Haaaaaay... is for horses.

Yeah, but no, here's an update here.

I know this one's a long slog to get started, but it's supposed to be emotional and shit.

And hay, ohwait, HEY, after this one, stuff actually starts to get more exciting, sort of.

So, hope you enjoy?

It's a little shorter than usual.

I blame Chris.


Day Trip Therapy

Once breakfast had concluded, Ella produced an overstuffed picnic basket longer than Sonic was tall, a rolled oversized blanket to sit on once they arrived, and a small cooler of colas, lemonades and bottles of water for their journey and subsequent feast. To Chris' credit he had been overwhelmed by the volume of food and drink and attempted to hand some back for Grandpa to have while they were gone, but the maid had insisted; Tanaka was headed into town once he dropped them off at the station and would find Chuck a treat while he was there. They were to eat until they exploded – perhaps an impossible feat for Sonic and his exceptional metabolism – then return before sunset for hot chocolate to wind down for bedtime.

The hedgehog had gladly accepted the excess once she expressed the finality of her decision. Despite the Thorndyke's generosity, he had been reigning in his appetite for some time to not overstep the bounds of their hospitality, and his stomach gurgled in anticipation of finally being full after a meal rather than foraging for fruits on a run in the afternoon.

If only they knew how many chilidogs he could put away in a single sitting…

With the size of the picnic basket, it was much too far for Chris to walk to the station, and while Sonic would have gladly carried it instead, he couldn't see over it, so they conceded to the lift with Tanaka as planned and bundled into the car barely half an hour after breakfast. Goodbyes, wishes of a fantastic day trip and see-you-later's were expressed and then they were off, headed for Station Square Central Station.

This is also where the day's progression began to slow, and Sonic wasn't a fan.

They join the line to buy tickets, and the Mobian has a hard time maintaining his patience as time passes. There are five people ahead of them, but only one ticket dispenser open, leading to what should have been a swift interaction stretching out closer to the five-minute mark before they've even moved.

Unable to fold his arms due to the blanket tucked under one and the cooler in the other, he instead allows his foot to tap rapidly on the tiles of the ticket office as he glances to Chris. The kid has put the picnic basket down to save his arms, but he seems entirely unperturbed by the wait and shuffles forwards in tiny increments as those before them are served. He puffs out a breath, which finally gets the boy's attention, and the teenager frowns. "What's up?"

"Is taking the train usually this tedious?" He realises his face is set in a frown, and actively changes it, letting it stretch into a grimacing smile instead. "I mean, I probably could have run us there by now if we didn't have the baggage." A nod of the head towards the picnic basket accentuates his point before he looks head to the queue, tipping onto his toes to attempt to see better. "What's the hold-up?"

Chris follows his gaze. There were three people ahead of them now, the two not currently engaging with the ticket clerk – three, Sonic noted, as a young girl perhaps only five peeks around an adult woman's leg - looking back to the boy and the hedgehog. The preteen cringes slightly and scratches the back of his head, looking embarrassed at the attention. "Maybe the weather's got more people out than they expected? It's usually kind of wet this time of year, and a little colder, so I guess everyone's making the most of it like we are?"

He manages to stop tapping his foot and sighs softly. "Probably. And it's a weekend, right? Kids are off school, adults are home…" He trails off as Chris expression saddens a bit, realising he's hit a nerve, and decides to change the subject, bringing the cheerful tone back into his voice. "So, where we headed? I know it's a surprise, but you're gunna have to tell the ticket guy soon, right? Mind giving me a head-start on the info?"

A smile returns to his friend's face as he speaks. "I talked about it with Tanaka and Grandpa this morning while you were still asleep, and they agreed it was a good idea. I figured we could go back to Silver Valley." Sonic blinks dumbly at the name - he'd been a lot of places, but he'd rarely ever learned their names – and the human looks disappointed. "You know, where Tails, Amy and I went to have a picnic, and Eggman showed up?"

