Chapter Text
One month. One month is all it took for Dr. Sonic to piss the fuck out of Shadow, he had just gotten the job a month ago, and he already has made an enemy, great. Just peachy. Shadow had graduated from a university a little while back, and luckily for him, he landed the job pretty quickly.
He quit his minimum wage job, and became an administrative coordinator for the management science department, Shadow was very proud of himself. Not to mention he’s finally going to be able to afford a proper living for his younger sister, Maria.
Everything was so good: his office, the coffee shops, the students were respectful, everything and everyone was amazing, even his coworkers. That is, up until he was introduced to Dr. Sonic, head of public administration. He wasn’t his boss, thank god, shadow thinks, but he was one of the most obnoxious people he has ever met, if not the worst. Dr. Sonic is gaudy and rude and he was everything that Shadow was not.
In Shadow’s mind, he knew from the very first interaction with him that they would never click, Shadow observed Dr. Sonic in their first meeting, as one normally would when one would meet someone new, sure he was handsome, pretty young for head of a department, he must be really good at his job, Shadow thought inwardly.
Also his suit was quite nice, he was thinking he should get himself a similar one once he gets money, he had been wanting to for a while but never got the chance to, due to obvious circumstances. And so his trail of thoughts went on, he then realized he was accidentally staring at Dr. Sonic. Shit.
“Earth to rookie, you there?” Dr. Sonic snapped his fingers in Shadow’s direction.” Shadow reoriented his gaze from Dr. Sonic’s suit to his eyes, focusing on changing his focus from one eye to another. Ugh he must’ve looked like he was ogling the man, Shadow’s mind raced.
He didn’t say anything, he only nodded his head at Dr. Sonic as politely as possible, it’s been only a week since he started going to work then, so he wanted to make the best impression, he strives for the best reputation after all.
“Take a pic, it’ll last you longer” mocked Dr. Sonic as he winked at Shadow in a cringey millennial way. Shadow was baffled internally, but he nodded and gave him a polite smile, as much as he could. He hoped that this was the last time he’d see him. Or at least as little as possible.
Shadow was so, so very painfully wrong, unfortunately this was nothing new to him. He saw something wrong coming a mile away, luck was almost never on his side, it’s as if he’d been cursed to never have something go his way, ever.
Shadow was so tired, he’s really not asking for much. But then again it could be worse, he can definitely handle an annoying, pretty coworker of a higher status, who has the authority to control him to his heart’s desires… no biggy.
Two months later at the end of the month, Shadow had clocked in. He was jealous of the flexibility professors have, clocking in whenever they wanted, but then again their workload is way worse.
And Shadow’s own workload would have been much lighter, had it not been for the asshole, Dr. Sonic. He started working on said work that he couldn’t finish up yesterday with a heavy heart.
He was done at last with the final touches an hour or two later, Shadow’s immediate supervisor, the only saving grace in the shitty situation, Dr. Vanilla, head of the department Shadow is working for. “Good morning” she stretched her words in a mother-like manner, she had told him previously that he’s just like her own daughter after all. And shadow would be lying if it didn’t warm his heart.
“Did you rest well?” she asked, Shadow really hates small talk, but it’s fine with Dr. Vanilla because it’s really easy to get comfortable around her. They exchanged pleasantries, and then Dr. Vanilla slipped into her office and got straight to work, Shadow sympathized with her, she never leaves her corporate phone and she never stops clicking her keyboard either, and is almost always in meetings.
Dr. Vanilla is busy 24/7; he doesn’t know how in the world does Dr. Sonic have the time of the day, just to be a menace towards him. It perplexed Shadow to say the least. It doesn’t make sense, is Dr. Sonic really that good at his job?
Shadow sighed, he had better things to think about, like breakfast. He thought about getting himself an espresso and a latte for Dr Vanilla. It was one of the really simple things he enjoyed in his workplace. He hoped he wouldn’t accidentally meet a certain cobalt hedgehog though..
He walked up to the barista, “one espresso, double shot and a latte, please” he blurted out quickly, fingers playing around with his wallet’s charm that was of a strawberry shape. Maria had given him the wallet a few years back, in which she had collected a certain amount of money from her allowance to get him a gift for his 20th birthday, he would never get rid of it.
“What’s up rookie, fancy seeing you here. You slackin’?” Goddamn it. The grating voice was coming from behind, and that fucking degrading nickname. Shadow winced.
He doesn’t understand why Dr. Sonic always acts as if they’re meeting each other for the first time in the cafe, and always assumes that he never actually works. He just finished the job he gave him for fuck’s sake, and sent an email to him for proof. If anyone’s slacking it’s Dr. Sonic!
“Oh you know, same old, same old” Shadow answered in a monotone voice. Shadow reminded himself he can handle one more month of this nuisance, one more till he gets fully accepted in the job.
