Hmm... figured Knux would've gotten here by now...
Sonic sighed, bending backwards and awkwardly leaning off of his hammock. They didn't plan on meeting each other, but this was basically Knuckles' home ever since the two started dating.
Aw well. Guess I'll wait a bit longer.
Suddenly, a little ball of fur came dashing in, followed by Knuckles.
"Hey, get back here!" the echidna shouted.
The brown puppy he was chasing didn't seem to listen. It kept running around the room, barking loudly, until Knuckles started to tire out.
"Ugh... could... use some... help... here..." he panted.
Sonic didn't understand what was happening, but shrugged and sped after the little dog, catching it in seconds. "Hey there, little guy," he greeted. "I—"
He winced as the puppy licked his nose, causing him to pout in protest. "Man, I had a cool line prepared and everything..."
"Phew, thanks," Knuckles said as he caught his breath. "So I found this little guy all alone... and he doesn't seem to belong to anybody. Can we keep him?"
"Eh?" Sonic asked, shocked by the suddenness of the question. "Geez, Knux, are ya sure? I mean, y'can't pick up every animal that's wound up all alone. Shouldn't you take him to that pet shop or somethin'?"
"But... look at him..." Knuckles replied. "Can we please keep him, please?"
He then used the most powerful weapon he had against Sonic: the puppy dog eyes.
The actual puppy also proceeded to give Sonic "the eyes". It was now a 2 on 1 battle.
"A-angh..."
Sonic grimaced. Knuckles was making that face again; he hated that cute face.
He hesitated, trying his best to stay strong, then sighed.
"Oh, fine. We can keep him," he agreed reluctantly.
"Yay!" Knuckles exclaimed happily.
The puppy wriggled out of Sonic's grip and ran over to Knuckles, barking and wagging his tail.
"What should we call him?" Knuckles asked.
"Hmm..." Sonic took a long pause, staring at the little dog and running names through his head.
"How about... Nakkuru?" he suggested, giving Knuckles a small grin. "Or 'Kuru' for short!" 'Nakkuru' was actually the echidna's old name before they started calling him 'Knuckles'.
Knuckles smiled. "I love it!"
He picked up the puppy and hugged it. "So I guess that makes you Knuckles Jr," he said to the little fluffball, chuckling.
Sonic giggled at how excitable Knuckles was, then lightly pet the puppy. "Did ya pick up anything for the little guy?"
Knuckles froze. "Oh, um... it kinda slipped my mind..." he admitted sheepishly.
Sonic laughed. "Gimme a few minutes then!"
He quickly rushed out the door.
While Sonic was gone, Knuckles and Kuru went outside and ran around for a bit.
After a while, like he promised, the blue hedgehog sped back to the two, holding a few plastic bags. "How's this?"
He sat down on the sand and smiled, picking up a small ball out of one of the bags and tossing it.
Kuru chased after ball, his little legs a blur as he ran as fast as he could. He caught the ball in his mouth and brought it back to Sonic, tail wagging.
"Heh, nice catch!" Sonic exclaimed, taking the ball back. He looked over at Knuckles and tilted his head. "Where'd ya find him? He looks pretty dirty..."
"I found him in the trash," Knuckles explained. "Poor little guy was trying to find food in there, I think."
"We should probably give him a bath," Sonic said. "Maybe fill a bucket with water and put him in there. I think I have special soap for dogs in here somewhere." He dug through the bags to look for it.
"Okay," Knuckles replied. "Follow me, Kuru!"
Knuckles and Kuru ran off in search of a bucket.
Shortly, they came back with one, and Knuckles had already filled it with water. "Does this work?" he asked Sonic.
Sonic nodded. "Alright!" He gripped the bucket gently. "Put him in, but you might have to hold him if he starts movin' around..." he warned.
"'Kay!" Knuckles picked up Kuru and gently lowered him into the bucket. Kuru started wriggling around, splashing the water. Within a few seconds, Knuckles was soaked.
Sonic couldn't help laughing, but quickly focused on the task at hand and started washing Kuru.
"Don't worry, little guy," Knuckles said to Kuru, "this won't take too long! We just need to get you all cleaned up."
Soon enough, Sonic finished cleaning Kuru and lifted him out of the bucket. "Alright, shake it off, bud."
He ran inside his shack, then came out carrying a large towel. "I got someone else to deal with," he chimed, heading over to Knuckles and slowly drying him off.
