#buddinite

[dunkalfredo]

look gadget if u put on ur glasses u woulda known what was coming (and also coulda backed up from ur phone a lil)

[theashemarie]

Truth Telling--Some Sonic Forces Fic

[for @neil-degrasse-china, probably best if you read their “Scarf” piece first, for context]

[[Gadget has to tell Knuckles, the leader of the resistance, that he knows Infinite, knows him, perhaps, too well, and it’s the most terrifying thing he’s ever done.]]

Truth Telling

Here’s the thing, the thing he doesn’t want to tell but he’ll have to: that scarf was once his, and the neck, the person attached to that neck, had also once been his.  

Infinite wasn’t his name, but he doesn’t remember what it was regardless. Maybe it’s the effects of the gem—that radiating, pulsing, evil thing shoved into his friend’s chest, probably never to be removed, only destroyed from the inside out somehow; he knows how this will go already, and he doesn’t know if he’s strong enough to pull pre-Infinite out of this new person in the old body—maybe it’s the effects of the gem, but he can’t remember any identifying specifics of the person before, not the same way he can see the eyes, staring at him from the darkness, the bed for two, feel the hand clutching him, shaking with nightmares, the smile— It’s all so easy, but the words to go with it?

It’s like they never existed.

Here’s the other thing: he’s very, very, very intimidated by Knuckles. And Tails. And Amy. He’s heard the stories, seen the headlines, (collected the action figures), followed the comics, read the unofficial biographies. He knows what Knuckles is capable of, knows how highly he thinks of himself, knows how suspicious he is of everyone he doesn’t know well, knows that he’s searching for Sonic just as desperately as Tails, as Amy, as the Chaotix, even though he’s locked into leading, can’t go looking himself, knows that he doesn’t trust the young, alternate dimension version of Sonic that appeared along with the Ruby as far as he can throw him (and that’s. That’s far. Resistance baseball for morale: only person who could hit Knuckles’s hard fastball was Amy, with her hammer), keeps that Sonic at an arm’s length so he can watch him; he knows all this, and he’s terrified.

He absolutely, desperately, doesn’t want to tell Knuckles that he knows Infinite (he more than knows him, and Chaos that spearheads right past awkward all the way to mortifying and compromising), but he also knows he has to. His knowledge of Infinite, of his (perhaps now non-existent) weaknesses, his habits, his past, is invaluable, and it belongs to the resistance, to Knuckles. There’s a bigger world out there beyond his own angst, his own morbid, slow realizations, his own shame, a bigger cause. The planet is almost completely over-run with robots, Eggman’s disgusting fingers of smog, pollution, and death are almost spread over everything, and they only clutch harder as they become more powerful. Infinite is a lynchpin in that, the very tendons that grasp the hold tighter, so it’s his duty to say something.

But first, Gadget, has to convince himself that it’s all real.

--

Silver is an enigma. Gadget doesn’t know who he is, where he’s from, what he wants, but Knuckles knows him, seems to trust him, so, when Silver says, “I knew it,” after Gadget tells them, Gadget has to work very hard not to sputter and demand how, why, what.

But still, he says, “I knew it,” with such conviction. Knuckles nods, sagely, calm, not at all what Gadget expected.

(A note: Gadget just said, “I knew Infinite, before all this.”

Gadget said, “I knew Infinite... intimately...”

Amy said, “Oooooh.” Not like a school girl, but with all the sympathy and chagrin of a grown woman.

Tails hissed and immediately fell on his tablet, typing up a storm, probably trying to connect the dots.

Silver said... “I knew it.”)

Gadget doesn’t know what to do at this juncture. They’re all looking at him, him and his raw past, spread out for them to see, carved right out of his chest and offered up, here, do what you will. The heroes of his past (and Silver), watching him, trying to gauge him. He can feel pressure building somewhere in the back of his head, and he’s not sure if it’s going to turn into tears or something else but he very much doesn’t want to find out.

Eventually, Tails says, “Yep,” and spins the tablet around. There, plain as day, is a picture of old—Gadget with his arm slung over Infinite’s shoulder. Behind them, carnival lights, spinning rides and junk food stands. “When was this?” Tails asks, and distantly Gadget wonders why Tails isn’t second-in-command. He’s far more capable than—

“Two years,” he croaks, instead of finishing his own thought. “South Island’s June festival.”

