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"Slow night's are the worst." Rouge whines, resting on her elbows over the bar counter.
"I think you mean best." Shadow replies, taking another sip from his drink.
"No, they're the worst." Rouge says a bit more stern than before. "No fun customers to banter with, no one trying to party, just me," She raises her arm against her forehead, head tilting back for full effect, "Little old me, all alone behind the bar, waiting for someone to come talk to me." Her voice reeks with sarcasm, but Shadow's used to this.
"Am I not here? Talking to you right now?" He asks, quirking a brow.
"You- don't count, you live here. I get to hear your melancholic thoughts every day, all day." She winks at him. "Whether I want to or not."
She gets the usual gruff grunt from him in return and giggles. "Besides, you're not even supposed to be here tonight." She says, eyes rolling as she pours herself a glass of wine. The bonuses of owning your own club? Free booze!
"And?"
"Seriously?" Rouge has to resist the temptation of throwing her drink onto him, instead she downs it in one go. "Sonic is literally waiting for you to show up for your date-" before Shadow can take another swig from his drink, Rouge snatches it away from him, "Which you agreed to, by the way, in case you forgot."
Shadow still goes to grab his glass, and when his hands never make contact with it he gently thumps his head onto the counter. "I know." He mumbles. Still refusing to move. Rouge lets out a sigh, a gloved hand goes to pat him on the head.
"I know you're nervous about it, but c'mon. He seemed really genuine about it." She's using that tone that other's don't really get to hear from her. It's soft and sweet, like a mother singing a lullaby. "If I didn't think he was serious about it I wouldn't be pushing you to go, I promise."
He grumbles some more, muffled by the counter. Rouge continues to pat his head. "Look, wanna make a deal? You know I love gambling." Her voice chimes with slyness, and Shadow finally lifts his head up, looking completely exhausted despite not doing anything all day.
"What's your offer?" He asks, knowing she won't drop the subject.
"You get your butt out there, see what he has planned. If my instincts were wrong, and this is all some very elaborate prank- which by the way, I don't think he's smart enough to think of a prank like this." Shadow finally cracks a smile at that. "You can come back here, drink til you're stupid every night- free drinks, and cry to me every day for.....a month." A hand goes to her hip and she grins. "No more than a month though, after that you have to start paying up again."
"That's it?" He asks, sitting up in his seat, arms folded over his chest. A smug smirk gracing his features. "Deal, I'll be back in thirty minutes, have my drink ready." The total confidence he emanates has Rouge trying not to lose her composure from laughing.
"Yes sir." She mocks, taking their glasses and putting them in the sink to wash. "Be safe, lover-boy." She jeers at him as he makes his way to the exit.
When Shadow arrives at the designated area he waits for a few minutes, no sight of the blue hedgehog anywhere. As much as he was sure he was going to win this little gamble of his between Rouge, he couldn't help but feel his heart sink in disappointment.
The weathers nice, it's not too hot, not too cold, a cloudless night. Shadow sits on the bench on the side of the street, watching headlights flutter by as he waits. Five minutes turns into ten, and the longer he waits, the longer he feels stupid. Stupid for trusting Sonic, and stupid for even entertaining the idea of this bet.
"Yo Shads, I was wondering when you'd show up." That familiar cocky voice makes Shadow's ears perk up, and he finally snaps out of his haze.
"I've been here for more than 10 minutes, you're the one who made me wait." He explains, tone a bit more pointed than he meant it to be.
"Nah." Sonic says casually, doing leg stretches. "I got bored waiting for you to arrive, so I ran around the city a bit." Shadow slumps his shoulders, hiding his embarrassment. Another iconic gruff from him, letting Sonic know that's all the response he's getting from him. Sonic and Rouge are probably the only ones in the world who aren't taken aback by Shadow's cold nature.
"City's pretty tonight." Sonic continues. "Not the type of date I was thinking of though. I don't feel like sitting around somewhere, sounds like the opposite of fun."
"Then what is your idea of a fun date?" Shadow asks, arms cradling himself, suddenly feeling uncomfortable about the idea of a date. Date's are...intimate. It's not like hanging out with Rouge at the club, it's not like talking to Omega. It'll be him, alone with Sonic, not fighting for once, but Sonic wanting to....connect with him. It makes shivers run through him, fur ruffling.
"I was thinkin' we could have a race, for old times sake." Sonic says with a cheerful grin. "Unless you finally realize there's no one faster than me in the universe." Obvious baiting, that Shadow takes without hesitation.
