Chapter Text
Sonic shoved open her garage door with one hand, extension cord in another as she strung the cords across the garage, careful to be cautious of her friend’s instrument cases. She peered back down at her phone on the shelf, swiping up into the band groupchat.
Wednesday, 3:14pm
Be there in ten .
On my way!
K
Sonic responded thumbs up to all three and pushed back into a massive bean bag, quietly resting a hand on her abdomen as she breathed. Not the best posture, sure, but it works and relaxing is probably also good for your voice, right? She hummed a trilled as she impatiently watched the garage door, rhythmic and practical foot tapping and humming quickly morphing into impatient stims. Amy was true to his word, waving as he enthusiastically ran into the garage, careful to avoid wires. “Hiya Amy!” Sonic perked up instantly, leaping up to hug her friend.
“Hey Sonic!” Amy responded in kind, briefly embracing Sonic. He slipped into the seat behind the drumset, shuffling a few sheets of music. “You seem impatient.”
“You know me..” She shrugged, kicking some dust up on the ground. “Would you expect anything else?”
Amy giggled as he shook his head, Rouge was just behind Amy, decorated messenger bag in tow.
“Am I the last?” He asked, setting his bag down and adjusting his hair.
“Nope,” Sonic sighed. “Even though that outfit looks like it took forever.”
“It comes natural to a guy as fashionable as me,” He teased. “Unlike that tattered ass hoodie.”
Sonic clutched the- admittedly tattered- cropped blue hoodie she wore. “Rouge!”
“You know it.” He sighed as he took off his sunglasses. Despite being the same status as the other three band members, Rouge exuded the confidence of a pop star on a theatrical world tour, with a style to match. Sonic could only wish to exude such an untouchability. Instead, she opts for a more friendly, humble singer kind of vibe.
“Hello.” A firm voice came from the door, the three turning heads and waving a courteous ‘hello’ at Shadow, a confusing combination of perfectly done up makeup and a got-this-off-the-floor type of outfit, with an oddly clean and form-fit pair of jeans, matched with a ripped shirt that looks only a little intentional. If Sonic’s shirt wasn't so well loved, it may have looked out of place. At Least Shadow, (unlike Sonic) still accessorized with a studded belt- Which, Sonic may add, is unnecessary with those bottoms.
“You showed! I like your belt, especially since the silver on it will beat out all the vampire rumors.”
Shadow ‘hmph’d at Sonic, scanning her body. “And I suppose those fossilized converse had you mistaken as a paleontologist?”
Sonic snorted, and a small grin cracked on Shadow’s face.
“Oh oh! As the vocalist, I have a favour to request of you,” Sonic chimed, grabbing a sheet of music with a highlighted line. “Sing that for me this go-around?”
Shadow glanced down, taking the sheet. “Why?”
“Rouge's suggestion,” She credited with a wave to the boy. Rouge nodded as he quietly tuned her instrument. “Said you sounded more..” Sonic glanced back at Rouge, expecting him to fill in with that he’d said. He didn’t.
“More what?” Shadow asked, scanning the slip of music. Sonic spared another glance at Rouge.
“Gravelly.”
“No, I-”
“We should really get some practice in, tune up quicker!” Sonic interrupted, adjusting her microphone stand. She didn’t want to repeat the exact wording Rouge used, especially after… the week’s odd events so far.
Sunday night, Sonic’s mom had been kind enough to let her bandmates crash the night after a gig. They’d all been so hyped, everyone decided a school night of shitty sleep would pay off. Well, everyone did while they were planning. Now that it was over and Sonic’s vocal cords were fried while blisters formed in her tights, she didn’t think so fondly of getting up ass-early for school. And she felt bad for Tails, who tagged along to help the band with audio, and would now need to cram in Rouge’s car with four other teenagers- And lie to Mom about it. She unfortunately didn’t make it, but the whole thing got recorded by some friends- And even if it wasn’t, Sonic probably wouldn’t shut up about it for the next month.
Sonic unlocked the front door through the garage once everyone had put all of their instruments away (besides Amy- they rented a drum set from a place near the venue to make it easier on everyone) and immediately slipped her shoes off with a happy sigh. “Boys, can you pull the spare mattress from under my bed? It will fit both of you,”
“I drove and I still have to do your dirty work?” Rouge grumbled, despite his tone lacking any actual upset.
“I want it down so I can change already, my feet are killing me!”
Shadow tapped Sonic on the shoulder, startling Sonic a little. She whipped around and Shadow was scowling a little- A mannerism that once threw Sonic off. Turns out, that’s actually just her face.
“Where do I sleep?”
Sonic nearly defaulted to the obvious, ‘my bed!’ but stopped herself. Does Shadow know her well enough? Does that come off as weird? But where else should she sleep? Rouge knows Shadow best, and Sonic knows Amy best. Maybe it’s best that they switch? Not that Sonic thinks anyone would have a problem with that… Except her mom, who- while reasonable and trusting of who Sonic keeps company- would have an aneurysm.
“And.. Do you have any pajamas?” She asked, tiredly quipping, “Which aren’t as tattered as rags.”
That might be worse. But Shadow asked, so it’s not crossing boundaries.. Right? Sharing clothes is a totally normal thing to do. She’s pretty sure Tails wore her skirt to the show. Why is Sonic just not getting weird about other girls in her bed? It’s never been a thing until two seconds ago.
“...Hey,” Shadow huffed, poking Sonic in the forehead gingerly. “I’d like to know before morning.”
“Yeah, yeah, sorry… My bed,” Sonic smiled, gesturing towards the room. Shadow maintained the same expression. “Or my couch.” Stare. “Y'know what, I can sleep on the couch!” Sonic smiled, despite that probably being the worst idea given she had to be awake with non-cramped legs in 5 hours.
