Adjustment had been… hard. He'd found himself lost amongst their world, the victim of their jokes, the source of the whispers in the halls. Even their leader seemed to enjoy the jokes though he had refrained from acting directly, as was befitting of his position as ruler… they were his children, his servants and he would not be seen taking part. Or that was how things had appeared until earlier that day. Over dinner of all events. The stage was a communal dining room within their home. As usual their master dinned apart from a long table at the front of the room where he could be seen by all. Unusually a guest had joined him. The meal was strange, a meat he had never seen before on Earth and he had turned to his master to solve that dilemma,
"Tell me," he had spoken politely as was his place "what is this?"
His leader's red eyes had flashed to the plate then back to the newcomer in his midst "Why hedgehog of course."
He had paled then. Spluttering as he choked down the mouthful he had dared to eat before enquiring, pushing the plate away as if it were poison. Even draining a glass of water did nothing to ease the lump that was stuck in his throat; a sense of guilt and wrongness that wouldn't shift. He locked eyes with his leader again and saw a shadow of regret in that three eyed gaze.
The immortal being offered a shrug "I am surprised you believed that, even I am not barbaric enough to trick you into devouring one of your own."
The explanation came too late. The damage was done and he pushed away from his protector with pain in his eyes. Hundreds of eyes watched him leave the room in silence even long after he had disappeared amongst the shadows, doors closing behind him. He had fled to his chambers and not left the room since... Which is why he knew exactly who was there when the door was pushed open without permission.
"You could have made your point less publicly." It was not his place to rebuke his leaders actions but in his current mood that hardly mattered.
"What point is that?" The other's gravelly voice was softer than normal and a note of genuine confusion lingered there.
"I do not belong here." His ruby eyes narrowed though he was not sure how effective the glare would be in the light less room; although finding the other could see in the dark would be no surprise.
His voice a low grow he pressed on "I am not one of your kind. I'm neither a solider nor a leader… I have no place here."
He could not see his leader's face and when he felt the hand that came to rest on his head he fully expected reprisal for his earlier remarks and actions. Three clawed fingers ran themselves gently through his quills. He flinched at the contact but his leader persisted.
"I," the other struggled with the words "I regret I caused you distress Shadow."
The hedgehog made a small sound of acknowledgement and his master continued, "You are right when you say you are not like the others but you are no less valuable; if you were I wouldn't have offered you to leave with us on the comet."
Under the petting Shadow relaxed slightly and allowed the other to close the gap between them without the risk of getting prickled by those deadly, upturned spikes.
"I am at as much of a loss as to how to interact with you as you are when it comes to having to spend time with my soldiers." came the alien's confession "However I am surprised to think you would image I would be cold enough to force such a meal upon you."
Shadow sighed. "I don't know your customs; hedgehog might be a delicacy where you're concerned."
The alien gave a hesitant laugh "Even if that were the case I'd have removed such a tradition after your arrival." he pushed the hedgehog so that he was now lying on his narrow bed and gave a small smile "You chose to stay with me Shadow and, whether the rest of my children agree or not, you will always have a home here." As he watched weeks of worried fade from the creature which he gifted his DNA, the alien overlord couldn't risk a quick wonder as to whether or not anyone would consider hedgehog a pleasant dish. "You need never fear being eaten Shadow… even the most aggressive of your siblings would find your quills a bit too much work, never mind your attitude!"
The hedgehog gave a light grunt but he didn't seem too offended by that remark… who knows, maybe it had been a really worry for the small hybrid.
In case it was he joked again "Besides you'd probably make them sick and I certainly wouldn't want the paperwork that eating you entailed."
Another grunt but the closed ruby eyes made the reason for the lack of protest obvious. For better or worse the hybrid hedgehog really had started to think of here as home.