Ever since I had the realization that I can just make an inmedias res of the idea that randomly attacks me without bothering myself with the boring context stuff around I've gotten quite the boost to write!!
This idea specifically popped into my head and was almost fully fleshed out while I was vacuuming the house last Sunday, enjoy
[2,350 words]
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"I don't need you to defend me y'know."
With shaking hands, Nine had anger bubbling inside of him every time his gloves got caught on the flimsy fabric of the bandage.
"By that you're implying I should've just let them rip into you like that?"
"It's none of your business." The fox grumbled and exercised every inch of self-control he had to not just rip the bandage away and Sonic's whole arm with it.
It was stupid, it was so so stupid, and Nine felt beyond guilty, but more than that he was angry.
Angry at Sonic for being an idiot, but what's new really.
"Hmm, pretty sure it was, I do not let bullying happen when I see it."
"That wasn't bullying-"
"We won't argue the definition of that word right now."
The hedgehog gave him a cheeky grin and rested his chin on the palm of his hand. The elbow of the hand was in turn propped up on his leg that bounced seventy-five kilometers an hour, which caused his whole body to shake, which, made Nine irritated even more because he couldn't get the bandage wrapped just right.
But he was done telling the other to stop moving, it was obvious he couldn't sit still for more than ten seconds. Not to mention that just getting him to sit down and get his infection prone, bleeding wound treated was incredibly difficult to begin with.
Besides that, how did Sonic have it in him to smile at him after having his fur stained with his own blood.
...After the taste of its iron was still fresh in Nine's mouth.
"Ok then let me rephrase; I don't want you to defend me." Nine could do that himself no problem. He could make anyone trying to hurt him run the other way if he really wanted to. He would've done just that had Sonic not been an idiot and gotten in the way.
"Then let me rephrase as well; I won't let anyone bully you when I can do something about it."
"I didn't ask for your help." Nine hissed and pulled the bandage just a bit too tight out of spite. Sonic didn't seem to notice.
"You never do."
"Because I don't need it."
"Uh-huh." Sonic hummed, unimpressed, his head slumping deeper in his palm.
The hedgehog fell silent after that. Nine dared just the quickest peek at his face and saw a solemn expression. Whatever, his reaction didn't matter, the wound was taken care of after he carefully used a medical pin to hold together the loose end of the bandage, he was done here.
He was about to put all the used supplies back in the medical kit, call it a day and disappear from everyone's radar until things have died down.
Sonic had different plans it seemed, as he just used his injured hand to grab onto Nine's and stopped him in his tracks.
"We're friends. Right Nine?"
Nine didn't answer, didn't lift his gaze from the bag of medical pins he was holding, didn't let go of the lingering backdrop of guilt lacing his throat.
"Friends rely on each other. Trust each other and help one another."
And he didn't like the tone of voice Sonic was using. It was too soft, almost sickly sweet, and too forgiving. But even with its many charms, it would not work on Nine, he knew what the hedgehog was getting at.
"I can rely on myself pretty well." He replied sternly and once again spared just a quick look at the other, making sure there was an appropriate amount of apathy in it. Then his eyes fell onto the bandaged arm, still holding his own, and lingered.
"And friends don't hurt each other to the point they draw blood, do they."
Nine knew very little about this whole friendship thing still, but this one was pretty obvious, he didn't need to ask.
"No, but they can make the necessary sacrifices for each other when it counts."
At that, all the bubbling frustration reached a boiling point, and Nine might've given into it just a bit too much.
He ripped his hand away, the pang of regret and guilt went buried under the much preferred anger as he gripped the bag of medical pins tighter, looking for something over the bed they were sitting on, he just needed something to exemplify his point.
There, lying about, he grabbed the surgical scissors and tossed them into the open metal box, causing a loud clatter and almost flipping the whole thing over.
"A necessary sacrifice as in having me almost kill you!?"
The action did its job to finally get the hedgehog in a more alarmed state, as he should be.
