Archive of Our Own

Shadow huffed amusedly to himself, as the hybrid wistfully reminisced over the events of the last few months.

As winter melted into spring, Shadow's affections towards a certain blue hedgehog melted into something stronger. Growing just as the plants themselves began too, sprouting into something fresh and new. The same as before, except now it unburied itself from the snow, and was finally given the opportunity to bloom.

To think.. What began as some petty bet in an attempt to one up each other, now became a very real and solid relationship.

Shadow couldn't remember a time he was more happy, even if his choice in partner also happened to be one of the most annoying creatures on the planet. Shadow wouldn't change it for the world, him? Maybe. Over time, but for now Shadow could just happily bite his tongue and let Sonic be the most charming pain in his ass, whom he loved dearly despite it all.

So much had happened after their new years confession and kiss, as the months built, so did their relationship. The two decided to move (in most people’s opinions) rather fast, (which was normal for them anyways.) And after only a month of dating, Shadow decided he would move into Sonic's small home.

The decision came naturally to the two, Sonic rarely lived there outside of winter anyway. Using the house more for storage, cooking and gardening than anything else.

So Shadow took his small amount of belongings, hugged his ex-roommate goodbye (though very reluctantly, her having to beg, before Shadow gave in with a feigned sigh of fake exasperation) and officially moved out of their shared apartment.

It was nice being out of the city, it was too loud anyways, and hopefully now Shadow would be able to sleep peacefully without the constant bustle of the city below him.

Or so he thought..

Turns out Sonic the hedgehog was an absolute pain to sleep next too, (which Shadow should have assumed in the first place) snoring, taking up most of the bed as he spread out, sleep talking, drooling…

occasional night terrors that left the hero shooting up in bed, screaming, crying and shaking whilst breaking out in an intense cold sweat.

Shadow hadn't found it in himself to tell Sonic of his night terrors. Instead opting to just lay awake and sooth the half-asleep hedgehog back into restful slumber. Sonic would only be embarrassed about it if Shadow brought it up, and so, with great reluctance he hadn't…

...Understandably, Shadow needed his own room.

He had brought it up to Sonic, explaining the reasons above and leaving out the little terror details. After a little bit of disagreement and back and forth on Sonic's end, the hero agreed to clear up the spare room for Shadow to sleep in.

The space between the bathroom and kitchen wasn't big, but it would function for its intended use of storage and sleep.

Therefore Shadow tried not to complain… not much anyways.

Having separate rooms (while uncommon for most romantic partners) turned out to be an extremely good move on their part. The two now able to go at least one morning, without biting each other's head off due to a lack of restful sleep.

Not to mention the small thrill of any night decidedly spent curled up together, feeling as if it were a fun sleepover. Whilst still having their own space, as the two often needed time alone to recuperate and decompress, so as to not get overwhelmed or overstimulated too frequently.

Shadow could get used to this, he thought. Continuing his reminiscing, whilst curled up on the deck-chair Sonic had gotten for their front porch with Shadow in mind. Along with a chair for himself and a nice circular wooden table, perfect for their morning tea's or coffee's, their mornings spent together, reading and watching the wildlife, like an honest to god’s married couple.

A small comfort Shadow once never thought possible, the life Maria had surely wished for him to have on earth.

Finally, after years of suffering and turmoil, internalised anger causing weeds to grow in the garden of his soul. Now, with the help of a few chosen and trusted individuals, Shadow was able to pull those weeds, and allow his internal garden to flourish once more.

Shadow allowed himself a small wistful smile, as his eyes roamed over Sonic and his, recently re-planted garden.

Amused at the memory of the two of them planting it, with the help of Blaze and Silver.

Shadow and Silver had been having a rather nice casual conversation, as they knelt down to cover the roots of various plants with soil. When the two turned their heads at the sudden familiar voice breaking through the air in a mischievous shout of “HEY GUYS!!” Before the two hedgehogs had to cover their faces to avoid being spurted in the eyes with water.

