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Bonding

Sonic and Shadow were racing through the plains, making mock attempts to tackle each other. Sonic was already smiling, simply because he was enjoying the 'game', but his smile got even bigger when he saw that Shadow seemed to be having just as much fun as him, judging by his large smile and the excited sparkle in his eyes.
Shadow managed to tackle Sonic while he was distracted, causing both of them to tumble head-over-heels down the hill, landing a few feet away from each other.
Shadow sighed as he started to push himself up. He looked up to check on Sonic. Sonic was still lying on the ground, not moving. Concerned, Shadow ran over and rolled Sonic onto his back, revealing Sonic to be in silent hysterics.
Shadow angrily punched Sonic in the chest, upset about being scared half to death, which only made him laugh more. The two then got into a wrestling match, trying to pin each other down.
After they managed to untangle themselves from each other, they sat on the grass, laughing and trying to catch their breath.
"It's nice to see you smiling and laughing for once," Sonic said.
"Whatever," Shadow replied, giving Sonic a light shove on the shoulder. The two sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the wind blowing through their fur and quills.
"So, what was your childhood like?" Shadow asked. "You told me how you got separated from your siblings, but not anything about what happened before then."
"Well, I guess I should start from the beginning," Sonic replied. Sonic told Shadow about how his mother gave him and his siblings up because of a prophecy (that never came true), his foster parents were arrested and roboticized when he was four and went to live with his Uncle Chuck (who also got roboticized, eventually), reunited with his siblings, and several of their adventures.
Shadow felt really sorry for Sonic again. He had gone through far more pain in his 18 years than anyone should in their entire lifetime. Sonic had gone through even more hardships than him!
"I'm so sorry, Sonic..." Shadow whispered.
"Hey, it's okay," Sonic assured him, comfortingly putting his arm around Shadow's shoulders. "You don't need to apologize. It's all in the past."
Shadow put his arm around Sonic's shoulders, returning the hug. They then spent the next several hours racing, wrestling, testing each other's skills, and discussing their interests, stopping to take a short nap at one point.
When the sun started to get low in the sky, they went their separate ways. Shadow left to hunt some feral animals to satisfy his clinical vampirism for the day, then go back to his apartment, and Sonic left to get some dinner (chili dogs, as usual), then find a place to settle down for the night.
Meanwhile, Aleena had caught up with Jules shortly after Shadow left, and had lectured him for an hour for trying to kill their oldest son.