The Institute 3

Shadow lounged in the Seme's dormitory with his friends, waiting for dinner. Suddenly, Knuckles tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey Shadow, I hear you got a mate," he sneered in Shadow's ear.

"Shut up," Shadow snapped.

"He's here if you want a look at him," Scourge said.

Shadow stared at him. "Really?"

"Yeah." Scourge nodded. "He's standing with Drake and Mephiles' mates."

Shadow rolled over to have a look. It didn't really matter, but he had to admit he was a little curious. There were three Carriers standing at the window, the silver one was Mephiles' mate, the lime green one was Drake's mate, and the blue one, he guessed, was his mate.

His mate was slim and weak-looking, his face was framed with a peach muzzle and he had cobalt quills that all went down instead of up like his own, and he couldn't tell because of the uniform but he guaranteed that he had peach arms and a peach chest, sorta like Scourge's. But the most striking feature about him had to be his eyes. Shadow had never seen eyes so green before. He wasn't terrible to look at, at least.

He stared at Shadow curiously, but with a little apprehension. Shadow smirked. No doubt his friends had already warned him about Shadow's nature. Mephiles' mate frowned at him and Shadow returned the glare. Then, Mephiles' mate put his arm around his mate and led him away from the window, with Drake's mate following behind.

"So what do you think of him?" Scourge asked.

"He's really pale and weak-looking, right, Shadow?" Knuckles sneered.

"I don't know," Scourge murmured. "I think he's rather cute."

Shadow made a sound of indifference. He couldn't care less about his mate, one way or the other. Sure, the boy was his mate, but that didn't mean Shadow had to care about him. He'd just silently tolerate the boy, like he tolerated pretty much everything else at this place.

"Dinner!" one of the guards called.

Shadow followed the other Semes out of their dormitory and into the cafeteria. They patiently waited in line for their food. Tonight's dinner was ravioli. Shadow fervently hoped that it was not beef ravioli. Across the room, he watched his mate stand in line behind Mephiles' mate.

Scourge caught him looking and whispered, "His name is Sonic."

"Like I care," Shadow snorted.

Scourge looked worried. "You should. He is your mate, after all."

"Call him that again and I'll happily snap your neck!!" the 16-year old hissed angrily.

"But that's what he is," Scourge said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Like it or not, you're stuck together."

Shadow grabbed his tray from the person who was handing out food, and angrily stalked across the cafeteria to the table he and his friends usually sat at.

The cafeteria was divided in half, though there was not a formal barrier. The only thing that deferred the Semes from crossing over to the Carriers' side of the cafeteria was the guards. Each side was identical with an area where the food was distributed and tables scattered around the room, but it was set up so that the areas where the food was distributed were on the opposite sides of the room, as far away from each other as possible.

Next to the food distribution areas was a place where the trays were collected and taken away to be sanitized for reuse. There was a large gap between the two sides where the guards stood, monitoring the Semes.

Shadow prodded at his ravioli and made a face. As he feared, it was beef ravioli. He lifted a forkful to his mouth and tried to swallow it without gagging, silently cursing whoever came up with the menu. He could not help glancing over at Sonic from time to time. He sat at a table in the corner with Mephiles and Drake's mates. His lips were pressed together into a sad frown and he delicately picked at his food.

Silver glanced at Sonic. "Are you feeling okay? You're not eating much."

"I'm not really hungry," Sonic mumbled.

"You need to eat," Silver encouraged. "You need to keep your strength up."

"I know…" Sonic sighed.

He still only picked at his food. After dinner, guided by Silver and Manic, he threw his uneaten food in the garbage and stacked his tray with the others to be washed. Then, he trudged back to the dormitory with the others.

Silver and Manic stuck close to him as they walked. He saw why when they turned around a corner; the Semes were being escorted to their dormitory and it was quite close. It was a tense minute. Silver leaned in and exchanged a few words in a soft tone with the emerald green boy who had been with Shadow earlier. Sonic couldn't help shivering when he felt Shadow's cold red eyes on him. It felt like he had been doused with a bucket of ice water. His friends stared at him coldly too, especially the dark blue one. Manic put an arm around Sonic and glared. Shadow's lips turned up into a growl. Then, they were past. None of them spoke until they were in the safety of the dormitory.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Silver asked, anxiously peering at Sonic. "You're really pale."

"I feel dizzy," Sonic mumbled.

Silver forced him to sit on the edge of his bed. "Calm down. Take a couple deep breaths and put your head down between your knees."

Sonic quickly obeyed. The mattress sagged slightly as Silver sat down next to him. He soothingly rubbed Sonic's back. Sonic could feel himself shaking as he tried to regain control of himself. Tears burned at his eyes and fell into his lap. Silver wrapped his arm around him as he started sobbing quietly.

"It's going to be okay," Silver said soothingly, but despite his best efforts, Sonic did not stop crying for a long time.

……………………………………………………………….

At last, he fell asleep, his head resting in Silver's lap. Silver gently stroked his quills.

"So what do you think set him off?" Manic whispered, sinking onto the bed on Sonic's other side.

"I think it was a combination of homesickness and fear of being in a totally new place," Silver answered.

Manic nodded. "It probably didn't help that his mate is a cold bastard."

"Yeah," Silver said. "Hopefully Shadow will come around or else we're going to have some problems."

"What do you suppose they were thinking when they made Sonic his mate? I mean, there are a bunch of other guys he could have been mated to, so why Shadow? Why the hell are they putting Sonic through this? He doesn't deserve any of this! None of us do!!" Manic's voice rose slightly in his anger.

"Shh," Silver pleaded as Sonic shifted slightly in his lap. "Don't wake Sonic up."

"Sorry." Manic dropped his voice to a whisper. "So what do you think?"

"I don't know." Silver shook his head. "They must have had a good reason to put Sonic with Shadow instead of someone more suitable and easy to handle. We'll just have to trust their judgment."

"Great," Manic muttered.

Silver reached over and took Manic's hand. He squeezed it lightly. "We'll get through this."

"I know," Manic said with a smile.

Sonic moved restlessly in his sleep again. Silver sighed quietly and gently smoothed his quills down.