Work Text:
“GET YOUR POINTY BUTT BACK IN HERE, MISTER.”
Vector’s gravelly voice boomed and burst through the cramped hallway of the aging building known as the Chaotix Detective Agency. His indescribably heavy footsteps made the old floorboard creak. Somewhere in the maze of their modest headquarters, a high pitch giggle echoed back in response to the big boss. It was muffled, yet unmistakably Charmy.
The 20-something year old Croc stopped in the middle of the hallway. He placed his hands on his hips as he exhaled an exasperated sigh. He gazed at the living space the three detectives called home. Empty takeout containers littered the coffee table. The smell of economically friendly noodles and fried rice hung in the atmosphere. It was a part of the same routine every single night: dinner, dishes, the battle royale that was Charmy’s bath time.
“I know y’can hear me, kiddo.” Vector called out, his voice was significantly softer, yet still firm with parental control. “The waters already runnin’, and we ain’t got the money to waste it!”
Another little giggle pierced through Vector’s ears, the croc’s eye twitching in response. The kid was close, and Vector knew it.
“Charmy Bee, I’m countin’ to THREE-“
EEK!
“Awww, come ON, Vector! You know I don’t like takin’ a bath.” Charmy piped up from behind the filing cabinet, his tone was equal parts whiny and gleeful. “I can’t fly with my wings all wet!”
A smirk tugged at the corner of Vector's muzzle, even as he crossed his arms to assert his authority. “But ya love goin’ to the pool! Your wings always get soaked while swimmin’, but ya don’t complain one bit, don’t ya? Besides, your wings’ll dry in, like, ten minutes! Quit fightin’ and get in the bathroom, kiddo. We ain’t gonna do this every night.”
“But, Vector-!”
“No buts! I ain’t lettin’ ya go to bed with a day’s worth of dirt in your fuzz. You’re getting in that tub if I gotta carry you there myself!”
…
A pause made itself apparent.
Vector could see Charmy silently making calculations in his head. Before long, the telltale buzz of tiny wings lifted the boy further into the air. His grin was growing wider with mischief.
“I’ll get in the bath, but you’ve gotta catch me first! HEHEHE!”
Charmy zoomed into the air in a blur of black, yellow, and orange. His antenna bobbing as he zipped past Vector’s head, just inches away from knocking off his guardian’s probably expensive headphones. Charmy’s bubbly laughter flooded the agency, it was bright and infectious. Vector was quick to lunge after his boy, missing by nearly a mile.
“Oh, you little-“ Vector spun around the room, nearly knocking over an old thrifted lamp. “That’s it! You’ve got yourself a chase, buddy!”
Charmy was already halfway down the hall, hovering near the part of the ceiling that Vector just couldn’t quite reach. His smile glistened playfully. “HEHE! You’ll never take me aliiiiive!”
Vector grinned with determination as he cracked his knuckles and neck, “Oh, we’ll see about that!”
The chase was on!
Charmy darted throughout the office building, weaving himself through the overhead light fixtures and the big ol’ ceiling fan with practiced ease. Vector promptly barreled after the little boy, the bangs of his footsteps making the entire agency shake underneath his weight. Vector reached up to grab Charmy, his fingers just barely grazing the bee’s shoe. Charmy managed to pull himself up at the last second with a triumphant chuckle.
“Gotta be faster than that, Vector! Try goin’ at Sonic Speed!”
“I’m warnin’ you kiddo-“ Vector lunged after him again, but Charmy zipped immediately to the side. The momentum of the huge crocodile hurled him forward into his desk, sending a huge cascade of unpaid bills and case files fluttering to the floor. A coffee mug teetered on the edge of the desk before toppling over with a painful shatter.
“SHOOT. I loved that mug!”
“Oopsies-! Sorry, Vector!” Charmy halted in the air with remorse before immediately making a bee-line to the other side of the building upon seeing Vector chase after him again.
Vector was scrambling after his kid, his huge tail knocking over the office trash can with a metallic CLANG! Charmy shot himself everywhere around the building. Unfortunately for Charmy, Vector has a bright mind.
Vector anticipated the bee’s turn towards the kitchen and was quick to cut him off, the Croc held his arms open wide like a butterfly net.
Charmy squealed as his eyes went wide. He made a hard left turn, his small body easily maneuvering through the narrow gap between Vector and the wall. However, the sudden turn made him wobble, and his flight pattern got sloppy. Charmy was tiring himself out.
“I see ya slowin’ down, kid!” Vector called. He could hear Charmy’s breathing getting heavy, with the buzz of his wings losing steadiness.
