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“Anyone order a piping hot beverage?”
Knuckles, who was minding his own business, watching the falling snow, rolls his eyes with a low groan.
Because, of course, the blue hedgehog finds a way to disturb his peace.
The still silence of the early morning hours is personally Knuckle's preferred time of day. Just him and his thoughts. A moment to himself where he can meditate. On certain days, he'll (attempt) to slip down the attic steps and sit on the back porch.
He always felt the most in his element when surrounded by nature. He was raised to respect it, to connect with it. To appreciate the way it supplied the freshest supplies.
And when his tribe fell…
Nature was the closest thing to home the echidna had.
As brutal as nature could be; only matched by its beauty. It was all he knew for a long time.
It's been a steadily consistent routine. Set his mood for the day before the other pact mates awoke. Before the unsettling feeling of an indescribable distance trickled in with each household member up.
A noticeable weight in his gut as he watches how effortlessly the fox and hedgehog mesh with their human guardians, especially each other. A naturally compatible friendship. An undeniable bond.
A unit.
A clan…
No matter.
Knuckles has a mission and objective. Clear and sharp enough to cut through the strange heaviness that settles in his chest when he watches them all interact with such ease.
Knuckles lets the uncomfortable, squirming uncertainty of his placement amongst an already tight knit group roll off his red quills like running water.
He made a vow to offer up his aide in guarding the Master Emerald.
He will see to this responsibility; this destiny no matter what.
“Actually, I shouldn't say piping hot, maybe more like… super warm? It won't like, burn your tongue I don't think-” Sonic rambles on, either oblivious, or uncaring of Knuckle's lack of verbal response.
‘Well, it was enjoyable while it lasted,’ Knuckles internally sighs.
“What are you doing up at this hour, hedgehog?” Knuckles asks gruffly instead, not particularly in the mood to deal with Sonic's antics at…
actually Knuckles can't recall what time it is now. Definitely too early to deal with whatever is about to occur.
Knuckles keeps his amethyst gaze set on the way the flakes softly flutter to the ground in a graceful descent; joining the accumulating piles of fluffy white. The way they coat the pine trees, breathing in the crisp winter air; watching the condensation cloud into a visible cloud as he exhales.
Nature on Earth really was quite fascinating.
“I could ask you the same thing, ya know,” Sonic drawls with a teasing lilt, and before Knuckles can blink a mug is being held out to him, so close he can see the faint lines of steam wafting from the top.
Knuckles squints miniscule, before reluctantly taking it, ignoring the triumphant smirk stretching across the younger mobian's face.
“What is this?”
“Eh, that herbal tea stuff you and Maddie like so much,” Sonic's muzzle scrunches in dramatic disgust as he settles down next to Knuckles. “I, for one, will never understand how you guys can drink it.”
Rolling his eyes at the vagueness of the term “herbal tea stuff”, the echidna takes a quick whiff of the warm beverage. His muscles subconsciously begin to uncoil at the familiar fresh, sweet, and slightly milky herbaceous quality to the aroma. Chamomile.
"It's a perfectly good, natural way to improve sleep, relaxation and other benefits.” He sneaks a peak to his right, taking in the dark brown, rich looking substance in Sonic's mug , several fluffy white confections bobbing at the top. Oh. Knuckles sighs for the who knows how many times.
“Is that-”
“Hot chocolate? Absolutely.”
This earns him an unamused quirk of an eyebrow ridge from the red echidna. “I highly doubt Donut Lord or Pretzel Lady would approve of something so sugary at this hour.”
Sonic shrugs unbothered, shoulders braised against a frosty gust as the wind picks up briefly. “What they don't know won't hurt ‘em,”
Sonic leans over to lightly jab his elbow into Knuckle's side. “ Right , Knux?”
Knuckles merely takes a small sip of the warm drink, pleasantly surprised that it was, indeed seeped to his preference.
He wonders how Sonic knew how to prepare it without Lady Wachowski's help.
“ In fact,” Sonic continues with a poke to Knuckle's shoulder, earning a quick swat at his finger. “I could counter that, by asking you why you're sitting out in the snow like some kinda hyper realistic statue where hot drinks would even be necessary.”
Knuckles looks up at the hedgehog, frowning at the mischievous twinkle in the other’s emerald eyes.
“I was merely enjoying my daily morning ritual. At least I was until I was interrupted.” Knuckles grumbles with no small amount of exasperation etching his tone.
Sonic drops the smugness for a second, surprise replacing it. “Wait, you do this everyday?” His breath comes out in puffs of smoke. “Even in weather like this? ” A stronger, frigid gust of wind passes by as if to emphasize the point, playing with their fur. A noticeable shiver runs through Sonic's form with a hiss between his teeth, cradling his own drink closer.
