A/N- Look, I'll say it as it is. I have a hard time writing the mushy feelgood stuff like what's coming up. Like, straight up. I have to fight myself to get the words out. When it's things like conflicts or fights or people shouting at each other or whatever, I got that, that stuff flows. This? It just doesn't mesh with me.
Recursion Error
Episode 89- The big confession
It was a great feeling for Sorun. Waking up in his own bed, recognizing where he was and realizing he was done. Done with all the world-threatening threats and the time travel and going around to different universes and all the fighting. All that bullshit. Over and done with. He was back home and didn't have to deal with that anymore. He could chill. It was liberating, like he was taking his first breath of fresh air in years, like life itself finally had meaning. He hadn't been happy since he didn't even know but Sorun would daresay that, when he woke up that morning... he was almost happy.
Then he remembered he had to go and talk to Nicole about everything and his mood came crashing down. As per usual.
On the upside he felt refreshed. Between being able to sleep in his own bed and finally being able to use his own shower, mentally, he was probably about as good as he was going to be. He'd be even better if he could get some breakfast, but when Sorun went into his own kitchen that morning to look around he realized somebody had cleaned out his pantry. Probably because he'd been gone for months and any food would have spoiled, but goddamn, it meant he didn't have any food.
He heard a yawn from behind him, and instantly recognized it as Silver's voice. He turned around and saw the hedgehog standing behind Sorun, rubbing at bleary-looking eyes with his stance slightly hunched over.
"Hey Silver," Sorun greeted with a small wave. "I don't have any food here, so yeah, no breakfast."
A disappointed sigh left him. "Aw, really?"
"I haven't been here for months, man, what do you want from me?" Turning around, Sorun opened one of his kitchen drawers. After opening the drawer completely he reached underneath it, where he then proceeded to feel around for the piece of paper taped to the bottom of the drawer. He found it and ripped the paper away, lifting it up. The rows of coins taped to the paper, covering its whole surface, glinted in Sorun's eyes, after which he turned around and gave the paper to a slightly-bewildered Silver.
"Here, do us a favor and go to the market and buy us some food so we don't starve," Sorun instructed. "I, uh... got some stuff I gotta go do."
"... Sorun, what...?" Giving the paper a confused glance, Silver looked up at Sorun and asked, "What is this? Why did you just have that there?"
"Oh, I keep stashes of money hidden throughout the entire house. There's more in little bags behind the light switches if you need it."
"... Why?"
"I'm from Detroit." With how crime-free this city was it was a habit Sorun probably didn't need to practice, but it was just that. A habit. And without many other things connecting him to her Sorun didn't really feel like letting a skill imparted to him by his mother go to waste.
"I don't know what that means, but alright." Shaking his head, Silver accepted the money taped to the paper. "What do you have to go do?"
"Super personal stuff I don't want to talk about."
Silver tilted his head a bit to the side. "So you have to go talk with that girl again?"
He honestly would have preferred getting slapped again over the brutal truth that was in that question, and it made it worse Silver had asked it all innocent-like. Sorun couldn't even think up of a clever comeback for it. Or even any kind of cover for it in order to deny it. Instead Sorun just took a shuddering breath and turned around towards the front door.
"I'm... I'm going," he said, making his way to the front door.
"Okay." He could practically feel Silver wave at his back as he called out to Sorun in a cheery voice, "Hey, good luck with everything!"
Sorun slammed the door behind him.
The only other times in Sorun's life where he felt this tense were times when his life was potentially in danger. Something that'd been happening more in this one year of his life than at any other point in his existence, and something he detested greatly, but it was what it was.
For some reason, beyond any sensible rational, explaining himself to Nicole was bringing about that same feeling of tenseness and dread. He'd gone to the science center, to the room where the servers were. And she'd been waiting for him there. Had simply ushered him into the room, closed the door behind him, and then had him sit in a chair sitting across from a chair she was in so he could simply tell her everything that happened after he left to go fight Enerjak.
Of course he'd told her everything. Almost. Everything from the fight itself to the alternate timeline, the future, him traveling with Silver just to get back to this zone. Some things were left out, course. Threatening Tails' family, the two murders, the robberies, assaulting an old guy. They weren't important details anyways. He gave her everything else that happened, which is what really mattered.
And Nicole just sat there, listening to him attentively and patiently. Part of why this seemed so tense to Sorun, he suspected, was that she wasn't showing much outward emotion or reaction to anything he was saying. Just listening. It'd be easier if he could gauge something out of her, some sign he could read so he could have some idea of what she was feeling, but there was just nothing. He didn't even know if she was doing it on purpose or if it was just something else, and what that something else potentially was Sorun was equally clueless on.
It was all he could do to just explain himself as best he could and hope for the best after.
"... So then he gave us the coordinates and I was able to get us back here with the sword," Sorun finished. "I would have gotten back here sooner but Silver could only be so accurate with his time travel trick. He never had much practice with it. I guess we're lucky we managed to get here and not somewhere way later down the line."
"Yes. I suppose so." Still no outward reaction from Nicole. She was just sitting in that chair, calm as could be, hands clasped together and resting on her lap as she looked at Sorun, who was finding a hard time to meet her gaze.
Eyes drifting to the side a bit, Sorun remarked, "You're, um, taking it well."
"Yes." Well, he was glad they could at least agree on that. "You're quite confident this issue with the future can be resolved by Silver?"
He offered her a shrug. "I mean, he's got a pretty okay PK powerset. Should be able to. Being completely honest with you he's probably in the top five of strongest people on the planet with the stuff I've seen him do."
"I wasn't asking if he was equipped or not, Sorun, I'm asking if you think he can."
To that, all Sorun could give was a sigh and another shrug. "It's tricky, Nicole. We've got hints of what happens, but just that. Hints. So he's gonna stick around and try to fix whatever happens so that future doesn't happen. The fact the Time Stone lets changes in the past affect the future means it's at least guaranteed there's a chance for change." Sorun leaned a bit back in his seat and flipped his hand up. "If it's a question of commitment he's got his whole home and a family on the line with this. Granted a, uh, family he's never met, but he'd really like to. If not letting the whole world be a wasteland wasn't enough."
Nicole looked believing, but not completely satisfied by the answer. "I'm sure, but all the same I can't help but feel concerned. You do realize how troubling this all sounds."
