Chapter 15: Hedgehog From Outer Space (I)

Jen slid the key into the lock of her apartment door, then hesitated.

It had been three weeks since her vacation with Allan, before which she'd reluctantly decided to let Sonic stay alone at her place for the time—minus that one day of snowboarding, anyway. When she'd gotten back home, her apartment had only classified as a minor mess (which ultimately hadn't been much of a difference to her usual mess…), so leaving him alone again for Christmas at her parents' had been a rather relaxed decision. So, what was it now with the sudden apprehension?

She shook her head and dismissed it, unlocking the door and hauling her stuff inside. A waft of stale air greeted her—not exactly what she'd expected. Sonic probably hadn't been here in a while, something she gradually managed to get used to. Getting used to not instantly worrying when it happened, though, was another matter entirely—especially when they'd broadcasted a weather alert an hour or so ago…

Jen suppressed a sigh and stripped off her coat, closing the door behind her. She strode over to the window by her desk and slid it open, taking a breath of the cool air drifting into the room. The swirling gusts of snow that pattered her windowsill told her she'd made it home in time.

From behind came a groan and some shuffling. Jen turned.

Sonic was lying on the couch, huddled in a blanket, and with one hand untangled just enough to rub his eyes. The table and floor beside him were cluttered with a bunch of books and a considerable amount of tissues, but other than that the place looked pretty much untouched. He tiredly pushed himself into a sitting position, blanket sliding into his lap, then he had a brief moment of wakefulness as his gaze fell on the table.

Jen struggled a bit not to recall the tissue-related remark Allan had made a couple of weeks ago.

"Uh… I was gonna clean that up," he said, regarding the mess with bleary eyes. After a moment he shivered and tucked himself into the blanket again, dropping back into a lying position. He curled up on his side and closed his eyes. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Jen absently closed the window behind her, another bout of worry creeping up inside. This time, though, it wasn't the regular 'maybe Sonic fell off a skyscraper' kind of worry, it was the 'maybe Allan had been wrong' kind of worry, which turned out to be slightly worse. Was this even supposed to happen? It was obvious Sonic had caught a cold of some sort, but according to Allan Sonic should've been practically immune to any Earth bacteria or viruses going around—his organism simply too foreign for anything to be even remotely adapted. If Allan had missed something, Sonic wasn't the only one in trouble, that much was sure.

…Then again, Sonic had probably just stayed out in the snow again and finally gotten his comeuppance for it. There were probably a ton of alien germs inside him just waiting for their chance.

Yeah, that sounded a lot more reassuring.

Jen crouched down beside him, putting a hand on his forehead and earning a quiet hum. His skin felt hot to the touch, a bit feverish really, but did that mean what she thought it meant? Maybe this temperature was actually normal?

...His fur was soft.

Even the quills had a kind of softness to them—with the outer ones covered in a kind of fluff that tended to make her forget that those huge, thick spines were actually made up of countless smaller ones.

She absently kept running her fingers through the fur between his ears—something she'd have found horribly inappropriate in any other situation—but at the moment he didn't seem to complain. Her hand moved towards one ear, where his hair managed to feel even smoother underneath her fingers, and she gently began scratching.

Jeez, she could do this all day. Why did pets have to be such high maintenance?

Sonic stirred, shrinking away from her touch and slowly propping himself up on his elbows again. He studied her for a moment, apparently too exhausted to look properly miffed, then he decided to stare out of the window instead. Jen wasn't sure if he looked somewhat flushed because of his cold or because of something else. It was one of those moments when she felt like she didn't know him at all.

"Sorry," she said. "Hope I didn't make someone jealous there."

"Wha?" He chuckled as realization hit. "No…"

Jen grinned, then shook her head. "Never mind. I keep forgetting you're only fourteen."

Sonic looked at her. "What's that got to do with it?"

"Well, it's a bit young for a girlfriend, don't you think?"

