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It was the peak of summer. With the temperature reaching record highs, Shadow couldn't think of anything worse than going outside. Unfortunately for him, it was the peak of summer and therefore invitations to outings were also at a record high. Well, not for Shadow, but he'd seen Team Sonic go places together on various social media platforms. Not that Shadow cared. He could think of better things to do, and right now, he was in his room listening to rock music at his preferred volume. Very loud. And just as Shadow thought he'd gotten away from getting invited to anything, a loud knock on his painted door pulled him out of his thoughts.
With a huff, Shadow paused his music and sat up from his bed, looking over at the door. "What?" He mumbled, a little annoyed at the unexpected interruption.
As it opened, his roommate, Rouge, stepped inside. "Hey, hun," She smiled, sliding in and looking at the relaxing hedgehog. "Amy just texted me. She wants us to join her and the gang at the beach today."
"Us, or you?" Shadow mumbled, staring at the woman who looked very out of place in his dark bedroom.
"Don't be like that, Shadow," Rouge sighed, and after a few beats of silence and intense staring, Rouge crossed her arms. "Fine. Amy invited me, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you came along."
Shadow deadpanned, staring up at Rouge with near-offence on his expression. "I'm not going." He mumbled, crossing his arms in protest. Sure, he didn't want to go, but the lack of an invite for him stung. Sometimes it felt like he was forgotten about.
"Oh, come on, Shadow," Rouge sighed a little, walking over to his window that had been covered by his black-out curtains. "You need some sunlight."
Shadow let out a hiss, covering his eyes with his arm as the curtains were opened. He struggled with bright lights as they were a sensory issue for him. But, as his eyes got used to it, he put his arm down and stared at Rouge. "Beaches are a nightmare. Not to mention it is way too hot."
"So... it's not the people we're going with, and rather the location?" Rouge hummed, her eyes filled with opportunity.
"Tch. Don't be ridiculous. I'd rather stare at a brick wall than spend my time with those idiots." Shadow rolled his eyes, watching Rouge walk over and sit on the bed beside him.
"But, Shadow... what am I going to do without my bestest friend in the whole wide world by my side at the beach?" Rouge teased, batting her eyes in his direction.
Shadow snorted at the teasing. "I'm sure you'll survive." He smirked, rolling his eyes playfully.
Rouge nudged him in slight annoyance. "When we get there, I promise we can stare at hot guys and scope out a boyfriend for you."
"Oh, fuck you," The pair laughed together. Shadow only let himself go with Rouge. She was the only person he trusted. "I don't want a boyfriend."
Rouge sighed once more. "Then we can just stare at hot guys!"
"You have a boyfriend."
"That... was gonna be the hot guy I was going to stare at," Rouge pouted, thinking of Knuckles at the beach for a moment. Once she came back to reality, she saw Shadow staring at her with a knowing look. "What? Get your own."
"No thanks," Shadow rolled his eyes. "Why are you so desperate for me to go anyway?" He asked. Shadow would be lying if he said Rouge's desperation didn't make him at least a little curious.
"Shadow, you haven't been outside nearly all summer. I want to see you outside, having fun, and speaking to others!" Rouge explained, just wanting to see her roommate smiling with someone that wasn't her.
Shadow huffed. "You just made a list of all my least favourite things." He mumbled.
Rouge stood and walked over to the door. "You have an hour to get ready," She said, swinging open the door, "You'd better be ready by then, Shadow. I mean it." She said, leaving the door wide open as she walked off.
"Close the..." Shadow cut himself off with a sigh, rubbing his temple for a moment. Rouge had left the door open on purpose so Shadow would have to stand up and if he was stood up then there would be no reason for him to not get ready. Damnit.
Shadow sat on the bed for a few moments, genuinely considering the pros and cons of going to the beach. On the good side of going... well... Rouge wouldn't be on his case. That would be a good thing.
On the bad side, though, there were many more reasons Shadow could think of. One is the beach itself; the sand would be a sensory nightmare, the smell of the sea, the heat. Another would be the people they'd be meeting; Shadow's presence was unexpected so it would probably end up awkward, he hadn't even planned to socialise so he didn't have any premade conversations. The possibilities were endless! But... Rouge would be on his case. And he'd rather face the consequences of going outside than face Rouge's wrath.
Damnit.
With a sigh, he got his autistic ass out of bed and went into the shower, using his favourite shower products. Lavender helped him relax. So did the water running down his body. The volume wasn't the nicest, but he could ignore that and just listen to his thoughts. Once he'd finished up, he walked back into the bedroom and... saw a red and white Hawaiian shirt on his bed. Shadow scowled and considered torching it using his air shoes, but he conceded and dried himself to put the stupid shirt on.
