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"I'm sure you can get all the stuff you need! Bye! Be back tomorrow!" Sonic just woke up. He got woken up by a very loud and fast knock at his door. As soon as he answered, with eyes barely open, he got a crate put into his doorway by Tails. Then Tails left. Leaving a very sleepy Sonic alone with..hold on with what?
Sonic crouches down and opens the crate. And just like that, he has an armful of Tails' chao. Tails' chao is like the average chao. Blue fading into yellow, beady eyes, little feet, etcetera. The only difference is how clingy it is. That's fine! What isn't fine is that Sonic doesn't actually know how to look after chao.
Sure, he plays with them when he sees them and thinks they're adorable. But he doesn't know the first thing about caring for them. And also he is far too tired to deal with it at the moment.
Sonic looks down to the chao. The chao looks up to him. It tilts it's head. Sonic tilts his back. The chao laughs. Sonic sighs. Then yawns.
Okay..who can help him with this? Amy would be the obvious choice. She loves animals! But she's with Rouge today. Rouge wanted a tarot reading to see how her wealth will be in the future. Vanilla? Also, no. She has a baking day every Sunday.
Sonic opens his phone awkwardly since his other hand is occupied by a chao. His scrolls through his contacts, each friend being too busy or too inexperienced for the task. Then, he scrolls and sees 'Faker'. Sonic thinks. Shadow is like..old at heart. And he's smart. Maybe he knows! Sonic calls.
The phone doesn't ring for long. Shadow picks up, evident from the gravely sigh that comes through the speaker before an annoyed Shadow saying "Speak, hedgehog." with the least amount of emotion possible. "Shads! Buddy! Uhm, I have a sorta big ask for you. So..y'know Tails, my little brother. Fox. 2 tails. Genius-"
"Out with it."
"Okay..rude." Sonic huffs before he takes a deep breath. "Do you know how to take care of chao? Tails just..left me his. I don't know what to do. Please say you know how to help- I don't know who else to a-!"
"Idiots. The both of you." A deep sigh follows. "Give me a few minutes. I'll be there." Sonic goes to reply but Shadow has already hung up.
The chao looks up to Sonic with a little pout and chirps sadly. Sonic's brows furrow with confusion and guilt. "Sorry, little guy, gotta wait for Shads. Wish I actually knew how to help you." The chao's stomach rumbles. "Oh, you're hungry! I'm sure I have something here you can eat.." Sonic holds the little chao closer to his chest and he walks into his kitchen. Sonic yawns and rubs his eyes. He hasn't had breakfast yet. But he has priorities! Chao first, then himself. Sonic opens his little fridge. He doesn't have much in right now..milk, butter, ketchup...ham. Ham? Maybe the chao likes ham!
Sonic takes the sliced ham out of the fridge, nudges the fridge closed and opens the ham. He gets a slice and holds it out to the chao. It has an uncomfortable look on his face.
Just as Sonic holds it out, his door quickly opens and closes and then before he knows it, his arms are lighter and he's holding a lone slice of ham. He looks over to see Shadow holding the chao gently aswell as a large bag.
"Shads! Thank you so much, dude! I have no clue what I'm doing. And-"
"I can tell. What were you even thinking? Chao eat fruit. I thought surely you know that. I thought wrong." Shadow huffs as he places the bag on the counter and unpacks it. The bag encluded ittle bags of fresh fruit, toys and even a cosy looking bed.
Sonic chuckles. "You have-" he yawns, "no clue how happy I am that you know what to do. I'm, like, just awake." Shadow sighs. "Just go to sleep. Let me care for the chao. You'll probably be a bad influence on the poor thing." Shadow takes some fruit and turns to go into Sonic's small but comfortable living room and sits on the couch.
The chao sits comfortably on Shadow's lap and reaches up towards the fruit with its little arms. Shadow tuts, "Uh-uh. Hold on." Shadow opens the bag and picks a soft fruit for the chao. He holds it for the chao as it eats, juice going all over its mouth. But it looks happy.
Sonic wobbles a little as he stands. "Uhm..yeah. Yeah. I'll just..take a quick nap. Use whatever you gotta. Looks like you got everything under control." Sonic goes into his room and flops onto his bed, falling asleep promptly.
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About 2 hours later, Sonic is sitting on the floor with the chao, playing with it. He's been playing with it for about half an hour. Shadow has just been watching as Sonic played fetch and tug of war with the chao.
Shadow has noticed something odd. Sonic is quieter- not because of tiredness, he's sure, he just had a nap- and he's more bubbly than usual, not to mention how relaxed he is. Sonic is usually brimming with energy, hardly able to sit still.
But now? Sonic is sitting contently with the chao. These behaviours can't help but bring up memories for Shadow. Memories of the ARK. Psychology lessons. Regression. A defence or coping mechanism. It varies from person to person but it usually includes the person being quieter, calmer, more content. All traits seen in Sonic.
Shadow is aware of how to help someone when they're in this state. But how does he bring it up. "Shads?" Sonic is looking up to him. "Mhm?" Shadow hums. "You okay? You been staring at nothing for a while..wanna play with us?" Sonic seems more chipper. Shadow sees how Sonic's tail wags a bit.
Shadow bites back a laugh. "I'm okay. I'll just watch." Sonic smiles and goes back to playing, his tail still wagging. Shadow thinks. How can he ask?
"Sonic. Are you okay?" Shadow's voice is level and calm, as always. Sonic tilts his head but nods. "Uh-huh. Why?" Sonic's voice is a bit higher, Shadow notices. "Just wondering if you're feeling..different. Smaller?" Shadow prepares himself for Sonic to laugh at him, ask why he's asking weird questions.
"Uhm..a bit. I dunno. I get like this sometimes..sorry." Sonic's tail stops wagging and his ears lower. That hurts something in Shadow's chest. "Don't say sorry. I was just wondering." Shadow stays silent for a few moments as Sonic goes back to playing, a bit less peppy now. Cautious, almost.
"Want something to eat?" Shadow asks, resting his forearms on his legs, leaning forward a bit. "I can make pancakes." At that, Sonic's ears perk back up again, his tail continuing the previous wagging.
"Really? You mean it?" Sonic's voice is full of disbelief. Shadow nods. "Thanks, Shads!" Sonic keeps playing.
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Another hour later, Sonic is full of fluffy pancakes and is resting on the couch, asleep with Tails' chao curled up with him. Shadow pulls a light blanket over them and just sits.
He waits for, either, Tails to show up, or for Sonic to wake up. In the meantime, he thinks on now he can help Sonic when he regresses.
He could use a little help.