Warmth
It was cold. That... biting type of cold that always seemed to find you, no matter how much you bundled up, and struck straight to the bone. Whoever managed the thermostat here had obviously shirked their duties. He grimaced, shifted his feet, and folded his arms, all with an exaggeration meant to convey to her that he was not happy with the situation. She didn't notice; or, at least, she pretended not to. She just continued chattering on about whatever it was she was talking about. He wasn't paying attention. He usually didn't.
They were standing in the center of a circular room, the walls spaced with wide archways leading into separate hallways. The roof was a dome, and painted with a human mock-up of the sky, something very common among domed buildings, it seemed. The designers had meant for it to be realistic; they had managed to find the exact shade of blue, studied the proper formations of the clouds, and had manufactured the warmth of the average summer day inside an air conditioned building. He stared at the false glow of the "sun", and was reminded just how cold it was.
All that realism... made it overwhelmingly fake. Nothing artificial could ever compare to the real blue, the real clouds, the real sun. Didn't they understand that? Humans were so foolish.
It had been her idea to come here; though, he wasn't exactly sure where here was. He hadn't been paying attention then, either.
She was still talking. She must've figured out by now he wasn't listening; she must like hearing herself talk. Egotistical little...
"Rouge, get on with it."
She looked neither surprised nor offended. She only paused mid-sentence and smiled at him. "Aw, is Shaddie having a bad day? I'm sorry you're not enjoying yourself." She flipped a hand carelessly and turned on her heel. "But you're the one that insisted on coming with me. So hush."
"I did not." She shrugged his denial off with another flippant toss of her hand. "I'm only here because you convinced the Doctor that this..." He paused, and considered the false sky above, "...excursion was important."
"Did I? Hmmm." Rouge released a thoughtful little sigh, and tapped her chin. "Oooh, now I remember. So I did." She laughed, as if it didn't matter anyway, and peered at him from over her shoulder. "Sorry about that, Shaddie. But, honestly, I didn't really have any other choice. I needed to get away." She folded her hands behind her back and strolled away from him, her heels clacking sharply against the dark tile floor.
"You can understand that... can't you, Shadow?" She moved in a curve, her head tipped back, smiling to the ceiling, not once letting her gaze stray in his direction. Her steps were slow and deliberate, and she let her hips sway smoothly with her movements. "No offense," she said after a moment, "but being locked up in that dusty old control room with you and the old doctor isn't exactly my idea of a holiday." She stopped her progress, and glanced at him. "I need to stretch my wings every now and then. Just..." A smirk found her lips, and she winked at him. "Don't tell Eggy, huh?"
He narrowed his eyes. "The Doctor won't wait forever, Rouge," he told her, his voice low and dangerous. "And neither will I."
The thinly veiled threat didn't seem to touch her. She only laughed, and cupped her face with her hand. "Oh, come on, Shadow! I haven't forgotten our deal! In fact, I think I'm rather close to that last little emerald you want so badly... It just needs a some time to process."
She yawned and stretched, her ebony wings unfurling from her back. "So, I figured, I might as well get some relaxing in while I wait."
"Really."
"Oh, don't worry, Shaddie, I won't be long." The click-clack-click-click-clack of her heels against the tile reverberated through the room again as she made her way to the smallest of the archways lining the walls. "You can come too, if you like. It's warmer where I'm going."
--
The hallway just beyond the archway was a far cry from the unnatural lobby. There were no decorations, no ornate stone tiles; only a few scattered lights affixed to the ceiling, and the damp earth. The air was thick and warm, a comforting pressure that chased the lobby's artificial chill from him. Maybe he could stay here while Rouge took care of her... business.
He followed her silently; through the twists and curves of the hall. It was long; longer than he had expected. Surely this building wasn't that large? But, still the hallway stretched on, curving to the right, then veering off to the left again.
"How long is this tunnel, bat?"
"Oh, be quiet." Her voice was light, almost cheerful, but not completely empty of irritation. She paused for a moment ahead of him, and waved a hand in front of her face. Her face scrunched in dissatisfaction. "The air's still as thick as syrup. It'll be a little while. Deal with it." And she began her march again.
"Uncomfortable?"
"I despise humidity,"
She was the one who had dragged them here, and now she was the one complaining. Great.
Silence lapsed between them for several more minutes, until the final curve came into view. The walls were bordered by a brilliant halo of light, and the air grew thin and crisp. The brown earth became spotted with tufts of emerald grass that grew more and more common as they neared the end of their journey. At the end of the final turn, they merged one gigantic patch that made up their destination.
A garden.
Tufts of pastel flowers spread across the carpet of grass, bobbing their heads in the gentle breeze, and basking in the sunlight. The tops of tall trees sloped slightly downward, weighed down with plump, round fruits, their leaves casting wide spots of shade across the edges of the garden. A pool was carved out of a rock formation, fed by a waterfall from high up the mountain. The water was clear, pristine, and the gentle gurgle of the waterfall provided the background music for the scenery.
