Work Text:
The silver glow from the Moon was like the most powerful stage lighting, bathing Mission Street in a soft glow that was drowned out by the artificial light from yellow streetlamps and windows peering into shops. Though it was such a comforting and mystical place, there was still lots of busy movement from shoppers pouring in and out of diners, retailers and convenience stores. Mission Street emitted a modern aura with lavish boutiques and stylish architecture that was home to many people who roamed the streets at night, indulging themselves in what the local shops had to offer.
However, on this breezy winter night, Sonic was only interested in what the night sky had to offer, and boy did it have a sight to behold. The scattered, shining orbs were a glorious backdrop for the main course; the Moon. He couldn't wait to go higher to get a better view. But the blue hedgehog found himself reluctant to part with the smooth tarmac that made the perfect track for his high-speed runs. It was always fun to fly past stores and watch as the colourful lights all around him became a kaleidoscope as he zoomed by.
His ears twitched as he picked up bits and pieces of conversations he ran past and the noisy laughter and chatter of citizens on both sides of the road. He heard the excited shrieks of a group of young women who he raced past, their dresses blowing in the harsh wind that followed in the blue blur's wake. Lots of people recognised him but most didn't get the chance to call out to him, as he'd leave just as quickly as he'd come. Sonic skirted around cars and leapt over trash cans; he swerved around signs and weaved through bollards as he switched between the road and the sidewalks.
Sonic veered around a corner that headed onto a quieter street, now moving out of the central business district and into the inner city. This particular street was lined only on the left with mostly convenience stores rather than diners or boutiques. On the right was a stone wall, and in some areas where light was lower, graffiti could be found painted onto the stone. Sonic slowed his pace ever so slightly, continuing down the line of idle shops. He dodged some parked cars, springing over, sliding under or twisting past them, until he started running back towards the central most point of Central City.
His jade green eyes scanned over the tall buildings, deciding which one would be his perch to observe the starry ether. Somehow, his eyes caught a familiar figure already resting on one of those rooftops. Sonic frantically hit the brakes, halting to a stop as he desperately looked back up to see if he'd been certain. His eyes hadn't deceived him.
Atop a tall, well-lit establishment containing a crowd of fancy diners, Shadow the Hedgehog stood with his head towards the sky. The moonlight shone down onto the ebony hedgehog at an angle, creating an ethereal white outline that quickly captured Sonic's attention. The cerulean mobian stood awestruck, his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Even in his state of pure admiration for the other, he was still oblivious to his own affections, simply writing it off as admiring the moonlight, not the one bathed in it. With Shadow faced away from Sonic and the moon directly in line with his form, it cast a shadow that obscured his features, the recognisable outline of his upturned quills being the thing that identified the mobian as Shadow. The view of his dark silhouette against the celestial body perfectly displayed the loner's mysteriousness, which only served to make Sonic's heart drum louder and louder, banging against his chest so hard it hurt.
Sonic gripped his peach chest and took a deep breath, thinking the run was the cause for his accelerated heartbeat. It didn't take much deliberating for Sonic to decide to join Shadow up on the rooftop, quickly zipping over to the opposite side of the street and hopping up onto a sign, then maneuvering up onto terracotta roofs. He scaled the side of the establishment and spun himself up to land on the rooftop a few metres from Shadow.
When he stood up, he was met with a piercing set of vermillion eyes, watching him warily. Sonic couldn't help himself from smirking as he lazily threw his arms behind his head and strolled over to the other hedgehog.
"Hey," he calmly greeted, walking up next to Shadow, who kept his eyes trained on Sonic.
Sonic brought his arms down and rested them against the railing, his eyes leaving Shadow to gaze down at the bustle of citizens far below. The view of the city was even more breathtaking from up here and the mystical, relaxed vibe was more present when Sonic wasn't submerged in the chaos of cars driving past and loud dialogue heard from every angle. Now that the volume of the city was taken down a notch, he could hear the quiet ambience of night - not dead silence, but a quiet rhythm of nature. It merged with the background voices, car engines and dishes clinking in the diner below them to create a soft melody of sorts.
