Two Inches

At Shadow's shoe-cabinet, Sonic comes to a sudden realization.

TAGs: Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, one-shot, Writing Exercise, Wordcount: 100-1.000

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.

Sonic didn't generally pay much attention to what kind of shoes other people had. It wasn't a topic that interested him so he didn't think about them beside whether the particular pair seemed practical or not.

However, as Sonic was placing his shoes beside Shadow's own hoverskates—because of Shadow seeming very adamant about not letting him 'track mud all over the my damn house' to paraphrase the agent—he couldn't help but notice that the skates had actually pretty high heel; they had to give Shadow a few extra inches in height when he wore them.

But if the two of them were normally equally tall then that would mean— "You're shorter than me," Sonic blurted out in surprise as he glanced at the agent, the fact they were standing side to side at the cabinet making it easy to actually spot Shadow was indeed shorter than him. One of Sonic's hand automatically came up to measure what the height difference actually was. About two inches, huh. "I've always thought we were the same height."

Shadow looked unimpressed by his finding. "My biological donor was from the Yurashian hedgehog family, they're generally smaller than Eurish hedgehogs," the agent replied simply, already making his way to the kitchen, having already switched on the coffeemaker when Sonic made it to the kitchen.

"You don't sound like you mind too much," Sonic remarked as he took seat at the kitchen table. "Most guys I know are pretty self-conscious about their height," he added. Sure, in human standards two inches were practically nothing but when it came to Mobians every inch counted.

"I'm not most guys, am I?" Shadow asked rhetorically. "When you grow up surrounded by humans you become indifferent to people being taller than you." The agent shrugged his shoulders. "Plus the mere act of being proud or ashamed of genetic predisposition is quite nonsensical if you give it some basic thought."

"Oh, really? Mr. Ultimate Life form?" Sonic teased. "You seem to like to boast about your genetic predisposition."

"Being the Ultimate Life form is not just about genes—it's also about skills and capabilities," Shadow explained as he poured himself a cup of the freshly-brewed coffer, lifting it up to his lips, at whose corners a smirk was currently insistently tugging, "like being able to easily outrun anyone on this planet."

"Oh? Wanna test that theory out right now, slowpoke?" Sonic asked, raising a challenging brow, seeing the taunt in other's words. "Because I'm fairly sure last time you were the one eating my dust."

Shadow huffed. "If it weren't for the grueling mission that GUN send me on the day before, you would have been left so far behind that you wouldn't even see the dust setting."

"Suuure." Sonic grinned in a good humor. "Keep telling yourself that, Shad.