Chapter 4: The Annoyed and the Embarrassed
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Carmine eyes stared back at him, widened just enough for you to notice the difference. Sonic glared at him defiantly, trying to force more of a reaction out of him. Neither said anything. Shadow then blinked, and broke the spell of silence which seemed to have been cast on them…
"…Just kidding." Sonic dropped his reply swiftly, but his voice still sounded eerily quiet to him.
"…I'm immortal." Shadow then remarked almost automatically, and his gaze shifted slightly, looking more beside Sonic than actually at him. The blue hedgehog felt a twinge of annoyance at this, but ignored it. Emerald eyes were still focused on the soft, slightly triangular shape of Shadow's ears, when the blue hero then spoke quietly,
"…That wasn't what I meant."
Shadow looked at him again, and Sonic stared back. "Hmph…" Shadow turned away again.
Sonic's eyes didn't leave Shadow, even though the Ultimate lifeform chose to ignore him in favour of looking outside, at a sky almost as blue as the hedgehog beside him. Nothing had a brighter, livelier and deeper colour of blue than Sonic…
"Well…" Sonic began, his voice slowly catching up to the chirping tone he usually had. "Since that's sorted out now… Why were you in the park to begin with?"
"That's none of your business." Shadow replied out flatly, and Sonic gave him a look.
"Sooo… What exactly were you doing which you don't want me to know about?" Sonic revised his question slightly, as Shadow now had no choice but to answer. Or choke him. But that was unlikely to happen, seeing as he was essentially powerless at the moment.
"Hmph… I took a walk." Shadow said, and rolled his eyes.
"And you fainted 'cause…?"
Shadow sighed. "I ran out of Chaos energy."
"You… ran out of Chaos energy?" Sonic asked, as to specify his statement. Sonic knew Shadow had those limiters for a reason, but why had he ran out of Chaos energy? Or, why had he taken of his rings? …Had he ran into Eggman?
Shadow just glared at him like he couldn't see the point of this discussion, and then his eyelids snapped shut. "You're annoying."
"Oh, thanks for the compliment, I'm absolutely flattered… now where was I?"
"That's your problem."
Sonic glared at Shadow, but he had closed his eyes and didn't notice it. Shameful… Sonic sighed. "Okay, have you got anyone to stay with?"
"For the moment? No." Shadow bluntly stated. And today we have Shadow the poor, homeless hedgie with us in the studio, please- And Sonic clobbered the voice inside his head rather violently…
"What about Rouge?" Sonic then suggested.
"She is on a private mission, and she didn't tell when she'll return." Shadow stated with big emphasis on 'private'. "Why do you even want to know?"
"Well…" Sonic pinched the skin above his nose. "Being the hero doesn't really allow you to kick out people you recently saved, especially if they don't have anywhere to stay."
Shadow opened his eyes briefly to stare at him. And then he exclaimed, "Saved? You call that saving?"
"Hey!" Sonic's ears perked up. "You were laying, unconscious, in the park!"
Shadow turned away, his quills swaying with the motion. "Hmph…" He snorted, but didn't seem to find any counter-arguments.
Sonic grinned triumphantly. "Yeah, so now you're staying here!" He leaned forward slightly, still grinning. Shadow refused to turn around…
An hour or so later…
Shadow had begun reading a book, and Sonic was bored out of his mind. Since he usually went and looked for Shadow to race with when he was bored…
Sonic glanced back at Shadow, who still sat on the bed, reading silently. Sonic had begged him to show what he was reading at one point, as he was so bored, and the black hedgehog had been surprisingly willing to do so… since the book was about science, and Sonic didn't understand a word, that is… It was fun to watch Shadow's ears though.
Shadow's ears? Seriously? Okay, it was kinda boring, but they would perk up sometimes when he read, and that was just funny. So, yeah…
…Okay, it was funny the first ten times. Now it was just irritating. Sonic found himself wishing Shadow would recover more quickly, seeing as watching him read was almost as exciting as watching paint dry.
Sonic glanced down at his hands, which he had folded in his lap. Maybe he could take a shower? Maybe Shadow should take a shower?
"Hey Shads…"
A few minutes or so later…
"And here we have the towels. Towel." Shadow nodded a little, as Sonic gestured to the shelf where he and Tails usually stacked their towels. Now there was only one towel though, a big, handmade thing that Amy had given him for Christmas, and fortunately it wasn't written 'I love Amy' on it.
