#touch starved + touch repulsed boom!sonic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gaymaramada · 2 years

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Now I’m Hopeless

Summary: Sonic tapped his foot incessantly, wracking his brain for any logical reasoning behind what had just happened that morning. It wasn’t his fault, right? No, it couldn’t have been. He was in the right. He had to be.

(Or: Sonic and Knuckles make it official - Knuckles is ecstatic and isn't afraid to show it, but Sonic begins to feel like he's biting off more than he can chew.)

Pairing: Boom! Sonic X Knuckles

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Language and a lil snippet of spiciness

Word Count: 5,481

Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43370349

Sonic tapped his foot incessantly, wracking his brain for any logical reasoning behind what had just happened that morning. It wasn’t his fault, right? No, it couldn’t have been. He was in the right. He had to be.

A couple of weeks ago, he and Knuckles had been playing video games together, when out of nowhere, the echidna had paused the game and asked, “Hey, you wanna be my boyfriend?”

Sonic’s reaction was extremely graceful if he did say so himself, and he certainly hadn’t sputtered around his straw and snorted soda through his nose, leaving him coughing violently for the next three minutes. A very awkward conversation followed, consisting of Knuckles listing off every single moment where they’ve behaved like more than just casual bros, Sonic’s face burning hotter and hotter (and not from the soda in his sinuses), and an uncharacteristically sincere confession from the both of them, eventually leading to the two of them tying the knot.

Knuckles was absolutely delighted, immediately wanting to climb to the tallest mountain on the island and scream out into the horizon that he had a boyfriend, but Sonic was quick to stop him.

“We’ll just…take baby steps, okay?” He’d told him, “Y’know, keep things subtle before telling everybody that we’re dating.”

Knuckles had been a bit pouty about it but ultimately agreed, stating that he was down with “whatever makes my boyfriend more comfortable”, sending more blood to Sonic’s cheeks.

Several days had passed, and Sonic felt content. No, really, he did. By day, he was still smashing robots, enjoying lunch with his team, and playing soccer at the rec center. By evening, he and Knuckles would spend time together; hanging out at the beach, challenging each other to see who could throw the rock the farthest, and relaxing at his shack as the sun set. Things were good.

But then Knuckles had handed him a little blue flower he’d picked from the edge of the forest, his grin ecstatic as he told him “It looks like you!” before placing it behind the hedgehog’s ear without a care in the world.

And Sonic felt…weird. He’d felt something in his chest lurch, and his stomach was getting all tingly. His face was getting hot again, and he wanted to splash some ice water on it. He’d never felt like this before, and all the echidna had done was give him a flower. A flower! Who freaks out over a flower?!

Things got stranger as the days went on, and Knuckles was getting more and more comfortable with showing his affection: he often gave Sonic little trinkets — a random stone he’d found, a colorful leaf he’d picked up, even a scrap of metal from one of Eggman’s destroyed robots that kind of looked like a face — and had been getting very comfortable with running his mouth. Every other sentence he’d said to him was so insanely sincere : “Your laugh is really cute,” or “You okay? I can carry you if you want,” or “You’re super cool to be with, you know that?”

Contact had also been a growing habit. Every second he could, Knuckles had a hand on his back, his shoulder, his waist, even his face if he was able. It all seemed to be effortless, almost automatic to the echidna, as he didn’t seem to give it a second thought. Sonic, meanwhile, felt overloaded with the fluttering in his stomach starting to make him nauseous and his heart beating way too fast — which shouldn’t even be possible for him! Worst of all, he was beginning to feel eyes on him as people began to notice their intimate behavior. Whispers met the hedgehog’s ears, giggles echoed from across the block, and Sonic felt himself growing more and more anxious with every passing second.

So he confronted Knuckles, bringing him aside so they could discuss their agreement to be more discreet about their relationship. He told the other teen that he’d been getting a bit too handsy, and was starting to break his boundaries. Knuckles had given him a sheepish look, awkwardly apologizing for getting carried away but promising to tone it down a bit while in public, but Sonic wasn’t done. He didn’t want it to stop while in public, he wanted it to stop entirely.