"We both know I can keep up with you- if not beat you." He says, standing up finally, chest puffing out with pride.
"Nice! That's the answer I wanted to hear." Sonic cheers, continuing his stretching. "It's gonna be an endurance run though, you sure you can handle that?"
"Is that supposed to be a joke?" Shadow asks, eyes narrowing.
Sonic has to hold back a laugh, waving a dismissive hand at him. "Relax, buddy. Try to take it easy. This is supposed to be fun." He explains, his voice is unreadable to Shadow, it almost sounds like he's trying to be soft- caring- like Rouge would be. "The place I wanna go to is roughly....6 hours away? We can probably cut that in half though." He says with his usual chipper tone.
Shadow's not really surprised by Sonic's lack of creativity when it comes to their date, but then again, it's not like Shadow knows much about 'romance' either. All he hears are tales from Rouge. Fancy dinners, extravagant gifts, lovers trysts. He's actually thankful for once that Sonic is so simple minded.
"Where are we going then?" Shadow asks, not bothering with the over zealous stretching Sonic's performing.
"It's a s-e-c-r-e-t!" He exclaims, holding a finger to his lips with a wink.
"How the hell is this supposed to be a race, then?" Shadow practically barks at Sonic, making him jolt. Sonic laughs it off though.
"Okay- not a race, just follow me and trust me, okay?" Sonic says, confident, a hint of flirtation detected by Shadow. Which makes him even more nervous and distrusting. He can feel his cheeks warm up, not wanting Sonic to notice, he quickly nods, just wanting to get this over with.
"Right then, do your best to keep up, faker!" That term now being said so playfully, like a pet name, it's all so confusing for him.
Sonic takes off fast, faster than the speeding cars on the streets, faster than a jet plane, living up to his nickname 'blue blur', not even bothering to look behind him to make sure Shadow is following.
But he is, just as fast, shoes gliding along the streets with ease, right behind his look alike. It doesn't take long til they're out of the city, the bright blaring lights fading, looking like stars, but they're nothing compared to the real stars that start coming into view.
Far away from the city's pollution, the sky is ablaze, constellations visible. Shadow loves them more than anything, but has to focus on the twists and turns Sonic makes, seemingly random. A sharp left, a rigid right turn, it makes Shadow wonder if they're just going in circles.
"Too fast for you?" Sonic teases, and Shadow scoffs.
"Implying you're faster than me to begin with."
"Is that a challenge?" Sonic's voice is still so chipper it irks Shadow, but it's distracting him from their surroundings. He starts noticing the grass underneath them, the forest line coming into view.
"It can't be a challenge if you're guiding me to some unknown location you insisted upon."
They're passing through the forest now, dodging trees and branches with ease. "What are you, the ultimate crybaby now?" Sonic lets out a breathy laugh, still running as fast as he can. Shadow growls, and picks up the pace, running side by side with Sonic now. To which Sonic manages to let out a whistle even while running. "Brings back memories, right?" Sonic says while jumping over a branch like it's a hurdle, Shadow having to mimic the movements to stay side by side.
"Memories of you failing to keep up with me? Memories of you getting demolished in battle?" Shadow ridicules, grinning as he pushes further on ahead.
"We clearly know I'm more of a lover than a fighter." Sonic chimes, not even phased by Shadow's provoking.
The forest they were running through is far behind now, all that's left in front of them is the desert, dry, Sonic having to kick much harder than usual to maintain his pace and to make sure his shoes don't start sinking into the sand. Shadow's fine though, his air shoes not effected by the difference in terrain.
It's silent between the two of them, occasional glances shared between them as they journey farther into the harsh desert.
"Hope you can still climb," Sonic starts, hopping up onto the start of a small hill, "I know all you do is hang out with Rouge and drink, I won't blame you if you wanna quit now." The mocking is on purpose, Sonic knows how competitive Shadow is, it's one of the few ways to get him to go along with things.
Shadow grunts as he vaults up onto the hill, making sure it's higher than where Sonic landed. He stares back at him, eyes lit up. "And I won't blame you when you start wheezing, asking for a break."
Another loud laugh escapes Sonic, this time it echoes, the mountain they're about to traverse together seems completely devoid of humans, any sound ringing throughout the land. And the stars- the stars are even more dazzling, Shadow want's to stare, but doesn't have time. Sonic takes off again, leaping up to the next section of the cliff he can access. Shadow follows suit.
