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Blue ears remained attentive, trying to pick up any sounds from his surroundings, and emerald eyes hurried to catch any slight movement. Focus was a key to this challenge because one never knew what dirty tricks his opponents could unleash on him. Sonic had long known how to do this from a very young age, but for some reason, it was harder this time.
This time he was actually facing off two very dangerous foes.
Noticing the coast was clear, the blue hedgehog decided to move fast before he hesitated a second, not wanting to give one of his enemies enough time to pounce. Once the blue blur was securely hidden behind the gray barrier, he allowed himself to breathe, even limiting himself on how deep.
Sonic had felt slightly defeated when he saw how powerful the duo was together, the team’s sharp senses and great agility made it difficult for the hedgehog to do much. Although Sonic knew he could be ambushed at any second, the hero didn’t give up on his hope to win this battle.
After all, he was Sonic the Hedgehog.
If the renowned hero could take down robots while eating a chili dog, then he was sure he could do this. But even then, the blue speedster felt goosebumps as he awaited another chance to move. It was another thing that made this whole hunt even more distressing; he needed to be patient and slow or else he would lose.
A peach hand wiped at his brow, feeling the little bit of sweat that started to form on there. Sonic maintained his crouched position, starting to wonder if his blue quills would give him away to his enemies. Emerald eyes tried to find another empty spot that was large enough to hide him but not noticeable enough to expose him.
Knowing that these guys were savages, enough to rip apart their prey like wild animals when caught, Sonic thought about squeezing himself between the wall and the tel---
Clink .
Immediately, his eyes turned to the source of the sound, echoing in the other room. It was almost quiet, his ears barely catching it, but the blue hero’s guard was fully turned to high maximum power. He didn’t rip his eyes away from the dark room, making sure to catch any potential obscurations or something, because for all he knew, it was a trap. A trap that had him breathing harder and more sweat accumulating.
Chaos, what did he get himself into, he thought.
The blue hedgehog realized at that moment that he should have listened to Amy, the pink hedgehog warned him about her , and to think that Shadow was siding with her, too. The cobalt speedster was shocked and hurt when the dark hedgehog had pledged his alliance to that little trickster .
Sonic’s heartbeat increased, the thumps rushing to block his ears and making it hard to listen, to think. The blue hedgehog bit his lip, stifling a small whimper, because Chaos, the hero wasn’t ready to die!
How could he have been so stupid to fall for her little games?!
“Boo.”
The voice tickled one of his ears, and that was when Sonic realized he was a goner.
“Holy fuc---!”
A dark hand came up to clap his mouth shut, cutting short his blurt which happened to be a good move since…
“Mister Shadow, you caught him!”
The young rabbit skipped towards the two hedgehogs, presenting them with a cute smile. Emerald eyes narrowed in on the small child in front of him, hating himself for falling for that angelic face from the beginning.
“I could not have done it without you.”
Sonic’s eyes widened when he heard his boyfriend compliment the young rabbit, who was giggling and flapping her long ears, a sign she was happy. The hero licked at the palm that was over his mouth, getting a disgusted look from the dark hedgehog.
Oh, she gets a compliment, but I get that look, the hero thought.
“No fair! It’s two against one…”
Shadow rose to his feet, rolling his eyes at him, and scoffed at the hero. The little girl stood there next to the agent’s feet, continuing to watch the two hedgehogs.
“You’re the one that wanted to play hide-and-seek like this, hedgehog.”
The hero pouted, knowing that that was going to come back and bite him, but he hadn’t known that a G.U.N agent and an eight-year-old would have been a fearsome duo. Heck, he was flabbergasted when the striped hedgehog wanted to be on the rabbit’s team.
Cream was one of the few that managed to penetrate the dark hedgehog’s stony exterior and was allowed to join Shadow and him, without the agent putting up any farce or something. The young child was welcomed to their house anytime, and today, it happened to be one of those days.
Sonic had been on the phone with Ms. Vanilla, who asked the blue hero if he could take care of her daughter for a few hours. The cobalt hedgehog had happily accepted and told the news to his dark lover the moment he got off the phone. Emerald eyes had caught a small smile on tan lips, an obvious sign that he was okay with it as well.
When Cream had arrived, she had greeted both hedgehogs, offering a shake of a hand, however, the blue hero accepted one of her famous little hugs. Sonic knew it was going to be a good time with the little girl, but oh, how wrong was he.
It was a matter of time before things started to go sideways and by sideways, he meant totally upside down.
Sonic swore he headed to the bathroom for a few seconds, leaving Cream to play alone in the living room while Shadow continued to read his book in the kitchen, and when he returned, the agent was sitting criss-cross applesauce on the living room floor.
Shadow was playing dolls with the young rabbit, who seemed to be excited for the dark hedgehog’s input in her game. The blue hero stood and gawked at the scene in front of him. Because if there was one thing that he knew about his boyfriend, it was that Shadow didn’t play childish games.
None .
Yet there he was, handling a mobian doll with so much care, and bonding with Cream in the most unusual way he had ever seen. Over all the shock he was experiencing, Sonic couldn’t deny that his heart was filled with warmth as he saw the endearing scene with fond eyes.
