Work Text:
He hated to admit it, but Shadow was worried about Sonic.
Everyone was, but all the others had just assumed that Sonic was tired or taking a break. Shadow, not being able to shake the feeling that something was off, dug around in Sonic’s room in Tails’ cabin. Rouge found out and heavily berated him for how obviously creepy that was, but what Shadow found was much more important.
For one, Sonic’s room was scarily clean. He also had a stack of letters labeled ‘goodbye’ notes, and everything after June 23 on his calendar had been ripped off.
So, naturally, he waited until the 22nd, chaos controlled into the small house at 10:50pm, and knocked on Sonic’s room door.
The door swung open just a crack. Sonic stood there, looking surprisingly... normal. He wasn't wearing his usual cocky grin, but he didn't look like a hedgehog on the brink, either. He just looked tired.
"Shadow?" Sonic blinked, his voice a raspy whisper. "It’s nearly midnight. If you're here for a rematch, you’ve got the worst timing in history."
The room was exactly as Shadow had found it days prior: sterile. There were no stray sneakers, no half-finished chili dog wrappers, and no clutter on the desk. It didn't look like a bedroom; it looked like a hotel room whose residents had just left.
“Sonic,” Shadow started, voice less gruff than usual, “I would like to watch a show with you.”
“I–huh?”
“It’s called Hello Kitty. We’re. Watching. It.”
Shadow grabbed the other hedgehog and dragged him to the bed and forced him to sit down.
“Does Tails know you're here? Does Rouge?”
“Not important.”
Sonic crossed his arms, throwing a grin that’d didn’t quite reach his eyes, “Awh, were you worried about me? The big, bad Shadow wants to keep me company? Why, did the whole Sunset Valley thing make you feel that bad?”
The ebony hedgehog didn’t respond at first, instead sitting next to the hero and staring at the other until the poor guy started to shift uncomfortably.”
“Shut up, Faker. Or I’ll force you to watch My Hero Academia.”
”Wh-hey!” Sonic immediately started whining. “You know that makes us both cry! We’re too manly for that!”
Shadow rolled his eyes.
”Are you watching or not?”
The blue hedgehog huffed, flopping backwards onto the bed. “‘S not like I have a choice…”
Shadow, seemingly satisfied with the fact that he’d basically trapped Sonic into this odd ‘playdate’, took out his phone and opened up the show.
After a few minutes of it playing, Sonic sat up to watch.
A few minutes in, Sonic’s fidgeting worsened.
An hour in, he started coming up with excuses to try and leave the bedroom. Shadow said no every time.
Eventually Sonic gave up, opting to stare at the clock on the wall across from them. Its ticks echoed eerily in the quiet room, each second bringing them all closer to midnight.
At some point, Shadow gently nudged Sonic to snap him out of it.
Finally, the dead of night rolled around.
11:58 PM: Sonic stared at his hands.
11:59 PM: Shadow leaned against the wall, his arms crossed, eyes fixed on the blue hedgehog.
12:00 AM: The date changed. June 23rd.
"Happy birthday, Sonic," Shadow said quietly. "You’re still here. Now, start talking."