Afternoon tea. Who could've guessed this would happen again? This time I hadn't been looking for anyone. Instead, what happened was entirely deliberate. While I was hanging around at the beach with Sonic and Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot appeared and invited me over here for tea. They didn't give me any explanation and neither did the doctor himself after I arrived.
For a while, we debated about the whole invisible barrier situation. It doesn't seem like Eggman has any idea what it could be, as he doesn't think he has ever dealt with anything like it before. And of course, by before he means the time before this island. I did try to inquire more about his life back then, but he'd quickly throw the conversation around to me.
Right now, our conversation couldn't be further from the island. "You also make these yourself?" I take a cookie from a platter on the table. Or I guess that because we're drinking tea they should be referred to as biscuits.
"Like nearly everything else here," he nods.
Somehow it surprises me. Maybe it's because the cookies are actually good and not terrible like the last batch of cookies he had made. Or the fact that he somehow finds time to bake cookies as well as tend gardens or whatever. He does have a bunch of robots that probably do most of the work, but it is interesting that he has devoted time to all this other stuff.
"You could probably make a fortune by selling these. And considering you have all the bots you wouldn't have to pay for employees," I state and bite into the cookie.
He chuckles, "I probably would."
I fully expect him to go on and add something, but he doesn't. So far, during this nearly two-hour long tea session, I've managed to keep the conversation going and the leaving awkward silences to a minimum. It's a wonder too that I've found enough topics to keep the conversation going. However, as I'm now realizing, I seem to be running out of them.
"Thanks for inviting me by the way," I state.
Eggman gulps the rest of his drink and glances over to me while placing his cup on the table, "Oh, it's nothing. It's actually quite refreshing to have new face around here."
In response I simply nod. That's probably the first time ever someone's said it's refreshing to have me around. Though it's very likely Sonic has said something like that. He seems to have a tendency of being the first one to say whatever to me. Well, first one here.
"You ever feel like changing teams, I'm always open for a lab assistant," the doctor says without a warning.
I turn to him slightly surprised by the random statement. Glancing away I chuckle, "Yeah I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon."
"Worth a try," he shrugs.
"Umm..." I look hoping to find any ideas for a possible conversation. My gaze picks up something in the corner of the ceiling. A security camera. "So how are those upgrades to the security working. Or whatever it was, defenses. You clean them already?"
"There really hasn't been anything to defend from yet, but I expect them to work well. It took Orbot and Cubot a few days to get them cleaned and another couple for me to get them running again," he replies.
I reach for my cup and ask, "What do you really even need defenses for? It's not like anyone ever attacks here. Most of the time it's just one of your own bots causing the mess."
"It's an evil lair! Of course it needs some protection," the doctor tells me as I finish my tea.
I squint my eyes, "Yeah but, from what?"
"What do you think? That vicious hedgehog!" he says, and I chuckle at his choice of words.
"But why? It's not like he ever attacks here," I remind him even though I'm certain he doesn't need the reminder.
"You never know what he's planning next," he tells me.
"I'm betting I would. And besides, aren't you the one coming up with plans on how to attack the village and he just gets in the way?"
"I suppose that's one way to look at it," he says. "But yes, I do make most of the plans. At least the most genius ones. Evilly genius."
There's honestly something so odd about this guy. That's not really an original statement, but just something I feel like pointing out, though it doesn't need to be. "What is that you really wanna achieve?" I ask him interested. It's a topic that crossed my mind earlier, but one I'm not sure if I should bring up.
"What?" he asks.
"What are you trying to gain from attacking the village? Like I get the whole supervillain and evil thing, but isn't there always a goal to it all?" I explain my question in more detail.
"Firstly, not every evil supervillain has any bigger goal than reigning terror," Eggman says looking straight at me and then glances at his watch. "Secondly, look at the time. I have some errands to run in a few and I would prefer to do that alone."
That's suspicious. Not really an answer to my question at all. That only takes my mind to one thing: He does in fact have a goal and he doesn't want to share it. Maybe if he told me that could jeopardize it, which probably is true since I would very likely talk about it to Sonic who would just immediately stop him.
I sigh, "Okay. By the way I love that you just specified 'evil supervillain' like supervillains aren't all evil."
