HOME | DD

Description

It's nighttime.
The TV is on.
It's awkward.
It's so darn awkward.
Mephiles was sitting at the far end of the couch, with Dark pressed up against him, and Iblis/Shu leaning against Dark.
There's about three large sized cushions to sit in on that couch, but for some reason, the three of them appear to be trying to fit on just one.
Mephiles shifted himself a little more towards the armrest, but Dark quickly moves with him like he's glued there, and Shu keeps leaning on Dark.
A cat and three Chao, one of which a baby, are part of this sideways pile, and Mephiles can't help but feel like the collective heat trapped under all the fur is a bit much. Not for Dark, who is finally wearing the cooling collar. No. It's getting a bit too hot for Mephiles under all this.
"... There's enough cushions for the three of us to sit on our own, y'know..?" He tried in what he hoped was a polite tone.
"And split a part so they can get us faster? Nuh-uh!" Dark shakes his head quickly, causing a mild friction between his and Mephiles' quills.
"It's just a movie, Dark... Heck, I'm not even all that scared." Mephiles rolled his eyes. "I mean, all it is is that-SONOVA-! AUGH!"
"See! You're scared, too!" Dark chimed in.
"I'm not sc-scared! That was just g-gross!" Mephiles frowned and stuck his tongue out in disgust. "I just d-don't like seeing th-things crawling under th-the skin!"
"Maybe if they just burn it all..." Shu added in a bored tone, lifting his head a little to look at them both. "It's a plant, right? It should be vulnerable to fire."
"It was screeching at them earlier, I doubt at this point it's even natural..." Mephiles covered his eyes with his hands, but spread his fingers just enough to see through anyway.
"Besides, burning it would just make it go to seed faster, and spread those all over the place. Terrible idea." Dark wagged a finger almost scoldingly.
"I swear, this murderous plants movie marathon is weird." Shu sighed, shaking his head. "It baffles me that there's enough of them to make such a marathon..."
"I thought it would be a nice change from all the shark, snake, crocodile and zombie movies..." Mephiles squeezed his eyes shut again. "But I didn't realize that it could actually be a bit unsettling... This channel is weird..."
"Then change it."
"Then we won't see the end and never know what happened!"
"It's obvious, isn't it? They all die. There is logically no way anyone can get out of that alive, if the plants infect them the moment they've brushed against it." Shu pointed out. "And they've all touched it. It's only a matter of time until the plants decide when to kill them..."
"If they don't kill themselves first, that is." Dark added. "The stress, isolation from the outside world, the constant fear and sleep deprivation is driving them all mad anyway. If that one girl is anything to compare to, then the plants are the ones doing the mercy killing."
"I'd c-claw at myself too if some vine like p-plant was crawling in my skin like that!" Mephiles snapped back. "That's not natural! It's horrific! There can't be anything worse than that!"
Mephiles opened his eyes slowly when he didn't get a response. He looked up at Dark, who was leaning even closer with the strangest grin on his face. Almost like a smirk.
"D-Dark..?"
"Nothing worse, hmm..?" The smirk widened, a flash of light from the TV made the catlike pupils shine in a way glasses might in an anime program.
The hedgehog's fur bristled and he twitched as he shifted his eyes to look at Shu, who seemed just as confused as he was, but nowhere near as startled.
"... Um... What are you doing..?" Shu raised an eyebrow.
"Mephy thinks there's nothing worse than creepy plants that get under the skin."
"D-Dark, st-stop it... Th-that's not funny..." Mephiles whimpered, trying to pull away, but was still somewhat pinned under the combined weight of everyone.
"You forgot that we're in my element right now..." A short giggle escaped Dark as the shadow suddenly disappeared from sight, causing Shu to fall forward a bit from the sudden lack of someone to lean against.
"Hey! Dark, what are you doing?" Shu frowned as he glanced around cautiously. "This better not be another one of your big bubble domes of darkness again!"
"Oh, I know what I'm doing this time..." Dark's voice sounded off behind the two hedgehogs, causing Mephiles and Shu to quickly look over the back of the couch, but they found nothing.
"Daaaaark... Stop messing with us..." Mephiles half whined, sliding back down to sit in his spot, withdrawing his limbs close to make himself smaller.
"Still think the plants are scarier?" Dark's voice sounded from below the couch now.
"Yes, b-because I know you won't tr-try to eat me."
No sooner did he say that, than did something cold, wet and slimy slide against the back of his ear.
Mephiles' eyes shot wide open, and he screamed as he pulled away from the source of the horrible sensation with flailing arms.
Dark was leaning on the armrest with his mouth open and tongue out, the grin still on his face.
"Th-that wasn't funny, D-Dark!" Mephiles shouted at him, tearing up a little as he wiped at his ear flaps frantically. "You c-could have given me a p-panic attack!"
Dark slipped his tongue back in his mouth and snorted as he tried to keep from bursting into laughter.
"I have to agree with him, that was a bit cruel..." Shu gave Dark a disapproving look.
"Is everything alright in here?"
All three boys jumped a little and looked over at the white bat who was standing just outside the hallway entrance, watching them closely.
Mephiles quickly got up from the couch, shoved past Dark, and threw his arms around Rouge, shuddering a little.
"D-Dark licked my ear!"
That was four words she didn't expect to hear in the same sentence.
"Is that so..?" She looked over at Dark, who quickly ducked out of sight.
"He said that the plants in the movie where the most horrible thing ever!" Dark shouted back in defense. "I was proving him wrong!"
"H-He melted b-back into a sh-shadow and snuck up on me!"
"Honestly, I was really going to just tickle that spot on your back between the shoulder quills, but when you said the plants were scarier because they'd be able to eat you..." Dark explained, snickering a little, lifting his head into view a bit. "It just was too perfect of a chance to pass up..."
"Why are d-defending plants anyway? You eat th-them!"
"Correction, I eat fruits, vegetables, nuts and other edible plant matter. That plant there is a type of ivy. Totally inedible to me."
"They all grow in the ground!"
"Hey, Dark? Question?" Shu suddenly asked, as if he wasn't caring too much about what exactly was going on now. "You said you don't eat meat because you don't like the idea of eating something weaker than you are..."
"... Yes..."
"Isn't a plant weaker than you too?"
"I have to eat something." Dark stuck his tongue out again.
Rouge probably would have scolded Dark or something for pulling such a trick on Mephiles, if not for the fact that Dark wasn't often in such a mood to be playful like that. No point in spoiling a silly mood like that, especially with Dark still having some difficulty in adjusting back to the comfort of being in the safety of home. No one was hurt beyond some rattled nerves, anyway. And Dark was just acting closer to his age.
She glanced over at the TV and cringed at the current scene playing.
"Alright, I think that's enough of this movie, you guys. Time to turn it off and go to bed."
Even Mephiles groaned in disappointment.
It's still nighttime.
The house is quiet.
Dark is awake.
Dark is wide awake.
He had another bad dream, but was lucky to not wake up screaming.
He just couldn't fall asleep again. He had that vulnerable feeling all around him, no matter which way he rolled over to rest.
He knew better than to think something was going to reach out at grab him unexpectedly, but it didn't stop the feeling at all.
He felt... small. He hated feeling small.
He rolled over to glance at the sleeping hedgehog across from him, three Chao nuzzled up to Mephiles. No way he would be able to sneak himself there as a cat without waking too many people up...
