Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter :).

Guest: I'm glad Jen seems cool so far (especially considering this fandom's attitute towards OC's...). I'd like to think as long as you can still manage to make every scene about the canon characters in some way, it'll work out in the end.

I don't speak French (and I hope I didn't write nonsense ^^;). I only chose to put it in to try and hint at their location without actually saying it out loud.

Reviews are very motivating by the way :D, but these are really strange times right now, and I wish those bursts of motivation would last a little longer... I'm currently full-time working from home, and you'd think not having a commute would leave you with more time to do other things? Turns out my commute is now 'time spent in the kitchen', and I need to actively make room for some downtime during the day, which in the end feels more exhausting than having a regular work day...

Chapter 9: Don't 'What' Me! (II)

Jen closed the door behind her and took a deep breath, pricking her ears to the sound of shuffling clothes from inside her bathroom. A moment later the water started running and she heard the stall door slide shut. Now she had him out of her hair for a while—and hopefully a more pleasant version of him around afterward.

But then what?

Could she get some more info out of him? He'd seemed eager to 'talk' to her before—a bit frustrated, but interested nonetheless. Having to draw everything took forever though, and she couldn't imagine she'd be able to keep his attention long enough for it to actually amount to anything.

On the other hand, searching the web hadn't been particularly successful either. 'Posts with a star on top' had given her pages upon pages of Christmas decoration, and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out what 'blue furred animals' or 'animal people' would yield.

'Clarion' had at least managed to somewhat refresh her memory: One probe from the early 70s had taken a bunch of (now) horrible resolution black and white images, then broken down. A bit later another one had passed the planet and taken an image of its dark side (littered with night lights, amazingly), and a third one a decade after, which should've gotten into close orbit again, had broken down before it could take any telling pictures. After that, it looked as if nothing much else had happened in terms of alien planet research, and she'd become way too exhausted to find out otherwise.

…Other than with the live specimen she had at hand, anyway.

Was it odd that he'd apparently picked up a handful of words on his way? Was it odd that he knew about showers? Were the instructions on first aid material just that good?

Would she get in trouble for taking him in?

It was probably a good idea to start with figuring out whether he was currently on the run from someone.

#

Chaos, he was going to stay in that shower forever.

This was the third time he'd turned the shower head off then back on again, still standing blissfully under the hot water and feeling his muscles burn and relax from over a week of strain. He hadn't even realized how tense he was until now. It was as if all the exhaustion, chill and hunger he'd accumulated finally had a chance to show, turning his body into some kind of hot, gooey mess with only rubbery bones to keep it upright. If he lay down on the rug outside, he'd probably fall asleep for three days straight.

Sonic sighed, then finally cut off the water with proper determination. He slid the stall door open and fished for the towel he'd dropped. It wasn't as nice as having a full-body blow drier around, but complaining was the last thing on his mind. At this point was fine with shaking himself dry.

He stepped out, catching a dank and musty smell from his clothes and shoved them aside with one foot, grimacing. How had he managed to ignore this before? Or rather, how had she managed to stay so calm around him? No way was he going to put that stuff on again anytime soon. He couldn't even imaging wearing his shoes right now, and you didn't just leave your shoes in another house.

Sonic licked his lips.

He heard her voice from outside and perked up. She sounded distant, pausing after every other sentence, but it didn't seem as if she wanted to catch his attention. Maybe she was on the phone? They had those, alright. Sonic edged closer to the door, listening in as she talked for a while, but the only thing he managed to decipher was a 'goodbye'. It became quiet again afterward.

Had that call been about him?

It was hard to figure out what those guys were thinking.

Sonic still had no idea what to make of her. She seemed reserved and a bit on edge (and also really not like the kind of person who'd be able to help him at some point). But she'd let him in (and let him have a frickin' shower of all things), and she had listened to him despite probably feeling as exhausted as he was. She wouldn't do all this just to… to what? Turn him in to whatever… agency dealing with alien stuff around here? The idea seemed ridiculous.

…Or …not?

