Work Text:
A warm breeze whipped his quills back as he ran around the island. He was a little stressed, so a mid-afternoon run would get rid of his thoughts of a certain hedgehog. The sun was high in the sky and beat down on his back, a pleasant feeling. The shadows on the grass from the leaves made Shadow feel at peace. This was nothing like his stuffy little cottage.
Shadow stopped at a small cliff to sit under a big oak tree, a pretty shining blue lake underneath. Shadow sat and closed his eyes, opting to enjoy the sun while it was out. His ears flicked back and forth at the sounds of nature. Flickies chirping, leaves rustling, the water beating on the cliff wall down below, snoring-
Wait, snoring?
Shadow snapped his eyes open and whipped his head around to catch where the snoring was coming from. His ear flicked again at a particularly loud snore coming from above. He looked up and there was the perpetrator, laying belly flat on a large branch. There was the blue hedgehog of his nightmares (and dreams): sleeping away with an arm dangling from the wide branch.
He growled and stood up, eyes still locked on Sonic. He wasn't sure what to do. His faker looked very content. Small strips of sunlight hit his face and back, giving his azure coat a beautiful shine. His face adorned a small smile as he snored, quills flattened and back showing a steady rhythm of breathing. Shadow thought he was breathtaking- NO! Bad Shadow!
The black hedgehog was a little worried- key worried on little -that he might fall and break something. The branch was a good 10 or so feet above the ground, after all. With his mind made up, he cupped his mouth and shouted, "Faker!"
Nothing on his counterpart's face showed he heard him except the flick of a cute blue ear- Stop! He shouted his name louder, and Sonic blinked his eyes open slowly. He yawned, showing small fangs. he looked around before his bleary emerald met annoyed rubies. With a tired smile and small wave, a soft trilling came out of his mouth.
Fuck, that sound did something to his flipping stomach. Cute- Shadow mentally slapped himself. With a heavy sigh and crossed arms, he replied, "Idiot, It's like 2:00 a-clock." Sonic's face scrunched in confusion.
Sonic seemed to have trouble speaking. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, each attempt a wheezy sound came out, like his vocal cords were struggling to wake up with him. Shadow waited somewhat impatiently. He tapped his foot, waiting for a few minutes. When Sonic finally opened his mouth for the last time, he said, "Huh, I coulda swore it was still mornin'. Guess my internal clock is still a little messed up."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Sonic laughed, sitting up and stretching his arms above his head. He swept his legs over the branch's edge and swung them lightly.
"Shads, did you not know that hedgehogs are nocturnal?"
What? Shadow definitely wasn't, but he supposed he's not a lot of the things hedgehogs normally are. He never needed to sleep. Sonic saw the confused scowl and spoke up again, "Well, technically not anymore. But I wasn't raised like a normal kid. Grew up with nothing but the forest and animals, right? So I guess that old instinct never went away."
Interesting. Shadow in fact, did not know Sonic was raised in the woods with no civilization. He found himself wanting to know more. Shadow's face was more relaxed now. "Oh. I guess that makes sense. But still, you do realize you could've fallen and broken your face or something, right?" His voice held a sarcastic tilt to it. sonic chuckled and stopped swinging his legs.
"Doy, I knew that! But I'm a heavy sleeper, and I don't move when i'm asleep! Tails says that I'm a literal brick when I'm unconscious, so I'm not too worried about that."
Shadow just nodded. "Get down here. Now that you're awake, we can race or something."
Sonic smiled wide, eyes crinkling and tooth gap showing. he sunlight hit his face just right, blinding Shadow slightly. He wanted to kiss that smile off his smug face- Shadow took a deep, sharp breath. He watched Sonic scoot forward on the branch, and fucking flip on the way down. Shadow's heart skipped in fear, quick to put his arms out and step forward.
Sonic landed with a small 'oof', but stood tall and laughed at Shadow. "Shads, I'm okay! Chill, dude." Shadow exhaled, long and slow.
"Whatever Faker, race you to hedgehog village and back here."
Sonic's smile became smug and sly. "You're on, faker!"
Blue and red light chased after their running forms, and Shadow had one thing on his mind,
'What else does Sonic do that I don't know about?'
-----------------------
The next time the nocturnal topic came up was when they were sitting in Sonic's and Tails' backyard. Tails was in the garage tinkering, and the garage door was left open to let in the humid, summer air. Shadow and Sonic were currently sparring a few feet away to simply pass time.
Shadow kicked Sonic's side, and Sonic responded by slipping down and kicking Shadow's feet from under him. With a grunt, Shadow got back up and shoved Sonic down, sitting on his waist. He lifted his fist to punch, and it hit the grass by Sonic's tilted head. Sonic head-butted him. Shadow let out a sharp cry of pain, and Sonic pushed him off.
Sonic tackled him onto his stomach, both hands locked in Sonic's one hand holding them above his head. His knee pressed into the black hedgehog's shoulder, causing him to grit his teeth. He refused to admit defeat, so he did what anyone would do. Pretend to be defeated.
He slumped, heavy panting breaking the silence. Sonic chuckled, his hold lessening and Shadow smirked. He couldn't attack yet. He heard Sonic speak, voice rough from being throat punched earlier.
"Givin' me an easy win, Faker? I'm flattered." Shadow scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Just tired, idiot. We've been at it for like 2 hours." It was Sonic's turn to scoff. "Well-" Shadow shoved himself up quickly, Sonic falling on his rear, eyes wide in surprise. Shadow snickered at the stupid look.
"Idiot. Never let your guard down." Sonic roller his eyes, but stayed sitting down. He brought his knees up and wrapped his peach arms around them, chin on his knees. Shadow stared in surprise. Sonic was...quitting?
