In the early morning, Sonic slowly woke up, stretching out before pushing himself up into a sitting position. How'd he fall asleep again? He remembered wrestling with Knuckles, then... did he fall asleep on him?
He rubbed his head, not able to recall. He knew that there had been a warm sensation across his cheek for a moment, but he didn't bother thinking about it.
He'll probably be hungry. I'll run out and get him some breakfast.
He stood up, then rushed out the door and headed for the nearest cafe, wondering if Knuckles would be up when he got back.
Knuckles stretched and yawned. He was confused by his surroundings for a moment, then remembered the previous day's events.
I hope Sonic doesn't know about me kissing him... he thought, his face flushing at the memory.
His stomach growled. "Oh man, I'm starving..." he mumbled to himself.
A minute or so later, the bedroom door slowly began to creak open. Sonic poked his head in, looking cautious, but quickly brightened up as he saw that Knuckles was awake.
"Mornin'!" he greeted, walking in while carrying two to-go boxes. "Brought ya some breakfast; eggs and pancakes." He held one of the boxes out to Knuckles, then smiled. "Don't worry. There's a fork and stuff in there too."
Knuckles' sleepy face instantly lit up. "Thanks!" he said, taking the box.
Sonic sat down next to him on the bed, opening his own box to reveal a chili dog. He had planned to scarf it down like he usually did, but for some reason it just didn't feel right doing so in front of Knuckles, so he ate at it a bit more slowly.
Knuckles happily ate his breakfast. He was very flattered that Sonic had gone out and gotten it for him.
My Sonic would never do that for me, he thought, chuckling internally.
"How is it?" Sonic asked, wanting to be sure. "I go to that cafe all the time, but I asked them to surprise me with your food since I wasn't sure what ya liked." He looked slightly apologetic, wishing he'd asked before he left.
"It's great!" Knuckles replied as he ate. "Oh, sorry, shouldn't talk with my mouth full," he apologized.
Sonic laughed. "Don't worry about it. Whatever you do's cool with me," he said.
Knuckles smiled. This Sonic was definitely very different from the one he knew. Unlike his Sonic, this world's Sonic didn't seem to get annoyed with him so easily. It was a nice change of pace, Knuckles had to admit.
"...So, Knux," Sonic began, practically inhaling the rest of his chili dog as it went straight down his throat. "What do ya like to do?" he asked. "Even though I know the Knuckles from my universe, you're different, so I wanna figure you out, I guess."
Knuckles thought for a moment. "Well... usually I hang out on the beach with my friends and play volleyball. Or, if everyone else is busy, I'd work out, or practice piano."
"Huh..." Sonic laid back against the bed and thought a bit. "Sounds like a lotta fun... but..."
He looked over at Knuckles. "I dunno. Your smile changed a little when ya mentioned your friends..." he mused.
"D-did it?" Knuckles hadn't even realized it. Thinking about his friends had caused a twinge of sadness in his heart.
Sonic nodded, then sat back up, looking concerned. "I know I'm not your Sonic, but you can still talk to me if something's up," he offered.
Knuckles didn't know what to say. He felt comfortable around this Sonic, and he felt bad for pushing him away. But, what was he supposed to do, tell this Sonic that he had a crush on the other Sonic? There was no way he could do that.
Sonic could feel that he was nervous. Perhaps it was something too personal? "...No big deal. I won't make ya tell me," he said, averting his gaze. "Just wanted to help if I could..."
Knuckles felt bad, but he just couldn't talk about his crush. Although...
"Well... it's just... you're probably the nicest person I've ever met," Knuckles said. "You're one of the only people I know that doesn't think I'm stupid..."
He wasn't sure why he was admitting any of this. He just felt like he could talk to Sonic about this.
Sonic raised his brows in surprise, a blush dusting his cheeks. "U-uh, thanks... but, why would I think you're stupid anyway?" he asked. "You never came off as dumb to me..."
Knuckles was very surprised. "R-really?"
This was the first time he could remember anyone saying that to him.
Sonic nodded. "Yeah, really."
Knuckles was stunned. "B-but... I don't understand things very well, and I don't get half the jokes my friends tell, and I'm not very clever... h-heck, I can't even read!"
He was starting to choke up. All of these feelings that he'd tried to keep buried were now rushing to the surface.
Sonic frowned, crawling closer to Knuckles. "H-hey, c'mon. Look, you're not stupid to me, okay?" He shrugged casually. "So what if ya can't read? I can't swim and I sink like a rock in water; Eggman even knows it and uses it against me half the time," he told him. He gripped Knuckles' shoulder a bit, then gave him a mild glare. "I dunno who told ya that you were stupid, but it's not true. If anyone tries to talk to you like that again, you gimme a call and I'll wallop 'em until they stop, alright?" he asked, making a small punch motion to emphasize his point. He paused, an emotion flashing in his eyes that couldn't quite be placed, then pulled away and smiled, though it wasn't as big as he usually made it. "Even if I'm a universe away..."
That did it.
Knuckles couldn't control the tears that spilled from his eyes. No one had ever been this kind to him before, and it was overwhelming.
"K-Knux!" Sonic cried out, worried that he'd said something wrong. Not sure what to do, he got close again and gently wrapped his arms around the echidna, letting him cry as much as he wanted to.
"Ah... s-sorry..." he murmured, dropping his gaze to the floor.
"N-n-no, d-don't be..." Knuckles stammered. He wanted to say more, but his sobbing made it difficult to speak any more.
Sonic was confused at his phrasing. Wasn't it his fault that Knuckles was crying? Still, he figured he'd obey him for now, lightly stroking Knuckles' back as the echidna continued to sob.
