"You alright?" Sticks asked her blue companion while handing him a towel to dry his fur and already worked on drying her own fur due to the wild rain they had to run through from the village all the way to Sticks' shack.
"I'm fine," Sonic growled, still bitter about the villagers being so stupid and daring to cast out someone, who uses his powers mostly for good and saves their sorry butts. He couldn't believe, how unfair they could turn only because of one mistake. He accepted the towel from her and started drying himself with it, a permanent scowl remained on his face.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I am sure we will find a way, how to be accepted again. They can't just kick us out," Sticks tried to help him feel better, but it worked only partially.
"As you can see, Sticks, they can!" Sonic glared at her, but the badger didn't get fazed by it, only shrugged in response.
"If we let them, then yes," she deadpanned and Sonic just then realized, that she's right. If they let the villagers ban them from the village, then nothing was going to change at all.
"You've... got a point, I guess," Sonic resignated and once he finished drying, he hung the towel in her makeshift bathroom. He wondered, how she could live like this for the whole time, but it seems like the badger was born to live such half-wild life and thus was used to it. Sonic returned to the center of her shack and sat down on a couch she had there, actually a gift from Amy. Sticks followed suit, sitting right next to him she lifted her legs and crossed them before resting her elbows on her knees and supporting her chin with her hands.
"Hey, uh... Sticks?" she could hear the male's nervous tone, which made her lift her head and look at him with raised eyebrow.
"Hmm?"
"Heh, promise me to not panic," Sonic fiddled with his thumbs nervously while looking down, actually wanting to tell her the truth about him and Shadow, because he, honestly, couldn't hide it forever.
"Depends on what you're going to say," she replied carefully, her curiousness peaked.
"Heh, well, y-ya know, how I used that perfume back during the Fuzzy Puppies day?" he started somehow, Sticks nodded, now getting theories in her head.
"Okay, so, uh... truth to be told, i-it was actually a scent I used t-to... well, to make you stop sniffing around, because..." he paused for a bit and licked his suddenly very dry lips. Sticks was tensed now and even stood up while watching him intensively, getting a VERY bad theory in her head now.
"Because?" she encouraged him to go on.
"How to say it nicely, heh, well... me and Shadow-" Sticks' loud gasp cut him off and he could see her widening her eyes in pure horror as she gripped the sides of her head and started panicking.
"HE CONTROLS YOUR MIND!" she exclaimed, which irritated the blue hedgehog.
"Sticks! He doesn't! Can you at least let me finish what I was going to say?!" he exclaimed as well, not necessarily shouting, but it was enough for him to regain her attention. Once he was sure, that Sticks was listening, he continued.
"Over the weeks, me and Shadow got into a sort of close relation with each other and it was his scent you could smell on my bandana back then, when you first sniffed me. I was scared exactly of you reacting like this, so I rather tried to hide it," he finally explained with Sticks actually listening carefully this time.
"Oh- so, he isn't trying to manipulate you or something?"
"NO! Ngh, Sticks, Shadow is much different from how you and the others see him! Trust me! During all these days he actually... he made me feel actually happy and... heh, l-loved too," Sonic averted his gaze in the end of the sentence while nervously rubbing his neck. Sticks took the words in and slowly digested them, as she now thought about it all. Was Sonic truly not under any manipulation from the ebony hybrid's side?
"Loved?" she finally spoke up a few moments of silence later and tilted her head, getting a quick nod from her companion as an answer.
"Wow. How long are you, guys, like this then?" she asked calmly, still trying her best not to create any weird theories in her head about the ebony male, who actually terrified her due to how dark he was, personality-wise.
"I told you, it's been going on for weeks. We kept meeting each other in private, not wanting anyone to find out. Or well, I already told Amy and a bit to Tails as well, now also you. I just... I myself want my friends to know, but he is stubborn and does not wish any of you to know about it, so, please, keep this a secret, okay?" he finally glanced up at his friend with pleading expression in his eyes, which Sticks just couldn't resist.
"You have my word," the badger smiled at him and placed her hand on his shoulder for support.
"You promise?" Sonic asked, now seriously.
"I promise to the very heart of mine, that I will keep this a secret, as long as you want me to do so," Sticks replied properly, sounding firm and determined. Sonic felt relief wash over him and out of impulse he tightly hugged her, which surprised her, for he usually isn't the hugger type. Unless he's with Shadow, of course. She hugged him back and a huge smile grew across her face. This moment made her feel good.
"Thank you, Sticks! For so many things, really," Sonic said while breaking the hug and smiling at her. Sticks then gasped and a sparkle lit up in her eyes.
"How about we ask him for help!" she suggested, now that she was sure, that Shadow was most likely going to be on their side.
