Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shadow was pissed off.

Well, that was a light way of putting it. He was always kind of pissed off. No, what he was right now was angry, livid, furious, enraged… so much so, that it took every ounce of his willpower to not slam the door behind him so hard that it splintered the doorframe and follow it up with a fist through his wall. Because while such an action would bring temporary reprieve, it wouldn’t solve his emergent problem, the predicament which sent his mood into the darkest depths of hell.

His precious, beloved motorcycle was completely and utterly wrecked.

And he wasn’t talking about something minor like a scratch on the paint job or a flat tire, or even one of the mirrors popping off. No, his motorcycle was currently a pile of scrap and rubble that was probably still smoldering since he didn’t have the heart or energy to retrieve it from its resting place. Partially because he didn’t think he could stomach the sight of its carcass, and even if he did, he had no idea how to fix it. Such a feat was likely impossible.

The most feasible solution was to buy a new one… except for the fact that it wasn’t actually a feasible solution at all. You see, G.U.N. wasn’t exactly filling his pockets past what was minimum wage, and even though he didn’t spend a whole lot of cash, it didn’t mean that he had enough lying around to buy a brand-new bike at full price. Car insurance companies, for whatever reason, weren’t exactly keen on selling policies to hybrid mutant hedgehogs who partook in high-risk missions with their motorcycles at least once a week. Who would have thought.

He’d have to start saving money, and maybe file a case with G.U.N. in a lame, last-ditch effort to have them cover at least part of the expenses. The incident had happened on company time, after all, and even though they were stingy as all hell, it was worth a shot.

But until then, he needed to cool off some steam, and preferably in a way that wouldn’t leave a giant mess for him to clean up later. His eyes catching the pile of mail on his countertop in his small, makeshift kitchen, he sifted through it with stiff fingers. It was all junk. And so, finding a suitable outlet for his frustration, he began tearing the paper to shreds, creating a small, neat pile of confetti on the counter.

He was so fixated on ripping apart his mail into jagged, methodical strips, that he didn’t even notice Rouge lounging on the couch, at least, not until she interrupted his controlled destruction by calling out to him across the room. “Well now, throwing tantrums, are we?”

Shadow snarled, baring his fangs at her. He didn’t even bother asking her how she got into his place, nor how long she had been waiting for him. He wasn’t even startled by her presence; this happened more frequently than he thought was socially acceptable. However, no matter how many times he told her that it wasn’t super appropriate to trespass on other’s property, especially raid said owner’s fridge and help herself to a little snack in his absence, his complaints seemed to always fall on deaf ears.  “Now’s not really the time, Rouge.”

She laughed at him as she pushed herself up and off the couch, completely unfazed by his threatening demeanor. “When is it ever the time with you, hm Shadow?”

The answer, of course, was never. But it was also important to note that right now especially was not really the time.

Taking a deep breath in through his nose and exhaling through his mouth, Shadow made a pitiful attempt to curb his rage. It only marginally helped.  He knew that no matter how angry he got, Rouge wouldn’t leave him alone until she got what she wanted; the path of least resistance would be to entertain her wiles for a short bit, and then go outside and punch some rocks or something when she left. “What do you want, Rouge. Why are you here.”

His acquiescence brought her a great deal of joy, if the way that her face lit up was any indication. “Why, I’m so glad you asked, Shadow!” she exclaimed, completely ignoring the blatant transparency that he was just trying to get her to leave faster. “I need to ask of you a favor.”

“I’m not giving you my Chaos Emerald.” He paused. “And I’m not helping you find one, either.”

“You’re no fun,” she faux pouted. “Some friend you are.”

He was really not in the mood for her banter right now, or to contemplate whether or not he was friends with Rouge or just coworkers. The line could get a bit fuzzy at times. “Get to the point, or get out.”

“Feeling sassy today, are we?” she asked, knowing full well that Shadow’s mood was so far beyond sassy, it wasn’t even funny. “Very well, I’ll cut to the chase. I would like you to come to a party with me.”

If Shadow had a sense of humor, he would have laughed. However, he didn’t, so he simply pinned her with an unamused expression. “A party,” he repeated, dumbfounded. She had to be joking. He wasn’t sure what the punchline here was, but there was no way that this was a serious request.

She nodded expectantly, and Shadow realized that she was unfortunately being completely serious.

“Absolutely not.”

“Oh come on, Shadow,” Rouge protested, her wings fluttering in indignation as she floated up off the ground for a brief moment before dropping back down. It was one of her little quirks Shadow had noticed, a giveaway that she was feeling very passionate about something. Which apparently, was him going with her to a party for whatever goddamn reason. “What do you mean no, you didn’t even consider it!”

Shadow huffed, finishing tearing up the mail he had been holding and discarding it altogether into the trashcan by his feet. Maybe he would spare his fists from punching rocks and light the remains of his mail on fire instead. “I don’t need to consider it. I’m not going to any parties with you. And now, if you won’t mind seeing yourself out—”

“You crashed your motorbike today, didn’t you,” she interrupted, leaning forward.

Shadow froze, his eyes flitting to meet her in accusation.

Rouge naturally took it in stride. “Oh please, I know everything. There are very few things that happen at G.U.N. that slip past my radar. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to you.”

She had a point. But still, Shadow wasn’t entirely sure why she felt the need to bring it up and rub his misfortune in his face. “Why are you bringing this up, Rouge.”

“The point is, you help me, I’ll help you. Come to this party with me, and I’ll buy you a new motorbike.”

Shadow stared at her. What kind of a deal was that? He might hate being around other people, but even he could realize the imbalance of what was being offered. “Just one party? You’re kidding.”

Rouge smirked. “Now that’s not really a fair trade, is it? No, to pay off something like this, I think it would be more appropriate for you to come with me to, oh, I don’t know, let’s say five parties.”

Shadow stare somehow became more incredulous. Fi—five parties?! Did Rouge even know who she was talking to right now? On Shadow’s list of things he hated doing, and keep in mind that it was a very long list, going to social gatherings of any kind, especially parties, had to be sitting at the top. Shadow didn’t do parties.

“No way in hell,” was his blunt response, and quite frankly, that was him being nice about it.

Rouge, unfortunately for him, wasn’t giving up so easily. “Listen to me, Shadow, a brand-new motorbike. Exactly like the one you wrecked. I’ll let you come pick it out with me, so that you know that I’m not trying to scam you. Please, at least consider it?” Her explanation was hasty and laced with desperation, so much so that Shadow had to wonder what the underlying cause of this strange request was.

He crossed his arms, looking down at her over the tip of his nose. “Why does this damn party matter so much to you anyways? I thought you hated hanging out with those hooligans.” Hooligans, of course, was Rouge’s choice words of referring to them— the group of friends that hung around Sonic. If it were up to Shadow, he would call them something a little more insulting, like fools, or perhaps more apt, losers.

“People change, what can I say?”

Shadow didn’t buy it for a second. “It’s that dumb echidna, isn’t it,” he stated. When Rouge didn’t deny it, looking more guilty than that time he had woken up in the middle of the night to find her rifling through his bedside stand looking for his Chaos Emerald, Shadow sniffed in repugnance. “No offense, Rouge, but I kind of fail to see why you need to drag me into this. Or how you expect me to help at all with this.” The implication was blatant; Shadow was an abrasive, difficult person. If anything, he would place Rouge farther away from her goals of, well, whatever it was that she wanted out of Knuckles.

“Don’t worry about helping. I just need someone to go with me for a little while, until, you know….”

Shadow raised an eyebrow. “No, I actually don’t know.”

“And you don’t need to know,” she snipped, before muttering under her breath something that suspiciously sounded like not that you would know what a relationship is, anyways. “Moving on, do we have a deal or not?”

Shadow searched her gaze for a moment, looking for any signs of deception. Rouge was a master at manipulation and hiding her true emotions, but to his surprise, he found nothing but genuity and desperation. It was an odd thing to see in her usually poised demeanor, she rarely was so open and vulnerable like this. “And in exchange for going to five of these with you, you’re going to buy me a new motorbike?”

Rouge nodded. “Precisely. Goodness, Shadow, you catch on fast.”

Ignoring the playful jab, Shadow took a moment to think, his brows knitting in contemplation as he turned from Rouge to study the wall. It was certainly a tempting offer, given that not only did he not have the funds to purchase a replacement motorcycle in the present moment, but he was unsure if he would ever have the money, not for a long while at least. There were very few things that brought Shadow genuine joy in life, and his deceased bike had been one of them. That, and beating up Sonic whenever the opportunity arose, but that was inconsequential and also very obvious. 

The point was, Rouge could afford it, she was offering, and Shadow’s claws already itched around phantom handles that he knew no longer existed. And so, leveling a steady glare at his maybe coworker, maybe friend, he asked: “What’s the catch.”

Rouge tried and failed to hide the relief on her face that Shadow hadn’t outright rejected her yet. “There is no catch. I tell you when there’s a party, and you come with me. Five times. Oh, and you have to play nice. No sabotaging this for me with all of your usual doom and gloom. I’m going to need to you pretend like you actually want to be there and are enjoying yourself, which also means that you can’t tell anyone about our little deal. As far as everyone is concerned, you chose to go, no bribery involved.”

Shadow let out a gruff hum. It seemed straight forward enough, other than the bit about him having to be nice. He wasn’t even sure if he was capable of such a thing. However, a new motorcycle was a new motorcycle, and the conditions of this deal were so heavily steeped in his favor, it was impossible to argue that Rouge wasn’t being ripped off. And so, without placing too much more thought into it, since the silence that had elapsed while he stopped to think had extended into the realm of uncomfortable, he shook her hand, sealing their deal and his own miserable fate.

He didn't comment on the sigh of repose she let out as she pulled her hand back and balanced it on her hip. “That was binding, you know,” she informed him bluntly, pointing a finger towards his chest. “So no backing out now!”

“I could say the same to you,” Shadow retorted. “You better give me a motorcycle at the end of this, or you will regret ever setting foot in here.”

Rouge smirked at him as she sauntered past, heading towards the door much to Shadow’s begrudging delight. “You wound me, Shadow. When have I ever not held up my end of the deal?”

His eye twitched as he glared daggers at her retreating figure. “Enough times that I wouldn’t be surprised if the amount you haven’t would be greater than the amount that you have,” he growled in response.

“Hm, well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see then, isn’t that right?” she teased, and Shadow was about to extend a rather potent threat towards her when she continued talking, opening the door to exit as she did so. “Stay tuned, I’ll let you know when the first party is. It shouldn’t be too long from now.” And with that, nothing more than a sarcastic kiss blown in his direction, Rouge departed, leaving Shadow blissfully alone.

Alone and with his thoughts. And boy oh boy, his first, immediate thought was what the hell did I just agree to? And then, noticing his leftover snacks that Rouge had left on his coffee table, his second thought was did she just eat the rest of my artichoke dip?!

The answer, unfortunately for Shadow, was yes, she had finished off the rest of his artichoke dip. Which was not only beyond messed up, but also deeply infuriating. Oh well. He could just add it to the list of grievances he had about that day; at this point, he was numb to the onslaught of misfortune.

He felt his heart twist as he relived the scene of his motorcycle’s final moments, the memory leaping unbidden to the forefront of his mind. It had been an appalling sequence of events. During his mission, a part from one of the robots he had blown up with a gun had become wedged in his front wheel, the impact causing the wheel to lock and the whole vehicle to start sliding uncontrollably. With a horde of more bots in front of him waiting for him to get within range to begin firing, and with not enough control over his bike to properly aim, Shadow had made an instinctual decision to abandon ship. Leaping from the motorcycle and allowing it to collide with the waiting robots, it had taken them out with a glorious explosion that was filled with both beauty and anguish.

It was a worthy death, but still terribly upsetting. Rouge’s deal, though, held some promise, and it was this mere inkling of hope that prevented him from removing his inhibitor rings and bringing down everything in a two-mile radius with a potent burst of Chaos Energy. Five parties, in exchange for a replacement bike. How difficult could that possibly be?

And yet, as he gathered his trash to take outside to burn, he couldn’t help but think that this whole debacle was about to be, in fact, very, very difficult.  

Chapter Text

Exactly two weeks later (or, as Shadow liked to refer to it as, two weeks since The Accident), he found himself walking up to a laser tag arcade next to Rouge, a scowl on his face and a grin on hers. She had texted him that morning while he was in the middle of a mission informing him that it was time to make good on their deal, and it had taken Shadow a few seconds to remember what the hell she had been talking about. She hadn’t told him any details, just the time that she would be swinging by his place to walk over with him. And so, in between punching a Badnik in the face and nearly being shot through the abdomen with a bullet, he replied with a contrite, 'Fine.'

He should have assumed it would be something idiotic when she had arrived at his doorstep with a present wrapped in a loud gift wrap. His lips pressed in a thin line of displeasure, he gave Rouge a flat look.

“It’s for Cream’s birthday party,” she explained once she noticed the quizzical scrutiny Shadow extended the present. “I got an invite and need you to come with me.”

Shadow’s ear flicked. “Well, I didn’t get an invite.” It was his not-so-subtle way of trying to weasel his way out of going. Even though he still intended on fulfilling his five-party quota, he wasn’t particularly keen about it. 

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t really work in his favor. “Oh, don’t worry about that, I already asked if I could bring a plus-one,” Rouge preened. “Now let’s get moving, or we’re going to be late!”

Shadow was completely fine with that outcome. He was completely fine being so late that they missed the party all together. However, missing the party wasn’t going to earn him a motorcycle, and so with a great deal of reluctance, he obliged Rouge’s request.

The crushing reality of what he had unwittingly agreed to, however, didn’t truly dawn on him until they stepped foot into the venue. Screaming kids were everywhere, no taller than his knees and somehow louder than anything he had heard before in his life. There were some tired parents attempting to corral them as they climbed over the arcade area that made up the lobby of the place, but it was a futile effort. The whole scene looked like a warzone, a comparison that wasn’t made by Shadow lightly.

His eye twitched. “You know, Rouge, when you said that you wanted me to come with you to parties, I kind of imagined something a little more...” Shadow paused as a group of shrieking children ran right in front of them, nearly stomping on his shoes in the process. His lips quirking downward in disdain, he shot Rouge a dirty glance. “… refined.”

Rouge merely laughed. “What did you expect, a fancy cocktail dinner with evening gowns and suits?”

“What I wasn’t expecting was a children’s birthday party.” Shadow stepped over two kids wrestling each other on the floor, his ears flicking in annoyance at their shrill screams as they grappled with each other. “You can’t even call me crazy for saying that.”

“A party is a party, what can I say?”

“It wouldn’t kill you to give me more of a heads up.”

“Aw, and where’s the fun in that?”

Shadow grimaced as Rouge led him to one of the party rooms on the side, not even bothering to hide the derision plastered across his face. The deal never mentioned smiling or looking happy.

This was a small price to pay for a new motorcycle, after all. He just had to go in there, be somewhat tolerable (in essence, not be a complete asshole), play some laser tag, pretend to eat some cake, and then leave. That was it, that was all he had to do. Hell, his G.U.N mission that morning had been more difficult. If he could take on upwards of fifty of Eggman’s robots single-handedly with nothing more than a scratch on his body, he could suffer through a few hours of painful socialization.

At least that’s what he told himself, until he walked in, locked eyes with Sonic, and decided that nope. He couldn’t do this. Or rather, he didn’t want to do this.

“I’m outta here,” he murmured to Rouge in a voice so low, he knew only her attuned ears would be able to hear him.

However, before he was able to leave, his body just barely turning away from the ragtag conglomerate one could maybe call a birthday party, Rouge’s hand clamped on his upper arm. “Oh no you aren’t,” she hissed back, her voice equally as quiet. “They already saw you, it would be weird if you left now!”

“It’s already weird that I’m here,” Shadow retorted. The mildly uncomfortable side-eye that Charmy and Vector gave him was more than enough proof that his presence was not only unexpected, but also unwelcome.

“The only one making it weird right now is you.”

“That’s a blatant lie and you know it.” Shadow kept his gaze pointed deliberately away from the crowd of people he could barely call acquaintances, determined not to make awkward eye contact with anyone else.

“Now when have I ever lied to you?”

“I can think of several times, actually. And if you were to give me a minute, I could probably come up with several more.”

“Not important.” Rouge waved her hand, dispersing the line of conversation as if it were a pesky fly buzzing around her head. “Anyways chin up, sweetheart, because Sonic is walking over here right now.”

“What?”

Shadow snapped his head up just in time to see none other than Sonic approaching them, close enough that he could feel his last sliver of a chance for escape scurry away from him. Well, that is, his last chance of escaping politely, he could always just walk away from Sonic mid-conversation. The idea was certainly tempting.

But no, he was determined to play nice, because the idea of Rouge buying him a brand-new motorcycle was even more tempting. And so, gritting his teeth and stiffening his spine, he sat there with as much restraint he could muster as Sonic stopped in front of them, posturing a gloved hand on his hip.

“Heya Rouge! And, um,” Sonic coughed uneasily into his other hand, “Shadow. Fancy, uh, fancy seeing you here.”

Completely ignoring the change of tone when he addressed Shadow, Rouge shot Sonic a beam and a little twirl of her fingers in a flirty wave. “Well hello there, Blue.”

Shadow said nothing and only offered him a potent, malicious glare.

Sonic took the scathing silence in stride, clearly expecting it. “You know, Rouge, when you said that you were bringing a plus one, I kinda assumed it would be Omega, or Doctor Eggman, or literally anybody else.” Sonic extended Shadow a lopsided, apologetic grin. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Rouge smoothly intercepted before Shadow could assert that he was, in fact, offended. Doctor Eggman as Rouge’s plus one, before him? Now that was actually the most insulting thing he had heard all week, and that was even with Rouge dragging him to this braindead thing in the first place. “Now, where can we put down our gift?”

Sonic shoved his thumb over his shoulder with an edge of flair. Every action of his was so energetic, so zippy and full of life, and Shadow hated it with every fiber of his being.  “Gifts are on the table by the cake. But I would hurry if I were you, we’re about to go play our first round of laser tag!”

Rouge thanked him, and Shadow simply walked past him, his façade of politeness wearing thin after the approximately thirty-eight seconds the conversation took. But for once, his irritation wasn’t directed towards his rival, but rather, Rouge.

He waited until they were at the table with gifts, far enough out of earshot from the rest of the party, to round on her with a low hiss. “You didn’t tell them I was coming?!”

Rouge shrugged. “It seemed like an unimportant detail.”

Glancing to his right, he locked eyes with Silver and Blaze, who after being caught staring at him openly, turned to each other and started speaking quietly. With a scowl on his face, he pivoted back to face Rouge. “It is clearly a very important detail!”

“Relax,” she replied, “people are just surprised to see you out, is all! I mean, you aren’t exactly known for your warm, bubbly personality, and you never come to stuff like this. It’s just unusual. Anyways….” From behind her back, she produced a bright, patterned party hat, a burst of ribbons spilling out from the conical tip.  Shadow’s ears flattened in disgust as she held it out towards him, either in offering or threat, it was difficult to discern. “It isn’t a birthday without party hats!”

Shadow’s glare shifted from the garish garment and settled on Rouge. “No.”

“Oh come on,” she pleaded with a bat of her eyelashes, “we’re at a birthday party, at least play the part!”

“Literally no one else is wearing one of those.”

“Sonic is.”

“Well, Sonic’s an idiot.”

“Cream has one on as well.”

“She’s a child, and the birthday girl.”

Rouge let out a suffering sigh. “Listen, Shadow, just put the hat on, or….” She paused, a grin lighting up her face as something evidently occurred to her. “Or this party won’t count towards me buying you a new motorcycle.”

It took every ounce of Shadow’s willpower not to snarl at her. “That was never a part of the deal,” he growled.

“It is now!” Rouge practically sang back at him, dangling the hat in front of him in enticement. Except he wasn’t enticed. He was repulsed.

Shadow fell silent, two sides of him engaged in an intense war—one that wanted a new motorcycle, and one that was interested in self-preservation. After a long, drawn-out moment of deliberation, he grabbed the hat out of Rouge’s hands, glaring at her as he strapped it on. Sometimes, he desperately wished that his powers as the Ultimate Lifeform included the ability to kill someone with just one look, however, despite his best attempts, Rouge still stood in front of him very much alive with a devilish smirk on her lips.

“I despise you.”

“I know you do.”

Shadow tugged at the elastic strap choking at his neck, loathing the way it dug into his skin. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say that this was a humiliation ritual.”

“Well of course it is, silly,” Rouge laughed. “Under what other circumstances would I buy you a new motorcycle?”

Shadow had a very strong desire to unleash a string of curse words upon her, none of which were appropriate for the birthday party of a literal child. However, before he had the chance to cuss Rouge out, because he ultimately didn’t really care that he was at the birthday party for a literal child, Rouge beckoned for him to follow her.

“Come on,” she called over her shoulder as she sauntered away, “we’re going to miss the laser tag!”

Shadow was completely fine with that outcome. He was also completely fine with taking off his hat, dropping it on the ground, and walking out the way he came.

But he didn’t, because a replacement motorbike was on the line. So, with his arms crossed and his brow furled in displeasure, he diligently followed Rouge a few paces behind, allowing himself to be swept up in the current of people making their way towards the briefing room.

The walls were lined with blinking vests and guns. As everyone filtered in and started to gear up, a teenage employee standing next to the entryway into the arena began to recite the rules of the game. His voice cracked several times, and it was very noticeable.

“No crouching, crawling, or lying down,” he stated, eyes glued to the script that he held, “no physical contact with other players….”

Tuning it out and rolling his eyes at the entire scenario as he selected a vest next to Rouge, Shadow pulled it over his head and hefted up the gun into his hands. It was light—nothing like the real ones he fired on a daily basis, and as he aimed towards the opposing wall and tested the sights, he was dismayed to find that it was off significantly to the left.

Grumbling to himself about the cheapness of the weapon he held, he was interrupted by a light tapping on his thigh and a small voice that came from his elbow. “Mister Shadow?”

Shadow paused his practice with the gun, glancing down to see, to his great surprise, Cream looking up at him. Unlike the rest of the guests at her party, she didn’t seem at all intimidated or bothered by his presence.

Taking his bewildered silence as an invitation to continue, Cream smiled at him. “Thank you for coming to my birthday party.”

Shadow blinked. He… he didn’t really know how to respond to that. Especially when the truth was, he didn’t want to be here at all. However, digging deep within his core to muster up a speck of cordiality, he managed out a choppy response. “Um, yeah,” he mumbled. “No problem.”

Still smiling at him, Cream seemed satisfied with his answer, for she turned on her heel and skipped away. Before Shadow could dwell on the interaction too much, though, the employee finished his butchered incantation of the rules and let them into the arena to begin the match.

The one good thing about playing laser tag, other than the obvious drawbacks, was that it required minimal socializing from Shadow. If anything, pretending that he wasn’t at a birthday party he wasn’t technically invited to with a bunch of people he hardly knew and instead on a mission for G.U.N. was a huge relief. Chaos knew that the scenario he fantasized he was in was preferable to his deplorable reality.

All three games he won by such a statistically significant margin, it wasn’t even funny. Since after the first game, he realized that he had literally no competition from the party guests, he made it his personal goal to beat his previous scores. The only time he held back was when he saw Cream cross his path, but only because after the first game, Rouge had jabbed an elbow into his rib and told him to ease up on the birthday girl, bonehead. We want them to like us.

Well, she wanted them to like the pair. Shadow honestly couldn’t care less.

After the third game was done, everyone returned to the party room for cake. His situation came crashing down on Shadow as he trudged alongside Rouge; the unfortunate realization that after running around in the dark with a light-up toy gun, it was time to make painful, pitiful chit chat with a bunch of people at best he barely knew, and at worst, hated his guts.

This circumstance was made worse by that fact that after he sat down across from Rouge at the edge of the table, as far as possible from the center of the festivities, Sonic, for whatever damned reason, decided to sit down right next to him.

Of all the horrid, rotten luck.  

Shadow could do little more than glower into the slice of cake Rouge insisted he take, furious at the hedgehog for even having the audacity to be in his vicinity. Did the status of rivals mean nothing to him? There was probably some sort of code out there that detailed how you interact with your rival when you weren’t beating the other to a pulp. And if there was, then Sonic was definitely breaking every. Single. Rule.

“So, uh, not a big fan of vanilla cake?”

“No.”

“You prefer chocolate instead?”

“I would prefer that you stop talking.”

“Actually, Sonic,” Rouge chimed in from across the table, “Shadow’s favorite flavor of cake is strawberry.”

Sonic grinned at her, apparently taking great delight in this newfound information.

It took everything in Shadow’s power not to groan, instead choosing to desperately change the topic to something that wasn’t about his fruity preference in cake flavors. “Why are you sitting here.”

Sonic let out a nervous chuckle, and Shadow being as oblivious as he was, missed the awkward glance Sonic extended down the other end of the table where Amy sat talking to Blaze. “Trying to make small talk, of course!” Shadow was similarly clueless to the forced cheer in Sonic’s voice, chalking it up to more of his insufferable, exhausting pep.

“Lucky us,” Shadow groused as he picked at his cake, chancing a small bite. He immediately regretted it. It was altogether too sweet, almost to a sickening degree, and as a result, he went right back to swirling the colors of the frosting together to make a disgusting brown-gray slop. It was certainly more entertaining than talking to Sonic.

“Sorry about Mr. Grumpy Pants over here, Sonic,” Rouge apologized. “I promise you that he is excited to be here and having a lot of fun.”

“I’m really not,” Shadow shared, earning himself a swift kick to the shins under the table from Rouge’s pointed heel. She gave him a stern look, and rolling his eyes with great exaggeration, Shadow amended his statement to say, “I mean, I had a great time beating you all at laser tag. You all are pathetic with a gun.”  

Before Sonic had the chance to respond, Rouge interrupted them. “Hold on, you two, lean in together. I need to capture this moment.”

Looking up in confusion, Shadow’s eyes widened to find that Rouge was holding a digital camera—from where she had gotten it, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. And before he could say or do anything, Rouge snapped a photo of him and Sonic, the latter saying “Cheese!” and leaning in far too close to Shadow with a jaunty peace sign smushed up against his face.

He shoved Sonic away with his shoulder, but the damage was already done. “Rouge,” he seethed, fully prepared to lunge across the table, snatch her camera out of her smug fingers, and smash it to bits. “This wasn’t a part of the agreement.”

She snickered over at him. “Oh, but how else am I supposed to keep track? You know how forgetful I can be, this will just make it so much easier….”

Yep. Shadow was going to kill her.

However, before he could make good on his attempt to jump across the table and throttle her with one hand and crush the camera with his fist in the other, it was announced that it was time for Cream to open her presents.

It was a welcome change of pace, because it meant that he didn’t have to make small talk with Sonic, he didn’t have to eat cake, and he didn’t have to have Rouge take any more embarrassing photos of him in his ridiculous party hat that he was still wearing, for whatever damn reason. No, he could melt into the back of the crowd as everyone focused on Cream, and that was exactly what he did.

Before too long (although for Shadow, it was actually painfully, excruciatingly long), the party was wrapping up, the first guests beginning to take their leave. As he stood off to the side, brooding in the corner with his arms folded over his chest, he watched from afar as Rouge made the rounds, saying goodbye to everyone and chatting for a bit as people started to slowly trickle out.

She talked to everyone, that is, except for Knuckles.

It was baffling to Shadow, and just a tad bothersome. Because wasn’t the whole purpose of them being here so that she could get closer to him? How was she going to accomplish that if she didn’t even acknowledge him once?

Shadow was, in fact, so befuddled by this that as the two of them left and started walking home, he couldn’t help but ask— and by ask, that meant accuse, “What was that all about.”

Rouge looked at him innocently. “What was what all about?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” Shadow exclaimed in exasperation. “At the party. Wasn’t the whole point of you dragging me along with you so that you could talk to that red meathead?”

“Well yes, and no….”

“I don’t understand. You didn’t even speak to him once.”

Rouge gave him a knowing smirk. “Intentionally, Shadow. It’s called the long game. In essence, I’m there, and he sees me and knows that I’m there, but I don’t initiate any contact. I make him come to me.” She winked at him. “It’s really quite simple.”

To Shadow, it seemed like anything but. “You sound insane.”

“Just you wait and see, it will work. It always does.”

Shadow snorted, prepared to say something along the lines of well hopefully you can accomplish this little game in five parties, because you only have four left, and then I am literally never attending one ever again, however, cut himself as something abruptly occurred to him. Reaching his hand back into his quills, he realized that he had left his keys back in the party room.

Just great. He had to go back to that hellhole, when he had been itching to escape it from the instant he had set foot in the door. “Left my keys back there,” he explained gruffly to Rouge in response to her questioning look, his change in demeanor being painfully obvious. “Don’t wait up.”

As he turned to head back, he heard Rouge call out after him, saying “Thanks for coming, I’ll see you at the next one!” Shadow didn’t have the heart or energy to inform her that he would probably see her at work tomorrow first, and that whether or not there would be a next party for him, based on how this first one went, was highly debatable.

It only took him a few minutes to make it back to the laser tag place, and shaking his head and bracing for impact, Shadow reentered. It was just as chaotic as he had left it, and because of this, he made a beeline towards where their group had hosted the festivities to be in and out as quick as possible.

And of course, because the universe hated his guts, he walked into the party room to find Sonic as the lone occupant, cleaning up the mess that had been left behind by the birthday celebration.

Shadow held his breath. Sonic’s back was to him; he hadn’t been spotted yet. Hopefully, could just dart in, grab his keys, and then duck out without being noticed… Sonic after all, was making quite the loud ruckus tearing down the streamers, so hopefully, he wouldn’t hear Shadow walk in, pick up his keychain….

Shadow’s ears flattened as Sonic turned around at the loud jingle of his keys being retrieved. Stealth mission failed. “Oh! Shadow, hey, didn’t expect to see you here… again.” He shot him that same lopsided grin from earlier, the ease with which he was able to pull off the expression irritating Shadow to no end. “Back for more?”

His initial objective for returning was forgotten as his quills bristled, picking up on the subtle hints of a dare lacing Sonic’s tone. “Was that a challenge?”

Sonic met Shadow’s glower with a mischievous smile of his own. “Only if you think you can handle it, Faker.”

Oh yeah, that was definitely a challenge. It was honestly absurd how little Sonic had to poke and prod at him to get him to take the bait. Usually, Shadow had an aura of nonchalance and disinterest, his apathy only occasionally being mistaken for hostility. There was something about Sonic, though, that lit a fire in him, bringing out his competitive side in a way that no other could. His eyes narrowing, he stepped towards Sonic, pressing a finger up into his face. “Don’t insult me.”

Glancing between Shadow and the gloved finger that currently hovered right below his nose, Sonic smirked and casually brushed it away with a sweep of the back of his hand. “One on one, laser tag battle, right now.”

Shadow’s hands curled into fists at his side. “You’re on,” he growled.

Sonic tossed the clump of streamers he had been holding into the trash. “Cleaning up was boring anyway,” he said with a cheeky glint in his eyes. “Let's do this.”

The agreement made, the two marched over to the registration counter in embarrassing synchronization, the pimply teenager sitting behind it looking down upon them as they approached. Sonic rested a forearm on the counter, while Shadow crossed his arms and looked pointedly away. “One game for two, please.”

“Oh, um, we actually have a bit of a down time before our next party group shows up, so unless you want it to be just the two of you, I recommend that you guys maybe want to wait a bit?”

Sonic let out a smooth laugh. “Just the two of us is actually preferable, if you know what I mean.” He snuck in a sly wink to Shadow, who physically recoiled with a sneer. He didn’t truthfully know what Sonic meant, but hoped that he was implying that the privacy was good for the extent with which they were going to beat each other senseless—he couldn’t think of any other alternatives.

“Okay then,” the employee said after an awkward beat, drawing out the ‘o’ in such a way that implied that he too had no idea what Sonic meant. “One game for two, coming right up.” And with that, they were ushered into the briefing room.

As Shadow got fitted into his vest, the worker who also happened to be an acne-ridden teenager (seriously, where did they keep finding these people?) started rattling off the rules in his squeaky, voice-crack riddled voice. Which Shadow didn’t really care too much about, since as far as Sonic was concerned, there were no rules. Some whelp telling him that no physical contact was allowed was certainly not going to stop him from punching his rival in the face if the opportunity arose.

“You’re going to regret challenging me, hedgehog,” he threatened, speaking over and ignoring the worker who diligently continued to read off the script of rules in his hands. You would think that after reading the same set of rules at least twenty times a day, one would have the whole thing memorized.

Sonic quirked a brow, clearly not being bothered by the vehemence with which Shadow spoke. Probably because it was just a little humorous to him that Shadow was finding a way to turn something as silly and childish as laser tag into a serious affair. “Oh yeah? Well, you’re going to regret stepping foot back in this place, that’s for sure.” His voice sounded like he was on the verge of laughter, which made Shadow even more determined to win their match, if only to shut him up.

“First shot wins,” he deadpanned, hefting his gun up into his hands and testing the weight.

Sonic snorted. “Trying to get this over with?”

“I’d really prefer to not be stuck with you in the same room for longer than necessary,” Shadow snapped back, lifting his gun and aiming towards the opposite wall to test the sights. After a few practice shots, he was relieved to find that the calibration on this plastic gun, at least, was slightly better than the last one.

While Shadow fussed around with his gun, Sonic merely hoisted his up on his shoulder so that it was upside down and the barrel was pointing behind him. “Ouch, that’s pretty harsh.” He leaned forward, a teasing grin on his face as he lowered his eyelids in an infuriatingly cocky manner. “Good luck catching me, though.” And with that, the worker, apparently done reciting the rules like a robot, opened the door to the arena and Sonic darted into the dark, foggy room.

Right on cue, the flashing lights of his gun and vest started blinking orange, signaling the start of the thirty second countdown. Muttering a well-placed “Damn” under his breath, Shadow chased after Sonic and disappeared into the black labyrinth.

