"Hey Sonic! Someone is at the door! Can you get it for me, please?"
The tinkering fox was underneath the tornado with a wrench while his blue roommate snacked on chips in front of the TV.
"Yeah, I got it. Probably just Amy again trying to ask me out tonight anyway…" Sonic said. Much to his surprise, a pink hedgehog wasn't on the porch but rather a black and red one!
"Oh, hey Shadow! Long time, no see!"
"Hello."
Sonic looked at Shadow as he continued to stand there. He knew Shadow was a man of few words, but this silence was unusually silent.
"Did you need something, buddy?"
"I need to see you."
"Well, you're looking at me right now, staring even."
Shadow continued to look at Sonic. More silence.
Sonic was getting bored of this staring contest. "Alright, Shadow, I'm watching something right now, so if you don't need anything, I'm going to close the door now."
Sonic waved and started pushing the door shut. Shadow stepped forward and blocked the door before it closed.
"May I watch something with you?" Shadow asked.
Sonic winced and thought for a second. Shadow and him didn't really hangout, but he seemed off today so maybe he is just looking for a friend? Sonic opened the door and gestured toward the couch.
"Come in and join me on the couch then, I guess."
Shadow walked inside and stood in front of the couch. He turned around and sat down, keeping his back straight up and arms on his knees. Sonic rolled his eyes at how stiff Shadow was acting and flung himself onto the other side of the couch, spreading himself into a laying position, taking the two cushions left.
"You can have some of my chips if you want."
"I do not want any of your chips."
"That's fine, more for me then!"
Sonic turned his eyes back to the TV and watched the show. It was a new show about a magical wife and her mechanical husband who try to have a normal life in the suburbs. Eggman had been pretty quiet lately, so Sonic picked up sitcoms as a temporary hobby. They were easy to drop at a moment's notice since the plots are always too casual to be too captivating. After all, romance between a human and a machine was a ridiculous trope and this show played into its humor from that.
"Thank you," Shadow said.
Sonic raised a brow at him. "Uh, you're welcome?"
"You offered me your chips and I am thanking you now."
Shadow was definitely off. Could it be because he is trying to be nice for a change? Sonic knew he had manners but chose to be blunt. Maybe he is trying to get used to being personable again.
"What have you been up to lately, Shadow? Been awhile since I've seen you."
"I do not do much lately."
"Well, if you came over because you were bored, we could play some video games!"
"I have not played video games."
"We can try! What do you want to play?"
Shadow shrugged.
Sonic stood up and walked to the game systems under the TV. Tails and him played often so they had several different systems hooked up.
"How about we start with something simple since this is your first time? Pong is pretty easy and only requires a joystick."
Shadow nodded.
Sonic handed a control to Shadow and sat next to him on the couch.
"So this game is really just 2D tennis. The ball will start on its own and you move that stick up and down to hit it toward me so it doesn't go behind your paddle. If it doesn't behind yours, I would get a point and vice versa. Understand?"
"I understand."
"Okay, good! I'll start the game then."
The ball headed toward Sonic's side and he bounces it off his paddle. Shadow caught on quickly and did the same. The ball started slow but got faster and faster. Sonic used to play this a lot with Tails so he was used to the speed picking up, but he did not expect Shadow to be so good at the faster speed so quickly. He said this was his first time! Sonic tried keeping up, but his reflexes didn't match up to Shadow's skill.
"Wow, that was some great beginner's luck! You didn't miss the ball once!"
"The primary objective was to not let the ball pass my paddle. Did I do that well?"
"Yes, Shadow. You did it perfectly considering you beat me without getting a single lost ball."
"Thank you for the feedback. Would you like to play again?"
"Sure, that was just a fluke! C'mon let's do best 2 outta 3!"
The two hedgehogs played more and more games until Sonic was finally willing to submit to complete defeat. Shadow was able to turn out the fastest catches and hits Sonic had ever seen someone perform, and yet, he still claimed this was the first time he ever tried video games. Sonic was suspicious at first, that Shadow was playing him, but maybe something about being the ultimate lifeform helps him with tactical games like this.
Sonic stretched his arms out and cracked his neck. "Alright, Shadow. It was fun having ya over, but I promised Amy I would help her move some furniture this evening so we will have to save more fun for later."
Shadow rose from his seat and walked to the door without a word.
"Goodbye," he said and shut the door behind him with a click and thump.
'He is so weird, that fake hedgehog…' Sonic thought to himself. 'Oh well, I'm sure I won't see much of him. He only comes to see me when he gets in those moods anyway.'
"Tails! I'm heading to Amy's!" Sonic shouted and heard a muffled reply come from the fox, must be from him still being under the plane.
Sonic put on his red sneakers and made his way out the door, sprinting over to Amy's house.