It becomes less of a race, and more of a vaulting challenge. Skipping the few trails that are available to follow, instead bounding up to whatever cliff falls they can reach. It seems to go up forever, but they both continue, having no issue with it. Until finally, finally, they reach the top.
"2 hours! Not bad at all." Sonic says, stretching out his arms and legs, a bit stiff from the constant movement.
"You expected it to take any longer for us?" Shadow doesn't stretch, just watches Sonic's movements carefully. "If it was a real race, we could've been here within an hour."
Sonic snickers, but nods his head in agreement. "Right, right." One final stretch, a satisfying crack from his back as he bends backwards. "Okay, ready for our date?"
Shadow has to stop himself from rolling his eyes, from yelling at Sonic: 'What do you mean date? Wasn't this stupid race our date?', he remains silent.
Sonic pretends to get the shivers. "Cold shoulder much? Ouch." He walks towards Shadow, offering a hand out to him, doubting Shadow will take it. "I actually have somethin' nice setup here." Shadow still refuses to move. "You gotta trust me, right? You'll love it. I promise."
He can feel his fingers twitch. He hates how Sonic always has to use the word trust, but after all they've been through, it would be a lie to say Shadow doesn't trust Sonic. Shadow does trust him, trust him to do the right thing. He can't hold back the sigh that builds up in his throat, as his hand extends and accepts Sonic's offer, who's all smiles at him.
He leads him over towards the opposite side of the mountain they're on, and Shadow looks down, nothing but steep valley's beneath them. Then he notices it, a small blanket close to the edge of the mountain, being held down with a large quantity of pillows.
"What is th-"
Before Shadow can finish interrogating him, Sonic chirps in. "The date!" They reach the blanket- hands disconnecting from eachother, and Sonic wastes no time flopping down onto one of the pillows, head resting back. He reaches underneath one of the larger stacks of pillows, and pulls out two bottles of water. "Come on, come on, sit back and relax with me." He eggs Shadow on, sounding like an excited child, holding one bottle out to him.
Shadow practically snatches the bottle from him, and pops it open. Taking large gulps of the cold water as he sits on the blanket, making sure to keep his distance from Sonic.
Sonic takes a couple of sips from his drink, before placing it beside him, off the blanket. He lets out a relaxed sigh, stretching his arms out lazily, staring up at the sky. "You don't have to be shy, the point of this was for you to relax, Shads." He says, patting some of the pillows next to him. "Though getting you to relax is like pulling teeth." He jeers, another wink.
Shadow grimaces, moving closer to Sonic, painfully slow, centimeter by centimeter. Sonic's chest rises like he's holding back laughter, and he closes his eyes as he begins humming a tune. It's somehow familiar to Shadow, but he can't quite place where it's from. For some reason it helps him relax, and reminds him of times long past. He downs the rest of his drink, throwing the bottle behind the stack of pillows Sonic's near, and scoots closer.
They're close, if Shadow stretched out like Sonic is, their limbs would tangle, and it makes his heart race, makes him angrily embarrassed. He leans back, head resting on the pillows, and he's greeted with the stars- and for once, Shadow doesn't feel any anger or bitterness lingering in his mind.
It's gorgeous, an understatement, it's divine. The sky alight with bright constellations, with an aurora of colors from the milky way. The moon almost full, shining down on the both of them.
Sonic opens his eyes and looks over at Shadow. "Pretty cool right? Did I outdo myself or what?"
Shadow doesn't speak, just keeps staring at the twinkling lights, mouth slightly agape. It reminds him of the times he would look out from the ark with Maria, it reminds him of a lot of things. But right now, now, in this moment, he feels, he feels something.
Peace. He feels peaceful.
"Take your time, I figured you'd love this." Sonic says, continuing to hum that tune.
Shadow looks over at Sonic finally, who seems like he could fall asleep at any moment. "Where'd you get these pillows?" Is all Shadow can think of to ask.
"Huh?" Sonic lifts a hand to his chin, as if it requires deep thinking. "Borrowed them from Tails." Makes sense to Shadow. "He gave me the blanket too, and told me to bring drinks. I wasn't gonna do that last part, glad I did though!"
"Mm." Shadow mumbles as a response.
"Should've brought some food too, huh? That'd make it more date-like right?" Sonic continues.
"It's fine. Not hungry." Shadow keeps glancing at the stars and Sonic, unsure where to focus.
"Whew, good. I was worried about that."
