Spinning, Spinning, Spinning Down

A week passed before Shadow was aroused from his sleep by a noise disturbing to his eardrums. In the darkness, he looked, bleary-eyed, at the clock.

3:30 AM.

"Okay, seriously," Shadow muttered, too tired to even stop and think how many early days—earlier than this—Sonic had had as a hero, saving the day when there was no 9-5, 24-7, 365 days a year work schedule. "Whatever it is, can't it wait?" He grumbled, mostly to himself, slipping into his bathrobe. The days were becoming warmer, but only slightly. Spring was creeping up on them, but it was taking its sweet-ass time. Jack the cat raised his head, green eyes slicing the darkness, wondering why his mater was disturbed. The cat stretched, and leapt off the bed to follow Shadow.

The black hedgehog heard a meow at the bathroom door, so that when he came out, he almost tripped over the black and white kitty. "Ugh, Jack," Shadow yawned, "you scared the shit outta me."

"Meow," Jack said, cleaning his paw.

"C'mon, you," Shadow lifted the black cat into his arms and held him as he walked down the hall, "let's see what's up, hmm?" Of course, however, when he identified the sound—and where it was coming from, he had to physically stop himself from dropping Jack.

Tears. From Sonic's room.

"Oh, gods," Shadow hastily put Jack down and jogged into Sonic's bedroom across the hall. Of course, they were both sleeping in upstairs guest bedrooms, now that Sonic could walk a little easier, but where they were in relation to each other was not all that important, when it came right down to it.

"Sonic!" Shadow burst into the room.

Sonic was sitting up on the bed, surrounded by a sea of pinkish-red blankets. He was holding Jamie as tight as he could in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Jamie was whimpering and looking very pitiful, licking his salty tears from his tan cheeks. Shadow quickly crossed to the bedside, proving some comfort with his strong, black hand. "Sonic, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

Sonic sniffled, and reluctantly let Jamie down so he could scrub a fist across his eyes. "I'm fine," but his voice trembled, showing that he obviously was not. Shadow sat on the bed, but Sonic kicked him—whether it was on purpose or by accident—so he got back up again. Sonic tried to calm himself, and made it halfway. His voice was still trembling when he spoke again.

"Shadow, there's something important I need to tell you."

"What is it, my love?" Shadow asked gently, watching Jamie curl up beside him on the bed. Sonic stroked her absently.

"It's…it's about Eggman." Sonic's teary, red eyes met Shadow's bleary red ones. "Shadow, he's…he's dead."

"Really?" Shadow didn't see how this was all too important. He supposed he should feel sad, since technically Eggman was family to him. But no one mattered to him, he cared about no other, besides Sonic. However, because Sonic was saddened at the madman's passing, this made Shadow care a bit more than he would normally. "If you don't mind my casualness—so? It's about time the planet was free."

Sonic sniffled. "That's not all. Shadow, Eggman left me in charge, to make sure his base—his machines—didn't have any effect on the environment after he was gone. Shadow, he entrusted that matter to me. Shadow, I…I promised him that I would take care of it." A sob rose in his chest again, and he dove into the pillows to cry. "And—and I've been selfish and lazy! And—and I should—I should be out there! Helping them! Helping the robots clean up after him! Like I promised! Like I promised!" And his tears filled Shadow's ears again, making the dark hedgehog feel deaf.

There was nothing worse than Sonic the Hedgehog—who detested tears with a passion—crying. It sounded like a political incorrectness—as if the world should cave in on itself-just because of it. The sound, though it was really rather muted and quiet, seemed deafening.

Shadow sat beside Sonic again, slowly rubbing a calming circle into his bony back, trying not to feel his spine and ribcage as he moved. "Shh, shh," he soothed, "Sonic, it isn't your fault. You haven't done anything worthy of reproach. Now, shh…shhh. All will be well. Shh, shhh."

Sonic sniffled, and then slowly calmed down, lying flat on his pillows and sighing with fatigue. Jamie exhaled, as if to say: Well, that solves that!

Shadow continued to rub a circle in Sonic's back while Sonic's breathing calmed and evened out. There was silence in the room as Jack leapt up on the bed and went to rest beside Jamie, who greeted him with a tired lick. The two pets curled up together. There was another long silence, before Sonic's stomach gurgled.

Shadow shivered. He didn't like to deal with Sonic's suffering, but the blue hedgehog did little more than blink in recognition. He knew he was starving beyond reason, and that his stomach could not growl because there was nothing to make it growl, and he also knew that if he filled it, the food would come right back up again. He exhaled, much like Jamie did, in resignation and acceptance.

But Shadow was not enthused. Nor did he accept Sonic's current state of suffering.

"Want some tea?" Shadow asked quietly. "I can make it for you, if you'd like."

"Tea would be good," Sonic agreed. "I'm freezing!"

Shadow smiled and tucked Sonic in. Then, he went out into the hallway. There was creaking on the bed, and then Sonic was right behind him, zippering up the faded black sweatshirt. Shadow sighed. "Go back to bed, Sonic. You're not well."