Speaking of cats, his own one was curled up above his head on the pillow, trying to stay close, but the summer heat was a bit much for the fur on the feline.
Dark lifted his head a little to look at his twin.
Sleeping alone, of course.
Dark wondered briefly if Iblis ever felt scared at night. Hardly any light, out of his element... Heck, even Dark was troubled by it sometimes, and it was his own element.
Of course Brother doesn't get scared...
He cheek twitched a little as a tiny smile crept on his face.
Rather, he doesn't get scared "of"... He gets scared "for". He worries...
Dark carefully got off the bed and stood still for a moment. He had to think of a proper way to do this without startling anyone.
He smiles a little more.
Of course.
He stepped over to his twin carefully, sat down without making much sound, and leaned forward, bracing himself loosely, hanging his head a little, and half closing his eyes.
He was going to look like he had been sleepwalking again.
It would take a while before he was noticed, surely. But much better an idea than just waking him up, and risk a possible lash out, as Iblis was quite alert the moment he wakes up.
Time passes, Dark yawns and wonders how long it would be until he was noticed and wonders if he'd fall asleep for real before the attention was caught.
He exhaled softly, stretched his arms above his head and fell back without making a sound, hands behind his head. He shifted his eyes to stare at Iblis, who hadn't seem to take notice at at.
This is taking forever...
Dark grit his teeth a little. He wasn't a very patient person.
Five more minutes pass and he gets somewhat frustrated.
Y'know what? Maybe this was a bad idea to begin with...
He sat up to pick himself off the floor to step back to his bed.
"... I've been waiting for you to say something, just so you know."
Dark froze in midstep and spun around with wide eyes. Iblis had rolled over on his front, arms draped over the pillow, and was looking up at him.
"... How long have you been awake..?"
"About the moment you breathed out and flopped on your back."
"But I made sure I was quiet. How did that wake you up?"
"I'm not the one with narcolepsy or somnambulism, remember?" Iblis flashed a quick smile before pushing up from the floor to sit up. "So, what's up? Besides us."
"... N-nothing..."
"That's a lie and you know it." Iblis snapped.
Dark gulped and immediately adopted his submissive stance, ears folded back, teeth clenched, head low, eyes staring at the floor, quills raised slightly, tail tucked between his legs, hands reaching up feebly to ask as a form of shielding, and body shivering a little as a weak moan of dread escaped him.
Iblis huffed a short puff of air, narrowing his eyes slightly. He stood up cautiously, not wanting to startle Dark.
"Please don't. There's no reason for that." Iblis carefully inched his hands past Dark's "defense", and placed them on his shoulders. Dark jumped a bit and looked up anxiously, mouth hung open almost as lazily as his eyes looked. "I won't hurt you again, so stop being scared about that."
"... J-just d-don't like it w-when you sn-snap at me like th-that..." Dark stuttered nervously, shakily raising his hands to set them on his brother's wrists.
"... Come over here for a moment..." Iblis slid his hands away, catching Dark's in a swift movement, and tugged the twin forward to follow him.
Dark gave a startled yelp at the sudden action, but two fingers were quick to press against his lips to hush him when a hand let go of one of his wrists.
"I'm only taking you to the window, that's all." Iblis reassured him. "Come on, I want to show you something for a moment. You might enjoy it."
Dark made a faint jerking movement of his head, as if unsure if he should answer "Yes" or "No" to this, and wanted to answer neutral without seeming like he was ignoring Iblis.
Iblis smiled warmly, with his eyes closed, anyway and pulled Dark forward again, leading him to the window, and adjusting the blinds so they could look out it more clearly. He then placed his arm around Dark's shoulders and pressed his free hand against the window to push it up after he unlocked it.
"Okay, look outside now." Iblis urged him, smile getting a little bigger.
Dark did as he was told, paused, and said after a minute: "... What... What am I looking at..?"
"Look up there."
"... Where..?"
"Just look up there."
"You mean the stars." Dark stated plainly, heaving a sigh.
"You know about constellations, right?" Iblis ignored the less than enthusiastic response.
Dark turned his head to look at his twin with an unamused, perhaps a bit offended expression.
"Oh, I suppose you do, of course..." Iblis gave a short embarrassed laugh, scratching his head. "Anyway, look over there. Just a bit above and to the left of that Orion one."
"... Gemini..?"
"Yep. The Twins." Iblis nodded, smiling a little again. "I tried to look up the story behind them, but there was a lot of inconsistencies and variations. But in one version, one was immortal and the other wasn't. When the mortal one was fatally injured, the other twin asked to be allowed to share his immortality with his brother so that they could still stay together."
"The story is incredibly inconsistent, it's hard to say if it's really that way or not..." Dark grunted, shifting a little under the arm around his shoulders.
"Excuse me, I'm trying to give us a moment to have, don't ruin it." Iblis glared lightly, huffing through his nose briefly. "If you had your pretzel sticks, then I should be able to have the stars here."
"You don't need to give us a moment, we were already having one."
"At least let me have it and finish it before you shoot it down like that."
"What can I say? I deal with facts, not fiction. What you are trying to tell me is a myth."
"You really have no capacity for imagination, do you?"
"What good is it, when it's not practical?"
"You're really something, y'know?"
"... I'm tired..." Dark suddenly changed the subject, yawning a little.
"Then go back to sleep." Iblis twitched the corner of his mouth, trying to bite back a smile.
"... Five more minutes..." Dark mumbled, leaning against Iblis somewhat, nudging his head against against the twin's cheek, yawning again.
The small smile managed to escape Iblis anyway, and he put his other arm around Dark and wrapped him securely in a hug, taking care as to not squeeze too hard, as Dark was still considerably thinner than his twin, having lost a great deal of his body weight while captive, though he had at least manage to regain little more than three-quarters of what he lost back since then.
Still, as a Mobian hedgehog based creature, several pounds underweight was very close to the thin line of "thin" and "frail", with the only difference really being the condition of the quills.
Dark's managed to finally lose the brittleness, as well as the jagged splitting shafts of his quills, after several weeks of maintaining proper care, with the only real problem being that he still had a tendency to pull them out when he was particularly nerve wracked or even anxious.
"... What are you doing..?" Dark whispered, jarring Iblis from his thoughts roughly.
"I'm sorry, I just felt like it..."
"... Give a warning next time..." Dark grunted, shifting a little under the hold. "... I could have lashed out blindly and hurt you..."
"But, you didn't."
"But I could have."
"You don't give yourself enough credit with how well in control you really are." Iblis still didn't let him go.
"... You're not as fluffy in that form..."
"Hmm?"
"... Your chest is bare save for a layer of fuzz..." Dark explained, frowning slightly as he shifted under the hug to look at his twin more directly. "... You also don't have the tufts... I'm fluffier."
"Well, the original intent was to look differently enough from you to not arise suspicions..." Iblis answered, rolling his eyes a little.
"... Why did you pick green..? I don't like green..." Dark muttered, tilting his head down a bit more to look away.
"I thought I did pretty good in making this form up. It fooled you for a while, didn't it..?"
"... Until you slipped up and stumbled on your guise..." Dark said with a hint of smugness, lifting his head up a little more to grin at the mistake. "... You always were a terrible actor. That's how I knew you really meant it about regretting your prior actions. Because you can't fake that."
"I'm bad at lying, and you have no imagination... How well we compliment each other."
