#but heY i tried | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

doomfox · 2 years

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“Slow down! PLEASE TOM SLOW DOWN!!!!”

“Easy, kiddo! Tom chuckled, glancing in his rearview mirror to observe a very distressed little alien, “we’re doing, like, twenty. Any slower we’ll be going backwards.”

Eclipse merely whined in protest, gripping his seatbelt for dear life. In the passenger seat a larger mirror of himself turned and glanced over a shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry. You’re strapped in, you’re safe, and Tom’s a good driver. Just follow those breathing exercises I taught you, okay?”

Eclipse nodded and did as instructed, and Wade turned back to look out the window. The summer sun beat down on the town of Green Hills. It was scorching out, and beside him Tom wiped a bare arm over his sweaty forehead. “Jeez man...” the human groaned, reaching for his water bottle, “this heat is something else.”

Wade silently agreed, though personally he was good. His altered state was far more tolerable of the heat, though it did mean his usual outfit of baggy clothing was out the window. Wade was presently clad in an old sleeveless t-shirt and shorts, feeling very exposed right now. But it was perhaps for the best. He’d promised himself to stop hiding his new body underneath layers of baggy clothing - being outwardly ashamed of his appearance would send bad messages to his kids, Eclipse in particular. He didn’t want to give them the idea that being an alien was a bad thing they needed to hide.

Besides. The sun admittedly felt good on his scales.

“Been a while since I did this...” Wade said, once again feeling his nerves rising in his chest, “still can’t believe they asked me to pick them up...”

“Hey, enjoy it!” Tom laughed, adjusting his sunglasses as he turned the wheel, “give it a year or two and they won’t want anything to do with us. Teenagers and all.”

“Yeah well...” Wade said nervously, “it’s the first time I’ll have been there since...” he looked down to his own tail, resting on the car floor between clawed feet, “y’know...”

Tom grunted in acknowledgement. “I’m right there with you,” the human said, glancing at his transformed friend, “just two parents picking their kids up from school. That’s all.”

Wade didn’t feel so convinced. But Silver had been really keen to see his dad straight after school... and he couldn’t hide forever.

“Will I have to go to school?” Eclipse piped up from the back, still gripping his seatbelt tight.

Wade shrugged. “I don’t know, buddy. Not yet at least. I haven’t even started to think about figuring that out.”

Eclipse pouted. “I don’t want to. Too many humans. Sounds scary.”

“Well we don’t have to worry about that right now,” Wade replied, noting how Eclipse sounded exactly like Shadow had before the hedgehogs had been enrolled. Eclipse was doing better these days, as far as interacting with humans was going, but he was far from sociable and outgoing. Wade knew at some point he’d have to figure out a method of education for the alien kid - he was going to be on this planet a long time, and needed to learn how to live in a society. And unlearn the damage his biological father had done to him with his teachings. “Anyway, this will be a good opportunity for you to see what it’s like, right?” Wade said, turning and giving Eclipse a supportive grin. “Don’t worry, there’s nothing to be frightened of.”

Eclipse played with his tail, not appearing convinced. Wade didn’t blame him. It had to be hard for the kid. He was from a completely different civilisation nothing like human society, having to learn totally different rules. Wade considered that Eclipse may never be ready to actually go to school like Shadow and Silver now did. He made a mental note to look into private tutoring.

“Okay, here we are!” Tom announced, gently parking the truck as they finished approaching the school. Wade looked out of the window and despite the heat found himself wishing he’d worn his hoodie. He felt way too exposed in just his sleeveless top, the red and black scales of his arms and his horns clearly visible. Outside, other parents waited for the school doors to open and deposit their children. Wade didn’t want to be there, didn’t want to deal with the stares and the attention. Tom gave him a look. “You good?”

Wade remained silent for a moment before quickly nodding. “Yeah... yeah, I’m good...” he turned and checked on Eclipse, who had begun fussing at his seatbelt. “You okay back there, bud?”

“I’m stuck! I can’t get it off!!!”

Wade and Tom exchanged looks of amusement, before Wade undid his own and cranked the door handle. “One sec bud, let’s give you a hand...”