Jeez. Normally he could rely on his gut when it came to stuff like this. But normally, he could also talk, or did at least know what to make of someone's body language. A big part of what usually made up his gut feeling seemed to be missing here—even though he felt as if there hadn't been anything seriously unusual going on so far.

Sonic took in the room once more. There was a small window set into its slanted ceiling that seemed to lead to the roof. He could probably fit through—even smash it if he had to. He'd be gone faster than anyone coming in to check her place out.

He replaced his shoes just in case, pointing their tips towards the window. Then he placed his pants, socks, and gloves beside them, ready to grab.

He stood, then flung the towel across his head and squeezed the last drops of water out of his quills, taking a deep breath. Now that he'd air-dried a bit, every motion felt so light and smooth, he had to resist the urge to constantly run his fingers through his fur. Whatever her deal was, he had to make sure he could stay like this for as long as possible.

#

Jen threw the writing pad onto her couch table, ready to sit down when the bath door opened. He stepped out, towel draped across his head and gripping both of its ends as his eyes scanned the room.

A frown crept onto her face. She'd expected him to appear a bit more… relaxed, considering the time he'd spent under the water. Instead he seemed kind of tense—even a tad suspicious. Was it something she'd done? It was strange how such a small creature managed to make her feel uneasy. But there was a certain… edge to his posture that even his now unmistakable fluffiness couldn't quite cover up. He somehow managed to radiate a 'don't mess with me' attitude, but in a friendly way.

Eventually his gaze came to rest on her and he studied her for a moment. Then he used the towel to rub his face. When he was done, he seemed to have shaken off his strange mood, smiling faintly.

Jen softly released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Then she realized something else: He was wearing absolutely nothing.

Her gaze involuntarily latched to the spot between his legs.

He looked down with the tiniest hint of a startle, then shrugged. »What?«

Jen snorted. She knew that word by now. "Don't what me," she said. "Up until now I was positive you were a guy."

Well, she still kind of was, but… eh?

His brows furrowed briefly. »You don't want me to wear that stuff now, trust me.« He thumbed towards the bathroom.

Jen bit her lip, absently running a hand through her still pony-tailed hair and effectively ruffling it up. Sure, he didn't exactly show anything, but that didn't mean she was ready to have a butt-naked alien sit on her couch.

"Could you maybe put that towel around your waist?" She tried her best gesture.

He seemed puzzled for a moment, then pulled the towel from across his ears and tried fastening it around his waist. It either ended up too long, too wide, or hopelessly bunched up. Also, none of the attempts he made actually covered up his tail or his behind. Jen grimaced. It was time to abort mission.

He gave her a slightly helpless shrug.

"Never mind." She shook her head. "Just… sit down. There's stuff I need to figure out."

#

Jen had picked up their notes and scribbles again, trying to determine where he'd been so far and what else he knew. At this point, though, nothing hinted at dubious organizations trying to catch their runaway alien, and she seriously hoped it stayed that way. In the process they'd almost naturally started to mimic each other's phrases, and she'd begun to wonder whether it was possible make the whole process a little less… aimless. But before that, introductions were in order.

"Jennifer," he repeated, pronouncing it with the typical mixture of doubt and determination of someone trying to word something for the first time. It was nevertheless pretty flawless.

"Huh. Perfect," she said, giving him a thumbs up. He seemed to recognize the gesture.

»I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog,« he announced with an air of confidence.

Jen hoped she'd picked the right words to repeat. "Sonic… Sk–" She frowned. "Do I need both?"

He smiled. »Sonic. Sonic is fine.«

"So, 'Sonic'… Huh. Shouldn't you have a more 'alien' sounding name? That one's almost making me suspicious."

The doorbell rang and Sonic's ears pivoted to catch the sound. If he hadn't already lost the towel, now sitting disconcertingly cross-legged on the couch across from her and reminding her of his nakedness (gladly, without actually showing anything), she might've found it endearing.

She stood up. "Could you stay in the kitchen for a sec? I'll be right back."

His eyes followed her gestures, then he gave her an almost accusing look and headed towards the bathroom.