Sonic, having grabbed the hose from the side of the house, laying a finger over the nozzle to cause it to fan out, as he bravely drenched the two powerful hedgehogs playfully. Cackling as he did so, with Blaze shaking her head from her place behind him, in a silent disagreement towards the blue menaces actions.

“I promise, I tried to convince him not to!” She had softly shouted in the two (now rather drenched) hedgehogs directions.

Sonic clearly knew better than to wet the fire princess, but obviously didn't realise the mistake of his actions, in drenching the other two hedgehogs.

Silver had psychokinetically pulled a small lake's worth of water out of the hose, hovering it menacingly over the doomed hero's head. Turning to Shadow with a wicked smirk, Silver giving Sonic's partner a look, as if asking permission to essentially drown Shadow's favorite menace. With a nod of approval from the hybrid, Silver did just that, narrowly avoiding drenching Blaze as he did so.

Shadow had chuckled along with Silver's loud hearty cackle, watching Sonic sputter with a “Hey!! No fair!!!” As if he himself hadn't started it in the first place.

The small cost of wasting water was so worth it, as Sonic stood there looking like nothing short of a sad wet cat. Before the hero's annoyance at retaliation turned into a cunning smirk, the hero had lunged to shake himself around like a wet dog, chasing the other two around with wicked laughter.

“Hey” the soft-spoken voice snapped Shadow out of his reminisced stupor. Shadow turned to acknowledge his partner, as Sonic continued with his question. “You looked a little far away there.” He chuckled, “You ready to go?”

Shadow nodded with a hum and stood from his seat, grabbing the bag from his side, and swinging it over his shoulder. “Ready.” He stated, giving Sonic a quick peck on the cheek while passing, as he made his way towards the porch steps.

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A few weeks back, Sonic had invited Shadow to tag along on his, Knuckles and Tails's annual “guys camping trip”. An activity Shadow was previously unaware of, his relationship with the hero slowly opening him up to the more interesting aspects of Sonic's life.

Shadow couldn't say he had ever willingly been on a camping trip before, the only thing coming close in comparison, being during his occasional missions for G.U.N.

Even though he found himself nervous to be sleeping in such close proximity to others, Shadow also found himself simultaneously quite excited. Finally, he would be able to take part in some semblance of normalcy, and experience another part of domestic life his ultimate lifeform status previously robbed him of.

The two ran at a leisurely pace, (for them anyway) blue and yellow streaks trailing behind the two speedy hedgehogs, as they made their way to Tails's workshop.

The young fox's face split into a wide grin, the moment he swung the door open to answer the cheerful series of knocks Sonic tapped into the sturdy wood.

“GUYS TRIP!!” The two brothers chanted in unison, clenching their fists in front of their chests in perfect sync, and shaking them in bursts of over-excited stimming.

The two took off, Shadow watching them with a quirked brow of confused amusement, as the two raced each other towards the tornado with unfiltered excitement.

The flight to their designated camping spot wasn't a long one, the three deciding to meet up with the echidna guardian at the camp location and not his island.

By the time the small group got there, Knuckles was already waiting for them. Slowly working on placing rocks in a carefully constructed circle for their future campfire.

“Took ya's long enough.” The echidna grumbled, no real bite behind his words.

“Yeah yeah, nice to see you too, ya big lug!” Sonic teased with a chuckle, and tested his luck by picking up a stick and chucking it in Knuckle's direction. The warrior caught it with ease and threw it right back, smacking the hero in the forehead causing him to yelp.

Shadow chuckled lightheartedly at his partner's well deserved revenge, earning him a soft smack to the arm from Sonic. Shadow lowered his gaze over to the fox on the other side of Sonic, as Tails covered his mouth with both hands to stifle his own laughter. Lest the inventor also be on the receiving end of his hero brothers ire.

Post-setup Shadow let his crimson eyes roam over their series of camping supplies, giving them another once over to make sure the group had everything they needed.

“Did you pack any food that's not marshmallows?” Shadow questioned his partner.

