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Sonic knew that Shadow didn’t have the best reputation. The guy almost blew up the world and while it wasn’t technically his fault, his evil alien dad had attempted to conquer earth. Working for G.U.N was a highlight to some, however, others didn’t find it as reassuring. Plus, driving a loud motorcycle while shooting at enemies in the streets wasn’t typical ‘hero’ behavior.
But. C’mon. It was hot.
And Sonic didn’t care if Shadow wasn’t the typical hero. Sonic was ‘hero’ enough for both of them. He was friendly, he stopped to talk to reporters and fans, and he had been told by people (especially Shadow) that he was far too trusting. Which, sure, he could see it, but if he hadn’t been so trusting then he wouldn’t get to pass out in Shadow’s arms almost every night and have the best sleep of his life.
Seriously, he was at the top of his hero game now that he and Shadow had finally gotten together.
So, yeah, he got it. Shadow had quite the reputation, but this was a little silly.
“They’re…complaining because I didn’t stop to talk to them?” Sonic asked Amy, whose phone he had in his hand. He was scrolling through the comments on a social media post where someone complained that after a battle with Eggman, Sonic had left with Shadow instead of talking to anyone. “And that I’m seeing Shadow?”
He wasn’t sure if they had passed ‘dating’ or not. Nothing had really changed, minus them being intimate and slightly romantic to each other. Sonic was sure it was his overdoing of public affection that led to people finding out about him and Shadow, but who could date Shadow and keep their hands to themselves?
“Seems it,” Amy said, taking her phone back. They were sitting outside of a new ice cream parlor in the city, eating away at two ice cream cones. Sonic wasn’t big into ice cream, but Amy wanted to visit the new shop before she left on her vacation, so he agreed to meet her out here. Sonic licked his ice cream cone, using his now free hand to pull out his own phone. He wasn’t sure if he should mention this to Shadow or not.
The ebony hedgehog wouldn’t care what others thought, but he didn’t want Shadow to pull back in concern for Sonic’ reputation. Still, he didn’t know if ignoring the problem would make it go away. There were quite a few posts about it and while Shadow didn’t get on social media, Rouge did.
“What a bunch of weirdos,” Sonic said, deciding it was better to just let it roll off his back. If it became an issue, he and Shadow would tackle it together.
“They’re just people with nothing better to do,” Amy said, licking her cone. “Don’t know why they’d want to pick a fight with Shadow.”
Amy was the first one Sonic told about Shadow. He didn’t have others to turn to since Tails was a bit too young and wasn’t exactly a fan of Shadow (they were getting along better now) and Knuckles didn’t want to hear about it (also he would tell Rouge who would tell Shadow). Amy had been supportive from the beginning, which had been a relief. He knew his friends had a history with Shadow that wasn’t steller, but Shadow had always had a soft spot for Amy and earned her friendship first, so she was able to help Sonic better understand how Shadow felt.
‘Where are you?’
‘New ice cream shop by the park w ames bc she is leaving soon on her trip’
‘They got coffee flavor u r missing bc work lame’
Sonic smiled at the text from Shadow, adding too many ice cream emojis that would piss Shadow off, then put his phone down as Amy launched into details of her trip and all the places she was planning on visiting. It sounded like it was going to be a lot of fun and had Sonic thinking about where he and Shadow should go (because maybe a vacation away from the city would be good for them). Maybe somewhere tropical, with lots of hiking trails that they could race through.
Amy’s story was interrupted by a motorcycle engine, making his ears perk up. “Shads!” Sonic exclaimed, seeing him pulled up next to the curb. As he stood and got off the motorcycle, Sonic almost dropped his ice cream cone.
Shadow was in uniform! Sonic had never seen it in person, only through photos that Rouge took and texted him (bless her). It was all black with a tight shirt that tucked into cargo pants. He had belts and straps everywhere that were probably for holding weapons whenever he was on a job and not around civilians. He left his bulky black jacket unzipped, littered with patches and numbers that Sonic didn’t understand but probably had something to do with Shadow’s ranking.
It was all far too attractive for Shadow to be wearing in broad daylight in PUBLIC. How did he expect Sonic to not jump him? Did he not think of Sonic’s feelings?