Continuing to get ready, he made sure to put on his red eyeliner and styled his quills to the way he liked.
"Shadow, are you ready?" Shadow heard Rouge shout from the front door.
He sighed, grabbed his sunglasses, threw his air shoes on and walked over to the door, making sure to sport a very unamused look.
"Oh, honey, you look fantastic!" Rouge smiled widely, her voice laced with teasing. She wore a pretty beach dress, which probably had a good-looking bikini beneath. Rouge also carried a handbag with two towels and bottles of water.
"Shut up."
"And the sunglasses? I didn't even choose those, but you suit them!" Rouge hummed, and this compliment seemed more genuine.
"They're purely for sensory reasons." Shadow huffed. He was open about being autistic since he didn't think it was anything to hide. Just like he was open about being gay.
"Yeah, but you still ate, Shadow." Rouge tutted jokingly, the pair heading out once they had everything and they went to the beach. With Shadow's air shoes and Rouge's ability to fly, they got there fairly quickly.
Once they reached the beach, finding Team Sonic was an easy task, since they looked like coloured highlighters in the sun. But, just as Shadow's last piece of luck gave out and disintegrated, he saw his rival in the same Hawaiian shirt but in a yellow and orange colour. Shadow wanted the world to end right then and there. He had never matched outfits with Rouge before, never mind Sonic. As he turned his head to look at Rouge as if to signal 'what the fuck', he watched her walk over to her boyfriend and hug. Damnit.
Today was going to be a long day.
"Hey, Shadow! Long time no see, bud, how ya been?" Sonic beamed, looking at the brooding hedgehog. Once eyeing the hedgehog a second time, Shadow noticed a white belt bag strapped around his waist. How intriguing.
Shadow looked away with a sigh. He didn't want to even look at Sonic right now. "I'm fine."
"Good to see you've still got style." Sonic quipped, the group walking to an empty area on the beach to set up a little seating area.
"Tch." Shadow rolled his eyes.
Amy and Rouge set up the towels, whereas Tails put the water bottles and any other cold items into the cooler they brought. Shadow and Sonic stood back with Knuckles beside them, who'd been staring at Rouge the whole time. Shadow scoffed quietly. PDA made his skin crawl. Unfortunately, Knuckles and Rouge seemed to love PDA. Why did he come here again?
As everyone set up their things, Shadow looked over at Sonic as he saw the blue hedgehog moving. With his hand in his belt bag, he pulled out his phone and looked at something to curse under his breath. What the hell was he doing? Sonic walked over to Tails and they began talking in whispered voices. After a few moments, Tails flew off back in the direction of Sonic's house.
"Where is the fox going?" Knuckles asked with crossed arms, looking at Sonic.
"I just... forgot something at the house, so he's going to get it for me." Sonic chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.
"And you're getting Tails to get it for you? Didn't realise you were getting lazy, blue." Rouge quipped with a giggle.
Shadow's eyes narrowed in Sonic's direction. No... Sonic wasn't lazy. Well, not when he was out of bed. Sonic ran for a living. He doesn't get lazy when he's on his feet. What was that hedgehog doing? Sonic walked back beside Shadow and Knuckles to stay out of the way of the girls setting up. Once they had, the trio went running out to the sea to have fun in the water.
"You're not gonna join them?" Sonic asked, looking over at Shadow with curiosity in his eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous," Shadow huffed, sitting on his towel. "I didn't even want to be here. Rouge dragged me."
"Oh, come on, live a little! Summer is a time to have fun whilst the sun is here." Sonic encouraged him, sitting on his towel that had been coincidentally placed beside his. Damn you, Rouge.
"The beach... isn't exactly a fun place for me," Shadow mumbled. He could have fun - or at least his version of fun. Shadow enjoyed listening to music. That was fun. But, enough about him, Shadow had a question on his mind. "Why aren't you joining them?" He clocked.
Sonic sat in stunned silence for a few moments. Sonic knew how perceptive Shadow was, so it was only a matter of time before Shadow would be asking questions. And, sure, Sonic was open about the fact that he was type 1 diabetic, but he didn't like talking about it.
"I... forgot to change my Dexcom yesterday, and I didn't bring a replacement, so... I'm just waiting for Tails to come back with it," Sonic explained. He didn't see any reason to lie to Shadow. Besides, he knew Shadow was smart and knew he wouldn't underestimate Sonic's disease as others usually did. "You know... ADHD brain making me forget stuff..." He chuckled loosely.