Without the screaming and commotion of a bunch of children (and by extension, the rest of the cohort he could loosely call acquaintances, though differentiating them from a group of kids was a futile effort), the arena was almost creepy. The only sound, no matter how hard he strained his ears to hear a glimpse of Sonic, was the hissing of the fog machines and the incessant, mind-numbing beeps coming from his gun as the clock continued to wind down. Soon, his shield of invincibility would run dry, and then it would be game on.

He needed to find somewhere to hide.

The arena was a two-story complex, with a maze of walls on the first floor with some outpost-like structures connected by catwalks lining the walls. Paintings in neon light glowed on the walls, and a thick layer of artificial fog clung to the ground and filled Shadow’s nose with its funky smell. It was dim, almost to the point of being untraversable, but he was the Ultimate Lifeform, and so he could easily see in the dark.

Sonic, he was nearly positive, didn’t have this same attribute.

However, not wanting to be too confident, he quickly hung a left, weaving through the labyrinth at a quick pace until he found a spot he was willing to hunker down and wait. It seemed like a decent strategy to allow for Sonic to show himself, to make a misstep and reveal his location in some brash way as he had the tendency to do.

There was a chunky chime from his gun, and the orange lights on his apparel switched to a blinking rainbow. And then, there was nothing but silence.

After a few minutes of sitting put, the familiar patter of Sonic’s footsteps failing to materialize, Shadow growled to himself. At this rate, they were going to run out of the fifteen minutes of playtime they, or rather, Sonic, had purchased. And Shadow sure as hell wasn’t going to stick around for a rematch; the fact that he even found himself in this situation in the first place was baffling.

No, he needed to go out and find Sonic himself. It was time to go on the offensive.

Carefully peeking his head out from around the corner he found himself cowering behind, Shadow checked for any signs of movements, sounds, or bright lights. Seeing nothing and painfully aware of the rainbow flashing lights his own vest and gun was emitting, he shifted his hold on his weapon and began to prowl.

However, he found himself regretting his choice to sneak around the arena a few minutes later when all of a sudden, the silence was pierced by Sonic’s boisterous laughter coming from behind him. “I found you!” he called out triumphantly as Shadow spun around with wide eyes, finding that Sonic was pointing his gun straight at him.

With a sharp intake of breath, he dropped to the ground and dove behind a wall, looking up just in time to see a series of red lasers flash above him. That had been close… too close. He was lucky Sonic was enough of a moron to loudly announce his presence with a dumb one-liner; Shadow had almost gotten taken out before he even had the chance to fire his first shot.

Not wanting to stay in place for too long— because while he only had a general idea of Sonic's whereabouts, Sonic knew exactly where he was, and that was just no good—he pushed himself to his feet and sprinted in the opposite direction, straining to keep low as he wove through the arena.

To his disdain, he was unable to truly run at full speed. His skates were more equipped for long stretches of road with gentle curves, not the tight turns and corners of the maze. And as he ran, he came to the relieving realization that Sonic was inhibited by the same thing; they were thankfully handicapped to the same degree.

He couldn’t run forever, though. Well… he could, but by his internal calculations, he only had about seven minutes left before the game would be out of time. He needed to find a way to ambush Sonic, and fast.

Taking a sharp left that took him up a ramp to a small second-story structure tucked away in the corner of the room, Shadow scaled the series of ramps and steps to the top, being cognizant of the mesh openings and windows that left him completely vulnerable to getting hit. From up here, as long as he wasn’t reckless about revealing himself, he could gain a decent vantage point of the majority of the maze.

He narrowed his eyes in focus. His vision was accustomed to the dark, but he still had to concentrate. The fog and glowing black-light paintings covering the walls in obnoxious graffiti was distracting, threatening to give him a minor headache. Straining his eyes, he was about to give up on his strategy when… there.

A flash of rainbow dashed by in his peripheral view, and it was enough to send Shadow into motion. Down the steps and ramps, onto the floor, and in a big arc around where he had seen that fleeting glimpse of Sonic. The plan wasn’t to collide with him head on, but rather to ambush him from behind. Take him out with a quick shot and then be done with this stupid challenge once and for all.

It didn’t take long, only around a minute to come across him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite able to sneak up him; Shadow had initially intended to take him out from afar, however, as Sonic heard the pounding of his footsteps and turned around, instinct took over and Shadow lunged at him as Sonic began to lift his gun.

Sonic attempted to fire at him, but the shot went wide as Shadow knocked him to the floor. The gun dislodged from Sonic's grip and went skittering away, his back hitting the ground with Shadow right on top of him. Using Sonic’s surprise and his own momentum with the tackle, he pinned him down with his knees straddling his torso and the hand not holding his gun clamping down on his collarbone, his thumb sitting on the hollow of his neck. In his other hand he held his gun, the barrel resting directly on the sensor on the shoulder of the vest. One pull of the trigger, and he would win their little battle.

Beneath him, Sonic groaned, and from the hoarseness of his voice, Shadow had a strong feeling that he had knocked the wind out of him. “Listen, dude,” he moaned, “I don’t know if you were listening to the rules, but that move definitely wasn’t allowed.”

Shadow scoffed, repositioning his gun. Beneath his thumb, he could feel the pounding of Sonic’s pulse on his neck. If he didn’t know any better, he would say that it was quickened; likely the adrenaline from the sneak attack.  “Oh please. When have we ever followed the rules.”

Sonic merely glared up at him in defiance, and in that moment, Shadow realized that he was altogether too close. Too close to his face, too close to his body, just overall, too close. This lack of space between them wasn’t entirely unusual, their frequent fights did get pretty physical after all, but in the dark, empty room of the laser tag arena, something about it felt strange, more intimate, in a way that left Shadow feeling deeply unsettled.

Sonic seemed to notice their proximity too, though instead of the petrified mortification Shadow felt creeping into his bones, he reacted a bit more cheekily. “You know, Shadow, if I had known you just wanted some alone time with me, we could have gone somewhere a bit more private.”

Shadow’s nose crinkled in shock at the forwardness of the jab, an unwanted flush coloring his cheeks. He was thankful that the arena was dark and prayed that the flashing lights illuminating his face weren’t bright enough to reveal how flustered he was.

Unable to think of anything clever or witty to say, though to be fair, snarky quips were certainly more in Sonic’s wheelhouse than his own, he grumbled a gruff “Shut up,” and leaned back so that his knees bore the brunt of his weight. Lowering his gun so that it was point-blank with Sonic’s chest, he pulled the trigger, and the lights on his vest erupted into a burst of red with the chime of the death sound ringing around them.

“Looks like I win,” Shadow stated as the lights in the arena came on in a flood of white, signaling the game to be over. His voice was tinged with an equal mix of unease and smugness… he wasn’t usually one to gloat, but there was something so thrilling, so exhilarating about his little skirmishes with Sonic that he couldn’t help himself.

Sonic, naturally, took it in stride. “Well yeah, I would have hoped that you won, aren’t guns and running around in the dark kind of your thing?”

Shadow let out a huff as he got up off of Sonic, feeling a crawling sense of urgency to put as much space between them as possible. “Just admit that you’re a loser so that we can be done with this.”

“Done with what, playing laser tag? Oh man, you really got me there, Shadow, so impressive. What’s next, are you off to go play hide and seek? Maybe duck duck go?”

Sonic rose to his full height, pinning Shadow with a playful look, and Shadow frowned at the predicament that he had unwittingly walked into. It was undeniably humiliating that he had played a two-person game of laser tag with none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. No matter how he wanted to brag and spread it around, he knew that the main takeaway wouldn’t be that he was victorious, it would be that he was goaded into playing a game meant for children. “Whatever,” he grumbled to himself. “I’m leaving.”

Before he had the chance to stomp off, because a stormy exit was the only one he was capable of, Sonic jogged in front of him to cut him off, holding out his hand. “Hey man, you know I’m just messing with you. Good game.”

Shadow looked between Sonic and his offered hand, the permanent scowl on his face being the only thing that prevented his confusion from being conveyed. What was this all about? Sonic never shook his hand— not when they raced, not when sparred... not even on the rare occasion that they found themselves on the same team during a battle.

It occurred to him that he had been staring for a beat too long when Sonic let out a pained groan. “Come on, Shadow, just take it. My arm’s getting tired.”

Begrudgingly, because any sort of physical contact with Sonic that wasn’t a punch or kick was downright unacceptable, he took the handshake. His hand was firm and warm, and Shadow tried to ignore the weird way his stomach twisted as Sonic tightened his grip on him. Maybe that single bite of Cream’s birthday cake hadn’t been such a good idea after all.

Even so, when the handshake ended, his hand felt colder and emptier than before. It was a strange feeling, and he tried not to dwell on it too much.

Sonic seemed completely oblivious to Shadow’s musings, or if he had noticed, he simply didn’t care. “See you at the next one, Shadow,” he simpered with a teasing glint in his eyes that was beginning to be just a little too familiar. “Oh, and you forgot something.”

Turning to face him and his stupid face one last time before taking his belated leave, Shadow’s glare quickly shifted into one of surprise as he saw Sonic dangling his keys in a taunting manner before tossing them to Shadow.

He caught them with ease and shoved them into his quills with a grunt, only mildly embarrassed that he had almost forgotten to grab them a second time. “There won’t be a next one, hedgehog,” he said, but both of them knew it to be a lie for entirely different reasons. 

“One more thing, Shadow,” Sonic called after him as he began to walk away. This time, he didn’t bother to turn back around, knowing that whatever it was that Sonic was about to say was going to be incredibly stupid. “Nice party hat.”

Chapter Text

For a few weeks after the laser tag incidence, Shadow was left alone.

In fact, enough time had passed since the last party, that he had almost forgotten about his deal with Rouge entirely. Sure, it occurred to him every now and then when he would get the urge to ride his motorcycle, remember its untimely demise, and then reassure himself that as long as he played along with her antics just four more times, he would be able to get a new one. Other than that, though, life went on, and before long, Cream’s birthday party became nothing more than a strange, albeit distant memory.

At least, he had mostly forgotten about it, until he got a knock on his door one Friday evening. He had just settled down with a book, planning on having a nice, peaceful night in preparation for the weekend he had ahead of him. He had been reported for a filing error, so he had to go into the office at the crack of dawn the following morning to resolve it, something he wasn’t particularly pleased about.

And opening the door to find Rouge standing there with a no-good grin on her face, Shadow’s mood went from bad to worse.

“Come on, cake pop, we’re going to a party.”

He glanced between Rouge and the setting sun behind her. A crisp breeze wafted in; as the temperature got chillier and winter approached, every evening got darker just a little earlier. Even though he could withstand frigid conditions, that didn’t mean that he particularly enjoyed it. “Now?”

Rouge huffed in exasperation, as if she wasn’t picking up Shadow along the way with no prior warning. Even though they had seen each other at work that morning and she had definitely known about it and could have definitely told him. “Yes, now, so hurry up or we’re going to be late!”

Shadow fixed her with an unamused look. “What did I tell you about giving me a head’s up?”

“This is your head’s up, now let’s get going!”

Shadow sighed. He didn’t want to go, like, at all. However, after he resolved his paperwork issue, he did have the day off tomorrow, and it’s not like he had anything else going on that could give him an excuse to get out of it… and this was an easy way to get him closer to his new motorcycle….

“Fine,” he grumbled, and Rouge looked genuinely surprised at how little of a fight he had put up. Clearly, she had expected something more, something mirroring the pushback she had faced the previous time.

Despite this, she wasn’t one to question her luck, so with a frantic gesture of a gloved hand, she beckoned Shadow to follow her. She was wearing a beanie with a little pom-pom on the top, a long puffy coat, and had a thick scarf wrapped around her neck. Shadow, in stark comparison, walked alongside her in his usual attire; it would have to get significantly colder before he even considered gearing up in winter clothes.

“The first snow is supposed to come tonight,” Rouge offered as they walked, and Shadow shrugged. “It’s going to be the perfect weather for Amy’s Christmas decorating party.”

Shadow honestly could not have cared less if he tried. However, wanting to be somewhat educated about what exactly he was walking into, he decided to tepidly ask, “And what exactly does a Christmas-decorating party entail?”

Rouge did a very poor job of hiding her thrill at Shadow’s apparent engagement, which caused him to almost instantly regret saying anything. “Why Shadow, I’m so glad you asked!” she purred. “It’s a gathering Amy has been hosting for years. We’re going to hang up lights, decorate her Christmas tree, frost some cookies, and then—” she abruptly cut herself off, the words transitioning into a mischievous smirk.

Shadow sniffed, somehow completely oblivious to the way that Rouge had trailed off and missing the conspiring side-eye she gave him. “Sounds horrible,” he commented, though to be quite honest, it did seem to be a large improvement to the laser tag birthday party he had been dragged along to the last time. Hopefully, this one would be less loud and crazy, have less obnoxious children, and ideally lack a one-on-one encounter with Sonic. That in itself had been wholly unnecessary.

His wish appeared to be granted when they arrived at and entered Amy’s house, and Sonic wasn’t in sight. After Amy gave them an enthusiastic greeting, taking Rouge’s coat from her and beckoning them to follow, they were led to the kitchen where everyone was already seated and decorating Christmas cookies.

(Shadow amended his previous statement. This was probably worse than the laser tag).

Scanning the table, Shadow saw a large assortment of people he was loosely associated with, but surprisingly, despite the impressive reach into the side character library the group exhibited, there was no Sonic. 

He expected to be relieved, but for some reason, instead felt mildly disappointed.

Shoving the strange feeling down, he sat down listlessly next to Rouge, who had found two empty chairs near the end of the table. Though thankful, he knew it was unintentional; other than Sonic’s curious absence, they appeared to be the last ones to the party.

“We’re so glad you two could make it!” Amy gushed as she served them each a plate and a blank sugar cookie. With a quick scan around the table, seeing the still distrustful glances people shot him, Shadow had to wonder who the ‘we’ that Amy referred to really was. “We’re kicking things off with some cookie decorating! Oh, and before I forget….” She stepped away from the dining table, and much to Shadow’s disappointment, returned holding two headbands with Christmas themed garnishes on them—one with reindeer antlers, and another with an elf hat. “Everyone at the Christmas party needs a special Christmas hat!”

Shadow’s dour reaction was in harsh contrast with Rouge’s delighted clapping of her hands. “Oh, how lovely! Isn’t this fun, Shadow?”

He ignored her question. “Do I have to?” he groused to Rouge, who responded by plucking the antler headband out of Amy’s hands and deftly placing it on his head.

He sighed.

The only silver lining was that at least this time, he wasn’t the only one wearing a stupid hat. Not only had Rouge joined him, but the entire table was wearing something glittery and gaudy on their head. It didn’t make him feel any less ridiculous, but it certainly helped him feel less like the odd one out.

Focusing his irritation on his poor, unfortunate cookie, Shadow got to work decorating, if only to avoid having to talk to or look at anyone. It was a silly, goofy thing, but it definitely beat the conversation the people farther down the table were having about whether Knuckle's left or right fist was stronger at punching.

Next to him, Rouge was actively participating, laughing and chattering along with those around them. Shadow made a note that Knuckles was seated nowhere near them, and then rolled his eyes about how ridiculous and convoluted Rouge’s plan was.

Before he knew it, Shadow became totally engrossed in his work, putting way more effort into frosting his cookie than someone who was as uninvested as he claimed had any right to be. He had been painstakingly adding individual sprinkles to outline the scarf he had frosted for his snowman— because what else was he going to do? Talk to people? Hell no— when his intense concentration was interrupted by Amy’s bright voice.

“Can someone check on Sonic?” she asked. “I feel like I sent him down to the basement to grab the tree lights a half hour ago.”

Imbecile, Shadow thought darkly to himself as he felt an odd pang of relief at the explanation for Sonic’s absence, right at the same time Rouge raised her hand and said, “Shadow can go down and get him!”

Shadow and Amy both turned towards Rouge, Amy looking cautiously appreciative and Shadow downright murderous. “No,” he said, however, his voice was drowned out by Amy’s slightly louder “Oh really? You would do that? Thank you, Shadow!”

“I’m not—” he started, the rest of his sentence being I’m not going to go get the blue idiot, someone else can drag his sorry ass up here, seriously, why would you even trust us to exist in the same space for longer than fifteen seconds without us trying to fight each other? However, a thought occurred to him. A brilliant, devilish thought.

If he went down and got Sonic, whatever it was that he was doing down there, stuck or sleeping or who knows what, he could step away and get a quick breather from the festivities. His social battery, after all, was pitifully low... this would maybe help him get through the rest of the evening.

And so, with one more glower directed towards Rouge for good measure, he stood up from his half-decorated cookie and announced, “I’ll be right back.”

He had intended for it to come across as pleasant, although since it was him, it sounded rather blunt and aggressive, which came as a surprise to no one at the table.

After receiving some rather vague directions from Amy about how to get to the basement, he took his leave from the dining room. Already, stepping away from the loud commotion—a large burst of laughter echoing from the dining room almost to prove his point—Shadow felt the symptoms of the headache that had been inching forwards begin to ebb. He really didn’t know why Rouge thought he was a suitable plus-one for these events; he was quite possibly the worst candidate she could have chosen.

Grumbling under his breath as he found the entrance to the basement, the door shutting behind him and blocking out the last of the residual noise he had turned his back on, Shadow found himself in pure, blissful, silence. He sat in the dark at the top of the stairs for a brief minute, relishing in the feeling, before making his descent.

“Hedgehog?” he called out gruffly, not bothering to sweeten his voice for his rival. Hell, he had barely been able to alter his tone upstairs, there was no way he was going to attempt to do the same for Sonic. “Are you down here?”

There was a beat, nothing but a dull sound of dripping water permeating the silence. And then, after a long moment, he heard Sonic’s voice respond in clear confusion, “Shadow?”

Not immediately seeing him as he stepped off the staircase, Shadow ventured further back into the basement, following the sound of Sonic’s voice. There were rows of shelves and piles of boxes and bins that extended towards the ceiling, and Shadow wondered how anybody could be in possession of so much stuff.

But then, remembering the extreme, over-the-top clutter of Christmas décor upstairs, Shadow answered his own question for himself.

“Shadow?” Sonic’s voice emanated again with absolutely no prompting from the man in question. “Is that you?”

“Unfortunately,” Shadow retorted half to himself as he reached the last row of shelves spanning Amy’s surprisingly large basement. Rounding the corner, he was prepared to give Sonic a stern scolding of what was taking him so long, however, the words died in his throat as he beheld the scene in front of him.

He had found Sonic all right, but his condition was questionable. Somehow, he was tied up in Christmas lights extending between both shelves so that he hung in the middle of the aisle, a guilty, sheepish expression painting his face as he dangled a few feet off the ground. His body was twisted in an awkward angle with his arms bound to his side, and somehow, despite this fact, he seemed wholly unconcerned by the humiliating predicament he was in.

Ignoring Shadow’s bewildered gaping, Sonic winked at him. “Nice antlers.”

That was enough to shake Shadow from his stupor. “Shut it,” he shot back, “you’re literally wearing a Christmas tree on your head.”

Sonic’s eyes shot up towards his forehead, before settling back on Shadow’s stormy form. “Oh yeah, it seems as though I am,” he replied with an insufferable smirk.

“What the hell is all this,” Shadow asked bluntly, completely ignoring Sonic’s attempts to banter and presumably deflect from the ridiculous position he found himself strung up in. If Shadow had Rouge with him, he would have told her to take a photo.  

Sonic laughed weakly, the humor thin and the embarrassment shining through for the first time. “So, uh, you might be wondering how I got into this scenario….”

Shadow raised an unamused eyebrow. “I’m more curious as to why you haven’t gotten yourself out.”

Sonic made a pathetic attempt to lift himself up to get a better look at Shadow, though once the endeavor proved to be unsuccessful, he slumped back into his shackled position. With the way his spine was curved, Shadow had a strong inkling that Sonic would be feeling some back pain the following days. “It’s, um, kinda complicated.”

“I can wait,” Shadow said, crossing his arms and giving Sonic an unimpressed once-over.

Sonic shifted again, but this time, it was out of discomfort from being pinned under Shadow’s severe scrutiny. “Er, well, you see…” he began before trailing off pathetically, and Shadow found himself wondering why Sonic couldn’t get a complete sentence out with stuttering. Normally, Sonic exuded confidence and charisma... he wasn’t entirely sure why he suddenly seemed so unsure of himself, so bashful under Shadow’s judgement.

He was probably just embarrassed. Which, to be fair, he had every right to be.

“Spit it out,” Shadow demanded, tired of Sonic’s hemming and hawing and overall lack of a definitive answer.

Sonic swallowed nervously, and Shadow, once again, wondered why he was acting so strange. “Well… Amy sent me down here to get the lights, as I’m sure you know, and as I was climbing the shelf to get the box at the top, I slipped and fell. And kind of panicked as I was falling and got caught in the lights, and, well, yeah. That’s the whole story.”

Shadow stared at him. “That’s it? Why haven’t you tried to, I don’t know, free yourself?” It seemed like the obvious solution, instead of hanging there limply like a strung-up corpse. Granted, he appeared to be pretty tangled, the extent of it being honestly impressive. “Couldn’t you have used one of your quills to saw your way out, or a spin dash, or literally anything?”

“I didn’t want to ruin Amy’s lights,” Sonic explained with a meek chuckle. “These are the only ones she has, and she puts a lot of effort into hosting this party every year. She would kill me if I tore them up!”

Shadow narrowed his eyes. While he didn’t doubt that there was some truth in Sonic’s reasoning, he found himself wondering if it was the complete story. Something didn’t seem to be adding up. “And that’s the only reason?”

Sonic looked away guiltily, only proving Shadow’s suspicions. “Yep,” he said, doubling down inexplicably, “I just really don’t want to ruin the party.”

“Well, I personally don’t really care,” Shadow retorted with a scoff.  

He grabbed at the lights knotting Sonic up. He could easily tear the plastic-coated wire with his hands, he wouldn’t even need to use any Chaos Energy to do so. Just simple brute force. However, just as he was about to yank it apart, Sonic’s eyes widened and he yelled out, “No, Shadow, wait!”

Shadow paused, but only because he was surprised at how much pure desperation was in Sonic’s voice. He blinked, looking between the wire he held in his hands and Sonic’s pleading eyes. “What do you mean, wait?”

Sonic was frantic, wiggling around uselessly as if that would do anything to stop Shadow. “Did you not hear what I said?! Amy would be furious if she found out that I broke her lights! Like, so mad, that she would definitely try to hit me with her hammer! Have you seen that thing?! I don’t know about you, but it looks like it hurts!”

Shadow had seen her hammer, and he wasn’t particularly scared of it. Despite this, for some odd reason, he decided to humor Sonic. “So if I’m not allowed to break the lights, then how do you propose I get you out?” Sonic was pretty entangled, and Shadow wasn’t sure if he had the patience to sit down and undo the convoluted knots imprisoning him while Sonic chattered his ear off. In fact, he would rather turn around, go back upstairs, and continue frosting his depressing cookie. 

“The lights are stuck in the box on the highest shelf,” Sonic said, gesturing with his eyes to the source of the problem. How he had managed to get trapped in this position with the lights was so improbable, it was almost comical. It would have brought Shadow a great deal of joy to see it happen in real time. “If you go up there and bring the box down, I can untangle myself.”

Shadow let out a hmph. Sounded easy enough. The shelf was rather high, though, so he would have to climb up a bit to bring it down. With that being said, it wasn’t an especially difficult task, so the fact that Sonic was not only clumsy enough to fall off, but somehow get tied up so that he was a few feet off the ground was nothing short of perplexing.

As he began to climb, he was able to get a better view of the box. It was tipped on its side and wedged between other bins, the metal lip of the top shelf the only thing preventing it from toppling over. Sonic must have caused quite the scene when he fell; Shadow could almost picture him flailing around in the air, his wild movements somehow managing to get the lights hooked on both shelves lining the aisle and envelop him like a cocoon in the process….

“Oh, but be careful climbing the shelf,” Sonic interrupted Shadow’s daydream, though he barely paid him any mind as he continued to scale, too engrossed in his own visions of Sonic’s pathetic downfall. “I think there is a leak in the ceiling or something, so it’s a little bit—”

Suddenly, Shadow felt his grip falter, the metal bar of the shelf feeling slick under his hands as he began to pitch backwards. In a panic, he reached out recklessly, the only purchase his desperate fingers found being none other than the string of lights that had ensnared Sonic. With a deep yelp, he lost his balance and tumbled off the shelf.

“—slippery.”

Squeezing his eyes shut, Shadow prepared to hit the ground hard, however, when the impact never came, his eyes flew open in dismay. He hadn’t hit the ground because of the fact that he, just like Sonic, was suspended in the air by Amy’s stupid Christmas lights. With his legs bent at odd angles and his hands, in his struggle to grab on to something to stop his fall, bound above his head, Shadow was completely and utterly immobilized. And in addition to this, the absolute cherry on top, was the fact that the left side of his body was completely flush against Sonic.

Beside him, completely oblivious to his mounting mortification (for several different reasons), Sonic laughed. “Heh, that’s pretty funny. When I fell, it was my feet that slipped as I was grabbing the box. You didn’t even make it up that far.”

Shadow barely heard him. He was too busy focusing on trying to control his pounding heart, to reign in the roar of blood that rushed in his ears. Once again, just like in the laser tag arena, they were far too close, however this time, Shadow was not in control at all. He wouldn’t be able to put any space between them, and as Sonic continued to blather on next to him, Shadow distantly wondered if Sonic was even aware of the tight proximity, the compromising position they found themselves in.

“At least I’m justified now,” Sonic commented, “I had a feeling you would bully me relentlessly for getting stuck like this. But now you’re in the same boat as me, isn’t that hilarious?”

Shadow began to squirm fruitlessly, but quickly stopped as the movement jostled his shoulders and arms further against Sonic. “No, not really,” he answered, if only to cover up his growing panic he was certain Sonic would recognize if he continued to sit in silence.

“Oh come on, lighten up Shadow! At least try to laugh at this, you gotta be able to see the humor in it.”

Shadow scowled as he ceased his struggling. Other than the obvious reason being that he had no sense of humor, it was nearly impossible for him to find anything remotely funny about this scenario due to the key fact that his heart felt like it was on the verge of beating out of his chest.

“Do you ever stop talking?” Shadow grumbled, hoping that Sonic wouldn’t be able to deduce the source of his discomfort that laced his tone and expression. Sonic was penchant to being stupid and unobservant, but with how close they were, Shadow didn’t want to make any assumptions.

Sonic let out a laugh, but it sounded a bit strained. “Oh no, not at all. My friends complain about it all the time. Usually I’m able to control it a bit better, but it’s especially bad when I’m—”

His eyes darting towards Shadow before looking away just as quickly, Sonic cut himself off by clearing his throat, puzzling Shadow to no end. What was that about?  What had he been about to say? Pausing, Shadow’s, eyebrow quirked— if he didn’t know any better, he would think that the temperature of Sonic’s fur was elevated, especially given their damp, cool surroundings. Shadow wondered if it was normal. He didn’t think it was for an ordinary person at least, but then again, Sonic was no ordinary person.

“Don’t you have a Chaos Emerald on you?”

Shadow frowned, attempting to use the distraction of Sonic’s moronic question to slow down his racing heart; with Sonic’s elbow jammed into his ribcage, there was no way that he didn’t notice. Sonic was correct with his query, of course, however, Shadow’s Chaos Emerald was currently hidden in his quills. With the way his hands were bound above his head, he had no feasible way of reaching it, at least, not without slicing through the wires in the process. “I can’t reach it.”

“Maybe I can try?”

Shadow shot Sonic the fiercest, filthiest glare he could muster. That would just make everything about their unintentional intimacy worse. “Absolutely not,” he all but snarled, “keep your grubby hands out of my quills.”

“Oh come on Shadow, I’m not that dirty,” Sonic retorted. “I last washed my hands two—no, three days ago.” He said it like it was some sort of accomplishment, which made Shadow even more appalled about that little not-so-fun fact, and just a tad justified in his vehemence.  

Because of it, his snarl deepened. “And that’s precisely why I’m not letting you touch me.” Well, any more than he already was. Shadow was exerting a lot of energy towards not thinking about Sonic’s elbows pressing into his sides.  

Somehow, through all of the tangled lights and glitz, Sonic managed to shrug. “Fine by me, I’m perfectly okay with sitting down here.”

Shadow huffed. While in truth, he didn’t mind the extended break from the Christmas party he was receiving, the fact that he was stuck with Sonic made the whole scenario far worse.  And that was without the fact that he could feel Sonic’s breath tickling against his ear, sending unwanted shivers down his spine. “This is so stupid,” he seethed in a flimsy attempt to distract himself, “now we’re both stuck down here, just because you want to keep your little girlfriend happy.”

Sonic stared at him with genuine confusion on his face. “Girl—girlfriend?” he stammered.

“Well yeah, aren’t you and Amy in a relationship?” The confusion on Shadow’s face mirrored that of Sonic’s, both hedgehogs ceasing their intermittent and useless struggling to stare at each other in complete bewilderment.

“No, not exactly… well…” Sonic paused, before looking away. “It’s complicated.”

“How could it possibly be complicated.” Shadow said it as a statement rather than a question to convey his disbelief, rather than his genuine interest in Sonic’s answer. Which, despite himself, he was actually a little curious to hear.

“I… don’t know if I really want to talk about it.”

Under most circumstances, if someone ever used the words ‘don’t want to’ and ‘talk’ in the same sentence, Shadow would literally not complain. He preferred his solitude, after all, and making menial chit chat and small talk was the bane of his existence. Sitting in silence was difficult for most, but was as easy as breathing for him. However, silence was the last thing he wanted at the moment, and there was something so intriguing about Sonic’s little admission that he couldn’t help but want to know more.  So instead of saying “okay” and letting the conversation die out, he turned towards Sonic and said, “We’re literally stuck down here until someone realizes that we’ve been gone a while and comes down to get us. Now tell me.”

Sonic seemed taken aback by Shadow’s interest, the statement being in complete contrast to the usual apathy his rival exuded. “I mean, what’s there to say? She wants to be more than friends, and I like where we’re at right now. She drops lots of hints, tries to spend individual time with me, go on dates… but the idea of it makes me uncomfortable. And trust me, I’ve tried to be open to it, but it just doesn’t feel right, so I don’t want to force it.” Sonic sighed, and Shadow got the feeling that if his hands were free and not currently tied up behind his back, he would run one of them through his quills in exasperation. “I’m not really much of a relationship person as it is.”

Shadow let out a non-committal hmph, which for some unfathomable reason, Sonic interpreted as an indication for him to continue talking.

“I mean, maybe for the right person, I could be, but I don’t know if I’ve met them yet. I’m currently trying to figure that out. But I guess all that doesn’t really matter at the moment, because I need to focus on what to do about Amy.” He let out another wistful sigh, and Shadow found himself growing irritated at the pining sound.

“And so, what are you doing about it?” he asked, straight to the point without a mirage of coddling.

“I’ve… I’ve kinda been avoiding her recently. Which I know, I know, isn’t super great, but like… I don’t really know what to say or do.”

Shadow scoffed. “Simple. You tell her that you’re not interested.”

“That’s easier said than done, Shadow.”

“What do you mean? You just tell her. It’s not that hard.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t really want to hurt her feelings!”

“Who cares?”

“I care, because she’s my friend.”

Shadow didn’t really have anything to say to this. Having friends was a phenomenon he wasn’t all that familiar with. Rouge kind of counted, but that was different. They were coworkers first, who happened to hang out once in a blue moon and occasionally go to stupid parties together. It wasn’t really comparable to whatever Sonic and Amy had.  “Isn’t it worse that you’re avoiding her instead of being honest?”

Sonic sighed. “Yeah, probably. But I’m worried that if I have that conversation with her, it will ruin everything, the whole friend group. So for the moment, it’s easier to avoid it.”

“By hiding in a basement?”

Sonic gave Shadow a cheeky side eye, a ghost of a smile gracing his lips. “Precisely.”

Shadow felt a similar feeling curl at his own lips, before he abruptly recognized what was happening, where he was, and who he was talking to and smushed up against, and as a result, he quickly schooled his expression back into his signature, characteristic scowl. What the hell was he doing, giving Sonic relationship advice in the basement of Amy’s house?! This was absurd, and definitely not part of the job description when he had struck his initial deal with Rouge.

Sonic appeared to be totally ignorant to his rapid change in demeanor. “What about you, Shadow? Any juicy relationship gossip going on in your life?”

Shadow had to fight the urge to laugh in his face, instead allowing his scowl to darken at the asinine question. “I don’t do relationships, hedgehog, and quite frankly, I’m offended that you even asked.”

“You’ve never even thought about it?”

“Why are we talking about this.”

“Come on, Shadow, you’re no fun! Answer the question.”

Shadow sighed. “No, I’ve never even thought about it, now would you mind shutting up before I—”

“There you boys are!” Shadow was interrupted by a voice that sounded at the top of the stairs that sounded suspiciously like….

Oh no. Rouge.

Quite possibly the worst person who could walk in on them down here, short of maybe Amy if he was being considerate of Sonic’s feelings. Which he didn’t really care all that much about, to be fair, but that was beside the point.

What he did care about, was the fact that he was tied shoulder to shoulder with Sonic in an incredibly compromising position, wearing an incredibly compromising hat, and knowing Rouge, she was going to take full advantage of his unfortunate predicament.

“We’ve been waiting an awful long time for you two,” she continued as she clacked down the stairs in her heels, her voice and footsteps growing agonizingly closer. “Have you boys—” she cut herself off with a delightful squeal as she caught sight of them, the sound spelling certain doom to Shadow’s ears. “Oh my, now what have we here?”

Sonic gave her a tilt of his head and a toothy smile in greeting; he evidently did not pay any mind to the humiliation they were facing. “Heya, Rouge!” he called out brightly. “Didn’t expect to see you down here!”

“And I didn’t expect to see you two tied up like this,” she shot back. “I’m sorry to interrupt on…” she pinned Shadow with a predatory grin, one that would have made a lesser being shrink away, though Shadow met the challenge with a scathing look of his own. “….Whatever it is that is going on here, but I was sent down to grab you two for the next activity of the evening.”

