[Thread] Another day goes by

[bowyourheadslow]

Characters: OU!Shadow the Hedgehog, OPEN
Where: Apartment building 2 roof
When: Afternoon, during song!plot
Summary: Hedgehog has some thinking to do.
Warnings: None

Comments

[waterfell]

Those emotions she'd always tried so hard to keep pushed down (irrelevant, nonsense, wasteful, unwanted) had come back at her with a vengeance. Perhaps that was exactly what it was: penance, vengeance, payback. Yet she'd had the relief of pouring them out to the one person who could understand them all, and by now Mercury was calm. Ready to, as she should, think of more practical and useful concerns. The roof of her apartment building was still a preferred place for those reflections

[bowyourheadslow]

It was one thing to have his usual spot happened upon by someone who knew him and was looking for him up here. It happened frequently enough, and while it was occasionally irritating, he'd come to expect it. If someone really wanted to find him, they'd do so eventually anyway, regardless of where he chose to be. It's not like he was ever trying to hide.

It was a little less acceptable, however, to have his thoughts interrupted by his once-roommate, whom he'd lost all respect for when she and that other human girl of about the same age had conspired to steal his Emerald. It was difficult for most to ever receive his trust; it would be near-impossible for her to regain it, if that was what she sought.

The hedgehog shot the girl a look as cold as the ice she controlled, and said nothing. If she wanted something, she would have to say so, and make a damned good case for it.

[waterfell]

She kept her smile as she approached, ignored the dirty look, did an excellent job of seeming to not even notice it. The singing hadn't troubled her other than the worry it would interfere with readiness; in fact, she'd almost enjoyed it, even when Venus had joined in (even hearing Kunzite and the others).

The roof was two things to her: The roof was a place of loneliness (but also familiarity), consigned to those days when she'd spent her time there alone while the others in her school laughed and had fun with their friends; the roof was a place for introspection, for those times she couldn't help chasing herself.

Mercury looked across the parts of the city visible from this vantage (not as much as she'd have preferred). A slight breeze stirred the air and her hair. She didn't mind the ever-so-slight chill creeping into the wind as summer died to birth fall.

"What do you see, when you look at them?" she asked, perhaps irrelevantly. She was still looking out, looking down, making it obvious she meant the city as a whole.

[bowyourheadslow]

Shadow gave a small, derisive snort at the question, and looked down at those below once more.

What, indeed? There were many words to describe them, as they meandered pointlessly. It was no wonder a single Entropi had managed to wreak such havoc. If one were to appear right now in the center of the plaza, he could count at least twenty individuals that would likely be killed within ten seconds of its arrival. It would serve no purpose to be constantly paranoid, but anyone with a modicum of intelligence would at least be cautious, customarily. Unfortunately, judging by how unobservant and ill-prepared the residents had proven themselves time and time again, he had reason to doubt they even thought that far ahead.

"Humans," he grumbled, but it was clear from his tone that it was not a trivial statement based on the majority species, but a cynical way of describing the attributes of those in the city. Lazy, oblivious, complacent, inane - it was as if they were sheep, except that at least sheep had the excuse of being non-sentient.

[papa_high_lord]

Normally Saetan avoided going out during the day, but on this particular occasion he was having a hard time staying cooped up in the apartment. He wasn't depressed that Tersa had vanished, exactly; in fact, in the long run it was probably a good thing. At home, if that was where she was now, she would be able to get the care she needed that could never happen here. Still, that didn't mean he wasn't allowed to miss her now that she was gone.

He was, of course, a little surprised to see he hadn't been the only one with this idea. Not that he minded the company of course, and even if that company wasn't human he wasn't going to complain. "Good afternoon, boyo." He greeted mildly, staying in the shadows, golden eyes watching the landscape thoughtfully as he spoke.

[bowyourheadslow]

If finding his old roommate on the roof he habitually spent time on wasn't strange enough, meeting someone entirely new certainly was. Had he just picked the wrong time of day to come up here? Wrong time of year? So often he was alone up here, or pestered by Rouge or Tohru on occasion, but somehow it had taken all this time to run into someone he'd never met.

