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It is another movie night at the Wachowski Family, and it is Tails' turn to pick a movie for them to watch. He chose a sci-fi movie he had been talking about to Sonic and Knuckles the entire week, his twin tails swishing in delight that the brothers could not bring themselves to interrupt his rambling. So now, the family is watching it in their living room.
It has been a few months since the recent addition of mobians is added in their family. From having none to one blue hedgehog to an amber twin-tailed fox to a red echidna. The newest additions to the Wachowski Family settled in quicker than Sonic ever did, already referring to Tom and Maddie as their parents while he took almost an entire year and a near-death experience before acknowledging it. The thought gives him an unsettling feeling in his stomach, making him struggle to pay attention to the movie.
Sonic looks at his newly acquired brothers and parents. Knuckles is sitting on the carpet with Ozzie lying down on his side while there's a blanket covering them. There's a bowl of grapes on Knuckles' lap, which he occasionally grabs to snack on. Tails is sitting between Tom and Maddie on the couch, the latter fluffing up his twin tails with a brush. Sonic, on the other hand, is lying on the other side of the couch, with his head on Tom's lap. His body is facing towards the side where the TV screen is, the bright screen reflecting on him through the darkness of the room.
Sonic feels Tom's hands combing through his fur while being careful about the relaxed quills. A part of his hand brushes over his ears, making them twitch instinctively. Tom repeats the motion in a relaxing manner, helping him relax and easily fall asleep, but Sonic tries to keep himself awake. Movie night is one of the few days where he gets to stay up later than his curfew, so he wants to stay awake as long as he possibly can.
Sonic feels a lump stuck in his throat the longer he watches the movie and finds more parallels and similarities between him and the main protagonist. He turns his head away from the screen, hiding his face on Tom's shirt when the protagonist is taken away from their loved one.
He is reminded of the day when he lost Longclaw and his home at a young age.
The dialogue in the movie drowns out as he is thrown back to the day when he had to flee from home. The first of the few when he wasn't fast enough. Not fast enough to go through the ring portal before it disappeared, along with Longclaw on the other side with the echidnas.
He remembered falling to the ground, the bag of rings spilling. He stayed in the same position for a long time, the mud and dirt sticking to his fur when it started raining that night.
He was dazed. His memories were vague but also vivid.
He remembered picking up the stray feather he found on the ground next to him. He must have cried at that moment because he remembered his eyes stinging and little droplets of water falling to the ground.
He stood up afterward while picking up the fallen rings, putting them back in the bag Longclaw gave to him.
The little mobian never went to Earth before, so he had no idea where he was supposed to be. All he knew was that he had to find shelter quickly because the rain was getting stronger. He ran until he found a cave covered in moss and vines.
He remembered curling into a ball after finding shelter and staying in the same position until the rain had stopped. He was cold and shivering in his bones the entire time.
When it was finally silent, void of the rain dripping down the surface, he had uncurled himself. He held onto the feather and bag of rings, in fear of losing it.
He had looked around the cave, noticing it being larger than he remembered when he first stumbled upon it. He thought about Longclaw's words to him and promised to remain hidden so no one would take advantage of the powers he had.
And he stayed in that cave for over a decade.
He learned how to survive and live by himself.
He learned what he can and cannot eat. Something he learned the hard way when he ate something that made him sick for an entire week. He remembered the pain in his stomach and achingly tried to look for any herbs that could help him feel better even though he didn't know what would cure him.
He planned what planets he'd go to when Earth was not deemed safe for him anymore. He carried a backpack he stole borrowed with essentials that he believed he could use to travel to different planets. It took him almost an entire month of visiting several plants before he decided for Mushroom Planet to be his next destination when he had to run away.
He learned how to speak the same way as the humans did by listening to their conversations. He learned how to read and write like them, although with a lot of struggles. He learned their human customs and traditions.
The day he learned about humans was also the same year when he found out where he was. He was living in a forest near a small town in Montana known as 'Green Hills'.
The humans in the small town were eccentric and strange, just like him. He remembered finding himself watching them do their daily human activities for hours at a time before remembering he needed to supply more food so he would survive during the winter or rainy days.
A few months after learning about them, he found two people who would soon be his parents and his favorite humans in the entire galaxy: Tom Wachowski and Maddie Wachowski. Or as he liked to call them: Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady.
