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Sonic the hedgehog was no stranger to late night nerves. When thoughts began to collide and his leg started to bounce a bit too much. No amount of meaningless mental distractions could remedy the restlessness running through his bones as even an attempt at sitting down was met with swiveling around in his seat. He even went out of his way to hang out with Tails, the fox busy working on the Tornado’s upgrades out in his garage. That remedy only lasted so long though, as Sonic was kicked out for moving his tools around too much. Tails was very familiar with these types of nights, but sometimes, even Sonic’s relentless energy was too much for him.
So Sonic relented and did the one thing he was best at. Run.
It was cold outside. Despite the changing seasons, in the late of the night the frozen grass crunched under his shoes, leaving a trail of footprints behind him. He’d had the foresight to throw on a hoodie – admittedly after Tails had warned him about the temperature. So the thin fabric, while slowing him down a bit, at least provided somewhat of a barrier between him and the cold wind that whipped around him.
His breath puffed out in front of him, visible under the dull streetlights as he zipped through the residential area. Despite the chill, it was a pretty night out. The streets were empty, building lights were off, it was just Sonic racing through the night.
There was a lot of solitude that came with running. Not only was nobody able to catch up with him, but Sonic rarely found himself slowing down for anyone else. He just couldn’t- usually when he ran with others it was when Eggman was attacking or some other crisis was going on. He couldn’t afford to slow down. While he trusted the power and intelligence of his friends, he couldn’t wait on them in an emergency. Which, in his mind made sense. But it also translated to others that he’d never slow down, even for them.
So, he was trying something a little different tonight. Instead of immediately hitting match one and running until his lungs felt like they were on fire, he took it a little slower. His pace still far surpassed Olympic records and could hardly be called leisurely, it was a great deal slower than how he usually took his runs. Tonight, with all the nerves he’d somehow acquired, it was a nice distraction to be able to pay attention to everything else but his destination.
He could turn and actually see the buildings flying next to him. While he couldn’t read the signs, he could take in the atmosphere. Running at top speed all the time took his attention away from everything else, so it was a little weird to be so aware of his surroundings and himself.
The road under his feet was rough, recently recoated after it had been torn to pieces. It was black and shiny under the lights, almost sparkling. His feet slapped on the ground, toe heel, toe heel. A pattern he consciously ingrained in his mind to avoid any unwanted incidents. The compression sleeves wrapped around his shins proof of the pain his form could cause. He could power through shin-splints if he wanted, but it was far from an enjoyable experience. So he counted his steps and kept the rhythm up, toe heel, toe heel.
He shoved the sleeves of his hoodie up, his body finally heating to an appropriate temperature despite the chilled air still burning his lungs. He was kind of glad nobody was out, because even if it was still hard to see him moving at this pace, he didn’t look very attractive. His muzzle was red and his nose was running. He frequently forgot some of the consequences of running in the cold. So while the chill felt nice on his heated skin, his fingertips were still cold through his gloves and the tips of his ears were numb. None of those were enough to stop him though. The cold helped him feel alive, even if he didn’t care for it that much.
“Toe heel, toe heel…” He started muttering, eyes flitting between his feet and the road ahead of him. He took a sharp turn into a nearby ally, eyes widening as his shoes skidded along the icy pavement. The sidewalk had a lot less traction than he thought it did- but he managed to save himself, waving his arms and getting his balance back as he continued down.
The end of the ally dumped into behind the local library where pebbles and concrete bled into winding paths of dirt and wooden flower boxes. He’d hadn’t been In this area before, and, unable to keep a smile from his face, thought it was pretty cute.
The transition from concrete to soft dirt was euphoric as the ground sprung up with each of his steps. The dirt, while still mostly frozen, was much more forgiving than the hard roads. It was softer and didn’t send his own steps reverberating back through his legs like solid surfaces did. A short laugh erupted from his chest, sending another hazy breath out into the night as the path bled into a forest trail.
This was his favorite place to run, the forest.
While Sonic could run virtually anywhere with very little trouble, some locations were just better than others. Concrete was fine, but boring, and long term it really messed with his knees. Grass was also fine, a lot more forgiving but had the tendency to also be boring. That and the amount of times he’d almost fell due to hidden pot holes and gotten burrs stuck in his fur were really not desirable. Running on water was something he strictly tried to avoid, running on sand he also tried to avoid because it was so much more work than necessary. That and sand always got everywhere and it was a nightmare to get out of his shoes. It was never as easy as just banging them out, no, he had to scrub the sand out with a brush or else he’d be running with the beach in his shoes for the next week.
