Weekend Outing

Chapter 5

Just as Sonic had anticipated, Cream's mother Vanilla and Amy Rose showed up to the meeting later that day, although he hadn't expected them so early. Not an hour after finishing his chore, both arrived with a basket-full of picnic foods and other tasty treats. So what if Amy was there? Sonic loved picnic food. Amy seemed genuinely happy to see everyone; in fact, she spent her first minutes walking around hugging everyone, including Shadow.

The black hedgehog didn't seem so thrilled about it, but he accepted it willingly and said hello to her, anyway. He did, however, accept a hug from Vanilla more enthusiastically. Sonic smirked and shook his head as Cream continued talking about how nice Shadow had been to her the whole time. 'Really..!' Vanilla said with a giggle, 'I would have never guessed!' As thanks, she left a gentle kiss on Shadow's cheek, causing the poor hedgehog to turn red.

Much to Sonic's dismay, it came his turn to receive Amy's affection. She leaped into his arms and told him how she missed being away from him, and so on and so forth. He smiled nervously, telling her he wished she had shown up sooner. Maybe it was a lie, but he didn't want her to feel like he hated her, or anything. Tails rushed over to them and and pleaded for Sonic to go swimming with him. 'Alright, alright...' Sonic sighed, 'I let you get away with too much, buddy.'

Somehow he was thankful Tails had asked when he did. As soon as they were out of earshot, he thanked Tails. 'No problem Sonic!' Tails quipped, 'I knew she was probably annoying you again!' They snickered and laughed about it for a moment then decided to get back to what they had agreed to. Shadow had gone into his tent to search through his belongings, as few belongings as he owned. Without any warning, the obnoxiously cute pink hedgehog peeked her head into his tent. "Hello, Shadow!' she said cheerily. The sudden intrusion of pink caused Shadow to leap up from surprise, hitting his head on the little lamp only a few inches above his head.

'Ow! Jesus...' he grumbled quietly, turning to face the confused expression of the other hedgehog. 'What do you want?' he asked, sounding slightly annoyed. He twitched a little and watched as she crawled in. 'Hey! What do you think you're doing, woman?' he snarled as she sat next to him. She smiled and looked at him with large eyes, looking like she was about to ask him a favor. He hated it when a woman asked him for anything.

'Shadow, you've probably been around Sonic alot lately... has he mentioned me?' she asked, swooning a little.

Shadow's eye twitched, 'What?' he asked with a gruff voice.

'Don't be silly, Shadow.' she said with a cute smile, 'He had to have said something to you.' she mused, looking at him with apparent excitement.

Shadow closed his eyes and crosses his arms, 'Sonic doesn't talk about women.'

Amy looked at him, slightly confused. 'None?' she asked. Shadow shook his head, hoping his answer might be enough to satisfy her. "Oh I see... I knew it...' Amy said quietly. Shadow looked at her, slightly confused. 'My poor Sonic has shut himself out...' she frowned, 'He probably has had his heart broken by another woman before!'

Shadow's jaw gaped slightly, a trickle of sweat falling down the side of his head. Could she really be serious? He watched her, noticing her sparkling eyes as she clasped her hands together. 'I'm going to be the one to mend your heart, my Sonikku!'

Shadow's eye twitched, 'There isn't anything wrong with Sonic, now go away!' Amy looked at him with a smile, nodding in agreement. She thanked him and pet the top of his head affectionately then bounded out of the tent. With a sigh of relief, Shadow reached into his duffel bag and pulled out a shining emerald, one blue in color. He always carried one around, in case it was needed. Granted, he preferred the green one, this was the first he came across. Although this one reminded him of Sonic's brilliantly colored pelt.

The more he thought about it, the more enthralled he became. He quickly reached over to the opening of his tent and zipped it shut, hoping to have a few moments alone before anyone came to bother him again. Within a few seconds, he was back to twirling the emerald in his hands, looking at it and his reflection in it. He decided he was going to give it to Sonic as soon as possible. He wanted his lover to have it, to admire it; just as he was now.

Exactly as he was now.

Shadow had begun stroking himself minutes into his thoughts. He was breathing heavily, still holding onto the gem with his other hand. He no longer payed attention to the chatter outside, but instead got even more into his current activity. Seconds passed and the emerald slid from his hand onto the blankets underneath him. 'Oh Sonic... I want you as my own..' he sighed in pleasure.

***

Little did Shadow realize it, but Sonic had already begun to feel that he was Shadow's. In fact, he really couldn't keep his mind off of his ruby-eyed counterpart. Why they found each other so alluring was beyond reason; they were nothing the same, except maybe the fact both were hedgehogs. Maybe, Sonic thought, the areas of their persona that were lacking were complimented perfectly by the other. Yes, that had to be it. Although he was spending time with Tails at the moment, he still couldn't help thinking about him.

Even as he was, Shadow was an impressive creature. No one really needed him to point out the fact he was the Ultimate Lifeform. You could just tell by looking at him. His posture, the color of his eyes and fur, his composure in general. In spite of being frozen for fifty years of his life, his intelligence is seemingly unmatched and his manner of speech is surprisingly practiced. However Sonic put it together, he always came up to the same end: Shadow was one sexy animal. He wondered what he thought about him, though.

'Man, Tails, you got me again!' Sonic chuckled. Tails was nearly impossible to beat in a swimming game. First off, he could actually swim; which helps. Secondly, he could glide across the water if he spun his tails fast enough. Sonic couldn't do either unless he had a running start. He just sunk to the bottom of the lake if it got to deep. Sometimes the others would give him a hard time because after all these years saving the world, he's never conquered the art of swimming.

After climbing out of the water, Sonic and Tails walked back onto the bank and shook off the water, that is until Amy came running at them with towels. 'Thanks Amy!' Tails said to her, wrapping it around his body with a wide grin. Sonic took it from her and nodded gratefully.

'Say Amy, you seen Shadow around?' Sonic asked, not really sure if the question came out too eager.

She told him where she saw him in his tent last. 'You're always talking about Shadow... I guess he's the first person to ever really save you, huh?' she asked quietly. Sonic had never thought about it that way.

'Maybe you're right about that... I owe him...' Sonic said, drying out the inside of his ears. Amy nodded in agreement. If it weren't for Shadow, none of them would be here to enjoy each other's company at all.

'It makes me sad thinking about it...' she said to him, 'Thanks to Shadow... I still have you to hold onto, Sonic.' Sonic flinched a little from the remark, not sure what to say to her. She seemed a little sad when she said it, but she was so obviously genuine with her statement that it made Sonic feel sad, too. He knew she was in love with him; he wasn't that dense. Maybe she knew he'd never pursue her, but he knew it would be ten times more hurtful if she knew he had shared himself with someone else.

Sonic nodded at the comment, 'Yeah, Amy. I guess we all have something to be grateful for.'