“Sonic’s birthday,” Tails mumbles as he casts a long look toward the smaller version of Sonic, huddled in a corner with his hands over his ears. He has flashbacks sometimes, to the space between dimensions, and it’s better to just let him sit there and sort out the stimulus; it’s like a computer restarting—reality blends for him for a bit, but eventually he gets it. “We were there that year,” Tails continues.

Gadget knew that, somewhere in the back of his head. He’d seen flashes of Sonic in the crowd, and Infinite hadn’t been impressed, as always. He wasn’t a big fan of Sonic’s, but he appreciated what he did, for the island, for the planet. (Gadget has memories of that first attack, South Island alive with robots, when he was tiny, so tiny tiny, huddling with his best friend in the back room. Explosions everywhere, grinding gears, then— Nothing. Whispers later, Sonic, from Green Hill, only a child. His most vivid memory though: Infinite’s hand on his back, rubbing soothing circles as he watched the windows, the smoke in the sky.) They didn’t see Sonic that day (or back then), but it’d been comforting, knowing he was there.

“What’s his name?” Tails asks as he taps Infinite’s face, half obscured by his old scarf, the one he wore before Gadget got him a new one.

“I don’t know.” Gadget hears his own voice, loud and clear in his ears, but the omission doesn’t sound right. He should know this. He should—

“The Ruby’s doing.” Tails sighs and turns the tablet back around, scrolls through some more pictures. “He looks normal. No homicide, huh?”

“He’s a college student,” Gadget croaks.

A long pause, and Knuckles finally speaks: “This changes nothing.”

And it’s that simple. Silver looks up from where he was picking at a loose thread in one of his gloves, and he finally speaks. “I should’ve realized. The records never said anything about this, but I read a few letters before I came...”

Gadget can’t make sense of that, the past tense, as if what they’re doing know is already lost to the annals of time. Maybe that’s why Silver feels so weird, so insubstantial, why he doesn’t touch anything, doesn’t want to leave a trace. But that’s—

Well, that’s not as farfetched as the most important person in Gadget’s past turning to evil, is it?

(And yes, his hand still aches. He still desperately wants to yank that gem out of him, but that would be too easy.)

[donutfloats]

I watched a fan theory video that Infinite was friends with the oc of Sonic Forces, but then of course my ass is like "but what if.... romantic partners......"

[dunkalfredo]

*chucks this on here and leaves*

[dunkalfredo]

whoop there it is

(so guess who’s been thinking about that one hair braiding scene from meguka rebellion And Also These Boys At The Same Time)

(answer: me)

hey one’s transparent u should click it

[dunkalfredo]

gadget stop staring and eat ur cereal

[dunkalfredo]

Im in love with your vision of Infinite and Rookie and i want to hear some of your sweet headcanons about their time together. If anyone asked something similar, refer me to this post, please. Thanks!

alskdjnsjklnljkls tysm!!!! yeah sure ill share some headcanons. i did a post on a similar topic about a month ago but that’s more their individual personalities/aesthetics than actual relationship material so ill go ahead and add on some stuff here.

i should note that portions of this are based heavily off of the idea that they grew up together so prepare for some au territory at this point. my backstory for them is becoming so intricate jfc;;;;;; i really hope ur not disappointed with this answer i have like an entire pre-forces narrative planned out in my head at this point OTL if u were hoping for more general stuff just lemme know i can give you some more hcs for that (there’s already some but there’s also Backstory stuff that i can’t really explore through oneshot format)

this is entirely self indulgent tbhhhh anyways click that mf Keep reading button

there’s a lot of like. casual touch. lotsa hugs and leaning on each other and resting their chin on the other’s shoulder (or top of head depending on who’s who bc height difference) while looking over them at what they’re doing and its really rooted in their learning early on how much Gadget loves that sweet sweet Physical Contact (if u scratch behind his ears he will melt, guaranteed, you’ll have yourself a Boneless Gadget with a two-liter coke)

if it’s raining out gadget will insist on doing something that’s not just sitting inside all day but snugglin w/ infinite ends up tempting him into doing Exactly That lol

