AN: Fun fact: this entire story was written as I was waiting for/on the bus, hence why it's a bit shorter. And as a sidenote this is a bit on the shippy side as even when I try to write these two as friends it ends up coming off as shippy anyway. And Sonic's a human in this as well. Enjoy!

~A Chance Encounter~

The bus didn't look full when it pulled up to the stop, but when Mario boarded he quickly realized that wasn't the case. He froze for a moment, wondering if he should wait for the next one but realized he really didn't want to wait a half hour especially when it looked like it was about to start raining at any moment. With this in mind he sighed and paid the fare, hastily making his way to the back of the bus where he found a single seat next to someone around his age that glanced up from his phone when Mario took the seat next to him.

"Sorry..." Mario awkwardly said to the stranger, to which the stranger merely shrugged before grinning.

"Doesn't matter to me. It's crazy how busy it is today," he cocked his head, curiosity in his eyes. "So where are you headin' this fine, almost rainy day? I'm headin' to that new music store that just opened near the library, I hear it's got the best selection of vinyl and disks, an' the dude who runs it actually released a couple of obscure rock albums back in the eighties." he paused, realizing he'd gone on a bit of a tangent. He awkwardly coughed. "Uh, I'm a music nerd in case you couldn't tell."

Mario snorted at the comment. "It's fine. I'm heading to the library because I'm a book nerd. I'm Mario, by the way."

"Sonic," the stranger introduced himself. "Books, huh? Fiction or non-fiction?"

"Both," Mario replied. "Though I have been leaning towards non-fiction as of late. And what kind of music do you listen to?"

"A bit of everythin', but rock is by far my favourite. Part of the reason I'm learnin' to play the electric guitar, not meanin' to brag." Sonic explained with a bit of a laugh. Mario smiled as the bus slowed to a stop and the doors opened, a couple of people exiting before the bus continued its journey. Mario used the lull in conversation to really take a good look at Sonic. He had long hair dyed blue that was tied back in a ponytail that exposed the red hoop in his left ear, bright green eyes and tan skin. His clothes were nothing special, just a blue hoodie over some dark blue jeans with a pair of worn red sneakers.

"What made you decide to dye your hair blue?" Mario asked curiously. Sonic shrugged.

"Blue's my favourite colour, an' I mean, look at all the rockers out there with dyed hair. My idols man, an' hey, if I'm gonna be a rocker like them I gotta look the part, right?"

"I guess I can't argue with that," Mario laughed. He looked down at his own clothes - a red sweater, blue jeans and brown shoes. "Though I don't know what that says about my clothing choice today; I certainly don't look like a doctor right now."

"Doctor?" Sonic questioned. "You're a doctor?"

"Studying to be one," Mario explained. "That's actually why I'm going to the library, I'm seeing if they have any medical books I can check out."

"Cool, cool." Sonic hummed. The bus turned a corner and both Mario and Sonic went to press the stop button, their hands accidentally brushing against each other.

"Sorry!" Mario cried, jerking his hand back in embarrassment while Sonic only laughed and pushed the button himself. The bus came to a stop and Mario got up with Sonic following. Calling out a "thank you" to the bus driver and being relieved when Sonic echoed it they stepped onto the sidewalk and stood there for a moment, clearly wanting to continue their conversation but having to go in two separate directions.

"Can I get your number?" Sonic asked, and Mario nodded and pulled out his phone, swapping it with Sonic's. After a moment they handed their respective phones back and Mario smiled at Sonic.

"So, I guess I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure thing!" Sonic exclaimed. He raised a hand before turning to walk towards the music store. "See ya around Mario!"

Mario smiled as he turned and began to walk towards the library. And to think that he'd been nervous about the bus being crowded.