"I see." Shadow mumbled, looking at Sonic with a slightly softer expression.
As the conversation ended, a soft buzzing erupted from Sonic's quills. It was his communicator. Shadow raised a brow at that. He had a phone and a communicator. That was strange.
"Hey, Tails," Sonic began, the beats of silence signalling that Tails was talking. "Agh, are you serious?" Sonic sighed, rubbing his face. "Sorry, I've been so preoccupied recently. I'll order some more right now," A few more beats of silence rang as Sonic thought. "Is my glucose monitor there? ... Is it working?" Sonic let out a deep sigh of relief. "Okay, just bring that then. Thanks, bud." He said, before ending the phone and sighing once more.
Shadow raised a brow, looking over at Sonic. But he'd never ask since he didn't like prying into situations he wasn't directly involved in. Besides, he knew Sonic's mouth was big enough to blabber without him asking.
"I forgot to order more Dexcom devices..." Sonic sighed as he pulled his phone out and went online, seemingly to order more. "I've been so busy lately... I completely forgot to..."
"Relax, Sonic. Stressing out won't help your blood sugar." Shadow shook his head. Suddenly, a familiar smell waved over him, and now he was looking at Sonic with concern in his eyes.
Sonic could feel those ruby eyes burning into his head. "What? I feel fine." He said, now looking at Shadow.
Shadow looked over at Sonic. Since he wasn't portraying any signs that his blood sugar was changing, Shadow decided to drop it. But that didn't mean he'd take his eye off the hedgehog. Not when he didn't have access to a reliable glucose monitor. Even the one that Tails was getting wasn't exactly reliable. The finger prick tests only measured blood sugar at that exact moment. Not if it was dropping or rising. Since Sonic was so hushed about this situation with his other friends, Shadow assumed they either didn't understand or didn't care enough to know what was going on with the hedgehog. Neither of which were acceptable.
"You have a phone and a communicator?" Shadow asked in an attempt to change the subject.
"Uh, yeah," Sonic chuckled softly, stuffing his communicator into his quills once more. "The phone is just for the Dexcom since the communicator can't download apps. I just kept the communicator so everyone didn't have to buy a phone to reach me."
That made sense. So, Shadow dropped it as they sat on the towels. Shadow made sure to keep his eye on Sonic but to not make it obvious. Man, Tails was taking his sweet time. What was taking that fox so long? There was no way Tails didn't understand Sonic's condition... right? ...Right??
Rouge sauntered over. "Hey, boys, we're going to take a walk to the ice cream store. You two want to join?" She smiled softly, looking over at the pair.
Shadow didn't say anything. He didn't want to leave Sonic right now.
"Yeah! I'm not hungry right now, but I could do with a good walk." Sonic smiled, springing up on his feet.
Shadow sighed but joined nonetheless. So, Shadow, Sonic, Knuckles, Amy and Rouge all went to the ice cream parlour together, with the established couple holding hands. He could tell that Sonic was a little hurt at the fact he wasn't getting ice cream, but he knew that he couldn't risk it without knowing what his blood sugar was. Damnit, Tails, where are you?
Amy got strawberry ice cream, Rouge got vanilla, and Knuckles tried to find a grape flavour. Upon being unsuccessful, he got a chocolate flavour. Shadow and Sonic didn't get anything. Shadow felt like his instincts were on duty right now, so he didn't want to disrupt that. Sure, he hadn't used his service animal training in a long time so he was a little rusty. But, he knew exactly what to look for if Sonic's blood glucose went too far in either direction.
The group continued to walk around the area for a little while, sometimes going into stores and the girls bonding over finding cute outfits. The boys just hung back and stayed together. Not exactly talking, but just standing together. Shadow was extremely bored, but he just made sure to keep an eye on Sonic. He seemed a little distant, which made Shadow tense a little, but it still wasn't enough.
Eventually, they made their way back to the beach. Their stuff was still there, and Sonic went to sit down on the towels. But, Rouge grabbed his arm and pulled him in the direction of the water.
"Rouge, let me go." Shadow mumbled, yanking his arm back and staring at her.
"Oh, come on, Shadow! Lighten up, have some fun," Rouge smiled, taking his arm back and continuing to pull him into the direction of the sea. "I'll let you throw some water on me. Besides, there are a group of cute guys--"
"Rouge. I'm not in the mood. Let me go." Shadow snarled, yanking his arm back once more. He hated being pulled out of rhythm. Especially since he was so rusty in his service animal training.