That had made Knuckles’ face drop, and the tone of the conversation took a sudden turn, “Wait, what?”

“It’s just…too much, okay?” Sonic reasoned, “All the…the touching and the compliments and the gifts…it’s not necessary.”

“But…” Knuckles visibly deflated, “but I’m your boyfriend…right?”

Sonic’s stomach turned but he did his best to ignore it, “You are, but that doesn’t mean you need to be all lovey-dovey about it! We can just act the same way we always have, it’s just now we’re dating, you know? Keep it casual.”

“But I don’t want it to be the way it was!” Knuckles exclaimed, his shoulders rising again, now from frustration, “If I wanted that, I wouldn’t have asked you out! What’s the point of dating if we’re not gonna act like it?”

“Knux, I’m not a romantic person, okay?” Sonic pinched the bridge of his nose, trying desperately to ignore the heaviness in his chest, “We can still be together, I just don’t want it to be this obvious thing. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

Knuckles scoffed, actually scoffed like Sonic had said something blasphemous, “Your reputation? Dude, no one’s gonna care that you have a boyfriend! If anything, it makes you look cooler! Why wouldn’t you want to—”

And then he’d stopped, and Sonic felt something in his chest halt, too. The echidna’s brows furrowed, and his lips curled down into a frown, his jaw dropping just a bit lower. He huffed, blinking at the hedgehog as he stood up straight, shaking his head slightly in disbelief.

“You don’t want to be seen with me.”

It wasn’t a question. Knuckles’ voice had dropped significantly, his tone uncharacteristically flat. Sonic thought his heart would explode out of his chest, “…What?”

“You’re ashamed of me,” Knuckles reiterated, his face curling into a sneer, “That’s why you’ve been so weird about this. I mean, Gods forbid the whole town found out that you were in a relationship with the biggest meathead on the island, huh?”

Sonic’s heart dropped into his stomach, “H-hey, Knux, come on—”

“No! That’s it, isn’t it?” He raised his voice despite the waver that was forming within it, “You think I’m just some dumb trophy boy that you can brag about when people try to ask you out like ‘Oh, sorry, I have a boyfriend!’ but you won’t bother to tell them that it’s me, right?!”

Sonic felt guilt begin to pile up in his core. He panicked, “Knuckles, you’re blowing this way out of proportion—”

“Aha! Now you’re trying to gaslight me!” The echidna pointed, “You really do think I’m clueless!”

“Dude, I never said that—!”

“Yes, you have!” His voice cracked as his eyes went glassy, “Every time I make a mistake or do something stupid, you give me that look! That look like I don’t know anything! Like I’m only good for punching stuff! I may not be the sharpest hammer in the box, but I do have feelings, you know!”

Sonic felt cornered, both by Knuckles and the overwhelming emotions that were flooding his chest. Knuckles’ words felt like a stab to the heart, but he didn’t want to go into the complications of why. He was in a fight, and he had to win. The familiar taste of spite washed over his tongue, and he spoke without thinking, “Okay, well maybe you are an idiot! No one with more than two brain cells would ever jump to conclusions the way you’re doing! And by the way, it’s ‘sharpest knife in the drawer’! If you’re gonna argue with me, at least get your idioms right!”

Knuckles gasped dramatically, his hand going to his chest, and Sonic braced himself for a pair of fists — if this was how things were gonna go down, he would be ready for it. But that wasn’t what he got.

No, what he got was much worse.

A tear. Then two, then several more dripped down the other’s cheeks as his lip quivered. Violet eyes darted away from him as the echidna shrunk into himself, suddenly looking very, very small. When he spoke again, his voice was shaky and watery.

“I really thought you liked me.”

Sonic wanted to sink into the floor and rot.

Knuckles had run off after that, his face in his hands as crocodile tears fell off his chin. Sonic just stood there, not even watching him go, but just staring ahead toward nothing in particular.

What…what just happened?

And now, here he was, sitting on his porch bouncing his leg and working at his bottom lip. He’d calm down eventually, right? He’d understand what Sonic meant, and they could go back to normal, right?

