It had been a week since Sonic met the aspiring inventor, Ivo Robotnik.
He hadn't seen Ivo since though, but it didn't bother him too much. At the same time however, the blue hedgehog was intrigued, interested, fascinated by Ivo. It was different than the other children of the orphanage. Sure, some of the kids were nice, friendly, but there was always something blocking his path to a friendship. An invisible wall of faces he couldn't read the emotions of.
Some parents had come into the orphanage today, so everyone was to be on their best behavior, and this was no exception to Sonic. Parents were looking around at all the different children to adopt; some were inside; others were outside. For Sonic though, he was one of the inside ones, patiently smiling at the reception area of the orphanage. He waves to a couple coming in; one's skin was brown while the other was white, greeting them with a smile. They smile back, walking over to him.
"Hello! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, it's really nice to meet you!" He stretches his hand out to the couple, having done it many times before. He always made sure to make good impressions, to express himself, to let his feelings yelp, 'Oh please oh please, take me home from this place! I'll be a good child. I will, I promise it so!'
Just like the others, the couple returns the gesture to the little hedgehog, springing up a short chat between the three, Sonic talking about himself while letting the adults speak. But, just like the others, they left to go see the other children who could be their choice.
..And as always, it seems luck never shines on him as they don't pick him. As soon as they left, his ears flatten, walking to the courtyard of the orphanage while parents continue walking around, looking for the child they will take home. A child, who isn't him.
He walks over to the right fence bars of the courtyard, staring out at them once more; they greet him with the view outside the orphanage: Cars, bicycles passing by people going on about their lives, while his, seems to haven't even begun yet. However, the beginning he longed for was only making its way over to the blue hedgehog, going across the street, over to the fence, a familiar voice greeting him:
"Hello, Sonic."
Sonic's ears perk up; he knows the voice from the week before this one! Looking up with bliss in his emerald green eyes.
"Ivo! It's good to see you! I thought you wouldn't show up again!"
Ivo smiles, reaching his hand through the fence bars towards Sonic, patting him on the head. "Why wouldn't I come see you? For a kid, you've got much more confidence in speaking your mind than I do."
He rolls his eyes. "And you've got a lot more wits than you think, Egghead."
"Trust me I know. By the way-" Ivo pauses, looking into the courtyard of the Orphanage. Seeing some parents and children about, some were being picked up, having been chosen to be adopted and were ready to get out of there.
"Exactly how long have you been in this orphanage?" He continues.
"Since I was still a kid! Which is still now."
"So... you've been here your whole life, then?"
"Pretty much. It's not all bad though! I'm sure just like the other kids, someone'll find me and I'll be out of here faster than a cheetah!" He confidently crosses his arms, holding his head high.
However, cracks have their own ways of showing, his ear flicking to the sound of grateful kids being adopted right at the very moment. But he swears he hears them. Judging him. Their one truth. Their one truth to him. The truth is, he will never be adopted by anyone, no matter how hard he tries. Nobody would want a freakish, anthromorphic hedgehog who's not even the natural color of the 'normal' kind, would they?
Ivo was obviously skeptical about his confidence; he wasn't the blood of his grandfather for nothing. Wasn't hard for him to deduce the evidence either, it only took logic to figure it out: if Sonic was here for practically his whole life as far as he knew it, then he must've been seeing many children get adopted.. And not himself being adopted.
"Are you hurt by other kids being adopted?" He asks, quickly a reaction from Sonic is given:
"Psh, it happens all the time! It's completely normal." He shrugs it off, denying both his jealousy, and his greater heartache from the truth.
"I can tell you're hurting. Even the way you blow it off is a sign."
"..Definitely a lot more wits." He cracks. "It's just, well, upsetting to know I'm still stuck here while everyone else gets to leave."
"You managed to get out though and help me."
"Well- yeah, I did! And it was pretty cool. But it's more of an obligation to be here unless there's someone else with me. I mean, people would be looking for me anyways, right?"
'Unless there's someone else with me, hm?' Ivo thinks to himself, a lightbulb going off in his head, just like many other geniuses like him. Only, it was a little smaller of a lightbulb, a simple solution to apply.
"How about I make you an offer, then. If I accompany you, then you can see more of the world outside this one."
Sonic's ears perk up quickly. "Really? You'd do that?"
"You can say, it's a way of giving my thanks to you for last week."
"Well then what are we waiting for?" He jumps, grabbing onto the bars of the fence as he slowly gets up it, climbing over, landing on the ground feet-first. "Lead the way, Egghead!"
Ivo smiles. "Alright."
The two begin walking, away from the orphanage, to explore more of the city. Sonic was tempted every step of the way to run off, look at everything, see the entire city within only a few minutes or seconds, but he stays by Ivo.
On the other hand, Ivo could see the hedgehog's excitement, looking around at all of the buildings, the people, the cars passing by, as if he was watching a movie for the first time with no spoilers attached. Sure, he is hanging out with a kid, but this kid is different to him. Sonic isn't like them; he seems to be much more coherent for his age, in fact.
(A/N: The city's layout is mainly inspired by Downtown Fargo's streets, and will be in that format. I used to live in Fargo, at least from what I remember, so it is the inspiration for this scene in the chapter.)
Sonic, from the corner of his eye spots some outdoor tables, people sitting in chairs while drinking from mugs in front of a building, a sign on the building as well, the word 'Cartel' plastered onto it. "What place is that?" He points to the outdoor tables, the people, the sign.
"Oh, it's a coffee shop, but it's referred to as a Café. One of many around here, actually." Ivo answers the hedgehog's curiosity, which only seems to rise it more.
