GammaTron: Hey, folks. Thought you might enjoy this little compilation of small supplemental material for CBBR. All stories here are to be considered canon to the main story, meant to flesh out things I can't cover in the main story without causing pacing issues in the main story. So please enjoy CBBR Snippets. Also, happy Day 5 of Mega May~!
Amy hummed as she walked out of the grocery store, a modest bag of goods in each arm. Most of it was canned goods with a far away expiration date which was often a necessity for a Freedom Fighter due to the fact they would, at times, need to spend several days or weeks away from Knothole for different operations. Condensed milk, dehydrated fruits and vegetables, trail mix…anything that could last long was preferred for a pantry belonging to a Freedom Fighter. Though, there were times that it was fine to have a few regular things, such as actual milk and fresh fruits and vegetables.
'Oh, I can't wait to get home to eat this strawberry shortcake,' Amy thought with a smile, 'It's been months since I had enough time to have one!' She looked ahead and raised a brow, "Hm?"
Up ahead, not really focused on anything, was a pondering Roll. Amy couldn't help but take note of the way the blonde's tail flicked about in her thoughts, a rare quill peeking out of the fur every now and then. Aside from those and her conjoined eyes, nobody would've believed the twelve-year-old was a Hybrid. Amy then noticed something: Saito wasn't anywhere there.
"Roll?"
The HedgeFox nearly fell over in her startled state from being pulled out of her thoughts, "O-Oh! Amy! You scared me…"
Amy sheepishly giggled, "Sorry. But was wondering if everything's alright. You're normally near Saito or Meiru all the time."
"Ah…Well, Meiru is at the hospital doing tests with Dr. Quack, Tails, and Rotor with her fire and what goes on in her when she uses it. Netto and Mega are back on Earth with Uncle Chuck, Aunt Bernie, and Uncle Jules. Mama and Aunt Bernie are trying to make a new recipe for the diner."
"So why didn't you go along?" Amy asked in surprise, "Normally you're gung-ho on enjoying a meal made by…well…anyone, really."
"Ah, well, I'm not all that hungry at the moment," Roll replied.
"I see…" Amy nodded, "...Is everything okay?"
"Ah! W-Well…um…It's all good so far," Roll replied, "It's more of a personal problem."
"Ahh…In that case, want to come to my house? Maybe I can help?" Amy offered.
"Oh! Um…Okay," Roll agreed, "Do you want help with one of the bags?"
"That's sweet of you, Roll. Sure," Amy acquiesced as she gave one to the younger Mobian.
A lock being unlocked clicked before the pink wooden door was opened up by Amy. Roll followed after the older pink hedgehog and looked around. The living room was rather modest and wasn't as pink as she expected. In fact, the only pink things were the curtains. The round rug on the floor was as green as grass with a white ring in it with a burgundy couch set up on it with a bulky TV on the other side of the room. Roll couldn't help but tilt her head at seeing the bulky television since they were a rare commodity back on Earth.
"Right this way to the kitchen, Roll," Amy informed, snapping Roll out of her thoughts as she followed after Amy to the modest kitchen where most of the appliances were either in red or pink.
"You have a very nice home, Amy," Roll complimented as she placed the bag of groceries by the one Amy had put down.
"Why thank you," Amy giggled, "I worked hard on my home. A lot of the appliances here came from Station Square while the rest was made here in Knothole. Let me just put these away real quick and we can have some cake in the living room."
"Cake?"
"Yep! Strawberry shortcake!" Amy beamed, "It's my favorite dessert!"
"I've never had that one yet," Roll awed, her tail wagging with stars in her eyes in excitement.
"Then you, missy, are in for a treat!" Amy grinned as she picked up the pace of putting the canned goods away followed by a bag of apples and fresh milk into the fridge.
Within minutes, everything was put away aside from the aforementioned shortcake, a can of whipped cream, and some fresh strawberries. The two girls sat together on the couch as the TV had been turned on to give some ambience. Roll took a bite of her slice and couldn't hold in a shiver of delight at the taste.
"Delicious, huh?" Amy asked.
"Oh yes! It's the best dessert I've had yet!" Roll beamed.
"I can't help but notice how much you, Saito, Frost, and Blues enjoy eating," Amy noted, "Could you not eat before in the Network?"
"Oh we can, but the food there is bland!" Roll replied, sticking her tongue out in disgust, "It's bland, icky, and the texture and taste of things are all wrong when you've had the real deal outside of the Network." She smiled as she gestured to her slice, "Food outside of it is delicious! Though…a bit messy, too."
