Sorry for the late update, but we return with a new chapter to satisfy your Werehog cravings! Special thanks to Kytrin for betaing this chapter!

-::-

The warehouse, which was completely bathed in darkness after two particular hedgehogs managed to doze off, was now beginning to bloom with sunlight as the sun rose higher and higher. A warm beam managed to strike Sonic's face, causing the hero to stir unwillingly, giving a groan of irritation.

'At least I'm warm,' he thought to himself, his head beginning to pound away freely, wincing with his eyes still closed. Sonic dug his muzzle further into his soft pillow, taking a deep inhale, before snapping his eyes open as a certain scent reached his sensitive nose.

He knew that smell. That was Shadow the Hedgehog; his rival, his friend, and crush.

Immediately Sonic threw his head back, scrambling backwards despite the pain and wooziness of his body. Feeling lightheaded, he scooted back on the cement, staring at Shadow lying dead to the world in what appeared to be a saliva-coated pile of blankets, his breathing the only movement to show he was still alive.

Sonic had been sleeping on top of Shadow, face nudged into the fur of Shadow's belly undauntedly, and amazingly, the usually frigid agent was allowing it. The frightened hedgehog slowly crawled closer again, as if to inspect his friend to test if this was reality, ignoring the random aches through his body.

What the hell happened last night?

He put a bare paw to his mouth, giving a light tremble. Did he and Shadow…?

No, that was impossible. But then again, who knew with the Werehog and its insatiable lust. He looked around the massive room with guilt, as if someone had caught the two red handed. He put his quivering hand to Shadow's wrist. He contemplated if what he was doing was right, but Sonic's legs again felt weak and the rest of his physique felt sick, so he slowly giving the sleeping hedgehog a shake.

"Faker," he swallowed, nervous. "Shadow, wake up." Sonic was quickly paling.

It wasn't fair Shadow decided as the sound of Sonic's voice pierced through his tired haze and disrupted the only full night of sleep he had in days. He felt a hand on his arm, shaking insistently for Shadow to move. For a long second he considered ignoring the annoying hedgehog so he could curl up and squeeze in a few more minutes of rest. But as luck would have it, Shadow became painfully aware of the lack of warmth that had been with him just a few minutes ago, making it impossible to return back to the slumber he was dragged from.

Grumbling slightly, he creaked ruby eyes open and was greeted with the sight of a frantic Sonic. Fantastic. Something was wrong already? That would just be Shadow's luck. Slowly Shadow sat up on the mound of blankets, rubbing sleep from his eyes and running a hand through his tousled quills.

"What's the matter?" He growled softly, his voice husky from sleep.

As Shadow opened tired eyes with obvious reluctance, Sonic kept his grasp on his wrist. "What…what happened last night?" He spoke quickly, not wasting time on asking the question nagging his mind.

The black and red hedgehog seemed fine, but who knew; Oh Chaos, what if Sonic knocked him unconscious in his Wereform, and Shadow didn't remember either? Where the hell was Knuckles, and where did he run off to! As Sonic sat there in worry, watching the black hedgehog rub sleep from his eyes before answering, something funny struck his ailing head; why couldn't he remember anything even before his transformation? The worry didn't mean much compared to what Sonic was trying to deal with now and the aches that ran through his body were equally meaningless.

"Why," he hesitated, trying to word the situation right, "Why was I sleeping on you?"

Shadow yawned, one of his ears was folded down and it twitched, trying to flick itself back into the right shape. He looked around absently, ignoring Sonic's question for the moment as he took in his surroundings. It seemed as though Knuckles never bothered to come get him. Shadow continued to scratch his quills and the side of his muzzle, alertness very slowly coming back to him. The most likely reason why Shadow was still here and not elsewhere was that Knuckles wanted to let them both rest.

He looked back at Sonic, wondering vaguely why he was being stared at in such a way, "That would be because we slept together." He stated obviously.

If Sonic wasn't pale previously, he was now; he stared at Shadow as if he had three heads, licking his lips thoughtfully, confused and disturbed by how the GUN agent found nothing wrong with this. He shifted uncomfortably, a small tint of red coming over his face, speaking only after he found his voice again.

"We," he looked nervously to the side before meeting Shadow's gaze again. "We slept together? Are you serious?" he asked, unsure how to feel about this.

He and Shadow slept together; and the hero had absolutely no memory of it.

"Didn't you try to stop me?" Sonic finally had enough bravery to muster up the question. "I don't even remember, faker!"

Shadow quirked a slow eye ridge as he stared at Sonic, unable to comprehend why this seemed to be so much of a problem to the other. "It's not like I had much of a choice in the matter. I tried to leave but you would have none of that." He frowned, his sleepy mind unable to understand why Sonic was staring at him so strangely, "I don't see why you're taking it like this, we just—" He stopped dead as his exhaustion finally fled his mind, leaving him able to clearly think.

Sonic thought that he... and Shadow had...

The agent flushed as he remembered Sonic's confession from the previous night and his feelings, which combined with how Shadow had just phrased a rather suggestive sounding sentence left only one alternative. He hurled a pillow in Sonic's direction, "Get your filthy mind out of the gutter." He growled, more out of embarrassment than anything else, "We fell asleep in the same place. We did not have sex."