"... You wish..."
"Yes, I do."
No response this time from Dark, other than a slight gravitation downward. Iblis blinked and looked down at him more closely, and realized that Dark must have finally fallen asleep, perfectly content with being in his brother's arms, as evident by the small smile worked into his features.
Deciding that Dark shouldn't be sleeping while in an almost standing position, Iblis carefully lifted him up from the ground and once he fixed their center of balance, he quietly carried his younger twin over to his bed, taking care as to not trip over the blanket spread out on the floor. Dark stirred a little from the movement, but settled back down without so much as opening his eyes as he was carefully set down in a position he was often curled up in. A soft snore escaped him within seconds.
Iblis couldn't help but snicker just a little more when a dribble of drool slid out of Dark's half open mouth, reaching for the corner of the blanket to wipe it off.
Had anyone noticed the hedgehog watching silently from his bed, they might have seen the small smile place in his features before he rolled over to face the wall.
Iblis never did think to ask Dark why he had been awake to begin with.
"Does anyone know where my sunglasses are..?"
"You should have found them the night before..."
"They're not where I had left them last time, Shadow!"
"We're going to be late, and you're tearing up the house..."
"I can't find them! I refuse to take one step outside in this weather without them! Where are they! WHERE ARE THEY!"
Indeed, Dark was tearing up the house trying to find his protective eyewear. The TV was pulled several feet away from the wall, the closets were open with contents strewn across the floors, the couch was askew from it's usual spot, and volumes of books were thrown haphazardly across the room.
"Calm down before you make the computer explode..." Shadow was watching with an "Oh here he goes again..." look.
"Maybe you don't understand. I can not go outside on a bright day like this without protecting my eyes! I'll go blind!" Dark shouted, turning to look at him with his eyes wide open and pupils shrunken, body trembling in fear. "Maybe not completely, but everything will be dark for a long while! I don't like the dark! I don't like it at all! It's not fun! I need those sunglasses!"
Eventually, Dark was sulking in a corner, upset that his sunglasses were nowhere to be found. This might have looked humorous, if not for how downright pitiful and forlorn Dark managed to appear in doing so.
Suddenly, he felt something get placed on his head, and he lowered his hands from his face to look up briefly, before realizing he couldn't see from that angle, and simply reached up to touch it instead.
His sunglasses.
"They were on the third shelf on the bookcase in our room." Mephiles explained with a warm smile.
Dark became horribly aware of just how much of a fuss and mess he had made whilst searching for his sunglasses, and that he had acted nearly hysterical the longer it took to find them, only to find that they were in such an obvious place.
His pale face flushed a dark red color across the cheeks, and he withdrew further, wanting nothing more to curl up and disappear, now.
Mephiles was having none of it, and gently coaxed Dark out of the corner, promising him that no one really cared about how frantic he had been about the sunglasses.
"Now, if we don't hurry up, we'll be late..." The hedgehog added, catching the shadow by the hands and helping to pull him to his feet.
Of course. The party for Sonic's birthday. In which was going to be held outside in the sun. With quite a handful of guests, many of whom Dark never personally met, if at all.
The idea of spending such a large amount of time exposed to the sun, surrounded by unfamiliar faces, and well out of his comfort zone, made Dark feel almost ill once the full realization of what he was going to do hit him in a way that left a sensation not unlike that of missing a step on the stairs, sinking faster than anticipated, making one flail for the handrail to catch themselves before they fell.
Now he wanted nothing more than to lock himself in a room and brood.
Mephiles must have sensed the unease and said to him quietly: "... If you feel uncomfortable at any time... Tell me and I'll see what I can do to help..."
Of course I'll be uncomfortable, I'm going to be surrounded by people I hardly know, one of which a past life tried to kill, and another being one that saw me in a crazed state of mind... Oh, it's going to be fun, I'm sure...
Dark would have said that, if not for the fact his voice wasn't working properly. He managed a small squeaking sound, and nodded hesitantly, fumbling to slide the sunglasses down over his eyes, then gripped the hedgehog's arm tightly, pressing his face against it, as if terrified that he was going to be left behind.
Honestly, he really couldn't help but feel that they should all just stay home that day. He would have told Mephiles, but decided against it as it would only come off as him being his usual paranoid self when it came to social interaction.
"Hey Tails! It's nice to see you again!" Mephiles eagerly greeted the yellow-orange fox, with Dark in tow (who had yet to let go since he grabbed on back at the house). "Thanks again for fixing that collar. Dark doesn't have to worry about getting sick from the heat now that we're in the summer time, which is good."
"No problem. It really wasn't that hard to fix up, so it's wasn't a hassle at all." Tails nodded with a smile, reaching over to shake Mephiles' free hand. "In fact, it kinda led to me working on another project that's still in it's test form, but I figure it might be useful for you."
"Me..?"
"Uh-huh. See, while working on the collar, I started to wonder if a similar wearable system could work for motion sickness..." Tails let go of the hedgehog's hand and motioned for him to follow him to one of the tables. "Obviously not, because motion sickness and heat exhaustion are competent different things, but I recalled something on acupressure and how pressure on a certain nerve could help counter it. Then I wondered if I could work that into something wearable, like a bracelet..."
Shu/Iblis was inspecting the party area with great interest, seeing that the decorations were quite a bit more colorful than Dark's "birthday" party had.
Then again, at least they had balloons stapled to a wall, which was pretty impressive as was. Shu grinned a little to himself at how utterly baffled Dark had been to see such an accomplishment managed by the hedgehog without popping them, and still to this day, no one was able to explain just how.
The balloons here were filled with helium and were held to the tables and ground by ribbons and weights. His brother's party balloons were better, in his opinion.
"Hello, I don't believe we've met before. Are you are friend of Sonic's as well..?" A vaguely female voice with a very mild accent sounded off behind him, and he cautiously glanced behind himself to confirm that the comment was meant for him.
A purple cat with yellow eyes, hair tied off in a ponytail on the top of her head, and wearing a purple and white outfit decorated with white fuzzy cuffs, pink shoes with heels sporting a white band similar to Sonic's own shoes, and a golden necklace of sorts hung from her neck.
Blaze the Cat.
Iblis recognized her only barely, as most of the memories of his life as a fire breathing magma monster were so long behind and Time was no longer converging between him and his brother, no longer giving them memories of things that had yet to happen...
He hoped that he didn't show a flicker of recognition, as he was willing to start over and make a new first impression.
"Not exactly, but my friend's brother is..." That felt so awkward coming from his mouth... But he had to keep appearances up, after all. He gestured over to the pair in question who were in company of the young fox. "Sonic sort of looked after him during the whole Dark Gaia thing, and my friend was rescued from that scientist guy, who captured him because he was one of the ones 'infected'..."
Before he really knew it, Shu was recounting a simplified version of the events, taking care as to not reveal what should be kept secret.
"Anyway, what's your name..?" He realized he hadn't asked yet, and didn't want to risk slipping up before he got far.
"Blaze. And you?"
"Shu."
"A shy one over there, isn't he..?" Blaze took notice of Dark continually choosing to hide behind Mephiles, well out of earshot. If the constant hold Dark had on the hedgehog was in any way restrictive as it appeared... Mephiles did not show it to be.
