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Tails, Knuckles and Shadow were sitting on the floor in front of the TV, playing cards. An unusual combo, one would think at first, but ever since Shadow came back the three of them became something you could call friends, with Sonic's help of course.
The TV was turned on quietly to create a comforting background noise. While Tails shuffled the cards for a new round, Knuckles switched through the TV channels.
Shadow was content just sitting there in silence, occasionally saying something if he had anything to comment. He watched the cards in front of him being shuffled satisfyingly with expertise, until he heard a certain voice from the TV.
His ear flicked and he turned his head up to see Fluttershy talking to Spike. The black hedgehog brightened instantly, if you looked closely you could see stars in his eyes. "Fluttershy..!" He exclaimed subconsciously just when Knuckles was about to switch the Channel again.
Tails looked up curiously. "Oh, do you like my little pony, Shadow? That's unexpected." He pointed out but the ultimate life form hardly heard him, entranced by the cartoon on the screen in front of him.
If either of the two other's tried to talk to him, he didn't hear it. Shadow's eyes were wide with wonder and awe and he felt himself slip easily. A small part of his brain whispered 'No, no, no! They're not Sonic, they won't understand. They don't know you do this, you finally started being more comfortable around them, don't ruin it!' but the other, bigger part of it told him how beautiful the colors were, that the characters looked so cute.
He slipped further, happy stimming as he watched Pinkie pie jump around in joy. Only when the TV turned black he came back to reality, turning his head to the side in confusion and disappointment.
Knuckles sat next to him. "Hedgehog, are you alright? You seemed under a spell by those creatures!" The Echidna didn't understand why Shadow was acting so..unlike Shadow. It made sense of course, no one told him about this, so when the black hedgehog's eyes filled with tears and he reached for the remote Tails and his older brother could only watch in shock.
It was just then that the front door opened and a certain blue hedgehog stepped in. "Hey gang! Guess what I found during my run it was crazy!! So I-" he stopped himself and his emerald eyes widened at the sight. He sprinted to Shadow's side in less than a second, kneeling next to him.
"Hey little star, why are we crying?" He asked in a gentle tone. Tails looked at Sonic helplessly ignoring the weird petname for now. "We were playing cards and while I was preparing the new round Knuckles switched through the TV..when a cartoon came on Shadow was completely absorbed by it and when Knuckles turned it off to get his attention back he started whining and crying..? It's..almost as if he was a child." The fox explains to his brother.
The blue blur sighs, pulling shadow on his lap. The black hedgehog sobs softly into the other's fur, pawing at his chest. "Hushh shh shh now..do you want your cartoon back on?" Shadow gave him a nod.
Knuckles understood the assignment and turned the TV back on. Bright colors and happy ponies filled the screen once again. Shadow sniffled as his sobs calmed down, turning in Sonic's lap to watch the kids show.
The blue hedgehog turned to his brother's still sitting on the floor watching in confusion. "Listen I'll..explain this later. For now just let me handle it, okay? Continue your cards game or something." They nodded hesitantly.
Shadow's thumb subconsciously wandered to his mouth, suckling on it gently. Sonic smiled softly, taking the other's paw and pulling it away. "Ah-ah-ah baby..no thumb sucking, you know that." He turned to Knuckles. "Knux..can you go to the Attic and get the blue box with stars on it? It's under my bed. Please." The Echidna was about to question it, but because of the situation he just got up without complaint. "I shall retrieve the box for you, hedgehog." He stated and left the room.
He came back after a minute, handing Sonic the box and sitting back down next to tails.
Sonic opened the box and got a bunny stuffed animal and a pacifier out of it. "Look Shads, it's Maria and your paci! Let's use that instead of our thumbs, aight?" Shadow snatched the stuffed animal the moment it's name was mentioned, making the other chuckle. The mentally older propped the pacifier in the black hedgehog's mouth. "There we go."
Sonic gently rocked Shadow back and fourth on his lap, kissing his cheek or nuzzling the top of his head every once in a while. Knuckles and Tails decided to give them some space for.. whatever was going on there. They trusted their brother to handle this.
After a good while, Sonic's stomach growled and he groaned softly. "Hey Shads..how about we eat some lunch? I doubt you ate anything yet." The black hedgehog in his lap reluctantly turned away from the TV to look at his caregiver. "Mm..but..ponies.." he mumbled into the pacifier he didnt take out of his mouth once since Sonic put it in.
The Caregiver smiled and pressed a kiss to the other's forehead. "I'll magically transport them to your Ipad! Then we can make lunch while you watch your ponies. Sounds good?" The blue blur asked with a grin. Shadow's face brightened and he bounced on Sonic's lap happily, nodding in agreement. "Ipad!!" He cheered.
The two of them moved to the kitchen after Sonic turned on my little pony on his Ipad. He placed it on the dinner table and picked Shadow up to sit him on the chair. Of course the black hedgehog wasn't physically smaller when he regressed, but Sonic liked to make him feel like it.
"Soo what are we feelin'? Dino nuggies? I'm craving some for sure!" The blue hedgehog gently poked the little's cheek, grinning at him. Shadow just gave him a small nod and Sonic took that as a sign to leave him alone and make the food instead.
