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9:52 pm.
Shadow squinted at the small bright screen of his phone for a long time, a part of him hoping the numbers would miraculously change.
9:53 pm.
That's...not what he meant.
Irritated, the ultimate life form shoved the device back into his jacket pocket and kicked a leg up onto the balcony rails. The sound of faint music and muffled voices gave him a small sense of comfort, but Shadow still felt as if coming here was a waste of time.
He still wasn't here.
The lively noises behind him suddenly became clearer followed by the loud scrape of a sliding door. The dark hedgehog sank down further into his lawn chair and refused to turn around, gaze locked on the dark city skyline below.
"You know you can come back inside, if you want."
"I'd rather not." Shadow replied curtly.
"But thank you for the offer, Miss Rose."
Amy slid the glass door shut and immediately Shadow to let out a frustrated sigh. He knew she wasn't going to let this go so easily.
"Knuckles called Jet out for being an asshole like that, you know." The pink hedgehog started as she walked up beside him.
"It wasn't any of his business to just ask you why you came to the party. At least...not the way he said it. You're our friend."
"My irritation has nothing to do with that stupid bird. Though he didn't help."
"I know," Amy replied trying to hold back a sly smile. She leaned forward into Shadow's line of sight, determined to have a face to face conversation.
"You're upset because Sonic still isn't here right?"
"I never said that."
"But its obvious.~" She teased.
The ultimate lifeform merely folded his arms and turned away, eyes glued to the moon as if his life depended on it.
"Its okay, I'm upset he isn't here too. He's four hours late! Four hours, Shadow! He said he would be here, and he knows how important this party is to me! It's marking the start of my life!"
"Moving back in with Vanilla to finish your last semester of college and save money isn't exactly the start of your life..." Shadow replied with a smirk. Amy glared in his direction and gave him a rough tap on the shoulder.
"Oh shut up, yes it is!"
"Agree to disagree."
"Look, the point is, he's not here when I told him to be. I really wanted Sonic to come and I know you only came because I said he would be here so-"
"Bold of you to assume I came here solely for that hedgehog and not because Rouge dragged me here." he retorted.
Amy walked over in front of the agent, blocking Shadow's sight of the moon with hand placed sarcastically on her hip. Her eyes narrowed down at him, unamused.
"Rouge left an hour ago, and you're still sitting on the balcony. Alone."
Shadow growled and sank deeper into his chair until he was practically sliding out of the seat.
"I know that you really wanted to see Sonic again. That's why you're still here."
"This was just a waste of my time."
"Yeah, I know," Amy said softly.
"But can you do me a favor?"
"A favor."
"Don't...don't give up on him because of this, okay?"
His gaze flicked up at her, hearing the hopeful tone in the pink hedgehog's voice as she spoke. Something told Shadow that she wasnt going to leave him alone until he agreed, but he wasnt sure why.
"Fine."
"Thanks." Amy grinned before making her way back over to the screen door.
"I'll leave you alone now. Do you want anything to drink?"
"I'm alright," Shadow grunted.
"I'll be leaving in a little bit, anyway."
She nodded and slipped through the door, pausing for a few moments to lock it shut and draw in the curtains. Shadow made a mental note to teleport back inside and grab a few beers before he left for good. Alcohol didn't do much for him but it would put him a better mood before he went to sleep later tonight.
" 'Don't give up on him'? Tch...that's easy to say..."
It had been four years since Shadow had seen the hero and his friends in their last stand against Doctor Eggman at Metropolis. After years of fighting the tyrannical genius, they finally had time wind down and catch a break. Immediately Shadow slipped away from the blue hero and his friends once he had the chance. Ever since then, working for GUN had occupied most of the ultimate lifeform's free time and he hadn't thought about much else.
