Anonymous Review Replies!
LoneGarurumon: Aahahaha, yes. I admit I didnt't read too many chapters (got a bit freaked out, I prefer the cuter Sonic designs when it comes to anthro characters^^;) but somehow, Rui makes me think "Tailor!" so that's how he (and his friends) got their cameo XD If you enjoyed Shadow and Sally so far, I hope you'll love this chapter! :D Thank you so much for your review!
DEV: JAAAAA, SHOPPING! :D Ich gebe zu über die Namen der Geschäfte viel zu lange blöd gekichert zu haben, Shadow muss in dieser Geschichte einfach viel leiden XD Amys Persönlichkeit in der Story ist weiterhin ein sehr interessanter Drahtseil-Akt, ich glaube, sie ist der Chara zu der ich die meisten überraschten Rückmeldungen kriege - zum Glück positive, haha! Sticks ist weiterhin eine komplett eigene Chaos-Zone, aber wenigstens macht sie ganz auf ihre eigene Art eine Charakterentwicklung durch XD Ob sie es tatsächlich schafft, mit einem Klon aufzutauchen, schauen wir mal….ob ihr oder Vectors Verhalten bei der Partnerwahl jetzt das zielführendere ist, gute Frage. Shadow hat möglicherweise tatsächlich die vernünftigste Person in dem Zirkus als romantischen Prospekt ausgewählt, aber Dating im Sonic Universum ist wohl immer mit leichten Schwierigkeiten verbunden...dass Sally nicht so genau wusste, dass Sonic auf der Schule ist, ich würde es auf generelle Trotz-Verweigerung, sich über diese Schule, auf die sie überhaupt nicht gehen wollte, zu informieren und dann, dass sie wohl etwas eine Außenseiterin bisher war und sich mit Leuten kaum unterhalten hat...und mit den Gedanken die meiste Zeit eher bei ihrem Königreich war? Wenn Sally und Sonic jetzt zusammen zum Prom gehen würden, würde diese Fanfic allerdings abrupt in Mord enden, glaube ich. XD Hoffen wir mal, dass Shadow in diesem Kapitel die Zähne zum Fragen auseinander kriegt...wie immer vielen vielen Dank für das MEGA-Review, das ist wirklich einer der Gründe, warum mir die Fanfic soviel Spaß macht :D
Long time reader: Aw, thank you! Yeah, ngl, Tails and Maria having a friend who understands them is one of the reasons why I love spending time in this AU a lot more than in canon, there's just so much she never got to do! Not to mention, usually it's just one nerd per group in any series, when nerd friendships are so much fun! Also, I gotta admit, I'm *also* from a country that doesn't have Prom, so all my knowledge comes from American TV sitcoms, which I'm taking as a totally accurate representation of Prom reality for the purposes of this fanfic. XD Also, no worries, your review was perfect, you mentioned aspects you liked and your feelings, that's everything that gets me hyped up for writing, thank you!
Guest: Eyup, they're doing so with my blessing and doing an awesome job! :D
RECAP TIME!
When we last left our hero, Shadow and his friends were busy heroically shopping for clothes, because PROM is happening this Friday! Tails and Maria are working on a fake Emerald in the hopes that it can somehow draw out Robotnik, who already seems to have six of the seven Chaos Emeralds, with the last Emerald in Tails' possession. Today, Shadow is back in school again, with the hopes of asking Sally to the dance, only he has run into a little snag...
Chapter 27: It's Only A Paper Moon
"Why am I not at all surprised she knows him?"
"Hm?" Sally gave Shadow a glance, "What was that?"
Shadow (who had mainly been laying his head on his folded arms while everyone was talking, staring at his lactose-free milk carton and grumbling into his own fur) hurriedly tried to lessen his scowl at least a little, straightening up.
"…nothing. I was just, er, surprised you knew Sonic. I mean…personally," he said (and privately thought he did a fairly good job of actually separating his teeth at the last part).
