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miaxwrites · 3 days ago

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My Heart Shaped Sunglasses

002 | We’re Getting Drunk and Driving Fast on Cherry Wine

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CHAPTER TWO "we're getting drunk and driving fast on cherry wine"

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Locked up.

Shadow wanted to be hidden away from the rest of the world with the key tossed into a gutter, never to be seen again, so he could escape the embarrassment that ebbed at his being every time he stepped outside of his house. Even passing by the window was too much, prying eyes latching onto his frame and making a mockery out of his existence. He couldn’t stand it.

Ever since they had met, Shadow has been doing everything in his power to avoid Sonic. By extension, the Wachowski’s were also bearing the brunt of that decision as Shadow made sure he was scarce anytime one of them showed up or was near.

He didn’t know how else to deal with the situation. After making himself look like a fool in front of Sonic them, avoiding the whole family seemed like the only logical thing to do moving forward. Those moments spent hanging upside down from Maria’s arms had permanently engraved themselves into Shadow’s brain, forcing him to remember the embarrassment he had felt every time he dared to close his eyes.

Avoiding the Wachowski’s didn’t strictly correlate to Shadow teleporting away whenever one of them was near, no. The gift basket that Maddie had made for them went untouched by Shadow—though he couldn’t say Maria hadn’t been enjoying it—on the kitchen countertop, the curtains of his window overlooking the Wachowski’s household had been left indefinitely pulled shut, and worst of all, Shadow had refused to leave the household despite how ‘safe’ Gerald and Maria claimed it to be. Especially after the incident on night one.

It’s how he found himself sprawled across his window seat, engulfed in a room of darkness while he loosely held a copy of Alice in Wonderland in his lap, some pop song that Maria had downloaded playing from an old iPod Gerald had fished out for her. The days seemed to stretch on further with every passing hour when he spent them like this, making Shadow both long for and dread the night as even then he was concealed within his room’s walls.

The only difference then was that Shadow could slip away into an undisturbed slumber. Sometimes, his subconscious would be nice, allowing him to get through the night without ever stirring or having any thoughts cross his mind. Others, Shadow was left trembling, concealed within a damp layer of sweat as he thrashed back and forth, never quite able to escape as he was forced to wait until morning, his silent pleas never making it far.

It’s why the first night Shadow and the two Robotnik’s spent in Green Hills, he had tried to avoid this endless cycle of torment, making a grave mistake in the form of going for a late-night run. Waiting until he was sure that everyone had fallen asleep before he slipped from his bare room, only a few boxes littering the floor where they had been pushed up against the walls and the fairy lights that still twinkled dimly.

Even now, when the streets were left empty and a silence enveloped the town, Shadow wasn’t confident enough to blast through the town, aware that one misstep would result in their cover being blown with everything Maria and Gerald had worked towards going up in smoke. So he took to the vast forest that made up their backyard.

At first, he started off slow, just attempting to get a feel for the forest as he weaved his way in and out of the trees, keeping an eye out for any unruly roots that tried to escape from the earth and hook onto him. But as much as the run was to stretch his legs and get out of the house after being cooped up inside a car for days on end, it was also to scope out the perimeter and ensure that it was secure. To make sure their blanket of safety didn’t consist only of a few thin walls.

Not stopping until every tree, bush, and rock was accounted for, Shadow didn’t rest until a blur of blue flashed past him, moving at a much greater speed as an ease of familiarity danced around it as it held not a care in the world.

The sight of the blue streak had Shadow coming to an immediate stop, head whirling towards where the blur of colour had disappeared to, a flurry of steps trying to put even more distance between them as Shadow stumbled backwards until he almost crashed into a tree.

There was no stopping it, Shadow realised, watching as the surge of glowing blue power trickled through the trees and as the world slowed down for him.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it had been Sonic who shot past him. Since moving to Green Hills less than twenty-four hours ago, the oddities that resided there had taken it upon themselves to come forth and reveal themselves, making it clear that Sonic and his two friends–brothers?–possessed similar abilities to Shadow, as what other earthly creature would be able to move at such speeds? Though it did raise the question, just what could Sonic do? What limits could he surpass?

When a few harrowing moments had passed with Shadow keeping his back pressed up against the tree he had bumped into with no sight of Sonic returning, Shadow peeled himself away from the bark digging into his fur, letting out a sagging breath as he did. A few cautious steps forward were taken, Shadow wondering if his mere presence would bring unwanted attention barreling into him as he contemplated waiting out the blue hedgehog or making a quick dash for it.

In the end, Shadow begrudgingly began sneaking his way past trees, choosing not to move any faster in case that alone alerted anyone to his whereabouts.

He couldn’t say he was completely displeased with the outcome for the night, though he still wished he could shake off the rest of the excess energy he had been storing for too long. He had made good work in familiarising himself with the expanse of land behind his house; even if Shadow craved for nothing more than to stay out for a little while longer, this being the freshest air he had ever gotten, he would rather play it safe than sorry. He couldn’t risk it.

Boy, was he not ready.

After taking all of five steps through twigs that crunched under the metal rims of his shoes and through dirt that kicked up with every step, a gust of air came slapping into his back, rustling his quills as fallen leaves went dancing into the sky. Shadow didn’t need to look up from where his eyes had previously been trained on the floor to realise who was standing in front of him.

“Hi,” came the startled voice of one Sonic the Hedgehog not even a moment later, a shy edge almost making itself known as he stood fidgeting in front of Shadow, surprise lacing his features as it was clear he wasn’t expecting to find anyone else out so late, especially someone of Shadow’s calibre. Eyes fleeting up for only a moment before darting away, Shadow’s narrowed ones met Sonic’s wide ones that were so keen on staring into his soul, scanning and taking note of every minuscule detail that he discovered and deemed worthy of remembering, which was all of them. “I didn’t think you’d be out here.”