But the forest on the other hand… that was his ideal track. Maybe it was because he started running in the forests, his first memories of racing being underneath tall trees and running over soft piles of pine needles. The forest provided a challenge. A constantly weaving path that circled in on its self and melted into alternating trails that went on for miles. The goal was shrouded rather than being directly in front of him like when running in a clearing. The end was never in sight, and that was what made it fun. With no true objective, Sonic was free to lose himself in the winding trails, dodging overgrown tree limbs and hopping over gnarled roots.
While the path he was currently on was far from the jungles he missed, it was still enough to put a giddy smile on his face as he deftly jumped over shallow roots. The darkness was a lot more apparent weaving between the tall trees though. With no streetlights or even the moon able to fight its way through the branches, Sonic was almost running blind. Even with his night vision, his eyesight wasn’t very good to begin with. That’s why when the path opened back up into a flower garden, Sonic made his first mistake of the night; deciding to run faster.
If he was any more perceptive, he would have noticed the slick wood curb that he was about to run on. But he wasn’t, and the second his foot hit the icy ground, he slipped. With a yelp, he scrambled for purchase, instinctually trying to put his other foot down only for it to land wrong, his ankle twisting with a sickening pop.
His balance gave way, sending the hero flying forward into the concrete path ahead of him. His knee hit the ground first, pain rippling through his leg from the impact. Next were his hands, just narrowly saving his head from ricocheting off the concrete as the cold ground ripped through the heels of his gloves.
He laid there in shock, nose centimeters away from the concrete as he willed his heart rate to slow down before anxiety shot through his chest.
“Fuck.” He whispered. He could feel the chill of the ground seeping through his clothes. There was a moment of silence before the pain caught up to him. His ankle started pulsing, a dull throb that demanded Sonic’s attention. Instead of doing the correct thing and assessing the damage, he instead painfully turned over onto his back, keeping his injured foot in the air, and looked up towards the sky. “Fuck.” He hissed out a second time, staring at the clear, starry night sky. It was a beautiful sight, but it did little to ease the knot that was crawling up Sonic’s throat. A mix of nausea and humiliation choking him as he let loose a quiet string of meaningless curse words.
The pain wasn’t bad, but nowadays it was hard to find an injury worthy of being deemed as ‘bad’. It was rare enough to find a day where he wasn’t in pain, even harder to find a day when a new pain overshadowed everything else he’d gone though in his life. But severity aside, Sonic knew that the sound he heard wasn’t good, and just the thought of putting his foot down made him want to gag. Again, not the worst, but he still didn’t enjoy it.
He knew there was something else he probably should be doing rather than staring at the sky. He knew elevation was one- and considering the fact that his leg was still hesitantly raised in the air, he’d gotten step one out of the way. It was also advisable to not put any weight on the injury. Sonic scoffed to himself, fat chance of that happening. He had no desire to sleep in the woods with it being so cold out.
Rolling up into a seated position, he gingerly set his foot on the ground, grimacing at the stabbing pain that radiated up his ankle. He let out a breath through clenched teeth, he’s fine, he could do this. Slowly, Sonic shifted all his weight to his good leg and pushed himself to stand. He balenced there dumbly for a moment, tentatively setting the toe of his shoe on the ground for stability and trying to ignore the tenderness that came along with it.
Unfortunately, trying to brush off the injury wasn’t working so well for him as the minute he tried to take a step, his knees buckled from under him. His bruised knee hit the ground hard, ripping the already tender flesh open and causing the wound to burn. He deftly rolled to his side, injured leg stretched out again awkwardly, trying to keep it from touching anything else. There was no way he was going anywhere by himself now.
“I’m so fucking stupid.” Sonic muttered, pulling his phone from his quills with a grimace and scrolling through his contacts. As convenient as Tails would be, Sonic was pretty far away at this point and Tails would probably panic more than help. Anyone else who were any more familiar with medical knowledge seemed to the same problems; too far away and not fast enough. These were the types of situations that bit Sonic in the ass and he was really paying for it this time.
Finally, a name popped up that Sonic never thought he’d feel relieved to see. He didn’t even hesitate, pressing the call button with his shaking hands. He tried to convince himself the shaking was from the cold, and not the anxious adrenaline that decided to ball in his chest.
The phone rang once, twice- declined.
“Well fuck you too.” Sonic growled, jabbing the call button again. This time he got a little farther, three rings before the call was declined.
Again, and again and again until the first ring cut off. Sonic let out a pained groan. He left the phone on the ground, rolling onto his back and shivering, expecting the same dial tone message box to greet him as he stared at the stars.
