"Shadow?"
Silence. Sonic looked at his companion and a while later heard him letting out a quiet hum in response to his call.
"This... might be a little stupid and maybe slightly personal, b-but... may I see your hand?" Sonic let out such, rather surprising, question while nervously fidgeting with his glove. Shadow furrowed his brows and turned his gaze to Sonic.
"Why?"
"J-Just curious!" Sonic's voice slightly jumped, making its owner want to punch himself for being so helpless.
"Curiosity killed a hedgehog, Sonic," Shadow retorted and rather refocused on the dark ocean, watching the moonlight reflecting from its surface. It was calm at the current moment.
"Isn't it a cat, that got killed?" Sonic raised a brow, actually thinking about the saying itself instead of the fact, that Shadow simply brushed his request off. The ebony male pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled through his nose, then exhaled through his mouth. Just whom is he putting up with right now. A hopelessly lovesick azure hedgehog, who acts slightly out of character, but is also kinda... cute? And keeps wearing the scarf Shadow once gave to him...
-Flashback-
"Why are you doing this, Shadow?!" Sonic exclaimed at his opponent while pinning him to the ground. The two hedgehogs have been fighting ever since Shadow suddenly dared to beat up Sonic's teammates for an unkown reason.
"None of your business!" the dark male gritted his teeth and shoved Sonic aside before swiftly charging at him, bringing his hard fist to Sonic's face, but missed and punched the ground instead. That gave Sonic an advantage, so the speedster started creating a tall blue tornado around him in order to stun him long enough, so he could surprise him with an unexpected blow. However, instead, Sonic ended up getting hit by an unexpected blow, literally, for Shadow performed chaos blast, which completely cancelled Sonic's tornado effect and made the hedgehog fly many meters into distance, then collide with a tree trunk and fall on the ground, unconscious. Shadow followed him and finding him defeated there he scoffed, about to leave, but then, he paused upon a sight of blood drops on the soft sand under Sonic's arm.
Crouching down to Sonic he gently turned him on his back and gasped, when he saw a terrible injury on Sonic's arm, which was slightly bleeding. Releasing a sigh of irritation he growled and undid his brown bandana, refolding it he formed a makeshift bandage out of it and used it to stop the bleeding of Sonic's arm. Once he was sure, that Sonic will be alright, he teleported away, leaving the speedster alone there.
-End of flashback-
"Shadow?" Shadow could feel Sonic's hand on his arm and he got slightly shook by him, which finally snapped him back to reality and he yanked his arm away from Sonic's grip, surprising the azure male.
"Whoa there, take it easy, heh," Sonic raised his hands defensively while giving him a sheepish smile.
"What is it, hedgehog?" Shadow quietly growled, not as threateningly as he originally planned.
"Uh, you spaced out, so I got worried for a moment," Sonic explained with a little shrug of his shoulders.
"No need to, I'm fine," Shadow retorted and briefly glanced at Sonic's now long healed arm before turning his head away from the other, a slight guilt washing over him for what he has done, 7 months ago to, be exact.
"Yeah, but still," Sonic stood for it stubbornly while watching the dark male with interest filling his eyes, now smirking, when he remembered something.
"Now you have all night for me?~" he teased him and gently poked the ebony male's side with his elbow, recalling Shadow's impatient statement from earlier, when Sticks stole his Wrap. Shadow gasped in response before growling in warning manner as he glared at him.
"Shut up, hedgehog!" he snarled, but Sonic just kept smirking, for he noticed Shadow's tan cheeks turning pink. He couldn't believe it. He got to finally fluster the ultimate lifeform.
"Admit itttt~ you enjoy the time with me," he continued. Shadow scoffed and averted his gaze.
"Don't push my mood," he retorted, trying to stay intact by Sonic's antics.
"May I see your hand then?" Sonic asked the question again, this time sounding more confident about it.
"No!" Shadow barked out, refusing to show his bare hands to anyone.
"Please," Sonic was persistent, much to Shadow's further discontent.
"I said, no! I won't repeat myself," Shadow warned the other and glared at him again, his crimson irises now sporting very dark hue, which made them look almost black.