Shadow frowned, "What are you doing? We're not done yet, Faker." Sonic rolled his eyes so hard Shadow thought they'd get stuck in his head. "Yeah, well I'm tired. Let's take a break. On that note, I'm starving!" With newly found energy- Shadow was envious of the endless bouts of energy Sonic possessed- Sonic stood up and with hands on his hips, he asked, "Are you? We might have some coffee beans in the house somewhere!"
Shadow was a little skeptical; Sonic didn't drink coffee. Tails wasn't allowed to have any. With narrowed eyes, he replied, "Why do you have coffee? You've said countless times that you can't drink coffee, and Tails isn't allowed." Sonic's body stiffened, a nervous smile growing on his face.
"Oh, uh, I've started drinking them to stay awake during the day. Something happened during an Eggman raid, and ever since i've been scared to fall asleep during the day."
Shadow's face fell slack in surprise, ruby eyes as wide as saucers. He didn't know about that. He, however, did notice Sonic acting weird after the latest raid they had done a week ago. He didn't really understand nocturnal tendencies, but he knew from Rouge that nocturnal beings physically can't sleep at night. If they did, it was rare, brief, or a miracle. Shadow was suddenly worried that Sonic hadn't been sleeping.
He took a closer look at Sonic's frame. He was looking a little skinnier than normal, body slumped with exhaustion, purple bags under his dull emerald eyes, and Sonic's usually bright azure fur was messy and matted. With a scoff, he asked, "Have you been sleeping, Faker?"
Sonic's smile fell for a fleeting moment, but Shadow caught it. Sonic's shoulders slumped forward slightly. He looked...nervous. It made Shadow's chest pang in an emotion he couldn't identify.
"Uhm, well, not really? I can't usually fall asleep at night, so I've been taking some sleeping pills to force myself to sleep during the night. It doesn't always work, though. So, that's a plus, I guess." His smile wavered, seeming forced. Shadow scowled, and stepped right in front of Sonic.
"You need to sleep naturally, idiot. Taking pills will just make it worse. You won't be able to do anything at all soon, if you keep taking them. Why must you torture yourself with this habit? What even happened?" Sonic's smiled fully fell, a tired aura surrounded him. His voice was quiet. "During the raid, I fell asleep. I wasn't able to that entire day, so I was feeling extra tired. I didn't mean to, but I fell asleep and Metal attacked me. I was so drowsy that I didn't even realize until he was already dragging me back to Eggface's main lab."
What!? Shadow didn't know whether to slap the blue idiot and hug him- scratch that. He was going to do both, maybe. "Sonic, you idiot! Are you still injured? Why didn't you tell anyone!?" Shadow was freaking out. He didn't want to cause the blue blur any more harm than he possibly was already in!
Sonic smiled appreciatively and placed a gentle hand on Shadow's shoulder. He put his hand back down and replied, "Shads, i'm alright. I'm just really tired, I guess. Nothin' the hero of mobius can't handle!"
Shadow growled, putting both his hands on Sonic's shoulders and shook. "You idiot! What's wrong with you!?" Sonic put his hands on top of Shadow's and mumbled something. Shadow stopped for a brief moment to hear what he was trying to say.
"Spit it out!"
"Gonna hurl..."
Shadow instantly stepped back, watching Sonic crouch over, hands on his knees, and dry heave. Shit, he was such an idiot! Sonic probably hadn't eaten anything in a while. Once again, from watching Rouge's habits, nocturnal mobians can't eat when they don't sleep. They're metabolism is too slow to take in any food. With a heavy sigh, he stepped forward and put a hesitant hand on his blue counterpart's back. It was a few minutes before Sonic could take in an actual breath.
Sonic stood straight once more with his shoulder's still slightly slumped, and gave Shadow a tired smile. "Thanks, Faker. I'm super hungry, come inside and eat something with me?"
Shadow's immediate answer was, "No."
"What? What do you mean no-"
"i'll only eat if you promise to stop taking those stupid pills and start sleeping during the day again."
Sonic looked hesitant. His voice was quiet when he said, "But what if i mess up again? What if I put people in danger because I can't handle staying awake-"
Shadow scoffed, rolling his eyes. "If it helps, I'll watch over you when we fight or whatever from now on. Just so you can stop worrying and whining like a child."
Sonic smiled, emerald gleaming and bright. A few chirps came from his throat. Shadow thought those sounds were adorable. "Deal, now let's go inside and eat!"
Shadow simply nodded, and they went inside.
-----------------------
(little disclaimer, Sonic eats a raw fish from the river. He was raised in the wild; sue me bro.)
Shadow was in a bit of a predicament. He was currently racing Sonic in the middle of a deep forest. Or well, he was. Sonic had wandered off, or maybe had gotten lost. It was a couple of weeks after their conversation, and Sonic had been looking a lot better. Shadow felt a twang of pride at helping the blue idiot get back to his bearings. Sonic looked back to normal, despite the eye bags still being present, but he guessed those will take a lot longer to go away.
Back to the present, Shadow was walking around, looking for bright blue in a sea of green and brown. He was annoyed, but not as much as he thought he would be. He walked a little farther, noticing a river stream. He decided to walk alongside it, hoping to catch sight of his counterpart nearby. He walked for maybe 5 minutes before he spotted Sonic crouching in the river.
He was eerily still, eyes wide and his pupils were dilated big, green a small ring around a sea of black. Shadow stood 10 feet away in interest. Just what was his rival doing? He opted to sit under a tree, hoping Sonic wouldn't see him. He was very curious as to know what the hell Sonic was trying to achieve.
Sonic stayed that way for two minutes, only his head above the water. His ears were flicking back and forth at the various sounds of nature. Shadow was getting annoyed, ready to give up on his curiosity and yell for Sonic to get the hell out of the water, when he noticed a small school of cod feasting on some algae a couple of feet in front of the blue blur. It was hard to tell, but Shadow swore he saw Sonic inching closer, very slowly.
