Finished this faster than I thought.
Enjoy
In a more calm part of the city, Vanilla the Rabbit lives in a small cottage with her daughter, Cream the Rabbit. This particular morning, Cream was out shopping with Amy and Vanilla was by herself. She was busy washing dishes when the phone started ringing.
"Oh, who could that be?" she asked herself.
She took off the rubber gloves she was wearing and went to answer the phone.
"Hello?"
"… Hi, um… Miss Vanilla…?"
"Yes, who is this?"
"It's me… Charmy…"
"Oh! Hello Charmy. I couldn't recognize your voice. You sound different than usual. Is something wrong?"
"I don't feel good…"
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Honey… What's wrong?"
"…I… ACHOO! … I can't stop sneezing…"
"Dear me… You poor thing… You should get in bed and have Vector take care of you."
"… I don't think he can… That's why I called you…"
"He can't?"
"Yeah… I think he's drunk…"
"What!? Where is he?"
"… In his office… He's passed out on his desk… Can you please come over…? Pretty please…? I don't want to be alone…"
"Of course I will, Sweetie. Now go lie down somewhere. I'll be there in a half an hour."
"Okay… a… AAACHOO! Thank you…"
Both hung up their phones.
"That is completely irresponsible of Vector." Vanilla said as she gathered her things. "At the same time though… that's very unlike him… And why would Charmy call me first and not Espio?"
Vanilla arrived at Chaotix HQ a little over a half an hour later. Charmy answered the door for her. He was very pale in the face and had trouble staying airborne. His wings were not moving as fast as usual.
"Hi…" he said weakly.
"Oh… Charmy. You don't look well at all…" she said as she put her hand on his head. "You feel really hot too…"
"ACHOO!!"
Vanilla helped Charmy over to the couch and pulled a blanket over him.
"I'm sorry… ACHOO!... For bothering you…"
"No, no. It's okay. That was very grown up of you to call when you need help."
She fetched a cold flannel from the refrigerator and placed it on Charmy's forehead.
"Now I'm going to start cooking some vegetable soup for you. You just try to relax for now. And don't hesitate to call me if you need anything."
"Thank you… Miss Vanilla…"
She gave him a smile before leaving him be. While walking to the kitchen, Vanilla's eye caught the door to Vector's office. She decided to find out for herself exactly what was going on with him.
She cracked open the office door. Like Charmy told her, the crocodile was keeled over on his desk, obviously drunk. Angered by this, she marched right over to him and began shaking him.
"Vector the Crocodile, you wake up this instant!"
After about a minute of shaking, Vector finally began to stir.
"Umm… Leave me alone… I'll tell you when I've had enough… Beat it… ya bum…"
"VECTOR!"
Vector's eyes began to open slowly.
"I said g…g…g… AH! M-m-m-miss Vanilla!!" he said as he picked himself off the desk, feeling embarrassed about what he had just said. "I-I-I'm so sorry!! I didn't know it was you!"
The rabbit just leered at him with her arms crossed. She then gazed down at the empty bottles of booze on the floor. Vector scratched his head, trying not to make eye contact with her. Nothing scared Vector more than an angry woman.
"You should be ashamed of yourself…" she scolded. "Becoming this inebriated with a child in the house. Do you know why I'm here?"
Vector shook his head with a pathetic smile on his face.
"Charmy called me. He told me he didn't feel well and couldn't get you to wake up. So I came over to help him."
"Charmy's sick? Gosh… I am so sorry you had to come here… I'm so embarrassed right now… I don't know what came over me…"
"Looks like about a few bottles of alcohol… What were you thinking? You're not even 21 yet."
"I truly am sorry… This isn't me… I was just…stressed…"
"This isn't the best way to deal with your stress. This could kill you. Do… you have a drinking problem?"
"Oh n-n-n-o! This is the first time this happened. I… I guess Espio's resignation upset me more than I thought…"
"Resignation? I thought he was back on the team."
"He was for a little while but…"
Vector paused as he remembered the disturbing marks around Espio's neck.
"I'm so worried about him… His boyfriend has him completely wrapped around his finger now… And the relationship could be the end of Espio…"
"What are you talking about? Are you saying he beats him?"
The crocodile nodded.
"Last night, Espio failed to show up to a mission… When I went to his apartment, he was completely unlike himself… And he had these marks around his neck, as if someone choked him… I tried to get him to leave with me but he refused..."