If it wasn’t for the stillness of the night, Sonic wouldn’t have caught the static rustling that came from his phone. His ears twitched and he turned to find that the call had actually picked up, much to his surprise.
“Shadow?” Sonic called, “Hello?”
No response.
“Wow, got my hopes up for nothing, serves you right faker. At my funeral I hope you cry knowing that you were the one to let Sonic the Hedgehog catch hypothermia and die from his wounds. Oh, and I hope there’s no tissues.” Sonic babbled, resting his hands on his stomach and tapping his fingers impatiently.
“Like, I know we’re rivals and all- but can we call a truce for ten minutes so you can pick my ass off the street and teleport me back to Tails’ or something? That would be way past cool.”
Static rustled through the receiver one more time, until a familiar voice rung clearly from his phone.
“Hedgehog.” Shadow greeted in his usual manor. “What do you want?” Straight to the point as always. Sonic couldn’t help but bark out a laugh at his situation.
“Did you drop your phone or something? I already told you dude.” Sonic chuckled, his leg was getting tired from holding it in the air.
“… yes. It’s late, this better not be a joke.”
“Yeah, yeah. You need your beauty sleep or whatever- but can you be my knight in shining armor and save me from drowning in a pool of my own blood? Pretty please? I’m a little stuck.” He wasn’t actually drowning in his own blood- obviously. But the wound on his raised knee was throbbing more and more and he could feel the tacky blood dripping backwards down his thigh. If he wasn’t frustrated with himself before, than he was now. Cleaning blood out of his fur was a nightmare. He had no idea how Mobians with longer fur managed.
“Where are you?”
Sonic stared up at the sky, “Uh, behind a library? Or at least I was.”
A dull thump came from the receiver, “Do you want help or not?”
“Fine.” Sonic relented, blindly grabbing for his phone and going to the motions of sending Shadow his location. It was only after the message was delivered did the hybrid hang up, the dial tone ringing out into the night.
Despite having been laying there for at least fifteen minutes now, the adrenaline was still rushing through his veins as he fully processed his situation.
He’d had to call Shadow, Shadow, to get him because he couldn’t walk. Gaia, he couldn’t even stand at the moment. What kind of hero was he if this was the type of injury to bring him down. He’d suffered way worse before, what was the difference between those times and now? Sonic threw a hand over his face, trying to ignore the lump that formed in his throat and the moisture behind his eyes.
There were two types of adrenalines. The first type being the one that kept him moving. The euphoric sense of excitement and energy that overshadowed any type of danger. It was the head rush that allowed him to jump right back up and smile after a nasty hit. The warmth running through his veins that encouraged him to run faster, hit harder and win. It was like a drug, addictive and wonderful in all the right ways.
The second type was what he was going through now, humiliation laced with overwhelming fucking misery. It was the type of energy that kept someone alive in an accident, that keeps them awake or unable to feel pain when they lose a limb. Some part of his brain was forcing him to stay awake and numb while the other was hell bent on making him revel in his own stupidity to the point of emotional overstimulation. So, when his initial irritation started to wear off, Sonic could feel how his body started to shake from his anxiousness. He was not going to cry over this. No matter how much his body shoved to let the tears fall, he wouldn’t let it. Roughly rubbing his eyes raw to keep the moisture from collecting was the least he could do. Last thing Shadow needed was to shove his own humiliation in his face.
Not that the hybrid would actually do that. The guy was difficult, but not heartless.
Sonic took a deep breath, cringing at how shaky the motion was as crunching footsteps approached from behind. It would have been a cause for panic if it weren’t for the familiar hum of energy that followed his rival around.
“Took you long enough faker.” Sonic greeted, watching his breath freeze in front of him and dissipate into the air. Any distraction to keep him from making eye contact.
Shadow walked to his side, no doubt taking in the damage. The damage being Sonic laying in a lump on the cold ground. He certainly didn’t look like much of a hero. Shadow tsked, kneeling down to take a closer look. “What did you do?”
“Slipped.” Short and sweet. Sonic wished he had a better excuse like a stray badnik coming out of nowhere and attacking him. But somehow that would be even more humiliating- the Hero of Mobius being taken down by a robotic lackey? It was laughable.
Slipping on ice?
…Also laughable. There was really no winning for him tonight.
“… It’s icy. You should have been more careful.” Shadow hummed, shocking Sonic with his calm reaction. “Can you put weight on it?”
Sonic blinked, surprised by the lack of mockery. He’d expected Shadow to chastise him for being reckless, but he didn’t expect him to be so gentle about it. “Uh, nope. I tried and ended up right back on the ground.”