“If you’re just going to sit here and make fun of us, then you can just go away,” Shadow grumped, even though she was his only hope at freedom and the chance to put as much physical distance between him and Sonic as possible. Believe it or not, he would rather remain in unwanted, albeit confusing contact with Sonic than sit there and listen to Rouge make her flirty, overall unnecessary comments.

She laughed, ignoring his threat as usual. “Well, we kind of-sort of need the lights you two are currently tangled up in.”

“So then untangle us, so we can get out of here.”

“Sure, sure, you’re the boss, Shadow. But first….” She reached behind her to pull something out, and Shadow’s eyes widened in dread as he realized what was about to happen.

“Rouge, no.” He tried and failed to keep the desperation out of his voice, and even though he was never one to beg or say ‘please,’ he was strongly considering doing it in that very moment.

She pulled out her digital camera despite Shadow’s protests, and he felt his heart drop down to the floor. Beside him, Sonic grinned, obviously not caring about the prospective photo and finding Rouge’s reaction hilarious. “I’m sorry, Shadow, but I hope you understand that I have no choice but to do this….”

Snap!

Shadow hissed as the bright flash blinded him in the dim light of the basement, while Sonic let out a peal of laughter. Shadow wasn’t sure which one of the two he was more angry at.

A self-satisfied smirk on her face, Rouge tucked the camera away. “Now, as for how to get you two out….”

“Just bring down the box from the top of the shelf,” Sonic supplied helpfully in a chipper voice while Shadow simply sat there, steaming. “We should be able to get ourselves out if you place it next to us.”

Bypassing the need to climb the shelf (and consequently slip, fall, and somehow for the sake of plot convenience get herself tangled up in Christmas lights), Rouge flew up and effortlessly brough the large box down. With the release of the tension of their chains, Shadow and Sonic both fell unceremoniously to the ground, their bodies both letting out a dull thump upon contact.  

“Oops,” Rouge simpered, and Shadow knocked her a few spots up on his mental list of people he didn’t like. Sonic was still at the top, of course, but after the last sequence of events (dropping him, taking a photo, dragging him to this dumb thing in the first place), Rouge was dangerously approaching his position. A few more of her shenanigans, and she had a strong chance of replacing him.

Sonic stood up with alacrity, brushing some imaginary dust off his fur as he grinned at her. “Thanks for getting us out of there, Rouge. I was scared Shadow and I would be stuck down here for the rest of the party!”  

“Don’t thank me, if anything I should be apologizing. I didn’t realize that I was interrupting something—”

She was cut off as Shadow shouldered past her, who had decided that he would rather go up and finish decorating his cookie rather than sit through of another second of this garbage. Teased by Rouge, involuntarily tied up with Sonic… he was going to have to take his chances with the rest of the group, even if they weren't all that fond of him.

However, once he reached the ground floor, instead of finding everyone decorating cookies, they had all migrated to the living room where the barren Christmas tree sat. It was dark and empty, and quite honestly, Shadow preferred it that way.  

“Finally!" Amy exclaimed, walking past Shadow. He turned and, to his surprise, saw Sonic behind him, holding the bundled-up lights in a shamefaced offering. “What took you so long?!” she asked as she took them out of his hands and passed them to Vector and Charmy, motioning for them to start wrapping the lights around the tree.

Sonic laughed awkwardly. “It’s a long story,” he said, shooting Shadow a sly look that conveyed if Shadow told Amy the truth, Sonic was going to bring him down too. And so, with a huff, Shadow sat down on the couch with crossed arms and watched as everyone, even Rouge, participated in putting the lights and ornaments on the tree.

Although, despite his usual disdain for such festivities, finding the Christmas songs that played in the background annoying and the smell of cookies and baked goods cloying in his nose, there was a small crumb of interest that held his attention this time around.

Sonic and Amy.

It was interesting to witness, now that he knew how Sonic truly felt about Amy and that he wasn’t actually dating her. The way his smile became strained around her, the way he went out of his way to talk to other people when she was around, or do tasks that took him away from her. It was painful to watch, and seeing how oblivious she was to the entire spectacle, completely and totally unnecessary.

That idiot, Shadow thought to himself as he watched with a critical, judgmental eye. He’s just making things way more difficult for everyone by acting like a fool.

Shadow was interrupted from his observing and musings by an awkward cough from beside him, and turning to find the source of the grating noise, he was baffled to see Tails standing there. Shadow’s eyes narrowed and his lips curled downward (as was his customary stance), and he arched an eyebrow in question.

Tails looked incredibly uncomfortable, and whatever he was about to say or do, Shadow had a sneaking suspicion that Sonic had put him up to it. It was as though there was an invisible gun pointed at the poor kid’s back, prodding him with the barrel to speak. “I, uh, wanted to know if you wanted to hang this ornament on the tree?” He held up a glass ornament, the color a deep blue not unlike Sonic’s quills.

Yep. A question as idiotic as that had to have originated from Sonic. There was no way his best friend would approach Shadow for any reason, and this one was especially confounding.

“No, not particularly,” Shadow responded after a moment, but took the ornament from Tails’ hands anyways. A tiny, miniscule part of him felt bad for the poor kid for getting caught between Shadow’s disdainful disgust for the whole thing and Sonic’s weird interest in making him feel included, in bridging the gap that separated Shadow from the rest of the friend group he had no interest in being a part of.

Tails looked surprised at the fact he was no longer holding an ornament. “I, um, yeah. Thanks? I think?”

Shadow felt as surprised as Tails looked at the fact he had taken the decoration. He didn’t really want to reflect too hard on the real reason he had taken it, and the connection that reason had to Sonic. “Whatever,” he muttered in response, and turned to place it on the tree.

As he approached it, though, it dawned on him that he had no idea what he was doing.

It seemed simple enough. There was a hook on it, and based on what he had witnessed the others do, you just… hung it on a branch. That was it. However, the part that kind of had Shadow stumped (and he said ‘kind of’ just because he loathed to admit that he was defeated by something as trivial as placing ornaments on a Christmas tree), was that there was already so much clutter on the tree. The branches were all practically full; everyone had been busy while Shadow had sat on the couch and watched.

Coming from the other side of the tree, Sonic walked up and stood beside him. Placing his hands on his hips and seeming unbothered by the fact that Shadow didn’t acknowledge him other than an annoyed flick of his ear, Sonic surveyed the branches in front of them. After a few seconds, he reached across Shadow, once again violating the concept of personal space that apparently meant nothing to him, and pointed towards an empty space tucked away deep in the tree. “There’s a good spot for that right here,”

Shadow was sorely tempted to snub Sonic and place it on a different branch out of spite. However, the place he had pointed out was pretty ideal for the size of the ornament he was holding, so clenching his jaw in suppressed rebellion, he obliged Sonic’s suggestion.

“Wow, look at that! Good job Shadow! You’re a natural at this!” Sonic said with so much upbeat sarcasm, Shadow could practically reach out and grab it. When he didn’t respond (because what the hell was he supposed to say to that that didn’t include an expletive that would have to be censored for rating purposes?), Sonic continued to speak. “You know, when someone helps you out with something, the usual response is ‘thank you.’”

Swallowing the curse words that begged to be spoken, Shadow settled on saying, “I hate you.”

“Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don’t know.”

Biting his tongue, Shadow sharply turned away and, despite himself, began to place some more ornaments on the tree. The way he justified it, the faster it was decorated, the faster he could leave with Rouge. It seemed like sound logic to him.

Before long, there were no more ornaments to hang, and sitting back down on his original spot on the couch, Shadow caught Rouge’s attention, where she sat across from him with a hot chocolate in one hand and a can of whipped cream in the other, currently placing a fat dollop on her drink. He pointed at her, then himself, and then stuck a thumb over his shoulder in a clear message of I’m done here, I decorated a stupid cookie and placed more ornaments on a Christmas tree than I ever thought I would in this lifetime, so you and I are leaving. Now.

However, Rouge didn’t seem to understand his miming, as she tilted her head to the side and mouthed, “What?”

Shadow had to resist the urge to groan out loud. So much for subtlety; looks like he was going to have to be more direct about it. And so, he had been about to get up, march over to her, grab her by the arm, and drag her out of there, when his plan was put on pause by Amy standing up and waving to grab everyone’s attention.

“All right, everyone,” she called out as Shadow subconsciously glared at her for interrupting his escape plot. “Settle down, everyone take a seat! It’s time to start the selection process for our Secret Santa gift exchange!”

Shadow’s blood ran cold. Secret what now who exchange?!

“I will pass out a sheet of paper and a pen to everyone, and then you all have the task of writing down your name and three things you want from your Secret Santa,” she continued. “After you’re done writing, you are going to fold it up and then place it in this bowl, and then once everyone’s wish lists are in the pile, we’ll pass the bowl around and you’ll select a paper from it. The name of the person you randomly choose will be the person you get a gift for, and you’ll give it to them at our next Christmas party in a few weeks!”

As she spoke, the cheer and pep in her voice doing nothing but agitate Shadow’s already stormy ire, his expression darkened. Livid, he slowly turned to Rouge, who he found to be already looking at him expectantly, a picture of pure, unapologetic guilt on her face.

‘Oops,’ she mouthed, and it took everything within Shadow’s power not to slap his palm to his face. That traitor, she had absolutely known that this would happen the entire time, and had absolutely neglected to tell him on purpose.

Shadow’s fantasies of how he would strangle Rouge when this was all said and done was cut off when Amy, who had been slowly making her way around the circle, stopped in front of him. A sheet of pink paper extending between them, she gave him a sweet smile. “Will you be participating, Shadow?”

The background chatter around them ceased, everyone turning to look at him. Shadow hated the sudden attention, the scrutiny he found himself under. Even though the overall atmosphere had become slightly more tolerant toward his presence than the last time, the initial shock of him coming to what was now two parties in a row wearing off, he could tell that the group was still wary.

 He was prepared to say no, no chance in hell, no deal about getting a free motorcycle from this is enough to make me join in an activity as meaningless and dumb as a gift exchange, however, making eye contact with Rouge, he understood the stakes. Don’t do this, and this party wouldn’t count, even though she had already snapped her damn photo for proof. So, letting out a groan that thinly concealed his agitation, he muttered, “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

If Amy was surprised, she didn’t show it. “Okay!” she chirped as Shadow made a poor attempt to retrieve the paper from her with as little force as possible, failing as his misplaced aggression crumpled the sheet anyways. She handed him a pink pen as well, and Shadow distantly wondered if she owned any stationery that didn’t come in her signature colors (the answer was no). “Don’t forget to write your name at the top, and three things that you like!”

Even after the group had settled down once Amy finished making her rounds, a hush falling over the room that was only permeated by the scribbling of pens on paper and the tacky Christmas tracks humming in the background, Shadow found himself staring a blank piece of paper. Well, almost blank; the only thing he had done thus far was write out his name in a neat, tidy font at the top.

He was stumped. He didn’t really like anything, other than the obvious. He liked being left alone, that was one thing, however, that wasn’t something that could easily translate into a Christmas present.

He also liked beating up Sonic. Maybe he could ask for a fifteen-minute pound session?

Shadow glanced at Sonic, finding his rival chewing obnoxiously on his pen before jotting something down, his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth as he did so. Shadow didn’t pity whoever would get stuck with getting Sonic a gift— he had a very strong feeling that his handwriting was barely legible.

But still, as far as writing down things on their little wish list, Sonic was currently beating him, and that was unacceptable.

He could make a list, no, a book of things he didn’t like. That was easy. But things he did like?

Motorcycles.

Shadow nearly snorted out loud as he wrote it out. There was absolutely no way someone was going to get him a motorcycle. It was worth a shot, though, because then not only could he get out of his agreement with Rouge faster, but also, he could finally ride again. Amy had instructed them to write down things they liked, and he liked motorcycles, so therefore, it would be disingenuous to not include it. That line of reasoning made perfect sense to him.

A moment later, as he considered what else he felt passionately about, inspiration struck again, and he wrote down: Guns.

He only felt the slightest twinge of guilt as he added his second item, but the feeling quickly dissolved. It served everyone right for making him participate in this absurdity.

Well, that was two things, he only needed one more and then he would be done with this. Tapping his pen against his lip in thought, he paused as he glanced up and looked around the circle. Everyone was still writing, much to his relief. He wasn’t quite the last one. Granted, it seemed like everyone was busy writing down serious things, but that was irrelevant.

As he surveyed the ragtag group of friends, his eyes settled on Sonic. His tongue was still poking out of his mouth as he wrote, another idea apparently occurring to him. He sat right next to the newly-decorated Christmas tree, the multicolored lights strung up on the branches casting a soft glow on his quills, and in the gentle lighting, Shadow realized that the vibrant blue of his coat looked exceptionally beautiful.

And so, without thinking, Shadow absentmindedly noted down: The color blue.

His sanity took hold mere seconds later, and completely appalled at his lackadaisical lapse of judgment, Shadow hastily crossed out the line of print, praying that no one had seen what he had written down.

Luckily for him, Charmy to his left was too short to see over Shadow’s arms since he was quite literally a bee, and on his right, Knuckles looked like he was having a hard enough time writing that Shadow had some doubts about his ability to read. It seemed that his momentary blunder was safe.

The fact that he had found Sonic’s color so alluring in the first place was alarming in itself. But the fact that he had gone so far as to actually write it down? Blasphemous.

His ears flattening in displeasure, Shadow folded up the note into a tight square. Amy was walking around again, this time with a bowl in her hands. As she passed by, Shadow deposited his wish list with a grim line upon his lips, regretting his choice to participate with each passing second. He didn’t care that whoever would draw his name would only have two things to work with. That would be their problem.

After a few more minutes, everyone had submitted their lists. Shaking the bowl and shuffling around the folded-up papers with a hand, she declared, “Now, everyone will draw a name from the pile, and that’s who you will give a gift to. And you need to keep it a secret! No telling anyone, part of the fun is not knowing who anyone has!”

Shadow glanced toward Rouge. Knowing her, she was going to demand that he tell her whoever he had the moment they stepped out of the house, and the way that she winked at him as she caught his eye confirmed his suspicions.

Being near the beginning of the circle, Shadow had plenty of options to choose from as Amy presented him the bowl. Without looking, because he hardly cared in the first place, he fished out a paper from the bottom. Holding his breath as he slowly opened the page, struggling to think of a single person in the circle he would be actually pleased about getting stuck with, time around him slowed to a stop.

Because there, in blocky, sloppy print that would probably be deducted points for neatness if they were still in grade school, read the name:

Sonic.

He might actually be cursed.

It was the only explanation. Letting out the breath he had been holding, Shadow could do nothing more than stare in dismay. He couldn’t believe his misfortune; he had a hard time thinking of anyone worse than the name he held in his hands. Hell, the freaking bee would have been a better choice than his literal rival. The only thing he wanted to give Sonic was a punch to the face and maybe, if he was feeling generous, a kick to the shins.

With stiff hands that ached to tear the paper into shreds, Shadow tucked away the name into his quills. He didn’t even bother reading what was on the wishlist, figuring that not only was it probably something dumb like ‘chilidogs’ written three times in a row, but that he wouldn’t remember anyways. Not to mention, who cared what Sonic wanted? He certainly didn’t. Perhaps he should just toss the note on his way out.

His eyes widening minutely, Shadow came to a stark realization. Maybe, just maybe, this was a secret stroke of luck, this being the perfect opportunity to be petty and get Sonic something diabolical. Like tickets to a water park, or a tracking device that Eggman had access to. Shadow didn’t really have a sense of humor, but even he could admit that would be hilarious.

“Nobody picked themselves, right?” Amy asked the group, and everyone shook their heads. She let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, good! Because if that were the case, then we would all have to put our names back in and redraw!”

For a split second, Shadow considered claiming that he had chosen himself, before realizing that the person who actually held his name would likely call him out and make him look like an idiot. And so, despite his abhorrence for holding Sonic’s name in his fist, he held his tongue.

“If that’s the case, then we will exchange our gifts at the Christmas party three weeks from now! So everyone should have plenty of time to get their gifts this year….” Amy trailed off, giving Sonic a dirty side eye.

For once, Sonic seemed to pick up on the targeted comment and gesture. Normally, he was blind to such subtleties. “What?” he asked, putting his hands up in defense. “I got Espio his gift eventually!”

“Yeah, like a month late,” Shadow heard Espio mutter, “and it wasn’t even anything I had on my list.”

“Anyways,” Sonic continued loudly, as if Espio hadn’t said anything, “I’ll do better this year, pinky promise!”

Shadow pitied the person that Sonic had. Almost as much as he pitied himself for having Sonic.

“Three weeks,” Amy stated in the most threatening voice Shadow had ever heard her use, pointing a finger towards Sonic for good measure. Sonic, to his credit, looked moderately scared. “And don’t forget, the price limit is twenty-five dollars!”

After her announcement, the party continued, everyone excitedly talking about what they were planning on getting for the gift exchange all while craftily not revealing the recipient. Shadow sat by himself on the couch, deliberately not engaging with anyone. Much to his relief, no one approached him, and after around twenty minutes of sitting there and contemplating what he was going to get Sonic for the gift exchange (and not procuring any answers), he decided that he was going to call it for the night. He still did have to get up early to review some bogus paperwork at G.U.N. the next morning, after all.

As he approached Rouge, Amy and Blaze excused themselves from the conversation they had all been having, leaving Shadow alone with her. “I’ve suffered here long enough,” he said quietly, some odd sense of not wanting to be rude taking over and preventing him from announcing it to the whole room. “I’m going to leave.”

Rouge searched his face, as if looking for any cracks she could exploit to get him to stay, before giving in with a sigh. “You’re right, I really shouldn’t expect much more from you. I suppose we can get going.”

A brief sting of guilt plucked at Shadow’s heart at taking Rouge away from something she clearly seemed to enjoy and crave, but he brushed the feeling aside. If she wanted to stay longer, then perhaps it would be in her best interest to oh, he didn't know, not bring him in the first place.

That, and she really didn’t need to leave with him. Shadow had informed her of his plans in an attempt to be courteous and to get some reassurance that this party would still count toward his growing tally. He hadn’t expected her to head out with him.

He wasn’t going to stop her though. So, waiting patiently by the door as she thanked Amy and said goodbye to everyone on their behalf, she and Shadow left the party and stepped out into the wintery air.

“Look Shadow,” Rouge gushed as they walked away from the warm, inviting glow of Amy’s house and into the cool night, “just like I told you! The first snow of the season! Isn’t it beautiful?”

Normally, Shadow would respond with a blunt no and go about his way. He did not usually care for things as frivolous as admiring the beauty of snow. However, pausing, he looked up towards the dark sky and watched the light snow drift down in rivulets, only visible due to the illumination of Amy’s house behind them. Despite himself, Shadow did have to admit, it was very calm and peaceful, the way it muted the sound of the night and softened their footsteps beneath them.

And then, hearing the noise of muffled laughter behind him, Shadow turned to see Sonic in the large living room window of Amy’s house, standing next to the tree as he talked to Tails. The blue of his fur was vivid and quite eye catching against the golden glow splayed out behind him, and Shadow nearly pinched himself for having the same thought from earlier that had led to him writing down ‘the color blue’ on his wish list. He really had to get these intrusive thoughts under control.

Rouge lightly nudged him on the arm, and in that moment, Shadow realized he still hadn’t responded. “Well, Shadow? Don’t you think it’s beautiful?”

“Yeah,” he admitted with some reluctance, turning away Amy’s house and, by extension, Sonic. “It is.”

Chapter Text

A week after Amy’s Christmas decorating party, seven full days of thinking and contemplation later, Shadow still had no clue what to get Sonic for his Secret Santa gift. He thought about it on his G.U.N. missions, when he went out for a run, when he tossed and turned in his bed at night, and yes, even when he showered. Sonic, for better or for worse, occupied his entire mind at all times of the day, and it frustrated him to no end that he was at a complete loss for what to gift him.

And so there he was on a Friday afternoon, sitting at his kitchen high-top counter with his chin resting on his laced fingers, glaring down at the crumpled up wishlist he had received with Sonic’s name on it. Rouge was sitting on his couch with her feet kicked up, currently crocheting… something, Shadow wasn’t entirely sure what… with a great deal of concentration. Beside her, on the coffee table, sat some crackers and artichoke dip, and Shadow silently asked himself why he kept buying it when Rouge was the only one who would eat it—finishing it off before he even got a chance to sample a bite.

“You know, I blame you for this,” he grumbled over his shoulder as he stared at the sheet of paper. No matter how many times he squeezed his eyes shut and willed it, the name on the wish list never changed. It unfortunately still said Sonic.

Rouge snickered. “Guilty as charged.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to trade?” His voice was a mixture of frustration and desperation. It was also the fifth time within the hour that he was making the request.

Rouge, predictably, shook her head with a cheeky smile. “Absolutely not, this is far too juicy. Anyways, you need to cheer up, sourpuss. This is actually a good thing, Blue is probably the one you know the best out of the whole group, other than me of course.” After a lengthy moment of no response, Shadow continuing to brood in silence, Rouge sighed. “You know, if you glare any harder at it, you might light it on fire."

“Racing him and fighting him doesn’t necessarily mean that I know him,” he argued despondently. “The most we ever speak to each other is when we’re trading insults and challenges.”

“Weren’t you stuck in the basement with him for half an hour at Amy’s Christmas-decorating party last week?”

Shadow faltered. “I—”

“And didn’t you stay behind at Cream’s birthday party to play a game of laser tag with him, one on one?”

That made Shadow halt with his petty protests. “Wait. You know about that?”

Rouge laughed. “Of course I do, Sonic is horrible at keeping secrets, especially if you ask him the right questions….”

Shadow’s ears flicked in irritation; Rouge really was the worst, sometimes. Not to mention, he was going to kill that stupid blue hedgehog next time he laid eyes on him for spilling the beans, that he could almost guarantee.

“Anyways, who else would you rather it be? The bee? Your silly rivalry aside, you can at least hold a conversation with Sonic, which for you is quite the accomplishment.”

Shadow paused, remembering how he had ended up giving Sonic relationship advice when they were tied up at the last gathering and how he had caught himself admiring the color of Sonic’s fur under the glow of the Christmas tree. Rouge had a point. Who else would he rather it be? Loathe as he was to admit it, Sonic was the best-case scenario for who he could have picked.

(In the back of his mind, it occurred to him that he himself was likely the worst-case scenario for literally anyone in the group, and that whoever had the misfortune of selecting his name out of the bowl probably had their day ruined by that occurrence. Oh well.)

Sighing, he turned to look back towards Rouge, who had made a surprising amount of progress on the circle she was crocheting. Maybe it was going to be a frisbee, or a potholder, or literally just a circle. Who knew.

“Since when do you know how to crochet?”

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

“I feel like this is something you would have found a way to bring up in conversation whether or not I wanted to hear about it, though.”

Rouge put her project down with a huff, fixing Shadow a hard look. “Fine. One month. I can only make beanies because going in an endless circle is the only pattern I know how to do. Are you happy, Shadow?”

“No,” he replied, though he did file away this new development about Rouge into the back of his mind. Even though he was reluctant to label them as friends (although seriously, what else would you call two people that frequently hung out outside of work?), that didn’t mean that he didn’t care somewhat.

Going back to staring at the list, an idea popped into his head. “Hey, Rouge? How fast does it take you to make one of those things…?”

“I’m not helping you get out of creatively thinking about your gift by just making you a beanie.” Rouge didn’t even look up from her stitches as she spoke to him.

Shadow groaned, dismayed at his plan being so transparent. “Ugh, you’re the worst,” he lamented, however, it fell on deaf ears.

His eyes returning to his list, it took Shadow approximately six seconds to decide that he would rather talk to Rouge than deal with his Secret Santa problem… which really said something about how much of a problem it was, given that talking was something that Shadow absolutely hated.

“How’s it going with Knuckles? I think I saw him look at you last time.”

“Can it, Dark and Gloomy,” Rouge retorted. “You know, if you actually decided to shut up and watch, you could learn a thing or two. Chaos knows you need it.”

“Oh, I’ve been watching,” Shadow scoffed, choosing to ignore her petty little jab, “and I hope you realize that you only have three of these parties left before I’m off the hook.”

“And three’s all I need. Just you wait and see.” There was a beep from Rouge’s wrist communicator, interrupting her from what Shadow feared was going to be a lengthy tirade about the nuances and delicacies of fostering relationships. Which even though Shadow probably did need a lecture about the topic, it didn't mean that he wanted it. “Oops, looks like I’m running a bit late.”

Glancing up in mild surprise, Shadow raised an eyebrow in question. “Late for what, exactly?” he asked, despite the fact that he wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to know in the first place. 

Rouge finished packing her crochet supplies into her bag, slinging it over her shoulder as she stood up. “Amy needs help with her Secret Santa gift, so I agreed to lend her a hand.”

Shadow stared at her incredulously. “Excuse me? What? So you’ll help Amy with her present, but when it comes to helping me, you’re not able to?”

Rouge winked at him as she walked past, leaving behind a very baffled and indignant Shadow. “I wouldn’t want to ruin your opportunity to get your boyfriend something special. You’re on your own for this one,” she commented offhandedly, though Shadow didn’t quite miss the key deplorable word she snuck in.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” he growled, but instead of taking him seriously, Rouge just laughed at him.

“Anyways,” she said through thinly-concealed mirth, “Tails’ birthday party is this weekend. I’m expecting that you’ll come with me… they already know that you’ll be there.”

Shadow’s face fell flat. “Rouge, it’s Friday, it already is the weekend.”

“Is it really? Then I guess it’s tomorrow evening.”

“Rouge!” he growled in exasperation. “What did I tell you about giving me more of a notice?!”

“It’s tomorrow! This is the most notice that I’ve given you yet!”

Shadow’s brow furrowed. She wasn’t exactly wrong, but at the same time, that didn’t mean he was particularly pleased about it either. However, before he could fire off another snarky comment about the topic, Rouge was gone, leaving him alone with the piece of paper that had been causing him so much trouble for the past few hours.

For the first time in his entire life, he wished that Rouge hadn’t left. Because now here he was, stuck with Sonic’s abysmal list.

It didn’t help that the list itself was useless.

You see, when Shadow had made the assumption that Sonic’s list would say ‘chilidogs’ three times in a row, he hadn’t considered that it might actually be a real possibility. But of course, because the universe hated him, he found himself staring at a piece of paper that said none other than ‘chilidogs,’ three. Times. In. A. Row.

I’m not getting him any damn chilidogs, Shadow thought darkly to himself. That stupid blue hedgehog eats enough of those already.

He would have to get creative with his gift. Which was unfortunate, because Shadow wasn’t exactly known for being a creative person.

Brooding into the rest of the evening and into the next day yielded no results, and by the time Rouge came to pick him up for Tails’ birthday party, Shadow still had no idea what to get Sonic.

“Have you figured out what you’re going to give Blue?” Rouge asked him as they walked to the party.            

Shadow responded with a brusque “No,” and that was that.

“At least try to lighten up a bit?” Rouge suggested, which only made Shadow’s angsty demeanor darken. “Who knows? Maybe you can talk to him at the party and figure out what he wants… well, other than chilidogs.”

Shadow struggled to suppress a sigh. That was the last thing he wanted to do, was talk to Sonic any more than he had to. The laser tag battle had been an exploitation of his own competitive weakness, and getting tangled up in the lights had been a fluke. There was going to be nothing at this party that would get them alone together, Shadow was going to make sure of it.

The porch of Sonic and Tails’ house was decorated with balloons and streamers with a big banner saying ‘Happy Birthday Tails!’ hanging over the door. There was a path through the blanket of snow covering the yard cleared by the several pairs of feet that had already passed through.

It dawned on Shadow that he and Rouge were always the last ones, and glancing towards her as they walked up the steps, he wondered if that was an intentional move on her part borne from some misbegotten consideration for him.

Or maybe, she was just always fashionably late, and Shadow was reading too much into it.

“Welcome! Come on in!” Sonic called to them as they entered the unlocked house, Shadow’s attitude flattening at Sonic’s bright, sparkling persona that waited for them at the end of the entryway. “You guys are just in time, we were about to start our first game!”

Shadow couldn’t prevent the groan that he let out, causing Rouge to bump his shoulders with a tight smile. “Oh wonderful, we can’t wait!” she responded in a flimsy attempt to cover up Shadow’s unenthusiastic blunder.

Sonic motioned for them to follow, and the moment his back was turned to the final two guests, Rouge leaned over to Shadow. “He said there was going to be pizza at this thing. You could at least lighten up for some free food, hm?”

Shadow didn’t really like pizza, rendering Rouge’s bribery for good behavior useless.

But before he could vocalize his distaste for the food he found to be the equivalent of cardboard, they entered the living room, and Shadow was immediately distracted by the clamor that awaited them.

The first thing that Shadow noticed, other than the group of people he really couldn’t care less about, was the way that the Sonic’s living room was decorated. It was an odd mix of being cluttered but tidy—it wasn’t exactly a mess, but calling it minimalist like Shadow’s own residence would be a stretch. There were photos everywhere of Sonic, Tails, and the rest of their friends, and for some unfathomable reason, Shadow had to fight the urge to go look at all the photos and see the memories Sonic had captured throughout the years.

His odd desire was thankfully put to a stop by Sonic calling for everyone’s attention, the background chatter in the room quieting as he and Rouge took their seats and joined the crowd. For once, Shadow wasn’t met with looks of distrust, but rather something akin to familiarity as some of the people hanging about waved at them.

Granted, the waves were almost certainly for Rouge, but that was beside the point.

“All right people! We’re about ready to get started!” Sonic announced. Beside where he stood, Tails sat in a chair that had been shoddily decorated to look like a throne—the birthday boy chair, if you would. “What we have planned for today’s party is something we like to call the Game Gauntlet!”

Shadow gave Rouge an unimpressed look. It seemed like a stupid name for a stupid activity, but he digressed.

“We’re going to play a series of party games, and after each game, the winner will get to wear the Crown of Champions during the next game!” Sonic gestured towards the coffee table that sat in between them, and sure enough, sitting atop the crusty, fingerprint-smeared glass surface was a crown. It was a very feminine crown, Shadow noted with dismissal, looking like something a toddler princess would wear with sparkly plastic diamonds and cheap metal painted gold. “And the person who wears the crown the most will be dubbed Champion of the Games!”

Yep. This seemed incredibly stupid.

Despite his initial sentiment of disapproval, Shadow found himself begrudgingly appreciating the effort and enthusiasm Sonic put in, because even though his theatrics and antics were over the top, Tails looked like he was having fun, and Shadow supposed that if he was the birthday boy, then that was all that mattered.

Not that he would ever share that thought, of course. He didn’t want people to think that he was going soft, which he most definitely wasn’t.

“For the first game, Tails shall get the honor of wearing the crown, but only because he is the birthday boy!” With a grand gesture, Sonic lifted the crown off the coffee table with elevated pinkies and placed it on Tails’ head with an unnecessary flourish. “But just to set the record straight, this is your only freebie, bud!”

What followed was a series of games so pointless, Shadow questioned quite a few times what his purpose in life was, and whether or not he truly needed that new motorcycle. He didn’t win any of the games, but it was important to note that this was only because he really, really didn’t want to be stuck wearing the stupid princess tiara Sonic insisted was the ‘Crown of Champions!’ Shadow knew that the moment that hideous thing went on his head, Rouge would whip out her camera faster than he could teleport away with his Chaos Emerald.

Espio won pin the tail on the donkey, Rouge won the scavenger hunt, Tails won charades, Vector won musical chairs, and with that, there was only one game left for them to play, much to Shadow’s relief. These games weren’t fun, they were humiliating and exhausting.

“Having fun Shadow?”

Shadow huffed at Rouge’s absurd question. For the most part, he had been hardly participating, sitting off to the side while everyone else made fools of themselves. “No. These games make this party feel like it was for children. Hell, even the laser tag was more entertaining than this.”

“Shadow, this party is for children. I’m pretty sure Tails is like, nine or something.”

Oh. Well, that only kind of changed things. “I still had more fun holding the plastic gun,” Shadow retorted, “even if it was a fake. I could at least pretend I was shooting things. And not talk to anyone.”             

“Well, if that’s the case, I think you’re going to really like this last game Sonic has planned for us,” Rouge said with a wink, which never was a good thing and probably meant she was lying or making fun of him. “It requires pretty minimal talking.”

For once, Rouge was telling the truth. As Tails explained the rules of the last game they were going to play, hide and seek, Shadow felt a wave of relief wash over him. This would be ridiculously easy. All he would have to do was find somewhere dark and quiet, sit there, and not say anything. That was literally his preferred way of existing; he was going to crush this.

And feeling the weight of the Chaos Emerald sitting in his quills, he knew that he was going to have the perfect means of making sure that he wasn’t followed or discovered.

“Okay,” Tails announced after he was done explaining the rules, which were quite literally just hide and don’t be found, “I’m going to count to thirty, and then after that, I’m going to come search for you guys. And when I find you, just come back and wait in the living room!”

Shadow’s lip twitched in distaste. Oh yes, he was going to take extra care to find a good hiding spot so that he wouldn’t have to be stuck in the same room as these fools. He would just sit in the corner with his arms crossed and not saying anything, of course, but that was still not fun and incredibly uncomfortable for everyone involved. It would be best if he avoided it altogether.

His eyes catching the movement of the light snow that had started to fall outside, just a mere dusting, Shadow turned to look out the window and into the backyard. There, across the white, snowy stretch of space that a lawn would have been, was a small toolshed that looked like it had seen better days. His lips curling in the phantom of a smile, Shadow devised his plan. This would be perfect.

Shadow’s scheming was interrupted by Tails. “Okay everyone, when I close my eyes, that’s when you go hide! Oh, and Big?”

At his name being called, Big, who was three times as tall and twice as wide as the rest of the group and would probably lose spectacularly at this game, pointed to himself and tilted his head to the side in question.

“This time, try to actually hide, maybe? Last time you just stood there with a blanket over your head. Just because you can’t see me doesn’t mean I can’t see you, you know.”

