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Knuckles stood completely frozen in front of Sonic, holding a very important item in his hand that he intended to give to him. Unfortunately, he found himself hesitating for a period of time that even he could tell was far from socially acceptable.
The whole was absolutely ridiculous. Knuckles the Echidna, the last of his clan and guardian of the Master Emerald, was currently getting brought down to his knees by something as silly and mundane as a love confession. He probably would have been laughing at such a thing once upon a time, blissfully unaware that it would become his depressing reality in the near future.
What would his clan think of him now? To get beaten down by inconsequential feelings would probably be seen as a pathetic weakness at best. He would never hear the end of it.
Fortunately, Knuckles was spared from digging himself into a deeper hole of self-deprecation by the blue hedgehog in front of him.
“Yo, Knux,” Sonic said, snapping Knuckles back to reality, “You gonna tell me why I’m here, or what?”
“Yes, yes!” Knuckles exclaimed, trying (and failing) to ‘keep his cool’—he was still getting used to these alleged “figures of speech” Tails had told him about, “I-I had a gif-” No! Gift sounds too intimate, “Er, I have a, uh, piece of paper with writing I would like to share with you!”
Well, that wasn’t particularly eloquent.
“Okay then,” Sonic replied, “Sooooo, let’s see it.”
Without missing a beat, Knuckles pulled out the note he had crafted especially for the situation, holding it out in front of Sonic. Just like he’d practiced a dozen times before.
“So, what happened after that?” Rouge asked.
Knuckles grimaced as he was once again forced to process the very disgraceful memory. Rouge had come to Angel Island a few days after his meeting with Sonic, desperate to hear all the ‘deets’ about how their encounter had gone. Having to be reminded of his embarrassing failure once again was far from a pleasant experience.
“He took the note, and he read it,” Knuckles explained. “But… I don’t think he understood the full meaning.”
“Hmm, how so?”
“Well, uh, whenever I get nervous, I have a habit of making my writing more… formal, as a way to make the process easier.”
“Oh, please,” Rouge teased. “It couldn’t have been that bad, could it?”
Once again, Knuckles cringed as he was reminded of the very humbling experience that was hearing his own writing. A small part of him considered just lying to save whatever was left of his dignity, but improv on the spot had never been the echidna’s strong suit, and his chances of success were less than impressive. Seeing no other way out of this, Knuckles heaved a sigh of resignation as he recited the letter word for word.
Dear, Sonic the Hedgehog
I am addressing you in this note because I want to show my complete fondness for your efforts. I have been pondering for a long time how much I appreciate you, and have finally made the decision to detail my thoughts. With your great personality, admirable values, and amazing feats, you have proven yourself worthy of my attention, and I only hope that I prove myself worthy of yours. I hope that we can meet more frequently in the future.
Best regards,
Knuckles.
Rouge stood back with an expression that revealed a mix of aversion and apathy. “Okay,” she commented after a few moments, “Not exactly the short and sweet romance I was hoping for there.”
Knuckles still wasn’t the best at picking up on ‘social cues’, but he had a sneaking suspicion that she was putting it as kindly as possible for his sake.
After a while, Rouge perked up and said, “No matter, you don’t always knock it out of the park on your first try,” she moved to address Knuckles, “After that first…attempt, you’ve figured out that you get stressed talking to Big Blue. What exactly do you like to do to de-stress?”
“Sparring,” Knuckles responded matter-of-factly, “I like being able to punch something. It helps me calm down.”
“Of course you do,” Rouge muttered under her breath, “Well then, how about it? You bring in Sonic for a nice little sparring session, then once you’ve gotten all that stress out, you go in for the big guns.”
“Um, I’m not sure about this plan, Rouge. What if something goes wrong?”
“Have you forgotten who you’re talking to?” Rouge chuckled, “Honey, I’ve had plenty of experience with matchmaking in my day, trust me when I say you’re in good hands,” a small smirk formed on her face, “Besides, we both know that I’m all you’ve got when it comes to an endeavor like this.”
“Wha…t-that’s a complete lie!”
“Is it really? You’d either be going to me, or that large gem over there.”
Knuckles simmered in barely concealed anger, wondering not for the first time why he’d decided on asking Rouge of all people for help with this, yet finding the answer to that question in the exact same breath.
The only other entity he would have trusted with this information wouldn’t even be able to answer back…
Sonic slid away from the incoming boulder that had been hurling towards him, putting his focus back onto his sparring partner, Knuckles.
The two of them had been going at it for a good while now, and were reaching something of an impasse, though it certainly wouldn’t stay that way for long.
Still, usually one of them would have edged out by now, and Sonic usually had to play much smarter with his moves than he currently was. Knuckles seemed kinda distracted today. In fact, he’d been acting pretty odd all week. It was something that worried him a little, but he chalked it up to some minor issue Knuckles probably didn’t want to talk about for the time being.