“No need!” Sonic replied with a knowing grin, “There is a lake just up from here, and plenty of foragable fruits and vegetables in the forest too!”

Sonic's excited smile and shimmering emeralds, gave Shadow the smallest sliver of hope for their future meal.. But only an extremely small one.

“And prey tell, Sonic. How do you expect to fish anything, when you didn't even pack a rod.” Shadow scolded.

“I'll just make one!” Sonic answered lightheartedly.

Sonic reached into cobalt quills, ruffling them around a moment, before finding what he was looking for, and holding it up for his partner to see.

Sonic held a covered whittler's knife in between his thumb and forefinger, wiggling it around as he showed it off.

“I'll carve and build it myself, I learned how to do it ages ago.”

Shadow did not feel overly trusting of Sonic's confident words. However, knowing that he himself didn't exactly need to eat, and the only ones who would suffer the self-inflicted starvation would be his partner and their friends. Shadow offered a shrug of reluctant acceptance.

“Knock yourself out.” Shadow grunted, before turning back to the supplies he was previously going over.

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Turns out, Sonic was true to his word, as the group made their way off towards the lake together. Sonic ended up taking off with Knuckles beforehand, the two separating to forage and collect resources, while Shadow and Tails continued on the trail towards the lake.

Once the two finally made their way back to join the lifeform and fox, they had collected just the right amount of supplies to last their small group the evening.

An hour later, Sonic sat on a rock shelf beside where Shadow lazily soaked atop one of the large rocks submerged in the lake, with the cool water just coming above the hybrid's hips. As the hero prattled on about all kinds of survivalist and foraging techniques, hands busy whittling away at his hand-made rod.

Shadow hummed to acknowledge his partner while he listened, feeling as if he could fall asleep in the warm glow of the sun on his ebony fur, warmth seeping into the skin below. Shadow leaned his head back, splaying his upturned quills around his head, as it met with another rock that sat behind him.

The lake had many rocks both inside and out of it, making for good sunbathing spots. Enjoyable despite how chagrined it made the young fox that he couldn't cannonball into the water, at least not without gravely injuring himself.

Shadow had been enjoying his peaceful baking, allowing his eyes to slip closed, as his partner's soft, deep voice lulled him into a calm almost-slumber.

Riiiigghhhtt before it was abruptly ruined.

Shadow shot up from his spot of rest, as a large splash of freezing cold water shot up his nose. The hybrid narrowed his eyes in a death-glare towards the giggling fox standing a meter away in the lake. Tails's face had broken out in a wide grin, due to his own bravely stupid shananagans.

“Got you Shadow!” Tails hollared playfully.

“Please don't kill him.” Was Sonic's only words of protest, as Shadow swiftly dived after the hero's adoptive fox brother with a shout of “No promises!”.

Seeking out his revenge towards the kit, Shadow growled in mock-fury, grabbing the young kit as he laughed and spluttered while trying to make his hasty exit from the lake. Splashing Shadow more as he struggled in the lifeforms tight grip.

Tails's spluttered laughs filled their surrounding area, while Sonic and Knuckles both chuckled to themselves from their respective spots, as they watched the wholesome scene play out.

“Okay, hey, hey!” Sonic called out from where he sat on the rock shelf, “That's enough you two! Knuckles, can you split them up please?”

Knuckles rolled his eyes as he made his way over to where Shadow had playfully (albeit rather roughly) shoved Tails's head underwater. Separating the two with little effort, and throwing Tails over his swole shoulder, whilst giving Shadow a dirty look.

Knuckles pointed his ungloved hand towards his own violet eyes with two fingers, before jutting them towards Shadow with narrowed eyes. Shadow's response was a sassy shrug at the echidna with a twist to his expression, as Knuckles turned to exit the water, huffy young fox in tow.

Shadow turned to face his partner with an unserious scowl, Sonic returning his expression with an exasperated shake of his head. Before Sonic braced himself with one knee and stood with a grunt, the hero then stretched both arms over his head, and made his way around the lake towards the deeper water the fish resided in. Far enough away from the ruckus of the rest of the groups earlier tussle.