Dr. Sonic then went about talking how his day went, Shadow couldn’t care less, so he simply tuned him out and thought about what he was going to have for lunch. The barista gave Shadow his order, but of course, Dr. Sonic swiped his espresso before he got the chance to take it.
“Thanks! I’ll see you later, rookie!” Dr. Sonic sang as he walked out of the cafe before he went ‘yuck!!’ To no one in particular, and then he threw the espresso away. Shadow growled, he breathed deeply. The past two months have felt like an eternity, he can’t wait til the next one ends. Shadow ordered another espresso in defeat.
—
Shadow went home after a long day of taunting from Dr. Sonic. He sighed, he’s so tired of kissing his ass. He reached his apartment and rang the bell, the same three rings he would always do so that Maria would recognize the pattern and know it’s her older brother, and not some stranger. The door does have an eye hole, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Especially since it was only him and Maria in the apartment.
“Hii” Maria gleamed as she opened the door for Shadow, the ebony hedgehog smiled back at his sister and they hugged. “How was your day cariño?” He asked her fondly. Maria told him she had made a couple of friends in middle school, just recently, and she’d been really excited to talk to him about them all day.
Shadow smiled at her as he told her that they’re going to talk more once the food is ready. Later when it was time to eat dinner, Shadow thought he really liked this time of the day the most. He got to bask in relaxation and spend time with his family. Shadow had been struggling for years, but he always found solace in family time.
Maria helped Shadow set the table up after he neared finishing cooking their food, then they sat together, Maria asked him about his work, he knew how worried she gets so he didn’t tell her the negative side..
They kept chatting like this for a while, Maria brought up school again. It reminded Shadow of how they grew up, they both suffered a loss from dead parents, they didn’t have any other family to take them in, they were all they had.
Thankfully their parents were of average income, it was enough to get him through the tough year, along with the other job he had worked at.
And Shadow was old enough to be her guardian. He doesn’t think he gets luckier than that, they sure came a long way though. He still gets really heartbroken whenever he thinks about the fact that she never got to grow up with them, but it’s fine, she’s learning to cope really well. Both of them are.
Shadow fondly gazed at his little sister before abruptly saying “I’m really proud of you Mia, you know?”
Maria gave him a perplexed look at first, as if to say ‘where is that coming from?’ but then she proceeded to giggle and say “I am also very proud of you, Shadow.”
He chuckled at that, and so, Maria went on about Shadow’s accomplishments, as well as how much she appreciated him and loved him excitedly.
He smiled and giggled at her enthusiasm in return, telling her also about how smart she is and the way she’s a well behaved kid whom he loved so much was very proud of, and they both enjoyed their dinner that way, rambling about. They went to sleep soon after, Shadow didn’t like staying up late.
The following days were peaceful, for him at least, because everything was so hectic for the instructors, for it was almost midterm exam season.
Dr. Vanilla had even more meetings than usual. And Shadow didn’t have much to do except double checking exam dates before sending it to Dr. Vanilla. She had informed him that there was another meeting soon after her first one for the day.
Later, Dr. Vanilla came to pick up a few things from her office and also to pick up Shadow, he’s pretty sure he could’ve done that on his own, but he assumed that Dr. Vanilla thinks that he may lose his way because he’s new. Which is plausible if Shadow’s being honest.
Shadow settles in, in the meeting, even though it’s the most boring part of his job, especially since it gets overwhelming sometimes. But oh well, he can’t do anything about it. And as insufferable as Dr. Sonic is, he’s right about Shadow being a rookie, in every aspect.
Shadow was writing down notes in the meeting when his phone abruptly rang, he’s pretty sure he kept it on silent. That’s embarrassing. Shadow saw a foreign number so he excused himself to answer, having a younger sister and being her guardian will always have him on his toes.
“‘Sup rookie, come to my office.” Shadow was confused in the beginning and considered turning the phone off right away before he widened his eyes in shock after he recognized the caller’s voice.
“Dr. Sonic?? How on earth did you get my personal phone number??” Shadow hissed.
“doesn’t matter how, come, there’s an emergency-” Shadow cut off Dr. Sonic’s voice and through his teeth he sternly went “I. Am. In. A. Meeting.”
“Heyyy what’s this new side I’m seeing?” Dr. Sonic snickered. “You gotta come anyway- listen, I already told Dr. Vanilla I’d need you to help me with something, run to my office. Now” Said Dr. Sonic, voice authoritative.This is ridiculous, Shadow thought. He gave Dr. Vanilla a look of plea in disguise, and mouthed to her ‘Dr. Sonic’, and she gestured at him to go to the professor in a kind manner. Dr. Vanilla is truly god sent.
“On my way, sir.” Shadow was furious. He didn’t show it in his voice, or at least he’d like to think he didn’t. He realized Dr. Vanilla will be forced to do his own work, he felt terrible, but sonic got the okay. But that doesn’t mean he still didn’t feel that way.