As much as he wished he could’ve, Shadow knew there was no avoiding Sonic forever, especially not when the hedgehog was standing directly in front of him like he was now. It was unfortunate that, just like last time, Shadow found himself at a loss for words, willing the earth to split open and swallow him whole. Despite that, he forced the words out even though his throat felt dry and ready to close up. Shadow murmured, “I was just leaving.”

“You can talk?” Sonic sounded genuinely surprised as he said those words, the sentence coming out and framing itself more like a question than the statement it was intended to be. It seemed Sonic only realised what he said when he noticed the soft frown that was beginning to crease Shadow’s face, pulling at his features. “I mean, of course you can talk. I don’t know why I thought Maria was your interpreter.”

“What?” Shadow muttered astounded, staring at Sonic as if he had lost his mind.

“But, hey,” Sonic rushed out, trying to amend the conversation as he skipped through topics, running his mouth and not allowing either of them to ponder on his mistake for too long. “What’re you doing out here? I almost didn’t recognise you with how fast I was going and how well you blend in. Good thing you have those highlights.”

“Highlights?” The word sounded foreign on Shadow’s lips as a subconscious hand reached up to run through the red lining of his quills.

“Oh, no, it’s not a bad thing, Shads. I can call you that, right?” Planting his hands on his hips and leaning forward slightly, Sonic forced Shadow to look up at him as the space between them only got narrower. Even during the dead of night, Sonic’s cobalt fur stood out among the darkness, a beacon that demanded attention. “It goes well with your whole dark and mysterious act. Same with the glaring, though you might get wrinkles early if you keep it up.”

Whatever unease that flowed through Shadow whenever Sonic was near seemed to wear off, leaving nothing but a farce hedgehog in front of him. Stalking past Sonic and continuing his walk home with a slight hunch to his shoulders, Shadow ignored all of Sonic’s attempts to stick with him; the blue blur sprang up next to him, arms swinging by his sides as he walked in tandem with Shadow. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Come on, don’t be like that, Shads,” he tried, words falling on deaf ears, Shadow carrying on as if he wasn’t there. He had already wasted enough time that night listening to Sonic’s nonsense instead of memorising every nook and cranny of that forest, and there was no use wasting any more. Quickening his pace until he was in front of Shadow, Sonic turned so he was still facing Shadow, walking backwards as he tried to reason, “I was just-“

Shadow didn’t bother listening to the rest of Sonic’s sentence before he was teleporting away, leaving Sonic behind as he slipped into thin air and reemerged in his room, a blanket of warmth wrapping itself around him from where the heating had been left on.

That same warmth attempted to surround him now, forcing its way into his fur and adding a layer of pressure to his skin. It was suffocating, but it was the only thing keeping him company when Maria was away.

Slipping his book shut with a sigh after staring at the same two pages for the past twenty minutes, Shadow set it down next to him before ending the steady stream of music, the constant wave of noise that he wasn’t even listening to starting to give him a headache.

For a few seconds all he could do was stare off into space as the silence hung heavily, a stark contrast to what had just been.

It was only when the slam of the front door rang through the house did Shadow break himself out of the trance he had seemed to fall into for the better part of the day. His head turned towards the noise as he listened out for who it could be.

Light, pillowing footsteps skidded across the hardwood floor downstairs, the smack of socks muffling its owners' otherwise loud stomps; Maria made her way through the house, seemingly looking for something as a series of drawers opening and cupboards shutting sounded out throughout the house.

Pushing himself up from where he sat, Shadow abandoned any means of solitude. He left his room and made his way down the stairs, looking for the older girl as she continued to make a racket. By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs, Maria seemed to have found what she was looking for; she held a half-torn open box in her hands, about to begin making her own way to Shadow.

“There you are.” Maria’s head startled up even as she said the words, eyes creased and glinting with something Shadow had seen on so many occasions in the past. “I was hoping I’d find you, not that you’d be anywhere else.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shadow asked accusingly.

“You just haven’t left the house yet, which I’m planning on changing today,” Maria stated, already sure of herself as she shifted the box so it was planted on the ground next to her feet. Tucking a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear before standing back up, Maria came face to face with Shadow’s accustomed, annoyed stare, his lips curling downwards as his face pinched together. Rolling her eyes playfully, Maria scoffed, “Don’t give me that look, Shadow. You can’t hide in here forever.”

“I’m not hiding,” he quickly denied, his shoulders hunching as he crossed his arms over his chest. Shadow hadn’t been hiding per se, just keeping his public interactions to a minimum for numerous reasons. Just because G.U.N knew of the energy signatures that resided in Green Hills, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t recognise his. “I’m just trying to draw as little attention to us as possible, so we can blend in.”

“Well, I’d rather we have some fun instead of constantly being wary of everything,” Maria mused, despite what she was asking Shadow to do; to reveal himself and not care what consequences might follow. “Besides, I think the Wachowski’s have that sorted for us.”

Shadow rolled his eyes at the mere mention of the Wachowski’s, one of them blaringly sticking out to him.

Eyes squinting upon his reaction, one of Maria’s blonde brows arched upwards, confusion and interest blurring together as she took in Shadow. Immediately Shadow tried to school his features, not wanting to deal with Maria’s questioning, but it seemed it was already too late. Teasingly, and without giving Shadow any time to backtrack, Maria asked, “What was that?”

“What was what?” He attempted to play dumb, head tilting slightly to the side. If Shadow could look innocent enough, he was sure Maria would partially drop the topic, storing it away in her brain where she could ambush Shadow at a later date. As long as that date wasn’t today though, he would be fine with that.

“I know what you’re doing,” Maria said, despite Shadow’s best efforts, some sort of ‘Big Sister Telepathy’ as she liked to call it, coming into play. Shadow had never believed in it before, but as he stood trying to force his face to relax, banishing the scowl that was determined to settle there, he might as well just have to start. “And you’re not getting out of talking about this, but I really want to go and look around the town, so we’re pausing this for now.”

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shadow feigned ignorance as he gave a small shrug, now more than ever interested in the box Maria had brought with her at the mention of looking around town.