Shadow's crimson eyes followed as Sonic sat back down in his new spot, his own handmade rod in tow as he prepared to catch their supper for the evening.

He looked beautiful like that, Shadow couldn't help thinking to himself.

Sonic's cobalt quills practically shimmered, the reflection of the sun bouncing off the lake, making him glow in a way Shadow had never witnessed before. Little rainbow spots of glimmer, sprinkled over Sonic's fur-covered body like freckles, the light mesmerising and enchanting.

Shadow reluctantly ripped his gaze away from his ethereal partner, coughing into his own fist with a flush, as Knuckles gave the lifeform a knowing look, while he trudged back into the water. Having dropped Tails off outside the water before returning himself. The kit sat at the edge of the lake with his arms crossed and a pouty expression, clearly not happy about being essentially put in a “time out” by the echidna.

💫✨️💖🏕💖✨️💫

After a few hours spent splashing around and relaxing at the lake, the group finally decided it was time to make their way back to camp. The sun was just beginning to set below the tree line, as Knuckles announced his departure.

“I'll go up ahead and take the supplies me and Sonic gathered,” Knuckles explained, “I'll meet the rest of you back up there.”

“Sonic and I.” Shadow bluntly corrected, the sass earning him a punishing elbow to the side from his partner.

“See you up there Knux.” Sonic returned kindly with a wave, decidedly ignoring the sharp, pointed glare Shadow stabbed him with.

Tails skipped alongside the two hedgehogs, once they decided to walk the relatively short distance back to the campsite. Sonic idly chatted away at his brother, as the two went over how Sonic planned to cook dinner and roast marshmallows. Shadow listened in quietly with a fond expression, feeling relaxation deep in his bones from their earlier swim at the lake.

Once the group were finally reunited at the site, Sonic took to rummaging through their earlier gathered supplies, laying them out neatly as he appraised them.

Shadow walked up behind his busied partner, leaning over him to observe the unwrapped fruits, veggies and herbs. His crimson eyes catching on a relatively large gathering of purple flowers Sonic had tied together.

“What's with all the lavender?” Shadow questioned his partner, whilst pointing towards the pile.

“Oh! I thought we could take those home, and I can try to make that lavender honey syrup you were tellin me about.” Sonic smiled at Shadow, the hybrid flushing under the soft attention of his partner.

“Hey Shadow?” Shadow lifted his head to acknowledge Knuckles, “You good to go and grab some wood for the fire?” The echidna asked, as politely as he could with his naturally gruff tone.

“Sure.” Shadow replied flatly, standing up straight and needlessly brushing himself off.

“Ooh! I'll come with!” Sonic perched up where he sat, ears pointing up towards the sky to display his eagerness. “I'm plenty capable of doing it on my own.” Shadow huffed, offended that his partner assume he needed help with such a simple task.

“Shadow's right Sonic, he's strong enough to do it alone.” Shadow puffed up proudly with Knuckles praise, “Plus, aren't you busy setting up to make dinner?” The echidna accused.

“Exactly, thank you Knuckles.” Shadow huffed, much to Sonic's chagrin.

Sonic stood up with a roll of emerald eyes, saundering his way up close to Shadow, and leaning in to whisper into his partners ear. Hand covering the side of his muzzle to stifle his words as he did so.

“Shadow,” the hero hissed, frustrated at his partners density, “I'm trying to find us an excuse to leave together so we can go makeout.”

Shadow's ears perched up at this, the hybrids eyes blowing wide, as his mind blanked and filled with thoughts of running off to a private area, and slamming his partner against the nearest tree. His face significantly reddened at the arousing thought, causing Shadow to clear the lump in his throat before correcting his prior words.

“I mean..” Shadow started, “I s-suppose some help maybe nice.” He tried to say it in a steady voice, however, it cracked embarrassingly regardless.