He set up the oven and put the chicken nuggets on an oven rack. While they were baking, Sonic got out two plates, putting some pears and chopped up carrots on them. The blue hedgehog wasn't the biggest fan of veggies but..he had to be a good role model for little, so he forced himself to eat them when the other was regressed.
He hummed to himself, scrolling through his phone as he waited for the oven to beep with the signal of the food being ready when he heard a whine. Instantly he turned to Shadow and stood at his side. "What's wrong, shortcake?" He asked while Shadow was flapping his paws with a frown.
"I- Maria! Don't know where she is!!" He looked at Sonic in distress and his paws went to his black quills about to pull at them. His caregiver gently took his paws. "Hey hey no worries! Your caregiver is the fastest thing alive, I'll find her in a second. Be back in a flash!"
True to his words, Sonic stood back in front of Shadow in mere seconds, bunny plushie in paws. "Here you go, bud! Maria's safe and sound!" He grinned as Shadow snatched the stuffed animal from him, nuzzling into her head. "M'ria.." he mumbled softly. Sonic could swear he heard soft apologies and regrets but just when he was gonna lean closer to make sure he heard it right, the oven beeped.
The blue blur turned it off and put the chicken nuggets on the two plates he set up earlier before bringing them to the dinner table. "Lunch time! Do you want your sippy cup or are you a biiiig and strong boy who drinks from adult glasses, hm?" He asked teasingly. The last time Sonic got the black hedgehog's sippy cup for him without asking beforehand he claimed he was 'big enough for adult glasses'. 5 minutes later, the table was full of orange juice.
Sonic chuckled at the memory. Shadow looked at him shyly behind his bunny. "..cup.." the other nodded, walking to the living room to grab the sippy cup from the star box. He filled it with water and set it down in front of the little.
"Alright, lets eat! We can keep the Ipad on in the background, but promise me to focus on your food, buddy." The ultimate life form nodded happily as he saw the dino nuggies in front of him.
As the two ate, Sonic was just happy that Tom and Maddio were at work.. he'd already have enough trouble explaining this to his brothers later.
Once they were done, Sonic put the plates in the dishwasher and cleaned up any mess he made earlier. Shadow let out a soft yawn and paused the cartoon on his iPad. He held his stuffed animal in one hand and tugged on Sonic's fur with the other. "Seepy.." the little mumbled while rubbing his eyes.
Sonic smiled and picked him up wordlessly. He walked to the living room to grab the box, then into the Attic just praying that his brothers won't be there. Lucky for him, they werent. The speedster gently placed Shadow on the bed they shared whenever he came over.
"Do you want your weighted blanket or do you want mine?" Sonic asked, already rummaging through his closet to find the weighted one. The little didn't feel like speaking anymore apparently as he just nuzzles into Sonic's blanket. The blue blur chuckled but took that as his answer. He walked over and flopped down on the bed next to Shadow.
He covered both of them in the blanket, cuddling into each other. Sonic gave the little a gentle forehead kiss. "Have a good rest, my love." He whispered, before he too closed his eyes.
----
When the blue blur woke up it was already noon, the other hedgehog still fast asleep. He quietly slipped out of bed and walked to the living room where Knuckles and Tails sat watching a movie.
Sonic took a deep breath before approaching them. "Heya guys!" The two of them looked up. Tails smiled at his brother. "Hey Sonic!" While Knuckles gave him a nod. "Good after the noon, hedgehog."
Sonic sat down in the armchair next to the couch and tapped his foot nervously. He didn't want to overstep Shadow's boundaries..how much was he even allowed to say? Maybe he should've waited until Shadow was awake and out of his regressed mindset again...
"So..are you gonna..tell us what happened?" Tails asks, snapping him out of his thoughts. Sonic straightened up and cleared his throat. "So! Uh..Shadow.." the blue hedgehog took another deep breath and lowered his head.
"Shadow is an age regressor. It's a coping mechanism where you..kinda feel like a child again. It's not weird and it's not..any of that creepy stuff either. He just watches cartoons, colors pictures or plays kids games while he has a stuffed animal or a pacifier so..so please don't be weird or mean to him about it. And don't tease him either. It's a really vulnerable thing for him and..and it means a lot to me to. To take care of him. It means he's giving me so much trust and vulnerability..and I want to cherish it. His past is still so sensitive for him and..if this is how he deals with it, I think that's his and only his business." He finished. When Sonic didn't hear any reply, he slowly lifted his head again to see two surprised faces.
Tails was the first one to recover, he smiled and took out one of his gadgets to do research. "I heard about that before! Just a little bit though..but now it makes sense. He was acting like a crying child when Knuckles turned the TV off." He said while reading something about the new discovered topic.
Knuckles nods after a while. "If that is how the other hedgehog feels better, I will not interfere." The echidna stated. Sonic let out a relieved sigh. "God..thanks. I know you two are good guys but..a part of me was still scared you'd find it weird or something." The blue blur scratched his head while grinning sheepishly.
The hero couldn't help but smile. He was so glad to have such a loving family, he couldn't ask for any better brothers in the whole universe.