The hedgehog felt like a hundred pounds was lifted off of him, managing to give a soft laugh as a pillow was hurled his direction. His body was still woozy from whatever was affecting him, unable to duck in time as it hit his shoulder, a small smile coming across his face.

"Word it right next time, faker," he took the pillow and threw it back. "Almost gave a hero a heart attack!" Speaking of pain, Sonic's head throbbed as a reminder, the blue hedgehog raising an eyebrow. "Seriously, what did happen last night? I don't remember…I don't remember even transforming."

After rubbing his temple, he couldn't help but turn his smile into a sneer despite the pain. "Other than me, thank Chaos, not making a move on you." Obviously, he had no memory of his attempts of trying to relay his feelings and even trying to woo the other. "Nice to wake up and hear that." He avoided eye contact as he massaged one of his calves, unable to look at Shadow at the thought of his Werehog counterpart continuing to take advantage of his rival.

Wisely Shadow decided to keep his mouth shut about Sonic's misconception about making a move on him. That wasn't information Sonic needed to know, after all there were plenty of things that could give the hero a minor heart attack by the time lunch was out.

The agent wasn't sure how he felt about Sonic forgetting his drug-induced confession. He bent his arms over his knees as he stood up sluggishly, stretching out and purring lowly as he felt his muscles loosen up. He was... relieved Sonic didn't remember. That way their rivalry didn't have to change, and Shadow didn't have to acknowledge Sonic's feelings. He could forget about the entire thing, just like Sonic had.

He quirked an eyeridge at Sonic's question, "You really have to ask?" He crossed his arms over his chest and eyed his rival, "I drugged you again. After what happened the last time I wasn't taking any chances." In other words, Shadow hadn't wanted to get the excitable Werehog humping his leg... not that it really stopped Sonic anyway.

Sonic, who was feeling calm and serene when trying to get movement in his legs back, turned to Shadow with his usual lightening speed. "You drugged me again!" Unlike the last time, the blue hero did not hide the anger in his voice. "You didn't even tell me, seriously? Who gives you the liberty to think you can do that?" his voice rang through the wide warehouse, the blue one fuming.

"I understand you didn't want me to assault you, but seriously, you didn't even tell me. I doubt the Werehog is rational enough to remember my thoughts during the day, obviously if he tackles and tries to screw you!" Sonic was livid. "You drugged that steak, didn't you. Chaos Shadow, I trusted you!" He managed to finally get movement back in his legs, looking away as he used the wall for support to stand, beginning to make his way towards the kitchen albeit wobbly, "This is not fair…"

'Right, because what you think about me during the day is so much different than what you think about me at night,' Shadow thought sarcastically. Ruby eyes watched the angry hero alertly, biting his tongue to prevent himself from saying what was on his mind. Instead he shook his head.

"You've attacked me twice as a Werehog, and neither of us knows what goes on in your mind during nightfall," Shadow eyed Sonic, "I don't need to rationalize the fairness of this to you. This is about our survival so you should understand I did what I had to do to ensure that." He rose and smoothed his hands over his dark pelt to comb it down in the places it stuck up from his sleep.

He shook his head, "Not that it matters anymore. It would hardly work a third time." Shadow made a face as he remembered the dark blue hedgehog making a move on him whilst drugged, "It only bought us some more time."

The blue hedgehog gave him a bitter look over his shoulder, struggling to make it towards the kitchen. "Whatever," Sonic was well aware Shadow had a point, but he was extremely upset regardless. "Make sure it doesn't happen again." he spat the words a bit, just far too annoyed at the moment as he left the room to cool off.

After entering the kitchen and giving a chair a careless push, Sonic took a plastic cup to fill up with water. Pouting to himself, he tried desperately to recall anything from the previous night; he came up with nothing, shortly giving up and assuming things went well since the Werehog was probably just as intoxicated as he had been. Making his way towards the chair he just abused, he took a seat with a sigh and crushed his cup underneath his palm, his ears lowering.

He was steadily growing wearier; it was time to get a hold of Robotnik, and he would make sure his punishment did not go lightly. "Shadow?" he calls to the midnight hedgehog, looking in his direction.

"What?" Shadow asked shortly, he walked off in favor of something stronger than water. Caffeine sounded nice, if just for the smell and strong taste. He needed a good old fashioned cup of Joe. No need for him to be less than alert when babysitting a cranky wannabe. Of course there was no sign of a coffee pot in the entire kitchen, so he would have to make a trip to his own home. Not that he would complain. He could use a bit of time to sleep in his own bed.

He directed his gaze towards Sonic, propping an elbow onto the refrigerator so he could give the other hedgehog a long, surveying look. Shadow knew he deserved Sonic's ire, but he was in no guilty frame of mind. He felt he had already suffered enough by being slobbered on by a Werehog and hit on by a hedgehog that thought tipping over a glass of water was a national crisis.

Sonic gave him a bit of a look, thankful not to be addicted to caffeine, before looking back to the cup underneath this hand before pushing it away gently, "I don't know…I can't be in here anymore; this place is making me sick. Where are my shoes?" He obviously didn't remember trying to make one of them into a makeshift hat.

After a thoughtful pause, he stared up at Shadow with his worried jade eyes. "Besides that…what are we going to do about my transformation? You can't drug me anymore, you can barely control me from what you tell me…what are we going to do?" He looks down before meeting him with a much more confident gaze. "We need to find the man responsible for this; he actually might have some answers!"