"Oh? Were you?" Sally said, and then curiously gave him a little smile that Shadow did not know at all what to do with, before she bent down a little and whispered. "Then shall I be honest? Sonic's the best guy to have around in a crisis, but when it comes to sticking to a strategy, that blue lunatic drove me nuts."
"Oy, I think I just heard 'blue lunatic'? Are you badmouthing me to Shads there, Sal?" Sonic piped up from diagonally across the table, bright grin still on his face, and Shadow was glad for the laughter that provoked from everyone else, because he was fairly sure he was right now staring rather dumbly at the chipmunk girl, who had just flashed him a conspiratorial wink before joining in with the laughter of the others.
"It's not badmouthing if it's true, is it?" she gave a cheeky grin at Sonic, "Of course, maybe I'm mistaken and it was some other supersonic hedgehog who managed to blow up Robotnik's Ultimate Annihilator and permanently trapped the city of Knothole three hours into the future-"
"That was that one time!"
"He did what?" Shadow hissed at Tails, having leaned behind Sally's back to grab the fox kid's attention on her other side. Tails gave a sort of wincing grimace, rubbing the side of his head.
"Yeeeeah, the stuff that happened in the Acorn Kingdom was kinda…really weird."
"Not like I could enjoy that anyhow," Sonic pointed out with a smirk. "Didn't that robot doppelganger of your father sentence me to life imprisonment in his gulag, like, a week after? When he thought I'd killed you? In a kangaroo court filled with actual kangaroos, just for the pun?"
"Ah. Yeah, he did," Sally admitted with a sheepish grin. "You'll be happy to hear I destroyed him, then won the civil war after you escaped from the prison transport and managed to get my real father back from the extradimensional Zone he was trapped in. First he was half-crystallized, but then he was fine!"
"Really? That's awesome!" Sonic nodded with happy interest like the others (while Shadow was abruptly SO thankful he had ended up in Station Square which suddenly sounded sane in comparison to…whatever the hell was apparently happening on the other half of this planet). Sonic waved a hand. "So, uh, yeah, sorry I didn't get back to you after escaping from the prison transport, but Eggman had moved on and your country was full of secret service assassins trying to murder me, so…"
"No worries, that was fine. My kingdom, my job to take care of it," Sally gave him a friendly nod. "Just as long as that human megalomaniac keeps out of it, I think I can deal."
"That's the princess I remember," Sonic returned her grin. "He seems to be more interested in causing havoc over here recently, anyway…"
"Really? Gotta tell me some more about that when I get back. Bathroom's over that way, right?" Sally asked, getting up and walking into the indicated direction after Tails' confirmatory nod.
The moment she was out of earshot, there was also a hammer hovering in front of Sonic's face.
"Were you ever together with her."
"Amy!" Sonic yelped, before rolling his eyes and pushing the hammer out of his field of view again, the rest of the cafeteria tellingly completely unconcerned with mallet-related violence at this particular table. "Could you please not?"
"Why?" Shadow heard himself say, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Were you?"
"Oh for - not you, too!" Sonic groaned. "Why do you guys even care?"
"I'm still not hearing a 'No'," Amy said, also casually raising her hammer again, making Sonic look like the hedgehog was seriously considering just returning to GUN custody. He pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Okay, just for the record, I wasn't. There was kind of a civil war going on, alright?"
"Yeah, well. Still could have been like Gone With the Supersonic Wind down there," Amy said, pursing her lips. "I mean, she…" she looked to the side, taking her hammer down and twirling it a bit self-consciously against her side. "She's...maybenotcompletelyuncool. Like how she stole that magic sword back from the ninja spider clan to defeat that dark techno wizard," she said, referring to yet another completely bizarre anecdote Sally and Sonic had shared with the table. "So, I, uh." Amy bit her lip. "Just wanted to make...sure?"
