It was one of those hot summer days in station square, one Eric now regreted not staying indoors back home for. As it was though, someone had to go out and pick up and buy an extra jar of mayonase for tonight's salad. The young man was quick about his work though, he parked by the curb, rushed inside to the condiments, then quickly to the counter. Dollar bills and coins changed hands and Eric looked to be on his way, but once in the car he had to stop a moment to figure out which pocket his keys were in. Just as he pulled them out a sign down the street caught his attention: Pet Shop. Despite already being at home with a certain young lady, the thought of owning an actual pet animal had crossed his mind a few times, but he could never find the right time or place to look for one. Well, since he only came into town for mayo and that alone may have been a waste of a trip... why not!

He started the car and drove the short distance to where the sign was posted, so as he wouldn't have far to get between it and the shop. Once at the store front he paused to gaze at the numerous creatures in the shaded display window. Part of him felt sorry for all of them, being used as eye candy for potential buyers, but no matter what he'd liked to have done there was no way he could take more than one of them home. Inside it smelled like what most animal shelters tended to smell like.

"Ah, greetings sir!" A voice chimed in from the other side of the showroom, amid all the squaking and chittering. "Welcome to Kintobor's Pet palace!"

Eric turned his head as he saw a tall balding man with a large orange mustashe and tiny glasses approached.

"Oh, hello mister!" Eric replied.

"Ivo is my name my good man." The bald man returned. He stopped breifly to smile at a parrot that happened to be in a cage next to him. "I don't suppose you've come here to take one of my furry friends away to a new home, have you?"

"Furry friends! AWK!" The parrot echoed, stirring a slight uproar from other birds around the room.

Eric chuckled nervously. "Ah, y'know actually I was thinking about something like that, yeah."

"Oh my, so you are? And what, pray tell, would someone such as yourself be looking for? Perhaps a hampster or a budgee?"

"Um... well you see, I'm not really sure. I own this big place in the suburbs near the edge of the city."

Ivo's grin seemed to widen. "A big place? And you live on your own?"

"Not exactly, but it is still a bit more space than I'd ever need. I just thought having a pet around would make the place feel a little less empty, y'know what I mean?"

"Indeed my good man. Well what say I take you out back and we'll have a look at some of the more expensi-er LOVING creatures we have in our care!"

Eric just barely caught that slip of the tongue, and eyed Kintobor carefully as he followed him to the back door. Stepping in he was practically assaulted by the sounds of lord knows how many dogs, cats, and other assorted critters. For a moment he lost sight of the shop keep, until he noticed him walk out of one of the back aisles.

"Sorry about that, I was looking for my checklist." Ivo said, tapping a clipboard in his hand with a pen. "Now, do you want to look around for yourself, or shall I go over the numb-er names?"

Eric frowned at the man. 'Great, all he wants is my money,' he thought to himself. Not that he couldn't afford it, but he was in this for the companionship. What kind of assholes would put such high prices on something like that?! Well he figured he might as well humor the man, heck maybe there would be [i]SOME[/i]thing here he could bring home.

"Some of our most interesting breeds are over here if you want to have a look."

"Uh... fine." Eric rolled his eyes and followed the man's direction.

Cages were passed by and noise was made by nearly every creature he passed. It took all his nerve to keep from melting at each one. With the old man there he couldn't afford to let himself slip unless it was absolutely the one he couldn't do without. So far so good, but Ivo was getting annoyed.

"Every little friend we have here is well kept and housebroken. We put good effort into making sure they're all healthy too! Perhaps you'd like some recommendations?"

"No, thank you." Eric sighed. He felt like leaving if this man didn't leave him alone for a second. Then an odd sound crossed his ears amid everything else. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

Eric took a step away from the cages. It sounded like a person crying. Was there someone else here? And why were they crying? Then something in his mind clicked, triggering a sudden suspicion as he glanced over the cages again. What had he missed?

"Um... sir, I think that there may be another day you can come back on and figure out what-"

"Shush!"

He could hear it clearer now, he knew what it was. Eric glared at the man, who now looked vaguely nervous. He walked over toward Ivo and motioned for him to stand aside. Upon doing so he had a clear view of a cage in the back corner where he could just make out the shape of something blue within. He stepped up to it and knelt down to get a good look. It was a large spiny creature curled up into a ball shape, and more closely he could make out the shape of it's legs... and arms. Then it raised it's ears and turned it's face up to look back at Eric with those big sad green eyes.

