Late Night Television
A/N: Wow, my second FanFic in forever since I stopped writing few years ago. I'm not sure if it's good enough for a fresh start at writing fics like my first that I released, but hopefully someone enjoys the story enough to leave a fave and review. I guess it can be considered a Amy/Knuckles fic. Sorry if anything is possibly confusing. It's a part of a mini series I made up starring Amy, Tails and Knuckles just little over a year and a half ago.
This was typed up on Notes on my phone. Sorry for any possible mistakes (damn you autocorrect! Lol).
Tails kept his tan minivan running as Amy scrolled on her phone on the latest fashion trends in the passenger seat. They were parked in an alleyway waiting for Knuckles to return from around the corner with some boxes of pizza for their lunch when they returned home.
It reminded the young fox of when he and Amy hid from the police shortly after Eggman blew up half of the moon—which still looks as such today—and they waited for Sonic's update before Knuckles randomly popped his dreadlocked head out the sewers in front of them. It was comical as Amy squealed and Knuckles grumbled as the fox sped down the highway in pursuit of the president at the time. People have them double takes in the cars as they whizzed pasted them.
Now times have changed and the trio now lived together happily as roommates who did everything together; living in a single story three bed one bath home in Station Square's quiet suburbs.
"It's been a while. Where's Knuckles?" Amy pondered as her eyes still scanned her phone that now displayed glamorous dresses.
"Maybe since we asked for six boxes it's taking a while to prep and bake them all." Tails answered Amy as he eyed the gas gauge. He'll need to fuel up soon and was planning on doing so in the way back home.
The sound of a wagon being pulled drew Tails and Amy's attention to the red echidna pulling it behind him with six steaming boxes of pepperoni and sausage pizzas stacked on to of each other inside.
"Knuckles!" Amy smiled happily as the echidna went around the to the rear of the van to put the wagon in the trunk.
"Sorry it took a—" Knuckles grunted as he lifted the wagon to place it into the cargo space before closing the trunk and opening the side sliding door to sit in the rear bench seat. "—while, we ordered a lot of pizza and just one guy was cooking."
"I figured that." Tails answered as he slowly pulled out the alley and towards the gas station few blocks away.
"I'mma fuel up the tank, guys. Gas' gettin' low again." Tails told his passengers.
"Sure, go ahead Tails." Amy said a smile on her muzzle. Knuckles just nodded.
Tails simply smiled as he continued driving until he reached the gas station, pulled in and parked near a pump closest to the fuel tank on the passenger side.
He exited the van and popped open its gas cap cover and entered whatever he needed to enter before reaching for a pump and fueling his van.
"Oh wow, this one's pretty." Amy openly commented on a sparking silver dress with white accents and flaring long sleeves. The model was a black Mobian cat with dazzling green eyes and curves that made the pink hedgehog jealous. The Mobian fashion trends always seemed to be over the top and expensive. Amy knew that Rouge was the one to buy it even if it's worth a billion rings.
Knuckles huffed. He couldn't use a mobile phone due to his massive fists. Amy once bought the echidna one but he accidentally crushed it despite how careful he was. His thumb would've been the only finger he'd use since the others were overlapped by thick white leather. He could've used his massive namesakes as well to scroll up or down.
"What's so pretty?" He grunted while shifting in his seat.
"This dress! It's gorgeous!" Amy exclaimed.
"Yeah, I bet it is..." Knuckles mumbled while sniffing the pizza's mouth-watering aroma emitting from the back. If he could, he'd reach behind and rip off a piece to devour it right now. The mere thought of doing so made his belly rumble and Amy's stifled giggles warned the echidna that it was heard.
"You're hungry Knuckles?"
"Shut up."
Tails returned to the driver's seat and started up his van putting his seatbelt on. He noticed Amy giggling with a hand over her lips and Knuckles grumbling in the back. He assumed the two had argued and Amy had won, so, with a smile, Tails asked what happened.
"What's gotten into you, Amy?" Tails grinned as he pulled out the gas station and headed for the trios shared residence.
"Knuckles' tummy was talking!" Amy said. Tails was hungry himself but smiled in understanding.
"Gah! I'm hungry ok? I just wanna eat some pizza and relax, ok? Christ man." Knuckles said while forcefully keeping his temper under control.
"Oh Knuckles! I'm sorry! I'm just playing with you. I'm hungry too, don't get your tail in a knot!" Amy said sweetly much to Knuckles' chagrin and Tails' amusement. The fox chuckled as he pulled into their driveway and exited the van.