"Fine," Sonic crossed his arms and pouted in a sulking gesture, which made Shadow lift his hand and push Sonic's head in gentle manner.
"You're like a child," the black hedgehog scoffed, earning a small whine from the other and thus getting another proof for his statement.
"So what, I bet you're a shorty without those boots of yours!" Sonic suddenly got a random thought in his head, when his eyes landed on Shadow's high boots with such thick platforms.
"What does that have to do with you acting like a little kid?" Shadow raised a brow, now getting confused by his companion.
"Well, I might act like a child, but I am still taller than you!" Sonic grinned at him, provoking him to make him take off his boots and show how tall he truly is.
"Hmpf, hardly," Shadow huffed in response, not believing such ridiculous theory as he stared at the ocean instead.
"Prove it!" Sonic gently poked Shadow's shoulder with his finger, at first earning zero reaction from the other.
"I am not obliged to prove anything, especially to you, hedgehog," Shadow retorted and restrained from reacting in any way to Sonic's poking.
"Alright then, enjoy the title 'the smallest hedgehog of the Seaside Island'," Sonic teased him further, which finally triggered some reaction, as Shadow stood up and fixed his quills out of instinct to calm his own nerves.
"I am not small!" he growled, finding this situation really ridiculous. Though! He DID feel a slight pinch of the curiousness in his chest, as he glanced at his boots, which indeed made him usually taller than many others. He liked to use such detail to his advantage, he enjoyed being this 'fake' tall, for it gave him the sense of superiority and dominance. But Sonic did not need to know that, else he would tease him about it FOREVER.
"Prove it and I'll drop it," Sonic shrugged, not really afraid of the other, for some reason, he even felt pretty relaxed in his presence.
"Tch, I can't believe it," Shadow scoffed and turning around he started walking away, not giving in to the weird request of the bored azure hedgehog.
"Shadow, wait! Don't leave, please!" Sonic dropped his ears and extended his arm in desperation, now realizing, that he crossed a line. Shadow stopped walking, much to Sonic's relief, but also did not try to walk back towards him. He just stood there.
"Look, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to insult you! I was just messing around with you," Sonic explained, standing up he approached the hedgehog and stood in very short distance from him, his eyes glued to the other's back. Seeing no reaction from the dark male he sighed and risked it as he closed the distance separating them, wrapping his arms around him he rested his hands on the black-furred stomach of his companion and placed his chin on Shadow's stiff shoulder. He winced upon the feeling of Shadow's knots poking his body and wished he could help him by giving him a nice, well deserved massage.
Shadow gasped and tensed up, when he felt Sonic backhugging him, looking down he felt his cheeks rapidly warming up at the sight of the other's hands on his own stomach. This hedgehog makes him feel so many various sensations, it's nearly unbearable for the dark male. None of them spoke a single word, they both just stood there and listened to the calm symphony of the night along with enjoying the sight of the stars and moon brightly contrasting against the pitch black sky above their heads. It was hard for him, but Shadow had to admit, he kinda enjoyed the backhug and soon found himself relaxing in the other hedgehog's arms. Which surprised Sonic to an extent, yet also made him feel victorious, for he managed to tame the raging wild beast of the ultimate lifeform.
"I am truly sorry, Shad-ow," Sonic stumbled on his words once more, so desperately wanting to call the other by some nickname instead of simply his name, which everyone else uses as well while addressing him. Thus, to him, it does not feel as special as he wants it to be.
"Prove it," Shadow let the two simple words out so nonchalantly while folding his arms across his chest fortunately not occupied by Sonic's hands, which slightly loosened their grip on his tingling stomach, but still remained in their position.
"How?"
"Up to you," Shadow shrugged in response and widened his eyes, when he felt Sonic's hands slip away from his stomach and instead finding his shoulders as their new target. The other's fingers moved delicately over his tense muscles and eventually, the ebony hedgehog emitted a soft, quiet purring noise, which made him feel so much embarassed and pathetic. Sonic smiled victoriously behind the other male and was so glad, that Shadow couldn't see him right now, else he would get a chaos spear thrown at his face in order to get that smile wiped away from his muzzle. Maybe. Or maybe not? Shadow seemed calmer and more relaxed than anything and his 'threats' weren't as serious as Shadow himself might want them to be.
