Work Text:
"Wake up, hedgehog."
Sonic blinks his eyes open, still sticky from sleep.
Above him looms Shadow, gaze disapproving, piercing crimson irises fixated on Sonic in a particularly uncomfy manner.
Sonic spares a moment to regret not tying the hammock up a bit higher to prevent any possibility of looming. He hadn't considered it before, tired and looking forward to living the cliché hammock-napping dream, but Shadow (as well as most of his enemies and all of his friends) would have been far less intimidating from above.
"You shouldn't be sleeping out in the middle of nowhere. It's not safe."
Sonic lets a breath out, a half-planned action with minimal effort involved. It ends up somewhere between a sigh and a raspberry, sounding altogether more horse than hedgehog. "First off, hello. Good morning. All that good stuff."
Shadow continues to glare at him. "It's not morning."
The light of sunset illuminates his fur in shades of orange and pink. He could blend right in with the changing leaves, looking like that: soft and dappled, like some sort of ethereal being with a penchant for violence.
"Second," Sonic continues, overemphasizing the d, "don't you think you're being a bit paranoid? If, miraculously, someone did ambush me, I'm sure I could handle it. I'm not the hero of Mobius for nothing."
"In your sleep," Shadow states, unimpressed. It's not a question.
Sonic grins. "Damn right."
Shadow's eye twitches. His expression doesn't change much, just a deepening of his current frown, but Sonic knows what it means. It's Shadow's signature "I want to deck you but you're my friend so I can't" face.
"Look," Sonic says, before Shadow can decide that fighting him is more important than maintaining proper relationship dynamics. It's happened before- Sonic has the bruises to prove it. "If you're so concerned about my safety, you could hang out for a while."
"Hang out?" Shadow repeats dubiously. He's still glaring at a tree just past Sonic's shoulder, but his fingers are now twisting into the fabric of his gloves, forming little wrinkles that match the ones across his nose.
It makes him looks soft, cute, which Sonic has no intention of mentioning. At least, not until Shadow no longer looks on the knife's edge between murder and lecture. Then embarrassing him will be fair game.
"Sure," Sonic says, shrugging one shoulder. Any amount of shrugging is difficult to pull off in a hammock, so this'll do for now. "Why not?"
"That'd hardly be comfortable for me," Shadow points out, after a moment's consideration.
Gottem. Checkmate, gin, hole in one- all that jazz. Sonic grins. "I'll have you know I'm very comfortable."
Shadow freezes. His eyes don't widen, but he glances at Sonic for a heartbeat. "You… want me to sit with you?"
What Sonic wants to say is an enthusiastic 'fuck yeah, man.' He pointedly bites his tongue and does not say this, because getting Shadow to initiate physical contact takes caution and care and unconditional amounts of patience.
"It's super comfy up here," Sonic says instead. "I thought Amy was just pulling my leg, but this kinda does beat laying on tree branches."
Shadow hasn't looked away, but his ears flatten a little.
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Sonic assures him. "Just thought it might be fun."
Sonic wonders if anyone else has noticed how much Shadow craves physical contact. And if anyone else has ever cracked the code that allows them past Shadow's defenses.
In a very real, very selfish way- Sonic's glad the answer seems to generally be 'no.' He's glad to be the only one who gets to see Shadow's walls crack apart, see him laugh and smile and be a person, even if it's only for a few minutes.
(The walls stay down longer each time, as if Shadow forgets how to build them. As if he forgets he ever had to.)
"If you're sure," Shadow starts, and then Sonic can't pretend to be patient anymore.
"Fuck yeah, man! Bring it in," he says, already reaching a hand out.
He expects Shadow to balk, but instead his mouth twists in a funny little smile. "You're quite something, Sonic," he says, eyeing the proffered appendage as if it's a bouquet of rotting flowers.
"Um," Sonic utters intelligently.
Shadow laughs, quiet like the crickets that surround them. "Something good, dumbass."
He doesn't take Sonic's hand- he takes a few steps back, then races forward, skates flaring with broad flames that Sonic would be worried about if he weren't preoccupied with the laughter echoing in his head.
One foot away, Shadow stops, and launches himself at one of the trees the hammock's tied to, kicking off the trunk to land heavily atop Sonic's stomach.
"Chaos," Sonic wheezes, struggling to regain the breath Shadow just crushed out of his lungs. "Was- was that really necessary?"
Shadow, the fucking asshole, just grins nastily at him. Bark and golden leaves are raining down around their heads, unaccustomed to assault from super-speeding kicks. "I told you it wasn't safe. You weren't prepared for an attack."
"Because you're my friend, and I didn't expect-"
"Expect the unexpected and you will never be surprised, hedgehog. I could've-"
Taking advantage of Shadow's preoccupation with chastising him, Sonic rears up and slams Shadow's shoulders down into the hammock.
It doesn't work… that well? Probably because it's not a solid surface? But Shadow yelps, then pauses, surprisingly not going for the throat.
His eyes are round with surprise; Sonic can even feel his chest rise and fall with it. And he's cold, Sonic notices, way too late. Of course he is- it's a crisp fall day and he's been wandering around in the woods. Sonic wants to curl around him until he chases the chill away.
