Mighty's face lit up with joy as he embraced Sonic, laughing and pounding him on the back. "Hey there, buddy!" he said.
"Mighty!" Sonic rose from his stool and hugged Mighty. "I didn't know you were in town!"
"Yeah, just for a few days," Mighty said, "Living the life of a nomad, going wherever the wind blows, staying out in nature and uniting with it. It's apparently a natural instinct for us armadillos, which explains my life."
"I'm happy you're here! It's been ages! I missed you!" Sonic grinned.
"I missed you too, bro!"
Not long after, Rouge returned with a plate of chili cheese fries, large enough to easily feed three. The smell of the hot grease made Mighty's mouth water as he eagerly grabbed a fry and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Mighty, this is Rouge—G.U.N. agent, weekend bartender, and Knuckles' girlfriend," Sonic chuckled as he waved his arm out towards Rouge in a grand gesture of introduction. "And Rouge, this is Mighty. I've known him the longest out of everyone, other than Tails and Vector."
Mighty stood up to greet her and held out his hand with a smile. "Hey there! I didn't know Knux had a girlfriend!"
Rouge returned a sly smirk as she reached out and shook his hand. "Don't worry; neither does he."
The trio laughed. Knuckles always talked about Rouge to Mighty, but those conversations were far from pleasant—they almost always referenced the Master Emerald. Then again, Mighty knew how terrible Knuckles was with dating or showing love, and the more Knuckles ranted about Rouge, the more Mighty hypothesized that Knuckles had a crush on her. He's glad that Sonic saw through the façade as well.
"Well, Knux has always been gullible. I could tell so many stories about him from when we were younger," Mighty snickered. He ate another fry before he continued, "I'm best friends with Knux. We both used to be in the Chaotix before Knux stepped back to guard the Master Emerald, and I left to take care of my sister."
"It's funny to think about that echidna actually leaving his little island for more than a few hours," Rouge took Sonic's empty cocktail glass and turned around, "Great to meet you, Mighty! I'll let you two catch up while I prepare everything for tonight's opener. Those fries are on the house as well; thanks for cheering Blue up!"
Rouge winked at them before she left the bar. Silence fell on the duo as Mighty continued eating and Sonic took sips from the bottle.
"Want some?" Mighty pushed his plate toward Sonic, who tried one of the fries.
"These are pretty good! Then again, Club Rouge's food never disappoints."
"Yeah. I hear this is some of the best pub food around."
The two stayed silent as they indulged in the crispy snacks, their ears filled with the ambient chatter and occasional bursts of laughter from the other diners. When they cleared the plate together, Sonic wiped his hands on a napkin and turned to Mighty.
"So, what brings you back here?"
Mighty's gaze drifted down to the half-empty glass of water in front of him. "Life back home was getting rough on me, so I thought I'd come here, see how the gang is, then flee to somewhere away from civilization."
Sonic raised a brow. "Rough? Is everything fine with your sister and Ray?"
"... Yeah," Mighty said slowly. He took a sip of his drink. "Tilly's used to deroboticized life. She mainly blogs and writes fictional stories about celebrity couples now. Ray's doing good too; they both stayed behind with each other. It was actually them that said I should escape for a bit," he took a deep breath to steady himself. "The main thing that hurt was Honey calling off our engagement."
Sonic frowned. "She did?"
"I expected it, but it still was tough, y'know?" Mighty said, "At one time I loved her in that way, but I knew she didn't love me. So, to be a supportive friend, I faked a relationship just so she wouldn't lose her business clients. At least, she feared that would happen simply because she's a lesbian. But it wasn't easy; I had to make myself forget my feelings for her and slowly transition back into our old friendship. But we made it through in the end."
Sonic's eyes seemed to avoid Mighty's, and it was clear something bothered him. As Mighty debated whether to pry or not, Sonic asked, "How did you forget your love for her?"
"We're still on good terms even after we broke up. For me, I just got myself to forget that I fell in love. I just tried to see her as a friend. It wasn't overnight; it took tons of effort."
