The air in the living room was so thick, it felt like it could be cut with a knife. After yet another, sickeningly familiar emotional outburst, Shadow hadn't said a word, simply leaving the room and abandoning Sonic to his anger. Now he sat on the couch, legs outstretched, methodically polishing one of his inhibitor rings. The metal gleamed under his focused gaze, reflecting the artificial light and their recent argument.

The hedgehog's face remained impassive, as always, when he was trying to quell an internal storm. His head pounded not from exhaustion, but from the echo of Sonic's last words – accusations, reproaches, painful assumptions. Another emotional outburst over something as trivial. His endless need for attention... or whatever it was. Shadow genuinely didn't understand why everything had to be so complicated.

**The weariness from these endless swings was already settling heavily on his shoulders. Every time it was the same: Sonic would explode, Shadow would withdraw, then they would both slowly cool down, only to repeat the cycle again. Didn't Sonic understand that sometimes it was necessary to just... be silent? To give each other space before letting the situation boil over? **

A feeling of irritation mixed with something sharper – a dull ache in his chest that Shadow stubbornly ignored. Didn't Sonic see how hard it was for him to listen to those accusations, which struck at his most vulnerable points? After all, his silence wasn't indifference, but an attempt not to say too much, not to wound even deeper when the other's words were already cutting him to the quick.

Shadow froze, the ring in his hands stopped gleaming, but his gaze was still fixed on it. A barely audible creak of the door made him twitch an ear, and then he felt the familiar vortex of energy, usually so bright and vibrant, but now somehow... muffled, as if dimmed. Footsteps. Slow, uncharacteristically cautious footsteps that stopped somewhere behind him.

Silence. A thick, tense silence that pressed down heavier than any shout. Shadow didn't lift his head. What now? Another attempt to resolve things? Or silent condemnation? He felt the gaze on him, but preferred not to meet it.

He waited. And this time, he wasn't sure what for. He wasn't sure if he was ready.