I Can't Breathe Without You

Polaroid

"Well, well. Look who decided to show up for work today." The devious bat teased the stoic hedgehog, who seemed more focused on sipping his morning coffee, than he did entertaining his partner in crime.

Not giving her the satisfaction, Shadow only greets their metallic friend. A curt nod is shared to Omega, before The Ultimate Lifeform continues down the G.U.N hallway. His fellow coworkers bearing witness to the faintest smirk, some double taking at the sight, believing that their eyes are deceiving them.

Shadow conceals his upturned lips with the brim of his coffee cup, channelling his sombre expression, however it's appearing more difficult than usual. The sound of heels running up besides him forces Shadow to bite his lip, using the pain to return his frown.

"So, you're just going to take 3 days off of work and not even greet me on your return? God, you're such a dick." Shadow's strange concealed laugh to her joke sends a shiver of surprise up Rouge's spine. Now walking side by side, she takes the moment to truly observe her friend.

There was definitely something different about Shadow's energy. Despite his blatantly rude disregard to her presence, there was a likeness to Shadow that Rouge had never bared witness to before.

And she had a very strong hunch as to why.

"I decided to take some leave. Aren't you always pestering me to use it up?" Shadow finally responds, coffee cup returning quickly to his lips.

"Well, it's awfully convenient that you decided to only a day after having Amy at your place. I'm guessing you two must be having too much fun playing house together, hey?" Rouge lightly nudges the hedgehog in the abdomen, but he doesn't flinch.

Arriving at the glass doors that open up to the G.U.N office space, Shadow turns back to face Rouge. Omega, still cautiously making his way down the hallway behind them.

"She was sick, Rouge." A hint of worry shrouds the bats feature at the news, yet as she notices Shadow is still blatantly suppressing his smile, her eyelids drop in amusement.

"Ahh~ and so that warranted you taking 3 days off? I'm definitely convinced it wasn't because you wanted to spend more time with her." Shadow frown creases his brow, not amused by Rouge's immediate teasing.

There was no way he'd be able to share what had transpired so far between him and Amy Rose. Rouge simply wouldn't get it—reading far too deeply into things.

Ignoring Rouge's taunting, he replies.

"I believe Amy's sudden downspike was due to her body needing time to adjust to a new environment. It was simply my responsibility to ensure that the transition period went smoothly for her, that's all." Shadow wasn't completely being deceitful in his words.

Originally, he had theorised it was a reaction to the bacteria that may have been present in their dinner, however as the days passed—Amy's condition had been flipping back and forth between totally fine and healthy one minute, to completely bedridden the next.

He hadn't wanted to take the risk coming to work when her condition was like this. Too scared that something would happen to her while he was on the clock. Even going today was only really enforced by Amy herself, who swore to Shadow she'd take it easy while he was gone.

But what Amy seemed to define as 'easy', would be an impossible task for anyone else.

"Well...Has she adjusted now?" Rouge genuinely asked, her touch sympathetically grazing his shoulder.

Though Rouge's touch was gentle, it didn't bring him those same deep seated feelings, as did Amy's. Shadow hastily brushes past the thought.

"Unfortunately...It appears that even though Amy woke up feeling more lively this morning, her antibodies count was still quite low. Amy had assured me that she was feeling better...But I am unsure how she will go as the day goes on." Shadow admits, wishing he had a better response.