Rouge sighed. "Ugh, fine... at least you're outside," She mumbled, her eyes flickering over at Sonic. "Taking all your time to be with Son--..." Her eyes flickered and stayed on Sonic again. "Is blue okay?" She asked.
Sonic was holding his head with shaky hands, his fur gleaming with sweat in the sunlight. He looked away for one minute, damnit!
"Stay here. He'll be fine," Shadow said, running over to Sonic as fast as he could. "Sonic, can you hear me?" Shadow asked, taking his shaky hands and looking into Sonic's eyes.
"Shh..hnn..." Sonic groaned out. "Dizzy..." He mumbled out.
"Have you eaten at all today?" Shadow asked, praying to whoever was up in the heavens that Sonic had brought bags of sweets, or at the very least some glucagon and insulin injections.
"Nn...no..." Sonic mumbled, his body swaying a little. "...tired..."
Shadow went into Sonic's white belt bag and found a small bag of jelly babies. "Sonic, stay awake for me--"
Sonic hit the towel with a thud. Fuck. Shadow rummaged through his cloudy mind. Severe low blood pressure can cause fainting. As long as he doesn't have a seizure, Sonic shouldn't need emergency medical attention.
"Oh my god, Shadow, is he okay?" He heard Amy shout and everyone else running up to the pair.
"He's fine. Sonic's blood glucose has tanked," Shadow explained, rummaging through Sonic's white bag once more. Glucagon injection kit. Bingo. "If I just give him this, he'll be fine."
"What the hell are you doing? You don't know how to use that!" Rouge shouted, clearly panicked.
Shadow should open up about his past more often. "Yes, I do," Shadow said, putting Sonic into the recovery position. "Please, for the love of Chaos, leave us alone. I do this if you're all screaming in my ears."
The trio were hesitant, but they walked away and stayed close by.
Shadow opened the kit with practised ease. He remembered the times Maria hadn't eaten all day and her N.I.D.S was at its worst, so she had hypoglycaemia. It didn't happen often, but Shadow was always with her when she fainted. And he was always the one to give her the injection she needed. But, he remained focused and calm, grabbing Sonic's thigh and stabbing the needle in, pushing the glucagon inside. It took around 10 minutes for Maria to come around, so Shadow made 10 minutes the timer. If Sonic hadn't responded by then, he'd call an ambulance.
Shadow kept Sonic's phone nearby, sitting by Sonic's head and stroking his quills. Another habit he formed when looking after Maria. Running his claws through her hair seemed to help her come around after her little episodes, so he hoped Sonic found comfort in it too.
One of the most annoying things about this situation was that this could've been completely avoidable if a certain fox had taken this a little more seriously! But Shadow couldn't dwell on that for too long. He had something more important to care about. He tapped on Sonic's phone screen to check the time. It had been 3 minutes since Shadow had given him the glucagon injection and Sonic showed no signs of response. Shadow wasn't going to get worried until around 7 minutes. Shadow continued to look at Sonic's lock screen. It was a picture of him with his friends, the group smiling widely whilst on their adventures. Shadow didn't want to imagine what would happen if Sonic didn't pull through this.
Once again, Shadow banished the thought. He couldn't think like that. Not when he was the one that was looking after Sonic. So, he focused on the time and the feeling of Sonic's quills moving to accommodate his stroking fingers. 3 minutes turned into 5, 5 into 7... and Shadow began to get a little nervous. So, Shadow decided to see if Sonic would respond to something other than the fingers threading through his hair.
"Sonic, can you hear me?" Shadow asked, looking down at the unconscious hedgehog. But, the twitch in Sonic's ear gave Shadow a glimmer of hope. "Sonic? It's Shadow, can you move?" He asked, getting down to Sonic's level to look into his eyes.
Over the next minute, Sonic began to move a little, and once the 8th minute hit, Sonic vomited on the towel beneath him. Shadow pulled away, but some had caught on his cheek. Not that Shadow wasn't expecting that. Injecting glucagon could cause vomiting. Shadow was a little stupid for getting so close. It didn't phase him, though. Shadow had worse bodily fluids chucked at him. So, Shadow grabbed a towel and cleaned it off, as well as Sonic's mouth.
"Sonic, can you talk to me?" Shadow asked, trying to get Sonic to give him a direct response.
"...ughn..." Shadow heard, and he'd never felt his heart reach a higher plane of relief than it did at this moment. He couldn't mask the smile on his face. "Shads..?"
"Hey, welcome back," Shadow smiled, putting his glove back on and reached over to the cooler and pulling out a bottle of water for Sonic. "How are you feeling?"
