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“Get the hell off me, hedgehog.”
“Dude, stop wriggling! I’m gonna drop you.”
“Good!”
“Aw come on, I’m only tryna help.”
“I’m the Ultimate Lifeform, Sonic. I’m more than capable of walking by myself. Injury or no.”
“Ok, but you love being in my arms though.”
“I’m going to fucking kill you.”
The keys jiggled in the door, Shadow awkwardly trying to unlock it despite Sonic’s bridal style deathgrip.
Sonic shifted to tap the door open with his foot, trying not to fumble the very pissed off hedgehog in his arms.
Sonic took in the familiar space; its minimalist design, modern interior and dark colours were oh so Shadow. He grinned. It hadn’t been that long since the last time he was here. When he chickened out of kissing him.
He still couldn’t believe Shadow had made the first move.
“Great, we’re inside.” Shadow said flatly. “Now put me down.”
Sonic sighed, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. He moved towards the sofa, shifting around the coffee table. Before gently placing the other hedgehog down on his back, fighting the urge to drop the moody bastard from height.
He loomed over him, holding himself there far longer than needed. A smirk stretching across his muzzle as the other quickly flushed and averted his gaze.
Before kneeing him in the stomach.
“Ow!” Sonic let out, incredulous. Quickly pulling away. “What was that for?!”
“Being a dick.”
Sonic huffed, holding a hand to his stomach.
“God, some date you are. Should’ve left you to bleed out.”
“But you didn’t.” Shadow smirked.
“Well, yeah.” He said, gesturing to the back of his head. “Only because I owed you the favour.”
The black hedgehog chuckled, shifting himself to sit upright.
“Mm. Not because you were concerned.”
It was Sonic’s turn to flush, heat rising behind his cheeks.
“Fuck off.”
The speedster dropped himself on the sofa beside him, landing with a thump as Shadow raised a brow. Watching as his date lounged himself across the furniture, slouching like a schoolboy.
Sonic scanned his surroundings for a moment, eyes landing on the TV remote. Placed perfectly straight and in line with the edge of the table. He lunged forward to grab it. His fingers knocked against a grey ashtray.
He glanced up at Shadow.
“You should quit this shit.”
“Quit what?”
Sonic rolled his eyes before gesturing to the ashtray.
“Smoking, dumbass.
“Mind your damn business.”
“Seriously dude. You’re gonna like…” His eyes turned to the ceiling, scrabbling for a reason. “Mess up your lungs.”
Shadow gave him a flat look.
“Sonic, I am physically incapable of getting ill.”
Sonic let out a huff, resting his elbow on the armchair.
“Besides.” Shadow swallowed, in a quiet voice. “They’re not proper cigarettes.”
Sonic raised a brow.
“...They’re herbal.”
Sonic stifled a laugh.
“They’re what?”
“Herbal." He almost growled.
“You’re smoking teabags?”
Shadow forced down the urge to either slap himself in the face, or punch Sonic in the face.
“No, stupid!” He spat. Was Sonic making fun of him, or was he just genuinely an idiot? “It’s a lavender blend. Supposed to help with…stress.”
“Well that explains a lot.” Sonic said simply, earning a side eye from his rival. “You reek of lavender.”
“Shut up.”
Sonic laughed.
“I thought you’d been rolling around in a field or something.”
“Sonic.” He warned lowly.
“It’s overpowering dude. God, how stressed are you?”
Shadow’s gaze narrowed.
“You are so fucking dead.”
“No need for violence Shad-OUGH.”
Sonic quickly found himself cut off by a sudden force throwing himself at him, shoving him deeper into the sofa with a rough press to his chest.
His jaw dropped for a moment, the air escaping his lungs as the smirking hedgehog loomed over him. Before lowering his body towards him, trapping him in place.
Sonic could feel his face heating up again.
Man, they were close. He could feel the movement of his chest with each breath, his heart beating behind his ribs.
Holy shit he was warm, heat radiated off the other hedgehog in waves.
“Get off.” Sonic said, too halfheartedly to have any intent behind it.
“Why should I?” Came the response, a shiteating grin on his face. “I’m comfortable.”