He shrugged. "Sounds okay to me."

Jen gave him a skeptical look, but decided to leave it at that. She shifted her weight, ready to get up.

"I think I'm fifteen now," Sonic mused.

"You think," she said, crouching down again.

"Yeah. It should be summer now back home, so—" He shrugged again.

"Ha." Jen smiled. "You're in luck then." She finally got up, heading for her bags. "I actually have a present for you."

"Huh? For what?"

"Don't you get presents on your birthday?"

"No? We get food."

Man, he was such a glutton. "Wait. Seriously?" Jen asked on second thought.

"Yeaah… tends to get a bit out of hand because you have to at least try everything. It's kinda more like birth-week." He paused. "Unless your friends can't cook…"

'Like you,' Jen wanted to say. But Sonic went quiet again after that, and she remembered why she tended to avoid talks like these. It always seemed to create an air of sentimentality that she wasn't sure he wanted to endure. He appeared to take it easy, admittedly, but still…

Jen returned with a wrapped package and placed it into his lap before sitting down cross-legged on the floor beside the couch. "There," she said. "It's meant for Christmas though. I just got lucky with the birthday."

Sonic turned the present over in his hands then began to tug at the wrapping, awkwardly removing it.

"…A scarf?" He laughed and ended up coughing. »Damn.«

"Looks like it would've been better if you had it a couple of days ago, huh?" she said.

He shook his head. "I think I'll live long enough to need it again. Thanks."

Jen got up again, smiling to herself, then her smile faded as her brain processed his words.

"You, er, you mean that, don't you? That's just a cold you're having, not some freaky serious alien disease, right?"

He craned his head to look up at her, arching one eye-ridge and lifting his index finger. "Which of my answers is gonna help and which one is gonna make you panic?" he asked, stuffed nose included. She was fairly sure there was a grin lingering somewhere.

"Oh, come on." Jen grabbed a nearby pillow and let it drop into his face. Sonic let it bounce off without flinching and began snickering.

"It's just a cold, relax," he said, then coughed again and began collecting the blanket that had spilled out around him.

Jen let out a long breath, shaking her head. It was the answer she'd wanted to hear, but, dude. She began clearing a few things from the table, trying to move her thoughts into a different territory along with them. "I'm gonna make you something to eat," she said midway.

"Wait."

"Hm?"

"That book." Sonic pushed himself to a sitting position at the edge of the couch, and Jen put the book she'd just picked up back on the table. He filed through the pages until the one that had previously been open came up again, then he pointed at the picture of a small, spiky animal. "What's it say? H— He—?" He gave up with a groan.

"It's a hedgehog."

"Hedgehog…" Sonic wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. "I'm a hedgehog." It wasn't a question.

Jen gave him a long look. He'd almost convinced her that he hadn't caught anything more serious than a cold, but calling himself a 'hedgehog' was a bit of a stretch.

"A hedgehog," she repeated, maybe a little too dryly.

He hummed. "Yeah, 's also what my name means. Hedgehog. Sonic the hedgehog," he said, still looking at the picture.

Jen felt her face knit into utter skepticism. "Wait. What now? Is your name hedgehog or are you one? And what's with the 'the'? Are you the only one around or what?"

"Uh, no, well, yes. Both. And I'm not the only one. Maybe 'the' was wrong? I dunno… Ugh, I think my brain's melting." Sonic rubbed his face. "Are they still alive here?" he asked after a moment.

"Hedgehogs? Sure. Not anywhere near here, but definitely over in Europe."

"Cool."

Jen smiled, still perplexed. "You really are one, eh?" Then a thought struck her. "Can you curl up?"

He gave her a questioning look and she showed him the image.

Sonic snorted—not the most dainty thing to do with a stuffed nose. "Not really like that," he said. "But—" He let the blanket slide off then rolled up effortlessly in what should've been a major acrobatic feat. His quills bristled.