Shadow 's ears folded back at Sonic's unnecessary reminder of what would no doubt happen again that very night. He had absolutely no plan to handle the unruly Werehog. Sonic could easily overpower him in that form if he got so much as a paw on him, and Knuckles could only contain the Werehog for so long. Despite Sonic's lumbering form, he was still fairly swift on his feet. Perhaps as fast as Knuckles. No amount of strength mattered against speed that was untouchable.

The agent found himself rubbing his throat, which was thankfully mostly clear save for a bruise or two. Then again, his speed hadn't been of much help in the close quarters of the warehouse.

Shadow had to admit, he did have a few undesirable ideas to tame the Werehog. But all of them involved playing on the knowledge of Sonic's feelings and using it against him. As much as he disliked the idea, perhaps it would be the only way for them all to survive this ordeal intact. Sonic would certainly hate him for it. "I have... a few ideas." Shadow said reluctantly, being intentionally vague on the details. It was clear in his body language that he wasn't planning on sharing the specifics of his 'plan.'

He looked over at Sonic, "As for the Doctor, how do you plan on finding him before night fall? Knuckles and I can barely control you in an enclosed area, and we've only been fairing well on dumb luck alone. How do you expect we'd do if you were outdoors and escaped into a nearby town?" He shook his head, "We need to come up with a way to reach you through the Werehog at the very least before we can attempt to track the Doctor down."

Otherwise, Shadow would merely travel alone. The idea actually wasn't unappealing now that he thought of it. He would be away from the source of his problems, the cause of his uncomfortable thoughts, and he could possibly even make progress without Sonic hindering him. All this was true, but for some reason he found himself reluctant to leave Sonic alone. Perhaps the reason behind Shadow's hesitation was because Knuckles would be left alone to deal with a homicidal Werehog. Not that the Werehog's attention towards Shadow was much better...

Besides, he very much doubted Sonic would find pleasure in sitting by the side lines and waiting while Shadow ran out on his adventure.

"I'm going back to my house to contact Rouge and get some coffee, feel free to come along," Shadow muttered and crawled underneath the table to retrieve the shoe Sonic had used as a hat. He placed it on top of the table and eyed Sonic from his place on the floor, pointing down at the hero's leg, "Your other shoe is on your foot."

Sonic sighed; about to retaliate with any excuse possible as long as it got Shadow to relent on the search, but there was a simply delicious view of Shadow bending over, too perfect for the younger hedgehog to ignore. The blue hero innocently looked to the side before focusing back on Shadow's rear, thinking the agent was occupied; Chaos, it had all the right curves in all the right places, Sonic simply wishing to give it a touch as he subconsciously leaned back to get an even better sight. 'What an ass…'

The hedgehog had long before realized his attraction for Shadow for quite some time now. He quit denying himself glances at the other's backside whenever he thought the Faker wasn't looking and was hoping his looks were subtle. He wouldn't be able to look at Shadow if he ever found out about his feelings! He quickly forced his eyesight away as he distracted himself with his shoe, slipping it on with a nod.

"Sounds good; at least this time, I won't be covered in blood and…" He didn't dare admit to the fact he had been a sobbing mess, instead changing the way his thoughts ran, "You got some meat there? Not tainted by drugs?" Before Shadow could answer his question, he stepped towards the warehouse's largest room and made for the exit, all with someone's backside dancing through his head.

"At least a TV," an upset expression crossed his muzzle, thinking back to his back at his damaged abode and his cracked television.

Shadow on the other hand, had felt Sonic's lingering eyes on his backside and didn't know which was worse. The fact that Shadow wanted badly to rip the chair out from underneath Sonic's seated form to get him to stop boring holes into his rear end, or the fact that Shadow was forced to ignore him and pretend to be oblivious so Sonic wouldn't catch on to the fact that his secret crush had been ousted during the night.

"I don't suppose you know how to read a book. You can surely survive without your glorious television," He got up to follow Sonic and rubbed his shoulder, sliding on his jetshoes without a hurry. "Lead the way." He muttered to Sonic. It was a bit uncharacteristic for Shadow to let Sonic lead the way...

...But Shadow didn't want the other to have another opportunity to stare at his butt.

"Awww, reading!" Sonic responded with a groan, a bit sarcastic. "That's boring. Besides, what do you read, Encyclopedias?" he gave a chuckle at his own joke, continuing to lead the way, more than glad too. Of course, an idea stroked the runner's mind as he looked over his shoulder, giving the other hedgehog a charming beam. "Oh Faker~; what about a race, hm?"

Before the other could respond, the younger of the two launched off with laughter, oblivious to Shadow's inner turmoil as he took off, happy to take a deep breath of fresh air and feel the wind through his quills. 'No matter what happens…I'll always have this.' He of course was referring to the fact that he would always have running and nature to bring him true happiness, regardless what went wrong with the whole Werehog catastrophe. Besides…it was one of the only activities that he felt brought him and Shadow together. He looked behind himself to see if Shadow had caught him, jade eyes glinting like the smirk on his face.

It was a challenge Shadow's pride simply could not ignore, especially not with the way Sonic chose to taunt him. He tore off after Sonic, chaos energy scorching the earth as he fought to catch up with the other. Between the two of them, a three second head start meant a lot, so Shadow was left having to push himself hard in order to regain the ground he had lost.