Knuckles rolled his eyes, throwing his head back with a deep groan of exasperation, “Look.” The echidna began, “I know you two are just looking for an excuse to go make out, I'll cover for you. Just be quick about it.” He huffed, while making sure Sonic's young brother was out of earshot.

“You da man Knux!” Sonic winked at his friend, throwing him a finger gun with one hand, whilst the other pushed Shadow firmly towards the forrest, the hand splayed out between the hybrids back quills.

Shadow grunted and threw his partner a twisted grumpy look over his shoulder, lifting his arms upwards in a gesture of ‘hey! What gives!’ as Sonic roughly shoved him along, while Shadow dug his heels in stubbornly. Sonic turned and swiftly moved in front of Shadow, gripping his partners hand and pulling him into the stretch of trees lining the campsite.

They ran for a couple minutes, Shadow needing to force back the urge to giggle like a lovesick schoolgirl, as the two partnered hedeghogs ran hand-in-hand through the wooded area.

When they decidedly got far enough away from their campsite, Shadow made the first move and roughly shoved Sonic against a large tree. Pinning the hero by the shoulders, and gripping onto them tightly as Sonic smirked down at him.

“You're such a pest.” Shadow grumbled, still slightly frustrated with his partner for embarrassing him in front of their warrior friend.

“Awhh, you love it.” Sonic smirked around a chuckle.

Shadow didn't let his troublesome partner get another word in, instead curling his hands around the back of Sonic's neck below his quills, and pulling him in for a deep and heated lip-lock.

Shadow refused to let his partner know that he did indeed, love it.

Only Sonic the hedgehog was capable of rileing him up this bad, and still have him coming back for more. Shadow hated it, he loved it, he needed more, deeper.

Shadow tilted his head to the side, moving Sonic's along with him where Shadow still firmly held onto him by the back of the neck. Fingers intertwining behind it in order to hold him steady, and give Shadow control of their angle. They both groaned in unison between their open mouths, tongues meeting with a tingley sensation Shadow was growing to love.

The two males carried on like that for a long while, petting and grinding against one another, as their mouths met over and over. Only parting for mere milliseconds, to breath each other's air deeply, before hungrily slotting together once again.

After another ten minutes of that, Shadow finally pulled away from his partner, breathing out in short greedy huffs. Sonic followed him with a whine as he did. Shadow chuckled while he placed a hand against Sonic's plump chest to hold him back.

“We should probably do the job we were actually sent out here to do, hedgehog.” Shadow warned.

Sonic whined low in his throat, “ughhh, do we have to?”

“Yes.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

💫✨️💖🏕💖✨️💫

Sonic pouted childishly the whole time the two gathered firewood, forcing Shadow to hide his slowly growing smirk of amusement towards his partner's ridiculous behaviour.

“We can make out more, once we are back in the privacy of our own home.” Shadow reassured his grumbly partner. Sonic huffing in response, “Yeahh, I know. But that’s forever awaayy..” he whined rather pathetically, earning a low chuckle from Shadow. “Your patience needs work.” He replied simply, his tone amused even if it was supposed to come out more sturn.

When the two paired hedgehogs made their way back to camp, they both immediately busied themselves with setup.

Sonic getting to work on prepping the fire for dinner, and Shadow helping Tails and Knuckles, to set up a rather large tent for the lot of them to sleep in.

Tails was struggling to reach certain areas without flying, whilst Knuckles struggled with following the young kits confusing directions. Shadow also found himself struggling as he helped the pair, given that the lifeform wasn't exactly the tallest himself, had it not been for the height his airshoe's heels gave him.

Tails tried to fly above the tent several times, but found he kept knocking into it with his namesakes, causing the young inventor to become quite frustrated. Grumbling to himself, as the adults of the group tried their best to help him out.

‘Tails definitely inherited Sonic's temper, that's for sure.’ Shadow couldn't help thinking. Completely ignoring the truth of his own anger problems in the process.

As sunset shifted into dusk, the group of three finally finished their frustrating task. Putting up the tent (in Shadow's opinion) took way longer than it needed to, the tempting smell of Sonic's cooking began wafting through the air towards them, by the time they finally made their way over to the fire.