Rubbing a hand through his hair, Sorun said, "I know, Nicole, but there's not a whole lot to do about but wait and deal with it when it comes. Whatever 'it' even is." He blew out and let his hand flop to his side. "So yeah, I'm trusting Silver to handle it. He does that, I send him back home, life goes on. Doesn't have to be more complicated than that."
"You're trying to oversimplify a complex problem."
"'Cause it is simple, I'm not- why are- why are we even talking about this?" Sorun asked, shaking his head. "I don't even wanna talk about the future stuff. I didn't come here to talk about it beyond explaining where I was all this time."
"Then why did you come here?"
"Because you asked!" Sorun exclaimed. When Nicole showed zero visible reaction, he continued with, "I don't even know what's wrong, Nicole. I thought you'd be happy over the fact I wasn't, you know, dead, but ever since I came back you've... I don't even know."
She didn't respond. Not immediately, at least. Her head tilted down so her eyes were at her lap, and Nicole's body became completely still. It carried on over long moments, long enough for Sorun to grow uncomfortable. He was about to say something before she finally spoke.
"You did it again." Somehow those four words had more emotion in them than Sorun had heard out of Nicole since he came back. He hadn't known what to expect, but hearing her sound tired, maybe even frustrated or upset, hadn't even been considered by Sorun. He was taken back by her tone, leaning back in his seat in surprise as he continued looking at her. "You keep doing it."
"I... have no idea what you mean."
Nicole's head snapped up to look at Sorun. He flinched when he saw she actually did look upset now.
"Do you recall," she began, "after that debacle of you stealing Tails' plane in an inebriated stupor-"
"That wasn't a hundred percent my fault-"
"Be. Quiet."
Sorun closed his mouth and silently waited for Nicole to continue with a nervous expression.
"... I'd aired grievances about how you had been acting. Specifically how you had been treating yourself," she calmly continued. "I understood the issues you had been going through, Sorun, but these... self-destructive tendencies of yours, you apologized and said you would stop them in an attempt to get better. But soon after you decided to undergo what was quite literally a suicide mission against Enerjak, and it is only because of an extraordinary amount of fortune on your part that you're even here for us to discuss it."
Sorun's mouth dropped open a bit in disbelief, and he even flipped his hands up in indignation. "The whole world was at stake and we had zero alternative options. I even gave you a chance to give me another solution before I fully committed."
"But you already did commit to the decision beforehand. You did that knowing full well there were no other options after you had already made up your mind," Nicole argued. "You acted like you barely even needed to think about it."
"Hey, that's not true, I... took a solid couple of days to mull it over," Sorun weakly argued. "Why are we even talking about this?"
"We're talking about it because of that kiss."
And there it was. The one topic Sorun knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was eventually going to come but was doing his damnedest, with little success, to ignore. The same topic that just now made him freeze in his seat the moment it was mentioned, and now he really couldn't look at Nicole, doing his best to maintain eye contact with the floor. Nicole had probably expected him to say something, even waited for over a minute for him to speak. When it became increasingly evident he wouldn't say anything she decided to speak up.
"What are we, Sorun?" she asked him. A simple four-word question he had no idea how to answer.
"Friends. Or so I thought."
Nicole looked taken back by the answer. "We still are, Sorun. I just want to know why you did... that."
"I... I, uh... well, it's..." Sorun's mouth thinned as he glanced off to the side to think. No thoughts resulted from this, so he breathed outwards and looked back at Nicole. "I don't know what you want me to say or even how I'm supposed to say it, Nicole. I don't hang out with you more than anyone else just because you're the only one I like playing video games with," he said. "Don't get me wrong, it's a large factor, just... not, you know. The only one."
"..."
Never before had such a calm, patient stare made Sorun want to break out in a sweat. "Which is to say that... the, the kiss, it, um, may not have, well, not have been as platonic as it implied."
"There were no platonic implications whatsoever in that action, Sorun."
He looked surprised, maybe even a bit affronted, at that. "Wait, seriously? Even though it was on the forehe-"
"You have never once in the entire duration I have known you ever displayed such behavior, Sorun. You, in fact, came off as taking measures to avoid such interaction. With anyone."
"Alright, that's on me," he admitted. After a period of uncomfortable silence Sorun began drumming his fingers on his thigh as he attempted to gather his words. "I don't really have any excuses or anything like that, it's exactly what it looks like," he said. "I can't tell you when I started having those kinds of feelings, I just did. And I never knew what I was supposed to do because I've never felt this way before, and at first it was a combination of me not wanting to do anything with it because I was under the impression I was dying and me thinking I could never actually make it work, after that I was a wreck and trying to pull my life together, and then at the end there with Enerjak I figured I didn't have anything to lose so I just, uh... went for it. Probably shouldn't have but I did 'cause I wasn't really thinking."
Somehow beyond all reasonable belief he'd managed to get the truth out. After this point Sorun didn't know what to expect, how she'd react, if he'd even be leaving this room in one piece. Part of him was in disbelief he'd even managed to get this far and lay it out as cohesively as he could possibly manage in front of Nicole, and more of him was stunned over the fact his nervousness hadn't caused him to pass out yet.
But she wasn't doing anything, and that was what was really weirding Sorun out. For sure she looked surprised, in the way her eyes had widened slightly. But otherwise she was just staring at him, and in what way he was having a hard time parsing together. Contemplation, maybe, or deep consideration. Or maybe she was deciding on which words to use to yell at him.
Yelling never came, though. He was even more shocked when the next words spoke by Nicole had come out as calm as could be. The contents of those words were another matter.
"Sorun," she began, "have you ever wondered why it is I go so far out of my way to spend so much time with you?"
"No, not at all."
Nicole straightened up a bit at that, staring owlishly at Sorun with a bit of confusion laced in her features. "Let me ask something else," she suggested. "Did you, by any chance, wonder why it was during that new years' event we all had why I specifically created a gift for you outside of that gift game we played with everyone else? You exclusively?"
After thinking for a moment, Sorun shook his head. "Nah, nah, not really."
The beginnings of frustration played over Nicole's face, but was quickly subdued. "I was clearly wrong to try subtlety with you," she quietly whispered, and then said more loudly, "Before you came here this morning I talked with Sally. And she told me of that letter you wrote to the newspaper."