His muzzle twisted into a silent 'o' of recognition. "Ah, yeah, I remember; the place with the lake, where Knux and I did a bit of landscaping?"

Chris chuckles at that. "Pretty sure no-one would consider what you guys did landscaping, but yeah." He looks away and stoops to pick up the picnic basket again, the teller having called over the next customer. "Since you didn't come to the picnic, and didn't get to relax there, I thought you might like to go. There's a ton of hills and woods surrounding the place we could explore, and the lake's set in this grassland we can lay out the blanket on and picnic next to, and we could-" He straightens and seems to lose his train of thought, eyes still forward and mouth slightly open in dumbness. "Uh…"

The hedgehog turns as well and is greeted by the other three humans standing back slightly and waving them through to the teller, who's smiling widely and gesturing them to head to the front. He blinks a few times before he comes back to his senses and raises his hands up almost defensively, offering an almost apologetic grin, entirely uncomfortable with the situation. "Uh, thanks, but we're good to wait. You guys were here first, and we're- "

"Please," the elderly man directly before them states, still offering up the space in front of him to allow them through. He has a kind smile on his face, light wrinkles of happiness around his eyes and the corners of his mouth. "It is the least I can do, for all you have done for us." In front of him, the younger woman and the child nod in agreement, the youngster basically bouncing beside her mother in excitement. Sonic shares a look with his human companion, who looks just as uncomfortable as their eyes meet, but he nods very slightly in the direction of the others with a meaningful expression.

They're talking to you, it screams, and Sonic can only agree with it. This decision is his own to either accept or deny. Seconds pass as he ponders the best reaction, but the youngster's enthusiasm causes him to refrain from rejecting their deference. He looks to her now and studies her, noting the contagious smile on her lips that makes his own stretch into a grin, the tightening of her little fists as she attempts to contain her excitement to bouncing up and down rather than squealing, and the doting smile of the girl's mother as she regards her offspring's enthrallment.

Could he, in good conscience, turn this down?

It was likely the best way they had to express their gratitude for his actions over the last year or so, and he felt he didn't have the right to reject it. After all, how would it look if a known idol of peace and compassion were to refuse such a request? Would they take it as humbleness and ignore it, or would it be viewed as a slight against the populace, a disregard for what little they could offer to someone who had done great things they could never hope to emulate?

Bizarrely, if there was anything Sonic hated, it was being the centre of attention. He would gladly risk life and limb for the good of others, but to be acknowledged and revered for it was something entirely different. He preferred to carry the mantle of Hero anonymously; for people to directly regard him with awe made him just as uncomfortable as being the negative focus of a conversation, such as the discussion between GUN and Nelson Thorndyke the night before. It made his palms sweaty, and his chest tight, and he wanted to be rid of the feelings as soon as possible.

He takes a grounding breath as discreetly as possible and hides the flexing of his hands behind his back. And the easiest way out of this is to accept it. His grin becomes more genuine now as he holds the gaze of the little kid, the easiest to observe as he speaks. "Sure, thanks. But don't do it again until I save the city again or you'll spoil me, alright?" The adults laugh at the comment, while the little girl squeals a little at his attention.

Allowing Chris ahead of him, Sonic steps forwards a few paces and assumes the role of "friendly Hero" he's so familiar with, shaking hands and making polite conversation with his trademark grin worn on his muzzle. Despite the smile, he wasn't feeling it; as far as he was concerned, today was supposed to be a reprieve from "normal", not an extension of usual occurrences whenever he paused in town, though he had to admit some fondness for the humans came back when he spoke to the little girl. She seemed torn between fear and glee, clinging to her mother's skirt and voice seemingly alive, pitch dancing up and down in excitement and a giggle passing her lips when he ruffles her hair.