Amy gathered her purse and phone and assisted Knuckles with the sliding door by opening it for him.
The echidna stiffly hobbled out the van and aided the kitsune with the pizza and wagon in the rear.
"The pizza feels nice and hot still. There's obviously enough to last us all week." Tails said as he and Knuckles carefully put the wagon on the ground and closed the trunk of the mid-sized minivan, locked it and went towards Amy who since unlocked the front door.
The trio walked inside and ate a box of pizza together in the living room; leaving the remainder on the stove to cool before storing into their fridge for future dinners. They watched the talk show host Amy enjoyed watching and the craziness she provided her audience. The Mobian talk show host was a feline with obvious breast and facial alterations. She appeared plastic and fake all around but was still beautiful.
She was speaking to a audience member from the stands as the Mobian bird asked her a question.
"What's so interesting about Sofie the Cat?" Knuckles mumbled as he sipped his drink. Amy clasped her hands together.
"She's an example of true womanship! She's an advocate for women and their rights! She's among the most recognized woman for Mobians right now and her advice is always interesting!"
Knuckles rolled his eyes as Tails simply shook his head with an amused smile on his face. Amy was always over eccentric about the Mobian female figures she admired.
"Don't worry about Knuckles, Amy. He's just trying to make you feel bad for liking what you like." Tails reassured sweetly with the kindhearted smile he always had. Knuckles 'humphed' and Amy giggled.
"Thanks Tails."
Later on, Tails offered to clean up as Amy continued watching tv. Knuckles retreated to his bedroom to put on some plaid purple boxers and white tank top. He recently started getting into wearing clothing but the articles of cotton felt foreign to the echidna. Tails often wore clothes and enjoyed them. Knuckles' only complaint was that they had to shop in the children's section for basic clothing like what he wore now.
Amy smiled as Knuckles came into view. She knew Knuckles was trying to fit in and admired him for it. She admired the echidna for trying something different...for once.
"Knuckles, you look comfortable there." Amy complimented. Knuckles didn't spike until he was sitting up in the chair adjacent to the tv.
"Thanks." He replied.
Tails returned from washing the dishes and acknowledged Knuckles now adorned in clothing. Placing his hands on his hips he said,
"What's with the outfit change, Knuckles? I thought you hated clothes."
"Amy was right. I need to change up my life for once. Clothes is a first. Humans been getting snotty over 'naked' Mobians anyways. That comment made Amy chuckle.
"By the way 'Knickers'," Amy teased referring to the echidna's boxers and nicknaming him such an amusing word. This gained Knuckles' attention almost immediately and his brows furrowed deeply. Amy's teasing smile grew knowing she made him mad despite only being playful.
"What?" Knuckles grunted, growing irritable.
"What's with the sudden change in spirit? You was friendly for a second there. Saying I was right about lifestyle change."
Knuckles pondered before answering.
"W-Well it's true. I need to change my end game. Ever since we all started living together I needed to change how I go about my day. Living up on Angel Island all my life left me weaned on reclusiveness and aggression towards others." Taking a sigh, the echidna looked over at the television now displaying the typical weather forecast on the channel's particular news station.
"Well Knuckles I'm glad you're starting to lighten up. Changes in life are always worth while. You'll see, sooner or later heading outside and meeting new people's what'll make you a better person." Tails chimed in. Amy simply nodded and Knuckles couldn't help the little smile spreading in his snout.
"Alright then."
-X-X-X-X-
Dusk settled into night quickly and Amy android Tails gotten themselves ready for bed. After an exchange of 'good nights' and 'sweet dreams', they went into their respective bedrooms and gotten some shut eye. Knuckles had been in his bedroom long before the others went to bed, explaining why they didn't say good night to him. Unbeknownst to the others, Knuckles was long waiting for one in the morning of the following day so to say (lol that rhymes) to watch a tv show he recently gotten a kick out of ever since one night few months ago when he couldn't sleep that night and ended up falling asleep in the couch the next morning. Thursdays at one in the morning was a time when Knuckles actually chuckled. It was a quarter to one in the morning when the echidna deemed it was safe to leave the comfort of his bed and slip into the darkness of the living room.
Carefully feeling for the remote, Knuckles turned on the television, tuned on the station his favorite show premiered and lied down on the couch. Knuckles could've watched this on a phone in his bedroom but as stated earlier, his massive hands made holding such device a nightmare. Knuckles chuckled quietly at the amusing image displayed in the screen in front of him, the Mobian feline actor had just sped into the wall of the police station and revived a massive ticket for speeding, reckless endangerment and destruction of federal property.