“Sure you don’t,” Maria was able to grit out one last time before seemingly letting go of the conversation altogether, focusing on the box on the ground like Shadow as she crouched down towards it. Pulling back the cardboard flaps that acted as a lid and reaching both of her hands in, Maria pulled out a pair of skates, showing them off to Shadow with a grin lighting up her face. “Look what I was able to grab before we left.”

“No,” Shadow shot out as soon as his eyes landed on the skates, ready to turn around and suffer alone in his room again. He hadn’t seen those things since he and Maria had crashed into a tray of confectioneries, the sludge of icing matting his fur. Without needing an explanation for what Maria was hoping to use the skates for, Shadow blandly stated, “I’m not dragging you around town by a piece of rope again.”

“But it was so fun last time,” she whined out quickly, shifting the skates so she could hold them tightly to her side with the squeeze of her arm. Her two hands came clapping together in a begging motion, pleading eyes darting Shadow’s way. Only shaking his head in response, Maria’s fingers interlocked as she considered dropping to her knees. “Why not?”

“Because it’s embarrassing,” Shadow bit sharply, ears flattening against his quills as his nose gave an annoyed twitch. His hostile tone seemed to have no effect on Maria, years of growing up alongside each other and putting up with the other when they were at their worst desensitised her to his sudden outbursts. Turning his head to the side in embarrassment at the little display, Shadow refused to look at Maria as he finished, “I don’t want to have to be seen dragging you around town by a piece of rope like a dog.”

“Okay, I can hold onto your shoulders then,” Maria easily amended, hands dropping to her sides after abandoning her skates by letting them fall back into the cardboard box they had been stored in. A look of somberity crossed her face as she tried to catch Shadow’s eye, her lips thinning together as she was repeatedly avoided. “Now, what’s the real reason?”

If it were possible, Shadow’s ears flattened further into his skull, shoulders hunching over as he attempted to make himself look smaller. His arms came up to wrap around his abdomen, tucking his hands close to his body as he faltered.

What was the real reason? It was the reason he wore inhibitor rings around his wrists and ankles; the reason why he kept his air shoes glued to his feet; it’s why he tried not to teleport, or discover new abilities; it was why, for as long as he could remember, he would be met with scientists, and doctors, and lab equipment. It was why he had to be locked away. Why he had to hide.

If he got carried away, someone could get hurt again. Gerald would have to clean up his mess while Maria would be shunned by her own kind. Or worse, he could ruin all of this for Maria and Gerald and bring G.U.N knocking at their door, separating the three of them for good; Shadow would go back to that cursed lab while Maria and Gerald would be shipped away, never to be able to reach him again.

It’s why it had to be like this.

“I don’t want to accidentally hurt you,” he whispered, words impossibly quiet and almost going unnoticed by Maria. When he finally looked over at her, there was a glossy sheen coating his eyes, the often vibrant red of his irises turning to a syrupy brown. In a voice that threatened to tremble and crack, Shadow tried to express, “If I run too fast or turn around a corner too sharply, I might fling you off, or we could crash again. But this time it could be worse than simply getting covered in pastries.”

“You don’t have to live your life consumed by worry anymore.” Maria’s own voice was wobbling as she spoke, forcing herself to keep it together as this wasn’t about her. It was about Shadow and finally getting him comfortable in his new life after years of hating his own body. “The constant fear and stress, it must be exhausting.”

“But if I don’t, something might happen,” Shadow said, worried. His hands balled into fists and his claws threatened to rip past the fabric of his gloves and sink into the palm of his hands.

“Yes, might,” Maria stressed, catching Shadow’s eye when he finally looked back over at her. Reaching a hand out, Maria let it hang in the space between them as she offered it to him, not grabbing onto the hedgehog or forcing him to take hold. Even when Shadow didn’t take it, she kept it there for if he ever wanted it. With an air of calming authority, Maria demanded, “Shadow, what did I say earlier?”

“That the Wachowski’s are loud and stick out like sore thumbs?” Shadow almost answered with his usual air of certainty, quirking one of his brows as he thought back to the relevance of that conversation.

“No, the other thing,” Maria prompted, rolling her eyes at the statement, though she couldn’t deny the truth behind it.

Hesitating, Shadow seemed more unsure of himself than he had ever been before. He knew what Maria was looking for, what she wanted him to say, but it was almost as if saying it would make it impossible. Just another intangible notion that was too good for Shadow to clasp onto. “To have fun.”

“Exactly.” Maria almost breathed out a sigh of relief. She was halfway there. Shadow knew what the goal was; now she just had to make him see it was possible within their conditions. “Leave some of the worrying to Grandpa and me. We wouldn’t be here unless Grandpa was sure it was safe, and even then, he has a few escape plans tucked under his belt.”

That seemed to be news to Shadow as he mentally recoiled, face scrunching with confusion. He momentarily looked past Maria and out of one of the house's large windows, eyes scanning the area and looking for any evidence of said plans. Distantly, Shadow asked, “He does?”

“Yep,” she confidently announced, popping the ‘p’ as she spoke. It had been a whole process trying to work out the kinks of their escape plan, but with Shadow on stasis for three months, it gave them enough time to set everything they would need up before making a break for it. “He has it all figured out with cameras lining the house and sensors surrounding all of Green Hills, so nothing comes in or out of here without him knowing. I think he even said something about satellites when you were asleep in the car.”

“So we’re safe?” The words sounded foreign to Shadow, not something he ever thought he’d be muttering as he looked to Maria for approval.

“We’re the safest damn thing on this planet.” Maria cracked a grin, hardly being able to conceal her laughter as she put into perspective even to herself just how well they had hidden themselves, something she had never expected in life. “Now, let’s put on some skates, explore town, and have some fun.”

“Okay,” he relented, voice still small but eyes filled with something Maria would dare call hope. With a hand that threatened to shoot backwards at the smallest sign of movement, Shadow reached out to Maria, taking a hold of the limb she had originally offered and kept outstretched between them no matter what.

At the contact, Maria laced their fingers together, letting them intertwine and become one before tugging Shadow over to her side. She didn’t try to hug him like she would’ve preferred to, instead she settled for bumping her hip into Shadow’s, jostling the other before she reached down and grabbed onto her skates.

