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The village was always too bright and crowded for Shadow’s tastes, but on a rainy night like tonight, it felt much different. Pitch black scenery, silhouettes of trees and buildings standing blurred yet clear against the night sky. The stone streets, drenched enough to reflect the meager moonlight. Despite the rain, walking out here was comforting, the calming atmosphere a blanket fitted specifically to him. The perfect place to think.
Every hut was dark, no one awake to notice Shadow walking out here. Even if they were aware of his presence, none of the villagers would have dared to approach him anyway. As much as he would like to say he liked it that way, Shadow couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied with what he had made for himself. Not that he wanted the full-on hero treatment, but he could admit there was boredom in constant solitude. Monotony in his life. The recent addition to his inner circle (and precedent construction of his inner circle) had helped with that quite a bit, but sometimes it didn't feel like enough. He didn't know what to do about that.
The steady rainfall shifted into a harsher downpour, and Shadow course-corrected himself to head towards the village’s park. While not usually one to be bothered by the weather, the rain was getting colder as the night wore on, and it was starting to distract him from his regularly scheduled brooding time. The park had a gazebo which he could use as shelter until he had warmed up enough to continue his walk.
When Shadow arrived, he could see the gazebo was already occupied, a figure sitting on the floor at one of the openings. He would have ditched his plan entirely and given up for the night, if not for the lightning-lit glimpses of color and shape that he knew well. Knuckles was distracted, staring out at the rapidly growing puddles in the grass, and he only snapped back to attention once Shadow sat down beside him.
“Hey Shadow! What are you doing out here?”
“Taking a walk, what does it look like? What are you doing out here?”
Knuckles paid no mind to the sharp tone. Shadow always spoke like that.
“Ah, I’m just hanging out, I guess. Tonight's not a good night for sleeping. Too much rain.”
“I don’t see how those two things are connected.”
“I sleep outside, remember? Me and all my blankets got soaked, so I came here to dry off until the rain stops.”
“The rain isn’t going to stop until later this week.” Shadow had taken up the mantle of puddle-watching in Knuckles’ stead. “I don’t know how you missed the weather reports.”
“Aww man, for real? I guess it’s a no-sleep-two-or-three-days then…” Knuckles groaned, tipping over onto his back with a wet thud. He brought his palms up to his eyes and swore under his breath. “Goddamn, this is gonna suck.”
“Why don’t you just ask your stupid friends if you can spend the night? I would hope at least some of them aren't homeless.”
Knuckles muttered something too low to be heard over the rain.
“Speak up.” A demand, but again, that’s just the way Shadow was.
“I, uh… I don't want to bother them.”
Shadow twisted himself to look back at Knuckles, finally bothering to make eye contact, if only just to emphasize his point. “That’s stupid.”
“I know that.” The reply was accompanied by another groan. “I just don’t… the gang already helps me with enough. If I ask for help with this, it's like- can I even be trusted to do anything on my own? I don’t like feeling like a burden, y’know? Do you ever feel like that?”
“No.”
“I feel like that a lot.”
Shadow wracked his mind for the right reply. ‘You aren’t a burden’ seemed too formulaic, it might not sound genuine. But really, what else could he say to reassure his partner? As he mulled over his options, his mouth made a decision for him.
“Why am I suddenly your personal therapist?”
Gods, that was the worst thing he could have said.
Knuckles went silent, looking away. With the way he shut himself down, the hedgehog could only guess he had just added a new method of ‘being a burden’ to Knuckes’ mental list.
“That’s… not what I meant to say. You're always free to talk with me about things. Any things. I promise.” Shadow wasn’t one to stutter, but he could definitely flounder with the best of them. “Let me rephrase. Why can't you approach any of them about this? Why are you ‘friends’ if all they do is make you feel bad?”
“They don’t make me feel bad!” Knuckles shot back defensively.
“Did they or did they not insult you to the point of tears?”
“That was one time! And they got better after that!”
Shadow could only hope that was true. Knuckles was loyal to a fault. Once he decided he liked you, he was willing to ignore a lot of red flags. An image of a frog in a slowly heating pot of water came to Shadow’s mind. Where did he even learn that comparison?
“They’re probably the nicest people I’ve ever met…” Knuckles continued, unaware that he was currently being compared to a boiled frog. “I don’t think I ever had friends before them.”
If things got any more sappy from here, Shadow was going to start vomiting. He steered the conversation back to the original point as subtly as a social outcast could.