"No way," Sonic smirked, his white teeth glinting like a vampire's in the darkness. "I'm coming, like it or not."

"At least let me steady you," Shadow fussed, holding out his arm stiffly. Sonic let out a puff of air, but conceded. The two marched down the stairs like a pair of three-legged racers.

"What sort of tea will you make?" Sonic asked after a moment of thoughtful silence.

Shadow shrugged. "Dunno. I suppose whatever we have. I still haven't gone grocery shopping after your…binge." Sonic shivered a little at this, but recovered quickly.

"Ah. So you haven't been eating lately?" Shadow flushed, clearing his throat. "I knew you were looking a little thin!" He smirked, content he'd knocked Shadow off his mighty throne.

"You should talk about skinny, you Halloween decoration." Shadow muttered affectionately. Sonic shrugged.

"I will talk about it," he said proudly, poking Shadow's side in a ticklish manner that made Shadow squirm and giggle like a schoolgirl. "Mr. I-Don't-Need-Food-Ever-Cause-I'm-The-Ultimate-Lifeform. You should listen to your tummy sometimes! Oh, the things it does say!"

"You speak stomach?" Shadow giggled.

Sonic straightened up. "Acorse I do."

"Kay," Shadow smirked. "What does mine say?"

Sonic was ready for this one. He grinned, tickling Shadow a little. "It says…ahem: 'Shadow? Why are you ignoring me? Shadooowww! I'm hungry! SHADOOWWW!'" Just as Sonic was explaining this, Shadow's stomach let out a mighty, sinister growl, making Shadow flush. Sonic giggled. "In tummy talk, that means you need a meal, mister!" And he poked at Shadow's midsection with deadly accuracy.

"Okay then…" Shadow was wondering how he could turn this around on Sonic, as they neared the base of the steps. He began to prepare the water by filling the tin tea kettle. "What's yours have to say in the matter?"

That stunned Sonic momentarily, and set him to thinking as he inched his butt up onto the wooden table that now sat in the comfortable kitchen. Jack, who had followed them downstairs out of feline curiosity, began to bat at the edge of one of Sonic's socks, which had slipped off his foot in sleep.

Shadow set the water on the boiler and turned around to face his boyfriend. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" He smiled a little. "Make that 'Jack got your tongue'."

Sonic sighed. "No, it's just that…" he swallowed, "my tummy's…dead." He sounded so morose about this fact that Shadow did a double-take…four times.

"Your stomach's…dead?" He repeated in disbelief. "What do you mean?"

The corner of Sonic's mouth turned up in a half-smile. "I mean my tummy's mostly gone silent. The last time it talked to me, it was so voracious that it almost frightens me now to think of it. My tummy back then…demanded that I eat insane amounts of food—which I did—but when it came right down to it, I was still fundamentally hungry, and I paid the price for bingeing—for being a glutton."

Shadow frowned. "Sonic, you're definitely not a glutton. You're everything but."

Sonic sighed. "No, I am a glutton. I need—I can inhale more calories in a day than most people eat in a year. Shadow, I'm a glutton. I am. If the world were not so full of food—if I didn't force myself to go hungry every so often—there would be no more food for anyone."

"Don't, don't say that." Shadow hissed. "You're not a glutton. You just really do need all that food to stay alive. It isn't your fault. I'm not going to hit you if you binge a little bit, Sonic. In fact, I would love…" he stopped himself, for Sonic was looking away now.

"My tummy's last words were: "feed me. I'm hungry"." He bit his lip, closing his eyes. "Before I actually started eating again, my tummy…my tummy would moan softly, mourning how empty it was, and wishing—but hardly ever acting on it—to eat." He cradled his midsection with one hand, cringing a bit. "Before, it was torture to even look at food. Sure, I kept my cool. I had to. But…I did eat Knuckles' steak—that's why he tried to kill me, you know."

Shadow seemed confused, but then nodded. "Oh. The day I rescued you."

"Yeah." Sonic watched as Shadow poured two cups of tea. "Two percent milk, please. What drove me to that was…hunger. There isn't an easy way to say that. I was starving, so I ate."

"Mmm," Shadow mused, disturbed by the insight he was receiving. Here he was so sure that everything would be better for Sonic once he'd taken over from Knuckles, but here Sonic was, starving, under his own roof! No, not starving. Sonic had said his stomach was "dead." What in hell did that mean?

"Anyway," Sonic went on, as if reading Shadow's mind. "My tummy's dead, now. It won't speak, cause there's no hope of getting anything. So sometimes, it mopes audibly. But it's not really alive. No, not really."

Shadow stared at Sonic, with absolutely nothing to say. Sonic smiled, hopping off the kitchen table. He lifted Jack into his arms, and took the cup of tea Shadow was holding.

"Well," he said at last with a shrug, "you wanted to know."

Shadow watched him retreat up the stairs. He took one look out the window before pouring his tea into the sink and opening the door to the outside world.

He was gone before Sonic had even climbed beneath the sheets, safe and sound in his room, filled not with food, but with dreams.

Dreams enough to keep him sated for a thousand years.