Eventually he managed to pull himself neck to neck with Sonic, his ears pinned back flat against his head and his arms swinging close by his sides so he could get the least wind resistance against Sonic.

Sonic, who had been waiting for Shadow to catch up to him, gave a grin when the black hedgehog reached his side. Like usual, their race was neck and neck, the blue hedgehog's arms out by his side as his feet moved with almost Godly grace and speed. This is what Sonic lived for and Shadow was the only other creature to give him such a challenge.

In fact, for the majority of the race, their positions hadn't changed so much as a centimeter. On the occasion that one or the other would pull ahead, their bullheadedness would rise to the surface and the speed would be kicked up another notch. Nothing changed even slightly until Shadow's house drew close.

The dark agent was tearing on through the park, the chaos energy from his skates scorching a wide path in the grass that would have had Smokey Bear snarling with fury. Shadow was pouring on more speed, trying to inch ahead of Sonic if slightly when it happened.

A small hiccup in the flow of his chaos energy. For the briefest of seconds, it caused the heel of his right jetskate to flicker off and his leg to jerk up against his will. The world tilted in that instant, and Shadow's balance was utterly lost, sending him tumbling across the park grounds at high-speeds that could easily break a normal person's bones.

Shadow's breath was knocked out of him completely and he instinctively curled up into a ball to spread out some of the impact so he wouldn't be too sore when all of this was through. He groaned slightly as he came to a halt by a jungle gym, uncurling on his back and staring up at the sky, wondering what had just happened.

He was thankful that school was still in session so there had hardly been anyone in the park to see Shadow's rather ungraceful dive.

Anyone except for the absolute last person on Mobius he wanted to see him take a fall like that.

The hero, beginning to sweat and watch Shadow try to inch a head a bit further, was quickly trying to follow until it happened; Shadow's foot, in a show of uncharacteristic clumsiness, flew back and sent the agent tumbling to the ground, rocketing him forward in a tumble of limbs.

"S-Shadow!" Sonic called after him nervously and with shock, pushing himself further to try and stop Shadow, failing and watching him roll to a stop to fall lying on his spines. The blue hedgehog arrived at his side with a skid of the dirt below him, taking a hold of Shadow's shoulders. "Faker, jeez, you alright!" he asked with slight worry in his voice. After looking him over quickly, his frown quickly turned upside down as Sonic suppressed laughter.

"…Shadow," he took a deep breath. "That might have been…the greatest thing…I have ever witnessed." It became too much and Sonic fell next to him in a heap of laughter, hitting his knee as he howled with taunting snickers. "I'm sorry, just…" he was cut off with more chuckling, wiping a tear from his eye as he tried to shake it off.

"Shadow, wow; you just made my day." He offered a hand out for the older hedgehog, biting his lip to hold back further guffawing.

Sonic was rewarded with a dark glare from Shadow as the ebony hedgehog ignored the helping hand and picked himself painfully up from the ground so he could sit up without Sonic having to help him. His tail bone was bruised something fierce and Shadow barely prevented himself from rubbing it in front of Sonic, his ears pinned back flat against his head. He was lucky he hadn't broken anything from a tumble like that.

"If you suddenly find yourself tripping while going well over one hundred miles an hour, don't be surprised if you find me nearby with a long stick," Shadow threatened Sonic darkly, and rubbed his head with a wince. He was sure to have a few deep impact bruises, but that really was the least of his worries.

"I'll have to remember to avoid it, unlike that klutzy move back there," Sonic said with a scoff. "C'mon, don't be bitter, you took it like a big hedgehog."

The look Shadow gave Sonic was absolutely venomous.

Shadow slipped off his right shoe and frowned as he inspected the heel. He wouldn't have relished falling like that over concrete or while he was racing in a jungle. He inserted a gloved fingertip into the jet to see what had caused the flow of chaos energy to become interrupted. A piece of dirt clogging up the jets would have merely been blasted away by his energy.

He frowned as he inspected it. There was nothing blocking the jet, and all the wiring appeared to be intact. He pressed his palm to the bottom of his shoe, pushing his energy through it experimentally. It flared back to life as though there had never been a problem to begin with and Shadow frowned, "That's strange." He murmured.

Sonic watched Shadow inspect the jets of the faulty shoe; he never really understood how they worked, Tails attempted to tell him once just how they did, but Sonic managed to not hear a word of it as he tuned it out. Besides, it was just scientific mumbo jumbo, and he resorted to telling himself Shadow needed them if he ever wanted to keep up with Sonic's speed.

"What's up with it?" he took it from Shadow's grasp before he could protest, giving the item a shake. "Screw loose in it or something?" he put it to his ear as he continued to jar it up and down. "I was going to say, you're not one to lose your footing, Faker." He gave it back to him after the inspection. "That's pretty weird. Oh well, let's just say you lost that one and call it a good race, hm?" he patted the other's shoulder as he made his way closer to Shadow's property.

"You were gonna lose anyway!" he called happily over his shoulder, giving the other a wide grin.

Shadow bared his fangs in irritation and marched off after Sonic, his thoughts still troubled. There hadn't been anything wrong with his skate. Nothing at all. That meant there had been something wrong with him to cause the chaos energy to skitter badly enough that the jet would cut off.

That annoyed him. Shadow didn't make mistakes. He just didn't.

