Feel the Air

Chapter 14 – Wave and Twig

The three of them went down to deck 6 where there were several lobbies for the purpose of people to play simply board games, have a snack to eat, or to just simply chat. Though, on certain hours, a crew member would go into these lobbies and they would play trivia with the guests. Today at this particular hour was one of those times.

Sonic, Jet, and Wave went into the lobby known as the Mobi Lobby where many people of different kinds were already crowded around. They didn't recognize any of the people that were there, but they just kind of figured that it was because none of there friends are particularly interested in figuring out facts and aren't exactly… smart. (Except maybe Tails)

This made it slightly more awkward for Sonic and Jet, because they were stuck in a room next to Wave while everyone else was just complete strangers to them. Though, soon after they sat down, Sonic was happy to see that someone familiar stepped into the Mobi Lobby and sat down at a table all by himself.

Noticing this, Sonic felt that the person should his group. "Hey, I'll be right back, alright?"

Jet and Wave nodded and Sonic left the table. He approached the other side of the room and sat at a table next to the brown hedgehog named Twig.

"Hey, Twig. Why are you sitting here all by yourself?"

"Well, I really wanted to play trivia, but no one really wanted to play with me. Amy went to some silly Mobian Rain Dance lesson, and I wanted to have no part in it. Team Chaotix didn't really want to go either, so I decided to just go by myself."

"Well, I'm playing with a couple of, uh… friends right now. You're can join our team if you want."

"Friends? I don't see Tails and Knuckles in here. Are you with somebody else?"

"Yeah… I'm actually here with Jet and Wave."

"The two racers from Team Babylon? I would ask you why, but I probably should just stay out of it. Yeah, sure, I'll play with the three of you."

"Alright. Thanks."

"Thanks for what?"

Sonic just wanted to say thanks for making it less awkward between him and Wave, but obviously Twig had absolutely no idea about the situation. "For your company… I guess."

"I see."

Sonic and Twig got up from the table, and Sonic led Twig to Wave and Jet. "Hey guys, this is Twig from Team Rose."

Wave gave Twig a skeptical look, "You know, if you're like the pink brat and purple cat that is on that team, I will kick you out of this lobby before you knew what happened?"

"Don't worry. I'm not too fond of the two of them myself. I probably wouldn't be on the same team as them if Amy wasn't so good with a hammer to convince me that I had to."

Wave smiled and said, "Well, Twig, that's probably one of the more intelligent things that I've heard all day."

Twig smiled and replied, "Well I guess we should use that intelligence to answer some of these trivia questions. It seems that it's about to start."

The four looked up to the small stage and noticed that a black and white eagle was stepping up and setting up a rectangular table. When the eagle finally stood up tall, he seemed kind of intimidating, but this is one of those cases where looks turned out to be deceiving.

When he spoke, there was a sense of jollity in his voice, which is probably why he was chosen to be a 'Games Director.' "Hey everyone, my name is Stiles. Is everyone having a good time on this ship?" A couple of people said yes while one enthusiastic raccoon shouted "Woo", causing a few people to chuckle.

"Alright, I hope you all are in here to put your smarts to the test and answer some trivia questions!" The eagle's eccentric words were met with a bunch of Yes's and a few head nods. "Great, then we'll get started. If you know the answer to the trivia question, then all you have to do is raise your hand and I'll call on your team. You don't have to go wild when raising your hand, though. We had someone fall out of their seat in the previous game."

A few people laughed at the thought and Stiles continued. "With that out of the way, I'll start asking some questions. This first one is about Extreme Gear history, so if you know a thing or two about past mechanics, then this question is for you."

Wave brought herself to the edge of her seat when the announcer said this, because she would clearly be the one to know an answer like that. Though, she was surprised when she saw that Twig seemed just as determined and confident to answer the question.

"Listen carefully to what I'm about to ask. In what year did Firebolt's invention, the Rotor Turbo, first get used in a race?" Stiles put a great emphasis on the word used so that the contestants wouldn't get confused with the year that the Rotor Turbo was invented, which was two years prior to its first usage.

Despite her interest in Extreme Gear history, Wave was stumped on the exact year that the Turbo was used. She knew the decade, 1880's, but she didn't want to ruin her reputation as a famous engineer to just blatantly guess. Though, it turned out she didn't have to, because after a few seconds of quick thought, Twig's hand shot up and Stiles called on him.

"It was used in the Grand Championships by Cagle the Hawk in 1887."

Stiles smiled and nodded his head. "Good, and nice use of detail. Cagle the Hawk was a rich flyer and he was able to find out and buy Firebolt's Rotor Turbo to win in the race, even though the full product was made in 1885. A point goes to your group."

Twig smiled and faced his group, getting recognition from Sonic, Jet, and Wave. Though, Wave seemed to be the most impressed.

"I can't believe you knew that and I didn't. Firebolt is one of the most famous Extreme Gear engineer in the 1800's."

Twig responded by saying, "I did some studying before entering this competition. I didn't want to enter it without knowing anything about it first."

Sonic laughed and Jet soon joined in. "Why not, Twig? Jet and I don't know a thing about Extreme Gear other than to properly ride them, and we are perfectly happy with what we do.

