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Sonic frowned at the mess on the counter, tapping his foot. Flour coated every available surface, including his own fur. It hovered in the air in places, slowly drifting down to land on the disastrous attempt at making lasagna that currently laid in pieces. He'd been trying to make the noodles the right way; combining flour and eggs and whatever else the recipe called for, then smushing it through a roller... thingy. What he'd ended up with was a huge sheet of dough, too thick to be suitable for the meal but too thin to move without breaking it. After trying a bite and immediately regretting it, he'd deemed this batch a failure.
Maybe he was supposed to cook it? He figured that would happen when he put the finished product in the oven, if he ever got to that point.
So he'd tried again. And again. Strips of raw dough were draped over random cabinet doors, lining the kitchen in a somewhat revolting display. Each time he tried, it only got worse and worse until he eventually got irritated and dumped a large pile of flour onto some eggs, resulting in what could only be described as a mushroom cloud. A large, very fine, very difficult to clean mushroom cloud. And it didn't taste good, either.
Though not from the flour, his nose twitched, and he couldn't quite place the smell. Was it the still-raw ground beef he hadn't even had the chance to touch yet? No, that was still safely in a covered bowl, protected from the miniature storm of flour. Could it be the cheese? Nope– he hadn't even gotten it out of the fridge yet. Maybe it was the sauce, but pureed tomatoes, garlic, and onions shouldn't smell... burnt?
Oh dear.
The blue hedgehog whipped around and immediately inhaled a lungful of flour, hacking and coughing while waving a hand in front of his face. On the stovetop, he could see the metal pan filled with a red sludge, right where it should be. Unfortunately, the sauce was supposed to be in the pot, not boiling over the side and smoking profusely.
Sonic yelped and turned the stove off quickly, gingerly tapping the pan's handle with a finger and finding it too hot to touch. He groaned in frustration only for a piercing beep to cut through the air, making him jump. The oven was helpfully letting him know that it had finished pre-heating, and was ready for the pan of lasagna that should have been done by now, but instead was still completely unassembled on the counter. The oven's lower door opened automatically, simultaneously hitting Sonic's shin and releasing a wave of heat that nearly singed his fur, along with instantly making every single quill on the back of his head poof out.
He closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose, in and out. Without a word, he reached down and closed the oven door before slowly exiting the room, heading to the small gym he and Shadow had. Their house wasn't large, by any means, but they were fortunate enough to have a basement with plenty of space for a treadmill and a weights bench, along with a quiet, quilted corner for reading. While Sonic preferred to spend his time outdoors, the basement was more or less Shadow's territory. Not that Sonic was unwelcome, of course; he just liked sunlight more than his recluse of a boyfriend did.
Trudging down the stairs, Sonic pulled his phone out and opened a mobile food delivery app. "Hey, Shads?" He called, hearing the clang of metal barbells pause a moment later as he paused halfway down the staircase. "What do you want for lunch?"
Soft footsteps followed before Shadow appeared at the foot of the stairs, looking up at the blue hedgehog quizzically. He was only wearing a pair of athletic shorts and holding a water bottle, with a damp towel around his neck. His white tuft of chest fur was tousled, his quills a little disheveled from exertion. The dark hedgehog was panting lightly, and he looked...
Gorgeous, Sonic thought dreamily, totally missing the words that came out of Shadow's mouth. Focus, Sonic.
"What?"
Shadow, as if sensing Sonic's distraction, snorted. "I said, weren't you making lunch?" His crimson eyes darted up and down Sonic's fur, noting the light dusting of baking material. "Did the flour attack you? Or is that baking soda?"
With a huff, Sonic crossed his arms. "I... messed it up. Bad. It would just be easier if we ordered from somewhere else."
The dark hedgehog's lips curled up in a smirk. "I should've known I couldn't trust you with lunch," he said, beginning his ascent up the stairs. "Why don't you start cleaning up your mess? I'll shower real quick, and I'll make it, okay?"
Sonic hung his head in resignation, disappointed in himself for only a moment before Shadow paused, standing on the same step Sonic was on. He gently lifted Sonic's chin with two fingers and smiled warmly, leaning forward to kiss him a moment later. It was short-lived, but the blue hedgehog relished every second of it, committing to memory the faintly salty taste of the other's lips. He both hated and loved how Shadow could make his knees weak with a single action like that, and it was almost made worse by the fact that Shadow knew the effect he had on Sonic.
Before Sonic knew it, he heard water running from upstairs, and he was still standing on the stairs like an idiot. Cursing himself, he climbed back up the remaining steps and re-entered the kitchen, where the cloud of flour had startled to settle. The very action of walking into the room created a big enough breeze to stir it, so he stepped lightly and carefully. The first thing he did was open the windows and set up a box fan, just to try and give the flour somewhere to go. Once he'd done that, he wet a rag and wiped up the thin layer of flour that covered the counters, grabbing a mop to get the floors next. The final step was to clean up the "sauce" on the stove, which was, by now, burnt beyond recognition. At least it came up in hard, black chunks, making it easier to clean up.