"Woa woa, it's gonna take way more than just one bite and stab to put me six feet under buddy! I thought that was pretty well established by now!" Sonic waved both his hands in front of him in a panicked surrender.
Nine then wordlessly glared at him. He knew Sonic was tough, he knew. But he also caught on the habit of the hedgehog downplaying his injuries and grievances towards others, and Nine couldn't stand that.
"Something tells me that the bite hurts you more than it hurts me."
"It, It doesn't hurt me." Nine took a second to harden his features further, but couldn't look Sonic in the face at all "Just pisses me off."
Another tense bead of silence during which Sonic only looked like someone spilled a hot coffee mug over him.
Nine sighed in resignation. He should shut up, talking just made everything worse today it seemed.
He finally dragged the medical box to himself, throwing all of the supplies into it in a somewhat organized way so it could be closed properly with a doubled click.
He continued staring at the two old-fashioned clips holding the lid and the bottom of the box together, all while the anger inside of him melted and froze over in a pool of guilt that only kept increasing in its volume as seconds ticked by.
"You want me to be angry at you, don't you."
Bingo.
Despite just deciding hes done talking, the "You should be" was said way louder than Nine intended.
"There's nothing for me to be angry about though."
He gripped the corners of the aid kit as he finally met the hedgehog face to face.
"There is- the, I BIT YOU!" He stammered over his words, dumbfounded, as if Sonic just couldn't get the most obvious thing in the world. "How is that something to NOT be mad about?!"
Sonic simply averted his gaze, gently rubbing his injury. "I mean, I can't stay angry at anyone for long, even if I wanted to."
Nine wilted, shoulders dropping in defeat and head tilting in genuine confusion. "How can you just... how can you just let things go like that?"
"Living in the moment and not letting past grievences slow me down." Sonic flashed him a toothy grin with fingerguns to acompany it. "Besides, It was what I bargained for wasn't it?"
"You knew I was gonna bite and you just went with it?!"
"Don't worry about it, I'm used to having fox teeth in my arms." Seems that the most reliable strategy Sonic had was to just keep chuckling and treat everything as if it wasn't a big deal to make an attempt at deescalating Nine's reaction.
An incredibly poor attempt, because each word that left his mouth only confused and irritated the fox further.
Exept this time what stumped Nine for good was the implication of his last answer, it took a second to click.
"Oh." And then it fully sank in. "Seriously?"
"Yep, a little biter he was. And a scratcher too." Sonic went to his muzzle, parting his peachy fur to reveal a barely visible set of scars in the warm lamplight.
Nine sat there in silence, still holding the first aid kit in his lap as if Sonic were to snatch it from him any second. He just needed something to keep him grounded and stop his hands from shaking, thats all.
Then his eyes fell on the bandage around the hedgehog's arm once again, dragging his whole expression down along.
"I'm sorry." Nine practically whispered. He should've apologized a long time ago, he really should've, but amidst his adrenaline-fueled panic and then the frustration, it didn't even cross his mind.
"Didn't quite catch that."
Now Nine didn't know if the other was deliberately playing dumb, because it didn't sound like he was daring or teasing him to humiliate himself out loud, there was way too much sincerity in that question. Whatever, it didn't matter. The least he could do was to bite the bullet he deserved anyway.
"I said, I'm sorry. For this whole thing." It still felt weird saying those words out loud. Embarrassing even. It was hard getting them out.
"For...that." he added with a shaky voice, pointing at Sonic's arm.
Yet Sonic only smiled. He always just smiled.
"Haha, seriously, don't sweat it! Aside from being used to it, It doesn't even hurt anymore, I heal pretty fast." The sincerity with which the hedgehog basically glowed made the corners of Nine's eyes sting.
He did not deserve to be treated so kindly.
"As I said, we're friends." Sonic scooted as close to him as possible while one of his legs still dangled over the edge of the bed.
He kept trying to change the subject, it was obvious, but Nine just couldn't let it go so easily.
