Chapter Text
Teeth? Brushed. Quills? Combed. Line? At least halfway memorized. Come on, he was basically a shoe in, right?
Sonic walked into the audition room, carrying all of his usual swagger and confidence, swinging his water bottle at his hip. Getting cast in lead roles was like running. He did it very often. Plus, this role was practically made for him. Who else would they cast as Frank Jr.? He was basically Sonic to a tee. If there was anyone at Mobius Productions who could pull off this role, it was him.
He had the history, he had the skills, and he had the charisma. What more could they want?
As he stepped in, he was greeted by the sight of Lanolin and Jewel sitting at a small, fold out table that could hardly even seat the two of them, with all the papers and books they had on it. The beetle was pushing pages around, looking for something specific, while Lanolin sipped from a mug, likely black coffee, watching as Sonic walked in.
Sonic had spent the last little while trying to figure Jewel out. She was a new addition to the company, having taken the spot from a director who’d just retired. From what he’d heard, she had a ton of experience in the field, having worked for a few years at Robotnik Theatre Company (bleh). He couldn’t hold that against her, though. The pay was probably good, and it was the most revered place in town. Still, he hated the owner’s guts.
He’d known lanolin for years at that point. She’d always been somewhere around the company, but stepping up to the directors stand was a recent enough development. As stern as she could be, Sonic couldn’t help but respect the authority she maintained over the group.
Jewel cleared her throat. “So, Mr. Sonic-”
“You can just call me Sonic. We aren’t all that formal here, right, Lan?” Sonic smirked, looking over at Lanolin.
She looked back at him with an unamused expression.
“Well, Sonic,” Jewel corrected herself. “Who are you auditioning for?”
“The one and only Frank Jr., of course.” He replied, as if it were common knowledge.
“It’s just a courtesy to ask.” Jewel straightened out some of her pages. “And you’ll be singing…?”
“Live in Living Color.” He responded quickly. Sonic had quickly fallen in love with the soundtrack of the show, but the opening number was a sight to behold. He couldn’t wait to perform it on stage when he got the role.
“Do you have a piano accompanist?" Jewel inquired, and Sonic glanced over at Lanolin in confusion.
Lanolin clarified, “We don’t really do that here. Most auditions are acapella."
“Oh, uh, okay.” Jewel blushed, feeling pretty awkward. Clearly, she still had a lot to learn about working in a less professional environment. “Um, whenever you’re ready then.”
Sonic cleared his throat, before taking a swig of water from his bottle before setting it down at his feet.
“Live in living color,
Let me take you for a ride,
Yes, I’m live in living color!
So sit back,
And let me be your TV guide!”
Jewel was immediately impressed. Right off the bat, Sonic was already embodying what she had researched about the character. Maybe it was just the kind of person he was, but he was hitting everything she needed him to.
“I’ve got a story I’d like to tell,
And I’m gonna need help to tell it well.
I’ve got a story ‘bout fame and money,
And it’s got more curves than a Playboy bunny.”
Lanolin had come to expect it of Sonic. When it came to auditions, he never half-assed it. He went all in, every time, even if he always convinced himself he’d get the role regardless.
“I wanna live,
Not just survive,
I wanna tell my story
Live in living color!”
And Sonic? He was eating up every second of it. He’d come up with choreo, and special little vocal flecks, just to make it his own.
“Something special’s up tonight,
Yes, I’m live in living color,
Life ain’t lived in black and white.
I’ve got a tale of a great romancer,”
For fun, he winked over at Jewel, before continuing on with the song.
“And it’s got more moves than a go-go dancer.”
Even without music, he paused to do a little spin.
“I’ve got a story that’s fast and slick,
And it’s got more twists than a peppermint stick.
I don’t have the time for the nine to five,
I gotta tell my story live,
And in living color.”
Jewel cleared her throat to get his attention. “Okay, thank you, Sonic. That was great.”
Sonic shot her a look. “You, uh, you kinda cut me off.”
“This is an audition, Sonic, not a performance.”
“So what? Don’t you want to see more?”
“No, you did perfectly well.” Jewel adjusted the pages on the table, aligning them.
Sonic kept to being professional, but he’d never been stopped at an audition before. He always went until he felt he’d done enough, not when the directors told him to. Whatever. He swallowed his pride and played it cool.
“Okay, that was the singing, now onto a cold read.” Jewel started flipping through her pages, before handing him a couple. “And we’ll have you read for… Frank Sr..”
Sonic cleared his throat, immediately going to correct her. “You mean Frank Jr., right?”
“No.” Jewel shook her head, looking down so she could respond to his lines.
Sonic, however, wasn’t having it. “No, I mean, I auditioned for Frank Jr., not Frank Sr..”
“Yes, I know.” Jewel nodded, which confused Sonic even more. Who was this new director? She showed up and flipped everything he thought he knew about theatre on its head.
“Then why am I reading for Frank Sr.?” He asked, trying to wrap his head around the concept.
“Maybe this isn’t how you do auditions here, but I like to get a feel for how my actors would fit parts other than what they had their eyes on. That can sometimes lead to the best casting.” Jewel tried to explain.
“No, I’m pretty sure I’d be best cast as Frank Jr., right, Lanolin?”
Lanolin sighed, her patience wearing thin. “Can you just read the lines? It won’t kill you to try something new.”
Sonic held back a huff, but let it be known, he wanted to huff so bad. “Fine, alright, whatever.”
They read through the scene, Jewel as Frank Jr., and Sonic as Frank Sr.. Once they were done, Jewel took the pages back from him and filed them back into her pile. “Alright, we’ll be in touch about casting sometime next week.”