“Heard you’re leaving soon,” Shadow said to Amy as he approached the table, getting a big smile out of her. “I have to leave for a mission soon, so I thought I’d come say goodbye.”
“Aw, Shadow, you softie,” Amy said, standing up to hug him, careful not to get ice cream on his uniform. Sonic stared at Shadow’s back, wishing he wasn’t wearing the heavy jacket so he could admire Shadow’s back muscles. He had much more defined muscles than Sonic, perks of being the ‘Ultimate lifeform’. She pulled away, letting him go. “I’m guessing you can’t stay for ice cream?” He shook his head no, getting a sigh from Sonic.
“He came to torture me with what I can’t have,” Sonic said, frowning. Shadow had mentioned he might have to leave for a mission for a couple of days, but he was hoping that it wasn’t true. However, with the uniform being on, he knew that Shadow had to be leaving soon. “You also came to say goodbye to me right?” Sonic asked, frowning when Shadow didn’t say anything. “RIGHT!”
“So loud,” Shadow murmured, putting a hand on Sonic’s back. “Of course I came to say goodbye to you too, hedgehog. I won’t have communication access for the next two days.”
“I’ll still spam your phone with messages,” Sonic said, putting an arm around Shadow’s waist to hug his side, trying not to drop his ice cream cone in the process.
“I’m counting on it,” Shadow murmured, kissing the top of Sonic’s head. Sonic’s muzzle went red at the soft affection at the same time Amy’s eyes went wide, a smile growing on her face that she tried to hide by eating her ice cream. They both stared after Shadow as he returned to his bike, then drove away after waving to them.
Sonic resumed licking his ice cream, despite it melting down his glove. Amy wordlessly handed him some napkins, helping him clean up the mess. It would be a bit sticky, but it didn’t get on his fur or quills thankfully.
“He’s so sweet with you,” Amy said, the smile growing on her face again. “I couldn’t believe he did that! Is he normally that sweet when you two are alone?”
Shadow claimed to not be a romantic, but he kind of was. He’d cook dinners for Sonic, tend to his wounds after battles, let Sonic pick the movie every movie night, and drive him around the city on his motorcycle for hours whenever Sonic asked. Of course, he did it all in his Shadow way, with a snark, a ‘hmp’, or an eye roll, and Sonic expected no less. He still challenged Sonic constantly, but he gave into Sonic’s ‘bratiness’ more than he used to. Sonic liked to believe that Shadow found it endearing, but he refused to admit it.
“Yeah, he can be,” Sonic said, thinking of how Shadow had tried his best this morning to not wake Sonic when he had to leave for work. Sonic almost always awoke when Shadow’s alarm beeped briefly before he turned it off. He would keep his eyes closed, listening to him move around the apartment before coming back in the room to kiss Sonic on the forehead. The first time it happened, Sonic almost cracked, but held on until he heard the click of the front door, then he ran around the apartment, pumping his fists into the air.
As distracting as his thoughts of Shadow were, he couldn’t ignore the feeling of being watched. He glanced around, noticing that a few people at the tables around them were watching him and Amy, a myriad of expressions on their faces. He was used to being looked at, but this felt different. This felt judgemental.
He didn’t give it much thought after that until he was waiting outside of a sandwich shop a few days later, watching the clouds roll by. “Seems people are noticing you and Shadow are getting cozy together,” Rouge said, standing next to him. They were both waiting on the ebony hedgehog to get out of a meeting so they could get lunch together. Rouge apparently had some hot gossip to share about an agent that went on the mission with them. Shadow didn’t care too much but Sonic was all for it.
“Ya, Ames showed me a post a few days ago,” Sonic said, putting his hands behind his head. “I wasn’t goin’ tell Shads, I don’t want him pushing me away. People are just weird.”
“They’re a bit defensive of you, that’s for sure,” Rouge muttered, showing Sonic a post that had been updated every few hours with new comments. It was a photo of him and Shadow at the ice cream shop, when Shadow had kissed his head. There were a few nice comments, but the rest were just…did people not have hobbies anymore?
‘ I was there. Sonic was basically begging for Shadow’s attention. He had to beg for a hug!’
