Metal had been busy tinkering away at a new project in his lab as the small computer next to him started sounding an alarm. Was someone within the base? There was only one he knew of that could pull this off without having triggered the outdoor alarms. The robot's gears grinded faster than usual, as though he were making a groan of displeasure. He quickly placed his tools back down and made his way out of the lab.

"Is it so hard to keep a proper appointment?" Metal growled.

Metal was starting to get nervous with his guest's frequent visits. The last thing he wanted was for Eggman to finally catch on to his whereabouts. The robot would need to set this visitor in his place if wished to have another warm welcome from him. However, the fuming robot stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed a familiar dark figure standing across from the halls.

"What are you doing here? I thought you agreed to come by three days from now?"

"Sorry, but a friend of mine told me a secret about today. The day of your creation correct? Seemed like a shame for you to spend it alone." Shadow responded.

A smirk had crossed the intruding hedgehog's face as he made his way closer. He held out a small canister with a red bow tied around it.

"Organics celebrate this day and call it a 'birthday'. I figured any of their traditions could work for a day of creation."

"So you brought a gift? Very well. I will accept this." Metal stated as he swiped the gift from Shadow's hand.

As Metal did a quick scan of the contents of the can, he noticed the other hedgehog's smile had faded away. He was unsure of what Shadow had expected out of him. The entire concept still seemed silly. However, his optics brightened as he noticed the canister was filled with high-grade oil. He had to admit, every since his leave from the Doctor, it was very rare for him to come across oil this pure.

"I see. All the equipment you have brought over in the past few days, as well as this oil means you are trying to help with my repairs? I appreciate it, but I am more than capable of taking care of myself. Unless, there was something you were wanting in return?" Metal responded now more uncertain of the organic's intentions.

"Hmph. There isn't a catch when it is a gift. Come on. There is one more thing I can help with."

The grumpy looking hedgehog made his way down the hall as Metal followed close behind. He made no effort to stop his guest just yet. Shadow had no control over the robot's programming, so how was it possible his sense of reason and function would lose itself in his presence? Before he could further calculate the possibilities, Metal had been lead back to his working station.

"What? I thought I told you not to be in here after the last accident you caused?!"

"Calm down before you overheat again. I'm not here to mess with any of your tools. I'm giving you a polish. It's obvious you have not done so in awhile. Have you forgotten to recharge as well?" Shadow questioned.

Metal huffed as he took a seat in a nearby chair and examined his own hand. Shadow was right. Metal had been so busy with his latest work that he had forgotten to recharge, let alone polish. With his energy this low, it would be a bother to polish himself right now. He gently nodded in agreement, but made sure to keep a close optic on each of Shadow's movements. Metal still seemed a little tense as he felt the lubricated cloth being brushed against his left ear. Shadow must have noticed this as he heard the hedgehog speaking out of worry.

"Is everything alright? Normally you don't make any sort of movement, but you feel like you're twitching."

"I-I'm fine. It was a recent upgrade. In order to better destroy my enemies, I have placed sensors within my body to enable me to feel my surroundings. I can deactivate them whenever I please so as to not let anything as trivial as pain get in the way."

"Makes sense, but then why keep them on now?"

"…Do not forget to get all the quills." Metal said while trying to evade the subject.

He did not want to admit it, but the other reason for the upgrade was nothing more than curiosity. Within his research, He had noticed organics not only feel pain but simple pleasures from sensors similar to his. Metal had never understood what any of this meant, but as he felt the cloth removing the layers of dust and oils from his coating, he felt at ease? The robot did not feel the need to watch what was going on, and he felt an odd warmth coming from deep within. This must be what they called relaxing.

As his body began to heat up, one of the smaller fans inside him was triggered to help cool the inner exterior. It seemed to make a very low humming sound, almost as though he was purring. Metal twitched as he heard Shadow chuckling from behind him.

"What is so funny?" Metal fumed

"Nothing at all."

The renegade robot seemed to tense up again, but quickly tried to go back into standby. After a great deal of time, Metal tried to bring the canister to his muzzle. At first glance, there didn't seem to be any opening hinting at any form of a mouth. However, a section of the muzzle was able to part and revealed an opening as guzzled down the oil.

"Another upgrade?"

"Yes. It was getting a tedious to add the oil by its other means. This way it is quicker and allows me to make use of this biting mechanism." Metal replied.

"You really have been keeping yourself busy then."

Metal's optics had dimmed down during his polish session, but had lit back up as he noticed Shadow standing right in front of him. Perhaps the robot had lowered his guard for too long? The hedgehog had inched in closer as though trying to examine the changes in Metal's muzzle.

"Ever since you obtained this new freedom, there seems to be a different side to yourself. One that I've been curious about."

Shadow carefully rubbed the cloth along the side of the robot's muzzle as he tried to get rid of a small drip of oil that had drizzled down. Metal's optics almost seemed to strain as they zoomed in and out of focus. Why was he feeling…nervous? Should he be this close? Just as the hedgehog finished up, the robot flinched as he noticed his guest's warm smile, and pushing himself forward ever so slightly. Suddenly, he felt a skip of static jump from his metallic muzzle and onto Shadow's lips.

Metal's optics's were shaking as he realized what had just happened. Metal's claws dug deep into the arms of the chair in anticipation as he waited for Shadow's response. However, darker hedgehog had pulled back while seeming stunned for a moment before chuckling again.

"S-sorry. I guess I got a little too —" Shadow tried to respond.

Before Shadow could finish his sentence, he had already been sent flying across the room and into the opposite wall. Metal watched as he quickly pulled back his arm, and watched Shadow stumble around for a moment.

"A 'No' would have been just fine…" he groaned.

"That will be enough for today. I think it is time you went to the living area and rested there for the night. I will push our appointment for eight hours from now after my recharge. I expect you to still be here."

"Whatever. I wasn't planning to go anywhere else today," Shadow grumbled.

By the tone of his voice, Shadow was clearly still upset over the whole ordeal. There was no way he could have been hurt physically. Metal had been sure to keep his force at a minimum. Had he been hurt some other way? The data in his mind raced as he tried to come up with something relative to the situation. The mechanical being held a shaky hand out in Shadow's direction as he found his processor having trouble to execute its next chain of commands.

"T-Thank you again for the oil."

Shadow smiled before turning to leave the work room. As he left, Metal could easily make out the low whisper coming from his curious guest. He shook his head as the response caused the small robot to heat up once more. Metal needed to hurry with his recharge before his internal fans drained the last of his energy. As the machine closed the door to his recharge chamber, he found himself repeating Shadow's words over and over again.

"Happy creation day."