"Messy?" Amy repeated.
"I forgot to twirl noodles in the cusp of a spoon once and the noodles smacked me in the eye," Roll explained, "And Mega collapsed when he ate ice cream too fast. …The less said about the One Chip Challenge Incident, the better."
"The what?"
"Do not ask about that," Roll grimaced, "Even Frost wasn't immune to the spice…"
Amy just raised a brow while taking a bite of her own slice. Amusingly enough, at least to Amy, the cartoon broadcasted from Station Square was showing a trio of human boys eating a spicy salsa of sorts and were having…issues…with the spice. She looked over at Roll again after managing to shove down a laugh at the coincidence.
"So…what's got your mind all in a tizzy?" Amy asked.
"My mind in a what?"
"What's got you thinking so much?"
"Well…um…it…it's stupid," Roll replied.
"How so?"
"...Am…Am I repetitive?"
"Repetitive?" Amy repeated, raising a brow.
"I've started to notice that people I normally hug don't smile as much when I hug them," Roll replied, her ears drooping, "Am…Am I doing something wrong? Do they not want a hug? Am I doing it wrong?"
"Well…what kinds are you doing?"
"...Kinds?" Roll repeated, tilting her head innocently.
"...What do you normally do for a hug?" Amy asked as she put her plate on the coffee table before them with Roll following her lead and gave Amy a normal hug, "...Any other kinds you do?"
"Um…I hug them from behind at times o-or at the sides," Roll replied.
"...Hmm…Then that means you only know the standard and none of the other ways that can spice up a hug," Amy realized.
"Huh?"
Amy winked, "Don't worry. I think I've got just the thing for you then!"
"Okay, you'll want to put your arms out first, then lunge," Amy instructed.
"Hmm hm!" Roll nodded as they stood before a pair of posts with large teddy bears on them in the backyard of Amy's hut.
"Like this," Amy spoke as she held her arms up, palms outward, before she lunged, wrapping her arms around the left teddy into a hug around the neck and nuzzled its cheek, giving a giggle as it let out a squeak, "See? This is a nuzzle lunge hug. Around the waist is a cuddle lunge hug. But don't hug the legs, because that's a pleading lunge and it's not a good thing to do since it means you're doing it out of desperation and isn't true affection."
"Oh~!" Roll awed as Amy let go and walked back over.
"Okay, now it's your turn," Amy smiled, "Remember, arms out and then lunge."
Roll nodded as she turned to the teddy bears. She licked her lips as she held her arms out, palms towards the target, and lunged. She got it around the neck and it let out a much louder, higher pitch squeak that startled her.
"Too strong," Amy shook her head as she walked over, "A flying hug like you're learning has to be a certain level of strength. Too soft and you'll not make it. Too strong and that happens."
"O-Oh…" Roll spoke, blinking a few times, "Hugs are much more trickier than I thought they were."
Amy let out a small laugh, "Oh yes! They are a devious thing and a language onto their own. Try to hug too hard and you only cause discomfort and awkwardness." Her smile turned melancholy, "Kinda like with me and Sonic…" Roll tilted her head, "How old do you think I am?"
"Sixteen?"
"No, I may look fourteen, but I'm actually eight," Amy corrected, earning a stunned look from Roll, "It involved a magic ring and me wanting to be older to get Sonic's attention…though the ring was supposed to help wake up Sally's mom from the coma she was in. I didn't know it was meant for that, but I do accept responsibility for leaving it unusable because of my own selfish reasons." She shook her head, "I loved Sonic and wanted him to notice me in the same way, but…"
"...He already had someone?"
"Yeah. Sally," Amy replied, "They loved one another so much that he was engaged to her for a few weeks before he…passed on." she laid her hands over her heart, fingers intertwined as she closed her eyes, "To this day, I still go through what ifs and the like, but I don't dwell on them for long." She opened her eyes, "He may be gone, but he'll never be forgotten by those who were touched by his actions and his personality."
Roll nodded, "He sounded really amazing."
"He was," Amy nodded, "But…we're losing daylight, Roll. We've got training to do to get you to be a hugging master yet."
"Right!" Roll pumped a fist.
