Sonic's excitement had not left him since the day he went to Ivo's school. So much so, he's even been reading the books from the bookcases at the Orphanage, though some of them were still pretty hard to read.
He knows the basic things, reading, writing, as any six-year-old should know. Most say he's pretty smart for his age, or at the very least, he's ahead for now.
Though he isn't reading inside; he prefers it outside under the only tree in the orphanage. The staff don't enjoy him reading up on it, but it doesn't bother him too much. Eagerly, he waits for Ivo to pass by, for its Friday afternoon, their favorite part of the week. As always, he spots Ivo out of the corner of his eye, leaping out from the tree onto the ground with no injury, dropping the book he was reading in the process, dashing over with a gleeful grin spread across his muzzle.
"Someone's energetic today."
"Well, it IS our favorite part of the week- the weekend! So, what are we doing today? Café? Sneaking around like ninjas- Swinging from building to building?!"
He might've exaggerated the last part, but both the comic, and his energy, wouldn't let him deny any possibilities. Like every weekend, he wants to have as much fun with Ivo as physically, emotionally possible.
"Actually, I do have somewhere we haven't been together. Somewhere I go back to after school. And have to deal with homework." Ivo sulks comedically, looking up to Sonic before winking. With his smarts, he could get homework done fast before school even ends for the day.
"You mean- we can go to YOUR house?!" Fireworks go off in the little hedgehog's mind; he'd never been to a house before! It, sure, may not be a home for himself, but either way he'd love to see it!
"It's not really a house- more of an apartment, but yes."
Sonic gets over the fence before anything else could be said, looking up at Ivo with excitement emitting off of him. "Oh wait- One sec!" ..Going back over quickly to grab the book he dropped, getting over the fence once more. "Alright, lead the way, Ives!"
Ivo begins walking as the blue blur follows right beside him. "By the way, I didn't think you were necessarily a reader."
"Well after the whole school day, IIII might've gone some inspiration to do so."
"I see. The one you have now is a comic book."
"Yep. There's actually quite a few of them- Most of them are from Marvel though!"
"Gotcha. So, you know Flash?"
"All-time favorite! He can run so fast he can travel through time itself! I wanna travel through time- Can you invent the particle accelerator?"
"Maybe. Do you have a few million?"
The two continue to talk, walking through the various blocks to the apartment where Ivo lives. From comic books to the school week. Eventually, they arrive at a tall building, nothing too fancy, but nothing that bad either. On the outside. As the two entered the building, the real luxurious parts showed:
A nice, delicate carpet split into an intersection, one road to the entrance which they've just arrived at, in front of them the reception desk, to the left is a small cafeteria with all sorts of food items, and to the right seems to be a general relaxation area, nice TVs, cozy couches and chairs, even a pool table.
"This place.. is.." Sonic stares, his head spinning every which way.
"It isn't even the main area where I live. It's on a different floor. Seventh floor."
"Dude, your house is HUGGEE! Seven floors? TVs? A mini cafeteria with all the pizza you could want?!"
"-The whole thing's not my house- Just part of it. And there's ten floors, actually."
"TEN FLOORS?!"
"You can think on it later." Ivo walks over to the elevator, calling it with the press of a button. Sonic curiously walks over.
"Where's this door go?"
"It's not a door, It's an elevator. Used for traveling up and down floors without needing to work your legs up several flights of stairs."
The elevator arrives, Ivo finishing at the same time. He enters the elevator, Sonic following suit. The doors close as Ivo presses a button with the number seven on it; the elevator slowly moves up. The elevator wasn't as big compared to the main lobby, more on the small side. Quiet.
A deafening, awkward quiet. The usual expected from elevator rides, the ticking indicating they've made it to another floor, still on their way to the seventh. Sonic taps his foot. Couldn't this elevator go any faster so they wouldn't die in silence?
"..So, Sonic. There is something I would like to share with you, it's another reason why I brought you here, actually."
"Are there chilidogs involved?"
Tick, floor 3.
