Just Being Us

by Moegaddis

Shadow does not understand a lot about the world around him that he was thrust into. He understand even less about himself. So when he and sonic develop a new and strange relationship they both find there is so much to learn about each other. ( Sonadow ) I might get brave and include smut.

4. Not a Date

Ch. 4 NOT a Date

Sonic ran from room to room trying retrace his steps to remember what he was forgetting. He reached the kitchen and read the clock on the stove, ( 8:49 ) he had thirty one minutes to finish getting ready and meet Shadow at Hill Top Zone. This would have been no problem for the blue speed demon if not for the fact that Sonic was currently having a crisis. The hero stood in front of the mirror in his bathroom and checked his quills for imperfections, then breathed into his hand and sniffed his palm. No, the hedgehog was the picture of perfection. Then why did he feel like something was missing? "Shoes, check. Gloves, check. Phone, check. Medicine…" Did he take his medicine? That is something I will certainly need if I go with Shadow, I don't want to drive him up the wall today or end up feeling sick later, Sonic thought to himself. Just because you're an adult doesn't mean ADHD goes away; you just find better ways of dealing with it. "No, I took it this morning with my bagel." The blue hero assured himself. Suddenly it hit him, the Chaos Tracker, he forgot that he left it at Tails'. He wasn't sure if he was going to need it, but he didn't want to look like an idiot if he did and did not have it. The clock now read ( 8:58 ), he should have enough time to swing by the workshop and grab it. With that, Sonic was out the door locking it behind him.

Sonic ran straight to Mystic Ruin and let himself inside the boy genius' home. "Hey Tails, it's me," Sonic yelled out into the open living room, "Do you know where the Chaos Tracker is?" "Oh, I'll get it, hold on." a voice rang out from another room. Sonic waited for his fox friend tapping his foot impatiently. The blue hero must have looked nervous because upon Tail's arrival the fox said, "Are you worried about your date?" Sonic turned red and crossed his arms, "I already told you, it's not a date! Shadow just needs help finding a Chaos emerald. "Sonic you know as well as I do that Shadow doesn't need help finding an emerald, he is like… naturally in tune with Chaos, he could find one on his own." Tails said flashing Sonic a smug grin. "Okay, well he just wants company is that so wrong, is he not allowed to get lonely sometimes?" Sonic snapped, "and just because you hang out with someone doesn't make it a date." "Alright don't get defensive on me." Tails chuckled. "Besides I can't imagine Shadow even being in a relationship, let alone with someone like me…" Sonic suddenly remembered he was on a time crunch. The sapphire hog checked the time on his phone. ( 9:10 ) Sonic only had ten minutes to meet his stripped friend. "Oh hey, Tails I got to go." The yellow fox handed his brother the small hand held devise, "Okay, have fun, good luck." "Yeah, yeah." Sonic said rolling his eyes. The hero dashed out the door only to reappear a second later, "How do I look?" "You look fine Sonic now go before you're late." Tails stated harshly. "Me, late, never." With that the blue speedster was blasting into the horizon.

Standing upon a hill overlooking the scenery laid out before him, a black and red hedgehog waited patently for his new found… companion to show up. Shadow gazed over the cliff side taking in the tranquility of Hill Top Zone. It was not the most beautiful place Shadow had ever been in his opinion, but it had its charm. The rolling hills turned into cliffs, plateaus, and mountain peaks that seemed to shoot up out from a frothy sea of clouds that blanketed the valley below. Tall pine trees lay spread out among the area, and the day sky was a deep blue. The same color as that hedgehog that should be here by now, Shadow thought. He took out his phone and checked the time fumbling with the touch screen. ( 9:19 ) Where the hell was he? What if he decided not to come? What if it had all been a practical joke? As if on que, Sonic skid to a halt next to the currently over thinking male. Shadow breathed a sigh of relief to himself and then turned to face Sonic. "Woo, just made it," Sonic said with a smile, "Sorry, I got held up at the house." "No need to apologize, you were not late." Shadow said calmly. "Right… umm… So where do you want to start?" the cerulean Mobian said looking around. It had been a while since he had been in this neck of the woods, Sonic thought. "I sensed some energy coming from somewhere down there." Shadow pointed down the edge of the cliff to the clouds below. "Down in the mist?" Sonic asked following Shadows finger with his eyes. "What? You scared?" Shadow said with a hint of playfulness in his smooth voice. Sonic turned to the Raven colored hero, having caught the lighthearted tone to the other's statement. Slowly a smile grew on Sonic's face that reached across his entire muzzle. This made Shadow slightly blush. "In your dreams, Faker."

