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Sonic let out a slow breath. He was outside Shadow’s house, a full minute early. But this time, he was determined to knock on that door at the turn of the hour. He watched the numbers on his communicator, unblinking, one hand already poised in the air. Gloved fingers flexed impatiently. This was the longest minute of his life. Could the time hurry up a bit?
‘Come on,’ Sonic thought with a huff.
Finally, the nine flicked over to a zero and he sighed. Sonic knocked twice and waited, counting off the seconds. Twenty-two seconds later the door opened, revealing Shadow. Sonic still felt a little embarrassed about running off before he’d confirmed the time with the darker hedgehog last time but Shadow seemed mostly awake and he was smiling. Sort of. It was that sort of blank, slight upturning of the lips that Sonic associated with him being content. Not a full smile but on the way to one. It always gave him a sort of giddy feeling; Sonic still wasn’t quite used to seeing it.
“Hey, Shadow.”
Level tone of voice, no stuttering and voice cracks today. He’d be confident and relaxed as much as he could be. Sonic didn’t want Shadow to think he was a mess all the time. Even if he sort of was.
“Hello, Sonic.”
“Ready to go?” Sonic asked.
He took a step back to allow Shadow to actually leave the house. The dark hedgehog pulled the door closed behind him and locked it. After stashing his keys in his quills, Shadow nodded to him. It was Sonic’s turn to lead them off to an unspecified location today. And like the dark hedgehog before him, he wasn’t about to tell Shadow where they were going. It felt sort of like payback. But Sonic knew if Shadow was actually worried about it he’d tell him if he asked. But the red-striped hedgehog didn’t ask, so Sonic set off towards Central City at a sprint, leaving Shadow to catch up. He would never have done that to anyone else, especially not without telegraphing it, but he knew the other could keep up. Sure enough, he heard the tell-tale swish sound of Shadow’s air shoes not a second later, just behind him.
This wasn’t supposed to be a race, so Sonic kept a fairly even pace. Casual. Somewhat like the type of pace he set for himself when he was alone. Not as fast as he when he was restless. A touch slower than normal. But he wasn’t intending to leave the dark hedgehog behind.
“No warning on that one, huh, hedgehog?” Shadow huffed but he didn’t sound upset.
“Going a bit further out than last time,” he responded matter-of-factly. “And I never finished my run this morning. Should I slow down so you can keep up?”
He saw Shadow’s quills bristle, crimson eyes narrowing. But that wasn’t anger glimmering in those eyes. No, it was challenge, with an odd playfulness Sonic wasn’t accustomed to seeing. It ignited something in his chest, his veins. Maybe a little race wouldn’t be so bad this morning. He hadn’t fully meant to provoke Shadow but he found he couldn’t help himself. And part of him wanted to get back at least a little of the dynamic they used to have. Sonic didn’t hate the current one but he did feel a little pathetic making Shadow dote on him all the time. He was fully capable of keeping himself in check long enough to show Shadow he wasn’t dependant on him, that he was still the same mobian as before.
Even if that was somewhat of a lie. Sonic did put on a lot for his friends, the world. It was something Tails had tried time and time again to get Sonic to let up on. But the longer he played into this hero persona everyone knew so well, the harder it was to just be himself. And he didn’t really like himself all that much to begin with.
Sonic pumped his legs a little faster, shooting ahead. He felt his mind trying to wonder a little, legs on autopilot. He wasn’t joking about not finishing his run earlier. He’d been up for an hour already but he’d been pacing in the house for most of it. When he finally left the house, his aim was getting to Shadow’s place. He didn’t really enjoy his run too much. And it felt like his body was trying to compensate, to snap back to that mindset. But Shadow was here now, he had to get out of his own head, be present, because it wasn’t fair on Shadow. Sonic shook his head. It helped a little but not completely. By the time that Shadow caught up, he was still half in his own little world. Sonic barely noticed he was there at first.
“How do you do that?” Shadow asked, snapping him to reality.
“Huh? Do what?”
Sonic quirked a brow. He looked over at Shadow, a little spaced. Side-stepping a dip in the ground without taking his eye off the other hedgehog, Sonic rotated his shoulder in place, stretching out the muscles a little. He must have slept a little weird last night. Like everything, it would pass. He just had to warm his body up a bit; pacing just didn’t work in the mornings. He needed more movement. Next time, he’d actually take his run to pass the time.
“Avoid everything without even looking?” Shadow said.
Was that… awe he was hearing in Shadow’s voice?
‘Nah, can’t be.’
Sonic just shrugged. It wasn’t all that impressive. He’d just run this path a lot over the years. That’s all there was to it. Had Shadow not memorised this route yet? He knew the dark hedgehog used to live with Rouge but he’d had his own place for a while now. Maybe he usually used an Emerald?
“I just know the area,” he replied.
“You have impeccable memory, Sonic.”
Impeccable… that was good, right? Words were difficult. Sonic still didn’t see why that stood out to Shadow. It didn’t take much to memorise a path like this. Even as he thought it, still looking at Shadow, he knew that weird bit of land was coming up. It was almost like a mini fault line, a ridge in the earth that he’d definitely tripped over the first time he came across it. Sonic wasn’t aware of any earthquakes in the area, so he wasn’t quite sure what caused it. A fight with Eggman he was blanking on? Or a natural occurrence? Nevertheless, it was a part of the terrain that could be a hazard.
“What if something changes though?” Shadow asked.
“Eyes ahead, Shad,” Sonic cautioned instead.
Sonic widened his stride and jumped over the ridge. He kept an eye on Shadow to make sure the other had seen it. By the slight widening of crimson eyes, Sonic could tell he hadn’t at first but still had enough time to avoid it. He let out a relieved breath. Wouldn’t be a great start to Shadow’s morning if he took a tumble in the dirt. After stumbling in his stride for a moment, the dark hedgehog caught up to him.
