The following week, Chuck was largely absent from Shadow's life, which was a small mercy to him. He couldn't stop thinking about who this "OrangeHedgie" character was. Well, from the context of the IM it seemed that he'd given Sara the friendship bracelet she wore up ontil about half a year ago. According to Chuck, it had been from a friend who disappeared a couple years ago, possibly even died. He hadn't considered, somehow, that the friend would be male or of the same species. If he were on better terms with his in-law, he stood a far greater chance at finding out exactly what he wanted to know.
Sara said nothing to him about the IM or even any indication that she was interested in anyone other than Shadow. As well, Shadow had tried taking Tony's advice about telling her he loved her. It was...a bit awkward. The words never seemed to sound right to him. He found himself practicing in front of the mirror in the bathroom.
"I love you…." He sighed. I wouldn't believe me... He scowled. That he was good at. He examined himself in the mirror for a while. He experimented with expressions and found that his face was not entirely welcoming. "I love you! I love you I love you! DAMN IT!..." Shadow growled. Why was it so hard to grasp an emotion? He knew it was there, he knew he felt it... Maybe it was his concern of that IM. Talking to Sara about it, though...would mean admitting he'd spied on her.
"Shadow?" She knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you all right? You've been in there a long time. Daijoubu?"
"Yeah..." Shadow snapped.
"Well... I'm going out with Amy for the day and I kind of need to get ready..." She wondered what had him so upset but couldn't think of anything offhand. Maria responded wonderfully to the medications, so that wasn't a factor. She'd even begun crawling the other day.
Shadow sighed in a resigned kind of way and opened the door for her. He stayed in the doorway even after she'd entered, which began a bit of staring match. "... I..."
"Yes, Shadow?" She gave him a strange, yet amused look. She knew he had trouble expressing himself, but it made for some real Kodak moments.
"I love you." There. He said it. Quickly. But he said it.
There was a moment of silence. Sara was smiling, so that was a good sign. She reached her hand to his forehead. "Are you feeling all right?"
"Huh?"
She kissed his forehead gently. "I love you too. But what brought this on?"
"What...do you mean?" He raised a brow.
"Hnnn...just the way you said it I guess...trying to prove something?" She picked up a brush and started running it through her bangs. "You're always so serious." A smile clung to her face.
Was he trying to prove something? He sighed; he had to admit he was serious. "Sorry..."
"Mmm..." She finished brushing her quills quickly and sifted through a basket of assorted, very highly unorganized hair clips. "You don't have to apologize. It's nice to hear, y' know?" Shadow smiled a bit at that. She pulled out a couple of rainbow hair clips and her primping was done. "I won't be out late, okay?"
Shadow nodded. "All right..." As Sara started coming out of the bathroom, he felt an impulse he could safely act on and pulled her into a hug. He licked her behind the ears and nuzzled her lightly. "...I love you." There, that was more natural.
"I love you too," she whispered softly to him and returned the hug.
While Sara was out for the day, Shadow was left with Maria and the Discovery Channel to keep him company. Maria was starting to scoot around on her hands and knees, and Shadow had to keep an even closer watch over her. She seemed to have a couch, chair, and coffee table radar, but no stopping mechanism. After about the fourth time picking her up from a near collision with the couch, he remembered hiding the poetry folder in its cracks.
"Come on, settle down." He set her on one side of the couch and rummaged behind the pillows for the folder. Much to his relief, it was right where he'd hidden it. "I said settle down! Maria!" He dropped the folder quickly and scrambled to keep her from going over the edge of the couch headfirst. "Quit doing that..." He sighed.
He flipped through the channels until he found something that held Maria's interest, settling on Sponge Bob Squarepants. "Why does it have to be something I hate so very very much?" he grumbled lightly, but at least Maria was mesmerized to the point of staying at her father's side rather than trying to dive off the couch.
At last he had time to flip through the poetry. But Poetry and Sponge Bob were not a good match. Maria's squeals of joy, while amusing at other times, were beginning to grate on his nerves. She would clap her hands if she saw someone on TV clap their hands, and her attempts to dance made her a wriggling worm with sharp spines trying to dig into Shadow's sides. Maybe this wasn't the best idea...
Shadow changed the channel to some PBS channel and Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" series was on. That proved boring enough to put Maria into a half coma in seconds. Sighing in relief, Shadow picked up his precious girl and put her to bed. He then turned the TV off and tried once again to read Sara's poetry.
The room felt kind of stuffy and cramped, in spite of the bright sunshine coming through the windows. Shadow once again got up and opened said windows. The breeze was refreshing, but it also made the bedroom door creek open. He went over to close it and noticed the PC on. Although brighter out, this was a familiar scene, and once again the poetry quickly became forgotten.
He sat down at the desk and looked to see what was running. Her Gmail account was sitting open. OrangeHedgie... He saw the name again. He clicked on the e-mail, not even noticing the subject line.