Sonic wondered, was this a silent proof, that Shadow is fond of him and likes him back? Just the fact, that he was still right here, in front of him and let him massage his shoulders. Which, Sonic now noticed, helped the hybrid get rid of the knots. Shadow felt his stomach tingling intensively upon such sensation and gritting his teeth he slightly growled under his breath, but it sounded almost like a moan, which made him go fully silent and turn dark crimson in his face. He only prayed for Sonic to not notice the noise, yet, in the silent night it was impossible to not notice such kind of sound, especially in the close proximity the two hedgehogs stood in. Sonic perked his ears up and blushed due to hearing this kind of noise coming from the edgelord himself, a small smirk appeared on the peach muzzle of the azure speedster. His blue tail started wagging as he continued his role of a masseur and soon registered Shadow sitting down onto the sand, which interrupted the massage process for a moment.
"What?" Shadow barked after seeing Sonic look at him while he remained standing.
"Look at you~" Sonic grinned, about to tease him again, but then rather turned a little serious, not wanting to upset the unpredictable lifeform again.
"Okay, okay, how about you fully lay down? I noticed those knots of yours," he quickly suggested before Shadow could do anything to him.
"What are you going to do with them?" Shadow raised a brow and Sonic crouched down to his level, booping his nose he earned a warning grunt from him.
"Give you a nice massage, what else?" Sonic shrugged, while Shadow now wondered, why in the world he was still here. He would usually vanish away at this point.
"You're a nuisance," Shadow rolled his eyes in a sassy manner, yet complied and laid down on his stomach before completely relaxing his body and closing his eyes he let Sonic give him the much needed massage.
"Love you too," the azure hedgehog retorted playfully and instantly went to work, sitting on Shadow's waist line he tried his best to keep himself contained as he placed his hands on Shadow's shoulder blades and moved his fingers smoothly around the edges and knots, being careful around the backspins. Shadow felt a new rush of blissful sensation flow through his body while emitting the purring noise again, still feeling a bit embarassed about it, but this time he did not mind the other hearing it.
He did his best to ignore the weight on his waist, which made his stomach tingle once more in response and his heart beating just slightly faster. Flicking his ear occassionally he focused on their surroundings and the quiet night symphony made him feel drowsy, along with the way Sonic eased the knots and got him rid of them along with the tension in his now much more relaxed muscles. Without realization, Shadow started falling into a slumber, his heart now beated in a slow, regular pace, his breathing became deeper and his body became fully limp. Soon enough, all the noises from around faded away as the sleep took over the ebony hedgehog's mind and body.
Sonic eventually registered not getting any active reaction from the lifeform under him, so he paused and checked up on him, his heart skipped a beat at how adorable Shadow looked, when he was asleep.
"Awww... so cute," he whispered to himself and getting off of him he swiftly speeded off to his shack to fetch two blankets before returning to the sleeping hedgie. Placing one blanket on the sand next to him he then gently lifted him up and laid him onto the blanket before laying next to him and covering them both with the second blanket.
"Good night, Shad," he whispered and gently kissed Shadow's backspin before turning around and pressing his back against Shadow's back, a huge smile spread across his muzzle and he had to restrain from wagging his tail, as he didn't want to disturb the lifeform's peaceful rest. Closing his eyes he yawned and decided to also get some sleep with utter joy filling his core.
☆•~•☆
The next morning, a cloudy morning, Sonic awakened pretty late, stretching his body he yawned and felt some tears welling up in the corner of his eyes, which he wiped away and sat up on the blanket. His gaze laid upon the empty spot next to him and it brought panic to his body as he jolted up onto his feet and frantically looked all around the beach.
