It wasn't sure how to feel as it stared up at the rustic ceiling of the room, blinking as thoughts consumed it but left it all at once. There was comfort in a soft, white object full of feathers, but that comfort could only lend so much, as well as the coat of cotton over it.
So much had happened today and it wasn't necessarily sure how to process it. How would typical beings around it handle the matter…? How did they deal with these inner demons so masterfully? Surely they'd made mistakes before, just as it did…
But after a couple of moments, it realised they probably couldn't understand on the same level that it could. They were lesser beings, not lowest in importance, but they were not gods, not like itself. They couldn't possibly understand its inner turmoil as it was unearthly, far above them. Following that thought, it wasn't sure what to do. It supposed it would have to figure out how to tackle the issue, and thoughts were its forte, and see about solving it. Until then, it would have to settle for staring up at the barren terrain of the roof, which made quiet pitter-pattering noises as dew dribbled down the glass windows.
Sighing sadly, it turned on its side, staring at the door that the owners of this place had left through, even that quirky child that had spoken to him earlier. They had all gone to 'hit the sack', as the rough-voiced one had said, but for them to leave the hedgehog out here all alone lowered its self-esteem a little. Were they scared of it…? It should have been clear that it was harmless, to everyone and everything. If it had been dangerous, the group would have certainly known about it. It supposed if there was one thing to take from this, it was that it had shelter from the outside world. The only shelter it had ever known were the Dusty Desert Ruins… but that wasn't an option now.
No… going back was not an option.
Creeeeaak…
The deity's head immediately jerked upwards at the foreign noise, a noise that was unsettling at this time of day. One hand clutched the pillow tightly for reassurance, whilst the other clenched around the sofa arm, owner looking to the source of the noise like a deer listening for a predator. Its non-existent heart rate sped up as silence followed, but stopped soon after seeing a small figure open the door it had been staring at.
The person was the exact same height as the child that had left the room earlier, the same bright eyed bee who'd complained about having to 'hit the sack' like his peers, wearing his orange colour-schemed pyjamas. And here he was, up, awake, and staring at the creature with curious eyes which soon lit with happiness. He noted the way the other was hugging the pillow, and inwardly felt happy and less self-conscious about his own childish behaviours.
"Charmy?" the being queried, staring with green, confused, reptilian green eyes at the other. The sky's lights shone in its eyes from the window, and the moonlight fell on the insect as he walked towards the other.
It had had thought that Charmy would not have risen, at least not until day had come, but apparently not. He was rebelling, as evidenced by the smile that went from happy to slightly wry in tone. It still had difficulty telling emotions apart, honestly, and wasn't sure whether to be unnerved. The way the line on his face curved reminded it of the way Shadow had smiled at it – the betrayal was still fresh in its mind and Charmy scanned its expression as it felt immediate unease.
"What's up?" he asked cluelessly, that line turning into a confused one and relieving the others worries. It met the child's gaze again after looking away briefly, shaking its head after a second of silence. It believed the explanation unwarranted, and it was afraid that the other would somehow disapprove and leave it just as Shadow had.
"Nothing of importance," it responded, looking down at its hands which had loosened around their respective grips. Placing the pillow back on the sofa's end, the creature sat up, leaving space for the other to sit down if needed, but Charmy stayed where he was. He seemed to dwell on his friend's emotions for a little while, as a silence passed between them that was both deafening and intimidating.
"Are you sure?" he questioned, flying to seat himself beside the hedgehog, looking at it with imploring eyes that begged for the scoop. Curiousity wasn't the only emotion, but concern as well, which seemed to increase as the silence continued. He huffed slightly in response, but only out of frustration, and folded his arms, leaning back against the sofa. "Okay. Fine…"
It looked over at Charmy mournfully, disheartened by the response and heartbroken it didn't want to do anything about it.
"My… apologies," it whispered, its fingers twiddling together nervously. It thought briefly to divert the subject. "Weren't you supposed to be 'hitting the sack'?"
Charmy stiffened immediately, averting his gaze with a guilty expression, face pale and caught-out. "Yeah, but… I couldn't sleep…"
"Sleep?"
This verb confused it. It had an entirely different idea of what Charmy was doing, and…
"Yeah…" Charmy trailed, then stopped. He looked at it in amusement. "You didn't think we were literally hitting sacks, did you?"
"…no," it responded quickly, averting its eyes in the same manner that Charmy had, who only grinned wryly at the other's sudden childishness.
"You're not a good liar, y'know!" His giggles turned into laughter, but he immediately covered his mouth, realizing that he needed to stay quiet unless he wanted Espio or Vector hounding him to go back to sleep.
The demi-God's eyelids lifted in response, seeming to smile at the other's joy despite its lack of a mouth. The gaze was warm, fond even, but with that, doubt clouded the back of its mind. It had felt such joy with Shadow, trust, enjoyment in conversation, but now all that had turned to dust. It supposed that if it truly wanted to make the best of this world, it would have to fix its friendship issues, but how to do that was beyond it.
What was the flaw, exactly? All it had been doing is replaying that scene over and over again in its head, to no avail, just for the sake of inadvertently torturing itself. It couldn't make sense of it. Perhaps someone else could, but it wasn't sure whether to share that information… And mere mortals most likely wouldn't understand…
Ironically, it was former flame of Solaris that didn't understand. Friendship wasn't an easy topic – one couldn't figure out the subject matter in ten minutes. It took time, effort, and understanding, all of which it would soon have but soon lose.