"Ahh~ Those new recipes were really good~" Saito sighed happily as he walked through Knothole as the afternoon sun was starting to go down, "Mama and Aunt Bernie are really good when they work together and Uncle Jules is getting the hang of when he's a NetNavi. I bet if Roll had been there, it…" he paused in his walking as a concerned look formed on his face, "Roll…"
It was…strange… Even when Lan hadn't seen Maylu at all during a day, he and Roll always had a way to be with one another. Be it a simple EMail in a secondary account in the PeTs they had made in secret for just them, a private chat, or even just going over to the homepage of the other and requesting permission at the security cube (when their NetOps didn't just give their code to one another almost immediately after they updated the systems), the two were always connected. A connection having only gotten stronger when they shared their Cores. It always warmed his soul whenever he felt the connection with her as it made his heart/Core race when she'd send something through it and vice-versa. He closed his eyes and felt the pull of it and quickly ran off in the direction of the pull. Several minutes of walking and giving a friendly wave to the people he walked by passed before he eventually came upon a pastel yellow hut with a few pink and red hearts painted on the walls. He reached to knock when his right ear twitched, hearing voices in the back. He walked around to see a small cute-looking picket fence and saw Roll sitting by Amy, their backs to him.
"So it wasn't just being predictable with your hugs, huh?" Amy noted.
"No. Lately, I've been feeling…sorta useless."
"Useless? How come?"
"You know that form Mega and Netto can become? HUBStyle?" Roll asked, earning a nod from Amy, "Meiru and I have one as well, but…we just can't get it to work. We've only managed to one time and neither of us can even remember how we triggered it! We don't even remember the moments leading up to it! All we remember is that we were gunning for Bubbleman and the bubbles that Netto and Enzan were trapped in were about to explode with them inside of them and then the next thing we know, all of Yoka's Network is a mess and Bubbleman was Deleted!" she looked at her hands, "A-And then Operation Triple Trouble! I'm a Recov-Element NetNavi; a NetNavi that specializes in healing myself and others! And I couldn't do a thing for Netto and now he has to live with a scar on his shoulder for the rest of his life! Sure, he says it's fine, but…but he shouldn't have to live with it when I could've done something!"
"You tried your best, Roll," Amy assured, laying a hand on the shorter Mobian's shoulder as her other hand gently wiped some tears welling in Roll's eyes, "You even admitted that a Mobian's body seems to reject the Recov Element during the mission report. Plus, who says you're useless, hm? Without you, Netto, Enzan, and the rest wouldn't be here because of this Bubbleman person. And you were a major help with Saito in destroying Metal Sonic with that new technique you two created."
"We're still trying to figure that one out."
"Exactly. Roll, you're twelve. You don't have to carry the world on your shoulders with all its burdens," Amy spoke, having Roll look at her, "Don't focus on what you can't do; focus on what you can do. And if you want to do more? Then you just need to ask others for help. Like with me and helping you today."
"O-Oh…" Roll blinked a few times before smiling and giving her a hug, "Thanks, Amy."
"Anytime, Roll," Amy assured before smirking, "And I do think you have someone looking for you."
Saito flinched as Roll tilted her head and looked to see him, "Oh! Mega!" Before Saito could move, Roll pounced on him, "Hi!"
"Ah!" Saito yelped, twirling away before managing to catch himself and her, "Whoa! That's a new hug."
"Amy helped me learn it," Roll explained as Saito returned the hug, making her squeal mentally in glee and having Saito feel her joy through their link.
"She has quite a few more ways to hug you and others now," Amy explained as she walked over with a wink, "Hope you'll enjoy the randomness."
"Right," Saito nodded, "Oh! Roll, Meiru is looking for you."
"Oh! Where is she?" Roll asked.
"She's at the house," Saito replied, "I'll be right over, I just need to do something real quick."
"Okay, Mega," Roll nodded, giving him a light kiss before running off.
"...Thank you," Saito thanked, "I know she wasn't letting it through our bond, but I could tell she wasn't feeling like herself today."
"I think all she needed was another perspective," Amy noted.
"...Mmm…Do you want to come over? Aunt Bernie and Uncle Jules did say we need another player for a Game Night," Saito offered.
Amy giggled, "I'd be delighted, Saito."
"Great!" Saito beamed.
Amy followed after Saito, who was going at a speed she could easily keep up with. Amy couldn't help but note that this was something unique to Saito. He always cared for others, trying not to leave them behind and support them. Netto was also like that, but was also much more excitable and going at Sonic Speed at almost any chance he could that wouldn't cause trouble.
'They may be his reincarnations, but they're also vastly different in smaller ways,' Amy thought, glancing skyward, 'I hope you're watching us as we move on to the future, Sonic…'
GT: I should let you all know that this story will often have small chapters like these, fleshing out things I can't in the main story without sacrificing things. And big thanks to Emeraldthelynx! If not for them and the amazing fan art they did of Amy and Roll doing just this, I wouldn't have thought of making this!