Sonic awoke with a start to an annoying beeping screaming in his ears. Groaning, he flopped onto his stomach; sleepy eyes narrowed, staring at nothing. His mind contemplated how to kill an alarm clock effectively. The alarm continues to beep as he stretches before turning his wrist to see the light flashing on his communicator, "This had better be an emergency." he grumbled to himself, answering the call with a slur. "Yeah..."
"Woah, somebody sounds grumpy this morning!" the voice on the line teased, "Yeah, I think anybody would be when they're woken up at...8:30 in the morning? Ok, not an unreasonable hour, but Shadow, why are you, of all people, calling me? It's a little early, even for Eggman," he questioned, sitting up and rolling his shoulders to wake up a little more as he listens for the other's reply. "Rose insisted I call to remind you of the picnic we're having this afternoon. She is, and I quote,' too busy' to do something as simple as picking up the phone and calling you herself."
"What's she so busy doing?"
"Oh, you know the usual...picking ingredients from the garden, roping me into helping her, fretting over what outfit to wear, all the while cooking every recipe she has under the sun." Sonic let out a small chuckle. Classic Amy always overdoing even the smallest of things with that all-business attitude of her's. "Yup, that sounds like Amy alright, better you helping her than me. I'd just make a big mess and make things worse."
"Hmph!" came a rough grunt on the other line, "That's true. You can barely make a chili dog without turning the whole kitchen into a mess, speaking of which I better get back to helping Rose with this dish before it's burned to a crisp. See ya at 12, blueberry." he hung up before Sonic could say anything more.
The blue hedgehog scoffed, "Stuck-up emo hog. I don't make that much of a mess." ruffling his quills and popping his back as he rose from the hammock. Eyes shot up as a thought suddenly occurred to him. Quickly Sonic turned and looked under the bed, sighing in relief, seeing nothing on the floor this time. "Thank Chaos." he smiled, "Just a one-time freak accident." standing back to his full height, Sonic pulled his arm across his chest, gently tugging his shoulder muscles.
Eyes lazily drifted around the house as he warmed the rest of his muscles. He spotted a relatively thick layer of dust resting on the tv. Looking closer, he noticed that the dust didn't stop there; the whole shack was covered in the stuff as if he had been gone for several weeks. "Man, this place is dusty. I've got a couple of hours before the picnic. I'll whip this place into shape, then grab a bite and hang out, a.k.a. run till then." Nodding to this good idea, Sonic set to work.
*Several hours later*
Sonic walks up the hill to the picnic area, arms relaxed behind his spiky quills. The afternoon sun warming his cobalt fur and a light wind stirring the air, "Another picture-perfect day in paradise." he sighed with a smile.
Reaching the top, he waves to Tails and Knuckles. "Hey, Little Blue! You made it!" Knuckles greets, pulling the hedgehog close and giving him a noogie. Alarmed at the surprise noogie, Sonic yelps and quickly tears himself away, while Tails cheekily says something about payback with a hushed voice in the background.
The speedster blushes, feeling self-conscious. Recalling his interaction with the echidna in his dreams last night, making him feel little for a brief moment. Sonic brushes himself and the odd sensation off, placing a hand on his hip. "Course I made it! And no comments about me being late. I'm fashionably late, and I plan for so those, so they don't count!"
"Amy called to remind you, didn't she?" Tails asks smugly; Sonic crossed his arms, pouting, "No! She did not...it was Shadow." he whispered the last part.
Suddenly a bright light flashed, blinding the trio for a few seconds, "Somebody say my name?" Shadow asks, carrying a large folded blanket."Yeah, Shadow, we were just talking about you!" Sonic's pout disappearing as a mischievous idea forms in his mind, "Oh really? Something about my good looks?" the dark hog puffs up his chest and shakes his quills in pride.
"Not quite, " Sonic's face morphs into a shit-eating grin, walking up to his rival. Tails mentally facepalms himself. He knows that look Sonic makes before he does something stupid; he prayed that there would be no bloodshed this time.
"Hmmm, were you perhaps talking about how smart I am? Or maybe about how better I am in general compared with the rest of you?" Shadow asks again, playing along with the act, watching Sonic beginning to circle him like a hunter with its prey. He knows Sonic is up to something. Probably trying to egg me on and start a fight. Well, if it's a fight he wants, it's a fight he'll get.
"Nope. Guess again!"
"My...incredible Chaos abilities which make me faster than you could ever be?" Sonic winced on that comment, "Oh so so far off, Shads." he sadly tsked, "No, we were talking about how horrible your cooking is, tastes like barf." Sonic preceded to exaggerate by sticking a finger down his throat and gag, "And also how pathetic those few white hairs on your chest that your call fluff are. Really! I mean, there's barely anything there," Sonic stops in front of Shadow, smiling widely, making sure he was positioned well into punching range. Squinting his eyes, adjusting some invisible glasses on his nose, he leaned precariously forward. "I mean, come on, you'd need a powerful set of specks just to count them."
Instantly a first is thrown into Sonic's gut sending him backwards into the ground. "How dare you make insulting remarks on my fluff when you don't have any of your own. Truly you are a mockery to all hedgehog kind for your lack of fluff, and for that...you shall perish!"