"Jeez... did I wake up in an alternative universe? I've never seen you smile so much..." Sonic quipped, albeit quietly, and his voice was low and gravelly. He sat up slowly, with Shadow helping him up after giving him the bottle of water. "Thanks..." He mumbled, taking sips of the water.
"I'm just glad you're not dead," Shadow mumbled, hiding his smile now that he knew Sonic was okay. "Now, what are you feeling, Sonic?" He asked, determined to know whether or not Sonic needed medical intervention.
"I'm... okay now," Sonic mumbled, looking over at Shadow. "I've got a little headache but... nothing some relaxing can't fix."
A few beats of silence lay between the pair as Sonic looked around before his eyes settled on the pile of vomit. "Oh... shit, man. I'm sorry about that."
"You're apologising for a symptom of taking a glucagon injection? Please, it's nothing I haven't experienced before." Shadow chuckled as he shook his head. He moved Sonic over onto his own towel, tied up the vomit-filled towel and left it to the side so no one could touch it.
"Really? You've dealt with this sort of thing before?" Sonic asked, tilting his head slightly. Right. No one knew about his past.
"Uh, yeah," Shadow mumbled, looking down at himself for a moment. "One of my many roles at the ARK was to be a service animal to Maria. It was mostly for her mobility and energy, but I was also trained on blood glucose. Maria had gotten hypoglycaemic a few times, so... I know how to deal with it." He explained.
"Ah... so that's why you were so close to me today," Sonic chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "And here I thought you were starting to fall in love."
"Tch. Hardly," Shadow rolled his eyes. But, he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy taking care of him. "It was purely instinct." He shrugged.
"Mhm," Sonic hummed, his tone full of disbelief. "Did it feel good?" He asked.
"I'm... sorry?" Shadow asked, looking up at Sonic with concern in his eyes.
"Not good in a weird way!" Sonic said quickly, his muzzle growing pink with embarrassment. "But, like... good in the way that you were doing something that you've helped Maria with before. Did the familiarity, or at least the memory, feel good?" He asked.
"Ah," Shadow said, thinking for a few beats. "I suppose it was."
Sonic smiled. He was happy that he could give that kind of feeling to Shadow. Even if... he was going through something dangerous. "Well, thank you, for saving my life," He said, beginning to stand up. "I think I'm gonna get going. I need to take a nap."
"I'm going with you." Shadow said, standing up alongside him with no argument in his voice.
"What?" Sonic blinked at him.
"Your blood glucose just tanked, and you have nothing to check your blood sugar with. Why would I save your life and then risk letting you die on the way home?" Shadow asked, mostly rhetorically. "Besides, I need to beat some sense into that fox." Was something Shadow never realised he had to say.
"Okay, fair enough. But no beating up Tails." Sonic mumbled. Sonic walked over to his friends and reassured them that they were okay and that he was going home with Shadow to relax.
"No promises." Shadow mumbled as they reached Sonic's home, which held the fox since the workshop was lighting up. Shadow could feel rage bubbling in his stomach.
That motherfucker decided to tend to his little gadgets and risk his friend's life?! Shadow was going to blow the walls off that workshop. But, Sonic started walking in the direction of the workshop, so Shadow couldn't release all hell upon the younger fox.
Sonic and Shadow entered the workshop. "Hey, bud!" Sonic let out, and Tails stopped working and put his tools down.
"Oh, hey, Sonic!" Tails smiled, his diamond eyes flickering towards Shadow. "Uh, hey... Shadow..."
Shadow scoffed at him. He wanted to roundhouse kick that little weasel.
"So... do you have my glucose monitor?" Sonic asked with an unsure smile, poorly hiding his irritation.
"Yeah! And I managed to find another Dexcom! Turns out you have one left, so you can use it!" Tails smiled, giving him the box that held the thing that would've prevented this whole situation.
"R-Right..." Sonic sighed, taking the box.
"And when did you plan on giving him this?" Shadow asked, glaring at the fox so intensely that he tried to blow Tails up with his mind.
"I'm sorry, I got a little distracted, but you can use it now!" Tails smiled up at Sonic.
"It's oka--"
"No, it is not okay, damnit!" Shadow snapped. Damn his overwhelming sense of justice. "Sonic's blood sugar tanked at the beach and passed out. All of this could've been prevented if you had brought the device to the beach and come back to deal with whatever you're working on! I don't even want to think about what would've happened if I wasn't there because all of Sonic's so-called 'friends' don't have the decency to learn basic knowledge of his condition!"