A few months ago his routine took an unexpected turn when Amy invited the agent to spend some quality time with Sonic and herself. Shadow decided to take the pink hedgehog up on her offer, and was pleasantly surprised to find that Sonic had been eager to see him. They ate dinner, played a boardgame or two, and the agent promptly left despite the hero urging him to stay the night at his house. It had been a presumptuous offer that made Shadow uncomfortable and Sonic apologized, saying nothing more on the matter before wishing him a good night.
Things went rather smoothly from there and the trio had eaten out once or twice since that day, Sonic always making sure to message the dark hedgehog about their meetups beforehand. But Shadow's GUN obligations always seemed to throw a wrench in their plans at the worst possible times. It had been nearly three months since he had seen his rival, though they kept in touch nearly every day through text messages. Sonic had tried to call a few times but Shadow refused to answer, admitting to him that phone calls made him anxious and he preferred to speak through text or in person.
The hero seemed to take the response as an invitation to see each other again, and asked Shadow if he was going to Amy's party. The ultimate lifeform had not decided just yet, but seeing Sonic again helped make the choice a lot easier. He wasn't fond of parties and barely knew anyone in their group besides Amy, but Shadow would take a chance, just this once.
Right now he was starting to regret the decision.
He reached into his jacket pocket and rummaged around a bit, trying to find the box of cigarettes he bought earlier in the day. While searching he pulled out his phone and hesitated a bit before promptly setting it down on the arm of the lawn chair.
Shadow knew it was probably well past 10pm by now. Looking at the time would only make him angrier.
Eventually gloved fingers found the small paper box and he pulled it out, frowning at the sudden realization that there was only a single cigarette left. The agent wanted to linger a bit longer and have a smoke, but leaving now before the convenient stores closed was probably the only way he would get another box in time. They had plenty of wine there too most likely, and Shadow could get something higher quality for himself for the night instead of raiding Amy's fridge for the cheap beer Vector had insisted on bringing. Shadow nodded to himself, satisfied with his simple plans to salvage what was left of the night.
Distracted , The agent had hardly noticed the unusually large amount of Chaos energy coming his way until a familiar set of blue ears appeared between the railings below him. In one swift movement the intruder climbed over the rails carrying a large object, and inched their way closer to the sliding door. Shadow realized that he was sitting in a shaded corner against the wall just outside of the moon's vibrant light; whoever was sneaking around clearly had not seen him just yet.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Hedgehog. Amy is pretty pissed at your tardiness." Shadow warned, flicking his thumb to ignite a small spark of Chaos energy.
The intruder froze and turned toward him, bright emerald eyes veering nervously to the side.
"Shads...I didn't see you there...ah..."
"It doesn't matter," He replied lighting the cigarette on his thumb before blowing the spark away.
"I was just leaving. Nice to see you, Sonic."
"Wait!" The hero panted, quickly making his way over to where Shadow was seated.
"That's a poor choice of words; I think four hours is long enough to wait for you."
"I'm sorry I'm late, like I'm incredibly sorry! I have a good reason though I swear!"
The ultimate life form crossed his legs and leaned back, talking a long, deep drawl of his cigarette. Sonic watched him intently for a while, blue ears perked as Shadow let out a deep exaggerated sigh, wreathing both of them in a thin ribbon of smoke.
"Go on."
"Okay, so like...I ran into a bunch of firefighters earlier around like 5 o'clock and they wanted my help with a rescue. The building was really torn up and I couldn't say no to people in need-"
"You're the self-proclaimed fastest thing alive aren't you? Four hours is a long time for a rescue."
Sonic narrowed his eyes at his rival and Shadow glared back, waiting for the hero to say something, anything to piss him off enough to leave there and then. He wasn't in the mood for excuses or apologies.
"I was getting to that. After I helped them, they invited me back to their station and wanted to...hold a party for me. I told them I had some place to be, but they really wanted me to stick around and they promised it wouldn't go on too long but it did and I didn't want to be rude-"
"Stop. I don't care." The agent said gruffly, tossing his cigarette off the balcony. He stood up and reached for the spare green Chaos emerald he always kept in his quills.