What had that been about now? Jen frowned as she picked up her purse, then went to open the door. When she was done paying for the latest-night pizza she ever had and the delivery guy was gone again, she set the food on the couch table and fetched some drinks.

"Come out," she called.

Nothing happened.

Jen rolled her eyes and went to open the bathroom door. The image of walking in on him as he tried to use her facilities briefly flashed before her eyes, but then she already had the door open.

He was halfway done putting on a shoe, then quickly grabbed the second one when he noticed her. He hopped backwards, failing to put on the first shoe in the process. After a moment he gave up, looking at her.

Jen arched an eyebrow. "What're you doing?"

He straightened, softly clearing his throat. Then he tried glancing past her.

She made room for him to peer through the open doorway. He sniffed eventually, then appeared to change from tense to sheepish, putting his shoe back on the floor and absently slipping out of the other.

Jen rubbed her temple. "Could you try to be a bit less confusing?" From what she'd gathered during their previous 'session', he was neither being followed, nor did he seem to be the anxious type. So, what was the deal just now?

"I really hope that was your face of realization," she said. "Because I'm positively starving. Come on."

#

Sonic was already devouring the second slice of whatever it was she'd gotten delivered. It was flat, cooked, had a mix of sweet spiciness to it, and was topped with all sorts of things he didn't recognize—save for the two kinds of sliced meat he'd discovered in the mix. Technically, he didn't recognize those either, but he figured he couldn't do much wrong if it was something they'd eat as well.

He had no idea how much those guys usually ate (though what she ordered did take up a good portion of the table), but at the moment he hoped it wasn't in any way related to their size. He felt as if he hadn't eaten anything at all during the past days, and he had a slight margin.

»So,« Jen began, shifting a half-eaten slice between her fingers. »'S that the first pizza you got or do you have that stuff back home?«

Sonic swallowed a way too large bite and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "What?" he asked, slightly out of breath.

»That's pizza,« she said after a moment of facial acrobatics.

"... pizza," he repeated carefully.

He was going to remember that one.

#

Jen was asking about Mobius again. She'd even made him draw a world map. Twice. Either she was just overly curious or she somehow couldn't believe that this Earth place really wasn't his home. Plus, she seemed to be pretty amazed whenever she found out about them having cars and TV's and phones and whatnot, when he didn't really know what the big deal was. It was fun for a while, but now all it seemed to do was remind him of how big of a distance he'd put between his home and the few people he was close with—and how ridiculously unlikely it was for him to get back anytime soon.

At least he had someone to talk to at the moment, sort of. Even if she didn't actually know about the thing he was looking for, it still felt as if he was making the first real progress since he'd stranded here. But it also made him realize how much time it was going to take until he would actually be able to make even basic small-talk. If he had to go through this with everyone he met, he'd rather go back to blindly searching Star Posts again…

Jen yawned, rubbing her face. Her gaze wandered to a round thing on the wall that was probably a clock, and she cast him a weary glance.

She had to be tired (and Chaos knew he was, too). It had only been a matter of time, of course, but Sonic had begun to dread the moment. He'd tried to inwardly prepare himself while they'd been figuring out more and more words, but the idea of having to leave her place now made him feel utterly hollow—as if being back at square one.

At least it hadn't started raining again.

»Hope it's okay if we call it a day,« she said, pulling his gaze from the window. »I'm positively dead by now…« Another yawn.

Sonic nodded and slid off the couch. There was no need to draw it out. He headed over to the bathroom to fetch his stuff once again, sensing her stepping up behind him.

Jen leaned into the doorway and gave him a somewhat crumpled look. »What am I doing wrong here?« she asked. »You don't seriously think I'm gonna kick you out now, do you?«

Sonic pressed his lips together. Whenever he thought he was getting a hang of the nuances in her speech, she did something to throw him off. A hint of annoyance wasn't what he'd wanted to pick up—especially not when there were a bunch of 'I's' and 'you's' in the mix. Why did this have to be so awkward? He couldn't even tell whether a scolding tone or a skeptical look was just meant as a joke.