Shadow hummed again, moving around to his foot and setting his hand under Sonic’s calf. Sonic let out a sigh of relief, allowing Shadow to support his leg’s weight. “Well, I’ll tell you your first mistake.”
“Falling in the first place?”
Shadow scowled, giving him a pointed look for interrupting. “No. The first thing you should have done is applied pressure to keep the swelling down. Something you obviously didn’t do because-“ Shadow took his other hand and gently squeezed Sonic’s ankle, the hero hissing at the touch. “-it’s very swollen. Did nobody teach you basic first aid?”
“Uh, I can bandage wounds, administer CPR, and run real fast to places that do know first aid?” Sonic counted off on his fingers, feeling silly while doing so as he stared at the sky. Looking at Shadow was a no-go since he looked even more not impressed than usual. “I may have also panicked and forgotten everything. Cut me some slack, usually I can just run this stuff off.” He argued, muzzle scrunching in frustration as his voice wavered. His emotions were fighting to the front again.
Shadow sighed, gently letting Sonic’s leg down before reaching for Sonic’s phone. “Do you have anywhere you need to be tonight?” He asked, handing the hero back his phone which he put back in his hoodie pocket with a frown. He didn’t need Shadow to do that, it was barely a foot away from him.
“Out of the cold preferably.” He laughed, before the sound melted into a groan and he ran his dirty gloves down his face again. “It’s really cold out here.”
Next thing he knew, a warm hand grasped his wrist before pins and needles shot through his body. His vision flashed before him and his head felt extremely light for a few seconds before it all died down. Sonic opened his eyes, not realizing he’d closed them, only to be met with a ceiling. A basic popcorn ceiling with a modern looking fan hanging from it. Sonic blinked a few times, his mind trying to catch up to his body as his limbs continued to tingle from the drastic temperature change. His back was no longer pressed against the frigid concrete, which he was very much grateful for, but his hoodie was still damp and cold. He was unable to suppress the shiver that rushed through his body even with the warmth now surrounding him. He forgot how disorienting chaos control was.
“Don’t get sick on me.” Shadow gruffed, letting go of Sonic’s arm and standing up. “I’m not going to take care of you.” He disappears for a couple minutes before returning and picking Sonic up, depositing him on a nearby couch. In the midst of Sonic’s utter humiliation, he realized that he must be in Shadow’s home. It was a nice home admittedly.
The couch was big and squishy, obviously expensive since it was leather and cool against his fur. There was a large flat screen mounted to the wall, a wooden consul table underneath it filled with various CD’s and what Sonic assumed to be a stereo system. GUN must be paying Shadow the big bucks if he could afford such a luxury lifestyle. Most of Sonic’s meager savings went to his friends or to food. Or, as a treat, a new pair of socks.
He shivered again as Shadow pulled up an ottoman, lifting Sonic’s leg up to rest on the cushion. The hybrid then unceremoniously threw a lump of fabric at him, growling for Sonic to take off his shoes before disappearing again.
Sonic yelped at the sudden onslaught, but couldn’t stay upset as he realized the dark fabric was a clean and warm hoodie. Sonic immediately yanked his wet one off, pulling the thick fabric over his head with a stuttered purr. Warm and dry? Now that was a luxury. He had to resist from nuzzling his nose into the fabric as Shadow’s footsteps came around the corner.
The hybrid returned, now with a first aid kit. He gave Sonic a disappointed look, dark gaze then glaring at Sonic’s shoes.
“Whoops, heh, sorry.” Sonic smiled sheepishly, quickly taking off his left shoe before moving to his right. He usually just slid them off and on, the fit snug enough to stay on his feet but still loose enough to not mess with his arch. Back when his shoes had laces, he’d accidentally tied them too tight and it fucked with him for weeks. But now, he was mourning the loss of his laces as then he’d be able to properly loosen the shoe from his foot rather than wrestling it off. Taking a deep breath, Sonic held his tender ankle and swiftly pushed the heel of his shoe down, cringing at how the motion shot a wave of pain up his calf. Again, it wasn’t that bad. He didn’t know why he was being so dramatic about it.
“Sock.” Shadow huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Sonic couldn’t tell if he looked more irritated than usual just standing there and ordering Sonic around.
“Do I have to?”
Shadow sent him another glare. “I don’t have to help you.”
Sonic bit back an argument, wanting to yell that he didn’t need Shadow’s help. All he’d asked for was a ride back to literally anywhere else and now Shadow was babying him. But instead, he ripped his sock off, ignoring the pain and falling backwards into the cushy backrest. Shadow seemed satisfied enough with that and knelt down to asses the damage closer.
