Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this fic, SEGA does, I believe. :3
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Chapter Three // Shrouded by Sloth, Ignored by Greed.
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Guitar strings. Distinct plucking of guitar strings. That's what Amy woke up to this time. She slowly stirred from the nap she didn't know she took, unlike earlier when the bright rays of sunshine had irritated her into being fully awoken. The music that filled the room, and the fact she had her warm comforter was pushed up against her muzzle, was quickly lulling her back to sleep, but she didn't want to give in, not when she wanted to figure out who was playing such a calming melody.
"Mmmf..." she sighed, muffled by the fabric she had her nose buried into.
Sitting up slowly, the pink hedgehog ruffled her quills into place, growing agitated when her fringe wouldn't stray away from her eyes. She soon gave up, however, after realizing why she had sat up in the first place. Shadow always had some music channel playing whenever he had the television on, so that was where she looked primarily, only to find that it was on, but muted. The confused hedgehog scanned the room for a radio, or some other form of device that could play music, surprised when her gaze finally landed on the blackened bed parallel to hers. There lay the onyx hedgehog, a black acoustic guitar resting on his lap and sheets of paper spread messily around his form. He was concentrated only on one sheet, however, his hands either smoothly gliding across the wooden neck, or plucking at the strings. Huh. He doesn't use a pick.
"Shadow?" she called out with hesitation, since she felt it would be a crime to put a stop to the melody he was producing.
He glanced at her briefly as though he wanted to acknowledge her, and suddenly slowed to a stop with his playing.
"You play beautifully, you know." she threw a smile in his direction as she swung her feet over the edge of her bed.
Again, he didn't answer, quick to rustle through the sheets laid out on his bed with his stare glued to them.
A silent sigh escaped her as her feet touched the cold wood flooring of the room to retrieve her diary from the vanity table. With her little red book and keys in hand, Amy padded into the bathroom, slowly shutting and locking the door behind her. From there, she slumped against the nearest wall, letting herself slide down so her bottom could rest upon the white tiles of the floor. Once sitting comfortably, she opened up the lock of the diary, quickly hunting for her last entry. Again, she jotted a few thoughts down, leaving it unfinished so she could write more thoughts later on in the day.
- - -
"Ames!"
The pink hedgehog looked up from where she sat at the dining table, distractedly watching something Shadow, who had long put away his guitar to transfer himself to the living room before she did, had randomly flipped to on the living room flatscreen. "Oh, Rouge! Back so soon?"
The female bat sighed in a relieved manner, and lightly dropped herself in a chair nearest to her best friend, all the while fanning herself. "Just taking a bit of a break is all. The heat is killer down there!"
Amy laughed in response, slightly jumping in her chair when the kettle she was waiting for suddenly whistled. "And to think, the owner should be used to the environment in their own club!" she called behind her as she went to turn off the stove.
"Oh, har har, Amy. I think I should be going though. I don't want Knuckles thinking I'm off with some other man!" she said in the direction of the kitchen while she stood up, smoothing out wrinkles in her dress.
The female hedgehog snorted, "You shouldn't have taken that break up here because that dress shows more skin than your usual ones." she joked as she stirred in a pack of hot cocoa mix into her boiling water, coming back into view of those in the dining room and the living room.
Rouge only stuck her tongue out playfully before she left, not even saying one word to the hedgehog relaxing on the couch.
"Bye to you, too." Amy muttered lowly, claiming the same chair as she carefully blew into her mug.
Pitter-patter against the kitchen's window soon caught her attention, causing her to tilt her head with curiosity. Oh? Night time already? And its raining... she thought as she grinned, Rouge isn't around, so... Suddenly rising to her feet, she carefully carried the the mug over to the coffee table set between the television and the couch, hoping that Shadow would come around to drinking it. Right now, she only desired in getting onto the roof.
