Treachery Disguised

Sonic had been meditating in the silence for quite some time, willing away the illness he felt and attempting to get rid of his apathy. Because this apathy mixed with his legendary attitude, it made him more than a bit nasty. He sat cross-legged in the exact center of the bed, feeling the soft red comforter beneath him, and the stillness in the air around him. His hands were resting on his thighs, palms up. The only reason he could be so still?

Sonic had never been a master of patience, but weakness in his bones allowed him to stay still for hours. Maybe even days, depending on how deep his concentration was.

Someone inserted a key into the lock. Turned it. The door opened. Sonic heard every sound, and his body froze stiff. It could be someone with a skeleton key, or someone who stole the key to the house off Shadow's person. Or even a different kind of thief. Sonic shivered, but more out of excitement than fear. Finally something interesting! He moved like a cat, poised to jump, his spidery legs moving outward, the cracking of his bones deafening in the silence.

Then…laughter.

Sonic's taut muscles relaxed. Amy and Cream. But what were they doing here? Didn't Cream have school or practice, or whatever? And what about Amy's work?

"Sonic? Are you here?" Amy called. "You don't need to be afraid. It's just us."

"Yeah." Cream called. "We came to cook for you."

Sonic's tired mind put two and two together. Oh. They were Shadow's surprise. A shiver of delight and fear shot down his spine like a bolt of lightening. He didn't know which emotion to feel; excitement and eagerness at a possible meal, or fear of a host that cared too much.

Sonic cautiously slipped off the bed and traipsed like a shadow into the kitchen area.

"Sonic?" Amy called lightly to the space behind her, her back turned to unpack her reusable shopping bag. Cream sat at the table, tilting back one of the wooden chairs. A white wire running down from one of her ears connected to her touch screen music player, a gift from her mother. She tapped it, scrolling through her tunes. Her outfit was now a warm pair of sweatpants and a white v-neck sweater. Her boots hit the floor with a thoom!

"Are ya dead or what? C'mon out," Cream finished for her girlfriend, tossing her long ears behind her shoulders.

"I'm not dead," Sonic appeared from the shadows beyond the kitchen, slinking like a black cat on a moonlit path, smiling like an engorged cobra. "And…are you high? I smell smoke." He leaned against the wall closest to the table, crossing his arms over his chest. His body looked to be more skin and bones than a museum filled with dinosaurs, but his eyes were bright and smiling as he smirked mischievously.

"Awww, she's just miffed cause I woke her up to take her home. Study hall." Amy explained.

"Yeah, I'm tired," Cream pouted. "That's it. I'm not high."

"Pot." Sonic said proudly. Cream stuck her tongue out at him while he feigned innocence.

"Stop it, you two. Sonic, Cream curbed that habit long ago, and Cream, you can sleep if you'd like." Amy refereed.

Both parties in question humphed, and Sonic leaned more into the wall, as if wishing his body to mold into it. Cream put her head on her folded arms, hiding her face from the kitchen's warm, golden light.

The blue hedgehog looked closely at Amy. The pink hedgehog was dressed in her traditional attire, except the dress stayed tame by her thighs. Her legs were clothed with red and black tights and the shirt she wore exposed her neck. Sonic spied the dark marks if hickys beneath the pink fur. He smirked.

"So, Sonic," Amy spoke, if only to break the silence. "Did Shadow take you to bed yet?"

"Nope! He's totally kept his distance!" There were parts of Sonic that were just fine with this fact, and other parts of him that longed to perform for Shadow properly. So, Sonic's tone of voice was simultaneously filled with relief and regret.

"Oh." Amy responded. Silence.

"I don't even want to ask about your and Cream's sex life…" Sonic teased from against the wall. Amy threw a rolled up plastic bag at him, and Sonic took the blow with a snort of laughter. Then, he appeared beside her.

"Hmmm, y'know, I expected better of Shadow. Food's not all I need at this point."

"So you recognize that you need to live on more than food—wait…" Amy turned towards him slowly, menacingly. "How did you figure out that we were Shadow's surprise?"

Sonic thumbed over his shoulder at the now half-asleep Cream. "Your loud-mouth girlfriend told me."

Amy rolled her eyes. "So you know we're Shadow's surprise. Do you intend to eat?"

Despite his control of it otherwise, Sonic's head favored one side more than the other. "Depends," he responded, frowning as he looked at what Amy had brought to prepare. There seemed to be very little meat…very little of anything he wanted. Despite that, Sonic's appetite had ran away from him early this morning, as if on cue for today's events.

"Depends on what?" Amy demanded.

Sonic straightened up and shrugged doubtfully. "Mmph." His eyes hugged one of the legs on the silvery table, his eyes and stance filled with guilt, as if he'd been caught eating the last cookie in the jar. His hands hugged his biceps, which were merely fur and thinner than usual even under the bushy disguise. The pockets at the base where his neck became his shoulder looked like a scoop made in a of container ice cream. They were deep grooves. Amy could spy where his ribs met the rest of him, as there was a jagged incline from the end of the ribs to where fat should be guarding the internal organs. Amy shuddered.

She knew what starvation was like. She'd seen other starving before. Starvation was not supposed to look like this. Sonic's stomach should be distended from eating muscle and fat tissue…maybe even bone marrow. But, Sonic was skinny as anything. She couldn't even detect a single stomach growl!

She touched his elbow lightly, to get him back on track. He focused on her, but she retracted her touch.

Underneath the fur was bone. Pure cartilage. She could even feel, from that brief touch, the bone had been worn away. So, his body was eating bone marrow! She wanted to cry, but that would effect her duties. She had a job to do, after all.

"Are you okay, Sonic?" She pleaded. He wobbled unsteadily on his feet.

"Yeah." Sonic smiled weakly, but he was staring at her with the eyes she had misguidedly fallen for. Eyes that still entranced her, sexual orientation or no. He put a hand gently over her cheek, and with the other bopped her on the nose. She stumbled backwards, laughing in surprise, holding her hands against her muzzle.

"OW!" She squeaked, laughing hysterically.

Cream lifted her head groggily. "Shaddup," she hissed before plopping back down into her little cave.

But this only made Sonic and Amy laugh harder.