He felt a bit of his face flush in embarrassment at hearing one of his deepest secrets revealed. "Okay, didn't think Sally would snitch on me like that, but what does this have to do with-?"
"Do you remember when you were reading her response to your letter in the newspaper that there was a second letter she had responded to?"
Sorun's eyes squinted in concentration. "Uhhh, yeah there was that one other one I remember. Kinda weird though, whoever wrote that one used binary to write out their handle- ohhhh..."
"Yes?"
"Ahh..."
"..."
"... Yeah I still don't know what was up with that-"
"I. Wrote. That. Letter. Sorun."
An audible gasp left Sorun. He felt himself physically recoil against the back of his chair as he stared out at Nicole, whose face looked nearly exasperated with her ears almost folded against her head. "What? No, that doesn't make any sense, why would she- because she's a computer lady, ohhhh, yeah, that makes sense." He blinked once as the implication of what she said hit Sorun. And then he blinked again. "She wrote a letter to a love column?"
He didn't know how to feel about it. He suspected he'd have a better clue if he'd ever bothered to read that other letter but he hadn't been bothered. He was more than a bit surprised she'd go and do something like that, it just didn't seem like her style, but more than that... well, he just really didn't know how to feel about it. The first thing that came to mind was genuine disappointment, and it showed on his face. Nicole seemed confused by it.
"Oh. So, uh... y-you, you wrote that. To her," Sorun muttered out, looking away from her. "Because you're... interested? In someone? In that way?"
"Yes, of course." Her next words came out as cautious. "Why do you seem upset by this?"
"I-I mean I didn't- I never would have done what I did if I knew there was someone else you actually..." Sorun stammered out. He was making such a concerted effort to look away from her, both out of shame and embarrassment, that he missed the way Nicole's ears flattened completely against her head. "I didn't- it's just that you never mentioned-"
"Why would you think it was referring to anybody except you?"
Hearing that sentence, the meaning behind it and how Nicole sounded about as confused as upset at him, was the equivalent of getting hit in the face with a hammer. For how hard and quickly Sorun's head snapped to her he may as well have been hit by a hammer. He would have thought he'd misheard her if it weren't for the way she was looking at him, with patience holding back frustration.
An extraordinary amount of mental effort was put into constructing Sorun's next words. "You... wrote that letter... in reference to me."
"Yes, Sorun, I did. I would have been completely upfront with this much sooner had I known you were going to make this so difficult." A majority of the frustration wore off of Nicole face, being replaced by curiosity when she asked, "Is it really that difficult for you to believe?"
"What do you mean? Of course it is!" Sorun exclaimed, startling Nicole slightly. "I-I-I'm not that likable a person, nobody, no one's ever, I, you, I can't believe anybody would ever..." His hands started to uncontrollably wring together. Heartrate was spiking. Breathing was rapidly increasing as Sorun tried his best to comprehend what he was hearing. "Y-y-y-you really, that doesn't, I can't, I don't understand why would you ever-?"
He nearly jumped when he felt something rest themselves on his hands. They were Nicole's hands, he'd realized. He'd been so confounded by what was happening, his mind in such a haze from it all, he hadn't even seen her get get up from the chair to approach him. He was more focused on her presence alone and not the fact her contact with his hands stopped them from shaking.
"You should be more sure of yourself, Sorun. It's unbecoming of you," Nicole said in a quiet voice. She sounded almost sad. "If I had known you had so little confidence in yourself I truly would have been more straightforward with all of this. That's my fault and I apologize."
The polite thing might have been to pull his hands away. He didn't want to pull them away was the thing. Just having her touch his hands was more calming than he thought possible. "N-no, you shouldn't have to say that," Sorun mumbled out. "I... I just... when did this become a thing?"
Nicole paused for a moment before responding. "It's as you said. I can't point towards a specific point in time these feelings developed. It wasn't as if it was a spontaneous process, Sorun, it just... happened," she said. "I confess that I understand very little of it, but from what I've gathered understanding is somewhat irrelevant in this case." She looked down at their hands. "But in truth I've harbored these feelings for quite some time."
"How long?"
"... Do you remember that conversation we had on the roof of the hospital before-" Nicole froze to momentarily consider her words, "-that mission? The day before you... temporarily expired?"
He did. The memory came with a growing pit in his stomach, but yes, he did remember talking to her the day before he died. The first time. "You said that was just about the house."
"I will freely admit the house was only a small part of what I wanted to discuss." Her expression lowered further. "But then everything happened."
"She felt this way all the way back then?" Sorun looked forwards as he began thinking. He imagined a thought bubble appearing somewhere over his head. "But... if she felt this way before the dying thing, and then I came back, but..."
Gears appeared in the cloud. Sorun's brain churned harder as he fought to remember.
"She wanted to tell me something, but then I told her I was going back, and she got all weird after- ooh, wait..."
And now it was all clear. Why she'd seemed so hesitant on the roof that day. Why she'd been reaching for his hand like that. He'd shut it all down because he thought he'd be gone forever the next day. And then he'd come back, and she'd seemed so happy, like she could finally do something she couldn't because he'd died, but then right before she could tell him he'd... told her he was going to Earth and leaving forever again...
...
The gears turning in Sorun's thought bubble turned into a picture of a donkey.
"... Man, I'm a jackass."
"You tried to tell me on the roof. But I deflected it because I thought I was going to die," Sorun hollowly stated.
"At the time I had thought you were too preoccupied with current affairs and elected to wait for a more opportune time," she confirmed.
"But then I came back and... told you right to your face I was leaving again. Right before you told me how you felt." He really could have died right there for how he felt. He'd been pretty happy at the time, too. He looked up at her and asked, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I didn't want to stand between you and your home. And I had no way of knowing you reciprocated my feelings. Even then I doubt I would have said anything knowing how important your home was to you," Nicole answered. "But then everything else happened."
Somehow it was even worse hearing she gave up a chance at potentially being happy just for Sorun's sake, which just reinforced how much of a jackass he was. He didn't deserve someone treating him that decently. Hell, he didn't even deserve someone having feelings for him beyond friendship. It was such an alien experience all he could do was slump back in his chair while continuing to hold onto Nicole's hands like they were lifelines.
"... Nicole, I'm so sorry." Sorun couldn't even muster up the will to look Nicole in the eye. Not after becoming the biggest jackass in the planet to the person he liked most in this whole universe. "You... you didn't deserve any of this happening to you, I shouldn't have- I-I never wanted to hurt-"
Nicole gently squeezed Sorun's hands, calming him down. "I know, Sorun. I don't blame you for anything that happened."