Silence rang through the workshop. Tails looked upset, but Shadow had just said everything Sonic had been thinking. Meaner than what Sonic thought, but it got the point across. They always underestimated Sonic's diabetes, and just assumed it was the same as type 2. In the beginning, Knuckles didn't even realize there were two types of diabetes.
"I'm... sorry, Sonic." Tails frowned, his ears flat against his head.
"Just... don't do that again, okay, bud?" Sonic said. Sonic didn't want to say that it was okay, because it wasn't. But he also couldn't force Tails to understand his condition.
Tails nodded, and Sonic left the workshop. Shadow didn't to look at Tails right now. He was beyond pissed. And he just wanted to make sure Sonic was okay.
Shadow saw a blue figure walk into his house, and he followed quickly behind. Sonic got to his bedroom and sat on the bed and Shadow stood at the door.
"What?" Sonic huffed, sulking into himself.
"You're annoyed. Talk to me." Shadow said, stepping into Sonic's bedroom and closing the door. His room was decorated with items of his past adventures, as well as a few things like calendars, timers, and pill bottles for his diabetes.
"Why do you care so much all of a sudden?" He mumbled, crossing his arms.
"Because I know you won't talk to your friends, since they're the issue, and you're such a people pleaser that you'll let it take you to the grave." Shadow pointed out.
"Okay... didn't need to clock me like that..." Sonic mutters under his breath. "But it's not that bad. They wouldn't kill me."
"No, Sonic, they wouldn't. But they'd end up getting you killed," Shadow growled. "The only reason anyone noticed your condition was because Rouge was teasing me about spending most of the day by your side. If I wasn't there, no one would've looked in your direction and if they saw you passed out, I'd take a fair bet and say they'd think that you were just napping, and that would've killed you. Am I wrong?"
Sonic sighed, rubbing his face. "No... no, you're not," Sonic mumbled, letting his hands hit the bed. "And it's so frustrating that you have to be the one to point that out." He huffed once more.
"Frustrating how?" Shadow asked, raising a brow as he walked over and grabbed the Dexcom box. He needed to get this into Sonic and check his blood sugar. So, he sat beside him on the bed and they got to work.
"Because we're supposed to be rivals, and you care the most about my condition!" Sonic huffed, taking his glove off and using his claw to get under the adhesive and pull the monitor off his arm. "I don't know if that says more about us, or my friends. And frankly, I don't know which one's worse."
"Us? How would that one be worse?" Shadow asked. Since their brains were distracted by the sudden task, their mouths continued the conversation without much thought, so the emotions flowed out without any censorship.
"Because then that would mean I have no idea what we are, and how to deal with what we could be," Sonic said, taking the transmitter out of the holder and discarding the holder from the transmitter. "Besides, I don't wanna complicate. I like things how they are." He said, taking the new one out of the box and grabbing his phone from his white bag to insert the new code into the app on his phone.
"Why do we have to change things if we stop being rivals?" Shadow asked, mainly out of curiosity. He made sure to watch what Sonic was doing. Shadow enjoyed learning things about people, even the 'gross' or 'weird'. None of this was to Shadow. It was interesting.
"I... guess we don't," Sonic mumbled, his eyes flickering over to Shadow as he noticed his intensely interested expression. "Can I help you?" He asked, breaking the flow of the conversation.
This pushed Shadow out of his train of thought and blinked up at Sonic. "Right, I'm sorry, I just... wanted to know how it works." Shadow mumbled, backing up and sitting on the edge of the bed to give Sonic some space.
Sonic looked over at him with surprise on his face. "Really?" He mumbled, his tone mirroring his expression. Why was he so surprised? "I mean... no one's ever bothered or cared to learn." He explained. Right.
"Well, they should." Shadow huffed, being reminded of Sonic's friends' behaviour toward his condition.
"Do you... maybe... do it for me? I'll talk you through the steps," Sonic offered, putting the device in Shadow's direction. "It takes me a while to get the courage to do it since the needle hurts. Doesn't matter how many times I do it, I can never get used to it..." He chuckled.
"So you can get bloody with me in a fight and walk away, but you freeze up at a needle prick?" Shadow raised a sceptical brow, shuffling back onto the bed and taking the device from his hand gently.
"It-" Sonic cut himself off with a quick huff. "It's the needle, man. It makes me nervous." He mumbled, looking down at the device.
"Noted."
"Don't even," Sonic glared up at Shadow jokingly, who was sitting on his knees so he was a bit taller than him on the bed. "Anyway... you just remove both labels on there and don't touch the adhesive. That's what sticks to my skin." Sonic mumbled.