- - -
The rain had lightened up to a slight drizzle when Amy stepped foot onto the concrete floor of the roof, only clothed in her spare change of pajamas she always left at Rouge's house just in case. She didn't care if she became sick, she wanted to know what it felt like to be out during times like this. Cream and Rouge were always around to stop and force her to stay inside where it was warm, where they would chug down mugs of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows and chomp down on s'mores melted via stove. No one knew that she found the cold, no matter how icy, a bit welcoming, as well as a bit of an eye opener if she felt too sleepy.
Amy perched herself on the lengthy ledge parallel to that of the club's entrance, her legs lazily dangling off the edge. The evening breeze was here and there to weave in and about her quills, causing them to tickle her face every so often. She could feel her clothes slowly growing damper by the drizzle, but, of course, she didn't really seem to care. The familiar ruby-red quills belonging to a usually hot-headed echidna was what she could distinguish at the start of a line bordered by velvet ropes, a soft giggle escaping her when she saw two females pushing up against him as a way to persuade him for access to the club. She knew what would happen next: Knuckles would huff angrily and shove them away as if they weren't girls, due to his loyalty to Rouge and embarrassment toward viewing or feeling the female body. It happened just a few moments after she ran the imagery through her head, laughing openly when she saw a few people in the back topple over one another.
As the seconds ticked by, the rain grew heavy once more, causing Knuckles to bring out a tarp to shield the awaiting party goers from the sudden shower. That's when two figures, one blue and one brown, exited the building hand-in-hand before the blue figure popped open the umbrella they would share until they were safe from the rain. Sally. His whore was Sally! Why...her? What does she have that I don't? Right, the lack of my well-known annoyance. Upon closing her eyes and tilting her face toward the sky as far as she could without hurting herself, she didn't know whether she was really crying or not. She half-heartedly smiled a broken smile, letting her legs softly alternate in swinging. Haha, I almost thought that the rain was crying with me. How cheesy.
Heaving a deep sigh, she brought her legs over the ledge to plant her feet on the concrete flooring, sluggishly striding over to the nearest corner to plop down, rest her back against the ledge, and curl up. The heavy feeling she had been feeling for the past few days began to swirl within the confines of her chest again, slowly edging toward the rest of her body as it had done before. Of course, she was already used to it by now, with a bit of the help from being practically numb because she had been sitting there soaked and exposed to the cold weather surrounding her. Her ears twitched at the sound of a door opening, more specifically the door leading to the rooftop because of the particular creak of its aged hinges, indicating that someone had also decided to visit the roof. There was a light sound to the footsteps drawing near, until the person stopped short in front of her. "Rose, you're...Ugh, what the hell are you doing out here in this damned weather?"
Drawing her limbs as close as she could to her body, she flinched and sobbed simultaneously. "Go away!"
An audible growl escaped Shadow, causing her to cower even further into the corner. "You're hopeless."
Amy merely pressed her lips into a thin line and forcefully shut her eyes, waiting to be whisked away from the rain that seemed to show as much emotion as she did. Perhaps...I may be growing a bit delusional. Maybe it is safer if I stay inside...
The ebony hedgehog soon carried out what she anticipated, strolling toward the bathroom after closing the door to the roof, and placing her in the stand-in shower. "Wha-W-What a-are yo-you do-doing?" she stuttered, her body now overcome with shivers.
"Bathing you in hot water so you won't get sick." he said gruffly, twisting the knob labeled with a red indicator midway with one hand as his other latched onto the pink hedgehog's arm. At first, ice cold water had shot out from the showerhead, pelting the side of Shadow's head in the process and causing Amy to squeak, in spite that she had been recently sitting in same temperature conditions. The liquid soon became warmer and warmer until it became scalding hot, coaxing a small shriek of pain from her. "Shadow! Ho-Hot! Too hot!" she squealed, her attempts to turn around basically futile.