Even with his growing exhaustion, Sonic still had the energy to taunt his opponent. “Not bad, but as usual, you’re lacking the brains that are supposed to come with the brawns, Knucklehead!”
As expected, he could see Knuckles in the distance flinching from the retort, but he also could have sworn that he saw him… blushing?
Huh, maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Not wanting to think on it for any longer, Sonic curled up into his trademark ball shape and pushed himself straight towards Knuckles. He felt himself make contact, and continued to move through the landscape until he came to an abrupt stop. Without warning, he was suddenly lifted off the ground, and eventually uncurled to find himself in Knuckles’ grasp, clearly having stopped him in the middle of his attack.
Knuckles moved to throw Sonic to the ground, but Sonic moved in before he could make his move. He gave Knuckles a hard punt in the chest, which wasn’t enough to knock him down, but enough to weaken the echidna’s grip and allow him to slip away. As he landed back on the ground, he threw out another kick to Knuckles’ chest, this time succeeding in pushing him to the ground.
As his opponent fell in devastating defeat, Sonic went over to stand in front of him, more than eager to bask in his victory. “Heh, looks like I’ll be putting another one in the win column.”
Strangely, Knuckles didn’t even seem a tad bit annoyed at his statement. A smile formed on his face as he responded, “You sure will be. Good match.”
“Really? That’s it?” Sonic asked in bewilderment. “Usually you’re all gung-ho about taking the victory, and you hate losing. What happened to the sore loser Knux I used to know?”
“Not all of us can stay hung up on the statistics of a single sparing session, Sonic.”
“Woah, I see Tails has been giving you quite the colorful vocabulary, hasn’t he?” Sonic chuckled to himself. “Whatever. Let me help you up, alright?”
As he bent down towards Knuckles’ level, he was quick to lend out one of his hands, which the echidna quickly accepted. After getting back to their feet, Sonic failed to realize just how close he had gotten to Knuckles until he noticed his face shifting to a deep red.
“Hey, uh, you good dude?” Sonic asked in concern. “You seem all flustered right now.”
“Y-yeah, never been better,” Knuckles quickly responded, a lie that Sonic was easily able to spot. “I was just thinking that, er, I… you… we, uh…I really,” he continued to stammer for a few moments before finally taking a deep breath and spouting out, “I-think-you’re-really-cool-thanks-for-the-sparing-match-bye!!!”
With that, Knuckles quickly let go of Sonic’s hand (seeming like he just realized he was still holding on to it) and briskly walked away from the scene, leaving an incredibly bewildered hedgehog behind in his tracks.
Just what the heck was that all about?
“And so you ran off just like that?” Rouge asked the echidna, once again back on Angel Island.
“I-I just panicked, okay?!” Knuckles replied defensively. “It all just started feeling too real. Like I was putting my life on the line. I couldn’t go through with it. I just couldn’t.”
“You know, I’d probably be annoyed by the circles this whole thing was going in under normal circumstances, but seeing you get all worked up like this is far too amusing.”
“Yeah, yeah, keep laughing, Bat Lady,” Knuckles sulked. “You’ve got any more bright ideas that’ll end up falling flat on my face?”
“Well, since you asked so politely,” Rouge started, donning a mischievous grin that made Knuckles incredibly concerned for where he would find himself in the next few moments. “If you’re not going to willingly spill your lovestruck secret, I figure we just get it to come out by force.”
“Um… what do you mean by that?”
“Why don’t we bring Sonic over to you? Tell him upfront that there’s something you have to tell him, something so important that you can’t wait any longer.”
“Wha… I just…,” Knuckles stammered, caught wildly off guard by the inane suggestion this bat had somehow dredged out from her mind. “Are you crazy!? There is no way I’m doing that!”
“Good. Sonic should be here in a few moments.”
This time, Knuckles had the overwhelming urge to crawl away in a nice little cave and live out the rest of his days isolated from any and all human interaction. At least that would be more bearable than the absolute dumpster fire his life was about to become.
Surely this had to be some sort of sick joke from Rouge, right?
“...You… you have to be joking, right?” Knuckles asked, desperately seeking an answer to his previous question.
“Nope. I told Sonic to come over here a little bit ago. Should be arriving any moment now.”
“H-how did you even know that your last plan failed?”
“Let’s just say I have an intuition for these things,” Rouge replied with a wink.
Knuckles felt a painful headache coming as he tried to keep himself from fainting. “Listen, Rouge, you have to call this off. There’s no way I’m gonna be able to deal with this right now.”
Rouge was about to reply, but stopped herself as she shifted her attention to an incoming shape in the distance. “Well, look who it is.”
Knuckles almost couldn’t bring himself to look—he already knew who he’d find making his way towards Angel Island—but against his better judgment, he stole a quick glance that quickly confirmed his suspicions; It was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog.
“I guess that’s my cue to leave,” Rouge said beside him. I’ll let you two lovebirds talk things out alone.”