"You..." Eric stood up and glared once again at Ivo, who now sported an indeciperable grin. "How could you!?"

"How could [i]I[/i] sir? I'm not sure I get your meaning." The old man spoke in mild sarcasm.

Eric felt like hitting the old coot, he was so furious. "You know full well what I mean! That poor guy should not be caged up like an animal!"

"But is he not an animal? A hedgehog to be precise?"

"He. Is. Not. JUST any old creature, and you know it!"

Ivo's grin became more devious. "Oh, indeed not. This fellow is a rare breed, found primarily on small islands in the south sea. In fact-"

"[i]I KNOW WHAT HE IS[/i], and it doesn't matter how [i]rare[/i] he is, you don't treat him this way!"

"Oh? And just how would you have me treat a hedgehog? Like a person?"

"[b][i]HE IS A PERSON, YOU PRICK![/i][/b]" Eric was about to explode into full on violent assault on this man.

Ivo just snorted. "A hedgehog is a hedgehog whether they walk on 4 legs or 2!"

"LOOK YOU-"

"[i]No[/i] you look! By all legal standards in this region, that creature is no more special than a garden variety lemming! If you have a problem with the way I handle my stock, then go ahead and take it up with the police. Let's be honest though... as long as I'm not mistreating my animals as [i]animals[/i] they won't do a damn thing."

Eric raised a clenched fist. "Why... you-"

"Assault on the other hand, might get their attention!"

Frustration welled up in his gut as the sickening truth sunk in, forcing him to calm down. Ivo just sneered.

"You win... demented son of a bitch."

Ivo twirled a finger through the end of his mustashe. "We at Kintobor's do aim to please! So shall that be all for today my good man?"

Eric looked back at the cage, seeing the guy now curled up further back in. "God, this is impossible... not again." He muttered to himself.

-----

Eric let out an exasperated sigh as he saw his driveway coming up. That Egg-head charged him $312 to let that poor hedgehog loose, and the mayonase had gone warm. Luckily the blue guy didn't struggle much as he was freed, he just curled up into a spiny ball that Eric tenuously carried to the car and layed him in the back seat. From there he just stayed put, peeking his head up every now and then to look out the windows at the outside world. Eric couldn't guess what all he'd been through or for how long, but he did know that now that he was away from that lunatic, there was a lot of work to be done in order to undo the damage.

Pulling up the long driveway, Eric brought the car to a stop in front of the garage and got out. The hedgehog lifted his head again, curious as to what was about to happen. The door next to him was opened and he balled up again, leaving the man above him to do this the hard way again. None of his spines managed to do more than prick the man a bit as he was hauled over to the front door of his soon-to-be new home. It took a bit of work to get the door unlocked and opened like this, but soon they were inside. It was nice and cool indoors and, as Eric had hinted earlier, was really spacious. Eric thought just to set the living pincushion down on the floor and just let him be like that, but after spending probable years on the cold hard surface of that cage he decided to at least take him over to one of the sofas.

Eric smiled saddly as he uncurled a bit and looked up at him questioningly. "I don't know if you understand me, my friend, but I want you to stay here for a moment while I go get a friend. Think you can do that?"

The hedgehog's ears folded back and he scooted back in his seat. Eric sighed and walked away into another room. Now that he was alone, the hedgehog seemed less tense as he looked curiously at his surroundings. This room must've been the biggest, most open place he'd ever seen that wasn't the outside. The floor was a polished dark wood surrounded at great distances by matte white walls, almost pearlesque. There were several support beams here and there, but nothing that obstructed the view too greatly. On the far side of the room was a long wall with an almost equally long curtain through which the sunlight distilled through. In one corner was a large plasma screen television, in full view of both sofas. Then there was the large openning that lead back to the entrance hall just off to the side of it. There were a few tables as well, some hanging lights, and a big vase in the middle of the room with bamboo poles sticking up out of it... odd. Otherwise the room wasn't very interesting to look at.

