Chapter 7: Jiggle Physics:
Lunch was an awkward affair, even for those not involved in the scandal between Sally and Knuckles. When Vanilla announced that lunch was ready, the Freedom Fighters assembled in their normal spots, but many of them including Knuckles, Sally, Sonic, and Amy, cast uneasy or uncomfortable glances at each other, yet avoided eye contact. The others, like Tails, Antoine, and Bunnie shared a series of questioning looks, but none could provide an answer for their comrades' unusual behavior. Sitting in silence, the teenagers dug in and ate quietly.
Attempting to break the air of stillnss around the table, Tails swallowed a bite of tuna sandwich and spoke. "Mm, this is great, Mrs. V, thank you," he said as he took another bite.
"You're welcome, Tails," she replied. And silence reigned once more.
Another few minutes of silence lasted before Antoine this time spoke up. Standing up from his chair, he smiled at Bunnie and banged his spoon against his glass, calling for attention. "Excusez-moi," he began in his reedy voice. "I have a, how do you say, important announcement."
Bunnie looked as if she was expecting something and the others raised various confused and surprised expressions. Turning to Bunnie, Antoine spoke. "Ms. Rabbot, life is short and we must grab every ounce of happiness zat is held in front of us, because we may never know when our time on zis world will be, er, finished. And you, my duchesse, are ze carrot on my stick." Sonic snickered. Ignoring him, Antoine pressed on,"So, Ms. Rabbot, would you do me ze honor of becoming my bride?"
"Oh mah stars. Ant, my dear, are you serious?"
"I am, milady."
"Then... Yes, o' course, Ah accept!"
Crying tears of joy and unexpected surprise, Bunnie stood up and threw her arms around the coyote, then placed a kiss on his lips. While Rotor, Amy, and Tails congratulated the young couple, the others were a bit surprised and unsure of how to react. Vanilla threw a glance over at Sally, but the chipmunk had her eyes on Knuckles, who, in turn, was staring at Antoine and Bunnie with his jaw slightly agap. Sonic, meanwhile, shrugged and kept eating. Vanilla's sleeve was tugged by her daughter, Cream. Turning her gaze to the younger rabbit, Vanilla blinked and regarded the little girl as if in a daze. "Yes, Creamie?"
"Are they gonna get married, Mommy?"
"I guess so," she replied, with a tone of slight disbelief. She was happy for her niece and her beau, but it was a little hard to believe her teenage relative was tying the knot already.
After the congrulations and well-wishers quieted down and resumed eating, Sally murmured, "I had sex with your fiancee." The low mumble was made just loud enough for Antoine and the others to hear. Giving Sally an incredulous look, Antoine glanced at Bunnie who appeared both furious and stunned simultaneously. Vanilla naturally covered Cream's ears and Sonic had the misfortune of sipping his drink at the time. Choking on the carbonated beverage, Sonic coughed violently and stared wide-eyed at the chipmunk.
"W-what?!" he exclaimed, still coughing.
Sally didn't answer and continued to twirl her food listlessly before taking another bite, as if ignoring her own statement.
"Zis is not true, is it?" asked Antoine, looking his new fiancee directly in the eye.
"Er, well, it's a little fuzzy, but..." began Bunnie, anxiously trying to beat around the bush.
"I- I cannot believe zis! Why would you not me?"
"Because it was a mistake an' b'fore we started dating, Antoine."
Still reeling from this revelation, Antoine sat down unsteadily and flapped his jaws uselessly. At length, he overcame his shock and took his fiancee's hand. "Er, no matter. As they say, ze show must go on!"
"Thanks, Antoine, for understandin'." Shooting a death glare at Sally, the rabbit kissed Antoine on the cheek and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
Knuckles cleared his throat. "Well, this was an exciting meal," he commented wryly.
Standing up, the echidna was about to excuse himself when Amy blurted out: "Sally might be pregnant!"