“Fine with me.” Sonic sighed, relieved despite not actually having the clarification of which one Shadow was ‘Fine.’ The guys came out of the room and Sonic dashed in to change, eager to change. It was nothing short of freeing slipping off her three layers of tights- One pair, dance tights, for warmth and overall coverage. It hid all the baby hairs she never cared to shave off of her thighs, any bruises, scratches, or otherwise blemished skin, and most importantly, prevented chafing. The next pair, very very sheer glitter tights with itty bitty rhinestones- For sparkle, obviously, and a bit more blemish coverage. Lastly, very small nude coloured fishnet tights, which added a bit of visual texture. Probably a bit much that no one actually took the time to look at, but the details made Sonic happy. along with them, the vanilla colored leg warmers, and quickly after, her matching arm warmers. Lastly, her hand made cropped hoodie vest. After that, she got changed into some random shirt, one with a cut collar (that too frequently got her dress coded) and cotton pj shorts.
“Shadow!” She yelled, setting a similar outfit out in hopes Shadow wouldn’t mind what Sonic had to offer. She closed herself into the bathroom that connected Sonic’s and Tails’ rooms, gently patching her blisters before peeling off her fake eyelashes and using a makeup wipe (yes, Sonic knows that they’re bad for you) to rub all the glitter, color, and base off her face. It works, except for the glitter not only hiding in her hairline, brows, eyelashes, and waterline- But also still being somewhat on her face. She gives up and pushes into her room again, where everyone has wiped their own faces off and gotten situated into bed. Despite all 4 of them complaining about how tired they were, Sonic’s bandmates and her little sister had all booted up Sonic’s Playstation and loaded Quiplash in.
“Guys, we need to sleep,” Amy urged, clearly without his whole heart in it because he was the one with the controller in his lap. “Oneee round.”
But, obviously, the first round was shit, so that was just the warmup round… And then the next game was just too good.
Even Amy and Tails were long past chastising everyone about violent…
Q- Fastest way to get fired?
Amy’s response- Stab that one coworker with a glitter pen.
…profane…
Q- What are mannequins always thinking?
Tails’ response- That bitch gave me such a fugly fucking outfit.
…insensitive…
Q- Elections would be a whole lot better if instead of debates, we made the candidates ______
Sonic’s response- Kill the Pope.
…suggestive…
Q- How do you seduce a bear?
Rouge’s response- Which kind?
…or otherwise out of pocket quips. Shadow was giggling, but hadn’t put anything quite so memorable yet. She’d throw a joke about ‘touching’ or a jab at a bandmate in, but nothing so out of pocket. Sonic supposes she’s keeping her mysterious aura up. But Quiplash is a force that eventually takes everyone’s inhibition.
Q- How to tell if your girlfriend is secretly a scarecrow?
Response- Waking up with straw in your mouth.
Sonic flushed pink as the joke took a moment to hit, before doubling over. Rouge squawked an incredulous “Sonic!!”
“That wasn’t me!” She wheezed, as Amy gave her a doubting glare, snort matching Sonic’s own. Tails tried to stifle a giggle and pretend she didn’t understand.
Obviously, it was a Quiplash. Sonic’s own, lame, “itchy :[“ was no match for the brave soul rivalling him. Everyone went slack-jawed for a moment as they looked down at who’d submitted the response.
Shadow’s giggle was soft in the silence. “I had to,” She slowly deflated into a wheeze, before sending the other four into a laughing fit.
So now, it was a one-up game.
Q- Under a full moon, a small number of people turn into _.
Sonic- Raging lesbians.
Tails- Hatsune Miku!
Q- Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, _.
Rouge- What the fuck???
Tails- Jump.
Q- Coffee shops always get names wrong. They should just hold up an order and shout “_!”
Shadow- Hey TWINK
Amy- GET DOWN I HAVE A BOMB
Q- Sorry, we don’t have coke or pepsi. Is _ okay?
Amy- An entire solo cup of straight everclear
Rouge- Lean flavoured vape pods
Q- What’s the trick to staying up when you have to pull an all-nighter?
Shadow- Break the bed.
Sonic- Break the bed.
The same exact answers from Sonic and Shadow made the whole group go into a laughing fit, and the abs she was slowly growing from laughing way too hard weren’t the only thing churning in Sonic’s stomach. Obviously, Sonic figured Shadow would have a sense of humor- And it would be silly to not figure it’d be close to Rouge’s freak levels. They were the ones who were originally friends, anyway. Something about Shadow’s name tagged onto the end of the Quiplash prompts made her feel… Yep, it sure made her feel!
At some point during the laughing fit, someone accidentally shut the room into darkness, with the loud sound of the Playstation shut-off sound. Sonic pawed around for her phone, eventually finding it. 4:47am. “I think that’s the universe's way of telling us to get to sleep,” Amy chuckled.
Sonic leaned over the bed and grabbed Tails in a bear hug, kissing her on the forehead. “Goodnight, Tails,”
“Goodnight, Sonic,” Tails smiled back, bumping into the edge of Sonic’s bed frame as she walked out through the bathroom.
Sonic situated on the edge of her bed, pulling the blankets up and setting her phone on the nightstand.
“‘Night, y’all.”
Everyone else mumbled 'night' back, rustling under blankets until coming to a still, the only sound the very faint rain noises Sonic had put on to lull everyone asleep. They didn't really need it, though. Sonic snuggled farther into her mattress- sleep didn’t take long to embrace her, but somewhere faintly, she felt the gentle embrace of something else.