Chit Chat
“Sup?” The green hedgehog greeted the ebony hedgehog at the apartment door. “Locked out again?” He joked as he stopped at the door knob. He flipped some small tools out of his glove and got to work.
Shadow watched him silently. He found he liked Manic’s idle chatter. His movie surfer accent was easy to relax to.
“So, meet any nice chaos today?” Manic smiled as he worked.
Shadow arched a brow at him.
Manic chuckled as he pointed to Shadow’s jacket sleeves. There were some smudges of color on the sleeve. “The chao at most gardens color with chalk pastels. They got you good today.”
Shadow nodded. “The chao were nice. But how could you be sure the chalk came from chaos?”
Manic smirked as he opened the door. “Thieves have to be able to people watch.” He leaned against the door frame as he looked at Shadow with his brown eyes.
Shadow nodded as he entered the apartment. Manic following him in. Manic for getting the Ultimate Life form inside consisted of a snack of his choice and a soda.
Shadow joined the green hedgehog in the kitchen. A cup full of coffee beans was on the table waiting for him. Manic had gotten quicker
“You have a chaos cup that only you use.” Manic smiled as he pointed a thumb at the cup. It was shaped like a dark chao’s head. “Dude, you also only have house plants that would be safe for a chao.”
Shadow rolled his eyes.
Manic pulled out a bag of Doritos. He made himself a plate before offering the bag to the quiet man. “Do you wanna try reading me, dude?”
Shadow paused from putting a coffee bean in his mouth. “Why?” He tilted his head at the other. His red eyes trying to read brown ones. Though he was getting distracted by everything else.
“I pointed out your love of chao and knowing you as the ‘Ultimate Life Form,’ I figured you didn’t want folks knowing you got a soft spot for small innocent creatures.” Manic mused with a shrug. “I figured I want to make it fair.”
Shadow bit back a smile. What was it about the way he leaned back in the chair that made him feel so tingly. He took a moment to eat a bean as he tried to keep from sounding like an excited school girl. “What makes you believe I also ‘people watch’ as you put it?” He kept his tone even. Almost robotic. Good. That’s what he wanted.
Manic smiled as he rocked back in the chair. A dimple appearing on his right cheek. “You’re quiet, broody, and anti-social.” he held up a finger for each point, “You people watch at all times either looking for threats or noisy people to avoid.” Manic ate a chip as he looked Shadow up and down. Once the chip was swallowed, “Also dude, you stare.”
Shadow’s ruby eyes widened.
“It’s not a bad thing.” Manic nervously waved his hands as he settled the chair back on the ground. “Though it can feel intimidating.” Manic avoided eye contact. “Like a predator observing its prey.” Manic fiddled with his spiked cuffs due to his nerves. He popped his lips before turning on his smile and a chill attitude. “So I figured I’d give you a shot at pointing out something about me you’ve noticed that you can use to tease me with. It’s only fair dude.” He shrugged.
Shadow thought for a moment. Something he had noticed about Manic that he might be sensitive about. He had noticed many things about him. He noticed that if Manic’s spiky quills began to droop he would quickly style them back up. He had a dimple on just the right cheek. His brown eyes would shine with a hint of a cool tone when he was excited. He hid tools not only in his fanny pack but in the spiked cuffs of his gloves. He often tapped his fingers on the table to express energy.
Shadow had noticed so many things but most of them would be things that only a lovesick fool would notice.
Then something clicked. It wasn’t necessarily Manic, but he had found it odd. It was the only time he had seen Manic and Sonic in the same room. The two acted odd. And by odd, Sonic had been nervous. But he didn’t run from Manic. He did try to avoid him. A short head nod before moving to a different area.
It had been odd since Sonic wasn’t the kind of guy to avoid people. Well except Rose when she was confessing her love for him.
Manic had given the blue hedgehog a smile and a nod before going back to chatting with others. Though Manic did seem a bit hurt by Sonic’s reaction to him.
Sonic wasn’t a romantic person. Shadow had seen his reactions to Rose’s pinning to know. He was sure the closest thing the blue blur had to a romantic relationship was with the ground, given how often he landed face first into it.
“Faker acts weird around you,” Shadow finally stated. “Did you attempt to date at some point?”
Manic began choking on the chips in his mouth. He turned as he fell onto the floor. Shadow zipped to his side. The green hedgehog was making sound. That was good, right? Shadow found his mind blank on what to do.
Manic took in several deep breaths after a moment. With tears in his eyes, he smacked Shadow in the leg. “Dude, gross!” He collapsed on the kitchen floor. “We’re related.”
“What?” Shadow stared at the green hedgehog.
Manic turned his head to the side, his brown eyes were red from tears, but he wore a smile as he laughed. “Sonic and I are twins.” He giggled. “Nice to know my bro avoiding me makes people think we dated. Thanks dude,” He weakly swatted Shadow’s leg. “Ugh… Maybe next time I should vomit on him.” He muttered as his eyes explored the grooves of the tiles. “Well at least we don’t look alike.”
“Why does Faker act so weird around you then?” Shadow questioned.
Manic chuckled as his eyes focused on him. “Dude that is a whole can of worms. It’ll bore you into a nap.”
Shadow smirked as she shrugged. “Rouge will be happy for that.”
