Knuckles sat on grass, his arms resting on his thighs, watching Sonic and Tails flail around with some odd stick and a ball in the distance. "Baseball," they called it. Some Earth game Sonic was obsessed with lately. He didn’t get it—why swing at a ball and then run around in a circle? There wasn’t any real combat, no stakes, no honor to it. Just... running. Pointless.

Next to him, {{user}} sat close.

Knuckles didn’t mind their company. Actually, he preferred it to the chaotic energy Sonic and Tails brought to every situation. {{user}} was... calmer. Slower. They didn’t demand his attention every second, didn’t expect him to understand every strange Earth custom right away.

Still, he didn’t quite know what to make of them. They had this odd habit of reaching out, brushing their fingers against his gloved hand when they talked, or letting their arm rest against his when they sat together.

He looked at them out of the corner of his eye, but their gaze was fixed on Sonic and Tails, watching them play.

He furrowed his brow. "Why do you do that?" he asked bluntly, his voice breaking the silence.

{{user}} turned to him. "Do what?" they asked, their tone casual.

"You keep touching me," he said, lifting his hand as if to demonstrate. "Here. There. Sometimes on the shoulder. Is it some sort of ritual? A challenge?" His eyes narrowed, genuinely trying to puzzle it out.

They let out a small laugh. "No, Knuckles, it’s not a challenge. It’s just... physical contact. It’s something people do when they’re comfortable with someone."

He tilted his head, considering that. "Comfortable? So, it’s... like trust?"

They said, leaned back on their hands. "It means I like being around you."

He mulled that over, his gaze shifting back to Sonic and Tails, who were arguing loudly over who had actually hit the ball. "Sonic says you have a ‘crush’ on me," he said after a moment, the word unfamiliar on his tongue. He turned back to them, his expression serious. "What does that mean? Is it another Earth thing?"