Notes: Hey guys! Sorry for the small delay on this chapter, I had no idea how to end one of the sections and it took me forever to finish up. That being said, this chapter is three different scenes that all take place in Scourge's apartment, and it's also the first chapter that doesn't come after the one before it. Finally getting out of chronological order! It shouldn't be that hard to keep track of the different scenes, though. I hope you enjoy it!

July

Scourge and Amy both collapsed onto the recently-completed couch. They'd done it. That was the last piece of furniture they needed to assemble. Over the course of a week, they'd gone to the furniture store, the bed-bath-kitchen-whatever store, the grocery store, basically every kind of home-furnishing store imaginable. It took another week alone just to assemble all the furniture and get everything set up and put away. It wasn't even a ton of stuff, just the things you'd expect to find in any self-respecting apartment. But still, it had taken them two long, hot, sweaty weeks. As they crashed on the couch, Scourge was glad Amy had talked him out of getting the leather one. Even through his fur, his sweaty legs would've stuck to that sucker like nobody's business.

Amy puffed her bangs out of her face, sprawling out across the sofa. Her quills were up in a ponytail, several individual spines having come loose and sticking out all over. Instead of her usual red dress and boots, she wore a loose-fitting, paint-stained t-shirt and a pair of shorts. The ultimate in "I'm not going out in public and I'm gonna be all sweaty later" attire. Scourge's leather jacket, likewise, was nowhere to be found on his person. It was lying on the new chair in his bedroom, untouched for days. It was the middle of July, and it was too damn hot to even look at his jacket.

"We're done," Amy breathed, finally able to relax after all that work.

Scourge nodded, both in agreement and disbelief. "It's fucking hot out."

"Yeah, that too." She puffed her shirt in a poor attempt at fanning herself off. "It looks nice in here, though."

"Can't argue that," the green one replied. While he wasn't happy with the white walls (they resigned themselves to painting the apartment at a later date), he was on board with everything else. A lot of it was black. Black sofa, black chairs, black shelving unit, and the darkest wood they could find for his kitchen table. Everything that wasn't black, he'd wanted to be red, but Amy stepped in again, suggesting that he didn't dress up his apartment to look like Shadow.

"How great would that be though?" he had said, as they roamed aimlessly through the wild expanse of the furniture store. "What if all of Shadow's furniture is black with red stripes? What if?"

"Oh my gosh that would be fantastic. I need this to be true," Amy had said back, her eyes wide like she'd just had an epiphany.

But yeah, he'd passed on the red bedsheets and shower curtain, opting for dark green instead. The color suited him better, anyway. The windows in his apartment were decently big and faced the street, letting in enough light that he could get away with all the dark furniture. There was a fire escape outside as well, where he could sit out and be "an edgy loser," according to Amy.

"I can't believe this place is actually decent and livable," Scourge hummed, looking up at the ceiling. "I've… never really had my own place before."

"Really? Not even when you… y'know, took over an entire castle for yourself?"

"Had to share it with the team," he replied. "Besides, I wasn't in there long enough to actually redecorate. Plus it was drafty as fuck."

"Yeah, I've heard that about castles," Amy chuckled. "Speaking of drafts, can I crack open a window in here?"

"Knock yourself out."

The girl dragged herself up off the couch and slowly padded over to the windows of the living room. She pulled one open easily, letting some of the cool breeze from outside into the apartment. "Perks of living on the twelfth floor, it's usually windier the higher up you are."

"Yup. What floor you on again? I'm asking so I know how to avoid you and your helpful motherly tendencies."

The way Scourge said it, she couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not, but he seemed to be in good humor. "I'm on the fifteenth," Amy answered. "And if you want to avoid me so bad, maybe I won't give you your housewarming gift." She leaned back against the windowsill, arms crossed.

Scourge perked up, picking his head up off the couch to look at her. "Y'got me somethin'?" When she nodded, he just stared at her with a confused look on his face. "... Why? Ya already helped me out fer two fuckin' weeks, why'd ya get me anythin'?"

