Archive of Our Own

"No...no..."

Those soft mutters came out of Kit's mouth as he was laying asleep in bed.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..."

The mutters ratcheted up in intensity; coupled together with him uttering subtle, distressed whimpers and his limbs moving around somewhat.

"I'll do better, I promise..."

His whole body gradually began tossing and turning, his whimpering got louder little by little.

Suddenly, his eyes shot wide open and he let out a horrified gasp. He raised his body up and immediately began looking around frenetically. Out of instinct, he also patted his hands across his head, face and even briefly on his neck.

Upon recognizing his surrounding, Kit let out one long shuddered breath of air and buried his face into his hands.

"Not another one..." He said softly following a similarly quiet groan.

The "another one" in question was a nightmare and as implied, it wasn't the first one he had experienced in recent days. There were two other instances he had nightmares within that timeframe and at first he'd been willing to dismiss them as being by and large one-offs where overt concern wasn't warranted.

But having one for the third time now...it did rattle the young fennec to a good degree. The events which occurred within were bad enough, but it was one particularly alarming detail in this instance that really shook him more so than before.

At the present moment, Kit felt torn over what to do. Given he was still exhausted, the instinctive act of trying to get back to sleep was the first thing that came to mind.

He sighed heavily in an attempt to calm his nerves, then he laid back down and tried returning to slumber. But seconds passed by and then turned into minutes. A sense of dread over both thinking he'll relieve the nightmare upon drifting back to sleep plus contemplating any potential real world connotations gleamed from it proved persistent and was keeping him awake.

After another stretch of time elapsed without sleeping, Kit sighed again and sat up once more. There was only one other option springing to mind which he hoped would bring him some level of relief: his companion, Surge.

But whether or not she'd be willing to give him the chance to express himself on the matter at this late hour, let alone if she'd actually help him out in any way, was another question altogether.

Nevertheless, Kit figured he had no other choice remaining. He brought himself back up, got out of bed, and began making the trek out the room he'd been staying in and over to the one where Surge was.

Midway through, Kit took a pause as he heard a distant, prolonged rumble of thunder make its presence known. The likelihood of an oncoming storm made the fennec all the more thankful that he and Surge were lucky enough to have found an abandoned, sparsely furnished but otherwise sturdy cabin to seek shelter in for the evening.

Eventually, Kit arrived at the doorway to Surge's room. He peered gently in to see her laying down, facing away from him and seemingly asleep. It was seeing her like this that caused doubts within him in disturbing her at this moment and gave second thought to just simply trudging through the rest of the night on his own.

Still, he made it thus far and the part that wanted any reprieve he could get was winning out. He stepped further into the room and quietly got closer over to her.

"What are you doing here?" Surge suddenly spoke up.

Kit let out a startled gasp and he almost stumbled backwards upon hearing her speak. Another round of thunder right as that occurred didn't exactly help his nerves in being raised back up again.

"H-how did you know I was here?" He asked after steadying himself. "Did I wake you up somehow? I'm s-sorry if I did."

"Eh, I was kinda already awake anyway and just sort of sensed you were here," Surge responded, still not facing in Kit's direction. "Been having some stuff in my mind that's keeping me up and this thunder isn't doing wonders either."

"Oh..." Kit simply muttered.

"But that's beside the point. Again, what are you doing here?" Surge reiterated. "There better be a good reason...or at the very least a reason at all, so spill it."

Taking a couple of seconds to gather himself, Kit approached closer and sat down on the side of the bed opposite of Surge.

"Well...I had bit of a nightmare..." He began explaining.

"A nightmare? That's it? That's what you felt the need to tell me?" Surge said somewhat dismissively. "Big deal. Everyone has nightmares, right?"

"I-I...I guess so..." Kit agreed meekly. "But...it's what happened in it that kinda scared me. Specifically...since it did involve you."

As he mentioned that part, Kit felt the bed shifting a little. He looked over behind him and saw that Surge had rolled over to now face in his direction. He waited to see if she was going to say anything in response, but didn't do so. With that, he turned further towards her and continued.

"We were fighting Sonic and Tails once again. I don't remember every single detail, but something went horribly wrong and we ended up fleeing the scene. Afterwards, you got seriously mad, including at me, and then...and then that's when I woke up."

As he wrapped up recounting events, Kit observed a quick change in Surge's expression. She appeared to have a look that was generally nonplussed.

"And...that's it?" Surge asked.

"Y-yeah..." Kit hesitantly said. "And now I'm having kind of a hard time going back to sleep, so..."

A bit of an awkward pause went by as Kit awaited any reaction from Surge.

After a few more seconds, she rolled back around again facing away from him.

"All right, whatever..." Surge said after a brief sigh.

"Huh?" Kit softly inquired, slightly turning his head in confusion. "W-what do you mean by that?"

"I meant, yes, you can stay here if you must," Surge clarified. "Seems pretty obvious that's what you want."

"Really? Are sure you'd be okay with that?"

"Yes."