Knuckles feels his expression soften. As annoying as the speedster can be, he wouldn't wish him to fall ill.
Although both teens had to endure a life exposed to the elements, the echidna noticed at the start of winter that the cold seemed to affect Sonic more profoundly.
“Go back to bed hedgehog,” he states in a tone much gentler than intended, and even Sonic perks up in response. “You needn't be concerned. I am very tolerant of the cold.”
Knuckles half expects more retaliation, as he's prone to do so in regards to Knuckles, oftentimes out of sheer boredom, but all Sonic does is give the warrior a vaguely unconvinced look, pursuing his lips.
Maybe Sonic's more tired than he lets on. Maybe the chill of the cold season was bothering him, zapping his typical spitfire retorts.
It steels his resolve. “Go. I shall return later, as per my routine.” And with that, he returns his focus to the landscape, indirectly signifying he's closed the curtain on conversation.
A brief silence settles, before his ears pick up a low huff, and a short zip that Knuckles knows indicates the hedgehog for once heeded him.
Good, he thinks, slowly unwinding once more.
Before immediately tensing again as his vision is completely obscured by a thick fabric with a grunt of protest. He's about to shoot up to his feet; prepared for a fight before he hears
“Relax, red, it's just me again. I just brought a blanket.”
Knuckles feels his temper flare, before it's snuffed out by the significance of the gesture.
He…came back?
Knuckles maneuvers his way out of the soft , he realizes, comforter, smelling much like fresh linen, until his vision is restored, the smirking azure hedgehog settled back next to him with a blanket of his own firmly wrapped around him.
Knuckles blinks, confused.
“What are you doing?” Knuckles inquiries, more curious than bothered. “Why are you back out here?”
“As if I was just gonna leave you sitting out here in the cold with nothing,” Sonic scoffs with a flippant hand gesture “big bad echidna or not, you can still catch something out here.”
Knuckle's eyes widen at the statement. Usually, he'd bristle at the implication that he was weak, but somehow the true intention shines through.
I'm not gonna leave you sitting out here,
With nothing.
Or no one .
And Knuckles somehow, feels a bit lighter.
But why?
They sit in unexpectedly relaxed silence for a while, merely enjoying their drinks. Knuckles, growing more and more impressed that Sonic can go without talking or moving for this long; with how much kinetic energy typically courses through him.
“So, you do this everyday, huh?” Sonic finally initiates after a pregnant pause, picking up where they'd left off with ease, watching the flakes with an uncommon serenity, taking a sip of his drink.
Knuckles grunts in confirmation, gaze settling in his mug. Maybe it’s the calming effects of the tea, maybe it's the environment, maybe it's the rare quietude of the teens simply sitting companionably. No jabs, no teasing, no ribbing, no arguing.
Right now, Knuckles unwinds, and something within him peeks through a crack. Maybe, he's okay to talk to.
“I…” Knuckles starts. From his peripheral, he sees Sonic's closest ear twitch. Perhaps a sign he's listening. “I find it…helps. Clear my thoughts.” Knuckles confesses. Stilted and unnatural.
Knuckles is definitely in unfamiliar territory.
Next to him, Sonic hums in response. “ How often have you been doing this?” No judgment sharpens the edges. Just a genuine question.
Knuckles thinks back to how and when he started this. It must've started from one restless night the 6th week of his and the fox's official residency on Earth, mind swarming and overwhelmed. All the anger, fear, anxiety, distress from past battles delayed in response. Culture shock finally rearing its ugly head.
He had felt too stifled to remain inside, so he'd stumbled outside, gulping in the fresh air like a lifeline.
And it helped.
So he kept doing it.
And he hadn't informed anyone else. Hadn't wanted to.
“Since the start of my stay here.”
This makes Sonic turn his head to him, observant, but with a hint of something else in the way a light frown tugs at the corner of his mouth; imperceptible furrow in his brow.
“Oh.”
Knuckles mirrors the furrow, not knowing how to translate that muted reaction.
Is what he’s doing somehow offensive? He's still being educated in the wide expanse of Earth customs, with more to learn.
It's something considerably probable. Remembering his first few experiences with the ‘hand shake.”
“Have I done something wrong?”
Sonic jerks slightly, setting down his mug to wave his arms in a protesting gesture. “Oh! No no no, you're good, dude! Sorry I was just-” Sonic takes a second to catch his breath. “I was just thinking. I mean, I've been noticing you sneaking off super early for like, the past week now, but I didn't realize it'd been going on for that long, ya know.”