Now that's interesting.
Shadow's ear perked in interest as Sonic slowly crept through the water, now only half a foot away. Shadow had a guess as to what Sonic was doing, but he thought it was too gross. Even Sonic wouldn't do what he was thinking. Except, he did exactly what he thought he was going to do.
Sonic opened his jaw, and with deadly precision, leapt forward and clamped his jaw shut on the big cod. He shook his head side to side aggressively, and eventually the cod stopped moving. Shadow's eyes widened. He chuckled breathily at Sonic's actions. Who knew Sonic was ultimately feral? Shadow was impressed. A memory suddenly popped into his head; when Sonic had mentioned living in the wild for his whole life. He presumed that this wasn't exactly new for the blue blur, then.
He stood up slowly and watch Sonic eat the fish as he made is way over. He was slightly grossed out, as the fish's watery blood crept down Sonic's muzzle and lips, but he wasn't known to judge one's instincts. He had plenty of weird ones himself, after all. He watched Sonic eat the rest of the fish- wow, that was fast- and he licked he maw and fangs with a bloodied tongue.
Shadow stopped at the edge of the stream and cleared his throat. He raised an eyebrow ridge at Sonic flinching. Surely he knew that Shadow would've been looking for him, right? "Faker, I see you've just disgustingly eaten a raw fish. Care to share why the hell you just did that?"
Sonic slowly turned his head to Shadow, face blank. He pupils were still huge and blown. Shadow hesitated slightly. Was Sonic even...aware? Right now? He really needs to do some research on nocturnal and feral mobians later. Because this was weird, and he had absolutely no fucking clue what was going on right now. Maybe he'll ask Rouge some things later.
He heard a soft trill and chirping sound come from the blue hedgehog. A wide, close lipped smiled adorned his blue faker's face. His face and body relaxed slightly, feeling gooey inside.
His voice was softer when he said, "Let's go home, okay? You seem to not be all that...here, right now." Sonic's face scrunched in confusion. Shadow reiterated his question. "Let's go back to Tails." The kit's name felt awkward on his tongue since he was used to just calling him kit or fox, but Sonic seemed to brighten at his brother's name. He walked and stopped in front of Shadow. He opened his mouth and he said, "Shadow." Shadow was slightly confused at the current situation, but he just nodded and stepped back. Sonic followed, standing in the grass and shaking himself like a dog.
Shadow shuddered at the dirty river water hitting his fur, but he kept his insult to himself. It was obvious that Sonic's headspace was stuck in some kind of feral mode. He's not sure what's going on, so right now he's deeming this odd behavior as 'feral mode'. He snickered internally at the thought of Sonic having a normal civilized mode, and a feral one; this one.
He started walking, his pace relaxed but fast. Sonic followed silently.
They eventually made their way back home and Sonic opened the door, bounce in his step. He was silent the whole way, and Shadow was pleasantly surprised at that. He liked this feral Sonic. Sonic found Tails sitting on the couch playing on his miles electric and trilled happily. His fur and quills also puffed up, seemingly happy on their own accord on finding his brother. He leapt and started wrapping his long limbs around the young kit. Tails jumped in surprise, but he quickly relaxed.
Shadow stood there awkwardly. Should he leave? Something was obviously going on with Sonic, and the science part of his brain was desperate for answers. He looked at the domestic scene and stepped forward, making his choice.
"Fox. What is wrong with Sonic?"
Tails smiled and waved. "Hi Shadow! Do you mean Sonic's 'feral mode'?" Shadow nodded, happy to know that he wasn't the only one that labeled Sonic's weird behavior.
"Yes."
Sonic purred and nuzzled his face in Tails shoulder. Tails laughed and replied, "Well, I don't actually know. Sometimes he just gets like this, I guess. It doesn't happen often but more than enough to know what's happening. Although, based from experience, something usually triggers there feral episodes. Can you tell me what triggered this one?"
Shadow hummed, face scrunched in concentration. "We were racing and he got distracted by something, I think. I found him...preying? In the river, and he ate a fish. Raw." Shadow shivered in slight disgust.
Tails hummed. "Yeah, that seems normal for him. He used to do that all the time, back when we were living in the wild together. He would usually hunt for both of us, since I was too little to find food for myself. Hunting is usually one of the triggers. Anything else?"
Interesting... Shadow was glad to know this information. He will definitely be talking to Rouge about this later. And doing plenty of research. "Nothing more, other than not talking. And making weird sounds." On cue, Sonic purred louder. Shadow loved that sound. He may not know what it is or what it means, but he finds himself wanting to hear every single sound Sonic makes.
Tails hummed again, and adjusted himself slightly. He tried pulling away from Sonic, who only whined and pressed Tails to his chest tighter. Tails just sighed. "That also make sense. Whenever he gets like this, it seems his brain is reverted back to how he was when he was little, or when we first met. He never talked. He was only able to communicate with sounds and stuff."
Shadow hummed thoughtfully. "Is there a particular reason why?"
"Well, he never talked to anyone. There was no one else to teach him to speak english, and besides, the island he lived on didn't have any advanced life besides small animals, so theres that theory."
"Makes sense." Shadow's curiosity was peaked. He wanted to get his paws on any and all information on the blue hedgehog had to offer. "Well, I guess I'll be leaving now. Have fun." His voice was teasing, and he heard Tails yell at Sonic to get off him as he exited the house.
-----------------------
The next time Shadow saw Sonic, it was under not so good circumstances. Team Dark and Team Sonic unified to fight off Eggman's newest creation. He had somehow made artificial chaos energy, and it was getting increasingly obvious that this fight was dangerous. Every bot put themselves back together. They were stronger too. Eggman had created some kind of trap made of this fake chaos energy. They were balls, imprisoning everything it could. Amy, Tails, and Omega were currently trapped inside.