Sonic then looked around the room, seeing that he had already showed Shadow everything. He then turned back to Shadow, his expression turning into a grin. "So do you need any help with-"
Shadow glared at him, daring him to finish that sentence. "Just get out already so I can have that damn shower."
"So you don't want me to stay?" Sonic asked with a voice as if he was genuinely shocked.
His question earned him a yellowish little chaos spear aimed at his head, which he quickly dodged. But the chaos spear didn't just disappear into thin air, as it then hit the shower-curtain instead and went right through it, leaving a smoking hole as big as a World ring left…
"Hey! Go easy on my furniture!" Sonic warned him, and glared at Shadow. The black hedgehog just shrugged.
"It's your own fault." He said. Sonic glared at him for a few seconds more, but then he just sighed, his expression turning back into a more neutral one. Really, he wouldn't mind a fight there and then. Challenges were always fun, but… well, it was Tails' house. And Tails' furniture, even if the blue hero had paid for most of it…
"Well, if you're not back in the guestroom in ten minutes I'll take it as if you have passed out again, faker." Sonic slipped out of the room before Shadow could reply, and started walking down the actually very short corridor.
Sonic walked inside the guestroom, leaving his thoughts outside in the corridor. He glanced briefly at the bed, seeing the tangled mess of sheets it was. Well I guess I could change the sheets… He thought and then he hauled the sheets and pillows down onto the floor, and wasn't surprised when the chaos emerald was nowhere to be found. He scooped up all the blankets and such from the floor, and began making his way downstairs…
Ten minutes later…
And that's the last one!
Sonic put the new pillow (a pink one, courtesy of Amy) on the bed, and flattened out the now sky blue covers. Content over his work Sonic then slumped down on the chair beside the bed, an arm hanging down lazily behind the backrest. He raised his other arm then, and pinched the skin above his nose, and then the door creaked.
He turned around, and Shadow walked inside, closing the door silently behind him. Sonic had half expected Shadow's quills to hang down like his own when wet, but the black quills refused to do so and stood up almost stubbornly, water trickling down along the red-striped tips.
"…Had fun?" Sonic asked innocently, grinning slightly.
Shadow raised his head to stare – no, glare – at Sonic, who just shrugged playfully. The black hedgehog then moved to sit on the bed, though as far from Sonic as he could. He then took the towel in his hands and began to dry his quills with it, in such a monotone manner as if Sonic wasn't even there.
"…I changed your sheets." Sonic said.
Shadow grunted something which could have been either a 'thank you' or an 'I don't care'. He then put down the towel again, and glanced at Sonic over his shoulder.
"Do you mind leaving me alone?"
Sonic raised an eyebrow at that. "You want me to leave?
"Yes. Your presence is annoying." Shadow stated as a matter-of-fact. Sonic narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling irritated he too. He wasn't even making any noise – how could he be annoying? And he didn't want to leave just yet…
Sonic snorted, and his eyes met Shadow's. His colours had intensified, and he looked like a fresh murder scene on a newly asphalted pavement. His eyes gleamed like rubies that you turned in your hands, and held up so that they would glisten in the sunlight.
Shadow made a little hmphing noise, and turned away. Sonic suddenly became aware of how hot his cheeks felt, and that Shadow had used the mint shampoo.
"…I'm going for a run." Sonic was at the door faster than what should be possible, and he darted outside just as fast, not even bothering to close the door behind him…
Sonic was annoying. That was as obvious as the fact that the sky was blue, and that the master emerald was green. He could show up to a battle against the Doctor, having 'forgot' to take the emeralds with him. He would rile up his rivals just for fun, which was immensely annoying to the point where you just wanted to choke him. He never thought before acting, and got himself in trouble all the time (which should be satisfying to watch, but unfortunately the pink nuisance kept bugging Shadow until he went and helped him).
…Take today, as an example.
Shadow still looked at the spot were Sonic had sat seconds ago, when the door downstairs slammed, telling him that the blue hero had left the house. What he could not understand, was why the hell faker decided to rush away like that after bugging him for the whole day.
The black hedgehog sighed. At least he'd get some peace and quiet for a while now…
To be continued…
A/N: It's only the afternoon, and I already want to go to sleep…
