Nickel was always one for a little intrigue and mystery, curiosity fueling him to find out about something - whether that was a sound or sight or smell - but there were times when he found himself doing things that he definitely wouldn't otherwise. Case in point: that same curiosity was driving him to follow a strange, familiar yet unfamiliar luminescent glow that seemed to be emanating from Topaz's house.

He'd seen the light while he was passing the school compounds after walking Lily over for her classes that morning. It wasn't early per se, but still the youth felt tired and he'd almost decided not to investigate the glow for just that reason.

Yet the familiarity of the glow, the similarity in colour to one Silver the Hedgehog's glow, made him stick around. He was currently standing on the sidewalk near the entrance to the black-furred feline's abode, contemplating going up and knocking to say hello. He wouldn't usually do something like that, but his interest was getting the better of him. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad...

He started to approach, his steps slow and dragged out so as to lengthen the time before he got there and reduce his social nerves. All the while, he was looking around at everything, but nothing could really take his attention away from the glimmer still leaking through. It hadn't faded at all - the only thing Nickel could think was that Silver was showing off with his psychokinesis and floating around the place for the fun of it. That is, if he was even there.

The white-painted door loomed large in front of him, and Nickel raised his hand to knock - only doing so after much, much hesitation and doing so very softly indeed. Still, it seemed as though an occupant had heard him, as almost frenetic sounds came through alongside a shout of "Just a minute!" from the girl who lived there.

It was then that Nickel noticed the glow had vanished. It hadn't gradually rescinded, pooling back into some controlled source a la Silver's psychokinetic light; rather, it had just stopped shining entirely and without warning. The fact that no one had opened the door for him after he'd announced his presence meant that no one else was there, which only served to confuse him more.

Second thoughts were starting to invade his mind, but before they could take a firm foothold the door opened and there was Topaz, looking just as chipper as usual. "Hi, Nickel! What brings you here?"

Nickel toyed with several different answers, choosing eventually to be blunt and straightforward with it. "What was that glow a while ago?"

Topaz looked at him sideways. "Glow? What glow?"

That was fishy. Nickel didn't for a minute believe that she didn't know there was a glow coming from her house - it'd disappeared after he'd knocked, after all. "I thought I saw, like, a cyan light coming from here. I thought it might have been Silver but, well, he's not here, is he?"

Topaz laughed a little. "No, he isn't."

The thought of Silver brought a strange idea to Nickel, though. Without thinking he looked at Topaz's hands and, to his surprise, her gloves were a little bit askew. He shut his mouth about that, but now a seed had been planted.

Subconsciously, he fixed his hoodie sleeves; they were bothering him as usual. Topaz caught him on his movement and asked why he did that so often.

"They just bother me all the time," Nickel replied. "They hitch on all the furs on my arm and it drives me 'round the bend."

"Why don't you get something with shorter sleeves, then? Come to think of it, why do you wear a hoodie all the time, anyway?"

As she spoke, Topaz made a hand gesture that showed Nickel the inside of her wrist, currently faintly lit up with a telling cyan light. He'd caught her.

"Because I hate the cold, really. That's the main reason," he replied to her question, trying to come up with a way to transition back to the topic of the, no longer as enigmatic, glow.

"But it's not cold out."

"It is to me. I come from further south, remember? Warmer climate that I'm still more used to, so basically everything is cold to me." Topaz hummed in acknowledgement. It almost seemed like she didn't buy that answer, but she didn't say anything, just like he hadn't.

Silence followed for a few moments before Nickel broke it again. "Topaz, why is your wrist glowing?"

That prompted a swift shift in the girl's demeanour. Maybe he could have gone about asking with more tact, but he couldn't think how at the time.

"W-What do you mean?" she stammered, desperately fixing her gloves that she had only now noticed had been off-kilter. "My wrist doesn't glow."

"But does your hand?"

Topaz fell silent, and Nickel knew he'd hit a mark. She looked away from him, and he felt obligated to do the same, trying not to bore into her for answers that she might not want to give.