"Maybe. The cafeteria does serve them, we can have them bring it up to the apartment. But anyways, it's a school-related reason. Remember Mrs. Rei?"
"The science teacher, right? She's pretty nice, what about her?"
Tick, floor 5.
"Well, she told the class about a day after we went to school together, the science fair was coming up."
"The science fair? What's a science fair? It sounds pretty fun!"
Tick, floor 7. The elevator doors slowly open to a hallway, to the left is more hallway. But with a dead end, a window at the dead end, while to the right is a hallway, and a left turn, a few more windows with doors in front of them. Each door is labeled with a 7, indicating the floor, while the other two are the room number.
Ivo walks out of the elevator, turning to the right, continuing down the hall.
"The Science Fair is an event taking place practically every year, each year having a different theme, with the participants in the fair having to invent something, perform an experiment, or write a detailed document about the topic relating to the theme. This year's theme is improving the environment."
"Improving the environment... Sounds interesting! I'm guessing you're participating in it?"
"Mhm." Ivo nods, walking to a door with the room number 717 after taking the left turn. "And for the Science Fair..."
"I have a blueprint I've been working on for it. I was figuring perhaps.. You'd like to help me with hatching my potential from the egg?"
"Of course I'd like to help!" He stands on his toes. "Anything to show those jerks what they've been missing out on!"
"Should've known you'd say so. Anyway," He pauses for a minute, grabbing some keys to the apartment. There are four keys in total, one for him; one for his mother, and another for his dad; the fourth being a spare in case they lose one of them. "I'm not exactly sure how my parents will react to you being here, I haven't told them you were coming over, so-"
"C'mon Ives, it'll be fineee- sides, you didn't say they DON'T know about me."
"Well, they do know you, but I'm not sure how they'll react to you in person. I suppose we'll just have to see though."
Ivo inserts the key into the door's keyhole, taking a deep breath. Everything will be alright, it's Sonic, he's told his parents about the fun he's had with his friend, his mother likes him despite not meeting yet, it'll be alright. Twisting the key slowly, the mechanisms clicking into place until the keyhole is finally turned sideways.
The door creaking open, welcoming back its inhabitant, welcoming its guest.
Behind the door reveals a living room, nearly equivalent to the main lobby's appeal, a cozy couch with two armchairs parallel to the couch with the floor being lower in the middle, sort of like a mini-staircase with only one step all around, a glass table in the middle of the difference of height, in front of the table being a TV stand, and a simple TV, nothing too fancy but nothing too old either. Up ahead of the living room, in a corner is the Kitchen, the floor transitioning from carpet to tiles; the countertops clean, new, with everything you'd need; Fridge, stove, oven, microwave.
There was also a glass sliding door leading to a very small balcony to look out over the city; two other doors inside; one to the right, another to the left. But more importantly besides the features of the apartment, is the woman walking over to them.
She looks to be in her perhaps 30s, dressed casually with a pencil accessory on her ear. "Oh hello Ivo! How was school?"
"It was good mom." He waves. "And actually, I have someone for you to meet."
"Sonic, this is Telic Robotnik, my mother. Mom, this is Sonic, my friend I've been telling you and dad about."
Sonic sticks his hand out for a handshake. "It's nice to meet ya!"
With Ivo's mother smiling, returning the little hedgehog's handshake offer. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well. My son seems to always have good things to say about you no matter the time of day."
"Nice of you to say, Mrs. Telic!"
For a moment, Ivo sighs while watching the two chat for a little while. He wasn't a hundred percent sure she'd like the in-person blue blur. But he was sure someone wouldn't like him for sure.
He shakes his head; not like HE would come to 'waste time'. Always busy with lawyer work anyway.
"Anyways- we'll be in my room working on the Science Fair project mom."
'Ivo's room, huh?' Sonic wonders what it looks like.. Well, he wonders what the WHOLE house looks like besides what he's seen so far! But most of his curiosity still leans towards Ivo's room, excited to see it in its full glory.
Ivo could tell the blue hedgehog was ecstatic, heading over to his bedroom door, the blue blur obviously speeding over to be right next to him as Ivo opens the door, heading inside.
