Andy's Manga Corner

Shadow grimaced at Stone's cackling. He wanted to understand humans more. He wanted to find more about the world that Maria loved so much.

After a moment of silence, Shadow spoke up.

“Stone, can you talk to me about Robotnik? It seemed you cared a great deal about him.”

Stone’s face turned a bit more serious, a little more contemplative. He hadn't ever had to form his feelings for the doctor into words, not to another person. In his mind, it was pretty clear. But how could he communicate it to another person?

“Robotnik was… a callous man. He was demanding, he overstepped boundaries but… I admired him. I cared for him. Much as he'd want to deny it, he wasn't much different from that blue rat. A person who always loved living according to his freedom and wishes” Stone paused “He was different in one key aspect though. He didn't care much for family and thus, I could never get as close to him as I'd like. A fact I still regret today”

The telenovela the two men were watching was reaching the end of another season. The telenovela was the glue that kept them together in the start of their co habilitation. Stone was too crushed to speak in the beginning, too stricken by grief to even manage basic daily tasks for upkeep. Shadow didn't have anywhere else to go, any support from the world. He stayed with Stone and supported him the best he could. This amounted to small tasks like cleaning around the house, some basic cooking - but it built up from there. And this is where their favourite type of show came in. Stone felt a familiarity with these kinds of series, for obvious reasons. In some ways, he took the place of his person of admiration, sitting in the same way he did, drowning his sorrow in the melodrama of the ordinary - albeit dramaticised - people.

“Just so you know, I understand what you are going through” Shadow broke the silence.

“I suppose so. I just have a little less drive for vengeance” Stone smiled a bit.

“Losing Maria was not easy. Not a day goes by without feeling pain, without feeling a part of me missing” Shadow tensed up, his posture shrank in order to take less space, almost like he wanted to disappear.

They shared a moment of silence. Shadow's head started filling with thoughts. At first, thoughts of him sharing his daily life with Maria. What if she survived? What if instead of having one of Robotnik’s sidekick in his life, he could share these moments, the one precious life he had with a person that mattered to him the most. They could see movies, they could walk in the park. What if they picked up a couple of hobbies? What if they could share the minutia of daily life and home upkeep. They could have picked up cooking, made things that tasted delicious. Not some bitter bean water. Thoughts turned to rage. Lightning sparking from his eyes and quills. He was reaching a breaking point. He had been there before, he would just remove himself from the house, expend some energy until he’d calm hims-

“Hey Shadow… I'm here, I'm with you. Take some deep breaths” Stone suddenly hugged Shadow. It wasn't an elegant solution by any means. But it got him out of his head space, gave him perspective.

“I did it again. I'm really sorry, that was uncalled from me”

“Don't worry about it. I understand” Stone smiled at him.

*Beep*

“Oh, that must be the coffee. Care to try it with some milk this time?” Stone stood up and went to get the freshly brewed coffee.

“Hmm, I guess that would be nice”

Stone got Shadow's coffee served in the mug he always preferred. Shadow had an affinity for dinosaurs from all the movies he used to watch and thus, at some point, Stoned made the obvious decision to buy a mug he would like. He added the milk to it. It was a pretty sweet beverage all in all. Shadow took the mug after it was offered to him.

“Thank you, for the coffee and for being here for me”

“I should say the same” Stone smiled to him.

Shadow took a sip from his coffee. The sweetness hit him like a beautiful memory.