Chapter Text
It had taken some finagling, but Sonic had managed to get the house to himself. He'd faked a cough for Tails and Knuckles, and though they both gave him slightly odd looks neither of them had asked any extra questions.
Tom and Maddie had required slightly more explanation, and when he'd said that he wanted to have Shadow over, they'd immediately shared a glance that Sonic didn't understand. And then they'd had a conversation that had left his ears bright pink and ended with him crossing his heart and hoping to die that there would be Exactly None of Those Shenanigans Whatsoever.
With that promise, he'd been left to his own devices, at least until 9 o'clock when the rest of the family would be home again, and he'd whirled to get ready. Not just himself, but the house, and his...surprise.
Shadow was exactly punctual. Sonic wasn't sure how, since he'd never seen the black hedgehog carry a watch, but on the other hand when you could teleport maybe that didn't matter.
And that wasn't what he wanted to think about tonight anyhow, when he opened the door and Shadow was standing there, a few snowflakes dusting his dark quills and glittering in the light that spilled out on the snow from the hallway. Sonic might have stood there with his mouth hanging open for more than a few seconds until Shadow glanced at him.
“Aren't you going to invite me in?”
“Oh! Yeah, yeah, sorry! Come on in Shadow!” Sonic ushered him into the hall.
He'd made a passable dinner, which Shadow didn't comment on either way (Sonic took that as a win, since he'd previously gotten some very...interesting faces from Tails and Knuckles and some gentle corrections to his cooking from Tom and Maddie), and then he couldn't wait any more.
“I have a surprise for you!” Sonic tugged Shadow up towards the attic, the black hedgehog staring at when Sonic's hand was holding his.
“A surprise?”
“Yeah!” Sonic hesitated halfway up the stairs, glancing back, “Uh...nothing real fancy or anything. Um. Hope you like it?”
Shadow huffed slightly, “Just show me, hedgehog.”
“Okay.” It wasn't in the attic, as Sonic darted up and out of the skylight, Shadow following right behind him.
The snow had covered the roof deeply, and up here you couldn't see any house lights. All electric lights were obscured by trees and snow.
Which made the candles much more beautiful, Sonic thought.
He'd ringed the roof with them, sparkly white candles, the real ones too, not fake electric ones, and all of them flickered with real, warm light that made the snow look like it, too was on fire. The flakes in the air glittered, dancing in the tiniest breeze and the exhalations of steam from their mouths and noses before joining their fellows on the rooftop below.
“Oh...” he heard Shadow breath next to him, and Sonic turned, only to be met with an expression of wonder on the black hedgehog's face.
He was looking up, and Sonic followed his gaze.
The light from the candles only just touched the trees around them, almost feeling like they were in a dark cave, surrounded by fairies, wheeling and dancing, or maybe like they were standing in one of Maddie's snow globes that were decorating the mantleplace...it was...mesmerizing.
“It's like diamonds...” Shadow breathed next to him, and Sonic nodded.
“Yeah...not quite the stars but...” he looked back at Shadow with a soft smile, “I thought it was pretty.”
Shadow didn't look down again until Sonic reached into his quills and pulled out a ribbon. It was pink, almost red but not quite, the fabric soft and silky against Sonic's fur.
“Um...I got you this.”
Shadow finally looked down, his expression unreadable as Sonic thrust the ribbon at him, his cheeks almost the same color as the fabric, “I don't know...if you wanted to wear it but I thought you'd look pretty too.”
Shadow blinked, before looking up at Sonic, and then gently took the ribbon from him, “You got me...a present?”
“Well...yeah...” Sonic gave a shrug, “It's Christmas and...you know...boyfriends are supposed to get each other presents?”
Shadow's expression fell, “I didn't get you anything...”
“You came to see me.” Sonic smiled, “That's plenty.”
Shadow looked at him and then back down at the ribbon, and then back at him again, before he reached up and tied the ribbon around his head. It didn't pull back his quills much—acting more like a headband than a hair tie—but the color made the red in his eyes shine in the warm light, “Thank you.”
And then he leaned forward, cupping Sonic's cheek, and kissed him, and Sonic's heart danced to the same tune of the snowflakes around them, and Shadow's tiny smile when he pulled away was as warm as the candles.
“And we didn't even need mistletoe...”