Chapter Text
Good children are obedient. They are respectful, they are willing to obey rules, and stay quiet until given permission to speak. Charmy was mainly none of the above.
Yes, Charmy was respectful… but at times, the child could come off blunt and outspoken. Whenever Vector orders him to do certain things, Charmy is quick to disobey, either with intention or unintentionally. The bee was loud and obnoxious, never shutting up.
Charmy never often takes to heart on Vector’s name calling, “Brat!” Or Espio’s irritation “Please go away, Charmy.” Charmy was very well aware none of them meant it! The big bum crocodile and the bum chameleon’s had a heart, and they’d never truly intentionally hurt Charmy. At least, Charmy believed that, and Charmy knew better than to listen to the words of a stoic teen and humble adult!
So, how did it feel for Charmy to hear those words from children his own age?
It was just an ordinary day. There were no clients calling in within the agency, so it was pretty much a rest day for the Chaotix. Charmy persisted Vector to take him to the new park that opened nearby. Espio preferred to stay inside the agency just in case there were any phone calls. Reluctantly, Vector complied.
“You must behave, Charmy!” Vector instructed firmly, but his voice was already leaving Charmy’s little head. “Listen to me when we are going to go back home.” Vector said.
“Yeah, yeah! I know, boss.” Charmy replied, his childish voice carrying a tone of disinterest and sarcasm while brushing away Vector’s words. “Let’s just go already! Come on!” Charmy urged, tugging on Vector’s arm. “Bye Espio! You’re gonna miss out!” Charmy called cheerfully, though Espio didn’t look up from his book. Wow! Not even a single huff of acknowledgement. Whatever!
As the bee and crocodile were slowly approaching the park, Charmy flew off to go play with the other children as Vector yelled out his name. Ha, that was funny! Charmy gazed around, examining the children around.
There was a good handful of them, some boys and girls playing with each other, perhaps playing tag. Charmy grinned, his wings flapping quicker as he spotted a cat-like girl. “Hi! I’m Charmy. Are you guys playing tag?” Charmy questioned curiously, watching as the girl became startled at the sudden voice behind her.
“Oh.. yeah! We’re playing a mix of tag and hide-n-seek! Uhm, my name is Stacy.” Stacy replied, her voice soft and seemingly kind. Charmy glanced at the other kids, who seemed to be staring at him. Charmy felt a bit odd, until the kids greeted him. Nice, he made friends quick! Stacy explained the rules, different for Charmy since he had wings. No flying, since it was considered cheating. Hm, that would be a bit difficult. Charmy didn’t really walk on his feet often. That’s fine.
Charmy halted when he spotted another young girl, his age. Cream Rabbit! His great friend that he met due to Vector’s close ‘friendship’ with Ms. Vanilla. “Cream! Hey!” Charmy waved, and Cream waved back, giving a small smile. “Charmy!” Cream murmured, but her voice was bright.
Right when Charmy was going to continue on speaking to Cream, a boy exclaimed “They’re it!” And Charmy and Cream went their seperate ways to run.
Charmy wasn’t one to cheat. He knew he had an advantage to fly up and get to a spot where nobody to get him. Though, Charmy didn’t find that fair. Charmy has seen how the other children on land always got within a range of fairness, so he assumed he should too! During the round of tag, Charmy glanced over to check on Vector, resting on a bench.
Charmy was oddly chatty that day, maybe because he ate Vanilla’s chocolates and cookies that she made the other day.. either way, Charmy spoke constantly to another boy while hiding from the chaser. Charmy was cut off of his words when the boy spoke. “You’re really loud. Like.. REALLY loud.” The boy said, awkwardly. Charmy halted.
What? Charmy was speaking how he usually did with many others, like Vector, Espio, sometimes Sonic and his friends! “Oh, uhm, sorry.” Charmy replied, his voice a bit more hushed. Charmy felt like a gap formed within his stomach, and it didn’t feel really nice. Nevertheless, Charmy brushed it off and just hid by the boy.
Charmy wanted to say so much more things! Like his favorite food, his favorite color, and more! It’s okay, he can speak to the boy later.
Afterwards, another round of tag came around, and Charmy was chosen as it! Exciting! Charmy loved being it, mainly because it was a good challenge because he usually used his wings to chase instead of on foot. As Charmy chased another ferret girl, whom kept yelling “Get away! Go away!” Charmy couldn’t tell if she was playing or being genuine, so he swapped to another target.
A boy, a deer! Deers were usually fast, so this was a worthy chase! Charmy chased the deer, and the boy ran equally as fast. Unconsciously, Charmy’s wings started to flutter, causing him to fly, become quicker and get in the deer’s way, causing the deer to stumble on his feet out of surprise and hurt his arm.
“Ow!” The deer exclaimed with pain. Charmy flinched, worry evident on his expression. Charmy hovered down, quickly approaching the boy.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry, I didn’t even realize—“ Charmy tried to explain, until the deer pushed Charmy away. “No, you cheated! You broke the rules! You aren’t supposed to fly!” The deer exclaimed, angrily. Charmy staggered back a bit.
A small crowd of boys and girls coming out of their hiding spots came over as well. “Yeah! You were so loud too, I could hear you from a mile away!” A girl exclaimed, implying she heard the conversation of Charmy and that other boy from the previous round, mainly on Charmy’s part.