He watched them the most. Others would call it stalking, but he liked to say that he was 'observing' them. He watched them for many hours, engaging in the human activities they were also doing. He watched movies with them, talked with them as though they could also hear him, and whispered a 'goodnight' to them before leaving to go sleep in his cave.
He had already referred to them as his family, even when they didn't know he existed back then.
There were a lot of days when he was energetic and in high spirits, excited to always play a prank on Crazy Carl. He was the only human who knew he existed, so interacting with him always gave him a thrill of danger yet enjoyment. Crazy Carl's traps never did work on him since he's a fast hedgehog.
But when the holidays came, and he saw families spending time together, he was always left with heartache and a sting of loneliness.
He stayed in the cave during those days. He tried to entertain himself several times, but it never worked. These were those days when he lay down in the worn-down bean bag he used to sleep. He stayed there for hours until deciding to 'get over it' and continue to do his usual routine like it never happened.
On the anniversary of his arrival to Green Hill and the loss of Longclaw, his thoughts went haywire. He held the feather to his chest, the closest he could get to hugging Longclaw.
It had been many years since he lost Longclaw, and his memories of her were vague by now. He still remembered what she loved, but her voice and appearance were becoming nothing to him. When he tries to remember her, she turns to blur in his memories. What color were her eyes? Was she as tall as he remembered, or was he taller than her now? How did her voice sound like? Was it as soft as how a mother comforts her child or rough from all the battles she went through in the past?
When he saw her again as a projection years later, his eyes teared up. He focused on her voice and appearance. Her eyes were as gentle as he remembered, still soft despite what she was telling him. She was still taller than him, but a part of him wondered if she could still carry him just like back when he was still a hoglet. He committed this memory of her to his head, unsure if he'd ever see another projection of Longclaw next time.
It was these days when he was reminded of how quiet and big the cave is even with all the new stuff he got.
The day when he found this cave is in his memories, reminding him of what he lost. He grieved for her and his loss of a home.
After that day, he does not remember the last time he cried because of something that devastated him. Instead, he curls himself into a ball, hiding away from everyone when he becomes too vulnerable and he's not able to keep himself from hiding it because of how strong they are.
"—Sonic?"
Sonic blinks and he is thrust back to the couch, his quills rising higher than he'd like. The hand combing through his quills is gone, and he feels eyes watching him.
Sonic flattens his spine, not wanting to hurt anyone with his quills. He turns his head up at Tom, noticing the worrying pool in his eyes while his brows are furrowed.
"Are you okay, Sonic?" asked Tom again, his hand hovering over the quills, unsure whether it was safe to touch them or not.
Sonic turns his gaze towards the TV, noticing that the movie has been paused. He sees Knuckles looking at him, his lips downward while Tails has his twin tails wrapped around each other. He fiddles with the gloves while he looks at Sonic as he bites on his lip. Maddie has the same expression, but her gaze seems to wander around Sonic, as though to make sure he isn't hurt or hiding any injuries.
"Yeah." His voice croaks, sounding like he's on the verge of tears. Sonic clears his throat. "Yeah, I'm fine." This time, his voice sounds more controlled, but there's still a barely noticeable strain to it that would have gone unnoticed if the people and mobians he is talking to didn't know him.
"The hedgehog is lying, Mother." Knuckles looks at Maddie, his lips pressed together.
Sonic defends himself immediately, sitting up to properly look at Knuckles while his quills bristle. "I am not!"
Knuckles turns towards Sonic and he has that disappointed expression he sees from Knuckles whenever he does or says something wrong in Knuckles' eyes. It reminds Sonic of 'the disappointed older sibling' gaze his friends at school talk about during their lunch break.
"Brother." Knuckles' voice softens by a miniscule.
Sonic's quills bristle. "I'm fine." It sounds hysterical to his ears. He doesn't know whether he's trying to convince his family he's fine or himself.
Himself.
He feels someone grab his glove, and he turns to see Tails by his side. The twin tail fox—his brother is worried about him. He turns his head to his parents and they too look worried.
Everyone is worried about him.
And it makes him feel worse.
He wants to curl into a ball and hide away from everyone, but that will make everyone be even more worried about him.
He doesn't like opening up or being vulnerable about his feelings.
It makes him feel insecure.
He doesn't want to acknowledge the feelings.