Shadow made a grab for the rope that had been neatly coiled up and placed within the box despite his earlier distaste to the idea of tying it around his waist to pull Maria along. His other hand was still clasped tightly in Maria’s before the girl was dropping it to instead shoot out and halt Shadow’s offending limb. Turning to her with furrowed brows, a wordless question being passed between them, Maria said, “Leave it, we won’t need it this time.”

A small, microscopic quirk of Shadow’s lips was all Maria needed to know she had made the right decision. Shadow tried to hide his smile, half burying his muzzle in his shoulder as Maria kicked the almost empty box out of the way, the cardboard skidding against the hardwood floor and off to the side.

“Grandpa said we have to be back by lunchtime,” Maria started. She made her way to the couch with Shadow in tow, sitting down on the edge of the seat where she undid the laces of her blue Converse before toeing them off, only dropping Shadow’s hand when it came time to put on her pink skates. “And that we’re not to waste any money on food since he’ll be cooking for us.”

“So just a stroll around town?” Shadow questioned, watching as Maria went through the motions of tightening her skates and tying them up. He felt the instinctive need to check his own shoes, momentarily activating each of them and watching them spark to life, even if he knew they would respond in kind. “Some sightseeing?”

“Exactly,” Maria proclaimed as she shot to her feet, gliding around the coffee table to make sure she still had it in her. When she was confident in her abilities, twirling around and jumping over invisible obstacles, Maria beckoned Shadow to follow her as she made her way to the front door, shoving it open to make way for them. “Maybe some light shopping if anything catches our eye.”

A soft snort rang out from Shadow’s nose. “I doubt it.”

“You never know,” she sang. She let gravity run its course and pull her down the soft slope of their driveway until she hit the end of the footpath, toeing her way onto the road. She looked both ways before skating to the centre and turning to Shadow expectantly. “You can lead the way and go wherever your heart desires since you haven’t gotten to explore yet.”

“Wow,” Shadow feigned gratitude, a hand splayed over his white chest fur as he stepped onto the road after Maria, coming to a stop just in front of her. Waiting for the blonde to plant her hands atop his shoulders, Shadow took a couple of testing steps forward, seeing how well her skates followed after him. “I feel so honoured.”

“You should-” Maria started saying, her eyes slipping shut as she flipped some of her hair over her shoulder. That’s why when Shadow activated his air shoes, rockets fueling to life and letting out a soft puff of energy, Maria was none the wiser until her hair was slapping against her face and she was clutching onto Shadow as if her life depended on it. “-BE! Shadow!”

“Whoops,” he called over his shoulder, a rare cackle bubbling from his chest as he caught sight of Maria trying to fight against the wind, eyes squinted because of its assault. Dryly, and lacking any real remorse, Shadow offered, “My bad.”

“You’re not sorry at all,” Maria proclaimed as Shadow’s head whipped around to put his eyes back on the road, hearing the subtle rumble of a car’s engine not too far from them. Slowing down in preparation for the corner coming up, Shadow’s ears swerved on top of his head, hearing the vehicle approaching before he saw it.

Not moving fast enough to breeze past the car, Shadow pulled the two of them as far over to the other side of the road as possible as they went gliding past, some sort of shout ringing out from inside the car that Shadow chose to ignore.

“No,” Shadow absentmindedly agreed, solely focused on memorising the route they were currently on as he swerved across the road, still attempting to make the ride fun for Maria. “I can’t say I am.”

Turning down corner after corner, Shadow took it all in at a slower pace than he would’ve wished. Though it wasn’t unlike the one he had used to explore their backgarden forest on the first night of being in Green Hills, back then, he didn’t have to worry about having a passenger clinging to him.

For the most part, Green Hills seemed to be everything Gerald and Maria told him it would be. It was quiet, only seeing a total of five people and three creatures such as himself since he moved here, which included Gerald and Maria. The town was also quite small, more so than Shadow had expected. If he were to run across the whole town, going door to door, back and front, he suspected it would take him less than twenty seconds to complete.

Though they hadn’t been there long, nothing irreversible or disastrous had occurred yet, excluding every interaction Shadow had encountered outside of his own house. For what it was worth, Maria seemed to be right.

“Wait, Shadow,” Maria coughed out, one of her arms snaking around Shadow’s neck as she practically climbed onto his back. Her free hand was pointing at a store that had already long since disappeared from their vision after racing past it. Snapping her head around, Maria demanded as her eyes locked onto the store she had found, “Go back.”

Wordlessly, Shadow did as he was told and he turned them both into a small arch until they were heading back in the direction they came from, this time far slower so Maria could spot and point out the store when they came across it.

“That one,” she exclaimed, finally releasing her hold around Shadow’s neck, she threw herself off of the hedgehog, skates catching her and wheeling her towards the store while Shadow was pushed towards almost having a heart attack at her recklessness, hand clutching at his chest where he could feel his heart hammering. Oblivious to Shadow’s stress, Maria murmured to herself, “I thought I saw something about milkshakes.” “Milkshakes?” Shadow spluttered, eyes bugging out of his head as he watched Maria casually roll over to the convenience store that she had forced them to stop at. Smoothing his hands along his quills, the action did little to calm Shadow, though it often didn’t. Attempting to grasp at what Maria had just done, Shadow asked apprehensively, “You just jumped basically off a moving vehicle because you wanted a milkshake?”

“You’ve never had a milkshake, right?” Maria asked calmly, ignoring Shadow’s fretting. She paused outside of the small corner store, one of her skates propped up on the stopper whilst peered in through the window and tried to make out what was lining their shelves.

“No,” Shadow said, exasperated, bunching his hands into tight fists. “But that’s not the point. Next time, just wait for me to stop before doing something like that.”

“I think you’d like chocolate,” Maria mused, pushing herself away from the glass and backtracking over to Shadow. Pausing a few steps away, she reached into the pockets of her denim overalls until she pulled a small purse out, peering inside and counting the different coins and notes left scattered together. “I might get a strawberry one, though. I’ll have to see what flavours they have when we get inside.”

