His feet came to a standstill on a sidewalk of a large city street, in the older portion of downtown. A day ago someone told him "this would be his kind of place". As if he could have a place. His expression soured a bit. The building was surely as old as he was, probably even older, its red brick and worn cement exterior showing years of existence. The detailing carved into the old door gave it a sense of the past, before his closest friend had left him alone to survive this world in silence. There was no sign- it made him smirk- did something so trivial truly need a name? Not to him.
He entered the lower portion of the edifice, prepared for the usual sneers and snide remarks that came with his arrivals, but none came. There were but a few people randomly seated throughout the dimly lit tavern, each indifferent to their surroundings as they solemnly handled their intoxicant of choice. An elderly man stood behind the bar, he had to have been in his teenage years before this anthropomorphic hedgehog was even able to open his eyes, but he seemed solid of mind and even more capable than most of the men half his age. The new arrival remained at the entry until he deemed it satisfactory enough to preoccupy his time and strode to the counter, imperiously sitting upon one of the glossed wood stools. His eyes studied the bottles before him arrogantly- was this what someone felt he needed? Some form of hopped liquid to lower his inhibitions and make him tolerant of the world around him?
'As if an old building offering the promise of a liquid that can slow the mind is what I need. Feh.'
Before his expression of distain could be expressed, he felt the presence of the barman concentrated on him. His crimson eyes turned to make equal contact, both waiting on a signal from the other, when the seated male caught on to why the man was not giving him a look of hatred but simply impatience. It was a tavern, and one did not just sit in tavern. One drank in a tavern.
"Humph. What do you think I want?!" He growled agitatedly to the aging man that, without a glance away, produced a large clear glass mug before him, filled with a dark amber fluid.
'Beer? I did not know I gave the impression I was so…. Monotonous.'
The dark furred male lifted the stein to his face- sniffing it discreetly. This was not the same smell he had sensed on drunken passers-by in the streets. This had a heavier weight to it- a faint mix of sweet with a hardened bitterness- much like a dark coffee, and had strength hidden within its liquid depths. It was potent. This was not just some simple-minded fools' cheaply produced beer; this was carefully brewed under strict observation for one reason- to serve its purpose. The dark ebony male looked up to the man with a look of realization. This man could judge far better than expected, and the male's smirk of reserved respect was visible just above the glass rim to the server, who now left the hedgehog on his own to drink the fluid for whatever his own purpose was for him to have appeared in his lounge.
The hops was brought to his muzzle and given passage to his mouth. The cool froth flowed down his throat into his depths, giving him a new sensation to remember for eternity. As he lowered the glass from his lips, he understood how humans could become addicted to this drinkable vice, among the other vices he had been given the opportunity to experience. Resting the mug against the thickly lacquered surface, his devoid expression finally sank into what he had been hiding for months: deep seeded longing over a painful, unable to be reciprocated love and the pleasurable, carnal depravity the two had experienced from it. His crimson eyes dropped to watch the amber brew swirling in its circular surroundings, a never-ending cycle that entranced his mind to pass over the endlessly lingering memories.
He had finally let go of his painfully scarred past with Maria, leaving her to rest in peace wherever ones' end in this world left them, and started interacting with the others of his kind more. Yet he didn't seek a life- until a familiar female crossed his path again. She had grown so much, filling out her teenage hourglass curves so finely and her soft quills extending to match her matured body beautifully. He pined over her before in silence, knowing her interests belonged to the other male of his equivalence, but as she aged, it was growing more and more difficult to resist approaching her to speak alone as they once had in a moment of life-altering decisions aboard the ARK. His plan was to leave her to be happy with his rival and live out his time without the pleasure of feeling loves' liberation, until one fateful encounter.
Cerise eyes slowly drown in the dark fluid, pulling him into reliving every detail of that zealously preserved memory.
"Shadow!" He could hear her sniff away her tears as she wiped her reddened emerald eyes in the pale moonlight. "What are you doing here?!"
"I heard you cry out. I was- concerned." He couldn't help but walk to her. She wore a silky blue tinged, sheer white dress that allowed sight of her soft pink feminine curves and the chemise hiding her regions of privacy from any prying eyes. His sanguine orbs couldn't help but beg fate to make her to reveal them to him.
"I- it was nothing. Don't worry about it." Her head tipped down to hide her sadness from him. He knew she hated letting others see her this way. He'd seen it once, in secrecy, when she thought she was alone here, crying out her fears and desires. He was surprised how close some of their traits where. They fueled him to return here, and to his luck, here she was- sensitively open to his approach.