The ebony hedgehog grunted as he firmly held the squirming female in place, letting her skin become a light pink before he shut off the water supply with more effort than he thought he needed. His whole upper torso and head had also been soaked from holding Amy, so his own shirt was clinging to him uncomfortably, and was beginning to seep into his jeans. Quickly dragging the female onto the awaiting bath mat, he handed her a towel, leaving his usual towel to rest on his sopping wet quills. "Here, you're old enough, dry yourself off," he muttered as he rubbed his towel against his quills.
It didn't take long until his quills were considered dry enough, so he threw his towel aside to take his shirt off, hanging it on the towel rack after wringing it free of excess water. Amy suddenly blushed at his actions, even though she was used to seeing him shirtless (and basically lacking in clothes when she had first met him), turning her back to him as she dried herself off as much as she could. She took a side glance at herself in the mirror, then noticing her quills were starting to become wavy. Oh, I might as well leave them to dry instead of blowdrying and straightening them. It's only Shadow that will see me like this anyways. Rouge and Knuckles will be busy all night...
She frowned when she involuntarily shivered, realizing she had nothing else to change into. It was too cold to move from where she stood, so she thought maybe she could ask Shadow if he could rummage through Rouge's things to find another set of clothes. He would probably tell me to do it because its Rouge's things after all... Coming up with another idea, Amy swiveled back around to face him, only to find him missing. "Shadow?"
As if on cue, he returned with a worn black shirt and a pair of black boxers shorts. "I didn't want to go through Rouge's clothes, so here. The shorts don't fit me anymore, anyway." He didn't wait for a reply, simply tossing the said articles of clothing onto the marble countertop and closing the door behind him.
He read my mind. Amy smiled at the now closed door, "Thank you, Shadow." Wriggling free from her wet clothes, she happily tugged on the new set, eyeing herself in the mirror curiously. I kind of look nice in black clothes. she thought, giggling to herself. As she looked at her back in the mirror, she noticed the same jasmine scent had dispersed into the air around her, now aware that it was his clothes that had the enticing scent. Shaking it off, she then followed Shadow's example, also ridding her previous clothes of water before hanging them on the same rack, leaving her to half-skip into the bedroom where the ebony hedgehog had also retreated to.
Her fringe was irritating her again as soon as she stepped into the room, so she set off to find her headband, surprised to find it wasn't on the nightstand where she thought she had left it. Dropping to her knees, Amy bent down to floor level to see if it had fallen to the floor underneath her bed. It was a bit difficult for her to see into the depths of the space underneath, even with the light on, so she sat back into a kneeling position. "Oh, where did my headband go?" she asked no one in particular. After sitting on the floor in deep contemplation, she then gave up, going to what seemed like the next best thing. Maybe Rouge has some bobby pins I can borrow. she thought as she stood to exit the room.
A pair of cerise eyes followed the pink hedgehog until she disappeared through the doorway, leading Shadow to somehow remember that he had left the offered hot chocolate downstairs. He lazily rose from his bed to saunter back into the living room, his eyes instantly trailing toward the ceramic mug sitting on the coffee table. Taking it into his hands and knowing that it had cooled down completely, he still stared at the chocolate liquid harbored within the mug, a bit hesitant to gulp it down. It wasn't until the pink hedgie herself came downstairs to make another cup of cocoa that he decided to drink every single drop of it, finding it was made not too chocolately or sugary. Licking his lips to get what he had possibly left, he strolled into the kitchen after the female hedgehog, accidentally brushing against the tip of her tail in the process of setting down the emptied mug into the steel basin of the sink. He had coaxed a small squeal from her, gaining a glance from her blushing face. "Sorry, you kind of startled me..." she said, gluing her gaze back onto the kettle off to her right.
"Hn." came his ever so famous response as he left her alone in the kitchen.
Becoming a bit skeptical with their current friendship, Amy began to think, wondering if she was going to lose her friends through her annoying antics as well. Was Shadow starting to become irritated with her, too? She was becoming a hassle, making him do things for the sake of her (and her health), despite the fact she was able to do them herself. The familiar feeling of her body growing heavy hit her for the second time today, a dull ache gripping her chest as the kettle slowly began to rise towards its high-pitch whistle. She shut off the fire before the slightly deafening whistle came, subconsciously pouring the scalding hot liquid into the mug. She then started after Shadow, climbing the stairs carefully as she stirred her drink thoughtfully.
