#totallylighthearted

totallylighthearted

"A better friend than I ever expected him to be. He’s helped me learn to open up and trust again, and he’s shown me the proper way to live life. …I miss him."

agiftedglider

"He’s one of the few people I hold the closest to me. He’s been there for me every time I’ve needed someone by my side. I appreciate him more than I could properly express."

soldimension

He had to answer, didn’t he? Nothing held back; everything that pushed to be said could not be denied. Chaos…

"…He’s an admirable person. He’s kind and empathetic. He has this…wisdom to life that still mystifies me. He’s always surprising me so effortlessly. He almost always has a smile and a good word to say for others. He’s always happy to see me, even though I know I’m not the best company out there. He’s just…incredible. This chance to have a friendship with him is something I wouldn’t give up for the world.

"I want to make sure he stays safe and happy. I want to keep that smile on his face, and I want to be there for him when it’s not. He’s been gone for some time now, and…I find myself starting to miss him. I…”

And he was quiet for a moment, because it didn’t elude him how some of this happened to match up with Ray’s words of wisdom from just a few days ago. The black hedgehog swallowed, everything about him screaming vulnerability.

"I’m tired." Sonic didn’t even have enough energy to maintain a falsified positive air.

Shadow's expression sobered immediately.

After the talk that went in a rather horrible direction (that he still harbored guilt over), Sonic...wanted a hug? He paused, caught by surprise. He'd expected Sonic to be upset with him. He remembered the flinch with clarity; he'd never done that around him before. Shadow had crossed a line, and Sonic would have had every reason to be upset and angry and maybe even betrayed. He would not have questioned if Sonic desired distance from him, even.

Yet he wanted a hug, instead. He wanted to be close to him.

This hedgehog...

Shadow, wanting to prove to the hedgehog just how remorseful he was, stepped forward and slipped his arms around his torso in an embrace. Every other one before this with anyone else , he had merely opened his arms to the other person. This was the first time he was the one to step forward. He wanted that to mean something to the blue speedster. 

"He doesn't speak about his past, and I'd never thought about it, myself, until recently," He frowned, somberly. "I know he had a mother, and something must have happened to her..."

His mind drifted back to when he'd temporarily been in Amy's body. How the petting had been so gentle and tender, so reminiscent of Maria's own, and how Sonic commented how his mother had done the same to him, too...

His mother, that he'd lost...

...That was how he was able to relate to him aboard the ARK, wasn't it? That was how he'd seen something 'familiar' inside him, and how he was able to give him such sound advice. It was advice he'd needed to hear because, quite likely, Sonic had been where he was right now, himself and, therefore, had known just what to say. 

...Chaos.