Day Twenty, Prompt: Working to Exhaustion/You Look Awful
Sonic's exhausted, all he wants to do is sleep after the resolution of the Metal Virus after running little sleep due to his own infection. However, Shadow has other plans.
Maybe Shadow hadn't meant it, it was in the heat of the moment but it didn't hurt any less.
The Metal Virus spread throughout Green Hill and all its residents and had no intention of slowing down. It was all Eggman's fault and so was 's. If he hadn't reversed Eggman to his old self, none of this would have happened.
However that thought brought little to no comfort with all the other thoughts that spiraled around his head, he can blame Eggman and Starline all he wanted, but at the end of the day, it doesn't change the fact that he allowed it to happen in the first place. He was at fault too, maybe if he had just listened to his friends for once, they wouldn't be suffering the consequences of his ignorance.
Sonic could feel the stares of members of the restoration burn right through his head as he walked the halls that led to HQ. They were quick to bat an eye and then look away when he had caught them doing so. He understood, it was inevitable, they clearly blamed him for the entire situation but simply chose to keep to themselves. They knew he felt the same way.
Sonic arrived at the corridors of HQ, eyes angled towards him. Knuckles, Amy, Tails, all of them. He couldn't bear to look at another face filled with disappointment in their eyes. Disappointed at him. He just wanted to get this meeting over with and get a move along, he wasn't sure how much longer he could go on with his restlessness despite this Virus finally coming to an end.
Sonic walked through, mildly annoyed, "Yeah yeah, I'm late, whatever. What's up?"
"Well, I just wanted to let everyone know that currently, the restoration is doing a great job at getting things back into order. We're currently trying to get families back together, streets cleaned and overall just trying to get things back to how they were." Amy is quick to inform.
Sonic swallows hard as he feels his heart in his throat, he's the reason why families were split, ripped from one another. He simply kept his eyes at interest towards the floor.
His arms are crossed as he leans against the wall behind him. He feels a pair of eyes burn at his side, he turns to face the one and only Shadow. The last individual he wanted to see today.
However, Shadow isn't eyeing him with frustration or anger, if anything more of concern, and seems to be troubled as he doesn't seem to stop scrutinizing Sonic all over.
Sonic's expression remains the same, he turns back to the screen that projects the world map. He's trying so hard to listen to what Amy is saying about it but his muscles and joints ache with such anguish. This whole operation from start to finish has been exhausting the entire way through. He's been running on little to no sleep as he tried to keep his infection at bay but his infection only seemed to grow worse the more he relied on his speed to get rid of it. His exhaustion was catching up to him, the urge to sleep on the very floor beneath him was tempting but what a hero he'd be if he took a quick nap while the world outside these walls suffered from his blunder.
"Sonic?"
He's pulled from his thoughts, he hadn't realized he was being spoken to, "Oh yeah, yes I caught all that. Anything else?"
Amy sighed, "Not as of right now, we just need all the help we can get so if everyone in this room can contribute in some way or form, that would be great. Our main focus is just getting back into the swing of things. Other than that, this meeting is adjourned."
Thanking Chaos, he was just about to walk right out of those same corridors when he was interrupted by that same voice.
"Hey Sonic, can I speak to you real fast before you leave? Privately if you will," Amy invited.
Annoyed yet compliant, he followed her to her office that was across the room and shut the door leaving the two of them alone.
"What's up, Ames?"
"Nothing about what we haven't already covered, it's just, are you doing okay? You don't look too good Sonic. I'm really worried about you. If I'm being honest, you look awful. When was the last time you slept?"
Sonic scoffs, he waves one of his hands almost like shooing her, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine and I am fine. Just a little tired, that's all. Really, no reason to concern yourself over. You have your hands full, don't worry about me."
Amy's face twists almost as she had eaten something sour, "Maybe, but I feel that you are carrying this guilt on your shoulders over this whole thing and I know everyone has been giving you a hard time but I mean it when I say I don't blame you Sonic. You have a big heart, it just sucks that people like Starline took advantage of it. Please don't try to blame yourself, there's already enough of it going around. Things just didn't pan out the way we thought it would."
"I'll try, It's kinda hard not to think so when it is. I let Starline get to Eggman, I really thought Eggman changed for the better. I should've known better."
"So did I, but you can only expect the unexpected."
They both sighed and sat in silence briefly, "Look just get some sleep even if it's for 10 minutes for Chaos sakes. You look like you were on the verge of passing out on me out there Sonic. Don't forget we need you to be okay too not just the general population"
Sonic gave a slim smile and nodded. He gave a simple okay and walked out of her office and HQ altogether. He attempted to make his way to his room that he was temporarily residing in only to see Shadow standing by his doorway.
"Hello Hedgehog," the opposing hedgehog imitated. Sonic rolled his eyes.
