"I wanna go home," sighed Sonic; he and Shadow had been walking around town since one, after leaving Wolf's restaurant.

"It's only around three, Sonic. You really want to head home?"

"No, I just wanted the time," said Sonic, grinning. "Do I know you or what?"

Shadow sighed, smiling back and shaking her head. "You wish, Sonic."

"So, we left Red Plaza, we've been to Wolf's, and we've just walked the main tour loop."

Shadow looked up at the sky, continuing Sonic's observation. "Yesterday and the day before we visited the Redwoods National Park, the hospital on Tenth, and Eiglestein's Diner."

"What's left?" muttered Sonic, joining Shadow in cloud-watching.

Uncharted Territory walked up behind Sonic. 'Well, it's three, so nightclubs are out.'

'Don't you start,' thought Sonic, glancing down at where he expected him to be before slowly looking up to where he really was; 'you've… gotten taller.'

'These are definitely the tightest pants ever! And no idea how I'm wearing them. These gloves are pretty comfortable, though, dude.'

'Two pairs of earrings, too? Is your sense of style out of order?'

'Hey, my style is your style, pal!'

"I think that one looks like an octopus. Or a bear trap. What do you think?" interrupted Shadow, yet unaware of what she was interrupting.

"Um," replied Sonic, identifying the bear trap, but wondering how Shadow could think of a cloud resembling that. "It's a bear trap."

Shadow looked back down to eye level at Sonic, still smiling. "Well, my neck hurts, now… Wanna go small-store shopping?"

Sonic raised an eyebrow, looking back down to eye level at Shadow. "Where did you come up with that?"

"I don't know. Sometimes it's more fun. Fewer people around three on weekdays, you know? Picking up their kids at school."

'Kids, he says; think Shadow likes kids? I like kids; I think you do…' muttered Uncharted Territory reflectively, elbowing Sonic in the arm.

'Please, just be quiet?' mentally asked Sonic, before really saying: "Small-store shopping. Okay. Let's get started!"

Boy was Sonic in for it! Shadow grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the nearest secondhand store and first thing, bought a digital camera.

"Uh, Shadow, what's that for?" asked Sonic, innocently, as Shadow Emerald-charged the battery.

"You'll see," said Shadow, putting away the camera and pulling Sonic into the clothing section.

"Oh, boy," muttered Sonic, not… unenthused.

Leftover Christmas sweaters and holiday outfits just out of storage in time for Halloween were quickly searched through for the most gaudy and raffish of costumes to put on Sonic, and digital evidence of each transformation. Doctor, Dentist, Dracula; Spiderman, Superman, Skeleton. It was a fairly quick change back out of costume whenever someone entered the dressing area, thanks to Sonic's natural speed. Twelve pictures and it was on to the next store.

Sonic would never have agreed if he knew he was going to be playing dress-up. However, it was a pleasant surprise that Shadow, unlike anyone else, put him though the costumes as fast as possible, taking pictures of whatever looked good, instead of parading him around the dressing room to examine every detail. This he was thankful for. If he had been out with Amy, she would probably have done just that. And the best part was Shadow didn't make him buy anything to wear later, thereby implying that he was going to wear it later… That Amy…

Sonic shook his head as he pulled on some black pants to complete the bee costume. This was actually pretty fun. Shadow wasn't forcing him to try on anything objectionable, and he didn't get to wear clothes that often. If he ran with anything but shoes and gloves on, his clothes would probably tear off from air resistance or burn off from friction. The springy antennae were also pretty… cool? Sonic stepped out of the dressing room and let Shadow take a couple of pictures.

"What's the deal with bee costumes, anyhow?" asked Shadow, for no particular reason.

"Don't know. They make honey?" suggested Sonic, remembering something he'd seen on TV, "Well, the males protect the queen. All the workers are female."

"I did not know that," stated Shadow, taking one last picture of Sonic the Bee in a thinking pose before gesturing to two more costumes on the nearby bench.

"Well, we've got ninja and devil left for this store. What do you think?" he asked, looking at each one.

Sonic was curious. Uncharted Territory hadn't appeared in a long while, and, well, it was there…

"Devil," said Sonic, picking up the outfit and going back into the dressing room.

Shadow scrolled through the pictures they'd taken. She hadn't met many hedgehogs, but from what she'd seen, Sonic was practically a hedgehog Adonis. Even without comparing, Shadow considered him attractive. But getting him into a bee suit was a feat she was sure few could do. As for a devil costume… Shadow supposed it was ironic, considering that Sonic was a saint as far as she knew. She wouldn't say anything about it, though; it was Sonic's choice.

Speaking of, what was taking Sonic so long?

Uncharted Territory had a habit of showing up at the worst moments.

'Bro, nice suit; goin' to a party? You look awesome in red; told 'ya.'

'Not you again,' groaned Sonic, mentally, as he clipped on the tail and slipped on the headband.

'That costume was meant for a girl. This makes you a cross-dressing gay.'

'The tag says 'men's devil suit.' You said six words again… What's with-?'

'Cross-dressing is two hyphenated words, stupid.'

'Hey, if you're me, you're calling yourself stupid.'

'Don't try to psych me out, Sonic. I'm your subconscious; I can do… things.'

'And you call me stupid, mister limited word-count.'

"Sonic? You okay in there?" asked Shadow, through the door.

"Just a minute!" called Sonic, turning back to Uncharted Territory. Hearing Shadow made him think again.

'Listen. I know you're my inner… whatever you are,' thought Sonic, 'but I can work this out myself. I'm not gay, so stop trying to tell me I am. I can do without you.'

Uncharted Territory was quiet, until he finally crossed his arms and spoke.

'You are making a bad choice, Sonic. I should know; I'm Bad Choice King. You won't be getting rid of me.'

Sonic shook his head and stepped out of the dressing room.

"You look… red," commented Shadow.

"Not exactly me, is it," sighed Sonic. "Can I get some help out this thing?"

"Sure," said Shadow, pulling off the headband with horns on it and setting it next to the ninja costume before helping Sonic with the tight shirt.

Trying not to tear the shirt on Sonic's quills, Shadow leaned in close to work the polyester around Sonic's spines, inadvertently murmuring:
"This is… kinda' close…"

As soon as the shirt was clear, Sonic dashed into the dressing room to remove the rest of the costume. Uncharted Territory was waiting there for him.

'Was that awkward or did you like it? Your heart's going a mile a minute, dude. Something tells me you liked it a lot!'

'Eight,' sighed Sonic, hopelessly sinking against the wall of the dressing room, head in his hands.

Shadow put away the ninja costume. Something told her the party was over.