As I stand up from my seat, Eggman does the same. He walks me over to the entrance where he says, "It was nice talking again. Same time next Friday?"
I turn to him and think for a moment. "Maybe," I reply. "If you could just answer one question."
"Go ahead."
"What's your goal here?" I ask and motion around him and me.
There is a weird gruffness in his voice as he replies, "No goal. Just tea."
I squint my eyes, "Right. 'Cause every evil supervillain just asks a friend of their nemesis over for tea."
"What could I have to gain here?" he asks, and by the tone in his voice I know he's being serious.
Rolling my eyes, I turn away from him and start walking down the stairs and to the shore, "Right."
I'm not even halfway down the stairs when he decides to say something again, "You really think I only talk to you because you share a hammock with that rodent?"
I flinch nearly tripping and plummeting down the rest of the flight and straight to the ground. Luckily, I manage to keep my balance and turn back to him, "What?"
"Not everything on this island has to revolve around that blue menace," Eggman says irritated. The next part he says in a much lower voice, yet still audible enough for me to hear, "Though it seems you're already a lost cause."
For a short few seconds, he continues standing atop the flight, but doesn't say anything. It's like he's waiting for me to respond something, but I never do. And I bet that's exactly what he was expecting, as he grunts, turns around, and leaves back to his lair.
"Unbelievable," I shake my head as I turn around and walk down the stairs. "And he has the nose to ask me to come back here." As I'm walking further and further from the sleek building I shout, "And hedgehogs aren't rodents!" Why did I feel the need to add that? No idea. But I just did it. I doubt the walking egg even heard that one.
The walk from the lair back to the main island is relatively short, and so is the walk around the beach back to the shack. Still, it seems that something is trying to slow me down, as I constantly find myself stopping and staring at my feet, or something else around me. The sky is without a cloud and a perfect shade of blue. Well, almost perfect.
What could Eggman gain from talking to me? If he's not trying to gain info on Sonic, then there's really no point to talk with me. His whole tea session was based on nothing. We just talked about anything and everything that came to mind. I know he doesn't exactly have friends, but I doubt that's what this is about. Or could he really try to befriend me? Technically he already kinda has, but... Then again his last statement felt like an attack. There must've been something behind his words that I just didn't pick up on.
The shack is already in my sight as two familiar creatures exit it. One of whom is red and the other one blue. Their direction happens to be the one I'm coming from, so it doesn't take long for us to cross paths.
"Hi," I say to the two of them as I get closer.
"HI," Sonic responds while Knuckles gives me a small wave.
"What's going on?" I ask.
"Nothing much. Just heading to Tails'," replies Sonic.
"What's there?" I ask glancing at Knuckles.
"An invention. Hopefully," Sonic tells me. "Knuckles and I've been brainstorming this for a while."
"That we have," Knuckles agrees with him.
I look between the two, "Am I wrong to assume 'a while' means the two hours that I've been gone?"
"That's a ridiculous assumption," says Knuckles.
Sonic agrees with him, "Yeah. In fact, you're an hour and fifty-nine minutes off."
"Ah so it's that kind of idea," I smile.
"Speaking of you being gone, where were you?" Sonic asks.
"Just around the island, trying to not make enemies and stay out of trouble," I tell him.
"And did you?" he questions.
"I would say my mission was very successful," I smile. My peripheral vision focuses on Knuckles whose gaze is down at his feet. Softly, he kicks the sand every now and then, clearly bored and waiting to be let go. "Um, you two should probably go," I say.
"Yeah," Sonic says and turns to Knuckles, "C'mon."
The two start walking to the direction they were heading as I do the same. Thinking about what I said to Sonic 'just around the island' I realize I actually haven't looked around the island that much. It would probably be better for me to actually get to know the area more, and not just the areas we usually hang around. If Sonic were to ever ask where I actually spent my afternoon it would probably be better to show him some other place than the lair of his nemesis. Though, I also should probably tell him about our tea sessions. But do I really? What in this universe makes it my obligation to tell anyone anything? Nothing. I guess it would be more of a moral thing if I did or didn't tell. Though, there's nothing wrong about having tea with Eggman. It's not like I'm helping him or anything. In fact, it would be more morally wrong to not talk with him because he's clearly somewhat lonely.