"You had a head start," Shadow grunted as they finally approached his den. He unlocked the door and shoved it open, in a foul mood. "I'm going to make the call to Rouge." And get an icepack for his abused tail.

"Excuses Shads, excuses," Sonic assured as they entered the house, immediately helping himself to the kitchen. He swung open the fridge, giving an uninterested look; jeez, Faker needed more snacks (namely meat), there was just a load of healthy stuff in there. Taking the liberty of opening a water bottle, he took a quick sip before rolling his eyes.

Shadow whirled around towards Sonic, ruby eyes flaring pointedly, "Don't poke your nose around or touch anything." Shadow stressed, not wanting to have to clean up a mess after Sonic left. With that, he turned to walk down the hallway to the bathroom to speak with Rouge.

"Alright, mom; lighten up, I'll be good," he watched Shadow take off down the hallway, immediately going through the cabinets with lightening speed, trying to be as quiet as possible. He almost dropped a mug but caught it with his usual quickness, giving a sigh of relief after taking a look around. After searching through the kitchen, the hero moved towards the living room, making himself comfortable on the couch. Nice, spotless, and smooth leather observed the blue hero, who lifted off after looking through a pile of magazines on the coffee table. He fiddled with items on the shelves of a bookcase, removing books and looking through their pages with curiosity as he gave a laugh to himself; jeez, not even a nudie magazine, an embarrassing photo or something else dirt worthy! Shadow the hedgehog was so boring.

Sonic was about to give up his search with a defeated frown until something poking out from under the couch caught his eye, making a grab for the novel. "Blood Chocolate," he read out loud after scanning the cover, opening up the book to look through the pages. Only a few minutes went by and Sonic was laughing out loud, jade eyes wide, 'Shadow reads this junk!'

"Hey Shadow!" he called out to his rival. "I think your girlfriend left her book here, or you seriously are much more of a wuss than I thought!"

Shadow froze as he heard Sonic's shout from the privacy of his bedroom. He had been talking to Rouge about finding Eggman after giving her a rundown briefly of what had been going on. According to her, the only strange reoccurring activity across the world was unusual seismic activity. Small tremors and nothing more, all near fault lines so it was nothing terribly strange.

Another round of raucous laughter made Shadow's quills stiffen with annoyance and his eyes narrowed into slits, "Keep me posted if the Doctor surfaces Rouge," Shadow said flatly, "I need to go kill a hedgehog and save us all a bit of trouble and paperwork."

He hung up the phone and stormed out of his room, feeling a migraine throbbing at his temples along with the ice in his belly. Sonic couldn't have found... that... could he? No. It was impossible.

Yet there Sonic was, stretched out on his couch with Shadow's romance novel spread open on his lap.

"Sonic," He growled warningly.

"Hold on, Faker, hold on," He licked a single finger and used it to turn the page with a smug smile, eyes never leaving the wall of text. "Vivian just started to meet Aiden; it's so romantic, Shads." He looked up with mocking worry in his jade eyes. "Shadow…you…you look upset," he lifted off the couch, trying his best not to laugh. "Do you…do you need me to hold you?"

After asking such a foolish and obviously teasing question he broke out in further laughter, looking back to the book before moving towards the opposite side of the room. "This takes the cake, Faker. Really, I'm surprised. Tell me, do you think of the Werehog when you read this?" a taunting smirk grew across his muzzle. "Maybe I can talk to him, set something up between you two." Sonic tried not to think of that annoying sting of jealous as he continued to laugh, closing the novel and waving it in his direction. "Shadow, I must say, I was not expecting this. Explain yourself?"

"I'm warning you Sonic," Shadow snarled, unable to stop himself from blushing furiously at his comments. His cheeks burned with embarrassment but his glare was razor sharp as he slowly walked in an arc around Sonic. This was humiliating to listen to and take at face value, especially after Shadow's clumsy fall from earlier. That, and Shadow was being a good sport about not rubbing Sonic's confession into the hero's face. Yet all at once his face went completely neutral as a certain thought process clicked into place in Shadow's mind.

Perhaps there was a silver lining in all of this chaos after all? He could use that knowledge to his advantage, if he could perhaps gain a rise out of Sonic while he was rational, perhaps Shadow would be able to manipulate the Werehog later that night, "You know what Sonic...?" He purred softly, ruby eyes taking on an interesting glint as the pieces of his new game fell into place, "Perhaps you're right."

"Yes," A very tiny, sultry smirk crept across Shadow's lips as he eyed Sonic, "The Werehog certainly does catch my attention. I find a certain appeal to him..." All the while Shadow took slow and purposeful steps towards Sonic, closing in the distance between them.

"Oh?" stated Sonic in response, trying to keep his cool but struggling; seriously, now seriously, Shadow found the Werehog attractive? In his jealousy, Sonic tried to see through Shadow's rouse, but still managed to feel angry at the thought. He took a step away from the wall to continue his slow travel away from Shadow, giving a tiny sneer in response. "You enjoy having me drool all over you, Shadow?"

He moved towards the hallway behind him, calculating his own movements, his grin only growing as he raised a single eyebrow. "I'll have to keep that in mind; I knew you liked it rough, but wet? That's a shocker." He winked at him before shooting down to his counterpart's bedroom, slamming the door shut and locking it, giving a firm 'hmph'. Well, he himself had only been teasing, the blue hero trying to rid of the spike of pain in his chest at Shadow's words. Show him to have a crush on his wild doppelganger, kicking off his shoes to make himself comfortable on the other hedgehog's bed.

