Work Text:
We’re A Pusheen Family
“Where are we going, Papa?” Faith held Shadow’s hand as they walked down the streets of Station Square.
“To the Promised Land, sweetheart.” Shadow smiled, his ruby eyes shining and a spring in his step.
“Sort of a Promised Land to cat lovers, kiddo.” Sonic giggled over how excited his husband was.
Faith tilted her head to the side, wondering where they were going. All she knew was that it was going to be a big surprise and it was related to cats – her Papa’s favorite animal. After a while, they arrived at a two-story building painted teal and pink. Her eyes widened as she saw what looked like hundreds of fluffy and squishy-looking gray cat plushies dressed up in pretty costumes peering out from the windows.
“Kitties!” Faith squealed, hopping up and down as they got in line.
“Those kitties are called Pusheens, sweetheart. Pusheen is one of my favorite cat characters ever. And this,” Shadow waved to the storefront with a flourish. “is the Pusheen Café!”
“They all look so cute!” Faith giggled, stars in her eyes, as she posed next to the wall artwork depicting Pusheen, Stormy, Pip, Cheek, Sloth, and Bo while Shadow took pictures. Sonic chuckled at the adorable sight. He knew that Shadow had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to introduce Faith to the world of Pusheen ever since they adopted her a few months ago. Approximately a month after they adopted her, Shadow came home from a freelance mission with Team Dark and showed Sonic an announcement of the opening of a new Pusheen Café on his phone, declaring that they were going to bring Faith there on opening day.
Knowing his husband’s love for the cute tabby cat, Sonic agreed. Now here they were, lined up with fellow Pusheen lovers. Shadow had a backpack on him and, after taking all the cute pictures of Faith with the characters, pulled out his Tiramisu Squisheen plush – a gift Sonic gave to him during their honeymoon.
“Papa, she’s your favorite dessert!” Faith accepted the plushie and gave it a cuddle. “Teehee! She’s squishy!” she squealed as she hugged Tiramisu Squisheen.
“When we get inside, we can go find some Pusheen friends of your own, sweetheart,” Shadow promised, his heart bursting with love at the sweet sight of his daughter hugging his favorite plushie.
Twenty minutes later, the Pusheen Café opened its doors and the Robotnik-Hedgehog family entered. Inside, the café was decorated in pretty pastel shades of pink and teal with the walls covered in snowflakes and more artwork of Pusheen and friends enjoying all dressed up in cute winter wear with ice cream cones and hot chocolates.
And the merch! By Chaos, the merch section was enough for Shadow and Faith’s jaws to simultaneously drop. There were bags, clothes, mugs, stationery, and what looked like a hundred variety of Pusheen plushies.
Sonic noticed Shadow pulling out his wallet and gently placed a hand on his husband’s shoulder.
“Babe, I love you’re enjoying this with our little girl. But we are not buying one of everything, okay?” he reminded the black hedgehog in a gentle but firm tone.
“What makes you think I want to get everything?” Shadow looked askance and tried to hide the fact that he’d already pulled out his credit card.
“Lucky guess. If we’re not careful, we’ll have an army of Pusheens taking over the house,” Sonic said with a fond roll of his eyes.
“My kind of invasion, if you ask me, but alright,” Shadow sighed and handed Sonic his credit card for safekeeping. “Can we get three kinds of merch, at least?” He smiled hopefully at his husband, giving him his best puppy eyes impression.
“Please, Dad?” Faith joined him, her merlot eyes big and shiny.
“Oh, no. Double puppy eyes! My one… weakness…!” Sonic made a show of looking agonized as he pretended to mull it over. Finally, with a dramatic sigh, he said, “I can’t say no to such adorable faces. I concede.”
“Yay!” Both Faith and Shadow cheered.
Taking their seats, the little family of three decided to order some food first from the café menu. Seeing that it was November and the chill was beginning to settle in, they all ordered three Purrfect Hot Chocolates to warm up.