Sonic jumped off the edge of the cliff without warning, and with absolutely no regard to what could be hiding below. Shadow fallowed suit but soon found himself in a pure white limbo. The fog at the bottom of the valley was so thick he could not see his hand in front of his face and doubted Sonic could see much better. "Sonic, are you all right?" Shadow called out. "Yeah." A familiar voice rang out from not too far away, "I'll just use my Chaos Tracker to find my way, Ow!" "What happened?" Shadow said with concern. "I'm fine, I just hit my shin on a rock." "Oh. Well please be careful." Sonic was glad the other hedgehog could not see his face right now; it must have been redder than Knuckles' fur. Shadow could no longer hear Sonic's footsteps and guessed that they had split off in opposite directions. This is not what I wanted, Shadow thought. The point of this was to get close to Sonic, spend time with him, see if I really do have feelings for him, not to be separated within the first few minutes of meeting up. Shadow's internal monologue was suddenly interrupted by a strange spike in energy. That the dark hog recognized it as a chaos emerald. The jet-black sleuth continued to fallow the signal as if in a trance.

Back with Sonic, the blue hero's radar was beeping every second but didn't pick up on a signal. Sonic sighed, he wondered how far away Shadow was in all this haze. "I hope Shadow is doing better than I am with finding this emerald." Sonic said to himself. Of course he is, he's Shadow, he could probably find this emerald in his sleep… does Shadow even sleep? Sonic thought. I'll have to ask him latter, no I won't, that would be rude. After about twenty minutes of searching Sonic started to feel the air get hot. He moved closer to the source of the climate change as the mist started to separate due to the heat, clearing his vision that was now being over taken by red. It was a lava pit. Oh yeah, I forgot about those, Sonic thought. He had decided to make a sharp left when something caught his eye. With the mist cleared in this area Sonic could now see he was being fallowed, by a tiny flying robot that almost looked like a bug. Sonic immediately suspected Eggman until he snatched the machine out of the air and took a closer look at it. G.U.N, No doubt about it. Sonic crushed the tiny bot in his hand and saw that inside was a camera. "What the…" I wonder if Shadow knew about this thing Sonic pondered as he turned to the mist once more.

Shadow was currently hot on the trail of an emerald; the problem was it seemed to be moving. The shadowy detective felt like he was getting close. He stopped in his tracks as he walked right up on a small brown squirrel hiding in the mist. Sonic had called these things critters, but they weren't feral and they weren't quite like Mobians either. The animal had its back turned to the hedgehog and was looking over its new find, the red Chaos emerald. The emerald was glowing a brilliant light, cutting through the fog like a light house. "Ahem." Shadow made his presence known. The creature looked up with wide eyes. Upon seeing the menacing looking monster above it, the critter scurried away chattering in fear and forgetting all about the magnificent gem. Well that was easy, Shadow thought. Now if only I had Sonic senses, much like a certain pink hedgehog he knew. "Sonic…" the dark figure in the mist shouted but received no answer. "Well great…" Shadow was becoming irritated; Sonic could be miles away. He hadn't been able to be with the other this whole time and the day was looking like a bust. Shadow was visibly mad now, "SONIC!" "Marco!" Shadow immediately ceased his scowl, his expression surprised. For once Shadow was not confused by the blue hogs' games, he knew exactly what this was. Shadow's mind flashed back in time to a small blond-haired child running down a hallway attempting to turn off all the lights in the general vicinity. She would say "Come find me Shadow!" in a small sweet voice. Then the little girl would hide in the dark and wait for her unlikely friend to fallow after her. "Marco!" she would call out blissfully unaware that the creature she was attempting to play with had night vision.

Back in the present, all of Shadow's previous anger had melted away replaced by small smile resting on his muzzle. "Polo!" he called out. There was a pause between Sonic's expected response but suddenly, "MARCO!" rang out from the white void. This time more enthusiastic than before. "POLO!" Shadow said heading toward the voice. "MARCO!" Sonic repeated. Shadow was close to Sonic now; he could sense the hero's Chaos signature. Shadow supposed he would never be able to play a fair game of Marco and Polo, but in this moment, he did not care, he was letting himself have fun. Shadow Smirked and moved away from the hedgehog who was trying to track him down as he yelled, "POLO!" again. "Hey! Did you move away? Sonic asked. "Noo…" Shadow said sarcastically "POLO!". Sonic got closer, "MARCO!" Shadow dodged him "POLO!". "How do you know where I am? Are you cheating!" Sonic yelled sounding like a child who had just been tricked into eating their vegetables. laughter erupted from the void. I've got you now, Sonic thought with a triumphant smile. "gotcha!" He exclaimed as he grabbed onto dark and slender shoulders. Now that they were right next to each other Sonic could see shadows face clearly. What he saw left the energetic hedgehog stunned. Shadow's eyes where soft but squinting. His muzzle was completely taken up by a large open smile that caused the area above his nose to crinkle. He was also presenting his teeth showing off his fang like canines whose threatening nature was offset by the fact that his cheeks looked puffy and red with blush. Sonic was staring into the eyes of an angel. He couldn't wrap his brain around it. How does someone go from looking meaner than a snake, to looking like the sweetest being in the universe? That confirmed it for the hedgehog, there was way more to Shadow than just a "Humph" and an arm fold. Oh, and now Sonic was determined to know everything.