Though the icy winds blew right through Sonic causing him to shudder, tonight was a gorgeous night that he wanted to soak up. What better way to take in the beauty of Central City and the sky above then with Shadow?
Said hedgehog grumbled which brought Sonic's attention back to him. Sonic took note of the red plaid scarf with black tassels that adorned Shadow's neck, which he instantly recognised as Tails' gift.
Sonic grinned, but before he could mention it, Shadow murmured, "What are you doing here?"
Sonic's eyes travelled up from Shadow's scarf to his eyes, "Nice to see you like Tails' gift."
Shadow's eyebrows furrowed, irritated at his question being dismissed by Sonic, "Answer the question."
Sonic shrugged and giggled at Shadow's trademark scowl, "Just come here to enjoy the night. Saw you were too, so I thought I'd join you."
Shadow turned away from Sonic to continue staring up at the Moon, sending the blue hedgehog into a trance as that elegant glow wrapped itself around Shadow's figure. Sonic found himself unable to look at the planet behind Shadow, his eyes locked on the onyx fur that seemed to glimmer and sparkle under the natural light. He caught himself staring before Shadow did thankfully, clearing his throat and opting to look back down at the streets.
The cold metal of the railing stung Sonic's beige arms as he leaned forward to observe the scene beneath them. Sonic rubbed his gloved hands over his arms and shivered slightly, finding the cold a good excuse to end the silence between Shadow and himself.
"It's cold tonight, huh?" He chuckled.
Shadow brought his gaze back down to Sonic, blinking a few times before responding with a simple, "Yes, it is."
Sonic internally groaned at Shadow's inability to engage in small talk, as he scoured his mind for topics to bring up. When he couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't result in Shadow running off, the black hedgehog himself spoke up, much to Sonic's relief.
"Today is Moon Day."
Sonic raised an eyebrow at Shadow in confusion, "Moon Day? What's that?"
Shadow copied Sonic and leaned his arms on the railing, his gaze fixed ahead, "It marks the anniversary of the first Moon landing."
"Oh," Sonic hummed, "So that's why you're here tonight?"
Shadow shook his head, "It's just a coincidence."
Sonic's eyes darted from Shadow to the Moon that hung in the sky just above him. Rays of light radiated off its surface, sending streaks of soft gold through the stretching expanse that was the void of space. The patterns of stars could be seen clearer from up here, constellations decorating the inky black sky. Sonic couldn't stop the fond smile that forced its way onto his face. Space was a stunning view from down on Earth, much more glamourous than it was to be amongst those stars. Sonic would know, he'd been up there before and it didn't have the same perspective of the stars. Most of what he saw was a void of darkness. Though he couldn't say he had a lot of experience with space, he did know someone who did.
"The Moon looks like it's full," Sonic muttered, his eyes glazing over the surface of the textured sphere.
Shadow shook his head once more, "It's not completely full tonight, almost, but not totally. Tonight it's a waxing gibbous."
Sonic eyed Shadow curiously as he kept going, "Tomorrow night it'll be full. It's currently 97.68% visible, I checked online."
Sonic laughed quietly, earning a glare from Shadow, "I'm not making fun of you! I just think it's cute you're so knowledgeable about this."
Sonic smirked as Shadow gritted his teeth and snarled, "Who are you calling cute?"
Sonic brought his hands up to rest his chin on and smiled apologetically, afraid to provoke Shadow into a fight, or worse; cause him to run off.
"Fine, I'm sorry," Sonic let out one more chuckle before returning to silence.
The frigid winter breeze returned again, blowing against the hedgehogs' fur harshly, causing both to shiver slightly. Shadow's scarf softly blew in the wind, lightly brushing Sonic's arm and the blue hero swore he caught a whiff of lavender. Sonic's curiosity came back to him as he glanced away from the hustle and bustle down in the streets, that he was slowly but surely drowning out, as thoughts of Shadow's deep voice circled his mind.