"For certain? I don't want it to be bothersome to you or anything."

"It won't. The only thing that's bothering me now is you thinking it'll be bothersome."

"But I-"

"Kit, enough already!" Surge growled, then let out another sigh. "It's late, I'd like to try to get some shuteye again and I don't want to keep going back and forth with you over this. So just get on board and go to sleep."

Not wanting to get on her nerves any more than he feels like he has already done so, Kit obliged and climbed into bed. He thought for a fleeting moment about shuffling over close enough so that he could just about barely lean his back against Surge's own for additional support, but decided against it as he assumed she'd object to it based on her mood just now.

Nevertheless, he tried getting into a comfortable enough position and hoped that Surge's presence would be enough to help him sleep through the rest of the night without experiencing another nightmare.

As Kit did his best in returning to slumber, Surge in the meantime was having her own difficulties doing the same. She softly tapped her fingertips on the mattress and let out yet another sigh.

Eventually though after a couple of minutes and despite the thunder outside, she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

"Mmm..."

That small groan uttered came from Kit as he was also gently rolling around. Slowly but surely, he began to open his eyes and the first thing that caught his drowsy attention was his surroundings bathed in a greyish colour. Further confusion arose when he noticed the bed he's laying on looked somewhat unfamiliar.

"Huh? Where I am...?" He muttered.

Eventually as he gathered his bearings little by little, the events from the previous night came back to the fennec's mind. He now realized this was Surge's bed he's in after he sought out to stay with her after the nightmare he had experienced. Remembering that also caused him to realize as far as he can tell, he didn't have any additional nightmares during the night, lending him to believe being by her side achieved that desired outcome. In addition, his ears also picked up the sound of thunder and a gentle pitter patter of rain from outside, thus likely explaining the grey colour permeating the room.

Recognizing that this was the room where Surge had been staying made Kit realize something else: the apparent lack of the namesake tenrec in the immediate vicinity.

"About time you finally woke up."

Luckily though, hearing that voice answered the question of where she was right away. He looked around to see Surge leaning up against the doorway.

"Surge...? Did I oversleep? Have I been keeping you waiting?" Kit wondered, suddenly trying picking up the pace in trying to get himself up. "I-I'm sorry, I'll-"

"No, slow down, get a hold of yourself," Surge said while holding her hand up. "I was only making note of you finally getting up just as I happen to be passing by. And no, it's not like I've been waiting on pins and needles for you to do so either."

"Oh, um...all right then. Still, I'm sorry either way." Kit said.

"Eh, whatever," Surge casually stated with a shrug. "But now that you're awake anyway, give yourself a moment to, you know, get ready and all. After that though...we gotta have a talk."

With that having been said, Surge turned away and left Kit alone for the time being.

Meanwhile, Kit felt some anxiety build inside of him. The fact that Surge said they had to talk wasn't filling him with much enthusiasm and did chip away at some of the relief he had been feeling.

But regardless, he didn't want to keep her waiting for much longer. Sighing heavily, he got out of bed and exited the room.

Upon arriving in what could be charitably considered the living room, Kit noticed Surge sitting in a chair she had arranged about a foot in front of a couch. She gestured at the couch indicating him to take a seat on it. Although confused and apprehensive, he complied and did just that.

"So...w-what's this about?" Kit inquired.

Surge leaned back in her seat and sighed. "A lot...or well, your nightmare to be more exact. That's been weighing on my mind since you mentioned it last night."

"It has been?" Kit said, then he lowered his head and frowned. "I-I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have-"

"Kit, no, cool it with the apologies," Surge interjected. "I'm not pinning any blame on you or anything. I'm just expressing how I'm feeling. Besides as I said the other night, I had other stuff on my mind that were kinda keeping me up then."

"Like what?" Kit inquired as he looked back up.

"Just...other stuff," Surge said with hesitation and a dismissive wave of her hand. "But that's not important right now. Instead, I wanna zero in on your nightmare."

"But why?" Kit wondered.

"Why?" Surge said, perhaps a little more harshly than she meant to and like even she wasn't entirely sure of it herself. "Because...well, because, uh...if this whole, you know, operation of ours is to keep going smoothly, then...then making sure you're...all on the level in that noggin of yours would be kind of important, and if that means, uh...digging into the who, why and what have yous over things, then that's what we'll do I suppose...or something."

Although it was far from the most eloquently put together explanation from Surge, the fact that Kit got the general sense she sounded concerned enough in wanting to talk it over with him was a positive sign to the point it assuaged a small amount of his anxiety and be more comfortable in going forward with this conversation.

"O-okay then." Kit said softly.

"Okay, good," Surge said, leaning back again and folded her arms. "So if I got this right, it was the two of us duking it out with Sonic and Tails again, then something bad happen which made us leave the scene. I'm gathering that meant we didn't come on top, yes?"

"Yeah, I think..." Kit agreed after a brief pause.

Surge raised her eyebrow. "What do you mean you think? Either that's what happened or it didn't."

