Chaos Needs a Leash

Ch.4

    Shadow's ear twitched as he slowly gained consciousness. Before he had remembered his most recent sleeping arrangement, he tried to roll over from his stomach, as per usual. This action resulted in him falling of the couch. His eyes widened once he tipped over the edge, expecting a very harsh landing, but his side never hit the wooden floors, instead he landed on something softer.

    The air mattress, Shadow soon realized. Before Shadow could think much more about his second fall of the week (which was odd to him), he heard a small groan from somewhere near him. It was Sonic.

    Why was Sonic here again? Shadow thought. Then he remembered. Rouge called him over and told him to spend the night. However, Shadow was once again interrupted from his train of thought when Sonic slowly rose from the air mattress and glanced at the surroundings.

    It was only once Sonic stared directly at Shadow (conveying an obvious 'what the heck'), that Shadow realized what an odd position he was in. He was currently laying right next to Sonic. Shadow quickly stated, "this was not intentional. I simply fell."

    Saying Shadow was embarrassed was an understatement. If he had moved away sooner, he could have played it off that he was getting up, but he didn't. Shadow used that moment to throw himself off of the air mattress and turn away from Sonic.

    Sonic saw Shadow's flustered state and decided to try to lighten up the situation with, 'don't worry about it! You have no idea how many times I've fallen out of trees while sleeping."

    "Why would you sleep in a tree!?" Shadow asked, all embarrassment suddenly thrown out the window.

    "Old habits die hard." Sonic responded vaguely, providing little context.

    "Okay. That seems a little redundant, but that isn't the most questionable thing I've ever heard. I mean, I live with Rouge."

    Sonic chuckled a little at Shadow's statement, before saying that he needed to call Tails.

    Sonic walked over to the house phone in the wildly decorated kitchen, and dialed Tail's number. Everyone knew Sonic didn't like phones much, so he simply let Tails have his. It worked great for safety measures.

    The phone rang five times before someone answered.

    Shadow wasn't really listening, but he did catch parts of Sonic's side of the conversation.

    "Hey Tails! Are you okay?"

    "Tails, don't tell me you pulled an all nighter again."

    "Tails, you know that isn't healthy! You need sleep!"

    "Sure I used to, but I didn't have a choice, you know this."

    "At least tell me you ate a good dinner."

    "Tails. New invention or not, you need to eat and rest. Why don't you eat something and take a nap now? We should still have apples and blueberries."

    "Good. Just remember, if I come home and find that you haven't eaten or slept, I will lock you out of your workshop."

    At that, the call ended, and Sonic's gaze was visibly harsher. Sonic sighed, and came back to take a seat on the edge of the air mattress.

    "Man, I hate having scold him." Sonic claimed with exasperation.

    "I've never thought to ask, but aren't there other people to do that?" Shadow asked, honestly curious.

    "There were, but those people abandoned him when he was four." Sonic growled bitterly, "I've been raising him since." Sonic's tone softened slightly.