Chapter Text
Sonic was being too reckless in a fight, not taking it seriously enough, and was caught off guard. Now, he sits at home with his leg in a cast. He acts as if he's mildly annoyed at best by this, but it's obvious he's miserible and bored. Sitting around, taking it easy, watching tv, even video games are all boring. Tails had been keeping him company the last few days, bringing a box of inventions to work on while at Sonic's house. Normally, he would have just dragged himself to Tails' workshop, but pain meds only do so much and it's hard to focus on a long, slow walk that normally takes him moments. So he just stays home and hopes someone will hang around.
But everyone has their own lives. He quits asking people to come over the second someone else leaves, just waiting for someone to offer. Its irritating, but he has a hard time letting himself get upset over something like that. Days go by. Now everyone is gone on some fun mission while he sits at home feeling lazy and lonely. It had been nearly a week of solitude. He scrolls through his phone at his contacts even though just about anyone that would visit is currently gone. He tries his luck and texts Shadow, asking if he's free. He doesn't expect a response, but after a while he gets one anyway. He somehow convinced Shadow to come over, now he's just embarassed and annoyed. Shadow wasn't exactly nice company, and Sonic hasn't been in the mood to poke fun at him like usual. So he just sits and waits for what he knows is going to be an excruciatingly uncomfortable hang out.
An hour goes by until he gets a knock at the door. For someone so fast he sure took his time. Sonic gets up on his crutches and opens the door.
"Hey dude, what's up?"
"You're the one that invited me, shouldn't I be asking you that?"
Sonic couldn't think of anything that wasn't in the vein of 'I'm lonely' so he just steps aside for Shadow to come in. Now they're both just standing in his livingroom in silence.
"Well, I didn't expect you to actually come over."
"You think I'm that unsociable?"
"A little!" Sonic laughs at his own remark, but the lack of response from Shadow makes him feel like a jerk. He brings himself back to the couch he's been glued to for a month. "You can throw your jacket wherever, by the way." Sonic says, indicating to the old black jacket Shadow's been wearing recently.
"I'm fine."
"What? It's like, a million degrees."
"I don't mind." Quick and blunt.
"Alright, suit yourself." He shrugs it off. "You can also sit instead of standing there all weird."
Shadow sits on the couch next to him, folding his arms and crossing his legs. It's tense and silent between them. Sonic wonders if being alone would have been a better option.
"I take it you were lonely." Shadow catches Sonic off guard with that.
"Well, maybe a little." Sonic says this like he's telling a joke. "Its sooooo boring just sitting here, and I'm running out of things to do like this. So I thought to myself 'oh boy everyone is out having fun right now, so that means Shadow isn't busy!' Haha!" He puts his hand up for a high five and, of course, gets nothing.
"So you wanted me to be bored next to you?"
Sonic just looks at him before rolling his head backwards on the couch, finally being serious. "I guess so. I can't stand being alone lately. I have all this energy and nothing to do. I've already played like, all of my games to death, but we could play a fighting game or watch a movie or whatever."
They end up watching some low quality action movie, but Sonic can't help but notice Shadow tensing up whenever theres an explosion or gun fire or other loud noises. He always forgets that Shadow is sensitive. He "accidentally" drops the remote so that it changes the channel, landing on a comedy movie instead.
"Is there a fan in here?" Shadow speaks up after a few minutes.
"Nope. AC is broke too. Look just take off your jacket. If you have a dumb tattoo you're hiding I won't tell anyone."
"... Fine." Shadow removed it and places his jacket over the couch arm.
"No way you actually got a tattoo, I have got to-" Sonic stops, but he's already leaned over close to look.
"Got something to say?"
Sonic quickly pulls himself back to his seat and looks away, "I mean, no not at all um. Don't worry about it."
Shadow's arms had various cut marks, all parallel but a mess, covering nearly the entirety of both arms. Even through his dark fur its obvious. It was silent between them, the forgettable movie making noise neither of them could pay attention to. A minute goes by, unchanged.
"Look, I'm sorry Shadow. I didn't mean to get in your business like that, I didn't know-"
Shadow interrupts him, "you said you won't tell anyone. I expect you to keep your word on that." He still isn't looking at Sonic, he tried to sound threatening, but it came out sad. Sonic wasn't sure what next, if he should ignore all of this to keep things comfortable, or to try and reach out, even though he knows it would backfire. He thought on his words.
"Are you... okay?" Silence. "I mean-"
Interrupted again, "of course I'm 'okay.' I'm the ultimate lifeform, I can-"
"Dude, knock it off, I've heard that little speech from you a million times. Be serious. We don't have to talk about it- and I know you don't cause you never talk about anything anymore, but I'm not gonna just sit and ignore this and never bring it up again. That would be messed up." For once, Shadow doesn't interrupt him. He lets his arms slowly sit at his sides. Sonic resists from looking again.
"I didn't want to sit home alone, either."
"...Do you have air conditioning there?"