My feet take me along the beach and toward the direction I haven't really gone to before. It's pretty funny considering the size of the island that I've only stayed around the same few places. There's the shack, Tails' house and workshop, the village center and Eggman's lair. Then there's that one time I visited Amy, or have I been there twice? Maybe I've been there thrice now that I think about it. I visited Stick's that one time and I haven't actually seen where Knuckles lives.
Maybe I should try and spend more time with the others. I don't think I've spent time alone with anyone other than Sonic, but then again being with just him is weirdly easy which is kinda... scary. I don't really know what I could do with the others. Sticks has some... interesting interests, and I'm not really big on dumpster diving or conspiracy theories, though I did go through a period when I read every single one of them. Knuckles from my understanding really likes nature. He could probably show me the island more, though I've gotten the impression that he likes being alone while in nature. Tails has his invention thing going on and that's honestly something I can really get into. It's been quite a while since I've bonded with someone while inventing. I just think I should first finish up with the weapon thing. That way he sees I can actually come up with good ideas. Amy isn't like Sticks. In fact, she's the complete opposite, and that's not really my style either. I do believe she likes reading. Maybe I could ask her for some book recommendations, though there's a chance she's into something I don't really care for. Then again, she did say I should get out my comfort zone more.
While I've been dwelling in my thoughts, my surroundings have changed from that of the sandy beach to a coastal area that's filled with trees and other foliage. I really hadn't even realized that I had entered the jungle, and to be honest, I'm not even sure I'm around the coast anymore, as all around me are tall trees and green plants. The sky above me is blocked by the massive leaves of the tall trees and the ground is clear of any real paths. Well, all paths excluding one.
In front of me is what seems like a wall of plants. Many of them are taller than me, and I have no idea how deep it could be. It honestly kinda looks like a cornfield, only with trees growing out of it here and there, and the plants are much closer together. In the middle of all the tall vegetation is a narrow gap that seems a lot like a path. I have no clue where it could lead, but something about it seems intriguing. Not really wanting to claw my way through the surrounding plants, I decide to follow it to wherever it leads.
The gap between the plants is just enough for me to walk in without them touching me. At first, and for quite a while, the vegetation remains the same shade of green. However, as I keep getting further in, there slowly begin to appear new colors. At first, I notice something yellow hanging from the plants, and as I look closer, I come to realize that they are flowers. Small, yellow flowers that grow on thin vines that surround the larger plants. The next flowers I come across are orange, and these ones are much bigger. Instead of them twining around the plants, these ones pop up from the empty spots between the plants. Then there are similar red flowers, though these have more petals than the orange ones. After those come purple flowers that hang above me like large umbrellas. As I observe them, I come to realize the sky is no longer blocked by the large leaves of the jungle, meaning this path must've taken me out of the forest and into some sort of field. Following those are some blue flowers that weirdly remind me of butterflies. While more and more flowers start appearing around me, I realize the plants are slowly becoming shorter. Soon they're about my height meaning I could soon see exactly where I am. Similarly, I notice that the ground isn't exactly flat but slightly slanted, meaning I've been slowly walking higher and higher without even realizing. As the plants finally reach my eyes, I immediately stop and stand as high as I can. My head pops up above the plants and my eyes widen as I see the colorful sea of flowers. In the direction I'm headed is a hillock that is noticeably taller than anything surrounding it. Without a second thought, I dive back into the flowers and run toward it.
Almost flying through the colors and passing by all the wonderous smells, I sprint my way to the hillock and climb on top of it. Panting once I reach the top, my eyes widen as my jaw almost falls to the ground. On the other side of the hill is a sea of flowers just as massive as the one I just ran through. The whole area surrounding me is just flowers. Different shades of almost every color are visible somewhere, and as wind brushes against them it makes it look like there are waves. It's something straight out of a dream. The tree line of the forest is equally as far away on all the sides and from where I just ran, I can even see the ocean.
Without even caring, I lean backward and let myself fall on the ground. The flowers below me soften my landing as the vibrant blue sky overtakes my view. Why on Earth, even with all these beautiful colors around me, do I still just want to see blue? Maybe it's the relaxing nature of it, but for some reason it still makes me timid. Or maybe because the sky is the only thing that is same as back home... but I would never want to go back there. Why, even when it's relaxing and familiar, does it still have to be so scary? Could it be that the familiarity of it all makes me want to avoid it? Even with all that, the blue still pulls me in closer... My eyelids close and I let the darkness engulf me... only it isn't really dark here either as in the middle of everything is something blue. Someone blue.