From then on, Shadow was easily influenced into playing whatever game the rabbit chose to play, and Sonic gladly joined them. Everything went well until little by little the hero noticed how much more attention Cream was receiving from his boyfriend than him. But that didn’t mean Sonic was jealous…
No, Sonic the Hedgehog did not get jealous.
Or he had thought this whole time as time progressed, and he became a little moody with the two. Sonic needed to gain Shadow’s attention back, so he thought of something.
Hide-and-seek.
It turned out to be a total failure as everything didn’t go as he planned. Shadow and Cream had ended up teaming together to flush the hero out of his hiding spot. Now, he sat there with arms crossed and a pout on his peach lips.
Cream walked towards him and gave him her sad eyes, one of the rabbit’s greatest powers against any enemy with a heart. After a few more seconds of staring at the girl, the blue hedgehog sighed and opened his arms for the girl. She plopped down in his lap and giggled, offering his own smile at her.
“Fine, you two win!”
“Yay!”
“Good, now I don’t have to use the hard way to make you agree.”
Emerald eyes snapped to the striped hedgehog, who was smirking at him, and Sonic felt a cold chill run down his spine, going back to giggling with the rabbit in his lap. He was sure he didn’t want to know what that way was…
“Oh, Mister Shadow! Can we eat ice cream as a prize for winning?”
Blue ears perked up at hearing the words ice cream, his stomach let out a low growl at the thought of the tasty treat. Crimson eyes flickered between him and the rabbit before he nodded.
“Why not.”
Cream and him cheered, high fiving each other.
“Oh, I’m so ready to eat that last ice cream sandwich!”
His victory was cut short.
“Last one…”
The blue hero looked down at the now low-spirited rabbit in his arms. He poked one of her cheeks, trying to look into chocolate brown eyes.
“What’s wrong, Cream?”
In the corner of his eye, he saw dark legs walk over to them, lowering to have crimson eyes looking at the rabbit, too.
“I…I wanted an ice cream sandwich…”
Confusion was written all over the blue hedgehog’s face until it clicked. Cream wanted to eat the same thing as him, but there was only one left. Hm, maybe they could split it between themselves, half and half---
“You can eat the last one, Cream.”
The blue hedgehog choked on his breath and whipped his attention to his boyfriend, who was righting himself up again. Sonic’s mouth only opened and closed, as his mind took in the answer it had heard.
“Really? Then what will Mister Sonic eat?”
Shadow looked at him and shrugged.
“He can eat the salad that he didn’t finish this morning.”
Salad?!
The rabbit in his arms raised herself from his lap and excitedly flapped her ears, floating to the dark hedgehog.
“Come on, Shadow, you know I don’t like those leafy green things!”
The agent took Cream’s hand in his and walked them over to the kitchen, turning on the light. Sonic sat there on the floor and tried to figure out when a little girl had taken his spot in Shadow’s heart.
“Last I heard, you didn’t even win, faker.”
The hero groaned and yelled at his dark lover.
“But I hate salads!”
Sonic rose to his feet, joining the others in the kitchen. He was left speechless again as he saw Shadow open the treat for Cream, offering her a napkin as well. The little rabbit took it happily and munched on the delicious goodie. Crimson eyes saw her eat with a soft look and a tender smile followed right after.
The blue hedgehog’s breath hitched at what he was seeing, and deep down, Sonic felt something pull at his heartstrings, something unknown but it was there. He didn’t know what it was exactly, but his eyes continued to soak in the image of his boyfriend tending to Cream.
***
They ended up spending the rest of the afternoon in the backyard, playing on the swings and chasing after each other in a game of tag. The latter ended up with Shadow and Cream teaming up together again to beat Sonic, playfully pouting at how the dark hedgehog was giving in easily to their small friend.
After using up all their energy, the trio decided to lie down on the soft grass, watching the clouds and pointing out shapes among them. Cream lied between them, each hedgehog taking a side next to the girl and laughing at her wild imagination.
Emerald eyes gazed at the two people next to him, still finding it hard how his striped boyfriend had opened up so quickly to the little rabbit, more than usual, though. Affection bloomed in his heart, and something tugged at its strings again, harder. It happened every time he witnessed these moments…
Ms. Vanilla had come for Cream a couple of minutes later, the young girl wanting to return very soon. The older female had laughed at her daughter’s bubbling behavior, thanking Sonic and Shadow for taking good care of her little girl. Before the rabbit chased after Cheese, the little Chao having been the reason for their recent babysitting since it turned out the little guy needed to go to the vet, Cream had hugged the hero goodbye.
Instead of giving him a handshake this time, the rabbit jumped into Shadow’s arms, surprising the dark hedgehog momentarily before he hugged her back. Cream and her mother said their final goodbyes, a chirping Cheese hearing the small girl describing the activities she had done with the hedgehog duo.
Both lovers took their seats on the couch, blue and black limbs blending, and watched a movie while the evening sky turned dark. As the film unraveled, Sonic’s mind kept going back to the moments that he saw his boyfriend become a completely different person with Cream.