Only knuckles, Sonic, Shadow, and Rouge were left to fend off the evil doctor. Said evil doctor was inside a giant, sleek black robot. The seven fake emeralds were lined up horizontally across its chest. Eggman resides in a glass compartment under the emeralds. He was screeching orders that the robots. The one he was in was easily stopping every attempt to take the emeralds out of its chest and break them.
Sonic zipped into a spin dash and bounced off a horde of bots, seemingly getting more angry as he watched them get back up and piece themselves back together. Shadow and Rouge were back to back, punching and kicking the circle of bots surrounding them. Knuckles was on his own a few feet away, aggressively punching bots on his tail.
It was like this for a few more minutes until Shadow got separated from the others. He got trapped inside a ball, but this one was different. The energy surrounding him felt like it was buzzing inside his skin, and boiling his blood. The sphere of fake energy lifted into the air, knocking Shadow onto his knees. He was flown to stand in front of Eggman.
The human's face was red, cackling as he shouted through the speaker, "Stupid rodent! Now that I have you, I can extract your energy and use it against your pesky friends!"
Okay, Shadow thought, don't panic. All he had to do was chaos control out of the sphere. (Why didn't he think of that before? stupid stupid stupid-) his thoughts were interrupted by a scream and an agonizing feeling of electricity. He didn't know if the scream was his or someone else's. His ears were ringing and his body was heavy, like he was underwater. He opened his eyes- when had he closed them?- and the sight was...not pleasant.
Each emerald had a beacon of light attached to his spherical prison, and visible energy crackled around it like lightning. He had strips of steam coming from his fur, as if he had been dropped into a pot of boiling water. He assessed his body quickly, noting the fatigue and the bleariness of his vision. His energy was extracted painfully once more, and he screamed again. His body fell slack on the floor of this ball, laying on his side and curled up.
His eyes tried closing, but he willed himself to watch the scenery around him. With prolonged realization, he realized that Sonic was in front of him now. When had that happened? When had his ball dropped to the ground? Sonic was banging on the curved walls. He tried sitting up on his elbows, but fell back down with a muffled cry. Tears stung in his eyes, but willed them away.
No way was he, the ultimate lifeform, going down like this! He sat up again, sitting on his knees. He took a few deep breaths and stared into blank white eyes. He startled at the angry stare, but was quick to reassure himself that it was just Sonic. It took a moment for his tired mind to process it, but his eyes widened when he realized that Sonic was blocking the beams. His fur was black, smoke swirling from his body in an evil dance. There was no green present in his eyes, just blank, shining white. His hands were resting on the ball, gloves gone and long, black claws poking into the electric wall of Shadow's cell.
He stood up suddenly, and banged the balls' wall in Sonic's face. He screamed, that idiot was putting himself in danger! He was wide awake now, fatigue forgotten as adrenaline filled his veins. Sonic was slumped, body shaking aggressively from the fake energy entering his system, but his blank stare bored into Shadow's anxious rubies. His muzzle was curled into a snarl, but it didn't seem like Sonic was staring at him; or staring at anything. Even without irises, Shadow knew that Sonic was looking through him. Presumably from the pain.
Sonic suddenly went slack, simply standing there in the way of the beams of energy. Shadow's breath quickened. No, no NO!! He screamed, shouted, clawed at the wall, anything to get his faker's attention.
"Sonic! Get out of the way! I can handle it! Get Away! SONIC!!" Sonic simply released his hold on the prison turned his back to him. He raised into the air, and Shadow went silent. He felt tears drip down his muzzle, and he angrily wiped them away. How dare Sonic ignore him!? He doesn't know what the hell he's doing! Shadow's body can naturally expel the energy, and regenerate it as well. Sonic couldn't. He was mortal.
Shadow watched with dread as Sonic flew away in a zip of black smoke to Eggman's glass compartment. He seemed to have been yelling something, but the black hedgehog's ears were still ringing a loud, shrill whistle. He instinctively pinned them down to alleviate the pain. Sonic suddenly went higher and one by one, punched each fake emerald. They all shattered and fell to the ground in tiny shards.
Eggman screeched and whined, "How dare you! You stupid hedgehog! I'll kill you! Bots, att-" Before he could say anything further, Sonic punched the glass separating them, and with one hand, reached in and pulled the doctor out. Even in Shadow's fuzzy brain, thought that was the hottest thing he'd ever seen. Sonic Dangled him many feet above the air silently. He watched the doctor kick and squirm, his mouth moving in loud cries and pleas.
Shadow took a moment to breathe, assessing himself. Okay, Shadow thought. His body was no longer steaming, his muscles just really sore and tired. His energy was regenerating already. He looked around and saw that everyone was released from their prison except him. He mentally noted that his prison must've been made from a different kind of energy, then. Everyone else was huddled a good 30 feet from him, just sitting and watching Sonic with bated breath.
Shadow could work with this. He mentally clicked his chaos energy into forming a chaos blast around him. He hoped this would get rid of the ball, and he could help Sonic defeat the doctor. He closed his eyes and released the blast. It worked. He stood, felling slightly dizzy, but otherwise fine. He looked upwards at Sonic's black body still holding Eggman in the air. It seemed they were talking, but he couldn't hear what.
Shadow's heart skipped a beat when Sonic released his hold, watching Eggman fall. A sinister smile was present on the smokey hedgehog's face. Eggman fell to the ground, and Shadow winced as he heard a few bones crack from the distance he was at. Eggman's fall created a cloud of dust, everyone coughing and waving their hands in front of their faces. Except Shadow. His crimson eyes darted around, searching for his faker.
