#lullaby sleight

Shadow has been avoiding sleeping for far too long and Rouge decides to take matters into her own hands. Meaning she slips something into Shadow's food at dinner to make him intensely drowsy. Cue some fluffy interactions as Shadow tries (and fails) to fight off the impending sleepies.

Lullaby Sleight

Dark circles clung to ruby eyes; scarlet striped onyx quills slightly disheveled from frustrated fingers scuffing through them. Multitudes of empty paper cups littered the desktop, all ignored in favor of scouring the scattered papers printed with the official GUN seal, classified information that Shadow had been attempting to decipher for the past several days with little success. A growl of frustration rumbled in his throat, and Shadow furiously ripped his latest sheet of scribbled notes from the pad and tossed it to the wastebin—already overflowing with other such crumpled balls of yellow paper—where it toppled to the floor with the others.

Leaning against the doorway of his bedroom, Rouge watched with a frown, concern and frustration heavy in her green eyes. Since receiving the intel reports from Commander Towers a week ago, Shadow had been borderline obsessed with breaking the ciphers, as if the author had issued him a personal challenge. He rarely left his desk, only briefly teleporting away to answer nature’s calls or retrieve more coffee. He would refuse any meals, citing he needed no distractions from his work, and Rouge knew for a fact he hadn’t slept a wink since receiving those reports.

Observing him now, watching his eyes flutter shut and snap open, watching his lips twitch with the desire to yawn but his jaw clenching to halt it, watching his knees bounce but refuse to even stand and stretch his restless muscles…Rouge made up her mind. Enough was enough. Abraham could fire her all he wished, but those ciphers could wait. Shadow’s health couldn’t.

The bat nodded to herself, a plan formulating in her mind. She knew Shadow, knew him well enough to know that if she forced him to bed now, he would fight her every step of the way, and she’d inevitably lose. He would ignore her, argue with her, and go right back to that desk and those cipher’s out of pure stubbornness, just as he had before. No. The conventional way wouldn’t work this time. Rouge would need…ulterior methods to get Shadow to rest like he so desperately needed. Rouge smirked. Well, she was always up for a challenge, and always had a trick or two up her sleeve. Years of working with Shadow meant she was well-versed in navigating the Ultimate Lifeform, and she planned to use all her knowledge of Shadow to get her way.

So, for the moment, Rouge left Shadow at his desk, headed for the kitchen, and began setting her plan into motion. With any luck, Shadow would be too distracted to pay enough attention to her to stop her.

#

Shadow’s ears twitched at the soft knock on his door but otherwise ignored it. He almost had it cracked, he just needed-

A well-manicured hand rested on his desk, covering the pages from his view, and his pencil was carefully tugged out of his hand before he could react. Indignant scarlet eyes shot up, enraged by the interruption, but the blasted bat merely stared at him with a smirk and a raised brow, twirling the pencil between the fingers of her other hand. Her slender body leaned against desk, her warmth permeating his cloud of focus, and Shadow ignored it to glower at her and held out his hand. “Give it back, please.” He commanded.

“No.” Rouge impudently tucked it behind her ear, out of his immediate reach, and Shadow’s lip curled. “Dinnertime, handsome.” She proclaimed.

Shadow scowled. “I’m busy.”

“Not anymore.” Rouge disagreed, nudging him. “You need to eat, and being the generous bat that I am, I made one of your favorites.”

Shadow ignored the scent now so obviously wafting in through the open door from the kitchen, and the ensuing growl from his empty stomach. “I’m not hungry.” He lied. “I need to work.”

“You need to eat.” Rouge countered. “I slaved away in that kitchen for you, Mr. Robotnik. Are you going to let my benevolent efforts go to waste?”

Shadow opened his mouth to snap back at her…and paused, the aromas of parmesan chicken and alfredo pasta and honey wheat rolls hit his scent glands. His stomach rumbled again, and his mouth watered. Rouge really did cook his favorites, and Shadow knew how much she detested cooking anything more complicated than microwaveable mac and cheese. His ears flattened against his head, and his eyes lowered to the floor. “Then…a quick break shouldn’t hurt.” He muttered, standing and refusing to meet Rouge’s eyes and missing the conspiratal and victorious smirk that flashed across her muzzle.

#

Rouge wiped her mouth with her napkin, humming in the satisfaction of both a full stomach and a successful plan, observing with a secret smirk as Shadow practically licked his third plate clean. “I hope it was passable?” She leaned forward, ears pricked and eyes bright.

Shadow covered his mouth with his fist, hiding the belch that almost burst forth by clearing his throat, but nodded at the bat. “Delicious.” He commended her. “For someone that loathes cooking, you certainly excel at it.”

Rouge waved a hand. “Basic pastas like chicken alfredo are simple enough, and the rolls were premade. Nothing too difficult, but I’ll still be leaving it to you, Mr. Ultimate Chef.” Shadow snorted and shook his head.

He sighed. With a pleasantly full stomach, going back to work was as unappealing as a bonfire in Shamar during the dry season. The striped hedgehog wanted nothing more than to curl up in his chair with his current book and listen to his new vinyl on the record player, but… “Duty calls.” He sighed and stood up.

Rouge merely smiled at him. Shadow frowned, alarm bells ringing in his head at the…mischievousness in that smile, but even they sounded muted. He blinked, then blinked again…then yawned. Lethargy clung to him like a warm blanket, and Shadow shook himself. “What-?” He snapped his eyes open and threw a wide-eyed look at the still-grinning bat, putting the pieces together in his mind.