The blue hedgehog sniffed at the air, trying to get a handle on where something food-like may be located. There was a few distinct scents he could pick out; Vegetables, probably chopped and mixed, from behind a closed door paralel to the TV. Then there was another one, like flowers perhaps? He'd barely remembered what that smelled like, but it was still different from that... stronger, sweeter, moving. He was curious now, enough so that he braved climbing down from the couch. He was entirely bare paws and hands as he stepped onto the polished floor, it was an odd feeling that nearly made him slip. For a moment he thought to try standing on 2 legs like he used to, but the slickness nearly made him trip. Cautiously he took a step forward to test his balance. It worked well enough for a further few steps so now he found he could still walk this way... then a thought clicked in his mind to do something he really enjoyed: running [i]really[/i] fast! As luck would have it he could easily walk to the far end of the room to a place where it was a clear shot out into the hall. He knelt down and braced himself to take off like a rocket, but without anything on his feet a lack of good friction finally caught up with him. He got his legs moving in a blurr, but for a minute he was barely moving! Panicked, he begain flailing his arms to throw his balance in one direction or another, then he caught a sweet spot in the hardwood and zipped strait into the hall and smacked face first into the front door.

Eric heard the thud and resounding cry of agony and rushed back downstairs to the main hall where he found the blue guy balled up by the door, wimpering.

"What on earth did you do to yourself little guy?" He questioned, once again picking up the prickley ball and carrying it to the sofa. Cautiously, he tried to lift up his head to see what he'd done to himself. The hedgehog resisted and burried his face in his hands.

"I know it hurts, but I need to see so I can help!" Eric eased off a bit, but it didn't help.

"Mister Eric, what's going on down there?" A younge female voice echoed through the house.

"It's our new friend! He hurt himself and is being stubborn!" Then Eric had a thought. "Oh! Could you come down here and watch him while I get an ice pack?"

"Com~ing!"

Eric stood up, leaving the blue hog to quiver alone for a moment. He lifter his head as he heard someone else now moving toward him, carrying that interesting smell from before closer. He peeked between his fingers and saw something pink now standing over him. It was nowhere near as tall as Eric was, in fact it may have been the same size he was. Looking up clearly he could see a face... one that looked not unlike his own.

"Oh wow!" The pink girl smiled wide as she leaned over him. "You're... you're just like me! Another hedgie!"

'[i]Like me[/i]'? '[i]Another hedgie[/i]'? He lifted his hands completely away from his face and sat up to look at her clearly. She was a pink colored bipedal hedgehog-like creature, but her spines were arranged differently, laying against the sides of her head instead of arking back, as well as what looked like 3 that hung over her face like bangs. She was also clothed, unlike himself, wearing a single piece red dress and skirt with no sleeves, white gloves with gold ring wristbands, and knee high socks with a loose cuff.

The girl giggled as she was visually examined. "You are so cute!" She then held her hand out in greeting. "My name's Amy!"

Blue sat up, having now forgot about the bump on his forehead. Cautiosly he returned the gesture, which she reached for and grabbed to shake. Not entirely grasping what she was doing, he just let her do that for a moment until she let go, whereupon he pulled his own hand back to his face and stared. Her hand felt so soft and warm touching his, was it because of the glove or did she just have that kind of touch.

Amy giggled some more. "So, what's your name, friend?"

He looked back at her and opened his mouth as if to respond, but then hesitated. He hadn't spoke in such a long time, he wasn't allowed to back at the shop. This girl spoke though, and she was his own kind, so...

"Son... ic," the word slowly left his lips, his voice unsteady as he spoke, "I... Sonic."

She blinked. "Sonic? What a funny name."

Embarassed, he put his hand over his mouth, then remembered the bump and quickly put both hands over it. Just as he did he heard Eric come back in the room and balled up like he had before.

"How's he doing, Amy?"

"He's fine... I think." She replied, a bit confused. "He told me his name, then balled up again."

"You got him to speak?! Wow, he didn't say a word the whole time I was with him." Eric brought the aforementioned ice pack and handed it to her. "How is his voice?"

"Hard to say," Amy answered whilst tying to pull blue's hands away again, "all I got was 'Sonic' then he went like this."

Eric hummed. "Sonic? That's an interesting name."

Amy sighed as her attepts to manually remove Sonic's hands from his face had no effect. It struck her that perhaps Eric's presnce must have scared him for some reason, though right now she had no idea why. Eric hadn't said yet exactly how this blue fellow was brought in, thus she had no idea that he'd likely been raised like a caged animal. It might've explained why she had the sudden urge to cover her nose.

"Oh my God, he smells like a barn!"

Eric withheld a chuckle, having gotten used to the stench by now he almost forgot about it. "Yeah. I think this guy is gonna need some cleaning up. You wait here, I'll go get the bath ready."

"Alright."