‘I just don’t understand the appeal. I ran into Shadow once in the street and he glared at me as if it was entirely my fault when he wasn’t looking where he was going! He glared at me and pushed past me.’
‘They need to break up! Sonic deserves someone so much better’
“Excuse me? I wasn’t begging for attention,” Sonic muttered, glaring at the phone. Why would people lie about this? Or did they somehow believe that that was what they actually saw? “I NEVER beg for attention,” this got him an ‘oh really’ look from Rouge that he chose to ignore to save his pride.
“They’re acting up now that they have to share their precious Sonic, how will they cope?” Rouge teased, mocking them as Sonic pushed the phone away, not wanting to read anymore.
“Why is Sonic being shared, and with who?” Shadow growled, appearing next to them. Rouge and Sonic both jumped, startled by his sudden appearance. Shadow crossed his arms, eyes narrowing at the both of them. Oh, someone didn’t have a good meeting. Sonic had to perk up or he was going to notice something was wrong, and this wasn’t how he wanted Shadow to find out.
“Just some adoring fans,” Rouge said, then put a hand on her hip, looking Shadow up and down with a sigh. “Bad meeting hon?”
“You have no idea–” Shadow said, but Sonic’s attention was pulled away when someone tapped him on the shoulder.
“Can we get a photo?” A voice asked. There was a small group next to them now, all with their phones out, ready for a photo. Sonic wanted to groan, but it wasn’t the group’s fault that they had horrible timing.
“Sure, we can do a group selfie,” Sonic said, forcing a wide smile. He didn’t want to take a selfie right now, he didn’t even want to be out in public after reading what people were saying, but it was just a photo, just 5 seconds of his life that he grinned through before giving the group a thumbs up. “Hope those turned out! I gotta rush,” he then turned to Rouge and Shadow.
Shadow was frowning, eyes narrowed at the group, most likely annoyed that they had interrupted his conversation with Sonic. Rouge rolled her eyes and walked towards the restaurant, not bothering to look back as Shadow put his hand on Sonic’s elbow, guiding him towards the door. “You’re too nice,” he said as Sonic bumped his hip against Shadow’s. He smiled at Shadow, trying to lift him out of his bad mood. “Are you coming over later?”
“Depends on if you’ll order me an extra side of pickles,” Sonic teased, walking through the door as Shadow held it open for him. Rouge was staring at the menu when they joined her, head tilted like she couldn’t decide what she wanted.
“You can’t order your own?” Shadow asked as Sonic groaned. Shadow never got charged for ordering extra of anything, Sonic claimed it was because he was pretty while Knuckles said it was because he was scary. Either way, he didn’t get charged for extra pickles like Sonic did. “First I have to share you, now I have to share my pickles,” Shadow muttered, tone light, teasing, maybe even flirting.
The rare joke made Sonic forget all about the post Rouge showed him and the people outside.
“Aw, Shads, you will never have to share me ...as long as you share those pickles,” Sonic said, pushing Shadow in front of them to order. With an eye roll, Shadow stepped forward and ordered. They got their food and set down, ready to dig in as Rouge began sharing the workplace gossip.
Sonic took a big bite of his sandwich, glancing over to see Shadow sliding a small cup of pickles over to Sonic’s tray. He smiled, adding them to his sandwich as he nodded along to what Rouge was saying.
–
“Do you ever get vacations with G.U.N.?” Sonic asked, stretched out on Shadow’s bed. The sheets were so soft, all Sonic wanted to do was roll around on them. They beat the ones he had back at his place, but that wasn’t surprising. Shadow had much ‘finer’ taste and Sonic honestly couldn’t remember the last time he had brought new bedding. “We should travel somewhere.”
“Why the sudden interest in a vacation?” Shadow asked, putting away his laundry. Sonic eyed the uniformed he tucked away in the drawer. So close yet so far. “I do have a few…weeks saved up that I could use.”
“WEEKS?!” Sonic exclaimed, sitting up to stare at Shadow. Geez, this guy really needed a vacation. “Man, yeah we need to get out of the city. Maybe someplace tropical with crazy jungle trails perfect for racing!”