"Have fun you two!" His mother smiles. "I'll go make some food for you boys."
The room initially was dark as Ivo closed the door, except for a window nearby shining light into the room. He flicks the light switch on, revealing the room he spends the most time in:
The lights reveal a sort of mixed room, split in half; on one side of the room is Ivo's main bedroom, his bed being in the upper left corner; a desk at the lower left corner, some shelves, and a few trophies on them from previous science fairs, some being third place, others being participation rewards. The other half of the room, however..
Is comparable to a mini workshop, several blueprint papers which have or haven't been used yet rolled up neatly on a desk with several tools above it for tinkering, next to it are several drawers containing different materials and a few more tools that aren't above the desk with holders attached to a different part of the desk which isn't the wall.
"Dude; your room is AWESOME!" The blue blur speeds over to the trophies. "What are these?" dashing over to the workbench next. "And what's all this?!"
"Let's just say, I have quite the history." Ivo walks over to the workbench, grabbing a particular blueprint, not with the others, and unfurling it. Revealing a concept blueprint for some type of machine; a machine with one wheel; some antennas, eyes, and claws, as well as a shell similar to a ladybug's shell, some exhaust pipes on the side, or at least it appeared so to Sonic, as he gets up on top of the drawers next to the workbench, looking at it. "Sooo, this is what you want me to help with?"
"Exactly! It's a blueprint for a rather unique 'robot' I suppose you could call it."
"Robot you say? Well, you got me intrigued already egghead!" Sonic winks with a grin.
"I shouldn't expect less. Anyhow: this machine is designed to be a sort of exoskeleton for small, endangered animals, which is incredibly simple for them to control via the usage of a neural transmitter attached to the animal via a harness, which will connect itself to the nerves sending actions to the exoskeleton. Of course, I've designed it so it's easy to attach and remove when needed!"
"And there's plenty of other features as well that I have planned such as a GPS in order to keep track of animal so they can be easily found again for many reasons, camouflaging tech, there's a whole lot of them!" Ivo grabs a paper, a list of several planned features for the future listed.
vo was nerding out quite a lot, something Sonic wanted to see. He wanted to see his friends potential; he couldn't be more impressed by all of it!
"You really have it all planned out huh?"
"Quite so. The real test though is putting all of it together, trying to figure out which goes first and second, third and fourth. I have some of the parts here for it, but not all of them, there's still a few more I need.. Which is where you come in, Sonic."
Ivo goes under the workbench for a moment, having stowed away the parts under it, since they didn't fit in the drawers: Several metal plates, two bug-looking antennas, two arms which have blades at their ends for defense. He had to ask his mother if one of her friends could fashion some of the parts, since he couldn't himself, lacking the equipment to do so.
In one of the drawers he also had plenty of computer parts which he would need for the rest of the exoskeleton's functions, such as movement and the neural transmitter. The harness was being made at the moment, and the neural transmitter..
..Well, the transmitter he got a good look at up on a space station, to say the least, even copied the blueprints up there since he was entranced by their design, which he did for most of the robotics up there.
"So, all I have to do is get the rest of the parts?"
"Precisely. First, I'll need a tire wheel, a small one which should be good for movement. I'll also need two exhaust pipes to cool down the circuits and remove any other gas wastes from the exoskeleton. Can you collect those three things for me?"
"'Course I can Ives! I am pretty fast afterall." He itches, his nose, speeding out the door and out of the apartment, gone like the wind!
"-Ivo-? Where's your friend going?"
"To get some things for the project, Mom. I'm sure he'll be back in a bit." Ivo reassures his mother. Sonic and him had been around quite a few places over the past few weeks; he's sure he'll be able to get around without too much trouble..
Right?
Sonic had sped out of the apartment, looking around. 'Alright, so Ives needs a small wheel like on cars, annnd two exhaust pipes! Shouldn't be too hard to find.' The hedgehog pumps himself up as he speeds off, looking around for the three items needed for the project.