“Maria,” Shadow groaned, getting ignored again. Stepping forward, Shadow tried to duck his head into Maria’s line of sight to catch her attention; the girl was seemingly an expert at ignoring all things related to Shadow as she didn’t even bat an eye. Hands thrown up next to his head, he asked, “Can you take this seriously?”

“I am! It’s really important what flavour milkshake I get,” she gasped, head snapping up as she placed a hand to her chest in feigned shock, taking personal offence to Shadow’s comment. The action only seemed to tick Shadow off further as his eyes narrowed dangerously at Maria. “I also knew you were going slow enough that I’d be fine, so stop whining and come here.”

“That’s not the point,” he huffed out, face scrunching as he prepared himself to teleport back to the safety of his room and leave Maria in the quiet street alone.

“Okay, I’m sorry,” she finally sighed, relenting after playing her little game with Shadow and being difficult. “I know this is probably a lot for you, and I should’ve considered that before acting so brashly. It won’t happen again, but can we please get milkshakes now? I actually really want one.”

Staring at Maria accusingly, Shadow didn’t seem to believe her; he silently shook with his posture straight, clearly irritated, and with his arms crossed over his chest. When Maria could only splay her palms faced up in front of her in retaliation, her purse haphazardly balancing in one of them, Shadow hmphed in what must’ve been agreement. “You’re paying.”

“Of course, I am,” Maria scoffed, already expecting and prepared to cough up whatever the total amount of money would be once they were done browsing the small store. “What are big sisters for?”

“Hardly my big sister,” Shadow quickly snorted, shaking his head to himself as if Maria had said something funny.

“What? Yes, I am,” she spoke, confused as she looked at Shadow, trying to figure out why he wasn’t on the same page as her. They both saw each other as siblings, G.U.N practically officiating it once Gerald became lead researcher and Maria was able to keep Shadow with her when he wasn’t being used or put on stasis. So what was the problem? “I’m older. And your sister.”

“You're only older because I was put on stasis for so long,” Shadow concluded, clearing some of the air for Maria. She pushed her way into the small store, skating straight to the back of the store where some sketchy milkshake machines were planted on the wall. “If I had grown up normally, I’d be older.”

“Doesn’t matter, it still counts,” she announced as she pulled two small cups from the rack and placed one of them under the strawberry-flavoured lever, handing the other one to Shadow for him to pick. Without a second thought, he placed it under the chocolate-flavoured one and began filling it up, listening to Maria’s earlier suggestion. “And if you want a milkshake, you’ll say I am.”

“I think I’ll be fine without,” he decided, only letting go of the lever once his cup was filled and had grabbed a lid and a straw, assembling his drink properly before raising a brow at Maria.

“What? No,” she snapped, conflicted as she finished her own drink and hurriedly put it together, shooting around to make sure Shadow still had his in his hands. “You’re not getting out of trying one like that. You need to experience the awesomeness of a milkshake.”

“I don’t think a convenience store is going to emulate an amazing experience,” Shadow drawled, looking around at the state of the small corner store as he slowly brought the drink up to his muzzle, giving the liquid a quick sniff before bringing it to his lips to take a sip out of after he’d decided it was safe to consume. The artificial flavour and overly sweetness of the drink hit Shadow all at once, though it didn’t stop him from going in for a second sip.

“It’s a start, then,” she decided with a firm nod of her head, watching as Shadow stuck close and eyed the store with caution, taking in all the oddities that lined the shelves and had never been seen by him before.

Leading the way as she often did, Maria began to look around the store, Shadow sticking close to her as she browsed through the different snacks she had only ever dreamt of trying and the random knick-knacks that seemed out of place nestled between everything else. It was only when she came across a small rack of sunglasses, Shadow barely sparing it a second glance, did she come to a proper stop.

“We should try some of them on,” Maria proclaimed, almost infatuated by the different types of glasses all laid out in front of her. Hand instinctively reaching for a pair of pink star-shaped sunglasses, she pulled them from the mini shelf it was resting on and easily slotted them to her face, checking herself out in the mirror supplied with items. Smiling at her reflection, Maria turned to Shadow with a swoop of her hair, striking a pose with her hands fanned out around her face as she asked, “How do I look?”

“Ridiculous.” Shadow wasn’t even looking at her when he said it, eyes trained on a middle-aged man dressed in a tacky police uniform that looked straight out of some poorly made TV show as he entered the convenience store. Offhandedly, Shadow murmured, “You should put them back before you break them.”

“I’m not going to break them,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes as she still didn’t seem to have Shadow’s attention on her, instead watching as the man browsed through the different brightly-coloured doughnuts left on display. Her eyes briefly skimming over the rack again, they landed on a similar pair to hers, only they were heart-shaped instead of stars. Plucking them from the rack, Maria turned to Shadow with them outstretched in her hands. “Here, you try these ones on.”

“Hold on-” Maria didn’t give Shadow a moment to refuse or even comprehend what she was doing before she was pressing the pink glasses into Shadow’s quills, digging the small curve of the glasses’ temple there since they wouldn’t be able to sit behind his actual ears.

His eyes fastened shut, Shadow refused to open them and look through the shaded lenses, not sure what he’d find if he did. Unbeknownst to him, Maria was admiring her handiwork, looking over how the glasses sat on his face, grinning once she was satisfied with the turnaround.

“You can open your eyes, you know,” Maria remarked, waiting to see Shadow’s reaction, but stopped by the small holdup. “They’re not going to hurt you.”

“I know that,” Shadow quickly murmured, shaking out his quills to try and settle the defences that had risen as he slowly peeled his lids back. Turning to see what all the hype was about, Shadow made eye contact with himself in the mirror, staring at his reflection with a small amount of horror as he took in the pink attempting to blend in with black and red. “I look stupid.”