This was beauty at its finest, a beauty the humans' artificial sky couldn't hope to hold a candle to. The simplicity... the innocence.
By the time he remembered her, Rouge was already gone, prancing like a fool across a patch of flowers. She glanced over her shoulder and met his gaze, winked, and blew a kiss, before bouncing away on the tips of her toes.
The garden was beautiful, Shadow could attest to that, but he had no patience for foolishness. He took a step forward, intending to drag the white bat out of her flowers and back through the tunnel, when suddenly something soft and warm clamped on to his left leg.
"What in the...!" Irritated that something else was going to delay them now, he glared down at whatever it was trying to trip him.
A small creature, not even a foot high, had its entire body wrapped tightly around his leg. Wide, chocolate brown eyes blinked up at him blearily, and a delighted sort of squeak came from its wide mouth.
Chao.
She had dragged him all the way down here for chao.
--
"Rouge!" No matter what he did, the tiny creature simply would not let go. Any threats of violence, tugging, or shaking he attempted just made it shriek with its strange version of laughter and hug him tighter. "Rouge!"
It took her several more minutes to even show a possibility of response. She appeared with a fat purple chao in her arms, snuggling it, and cooing in a high-pitched voice reserved for small children. It twisted in her arms and peered down at him through slanted blue eyes. But, it didn't appear very alert, and after a moment it grew bored with him, and cuddled against Rouge's neck.
"Shadow, what's the matter?" Rouge inquired, stroking the purple chao's back tenderly. "I thought you wanted to leave here as soon as possible. You're just playing around. So very unlike you."
Shadow grimaced, and twisted himself around until his small assailant was in view, still clinging to him like a leech. "Just... shut up and get... your chao... off me!"
Rouge was silent for a moment, and raised her eyebrows in mild surprise. A small smile formed on her lips.
"Rouge, don't..."
She shifted the chao in her arms, and placed one hand on her hip. The smile became a smirk
"Rouge..."
"Well, well, well, what's this?" the bat said, her voice soft and trembling with suppressed laughter. "The 'Ultimate Life Form', taken down by a ten-inch chao? I do believe I've seen everything."
"Getting the thing off myself would entail killing it, Rouge," Shadow snarled, "And it's starting to become a very appealing option."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. No need to get all violent and unstable on me, Shaddie. I'll get him off for you. Wait here, Amethyst, Mommy will be done in a second." She set the purple chao on the ground beside her, and it gave a pathetic sort of squeak, slumping onto the ground with its face pressed into the grass.
"Quartz," Rouge cooed, patting Shadow's chao on the back, "Come on, Quartz, let Mr. Shaddie go now, please."
'Quartz' squeaked something inconceivable, and, to Shadow's utter amazement, released him. It rolled onto the grass with a giggle, and waved its stubby little arms up at Rouge. She smiled, stooped, and stroked its head. "Good boy. You be good while Mommy is gone, okay, Quartz?"
It gave a happy gurgle and continued to roll mindlessly in the grass. Rouge shrugged, stood, and retrieved the purple chao from where she had set it. "Try asking nicely, Shaddie," she told him with a smirk, "It works sometimes."
He didn't respond.
"You look so shocked, Shadow," she continued, shrugging, "I can't imagine why. I must have said hundreds of times that Amethyst was sick and I needed to check up on her." She indicated the lethargic purple chao in her arms. "In fact, I'm sure I did." She tilted her head and looked him straight in the eye, her face aglow with triumph. "... Weren't you listening?"
He glared at her. "Get on with it, Rouge. I'm tired of this place."
"Fine, fine. Be a bore, then." And, with her nose stuck comically in the air, she turned, and vanished down the tunnel once more, cooing to her ill chao all the way.
So, now he was left in a garden with a small creature that was currently trying to eat the Earth. Perfect.
He watched Quartz snuggle the grass with a mixture of amusement and pity. It seemed like the chao was trying to play an impromptu game of hide-and-seek with him; its stubby little arms were clamped over its head, and every so often a muffled chao-giggle would come from it.
Shadow frowned, and moved away, sitting himself down against the natural stone wall of the garden. He didn't really feel like playing games right now.
He let his gaze travel the jagged line the mountaintops drew in the distance, then drift down to the top of the waterfall. He followed its progress down the rock formation, and into the pool below. Up, onto the grass, his gaze moving along a path of flowers, and then...
There was a pressure on his legs again. He grimaced, and let his gaze snap down. Quartz was sprawled over his shins, clinging to him like a doll, and gurgling happily.
"Go away."
Quartz gave a high-pitched sort of grunt, and pulled itself into a sitting position. It clapped its tiny hands and giggled, reaching out to Shadow as if he welcomed this sort of attention.