"Because I wanted to, shut up," she chuckled. She got up from the windowsill and moved over to the kitchen counter, where she had left her phone and her other things when she had come in earlier that morning. Among her things was a small paper bag, which she carefully picked up from the bottom. "It's not wrapped or anything, hope you don't mind."

Scourge just sat up and watched her quietly as she walked back over to the couch, setting the bag down in his lap. He put his hands around the bag as she sat down next to him. He went to reach his hand into the bag when she suddenly stopped him.

"Careful! Uh, it's pointy. Maybe just- pull the bag down around it, yeah," Amy said as he started to do just as she suggested. He pulled the bag down to reveal what was inside. It was a small potted cactus, short and green and covered in needles. It had a little face drawn on the pot in a weird expression he couldn't figure out, and a tag with instructions on how to take care of it.

"A cactus…?" he said, picking it up by the pot and turning it around to look at it.

"Yeah! It's green and spiky, like you."

"Hah! Alright, that makes sense," the green one laughed, understanding her choice now.

"I figured you might get lonely in here all by yourself, so he can be like a little buddy for you. Or something, I dunno," Amy said sheepishly, hoping she didn't sound like an idiot.

"He, huh?" Scourge said, raising an eyeridge. He stared down the little cactus, almost as if he could read its mind by glaring at it. "I'm naming him Spike."

"Spike?"

"Yup," he said proudly, a cocky smirk gracing his lips.

Amy smiled, leaning back on the couch. "Glad to see you're just as good at naming things as Sonic is."

"Woah woah hey woah hey, I'm way better at namin' shit than Blue is!" he insisted, putting Spike down on the coffee table. "I'll have you know I came up with the name Scourge on the fly, and my name is the shit."

"I dunno man, the way Knuckles tells the story, you had a whole opening speech prepared when you turned green," the pink one laughed. "You sure you didn't think of the name beforehand and then you were all like, oh man that's good, I gotta save that for later?"

"Wow, rude. I'll have you know I'm a very quick thinker."

"... Spike, though?"

"I'm tired, the fuck do ya want from me? What am I s'posed to name 'im, Deathkiller the Devil Plant?"

"That can be his full name. Spike is his nickname. He's cuter that way."

"Alright, fine," Scourge snorted, leaning back and setting one foot on the table, careful not to hit his new plant. "... Thanks, Pinky. I like 'im."

"You do? Oh, well I'm glad!" Amy beamed. "He should be super easy to take care of too, so you shouldn't even have to worry about him."

"Nice. I hate worryin' about stuff."

"Same here, wow, what a coincidence," Amy teased.

Scourge gave her a fake slap on the arm, sticking his tongue out at her. "Yeah yeah, very funny. So whaddaya say we don't worry about lunch, and just order some takeout?"

"Yessss let's do it!"

September

Tails wasn't sure what to expect when Scourge invited him over to his apartment for some "bro bonding." Scourge was hardly the socializing type, and while the hedgehog wasn't a fan of being alone, he also didn't normally invite people over to his place. Obviously, he had something special in mind.

Tails just hadn't expected that special something to be beer pong.

"C'mon T, it'll be fun! It's easy as shit, and you don't even gotta play with beer if you don't wanna," Scourge said, tucking a folding table under one arm and holding a six-pack of beers in the other. He wanted to play up on the roof, where they could spill drinks freely and not worry about cleaning it up. "Actually, you can't play with beer anyway. Yer a minor, and if the Zone Cops catch me servin' alcohol to a kid like you, they'll have my ass."

"I dunno," the fox said, feeling unsure about the whole situation. This mainly sounded like an excuse for Scourge to start drinking at 3 pm, and also, his throwing arm was less than spectacular. He wasn't keen on making a fool of himself. "This doesn't seem like my usual type of thing."

"And that's bad?" Scourge awkwardly shrugged, difficult because of the amount of stuff in his arms. "Look, you don't gotta play if you don't want to, but it's just a game. I'll be the only one drinkin'. 'Sides, I thought it'd be fun to teach ya somethin', and it was either I teach ya how to play this, or strip poker. Or piano, but fuck that noise." He made a face as he recalled the apparently dreaded instrument.

