Chapter Text
“What the hell are you doing?” Shadow pursed his lips as he set down the plates on the coffee table.
The couch that the other two hedgehogs were sitting on had now been sloppily covered in random board game pieces- namely Uno cards. The hedgehogs themselves were giggling, in a halfway state of being majorly annoyed with each other and having a grand old time. Somehow, amidst all this chaos, Silver had managed to make sure Sonic’s leg and the ice pack were still safely in position. Shadow couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous. Of course he tries to help Sonic be normal and he ends up more screwed up, but the second Silver is alone with him he looks more like himself than he had since he lost his memory.
Sonic looked up at the black hedgehog, rolling his eyes, “Well, we just finished a game of Uno-Clue-Monopoly if that wasn’t obvious. Patent pending.”
Silver floated a tiny yorkie-dog figurine around his finger, “Don’t ask about the rules. I don’t get ‘em either.”
Shadow frowned, “You two are so childish.”
Silver floated off the couch and gently reached for one of Shadow’s hands, “Well, you can always be childish with us.”
Shadow jolted back slightly, ripping his hand away, “Ugh- not interested. Aren’t you supposed to be donating those broken parts anyways? Why don’t you just leave already and continue your business, hedgehog.”
Sonic frowned, almost retaliating before Silver spoke up, “I called Cream and Gemerl to come help with that. I was hoping we could do it together, but Sonic’s gotta rest- and I promised to keep him safe.”
Shadow pursed his lips, “I’m plenty capable of that.”
Silver rolled his eyes, “And I’m not here to fight, Shadow. Can’t we just like… be friends?”
Silver ended his statement almost hopeful, looking up at the older hedgehog with an edge of nervousness. Shadow just turned away, folding his arms in his typical moody fashion, mumbling something under his breath. Sonic just looked between the two, slightly intrigued. Sure, a part of him felt uncomfortable and worried about whatever drama they had going on, but a much larger part of him wondered how he could use this to his advantage. If not to find out more information, then at least for some free entertainment.
The blue hedgehog smiled snidely as he watched the two, “Man, you guys are quite the pair! You know, you’d accomplish a lot more if you were on the same page.”
Silver sighed in silent agreement while Shadow refused to make eye contact. Sonic continued on, kicking his good leg, “Why don’t you say one thing you like about each other? It’s a classic get-along exercise.”
Silver stayed silent for a moment but ended up giving in when Sonic wouldn’t stop staring at him, “I- I mean I think it’s evident how much you care about the people you love. You don’t really say it- but your actions always speak for themselves.”
Shadow blinked at Silver, slightly shocked, “Oh.”
Sonic groaned, “You can do better than that, Shads!”
Shadow paused at that nickname, taking a breath before continuing, “You- are very convicted. I respect that. You learn from mistakes and are willing to sacrifice a lot, even though you don’t always think things through.”
Silver raised his eyebrow at that last point before Shadow continued, “I am also guilty of that, though. In the end, it was your power that saved this world while I was turned into yet another pawn. You’ve beaten me, hedgehog.”
Silver frowned, “It’s not a competition. We’ve both made mistakes, but it’s turned out okay.”
Shadow huffed, “Well, your mistakes never did this to Sonic!”
Sonic ate this up almost greedily, all the while keeping silent. They hit that nerve once again. For being the “Ultimate Lifeform,” Shadow sure had a huge weak spot.
Silver was simply frozen, it was evident how Shadow had blamed himself. Silver may not be good at reading people, but that much was clear to just about anyone who happened upon the black hedgehog. Nonetheless, it was still startling to hear him say it out loud. With just those words, Shadow looked far more like a defensive animal than the cool, mature hedgehog that Silver had known him as.
Silver shook it off, trying to reach out, “Hey, if that was anyone’s fault, it was Eggman’s! Or even Starline’s! You shouldn’t keep blaming yourself…”
Shadow scoffed, “I nearly cost everyone their lives. Because of my own incompetence, we lo… almost lost that faker.”
Shadow looked annoyed, but there was some sort of sadness resting within his eyes, causing him to slightly turn his head, if only to guard his face from Silver.
Sonic rested his chin on the back of his hand, continuing that cocky smile, “Oooh~ you care about me.”
Shadow rolled his eyes, tossing his arms in the air, “Oh my Gaia! Shut up!”
Silver smiled softly, “It’s no use getting caught up in the past. The good thing is that we survived! All we can do is move on from where we left off.”
Shadow lightly punched Silver in the arm, only the slightest curve of a playful smirk making its way onto his static face, “Must be easy to say when you’re a time traveler!”
Silver seemed to take that too seriously, looking mildly concerned, “That’s not how it works! I hope you don’t think so- cuz I’d have helped prevent all sorts of bad stuff! Oh gee, that's awful- if you thought I had that ability and just left you hanging- I’m so sorry! That must be so-“
Shadow shoved his hand in Silver’s face before he could ramble any further, “You truly are dense, hedgehog.”