Charmy dove into the living area, his antenna drooping into his line of sight. He pushed them aside as his eyes darted around desperately until they landed on helpful salvation. Espio was sitting cross-legged on the couch. He had just cleaned up after dinner, and wanted to read in peace. He had been completely ignoring the full-scale chase happening around him
“ESPIO!!” Charmy zoomed down and hovered right in front of the chameleon’s face. His little hands clasped together pleadingly. “Espio, pleasseeee! You gotta help me! Use your ninja stuff, make some sort of distraction, just anything, PLEASEEE!”
Espio was slow to lower his book, his expression was uncomfortably unreadable. He glanced at Charmy, then at Vector who was in the midst of catching his breath in the hallway, then back at Charmy.
“Every. Single. Night.” Espio was flat with his retort. “You’re aware if you just got into the bath, you wouldn’t be in the middle of a chase scene, yes?”
“Well where’s the fun in that?”
Espio planted a hand into his face and sighed.
“Very well, then.” Espio stood up gracefully as he watched Charmy’s face light up with hope. “I’ll help.”
“YES!!” Charmy fluttered his wings and pumped his fists into the air
“Follow me, quickly.” Espio slid towards the hallway with steps as light as a Flicky’s feather, he gestured for Charmy to follow. “I know of a place Vector will never think to look.”
Charmy buzzed after his brother eagerly, he was too desperate to notice a smirk that had found itself on Espio’s face. Vector noticed the two escaping and stayed back. He was confused, but he always trusted Espio. The two brothers kept moving down the hall.
“In here,” Espio affirmed, opening a seemingly random door. “He’ll never find you in he-“
Charmy blasted through the doorway, cutting Espio off mid-sentence. The bee suddenly stopped dead in the air, his wings freezing mid flutter.
He was in the bathroom.
The bathtub stared at him with sheer intimidation. Bath toys floated innocently on the warm water. Clean pajamas were folded neatly on the lid of the toilet. Charmy had been TRICKED.
Vector stepped out from behind the door, he crossed his arms proudly and began to grin with a victorious beam.
“Thanks, Espio.”
“My pleasure.”
Charmy spun around to face his teammates, his jaw dropped in complete and utter betrayal. “YOU’RE A TRAITOR, ESPIO!! You- you were supposed to help me escape!”
The smirk on Espio’s face finally made itself apparent to Charmy. “As your teammate, it is my duty to help you. As your elder, it is my obligation to protect you. I might have not helped you escape, but I am helping you fight against poor hygiene. You’re welcome.” Espio kept his smirk as he left the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
“I can’t BELIEVE you!” Charmy sputtered, “This is- this is-“
Vector scooped his boy up gently before he could make another escape attempt. “This is you gettin’ in the tub, that’s what this is.”
Charmy pouted and squirmed, but his heart wasn’t really in it anymore. He had been outplayed and outnumbered. And frankly, he was also exhausted from all that flying.
“You guys are the worst!” He mumbled, albeit with no weight to it.
Vector chuckled as he took off his own gloves. “Yeah, yeah. We love you too, kiddo.”
Charmy sat himself on the edge of the tub, he popped off his helmet and slid off his gloves and set them to the side while Vector slid off the kid’s socks and shoes. Charmy’s little shoulders slumped as his antennae drooped down once more. His breathing was still a bit heavy. Vector gently unzipped Charmy’s jacket. The bee didn’t even protest, he just raised his arms and allowed Vector to lift the jacket off.
“Alright, kiddo. In you go,” Vector verbally nudged. Charmy slipped himself off of the edge and straight into the warm water, slightly splashing his guardian in the process.
His wings got wet, yeah, but he didn’t really care once he actually got in the bath. He had been fighting against this for the past twenty-minutes, but now actually sitting here, he couldn’t quite pinpoint why it had seemed so terrible.
Vector soon knelt beside the tub, positioning his elbow on the edge and resting his long snout on his hand. “Not so bad after all, eh?”
Charmy didn’t answer right away, his mind was occupied by the toy boats gliding slowly through the mountains of bubbles. His hand drifted to grasp a single boat, leaving small waves behind it. Charmy’s imagination was a big one, alright. The boat quickly became a mighty pirate ship that sailed across a vast and unexplored ocean. He made a whooshing sound as he guided the boat around a pretend island, or the soap dish to the unimaginative eye.
After a moment, Charmy’s attention swerved towards Vector. “Hey, boss?” His voice smaller than usual.