Her words of assurance didn't do much in assuring Sorun, who had so many thoughts and feelings whirling through him he could barely keep track of it all. He had a hard enough time coming to terms that she liked him this deeply. Already he was going through life barely believing he had friends who actually liked him, but something like this was... so, so far beyond Sorun's ability to understand that he just didn't know. How something like this developed, why him of all people, just how much did he screw this up with his actions, how much of this could have been avoided if he said something sooner. Or maybe it would have made it worse? He didn't know.
Not knowing where else to go with this, Sorun heaved out a deep sigh and asked, "So where does this leave us?"
"... Truthfully, Sorun, this is somewhat sudden given everything that has happened," Nicole said. "You were gone for months, I thought you were gone for months, and while you're back now it doesn't make all that time spent grieving just suddenly disappear. Not immediately." She ran a thumb over the top of one of his hands. "I wish it did, though. Because it's not as if these feelings for you have vanished."
So startled from hearing that was Sorun that he'd jolted right out of his chair. The sudden movement made Nicole let go of his hands and step back in surprise at Sorun, who had backed up a few steps from her.
"Y-you mean after after everything I did, you'd... you still...?" He couldn't understand it, couldn't understand her. Why anybody would ever think of him like this when he didn't deserve it. "No, you can't- you're one of the best people in the whole world and I'm one of the worst, you-you'd do so much better with literally anyone else...!"
All Sorun's words served to do was make a sad expression appear on Nicole's face. She took a couple of steps closer to him.
"And, and I'm a mess, Nicole, I'm- I can barely hold it together in high-stress situations, I had to use the sword to cut the stress hormones out out me while I was a Freedom Fighter because I just couldn't do it sometimes, I've been breaking down for months and I-I-I'm a selfish jerk that doesn't deserve-"
For the second time in the duration they'd known each other Nicole decided to go and hug him. He couldn't fathom why. Hell, he could barely even remember the first time. The shock from seeing what happened to his home had been so intense and everything felt so numb that it barely registered in his memory. Just that it happened, but not much beyond that.
This was different. No shock, no worries, head... relatively clear. It felt different this time. Warmer. Safer. Like nothing could ever go wrong as long as she was there, if that made any sense. As if any of this made any sense.
"It's okay, Sorun," she murmured to him. He couldn't find the words to respond, too stunned to even try. "But things like that are why we need to talk." She pulled away from him, keeping her hands on his shoulders as she stared him in the eyes. "Beyond... wounding yourself like that. Which I dearly hope is a practice you put to rest, Sorun."
"N-no, I haven't... not since I died," he quickly told her, slightly panicked. He somewhat wished he hadn't let that part slip. It somehow felt liberating all the same, just getting it out. Less baggage to carry. "I never wanted... I was... I was just in a bad place. That's over. I don't need... need that anymore."
"Good. I won't hear any more of it." It was a tone of voice more firmer than Sorun was used to hearing Nicole speak in. "More than that, Sorun, it's how you treat yourself. I realize sometimes what happens is outside of your control, but other times you can be so reckless. And between you being gone, making me think you were lost forever multiple times over-"
"I know."
"I told you, Sorun, I told you after you woke up wounded from saving our friends and our people I didn't want a repeat of that experience, but... you keep doing it." Her grip on his shoulders tightened and she looked down. "And yes, Sorun, I realize a majority of the time it isn't your fault, I know it. But it's awful, these feelings of grief, always worrying over you and your safety and your health."
Sorun felt a pang of guilt hearing that, knowing everything she was referring to. "It's not as if I wanted to do any of that, Nicole. But I'm done with all that," he said with as sincere a voice as he could. "Really. All the fighting, the high-stakes battles for the world, all of that. I don't want to get involved in any of that; I'd rather leave it to all the others who do want tondo that stuff who actually have the power to do things. I'm fine with just living here in the city with a normal job and life. There's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be."
Where else could he even go? Life was pleasant here in the city. More importantly it was safe. All his friends lived here. Every single thing he cared about in the world was here. Nicole was here, and technically she was the city. It was home. His... new home.
And he didn't need to put himself in danger anymore. Not when there were others more willing and capable. He'd leave it all alone for his sake. And Nicole's too, apparently.
Her grip on his shoulder's lessened. "That is acceptable," She said, voice just a bit lighter. She let go of him and took a few steps back, folding her hands over her lap while looking hesitant, much to Sorun's surprise. "It has been more than I initially bargained for, Sorun, these emotions. Ever since I gained the capacity to recognize them. Even so, I'm... happy, to hear all of that." Her expression changed a bit, to one Sorun didn't recognize. He needed a few moments to piece together that, suddenly, Nicole actually looked shy now. It was as amusing to see as it was perplexing. "This relationship, the one between us. I will wholly admit to not being completely satisfied with it anymore. Not that our friendship hasn't been wonderful, Sorun, however..."
"You want to be more than friends?" It was honestly a miracle he hadn't stuttered that out. Nearly had.
"... I wish to make something like that work, yes," Nicole admitted. "I just think it's perhaps too soon."
"O-oh, yeah, absolutely!" The fact that an actual relationship between them had grown beyond a mere chance was something Sorun felt himself latch onto immediately, even if it wasn't something immediate. He'd take it. He'd take any condition Nicole would offer at this point if it really meant there was a way they could make this work. "I mean 'cause I gotta go and, you know, get my stuff in order. Get settled back in, talk to Honey about my job, you know I've been thinking about doing something with the house now that I've seen it in a new light and I realize it's kinda depressing to look at." Sorun's eyes widened. "Not that you did a bad job making it, it's beautiful, I just never bothered to decorate and you know what I think a rug would really tie the place together."
Nicole smiled a little. Solid progress. "It could do with a bit of color, yes," she agreed. "And I'm still in need of some time to process all this. Though, afterwards...?"
"Yeah, after everything, totally, we should..." Sorun hand began to rapidly scratch the back of his head. "That is to say, you, me, we should, um, want-want to... do you want go on a date later?" And there it was, the make or break question, the all in, the most definitively highest stress-inducing question Sorun had ever asked in his entire goddamn life.
