. Sonic lifted his leg, and pulled a fifty from his shoe. He tossed it on the bar.
"Keep the change," He said to Simon. "I think I cracked one of the glasses." He waved a gloved finger at the lined up shot glasses.
"Thank you very much sir," Simon smiled warmly. The hedgehog grinned. Tails hooked Sonic's arm over his shoulder and led him towards the door. He grabbed his coat from the rack with his free hand and folded it over his arm.
"Come on Sonic," He said. "Let's go home."
"D'you know what I wanna do tomorrow?" Sonic slurred to Tails. "I wanna go see Amy."
"Yeah?" The twin-tailed fox smiled. "We can do that."
Tails clumsily managed to get the door open, and the pair stumbled out into the rain.
E N D
Well that's it. This was intended to be a one shot fic but depending on the feedback I get I may turn it into a series. Tell me what you think! Ta.