Big nodded in affirmation, and Shadow scoffed to himself. This was his competition? Pfft, winning this game and staying hidden the longest was going to be like stealing candy from a baby, which was fine by him.  

“All right people, here we go!” Tails called out, covering his eyes with his hands and turning around so that his face was resting against the wall. “One…. Two…. Three….”

With a great deal of commotion, everyone scattered, leaving Shadow by himself in the living room with Tails.

Well, and Sonic was still there too. For some reason. Unfortunately.

“So, Shadow, where are you going to hide?”

Shadow sneered. “It’s quite literally none of your business.”

“Got room for one more?” There was a teasing glimmer in Sonic’s eyes, and Shadow wondered why he got so much enjoyment from heckling him at every chance he got.

“Absolutely not.”

“Oh yeah? Then why haven’t you moved yet?”

“Hey, um, guys?” Tails stopped counting, his voice muffled due to his face being buried in his hands. “I can still hear you, you know. I’m right here.”

With a huff, Shadow turned on his heel. “Tch, I’m out of here. Don’t follow me, hedgehog.”

Walking over towards the kitchen, Shadow looked over his shoulder once he entered the separate room to make sure that he hadn’t been followed. By some miracle, he was alone. Thank goodness. He wasn’t really sure if it was proper etiquette to fight Sonic in his own kitchen on Tails’ birthday, but he couldn’t be sure. Socialization wasn’t really his strong point.

Pulling the Chaos Emerald out from his quills, Shadow allowed himself a rare smile at it. Finally, something would work in his favor at these parties. For whatever reason, he seemed to have the rottenest luck with the situations he found himself stuck in. Not one of the celebrations Rouge had dragged him to thus far had turned out normal.

Squeezing the powerful gem lightly, he growled out a raspy “Chaos, Control!” and feeling the energy surge through his veins, teleported to the shed in the backyard.

It was dark, quiet, cool, and most importantly, empty. Shadow let out a relieved sigh, his exhale materializing in the air as a puff of mist. This was perfect. Exactly what he wanted, the ideal spot to sit and ponder and reflect on the life choices to lead him to this precise moment. There were no annoying people to entertain, to exist around, and most importantly, there was no—

The door flung open, revealing the last person he wanted to see. The one and only Sonic.

If you were expecting Shadow to react with a strong display of anger or violence, you would just need to be a bit patient. Because at the current moment, his mind was so overcome with shock at his perfect hiding spot being thwarted, hijacked, crashed by none other than the confusing blue thorn in his side that refused to leave him alone, that he had no anger to display. In other words, it was charging up.        

“Oh, heya Shadow, didn’t expect to find you in here!” There was a beat as Sonic grinned at him, shutting the door behind him. “Except, well, I totally expected to find you in here, because I heard you say ‘Chaos Control!’ all deep and edgy like you normally do, and then I saw a flash of light out here so I figured I’d stop by and say hi!”

“Get. Out.”

“Whoa there, no need to be so hostile—”

“Why are you in here?”

“I’m hiding from Tails obviously.”

“Yeah, well, this is my hiding spot, so you’re going to have to go away and find your own.”

“Hold on, who ever said that this was your hiding spot?”

“I did, because I was clearly here first, so leave!”

Sonic opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, was cut off by the distant shouting of Tails from within the house, saying “Ready or not, here I come!”

Pinning Shadow with a smug grin, Sonic folded his arms over his chest. “Nope, the game’s started, no chance I’m leaving now.”

Shadow walked over to Sonic, closing the already small distance that separated them in the cramped shed. “You’ll either leave of your own accord, or I will throw you out into the snow,” he threatened in a low, menacing voice, one that would have left literally anyone else cowering in fear.

But since it was Sonic he was talking to, the recipient of his threat merely smirked at him with half-lidded eyes, and much to Shadow’s displeasure, had the audacity to lean in.  “Oh yeah? And then everyone will see me, and then they’ll come over here and find you too. Face it, Shadow, you’re stuck with me.”

Shadow wanted to pull out his quills and yell. Sonic was just, so… so… insufferable at times, he really had no idea how one creature was so capable of being so annoying.

Because as much as he despised to admit it, he was stuck in here with Sonic for the duration of the game. He had no choice but to pray that the dumb fox would be able to find everyone before he and Sonic tore each other’s throats out.

“Fine,” Shadow growled, not bothering to hide the fact that he was far from pleased about the scenario. “But if you’re going to stay, you’re going to sit on that side over there, and you aren’t going to say a single thing to me the entire time.”

“Okay, okay! Gee, I see how it is,” Sonic relented. “Just out of curiosity, are both sides of your bed the wrong side? Because it seems like no matter which side you wake up on, you’re always in a bad mood.”

Shadow chose to ignore his little quip. “What did I say about not talking, hedgehog?”

“Oh come on, you can’t actually expect me to sit here in silence! Haven’t you met me?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” Shadow snipped, “and I really, really regret having left the house today.”

Sonic laughed as he went to go sit on the stool Shadow had ordered him towards, kicking one of his shoes up to inspect it. “You know, I almost slipped and fell, like five times in the snow trying to walk across the yard, so the least you could do is be nice to me,” he stated sarcastically. “The treads on my shoes are completely worn through. I probably need to replace them soon.”

Shadow let out a disapproving huff. Now that Sonic had mentioned it, he could tell that the bottoms of his shoes were abnormally smooth. “That’s very unsafe.”

Sonic’s head snapped up, pinning Shadow with an odd expression. “Shadow, I… didn’t know… that you cared?”

“Of course I care.” At Sonic’s completely dumbfounded reaction—if Shadow didn’t know any better, he would think that his brain had short-circuited— Shadow quickly explained his totally valid, totally legitimate rationale. “If we’re racing and you slip and fall on your face because your shoes don’t have any traction, then you become my problem. And I quite frankly don’t want to deal with that.”

Sonic frowned, before returning to picking at the edges of his demolished soles. “I, uh, yeah. You know what, that makes complete sense to me. Can’t really argue with that.”

The two fell into a somewhat awkward silence… well, it was only awkward for Sonic; for Shadow, he was very comfortable. The silence was what he preferred, and had been expecting before Sonic had nuked his solitary party. The least his rival could do was respect his need for some goddamn peace and quiet.

But of course, as to be expected, Sonic didn’t last very long. In the grand scheme of things, ten minutes was actually very impressive and probably even a new record, though it was only really possible due to the fact that every time Sonic would open his mouth to speak, which happened every forty-five seconds or so, Shadow would shoot him a dirty glare that immediately made his rival press his lips back together.

Until finally, the novelty wore off, and despite Shadow’s scathing warning of narrowed eyes, Sonic chose to speak anyways.

“Who do you think is going to be found first?”

“I thought I told you not to say anything to me,” Shadow retorted, not missing a beat.

“Oh come on, Shadow, you’re no fun! Just answer the question!”

Shadow sighed, before giving in with his answer. “Big.”

“Oh now, that’s just kind of rude. And kind of a cop-out.”

“Okay, then, fine. What’s your answer?”           

Before Sonic could answer and spark an argument with Shadow that literally no one else in the group was nearly as difficult to hide as Big, Shadow heard the door to the house slam in the distance followed by Tails’ distinct voice saying, “Yep, these are Sonic’s footprints all right! And they look like they lead out to the toolshed….”

A tired, deadpan look crossed Shadow’s face, and he turned slowly towards Sonic with nothing but his lips pressed in a thin, displeased line to convey his ire. Sonic, to his very minimal credit, lifted his hands and shoulders apologetically and offered Shadow an abashed, “Oops?”

“You imbecile,” Shadow hissed as he sprung into action, his sensitive ears picking up on the crunching of Tail’s footsteps crossing the backyard and growing louder with each passing second. “You gave away my perfect hiding spot!”

“I’m sorry!” Sonic exclaimed, having the decency to at least sound somewhat apologetic.

Still, not quite admitting defeat just yet, Shadow lunged forward and grabbed Sonic by the fur on his chest, pulling him forwards. Sonic, for whatever reason, let it happen, allowing himself to get dragged by Shadow across the tiny shed, even though he definitely had the full capability of pushing Shadow off of him.

That didn’t mean that he didn’t whine and complain about it, though.

“Hey, ow, I don’t know if you know this, but that kind of hurts!”

Reaching their destination, which happened to be an old, decaying closet sitting in the corner, Shadow swung Sonic around in front of him.  With the hand that wasn’t holding Sonic in a death grip, he opened the door, unceremoniously tossing his captive inside. “Be quiet,” he ordered as Sonic fell in a tangle of limbs.

He was about to slam the door on Sonic and trap him, when he glanced over his shoulder and realized that in the tight quarters of the shed, there was nowhere else for him to hide. He could make a last ditch attempt to Chaos Control out of there, however, Tails was probably close enough that he would see the flash of energy through the frosted windows. And even though there had been no explicit rules stating that he couldn’t use his Chaos Emerald, Shadow also didn’t feel particularly inclined to have that debate with anyone at the moment.

And so, after a split second of deliberation, Shadow swallowed his pride and climbed into the small closet next to Sonic and shut the door behind them.

He could only see a glimpse of the pure shock on Sonic’s face before the door closed all the way and plunged them into darkness. “I don’t want to hear it,” he groused as he settled in beside him, trying to place as much space between them as possible in the tiny space. His efforts, of course, were futile, and he felt his arm press up against Sonic despite his best attempts.

“Shadow, I—”

Slapping a hand over his rival’s mouth before he had the chance to say anything stupid (because to be honest, almost everything that Sonic said was stupid), Shadow let out a low growl from the back of his throat. Beneath him, Sonic squirmed, lifting his arms to try to pry Shadow off, however, both of them froze as the door to the shed slammed open.

“Gotcha!”

There was a beat, and for a long, agonizing second, Shadow feared that Tails had seen their commotion from when they had gone to hide in the closet and knew exactly where they were.

Though as the seconds passed and Tails didn’t fling the doors to their secondary hiding spot open, a spark of hope glimmered in Shadow’s chest. Perhaps there was still a chance that Sonic’s blunder hadn’t cost them the game.

“That’s so odd,” he heard Tails comment under his breath, “I was certain that those were Sonic’s footprints that headed over this way. He should be in here… unless….”

Shadow’s breath caught in his throat as he heard movement coming towards them, and beside him, he could feel Sonic’s body stiffen. His grip over Sonic’s mouth tightened, the claws poking through the thick fabric of his gloves and unintentionally digging into Sonic’s skin. Sonic let out a small hiss of discomfort, and Shadow relented his hold somewhat apologetically.

Both of their bodies tensed as the shadow of Tails approached, blocking out the light that filtered in through the seam of the door as he drew closer and closer to the closet. Shadow shrunk back, dragging Sonic with him, and just as Tails was about to reveal their very compromising, very suspicious hiding place, there was a loud crash! from inside the house.

“Oh brother, I leave for one second!” Talis cursed to himself, before turning away from the wood panel that separated him from Sonic and Shadow. “They better not have broken anything valuable!” And with that, the echoes of his footsteps receded, followed by the sound of the shed door closing shortly after.

Shadow couldn’t believe their luck. Still, not wanting to risk it, he sat in the dark pressed up against Sonic for a minute longer, his ears straining to catch any more noise. For all he knew, Tails had only pretended to leave, and this was all a trap. The fox, despite being a kid, was surprisingly clever.

As the seconds stretched on, though, and nothing happened, Shadow became acutely aware of who he was currently, for lack of a better term, snuggled up against. How he was pressed up against Sonic’s side. How his hand was still clasped over his mouth. How despite their precarious position, it was beginning to feel familiar, like this wasn’t the first time he had done this.

It was enough to make panic rise in the back of his throat like bile.

But no. He couldn’t panic now, not in a space as tight as this, and so using his grip on Sonic’s face to turn his face towards his, Shadow lifted a finger to his lips in a gesture to remain silent.

Rolling his eyes, Sonic pointed to Shadow’s hand over his mouth with an exaggerated flair. Shadow narrowed his eyes in response. Just because Sonic wasn’t saying anything now (and obviously he wasn’t—Shadow was preventing him from doing so), that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t say something incredibly loud and moronic the moment Shadow let go of him.

Slowly, he lifted his hand off of Sonic, as though he was scared that he was going to start talking in his characteristically boisterous voice the moment he was given the opportunity.

His fears, unluckily, were very valid.

“Geez, finally! I don’t know if you were aware of this, Shadow, but I couldn’t brea—”

Yep. He clearly didn’t deserve to have speaking privileges. And so, without a moment of hesitation, Shadow placed his hand back over Sonic’s mouth and ignored the way he made a muffled sound of protest.

"Would it kill you to be quiet for once?” Shadow hissed in a low voice. At this point, he didn’t care if Tails was still in the workshop and could hear them. He was really in that much disbelief about Sonic’s need to chatter incessantly.

Sonic stared at him, and after a moment of deliberation, nodded his head in reluctant agreement.

Another minute passed, and then Shadow realized that he couldn’t take it anymore. The closeness, the body heat that soared even in the freezing temperatures of the shed… he needed space, and he needed it now.

And so without warning, he kicked the door to the closet open and tossed Sonic out, placing that coveted distance between them before Shadow did something questionable and regrettable. He wasn’t sure what that would be, exactly, but the urge made him uncomfortable. So Sonic had to go.

And go he did, onto his hands and knees onto the floor of the shed. Surprisingly, he didn’t protest about being thrown out without any sort of verbal communication; instead, he just stared at Shadow with a look of bewilderment upon his face. “That was—you just—“ he paused and swallowed, and just like at the previous party, Shadow found himself surprised at Sonic’s lack of ability to speak. It was unlike him to trip over his words like this. “I’m surprised you, uh, went to such… lengths… to stay hidden.”

“It was the only way that we wouldn’t get caught.”

Sonic laughed, but there was an underlying thread of awkwardness, a blink-and-you-miss-it strain. “Well, either you really wanted to cozy up with me in a closet, or you’re really competitive.”

Shadow sneered at the implication. “If I get caught, I have to go sit in the living room and make small talk with a bunch of people I barely know, let alone like. And unfortunately for me, I know that if you get caught, you’re ratting me out, so don’t read too much into it.”

The strange expression Sonic had painted upon his face vanished in an instant, replaced by a mask that was more familiar to Shadow. His persona, his character in all its obnoxious glory. “Aw, Shadow, you’re so sweet!” he exclaimed. “You’d rather spend time with me? I’m so flattered, I had no idea I meant that much to you!”

Turning his back to him, Shadow scowled at the sarcasm dripping from Sonic’s voice and the way he clasped his hands together and kicked his foot up in a pining, wistful way that was about as fake as Shadow’s own desire to be at these parties. “I just told you to not read too much into it.”

“Yeah, well, too late! I’m taking it as a compliment.”

“I hate you and everyone else at this dumb party, don’t forget that.”

“So if that’s the case, why do you keep coming to these?”

Shadow froze, thankful that his back was still turned towards Sonic, because he was unable to control the expression of guilt that crossed his face. Because whether he intended to or not, Sonic had laid the perfect trap, and Shadow, like the idiot that he was, had walked straight into it.

He could almost hear Sonic’s shoes tapping in impatience, a specter of a pitter-patter on the fringe of his senses. “Well?” Sonic asked as the moments passed and Shadow continued to stand there without saying anything.

Shadow clenched his hands into fists, staring at the floor. “My presence here is none of your business.”

“Oh, but you see, it kind of is,” Sonic said, placing a hand on Shadow’s shoulder and spinning him around. Under normal circumstances, Shadow would have resisted, but for once, he just let it happen. “Because unlike you, I actually care for my friends, and I want what’s best for them. And that means protecting them from whatever threatens to harm them.”

Shadow glared at Sonic and shrugged off the hand he had clamped on his shoulder, borderline insulted by his insinuation. “I’m not a threat to them.”

“No, but you also don’t like them. You clearly hate me, and can barely tolerate anyone else, so tell me Shadow, why are you here?”

Sonic’s determination was one of his key qualities that Shadow both despised and admired in equal measures. Under most conditions, he would label it as a cheesy, superfluous thing, something that was nothing more than meaningless words. However, there was always a part of him that appreciated it, that conviction he held. But now that he was on the receiving end of it, the steely glint in his eyes that lacked the giddiness and charm Sonic usually toted, Shadow found himself shifting uncomfortably in his shoes.

To his dismay, Sonic pressed forward. “Did Rouge put you up to this?”

Shadow stiffened, and he hoped his bodily reaction wasn’t noticeable. There was a part of him, small albeit existent, that wanted to tell Sonic the truth. Grab him by the shoulders, look him dead in the eyes, and confess: You’re absolutely correct. Rouge has been dragging me to all of these parties because we made a deal that if I went to five, she would by me a new motorbike. I actually don’t want to be here at all. I don’t belong here, and we all know it, and I’m tired of pretending like I do.

But that would violate one of the stipulations of the deal. He wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about their little arrangement, or the agreement would be off. And damnit, he had already gone to two of these and was currently at his third. It was a sunk cost fallacy; he was already in too deep.

So, levelling an even look with Sonic, Shadow managed to say his deepest, most serious voice: “No. She didn’t.”

“And so… there was no blackmail involved?”

Shadow blinked. Sure, a secret deal had been struck, but it had been completely of his own volition. No blackmail involved. “Um, no?”

Sonic cursed under his breath. “Rats,” he muttered, and upon seeing Shadow’s perplexed reaction, rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “Heh-heh, Tail’s and I might have had a bet going on as to whether or not Rouge blackmailed you into coming with her.” There was an awkward pause, and with absolutely no further prompting from Shadow, Sonic continued. “And… I might have an ongoing bet with Silver about what she blackmailed you with.”

Shadow crossed his arms, curiosity getting the better of him. “And?”

With a lopsided smile, Sonic leaned forward. “Well, I think that she has a photo album of humiliating photos that she’s threatened to spread around. She seems to have a real knack for taking pictures of you in embarrassing situations. And Silver, for some reason, thinks that she offered to buy you a motorcycle in exchange for you coming to five parties with her, which I think is totally absurd and oddly specific.” Sonic let out a laugh. “I have no idea where he came up with that. Silver can be so creative.”

Shadow stared at Sonic incredulously, right before nearly slapping a palm to his face. Of course Silver knew. He was technically from the future, after all. But Sonic not believing him was not only completely imbecilic, but very in character for him.

“Speaking of which, where is your motorcycle? I haven’t seen you ride it recently.”

Shadow’s stare flattened into something a little more volatile, although there was a small part of him that was surprised that Sonic had actually noticed that he hadn’t been riding it recently. He didn’t really know what to make of this; Sonic wasn’t really known for being the observational type.  “I crashed it. And I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Oh, well, don’t tell Silver that, he’ll just become more convinced that his crazy conspiracy theory is true!”

“Hmph,” Shadow responded, not really knowing what to say in response. Certainly not that he had zero intention of telling Silver, because the last thing that freaking clairvoyant needed was evidence confirming his not-totally-outlandish claim.

Taking note of Shadow’s dejected demeanor, which wasn’t much different than his usual demeanor, Sonic reached out and placed a comforting hand on his arm. Shadow’s head whipped towards the contact, his ears flattening in silent protest. For once, though, he didn’t immediately push Sonic away, the comfort behind the gesture freezing him in place.

“Anyways, I’m really sorry to hear about your motorcycle, dude.” Sonic gave his arm a light squeeze, and Shadow detested how much solace he found in it. “I know how much it meant to you, and I hope you can get a new one soon.”

The sentiment in Sonic’s voice should have made him want to vomit. It should have made him push him away, made him punch him in the face, made him curse him out. Shadow hated it when others pitied him

But for some reason, he didn’t feel that way with Sonic.

He felt nothing but soft, faint gratitude.

And so, instead of shrugging his rival off like he should have and saying something like you don’t know anything or even better, a contrite shut up, hedgehog, Shadow managed out a simple, “Thank you.”

And despite himself, he truly meant it.            

With a sigh, Shadow ran a hand through his quills in an attempt to smooth them down. They were disheveled from his romp in the closet with Sonic, and if there was one thing he hated, it was a messy appearance. “If you must know, the real reason that I come to these parties is because Rouge thinks it’s good for me.” It was a half-truth. He couldn’t count the number of times she had attempted to invite him to various events while at work… and every time, he had said no. That had never stopped her from letting herself into his place in the past, though it had certainly prevented him from having to interact with Sonic’s extended friend group as a whole. Honestly, Shadow suspected that the little deal they had struck up was half for her to get with Knuckles, and half to get him out of the house. She would deny it, of course, but he wouldn’t put a scheme like that past her.  “She thinks I’m too isolated and lonely. That I have no friends.” Shadow paused, resisting the urge to scoff at what he had said. “She’s right, of course. I prefer it that way.”

Sonic perked up at Shadow’s answer, clearly intrigued. “Is that so?” he asked, not bothering to hide the interest in his voice. “So then… what do you think? Of all these parties?”

Shadow hesitated for a moment, debating whether to tell the truth or flat out lie. In the end, his moral compass won out, and he muttered out his admission with some reluctance. “It’s… not as bad as I thought it would be.” And surprisingly, it was the truth. Despite all of his griping about how obnoxious the parties were, deep down, Shadow had to admit that they weren’t terrible. Sure, he would rather be doing just about anything else with his time, but that was unimportant.

“Wow, Shadow, that’s one of the nicest things I think I’ve ever heard you say.”

“Don’t push your luck.”

Sonic put his hands up in mock defense. “No, really! Listen, I understand that you’re lonely, and broody, and gloomy, and always angry—”

“Get to the point.”

“But everyone needs a friend, even edgy loners like you. I… we… can be your friends, Shadow.” Sonic lowered his hands, extending one out towards Shadow in offering. “If you’ll let us.”

Shadow could only stare. Sonic just… he didn’t actually mean to… did he?

He didn’t, couldn’t believe it. They were rivals who fought at every opportunity they got, not friends. Hell no. Shadow didn’t have friends.

And yet, he would be lying if he said there wasn’t a small part of him that was tempted, that itched to grab Sonic’s hand in acceptance.

“I…” he began tentatively, not really knowing what to say, but figuring he had to say something, anything to fill the silence that bridged the gap between him and the hand reaching towards him. An internal war waging within him, he lifted his hand (and to do what with it, he wasn’t entirely sure), but before he had the chance to find out, the door to the shed flung open and crashed on its hinges with a sharp wham!

“I knew you were in here Sonic!” Tails practically shouted, his voice laced with triumphant accusation. “And… Shadow?”

There was an awkward moment where time stood still and everyone simply stared at each other. Sonic’s hand hovered in the air, still extended towards Shadow, and just as incriminating was Shadow, his own uncertain hand freezing in place.

For once, it wasn’t Sonic that ended the silence. “Am I, um, interrupting something?” Tails asked, and with that, time propelled forward again.

“No, not at all buddy!” Sonic exclaimed, the hand offered to Shadow swiftly being pulled back and ran through his quills. “Shadow and I were wondering when you would find us, it’s about time!!”

“Please tell me you found most of the others already,” Shadow grumbled in his own offer of distraction, very irritated at the fact that he and Sonic had been caught during such a vulnerable moment. Not because it was private and Tails had intruded, no, because Sonic had distracted him from fulfilling his primary objective of staying hidden.

Tails rubbed the back of his neck as he laughed. “Well, about that… why don’t you two just come and see for yourself?”

As they began to walk back towards the house, the realization of what had just happened dawned upon Shadow, and was confirmed as they reentered the living room to see everyone at the party sitting there. He and Sonic had won, which meant—

“The crown, please!” Tails asked, and Vector, the most recent winner, passed it to him with a sweeping motion. Moving to stand in front of Sonic and Shadow, Tails hesitated. “Hm. I only have one crown, but technically both of you guys won, so…?”

Sonic was quick to jump in. “Oh, well, Shadow was technically the one who found our spot first, so I think he should get to wear the Crown of Champions!”

Shadow turned sharply towards Sonic, a picture of alarm and betrayal on his face. Had he not just offered to be his friend? Because even though Shadow had totally been about to say no (debatable), this wasn’t really what friends did. “Wait, what? No, that’s not—”

Ignoring his protests, Rouge stepped up and took the crown from Tails, placing the tiara on his head with a grin that was a bit too gleeful. Even though Shadow wanted to pluck it off and throw it as far away as he could, there were far too many eyes watching, and so with a cross of his arms and a dark hmph, he attempted to tolerate it.

“How precious!” she effused, “Here, get together you two! I want to get a picture of the winners!”

You would think that after the third time in a row of this happening, Shadow would, well, give up. Just let Rouge have her way with no threats, just lie down and accept that this was simply how it had to be.

But no. Since Shadow was one of the most stubborn creatures in existence, he levelled Rouge with a murderous glare, taking his thumb and swiping it slowly across as his throat in a pure threat before pointing a finger ominously towards her.

And since Rouge was one of the most despicable creatures in existence, she responded with a lighthearted laugh. “Oh Shadow, you know I don’t understand sign language!” she giggled, and before Shadow could slap his palm to his face and call her an idiot in front of the entire party, she motioned for Sonic to lean in. “You guys were both winners, so it only makes sense that I get a snapshot of both of you!”

A low growl emanating from somewhere deep in his throat, Shadow ensured that he looked especially put out in this one as Sonic wrapped an arm around him. A part of him wanted to see the photo to verify that he looked properly pissed off, however, a more dominant part of him was resigned to never setting his eyes on the pictures Rouge took for the rest of his life. The last thing he needed was a reminder of the hell he was putting himself through for a damn motorcycle.

Sonic’s arm, as warm and comforting as it felt looped around his shoulder, was a very niche type of torture.

“I’m taking this off,” Shadow grumbled after Rouge had taken the picture, ducking under Sonic’s arm that remained draped around him even after the moment had been captured and the camera tucked back away. Sonic’s level of touchiness was something Shadow was sorely unfamiliar with.

“Oh no you aren’t!” Rouge protested, her hands clamping around Shadow’s wrists as he reached up to remove the humiliating tiara sparkling atop his head. Shooting her yet another glare, he ripped his hands away. “You have to wear the crown until there’s a new winner!”

Beside them, Tails lifted up a finger. “Erm, actually,” he interjected like the nerd that he was, “there won’t be another winner. That was our last game of the party… now it’s time for cake.”

This little revelation made Rouge smile so big, Shadow just knew it had to hurt. Probably not as much as his ego was bruised, but still, It had to be painful nonetheless. “Oh, is that so?” she mused, and Shadow squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. It was the only reaction he was capable of mustering up at the moment. “Well then, if that’s the case, I suppose Shadow gets the honor of wearing the crown for the rest of the party!”

“I swear to Chaos, you exist to make me suffer,” Shadow griped under his breath, not bothering to remove the fingers that still remained pinched between his eyes.

Tails laughed awkwardly, giving Shadow a nervous side-eye. “I mean, I guess technically, since the games are over, nobody needs to wear it anymore…. That makes sense… right?”

“Oh no, you make absolutely no sense!” Rouge exclaimed, and despite himself, Shadow sent a small granule of gratitude towards Tails for at least attempting to spare him. “Shadow might look like he’s not having fun, but I can guarantee that he is overjoyed on the inside!”

Shadow actually felt dead on the inside. But still, with nothing more than a despondent glare gifted towards Rouge, he allowed her to usher him into the dining room, where the cake was waiting for all the party guests.

As was tradition, he sat next to Rouge at the end of the table, and for once, Sonic didn’t try to sit next to him. Instead, he chose to sit next to Tails, which Shadow supposed only made sense seeing that they were literally best friends. He tried to feel some sort of relief at the distance, but for some odd reason, there was a weird sense of loneliness that permeated him. Which was strange, because Sonic of all people should not have been the one to make him feel that way.

He immediately regretted ever even thinking something so asinine when Sonic made the rounds after singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Tails had concluded, serving the slices of cake.

(It was very important to note that Shadow had not participated in singing the ridiculous birthday song. Rouge had nudged him in an attempt to get him to join in, however, his glare must have been poisonous enough, because for the first time in her entire life, she acquiesced.)

When Sonic reached Shadow, he held out the slice of cake for him to eat, though Shadow just looked at it with mild disgust. “Come on man, just take it,” Sonic said once he realized that Shadow was going to be difficult. “You act like I poisoned it or something.”

“What is it?”

“It’s unfortunately not strawberry, but it’s mint, which is pretty close!” Sonic offered, and Shadow’s ears flattened because mint and strawberry were not at all similar in the slightest. Though, he supposed that on some level, he appreciated the effort.

There was something about what Sonic had said that made him pause, lifting his head up in confusion. “You… remember that? About me?”

Sonic took a bite of cake the slice he was holding out to Shadow, one that was larger than his mouth. He swallowed it without chewing, and Shadow tried not to grimace; what the hell was wrong with him. “Of course I remember. I might look and act stupid, but, well….” He trailed off, taking another large bite of the cake in his silence. “You know what, never mind.”

As the party pressed forward, everyone eating their cake while Shadow’s remained untouched (other than the two bites Sonic had sampled for whatever goddamn reason before placing it in front of Shadow as if the whole thing wasn’t incredibly unappetizing), he could do nothing but think about what Sonic had said.

And he continued to think, even as the dreaded social hour began, and he sat listlessly and disengaged by Rouge’s side. Because this newfound information, that Sonic actually cared enough to remember something trivial about him, struck a chord deep in his soul. It was a hollow peal in an otherwise empty cavern, but it touched him nonetheless, and Shadow didn’t really know how to react.

He was used to responding to everything with anger, violence, or apathy. They were kind of one-size-fits-all emotions that pretty much summed up his entire persona. However, for what was the first time in a long, long while, Shadow didn’t think any of these three sentiments could be applied to how he was feeling.

His brooding continued for the rest of the party, up until Rouge tapped him gently on the arm and informed him it was time to take off his crown and go home. For once, Shadow wasn’t the one rushing them out the door; they were one of the last ones there. Good grief, he really was distracted by this.

“So?” Rouge asked as they walked home. Shadow was still pissed at her about the whole tiara debacle, but for once, his anger was muted, suppressed by his other, more convoluted emotions. “When you were shacked up with Sonic, did you figure out what you want to get him for his Secret Santa gift?”

Shadow had been about to tell her no, that he still had no clue what Sonic liked or wanted other than chili dogs, and to please never describe him and Sonic being ‘shacked up’ ever again, however, something made him hesitate. A conversation he had with Sonic echoed in his mind, and like a lightbulb had gone off in his head, an idea occurred to him. A light smile graced his lips, and if Rouge was surprised by the rare expression, she didn’t say anything.

“I think I did.”

Chapter Text

A week later, Shadow had just finished wrapping his gift minutes before Rouge was scheduled to stop by on her way to the party, checking the clock on the wall as he did so. The corners and creases were clean and crisp, the tape placed perfectly in the center of each seam of the paper. The only finishing touch was to write the name of his Secret Santa recipient, which he accomplished on a small gift tag with neat letters that Sonic was very undeserving of.

And to be fair, given the contents of the gift, Sonic was undeserving of the entire package.

“Are you ready for Blue to fall in love with you with this amazing gift you got him?”

Shadow sniffed, not even jumping as Rouge’s voice sounded just over his shoulder. She had apparently just let herself in through the front door… again. Locks seemed to be nothing more than a suggestion for her. “I’m ready for you to shut up.”

“Pleasant as always, Shadow,” Rouge simpered, and Shadow only entertained her ruthless heckling with a roll of his eyes. “Are you ready?”

Glancing down towards his gift and wondering (not for the first time) if he had gone too overboard for Sonic, of all damn people, Shadow pressed his lips into a thin line. A part of him urged to toss it in the trash, pick up a rock outside, place a bow on it, and give it to his rival instead. However, he decided to hold himself back, settling Rouge with a reluctant glance and a hesitant, “Sure. Let’s get this over with.”

Their walk to Amy’s house was quiet and peaceful. Shadow noticed that the gift that Rouge held had Tails’ name on it, and wondered why the fates of the universe saw it fit to make him draw Sonic’s name, but not have Rouge draw Knuckles. Her puzzling infatuation with the red dingus was the whole reason Shadow was in this mess in the first place (well that, and his motorcycle), so he didn’t understand how she didn’t have the luck to draw his name. It certainly would have made sense, at least for the sake of plot convenience.

“Two parties left,” Shadow commented in a rare instance of him initiating small talk. “Are you ready to introduce yourself to Knuckles and tell him your name?”

With the hand not holding the present, Rouge grasped at her heart in fake agony. “You wound me, Shadow,” she said with a teasing smile.

“Pfft, have you even talked to him yet?” Shadow asked as they turned down Amy’s street, her house coming into view at the end of the block. As was expected, it was more decorated and brightly lit than the other residences lining the road, a beacon that beckoned Shadow and Rouge like bugs to a flame. “At this point, I’ve spent more quality time with Sonic at these things than you have with Knuckles.”

It could not be understated just how badly Shadow regretted those words the moment he uttered them, the painful implication blatant. He winced to himself. Maybe he would be lucky and Rouge wouldn’t realize what he had said and refrain from making an infuriating comment that would make Shadow want to gouge his eyes out?

Sneaking her a glance, Shadow dejectedly realized that was a fruitless wish.

“Quality time with Sonic, you say?” she preened, the grin on her face nothing short of wolfish. “Is that what you want to call all the times you have spent cozied up together?”

“No,” Shadow mumbled. “I think I would rather call it torture.” The malice he tried to infuse into his words fell flat even upon his own ears, and Shadow wondered when he had lost his edgy touch.

He didn’t have much time to ponder it, though, because as they walked up the yard to Amy’s house, the door swung open with a great flourish. “Welcome, welcome!” their host called down to them from the porch, a bright smile extended out across the evening. “Come with me, I’ll show you where to place your presents!”

As they walked past the living room and into the dining room where the stack of presents awaited them, Shadow couldn’t help but scan the group of people mingling and chatting amongst themselves, noticing a peculiar lack of a certain telltale shade of blue.

