Dying with No Regrets

[babylonmechanic]

Who: Knuckles, Wave
What: Wave has a few things she wants to get off her chest.
Where: The gym
When: November 30
Warnings: U for UST

Even with the moon ready to drop from the heavens, Wave and Knuckles still met for her training sessions. Bright and early, as if nothing was wrong. Except Wave didn't feel that way. No masks, no hope of entering the door she found, the moon about to crush them... They were all as good as dead. There was no point in continuing.

And yet she kept right on doing it. It was a point of consistency for her. Maybe that was enough to at least stop her from thinking too hard about the end and just giving in.

She changed into a pair of white shorts and a sports bra, ready for the day's training. At least Knuckles wasn't the worst company to keep in a time like this... He had a positive attitude that she admittedly enjoyed. And he was far more patient with her than she thought he was capable of. It was kinda nice.

Comments

[monotreme_101]

"Morning."

Knuckles walked in as he did pretty much every morning. Gym bag over his shoulder, smile on his face.

Though, this morning, he had his hands full with two paper cups of coffee.

"Kinda cold this morning. Thought you might appreciate this." he said, setting it down on the bench nearest her.

[babylonmechanic]

"A bit," she replied, taking the cup from him. "Didn't exactly take you for a coffee person," Wave added, sipping at her cup and enjoying the warmth from within on the cool morning. Short shorts were not the warmest thing ever.

[monotreme_101]

"You kiddin'? I love this stuff." Knuckles replied. "I don't have anything like it on my Island, but since moving here I've come to enjoy it. Makes early mornings a little more manageable."

He drank a little of his before setting it down and starting to stretch a little.

"You drink it back with the Rogues?"

[babylonmechanic]

"Heh. Learn something new every day," Wave said with a chuckle. She took another sip of coffee, hoping to finish hers while it was still hot. "I'm an engineer who works long hours, and I deal with two dunces on a daily basis. Of course I drink lots of coffee," she informed him.

[monotreme_101]

"Heh. I should probably introduce Tails to it, next time I see that guy. I--"

Oh. Oh oops. There was... a thing they hadn't really talked much about. Tails' departure.

".....uh, anyway. Hopefully that warms you up, some. So then you can do warm ups while you're warmed up."

[babylonmechanic]

"R-right..."

She didn't like to think too much about it. Just as she was starting to like the not-so-shrimp, he up and disappeared... It made her angry just thinking about it. Angry and sad. Sangry.

"Y-yeah. Thanks. I'm good to go," she said, setting the empty cup down and lifting her arms to stretch.

[monotreme_101]

Knuckles drained his cup, too, grateful for the fact that they had something to do and didn't need to focus on his misstep.

"Alright. You know the drill - pushups first, but let's just shoot for fifty this time. We'll follow with fifty situps and then a couple laps. After stretches." he said, starting to warm up and do stretches of his own. He always did the same exercises he asked her to do and he was equally unwilling to pull something.

[babylonmechanic]

"Goodie, my favourite part," she scoffed. They'd gone through this enough times that he knew even if she complained, she would handily do what he suggested. She got down on all fours to start into her pushups. It had gotten easier for her since they started training. Which was the whole point, yeah, but Wave still felt a little pleased with herself.

"Almost doesn't feel worth it," she mused. "Might end up dead in a few days... Fat lot of good training's gonna be then."

[monotreme_101]

"If you believe that, then there's nothin' I can do to change your mind." Knuckles said, powering through his own pushups. "But it's at least something to do NOW, right? Keep your mind off of the giant moon outside."

[babylonmechanic]

"Heh... You have a point too. Hate to admit it," she replied, huffing a bit as she got further and further into the routine. She had to remind herself to breathe through her nostrils as she worked out, though.

"So how are things going with you and Rouge?" she asked, remembering how he ducked the question at the halloween party. If nothing else, she could get a chuckle watching him react to the personal question.

[monotreme_101]

"....uh."

He had No Idea how to even answer that.

So: Deflection!