"Hm-hm," Mighty agreed. "Mind you, I'm sure Shadow might've been grateful for you asking that question, too," he added with a grin, "Right?"
"I am sure I don't know what you're talking about," Shadow replied (privately also thinking the answer might have been more convincing if he hadn't said it while bending his fork in half with one hand while staring at the table). Thankfully, the conversation then did drift briefly away from the topic, mainly concerned with whether afternoon classes were back to normal today or still mixed up because of the two Sex Ed block days, and he almost felt himself relaxing when-
"Are you planning on asking her to Prom?"
"What?" Shadow's head snapped up again, at once finding Espio in Sally's empty seat, not really having noticed the chameleon move there.
"Are you planning on asking the Princess to Prom?" Espio repeated his question, voice still even, face impassive.
"I, uh, hadn't thought about it," Shadow lied, trying his hardest to seem aloof and more concerned with matters of supergenius-killing.
"Would be a daunting venture, if you ask me," Espio said, looking at the tips of his gloved fingers. "Her being a Princess, I suspect she's well versed in ballroom dance and etiquette. Anyone asking her would probably have to fulfill standards."
"Yeah. Maybe." Shadow replied, eyes flickering into the direction where Sally had disappeared to see if she was coming back yet. Truth to tell, that hadn't occured to him - would Sally really expect all that?
"And not only ballroom dance, correct table manners of course as well. Not to mention how to address and act toward her royal family if they should show up."
"You...think they would?" Shadow asked, eye ridges drawing together. He was not afraidof facing anyone, king or general or mad conqueror, but the thought of everyone's attention on him while judging him for social etiquette was not something he enjoyed.
"Maybe," Espio shrugged. "My clan serves a royal house, so I'm well-versed in these kinds of affairs. Although recently I have been a bit of a persona non grata over there, of course." He cleared his throat. "I don't know as much about the House of Acorn in particular. But I can guess at formal events the Princess would need someone as a companion who can look and act the part of a royal consort."
"Great."
"What was that?" Espio gave Shadow a yellow-eyed, reptilian glance, momentarily stopping the straightening of his gloves. Shadow pinched his nose.
"Nothing."
"Are you sure?" Espio asked. "I hope I haven't dissuaded you from asking Princess Sally to Prom if you were considering it."
"No. I told you, I have more important matters to take care of than a school dance for teenagers," Shadow said, making sure his scowl was still firmly in place. And it was true, Maria's cousin having potentially acquired six of the seven Emeralds meant-
"Really? Oh, good," Espio interrupted his thoughts. "Because in that case -" he stood up, turning around to face Sally who was just coming back to the table. "Princess, it would be my honour to ask you if you would enjoy accompanying me to-"
"Sally would you like to go to the Dance with me!"
"That - that, wow, that was fast," Sally (along with the rest of the table) blinked at Shadow, who had just been sitting on his chair but was now standing next to Sally and Espio about .002 seconds later.
"I'm as fast or faster than anything else alive. That includes learning to ballroom dance if so required," Shadow stated, matter-of-factly and also ignoring the entire table of gawkers at his back. "Would you like to go?"
"Um - before I answer, I believe you interrupted something Espio was going to say," Sally said, slight unsure smile on her face - "Espio, you wanted to…?"
"Ask if you would like to accompany me to our next science class. I believe we're taking the same level, and the computer rooms are always a bit hard to find," Espio replied smoothly, yellow eyes just briefly flitting over to Shadow. "Why, what did you think I'd ask?"
"Where to get help for a snapped neck, possibly," Shadow gritted out, then turned back to Sally. "So, um…?"
Sally smiled. "Oh, I'd love to!"
"Rea-?" Shadow started, relief washing through him like a wave, but before he could actually say anything else, Sally's face abruptly changed from happy to apologetic,
"...is of course what I would say if I were a princess brought up in a barn."
"Instead of a guerilla headquarters?" Sonic piped up from the table at their back, but Sally waved him off.
