"Abraham, be careful!"
"Can't catch me!"
Despite challenging Maria to a race, Little Abe teased her like they were playing tag. She had no idea where they were racing to, but it didn't matter. He just wanted to run. She enjoyed the exercise, but her stamina was no match for his.
And he was getting more and more reckless. Twice now he almost collided with scientists carrying fragile equipment. Now he was sprinting down a hall's steep slope, and she feared he'd trip and skin his knee any second.
But Abe seemed to be having the time of his life. The slope gave him a speed boost. He ran straight down the hall, all the way until the end, and used his hands to brace himself when he reached the wall.
"I won!" he announced, panting and smiling, hair tousled.
"You sure did," Maria laughed as she caught up, not bothering to point out they never agreed on where the finish line was. "So what do you want to play now?"
"Exploring!"
That was one of her favorites. The Space Colony Ark was a huge place, and even with maps on the walls, there were all sorts of secret areas waiting to be discovered.
Abe ran ahead, not allowing Maria to walk at a leisurely pace. He poked his head into doors that slid open at his approach, only to continue on to the next room.
"Nope. Nope. Boring. Nope, not this one."
She called, "What are we searching for, Mr. Explorer?"
He responded in a courageous voice. "The best place to play in!"
The rooms they passed were mostly laboratories and closets, but it wasn't long before she heard him exclaim in victory.
"Over here, Maria!"
He went through a door with a small sign next to it that read, "Gym 7A."
She followed, hoping this wasn't one of the gymnasiums that had a swimming pool. With Abe running around like that, she worried he'd slip headfirst into the deep end.
The door slid shut behind her. Instead of a pool, a large trampoline was set up as the main attraction. Abe made a beeline for it and began jumping. He wouldn't stop to let her get on too, laughing as she struggled to climb aboard. When she finally pulled herself on, her ability to stand was compromised due to him jumping faster and faster. She sat and waited between his bounces for the opportune moment. Her first attempt ended in a loss of balance, so with more careful timing, she successfully joined the fun on her next try.
They jumped and twirled, Little Abe doing his best to do a flip but failing every time. Maria spun like a ballerina. They grabbed each other's arms and she lifted him to spin them both around. They laughed until they were red in the face, gasping for air.
After catching his breath, and after failing to perform a backflip for the hundredth time, he frowned in boredom. His eyes scoured the gym. He jumped off the trampoline, making a loud slapping sound as his feet hit the floor. Without missing a beat, he ran toward something else to play with: a wire bin full of discs.
Maria slowed her hops until they were low enough for her to step off the trampoline with ease. Abe waved her over and grabbed some discs, which were light enough to throw like a Frisbee. Putting distance between the two of them, he came up with the idea to throw multiple discs instead of one, shaking up the traditional game of Frisbee. He flicked them to her one after the other. She enjoyed trying to keep up with them all.
When he no longer cared for playing Frisbee, he raced over to a different wire bin that had handballs in it. She trailed after him, pointing out all the discs left behind on the ground.
He spared them a carefree glance and insisted he'd help clean them up after they finished playing ball. He reached in the bin, took a handball in both hands, and slammed it on the ground toward her. They bounced it back and forth, trying to let it hit the floor only once between passes.
In the middle of this game, they heard the gym's entrance door slide open, accompanied by a voice.
"Right this way, Project Shadow. We're almost done."
Maria, distracted by the intrusion, failed to catch her ball and turned to chase it down. Her quick reflexes caught it before it rolled too far. She straightened and spotted a ragged-looking Shadow walking in with a researcher carrying a clipboard. She recognized him as Professor Traxton.
"For the next part of your endurance marathon test, I want you to..." The man stopped when he noticed Maria.
"Oh, we're sorry! We were just leaving, weren't we...?" She looked toward Abe, only to find him missing. She blinked in surprise. There was the sound of something metal sliding closed. She looked in its direction, the other side of the gym, and found a recently used back door standing there.
She stared, taken aback. Did he run away because he was afraid of getting in trouble?
"It's alright, Miss Robotnik, we don't need the whole gym to ourselves. You're welcome to stay," the researcher said. He turned to Shadow and told him to start his advanced exercises on the trampoline.
Shadow's eyes flickered to Maria, but he didn't otherwise acknowledge her presence. Despite looking like he ran a hundred miles, he went to the trampoline with his head held high.
She returned the ball to its bin and stood with Professor Traxton to watch the hedgehog jump. Having played with Abe all day, she appreciated the moment's rest, but felt bad for Shadow working so hard by himself.
She asked the professor if she'd be disturbing the test by joining Shadow on the trampoline.
Traxton smiled and shook his head. "On the contrary, you'd be doing him a favor by adding a bit of challenge."
Having the go-ahead, she approached the trampoline with a skip in her step.
Shadow stopped jumping, letting her climb on beside him. He gave her a small smile and suggested they start at the same time.
They made small hops in sync, gradually shifting to bigger ones, reaching new heights. No matter how high he jumped, she was determined to follow his lead. When they reached the maximum peak they could go, he started doing front flips on his way down, then backflips, then various other spins.