His hands reached out softly to comfort her and pulled her into his dedicated embrace. "Nothing would cause you to cry like this? I doubt that." He looked to her and lifted her chin to compel her look at him. "I do not worry, but I do care."
Her eyes intensified after hearing him speak. "I think Sonic was tired of waiting for me to be ready for him. We had a fight about it, and he ran off. After awhile I looked for him and found him at Rouge's club. I saw him dancing with her, and they seemed…." Her eyes showed the pain her heart had been experiencing. "Friendly."
Shadow watched her intently. Sonic would not wait for her, but that didn't mean he would not. It also didn't mean he would not take advantage of this opportunity. Shadow quickly brought his lips to hers, tightening his vigorous embrace as he clenched his hands against her body. Amy flinched in resistance, but soon gave into the convincing, fervent affection being placed upon her. It wasn't long before they were both lying on the ground, stripping each other of the materials covering themselves, and Shadow's fate turned his way, just as he had hoped, and she pulled off the chastising chemise to allow him the full view of her lascivious curves. A few nervous touches and unsure shifts later, and he had more than he had ever thought destiny would give him during his extensive life. He had been the one to take Amy Rose's virginity, not Sonic.
The next day when he saw her he warmly greeted her with a passionate kiss and tender embrace. He felt like he awoke from a dream into a nightmare which tore open the pain of existence again when she sadly stopped him and he heard her speak.
"I'm sorry Shadow. I will cherish what happened last night forever, but I can't help but feel like it was all just a moment of passionate lust. Sonic apologized for leaving me like that last night and he wants us to stay together. I have to try to make this work. Please understand."
Shadow felt a tear leave his eye and watched as it hit the swirling amber fluid underneath him, rippling the liquid into a different pattern. Fate was cruel, and vices were just that- evil, degrading immortalities that tore ones' soul apart. He quickly raised a hand to his face to cover the evidence of his moment of decrepitude, and forced himself into feeling the anger that would hide the pain again.
Sonic pulled her back away from him, and kept her from him as much as he could, but he always failed to keep Amy happy in their relationship. He always left her to be the one to wait for him to return. He always made her be the one to compromise for him and his chaotic life of freestyle heroics. He never saw the value in their relationship enough to make sure Amy was happy too.
Shadow smirked in his anger as he added more of the draught to mix in his mind. Finally, Sonic had slipped up bad enough to anger Amy so much as to make her run away, again. Shadow took advantage of the opportunity, again. His smirk increased as he thought over his last night of lasciviousness with the rose that was not his.
She had come to him. She let him touch her, caress her, entice her, undress her. She screamed out his name. He could tell she liked this lubricity better with him- he had never been with another female, while she had Sonic to satisfy her every day- and yet he knew enough to see she was astonished how she felt herself orgasm over, and over, and over until they both could go on no more. They lay together in the moonlight, resting against a tree, Shadow's scarlet streaked arms affectionately holding her naked form to him as he rested his chin on her head, brushing his fingers over her curves.
"I love you Shadow. I wish I could let everything go and it could be just you and me together, forever." He could hear the longing in her voice, but most importantly- she finally voiced the fact that she loved him.
His voice was robust as always but carried a tender tone with it. "No matter what happens, we are always together in my heart Amy, forever." He softly rested his lips on her forehead, as she rolled over to press her chest against him, and curl her body up against his. Together the two lay there, Shadow admiring the female he loved so much in the shaded moonlight, Amy closing her eyes in content as she nuzzled him in adoration, to spend the night together into the morning.
He smirked in his anger over the situation and his egotism at the idea of why Amy always returned to him. He pleasured her more, even in his lack of experience compared to her other male. He satisfied her completely when she was alone with him. He loved her unconditionally and she loved him the same. But she was weak, too afraid to leave someone who couldn't complete her, for fear of hurting the one that loved her less and the possible exiling by her friends. His angered smirk grew as he watched the chaotic ripples of his drink die back down into their original swirl. He still didn't have her to himself. He still lived in his cycle of constant painful emptiness that occasionally came around to the enjoyment of pleasurable vices. He tilted his head back as the mug reached his mouth once more, taking in the last of the glasses contents and resting it before him with a solid thud, knowing the glass was going to be filled by this salted old man with a talent for his trade and Shadow would drink down the replenished fluids again. He knew he would get his chance with Amy. Together they would cycle through to the end when his formidable determination was going to get her to himself, if fate would only grace a glance his way.
'I'll be waiting for you…. In this place, my place.'