His first stop was to a parked car in front of a building with a sign above it reading the name of the store, but nothing too interesting nor anything important to his task. The car happened to be a smart car; the wheels were perfectly small enough for the robot exoskeleton, walking over.
'Maybe I can get a wheel from that car? Wait- that's stealing!'
His head shakes, stealing wouldn't be a good thing to do, even if it'll help someone out. He speeds off once more to another area to find something else..
Sonic makes another break as he spots something on a sidewalk in a park, the same one he and Ivo visited some weeks prior. 'This looks like an exhaust pipe..' He assumes, perhaps this will be the true first item he's collected. However, he notices something off about the supposed pipe.
'Wait- is the pipe moving?'
The young hedgehog takes a closer look, only for his nose to get grazed by the teeth of a vicious, slippery snake!
"YEEK- danger noodle!" Yelping, he stumbles back, the danger noodle baring its teeth, warning him it won't be so merciful next time, slithering off into the park to terrorize more unsuspecting civilians, tourists, the occasional dog-walker. He'll have to find an exhaust pipe somewhere else; it seems..
The young hedgehog enters the park; perhaps the danger noodle was near something he actually needed? Looking around, he doesn't see anything in particular, mostly benches, trees, grass, squirrels... A peculiar tire tired to a tree branch.
'Oh! Maybe this wheel?'
He appears in front of the wheel, grabbing the bottom end of it, lifting himself up with his scrawny arms, before lifting himself up to the top. He tugs on the rope as hard as he can manage, but it doesn't give in, the tire swinging with a slightly sporadic rhythm, a slow one.
'Pretty stuck to this rope though..!'
The hedgehog tugs at the rope, each attempt given another ounce of strength. He tugs as hard as his scrawny, noodle arms could. A voice calling out to him: "Hey kid- stop trying to tear the tire swing off- it's property of the park! If you don't, I'm going to have to get your parents...-"
Shoot, not good! Sonic quickly gets off the tire swing, rolling on the ground as if he fell from a building doing parkour, before speeding off once more. Blaming the tire swing for the accidental near-robbery of it..
He runs into an alleyway nearby; the man who was telling him off hadn't chased after him. Too close for comfort.
Looking around, he sees a green chest with a black lid. Perhaps this is where he'll find one of the items he needs? Walking over to it, he tries to reach for the lid, but the chest was not made for hedgehog-sized people to open. It won't stop him though, as he notices some smelly black bags nearby. Grabbing them, he drags them over to the front of the dumpster. Stacking a few on top of each other, forming a staircase.
'Hehe, guess your potential rubbed off on my a little didn't it Ives? Now what's in here..?'
Sonic lifts the lid of the green chest, hearing the buzzing of multiple flies. And more of the smelly, black bags.. "Eugh, just a lot more of the smelly bags!" He holds his nose. "Yuck..."
He'll have to look somewhere else for what he needs, and many more somewheres..
Just about 30 minutes had passed, with Sonic not finding anything close to what he was looking for. He stops at a gas station, a frustrated sigh passing through his lips, where in North Dakota was he going to find those parts? Ivo's counting on him!
..But then, his eye catches something.
On the side of the gas station was one of those repair shops where cars are fixed up and such, no cars or people inside of it. He could see from a distance, a little wheel on the side, outside of the repair shop sitting neatly next to the shutter doors. No rope attached to the wheel, no clear owners of the little wheel in sight. He appears in front of the wheel as he does the tire swing, grabbing it.
"Took long enough. Now to find those exhaust pipes!" He perks up, speeding off to find the last two items he needs.
-Ivo was referencing from the blueprint and the parts, slowly putting together the main body along with the functions, going back and forth between the slowly coming-together robot, and his computer, where he was fixing errors in the code, adding things as well.
Though he was a little worried about Sonic, considering it had been quite a bit of time since he left to go get the exhaust pipes and the wheel he needs, then again it is expected. As he puts together two of the back plates, though, he hears voices outside his room.. His mother's voice, and his father's.