And goddamn, he could have jumped for joy at that bright smile she gave him. "Yes, Sorun, I would very much like to go on a date with you when we're both ready."
"Okay. Alright." Considering he never once thought he'd ever get this far Sorun was at a loss for what he was supposed to say further in that regard. He knew one thing he wanted, though. "Can I get another hug?"
Some bemusement slipped into the heartwarming smile on Nicole's face, but she wordlessly agreed nonetheless and gave him another hug. It was a strange feeling. Normally he'd shrug away from anything like this. Physical affection that actually made him happy. Or anything happy, really. And even now he'd still avoid it in public, if only for his image.
But... if it was just Nicole, that was okay. She could see this side of him. Only her. Preferably away from public eyes.
He really could get used to this feeling, though.
"Hey, can I get a third one?" Sorun asked after she pulled away from him.
Nicole's response was to lightly and playfully shove at Sorun's shoulder. "No. You'll be spoiled at this rate," she said. "In all seriousness, though, what did you have planned for today? Besides talking with me."
"Oh, right, I gotta go talk with Honey. You know, to make sure I still have a job," Sorun explained. "How's she been, by the way?"
"Her business is still fully operational as far as I am aware."
Sorun blinked. "Okay, but how is she?"
"I do not know, Sorun. I don't know her on a personal level," Nicole answered. "And last I heard she wasn't the most sociable of Mobians."
"Oh, come on, you're exaggerating."
"Sorun, you're the one who told me that."
He felt his brows furrow. Ah, right, he did. "... Well, whatever, I'm sure she's fine," he said. His head perked up as he remembered something. "Oh, yeah, and Virgil, gotta get him back. What happened with my pet?"
"Vanilla and her daughter elected to look after him," she informed him.
"Ah, alright, cool." A brief pause. "Is their own Chao still alright? What was his name? Butter?"
"Cheese, and yes. Why would he not be?"
"I think Virgil just hates Chao who aren't on his level. Or maybe he just doesn't like Cheese in particular. Dunno. Might be that red bowtie." Sorun stroked his chin in thought. "Ah, introducing Silver to him might be rough, too. Virgil might bully him."
The smile Nicole held withered a bit. "You are joking, correct?"
"No, I'm pretty sure he smells weakness. Not that Silver is weak, but for such a strong guy he has so little self-confidence, you know? I tried to help him through it, but sheesh, that guy..."
"Is that right?" Nicole glanced away from Sorun. "That certainly sounds like another I know."
"Hm? What?"
"Nothing." She looked back at him. "If you want I could go and retrieve your pet for you while you take care of the matter of your employment. I know you're busy trying to get organized, what with having just come back."
"Oh! Uh, well, that's..." Sorun quickly coughed into his hand to try and cover for the small blush he felt on his face. And he felt something flutter in his chest, too. Damn heart. "You really don't have to, Nicole-"
"I want to. And it's really no trouble, Sorun." She turned around halfway, raising her arms up as a pair of digital screens appeared before her. "There's a few things I just have to quickly check, first. I'll go right after."
"O-okay. Thanks." He didn't know what else to say to that, or even how to express his gratefulness. All Sorun could do was walk over to the door to the room while keeping his eyes on Nicole. "I'll see you later, right?"
She tore her attention away from the screens to briefly acknowledge him. "Yes, Sorun, I'll still be here for the foreseeable future," she lightly remarked.
"Okay. Just making sure." He opened the door halfway, but stopped when he got a foot out the door. "Uh, bye."
"Goodbye." With their partings given, Nicole returned to her screens. She only managed to focus on them for five seconds before she'd noticed Sorun was still in the doorway, staring at her. "Was there something else?" she asked.
Sorun straightened. "No, um... thanks."
"You already thanked me, Sorun."
"Yeah, I know, but... thanks. Really." He felt more red dust against his cheeks. He ducked his head out of the room before she could see. "Alright, I gotta go, bye."
He couldn't have closed that door behind him fast enough. With his paranoid mind Sorun was worried she might have seen him blushing. Oddly, he didn't find himself caring all that much. Anybody else he would have been enraged, but with her it was... hm. He didn't know. He was still processing the fact she'd agreed to go on a date with him eventually.
Him.
Going on a date with someone.
"Somehow it feels like this is the weirdest thing that's happened to me all year," Sorun thought to himself as he walked away from the server room. He couldn't get over how floaty he currently felt. "Man."
There it was.
Honey's boutique.
Hell on Mobius.
Maybe it was too harsh of Sorun to describe it as such; the work was steady and easy and honestly the economy in New Mobotropolis was good enough that he never had money troubles once he started here. It was mostly its crazy boss that was the issue. His boss that really probably did care more about clothes than people and who might be bipolar. Or just whacked in the head.
Maybe Honey was just an example of what an unstable Mobian looked like, Sorun didn't know. Either that or it was one of those "this person is a genius with really quirky personality traits" type deals. It was hard to say if that was even a thing in this world, because on one hand there was Tails and Rotor, who as far as Sorun was concerned were both completely normal, and then on the flip end there was Eggman. Or maybe people were just too complex to try and fit them in labeled boxes and he was wasting his time trying to figure the crazy yellow cat out.
He got bored with this line of thinking very quickly and opened the front door to the shop.
"'Ey, Honey, I'm back!" Sorun shouted out into the shop. Looked about the same as he remembered - that was to say, populated by so many articles of colorful clothing he couldn't even see the walls behind all the racks, stands, and mannequins. More mannequins than he remembered, actually. There was even one that had more human-looking proportions than Mobian proportions. Actually, the more Sorun looked the more it looked like him in mannequin form.
Where the fuck had she even gotten that?
Eyes squinting, Sorun took a closer look at the mannequin. It was... startlingly similar not just to his proportions, but how he dressed. Same black boots, same dark blue pants, same black turtleneck shirt. Only thing it didn't have that he did was the dark blue vest and the coat, both of which had been unique gifts.
Sorun looked down at his own vest, frowning slightly. It'd been a nice vest until fucking King Shadow decided to slash the shit out of it during that fight. The coat could at least fix itself because of Nicole's nanite magic, and he was thankful for that, but the shirt and vest were shot and he'd had to carry them around for a week now without any spares. The shirt was one thing; the vest was another since it wasn't as replaceable as the shirt. He'd say it was a lost cause if he didn't know Honey could probably just spit on it and it'd be good as new. Somehow.
