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Quills brushed back by the wind. Cold air surrounding him. The loneliness of the forest, no company but that of his motorcycle.
Shadow wouldn't be fast to admit it, but he loved driving away on cold winters. Storming out of a conversation with that brooding look, only to drive off in his motorcycle. A typical melancholy he found a strange sweetness in.
…Or would, if it wasn't for his senses being thrown off. Something was wrong.
Someone was following him.
The ambience of the forest, the sound of crunching snow, it was all wrong- Someone was disturbing it. Someone was disturbing him.
So, he slowed down. Gradual enough to be inconspicuous, but just enough to let whatever was tracking him to catch up a little more.
And then, just as he heard a rumble from the trees beside him,
SLAM. Shadow jerked the Dark Rider to the right, crashing into the trees- And whatever lurked within- A loud, wretched cry echoing through the forest as he did so.
Gross. Unnatural. A pain on the ears. Shadow knew what his stalker was purely from it's wretched screech, as he climbed off the Dark Rider to confront it, obviously, a Badni-
Oh.
Sonic.
Shadow, unthinkingly, stared at Sonic with just about as much threat as he would a Badnik, as Sonic was trying not to start sweating bullets.
"Don't need Shadow to have another incident with bullets." Sonic thought to himself, before shaking his head rapidly and looking up at Shadow.
"Heyyyy Shadow!" He said with a coy smile, "Whatcha doing here? Come here often?" and a wave.
"Sonic. You followed me- Why?" Shadow asked bluntly, ignoring Sonic's questions.
"Oh, y'know, just in the area and saw you driving around, and thought I'd hop along." Sonic blatantly lied- Shadow had felt something was off since the start of his drive, and he had just stormed off from something that involved Sonic. An attempted invite to a party- a failed one. Badly, badly failed.
Either Sonic was just pushing his buttons, or he was plain stupid. And Sonic was dumb, not stupid.
"Move. Help me get the Dark Rider back on the road." Shadow said with a sigh.
"Dark ri…ohhh, the motorcycle you hit me with! Right. Rude." Sonic said as he stood, brushing snow out of his fur.
Shadow held his tongue…
"You followed me." Shadow said as he and Sonic lifted the Dark Rider from the snow.
…for about a second.
"…You, uh, sure this thing starts?" Sonic asked as Shadow looked over its dents, then sitting down.
Shadow grumbled as he tried to start the motorcycle,
"Of…course…"
…
And the motorcycle refused.
Sonic winced as Shadow just stared at the motorcycle, for a moment.
"Y'know, I know a real good mechanic who could help, Tails and Tangle throwing th-" Sonic piped up, before being cut off by Shadow,
"And I know a better one. A little while up from here."
"Hm. Nice!- I'll come with ya, for a walk." Sonic smiled. Shadow just stared back at him, unamused.
"You're not asking." He said.
Sonic's smile turned into a shit-eating grin as Shadow facepalmed. "Can't lose me that easily." He exclaimed.
Shadow began to walk down the road as Sonic trailed behind.
"…Bother me on the way and you're upcoming roadkill." Shadow said casually, an attempt at a joke.
…
The two walked in silence for almost half an hour, taking in the scenery around them before Sonic broke the long silence.
"Kinda lonely out here."
Shadow didn't respond.
"Like…empty. Haven't spend the holidays alone in awhi-"
"No." Shadow interrupted.
Sonic stopped walking and stared at him, confused. "No…what?"
"'Lonely.' It's melancholic. That's why I come here. You don't understand it."
Sonic smirked. "So… like brooding? Sulking? Wallowing? Being sad and alone in a forest?" Sonic said, trying to get more words out of Shadow. Teasing Shadow for a sure-fire reply.
"You don't get it. There's a…" Shadow went to speak, Sonic's trick working easily.
"Sweetness to it." The two began walking again.
"The cold winds. The solitude. To be alone with your thoughts and winter's chill." He continued.
"It's almost…soothing." And then remembered who had tricked him into being so open.
"And how I avoid your christmas parties."
"Huh…" Sonic replied, ignoring Shadow's last comment.
"That's, kinda sweet, actually." Sonic lightly elbowed Shadow, a soft smile on his face.
Shadow Hmph'd for a moment, before looking away from Sonic and taking in a deep breath of the cold air as they continued their walk.
Strolling through the snow-covered forest, crunch noises with every step being the only sound they heard as the two found themselves in a comfortable silence, admiring the forest as they wandered.
Sonic had almost forgot what this felt like. Aaalmost. He could never forget, but he'd been far more…social, recently. Around everyone, all the time.
A hero, a paragon- Something he knew he wasn't, and didn't want to be.
He was just a guy.
…And it was nice to be reminded of that, sometimes. To relax, to take a moment to chill.
He'd thank Shadow, if his mind hadn't been wondering on the topic of relaxing with him for so long that the two had made their way to the location they'd been walking to already.
A small town, a handful of mobians walking down to wave at them as they walked by- Or, more specifically, wave at Shadow. Who nodded back in reply, Sonic waving at the strangers.
"Friends of yours?" He asked, smiling.
"…Acquaintances. I see them on drives like this, and we chat. They're…kind people." Shadow stated as they walked up a small path, towards another building,
The two finally arriving at Shadow's mechanic, and ready to bring in the Dark Rider- The walk was soothing, but lacked the practical way to get the motorcycle repaired- Shadow quickly dashing back to grab it and drag it here in mere moments.
"Gadget." Shadow nodded at the red wolf who leaned against a wall, smile on their face- Unsurprised by Shadow's sudden, apparent summoning of a motorcycle. They did this alot.
"Shadow! Welcome back. Need help with the bike again? Some problems?" They said.
"…Not one of his, uh, own cause." Sonic admitted with a nervous chuckle, poking out from behind Shadow.
Shadow almost smiled at the confession, as he handed over the motorcycle, Gadget bringing it into another room to begin their tinkering-
Shadow checking on them after a little while of waiting.
"Oh!- Well, uhm…it's a pretty simple fix…if a bit embarrassing." They nervously chuckled, before giving the Dark Rider a shake…
…
"It's just full o' snow." small piles of snow scattering the floor of their shop.
Sonic snickered, and Shadow tried his hardest not to facepalm as he stood in silence.
"I…thank you." Shadow muttered. "How much…?"
Gadget stared at him, almost pitifully. "This..uhm…this problem can just be on the house, man."
"…thanks." Shadow grumbled, facepalming again before awkwardly hopping on the Dark Rider, then turning to Sonic as he tried to regain composure, sighing.
"Don't you have a party to attend?" He said.
"Ehhh." Sonic began, hopping onto the back of the Dark Rider, arms behind his head and legs crossed as he sat in a relaxed, incredibly unsafe position leaning against Shadow's back.
"I can stay here a bit longer. Forests are soothing, y'know? And it can be nice to be with one lone companion." He said with a smile and a wink.
…
Did Shadow always have red markings on his cheeks, too?