"Thanks, Sonic," Knuckles said with a laugh.
Kuru shook the water off his fur, then barked happily.
Sonic glanced over. "Oh, you want attention too, huh?" He smirked and lifted Kuru into his arms, giving him a rough scratching. "As long as your master Knuckles doesn't get jealous!"
Kuru wagged his tail happily, Knuckles giggling at the sight.
Sonic tilted his head over to the bag. "I got a bunch of other stuff we'll have to set up for him too. Hopefully he won't cause too much chaos runnin' around."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he behaves," Knuckles replied with a wink.
"Psh, yeah right!" Sonic said. "You're a troublemaker too!" he teased, promptly sticking his tongue out.
"Oh yeah?" Knuckles crossed his arms, smirking. "Well you aren't so innocent yourself."
Sonic knew where this was going and didn't mind one bit. "I dunno what you're talking about!"
"Oh, I'm sure you do," Knuckles replied playfully.
"Do not!" Sonic chimed back, picking up Kuru and holding him to his chest. "See? Kuru's even on my side! He believes me!"
Kuru glanced at Sonic, tilting his head.
"I don't think he does," Knuckles said with a laugh.
"Shh, of course he does!" Sonic argued. He held the puppy up to Knuckles' face. "That's the face of cold hard truth right there!"
"Hey, who's side are you on?" Knuckles asked Kuru, frowning.
Kuru barked in reply.
"That's pup-talk for 'Sonic's side'," Sonic told Knuckles with a grin.
Knuckles huffed. "I'm disappointed in you, Kuru."
Kuru's ears drooped. He let out a small whine.
Knuckles sighed in defeat. "Aw man, I just can't be mad at you..."
Kuru stretched his head towards Knuckles and started licking his face.
"H-hey!" Knuckles protested with a laugh.
"Good boy!" Sonic cheered, pressing the pup further against Knuckles. "Get 'im!"
Knuckles was soon smothered in puppy kisses.
"Okay, okay, you win!" he exclaimed.
"Yes!" Sonic took the puppy back into his arms. "Victory is sweet!"
"Yeah, well, enjoy it while you can," Knuckles replied with a smirk. "I'll make sure Kuru takes my side next time." He winked.
"Sure, if you say so," Sonic said, waving a hand dismissively. He then looked up at the sky. "Think it's about time to get the little guy to bed? It's pretty late..."
"Yeah, you're right," Knuckles replied reluctantly.
Kuru yawned, and his eyelids drooped.
Sonic chuckled. "Don't worry, Knux, you'll have plenty of time to play with 'im in the mornin'."
He picked up the bags and took them inside (returning the ball to the bag too before he forgot about it), then set them on the floor and searched through it.
"I dunno how big he's gonna get, so I got a medium-sized one," he said, pulling out a dog-bed for Knuckles to see.
They put Kuru in the bed.
"Goodnight," Knuckles said, petting the puppy's head. "See ya tomorrow!"
Kuru yawned again. Then he spun around in a circle before falling fast asleep.
"I wonder why dogs do that..." Knuckles mused.
"I dunno. Fun?" Sonic suggested. To test, he curled into a spindash and rolled onto the bed, making small circles on his side of the mattress.
Knuckles giggled a bit. He didn't say it out loud, but he thought Sonic looked rather silly doing that.
He then got onto the bed and snuggled up next to Sonic.
Sonic didn't quite snuggle back, but he blushed and clearly enjoyed Knuckles' gesture, just as he always did. "Night..."
"Night." Knuckles soon fell fast asleep.
Sometime later, Kuru opened his eyes. Good, both of his new masters were asleep. He'd been waiting for this moment. He crawled out of his bed and went over to where Sonic and Knuckles were sleeping. He jumped onto the bed, made circles once again, and then went to sleep, for real this time.
Sonic shifted a little, feeling the puppy against him. "M-mm?" He opened his eyes and looked down, then lightly shook Knuckles. "Hey, Knux, we got a visitor."
"Hm?" Knuckles' eyes fluttered open.
"Oh, hey Kuru," he said with a chuckle.
Kuru didn't respond since he was already asleep.
Sonic raised a brow. "Want me to put him back in his bed?"
Knuckles gazed at the sleeping fluffball that was curled up between them.
"Nah," he replied. "He looks cozy here." He smiled.