The lot all sat down at once letting out a huff in unison, finally causing the cobalt hedgehog to look up from his work.

“Rough night fella's?” Sonic joked.

“Oh, screw you hedgehog.”
“Shut up.”
“Ughhh Sonic.”

They all grumbled at once, causing Sonic to laugh kindheartedly at their collective woes.

“Oof tough crowd.” The hero teased, clearly unbothered by the group's bemoaning.

After a while of watching Sonic cook, the group collectively became increasingly impatient, due to the intense hunger both swimming, and setting up the tent had caused them.

“Is it nearly done yet?” Tails moaned, the kits inherited impatience getting the better of him.

Sonic tutted him in response, “Can't rush art lil bro!” to that Tails quipped back, “Screw art, I'm hungry.” Causing Sonic to gasp, “Hey! Don't say screw!”

“Make me.” Tails grumbled sassily.

Sonic picked up a small stone and flicked it at his little brother's forehead, the fox yelping in return.

“When did you get so sassy? Who raised you!?...Actually... Don't answer that.” Sonic disengaged after that, turning back to the meal he was working on, and missing the tongue Tails childishly poked his way.

Shadow chuckled to himself at the exchange, before peacefully continuing to watch Sonic work.

💫✨️💖🏕💖✨️💫

The night dragged on steadily, now with full bellies and relaxed muscles, the group had begun idly chatting away whilst they waited for their food to settle.

Shadow sat in comfortable silence, feeling more than a little sleepy as he listened to the others, occasionally throwing in his two cents where it was warranted.

“Okay!” Sonic announced with a clap, waking Shadow from his comfortable stupor. “Who's ready for marshmallows!” He cheered. The other two responded with “Me, me, me!” in perfect sync, whilst Shadow only offered his partner an affirming grunt.

Shadow hoped maybe the sugar from his toasted marshmallows may wake him up a little, the ultimate lifeform feeling much like a grandpa, with how early he was already ready to turn in for the night.

They helped a little.

Shadow's crimson gaze wandered over towards his partner, watching as Sonic toasted his own once fluffy marshmallow to a burned crisp. Sonic watched it closely with a pink tongue poking out the corner of his mouth, causing Shadow's chest to grow tight with fondness, and perhaps a little cuteness aggression.

Shadow looked around subtly, making sure the other two members of their group weren't looking. Before carefully shuffling himself closer into Sonic's side, pressing his upper-arm flush against the cobalt hedgehog he adored.

Sonic turned to acknowledge his partner with a fond smile, earning him a quick, curt “Shutup.” from Shadow, as he avoided eye contact in favor of staring dangerously into the fire. Sonic shook his head without a word, continuing to smile softly as his focus turned back towards his own marshmallow.

As the hours dragged on and the fire's flame dwindled, so did the amount of marshmallows left over. Shadow's eyes began growing heavy as he watched the sparks crackle, the movement and smell of the fire calming him.

Shadow leaned his head heavily on Sonic's shoulder, no longer aware enough to worry about the others possibly watching him. As the hybrid slowly allowed his eyes to flutter shut over his crimson irises, his mouth hanging open subtly once his lids met the bottoms of his eyes.

Shadow didn't see the way Sonic fondly looked down at his partner's sleepy form, however he did feel Sonic press his own head against the top of his with a soft hum of contentment.

Shadow must have nodded off for a minute, the fire being completely gone by the time he opened his eyes once more. Leaving only the black ash behind, as proof it once existed.

“How long was I out?” Shadow questioned his partner, as the hybrid sat up to sleepily rub at his eyes.

“About an hour.” Sonic replied.

Shadow turned to face Sonic when the hero let out an amused huff, “Look at those two” Sonic pointed towards the direction of Tails and Knuckles. The two having fallen asleep with Knuckles leaning up against a log, head bowed against his own chest. While tails curled up with his head resting in the giant echidna's lap, one of the kit's hands sat atop his leg in a sleepy sort-of hug.