"What does it change about the fact that you were bleeding because of me."
"C'mon bud I'm sure you know you've done worse than that."
...That hurt like a rusted nail through his throat.
But, well, it was true.
Nine felt his ears pin to his skull but made no effort to fight the instinct of shrinking on himself.
"Point is! A lot of things changed actually! You no longer have to rely just on yourself for everything."
Sonic was so, so desperate to brush this whole thing under a rug it was actually hilarious. But hey, it was good to know what he really thought of it. Of him. It's what he asked for after all...
While he was too busy blinking rapidly to try and keep his tears at bay, Sonic was attempting to pry his hands from the box. And despite Nine gripping it so hard it left barely noticeable dents in its soft metal, he succeeded.
Nine wasn't sure what the hedgehog wanted to do next and he expected anything but for him to hold his shaking hands in his. Well, more accurately, let Nine hold onto his fingers while Sonic ran his thumbs across his knuckles in a soothing back and forth motion.
"You know that if you actually succeeded at attacking Knux it would just snowball into more problems, right?"
Tch, even if violence wasn't always the answer, it sure as hell was when someone called him a freak.
"That, plus I just couldn't let him hurt you again."
The gentleness in Sonic's voice and hands burned through Nine's chest. It completely blurred his vision and made it hard to breathe properly.
"I just. I don't want to be a burden."
And even if he only saw undefined blobs of blue and beige through his peripheral vision before he just opted to shut his eyes for good, he definitely heard the way Sonic's whole demeanor completely sunk.
"You two are so painfully alike, y'know..." He let out a sad chuckle while giving Nine's hands a soft squeeze.
And then he went to prepare and say something to counter, but Nine shot first;
"You've done more than enough for me I- the least I c-can do is not bother you with my problems."
And he hated the way his voice threatened to completely break with sobs. He didn't deserve to be the one crying, there was nothing for him to even cry about.
"Pretty sure we live in the same house now- or universe, so you can't find a loophole you smart-ass." Sonic chuckled and blew a quick shot of air at the fox to get him to open his eyes again. "So, your problems are also my problems."
Aside from Nine's eyes now being further irritated and teary, he didn't even realize that he was subconsciously pulling away until Sonic dragged him back. And then the other leaned in as close as his vision allowed him to easily focus on the fox before him.
"Whether you like it or not."
The smile he gave afterwards had a layer of threatening positivity to it, the choice of being all alone was completely out of the window after this conversation it seemed.
Nine wasn't sure whether he was comforted by that or not.
"I'm not, I'm not used to that. Y'know, people helping me, or, or caring about me.." He cringed at himself for saying that out loud. A part of him really wanted to run away and hide, to never be found, while the other craved nothing more than to just sit here, and let Sonic hold onto him without a care in the world.
"Heh, I can tell. How good that we got plethora of time to change that." And the hedgehog shot him the softer version of his iconic grin as he clasped Nine's hands between his.
"You're really gonna waste your time on me with that?" If anything, Nine would concider it hopeless, just being around people irritated him to no end. How on Chaos' green planet was he supoused to get used to them poking their noses in his buiseness and trust them to not use his weaknesses against him.
"Hm, you betcha! That's what friends are for."
It just began sinking into place for Nine when suddenly Sonic's forehead gently hit his.
"And no time spent with you is a waste bud."
All of the tears being held at bay no longer had any restraint placed on them.