"Oh my gosh…"
"I knew it… I was a fool for not trying to fix it sooner."
"How could you have fixed it? There's nothing that can be done if Espio refuses to be helped."
"I'm so grateful that you took time out of your day to help Charmy. You're a kind soul, Miss Vanilla. But… you don't have to stay here. I'll take over from here."
When Vector stood up, he felt the world spin around him. He had to grab his desk to stay balanced.
"Whoa…"
"You are in no condition to take care of someone. You need to sleep off this hangover. I'll stay until you feel well enough."
"You'd do that for me?" he said while blushing.
"Not you. Charmy. I think you're old enough to take care of yourself."
"Oh… Heh… Of course."
Espio woke up late in the afternoon. He barely got any sleep during the night and finally went to sleep in the early morning hours. The first thing he did was look at his self in the mirror. The bruises looked much worse than they did the night before.
Espio perked his head up when he heard the sound of laughing coming from the other room. Curious, he headed for the living room. There, he saw Dameon and a few of his friends watching television. Smoke filled the room from their cigarettes.
"Well… look who's finally up." said Dameon.
The purple chameleon coughed a little as the cigarette smoke made its way into his lungs. Dameon's friends, an iguana and a monitor lizard, looked up at him.
"Have a rough night?" the iguana said in a snicker.
"Yea." said the monitor lizard. "You're usually up way before Dameon is."
"I… didn't sleep well last night…"
"Wasn't I nice not to wake you up?" Dameon brought up. "I even made my own breakfast."
"Yeah, If you call going to Burger King making breakfast." the iguana said in a laugh.
"Hey, shut-up."
"Jeez… What happened to yer neck?" the monitor lizard asked Espio.
Espio looked surprised by the question and placed his hands over the bruises. He noticed Dameon leering at him.
"We gotta little carried away in the sack last night." said the black chameleon. "He's alright though… aren't ya?"
The purple chameleon felt extremely embarrassed. But he feared what would happen if he told the truth. The black chameleon continued to leer at him. Espio responded by nodding his head.
"You da man, Dameon." the iguana said while raising his beer in the air. "Hey, Espio? Do you think I can have my turn now?" he said before licking his lips.
Espio gasped.
"Come on. I promise I'll go easy on you."
Dameon punched the iguana in the shoulder hard.
"Shut your damn mouth. He belongs to me."
"Sharing is caring."
Feeling disgusted by the iguana's words, the flustered purple chameleon attempted to exit the room when Dameon called out.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
"…To the bedroom…"
"Nah-uh, not so fast. I waited forever for you to get up. Make us something to eat already, will ya?"
"Can you at least ask nicely…?"
Dameon appeared to be a little enraged.
"I don't have to ask 'nicely'. You should just do it. I already gave you a huge break. Now get in that kitchen and make something."
Not wanting anymore conflict, Espio just did what he was told and went into the kitchen.
"Whoo! Shake that tail!" the iguana called out.
Espio ignored the cat calls and went into the kitchen, slamming the sliding door behind him.
"Huh… he can be a real pain in the ass sometimes." Dameon murmured.
"I'd like to be a pain in his ass…" said the iguana.
"I swear to God, if you don't knock it off, I'm gonna throw you out the damn window!"
"Whoa… Testy… Just messing around…"
"Yeah… We all know too well how much you 'mess around'."
"Oh, and what about you? I saw you go into the night club's bathroom with that gecko for like 40 minutes."
"Keep it down!" Dameon whispered. "You want him to hear!?"
The monitor lizard was awfully quiet as he stared at the kitchen door.
Meanwhile, Espio was chopping up some carrots for the meal he was making, nearly on the verge of tears. He didn't even no why he was bothering putting them in there as Dameon would usually eat around them and then throws them away. Espio jumped a little as he heard the kitchen door open. It was the monitor lizard.
"Oh... Hello." Espio said quietly.
"Hey."
"Uh… can I get you something?"
"Naw… I just wanted to apologize for what my friend said. That wuddent right."
"It's okay… I know that's how he is…"
The monitor lizard grabbed a soda from the fridge and cracked it open.
"Couldn't help but notice dat ya seem different than usual."
"I'm just tired… It was a long night."