“Your ideal vacation spot is centered around racing?” Shadow asked, rolling his eyes. “I wouldn’t mind someplace tropical.” Sonic grabbed his phone off the nightstand to google a list of places, hoping to give the other hedgehog some ideas. He paused, smiling at the framed photo of the two of them that Shadow had on his nightstand before unlocking his phone.
Sonic scrolled, reading an article for the ‘top 10 best tropical vacation spots for couples’ as Shadow finished with the rest of his laundry. He read them aloud, getting ‘hms’ and ‘mhms’ from Shadow that either meant ‘maybe’ or ‘no’. Years of training in Shadow communication helped him tell the difference.
As he got to the bottom, there were a plethora of links to other articles. One in particular caught his attention and had him abandoning his vacation search.
It was an opinion piece about he and Shadow’s relationship. It was weird, reading another person’s opinion (a person he had never met no less) about his private relationship. The writer broke down different moments, times where Sonic wasn’t aware someone had been watching him and Shadow interact. They acted like an expert, saying Shadow prioritized his work, that he encouraged Sonic to ignore fans, that he was violent and angry.
He didn’t understand. Why were people claiming Shadow ditched Sonic to go to work, that he was embarrassed to show him affection in public, that he was using Sonic? Had people always been listening in on his private conversations? Watching his every move? Were they always this critical of Shadow, or was it because he was with Sonic?
The comments were ridiculous, with people acting like they knew Sonic personally, like they knew what was best for Sonic. They were directing the comments to him, as if they knew he’d be reading them, telling him to break up with Shadow. These were the same people he’d take endless selfies with after rough battles, that he’d allow to interrupt him while eating to chat with. It could be a little annoying, sure, but he knew that was the price of doing what he did. Now though, he didn’t want to interact with them at all.
“Faker, what’s wrong?” Shadow asked, as Sonic put his phone face down on the bed. He didn’t want to tell Shadow and risk Shadow taking a step back from Sonic. He couldn’t lose him. They had worked way too hard to get to where they were now.
“You haven’t asked me to race in forever. Are you finally callin’ it quits, old man?” Sonic asked, knowing the insult would have Shadow forgetting about Sonic’s phone in an instant. It worked and had Shadow pulling Sonic out of bed, muttering about how annoying Sonic was.
It was easy to forget everything when they were out in the sunshine, racing through grassy fields with each other. The grass tickled his legs and the sun felt so good on his quills, warming him on the outside as the blood pumping through his veins warmed him on the inside. Sonic always knew he was always happiest when he was running, but it had gotten even better with Shadow right beside him. He loved being able to look over and see Shadow’s smirk or smile or even a frown of concentration, on his face, right next to him.
They weaved in and out of each other, both taking the lead at different points of the race. They taunted and teased each other, focusing less on who was the fastest and more on enjoying themselves. Sonic launched into a spin dash, laughing when Shadow skidded to a stop to avoid the attack. It put Sonic back in the lead with a smile on his face.
“Oof!” Sonic exclaimed as he was hit from behind. They rolled along the grass, fighting to be on top, though Sonic knew how this would go. “Hey, Shads,” Sonic said as Shadow pinned him to the ground, a look of annoyance on his face. His expression softened at the nickname, and his hold loosened.
“What’s bothering you?” Shadow asked, surprising Sonic with the question. “And don’t say it’s nothing; you’ve been acting like a hermit this past week. Be honest with me.”
“Maybe I decided to take a page from your anti-social book,” Sonic said, though he could tell Shadow didn’t believe him. Ugh, how did Shadow always know? He could get away with it with anyone else, but Shadow always knew when something was bothering him. “Just, comments online from weirdos thinking they’re entitled to my time,” Sonic said, looking up at Shadow, who narrowed his eyes. He allowed Sonic to sit up, and took a spot on the grass next to him. “There’s a stupid article someone wrote about us…”
“Can I see?” Shadow asked, causing Sonic to hesitate. That brief pause was of course noticed by Shadow, who leaned towards Sonic. “My feelings will not be hurt by those fools’ comments, hedgehog. Let me see.” Sonic relented, opening the article.