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Ok some thoughts about senator Maul AU because I keep thinking about it
Palpatine never finds an apprentice in this AU, so he ends up not being such a huge threat
The events of Phantom Menace only kinda happened - Naboo was attacked by the Trade Federation, but there was no Sith to pursue them and kill Qui-Gon, so things got resolved much more easily
Qui-Gon lives, so he gets to train Anakin, and Dooku doesn't get tempted by the dark side
I think Dooku still quits the Jedi Order, but this time it's because he feels like he could do more good as a politician than as a jedi. He keeps a good relationship with the Jedi Order and the Republic and doesn't become a separatist
Every time he's in Coruscant he visits Qui-Gon and Anakin (and Obi-Wan) and chats with them over a nice lunch, which is good because it gives Anakin a politician role model that isn't Palpatine, and a better perspective of his options - he can leave the Order if he finds a new purpose, it's not a betrayal or a failure
Maul was raised in Dathomir so he's not a sith murder machine, but since he's such a powerful Force-senstitive he was raised closer to his mother and the Nightsisters than to his brothers and the Nightbrothers
(Savage and Feral are alive and happy btw. They visit Maul in Coruscant sometimes. I think he might also have one or two sisters because why not)
He still doesn't like Jedi but it's like. He doesn't want to kill them, he just thinks they're way too limiting and self-righteous. Like how Obi-Wan doesn't like politicians
He rarely makes speeches on the senate, so hearing him speak is a rare treat
Picture holonet social media hornyposting under every clip of him speaking because he has a very sexy voice
His outfits are also pretty daring (read: sexy) compared to most (male) senators. The entire Dathomir delegation dresses pretty similarly, but he gets the most attention
Maul vs Padmé who wore it better type posts
He and Padmé have this weird kinda-rivalry because they're very opposite in a lot of ways, but they still vote on the same side in a lot of topics since they both have a very "I am doing this for my people" mentality
He also absolutely hates Palpatine because he gets extremely rotten vibes from him (he's more attuned to the dark side than the Jedi so he probably Feels Palpatine's dark side vibes better than the Jedi. He Feels Palpatine is Bad)
When/if the Jedi Order ever finds out Palpatine is a sith he will be very unsurprised
Ventress is a representative and Maul's "apprentice", learning the Senate life from him
I'm making her younger than her "canon" age here (by about 10ish years) because it makes more sense to me and because giving Maul a government-assigned baby sister is funny
From what we see in the movies each world seems to only have one senator but I want the Dathomir delegation to have at least two because I think it's more fitting (and realistic, every world needs more than one senator what the fuck)
I think it would be funny if Maul swears he's gonna quit soon and Ventress will take his place in the senate but then the other senator retires first and makes Ventress her successor so Maul has to stay a senator for longer. He just wants to get out of this fucking planet
On the Jedi side of this AU I think Anakin grows into a much more disciplined jedi because Qui-Gon the rules bender would definitely stay in contact with Shmi so Anakin's anxieties regarding his mom will be more controlled, and they would be contacted immediately when she gets kidnapped by the tuskens so they save her faster and she doesn't die and neither do the tuskens and everything is fine
Plus Anakin gets to know his new family better and have a brother and add a new dad to his collection <3
Maybe Obi-Wan gets Ahsoka as a padawan this time, so she can have a master who actually wants to teach, and also be kinda-siblings with Anakin and cause chaos with him while Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan aren't looking
The Separatists never really take off, so the clone wars never happen, but I think the attacks on senators that were happening at the start of AotC still happen because I think it's fun to have drama and have Jedi escorts assigned to senators (read: good excuse to set up an obimaul and allow the anidala plot to happen)
I want Maul to be miserable wet cats with Obi-Wan on Kamino so I am allowing the clones to exist. Purely for comedic plot opportunity. And because I love clones so I want them to exist
But I think this time they only made a single batch of like 10-100 clones and were waiting for the Jedi to get back to them with approval to make more
Maul sees this and goes "Absolutely the fuck NOT" so no more clones are made after those. Sad!
With Maul there to help the Jango fight is much more successful (and 50% less humiliating on Obi-Wan's side) so they capture him and no one has to die
Sidious had to hire Jango this time since I am not letting him have an apprentice, so Jango is like "I was hired by some old weirdo in a cloak who called himself Darth Sidious who sounded and looked a lot like the chancellor from Naboo" and Maul feels so fucking vindicated that YES the bad vibes he gets from Palpatine were correct can we PLEASE kill him now
Jango gets arrested and maybe he makes a deal to work under the Jedi instead of staying in jail so he can take care of Boba instead of leaving him to his own luck
Boba being raised with Jedi younglings while Jango is busy offworld....