After a while, Knuckles had calmed down significantly.
"S-sorry you had to see me like that," he mumbled in embarrassment.
Sonic shook his head. "Everyone gets like that sometimes. You just needed to let some emotion out."
"Th-thanks." Knuckles sniffled and wiped his eyes. "My Sonic is never this..." He paused to think of the right word. "...understanding?"
Sonic blushed a little, but tried to keep himself composed. "Well, I try... I've rescued so many people in the world and been to so many places. I love seein' people smile, so I gotta do my best, y'know?"
Knuckles smiled. "Yeah..."
He wondered if he was starting to love this Sonic even more.
Sonic smiled back, then turned his head as he heard a ringing coming from the living room. "Ah. That's Tails callin'," he muttered. He got up, then ran into the other room to answer the communicator sitting on the table.
Knuckles sat and waited for him to return.
It's weird... he thought, I almost don't want to leave here. I don't want to leave my friends back at home, but...
He shook his head. Feelings could be very confusing sometimes.
After a while, Sonic returned and dug out his Chaos Emerald from underneath his bed. "Tails said that he's got some news for us down at his lab, and that we should bring the Chaos Emerald with us."
Knuckles stood up. "We should get going then," he said. He didn't want to keep Tails waiting. That would be kind of rude, he figured.
Sonic nodded, and the two headed off.
Once they got to Tails' lab, Sonic invited himself and Knuckles in, staring over at the fox, who sat at his computer.
"Yo, Tails!" Sonic greeted.
Tails smiled and turned to the two. "Hey, guys! Thanks for gettin' here so fast. I've got great news!" he exclaimed.
"What's the news?" Knuckles asked, smiling at Tails' excitement.
"Well, like I predicted, the Tails in your world figured out that you got teleported here. We've been able to communicate through text, though unfortunately any sort of video isn't possible," Tails explained. "However, we managed to figure out that sending you home shouldn't be too big of a deal. I have a machine similar to the one in your universe that sent you here. The only thing we need is four Chaos Emeralds so we'll have enough power to focus the teleportation, otherwise you'd just get sent to a random universe."
"Alright, seems simple enough," Sonic said. "I've got an emerald, and so do you, so that's two."
Tails nodded. "And Knuckles - the one not standing next to you, Sonic - has one as well if I recall correctly."
"So then we'd just need one more, right?" Knuckles concluded.
And then I can go home. But, I kind of want to stay here longer... He sighed internally. Yep, feelings were very confusing.
Tails nodded. "That's correct!"
He turned, then showed the two a small robot with wings. "These are little emerald trackers. They can technically locate an emerald, but only if it's in a very close vicinity. I had them scour around all night, and they actually detected an emerald!"
He pulled out a map, then handed it over to Knuckles. "This shows the general area where the emerald is. That little device on the map will blink more rapidly when you get closer to the emerald. You can pick up the third emerald from Knuckles, then head to the area on the map to get the fourth. I'll even loan you the Tornado!" he said.
"Cool!" Knuckles replied. He then smirked. "Looks like I'll get to meet myself, then."
"Alright, here's the keys," Tails said, handing said keys over to Sonic, who smiled at him.
"Awesome. Thanks, Tails!"
Sonic led Knuckles through the lab and out the back door, revealing a few different planes that Tails had built. "Let's see, let's see... ahah!"
He walked up to a red plane and hopped up onto one of the wings. However, something slowly dawned on him. "Uhh... don't s'pose you know how to fly a plane... or how to keep your balance on the wings?" he asked Knuckles; Tails probably figured that Knuckles could do at least one of those.
However, Knuckles shook his head.
"W-well, see... the Tornado's a one-seater," Sonic said. "But... the seat's pretty big since there's gotta be room for Tails' tails. So, maybe if you sat in the seat, and I sat on your lap..." His voice trailed off slightly as he flushed pink.
Knuckles blushed. He was nervous about doing this, but there weren't any other options, so...
"S-sure, that works."
"A-alright. Up we go, I guess," Sonic said, getting out of Knuckles' way so he could sit down in the seat.
Knuckles plopped down into the seat. Well, here goes...
Sonic hesitated, then got down with him, resting on his lap. He saw all of the controls in front of him, but it was far too easy to focus on the heat he felt coming from behind him.
"Is this too uncomfortable for you?" Knuckles asked. His face was flushed from having Sonic in his lap. Secretly though, he really liked the close physical contact.
Likewise, though he wouldn't admit it if asked, Sonic was actually pretty comfortable with Knuckles there. "Nah, I'm alright. Uh... ready to go?" he questioned.
Knuckles gave a thumb's up. "Yep, I'm ready!"
"Alright, take off!" Sonic exclaimed. He started up the plane, then took off, looking around at the sights. "...Oh yeah!"
He smiled and turned his head, seeing that Knuckles' size was causing the place with the seatbelt to be covered up. He took his hands off the controls for a moment, then grabbed Knuckles' hands and pulled them around himself. He placed one of Knuckles' hands over the other, then made a fake 'click' sound, chuckling before getting right back to the controls. He felt a little flustered from putting Knuckles' arms around him, but he didn't quite understand why; he was only being playful.
Knuckles' cheeks grew warm as his face flushed. He didn't really object, though. He just hoped that Sonic wouldn't notice his flustered state.
Sonic relaxed as the plane flew through the sky, the wind blowing through his fur. "I usually ride the wings, but this is fun too," he said. Turning his head, he looked down at all the scenery. "Probably looks weird to you, huh, Knux?"
"Yeah..."
This world was definitely nothing like Knuckles' world. But, that wasn't a bad thing. He was very intrigued by this world, and he hoped to see more of it soon.