“What’s up, buddy?”
“Sorry for bein’ a….what’s that word you use? A little menace?”
Vector snickered, but he saw the genuine remorse in Charmy’s amber eyes.
“I love baths, I love my boats, but I also love havin’ fun with you, y’know? Sorry if it gets on your nerves, though.”
Vector’s expression softened, he ruffled Charmy’s fuzzy little head. “It’s alright, kiddo. I love havin’ fun with ya, too.”
Charmy beamed with a warm smile, “But don’tcha get annoyed?”
“Yeah, but you’re supposed t’be annoying. You’re six, after all.” Vector reached for the special ‘No Tear’ honey scented shampoo made especially for kids, squirting a dollop into his palm. “Lean back for me, kiddo.”
Charmy promptly tilted his head back obediently, closing his eyes as Vector’s large hands worked the shampoo into his fuzz and around his antennae with gentle love and care. The crocodiles claws were scary and intimidating, but they were to careful and tender as to not get soap in Charmy’s eyes.
“Espio tells me I’m an ‘adrenaline junkie’ sometimes, whatever that means. I just like playin’ tag,” Charmy yawned. He picked up a second boat and staged an elaborate and explosive aquatic battle, splashing water everywhere.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Vector agreed. He used an old plastic cup to rinse the shampoo away. “Or maybe, you just like messin’ with me.”
“Maybe.” Charmy giggled, the giggle itself turning into a yawn halfway through. The warm water and gentle rhythm of being washed were making his eyelids heavy. His boat battle was getting less energetic, and the ships started moving slower and slower across the water.
Vector worked quietly, washing Charmy’s muzzle, hands, knees, and just about everywhere. Getting off the dirt that came from whatever adventure Charmy had been on that day. Vector learned long ago that the secret to get Charmy to cooperate is to let him play while he worked- keep things fun, then Charmy wouldn’t notice that he’s being scrubbed clean.
“Okay, kiddo. Time t’get out before you start turnin’ into a prune.”
“Aww, but I don’t wanna.” Charmy mumbled, he raised his arms without a fight. Vector lifted the boy with ease, soon wrapping him in the fuzziest towel they owned. It was given to the detectives as a gift along with other nice and fancy toiletries from Miss Vanilla.
“There we go, nice and cozy.”
Charmy sleepily leaned into Vector’s side, letting himself be carried. The crocodile grabbed his kid’s pajamas off of the closed toilet lid and took a seat, setting Charmy on his lap to dry off properly. Vector was extra careful around the wings, patting them as gentle as he possibly could.
“Wings okay?” Vector asked, as he did every night.
“Mhmmm,” Charmy hummed, his eyes were fighting a losing battle to stay open.
Getting him into his pajamas was quite easy when he was this sleepy— Charmy always wore an orange footie onesie, it was his favorite thing to sleep in. Charmy yawned and swayed on his feet, Vector steadied him while guiding his legs into the pajamas. It was a little hard for Vector’s huge hands to fasten such tiny buttons, but he always turned out victorious.
“Alright, kiddo. Brush those teeth n’ go pee. I’ll meet ya in your room.”
Charmy yawned once again, a little louder this time, “M’kay.”
Vector walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him, who doesn’t like their privacy? He made his way to his boys’ bedroom, shuffling around the mess that was known as Charmy’s side. He really oughta remind the boy to clean his room tomorrow.
Vector pulled back the covers to Charmy’s bed, it was so small that Vector could barely fit on it, but it was perfect for Charmy. Vector sat at the edge of the bed, listening out for the sound of a flushing toilet to tell him Charmy was about to make his way to bed.
In moments, Charmy fluttered into the room. His wings had dried enough to allow him to fly, but he was so sleepy to the point where his flying was a little misguided. Regardless, he safely made it into bed. Vector tucked the boy in, making sure the blanket was secure and snug, but not suffocatingly tight. Vector ruffled Charmy’s fuzz once more and leaned down to give him a gentle kiss on the forehead. Charmy’s sleepy smile warmed Vector’s heart.
“Night kiddo, love ya.”
Vector flicked the lights off, the only illumination in the room came from the night light Charmy needed to sleep each night. Vector hesitated to leave, it was only when he heard tiny snores that he knew it was okay to go.
Vector closed the door quietly, feeling warm and tranquil. The feeling didn’t last for long, though, as he remembered the messy aftermath of this nights chase that needed to be tidied up. Vector sighed, but chuckled to himself. The kid was a handful, but he was Vector’s handful.