"Why are you so interested? Want me to put in a good word with her for you?"

[babylonmechanic]

"Please, I could care less what she thinks about me," Wave scoffed. "I just... wanted to know, okay? 'Cause you look kinda taken with her."

She finally finished her push-ups, sitting on the ground of the gym for a moment to get her breath and look up at the echidna. "We don't exactly talk a lot about our personal lives."

[monotreme_101]

"I guess we don't." he replied, also sitting down. "I mean... would you... want to talk about that kinda stuff?"

Still. Kind of stalling. Not that he wasn't interested in the answer. But still.

[babylonmechanic]

"What've I got to lose?" she asked with a shrug. "We might all die soon. If that's true, it's not like it'll matter for long, right?"

[monotreme_101]

"...I guess not." he replied, cracking his knuckles and shuffling in place a little. He was.... not entirely fine with this idea. He tended to play his cards close to his chest on everything except stuff that got his temper flared up. This was new territory.

"....so. Uh. How do we....? I mean, do we just.... trade thoughts? Like, I say a thing then you say a thing or do we ask each other questions? Is this what you and the other Rogues do? Because Jet didn't seem like the Sharin' is Carin' type."

[babylonmechanic]

Wave rolled her eyes at this. "We don't do this kind of thing at ALL. Jet would rather die than share his feelings. And that's not what I want from you. I just... want to talk. You don't bullshit me, I won't bullshit you. That sound good?" she asked.

[monotreme_101]

"Yeah. That's fine...." Knuckles replied, still kind of unsure. He wasn't really good at just talking for talking's sake. He also wasn't good at bullshitting, so, that was at least a point in his favor.

"So. I guess... well. Let's talk."

[babylonmechanic]

"All right. Let's talk," she replied.

"So what IS the deal with you and Rouge?" she asked again.

[monotreme_101]

"...oh. Uh. Well... it's complicated. "Knuckles replied. "When I first met her, she was trying to steal the Master Emerald. Y'know. My lifelong duty? So I wasn't real happy to make her acquaintance."

He shrugged.

"...we fought later. She was about to fall off a beam and land in a big pit of lava. I saved her and she gave me the emerald shards she had. She told me they stunk like Echidnas do, but she... meant well, I guess."

He was suddenly very interested in the weave on his glove. Oh man look at that fabric quality. Wow. It had nothing to do with not wanting to make eye contact with the swallow, I promise.

"So, we've butted heads a few times since then. But she was the first girl I ever met except for like... Amy. And yeah, OK, I... like her. I think maybe she likes me too, but it's really hard to tell what she's thinking. I don't think we could ever sit down and really... talk. Like this."

[babylonmechanic]

Wave just grinned. "Knuckles the Echidna has a crush on a girl. I never thought I'd see the day," she teased, elbowing his side.

"Ever thought about just trying?" Wave asked him. "If there's one thing I never expected you to be, it's a coward."

[monotreme_101]

"Coward!? Hey, don't call me that!" He replied with a huff. Coward. Geeze. Rude, mu--oh wait, it was Wave. He should have bargained for that.

"I wouldn't say I'm a coward. I just don't know how to act around girls. It ain't like there were any on my Island. I got no experience to work from... It ain't like interacting with guys. Guys are easy."

[babylonmechanic]

"Hey, if the glove fits," she scoffed.

She shook her head in response to his admission. "Please. You're talking to me, right? And I'm a girl. It's not that hard."

[monotreme_101]

"Yeah. Well. You're different." Knuckles responded. It was hard to define WHY exactly. But she was.

[babylonmechanic]

Yeah, well, she was calling him on it. "And why's that?" she asked, taking a step closer to him. "I've got all the parts in the right places... Do you think I'm not feminine?"

[monotreme_101]

"Uhhh..."

WAS she feminine? Sort... of? Not in the same way Rouge was. Not even in the same way Amy was. She was a Nerd and a builder and made things with her hands which... was that a feminine thing to do?

Knuckles honestly had no idea.