Soon enough Eclipse was out of the car and very happy about the fact, scuttling about on all fours as though he hadn’t touched solid ground in years. He remained hovering around Tom and Wade however, looking mistrustfully at the surrounding humans. Who had definitely noticed them. Wade folded his arms and leaned against Tom’s truck, tail wrapping around an ankle. He wished people would stop looking. Everyone knew what he was now, couldn’t they let him be?

He did his best to ignore the humans, simply watching the front doors to the school and waiting for the tide of children to appear.

It wasn’t long. Soon enough the doors opened and kids streamed out, heading off in groups or to join their parents. The fortunate part of having alien hedgehogs as kids was that they were very easy to spot. Soon, three shorter figures broke from the sea of kids and approached Tom and Wade, appearing very happy to see the the two dads.

"Hi dad!” Silver called brightly, running alongside Sonic and Shadow as the three hedgehogs approached their father.

“Hey, buddy!” Wade said happily, lowering to take his younger son in a hug, “good day?”

Shadow was next in line for a hug, while Sonic and Silver chattered happily about their day. Just seeing the kids happy and excited was enough to take Wade’s mind off of his problems for the moment.

“Dad?” Sonic piped up, “can we go play soccer with our friends?”

Tom frowned and glanced to Wade. All three hedgehogs looked up at them expectantly, while a short way away a group of other kids kicked a ball about in the field. “

“Please??” Silver said, ears flattening against his head as he flashed bug puppy-dog eyes at Wade, “you said we need to be out playing while the weather��s good?”

Tom raised his eyebrow as he looked at Wade, Wade weighing up the options in his brain. His tail went slack and drooped on the floor, a resigned sigh leaving his throat. “Sure.... half an hour good?”

Tom nodded. “Sounds good.”

The hedgehogs ran off excitedly to join their human friends, Wade and Tom watching as they joined in the fun. Wade honestly just wanted to leave right now, get away from the surrounding human families. But he simply sighed and allowed it for the sake of his kids.

“We’ll be off soon,” Tom said, checking Wade over before looking below. “You okay there, little guy?”

Wade frowned and looked to where Tom did, remembering about Eclipse. The little Darkling had been very quiet, so much so he’d almost forgotten he was there. The small alien jumped at Tom’s attention, before looking back to the group of kids kicking the ball about. “Yeah... I’m fine.”

Wade looked between Eclipse and the human kids playing. Silver, Sonic and Shadow appeared to be having fun, running and playing with their friends without a care in the world. “Hey...” he said gently, “do you wanna go play?”

Eclipse scowled and crouched on all fours. “No.”

“Why not?” Wade lowered to a squat, resting his arms on his knees as his tail swished behind him, “they’re having fun. Maybe you could make some friends?”

Eclipse looked away. “They won’t like me.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because I’m different.”

Wade looked up to Tom and noted the other man’s expression, the human giving him a supportive nod. “Hey, listen...” Wade said gently, “it doesn’t matter if you’re different. You’re jut a kid, and you’re just as good as anybody else. Just as deserving of having friends and enjoying yourself, okay?”

Eclipse ducked his head, big black eyes looking up to Wade’s. “But humans... I’ve seen the way they look at us. They think we’re scary. They think we’re dangerous.”

Wade remained silent. Us. We. “Some people might...” he said carefully, “but that just means we have to show them that they’re wrong, doesn’t it?” Eclipse didn’t seem too enthusiastic, but he went back to staring at the playing children. Wade gave him a nudge. “Go on. Go join your brothers. We’ll be right here, yeah?”

Eclipse looked up to him, the gears winding in his brain, before the little Darkling turned and sheepishly began to head for the field.

“Aren’t you the guy who always thought you’d be terrible with children?” Tom said, as Wade stood beside him.

Wade shrugged. “I’ve mostly been winging this whole ‘parenting’ thing,” he replied dryly, one hand on hip and the other fiddling with his tail-barb, “and now I got three of the little darlings. How the hell did that happen??”

“Well if it’s any consolation,” Tom said, “you’re doing great.”

“Yeah...” Wade watched as Sonic and Shadow greeted Eclipse, before introducing him to their human friends. The kids inspected him with fascination, and soon enough they were playing again. “Thanks.”

#Darkling Wade #Eclipse the Darkling #Not so happy with this one #but hey I tried

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