“No, wait!” Knuckles started to call, but he turned to see that Rouge was already making her exit, of course moving in the opposite direction that Sonic was coming from.
Oh the things he would do once he got his hands on her-
The echidna was interrupted in his ruminating by the appearance of a familiar blue hedgehog, making his way up to the island in his ball shape.
As Sonic finally landed, he uncurled and turned towards Knuckles. “Hey, Knux! Uh, Rouge told me that there was something super important you had to talk to me about. So… what’s up?”
Unbeknownst to the hedgehog, Knuckles was currently in the middle of a nervous breakdown. For the briefest of seconds, he’d forgotten how to compose coherent sentences, and was mainly focusing on keeping his breathing in check. In and out. In and out.
Eventually, he managed to take a deep breath to steady his thoughts, and finally began to speak. “Okay, so… yes. Rouge did, uh, she did indeed call you here today,” he took a short pause, “And the reason that she, uh, sent you to me is because…,” he hesitated, resolve crumbling as he continued to stare at Sonic.
He was the guardian of the Master Emerald, he had to act like it. It was time to stop stalling and get it over with.
At last, Knuckles shifted his gaze away from Sonic and was finally able to continue. “She sent you here because there’s something I have to tell you.”
“Well then, let me have it I guess,” Sonic responded, clearly a bit put off by his friend’s strange behavior.
“I’ve recently been struggling with some complicated feelings for… for,” even now, Knuckles struggled to get the words out of his mouth. “... Feelings for someone that I know.”
That’s it. He would dance around the issue, try to build up the courage before finally admitting it.
“I haven’t told them because I was scared of how they would react, but it’s not something I can just ignore, you know? I-I care about them a lot, more than I think I should. They’ve done a lot for me, and I really appreciate them for it. They’re one of my best friends, but I… I want to be more than that.”
He tried to steal a glance towards Sonic to gauge his reaction, but he couldn’t manage it. “I’ve been trying to find a way to tell them, but I keep on getting worked up over nothing and backing out. It’s just so ridiculous. With all the shit I have to deal with, I shouldn’t be so worried about this one simple thing, but I am,” he took another pause before continuing, now starting to ramble, “So I asked Rouge for some help, and then one thing led to another, and then she set up this situation that I really did not like but I have to deal with anyway, and now I have to-”
“Knuckles,” Sonic interrupted, “Are you trying to tell me you’re in love with me?”
Knuckles only winced at the question. But then, it was obvious, wasn’t it? He couldn’t have made it more obvious if he tried.
“...Yes, I am,” he said slowly.
There it was. Out in the open for his worst fears to come to light.
“Huh,” Sonic muttered. A smile formed on his face as he said, “So then, when are we having the first date? I’d be fine with hanging out here if that’s-”
“Sonic, I am not in the mood for your jokes!” Knuckles snapped back angrily. Was it not enough for him to be quietly rejected? Did Sonic really need to rub more salt in the chaos-forsaken wound?
“Whaddaya mean?” Sonic questioned, “I mean, I know I’m new to the whole dating scene, but you should know there are some things I take seriously.”
“But, what do you mean…,” Knuckles started, taking a while to fully put the pieces together. When his brain finally caught up with itself, he was hit with a sudden wave of dizziness, almost refusing to believe the currently transpiring course of events. “You’re…you’re seriously up for this?”
“I mean, yeah,” Sonic smirked. “Did you think you were the only one who could catch feelings here?”
“Seriously, if this is just one big joke, I will send you flying off this island.”
“Knuckles, I can assure you that this is not a joke,” Sonic said defensively. His tone shifted to one of sincerity as he continued. “I mean, we spend a lot of time hanging out together, we both seem to find comfort in just being around each other, and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve come to visit you on Angel Island. Heck, I didn’t think you would take me seriously when I suggested that you think of me when staring at the moon, and yet you actually do it. It’s honestly really flattering,” he paused and shifted to stroke his neck, “Is it really that hard to believe that I might want to go further than just friends?”
“When then, why didn’t you say anything before?” Knuckles asked.
“Was I seriously supposed to believe that the stoic Knuckles the Echidna would be up for a romance?”
“Was I supposed to believe that Sonic the Hedgehog of all people would be ready to slow down and get together with me?”
“Touché,” Sonic admitted, “But to answer your question: No, I am not joking, and I would indeed be up for dating the stoic Knuckles the Echidna,” He slumped his shoulders as he continued, “And I would also be up for doing anything he suggests. Because Chaos, today has been extremely boring up until now.”
“Well, I don’t have any exciting plans, so I guess we could just sit here and talk, if that’s okay.”
“You know, I think I’d like that,” Sonic affirmed, flashing a genuine smile at his now-boyfriend, Knuckles.
And so… they did.
In that time, Knuckles made a mental note to thank Rouge for her services later.