“Awww, Pusheen and her siblings like hot chocolate too,” Faith cooed and carefully pocketed the paper cutout of the three cats cuddled together with a steaming mug of hot chocolate. She took the tiny biscuit with Pusheen stamped onto it and dipped it into the fluffy mound of whipped cream dotted with marshmallows and heart-shaped sprinkles and took a bite. “Mmmmm!”
They ordered more food and took the time to appreciate the cuteness.
Sonic ordered the Blueberry Blizzard Waffle which included a waffle drizzled with white and milk chocolate syrup and topped with fresh blueberries, fruit chocolate pearls, bon bons, a scoop of blueberry-infused ice cream, and whipped cream along with a blueberry lollipop, a sprig of mint, and a paper cutout of Pusheen dressed up like a snowman.
“Their new holiday menu’s really good,” he remarked as he took a bite of his waffle.
Shadow got the Gingerbread Crunch Sundae that had scoops of vanilla, chocolate, and gingerbread ice cream topped with edible gold pearls, caramel sauce, chocolate drops, a gingerbread cookie, and a paper cutout of Pusheen eating a gingerbread man.
“So good…” Shadow mumbled, saving the gingerbread cookie for last as he sampled the gingerbread ice cream.
Faith clapped her hands with delight when her Frosty Fruit Sundae arrived. “It’s so pretty!” she gushed, admiring the beautifully-constructed confection of vanilla, raspberry, and strawberry ice cream, strawberry syrup, pink chocolate pearls, white chocolate shavings, edible pink glitter, cherries, bananas, sliced strawberries, and two strawberry Pocky sticks all crowned with a paper Pusheen dressed in a pink sweater, one teal hat on her left ear, and holding a strawberry in her paws.
It was absolute sugary heaven for the two hedgehogs and the little tenrec as they ate and watched Pusheen’s ChaoTube videos on Sonic’s phone. Every now and then, other customers passed by to greet the Robotnik-Hedgehogs. Out of respect for Faith’s privacy, they didn’t ask for pictures, which Sonic and Shadow appreciated.
When they finished eating, Sonic watched with amusement as Shadow and Faith sped over to the merch section.
‘They’re like me when I see free chili dogs,’ he thought and joined them in browsing through the merch.
Sonic grabbed a Gaming Pusheen Hoodie, a Pusheen with Rainbow plushie, and matching Pusheen and Stormy Best Friends Bracelets for him and Shadow.
“Look, babe. You can be Pusheen and I’ll be Stormy,” Sonic told his husband, lovingly placing the Pusheen bracelet around his husband’s right wrist under his inhibitor ring.
“Thank you, my love,” Shadow chuckled. For himself, he got a Biscuit Baker Pusheen plushie, a Pusheen Reusable bag with a keychain plush, and a set of The Crème Shop x Pusheen Sheet Masks for his 20-step skincare routine.
“They have a Strawberry Pusheen that smells like strawberries!” Faith cheered, holding up said plushie with glee.
“What else do you want, sweetheart?” Shadow asked her.
“This and that one and that one over there, please!” Faith hugged the Strawberry Squisheen and pointed to the Pusheen Tea Time Mug and a Pusheen Coloring Book.
Sonic and Shadow paid for the merch and took one last photo together. Just as they were about to leave, the café manager – a gray tabby cat with blue eyes – approached them.
“Thank you so much for visiting the Pusheen Café, Mr. Robotnik-Hedgehogs. Before you go, we’d like to give you something we’ll be releasing soon,” said the manager with a wink and handed Sonic and Shadow three boxes decorated with the Pusheen logo.
“Oh, freebies. Thank you, ma’am. You’re too kind,” Sonic replied, looking at Shadow, who looked curious.
“What’s in them?” Faith tapped one of the boxes.
“It’s a surprise that I hope you’ll all enjoy. For privacy, best to open the boxes at home,” the manager advised them.
