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Sonic and Shadow sit on Shadow’s bed, facing each other. Sonic nervously messes with the tips of his gloves while Shadow avoids eye contact.
They’ve been secretly dating for almost a month, and today, they decided it was time to take their relationship to the next level.
In mobian culture, it’s tradition to cover your hands with gloves, only removing them in front of family or someone you love. It’s truly something to be proud of if another mobian trusts you enough to show you their paws.
So far, neither Sonic nor Shadow has seen the other's bare hands. Sonic was personally big on this tradition. On the other hand, Shadow wasn’t as devoted to it as other mobians. It wasn’t a tradition he grew up with, Rouge was the one who taught him about it.
However, Sonic made it out to be important, so he’s playing along to make him happy. Not to mention, he was curious how pure hedgehog hands would differ from his hybrid hands. Would they be the same? Or would they be different?
Sonic clears his throat to break the silence. “So, um, who should go first?” He smiles nervously.
Shadow notices just how nervous his boyfriend is and offers to go first. “I can. Only if you still want to, of course.” He isn’t sure if Sonic is nervous from second thoughts, so he gives the blue hero a chance to back out.
Sonic quickly nods and chuckles nervously. “Yes, I do. Sorry, just- I’ve never shown my hands to anyone before, well, other than Tails, of course. You know, him being my brother and all- “
Shadow leans in to give Sonic a quick kiss to stop his rambling. He keeps eye contact with Sonic as he lays his gloved hands, palm up in Sonic’s lap. Giving him unspoken permission to take them off.
Sonic gulps as he slowly takes one of Shadow’s hands and carefully maneuvers his glove under his inhibitor ring. He pauses, taking a deep breath before removing the glove entirely.
He watched as the red stripe going down Shadow's arm led down to his middle finger. He chuckled at this; it was oddly fitting. What he was not expecting was to see nothing but fur on the others' palms. He could only imagine how fluffy they must feel.
He pulled the hand closer to his face to get a better look. Getting a clearer look, he noticed the other's sharp claws that blended in with the color of his fur. He pokes at them in awe, “Wow…”
Shadow’s face flushes a light red as he looks away. He wasn’t expecting Sonic to be so intrigued by his hands. However, he now realized why this was such an intimate moment between mobians. Something about the other admiring his hands caused his heartbeat to quicken.
Sonic ungloves the other hand, revealing an identical hand. He pulls the hands up to rest on his cheeks. He closes his eyes in pure bliss as he feels the soft fur against his face. A light purr admitting from him in contentment.
Shadow couldn’t help but smile as he watched Sonic. He gently ran his thumbs against his boyfriend’s muzzle as he leaned into the touch.
“Mmm, Shads, your hands are soooo soft.” His purrs become louder while he opens his eyes to make eye contact with Shadow.
Shadow gives a faint chuckle before resting their foreheads together. “Glad you like them.” A faint purr could be heard from the darker hedgehog for a few seconds before it faded.
Shadow moves one of his hands on top of Sonic’s gloved hands. “May I?”
Sonic nods, giving Shadow the go-ahead. Shadow sits upright and removes his other hand from Sonic’s muzzle to help slowly remove the glove from Sonic’s hand.
Sonic’s hands were different than his. He didn’t have claws. Instead, he had short, nicely trimmed nails that blended with his peach fur. The palms, however, had a significant difference. Where Shadow has fur, Sonic has paw pads on his fingers and palm, a shade darker than his peach fur.
Shadow pushes lightly on the soft paw pads. His eyes light up slightly in amazement; he wasn’t expecting them to feel so lovely against his hand.
Sonic chuckles lightly at his boyfriend while his muzzle is covered in blush. “They’re soft, right? Well… not as soft as your hands, but-“
Shadow cuts him off by bringing Sonic’s hand up to kiss it. “I love it.”
He quickly ungloves Sonic’s other hand before intertwining both their hands together. He squeezes lightly to feel Sonic’s paw pads press against his hands.
He then proceeds to lean in, eyes closed and kisses Sonic passionately. Sonic happily returns the kiss, pressing it deeper by also leaning in.
Once they break the kiss, they rest their foreheads together while looking at each other with half-lidded eyes.
”I love you, Shads.”
”I heart you too, Faker.”
Shadow drags Sonic down onto the bed so they are lying beside each other, hands still intertwined. They cuddle up together, both purring from pure bliss and contentment, as they slowly fall asleep holding hands.
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