“If they’re so great, why can’t you ask them for shelter?”
The silence dragged.
Shadow’s ear flicked in irritation. This wasn’t going anywhere. He was going to have to intervene.
“What if I went with you to ask?”
Knuckles sat up on his elbows.
“Would you really?”
“Of course.” Shadow stood, looking down at Knuckles expectantly. “Which one of them are we asking?”
“Uh, well, Amy is out of town for the next few days, and I'm banned from doing any housesitting stuff after what happened last time. Still think the couch thing wasn't my fault, but whatever.” Knuckles’ tone went a bit sour at the last part, and, having been told the story, Shadow could agree with the sentiment. A decent couch should be able to handle a few harsh impacts. To break after a single punch, well, that was just shoddy craftsmanship.
Knuckles continued. “I really don't want to ask Tails. He's got all his tech laying around, and I feel like I'm gonna end up breaking something no matter how careful I am in there.” His previous enthusiasm gradually ebbed away as he explained his options, getting closer and closer to an answer he knew Shadow wouldn't enjoy. “So, uh. Really the only person we can ask right now would be-”
“The badger. What about her?” Shadow cut in sharply. It was more of an attempt at stalling than an actual option, and both of them knew it.
“Sleepovers stress her out. That, and I never make it through her metal detectors. I'm starting to think that maybe I do have some sort of microchip in me.” The echidna still hadn't gotten up from the floor. “If you don't wanna talk to Sonic, you don't have to. I could just stay here. I’ve done it before.”
Shadow’s grip tightened on the shoddy wood railing. The rain had intensified, beating harsher and colder against the gazebo roof, as if to push him to a decision. Or perhaps it was taunting him. Shadow the hedgehog, Ultimate Lifeform, leaving his boyfriend to sleep in some waterlogged park decoration, simply because he held a grudge.
“I can talk to him.” Shadow turned and held out a hand, helping Knuckles to his feet and chaos-controlling the both of them in one smooth movement. They landed on the porch of Sonic's beach hut.
“Jeez, you gotta warn a guy before you teleport!” Knuckles stumbled over to a support beam, leaning against it to regain his bearings. “I feel like my brain parts came back in the wrong order.”
“That can't happen.” Shadow kept his gaze forward and knocked on the door. He kept knocking until he heard a disgruntled “ALRIGHT!” to confirm that Sonic would be coming to open the door. He then stepped back and let Knuckles take his place. As they waited, Shadow crossed his arms and glared out at the storm clouds on the horizon, a silent retaliation for daring to doubt the Ultimate Lifeform.
The door finally swung open to a semi-awake Sonic, leaning heavily against his doorframe.
“This better be an emergency.”
Sonic’s posture tightened up once he actually processed the figures at his doorstep. His eyes flickered between an uncharacteristically nervous looking Knuckles and Shadow looming ominously behind him.
“Uh. Hey Sonic, sorry for waking you up this early. Or late. I didn't check the time, sorry. I was- I mean, we- wait no it is just me isn't it-” Shadow grew more and more impatient as Knuckles fumbled through his words. Perhaps the echidna’s brain had been scrambled on the way over. A glance at Sonic showed the hero was fighting his own battle against irritation, so Shadow decided it was appropriate to interrupt.
“Knuckles needs a place to stay until the storm passes.”
Sonic narrowed his eyes, looking over to Shadow, then back up to Knuckles, waiting for confirmation that this was, in fact, what he came here to ask.
“Yeah, what he said.” Knuckles hastily nodded.
“But pretend it was a question. And add a please in there.”
“Dude.” Sonic brightened up immediately. “Of course you can stay over!” He stepped aside and gestured for Knuckles to come in. Shadow was unsure if he was also cleared to enter, but he figured Sonic wouldn't want his door left hanging open either. The compromise was for him to stand awkwardly right in front of the door, until he could be sure that Knuckles didn't need his help anymore. Until he could be sure that Sonic didn't have some snarky comment or thinly veiled insult to sneak in at Knuckles’ expense.
“Oh, hold on-” Sonic zipped away for a moment, coming back with towels and handing one to both of them. “Before you flood my house.”
Knuckles looked a bit bewildered at how easy this had been. Shadow looked a bit bewildered at being considered a towel-worthy guest.