She tried to imitate him, but could only twirl and was lucky to pull off a couple flips compared to his dozen or so. "You're good at this, Shadow! I bet you could even compete in the Olympic games held on Earth!"
"Not just compete," Traxton commented offhandedly while scribbling notes on his clipboard, "but blow all the best athletes out of the water. Another minute to go and then he only has the disc throw left. Maria, would you like to help with that?"
"Of course!"
Shadow wiped the sweat from his brow when time was up. He followed her and his officiator to the wire bin.
"What a mess," Traxton tutted upon seeing all the discs Abe insisted on helping put back earlier. "It's lucky we need all these for the final exercise, but see that you remember to put things away whenever you're done with them, Miss Robotnik."
"Yes, I'm sorry," she apologized, blushing, not minding covering for the small boy. She knew it wasn't his fault for being frightened away.
For a moment, she thought she saw Shadow cast her a suspicious glimpse.
After taking his position, he threw each disc one at a time as far as he could, without pause, always trying to reach farther than his previous toss. Maria helped by running to collect them once they landed and piling them back up next to him so he could repeat the cycle continuously.
She was impressed at the control of his aim, never chasing after a disc that strayed too far to one side.
The task was similar to her time with Abe, a combination of fun, exercise, and play, but it pushed her to her limit. Shadow, too.
When Professor Traxton said they were done for the day, he made them clean up as he reviewed the data from his clipboard. Of course, Shadow passed the endurance test. Not only that, he exceeded all expectations. It reminded Maria of the time she aced her own test after being distracted by Abe's dress-stealing prank.
She turned to him after Professor Traxton left to report and file his paperwork. "Shadow, remember when you came to tell me my test got moved to a different lab room?"
He looked at her and nodded slowly.
"You helped me out by mopping the floor, too, and I think I got a 100% that day because I had nothing keeping me from focusing anymore." She smiled and clasped her hands behind her back. "Do you think I helped you focus and pass your test today, just a little?"
Shadow's eyes glazed over as he nodded sluggishly again, barely moving, and didn't return her smile. His poise was stable, but his face gave away how ready he was to collapse.
Maria took no offense, as she felt exhausted herself from all the strenuous activity. She gently reached for his hand and said they should take a moment to cool down before they left the gym.
She led him toward a portion of wall with an electric outlet near the bottom and made him wait. She went to retrieve something she'd noticed in a corner during their jumps on the trampoline: a large floor fan.
Plugging it in, she turned it on to its highest setting and sat in front of it. The blast of air whipped her hair behind her. Shadow stood by her side. After a spell of silence, he kneeled down to let the sweet, cold wind blow against his face.
"Ahh, that feels nice!" she said, then laughed because the airflow tickled her mouth when she spoke. She leaned forward so her face was up close to the fan. "That feels nice!" she said again, her voice echoing and buzzing against the caged spinning blades, tickling her lips even more.
Shadow smirked.
When they finished cooling off, they left the gym together, Shadow telling her about the exhaustingly endless workout they put him through today. Maria sympathized and asked if he wanted to relax with her for the remainder of the day. There was a spot she discovered on the Ark not too long ago that she intended to use as a resting place and would be honored if he joined her.
"Lead the way," he said.
The secret spot she found was a cranny (or nook). A big round window in a certain hallway was just high enough for a medium-sized jump to reach. Maria had discovered how deep the recess of the window was and had wondered if it was wide enough to sit on. It was. In fact, she was sure it was wide enough for two.
"This is it," she announced when they arrived underneath the particular window. She hopped up, reaching out to grab hold of the edge, but missed. She jumped again and failed. She gave him a nervous smile. "I usually can get up there no problem, but I guess I'm still a little tired from all that exercise."
He stepped forward. "I can give you a boost."
"Thank you, I appreciate it."
He folded his hands together, palms up, and let Maria's dainty feet climb aboard. He lifted her easily. Part of her dress swayed across his face.
She pulled herself onto the sill and looked over the edge, ready to hold her hand out to him, but found no need for it. He landed by her side in a single bound.
She was impressed. "Even after a long day, you still have energy to spare."
"I was built to last," he replied, smiling.
In the middle of the recess lay an open book atop a folded blanket. Maria already read it before and looked forward to sharing it with him later, but for now she wanted nothing more than to welcome the air-conditioned atmosphere and rest in idle silence. She leaned back against the curve of the circular window, Shadow mirroring her on the other side. They looked out the glass at the vastness of space together. Nothing but stars.
She must've been more tired than she thought because time slipped by without her realizing. One minute she was stargazing with Shadow and the next minute her eyes were opening due to her shoulder shaking. The folded blanket was now unfolded and draped over her.
"I fell asleep?" she asked quietly.
Shadow smirked, removing his hand from her shoulder. "As much as I hate to disturb your rest, it's getting late."
She yawned, "Is it past curfew?"
"Not yet."
She rubbed her eyes. "Is there time to have dinner?"
"Yes."
She took a chance. "Will you eat with me?"
"Yes."
She smiled. "And walk me back to my room after?"
"Yes."
So they did.
