Sonic is bothering Knuckles on Angel Island. He got Tails to fly him up with the Tornado, though only Sonic stayed; Tails had other things to do, per the usual. Obviously, Knuckles wasn’t at all notified that Sonic would be dropping in, and the surprise was met like how all other surprises bestowed upon his echidna friend are: with indignant yelling and accusation. Sonic has to assure him that no, he isn’t here because he needs help, and no, he wasn’t tailed by Rouge. Honestly, the only reason he came up here was because he missed the guy. Missed annoying him, to be specific. Sonic isn’t even doing anything right now, literally just sitting on top of the Master Emerald in silence, but he can tell his constant movement is going to earn him a punch in the face soon. It’s not his fault, he just wanted to hang out!
Shadow is being re-introduced to the concept of video games by Tails. Somehow, his mention of never having played one to Amy the other day got brought up to the fox. Seemingly on a mission, and less wary of Shadow than he has been, Tails found out where exactly he would be today (not shocking, the kit is terrifyingly intelligent) and brought at least three consoles with even more games to play using them. Unfortunately, where he is today is also where Rouge is, and when she found out she pulled an expression that radiated mischievous joy. She is very much going to enjoy either watching Tails beat him over and over, or doing it herself, if worst comes to worst. Either way, he’s not looking forward to it.
Sonic is helping Tails with maintenance on the Tornado. Something has him in a tinkering mood, and Sonic offered to lend a hand, for lack of better things to do (he could be out looking for people to save, but that job’s been taken by his futuristic friend today). His job is to fetch tools for Tails and to make sure he actually takes breaks every once in a while. Amy is paying them a visit too, she’s perched up on one of the plane’s wings going on at length about a show she’s been watching. Sonic genuinely has no idea what she’s talking about, having never watched the show, but he’s trying his hardest to pay attention anyways.
Shadow is back by the shore of a lake, possibly the same one as last time, he’s not sure. By complete chance, Big is fishing here. Shadow hasn’t joined him near the water, but he’s lurking in the shade of the trees upon a rock taller than he is. Every once in a while Big will toss him a pebble, and he’ll throw it as hard as he can across the water. Every time he aims a little further.
Sonic is currently in a very heated argument with Amy over what level of criticism for food presentation is acceptable on casual outings. This sparked immediately after they ate at some seafood-specialty diner he’s already forgotten the name of, and she went on a sudden rant over how the chowder was set up. For most of it he sat there wide-eyed, jaw dropped, because it’s just food. You don’t eat it with your eyes, it doesn’t have to look good so long as it tastes good. Amy vehemently disagreed. They did agree however to put the debate on hold until they got back to her place, then the moment they stepped through her front door it was back on. Sonic is dialling Tails on her phone right now to get his opinion on it. All he can hope is that this doesn’t prevent them from going there again, the food was really good, and he does enjoy their trips through towns and cities. Sonic isn’t about to call them dates, no matter how much she insists, but he still likes going out. Even when he doesn’t want to, he does anyway. Amy can be very persuasive. It’s whatever; if his friends are happy, so is he, that’s all he needs.
Shadow is, in an unfortunate coincidence, also at Amy’s house. The unfortunate part being that he only arrived just minutes after Sonic had left. Amy told Shadow that he just missed him, to which he replied, smugly, “fine by me”. He’s here for a taste of tarot reading; after mentioning once he was interested in how exactly it worked, Amy made it clear he was welcome to pop over and try it out. Originally he wasn’t going to, but a certain bat pushed him to go through with it. He has a feeling it won’t turn out as well as he wants it to.
Sonic is looming over Tails's shoulder as he pokes away at something on his device. From the rushed and spacy explanation he was given (Tails was very much focused on other matters, and still is), some random web developer released a huge puzzle game sort of thing, and there's thousands of people trying to solve it at the same time. It all looks really complicated and way too time consuming for Sonic, so he settles for watching Tails do it. And because it's funny to tell him to watch his language every time he mutters out a curse word under his breath.
Shadow is trying and failing to solve the exact same puzzle Tails is working on. He wouldn't have known about it if the fox hadn't messaged Rouge asking if either of them would try it out with him, to which Rouge passed on immediately, saying she'd rather do literally anything else. Shadow, however, was moderately interested; maybe it would do him good to keep his intelligence sharp, see if he needs it. An hour and a half later, he's stolen Rouge's phone (much to her utter despair) while messaging Tails every idea he gets. It's shockingly fun.