What is with Sonic and being mysteriously absent at these Christmas parties? Shadow wondered to himself, before his attitude shifted. He better show up. I put in way too much effort into this damn present for him to not even be here to open it.

Shaking off his irritation, Shadow followed Rouge to place their gifts on the table, and as he did so, he couldn’t help but glance over the other presents already waiting, searching for his name.

“Hey now, no peeking!” Amy chastised, appearing out of nowhere, and Shadow tore his gaze away with a derisive hmph! and a pointed fold of his arms over his chest, embarrassed that he had been caught looking.

Beside Amy, Rouge planted her hands on her hips. “Yeah, Shadow, no peeking!” she said, and it took everything within Shadow’s power to not throw his hands up in the air in exasperation because she had definitely also been looking for her name right alongside him.

“You’ll find out your gifts soon enough!” Amy said in a voice right on the cusp of singing, Shadow wondering where she found so much enthusiasm about something as trivial as a gift exchange. He would find it admirable if he wasn’t so disgusted.

She held out two fuzzy red and white things towards them, and as Shadow watched Rouge accept and unfurl one, he realized with a tired, sinking feeling in his heart that they were Santa hats. Of course. He honestly should have expected this. “All of the Secret Santas need a Santa hat!” Amy gushed, motioning for Shadow and Rouge to put them on. Rouge did so with enthusiasm, Shadow with hatred. This trend of wearing stupid hats to these parties was getting kind of old. Was there no such thing as a normal party with these people?!

Though, as they followed Amy into the living room where the rest of the partygoers were waiting, Shadow catching a glimpse of the other guests and remembering just who attended these things, he realized that no. There was no such thing as a normal party when these fools were all involved.

At least this time, unlike when he had gotten stuck with the 'Crown of Champions' at the last one, everyone was wearing a Santa hat. Thank Chaos. And, Shadow seeing his reflection in the bay window of the living room, he eased up just a bit as he begrudgingly acknowledged that the red of the hat did look somewhat acceptable with his color palette. It was the little things that made a difference, he supposed.

As the minutes ticked away and Sonic had yet to appear, Shadow sat alone, brooding in a chair in the corner as he observed everyone around him. The atmosphere was warm and cozy, permeated with chatter and laughter and overall sounds of repulsive happiness. The fireplace crackled and those damn Christmas tunes chugged away in the background, only audible once in a while between the festivities and clamor that Shadow found himself a bystander of.

Until, that is, he was approached by none other than Tails, who toted two large mugs of, well, something that looked just a little bit thick, frothy, and gross.

“Hey, Shadow,” he said timidly, and though he wasn’t exactly thrilled about having to engage in conversation, Shadow supposed he had to commend the kid for having the bravery to approach him at what was the second party now. That was more than the rest of the cowards who attended these damn things. “Do you want some eggnog? I got it for Sonic, but I haven’t seen him recently and it’s going to lose its warmth if I keep waiting. So uh, yeah. If you want it, it’s yours?”

Shadow couldn’t prevent the way his ears perked up at this little tidbit of information as he sat up and accepted the drink without really thinking about it too much. “You haven’t seen Sonic?” he asked as casually as he could, trying to convince himself that the only reason he was asking was because Sonic was his gift recipient, and not because he actually cared about his whereabouts.

Tails rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Um, no, I haven’t. Not for a while actually. I have no idea where he went.” He paused for a moment as he watched Shadow take a tentative sip of the drink, clasping his hands together almost nervously. “So… what do you think of the eggnog? I made it how Sonic likes it, which means it has double the egg as a normal drink. I have no idea if its good or not, just that he likes it made that way.”

Shadow tried to ignore the way his stomach clenched at the information that the drink he was currently sipping at was made to Sonic’s precise liking. Overall, the eggnog wasn’t exactly bad, but it wasn’t his first choice either. It was thick and clumpy, the texture feeling odd on his tongue.  

However, Shadow was spared from having to answer Tails’ question as a loud crash! pierced through the living room, the sound of breaking glass catching everyone’s attention. Turning towards the source, Shadow found Rouge looking incredibly guilty with a shattered ornament on the floor next to her feet.

It was also important to note that for the first time in the series of parties they had attended, Rouge was actually talking to Knuckles. Or at least, had been talking to Knuckles; currently they were both stepping out of the way of the bomb site as Amy rushed forward to do damage control.

“I’m so sorry,” Rouge said, sounding genuinely apologetic (and Shadow wondered why she had never offered him an apology like that, when the hell she had put him through was far worse) as she placed a dainty hand over her mouth. “I must have knocked it off with my wing.”

Shadow’s eyes narrowed, suspicious that Rouge was up to something as Amy waved her off, letting her know that it wasn’t that big of a deal, it was just an ornament after all! And seeing the way Rouge rested a delicate hand on Knuckle’s shoulder as they both watched Amy crouch down, he couldn’t help but feel like his suspicions were somewhat confirmed, given how convoluted her whole ploy was in the first place.

Wait a second. Why was Amy crouching down…?

With a frown as he realized that she was about to pick up the glass shards with her bare hands, which was incredibly unsafe, even with the protection of her thick gloves, Shadow set his eggnog down, stepped forward, and grabbed her by the shoulder, hoisting her back up. “Don’t,” was all he said, not bothering to explain himself due to the fact that literally everyone should know the dangers of handling broken glass, and he wasn’t anyone’s damn mother. “Do you have a broom? I’ll sweep it up.”

Somehow, the already silent room grew even more hushed. Amy gave him a weird look, and realizing that everyone else in the living room was looking at him the exact same way, Shadow suddenly felt very, very self-conscious.

“Down the hall in the closet on the right,” Amy said after a pregnant pause, the strange frown she gave him not melting away as she spoke. “It shouldn’t be hard to miss.” She cleared her throat awkwardly. “And um… thank you, Shadow.”

Muttering something under his breath that might have been a combination of yeah, no problem and I’ll be right back, Shadow hurriedly excused himself from the room, the back of his neck burning as he could feel the stares following him on his way out.

He let out a sigh as he stopped in the hallway once he was certain he was out of view of everyone, pausing to rub at his temples. Ugh. Why had he even offered to do that? He should have just stood off to the side like he normally did, with nothing more than mirth as he watched those around him bumble all over the place and make dumb mistakes like picking up sharp pieces of glass.

But no, it was too late to rescind his offer now, despite his undeniable desire to do so. And so with a deep inhale and a quick primping of his quills, he walked down the hall to where Amy had directed him.

“Maybe I really am going soft,” he grumbled under his breath as stood in front of the door to the closet, preparing to grab the broom and pan in a huff and return to the living room to begin the humiliating spectacle of cleaning up the mess Rouge made, while everyone watched and ogled at his domesticity.

Once again, all of his current problems could be traced back to her. As if there was even a doubt in the first place.

Shaking his head, he opened the door, and instead of finding the broom and pan like he was expecting, he found himself staring at Sonic.

There was a moment where time around him came to a still, shock freezing his body at the unexpected discovery. This was where Sonic had been the entire party? Hiding out in Amy’s broom closet like a freaking weirdo? He didn’t know if it was more appropriate to laugh at the absurdity or slap a palm to his face, and because of his indecision, he ended up doing nothing but stare.

However, he was snapped out of his reverie as Sonic lunged forward, grasping him quite rudely by his white chest fur and pulling him into the closet with him.

Shadow let out a grunt of protest as Sonic pulled him up against his body and slammed the door behind him, but the sound was muffled as his face was unceremoniously buried into Sonic’s shoulder. They were plunged into darkness, and as his eyes struggled to adjust to the abrupt change in environment, the only sense that Shadow could rely on at that moment was touch. And boy oh boy, was a lot of him touching a lot of Sonic. “Sh!” Sonic whispered frantically as he held Shadow in place, his grip tightening and shifting so that one hand was clapped over his mouth and the other behind his head, holding Shadow steady as he squirmed and writhed beneath him. “I can’t have anyone knowing that I’m in here!”

Shadow let out a muffled protest, attempting to speak and tell Sonic to get his filthy hands off his face that very instant, however, it only came out as a series of unintelligible noises.

“What? I can’t understand you.”

Shadow ceased his struggling and extended his captor an incredulous glower, as if he couldn’t believe that he was so stupid.

And in response, Sonic laughed awkwardly, realizing his blunder. “Oh, heh-heh, right. Yeah. Okay, fine. I’ll only let you go if you can promise me one thing.”

Shadow didn’t respond, instead shooting daggers with his eyes at Sonic. It was the only thing he was capable of doing at the moment.

Sonic seemed to realize this as he let out a sigh. “Okay, okay. I’ll let you go, only if you promise not to say anything. And to not go out there and tell everyone that I’m in here. Can….” Sonic gulped, his words failing him before he attempted to speak again. “Can you make that promise? For me?”

Shadow’s glare did not lessen, but it didn’t harden either.

And Sonic seemed to interpret this as confirmation that Shadow was making a silent promise, for he let out yet another sigh. One of trepidation, one of fear. “I’m going to let go now… just please, don’t say anything….”

He slowly released his hold on Shadow and took a step back, his back hitting the shelf behind him due to the cramped quarters of the closet.

It took Shadow all of two seconds to say something, but before you get mad at him for breaking his promise, it was important to note that he had never technically promised Sonic anything. He had intentionally kept his glares ambiguous. “What. The. Hell.”

Sonic made a shushing motion, but notably did not reengage contact with Shadow and wrap his hands over his mouth a second time. “I can explain!” he assured his rival, and then proceeded to sit there and not do so.

Understandably, Shadow raised an expectant eyebrow, motioning for Sonic to speak. He had the floor. Since he didn’t want Shadow to talk, he was more than welcome to go ahead and say something, anything that could possibly shed light on his baffling behavior and hiding spot.

“I, um…” Sonic began, before the words choked and died a miserable death in the back of his throat. Coughing, he attempted to start again. “So…” he said, before completely switching topics, much to Shadow’s irritation. “Who do you have for your Secret Santa?”

Shadow stiffened at the abrupt change of pace, thankful that the closet was dark and that his face, his guilty reaction wasn’t fully visible. “Why do you think I would tell you that?”

“Hm, well, maybe because we’re friends who love each other very much?”

“I don’t know how many times I need to inform you that I despise you for it to get through your thick skull.” Shadow paused. “And also, we are not friends.”

Sonic simply laughed. “Yeah, yeah, whatever Faker,” and at this, Shadow scowled because he downright despised that nickname. He would rather Rouge call him ‘sugarpop’ or ‘babycakes’ any day of the week instead of that dumb misnomer Sonic assigned him. “I saw you almost take my hand when I offered to be your friend last time we were stuck together. You can’t fool me.”

“The only fool here is you for interpreting that as such,” Shadow snapped back, knowing that on some deep, fundamental level, Sonic kind of had him cornered. Being quite literally trapped in the closet with him didn’t exactly help that feeling, either.

“Okay then….” Sonic said slowly. “Are you going to tell me who you have, or not?”

Shadow sniffed derisively. “I’ll only even consider telling you if you tell me why you’re hiding in here in the first place. I think I at least deserve to know since you see it fit to keep me hostage here."

In the dim light, Shadow could see Sonic flinch, the banter and charisma in his expression shifting into one a bit more guilty. “I’m… a little embarrassed to say,” he eventually said, and Shadow rolled his eyes.

“You can’t possibly be a stranger to that feeling.”

“You’ve really got a way with words, did you know that?” Sonic retorted, but there was no edge or malice in his words. “But okay, fine. Since you asked so nicely. I’ve… kind of, sort of… been avoiding Amy.”

Shadow let out a groan. “Ugh, this again?” he demanded, the exasperation aggressive in his voice.

“Hey, you asked!”

“Yeah, and that doesn’t mean I have to like the answer!”

“Well gee, my bad! Sorry for inconveniencing you!”

“What’s even the problem anyways? There’s so many people out there, can’t you just, I don’t know, talk to someone else instead?!”

Sonic made a noise of pain, and Shadow could faintly see him run his hands down his cheeks, pulling the skin of his face down dramatically. “Mistletoe!” he lamented, and Shadow stared at him because he had no idea what that meant.

“Mistle… toe?”

“Yeah, you know the little plant with the red berries and spiky green leaves?”

Shadow continued to stare. “That was a very vague description. I can think of several plants like that.”

“Okay, well, you’re missing the point!” Sonic exclaimed.

“So, then what is the point?”

“The point is, mistletoe is a plant. And the tradition is that if you and someone else are under the mistletoe, you have to… you know….”

Shadow stared at Sonic as if he had grown a second head. The guy was making absolutely no sense. “No, I actually don’t know.”

Sonic let out a suffering sigh, sounding like Shadow had punched him in the gut rather than say that he had no idea what cryptic message Sonic was trying to convey. “Kiss! If you are under the mistletoe with someone else, you have to kiss them. It’s a Christmas tradition, listen, I don’t really know why, but it’s a thing and I don’t want to have to do it!”

Shadow found himself even more confused. “Why would the plant make you guys kiss?”

“You know what, I tried,” Sonic muttered to himself. “I should have known this would be hopeless.”

And Shadow, for some reason, saw that as a challenge. “So let me get this straight,” he said, trying to understand the jumbled jargon Sonic was throwing his way. “You’re hiding in the closet… because you’re scared that if you go out there, you’ll find yourself under the mistletoe with Amy and feel obligated to kiss her?”

Sonic paused for a moment, digesting Shadow’s summary, before nodding reluctantly. “I mean… yeah, that sums it up pretty well, yes.”

Shadow grunted derisively. “That is pathetic and weak, even for you.”

“Ugh, Shadow, you just don’t get it.”

“Clearly I don’t. You act like this is something you have to do. Just say no.”

“That’s not how this works,” Sonic exclaimed, exasperated. “I’m not like you, Shadow, I’m not this cool, angsty dude who is kind of an asshole and can say and do whatever he wants and be mean and have everyone be okay with it because that’s just how you are. I’m me, and so everyone expects me to be nice and friendly all the time because I’m the hero, and if I deviate from that at all, well, you would think that the world was ending or something.”

Shadow blinked. Holy run-on sentences. Had Sonic ever heard of taking a breath and pausing once in a while?

Sonic took a deep breath, almost as though he had read Shadow’s thoughts. “You hate everyone, especially me, and so you don’t care about what they think.” Sonic sighed. “And honestly? I’m kind of jealous.”

Welp, it was final. Shadow had enough of this pathetic pity party. With a low growl rumbling in the back of his throat, he took a menacing step towards Sonic, which in the cramped quarters of the closet, brought them nearly nose to nose. “You need to stop groveling to me and grow up. Go be a wimp to Tails or your friends. Don’t do it to me.”

With a huff that bordered on being a sigh, Sonic looked away, putting some distance between their noses. “You’ve got a fair point. I should have known better than to talk to you about this, you wouldn’t understand.”

“It’s not that I understand. It’s just that sitting in the closet during this damn party and dragging me in here is not how you handle your problems. You want my advice? I gave it to you. You want validation? Go to someone else.” Shadow refrained from mentioning that for once, he actually preferred to be alone with Sonic at the party and didn’t completely mind being dragged into the closet with him. He was trying to prove a point, that his rival needed to toughen up and face his issues instead of running away and blowing them out of proportion. The closet, aside from Sonic being in it and complaining like a freaking grade-schooler, was quiet and dark, and as previously stated, that was Shadow’s preferred way of existing.

The sigh Sonic let out this time was one of acceptance, of relenting. “You’re right,” he said. “I’m sorry Shadow. I’ll deal with it. But maybe after this party. I don’t want to ruin things… this is supposed to be fun after all.”

Grunting in acknowledgement, Shadow turned away. He wasn’t sure how to respond to Sonic’s vulnerability, to his apology. He was used to fighting him and always being at odds. These finer nuances were a foreign battlefield to him, and so the only way he knew to deal with it was to be as gruff and unrelenting as he always was. “Don’t mention it, hedgehog,” he grumbled. “Ever.”

But still, even in the silence that settled over them, his mind returned to something that Sonic had said to him earlier. Something that was almost an accusation, laced with subtleties of hurt that told Shadow he was more affected by it than his nonchalant demeanor would ever let on.

Shadow took a deep breath. He was probably going to regret saying this. 

“I don’t hate you, you know.”

Sonic’s head snapped towards him. Shadow wasn’t sure if he had seen his eyes ever get so wide. “You don’t?”

Shadow shook his head. He almost wanted to take it back, to recant his statement and double down on the fact that he actually did hate Sonic, a lot.

However, he didn’t. He couldn’t. Because truth be told, he somehow, someway didn’t hate Sonic at all.

“But… you always say….”

“Believe it or not, you’re the most tolerable one here.” He paused. “Other than maybe Big. But that’s because he doesn’t say much of anything.”

“Shadow… I….” Sonic swallowed, clearly not knowing what to say. “I don’t know what to say,” and well, there you have it. He was at a loss for words.

Letting out a hmph, Shadow looked away and folded his arms. He wasn’t good at these types of conversations, much less with Sonic of all people. “Then do us both a favor and don’t say anything,” he suggested gruffly, and was hoping that Sonic would take the hint and shut up for once, when a different, much more feminine voice called his name out in the hall.

“Shadow? Are you back here? We’re still waiting for the broom, and I told everyone that sometimes you like to take breaks in quiet, dark places, so that you were probably just sitting in the closet by yourself, but no one believed me because that’s kind of weird even for you, and so—” Rouge cut herself off as she opened the door to the closet, revealing the very suspicious, very intimate scene inside. Shadow lifted a hand to cover his eyes as the small space flooded with light, as well to shield him from what he knew was about to be the biggest overreaction of the century. “Whoa-ho-ho!” she laughed, a grin splitting her face so wide that Shadow could have sworn it nearly extended from each ear. “Now what is going on in here?!”

Shadow glowered at her, just daring her to make another comment. “I was just leaving,” he snapped, and started to exit the closet when Rouge planted a hand in the center of his chest and slammed him back with a surprising amount of force.

Grunting as his back collided with the shelf, Shadow shot her a glare. “What the hell?” he demanded, amped up and ready to fight and take his humiliation-turned-anger out on something. It was a good (and bad) thing that Sonic was right next to him.

Rouge took the broom from where it rested against Shadow’s thigh, giving him and Sonic a wink. “It looks like I was kind of interrupting something. I’ll take care of cleaning things up, you two just go back to whatever it was you were doing.” She pressed a finger to her lips, her eyelashes lowering in a sultry way that made Shadow incredibly uncomfortable at the implication. “I won’t tell.” And with that, she closed the door to the closet, plunging them into darkness once more.

Shadow sank to the floor, burying his face in his hands as he groaned. “She’s going to tell everyone,” he griped. “She’s going to tell every damn person at this stupid party.”

Beside him, Sonic finally spoke, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder in what was maybe supposed to be a comforting gesture. Shadow said ‘maybe’ because he didn’t find himself very comforted by it at all. “Hey, cheer up Shadow! It’s not like we were doing anything.”

Shadow shrugged him off, glancing up to give him the dirtiest look he could muster from his position on the floor. “And you think that she knows that?”

“Hm, yeah, probably not.”

“This is all your fault, you know.”

“Yeah, I probably deserve that.”

“You don’t even seem bothered.”

“Should I be?”

Shadow froze, his eyes darting towards Sonic. Had he just… did he imply….?

Shaking the crazy thought out of his head, Shadow still couldn’t help but ask him, “You’re… not? Bothered?”

Sonic shrugged. “I mean, why would I be? It’s not like this is the first time this has happened at one of these things. If I’m being honest, it’s kind of become a staple.”

Staring at him, Shadow couldn’t help but repeat what he said. “A… staple.”

“Well, yeah. It kind of seems to be a trend where if you show up at one of these things, we’re going to end up spending some alone time together.” He let out a laugh. “And I can’t say that I can complain. Especially now that I know that you somehow don’t hate me.”

“I really shouldn’t have told you that,” Shadow grumbled, placing a hand on his thigh to prepare to lift himself back up. He was tired of sitting on the floor while Sonic stood over him; it made him feel inferior and unbecoming and if he was being completely candid, it was a little crass given the tight space they found themselves crammed into.

However, before he had the chance to stand up, something flashed in the corner of his eye, and looking up, he found himself staring at Sonic’s extended hand.

“Need a lift?”

If this had been the first, second, or hell, even the third time they had found themselves in this situation, Shadow probably would have knocked Sonic’s hand away and threatened to kill him for even offering something so friendly.

However, since they had what was growing to be an extensive history of instances like this between them, Shadow only hesitated for a moment before accepting the offer, finding an odd sense of comfort in the way Sonic’s hands wrapped around his, engulfing him in a firm, warm hold. Being lifted up by his rival was totally unnecessary—Shadow was perfectly capable of standing up on his own—but he found that for once, he didn’t mind the help.

“Thanks,” he muttered despite himself.

Sonic beamed at him, clearly understanding that his minor and restricted expression of gratitude was a huge deal. “I’ve got to say Shadow, I’ve really enjoyed our time spent together at these things. Even if they aren’t always under the best circumstances.”

“They’re never under the best circumstances,” Shadow retorted, but his words were curiously lacking the hard edge that was normally present. Something that Sonic seemed to notice as he let out a light laugh in response.

“Yeah, well, I guess I don’t personally mind how this has turned out. Have…” he trailed off, and it occurred to Shadow that Sonic seemed nervous. “Have you?”

Shadow realized that Sonic was still holding his hand from when he had lifted him up and off the ground, the heat exchanged between them searing and electric. Though a part of him knew that the only appropriate response would be to disengage and to shove Sonic away, he couldn’t bring himself to do so. Against his better judgment, he found too much reassurance in the grip.

“No,” Shadow said after a long moment, finding himself unexpectedly squeezing the hand that held his own instead of letting it go. “I guess I haven’t minded either.”

They were close. So close, that the fur on their chests brushed against one another and that their noses almost touched. It was magnetizing and repelling all at the same time, and because of this, Shadow froze in place, unsure if he wanted to move forward or farther away.

And though it was dark, Shadow could swear that Sonic began to lean in, crushing his hand as he did so and using the contact between them to draw him in even closer than he already was. And even though he knew he should pull away, and do something more in character like punch Sonic in the face or curse him out, Shadow found himself entranced, the way their chests were now flush against one another as their breath mingled luring him in.

Every nerve, every fiber in Shadow's body felt like it was on fire, and instead of resisting it, he succumbed to the feeling that washed over him.

His eyes closed, but before anything could happen, the door to the closet flung open, bathing the interior with harsh light that made Shadow tear his hand away from Sonic’s to shield his eyes.

“Oops, you guys are still in here?” And then, Rouge quickly realizing just what exactly she had walked in on, she settled them with a knowing smirk. “Oh my… should I have brought some mistletoe for you two?”

Blinking in indignation, Shadow whirled on Rouge with a murderous glare. "What is with everyone and this damn plant?!" he seethed, but his mind was a million miles away elsewhere. He didn’t know if he felt angry or relieved at the fact that Rouge had somehow managed to interrupt them… again. He was angry because she was just so damn nosy and had no sense of privacy whatsoever, but then again, he was also relieved, because if he didn’t know any better, well…

He could have sworn that he and Sonic were about to kiss.

Which was crazy. Absurd. Ludicrous. They were rivals, and rivals didn’t kiss one another.

But then again, rivals didn’t willingly sit in a closet together for the better part of a half hour. Shadow had every opportunity to leave—he hadn’t been locked in there, and he had absolutely nothing preventing him from slapping Sonic in the face and walking right back out into the living room where everyone was waiting for them. No, he had chosen to stay willingly. Without incentives, bribery, or force.

Shadow’s blood ran cold at the realization. Somewhere, somehow, along the way, something had shifted. And even now, locking eyes with Sonic and seeing the connection, as if they were part of some inside joke, there was something different between them. Something intangible to everyone except them, and Shadow’s heart nearly skipped a beat in retaliation.

And seeing the slight crinkle in Sonic’s brow in response accompanied with a concerned, inquisitive look, Shadow couldn’t help but wonder if he felt the same way.

“Well, if you guys are done staring at each other and not saying anything,” Rouge continued in wake of their silence, “I told Amy I would go find you guys for the gift exchange. We’re just about to get started.” At Shadow's dumfounded expression, she placed a hand on her hip and turned fully toward him. “What? I promised that I wouldn’t tell, and I didn’t! As far as everyone is concerned, Sonic is raiding the fridge, and Shadow is fighting a losing battle in the bathroom. No one even suspects a thing!”

Shadow gave her a withering glare. “I feel as though I wish you would have told the truth with this one,” he sighed, not understanding how it was possible for Rouge to take a bad situation and substitute it with something worse. To be frank, it was kind of a talent.  

Every step down the hallway next to Sonic was nothing short of pure, awkward torture, and Shadow couldn't help but feel relieved as they rejoined the party. The gifts, during their brief excursion in the closet, had been relocated to be under the tree, and Shadow bit his lip upon seeing the present he had wrapped with Sonic's name on it. Their most recent romp, unfortunately for him, might change some of the context surrounding the gift and how Sonic might interpret receiving it. Shadow wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. 

Upon the three of them entering the living room, Amy spun around, letting out a dramatic sigh of agitation. “It’s about time!” she exclaimed, before turning to the rest of the group. “Gather around, everyone! It’s time to finally start the gift exchange!”

The rules Amy explained were simple. She would start by opening the gift with her name on it, and then would have three guesses to figure out who her Secret Santa was. After the identity was revealed (and many hugs and sappy words that sickened Shadow to his stomach and he swore that he would not be partaking in when he opened his own gift), then it would be the giver’s turn to open the gift with their own name on it. And thus, a cycle would be born, and slowly, everyone would have their chance to open their presents.

It was mildly entertaining to see who everyone had and what gifts they had gotten for their receivers. There were some creative ones, such as a new helmet for Charmy and the blue beanie that Rouge had crocheted Tails that matched the color of his eyes, however, there were also some gifts that seemed kind of lazy and phoned in. Notably, Silver receiving a gift card to the local department store that was primarily focused on women’s garments. The guy didn’t even wear clothes, though perhaps this gift was a suggestion for him to start doing so.

As everyone around the circle slowly took turns exchanging their gifts, Shadow holding his breath each time as he waited for Sonic to reveal himself as someone’s Secret Santa and inadvertently throw Shadow into the fray by opening his gift, the moment never came. And before he knew it, everyone had exchanged their gifts.

Well, everyone that is, except for Sonic and Shadow.

The circle of gift-giving had come to a close, and somehow, the two rivals had been left out of it. Which only meant one thing….

Shadow locked eyes with Sonic across the room, Sonic’s surprised ones meeting Shadow’s look of accusation. What are the odds, he lamented to himself, what are the goddamn odds.

Amy cleared her throat, breaking the awkward tension that had settled over the pair. “Well then!” she chirped. “Looks like we only have two people left… which I guess takes out some of the mystery and fun of guessing who your Secret Santa is!”

It was never fun in the first place, Shadow wanted to say, though he held his tongue in favor of pinning Sonic with that accusing look, the one that told him that somehow, someway, this was all his fault.

“Sonic,” she continued, and Shadow noted that not once during her announcement did Sonic look at her, choosing instead to remain staring thoughtfully at Shadow. “Why don’t you open your gift from your Secret Santa first?”

At this, Sonic finally tore his gaze away from him, and Shadow let out a breath of relief despite himself. The tension between them… it was becoming too much, with both their tryst in the closet and the reveal that against all odds, they had each other for the gift exchange combining to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Something intriguing. Something dangerous.

Shadow belatedly wondered if his gift was going to be too much. Sonic had, after all, been accused of not only getting Espio something ridiculously late the previous year, but also something not even on his list at all. With a track record like that, Shadow was going to look like an idiot with the embarrassing level of thought he had placed into his present. Not to mention, this was going to make him appear incredibly soft. His image, his reputation was about to be destroyed, just because he had decided to be nice for once and get Sonic a decent gift.

However, as Sonic tore away at the pristine wrapping job like some feral animal, revealing what hid inside the box, Shadow realized that the damage to his super cool, super badass persona was worth it, if only to see Sonic smile like that.

“Shadow…” he began, his jaw working as he stared inside. “You… you got me….”

He lifted up what lay hidden inside, revealing to the group a bold red pair of running shoes identical to the worn and raggedy ones he currently donned on his feet. “A new pair of shoes?!” Everyone around them clapped politely, and Shadow failed to understand why people had that reaction to every opened present, as if they were things to celebrate. They were just dumb gifts after all. “How did you—my size? What?”

“There’s something else in there,” Shadow stated despite himself. He really should have just let it be, however, he was hungry for more. He wanted to see Sonic’s reaction to the second part of the gift, the one that was arguably more sentimental than the shoes. It was a weakness, he was well aware, but he couldn’t help himself. “Underneath the tissue paper.”

Sonic’s brow furrowed in confusion as he dug farther into the box, and then as he found it, his mouth went slack. Slowly, with an agonizing amount of care, he pulled out the second part of his gift, revealing it to be a picture frame that held three photos lined up together.

Creating this part of the gift hadn’t been easy. In fact, Shadow would argue that he had an easier time measuring out Sonic’s footprints in the snow, stalking him one day he had off of work and going home to do some calculations about what size would correlate with the length and width he had written down (is it normal to know your rival’s shoe size and the exact model they like to put on their feet? Probably not, but Shadow digressed). Because unlike following Sonic around like some creepy freak, for the photo frame he had gotten him, Shadow had to do something far more reprehensible.

He had needed to go to Rouge for help.

At first, when he had told her that he needed her camera, she had been skeptical. Her doubt was completely warranted, to be fair, because it wouldn’t be unlike Shadow to attempt to destroy the only evidence that he had been forced to attend these parties, hang out with Sonic, and somehow wear a funky, unique hat at each one. However, as he had shared his intent with the photos, her caution transitioned into thrill, practically taking him by the hand and dragging him to the store to go print out the three photos she had snapped of him and Sonic.

One of them in party hats at the laser tag arcade.

A second with them tied up in the Christmas lights in Amy’s basement, goofy holiday-themed headbands sitting atop their heads.

And the last one of them at Tails’ party, Shadow wearing the winner’s tiara and a glare on his face with Sonic beaming beside him.

Each of them deplorable memories that Shadow knew would be priceless to Sonic. And he knew this, because on some despicable, subconscious level, he felt the same way.

And now, Sonic was holding the trio of framed pictures with a gaping jaw, beholding them as if they were a holy artifact, as if he were scared that they would disappear should he blink. After a few drawn out moments of him doing nothing but staring in awe at the photos, he finally looked up at Shadow with a look so fond, so appreciative, it made something in Shadow’s gut twist. Hopefully from disgust at the display of emotion—he didn’t know if he had the capacity to stomach it being anything else at the moment.

“Shadow…” he said, tentatively, and before Shadow had the chance to wave him off and tell him that it really wasn’t that big of a deal and to please not read too much into it and make a spectacle and oh Chaos, you’re embarrassing me in front of everyone please stop, Sonic dashed across the room in a blue blur, kicking up the remnants of wrapping paper in a flurry as he did so.

And because he was so damn fast, Shadow didn’t have any time to react before he realized that Sonic had wrapped him in a crushing embrace, lifting him up and off the couch as he did so. The contact was sudden and unexpected, and since he was so caught off guard by the sickening display of affection, he couldn’t do anything other than stare down at Sonic with wide, shocked eyes.

“Thank you thank you thank you Shadow! This is… this is the best present I have ever gotten!” As if to emphasize his point, Sonic squeezed Shadow even tighter, placing a crushing pressure on his chest that rendered it difficult for him to breath. And despite the pain, despite the way his feet dangled in the air as he found himself elevated off the ground, Shadow couldn’t help the small smile that began to tug at the edge of his lips.

And it would have grown to something larger, something more full-fledged, when he glanced up and had a heart-stopping realization.

Everyone was staring at them.

And not in a good way. In a way that was equal parts stunned and equal parts fearful, as if the strange amount of affection Sonic was displaying was danger to setting Shadow off. Which, it was important to note, wasn’t a completely unfounded fear, but still, it was enough to send Shadow hurtling back to reality, the blooming smile on his face vanishing in an instant.

And even though he found himself enjoying the hug way more than was justifiable, the way that Sonic’s arms fully engulfed his body sending flutters through his stomach and making his heart threaten to pound out of his restricted chest, he knew he had to put a stop to it. If not for appearances sake, but because it was wrong. Everything about this, from the physical familiarity to the fact that Shadow didn’t really mind it, was wrong.

“Okay, enough of this,” he said gruffly, pushing Sonic away gently, but with enough force to send a firm message and to not raise suspicion of their observers. “It’s just a stupid gift, hedgehog. No need to act deranged over it.”

With the space reestablished between them (and painfully aware of the audience that continued to ogle them), Shadow watched as Sonic wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. “Okay, okay, you’re right, I might have gotten just a little carried away,” he admitted, and Shadow couldn’t help but mentally exclaim you think?!

However, before he had the chance to say anything at all, Sonic turned away from him and grabbed the final gift that remained, the lone survivor amongst the wreckage and carcasses of wrapping paper and bows. “Well, no use in hiding that it’s me, seeing that it’s the last gift under the tree.” Sonic handed it to Shadow with a shy smile on his face, and it took everything within him to not return the expression. Because dammit, was Sonic’s enthusiasm infectious. “Merry Christmas, Shadow.”

The gift was small. By far the smallest out of the bunch; even Silver with his giftcard had opened something bigger. Resisting the urge to shake it— because as well as being tiny, it was also rather light— Shadow pursed his lips together and began to open it with care, methodically peeling away the tape to prevent tearing at the paper.

The box that was concealed inside was nondescript and white, and no bigger than the size of his palm. Not bothering to speculate what it could possibly be—Sonic was rather unpredictable, after all, Shadow opened it carefully.

And there, sitting inside, was a set of keys laminated in a rich, vivid blue that was nearly identical to the color of Sonic’s quills.

Shadow raised an eyebrow in question as he delicately lifted his gift out of the box, holding it up to inspect it with a critical eye. “You got me a set of keys exactly like the ones for my old motorcycle. Except, these ones are blue for some reason,” Shadow deadpanned, secretly admiring the stunning shade of cobalt the keys were painted in despite his griping. “Gee, thanks. I appreciate the reminder of what I lost.”