Tails rubbed the back of his neck and thought it over for a moment or two. He sighed. "Yeah, alright. Need me to carry anything?"

The green hedgehog grinned, and there was a sparkle in his eyes. "Yeah, there's a pack of Chaos Cola and a bottle of water in the fridge, can you grab those? Oh, and the cups too," he said, nodding to a big bag of red plastic cups on the kitchen counter. "I got the ping pong balls in my pocket. That's all we need."

They lugged their supplies into the building's elevator and rode it up as high as it would go. From there, they unfortunately had to climb a ladder to get up to the roof. Tails's ability to fly made it go a lot more smoothly than it would have otherwise, though that didn't stop them from almost dropping the table once or twice as they carried it up.

"Alright, so the basics are pretty damn simple," Scourge said, unfolding the table and getting the legs in place. "We set up ten cups on each side, like bowling pins. Pour a little beer in each one, or whatever you're drinking. Then you just try and throw the ping pong ball into the other guy's cups. If you land a shot, they gotta drink that cup. You miss, and it's the other guy's turn, and you just go back and forth. Easy."

"Very," Tails nodded, starting to break the sodas and beers out of their cardboard packs. "Sounds pretty gross though, drinking something that had a dirty ping pong ball in it. What if the ball lands on the ground?"

"There's no if. It will land on the ground. And that's what the water's for. Dunk the ball in the water before each throw, to clean it." Scourge saw the grossed-out look on Tails's face and laughed. "Yeah, it ain't the most sanitary of games. You don't have to drink from the cups if ya don't want to, you can have a beer on the side that you drink out of instead. Just as long as you drink, and then put the cup the ball landed in off to the side. Whoever sinks all their opponent's cups first wins."

"So… either you win, or you end up drinking a lot of beer?"

"Yep. So it's really a win-win either way."

"Sounds like your kind of game."

Scourge narrowed his eyes at Tails, but smiled nonetheless. "Heeeey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you if you win," the fox replied, reaching for the cups to help set them up.

"Oho, so that's how we're playin', huh?" the hedgehog grinned, baring his teeth. "Alright kid, if it's war you want, it's war yer gonna get!"

They started playing shortly after, and they were just about evenly matched. Even though Scourge was more experienced, beer bong doesn't exactly require a whole lot of skill, and he may or may not have pregamed a little before Tails arrived. They traded the lead back and forth until Scourge won, but it was such a close game that they had a rematch right after. And another rematch. And another rematch. The simple gameplay was addicting, and the two were having fun taunting each other.

That is, until Sonic showed up. He had apparently been on a run across the Station Square rooftops when he spotted his two friends, and skidded to a stop on the roof of the apartment. It took them a moment or two to realize he was there, both of them intensely focused on their game. "Yo guys!" Sonic waved as he walked over, Tails giving him a nod before turning back to the game.

"Hey Sonic! C'mon, watch, I just need one more and then I win," the fox said, getting in position to throw the ball. Scourge only had one cup left, while he had two; their fourth close game in a row.

Sonic walked over and cocked an eyeridge, taking in the game in front of him. "Is what you guys have been up to all day? Playing beer pong?"

"Tails is freakin' good at this, man! Dude's a natural!" Scourge exclaimed, gesturing with the can of beer in his hand.

The blue one looked at the can in his hand, then down at the ground behind him, where a pile of similar, empty cans sat. While there were some soda cans in the mix, most of them were beers. "You drink all that today, Green?"

"So what if I did?"

"I mean, you do you, but that's an awful lot of beer and… I'm not seeing any food anywhere. I may not know much about alcohol, but I do know that drinking that much on an empty stomach is a bad idea," Sonic said with a smirk.

"Oh… crap," Tails gasped, "yeah, we haven't eaten anything, have we? We got so caught up in this… What time is it?"

Scourge pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on, wincing at the lock screen. "Uh… A little past six. Haha, shit."

"Haha, yeah," Sonic lightly mocked, "real responsible Scourge."

"At least I'm the only one drunk! I gave Tails soda, I'm not that bad of an influence on him."

