Work Text:
Shadow stood in front of his garden, unsure of where to begin harvesting. It didn’t matter which herb he started with, truthfully, he just wanted time to clear his head by himself. A small ‘hmph’ came from beside him as his chao began to make her way toward a section of lavender. Not completely by himself, Luna was the exception of course.
With a relaxed sigh, he kneeled in front of a row of chamomile. He retrieved the tools he brought along with him, prepared to harvest where needed.
Listening to the grunts and pitter-patters of Luna fade into white noise, he began to work. He quickly lost himself in his thoughts.
Shadow had a restless night, struggling to close his eyes for more than an hour. After a while of fighting, he had decided he would tend to his garden. Luna tagged along when he accidentally woke her up trying to leave.
Lavender was the priority of this harvest, he had run out of it, which was part of the reason for his sleepless night. With the aid of chamomile tea, he would be able to have a few peaceful nights of sleep.
Shadow had been having a few bad dreams. Most involved the first repair he had gotten from Metal, seeing your wiring wasn’t something that left you with a sound mind.
Knowing he was not truly an organic being was hard enough, but seeing it was something entirely different. The cold, hard fact had truly settled on heavy on his heart. He was nothing but a copy.
“Humph!” Shadow blinked, coming back to reality.
Placing his hand on the ground behind him, he turned to the sound of the small grunts. It was Luna struggling to pull a lavender.
Shadow knew he should step in, especially, considering that she could ruin the chance of the lavender regrowing. But he was curious and she wouldn’t do any true harm anyway.
In the end, he wouldn’t have to step in. Her ensuing tugs were interrupted when she lost her grip and took a tumble. Shadow huffed, amused at Luna’s antics. He got up, placing her back on her feet.
“What were you trying to do?” He asked softly, glancing at the now wilting flower.
Luna was quick to respond, gesturing at the lavender then pointing at his woven basket. That he could understand, what he couldn’t was when she began to mimic running.
Shadow’s eyes squinted in confusion, “You want to harvest lavender and run away with it? Or do you think it will make you go fast? Because it won’t, it’s meant to help you relax,” his tone laced with curiosity.
The chao huffed in frustration, rapidly shaking her head. With her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, she imitated running once more. She somersaulted poorly following the fake sprinting.
Luna got up, flailing her arms at him.
His face lit up with recognition. Shadow and Sonic had set up a playdate, for Dash and Luna of course. He had forgotten about it.
“You’d like to harvest some herbs for Dash?” Luna nodded happily.
Shadow hummed, “I should harvest some for Sonic as well, maybe even some of our vegetables. I don’t think eating chili dogs all the time is healthy,” she clapped her paws at his words.
He placed a loving hand on her head, “Well before you harvest your own let me show you how,” she smiled at him.
Unsure of what to gather for Sonic, Shadow looked around the garden helplessly. He felt that this should have been easier. He frowned slightly; would the original Shadow know what to choose?
There was a tug on his hand; Luna was trying to pull him toward the rows of carrots.
“You’re right, the carrots would be a great place to start,” he gathered his supplies and grabbed his basket. Luna waited happily by the carrots.
Once Shadow had everything together, he kneeled next to her.
“Let’s begin by finding one that has a vibrant color, but make sure that it’s at least an inch in diameter, like…” he trailed off, “this one.”
Shadow held the carrot close to her. Luna put a paw on her face, mocking a thinking pose. His eyebrows raised in amusement as she began to tap her foot. She nodded her head, signaling that she understood.
He handed off the vegetable to be put away and continued to scour through the crops. Eventually, Luna began patting his arm, gesturing at herself enthusiastically.
“Would you like to try for yourself?” He softly pushed her toward the carrots.
Being careful of where she stepped, Luna walked into the vegetables. Shadow waited patiently, watching her intently as she touched some of the carrots. She was paying extra attention to the color and size, just as he had told her to do.
Luna began to smack a carrot, grunting loudly at her father. Quietly, he leaned over and examined her pick.
Shadow hummed, “That was a good first try, but that one isn’t quite ready,” he tapped the carrot softly, “the color is too pale and it’s also quite small in diameter.”
Luna deflated immediately, a frown on her face. She gave him a defeated sigh.
He patted her on the head, attempting to comfort her. With one last encouraging pat, he told her to try again.
She toddled around the carrots once more, her spirits having been lifted. She began patting down the plants; to check their width is what Shadow presumed at least.
Luna began to make a show, pointing at another one eagerly. He examined it with a small smile.
Shadow pulled it out of the ground, “Good job, Luna, I’ll be sure to shred it. It’ll be the perfect healthy snack for you and Dash,” being sure to separate it from his pickings, he placed it in his basket.
“Is there anything else you’d like to get for him?” With a pleading face, Luna pointed to the section of flowers.
He nodded, “Of course, let me gather some more plants for Sonic, and then we can pick some flowers for Dash,” she chirped happily at his answer.
After Luna took her place on top of his hat, Shadow began to think of what he could gather for Sonic.
He remembered how exhausted Sonic always looked. He could attribute it to the constant missions the hedgehog went on. Even so, during the resting periods, Sonic still appeared tired.
With that information in mind, Shadow harvested with more ease.
Shadow’s basket became full, eventually. He relaxed and sat quietly. Luna had fallen asleep halfway through his work. Gently, he took off his hat.
He lightly tapped her, “Would you still like to pick some flowers?”
Luna blinked slowly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She stared at him before humphing in agreement. Shadow placed her on the ground, putting his hat back on.
He walked at a patient pace, waiting for her to fully wake up.
“Do you think Sonic would like a flower? I can add it to the herb arrangement,” he asked Luna, who fervently nodded.
He gazed at the options once they arrived, the sunflowers immediately caught his attention; he walked over and ran a thumb over one of the flower’s petals. He took out his clippers, cutting the stem at an angle.
Shadow turned to Luna, watching her struggle to pull her own; his eyes shined with amusement. He took pity on her, cutting the roughed-up flower and placing it with her carrot.
He got up with a grunt, looking at the garden one last time. There was nothing urgent that needed to be attended to. He would save the rest of the work for when Metal decided to aggravate him, which would likely happen an hour into his return.
“We should head back,” Luna frowned at his words.
“I’ll make you some breakfast,” Shadow bargained.
Happily, she nodded in agreement.
Luna trailed after him as he made his way back to their house, occasionally flying ahead of Shadow to burn off some energy. He watched, giving her the appropriate praise.
The basket bumped his hip rhythmically as he walked, which reminded him-
“We need to get you a basket if you’d like to keep harvesting,” Shadow looked at his chao.
She clapped her hands. Shadow took that as a ‘yes.’
“Good, I’m not sure if they sell baskets for your size, however,” he closed his eyes, thinking, “I suppose I’ll have to find a way to make one; maybe Amy would know how to make one.”
Having lost interest in Shadow’s words, Luna sped ahead of him once more. She was eager to see Metal again.
“It looks like you’re excited to see Metal. Hopefully, that excitement covers the both of us,” he huffed a small, quiet laugh; “We should hurry then, we don’t want to keep him waiting.”