"Gotcha!" Sonic exclaims, not bothering to investigate Shadow's odd behavior. "I win. As usual."
Shockingly, Shadow doesn't rise to the bait. "I suppose you did," he says instead. "But I was still right."
Sonic huffs, leaning back. Shadow doesn't sit up, but he's still partly laying across Sonic's lap, so perhaps that's for the best. "Was not."
"Was too. You weren't prepared for an ambush, so my point is still made."
"Okay, but you could've ambushed me anywhere. It wasn't because I fell asleep in the woods, it's because I trust you."
"Semantics," Shadow dismisses. Then his gaze leaps up to trace Sonic's face. It's too personal for them, as if Shadow's trying to memorize every line of his face. Sonic's not sure if he should hate it or not. "You trust me?"
Sonic feels his face warm, but keeps his expression neutral. "Well- I mean, yeah? Why wouldn't I?"
Shadow shrugs. He manages to accomplish this, since he's sitting on Sonic, rather than the unsteady cloth of the hammock. "Dunno. Why would you?"
It's calm. Unconcerned. And yet Sonic can tell there's something lying underneath. Shadow's anxious about this, even if he's pretending not to be.
Feigning confusion, Sonic tilts his head. "Hmm," he taps his chin theatrically. "Good question. Maybe it's 'cause you found me in the middle of the woods and woke me up because you were concerned for my well-being."
"That's not…" Shadow trails off. "Anyone would've done that."
"Yeah, but I like it when you do it. I like being around you." Sonic softens his voice a few degrees. "You're a good person, Shads. You've always had my back. Of course I trust you."
Sonic doesn't know if the words get through. He does, however, know that he'll keep trying for as long as it takes. For now, however, he can at least help take Shadow's mind off the heavier stuff.
"Or maybe," Sonic leans in again, much to Shadow's obvious chargin. He pitches his voice as low and breathy as it'll go, and whispers against the side of Shadow's jaw, "it's because I have really, really low standards."
Shadow shoves him back so hard the hammock threatens to flip over.
"Oh my god, you suck," Shadow scoffs, although he's smiling again. The earlier blank sadness has all but evaporated, exasperation in its place. "You suck so bad."
Sonic winks at him.
"I'm going to kill you," Shadow announces, adorably determined.
"Go ahead and try," Sonic taunts.
"No, because you're expecting it right now. The element of surprise is the key to success, Sonic. Did you learn nothing?"
"Nope. I'm clinically unteachable."
Shadow groans, loud and overly drawn-out. He sits up, then falls forward, elbows jabbing into Sonic's chest. It'll ache tomorrow, which is likely Shadow's intention. "I hate you. You're the actual goddamn worst."
Sonic's hands find their place on Shadow's hips, fingers threading through his fur in a complicated weave he has no intention of ever undoing. Shadow blinks, glances down, then apparently decides that he's fine with it too. If he weren't, he'd turn into a bristling ball of nerves.
"You tired yet?" Sonic asks, aware that he's rather abruptly changing the subject. What, was he supposed to say I hate you back? This isn't a cheesy rom-com where two enemies unintentionally fall in love. It can't be, because Shadow hasn't been his enemy in a very long time.
Oh, also, because he's not in love with Shadow. That too.
"I'm never tired," Shadow says grumpily.
"You're always tired, because you never sleep," Sonic corrects, moving his hands across Shadow's spine until his arms are slung around his entire back. Shadow shivers, his glare sharpening enough to cut steel. Unperturbed, Sonic continues, "You just hate admitting it. Also, not to sound petty, but you did kinda interrupt my nap, dude."
Shadow considers this for a second.
Good enough. Sonic takes advantage of his distraction by rolling over, dragging Shadow down with him so that they're laying chest-to-chest. Hard to lay any other way when you've both got quills, though the fabric they're laying on is surely taking an unintended beating.
Regardless, the whole situation... feels nice. The hammock protects them from the low breeze that's risen with the sun's fall, and Shadow's body is warm against his own. And, bonus: Shadow doesn't even seem to be panicking, crimson eyes wide with shock but not discomfort.
For several seconds, only the woods speak. Birds and crickets and crackling leaves.
Then, hesitant, Shadow weaves his arms around Sonic's waist, and rests his head into Sonic's shoulder. This squishes his arm painfully beneath both their weights, but Sonic hardly notices. His breath is caught in his throat, weighed down by something that tastes like terror but feels far closer to excitement.
"This isn't me admitting anything," Shadow says. It'd be a whisper if it weren't so angry. "I'm just not sure how to beat you up while laying in a hammock. My range of motion is extremely limited."
"Okay," Sonic whispers back, teasing smile on his lips that he's sure Shadow can hear in his voice.
"The worst. I mean it." Shadow repeats.
"Okay."
"...I can't protect either of us like this."
"We'll be fine, Shads. Relax."
Sonic doesn't expect it to work. Shadow is a sheathed sword, incapable of peace even as he craves a place inside it. That's just how he is, and Sonic's getting used to arguing him out of these spirals.
But what he gets is Shadow's breath against his neck, a hushed whisper that barely stirs his fur. "Okay."
Sonic doesn't fall asleep. He's willing to bet Shadow doesn't either.
Neither of them bother to leave.