She shook her head and sighed, then beckoned him to come. Sonic reluctantly dropped the pants he'd already (also reluctantly…) picked up and followed, watching her start filing through a cabinet. After a moment she tossed him a folded bundle that almost threw him off balance. He shifted it in his arms.

A blanket?

He probably looked like someone seeing a blanket for the first time. Sonic swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat.

»Couch's all yours,« she said, seemingly unfazed. »Now lemme have the bathroom for a while, okay?«

She went into the bathroom, closing the door after her. A moment later she stepped back out, heading towards the kitchen. Sonic briefly heard the crackling of paper, then she returned, mumbling to herself.

He threw the blanket on the couch and slipped into the bathroom before her, grabbing his pants again. He knew there was something he'd forgotten about.

»Hey…,« she said weakly, coming in after him.

Sonic pulled the still untouched toothbrush from his pocket and stuck it into her hand, closing her fingers around it.

"Sorry," he shrugged, heading out again. He began spreading out the blanket.

Jen approached from behind, and Sonic could feel her hovering for a while. When he turned, she had her arm stretched out, holding the toothbrush in front of him.

»Keep it,« she said. »I can live with my old one for a bit longer.«

Maybe failing to steal her food had been his best mess-up since coming to this planet.

#

Jen drifted out of sleep from the sound of a toilet flushing, making her shift beneath her sheets for the umpteenth time. She'd had the crappiest night so far—never been much of a back-sleeper and with no place to comfortably put her hurting arm otherwise. Latently worrying about some alien guy staying in her home overnight probably didn't help matters either.

…Oh, crap.

Now she was wide awake. That had been her toilet flushing.

Jen pricked up her ears. From the next room came the faint sound of running water and some shuffling, and she sank back under the blanket, grimacing. She had very high hopes that he knew what he was doing, but there was also lots of room for… deviations.

Jen bit her lip, preparing to get up, but the bath door cracked open and she huddled back into the sheets, watching with half-lidded eyes.

He trotted over to the couch and sat down on top of the blanket, gaze fixed on the window between TV and desk. It was still dark outside, but the pale light from the lamps below already reflected in the first traces of morning mist, illuminating him in a faint glow. After a while of staring into space, he drew a long, unsteady breath, blinking and frowning, then took a moment to rub his eyes.

Jen's heart took a sting. The entire time he'd seemed so… unfazed by his situation, but now she just wanted to get up and pull him into a hug.

He kept sitting on the couch for a while longer, then abruptly got up and headed back into the unlit bathroom. On the way out he slipped into his socks, gloves, and shoes, then stopped in front of the window, briefly stretching himself before climbing onto the sill. He avoided her stuff with a cat-like grace as he slid the window open and poked his head out.

Then he jumped.

"No!" Jen jolted from the mattress and immediately curled up again, cursing under her breath as a jab of pain went through her shoulder. She clenched her teeth, dragging herself out of the sheets then hobbling over to the window.

There was no trace of him outside. No trace of anyone for that matter—at least as far as she could see in the puny light that shone four stories down.

Jen scoffed. "Seriously!?"

She took another look outside, scanning the area. The other window ledges below barely jutted out from the wall, and there was no balcony or anything else that could've broken his fall. The grass down there seemed to be a bit roughed-up, but he couldn't have just landed straight down, could he?

…Well, apparently, she wasn't going to find out anytime soon.

Jen rubbed her face and shambled towards the bathroom, then paused, hand hovering above the light switch.

He'd been in there.

She grimaced, closing her eyes and preparing for the worst. Then she hit the switch and slowly inched her lids open again.

There was… nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary anyway. Save for the pair of well-worn cargo shorts that still laid in a heap on the rug. He apparently hadn't bothered to put them on again. Jen crouched down.

She didn't even need to pick the pants up to confirm that they'd really been tailored for someone like him. Not only was there a proper, sewn hole for his tail, she also spotted a label showing a clearly non-human silhouette along with something that looked like measurements in foreign letters. The sight sent a nervous flutter through her stomach. Somehow, it gave all new weight to everything she'd learned about him so far.

