Chapter Text
“Uh, yeah.. you’re gonna have to repeat that, bud.”
“..This is just a waste of time, and I’m not your bud.”
Sonic’s hand hovered over the gear anxiously, his brow furrowing in confusion. What the hell does any of this mean? Seriously, how do people drive these things? A reverberated sigh sounded from next to him, Shadow beginning to point to the single letters printed onto the gear.
“P is for Parking, N is for Neutral, D is for Driving and R is for Reverse. It’s truly not that difficult to understand.”
“Right..” Sonic nodded, the uncertainty still woven into his voice.
The blue hedgehog had asked his rival about the rather intense motorcycle he sped around on, wondering how he had obtained it. After a whole bunch of legal car jargon, an explanation Sonic still didn’t understand, he opted to ask how he learnt to drive it.
“I’m the Ultimate Lifeform, I can do anything I desire.”
Honestly, he should have expected that answer. But it wasn’t helpful. Like, at all.
Somehow, Shadow had realized that Sonic can’t drive, (which is definitely just a personal choice, thank you very much!) And much to Sonic’s surprise, albeit with excessive snark, his rival offered him a hand with learning the controls of a giant, murderous vehicle. Hence why now they are sat in said vehicle, with Sonic’s hand shakily hovering over the gear.
“Ah.. so, uh.. what one do I put it on?”
Shadow looked at him with furrowed brows. “..What do you want to do?”
“..Huh?”
“Are you-” Shadow paused, taking a deep breath, before exhaling and putting his hand over Sonic’s on the gear, the contact causing the latter’s breath to leave his lungs. It’s not like they hadn’t ever brushed hands before, it’s more that usually Shadow’s hands were leaving bruises from the violent punches he’d thrown during their showdowns, instead of laying tenderly atop his rival’s.
Unfortunately, the moment was over as quick as it began, as he pulled the gear down so that it was next to the D, the driving one! He pulled his hand away abruptly, tutting as he crossed his arms again.
“Woah.. that’s sick.”
The agent grumbled something unintelligible, but Sonic could hear a tone of something like.. amusement in his voice. However, he was too concentrated on the car’s stationary status to make a big deal about it.
“Uh, so if it’s driving, why is it not moving?” He asked curiously, looking around his seat as if he had broken something. He wouldn’t be surprised, he has a tendency to do that.
“The handbrake is still on, you fool..” Shadow stated incredulously, looking genuinely surprised. “..Do you actually have no idea how to drive? At all?”
Sonic huffed, looking embarrassed. “You already knew that, that’s kinda why you offered to help me, man.”
“Yes, I did.. with the pretence that you at least knew some of the basic functions..”
The blue hedgehog’s muzzle grew hotter, huffing to himself as he looked away. Of course he didn’t know the basic functions, he was the fastest thing on earth, why would he need to do something as frivolous as driving? He felt like an idiot, Tails could fly a plane, but he could also use his tails. Shadow could drive and, as much as Sonic didn’t want to admit it, he could run just as fast as he could. So why couldn’t Sonic drive? Why was he so intimidated by it?
“Nah, forget it. This was stupid anyway.” Sonic mumbled, unbuckling his seatbelt in preparation to get out, when Shadow’s gloved hand shot out, pressing against his chest.
“Hold on, where the hell do you think you’re going?”
Sonic really didn’t want to admit it, but his ego was totally bruised. He’s not used to being taught things, he’s usually the teacher. And the thought that he can’t do something perfectly, horrified him to his core. He was the hero of Mobius, fearless, strong and fast. Nothing could stop him and he had no weaknesses. Or uh, well, aside from water. And evidently.. driving. He needed to think, fast.
“I.. just remembered that Tails asked me to help him with a scientific.. thing.. and I’m gonna be late!” He laughed sheepishly, hoping that the clear uncertainty in his answer went unnoticed. Spoiler alert: it didn’t.