Sonic wanted to say something as Shadow scrolled, but he didn’t know what to say. Shadow’s face remained stoic, making it almost impossible for Sonic to figure out how he was feeling.
“These people are blaming me for you…not catering to them?” Shadow questioned as he handed the phone back to Sonic. “Pathetic fools. You are your own person, and I could never change that. Nor would I want to.”
Sonic had used to believe that being a relationship would be suffocating and would limit his freedom, but not with Shadow. He was content to let Sonic remain as he was, and didn’t try to tie him down. Any changes he sought out were reasonable: a text a day to ensure Sonic was alive, if he planned to take a trip to let Shadow know the general area in case of an emergency, and the hardest one to follow, no eating chili dogs on his couch.
That was why he had been so worried with Shadow finding out; he couldn’t lose something that fit so perfectly into his life.
“I didn’t realize people were so opinionated about my life,” Sonic mumbled, then put his head on Shadow’s shoulder, smiling when Shadow scooted closer. “I’m sorry that they’re trying to make it your fault.”
“It’s not like I make myself friendly to the public. If they do not care for me, then so be it. I only care what those close to me think,” Shadow said, sounding so sure of himself. Sonic felt a little silly that he had been so worried about Shadow backing out of this relationship, that he would be scared off by the public. This was Shadow, the Ultimate Lifeform, he didn’t care about what others thought. “I am surprised you haven’t said anything.”
“Ugh, I wanna, but,” Sonic groaned, turning so he could press himself into Shadow’s soft chest fur and take a deep inhale. Shadow smelled like fresh cut grass and coffee right now, with a hint of some floral scent that he couldn’t place, maybe lavender or cherry blossom. The fur was so soft against his muzzle, like a cloud. He closed his eyes, relaxing against him. “I am a hero. I guess this is just what heroes deal with, right?”
It didn’t used to be like this. Going out in public hadn’t even made him anxious (minus when he was a werehog) but now things had shifted. He had been making it a point lately to avoid going out in public if he could help it. It was easy as long as there were no heroics that needed to be done, and he could zip around at the speed of sound to take care of any errands. With Amy gone on her trip, no one else had invited him into the city, and Shadow was content to race or stay in his apartment on date nights, or travel to Sonic’s place.
“You do not owe them anything, Sonic,” Shadow said softly, letting Sonic nuzzle against him. Sonic felt one of Shadow’s hands in his quills, gently carding through them. “They did not make you a hero. You are, annoyingly, a natural one.”
“An annoyingly good one too, right?” Sonic asked, looking up at Shadow. “And annoyingly handsome, of course. Annoyingly brave, annoyingly hilarious...”
“Annoyingling avoiding the subject,” Shadow muttered, getting Sonic to shut up. He was right, Sonic just didn’t want to admit it.
The pressure of being…him and being a hero had warped how he treated the public. He felt like he owed them, which was ridiculous now that he was actually thinking about it. Shadow was right, no one made Sonic a hero, and he didn’t set out to be famous or to have fans, he did it because it was the right thing to do.
“If you wish to speak up, then speak up. Or, if you prefer, I will speak up.” Sonic eyed him, unsure if letting Shadow take the reins on this situation would be the right call. It would be hilarious, for sure, but it wouldn’t end the best.
He knew what the right thing to do was, and it wasn’t ignoring it and hoping it would go away. He pulled out his phone, clicking on the article again. ‘Really weird and cringe of you to write this. Lay off my man’ he typed, showing it to Shadow who muttered something about being meaner before he hit enter and the comment was posted.
“I am not calling them pathetic fools, Shads,” Sonic said as he put his phone away. He smiled up at the ebony hedgehog, a weight off his shoulders. He should’ve told Shadow at the first sign of weirdness. “That’s more your style, though I was tempted to be a lil’ meaner.”
“So, you agree with them that I am a bad influence?”
“Whatttttt? No way! You won’t even let me drive your motorcycle!” Sonic exclaimed, getting a chuckle from Shadow. “Besides, you are a good, scratch that, great guy. Yeah sure, you got a rough exterior but personally I find that very attractive.”
“It would be tragic for you to die in a motorcycle accident after everything you’ve been through,” Shadow mocked, getting a sarcastic laugh out of Sonic, who pulled away to poke Shadow in the chest.