I open my eyes and sit up looking into the distance. Why do I have to be like this? Someone's nice to me once and I immediately latch onto them. Though, this someone has been nice to me a lot more than just once... but I guess that was the case before him too. Then again, almost everyone here is nice, even the supposed villain. Nice to me that is. Sticks was different first but changed sides quickly. I suppose everyone here at least tries to care about me, unlike on the other side of that pool. But, like before, everything can change in a second it seems.
How long have I been blushing in his presence? I know I've felt something when I'm with him, but I thought I had it under control, and it would just go away as fast as it came. There's no reason to go there again. Maybe now could really be a perfect time to try and hang around with someone else. I just don't know who. Sticks isn't exactly someone I'd like to be roomies with. She seems like the type to wake up in the middle of night and go looking for ghosts. Amy wouldn't be a bad roomie. I just don't think I've spent enough time with her to the point where she'd let me come live there. Knuckles hasn't even invited me over once, so there's probably a reason for that. Really the only one left and the most logical choice is Tails. I've already lived there for a while so it wouldn't exactly be new.
Sighing, I look at my surroundings. As beautiful as this place is, I should probably head back. I just want to remember where this is so I can come back sometime soon. With my hands I push myself up from the ground and start walking down along the hillside. It doesn't take too long for me to once again slowly dive into the sea of flowers which that too eventually comes to an end as I enter the foliage of the jungle. The narrow pathway among the foliage begins to slowly fade away as the plant life becomes more sparce the further I walk. At that point I try my best to remember my surroundings so that I can find my way back to the field again. The clearest indicator for the pathway has to be the plant covered rocks that form circles by a small creek that I hadn't seen before. If I just find myself back to those, it shouldn't be too hard to find the pathway again. With that, I smile to myself and continue back to the beach where I soon arrive.
My immediate next destination is Tails' house, or more likely the workshop, as not only am I planning to meet Tails, I also need to see Sonic and he was about to head there when we last met. And just like that, I travel through the forest and to the house by the ledge. Just like I was expecting, I come to find Tails tinkering with something inside the workshop. "Hi Tails," I smile as I enter the building. He glances over to me and I continue. "Is Sonic still here?"
"He left just a moment ago to the library," he tells me. "He's probably still in the village if you want to talk to him."
"Yeah, I do. But before that I wanted to ask you something."
He stops tinkering and raises up his glasses, "Okay."
"So, it's been getting cooler, and I was wondering if I could sleep over at your house tonight?" I ask.
He furrows his eyebrows and turns back to whatever he's working on, "Sure. You don't really have to ask something like that. You can crash at my house whenever."
"Thanks. That's... good to know," I smile. "Anyway. I probably should head to the village to catch up with Sonic now. So..." I add and back away to the door.
"See you later," he says, and I turn away and leave to the village.
It's only a moment later that I arrive there. When Sonic showed me around the place I'm pretty sure he mentioned the library being the building near Meh Burger and the Mayor's House, so that's the direction I take. Well, am about to take, as before I've taken another step toward it, the blue speedster makes his appearance.
"Sonic!" I shout as the hedgehog is about to pass me. His head turns to me, and he changes his direction just so slightly so that he's heading to me. In a second, I find that he's standing right before me. Glancing at the book he's holding I ask, "Are you in a hurry?"
"No, no, this is a perfect time. What's going on?" he quickly replies.
I squint my eyes but still go on, "Okay, so, well, the... Last night, I was feeling kinda cold and I thought that because of that I maybe should sleep at Tails' tonight."
"Why didn't you tell me you were cold?" he asks.
Well, mostly because I didn't, but it's not like I can answer that. Instead I say, "You were asleep, and you looked... tired and I didn't wanna wake you up,"
"Yeah but that doesn't matter if you're cold," he argues.
"No, I think you being tired goes over me being a little cold," I chuckle.
"Well I think you being cold goes over any issue I could have," he tries again.
