[Sonic couldn't help but roll his eyes at that answer. So, Shadow wanted to be stubborn; he knew the type. Heck, he was one of those himself. And he would've left if at that, but there was something that just didn't... sit right with him. Something that bothered him more than he would've expected, made his ears twitch a little, restless. He didn't want to leave any wrong ideas.]
I didn’t offer because I think you can't handle it, I offered because I care.
[So, obviously, Shadow didn't want to be a team player. Sonic could get the message loud and clear. And fine. Whatever. Sonic wasn’t exactly unfamiliar with solo acts himself. It still irked him a little. And also, kinda, actually offended him, if he was being completely honest? So, yeah, he was ready to ignore this, whatever thing, and keep doing his own thing too, if it hadn't been for a couple of small voices that started nagging him from the back of his head and made him pause a second.
'Lead by example'
Ugh.
Look, Sonic wasn't perfect. He’d had his own rough patches when it came to being part of a team. After Tails and Knuckles had moved in and the three of them were trying to figure out how to coexist under the same roof, Sonic might've gotten a tiiiny bit frustrated at them from time to time, and he used to complain loudly to Tom and Maddie. And don't get him wrong, he loved those guys, he loved the company! But he had essentially gone from being the pampered only child one day to the neglected middle sibling the next. And nobody wanted to be the middle kid. (And no, he was not being dramatic)
Tom had taken it upon himself to bring Sonic around and 'patrol' the city one day, to spend one-on-one time together, and he had immediately jumped at the chance. Tom had even let him turn on the siren, speak into the megaphone (which Sonic definitely didn't abuse), and even handle the radio once or twice. It was awesome.
They had mostly dealt with mundane small-town business: a missing pet, pothole complaints, ducks stealing bread again (those ducks were menaces, honestly), the occasional jaywalker. But they had ended up in the middle of a heated argument between two particularly cranky neighbors with a long-standing property line dispute between them. Tom had kept his calm and solved the issue, not falling for the taunts, even when one of them started to personally attack him instead in a way that made Sonic bristle and make him ready to throw hands. Because boy, that lady had been nasty.
Eventually, Tom's cool demeanor had ended up calming both neighbors and allowed them to reach a peaceful agreement right there (at least for the season), which otherwise would have led them to court, had Tom acted differently.
And the lady had even sent, a seriously tasty, apple pie as an apology for her uncalled behavior days after (which Sonic had eaten most himself, leaving only a slice for Tom, because hey, it had been the fruit of his and Tom's hard day at work, and emotional growth was still a work in progress).
Either way, he had realized two things that day: 1 - Tom was a seriously great cop (though, arguably, he already knew this; the experience only reinforced it). 2 - Sometimes butting your heads together was not the answer.
'Make good choices'
Maddie had always made sure to remind them of it, ever so gently (probably also spoken from a place where she didn't want her living room decimated, again; but hey, who could blame her).
Even if you somehow had misstepped along the way, it was never too late to go back to the right path... which yeah, maybe Sonic had found himself on the wrong side of the road more than once, but again not perfect. And making the right choice was not easy. It never was. That's how you knew it was the right one. And it was difficult for him, to just go against his instincts, make a snarky comment and bulldoze off. But he realized he was willing to try and take the first step.
So he took a deep breath, shoved the attitude down a couple of notches, before choosing his next words.]
So, what's the plan? Any bright ideas for this one?
[Thankfully, the new monster in front of them hadn't immediately gone off to start attacking them the second he stepped into the arena. Just stood there (floated?) for a moment just staring into their souls or something -- which, creepy, but yeah.]
no subject
I didn’t offer because I think you can't handle it, I offered because I care.
[So, obviously, Shadow didn't want to be a team player. Sonic could get the message loud and clear. And fine. Whatever. Sonic wasn’t exactly unfamiliar with solo acts himself. It still irked him a little. And also, kinda, actually offended him, if he was being completely honest? So, yeah, he was ready to ignore this, whatever thing, and keep doing his own thing too, if it hadn't been for a couple of small voices that started nagging him from the back of his head and made him pause a second.
'Lead by example'
Ugh.
Look, Sonic wasn't perfect. He’d had his own rough patches when it came to being part of a team. After Tails and Knuckles had moved in and the three of them were trying to figure out how to coexist under the same roof, Sonic might've gotten a tiiiny bit frustrated at them from time to time, and he used to complain loudly to Tom and Maddie. And don't get him wrong, he loved those guys, he loved the company! But he had essentially gone from being the pampered only child one day to the neglected middle sibling the next. And nobody wanted to be the middle kid. (And no, he was not being dramatic)
Tom had taken it upon himself to bring Sonic around and 'patrol' the city one day, to spend one-on-one time together, and he had immediately jumped at the chance. Tom had even let him turn on the siren, speak into the megaphone (which Sonic definitely didn't abuse), and even handle the radio once or twice. It was awesome.
They had mostly dealt with mundane small-town business: a missing pet, pothole complaints, ducks stealing bread again (those ducks were menaces, honestly), the occasional jaywalker. But they had ended up in the middle of a heated argument between two particularly cranky neighbors with a long-standing property line dispute between them. Tom had kept his calm and solved the issue, not falling for the taunts, even when one of them started to personally attack him instead in a way that made Sonic bristle and make him ready to throw hands. Because boy, that lady had been nasty.
Eventually, Tom's cool demeanor had ended up calming both neighbors and allowed them to reach a peaceful agreement right there (at least for the season), which otherwise would have led them to court, had Tom acted differently.
And the lady had even sent, a seriously tasty, apple pie as an apology for her uncalled behavior days after (which Sonic had eaten most himself, leaving only a slice for Tom, because hey, it had been the fruit of his and Tom's hard day at work, and emotional growth was still a work in progress).
Either way, he had realized two things that day: 1 - Tom was a seriously great cop (though, arguably, he already knew this; the experience only reinforced it). 2 - Sometimes butting your heads together was not the answer.
'Make good choices'
Maddie had always made sure to remind them of it, ever so gently (probably also spoken from a place where she didn't want her living room decimated, again; but hey, who could blame her).
Even if you somehow had misstepped along the way, it was never too late to go back to the right path... which yeah, maybe Sonic had found himself on the wrong side of the road more than once, but again not perfect. And making the right choice was not easy. It never was. That's how you knew it was the right one. And it was difficult for him, to just go against his instincts, make a snarky comment and bulldoze off. But he realized he was willing to try and take the first step.
So he took a deep breath, shoved the attitude down a couple of notches, before choosing his next words.]
So, what's the plan? Any bright ideas for this one?
[Thankfully, the new monster in front of them hadn't immediately gone off to start attacking them the second he stepped into the arena. Just stood there (floated?) for a moment just staring into their souls or something -- which, creepy, but yeah.]