Dear Sara,
How are you? I just arrived in Station Square the other day, the city's pretty big. Did you say you live somewhere in the Regal Plaza section? I heard they have a great mall out that way. You remember Ray the Squirrel? He said he'd show me around, but he works part time at Twinkle Park. I was thinking, since he works Friday, we could hang out a bit?
I know you said you have a mate and child now...I can hardly believe it. If he's a decent guy though, he shouldn't be threatened by me, right? lol. I promise I won't take you anywhere romantic! Just an arcade or two, and maybe pizza, who could resist that? Ha!
Please tell me yes Sarakins! This is going to be one of the most boring visits ever if I can't kick your ass at DDR.
-Duo
Well, now Shadow had a name attached to the orange hedgehog. His urge to turn him into paste grew with every word and... -Sarakins-? What the hell was with that? She'd already read the e-mail...he wondered if he should delete it or if she'd replied already. A flashing icon in the startup tray drew his attention with the words "IM from OrangeHedgie." ...Urge to kill rising.
Without thinking, he moved the mouse to the conversation. The last message had been received two minutes ago. The status wasn't busy... He was there, waiting for her to reply. First he checked the message history.
OrangeHedgie: Did you get my Email Sara?
SaraHedgie: Yeah I did.
OrangeHedgie: So:3
SaraHedgie: Ahh... I'm going out with Amy today, so I can't show you around.
OrangeHedgie: That's cool, but I was talking about Friday? Ray's said he can get us free tickets.
SaraHedgie: Duo... I really don't think Shadow will want me to hang out with you!
OrangeHedgie: Oh come on...are you afraid of him or something?
SaraHedgie: No!
OrangeHedgie: I dare you then. :P
SaraHedgie: Quit being so pushy... Nnn... I would like to see you but I'm going to have to say no.
OrangeHedgie: Aww : You're breaking my heart. We haven't seen each other in two years, and after Eggman's attack everybody thought I was dead. Doesn't that merit sympathy points? Come on, hang out with a dead guy for an after
OrangeHedgie: noon :3
SaraHedgie: ...Duo you baka... sigh I'll ask Shadow when I get back from Amy's.
OrangeHedgie: THANK YOU!
OrangeHedgie has sent you a nudge.
SaraHedgie has gone Idle.
SaraHedgie back from Idle.
OrangeHedgie has sent you a nudge.
OrangeHedgie has sent you a nudge.
OrangeHedgie has sent you a nudge.
OrangeHedgie: ...You there girlfriend?
Shadow's quills bristled and an eyebrow twitched uncontrollably. This asshole was really starting to piss him off. At least Sara's replies had been in his favor. He'd also made extra sure to scent mark her regularly since this OrangeHedgie came to his attention, and he was beginning to feel that wasn't so unfounded. His fingers stayed over the keyboard, wondering if he should say anything. He could be really really rude and tell him to buzz off (though in much more colorful language). He could also ask to meet him somewhere and then beat the shit out of him too.
The report about the shrews came to mind. Mating was a serious thing to most Mobian species, and Hedgehogs were strongly included in that. He knew if Sara'd been out with Amy because her perfume would linger a bit, or if she was with Sonic…even human scents stuck around a while. Even after a shower, his mark on her was the only scent that seemed to pierce through the lavender or lilac scented shampoo she favored, and that was the scent that counted most. He'd easily know if she sneaked off to see him, but on the other hand, her nose was pretty sharp too, and he was pretty sure she remembered his scent. Beating him to a pulp without any real reason was starting to look like a bad idea.
A knock at the door drew Shadow's attention from the PC. "Just a minute!" He got up and headed to the door. He stopped just long enough to hide the poetry before answering the door. "Yeah?"
"Hey, cousin!" Sonic grinned, Blitz held in his arms wearing his daddy's smug grin and clapping his hands.
"I told you not to call me that." Shadow growled a little, but backed away from the door to let him in.
"It's cool. How's Maria?" He let himself in and sat down on the couch, sifting around for the elusive remote.
"She's okay," he replied. "What the hell are you doing here anyway?"
"Amy's out so I was wondering if you wanted to go for a run." Sonic shrugged and turned on the TV. Avatar was playing on Nickelodeon. "Ooohh... Look, Blitz, that's the Fire Nation stooges, they use fire! Big windbags." He laughed. Blitz made like he was blowing out a candle.
Shadow sighed. He looked out the windows again at the bright afternoon sky. It had been a while since he'd just been able to run. Maria was over her cold, so if he just bundled her up enough... And maybe he'd find an orange hedgehog while they were out. "Well then shut the TV off, I just have to leave Sara a note."
"Huh?" The Blue Blur glanced over his shoulder. Shadow agreed with him? "Uhh...did the Lava Reef just freeze over or do I need my ears checked?"
"I don't feel like staying inside." Shadow shrugged and sifted through the catch-all table for a post-it note and pen.
"Um...cool."