there’s a lot of companionable silence between them when it’s just Them Alone in a Room. sure they talk and chat and joke but there are so many times where it’s just,,, being Together,,, and enjoying being in the other’s presence as they each do their own thing

sorta going into childhood/backstory stuff but uhhhh:

starting freshman year of highschool they started just bein each other’s dates to school dances even though they were “just friends” for like half of that timespan . i love cheesy stuff like that im sorry bro i had to include that tidbit i know it’s super specific and particular to my own backstory for them but just, they’re best buds and they gonna have a good time at homecoming lol

please imagine: those cute pre-dance pictures that parents take at the stairwell or front porch or somethin right before their kids leave, but with gadget and infinite. gadget’s got braces and they dont really fit in his mouth and his lenses reflect the light in the photo and oops infinite blinked and his shirt is too big and tbh their suits in gen just don’t really fit them right, gadget’s shirt is untucked and infinite’s tie is crooked but it’s okay, they’re both smilin reeeeaaaal big (and besides they figure out how to look Aesthetically Pleasing by junior year)

summers were hot in their hometown (note: i grew up in the north so i know nothing of True Heat, bear with me on this one.) most evenings were spent out on gadget’s fam’s back porch, cold towels resting on the backs of their necks, sweat in and under their fur, and they’re melting into the wood of the deck, fan plugged into that one weird outlet on the outside of the house that’s really more a fire hazard than anything else but the cool air is nice. they’re just lounging around reading comic books and listening to music on infinite’s old zune (lots of mid-2000s punk rock bands bc what else were u expecting) and in later years when they’re in that teen puppy love stage they’re trying to cuddle but it’s TOO DAMN HOT OUTSIDE so they resort to like, gentle hand holding, infinite reading some pretentious literary work or whatever and gadget spacing tf out next to him

when they graduate and are assigned a partner to walk down the aisle with they still end up w/ each other even though technically the partners are chosen according to alphabetical order and they’re on opposite ends of that list whOOPS how’d they do that? (hint: last minute shuffling in line)

when they move outta their small lil home town and into The Big City (im gonna say that would be Sunset Heights to tie in some canon plot relevance) they move in together and share a flat. a) its more financially manageable to just split housing costs like that and b) it’s been a dream their entire lives to live together when they’re older so oh!!! they’re older now!!!!! time to live together

(okay that’s all for backstory stuff back to reg hcs)

neither can cook but its ok

it may seem like they bicker a lot but it’s usually either the like, joke argue of “what do you mean craft mac n cheese is gross take that back” or reprimands like “it’s one a.m. time to sleep u Fool” (self-care is important, lads). they actually communicate really well so high-stakes arguments aren’t super common (and when they do happen they dont tend to explode. i wanted to have them be the type that argue for understanding and not to prove they’re right, so that greatly affects the outcomes of their disputes.)

infinite loves to hum while he’s doing things, or just in gen, and his voice is very low and smooth and gadget looooooves it, so much. they’ll be, i dunno, doing some mundane thing, like maybe they’re out getting groceries or doin dishes or something (i love me that domestic content) and he’ll start humming quietly and it just, it really grounds gadget in a way that sometimes he doesn’t even know he needs till infinite does it.

anyone here ever played bayonetta? any a yall remember those bits where there’s a woman in bayo’s memories singing and/or humming ‘fly me to the moon’ all quiet and low? think that but just,,,, pitched down,,,, yeah,,,

the tunes are usually very slow and while not so much melancholy theyre just? i dunno melodic in the same lax, smooth-tempo’d way a lot of melancholy songs are? i dunno i like quiet, introspective infinite and aesthetics that reflect that

here’s a long one: about a month before infinite “goes missing” and forces happens, infinite lands a job at a local news outlet as one of the column writers and even tho he’s more into prose than journalism he’s so fuckin pumped. it’s mostly just excitement over not doing cashier work and having a money-makin outlet he’s at least somewhat interested in lol …aaaaaand the way ship headcanon works into this bullet is that when he finds out that he landed the job he so excited that when gadget walks into the room (it’s morning and gadget literally was just gonna get some coffee, he’s still in his pajamas, he’s got bedhead) infinite sees him and whoops he tackle-hugs him and then whoops he knocked them both onto the floor but its cool gadget kinda let it happen and when infinite tells him what happened and apologizes he’s now also super excited and happy for him so now there’s two (2) people screaming inside (and out) about this awesome development

