It was bold of Rouge to assume that Shadow was interested in resting, but after her making a comment for what felt like the 10th time that afternoon, he had finally accepted her offer to go back to her place.
It had been a day (straight) since they had visited Colossus 7 and any form of information they had intended retrieving had been unavailable upon hearing the news that Sonic had fallen unconscious.
Rouge had brushed it off like it hadn't been that important, but GUN's whereabouts were just as important to Shadow as the robots that lurked around. Sure, robots were merciless, but the living was cunning and mischievous in ways that could not be coded.
"Here." It was Rouge, pulling the hedgehog out of his thoughts. She handed him a yellow mug full of what looked like murky milk. He looked down at it as she pushed it into his fingers, his ear twitching curiously.
She simply scoffed, as if amused by his response to her gift. "It's cocoa. I said you looked tired. I wasn't going to give you coffee."
Shadow glanced back at the bat, her eyes soft as she watched her companion. He did like coffee. Was probably a little more addicted to it than he would admit. Perhaps that added to his constant lack of sleep. He practically welcomed insomnia with open arms.
He watched her as she pulled off her coat, this one was ruby red. Designer most likely. Rouge had always been one for the rare and timeless, perhaps that's what she liked so much about the hedgehog himself.
It had been a long time since he had been in the presence of a home, let alone the resting quarters of his dearest friend. Shadow allowed himself to take a look around as Rouge pointed towards the dining table as if an invitation for him to sit.
She wandered around her kitchen; putting away teabags, tidying the sink slightly as she poured herself a generous glass of whiskey.
Her kitchen was considerably tidy, considering the amount of time she spent outside of it. It wasn't noticeably small, but her white furniture and gold attributes made it feel larger than it was. Beyond the kitchen was where it showed complacency.
Curtains that were several shades of pink and tan draped across the windows, only to be drowned out by an abundance of boxes. After all, information was hard to come across digitally anymore, paper copies were found rare and often the only form of retrieval.
A basket full of clothes sat on a cabinet and a broken television was brushed out of existence towards the dark corner.
Though as he furrowed his brows, he could see clearly a familiar piece of mechanics that forced him to get up and walk over for better analysis.
Moving over gracefully, Shadow let himself get closer to what had caught his eye. The shiny metal, red, gold and black, now tarnished with dust and an oblique sadness.
His fingers poked out involuntarily, pushing at what he now realised was a bust.
Shadow hadn't realised that Rouge had moved to his side.
"Omega." She proclaimed.
"He's in pieces."
"It was his idea. Till all this is over." Rouge responded quietly. Shadow could feel the bat watching him. "The code was affecting him."
Shadow turned to look at her, "It was the right thing to do."
The bat's expression changed at his comment as if his words sent a flood of relief through her system. Her lashes fluttered and a smile pushed uncomfortably across her plump lips.
"It was better to just keep him disconnected from everything." Rouge nodded, dragging her fingers through her tufts of hair and dragging them into a petite ponytail at the back of her neck. Then she cleared her throat, her hands protruding towards him to take his hand.
His instinct made him pull back but Rouge seemed unconcerned by his defence and yanked at his glove.
"Take these off. And the rest of your things. I'll put them in the wash."
The bat let him go, letting him have the honours of removing his things himself, her movement simply an example for the order she delivered. Suddenly her solemn attitude had disappeared and become a model of business once more.
He must have been tired, for a wave of bashfulness washed over him and he let his guard down for a moment to let his ear twitch.
"Fine." Shadow muttered, "You're bossy today."
"I'm just shocked you're listening to reason for once."
The hedgehog rolled his eyes.
"Oh, and thought you would like to know. I got news from Knuckles that Sonic is awake. So you can call him on my communicator." The bat pulled her walkie-talkie from her belt and handed it to him delicately. Great, finally they can get some answers. It was getting boring chasing half of a crime scene.
"I'm having a bath. You can put your stuff in the basket on the table. I'll put it on when I'm finished." She gave him a smile as she wandered towards the hallway they had entered the kitchen from.
"Okay," Shadow responded, flicking open her communicator. He moved away from his now disassembled robot friend and returned to his seat at the kitchen table.
The sound of the bathtub filling gave him an uneasy feeling of calm and he pushed on Knuckles' number of the communicator, ready to talk to the cobalt hedgehog.