He found Sonic way above in the air, just staring. With a jolt, Shadow realized that he was staring at him. His belly filled with an uncomfortable warmth at the deadly gaze. He raised a hand and waved the black hedgehog to come down. He did, but he didn't do what Shadow thought. Sonic picked him up bridal style and they fucking teleported to Sonic's shack.
Shadow didn't know Sonic even knew how to use his chaos energy that way. He was let down onto the couch gently with a push on his shoulder. He slumped into the couch and closed his eyes. Finally, he could rest. But...Something was off. Sonic was eerily silent, staring At shadow. His body was almost back to normal.
Sonic green eyes were faded, like they were barely there, but coming back slowly. His forearms, below the knees, and the tips of his quills were inky black. Sonic was slumped heavily with exhaustion. The bags under his eyes were a dark purple. Shadow felt sympathetic and scooted over with a slight wince. Fuck, he didn't realize how sore he was till just now.
Sonic silently sat by him, body incredibly tense. Shadow looked form the corner of his eyes and saw Sonic's ungloved paws. The long claws were still out and digging into his thighs, small beads of blood coming forth. His body was shaking, like he was holding something back. Shadow thought back to when he snuggled up to Tails when he was in his 'feral mode.' With a deep sigh, he put an arm around Sonic's waist and pulled him closer to his body.
He heard Sonic trill and a sudden loud, rumbling purr started in his chest. Shadow smiled. There was that beautiful sound. Shadow laid on his back, Sonic opting to curl his arms around his middle and lay on top of him. His head was turned slightly so his ear was pressed to where his heart was. Shadow felt a satisfying vibration as Sonic's purrs reverberated through his body as well. He realized that the purrs were helping relax and unwind his tight muscles. Shadow closed his eyes, allowing rest to come to him.
The silence didn't last long, however, as he heard Sonic's breath picking up slightly. He cracked an eyes open and saw that Sonic's throat bobbed, mouth opening and closing a few times. Shadow thought that maybe Sonic was just trying to find an easier position to breathe, but then he heard a low, frustrated growl. He opened his other eye to stare at the frustrated hedgehog.
He slowly, as to not scare the feral hedgehog, brought his hand up and gently massaged between the furrowed brows, trying to get Sonic to relax. Shadow felt Sonic's back rising and falling in a heavy sigh. He smirked and quietly said, "Hedgehog. Spit it out, whatever you were going to say."
A few beats of silence, then, "S-Sorry..." The voice was rough and low, sending a spark of heat in Shadow's abdomen. He willed the feeling away and instead thought, 'why the fuck is he apologizing? He literally saved my ass from dying, once again.' He felt slightly bitter that Sonic of all people had saved him, but beggars can't be choosers. He still didn't understand why he was saying sorry.
"Whatever for? You saved me, dumbass."
"I don' know. For everything, I guess." The purring stopped, and Shadow felt disappointed. He instead said, "Faker, you have nothing to be sorry for. You...ugh, saved my ass from dying, or whatever. So thanks, I guess." Sonic let out an airy chuckle, but didn't say anything more. They fell back into a comfortable silence, and Shadow put the hand massaging sonic's temple to the small of the blue hedgehog's back.
He closed his eyes. The purring started up again, and he felt internally delighted. He doesn't know why he liked the sound so much, why he liked Sonic and everything he did so much. He was arrogant, cocky, and his smug smile never failed to piss him off. His green eyes always shined bright and his body was strong and lean and now that he thinks about it, his hands were slightly bigger than Shadow's. That was irreversibly hot. The black hedgehog wondered what they felt like petting his quills, running down his waist- Shadow's face flushed hot. What the hell?
He was taken out of his thoughts at a wet sensation on his shoulder and neck. He shivered at the coldness. What the fuck? Sonic was fucking licking him. He sat up abruptly, Sonic also moving back. His face looked slightly panicked, like he just realized what he was doing. Shadow frowned. Why the hell was Sonic licking him? He mentally searched for any information he had looked up on feral mobian behavior and came up with one thing:
Grooming. It was very important for all mobians. It wasn't just a feral mobian or feral animals thing. But licking just wasn't how grooming was done anymore. It was more common for feral mobians to groom the old, traditional way. Shadow relaxed and lay back down, this time on his side, face facing the back of the couch. This kind of tradition was known to be exclusively for family and romantic partners. He's not sure why Sonic is...grooming him, but it did feel nice, so he supposed he will allow it just this once.
He closed his eyes and quietly spoke, "Well?" Sonic laid down as well, head facing black quills. Thank god the couch was big enough to hold them both, Shadow thought. Sonic laid behind him scooted further up so he could reach where he wanted. With a nervous energy, Sonic slowly started licking messy black quills and the space between his black, fluffy ears. Shadow sighed in contentment and closed his eyes once more. He felt- what was the word?
Happy. But that seemed too little of what he was feeling. He felt light, relaxed, and a warm feeling filled his chest. He could get used to this.
-----------------------
The little cottage was dark, save for the TV illuminating every surface. Shadow, Rouge, Omega, and Sonic were sitting on the black leather couch. Well, everyone but Omega, he wasn't allowed on the couch after starting a fire on it. He sat on the floor next to Rouge. The bat sat in one corner on the couch, half asleep. shadow was in the middle with an arm draped over the back of the couch behind Sonic's head, and Sonic sat curled up on his side, purring contently. Shadow was 99 percent sure that he was sleeping.
How did Sonic join Team Dark's annual movie night? (wouldn't you like to know, weather boy-)
A few hours earlier, Tails had called Shadow via communicators. Shadow was lazying around the house, so he picked up fairly quickly. A piercing shriek filled the quiet house as he answered.