"You're really not," Charmy reiterated suddenly, voice low and almost sad.
"What?" It looked over to him in slight surprise, raising its eye ridges in subtle shock.
"Hey… uh… what happened?"
"Hm?"
The world seemed to tilt as Charmy asked it a question that it would not at all like to answer.
"Y'know, before I met you?" he asked, his eyes looking to meet the unsettling ones of the other which bore no malice, only blankness. "There was something wrong, but… I didn't really ask about it. Kinda rude of me, huh? Or maybe it's rude of me to ask now? I dunno…"
"It doesn't matter," it responded briskly, glaring elsewhere with its arms folded, expression pained at the memory.
"I won't tell anyone," he whined innocently, turning so that he was on his knees on the sofa's cushioning, eyes suddenly increasing in size. It wasn't prepared for that.
It also wasn't prepared to tell anyone about its first experiences in this mortal world. Those experiences started because it was too open about who it was. It was too open, too arrogant, and too naïve. Would it not be a mistake to tell Charmy about its status in the world, its past? Was he even to be trusted? Would he prove to be yet another Shadow who cared little for its well-being despite how much it cared for his?
"I promise!" Charmy blurted, his lip wobbling, but this only uneased it further. It was suddenly reminded of Shadow's promise, and pulled away, curling into the corner of the sofa.
"Apologies."
That's all it seemed to give. It didn't want to open up. It didn't want to get hurt again.
Charmy's expression drooped again, the antennae on the top of his head drooping sadly. He fiddled with the other's blanket, running the smooth cotton between his fingers.
"I see…" he muttered sadly, nodding his head in sorrowful acceptance. "But it's just… you're so sad… and I don't like it when my friends are sad. So if you don't wanna open up to me, that's okay – I can wait. But don't take too long; I get really impatient and I just wanna help you!"
Charmy was on the thin blurred lines between sensitive and insensitive, but at least the worry was there.
"You've just met me."
It stared.
It had just met Shadow. And immediately, its personality changed to how one is with a best friend.
"That shouldn't matter, though. Not really!" Charmy insisted, frowning. "I don't know the world, but I still help save it, y'know what I mean?"
That sentence ran in its mind for a couple of seconds, before the unease in its system fell apart completely. Gone.
Something else consumed it, the warm feeling that had occurred earlier – it came back and suddenly melded with the emotion called understanding. The child was right… strangely. He'd chosen his words correctly, because it had struck a chord with its beliefs.
"I…" It trailed off, its pause thoughtful, until its jade irises moved to glance out of the window, glinting in the moonlight. "…yes… yes, I do."
"Of course you do!" Charmy chirped suddenly, proud that he'd made progress. He suddenly flew up in front of the other, gesturing dramatically and hyperactively. "It's the right thing to do! To care about people, no matter the person!"
Its heart lifted and sunk at the same time, although it was certainly inclined to give into Charmy's pestering after this much communication. Caring… was it really that easy? When one could easily take advantage of it?
"So are you gonna' tell me or not?" Charmy blinked at it, pouting slightly. "You don't have to do this all by yourself. It's actually ten times harder that way!"
He glanced back at the door behind him, grinning wryly.
"Trust me, I know – Team Chaotix is a tough nut to crack, especially when we work together, hehe!" A thought struck him and his face lit up. "Hey… if you tell me, maybe we could make you an official member! Wouldn't that be cool? We can work together all the time, solve mysteries, and stop bad guys! Sounds super cool, right?!"
His attitude seemed forever bright, and prone to change almost instantly, but the deity couldn't help but admire the boy for it. It was glad that its first few steps out into this world hadn't been alone, and that the companion was pleasant, helpful even. At least, that was clear now…
"Yes…" It was an acquaintance with the word now, and its tone grew a tad happier. "Cool."
"Like jeez, I don't even know your name! I gotta know your name! It'll be really inconvenient if we're on a super cool awesome mission and I can't call your name because I don't know it!" He rubbed his chin. "I mean, I could make a nickname, but still…"
"…"
"…well, oka—"
"Solaris."
"Huh?"
It lifted its head, a smile clear in its eyes.
"My name is Solaris." It hesitated, before putting further pride into its words. "Otherwise named the Flame of Hope."
Charmy looked on in awe, eyes gleaming, especially at the last part.
"You were named the Flame of Hope?"
'Solaris' nodded.
"And I still am."
HIIIII THHEEEEREEEE, YA'LL. BET YOU WEREN'T EXPECTING THIS. AN UPDATE AFTER LIKE, A YEAR, WAHOO!
Well, I'm all grown up now – in University as I type this. Sorry for the long wait! Drawing has taken over my soul and writing kinda got thrown out of the window because of it, besides my comics and roleplaying and stuff…
But I've finally decided to try and get back into writing and finish my baby projects, including this one!
I hope the wait was worth it, guys! Plot kicks in next chapter, so stay tuned. ;)
Thanks for all the support so far! (3 Leave a review if you've any feedback!
'Til next time,
Toxic : )