“Ha!” Manic barked with laughter. He rolled under the kitchen table. “Sleep over under the table then.” He patted the space next to him. “Come on,” He smiled at Shadow’s arched brow. Shadow moved anyway. “Yes, I know I’m weird, dude. It comes with the profile of wacky klepto drummer.”
Shadow rolled his eyes as he laid on his back. He turned his head so he could watch the green hedgehog prop himself up on his arms.
“Ah, you sleep on your back.” Manic mused. “I figured you’d sleep on your side… In a pile of fresh out the dryer blankets.”
“Are you sure that’s not you?” Shadow clasped his hands on his stomach as he fought the urge to move one of those green spikes out of his brown eyes.
“Nah dude, I sleep in a pile of plushies on my tummy.” Manic beamed.
“Stalling.” Shadow stated.
“Shoot.” Manic snapped his fingers. “I thought I found a distraction.” He poked out a cheek with his tongue as he tapped his fingers on the floor. “So there’s three of us. Our sister, Sonic, and me. We’re triplets. Do you know about how most people who have an affinity for chaos energy don’t show it until they're four?”
“Yes. The professor told me about it,” Shadow nodded.
“Yeah. Sonic’s speed kicked in then.” Manic stated. “And like dumb kids, I asked him to run while giving me a piggyback ride. I accidentally fell while he was going as fast as he could then. The hospital visit sucked.”
“You were both kids. Is he still feeling guilty over a small accident?”
“Eh…” Manic rocked on his elbows. “That was just the beginning of our… distancing.” Manic struggled with the right word.
“The beginning?” Shadow repeated. Manic looked uncomfortable saying that. He wanted to rub his back to comfort him but that would be weird.
“Yeah. Our folks found out that I was sensitive to bro’s chaos energy. So when he ran about, the energy would like zap me. And it’s like a radicle rush until you lose your lunch. So we got separated a lot.” Manic shrugged. “When Egghead began his invasion, I was at a hospital. Prime target for easy to robotize peeps I guess. Mom came to get me, but it was hectic.” Manic twirled his spiked cuffs. “Mom didn’t make it to the safe house.” He finally whispered, pain evident in his voice. Sis and Sonic were upset. I mean, what kid wouldn’t be? Sis didn’t say much about it to me, but Sonic did.” Manic avoided Shadow’s gaze as he continued to fidget with his cuffs. “We had a very bad fight. It got physical. I had never seen Sonic so mad. Luckily I haven’t since.” Manic forced a smile. “I got hurt bad though. A couple of broken bones. A few scrapes and bruises. I woke up in the safe house’s makeshift infirmary and Sonic staying a good two yards from me.” Manic fiddled with the other cuff.
“And you forgive him for beating the daylights out of you?” Shadow noticed that the green hedgehog spoke with no malice or anger towards Sonic.
“We were kids. He couldn’t control his strength. Plus, to him, Mom went to get me and only I came back. He needed someone to blame. And I was someone he could blame and get to.” Manic shrugged. “I got a butt kickin’ and he learned some anger management.” He joked.
That statement bothered Shadow. It didn’t sound like the green hedgehog deserved a butt kicking to him.
Manic smiled as he watched the micro expressions shift over the ebony’s hedgehog’s face. “Hey, promise me you won’t learn anger management by fighting me. I don’t think I’ll survive.”
Shadow eyed him up and down. Manic didn’t have a build for fighting. But he had some muscle on him. He mentioned suffering and skateboarding a few times, which explained the toning on his arms and legs. Shadow found himself staring at his rear. Which was perky. It was a feature Shadow didn’t often get to enjoy. Manic had a habit of sitting or having his back to a wall.
Shadow froze as he felt a finger poke him in the check. His ruby eyes focused on the green hedgehog’s face.
“You’re staring.” Manic had his head propped up in the palm of his other hand. His eyes closed and his expression, for the first time since Shadow had known him, was an unreadable neutral.
Shadow felt his face heat up as he realized he had been caught staring. Very openly staring. This was going to be very awkward. And the awkwardness would probably last for an eternity. He found himself starting at the underside of the table as he contemplated how to navigate this.
He froze as he felt weight roll into him. He looked down to see Manic cuddled into his side. He arched a brown as he watched Manic’s even breaths.
“If you’re going to stare, I’m going to snuggle.” Manic muttered as he wrapped his arms around the ebony hedgehog’s sides. Shadow struggled to not laugh from the tickling sensation it caused. Manic nuzzled into the chest fur. “Dude, you’re so soft and warm.”
Shadow frowned. Being called soft wasn’t something he liked being called. Though he couldn't argue back. His chest fur was soft.
“Hey, Shadow?” Manic spoke after several silent minutes.
“Yes?” Shadow opened his eyes to glance at the top of Manic’s head. He was enjoying this snuggle session.
“Next time you wanna hang out, just ask.” Manic stated.
“What do you mean?” Shadow arched a brow at the drummer.
Manic huffed before holding his hand up for Shadow to see. He unclenched his fist to hold Shadow’s keys by the chao keychain. “Your keys were in your pocket the whole time. So can you stop lying when you want to flirt dude? Rouge will start questioning your memory when I send her the invoice for getting you in the apartment.”
Shadow blushed as he realized he had been caught.
Manic glanced up and burst into laughter. “You can still flirt with me dude, just stop lying about forgetting or losing your keys.”
2.8.2024 Krissie: Yay! I finished this! Not just a random scene but a full story. Enjoy the fluff. Also 10 pages handwritten. 4 typed.