"Ovid please, cant we spend some time together? I know your busy with your work and I am busy with mine, but at the very least I know when to make time for being at home with our child."
"Then get OFF my back! I have a very important trial coming up and my defendant is giving quite the load if it's won. I cannot waste time on family right now!"
"I'm sorry, waste time? How is spending time with your son, engaging with his passions, wasting time?!"
Ivo could hear his father's heavy footsteps, the door to his parent's bedroom being slammed hard back into the doorframe; his father ignoring his mother's pleas. Of course, this has to happen at least once a day. The fight between those two with below-zero chemistry.
He still can't understand why they haven't divorced yet, aren't the two miserable together? Just having the two apart would be better than stuck together; fighting, going back and forth between parents would be better than stuck with the two who are fighting; it has to be.
At the very least, Sonic wasn't here to hear it. At the very least, it didn't go just beyond the words this time. Shaking his head, he continues working on the unfinished prototype, putting each piece where it belonged. If only he was one of the pieces, too.
-The little hedgehog dashes from place-to-place, searching for the two exhaust pipes. This time around, though, he was checking repair shops. If they had one of the things he needs, perhaps they would have the last two. Searching, searching, plenty of searching in every corner of a repair shop, looking for the exhaust pipes.
Some of them had people. Others were clearly being used already, and some with clear owners. He wished there were signs or something, anything to tell him where to go..
Until finally, he stops at a car junkyard, where crushed-up cars are laying about near one of the repair shops, so it wasn't hard for it to catch his attention... If there weren't any new exhaust pipes, then there had to be old ones with old, crushed cars nobody uses, right? Plus, it wouldn't be stealing either.
Sonic speeds into the junkyard, looking around. Definitely a whole lot of junk; metal scatter all around the ground, rust on the outsides of cars; old, worn-out tires, a whole lot more awaits.
'This is gonna be a long search.'
So, he begins his search, looking through the many piles. Of course, he couldn't get through all of them, otherwise he'd be here all day. Couldn't lift up heavier car parts either, even if he wanted to. On his search he found many things which weren't exhaust pipes, chains, cylinder things, valves, pieces of worn-out wheels.
He was about to give up with the number of things to search, until he hears an odd sound. It sounds like someone's chewing on metal. Curiously, the hedgehog heads in the direction of the sound.
A dog comes into view, probably a stray dog, chewing on an exhaust pipe, a second one right nearby! Alas, he has what he needs, now he just has to get the other exhaust pipe from the dog. Slowly, he approaches the creature.
"Hey pal! Mind if I borrow what you're chewing there?"
The stray turns to the child, dropping the exhaust pipe, standing in front of it; growling, snarling, staring right at Sonic with unwelcoming eyes. A definite 'no', in dog language.
"Yeesh- no need to get aggressive over it! Right?"
The dog crouches before leaping at Sonic; he ducks, and rolls out of the way of the dog as it charges at him; however, the blue hedgehog is too fast for the dog, snatching up the exhaust pipe, the pooch dropped, rolling to the other as the dog tries to pounce once more onto him. As he snags the last exhaust pipe, he makes a U-turn around the dog, speeding out of the place.
The wheel required to be held by one arm; the exhaust pipes in the other, the task completed. Now he just needs to get back to Ivo..
-Alas, the main body was put together; the long coding process was near its end. All Ivo needs now is to fix the last few errors, along with getting the parts he needs. Though, he can't help but worry for Sonic.
It had been about 30 or more minutes, with the sun starting to set. However, just as he opens the door, a voice calls to him from below.
"Hey Ives! I have the exhaust pipes, plus the wheel!" He proudly showed the three parts to Ivo.
"Oh good! I finished up the main body, I'm nearly done with the coding as well, so perfect timing. Though you were gone for quite a while."
"Eheh.. Yeah, It's a longggg story."
"Well, get in here, you can start telling me it while I finish up the code and putting the last three parts in."
"Sounds good to me, Ives!"
The two enter Ivo's room, as Sonic slowly begins the tale of him searching for the three parts. First telling of the three failures; Seeing the perfectly shaped wheel on something already, a misleading danger noodle, and one smelly dumpster!
