Bound by Music

Just Hearing Things

      Sonic arrived at Vanilla's house and found a familiar black motorbike in the driveway. Sounds of laughter and lively conversation wafted through the air to reach his attuned ear, and he smiled. As he stepped inside, his nose was greeted to the smell of homemade cooking. The room was filled with many of his friends, and Team Dark even managed to make it.

    "I didn't think you'd come," he laughed as he nudged Shadow, who had been watching the get-together from his usual spot in the far corner of the room, away from the chatter. The older hedgehog rolled his eyes.

      "It wasn't entirely my choice," he replied, his baritone voice allowed the words to roll off his tongue smoothly and almost rhythmically. Shadow frowned at his own reaction. That had been happening a lot lately. He would mean for his words to come out one way, and they would sound another. Sonic rose an eyebrow but said nothing.

Ah-ah-ah-ah

Shadow's head snapped up, and he stared out the window. What was that? he thought. His attention turned back to the hero in front of him, who was snapping his fingers in his face.

     "Hey, man, you good?" he asked genuinely. The dark agent nodded.

     "Yeah, just thought I heard something. Nothing to worry about,"he replied and told him to go talk to his other friends. As Sonic walked away to see Tails, he looked back towards the open window, his gaze fixed on the deepening sunset.

    "I could've sworn I heard something," he muttered.

   "Talking to yourself again, handsome?" Rouge asked suavely as she gave him his drink. He took it and drank it without answering immediately.

                   "No...not necessarily."

     She smirked and watched him coyly, "Uh-huh. Okay, I'll believe you for now. So what's up?"

      "What do you mean? You've been with me all day. You know better than to ask me questions you already know the answers to."

    "I know," she quipped, earning a frown from her partner, "but you looked pretty deep in thought. So what's on your mind?"

     "It's nothing," he answered as honestly as he could, "I think the food is almost ready, and if there was ever one time in my life that I was hungry, it would be for Vanilla's cooking."

     Rouge hummed in agreement. No one could compete with the rabbit mother's knack for making delicious meals, hence the reason all of them had gathered at her house for supper. The two more solitary heroes followed the others into the kitchen and took their normal seats at the large table. Since the growing team stopped by Vanilla's house often, she had recently bought a longer table to seat all of them. They, of course, chipped in with the cost of it and had helped her put it together.

    "Oh yeah! Something smells good!" Sonic cheered as he spun his seat before sitting down. Amy, Cream, and Vanilla entered the dining room from the kitchen carrying trays of food. When everyone sat down and said grace, they filled their plates and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Ah-ah-ah-ah

    Shadow looked up from his plate at the sound, his ears swiveling back and forth to try to find the source. This time no one noticed his perplexed expression before he turned back to his food, trying his best to ignore the wierd noise. 

    That night, everyone left to their separate homes. Rouge had already flown to her a club only a few minutes, leaving Shadow to walk on the quiet country road alone. He had enjoyed his time with others, contrary to popular belief, but he still felt like the odd one out, like he wasn't supposed to be there. Why he felt that way, he didn't know, but he decided that it was nothing worth thinking over. He would always be different, but he was fine with that.