Sonic is laying on the roof of Tails’s lab and listening to music. Every supposedly speed-resistant listening devices Tails comes up with somehow get smashed to bits sooner or later, so the only compromise is to listen to music and stay still. Kind of boring, but whatever. He knows how to relax.
Shadow is watching from the sidelines as Amy paints flowers onto Omega’s chassis with acrylic. He doesn’t know how he got here, how the two got into doing this, or why he’s sticking around for it. He can see Omega’s claws have been painted as if they were nails, and chances are in a minute he’ll be roped into it as well. Rouge is going to suffocate laughing when she sees them.
Sonic is laying on the grassy side of a river while Big fishes beside him. It’s nice to see him again. Even if Sonic hangs out with others a lot more, Big is a very welcome presence. He doesn’t carry any worry with him ( so long as Froggy is nearby), and he’s all around uninvolved with the usual world-saving, Eggman-thwarting ordeals. Big catches a fish and whistles quietly to signal Sonic, who proceeds to glance over. A speckled trout, he thinks. Nice catch.
Shadow is visiting Amy. She didn’t extend any invite, he simply showed up, but she seemed happy enough to welcome him regardless. Shadow has come to her enough times for her to know some of the only things he eats, meaning before he even got the chance to sit down (or stand ominously in a corner) anywhere, she had a bowl of unsweetened yogurt coated in strawberry sauce already made. How she found out he likes any of the stuff he does, it’s a miracle. Shadow’s palate would be unbelievably narrow without her. He’ll keep the reasons for his visit to himself, until she pries at least, and then it’s better to fold than to stand his ground.
Sonic is on the hunt. Not in any malicious way! He’s just looking for someone. And while that someone is almost as hard to find as Espio is when he’s sneaking about all invisible, Sonic has a strategy. It’s called having friends, and he plans to use that like a weapon today.
In reality, he doesn’t at all expect to be spending more than a minute hanging out with Shadow, because he’s pretty obviously not a “hanging out” kind of guy. Sonic has only ever pulled that off in potentially dangerous scenarios or competitions (see: the whole situation with Dodon Pa), and while he could spring a friendly challenge out of the blue, goad him into it, that’s kind of mean. Sonic isn’t gonna force him into social interaction. He’s been in spots where that’s like a death sentence, and he’s not gonna be that annoying. They’ve got a fragile thing going on!
Now, if he has no clue where Shadow is right now, who’s the one connection he’s got to the guy, and the one person who’d know where he is, probably?
Rouge.
Admittedly, their friendship isn’t really a close one, not like the one he’s got with Knuckles, Silver, et cetera. She’s only in the same area as he is once in a blue moon, and has little reason to interact with his group aside from causing mischief and sweetly asking for favors. But today, for all intents and purposes, they’re besties, and always have been. How far she chooses to play along with that is gonna decide how this goes very heavily. It’ll go how it wants to go.
The first time Sonic visited Club Rouge, it was for almost the exact same reason he is now. Except that time, he wasn’t looking for Shadow, he was looking for a soda (it was a hot day), and happened to come across the place by complete chance. Specifically the name caught his eye, because hey, he knows someone named Rouge! So when he went in and the bat herself was there, it wasn’t much of a shock, but it was a nice surprise. Of course, he remembers where it is exactly; his sense of direction is perfect. All he’s gotta do is hope that Rouge is actually there, since she gets people to cover for her occasionally.
When he pushes the door and steps into the club, luck appears to be on his side. Rouge stands behind the bar counter, leaning forward, a slightly bored look on her face. It’s not a big building, and not usually very busy (he’s convinced she steals jewels just to keep it running), so there’s only like, five people here right now. Also, it’s daytime. These guys must be just as bored to be in a club during the day.
Rouge finally notices the blue hedgehog that just walked through her door, and when she sees him, a sly smile breaks out on her face.
“Look who it is! What brings you here, big blue?”
“Long time no see. Sorry to say, I’m not here to be social,”
She fakes dismay. “Oh, but you always come here to talk and play darts and steal the soda from the cooler,” That last part is pointed. “Answer my question, then; what brings you here?”