The tension in the air hung like a great chandelier between the two, until Nickel spoke once again, trying his hardest to sound comforting. "D'you wanna tell me about it?"

She first looked inclined to say no, but seemingly changed her mind halfway through. "Promise you won't tell?"

"I promise," he answered instantly.

Slowly, gingerly, she took off her left glove and the glow from before arose again. Nickel peered through the bluish gleam at her hand; the light was pouring from a triangular symbol that seemed to be isolated on her hand, again very akin to Silver's circular symbol.

"I've always had them," she exposited without prompting. "I don't know where they came from or what they're supposed to do - if they even do anything..." She paused, and Nickel briefly looked around to see if anyone was looking at them. There wasn't. "I used to get made fun of because of the glow, that's why my gloves are the way they are. They block the light so people can't see it."

Nickel was at a little bit of a loss for words. He didn't think himself brilliant at helping people with very personal problems, but he could always try.

He suddenly had an idea; as she pulled back on her glove, surely not expecting a reply, he electrified his own hand and held it up to her.

"You too?" was all Topaz said. Nickel nodded yes.

"I know it's not exactly the same as your situation, and I know that I'm probably not fully understanding why you're feeling like this about your marks but..." he paused to collect his thoughts. "I also know that anything you've been bullied about can turn into a great skill. And, that people always bully for a reaction, and the best thing is to give them one that they don't expect.

"My electricity isn't something I've had for as long as you've had your situation, but I've been harassed for a bunch of other reasons in my time. For being small, for being thin, even for being smart - I've had my fair share. And, well, I guess that's sorta similar to what you went through.

"But I've learned that if you don't let it bother you, not only does the fun-making stop, but you get more comfortable with it. And then, before you know it, suddenly it's a source of pride for you. Who knows? If your marks do something, you could find yourself on an adventure with Sonic and co.

"Again, like I say, I know it's not exactly what you've gone through, but that's how I see it, anyway."

Topaz didn't say anything, her gaze averted from him, and Nickel awaited her response with, admittedly, a little bit of fear. He didn't know how she would take his words and he really, really hoped that what he said would help.

He'd drawn reference to himself a lot, but empathy was the only way he could think of in the moment to convey the message. He was better at empathy than sympathy, he felt.

Finally, the girl spoke up. "I understand what you're saying, but... I can't just 'not let it bother me'. It still does."

Nickel rethought his words again. "That's fair. I can't dispute that. I know it's not as easy as just saying "Oh, it doesn't matter to me" and then all of a sudden it doesn't matter anymore. Even if you don't show it on the outside, it'll still bother you, and it probably will do for a while - but like I say, if your harassers don't get the reaction they want, they'll stop, and then there's nothing to be bothered by." He paused. "I - at least, not in terms of being made fun of."

She still wasn't looking at him, and Nickel felt his heart rate that he'd been trying so hard to ignore speed up further. He thought about saying more, but couldn't form any more words to add.

Fortunately for him, Topaz broke the silence that threatened to return. "Thanks..." Her voice was small. "For the advice, I mean. You did help, really, and now I know I don't have to worry around you."

"You're welcome." Nickel didn't at all think he'd helped, and he had exhausted his supply of things to say to her; he noticed dark clouds overhead, having snuck up on them, and some small raindrops descending from the heights to the ground. "I don't like rain," he muttered to himself.

"You wanna come inside?" Topaz said out of nowhere, making him jump a little.

"Are you sure?" the rust-coloured feline inquired. "I don't wanna step on any toes..."

"Really, it's no problem! Besides, if you don't like rain, then you wouldn't want to go home in the rain, would you?"

The dark-furred cat raised a good point. "Alright, I'll stay," Nickel relented, and followed Topaz inside.

His eyes swiftly scanned the living room he'd entered: it was certainly not unpleasant to look at, not that he'd expected it to be. It felt a lot like his own home, and instantly he felt more comfortable.