“I would only crash if someone didn’t do a good job of teaching,” he said, tapping the fur on Shadow’s chest with his finger. Shadow grabbed his hand, keeping it pressed against his chest as he pulled Sonic closer.
“More like if you did a poor job of listening and following basic instruction,” Shadow murmured and Sonic was going to reply, really he was, but then Shadow’s eyes drifted to his lips and he pulled Sonic onto his lap, silencing him with a kiss that Sonic just had to return.
–
“I’m kind of glad Eggman attacked before we left for our trip,” Sonic said, watching as Tails disassembled the robot in front of them. He didn’t know what Tails wanted out of it, but the fox was going to town on harvesting pieces. “You know Shadow is going to tell you that that stuff is G.U.N. property, right? I tried to take the rocket shoes off of one before and he yelled at me.”
“That was probably because he was concerned you’d shoot yourself into the sky,” Tails mumbled, tossing another piece into the small bag on the ground. He didn’t even bother looking back at Sonic after the light jab. “He has never told me I can’t take pieces.” Sonic rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. Unfair. Those rocket shoes were so cool.
He’d have to complain about it to Shadow when he saw him. He was supposed to be getting off of work anytime now to pick Sonic up. Both of their bags were at Shadow’s apartment, ready for their trip and Sonic was supposed to be sitting on the couch with them but then Eggman just had to attack, so here he was.
Tails tossed a few screws into the bag. There was no way those screws were important, he just wanted to see how much Shadow would let him walk away with.
And knowing Shadow, he’d let Tails take anything he wanted just to annoy Sonic.
That attractive bastard.
The attack hadn’t been too bad, just enough for Sonic and Tails to handle on their own with a little bit of backup from G.U.N. to get the civilians to safety. It would probably be another month or two before Eggman launched another attack, giving him a good break in between. It also seemed like G.U.N. was already ready for his and Shadow’s departure with how quickly they were on the scene today.
Civilians were starting to reappear now that the area was safe and Sonic kept his eyes focused on Tails. He hadn’t been avoiding the public as much as he had before the article, but he certainly kept his distance now. He needed to set a boundary for himself; he knew not everyone was praying for his and Shadow’s breakup, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He had done his best to avoid social media and allowed Rouge to monitor it in case anything worrying popped up. Nothing had happened so far, which was a relief, but people were still being assholes, even with his comment.
“Sonic, do you have a moment?” A reporter said, approaching them as Tails finished up. Tails eyed Sonic, forcing a smile on his face so Sonic did the same. Sonic weighed his options as the reporter waited for an answer. He could turn them down and head to Shadow’s apartment, but they hadn’t asked anything invasive and they were politely waiting for his answer, so he nodded his head.
“Thank you! We are on the scene with Sonic the hedgehog, live,” the reporter turned back to the camera man, nodding her head. “Sonic, I saw that you’ve been made aware of the comments some of your fans have been making about your relationship with Shadow. You’ve also seemingly taken a step back from the public in general, do those two things have any correlation?”
Wow, first question right off the bat. Maybe Shadow was right, Sonic was too nice.
“Look, I don’t have time for nonsense and weirdos, I deal with enough crap from Eggman to last a lifetime,” he gestured to the robot behind them, putting a hand on his hip. “I love doin’ what I do, but I don’t do it to get anyone’s approval. I’m goin’ be with who I wanna be with and if that makes me some enemy of the public, then oh well. ‘Sides, Shads and I have known each other for years, we’ve been to hell and back together. No weirdo on the internet knows us better than we do, ya know?”
“So the relationship is serious?”
“Oh, so serious,” Sonic said, an idea forming in his head. It was stupid, so stupid, and Shadow would probably find it to be the unfunniest thing in the world, but Sonic had to do it. “It’s actually really hurtful to hear people say such horrible things about the father of my baby.”
“What?” The reporter asked, almost dropping her mic as Tails stared at him, knowing he was full of shit. The small crowd that had gotten closer all went quiet, mouths open. Sonic waited a full minute before he began laughing, eyes watering at their reactions. “Wait, hold on, are you being serious?”