"I-I mean, yes, that's right, t-they basically had beaten us." Kit clarified.

"All right, but then you said after that I got really mad at you, right?" Surge asked.

"Uh-huh, that's true." Kit said with a nod of his head, but also only after another prolonged pause.

"Well...like how?"

"I...well, I don't know..."

"Drippy, don't give me this 'I don't know' shtick," Surge said, growing a little bit frustrated. "I mean, no offence and I'm not gonna sit here and claim you're lying or anything like that, but I've gotten the sense since the other night there's a part of all this you're holding back from me. And if I'm being honest here, thinking that's the case is pretty much the main reason I even felt like talking this over with you in the first place."

She likely struck something within Kit as the fennec started darting his eyes from side to side as well as began shifted around in his seat.

"Okay, maybe there is something else and I'm sorry, but-" Kit began saying.

"No, again, you can save it with the apologies. I'm not asking for those," Surge interrupted, still trying her best to maintain a cool temperate. "I'm just looking for answers and frankly we're wasting each other's time if you're not gonna be fully upfront with me. So I'd say it's best if you just simply gut it out and say how it went about."

Realizing just how insistent Surge was being at this moment, Kit understood he had little choice left. He took a couple of seconds to mentally prepare himself, took a deep breath and leaned a bit forward from his seat.

"So...again, like I said the other night, I don't remember every little thing which happened, but I do recall this much..."

He paused yet again and gulped.

"Apparently how we lost against Sonic and Tails was my fault and so bad to point where you got straight up in my face saying how I blew it. I tried telling you how sorry I was and how I'll do better, but you weren't having any of it."

Again, he took a moment to gather himself as his face became more visibly distressed.

"That was bad enough...but what happened next was even worse..."

His breath became shaky as he also raised one of his hands up. At the same time, he lowered his head to avoid looking Surge directly in the eye.

"You...you started poking and prodding at me..." Kit explained, motioning his hand to mimic that act. "A-and I k-kept backing up until I-I was up against a wall..."

That detail alone caused Surge's eyes to widen. She felt tempted in saying something, but Kit continued before she could.

"Not only that, y-you t-then..."

He balled up his hand into a fist and mimicked pulling it back...

"You then...punched the wall r-right next t-to me and...and s-said...said that I should consider m-m-myself lucky that I'm u-useful to you and t-that I better n-not mess up badly next time...or else."

Finally, he let out one last deep breath.

"And then shortly after that...that's when I woke up..."

As he reached his conclusion in explaining everything, Kit hesitated for as long as he could in looking back up to face Surge again. Eventually though, he did and prepared himself for whatever reaction was going to come from her.

At first glace, it didn't appear to be quite as bad as the fennec might have feared, although it did still kind of perplex him.

Surge had her eyes closed and the fingertips of her right hand pressed against her forehead. It was giving Kit the impression she was trying to process everything she had been told.

She then ran both her hands down her face, let out a sigh and open her eyes.

"All right, let me guess...you didn't want to mention that tidbit last night because you'd think I was gonna get mad at you or something?" Surge wondered.

Kit gently nodded. "Yeah, basically...plus you sounded like you weren't in such a good mood in the first place when I came over to you, so..."

"Which again I feel like I have to remind you it's mainly because of other things that were going through my mind at that time." Surge once more reiterated.

"Yes, yes, I understand," Kit affirmed. "But still it's something I didn't really feel like dropping on you right then and there. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have told you about that nightmare in the first place if it wasn't for the fact it was the third one I had recently and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up a minute!" Surge interjected, tilting her head. "Third time? You've had this nightmare three times?!"

"Wait, I know that sounds bad, but you didn't let me finish!" Kit said hastily. "It wasn't the exact same one each time and I tried not to make them into something to get worried about until last night."

He paused and lowered his head.

"And yes, I admit I'm worried now because I wonder if there's any meaning to it all."

"Like what? That I'll get so mad at you to the point I'd threaten to clobber you if I thought you screwed up badly enough?" Surge posited rather bluntly.

"N-no, no!" Kit frantically denied, grimacing as he looked back up at her again. "O-or I hope not. I mean, it could mean something else, you never know..."

"Well, what else could it be then, Drippy? Don't think there's really that much more room for interpretation there from the sounds of it," Surge pointed out, her frustration growing ever more evident. "And I ain't no shrink nor am I gonna try to pretend being one – 'cause Gaia knows I've had my fill with doctors of most types lately – but even I'd like to think that I know just enough about dreams and nightmares that if you have roughly the same kind of ones again and again, it's like you're being told it could come true in real life? Like it's a prediction or something?"

Again, Kit looked away anxiously and let out a small whimper.

"You know, m-maybe this was a bad idea to b-bring it up with you," he said shakily. "It's r-really gotten you upset l-like I worried it would've..."

"A little late now to start backtracking I'd say. And yeah, of course I'm not gonna be all colourful smiles, sunshine and rainbows over something like that." Surge said with bluntness.

