Chapter Text
It might be considered excessive by some just how ecstatic Sonic was to simply walk around a forest with his boyfriend of just two days, but he didn’t mind. He never thought he’d get the opportunity to call Shadow his boyfriend, the guy he had been crushing on, hard, for enough time that it started to ache just being near him. But here they were, meandering around a forest in the dead of winter, alone together.
Shadow felt the same, not that he’d show it though. It took him forever and a day to finally summon the courage to confess his feelings to the cobalt hero, fully bracing himself for rejection, to fortunately have his feelings requited. He’d cherish this moment, even if they were simply touring a forest of dormant trees, he’d soak and revel in it.
“Hey, Shads look!” Sonic calls out, pointing to a rather short tree sporting long limbs. He runs over to said tree, Shadow following close behind. The hero hops up, latching to a limb and pulling himself on top. “A climbing tree!”
Shadow follows his actions, pulling himself up on the same branch. “What exactly makes this a climbing tree?” He asks.
“Because…” Sonic starts, hanging on to the limb above them, swinging back and forth like a monkey. “Look at how good it is to climb! I used to do this all day as a hoglet! Now I get to show you!”
Shadow cocked his head slightly, not entirely sure what the hedgehog was talking about. Despite being relatively confused, he was thankful to hear Sonic talk about his childhood, it wasn’t something that he talked about often. He supposed this was a sign of how close they were growing.
“Let’s have a race!” Sonic smiled.
“Hmph, you’ll regret it faker.” Shadow stretched as he answered coyly, provoking Sonic through half-lidded eyes. He had already leapt up, ready to scale the remainder of the tree. It was only a matter of minutes before they engaged in a furious race to see just who could reach the top faster. As competitive as they were, this race was filled with lighthearted laughs considering just how silly their competitions can get.
“That’s not fair!” Sonic whined “You had a head start!”
“Nope, admit defeat.” Shadow smiled back.
“Yeah, yeah whatever.” Sonic inched closer to his rival turned lover who was sharing the same branch. He loved the feeling of his own soft fawn arms grazing against silky, toned, striped ones. “I know we’ve only been together for a really, really short time but, isn’t it crazy to think how our rivalry brought us to this? Like we wanted to kill each other at one point.”
Shadow let out a huff as he leaned deeper into Sonic’s arm, showing his acknowledgment.
“I feel like, over time, our competitions got more silly y’know?” Sonic continues, “Ya ever notice that?”
Shadow scoffs briefly, holding no malice behind it. “Yeah, I noticed. I suppose I found it more entertaining that way.”
Sonic chuckled briefly. “Yeah, and fun too.” He shifted to lean more into the hybrid. “Hey, now that we’re like, a thing, do we not do that?”
Shadow’s face shifted from the relaxed frown that he normally wore to one more of slight concern. “If that’s what you’d like, but, I have to admit I’d miss it. Even if it was sort of childish.”
“Oh thank chaos!” Sonic dramatically exclaimed with an abundance of relief. “I always liked our weird competitions, not to sound like a douche or anything but you’re like the only one who stood a chance in not only races but all sorts of things!”
Shadow smiled with the sentiment. Sonic always meant a great deal to him, even before he developed romantic feelings for him. It brought him great joy to know these feelings were mutual.
“Woah, the views great!” Sonic exclaimed, looking out to the still, pale forest waiting undisturbed below them. From where they were perched, you could observe almost the entirety of the thicket.
“Not as great as you.” Shadow quickly chimed in, earning a playful push from the other.
“That was my line!” Sonic whined as Shadow attempted and failed to stifle a laugh. In this brief moment, Sonic took it upon himself to inch his hand closer to Shadow’s. He was confused when Shadow didn’t make any attempt with his hand, so he nudged a bit closer, resting his pinky on top of Shadow’s, but to no avail. He grew a bit agitated until Shadow broke the silence.
“See that lake, faker?”
“Uhh, yeah?” Sonic questioned
“Bet I could get there faster.”
Birds fled the tops of trees in a panicked murmuration as the pair of hedgehogs weaved in and out of bare trees at the speed of sound. From an outsider’s perspective, they were reduced to a black and blue blur respectively but the couple could see each other all too well. Sonic’s previous irritation had faded with the dust that kicked up behind him. Nothing invigorated him more than a race with none other than Shadow the hedgehog, and he knew that Shadow felt the same. He could see it in the way his eyes maintained a laser focus on the path before him that was only broken to glance back at the blue hero.
The pair scaled the length of the forest in what should’ve been hours in a mere matter of minutes. Meeting each other at the foot of the lake.
“Now we’re even!” Sonic taunted, sticking out his tongue to add to the statement.
“Hmph, I beg to differ.”
They continue their banter, both knowing there is no discernible winner given their impeccable ability to contest each other. But, over the years, it’s grown to be a sort of love language between the two. As Sonic teased, he swung his arm, making sure to brush Shadow’s hands against his.
Their conversation took a more general turn, morphing into a discussion about everything and nothing at all. Sonic still made a conscious effort to grace the stripped hedgehog’s hand, increasing frequency, and overtness over time. Only, Shadow didn’t seem to notice or acknowledge it. Sonic only grew more impatient and slightly disheartened.
“I never really liked vegetables, I always-” Shadow stopped himself, noting the small white specks that had started to slowly dance in the air around them. “Flurries.”
“First flurries of the season.” Sonic sung. “My hands are getting awfully cold over here.”
“Maybe I should get you some mittens?” Shadow offered naively. “Do you have material preferences? Wool perhaps?”
“Shadow.”
“What?”
“Why won’t you hold my hand?” Sonic sighed, finally releasing his inner exasperation. “Are you nervous or is it me? Please tell me!”
“What? Sonic you haven’t done anything! I didn’t know that’s what you wanted me to do.” Shadow quickly responds, brows furrowed with concern.
“I’ve been like, drooping all the hints.”
“Hints? What are you talking about?”
Sonic brings out his hand, counting on his fingers to emphasize his point. “I kept touching your hand, inching it closer and I even pulled out the old ‘my hands are cold’, I thought I made it pretty obvious.”
Shadow shifted, suddenly moving sort of awkwardly as opposed to his usual composed demeanor. “Sonic, if I say this you can’t laugh at me.”
“Can’t make any promises.” Sonic teased, but he fixed his approach noting the severity written all over Shadow’s face. “Hey, I’m just kidding. Ya know I wouldn’t.”
Shadow took a deep breath. “I’ve never really been romantically involved with anyone. Spending my formative years on the Ark, I don’t really know anything about how to be a good partner.”
Sonic chuckled. “How is that even possible, you’re like, crazy hot!”
Shadow attempted to get his sassy attitude across with a roll of his eyes and crossed arms. But the flush on his cheeks told the different story of his true emotions.
“Really though, don’t even worry about it! I don’t really have much experience either. And the experience I do have is uh, rocky to say the least.”
“It doesn’t bother you?” Shadow asked, adopting a bit of an accusatory tone.
“Nah. My feelings for you are really strong! And that means we can do all the relationship stuff together for the first time!”
Shadow finally reaches for Sonic’s hand. First linking their pinkies, and then fully accepting his hand in his.
“You’re so cheesy.” Shadow’s comment was just a distraction from the ever-growing blush forming across his muzzle.
“Yeah but ya love it, don’t lie Shad.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Shadow sighed through a small smile as the pair walked further into the forest, finally hand in hand while nonchalantly swinging their arms back and forth.