"Shadow, could you please watch Sonic for a few hours? I really need to get some work done for a commission someone made from the village! Sonic is feral mode and won't leave me alone!" Shadow heard a loud annoyed groan and some shuffling. He rolled his eyes. Why was this suddenly his problem? It's not his fault he was there for most of Sonic's feral episodes. Memories popped up of the nice sounds and purring Sonic made when he was like this and he cut off Tails' second desperate plea a little too quickly.
"I'll be there in 10." Shadow was happy to watch over Sonic for a few hours. But a few hours turned into a sleepover when Sonic never came out of his feral trigger. So now they were here, Sonic stubbornly cuddled into Shadow's side. He had refused to let Shadow leave him for more than a few minutes. He also wasn't allowed out of the blue blur's arms length. Shadow would pretend and say he was annoyed, but internally he was happy and filled with something akin to protective at being the one that Sonic was reaching out for in his time of need.
Tails never explained how this happened. He doesn't really care, either. All that matters is that Sonic is here and is purring away like a motor engine. When Rouge and Omega had arrived they saw the surprising sight of Shadow and Sonic on the couch. Sonic, more specifically, was sitting on the black hedgehog's lap, decorating and putting small things in and on Shadow's quills. Little twigs, leaves, shiny rocks, flowers, anything they found outside a couple of hours ago was in there. Shadow seemed to be relaxed, so Rouge only teased a little.
Rouge had called, "Hi blue! Joining us for movie night?" Sonic's smile got smaller, but it was still present. A rumbling chirp left his throat and turned to stare at Shadow quizzically. Shadow replied for Sonic.
"I'll explain later. Sonic can't really speak right now."
Rouge chuckled and sat next to Shadow. Sonic stopped arranging the yellow wildflowers and got off Shadow's lap, instead leaning into his side. Rouge looked between the two hedgehog's before smirking. "What's with the quill decoration?"
Shadow sighed and started picking out the wilderness in his quills and set them on the table in front of them. Shadow heard Sonic whine quietly, but he didn't bring attention to it. He didn't want to embarrass him further. "He got bored." His voice was quiet, and short. Rouge sighed disappointedly and grabbed the TV remote. Omega's loud metal clanking moved to sit next to the bat.
his mechanical voice boomed through everyone's ears. "GOOD EVENING, SHADOW. SONIC SEEMS TO BE IN A FERAL MOBIAN HEADSPACE." Rouge chuckled and stared right into Shadow hesitant ones. His ears pinned down. "I'm aware. Now that everyone is aware of the situation, I guess I'll speak. The fox called and asked for me to watch Sonic until he gets out of the headspace. He was being too distracting, and Miles couldn't work."
Rouge barked a laugh. Shadow groaned. Omega beeped. "Well, alright then, hun. Now, what movie are we watching?"
Omega instantly beeped and raised his hand like a school child. Shadow sighed, feigning annoyance, and said gruffly, "Omega. You don't have to fucking raise your hand. Just say what you want to watch."
Omega put his hands down. His robotic voice had an excited tone as he said, "FAST AND FURIOUS FOU-"
Rouge yelled and sat up, "No way in hell are we watching that again! The first movie is better than the rest, anyway!"
Omega played a recording of Shadow groaning, since he couldn't do it himself. Said black hedgehog just sighed and put his head on top of Sonic's. The blue speedster was quiet, playing with a feather he picked from Shadow's quills. His family was so annoying.
"Jump street. Let's just watch Jump street." Rouge sighed but relaxed back into the black cushions with a pout. Omega played a recording of Shadow sarcastically saying , 'yaaayyyy'. Shadow growled, cheeks flushing in embarrassment as Rouge giggled.
Coming back to the present, Sonic was now licking his shoulder. Shadow still finds it kind of gross, but he can't be annoyed when Sonic himself was probably unaware that he was even doing it. His brows furrowed as he thought. The movie was no longer catching his attention. The first time Sonic had licked him, it was under different, more emotional circumstances. Sonic was very stressed, and he couldn't refuse that time. Now, he had a choice. But he still found himself enjoying and entertaining Sonic's weird habit. He began thinking of the warm feeling Shadow felt whenever he was around Sonic.
He didn't know when that feeling started. Neither when he started taking care of Sonic when he was like this, and his recently developed crush. No- crush felt to impersonal, but being in love felt too personal. He sighed and stretched his legs out. Sonic trilled softly, moving to lick at his neck. He shivered at the cold feeling, and the butterflies in his stomach. He needed to stop this, before either he or Sonic did something they would regret.
He stood up abruptly, gaining the attention of a drowsy Rouge and a whining blue hedgehog. He nodded to Rouge and silently tugged at Sonic's hand. He led both of them to his bedroom, and gently shoved Sonic on it. He sat next to him and laid down. Sonic let out a confused whine. Shadow sighed and rolled over to his back. Fuck, Sonic was so adorable like this, he didn't know what to do with himself.
"Lic-groom me in here. I don't want Rouge seeing," His voice was quiet, but the loud, responding purr said that the other had heard him. He went back on his side and Sonic's throat convulsed with multiple sounds. Shadow loved those sounds. A new one was in the midst of each sound though. It was a soft huffing-snorting sound. Odd. He'll have to look that sound up later.
He opted to close his eyes and let Sonic groom and lick at his quills and the space between his ears. The purr was so loud Shadow was worried the others would hear it from the living room. Shadow decided he didn't care. He relaxed his body, melting into Sonic's embrace and fell asleep.
-----------------------
Sonic felt weird when he was around Shadow. Don't get him wrong! He loves hanging our with Shadow, but lately he's been avoiding him. The warm flush on his face, the ache in his belly, the shyness he felt when he was around his counterpart made it hard to stick around for too long. He was also aware of his episodes. And yes, he is aware during them. He just doesn't know why they always trigger when Shadow is involved somehow. It's as infuriating as it is confusing.