Knuckles reels back, taking in the speedster's words.
He noticed?
“You…you were aware of this…?”
Sonic looks mildly sheepish, a finger scratching his snout. “Uhhhh sorta? It's kinda hard not to hear you leaving, Knux. Plus I mean, you've been, I don't know, off, lately?” Sonic stumbles through the rest of his explanation, clearly not quite in his depth either.
Knuckles feels himself growing more confused by the second.
How has his behavior deviated from the norm? And enough so that Sonic, among anyone, would actively seek him out?
“I do not understand what you mean,” Knuckles states plainly. Never one to mince words. “What are you trying to say, hedgehog?”
“You're not… you’re not planning on leaving ?” Sonic's voice is soft, subdued…
…
“Are you?”
Knuckles pauses. Sonic's mouth snaps closed immediately, eyes growing wide.
“ …What?” Knuckles repeats. He’s having a hard time following the flow of this conversation.
And the surprise just keeps hitting Knuckles mercilessly, as he watches in real time as Sonic's face warps into something younger, more open. He is young, he realizes. Younger than him.
He's young, even past the air of confidence he wears like a well worn coat.
Past the bravado.
Past the snark and the easy breezy attitude regardless of the situation.
He's young, but he very rarely allows his walls to come down long enough for others to see this side of him.
Something he's seen in Sonic towards the Lord and Lady Wachowski when he probably thinks no one sees. Looking at them with childlike brightness. Trusting and youthful and unarmed.
The way one would look at their parents.
The way Sonic probably looked at Longclaw in the short time he spent in her care.
The way Knuckles must've looked at his own father, all those years ago.
To see such a similar expression, only significantly more frantic; a tinge fearful, directed towards him, knocks something loose. Scrappy and fiery, a snarling instinct that growls protect, protect, protect in the same way it did when Tails recounted to them one night of his upbringing; of bullies and neglect. The way the emotional torment branded into his memories at such a young age. Permanently shaping and warping his interactions and views. Protect, protect, protect.
It clashes with the mission.
A conflict of interest.
And yet… that look , undeniably takes a chisel to his stone barriers, chipping it away in chunks.
‘Perhaps your outdoor wanderings are making the hedgehog uncertain of your honesty in following through with the pact’, Knuckles rationalizes.
It would make sense with the shared history of bloodshed and pain that lay between their tribes; destroyed by the other.
Leaving them both orphaned, gaping holes in their lives that couldn't be filled throughout their young childhoods.
It would make sense considering how they initially became acquainted. Him being loyal to the wrong team, hellbent on a pursuit he thought was well-intentioned, by a well-intentioned friend, for a well-intentioned reason.
Hurting both the fox and the hedgehog who he believed to be his enemy. The universe's enemy.
A lie that he realized too late due to his naivety.
Why should Knuckles assume that he’s gained the blue blur's full trust?
There can't be another reason?
Can there?
It's only fair that Knuckles continues to rectify his wrongdoings the way he knows best. Knuckles has always been one for action, above all else.
Knuckles straightens his spine, determined and unyielding.
“Worry not hedgehog, I do not intend to leave anytime soon.” Knuckles says, firm. “I will stand by my vow. I promised you and the fox that I will guard the Emerald with you. I shall not dishonor my words by breaking it.”
I meant it, goes unsaid.
Sonic groans, cheeks puffing out before releasing. In… frustration?
Did he still not believe him?
Knuckles goes to speak once more, his own frustration creeping up his throat in a low growl before he's cut off by
“We…I… ugh we want you to just… stay Knux,” Sonic states with a tongue click.“It's not just about the Master Emerald.”
Knuckle's bewilderment must be prominent, because Sonic deflates with a sigh. Sonic's ears fall flat, heat apparently leaving as fast as it came.
Knuckles remains frozen.
“I-it just…wouldn't be the same without you around, Knux. Plus I-I mean Tails would miss you a lot and so would Tom and Maddie and Ozzie, and, uh… me. So…yeah.” Sonic trails off, arms crossing defensively around himself.
“You shouldn't leave. You're one of us now. Emerald or no Emerald. Pact or not.”
Oh.
Was that…right?
One of us.
The knots in his chest begin to unravel; the squirming discomfort in his stomach settling better than the tea could.
One of them.
Part of…Sonic's tribe?
Had he missed the part when he'd been accepted as a member?
When did that happen?
“I…one of… you?” Knuckles repeats, mostly to himself, tugging his quilt tighter; feeling smaller than even the hedgehog next to him. Sonic nods vigorously.