"That's not fair," I reply. "And besides if you were like, I don't know, dying, that would totally go over me not liking the temperature."
The hedgehog grins, "So you just went straight to dying instead of trying to use any other argument?"
"No, that— That's not fair! You're..." I try to form a sentence, but Sonic snickering makes it hard. "I was only trying to justify it out based on what you said."
"You still could've said anything," he laughs.
"Now you're just being mean," I cross my arms.
His laughs die down as he smiles, "I'm sorry. But you know what that tells me?"
"Well what does it tell you?" I raise my eyebrows.
"That you agreed with what I said," he smiles.
"That's, no. Not true," I immediately tell him. "What I feel doesn't... Wait, that isn't even the point. You're distracting me."
"I'm distracting you?" he questions.
"You're doing it now too. The point is—"
"What if I like you when you're distracted?" he asks. "If it means you blush like that then it's surely cute."
"That... What? I'm not blushing. It's... I'm— You know what it is? It's me being angry that's what," I quickly tell him, though I'm clearly lying. I'm not angry at all. Just... irritated. And it's not because of— Well actually he's totally behind this irritation. Why am I even trying to defend him in my head now? I should just tell him what I came here to say. "Okay can I just please get to the point?"
"Go ahead," he says.
"I'm gonna sleep at Tails' tonight. That's the point. You got it?"
He starts nodding and glances away from me, "Yeah I... think I got it."
"Good," I nod, and then glance at his hands which are tightly holding a book. "What's the book?"
"What book?" he asks confused. I point to his hands, and he looks there. His eyes widen as he shouts, "The library! Sorry Y/N I gotta go!"
The hedgehog disappears before I even have the chance to open my mouth to reply to him. I look around me to see where he headed but there's no sign of him anywhere. "I though he said he wasn't in a hurry," I mutter to myself.
I don't even get the chance to turn my gaze away, when there's already something blowing up in the direction Sonic just went, and it's not hard to guess what just happened. Sighing I turn away from the scene and start making my way back to the shack. Now, a part of me wants to check up on him but considering what just happened is most likely Eggman's doing, there's a 99.997% chance that Sonic will come out of the situation on top.
My trip to the shack doesn't take long, and neither does my stay there. After packing my stuff in my bag, I quickly write down a note for Sonic just to remind him that I wouldn't be there tonight. Following that I find myself entering the house by the ledge. I set my bag down by the couch and take a seat.
Tails could pretty much be anywhere at the moment, and despite him telling me I could come over whenever, I doubt he'd allow me to do whatever here. Still, a part of me does feel like I should at least give him something in return. Because of that, I get up and walk over to the kitchen. The cabinets are filled with basic ingredients and so is the fridge. Tails hasn't ever talked about what kinda food he likes, but truthfully, I barely know anything about him. My best choice here would be to do something really basic. Something everyone likes. But I guess there really isn't anything that is universally loved. Everything has haters. Judging by all the ingredients, I suppose I could boil some pasta and create a sauce from the ingredients in the fridge. That's basic enough, and because Tails has the ingredients, he must like it.
It's probably been around forty minutes when I turn off the stove and pour the water out of the pot. From the cabinet, I take two plates as well as forks and knives. I set them down on the table before taking a seat on the couch again as I wait for Tails to arrive. Coincidentally, I've just managed to lean back when the door opens and in walks the fox. In his hands he's carrying a cardboard box.
"Hi, again," I greet him.
"Hey," he replies, and I'm immediately greeted by the uncomfortable silence that follows. The fox walks over to the kitchen and sets the box he's holding on the counter. "Trouble in paradise?" he then proceeds to ask. I squint my eyes as he glances over to me prompting him to quickly add, "I mean like, at the shack, because it's a beachside paradise."
"Yeah, that's exactly what I assumed," I reply. "I just felt cold at night. That's all."
He nods, "If you want to, you can use my heated blanket."
"Thanks," I smile. "Um, I'm honestly sorry for the trouble..." I start but he waves me off.
"It's nothing. I..." he also starts but grabs the lid off the pan that I made the sauce in. "Did you cook?"
He looks over to me as I reply, "Who else would've? I just thought I should do something in return because you're letting me stay over."
"You didn't have to," he says. "But I am hungry, so." He looks over to the table to see the plates, "Let's eat."