He kept a mental note of his symptoms and growing triggers.
Symptoms: circling, cuddling, rubbing his quills on Shadow and Tails, feeling jealous when anyone was around Shadow- that used to be with Tails, but now it's solely Shadow, odd-, nocturnal instincts going into overdrive, increased hunting desires, and eating traditional mobian food, like worms, raw meat, and mice, and finally, the overwhelming urge to protect and nest.
His head swam as he re-ran through his symptoms. He should probably see a doctor about this. He shivered at the thought. Okay, maybe not the doctor, but obviously this was becoming a problem. He should talk to Tails, or if it comes to it, Eggman. Ugh. He sighed as he repositioned himself on the branch he was currently hanging from. Upside down. Yeah, maybe his swimming head was actually the blood rushing to his noggin. He closed his eyes and willed the nausea away.
He was very tired. He had slept all day yesterday to catch up on lost sleep, since the evil doctor decided to attack during his nap time. It also didn't help that it was October, and hibernation season was starting in two weeks. He doesn't know if Shadow hibernates. He never asked, and since he sleeps the entire winter, he's never witnessed Shadow do so, if he did. He let himself fall from the branch and flipped himself at the last second to land on his feet.
He should tell Shadow that he's probably going into hibernation early. He guessed it was another new symptom of his feral episodes, since he's never this tired this early in winter. With a determined expression, he ran off in a blur of blue to find Shadow.
Sonic found him fairly quickly. Shadow was sitting at a small clearing in a forest, playing with something in his hand. 'With a smirk, Sonic zipped to him and stopped right in front of his faker, dust picking up under his feet. Shadow sputtered and leaned back, coughing a couple of times. His crimson eyes glared at Sonic as the dust settled.
"Hey Faker! Watch'a got in your hands? Can I see? Oh! Wait, I totally forgot! I came to find you cause I had to tell you something!"
Shadow groaned loudly and put down what seemed to be a flower crown of some brown feathers and blue and red wildflowers. Wait- Sonic stared at it for a few beats more. Those kind of looked like the ones he and Shadow picked up when he had that one episode. His face felt hot suddenly. What was wrong with him!? Was he sick? He didn't think he was sick, but he never knew what his body was doing these days. How did Shadow even know how to make flower crowns? He thought the fact was adorable.
His thoughts were interrupted when an awkward clearing of a throat was heard. He startled and let out a nervous laugh. He had been blankly staring at Shadow this whole time. He realized his tail was wagging and desperately willed it to stop.
"Sonic, are you okay? Do you-...Are you aware right now?" Shadow's voice was soft, hesitant. He almost seemed nervous. His cheeks were slightly flushed green, his fluffy black ear twitching. His stomach did flips at the cute sight. He smiled, tooth gap showing, and said happily, "Nope! i'm all good, Shads. I did come to find you for something somewhat important though."
Shadow scoffed and rolled his eyes playfully. "wow, the world must be ending if you have something serious to talk about."
Sonic should've expected an answer like that. He snorted and sat next to Shadow. Gosh, his lavender smell was lovely. And strong. He forced himself to sit with a foot between them. Shadow face fell when he scooted away, but it was fleeting. Sonic thought he imagined it.
"So, Faker, what did you want to speak with me about?"
Sonic hummed, and his face fell slightly to a more serious expression. "i'm going into hibernating early."
Shadow choked, coughing. Sonic quickly patted his back as he sputtered for breath. "You-You're what? I didn't know hedgehog's did that..."
Sonic took it that Shadow didn't hibernate, then. Shadow interrupted his thoughts with, "Is that why I never see you or Amy during winter? I thought you guys just stayed indoors the entire time, or went on vacation, or something." His voice got more quiet, apprehensive even, as he spoke. Sonic laughed and clapped Shadow on the shoulder.
"No, Shads! We just hibernate from November to March somethin' somethin'." Sonic's face softened at the sheepish look Shadow gave him. He looked like he wanted to ask questions, but didn't want to embarrass himself. Sonic guessed he could give his faker some grace.
"You look like you got questions. Lucky for you, I got answers! Ask away buddy."
Shadow looked at him, searching his eyes for something. Sonic kept a patient smile on his face, fingers twitching under his grasp at the grass under him. Shadow nodded slightly, more to himself, and asked the most important question of all:
"Do you get really hungry when you wake up?" Sonic barked a surprised laugh, falling on his back as he clutched his stomach. His chest was heaving when he was done. He took deep breaths and noticed Shadow looking at him with a soft expression. His lips were ever so slightly twitched upwards, and his hand was almost on top of his. His face looked so relaxed, so peaceful...
Sonic felt like kissing him.
Woah. WOAH. Hold your horses Sonic! Sonic laughed nervously, sitting up again. "Sorry 'bout that. Anyways, I don't! My body preserves any food I eat before I go into hibernation, and if I don't eat beforehand, my body naturally forces my metabolism to slow down. My chaos energy can also keep me 'fed' while I sleep. Any more questions?"
Shadow huffed, crossing his arms lightly. He shook his head. "Uh, no. That's the only thing I was wondering about. Now if you're done pestering me, I need to get back home." He stood up stiffly, and Sonic followed suit.
He smiled wide, his tooth gap being proudly shown off. He could've swore Shadow's eyes went down to it and blushed. He must be imagining things.
"Welp, I'm off! See ya Faker!"
With that, the blue blur left the black hedgehog like the wind.
-----------------------
Today was the day. It was the day Shadow was finally going to confess. Rouge and Omega both hyped him up all morning, so there was no going back now. He didn't want to put his friends' efforts to waste, after all! Shadow was currently pacing his bedroom, a small bouquet of sunflowers and lavender tied with brown rope sitting on his bed. He had also bought traditional mobian foods, since Sonic would be waking up today, and most likely wouldn't be in the right mindset to eat modern food for a few hours.