"Hush. The most you know about decorum is putting on fresh socks for special occasions."
"Hey!"
"But yeah," Sally said, giving Shadow a pained smile. "I can't tell my father I took a completely strange hedgehog to the ball, so..."
Excuse me? I'm not HALF as strange as HE is-! was on the tip of Shadow's tongue, stomach already trying to tie itself in knots from the relief being replaced with hurt and anger, before she continued,
"...sooo, how about going on a date first?", also accompanying this with the most brilliant smile.
"...Date," was what Shadow managed at the same time as Amy yelped "OMG YES DOUBLE DATE" from somewhere down the table (and Sonic also made a definite "wait what" expression).
"Uh…" Sally now also seemed a bit disconcerted, but Amy had already whipped out her phone and was now waving it into their faces.
"And I already know where, we're gonna go to Twinkle Park and it's gonna be super great! Sonic and me already almost went there once, only then I ended up chased by a murder robot but I think Sonic was also being shot at by robots somewhere else so it was still kinda a couple activity and romantic. But this time we'll go for real, there's the Love Grotto ride and super cute decorations and fun games and everything!" She said, tapping away on her phone, while the addressed Mobians mostly made expressions suggesting what they thought of anything called "Love Grotto" (and everybody else at the table seemed to have a bit of trouble keeping a straight face.)
"I, uh, Amy, that sounds great, but I don't know-" Sally started, an unsure smile on her face, but the other girl only frowned at her.
"What? But I already bought tickets for the four of us tonight! Oh, wait," Amy said, turning abruptly toward Shadow, "Should I get some for Maria and Dexter, too? OMG, triple date-!"
"NO! I mean, no," Shadow said, once again feeling like he was losing control of any situation as soon as there was more than one person from the Sonic Circus involved, "A double date is...fine." Please don't encourage her.
"Yeah," Sally said, "Any...any more and we might not fit into the love grotto, right?"
"Oh, of course, yeah," Amy nodded. "Good thinking, Sally!"
"But, uh, Amy," Sonic said, "I'm pretty sure I can't leave Tails alone all day-"
"Naw, it's gonna be fine, Sonic," Tails shook his head, "Maria and I wanted to spend all afternoon trying to create a fake Chaos Emerald anyway, we made loads of headway last night. It's SO cool to have someone actually smart to talk to!"
"Thanks, kiddo, feeling appreciated as ever," Sonic retorted, while Mighty and Vector mostly appeared to be trying to hide their laughter, Marine thankfully outside building some sort of squirrel-trapping (or launching?) mechanism with Sticks.
Sticks, Shadow remembered, the name also accompanied by an internal adrenaline rush. Oh f-
"Uh, say, you did survive a civil war and multiple attempts to kill you, right?" Shadow asked Sally, voice as casual as he could manage it.
"Yeah, why? I'm sure the most dangerous thing in Twinkle Park will be acute sugar overload," Sally grinned as the bell rang. "Now we just need to get through the afternoon classes beforehand…"
xxx
The afternoon classes for today turned out to first be the one subject Shadow hadn't attended before, Ethics, which was apparently taught by a Mobian called Wes Weasly (three guesses for teh species), who was dressed in a plaid yellowish coat that made him appear more a salesman than a teacher, and the actual content of the lesson didn't help that expression any.
"This is like being in an ethics class with a ferengi," Shadow hissed to Amy while they were currently working on a problem called 'How much to charge for changing the course of a Trolley - factors to consider for an ethical conundrum', "How did anyone here get their teaching licence?"
"Two weeks before we had a human teaching us called Mr. Stone," Espio, seated opposite him, shrugged. "Didn't seem particularly cut out for teaching ethics, maybe that was why he quit?"