Shadow slowly started to calm his laughter; his smile still plastered on his face. Suddenly Shadow realized Sonic was staring at him. "Ahem, well anyway, I found the Chaos emerald so we should get out of here." Shadow stated as he recomposed himself. "Y-yeah." Sonic said turning his head to blush forgetting his hands where still resting on Shadow's shoulders. Shadow took the Chaos emerald that was still in his hand and raised it up, "CHAOS CONTROL!" Before Sonic's eyes he and Shadow were standing at the top of the cliff once more. "Wha? Oh…" Sonic said dumbly. "I-I've always wanted to ask you why you don't just Chaos control everywhere?" Sonic said trying to distract himself from what had just happened. "Well, I can only Chaos control short distances when I do not have a Chaos emerald in my possession. When I have an emerald, I can Chaos control anywhere as long as I am familiar with the location and its Chaos signature, extremely long distances require more energy however, and can tire me out. I also need an emerald if I am moving other people." Sonic listened to Shadow spout off the information with pride but all Sonic could think about was how smooth and proper Shadow's way of speaking was. Sonic watched Shadows mouth move in longing. Holy heck what has gotten into me, Sonic yelled in his head. "Sonic…" Shadow looked concerned, "are you listening?" "uh…Yeah, Oh! I almost forgot do you know anything about this, it was fallowing me around?" Sonic held out his hand reviling the broken bot from earlier. Shadow looked at the dismantled pieces to the gadget and fear crept onto his stomach, but soon he pushed the feeling down not wanting to alarm Sonic. It was obviously a G.U.N Spy Fly. But what reason would G.U.N have to spy on me with cameras, Shadow thought? The dark hog knew he probably already had a tracker on him, which was an invasion of privacy enough, but now they want to watch him as well. "And don't attempt to lie." Sonic said suddenly snapping the other male out of his trance. Shadow gazed at the cobalt hero who was now looking very stern, as if he where disciplining his kid. "It most likely was meant for me, but got lost in the fog." Shadow went on, "I suppose G.U.N has become suspicious of me, due to traveling to places like… well the abandoned Egg base." Sonic was trying to stay calm but talking about the shoot first ask questions later organization, just grinded his gears. "Well why did you tell them?" Sonic quizzed the stripped hedgehog. "I didn't." Shadow stated aware of the growing anger on his companion's face. "So, they have already been spying on you?!" Sonic spit out. "Most likely, yes" Shadow had never seen Sonic angry before, he honestly didn't know that the happy go lucky speedster was capable of such an emotion. Shadow looked Sonic over. His face was dusted red and his eyes where narrowed, not round like there resting position. His teeth were borne and a snarl was becoming present on his nose. Finally, Shadow noticed his quills, that usually stayed perfectly in place, were now lifted and frayed out. Chaos he is cute, Shadow mentally noted but was then embarrassed with the nature of his intrusive thought. "Why do you allow them to do that?" Sonic didn't mean to blame the victim but if it had been him, he would have kicked some ass a long time ago. "Sonic… I can't go against G.U.N." "And why the hell not, aren't you the ultimate life form!?!" Shadow was surprised yet again, this time with Sonic's word choice. Shadow wanted to laugh but refrained. I should just tell G.U.N not to mess with any of Sonic's friends or they will feel the wrath of the blue demon. "I cannot because I am the ultimate life form" Shadow's eyes became sad, "You forget that I tried to destroy the world at one point and… kill you." Sonic awoke from his anger. The blue hero realized he had never expected to ever have a conversation with Shadow like this. Sonic softened his words, "Yeah but, that was six years ago, you were confused. You also saved the world, TWICE! And now you help me protect this world from Egghead all the time. You are a different person than you were back then." Shadow smiled at Sonic's kind words, even though Shadow didn't see them as entirely true himself. "They still fear me, what I'm capable of." Shadow said sorrowful, "me agreeing to work with G.U.N is the only thing keeping them from…" Shadow paused, not wanting to continue the conversation in fear of getting Sonic involved. "From what?" Sonic asked. "Never mind. I really don't want to talk about it right now." Shadow stiffened, attempting to put up a temporary wall between them. Sonic looked upset but accepted Shadow's answer. I guess I've interrogated him enough for today, Sonic thought feeling concerned for his new friend. "Anyway," Shadow said after a minute of silence, "are you hungry?" Wait, was Shadow offering to go get something to eat with me, Sonic internally screamed. Is this actually more than just finding an emerald? No of course not, but maybe… Sonic continued to ramble in his head until he realized he had yet to give the awaiting hog an answer. "I could eat." Sonic said playing it cool. "Okay then." Shadow smirked and grabbed Sonic's hand. Sonic looked down at his hand and thought that this must be what Amy feels like. "CHAOS!"