“Yeah, well, maybe next time, you should do a better job scribbling out things that you don’t want to be read on your wish list,” Sonic quipped with a wink, and Shadow looked at him with both dread, fury, and humiliation. It was quite the complicated concoction of emotions he was able to portray on his face, but it was the only response he could manage at the revelation that Sonic had been able to read that he had written 'The Color Blue' on his wish list. However, before he was able to respond with something akin to anger in a lame attempt to cover up the implication of Sonic’s statement, he was cut off.

“Anyways, why don’t we go to the driveway and see what it’s for?”

Shadow could only stare at him; now, it was his turn to be gobsmacked. Sonic didn’t actually… couldn’t have actually gotten him….

Could he have?

In response to Shadow’s silence, Sonic simply smirked, tilting his head out to the yard in a cheeky invitation for Shadow to go out and see for himself. As though he were in a trance, a mere marionette being guided by strings, Shadow stood up and made his way towards the door. Sonic was close behind him, followed by the rest of the party who all pressed forward with curiosity coloring their murmurings and speculations.

Stepping out of Amy’s house, a train of people filing out after him, Shadow’s eye caught a lump covered by a tarp sitting in the driveway—how had he missed that upon his arrival?—and walked over to it with mechanical, magnetized steps. After a moment of hesitation, he gripped the edges of the tarp and pulled it away, revealing a motorcycle hiding beneath.

Shadow’s breath hitched in the back of his throat. It was unmistakable; the motorcycle sitting before him was an exact replica of his old one.  Down to the make and model, with even his trademark insignia emblazoned on the side. Almost fearful that it was nothing more than an apparition, Shadow could do nothing more than run his hands over the glistening metal, entranced by the beast that sat before him.

Behind him, he distantly picked up on Amy’s voice. “Sonic,” she whispered, “I thought we agreed on a price limit of twenty-five dollars?”

“Wait, what?” Sonic replied at full volume, and solidified himself in Shadow’s head as being a downright idiot.

But Shadow ignored it, too enamored, too shocked by what laid under his fingertips.

He knew it had cost a fortune. And Sonic had gotten it… for him.         

Realizing that he hadn’t yet done anything other than stand there and stare at his behemoth of a present, and that there were far too many sets of eyes watching him, waiting for his reaction, he turned around to face his rival. “Sonic…” he started, before swallowing thickly. The words he wanted to say were lodged in his throat, but even if he had been able to say them, he knew that they wouldn’t be enough. Nothing would be enough to convey the depth of his appreciation… nothing would even come close. So why bother trying?

Sonic simply laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m the best.” He gave Shadow a smirk that would have normally infuriated him to no end, if it weren’t for the context. For the overwhelming feeling of appreciation that washed over him.  “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“You shouldn’t have… you didn’t have to….”

“And yet. I did. Just do me a favor and try not to crash this one, okay? The odds of me picking your name next year for Secret Santa are pretty slim.”

Shadow could do nothing more than nod given the thick lump that only grew in his throat, before turning to look longingly at the motorcycle behind him. He didn’t know it was possible, but he already cherished this one more than his previous one. Because though he was reluctant to admit it, the fact that it was a gift from Sonic made it all the more precious.

The moment was interrupted by Rouge, who stepped forward with a grin on her face and her damn camera in hand. “All right you two, get together. I’ve just got to take a picture of this!”

For once, Shadow didn’t complain. Standing next to his brand new motorcycle, the object of his dreams and desires, he allowed Sonic to press up next to him, willingly permitting the contact to happen as Sonic slung a casual arm around him without so much as a flinch or complaint.

And for the first time in the sequence of parties he had been dragged to, Shadow allowed himself a small smile, the faintest of closed-lip smirks as Rouge counted down and took a photo of them.

The rest of the party passed by in a blur, Shadow unable to focus on anything. All he could think about was the odd, warm feeling that had settled in his chest, casting a golden glow throughout his entire body. It was strange, but not entirely unwelcome.

And as he rode his new motorcycle home at the end of the night, giving Sonic an appreciative salute before he took off that was met with a look of fondness and an easy wave in return, Shadow let out a laugh for what was the first time in a long while. The wind whipping through his quills, the sensation of freedom that washed over him… it was exhilarating and intoxicating. And as he tore through the streets, that warm feeling in his chest somehow increased, strengthening into something that dipped into the realm of discomfort and began to ache rather than warm his core.

As he parked his new motorcycle and hung up his new, curiously blue keys on the hook by his door that had been empty for a couple of months at this point, the peculiar sensation threatening to break free from his ribcage was now impossible to ignore.

Nearly staggering to the bathroom, Shadow leaned up against the sink, one hand clutching at the edge of the counter and the other gripping at his chest, claws digging in painfully to his own skin. His head bowed over the bowl as he was overcome with a wave of that mysterious, unfamiliar sensation, and he wondered if maybe that eggnog Tails had given him might have upset his stomach.

But no, looking up and locking eyes with himself in the mirror, Shadow knew it to not be true. Because this feeling that squeezed him from the inside, it wasn’t coming from his gut, it was coming from his heart. And just like that, the events of the past few parties came washing over him, threatening to drown him in a tsunami of memories that suddenly clicked into place with alarming clarity.

The way he sought Sonic out at every party. The way they continually found themselves alone. The way they had absolutely almost kissed in Amy’s hallway closet. The way his chest burned with something so passionate, it had begun to hurt at the neglect Shadow had extended it.

His eyes widening at his reflection as he realized what it was, what currently plagued his body and mind, his grip on the counter tightened to the point that he threatened to break the granite. And as it dawned on him what this feeling was, his world shattered around him.

Chapter Text

Shadow had feelings for Sonic.

Shadow the Hedgehog. Had feelings. For Sonic. The Hedgehog.

It was a devastating realization. One that made the world around Shadow crumble into itty-bitty fragmented pieces that were so tiny, it was impossible for him to reconstruct it with just his bare hands.

He called out of work for a few days. Commander Tower was far from pleased, but there must have been something that had bled into his voice as he spoke to him briefly over his communication device, something desperate, something primal, because for the first time in his life, he didn’t push Shadow to come in. Just simply told him that he hoped he felt better, and hung up without any further interrogation.

In a way, Shadow almost wished he had gone into work. At least then, he could have taken out his self-loathing and frustration out on some robots and given himself a distraction. But no, instead, he rotted on the couch all day, for multiple days, leaving an Ultimate-Lifeform-sized imprint behind every time he would lift himself up to do a basic necessity.

Which didn’t include showering. This was important to note because Shadow never skipped a day without showering. That was how you knew he was doing bad.

After around three days, his incessant moping and wallowing was interrupted by a knock on the door. Shadow ignored it, hoping that whoever it was would just go away if they thought he wasn’t home. However, as he heard the lock jiggle and click, he realized with a sinking feeling that it was none other than Rouge. Shadow sighed. She was going to have an absolute field day seeing him like this.

It didn’t take her long to pick his lock, and before he truly had the time to prepare himself, she entered. “Hey Shadow, listen, you haven’t been to work in a few days, and Commander Tower told me that you called in sick, so I just wanted to stop by and check in on you. I thought the whole point of you being the Ultimate Lifeform was that you never got sick, so I figured that there was something else going on, and—” Rouge cut herself off as she stepped into the living room, letting out a small gasp that Shadow found to be overly dramatic and borderline rude. “What happened in here?”

What she was referring to, of course, was the absolute state of disarray Shadow’s place was in. Which to be fair, was somehow still cleaner than Sonic’s house, but that was beside the point. What was important was that Shadow was a very tidy neat-freak, and right now, his living space wasn’t looking very tidy or neat. There were empty containers and trash strewn all over the place, blankets and pillows on the couch and floor, and one very sad, very mopey, and very confused hedgehog right in the middle of it.

Shadow barely acknowledged her from his spot despairing on the couch, doing little more than shifting his gaze to make hollow eye contact with her that was meant to be scathing, but cut more like a dull butter knife. “What do you want, Rouge. Can’t you see I’m busy.” Busy trying to come to grips with the emotions that swirled inside him no matter how hard he tried to shoo them away. Busy decaying and rethinking every interaction he had ever had with Sonic in an endless loop in his mind. Busy doing nothing about any of it.

“Oh my, you really are sick,” Rouge commented in shock, stepping delicately over the minefield of things littered on the ground. However, as she got closer to Shadow, there was a shift on her face, a sudden understanding. “Unless….”

There was a beat. Shadow steeled himself. Rouge had the capacity to say anything. She could be quite unpredictable at times.

“Oh my Chaos. You finally realized it, didn’t you.”

Shadow finally looked up at her in confusion. “Realized what?” he asked cautiously, though he wasn’t sure that he wanted to know the answer.

Rouge gave him an incredulous snort. “Your feelings for Sonic, of course! That you’re in love with him?!”

Shadow could do nothing more than stare at her. “What?!”  

“Though the fact that it took this long is kind of surprising, even for you,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken at all. “I knew you were emotionally stunted, but I had no idea it was this bad.”

“Excuse me?” Shadow stammered, completely stunned by Rouge’s accusation. “How did you… what are you even talking about?”

“Oh, don’t even try to play dumb with me, Shadow.”

She was right. She was too perceptive, too attuned for him to deny it, and so Shadow abandoned his attempts without fanfare and slumped back against his flattened pillow. “How did you know?”

Rouge all but laughed in his face. “Are you kidding me? It was so ridiculously obvious!”

“Explain.”

“Oh man, where to even begin?” She tapped a finger to her chin in faux contemplation, and Shadow despised her theatrics, as well as the fact that she was here in the first place. “You two always gravitate towards each other at every party, it’s insane. I literally have the pictures to prove it. You weren’t kidding when you said that you and Sonic spent a lot of quality time together.” At this, she smirked. “And don’t even get me started with Sonic….”

“What do you mean, with Sonic.”

“Seriously?!” Rouge exclaimed, placing a delicate hand on her chest in genuine shock. “That guy has been obsessed with you since the very beginning. Have you seriously not noticed? He would always try to talk to you and follow you around.  And you guys also literally made out at the last party, you can’t even try to deny it.”

Shadow turned pointedly away from her, the corners of his lips tugging downwards. Though whether his ire was towards how they almost did or the fact that they didn’t, even he was uncertain. “We didn’t kiss.”

“Yeah, no offense, but I have a hard time believing that, Shadow.”

“Yeah, well, you—" Shadow began before cutting himself off abruptly. Because what he had been about to say was you kind of interrupted that, thanks for nothing, however, he realized that in admitting that fact, he was essentially confessing to Rouge that she was correct. While he hadn’t made out with Sonic in the closet, he had gotten pretty damn close, and that certainly counted for something.

Seeing the torn indecision contorting his face, Rouge gave him a conspiring look. “Well, if that’s truly the case, don’t worry Shadow. We’ll just fix it at the next party.”

Shadow’s conflicted expression transitioned into something a little more bewildered. “Next… party?”

“Well, duh! Or what, just because your boyfriend bought you your motorcycle, you don’t want to finish out our deal? You’ve already made it so far, why not go to your fifth for completion’s sake? You’re really just going to leave it at four, after all you've been through?”

Shadow hesitated. Truth be told, he hadn’t even considered the possibility of there being a next party, at least not until Rouge had brought it up at that very instant.

What she had said didn’t slip past him, though, and he was determined to not let her think for a second that she could get away with claiming something so idiotic. “He’s not my boyfriend,” he muttered to himself, and in doing so, bought himself some time to think.

“Yet,” Rouge said with a lift of a finger. “And that’s why you need to come with me to the next party, so you two can smooch and make it official.”

At this point, Rouge was spouting so many obscenities at him, Shadow didn’t even bother to react with his usual vehemence and animosity, settling on saying, “I don’t want to see him.” Shadow didn’t know if he could even handle seeing him, but he kept that little granule of intel to himself.

“Oh please, so you’re just going to what, keep rotting away in here? You’re in love with him. So what. Go out there and actually do something about it!”

“No.”

“But Shadow! It’ll be so easy, it’s a New Years Party! And you know what happens on midnight on New Years!”

“I haven’t the slightest clue.”

Rouge let out an exasperated sigh. “You know what, I actually want you to try and guess.”

“Ugh, Rouge, I’m not in the mood for these games right now,” Shadow groaned. “Just tell me. I’m not going to guess.”

“You’re no fun,” she pouted, but even that couldn’t prevent the smile that split her face, and Shadow knew that whatever her answer was, he wasn’t going to like it. “You find someone to kiss at midnight! Duh!”

He was right. He didn’t like that answer at all. And now it was Shadow’s turn to let out an exasperated sigh. “Seriously?! What is with you people and your holidays with traditions of kissing?! It’s a little strange.”

Rouge simply laughed. “It’s called having fun Shadow, something you could lighten up and have a bit of every once in a while!” She grinned down at him, placing a hand on her hip. “So what do you say? Are you in?”

Shadow glared up at her. He had every intention of arguing and blowing her off, but knew that would only make matters worse. Rouge was as relentless as she was ruthless. “If I say that I’ll attend, will you go away and leave me alone?”

Rouge smirked. “Only until the party.”

Shadow paused and weighed his options. Three days without Rouge pestering him, in exchange for him agreeing to go. It didn’t seem like a bad deal at all. Of course, it always meant she could be a nuisance afterwards, but that was to be expected, and Shadow found himself strangely not minding all that much.

“Okay, fine,” he relented after a long moment. “But only to finish out the deal. And also you have to leave right now.”

Rouge laughed. “Don’t have to tell me twice, Shadow. Just needed to make sure you were doing okay.” She paused, looking around the room, before pinning him with a cheeky grin. “I mean, well, you’re really not, but you’re also not dead so I count this wellness check as being a success.”

Shadow pressed a pillow to his face and let out a long, suffering groan, and when he lowered it, Rouge had somehow left.

Three days may have seemed like a lot of time for him to clean up and get his life together, but truthfully, it wasn’t. He didn't even get anywhere in his processing and grappling about his feelings towards Sonic. It was only in the final hours, right before Rouge was slated to stop by and catch a ride with Shadow on his motorcycle did he finally tidy up his place and take a refreshing shower, bringing some much-needed revitalization to his dull, unkept quills.

He had just finished styling them, looking up through his concentrated brow line as he fastidiously primped and preened, when he heard Rouge knocking at his door. And with one final adjustment, he went over to greet her.

“Cleaning up for Blue?” she asked with a sly wink, bypassing the need to say ‘hello.’ Because at this point, why would she waste her time on formalities such as that?

Shadow shot her a scowl, if only to conceal his true emotions. Because to be honest, his feelings on the matter were quite complicated. On one hand, he was actually kind of looking forward to seeing Sonic again, some aching, wistful chunk of his soul making the bile in his throat rise from how badly he wanted to spend time with him. And on the other hand, the whole idea of seeing, talking, being near Sonic made him feel so nervous, feel so much dread, that the bile in his throat still rose because he wanted to throw up from the nauseating sentiments he harbored.

Either way, for whatever reason, Shadow wanted to vomit.

Rouge didn’t give him a chance to respond, though to be fair, there was a slim chance Shadow was going to muster up anything to say anyways. “Don’t overthink things now!” she exclaimed, pulling him out of his house. “We’ve got things to do, people to go kiss!”

Though Shadow wanted to protest, he knew it would be pointless, and so he complied. Without a word, he started up his motorcycle and drove them over Sonic’s place.

Along the way, he attempted to calm his beating heart, to fight off the butterflies that fluttered within his gut. He could do this. It was just Sonic; the guy was a complete doofus. All he had to do was act like himself and be his normal calm, aloof, detached self. Nothing had actually changed between them. Yeah, sure, they had almost kissed, but the key word here was almost because it didn’t actually happen! So what exactly was the big deal?

However, walking into the party, everything he had steeled himself to do, every promise he had made himself to act normal, may as well have been thrown out the window.

Because as he made eye contact with Sonic, a sense of dread washed over him, and he stood rooted to the spot.

He couldn’t do this. He didn’t want to do this. Damnit Rouge, how could he have let her convince him to come to this thing? This wasn’t… he wasn’t ready for this. He needed more time.

(And of course by more time, he meant the rest of his and Sonic’s life, because he wasn’t sure if he would ever be equipped to handle it, not now, not ever.)

His trance was broken as Sonic’s face lit up upon seeing him, extending him a friendly wave from across the room. Panicking, because he didn’t know how else to respond, Shadow turned and walked away from the festivities and towards the kitchen.

Well, that had been lame.

But nothing to be done about it now. Letting out a dramatic exhale, Shadow braced himself against the kitchen counter. That was… beyond pathetic. Some Ultimate Lifeform he was, if he was unable to look at Sonic for more than two seconds before internally melting into a pile of goop and needing to run away because he couldn’t think of any other way to react.  

“I need to get a grip,” he muttered darkly to himself, his tone filled with self-loathing at his wretched display. His eye catching the kitchen sink a few paces away from him, he ran it on the coldest temperature the faucet would allow and splashed some water against his face. Hopefully, this would do something to temper the obnoxious flush of his skin, the heat radiating off him in pulses.

Grabbing the towel hanging up beside the sink (and trying not to think about the last time it had likely been washed), Shadow dried his face off, and when he lowered the towel, he found Rouge standing in front of him, appraising him with an unreadable expression.

“Can I help you?” he grumbled, folding up the towel and placing it neatly where he had found it. He had every mind to bunch it up and throw it across the counter, but his sense of decorum prevailed.

Rouge raised a delicate brow. “Well, that was certainly… something,” she said slowly, and there was clearly more she had to share, though she curiously didn’t continue speaking.

“Shut up,” Shadow all but growled. The last thing he needed right now was Rouge’s sassy judgement.

“No, I actually came back here to commend you.” She gave him a sly smirk, resting her hip up against the counter with her arms crossed in a sultry, overly casual way. One that made Shadow tense up just a bit, knowing that whatever she was going to share was probably going to piss him off. “It seems like you took a page out of my book. I thought you hadn’t been listening, but apparently you have. Good job, Shadow.”

His ears flattened in defense. “Excuse me?”

Pushing herself off from the counter, she went and grabbed a glass of water and began filling it from the tap. Though he wanted to tell her that there was probably filtered water in the fridge, Shadow held his tongue, instead waiting to see what else she would say. “You used my trick,” she said as she took a sip of water. “You made your presence known, made sure that he saw you when you entered, but then walked away without talking to him. So now, you’re making him come to you. I’m not going to lie, Shadow, I didn’t know you had it in you.” Her smirk deepened. “But then again, you did have a rather excellent teacher, so I suppose it only makes sense.”

As she spoke, Shadow felt like he was losing cognitive ability with each passing second. “What,” was all he could manage to say.

“You’re playing hard to get,” Rouge explained in simpler terms with an exasperated sigh.

And at this, Shadow flinched back. “No, I’m not,” he retorted sourly, offended Rouge would even say such an insane thing. “And besides, that little ‘technique’ of yours doesn’t even work!”

“Oh yes, it does!”

“No, it does not.”

“Hm, well, if that’s the case, then why is Sonic walking in here right now?”

Shadow stiffened. “What?!” he barked, spinning around to find that to his great misery, Rouge was telling the truth. Because right there, walking up to him across the kitchen, was none other than the loathsome Sonic the Hedgehog himself.

“Heya Rouge, Shadow,” Sonic said easily, greeting them with a casual wave. Despite himself, Shadow couldn’t help but have a vivid flashback of when Sonic had approached him and Rouge at the first party, and the stark difference of familiarity he held towards him now. How instead of questioning his presence, he now anticipated it. Accepted it. Welcomed it. “What’s up?”

Shadow bit at his lower lip and didn’t say anything.

“I was just about to head back to the living room. I only came back here for a glass of water,” Rouge said, giving Shadow a wink, to which he wanted to tug at his ears in fury because the action was not subtle at all and Sonic was literally standing right in front of them and could see the whole thing. “I’ll leave you two boys to it.”

As she made her departure, a second, more frantic thought occurred to Shadow. And that was that Rouge was abandoning him to be alone with Sonic, what the hell, how could she do that to him?!

He reached out a tentative hand towards her retreating figure, almost begging her to come back, before knowing the effort to be futile and allowing his hand to clench into a fist that he rested upon the counter. She really was the worst, but at this point in the story, that really should not have come as a surprise to anyone.

“So… Shadow…” Sonic began, and somehow, Shadow’s fist clenched even tighter as he looked away. Merely seeing Sonic was enough to make the butterflies in his stomach erupt in a flurry that made him nauseous, and hearing his voice as he spoke wasn’t really helping things either. “Are you, um, enjoying the party?”

“I just got here,” Shadow bit out tersely. He kept his gaze pointed away, not caring if it was rude.

“I suppose that’s true,” Sonic agreed. “And came straight to the kitchen because…?”

Shadow paused. He wasn’t exactly keen on explaining to Sonic that his own realization for his feelings of romantic attraction towards the very person he was talking to at that moment was why he had bolted like a coward. Yeah, that wasn’t something that needed to be done. “Do I need a reason?” he groused.

Sonic opened his mouth to say something, however closed it as he tilted his head to the side in question. And then, with absolutely no prompting or warning whatsoever, leaned in so that their faces were mere inches from one another. Unbidden, the memory of their almost-kiss in the closet— one of the key incidents that triggered Shadow’s spiral— leapt to the front of his mind and he felt his mouth go dry, unable to come up with a suitable reaction. Equal parts of him wanted to shove Sonic away, and equal parts wanted to lean in and close the distance, and he hated himself for even considering something so uncouth in the first place.

“Hold on,” Sonic said, searching his face with a proximity that was so close, it just had to be unnecessary, “are you… wet?”

Shadow went rigid and shot the towel brushing against his thigh a glare, internally cursing it. As though it was somehow the dishrag to blame for him doing a subpar job of drying off his face after he had needed to cool down (although to be fair, ultimately it was Sonic’s damn fault for being so invasive and perceptive in the first place).

He was saved from having to answer as he caught a glimpse of yellow flash over Sonic’s shoulder. Tails. Shadow didn’t think he had ever been so relieved to see the fox kid ever before in his life. “Oh thank goodness, there you guys are!” Tails called out, his voice breaking the spell between them and causing Sonic to retreat to a respectable distance and Shadow to regain the ability to breathe. “We’re handing out the party supplies right now! I don’t want you two to miss it!”

Shadow barely heard what he said, but he knew it was his chance to escape. “Thanks for the heads up,” he grumbled, pushing past Sonic to take his leave. He knew the action was rude, but it was the only thing he could do to spare his heart from beating out of his chest.

However, as he entered the living room and saw the carnage before him, it clicked in his mind just what exactly Tails meant by ‘party supplies.’

“Oh Shadow, look!” Rouge exclaimed, calling him over with a beckon of her hand. Rolling his eyes, Shadow obliged, even as he saw the gaudy things she held up in offering. “They’ve got two options, glasses or headbands. Which one do you want?”

Shadow paused, scrutinizing the options she presented. In one hand was the year 2025 spelled out in glitz and glitter attached to a headband, and in the other, the same numbers were in glasses format, the numbers shaped in a way that allowed for the wearer to somehow see through them (at the price of their dignity, of course).

Shadow didn’t hesitate to grab the headband, although he didn’t do it with a lot of joy. What was with these damn parties and always needing to place some sort of stupid accessory on his head? Was there no such thing as a normal party with normal people?

Chancing a glance to his left and seeing both Vector and Espio wearing the 2025 glasses on their faces and looking like complete imbeciles, Shadow realized that no. These weren’t normal people. So therefore, this would not, could not be a normal party.

“What do you think, Shadow?” With a withering sigh, Shadow turned to face the source of Sonic’s distinct voice, finding him beaming at him and wearing the garish glasses. He pointed two fingers at them, looking incredibly pleased with his questionable taste in attire. “Do you like my drip?”

Shadow sniffed. “I have no idea what that means.”

“It means, do you think he looks cool?” Rouge supplied, always one to eavesdrop under the guise of being helpful.

“Oh. Then, no. I don’t.”

“Aw man, you’re no fun, Shadow!” Sonic complained, his hands dropping to his side in fake defeat. “But then again, maybe I shouldn’t trust the opinion of someone who chose the headband.”

“You look ridiculous,” was all Shadow could think to say, and because his insult was so bland and generic, he walked away.

And that was essentially how the rest of the party went.

A few hours passed, and Shadow managed to evade directly interacting with Sonic. Despite himself, he found himself occasionally engaging in conversation with the other partygoers, talking to Tails for longer than intended about how he managed to engineer a fake Chaos Emerald, Amy about some concerts she wanted to go to at some point, and Big about the best fishing spots just outside the city.

For the most part, though, he kept to himself. And by that, he meant that he avoided talking to Sonic.

He kept track of his whereabouts, though. Shadow told himself that it was because he didn’t want to get ambushed, however, deep down, he knew the true reason.

(That didn’t mean he had to say it out loud, though.)

Sometime around 10pm, and Shadow only knew this because he was religiously checking the clock every other minute to see how much longer until it hit midnight so he could finally leave, he had an epiphany. He hadn’t seen Sonic for the past hour.

And looking around the room, he realized he hadn’t seen Rouge or Knuckles in a while either. Which was interesting, to say the least.

Pushing himself off his chair in the corner, Shadow prepared to go search for her because he was bored out of his mind and tired of brooding, however, paused as something caught his attention. The pictures on Sonic’s wall... how peculiar. Since the last time he had been here for Tails’ birthday party, they had all been rearranged. In fact, not a single one stood in their original position, at least, not that Shadow could tell.

And the reason was glaringly obvious, because situated in the middle of the wall, front and center, was the frame of three pictures Shadow had given Sonic for his Secret Santa gift.

The realization made Shadow’s stomach do a funny flip. On one hand, some secret, tucked-away part of him had hoped that this would happen. That Sonic would see their photos as valuable enough to place on the wall alongside his real friends.

But on the other hand? Seeing it for himself, the placement so central and bold, was incredibly overwhelming.

Not able to handle looking at it anymore, Shadow turned abruptly away…

…only to collide directly with Tails, and bump him in such a way that the drink he was holding spilled all over Shadow's white gloves.

To be fair, what Tails had been drinking appeared to be soda (at least that’s what Shadow hoped, the kid was what, nine?), and so it didn’t stain the fabric.

It did leave a big, sticky mess, however.

“Shadow!” Tails exclaimed with a voice that bordered on being fearful. “I’m so sorry! Here, let me help wipe you off—”

Shadow held up a hand. “Don’t worry about it. Just tell me where I can go wring these out and dry off.”

Tails blinked. Clearly, he had been expecting something a little more aggressive. Maybe some curse words, a slur if Shadow was feeling feisty, some violent actions. Quickly overcoming his surprise, though, he pointed towards the stairs. “There’s, uh, a bathroom upstairs, if you want? If you take a right, it’s the door at the end of the hall.”

Shadow nodded in confirmation. “Thanks,” he said, and Tails blinked again, apparently surprised by his expression of gratitude as well.

“Uh, yeah! No problem,” Tails responded to Shadow’s retreating back as he stepped away from the commotion of the party and headed up the stairs.

He didn’t know why he hadn’t done it sooner. It was so dark, so quiet on the second story, the party somehow being confined to the first level. If Shadow had known this space existed, he would have come up to lurk about two hours ago.

But anyways. He was here for a reason, and that was to clean up. Already, he could feel the tacky liquid drying and making his fingers stick together, and he grimaced in displeasure. The only silver lining of this whole debacle was that at least he could take a peaceful minute to himself while he cleaned up.

Finding the bathroom, Shadow let out a sigh as he took a moment to look at himself in the mirror. His reflection stared back at him with exhausted, bloodshot eyes; clearly, his revelation about his feelings towards Sonic had taken a toll on his ability to get a good night’s rest.

But that could wait. Taking off his gloves, Shadow ran them under the sink, hoping that he would be able to rinse the majority of the soda out here before he threw them in the wash when he got home. He would try to find Rouge after this so they could leave—he didn’t really give a damn any longer about staying up until midnight. Celebrating the new year seemed like a waste to him, it was just an arbitrary date. Nothing truly changed, no matter how many empty promises and resolutions people made. It was all pointless in his opinion.

Rolling his eyes as he gave his gloves one last vigorous scrub, Shadow shut the sink off, deeming that his gloves were about in as good a state as they were going to get. With slender, clawed fingers, he began to wring them out, trying to remove as much of the moisture as possible for his own comfort.

And he had been just about finished, when he heard a painfully familiar voice call out his name behind him.

“Shadow? What are you doing here?”

His eyes flickering up to look into the mirror, Shadow found with dismay that Sonic was right behind him in the bathtub. Spinning around with a wild gasp that escaped his lips before he could hold it in, Shadow felt like his heart was about to explode out of his chest, though whether it was due to his shock or his underlying feelings for Sonic, he couldn’t discern.

“Sonic?” he asked and demanded in equal volumes. And then remembering that he was still holding his gloves, he quickly slipped them back on. “Why are you in the tub?”

Sonic looked down on himself with a perplexed expression and an owlish blink of his eyes, and Shadow realized that with his sluggish movements, he must have woken up Sonic from a nap. “Sonic…” he began tentatively, “…are you… drunk?”

“What?! No, I’m not. I just—” he interrupted himself with a massive yawn, “—sleep deprived. Haven’t slept at all for the past forty-eight hours.” He let out a suffering sigh. “I got caught up foiling one of Eggman’s plots, and it was supposed to be a quick mission but it kind of spiraled out of control. And then I had to immediately decorate the house for the party, and then people came over, and… yeah. That’s the story.”

Shadow levelled him with a flat look. “Why didn’t you ask me for help?”

“With… decorating?”

“No, with Eggman’s robots, obviously.”

Sonic made a small ‘o’ with his mouth. “Yeah, okay, that makes more sense. And uh, truth be told, I really didn’t want to bother you. You seem like a busy guy.”

Shadow’s instinctual reaction was to tell Sonic that he would’ve dropped whatever he was doing to go help him. So that he didn’t get hurt or run himself into the ground bearing the burden all on his own. However, he wasn’t really ready to share that, and so he abruptly switched topics. “Okay, but why are you in the tub?”

Sonic gestured down towards himself. His eyes were bleary and lacking the usual sharp clarity he possessed, and Shadow realized that he truly was exhausted. “Knuckles spilled some of the fruit punch on me and got it all over my fur.” Peering over the tub, Shadow realized that the entire front of Sonic was covered in purple matted clumps. Yuck. “He and Rouge brought me up here to clean me off, and she said she would be right back, but I guess they never returned.” Sonic rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he let out an awkward laugh. “And then I guess I got kind of sleepy and just sort of… passed out.”

Shadow wrinkled his nose at him. “You’re filthy.”

“I mean, yeah, that’s why I’m in the tub.”

“Are you able to clean yourself up?”

Sonic shrugged, his eyelids beginning to lower. “Eh, eventually. I might just go back to sleep and take care of it tomorrow.”

Shadow gave him a flat look, even though Sonic’s eyes were closed and unable to see it. “It’ll stain if you do that.”

“Hey man, maybe purple is the new thing. You never know.”

Pausing, Shadow worried at his bottom lip in indecision. He should just walk away. Sonic was clearly very exhausted and content to sleep in the tub, so what was he supposed to do, stop him?

Making up his mind, Shadow adjusted his gloves and moved to leave the bathroom. However, as he rested his hand on the door handle, he glanced back towards Sonic, and seeing the gangly way his limbs were splayed out over the edge of the tub, passed out and covered in sticky purple goop, he hesitated. He couldn’t leave him like this. His rival (or at this point, perhaps friend was a more apt description? And don’t even get Shadow started on the possible label of potential love interest) deserved more respect than this.

And so returning to the side of the tub, Shadow snapped a finger in his face, causing Sonic’s eyes to fly open. “Wake up. I’m cleaning you off before you go to bed.”

Sonic stared up at him with a wide, unblinking gaze. “You’re going to… what?”

“You heard me,” Shadow sniffed, already regretting his decision. “I’m not going to repeat myself.”

Sonic attempted to sit up, and Shadow gently pushed him back down into the empty tub by the shoulders. He was going to have to get the bathmat hanging over the edge and shower curtains out of the way before he could run the water. It was basic etiquette, something he was certain Sonic knew nothing about.

“I haven’t seen you all night.”

Shadow let out a hmph. He didn’t know what else to say, other than confirm the underlying accusation that he had been avoiding Sonic, which he didn’t want to do, so he kept his mouth tactfully shut.

“I talked to Amy,” Sonic continued a moment later.

Shadow paused, turning towards Sonic with undeniable curiosity. “Oh?” he asked as he carefully resumed arranging the bathmat on the floor next to the tub, not wanting to betray his interest and trying to appear as apathetic as possible.

“Yeah.”

“And how did it go?”

“Surprisingly well, actually. She said she understood and that there were no hard feelings. That she was my friend first and foremost, so that was all that really mattered to her.” Sonic let out a weak laugh. “Which was a relief to me. I thought I was going to get smashed with her hammer.”  

Shadow all but rolled his eyes. Amy might be a bit impulsive and emotive at times, but she was easily the most mature out of the entire gaggle of friends, which was something he begrudgingly respected her for. Someone in their crew of idiots needed to maintain a level head, after all. “What did you tell her?”

“That I was interested in someone else.”

His body freezing mid-crouch as he processed what Sonic had said, Shadow forced himself to resume moving and settled in to kneel on the bathmat, thankful that it was thick and fluffy and a cushion on his knees. This whole ordeal was about to be incredibly awkward, both on his body and for his relationship with Sonic. “Is that so?” he asked after a very long, drawn-out moment, one that could have lasted hours if the clock on the wall didn’t indicate that it had only been a few seconds.

“Yep,” Sonic said with a pop of the ‘p.’ “And she said that she understood because she already knew who it was. I guess it was pretty obvious.”

Shadow tried to ignore the way his stomach twisted into knots, instead trying to maintain focus on the shower curtains in front of him that were suddenly very fascinating as he removed them from resting in the bathtub. “You don’t say.”