Shadow blinks. "Of course, I have standards for how I live." Sonic groans at that. His place is a bit of a mess, now that he looks around.
"Why don't we hang out there instead?"
Sonic watches Shadow silently stand, grab his jacket, and walk towards the door. So that was that, then. Pushed too hard maybe. Sonic figures that Shadow had enough of this, but he just stands there.
"Well? Are you coming or not? I don't have all day." He says to Sonic, who grabs his crutches and props himself up as he moves toward him.
"Well, it might take a while to get there." Sonic huffs out. Shadow pulls his green chaos emerald out of the pocket, and in a moment they're in Shadows apartment. It's more organized than he anticipated, not that theres much.
Shadow drops his jacket down on his couch. "Wait here." He walks away to the kitchen and theres noises of items being quickly moved. Sonic decides to ignore that and leans against the wall leading to it.
"Fancy place, is it just you?"
"Usually."
That answer makes sense. Sonic looks at him closer as he cleans up the counter, the red markings of his fur matching his cuts. He's only been wearing that jacket for a few months, now that he thinks on it. He doesn't enjoy the story that presents to him. Shadow shoves odds and ends into junk drawers. Sonic notices he has rubbing alcohol and bandages out, until they also get pushed into a drawer.
"Is this why you took so long to come over?"
Shadow snaps his head around at him. "Didn't I tell you to stay over there?"
"Why are you so mad just cause I care about you?"
Shadow finishes pushing the remaining supplies in a drawer and it doesnt close all the way, contents poking out. He diverts his attention back to Sonic. "Don't act like we're friends, hedgehog."
"Dude, we've been hanging out alone for a few hours, I think that makes us friends. Does anyone else know about this?"
"You need to learn to mind your own business, and no. It's just you, and I want to keep it that way." He's getting angrier and says this as he gets closer to Sonic's face to drive his point home.
"Can't you just talk to me, or anyone for that matter? You showed me so you're obviously asking for help even if you wanna pretend you aren't. You still haven't put your jacket back on even though its freezing in here, and you have all these... things lying around." He gestures to the medical supplies. They're both getting angrier, in each other's personal business like they always do when they fight.
Shadow shoves his pointer finger into Sonic's chest. "We're in my house, I can leave 'things' wherever I want. Back off."
"Why don't you just kick me out then, huh?"
Complete silence now, just looking at each other, blood boiling. Sincerely, "why don't you just let me help you?"
Shadow thinks about this for a minute, irritated rather than angry now. "You can 'help' me by getting out of my kitchen, is what you can do."
"Whatever, but I'm not walking out the door until you talk to me about it." Sonic moves towards his livingroom and sits himself down. He doesn't ask before he turns the tv on. It's already set to a music station with something abrasive at max volume. The noise shocks him and he fumbles to turn it down. Shadow finally comes out of the kitchen soon enough, less tense now. He sits on the opposite end of the couch from Sonic, folding his arms and crossing his legs like he always does. Songs go by and he has his eyes closed, enjoying the harsh music. Sonic doesn't exactly like it.
"Hey uh, think you can you turn down the AC? I'm freezing."
"You should have brought a sweater."
Sonic gives him an annoyed look. "Its summer and 90 out. I don't exactly prepare to go to an ice rink when I step outside." As if he's left the house much recently anyway.
"If you're going to sit and complain the whole time, just use this." He throws his jacket at Sonic, who catches it but feels a sudden burst of guilt.
"I can't wear this! That's twisted, even for you."
"Keep it for all I care. Just let me listen to my music."
Sonic's stomach still twists, but he doesn't want to keep fighting so he hesitantly puts it on. The material is rough and old. Its stained. He feels disgusted. They sit and listen to music together until he has a headache from it. He's not really sure what to do, already uncomfortable being in his home for the first time. Shadow's eyes are closed again, he almost looks relaxed. So Sonic takes the opportunity to look around without feeling like a creep. There's shelves filled with books, a mix of sci-fi, history, math, and medical science. Now that he thinks on it, it makes sense he would be studious, considering he lived in a scientific research facility. He has a few trinkets alongside the books, likely sentimental to him for reasons Sonic doesn't know. It's fairly organized, save for cds and dvds scattered on the floor. Sonic's leg is hurting again, and he props it up on the couch. Shadow opens his eyes at the movement.
"Wanna sign it?" His cast is already covered in writting and doodles from everyone else.
"Not particularly."
"Lighten up a little, it can be something stupid. I won't even tell anyone it was you so you can keep your loner reputation." Sonic grabs a pen off the coffee table and throws it at Shadow, who catches it and rolls his eyes. He draws for a while before capping the pen and dropping it on the floor. Sonic leans over for a look.
"What is that, a cat? Aw, that's cute, didn't know you had a sensitive side," he says playfully mockingly, annoying Shadow.
"Shut up."
"Oh come on, I expected you to draw maybe something like me with x's on my eyes."
"You're full of yourself if you think I would draw you on your own cast."