"I know, I understand that!" Kit said, groaning in distress. "I'm so sorry for all-"

"KIT, FUCKING ENOUGH WITH THE APOLOGIES ALREADY!" Surge suddenly shouted out, and almost on cue as big rumble of thunder from outside also came on through. "Geez, you'd think one or twice would get the message through to you! Just...!"

She then let out a growl before standing up from her chair, turned around and started walking away. The nature of her turning around was so abrupt, she had swung her arm and inadvertently made contact with the chair; causing it to get knocked over to its side.

As Surge walked off and tried to cool off before losing it any further, she placed her fingertips against her temple and grumbled. The combination of frustration and confusion about this whole situation plus whatever else she's been vaguely referring that kept her occupied the previous night had boiled over to the point of giving her a headache. She even reached up with her other hand and pulled off the band keeping her quills up; letting them freely flow down under the impression that perhaps it could do a little something in alleviating that stress.

In the middle of all this, Surge glanced over and caught a glimpse of Kit out of the corner of her eye. She noticed he had now brought his knees up to his chest, covered his face with his ears and nervously gripped onto them as well. From her vantage point, it also looked like she could see he was lightly trembling.

This sight was enough for Surge feeling herself starting to mellow out. Though it obviously wasn't her intent to do so, her outburst likely didn't help in making him any less anxious than he already was by way of divulging about that one particular distressing detail of his nightmare.

Letting out a big sigh, Surge began walking back over in Kit's direction; stopping for a moment to first grab the chair and put it back up again before sitting back down on it. Next, she reached out and gently placed a hand on top of his head.

The contact made Kit move his ears just enough to peek through and look at Surge once again. Upon doing so, he saw a softer expression on her face than he's not typically used to seeing from the tenrec.

"All right, I...I..." Surge began saying, sighing again. "I shouldn't have blown up on you like that."

This unexpected moment of humility out of her took Kit off guard, though it was also heartening for him to hear and see all the same. As a result, he felt a little more relaxed enough to fully move his ears back in place.

"I'm sor-" Kit attempted to say, but stopped himself short. "Uh, r-right...I-I'll stop apologizing like you said."

"Don't...don't take that part too seriously, Drippy," Surge said softly. "Besides, I'm not sure what you have to apologize for in this case. I mean, I was getting a little peeved over how you were explaining things and such, but...even I'll admit that shouldn't have given me the excuse to snap at you like that."

She leaned back in the chair and folded her arms.

"I just...I don't know. I admit it, Kit, I just don't know how to process all of this. You pile it on with the rest of the shit that's been on my mind...it's like I said at the top, it's a lot to take in, but...again, I shouldn't have gone off like that on you...and for what it's worth, I'm...I'm sorry."

Surge sighed yet again, then brought her hands up to her face and let out an annoyed groan.

"Fucking Starline..." she muttered under her breath.

"Huh?" Kit uttered, tilting his head to the side. "Starline? What about him?"

Surge moved her hands away from her face and looked at Kit with widened eyes. She was a little shocked he apparently heard her quietly dropping the name of the madman at the root of most of their shared trauma.

The manner of which Kit was looking at Surge made the latter realize he probably now knew what she meant by the "other stuff" she's referenced through the duration of their conversation so far which kept her up during part of the previous night. At this rate, she figured that she may as well divulge a little further.

"All right, well...I guess you could say you weren't the only one who had less the pleasant dreams last night." Surge admitted.

Kit's own eyes had now widened. "Wait...you had a nightmare too? And Starline was in it?"

"Yeah..." Surge softly said while nodding. "Just him blathering on all high and mighty about how I'll never get rid of him and he'll always be there to remind of my imperfections and so on and so forth..."

"Oh..." Kit said solemnly. "I'm sorry you went through that last night."

"Yeah, well...it did certainly suck, but...it is what it is I suppose," Surge said while shrugging, then she suddenly chuckled. "And now that you know this, even I'm willing to admit it was kinda dumb of me to dismiss you having a nightmare when you came on over last night."

She looked away for a brief moment and grunted.

"Especially now knowing about...that particular part of it. Makes mine seem kinda like peanuts by comparison."

"Well...in fairness as you kind of said just now, I didn't tell you that part at the time, so I don't hold it against you." Kit said, then he scooted a little forward from his seat closer to Surge. "But also, please don't downplay your own nightmare. No one should ever feel like theirs is less worthy of concern because it might seem less bad."

Looking back over at him, the tenrec's lips curled into the faintest smile in acknowledgement.

"Appreciate it, Drippy," Surge said, then her expression turned a little more serious again. "But going back 'round to your nightmare, I do gotta ask one thing. You said it yourself that you're worried what it might mean. Do you have ideas of your own about that?"

As Surge posited that question, Kit once more was feeling anxious. She likely picked up on that and leaned in a little closer towards him.

"Look, I'm not gonna flip out on you again or anything, okay? Just give it to me straight if you have any theories of your own and we'll go from there." She assured him.

The softer tone and approach she was taking here did give Kit just the right amount of extra certainty to keep going forward.