More astonished and startled expressions swept through the room. Groaning, Knuckles covered his eyes with his large, knuckled hand while Sally snapped to life.
"You little... How did you find out?"
"I- I overheard... in the bathroom," squeaked Amy.
Vanilla sighed. They should've checked the bathroom before talking so blithely she supposed.
"Nothing new," jabbed Sonic.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothin'," shrugged Sonic.
"Nothing? Oh, I'll show you nothing, blue ball-," began Sally, brandishing her teeth in a snarl.
"That's enough!"
Everyone was surprised to see Vanilla rise up sharply and slam her hands down on the table, knocking over several cups in the process. Silence reigned supreme as the teenagers prepared for a scolding from the motherly rabbit.
"You guys are friends. Why are you fighting like this? Spreading rumors and causing drama, for what? I understand things are tense, and familiarity breeds contempt, but you guys shouldn't be arguing with each other. For Pete's sake! Look at yourselves!"
Ashamed, the teenage Mobians cast reproachful glances at each other. Some, when their eyes met looked away instanteneously, such as Knuckles and Sally, Bunnie and Sally, Amy and Sonic, and so on. Ecah knew of some small bicker or argument they had in the past with one another and felt guilt pricking at their hearts.
Pushing onward, Vanilla continued: "From now on, I expect you to act like friends and the team that you are. No rumors, no lies, no secrets. After all, it was Sally's father who said: 'Divided we are weak, united we are strong.' during the Great War. We are fighting one now and if you all don't clean up your act, the war will be over before it began." Satisfied with her reprimanding, Vanilla picked up her daughter and left the dining hall.
There was a moment of awkward silence before Sally spoke up. "Sorry, Bunnie. I wish you and Antoine the best of luck."
Bunnie sighed. "Thanks, Sally. Apology accepted."
Next Amy piped up. "And I'm sorry I blurted out your secret earlier. I should've kept my nose out of your business."
"Thank you, Amy." Nodding, Sally turned her attention to Sonic.
"What?" asked the hedgehog, feigning ignorance.
"Don't you owe me an apology?"
"Oh, fine. Sorry I insinuated you were slut."
"Thank you."
"Bitch," he muttered under his breath.
Next, Sally looked at Knuckles and gradually, all eyes were turned on the chidna, wondering what the he had done to the princess.
"What?" asked Knuckles. Truly, he didn't know what he was expected to say.
"Anything you want to get off your chest, Knux?"
"Um," he drawled, thinking quickly. "Is this about... the... uh... whole... 'came in you' thing?"
Tails blanched and Amy flushed a deep crimson.
"No... well, that too. But I was thinking more about a certain someone you've been sneaking around with recently."
"Oh, oh!" exclaimed Knuckles, understanding who she was referring to. "Uh, not really. We don't have to let every know do we?" he asked as quietly as he could manage.
"Better to say it now before they find out anyways."
Sonic himself was intrigued. "Yeah, spit it out, Red. What have you been doing. Besides, boning Sal?"
With all those eyes on him, Knuckles couldn't maintain his cool. "Uh, I'm, uh, dating... Nicole..." he reluctantly admitted.
There was another moment of stillness before the Freedom Fighters burst into laughter. Knuckles was caught off-guard and rpaidly got angry as he overcame his surprise. "You guys think it's funny?!" he growled over the cacophony of chortles, giggles, and delirious laughter. Even Amy and Tails were giggling, with the pink one at least trying to cover it. Blushing with building rage and embarassment, Knuckles furrowed his brow and tried to look as threatening as possible. Sonic clapped him on the shoulder.
"Oh man," he said, still chuckling as fat tears began to roll down his slowly reddening cheeks, "that's just too rich. You and Miss Blackberry getting it on? Hahaha! Are you, heh, gonna get married, buy a virtual house, and have, *snicker* two point five virtual kids?"