Shadow rolled up Sonic’s compression sleeve and took his ankle in his hands, gently squeezing the tender area even as Sonic childishly flinched away.
“Does it hurt here?” Shadow asked, pressing his thumb gently into a spot that made Sonic nauseous.
“No.” He lied through his teeth. Shadow sighed, but stopped asking questions. In response, Sonic leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling, trying to ignore that Shadow was handling his foot with more care then he’d ever gotten from a doctor before. This went on for a few minutes, Shadow poking around and Sonic resisting the urge to yank his foot out of Shadow’s grasp every time the hybrid pressed to hard or brushed a ticklish spot.
“Watch.” Shadow grumbled, pulling out an ace bandage. “Do you know what this is?”
“Yes? Dude, do you think I’ve never gotten injured before?”
Shadow raised his brow before shaking his head and unhooked the clasps. “You want to make sure it’s tight, because that’s going to keep the swelling down. Compression, ice, elevation, and rest.” Shadow recited, lifting Sonic’s foot up and deftly wrapping the bandage around his angle and foot. It was a tight figure eight motion and looped around his ankle and then down under his arch. It truthfully felt amazing, even if small sharp pains still shot up his leg.
“Rest, huh? I’ve never been very good at that.” Sonic laughed.
“Maybe it’s time you learn.” Shadow hooked the fasteners into the fabric before getting back up and returning with an icepack and some cloths. One of the cloths revealed to be an empty pillow case which Shadow shoved the icepack into and, in combination with a second ace bandage, wrapped around his foot securely. The ice also somehow managed to feel nice. The second cloth Shadow tossed at him, a slightly damp rag that Sonic stared at in confusion.
“I’m assuming you can clean yourself up?” Shadow sighed, nodding towards Sonic’s knee and the crusted blood that had dripped up his thigh. Sonic blushed and quickly stuttered out a ‘yes’, not wanting Shadow to think he was totally useless. He also just wasn’t sure how he’d feel about Shadow being that close to him- which was arbitrary the more he thought about it since the hybrid had already touched his foot. It was looking to be a really weird night.
He got to work scrubbing the blood out of his fur and cleaning his wound, wincing and he dug the dirt out. Predictably, the scrape started bleeding again as the rough fabric tore through it. Sonic wasn’t sure how he managed to forget about his knee since it had taken most of the force of his impact, but he wasn’t allowed to forget about it now. He finished up and Shadow came back around to wrap his knee, somehow looking more disappointed than he had earlier. But they didn’t speak a word until the hybrid tucked the edge of the bandage away and sat up with a sigh.
“You can stay here tonight.” Shadow said, grabbing Sonic’s bloody rag with a grimace.
Sonic tilted his head in confusion, “Nah, no need. Just drop me off at Tails’ and I’ll be good.” He insisted.
Another glare. “Hedgehog, call it a hunch, but I don’t think that’s the best idea.”
“Why? Don’t think I can take care of myself?”
“Not right now.”
Sonic furrowed his brows, staring up at where Shadow was standing with a painfully neutral expression. “Why do you care? Actually, why do any of this?” He gestured to his expertly wrapped wounds. “What’s in it for you?”
Shadow’s expression softened for a millisecond before snapping back into its regular scowl. “I’m going to recommend you get some rest.” He huffed, ignoring Sonic’s questions. “You’ll heal faster while asleep. If you need anything- don’t try and get it yourself.” And with that, Shadow disappeared down the hall and all Sonic heard was the telltale click of a door being shut.
“Well you’re as friendly as ever.” Sonic muttered.
As much as he wanted to sit around and stare at nothing, Shadow had a point. The more he slept the faster he’d be on his feet again. He flipped himself around on the couch, grabbing a random throw pillow and tucking it under his head before grabbing a decorative quilt that hung off the back of the couch and throwing it over him. It was a little hard to get comfortable with an ice pack strapped to his foot and his knee aching as he bent it, so he was stuck laying on his back, quills uncomfortably jabbing into the couch. Hopefully Shadow didn’t mind his cushions getting mauled because Sonic was far from comfortable. But that was less of the couches fault and more of his own fault for getting hurt.
It took a bit more shuffling around before he forced himself to relax his quills and sink fully into the couch. His exhaustion had built up enough that it didn’t take long for his eyes fluttered closed. Even with the cool icepack burning through the bandages, it was enough to sooth the initial pain so he could rest. If he was lucky, he’d wake up in the morning with just a couple bruises and he’d get to leave and forget the whole night.