"This is more than enough."
This time it's Sonic who gets embarrassed. Cheeks becoming Rosy, pulling his legs together, hands folding over his chest, and looks up at the sky with Shadow. "S'nothing really." Sonic mutters.
It's quiet, the stars illuminating them both, making it seem like they're the only two in the world right now. Shadow honestly does feel like it's just the two of them. He looks over at Sonic and their eyes meet, and Shadow freezes.
Sonic rubs a finger at his cheeks, a shy smile on his face, and Shadow finally realizes he's not the only one embarrassed.
"We've been through a lot." Sonic says, voice soft, like it's a secret just for them. "We never really get the chance to talk about stuff, kind of sucks." Sonic does his best to relax his arms, placing them at his sides. The one beside Shadow, he moves out a bit closer, palm open, hoping Shadow will take it in his own hand. "But then again, getting you talk about anything is-"
"We can talk." Shadow interrupts again. It's hard to focus, he sees Sonic's hand, but chooses to pretend not to notice. Eyes looking anywhere but at him, focusing on the galaxy above them.
"Seriously?" The disbelief in Sonic's voice makes Shadow smirk. Sonic folds one leg over the other, and starts bouncing it up and down. Literally incapable of sitting still for longer than five minutes. "Then.." Sonic hesitates. Long enough to make himself feel uncomfortable. "Then, uhh, how has everything been for you? Normal life I mean." Shadow side-eyes Sonic, and sees his brows furrow in frustration. Probably embarrassed by himself. Which means what he asked isn't really what he wanted to ask.
"You mean how am I adjusting?" Shadow asks for clarification.
"Yeah."
"Do you want the truth, or a simple answer?" Shadow's looking at the milky way with more focus than usual, feeling like he could reach up and just grab apart of it, but he knows he can't.
Sonic looks directly at Shadow, turning onto his side, arms overlapping each other. He looks genuinely concerned. "The truth, obviously." both of his hands are just inches away from Shadow's arms, but neither make any movement away from each other.
"It's rough." Shadow's too nervous to look at Sonic to see his reaction. "Rouge is doing her best to help. She's makes me help around the club. She tells me it's important to keep a schedule." Sonic doesn't say anything, just listens. "But it's hard to keep a daily schedule when everywhere I look I'm reminded of things."
"Bad things?" Sonic's voice is barely audible, the smallest whisper.
"Bad things. Yes." He confirms. "I'm trying though. The only people I feel comfortable around are Rouge, Omega, and, and." He fumbles with his words, and does his best not to glance at his look alike. "You." Spoken so quickly, like it's something to be ashamed about. "Making friends is hard, having a 'normal' daily life is hard."
A shooting star. Of course, only Shadow sees it, Sonic's eyes are focused on him solely, the star leaves a trail of light that glitters as it crashes down, out of view, far away from the two of them. It reminds him of the time he went crashing down to this planet, and he wonders: was he as brilliant as a shooting star when it happened?
Sonic sighs, and it's not his normal sigh of relief, it's actually gloomy. "You've never had an easy life, So I can't even begin to imagine what it's like trying to move on from your past." Shadow finally looks at Sonic, a bit shocked that Sonic could actually talk seriously, figuring he was always a natural born joker and nothing more. "In fact, I don't even really know how to help with this." He admits with no shame, not caring in the slightest if it makes him look stupid.
Shadow moves so he's laying on his side as well, now facing each other. Their hands so close, but still not making contact. They're staring straight into each other's eyes, but it's not as awkward or embarrassing as either of them assumed it would. Sonic grins at him, making Shadow let out a soft snort of disbelief. "Never figured you'd be interested in helping me out." Shadow says.
"Why wouldn't I want to help my friend out?"
"Do friends normally go on dates?"
Sonic immediately jolts at the question. "Oh." A nervous laughter, fingers fumbling with the blanket. "No, they don't." No point in denying it now. "I've kind of always thought we had a deeper connection than friends, so I figured this would be more fitting?" Sonic's cheerful demeanor and confidence seem to melt into a useless puddle of nerves when it comes to romance. Shadow thinks it's cute.
....He thinks it's cute?!
"I...." Shadow takes a moment to recollect his thoughts. His eyes focused in on Sonic's hands. "I don't mind this. I don't mind the idea of going on dates with you." His words are a little shaky, and he's not sure why, but it irks him.
Sonic however, seems over the moon, ears perking up with excitement. Without thinking, his hands reach for Shadow's and holds them, squeezing them tight. "Really?! You mean it?"
