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-'20'-

Sonic was thankful to be shameless. More than thankful. Shadow had outright refused to leave the room and face both Blaze and Silver. That was until Sonic left the room, Shadow was very quick to following along in a shamed silence. Sonic could only smile at his antics. It was oddly adorable to see such a vulnerable side to him. The apocalypse had probably drained him emotionally though. A bitter-sweet side effect.

The two entered Blaze and Silver's quarters. The two had a completely separate cabin to live in as opposed to the rest of the survivors, who were huddled into a small cabin. Sonic had been told the two would be moved to their own private area in case the cure wasn't as affective as expected.

The lavender cat came into view very quickly. She gave the two a warm smile and indicated go the living room. The two obliged and walked into the small space.

It was quite well put-together despite the infection. Two white couches sat opposite one another with a small, biege coffee table between them. A light cyan rug was tastefully angled diagnally beneath both couches and the table, its colour matching two of the walls, the other two being pure white. Beige shelves lined the walls and were filled with random clutter expected in a home pre-infection. It was quite cozy to Sonic. His bias for the colour blue was probably talking though.

Silver sat at one of the couches, busying himself as he looked over a map. Sonic chose to sit next to him and peek at the map. It was a large, hand-drawn map of the surrounding woods. Circles and dots decorated it, clearly meaning something, but Sonic didn't know what.

Silver huffed and thurrowed his brows in concentration, the first time Sonic had seen him so serious. Shadow must have also been curious, Sonic could see Shadow's quills in his pereferal vision as he leant over to look at the map. "Why're you so stressed? Whatever you're sighting is constant the entire way around." Shadow commented.

"It doesn't matter." Silver groaned. "We've lost a bunch of people and there isn't enough people to take a patrol shift in each area." Sonic perked up. He would never turn down a chance to help the people who helped him. "What about us?" Sonic asked. Silver's golden eyes gave Sonic a weary glance. The ivory hedgehog opened his mouth to respond, however was quickly silenced by Blaze as she sat on the couch opposite the three.

"Sonic, you are under observation to ensure the cure has worked." She paused as she placed a fake potted plant in the centre of the table. "And Shadow hasn't left you since you both arrived, so I doubt he will leave you now." Shadow nodded in agreement.

Sonic glanced at Shadow in annoyance. Shadow met his glance, his stare as blank as ever. He had made his decision and it was final. Sonic wasn't going to let that stop him though, they needed to repay them. He raised his brows expectantly as he tried to sway his judgement.

Blaze had clearly noticed the tension, opting to fold up the map swiftly and hand it to Silver. Shadow and Sonic jumped at the sudden movement and immediatley turned the the cat, who stared back almost as blankly as Shadow.

"Why are you two here, anyway?" She asked. The blue blur straightened his posture, swaying backwards and forwards as he did so. "We wanted to discuss the separate room." He commented. "We discussed it and decided we would prefer it being far away from everybody incase this..." his mouth dried almost instantly as he tried to say the words. His jaw locked in place, forbidding him any speech. Just thinking about it made him sick.

"Incase things don't go as planned." Shadow finished for him. Sonic kept his eyes glued to the floor. He was scared, he could no longer deny it. Even if things did work out, he would live the rest of his life with the fear of returning back to an infected state. He hated the idea. Why was it him of all people? It didn't seem real anymore, no matter how many times he reminded himself it was.

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The two were given a small, separate cabin. It wasn't as lavishly decorated, but it had ample space for the two and was stocked with supplies - probably more than they needed. It didn't make Sonic feel any better though. He kept his eyes locked on Shadow, a frown on his face.

The ebony hedgehog took notice almost instantly when he returned to the main living room. He stared back for a moment before eventually commenting on the other's behavior. "What?" He asked. Sonic refused to answer. Shadow knew what he was doing when he refused. The smaller hedgehog sighed "Is this about the patrol thing?"

"We have to repay these guys somehow, Shads!" The other pinched the bridge of his nose with a deep sigh. "Not right now. I have to make sure nothing happens to you." He reasoned. It wasn't like he had a good argument. There were many people who could watch over Sonic for the night. Sonic jumped up from the grey couch he had previously sat on. He made a point of walking up to Shadow. "Anybody can make sure I'm fine!" He reasoned, yelling slightly.

The ruby-streaked hedgehog took a step back slowly. He bit his lip and hesitated before speaking, his tone far less certain. "I caused this. You wouldn't have even been like this if I'd have-" He cut himself off and scrunched his eyes. Guilt began to take hold of Sonic "Shadow-" He whispered, debating what he could possibly say. Amy was always the emotional speaker, Sonic never even addressed how he felt. "If you're so bothered take me with you!" He exclaimed firmly. He didn't even realise what he had said.

Startled, Shadow took yet another step back. "But then we are undermining their authority!" Shadow raised his voice, dragging a hand down his face before crossing his arms. "They won't know unless something goes wrong." Sonic pointed out, stepping closer and leaning forwards, bringing himself closer to the smaller hedgehog. His ruby eyes looked away in thought for awhile, before meeting Sonic's once more.

"So far, everything that could have gone wrong, has gone wrong." Shadow protested. Sonic shook his head. He gently held Shadow's wrist and brought his arm up to both of their eyelines, turning it to show the bandage that covered his gunshot wound. "This didn't kill you." He pointed out. He let Shadow's arm fall back to his side and took a step closer, resting his hand on a bandage around Shadow's torso. "This didn't kill you." He repeated, looking down directly into Shadow's eyes. It pained him to know he had caused them, but at the very least both hedgehogs were alive and well.

"Nothing will go wrong Shads." Sonic reassured, bringing himself even closer to hug the other. Shadow placed his hands on Sonic's chest and pushed him away in protest. The ebony hedgehog turned his head away with another sigh. Sonic couldn't help but huff in response, releasing Shadow from his failed hug attempt. "Fine." Shadow muttered quietly before approaching the door. He left without a word.

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1231 words

Written/Published: October 20th, 2024

((Edited))