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Shadow turned over Sonic’s paw, the white gloves he always wore stained with blood and torn beyond belief. He wasn’t sure what kind of fabric it was. He knew Tails was the one that made them. He knew they were advanced. Anything would have to be to keep up with Sonic. Maybe some sort of carbon-fiber lined with cotton?
However, as Shadow examined his hand. His injuries. Something pink and soft just under one of the rips- Sonic grows stiff. He tries to pull away, he refuses to make eye contact. He-
Shadow frowns, tightening his grip. “Sonic.” he says. “You’re injured. I’m just trying to help you.”
Sonic swallows, there was a faint red hue on his cheeks… and the tip of his ears and- That was a blush. Was he blushing? Shadow blinks, unsure how to proceed. He’d… never seen the other hedgehog like this.
So… Nervous? Shy?
Gently, he releases his grip and Sonic brings his hand back towards his chest where it balls into a fist, cradled by the other.
“...I can take care of this one.” his eyes lay firm on the floor. Refusing to look up. Look near- “It’ll be okay.”
Shadow frowns. Did.. he do something wrong?
“Sonic.” he says, moving closer. Leaning close. Their knees almost touching. “Its okay to need help.”
But Sonic shakes his head. His breath hitched. He screwed his eyes shut. “Its… Not that.” He looked. Vulnerable, almost. It… was enticing. Almost.
Shadow felt. Something click in the back of his mind. He wanted to- He wanted to see more of that side of- He shakes his head of the thought. That. Was inappropriate. It wasn’t okay. Especially in this- “Did I do something wrong?” he asks. Ears down. A cut on his forehead still bled. Sonic takes a deep breath. He takes another. Shadow swallows, sitting up straight as Sonic finally turns his eyes towards him.
“You were raised by humans.” he starts, a small smile across his face. But it shook. It was strained. It was fake. Shadow didn’t want him to wear such a fake- “So its okay if you didn’t know.”
“Know what?” he asks.
Sonic smiles and reaches for his temple, soothing the wound with his chaos. It wasn’t deep. He wasn’t even aware it was there before Sonic reached out, but- “Its a bit old fashioned.” he admits, his thumb gently tracing the scar. “But… the only people who should see your paws… Is your family… or lover.”
Lover.
Sonic had said… Lover…?
Shadow swallows, His quills bristle, suddenly growing aware of just how intimate this was. Even with the remains of the robots scattered around them. The blood on Sonic’s cheek. The oil marring his legs and shoes and-
“Oh.” he whispers. He should pull away. He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t want to see. “I didn’t know that.” he admits.
They’d just been racing when they were ambushed. Ever since Shadow remembered. Just a few times a month. They’d meet up to race. To fight. Train. Blow off steam. Everyone thought they hated each other. They fought every time they met up. But was it really fighting if Sonic was the only person who could ever keep up?
Shadow felt his heart pick up pace. He could hear it, both of them, pounding in his ears. Sonic takes a breath. Its weak. He bites his lip in thought and Shadow gently turns his head into the hand still on his temple. “...I just want you to be okay.” he whispers. Gently, he cradles the hand on his temple. “I won’t look longer than I have to.”
Sonic tightens his grip. His thumb stills. “...Its embarrassing.” he admits. “Tails is the only one who’s ever-”
“He’s your brother.” Shadow interrupts. “It makes sense he’s the only one.”
Sonic breaks eye contact. His hand falls into his lap. The one on Shadow’s face retreats to soothe it. “I think something pierced it.” Sonic admits. “It hurts.”
Gently, Shadow rests a hand on Sonic’s leg, next to his hand. Not on it. Not without- And Sonic tenses and his breath stills and then continues like it didn’t as he watches his reflection in Shadow’s inhibitor.
“Do you swear?” Sonic asks.
Shadow nods, returning the comfort Sonic had given him on his thigh. “On the ARK I do.”
Carefully, Slower than he’s ever seen Sonic move. He uncurls his hand, exposing his glove, his palm, himself to Shadow. “Okay.” he permits. He swallows. He takes another breath and Shadow feels himself honored to be here. To exist. To see this side of-
Gently, He digs his fingers under the cuff of his glove, and with only a little resistance… It passes over his paw so it may sit limp on Shadow’s lap. He sees Sonic’s eyes water. He watches him close them tight, bracing to be seen in a way no one had ever seen him before.
And Shadow-
He averts his gaze. Granting him the privilege of keeping his emotions private as he does something they both know goes far beyond the bonds of friendship.
Sonic’s paws were impossibly soft. His beans were a bright bright pink and spotted with little brown freckles. Most notably, a little birthmark in the shape of a heart on his ring finger.