Sadly, Sonic was stuck in a loop of bad luck as he found himself blurrily opening his eyes only a couple hours later. It was the bad kind of waking up, the type where something is clearly wrong but the feeling is near impossibly to place. It was extremely disorienting. Sonic was used to waking up in different locations, it came with couch hopping his entire life, but he usually didn’t have to deal with waking up in a new location in pain. Sonic sleepily yanked his dirty gloves off, the fabric starting to irritate his wrists after wearing them for so long. That motion enough to kick start his brain into processing what had initially woke him up.
It came in pulses, a deep throbbing pain centered in his ankle and trickling up his leg until it settle duly in his knee. Sonic grimaced, gritting his teeth as the pain made itself known. It was far from pleasant. Huffing, he tried to readjust his leg only to find that he knee was not wanting to bend. Which was somehow more concerning than his ankle. At least he knew his foot was fucked, but his knee was just a little scraped up-
Sonic sat up painfully, grimacing at the tightness in his back from failing to stretch after his run. But, he’d really hadn’t gotten the chance so that was on him. It was far from his main problem at the moment he realized as he pathetically swung his legs down off the edge of the couch. His left leg went down fine, he flexed it a few times to make sure- yup, still functioning. The right leg protested, his knee stabbing him with sharp pains as he tried to bend it. It startled him enough to rip a pained hiss from his throat as he tried again, forcing his leg to give into gravity and bend. He tenderly rested his heavy foot on the ground, leaning down to detach the warmed ice pack before unwrapping his knee.
“Oh.” He breathed, seeing the bright red hue of his skin burn under his fur. No bruises yet, but poking around showed that he’d have some nasty colors popping up in a few days. Prodding a bit more, it wasn’t swollen, just extremely tender. His scrape had bled into the bandage and was now a mess of flushed skin and other slick wound fluids. He carefully extracted some stray hairs from the wound and hissed again as they stuck and ripped into his wound. Once that was done, he went back to trying to get his knee to work. Irritated huffs and hisses through clenched teeth echoed through the empty room as he tried to work through it, assuming it was just stiffness.
After a few minutes, it appeared that wasn’t the case. Not to forget that his leg was already unusable due to his ankle, now it was even more fucked from his knee. It wasn’t a good situation to begin with, but Sonic hadn’t thought it’d get worse. He could physically feel the heat on his face as frustrated tears sprung in his eyes. He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to be stuck on Shadow’s couch with wounds he didn’t know how to deal with.
Anything else was fine. He could suffer through broken ribs, hell, even head trauma as long as it didn’t mess with his legs. He needed his legs. He needed to be able to move, to run.
Sonic didn’t know what he’d do if he wasn’t able to run.
But here he was, immobile.
The tears fell against his will, falling victim to gravity and silently spilling down his face.
Sonic painfully extended his leg again and threw it back up on the ottoman and sunk back into the back couch cushion. He’d fully lost the competition with his emotions, letting the knot in his throat rise higher and higher under he had to slap a hand over his mouth to muffle the sob that erupted. The only thing more humiliating than not being able to move was showing just how effected he was by it. He never had visceral reactions like this, he tended to keep them bottled up until they eventually faded away into oblivion. Usually, he’d deal with them by running, the idea in his head that if he ran fast enough he’d burn away all his stress with the runners high- simply letting his feet carry him until it didn’t matter anymore. But now he couldn’t even do that, and it was messing with him more than he wanted to admit.
It was ironic how it was so easy to go from being as light as a feather to as heavy as lead. Guess he couldn’t call himself the Fastest Thing Alive anymore.
He curled deeper into himself, burrowing his muzzle into the collar of Shadow’s barrowed hoodie until he nose was pressed against the fabric. He tried not to think about the snot that was dripping down his face, his quiet sniffles not effective enough to save the hoodie from getting wet. Just another problem to add to his ever-growing list. It was getting nauseating.
“Are you in pain?”
Sonic flinched hard, whipping his head around so fast that he nearly gave himself whiplash. He’d hadn’t heard Shadow approach, the hybrid standing next to the arm of the couch holding a mug. “You scared the shit out me Shadow- jeez. Give a guy a warning next time.” Sonic gasped, sniffing and hastily wiping his nose with the back of his hand. Snot in hir fur was not a good feeling or a good look, but considering his position, Shadow had already seen everything. “I’m fine. Sorry for waking you up.”
“I wasn’t asleep.” Shadow replied, holding the mug out for Sonic to take before dropping two pills in the hero’s other hand. “Here, I should have given you these earlier. They’ll help with the swelling and the pain.”
Sonic nodded dumbly, staring into the coffee mug that was half full of lukewarm water. With a heavy sigh, he knocked back the pills and chugged the water, handing Shadow back the mug with a quiet “thanks”. He figured that would be the end of it and he could go back to crying, but the hybrid returned a few moments later carrying a blanket and two pillows.