"Softie," Sonic teased, sticking his tongue out. He paused, then looked back down at the dog. "K-Knux..."
He pretended to look heartbroken. "I thought you said nothing would ever come between us?"
Knuckles' eyebrows shot up. "Wh-wha? What are you talking abou—oh." He laughed. "Ya got me for a second there."
Sonic grinned. "Hehe, I'm sorry." No he wasn't.
Knuckles yawned. "Well, I think we should get some sleep."
"Right." The blue hedgehog yawned too, though tried to keep quiet so not to wake Kuru up. "Niiiight again..." He slowly drifted off.
The next morning, Knuckles was suddenly awoken by slobbery puppy kisses.
"Ugh... just five more minutes, Kuru..." he mumbled.
Sonic heard his mumbling and woke up slowly. "Hm?"
He smirked at the sight. "Remember, Knux; you asked for this!"
Knuckles just wordlessly grumbled in reply.
Kuru barked victoriously, wagging his tail.
"Alright, up," Sonic told him, picking Kuru up and getting off the bed to give Knuckles a bit of space and time.
Knuckles groaned as he practically rolled himself out of the bed.
Sonic walked around the bed to Knuckles, then set Kuru down and held his arms out. "Need a wake-up kiss?" he asked, blushing slightly.
Knuckles smiled. "Sure."
Sonic pulled Knuckles up into a sitting position and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Heh, awake yet?" he asked.
"Yeah, thanks." Knuckles stretched and yawned.
"Any time!" Sonic said, sitting Kuru on his lap and scratching the puppy behind the ears.
"So what should we do today?" Knuckles asked.
"I dunno. What do people with dogs do?" Sonic asked, staring down at Kuru. "Geez, Amy's gonna go nuts when she sees this little guy..."
"Oooh, we could play catch with him!" Knuckles suggested.
"That could work!" Sonic reached into one of the bags sitting in the doorway and pulled out a small frisbee. "Wanna play, Kuru? I bet only the coolest dog in the world could catch this!"
Kuru barked in approval, his tail wagging.
"Alright! Let's go then!" Sonic placed Kuru down, then sped outside and gave the frisbee a solid throw. "Fetch!"
Kuru ran after the frisbee, tongue sticking out as he ran on his little legs. He jumped up and tried to grab the frisbee in midair, but ended up face-planting instead. He didn't seem discouraged, however. Instead, he got back up, shook himself off, and went over to where the frisbee had landed. He picked up the toy in his mouth and trotted back over to Sonic and Knuckles.
"Good boy!" said Knuckles.
Sonic knelt down and ruffled up Kuru's fur, then grabbed the frisbee from him. "Let's try this again, huh?" he suggested.
He threw the frisbee, but a little more gently this time. It was successfully caught this time.
Just not by Kuru.
Sonic blinked, looking ahead.
"Sticks, drop it," Amy said with a small smile, patting her friend on the back. Sticks coughed the disc-like object out of her mouth, then glared at Amy. "There, but if it comes after me again, I'll do a lot worse!"
"Hey, Sticks. Hey, Amy," Sonic greeted, waving a hand.
Kuru ran over to the frisbee and picked it back up.
"Hey guys!" Knuckles greeted. "What's up?"
"Not much," Amy said. "We just thought we'd stop by!"
"Thanks for the visit!" Sonic exclaimed. "We were just trainin' Kuru over here."
"Kuru?" she inquired. She pointed at the puppy. "Him?"
"Yup!" Sonic glanced over at Knuckles. "Someone came home yesterday and wouldn't let up 'til I said we could keep him."
Knuckles grinned. Kuru ran over to him and dropped the frisbee at his feet. Knuckles picked it up and threw it.
"Go get it, boy!" he said.
Kuru didn't hesitate in running after it.
"He's such a little cutie!" Amy chimed, almost squealing a bit.
Sonic nodded. "Yeah. Dunno who'd let the poor pup out on his own, but he's with us now, so I guess it doesn't matter."
Kuru ran back to Knuckles with the frisbee.
"Good boy!" Knuckles said again, taking the slobber-covered frisbee from him.
Amy picked up Kuru and giggled, gently scratching his ears. "Who's-a good wittle puppy? You are!" She touched her nose to his, admiring how adorable he was.
Sonic smirked, amused at how affectionate she was with his and Knuckles' dog.
Kuru wagged his tail as he proceeded to smother Amy in puppy kisses. Knuckles couldn't help giggling.
