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Shadow is at a beach party. It's been less than a month since they- since Sonic nearly died in his arms, and he's at a beach party. Shadow thinks that maybe Green Hill didn't get put back together quite as it was supposed to and he's actually in an alternate reality because, one, Shadow doesn't do parties, certainly not the ones thrown by Amy, and two, he doesn't even like the beach so it makes absolutely no sense in his head why he is, and has been here for roughly forty minutes now.
It might have something to do with that cocky blue hedgehog and his stupid near-death experience.
It'll be a month soon. A month in which Shadow has found himself quietly checking on Sonic's well-being at least three times a week. Which is, like, three times more than before the incident. So sue him, he wants to make sure Sonic is alive and well after almost witnessing his sacrificial death. Shadow doesn't really deal with death too well. He may be desensitised to seeing dead bodies of G.U.N. soldiers but losing someone close to him is a different story entirely. And Shadow has to begrudgingly admit he does care about Sonic in a weird way.
That's how he ended up here, on the beach with a stupid coconut drink in hand, sand peskily making its way inside his air shoes. Sonic asked him to come, to which he obviously declined. Unfortunately Sonic has this nasty habit of never giving up, so Shadow eventually caved in. It was about time for his stealthy check up on him anyway.
Dear Chaos, what is up with him.
Shadow thought he was over his paranoia surrounding the topic of death but apparently not. Sonic's stupid sacrifice brought him right back to stage one and now he's acting insane and he's overprotective, and if something were to ever happen to Sonic he'd probably- Well, he's not entirely sure what he'd do but he supposes it would be a rather unpleasant experience. All this over an annoying blue hedgehog, he's really fallen off. Shadow doesn't even like him and yet he's obsessing over his safety like a complete buffoon.
Oh, for the love of Gaia, couldn't he have chosen someone else's arms to die in? And he had the sheer audacity to flirt with him in his final moments. Shadow is not a hugger nor is he interested in Sonic, and who does that, anyway? Did he really want his final words to be a sad excuse for a pick up line? It's dumb. Sonic is dumb.
Shadow doesn't know what he's doing here, he should've left a long time ago. At first he at least had Rouge to talk to but he told her to have fun when her eyes spotted a certain echidna in the crowd. So for the past ten, maybe fifteen minutes he's just kind of been awkwardly standing off to the side with nothing to do. He saw Sonic and he's perfectly fine. Safe and sound, no traces of ever coming close to fading away. Sonic doesn't need him. Not for his safety and definitely not for keeping him company, since every time that Shadow catches sight of him, he's always occupied with lively chatting to someone. All that Shadow is doing at this stupid party is ruining the mood with his scowl and being generally off-putting.
He takes the pink straw in his fingers and pointlessly stirs the drink around with it. He's not a frequent party-goer so he's not even sure what he's drinking. It tastes like coconut and pineapple and it's entirely too sweet for his taste so he's been sipping the same one ever since he first got here and Amy shoved it in his chest, not taking "no" for an answer. And, believe me, he tried. He can see why her and Sonic get on so well. They both can't accept defeat when it comes to things they deem important.
Shadow takes a small sip, more out of habit than any real need for a drink. He still dislikes the taste immensely but for the sake of not being a total asshole he decides against pouring it out when no one's looking. He doesn't think Amy would appreciate that. Even worse, she might treat him to another one. Gross.
"Hey, Shads!"
There it is. That crystal clear, bouncy voice he's gotten used to hearing during his compulsory vacation in the Shatterspace. It used to annoy him to no end, drive him absolutely insane whenever he'd get all cocky during their squabbles but- he's kind of glad to hear it. Cheerful and vibrant, instead of stressed, broken and exhausted.
"Sonic. What do you want?" Shadow asks and it's not meant to sound as dry as it does but it's out there now so he can't really do much about it. Sonic doesn't seem to mind anyway.
"Do I have to want something?" Sonic asks and beams. It's good to see him happy.
"No, I suppose not," Shadow admits and takes another sip of the disgustingly sweet liquid he's been given, willing the urge to scrunch his face in disgust to go away. He's not sure he manages, though, because Sonic looks at him funny.
"How's the drink?" he asks, voice dripping with amusement. Shadow wants to give him a piece of his mind but his newfound fondness towards the Blue Blur takes over so he settles on simply rolling his eyes.
"Revolting," he confesses, glancing at the liquid with disgust.