"The funny thing is is that it's usually reversed with them..." Shu explained, looking back at her. "But Dark doesn't like social activity that much, as he's spent a great deal of time forcibly isolated, so the idea of it is very uncomfortable to him. He just doesn't know how to handle it very well."
"You speak as if you know him better than just a friend."
Shu's heterochromic eyes widened just slightly, pupils shrinking in a way barely noticeable as he clenched his jaw a little.
"Y-yeah... I suppose you could say that..."
"I understand that." The cat nodded, not looking at him at the moment. "Hmm... What's that shiny stuff on them..?"
"The light blue?"
"Yes. That doesn't look like any fur or quill texture I've ever seen before."
"Crystal. I think it's a side effect from too much contact with Chaos Energy at a young age for them both or something..." Shu explained briefly, using the basic cover story on the subject. "It's very interesting, really. It's resistant to physical damage on what's covered, except electricity. Their claws are really sharp, which can be both good and bad. But it works and feels like skin and flesh, like a really thick layer..."
"Chaos Energy..? Do they have any abilities..?"
"Well, they both can alter forms to some degree... It'll probably get better as they get older. Dark can control a good deal of darkness, like shadows, on his own..." Shu said with a bit of pride for his little twin brother. "He can even warp with them, and move some things without even touching them."
"So is he psychokenetic..?"
"Psycho-what? No, I'm sure he's-"
"I meant if he was able to move things with his mind." Blaze looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh. Um... I'm not sure how that works, really. He just does it..." Shu blushed a little nervously. "Anyway... Uh... Mephy on the other hand, he's got this interesting ability to heal himself and others if the injury is minor or moderate. The worse it is, though, the more it hurts him back, but he can speed up recovery time if used right. We have to be careful, though..."
"Because he can get hurt by it..?"
"Kinda... The problem is that he'll push himself to go further if he thinks it'll help just a bit more. He doesn't care about it hurting himself."
Meanwhile, back to Mephy and Dark.
"So, you don't have any hard feelings about how Dark treated you at first, do you?" Mephiles asked, looking at the new silvery bluish bracelet now on his wrist, like a thin version of Shadow's wrist Rings. "Because he was worried that-"
"... I can speak for myself, y'know..."
"Well, you haven't for the past ten minutes, and I didn't want to talk about just me."
"... There's too many people here... And it's too wide open... And it's too bright..." Dark hid his face again, shying away from the light again by burying his face in Mephiles' shoulder.
"At least hang in there until you meet Sonic." Mephiles said, reaching over to pat Dark on the head with a laugh. "I mean, after all, he's one of the ones to cart me around to find you."
"It really wasn't any trouble." Tails nodded, tilting his head to look at Dark. "You're very lucky that Mephiles was willing to do everything he could you find you. He even fought off a few of those creatures."
"Not very well, mind you. It was more like I got lucky with those Dummy Rings and just fumbled through the rest. You guys probably saved me more times than I actually managed to help..." Mephiles blushed awkwardly, reaching up to scratch his head. "Not to mention the whole barfing in your plane thing... Not a very good first impression, really..."
"And that's what I hope that bracelet will help to stop." Tails have a short laugh, and turned away to continue checking that the party was set up properly. "Where's Shadow and Rouge, by the way? Didn't they come with you guys?"
"Yeah, but they had to leave for a moment to pick something up that they forgot..."
"I hope they get here before Sonic does. I want all of us here so can be a cool surprise..."
"Y'know, I think I've met or seen everyone around here before except that red guy and that purple cat..."
"You should go talk with everyone while I check on everything..."
"Y'sure you don't need help with that..?"
"Naw, I'll be fine, I think."
"Really? Because I think I can-"
"No, you go on and have fun. I just want to be sure it's perfect for Sonic." Tails said, looking at the cooler beside the table that was holding the cold snacks. "Um... you're allergic to cheese, right?"
"Yeah." Mephiles nodded, shifting his ears back a little.
"Maybe I should just leave the cheese off the the chillidogs so everyone can add what amount they want, and if they want it off..." The fox pressed a finger to his forehead in thought. "That, and the cheese should be kept out of the heat as much as possible until we actually need it..."
"... I don't mean to sound nitpicky... but I'm not all into the whole meat thing, is there an alternative..?"
"Well, the chilli is meat-free, we could just dump it on one of the toasted buns, it'll just be messier."
"That works..."
"Oh, by the way, Mephiles..." Tails added, opening a large bottle of punch and pouring it into a pitcher filled halfway with ice. "Sonic's been wondering if Shadow ever opened that box Sonic left on the door step some time ago..?"
"... Box..?"
"Yeah. He called Sonic up after some time to chew him out about leaving it on the porch, that it was heavy and he tripped over it, and was just going to shove it in the closet for a while."
"Oh, that thing. I dunno. It's kinda in the corner at the bottom of the closet, still in the box..." Mephiles glanced off to the side in thought, scratching his head. "... Shadow may have forgotten about it, even. Did he ever say what was in it?"
"No, but he seemed like he thought it was a little funny idea..."
Let's just be brief here.
We all know what happens next.
Sonic arrives to his party, everyone is happy, surprise surprise, Sonic gets his chilidog gift, then BOOM!
Time rift opens up.
Let's skip to that, shall we?
You've all waited far too long.
One by one, each and every guest present at the party were being pulled into separate holes in time, no matter how hard they held onto something to keep from being taken.
Dark had a tight hold on Mephiles' hand, the shadow digging his claws of his other hand into the tree they had been standing by when this began (coincidentally the tree where Mephiles' small hedgehog family was laid to rest).
Shu, unable to firmly sink his claws into the tree trunk due to this form not having the same type of claws as his common form, felt his grip slipping, much to his horror. Three seconds after this thought occurred to him, the bark he had been clinging to, snapped and peeled off, dislodging him as he fell towards a portal mutely.
This led to one of the most impressive reaction times anyone had witnessed with Mephiles, as the hedgehog managed to use his free hand to grab a foot. It would seem that his survival instincts were kicked into overdrive at the moment, and even he himself seemed surprised that he had been able to do that.
Shu took a moment to register that he hadn't fallen in, and watched Dark's sunglasses enter the portal instead. He blinked.
"What is happening!" He shouted over the cries of all the others being pulled in, looking up at the large swirling mass of purplish shadows that seemed to have caused this.
"Unless I'm mistaken, which I doubt, we're witnessing a tear in the fabric of time!" Dark grit his teeth at the combined force of all three of them causing his shoulder to twinge. The very shoulder that had been dislocated once before, mind you. "Maybe this isn't the best time to say this, but I'm not surprised at all, and I really wanted to stay home today anyway!"
"Don't tell me you knew this was going to happen!" Mephiles shouted back, lifting his head up to look at Dark with a slight glare.
"No! I just didn't want to come because I'm not a social person!"
"Um... Can we focus on the fact that we seem to be getting closer to this thing!" Shu snapped at both of them, easily able to judge that his face was just an arm's length away from the portal now.
"Excuse me! I'm trying to support all three of us, with one hand, with an arm that's been injured before and with a tree that seems to have loose bark! I'd like to see you do better!"
"This is really not the time to be arguing!" Mephiles chimed in, sounding annoyed.
Dark felt his grip on Mephiles slip, and, against his better judgement, he reacted by letting go of the tree and catching hold with his now free hand as well.
Seconds before they fell in, Mephiles added: "... Please do not tell me you just let go of the tree..."
"... Uh oh..."