"So, what else do you know about space?" Sonic decided to test the waters, slowly shuffling closer to Shadow.
The ebony watched him but made no move to put distance between them.
He only sighed and murmured, "A few useless facts. Maria was mostly interested in Earth, as she'd grown up in space."
Sonic listened as Shadow hesitated to say the name of his late best friend, his head turning to the side uncomfortably. Hoping to make Shadow feel less trapped by eye contact, Sonic stood up straight and gripped the railing with his hands, looking above Shadow up at the Moon once more. It seemed he'd hit a dead end in the conversation and treaded into territory that made Shadow upset. He considered turning away to leave, as much as it pained him to do so, which he decided he was not going to unpack right now.
Relief swarmed in Sonic's heart as he heard Shadow's muffled voice through the scarf, "It takes Neptune 165 years to orbit around the Sun, meaning it's only completed one orbit since we first discovered it."
Sonic's ears pricked up. Really? It took Earth 365 days to go around the Sun once, but for Neptune it was 165 years? Suppose that made sense, considering it was the furthest from the Sun in the solar system.
Sonic grinned and leaned back against the railing, completely numb to the cold metal now.
"Really? You'd be dead before you turn 1," he chuckled at his own joke, his emerald eyes searching for any hurt or discomfort in Shadow's ruby eyes.
He saw none of that, which caused Sonic's smile to widen. He stayed silent, waiting for what else Shadow had to say.
"Venus spins in the opposite direction to all the other planets in the solar system," Shadow's gaze lingered down at the streets below as people began to exit the diner they sat on the rooftop of.
Sonic could hear the drunken laughing and the wheels of taxis pulling up to park outside the restaurant. He heard the sounds of talking and laughing begin to stir louder than it had been before, causing the both to break focus. It was then when Sonic realised just how close to Shadow he was. Their elbows were nearly touching. Sonic's eyes froze at the blue fur almost grazing black fur.
Shadow cleared his throat, "There's a star in the universe called UY Scuti, known as a hypergiant star. It's said to be able to fit 5 billion of our Suns in it. It's also 300,000 times brighter than our Sun."
Shadow glanced over at Sonic, who had a soft smile on his face.
"Yikes, that thing must be huge," Sonic was unable to comment further as Shadow nodded and kept speaking.
"It's estimated that if it replaced our Sun, its outer edge would sit beyond Jupiter's orbit."
Sonic chuckled nervously, "So we'd be..?"
"Sucked in instantly," Shadow concluded.
Yikes.
Sonic had occasionally contemplated how impossibly lucky it was that they were on Earth, a perfect planet to sustain life. He often wondered why things were the way they were, but would leave those thoughts behind, concluding that he'd been given life and he was going to use it to protect others. To save others.
As Shadow kept rambling about space, Sonic couldn't help but keep his gaze fixed on Shadow. Despite a noisy party having just left the building and the flourishing city still alive as it was before, Sonic had completely drowned out all of the other sounds. All he heard was Shadow's voice, all he saw was Shadow's black fur and his crimson streaks. All he could smell was lavender and coffee, the scent of fuel and other smells of food that wafted out of bakeries and restaurants had been long forgotten.
He'd come up here to admire the view of the night sky, but now he was preferring this view instead. He wondered if this is what Shadow always felt like, standing still and listening to the other talk. It was quite nice for Shadow to be the one doing the talking instead of Sonic. He tried to focus on the facts Shadow was telling him, but he was more focused on the way Shadow's scarf cutely hugged his neck and muzzle, or how his ears regularly flickered every few sentences.
Sonic once again became aware of the loud thundering in his chest. His heart hammered against his rib cage and he held his breath, trying to get ahold of himself. What was wrong with him? It definitely wasn't running. Sonic found himself too embarrassed to look at Shadow directly, so he lowered his head and gazed at the other's gloves. The azure hedgehog admired the way Shadow's inhibitor rings glistened, alluding to the immense power they held back. The same golden glow reminded Sonic of Shadow's super form and in that instant he was immediately transported back to the final fight outside Space Colony ARK. The first time he had witnessed Super Shadow in all his golden glory.