The clones also become part of the Jedi Order so they can help Jedi with peacekeeping and defense and stuff
Palpatine gets found out and arrested and/or killed by the Jedi and everyone else gets to live happily ever after. Eventually.
... this is. Way longer than planned. I'm having fun
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Jasmine: (Walks into Acadia on her own after a long day. She still hasn’t uttered at word out loud to anyone other than Nick, Kasumi, or Jules)
DiMA: (Stands from his chair to greet the teen) “Hello there, Jasmine! I hear you and Nick have had quite an adventure here on the Island.”
Jasmine: (Stops and slowly blinks at her new uncle, still very wary of him because of what he’s done to Jules who was her only friend at Acadia)
DiMA: (Smiles warmly and approaches) “Is there anything you want to know about the Island and its inhabitants? I have had my own fair share of adventures, I could recount a few to you if that’s something you’d like.”
Jasmine: (Blinks some more, then rubs her eyes) “Desculpe me.” (Yawns sleepily as she stretches out) “Estoy muy cansada porque anoche yo no dormí.”
DiMA: (Rubs his chin) “Hrm, that’s a foreign language that I am not familiar with. Though, so far there hadn't been much need for any other language other than English.”
Jasmine: (Straightens up then shakes her head) “No entiendo, señor.” (Makes a motion with her hand) “Más despacio, por favor.”
DiMA: “I think I have a better idea.” (Stares off for a few seconds) “………” (Starts sizzling like an old overworked computer as he installs Google Translate)
Jasmine: (Under her breath) “Oh fuck….”
Faraday: (Comes running in) “NOOOOOO! He can’t run a translator anymore! He’s too old and fragile!”
Chase: (Also comes flying in) “Get him to stop!”
Faraday: (Rushes over to a terminal) “I’m trying!”
Jasmine: (Steps back and tilts her head at the two) “No entiendo qué es lo que quieres.”
Chase: (Sternly) “Stop that! Stop talking!”
Jasmine: (Folds her hands and smiles innocently and politely) “Padrón señorita, yo no hablo inglés.”
Faraday: (Swears and grumbles like he’s a crazy person on drugs)
DiMA: (Sizzling and steaming to the point you could cook an egg on him)
Jasmine: (Motions to DiMA) “¿Está bien?”
Faraday: (Desperately mashing buttons) “VALENTINE! PLEASE COME GET BABY VALENTINE BEFORE SHE BLOWS UP THE WHOLE DAMN OBSERVATORY!!” (Screams at the terminal as it crashes and reboots)
Jasmine: (Crosses her arms) “Usted es un hombre muy estresado. ¿Estás bien? ¡Necesitas ayuda para los locos!”
Faraday: (Smacks the terminal multiple times as he yells over his shoulder) “I DO NOT UNDERSTAND A WORD YOU ARE SAYING!!!”
Jasmine: (Mumbling to herself) “El gringo es un loco hombre y estúpido.” (Thinks it obvious she was joking from the start, they are all just too dense to notice)
Chase: “WE TOLD YOU TO SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!!”
Jasmine: “Ustedes cállense la boca!!!” (Throws up her hands) “¡No estoy haciendo nada!” (Jabs a finger at DiMA) “¡Es su culpa!” (She didn’t tell the synth to download a translator, just to talk more slowly)
Nick: (Appears from the stairway) “Alright missy, that’s enough outta you for one day.” (Snatches his daughter’s hand and starts dragging her away)
Faraday: (Squawking like a distressed and disturbed parrot as he shakes and bangs the terminal)
Jasmine: (Follows along without any complaints) “Papá, tú familia está MUY loca. ¿Por qué es eso?”
Nick: (Tired Dad sigh) “Let’s just get you to bed before ya blow your uncles fuse too….”
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