Work Text:
You sat down in your chair, the plush comfort immediately giving you relief from the stresses of your day. You sigh in contentment, breathing in the smell of your favorite candle as the fireplace next to you roared. It was a lovely overcast, the branches from the flower trees outside lightly tapped on your window from the wind. It was the perfect weather and atmosphere to read a book. You grabbed your current work-in-progress from the side table and set it in your lap, flipping to the pages where your bookmark was nestled in-between. The sound of pages lightly flipping as the fire in the fireplace crackled and popped filled the room, making you invested and immersed in the story.
As you were reaching the pinnacle of a very suspenseful chapter in your book, you heard the front door open and a loud crack of thunder roll overhead, making you whip your head towards the front door where a dark, menacing figure stood in the doorway. Your brain short-circuited. Your adrenaline was already raised due to your book, now a strange person was entering your home! You screamed in surprise, clutching your book, before noticing that it wasn't a serial killer here to murder you. It was just your boyfriend, Shadow.
Well, that's embarrassing.
You coughed and “calmly” set your book on the side table. Shadow raised an eyebrow towards you as he walked inside, another clap of thunder sounding out before he closed the door.
“Shadow, you scared me,” you said, trying to laugh away the fear. That's when you notice it: Shadow is absolutely caked in mud! “Shads, what happened? Are you okay?”
Shadow grumbled, looking away. The only thing you could hear was “Sonic,” and you weren't sure if you even heard that correctly.
Getting up from your chair, you approached Shadow, taking his hand. Shadow narrowed his eyes at you. You roll your eyes and scoff. “I'm not gonna do anything funny, I promise. C'mon, let's get you cleaned up.”
Shadow huffed as the two of you walked to the bathroom, you deviating to the supply closet while he continued inside, closing the door behind him. You sighed. You knew that Shadow was prideful, and if it was Sonic that caused this then his ego would be really bruised... You felt a bit guilty for indulging in your desire to take care of him, he's his own hedgehog after all. That would just bruise his Ego even more. You grab one of the shampoo bottles, looking over the label, before tucking it into your arm and grabbing a washcloth, some bar soap, and some towels. As you exit the room you wonder if you should just drop off the products and let him take care of himself.
“Okay, Shadow, I got the...” You say, trailing off as you open the door. The bathroom was already a mess. Shadow was kneeling in the middle of a mud puddle, barefoot, with his head over the tub. Your face pales, a little upset. You had just cleaned the bathroom this morning! It's okay, it's fine... This is what bathrooms are for. You take a deep breath. It's not Shadow's fault. You set the soap products and towels on the counter, the shampoo bottle making a loud noise. Shadow flinched slightly at it. Oops, you accidentally slammed it down. You didn't mean to do that.
Shadow lifted his hand out towards you, about to say your name, but you turned and left the room. You had back to the supply closet, grabbing more towels, the ones that have been stained with... something before walking back into the bathroom. You found Shadow sitting on the edge of the tub, looking at you. His face showed concern and a bit of guilt. You sighed and smiled at him, you couldn't get mad at such a trivial thing, could you?
Shadow scratched the back of his neck, looking down at the ground. “I'm sorry,” he started, but you wouldn't let him finish his sentence.
“Honey, it's okay,” you say, “This is what bathrooms are for. I can just clean it again later.” Shadow nodded at your response, but you could tell that he still felt a bit guilty.
You grabbed one of the stained towels, setting the rest on the counter, and tossed it directly onto the puddle on the floor before grabbing another, folding it, and setting it on the floor before kneeling on it, turning the tub faucet on. Shadow watched as you used your hand to test the temperature until it was warm enough.
“Okay,” you say, retracting your hand from the running water and standing up. “Hop in whenever you're ready.”
You walk to the counter, grabbing the shampoo and soaps before turning around and setting the products on the edge of the tub as Shadow gets in. You can hear him audibly start to relax with the quietest hum you've ever heard from a person. It's honestly adorable.
“Let me know if you need anything, okay?” You smile before turning to leave the room. Before you could get far, though, a hand catches onto your sleeve.
“Wait,” Shadow says. You stop and look back at him. You look into his dark, red eyes and the emotions that swirl behind them, though what those emotions are you're not too sure.
Shadow's a closed book, he doesn't like sharing his emotions with other people. The fact that the two of you are dating is even a miracle in itself. Shadow looks away for a moment, seemingly gathering his thoughts, but he doesn't let go.
“I.. apologize,” Shadow manages to get out. You turn to him fully, your attention entirely on him. “I ruined your evening. Messed up the bathroom that you just cleaned, interrupted your book...”
“Shadow,” you interrupt, kneeling in front of him so you're eye-level. “I said it's okay. Bathrooms are meant to get messy, and I can always resume a book later.” You cup his face in your hands, rubbing your thumbs along his cheeks with a smile on your face. Shadow melts into your touch, closing his eyes and breathing out.
Ultimately, you must let go. Shadow grumbles as you do, but then he raises and eyebrow as you grab the shampoo bottle off of the edge of the tub, squirting some of the product onto your hand.
“I can do this myself,” Shadow says, squinting his eyes in suspicion. You cup some of the water in the tub in your other hand after setting the shampoo bottle sound and letting it drop onto Shadow's head, the mud gliding down and into the warm water, staining it brown.
“I know,” you say simply, putting the shampoo onto Shadow's head and starting to scrub. “But I realized... That you probably couldn't get to this giant ant's nest that's on the back of your head.”
“What?” Shadow tries to reach around to feel if what you say is true. It wasn't, you just wanted to tease him.
“I'm joking,” you say, “You're always so easy to tease, Shadow.” You giggle, remembering the many times you made Shadow flustered. His flushed face is always so cute to you.
Shadow scoffs, “What's with you and always...” He trails off. Shadow was starting to relax in your ministrations, sighing as the tension of the day started the melt away.
“Hm?” You hum, stopping and leaning over his shoulder. “What was that, Shadow?” You tease.
“... Nothing,” he mumbles.
“If it's just nothing, then maybe I should just let you wash all this mud off?” You slowly lift your hands away from his hand, but he quickly grabs onto them and return your hands to his quills.
“I didn't say for you to stop,” Shadow says with a bit of a pout, his face flushed. He wasn't used to saying what he wanted, and it made you giggle.
“Oh, so you want me to keep going?“ you say, but Shadow only responds with a deep grumble, not really saying anything. You knew what he wanted, but you wanted to make him say it. “Shadow, I need you to use your words.”
“... Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“I want you to keep going.”
“That's more like it,” you giggle, grabbing the shampoo bottle and lathering more onto his quills.
The room becomes quiet, the only sound in the room being your humming as you scrubbed Shadow's scalp. The water in the tub turned a dark brown and cold over the course of 30-ish minutes. You weren't really keeping track. Reaching down into the tub, you unplugged the drain, letting the muddy water drain before grabbing the detachable showerhead and turning on the water. As you aimed the showerhead towards Shadow's soapy head he suddenly turned around, grabbing your arm. You slipped in surprise at Shadow's sudden movement, making a small yelp. You blinked, your face was right in front of Shadow's as you were practically on top of him. You could feel your cheeks turn red from the proximity. You could never get used to being so close to him, he's too hot.
“For someone's who's constantly teasing me,” He cups your face with his free hand, “You like to leave yourself open to counterattacks.”
“Um—” you didn't even get to start your thought before Shadow closes the distance between the two of you with a kiss.