A Cryptic Attraction

Chp. 22| The Yellow Hedgehog

~Scourge's POV~

Manic and I are sitting on the bench outside of the Home's office, trying to listen in on the conversation. It's killing me to know that they were talking about my soon-to-be brother, while we sat outside and couldn't hear anything.

Maybe I could hear if I just got a little closer...?

Quietly, I stand up.

"Scourge, whoa. Remember what Lora said about waiting on the bench?" Manic reminds me.

I put a finger to my lips, trying to keep Manic quiet. I already know about Lora, that's why I'm being sneaky.

I lean toward the door a bit, trying to see if he can hear anything. After a minute, I give up. The door must be soundproof or something. Since I wouldn't dare put my ear on the door, I sit back down on the bench.

"Couldn't hear anything, could you?" Manic asks.

Pouting, I mutter, "Nothing. It's all muffled."

I look at the door angrily until Manic taps me. He held out an arm, inviting me to a hug. I was more than happy to accept the invitation, and as we let go, I kissed him on the cheek. I tried to make it so that to anyone looking, it would seem like I had turned my head at the wrong time, so only Manic would know it was a kiss.

I thought I saw him blushing as he smiled.

We both try to listen in on what's going on in the office, when I think I hear footsteps. We look to where it's coming from as we hear two voices laughing.

Two hedgehogs come running around the corner. They're running pretty fast, they probably would be able to run as fast as I can. I'm up for a race, so maybe we could test that later...?

The hedgehogs are yellow and gray. The yellow hedgehog chases the gray one and tackles him, bringing them to the ground. They roll a bit before coming to a stop, the gray one pinned to the floor.

"I win, again." the yellow one said smirking.

"Because I let you, again." the gray one retorts. Then, he turns and sees me and Manic. His eyes went wide as the hedgehog on top of him looked to where his friend was now staring.

No one says anything.

The gray hedgehog gets up, and the other one follows him over to me and Manic. As they get closer, Manic, along with the gray hedgehog, looks shocked.

"You're the guy from my dream..." they say at one time.

"What?" I ask.

"Scourge, remember when I was wasn't waking up this morning?" Manic asks.

"Don't remind me!" I say immediately. I never want to think about that horrible moment again.

"I saw him," he points at the gray hedgehog, "in my dream!"

The hedgehog is surprised. "Hm. I thought you looked familiar. By the way..."

He took my sunglasses off right my head. I'm surprised at the boldness, but I say nothing. I've learned the hard way to keep quiet.

"I like these glasses..." the gray hedgehog says.

His yellow friend says nothing. I wonder if these two are as close as Manic and I are?

The gray hedgehog takes a good look at my sunglasses. Then he smiles. "I think I'm gonna hold on to these..."

"Um, no." Manic speaks up. "But you are more than welcome to put them back."

Never breaking eye contact with him, the hedgehog puts my sunglasses on his head and steps back. Smirking, he says two words to Manic:

"Make me."

Both the yellow hedgehog and I get the 'Oh snap!' look on our faces as Manic gets up. The gray hedgehog takes off, not as fast as he was a while ago, but enough to keep out of Manic's reach.

"Get back here!!" Manic says running after him.

The yellow hedgehog sits down in the bench next to me, staring in the direction where our friends took off. Smiling, he says, "This shouldn't take too long."

I'm curious. "Is he your brother?" I ask.

The yellow hedgehog shakes his head no. "We're just really close friends. Are you and the other guy related? You two look pretty similar."

I guess I hadn't thought of it before, but I do look a little like Manic. Just more pale. "Not related in the least." I answer. Then, I remember what Manic said earlier. "Did your friend have any sleep problems this morning?"

The yellow hedgehog winces. "He... He wasn't waking up. I shook him, I called him, I pushed him off the bed onto the floor. He didn't respond."

The yellow hedgehog turns away. I hope he's not crying.

"So, I'm starting to get frantic," He continues. "I go get one of the caretakers that work here, by force since they're kinda scared of us, and take her to him. I stay with my friend the entire time she examines him and when she's done, she has the weirdest look on her face. Then she says that I should leave him.

"I didn't want to. She was gonna have to make me leave, because I was not moving. She told me again to exit the room. I didn't leave. So she decided that she'd had enough of sugar coating the situation, and told me that he wasn't going to wake up."

I can't help thinking about how I felt this morning, when Manic was unresponsive. I thought I was scared, this guy actually was told that his friend died.

"But he woke up anyway, right?" I ask.

He nods. "I didn't leave him for a second, even when the caretaker left. She had actually left to find more people so that they could pry me away. But as soon as they all had gotten into the room, he woke up. They thought that he was playing some sort of joke and left, but I knew that he wasn't joking. I don't understand what happened, and I knew that he honestly didn't either. I'm just glad he woke up at all. I kinda want to know what he was dreaming about though..."

"Manic said that your friend was in his dream, so-"

"Manic?" the yellow hedgehog asks, interrupting me.

"That's my friend's name. He and your friend said they saw each other in their dream. Maybe we could ask about it when my mom comes back? She helped Manic wake up, she may know what happened."

"I hope so." He turns to me. "Name?"

"Scourge." I answer. "Yours?"

Right before he answers, the gray hedgehog comes running back, carrying Manic. Manic shakily gets down, and sits on the bench. "You okay?" I ask. He looks like he just got off of a rollercoaster.

Manic says nothing as he hands me my sunglasses.

The gray hedgehog speaks up. "We talked, I gave him the glasses, and I carried him back here."

"That was both the scariest and most amazing ride I've ever been on. Though I hope that it never happens again." Manic says, still shaking.

Before I could ask for the yellow hedgehog's name, Lora steps out of the office.