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Sonic zig-zags between palm trees, dashing to Rouge's house/club. Definitely isn't the best that Shadow stays there, Sonic has no clue how Shadow can get to sleep with all the noise..if he sleeps. Sonic is on his way to Rouge's house to meet up with Shadow for a race they have planned for today. Although Shadow didn't answer the phone when Sonic texted and called him. Maybe his phone is dead, maybe he lost it..Sonic doubts it but he's going to check on Shadow either way.
Sonic gets to Rouge's house quickly, he looks up at the entirety of the house, large, multiple floors, chic- very Rouge. Sonic knocks on the front door, eager to race Shadow, to feel more of the wind through his quills, sun on his muzzle and just to blow off some steam. Sonic knows it helps Shadow too when they race. Not that Shadow would admit it.
Before long, Rouge answers the door. She looks a bit tired, her face bare of makeup and her clothes very comfortable. Probably what comes naturally with being the owner of a club. "Shadow in? Didn't answer the phone. Apparently the Ultimate Lifeform can't charge his phone" Sonic asks, as soon as he sees Rouge. Rouge welcomes Sonic into her house, closing the door behind the both of them. Rouge plops herself onto the couch in her living room, picking up her glass of wine at..twenty past two. A rom-com is playing quietly on the TV background. Rouge speaks after having a sip of her wine. "Hasn't come out of his room. Didn't wanna bother him. Had a late night." Rouge sounds very tired and even a bit hungover..I suppose drinking is the best way to get over it in her eyes.
"Well, good thing it's practically my job to bother him!" Rouge simply nods as Sonic bolts up and speeds to Shadows room. The door is closed, that's normal. Sonic knocks on the door gently..no response? He knocks again, harder this time. Still nothing. Is Shadow definitely still in his room? Sonic decides to softly crack his door open. The lights are off. It's quiet. Sonic walks in and closes the door behind him. All the curtains are closed, not in inch of light in the room at all. Sonic let's his eyes adjust to the darkness, he can spot a lump in the middle of the bed in the corner. Is Shadow really sleeping? Sonic quietly calls out to him, "Shadow." and there's no response. Sonic shuffles closer to the bed and whispers again. "Shadow?".
This time, the lump under the blanket stirs and groans, seemingly annoyed. Shadow grumbles as he pulls the thick blanket away from his face. Sonic sees black hands grasp the plush material. Shadow doesn't have his gloves on, his quills are out of order and he just generally looks tired. Sonic has never seen Shadow be even a bit tired, not to mention seeing him after sleeping like this.
Sonic speaks up when Shadow looks at him, annoyed. "You okay, Shads?" Sonic sounds genuinely concerned, but Shadow is too tired to deal with it at the moment so he just groans again and pulls the blanket over his face, not bothering to reply. "Guessing the race is off..?" Sonic hears himself- he sounds worried- oops! Can't have that! "It's cause you knew I was gonna beat your butt, anyway." Despite the banter coming from Sonic still aounds worried. Shadow is still. "..are you sick?" The playful tone is gone from his voice when he asks this. Can he even get sick? He's supposed to be the Ultimate Lifeform. Sonic thought that Shadow was going to air him out again before a coarse voice responds. "I don't get sick-" despite Shadow saying that, he's interupted by a cough that wrecks through his body. Sonic quickly toes off his shoes before he sits on Shadows bed next to him. "You sure, buddy? Don't sound too good..or look it." Shadow glares at him but it disappears quickly. "Thanks," He says coldly. "and..I don't know." Shadow's reply is muffled due to him still hiding under the comforting blanket.
"Let me see you." Sonic says, reassuringly. Wanting to check for some symptoms. Shadow peeks his head out from the blanket. He clearly looks sick. His muzzle is flushed and his fur is stuck down to him. Sonic lifts his hand to press the back of it to his forehead but he hesitantes, waiting for Shadow to say yes. He nods. Sonic presses the back of his gloved hand to the dark hedgehog's forehead. He's practically burning. Even through Sonic's gloves he can feel the unbelievable heat. "Shadow, you're burning up. There's no way you aren't sick." Sonic has that worried expression on his face again. "But..I'm cold. I'm shivering." Shadow replies as he gestures to his shaking. Sonic was going to say something but Shadow cut him off.