Shadow's music spilled into the hallway that held the door leading to her temporary room, which was left wide open for those that wanted to listen. Giving herself a small, reassuring smile, Amy padded back into the guest room, finding that he wasn't playing at all, but it was merely an mp3 with a speaker. A bit disheartened, she resorted to letting her legs give under her as soon as she reached the vanity to put her cocoa down, right in front of the drawer that held her diary. The little red book was now left unlocked since she grew lazy in reaching for her keys, so now all she had to do was open it and write. Who would be curious enough to read this anyway?
Contemplation crossed her face while she figured out how to start off her next few lines of thoughts, the music suddenly switching to that of the same song, but with another guitar added in. Was he planning to learn that, too? With a bit of inspiration thanks to her recent saviour, Amy quickly finished the entry with an unsure frown. While signing off her name, she already had the idea of learning the new addition to the song, wondering if it was a collaboration with two guitars.
...Well, how should she know? She wasn't that familiar with instruments and music.
Fueled a bit by determination, she tossed the book back into place and cautiously walked over to foot of the blackened bed, her hands fidgeting with the edge of her shirt. The onyx hedgehog looked up from the paper in front of him, pausing the music as well. "Can you teach me how to play guitar, Shadow? Well, that other part, the one I haven't heard you play..." she trailed off into a whisper. She quickly readied herself for the rejection, her hands now clutching tightly at the fabric and her lips pressed together.
With hesitation, he pushed aside of a bit of the pile of papers nearest to where she stood, making a space that seemed big enough for her to sit on. "Sit there. I'll be right back."
Surprised, Amy gingerly heaved herself onto the silky sheets, smiling at the feeling of it shifting against her legs as she crossed her legs in an Indian manner. So he wasn't annoyed with me at all. I'm glad... A few tears rolled down her cheeks as she grinned to herself, causing her to wipe them away before Shadow returned. As she blinked away the rest and sniffled anything her nose had produced, the male hedgehog soon came back with another acoustic guitar in hand, but it was of the standard wooden color. "This is the first one that Rouge had gotten me. She thought I would break this one because of my apparent frustration, so she bought me that one, too. " he motioned to the black acoustic placed on his other pillow.
She giggled as she took the instrument from him, running her gloveless fingers on its surface gently as if it were fragile.
"What's so funny?" he asked, sitting back down.
"Nothing. Just its funny how people judge a book by its cover most of the time..."
"Hn."
Ignoring the response, she chewed her lip as he shuffled through different sheets. "So what am I learning?"
"Rhythm. It's easier than lead, which is what you've heard me play."
"Oh..." A sheet of paper with confusing drawings of what seemed like six lines and numbers thrown in was placed in front of her.
From there, he described that the lines were basically the strings of the guitar, and that the numbers corresponded to which frets were where the strings were to be held down. There were tries where she would laugh at herself, and tries where she would automatically shut up if she felt Shadow himself grow frustrated with her. It was around her nineteenth try when he finally shut off the pre-recorded music, jumping in as soon as his part began. Amy still had to glance at her guitar to know where her fingers hit the frets, but memorized the tabs because they were mostly the same chords over and over again.
Nearing toward the end, Amy looked up to observe if he could play without staring at his fingers and instead found his crimson eyes watching her, causing a sudden thought to occur to her. She could feel her tears brimming, so she bowed her head so he wouldn't see her while she seemed 'pathetic' as he had called her at the park. Once they hit the last note, it wasn't long before she almost stumbled off his bed, gently placing the guitar against the nightstand separating their beds before she dove underneath her comforter and turned her back toward him to let the tears flow freely. You don't have hope with Shadow, Amy, you just don't...
