Hairy Situation

(Ch. 2) Friend...

Emerald eyes slowly flutter open, attempting to fight of the blurriness. They slide left and right, still unable to make sense of the amalgamations of dingy colours. When his vision decides to finally clear, Sonic discovers he's in an unfamiliar room: age-old paint (a life-draining grey) covers every inch of the walls and ceiling, the dirtied glass of the only window there prevents most light from entering, and, though it could be worse, the bed isn't in an any better state.

"You took your time waking up," a voice says, followed by the flick of a dim light.

The blue hedgehog turns to see Shadow leaning against the door-frame. 'Chaos emeralds!' he thinks, remembering the previous nights events. 'He knows! He's gonna' kill me for sure!'

While internally screaming at himself, Sonic fails to notice the dark hedgehog inching closer and closer to him. He takes a hold of the speedster's arm, getting right up in his face and glaring intimidatingly into his eyes. Sonic barely has time to react and finds himself trapped in the ruby red stare. They stay like that for what feels like decades, the only sounds coming from their calm breathing and Sonic's not-so-steady heartbeat.

"Listen, faker," Shadow mutters in a hushed tone, thinking through his next words carefully - he hasn't always been good with words, "this is a... complicated situation, I know, and I understand why you would keep it a secret but not telling Tails? Surely, he could help, couldn't he? And here I thought he was your closest companion."

As Shadow had been talking, the blue hero is left speechless, surprised to be receiving such a lecture from what he thought to be a gloom and doom kind of guy; from his rival no less! Although, he can't be sure that rival is the right term anymore, especially after all that the striped hedgehog had said about him last night.

"You killed Sonic!"

"I'm sorry, Sonic... I've failed you..."

"I've already lost one friend... now this?!"

Friend... 'Huh, maybe...' he thinks. He can't help but reminisce in the memories of what Shadow had said without realising he was talking to the very hedgehog at the time.

"Aw, Shads, you really do have a heart," Sonic swooned, dramatically putting his free hand to his chest.

Shadow growls, punching his fist just beside the hedgehog's head and tightening his grip on his arm. "You think this is some kind of joke?! This is a serious matter! I... I almost killed you."

He averted his gaze and released Sonic's arm, the skin going briskly from white to a light red. With wide eyes, the hero watches as his dark counterpart walks over to the window, looking out of it, though he imagined it difficult with the amount of dirt plaguing the glass. He soothingly massages his arm and attempts to get out of bed only to tremble in agony and fall back, a small puff of dust flying from the bed covers from the sudden impact. As he stares at the ceiling, Sonic hears soft foot steps travel towards him and catches Shadow with the corner of his eye standing at the edge of the bed.

"You should rest and let your wounds heal," he states simply, leaving shortly after.

Sonic continues to bore holes into the ceiling before painfully settling himself back under the covers. The whole situation seems so surreal.

Shadow leans back against the door, rubbing his temples and sighing. He makes his way to his own room, only to be stopped halfway through the corridor by his wrist watch. The device flashes a bright red, yellow text indicating that Tails is the one trying to get through to him. The dark hedgehog knows that ignoring it will only lead to more drama than he wants to have to deal with, so he answers.

"Shadow, thank goodness!" Tails sighs in relief. "Did you find Sonic? Is he alright?! He didn't come back home last night!" The panic in the young fox's tone is almost heart-breaking.

"He's fine. A little banged up, but fine."

Tails asks if Shadow had uncovered the reason as to why his blue pal has been wondering off each night, desperate to get answers. The ultimate life-form gives a quick and simple no, immediately hanging up after, obviously un-keen on lying to his blue rival's closest friend - his brother in fact!

He takes a sharp inhale through his nose and breathes out of his mouth slowly, calming his slightly rattled nerves. Lying most definitely isn't his forte. Sure, he's good at it but that doesn't mean he enjoys doing it to the ones he considers (somewhat) close to him. Leisurely, Shadow makes his wat to the lounging area, practically collapsing onto the sorry excuse for a couch. Loose pieces of fabric hang from it, some had even found a home on the ragged carpet, and it had lost it's cushiony touch many years ago. Or, at least, that's what Shadow figures since he's only been living there a few weeks. He was always moving from place to place, always looking for the cheapest apartements he could get his hands on.

A tired yawn erupts from the fatigued hedgehog, having not gotten any sleep the night before. He rests an arm over his eyes and the other atop his stomach. It isn't long before he is lulled to sleep by the soft ticking of the old grandfather clock that a previous owner had left behind.

Many hours pass and Sonic is still awake, replaying the moment he had with Shadow over and over and over again. 'He actually makes a good point... maybe I should tell Tails,' he thinks but shakes his head in self disagreement. 'No, if I hurt him, I'd never forgive myself.' A thought suddenly occurs to him: had he hurt Shadow? He hadn't seen any injuries on said hedgehog but that doesn't mean he didn't harm him in some way. Why does the thought of hurting him make Sonic feel so sick? He shakes it off - he did admit to himself that he could see Shadow as a friend.

With much strain and struggle, the blue hedgehog climbs out of bed, wobbling to wherever the kitchen is in desperate need for a drink. As he attempts to search for it, a light snoring grabs his attention and he finds himself walking towards it. Poking his head through the door of what he assumes is the lounging area, Sonic catches a dark figure resting on the derelict couch. His chest rises and falls in a gentle, rhythmic flow.

The injured hedgehog subconsciously makes his way to him, careful not to make too much noise with his poor attempts to walk. He studies his counterpart's body prudently, unable to see any lacerations or bruises. A thankful breath he was unaware of holding leaves the hero's mouth.

Just as he goes to search for the kitchen again, an almost inaudible noise interrupts his thoughts. Curiously, he turns back to Shadow - the sound's definitely coming from him. Sonic cautiously leans closer to him; he hears a soft... purring? Surprised, he recoils with a quirked brow.

The hedgehog can't help but chuckle quietly to himself. "Guess you're not as tough and gloomy when you're asleep, huh."

Smiling to himself cockily, Sonic returns to his original mission, leaving his friend to sleep in peace.