Shadow traces his thumb over it. Sonic tenses. His paw flexes, revealing a piece of shrapnel that had dug itself deep into his center pad. A whine escapes him. Shadow had never heard sonic cry. Even in pain. Even at the worst. Even when he was close to death.
“Its really deep.” Shadow whispers, leaning close, examining it. Trying to figure out what it- “But I should be able to get it out.” Sonic nods. He’d opened his eyes so that he could watch him work. Shadow didn’t mention that he could feel his very heart race.
-
In another universe, maybe. This wouldn’t be happening just because Sonic was injured. Or… if it had been, it wouldn’t be because Eggman had tried to kill him once again. It could’ve been that they were friends in the same class, on the same team, and Shadow would tease him for wiping out during practice and Sonic would blame him for being the reason he fell because-
Gods.
He was only fifteen.
Shadow didn’t like to think about that.
It reminded him that even with the years he spent in stasis, he was just the same.
It reminded him that neither of them should’ve ever had to fight in the first place.
-
Shadow places his thumbs on opposite sides of the shrapnel. He applies just a little bit of pressure, spreading the pad. Pushing from underneath.
Another cry escapes Sonic. Shadow’s head snaps up to see him, with his fingers in his mouth, biting out of stress. His eyes were wide. The tears in their corners spill over and something possessive rears its head in the back of Shadow’s mind. “I’ve got you.” he soothes. Gently, he traces around the pad. Giving him a second to recover. A second more to breathe.
“It hurts.” Sonic admits and Shadow knew that it was more than just the pain. He’d never admitted something so personal before. He squeezes just a little bit tighter. And leans in just a little bit closer. Their noses touch. His breath is warm. “Do you trust me?” he asks.
Sonic nods, a small smile finding its way back onto his expression. “Always.”
Their noses brush a second time and Shadow smiles. He leans down, keeping eye contact as he does. His thumbs stress the injury, the shrapnel comes out just a little bit more. A whine escapes Sonic as Shadow’s lips brush against his metacarpal. As he exposes his teeth, far sharper than any Hedgehog’s should be. As he latches onto the metal and presses down on his paw and-
When he deposits it into Sonic’s uninjured hand, its almost two inches long. Sonic swallows, dizzy. Unsure. His hand begins to bleed more than it had before, the shrapnel acting as a sort of dam, and now that it’s gone, theres nothing to stop the blood from pooling into his open paw.
Shadow licks his lips, tongue meeting the chaos swimming in his blood. But he shouldn’t’ve done that. His pupils dilate to an impossible degree. His inhibitors shine to the point where its hard to see anything else. A tremor runs up his spine as every last one of his quills raise into deadly points.
Sonic swallows, looking down at the bloody shrapnel. “Shadow…?” he asks. “Are you alright?”
The pool grows deeper. The stench of chaos thick in the air as Shadow’s eyes narrow into slits so fine that Sonic could hardly see them at all. He tries to pull away. To apply pressure to the wound. Shadow hisses, Tongue purple, Teeth sharper than normal, Tail growing longer, claws growing sharper.
“...Is this a Black Arms thing?” Sonic asks. The blood spills over. Life blooming with each drop that reaches the earth.
A deep purr escapes Shadow. He blinks, slowly as he watches Sonic’s expression. Once. Twice… and lowers his gaze back to his paw and the next thing Sonic knows is the fact that Shadow’s tongue is cold as his lips dive into the pool, lapping up his chaos like the holiest wine.
Sonic holds the shrapnel tight in his fist. It pierces his glove. He tries to pull away but Shadow holds him firm. He feels the wound closing. He feels Shadow all but vibrate with energy. He’d seen something like this before in one of his books of Camelot. The night when Lancelot and Guinevere had married. Its said that he took her hand in his own and kissed her paw gently, soothing her with the knowledge that she would never again have to fight.
Sonic remembers a pang of guilt. Of something he knew but always refused to admit was jealousy. Of wanting more than anything, for him to kiss his own paw the very same way. Just as Shadow does. Just as he worships his chaos and holds him close and- Sonic lifts Shadow’s head, forcing him to look into his eyes. A feral glint shone in his expression. The shrapnel hits the earth as his other hand soothed Shadow’s brow. “Shadow.” He commands. Breathing only through his nose as he struggled to retain himself. “Don’t lose yourself. Not to me.”
Shadow swallows, Ears flat against his skull as a growl escapes him. What if that is what he wanted? What if- Sonic pulls him close, hugging him tight, placing his nose right against his neck and-
Oh.
“I’m. Sorry.” Shadow whispers, finally returning to himself.
“Its alright.” Sonic hums. Comfortable and warm.
“Are you?” Shadow asks in return.
Sonic nods. His nose cold against his flesh. “I am now.”