After this comment, the laughing redoubled and Bunnie even fell out of her chair followed by Rotor and Tails. The only two not giggling were Sally and Knuckles.
"Screw you guys," muttered Knuckles as he departed, leaving the greatly amused group of teens and preteens behind.
* * *
Knuckles strolled listlessly down the hallway for the bunks, passing several doors and small, dusty window slits. Shaking his head, he gave a sigh that conveyed both frustration and depression. Why did Sally put him on the spot like that? He knew the others would very likely mock him for it, but that did little to soothe the sting of being ridiculed by his "friends" like that. But curiously, this experience didn't encourage him to cut things off with Nicole. Instead, it gave him a kind of incentive to make sure he went all the way with the holographic lynx. In truth, he found he was slightly angered by how unaccepting Sonic and the others were of Nicole having a relationship with a real Mobian. What exactly made a Mobian a Mobian? Was it flesh and blood? Only those with a physical body were considered a person? What about being born? Did someone have to literally give birth to another by conventional means to be considered a person? Or was it morals and the ability to discern between right and wrong? While Nicole couldn't boast about the first two, she was the champion of the the final qualifier. On more than one occasion, Nicole had been the one to correct Sally or Sonic on the right course of action. Mobians by nature had flaws; both physically and mentally. But Nicole... she was perfect.
During that train of thought, Knuckles realized he hadn't spoken to Nicole since that night after their first date. 'I hope she isn't steaming a little,' he thought, briskly quickening his pace towards Rotor's lab, where he was hoping Sally had left her. Stepping inside the dimly-lit workshop, Knuckles quickly scanned the room, then fixed his gaze on her tablet-like device sitting in the center of Rotor's worktable. Picking it up, he flipped on the computer and waited as it booted up. After a few moments the screen flickered to life and Nicole herself appeared a few moments later.
Blinking, Nicole gave a short glance around her then rested her eyes on Knuckles. "Oh, hello, Knuckles. I was wondering what had happened last night."
Knuckles shrugged. "Um, Sally caught me sneaking and... well... it not's not important."
"Was she... upset?"
Knuckles turned his gaze away slightly. "Er, kind of. But, she didn't seem to mind too much." Wanting to change the subject, Knuckles coninued, "She kinda guessed what we were doing, but didn't say we had to end it, so I just wanted to talk with you."
Nicole nodded. "Alright. Are you having second thoughts?"
Knuckles adamently shook his head. "No. In fact, I think I really want to see this through. Especially since everybody knows now."
"Everybody?" echoed Nicole.
Knuckles nodded. "Yup. There was a little fight in the dining room and Vanilla forced us to talk it all out. Sally pretty much forced me to tell the others, but they didn't exactly crucify me... So I think that's a good start."
"Were you embarassed?"
"Not really," he replied. "I knew they'd react that way, and that's part of why I was so hesitant to accept your... offer. But in the end, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, so now I just want to finish what I started."
Nicole felt two things. One was akin to something many called, love? Affection? No matter. The second was a kind of early stage of lust. Now that she knew Knuckles wouldn't back out, even after being humilated, she could parts of her tingle with anticipation. "So does that mean you are ready to-"
"Not quite," he interrupted. "There are still a few things I want to do before we... You know,... fornicate?"
Nicole nodded with some slight resignation. "Well, perhaps, I can... give you a peek. Just to help arouse you?"
Knuckles thought about it for a moment. It significantly less time than he took to decide what to eat for breakfast most days. Nodding as enthusiastically as he dared, Nicole took one step closer and teasingly slipped her shoulder strap off. Half-turning and looking coyly at the echidna, Nicole noticed his pleased expression and his eyes flickering over her figure. After another brief moment, Nicole spun back around towards Knuckles and slipped her top down slowly. And then a puzzled expression crossed her soon-to-be lover's face. "What?" she asked.
"There's nothing there."