There was movement to Sorun's right. He turned to it, his eyes revealing to him a pile of clothes crumpled up in the corner. He wasn't even surprised when he saw Honey's head pop up from the pile, eyes bleary and face half-awake with a sock hanging off her nose.
"... What even?" Sorun asked himself upon seeing the state Honey was in.
"Ugh. Sorun?" Her honey-colored eyes looked far more awake now. "You're here?"
"Wouldn't you know it, turns out humans have nine lives. The darnedest thing, really." He pointed to the clothes pile the cat was in. "'Nother late-night bender? Told ya that you had to watch out for that. Think of your health."
After making an unamused groan, Honey's eyes crossed to look at the sock on her face. She shook her head to get the sock free, and then stood up out of the pile, loose clothing falling down around her. "Egh, of course it's you, nobody else I know sounds as patronizing as you."
He didn't take that as personally as he felt he should of, even as he watched Honey brush the last of the clothing off her black and red dress. "It's actually gotten worse over time," he informed her. "You don't seem so shocked over my sudden resurrection."
"The novelty of it kinda wore off after the first time you pulled this."
"Meh. Fair." He looked to the left and pointed at the mannequin dressed like him. "You want to explain this?"
At first, Honey looked confused by what he was referring to. But then she saw the mannequin he was pointing at, and her eyes went as wide as dinner plates. Before Sorun could say anything further she darted forwards and smacked the mannequin off its pedestal. Which... didn't really do all that much, seeing as Sorun could still see it lying on the ground.
"... I mean I can still see it, Honey, that didn't-"
Honey bent down, picked the mannequin up, and threw it behind the front counter to the shop. Then she spun back to Sorun, hands clasped behind her back with a wide smile. Sorun's expression was flat.
"Okay, you realize you can't get rid of my memory of what I just saw, right?" Sorun asked. "Like, getting the thing out of my line of sight doesn't change the fact I saw it to begin with."
Honey's obviously-fake smile began wavering. "Sorun, it's... you... you were gone a really long time this time."
Sorun gestured out to the counter. "So you made a lookalike of me?" he asked, about as curious as he was disturbed.
"It's not a lookalike," Honey argued, "it's a... it's just something to help remember you," she fumed, stomping around towards the counter. "Because it turns out it's actually nice having someone here regularly to talk at the shop and nobody else really does that and you were gone a long time, Sorun!"
He'd jumped when Honey slammed her hands on the counter. And then she immediately seemed to regret the action, because she took a few steps back behind the counter while sheepishly looking down. Sorun almost hadn't believed what he'd heard, but it'd just come out of the cat's mouth. And he couldn't help but note how endearing it was that she actually cared about him that much, considering up 'til now he thought she only cared about clothes that much. It was almost enough for him to forget the creepy mannequin. And as somebody who liked routine as much as she apparently did he could sympathize.
But Sorun being Sorun, he couldn't help but latch onto the opportunity to make fun of her for it.
"Wow, Honey, it almost sounds like you missed me," he pointed out in an utterly bland tone.
The glove that ended up sailing past Sorun's head was narrowly dodged.
"Did you come here just to mock me?" Honey asked.
"No, I came here because you're my one source of stable income in this world and I wanted to make sure I still have a job," Sorun dryly said.
"Hmph!" She crossed her arms and turned her nose up at him. "I see how it is. No heartfelt greetings, no asking if I've been alright, just straight to what you want. Well, if this is the way you're treating me after just coming back now I have to wonder why I should take you back." Her tone didn't imply she was as mad as her words said, which helped to put Sorun a bit at ease. More teasing than anything else, actually. It made him a bit more confident with his next response.
The pale teen's head turned towards the front window. "Noticed the 'help wanted' sign," he said, referring to the piece of paper taped to the window. "Also noticed it's still there despite the fact I've been gone for months," he continued, turning back to Honey. "So either coincidentally you got fed up with the work overload around the same time I came back and put the sign up recently or literally nobody's been able to hold the job in all the time I've been gone."
Honey's features tightened. Sorun didn't know if that meant she was irritated at him being right or if it was something else. "Nobody else ever taped the boxes shut right like you did."
"... What?"
"Or they don't stack the boxes neat enough, shipping labels are off-center when they tape them to the box-"
"Okay I was a bit OCD with all that, but seriously-?"
"-and a million other little things you did that they do wrong because I got used to how you did things and learned to like to work around it and- and they always look at me weirdly, like I'm weird, when I'm not weird at all," Honey seethed out.
Sorun's face was stone. "I really can't believe that. Can I have my old job back?"
"About that." Hissing through her teeth, Honey grew an awkward expression. "It was actually just yesterday somebody came in about it. Do you know Larry?"
Nope. "Nope. He a lobster?"
"No, a lynx."
"Larry the Lynx?"
"Yeah."
"Nope, not ringing a bell." He was pretty sure he'd remember someone like that.
"Well, he came in asking for the job. I was kind of skeptical about him, but he's actually pretty good at it. At least compared to everyone else. Actually listens when I tell him how to do things," she bitterly added. "Plus, you know, he's seems nice. Bit shy, but also really open and talkative! Unlike other people."
Sorun made an uncompassionate hum. "I see. But you're gonna tell him to hit the road and just hire me back, right?"
Honey grimaced. "I can't just promise someone a job and turn them down the next day because you showed back up, Sorun, it looks bad on me." He held her palms up at Sorun when she saw his face knit in irritation. "Hey, I'd love to have you back here, but I have my integrity to think of, Sorun."
"Yeah, well I got a sword that lets me teleport to anywhere in the world. What's Larry got?"
Her triangle ears going straight up couldn't have made Honey's interest more obvious. "You got that thing back?"
"Mhm, brought a Chaos Emerald back from the future, don't ask about it, seriously," he said when he saw Honey give him an odd look. "What are those mail couriers charging you to carry your stuff all over?"
"The fees are exorbitant," Honey hissed out. "But, wait..." She blinked as she took on a thinking face. "You know, Sorun, if I just cut out the couriers entirely and just have you handle that whole process-"
"Don't like where this is going, Honey."