Moments later I find myself sitting at the table with him on the opposite side. The food is still pretty hot, but the two of us are still eating.
"This is great!" Tails says.
I raise my gaze up from the place surprised, "You think so?"
"I know so," he says taking another mouthful. "Who taught you to cook?"
Shrugging I reply, "No one. I've just made my own food for... a while."
That short interaction is the only one we have while we eat, but it doesn't really matter. I don't like talking while eating anyway. However, the compliment he gave me is very reassuring. Once we have eaten, Tails takes our plates back to the kitchen and washes them, even though I volunteer to dish them as well as everything I had used to make the food. While he's washing them, he asks me what my situation is with weapon.
"Not really," I tell him. "Turns out I can come up with ideas that I don't really like myself."
He hums in acknowledgement. "Well, it isn't a race. And I don't suppose Eggman is planning on stopping anytime soon so that's another reason not to hurry."
He finishes doing the dishes, and truthfully, I'm not really sure what I'm expecting to happen next. Maybe he's gonna start drawing ideas for new inventions or something like that, but that doesn't happen. Tails happens to suggest watching a movie, and that's exactly what we do. Every now and then he makes a comment about something happening on screen, especially when it's something he likes. At one point he mentions how he dislikes how the main character has a way to backpedal and unintentionally lead others to think they misunderstood him. It's an odd nitpick considering how it's an important part of his character and growth.
A couple hours after that, the sky outside has turned dark and so has the TV. Tails is quietly snoring on his bed, and here on the couch am I. Lying, but still awake. Tails fell asleep ages ago, but something is still forcing me to stay awake. At first, I thought it was the blanket which probably was partially true, as it wasn't making me warm but hot. But I switched it to a normal blanket a while ago, and still nothing has changed. Truth be told, I'm kinda surprised how the couch feels. It isn't uncomfortable but... it's not nice. I kinda miss the hammock, though I swear one day I'm gonna be in deep sleep, roll over, and plummet onto the floor. Though it does seem I've been able to fall asleep on it immediately and wake up every morning in the same exact position. Or maybe I'm just imagining things. There's no way a hammock could be that comfortable.
AN: It wouldn't be another Teary Eyes chapter without some overly long "Author notes" (Can these even be called that anymore?) at the end. Hi, hello! I hope everyone is doing well. It's been a bit longer than it was supposed to be, but that's nothing new really.
It took me a while to get this done because at first, I really tried to just rewrite what I already had written. And I did that, but the end result was a mess. It was too long, had too much information, and it just didn't work. So then I got an idea that if I took some of the elements and created a chapter surrounding them, then this new chapter would work as a setup for that chapter. And well, it definitely works better. You'll see when it's finally out. Though, I'm already warning you that the chapter's current draft is nearly twice as long as this one, and this one is 5300 words so... which is funny because this chapter was supposed to be short.
Now, again, I don't love this chapter, but I've realized that I don't "love" any of the chapters. But, I do love scenes, and in this one my favorite is Sonic and Y/N's little bickering. A thing I hate in my chapters is always the ending. I always try to close the story in some way, because these are supposed to be episodes. And you might be like "you don't have to make them episodes" but that's what I wanna do.
There's probably a ton more I could talk about in terms of this chapter (There totally is I'm just really tired), but nothing is coming up right now. So with that outta the way, I'm moving the topic to Levitating, because that's what I seem to be doing a lot these days.
This is gonna seem so random, but there's one chapter which I released, and just moments before releasing it, I changed its title. And I've never liked the title I went with, but the thing with the original title was, it's really, really long, compared to the rest. The chapter I'm referring to is currently called "Late Night" but its original name was gonna be "Miss Camericana & The Cobalt Prince". So I've been thinking: Can I change the name?
Another question: Anyone have any bucket list ideas for Y/N Wachowski? This is totally not for Levitating 2...
Weirdly, that's about all I'm gonna tell and ask this time. I was gonna show you a more recent version of the cover art, but I still keep changing it almost every day. In terms of new chapters for this book, I'm optimistic that 10 is before Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and 11 is gonna be shortly after.
Again, thank you so so much for reading and voting and, seriously, comments make my day. Love y'all.
~ ıso⅄