"Why are you here?" Shadow looks Sonic up and down, as if he has some malicious plan. Sonic chuckles briefly. "Think I'm just gonna let some illness beat up my rival? Absolutely not!" Shadow sighs before replying, "I'm not ill." It's Sonic's turn to sigh now. "How do you feel?" Sonic asks. Shadow thinks for a few moments before answering. "I feel cold. My throat hurts, aswell as my head. And I'm tired." Shadow can see the look on Sonic's face so he speaks again. "That doesn't mean I'm sick. It means I worked myself too hard on my last mission." Sonic still clearly doesn't buy it. Shadow growls. Sonic's ears perk up, thinking it was his stomach and he jolts up. "Want some soup?" He bolts to the door, Shadow opens his mouth but before anything can come out, Sonic us already gone. He rolls his eyes.
Sonic goes to Rouge first, who is still sipping wine and watching rom-coms. "So, Shadow is sick, not that he believes it." Sonic relays the information to Rouge as he starts wringing his hands anxiously. "He really works himself to the bone." Rouge says, or rather, slurs. "I'm going to make him some soup..is that okay?" Sonic asks, eager to use Rouge's kitchen. It's a very, very nice kitchen and it's always a luxury for Sonic to use it. Rouge smirks and raises an eyebrow before she nods. Sonic doesn't understand what the look meant but he did know that she nodded so he can start making the soup- probably chicken noodle.
While Sonic is busy in the kitchen making the soup, Shadow is back under his blanket, hugging himself as he tries to retain some heat. Naturally, it doesn't work. Another cough wrecks through his body. The force of the cough angers his headache even more, he can barely handle it- it actually hurts so bad that's his eyes well up with tears.
Sonic finishes the simple chicken noodle soup in about 10 minutes and he puts it into a bowl and grabs a spoon. He saunters carefully into Shadows dark room. Sonic can't see Shadow so he assumes he's under his blanket again. Sonic gently nudges the door closed and sits on the edge of the bed again. "Shads? Soup's ready." Shadow grumbles before he sits up, looking somehow worse. Sonic holds out the soup for Shadow and he takes it gently, his black paws and tan paw-pads grip the bowl, he has claws aswell, grazing the bowl. Sonic has to force himself to stop staring, he hasn't seen Shadow without his gloves before, so it's hard to take in all the details before he forces himself to look away.
Shadow starts eating the soup, slowly at first, tasting it and ensuring it isn't too hot. After a few moments Shadow is slurping down the soup, enjoying the heat and taste of it- although the chicken is bland. Sonic grins as Shadow eats his soup happily. Shadow finishes the soup and places the bowl aside and he thanks him quietly. "Well, I just can't help but be the best cook." Shadow let's a soft, amused smile crawl upon his face before grimacing and holding head head in his hands. Sonic immediately perks up, "Shadow? What's wrong?"
Sonic looks worried as Shadow shakes his head. "Nothing. Just a headache." Sonic rolls his eyes before curtly replying. "It's not just a headache, Shads. I'll get you painkillers." Sonic quickly stand up but just as he's about to go, Shadow speaks up. "No." He says simply. Sonic turns around, a tad confused. Shadow can see the confusion on the blue hedgehog's face. "Medication doesn't work for me. Part of the mutation." Shadow speaks quietly when he talks about the experiments. Sonic is rightfully worried, he doesn't know how to help him. After a quick moment, Sonic's ears perk up as he gets an idea. "A massage can help!" He says excitedly, happy that there's a way he can help him since medication doesn't work. Shadow simply rolls his eyes and lays down, rolling onto his side, facing the wall. Sonic speaks up, trying to convince Shadow. "I'm being serious! It actually helps!" Shadow groans before he rolls over and sits back up. "30 seconds. You have 30 seconds to help before I kick you out." Shadow knew he was lying but..Sonic didn't need to know that. Sonic nods happily.
Sonic takes his gloves off, Shadow averts his eyes, he hasn't seen Sonic's bare paws. Sonic sets the gloves aside. Shadow looks back up to Sonic and glances to his paws. Blue with pink paw-pads. Shadow zones out as he looks at the new part of Sonic. Sonic gets a bit embarrassed, a bit of punk dusting his muzzle. "Come a bit closer." Sonic says, simply to stop Shadow from zoning out. Shadows head snaps up and nod, shuffling a bit closer to Sonic.