"So, you almost took a wheel from someone else's car?"
"Yeah- but I realized it was stealing pretty quick. Then there was the danger noodle! Who also led me into the park, and I saw this tired attacked to a tree with rope; I tried tugging on it to get it down, but some scary guy started yelling sooo- I ran, straight into an alleyway, there was this green chest which I couldn't reach, but I saw some smelly bags on the outside of it- used them as steps on a staircase! But there wasn't anything in there..."
"Heh, well, Dumpsters tend to be full of trash most of the time and not wheels or exhaust pipes, and snakes are naturally misleading, cunning even. At least according to certain media."
Then the second act of the tale arrives:
"Well anyways- afterwards I took a break at one of those gas stations, then I saw it; the right wheel, no strings attached, leaning on the wall of another building next to the station! So, I snagged it, started checking lots of other buildings like it for the exhaust pipes! Then I found one next to this yard full of a bunch of junk, so I started searching it, but with so much stuff I almost gave up! I heard something though, so I went to check it out."
"-There was a dog with one of the exhaust pipes, chewing on it! The second one being right nearby! So, I was going to retrieve it, but then the dog went 'No, this is mine, hedgehog!' so, I maneuvered at the speed of lightning, dodging charges and pounces; then I snagged the exhaust pipe it dropped while it was staring be down BEFORE the fight, maneuvered some more, grabbed the second- BAM, I sped out with all three parts!"
"Explains why one of these are chewed." Ivo takes a closer look at one of the exhaust pipes.
"Boys- come get your food, I made chilidogs!" Telic's voice is heard from outside the room.
"Race you there!" Sonic dashes out, racing for the chilidogs!
"Hey wait-!" Ivo gets up from the chair, having just finished fixing errors, running after Sonic.
-Sonic was enjoying the meal, savoring every bite of the chilidog, the meat melting in his mouth before melting in stomach acid while watching Ivo put in the exhaust pipes along with the wheel, smiling too as he did so. The day went well.
Alas, the prototype finally looked like a finished product. Almost. There was one more step missing..
Ivo gets up, heading back over to the workbench. "? Where 'ya goin' Ives?"
"There's one last step before the prototype is fully finished. I think this one will be the most fun for you."
Ivo grabs something from one of the drawers, one at the bottom on the ground. It contained buckets with an assortment of a couple of paints. "Well, functionality isn't everything. Sometimes it's also the appearance." He smirks.
"Want to help paint our creation..?"
"-Heck yeah!" The little hedgehog speeds over to Ivo, who's bringing the paint buckets over.
"Alright, you paint with yellow, white, and blue; I'll do black and red."
"Way ahead of ya!"
Sonic began painting the face of the prototype with blue, while making its antennas yellow along with parts of the arms, and the rest of the white paint went to the exhaust pipes and the extra details on the arms. He was painting rather quickly, so it got messy quick in return.
But Ivo and he were laughing it off, a fun moment, it is. An indirect paint-fight, until the two finally finish up painting the prototype.
The Prototype is complete:
A ladybug-like machine with a blue face, its claws almost like knives, yet dull enough they can be used to pick up objects and place them into its mouth for further usage, along with feeding the animal on the inside. One wheel used for movement designed for navigating rough terrain until it finally wears down, in which the GPS is used to locate the animal inside its exoskeleton, for repairs before sending them out once more. The exhaust pipes allow the animal to breathe without suffocating inside, removing any unneeded gasses. Lastly, the eyes the animal can see through using the neural transmitter, along with being able to sense their blind spots and detect predators using the antennas of the prototype.
Some of the blue and white paint had gotten onto Ivo's clothes. Some of the red and black got onto Sonic's fur, but their combined work effort has led to a successful science project.
Sonic is chuckling all the way. "Looks like this ladybug's gonna go places!"
Ivo is similar. "Quite indeed! Truthfully as well, due to the motor I also put in-"
Then, he gets an idea.
A name.