“You always look stupid,” Maria supplied with what most would call a charming grin. Grabbing onto Shadow’s shoulders, she used him to help her balance as she leaned down until their heads were resting side by side in the mirror, getting a proper glimpse at how they looked next to one another.

“Well, these don’t help then,” he concluded, not being able to look away from the monstrosity he was staring at, an unfamiliarity with his own face washing over him. It didn’t matter that his sister was standing right next to him the whole time, her ever-present smile shining through and trying to absorb his desolation.

“I think it’s rather cute, actually,” she decided on saying just as Shadow’s lips thinned together and his head turned away from the mirror, unable to look on any longer. Fixing the frames to Shadow’s face before he could tear them off, Maria admitted, “And that I’m going to be buying these for us so we can match.”

“You don’t have to,” Shadow blurted out, shaking his head as he backed away from Maria, though he made no move to remove the pink glasses.

“But I want to,” she quickly reassured, grabbing onto Shadow’s wrist and tugging him towards the counter as she raised her drink to her lips, finally taking a few sips out of it. The two of them got in line behind two others, another shortly making their way behind them and waiting patiently. “So let me do this, Shadow.”

“Shadow?” An unknown voice asked from behind the pair, making the hedgehog in question’s head snap around to face whoever had called out to him. Coming face to face with the same policeman who had been ogling at the doughnut display not too long ago, making one of Shadow’s brows arch up in confusion. “Like, Shadow and Sonic the Hedgehog?”

“No,” Shadow immediately hissed at the mere mention of the blue creature, teeth bared as he glared up at the man. A soft snort startled its way out of Maria at the question, quickly coughing into her elbow when Shadow trained his gaze on her for a few short moments. “Not like Sonic the Hedgehog.”

“But you know him?” the man pressed on, eyes flicking up to Maria briefly, seeming to fit together the pieces of a puzzle as realisation continued to dawn on him.

“Yeah,” Maria answered for him. “We’ve met him.”

“Unfortunately,” Shadow couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

“Wow,” the man murmured to himself, clearly bewildered as he took in the alien hedgehog. He seemed to have to hold himself back from inspecting Shadow and trying to figure out every little detail about him, on the verge of stepping closer. Speaking lowly, as if no one was meant to hear him, the man said, “I didn’t think I’d ever actually get to meet you.”

Taken aback by those words, Shadow quickly propped himself in front of Maria, demanding an answer, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, it’s just that Sonic’s told me so much about you,” the man announced as if it was nothing, almost hugging the doughnuts he was planning on buying to his chest. “It’s kind of been nonstop, actually. Every time I go to pick up or drop off Knuckles, or come around for some lunch, Sonic has something to say about you. Do the two of you see each other often?”

“No,” Shadow shot out, disgust climbing up his spine and settling in his quills as they threatened to flare up and stand on edge. With every passing second, the conversation being shared between them only got weirder and weirder, making Shadow itch to get away. With a scoff though, Shadow kept up his harsh exterior and snapped, “I couldn’t get far enough away from him.”

“Oh, that’s a bummer. I’m Wade, by the way,” ‘Wade’ said, sticking a hand out for Shadow to take, only to be blatantly ignored, the hedgehog only staring at the offending limb in disgust. When he didn’t seem to spur any reaction out of Shadow other than the sour frown that seemed to be etched into his skin, Wade turned to Maria and tried his luck with her, “Wade Whipple.”

“Maria,” the blonde supplied, grabbing onto Wade’s hand and giving it a firm shake, even if the action felt a bit out of place. Shadow watched the interaction closely, following the way both humans’ hands flexed and wrapped around one another. Tilting her head down towards the hedgehog, Maria mused, “Shadow’s sister.”

“I thought you would be,” Wade murmured, eyes flickering between the pair as if he could almost spot some similarities between them. “Sonic mentioned you as well, saying how sweet you were.”

“Seems like we’ve made quite the impression then,” Maria proclaimed, taking her hand back. What they had done to garner such a reaction out of a stranger who had only heard stories of them, Shadow would never know. He had only interacted with Sonic twice, both occasions holding nothing to report on, so it was beyond Shadow what Wade had been hearing about them.

“Oh, yeah,” Wade said, astounded, nodding his head rapidly as he fiddled with the box in his hands. There was a soft squeak of shoes behind Shadow, making him look back to find the line they had been waiting in had disappeared. He crossed the tiled floor and stepped up to the counter. Wade’s eyes angled back down to Shadow as he said, “You definitely have.”

One of Shadow’s brows shot up at this, gaze sceptical yet unimpressed as he became a silent observer of this exchange.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Wade,” Maria concluded once she had noticed Shadow was no longer by her side, doing a small spin on her skates until she spotted him at the front of the store, sunglasses and milkshakes already resting on the counter for the clerk to scan and ring up the price. “But we should get going soon.”

“Right, that’s totally fine,” Wade said, waving Maria off as she skated backwards slowly, stopping only when she began to feel Shadow’s quills poking into her back. “I need to get back to work soon anyway. Tell Sonic I say ‘hi’ if you happen to run into him later.”

“Will do,” Maria smiled before turning around and setting her own cup down on the counter. She reached a hand up to pull her glasses off as well, putting her purse on the counter.

“No need,” the boy, who was probably no older than seventeen, behind the desk said, holding a hand up to try and get Maria to stop the action. He pushed the drinks back over to the two of them, then picked up the glasses Shadow had taken off to try and situate them back on his face, but the hedgehog easily avoided it by ducking behind Maria, who took them for him. “You guys are with Sonic, so it’s on the house.”

“Really?” Maria tried to keep the excitement from her voice. She was still ready to hand over the couple of dollars this would all total out to be if the worker changed his mind and requested it, though she was already pocketing her purse in preparation to leave. “Yep,” he said, sure of himself. “Can’t have a hero or his friends paying for cheap stuff like this when you’ve saved the world more times than I can count.”