Sonic leaned against the back of the couch as the two dried off. “To be honest, I was actually a little worried about you. You usually handle yourself just fine, but 72 hours of this?” He gestured out the window, letting a conveniently timed crack of thunder and lightning emphasise his point. “Yeesh.”
Knuckles was dried enough to sit on the couch while he wrung out his dreads, and he faltered a bit at the mention of the storm's length.
“And you're really ok with letting me stay that long? That's like…” He stilled entirely, routing all the brainpower he had into an ill-fated attempt at math.
“Three days, man.” Sonic finished for him before the silence could get too awkward. “That's nothing! I've had Eggman stay over longer than that.” He reached over to knock lightly against Knuckles’ skull. “Where's all this coming from, Knucklehead? You're like my best friend, why would I mind you staying over?”
“I don't know.”
“Do you ever?” Sonic rolled his eyes, a sarcasm that was obviously more fond than mean.
Instead of responding further, Knuckles utilized his newly regained confidence to drop his towel over Sonic’s head, snickering at the hedgehog’s yelp of surprise.
Shadow, having done what he set out to do (and also feeling incredibly sidelined from this whole exchange), dropped his towel on the floor and opened the door to leave.
“Oh!” Knuckles noticed his exit, and waved after him. “See ya Shadow! Thanks for helping me out.”
Shadow turned to give Knuckles a courtesy nod of acknowledgement.
“Yknow, you can stay too, if you want.” Sonic offered.
Shadow stopped in his tracks, turning back and sneering at the hero. “Why would I ever want that?”
“I figured you're in the same boat as Knuckles. Plus, you helped him out with this. Seems fair to give you the same offer.” Sonic said with a shrug. “But if you're so eager to get back to your dark, moldy cave, I won't stop you.”
“Caves don't mold.”
“Knowledge of a true cave-dweller.”
Knuckles decided to put in his two-cents before the interaction could escalate further. “I think it'd be fair for you to stay too. At least for one night?” Shadow’s glare shifted over to him, but he wasn't discouraged in the slightest. “Come onnn, he's got cable.”
“And I'll give you full access to the fridge.” Sonic added.
Poor attempts at sweetening the pot. The Ultimate Lifeform did not need to eat, nor did he need cable TV.
…But he did need a break from the monotony.
“Fine.”
Sonic and Knuckles cheered and high-fived each other.
“I reserve the right to leave at any time.”
“Yeah, obviously. You think I'm gonna lock you in here?” Sonic zipped over to a cupboard, picking out two pillows. He gave a cursory “Heads up!” before tossing one to Knuckles.
In the corner of his eye, Shadow could see Sonic reflexively moving to throw the second pillow at him. To his credit, he managed to catch himself before it left his hands, instead walking over and handing it to Shadow normally. Shadow could admit he appreciated the restraint. Not out loud, mind you. Just in his head.
After a quick exchange of ‘good night’s, Sonic headed off back to his hammock, leaving Shadow and Knuckles alone in the living room. Knuckles had taken the couch, while Shadow was sitting on the floor and leaning back against the couch's base, the pillow at his lower back helping him recline further. The glow of the TV screen helped dull the occasional flashes of lighting outside. Remote in hand, Shadow flicked through channels, searching for a program that wouldn't make him want to bash his head against the wall. A tough ask for cable television.
Knuckles offered low-energy color commentary while Shadow searched, and as nice as that was, Shadow was starting to feel a little bad for keeping him up so late. He gave up his search and turned to an unavailable channel, preferring static over drivel.
“I think you'd like channel 3.” Knuckles suggested, having noticed Shadow’s discontent. “They do reruns of those old black-and-white family shows. With the dressed up housewives and the businessy dads.. the ‘Leave It To Beaver’ stuff. You said you used to watch those, right?”
“I did.” Shadow said. He turned to channel 3 and found it to be exactly as advertised. “I'm surprised you remember the title.”
“Only ‘cause of that fun fact.” Knuckles yawned. “Where it was the first TV show to show a toilet.”
Shadow scoffed, unduly offended at the incorrect bathroom trivia. “Whoever gave you that fact is wrong. They only showed the tank, not the full thing.”
“Huh. Then I guess I don't know much about it.” Knuckles turned his attention towards the TV, but found himself a bit too tired to focus on the program. Giving up, he closed his eyes, one arm hanging down over the side of the couch. “Maybe we could watch it together tomorrow?”
Shadow put down the remote and laid back. Knuckles’ arm brushed up against his. He let it stay there.
“I'd like that.”