~Măśķěđ~

~12~

"You two do realise how treaturous this is, don't you?" The hedgehog asked, his ruby eyes watching the couple before him. The three had decided to speak in the kitchen, hovering over the table in hushed whispers incase Sonic was listening.

The ivory hedgehog nodded, his eyes kept firmly on the other across the table. "He isn't doing anything nefarious." He reasoned, his whispers almost drowned out by the crackling fire beneath a cauldren in the corner of the room. "We don't know that." The ruby streaked hedgehog snapped, standing up. His brother also stood up, pacing around the small table and circling the others as though he was a shark. "Very fast to drop someone you love, aren't you?" He asked. His slit pupils grew smaller as his eyes met his brother's.

The hedgehog gave his brother an almost disguisted look. Who was he to tell him who he loved? As far as he was concerned, the very few people he cared for were Mephiles, Silver, Rouge and Tails. No one else. The golden - or blue - hedgehog was now just a hindrance. He was nice, but not someone the hedgehog wanted to spend his life with.

"We noticed how you two sneak away from gatherings and events." The other pressed, his ivory partner jumping up in caution and standing between the two brothers as though they were about to fight. "Mephiles!" He hissed "We promised to be light about it!" He reminded. The other merely rolled his eyes. "Dear, that was before he found out." He responded plainly. He then half hazardly moved his lover out of the way, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Go to sleep, I can handle this."

The silver hedgehog grumbled under his breath and wiped his cheek. "There better be no fighting." He said sternly before exiting the room, giving his lover an overly hostile glare as he did so.

The two brothers waited for him to exit before continuing. "I don't love him." The younger hedgehog seethed. "He was supposed to be a work colleague. Nothing more." The older of the two raised a brow, giving the ruby streaked male a glance before turning away and pouring himself a glass of wine.

He had been an alcoholic early into his adulthood, it was something the ruby-streaked brother remembered well. Soon after their mother died and he was the breadwinner, his brother had fallen into a deep depression and turned to the local tavern as a solution. He couldn't blame him,  he had almost turned to the intoxicating too. Luckily enough, the eldest eventually found the ivory hedgehog - who encouraged him and helped him greatly. Yet, despite the push, the cyan-streaked hedgehog still drank behind his lover's back.

The hedgehog took a long sip before taking a seat back at the table. "It's obvious Shadow." He commented, now focused on the drink infront of him. "You always told yourself you loved women. You always told yourself you would have a wife and kids." He paused, giving his brother a glance before taking a large swig of his wine. "Maybe just accept you don't like women." He concluded.

The younger brother flicked his ears, sensing another presence in the room. He looked around, finding no one else. Perhaps his years as a guard had finally caught up to him; paranoia was now a normal part of his life.

"Avoiding it won't help." His brother said sternly. "Admit it, you never felt something for Sonic before this." He shook his head, refusing to come to terms with it.

He had to admit, he had forced Sonic to remove everything concealing his identity out of curiosity, and yes; maybe he found him slightly attractive. A man can call another man attractive and not be gay, right? It was just a compliment - even if not said to their face.

"He reminded you of her, didn't he?" His brother asked, solemn in tone. His green eyes looked into his ruby ones. They looked serious and somewhat hurt. "He did." The other sighed as he saddened. "Now, I have no idea what to think." The other nodded in understanding, getting up. "It's okay to be confused, but you can't replace our sister." He reminded. The other just nodded, grabbing at his face as he thought. "Sonic isn't her, and will never be her. He can be different though."

With his sentence echoing through the younger brother's head, the eldest stood up. Scurrying erupted from the stairway, stopping almost as quickly as it began. The cyan streaked hedgehog gave his brother a nod before walking up the stairs. He then stopped and turned around. "Don't throw everything away just because he isn't perfect."

The youngets rolled his ruby red eyes. "You should've been a painter, not a poet." He remarked as he pushed his chair under the table and made his way to the stairs. "I'm a farmer." His brother replied before walking upstairs, the other in tow.