Description

It's nighttime.
The TV is on.
It's awkward.
It's so darn awkward.
Mephiles was sitting at the far end of the couch, with Dark pressed up against him, and Iblis/Shu leaning against Dark.
There's about three large sized cushions to sit in on that couch, but for some reason, the three of them appear to be trying to fit on just one.
Mephiles shifted himself a little more towards the armrest, but Dark quickly moves with him like he's glued there, and Shu keeps leaning on Dark.
A cat and three Chao, one of which a baby, are part of this sideways pile, and Mephiles can't help but feel like the collective heat trapped under all the fur is a bit much. Not for Dark, who is finally wearing the cooling collar. No. It's getting a bit too hot for Mephiles under all this.
"... There's enough cushions for the three of us to sit on our own, y'know..?" He tried in what he hoped was a polite tone.
"And split a part so they can get us faster? Nuh-uh!" Dark shakes his head quickly, causing a mild friction between his and Mephiles' quills.
"It's just a movie, Dark... Heck, I'm not even all that scared." Mephiles rolled his eyes. "I mean, all it is is that-SONOVA-! AUGH!"
"See! You're scared, too!" Dark chimed in.
"I'm not sc-scared! That was just g-gross!" Mephiles frowned and stuck his tongue out in disgust. "I just d-don't like seeing th-things crawling under th-the skin!"
"Maybe if they just burn it all..." Shu added in a bored tone, lifting his head a little to look at them both. "It's a plant, right? It should be vulnerable to fire."
"It was screeching at them earlier, I doubt at this point it's even natural..." Mephiles covered his eyes with his hands, but spread his fingers just enough to see through anyway.
"Besides, burning it would just make it go to seed faster, and spread those all over the place. Terrible idea." Dark wagged a finger almost scoldingly.
"I swear, this murderous plants movie marathon is weird." Shu sighed, shaking his head. "It baffles me that there's enough of them to make such a marathon..."
"I thought it would be a nice change from all the shark, snake, crocodile and zombie movies..." Mephiles squeezed his eyes shut again. "But I didn't realize that it could actually be a bit unsettling... This channel is weird..."
"Then change it."
"Then we won't see the end and never know what happened!"
"It's obvious, isn't it? They all die. There is logically no way anyone can get out of that alive, if the plants infect them the moment they've brushed against it." Shu pointed out. "And they've all touched it. It's only a matter of time until the plants decide when to kill them..."
"If they don't kill themselves first, that is." Dark added. "The stress, isolation from the outside world, the constant fear and sleep deprivation is driving them all mad anyway. If that one girl is anything to compare to, then the plants are the ones doing the mercy killing."
"I'd c-claw at myself too if some vine like p-plant was crawling in my skin like that!" Mephiles snapped back. "That's not natural! It's horrific! There can't be anything worse than that!"
Mephiles opened his eyes slowly when he didn't get a response. He looked up at Dark, who was leaning even closer with the strangest grin on his face. Almost like a smirk.
"D-Dark..?"
"Nothing worse, hmm..?" The smirk widened, a flash of light from the TV made the catlike pupils shine in a way glasses might in an anime program.
The hedgehog's fur bristled and he twitched as he shifted his eyes to look at Shu, who seemed just as confused as he was, but nowhere near as startled.
"... Um... What are you doing..?" Shu raised an eyebrow.
"Mephy thinks there's nothing worse than creepy plants that get under the skin."
"D-Dark, st-stop it... Th-that's not funny..." Mephiles whimpered, trying to pull away, but was still somewhat pinned under the combined weight of everyone.
"You forgot that we're in my element right now..." A short giggle escaped Dark as the shadow suddenly disappeared from sight, causing Shu to fall forward a bit from the sudden lack of someone to lean against.
"Hey! Dark, what are you doing?" Shu frowned as he glanced around cautiously. "This better not be another one of your big bubble domes of darkness again!"
"Oh, I know what I'm doing this time..." Dark's voice sounded off behind the two hedgehogs, causing Mephiles and Shu to quickly look over the back of the couch, but they found nothing.
"Daaaaark... Stop messing with us..." Mephiles half whined, sliding back down to sit in his spot, withdrawing his limbs close to make himself smaller.
"Still think the plants are scarier?" Dark's voice sounded from below the couch now.
"Yes, b-because I know you won't tr-try to eat me."
No sooner did he say that, than did something cold, wet and slimy slide against the back of his ear.
Mephiles' eyes shot wide open, and he screamed as he pulled away from the source of the horrible sensation with flailing arms.
Dark was leaning on the armrest with his mouth open and tongue out, the grin still on his face.
"Th-that wasn't funny, D-Dark!" Mephiles shouted at him, tearing up a little as he wiped at his ear flaps frantically. "You c-could have given me a p-panic attack!"
Dark slipped his tongue back in his mouth and snorted as he tried to keep from bursting into laughter.
"I have to agree with him, that was a bit cruel..." Shu gave Dark a disapproving look.
"Is everything alright in here?"
All three boys jumped a little and looked over at the white bat who was standing just outside the hallway entrance, watching them closely.
Mephiles quickly got up from the couch, shoved past Dark, and threw his arms around Rouge, shuddering a little.
"D-Dark licked my ear!"
That was four words she didn't expect to hear in the same sentence.
"Is that so..?" She looked over at Dark, who quickly ducked out of sight.
"He said that the plants in the movie where the most horrible thing ever!" Dark shouted back in defense. "I was proving him wrong!"
"H-He melted b-back into a sh-shadow and snuck up on me!"
"Honestly, I was really going to just tickle that spot on your back between the shoulder quills, but when you said the plants were scarier because they'd be able to eat you..." Dark explained, snickering a little, lifting his head into view a bit. "It just was too perfect of a chance to pass up..."
"Why are d-defending plants anyway? You eat th-them!"
"Correction, I eat fruits, vegetables, nuts and other edible plant matter. That plant there is a type of ivy. Totally inedible to me."
"They all grow in the ground!"
"Hey, Dark? Question?" Shu suddenly asked, as if he wasn't caring too much about what exactly was going on now. "You said you don't eat meat because you don't like the idea of eating something weaker than you are..."
"... Yes..."
"Isn't a plant weaker than you too?"
"I have to eat something." Dark stuck his tongue out again.
Rouge probably would have scolded Dark or something for pulling such a trick on Mephiles, if not for the fact that Dark wasn't often in such a mood to be playful like that. No point in spoiling a silly mood like that, especially with Dark still having some difficulty in adjusting back to the comfort of being in the safety of home. No one was hurt beyond some rattled nerves, anyway. And Dark was just acting closer to his age.
She glanced over at the TV and cringed at the current scene playing.
"Alright, I think that's enough of this movie, you guys. Time to turn it off and go to bed."
Even Mephiles groaned in disappointment.
It's still nighttime.
The house is quiet.
Dark is awake.
Dark is wide awake.
He had another bad dream, but was lucky to not wake up screaming.
He just couldn't fall asleep again. He had that vulnerable feeling all around him, no matter which way he rolled over to rest.
He knew better than to think something was going to reach out at grab him unexpectedly, but it didn't stop the feeling at all.
He felt... small. He hated feeling small.
He rolled over to glance at the sleeping hedgehog across from him, three Chao nuzzled up to Mephiles. No way he would be able to sneak himself there as a cat without waking too many people up...