"What?!" Sonic actually panicked, especially because he still remembered the way Shadow simply brushed him off to be left alone.
"I mean, he is tough and doesn't really care about his reputation, since he's already known as the 'bad boy' in the village," she elaborated her meaning. Sonic took a moment to think about it and had to admit, the crazy badger made sense for once.
"Right, what worse could happen?" he asked a rhetorical question and Sticks nodded.
"Exactly! Now come on, lead the way!" she got excited and wagging her tail she headed to the entrance of her shack.
"Woah, woah, wait! Don't you wanna wait for the storm to be over first?" Sonic tried to stop her from doing something out of impulse, when he saw how much it poured outside and the lightnings kept illuminating the sky every few seconds, with thunders echoing all around.
"We can survive that! We must not wait any longer, he can help us for sure!" Sticks was stubborn and still wanted to get this over with despite the unwelcoming weather raging outside.
"He can, but I don't think he'd be happy to see us right now," Sonic opposed, also stubborn.
"Happy or not, we need his help," Sticks deadpanned while crossing her arms.
"Yes, I know, but-"
"Then come on!" Sticks didn't let him finish and grabbing him by wrist she dragged him outside to the pouring craziness. And literally had to drag him with all her might, because he struggled against her until the rain started quickly soaking them wet.
"This one is on you, Sticks, if I end up sick!" he grumbled grumpily before speeding off towards the cave, leading the way for Sticks, who followed right behind.
"I accept the blame!" she replied with a grin on her face, her adventurous, wild nature not allowing her to get worried about some sicknesses.
About ten minutes later, the two completely soaking wet mobians stood in front of the cave entrance and Sonic hesitantly knocked on the dark wooden door before waiting anxiously for Shadow to either open up or kick them away from here. The latter being more likely to happen. Sticks looked around the - for her - new area and sniffing around would be useless for her, because the rain drowned out any other smells, so she just made sure to memorize this area, in case she would need to visit it again.
"What do you want, hedgehog!" they could hear Shadow's voice from the other side of the door, which brought huge wave of anxiety to Sonic and a bit of fear to Sticks. She was still so intimidated by him, but tried to remind herself, that Shadow is, more or less, on their side.
"Uh.. I-I need your help! But I am not alone here!" Sonic exclaimed through the raging storm and felt the coldness biting him deep to the bone from how soaked he was right now. He also violently shivered while hugging himself. Sticks did the same, but still believed, that this was worth it.
"Who's with you?!" they heard Shadow bark out the question after a while, it was evident, that he was busy with something.
"Sticks! And before you say anything, she's cool about us! Trust me!" Sonic replied, now basically pressing his entire figure on the wooden door.
"I warned you to NOT tell anyone, what are you not understanding!" was Shadow's stubborn response and Sonic sighed.
"Can we take this into your cave, please? We're soaking wet here and dang cold!" Sonic replied now in irritation. Why was the black hedgehog so damn stubborn? Afterwards, there could be some thuds and rustlings heard before the door went slightly open, but Shadow paused, letting only small crack appear, so he could see the unexpected visitors at such late hour. He glared at them both before hanging his dangerous gaze on Sonic.
"She does ANYTHING weird around my cave and you are both kicked out, understood?" he demanded and saw the both mobians swiftly nod in response, before he finally opened the door wide and stepped aside to let them in.
"Step over there and don't move!" he pointed at a mat by the wall before walking off to another room of his cave, which worked as a bathroom. There he took two towels and returned to the two mobians, who listened to him and both stood on the said mat. He handed them the towels and backed away afterwards, crossing his arms. The two started wordlessly drying their soaked fur and eventually they both held completely soaking wet towels in their hands.
"What in the world made you come out during the storm?" Shadow raised an eyebrow and took the wet towels from the two, still not allowing them to move anywhere as he went to hang the towels over the edge of his tub. He then grabbed a hairdryer and went to dry the two with the hot air emitted by it. Several minutes later he was done and finally allowed the two to move on the soft carpet and make themselves comfortable.
"So, basically... we were kinda kicked out by the villagers, who still hold grudge against me and anyone, who's on my side," Sonic finally answered Shadow's question, once everyone sat on the carpet, forming a triangle there.
"And you came here, because you want me to help with that, huh?" Shadow scoffed, not wanting to give himself out so easily.
"I mean... this was her idea, actually and she is kinda right about it. Because you're... you know, having the bad reputation already and such," Sonic felt a bit nervous and Sticks dramatically gasped, when she was mentioned.
"Sonic!" she whined, making the blue hedgehog look at her with raised brow.
"What? You did say that!" he defended himself. Shadow pinched the bridge of his nose and growled loud enough to regain their attention.
"Geez, stop you two! Sonic, are you trying to use me in order to benefit yourself here?" he first scolded them both before asking Sonic in serious tone.
