The Bonds of Blood

Chapter Four: Nothing is Ever Perfect

   The moment his white gloved hand pushed open the door to Team Dark's office on the fourth floor of G.U.N Headquarters a syrupy familiar female voice made Shadow's black ears twitch and his golden tanned muzzle smile. His bright scarlet eyes immediately found the forty five year old white furred bat sitting behind her desk, speaking into a phone headset while a fold away tablet and keyboard was propped up at her desk.

"Oh you big lug, what do you want me to do? I'm dealing with a crisis at work and you told me you could handle anything our little jewel could dish out—" Rouge was saying into her gold and white cellphone looking sympathetic before checking her nails to see if the paint was still intact. "Knuckie, she's two! She's not in her walker any more she's gonna run off, you just need to keep an eye on her.... then get someone to babysit if you need to! Do I need to think of everything for you?!" Looking flustered and annoyed she immediately hung up slamming her cellphone back down on the desk, fortunately screen side up or the glass screen would have smashed with the force. She growled in frustration before looking up and finally noticing Shadow.

"Don't ask." She added in a stern voice as the black and red hedgehog slumped behind his own desk looking weary, slumping his head loudly on his desk.

"I won't if you don't." He intoned in a fed-up tone which was muffled slightly by the surface of his desk. Rouge's teal eyes softened towards him looking sympathetic, her own concerns about her husband trying to get her to work from home suddenly washing away.

"Oh Handsome, what's wrong?" She asked in a soft caring tone, getting out from behind their desk and moving to sit on the edge oh his, stroking his silky strong quills gently.

"I thought we had an understanding.." Shadow remarked firmly into his desktop, not bothering to lift his head but his fingers did reach up and wrap around Rouge's wrist, pulling her hand out from his quills then letting go.

"I never agreed to it." Rouge replied letting her hand rest on his desk. "Is everything ok at home? Sonic hasn't been irritating you—"

"Hmh.." The black hedgehog merely grunted into the warming surface against his face, he felt emotionally and physically drained. He had come here purely to escape his boyfriend's recent clingy nature,

"You want me to go there and give him a piece of my mind? Because I will." Rouge sounded in a somewhat annoyed voice, wondering what her best friend's boyfriend had done now.

"No, no.. There's no need for that." Shadow finally lifted his head and looking into the concerned expression of Rouge who was still perched on his desk with one hand resting in her lap. "I just came in to get away from him for a while. The last few days he has been overly amorous in his affections and this morning he tells me it's because of the way I smell."

"The way you smell?" Rouge wrinkled the bronze-tanned bridge of her black nose in slight confusion. "You don't smell any different to me hon." She added in an honest tone, the only smell she could get from him was his over indulgence of cologne which he had obviously done to hide his scent. Perhaps it was only a scent that only hedgehogs could pick up.

"That's reassuring." The black and red hedgehog sighed somewhat relieved. "Sonic can't seem to keep his hands to himself, his self-control has been lacking and he behaves strangely protective and jealous over nothing. I really don't understand him at this moment, everything seems to lead back to sex." He grumbled and this only made Rouge's eyes cloud over wistfully.

"Oh. Remind me what sex is like, I feel like it's been forever since Knuckles and I were that intimate." She added in a far off voice and a somewhat longing expression.

"You two still fighting then over how to parent Ruby?" Shadow kinked a black an eye-ridge up deciding that since she didn't respect his wishes he did not have to respect hers not to ask her what was going on.