"Take a seat. I'll be right back," Topaz instructed, and Nickel obeyed, still with some hesitation as though his being there would taint the picturesque feel of the room. Hummed tunes started to slip from him as he waited for her, and even some sung words were let free.

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Nickel stayed with Topaz for a while, the rain seemingly unwilling to let up at all. During that time, the boy cat entertained himself by providing commentary on a particularly cliché romance movie. Topaz had joined him shortly after he'd started watching, occasionally giggling at the jokes he was making.

At one point she expressed her surprise that he was watching a rom-com - which was admittedly expected - but he simply said that he enjoyed romance and she questioned no further.

However, Nickel quickly found himself getting a headache from the television's resolution. He complained once, quietly, and his words dried up before eventually he closed his eyes and tried to rest his furry head.

He didn't necessarily want to fall asleep, still aware that this was indeed Topaz's house and that he was a guest, but it happened; he woke up from an unexpected nap, head propped up by his arm, to find the movie that had been playing was finished and another, rather similar, had taken its place.

He also found that his headache was largely still there. He tried to shift so that he could lower his head to the arm of the sofa, but realised that something was weighing him down, almost effectively trapping him where he was.

That something moved in response to his own movements, and a voice reached Nickel's ears: "Oh, you're up."

He recognised that Topaz sounded a bit closer than she had previously; as he shifted again in an attempt to get up he felt that weight from before leave his frame.

Indeed, whilst Nickel was asleep, Topaz had made the decision to get rather close to him. The reasoning was beyond him, but he could only guess that part of it was because of his fur.

"Sorry 'bout that," he purred tiredly, rubbing his eyes and massaging his temple. "Th' headache was killin' me."

"No, it's okay," she reassured him, an audible, cheeky smile creeping into her voice. "You're cute, so you can get away with it." That made Nickel smile himself, before a giant yawn overtook him.

"Wow, that was a big one," he muttered after he brought his hand down from his mouth.

"I didn't know your voice could get lower," Topaz commented.

"It's 'cause I don't have to talk loudly," was his explanation as he fixed his sleeves once more. "When I'm loud, my voice pitch goes up by proxy."

Silence followed his words, before Nickel felt a touch on his wrist; he sharply pulled away on reflex, rubbing the point of contact discreetly, looking at where his hand was and finding Topaz reaching out her own, certainly apprehensive now that he'd reacted in the manner that he had. A look to her face showed confusion as well.

"Sorry," he said, putting his hand back where it was. "That just felt like something landed on my hand - like an insect or whatever."

"Nickel, I barely even touched you."

"Yeah, that's - " Nickel spoke through a little laugh. "That's why. It just feels like somethin' small decided to come by and say hi outta nowhere. Plus I'm a little bit hypersensitive," he added, "so yeah, there's that."

The russet feline felt that was a viable answer to the licorice one's concerns, but apparently not all of them were quashed as she put a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Are you okay?"

His shoulder felt like it was grimacing, and he hoped that that grimace wasn't on his face, too. "Yeah, 'm fine, I just... don't really like being touched."

Topaz's hand flew off him. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"It's alright, I know you didn't." Nickel fixed his sleeves yet again; talking about the topic was making his hypersensitivity act up more. "To be fair, I'm surprised Lily didn't tell you about that little secret of mine."

She didn't say anything, and Nickel quickly tried to ease any worries she might have had. "It's - I don't mind it too much, it's just a little bit, uh, of a trigger when I'm not expecting it. Especially on my arms and hands and stuff." He then thought of something. "Why'd you reach for my hand, anyway?"

She spoke up. "Your hands are so big compared to mine." She moved to emphasise her point, hesitating a little - no doubt staying conscious of what he'd said - before placing her hand next to his own.

He could see the difference in size; he turned over his hand to face palm up, inviting her to put hers in his for a more direct comparison. She delayed again, but complied eventually.

Nickel wasn't lost on what they were technically doing, but he didn't necessarily care. She wanted to see the difference between their hands - which was quite surprising, he had to say - so he had simply allowed her to see clearly.

