The Gang's All Here

12: Getting Closer

The yellow figure stopped in front of the house where Scourge's smell led to. He'd had to go find somewhere to hide until it was dark again, as people seemed terrified of him. Most people responded strangely to seeing him. But it was now dark, and the figure could walk around freely. He looked to the house, and saw that the lights were on inside.

'Should I go and knock on the door?' he asked himself. 'I mean, people already think I'm scary. If I go and try to talk to Sonic now, he'll probably think I'm a criminal! No, I'll go prepare myself. I need to find something to eat, somewhere to shower, and rest up...'

The figure sniffed the air. 'There'll be a heavy rain, later. I can smell it. I'll just have to steal some soap from somewhere. And I'll be able to find some snacks if I'm lucky. Once it's bright out again, I'll talk to Sonic.'

The figure left in the direction of the back of a closed dollar store, ready to fry the camera systems.

~Meanwhile~

Silver decided that he liked Sonia along with Manic. Sonia wasn't necessarily as funny or as much of a-hole that Manic was. But she was still a really nice person so far, and was easy to talk to.

Along with that, her laugh was contagious.

Shadow was still jealous of the attention Sonia was receiving, but realized that even he enjoyed listening to her. She was passionate about what she believed in, and she seemed surprisingly independent for growing up wealthy. Despite that Shadow usually didn't like girly-girls (granted, his only experience with one was Amy), he didn't find Sonia annoying.

No wonder Silver liked her.

Silver's watch beeped. He looked down at his wrist, "Oh, I've gotta go. It's already 9:00."

Sonia was surprised. "You have a curfew for yourself?"

"It just helps me keep track of my sleep schedule. I give myself time to do any leftover chores before I go to bed."

Silver stood and walked to the door, then froze. He turned, "Shadow, you coming?"

Failing to will himself not to blush, Shadow followed Silver. They said goodbye to Sonia and Manic before leaving.

Shadow turned to Silver as they made their way to his house. "Silver, why do you always choose to walk home if you can fly or teleport? ... actually, can you teleport?"

Silver shook his head no. "I think it's possible for me to learn how, but I don't teleport. Also, I walk for the exercise. And to clear my head."

Shadow gave an "Mm" in response. After a while, he said to Silver, "I think I need your help."

"Why's that?"

"I'm afraid to go home."

Silver turned to Shadow in shock. "What?"

"There's something wrong with me. Since early this year, every time I'm in my house, I feel uneasy. I swear I'll see something move, or I'll see a shadow twitch, but when I take a closer look, nothing appears to be out of the ordinary. And my nightmares are worse and more frequent when I'm in my own bed. I don't understand why this started, but I'm beginning to think I need more mental help."

Silver thought. This scenario didn't make sense to him. Why would anyone randomly begin having extreme nightmares and hallucinations, and specifically in their own home?

Then, Silver got an idea. "I'll go with you, then."

This shocked Shadow. "What now?"

"I'll go with you to your house. That way, I can see if there's actually anything going on, there."

"No."

Both were a bit surprised at Shadow's immediate response.

"I mean, I really don't want to go there. Not at night. I won't be able to sleep. Can we wait until the morning?"

Thinking that this must be serious for Shadow, Silver nodded.

~Later~

Shadow had helped Silver with any remaining chores around the house, and after showering (separately, pervs), they were in bed.

Silver was on his bed, and Shadow was on the cot bed beside it. Silver couldn't stop thinking of what had happened the night before, and wanted to have Shadow under his arm, again.

Shadow was asleep on his cot. He'd drifted off, comforted in knowing Silver was near. Eventually, knowing that Shadow would stay with him, Silver fell asleep.