"Shads, I wanted to text you but my phone died-"
"I'm leaving."
"Dude, c'mon-"
Sonic reached out and grabbed Shadow's shoulder to stop him and his rival violently flinched away from his hand, muzzle twisted in a barely contained rage.
"Don't. Touch. Me."
"Okay, okay. I won't touch you. Though you and I both know, I'm just gonna chase you down until you listen to me, right?"
The hero drew his hand back and slowly knelt toward the ground, setting down the object he was carrying with a loud clink. Shadow's eyes flickered to the noise and realized it was a small six pack of beer.
"So...why don't we just save ourselves the trouble and sit down and just...talk. Then you can be all angry at me and bail, okay?"
The agent huffed, his glare so intense that Sonic felt as if his entire body was on fire under his gaze. It was quiet for a few moments and he opened his mouth to speak again but held his tongue once Shadow looked away.
Finally he sat down and crossed his arms, silently waiting for the hero to continue.
"..I didn't mean to keep you waiting like that. I'm sorry."
"Why did you even come? Did you think I would just have blind faith that you would eventually show up like your friends do? That you would come in and everything would be fine?"
"To be honest, I wasn't trying to come to Amy's house." Sonic stated as he grabbed a second lawn chair that was propped up against the wall. He took a minute to unfold it and settled down beside his rival; a little too close for Shadow's liking, but he allowed it.
"I was trying to come to you, specifically."
"Oh?"
"As soon as I got the chance to leave the firefighters, I followed your Chaos energy. Took some time to get us a couple of beers too, as a peace offering. Though...I didn't expect you to still be at Amy's party waiting for me. Heck I didn't expect you to show up at all but..."
His lips quirked into a shy smile.
"I'm glad you came."
Shadow looked off to the side, uncrossing his arms to shove them in his pockets.
"I don't like being made a fool of, Faker."
"Dude, I pinky promise, I'll never leave you hanging like that again. Plus its bad for my reputation, as the 'Blue Blur' to make people wait."
"Pinky what-?"
Sonic lifted a hand just under his rival's nose, pinky finger extended.
"C'moooon."
"I'm not doing that."
"Then I can't keep my promise, man. You gotta do it with me! "
With an exaggerated eyeroll, Shadow pulled a hand out of his pocket and locked his pinky finger around the hero's own. Sonic flashed him a toothy grin, emerald eyes focused intently on his rival.
"I promise I'll never leave you like that again, alright? If I do, you have permission to kick my ass."
"Sure." Shadow replied slipping his hand away.
"In that case, I should work 'destroying you' into my schedule. Does tomorrow work for you?"
"Yeesh you don't even have faith I can keep my promise for 24 hours? Haha, you jerk." Sonic chuckled. He leaned forward and pulled a beer out of the package on the ground, handing it over his shoulder to Shadow.
"Thanks."
He settled back in the lawn chair with a beer of his own, and sighed.
"No problem, buddy."
For a while, the two hedgehogs sat in silence as they watched the moonlit sky, listening to the muffled sound of music and excited voices inside the apartment behind them. Shadow noticed that a blue leg had been resting against his own for some time, but couldn't decide if he wanted to pull away or not. The physical contact was unusual but not necessarily unwanted...
"Hey, Shads-"
"Yes?" the ultimate lifeform answered a little too quickly.
"I...wanted to tell you something. Do you remember the Ark, when we went super together in space...and you fell...?"
"...Yes."
"Were you...okay...?"
"Not particularly at the time. Things were a little fuzzy, and still are, but I managed. As you can see, I'm fine now."
The agent took a sip of his drink and glanced down at the hazy city lights.
"Why do you ask?"
"I just wanted to know."