Speaking of cats, his own one was curled up above his head on the pillow, trying to stay close, but the summer heat was a bit much for the fur on the feline.
Dark lifted his head a little to look at his twin.
Sleeping alone, of course.
Dark wondered briefly if Iblis ever felt scared at night. Hardly any light, out of his element... Heck, even Dark was troubled by it sometimes, and it was his own element.
Of course Brother doesn't get scared...
He cheek twitched a little as a tiny smile crept on his face.
Rather, he doesn't get scared "of"... He gets scared "for". He worries...
Dark carefully got off the bed and stood still for a moment. He had to think of a proper way to do this without startling anyone.
He smiles a little more.
Of course.
He stepped over to his twin carefully, sat down without making much sound, and leaned forward, bracing himself loosely, hanging his head a little, and half closing his eyes.
He was going to look like he had been sleepwalking again.
It would take a while before he was noticed, surely. But much better an idea than just waking him up, and risk a possible lash out, as Iblis was quite alert the moment he wakes up.
Time passes, Dark yawns and wonders how long it would be until he was noticed and wonders if he'd fall asleep for real before the attention was caught.
He exhaled softly, stretched his arms above his head and fell back without making a sound, hands behind his head. He shifted his eyes to stare at Iblis, who hadn't seem to take notice at at.
This is taking forever...
Dark grit his teeth a little. He wasn't a very patient person.
Five more minutes pass and he gets somewhat frustrated.
Y'know what? Maybe this was a bad idea to begin with...
He sat up to pick himself off the floor to step back to his bed.
"... I've been waiting for you to say something, just so you know."
Dark froze in midstep and spun around with wide eyes. Iblis had rolled over on his front, arms draped over the pillow, and was looking up at him.
"... How long have you been awake..?"
"About the moment you breathed out and flopped on your back."
"But I made sure I was quiet. How did that wake you up?"
"I'm not the one with narcolepsy or somnambulism, remember?" Iblis flashed a quick smile before pushing up from the floor to sit up. "So, what's up? Besides us."
"... N-nothing..."
"That's a lie and you know it." Iblis snapped.
Dark gulped and immediately adopted his submissive stance, ears folded back, teeth clenched, head low, eyes staring at the floor, quills raised slightly, tail tucked between his legs, hands reaching up feebly to ask as a form of shielding, and body shivering a little as a weak moan of dread escaped him.
Iblis huffed a short puff of air, narrowing his eyes slightly. He stood up cautiously, not wanting to startle Dark.
"Please don't. There's no reason for that." Iblis carefully inched his hands past Dark's "defense", and placed them on his shoulders. Dark jumped a bit and looked up anxiously, mouth hung open almost as lazily as his eyes looked. "I won't hurt you again, so stop being scared about that."
"... J-just d-don't like it w-when you sn-snap at me like th-that..." Dark stuttered nervously, shakily raising his hands to set them on his brother's wrists.
"... Come over here for a moment..." Iblis slid his hands away, catching Dark's in a swift movement, and tugged the twin forward to follow him.
Dark gave a startled yelp at the sudden action, but two fingers were quick to press against his lips to hush him when a hand let go of one of his wrists.
"I'm only taking you to the window, that's all." Iblis reassured him. "Come on, I want to show you something for a moment. You might enjoy it."
Dark made a faint jerking movement of his head, as if unsure if he should answer "Yes" or "No" to this, and wanted to answer neutral without seeming like he was ignoring Iblis.
Iblis smiled warmly, with his eyes closed, anyway and pulled Dark forward again, leading him to the window, and adjusting the blinds so they could look out it more clearly. He then placed his arm around Dark's shoulders and pressed his free hand against the window to push it up after he unlocked it.
"Okay, look outside now." Iblis urged him, smile getting a little bigger.
Dark did as he was told, paused, and said after a minute: "... What... What am I looking at..?"
"Look up there."
"... Where..?"
"Just look up there."
"You mean the stars." Dark stated plainly, heaving a sigh.
"You know about constellations, right?" Iblis ignored the less than enthusiastic response.
Dark turned his head to look at his twin with an unamused, perhaps a bit offended expression.
"Oh, I suppose you do, of course..." Iblis gave a short embarrassed laugh, scratching his head. "Anyway, look over there. Just a bit above and to the left of that Orion one."
"... Gemini..?"
"Yep. The Twins." Iblis nodded, smiling a little again. "I tried to look up the story behind them, but there was a lot of inconsistencies and variations. But in one version, one was immortal and the other wasn't. When the mortal one was fatally injured, the other twin asked to be allowed to share his immortality with his brother so that they could still stay together."
"The story is incredibly inconsistent, it's hard to say if it's really that way or not..." Dark grunted, shifting a little under the arm around his shoulders.
"Excuse me, I'm trying to give us a moment to have, don't ruin it." Iblis glared lightly, huffing through his nose briefly. "If you had your pretzel sticks, then I should be able to have the stars here."
"You don't need to give us a moment, we were already having one."
"At least let me have it and finish it before you shoot it down like that."
"What can I say? I deal with facts, not fiction. What you are trying to tell me is a myth."
"You really have no capacity for imagination, do you?"
"What good is it, when it's not practical?"
"You're really something, y'know?"
"... I'm tired..." Dark suddenly changed the subject, yawning a little.
"Then go back to sleep." Iblis twitched the corner of his mouth, trying to bite back a smile.
"... Five more minutes..." Dark mumbled, leaning against Iblis somewhat, nudging his head against against the twin's cheek, yawning again.
The small smile managed to escape Iblis anyway, and he put his other arm around Dark and wrapped him securely in a hug, taking care as to not squeeze too hard, as Dark was still considerably thinner than his twin, having lost a great deal of his body weight while captive, though he had at least manage to regain little more than three-quarters of what he lost back since then.
Still, as a Mobian hedgehog based creature, several pounds underweight was very close to the thin line of "thin" and "frail", with the only difference really being the condition of the quills.
Dark's managed to finally lose the brittleness, as well as the jagged splitting shafts of his quills, after several weeks of maintaining proper care, with the only real problem being that he still had a tendency to pull them out when he was particularly nerve wracked or even anxious.
"... What are you doing..?" Dark whispered, jarring Iblis from his thoughts roughly.
"I'm sorry, I just felt like it..."
"... Give a warning next time..." Dark grunted, shifting a little under the hold. "... I could have lashed out blindly and hurt you..."
"But, you didn't."
"But I could have."
"You don't give yourself enough credit with how well in control you really are." Iblis still didn't let him go.
"... You're not as fluffy in that form..."
"Hmm?"
"... Your chest is bare save for a layer of fuzz..." Dark explained, frowning slightly as he shifted under the hug to look at his twin more directly. "... You also don't have the tufts... I'm fluffier."
"Well, the original intent was to look differently enough from you to not arise suspicions..." Iblis answered, rolling his eyes a little.
"... Why did you pick green..? I don't like green..." Dark muttered, tilting his head down a bit more to look away.
"I thought I did pretty good in making this form up. It fooled you for a while, didn't it..?"
"... Until you slipped up and stumbled on your guise..." Dark said with a hint of smugness, lifting his head up a little more to grin at the mistake. "... You always were a terrible actor. That's how I knew you really meant it about regretting your prior actions. Because you can't fake that."
"I'm bad at lying, and you have no imagination... How well we compliment each other."