"You're still teaching a fourteen-year-old to play beer pong."

"Sonic," Tails groaned, "stop making a fuss. I'm fifteen in a couple months anyway," he said. He blew his bangs away from his eyes, focusing back on the game. "We're almost done, so we'll finish this up and then go get some food. Right… after… this!" He gave the ball a toss, the little orb of plastic sailing through the air in a graceful arc. Almost in slow motion, it bounced off the edge of the red plastic cup and landed safely inside.

"Oh nooo what a tragedy," Scourge smiled, picking the ball out of the cup and then downing the beer. He laughed as Tails beamed triumphantly. "Not bad kid, not bad. Next time we do this, I'll have to stop goin' easy on ya."

"Say what? You had three games before this to stop going easy on me! We're even, face it!" Tails smirked, crossing his arms.

"Hah! Yeah right!"

"Girls, girls, you're both beautiful," Sonic rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's get some food into you guys. I passed by a new burrito place on my way here, I wanna give it a try."

"Ooh, I'm down for a victory burrito," the fox said.

"Victory?!" Scourge yelped. "You just said we were even!"

"Argue later, burrito now!" Tails said, taking both hedgehogs by the wrist and leading them to the hatch in the roof. They both laughed, and Scourge made a mental note to remember to clean up the table and beer cans when he got back. But for now, it was time for some much-needed food with his friends.

February

To say that Zonic was tired would be a massive understatement. For almost a week straight, the Zone Cop had been getting about three hours of sleep per night. Stay up until 5 am filling out reports and researching leads, go to bed, wake up at 8 to get to the station by 9. Rinse and repeat. This week had been particularly brutal, with a massive hole opening up in the cosmic highway, allowing two or three zones to start bleeding into one another. Sorting it all out and getting everything back to where it was supposed to be was a huge undertaking, and one that needed to be handled quickly. Begrudgingly, the NZPD's star officer was on the case.

It was a Thursday night, around 4 in the morning, and Zonic was still at the station working. How he managed to get anything done was a mystery, since his vision was blurring and distorting, his eyes were struggling to stay open, and his hands had been trembling all day. Coffee had seemed to lose its effect on him, which was simply depressing. And the one time he attempted to mix coffee into a can of energy drink and consume the whole thing, Zector and Zespio stopped him and threw the concoction away. He was no longer running on sleep or caffeine, but simply fumes.

His eyes ached from staring at screens and reading papers all day. His back hurt, his hands hurt, his feet hurt, his legs hurt, even his butt hurt from being in his chair too long. His body was sending him every possible signal to stop, stop whatever you're doing right now and go to sleep. But he stayed awake, trudging away. His mind was tricking itself into thinking he could do this, that he could still form coherent thoughts and do good work. The truth of the matter was that he would wake up, see what he had written the night before, and want to just give up on life and jettison himself into the sun. But for the time being, he pushed on.

At least, until, he closed his eyes for a second and the next thing he knew, his head had fallen and smashed against the keyboard. He shot up again, blinked, dazed and dizzy, and held his heavy head in one hand. "Yep, that's it," he hoarsely whispered to himself, pushing away from the computer station. "Can't. Not doin' no more. Goin' t'bed." His words were slurring together as he pushed himself up out of his chair and reached for his portal belt. He needed to get out of the station and go home, now. He put in the coordinates, opened up the portal, and stumbled through to the other side. Screw his uncompleted work. That was a problem for future Zonic.

When he got out of the portal, he was in his darkened bedroom back home at his apartment. Not even bothering to change or shower or anything, he just slipped off his helmet, boots, and armor, and collapsed into the soft bed without a second thought.

He woke up many hours later, feeling warm and groggy. Midday light was shining in through the window, which he saw when he cracked open one eye. Something felt off to him, but he couldn't quite figure out what. His mind was still in a dreamy haze, and he couldn't hold one thought at his attention. It took him a few moments before he could focus, and when he did, a slew of information hit him all at once. He hadn't set his alarm, which meant he slept in, which meant he was majorly late for work. There was a strange weight next to/on top of him, which certainly wasn't normal. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, this wasn't his room.

