Edited October 2
The characters belong to Sega.
Reincarnate
Chapter 3: Shadow the Shoplifter
"This is so cute!"
"I know! It's adorable."
"Now, see, I told you this would be fun. Aren't you glad you came with me?"
"Definitely!"
Shadow leans against the wall outside the dressing room, jaw clenched and staring at the two teenage girls who are obsessing over the clothes rack nearest him. Amy is in the dressing room trying on the pile of clothes she had taken in with her, having giving up on him for the time being – he had refused to try anything on and his only comment on the clothes she pointed out were neutral noises, so she had taken to trying the things on herself. He didn't care – he wasn't going to be seen modeling clothes, girl or not.
The two chattering girls finally go to sift through another rack, and he closes his eyes and enjoys the silence (still punctuated by occasional squeals of glee) for the time being. He doesn't know if all girls are the same about clothes, but those two kind of prove the image of the mall-obsessed teenage girl.
"Here, try this."
He almost jumps out of his skin. Amy's standing next to him, a shopping bag on each arm, and is holding out a blue dress.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because this is ridiculous. Why do I have to wear a dress, anyway?"
"Would you rather look at pants?"
"I'd rather leave," he mumbles under his breath, but she's already tugging him over to a rack of assorted jeans and the like.
"Pick something," she orders, and moves over to a bunch of shirts. He groans and stares at the rack, wondering if he should actually attempt to pick something out. Anything would be better than a dress. It's hard to be modest and homing attack at the same time while wearing something with a billowing skirt. He pulls out a pair of white capris, trying not to grimace. Amy is at his elbow in a flash, studying them critically, and then beaming.
"Great! Try them on with this shirt; I'll be right back."
"Nngh."
She disappears, weaving through the racks of clothes, and Shadow turns reluctantly for the dressing room. He changes into the new outfit and glances into a mirror. The shirt is the same color as the dress that he had tossed carelessly on the floor. These clothes definitely feel more comfortable than the dress, he decides. He changes back into his original outfit and brings the shirt and capris back out of the dressing room, looking around for Amy. She isn't there, and he wonders what to do. An idea occurs to him: he could leave. Just stand outside the mall, maybe, and wait for Amy to come looking for him. Then he'd drag them both back to the train station and escape this nightmarish place.
That's a really stupid idea, he chides himself, but still…
He begins to edge towards the glass doors, glancing around for any sign of Amy. When she doesn't show up, he moves a little faster, intent on getting to those doors. So close…he grabs the handle…and alarms start to sound. He yelps and jerks backwards, stumbling back into the store. He had forgotten he was holding the clothes and walked right through the detectors on either side of the doors. He curses himself for his stupidity as Amy runs up to him, security guard trailing her, looking bewildered.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, forget it," he says, as a security guard looks him up and down, taking in the clothes he's holding in plain view. After a couple minutes of uncomfortable questions the guard leaves, and Amy shakes her head in amusement.
"Trying to escape, eh?"
"Er…"
He can feel himself flushing, and she giggles.
"It's okay. Were those comfortable?"
"Huh? Oh – they were fine."
"Let's get those, then, and then we can go get something to eat."
He perks up at the mention of food, and she laughs again. Two minutes later they're reclining in chairs in an outdoor café, and Amy watches Shadow wolf down his sandwich in mild amusement.
"You know, Shadow," she starts, but he doesn't look up, intent on finishing his food. Amy waits a minute, then says a little louder, "You know, if you're going to be a girl, you might want to…will you listen to me?"
"Hrmphl?"
Amy sighs.
"I was saying, if you're going to be a girl, you might want show a little more couth. Girls don't stuff half a sandwich in their mouths at once – people are staring, see?"
Shadow swallows with some difficulty and gives her a level look.
"Maybe they're staring because you're implying that I wasn't a girl before."
"Hmm."
He takes a long sip of soda and hiccups loudly, slapping a hand over his mouth. Amy rolls her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose.
"Shadow, Shadow, Shadow…"
-
"Looking good!"
"Spare me," Shadow mutters, turning away from the mirror in his room. Amy swings her legs casually from her perch on the end of Shadow's bed and says, "And I got something for you while you were working on getting arrested."
He spins around to face her, folding his arms defiantly.
"Look, I wasn't trying to shoplift, I was just –"
"I know that, Shadow," Amy laughs, holding up her hands. "It was a joke. And anyway, here," she holds out a small box to him. He opens it and finds two gold bracelets, just like Amy's, inside. He takes them out gingerly, touched in spite of himself.
"Thank you, Amy," he says sincerely. "That's thoughtful of you."
She giggles.
"You're so formal. Try 'em on, silly."
He slides them over his gloves and holds his wrists up for her to critique. As he watches the light sparkle off them, it occurs to him that they must have been expensive.
"I'll pay you back for these," he begins, but she cuts him off with an airy wave of her hand.
"Don't worry about it – they're a present. And they look good," she adds as a sort of afterthought, tilting her head slightly. He looks at the bracelets again guiltily, but shrugs it off for now. Speaking of money, he doesn't have any. Amy had bought all the things in the mall with her credit card. It looks like he's going to have to get a job or something.
Later that night he stares up at Tails' ceiling. It feels odd not to have a goal. As far as he can tell, all he's supposed to do is live life normally for once, without plots or chases or danger. And while it's a little slow compared to what he's used to, it does feel kind of nice not being stressed out about looking for Chaos Emeralds or dodging GUN. He lets his eyes drift closed, glancing over at his bedside table at the bracelets Amy bought for him, which are catching the moonlight that's streaming through his window. She's a nice girl, he thinks with a yawn, and then drifts off to sleep.
-
"Wake up, sunshine!"
Amy's loud, perky voice jerks him out of his doze. He's blinded momentarily by strong sunlight streaming through his window, and he blinks rapidly to clear his vision, sitting up with a groan.
"Amy, what are you doing?" So much for being nice…
"I made breakfast!" she sings out, waving a piece of toast under his nose. She snatches it back after he's gotten a good whiff of toast, butter, and jelly and says, "No, you're going to have to go downstairs and eat the rest of it. It's not just toast, you know."
If that isn't incentive to wake up, he's not sure what is. He's starving. He heads down the stairs after Amy in his pajamas, his stomach growling. He sits down at the table across from Tails, who's poring over a packet of diagrams, a spoonful of cereal frozen halfway to his mouth as he frowns at some sketches on the page. Shadow tugs a plate of bacon towards him and forks a piece, and Amy plunks down beside him with an ungraceful frump. She snatches his wrist as he brings the bacon to his mouth and grins.
"You get an etiquette lesson today, Shadow," she chirps. "Try not putting it all in your mouth at once."
He glares at her with as much dignity as he can muster while taking a big bite out of his bacon strip. Amy sighs.
A knock on the door catches her attention before she says anything about it, though. She swings her head in the direction of the door and Tails jerks out of his diagram-induced daze.
"Was that the door?" he asks. Shadow nods through a mouthful of toast. The twin-tailed fox rises and heads for the door as the knocking starts up again. He disappears around a corner and Shadow glances at Amy to find her clenching her hands in her lap, eyes sparkling in a hopeful sort of way as she stares after Tails. Muffled conversation winds its way around the corner, and then a speedy, blue blur races into the kitchen. Shadow swallows and wipes his mouth hurriedly, and Amy leaps to her feet with an excited squeal.
"Sonic!"