The roof was plenty big to share, of course, and Shadow was more or less wrapped up in his own thoughts anyway, so the presence of another individual didn't actually bother him. Not, that was, until he was addressed.

Slowly, the hedgehog turned his head toward the man, raising an eyebrow. "... What did you just call me?"

[papa_high_lord]

Saetan chuckled softly, amused despite his somber mood. "Would you prefer 'puppy'?" He inquired mildly, of the opinion, as always, that at his age he could call others whatever he damn well pleased and they would just have to humor him as a crazy old man.

The smile faded after a moment, serious once more. He shouldn't be out here at this time of day, but the headache the sunlight was producing was as good a distraction as anything. Besides, he could use a little harmless conversation right now.

[bowyourheadslow]

Harmless conversation wasn't something Shadow was very good at or ever really cared to have, and Saetan had made a rather poor first impression which would diminish his chances even further.

The second nickname the man had come up with had the unfortunate consequence, even if not intended, of sounding as if it were a slight against his species. It didn't help that Persephone had initially thought he was Maria's pet dog, upon seeing the two of them together. What was it with humanoid species and their undeserved superiority complexes?

Ears back and quills rigid, the hedgehog took a step toward Saetan. "I would prefer you left me alone," he spoke in a cool yet menacing tone.

[bowyourheadslow]

The hedgehog cast a curious glance toward the edge of the roof as he heard her climbing up, and watched her with a neutral expression as she came up over the edge. She really should think about using the stairs sometime, maybe. If she slipped, it would be a long fall for someone so fragile.

"Any time," Shadow replied with a shrug. Beyond testing out his current theory for killing an Entropi, there wasn't much he had going on.

"Did you have something in mind?"

[bowyourheadslow]

He nodded briefly when she finished with her first statement. He, too, was curious to see what she could recall of that little session, since for much of it she hadn't exactly been herself. Shadow didn't doubt, however, that she remembered batting at Chaos energy well enough. That had definitely been her doing.

At her question, though, Shadow paused, frowning. He was thinking about a lot of things, none of them being anything he wished to discuss with her. Most of it had nothing to do with her, anyway.

"It's nothing to concern yourself with."

[proudlovefreak]

Flonne wasn't sure how she ended up on the roof of an apartment building. It wasn't even the one she lived in. All she knew was that she had been wandering and had somehow wound up there. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the hedgehog that she was sharing the space with. This was the third talking-animal type she had approached and so far, all of them had been nice.

"Hi!" she called out cheerfully, waving as she made her way over to Shadow. "I don't think I've seen you before. Are you a friend of Vector's?"

[bowyourheadslow]

Seriously. What the hell. Since when was the roof so popular a destination for strange people he'd never seen? The hedgehog turned toward the angel, raising an eyebrow severely.

"No," he stated irritably. That was another thing - what was with people assuming he knew or cared about someone just because they, too, weren't human? That blond child had thought he was one of Miss Acorn's friends, when he'd never even heard of her until she was brought here. At least he knew who Vector was, but he and the crocodile generally had nothing to do with each other. And right now, disappointed by Omega's nonexistence still, he wasn't very pleased with Vector, even if it wasn't the reptile's fault.

[proudlovefreak]

His tone wasn't any different than that of her friends from home when she launched into some speech about love. It was as if she had built up an immunity to it or simply didn't notice.

Ready to make a friend and enjoy the scenery, Flonne moved to stand by him and peer over the edge of the building. "But you do know him, right?" In all honesty, she hadn't met many people who called Vector friend or seen anyone hang out with the crocodile. But he must have friends somewhere! If not, well, she could always introduce him to new people or her friends.

[bowyourheadslow]

"I've met him once or twice. Why?" She must have been one of Vector's friends, herself, if she was so insistent on asking about his relationship with the crocodile. He watched her guardedly when she made her way closer, trying to make sure she didn't do something obnoxious like attempt to pet him.

Initially, in attitude, she almost reminded him of Amy. Not many people were so indomitably cheerful.