Shadow nodded, truly not that surprised anymore. At least he had the evening with Sally to look forward to, so that was something? Not much that should be able to go wrong with a date at an amusement park…
xxx
"You...did you actually want to…?" Shadow later asked Espio in their last period of the day, art, as the two of them were standing at the sink, rinsing their brushes out. He didn't quite know which subject Sally was in right now and hadn't asked so far and Espio had acted cordially as usual, but he still wondered.
"Take the Princess to Prom?" Espio finished the question, giving him a sidelong glance. "No. Not the...type of prom date I'm interested in."
Which was, of course, the moment the bell rang for the last time that day, leaving Shadow with as much information about the chameleon as ever, and the only activity remaining for the day a date he felt severally underprepared for.
xxx
"...Hi."
"Hi! Oh, I'm so glad you made it!"
"Yes. Why wouldn't I?" Shadow asked, though he was gratified to see Sally's face light up as she had turned around after he greeted her in front of the amusement park, a wide plaza at the edge of Station Square Beach where throngs of other visitors were moving past them. It was already close to sunset, another warm night about to begin with the soft, golden light of the retiring sun giving everything a sort of softer glow.
After school, they all had split ways and headed home for a quick early supper - where Shadow was glad Maria was distracted with questions about Emerald construction from Tails who had accompanied him home and didn't ask much about where Shadow was going out to afterwards.
"Well, you didn't seem too enthusiastic at the idea of a double date with Sonic and Amy," she said, a knowing smile running along her lips. "I wasn't sure whether you'd come."
"It's not...look, it's not like I hate either of them," Shadow sighed, resisting the urge to rub his forehead. "But they can be…."
"A bit much?" Sally suggested, and Shadow exhaled.
"Exactly."
"By the Source, do I know," Sally replied. "Let me tell you, when Sonic was in my kingdom, running around with him was like - living in a comic book! Only it always felt like he was the main character!"
Sally laughed, but Shadow mostly stared back at her.
"That is...exactly what it's like."
"It - it also feels that way to you?" Sally blinked, the smile slowly fading. "Like, the way everything always connects back to him, somehow?"
"Yes," Shadow nodded, fervently, his hand instinctively closing around hers. "And how absolutely everybody knows him?"
"Everybody!" Sally confirmed, turning to him and laying her other hand on his, "And how he never listens to plans but then is always the one who saves everyone at the last minute?"
"I'm convinced he does it for drama," Shadow said, stare intense, never having felt as understood. Sally was also nodding, her face slowly moving closer to his, her eyes just as vivid.
"And the way he...steals...every...scene…" she said, voice lowering and body closing in with every word, Shadow almost mesmerized, watching her lips as they came ever closer-
"Oy oy, I can't help leading an interesting, many-faceted life, alright? Hey guys, long time no see!"
"...Sonic," Shadow said, not quite sure whether he should be grateful or incandescent as Sally rapidly straightened again and took a half-step back as Sonic was approaching, Amy already latched onto one arm of his.
"Hi guys!" she waved at them, "Let's go in, let's go in!" she tugged at Sonic's arm as she said, straining toward the entrance.
"Alright, alright. But Amy, there's no rush, we do have time-"
"That's what you said last time, and then Eggman had abducted all these aliens and you were a cube or something and the only one who got to go to an amusement park was you," Amy pointed out primly. "So this time we're using all the time we got."
"Look, it wasn't me who was a cube, I told you, that was one of the aliens-"
"Maybe, but you definitely were a werewolf beforehand, so who can keep track? Or your excuse of 'getting trapped in Camelot' and that's why you couldn't come to our date last time?"
"Amy-"
"Comic. Book." Sally mouthed toward Shadow, who resolutely nodded. Next, she turned to follow the two bickering hedgehogs toward the entrance, her wrist still caught in his grip twisting with the motion and Shadow belatedly thought he should release her - except when he loosened his grip, all she did was actually just sliding her hand higher to grab his, looking back at him and smiling.
"In that case, let's go be the fan-favourites, shall we?"
xxx
"Oh look! There's another game stall with more Sonic merch!"