"Oh, come on, think about it! Once you have all the locations set up it'd take you, what, five minutes to drop stuff off potentially on another continent? I can drop off all those courier services that are trying to bleed me dry and just hire you to put them everywhere and have Larry deal with the packaging and labels and all that." She looked to the side and began tapping on her chin. "Maybe have him unpack my fabric shipments and other supplies, too. Handle the inventory. Keep him busy so I can just focus on working. Look at that, everyone wins!"
Well, everyone but the couriers, but Sorun didn't comment on that. What he did do was make a hum of contemplation. He was annoyed about the fact this entailed changing what was already a job he liked by giving it to someone else... but then again, this new gig sounded even easier than that. Maybe even let him see some sights, travel a bit. Safely. In safe places. He doubted there was much danger to be found in Station Square. Portals meant he didn't have to worry about travel times. More importantly he got to keep his mailman shtick.
Even further was the fact it gave him an excuse to keep holding onto that Emerald in case Elias or anybody else on the Council of Acorn came asking about it. That alone made the offer enticing.
"... Long as I get the hat back, I guess," Sorun finally sighed out in acceptance. "This Larry guy's on the up-and-up, right? I don't wanna work with a weirdo." Present company excluded, but he'd already grown used to Honey's brand of weird.
She made a so-so gesture with her hand. "He's... nice, like I said. 'Cept that one thing..."
"Ah, here it is."
"He's kinda infamous around town for being a real bad luck magnet. I'm actually surprised you haven't heard of him before because of it; lots of people avoid him because of it."
Sorun's brows furrowed. "Okay, is he just extremely clumsy or does he legitimately have a bad luck power? 'Cause at this point I'll buy it if he does."
Honey shrugged. "Don't really have a clue, but if the rumor mill says he's cursed with bad luck, hey, I guess he's just cursed."
"And... you want him as an employee."
"Not like I keep flammable things around. And I don't really work with what you would call fragile material," Honey said. "But listen, if he gets on board we'll try it out and if it turns out it's not really working out I'll drop him and you can have the old position. You know, in addition to teleporting around to deliver stuff."
"Ah. I get a raise if that happens, right?"
One of Honey's eyes twitched. "A modest raise."
"I dunno, I've been known to stretch the definition of words like 'modest'..."
"We will talk about it if that happens," Honey said to him, sounding like she was straining to get the words out. She evened out a second later, asking, "So was there anything else or was that it?"
"Nah, I don't-" Sorun's head perked up in realization. "Oh, yeah, one more thing. Think you can fix this?"
Honey tilted her head in interest. Interest that was quickly growing into annoyance, annoyance that might have even bordered on anger, when Sorun removed the vest he was wearing and put it on the counter. His incredibly torn vest that Honey was overlooking with a discerning eye and a look that- oh, yeah, she was genuinely angry, her tail only swished around so quickly like it was now when she was upset at something.
Before speaking, she took in a deep breath. "This was a gift," she began, looking up at Sorun. "I poured my soul, sweat, and blood into this. Actual blood, Sorun, because I pricked my finger on a needle working on this because I was running on sleep deprivation."
"You comprehend sleep deprivation?" Sorun asked in surprise. The amount of times he'd known her to work through the night said different.
"Don't get smart with me," Honey snapped. "This was a completely unique piece I never planned on replicating. A genuine Honey original! A charge a fortune for things like this and I don't even offer it to just anyone, but when I give one to you instead of treating it like the priceless treasure it is you let it get ripped up like you threw it in a blender!"
"I practically was in a blender in the fight that caused that," Sorun bit out. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm actually planning on avoiding violence entirely in the future, so it's not like something like this'll ever happen again."
"Oh, so you say, but I swear the moment I turn my back you're getting limbs torn off, or impaled, or whatever even happened to this..."
"It's touching, you know," Sorun dryly remarked. "Knowing you care enough about my wellbeing to treat these very traumatic moments of my life so glibly."
"First off, glibly isn't a word-"
"It super is, what do you mean?"
"It sounds silly so I say it isn't, and second of all you told me you couldn't even feel it when you lost the arm that one time. I was even there! You barely even cared!"
"Yeah, it was still my arm, Honey!"
"You replaced it with a ghost arm! You acted like you liked that arm more than the real one!"
"Because my real arm is wimpy by comparison and the Bringer Claw looked cool- wait, I meant-" Sorun sputtered out, while Honey shot him a smug look. "... Listen, you, I'm not willing to let that last thing go. You can't just go and decide what words exist and what words don't."
"Well, guess what, Sorun. I'm your boss and I say I can."
Sorun breathed in deeply, and then exhaled in defeat. He didn't have a comeback for that. "Can you please just fix the vest?"
Thankfully, Honey nodded. "I can fix it, no problem. Even... try and get some of these spots out I'm pretty sure are bloodstains." She stuck her tongue out at seeing the darkened spots inside the vest, around the tears.
Sorun sheepishly turned to the side. "Yeah, I tried getting those out, but hotel washing machines ain't the best."
"It's fine," Honey said, waving his concerns away. Her eyes turned down to the blue coat. "Since we're on the subject, I gotta ask. Are you still going to wear that coat to work?"
"I wear it forever now, so yeah," he answered.
It almost looked like Honey was visibly wounded when she heard that sentence. "Why?"
"Because Nicole made it, and it reminds me of home." He looked down at the coat. "Why? You don't like it?"
"It's..." Honey hesitantly began, "well... fine. I suppose. Bit garish. Way too much of the primary color without enough contrast. The swirly details are... nice?"
Sorun didn't make an outward reaction. "It's my most prized possession, Honey, so can say you hate it if you want. I'm still wearing it no matter what."
"Alright, well in that case it's hideous," Honey stated with no small amount of relief.
He probably should have been mad at that. He just smiled instead. "Yeah, it's nice being home," he said under his breath.
"Hm?" One of Honey's ears flicked in interest. "What, no snappy comeback? No anger? Nothing?"
"I'm in a good mood. Turns out even I can get those. But thanks for everything Honey, seriously. Could never pay you back for everything you've done."
"Yeah. You can't."
"... I'm quittin' while I'm ahead." He turned his back to Honey, waving behind him at the cat as he made his way towards the door. "See you around, then. I'll come back on the usual schedule."
"Alright, bye." He heard ruffling behind him. "How dare he let this vest get hit so much..." he heard muttered out behind him. He shook his head with a small grin and pushed open the front door.