It's like a wave of confusion hits him, too many things to focus on at once, Sonic's excitement a little overwhelming. Sonic's hands holding his though, is something he could get used to. It feels comfortable, it feels /right/. So Shadow slowly curls his fingers with Sonic's. He clears his throat, doing his best to feel like he's still in control of the situation. "Yes. I mean it."
Sonic laces his fingers with Shadow's, and they look into each other eyes. It's a bit suffocating for Shadow, not used to such affection. He stays still, and realizes, the stars are reflected in Sonic's eyes, and suddenly- it's not so suffocating. His breathing relaxes, and his head slumps more against the pillows.
"This is great- this is WAY better than I expected this to go." Sonic rambles with happiness. "I was honestly expecting you to call me an idiot, and leave the first 20 minutes." Shadow tries to muffle a chuckle, but can't, and Sonic feels a sense of pride at getting such a reaction out of him.
"I contemplated it." Shadow says, but it's easily read as a joke. "I still am." He lies, but again, it's so obviously a joke that all Sonic can do is laugh, giddy with joy. Shadow keeps staring into Sonic's eyes, and he feels a strange need to reach out a hand and brush his cheek- he doesn't though, and tries to be content with just holding hands. "I wouldn't mind this being a regular thing."
"You wanna date?" Sonic asks, no hesitation or nervousness.
Shadow furrows his brows together, unsure of what he means. They're already planning on going on more dates. Sonic smirks, but doesn't laugh.
"What I mean is, you wanna be my boyfriend?" He reiterates.
Shadow may not be keen to this planet and it's way, but he knows what that term means. Commitment. Agreeing to only see each other romantically. He swallows the lump in his throat that he didn't realize was there, and nods. "Yes."
Sonic whistles, cheering as he raises his and Shadow's arm up, both them staring at their entwined fingers, the sky a brilliant background for the union, almost like a blessing. "Best. Idea. Ever." Sonic states, blissfully ignorant of Shadow staring at his face with a deep admiration. "This is gonna be awesome." His voice chipper than ever, letting their arms relax down against the blanket again with a thunk.
That peaceful silence takes over again, and they're both staring at the sky. Still feeling like they're in their own universe, a world just for them. "This is why I love traveling, you don't get views like this in the city." Sonic says quietly, and Shadow nods in agreement.
"It's nice." Shadow adds. He looks at Sonic, and their eyes lock again. "Would you mind if we stayed here a bit longer? He asks, looking back towards the milky way. "I'd like to observe the stars for just...a bit longer."
"Sure, no prob." Sonic says. They both go back to stargazing, but Shadow can feel Sonic's fingers twitching restlessly in his hand.
"Is there something on your mind?"
Sonic scratches his head with his free hand, trying to figure out how to word his thoughts properly. "Yeah, gimme a minute though." He explains. His leg starts bouncing again, Shadow figures it must be a nervous tick. "I may not know how to help with your past but, I'll do everything I can to make sure the present- and the future is good." He doesn't sound unsure anymore, he sounds completely confident, like he knows, for certain, he can do this. "So, as hard as it may be sometimes, try not to focus on the past, okay?" Sonic looks at Shadow, and Shadow stares back, eyes wide. "Focus on the here and now. Live in the moment- and future! I'm gonna be in it, so it's gonna be pretty amazing, am I right?"
Despite Sonic trying to play off his heartfelt words, Shadow smiles, genuinely, for the first time in a long time. "I think it'll be alright. Don't get ahead of yourself." The hand holding Sonic's squeezes tightly, and his other finally goes to Sonic's face, cupping his cheek. With the moon and stars in full bloom above them, Sonic can't hide how flustered he is, cheeks completely red, alight from the sky.
He buries his face into Shadow's hand, doing his best to hide the scarlet tint. Shadow huffs out what sounds like a laugh, and removes his hand from Sonic's face, going back to how he was laying before, eyes directly on the stars, in case Sonic can die from embarrassment. That would definitely ruin the mood.
"H....Hey." Sonic mutters.
"Mm?"
"Let's cuddle."
"Then come here."
Sonic slides over, his hand still holding Shadow's as he moves close enough to rest his head on his shoulder. They move their hands on top of Shadow's chest, which rise and fall with the movement of his calm breathing. Sonic nuzzles into Shadow's shoulder, and the two go back to stargazing. Enjoying their peaceful little world.