here’s a short one: they wear each other’s clothes a lot

gadget’s v cuddly in his sleep so he gets really clingy w/ infinite when a) it’s early morning and they’re just waking up b) it’s Late o’ clock at night and they’re chillin at home or c) he’s Actually asleep and within like three feet of infinite

i dont really know how to end this lol i dont really wanna just start repeating myself and i might think of other stuff later but for now pls consider the following: when they sleep whoever’s big spoon ends up resting one hand over the other’s heart and it’s super sweet

oh and they smooch a lot (i told you this response was self indulgent)

[dunkalfredo]

Hey there! I saw you needed promps for gadget/infinite and came running as fast as I can. We need more stuff with these two ;-; Hm... How Infinite being haunted by what he done under the influence of the ruby and Gadget is there to comfort him?

god im so sorry this took so long. im trying to work on theprompts in the order i receive them but that’s, uh. not what happened. at all.hhhhhhh

still gonna post em in order tho lel im a sucker for pain

anyways i kinda had a “infinite laments over his past deeds”with the previous one so if you dont mind i incorporated some introspection onthe other end this time :)

(note: just as some context, ive been playing with the ideaof infinite doing investigative work pre-ruby bc the idea of him purposelycheckin out a strange disturbance in town and then disappearing is moreinteresting to me than “he stumbled upon magic rock and then Became Evil”)

anyways u kno the drill yall click Keep reading to read thethings

Infinite wants to go back to the way it was.He wants to go back to the casual touch, the millions of words they shared fromdawn till dusk, but he can’t. When he buries his face in Gadget’s fur, he stillsmells the smoke from the battlefield, and it brings him back, so he retreatsfrom him, makes space, stays away. When he holds him, his mind plays back, indetail, the feeling of bone crushing under his grip, and it brings him back, sohe lets go, makes space, stays away. If he stays away, he can ignore thesensations, the flashbacks. If he lets go, he can’t hurt Gadget.

This isn’t an issue every time, but it’s often. It’shorrible, it’s awful, it opens a pit in his heart and nothing can ever fill it,not when his dreams are flooded with pink light and ruby delusions.

This is how Gadget finds Infinite: sheets astray, faceburied in a lone pillow, body quivering with the anticipation of tears (notactual tears, but by god are they close), and thoughts of escape and gemstonespulling him away from sleep.

Gadget stands in the doorway, still as stone, a lull inbreath, just on the breadth of the darkness and solitude of the bedroom. Thenhe extends his words into the impenetrable silence as he says, simply, “Hey.”

Translation: want some company?

The answer varies. Some nights, Infinite waves him off, armfeeble, face buried deeper and farther away, and that’s Gadget’s cue to leave.Other nights, like tonight, he peeks an eye up from the depths of pillows andsheets, and then Gadget, with soft feet, makes his way over and onto the bed,curling around him like a shell, sturdy and shielding him from the world,grounding him with the fingers he combs through his hair and the breath thatghosts the back of his neck.

“Wanna talk about it?” Gadget says next, voice a whisper andwords (and face) buried in Infinite’s hair.

This is the same every night they do this little routine.“No,” Infinite says, tiny, hoarse. It’s the first and only word from Infinite’smouth, and when he’s like this, scared and afraid and not in control, it’sbetter that way.

They continue, huddled together, warmth filling up thebed and their hearts (which is more than Infinite deserves but welcomedregardless.) Normally, this is where their routine concludes, Gadgetlulled into dreams and Infinite focusing on the chest against his back, thefingers in his hair, the gentle, even breath tickling his skin.

Tonight’s different from the others, though. There’s onemore question. It’s short, smothered by pillows and sheets and fur, but itcatches Infinite so off-guard his lungs freeze.

“Do you forgive me?”

It’s a stupid question. Infinite hates the notion that itfollows, the notion that Gadget did something wrong here when he was the soleray of sunshine in that dark, unending abyss. He was the one face Infiniteremembered, the one voice that pierced the cold veil of his mask, the handsthat ripped the gem off his chest, the words that breathed life back into hislungs.