"Okay, so..." The fennec began saying. "I just wanna first say that I don't want to believe you'd actually go out of your way to hurt me. Yes, that part did scare me in my nightmare the most and the thought of it happening for real also does scare me a lot. But yet, I feel like I know you well enough to believe you wouldn't do that purposefully."

By and large, Surge did agree with Kit's assessment. There have been instances where she did get mad or frustrated at him, but rarely has she ever outright threaten him with violence to any significant degree. The only case that sprung to her recollection was when they were with Starline and she chastised Kit for supposedly patronizing her; leading her to then say she'd drown him with his water tails.

Thinking back to that particular moment and further digesting what Kit had said, there was one question that reflexively crossed her mind.

"Okay, but...how do you know for certain that won't happen?" Surge asked him.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kit question in return, having been taken a bit off guard.

"I mean just that, how do you know for certain?" She reiterated, but with less assuredness. "You can say you believe it can't happen and I certainly wouldn't want it to happen, but...I don't know if all doubt can fully be erased either."

"So w-wait..." Kit uttered, anxiousness once again becoming visible on his face and in movements of his body. "Are you saying...t-there could be a time where you might...h-hurt me i-if I m-m-mess up badly enough?"

"No, that's not what I'm trying to say, Kit! It's just..." Surge tried saying. "It's that I..."

She tried to articulate whatever thoughts were being processed further, but she couldn't quite do so; stopping to bring her hands back up to her face and let out a frustrated groan.

"Fuck, that kinda came out wrong..." She muttered.

For Surge, this had become more of a challenge than she anticipated. She kind of figured going in that talking it out with Kit wouldn't exactly be a cakewalk; at least in the basic sense of her not being used to conversing about feelings and whatnot. She didn't though expect this level of heaviness in subject manner or just how difficult it's become in finding the right words to say. Between that and her earlier outburst, it wasn't making things any easier.

Yet despite that, she wasn't willing to give up. She told herself that she'd become better and stronger after pulling herself out of the rubble in the aftermath of her first battle with Sonic. If she was determined to improve in the physical sense, then she was going to put that same determination to do what she could in assuring Kit. She figured that he was owed that much at least.

She reached out and placed a hand over one of Kit's own.

"Listen, all I'm saying is that I'm not going to sit here and pretend to know what will or will not ever happen. Neither of us know really. Hell, we still don't know that much about each other or who we were before that platypus bastard screwed around and altered us into who we are now. Figuring all that out is a pain in the ass as it is, so I'm not necessarily all gung ho about combing through every single 'what if' of the future either."

After taking a moment to think a little more, she adjusted her hand's position so that it now grabbed a hold of Kit's hand. It was a gesture that did surprise him; albeit in a good way. Additionally, she looked Kit right in the eye.

"But if what you need is to hear it directly from me, then I'll say it: I don't wanna be in a position to do that to you, okay? I wouldn't want to do that to you period, 'cause that would be the last thing I'd ever wish to do..." Surge continued in earnest. "And going off what you said about me earlier, I'd like to think I know you well enough too in believing you wouldn't try to do anything completely foolish that could put either one of us in serious harm's way. You're the smart one here after all, so I'd figure you'd dot those I's and cross those T's unlike I would."

Upon saying that, Surge realized how that came off in relation to her.

"Which isn't saying I'm dumb or anything! Sure, I may be a simpler creature, but it's not like I am a complete lunkhead either!"

"N-no, of course not!" Kit said with an awkward laugh. "You're smart too!"

"What? Me, smart? Ha!" Surge said, snorting and pulling her hand away from holding Kit's own for a moment. "I appreciate the thought, Drippy, but even I know I ain't no genius. You're probably just saying that thinking that's what I want to hear."

"No, really, you are!" Kit insisted, now gently grabbing back Surge's hand for a second. "You're smart in your own way! I really do mean that!"

Surge grinned, chuckled and playfully rolled her eyes. She still wasn't entirely convinced, but yet his insistence to the contrary was infectious nonetheless. Plus, she'll never get tired of anyone singing high praises of her in most respects, so there was that too.

"Okay, okay, whatever you say," Surge said before clearing her throat. "But picking up where I was, you are a smart little dude, but you can also be tough, intimidating and capable of handling yourself when you need to. Knowing how you can turn up the heat on a dime against any dumbass who tries to cross you or me, hell I would think twice before trying to seriously test you even if there was any reason for me to do so."

Kit's face grimaced over the implication of what Surge was saying. He'd largely been so zeroed in on the worrying possibility of her harming him that he hadn't given as much thought over the opposite scenario occurring. It's honestly something that chilled him to the bone.

"W-well, uh..." He began saying shakily, taking a second to gulp. "I-I...I hope nothing like that ever happens. I'd truly be disappointed in myself if I ever did anything to harm you in any way, even if it was by complete accident..."

As he contemplated that immensely worrying thought, something else did occur to him at the same time. He brought a hand up to his chin and pondered.