Twig simply responded by rolling his eyes. "I didn't understand when I was a child, but as I've grown up, I've realized that I would rather know about something than to be able use it masterfully. That's kind of clear because I was able to answer a question like that, but I'm not able to get my Gear off the ground until five seconds after the announcer told me to go."

Wave chuckled to herself, admiring Twig's vast knowledge and maturity. She certainly doesn't get the mature atmosphere that she wants from talking to Jet and Storm, so talking to Twig was a nice change of heart. "Is that why you didn't advance to the next round?"

"Amy and Big made it worse. Their egos were bigger than their flying skills, and they ultimately just stunk."

Wave smiled and laughed again. As much as Wave enjoyed doing some trivia to show people her vast knowledge, she actually enjoyed to be in Twig's company even more. It was rare for her to find her match, while also keeping with a good maturity level. Twig just turned out to be that perfect rare find.

A few more trivia questions went by, but Wave and Twig were ignoring them to ask and answer each other questions (though, it seemed that Wave was doing most of the asking while Twig was just simply answering with short and polite answers while he contemplated the trivia answers). Sonic and Jet were just trying to get through the trivia questions without considering themselves to be complete idiots since they didn't seem to understand the concept of each question, let alone the answer of each question. Though, while they watched Twig and Wave get acquainted, they noticed something interesting.

Jet leaned into Sonic's ear and whispered, "Wave seems to really be hitting it off with Twig for some reason."

Sonic nodded and responded, "Yeah, and it's not really surprising. Twig's a really smart guy, and Wave seems to like it whenever someone actually says something smart."

"So, basically someone that's not me and Storm."

Sonic chuckled. "I guess you can put it that way," Sonic said while nudging Jet's arm. "But that makes me wonder why she liked you in the first place if she likes people who are more interested in what she likes."

Jet simply rolled his eyes and said, "Maybe she just likes my insane flying skills or something, but that's not really important. If she's focusing on how much of a genius that Twig is, then maybe it'll make our lives easier, because she'll like him instead of me."

Sonic's smile faded. "There's actually a problem with that."

"What is it?"

"If you've forgotten, I told you that Twig is actually gay and doesn't want to be with a girl at all. To tell you the truth, actually, he doesn't want to do with anything that has to deal with love anyways. He's always the "stay at home" type of guy and just wants to get work done."

"Well, at least he's buying us some time."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe this will work out for the best."

Jet nodded his head and looked at Twig and Wave. Wave seemed to be asking a lot of unimportant questions about Twig's apparent intelligence, and Twig just simply seems to be too distracted to give full answers. "I think we can probably leave these two alone. They don't look like they're going to be answering any of these dumb trivia questions, and let's face it, we aren't either."

Sonic chuckled. "Yeah, I can't feel any dumber by not knowing any of this. Let's get out of here." Sonic then turned his attention to Twig and Wave and got their attention. "Jet and I are kind of getting sick of this whole trivia thing, so we're just going to leave."

Wave, who was finally sick of asking so many questions about Twig's life, answered, "Yeah, this is getting kind of boring for me, so I think I'll just be leaving as well. Why don't you join me, Twig? We can go talk some more."

Twig smiled and said, "Alright. Why don't you and Jet go ahead? I want to talk to Sonic in private."

Wave simply nodded and Jet reluctantly followed her outside of the room. Sonic and Twig left the room as well in order to avoid the trivia game, but they went in a separate direction as Wave did.

"What's up, Twig? Something wrong?"

"A little. Wave seems charming to me and everything, but it almost seems as if she likes me for some reason. She just spent the past ten minutes asking me some really bizarre questions, and some of them were kind of personal."

"I know, and it's because you're smart."

"Yeah, but I don't like her back, and I feel that she'll be really mad if I tell her I'm gay and she'll want to have my head chopped off."

Sonic put a hand on Twig's shoulder and said, "It's going to be alright. If she's going to chop your head off, we'll help you out and calm her down. But… we need a favor in return."

"Uh… sure. What is it?"

"To tell you the truth… Jet and I are actually dating."

"The green hawk? So the rumors are true."

"What rumors," Sonic asked with a cock of his head.

"Well… it was only one rumor, but someone came into the medical ward with a few minor injuries. While I was recovering their wounds, they continued to tell how weird it was to see you and Jet kissing on the stairs. I thought you were straight so I just thought it was a rumor, but it looks like it's actually true."

"Wow… so rumors are already going around."

"Yeah, but that doesn't sound like the favor. Is there something more that you need to tell me?"

"Yeah… Wave really likes Jet also, and if she found out about our relationship before the right time, she might seriously kill us."

Twig frowned. "I can already imagine what you're going to ask me. You want me to keep being nice to Wave until the "right time", and then I can tell them that I'm a gay, and then you and Jet can tell her that you two are in a relationship."

Sonic chuckled to himself. "That just about sums it up, Twig. Will you do it, though? I know it might be tough, but it will really help and Jet out a lot."

"Yeah, I guess I can do it. That's what friends are for, right?"

"Right. Shall we go?"

"Of course." They then began walking to meet up with Wave and Jet in the adjacent lobby. "Though, can I ask you one favor?"

"Anything, Twig."

"One day… do you think you can tell me what it's like to be in a relationship with a guy? I've never been in one and I'm actually kind of curious."

"Of course, Twig. I can already tell you that you're going to like it. A lot. Though, that will only happen if you find that special someone. I know I have."

"That's good to know."