PART 4
When Shadow awakes in his apartment, he rubs his eyes and prepares for the day- pushing Omega out of the way as heads to the bathroom to brush his teeth and quills, leaving it soonafter. As he went to go back into his own room, Rouge called out to him, "Hey, hon, how'd your date with Sonic go?" she asks as she brews herself a coffee. " Shadow gave her a blank, tired stare, her shrugging in response , Shadow heading back into his room. "Y'know, maybe if it went well, he could come over here! Or do you not want your boyfriend to meet your family yet?" She continues jokingly. Shadow swung his door open and ran over to Rouge. "You called him already, didn't you?" He said, facepalming. "…No? I'm shocked you'd accuse me of such a thing. I respect your boundaries, Shadow." Rouge replied, placing a hand on Shadow's shoulder before quickly removing it as she finished her sentence, "That's why Omega called him. He'll be here soon, running around at the speed of sound and all that. I'll be going on a heist, so I won't be there to bother you too much." As Rouge said this, Shadow immediately lost any reassurance the start of her sentence gave him, and proceeded to state calmly, "Ah. Okay." and then walked over to the sofa, raising a pillow towards his face and screaming into it at the top of his lungs. "Can you respect my boundaries for once, bat?" He said as he placed the pillow back down, glaring at Rouge angrily. "…Shadow. We're your friends- you can cancel anything at any time, or I can for you- Either way, we wouldn't push something on that we know you wouldn't be comfortable with. But this Sonic thing has gone on long enough- you desperately needed an intervention. And you both seem to like eachother." Rouge replied sincerely, Shadow sighing afterwards.
"I suppose you're right.- The first part, I mean, I don't exactly require an intervention. I won't cancel this just yet. I'll…see how it goes." Shadow speaks as Rouge leaves the apartment, "Right- Well, I'm heading off on a heist. Call me if you need anything! Or don't," She says as she leaves, "You can handle yourself just fine, if I'm not mistaken." She continues. She waves as she leaves, Shadow taking a deep breath before collapsing onto the sofa. Omega walked over behind him as they headed to the kitchen, Shadow rubbing his eyes as someone knocked on the apartment's door. "Uh, Shadow?…" Sonic asked quietly. Shadow ran to his room, leaving a trail of dust in his wake, quickly applying his makeup and tidying himself up before letting Sonic into the apartment. "Sonic." He stated firmly as Sonic entered, Sonic looking around the apartment as Shadow brings him in. "This is my-" Omega walked into the room. "Our apartment. Rouge's usually here too, but she's left on a heist. "Huh, that's funny- could've sworn Knuckles got a call from Tikal saying something about a heist, too. Do you think Rouge went after the master emerald again?" Sonic asked as he waved at Omega. "I wouldn't be surprised." Shadow replied as he went to the kitchen and began to prepare a seemingly fantastic and complicated breakfast. "Well, I'm sure Knuckles would be happy about it this time. Gives him an excuse to head back to Angel Island for awhile!" Sonic said, chuckling as followed Shadow into the kitchen. "Impressive breakfast! I just usually have a chili dog." Sonic spoke as he watched Shadow cook, Shadow's head darting towards Sonic as he turned, speaking, "I can get you a chili dog instead." Shadow said in a serious tone, Sonic replying, "Uh, No thanks, I'm good. I can scavenge some food up on my way home-" He said, before Shadow cut him off. "I will not allow you to starve." Shadow spoke as he began to make a duplicate of the breakfast, finishing both of them in a matter of minutes. "There." Shadow spoke as he handed Sonic the breakfast that was clearly made to impress- multiple stacked pancakes drizzled with honey, adorned with strawberries and whipped cream, then finally a slice of butter atop the tower of pancakes. "Thanks, Shads!" Sonic said as he began to eat the pancakes, Shadow stating, "It was nothing. I make these all the time.- I don't even like them that much anyway." before Omega yelled from the kitchen, "No, that is incorrect. Rouge makes them. You begged her to show you how to make them because you loved them." Sonic giggled slightly as Shadow was unamused by Omega's addition. Shadow, of course, begrudgingly ate the pancakes anyway. Meanwhile, on Angel Island, Tikal sat next to the master emerald on a small garden chair, playing chess against a standing Chaos on plastic table taken from the ruins of Tails' old workshop. Tikal sat in thought, hand against her chin as she wondered what her next move could be. Then, finally, she spoke, "There." and moved one of her pieces. Her thoughts then quickly shifted from chess to a more serious matter- the bat-thief trying to steal the emerald once again. "I wonder when the thief'll show up again. I mean, I'm hoping she'll be gone with Knuckles here, but I should probably keep an eye out." Tikal said, Chaos nodding as Tikal got up from her chair and began to pace around the master emerald, keeping an eye on the nearby forests and sky. Soon, Tikal saw a red echidna gliding from the treetops.