"Oh my god." Jen laughed. "That's gonna ruin a truck's tire for sure."

»What?« he asked, stretching out again and slumping into the couch like a wet rag. He drew the blanket over his body again.

"Nevermind," she said. "I'mma head for the kitchen."

»Do I really need to eat something?« Sonic's voice sounded muffled from beneath the blanket, but she'd definitely heard that right.

"You really are sick, aren't you?"

A groan.

"Did you eat anything at all?" Jen shuffled through the cabinets, the kitchen seemed barely touched.

"Uhh… a couple of eggs…?"

"With what?"

"... What do you mean?"

The phone rang, and Jen bit off her (mildly bewildered) reply. She hurried to get the receiver.

#

"Well, great. My mom's coming over," Jen said.

Sonic pulled himself out of a doze. "Weren't you just there?"

"I was, but she left some time after me. She wanted to visit a friend, and now the route's blocked. Looks like she's coming over instead of waiting the weather out someplace else…"

"Mhh." Sonic sat up and let himself slide to his feet.

"What're you doing?"

"Heading out."

"Fat chance! You need rest." It was bad enough to have him like this. Any worse and she'd have to call a doctor or something. Allan would be nearing insanity.

Wait.

Jen picked up the phone before Sonic had a chance to protest. "I'm calling Allan."

#

"Hey, Jen. Back already?" Allan said.

"Yeah, looks like I just escaped the weather."

"Mhh, glad you made it in time. It's getting pretty bad."

"Uh, yeah, about that. My Mom's spontaneously coming over—"

"Oh, okay. I just got to the lab, but—"

"The lab? What're you doing at the lab? It's between Christmas and New Year."

"Exactly. I'm all alone here. Best time of the year. But I'll take a break if you want me to meet your mom."

"Oh, well, actually…"

#

"I'm not going into a bag." Sonic said through a stuffed nose. He stared into the rather luxurious piece of luggage, arms firmly crossed beneath the blanket he still had around his shoulders.

Allan rolled his eyes.

"You can't just waltz out of the door and you know it." Jen said.

"It worked just fine last time."

"Maybe. But this time we also have to get you inside again. Allan's front door isn't on the outside like mine."

Sonic pursed his lips, then went to pick up his shoes, swaying a bit as he tried to put one on, blanket sliding to the floor. He steadied himself against the wall with his forehead. "I can get to his place on my own," he muttered.

"You are not—"

"Listen," Allan cut in. "I don't care what crazy stunts you do all day, but even when you're well all you seem to manage is make Jen worry. So put your pride or dignity or whatever it is you think you have aside and do what she says for a change."

Jen gaped.

Sonic slipped into shoe number two then turned around, looking Allan in the eye with unexpected intensity. "Just because I'm—"

The doorbell rang.

"Uh." Jen exchanged a glance with her momentarily frozen companions.

Sonic dropped the blanket into the bag and scrambled to fit inside, prompting Allan to lunge and fumble for the zipper. Jen readied Allan's coat, helping him put it on the moment he got up again. Then Allan wrapped the bag's strap around his shoulders and got ready to lift it up.

"Fu —Hrrrgh." Allan stumbled. He looked fit on occasion, but to call him sporty was a bit of a stretch.

Jen had already tensed every muscle to jump in and catch him. But then he managed to steady himself, eyes wide and panting for a moment. From the bag came an irritated grunt.

Allan hesitantly wagged his head towards the door.

An icy breeze washed inside as Jen pulled the door open then quickly shut it again when her mom had gotten safely inside. A few minutes of introductions followed, then Allan made his first attempt at leaving.

"So—" He rubbed his hands together, face reddening from the obviously straining weight. "I'm sorry you caught me on the go. I really have to get back to the lab now."

"Really?" Jen's mom said, sounding genuinely surprised. "That's some dedication. You should follow his example, Jenny."

Jen rolled her eyes. "Mom…"

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for a while longer? At least until the weather gets better," her mom said.

