Deepest Desire

Chapter 7

"But isn't it better like this? I mean him not throwing a temper tantrum every few minutes will definitely make things much easier in the long run," Sonic argued, not understanding why this was such an issue.

Tails sighed. "It's not better, Sonic. His hypothalamus is in overdrive and yet he's not having mood swings — something is clearly wrong here — and if we don't know what this something is, we might not know how to react once it manifests itself fully."

"Or maybe is Shadow just really good at dealing with his emotions," the cobalt hero suggested as an explanation.

Tails just gave him the 'Are you being serious?' look. "Should I remind you that he almost blew up the planet at one point? And that he attacks you out of anger at least once a week?"

"He was grieving his best-friend's death during the Eclipse cannon incident — I higly doubt that is something that can be hold against him," the older hero argued; he was absolutely sure no one would be able to stay level-headed if the same happened to their friend.

Or at least he wouldn't be able to do so if Tails died.

(Though at least now he knew he better hide all gigantic cannons that could possibly obliterate the planet in case something like this happened again.)

"-And I provoke him on purpose so him throwing anger fits is probably my fault," Sonic added with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck. He knew it was kind of childish of him but he really enjoyed riling up people; and, unfortunately for Shadow, the ebony agent (along with Knuckles) was one of his first choices to go to when he wanted to play the mischief-maker.

Tails sighed, shaking his head. "Let's just hope you're right about this one — but I'll make some more tests just in case."

"I guess that's fair enough," the cobalt hero replied, shrugging his shoulders, as he looked over to where his ebony counterpart should be standing only to find the spot devoid of Shadow's presence and the once-damaged door replaced with its identical replica. Sonic blinked slowly; he hadn't even heard Shadow leave.

Shadow really knew how to sneak around without getting noticed.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later then. I'm gonna check on Amy and then possibly try to find where Shadow has gone," Sonic commented, waving his hand as sign of goodbye as he started to walk away from the other.

"Send him here once you find him! I need to make few more tests!" Tails called after him.

"Sure!" Sonic called back, the door clicking shut right after his shout.

Tails sighed and then, once again, glued his gaze to the neuro-scientific book on his lap to search for the answers to his questions.

Which he knew he most likely wouldn't find but he was willing to try.

~O~

Upon entering the kitchen, Sonic raised his brow not sure what to think of the sight before him. By the stove, both Amy and Shadow were standing, the ebony hedgehog looking at female with a look of intense suspicion, while the pink heroine had the expression of a deer caught in the headlights.

"Is there some problem here?" the hero asked, the question making Amy let out a startled squeak — she clearly hadn't noticed him.

"W-what? A problem? Of course not!" Amy replied hurriedly with a clearly forced laugh, tripping over her own words as she quickly stuffed something glassy into the pocket of her dress, forcing a smile on her face just a moment later.

Sonic furrowed his brows at the female's strange behavior, trying to determine whether he should question it or leave it be. Then he shook his head, coming to the assumption that Amy was probably just being jumpy because of Shadow's momentary attitude; when you didn't know Shadow well enough, it was sometimes hard to determine from the agent's body-language alone whether he was just in bad mood or silently plotting your murder for something you had done.