Looking down, Nicole noticed that her breasts were covered by a small black bar that shielded practically everything but the top of her cleavage. "Damn censors," she muttered. "Give a moment. Connecting to her hardware, she fiddled with the safety settings and removed the "Family Friendly viewing" feature. After another half-second, the black bar disappeared and revealed her modest, C-cup breasts with pert nipples and dark brown areola. Knuckles let his jaw hang open slightly as he beheld the sexy image before him. Running her hands through her short, black hair, she did another small spin, giving Knuckles a full view. Like normal boobs, her pair bounced and swung with her. 'Good. My jiggle physics seems to be working correctly,' she thought.
Stepping closer to Knuckles, she placed her hands on his shoulders and Knuckles was forced to tear his gaze from her beautiful bosom and into her eyes. With her emerald eyes meeting his piercing, deep violet irises. And then, the two slowly drew closer, closed their eyes, and met lips. If their first kiss was electrifying, this one was magical. With Knuckles's inhibitions gone, he took great liberty in running his large, pointed hands across her body, gliding across her soft posterier, feeling the crease in her back, and through her hair. Resting his right hand on her furred neck, Knuckles held the lynx close and kissed her more passionately than he had kissed anyone before.
After what seemed like an eternity and a few moments at once, they were interrupted by two other females entering Rotor's lab. Sally and Amy observed the two lost in their kiss as the metal doors slid open, rather noisily in fact. Breaking away from her for a moment, Knuckles glanced at the two who had so rudely intruded without so much as a knock. "Relax, Red, we just came to apologize, although it seems you didn't waste anytime to meet your girlfriend," said Sally, wearing a slightly smug look.
Embarassed, Nicole quickly slipped her strap back on and hid her nudity from other two. Holding Knuckles's arm, she gave a sheepish smile to Sally.
"Look, Sally, I know you don't approve, but I don't care. I like Nicole and I won't be shamed from seeing her."
"I'm not trying to shame you," replied Sally. "I just thought you might like it if Amy and I agreed to help you out a little."
"Help how?"
"I was thinking a nice romantic dinner. Just the two of you."
"You would do that?" asked Nicole, even more surprised than Knuckles.
"I would," nodded Sally.
Knuckles looked hesitant. "I don't know... What about Sonic and-"
"They won't be a problem. You have my word. I just feel bad for you two and want to help make ammends."
Knuckles glanced at Nicole.
"Oh, Knuckles, will you at least consider it?"
The look of hesitation was still clear on his face, but seeing Nicole's equally pleading and hopeful face broke down his reservations about agreeing to the offer. "Fine. We'll accept. Thank you, Sally. And you too, Amy."
Sally turned to Amy. "Excellent. Amy will start cooking and I'll make the arrangements. Meet us seven o'clock and it'll be ready." With that, the chipmunk and the pink hedgehog departed, leaving Knuckles and Nicole alone once more.
After a few moments and when Knuckles was sure that Sally was out of earshot, he leaned closer to Nicole and murmured: "You know how you said we were both virgins?"
"Yes," replied Nicole.
"You can't say that anymore."
Author's Note: The seventh chapter is here! And only a day later than I anticipated! Anyways, when I was writing this one, I considered to keep going, but I decided "nah, let's just stop here and add the rest in the next chapter." So I resolved a few things in this chapter, mainly because it wsa getting tedious to keep it a secret from the others and I'm already seven chapters in. So the next chapter will be about their second date and maybe something more. Now, to respond to pennythelynx, yes, I can write a Knux x Bunnie fic and I can begin work right after I finish this one here. My suggestion is to create an account for and put me on your Author Alert list. That would be the easiest way to keep up to date on my work and be alerted when I do begin my work on this future shipfic. If you can't or don't have an interest in creating an account, then I'd suggest checking about once a week or going to my profile page and bookmarking it. All of these are just suggestions, but I'd recommend at least one of these. Finally, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and continue to stand by for the next. This is TheEpicTales2, signing off.