“But we aren’t with that-” Shadow began to say, top lip curled as he got ready to spit out a rebuttal. “Thank you so much,” Maria cut in before he could ruin this for them. Picking up their drinks and shoving them into Shadow’s hands, she planted her own on his shoulders, shoving him towards the door as she shot the clerk and Wade a fleeting smile in goodbye. It was only when they stepped outside and were well out of earshot that she leaned down and whispered into his ear, “Dude, free stuff. Just accept it.”

“I don’t care,” Shadow groaned, shaking Maria’s hands off of him before handing over her strawberry milkshake. She tried to hand him back his own glasses, only for Shadow to turn away in favour of walking away from the convenience store and taking a sip of his own drink. “I don’t want to be associated with that imbecile whenever I meet someone.”

“Jeeze, did something happen between the two of you that I don’t know of?” Maria asked. She rolled after Shadow at a relaxed pace, trying to ambush him and push the glasses back into his quills. “Because last time I checked, you were a bit starstruck when you first saw him.”

“I was not,” Shadow whirled around as soon as those words left Maria’s mouth. His face pinched as he almost spat out his milkshake, almost choking on it a second later as Maria propelled herself forward and situated the pink heart-shaped sunglasses onto his face. He didn’t even bother to try and push her off, allowing the item to be buried into his quills as he corrected her, “I was just… surprised. I thought I was the only one like this, so meeting him came as a shock.

“Mmh, whatever you say,” she hummed, unbelieving as she scooted back, fiddling with her own glasses for a second before pulling out a small bag from another one of her pockets. Undoing it, she brought out a small silver camera, digital, as Gerald was still unsure about giving them any modern technology. “Now, let’s get a photo for the scrapbook.”

“Not now, Maria,” Shadow grumbled, half wondering what else she was keeping in the pockets of her overalls.

“But now’s the perfect time,” Maria whined, trying to reach out and grab onto Shadow so she could pull him closer and into frame, only for the hedgehog to keep sidestepping her. “We’ve got our milkshakes and matching shades. What could be better than this?”

“Relaxing somewhere that isn’t here?” Shadow offered, looking around the side of the street the two were currently on, and not finding anything of particular interest that screamed ‘fun’ at him.

“Don’t be like that,” Maria said as she finally sprang her way over to Shadow, wrapping her arm, which was currently holding her half-finished milkshake, around Shadow’s neck and pulling him in close whilst her other hand lifted into the sky with the digital camera pointed at them. “Just hold still and smile for a few seconds.”

“Maria,” he groaned, though he still looked up at the camera, flashing a glare of his bared teeth as she snapped down on it, capturing the moment that would unfortunately be printed out and glued into a book Maria insisted on keeping.

“See, all done,” Maria insisted, flipping the little camera around so she could show Shadow the shot. “That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

“What wasn’t hard?” came a squeaky little voice that had Shadow’s head instantly snapping towards the source, shoving Maria off of him in the process and leaving her to stumble back a few steps as she fought to balance herself on her skates. Finally landing his eyes on who the voice belonged to, Shadow was met with two light blue irises staring up at him, followed by an endless expanse of yellow.

“Who are you?” Shadow couldn’t help but find himself asking, the words escaping his mouth before his brain could realise what he was saying. The yellow creature, which Shadow now recognised as a fox, blinked up at him a few times, the question unexpected, his two tails whirling back and forth behind him.

“Shadow,” Maria quickly gasped. “Don’t be rude.”

“No, it’s alright,” the short fox seemed to giggle, unbothered by Shadow’s confusion. “We never got to officially have a conversation when we first met, so I understand.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Shadow butted in, arms moving to cross tightly over his chest as he stared down at the smaller creature. Stepping forward and putting himself between the fox and Maria, Shadow made sure he didn’t pose as any real threat while he assessed the situation and what the fox had on him. “Who are you?”

“Everyone just calls me Tails,” the fox happily exclaimed. The two tails that had been mindlessly thrashing behind him quickly came wrapping around Tails’ legs, allowing him to grab onto them and fluff them up a bit. “I bet you can guess why.”

Shadow only grunted in response, eyeing the appendages that the fox held in his hands.

“Tails?” A second voice joined the party, this time one that Shadow had familiarised himself with; it made his teeth grit together while his ears pivoted on the top of his head, facing the direction the voice was coming from. A blue blur came speeding out from around a corner at the end of the street, pausing there as it looked around and called, “Where’d you go, buddy?”

“I’m over here, Sonic,” Tails quickly waved over the other hedgehog, fingers stretched wide into the air to make up for his short stature and to ensure he was seen.

Whipping his head around at the sound of Tails’ voice, a beaming grin took over Sonic’s face once his eyes landed on the fox, that smile seeming to only grow when his gaze skittered over to Shadow and Maria. It seemed to only take Sonic half a second to race over to them, dusting off his hands as he came to a stop next to the fox.

“There you are,” the cobalt hedgehog mused as he ruffled the fur atop of Tail’s head. Planting his hands on his hips, Sonic snorted to himself as if he had thought of something funny, taking a brief look around the street the four of them were currently parked on. “Knux isn’t going to be happy I beat him to you, but I guess that’s just what happens when you snooze.”

“You guys could’ve just waited at home,” Tails giggled as he stared up at Sonic, admiration clear in his eyes as if he was meeting his hero for the very first time. “You didn’t need to come looking for me.” “And miss out on all the fun? No way,” Sonic said, puffing up his chest as he grinned to himself. Shadow watched the exchange in boredom, trying to catch the corner of Maria’s eye so he could make a hint at trying to sneak away. Or just flat out leaving, he didn’t mind. Instead of catching Maria’s eye though, he caught Sonic’s, the speedster turning to him with a vexatious glint in his eyes. “Besides, if I did stay home, I wouldn’t have had the chance to say ‘hi’ to our lovely neighbours.”

“Hi,” Maria cheerfully replied to that, raising a hand to wave excitedly over at the new addition. Sonic returned the action with a small chuckle, copying the motion, albeit a lot calmer than Maria.

It looked like Shadow’s hopes of getting away just flew right out the door.