"What do you want, Shadow?" he voiced, tired and annoyed.
"What's going on with you? You look like you've been dragged to hell and back."
"Really? Thank you for telling me about what you observed today," Sonic spoke sarcastically as he attempted to leave this conversation altogether and just simply get into his room to sleep but Shadow was in his way.
"Move Shadow, I'm really not in the mood."
"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on with you."
Sonic's face screwed with confusion and frustration, he threw his hands up, "I- uh- why do you care all of a sudden? Weren't you the one who told me I deserved all of this? That this whole thing is my fault and I deserved the fallout?"
Shadow simply stood there, blocking Sonic's only entrance, unsure of what to say.
"You know what it doesn't even matter, it's not worth arguing over just get out of my way."
"You're just going to have to make me then."
Sonic scoffed, "If you're trying to get me to touch you that's not going to happen."
"I never said you had to."
Sonic shook his head, eyes never straying from Shadow's, "What do you want Shadow? Honestly?"
"I just wanted to see how you were doing."
"You should be the last person to be asking me that, now move."
Shadow had no intention of moving, not without figuring out what was ticking away at Sonic's head.
"DAMMIT Shadow just MOVE!"
Sonic's patience was running on thin ice and he was only moments away from actually moving Shadow away himself.
"You're angry."
"OF COURSE I AM, YOU WON'T MOVE."
"That's not why."
"You're interrogating me now? Seriously?"
"Just tell me what's wrong."
"For the love of Chaos Shadow you of all people, are you seriously asking me that right now? Everyone has been giving me a whole load of crap, on my back blaming me for this entire problem with this virus not to mention YOU. I only make things worse by trying to fix my mistakes. You want to know what's wrong? That's what's wrong," Sonic's thoughts flew out his mouth without a second thought, eyes watery and voice cracking throughout. He's so tired.
Shadow sighed, "Look, I know. I know and I'm sorry. What I said back there, -ugh- I was just frustrated and angry with you, with Eggman, Starline, just about with everyone and everything at that point. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. For that I'm sorry. I know this is a heavy burden to carry."
Sonic shook his head, "You're just saying that, you don't mean it."
"And if I do? You're my friend, I do care about-"
"YOU DON'T CARE, -ugh- Chaos you are just so full of it! If you had also just listened to me when we had talked, you wouldn't have been infected in the first place and maybe you would've been useful!"
"I-"
"YOU JUST LEFT ME THERE, didn't give a crap about where I was or what I was doing. You left the entire problem to me because according to you, I deserved it, I deserved all of it."
"Sonic please just listen-"
"No, no absolutely no way. You, and your bullcrap. I will say Shadow, I won't lie what you said back there really got to my head, really did. I think that's why I'm so damn messed up right now," Sonic almost laughed to himself, he could feel himself swaying. Eyes threaten to close.
His anger slightly dissipated, giving a more serious tone of his next phrase. A small tear ran down his cheek as he did so, "I hope that's what you were going for honestly because dammit it worked."
Shadow's eyes never differed from Sonic's. His eyes were filled with exhaustion, bags lining beneath them and he simply looked too pale for his own good. Maybe he should stop trying to argue with Sonic and just let him go to sleep. However, knowing Sonic, he's not sure if he could get this close to talking to him again anytime soon.
"I'm sorry about everything. I am. I just wanted you to take responsibility. That was all."
Sonic sneered, "You Shadow, are simply unbelievable. Maybe get your head out of wherever the hell it's buried and get your head screwed on straight."
Shadow had nothing to say.
"What do you think I've been doing this whole time? This whole time?! I've been taking responsibility for what I've been doing. That's all I've been told to do. I don't think I need to hear it from you either."
Apparently, Shadow's comment didn't sit too well to the seemingly fuming hedgehog in front of him.
"If you're just here to sound like a broken record then congratulations you in fact do."
Seeing as Shadow wasn't going to move out of his way as he had hoped, while in the midst of his pondering, Sonic aggressively if not shoved Shadow away from his doorframe, giving him the leeway he needed to get inside and lock the door, fearing Shadow would barge in.
He pressed his back against the door as his hand came to cover his mouth, eyes squeezing shut. He was so afraid Shadow may hear him cry assuming he had not yet left on the other side so he made sure he quietly made his way over to the bed as he laid himself on the bed pulling the covers over himself and slept much longer than the desired ten minutes. At some point during his slumber, Shadow had walked away.
NO HAPPY ENDING FOR YOU. HAHAHAHA. It's just the reality of some things, sometimes people aren't so quick to forgive after things have happened. I know I haven't. I feel this was a more realistic approach in contrary to what IDW gave us. Anyway I apologize for any misspellings or errors I didn't catch. Follow more on Twitter/X alsoverthinking