"I dunno." he said, looking away. "I guess... I mean... I just never thought about you like that. I dunno why. I'm new to all this stuff."

[babylonmechanic]

Wave's heart sank a bit in her chest, and she wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe she was a bit... hopeful? Maybe that's why, instead of sounding upset, she unconsciously said, "Funny, I've thought about YOU like that..."

[monotreme_101]

...he had no frame of reference for how to accept this bit of information so he just kind of stared at her. Then he pointed to himself and muttered something that sounded like 'What, me?'

[babylonmechanic]

"Well, yeah," she said. "I mean, you're not unattractive. Why wouldn't I have thought about it at least once?" She may have been lying about the once part.

[monotreme_101]

"....dunno?" He replied just as eloquently, still just kind of... staring and turning pink because he had no idea how to react. He had no way to process this so quickly. If there was something he was supposed to say here, he had no clue what it might be.

[babylonmechanic]

She... wasn't really sure what she was supposed to say either. Now that it was out in the open like that, she was having a hard time thinking about much else beyond that little admission.

"I guess we just think differently," she tried to chalk it up to. "But I mean... You think you ever could see me like that...?"

This icon foreverrrrrrrr

[monotreme_101]

"....uh."

COULD he? It hadn't really occurred to him beyond that briefly awkward first training session. And even that had been cut short due to Tails' involvement. Now that he looked at her, though, almost through a new set of eyes.... it was possible? She WAS pretty. Nice eyes, long eyelashes which were cute. The beak was different, but not a BAD different. It made for a nice smile. She didn't have Rouge's figure but that, again, didn't mean that her figure was bad - and really, it made sense for a bird to be a little differently proportioned to a mammal. Being a nature loving hippie, he knew that well enough.

And besides all that, her personality was fun. He liked arguing with her. It was interesting. She was quick witted and tended to show him up more often than not but it was the struggle that he enjoyed, as with most things.

"I mean... sure...?" he replied after clearing his throat three or four times.

Re: This icon foreverrrrrrrr

[babylonmechanic]

Wave was silent after that. He could have seen her that way... What did she say now?

If there were more time, she might have played it off. But feeling as she was, that the world was so close to ending and there was nothing to be done about it, she knew every moment counted. And if she didn't act on this, she'd regret it forever. "Oh, to hell with it," she said, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him in to kiss him.

1 of... some.

[monotreme_101]

He knew what this was! This was kissing! He'd done a little bit of it last year under the mistletoe with that cute Voile girl and.... uh, that had just been cheek kissing. This was full on lips-to-beak faces mashed together hands on shoulders style smooching.

Wait. How did THIS happen?

He kind of let it continue for a moment as he tried to figure out what to do beyond sort of... move his lips and breathe through his nose.

2 of... some.

[monotreme_101]

This... wasn't unpleasant.

But it wasn't something he'd asked for. Or even remotely expected.

And he'd be lying if he said this wasn't actually kind of great. But he'd had his mind on someone else so much lately that it also felt unfair. As though allowing it was disingenuous and potentially hurtful to someone he actually DID care about. He didn't intend to hurt Wave, if he could avoid it.

He placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed gently, separating them.

3 of 3? 3.

[monotreme_101]

But now that he was apart from her he found himself completely unable to SAY any of that. He knew what he felt and he knew what he OUGHT to say.

But actually finding the words?

His tongue wouldn't even try.

He looked... frightened, actually. Completely out of his element to the point where his fight or flight reflex was making his heart hammer in his chest. Despite being here to train, though, he wasn't about to fight her.

So instead he... ran away.

Yep.

Re: 3 of 3? 3.

[babylonmechanic]

"Knuckles--!" Wave called after him. But it was too late. He was gone.

Of all the reactions she was hoping for, that was probably the worst. There wasn't a rejection, no admission he liked it, nothing. She kicked her gym bag angrily and uttered some obscenities. "Damn it all..."

Looks like training was over for the day... She felt so humiliated.