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The Chaos Council had eroded away new Yokes' weather patterns with pollution and the harsh unnatural concrete that now decimated the once lush lands.
Most days were full of smog and clouds. The sun was akin to a fairy tale now. Nine would kill to see something as beautiful as the sun. Once so taken for granted by those born before him. His whole life, he had only known days of darkness and despair.
Even on the rare day that rain made its way to those trapped in New Yoke city, it offered no reprieve from the desolate mood of the everyday smog, because like most things in this wretched city, when it rained it poured
Great torrents of water, cold and unforgiving. The hard, winding streets of concrete acted as giant wind tunnels, making it impossible to go anywhere when the weather was bad.
Thunder cracked and boomed off the buildings. Amplifying the sound tenfold. Nine had thought it was just his luck when he found a space to build his base underground. But it turned out that just because it was below ground did not mean it saved him from the harsh realities of the storm.
‘BOOM’
Nine flinched further under his work desk as the sounds of thunder echoed through the vents and down into the subway.
Nights like these were impossible. He’d tried everything over the years. From soundproofing the base to using headphones. But there was only so much he could do before the soundproofing got in the way of air circulation and after the Chaos Council took over, music fell out of practice. The council didn’t like the ‘unnecessary noise’ it created, but everyone knew it was really to keep people apart.
This left him alone with his mind. And the sound of death from above.
There was an acceptance of his fear now. It was a strange experience to be both terrified out of your mind and resigned to the fear.
There was only living with it and waiting out the storm. So Nine pressed his hands harder against his folded ears and braced for the next hit.
A screech of fear was pulled from deep within him when the next crash of thunder came, and it was ten times louder than before. Accompanied by the sound of his front door opening at exactly the same time,
“whao, Hey Nine? you ok? Where are you?”
From below his desk, he could see the newly transformed shoes of Sonic. The weirdo who’d been staying with him the last few days. As he walked around the base looking for him. Setting down an umbrella and a plastic bag by the door.
Another eruption of thunder echoed down the never ending subway tunnels. rattling every bone in the fox’s body.
“Close the damn door!”
“Aww shit ok yeah”
Quickly, he closed the door. Muffling the sounds once again
“Oh, jeez, you can really hear it down here. I guess it echos pretty far”
From his huddled ball under the desk, Nine watched Sonic’s legs turn and approach until he was leaning down on one knee and peering under. A guilty expression on his face.
“I’m sorry, bud. If I’d know it was so loud down here, I wouldn’t have gone out”
Glaring through his knees, Nine grumbled through another flinch and rumble of thunder.
“What does it matter? It’s not like you being here would stop the storm.”
“Well, I know that,” sonic began as he carefully ducked his head and crawled under the desk with Nine. Keeping as comfortable an amount of space between them as the desk allowed.
“But if I was here, then you wouldn’t have had to be alone”
“Why, so you could point and stare at the freak who’s still scared of thunderstorms?”
Quietly sonic tucked his chin to his knees and watched Nine from the side of his eyes. Not looking directly at him.
“You know I’m terrified of water?”
“What?”
Nine perked up at the abrupt turn in conversation
“Yup. Can’t stand the stuff. Even really deep tubs give me the hibbie jibbies”
Sheepishly Sonic hid his face behind his knees before forcing himself to come back up and continue.
“But no one can avoid water forever, especially me. There's always someone on the other side who needs help, or something important at the bottom. But most of the time water is the only thing in between me and my next adventure”
And then a fond smile bloomed over his face. One he’d seen on the hedgehog's face every so often. Usually when he talked about Nine’s counterpart. But a few times been directed towards him.
“The one thing that gave me the strength to keep getting back in the water was knowing that Tails had my back”
Less tense than before, Nine found himself unconsciously uncurling from of his protective huddle. Listening to Sonic speak with wide eyes.
“but how could he help you? He’s younger than you and presumably smaller. He can’t stop the ocean from drowning you or even be there all the time”
“Tails is actually pretty strong. He’s flown me out of a few sticky situations. But you’re right that he can’t always be there. But he was always there when it counted, when I needed him the most. He held my hand when underwater. And he stood by me on the bad days when my fear was so strong I couldn’t even look at a shower. Over time, it got a little easier because he was there with me. And even when he wasn’t, the thought of him kept me going.”