Shadow nodded, taking off his glove once more and using his claws to gently peel the labels off. "Where do you want to put this?" Shadow asked, and Sonic grabbed an electric shaver. This made Shadow extremely confused, and Sonic could see that in his face.
"I just need to shave down the site I wanna stick the sensor to or it'll fall off. I learned that the hard way years ago," Sonic chuckled, grabbing a bit of his belly and shaving a small chunk of blue fur. "I usually do it on my arms, but I can't reuse the same site multiple times. I've kinda gotten over the embarrassment of having small chunks of fur shaved out of my arms and belly."
Shadow chuckled softly. "Right. That makes sense."
"Just put the adhesive where I've shaved the chunk of fur off. I made it a little bigger so you wouldn't miss it and catch any fur." Sonic quipped at the end, earning a playful scoff from Shadow whilst he rubbed an alcohol wipe on the patch of skin
"Yeah, right. I don't miss," Shadow said, looking down at Sonic's belly and lining up the adhesive with the patch of skin before pressing it onto his belly. "Is it done?" He asked.
"No, no, don't let go," Sonic instructed, smiling down at the uncertain hedgehog. "We haven't got to the worst part, yet... well, worse for me. You won't feel a thing."
"Well, I hope I won't." Shadow mumbled, earning a soft chuckle from Sonic.
"I might punch in the stomach so we can both be in pain, you just never know," Sonic quipped, and Shadow rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Now you need to break the safety guard on the orange button."
Shadow realised his other hand would have to cross over. To avoid the awkward position for himself, Shadow's focused brain didn't think to switch the hand holding the sensor against Sonic's belly and wrapped his arm around Sonic's body, sitting behind him and holding the plastic guard. "This?" Shadow asked, and Sonic gave him a nervous 'mhm'.
Sonic realised that Shadow hadn't even realised the position they were in, with Shadow having his chest pressed up against his back and looking down over Sonic's shoudler to see what he was doing. So, since Shadow was being so calm, Sonic decided to be calm. Besides, Shadow was pretty warm, so Sonic wanted to take advantage at that.
With a quiet snap, the orange guard was removed from the button. "Was that okay?" Shadow asked, hoping he didn't break the device. Shadow's voice had taken a slightly quieter and deeper tone. Had he noticed the position they were in? Jeez, Sonic didn't kno, but he needed to stay focused.
"Yeah, that was fine. Just the guard breaking off," Sonic said softly, looking down at the dark hands practically cupping his belly. "Now you can just... count down from three and press the button on one." Sonic mumbled, albeit a little bit embarrassed.
"Is the counting down from three in the manual?" Shadow chuckled, realising this was probably the part where the needle came into play.
"N-No, but... just keeps me prepared, you know?" Sonic mumbled, ignoring the warm breath on his shoulder. Or at least, he was trying to ignore it.
Shadow sighed softly. "Fine. If it helps to keep your head screwed on your neck," He mumbled, hovering the pad of his finger over the orange button. "Three... two... one," He said, clicking the orange button on one and feeling Sonic flinch against him. "See? Was that so hard?" Shadow teased.
"N-No... didn't even hurt that bad," Sonic mumbled, earning an unsure 'mhm' from Shadow. "You just... have to rub the adhesive a little to make sure it sticks." He said.
"Making me do everything, hm?" Shadow chuckled softly, using the pad of his finger once more to run laps around the adhesive. It was the softest touch Sonic had ever felt from Shadow, and it made his belly twitch a little at the warm contact. Shadow decided against commenting on it, purely for his own sanity. "Is that everything?" He hummed, pulling away and sitting beside Sonic.
"You just need to, uhm... clean the transmitter with an alcohol wipe and click it into the holder." Sonic explained, clearing his throat a little to ensure he wouldn't stutter or his voice wouldn't crack. Damn you, nerves.
Shadow nodded, grabbing a second alcohol wipe and gently cleaned the right side of the transmitter before pressing it into the holder until they heard a click.
"Tada... diabetes device is complete," Sonic smiled, looking up at Shadow. "Oh, actually, there are some stickers in the top drawer over there that can go over the adhesive and help it stick down for longer. I don't put them on often since I shave a patch to the size of the sensors adhesive. But since I shaved a bigger patch and you hit it spot on, I'm sure it'll fit. Besides, I'll let you pick the colour since you did it for me." He said, smirking at his last sentence
Shadow smirked with him, sliding off the bed and assorting through the pack of stickers. "Like getting a sticker on your work for doing a good job." He chuckled, remembering the times he flicked through Maria's school books to see stickers with words of praise on them.