Infinite says, “What?” and it’s a lot louder than heintended.

The peace of the room shatters like glass.

“Uh,” Gadget says.

“No, really, what did you just say?” Infinite says.

The confusion projects clear in Gadget’s voice as he says,“Um. Do you forgive me?” It ends in a squeak and god, if Infinite wasn’tblinded by his sheer disbelief he’d find it unbearably cute.

“Why would you need forgiving?” Infinite asks instead. He’salready going through all possible answers in his head (see: none), but the onethat Gadget gives makes less sense than anything Infinite could make up.

It goes like this: Gadget says, dead serious, “I didn’t stopyou.”

The pause afterwards is antsy, lasting just a little toolong to be comfortable, and Infinite in a brighter state of mind would haveregistered the way the fingers in his hair freeze.

Infinite doesn’t, though, and he responds, voice low andplacating like he’s explaining to a small child, “You fought me three times.”

Gadget’s already on the defensive. “That’s not what—“

And then Infinite continues, still low and placating, “Youalso defeated me three times. You know what else you did three times?Stop me. Through defeat. In a very physical, literal sense. I still havebruises.”

Gadget doesn’t respond, doesn’t even acknowledge Infinite’sexasperation, and instead says, worn, “You know what happened an hour beforeyou left?” with the smallest, most pitiful voice, almost lost completely in thedarkness of the room.

Infinite pauses. “What?”

“An hour before you left that day, the news talked about it.A gem found just on the outskirts of town.”

The accusation, the implication, everything wrong and heavywith that information takes the awkward, disbelieving air in the room andthrusts it out the window.

And Infinite knows, finally, what Gadget means.

“…You couldn’t have known,” he says.

“You investigate things for a living,” Gadget says. “I couldhave known.”

“No, you couldn’t.”

“I-I know, I just. I’m sorry.” His words are smothered as heburies his face in his shoulder. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Infinite, at a complete loss, lost in the slight shake ofhis friend and the fear, the uncertainty, pouring out of Gadget in waves from the way he holds hima little too tight, says nothing for a moment. Then, pushing back into Gadget’sembrace, feeling that warmth just a bit more, he says, “So am I.”

[dunkalfredo]

im working on prompts rn so heres some fashionable lads i doodled in the meantime

[dunkalfredo]

(For Gadget/ Infinite prompts) Infinite being terrified of what he's become and pulling Gadget closer and begging him not to leave, and Gadget being kinda scared but still letting Infinite hold him, and reassuring the latter that they'll get through this together. Head pats ensue.

(x)

i wrote over 1000 words whoops

(click Keep reading to read the thing)

Gadgetwondered. From the moment he put two and two together—the moment he reconciledthe date of his friend’s disappearance and the date a mysterious entity,Infinite, started wreaking havoc on the world—from that moment on, he wonderedabout one thing and one thing only: would he remember?

And, well, hedid, and he does. Sort of.

Gadget doesn’tknow the extent, but he does know that there’s some recognition behind that mask, because it’s enough to freezeInfinite solid the moment their eyes meet.

It should’vebeen easy. He’s stock still, a perfect target, and for Gadget this means hecould end the war right here, in the crumbling, desolate remains of someunnamed city, moon cresting the sky and firelight carving out all the slopesand angles of Infinite’s mask. The weapon, the Wispon, is in his hand, lockedand loaded, and all he needs to do, the only thing in the way, is to raise hisarm, look through the crosshair, aim, and shoot. It’s all he needs to do. Noone even knows he’s here. He can fire at will. No need for orders.

But, god, theway Infinite looks at him. It’s like he’s looking at a ghost.

There’s amoment, a breath, where they look at each other, just look, and then Gadget screws up: he blinks.

He blinks, andInfinite is right in front of him.

“You,” Infinite says. Everything he can say,could say, wants to say, and that’s all he can muster, like the one word, you, conveys every possible question theknown universe could cradle in its cosmic hands.

Gadget doesn’tknow what to make of this, and the sentiment continues as Infinite closes thedistance further, brings them together, wraps his arms around Gadget’s torso andburies his face in the crook of his neck and he’s close so close they haven’tbeen this close in so long and oh god is he crying?