Sonic carefully rest his bare hands on the sides of Shadow's face, his thumbs resting on his temples, rubbing in slow circles. Shadow tries to resist at first but soon, he's leaning into the touch. Sonic smiles at the sight. As Shadow relaxed, his ears smooth down. Sonic finds it cute but he shakes the thought from his head. Sonic is simply helping a friend..? In need.
As Sonic massages Shadows temples, a low cracking sound can he heard. Sonic is confused and is about to speak up about it but as soon as he does, the sound stops. Shadow yawns, fully relaxing into the massage. "I recon you try to sleep this off." Sonic says as he takes his hands off of Shadow, as he does Shadow absent-mindedly leans forward, searching for the touch briefly before opening his eyes and nods slowly before he lays down, wrapping the blanket around himself tightly.
Sonic stands up, heading to the door, he looks back and he seems Shadow shivering. Sonic hovers by the door, wringing his hands anxiously before he speaks. "Y'know, if you're still cold, and you're fine with it, we could cuddle.." Thank the Lords that this room is dark because Sonic really didn't want Shadow to see the pink dusting his muzzle. Before Shadow can reply Sonic interrupts him, "It'll help you feel warmer and it might help you sleep but I could always just get you another blanket-" Sonic rambles on and on, but it's Shadows turn to be interupted now. "Okay." Shadow says quietly, almost whispering as he shuffles closer to the wall, turning to face it so that Sonic will have room. His movements are a bit stiff, clearly nervous.
Sonic hovers by the door a bit longer, truly not expecting Shadow to say yes. When he snaps out of it, he quickly moves I'm behind Shadow and gets under the blanket. "Just tell me to stop and I will.." Sonic mumbles as he drapes an arm over Shadow's waist. To Sonic's surprise, Shadow doesn't say anything, he actually relaxes into it. When Sonic feels this, he pulls Shadow a bit closer, bringing his chest to Shadow's back.
Shadow is very warm, almost too much, but he has to sweat out this illness. Shadow leans back into the touch and Sonic flushes a little bit more, shocked at how open Shadow is being with the affection- not that it's actually affection- it's just Sonic making sure his friend..rival..person..feels okay. As Sonic fights with himself in his head, the deep clicking noise starts again.
Sonic actually gets to mention it this time before it stops. "What's that noise? You hear that?" Sonic asks quickly, scared it'll stop. It does. Shadow replies quietly. "Don't be rude." Sonic is confused and a bit upset with himself, what about that was rude..?
To try and console himself, Sonic brings Shadow closer, his muzzle resting on his shoulder. That's when the cracking noise starts again.Shadow let's out a content sigh. Sonic focuses on the sound- he can feel it..oh! Oh.
Sonic's tail starts to wag, hitting the mattress gently. Shadow's purring! That's what the noise is. Sonic didn't know that Shadow could purr in the first place. It sounds different to the other hedgehog's purrs. Shadow must be reading his mind because he speaks, and the purring halts.
"My larynx is damaged." Shadow sounds a bit embarrassed, Sonic trys to reassure him by rubbing his arm. Although maybe he's just embarrassed because he's cuddled up with Sonic and he's purring about it. "I didn't know you could purr." Shadow rolls his eyes. "Don't get used to it." Sonic chuckles lightly and his hand that is draped over his waist moves over Shadow's heart, his fingers grazing over the fluff there. Shadow can feel his heart rate speed up. Shadow's purring begins again, causing Sonic's tail to wag in responce. Shadow obviously notices and he chuckles under his breath. Sonic tells him to just go to sleep.
And he does just that. Shadow falls asleep after a few moments and when Sonic was sure that Shadow was asleep, he let himself drift off too.
The next morning, Sonic is still cuddled up with Shadow but he must've moved in his sleep, Shadow is now curcled up against his chest, muzzle against his shoulder. Sonic flushes lightly when he sees the predicament. Sadly, Sonic has things to do today, so he very slowly, very carefully, gets up. Making sure to not wake Shadow up. Sonic walks to the door and before he leaves,he takes one more look at Shadow, curled up in the middle of the bed, simply looking relaxed.
Sonic then quickly zooms back to his home and he picks up his phone. It's a message from Rouge.
-Rouge- You're officially on my speed dial for when Shadow is acting up xoxo [click to view]
Sonic is a bit confused before he clicks on the image. Sonic's muzzle flushes when he sees the images its a photo of Sonic cradling Shadow, his muzzle nestled in his quills. Sonic saves the photo.