"Using you? No! I am kindly asking for help! We both are, Shadow!" Sonic quickly shook his head and hands to deny such fact. Of course he wasn't going to just use the black hedgehog, that would be awful. He cares about him deeply, Shadow just needs to find a way how to see it.
"What's in it for me?" Shadow raised a brow, which made the both mobians go silent, as they really didn't think of the possible consequences following after.
"Shadow... please, we're really desperate," Sonic held his hands together in pleading manner and tried to make puppy eyes.
"The explosion was your doing, Sonic, besides, I already told those idiots, that it was me, taking the blame on myself. What else do you want me to do?" Shadow scoffed, obviously the 'puppy eyes' effect did not work on him at all.
"Well, it wasn't enough. Once I arrived to the village, they gathered around me and blamed me for what I did. They know it was me and casted me out," Sonic tried to explain the events from earlier and Shadow finally resignated as he hung his shoulders lower and covered his face with his hand.
"Dammit, hedgehog... you'll be the death of me one day," he grumbled, but seemed to be calmer now. Sticks was just quietly sitting there and watched the two hedgehogs, knowing much better than to do anything, that would trigger the ebony male and make him pierce her with a chaos spear.
"Yeah, guess it's my charm," Sonic weakly chuckled before sighing as he moved closer to Shadow and took his hands, feeling him slightly struggle he saw him glance at Sticks, who just gave him a small smile and tiny nod as a sign, that she's fine. Shadow then turned his gaze to the hedgehog in front of him and watched him carefully.
"Shads, please... we really need your help, we can't do this alone. Amy, Tails and Knuckles also need you and me with Sticks, we're all a family, basically. Please. I know how amazing you are under the tough wall of yours, let them all in! They won't judge you, they will accept you, I am sure of it!" Sonic pleaded with those puppy eyes again despite it not working earlier. Shadow remained quiet at such request, it was already pretty hard for him to open up to Sonic, not to mention his friends! Knuckles is simple-minded, which meant, that maybe he might have a chance with the echidna. Sticks was highly paranoid and just... couldn't be trusted that easily. In Shadow's point of view, that is. Tails is Sonic's best bud, but Shadow couldn't still be fully sure, if the fox would grow fond of him at all. And Amy... she is sweet and caring, mostly, but can be also very feisty with that big hammer of hers. Really, he wondered how the female can even lift such big item without any problems. And the hammer, honestly, did not seem to be of a light weight at all, when it could deal a decent damage.
"How can you be so sure?" he finally spoke up, without realization he still let Sonic hold his hands in his lap.
"Here, I promise to always be by your side and help you in return, if you ever need it," Sticks piped up, moving also closer to the ebony hybrid she held a hand out towards him, offering him a friendly gesture. Shadow looked at her up and down, probably rather himself being the one to judge here and releasing one of Sonic's hands he gently grabbed Sticks' offered hand and shared a handshake with her.
"Fine, deal," he accepted and Sticks dramatically inhaled before tightly hugging him, which utterly shocked him and Sonic gave him just an apologetic smile along with a small nervous giggle, as he let go of Shadow's other hand and gave him some space. Shadow groaned and gently pushed her away.
"No hugging!" he warned her, which made her sit on her spot again and giggle quietly.
"I am sorry, hehehe, impulse. It's nice to see you giving us a chance," she explained her, for him weird, behavior and couldn't believe it, she got to hug the ultimate lifeform! Even if it was short and he did not hug her back, it was still an amazing achievement in her life. She was excited to tell Amy about it the next day, once she meets up with her.
Shadow rolled his eyes in response and crossed his arms.
"I am so going to regret this," he grumbled under his breath and Sonic gently patted his shoulder for comfort before yawning tiredly.
"You'll be fine, Shads. Now, where can we sleep?" he asked him afterwards. Shadow got up and brought two sleeping bags to the room, then dropped them on the soft carpet.
"Good night," he said shortly before walking off to his bedroom, where he laid to his makeshift bed and soon was able to fall asleep. Sticks and Sonic exchanged confused expressions before they both shrugged at each other and Sonic set the two sleeping bags right next to each other. They were surprisingly really soft and thick, thus laying inside of them was going to be maximum comfort for sure. Sticks quickly slipped herself into the vanilla yellow one and hummed in content.
"This feels actually nice," she whispered to Sonic, not daring to disturb the lifeform sleeping next door. Sonic got into the dark purple sleeping bag and curled up in it, feeling the comfort and satisfaction flow through him almost immediately.
"Awwh, it does," he whispered back and quietly chuckled.
"Sleep well, Sticks," he added and Sticks also bid him goodnight, before they both closed their eyes and soon enough fell into a deep slumber.