"... You wish..."
"Yes, I do."
No response this time from Dark, other than a slight gravitation downward. Iblis blinked and looked down at him more closely, and realized that Dark must have finally fallen asleep, perfectly content with being in his brother's arms, as evident by the small smile worked into his features.
Deciding that Dark shouldn't be sleeping while in an almost standing position, Iblis carefully lifted him up from the ground and once he fixed their center of balance, he quietly carried his younger twin over to his bed, taking care as to not trip over the blanket spread out on the floor. Dark stirred a little from the movement, but settled back down without so much as opening his eyes as he was carefully set down in a position he was often curled up in. A soft snore escaped him within seconds.
Iblis couldn't help but snicker just a little more when a dribble of drool slid out of Dark's half open mouth, reaching for the corner of the blanket to wipe it off.
Had anyone noticed the hedgehog watching silently from his bed, they might have seen the small smile place in his features before he rolled over to face the wall.
Iblis never did think to ask Dark why he had been awake to begin with.
"Does anyone know where my sunglasses are..?"
"You should have found them the night before..."
"They're not where I had left them last time, Shadow!"
"We're going to be late, and you're tearing up the house..."
"I can't find them! I refuse to take one step outside in this weather without them! Where are they! WHERE ARE THEY!"
Indeed, Dark was tearing up the house trying to find his protective eyewear. The TV was pulled several feet away from the wall, the closets were open with contents strewn across the floors, the couch was askew from it's usual spot, and volumes of books were thrown haphazardly across the room.
"Calm down before you make the computer explode..." Shadow was watching with an "Oh here he goes again..." look.
"Maybe you don't understand. I can not go outside on a bright day like this without protecting my eyes! I'll go blind!" Dark shouted, turning to look at him with his eyes wide open and pupils shrunken, body trembling in fear. "Maybe not completely, but everything will be dark for a long while! I don't like the dark! I don't like it at all! It's not fun! I need those sunglasses!"
Eventually, Dark was sulking in a corner, upset that his sunglasses were nowhere to be found. This might have looked humorous, if not for how downright pitiful and forlorn Dark managed to appear in doing so.
Suddenly, he felt something get placed on his head, and he lowered his hands from his face to look up briefly, before realizing he couldn't see from that angle, and simply reached up to touch it instead.
His sunglasses.
"They were on the third shelf on the bookcase in our room." Mephiles explained with a warm smile.
Dark became horribly aware of just how much of a fuss and mess he had made whilst searching for his sunglasses, and that he had acted nearly hysterical the longer it took to find them, only to find that they were in such an obvious place.
His pale face flushed a dark red color across the cheeks, and he withdrew further, wanting nothing more to curl up and disappear, now.
Mephiles was having none of it, and gently coaxed Dark out of the corner, promising him that no one really cared about how frantic he had been about the sunglasses.
"Now, if we don't hurry up, we'll be late..." The hedgehog added, catching the shadow by the hands and helping to pull him to his feet.
Of course. The party for Sonic's birthday. In which was going to be held outside in the sun. With quite a handful of guests, many of whom Dark never personally met, if at all.
The idea of spending such a large amount of time exposed to the sun, surrounded by unfamiliar faces, and well out of his comfort zone, made Dark feel almost ill once the full realization of what he was going to do hit him in a way that left a sensation not unlike that of missing a step on the stairs, sinking faster than anticipated, making one flail for the handrail to catch themselves before they fell.
Now he wanted nothing more than to lock himself in a room and brood.
Mephiles must have sensed the unease and said to him quietly: "... If you feel uncomfortable at any time... Tell me and I'll see what I can do to help..."
Of course I'll be uncomfortable, I'm going to be surrounded by people I hardly know, one of which a past life tried to kill, and another being one that saw me in a crazed state of mind... Oh, it's going to be fun, I'm sure...
Dark would have said that, if not for the fact his voice wasn't working properly. He managed a small squeaking sound, and nodded hesitantly, fumbling to slide the sunglasses down over his eyes, then gripped the hedgehog's arm tightly, pressing his face against it, as if terrified that he was going to be left behind.
Honestly, he really couldn't help but feel that they should all just stay home that day. He would have told Mephiles, but decided against it as it would only come off as him being his usual paranoid self when it came to social interaction.
"Hey Tails! It's nice to see you again!" Mephiles eagerly greeted the yellow-orange fox, with Dark in tow (who had yet to let go since he grabbed on back at the house). "Thanks again for fixing that collar. Dark doesn't have to worry about getting sick from the heat now that we're in the summer time, which is good."
"No problem. It really wasn't that hard to fix up, so it's wasn't a hassle at all." Tails nodded with a smile, reaching over to shake Mephiles' free hand. "In fact, it kinda led to me working on another project that's still in it's test form, but I figure it might be useful for you."
"Me..?"
"Uh-huh. See, while working on the collar, I started to wonder if a similar wearable system could work for motion sickness..." Tails let go of the hedgehog's hand and motioned for him to follow him to one of the tables. "Obviously not, because motion sickness and heat exhaustion are competent different things, but I recalled something on acupressure and how pressure on a certain nerve could help counter it. Then I wondered if I could work that into something wearable, like a bracelet..."
Shu/Iblis was inspecting the party area with great interest, seeing that the decorations were quite a bit more colorful than Dark's "birthday" party had.
Then again, at least they had balloons stapled to a wall, which was pretty impressive as was. Shu grinned a little to himself at how utterly baffled Dark had been to see such an accomplishment managed by the hedgehog without popping them, and still to this day, no one was able to explain just how.
The balloons here were filled with helium and were held to the tables and ground by ribbons and weights. His brother's party balloons were better, in his opinion.
"Hello, I don't believe we've met before. Are you are friend of Sonic's as well..?" A vaguely female voice with a very mild accent sounded off behind him, and he cautiously glanced behind himself to confirm that the comment was meant for him.
A purple cat with yellow eyes, hair tied off in a ponytail on the top of her head, and wearing a purple and white outfit decorated with white fuzzy cuffs, pink shoes with heels sporting a white band similar to Sonic's own shoes, and a golden necklace of sorts hung from her neck.
Blaze the Cat.
Iblis recognized her only barely, as most of the memories of his life as a fire breathing magma monster were so long behind and Time was no longer converging between him and his brother, no longer giving them memories of things that had yet to happen...
He hoped that he didn't show a flicker of recognition, as he was willing to start over and make a new first impression.
"Not exactly, but my friend's brother is..." That felt so awkward coming from his mouth... But he had to keep appearances up, after all. He gestured over to the pair in question who were in company of the young fox. "Sonic sort of looked after him during the whole Dark Gaia thing, and my friend was rescued from that scientist guy, who captured him because he was one of the ones 'infected'..."
Before he really knew it, Shu was recounting a simplified version of the events, taking care as to not reveal what should be kept secret.
"Anyway, what's your name..?" He realized he hadn't asked yet, and didn't want to risk slipping up before he got far.
"Blaze. And you?"
"Shu."
"A shy one over there, isn't he..?" Blaze took notice of Dark continually choosing to hide behind Mephiles, well out of earshot. If the constant hold Dark had on the hedgehog was in any way restrictive as it appeared... Mephiles did not show it to be.