Normal. What did that entail exactly? Was it limited to sideways glances and friendly pats on the back? Or did it include those softer moments, where he’d sink under the weight of a larger hand over his shoulder, his eyes fluttering as a thumb gently pressed against that one tender spot by his neck, or that giddy feeling he’d get upon hearing him laugh, knowing he’d been the one to bring him that joy, or those gentle smiles directed his way, followed by sweet words in a tone that could only be described as pure adoration?

Sonic’s ears caught the sound of a soft whimper, and it took him a second to realize that he was the one that made it. He swallowed, crossing and uncrossing his ankles as he fought with his pride, desperate for something to solidify his reasoning, to prove himself right.

There was nothing. All he discovered were three very real truths:

One: He had real, genuine feelings for Knuckles.

Two: He liked those feelings, and he craved them more.

Three: He’d just ruined his chances of ever feeling them again.

Sonic fell onto his back and shoved his hands in his face, kicking his legs furiously as he all but screamed into his palms.

Knuckles was nowhere to be found. Sonic asked all his friends, but apparently, none of them had seen him all day. He searched all around town, asking every person he saw if they’d passed by the red echidna. He zipped over to the nearby village and asked Earl if he’d seen him (he was also quick to shove him out of the way of an incoming horseshoe), but with no luck. He went to Gogoba village, hoping that maybe they’d seen him pass by (they hadn’t, but they said they’d be happy to help him look, it’s not like they had anything better to do like feed themselves or tend to the elderly or anything). Sonic even went so far as to bang on Eggman’s door to question the other’s whereabouts (Eggman had simply raised a brow and asked “Who the heck is Knuckles?”).

Hours later, the sun was beginning to set, and Sonic had no lead as to where the echidna could have gone. All his messages went unanswered. His nerves were shot, and it felt like there was a huge hole in the middle of his chest. He’d never messed up this bad before. He tried to wrack his brain for any other possible places Knuckles could be, but the nausea he was feeling was making it hard to think.

The hedgehog heaved a sigh. At this point, he may as well cut his losses and head back home. Maybe Knuckles would show back up in the morning. But then what? Would he still come by Meh Burger with the gang? Would he still fight alongside Sonic? Ugh, he could feel himself getting a headache.

Sonic turned back and prepared to dash back to his shack, his heart a heavy weight in his chest, when he heard something amongst the rustling leaves. A voice, gruff and grunting. A blue ear flicked curiously, and Sonic quietly made his way toward the source of the sound.

Not too far away, he found himself in a small clearing, one that he was sure he’d passed by on one of his runs before but had never given any second thought. Large boulders were scattered around the clearing in random places, and in the middle of them was none other than Knuckles, lifting each one and placing them back down again with a grunt.

On any other day, Sonic would have blinked in confusion, wondering just what the heck the echidna was up to. But right now, all judgment flew out the window as he ran up to the other excitedly, “Knux! There you are!”

The older boy turned at the voice, his expression curious, but it quickly dropped into a cold stare upon realizing who it belonged to before he turned back to the rocks. Sonic stopped in his tracks immediately, Knuckles’ expression feeling like a physical brunt against him. In all the time he’d spent searching for him, he’d almost forgotten why he’d run away in the first place. The young hero shifted on his feet, suddenly feeling alone in the clearing despite Knuckles’ presence.

He swallowed, then clicked his tongue, then buzzed his lips, then cleared his throat before eventually mustering the courage to speak, “So, uh…what’re you doing?”

For a long couple of seconds, the echidna didn’t answer him, and Sonic was ready to accept his fate of suffering the silent treatment. But then, the other finally responded in a low voice, “What’s it look like?”

“Uh,” Sonic scratched his cheek, “like you’re moving rocks around, I guess?”

Knuckles dropped another boulder, “Hmph. Congrats. You don’t need glasses.”

His voice was too low, Sonic noted. Too dry, almost monotone. Heck, Knuckles was giving Shadow a run for his money with how he was talking to him, and that was saying something. And the way he still refused to look over at him, to speak to him at all unless he’d been spoken to first?