"What's coffee?"
"It's something you drink to give you energy. Though, It doesn't have any taste, so people usually add something to it to help, like milk for example. Shops like these people enjoy hanging around to get a break from their daily routines, enjoy the company of others."
"Gotcha! Hey, maybe we could go to that one?" He smiles, the thought of relaxing, refreshing his mind with other people sounds incredible to him.
Ivo chuckles, patting Sonic's head. "Maybe one day, but let's keep walking, shall we?"
"Heck yeah, I wanna see more of what this place offers!"
The two continue past the Café, Sonic excited to see what's next in their tour of the attractions of the city, even chasing a few birds whom landed on the sidewalk, flying off from the startling hedgehog. Ivo watches as Sonic chases the birds, his mind being taken off his own worries, just watching the innocence of the energetic hedgehog.
As Sonic scares off some more birds, he notices something from the corner of his eye once more, something in an alleyway. "Hey Ivo- look!" He dashes in.
Ivo follows Sonic, entering the alleyway. He sees Sonic staring at art on the wall: Colorful words over blue skies, clouds splattered about with lovely shades of gray, deep and light blues, with each word over the skies flying over to the next like the wind.
"It says 'Go where the wind blows.' What's it mean? And why's this here?"
"Well, to answer the second question, what you're looking at is street art, it's common in this city. It's used to spread messages and meanings, a way to connect people. It doesn't have to be painted on a wall either, sometimes it's stickers. Most people dont recognize who makes them though."
"Interesting.. What about the words they wrote?"
"The phrase?" Ivo looks at the phrase. "I think I've heard it before, it's something along the lines of doing something without thinking or any real preparation, but I suppose you could interpret it in many ways."
"Interesting. Well- let's keep going!"
The two walk out of the alleyway, the phrase sticking into Sonic's head as good as superglue. He'll remember it for sure, along with the art on the wall of the great blue sky above his head, above the whole city, above the whole world, he's only learning more and more about. But even then, there's only so much that can make sense to him..
"Hey, Sonic, look over there." Ivo points towards a building with a cross on it; some people outside on the ground, eating food, discussing many things from afar.
"Ooo- what's that building for?"
"It's called a Church. It's slightly hard to explain, but it's a place where people can meet new people, be part of the community, and worship."
"Worship?"
"Precisely. It means they express themselves, showing admiration and respect for a higher being. The belief of higher beings itself is called a Religion, to say the least, there's a lot of them. It's likely complicated for a child to understand."
It is complicated, Sonic thought. But it only fed his curiousity..
"Does everyone believe in a so-called higher being?"
"Not everyone, some believe in many. There's even traditions many people do to give their respect. Though, traditions aren't just limited by Religion, it's part of culture itself. Again, something you most likely wouldn't understand all that well for a child."
"To summarize: There's a lot of things people believe in, there's a lot of things they do to express their beliefs, express where they come from."
"Right.." He nods. Complicated, but interesting nonetheless. He wonders how other people express themselves besides the picnic outside the building. He wonders how they all act too. Are they mean, are they smart like Ivo, or are they energetic like him? He shakes his head, too many questions to think about at the moment.
"There's one last place I think you'll like a lot." He crouches down to Sonic's height. "Do you mind if I pick you up for a moment?"
"Not at all! If it's even prettier than the street art, then I bet the view from higher up is even better!"
Ivo smiles at the enthusiasm of Sonic, wrapping his arms around the blue hedgehog, picking him up and walking to their last destination. Something about holding the little hedgehog feels right to him. Something about this entire day feels right to him. Almost like it is destiny for the two to spend time together like this, bonding and becoming, well, a certain word the two will never forget in their hearts, their very minds, the very culminations of their beings.
The two arrive at a park, grass scattered among the ground, kids playing tag, parents watching while talking with others, trees above providing shade, and many benches to sit, rest after a long day's work, a long day's stride.
Sonic's eyes widen, his head spinning left, right, behind him, up and down, the serenity of the park surprising him. There was grass in the courtyard; there was a tree there too, back at the orphanage, but nothing as serene as this; nothing as big as this place!
Ivo feels the same as the hedgehog, the park here being peaceful, welcoming. It was better than his life for sure. Better than his damned school. Better than those idiots who saw him as nothing more than an idiot dragonfly who can't figure out the difference between a window and an open sky.
He walks over to a bench facing a fountain in the park, sitting down, letting Sonic go as he sits next to him. "So, what do you think?"
"Isn't it breathtaking?"
"Its.." Sonic struggles to describe.
"-Uhuh!" He keeps looking around, smiling, kicking at the air.
For a moment, things became quiet between the two, taking in the scenery. Until finally, one breaks the silence.
"Hey, Ivo?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. For today." He looks around, continuing. "I never really knew much about outside the orphanage until now. Only caught glimpses of life outside with the people passing by and the cars, other kids talking about it too! Kinda."
Ivo smiles. "Say.. do you want to keep spending time together like this?"
" 'Course I want to! I'd do it every day the second the chance shows itself!" He enthusiastically turns to Ivo, springing up from the bench a little.
"How about.. Every Friday afternoon, I'll get you out of there for a while, and on weekends as well?"
"Sounds good to me! Guess these means we're.. what's the word again?"
"Friends." Ivo answers. The word between the two of them which, unbeknownst to himself and Sonic, will remain no matter how much changes within the coming future of tomorrow, and the tomorrow after, until the sands of time run out.
"Yeah. We're really friends now."
"We'll be the best of friends anyone's ever seen!"