Shadow smiled softly towards the two, unable to keep the fondness from his features.

“Cute, right?” Sonic asked with a chuckle, Shadow responded with an affirmative hum. “I almost don't wanna wake em.”

“Then don't?” Shadow said back, questioning dripping within his tone. “Ahh, but I can't just leave 'em out here like that. Come on Shad's, help me get them to bed.” Sonic tapped his partner's thigh to say ‘come on!’ as he stood with a groan of effort.

The two hedgehogs managed to get the others to move into their sleeping bags with little to no issue. The two grumbled as they stumbled half-asleep into the tent, with Sonic and Shadow carefully guiding them as they did.

“Finally the kids are in bed” Sonic jokingly huffed, “Aren't they just precious!” The hero accentuated his sentence, with hands clasped together beside his cheek, and a leg lightly kicked up in a silly pose.

Shadow rolled his eyes, choosing not to acknowledge his partner's fruity display.

“I'm going to bed.” Shadow grunted in place of a real answer, slipping his gloves and socks off, before unzipping his sleeping bag and climbing in.

Shadow shuffled around for a moment as he wiggled in order to warm himself, before laying curled up on his side and shutting his tired eyes. Shadow lay like that for a few minutes, before his ear not pressed into the bed twitched. The hybrid noticed the lack of noise, that should have been Sonic climbing into his own designated bag.

Shadow opened his eyes and sat up, leaning back on his own elbows as he did. “Sonic?” He questioned, watching as Sonic stood there avoiding eye contact, looking off to the side with his hands behind his back.

The hero tapped the tips of his toes against the ground with one paw as he spoke, “Uh, is it cool if I sleep with you?”

Shadow querked his head to the side, “We are sharing a tent with two other people, Sonic.” He pointed out.

“I know, I know.” Sonic grumbled, before turning to finally face his partner, “But we haven't shared a bed in ages and you're warm, and it's cold.”

Shadow reluctantly found himself feeling rather sorry for his partner, his mind shifting to memories of Sonic's sporadic night terrors. Shadow shut his eyes briefly as he sighed, before opening up his sleeping bag to beckon his partner to join him.

“Fine.” He relented, “Come on then.”

Sonic's tail wagged, and his ears unpinned from his head as they perched up to display his eager excitement. Sonic wasted no time, practically jumping on top of Shadow in his haste to join his partner.

“Hhrk” Shadow grunted as Sonic laid on top of him, a blue streak having followed him with the speed he used to jump into the plush sleeping bag.

“Sorry” Sonic giggled, wrapping his peach arms tightly around Shadow's midsection, to forcefully pull the hybrid on top of him instead. Shadow grumbled under his breath, but still returned the cuddle as he situated his nose into the fur of Sonic's jaw where it met his neck.

Sonic huffed and tried to hold back a rather unmanly giggle, as Shadow's breath tickled the sensitive skin of his neck. Shadow couldn't help smiling, lips curling against the spot he nuzzled into, eliciting more stifled laughs from Sonic.

“You're cute.” Shadow stated truthfully, too tired to care about coming off nonchalant at that moment. “Pff, dude. Shutup.” Sonic huffed in feigned annoyance, his tone still coming off embarrassed despite trying to play it cool. “Make me.” Shadow mocked sleepily against his partner's fur, earning a playful pinch to his side from Sonic. Which earned the hero a sharp bite to the neck in return.

The two laughed sleepily against each other, their chuckles coming out rough due to their exhausted state, the day weighing heavy on them as they slowly began to drift off.

“Night Shadow” Sonic murmured against the red stripe atop his partner's head, “hmmm” was Shadow's only response. The hybrid too far gone to offer a proper reply.

The last thing Shadow heard as he slipped into unconsciousness, was the soft laugh of his life partner. Sonic's plump chest bouncing against where Shadow lay with the cheerful action. Shadow nuzzled further into Sonic's warm fur, wrapping his arms impossibly tighter as he drifted off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.