"Something up?" Surge asked curiously.

"You know...speaking of disappointment, maybe that's it," Kit said. "Since you asked what I think might've caused those nightmares, perhaps it's just the simple worry of feeling like I'm gonna disappoint you majorly at some point and I suppose my dreams conjured up a worse case scenario of that."

Looking down and away from her, and despite still harbouring an overall sense of anxiety, Kit did have to admit to himself internally that he'd been slowly but surely feeling better during the course of talking with Surge. He seriously did fear and expect the worst coming out of her. Yet aside from her momentary outburst which he by now concluded wasn't directed towards him out of hostility, she was more restrained and willing to hear to him out.

In a sense, it surprised Kit on one hand, but also not entirely on the other. Surge was after all the one who went out of her way in looking to talk with him in the first place and in her own way did show she really wanted to help out however she could. Because of instances like these, he always sensed she really did care about him even when she may not always outright say it.

He felt like expressing gratitude to her, but as he was about to, he felt a hand being put on his head. He looked up at Surge's face to see her eyes closed.

"You know, I don't blame you in a way for worrying about disappointing me..." She started saying.

She paused for a few seconds before opening her eyes and looking straight at Kit.

"But honestly? I'm not worried about it too much myself. I mean, you went out of your way to get back to my side after we got separated during the first time we clashed with Sonic and Tails. And if that wasn't enough, you got both of us out of dodge after the Dynamo Cage doohickey knocked my lights out for a bit following that whole scramble with both of them plus Eggman and Metal Sonic as well."

Next, she gently tapped Kit's head with her index finger.

"Now, even though a lot that may be down to Starline cramming that little noggin of yours with all that 'follow Surge, obey Surge, want what Surge wants' spiel and such over and over again..."

She then took that same finger and pointed it at his chest.

"There's also a good part of me that wants to believe you went to those lengths for me because you wanted to do that. It's what you wanted, not just only due to being told to do it or because that's what I wanted."

Internally, that anxiety which had filled Kit immensely was continuing to melt away with each word being spoken by Surge. It's to the point where a faint grin began forming across his lips.

"So as far as I personally see it, between all that and just in general how you have shown me to be a good little dude in the time since knowing you..."

As she got closer to wrapping up her thoughts, she showed him a grin of her own.

"I haven't seen any reason you'll seriously disappoint me in the future and even so, am I really one to judge when even I can admit to being capable of fucking up majorly as well? Neither of us are perfect, either by Starline's design or just in general, and we're bound to make mistakes."

Finally, she extended her fist towards Kit.

"But that's not gonna stop us from showing the world who's boss, and that we'll bounce back from every misstep to become better and stronger than before. What say you?"

The fennec didn't even need to give it any second thoughts. Bearing a renewed look of confidence on his face, he readily bumped Surge's fist.

"You bet, ma'am!" Kit said emphatically.

"Ha-ha, there ya go, that's more like it!" Surge said, matching Kit's enthusiasm.

With that, she stood up from the chair, stretched a bit and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Now, I don't know about you, but I think I've fulfilled my quota of touchy-feely stuff for the moment," she said, glancing over to a nearby window. "And if it weren't for the fact it's still raining out, I'd say we'd make tracks outta here."

Following her lead, Kit also looked over to the window and saw the rain. Aside from the huge rumble of thunder that coincided with Surge's little outburst earlier, he actually kind of forgotten it was still raining out there because of how invested in the preceding conversation he just had with her.

"Oh...so will we head out once it stops?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's at least what I was thinking at first," Surge began answering, looking back at Kit. "But honestly after giving it a little more thought just now, I'd say we can hold off for another day before we get going. Think we both need it after last night and our little talk."

"Really? A-are you sure about that?" Kit inquired. "I mean, I'll be ready to go if you are."

"Nah, I'm feeling pretty firm about it. Again, I think we need it." Surge said.

"Uh, o-okay then, i-if you say so," Kit ultimately agreed to with a nod. "I guess maybe I'll check and see if we have enough supplies to hold us over for the day."

"Yeah, sure. Probably a good idea to do that." Surge said.

With that, Kit hopped off from the couch and started walking away.

But hardly that far in, he stopped and looked back over to Surge.

"Hey, Surge?" He said to her.

"Hmm?" Surge uttered as she looked over to Kit again.

"Um...thanks for the talk. You really did help me out there." Kit said, smiling softy.

Surge grinned lightly and gave him a thumbs up. "Ah, no sweat, Drippy."

Kit nodded and again he set off to give a look over of those supplies of theirs.

However, he stopped once more barely a few more steps in and this time as a result of him feeling a hand being laid on his shoulder. He turned around to see Surge having now approached him.

"Actually Kit, there's one more thing I'll get out there," Surge started off with. "Look, as I've just demonstrated to you with flying colours, I'm...not so good at this whole 'talking about your feelings and issues' jazz and what have you. Or who knows, maybe I was in my past and it's just not clicking back to me like that."

She sighed and placed her other hand on his other shoulder.

