You nod your head. "Good choice there, Shade," you tell her, "Knuckles has his, well, 'flaws'… But all in all, he's a good friend and a reliable ally."
Shade looks over and smiles. "I guess you would know that better than anybody. Though I do wonder why you all are so hard on him."
You look downward, feeling maybe just a tad guilty. "We really don't mean him any harm," you reply, "He's been living by himself since childhood. He's never really interacted with so many others before, so that's why he's easily gullible… and in a way, easy to tease."
"Why would you tease him for that?" Shade snaps.
"It's nothing horrible," you say, "It's just out of love. I tease all my friends. He just hasn't quite learned to roll with the punches."
"You keep up that level of teasing, you're going to have to learn to roll with his punches."
You chuckle at that. "I'll keep that in mind. But seriously, it's nice that he'll have someone to stand in his corner. You two really do go well together." You give a little snort, "Maybe you two could also 'save your species'."
Shade raises an eyebrow. "Are echidnas really nearly extinct?"
You give a wink. "Maybe you oughta talk to him about it."
Continue to Chapter 49