“W-what,” hecontinues, and yeah, he’s not crying, but the strange warbles and static thatrip his voice apart magnify until Gadget can barely make out words. “What’shappening to me? What’s happening? I don’t. What’s? H-happening?”

Gadget wants toknow just as badly as Infinite, given that his mortal enemy for the past, what,months? His mortal enemy is clinging to him like his life depends on it, andthe emotions inside of Gadget stir up and blend together into soup, no up,down, left or right to them, unidentifiable and burning through his stomach andspilling out with his guts and god this is worse than the night he disappeared,it has to be, his closest companion is here and he can feel the breath in hischest and the warmth in his hands and as much as he wants to cling, cling theway Infinite is clinging back, the small, rational part of his brain stabsthrough his heart with the thought of thisis a trap this is a trap stop it he’s going to attack just do something for the love of god.

Even half ayear ago, when Eggman was nothing more than a face on a television and Sonic aname that he sent his tongue into loop-de-loops, the situation would have beendifferent and the sickness in his stomach gone, because half a year ago thiswas a friend, maybe more than a friend, and his confusion and anger and sadnesswould be shared, empathized with, quelled with soothing words and gentle touch.

Now, he’s afoe, someone who brought daggers to Gadget’s neck and venom to his words, andthis act of intimacy tears Gadget apart, piece by piece, until he’s nothingmore than scraps, because it’s too cruel for Infinite to act like this after allthe war Gadget went through, after all the death and dying and despair he hadto see, all that he went through because of him.

Infinite mustknow he thinks this, must know the cruelty of it all, because something like adry chuckle wracks his body, and it’s the most miserable sound Gadget’s everheard. “This is pointless,” he says, and that, too, is a miserable sound. “You’restiff as a board.”

Gadget feelsthe gem for the first time, pressed between them and cold to the touch, and nowhe can’t ignore it.

“Is this whatwe are now?” The hands on Gadget’s back press him closer, face burying deeperinto his neck, hiding, like the world around them is just too much, like Gadgetis the lone respite from a harsh sun. “Strangers? Am I that far gone?”

Gadget knows heshould say something, but his mind tumbles and trips over his tongue and thewords that spill out make his blood run cold: “You tried to kill me.”

He’s reelingalready. Not that! No! What the heckbrain?!

“I did,”Infinite says. “Twice.”

He can’t stop. “I think, like, three times.”

“Four?”

“Five.”

“Howincriminating.” For dry words, they sure do drip with something. Contempt? Self-directed,whatever it is. Derisive.

“Stop it.”

“No,” Infinite snaps. “I’m a monster.”

“And I’m abiochemist.”

“Well, you havea degree.”

Crap, he remembers that, too. “T-that’s not the point.”

“And what is?”

“The point is,this isn’t you, so, by definition,” andGadget accents this with arms that finally, finally,reach up and warp around Infinite, over his shoulders and around his neck,bringing him that impossible amount closer, “You’re not a monster.”

A pause. “Iliterally killed people.”

“Well okay now you’re really missing thepoint.”

“That I killedpeople?”

“Dude.”

“How do youjustify that? Really, I’m dead serious right now. You’re justifying literalmurder with that one statement.”

The gem betweenthem flashes colder, brighter, and it clicks.

“You don’tknow.”

“Hm?”

“You don’t knowwhat happened, do you?”

The silencehangs heavy between them, pushing them both deep into the earth until the concreteswallows them whole. Then, “These past six months are pitch black,” hollow,hoarse, whispered into Gadget’s neck where the world can’t see.

And then, “I’mscared.”

It’s thismoment shared between them, this confession, that gives Gadget enoughconfidence to say, “We’ll get through this,” and really, truly mean it for thefirst time in months.

Dear god, howis he going to explain this to Headquarters?

[dunkalfredo]

hey guys im sorry if u sent in an infidget prompt Forever Ago and i never wrote it (like i think this was september/october, so its been a while). i got sent a lot and ultimately i just dont think ill be able to finish em

[dunkalfredo]

yo send me gadget/infinite prompts

im gonna be writing a ton this week and need ideas

won't do

things that are not safe for the workplace

things involving Bad Stuff Happening To The Body

uhhhh thats it. anything's fair game yo send em in