"Russell?"
"Yes?"
"What does it mean to be in love?"
Russell was quiet for a second, simply because he was taken aback by the question. At least, that's what he told himself. "W-what?"
The pet beside him was silent for a moment before continuing. "Well, you know that girl that Blythe has been spending time with?"
"You mean Whittany?"
"Yes."
"Well, what about her?"
"Blythe told me she loves her." There was a pause. "So I started thinking that maybe I might love someone."
This news made Russell's stomach turn. He watched his friend fumble around nervously, and the hedgehog quickly became curious. "Who is it?" he asked, sounding more desperate than he would have liked.
"That is not important. What I wanted to know is," a hesitation, "how can I know?"
"Know you're in love?" Russell repeated, just to be sure.
His friend nodded.
"How would I know?"
"I-I don't know! You're the smart one! I just figured that you might—"
Russell sat up, reaching over to stroke the other pet's shoulder. "It's okay. Just… calm down, okay?" He fell back to his side, watching his friend with a sense of silent ease. The pet in front of him wasn't mistaken—he knew the feeling well.
"Well, I guess it's when you want to spend all of your time with them, and you're a little sad whenever they're not around. You're always planning things that you can do when you're together, and you're always happy to see them. You get a little upset when they spend too much time with someone else, and you notice a lot of little things about them." He adverted his eyes from his friend, taking note that the pet's eyes were more golden than usual. "Unimportant things. And sometimes you're not pleased with your relationship, because you…," Russell ran his paws over an unruly spine, smoothing it down, "because you want to be more than friends."
He looked back to the mongoose, reaching out to take one blue paw in his. It's probably not you, he reminded himself. It's probably Vinnie or Pepper.
But Russell didn't hesitate.
"I want to be more than friends, Sunil."