What More Could He Ask For?

Chapter 3

It was many weeks later before Shadow went to visit Sonic--who was now mostly healed and was staying with Amy still. Once Mephiles found out that he wasn't eating properly, Shadow had been practically force fed by his brother for two weeks and that had quickly gained him more body mass and weight.

And Sonic seemed to be getting around pretty good on his legs again. He had the slightest limp, but other than that, he was pretty good. Now, all he wanted was a good bath to get all the gunk of paste and dried blood out of his matted fur.

Shadow paused outside the healer's den before entering. He saw Sonic on his legs helping Amy sort herbs and a small smile crept onto his face at seeing him up and about.

Sonic then caught the scent of the Alpha and turned to face him, his ears going down automatically as he said in a low voice, "...Good morning, Alpha..."

"Please, call me Shadow." Shadow said coolly. He then sniffed the air as his nose wrinkled at smelling Sonic, "Amy...has he bathed yet?"

Amy shook her head no.

Shadow sighed, "Sonic...would you like to bathe? I can show you where you may..."

Sonic blinked in shock at being able to call the Alpha by name. He then blushed and his tail tucked between his legs in deep embarassment when Shadow offered to show him where he could clean up.

"If..." he stammered before clearing his throat, "If it's alright with you..."

Shadow granted Sonic a rare smile, "Come on then." His attitude had improved greatly for reasons no one truly knew. He then led Sonic out of the healer's den before walking for what seemed like forever before stopping at a steamy pool of sorts. Since Shadow's pack was located higher then any other in the mountains they were able to find rare pools which were slightly warmer then most water, though it was nothing compared to pool located on volcanos, this pool was still warm.

Sonic looked around the area, the place was truly beautiful and the air seemed warmer up here. He then tured to the ebony wolf and nodded his head slightly, saying, "Thank you, Alp- -Shadow..."

Shadow didn't respond, he just slipped into the water, sighing contently. And he didn't care if Sonic bathed with him--a lot of his pack mates bathed together even if they didn't like each other.

Sonic instantly blushed and didn't move another spot. What the heck was Shadow doing!? Back in his old pack, everyone took baths seperately unless they were mates or unless it was the mothers bathing their pups.

Shadow glanced at Sonic, "What are you waiting for?" He asked curiously. Everyone in his pack liked to bathe together so they could bond and sometimes groom each other. But Shadow had no such intentions of grooming, he just wanted company.

"N-nothing..." the uke stuttered as he hesitantly stepped into the warm water, trying his best to keep his blush at bay as he dog paddled a little bit aways from Shadow so that he could feel more comfortable about bathing around the Alpha.

"...Why are you so far from me? Do you hate me that much?" Shadow asked, deeply offended. In his pack it was offensive to be so distant from someone while bathing with another in the very same pool.

"No, it's just..." Sonic blushed even more. "In my old pack, everyone used to bathe by themselves unless they were mates or if one of the parents were cleaning the pups...I didn't mean to offend you..."

"Well, in my pack we all bathe together to bond, to just spend time together in general. Also--if you have a close friendship with someone--to groom each other. Its a sign of hate when one distances themselves from you around here," Shadow stated.