Sonic could see what he was doing. Trying to out-fluster him, everything had to be a competition with him. Not that Sonic minded, of course. But two could play at that game.
Sonic grinned, pulling Shadow further towards him. The black hedgehog letting out a small huff of surprise as he was dragged down.
Fingers ghosting his shoulders, Sonic buried his face into the crook of his neck.
Shadow’s reaction was immediate, Sonic having to bite down a laugh against his skin. The black hedgehog’s eyes widened to saucers, face burning as a shiver ran down his spine.
Sonic took a breath.
“Man.” Sonic finally said, shifting his head just enough so he could speak.”You smell like a fucking Lush.”
Shadow rolled his eyes.
“At least I don’t smell like sweat.”
“Hey!” He exclaimed, fully shifting away. “I’m a runner, asshole.”
“So what? You can’t shower?”
“I do!”
“Certainly doesn’t smell like it.”
“Oh, fuck you dude.”
Shadow grumbled, fully lifting off him and leaning back into the chair. Sonic suddenly felt very cold.
He turned to glare at him from under his brow, before he gestured to the remote in the other hedgehog’s hand.
“Are we watching a movie or what?”
Sonic curled his lip, silently raising the remote to Shadow’s rather expensive looking TV. Hitting each button as hard as possible. Scrolling through his apps, he came to his streaming service. Opening it to reveal three icons.
The first being an evil looking queen from a kids movie; labelled Rouge <3.
The second being a small animated robot in a junkyard; labelled Exterminate! underneath.
And the third being some angry looking anime dude with spiky black hair; labelled Emo Who Leeches Off My Account.
Sonic obviously clicked on the third.
He spent a good few minutes scrolling through the list of movies, occasionally hovering over one and glancing to Shadow to gauge his opinion. Although he gave little away, staring dead at the screen.
Eventually he settled for the first Chao In Space movie, the one where Rapid the Porcupine uses the ten chaos rings to defeat Anarchy the Water Demon.
Really he should sue.
Shadow seemed uninterested, his expression unchanging as the movie opened with the green porcupine meeting the water demon for the first time.
The movie rolled on, the pair watching in silence. Occasionally broken by Sonic laughing at the bad CGI, hammy acting and terrible one liners.
Until the movie stopped, Sonic pressing pause as he felt his stomach starting to growl.
“I’m hungry.” He said, his date turned to face him with a flat expression.
Shadow sighed.
"Is food all you ever think about?"
Sonic hit his hand to his chest in mock offence.
"No! I think about running too." He gave him a side eye, a smirk stretching on his face. "And you."
"Shut up." He spat, but the aversion to his gaze betrayed any intention. "I'll go make you something."
The hedgehog swivelled to stand, holding his weight on his uninjured leg as Sonic rose to meet him.
"No you won't, not while your legs busted."
Shadow ignored him, beginning to shift towards the kitchen.
"Dude, I can just cook something myself."
Shadow snorted.
"I wouldn't trust you in a kitchen."
"Shadow, I started raising a kid at the age of eleven." Sonic retorted, in genuine offence this time. "Do you think I just let him eat crap all the time?"
He raised a brow.
"The kid with an addiction to mint ice cream?"
"Oh, says the guy who eats coffee beans."
Shadow shifted his weight.
"Touché."
Sonic sighed, taking Shadow by the shoulders in an attempt to guide him back to the sofa.
"Just go sit down, I'll go prep something."
He took his hands in his own for a moment, moving them away from his shoulders.
"Like hell am I gonna let you cook in my kitchen unsupervised."
Shadow brushed past him, limping into the kitchen. Sonic followed closely behind, arms outstretched in case he tumbled.
The kitchen shared a similar design standard to his living room, grey worktops and appliances, black cupboards and white walls.
An island sat in the middle of the space, which Shadow slowly took a seat at; flinching slightly as he pushed himself up to the chair.
Sonic began shifting through his cupboards and fridge, the other hedgehog watching on.
"What do you fancy?" Sonic asked, his head in the fridge.
"Anything but chilli dogs."
He span on his heels, turning to face him.