Yeah. Sonic didn’t like this one bit.

He sucked in through his teeth, “So, hey, uh…you, um…y’know that feeling you get when you’re playing soccer, and you aim for the goal but then you miss it completely?”

No response. Roll with it, Sonic, roll with it, “And then, uh, like everyone on the team gets mad at you, and you try to tell them that you didn’t mean to miss, but it just kind of happened—”

“Sonic, if this is about this morning, I’d rather you didn’t try to talk about it through soccer metaphors,” Knuckles chided, lifting another boulder and tossing it over to his left. It was far away from where Sonic was standing, but he felt as if he’d just been violently crushed by it.

“Ah- yeah, uh,” The hedgehog felt stuck. He’d never seen Knuckles like this before; he’d seen him angry, sure, so angry that he’d considered working with Eggman a few times if it meant getting back at the person who’d wronged him. But this? This silent, cold apathy? He didn’t even know Knuckles was capable of that kind of anger.

“Knuckles, I…” He faltered, “Ugh, just…can you at least look at me?”

Knuckles tensed — and for a moment Sonic almost thought he saw guilt in his posture — before he sighed deeply and turned to face the other. He hardly looked any better than Sonic did, his eyes slightly pink and visibly exhausted. His expression was unreadable as he studied the hedgehog, looking him up and down a bit before meeting his eyes, “You, uh…been running?”

Sonic huffed out what was supposed to be a chuckle, but came out as more of an uncomfortable cough, “I mean…’s not much else I usually do.”

“Yeah,” Knuckles crossed his arms, his eyes darting elsewhere, “I guess.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Sonic shifted from one foot to the other, silently hoping — begging — for Knuckles to say something else. He didn’t want to be the one to break the silence. He didn’t want to mess up again.

“You know,” Knuckles started, and Sonic tried not to sigh with relief, “I’ve been thinking about what you said. About keeping things casual. And…I think I figured out the problem.”

Sonic swallowed, “…Really?”

“Maybe you were right: maybe I’ve been too overbearing,” He continued, “Too forward. I mean, I asked you out completely out of the blue. That had to have been awkward.”

Sonic’s shoulders slumped. He didn’t like where this was going.

“And since then, I’ve been so focused on my feelings that I didn’t even consider yours,” Knuckles said, his posture slouching just a bit, revealing the hurt he was feeling despite his cold tone, “I should have known that you wouldn’t want to be all…’lovey-dovey’ about us being together.”

He looked back up at Sonic, his expression somber yet definite, “But I do; sometimes, I want things to be stupid and cheesy and over-the-top because…because those feelings are good! I like them! I mean, yeah, it felt kind of silly to give you flowers or whatever, but it was worth it to see the look on your face! I…I want to be proud of us being together!”

His shoulders slumped, his frown deepening, “But you don’t. And I was dumb to have not noticed until now.”

Every word out of the echidna’s mouth was driving Sonic up the wall. He felt like screaming, like ripping his quills out of his head and going on a long, violent tangent to the other about how none of this was his fault. This was all Sonic: Sonic and his weird, stupid, aggravating need to not show anything to the world other than confidence and dry wit. Sonic didn’t do relationships, he didn’t do dating, he didn’t do anything that could risk his walls coming down even the slightest bit. It scared him. Loving scared him.

(Gods, and he thought Shadow was emo.)

Sonic’s mouth opened and closed like he was a fish, wanting desperately to say something but not being able to use his voice. Seeing his struggle made Knuckles sigh, “It’s okay, man, you don’t have to say anything. You weren’t wrong; I’m not that smart. So, you don’t have to feel bad about anything.”

“…’m not…” Sonic mumbled, feeling like absolute slime right now.

The moment was being drawn out into the awkward stage, and Knuckles awkwardly scratched the back of his head, “Look, uh…let’s just go home, okay? We can just put this behind us. No need to make things all weird or anything—”

“I’m a fucking asshole.”

