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Shadow had been left waiting for a long time.
He kept his and Sonic’s home in perfect order, maintained it as a village sprung up not too far away from where he and Sonic once called home together.
Before Shadow knew it, the village had become a town, and then a city which had many things of interest when he cared to move about the place and interact with mobians as Shadow knew complete isolation wasn't good for his psyche, and he needed to at least socialise enough to know about the world outside of his home.
The museum was a place that Shadow frequented as there were some things in there that caught his attention from time to time. Whether artwork or oddity that grabbed his attention from time to time. He was well known enough by the staff that sometimes they'd ask him whatever question of some historical object they'd obtained and Shadow on occasion would know enough to help them in their task of preservation.
The tours were almost fun to go on, to listen to them speak of times and events that had happened, as well as artworks that were from times long past. Shadow did his best to blend in with the public, though there were times where he'd inevitably be caught out and asked questions by someone. He never worked at the museum, and the staff almost always seemed eager to bring him cooked meals or they’d be donating clothing, bedding and other materials to help Shadow through the winters.
Shadow was sitting in the main eatery that was there for anyone who was hungry, a place to rest before going through and looking at more of the collection before his ears twitched at the sound of a familiar voice, Shadow tensing as he turned to follow the source, eyes widening as he saw…
“Sonic!”
Shadow breathed his beloved’s name, and he felt rooted to the spot, before he moved carefully, keeping the group in sight, unsure of the moment, wanting to at least sweep Sonic off of his feet like he’d asked.
Shadow made his way along, following Sonic and three other mobians who were a group of clear friends of his from this lifetime, as Shadow didn’t recognise any of them.
Their conversation drifted over towards him.
“... that ain't my speed, never felt like I needed it, ya know.” Sonic’s voice filled Shadow’s ears in soothing familiar tones, “Besides ya act like romance is th’ drivin’ force o’ life! Jus’ eat ice cream an’ watch bad rom coms like Bunnie!”
The other mobian, a chipmunk, snorted, giggling at his words, “She's in a relationship, you goof!”
Sonic rubbed the back of his head with a paw, messing up his quills a little. “Whoops…” he grinned, the chipmunk just playfully rolling her eyes as she looked away, both of their gazes landing on the other two mobians.
“...Why did we come with them?” Sonic asked as the chipmunk shrugged her shoulders.
“We should have stayed home the moment we found out Roter wasn’t coming.” she sighed as the two watched their other two friends be in their own little world. Shadow's ears lifted up slightly, clearly able to listen in despite the fact he preferred to listen to Sonic’s voice.
Shadow realised that he had yet to work out how to sweep Sonic off of his feet, and nervous energy gnawed at him until he decided to throw caution into the wind, and be as spontaneous as his mate had been, besides Shadow didn’t think that there’d be a script for their first meeting anyway.
Shadow walked with purpose, moving with ease as he came to the group, Sonic making a joke and the reply of his name confirmed it for Shadow who came to Sonic’s side, his friends all surprised to see him come over to their group as Shadow for his part was focused on the details of Sonic’s expression, “Hello,” Shadow said with a small smile, “I was wondering who was making such a funny joke, I thought it was a handsome ‘hog.”
Sonic looked awed, and almost dropped the chilli dog he was holding, his jaw almost dropping as his friends seemed to be in awe, “Uh, yeah… uh, uh…” Sonic tried to speak, his eyes widened as he regarded Shadow, “H- hi - h- hi…”
“Sonic! Oh my Gaia!” One of them said as Shadow chuckled softly, his tail flicking slightly as he did so. Catching Sonic looking him over made Shadow feel vindicated that he was indeed ‘sweeping’ Sonic off of his feet a little, a far cry from their first meeting where they had gotten into a fight.
Shadow preferred this over that one and he also found it somewhat amusing that Sonic was stumbling over his words though for Shadow, he knew that the Sonic before him wasn’t the exact same as the one he’d known, so he wanted to get to know this Sonic.
Shadow spent some time getting to know the new Sonic, from the technology that made his world possible, to the gathering of plushies that jokingly were referred to as Sonic’s children, as Sonic moved into the house that Shadow owned, and the pair began to build a life together again.
Shadow had been happy for the time that he got to spend with Sonic, getting seventy-five years together before ultimately Sonic succumbed to age.
Shadow for his part wept as he held Sonic in his arms, as Sonic had remembered towards the end of his life, the previous one coming back as Shadow did everything that he could to make Sonic comfortable towards the twilight years of the latter’s life.
It was clear to Shadow that Sonic had been content, and known how much Shadow had loved him. Even so, Shadow knew that he would miss his mate… and he would miss the warmth that they shared.
And Shadow knew that the wait had begun again.