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Shadow sighs as he finally makes it back to his very nice, refurbished, home. G.U.N. had been working him to the bone on a work trip for the past week, so it would be nice to finally get back; sleep on his own floor.
He ambles into the cave, eyes only half open. The hedgehog lays down – skincare be damned, and rests his head on the soft floor.
Wait… When had he let Rouge sucker him into buying a carpet? Shadow shoots up, suddenly very awake. Red eyes meet green, and he groans in frustration, dragging his palms down his face as he resists the urge to sink to the floor.
“Rouge.” The bat is woken up by her door being very rudely kicked open.
She feels her way along the wall, out of her bedroom and into the main living room of her apartment. She lifts up her sleep mask. “Yes, sweetie? Why are you here so late?” To his credit, Shadow looks just as tired as her, if not more.
“Why is your mutt in my house?”
The bat pauses mid-stretch. “Huh?”
Shadow stumbles into her apartment. He glares over his shoulder as if he’d been pushed. “Why is your mutt in my house?”
A large blue-gray muzzle pokes through the doorway. The nose twitches before the rest of the werehog trots in. Sonic rests his chin on Shadow’s head and practically grins at Rouge.
“Hun, I told you, my landlord doesn’t allow pets.”
“Why is that directed at me?! Get off- I didn’t bring him back.”
“You brought him here, though.”
“ You put him in my home!”
Rouge slides forward and scratches Sonic’s head. “No I didn’t. Think he came back on his own?”
“Why would he do that?”
“Well, we know he doesn’t really remember much in the morning, and the last time we saw him, we literally invited him in.”
The hedgehog sighs at this. “Can you keep him for tonight? I just got home.”
“Sweetie, that cave, is not a home. Stay here for tonight. You don’t have any amenities, and you probably want to shower.”
She knows him better than he’d admit. “Fine.” As he stalks past, he mutters a quick but sincere, “ thank you. ”
When Shadow reenters the living room – now feeling clean, thank Chaos – Sonic is laying down, and Rouge is laying on his back, reading a book. He narrows his eyes at the fur floating into the air – a result of her petting him.
The bat huffs at him. “ You brought him here, you’re vacuuming tomorrow.”
Shadow sighs, but deems that it’s only fair.
Rouge dog-flaps her page, and tosses the book to the floor. She pulls her sleep mask back down and loosely gestures in his direction. “Go to sleep, Shadow. You can take the bed; I’m comfortable.”
“Are you sure?”
She wiggles deeper into Sonic’s long fur. That does look soft… “ Yes, you need it. Now go. I don’t like dealing with you when you’re sleep deprived.”
“I don’t need as much sleep-”
“Yes, yes. Ultimate Lifeform and all that. Now go. ”
Shadow huffs, but thanks her again, and starts for the bedroom. As he walks away, he hears the bat say to Sonic, “and you keep it down. Pets are a very strict no. Got it?”