By the time Shadow got out and was dressed, the kitchen was... almost like new. There was still a faint haze of white powder in the air, but even that was fading. The dark hedgehog smiled again when he walked in, looking around and placing his hands on his hips like Sonic had done renovations on the room. "It looks better in here," he said, chuckling. "I had to walk through to get to the bathroom. How do you even manage to burn sauce that badly?"
"I–" Sonic started, slamming his mouth shut when Shadow raised an eyebrow, realizing he was being goaded. "I don't have to explain myself to you," he said snootily, turning his nose up and looking away from his boyfriend. He cracked an eye open to see Shadow grinning at him before the dark hedgehog took a few steps forward and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Go pick something to watch while we eat," he instructed. "Food will be ready soon."
Sonic groaned and rested his forehead on Shadow's shoulder. "Fiiiiiine," he said, shooting the dark hedgehog a bright-eyed smile as he turned to walk out of the room. "Love you."
"Love you too," Shadow replied, turning slightly pink before turning back to the counter and murmuring to himself, inspecting whatever remained of the cooking supplies that Sonic hadn't used or destroyed.
Various clinks and clanks could be heard from the other room while Sonic sat down on the couch, picking up the remote and browsing the few streaming services they had before sighing. He sat up and crossed the room, to where they had a shelf filled with DVDs, running a finger horizontally along the titles until he found the one he wanted. With a satisfied hum, the blue hedgehog turned their old DVD player on, switching the TV's channel to it a second later. The ads started playing, ads he and Shadow both knew by heart from the sheer number of times they'd watched this movie.
Within a few minutes (a notably shorter time than it took Sonic to even prepare one of the dough balls for flattening), the oven beeped again. The blue hedgehog heard the door swing open, followed by the clatter of Shadow placing the glass container in the heated box. It snapped shut, there was some more beeping, and then footsteps coming into the room behind Sonic.
Hands slid down Sonic's arms, and Shadow's face eclipsed the light when the blue hedgehog looked up. Their fingers naturally slid together as they simply smiled at each other; Shadow leaning over the back of the couch while Sonic cranked his neck backwards to meet his eyes. The sweet, floral scent of the dark hedgehog's lavender quill conditioner drifted into Sonic's nose, and he inhaled deeply with a sigh. "You smell good," he murmured, lifting his hands high enough to hold them to his chest, taking Shadow's with the motion.
The dark hedgehog grinned and turned pink again, bending forward so that his head was resting on Sonic's shoulder, lips right next to the blue hedgehog's ear. "You do too," he whispered, audibly licking his lips and sending shivers down Sonic's spine. He began pressing light kisses to Sonic's jawline, slowly and methodically working his way down, just enough to get a quiet gasp out of Sonic, before lifting his head. The blue hedgehog turned just enough to meet Shadow's lips with his own, pushing his head forward and making Shadow push back, turning the energy between them from warm into sizzles and shivers.
At that moment, the oven cried out with a loud beep, informing both hedgehogs that the lasagna was done. Shadow was gone in an instant, leaving Sonic grasping at air and feeling cold, though it didn't last long. The dark hedgehog quickly returned with two plates, each heaped with a steaming pile of delicious-looking food; much better than what Sonic could have ever made. With his thumbs, he held the forks in place against the side of the plate, carefully handing the dish to Sonic as he sat down next to his boyfriend.
He pressed play on the movie while they ate in comfortable silence, only punctuated by noises from the opening sequence or the quiet clinking of their silverware against the plate. The noodles were the perfect thickness, and tasted far superior to the one Sonic had tried earlier ("You didn't cook it!? Sonic! Those are raw eggs!"). The meat was wonderfully seasoned, the cheese exquisitely melted, and of course, the sauce. The sauce did not resemble coal, and for that, it tasted the best out of anything in the meal.
Both plates were empty within ten minutes and set on the coffee table, and Sonic returned his attention to the movie. He knew most of the lines, and could have told the story play-by-play in his sleep. Shadow also possessed this ability and love for the film, but he wasn't mouthing along the lines with the actors like he normally did. Instead, he kept glancing over at Sonic with a smirk, then inching closer. At first, Sonic had thought he was just adjusting or getting more comfortable, but the dark hedgehog was definitely closer than he had been at the beginning of the movie.
In the space of a few minutes, Shadow's shoulder was touching Sonic's. The blue hedgehog glanced at him, amused, before Shadow fully gave up on pretending and fully laid down in Sonic's lap, resting his head on blue thighs.
Sonic chuckled quietly through his nose, not wasting any time in moving his hand to Shadow's quills and stroking slowly, running his fingers through the black and red highlights. A loud purr started up, one that set a rumbling in Sonic's chest going as well. He hadn't been one to purr much before he met Shadow, who in contrast, purred like a chainsaw with a cold.
"You're so clingy," Sonic said affectionately, using his other hand to rub Shadow's ear. It twitched under his fingers, and the purr grew louder.
"Are you complaining?" Shadow asked, the smile in his voice clear as day. He lifted his head for only a moment before settling it back down, nuzzling his way towards comfort.
Sonic grinned warmly, curling forward and pressing a soft kiss to Shadow's cheek before sitting up, re-focusing himself on the movie.
"Not at all."