What You See

Is Popcorn

"This is my escape. I'm running through this world and I'm not looking back."

- Endless Possibility // Sonic Unleashed

You bolt across, feet kissing the land. A little while ago, you would have sighed in content at running lightly and moderately for your own sake. You would've breathed steady, and your heart rate soft.

However, today was not one of those times. You're late. And your heart is anything but chill. You curse at yourself, wishing you had extreme speed to get to the village's movie theater in time.

But of course, only the divinities would give such a gift to someone. Someone so impatient, someone so cocky, and egotistical. Sometimes so confident, it gives you a headache. You run quicker, knowing he was going to chew you out for being already twenty minutes late.

Yet at the same time, he always pulled through for you. With a heaving sigh, you slow yourself down. After all, this divinity-loved someone just happened to be your closest friend.

You come to a stop right in front of the building and attempt to regain your composure and air back that you oh-so lost from your already messed up morning.

"You're late, slowpoke," the confidence in his voice pierces your ears, snapping you to look up at him. Arms crossed in front of his chest and with an irritated yet bored expression resting on his face, he stares you down. Almost like he was challenging you to come up with your best excuse so he can brush it away quicker. Behold, your closest friend.

Regaining your breath, you stand up; your hands trail from your knees to your side. "Sonic, you know the movie started a while ago right? I could've met you in the actual room."

"Right, but how can I trust that you wouldn't have left me by myself and go watch Electric Mouse? Mrs. Left-In-The-Middle-Of-The-Movie-For-Another?!" You puff your cheeks, crossing your own arms.

"It was a one time thing," you try to reason. "And!" You unfold your arms and point accusingly at the hedgehog. "Mr. Hero, you knew it was my week to pick. But you wanted to watch Fast Hedgehog."

"That was its release date!" He retorts stubbornly. Sonic glances over to the building, realizing you both were missing a lot more of the movie than you both initially started. Getting antsy, he grabs your wrist as you were defending yourself. You take a second to process why he would, but before you know it, he zooms into the building and down the corridor, dragging you along with him.

He suddenly comes to a stop, and turns around so that you would bump into his chest rather than his back. Your hands were blocking him from seeing your face, and his own still around your wrist. You can hear his heartbeat through the tufts of fur faintly, a gentle reminder that you were only one of the few he would allow to be so close to his proximity.

"Come on, we're gonna be even more late," Sonic urges as you back up from his chest. He opens the door for you, and you gladly take up his offer. He closes the door, jogging a bit to catch up to your side. You and him walk up the stairs, down the aisle, and plop into your respective seats.

You stretch, sleepily looking up at the movie screen showcasing Fast Hedgehog. You scowl inside, thinking this has been at least the the hundredth time that Sonic chose this movie for the two of you to watch. Bringing your hands to your side, you place them on the cup holder that separated you and Sonic. Once all comfy, you place your head down and sigh in content.

"Sonic, can you get the popcorn pleaase?" Sonic frowns, only lifting his brows when he saw how comfortable you were on the cup holder.

"Nice try, you're not pulling another one of your escapades."

You turn your head to try and meet with his eyes. However, when the effort was too difficult, you turn to stare at his brown scarf instead.

"You're a hero to everyone, but not to me. You won't even help me get popcorn," you mumble, trying hard not to smile when you see his fur standing on edge, indicating your words got through to him.

"There's a difference between saving people, and helping people," Sonic explains, scratching the side of his head in order to explain it. "Saving is essentially saving people out of danger, you're not in any danger."

"Do I have to be in danger for you to get me popcorn?" You change your position to having your back leaning on the cup holder, staring up at Sonic's face as he stared right back at you, dumb-founded.

"You know what." Sonic groans. "Fine. Stay here, I mean it." With a reassuring pat on your chair to prove his point, he zooms out of the room and down the hall. You pause, hearing the door close.

You smile deviously to yourself, lifting the cup holder and attaching it back to the chair. With the cup holder gone, you now had all this space (just you and Sonic's) to yourself. Attempting to make yourself comfortable you lay down with your hands beneath your head as you stared up at the ceiling.

You close your eyes, halfheartedly listening to the Fast Hedgehog movie. Sonic has taken you to see this movie so many times, you can basically recite the whole thing. Please, you have to help me. It could mean life or death, you mouthed with the actor.

To have such a blessed supernatural gift, you wonder what you would have done with it. What you would've done similar to the hedgehog, maybe what you would've done in contrast to him. How would the world have turned on its axis had you been bestowed with it?

You shuffle, getting uncomfortable already in this position. You open your eyes, and you stare at the straw ceiling. Would you be able to harness it like Sonic would? There is a reason why Sonic is always so confident in his shoes; who wouldn't if they were able to make him nearly impossible to catch, nearly impossible to tame?

It's a hypothetical, and you know that. There was no use thinking of such possibilities, notably the particular endless. But one can imagine right?

You then start to wonder a different scenario: the possibility of you still being by his side with Sonic when he runs.

It makes you slightly irritated that there was no certain answer to this. Cupping your hands to your face, you huff in frustration.

You hear a groan from next to you. You take a peek through your hands and see Sonic holding your promised popcorn. You look at it with marvel, now sitting on your knees and scooting over to the edge of the chair to take it from him. You toss a few pieces into your mouth, muffling an appreciative "thank you." He blinks at you dumbfounded, before sitting down in his seat and trying to enjoy the rest of the movie that you robbed him from.

You begin to adjust yourself to sit normally, but Sonic hears your rustling and wraps an arm around you and pulls you closer to his side. You question his action, looking up for a response only to see an expression that you couldn't identify.

"I got you your popcorn, you're not going anywhere," Sonic says, obviously impatient.

"It's not like I am, not in a while anyway." You continue staring at him, trying to toss a popcorn in your mouth without breaking eye contact; only, it bounced off your cheek and back in the bag. You turn your body to face the movie screen, now letting your legs dangle off the seat. "And if I do ever go anywhere, I would always ask you to come with me. You know that." Still feeling Sonic's uneasy gaze on you, you turn once more to him and give him a reassuring thumbs up.

"I mean, if I wanna watch Electric Mouse again, I'll just make you come with me. Like, drag you."