Silver blinked in response, only further confused. He, after so long on his own, had finally gotten used to deciphering what other people- especially in this distant past- meant through tones and faces. Shadow, however, was always so inexpressive and stoic when he wasn’t blatantly furious. Usually, he was pretty straightforward with his words, but Shadow joking around felt like oil mixing with water- Silver had never even considered it. He must seem so dumb right now. “Ah! I’m sorry…” Silver plainly replied, face lightly flushed with embarrassment as he pushed Shadow’s hand away.
Sonic paused, taking it all in. They made up fast, but man, these guys fell apart even faster. It was honestly pretty funny to watch. However, before he could egg them on further, a knock sounded from the front door. Silver was quick to leave the conversation and float over to it, only cracking it slightly at first, but then suddenly sending it swinging wide open when he noticed who was outside. Silver’s face lit up with joy as he quickly scooped up the small rabbit girl from the front porch, giving her a huge airborne hug, before gently setting her down. The rabbit giggled the whole way through, excitedly flapping her ears as she touched the ground. She seemed to want to float a little more, but was evidently too polite to trouble the older kid.
“Cream!” Silver smiled, ruffling the fur on the top of her head, “I thought you were with Gemerl, what are you doing here?”
The girl, Cream, placed a hand in the oversized crossbody purse she was wearing and pulled out a small tin of some kind, “We just finished setting up! When I heard about Mr. Sonic hurting his leg- I wanted to make something to help him feel better!” She excitedly scampered over to Sonic, opening the tin in front of him to reveal a small assortment of warm, soft-looking cookies in the slightly messy shape of chao heads, “So, Mr. Sonic, I get to be your delivery girl today! Don’t worry about your friends though! I’ll make sure to help Gemerl and Cheese get them nice homes once I leave!”
Sonic paused, not sure what to think, examining the suspicious creature before him. This kid looked just a little younger than Tails, sporting braces with uncomfortable looking rubber bands on her big dopey smile. Actually, seeing her this close made him realize that he had seen her at the party. At the time though, she had been surrounded by some creepy feral chao. Her expression seemed earnest, but the blue blur knew better than to trust something like that. Sonic raised an eyebrow, “Yeah, and by that, I’m guessing you’re just gonna crush ‘em?”
Cream’s eyes got big, seemingly wounded by that comment, “I would never, Mr. Sonic!”
Sonic rolled his eyes, leaning back into the couch, “Cut the act, kid.” A slight smirk formed on his face, “You guys don’t care what’s past the surface- if it’s a robot- you’re bound to destroy it!”
Sonic wasn’t quite sure what he was doing. Tails had helped him rebuild them and Silver kept trying so hard, so clearly these guys weren’t all that bad. Not to mention, the kid really didn’t seem like the type, especially with how upset she seemed to get with the accusation. Still, part of him wanted to keep pushing, to make them more upset. Would… Dr. Robotnik be proud?
Silver stepped between them, trying to smile comfortingly- though coming out more uncomfortable on his own end- at Sonic, “Sonic, come on, she’s doing you a favor. Don’t be like that.”
Sonic crossed his arms, leaning further back into the couch, “I never asked any of you backstabbers to get in my business.”
Cream huffed a little, getting visibly frustrated before suddenly getting struck with an idea, dipping her hands back into the bag for a moment before pulling out a small wallet, opening it up to reveal both some crocodile’s driver’s license and also an assortment of tiny pictures, haphazardly shoved on the other end. The top one, the one Cream pulled out, however, was of her, an older rabbit, and a robot all in a kitchen baking together.
Sonic blinked, slightly confused, but Cream quickly explained, “I know you don’t remember them- but this is my mother and Gemerl! He used to be a badnik too, but now he’s part of our family!” She smiled brightly at Sonic, “So you know we’ll take good care of them!”
He folded ever so slightly, half reassured- and slightly confused- by this, and half frustrated that his argument was dismantled, “Oh… I guess that’s fine then…”
Cream seemed satisfied with that half-hearted answer as she placed the cookie tin beside him on the couch. Skipping back towards the door, she gave Shadow a friendly nod and waved to Silver, starting to flap her ears and take flight back towards the town’s park, yelling out just before she left, “Lemme know if you need anything else! Love you!”
Silver waved back cheerfully, matching her volume, “Love you too! Fly safe!”
As she faded from view and Silver closed the door, Sonic raised an eyebrow, chuckling slightly, “‘Love you’?”
Silver frowned, his tone slowly losing its earlier joviality, “What?”
The blue blur just shook his head, “I didn’t realize you guys were this corny.”
Silver just rolled his eyes, “So what? She’s like my little sister!” He crossed his arms at the other hedgehog, clearly overly hurt by the teasing, “I’m sorry I have feelings, Sonic.”
For a reason he couldn’t quite explain, that response was like a dagger to the blue blur. He was about to retort with a whole bushel of insults before he was interrupted by the sound of Shadow’s bracelet beeping. He had almost forgotten he was there with the introduction of Cream, but Shadow quickly moved to gather with the two other hedgehogs as he answered it.
Rouge’s voice sounded over the speaker, out of breath yet almost giddy as she spoke, “Hey, Shadow! Guess who just got you a chaos emerald.”