Sorun left the shop feeling pretty good about himself. Between securing his future and pulling off that miracle with Nicole, he dared to say he was feeling stress-free. A concept Sorun thought didn't even exist.
He was right. It didn't exist. The stress came back when Sorun exited the shop and then nearly ran face-first into a Mobian. The stress came when he realized it was a lynx that most certainly was not Nicole, eyes were blue and not green and the fur was a different, redder shade of brown. And Sorun's first thought upon seeing him was, "Ah, shit, it's Larry."
Coincidentally, Sorun finally learned if being attracted to Nicole would mean he'd begin leaking a mutual likeness towards Mobians who were lynxes. It didn't. He wanted to punch this guy in the face within two seconds of seeing him.
"Huh? What the- OH, hey! It's you!" The-one-who-was-most-definitely-Larry exclaimed with a big, happy smile. "Sorun, hey, I heard you were back! It's great to see you!"
"This fucking guy." Sorun forced himself to maintain a neutral expression. "Hey. You're Larry, right?"
The lynx blinked. "Yeah?" he answered, confused. "What- of course I am. We were neighbors. ARE, again, I guess. You go back to your old house?"
"Yeah...?" Sorun tilted his head far to the right. Neighbors? He didn't recall. "Since when are we neighbors?"
Larry's visible confusion grew. "Since... you know, since we all moved here to the city? And you moved to your house? I wave at you sometimes in the morning!"
Did he? Sorun didn't remember. He remembered in the back of his mind that there definitely was someone who would regularly wave at him in the morning. He couldn't remember if he'd ever actually spoken to that Mobian. He might've, but he never cared enough to remember. Looking back at Larry Sorun tried searching his memory for a face that even vaguely resembled his, but then Nicole's face kept popping up and he kept getting distracted.
He squinted at Larry's face, attempting to think harder.
...
No, Sorun was pretty sure he'd never met him before in his life. And he had lots of neighbors besides. Waving guy coulda been anyone.
"If you say so, man," Sorun said. He'd play along anyway on the assumption he was telling the truth. Probably was. Seemed earnest. "Heard you're here to steal my job."
He could of sworn he heard glass shatter somewhere when Larry's face shifted from confused to shocked. "What!? No, I would never- er, well I guess- listen I d-didn't know that- nobody else would hire me!" Larry stuttered out, eyes suddenly wide and panicked at the critical glare Sorun was sending him. He made a "eep!" sound when Sorun slinked closer to him, their faces inches apart with Sorun maintaining that blank, staring face.
"Larry. Homie. Listen, I ain't holdin' it against ya," Sorun said, slowly and evenly, with the smallest of upturns on the corners of his mouth. "Desperate for a job, I get it, the market wasn't kind to me, either. Been there. But I smoothed things over with Honey. You and I, guy, we're coworkers now."
"R-really?" Some of the nervousness disappeared from Larry. Some. He still seemed marginally creeped out by Sorun's distance and tone. "You- you talked with her already?"
"You'll have to ask her about the details. I don't feel like explaining it." Sorun leaned to Larry's side, who stepped a bit away from Sorun with a wary expression. "So do you really have a bad luck power?"
Larry looked ten times more uncomfortable the moment the topic was brought up. "I don't think it is? I don't know, I- bad stuff just happens around me, alright, please stop staring at me like that!"
Sorun didn't. "Is that right? Well, it's not an ideal power, but I've seen worse. Like that guy with invisible skin."
"But wouldn't being invisible be cool?"
"No, it was just his skin. His muscles and organs and stuff were still visible."
Larry recoiled. "Ugh! That's awful! Was there really someone like that back where you're from?"
Sorun chuckled and leaned back away from Larry, who seemed to relax at the new distance. "Nah, I got that from a comic," he answered. The shock and horror Larry held was replaced by a small bit of amusement. His stature relaxed a bit more, even if he still seemed off-put by Sorun's presence. "Look, real talk. I managed to keep my job with Honey and I don't really care if you actually do have a power like that. Just don't do something stupid and we're cool."
He seemed surprised, at first. At what, Sorun didn't know, but the male lynx looked surprised at Sorun's words. Like he hadn't expected something he'd said. Words Sorun regretted saying when a warm expression grew on the Mobian's face. "Well, geez, Sorun, thanks. Nobody's ever really said that to m-"
"Bear in mind if Honey has to drop one of us you're on the chopping block, so it doesn't affect me much either way."
"You... yeah, okay." Larry sighed out and deflated a bit. "So, um. It's nice to work with you?" Larry tried, managing a wavering grin as he held a hand up for Sorun to shake.
Sorun looked down at the offered hand. He thought about it for a second.
"I'm going home." He shoved his hands in his pockets, turned around, and started walking away.
"Eh...?" Confused and a bit crestfallen, Larry's hand retreated back to his side as he watched Sorun walk away. "O-okay! So I'll see you around, then!?" he called after Sorun. When the human didn't respond, Larry sighed again and turned to the shop's door. "Yeah, um, we'll see each other again, I guess. Yeah..." he mumbled out as he entered the shop.
His parting words were already forgotten by Sorun by the time he'd gotten far enough away from the shop. "Okay, slight wrinkle, but I guess it doesn't really matter long as La... fuck was his name, Lars? Yeah. Long as he stays outta my way I don't care all that much." He scratched at the back of his head. "Kinda screws up my routine, though. Kinda liked it when it was just us two at the shop. Bothersome."
Sorun supposed that maybe delivering packages via portals would be a bit more engaging and fun than packaging stuff and messing with labels all day. There'd been a sense of serenity, though, in how calming that work had been, and it bugged him a bit Lars had that job now even if he got a decent substitute. He still wouldn't be pulling for him to keep the job, though. Especially since it meant a potential raise for Sorun.
Maybe he could do something to sabotage him. Blame it on the bad luck so Honey would fire him so things could go back to how they used to be.
...
Nah, he didn't feel like being that much of a dick, and he didn't need the extra money, anyways. Lars could have his fair shake. Sorun didn't care.
But, these were all matters to consider for later. Right now Sorun had the rest of the day to consider. And as he stopped to take in the sight of the city in front of him, he realized, for once in a long while, he could finally just relax. The thought put a smile on his face.
It was nice being home.
A/N- You know, it really feels like I coulda ended the story right there and picked the rest up in a sequel. Try to break it up a bit since this story's already so long. Not gonna, but just a thought.