"The funny thing is is that it's usually reversed with them..." Shu explained, looking back at her. "But Dark doesn't like social activity that much, as he's spent a great deal of time forcibly isolated, so the idea of it is very uncomfortable to him. He just doesn't know how to handle it very well."
"You speak as if you know him better than just a friend."
Shu's heterochromic eyes widened just slightly, pupils shrinking in a way barely noticeable as he clenched his jaw a little.
"Y-yeah... I suppose you could say that..."
"I understand that." The cat nodded, not looking at him at the moment. "Hmm... What's that shiny stuff on them..?"
"The light blue?"
"Yes. That doesn't look like any fur or quill texture I've ever seen before."
"Crystal. I think it's a side effect from too much contact with Chaos Energy at a young age for them both or something..." Shu explained briefly, using the basic cover story on the subject. "It's very interesting, really. It's resistant to physical damage on what's covered, except electricity. Their claws are really sharp, which can be both good and bad. But it works and feels like skin and flesh, like a really thick layer..."
"Chaos Energy..? Do they have any abilities..?"
"Well, they both can alter forms to some degree... It'll probably get better as they get older. Dark can control a good deal of darkness, like shadows, on his own..." Shu said with a bit of pride for his little twin brother. "He can even warp with them, and move some things without even touching them."
"So is he psychokenetic..?"
"Psycho-what? No, I'm sure he's-"
"I meant if he was able to move things with his mind." Blaze looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh. Um... I'm not sure how that works, really. He just does it..." Shu blushed a little nervously. "Anyway... Uh... Mephy on the other hand, he's got this interesting ability to heal himself and others if the injury is minor or moderate. The worse it is, though, the more it hurts him back, but he can speed up recovery time if used right. We have to be careful, though..."
"Because he can get hurt by it..?"
"Kinda... The problem is that he'll push himself to go further if he thinks it'll help just a bit more. He doesn't care about it hurting himself."
Meanwhile, back to Mephy and Dark.
"So, you don't have any hard feelings about how Dark treated you at first, do you?" Mephiles asked, looking at the new silvery bluish bracelet now on his wrist, like a thin version of Shadow's wrist Rings. "Because he was worried that-"
"... I can speak for myself, y'know..."
"Well, you haven't for the past ten minutes, and I didn't want to talk about just me."
"... There's too many people here... And it's too wide open... And it's too bright..." Dark hid his face again, shying away from the light again by burying his face in Mephiles' shoulder.
"At least hang in there until you meet Sonic." Mephiles said, reaching over to pat Dark on the head with a laugh. "I mean, after all, he's one of the ones to cart me around to find you."
"It really wasn't any trouble." Tails nodded, tilting his head to look at Dark. "You're very lucky that Mephiles was willing to do everything he could you find you. He even fought off a few of those creatures."
"Not very well, mind you. It was more like I got lucky with those Dummy Rings and just fumbled through the rest. You guys probably saved me more times than I actually managed to help..." Mephiles blushed awkwardly, reaching up to scratch his head. "Not to mention the whole barfing in your plane thing... Not a very good first impression, really..."
"And that's what I hope that bracelet will help to stop." Tails have a short laugh, and turned away to continue checking that the party was set up properly. "Where's Shadow and Rouge, by the way? Didn't they come with you guys?"
"Yeah, but they had to leave for a moment to pick something up that they forgot..."
"I hope they get here before Sonic does. I want all of us here so can be a cool surprise..."
"Y'know, I think I've met or seen everyone around here before except that red guy and that purple cat..."
"You should go talk with everyone while I check on everything..."
"Y'sure you don't need help with that..?"
"Naw, I'll be fine, I think."
"Really? Because I think I can-"
"No, you go on and have fun. I just want to be sure it's perfect for Sonic." Tails said, looking at the cooler beside the table that was holding the cold snacks. "Um... you're allergic to cheese, right?"
"Yeah." Mephiles nodded, shifting his ears back a little.
"Maybe I should just leave the cheese off the the chillidogs so everyone can add what amount they want, and if they want it off..." The fox pressed a finger to his forehead in thought. "That, and the cheese should be kept out of the heat as much as possible until we actually need it..."
"... I don't mean to sound nitpicky... but I'm not all into the whole meat thing, is there an alternative..?"
"Well, the chilli is meat-free, we could just dump it on one of the toasted buns, it'll just be messier."
"That works..."
"Oh, by the way, Mephiles..." Tails added, opening a large bottle of punch and pouring it into a pitcher filled halfway with ice. "Sonic's been wondering if Shadow ever opened that box Sonic left on the door step some time ago..?"
"... Box..?"
"Yeah. He called Sonic up after some time to chew him out about leaving it on the porch, that it was heavy and he tripped over it, and was just going to shove it in the closet for a while."
"Oh, that thing. I dunno. It's kinda in the corner at the bottom of the closet, still in the box..." Mephiles glanced off to the side in thought, scratching his head. "... Shadow may have forgotten about it, even. Did he ever say what was in it?"
"No, but he seemed like he thought it was a little funny idea..."
Let's just be brief here.
We all know what happens next.
Sonic arrives to his party, everyone is happy, surprise surprise, Sonic gets his chilidog gift, then BOOM!
Time rift opens up.
Let's skip to that, shall we?
You've all waited far too long.
One by one, each and every guest present at the party were being pulled into separate holes in time, no matter how hard they held onto something to keep from being taken.
Dark had a tight hold on Mephiles' hand, the shadow digging his claws of his other hand into the tree they had been standing by when this began (coincidentally the tree where Mephiles' small hedgehog family was laid to rest).
Shu, unable to firmly sink his claws into the tree trunk due to this form not having the same type of claws as his common form, felt his grip slipping, much to his horror. Three seconds after this thought occurred to him, the bark he had been clinging to, snapped and peeled off, dislodging him as he fell towards a portal mutely.
This led to one of the most impressive reaction times anyone had witnessed with Mephiles, as the hedgehog managed to use his free hand to grab a foot. It would seem that his survival instincts were kicked into overdrive at the moment, and even he himself seemed surprised that he had been able to do that.
Shu took a moment to register that he hadn't fallen in, and watched Dark's sunglasses enter the portal instead. He blinked.
"What is happening!" He shouted over the cries of all the others being pulled in, looking up at the large swirling mass of purplish shadows that seemed to have caused this.
"Unless I'm mistaken, which I doubt, we're witnessing a tear in the fabric of time!" Dark grit his teeth at the combined force of all three of them causing his shoulder to twinge. The very shoulder that had been dislocated once before, mind you. "Maybe this isn't the best time to say this, but I'm not surprised at all, and I really wanted to stay home today anyway!"
"Don't tell me you knew this was going to happen!" Mephiles shouted back, lifting his head up to look at Dark with a slight glare.
"No! I just didn't want to come because I'm not a social person!"
"Um... Can we focus on the fact that we seem to be getting closer to this thing!" Shu snapped at both of them, easily able to judge that his face was just an arm's length away from the portal now.
"Excuse me! I'm trying to support all three of us, with one hand, with an arm that's been injured before and with a tree that seems to have loose bark! I'd like to see you do better!"
"This is really not the time to be arguing!" Mephiles chimed in, sounding annoyed.
Dark felt his grip on Mephiles slip, and, against his better judgement, he reacted by letting go of the tree and catching hold with his now free hand as well.
Seconds before they fell in, Mephiles added: "... Please do not tell me you just let go of the tree..."
"... Uh oh..."