That stopped him in his tracks, his eyes widening at the blunt comment from Sonic. Sonic hadn’t meant for it to come out that way, but now that he’d started, his lips moved faster than his head could keep up, “I’m…I’m not good at this, I-I never have been. I act like I’m a huge flirt with people but it’s always over the most shallow things. I’ve never actually had real feelings for anyone. I mean, yeah, there’s been the occasional crush, but it’s never been more than that. I’ve never felt as… weird as I do with you, like- like I’m about to throw up but in a good way? Or like I’ve been spindashing for way too long and suddenly I can’t stand up straight. I’m not used to it, and it freaked me out so I tried to fix it but I just made things worse and I panicked, I took it out on you, and then you ran away, and my chest really hurts now and it’s been hurting since this morning and I hate it and now I can’t stop talking tell me to stop—”

“Whoa whoa whoa, take it easy, dude,” Suddenly Knuckles was right in front of him, his hands (big, strong, grounding, safe) resting on his shoulders, “Take a breath. You’re good.”

Sonic breathed shakily, unable to look the other in the eyes and instead staring down at their feet. Already, he felt his nerves begin to calm down, just from having Knuckles there and holding him. He shut his eyes, his mind telling him to back away while his body was tempted to just fall into the other and let those safe arms cradle him as if he were a small child.

“Look,” Knuckles said, his voice careful and steady, “I…I’m not really good at this, either, so…if we’re gonna do this, you’re gonna have to give me a clear answer. No stalling, no dodging the question, just…be honest.”

Sonic sighed softly through his nose, finally mustering the courage to lift his head and look the other in the eye. Knuckles’ expression was neutral, his mouth pressed into a straight line, but there was something behind his eyes that seemed to be itching to come forward. He asked slowly, “Do…do you want me to be your boyfriend?”

There it was again: that same lurch in his chest. But this time, Sonic breathed with it, waiting it out, and soon he found that the feeling wasn’t as unpleasant as he’d made it out to be. It was still weird, but…it was good. Great, actually. He felt a smile tug at his lips that he hadn’t expected, and he immediately felt the urge to hide his face and brush it off. He chuckled awkwardly, averting his eyes, “I, …” Spit it out, hedgehog, “Yeah…I do.”

He looked up again, absolutely hating how awkward he knew his dopey grin probably looked right now. He couldn’t bring himself to care too much though as Knuckles’ face began to light up, “A lot, actually. I wanna be with you.”

Knuckles bit his lip, his face scrunching up a bit ( Cute, Sonic thought suddenly) as he tried to avoid breaking into the obvious grin he was holding back, “For real? Like, you really do? You’re not just messing with me?”

Sonic resisted the urge to roll his eyes, even if it would have been out of fondness, and sighed, “Dude, I— ugh, I just told you yes twice, what more do you need?”

Knuckles brow creased a bit, and he lifted his hands from Sonic’s shoulders (Sonic already missed their warmth) to poke his index fingers together timidly, the gesture looking so foreign on the buffed-out echidna, “Well…maybe we could…kiss?”

Oh.

Oh, okay.

Honestly, Sonic should have expected that. Knuckles literally just poured his heart out to him about his desire for affection. Still, the offer had caught him off guard and he swallowed, “Uh,”

“We don’t have to!” The taller boy assured him hastily, waving his hands back and forth, “I mean, if you don’t want, that’s totally fine! I’d like to. At some point. Not now, though. If you don’t want. But maybe soon. Or later. Or never, but I don’t really wanna wait that long, so—”

He yelped as Sonic pulled him down by his dreads. Knuckles couldn’t blame him, Sonic reasoned with himself, it wasn’t his fault the echidna was so damn tall. But even with him being forcefully bent down, the hedgehog still had to stand on the tips of his toes to reach the other’s face. The kiss was quick, just a brief peck, and Sonic wasn’t even sure if he’d actually kissed his lips or just the corner of his chin, but he wasn’t about to try again; not until this weird dizziness passed, at least.