They were both silent for a few moments until Sonic finally broke the silence.
"Well, that's better than what I'm doing," Sonic eyed the bottle and nodded at it before he turned back to Mighty. "I might need your help since you'll be here."
Mighty placed a comforting hand on Sonic's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. "Anything for a great friend! Gimme the scoop."
Tears flowed down Sonic's face. He sniffed before he wiped his cheeks with a napkin. "I got rejected tonight, and all I can do to forget about it is drink."
Mighty's brow furrowed, and his eyes clouded with sadness; he hated seeing his friends suffer. Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself that he was here now and would do all he could to pull Sonic out of this darkness.
"First of all," Mighty took the bottle from Sonic and slid it away. "You'll stop drinking yourself drunk. Don't use sorrow as an excuse to get drunk. Err, don't use anything as an excuse to get drunk."
"O-okay."
"Second, you need a good night's sleep," he continued, "I know it's probably hard to sleep, but it gives you a chance to take a break and get an idea of how to deal with a new reality. When you wake up tomorrow, I'll help you more. Nature walks, meditation. That kind of stuff."
Sonic smiled weakly. "Okay I guess I should go home now, heh. Thanks Mighty."
He exhaled into Mighty's face, a cloud of alcohol fumes billowing from his mouth. Mighty scowled, scooped Sonic up and carried him out of the club.
"Yeah no, you're fast enough where running drunk is deadlier than driving drunk. I'm carrying you home. Where do you live again?"
Sonic slowly raised an arm and pointed west. Without hesitation, Mighty kicked off the ground and ran west at full speed, until Sonic pointed at his house.
"Home…" Sonic's voice was distant and hollow.
Mighty opened Sonic's door and carefully carried him up the stairs, with Sonic's head tucked against his chest. He laid Sonic down on the bed and pulled the sheets over him. As he started to turn away, Sonic grabbed onto his hand.
"Wait… Mighty…" Sonic pleaded, and his grip tightened around Mighty's fingers, "I don't want to be alone… Will you stay here with me? Please…"
"Alright. Just because you're my friend."
Mighty curled up next to the drunk hedgehog and ran his fingertips along each quill, trying to soothe away the sadness etched on his face. He couldn't fill his friend's heart with the love he most desired; the two's relationship was mutually fraternal. Still, he wanted to find Sonic's love interest, and maybe talk some sense into them—it'd be much easier for everyone involved than to just forget intense feelings.
Shadow's footsteps slowed as he retreated from the busy street corner and set his sights on the neon sign of Club Rouge in the distance. The club was a sanctuary; a dimly lit space where Shadow could escape his horrid week with alcohol and music. The flickering sign seemed to whisper promises of a reprieve from the weight of the world on his shoulders.
But as Shadow approached the entrance, an armadillo rushed past him down the street, carrying a blue hedgehog in his arms. Shadow squinted at the pair, his heart racing; wasn't that armadillo holding Faker? Was he abducting him?
He skated after them. His air shoes clapped behind him, making Shadow fear that he'd be noticed. But the armadillo didn't turn around; instead, he ran up to Sonic's house and pulled open the squeaky door with one arm while carrying Faker in the other.
Shadow scrambled up a nearby tree for a better view of what was happening inside Sonic's bedroom window. Sure enough, the armadillo laid Faker in the bed and tucked him in. He tried to leave the room, but Faker grabbed his wrist. They whispered something that Shadow couldn't hear before the armadillo... got into the bed beside Faker and cuddled with him?
A low growl escaped Shadow as he watched the armadillo, wishing he could strangle that bastard for daring to share a bed with Faker, cuddling with Faker, and touching Faker. His fists clenched, and his heart raced with confusion and anger. Why did he care so much? He was supposed to hate Faker!
His head spun with a whirlwind of emotions as he turned away, reached for his chaos emerald, and chaos controlled back to Club Rouge.