"How about we call it; The Motobug? The word 'bug' taken from ladybug, and the 'Moto' taken from the word motor? A machine with the features of an insect, but a motor to keep away from the large nonetheless!"
"Best name! Motobug it is!" Sonic agrees hastily with Ivo, a good name for the machine. Motobug.
Ivo smiles, walking back over to the workbench, grabbing a black sharpie. "There's one last touch I'd like to add."
"Oh really? Well lay it on me!"
He comes back over, putting the sharpie in the little hedgehog's hand, positioning it to properly hold the sharpie, though his hand moves to a more comfortable position for him. He guides Sonic's hand to the left antenna of the 'budnik'.
"Sign your name on the Antenna, then I'll sign mine."
So, everyone will know we made it! Together as the best friends anyone's ever seen!"
"Exactly."
So the hedgehog writes his name on the antenna; his letters aren't all aligned, but he wrote them in a freeform style, making the little dot on his "i" himself in a curled-up state, doing the one wheel spinning motion before a car finally starts moving. When hitting hard on the gas while stopped anyhow. He finishes, tossing the sharpie to Ivo.
He catches the sharpie, writing the fancy eight with the two lines outside, along with his name. His handwriting is more structured; formatted; typing on a device is one way to compare it.
"Sonic & Ivo" signed on the antenna, the final, most perfect detail on the prototype Motobug.
Sonic's smile refuses to disappear. This kind of happiness is different from the other times he's been with Ivo. It feels.. Big. Huge. Every word which could mean "big" is what he thinks of; the world giving him every single piece of information it has to give him something incredibly, surely!
Ivo similarly feels the same. It's almost hard for him to believe they've come so far together, from acquaintances to close, close friends..
He stretches. "Well, let's clean up this mess."
"On it!"
The two grabbed up some cleaning supplies as they cleaned the paint off the floor. Ivo picked up the prototype and put it in the corner of the room to let the paint dry, would take quite the bit of time; either way, it should be ready for usage by a couple of hours.
Then the two headed over to the bathroom of the apartment to clean themselves up from the paint which had gotten onto themselves. The bathroom is medium sized with a nice shower, plus a circular bathtub. Marble coats the flooring, the counter of the sink, dry white paint coating the rest of the assortment of the bathroom.
To say the least, the small hedgehog got himself clean quick, using the sink as a shower, something he's done back at the orphanage many times before. Soon the floor is drenched, water got onto Ivo as well, while the blue hedgehog shook himself off from it.
"Whew, overall, I'd say today was awesome Ives! Felt like an adventure, really!" The hedgehog looks around the living room as clean of a whistle as a hedgehog could be.
"I'm glad you thought of it as one." He smiles, though he notices the time had gone by quite fast. It was now about 9:57pm. The orphanage Sonic's from is probably getting worried about his whereabouts. Though he's never been inside of it, he does know some bits of the phone number for it from a few advertisements.
"I didn't think time would pass this quickly."
"Oh yeah- Usually I'm not up THIS late. But look at all the lights!"
The little hedgehog speeds over to the windows of the main apartment, looking out at the city. The shimmering streetlights lighting up the sidewalk and road along with the light of the cars. Light coming out of the windows of each building which still operate at these times.
A star-filled sky on the earth, while the dark, black-blue sky of the night is the sea.
Ivo enjoys watching the kid get so excited over only the lights of the building below. Guess the orphanage didn't teach him quite enough about the world outside. Grabbing his phone, he puts in what he knows about the phone number of the orphanage, the missing bits he has to guess, putting in random numbers to make the full number.
Nervously, he enters the number, waiting for someone to pick up. He figured at this hour the orphanage would be closed, all the staff being home well asleep, especially anyone else who answers, but surprisingly, someone does answer. Thankfully, it is the orphanage.
"-Dakon Orphanage, what can I help you with?"
"I apologize for the late-night call- I am Ivo Robotnik, I'm a friend of one of your orphans- Sonic."
"Oh, the blue mobian kid?"
"Yes...?'