"Still, even if I'm not good enough, I'm not gonna let that stop me in trying what I can to help you out if I need to nor should you feel afraid in coming to me for that sort of thing. After all, we're in this ordeal together and that should also mean being on the lookout for one another whenever we need to."

Kit's eyes widened and he showed a big smile across his face. Next thing Surge knew, she saw and felt him give her a heartfelt hug.

"Thank you..." He muffled in earnest against her chest. "And by the way, you are good enough. In fact, you're more than enough and how you helped me out just now in our talk proves what I said earlier about how you're smart in your own way. That among many other things are why there's no one I'd rather be by the side of than you."

Unbeknownst to Kit due to him leaning against her chest, Surge had gotten a little misty eyed as a result of hearing those kind words of his. Despite any prior, present or future misgivings, it's things such as that which act as among reasons why she's become ever more fond of this little guy.

She took a quick second to wipe her eyes before then patting him on the head.

"You too, Drippy, you too. I mean, I do like having you by my side as well," Surge affirmed with similar earnestness. "And anyone who dares try to mess with you has got me to answer to. That I can promise you."

Eventually, she ever so gently pulled herself out of the hug Kit had her in.

"All right, all right, now I think I've filled that quota of touchy feely stuff for the time being." She said with a laugh.

Kit laughed as well. "Sure, I gotcha."

At last, they finally for now went off to their own respective business until later on.

At some point later on in the evening, Surge rolled around and grumbled while she was laying in bed.

"Ugh...come on, sleep, dammit!" She muttered to herself.

For whatever reason, getting any sleep had become a challenge. Nothing was really weighing on her mind unlike the previous night or when she talked to Kit earlier in the day. Nevertheless, slumber was eluding her despite wishing to achieve just that.

Her restlessness wasn't made that much better when a sustained rumble of thunder came along. She grumbled again and sat up.

"Still going on out there I see..."

That was based on also being reminded that it was still raining outside. It had more or less been tapering off and picking back up again repeatedly throughout most of the day. The inclement conditions outdoors kept both Surge and Kit indoors as a result, but at least they luckily had enough things to tide themselves through the night and the hope of drier weather tomorrow.

Letting out a mild sigh of frustration, Surge felt tempted to get up and try to do something like walking her restlessness off.

But just as she was about to do that, she only just now suddenly noticed that Kit was in the room and sitting on the far end of the bed.

"Uh, Drippy? What, uh...what are doing here?" Surge asked.

At first, Kit didn't so much as move a muscle, let alone verbally respond. A few seconds would go by before he gently turned his head over towards Surge's direction.

"Well? What's going on?" She inquired further to him.

Instead of answering her though, Kit simply turned his head away and sat there for another a few seconds.

"Never mind...I shouldn't be bothering you..." He said softly afterwards.

He appeared to start leaving and probably would've followed through with that, but then he looked back over when Surge had moved in a little closer and lightly grabbed a hold of his wrist.

"Kit, no, we've been through this earlier today." Surge said with a sigh. "Seriously, I insist. What is it?"

She inched a little further and it was then she happened to notice a faint dampness in the corners of Kit's eyes; leading to her to believe he'd been crying or have come close to. If there was even the slightest hint of annoyance or unwillingness to deal with him at this late hour, it evaporated just like that. It also lead her to one conclusion.

"You had another one, didn't you?" Surge simply said.

"Another nightmare you mean? No, but..." Kit began to explain, shaking his head. "But instead...I...I..."

He let out shaky breath as he also felt his eyes starting to well up.

"I don't want to think it about and I thought t-talking it o-over with you earlier today would've h-helped, but..."

He sniffled a handful times and tried what he could to keep it together; even as he figured it was going to be a losing battle sooner rather than later.

"All day long I've k-kept thinking back to the part of o-our talk about how d-disappointed in myself I'd be i-if I e-ever caused any harm to you..."

By now, the welling in Kit's eyes developed into fresh tears which he did little in preventing from freely falling and landing on his lap. It was a small detail Surge picked up on and she felt tempted in doing something for him, yet she hesitated in order to hear him out more.

"It's b-been stuck i-in my mind and just r-reminded me again..." Kit continued, sniffling once more. "Of how no matter h-how h-h-hard I try...no matter h-how much I-I don't want t-to think about it...I'm s-still w-w-worried and scared at some p-point that I'll do something r-really wrong either b-by accident or not...and it's scaring m-me to the point t-that I h-h-haven't slept yet b-because I m-might have a-another n-nightmare...where this time it'll be about you g-getting hurt all because of m-me..."

He shut his eyes, brought his knees up to his chest and hugged himself; trying to do anything to keep any slight bit of his composure together. He began trembling and let out a painfully strained whimper.

The sight and sounds of Kit breaking down bit by bit were getting harder for Surge to witness. She tried reaching a hand out over to him.

"Drippy..." She said softly as she made contact with his shoulder.

But whether that little bit of contact meant to or not, Kit suddenly gasp out loud followed by breaking into a pair of sobs.