He didn't know why he thought confessing today would be a good idea. Would Sonic even be aware all day? Would he be feral for like a week? Would he be too tired or have stiff joints and not wanna be around him? Does he want to wake up and be beside Amy- Okay. Deep breaths. Shadow counted to ten, in and out.
He put his com to his face and opened the chat with Sonic. He hoped Sonic was aware right now, he didn't want to show up uninvited. He had read that waking up from hibernation was disorienting, and waking up alone was usually best, as to not scare the person waking. Kind of like sleepwalking.
Ultimate_Lifeform: Sonic. Are you awake? - 10:02 am
Blue_Mencace13: Yup! Totally aware! I woke up early this morning. - 10:06 am
Okay, that was good. Step one of his mission complete. Time for step two.
Ultimate_Lifeform: Mind if I come over? I have food. - 10:06 am
Blue_Menace13: Oh, sweet! Depends on what it is tho, dont know if my stomach can handle normal food rn lol 10:07
Ultimate_Lifeform: It's traditional mobian food. 10:08
Blue_Menace13: Cool, come over in like 30 mins, gonna put some stuff in the laundry and freshen up. 10:10
Ultimate_Lifeform: Okay. 10:10
Shadow was sweating now. Okay, step two done. Step three is easy, just go over there with the flowers and food and act totally normal. Right, normal. He cursed internally. Fuck, this was HARD. He realized he didn't know what to do when he actually arrived. Shadow spent the half hour thinking of what to do or say. When 10:30 arrived, he brought out his blue chaos emerald and mumbled 'chaos control!'
When he zipped to Sonic's house, he adjusted the flowers and food in his hands. Should he knock? Or just walk in? He decided on the latter and opened the door. He made sure his footsteps were loud, as to not scare Sonic. He called out, "Sonic? I've arrived."
He heard soft, fast-paced footsteps run down the hallway. Sonic appeared before him, and the scent of citrus and pinecones seeped into his nose. Fuck, he smelled good. He must've showered, because his fur was slightly damp and all over the place. His quills were shiny, bright, and flattened. Shadow could very briefly see Sonic's cute tail wagging a mile a minute, and he smiled.
He put up the flowers to Sonic's face, nodding at him to take them. Sonic's smile faltered, a pretty pink blush forming on the tips of his ears and under his eyes. Oh chaos, his eyes. They were so bright, like shards of jade and emerald. Shadow felt like kissing him. For once, he didn't punch the feeling away. He let himself accept the emotions swirling inside.
"Um, I thought you'd appreciate them, I also have your food right here," His low voice was laced with nervousness. He gently pushed the brown paper bag of food into Sonic's free hand. Shadow heard a low, rumbling purr kick start, and he smiled just a little wider. Sonic stared at the items in his hands for a few moments. He looked up at Shadow with wide eyes, and smiled. So. Big. It made Shadow's heart squeeze. It was now or never, c'mon Shadow!
He took a deep breath, readying himself to speak, but Sonic beat him to it.
"Can I kiss you?" Gaia, those words were music to his ears.
Shadow stepped forward and leaned down, his lips brushing against Sonics. The purr got louder. He chuckled and finally kissed the one he's never wanted more than now. The flowers and food package dropped, peach arms wrapping around his neck. He responded by tilting his head and wrapping his arms around Sonic's middle. A tongue swept over his bottom lip, and he opened his mouth wider to let the other in.
It was like a dance, a soft melody of their breathing heard through the shared silence, spit unifying. Shadow's tongue swept over that damned tooth gap he'd been fantasizing about for years, and Sonic tightened his hold with a soft moan. Both black and blue tails wagged rapidly. Shadow pulled away slightly, the burn in his lungs telling him he needed to breathe. But he didn't want to breathe air, he wanted to breathe in Sonic's every fiber of being. His essence was pleasantly overwhelming.
Sonic laughed breathlessly, a hand going up to wrap itself in inky black and red quills. "I love you so much. You're perfect." Shadow blushed and replied, "Not as perfect as you, Faker."
Sonic giggled and kissed him once more. He stepped back and kneeled down to grab the dropped items. He brought the flowers up to his nose and inhaled. "Wow, Shads. You really know a guy, huh?" Shadow's face flushed a deeper green. He grabbed the package of food and opened it. Sonic gasped and took it from his hands.
"Chaos, yes! I'm feelin' hungry after all that kissing!" He took out a small container of sliced, raw cod out of the bag. He noticed a few other things, like worms and fried mice. He could feel the drool pooling in his mouth. Shadow was so thoughtful! He couldn't help but let out a series of chirps, clicks, and trills. Shadow laughed softly and said, "I thought you might've liked the cod, seeing as that's what you ate in the river."
Sonic had the decency to look a little bashful. "Hey! I couldn't help it! They looked too good to resist!" Shadow shook his head fondly and led them both to the couch. They sat side by side, with Sonic cuddled into Shadow's side. Shadow told stories of the missions he was on, what everyone was up to, and such over the winter while Sonic ate his food.
They stayed like that till it was evening, food gone and flowers browning at the tips where it sat on the coffee table. Sonic was like a cat, his warm body laying on Shadow as he licked and groomed the white chest fluff happily. Shadow laid on his back, quills splayed out like an inky halo. He knew he would never be able to, but if he could, he would be purring up a storm right now.
Chaos, he loved his life right now.
Shadow couldn't help but think of Maria. The survivor's guilt he felt was now only hanging around his head like a small cloud, where it was once a raging tornado in his whole body, constantly consuming his thoughts. He had a feeling this is what Maria talked about Shadow wanting. About what he needed.
He would never complain.