The smile previously on Sonic's face is wiped away, focusing on his opponent. He pulls back, kicking his legs into the air knocking Shadow over. Taking this opportunity while the ebony hog is down, Sonic leaps onto Shadow's back and pulls him into a headlock.
Growling, Shadow grimaces then smiles before he pushes up and flips the hog making Sonic release his hold. Now laying on his back, Sonic quickly grabs hold of Shadow's hands just before they reach him. "You're going to pay for that hedgehog." Shadow hisses, "Make me!" Sonic spats kicking Shadow off him again, and jumps to his feet into a battle stance. Shadow, still on the ground, grabs a handful of dirt and sprays it into Sonic's face. He cries, rubbing the offending grit in his eyes, stepping back and plummets down again, tripping over a well-placed foot. "That's dirty!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, here, let me help." Shadow then jumps up, keeping one arm folded, aiming his elbow to land right into the blue hero's gut.
At this point, Amy appears on the scene, shifting her eyes to Tails and Knuckles back to the two hogs tussling and wrestling on the ground. As they watched the fight, Amy moans, exasperated, "How long have they been at it this time?"
"Huh? Oh hey Amy, um, not long, maybe a couple of minutes."
The pink hedgehog nodded and put two fingers in her mouth, letting out a loud whistle. The two hogs freeze in their positions. Sonic was on Shadow's back, riding him like a horse, biting an ear while having a fist pulled back aimed for the face. While Shadow was on his knees, keeping himself steady with one hand while having one arm locked around Sonic's left leg. An overall awkward pose, the duo found themselves in.
The two slowly looked up to see Amy standing before them wearing peach flats, a flowy white dress with matching hat holding, and a large picnic basket. The outfit was very flattering for her, except for the irritated expression she was wearing on her face that said 'they were trying her patience.' "Ahem! If you two are done playing around, how about helping setting things up, hmmm?"
Not wasting a millisecond, the hedgehogs scrambled out of each other's hold. Sonic grabbed the blanket, unfolding and spreading it neatly over the grass while Shadow took the basket from Amy and, in a whirlwind, laid out all of the food. Tails made a whip lashing sound effect with his mouth winking at Amy; she quietly giggled and shook her head. Setting her hands on her hips. Amy smiled and nodded in approval at the two standing before her silently when they finished. "Nicely done, boys..." she spotted a clump of dirt on Sonic's shoulder from their scuffle and flicked it off.
Sonic rolled his eyes, keeping a hand on his stomach still hurting from the body slam Shadow gave him a few minutes ago; he'd have to go about eating slowly so as not to upset the bruised organ. Though peeking in his peripheral, Shadow also was nursing the ear he had bitten in retaliation, the corner of Sonic's mouth twinged upward. His ears perked when Amy clapped her hands, grabbing everyone's attention, "Now let's eat!"
Rubbing his slightly distended belly in content, Sonic relaxed onto the soft grass sunbathing in the afternoon rays. He had made a pig out of himself on all the food Amy and Shadow had cooked up. Rubbing his nose, he chuckled to himself. Shadow sure wasn't kidding when he said Ames was make'n every recipe in the book. I think I made a pretty good dent. And those chili dogs, man, those were so good!
Amy had provided everything from her vegi chili dogs, fresh woodland salad, grilled fish, cheese and nut platter, fruit salad, and homemade lemonade, to a chocolate mint cheesecake to finish it off. Everyone had eaten their fill and were now following the example of their blue leader, relaxing their bodies and minds to digest.
Eyes half-lidded, Sonic smiled lazily in bliss, watching the clouds go by in the sky as blue as his fur while Shadow and Amy made themselves comfortable on either side of him. "So how was it?" she asked, laying on her side, head resting in her hand; he twitched an ear in Amy's direction, "How was what?"
"The food, of course!" she reminded, giving him a teasing flick on the head, "Oh yeah, awesome!" Sonic made a chef kiss and patted his belly, "In case you didn't notice, I happened to have plenty of experience as a food critic. And I must say that was some of your best work, chef Amy." Shadow crouched beside him hmphed; Sonic turned to send a wink to the grouchy hog. "And you did good too, chef Shadow." the dark hog grunted again, this time with a smirk.
Grinning, Sonic turned his attention back to the sky and yawned, feeling very comfortable and at ease. Breathing in slowly, letting the sun's warmth lull him, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
*Note from the author*
Hello everyone! Had a good hiatus, I hope?
Welp, we're in the home stretch now for this fic. Thank you for being patient with me. If you're re-reading this story, you may have noticed I made some changes while taking a break, nothing big, just some small adjustments to make things a bit more clear and easier to read (not that anyone else but me will notice). Things had kinda gone crazy on my end; changed work schedules, the workload increased big time cause covid is going crazy where I live (I work at a hospital if that gives you an idea), my mom got covid, got a new puppy, and it's been snowing for the past two days! Woah!
Thankfully things are starting to slow down.
The last few weeks of this story will be a bit of an emotional ride, so, until the next chapter, happy reading!