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Shadow's day could only be labeled as terrible.
Of course, almost every day at work was hell for him, but today it just got to him.
First of all, Shadow had left the house in a rush and had forgotten the coffee beans that he usually ate before leaving for work in the morning. Slightly annoying, but not day-ruining.
Still craving his coffee beans, Shadow stopped by a local cafe. A local cafe that denied his request for just plain coffee beans.
Dissatisfied, Shadow ordered a black coffee and drank it in one gulp, glaring at the barista who had given him a dirty look upon his original request.
Then once he finally arrived at G.U.N headquarters, some low level intern spilled his own coffee on a stack of documents Shadow had stayed late finishing the night before, and he had to redo all of them, putting him even more behind than he was before.
And even after all of that, Commander Tower had called him into his office to inform him of the fact that due to budget issues, Shadow needed to take a pay cut.
Shadow left at 5:00 o'clock on the dot.
He grumbled under his breath the entire way home. He did all this work and for what? At this point the only reason why he was still working at G.U.N was because very few other places were willing to hire a mobian.
Parking his motorcycle outside their small house, he sighed, sitting on his still motorcycle for a moment to collect his thoughts.
Finally, Shadow walked up to the front door, pulling his key out of his quills and unlocking the door.
He locked the door behind him and hung his coat up. Compared to the crisp February air outside, the house was warm. Although, even if it wasn't so cold outside, the warmth would feel comforting.
Sonic and Shadow had been dating for around nine months at this point, but it somehow felt like they had been doing this forever. Because maybe they had.
Even when their relationship couldn't be accurately described as positive, something about Sonic had always caught Shadow's attention. Although, even now he had to admit that Sonic could be awfully daft.
Somehow, for whatever reason, Shadow loved him.
"Sonic. I'm home."
"In the kitchen, Shads!"
Shadow turned the corner into the kitchen, following his boyfriend's voice to see Sonic sitting on the counter holding a bouquet of lavender. Strangely, the first thing Shadow noticed and was about to comment on was not the fact that Sonic was holding a flower arrangement highlighting his favorite flower, but instead the fact that Sonic was sitting on the counter, which was definitely not sanitary.
Sonic jumped off the counter in an act that was probably meant to be nonchalant and cool, but considering the fact that he nearly fell flat on his face while doing so, it was safe to say that he was unsuccessful.
"What are you doing."
Sonic laughed and politely handed the bouquet to Shadow, who took it suspiciously, holding it close to his chest.
"Did you seriously forget?"
Shadow pursed his lips. There weren't any major anniversaries coming up, so it couldn't be that.
Not a birthday…what in the world was it? What was Shadow missing? Shadow genuinely had zero clue as to what Sonic was talking about. So he told him.
"I genuinely have zero clue as to what you are talking about." Shadow closed his eyes, trying to nonchalantly get a whiff of the flowers clutched in his arms.
Sonic stepped forward, placing a hand on Shadow's cheek. Shadow wasn't usually one for excessive physical affection, but he let his hand stay there, even leaning into it a bit.
"It's Valentine's Day, Shads!"
Shadow blinked. Oh. It was, wasn't it? He had been so caught up in his own head that he had completely disregarded the fact that the date was, in fact, February 14th. "Ah."
He took the flowers from Shadow's hands and placed it back on the counter, making Shadow wonder what the point of giving them to him in the first place. Regardless, Sonic took Shadow's hands in his own and lead him to the living room, still facing him as he did so.
Sonic sat Shadow down, telling him to stay there while he grabbed something.
A minute later, Sonic returned with a small heart-shaped cake in his hands. Shadow raised an eyebrow in an attempt to look disapproving, but he could barely fight the smile trying to force its way onto his lips.
"Cake before dinner?"
Sonic rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Lighten up Shadow!" He plopped down next to Shadow on the couch, sitting with his knees slightly turned in towards him.
"It's strawberry, your favorite." Sonic handed him a fork and Shadow took it. He wanted to refuse, but it proved more difficult than he'd expected to ignore his watering mouth.
The thing that finally managed to convince Shadow to relent was when Sonic selected a bite from the cake with his fork and popped it into his mouth, decorative frosting remaining along the side of his mouth.
Shadow laughed softly and Sonic's smile was quite possibly the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Shadow finally began to dig in to the cake, himself. Sonic reached for the remote and turned the TV on.
"What do you want to watch?"
He thought for a moment. "Funny Face." Sonic nodded and started flicking through channels.
Shadow remembered the way Sonic had reacted the first time he'd suggested they watch an old movie. He had laughed, having never heard of it, but then recognized its charm once he'd actually watched it.
Maybe that was kind of representative of Sonic and Shadow's relationship. At first it seemed laughable to even give it a chance. But now?
It was sweet, and warm, and felt like home.
Sonic pressed play and Shadow rested his head on his shoulder.
The rest of that night was full of love, cake, and Audrey Hepburn. Maybe Shadow's day hadn't been so terrible after all.