Sonic's cheeks burned up and he placed the backs of his hands against his red face. Okay, seriously now, what was wrong with him?
When he placed his hands back on the railing, he accidentally placed his hands a bit too close to Shadow's hands, as his gloved fingertips gently brushed the white fabric. The movement cut Shadow off immediately, the ebony hedgehog glancing down at their joined hands. Sonic froze.
Until he quickly yanked his hand away, admittedly a bit too dramatic. It wasn't necessarily a big deal, yet Sonic couldn't understand for the life of him why he'd overdone it.
"Sorry! You were saying?" Sonic sputtered.
Shadow just stared dumbfounded when Sonic's brain started working again. For the most part. Sonic realised how cold Shadow's hand had felt and he was quick to grab Shadow's hand, despite freaking out over the slight graze before.
"Holy heck, dude, your hands are like ice!" Sonic wrapped both his hands around Shadow's hand, to which Shadow stepped back a bit.
All the ebony could muster was, "They're not that cold."
Sonic brought one of his hands away from Shadow's, holding it out expectantly.
He stared flatly at Shadow, as the raven hedgehog frowned, "Sonic, I'm fine."
Silence followed and doubt started to seep into Sonic's mind, but he decided to just roll with whatever he was doing. When Shadow finally rolled his eyes and grunted, he held out his other hand for Sonic to take. The hero held both of Shadow's hands in his own, a slight pink blush threatening to take over Sonic's face as he rubbed his hands over Shadow's hands, creating friction. Not only was he warming up Shadow's hands, but his own as well. Sonic sped up, causing more heat and friction, chuckling as Shadow just grumbled.
When Sonic finally let go of Shadow's hands, Shadow stepped forward and cupped his face, earning a surprised gasp from the blue hedgehog.
"There, are they warm enough now?"
Sonic wished Shadow wasn't wearing that scarf, so he could see if the dark hedgehog was smiling or if he'd smiled at all during their interaction. Or rather, he wished they were sharing it, then that way they'd both be a bit warmer. Perhaps if Sonic had been braver, he'd have asked Shadow. But some sort of nervousness that wasn't present around Shadow before, had a tight grip on Sonic now.
Without thinking, Sonic brought up his hands to hold Shadow's hands that were still cupping his cheeks.
Sonic chuckled through his ridiculously big grin, "Much warmer."
Shadow withdrew his hands from Sonic's face, watching as Sonic's hands followed them. Their hands remained in contact for only a few seconds more, before Shadow snatched his hands away to set back on the railing. Sonic wished then that he could read minds. Sonic followed suit, leaning against the railing as he had been before. As silence filled the air, Sonic wondered if he'd taken things too far. Had he been a bit too friendly? He squinted his eyes shut as more and more questions filled his head.
He was sick of this unknown fear that kept plaguing his mind, so he decided to be upfront, as he usually was.
He turned to look into that familiar pair of ruby eyes, "Shadow..."
But his voice failed him. He wasn't even sure of what he was going to ask. It was as though deep down he knew what he wanted to, no, needed to ask, but he hadn't come to the realisation yet. So he decided it would be best to head off and leave Shadow be, as he interpreted Shadow's retreat as the other wanting space.
Crimson eyes were fixed on Sonic, though they held no anger or irritation.
"I'm going to head off. It was nice seeing you," Sonic gave the other hedgehog his signature wide grin, the soft smile he'd had before no longer there.
Whatever Sonic's demeanour had softened into when he'd been quiet and just watching Shadow and listening to him, it was replaced in an instant by Sonic's usual cocky attitude. Sonic's peaceful tone was quickly discarded as he hopped up onto the railing, waved a final goodbye to Shadow and hurriedly took off.
The onyx hedgehog watched as in seconds Sonic had returned to his loud self and disappeared. He looked down at his hands as the cold slowly seeped into them again. He would never have thought he'd miss Sonic, but he couldn't stop himself from sighing in disappointment and craving the warmth of Sonic's hands that was no longer there.