"Not a fan of piña colada, huh?"
"Do you want it?" Shadow offers, hoping to be freed from the gruelling task of consuming this so-called piña colada.
Sonic's smile softens a tiny bit and he crosses his arms over his chest, looking at Shadow with... something behind his eyes. He can't quite pin it down but it makes him feel unreasonably small, like he'd just shrunk to the size of a Chao. Shadow's gaze shifts to his hands. He feels uncomfortable and he needs to leave now.
"Nope," Sonic finally replies and immediately contradicts himself by taking the coconut shell from Shadow's grip. "But you look like you're going to spit it out each time you try it. Thought I could spare you from the suffering."
"You bestow suffering upon me whenever you open your mouth, hedgehog," Shadow retorts, glaring daggers at Sonic, who's now just sipping on the horrid drink, mouth curled in a smile around the straw.
"I'm sure I do," he says, unphased by Shadow's grumpiness, and sits down on the sand. Shadow doesn't follow suit. The last thing he needs is sand getting inbetween his quills. He'll be waking up with it scattered around his bed for another week if he does.
Sonic pats the spot beside him and Shadow sighs.
Sand on his bedsheets it is.
Besides the obvious issue at hand, it's sort of... nice. Yes, "nice" is a good way to put it. For a while they stare at the ocean and the sun slowly descending into it, painting the sky and waves warm oranges, yellows and even some pinks. Shadow hears Rouge laugh at something Knuckles said. Probably not a joke, though. She just kind of finds the echidna amusing but in a cute way. At least that's how she put it when he'd asked why she hung out with him so much. Shadow doesn't fully understand what that means but he's decided not to bother her about it anymore. Whatever makes her happy.
The sound of Sonic slurping the remnants of Shadow's drink makes his ear twitch and draws his attention away from Rouge. He doesn't dare avert his gaze from the sunset, though, as the moment between them seems too intimate already so there's no need to make it worse by locking eyes with Sonic. Whether that would make their proximity too overwhelming for him or maybe just break the comforting lull that has washed over them, he's not sure. He doesn't want either to happen.
"Y'know, I really didn't think you'd come," Sonic blurts out, his head hitting Shadow's shoulder. It makes him tense up and the blue hedgehog has to feel it, yet he doesn't comment on the fact. He doesn't move either, which Shadow is surprisingly okay with. In fact, he's so okay with it that he relaxes thirty seconds down the line. Or, well, he relaxes as much as he can in a situation that's completely unknown to him. At least his quills are no longer actively trying to give Sonic a few stylish piercings.
"To be frank, I'm just as surprised as you are," Shadow admits. He truly didn't think he'd be here at all, not to mention staying for what was close to an hour now. And he sure as hell did not expect to be watching the sunset with Sonic. It must look weird to any and all the bystanders. Before the Paradox Prism fiasco Shadow wouldn't be caught willingly spending time with Sonic, let alone granting him permission for physical touch. The only acceptable forms of contact were the punches and kicks they threw at each other. So to everyone but them it seemed like they went from zero- no, more like from minus fifty to one hundred overnight.
Sure, Sonic's friends know about what happened to some extent, from what he's heard, but that doesn't really explain Shadow's lack of touch aversion. He wonders if Sonic finds it weird. And if he's worried about getting questioned about it later. Shadow knows he's for sure getting full on investigated about this by Rouge once they head home, even if she knows exactly why he acts this way. Rouge has a lot more insight on what happened in the Shatterverse than the rest of Sonic's friends, the reason being that she's also Shadow's friend (extremely nosy, too). Maybe he'd even call her family if he wasn't horrified of ever putting this important of a label on anyone he cared about. Shadow doesn't believe in fate and higher power but that doesn't stop him from being scared shitless that as soon as he lets himself get fully attached, something will take the person away from him. It happened to Maria and it almost happened to Sonic as well. He barely got to form an alliance with him before he was forced to cling onto his disintegrating body. He cannot let anything happen to Rouge, so she stays put in the casual friend category, while Sonic remains his rival. For their own safety.
"Shadow, stop your mysterious brooding, immediately," Sonic demands, head lifting from Shadow's shoulder to look at him.
"I'm not brooding," Shadow denies, whipping around to face Sonic. There's a familiar sparkle in his eyes and a small smile plastered on his face.
"You totally are," Sonic argues and follows it up with a jab to Shadow's chest. "Now stop it and enjoy the evening."