The Zone Cop shot up, sitting up in bed and shoving whatever was on top of him to the side. His head swam, and his blurry eyes had a hard time focusing. He looked down to see Scourge lying next to him, starting to wake up. "What...?!" Zonic groaned, his voice hoarse and his mind a jumble. What the hell was Scourge doing here? Where was he, what was going on?

"Check please!" Scourge half-shouted as he jolted awake, his eyes clumsily fluttering open. He slowly turned his head to look at Zonic, who was staring at him awkwardly. "What the fuck... yer not that cute girl from last night," was apparently all he had to say for the moment.

"What the hell," the Zone Cop muttered, rubbing his eyes and looking around. This was definitely not his room. Different layout, furniture, no Chao in Space poster. "Where the... Scourge, what the hell are you doing here?!"

"This's my room, dummy," the green hedgehog tiredly grumbled into the pillow. "I should asking... should be asking you that question. Wha's the big idea?"

"Your room? So that means... Aw shit," the cop sighed. "Did I 'port here instead of my room last night? Fuuuuuuck..."

"That's hilarious." Scourge seemed too tired and dazed to really care, and closed his eyes to go back to sleep.

"Why the hell didn't you wake me up?!" Zonic hissed, giving him a shove. "I wandered in here at like, four in the morning! I could have sworn this bed was empty..."

"It was. I wasn't home yet."

"So you got home and didn't think it was weird that I was just asleep in your bed?"

"I was... I am very drunk."

"Chaos."

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmhmm."

"Jeez, dude… It's a weekday, why're you getting plastered on a weekday?"

"I don't have a job. What're you, my mom?"

"Yes, we've already established this. Chaos, I can't believe this. I'm so sorry, I could've sworn that portal I opened lead back to my place-"

"Sounds like you got plastered on a weeknight, too," Scourge giggled. Yeah, he was definitely still drunk.

"I didn't," Zonic forcefully corrected. "I was just freakin' tired. I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately, I've had so much work…. Crap, what time is it?" He nearly had a heart attack as he leaned over Scourge to look at the alarm clock by his bedside. It was two in the afternoon. "Shit, shit shit shit shit shit shit!" the cop panicked, lurching and tumbling out of the bed. "Gods I'm so late, Zlaze will wring my freaking neck-"

"No, call in sick," Scourge said simply from the bed.

"I can't, there's still a ton I need to get done-"

"If you were tired enough that you wound up in a diff'rnt dimension to go to bed," he mumbled, lazily pointing a finger at Zonic, "yer too tired t'work. Call. In. Sick."

"I'm fine," Zonic insisted, struggling to keep his balance as he walked across the room. He stumbled towards his discarded helmet on the floor, which had been kicked to the side by Scourge the night prior. He picked it up and looked inside at the screen, feeling almost physical pain when he saw how many messages he had waiting for him. "Oh jeez…"

"You sure you don't wanna call in sick?"

"... I'm tempted," the officer shuddered, not at all looking forward to what the chief would have to say to him for coming in so late. "I really should go, I got a full night's worth of sleep and all…" He waited for Scourge to argue, but the green hedgehog simply moaned and turned over in bed. He seemed too hungover to want to put up a fight about it. "... They can last a day without me, right? Because I already missed so much of the day, would it even be worth it to go…?"

"Can you talk to yerself a lil' more quietly?" Scourge complained. "You can stay here if you want. Fuck, you can even keep crashin' in my bed, it's more than big enough for two. Just make up yer damn mind already."

Zonic hummed in frustration, looking nervously at the helmet in his hands. He did want to go to work, he had left so much unfinished the night before- but even as he was thinking about it, his eyes were drooping and he was starting to yawn. "I'll be right back," he eventually said, taking the helmet and slowly trudging out of the bedroom.

He shut the door behind him, presumably about to make a call. Scourge sighed softly, feeling a small sense of victory. Z was a total workaholic, and sometimes he needed an intervention. The green hedgehog knew all too well what it was like to not get enough sleep, and while he didn't usually try and take care of others, this was such a simple fix. Zonic was one of his best friends, and if he needed to talk a bit of sense into that thick head of his, he could do it.