Sonic made a slightly pained noise (that seemed to go very much unnoticed by Amy) as the pink hedgehog was already pointing at the carnival game stall she had discovered.
Shadow actually had to admit, the night so far had been pretty fun - they had ridden roller coasters (Sonic entertaining himself and the riders by running in front of the cart, until asked by staff to PLEASE GET BACK IN THE CAR), gotten fast food (the Love Grotto had so sadly been closed), gone through a fun house and mirror maze and set out on a boat ride (though only the three of them, Sonic graciously offering to get everyone ice cream while he waited). All in all, there had been a lot of laughter from the three others and even Shadow felt like this wasn't the worst time to spend an evening. Maybe he could take Maria here, too.
Only now they were in the section where all of the pay-to-play games seemed to be situated in and...well.
"Sonic, I need to play that one and get some - oh. But I already have that plushie. And that one. And the ears. And the shirt. And the key-chain. And the dish-set. Hm," Amy said, looking at the (indeed, very Sonic-heavy) prizes on offer with a frown, while Shadow quietly mouthed 'dish-set?' to Sally and Sonic mostly seemed like he was cataloguing escape routes.
"Why...why is there so much with your face on it, Sonic?" Sally asked, trying to keep a straight face while Sonic groaned.
"I guess I'm sort of their biggest celebrity because I live here. Still, I didn't realize it had gotten this bad-"
"Oooh, wait!" Amy enthused, "There's a new sort of instant curry sauce I don't have yet! Look, Sonic, it's blue!"
"What the- why is there instant-curry sauce-?!" Sonic managed, flabberghasted, while Amy had already hurried over, but was now apparently arguing with the stall manager who seemed to know her and was very adamant about her NOT playing the whack-a-mole game ever again.
"But- but that's so unfair! That's hedgehog discrimination!"
"That's not hedgehog discrimination, this is specifically Mobians-with-super-strength-and-giant-hammers discrimination! And that last policy was only added after YOU played!" the young, lanky blue nutria manning the stall bit back, baring his large buck teeth at Amy glaring straight back up at him. "I'm not risking my internship for this!"
"Hey, Amy, come on, maybe we can find another game stall to play at?" Sally gently suggested, the three of them having ambled over after her.
"But this is the game I'm best at," Amy pleaded, "All other carnival games are super hard…"
"Or how about we go back to the roller coasters?" Sonic suggested, but already sounded like he had little hope.
"Well, maybe there's one you haven't tried yet?" Sally suggested. "How about that Ring-the-Bell game over there?"
"That was the first one they banned me from," Amy grumbled, but thankfully still let herself be led away by Sally's gentle hand on her shoulder from the offending stall.
"Oh, hm, I guess most games based on strength would be out," Sally frowned. "But how about that one?"
"The shooting gallery?" Amy looked at it uncertainly. "I don't think I could win anything there, I've never done any shooting and Sonic also said he wouldn't be caught dead with a gun…"
"Well, I haven't done much shooting myself, but I think...Shadow?" Sally cocked her head. "You mentioned you're good at it, right?"
"...yes," Shadow said, feeling surprised by the small wave of pride rolling through his chest at Sally's appreciative smile. Maria and Gerald had always found it horrible and despicable that he had been forced through GUN's weapon training, to the point where Shadow had never felt like he could tell them he actually liked learning how to use them.
"Great! And, well. You think you could win something for us girls?" Sally smiled at him, one finger curling through her auburn her - the gesture more over-the-top playful than meant seriously and Shadow felt the edge of his mouth twitch.
"I suppose I can try."
"In case you win any more Sonic merch, shoot me," Sonic mumbled next to him, but Shadow ignored him, instead purchasing some tokens for ammunition and listening to the explanation the stall manager - a friendly-looking blond human woman with short-cropped hair - gave him about the rules and the functioning of the rifle.