"I'm sorry! I'm s-sorry, Surge! I-I just feel like I will m-mess things up badly and t-that I'll n-never be good enough and-"

He wouldn't get to finish that thought because Surge had heard enough upon hearing those last few words coming out of his mouth. In quick succession, Kit felt her arms being brought around him and then draw him close against her.

This sudden act caught the fennec totally off guard. Out of instinct and even thinking it wasn't supposed to be happening, he began to wriggle around within the tenrec's grasp.

"Kit...Kit...Kit!" Surge shouted while she struggled to maintain her grip. "Come on...settle down, would ya?!"

She mentally cursed herself as that came off more harshly than she intended. Thinking on her feet, she lowered her left arm in order to have it more securely around Kit's back before then taking her right hand and began stroking it down the back of his head and along his ears.

"Hey, just...relax," Surge said in much more soft and calming tone. "It's...it's okay."

Almost immediately, Kit's struggling movements were subsiding. Still, it was a little hard from him to grasp that this felt real in any way. Even after experiencing a more softer and compassionate side of Surge earlier in the day during their talk and despite again always believing deep down she truly does care about him, the efforts she was putting in here in attempting to console him still took him by surprise.

But it was actually happening. He was feeling a comforting touch coming from her and he sense it didn't feel like she was doing it out of reluctance or obligation.

In one word, it felt authentic.

Eventually, Kit stopped struggling. He felt safe enough to let any remaining portion of his guard down by amply breaking down into full-on sobbing. Despite also feeling exhausted, he mustered enough effort to wrap his arms around Surge and held on like it meant everything in the world to him.

After about a minute, Surge chose to pull herself and Kit right over to the centre of her bed. She followed that up by adjusting things so that he was placed on her lap and having his face firmly resting along her chest. And all while this was going on, he kept holding on to her with as much effort as he could.

As Surge held Kit in her arms, she rested the side of her head on top of his own and sighed. Similar to how she described her abilities in talking things over with him over his nightmare, she internally didn't have the highest confidence in herself with regards to consoling someone in distress. Having little present day experience in receiving that herself hardly helped, so doing it for Kit plus wondering what to say or what constitutes "proper" comfort wasn't exactly coming to her.

But that didn't matter. Like she also similarly said to Kit earlier in the day, her own lacking in confidence wouldn't prevent her from doing what she could if he needed that help. What was important above all else in this moment was doing what she was capable of in being there, making him feel assured and allowing him the chance in letting it all out.

From Kit's perspective, it was all he could've asked for or wanted now. He couldn't utter the words due to his persistent sobs, but he hoped that the brief tightening of his arms around Surge conveyed just how grateful and appreciative he was for her in doing this. In reciprocation, she also held him a little more firmer and securely.

Perhaps they may talk it over a little more at some point the following day and maybe even postpone again heading back out depending on how both of them were feeling by then. For now though, taking in this much needed moment of sincerity, connection and understanding between them would suffice.

It took a little while, but over time Kit's sobs began to subside. Taking the time to cry now really caused the exhaustion to set in as he felt his eyelids getting particularly heavy. Likewise, Surge was also finally getting tired herself and figured by now that regardless of whether or not it was his plan, it looked apparent that Kit would once again be staying with her for the night. If anything else after seeing him break down, she'd probably would've wanted him to stay even if he insisted otherwise and tried to put on a brave face in gutting it out on his own.

With that, Surge ever so gently laid Kit down on the bed. She followed that up by also laying down just across from him and taking a moment to look at his face. With his eyes being shut, he appeared to be asleep or at least on the verge of getting there.

Surge sighed and reached out to lightly brush Kit's bangs to the side. She kind of already figured this out before, but the past 24 hours had crystallized something within her. Although thrashing Sonic and whomever else she deemed to be problems to her and Kit may still be among her motivations, she'd be lying to herself if she didn't admit that what really keeps her going more than anything else is the well being of the very same young fennec who was laying right across from her. This on top of hoping to learn whatever they could about their pasts and if not that, then at least being able to chart out a better future for both of them together.

Another momentary brush of her hand on his bangs did cause Kit to open his eyes just slightly. Right at that exact moment, Surge's mind had finally conjured up some simple words worth expressing to assure him. He said something similar to her when she doubted how good she is when it came to talking about feelings and such, and she thought this was as good a time as any to return the favour for him.

"Kit, you don't need to fret too much about being good enough...because you've shown to me that you are," Surge said quietly, a small smile beginning to form. "You're more than enough."

Although too tired to give a verbal response, Kit showed off a smile that said just as effectively as words would've over how much that meant to him hearing that from her.

Chuckling, Surge softly ruffled his head and settled herself into getting some sleep while Kit also did the same.

But just before she did, she looked down at Kit's hands. Slowly, she moved one of her hands right over one of his and placed it ever so slightly on top.

And as she was finally drifting to sleep amidst the backdrop of the light rain that was still going on outside, she felt Kit give her hand a light thankful squeeze.