Without a word, Shadow got to work. First he took Sonic’s quilt and draped it back over the back of the couch before handing Sonic the new and much nicer blanket. Presumably from Shadow’s own bed as it smelled the same as the hoodie did. Next, and despite Sonic’s protests, Shadow lifted Sonic’s legs and swiveled him around, so he was laying back on the length of the couch. “Is your knee okay?” He asked, noticing the discarded bandage on the ground.
“Uh, it’s kind of hard to bend.” Sonic admited, feeling a little flustered by the sudden care Shadow was showing. Shadow hummed and knelt down, prodding around Sonic’s knee similarly to how Sonic had previously.
“It should be okay, just badly bruised. I’m going to get you another bandage because it’s still weeping. I don’t want anything to get stuck in it as it heals.” Shadow mumbles, more to himself than anything else as he stood up and reached for the med kit he’d left in the corner earlier.
“It’s fine Shadow, I can tough it out. A little lint isn’t going to hurt me. Plus, isn’t air good for healing or something?”
Shadow paused at that, hands hovering over the med kit before choosing to open it anyways. “Maybe. Let me wrap it. If you must you can take it off in the morning just…” He didn’t finish that thought, coming back around with a sad expression and wrapping Sonic’s knee.
“I’m just saying, you don’t need to waste your supplies on me.” Sonic explained, watching as Shadow bandaged him with careful precision. It was weird how a guy with such wicked claws could wrap a bandage so sweetly.
“It’s not a waste.” Shadow countered. “This will help if there is any swelling going on.” He clearly wasn’t going to take no as an answer as he tucked the bandage corner in and went back to work.
It was almost autopilot, the hybrid barely speaking as he urged Sonic to lift his head so he could retrieve the throw pillow, replacing it with one of the new pillows he brought out. Next he lifted brought out a new icepack and fixed that into place before setting up a mound of pillows that he settled Sonic’s injured foot on top of. It wasn’t very comfortable to his have leg forcefully elevated, but his protests were met with a scowl.
“Proper elevation means above your heart. We want to keep it from swelling, this helps drain fluids, hedgehog.”
Sonic gave him a skeptical look.
“It also speeds up the healing process.” Shadow dead panned, fiddling with the pillows a bit more before sitting back on the ottoman and sighing heavily. “You’re uncomfortable.”
Sonic could have laughed, but he was too drained for anything more than a pathetic scoff. “You think? I’ve just been swaddled like a dying man by someone who’s literally tried to kill me on multiple occasions.”
That was clearly not the reaction Shadow had expected as Sonic watched his rivals face subtly morph into an unreadable expression. Something mixed between agony and humiliation that he didn’t think was possible for Shadow. Somehow who was so strong getting so put off by Sonic’s careless words. “Woah, hey. I’m sorry-“ Sonic stuttered seeing how Shadow slumped into himself in defeat, lids heavy as he stared at his feet. “I meant to say thank you. I’m just, not used to this type of treatment and definitely wasn’t expecting it from you. That’s all.” His words didn’t seem to help any as Shadow met his eyes with a look of defeat.
“Don’t give me that look, you’re not the one disabled right now.” Sonic plastered on a fake smile, hoping to lift what he could of the heavy atmosphere.
“No. You’re right.” Shadow mumbled, gazing back down at the floor with a sigh. “I used to-“ he grimaced, swallowing thickly, “I used to help care for a very sick girl. And she was very prone to accidents. Falling, tripping… simple scrapes had to be treated with extreme care or else she’d wake up with a high fever in the middle of the night. I forget that not everyone is like her.”
Sonic’s eyes widened, the name on the tip of his tongue. “Maria?”
Shadow nodded. “I was too young to do much. It was a lot of watching and waiting and not being able to do anything at all. I’ve found myself making up for back then. I- I’m tired of seeing strong people suffer.”
Suddenly, the throbbing in his foot started to ease, the room going silent as Sonic took in the intimate information that Shadow had just shared. It was childish, the next words that came out of his mouth, but he’d never been known for being serious. “You think I’m strong?”
“You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t.” Shadow sighed, “She would often talk about how frustrating it was to get knocked down so often from something so… simple.”
“Frustrating is the correct word, I’ll give her that.” Sonic agreed, “I hate this. I hate it because it was preventable. Thank Gaia I heal fast or else I wouldn’t be able to handle this. Not that I’m handling it very well, I mean- you saw me.”
Shadow nodded, “You’ll bounce back. You have an infuriating habit of doing so.” Sonic couldn’t help but smile at that.