“Do you think it’s obvious, Shadow?”

Shadow hesitated, taken aback by the forwardness of Sonic’s question. “I think…” he started slowly, his mind drawing a blank as the words trailed off. And then, shaking his head and diverting the topic because he was pathetic and weak and couldn’t do this, he gestured towards Sonic’s feet. “I think you need to take your shoes off before I run the tub.”

If Sonic seemed disappointed in Shadow’s half-assed evasion, he certainly didn’t show it. “Hey now,” he laughed. “Sorry, pal. Shoes stay on for se—”

“You know what, never mind,” Shadow said hastily, standing up and placing as much distance between them as quickly as he could manage. He hated how he could feel his cheeks burning, the fur on his face heating up to an embarrassing degree. “I think I’m just going to go. You can clean yourself off.”

“Hey, Shadow, wait,” he heard Sonic say behind him, right before he felt something clasp around his wrist. Pausing in his tracks, he looked down to see Sonic gripping his arm, his body twisted in an awkward angle half out of the tub to do so. “I’m sorry. It was just a joke. Please… don’t go?”

Shadow hesitated for only a moment, before yielding. Had it been anyone else, he would have already shaken off their hand and been out the door, but since it was Sonic, well…

He supposed he could make an exception, just this once.

“Fine,” he grumbled, and as Sonic released him with a tentative, nervous glance, he continued over to the door and locked it. He didn’t need Rouge coming in and seeing them like this, not now, not ever. Ignoring Sonic’s look of surprise at the action, he walked back over to the tub and crouched beside it. “But I do need you to take your shoes off. I literally just bought those for you. I’m not going to be the one to ruin them.”

With wide eyes, Sonic nodded in obedience, slowly reaching down to untie his shoelaces and remove them with slow, agonizing movements. Next were the socks, and just like that, Sonic’s bare feet were out on display.

Shadow coughed and tried not to overthink things. “And the gloves.”

At this, Sonic finally fought back. “Whoa there, take me out to dinner first!” he quipped with a nervous chuckle. But at Shadow’s despondent glare, he gulped and obliged, slipping the fabric off his fingers even more slowly than he had removed his shoes.

Shadow tried not to stare. Avoiding looking directly at Sonic as he took both the gloves and shoes and placed them neatly by the sink, well out of the way of the potential splash zone there was about to be should Sonic act up and be a fool, Shadow took a deep breath and readied himself. This was a line that couldn’t be uncrossed. There was no going back from this. They would no longer be rivals, but then again, that was something that had shifted a long time ago.

And so, without further hesitation, he started up the water of the tub.

“Dude, what the heck! That’s cold!”

Shadow was somewhat thankful for Sonic’s brash exclamation, the harshness taking some out some of the heaviness of the moment. With a scoff, he flicked him on the forehead—had this been the first party, it would have been a close-fisted punch. “Of course it’s cold right now you idiot, you need to give it time to warm up.”

“That’s easy for you to say, you’re not the one sitting in freezing water right now!” Sonic gasped in dismay.

Shadow spared a shred of sympathy as he felt a chilly droplet splash on him. “Well you were already in the tub, so that’s kind of your fault!”

“Don’t victim blame me for this!”

“I can and I will. You should have been more careful and not made Knuckles spill his drink all over you. Otherwise we wouldn’t need to be here in the first place.”

Sonic didn’t seem to have anything to say to that, much to Shadow’s satisfaction. Turning towards the spout, Shadow placed a hand underneath the stream, and feeling it start to grow warmer, reached down and twisted the plug into place.

Feeling he could trust Sonic to be on his own in the tub for a few moments, he pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the cabinet lining the wall next to the sink.

“Where exactly are you going?”

Shadow didn’t even turn around to look at him. “Do you want my help or not?” Finding what he was looking for, a white washcloth that would be a far better alternative than Shadow scrubbing out the stain from Sonic’s fur with his hands, he slung it over his shoulder. “For a guy drunk in a bathtub, you sure do complain a lot.”

“I’m not drunk. I’m sleep-deprived, and you woke me up from my nap. Huge difference.”

Closing the cabinet and making his way over to crouch next to Sonic, Shadow rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I really don’t care. Same thing.”

Sonic placed his hands on the edge of the tub, all blue fur and tan palms and sharp claws, and Shadow swallowed awkwardly as he tried not to stare. They were so exposed, and it made him highly uncomfortable.

And somehow, Sonic didn’t seem to care.

“Can you add bubbles?”

Shadow stared at him, finding temporary distraction from Sonic’s state of undress. “You did not just ask me that.”

“Please? Pretty please? Baths are so much more fun with bubbles.”

“This isn’t supposed to be fun,” Shadow growled, but set the washcloth down and went to go reopen the cabinet that Sonic was pointing towards anyways. Finding the bottle, a bright pink thing with a huge decal of bubbles and the literal word ‘Bubbles’ printed on the side in all caps, Shadow suppressed a sigh. As he stood over Sonic and poured some of the solution into the tub, he sneered down at him. “Do you want a rubber ducky too? Maybe some colored fizzies?”

“Nah, the bubbles are good,” Sonic said, completely missing Shadow’s sarcasm, much to his dismay.

The level of the water was decently high now, coming up high enough to cover halfway up Sonic’s torso. Shutting the water off, Shadow hated the sudden silence that settled over them in the absence of the roaring faucet. “Let’s get this over with,” he muttered, and with that, dunked the washcloth into the warm, sudsy water.

Of course, Shadow quickly realized that to ‘get things over with,’ as he put it so nicely, he was going to have to touch Sonic in a rather vulnerable way. As he wrung out the washcloth and positioned it over Sonic’s chest fur, it suddenly dawned on him just how intimate the whole situation was, and because of this, he panicked and froze.

It didn’t help that as his focus flitted up towards Sonic, he found himself locking eyes with his former foe. The look that Sonic gave him was prone and showed that he felt just as anxious about this as Shadow did.

“You… okay? Shadow?”

His voice was enough to break him from his trance. “Never been better,” he gritted out instinctively, and shutting his brain off and trying not to think about things too much, he lowered the cloth and made contact with Sonic’s chest.

It was far from the first time he had touched Sonic in this area. The amount of times he had grabbed the fur on his chest and used it as leverage—whether to hold him in place to pummel him or throw him violently against the ground—was innumerable.

However, despite this extensive history, this was perhaps the first time he had touched him to help him. To clean a mess, instead of make one.

He struggled to keep his breathing even, subconsciously sticking his tongue into his cheek as he gingerly began to rub at the fur on Sonic’s chest. Not too hard that it would be painful, but also not light enough so that he wasn’t doing anything. Keeping his focus on his breathing, Shadow worked the rag across Sonic’s chest with steady, even motions.

However, as he worked, he couldn’t help but notice something rather peculiar.

Beneath his hand, Sonic’s heart raced, pumping so fast, Shadow could have almost sworn that the beats were blurring together. Lifting a tentative hand and severing the contact, he gave Sonic a concerned look. “Are you good?”

Sonic bit at his lip and his gaze flickered up from where Shadow had been touching his chest mere seconds earlier, and then back down. “Um, yeah. I’m… I’m good. Great, even.”

Shadow raised a brow before continuing his work. The purple stain was proving to be rather difficult to remove, much to his frustration. What the hell had they used to color it, permanent marker? Paint? Sweet mother of Chaos Emeralds, whatever it was, it had to be carcinogenic or toxic or something.  “Knuckles really did a number on you, huh.”

“Eh, it was my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Sonic laughed, but the sound was pained, stressed. “He was actually mad at me for spilling his drink, when I’m the one who got spilled on. Oh, Knuckles. I hope he never changes.”

Shadow frowned as he continued to lightly scrub, realizing with dismay that he was simply smearing it further into Sonic’s fur rather than removing it. “He’s an idiot. I don’t know what Rouge sees in him.”

Sonic’s eyebrows shot up to his forehead. “Rouge? Is that why they’re in my room right now?”

“They’re what?!”

“Well yeah, you didn’t think that I chose to fall asleep in here on my own did you? Rouge put me in here and said she would be right back to clean me up, but I think she and Knuckles went to hang out in my room instead. And do what, I haven’t the slightest clue.” He laughed. “And obviously, they haven’t been back yet.”

Shadow made a face. “Don’t be gross. I don’t want to think about that.”

“Hey man, you asked,” and to that, Shadow had nothing to say.

Silence descended over them, the only thing audible was Shadow’s own ragged breaths only audible to his own ears and the gentle splashing of water lapping at the edges of the tub. He was laser-focused on the task at hand, the purple tinging the peach of Sonic’s chest fur slowly transferring to the white washcloth he used. Every time he felt the urge to look up at Sonic, to look into his eyes and see his expression, he battled it down, which would have been fine if the urge didn’t spring upon him every fifteen seconds or so.

Why, oh why had he agreed to this? He should have just stayed home, damnit. Or at the very least, left the bathroom when he came upon Sonic in the tub. The only way to describe his current predicament was pure torture.

And that sentiment wasn’t helped by what Sonic said next.

“Is it bad that I want to kiss you right now?”

Shadow froze in wringing out the washcloth, his entire body stiffening as for a long, drawn-out moment, the only movement in the bathroom was the droplets of water dripping from the soaked cloth into the tub.

He couldn’t believe Sonic had just said that to him, however, he couldn’t even bring himself to be enraged about it. To place Sonic’s head under the water of the tub and drown him for saying something so insulting. Because if he was being completely honest? Shadow was just a little, just a tiny bit tempted.

Was it a bad idea? Yes. Did it make no sense, given their history and literally everything else about them? Also yes. And yet….

He gulped, and catching a glimpse of Sonic’s expectant gaze from the corner of his eye, he slowly resumed squeezing the excess water out of the cloth as he chose his next words carefully. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“I do know what I’m saying, because I just said it, duh! Do you need me to say it again to prove it?”

Shadow’s heart skipped a beat. No, he really didn’t need Sonic to double down on this, otherwise he might do something embarrassing like spontaneously combust into flames right at that very moment. “You’re not in the right state of mind to be saying that. How’s that.”

“Ugh, well, what if I told you that I’ve been wanting to do it for a while now? Does that change anything?”

Shadow felt goosebumps prickle his skin and make his fur stand on edge, and that was even with the warm water of the tub extending up to his elbows. That confession, if it was the truth, did actually change everything.

There was no way in hell he was going to share that with Sonic, though. So, he replied with a tart “No,” trying to ignore the way his heart twisted at spurning what he believed to be Sonic’s attempts to flirt. “I’ll believe it when you say it to me sober.”

There was a pause, and Shadow thought that conversation was blissfully over, Sonic somehow getting it through his thick skull that this was neither the time nor place for this. Not with his mental state, or the way he was essentially exposed in the tub, and certainly not with the way that Shadow found himself washing him off. The whole scenario was too intimate, too compromised, and Sonic making insane declarations that he wanted to kiss Shadow was absolutely not helping anything at the moment. Certainly not Shadow’s racing heart, that was for sure.

However, chancing a glance at Sonic, Shadow realized that no, Sonic wasn’t done with the conversation unfortunately, not with the way he appeared to be deep in thought. Shadow bristled, preparing himself for whatever moronic jargon he would say next.

“Shadow. Do…” Sonic looked up with him with wide eyes that concealed nothing, placing his sincere, vulnerable emotions on a bashful display. “Do you… want to kiss me?”

Somehow, Shadow froze again; really, you would expect him to stop reacting so explosively to every bombshell Sonic dropped on him.

Though at least time, his reaction wasn’t just due to Sonic’s insanely invasive question, but rather, his own sentiments on the matter.

Because despite himself, the answer was yes.

But he absolutely was not going to tell Sonic that. Nope. No way in hell. Not under these circumstances, and also? Maybe not under any circumstances. He needed to give this a lot more thought… though a dastardly part of him longed to lurch forward and just do the damn thing, he couldn’t.

And so of course, he came up with the lamest cop out ever. “Maybe we should have this conversation when you’re not under the influence,” he said, and upon seeing Sonic’s indignant glare, he cut him off before he had to insist for the umpteenth time that evening that he wasn’t drunk.  “And by under the influence, I obviously mean of sleep deprivation.”

Somehow, Sonic ignored this, instead choosing to say something infinitely worse. “You didn’t say no.”

Shadow mentally cursed Sonic, for having the clarity to call him out for his evasion when his whole demeanor was so hazy. It was the truth, though. He didn’t say no. Nor did he think he could say no—he didn’t want to experience the painful squeeze his heart would grace him with should he deny his unfortunate reality.

“Like I said, we’ll have this conversation when you’re in a better state of mind.”

“Hmm, okay,” Sonic relented rather easily, which honestly should have been Shadow’s first indication that he was going to do something very dumb. The second indication was that Sonic reached back into his quills and pulled out a black permanent marker. And before Shadow could react and prevent Sonic from doing something characteristically stupid, Sonic uncapped it, turned towards the tile on the wall, and wrote ‘Reminder: Talk To Shadow About Feelings.’

Shadow’s jaw dropped and nearly hit the side of the tub. “What the hell?!” he demanded as Sonic tucked the pen back into his quills with a self-satisfied smirk. “Was that a permanent marker?! Do you have any idea how hard that’s going to be to clean off?!”

Sonic looked him dead in the eye, the smirk slipping off his face and being replaced by complete sincerity. “Well yeah, that’s the point. I want to remember that we need to do this. I can’t have it washing off, obviously.”

Shadow had to resist the urge to grumble obscenities to himself. In a way, he had kind of hoped that Sonic would forget Shadow’s promise to talk to him about his obvious romantic attraction, content to avoid the problem altogether for as long as he could (which was highly ironic, given his previous advice about how Sonic was handling, or rather, avoiding Amy). He had half the mind to go find some cleaning supplies to wipe it off, though in his current predicament, he would need to wait until Sonic was cleaned up and out of the tub. The guy might have been sleep deprived, but there would be no way that he would let Shadow clean off his super-important reminder that probably would have been just as effective on a sticky note plastered to the bathroom mirror.

But who was Shadow to judge.

Beneath him, Sonic’s fur had finally started to show remarkable improvements, the only thing remaining a light blush of lavender. Sonic’s eyes had drifted close, an expression of tranquility settling over his face no doubt due to the warm, scented water and the rhythmic scrubbing of the washcloth on his chest.

“I’m almost done,” Shadow all but whispered in a low voice, not wanting to disturb Sonic too much. His response from Sonic was a noise of acknowledgment, a close-lipped grunt coming somewhere from the back of his throat.

A few minutes later, Shadow pulled the rag back, admiring his handiwork. For the most part, Sonic’s fur had returned to its original state. Allowing himself small, pleased smirk, he shifted his focus up to Sonic and realized that his deep, steady breathing indicated that he had fallen asleep. Once more.

He should go. 

However, Sonic just looked so damn comfortable, and finding himself lured in, Shadow rested his side against the tub. Rouge was probably still busy with Knuckles, and not wanting to go downstairs and brood in the corner or worse, get suckered into talking to more people, he figured he could wait up here with Sonic for just a little longer.

It wouldn’t hurt to rest my eyes, for just a little bit, he reasoned, if only for his own peace of mind that he was choosing to stay with Sonic rather than rejoin the party.

So with his mind made, Shadow positioned himself so that his back was against the wall next to the tub, his body parallel to Sonic’s and separated by the porcelain edge of the tub. And with that, the sound of Sonic’s breathing in his ear and the atmosphere warm and cozy, Shadow unintentionally drifted off to sleep.

Snap!

Shadow was woken up some indetermined time later to a flash behind his eyelids and a loud sound piercing through his dreams. Contorting his face with a groan, he groggily opened his eyes just to find Rouge standing over him holding none other than her damn camera.

“Rouge?” he asked blearily, the first thought in his sluggish mind being that I thought I locked the door?

However, as his wits slowly came back to him, he recalled the fact that locks meant nothing to her. She had probably picked it within twenty seconds.

“Now isn’t this just the most adorable sight?” she tittered. “You and Blue, all cozied up and cuddling together. How precious.”

Shadow blinked heavily, attempting to clear some of the sleep from his eyes. “What are you talking about? Sonic and I aren’t—” he cut himself off with a start, realizing that when he had fallen asleep, his head had rested up against Sonic’s shoulder, and that contact was still being maintained even as he spoke to Rouge. And so, without further prompting, he tore away from Sonic, chest heaving from the sudden surge of adrenaline as he glared up at her. “Did you—”

“Yes, of course I got a picture. What else did you expect?” She waved her camera tauntingly at him. “I still need my proof, after all.”

Shadow groaned and rubbed at his eyes, both out of frustration and to try to get himself to wake up faster. He didn’t have the bandwidth to have this conversation with Rouge at the moment, not with his unplanned slumber still addling his brain.

Rouge didn’t seem to really care all that much about giving Shadow the grace he so desperately needed. “You know, for someone who was concerned for Amy’s safety when it came to the glass, you seem awfully complacent about Sonic’s household recklessness.” She shook a finger at him and tutted. “Don’t you know that it’s dangerous to sleep while in a tub? He could drown.”

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” Shadow grumbled as he let his hand fall away from his eyes, fixing her with a weak glare.

Rouge grinned down at Shadow, her eyes flitting dangerously towards Sonic’s still-sleeping form. “All right, so, spill. Did you two kiss at midnight, or what?”

“Rouge,” Shadow groaned. “Of course we didn’t, we’ve been—” he paused as he processed what she had said, sitting up in alarm. “Wait, what time is it?!”

Rouge glanced towards the clock with a laugh. “Oh man, way past twelve. It’s almost two. You’re telling me that you boys slept through the New Year’s countdown? That’s no fun. Guess you’ll have to try again next year.” She giggled as Shadow scowled at her. “Anyways, you ready to head out? I’m getting pretty sleepy myself.”

Shadow nodded, moving to follow her out before pausing as he realized that Sonic was still fast asleep in the tub. “Wait downstairs,” he said. “I’m just going to put him to bed first.”

Rouge raised an eyebrow, a sneaky smile splitting her face. “Oh? Now that’s rather domestic, especially for you Shadow.”

“Shut it. I’m not going to leave him sleeping in the tub.”

“You two are so in love,” Rouge gushed, laughing as she darted out the door and narrowly avoided being hit by the still-damp washcloth Shadow hurled at her, it slamming against the wall and leaving a wet mark. “I’ll see you downstairs!”

“I’m going to kill her one of these days,” Shadow muttered under his breath, knowing that at this point, the threatening promise meant nothing.

 But anyways. Glancing down towards Sonic, he saw that he was somehow still sleeping, Rouge’s ruckus miraculously failing to wake him up. Which was probably a good thing; Shadow wasn’t sure if he would have been able to handle his reaction had he found out about their unceremonious cuddle session.

With a sigh, Shadow unplugged the drain. The water at this point was lukewarm, and the bubbles long since dispersed. All that remained was the lingering scent that clung to the water, and Shadow had a belated epiphany that it kind of smelled like Sonic.

If so much hadn’t already happened between them, he would feel repulsed towards the fact that he knew what his rival’s scent smelled like.

But regardless. Turning away from the tub, questioning how the deafening drain still wasn’t enough to wake Sonic up, Shadow grabbed a towel from a hook on the wall. It was white and fluffy, and Shadow steeled himself for what he would have to do next.

“Sonic,” he said, nudging his shoulder with his foot. “Sonic, get up.”

“Hrrrngh,” Sonic moaned, and Shadow felt a small nugget of guilt gnaw away at him for disturbing his sleep. However, his conviction that his bed would be a better resting place won over, if the way his back still ached from the odd way he had slept was enough to convince him. “What’s… what’s happening?”

Shadow crouched down so they were at eye level, feeling just a little bad for waking him up with the toe of his air shoes. “Wake up, hedgehog. It’s time for bed.”

“I’ve already been in bed,” Sonic mumbled, before opening his eyes and realizing that he wasn’t, in fact, in bed. “Shadow? Why are you here?” He looked around. “And why am I in the bathtub?” He looked down at himself. “And why am I wet?”

Shadow let out a huff, not wanting to go into great detail explaining every little thing that had happened between him and Sonic that evening. The list was simply too long. “Knuckles spilled his drink on you and I washed you off. The end. Now, get out of the tub so I can dry you off.”

Sonic looked up at him inquisitively, and then upon seeing his socks, shoes, and gloves by the sink behind Shadow, his head snapped down towards his hands and feet and his eyes widened in shock. “Oh… oh yeah…” he said with a very noticeable waver in his voice. He swallowed thickly, flexing and clenching his fingers as if he couldn’t believe that he was no longer wearing his gloves, and Shadow averted his gaze out of delayed respect. “I, um, remember now.”

Shadow rolled his eyes. He was too tired for this. “Wonderful. Glad to hear it. Do you need me to help you up too?”

“Um, no, I think I got it,” Sonic managed to say, stumbling over his words in a way that made Shadow think that he was more than a little disturbed about his apparent nudity, at least, more so than he was before. Upon standing, he quickly took the towel in a misbegotten attempt to cover and dry himself off, and Shadow felt thankful that he wasn’t expected to do that too. Everything about this… it was just too much.

After he finished hastily drying himself off, Sonic sat on the edge of the tub with a large stretch and even larger yawn. Turning to look behind him in the tub, he fixed Shadow with a pleading expression. “Is it bad if I put the towel in the tub and go back to sleep?”

“Yes.”

“My bed is so far away,” Sonic groaned, burying his face in his hands, and Shadow would have been perplexed by the odd, sleep-deprived behavior if he hadn’t been forced to witness it that entire evening.

“This is stupid,” Shadow grumbled, and before he could think twice about it and decide that leaving Sonic to sleep in the bathroom was a very valid decision that warranted no intervention, he reached over and picked Sonic up, a hand bracing against his back and another supporting the crook of his knees.

“Shadow, I—” Sonic stammered, his arms instinctually wrapping around Shadow’s neck and shoulders for stability, and Shadow tried to ignore the way it made his heart skip a beat, instead focusing on offering Sonic a gruff:

“Shut up.”

Luckily, Sonic did actually shut up, his lips sealing and his throat bobbing as he swallowed thickly. Ignoring how Sonic had done a very shoddy job at drying himself off, the dampness that clung to his fur transferring to his carrier, Shadow nudged the bathroom door open and peered out into the dark hallway.

Thankfully, no one was out there to witness the humiliating display.

“Second door on the right,” Sonic mumbled into the fur on Shadow’s neck, and Shadow’s grip tightened as he suppressed the shiver that threatened to make his body tremble. He couldn’t believe that Sonic was about to fall asleep… again. Hadn’t the fool just woken up?

Without speaking, Shadow entered Sonic’s room with his cargo in tow. He lifted an unimpressed brow at the careless job Rouge had done to remake the bed, and then glancing down at Sonic’s delirious form, decided that it would be in his best interest to hold his tongue and not make a comment about it.

He dumped Sonic haphazardly onto the bed, immediately regretting his lack of care. And so, instead of walking right back out the way he entered and slamming the door behind him, he chose to amend his error and gently tuck him under the covers.

“Thanks, Shadow,” Sonic murmured, his eyelids half-closed as he began to drift off to sleep once more. Shadow swore at that moment that he was going to go wreak havoc on Eggman’s robots the following day just for the hell of it, in the name of vengeance. “I really appreciate you.”

“You’re welcome, Sonic,” Shadow said, giving him a rare earnest response.

As Sonic’s breathing became even, the steady rise and fall of his chest indicating that he was conked out once more, Shadow crouched down and began to rifle through the drawer of Sonic’s bedside table. Not because he was nosy, mind you, but because he was scheming something. Something to tie up the loose ends that threatened to fray and unravel should he leave them unattended for too long.

With a sigh of relief, he found what he was looking for as he pulled out a notepad, and then fishing through Sonic’s quills on a level of intimacy that would have bothered him immensely had it happened prior to the incidents of that night, Shadow found Sonic’s permanent marker.

Under the dim light of the lamp on the table, Shadow hastily scribbled out a quick note, loathing the way the permanent marker bled on the cheap paper. It ruined his otherwise pristine handwriting.

But anyways. Signing his name, he paused, rereading the note to see if his first draft was acceptable.

Sonic—

I will be at your house this Saturday at 8:00 AM. Don’t sleep in.

Shadow

It was short and blunt and to the point, but then again, so was Shadow. It gave him a few days to take care of what needed to be done, the beginnings of a plan blossoming in his mind. The perfect way to end this little saga they had embarked upon, to finally address the unspoken thing that existed between them.

As he tucked the note under Sonic’s bedside lamp, he froze as Sonic mumbled something under his breath and rolled over. Coming to the conclusion that he was just talking in his sleep, probably about something dumb if Shadow had to guess, he quietly took his leave and exited the room.

However, just as he was about to gently close the door behind him, he heard Sonic’s voice call out behind him; plaintive, desperate, and meek.

“Shadow, wait.”  He turned to see Sonic sitting up in bed, gripping at the edge of the sheets with bare, clawed hands. “Do you think, you could… stay?”

Shadow hesitated. Chaos, was the offer tempting. He was still groggy himself, and there was nothing more he wanted to do than to crawl into bed and join Sonic, to reinitiate that contact he so deploringly longed for and go back to sleep in his embrace. He blamed his half-awake brain for even thinking such a thing was enjoyable, but deep down, he knew it to be his true desire.

And so, with a rending of his heart that just about split his entire body in two, Shadow turned him down. “Maybe next time, Sonic,” he said in promise, and before he could bring himself to see the crestfallen expression that befell his face, tightened his grip on the handle and looked away. “Goodnight,” he whispered, and with that, stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him.

With a sigh and a hand through his quills, Shadow made his way across the hall and down the stairs, trying to ignore how every painful step took him farther from Sonic and how his shoes itched to switch directions. To take him back into Sonic’s room and crawl in under the covers with him, because not only did it sound delectable, but he was just so damn tired.

And it was with his unfocused, indecisive eyes that he found Rouge waiting for him, hands on her hips and a smirk on her lips. “Didn’t want to stay?” she fawned, and Shadow looked away. He didn’t need her overly perceptive nosiness reading his expression like an open book.

“No,” he replied curtly, trying to hide the longing in his voice. “Not tonight.” Not with the fact that Sonic hadn’t made the offer with a clear mind. Not with the fact that Shadow couldn’t be sure that Sonic wouldn’t regret it in the morning.

Rouge gave him a thoughtful once over before shrugging, an easy smile on her face as they walked out of Sonic’s house and to the curb where his motorcycle was parked. “Whatever you say, Shadow.”

Shadow didn’t respond, but he did give the window to Sonic’s bedroom one last pining, wistful glance as they crossed his snow-covered yard… right before he mentally slapped himself and ordered himself to get a grip. He was acting like a pathetic, lovesick fool.

“So,” Rouge said as they got on his motorcycle, her hands placed behind her to balance herself on the edge of the seat rather than wrapped around Shadow. It was a small token of goodwill, one that he recognized without outwardly acknowledging. “What did you think of these five parties overall? Pretty fun, wouldn’t you say?”

Shadow avoided answering her question, both out of self-preservation and because he really was too tired to think about whether he had enjoyed the parties or not. His thoughts on the matter were mixed and complicated, to say the least. “I’m cashing our deal in,” he said over his shoulder as he started the ignition, the bike rumbling to life beneath them. “You and I are going to go pick up a new motorcycle tomorrow.”

And with that, he revved his engine and they tore off into the night.

Chapter Text

Shadow was incredibly nervous.

Well, that was a light way of putting it. He was always kind of nervous, at least, when it involved Sonic. No, what he was right now was anxious, nauseous, jittery, terrified… so much so, that it took every ounce of his willpower to not hop on his motorcycle and tear off so violently that the sound of the engine roaring would shatter every window in Sonic’s house. Because while such an action would bring temporary reprieve, it wouldn’t solve his emergent problem, the fact that it was 7:55 in the morning and he was currently waiting in Sonic’s driveway with an apprehensive tap of his foot and a self-preserving fold of his arms over his chest.

With a impatient sigh, he checked the time on his communicator. 7:56 AM. Four minutes until Sonic would emerge from his house, that is, if he was even awake. Shadow wouldn’t be surprised if he would have to go inside and shake Sonic from his slumber himself. Even though he had left the note with very explicit instructions, that didn’t necessarily mean that Sonic knew anything about setting alarms; in fact, Shadow had a sneaking suspicion that it was a skill he didn’t possess.

Shadow worked his jaw as he waited. In a way, maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Sonic didn’t show up on time. If he didn’t come out of the house right at 8:00 AM, perhaps Shadow would forego waking him up and instead just leave. Then they could avoid this dreaded conversation they needed to have, and then they could go back to being rivals and pretend like none of this had ever happened. The end.

(Even though that wasn’t exactly what Shadow wanted, he was just too anxious to admit it.)

A few more minutes passed, and Shadow had been just about to hop on his motorcycle and take off and abandon the whole endeavor altogether, when the front door of the house finally opened.

Feeling his heart drop into his shoes as Sonic himself stepped out on to the porch, a huge grin on his face, Shadow couldn’t help but feel that he missed his last opportunity to escape. However, he swallowed down the urge to run as Sonic made his way down the steps and approached him.

“Shadow!” he exclaimed. “You’re actually here!”

“And you’re late,” Shadow shot back, giving his communicator another glance.

Sonic merely laughed at his tardiness, which for Shadow, was no joking matter. “Oh yeah? What is it, 8:01?” he teased, and upon seeing his former rival standing out in the cold with nothing on but his usual attire, his breaths coming out in tangible puffs in the wintery air, Sonic lifted up a finger in a motion for him to wait. “Hold on one second, I’ll be right back!”

“You’re just making yourself more late,” Shadow called out gruffly as the door slammed halfway through the sentence, rendering the severity of his statement moot. He didn’t know when Sonic had stopped taking him so seriously, but it bothered him a great deal. Part of him could recognize it for what it was— a level of comfort few people managed to achieve with Shadow, but it still irked him nonetheless.

Precisely two minutes and eighteen seconds later, Sonic reemerged, and Shadow was about to make a dry comment about his note had been very specific about 8:00 AM being the time that Sonic needed to be ready by, however, the words died in his throat as he saw what Sonic was carrying.

No. It couldn’t be…

And yet, as Sonic unfurled what he held, revealing it to be a thick scarf and beanie with a stupid little pompom on the top, Shadow realized that it indeed was.

“I thought I was done with the stupid hats,” Shadow stated sharply. He was far from pleased at this new development.

Sonic laughed in his face. “Nope!”

“This isn’t a party, though.”

“Listen Shadow, for once, this isn’t an attempt to make you look ridiculous. It’s cold out here, and I’m just trying to prevent you from freezing your ears off! Is that really so bad of me to care?”

“Yes,” Shadow grumbled, right before snatching the beanie and scarf out of Sonic’s hands and tugging them onto his head and neck respectfully, truly only doing it to make Sonic shut up (and definitely not because something about the thoughtfulness behind the offer made Shadow’s core feel all warm and happy).

Shadow wasn’t used to wearing things. His body was designed to withstand temperatures in the extremes on both ends, so his need for things such as winter attire were minimal. The scarf was thick and itchy and stifled the movement he possessed in his neck, and the beanie muffled his hearing.  

And overall? He hated it.

But more importantly, he hated the way that Sonic pressed his hands to his cheeks and smushed them up, letting out an undistinguished Aww! upon seeing Shadow in his bundled-up, cozy glory. “Shadow!” he gushed, causing Shadow’s eyes to narrow dangerously. “You look so… so…!”

“Shut. Up.”

“Cool! I was going to say cool. Yep. Definitely wasn’t about to call you adorable, because that would be like super weird right?”

Shadow glowered at him, a small, unwanted part of him lighting up in happiness at the fact that Sonic thought he was adorable. However, managing to tuck it away and not allow it manifest on his face, he instead said, “Yes. Super weird.”

Sonic breezed right past Shadow’s shut down, not seeming to be too discouraged by it. “Anyways,” he said, his eyes drifting over to what Shadow stood beside. His own offerings that were significantly cooler than Sonic giving him a scarf and beanie. “What’s the dealio out here? You brought….” He paused, rubbing and squinting his eyes as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing in his driveway. “Two… motorcycles? And one of them is blue?”

Shadow nodded, casually leaning against the black one that Sonic had gifted him for Secret Santa. The one next to him, a slightly different version of his own bike that was just a little flashier, was colored with a shimmery blue paint not unlike Sonic’s signature shade.

However, Sonic simply looked at him in confusion. “Why?”

Shadow stared at him like he had grown a second head to match the second motorcycle that had materialized in the driveway. Did he seriously not get it? “Do you seriously not get it?”

“You got a second one and wanted to show me your spare?” His confusion deepened as something else occurred to him. “How did you even get two bikes here? What?”

Shadow waved him off. “Don’t worry about it.” In that exact moment, his communicator buzzed, and if he had taken the time to pause and read the message, he would have seen that it was from Rouge and said: No problem toots, now go have fun on your date with your boyfriend ;) .

What she was responding to, of course, was Shadow’s own message thanking her for helping him bring the second motorcycle to Sonic’s house. A few days prior, he had dragged her by the wings to the local motorbike dealership, and upon finding the perfect one that screamed Sonic in both the model and the color, had forced her to fork over the hefty price. Something she hadn’t been entirely pleased about, but when Shadow had revealed to her his intent with the bike, her attitude had changed significantly.

And what exactly was that intent, you might ask?

Sonic wanted to know the same thing. “So then if it’s not your spare, then what is it for?”

Shadow wanted to slap a palm to his face. Sonic could be so doltish at times, it was honestly quite ridiculous. “It’s for you, idiot,” he explained as patiently as he could, which to be frank, wasn’t patient at all. “I’m going to teach you how to ride a motorcycle.”

Sonic’s jaw just about dropped. “You’re going to… I’m getting on… what?!” He looked from Shadow to the motorcycle, gawked for a second, and then looked back towards Shadow again. “I’m going to ride that?!”

“Well yeah, that’s the idea. Eventually.”