He could hear the cop talking outside his bedroom door, probably explaining to his boss why he was in the Prime Zone instead of the station. He closed his eyes as a wave of pain spread through his head, making his temples throb. Yeah, he was definitely hungover. He didn't feel nauseous yet, which was nice, but he had a feeling he would eventually. Maybe he could just sleep through his hangover and wake up fine.

After a couple of minutes, Zonic reentered the room, pulling his helmet back off. "Zlaze agrees it's best if I stay home today," he announced, setting the helmet down on the chair in the corner.

"She sounds more reasonable than I remember," Scourge smiled a bit, scooting to the side to make more room in the bed.

Zonic crawled in next to him, still wearing his uniform from the day before. He felt a little gross, but he was too sleepy still to care. He stretched out his legs before curling up on his side, bringing his hands up under his chin.

Scourge took up a similar position, and the two were facing each other. He looked down at the cop's wrists, seeing the tattoo around one and a blinking, silver bracelet around the other. "Dude, you're wearin' yer stabilizer? You sure you didn't come here on purpose?"

"I come to Mobius a lot now, I just got used to keeping it on," Zonic mumbled, getting comfortable. His head had sunk deep into the pillow, and his eyes were starting to close. "Makes life easier."

"Mm," the green hedgehog hummed in understanding, his eyes drooping shut as well. He started to chuckle a little bit. "You're lucky I went to sleep drunk… if I had a nightmare and woke up and you were in my bed with me, I prob'ly woulda flipped the fuck out."

Z's eyes opened again, and he suddenly looked concerned. "Do you want me to go? I don't wanna freak you out-"

"I already said it's fine," Scourge said, shoving where he guessed Zonic's shoulder was. "B'sides, bein' alone all the time kinda sucks. S'nice havin' a friend sleep over…" he muttered, sleep starting to take its hold on him again. "Night," he eventually said, his voice quiet.

"Night, Scourge," Zonic smiled, letting himself get comfortable again.

"Uuugghhhh…" Scourge groaned, pain rocketing through his head. He felt every heartbeat pound through his skull, blood rushing loudly around his temples. His mouth was bone-dry, and his stomach was doing loop-de-loops. Needless to say, he didn't sleep through his hangover. He weakly opened one eye, squinting against the late afternoon sun that poured in through his bedroom window. It was pretty late in the day, the sun getting ready to set soon. It was warm in his room under his dark-colored sheets, and the hedgehog was tempted to not move. However, his uneasy stomach prompted him to sit up, with the goal of eventually getting to the bathroom in case he threw up.

He gently shifted himself upwards, minding his head and his stomach. He rubbed his eyes, blinking hard to clear them. As he glanced around, he noticed the bed was empty next to him. Zonic was gone, though his helmet and armor still sat on the chair in the corner.

Scourge gingerly slid out of bed, his body aching as he moved. He was sore from sleeping for so long, his back and neck protesting. He moaned, holding his head in his hand as he started to trudge out of his room.

He stumbled into the bathroom and threw up into the toilet.

"You okay?" he heard Zonic call from somewhere else in the apartment.

"... Yeah," Scourge said hoarsely, his throat burning. He spit. "M'okay. Jus' hungover as shit."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Stop yelling."

He could faintly hear Zonic chuckle, sounding closer than he was before. The floorboards creaked in the hallway, and the Zone Cop peaked through the open bathroom door. "Hey," he said quietly, trying to be mindful of Scourge's headache. He was freshly showered, and he'd changed out of his uniform into just his shorts and an old hoodie that he'd "borrowed" from his gracious host. "I was gonna cook some breakfast- or dinner, I guess- but I guess you're not too hungry, huh?"

Scourge looked sideways at him and barked out a laugh. "Chaos, you sleep in my bed, wear my clothes the morning after, and you offer to cook? You are ridiculously domestic, holy shit."

"Ha! Yeah, I guess so," Z chuckled. "I just feel like I owe you for letting me sleep here."

