Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) during these insightful exchanges… especially for the dangerous one.

~保護者~

"Deadly Bond"

~保護者~

When Sonic followed Tails and Cream back into the medical ward, he was surprised to see Shadow already laying down asleep on his bed. Said surprise must have been plainly visible on his face, for Tails was quick to remind, "He doesn't sleep much. It catches up with him sometimes. Plus, connecting with tech like he was doing can be mentally exhausting for him now and then, since he doesn't do it much."

Sonic nodded slowly and started to walk toward his own bed, but paused. After a long moment of silence, he turned back to his friends and asked, "I don't suppose either of you know if Armaris and Espio are still outside." He looked in particular at Cream, if only because he was well aware of her remarkable ability to nearly always ferret Espio out no matter where he hid.

Taking the hint, the bunny looked over at the double doors leading out onto the balcony. "Espio-san was out there, but I believe he has left. You want to talk to him?"

"Yeah," Sonic admitted. "About a few things, actually."

A nod. "You might check outside still, then. I do not think he will have come in."

That made sense. He had always preferred being outside… and away from other people. He was just antisocial like that. "Yeah, I guessed as much. Any more specific hints for me?"

She smiled. "Not this time. I apologize."

"Eh, it's fine," Sonic shrugged, turning to walk toward the doors Cream had indicated before. It would be an easy way outside. Sure, he remembered his way around the palace and knew where the proper exits were, but… well, he was too lazy to bother.

"Try not to take too long, okay?" Tails implored. "Wave is right, and you really should get some rest."

"I will, I promise," Sonic assured, turning back around once more. "I just want to talk to him real fast. Jet, too, if he'll let me." Like Wave had said earlier, Jet had probably been worried and upset. Plus Sonic knew his friend was stressed out just in general. Having a quick, friendly chat might help… assuming he could even track the hawk down. At least one can hope.

"I understand," Tails said. "Just, like I said, don't take too long."

With one final nod, Sonic headed to the doors, opened them, and stepped outside. He wasn't sure if Armaris was still here and merely hiding in some shadows or something again, but he didn't take the time to ask. Instead, he simply jumped down to the ground far, far below. Hitting the ground from such a height didn't bother him terribly much, though he supposed that the couple of wolves he apparently startled were a little less than appreciative. They glared and even growled, but dropped the matter well before he could grow worried about potential attack.

While the pair of them huffily laid back down to resume their nap, Sonic skirted around them and began to examine his surroundings. Naturally, things had changed quite drastically since he had last been on this world. The gardens, for one thing, had a variety of new plants and decorations that he didn't recognize. These surrounded him on all sides, creating a definite feeling of isolation in some ways. However, he knew it wasn't good enough. Espio probably will have gone farther away from the building. ...And he'll have searched for some trees, I bet. Turning in slow circles, Sonic frowned to himself. Let's see… where are some good clusters of trees?

Eventually, he spotted one some distance away. It looked lonely enough and, though it was still fairly close to the building, it looked quiet. Peaceful. Might be the ideal place to be, if you're used to that kind of environment at home. With that in mind, he dashed over. Sure enough, as he came to a stop and looked up, he spotted his old friend sitting in a tree up above. With arms crossed (as much as possible with one arm being paralyzed) and left leg idly dangling, Espio was the picture of repose. That is, save for his small frown. It evaporated the second Sonic appeared and he looked down at the hedgehog with a now blank expression.

Sonic offered a small wave. "Hey. Mind if I join you?" No answer came, and Espio looked away. The lack of refusal was agreement enough, so Sonic jumped onto a branch of his own above and to the right of the chameleon. He took a moment or two to settle back and get comfortable. Once he was satisfied, he returned his attention to Espio. "Did Armaris get a chance to talk to you?"

Espio looked decidedly unhappy for a half-second or so. However, the look was there and gone well before Sonic could confirm it had ever existed at all. "Yes."

He doesn't like this. That's about what I expected. Still, though… Sonic inwardly sighed. Expectation doesn't make anything easier, here. "Look… I'm sorry about this. I-"

Espio surprised him by cutting him off. "You have nothing to apologize for."

Momentarily thrown off-track, Sonic stared stupidly a few seconds. When something in his brain finally clicked and he remembered where he was going with his train of thought, he countered, "Well, no… Not exactly. I just know that this sucks, is all. I mean, I can't speak from personal experience or anything, but even still. It's just… It's an awful situation, and as someone who cares I feel sorry that you're in it. That's all."

A vague sort of "hm" sound served as Espio's response to that and, for a short moment or two, nothing more was said. When the silence was broken, it wasn't actually Sonic's doing - despite the fact that he had been gearing up to speak again at the same time that Espio actually did. "Was that why you came out here?"