Shadow continued, “Are you feeling any better?”
“Eh. Hurt a little less now. Have any magic tricks for getting me to fall asleep though?”
Shadow frowned at him, muzzle skewed in confusion.
“What? Now I’m actually asking for help and that’s what I get? Indulge a bit, do what that hidden nurturing side is begging you to do. I know there’s more.” Sonic winked, watching as Shadow’s eyes flitted around the room awkwardly, avoiding making eye contact.
But Sonic’s teasing worked as Shadow quickly relented, muttering for Sonic to lift his head up. Sonic complied, not expecting Shadow to sit down in the vacant spot, disregard the pillow and settle Sonic’s head onto his lap. The first thing Sonic noticed was how warm the hybrid was, next he realized how soft. It was a little jarring, but he quickly melted into his new pillow, not even minding the harder muscle that sat under the thick fur.
“You asked for this.” Shadow said before settling his hand on top of Sonic’s head and gently brushing his quills down. Sonic tilted his head back, trying to look at the hybrid who was still choosing to not meet his eyes. Shadow nudged Sonic’s head back down and pet from his forehead to the top of his head, repeating the motion as an uncontrollable shudder rushed through Sonic’s body. He had to resist nuzzling into the motion, instead shoving his nose back into the slightly wet collar of his hoodie and closing his eyes
The calm petting went on for a couple of minutes, Sonic happily taking in the affection and doing his best to not think about how he’d gotten there in the first place. He silently fought to keep in check, trying to not lean into the touch to much or make any embarrassing noises. All that went out the window though as Shadow switched up his technique. What once was a methodical pet turned into gentle exploration as Shadow quietly played with Sonic’s short quills. Simply running his fingers through the spines before lightly scratching the top of Sonic’s head, careful not to press too hard. Eventually his wondering hands found Sonic’s ears, and that was end game for the hero.
As simple scratch behind Sonic’s ear was all it took for a stuttering purr to start up in his chest, rumbling deeply and audibly. Shadow seemed to pause at first, his hand stilling on top of his head before the gentle scratching started up again. He scratched behind an ear before petting the ear down and scratching a little off to the side. Sonic melted, all the tension draining out of his body as his purrs stuttered loudly and he lifted his chin up to receive more affection. He usually didn’t like being petted, but Shadow seemed to know all the spots to hit. He might have heard the hybrid chuckle at him, but Sonic ignored it favor of silently begging for him to attend to the other ear.
Nothing really mattered anymore. Sure, he was bruised and bandaged and would pay the price for the next week, but that pain was put on the back burner. Instead, a new pain replaced it. A pain that had longed for the affection that he’d been starved of for so long. Shadow was the last person Sonic had expected to be so gentle and caring, but now knowing more of his past, it made sense. He briefly wondered if this was something Shadow did for Maria- or if it was something she did for him? The thought of a tiny Shadow being snuggled by a young human girl was a cute thought.
Sonic never had that childhood affection. He hadn’t met Tails until he was ten, and by then he was too wrapped up in his own head to accept any affection. Both he and Tails were a little stand offish, and even with their forged bonds, they’re affection never wavered from head pats and high fives. Asides from the occasional bed sharing during storms, there was never any petting. That was too… intimate.
Petting was no longer seen by Mobians as an act of affection, instead it was more commonly seen as humiliating or in some cases even explicit. Due to human’s influences and the way they treated their animals, allowing to be pet stripped a Mobian of their culture. Which Sonic had agreed with at one point, but now wasn’t so sure. Because it felt good.
Sonic never thought he’d admit it, but it felt so good to be loved.
A few stray tears slid down Sonic’s face as he purred into another ear scratch, his bones turning to jelly and his body becoming weightless.
Shadow didn’t love him. They were rivals and it was insane to think that the switch would flip to the opposite side over some simple caretaking. But Sonic could indulge for a minute. Shadow had been the one to pick him up from the cold ground and swaddle him, even if the humiliation still brought heat to his face. Shadow stayed up to make sure he was okay, and was now smothering him with more affection that even Amy had managed to accomplish. And Sonic liked it. He liked it a little too much.
In the morning they’d go back to their strained relationship. Teasing taunts and clipped sentences. He’d force himself to deal with his injuries and face the consequences of his actions. Outrunning pain was hard and Sonic knew he couldn’t run away from his throbbing ankle and stinging knee. He wasn’t happy about it, but he would manage.
But for right now, he shoved that all away. All that mattered were Shadow’s claws massaging his head and the warm lap he was settled on.
Maybe, just maybe- it all wasn’t that bad.