Sonic went quiet again, completely frozen in place aside from gloved fingers fiddling with the paper label on his bottle. All of a sudden he turned the glass up and drank what was left before setting it down roughly. Shadow could tell from the blue hedgehog's body language that he was anxious, though it was unclear why. He shifted in his seat, turning to face his rival, and gently put a hand on Shadow's shoulder.
"I was worried about you."
The dark hedgehog blinked.
"What?"
"I...was worried about you."
"But you hardly even knew me then."
"I knew you were a good person who risked his life for everyone. That was enough for me, ya know? Thought a lot about you during those months you we're gone, especially since it...seemed like you were gone, gone. So when I saw you were alive and all in one piece I was really...I was relieved."
He patted Shadow on the back softly.
"And I've been glad to have you around ever since."
"Is that why you've been so weird?"
"weird?"
Red eyes drifted from the lights below before softening on the hero's face.
"Nervous. Like right now."
"I-I'm not nervous! Look, I just enjoy having you around, okay? Especially after thinkin' you went and died on me. Then you always seemed like you never wanted to talk, especially after the Black Arms thing, and the four years you straight up ghosted on us after we beat Eggman and-"
"So you're saying you've missed me."
Sonic paused, slack jawed.
"I...yeah. Heh, I guess it is that simple. I missed you."
Shadow nodded and tipped back the rest of his bottle before tossing it over the railing.
"If its any consolation...I missed you too. Though it was easier to mind my own business."
"And now?"
He shrugged.
"Now, I'm beginning to enjoy your frequent company."
"Heh, that's good." Sonic said reaching for another beer.
"I like being with ya too."
Amy collapsed on the couch and kicked her feet up on the coffee table, flinging red pumps one by one across the room.
Damn did those things hurt.
She sighed heavily, eyes scanning the messy room to check if anything seemed dirty enough that it couldn't wait until tomorrow morning to clean. while the young woman loved having parties, they were always a chore once everyone was ready to leave and left tidying up to the host.
That cake smeared onto her carpet didn't need to be cleaned up right now right...?
A sharp bark of laughter startled the pink hedgehog and she narrowed her eyes toward the balcony. It suddenly became louder and she grimaced, pulling herself up from the couch; Amy knew that goofy sounding chuckle anywhere.
She stormed over to the sliding door and threw open the curtains, ready to give that silly blue hedgehog a piece of her mind for missing a very special party and leaving Shadow all by himself.
Except...he wasn't by himself anymore.
The two rivals had their backs to the glass, but Amy could tell they seemed to be enjoying themselves if the scattered empty beer bottles were anything to go by. Sonic's muffled excitement could be heard through the door followed by Shadow's low pleased tone in reply. Amy wanted to know what the two of them were talking about, but didn't dare risk ruining their quality time together.
Her breath hitched when she saw the hero's arm move toward Shadow, inwardly cursing and hoping that Sonic would stop while he was ahead. The agent had made it apparent he felt uncomfortable being touched so casually, and Amy wasn't sure how he would react. Carefully she saw a peach arm wrap around Shadow's shoulders and her heart lept in her throat as she noticed the ultimate lifeform's entire body stiffen.
Sonic muttered something the young woman couldn't hear, but she caught the questioning tone at the end of it. Shadow nodded and leaned into the hold, tension easing out of his body as he relaxed in the seat. they stayed like that for a few minutes before the agent spoke again; whatever it was had Sonic cackling like an idiot.
Amy smiled to herself, pleasantly surprised that they were able to patch things up again so quickly. Chaos knew when Sonic would screw up again, or if they got into another scuffle over trivial matters, like rivals often do. But something told the pink hedgehog that she wouldn't have to worry about them. That their unusual bond would turn into a relationship that would stand the tests of time. She would make sure of it.
Without another word Amy turned off the lights, sparing the two hedgehogs one last look before retiring for the night. Tomorrow she would chew Sonic out properly for leaving her waiting and maybe even force him to help her clean up.
But for now, the night was theirs.