"Hey Shadow," he chuckled. "Hope you don't mind that I tell the Werehog how nice this bed of yours is…" He runs a hand over the sheets before rolling across it. "Mmmm, quality cotton, hm?" Taking a deep inhale, he blushed faintly; he enjoyed the fact it smelt just like his racing partner, completely forgetting the book at this point as he closed his eyes. He tried to ignore the fact he was going to have an angry Faker on his hands.

Well that hadn't gone quite as Shadow had planned. He smirked anyway as he tried the door to his room, it seemed he had touched a nerve. His eye twitched somewhat as he thought about that, his heart giving a strange flutter that he didn't like. Was he happy that Sonic's drug induced confession had produced a result? No, impossible.

Focusing instead on what was happening now, Shadow drew his attention back to his door. It irritated him that he had been locked out of his own bedroom, but it was worth it if Shadow's teasing ruffled Sonic's quills a bit. Besides, it was only a temporary block. He reached above the doorframe and removed a small pin that could be fit into the door's lock to open it.

He slipped it in and opened the door, quirking an eyeridge as he saw how Sonic was spread out on his bed. "Comfortable Faker?"He growled softly. At least Sonic had the decency to take off his shoes before completely destroying his made bed.

Sonic nearly jumped when he heard the faint noise of a pin becoming removed; crud, he had not considered that, and not a second later Shadow was moving into the room, growling out his question into the air. The hero gave a deep sigh of content as he rolled over to take a hold of a pillow to tuck it underneath his chin, giving Shadow emerald half lidded eyes.

"Just a bit," he grinned, his back arching downwards as his belly brushed against the cool blankets, laying himself right out in Shadow's view. "My bed is nicer, though." He had no plans of moving, expecting Shadow to drag him off the mattress, digging his face into the cool sham of the pillow. "Go somewhere else, leave me be for a bit." Mmmm, it smells so much like Shadow; earthy, sweet, and spicy all at the same time, and he hoped Shadow took in a view of his body. "You're going to have to drag me off this." His voice was muffled by the material as he closed his eyes, his short tail wagging behind him in both happiness and jest. "Though, really," he finally removed his muzzle from its hiding spot to face him. "I can't blame you for wanting to join."

Really, with the way Sonic was rolling around on the bed, it was hard for Shadow not to admire the way the limber hedgehog moved. He was lithe, with a tight build and corded muscles that could be seen underneath his glossy, blue coat. Sonic, Shadow decided from a purely clinical perspective was actually fairly attractive. Not that it meant anything to Shadow.

Of course not.

The only thing Shadow could take that to mean, was that Sonic was extraordinarily vain, and thus had taken Shadow's compliment towards the Werehog as a type of personal slight. As it stood, Shadow was not yet finished having a bit of payback and revenge on Sonic. He was handling the new information of Sonic's feelings for him with all the finesse of a swordsman swinging a two by four. He quirked an eyeridge and walked over to his bed, sliding over the covers so he was resting next to Sonic.

"I hardly need an invitation from you to rest in my own bed," Shadow murmured. Once again, his husky voice had dropped down into a soft purr and his dark ruby gaze drifted over towards the emerald eyes peeking up at him from his comforter.

Sonic swallowed, watching as Shadow had set himself across the bed; Shadow was definitely attractive as well and unlike Sonic, did not flaunt it let alone act like he knew of this fact. The hero watched as lean legs swung themselves onto his mattress after Shadow set himself onto the bed, admiring that inky black coat that he couldn't dare touch. The older hedgehog's voice sent a shudder down his spine, as Sonic had always been secretly entranced by his voice. The blue hedgehog sat up as he tried to give him a confident smile.

"I just had to; for all I know Faker, you might be the shy type," his grin continued to grow. "Quiet, definitely. Shy? For all I know…" he slid himself closer, bringing his maw closer to the others as jade met crimson. "You just might be."

Shadow watched Sonic, shifting a hand across his sheets to slide it gently over the blue hedgehog's thigh. "I'm hardly the shy type Sonic," Shadow growled softly.

'Wow,' thought Sonic, his heart instantly beating quickly in his chest as he tried to keep up his brave façade, but he was growing steadily more anxious. Shadow had just put a paw on his thigh, the touch eliciting sparks even if barely there.

He could see the hesitant boldness in Sonic's eyes. Had Shadow's 'flirting' encouraged such a reaction...? Could it really be called flirting? Not to Shadow, he was just testing his plan for the night out on Sonic like a crash dummy. That, and Shadow had to admit it was entertaining to watch the blue hedgehog squirm.

Ah well, play time was over.

Shadow gave Sonic a hard shove on the leg, knocking the blue hedgehog clean off of his bed and over the side, an eyeridge quirked with disinterest, "Which is precisely the reason you shouldn't mess around with my things." He said shortly, going right back to business as he had before.

Sonic had been about to speak before the firm push sent him tumbling off the bed with an 'UMF!'