"Ahh, hey!" Amy said, mixed between disgust at the slobbery licking and delight at how cute it was that he was licking her.
"Amy, look out! It's eating your face!" Sticks warned, pointing her boomerang at the puppy.
Sonic chuckled, leaning against Knuckles slightly. "These are the friends we're stuck with, Knux," he joked.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Knuckles replied.
"Me neither," Sonic agreed. "Looks like we'll have someone to watch the pup whenever we go out though."
Knuckles nodded, watching as Amy was smitten with a case of puppy love.
"...Speakin' of which, it's been a while, huh?" Sonic asked. "Since we went on a date n' all."
"Yeah, it has..." Knuckles realized.
Sonic placed his hands behind his head and looked back at Kuru. "We'll have to fix that soon," he muttered, though blushing slightly at the realization of what he was saying.
"Yeah, we will," Knuckles said with a wink.
Sonic smiled, nudging Knuckles slightly. "It's a date."
He then couldn't help asking, "So, you're not gonna let him sleep in our bed all the time, are ya? If he gets to be a big dog, we'll never get any sleep."
Knuckles pouted. "I guess you're right..."
"Aww, don't be like that!" Sonic said with a giggle. " I know I'm not as fuzzy, but you can just hold me instead."
Knuckles blushed, but he smiled.
Amy then walked over to the two and handed Kuru back. "Ugh, now I need a bath," she groaned, though giggling a little.
Sonic shrugged. "It's part of his charm," he argued jokingly, holding Kuru with one arm and lightly scratching his stomach with the other.
Knuckles patted Kuru on the head. "Who's a good boy," he cooed, "you are!"
Sticks walked up and stared at the dog. "I don't trust it. It's too fuzzy and adorable..."
"Don't worry, Sticks, I'm sure he's fine," Sonic assured, smirking and patting Kuru too.
Kuru stared back at Sticks for a moment, then licked her face.
Sticks jumped back, pointing her boomerang at the puppy. "It got me! It's evil!"
She paused for a moment, then touched where she'd been licked. "...Okay, that wasn't too bad, I guess."
Kuru barked happily.
"Anyway, Sticks and I should probably get going," Amy said, waving a bit. "You two have fun, okay?" She lightly took Sticks' hand and walked off.
"Bye!" Knuckles called. "Say 'bye', Kuru!" He gently grabbed Kuru's paw and made him 'wave' goodbye.
Sonic crossed his arms and looked back at Knuckles. "I'll set up his food and water dishes," he said, walking back inside.
Knuckles and Kuru went inside as well, Kuru being eager to finally have some real food.
Sonic pulled the dishes out of the bag and placed them down on the floor, then showed Knuckles various small bags of dog food. "I didn't know what he'd like, so I just grabbed at random," he explained, ripping one of the bags open and pouring it into the food dish. "I guess we'll have to get him a collar soon too..."
Kuru ran over to the food dish and happily began to eat.
"Wow, you sure were hungry!" Knuckles said.
"Makes sense. Who knows what the poor guy's been eatin' before ya found him..." Sonic said with a frown, gently stroking Kuru's fur.
"Well, he's safe now," Knuckles replied. "Right?"
Sonic stood up and turned to him. "A'course. He's got a great guy like you lookin' after him after all!" he answered, giving Knuckles a small grin.
Knuckles smiled at Sonic, blushing. "Th-thanks..."
Just then, Kuru finished his meal. He licked his chops and looked up at his masters, tail wagging.
"Alright, so, it's still a little early for a date. What do you wanna do until then?" Sonic asked, reaching over and holding Knuckles' hand.
Knuckles blushed again. "W-we could cuddle," he suggested. Even though they'd done this many times, he was still a bit shy about asking.
Sonic blushed too. "R-right now?"
"W-well, I mean... i-if you don't want to..." Knuckled replied, embarrassed.
"Of course I do!" Sonic blurted out, always quick to react when it seemed like Knuckles was saying something self-consciously. His blush deepened at his quick response, but he tried to play it cool and sat down on the bed, patting the spot next to him.
Knuckles grinned, sitting down next to Sonic. He wrapped an arm around the hedgehog and snuggled close to him. Sonic smiled softly, leaning against Knuckles and letting out a soft 'mmm' sound to show that he approved. Knuckles gave him a light kiss on the cheek.