"Dumbass." Knuckles mumbled through a yawn as he continued watching the tv. He wasn't aware of Amy waking up to use the restroom between her and Tails' room when she spotted the glare of the tv in the living room. She heard Knuckles laugh and immediately grew curious.
She carefully tiptoed across the carpeted floor and hid behind the wall where she took a peak and saw Knuckles watching a late night comedy show.
"What time is it? Some time passed one in the morning?" Amy whispered to herself. She took a peek at the clock and confirmed her suspicions of how late it was and shook her head. Amy decided to use the bathroom knowing the sound of flushing would startle Knuckles into heading back into his room or pretend to be asleep on the couch. After a moment, the sound of flushing sounded in the house and as Amy predicted, Knuckles' eyes widened as his attention went to the dark hallway faintly illuminated by the television glare. Someone's using the bathroom and obviously knows Knuckles was awake watching bull.
"Oh shit." Knuckles mumbled and shifted off his back and into a upright sitting position. He fumbled for the remote that had dropped onto the floor in his scare. In attempt to grab the small device the echidna bonked his head on the coffee table and audibly yelped 'ouch!'.
Amy finished drying her hands and exited the bathroom where she heard Knuckles grumbling and rubbing his thick skull where it connected with solid wood.
"Knuckles is that you?" Amy asked tenderly despite already knowing so. She smiled and placed her hands on her hips as she watched the elder echidna run his head and look at her.
"Yeah it's me..." Knuckles grunted. He grabbed the remote off the floor and held in his hand for a moment.
"Why are you up watching tv? It's early in the morning." Amy asked.
"Every Thursday this funny show comes on and I just like watching it. I'm sorry if I disturbed you." Knuckles admitted sheepishly. Amy smiled.
"Oh Knuckles, it's ok. Just make sure you get your rest afterwards, m'k?" Amy smile a sweet smile and Knuckles kept his head down to hid the embarrassing redness in his cheeks, where he prayed that the dim lighting of the tv and overall darkness of the house can mask.
"Ok..." The echidna mumbled. He was taken by surprise when Amy came over towards him to peck his cheek affectionately and that when the echidna truly grew red. The pink female's giggling brought his attention to her as she stood up and walked back to her room without another word.
As grumpy as Knuckles typically was, he felt himself grew softer over the years he adapted living with Amy and Tails. He remembered how much he despised the idea of living with someone given his lonely stature and overall aggressiveness. After much begging and prodding of his nerves, the echidna gave in and moved in with the girl. Given he was abandoning his duty as the Master Emerald's guardian by the insistence of Amy, Tails had revealed his ultimate invention of a invisible force field to protect the floating mass of land Knuckles once called home.
Shortly thereafter the young fox moved in as well after a terrible argument with the infuriating blue hedgehog, Sonic. The reason was still unclear or known by both the echidna or female hedgehog, but it was definitely bad enough that the fox rarely hangs with him anymore. Knuckles silently enjoyed the fact that Sonic wasn't a big thing to Tails anymore. He envied the hedgehog lots, but knew better then to say anything about it. Amy was hurt by it too. Her infatuation with Sonic wasn't as strong as it was when she was younger, but she was still saddened by the fact that he hardly pays the trio visits in their home.
Shadow, as odd as it sounded, visited the trio more then usual, given the dark hedgehog had retired from his duties from G.U.N. and assists Amy in babysitting Cream when she wasn't able or just to spend company. Knuckles found it odd that Shadow was being sociable in that way, but he brushed all the thoughts off and turned off the television after his comedy show was finished, living him surrounded in darkness of the early morning. He scratched his lower back after he stretched and stumbled towards his room—messy and unkept like his tired mind. He slipped into bed, the covers cool from lack of body heat. He reached over to turn on his fan, the cooling device loudly spun its blades as the echidna enjoyed its breeze on medium setting.
He glanced over at his alarm clock, just reading past two in the morning. He already forgotten what was planned tomorrow...er...later in the day.
A/N: The minivan Tails owns is a 2000-2005 Chevrolet Astro Van. Little trivia for anyone who's curious. All OCs belong to me (Sofie the Cat) and all that whatever. I hope my first fic after coming back's worth it. Maybe later on I'll either add and/or remove anything to make it a little better. Nonetheless, I glad to be writing FanFiction again.