“I don't recall being told that I was. The fox I understand as he is young, and is in need of guardians…but I-”
“Knuckles,” Sonic held up a hand, cutting though his sentence like one of his quills. “You're young, too. You deserve- no you need a home too, just like me and Tails.”
Knuckles heart twists and jerks.
Home.
Emerald fire blazes in fierce stubbornness. Not willing to back down, just like he saw during their final battle with Robotnik.
The flames of a hero.
A fighter spirit fiercely protecting those around him.
Even from themselves.
“I know it might not feel like home yet. But we'll get there eventually. Trust me. But I'm not gonna just let you walk away from us.”
“You're not just an Emerald guardian, or an echidna warrior either. You're more than that,”
Knuckles breath hitches, and it holds there. Another brisk breeze rushes past. It gives Knuckles a good excuse to burrow slightly into himself, curling into himself like the child in him that hurts too much to acknowledge on a good day.
‘You're my big brother, Knux.” Achingly soft and young once more, it sends a punch more forceful than any physical blow. The breath he was holding, escaping in a hushed wheeze.
A big brother.
A role model.
A protector, but a different kind. One that fights for a different cause.
You're not just an Emerald guardian.
Not just an Echidnian warrior.
Knuckles clears his throat, trying to find the voice that had dwindled away in the midst of Sonic's earnest declaration.
“Is that…really how you view me, hedgehog?”
Despite everything?
“For a while now,” Sonic immediately replies, no hesitation. “I guess maybe I should've made that more clear, but I mean, I thought it'd be kinda awkward if I was just like ‘Hey Knux, is it cool if I start calling you big bro?’ out of the blue, ya know?”
Knuckles huffs in amusement, a small smile blooming on his snout, chest growing warm. It might be some time until Knuckles grows completely comfortable with the aspect of being a part of a clan after over a decade without.
But the assurance that he’s wanted? Wanted for who he is, and not simply for his skills and abilities?
It was the catalyst he didn't realize he was yearning for.
A needing to belong he tried to repress, pushing down, down, down into the dark recesses of his self doubt, of his emotional needs he thought would never be fulfilled, now exposed to the light.
And Knuckles allows it, this time.
“That would've been beneficial, actually. Say it outright.”
Sonic rolls his eyes good naturedly, bumping his shoulder into Knuckle's. “Not everyone's as painfully blunt as you are, big red.”
Knuckles lightly shoves Sonic in retaliation, snout upturned with a sniff. “They should. It's more efficient communication.”
Sonic mimics him with an exaggerated face, and Knuckles hooks his arm not too roughly around his neck as Sonic attempts to squirm away, laughing and slapping and fake apologizing. Knuckles startles at the sound of his own laugh.
“You laugh?”
Knuckles reels back, affronted.
“Of course I laugh.”
“I've never heard you laugh.”
“You have yet to do or say anything to warrant one.”
Sonic gasps dramatically.
“ Excuse, you. I am hilarious. Just ask Tails. He always laughs at my jokes!”
“The fox looks up to you more than anyone. He'll regard many things you do highly.”
“ Pssh, whatever jealous. Oh look-there he is now, let's ask him!”
The aforementioned orange fox was in the process of heading towards them, expression relieved. “There you guys are! I woke up and both of you were gone!”
The two tailed fox settles himself in between the older teens, namesakes subconsciously wrapping around them. Knuckles tucks some of his quilt around him anyway, Sonic mirroring him.
“Tails, perfect timing! Can you tell our big bro over here that I'm super funny!”
Knuckles couldn't ignore the lightness if he tried. Something snaps into place like a puzzle piece when Tails doesn't deny the placement Sonic titled him with.
“Well, I mean, Knuckles is slightly funnier...” Tails contemplates, a wickedly sweet smile and mischievous shine in those big crystal blue eyes, throwing a wink in the echidna's direction.
Knuckles throws his head back with a triumphant bark of a laugh. “You were saying, hedgehog?”
“Tails, you traitor!”
And as they continue to banter, up until Lord Wachowski wakes, and wrangles them inside to warm up while Lady Wachowski fixes them breakfast, Knuckles notices that the indescribable distance has significantly shortened.
He will not leave.
And not solely because he's got an important gem to keep out of harm's way.
He catches Sonic's eye from his spot at the table as the food spread gets set out.
He smiles at him. The same bright one he's seen given his guardians.
A twin look, admiring and bright, that Tails has given Sonic.
The one Tails gave him as he swung the small child over his shoulder, giggling and carefree.
You're my big brother.
No, Knuckles will not leave.
He's got a pair of younger siblings to protect too, after all.