He looked absolutely ecstatic. "Knuckles!" Tikal cried out, waving as Knuckles landed next to the emerald. "So, I think your friend Rouge came back here." Tikal said to Knuckles, Knuckles looking confused in response. "Why would she?…I thought Rouge was done with the emerald." Knuckles wonders why Rouge had arrived for a moment, but as Rouge emerged from the forest they had no choice but to stop her from reaching the emerald- Tikal slammed her fist into the ground, creating a small earthquake around Rouge, who manages to glide out the way- Knuckles goes to rush towards her, but she gestured for him to stop- Knuckles stops in his tracks, and Rouge presents a bouquet of flowers to him. Although they were very clearly just picked from the forest, Knuckles accepts them anyway. He blushes, before questioning her intentions; "Uh…thanks?- Why are you here, Rouge? You know you can't get your hands on the master emerald. You can't bamboozle me, Rouge!" He said as he raised his fist. Rouge looked at him with a completely puzzled glare, "Knuckles. I'm asking you out on a date. I don't know where you live, so I came here. Knuckles. Knuckles it was really obvious." She says, Knuckles lowering his fists and quietly stating "Oh.". "Oh, uh. Do you still want to go on the date? We could just have a date here,- If, uh, Tikal doesn't mind." He spoke blushing, Tikal awkwardly waving from over near the master emerald, yelling, "Yeah, that's fine! You guys can date here!" as she went back to her chess game, Knuckles telling Rouge to wait as he ran off into the forest. Rouge stood confused for a moment, before Knuckles returned with a table and chairs he had just made from a fallen tree, crafting them by breaking the tree apart into the shape of tables and chairs.
Rouge sat down, Knuckles sitting opposite to her soon after, resting his hands on the table. As Rouge continued her date, and Tikal continues her chess game, Shadow and Sonic had began to watch a movie; the moon rising, the two sitting on the sofa with a blanket over them, and Omega sitting on a chair next to the sofa. Sonic leaned against Shadow as the movie was reaching it's end, Omega still thoroughly invested in it despite the awful quality, Shadow mainly focused on Sonic instead. He sighed deeply, worried that he had made a bad impression, and that it was a mistake introducing him to Omega, and showing him their messy apartment- but Shadow tried to focus on the good things that happened during their time together at the apartment. All the times Sonic laughed, and was filled with joy. It happened a lot more than Shadow remembered, as he looked back on it. Maybe the whole thing wasn't so bad after all. Rouge was returning soon, and Knuckles drifted off to sleep as rain began to form on Angel Island, and night began to fall. She stared at him sweetly as he slept, Tikal grabbing a beach umbrella and placing it near the chess table. Tikal waved to Rouge, asking, "Uhm, Bat-girl? Do you want me to send Knuckles home? He seems pretty tired, I just don't actually remember where he lives. I don't actually think he told me." Tikal said as Rouge turned towards her, then back to Knuckles, who slept happily. "No, let him rest here for awhile. He deserves it." Rouge speaks in a caring tone, leaving the island soon after. She opened the apartment door to a cheerful Sonic and smiling Shadow, walking past them and waving hi to Sonic as she walked past, although Sonic too focused on the movie to notice. Sonic looks at the time in the corner of the tv, getting up from the sofa moments after. "Aw, sorry Shads, I've gotta head home. Getting late. I'd love to see you, again, though!" Sonic says to Shadow as he walks over to the door, Shadow following him. Shadow unlocks the door, speaking as Sonic walks out, "Apologies…about Omega and Rouge. They can be irritating, sometimes." Shadow says as he escorts Sonic out. Sonic smiles and replies, "Nah, they're great! Family's important, and you seem to know that well enough. They're always they for you, no matter what. Appreciate them for that. Anywayseeyoulaterbye!" Sonic replied as he gave Shadow a kiss on the cheek, blushing as he then ran back to his apartment. Shadow stood, smiling and completely frozen for 30 seconds straight. He touched his cheek, and then closed the apartment door as Rouge walked over to him. "So, did you boys have a nice time?" She asked. Shadow took a moment to form a sentence and remove his surprised expression, but he manages to do so. "I…Yes, I suppose I did." He said, walking over to his own room. He collapsed on his bed, "I really did." and fell asleep not long after.