"Just because you have poor taste in food."
Shadow smirked.
"I have a poor taste in men too, it seems."
The blue hedgehog flashed him a wordless middle finger before setting to work, gathering ingredients and utensils.
Shadow watched on as his date began to wordlessly prepare the meal, boiling the water and grating cheese into a bowl, occasionally humming a tune Shadow couldn't place.
The black hedgehog was honestly surprised; as Sonic salted the spaghetti and began to beat the eggs.
The speedster had never seemed the type to take interest in the culinary arts. Hardly appeared to have the patience. But he supposed cooking must be a necessary skill for someone who suddenly found themselves raising a young child.
He watched on, noticing a small smile on the other hedgehog's face as he averted under his gaze.
Sonic turned his back to him, placing a chopping board down on the worktop and beginning to crush garlic cloves under a knife.
Shadow smiled to himself, shifting down from the chair and limping towards Sonic. The hedgehog's chest reverberated with his hum as Shadow snaked his arms around his waist.
He tensed for a moment, but quickly relaxed as he rested his head on his shoulder.
Sonic flushed, settling into the embrace. Mindful not to catch himself with the knife; doing his best to focus on the task at hand. But the warmth of Shadow at his back, his face burying into his neck, was distracting to say the least.
It was domestic in a way unfamiliar to Sonic, peaceful in a way he rarely experienced with his lifestyle.
He wouldn’t call it a feeling of home. Home could never be in the arms of Shadow or anyone else. To Sonic, home was the wind rippling through his quills as he tore across the landscape, home was his heart pounding against his chest as he pushed himself further and higher, home was the adrenaline spiking in his blood as he faced down machines and monsters.
With Shadow, he’d always prefer the back and forth.
Tearing across the horizon and meeting one another strike for strike, in an attempt to one up another. A fight neither could ever win in the end. Too evenly matched, so why continue?
The biting remarks and bared teeth, the dull ache of bruises and blood dripping from the wounds.
That would always be them, what they always had to be, what they would always be in the end.
Although dulled claws and flushed faces, gentle touches and warmth didn’t feel wrong either.
The pot boiled over, water evaporating against flame.
“Dumbass, you’re gonna burn it.” Shadow reprimanded, dropping his arms from around his waist.
“I know, I’m on it!” Came the response, the hedgehog shifting away from Shadow to adjust the flame. Watching in relief as the bubbles resided.
Shadow folded his arms.
"I knew you couldn't be trusted in the kitchen."
"Shut up."
To Shadow's surprise, the carbonara was edible. Nice even.
Although Sonic's meal etiquette left a lot to be desired, the hedgehog dropping himself back down on the sofa. Not even eating at the table, scarfing the meal down as if he'd never eat again.
Plates left on the coffee table, the movie continued in the background. Shadow watching on as Rapid and his chao sidekick, Sails, attempted to board Professor Mechnik's ship via boat to stop him and the water demon.
He thought this movie was very unrealistic.
Shadow raised a brow as the porcupine hero fought the beast on the ship, the water demon transforming into some kind of translucent shark as several chaos rings adorned his watery limbs. The thin Professor Mechnik laughed maniacally as it grew.
A sudden weight on his arm pulled him from his, albeit confused, focus. Tilting his head to discover a head resting against his arm.
For a moment, Shadow's breathing stopped. Eyes widening as arms wrapped around his middle.
A sudden snort against him revealing his date had nodded off, nestling into him as his breathing evened out.
A thought flashed across his mind, a concussed Sonic next to him as he checked him for injury. Running his hand through relaxed quills.
Removing his gloves and releasing a breath, he slipped a hand into his quills. Cradling the back of his head and pulling him in closer.
The blue hedgehog murmuring something into his chest as he weaved his fingers through them.
The screen went black after a preview for the sequel, something about Rapid's evil clone; Shade the Porcupine.
The room plunged into silence, a quiet comfort washing over him. More than content to listen to the slow breaths of the hedgehog using him as a pillow.
He soon found himself dozing off alongside him, resting his chin on Sonic's head. Fingers tangled in bright blue quills.