It was a simple question. There was no harm in answering it. "Partly," Sonic admitted readily. "We hadn't heard anything since Armaris had gone out to speak with you, so I wasn't sure if she had even found you or if you had managed to disappear on her. Plus, I wanted to make sure you were okay." He thought for a second, then added, "Not just from the talk. I wanted to see if you were okay physically, too. You know, after the attack earlier and all that."

"I'm fine." This assurance was delivered with such calm and uncaring that Sonic was able to take it as the truth without hesitation. However, just because he was fine in that regard following the assault didn't mean he was completely fine.

Sonic cleared his throat. "Good. And, uh, on that note…" He hesitated, trailing off, and Espio left off gazing into the distance long enough to fix Sonic with a decidedly guarded expression. For once, he didn't seem to realize that he was so easily readable, and Sonic opted not to point it out just yet. Anything that could help him gauge the ninja's responses here was welcome. "...You… probably know where this is going, I take it, but… fuck it, I'll just ask anyway." He let out a gusty breath. "You're fine physically, and that's great. But what about otherwise? I know you… well, care about that woman. A lot, in fact. Getting attacked by her can't be easy."

In response, Espio frowned and looked away again. "I don't care about that."

Somehow, Sonic couldn't find any reason to not believe that. And, actually, he sort of understood. Chemistry was a powerful force, and with Espio and that woman having met the way they apparently had… Well, it just made sense that they would continue to clash and not be at all bothered by it. Plus they're both chameleons, he reminded himself. Their kind aren't exactly strangers to violence, even at extremely young ages. Espio included. He was, what… two when he was given his first knife? Can't remember. He might've told me he was three. Pretty sure it was two, though. Shaking free of his thoughts, he refocused on the conversation at hand. "Right. I should have expected as much. That was kind of a stupid question." Espio didn't deny it, so Sonic huffed under his breath. "This one's not, though. I know how fast you are, so why weren't you able to counter her when she stabbed you with that needle? Or at least dodge?"

Thankfully, Espio saw fit to explain himself for once instead of just ignoring the question. His frown remained firmly in place. "We are virtually equals," he stated. "The slight differences in ability that we possess are too miniscule to be meaningful."

Immediately, Sonic caught on. "Meaning that when one of you is distracted or something, the other can pretty easily outmuscle or whatever else the other one if time is used wisely."

Even though this required admitting that he was, for once, completely caught by surprise, Espio nevertheless nodded. Sonic's explanation wasn't the best, no, but he had essentially grasped the facts of the situation. "Yes."

Feeling thoughtful, Sonic reached up and idly tugged at one of his ears. "Okay… so that explains that, then. But now I have a new question."

Almost, Espio seemed ready to sigh. He'd never been a social person (quite the opposite, in fact), and extended conversation was far from something he typically enjoyed. However, Sonic was banking on one crucial fact: sometimes, sometimes Espio would decide to willingly put up with such a thing if he was in the company of a close friend. Assuming he still saw Sonic as such, maybe… just maybe, he would allow this to continue. "...Fine," he eventually answered, though he didn't appear to be thrilled about it.

Inwardly, Sonic allowed himself just a second of celebration over the fact that their old bond had clearly managed to survive to a good extent despite everything. Then he forced himself to focus and spoke. "Last time she attacked, back when we were still on Mobius, you mentioned that just because she was capable of causing serious damage didn't necessarily mean that she would. Something about capability versus intention, right?" A vague nod. "Am I correct in assuming that you can usually tell her intentions when you encounter her? Or are you just kinda going off gut feelings or something like… say, someone like me would."

Espio shook his head at him. "When you regularly encounter people, provided you pay attention, you can learn to read them nearly as well as yourself… if they allow you to. At times, you can acquire the ability to read said people regardless of what defenses they put up. So, no, it is not a 'feeling', nor is it simply being able to just 'tell'."

A deliberate act, then. One that goes both ways, I'd wager. His guess was purely based off of his experiences with Jet, but he suspected he wasn't wrong. "So she reads you, too, huh?" No answer, but Sonic wasn't exactly expecting to receive one that time. He steered the conversation onto somewhat safer ground. "Were you able to read her this time? I know you blacked out pretty fast after the attack, but still."

"This was a display of normal behavior, on her part," was the dry response, "though she does not typically possess magic needles to aid her."

The distaste in his voice told Sonic that Espio was suddenly annoyed. Sonic wasn't sure if it was because of the Darkness, however, or some other reason entirely. I don't sense any fluctuations in his Darkness at the moment… so it must be a genuine, unrelated response. "Mind explaining?" he asked. "You've gotta remember, I don't know her. ...Well, none of us do, really."