"Good on you. That kid's got a tendency to not get along with most of the others except for a couple. You must be a real good friend for him to want to stay over wherever you are."
"Actually, I was going to ask if he could stay over at least for the nig-"
"Sure, I don't care."
"Really-?"
-Then, he's hung up on. He.. Didn't quite expect the answer to be a yes, then a hang-up. At the very least, she said yes. Turning back to Sonic, he catches the kid yawning, still staring onward ad the sky below them filled with the lights from people. He dashes over to him, noticing the hedgehog's eyes drooping, heavy rocks attached to them.
"So- what's next, Ives?" Despite his own exhaustion, though, he still wants to do more with Ivo. Whether it be looking at the starry sky, or building more prototype robots, or anything really!
"Well, I called the orphanage and they said you're allowed to stay here for the night. How about tomorrow we'll work on testing our creation?"
The hedgehog's eyes light up. "Sounds great to me Ives! So, what do we do until tomorrow then? And before you say it- The only thing I'm not fast at doing is sleep."
"Not fast at getting sleepy. I do have a few things we can do in the meantime until then."
"I'm interested. Let's do whatever they are!" The hedgehog dashes into Ivo's room. He smiles, walking after the hedgehog.
-10:38pm.
Sonic didn't quite lie when he said he isn't fast at getting sleepy. But finally, he did, after finishing the Spiderman comic he was reading, plus playing quite a bit of Monopoly. Ivo had to teach him how to play, but overall, it was pretty fun even with just two players, something he's used to. He learned quick too, played quick to grab all the properties before he could.
However, eventually the hedgehog's exhaustion caught up with him as he fell asleep shortly after Ivo made his next move, buying a railroad. Getting up, he heads over to the sleeping Sonic, picking him up, walking over to his bed, putting the hedgehog onto it, pulling the covers over him.
Watching the little hedgehog snuggle up in the cozy bed makes him smile once more. "Goodnight, Sonic." He pats the hedgehog, scratching his ears before turning to the monopoly game.
As he starts cleaning it up, he can't help but overhear another conversation between his parents. Curiously, he heads over to his door to listen. Hearing nothing, he opens the door. The conversation was behind the door to his parents' bedroom. Walking over, he notices the door slightly creaked open, looking into it.
"-Look, he needs change to studying law, this whole 'engineering' dream will NEVER work out for him. Passions like his will never lead to success."
"You know he's extremely passionate for engineering, it's his most favorite thing in the world to create extraordinary things like his grandfather. Even if it isn't exactly the most 'hit' job when it comes to the entrepreneur route."
"Exactly, meanwhile he's friends with some child. He shouldn't be around kids so young his age, he needs NORMAL friends, SUCCESSFUL ones even. I have thought about bringing his ass into court to see what he truly needs to do. Maybe a good sit in the jury for hours on end, Telic, will teach him he's doing the wrong thing for his future."
"..."
"I refuse to believe his passion will fail. You just need to-"
He moves away from the door, having heard enough. Heading back to his room, he sighs, he should've figured his father wouldn't approve of Sonic, nor does he still approve of his 'hit and miss' passion. He never WAS, approving of anything he did unless it was his father's idea of the perfect life for him.
Why couldn't he just understand he didn't like law?
Why couldn't he just understand he didn't have the ability to gain friends easily?
Why couldn't he just accept Sonic as his friend?
Why couldn't he just accept that he WANTS to be an engineer?
To create robots and so much more to help the world rather than mingle in just law?
Why was his father so ignorant of his potential? His passion, the future HE wants? Why ignore all of it and force him to do something he doesn't even love to DO? Is it just because of the money or is it because of his taking to his grandfather?
Walking back into his room, he grabs a pillow and a blanket; he didn't mind sleeping on the floor as long as it shows his father he has more compassion than he ever did.
At the very least, Sonic didn't have to know about it all.
The fights, the conflicting forces of a mother's support, a father's disapproval.
He didn't have to know.
He wouldn't know.
All Ivo had to do was look forward to his friend.
Show the world he's not just a teenager with large pipedreams.