“Hey, Shads,” Sonic said as he came striding over, attempting to throw an arm around Shadow’s shoulders, only for the hedgehog to shove him back by the face, making sure he was kept as far away from him as possible. Not deterred in the slightest, Sonic cooed, “It’s been a minute. I like your glasses by the way.”

“Not long enough,” Shadow could only grumble, taking a miniature step away from the blue menace whilst eyeing him with disdain, not bothering to comment on that last part.

“Ouch,” Sonic yelped playfully, a hand sliding up to settle over his heart, the other laying against his forehead as he leaned back slightly, creating a whole ‘woe is me’ scene. “And here I thought we were beginning to become buddies, going on little night strolls together.”

“Since when have you been hanging out with Sonic?” Maria accused, their earlier conversation flaring to the forefront of her mind as she looked to Shadow expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

“I haven’t,” Shadow said defensively, trying to soothe Maria while glaring at Sonic as he seemed to enjoy the mess he was making. “I was just patrolling the area when he came out of nowhere and started bugging me.”

“You don’t need to hide it, Shads,” Sonic mused, dropping his over-the-top act as he tried to saddle up to Shadow’s side again, this time not getting close enough to be assaulted by the cranky hog. Any and all proximity seemed to get on Shadow’s nerves, however, and his teeth gritted together. “I know you enjoyed our time together.”

“You’re insufferable,” Shadow scoffed in response, rolling his eyes as he turned his nose up at the other creature.

“Is that the more impressive hedgehog I hear?” A third voice joined. It seemed as if all the intergalactic space creatures were having a little meeting in the middle of Green Hills on a random Tuesday afternoon, as a red echidna came stomping over to the group, standing far taller than the rest of the anthropomorphic beings.

“Ugh, not this again,” Sonic groaned, swiping a hand down his face as he turned to face the newcomer. Vaguely, Shadow knew he should’ve known who this was, just like the fox, but he couldn’t find a single name to pair with the echidna; it must have flown right over his head whenever it had been uttered to him. “Knux’s, what have we said about names?”

“That people have them for a reason?” he droned out, seemingly a little defeated by the response as his shoulders slumped.

“Yes,” Sonic said, cheerful for a moment. raising a hand to high-five the echidna, only for him to grab onto it and squeeze as tightly as possible, a pained gasp shooting from Sonic’s lips despite trying to seem as casual as possible. “So let’s use them.”

“You could learn something from that,” Shadow huffed, mumbling the words to himself, though he wouldn’t mind if a certain someone were to catch wind of them.

“It doesn’t apply to me,” Sonic quickly shot out, responding with half a mind as he turned his head slightly to address Shadow while keeping his eyes glued on Knuckles.

“Oh?” Shadow asked, sounding less than impressed. “And why’s that?”

“Uh, duhhh,” The proud grin on Sonic’s face wavered as he fought back the furrow of his brows, fully abandoning his little teaching moment with Knuckles to instead face Shadow. It was only then, with Sonic leaning into his personal space, that Shadow realised the slight height advantage that Sonic held over him, eyes just above his as his quills steered higher. “Because I just make everything better.”

“Sure you do,” Shadow scoffed with an unbelievable grin, which seemed more like a flash of his teeth, shining through on his features.

“Is that a challenge?” Knuckles questioned with an excited lilt to his voice as he eyed the space between Sonic and Shadow, seemingly preparing himself to watch a fight. “Does the more impressive hedgehog wish to challenge the last hedgehog I fought to a duel?”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Shadow said, shrugging. He unfolded his arms and straightened his posture, stepping towards Sonic with the full intent of bringing Knuckles’ wish to life.

“No,” Maria quickly interjected, a hand swooping around Shadow’s waist. She yanked him back, almost sending the two of them sprawling to the floor as the wheels of her skates gave a short spasm. When she was able to finally stabilise herself, leaning heavily on Shadow to do so, Maria declared, “None of you are fighting Shadow.”

“Don’t mind Knuckles,” Tails tried to help, placing a hand on one of the oversized oven mittens he liked to wear and call gloves. “He’s just like that.”

“I’m the last warrior of the Echidna tribe,” Knuckles claimed, raising a fist to the sky. Shadow covered the snort he let out with a poorly timed cough, having to look away from the display momentarily. Paying him no mind, Knuckles carried on, “If it’s a duel the more impressive hedgehog wants, it’s a duel he’ll get.”

“Perhaps they can just come over to dinner instead,” Tails suggested when he noticed Maria coil her arms tighter around Shadow’s waist, a protective streak coursing through her that he was all too familiar with. Being the youngest in a house where they seemed to be encountering world-ending threats, Tails was familiar with seeing the emotions Maria was outwardly expressing. “On Friday.”

Face scrunching, Shadow tried to refuse, “Absolutely not-”

“We’d love to,” Maria announced, overshadowing him. She shot Shadow a pointed look that told him to pipe down, so Shadow bit his tongue and waited for this all to be over.

“Great,” Sonic cheered, uncaring as to whatever was going on between the siblings. “It’s a date!”

“Yes,” Knuckles agreed without much thought, clapping his hands together with a wide smile on his face. “Your eating contest will be legendary.”

“We should probably head back now, guys,” Tails interrupted, choosing not to say anything on the matter of contests or sparring; he didn’t want to indulge the topic of conversation any further, instead being the responsible one of the group. “Tom and Maddie will be wondering where we are.”

“Bummer,” Sonic groaned, head cranking back as he slumped forward. It reminded Shadow of a toddler throwing a short-lived temper tantrum. Just as quickly as it had started though, Sonic was back to normal and sprinkling around. “We’ll see you two on Friday then.”

“Yep,” Maria confirmed, nodding along with her words. She waved a hand up as the three brightly coloured creatures began making their departure. “See you then.”

Shadow chose to stay silent as he watched them leave, all of them breaking off at different speeds as they zipped away from the convenience store they had all been parked in front of. He only reacted when he saw Tails take to the sky and follow after the two older creatures, a soft furrow taking to his brow.

When she was sure they were all well out of earshot, Maria asked, “What just happened?”

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