"No, no thanks, I'll manage. Bad luck, I guess. I made a test set-up earlier that I can't leave alone for too long. I just had to get back here to fetch a bunch of books I left here last week, so—" Allan gave her an apologetic smile.

Jen blinked. That had almost sounded convincing. Allan wasn't supposed to be smooth with things like this.

"Oh, I guess it can't be helped then," her mom said. "Be careful out there, will you."

From the bag came a noise that sounded like a desperate attempt at concealing a cough. The room went quiet for a moment.

Allan broke the silence. "I'm sure I'll get there in one piece. I'm used to weather like that. Nice meeting you." He put on a smile and extended a hand.

Jen's mom stirred out of her momentary freeze, taking his hand. "Yes. Of course. Until next time, I hope."

Allan reached for the door and Jen went between the two to plant a kiss on his cheek and slip her car keys into his pocket. "Good luck!"

#

The moment they were out in the cold Sonic tore the bag's zipper open and gasped for air, immediately breaking into a coughing fit.

"Good job." Allan said.

"What?" Sonic wheezed, bewilderment in his voice.

"Good job holding it in until now."

"...Are you being sarcastic?" Sonic asked. Allan could see the irritated frown without looking.

"No?" He tried to make a point by looking Sonic in the eye, but at that moment realized that the bag he was carrying had shifted to a position which could basically be considered as having Sonic wrapped around his butt. He wanted to reach the car before the image managed to truly sink in.

#

Allan set the bag down on his floor between TV and couch table, struggling to keep himself from toppling over with it. Then he took a moment to thoroughly stretch his back.

"Get out. We're here," he said.

A pause.

"Hey, did you hear me?"

Oh, what now? He crouched to open the bag's lid and found Sonic lying motionless inside. Allan's heart dropped into his stomach. He hadn't suffocated Sonic in that thing, had he? There was a sudden flash of cold sweat prickling in his neck.

In retrospect, Sonic had become oddly quiet during the ride after Allan had asked him to close the lid just in case. But after that he'd been so focused on driving (instead of drifting) through the growing snow masses, that he'd simply disregarded whatever else was going on inside the car at the time.

He swallowed, crouching down beside the bag, then he hesitantly leaned with his ear above Sonic's still form, eventually feeling a soft stream of air coming from his lips. He was still breathing.

Allan let himself drop on his behind, staring at the ceiling and releasing a breath of his own. It was the kind of situation he'd afterward possibly describe as 'having felt a tiny bit of unease', but the relief that had just washed over him made him wonder whether he hadn't just discovered a new relaxation technique.

The fact that he could now be sure that Jen wasn't going to strangle him when they next met probably also played a part in it…

He took another glance at the obviously sleeping form inside the bag and shook his head.

A hedgehog. He snorted.

He really wanted to believe in the whole alien thing. It was, in a way, the most plausible explanation for everything that was going on at the moment. The idea that this Earth-like planet just around the corner was in fact inhabited by a strange breed of sentient animals ultimately wasn't any less outlandish than imagining a different kind of humans over there. In the end it was highly unlikely for things to have developed identically on a less than basic level, anyway. But Sonic now claiming that he was a hedgehog of all creatures—nevermind a hedgehog who could outrun a racecar, with an explanation that pretty much equaled saying 'because'? Way to go making things confusing again.

Allan stood with a groan, then gave the bag a nudge with his foot. After a moment, he nudged again, slightly more forceful. "Get up," he said.

Sonic stirred awake and sat up, barely regarding him. Instead, he scanned the place with drowsy eyes then clambered out of the bag, dragging the blanket after him. He headed straight for the couch where he cocooned himself in and immediately dozed off again, not even bothering to remove his shoes. Wonderful.

Allan ran a hand across his face, adjusting his glasses afterward. At least he was going to have his quiet for another while.

…Unfortunately not at the lab as he had planned.