“I’m lookin’ for Shadow. Know where he is?”
“Sure I do,” she’s suddenly a little more serious, “Why are you looking, exactly?”
Sonic contemplates, scratching at his ear. “You’d be really mad if I told you.”
Rouge gives him a puzzling look, walks out of the bar and up to him, interrogation style. “Now, as much as I’m curious to know why that is, and as much as I want to let you boys be boys, I’m not gonna give you directions just so you can bother him. What kinda friend would I be, hm?”
She’s right, yeah. And she’s not so mean as to get genuinely upset over not being given a Chaos Emerald for free. Maybe some light teasing, woeful acting, at most. She’ll understand. Probably.
“Okay, sorry. I came to give him this Chaos Emerald we found, and I figured you’d be distraught if you found out it wasn’t for you,”
“Blue!” She gasps dramatically, hand over her mouth and eyes wide, just as he predicted, “I’m heartbroken to be sure, but—! How sweet of you. I swear, only the other day, I was complaining to that boy about my dates…”
Sonic has no clue what she’s talking about.
“…Oh, never-mind. You go. He’s out past the city, on that little hill, you’ll find him.”
Didn’t go as he expected.
“Thanks! I’ll stop by again soon.
He’s just about to leave, door already open, when Rouge stops him with another question.
“Why not keep it? If I may ask,”
Sonic shrugs. “Doesn’t he need one?”
Out on the hill, just like Rouge said, Shadow sits in a melancholy fashion, his fur looks like a warm brown in the sunlight. Sonic can tell he’s already noticed he has company, from the way his ears tilt back, and his quills flare out a little. Oh well, if he’s in a bad mood, Sonic can deal. After all, he didn’t expect to be here long.
“Sorry to interrupt your brooding,” he says, and watches as Shadow does a complete one-eighty in the body language department, “I got something to drop off. Then I’ll be on my way.”
The dark hedgehog stands and turns to face him. His face is completely unreadable, the same intense look as always. But he doesn’t seem particularly bothered, only calm and sure, striding up towards Sonic without breaking eye contact once. Frightening…
“What is it,” he asks, without any hint of questioning. It’s making him nervous, only a little.
Sonic pulls the emerald out of his quills, presents it with much fanfare and a bow. “Ta-da! We found it on the beach. Thought you might want it.”
Shadow hesitantly reaches for the emerald, eyes narrowed, still boring into Sonic’s soul. “It’s the same one you got from me, not long ago,”
“Yeah, I think,” Sonic tilts his head at it. “I gave it to you first, though. In the woods,”
“Yes. Why are you giving it to me?”
“I dunno. Don’t you want it?”
“Yes,” Shadow keeps glaring at him, “Don’t you?”
Sonic shrugs. “Doesn’t matter to me. If its in your hands, that’s just as good as it being in mine.”
Something shifts in Shadow’s expression. All suspicion and slight hostility disappears, now he’s… Well, he looks surprised, for whatever reason.
“Alright,” the dark hedgehog blinks. “Thank you,”
“Yep,” Sonic replies, feeling a bit lightheaded.
“On your way, now?”
“On my way.”
Sonic can feel those red-brown eyes staring at him even as he runs back to the city.
Sonic is digging for worms in the dirt with Big and Cream. Big ran out of bait and figured he should return to his roots, using just earthworms again instead of anything fancy. Cream was invited, since Big had promised that the next time he went fishing she could come. Sonic ran into them both on his way back from scouting out an abandoned Eggman base, and Cream begged him to stay— she argued that she hasn’t seen him in ages— while Big shrugged and said he was welcome to join. He’s on the ground, shovelling dirt, using a plastic trowel that Cream has for the beach and putting worms he finds in a sand bucket. It’s not that fun, but Sonic will take any quality time with these two he can get. He really should visit them more…
Shadow is sitting on the shore of a lake, watching the minnows swim up to and away from his namesake over and over. He doesn’t have anything else to be doing, and he figures he should relax every once in a while. It’s working, sort of. He’s imagining what it’s like to lead such a simple life, how it may not be that simple at all, and wondering what a fish must think of a fisherman. Maybe not the most relaxing thing one could think of, but it’s still taking his mind off of other matters all the same.