Shadow stared at her back with an expression wedged between surprise and a glare. Why did she leave so abruptly? Shaking his head, he sneakily scanned through his mp3, searching for the version with only the lead guitar and playing it. Simulating as if he were producing the music, he crept over to the vanity, doing as he had done earlier to read her diary.
November 20, 2001
Dear Charlie Ray,
I might be skipping the depressing venting as my previous entry entirely depicts, haha!
Oh, and let's not forget the rhetorical questions that you can't even answer.
No offense! Heehee.
I had no idea that Shadow could play the guitar, and he plays beautifully, nonetheless. :]
Though what throws me off is that what he was playing was way too much of a calming
tone for him. But it makes me smile knowing that there are things most of us don't
know about him. (He knows how to maintain his mysterious atmophere so well that its
completely irksome!)
Did you know he smells really good when you're close enough? ...Gah, that was a bit
stalker-ish. D: Anyway, I think its because Rouge does the laundry, and I somehow tend
to associate the scent of jasmine with him alone...
( 11:20 PM )
(Okay, I have to stop smelling the shirt he lent me! Yes, its because Rouge does the
laundry. Heehee.)
So...he seemingly knows how to distract me from remembering anything related to Sonic.
Shadow has ways of keeping me from thinking too much about his blue counterpart, and
he was able to make me forget that I saw Sonic and Sally walking out of the club earlier.
(It was horribly depressing and Shadow came to my rescue before I got sick...) I don't know
how he does it, but I'm grateful because I grow scared when I'm engulfed by my depression...
Wow. His music is even twice as moving when you add this other part to it...I think there's
even a keyboard added in...Ugh, stupid music that's close to provoking my tears and remind-
ing me of my dreams...
Sigh. I just want to know what its like for someone to love me back for once, and its hard to
wait for that one person that'll grant my wish someday. But would I last that long, Charlie Ray?
Would I last that long to know what its like to finally have someone that will just love me back...
...even for a little bit?
Haha, I sound so pathetically desperate...
I'm sorry, I...did it again...
I'll just stop here,
Amelia Rose.
Copying the way she had done it, Shadow flipped to the back and followed her example by writing on the back of his latest reply, frowning when it came to responding to her last thoughts. Did she take it to heart when he had called her pathetic? I knew I shouldn't have involved myself with helping her. I'm starting to grow soft. Growling lowly, he restricted himself from throwing the book back into place without finishing, but upon turning back to where she had left off to re-read one bit, something scribbled in the margin caught his eye.
Why does it feel like I have some hope with Shadow?
Is it because I dreamed that he said that he loved me?
He went back to his page, but couldn't write something for her questions. After a long internal debate, Shadow sighed frustratedly, deciding that he couldn't put down what he had in mind because his feelings were simply too confusing to sort out on the spot. With that, he dropped the diary back into the drawer, then taking the mug to set it down on the nightstand his guitar rested against. He finally went back to his original seat on his bed, a headache forming from too many thoughts racing through his head.
Fuck. Am I falling in love with you, Rose?
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End Chapter Three.
- x - x -
Absolute thanks to KrystalFan1313, TheDemonRazgriz, madgirl1997, Project Shadow, Elys, Eragon250, darkmoon12345, LilyRosetheDreamer, and Armageddemon!
I seriously broke out into a grin when I saw more reviews given last chapter! I'm happy that this attracted a few more readers. -still totally freakin' stoked-
It helped me out a lot this chapter, but now I'm just wondering if this is this late...
And I'm sorry if it is! I type this up at night because that's when I'm in the mood to write most of the, err, depressing parts...
(So, uh, am I the only one that cries during the Charlie Ray parts?
Perhaps I just get into character too much. xD)
That reminds me: just one more chapter left! Whoooo! (Or maybe boooo?)
...Well, it won't be the last if I think I have to divide it into two chapters. ;D
Teehee, review, please? :3
Maschera di Miseria has signed off.