"Shadow! Shadow, where are you! Shadow!" he called for his crush while abandoning the two blankets in the spot surrounded by the palm trees and tall grass, that freely grew from the sandy surface. Soon enough, Sonic started running all around the wide area, feeling the fear slowly crawling up on him and clawing at him with its sharp claws. The fear of being abandoned again. The fear, that Shadow didn't actually feel comfortable with him, that he did not even like him back and only tolerated him because of failing to push him away. The fear grew in size and power, making Sonic drop his ears and grip his arm in distress. His blue quills arose and some of them even fell off due to the stress level he was in right now. Not again.
"Please, Shadow... don't do this to me," he spoke to nobody in particular as he walked slowly around like a zombie, with no certain destination in his mind. Shadow could have been ANYWHERE!
"Boo!" someone's sudden voice startled him and made him jump before he got into a fight stance with his fists prepared to be delivered to the one, who dared to disturb him in such manner. But then, he slightly relaxed and cancelled his fight position, now instead adopting a posture similar to Shadow with his arms folded across his chest and a frown on his face.
"Geez, Sticks, don't scare me like that," he sighed in a complaint.
"Whoops, hehe. What ya doing here?" the badger giggled before tilting her head to the side and raising an eyebrow, finding it odd to see Sonic nearby her place.
"Umm..." Sonic just now finally properly took in his surroundings and realized, where he ended up.
"Doesn't matter, will you help me with my garden?" Sticks waved it off, when she saw Sonic unable to answer her simple question, giving him another one instead.
"Oh uh, I am afraid, that I might be a lil busy right now..?" Sonic tried to get away from this situation, but already got dragged by the badger, who gripped his wrist to do so.
"That's right. Busy helping me with my garden," Sticks turned the hedgehog's words against him, getting him completely dumbfounded.
'Good one, Sticks,' he thought bitterly as he gave her an unamused look.
Sticks suddenly caught a scent of something and sniffing around she approached her blue friend and started sniffing him uncomfortable close.
"Stick, what are you doing?! Knock it off!" Sonic tried to push her away, but she was surprisingly pretty strong and persistent.
"Hmmmm, I know this scent from somewhere," she narrowed her eyes in suspicion once she was done sniffing her friend like a wild animal.
"Geez, Sticks, what was this about?" Sonic complained and fixed his fur and scarf.
"Wait- scent? What scent?" he then paused, frowning in confusion.
"It mostly comes out of your scarf, Sonic! How come I have never noticed this before?" Sticks pointed at the piece of cloth before questioning herself as she cupped her chin with her index finger and thumb.
"M-My scarf?" Sonic stuttered while blushing as he grabbed the hem of the bandana and moved it up to his nose in order to sniff it. And indeed, he caught the scent of lavender with a hint of something masculine, probably Shadow's natural cologne. Interesting. How come he himself never noticed it?
"Ya smell it, right? Told ya! Who gave you the scarf, anyway?" Sticks grinned victoriously, when she saw Sonic finding the discovery as well.
"Eh, that doesn't really matter," Sonic brushed it off with a dismissive gesture of his hand, feeling his heartbeat accelerating upon the memory of waking up after the fight with Shadow and finding the makeshift bandage around his arm. Out of gratitude, he washed the bandana clean and let it dry, then tried to get himself to encounter Shadow, so he could return it to him, multiple times, with no success, for Shadow was simply nowhere to be found for a while. And when he finally showed up again, he surprised him by telling him to keep it. Since then, Sonic keeps wearing the bandana as a sign of his gratitude towards Shadow. Despite Shadow being the one hurting him in the first place.
"SONIC!" Sticks slapped the hedgehog with a big palm tree leaf, snapping him back to reality.
"What?" Sonic looked at her, confused.
"I said, I need your help! I want to build a roof above my garden, so it wouldn't get flooded during the storms occuring here," Sticks repeated her request, since Sonic did not seem to listen to her earlier.
"Oh, uh... I guess I can help then?" Sonic rubbed his quills, dropping a few of them on the ground, which Sticks very well noticed, but let it be for now as she smiled and nodded.
