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On occasion, Sonic has nightmares. Unfortunately for the blue blur, they’ve only become more frequent after his second encounter with Robotnik. Most of the time, his nightmares are about Robotnik or his agent, Stone. And most of the time, Sonic wakes with a start, anticipating the duos return. But it never happens. And not only that, but Tails and Knuckles do not know of Sonics nightly dreams.
However it is only inevitable they find out.
Knuckles awakes to the sound of rustling. He’s always been a light sleeper, but even more so after recent events. He isn’t sure what the source of the sound is, looking intently at the room before him. Knuckles is about to drift off again, into a dreamless sleep when he hears a quiet whimper.
First, he looks to the fox, studying the lump buried under blankets carefully. There seems to be no signs of distress coming from Tails, so next he looks to the race car bed. A head of blue sticks out from under the covers, tossing from side to side. The sound of rustling reaches his ears again and Knuckles watches as Sonic shifts.
Sonic whimpers again, muttering too fast for anyone to understand. Knuckles watches with bated breath before he rises from the beanbag he’d fell asleep on. Slowly and carefully, he makes his way over to the side of Sonics bed.
“Hedgehog?” Knuckles whispers and reaches a hand out to shake his shoulder gently. His hand almost touches the blue fur when Sonic jolts violently. Knuckles flinches back at the out of character reaction.
Knuckles blinks and Sonic stares at him with wide eyes, breathing uneven and ragged. He squeezes his eyes shut and breathes deeply before opening them. Sonic tilts his head in confusion when he sees Knuckles staring at him in concern.
“Um..Knux?” Sonic asks uncertainly.
“Hedgehog! Are you well?” Knuckles asks, slowly inching his way onto the edge of Sonics bed. Once he sits by his feet, he acknowledges the way Sonics hands are shaking.
The blue hedgehogs reaction is instant. He shudders, leaving his body feeling cold all over. His hands shake just a bit faster. He feels the thrum of electricity just under his skin, ready to burst and bounce around. Sonic, though, is absolutely exhausted.
Sonic yawns and sits up, despite wanting to cuddle up in his blankets and ignore Knuckles’ questions. He rubs his eyes absentmindedly. “Yeah, jus’ a bad dream.”
Knuckles nods and crawls a bit closer. “Ah, nightly terrors. Would you like to speak about it?” He wrings his hands together, fidgeting with his gloves. Sonic holds his tongue and resists the urge to cuddle up against Knuckles, falling asleep on him. He’s not sure the echidna would appreciate not being able to move much.
“No..thanks for the offer, though.” Sonic scratches an itch at his neck awkwardly even as Knuckles’s eyes do not leave him. It makes Sonics own turn away from the echidna. “Could you..come here?” Sonic requests quietly, shifting over and patting the spot next to him.
Knuckles only nods again and moves to sit next to Sonic on his bed. Once the echidna is seated comfortably, Sonic takes the chance to lean his head against Knuckles’ shoulder. Knuckles tenses, but forces his shoulder which Sonic rests upon to not hike up to the side of his head like the other one had.
It doesn’t do much, though, because Sonic catches on. “‘S okay..you can relax, big guy.”
With that being said, Knuckles lets out a sigh and all of the tension in his body fades. He even dares to lean his head on top of Sonics and pulls him a little closer. Eventually, they both fall asleep again, under the covers and completely tangled in each other. Sonic is unsurprised to find that Knuckles is incredibly warm and leans into the newfound heat.
The very next night, Tails is restless. He can’t seem to find a comfortable spot or seem to wind down at all. But then lightning crackles and thunder booms. Tails jumps at the sound. Somehow, Knuckles and Sonic stay asleep. Tails wishes he were one of them because he hates thunderstorms. He curls up into a ball and tries to ignore it. (Which is proved to actually be difficult.)
Tails stays like that until something shiny catches his eye. He slowly gets up to inspect it.
For the next hour or so, Tails snoops around the attic. He finds Sonics collection of various different hats, trying all of them on. He also tests all the different type of ball Sonic has, from a football to a tennis ball. In the background, Sonics signs of distress go completely unnoticed.
That is, until, he sits bolt upright in his bed. Sonics breathing is fast and shallow, which Tails’ ears twitch at, making him turn around. Sonic groans and holds his head in his hands, forcing himself to calm down.
“Sonic?” Tails asks cautiously, slowly moving towards the race car bed. He reaches out to touch Sonics arm, but before they even make contact, Sonic flings himself across his bed. He stares at Tails from his position furthest away from him with wide eyes. Tails stares back at him with fear, confusion and worry.
“Sorry..” Sonic says, shaking his head. “Tails? What’re you doing up?”
Tails blinks once, twice, three times. “Oh! I was just uhm—“ Lightning crackles and thunder booms, making Tails jump. He ends up on the foot of Sonics bed, almost clinging onto him for comfort before realising his mistake. “Ah! I didn’t—“
Sonic tilts his head. “You’re scared. Come here, bud.” He makes grabby hands at Tails, gesturing for him to come closer.
Carefully, Tails crawls closer to Sonic before he is enveloped in warm, safe arms. Sonic gently lays back down, pulling the covers over them as he goes. Tails finds himself leaning into the easy comfort.
“You know, I still have nightmares.” Sonic whispers to Tails in the darkness.
Tails shifts, turning around to face Sonic. “Really?” He asks with hopeful eyes.
Sonic nods. “Mhm. Before you guys came along, I went to Tom about them after I woke up. He would either make us both hot chocolate and we’d watch movies until we fell asleep or he’d smuggle me into his and Maddie’s bed for the night. After finding out I like to be held, hot chocolate and movie nights became rare.”
Tails’ eyes widen. “Woah! Do you think if I went to Tom about a nightmare he would act the same way for me?” He really can’t help asking.
Sonic gives him a quizzical look before shaking his head. “Of course he would, bud! Tom is the best.” Sonic says, breaking off into a yawn. Tails quickly follows suit. “I think it’s time we get to sleep.”
Tails nods and settles down, Sonic not far behind. “Goodnight Sonic.”
Sonic yawns again. “Night Tails.” He mumbles as he gets comfy, pulling the fox a little closer. Eventually, their arms are wrapped around each other and they’re cuddled closely. The warmth of one another chases off Sonics nightmares and Tails fear of the storm, leaving them both to a peaceful sleep.