Knuckles stood, still slightly bent over, his eyes wide and mouth open in a small ‘O’ shape as he blinked down at the hedgehog. Sonic bit the inside of his cheek and shrugged, “There. How’s that?”

There was a brief moment of stillness — one that Sonic heavily disliked despite its short stay — before he suddenly felt himself being crushed to the echidna’s chest and lifted off the ground, the vibrations of Knuckles’ laughter thrumming against his ear as he was spun around, “Wha- WHOA KNUX! ”

“Yes! I have a boyfriend!” Knuckles whooped, “I have a boyfriend!”

He lifted him to pepper his face with kisses, each one accompanied by an obnoxiously loud ‘mwah!’ Sonic protested just as loudly, going on about how he was getting his quills all messed up, but his chastising was drowned out by his own laughter. He didn’t realize he’d wrapped his arms around the other’s shoulders until Knuckles finally pulled back. His expression was bright and excited, and it made the shorter boy’s heart flutter.

He must have been making a face, because Knuckles’ expression turned sheepish, “Ah, sorry. Got excited. Baby steps, right?”

Sonic just blinked back at him, his brow furrowing in slight incredulity before he tsked and rolled his eyes, taking the other’s face into his hands and pulling him in for a real, genuine kiss. The tenderness took Knuckles off guard, but he eventually let himself relax into the gesture, humming happily. He couldn’t stop the way his lips curved up into a smile, making it a little difficult to return the kiss, but Sonic didn’t seem to mind, more than happy to take the lead.

The hedgehog was surprisingly gentle, maybe even a little apologetic in how he kissed him, and Sonic realized he’d never actually kissed anyone like this before — hell, he’d never even touched anyone like this before. He’d had his fair share of kisses, whether it be from fleeting past partners or overexcited civilians he’d managed to rescue from one of Eggman’s attacks, but none were quite as tender as this; none made him feel like he was lighter than air (though, that was probably because Knuckles was still holding him up).

Suddenly, the echidna shifted his hold so that one hand supported him from below while the other took hold of his lower back as he pulled Sonic impossibly closer. Sonic’s legs dangled awkwardly for a moment before he settled for wrapping them around the other’s waist. Knuckles chuckled against him, and Sonic wanted to retort how smug he was acting, but the deep rumble within the other’s chest mixed with the way his hand was gripping his thigh sent something electric up his spine. He shuddered.

It was then that the kiss began to transition from sweet to passionate as Sonic suddenly felt his back hit a nearby tree. Knuckles’ hand had shifted from his back to cup his jaw, idly running down his neck before tracing back up to pull him in deeper. Sonic whimpered — fucking whimpered — as his hands went up to curl into long red dreads. He pulled slightly, drawing out a low groan that teetered on the edge of a growl from the other, and holy shit did that do something to him. His stomach fluttered in that wild way that he was not only getting used to but perhaps becoming addicted to. His heart stuttered in his chest, his head getting light and making him dizzy-

Oh, shit, wait, he needed to breathe.

Sonic pulled away — reluctantly, as oxygen wasn’t as high on his list of priorities as it should have been — and took a moment to gather air into his lungs; yet as he opened his eyes, he felt the same air he’d just reclaimed get stolen away again. Knuckles looked back at him with nothing short of pure desire: His eyes were lidded and unfocused, his heavy breaths growing softer as they passed through his kiss-swollen parted lips. His face was nearly as red as the rest of him, and his dread-like quills were sticking out in random directions thanks to Sonic’s fervent hands.

He looked irrefutably lovestruck, and Sonic wondered if he looked any different.

After a few moments, Sonic slowly began his descent from cloud nine, and he became more aware of the uncomfortable scratching of the tree bark behind him. His ear twitched awkwardly as he spoke, his voice uncharacteristically breathless, “Hey, uh…as nice as this is, I’d kinda prefer to have my feet on the ground.”

Knuckles blinked back at him slowly, eyes still dreamy and distracted, “…Hmm? Oh! Yeah, yeah, ‘course, my bad!”

