sonic_wachowski | Seasons Inbox

From:

[knock knock WHEREVER YOU ARE, Sonic. Shadow's going to do that thing where he teleports right behind you]

You. We need to talk.

From:

sonic_wachowski

[You know whose used to jump scares? Not the guy who thinks everyone is going on a Sunday stroll speed at best for a default.]

[It's like the lab again when Shadow was just THERE and his poor heart doesn't know how to handle it.]

[Suffice to say there is a shout, a jump, a tumble forward and roll. Grabbing the chili dog he was EATING before it hits the floor. And just sitting on the ground with a wide eyed look.]

[Oh and a low level mist just kind of sprung up in the kitchen. Thanks fear fueled powers.]

Can you at least do that when I'm not eating?!

From:

lightremains

[Five Nights at Freddy's has nothing on Shadow.

He glares down at Sonic, his expression definitely angry... and maybe a little hurt]

How much did you run your mouth about me to the others?!

From:

sonic_wachowski

What?

[Angry, he sees. Shadow is angry a lot. The hurt though? Why is he hurt?]

[He looks confused.]

I-do you mean a lot by people standards or my standards, because it might be a lot by people standards, but I run my mouth a lot, and I could have run my mouth about you a whole lot more, especially with the amount of new people I can talk to here, but I haven't done a whole lot to people and-

Other Shadow, other me, Maria. Oh, and Ozzy, but Ozzy can't talk to people.

[A pause.]

Eva and I just talked about Older Shadow, so that doesn't count.

So, I talked about you to three people? Mostly comparing stuff. That's how I found out about the lizard that they dealt with and also something about a mission? Do you know about a mission, other Shadow seemed to think real deep about it, though I don't even know what the mission is for.

From:

lightremains

[Shadow lets out a frustrated growl and roughly grabs Sonic by his chest fur, yanking him up to his feet. Like Sonic, he's not used to his new powers, the ground beneath them rumbles, just a bit.] STOP. YAMMERING. And just tell me what, EXACTLY, you told them! Especially the other Shadow!

Edited Date: 2025-01-20 09:29 pm (UTC)

From:

sonic_wachowski

[There's another yelp as he's yanked up.]

I didn't tell them what you said on the Moon.

[The first thing out of his mouth. He never mentioned that. He didn't want to share that. It felt...it felt too precious to.]

I didn't tell Maria you wanted to destroy the world. I didn't tell her about Gerald. She knows you were angry at GUN, but you helped destroy the cannon nondescript evil scientist took control of. She asked what I thought of you as like...a person and I told the truth, but it was more personality vibes. Uuuuh. Oh, you were found in a meteor and the base was a mountain. Older Shadow was made in a lab on a space station. Unless Walters lied about that, I wouldn't be surprised.

The other two already knew about the whole Gerald and destroy the world situation from their Shadows.

What I told older Shadow was....it was... [He opens his mouth, closes it, looking a little loss.] I....its a little hard to remember everything I said, I was...I thought he was you at first and I wasn't ready to find out he wasn't.

From:

lightremains

[there's more localized tremors as Sonic talks, Shadow keeping him in his grip and his expression stern, eyes focused on the other. Which is odd -- in the short time they've known each other, Shadow hasn't been one for direct eye contact. They're really intense.

Sonic finishes explaining and Shadow's expression softens just a hair. He's still angry, but no longer furious, and he lets go of the other hedgehog. The rumbling also stops, but his quills spark a bit]

Just. Please. Stop. Stop telling people almost everything you know about me. [he balls his fists and presses the heels of his hands into his eyes] Ever since I got here -- no, ever since I woke up -- everyone I've met, everyone I've encountered, they already think they know who I am! Even you, after the first time, after Walters-- [he turns away, removing his hands from his face and looking down at them, fists quivering] .... It feels like everyone knows who I am, except me.

From:

sonic_wachowski

[Sonic steps back as he's released. There's guilt. He didn't mean to upset him. It would be overwhelming. It makes sense.]

I'm sorry, I-

[He swallows and just. Sets his food down. The words stop spilling out. There's too many thoughts, too big things, to just let them spill out.]

....Walters didn't tell me anything I didn't already figure out. Except the meteor.

That was new.

But another Hedgehog, strange powers, grudge against GUN.

You got caught in the trap I lived in isolation for seven years to avoid.

He never mentioned Maria. That wasn't until I saw your home.

[He had been staring at the wall, because finally turning to look at Shadow.]

I don't talk to my family about you. I told them you changed your mind once we could talk and that was it. I couldn't talk to them. How could they understand?

But those three...

They wouldn't think I was crazy for caring so much. I thought you were dead. They were the ones who convinced me to hope you survived.

Edited Date: 2025-01-20 11:12 pm (UTC)

From:

lightremains

[Shadow sits down on the floor, drawing his knees up to his chest. The anger has ceded, replaced by the cold emptiness that always rose to fill the hole left behind]

... It's not just them. So many others here just... assumed I was the other Shadow. [the other Sonic included. He's not angry about it, per se. It's an understandable mistake to make. But it still felt really bad.

He peeks out at Sonic over his knees] It doesn't bother you? That another you is walking around? That everyone already knows him? What if-- what if they expect you to be just like him? They just assume and... [and... what? He isn't sure where he was going with that thought, so he just lets it fall away]

Edited Date: 2025-01-21 03:13 am (UTC)

From:

sonic_wachowski

Then they're going to be disappointed. [He doesn't even really need to think about it.]

[He hesitates, then he moves over to Shadow, sitting down beside him. Giving him a little space that he could choose to close if he wanted.]

I'm not like the other Sonic. Of course we got stuff in common, but I only needed to talk to him once and it was...

[He pauses, looking for the words, his hands gripping at his ankles where his legs are crossed in front of him. Knee bouncing a bit.]

Its weird to see a me and see how actually carefree he is. I kept looking, but it was a weird funhouse mirror where all my anxiety was gone. No hyper awareness of the people around. Preferring to go camping and moving from place to place and not thinking having a house is a big deal. Its all so weird.

And even if other people will think I'm him, it seems....

Its so stupidly impossible that all I really get is annoyed.

[He looks to Shadow.]

....but when you're on own, you have to figure out who you are, or you're going to lose it.

You haven't had much chance for figuring it out? And a lot of scientists probably didn't help either.

From:

lightremains

[he's so effortlessly confident. How does he do it? Is it because he's too stupid to know better?

No, that's not it. Yes, he is kind of stupid. But Sonic had something he didn't have -- a long time to get to know himself. Shadow keeps himself small, keeping his distance still]

... I was rarely left alone with my thoughts. I was participating in experiments, creating chaos drives, with Maria, or I was asleep. The times with Maria were the only ones where I ever thought about myself. And in cryosleep... well. You already know what I thought about for those long 50 years. [her pale, burned face. Her lifeless, empty eyes. Gerald's tears. Walters' betrayal. Pain, pain, and more pain. He curls up more tightly -- not quite a ball, but a tight fetal position] I'm so lost.

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