"Exactly. Can't let the star of the week go unrewarded," Sonic continued on with the joke. "I'll make sure to put your name high on the board for the whole class to see." Shadow could practically hear the shit-eating grin being formed behind him. So, he responded with a classy middle finger that erupted a laugh from Sonic. Shadow supposed he could get used to that sound.
Shadow filtered through the colours before landing on a black sticker that had red stars on it. Perfect. Just to let everyone know he was here. Or to 'put his name on the board', so to speak. Shadow sauntered back over with a grin of his own and applied it to the adhesive Sonic's instruction. As Sonic looked down to see which one he picked, he huffed.
"Damnit, I was hoping you wouldn't find that one." Sonic pouted, but he didn't seem too bothered.
"Why do you have a red and black one anyway?" Shadow asked, looking up at the hedgehog that always adorned bright colours. If he chose to wear colours, that is.
"It was just one of the colours from the pack I bought," Sonic shrugged, going onto his phone to check his blood sugar. "Just like I have yellow ones, pink ones, red ones."
"Mhm." Shadow hummed. He'd believe that if any of the other stickers had patterns or other dark colours, but they didn't.
"But, thanks, Shadow," Sonic said, looking up at Shadow once he'd deduced his blood sugar was normal. Saying his whole name like that always made Shadow a little nervous. It always made Shadow feel like he was in trouble for something, or at the very least Sonic was being serious about whatever he was saying. And Shadow could never take this guy seriously. "You're, like, the only person in my life that's shown this much care, or at least interest in my condition. Whether that's because your past, or because you actually care... either way, thank you." Sonic smiled.
Okay... maybe Shadow could take Sonic seriously just this once.
"You're... you're welcome, Sonic," Shadow was a little taken aback, since the conversation had taken such a heartwarming turn and they had no task to distract their brains with. "I mean, someone has to care. Who are you if you end up losing your feet?"
Sonic stared at him in confusion for a few moments. "What does people caring about me having diabetes and losing my feet have to do with anything?" Sonic asked with a slightly tilted head.
"Well, before all of this technology was created, it was a lot more common for diabetics due to neuropathy because diabetes causes nerve damage and loss of blood flow to the feet." Shadow explained, holding his tongue on infodumping.
"O-Oh... right, uh... that definitely doesn't scare me," Sonic mumbled with a weak chuckle, looking down at his outstretched legs before looking back up to Shadow. "How do you know more about diabetes than I do?" He asked.
"Well, I had to learn at least a few things about diabetes when being trained for the whole blood glucose monitoring thing in the ARK," Shadow mumbled, before looking down at his hands in slight shame. "And I... have a current hyperfixation on human biology right now, so..." He admitted.
"Really? That's so cool! What kind of stuff do you learn?" Sonic smiled, clearly showing interests in Shadow's special interests. Shadow blinked up at him for a moment. No one showed interest in his interests before, so this was definitely new.
"Well, I mean... we'd be here for a while if I..." Shadow trailed off, looking away.
"What? Dude, we have all day. It's not even 4pm yet," Sonic shrugged, reassuring Shadow. "Besides, you've got me hooked now, so I won't be able to stop thinking about it until you tell me everything."
Shadow chucked. "I suppose it's the charm of being neurodivergent." He shrugged.
"Exactly! We could even make a sleepover out of this!" Sonic beamed, clearly getting in way over his head. "Sorry. Too much?" He chuckled, taking a moment to relax.
"No, no... I suppose not, but what would Miles think?" Shadow asked, looking over at Sonic.
"Since when have you ever cared about what Tails thinks?" Sonic chuckled, raising a brow.
"Fair enough," Shadow mumbled, standing up. "I'll go and grab my laptop from my apartment. I'll be right back." He said, zipping out of the room. Being as fast as Sonic helped the 'be right back' claim, since Shadow was back within seconds with a G.U.N issued laptop. His search history had flagged the system so many times that they had stopped caring.
So, for only Chaos knows how many hours, Shadow spent his time infodumping every file and every single 1,000+ Word document filled with the good, bad, and the ugly. Shadow's favourite parts were the grossest topics, since they were the most interesting to him. Sonic's favourite parts were the less gruesome parts because they didn't want to make him throw up.
But, Sonic had never seen Shadow so excited and passionate about something. It was practically infectious. It helped that Shadow made it interesting, and Sonic actually learned quite a lot from Shadow's infodumping. Needless to say, the night was pretty amazing. And in the end, Sonic realised that he wouldn't mind being more than rivals...