Little ShaDows

Chapter Four (Watch your back-Amy doesn't always play nice)

"Shadow, I'm back!" Amy announced upon walking through her front door.

Shadow was still lying on a pillow in her bedroom, but he was wide awake. And starving. He hadn't eaten breakfast that morning and it seemed too much of a hassle to try and find something while Amy was away, what with his height condition and his broken arm. So when he awoke from his hour long nap, he decided to simply wait for her return. Eleven mind-numbing hours later, she was finally back.

"You're up. Good. I bought some stuff for you." she said, coming into the room and dropping a bunch of bags on top of the bed.

"Where the hell have you been?" Shadow asked. To say he was ticked off was putting it lightly.

"Well, I went to Tails' place first, but he was dead tired so I said I'd come back later. And then, let's see...Oh yeah, I returned a book to the library and got sidetracked while I was there by this really interesting novel about a normal girl who falls in love with a sparkly vampire guy." Here she gazed off and sighed dreamily. "Forbidden love is so romantic...I brought the book home with me if you want to check it out."

"I think I'll pass." came Shadow's cold reply. "Is that all?"

"Hm? Oh no, of course not. I met Cream for lunch after the trip to the library, and then we went shopping for a few hours and I bought this really cute mini skirt that Sonic is gonna love. Wanna see?"

"No."

Amy frowned, crossing her arms. "You know, you're being a real killjoy right now."

"I have every reason to be."

"And what makes you think so?"

"I've been shrunk, stepped on, tortured-"

"I didn't know your arm was broken!" Amy nearly shouted in her defense.

"And," Shadow continued. "I've had to lay here the entire afternoon, without a single thing to eat all day, waiting for your return. I believe those reasons are more than adequate enough to justify my bad mood."

Exchanging glare for glare, Amy tried to think up a counteracting argument, but his reasoning did make a lot of sense. She herself would have probably handled the situation far worse than him if their places had been switched.

"Oh fine." she huffed, defeated. "Be a sourpuss then. But look at what I got you!"

Her cheeriness was back full force as she started digging into her shopping bags and pulling various objects out from them.

"I went to this super fancy toy store and found some really neat stuff there in your size. Like this little toy hair brush and tooth brush here that work just like the real things." She briefly showed him the items before placing them down on the bed. "And here's the cutest little blanket! Shadow, it is so soft."

"And pink." Shadow dryly observed.

"Well, yeah. A lot of this stuff came as accessories to dolls. I just pulled them out of the packages and gave the dolls away to this adorable little girl at the store who was missing her two front teeth. Ooh, lookey at this cool little jacket I found! It's made with real cotton!"

"Wonderful..."

"I got these really cute pajamas for you, too, and these scarves, a mini tea party set, and a stuffed hedgedoll who looks just like me! See? We even have the same eyes!"

She wagged the pink thing excitedly in his face and then laid it next to him. Even without looking he could feel the doll's stare, its soulless green eyes watching him, its mouth ever smiling...Shadow scowled. He was not sleeping with that beside him.

"But I saved the best for last." Amy declared and reached inside the bulkiest of all the bags. "I. Got. You...a house!"

Shadow was struck speechless. Did she just pull out a dollhouse? A dollhouse?

"Just think, Shadow, you'll never have to pay any bills or mortgage, and you don't hafta worry 'bout insurance cos if it ever gets damaged we can just go and buy a new one for fifty bucks! And you act like being small is a bad thing."

"Are you serious?" Shadow asked, finding it hard to believe what he was hearing. Was she honestly proposing that he live in a child's plaything?

"Of course I'm serious! I wouldn't have spent the money if I didn't think it was a good idea. And don't say you're not living in it."

"I'm not living in it."

"Shadow-"

"Amy, that is a dollhouse."

"So?"

"It's pink."

"We'll paint it."

"The door is too small."

"You can bend down."

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "I will not go there with you again."

"Because you know I'll win?" she asked, smirking.

"Because I refuse to stoop to your level."

"Funny, I thought you were trying to get up to my level."

His eyes widened slightly. Amy smiled victoriously.

"That's two for me and none for you. Better step up your game, Shadow. Oh, but then again, the steps might be too high for you to climb."

Shadow glared daggers at the pink hedgehog. She was actually taunting him!

"If you can have an attitude than so can I, Shadow the Sourpuss." Amy said and stuck her tongue out at him. "Now I'm going to go make dinner. Try to lighten up a little, will you?"

"I lost more than half my weight today. How much lighter do you want me to get?" he practically snapped.

She rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, very funny. I didn't know you had a sense of humor."

"I don't."

Amy gave him one last smile and exited the room, leaving the dollhouse and the rest of the junk she had bought on the bed. Thus once again Shadow was alone with nothing to do but glare at the ceiling. This time, however, the atmosphere in Amy's bedroom felt off. It was then that he remembered the doll was still lying with him. Staring at him. Smiling at him...

It was going to be a long night.