After a few seconds of pause, the ninja relented. "She enjoys toying with people. Playing games, if you will. If it happens to be advantageous to her in a given situation, then that is all the more incentive to do it."

Sonic understood. "So she was toying with us earlier, both because she wanted to and because it would benefit her. What's the benefit, then? Just slowing us down?"

At this, Espio offered a slight one-shouldered shrug. "Perhaps."

Lovely. Just lovely. Sonic ran his hands over his face. "Even if that was the only reason behind it, it still makes the situation suck for us. A lot." When Espio failed to comment, the hedgehog continued, "Guess there's nothing we can do about it, though, aside from dealing with the consequences." That seemed to remind Espio of his earlier conversation with Armaris. Immediately, his annoyance grew. This time, however, he apparently noticed and swiftly hid it under a veil of impassivity. Not a good sign. Still… Sonic had to press on. There was more he needed to know. So, treading very carefully, he dared to ask, "Look, I know you hate being questioned and you probably don't want to talk about this at all, much less with me of all people, but… would you be willing to do it, anyway? I hate prying about it, but this situation with her has gotten really serious, and I… I can't do shit to help when I'm so in the dark. None of us can. Learning even just a bit more about things between you two can help lift some of the fog, you know?"

His request required significant consideration. It was a very private matter concerning a very private person, after all. It was also a very emotionally charged matter, one with a lot of potential consequences. So, to Sonic, it made sense that Espio took his time to come back with an answer. Said answer wasn't expected to be positive. In fact, Sonic expected a decidedly negative reaction to this. Instead, however, Espio kept himself carefully neutral as he thought things over, no doubt drawing upon his training as a shinobi to separate his mind and heart for the moment. Eventually, seeing the logic he had been presented with, the chameleon relented… albeit begrudgingly. "...Fine."

His annoyance had likely deepened into full-on irritation at this point, but it was difficult to tell. Sonic decided not to press his luck by drawing the matter out any longer, choosing instead to just jump straight into it. "Right. So… let's start simple, I guess? Like… how long have you even known her?"

"Too long," Espio muttered. It almost seemed a knee-jerk response, one he quickly followed up with, "At least half a dozen centuries. Perhaps longer."

The frankness of this response was to be expected. It had been a simple question, after all, and simple questions merited simple answers. Okay. This is a good start. He's talking, at least. Kinda expected him to start refusing to do that by now. Sonic tugged at his ear again. "You weren't kiddin', huh?" he mused. "That really is a long time. ...Sheesh." He grew quiet for a long moment before tentatively asking, "And how long have you… cared for her?"

Though Sonic suspected that Espio was decidedly unhappy with the current path their dialogue was taking, he nevertheless mumbled an answer. He never mumbled. Not normally. But, then, none of this was exactly normal, was it? "I don't know."

Fair enough, but he's gotta have some insight into this, right? "Okay, so how long have you known, then?"

"I said I don't know."

Great. He's starting to be stubborn. Inwardly, Sonic sighed. Maybe I'm pushing too hard… But I can't just let him sit on all of this, bottling it all up. For one thing, that'll be bad in regards to controlling his Darkness. For another, if I get him talking about her enough, maybe he'll say something that'll help me understand his connection with her. Maybe it'll even help me clue in to what she might want out of this… not to mention what he wants. He released his poor ear and dropped his hand into his lap. "You and I both know that's not true," he started slowly. "I know you, and I know you would have noticed the change at some point. In fact, I'd wager that you would have noticed it straight away, since it's such a big change from numbness, impassivity, whatever you wanna call it."

Again, Espio frowned. However, Sonic noticed something telling, and that was that Espio didn't deny Sonic's statement. He wasn't a person who liked to lie. He had done it not ten seconds before, yes, but he pretty obviously wasn't keen on keeping it up. So, he opted for silence instead. He was inwardly retreating, much as Jet often did, in an attempt to avoid this without outright physically leaving. At this point, it was pretty clear to Sonic that pushing was the only way to get anything concrete out of his reticent friend. "This is just a guess on my part, but I'm willing to bet that you probably noticed during a fight. Seems like that's how you guys usually interact. Is that right?" Both were true, Sonic suspected, he just needed the confirmation.

In response, Espio looked away further. He appeared determined to hold his tongue, but eventually relented when Sonic asked again a couple more times (each time simply rewording his inquiry so that he didn't make himself sound like a broken record). Again, he wound up mumbling, giving Sonic a real clue into how Espio was feeling about all of this being brought up. "...Yes."

Awesome. Making progress. Digging a little deeper, Sonic asked, "How long ago was that?" It might have seemed a pointless question, but there was a purpose behind what he was trying to learn. If it was recent, this might just be a passion sort of thing. If it was a long time ago and those feelings are still here… then things must be really serious. At least on his end.