"Get off." He leaned forward, and pushed the tiny chao with his fingertips, which, naturally, sent the creature sprawling. But, instead of crying, it gave that same shrieking laugh as it somersaulted back into the grass. Shadow watched it pull itself to its feet again, chattering to him in its strange "language".
And then it walked away. Just... left; as if it had totally forgotten its infatuation with the hedgehog. Not that Shadow minded much; he would never see why Rouge was so attached to these creatures. He sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the stone. Peace and...
There was a brief high-pitched wail, followed by quiet whimpers. Dammit. So much for quiet.
What would Rouge say, if he simply left the chao to wallow in its misery?
... Too much, probably. She'd go on and on for hours.
Quartz's whimpering was getting louder; every now and then a pitiful sort of hiccup could be heard as well. The wind whistled softly through the trees, the gentle patter of the waterfall was as peaceful as ever.
And yet the cries of an insignificant creature was enough to shatter it all.
"Fine."
Quartz wasn't all that difficult to find; as far as Shadow knew, it and Amethyst were the only two chao in this garden. It was sitting on the stone edge of the pool, dripping wet, silent tears streaming from those innocent brown eyes. It whimpered as Shadow approached, and extended its chubby little arm towards him.
There was a short, ragged cut running down what would be the small creature's forearm. It must have gone for a swim, and slipped trying to get out. It was strange though; chao were, typically, exactly like small children, and a child would have been screaming by now. But Quartz only stared up at the black hedgehog with a sort of hopeful longing, its gaze occasionally dropping to the small cut on its arm.
Shadow studied Quartz for a moment longer. Then, with a dejected sigh of defeat, he sat down on the grass, and patted the ground in front of him. "... Come here."
Quartz gave a weak whimper of assent, and pulled itself to his feet with agonizing sluggishness. Shadow frowned and folded his arms, glaring as the child-like creature took its slow, sweet time stumbling over to him. Again, Quartz extended his arm, and gurgled something incomprehensible.
"I saw." Shadow took the small creature by the hand, inspecting the cut and deeming it unworthy of attention. It was small and shallow; Quartz had been frightened by it, that was all. But Shadow hardly thought telling the chao "You'll live" was an adequate response in this situation.
He frowned, and scooped the chao off the ground, setting it in his lap. The trip wiped away Quartz's tears instantly, and in a moment he was hugging Shadow's stomach, squeaking his happy squeak. "This doesn't mean I like you," Shadow told him firmly, "Just to get you to shut up."
Quartz was happy either way. He began to fidget in the hedgehog's lap---less out of anxiety than excitement. Eventually, he was crawling about, inspecting every inch of Shadow's person with reckless, child-curiosity. He poked at the soles of his shoes, and gave a shocked little screech when they released a small burst of energy in his face. He hung onto Shadow's back, tugging at his quills. He sat on his knee, and played with the golden rings on his wrists.
And Shadow took all the abuse with more patience than he had ever thought he had. He had decided that things would just be easier if he kept the chao occupied and happy. But, patient as he was, there was no stopping the snapped admonishment when Quartz had tried to climb up on top of his head. That was going a bit too far. Irritating little bug.
Quartz had found his hand now, and was playing with it with a sort of wonder and awe. Shadow watched silently as the chao patted the center of his palm, and squealed with glee.
"You're lucky to have this place." Quartz showed no sign of hearing him as he spoke, but, then, Shadow doubted he understood language anyway. After all, chao didn't have a language of their own. Little squeaks and cheeps didn't really count.
"Living in complete harmony, not a single natural predator." Quartz was playing with his fingers now, bending and manipulating them like they were toys. "But out there? You wouldn't have a chance. Killed in a second. That's how the world works."
Quartz had discovered that all his fingers could bend in towards his palm, making a fist. "You're too innocent."
And the world weeds out the innocent. Slaughters them.
... like Maria.
While a hand was a rather versatile object, Quartz had apparently exhausted all the uses his tiny brain could come up for it. He made an irritated sort of sound, like he couldn't figure out why in the world one would have such an appendage as a hand, and crawled back into Shadow's lap. He yawned and wrapped his stubby little arms around the hedgehog's stomach once more, staring up at him.
Shadow frowned, then sighed and rubbed the creature's head gently. "... but you're safe here. You don't have to think about things like good and evil. I'm... envious."
Quartz wasn't listening, but Shadow didn't blame him. He never really paid attention, either.
--
A/N: For the record, I do indeed have a chao named Quartz, and he is indeed obsessed with Shadow for no particular reason. I actually didn't notice how fitting the name was for one of Rouge's chao until I finished this. :P Not exactly happy with it, even after a couple revisions, but it came out all right; any constructive suggestions would be greatly appreciated.