With the utmost care, Knuckles set Sonic down, brushing off his back from where his quills had caught hold of a few pieces of bark. The gesture that Sonic would have shied away from earlier was now welcomed with open arms, that same warmth blooming in his chest as the echidna carefully picked his quills clean before brushing his fingers through them in an attempt to smooth them out. It wasn’t anything special — just a simple act of sincerity and kindness — but it brought a smile to Sonic’s face all the same.

“Ah, there we go,” Knuckles announced, plucking one final chip of bark from behind the hedgehog’s ear, “Sorry about that, dude. Guess I got a bit carried away.”

“Knux, I don’t ever want you to stop getting carried away,” Sonic chuckled, the honesty of his statement making him feel all giddy inside. Huh, maybe Amy was onto something about the whole ‘talk-about-your-feelings’ thing.

Knuckles blinked down at him, then his face split into a grin as he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, “Heh, if you say so…”

“Would you two get OFF MY LAWN?!”

The sharp voice snapped the boys’ eyes away from each other as their heads jerked over to meet its owner. Sonic blinked several times in stunned confusion before a spark of recognition lit in his head, “…guacamole guy?”

The ‘guacamole guy’ in question — a short black monkey holding a hamper of laundry — just scowled at the two, “It’s Monkey-Boy! Yeesh, ya think you’d remember the guy who saved your sorry butts from a curse that one time.”

“Wait, the moose one?” Knuckles chimed in, “Wasn’t that, like…seven years ago?”

“No, it was seven weeks ago,” Monkey-Boy corrected, “Time doesn’t pass in canon like it does in real life. Anyways, like I was sayin’: GET OFF MY PROPERTY! How’s a guy supposed to do his laundry while two hormonal teenagers are making out on his front lawn?!”

“Wuh- we weren’t making out!” Sonic sputtered, “We were having a very emotionally mature and enlightening moment!”

“Yeah! And then we made out!” Knuckles concurred, paying no mind to Sonic’s hushed “No no, Knux-”.

The monkey rolled his eyes, “I don’t care if you guys were rehearsing your wedding vows. If you’re gonna be shoving ya tongues down each other’s throats, do it somewhere else!”

Suddenly, the monkey’s eyes widened with horror, “And what have you done to my great-grandmama’s cemetery?!”

“Your what now?” Sonic glanced behind him at the boulders Knuckles had been messing with earlier, and his stomach dropped as he whipped his head to face the other, “ Knux! I thought you said they were just rocks!”

“Aren’t they? I mean, look at them,” Knuckles shrugged — completely unbothered — before turning back to the now-fuming monkey, “Hey, why’s your name Monkey-Boy? Aren’t you, like, thirty?”

Sonic was quick to grab Knuckles’ hand and speed off toward home before they were left to the mercy of a hamper of dirty laundry.

To an outside viewer, things didn’t change that much: Team Sonic was as tight as ever, often seen hanging out at Meh Burger, goofing off on the beach, or swooping in to save the day from one of Eggman’s painfully predictable schemes. However, if one were to look closer, they might notice the way Sonic and Knuckles would glance at one another, how they casually held hands whenever they could, or see how easily the hedgehog’s face would flush at the smallest little things the echidna did.

Of course, Knuckles did stand on the edge of the well in the square with a megaphone to loudly announce “CITIZENS OF HEDGEHOG VILLAGE! I AM OFFICIALLY DATING SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! HE IS MY BOYFRIEND AND I LOVE HIM VERY MUCH!” before he was hastily ushered off by a thoroughly embarrassed Sonic, so it wasn’t like their relationship was a secret.

Sonic still struggled with the whole “feelings” thing, but Knuckles was patient. He often asked him before doing certain things like hugging or kissing, but sometimes Sonic wondered if he’d preferred the surprise with the way his chest swelled every time Knuckles would do so, eyes bright and tail wagging back and forth behind him as he desperately tried to hold back.

He’d be lying, though, if he said he didn’t like the way Knuckles would shower him when he said yes, squeezing him just tight enough to not hurt and peppering his face and neck with kisses, relishing in the way Sonic would giggle uncontrollably.

But you didn’t hear that from him.

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