Rouge cooking his favorite pasta. Rouge insisting he come and eat. Rouge insisting on fixing his plate for him. The grin on Rouge’s face now. “You didn’t.” Shadow hissed.

“I did.” Her tone was smug.

“Rouge!” Shadow was never eating anything prepared by her or coming from her hand again. He was going to inspect every meal, every drink, every snack thoroughly from now on. “You can’t-!”

“I can and I have.” The smirk dropped from her face, replaced by solemn concern. “Shadow, you have to take care of yourself. This is the first time you’ve properly eaten since Towers gave you that assignment, and I know you haven’t slept since then, either! The circles under your eyes are nearly as dark as your quills. You need to rest, and if you won’t do it yourself, then you leave me no choice but to force you.”

“By drugging me?!”

Rouge snorted. “Oh please, you drama king. I know that drugs have no effect on you. A natural supplement that your body naturally produces however,” She held up a little plastic jar and waved it at him before tucking it back into her pocket.

Shadow opened and closed his mouth, indignant that Rouge would pull such a slight on him and embarrassed that he didn’t catch it in time to stop her. He shook his head and turned away from the table. “I’m going back to work.” He grumbled. He may still have some time before the melatonin took hold and forced him to unconsciousness, and he was going to use all the time that he had. Perhaps he could even fight it off. He staggered through the kitchen and down the hallway, shaking the fuzz out of his head. His mouth split open in another yawn, and as he leaned on the doorframe of the living room, he could barely make his legs work.

A slender body pressed against his side, a gentle hand curling on his shoulder. Rouge. Shadow blearily blinked at her, her green eyes swimming pools of soft emerald, and Shadow leaned into her warmth with a noise of discontent. He nuzzled sleepily into her shoulder, loosely wrapping his arms around her waist. A soft chuckle reverberated in his ear. “Alright, handsome. Bedtime for this Ultimate Lifeform.”

“Don’t wanna.” Shadow mumbled. “Wanna read…listen to new record.” He blinked pleading eyes at Rouge, disoriented ruby on mirthful green.

Rouge chuckled. “You need to sleep, hon.” She reminded him. Shadow pouted, and Rouge paused. “How about a deal? If you agree to go to bed, I’ll get your book and read to you.” She offered.

Shadow eyed her suspiciously. “What about my record?”

Rouge shook her head. “The record player is in the living room, hun, it’s gotta stay there. You can listen to it tomorrow, I promise.”

Shadow slumped against her. “Fiiiine.” He groused. Rouge wrapped her arm around his waist and guided the half-asleep hedgehog back whence they came, and Shadow practically flopped onto his bed, snuffling into his pillow. Rouge couldn’t resist and sniggered at the photo evidence now stowed away in her phone. Just in case.

“Alright, hon, you think you can get settled while I get your book?” Rouge prompted. An unintelligible grumble answered her, but the hedgehog shifted, so she darted down the hall to collect her half of the bargain. There, resting on the little oak side table beside Shadow’s wingback chair near the window, was the book in question, and Rouge snatched it before marching back to Shadow’s room. She found him sitting slouched on the edge of the bed, chin against his chest fluff, his breaths steady and bordering on sleep.

Rouge shook her head, hiding her smile, and bent down beside him. She slipped the skates off his feet and neatly laid them beside the bed for easy access the next morning, then stood and gently pushed on his shoulder. “Come on, hon. Down you go.” Though he grumbled, Shadow followed her guidance and made himself comfortable, watching her with sleepy eyes.

“Read?” He yawned.

She waved the book. “As promised.” Shadow smiled at her and patted the space beside him. “Shadow, I don’t think-,”

“Won’t be able to hear you from down there.”  He interrupted.

“Shadow, you have perfect pitch.” Rouge reminded him. Shadow pouted and sat up, crossing his arms even though he yawned again.  She rolled her eyes. “Stubborn hedgehog.” And before she could question if this was even a good idea, she jabbed at his shoulder. “Down, or I’m not coming up.” She threatened. Shadow flopped back down onto his pillow, and Rouge crawled up the mattress until she was seated comfortably at his side, her back against the headboard and opening the book to the marked page. “Lucy felt a little frightened, but she felt very inquisitive and excited as well.” Rouge began, then paused as she felt the bed shift, looked down to find Shadow lying on his side towards her, his half-lidded eyes focused on the book’s pages, his ears tilted sideways, and Rouge hesitantly combed her fingers through his quills. Shadow’s eyes fluttered, and she smiled softly at the quiet but contented purr rumbling deep in his chest. Rouge returned her attention to the book, but her fingers remained on Shadow’s head, stroking his quills, scratching his ears. “She looked back over her shoulder and there, between the dark tree trunks; she could still see the open doorway of the wardrobe and even catch a glimpse of the empty room from which she had set out…”

Hours later, when dawn brought the first rays of sunshine, instead of rising with the sun, Rouge the Bat grumbled and clung tighter to her pillow, snuffling into the fluffy white fur of her best friend’s chest and humming contentedly when he purred against her forehead, nuzzling in his sleep against her hair and curling his arm tighter around her. However, that did not stop the E-Series badnik from snapping several shots of photographic evidence to showcase later in opportune moments before lumbering down the hall towards the living room and the television, which would be solely his to enjoy for the first time in ages.