Soon Chris is done, and he bids them farewell, a train due in just a few minutes. Internally, the hedgehog breathes a sigh of relief as he escapes the social interaction, trying to let any tension that accumulated dissolve (with limited success) as he takes the steps to the platform two at a time. He pauses at the top for Chris to catch up before they dive onto the train just as the conductor blows his whistle and moments later, they're on the move again, headed for solitude and relaxation.

This being his first experience of a train, Sonic was… unimpressed.

The aisle between the sets of double seats was narrow, so much so that Chris had to walk sideways with the picnic basket, since he was too short to hold it above the backs of headrests. These seats had their backs to the sliding doors they had entered through and were crammed as close as they could be to the backs of those ahead whilst still allowing room for human legs to not be crushed between them. This pattern was mirrored at the other end of the carriage, where another set of doors were set into the metal box, and these seats also faced towards the middle on the train car.

It was here the pattern altered; where the two sets of chairs facing each other met on their side of the aisle, more leg room had been left, and a large table mounted between them to make a seat capable of holding four passengers, two sets of two facing each other. Chris tells him to try and grab one of these tables, but the two in this car are already occupied - one by a business man with his laptop out and typing away earnestly, the other by a teenage boy perhaps three years older than Chris with headphone in, and an adult male on his phone.

"Oh well," Chris sighs, though he sounds resigned rather than disappointed, and Sonic looks back to him as he continues. "They usually go pretty quick." He glances around and notes two pairs of chairs on either side of the aisle to one another free and nods to them with his head. "I'll sit one side with the basket, and you can sit the other? We're not far; it's only thirty minutes away."

Sonic tries not to groan at the length of time it'll take and nods, taking his assigned seat and immediately hating it. Given his height, his head barely comes higher than the fold-out tray on the back of the seat below, and with his only visibility being Chris taking the seat across the aisle and placing the basket down beside him, it feels claustrophobic.

A glance to the right and he spots a window. Only half of it protrudes into his wall space, but Sonic decides that doesn't matter, getting onto his knees and holding the window frame to peer outside. He could see how it would appeal to a human; in comparison to their usually slow gait, he imagined the world flying past at this speed could be exciting, and likely would blur as their brain attempted to keep up with the motion. To Sonic's accustomed eyes, though, he had no difficulty discerning details as buildings and foliage flew past at over seventy miles an hour.

It's uninspiring, and soon he's back in his seat and kicking his legs absently before him, eyes closed and head laid back against the seat.

Even if it was dull, it was at least quiet. No one bothers the pair as they travel, and Sonic finally feels the tension he'd tried to dispel earlier melting away in the serenity of the train car, the only noises being that of light conversation of other passengers or the train as it hauled them towards their destination. His breath comes deep and calm, and a benign smile forms on his muzzle without his knowledge as he folds a leg over the other and, simply put, chills out for fifteen minutes whilst trying not to let the gentle rocking of the carriage put him to sleep.

oOoOo

Warm sunshine bathes Silver Valley, the enveloping trees preventing the slight chill of the autumn air whisking away the warmth and leaving their chosen clearing bright and warm. Once Sonic lays the blanket down, Chris places the basket on its edge and takes a deep breath of clear country air, closing his eyes and stretching out his torso. Despite the sun, he can detect the tell-tale scents of the approaching winter - freshly fallen leaves, of browning grass, and the slight scent of pine from the forest around them.

Despite how recent breakfast was, the two preteens agree to eat something before diving (metaphorically speaking, of course, since the hedgehog had already made it clear he wasn't going anywhere near the lake itself) into exploring the area. As such, minutes later, most of the contents of the basket had been drawn out for inspection and then they relaxed, munching in silence with the twitter of birds overheard as their soundtrack.

While they ate, the teen stole discreet glances at his Mobian friend.

For the most part, the hedgehog looked a lot less tense than earlier, and Chris was grateful for that. He'd been spending most of his time in the other's presence for months now, minus when he had to be at school, and he'd never seen him look so uncomfortable… And that was saying something, given the things Sonic had done since his arrival; constant fights with Eggman resulting in almost drowning, being beaten to within an inch of his life then almost drowning, dealing with some mad Chaos monster that tried to drown the entire city.