He walked off, leaving the 2 alone again. Curiously, Sonic untensed the moment he was out of sight, opening one eye and peering between his fingers. Amy took the oportunity to grab his hand and place the ice pack in it before he smacked it to his head again. Sonic yelped and dropped it as soon as it touched his head and backed away. Amy looked at him saddly and shook her head, picking the ice pack back up and setting on one of the end tables.

"What's your deal, anyway? Eric brings you home and you act like a scared puppy!"

Sonic's ears bent back as she sat down on the sofa across from his and stared back at him curiously.

"Well?" she spoke up after a long moment, "Why don't you say something? I got your name, what about where you come from? Why can't you just talk like a normal person?!"

Sonic looked down, still weary about speaking since he'd been specificly instructed not to ever since he was a child. He knew a lot of words, but hadn't been able to recite any of them that often since he knew he'd be punished for talking if the bald man ever heard him. This girl though... she was the kind of creature he was, yet she spoke, wore clothes, stood up like a person, and seemed to be nice to him even though he didn't understand what the cold bag was about.

"P-p-paaa," he studdered to pronounce the word right as only he could remember, "pa-pet sssshhhhop. I from pet shop."

"Pet shop? Oh! Oh my God!" Amy gasped and brought her hands to her face as the realization hit her.

She remembered the story Eric had told her of how she herself had come into Eric's care in a similar manner. She was too young to recall at the time, but Eric had been out on a vacation some years ago and came upon a merchant who was trying to sell exotic animals. She was one such sale item, a lone hedgie girl who'd been caught by trappers and taken away from her home island. Eric had no clue she was an anthro, but bought her anyway since he felt bad for her. Not until he'd taken her home and she started repeating things he said did it dawn on him that there was something more to her than just being a big pink hedgehog. Research was done and it became clear what was going on. Eric had no way to get her home, or even try to stop it from happening again outside of attempting to further educate people about their kind, so he kept and raised her like a human girl as only he knew how.

Now it was happening again, right before her was another victim of the same ill-founded notion that hedgehogs like them were no more than oversized pet product. Amy felt like bursting into tears, knowing now what this blue fellow must have been through.

She lept from her seat and rushed over to embrace him. "Oh you poor thing! I can't believe you had to go through that too!"

Sonic nearly balled up in defense again as she practically lept on top of him, but the moment of indecision was all it took to get caught. Despite how odd it felt though, he seemed to like it. He couldn't recall ever being hugged before in his life... it was a pleasant feeling. Being this close to someone else, her arms around him, her head next to his, the soft feeling, why could he not have felt this before? Caught up in the moment, he hardly noticed that she was sobbing as he raised his hands.

Confused, Sonic grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away to look at her face. "You cry?"

Amy nodded.

"Why you cry?"

"Because," she sniffed, "I feel so sad for you."

Sonic tilted his head. "Sad for me?"

"Yes. You must've lived such a terrible life being stuck in a pet shop, it makes me feel bad for you!"

He wasn't sure what to make of such a concept, being sad for someone else: he'd been sad for himself all his life. One thing he was sure of though-

"Don't cry. I don't like you to cry."

Amy gave him a confused look. "What?"

"You don't cry. I cry much for my life," Sonic paused to put a hand to her cheek and wipe away a tear, drawing a blush from the girl. "but you don't cry for me. It make your face look bad, like me."

Amy took a moment to wipe the rest of her tears away, blushing still. This feeling was new to her. Was she embarassed because he told her not to cry, or was it something else? Either way she just felt his hand against her face, and despite how unkempt he was it was a soft, kind touch. And did he just insinuate that he looked bad? Looking him over he was fairly well built and good looking despite the frazzled fur and spines and bruise on his head... attractive even.

Sonic stared back at her, not sure why she was acting so odd. He reached forward to lift her head as he tried to remember a certain word. "Sime... smim... s-smile? Yes! Smile, please!"

Amy's could feel her heart beat faster as his hands touched her face again. "S-s-smile?" She studdered.

Sonic nodded. "Yes, smile! Like this!" His lips curved up at both sides, twiching a bit as he wasn't used to doing so himself.

Seeing him try that was all it took to draw one out of her too. "Okay, I won't cry then."

Eric chuckled to himself as he watched the whole thing from around the door frame. It looked like they were going to get along well with each other, perhaps even better than he'd hoped. Now only one thing puzzled him... how the hell did blue manage to break the front door?!