Innocence (Sonadow)

Chapter 14: Vector and Charmy

"What was that about?" Shadow asked when Espio left.

"Nothing Shadow." Sonic sighed. "Knuckles just likes to tease Espio because him and Silver are in a relationship, and Espio has kinda taken up the female roll. That's what we call a Uke."

"A Uke?" Shadow tilted his head in curiosity. "The female roll? What exactly do you mean?"

"Well, you know how Tails keeps teasing us about being lovehogs, even though we're not." Sonic sent a warning glare to his younger brother, who held his hands up in playful surrender.

"Yeah."

"Well, that's basically what Silver and Espio are. They're lovers."

"But… they're both boys… aren't they?" Shadow frowned in confusion. "Why would Espio need to take up the roll of a female to be with Silver?"

Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and Tails looked at each other, unsure how they were supposed to answer this. Shadow's mind was still in its child-like stage. They were willing to bet that he hasn't quite had "The Birds and The Bees" talk yet.

"Eh, we'll save that talk for when your mind has matured a bit." Sonic chuckled nervously, which earned him a pout.

"I'm as old as you, according to Tails." Shadow huffed. "I'm mature."

"Your body may be mature, but your mind is not." Sonic chuckled. "You're basically a 4 year old in a 15 year old's body."

"Is that bad?" Shadow whimpered.

"I wouldn't say it's necessarily bad," Sonic shook his head. "Unusual, maybe, but definitely not bad."

"Sonic's right, Shadow." Tails quickly piped up. "There are plenty of people who have child-like minds like you."

"Well… I guess if it's not bad." Shadow shrugged.

"It's not, trust me." Sonic smiled, laying a hand on the ebony's shoulder.

Shadow smiled and laid his own hand on top of Sonic's.

"I do trust you."

Suddenly, a knock came from the door. Shadow smiled, knowing it had to be Espio with his friends.

"Come in." He invited.

Sure enough, Espio walked in through the door, followed by the crocodile and the bee. They both looked friendly enough. It was just the bee was jumping around a bit, excited to introduce himself.

"Shadow, this is Charmy and Vector." Espio introduced them. "My friends and teammates. Fellas, this is Shadow."

"Hey there, little fella." Vector greeted the ebony hedgehog. "It's great to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." Shadow nodded back shyly.

"Hi Shadow! I'm Charmy! It's awesome to finally meet you! Rouge didn't tell us much about you. I have so many questions! Where are you from? What's your last name? What powers can you do? What's your favorite food? Do you like chocolate or vanilla? How old are you exactly? Are you a day person or a night person? Who's your best friend? What did Eggman do to you? You're really thin. Are you anorexic? What's with the scar on your stomach? Sonic said that you have a mind younger than me. What did he mean by that? How young do you think I am?"

As Charmy continued to spout questions at Shadow, the ebony hedgehog began to feel his anxiety creeping. This child was speaking too fast and had way too many questions. Some of them he couldn't even answer, and some he'd rather not answer.

"Charmy, that's enough." Sonic scolded. "You're scaring him."

Shadow gave a soft whimper and snuggled up to Sonic, begging to be held, which the blue hedgehog promptly did so. At this, Charmy was filled with guilt.

"Oh… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to scare him." He frowned sadly, his antennae drooping. "Gosh, he really does scare easily."

"You were warned that he does, Charmy." Espio scolded. "I don't know what made you think it was appropriate to be hyper like that."

Charmy was incredibly guilty now. He never meant any harm. Shadow saw this and felt obligated to cheer him up. After all, he was just a child.

"It's ok, Charmy." He assured the bee nervously. "You're just a kid. I understand. And I forgive you."

At this, Charmy did his best to give a calm smile.

"Thanks Shadow. You're very forgiving."

"I learn from the best." Shadow smiled, looking up at Sonic, who chuckled in response. "Some of the questions you've asked I really can't answer, and others I really don't feel like it. Is there anything else you wanna ask instead?"

"... I guess… why can't you answer some of my questions?"

"... Because I have no memory." Shadow answered. "I can't remember anything before the bad man, er, Eggman, captured me. The only thing I remember… is my name."

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry." Charmy apologized sympathetically.

"It's ok, I've grown used to it." Shadow shrugged, then smiled. "Do you have any powers? Blaze and Espio did."

"No, I don't have any powers." Charmy shook his head. "But Vector does."

"That's right." The croc announced proudly. "Ever seen a fire breather, kid?"

"A fire breather?" Shadow tilted his head. "Does that mean you can breathe fire?"

"It certainly does." Vector boasted. "Wanna see?"

Before Shadow could answer though, Vector took a deep breath and exhaled into the air, a stream of reddish orange fire spraying from his mouth.

Shadow watched on nervously. The air in the room was getting hotter, and the ebony hedgehog feared that the crocodile might accidentally set something on fire. Sonic seemed to think this too, as he cleared his throat to get his attention.

"Ok Vector, I think that's enough." He told him. "Don't wanna show off too much and end up burning the place."

"Yeah, good point." Vector agreed as he stopped his fire breath, looking back at Shadow. "Do you have any powers, Shadow?"

Shadow remembered that this was one of the questions Charmy asked in his fountain of questions. Curious, Shadow thought hard to recall any powers that he might have, but none came to mind.

"I don't know." He answered truthfully. "I can't remember if I do or not. And if I do, I don't remember how to use them."

"That's ok Shadow." Sonic assured him. "Maybe sometime in the near future, we'll try to figure out if you do or not. Would you like that?"

"Yeah!" Shadow replied excitedly.

"Cool, well, it was nice meeting you, Shadow." Charmy beamed.

"It was nice meeting you too, Charmy, Vector, Espio." Shadow nodded to each Chaotix member.

The Chaotix nodded back and began to leave. Just as Espio was about to walk through the door, Shadow called out to him.

"Excuse me, Espio?"

"Yes Shadow?" Espio turned back to the young-minded hedgehog.

"If you don't mind, I think I'd like to meet Silver, if that's ok." Shadow blushed nervously. "I have a few questions for the two of you."

Espio blushed lightly, a smile trying to hide it.

"Of course Shadow. I don't mind at all. After all, it was only a matter of time before you met him."

With that, Espio left the room, heading downstairs to grab his ivory boyfriend.

"What questions do you have for them?" Tails asked Shadow curiously.

"... Something that's been on my mind for quite awhile."