"Thanks, Sonic! Here, I have the needed stuff for it," she pointed at various pieces of bamboo sticks, wooden planks of many sizes, huge palm tree leaves and even stone bricks.
"Alright... so, how do you want me to build it?" Sonic asked in further confusion, when he saw all the mess.
"Hmm, the stone bricks should be at the bottom, then build a roof structure with the wooden planks and lastly set the leaves on it? Along with making it all firm with the bamboo sticks, ya know what I mean. It must not fall apart," Sticks explained her vision of the said shelter roof, also bringing strong vines to use as ropes.
Sonic sighed and agreed with helping her out, working for long hours the two mobians registered the evening slowly closing in, as the daylight was fading into darker shade and they couldn't see that well anymore. Fortunately, the shelter roof was done by then and Sonic wiped some sweat off of his forehead.
"We did it!" Sticks clapped her hands, still being pretty energetic due to her doing minimum, while Sonic did almost all the job here.
"Yeah... I'm done," Sonic rolled his eyes and heard his stomach grumble as it squirmed due to the hunger taking over it.
"Shall we go get some Chaos Wraps?" Sonic suggested, still remembering the promise he gave to the badger last evening.
"YES!" Sticks' eyes sparkled as she cheered up and they both then headed to the public part of the beach, where they stood a line in front of the refreshments stall.
"Oh, lucky you two, I've got last three pieces," the cheetah said to the hedgehog and badger with a small smile on his face and Sonic ordered all the three of them. Paying for them all he gave one to Sticks and started eating the second one.
"Wow, you must be really hungry, when you buy double portion," Sticks stated, oblivious to Sonic's real reason of buying the third Wrap.
"Hehe, yeah, um, I need to go now, if ya don't mind, see ya!" Sonic quickly excused himself and speeded off to the secluded part of the beach to check, if Shadow's there. Nope. Okay, this time he won't panic. He calmly speeded off towards the secret cave, checking the whole area along with the cave itself he found nothing again. Gooooodness, okay, he tried to remain calm as he thought of the places Shadow liked to visit. The Canyon! Of course, how could he forget! Rushing towards the Canyon he ran all across the area, searched through every crack, but... Shadow was still nowhere to be seen? How come? Lastly, he decided to check the village, as oddly enough maybe the ebony male could be there, picking a fight with random mobian or something.
Sonic would probably lie if he says, that he wasn't disappointed to not see Shadow actually trying to beat the life out of some mobian around. As bad as it sounds, it would be still better than this uncertainty clenching his heart. Releasing a sigh of resignation he slowly headed to his shack, deciding to put the untouched Wrap to a fridge for tomorrow.
"About time you show up, slowpoke," as soon as he arrived to the shack, he skidded to a halt and perked his ears up at the familiar voice he so desperately wished to hear for the whole day. Looking up he saw Shadow sitting on the roof of his shack and slowly swinging his legs back and forth.
"Shadow!" Sonic smiled at him nevertheless and waved his hand in a greeting manner, happy and relieved to see him.
"Where have you been?" he asked him right after, the thing bothering him for most of the day.
"Working," was Shadow's simple, short response, which confused the azure hedgehog to some extent.
"On what?" Sonic raised a brow.
"Just.. something..," Shadow shrugged and jumped down from the roof, landing skillfully in front of the other he straightened his posture and gently removed a leaf from Sonic's quills.
"Shall we go in?" he gestured with his head towards Sonic's shack, which made Sonic blush a bit.
"Ehhh, it's a little messy in there," Sonic said sheepishly while rubbing his neck with his free hand.
"Hmpf, I live in a cave with makeshift bed, what can be worse than that?" Shadow scoffed and crossed his arms, not seeing any big deal in the other's place being messy. Plus, he can always use his organizing skills to clean up such mess, right?
"Fair point," Sonic resignated and looking down he then remembered something.
"Oh, uh, this is for you! Hehe," he held the neatly wrapped dinner out for the lifeform to either accept or deny.
"For me?" Shadow got flustered and carefully accepted the nicely smelling Wrap, taking a sniff of it he gladly bit into it and then followed Sonic to his shack.