At last, Sonic turned that bright, warm smile on Nine, blinding him with its sincerity and deep trust
“Things are always easier together. something I think my friends have been trying to beat into my thick skull for a while now. I think I’m starting to see what they meant though. See?”
And he held a hand out to the long forgotten world beyond their desk. Following his lead, Nine looked out and saw nothing new. Shooting the hedgehog a questioning look, Sonic grinned impossibly brighter.
“the thunders stopped”
Jerking forward in surprise, Nien whipped his head back and listened intently for the sound that haunted his nightmares, but found only the soft sound of rain as it hit the pipes outside.
Sonic was right. Nine had been so distracted by the conversation he’d completely forgotten about the storm. Turning back to Sonic, all nine could do was stare in stunned silence.
“Having someone around won’t make the problem go away. Sometimes the things we fear can be too much to ignore. But having someone to share the moment with can make living it easier.”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Nine. simply ducked his head and nodded. giving Nine a minute alone, Sonic scooched forward and peered out from under the desk like he could see the rain from inside.
“the thunder might be over for now, but I bet it’s still raining like crazy. And it’s surprisingly cozy under here. How about this-”
In a flash of blue Sonic was gone and back, his arms now laden with a pile of blankets and pillows Nine had scrounged over the years that were still soft to the touch, with a great heave he dropped them on the floor and crawled back under the desk. Laying down blankets and fluffing pillows as he went. Once finished, he sat back on his calves and threw his arms out, consequently hitting them off the bottom of the desk.
“Tad- ah, shi- i mean, tada! pillow fort!”
Looking around, Nine had to agree it was really cozy under the desk now. It even began to feel safe when Sonic pulled the desk stool closer in front of the desk and draped a blanket he’d laid over the front on it and wheeled it back a little to make an indented front door. And with the lights coming off of Nines’ own tails, the whole place felt like a little bubble of safety, taken straight from his wildest dreams. Nine caught Sonic watching his awed survey of the fort from the corner of his eye and quickly wiped the look off his face with a huff, causing the hedgehog to hide a laugh behind his fist.
“you’re gonna get my blankets all dirty”
“if you really don’t like it, I can put it bac-”
“No!”
ignoring Sonic's knowing grin, Nine grabbed one pillow and snuggled up against the one at his back and hid his face in his pilfered cushion.
“you already made it. They can’t get any dirtier than this”
With a soft laugh, sonic reached for one last thing outside of the fort and grabbed the plastic bag he’d gotten while out. As he got comfortable on his side of the desk fort, he dug around before producing a steaming container of food, handing it over to Nine with a proud look. bewildered Nine took the offered food and cracked it open. It was homemade chilli. looking at Sonic as he tucked into his own helping, Nine could only look back and forth in surprise.
“This is why you left? To get food? Where did you even find food like this?”
“muhh, ahh, well, I figured you'd be getting kinda hungry soon and no offence but your cupboards are full of junk, So I went looking on the surface, thinking, there’s gotta be a place that sells food right? like a hot dog vendor or a grocery store. Turns out there is a grocery store! But I also have no money. So I just stole some stuff. But then I couldn’t remember if you had like, a real stove or not, but luckily I met this super old lady and helped her out with this annoying patrol bot and in thanks she let me use hers! I left most of it for her and her family. She even let me take her umbrella!”
“you did all that because you thought I’d be hungry?”
“of course! growing foxes need their protein and all that”
Stunned once again. Nine let silence fill the air and uncertainty took a bite of his own food before hungrily digging in. the distant echoing pitter-patter of rain was a soothing ambiance.
In no time, they were both pleasantly full and curled up. Nine felt himself start to drift off. He'd never felt so safe and at peace before. Haltingly, he spoke up
“Sonic, I know I can be kind of snappish, but thank yo-”
Turning, Nine found the hedgehog fast asleep. Stretched out on his side, dead to the world. Now, with the company of only himself, the fox let a soft smile slip. And slowly, carefully, he wiggled until he was curled up by Sonics' side. The sound of his beating heart more soothing a lullaby any rain could ever be.