“Mhm, and you are so disrespectful! Mommy says that getting in other people’s way and making them get hurt is mean!” Another girl exclaimed, her voice defensive. “It’s just so annoying, hearing your voice all the time and you not being a good listener!”
Annoying.
That hurt. It really did. Charmy managed to get a small glimpse of Cream, her eyes expressing worry, until Charmy averted his gaze to the ground. Charmy was told to go away until four rounds. Annoying, annoying.. annoying.
Good kids don’t do that. Get in other’s ways and hurt them, break rules, and are loud without reason. But it was a playground, he was allowed to be loud, right? Now, it seemed like he couldn’t even be that there.
Not in the agency, not even at the park.
Charmy sat down on the playground equipment, suddenly becoming aware of his surroundings; how children who needed to go home, actually obeyed and followed their parents without resistance. How the kids playing tag didn’t use anything to their advantage, unintentional or not. How the other kids were so, so quiet while playing to not get caught!
He felt a nudge at his side, and Charmy tilted his head up; Cream. “Are you okay?” Cream asked, curious with concern as she tilted her head, her ears swaying a bit. Charmy became aware again. How Cream’s voice was so soft, how she didn’t seem to use her ears to give her a small glide if she ever wanted to climb a structure, and he remembered how obedient she was towards her mother.
Charmy snapped back to reality, and quickly nodded. “Uhm, yeah. I’m okay.” Charmy really wasn’t. He was conflicted and upset. Cream’s ears perked up at the sound of the children calling for her, and she reluctantly walked away.
Was Charmy really that irritating? Was his true nature truly seen as a heavy weight to others? It felt horrible to think that Charmy being himself was plain out annoying. Charmy felt something sting his eyes, but before he could process it, Vector called out. “Charmy, let’s go!” Vector called out, standing up from the bench but about to be seated again as if assuming Charmy wasn’t going to listen.
Obedience. Thats what the other children did, and their parents seemed pleased when they listened to go home.
So, Charmy stood up, and walked over to Vector, not using his wings at this current moment. Vector was a bit taken aback by Charmy actually following his orders, but he shrugged it off, gesturing for Charmy to follow him home.
The walk was quiet, and it was odd. Charmy always had something to say, whether it was small or big. Charmy was quiet and walking alongside the bigger crocodile. “How was the game?” Vector asked. “I saw you playing tag with the others.”
Charmy couldn’t avoid the question, and he wasn’t a good liar. He could just attempt.. “It was good.” Wrong. “I couldn’t use my wings to tag the others since it was unfair. So, I just took up a challenge and ran on foot!” Charmy exclaimed, his voice undeniably.. loud. Again. Why was he so loud?
Vector nodded and hummed in acknowledgment, crossing his arms as he walked. Charmy gazed away, fiddling with his hands. He should’ve been chattering freely without a care in the world, but this time, it felt different. Charmy couldn’t process the complex emotion that he was experiencing at this point.
Back at the agency, Espio was there, still reading the same book from the previous hours. Charmy saw Espio inhale exasperatedly as he spotted Charmy and Vector walking in. That never hurt Charmy, but now, Charmy felt his stomach tighten yet again with conflict. Despite this, Charmy hovered over, finally using his wings to fly over and sit by Espio on the small couch, while Vector went off to sleep like the old crocodile he was!
“Hi, Espio!” Charmy chirped happily, and Espio glanced at him, nodding with acknowledgment before gazing back at his book. Boring, what’s so fun about books? “Whatcha’ reading?” Charmy asked, curiously as he peered over. Espio sighed tiredly.
“Charmy, you know it’s not respectful to look at other people’s things without asking.” Espio stated, his voice.. irritated? Charmy perked up at his tone and words. Charmy nodded, sitting back down properly. “Mhm, right..” Charmy murmured. Respectful. Respect..
“Uhm, can I ask what you are reading?” Charmy asked.
“No.” Espio replied. Wow! The nerve! Telling Charmy to ask first then denying his request to see?! Charmy pouted slightly, that hurt too! Charmy decided to just leave and go to his own cramped room, quietly shutting the door.
Inside, Charmy grabbed his only coloring marker that he had that didn’t run out of ink, grabbed a piece of paper that was a little torn, and sat on the ground.
How to be a..
Good kid? Normal kid? Charmy didn’t know. He put normal kid for the sake of it.
He thought for a moment; how did the other kids act?
Quiet. Loud when.. necessary?
Respectful.
Listening to family.
Not annoying.
Charmy wrote and wrote, things he wanted to be, no, NEEDED to be. There were so many kids that acted so well and good, and they are loved very deeply! Like..
Cream. Cream the Rabbit. Cream was a good friend, a great friend, even! She was kind and sweet, she spoke whenever she felt that she could, and always listened to her mother! She was everything that defined..
A good kid.
Everything that Charmy really wasn’t. That made Charmy’s throat tighten, but he was determined to be good!
His behavior will change.
To be the child that everyone will welcome with open arms and everybody will enjoy his presence. That was his goal. Tomorrow, he will be good, Espio will talk to him more and maybe even come with him to the park, Vector will give him a lot of ice creams for good behavior.. That was paradise!
It will happen.