"And what if brooding is my way of enjoying it?" Shadow asks for the sake of bickering a bit more and nothing else. He finds comfort in pointless banter with Sonic and Chaos knows he needs something to ground him right now. He's getting tired by this whole party thing.
"Then I feel sorry for you," Sonic answers with an eye-roll and bumps their knees together. "And you should try my way of enjoying the party."
Shadow huffs, not quite reaching a laugh but it's an expression of amusement and disbelief at the hedgehog's suggestion.
"I'd rather get frozen for another fifty years than to strike up meaningless conversation with strangers," he scoffs. It's a lie. Waking up after a fifty-year long nap was absolutely dreadful. He couldn't forget the unbearable stiffness in his body if he tried. Not to mention that getting crammed in this small of a space against his will wasn't exactly his favourite experience ever. So, okay, his words were a hyperbole but he needs Sonic to understand just how much he'd hate his way of doing things.
"And who said I enjoyed that?" Sonic quips, earning a raised brow from Shadow in consequence.
"You don't?" the black hedgehog asks with genuine surprise in his voice. "Isn't that your whole thing? You never shut up and you keep making friends wherever you go."
Sonic giggles-honest to god giggles-and Shadow thinks he's never been more confused by this guy. Sonic is insufferably social and he somehow always manages to rope whoever he meets into pointless small talk. Hell, he even got alternate versions of his friends on his side, including that maniac Nine in the end, too. There's just something about him that makes everyone like him. Shadow is starting to fall victim to it as well, as much as he'd hate to admit it.
"I don't mind," Sonic says and after a five second long pause goes on, just to set the record straight, "but it's not my favourite thing to do, either."
Shadow looks at him expectantly and maybe his gaze is too intense because Sonic breaks their eye contact, opting to focus on the waves crashing at the shore instead. It makes Shadow realise that the sky is significantly darker than when they first sat down.
"I like this a lot better, actually," Sonic professes. "You know, spending time with the people I care about."
This isn't the answer that Shadow expected, but it's not unwelcome, he thinks. Despite his struggles and fears tied to letting others in and allowing them to see his vulnerable side, a warm feeling washes over him. It feels good to hear that Sonic cares about him, too. It's not news by any means, after all he did eagerly admit he needed Shadow and he also saved his life. Of course he cares about Shadow but hearing it like this, weirdly serene and so earnest... Somehow it just feels different.
"I must say, that sounds alright," he admits, trying his best to give Sonic a soft smile. He's not a very smiley guy so he can't tell whether he's doing it right or not. Sonic flashes him a smile of his own, one of those really bright ones that could blind someone if he tried hard enough, and Shadow decides it doesn't matter if his smile was good. It seems to have worked as intended and he doesn't want to dwell on which one of them was the one to do a good job. Shadow with smiling or Sonic with deciphering his intentions. It might've been both.
His rival's head finds its way back to Shadow's shoulder again and this time his quills don't bristle. They stay put even as Sonic takes his hand with a sense of caution, the same kind as when you try to approach a stray animal, careful not to scare it away. It works on Shadow and he gives Sonic's hand a reassuring squeeze to convey it. He gets a squeeze back first and then there are soft patterns being traced on his palm with a thumb. It's surreal when he thinks about it so he decides against it. His thoughts can wait for after this—whatever it is—is over.
"I'm glad we made it through the portal in time," Shadow says, quietly. He wants to let Sonic know he cares. "You looked ghostly, Sonic. A sight to behold, for sure."
Sonic quirks a brow at that, moving away from his rival and Shadow groans in annoyance.
"A really, really terrible one. One of the worst things I've seen in my-"
"Shut up," Sonic interrupts him and pulls him into a proper hug, causing a gasp to escape Shadow's lungs. "I'm not planning on dying anytime soon, I promise."
They've hugged more in the past month than Shadow has his entire life, he notices. He also notices it's not so bad as he slowly melts into the touch and wraps his arms around Sonic. Maybe Shadow is a hugger, after all.
"The world isn't ready to lose such a handsome face."
Nevermind. Shadow hates hugs.
"Okay, get off me now or I'll skin you with a cheese grater," he mutters right in Sonic's ear causing it to twitch. What he gets as a result is not freedom, to no one's surprise. Quite contrary, he can feel the tightening of Sonic's grip around his body.
"Yeah, yeah, I love you too, Shads."