Brothers in Arms

Eclipse: Talking Shouldn't be This Hard

"Shadow!" I hear the bat gasp suddenly from across the room, and I jump slightly, surprised by the name. We all look at the door, in which stands a heavily exhausted hedgehog with patchy fur and pale skin. He is standing tall, but I can easily see how he favors each of his legs in succession, surreptitiously switching his weight between them. Even his crimson irides cannot hide how bloodshot they are from me, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

What in Chaos are you doing out of bed, Shadow?

"Hi, Rouge," he greets, raising a hand slightly in acknowledgement to everyone else.

"Shadow! You're supposed to be using a wheelchair!" She exclaims, flying over to him. "What if you reinjure yourself? Didn't the doctors tell you to be on bed rest?" Shadow tries to get a word in edgewise, but she barrels onwards, not giving him the chance. "I know for a fact Dr. Caraber said that! You can't rely on your powers, not for something like this!"

As I hear her concern towards him, I cannot help but feel reminded of how I felt when Shadow would do similarly overbearing and repetitive things to me. He may have been doing it because he cared, but it is annoying at best and infuriating at worst for the recipient of such behaviour.

Keeping this and my resolution to amend my relationship with my half-brother in mind, I stride over as Shadow tries again to get a word in.

"I needed to make an appearance and show that I'm still here to defend G.U.N.," he argues, as exasperated and irked as I knew he would be. Rouge takes a deep breath to continue her tirade, but I interrupt, addressing her and not the hedgehog I still have issues with.

"If he wants to be here, it is best not to argue over it, no? He is not going to leave, and you are not going to back down, so why not relent and let him be here as an observer? Nothing but frustration is going to come from this argument, even if you are just trying to help him," I say, dropping back into my heavier accent. I do not want Shadow to know just yet how much I have changed, not until I have a chance to talk to him. On that note, leaving Rouge with a taken aback expression, I turn to Shadow.

"Can I talk to you? Perhaps, outside?" I ask, gesturing to the door. Shadow's face is even more shocked than Rouge's, though he nods.

"Of--of course," he replies, seeming uncertain. Taking a preparatory breath, I lead the way across the room and step out the door, Shadow following close behind.

Nearly five feet apart, we both stand in silence, neither looking directly at the other. This lasts for several minutes, in which I attempt at least five times to start speaking, only to fail as I realize I have no idea how to talk to Shadow when I am not angry at him. He keeps fidgeting, which is distracting, and I finally look at him as he switches his weight to his other leg for the enth time.

"For Chaos' sake, sit down," I snap before I can help it, my temper's habits taking over in my nervousness and starting the conversation for me. "You could hurt yourself if you keep standing," I add belatedly, feeling sheepish about ruining this already.

To my surprise, he does, then looks up at me.

"Has your voice changed?" He asks, sounding cautious, and I start as I realize I had used my less-accented, improved English on the second sentence. Sighing, I sink to the ground a few feet from him. None of this is going as I had planned.

"Yes," I reply, holding his gaze. He seems surprised and curious, though I see worry and confusion in his body language. Typical Shadow, feeling far too many emotions at once. It makes him hard to converse with, not knowing quite how I am affecting him. "I've changed, these past weeks. I avoided letting you onto it because I thought you would interpret it as permission to insert yourself into my life even more, and I didn't want that, then."