Topaz didn't seem to want to say anything else, so he slacked his hand and looked back to the TV, eventually again being forced to close his eyes because of the resolution. This time, he didn't fall asleep, and he could feel that Topaz's hand hadn't left his and that there was sweat gathering at their points of contact. Whether it was his or hers, Nickel didn't know.

"You know, I just thought of something," he said suddenly, eyes still closed. "You entrusted me with your secret, and I ended up repaying by telling you mine."

"Oh, that's true," Topaz remarked. "Thanks again, by the way."

It took Nickel a millisecond to remember the reason for her thanks. "Oh - you're welcome."

A short pause passed by before she spoke up once more. "Are you sure you're okay with me, like, touching you?"

"Yeah, yeah," he replied. "Don't worry about it." He grinned slightly, still keeping his eyes shut. He was glad to have a friend like Topaz.

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Eventually, the rain cleared up and Nickel was able to go home again, but he decided against it and stayed over at Topaz's. She even gave him the password for her wireless connection, and currently he was using it on his screen to read a story online. Some music was playing as he read, thanks to Topaz who was having a sort-of karaoke - a sing-along, that's what it was called - session. He didn't mind; the songs were all great and she sang well to them, and it provided a nice background ambience for him. If he were to be honest, it reminded him of when he was younger and his sister would have karaoke sessions of her own, often asking Nickel to join her.

Presently, the track that was playing was "Open Your Heart", a fantastic selection if not a little ill-fitting for reading. Additionally, he was running through the lyrics in his head as they played, which only slowed his reading further.

Topaz looked like she was having a lot of fun, rocking out very enthusiastically to the song like Nickel wasn't even there. He wished he could do the same and feel confident that he wouldn't be made to look utterly foolish.

The song concluded, and Topaz said both to him and to no one, "That was fun!"

"You looked like you were enjoying yourself," Nickel replied.

"Well, yeah! It's an amazing song."

"That, I will not argue with." Amidst their talking, the next song in the shuffle started to play, and Nickel recognised it as "Unknown from M.E.", the rendition from the same game as the previous track.

Topaz paused it, saying, "I'll skip this one."

"Why?" Nickel had to ask.

"I can't rap," she laughed.

"Why don't I do it, then?"

"I didn't know you were one to rap."

"It's the only style that fits my voice," Nickel said, half-shrugging.

"Oh yeah, I get it. Well, you could also sing one or two octaves lower than it's supposed to be," Topaz remarked.

"That is what I do," the boy informed her. "It just doesn't always sound right."

It was the girl's turn to shrug, before playing the song. She kept silent during the rapping sections and sang everything else, and Nickel did the exact opposite. It was a nice combination, if he did say so himself.

Along the way, Nickel even set aside his screen and mirrored what Topaz was doing, holding his left hand up to his mouth as though he was holding a microphone and letting himself have a little more fun - because this was fun, very fun indeed.

On the final beat of the song, Topaz flung herself onto the chair where Nickel sat, landing in his side with a laugh, one that infected him very quickly. They just sat there for a short while, letting the giggles overtake them until they could giggle no more.

Once she was done, the girl cat cuddled up to the boy cat and loosed a sigh. "You know, Nickel... you might not feel the same, but I really like you."

Nickel's heart skipped a beat, and he looked toward the speaker of those words. He certainly hadn't been expecting that, and given what she'd said before her confession, she had likely meant it in a more romantic way.

She was, unfortunately, correct - he liked her, of course he did, but not like she evidently liked him. Nevertheless he smiled, saying nothing in reply. It was just nice to know that someone cared for you in such a way.

"And when you find the person you like," Topaz added, "I'll be happy for you." She tried to snuggle even closer. "'Cause you're my best friend."

Nickel allowed her the cuddles, still remaining silent. He knew that maybe eventually, she would find someone who liked her just as she did him; and like she had said to him, he would be very happy for her when she did find that someone, whomever they were.

The scene was rudely interrupted by another song playing. Topaz sprung back up and invited him for another sing-along. Grinning, he agreed, and they continued to have fun.