The photo above is a recolored fan drawing. As usual, I'm too stupid to know who drew it. It's of "Reuben" and Sonic.

Sonic's P.O.V

I was running around the city, patrolling as the city's hero, and I heard crying. A kid's crying? That's no good.

I run towards the source of the sound and I hear a little kid crying in an alleyway. They're covered in dirt and blood, and their quills are all messy... they're a hedgehog. I go over to them and get down on my knees in front of the kid. "Hey, kid. Are you ok?" The kid only responded with sobs. "Can you tell me what happened?" 

The kid looks up at me and greets me with giant shocked ruby eyes. They wipe their tears and try to stop crying, but it looks like they're having some trouble doing so. "Hey, hey, it's alright, buddy... you're safe now..." I say as I pick him up. "I'll take ya home with me and we'll get ya nice and-" "No..." I finally heard them speak. "L-L-Leave m-me h-here..." "No, kid, I can't do that. You'll get an infection." "P-Put me down." He sniffs. He's so adorable... why would anyone wanna hurt him?

"Hey bud, can ya tell me your name?"

Shadow's P.O.V

Look at this... I look so pathetic right now... and in front of my RIVAL no less! Chaos, he's probably really confused... "Hey bud, can ya tell me your name?" My eyes widened. He couldn't recognize me? This is PERFECT! "I-I'm... I'm Reuben." Not a really good name, but it's something.

"Reuben, huh? Well, Reuben, today's your lucky day. You can live with me!" No, no, no, no, no! I can't live with my RIVAL! "Do I have to..?" "Haha, wouldn't want ya to stay homeless, would ya?" I have a new hate for kids' bullies. I hate them more than Sonic, although we don't hate each other, we don't show we care either. I shake my head because I'd rather see his face everyday instead of bullies, and that's saying something.

--

Sonic took me back to his house, I was still a mess. I'd finally stopped crying. He immediately rushed into the bathroom and filled up the tub for me. I looked at my air shoes. Crap! If he cleans these, it'll be a dead giveaway! And my inhibitor rings...stained with blood. Maybe I DO need a bath... but I can't let Sonic find out it's me! Not like THIS!

I was really anxious. I can't let Sonic know... what do I do?

Sonic's P.O.V

I filled up the tub for the poor kid. Geez, I wonder what happened to him... After the tub filled I turned off the water and grabbed the kid from the couch. "C-Can I do it myself..?" He asks with a stutter. "I-I can clean myself..." 

I nodded. "Of course, bud." I place him down in the bathroom. "Tell me when you're done, ok?" He nods. I exit the bathroom and close the door behind me. I heard a click, indicating the door was locked.

Shadow's P.O.V

I locked the door when he left. What do I do? I climb up on the counter and look in the drawers behind the mirrors. I found something rather unusual. Hair dye? I found 6 different colors of hair dye. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The heck?! Why does he have hair dye in rainbow colors?!

I shrug it off. Well, now I know what to do for a disguise... I thought as I closed the cabinets. I carefully climbed off of the counter and down to the floor. It wouldn't hurt to take a bath and clean these cuts. I slip in the tub and wash the dirt off of me. Damn, the water got dirty fast... I wash everything with soap and water. 

I got out quickly no matter how badly I wanted to stay in the water for two reasons.
#1: This isn't my house, it's Sonic's.
#2: The water is filthy.
Those are both great reasons to get out of there quick. As soon as I did, I dried myself with the towel Sonic gave me. First time I'm giving appreciation to the faker... I dry myself and climb back up on the counter. I was rushing so I grabbed a random color of hair dye and applied it quickly. I quickly waited for it to set in before exiting the bathroom.

Sonic's P.O.V

I waited for Reuben to finish taking a bath and come out of the bathroom. When he came out I noticed a few things.
#1: He has these orange-ish yellow bracelets on his wrists and ankles.
#2: He has chest fur, like Shadow's. Which I found interesting.
#3: He has blue fur, like mine! That's pretty cool.
And #4: He's really adorable...