"I'm actually surprised you don't try it yourself, Sal - or relieved you aren't trying to win any merch with my face on it, anyway," Sonic said, giving Sally a lop-sided smile.
"I know where my strengths are and I've gotten very good at delegating where they aren't," Sally shrugged. "I don't need to run into anything headfirst like you," she said, returning a fond grin. Shadow very pointedly shot a blue balloon.
"Oh, uh, didn't you want to shoot at the flowers?" the woman in the stall had yelped, giving Shadow a startled look.
"I meant to. Maybe just need a shot or two to get used to this thing."
Which wasn't entirely untrue. His senses told Shadow that there was a slight imbalance in the weight of the rifle and the barrel was ever so slightly crooked, barely visible to the not-genetically modified eye - it matched up with what he had read about carnival games and them often being somewhat rigged to maximise profit.
But - he shouldered the rifle again, shifting - now that he knew how the thing shot, there wasn't a weapon on Earth he couldn't shoot to kill.
(Even if he had to stand on a little stool to properly see over the counter.)
Shadow aimed. The targets fell.
"Con- congratulations!" The human woman managed, somewhat astonished after Shadow finished his allotted shots. "You have won - basically everything."
"I know," Shadow stated, feeling quite good at having done so in front of Sally. "I'm getting free choice of my prize, right?" There was still quite a bit of Sonic merch, but maybe-
"Technically, yes, but you're actually getting something so much better for this kind of score!" The woman enthused, ducking down behind the counter. "We only have one of those to give away per evening, but today's is definitely yours!"
She heaved something onto the counter.
Shadow stared at it.
"I...I don't want that."
"What? But they're super new and ultra popular!" the woman looked at him, eyes wide in surprise. "You don't-?"
"No, I don't want a life-sized Sonic the Hedgehog Side Hug Pillow!" Shadow stated, more firmly in the desperate hope that this time it would be understood, "It's already bad enough that the professor thinks - no." He looked over at Sally. "Please don't tell me you want it."
"I want it. Oh my gods. Can I have it. Please?" Amy, of course, was now immediately at his side, staring at the pillow - the side they could see indeed showed Sonic, lying on his back with crossed legs and a friendly, relaxed expression, arms crossed behind his head - with the same excitement a lion might eye a gazelle with three legs.
"You know what?" Shadow said as he saw the expression on the actual Sonic's face, "Sure."
"Yay!"
"And can I also get the red flower in exchange for the rest of the points? Thanks. Here," Shadow said, handing the artificial flower to Sally as Amy was squeezing the life out of the pillow. "To our first date."
"Mmh, thank you," Sally smiled at him, pretending to smell the plastic petals. "What was that you mentioned about a professor…?"
"Never. Mind."
"I can't believe you gave her the side hug pillow with my face on it," Sonic groaned. "I need to call my agent. And never go on a date with you guys again."
"Well, if you ever stayed over I wouldn't need it, would I?" Amy asked, sticking her tongue out. "And oh wow, look! It also has a backside with an even cuter pose!"
"Wha- how on Mobius is this even legal to-?"
"Very romantic date, Shadow, thank you," Sally said again, once more taking his hand as the other two hedgehogs continued their discourse re: media rights and leaning in closer. Shadow could feel his heart rate speeding up again, this was potentially it, he hadn't planned this, was this always what happened on first dates, was there anything you needed to pay attention to when kissing a princess, did chipmunks bite when kissing, was there-?
"Look," Sally said, her eyes briefly flickering to the side while smiling at him, "There's even a full moon out tonight."
Which was when the full moon blew up.
To be continued...
Well well well, LONG TIME NO...read? But I do hope most of you are still here and enjoying our tale, especially now that our heroes had their break and the plot is definitely picking up the pace! :D Hope you all had a happy Halloween and would LOVE to hear what you think of it, your comments are what keep me going through all these years - so if you read, please review, I cherish every single one of them :)