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"You're beautiful, you know," Super Sonic tells him, voice uncharacteristically hushed. He brushes away a streak of viridescent blood away before it can drip into Shadow's eye. It's odd, having those claws so close to his face without any threat behind it. "The weaker version of me doesn't know what he's missing. Shame you insist on opposing me, but, eh." Super grins, voice regaining its usual tone of unrestrained insanity. "It'll still be fun to watch you bleed."
And Shadow- at the end of the day, Shadow has feelings like anyone else. He has emotions that can be manipulated, associations that have been built over months and years of life.
One of those associations just happens to be Sonic's voice being… kinda distracting.
It's Shadow's own fault; after all this time he still has difficulty recognizing this world's Sonic as a separate entity, distinct from his own. And so, Super Sonic's voice, too, despite being distorted and cruel and a hundred other things Shadow's Sonic would never have dreamed of being, will always stir whatever dead feelings are still buried deep inside Shadow's ribcage.
Plus, you know. Currently the guy has Shadow pinned to a wall, a hand around his neck and blood-red pupils mere inches from his own. Not exactly an easy situation to keep your cool in.
"W-what?" Shadow manages, strained for reasons that have nothing to do with Sonic's grip on his neck. Is he blushing? He really hopes he's not blushing.
Super Sonic tilts his head, glare narrowing. "What?"
"Why did you say- that?"
"It's called banter, doll. Try it some time."
"That wasn't banter, that was-" Shadow pauses, searching for the word. All that really comes to mind is how warm his face feels. "-that wasn't banter."
"I'm literally trying to kill you, don't you have bigger problems than my choice of… wait. Are you blushing?" Super Sonic sneers, and then his claws are digging into Shadow's chin, wrenching his head up to face him.
Shadow blinks. The grip is far from gentle, and Sonic's fur burns with latent energy. Neither of these things is particularly helpful to his state of mind. "No."
"You are," Super breathes, marvellingly. "It matches your blood... but of course it would." He raises his hand to Shadow's muzzle again, this time a lot less careful not to nick him. Shadow swallows, and very much wishes he couldn't feel his face grow warmer with each passing second. Stupid Black Arms genetics, couldn't even grant him the one small mercy of not turning into a glowing mess whenever he's embarrassed. "What, no one's ever called you beautiful before?"
"Not in so many words," Shadow starts to say. It's a good enough opening. He knees Super in the stomach, whisking himself away in a chaos control as soon as the demon stumbles back.
He stumbles out of the teleport on shaky legs that are half exhaustion, half I just got choked out by a guy who called me beautiful and not in a hot way. It only gives him a few feet of space, but it's something, and Shadow's pretty grateful for that even if it was probably an idiotic use of his remaining energy reserves.
Okay, okay. Take a breath. If Sonic's talking, he's not killing anyone, which is Shadow's end goal. Technically. So, who cares if Shadow would rather chuck himself off a cliff than continue this conversation? Certainly not him.
(Plus, well. It's not like he has any way of escaping it.)
Super Sonic laughs, hard like ice shattering underfoot. "All this time and this is what gets you to drop that stuck-up mask? A little flirting?"
"I'm not stuck-up," Shadow says without turning around. He can feel those red eyes on his back, making his fur prickle.
"Sure, sweetheart, whatever helps you sleep at night."
"I'm not," Shadow spins on his heel to find Super far closer than he anticipated. He's smirking down at Shadow, leaning over in the air to flaunt the few extra inches of height flight gives him. His legs are crossed at the ankle, chin propped in his palms.
At this, Super Sonic reaches one hand out, prepared to touch Shadow's face for the god-knows-how-many-th time today. Shadow bats it away. He laughs. "You're so cute."
"Don't call me that."
"Why not?" Super Sonic asks, feigning innocence for all of two seconds before he's grinning again. "Can't a guy tell his enemy he's gorgeous without it being weird?"
Shadow's ears pin back against his skull; Super stays quiet but his gaze instantly tracks the movement, spiral pupils dilating in an almost cat-like manner. "Weird doesn't begin to cover it."
Super bares his fangs in what could generously pass as a smile, taps Shadow on the nose too quickly for him to react. "Heh, that really sucks for you, angel face."
"Stop that," Shadow snarls. He's not in any position to be making threats, he knows, but he can't. Fucking. Help it.
"Stop what?" Another touch, to his ears this time.
Shadow takes a step back and Sonic mirrors it, he stops before he can corner himself against another wall. "Stop touching me."
"Make me."
"I-"
Super Sonic grabs his wrist, claws more of a promise than a threat, "C'mon, Shads, I bet you blush even harder when you're angry-"
"Shut up!"
That's not his nickname, that's a not a nickname this twisted version of Sonic gets to use-
"Yeah, there it is. Anyone ever told you green is a good color on you?"
Shadow draws in a breath. His face is burning and he can't calm down and Super is pulling him closer again and-
"Honestly, I'm surprised you don't get this more often," comes the lazy drawl Shadow's grown to hate. It reverberates in his chest, fire and chaos warming his bones. How does Sonic stand it? How does he live, breathe, speak, with this much energy flowing through his veins? "Did your dimension's version of me never bother to tell you? Because you are beautiful, that's a real fuck-up on his part."
That is it.
"I told you," Shadow hisses, this time stepping closer because the situation can't exactly get worse. It seems to take Super Sonic by surprise, his eyes widening minutely. "To shut. Up." And then, still angrily blushing hard enough to power an entire city block, Shadow grabs Sonic's shoulder and drags him down to capture his muzzle with his own.
Super Sonic's bewilderment lasts just long enough for Shadow to get his feet back on the ground, and then he's fiercely returning the kiss, claws in Shadow's quills and a hand on his waist.
(He tastes like fire and ash, and a little bit like the blood that's been steadily dripping down Shadow's face throughout this entire conversation.)
Shadow tries not to think about anything other than the fact that he's kissing Sonic, no matter what version it may happen to be. But Sonic wouldn't shove his tongue into Shadow's mouth without any prompting, wouldn't dig those claws like a razor's edge into his flesh.
No, there's no pretending. Not about this.
But Shadow hums against Sonic's lips anyway. Still lets him tug his quills so hard it aches and explore every inch of his mouth.
"Huh," Super Sonic says when he draws back. Shadow thinks his side might be bleeding. "If I'd known that's all it took to make out with you, I'd have done it months ago."
"Fuck off," Shadow answers. He's still blushing, obviously, but the devil before him is too, ears flushed even though it doesn't show on his face.
"I didn't say it was a bad thing," Super starts to say.
Shadow turns and begins walking away.
There's no way Shadow would win this fight- he was losing before and if anything, he'd lose even more pathetically now. Turns out passionately french-kissing a guy who tries to murder you on a regular basis does horrors for your composure. At this point, all Super Sonic would have to do to kill him is follow him.
Nothing happens.
Shadow tastes blood and fire on his tongue the entire walk home.