"CONTROL!" The pair were suddenly standing in Central City. Bystanders that had witness the spectacle of two hedgehogs suddenly appearing out of nowhere like magic, were gawking and staring. Shadow, still holding Sonic's hand pulled the other away from the crowds prying eyes. Shadow really wished he did not have to live in the city, there was to many people for his liking. He wished he could live somewhere secluded like Sonic. "There is a small café Rouge took me to once around the corner here. Is that suitable for you?" Shadow asked releasing Sonic's hand. "Sure." The pair walked into the hole in the wall café and sat down. Thankfully for Shadow the establishment was not busy. A minute later a thin human waitress with brown hair tied in a bun walked over to there table to take the Mobian's order. She had thin lip and a large nose, that of which rivaled Eggman's. She smacked her gum and gave an uninterested look as she said, "What can I ya?" As soon as the woman noticed who was sitting at the table she flatly said, "We don't do discounts." She directing her statement toward the blue hero. "I… wasn't asking for one." Sonic said calmly, having had dealt with all kinds of situations that spawned from the hedgehog's fame. "Well I'm just telling you, we can't afford for you celebrities to come in here and start demanding stuff." the woman said with distaste. Sonic quickly derailed the conversation, "I'll take a club sandwich and water please." Sonic and the rude waitress both looked to Shadow for his order. "Oh right… I'll have a chicken sandwich and a coffee…please." Shadow said handing the woman his menu. The woman walked off without a word. "Well she sure is pleasant isn't she" Sonic joked. "Quite… She wasn't here when I came with Rouge." Shadow said quietly. "Do you think her nose got like that from sticking it in to many people's business." Shadow snarked. Sonic was trying his best to stifle his laughter; he hadn't expected Shadow to say something so funny. "I apologize, I… should not speak that way." Shadow spoke unsure of himself. "No, no by all means man, go on." Sonic snorted, "You need to talk like that more often, I didn't expect you to have such a good sense of humor." "Oh very well then." Shadow said with blush forming on his face, "To be honest with you… I don't do well in social satiation, I often times am confused on what is appropriate and what is not." Sonic looked stunned; Shadow had managed to surprise him for the third time today. Suddenly the realization dawned on the blue hog, Shadow wasn't Hateful or condescending like many believed, he was just extremely introverted. Sonic smiled at his discovery. Shadow was secretly a huge, kind, anxiety ridden dork.

After they had received their food the two continued to chat until they where finished eating. Sonic and Shadow both argued over the bill and who would pay it. However, Shadow was victorious claiming that he should pay for Sonic's meal because he had invited the hedgehog to eat in the first place. They waved good bye and went their separate ways. Shadow Chaos controlled to his loft. Upon arrival pulled out his phone and saw he had received a text.

Rouge:Hey Hun. I'm out I'll be back later tonight so you better be ready to give me all the hot deets from your date

Shadow rolled his eyes and fell onto his futon, exhausted from the day's events. Why do I have to feel this way for Sonic, Shadow thought in the comfort of his home, why can't everything just be simple. (Bing) Another text rang out from his phone. Expecting it to be Rouge again he opened the message.

Unknown:Hello! This is Tails. I hope you don't mind I got your number off of Sonic's phone. I wanted to invite you to Sonic's 21st birthday on the 23rd, it will be held at my place. It is a surprise party so don't tell Sonic. I hope you can come I know Sonic will be really happy if you showed up.

What does Sonic's friend mean by that, Shadow Thought, and how does everyone make those little pictures in their texts?!?