Incredulously, Shadow squinted at his rival, as if studying him for a minute. Like actually, a minute. He was so still that Sonic had to look at his chest to see if his heart was still beating, jumping when the hedgehog finally chuckled.
“I understand now, you’re ashamed.”
Blue felt his stomach drop, his mouth immediately drying. Damn it! Think, Sonic, think!
“Ashamed? Me? Sonic the Hedgehog?” He forced a laugh, slapping a gloved hand onto his forehead. “Oh man, Shadow, have you even met me? I don’t do shame, bud.”
“Then why are you so quick to give up? We’ve barely been in the car for 5 minutes. It’s almost like..” Shadow slowly lifted the hand that was still on his chest. “Like you’re avoiding it.”
That answer pissed Sonic off. Shadow didn’t know him, like hell was he going to accuse him of avoiding something as mundane as driving. Baring his teeth for a flash, the blue hedgehog growled and pushed his rival’s hand away fully.
“I’m not avoiding it. I’m not avoiding anything. You don’t..” Sonic trailed off, realising that his composure was slipping. “Ah.. this just isn’t my style! I’m fast, that’s what I do. Being stuck in this slow car is just not me! I’ll.. I’ll pick this up another day, okay?” He held up his hands in a ‘whatever’ gesture, shaking his head nervously.
Shadow’s eyebrows furrowed, before a snarky grin grew on his lips.
“..I get it now. You avoid things you’re not used to. Because that’s what you do, you run.” The agent shook his head, smirking at his rival as he parroted his earlier words. “That’s not very heroic of you, Faker.”
Sonic’s hand shot out before he could even finish his sentence, and slapped him hard across the face. It hurt less because of the gloves he was wearing, but was surprisingly still hard enough to leave a burning mark in its wake. The silence in the car was deafening, only the engine and the sound of joint heartbeats reverberated in the atmosphere. Slowly, Shadow turned to face his rival again, for once, speechless and genuinely shocked at his actions.
“..I don’t.. avoid..” Sonic hissed, voice barely above a whisper, before he shakily withdrew his hand. “I..”
Processing what he’d done, Sonic’s eyes widened from the glaring state they had been in previously, as he looked at his hand, to Shadow’s cheek, to his hand again. Panic. Panicking.
“..Oh my god.. Shadow, I.. I’m sorry.. I..”
He suddenly felt extremely claustrophobic, the car’s walls closing in on him. It was getting extremely hard to breathe, they don’t put this in the warnings for when you drive!
“..Hedgehog-“
With a newfound vigour, Sonic clawed at the door handle, shakily pulling it as he panted for breath. Get out, get out, get out! He was going to pass out if he stayed there a second longer, he needed to go, he needed to run. Finally managing to open the door, he scrambled out of the vehicle, scraping up his knees as he fell onto rugged stone. Luckily, the pain was outweighed by his adrenaline, but man, would that hurt later.
“Sonic, wait.”
Barely even processing the voice, Sonic finally took off running in the direction he was facing. He had no idea where he was going, but he needed out. He needed to run, to be free. To be away from civilisation. To not have to be the hero everyone knows for just a minute.
He had never acted like that before, lashing out at his friends was not something he did. He could feel the warm pulse of his blood pumping in his palm, yikes, that’s gonna be tender for a few days.. not to mention Shadow’s cheek.
Shadow..
Startlingly, Sonic’s train of thought threw him off, tripping over his own feet as he collapsed onto the grass below. The previous scrapes on his knees stung with the contact, and his gloves dug into the earth underneath him.
“Damn it.. DAMN it!” He yelled into the empty surroundings, bowing his head as he squeezed his eyes shut. He could already feel the familiar throb of a headache developing from concealing his tears.
Too many thoughts swarmed his brain. ‘It isn’t fair.’ I fucked up.’ ‘I don’t know what to do.’ ‘Man, this headache kills!’
God damn it.
This is why he doesn’t try new things.