The way he played dolls with her, lowering or raising his tone to be in character, the way he smiled at the girl’s cute little habits, the hero sporting one himself, too, or the way crimson eyes seemed to light up more as Cream held his hand, or even the way he goofed off, for the first time in all the years Sonic knew him, with her to play pranks on the blue hedgehog.
Every bit of those times was heartwarming and stirred something in Sonic that was new to him. The blue hero had never felt this before; the feeling only grew as the moments were soaked in by him. The cobalt speedster thought it was unbelievable for his dark lover to become so…
So, paternal---
“Oh my god…”
The blue hedgehog sat up quickly, shifting away from the dark arms around him. The dark hedgehog rose as well, giving him a concerning look, but Sonic was too busy trying to process that last thought.
Because he couldn’t believe it…
“What’s wrong?”
Emerald eyes looked at crimson and peach lips opened to say something, nothing coming out, however. This was all sending the blue hedgehog into a blinking mess, and it only made his boyfriend more worried. Dark hands took a hold of his peach ones, thumbs caressing his knuckles softly.
“Sonic, is everything alright?”
“Y-yeah…everything’s good…”
His heart was beating faster than the speed of sound, putting his legs’ usual motion to shame. But how could he remain so calm when moments ago he had thought about seeing Shadow with…with a kid…
Of their own.
“Faker, you know I can clearly tell when you’re lying…”
Sonic let out a nervous chuckle, finding it hard to stare straight into those beautiful eyes.
“H-ha, yeah, I know that…”
“So, tell me what’s really wrong.”
The hero gulped and felt like he was playing that hide-and-seek game, again, but this time, he didn’t know why he was hiding. He reasoned that it was perfectly normal for him to want kids; Shadow and him had been together for a little over two years. But it was so surprising for him to even give the thought a piece of his attention, after all, he was always saying he never had time for that.
Being the Hero of Mobius, the blue hedgehog was constantly moving and chasing bad guys, a dangerous lifestyle for a small child. Shadow’s job wasn’t that better either, being a G.U.N agent was just as risky as his hero duties. Then there was the timing, and sweet Chaos, they weren’t even married yet!
“Sonic?”
He felt the striped hedgehog squeeze his hands, crimson eyes searching his emerald ones for an answer. Taking the only confidence left in him before it all drained out, he finally spoke his mind to his boyfriend.
“I-I…I think I w-want to have…k-kids…”
Silence filtered the air, making his blue ears droop at the sound. Wide eyes stared back at him and tan lips barely opened to only release a breath. Sonic shifted under his boyfriend’s stare, a blue leg starting to twitch.
“Shadow? Please say something, buddy…”
His voice wavered, scared to hear what his partner had to say, and crimson eyes finally blinked once before they softened. A small chuckle left tan lips, and dark hands reached out to hold his face instead.
“That’s what has you so worried…”
The hero stopped breathing as he processed the words that were spoken.
“W-wait…you’re okay with it?”
The striped hedgehog shifted him to have blue legs straddling the dark lap, a hand tenderly touching his cheek. The hero blushed at the sudden position he was in, finding it awkwardly loving right now, and he couldn’t help but smile at his lover’s touch on his skin.
“I know we never talked about that, and honestly, I didn’t even know if you wanted to, given your reputation.”
The hero groaned and hid his face in a dark shoulder, muffling the sound and hearing another chuckle from above him. Sonic was free-spirited and enjoyed his freedom very much, but when it came to Shadow, it…just didn’t matter anymore…
Because this loving and handsome hedgehog was worth giving up those things if he got to spent the rest of his years with him.
Sonic loved Shadow with all his heart.
A hand shifted his head away from his partner’s shoulder, letting their eyes meet again.
“Would you really want to start a family with me, Shadz?”
Without a beat of hesitation, his boyfriend brought their lips closer, almost touching.
“Of course, I would.”
Peach met tan in a beautiful and slow kiss, both of their arms wrapping around each other. His heart soared and reached for the stars because Chaos, Shadow was the best thing that has happened to him. With his dark lover, anything was possible and nothing stopped him from giving him his whole heart.
They released their lips from the kiss, Shadow nuzzling him and Sonic purring at the loving gesture.
“I love you, babe.”
Crimson eyes brought his face for green to meet them.
“And I love you, darling.”
Sonic giggled at his boyfriend’s use of the endearing term for him, secretly loving whenever it did come from those lips. His giggling came to a slow stop as he felt another hand slide down his body, stopping to rest at his waist. Emerald eyes saw a mischievous glint in those red ones.
“How about we get a headstart…”
The blue hedgehog laughed as his dark partner tried to lie him down on the couch, dark hands tickling his sides, and a gorgeous smile on his lover’s face, looking at him with nothing but adoration and love.
Sonic knew it would still be long before that happened, wanting to enjoy moments like these while they still could, but he was happy to hear that Shadow wanted the same thing as him, a family of their own.
Yeah, he could already picture them doing all the things they had done today with Cream, but this time, with a little hedgehog of their own. A happy family they would definitely be.