That much was at least normal for him. Even if it felt like an eternity, he’d never gotten a cast list sooner than a week after auditions. “Great. Can’t wait.” He replied through gritted teeth.
With that, he turned and walked out of the audition room, past Amy and Tangle, who were waiting to audition (Amy was next, Tangle didn’t go for at least another half hour, but she always went early), and straight to his apartment.
***
Sonic threw open the door to his apartment. It wasn’t luxurious or anything, but he made it work. The doorway was littered with various trinkets he hadn’t gotten to putting away, or little test gadgets that Tails had made.
Speaking of the fox, he was sitting at his small desk in the corner of the living room, tinkering away at something or another. He’d set it up there so he could still talk with Sonic while he worked, which was awfully convenient, as Sonic had a lot to say at that moment.
The hedgehog threw himself onto their well-worn couch with a groan. Tails glanced up at him. “How’d the audition go?” He asked, spinning his chair around.
“Could’ve been better.” Sonic huffed, finally getting out the huff, thank goodness.
“Why? What happened?” Tails seemed confused by Sonic’s assessment, as he usually always came back, 100% convinced he’d gotten the part he wanted.
“I don’t like the new director,” Sonic admitted brashly, sitting up. “She’s too squeaky clean and professional for Mobius.”
“I mean, it might be good to have someone like that.” Tails shrugged.
“Yeah, maybe somewhere else, but we’ve got a system here. We’ve had a system here for years. We don’t need some high end director lady telling us what’s what, right?”
“The moment you aren’t convinced you got the lead role, you immediately blame it on the new hire.” Tails chuckled.
“She made it seem like I was dumb for not knowing how it was supposed to work!” Sonic groaned, rolling his head back.
“Did she, or is that just how you felt?”
“Okay, you aren’t helping.”
“I’m just trying to get you to look at it objectively. What did she do wrong?”
Sonic had to pause to think about that. “Well… she cut me off before I was finished singing.”
“She probably wanted to make sure everyone got to audition at their allotted time.”
“She made me read for a character I didn’t audition for.”
“And that helped her get a feel for your skills.”
Sonic huffed once more, crossing his arms. “I just don’t like her vibes. Plus, she used to work at Robotnik. That’s, like, a major red flag.”
“I think you’re overthinking it.” Tails spun his chair back around, getting back to whatever he’d been working on. “She’s just doing what she knows, and maybe what she knows isn’t so bad for us.”
“I just think she’s bad news.”
“Yeah, because for the first time in your career, it feels like your position might be threatened. I mean, really, how bad would it be if someone like, say, Silver got the lead for once?”
“Pfft, Silver? Come on, he practically lives in the ensemble. That’s his spot.”
“See, that’s my point. There aren’t ‘spots,’ everyone should be able to show what they’re good at and get a role accordingly. Maybe you just think Silver belongs in the ensemble because you’ve never seen him anywhere else.”
Sonic was once again at a loss. Of course, Silver was a nice guy and all, but he was geeky, and awkward. He couldn’t pull off a role like Frank Jr…. could he?
“Whatever. I’m tired. I’m going to bed.” Sonic got up from the couch, arching his back.
“It’s five in the afternoon.” Tails glanced up at him.
“Then I’m taking a power nap or something. I’ll see you later.” Sonic stepped into his room, pausing in the doorway to look back. “Make sure you make something for dinner.”
Tails rolled his eyes in playful exasperation. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be responsible.”
Sonic smiled at him, before stepping all the way in and shutting the door.
His room was, objectively, a mess. It was a stark contrast to Tails’ room, which had everything in a specific place, labeled, no less. Sonic’s room was covered in clothes he hadn’t worn for weeks, gifts he never took out of their boxes, and a shelf of random things that served no purpose whatsoever, but he thought looked cool.
He flopped onto his bed, the springs bouncing beneath him and the frame creaking. He pulled out his phone and checked his messages. Nothing.
Sonic sighed and rolled over, rubbing his eyes. Maybe Tails was right. Maybe he was just feeling like his sacred position was being threatened, and that was what was turning him against Jewel.
No, that would be ridiculous. She was just messing with him, making him read those stupid lines and whatnot. He’d get the role, he knew it. Lanolin could vouch for him, she’d worked with him enough to know how well it fit him. It was a small victory, but a realistic one.
His phone buzzed in his hand, and he brought it over his face to read the message. It was from Amy.
AmyRoseOfficial> Hiii! How did your audition go?
Sonic chuckled softly, quickly messaging back.
BlueBlur91> could’ve been worse. You?
AmyRoseOfficial> I think it went well. They got me to read for Paula though.
BlueBlur91> they did that to me too!
BlueBlur91> not read for Paula, I mean read for a different character
AmyRoseOfficial> Weird. Whatever, I think I did really well on my song, so I’m not worried.
Sonic wished he could’ve shared her faith, but it was something he was very much lacking at that moment.
AmyRoseOfficial> Are you busy rn?
BlueBlur91> no, why?
AmyRoseOfficial> Well, I just got out of my audition, so I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight. There’s this one movie in theatres that I wanna see.
Sonic’s lack of immediate response prompted another quick message from Amy.
AmyRoseOfficial> My treat, btw
Sonic sighed. How could he say no to that?
BlueBlur91> fine
AmyRoseOfficial> Great! It plays at 6, see you there!
Sonic chuckled quietly and set his phone aside. At least today wasn’t a complete downer.