When Espio failed to respond in decent time, Sonic reached over and nudged Espio in his good shoulder with a foot. This time, Espio openly sighed before admitting quietly, "Perhaps… six or seven years after we met. No longer."

His answer threw Sonic totally for a loop. He hadn't been expecting that at all. Sure, he had braced himself for the possibility of these feelings having existed for maybe one or two centuries, but six or so? That was just… utterly astounding. That kind of attachment is not idle. It just isn't. That's the kind of love that can lead people to do what Mom and Dad did, with that whole life-partnership thing. Thinking back, Sonic tried to recall anything he knew about chameleon culture surrounding love. He knew that some species, such as echidnas and certain types of Babylonians, often would pick just one love interest for the entirety of their lives. Were chameleons the same? "Do… you know how she feels?" he found himself asking.

That earlier frown returned in an instant. "I only know what she claims." More mumbling. He really was upset, wasn't he? Or maybe he was just tired, emotionally speaking. Perhaps the truth was that he was both.

"Okay… so what does she claim?" This time, Espio's silence was truly telling. Sonic straightened. "Wait… you mean she's said she feels the same?"

Espio's gaze seemed distant now, like his mind was in some other place at the moment instead of fully here. "She seldom speaks the truth about anything."

Sonic vigorously shook his head. "To hell with that, it's not important. You said you can read her, right? Have you ever been able to tell for certain whether or not she genuinely was being truthful?"

For a split second, it was there. A flicker of Espio's aura, normally kept deeply under wraps to help him avoid detecting, flared. Sonic sensed it when it happened, felt through said senses the pang of conflicting emotions that had suddenly surged from within. It was all a tangled mess (such was the nature of romance, sometimes), but Sonic gleaned enough to understand that Espio was truly torn. A part of him wanted, really wanted to believe whatever that woman had apparently said or done to give the impression that she returned his feelings. But another part of him… knew better than to hope for such a thing. It was almost certainly a lie, after all, and even if it wasn't… she possessed an extremely dark heart. Trusting her was dangerous beyond measure.

His voice growing quieter, Sonic more gently asked, "Espio… what is it that you want out of this?"

Espio uncharacteristically hesitated. "...I don't… know." This time, his words were to be believed.

Now Sonic didn't know what to do. It was abundantly clear that this was no simple, basic attraction that would fizzle out after a while. These were deep, powerful emotions that had been taking root and blossoming over the course of many years, many interactions. This was the sort of love that was normally to be cherished, but in this case genuinely threatened Espio and everyone around him. He knew that, understood that, and so had kept this part of his life entirely away from everyone else until now. It was why so little was even known about the situation by the likes of Tails, Shadow, and even Wave.

This careful separation, however, could no longer be maintained. That much was obvious. That woman deliberately forcing Espio into an incredibly difficult position, forcing him to both deal with her and with all the other issues at hand in relation to what Sonic and the others were trying to accomplish. But, more than that, she seemed to be actively manipulating things so as to make it harder for him to keep a handle on his own emotions, as well as to create issues regarding trust between himself and those allied with him. She had even been the sole force behind his once-dormant Darkness awakening. The question was… why? Was she trying to sway him to her side? Surely it couldn't have been that simple. There has to be more to it. But… what, exactly? Pursing his lips together, Sonic looked Espio over, noting how deeply the ninja had already lost himself in thoughts of his own. What is she trying to do to you…? And… how are we meant to save you from it?

Now filled with an odd sense of dread, he quietly called, "Espio." In response to hearing his name, Espio reflexively straightened before turning his head to face Sonic. "I know you already know this… but I still need to say it. This situation, this fight you're having with her… Tails and the rest of us, we're here to help you as much as we possibly can. We can only do that when you let us. I really, really need you to try letting us from here on." He searched that blank face, searching for any signs of anything that might clue him in to what Espio was thinking or feeling. Seeing nothing, he continued, "I won't make you promise this time - I know how damn serious those sorts of things are to your people - but I still want you to make the effort. Will you?"

There were a host of things that the answering silence could have meant. Perhaps it was an unspoken agreement, the sort of response Shadow or Jet might have given. Maybe it meant that Espio was still considering Sonic's words. Or, there was an entirely different and more troubling explanation that might fit… That, perhaps, Espio wasn't able or willing to offer even that vague approximation of a promise. Sonic didn't know. All he knew was that his friend was gone well before Sonic was even able to blink, leaving him to ponder the breeze sifting through the leaves alone.

~保護者~

4,090 words this time. Hope you all enjoyed! Posted (at about 8:45 a.m.) 10-11-19.