Shadow woke up confused. Whose house was this? Whose couch was this? How late in the morning, or afternoon, was it?

Shadow looked around a bit, not recognizing what was going on before a rush of warm air blew past her ear. She tensed. Her quills rising, she slowly turned to the person behind her, worried and wondering who this person was, and what she had been drinking last night.

"Morning, Shadow."

Shadow sighed in relief, coming face-to-face with Sonic the Hedgehog, a familiar face, before her quills tensed again.

"…What's up?" asked Sonic, retracting his hands from around Shadow's waist.

Shadow reached under the blanket and momentarily tugged at the waistband of her pants, then relaxed again.

"Nothing," Shadow replied, scooting out from under the blanket they were sharing. "Do you want anything for breakfast?"

Sonic's quills and ears perked at this. "Um, don't worry, I'll make breakfast today!"

Sonic jumped up and tossed the blanket back on the couch, dashing into the kitchen and showing off his speed. Shadow shrugged and looked around again, suddenly recognizing the living room as her own. She began to laugh.

Sonic leaned out of the kitchen, a raised eyebrow his only question.

"It's- It's nothing," snickered Shadow, trying to catch her breath. Sonic leaned back into the kitchen as slowly as possible, expression maintained.

Last night came back to Shadow more quickly than she'd expected, as she turned on the TV to see last night's rerun of the Animal Channel's cat show. It was probably how late she'd stayed up, combined with how she hadn't slept in her own bed that caused the memory delay.

Sonic leaned out of the kitchen again. "Do you like toast?"

Shadow rolled her eyes. "Yes...?"

Sonic didn't respond, but he disappeared into the kitchen as the commercial break ended on the TV.


Carefully, silently, Sonic placed the plate that once held last night's pancakes in the sink before the Shadow's toast popped up. It was quickly becoming awkward in his mind, the thought of waking up with Shadow. He set Shadow's toast on a plate and looked through the cabinets for jelly or butter or something to put on them, giving up before finding both in the refrigerator.

'That's some strange organization, keeping jelly in the fridge?' asked Uncharted Territory, an odd lisp replacing his usual elocution. 'He's hot, but weird; y'know what I mean?'

Sonic turned toward him, taking the jelly out of the fridge. 'What… Just because we keep jelly in the cabinet doesn't mean Shadow's… What's with the look?'

Uncharted Territory leaned back in his chair, his feet up on the table, red leather-coated ankles neatly crossed. He frowned, new lip and eyebrow piercings reflecting the light from the window. His glare showed off the new bruise forming under his eye, still ruddy, as though he'd just been hit. His arms were crossed, his left coated with bangles and beads from the elbow-down, his right had a rainbow arm band around his humerus.

'I went soul-searching last night,' said Uncharted Territory, somewhat angrily. 'Seems your inner demons don't take kindly to queers.'

Sonic put jelly on Shadow's toast. 'You don't seem like a bad person to me. –I mean, you don't seem like a- I- Um, you-?'

Uncharted Territory rolled his eyes. 'I know what you mean, Sonic. Chill out.'

Sonic finished preparing the toast and looked at Uncharted Territory, a little sympathetically toward him, as well as a little guiltily.

'Don't look at me like that!' laughed Uncharted Territory, a bit sadly. 'You ain't like that! They're just meanies 'cuz you beat them so early on. If I was braver, I woulda' gone to the higher-ups, to the Virtues, but… I mean, I'm… I'm your soul's incarnation of lust! What would they have done to me?'

Sonic glanced at the floor a moment before looking back up at Uncharted Territory. 'Maybe you should go to them.'

Uncharted Territory was stunned. 'Are you nuts?'

'No,' thought Sonic, 'I think they might be forgiving. Merciful. If I was part of a group referred to as 'the Virtues' I probably would be like that.'

The demon thought, putting his feet back on the floor. 'Considering they're your Virtues… If you'd act like that, so would they.'

Sonic looked down at the grape-jelly-smeared, over-heated bread. 'What do you want, UT?'

'What do I want?' asked Uncharted Territory, standing up and walking over to Sonic. 'What do you mean, what do I want?'

'I know I… I mean, I like Shadow, that's all I'm saying, but what do you-?'

'I get you, Sonic. You want to know some of the secrets of the world, don't you? Well, I can't say everything, but I want to do my job right.'

'What's your…?' Sonic was about to ask, but Uncharted Territory waggled a finger.

'Sorry, bro. Bit of a rule break if I give that away. But I think I can tell you it's not entirely about sex.'

'That's a relief,' thought Sonic, turning away and heading into the living room to deliver the long-awaited crunchy, grapey bread to its rightful owner.


Shadow quietly chewed her toast as Sonic watched Puppies on Parade and 'awwed' at a couple of the breeds.

"Whippets and Greyhounds?" asked Shadow, to Sonic's unusual taste in dogs. "Never thought you'd be a skinny-dog guy, Sonic."

Sonic raised an eyebrow at this. "What kind of dogs did you think I'd like?"

"I don't know. Labradors? Golden Retrievers? Maybe German Shepherds?"

"You know, a lot of people look like the dogs they own. Maybe that's it."

Shadow looked at Sonic. He did have a thin physique, short, close-lying fur, and sort of a long muzzle for a hedgehog. He did look kind of like a greyhound; of course, considering greyhounds were the fastest dog breed, with whippets a close second, didn't subtract anything from the similarities. Sonic smiled at Shadow, her mental image of a big blue dog sitting next to her faded.

"What breeds do you like, Shadow?"

Shadow thought a bit. She liked smaller dogs, but that was in caring for them. If she could have any dog she wanted…

"Rottweiler."

Sonic laughed at Shadow's choice, shaking his head before turning back toward Shadow, who had prepared her most terrifying glare just for this moment.

"I never said Rottweiler was a bad choice, I just- It's, um. It reflects you a little more… uncannily than I expected you to- I mean…"

Shadow lay off the glare, smiling a bit and raising her eyebrows as Sonic's reaction. "I get you, Sonic," she reassured, taking her plate to the kitchen. "Chill out."


Sonic sank down in the couch, watching Shadow go to her bedroom to change into her day clothes.

'Like to get in on that action, wouldn't you?' asked Uncharted Territory, leaning over Sonic's shoulder.

'Um. Did you do that- ah- thing you were gonna-?' asked Sonic, a little thrown by Uncharted Territory's suggestion.

'Yeah, they said keep on keepin' on. But it's true, isn't it? I mean, you ain't seen him in the buff since he got all that fluff, eh?'

'Clever, and I'm not interested,' said Sonic, shooting down Uncharted Territory's thought.

'Not a chubby chaser, huh?' Sonic raised an eyebrow at this, as Uncharted Territory leaned against his right hand, a ring evident on the ring finger.

'Shadow's not chubby,' thought Sonic, perplexed.

Uncharted Territory shrugged, and disappeared as Shadow returned to the living room in a green t-shirt and blue jeans, also wearing a pair of Chuck Taylors. Sonic was a little impressed as he tugged on a dark green jacket and opened the door.

"Coming with?" he asked, gesturing toward the open hallway.

Sonic jumped up, not sure where they were headed, but hey, surprises were good.