~~~
Chapter 1: Quitting Time
Sonicās throat tightened and he had to consciously shake his head to remind himself not to go back there. Years ago he would never have ruminated so intently on something, but that was then and this is now. He mentally sighed.
āI used to live in the presentā¦ā
Funny. The thought alone proved he didnāt anymore.
He used to be the king of ākeep moving forwardā, now he stopped and rewound. Constantly. Every day. Like he was living in the past- And he hated living in the past, hated it, he wondered how the hell Shadow had survived living there for so long.
But he hated living in the present even more. It moved too fast for him.Ā Him, of all people.
Things were changing, people were moving on, he was getting older.
He didnāt like thinking about that either.
Sonic flopped his folded arms onto the table and sank his forehead against them, hoping that, just for a moment, the deep breath he took and the distant thumping of the club might bring him some kind of genius idea to fix everything.
He found nothing though. Not a sign. Not a voice. Not an angel. Nothing.
Just the pennies in his account, and the sanity in his head, dripping torturously bit by bit out of his grasp by the second - as the friendly voices of the perfectly dressed waiters handed over-priced drinks to patrons that were likely blissfully unaware of how far their once-world-hero had sunk.
āWhisky on ice?ā A pleasant distant voice spoke, a few tables away from Sonic.
āHere.ā
Sonicās ear twitched in familiarity.
āThank you.ā A deep, rough, husky voice responded.
...Wait.
Sonicās head snapped up from the table. His ears shot up on high alert, twitching this way and that as they angled towards the sound. Adrenaline flooded his bloodstream so hard that it made his jaw tingle with nausea, as he realised that he recognised that voice. It took all of his self control to tell himself not to jump to conclusions.Ā Donāt do this to yourself again.
Heād been in this situation before, thought heād heard that voice or caught his image from the corner of his eye, only to be disappointed by a strangers face. And yet this time, his mouth had gone dryer than it ever had before when he thought heād found him.
As Sonic took a deep, unsteady breath, trying not to get his hopes up again, he carefully craned his head aroundā¦ and looked over his shoulder.
And there he was.
Like a cryptid heād only known from myth, like a ghost back from the dead; it didnāt feel real. He had to blink a few times, and to his surprise, the image remained just as it was -Ā as clear as the expensive water in his fancy glass.
A black furred hedgehog with red streaks and crimson eyes.
It was him.Ā Not a ghost, not a memory, not desperate madness. Sitting only a few tables away from him, a glass of scotch in one hand and a half-burned cigarette in the otherā¦ after ten years of no word or sight...
It was Shadow The Hedgehog.
~~~
Chapter 1 Sketches!!
YEEESSS I'm commissioning the amazingly talented, super awesome @nomlioart to illustrate some of my favourite moments from the chapters of my fic 'The Decade We Missed'!!! I'm SO excited!! I've loved their style for so long (i love how old and soft these hedgehogs look š) and I just feel it's a perfect fit to depict these boys in their old-man-yaoi era. I always imagine them looking like this in my head.
For now, this comic shows the end hook for Chapter 1- AND I LOVE IT. I love their tired eyes, I love Sonic's freakin face at the end, seeing Shadow after 10 years of absence and yearning. Thank you so so much @nomlioart!!! I'm loving these segments so far ā¤ā¤ (pls follow them, their art is amazing!)
(Fanfic Synopsis & Chapters)