Reuben has blue fur and some purple stripes on his quills that are hanging downwards. He doesn't wear clothes, which is good because I don't need to go buy them for him. I look at the oddly shaped shoes covered in dirt. "Hey, want me to wash those for ya?"

He looks confused and then looks at the dirty shoes. "Oh, no thank you!" "Are you sure?" "Mhm! For sure!" He smiles brightly at me. "Oh. Okay then... by the way, you can stay with me for the time being." "Really? Oh, thank you... you are really nice, f- mister." What was he gonna call me? "Oh, uh... thanks!" I chuckle. "Wanna sit with me and watch TV?" I pat the seat next to me.

He hesitates and then nods, climbing on the couch and sitting next to me, a bit awkwardly. "Hey, what are those things on your wrists and ankles?" They look familiar... I ask him. He's noticeably nervous from the question. "Well- I- uh- they're- ummm... bracelets? A-And a couple anklets... I like them, so I wear them." "Oh, that's pretty neat! Uh- wait! One second! Stay here!" I stand up and exit the living room.

Shadow's P.O.V

Oh, chaos, does he know?! Am I screwed? I totally am... damn it! This is so embarrassing! He'll tease me about this FOREVER! I mentally groan. I look down at my inhibitor rings. They're still covered in blood? Huh, it must've dried. Sonic reenters the room with a med-kit.

What's THAT for? Sonic sits down next to me, opening it. "I'm gonna clean your wounds properly. And yer little... accessories." I nod once, trying to be compliant instead of causing trouble. No matter how much it kills me, I know I can't fight in this form as well as my adult one, and I can't blow my cover with Faker, so I have to comply.

Sonic cleans my cuts with the anti-septic ointment he got from the med-kit. It stings so I wince a little. "It'll be over soon... it's ok. You're safe here, lil' dude." Sonic reassures. Huh... he's never been so nice to me... this is new. 

He starts to clean this one spot on my fur. I start to whimper a little. What? Why am I whimpering? Why can't I stop? "Hey, hey, don't worry... shh... it'll be ok. You're safe now..." He speaks in such a sweet tone. I nod and somehow stop whimpering.

--

After he finishes cleaning my cuts, he wraps bandages around them and grabs me an ice-pack for my eye. "Thank you..." I thank him in such a small voice. "Of course! What are friends for?" Friends..? "We're friends..?" "Of course! Oh, and one more thing..." He dashes out of the room and reappears with an ice-pack and an eye patch. He puts the eye patch on my eye and slips the ice pack under it. "So you don't have to strain your arm to hold the ice pack up to your eye." 

He chuckles a bit and ruffles my quills. He then raises an eyebrow at me. Crap! Have I been caught yet?! He then runs a hand through my quills. I bite my lip because whatever he's doing is hurting. "Huh... your quills are all knotty. Gimme a second." He zips in and out of the room. Stop giving me a heart attack every 30 seconds!! I scream in my head. When he returns, he's holding a red brush. I turn my back to him, knowing what he's gonna do.

He brushes my quills for me and I can feel my cheeks heat up from the embarrassment. How have I never noticed how kind he can be outside of battles? He can be really sweet, and he'd sacrifice himself for others... like Mar- I caught myself ADMIRING my RIVAL! No! He's nothing like her! Snap out of it, Shadow! I mentally groan.

--

After Sonic is done brushing my quills, he ends up styling them like his. Any other situation, I'd kill him for styling my quills like his, but I need to look as different as possible so I'm not recognized. "Now, to clean your tiny jewelry."

He reaches for my inhibitor rings and I pull my hand away. "No!" I spit out. Shoot, now I'm even MORE suspicious. Sonic raises an eyebrow at me. "Why not? They need cleaning, or you could get an infection." I was panicking.

I need an excuse and fast. I ended up just giving in because I couldn't think of anything. "...ok, fine. But one at a time... please." Well, still gotta sound respectful. He nods once and takes one of my inhibitor rings off. I can one off for 10 minutes, so this should be fine, right?