Encounters: Beastly (Sonic the Hedgehog AU)

The Tower

The nice part about staying at the station was that it was quiet compared to his neighborhood he lived in. Granted, the neighborhood was quiet - except for one person in particular, but Shadow was just waiting for that neighbor to either move or die.

He found solace that either one would happen eventually.

The clock said 5 a.m. when he heard a vehicle pull up. He was tying his shoelaces together when Sarah waltzed in, looking half-dead as usual for that early in the morning. Despite being an early bird, she was not a morning talkative person. So, he knew better than to talk unless spoken to.

But there was one thing he wanted prepared before Sonic would arrive within the hour. The sun wasn't up yet, so they'd need flashlights going up the trail for the beginning part, but it made for cooler hours to work. And they were about to be sweating up a storm for the day.

"You - "

"Getting the radio and the map prepared as soon as I set my stuff down." Her groggy voice cut him off sharply, but he knew not to take it personally. She was half-awake as is and was probably barely aware of her environment, much less remembering how she got to work in the first place.

The black hedgehog stood from the chair, shoes tied. He rested his hands on his hips for a moment, watching the female set her bag down in her chair and then disappearing into a room off to the side.

The station wasn't humongous.

It had a welcome center past the vestibule, where Sarah's desk was. Chairs were placed around a coffee table like a waiting room. Their old printer was on Sarah's desk. The desk was long enough that it ran across the room almost entirely, and wrapped around in an 'L' on the left side of the building. The continuous desk ran to the back wall - creating more room for Silver and Blaze to have their own spaces. Two rooms were off to the right - one with their equipment where Sarah ventured sluggishly off to. The other was a break room where Shadow had already poured himself his second cup of coffee.

There was a third room closer to the back, down a narrow hallway, across from their single bathroom they had (which was on the left side of the building behind the reception area). The third room had two beds that were more or less just cots. It also had a small, portable TV, and a heater. Extra equipment was packed into the storage locker in the room. It wasn't much, but it would do. The break room had a full sized fridge, counter space with a sink, and a microwave. So, when Silver or Shadow had to stay, it wasn't like they were in prison. Granted the station's Wi-Fi wasn't the best, but they were up further in the mountains than the rest of the town. And it's not like the town had the best reception either. It made the precariously stacked books on the only nightstand between the cots all the more enjoyable.

Sarah came back shortly with a radio and a map in hand. "They showed their packs to us yesterday. Honestly, Sonic was well prepared. Seems like whenever Amy hikes though, she's either relying on others for stuff, or she's just winging it and getting lucky."

The pink hedgehog raced through Shadow's mind. He frowned a little at the statement. "Well, I'm not going to bank on being lucky every time. Set her up with what she needs by the time she gets here, would ya?"

"Sure thing," Sarah yawned as she set the radio and map on the reception desk. Shadow walked over to her and put his elbows up on the taller side of the desk - where visitors would be. Sarah sat in her chair, slumping into the cushions as her bag fell to the floor.

Shadow could tell from the happy lazy look in her eyes that Sarah was about to say something she really wanted to say - meaning it was either going to be sarcastic or it was going to be to poke fun at Shadow.

"Didn't know you were into younger women, Shadow. If I had known, I would've shot my shot a long time ago."

And there it was.