Yet being offered preferential treatment for those acts of bravery made him uncomfortable, and Chris was struggling to understand that. Doing what he did, he must have spent his entire life as the centre of attention before he got here, surely? He'd guess it was the humans that made him uncomfortable, but he'd met and interacted with plenty before and not shown as much discomfort, and that included the President! If any interactions had made Chris himself anxious, it had been that party, full of high-profile politicians and reporters.

Sonic catches his eye and raises a brow ridge, and the boy attempts to mask any concern he'd had in his expression with an easy smile – one that doesn't quite work and makes him look constipated – before abruptly looking back to the lake and filling his face with the sandwich he'd grabbed from the pile, still on his first as Sonic holds the remnants of a third.

"Somethin' up?" He swallows hard and looks back to Sonic. The hedgehog's gaze is one of concern, what remains of his sandwich in one hand, his second cola in the other. When he doesn't answer and instead looks back down at his sandwich, he hears Sonic put his drink back down, tone now laced with worry. "Chris...?"

And at that moment Chris couldn't help but laugh, a loud and sudden burst of noise that quieted the birds around them. He feels Sonic's weight shift slightly and he glances back to see the other looking confused as he leans away from him a little. The teenager laughs again, a chuckle this time, and shakes his head. His head hangs a little and his eyes close. "This is stupid. You're worrying about me because I'm worrying about you, but don't want to ask because I feel stupid."

Silences stretches out between them a while before the hedgehog breaks it. "Worried about me? Why? This isn't a continuation of the whole stranding me here thing is it?" At the reminder of his childishness, Chris can't help but flinch a little, driving Sonic to continue. "I already told you it's okay, remember? I know we were gunna talk about it, but there's nothing to worry about. Chuck and GUN are already working on it, and Tails can handle Egghead until I get ba- "

"That's not it." His voice is so low and calm it unnerves even himself, so Chris tries to inject some life into it as he raises his head to gaze across the lake. "I mean, sure, we were going to talk about it, but… that's not what I was worried about." He takes a deep breath and forces the words out before he can repress them, not wanting his friend to feel awkward around him after today for unspoken words. "When we were at the station, when those people let us go first, you… I don't know… you went all tense, like you were anxious, and it felt… weird."

"Oh." He glances sideways to see the Mobian looking down. His hand is splayed out to balance him as he leans towards Chris on the blanket, and it's this he seems to be paying attention to now, flexing his fingers slightly in the fabric as he continues. "That's… I didn't think you noticed."

Once again, silence envelops them. As minutes go by, Sonic shifts to pull his knees to his chest and hug them there, glazed eyes staring off over the lake. Time crawls by and Chris feels increasingly uncomfortable for bringing it up, now worried his expression of his concerns will be the downfall of their friendship. He flexes his fingers in his lap before finally reaching for a can of lemonade to occupy them, cracking the top and taking a long drag to coat his rapidly-drying mouth.

As he lowers the can and rests his forearm on a knee, it's the hedgehog who breaks the silence, and Chris looks to him and listens as Sonic describes how his first memory is of waking at the epicentre of a circle of destruction so wide, it went on as far as the eye can see. He frowns as Sonic describes his feeling of anxiety and fear, of clasping at something around his neck that was absent and being unable to recall what he was reaching for. He watches the emotions play in Sonic's eyes while his expression stays flat and detached, speaking as if he were telling a story rather than his own history.

Then he understands as Sonic describes running towards the sounds of fear, of the familiarity of wind streaming past his face, of the adrenaline rush of needing to act and doing so, and of a warming of his legs as they work. He understands that while the other is heroic, he doesn't do so for the attention but for the memory of a life he's otherwise forgotten, one he's reminded of whenever someone gushes about his acts of bravery.

And of the hope that, maybe… he'll recall something else, if he just keeps running.