Leaving the Pusheen Café, Sonic, Shadow, and Faith had their fun guessing what was inside their freebie boxes. When they arrived home, they put their merch haul and paper cutouts together and sat in the living room with their unopened freebie boxes.
“Three… Two… One… Let’s open them!” Shadow declared and then he, his husband, and their daughter opened their boxes together.
“Oh… My… Chaos…” Sonic gasped as he pulled out a Pusheen designed to look like him with a winky face and a gold ring held in its paws.
Shadow stared at his own Pusheen, which had the green Chaos Emerald and red stripes like his, unable to believe that he was actually holding one made in his image.
“Pinch me. I must be dreaming…” he whispered.
Faith responded in kind by gently pinching Shadow’s cheeks before noticing something in her parents’ boxes.
“Dad, Papa, you guys got letters,” she pulled out two sheets of paper stamped with the Pusheen logo. On each one read:
To Mr. Robotnik-Hedgehog,
With gratitude from the Pusheen the Cat family, we would like you two to be the first to have the new plushies for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog x Pusheen collaboration collection set to release next year. We hope you enjoy giving your new Pusheen Sonic and Pusheen Shadow all the love and cuddles.
Sincerely,
Pusheen the Cat and Friends
“How much do you think the Internet will blow up if we posted a picture of these on social media?” Sonic asked, giving his Pusheen a squeeze.
“#1 Trending on all platforms within 24 hours. Though, maybe we should call Pusheen’s representatives to see when they want to post an official announcement,” Shadow replied, unable to take his off what he now mentally deemed “The Ultimate Pusheen.”
“Your Pusheen selves are so cute,” Faith giggled and opened her box, thinking she’d get her own Dad or Papa Pusheen.
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkk! It’s a Pusheen Me!”
Faith couldn’t stop squealing with joy as she pulled out a little Pusheen version of herself with curved lavender markings around her eyes and adorable teal and copper plush gloves around her tiny legs. She looked into the box and found a letter addressed to her from Pusheen herself, complete with a cute paw print signature.
Hi Faith!
My friends and I made this Faith Pusheen just for you. You’re the only one who’ll ever have this one because she’s one-of-a-kind just like you. I hope Faith Pusheen will be very happy with Sonic Pusheen and Shadow Pusheen.
From,
Pusheen the Cat
“Dad! Papa! We’re a Pusheen family!” Faith giggled as she placed her Pusheen between her parents’ Pusheens.
“That we are, kiddo. That we are.” Sonic grinned and kissed Shadow on his cheek. “What do you think, babe? Best day ever?”
“I’m sure we’ll have more best days.” Shadow smiled warmly at his husband as they watched their little girl play with their Pusheens. “But I think today’s the best one so far,” he admitted.
“Thank you for introducing me to Pusheen, Papa. This was the best day ever!” Faith cheered, skipping over to Shadow to give him and Sonic hugs.
“I’m very happy you like Pusheen, sweetheart. I’m glad I get to share my favorite things in the world with my two most favorite people,” Shadow murmured, gently pressing his forehead to Faith’s, the little tenrec purring softly in return.
“You guys wanna play with our new Pusheen pals before dinner?” Sonic held up his Pusheen. “Might as well give them a tour of their new home,” he suggested.
“Yes!” Faith cheered and picked up Faith Pusheen and her Strawberry Squisheen. “Let’s give them a tour starting with my room,” she said and led her Dad and Papa on a special tour adventure for their Pusheens.
A few months later, the announcement of the new Sonic the Hedgehog x Pusheen collaboration came out in the form of an adorable photo of Sonic, Shadow, and Faith cuddled together with their respective Pusheens.
The announcement noted that the Faith Pusheen would not be for sale as it was for one Faith Tenrec-Hedgehog only. But, despite that caveat, every Pusheen fan agreed that this was one of the best collabs they’ve ever seen.