“No!” Sonic exclaimed, bending over as he continued to laugh. Everyone was still in various states of shock. Why hadn’t he thought of something as ridiculous before? It would’ve been hilarious if he had started saying weird shit around people in public to see what stuck.
His laughter faded as his ears perked up, hearing a motorcycle approaching. Both he and the reporter turned to the streets as Shadow pulled up. “There’s my boy! Alrighty Tails, I’ll see you later!” He ruffled the hair on Tails’ head before he dashed off, waving and smiling as he approached Shadow.
“What did you do?” Shadow asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back on the back, looking at the crowd. Sonic laughed as he climbed onto the back of the bike, holding tight to Shadow’s torso.
“Floor it, they might become an angry mob.”
–
After two months, Sonic felt ready to return. The trip had been fantastic, but he wanted to see his friends again and Shadow had another mission coming up that he was needed for.
Things felt different when he joined Amy for lunch, both excited to talk about their trips. Sonic noticed people weren’t watching him nearly as closely, and no one approached him for a photo or an autograph until after they had finished eating and were leaving the cafe. He hesitated, but Amy nudged him with her elbow, so he agreed.
He was expecting to see something negative posted about it online; people complaining that he was gone for too long and it was all Shadow’s fault, but there wasn’t much. Sure, there were a few negative comments, but those got shut down pretty quickly by others. In fact, there were actually a lot of Shadow defenders now, people who finally understood that Shadow was good for Sonic, that he was happy with him.
He appreciated it, but he wasn’t going to dive back into old habits. He would still take selfies and do interviews, but only when he wanted to do it, not because he felt like he had to, and he wasn’t going to talk about their relationship.
“No way you actually believe that prank I pulled on that reporter,” Sonic said, taking a seat next to Knuckles. Tails wanted to do a trial run of a new grilling invention, so they all came out to Angel Island for a cookout.
“Look, strange shit happens to us all the time,” Knuckles muttered, muzzle red as he waved his hand around. “At this point, I just start rolling with things.”
Sonic couldn’t really argue much with that. Strange things were always going on with them, but at least it kept things interesting. The two watched as Shadow stood by Tails’ grill, hands itching towards the fire extinguisher he brought with him each time the grill sparked.
“Maybe…maybe don’t stand so close,” Amy mumbled, pulling Shadow back a few steps. “Sonic would be so distraught if you had your chest fur burned off.” Sonic nodded his head. Amy was always looking out for him. “Tails, we won’t get sick from eating this food, right?”
“No, not at all! I’ve tested it on Sonic before and he didn’t get sick,” Tails said, earning Sonic a stern look from Shadow and a concerned one from everyone else.
“I have seen Sonic eat absolutely vile things before and been fine,” Shadow muttered, crossing his arms while Amy nodded in agreement. Betrayal. “I don’t think he was an ideal testing candidate.”
“And yet you are still with me,” Sonic said, standing so he could properly annoy Shadow upclose rather than at a distance. Shadow seemed to be aware of what Sonic was doing, so he stepped further away from the grill; a precaution in case they decided to settle things with a fight.
“I suppose I have poor tastes as well,” Shadow said, smirking when Sonic let out a loud gasp, clutching his chest in an overly dramatic way. How could Shadow say such a thing to him?
“Wow, you really are as cruel as those random people on the internet claim you to be,” Sonic wrapped his arms around Shadow’s chest, resting his chin on his shoulder. “How could you say that to me? After everything we’ve been through?”
“Easily, I can say it easily,” Shadow replied, putting one hand on Sonic’s arms, a small smile on his face. Sonic rolled his eyes, fingers brushing against the golden ring on one of Shadow’s fingers. He smiled to himself when Shadow mimicked the action, but against Sonic’s ring. It was the next prank Sonic was preparing to pull, just to see how people would react, but he kinda liked how the ring felt on his finger and looked on Shadow, so maybe they could just wear them forever. “Someone has to keep you from getting a big head.”
“Ya, think that’s a bit too late,” Knuckles joked, getting a laugh out of Shadow. It was difficult for Sonic to be mad, or even pretend to be mad, when Shadow was laughing, so he just rolled his eyes and held onto Shadow tighter.