"I accept cash," Scourge said before his eyes widened, and he puked in the toilet again. "Bluh… Actually, a glass of water would be nice…"

Zonic nodded and backed out of the room. Scourge waited for him to return, elbows resting on the porcelain bowl, hands supporting his head. His mind was blank, too much in pain to handle much in terms of thought. He just stared down at the liquid in the bowl, readying himself in case he puked again.

"Okay, here," Zonic said, sliding back into the room, two glasses in hand. "I got you ginger ale too, ginger helps an upset stomach."

"Really?" Scourge rasped, accepting the water first and taking a sip of it. He grimaced as his throat started to burn.

"Yeah." The cop lowered himself onto the ground so he was sitting next to Scourge. "Looks like you need a friend who's more domestic, huh?"

"Never said I didn't." The hungover hedgehog put the water down and took the ginger ale instead, taking a cautious sip. "Thanks."

"Welcome," Zonic said with a small smile. He sat quietly as Scourge continued to sip the soda, taking his time with it. "You really shouldn't drink so much. I feel like everytime I see you, you're either drunk or on your way there."

Scourge pouted. "... I have fewer nightmares when I'm drunk," he admitted, his glass of soda hovering close to his lips. "Makes shit easier to deal with."

"Yeah, I understand. It just… doesn't seem very healthy. I guess I just worry about you."

"Well, don't worry too hard. I can handle myself, y'know."

Zonic sighed, leaning his back against the sink and resting his hands on his knees. "Yeah," he said, doubting that arguing would get him anywhere.

"Speaking of takin' care of yerself," Scourge said after another sip of ginger ale, "you need to sleep more than once a week, man. 'Cause that ain't good for you, either."

"I can't control how much work I get assigned. Trust me, if interdimensional crime took a break, I'd love to catch up on sleep. But until that happens…"

"You'll keep stumblin' into my apartment at some ungodly hour and passing out in my bed?" the green one asked with a little bit of a chuckle.

"Okay, hopefully it won't get this bad again," Zonic smiled and rolled his eyes. "I think after this, the Chief will stop shoving so much work on me. It's seriously just too much."

"How you manage to deal with all that is a fucking mystery."

"Mmm," Zonic hummed, tilting his head back and looking up at the ceiling for a moment. "You feeling any better?

"Still barfy. I think the soda's helpin' though," Scourge said. "Whu'bout you, you feelin' okay?"

"Much better. I needed that sleep, I have no idea how I was even functioning before. The shower helped too."

"Yeah, after I stop feelin so sick I'll probably crawl in the shower too. I feel gross after bein' in that bar last night. What a fuckin' dump," Scourge chuckled.

Zonic made a short laugh through his nose and pat his friend on the back. As sudden and accidental as it was, he was glad to have a day off, and he was more than happy to spend it on Mobius Prime. Even if he was helping Scourge nurse yet another hangover, at least he'd been able to get some rest. "Thanks again for letting me crash here for the night," he said after a minute of quiet.

"No prob. Thanks for puttin' up with my drunk ass."

He smiled. "What are friends for?"

Notes: A very Scourge-centric chapter, but he seems to be the crowd favorite so I doubt many of you will mind, haha. If anyone is dying to see a certain character or character combination, please let me know! Because as much as I love this story, I'm starting to run low on ideas/motivation. I have a couple more chapters stockpiled, but I can't rely on those forever lol

If anyone's interested in talking to me and a bunch of my friends about all things Sonic-related, send me a message and I can add you to our Discord group! There's a lot of writing and art that happens there that doesn't really get posted anywhere else on the internet, and we have some really fun conversations and brainstorming sessions. Come and join us! (Most of us are around 18-20something years old, and we'd like to stay around that age range please! We're willing to take folks as young as 16 atm, thanks for understanding yo)

Also don't forget to check out the au I'm a part of, SylvaniaSchoolOfMagic on tumblr! I know I keep advertising it here but it really is my passion project at the moment, we have so many cool things planned and we'll get to them way faster if the blog gets some more interest. So head over there and send us plenty of asks! We always get back to everyone so don't be shy :)