[ SONADOW ]

Under The Mistletoe

The dark-furred hedgehog sat at his desk, gloved fingers moving swiftly against the keyboard as he tapped the keys, typing up the report for a mission he and his team had gone on a day or so prior. Usually, Omega would be the one to do the job, but G.U.N. needed to borrow him for a few more things, so he was completely occupied and Rouge was also busy with... doing her own thing (whatever that was) to do it either. Naturally, that left Shadow to take on the dirty work. Either way, no issue was posed. Quite the opposite as he was very efficient and concentrated on his work, making things easier and much quicker. Still, he wondered what the hell Rouge was so-

"Ohh Shaddooww?" -...busy with.

The hedgehog sighed heavily under his breath as his ear twitched at the sound of footsteps approaching his room before the door opened, a familiar snicker reaching his ears. "Well, good morning to you too." Her heels clicked as she approached him from behind. "What're you so cooped up with, hon?"

"The report, clearly." Shadow huffed, moving his hands away from the keyboard as he leaned back against his chair, head turning over his shoulder to face the bat with half-lidded eyes and a thin line for a mouth, unamused. "I thought you were occupied?"

"Of course I was," Rouge smirked, the bright red color on her lips that was different from her usual lipstick being very noticeable. Adjusting the leather jacket on top of her pink turtleneck, she quickly stuffed her hand into her pocket and pulled out a paper. "We just got things wrapped up, in fact. Would you be a dear and read this letter Miss Rose wanted me to give you, hm?"

"Rose?" Shadow questioned with a raise of his brow, swiftly snatching the letter out of her hands and opening the letter, scanning the contents inside. From what Shadow read, it seemed to be an invitation letter to a party to celebrate Christmas in a few days that the pink hedgehog was hosting with the help of Rouge.

"Yep. She tasked me with sending out the invitation letters, and she seemed to really want me to invite you in particular." Said bat laid a hand on her hip, her free hand going up to her hair and twirling a strand of it around with her finger. Letting out a huff of amusement, she shrugged her shoulders. "Her enthusiasm was adorable of course, but I told her she shouldn't get her hopes up too much. Anyway, what do you say?"

"I'll think about it," The black hedgehog stated, quick to hand back the invitation letter over to Rouge as he faced back towards his desk, fingers tapping against the keys of his keyboard as he resumed his work. "I have a report to finish first."

"Of course." The answer was no surprise, and definitely no fun. Although, had it been someone other than Amy hosting the event, he would've most likely refused before the bat could get a word in. Rolling her eyes playfully, she simply put the letter back inside her pocket as she turned away, the scarf on her neck swaying behind her while approaching the door to exit the room before a mischievous smile formed on her face. "Well, I suppose you have no issue with me telling her you're coming then?"

"What-" Before the hedgehog could get a response in, he heard the sound of the door closing shut and the sight of a now empty room once he had spun around. Staring at the closed door with a blank expression on his face, a frown was quick to form on his muzzle with a canine peeking out from the corner of his lips.

"That bat..."

Boots stepped out and into the front porch, gloved hands shutting the door closed behind him, locking it before walking forward again, the snow crunching underneath the steps the black hedgehog took. Deciding to rest his hands inside his jacket's pockets, Shadow looked up at the sky covered in clouds, his quills brushing against the white fur coated on the hood of his black jacket. Face instantly scrunching up when a snowflake fell and landed on his nose, he lightly sneezed, to which the tiny flake of snow immediately flew off and descended to the white ground. Wiping his nose, Shadow simply looked forward in front of him as he walked onto the sidewalk, making a right turn and walking along it.