"Yea… Dameon made dat pretty clear."
Espio continued preparing the meal as the monitor walked around the kitchen.
"Wuz what Dameon said true? Did dose bruises really come from… ya know."
The chameleon paused his carrot chopping.
"What do you mean? Of… course it is the truth."
"Sorry. Didn't mean to impose. It's just… well… Dameon is kinda known for being real rough with his boyfriends. Especially if he's angry."
"I… see… Well I'm… sure that's in his past… None of this was done out of anger."
"F'you say so. But hey uh… If ya eva need to talk about what's eatin ya, you can always talk to me. Out of all of Dameon's boyfriends, I think yer the best one he's had. Not to mention the best cook."
Espio turned and looked at the giant monitor. He gained a small smile on his face.
"Thank you… for your kind words. But everything is fine though. Don't worry about me…"
"Yep, alright. Just wanted to say dat. I'll be headn' back. Thanks for da grub, Espio."
"You're welcome."
The conversation made Espio feel a little bit better. It was nice to be appreciated. Even though the monitor lizard was the largest and most vicious looking of the group, he was the most considerate. He reminded Espio of Vector a little bit. However, the fact that he said that Dameon had done this before made him uneasy.
Vector slowly rolled his eyelids open after taking some time to sleep off his hangover. He felt a bit better than before and decided to get up. He looked over at his alarm clock and was a little surprised to see that it was a quarter to four.
"Better let Miss Vanilla know."
He came down the stairs and saw Charmy resting on the couch. He appeared to be sleeping. Vector tip-toed over to have a better look. The area around Charmy's nose was very irritated.
"Poor little guy…"
Vanilla entered the room from the kitchen.
"Feeling a little better?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah… I just wish he would too."
"It's just a cold. It should go away in a couple days."
"Guess I didn't get him out of the rain quick enough…"
"That storm last night? What was he doing out there?"
"Trying to get to Espio."
The rabbit's eyes expressed a sort of sadness.
"You should probably head home now. I don't want your daughter to get worried about ya."
"Are you going to be alright?"
"Yep. Thank you so much for coming down here. I don't think there is anything we can do to show our thanks."
"There is one thing."
Vanilla reached out and grabbed Vector's arms.
"Just promise you won't do that to yourself again. If you're feeling depressed, you can always talk to me."
"Sure."
The rabbit gave the crocodile a quick hug. Vector's face turned a reddish hue.
"Take care of yourself."
She released him and went to get her things. Vector started to fan himself with his hand.
"I hope Charmy feels better soon… And that Espio realizes what wonderful friends he has."
"Heh… Thanks. See ya later, Miss Vanilla."
The rabbit gave him a smile before heading out the door.
"Mmm… Vector…?"
The crocodile turned around and saw the bee beginning to wake up.
"Hey Buddy…" he said gently as he approached. "How are ya feelin…?"
"I… A… ACHOO!!"
"I guess not too good, huh?"
Charmy shook his head.
"Sorry for not helping you earlier. I got… a little carried away last night."
"You're… not mad I called Miss Vanilla, are you?"
"No, no… Though… I wasn't too keen on the lecture she gave me…"
Charmy went into a sneezing fit. Vector grabbed a few tissues from the box on the table. He placed the tissue over the boy's nose.
"Blow it out."
The bee blew as hard as he could into the tissue. Vector disposed of it after he was finished. Charmy felt a little light headed afterwards and laid back on pillow.
"Easy now. Want some more soup?"
Again, he shook his head.
"I'm not hungry…"
"Well is there anything I do for ya?"
"Can… you stay with me and watch T.V….? I just… don't want to be alone."
Vector smiled slightly.
"Of course I will. What ever you want."
"Thanks…" Charmy smiled back.
The crocodile moved the recliner next to the couch to be closer to the bee. He then flicked on the television and began channel surfing.
"Ooh, that one…" Charmy said. "I like this show…"
Of course it was a show that Vector loathed. But he wanted to help Charmy feel better. And if that meant enduring a half hour of idiotic yammering, then so be it.
"Alright then…"
The two spent the rest of the afternoon watching the television. While Charmy was Vector's main concern for now, Espio was still in the back of his mind.
Yeah. Another filler chapter. Sorry. Next one will be more exciting as it's the reason why I decided to change the rating to 'M'. Don't miss it xD