She reverently picked the up the shorts and carried them over to the washing machine. On the way something clinked to the floor and she bent after it.

It looked like some kind of bracelet—a sturdy band with a clasp. There were a couple of coined rings lined up on it, along with three carefully embossed sticks that almost looked like tiny keys without a handle. The coining on the rings vaguely resembled the writing Sonic had done alongside their numerous scribblings. Too bad they didn't have any pictures on them—she was getting more and more curious about this.

The pants' pockets bulged slightly.

She'd need to check them if she was going to put the shorts into the washer, didn't she…? Jen hesitated, fingers curling. It didn't feel right to invade his privacy in that way. Then again he'd just left her place by jumping out of the window, apparently not caring about what happened to his stuff. She reached inside.

Hidden between a spectacular collection of dirt crumbs she found the pen from before, a stained jackknife (somewhat unsettling), and a strip of faded wrapping with foreign letters on it. It seemed to still have one single candy inside. Sadly, there weren't any telling pictures on it either.

Jen let her hand drop, shaking her head. This obviously wasn't the equipment of someone going on an interplanetary trip—heck, it wasn't even appropriate for a basic hike. But they were things someone would come back for, and it kind of affirmed why she didn't feel like worrying at the moment.

Jen placed the pocket's contents on the table by the couch, then went back and threw his pants into the washer, watching them spin for a while along with her other stuff and failing to get tired again. It hadn't even dawned outside, but sleeping seemed to be out of the question now.

She headed over to her laptop again. Maybe now she had the energy to find out a little more. And if not, she still had a car wreck that needed dealing with…

She was so not going to the library later today.

#

Sonic had made it back to her roof. Beside him was the large window that let him look down onto her bed. It was empty—he'd probably accidentally woken her up when he left—but he didn't feel like bothering her already again, even though he'd been away for a while. It already dawned outside.

Running had cleared his mind, more so than during all the past days combined. He'd expected to pretty much drop dead on her couch, considering how he'd stuffed himself earlier. But apparently trying to explain your home to someone else when you knew you couldn't just get back there on a whim wasn't the best way of putting your mind in sleep-mode.

He never thought that the simple knowledge of being able to come home whenever he felt like would make such a difference. Heck, even the small things, like buying food at a nearby stand or taking a shower whenever he wanted, meant more than he liked to admit. Exploring a whole new planet should've been the pinnacle of awesomeness. But not being able to take a break when it grew old took all the fun out of it.

Did anyone back home even have an idea where he went? After a couple of days they probably thought he'd gotten lost inside that Star Post portal or something…

They all knew he couldn't stay put for long. He needed to get out, see new things, explore and all that. Usually, he didn't even think of saying goodbye before he left. It seemed so pointless when he knew he'd always come back at some point and he never saw why he should get everyone all worked up beforehand.

But this time…

Sonic swallowed. He just hoped they didn't think he was dead. They might not have a way to reach him right now, but he sure as heck wouldn't stop looking for one to reach them. He'd get back, no matter what. If he couldn't do this, no-one could.

The window by his side cracked open and Jen poked her head out. She stood on her bed, tiptoeing awkwardly as she looked out across all the other roofs. Eventually her gaze came to rest on him.

»…I'm not going to ask how you got up here,« she said, looking amused but having that tone in her voice that he hadn't quite figured out yet.

Instead of waiting for a response though, she looked around some more, taking in a breath of fresh air. »Man, it's nice out here,« she said. »Almost makes me want to become a morning person.«

Sonic smiled, then grinned, then eventually broke out laughing when a weird mix of emotions bubbled to the surface.

Jen seemed to startle, then had to grin as well. She began waving her hand up and down and spoke with a hushed voice. »Dude, keep it down! I don't wanna wake everyone.«

Sonic held his breath and ran both hands across his face in an attempt to clear his head again. Chaos it sucked being stuck on another planet. But, damn, it was great not being entirely alone again—even if it only lasted for a while.

»Let's get in.« She beckoned. »I think I'm in for an early breakfast—also, I think that's a word you're gonna learn really fast.«