With a jokingly endearing voice, Sonic continues, "maybe when it's off I'll cut that part out and put it in a little tiny frame with a plaque that reads 'the one time Shadow wasn't an asshole.' Haha!"
Shadow sighs out. "Are you ever serious?" More of a statement than a question.
"Well I've been trying and that didnt work."
Shadow ignores him and folds his arms again. At least he's consistent.
Sonic waits a moment. "You like cats?"
"Yes. Is that a problem?"
"Quit trying to make everything an argument. Maybe you should get a cat."
"I'm not interested in having a pet, I'm not home much anyways. Is this all you're going to talk about?"
"Probably. Look, I dont know what the 'rules' are for this conversation," he holds up finger quotes for that, "but I've seen you open up before, just do it again." Shadow doesn't say anything. Sonic puts his hands in the pockets of the jacket, about to let the conversation stop where it's at, and feels something. He pulls it out in curiosity, and sees hes holding a pocket knife. Shadow watches closely to see what he's going to do. Sonic puts it back in the pocket, looking guilty, almost angry.
He looks back up at Shadow, much more serious now. "You said I could keep it, so I'll keep what it came with."
"Hey you can't-"
"What? I'm not gonna hand this back with a 'oh oops guess this is yours' when I want you to stop."
"I don't want to stop, so give it back. Now."
"What?"
"If I wanted to, I would have already. I'll just use something else anyways if you do this, so don't even bother with this."
"Wait wait wait, what do you mean you don't want to stop?"
Shadow is getting increasingly frustrated at being caught in his words. "I don't know! Why do you think I havent told anyone? Everyone would be in my business trying to stop me like you are."
Sonic realizes he still isn't saying the right things, if there even are any. He's more gentle with how he talks now. "Can you at least tell me why you do it?" The blaring metal and rock music is making it hard for him to feel calm, "and doesn't this music just stress you out?"
"It helps me calm down."
"That's weird."
Shadow turns the volume down. "Better?"
"So much better. Maybe you should try like, rainforest noises."
"I didn't ask."
"Yeah that sounds like something Amy would say, anyways." Silence for a moment.
He's sincere now, "I don't know why I do it, really. I just started one day when I was too caught up in my thoughts. Then I just didn't stop."
Sonic sees how Shadow finally drops his usual demeanor, how this is painful for him to admit.
"...You've been wearing this a few months before I broke my leg." He indicates to the jacket, by holding it out from the pockets. "Was that when you started?"
"Yes. At least it was winter so no one asked questions. It's getting annoying now that its warm."
Sonic thinks for a moment before pushing more.
"You could wear something besides black at least, like blue."
"Its an ugly color." A quick response, no hesitation.
"Haha very funny," he says sarcastically. "When do you do it?"
"...Usually when I'm panicking, angry at myself. Sometimes if I'm bored." Sonic knows that he's admitting more than either of them anticipated. Shadow is a blunt and honest person, but he's also isolating at times. Sonic knows he probably won't get this chance again.
"You can always invite me over and I can like, keep an eye on you when you're feeling that way."
"I don't need a babysitter."
"You aren't really proving it. Isn't that what I'm doing right now, anyways?" Despite how initially this was because he needed company himself.
Shadow leans back fully against the couch, his thumbs rubbing over a large swath of deeper cuts. "I guess so."
"Hear me out, I can't do too much for a while and I'm stupid bored at my place. Let's just hang out and we can listen to your bad music." Sonic says with a small laugh.
"As long as it doesn't make you more annoying."
"No promises, and besides, no one will get suspicious of you suddenly being friendly, cause I'm the one making people hang out with me all the time now, anyways." He leans back, hands behind his head, imitating as if he were a business man in a movie. "See? Flawless."
Shadow ignores his over the top gestures. It's not like him to go out of his way to spend time with someone besides Rouge and Omega.
"Just, try to stop. I can't make you, but its honestly horrible seeing you like this."
"No need to get so sentimental."
Sonic puts his leg back on the floor and leans toward Shadow. "I'm serious. I can stay the night or something. Your couch is more comfortable than mine anyways."
"Do you always invite yourself over to other peoples houses?"
"All the time, actually."
Shadow thinks about it for a minute. "Fine. Not tonight, you've gotten on my nerves enough for one day and I would like some peace and quiet at one point." Ironic, with deep guitar grating in the background.
Sonic looks at him concerned. "Are you sure?"
"You can trust me for one night, but give back what's in my jacket. It's the least dangerous one I have."
They look at each other for a minute, Shadow looks tense.
"I don't know... I feel like it would be enabling or something."
"Sonic."
"Only if you let me stay the night and order some food, I'mgetting hungry." He throws it at Shadow. No choice but to trust his words, he's not one to lie but he would definitely steal it back. It lands at Shadow's feet, clanking on the metal rim of his inhibator ring. He kicks it under the couch.
"I have food in the fridge, I'm not buying you something."
Sonic relaxes and sinks into the couch. "I appreciate it."