Sonic put his hands up in front of his chest, curled in an almost defensive position.  “Um, no offense, but I’m not cool like you Shadow. I don’t think I’ll be able to just hop on a motorcycle and start riding. If I'm being completely honest.”

Shadow rolled his eyes. “Well obviously you’re not going to be able to ride it right away. I’m going to teach you.” He patted the side of his own bike before turning his back on Sonic’s gobsmacked face and mounting it. He scooted forward on the seat and pointed to the empty spot behind him. “Get on.”

Somehow, Sonic’s jaw dropped even farther. “You want me? To get on? That?!” There was a beat, and then as if realizing something, Sonic’s back stiffened and if Shadow didn’t know any better, he would say that a blush spread across Sonic’s muzzle, though it very well could have been a result of the frigid temperatures. “With you?!”

Shadow was growing tired of his hemming and hawing. “Yes. How else am I supposed to teach you?”

“I mean, I could always… watch? From here?”

“So you would you rather watch me drive away and that be how you learn?” 

Sonic seemed to comprehend just how stupid that would be as his body jerked into motion, taking hasty steps down the driveway towards where Shadow waited. “I, um, well… when you put it like that….”

“Just shut up and get on,” Shadow sniffed. “You’re making this far more difficult than you have to.”

At this point, Sonic was standing right in front of him, his hands still sitting in front of his chest with his fingers arced in apprehension. Whether it was because of the motorcycle or Shadow, it was difficult to tell. “Yes. Yes! I’ll just. Get on.” After a moment of hesitation, he awkwardly swung his leg over the side of the motorcycle and delicately sat down, and Shadow didn’t miss the way he arched his body so that he was leaning away from him, a canyon of space between their bodies.

“You’re going to fall off if you sit like that.”

Shadow could literally hear him gulp nervously behind him. “So uh, how should I sit then?” He spoke slowly and deliberately, as though he were scared what the answer might be.

The whole thing made Shadow want to let out an exorbitant groan. One more dramatic than anything he had let out thus far, and trust, there were many things that had elicited such an extreme reaction. “You need to lean into me,” he said, struggling to keep his voice steady at the instruction.

“Um…” Sonic started, before finishing his sentence by gingerly resting his chest against Shadow's back. The contact was light and almost nonexistent, only the fringes of their fur brushing against one another.

“More.”

The contact deepened slightly, and Shadow tried not to overthink how warm Sonic was, and how nice his body felt against him. “Okay….”

“And wrap your arms around me to hold on.”

The sound of Sonic smacking his lips in hesitation hit Shadow’s ears, and he had to suppress a full-body shudder at the sound. “All right… here I go….” There was a beat, and then another, and Shadow could practically imagine the indecision on Sonic’s face as he felt his hands snake awkwardly through the gap between Shadow’s arms and ribs. Surprisingly, though, he didn’t make contact, his hands just floated there. Weirdly.

At this point, Shadow had enough of this whole debacle. “Why am I the one who has to coach you through this?!” The underlying implication was blatant: Sonic was the touchy, flirty one. Shadow was not. The fact that Shadow had to take the lead on this was honestly rather ridiculous. Why had Sonic become so bashful all of a sudden? It was unusual, though as Shadow took a moment to reflect upon it, he realized that moments like this, Sonic’s random stammerings and hesitations and reservations, were peppered throughout all of their interactions.

Perhaps he overthought things just as much as Shadow did.

“I don’t know man, I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before! I don’t know what I’m doing!”

“I’m not going to punch you for touching me.”

“That’s news to me, quite frankly!”

“Ugh, just—” Not bothering to finish his sentence, Shadow reached down and grabbed Sonic’s hands, still hovering awkwardly around the halo of his body, and placed them directly on his hips. Focusing on the handles before him, he tried not to think too hard about what he had just done. What he had initiated. “Here. And make sure you hold on tight. Once we get out of the city, I’m going to pick up speed and go fast.” 

Sonic laughed thinly. “You don’t have to warn me about going fast,” he joked in a meek attempt, as though he were trying to distract himself from the fact that he was essentially spooning Shadow on the very motorcycle he had bought him for Secret Santa. Which was pretty romantic when you stopped to think about it, and were probably the very thoughts running through Sonic’s mind faster than his feet could carry him.

Those were pure speculations, though. Shadow glanced over his shoulder, shooting Sonic a smirk despite himself. “We’ll see about that,” he said, right before lighting the ignition and bringing the bike to life beneath them.

At the rumbling of the engine that shook the whole bike, Sonic clung a little more tightly to Shadow, and his heart embarrassingly skipped a beat. This is normal, he tried to tell himself as he adjusted the mirrors and checked the gauges, Rouge rides with me all the time. This is nothing new.

He honestly had no idea why he tried to lie to himself. This was absolutely new. This wasn’t Rouge, who always made it a point to barely touch him when she was his passenger, it was Sonic, someone he had undeniable romantic feelings for and was currently gripping Shadow’s waist like his life depended on it.

It was enough to make his face heat up. And unfortunately for him, his anger and frustration about his involuntary reaction only made the temperature flush higher.

Thankful his back was to Sonic and pushing down the feeling with a gargantuan shove, Shadow cleared his throat. “Hold on!” he called out in warning, and with that, they took off into the street.

Well, ‘take off’ was kind of an exaggeration. Believe it or not, Shadow was just a tad mindful to Sonic’s lack of experience with motorcycle, and the way that his grip around his torso tightened to the point of being uncomfortable spoke louder than any words. Not to mention, the speed limit in Sonic's suburb was criminally low. However, as they made their way out of the residential area, around the outskirts of the city, and onto the coastal highway, Shadow couldn’t help himself any longer. It was time to kick things up a notch.

And so, without bothering to give Sonic a warning, Shadow revved his engine and hit the acceleration, and within a few seconds, they reached the speed limit and skyrocketed past it.

“Whoa!” Sonic cried out breathlessly in his ear, and Shadow had to suppress a shiver that he wanted to blame on the frigid morning air. “You don’t think we could ease into that a little more?”

Shadow grinned, though it wasn’t visible for Sonic to see. “Nope!” he called out, and relished in the way Sonic held him even tighter as he pushed his bike to go even faster.

Soon, they were completely removed from civilization, and as the trees blurred beside them, they made their way up and along the coast. The highway was a scenic one, darting in and out along the cliffside and forest as it followed the topography of the land. It was Shadow’s favorite route, and it was a real shame that Sonic couldn’t appreciate it more because in that current moment, he was whooping and hollering at the top of his lungs in sheer joy.

The grin was back on Shadow’s face. He had a feeling Sonic would love this. Speed, risk, and thrill was his whole shtick, after all.

They were about a half hour out from the city when they finally reached their destination, Shadow coming to a complete stop with a showy drift that skittered on the icy roads and kicked a dramatic wave of snow up and over the side of the small pullout along the side of the highway. He was too far past the point of convincing himself that the main reason he did such a flashy move wasn't to impress Sonic. Because it absolutely was.

And based on his reaction, he was certainly impressed. “Oh man, Shadow!” Sonic exclaimed as they came to a stop. “You know, I always wondered why you liked your motorcycle so much when you could always just run places with your little skate-shoe-thingies. I thought you were doing it to be like, extra edgy and cool. But dude,” at this, he let out a sound of appreciation, “that was awesome. I’m totally making you teach me how to ride the one you got me when we go back home. That was fun!”

Despite himself, Shadow allowed himself a genuine smile, though he kept his back purposefully turned to Sonic so that he couldn’t see just how happy his words had made him. “It’s a relief you finally understand,” he said with a valiant attempt to sound neutral and apathetic, though even with his deep, raspy voice, he couldn’t quite hide the speck of joy that wormed its way through and into his tone.

Hopping off, Sonic looked around at their surroundings. “Where did you take us anyways? Is there a reason we stopped—” he cut himself off as he turned around, seeing just where they had dismounted. They were on the top of a cliff, a small clearing in the forest that served as an overlook over the ocean and off in the distance and down the coast, the city they had just come from. It was a clear day, to Shadow’s relief, so the view was especially stunning.

“Shadow,” Sonic whispered in awe as he turned slowly to take it all in. “This place… it’s beautiful. How have I never seen this before?”

“Because you run too fast and never bother to slow down,” Shadow replied bluntly, walking past him and going to sit on his favorite spot, the piece of wood he had dubbed his ‘Brooding Log.’ Patting the spot on the log next to him, he motioned for Sonic to join him. “This is my favorite place to drive to on my motorcycle, whenever I need to clear my head.”

Sonic nodded in appreciation as he accepted Shadow’s invitation and settled down next to him, their thighs brushing for a moment before he found a position to his liking. Close, but not uncomfortably so. “Oh man, this is sick. And better yet, now I always know where to find you if I need something!”

Shadow’s ears flattened. Ugh. He had definitely not thought about that fact.

“Yes,” he said tightly, not even bothering to lie and pretend like it wasn’t the truth. Sonic would see right through it if he tried to claim that he had a cooler, better, more secret spot than this since Shadow wasn’t exactly the best liar, so he abandoned the effort entirely.

But okay. Meaningless small talk had never been his strong point, as has been previously established numerous times. He was going to cut to the chase and get one of the things that had been weighing him down off his chest.

That didn’t mean it was going to be easy, though. “Sonic, I…” Shadow hesitated, swallowing, before steeling himself and pressing forward. “I have a confession to make.”

Beside him, Sonic visibly perked up, his eyes lighting up in excitement as he leaned forward in anticipation. “A confession? What about?”

Shadow bit his lip, uncomfortable with the sudden scrutiny he found himself under and wishing for a fleeting moment that maybe it would have been a better idea to take his chances stumbling through small talk. “It’s about the parties. The five I’ve been to.”

For some reason, this seemed to make Sonic even more excited, as he leaned even further in. “Yes? What about them?”

Shadow hesitated. Here he went. No take-backsies now. “I didn’t choose to go to them.”

“You didn’t?”

“I…” he began, before pausing to reevaluate if this was really worth bringing up. He couldn’t help but be worried that Sonic would be mad at him for lying, for they had technically already had this conversation back in the toolshed at Tails’ party. Sonic had confronted him about his intentions, and Shadow had lied to comply with the stipulation of Rouge’s deal stating that no one was allowed to know about it. However, now that it was all said and done and he had his motorcycle, he figured he didn’t have to adhere to her suffocating rules any longer. And besides, coming clean was the right thing to do. “I made a deal with Rouge. That if I went to five parties with her, I would get something in return.” He took a deep breath. "A new motorcycle to replace the one I had wrecked."

If Sonic seemed disappointed about the fact that Shadow’s confession wasn’t exactly the one he was expecting (namely, one of love), he didn’t show it. Instead, his eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and he pointed a finger in accusation right in Shadow’s face, just inches from his nose. “I knew it!” he exclaimed, Shadow having to go nearly cross-eyed to see the tip of Sonic’s finger. “I knew Rouge was behind it somehow!” Retracting his finger, he laughed to himself. “Oh man, Tails owes me twenty bucks now. Ha!”

There was a pause. And then Sonic completely changed tracks as the reality of the realization dawned on him.

“She was going to get you a new motorcycle?! In exchange for you going to five parties?! What kind of a deal was that?!” he exclaimed, and Shadow could only shrug because Sonic was right. The deal was absolutely ridiculous; five parties was nowhere near equivalent to a new bike, even when the person involved was Shadow. “Wait a second. Silver was right?! Oh no…” Sonic moaned, appearing to be genuinely distressed. “Looks like I owe him twenty dollars now. I can’t believe this. What are the odds?!”

There was another pause. At this rate, this whole exchange was turning out to be a conversation Sonic was having with himself.

“Wait, so if you already knew that you were going to be getting a motorcycle… oh no.” Sonic buried his head in his hands dramatically. “You probably hated your Secret Santa gift, didn’t you.”

“What?! No,” Shadow hastily said, finally saying something in response in an attempt to dispel the ridiculous notion before Sonic could turn this whole thing into a deplorable pity party. “It meant more coming from you. Thank you, by the way. I don’t think I ever properly said that yet.”

Sonic let out a sigh as he lifted his head from his hands. “Whew, that’s a relief,” he said. “And no problem. It was the least I could do for you. I wish I could have gotten you a gun too, but I truthfully don’t know a single thing about those. Sorry.”

“How did you even afford it?”

Sonic shrugged with an easy grin on his face as he kicked a shoe up nonchalantly. “What can I say? When you’re a world-famous hero who saves people from disasters, let’s just say sometimes certain people in certain places give you discounts.” Upon seeing Shadow’s confused expression, Sonic smirked. “It’s called being nice to people, Shadow. You should try it sometime.”

Shadow twisted his face up in disgust. That sounded horrible. “No.”

“Aw come on, you’re nice to me, aren’t you?”

“Hardly.” And then realizing that both of them knew it to be a lie and that it was useless to try to refute it, Shadow amended his statement by deflecting in a different way. “And besides. That’s different.”

Sonic laughed, a nice and easy sound, and instead of responding with more banter, jokes, or flirty insults, allowed them to fall into silence, something that Shadow greatly appreciated. The morning, while crisp and chilly, was also refreshing, and it was nice to get outside once in a while. The early sky, pastel and smattered with wispy clouds, complemented the overlook of the ocean quite nicely. The blues weren’t as vivid or stunning as Sonic’s quills, Shadow noted absently, but they were still nice nonetheless.

However, a few minutes later, Sonic disrupted the peace by bringing up the very thing they needed to talk about. Shadow had been an idiot to think they could avoid it, but here Sonic was, instigating the conversation. Likely because he saw his permanent marker reminder scribbled on the tiles of his bathroom wall when he got ready to leave that morning, no doubt.

The statement itself was cryptic. “I meant it, you know.”

Shadow glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, not bothering to turn his head. He knew exactly what Sonic was talking about, but decided to play coy. “What do you mean?”

“What I said in the bathroom on New Year’s.”

Despite himself, Shadow scoffed. “You said a lot of things. You’re going to have to be a little more specific.” Even though he knew what Sonic was addressing, he decided to continue playing dumb. It was a calculated decision; he needed more time. Time to ramp up. To prepare himself for the conversation that was about to happen, and if things went well, what would happen next.

“You really want me to say it again, don’t you.”

Now Shadow turned to face him fully, if only in an attempt to look his fears in the eye and stop cowering away. “Yes.”

Sonic let out a long-suffering sigh. However, could you really blame Shadow? Sonic had confessed he had wanted to kiss him while sleep deprived and drunk adjacent. If he really felt that way, he was going to have to suck it up and confess sober. Otherwise, it would mean zilch.

“Ugh, fine,” he said after a long tense moment of fidgeting with his gloves and looking away from Shadow and out over the horizon. “I meant it when I said that I wanted to kiss you. There, are you happy?”

Usually, when people would ask Shadow if he was happy, typically as a rhetorical question, he would respond with a blunt “No.” However, this time, he refrained, because for once, Sonic’s admission actually did make him happy.  He didn’t confirm this though, not yet, instead choosing to press the conversation forward. “For how long.”

Sonic rubbed at the back of his neck, a sheepish expression on his face. “Um… a while… but the first time I actually felt tempted to do anything about it was at the laser tag place.”

Shadow blinked. That far back? What?

It made sense though. His weird comments throughout the whole thing, the way Shadow had pinned him against the ground and he had seemed to not mind it, hell, even his racing pulse… looking back on it now, it was actually rather obvious. Shadow sometimes hated how dense he could be. “And so why did you choose to say something about it at the New Year’s party?”

Sonic let out a groan, finally cutting off his candidness. “What is this, an interrogation?” he protested. “Why don’t I get to ask you any questions?!” 

“Then go ahead. Ask me some.” Shadow tried to sound nonchalant and unbothered, but inside, his stomach did a little flip. It was easier to ask than to answer, especially about this topic. He was tempted to grab a fistful of snow from the ground next to him, mash it up in a ball, throw it in Sonic’s face, and take off and abandon him on his motorcycle.

That wouldn’t be very conducive to the objectives he was trying to obtain here, though, so he resisted the urge.

“Okay… so then…” Sonic started slowly, and Shadow attempted to steel himself for the question he knew was coming. “Do you want to kiss me, Shadow?”

Despite his feeble attempts to prepare, his stomach still lurched again, and he looked away from Sonic’s inquisitive gaze. “Maybe.”

“Yeah, no offense Shadow, but this is kind of a ‘yes or no’ question. Saying ‘maybe’ is definitely a cop-out.”

Shadow sniffed. “You’re being difficult.”

“I know I am.”

“I really don’t like you.”

“That’s a lie.”

“I don’t see why I have to clarify.”

“Can you just answer the question already? Holy moly hot dog.”

“Ugh, fine.” Shadow clenched his fists by his side and let out a sharp exhale, one that was punctuated by a puff of condensation in the chilly air. This was so painful to admit, and in that very moment, he wished that Eggman would show up and cackle at them with some stupid, long-winded monologue right before he unleashed upwards of fifty robots on them.

However, no such thing happened, so he was forced to bite out: “Yes.”

The response from Sonic lacked a significant amount of decorum, almost to the point that Shadow wished that he had lied and simply said ‘no.’ “Ha!” Sonic barked, shoving a finger in Shadow’s face in accusation. “I freaking knew it!”

Shadow had half a mind to bite it, given that it was mere inches from his mouth, but refrained as he suspected that Sonic would say something weird and gross and highly inappropriate in response.

Because now, as Sonic lowered his finger on his own volition, giving Shadow a strange look and a peculiar tilt of his head, Shadow’s heart skipped a beat as he realized what was about to happen next.

On one hand, finally.

But on the other? It was important to note that Shadow the Hedgehog had never kissed anyone before.

The very act disgusted him to even witness, public displays of affection doing nothing more than severely irritating him and making his gorge rise. And because of that, because he went out of his way to avoid being exposed to such nauseating spectacles, Shadow had very little experience even beyond the fact that he hadn’t ever so much as touched lips to another person in innocent places such as the cheek or hand, much less their mouth.

Damnit. Maybe he should have had Rouge teach him before he embarked on this mission. She certainly would have been thrilled at the prospect.

However, realizing what exactly that would have entailed, Shadow figured that it was probably best that he hadn’t solicited her services. It probably would have been way more hands on than he ever wanted to be with her.

Because even now, as Sonic slowly leaned in and Shadow tentatively did the same, mirroring the movements in a desperate attempt to appear like he knew what he was doing, he distantly understood that no amount of coaching or practice could prepare him for what was about to happen.

The build-up and tension was so agonizing and slow, that Shadow closed his eyes both out of anticipation and suspense. And despite his heart that threatened to thump out of his chest, he continued to lean forward, feeling the breath of Sonic’s on his muzzle as he prepared to lock their lips in a kiss, the moment he had been waiting for so long finally arriving, when all of a sudden…

… a click and flash blinded the edge of his hazy vision, and pulling away from Sonic in a daze, Shadow turned to find none other than Rouge the Bat sitting in the bushes behind them, a thrilled grin on her face and her camera in hand.

What.

The.

Hell.

 Shadow couldn’t even reach within himself to bring his anger to the surface; he was simply too shocked. “Rouge?!” he sputtered, and next to him, Sonic stiffened and snapped his head to the side to see their intruder.

“Oh, rats. I really thought I had turned the flash on this thing off,” she muttered to herself as she turned the camera around to inspect it, completely ignoring the seething rage that was steadily building up within Shadow and the confused kink of Sonic’s head as she tapped the side of it. Which was about the equivalent of troubleshooting as turning it off and on again and probably didn’t do much to fix the problem.

“Rouge!” Shadow just about spat, demanding her attention to be returned to him and away from that infernal, cursed device. “Did you… follow us here?! Excuse me?!”

Much to Shadow’s shock, there was a rustling of the bushes next to who was currently at the top of his blacklist, and nothing could have prepared him for the person who popped up beside Rouge.

“Did you get the photo?” a small, high-pitched voice asked, and Shadow’s jaw nearly dropped as this time, Sonic stepped forward in accusation.

“Tails?!” Now it was Sonic’s turn to be bewildered, his eyes going wide as he ogled at the scene before him. “What are you—how did you—why are you here?!”

“Aw shoot, they saw us!” Tails exclaimed, which was one of the stupidest pieces of exposition he had said yet due to just how much commotion he and Rouge were making, and that wasn’t even taking into consideration how out of place his yellow hide looked against the wintery landscape.  Though Sonic was the one who had called him out, his eyes were fearfully glued to Shadow, and for good reason. The more he had time to process the scene before him, the more his demeanor darkened, the corners of his mouth quirking downwards as he clenched his hands into tight, angry fists. “Come on Rouge, let’s get out of here!”

Rouge didn’t seem nearly as worried as Tails, though it was probably because she knew at this point, Shadow was all bark and no bite. “I’ll see you two loverboys later. Try not to get too handsy with each other, okay?”

Blowing them a kiss and winking, with Tails offering a sheepish wave beside her, the two of them turned and took off into the underbrush. And before Shadow could nudge Sonic into action so that they could go chase them down and ask them what the hell that had been all about, there was a deafening roaring of an engine. All Shadow could do was stare in shock as Tails’ Blue Hurricane plane tore out from the trees somewhere a little farther down the coast, the aircraft making a sharp, banking turn as it flew away from where the two hedgehogs stood gaping.

Well. That had been… something.

“What the actual fuck?”

Shadow slowly turned to Sonic, unable to keep the bafflement from showing on his face. In all his years knowing him as a rival, Sonic had never, not once dropped a curse word of that severity. Sure, he said ‘damn’ and ‘hell’ here and there, depending on how hard Shadow would hit him, but never anything of this magnitude. It was oddly out of character. “Did you just…? Are you even allowed to…?”

Sonic glanced at him with a look of embarrassment crossing his features, before attempting to brush it off. “Eh, I mean, I think the way this thing is rated, I’m allowed at least one f-bomb. Only one though. Or maybe that’s for movies…?” Sonic shrugged. “Oh well. I think it was well-placed, because I’m going to be honest, I did not see that coming.”

Shadow turned his incredulity from Sonic to watch Tails’ plane slowly drift away, at this point a mere smudge on the horizon and a distant whirring of propellers. “Tails? Or Rouge.”

Sonic shrugged again. “Mostly Tails. I don’t know. The whole thing.”

And then, remembering the fact that Rouge had taken a photo of him almost kissing Sonic (because to be fair, Sonic’s shocking explicative had been pretty distracting), Shadow just about withered up and died on the inside. How humiliating. He was going to kill her. He was actually going to kill her.

“I’m going to kill her,” he verbalized, just so that it could be known to Sonic and to anyone else who might happen to be hiding in the bushes and spying on them how he really felt about the situation.

(Of course later, when Rouge would print out the three most recent photos of Sonic and Shadow and place them all stacked in a frame, Shadow would find a way to forgive her. It would be begrudging, of course, but beholding the three new photos hung up next to the original three he had gifted Sonic for Christmas on his wall would bring him so much joy, he would find it impossible to hold onto his rage. After all, seeing the sweetness that had come to be in the new three pictures would be just about enough to melt his cold, hardened heart: him and Sonic in their Santa hats with his new motorcycle and a smile on their faces, them sleeping with their New Years gear in the bathroom, and now this, their lips almost grazing in the snow overlooking the ocean with their beanies on. But that wouldn’t happen until a week from now. In this very moment, he was very irritated, very pissed, and very angry).  

Beside him, Sonic made a popping sound with his mouth. “So, uh, now that that’s over,” he began awkwardly, and before he could finish, Shadow grabbed him by the hand and dragged him back to where they had been sitting, deciding to answer the question before Sonic had the chance to ask it and somehow make things more stilted than they already were.

“Yes,” Shadow said, and guided him back to where they had been sitting to pick up where they left off. However, as he stood in front of the Brooding Log, his hand still gripping Sonic’s even though at this point, it was completely unnecessary, he hesitated in indecision.

It was a crazy concept. But Rouge (and by extension, Tails) had completely ruined the moment. And now, everything felt weird, and not mention, exposed.

Yes. This wasn’t going to do at all.

Letting go of Sonic’s hand and almost immediately missing the weight of it, Shadow stormed over to his motorcycle and started it up, the bike pumping out a dramatic burst of exhaust as it awoke from its slumber.

Sonic didn’t follow him, looking at him uncertainly from the spot Shadow had abandoned him. In the wake of Shadow’s absence, his hands held each other as he shifted from foot to foot. “But, wait, you don’t want to… you know…?”

“Oh, I do,” Shadow growled, though his frustration wasn’t directed towards Sonic. “But we’re going somewhere private. Somewhere those fools can’t follow us.”

Sonic’s uncertainty settling into a knowing smirk, the expression familiar and cocky and confident and everything Shadow knew Sonic to be, his former rival hopped on the back of his motorcycle without saying a single thing more, which for him, was quite the accomplishment. Wrapping his arms around Shadow’s torso without needing any guidance or prompting, Shadow couldn’t prevent the self-satisfied grin that tugged at his lips as he cranked at the acceleration and took them back down the way they came.

However, this time, they didn’t return to Sonic’s house. No, that was where Tails and potentially Rouge would be waiting, and those were the exact people they wanted to avoid at the moment. It was where they were expected to go. Instead, Shadow took a detour, bringing the pair to his residence instead.

As Sonic realized where they were going, his grip around Shadow’s waist tightened. Almost as if to say 'Are you sure?' because it was important to note that no one other than Rouge had ever been to Shadow’s place, and that had only been because she had looked up his address in the G.U.N. records so that she could bother him after work hours (something that was very illegal by the way, and she had never faced any repercussions for).

In response to Sonic’s silent question, Shadow revved his engine. 'Absolutely.'

Not long after, he pulled up to the curb in front of his place. As he killed the engine, Sonic dismounting with a look of apprehension on his face as he studied the snowy exterior of Shadow’s house, Shadow wore a much different expression. It was one of determination. On the ride over, he had enough time to make up his mind.

No more messing around. He was just going to go in there and do it. Get it over with. Because for the love of Chaos, the build-up, the teasing, the suspense... it was simply becoming gratuitous. There was such a thing as being too much, you know, and that line had been crossed a while ago. It was time to cut to the chase.

Unlocking the door with hands that no longer trembled or shook as a strong sense of resolve came over him, Shadow squared his shoulders and stiffened his back as he allowed Sonic to enter before him.

The only sign of his indecision was the way he gnawed at his lower lip with a sharp fang that poked out in curiosity about what was going to happen next, but other than that, he followed Sonic into his place with a purpose in his step and determination in his gaze.

And Sonic was completely oblivious to it all. “Oh wow, Shadow, this is where you live? I’m surprised that the walls aren’t black. And that there aren’t, like, medieval torture devices hanging up everywhere. For some reason that seems like something you would really enjoy.” He made a small noise of approval as he planted his hands on his hips and took it all in. “This is really normal and I’m kind of disappointed, if I’m being honest. And—” He paused in uncertainty as he turned back and took note of the way Shadow was staring at him, unmoving from his spot by the door. “Uh, Shadow? Are you… good?”

Shadow responded by walking forward, grabbing Sonic by the scarf (since it was obstructing a clear path to his chest fur), and slamming him rather roughly against the wall of the foyer. If it were anyone else, the violence would be perceived as, well, violence, but since this was Sonic, his former rival, he didn’t even appear dazed.

What he did appear to be, though, was slightly annoyed. “Whoa, that was a little aggressive, don’t you think? You could have just—”

Shadow cut him off by smashing their lips together, using his hold on the scarf to yank Sonic forward and have him meet halfway.

Sonic seemed shocked at first, if the way his eyes flew wider than Shadow had ever seen them grow before was any indication. Beneath his grip that pinned him against the wall, Sonic froze, and for a split second, Shadow wondered if he had misinterpreted the whole thing. If the flirting, the forced closeness, and everything else in between had just been Sonic being Sonic, and Shadow had been so desperate for connection that he had misread it as romantic.

Of course, moments later, when Sonic finally melted into the kiss and reciprocated with a forceful push back of his own, Shadow scolded himself for ever having doubts in the first place.

Because now, as his lips slightly parted and his head tilted to the side to better slip them together, he didn’t think he had ever done something that had felt so natural. Shooting guns and riding his motorcycle was nothing compared to this.

In fact, it was so delectable, Shadow couldn’t even believe he used to scorn such a thing. Now he understood why people enjoyed engaging in such debauchery. It was electric, it was invigorating, and it unlocked a feeling and sensation Shadow had never known to have existed. How could he have not known that this existed?!

And the fact that it was with Sonic of all people... while that would have once brought him a great deal of stress, now simply felt right. And in between the ecstasy of their lips molding together that was both aggressive and gentle, clunky and natural all at the same time, he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t just given in and done this sooner at any of the previous parties.

It was bliss. It was heaven. It was right. And embarrassingly enough, Shadow never wanted the moment to end.

But of course, since it was Sonic and he couldn’t take anything seriously, he just had to ruin the moment with an imbecilic quip that wasn’t even remotely funny, at least, not to Shadow.

“Oh? What’s this? Straight into the juicy stuff?” he asked as he pulled away, and Shadow scowled at the interruption. He had just been starting to get the hang of things. “You’re not even going to give me a house tour first?”

Shadow, being the absolute idiot that he was, completely missed the subtle implication and where Sonic was hinting that he wanted to go. He was really dense when it came to stuff like this, okay, he was trying his best. “No,” he responded, right before deepening his hold in Sonic’s scarf and mashing their mouths back together in such a way that would hurt and turn off anyone else, but once again, since it was Sonic, it was natural.

However, maybe only a few minutes of kissing later, Sonic tore away once more, this time laughing. Shadow pulled back in retort, almost offended at Sonic’s mirth. Had this all been one giant prank? Or perhaps even worse, had he really been that bad? Either way, Shadow didn’t really appreciate being laughed at, and so in retaliation, the hand tangled behind Sonic's head clenched in his quills. Sonic reacted with a grimace, but to Shadow’s disdain, didn’t cease his giggling.

“What’s so funny,” Shadow demanded with a stormy narrowing of his eyes.

“I’m… so sorry,” Sonic said in between laughs, “but I just cannot take you seriously with that beanie on.”

His eyes flying up and realizing that yes, he was still wearing the damn thing, and yes, he probably did look very stupid, Shadow’s face settled into a scowl as he loosened his hold of Sonic’s quills and scarf. “You’re the one that insisted I wear it,” he grumbled in response, using the gruffness to hide the fact that he was relieved it was simply about his beanie and not something more humiliating.

Sonic extended him a lopsided grin. What was once something so irritating and insufferable, now looked pretty endearing, Shadow had to grudgingly admit. “Yeah, well, we’re inside now, so I guess you won’t be needing it anymore.” With soft, delicate fingers, he plucked it off of Shadow’s head and tossed it into the corner.

Much to Shadow’s displeasure. “You’re going to pick that up later, right.”

Sonic shrugged. “Probably not,” he admitted candidly, and Shadow could do little more than sigh right before Sonic surged forward and recaptured his lips with his own. And in that moment, his worries about Sonic’s messiness melted away as the sensation of their kiss reignited within him.

Later (and by that, hours later, when the sun had set and the sky had grown dark outside), Sonic and Shadow sat cuddled up on his couch watching a movie. Shadow had been prepared to disentangle himself from Sonic and go make them dinner, since Sonic’s rumbling stomach had gone from a minor nuisance to irritatingly distracting, when Sonic disrupted the peaceful silence between them.

“So Shadow…” he began slowly as he traced sluggish circles on Shadow’s shoulder. His skin burned at the contact, but it wasn’t necessarily in a bad way. It was warm and nice, and that was how he overall felt about Sonic’s body splayed against his own. “I know you had a deal that you would only go to five parties with Rouge, but my friends are hosting a little game night next weekend, and—”

“Yes,” Shadow responded without thinking, “I’ll be there.”

Sonic laughed, the sound genuine and music to Shadow’s ears. It was hard to believe he had ever found such a lovely thing to be annoying. “I knew it,” he teased. “I knew you didn’t hate going to those parties. Let me guess, I was a pretty good incentive to go, huh? I tend to have that effect on people.”

Shadow snorted despite himself. “Yeah, well, I certainly didn’t go to talk to your friends, I’ll tell you that much.”

“I figured,” Sonic said. “You know, there’s only so many instances where you ignore everyone but only talk to me that one starts to wonder what’s actually going on.”

“Can it,” Shadow retorted in exasperation, not particularly enjoying being called out for the embarrassing truth. “And for the record, I was forced to talk to you at most of those parties. I wasn’t really given a choice.”

Sonic stuck a tongue out and gave him a thumbs-down. “Boo!” he exclaimed quite eloquently, to which Shadow rolled his eyes at the childishness.

“I’ll go with you, but on one condition. You have to promise me that there’s going to be no more ridiculous hats for me to wear. I’m fed up with those.”

Sonic’s face lit up in excitement towards Shadow’s agreement, right before it stretched into a tight grimace. “Er, yeah, about that….”

Shadow sighed. “What.”

“Well, you see, the game we’re going to play is capture the flag, but we’re trying to make it fun, so we’re theming it to be cowboys versus aliens….” He swallowed awkwardly. “And so one team is going to have to dress up as cowboys, and the other as aliens… and a big part of the costume is—”

“Let me guess, the hats?” Shadow finished for him, and Sonic nodded sheepishly. “Okay. Fine.”

Sonic paused, giving him an odd look. “You’re not… bothered? By that?”

“After the hell I’ve been put through? No. Not particularly.”

“Okay,” Sonic said slowly, drawing out the syllables longer than they needed to be. “During the game, can we try to sneak off and be alone and make out or something?”

Despite himself, Shadow laughed. It was a low chuckle emanating deep from within his chest, and as Sonic’s head whipped towards him with a look of shock on his face, Shadow realized that he had never laughed in front of Sonic. “Yeah,” he said after his laughter died down, “I don’t see why not.”

A smile on both their faces as they turned back to watch the movie, Shadow didn’t find himself minding the planned romantic escapade all that much. In fact, he almost looked forward to it.

Who was he kidding. He was absolutely looking forward to it.

Because after all, what was one more party with a silly hat and some forced alone time with Sonic?