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The sky above shone a bright, vibrant blue, the sun casting brilliant rays on the world below. The temperature was moderate, but an occasional breeze would swish through the air, ruffling Shadow's fur as he slowly eased himself down in the grass of the beautiful flower meadow he was situated in.
Ahead of him was Sonic, who was occupying his time searching through the flowers for tiny clovers; no doubt muddying up his paws as he did so. Shadow let out a soft sigh through his nose, letting himself relax for a bit before he turned to rummage through the picnic basket he brought with him.
With how their jobs as world saviors worked, it was incredibly hard to afford the time off to do something like this. They were constantly on their toes, making sure Eggman didn't have the chance to strike them without warning. So it made days like this special, and the ebony hedgehog relished in the comfort and relaxation him and his significant other could engage in.
With his thoughts, he hummed, pulling out a big, thick quilt from the basket he carried with him. It wasn't big enough to be a hassle to settle on the ground, but it was big enough for both he and Sonic to relax on, and that's all that mattered. As Shadow poked through the basket to pull out lunch, he heard the soft thump of paws on the ground- and his ears swiveled as the other excitable hedgehog came over.
"Papa!" He said, excitedly. It was easy to ease Sonic into his regressive state- especially when things were on the down low. The blue mobian was dressed in denim overalls with a striped shirt under it, one of Sonic's favorite outfits to wear when he was little. Shadow had a hold of his gloves and shoes, as the blue hoglet wanted to romp through the meadow with his bare paws. Shadow could see Sonic's tail wagging, and he eyed curiously at Sonic's cupped hands.
"Come here, Sonic." Shadow said, and the other complied, clamoring onto the picnic blanket and sitting with a small thump. "What do you have in your hand there?"
Sonic opened up his paws, showing off the brilliant orange butterfly that he had found. Shadow was surprised at the other's carefulness- Sonic was usually very clumsy and reckless when he was little. Perhaps he knows how to be gentle with small animals, the dark hedgehog mused quietly, a small smile curling on his muzzle, just like how he is when he's older.
"What's that?" Shadow asked, feigning curiosity as the other let out a series of giggles.
"Papa! You know what this is!" Slowly, Sonic turned his paw, the butterfly climbing up the side of his paw pad. "It's a butterfly! I found it on one of the flowers over there."
Shadow hummed, reaching forward to gently take Sonic's paw in his. Gingerly, he picked up the bug into his finger, watching its wings slowly flutter as it rebalanced itself. Sonic watched with awe, his emerald eyes wide as his mouth agape.
"It is, is it?" Shadow spoke, and he shifted onto his feet. "This is a very pretty butterfly, thank you for showing me! But we should probably put them back on their flower."
"Why?"
Sonic stumbled to his feet, taking his papa's hand in his. They both began to walk through the field of flowers, being careful not to crush any as Shadow guided the other back to where he was playing before.
"This butterfly probably has a mama and papa like you do. You don't want them to get lost, right?"
Sonic gasped, his quills shifting as he shook his head. "No! I wouldn't wanna get lost from you!"
"Exactly. That's why we need to say bye bye to the butterfly." They arrived at the flower where Sonic had found the small bug, both bending down to their knees. Slowly, Shadow eased the butterfly back into Sonic's hand, making sure to tell the little one not to hurt it as Sonic shakily held the bug.
Delicately, the blue blur placed the butterfly back in the soft pink tulip it had been on before. Sonic whispered "Bye bye, butterfly." before turning back towards his papa, holding close.
They sat there for a few moments, watching the butterfly crawl on the tulip, before taking off into the air (Sonic letting out a little gasp in the process), fluttering away. Sonic waved his paw, the bug disappearing from view.
Shadow gently ruffled the hoglet's quills, huffing quietly in laughter when Sonic yipped incredulously. "Come on," he said, shifting to his feet, the other following suit. "it's about time we had lunch, didn't we?"
A big smile stretched across Sonic's face, nodding quickly as he scrambled up. "And we can tell mama all about the bug when we go home?"
"I'm certain she'll love to hear."