He breathes heavily, controlling the surge of blue electricity surrounding him because of his emotions. He knows he's worrying his family the longer he stays silent, but he can't help it.
Acknowledging it means opening up about his decade-long isolation and loneliness.
Acknowledging it means telling them all of his insecurities.
Acknowledging it means thinking about the day he lost his home.
The day he lost Longclaw.
He feels another grab on his glove, but it feels bigger and rougher.
Sonic opens his eyes which he didn't realize had stayed closed for who knows how long and meets his brother's deep worried gaze. His amethyst eyes seem to shine brighter around the blue electricity surrounding them.
"Breathe, brother." His voice is deep but soothing as he murmurs those words to him. "Breathe."
And Sonic breathes.
He follows his older brother's breathing pattern, feeling himself relax and the surrounding power slowly dissipating. He feels his younger brother squeeze his other glove and his quills relax, finally allowing Tails to move closer until their bodies are pressed together. He feels his younger brother's twin tails curl around him.
Tails doesn't say a word to him, or maybe he did when he zoned out. Tails moves his head under Sonic's chin while wrapping his arms around his torso.
They stay like that for a few more minutes. Knuckles helps him keep his breathing even to control his unstable power while Tails keeps him grounded back to reality instead of going back to his mind where he thinks of who he was before he met them. Before he found a new family. Before he found a reason to stay instead of running away.
By the time Sonic feels like he can breathe evenly and properly again, he feels a blanket surrounding him and his brothers. He looks up, and he meets Tom's gaze. There's a notable relief in them and he feels bad for making them worry about him.
Maddie goes to Tom's side while she holds a tray with enough mugs for them all. "I made hot chocolate," she said while handing them out. The number of marshmallows (or lack of them) that they want is there.
Tail unwraps his arms around Sonic to grab his mug while Knuckles holds them cautiously because of his strength.
Sonic is careful when he holds the mug, a trail of steam still appearing. "Thank you, Pre—Mom," he corrected himself. He is still getting used to calling them 'Mom' and 'Dad', and their patience for it gives him comfort. Especially when he receives a smile in return.
He feels himself slowly being dragged down by Tom until he's seated on the carpet. Tom makes Sonic's head lean on his shoulder and Sonic feels a hand on top of his head.
"You know we're always going to be right here for you, right, buddy?"
"Yeah, D—" he hesitates— "Dad. I know." He's heard it plenty of times from both Tom and Maddie. "The Wachowski's stick together."
Tom nods, his fatherly gaze still set on Sonic. "The Wachowski's stick together." His fingers brush through Sonic's quills, his hand brushing against the ears. "Don't you forget that."
"Yeah!" Tails chimed in. He makes a circular motion with the mug to cool it down before drinking it slowly. "And if you ever forget about it, we'll remind you."
"You helped us." Sonic turns to Knuckles when the older one speaks. "Now it's our turn to help you."
Sonic looks at his mug, the little marshmallows floating on top. Then he drinks it. He swallows the lump of feeling in his throat as he looks at his brothers. "Thanks." His voice croaks and he cringes.
Maddie sits down between Tails and Knuckles, but not before hugging Sonic. Her arms wrap around him, giving him a little squeeze before letting go. "Are you feeling any better, sweetheart?"
"Yeah." He nods. Then he looks down, his face burning in shame. "'M sorry for ruining movie night… Especially when you were looking forward to it all week, Tails."
"It's okay, Sonic!" His brother is as cheerful as ever, his twin tails swishing behind him before settling around him. "We can still continue watching the movie."
Tom and Maddie met each other's gaze, having a silent conversation between them before turning to look at Tails. It is Tom who says, "Since it's the weekend tomorrow, we'll allow it." Before the brothers could cheer, Tom adds, "But you will need to complete all your homework this weekend."
Sonic groans dramatically, taking a sip at his mug while nonsensically grumbling nonsense of him not wanting to do his homework.
But as he watches when the movie is resumed, continuing where they left off before Sonic interrupted the family movie night, he is filled with love and comfort. The heat from the mug brings him a sense of comfort and a reminder he is not in the cold, lonely cave he stayed at for a decade.
He is with his family watching a movie Tails has been dying to see.
He is with love, safety, and comfort.
As he smiles while taking another sip of the mug, he knows he will experience the lonely decade and isolation all over again if he gets to be with the Wachowskis by the end of it.