He fell to the floor directly on his face, giving a twitch as the rest of his body slumped to the ground after almost humorously. 'Ouch,' he told himself mentally, stinging in more ways than one, yet reminding himself what he had just done had been a bit foolish; what if…what if Shadow had really caught on? But was that flirting? The blue hedgehog tried not to blush as he tilted his head to let his cheek meet the cool floor, giving a sigh. 'Nonsense,' he reasoned. 'You just got ahead of yourself…'

"Lesson learned," He said blankly, sitting up to rub the sore tip of his nose. "How could I not learn something after that loving push?" with the support of his bed, he stood up while blowing quills from his eyes. "You suck, you know that Faker?" Sonic felt bitter as he fixed his head quills, though told himself there was no possible way for Shadow to know of his feelings and toy with his emotions; how very wrong he was.

"Do I?" Shadow made a show of lying down on his bed, claiming it thoroughly as his own. He might as well have laid out a sign that said 'no Sonic's allowed'. "I'm not the one invading other people's homes, stealing their books, and then locking them out of their bedrooms." He quirked an eyeridge, at the hedgehog crumpled below him "And just so the record can show, I do not like the Werehog or your slobbery little puppy kisses." His nose wrinkled.

"Should have known that when you let me inside in the first place," He smirked playfully at Shadow as he stood up to take a seat on the edge of the mattress, ignoring the fact his rival was intentionally sprawling himself across his own bed. "I'm sorry, the book thing was too much Faker." He picked the said novel up and tossed it gently onto the nightstand, leaning forward as he kicked his legs childishly off the ledge.

"Whatever, I need a shower," Shadow cut in shortly, still somewhat irritated to see Sonic playing with his book. If Sonic had lost his page, so help him Chaos...

The cold water hose at the warehouse just wasn't going to cut it forever, and Shadow had felt like he had bathed in the Werehog's slobber the previous night. He felt ... a bit odd after watching Sonic's reaction to his shove. A bit guilty perhaps. Shadow narrowed his eyes, shoving aside the emotion for now. He had learned what he needed to, "Am I allowed to take one? Or do I need to hire a babysitter to watch you while I'm gone?"

"Well, I am feeling particularly rowdy today," Sonic tapped a finger to his chin in jesting thought, trying to hold back a shit eating grin but failing. "Maybe if someone lets me rest in their bed, it just might subdue me." He looked over to Shadow modestly, hands innocently crossed on his lap; it was too bad the hero's head was filled with a plethora of thoughts for just what type of trouble he could get into within Shadow's domain.

Shadow glared at Sonic pointedly, "You'll do well to remember that I know of your little Werehog exploitations that I doubt you would care for anyone to know," His eyes narrowed slightly, ruby eyes narrowed threateningly, "So you would be wise to hold your tongue about my..." He grunted slightly and folded his arms, "...hobbies." To make a point, he leaned over Sonic to snatch up his book in his protective grasp.

He slipped off the bed and narrowed his eyes at Sonic, "Do whatever you want, but keep your filthy feet off of my bed." His nose wrinkled, "You could use a bath too."

"Since when are you so prissy?" Sonic gave a laugh as he lifted his arm and sniffed his armpit. "You smell that? It's the scent of a real hedgehog. But fine, get your butt in there and I'll take one."

"And don't worry Shads, your little secret is safe with me," He put a hand on his heart and crossed it, to prove that he would truly not say a word to anyone…but maybe Tails…and probably Knuckles. But Shadow did say that he had 'dirt' on Sonic, which confused him; just what could he possibly be talking about? Before Sonic could ask, Shadow took off towards the bathroom, leaving him in further confusion.

Maybe Faker was referring to his fear of water? Must be, what else could he possibly know! Sonic tried not to dwell on it much as he leaned down to pull his socks off, slipping himself further onto the heart of the mattress. "Mmm," he stated out loud, looking content with his lids drooping and his muzzle digging into the pillow; Faker had quite the nice bedroom.

Shadow took a hasty shower. Despite his tough talk, he really didn't want Sonic poking his nose around in his stuff to uncover Shadow's private life. Not that it was terribly private to begin with, but the image of Sonic curled up in his underwear drawer had popped into Shadow's mind and it refused to leave.

...The fact that Shadow had no underwear to begin with meant absolutely nothing.

He was rubbing his fur dry with a towel as he walked back into his room to see Sonic curled up tamely on his bed as he said he would be. Sonic looked so relaxed and at peace. All the tension had left the hero's body and he was laying limply, almost completely asleep on Shadow's bed, snuggled into his pillow. Shadow sighed slightly, considering for a moment just to let Sonic be for the moment. He silently watched him for a long minute before he decided that Sonic could get the dirt off of his body first before staying on Shadow's clean sheets.

"Faker, get up. It's your turn," Shadow murmured, rubbing a hand through his wet fur.

Sonic heard a quiet voice break through the darkness of his sleep, giving a quiet groan. Rolling onto his side to reveal messy, bed ridden quills, he turned to Shadow with a bit of a pout. "Five more minutes—" Sonic trailed off at the sight of the GUN agent, emerald eyes studying Shadow as he casually ran a hand through his wet fur.

Shadow had yet to dry his midnight coat off, still wet and sticking loosely to his muscles' frame, tiny drops of water making their way down his fur. Sonic gave a swallow and immediately averted his eyes as he slid his way to the mattresses edge, giving a sigh.

"Fine, I'm going. Though I don't know why…I smell fine!" he teased, though he desperately was in need of a good washing. He reluctantly walked past Shadow with one more look over his shoulder as he made his way to the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind him. He took a deep inhale, smelling the perfumed body wash Shadow used; it smelt great, the room still steamy and warm from the past shower. He entered the stall, turning on the nozzles as water dripped out of the shower head, giving a content purr; oh man, he needed this, feeling even more relaxed than just previously in the bed.

