Fate's Wretched Odyssey

VI

It had been a solid three weeks since Sonic had lashed out at Shadow. Work had been smooth, but there was little conversation shared between him and his boss. Most of his shifts were spent talking to Silver, who just couldn't seem to shut up about how great Mr. Doom was, or he killed time by gossiping with Rouge; now that someone who wasn't Tails or Vector knew about his secret, he felt the weight on his shoulders lift, even if only just.

"Do you think Shadow likes me?" Silver's voice broke through Sonic's thoughts.

"Ugh. I don't know, dude," Sonic groaned, tired of being asked the same questions just about every day. Rouge was sitting on a barstool, watching Sonic as he tapped his foot on the floor out of boredom. "Why don't you just ask him? If you don't, I'm sure someone else will."

"Ask him myself?! Are you crazy?" The albino's ranting made the three other present mobians groan dramatically. "You are such an ass-kisser," Knuckles mumbled as he poured a drink into a shaker. Silver looked offended by Knuckles' words, "What?"
"An ass-kisser, sweetheart," Rouge was quick to enlighten, "He means you're constantly kissing Shadow's ass." Again, offense crossed Silver's features.

"I most certainly am not!"
"I bet you wish you were, though." Sonic piped up with a small chuckle.

Silver's quills flared, a pathetic growl leaving his throat, promptly forcing Sonic to ignore the instinct to accept the unknowing challenge Silver was proposing.

"Alright, new guy, what makes you think I'm an ass-kisser?" Sonic smirked. "Well, you're constantly fawning over Mr. Doom, you work twice as hard than you're paid for just to receive the smallest amount of praise from Shadow, you're always the first one to offer him a drink when he sits down, AND you could never say no to him." Rouge sipped her cocktail, aquamarine eyes resting on the werebeast. He had pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one.

Silver, unable to think of something in return, was left a blubbering mess as Sonic marched off to help a customer who was having trouble with a machine. Rouge glanced over at the white male, "He's right, you know. If you don't ask Shadow, someone else will get to him first, and I can guarantee that you aren't gonna like it..."

***

Rouge and Sonic sat together in the bat's office, one large paw placed delicately on the low, glass coffee table while Sonic was seated in front of it on his haunches. The female had a nail file in her hands and was busy tending to Sonic's gnarly claws. "Dolly, you gotta take care of these things more often! I mean — just look at them! Are you trying to kill a woman?" She huffed and filed a little faster.

Sonic puffed his cheeks out a little in a small pout. "Out in the woods, we used to scratch our claws on tree trunks to keep them sharp, yet manageable," a soft sigh of remorse left him, which earned a small look of sympathy from his friend. "Thanks for helping me out, Rouge," he cast her a smile.

Rouge hummed, focusing back on his ignored claws once again. They sat in comfortable silence for a minute or two, the sound of filing nails filling the homey office. She had explained earlier that this place, this room, was practically her home, as she spent the majority of her time here. The only use of her and Shadow's shared house was the 'insanely fluffy bed.' A few more seconds passed before she broke her gaze from her work, curiosity growing.

"Which reminds me: why did you leave the woods?" She asked, feeling the werebeast tense up from under her. Tilting her head up, she spotted a nervous grimace with bright green eyes looking anywhere but the bat in front of him. She waited a few seconds before shrugging, finishing up with Sonic's right paw.

Maybe others would pressure or drag the information out of the mobian in front of her, but Rouge had been on that side. She'd much rather Sonic tell her when he wanted to. Besides, she didn't need another panic attack. Especially in the room with all her potted plants in glass bowls.