Shadow sighed with relief when Sonic decided to take his shower without a complaint. There was something about taking a bath that just made one feel... normal. Even if that sense of normalcy lasted for just ten minutes out of the day. Shadow heard the shower start up again, his ears twitching slightly as he eyed the rumpled sheets Sonic had been laying on just a few minutes ago.

He was suddenly struck with a wave of exhaustion. Shadow really had been running himself ragged, and keeping up with the Werehog was tiresome. Keeping himself one step ahead of the feral beast was never easy and Shadow was running out of tricks. The sleep he had gotten the previous day hadn't really helped him any and ruby eyes lidded heavily. His body was bruised and aching from his fall. The hot water from the shower merely making the scrapes he sustained sting a bit more. All he wanted to do was tumble into the welcoming embrace of the mattress. The bed looked so inviting. So warm and comfortable.

Sonic had messed the sheets up anyway...

Deciding that he really didn't know when Sonic was going to come back out of the bathroom, Shadow finished drying himself off and crawled onto his bed, grateful he hadn't bothered to replace his gloves and socks. The hedgehog nuzzled into his pillow, picking up the faint traces of Sonic in the sheets. It smelt strangely pleasant and nice, so Shadow didn't feel inclined to move despite the hedgehog's funk.

Slowly, he curled up on the bed, striped legs splaying out on his side as he slowly drifted off to sleep. He figured Sonic would wake him up after his shower was over with so he could hog Shadow's bed all to himself. The exhausted hedgehog really didn't care, just so long as he could sleep for... five... minutes...

Sonic exited the shower with a happy grin, taking a hold of the towel Shadow left out for him. He tousled his quills in the material to dry them, stepping towards the mirror as he whipped a bare hand over the moist glass; to think, a few days ago, he was basically sobbing in front of this. Still embarrassed by the situation, he quickly moved away from the thought as he flashed himself a sparkling grin.

"Sup you," he continued to go on to himself. "Yeah, I'm talking to you; that fine hedgehog, right there," he poked the mirror playfully before slicking his quills back with his opposite hand. "Such a blue devil, you." Sonic forced himself away from the sink and back into the hallway with a towel hung loose around his hips, entering the bedroom cheerfully.

"Yo Faker," Sonic was ready to show off to Shadow, hoping the black hedgehog would take notice, before he spotted Shadow curled up on the mattress in a similar fashion to Sonic earlier, fast asleep. "Of course you pass out, old man." Sonic teased as he coasted the towel over his quills one last time before resting himself next to Shadow on the bed. The black hedgehog would probably be upset when he woke up, but what the hell; all the more better for Sonic, who really had an affinity for getting his nonexistent underpants in a twist.

"Hey Shadow," he spoke to his sleeping form. "If you think I'm sexy, don't say anything." Shadow continued to lie quietly and breathe evenly, Sonic giving a chuckle. "That's what I thought." He patted his side gently before laying his head on a free pillow, watching Shadow as he did so.

'Hm,' he thought to himself as his lids closed. 'I have a few hours to relax, no biggie.' With that thought, Sonic was soon asleep much like Shadow himself, although snoring much louder than his darker counterpart.

What neither hedgehog knew or suspected, the hours passed by quickly, the day swiftly bleeding away into night.

A loud creaking and the thud of a few springs beginning to pop loose stirred Shadow from his rest. An ear twitched and ruby eyes opened slightly, looking up at the dark ceiling groggily. He frowned slightly, how long had he been asleep for? Why hadn't Sonic wakened him up to go back to the warehouse—...

The thought trailed off abruptly as a hot surge of air blew against Shadow's face. Turning his head slowly, he came face to face with the bleary emerald gaze of the undrugged and awake Werehog, curled around Shadow.

He saw the green eyes slowly begin to comprehend what was going on and one large, furry arm snaking closer to the trapped Shadow. Obviously the shifting weight of Sonic's change on Shadow's bed had stirred them both. Ice flooded through Shadow's veins and he stared into Sonic's sleepy maw.

"Oh shi—"

-::-

Haha, you know you love us. ((brick'd)) If you enjoyed the chapter, please review?

Alright, Fanart time! I, SoS – take the whole blame for this. I forgot to put them in last time – so allow me to make amends. Remember, get rid of the ()!

http:/()avatar-moonlight-100.()deviantart.()com/art/HTTYW-chapter5-fanart-167531221?q=favby%3AShotsOfSunshine%2F31190021&qo=36 (By Avatar-Moonlight-100)

http:/()amemusashi.()deviantart.()com/art/STH-Fifties-House-Wife-167547580?q=favby%3AShotsOfSunshine%2F31190021&qo=35 (By AmeMusashi)

http:/()cobalt-the-raccoon.()deviantart.()com/art/werehog-gift-165604995?q=favby%3AShotsOfSunshine%2F31190021&qo=60 (By Cobalt-the-Raccoon)

Let me know if I missed any! I know AmeMusashi drew a ton of lovely works that I bookmarked, but for some reason the site that they were hosted on is down! D':

Thank you so much for sending in your art guys! It makes us both really happy to see that people find this story interesting enough to draw art for it! Zomg!