“Like that,” Shadow said, a little breathless. “Your eyes were on me the entire time; how did you know it was there? How did you know exactly when to jump?”
“Like I said, I know the area,” Sonic repeated. “I could run this with my eyes closed. And if something’s different, I’ll see it and correct. Or learn from the trip. I’m not sure what’s so weird about that.”
Was Sonic missing something here?
“It’s not weird,” Shadow breathed. “It’s amazing. I hope you don’t take too many falls.”
“A few scuffs and bruises here and there are nothing,” Sonic insisted, waving him off. “If anything, they’re good teachers. Took a nasty fall over that ridge a while back and ripped the skin off my arm. But now I know it’s there. I’m just glad I wasn’t going fast enough to break something again.”
Sonic tried to laugh it off. Shadow suddenly looked a little pale though. Did it bother him that he’d gotten hurt? Why? Sonic got hurt all the time but that was life. He was constantly fighting Eggman. He chose to run through sometimes dangerous terrain; it was on him if anything happened and he’d always heal from it. Was Shadow actually surprised that he got a few injuries here and there? It was unavoidable sometimes. And Sonic would rather take a blow for someone else than see anyone get hurt. Even if that meant catching his foot on a bit of uneven ground and shredding his forearm so that he could prevent someone else from making the same mistake.
“Again?” Shadow asked, sounding a little horrified for some reason. “You’ve broken a bone before?”
“Quite a few times,” Sonic said. “This one time, I snapped one of my ribs. Tails said I was lucky not to have punctured a lung. Good thing too because I kept going afterwards. The Black Arms were swarming Westopolis at the time; I had to help where I could.”
If anything, Sonic’s words seemed to have made Shadow feel worse. He looked as if he might throw up. The blue hedgehog frowned. Had he said something wrong?
“That entire invasion, your rib was broken?” Shadow snapped. “Chaos, hedgehog, what the hell were you thinking?”
Sonic flinched. He slowed to a stop, ears flicking back. He wasn’t entirely sure what he did wrong but obviously he’d done something. Shadow stopped a few paces away. The dark hedgehog was glaring at him. Sonic felt his shoulders hunch in response. It never used to hit him so deep but now that glare carried more weight somehow. Had he disappointed Shadow? Over something from years ago? He shifted in place, unsure how to proceed. Did he fuck up already? How bad was it? Could he recover or was Shadow just mad at him now?
“I couldn’t do as much as I’d liked to during the Black Arms invasion but I had to do something, Shadow,” he said carefully. “Did you expect me to sit aside and just let it happen?”
Was stating his case making it worse? Sonic couldn’t gauge it. Shadow was still glowering at him like he’d just told him he’d been fighting on Doom’s side or something. Sonic was fine now so what did it matter? He could survive a couple broken bones. Was this really that big of a deal? He didn’t understand.
What did he do? Maybe he should just shut his stupid mouth.
“Did that injury slow you down?” Shadow snapped. “What if it had cost you your life? Did you think about that?”
The dark hedgehog was level with him now. That glare was closer, so much more apparent. Sonic shrivelled under that fiery gaze, sure that he’d definitely said the wrong thing. Why’d he even bring it up? To sound tough? Chaos, his brain really wasn’t awake yet, was it? Thinking back on it, it was incredibly reckless. But Sonic would make the same decision if it came down to it today. He’d fight for as long as he could. If he could stand, he could help; it was just that simple.
But right now, none of that was the right thing to say, clearly. But he didn’t really know what else he could do to diffuse the situation.
“Sorry,” Sonic muttered.
His voice sounded pathetically small in his ears. Shadow sighed, holding a hand over his eyes. The sigh sounded stressed and he looked it too. Sonic felt worse. The dark hedgehog was quiet for a long while and the blue hedgehog thought he’d somehow made it worse. Was that even possible? He had thought apologising might make everything better but maybe that was a stupid idea.
The other hedgehog wasn’t saying anything and that was making Sonic worry more. Was Shadow seething? Was Sonic about to get a fist to the nose? He probably deserved it. And more.
“Are you mad at me?” Sonic asked quietly.
Shadow sighed again, hand falling from his face. He still looked upset but the glare had slipped away. The dark hedgehog looked somehow pained. Guilt overwhelmed Sonic. This obviously mattered a lot more to the other than he’d thought. The blue hedgehog wouldn’t like it if one of his friends or – Chaos forbid – Tails had gotten hurt either but there wasn’t anything he could do about the past, no matter how much he agonised over it. Sonic curled his claws to his palm, waiting for Shadow to keep yelling at him. But he didn’t. He still didn’t feel like he was in the clear though. Any wrong word from here could completely derail the morning. It might already be too late.
“No, Sonic,” Shadow muttered. “I’m not mad at you. Just… Please just think next time. If you’re hurt that bad you’re allowed to stop.”
‘I can’t do that, Shadow.’
He paused for a beat. The dark hedgehog was staring at him, almost pleading. How could he say no?
“Ok,” Sonic mumbled.
He didn’t like lying to Shadow. He never liked lying. But sometimes, to save someone’s feelings in the moment, Sonic had to. And right now was one of those moments. Sonic couldn’t ever promise to stop fighting. He just couldn’t. It was his life. It was all he was good at. And as long as he had air in his lungs and the use of his legs, Sonic had no choice. It was all he knew; he couldn’t just give that up. Agony or no, he’d keep going no matter what.
One day, Shadow would have to realise that. One day, Sonic would have to be honest about it. But not today. It wasn’t worth the argument right now. Sonic wasn’t mentally prepared for it, had been blindsided by Shadow’s distress. He didn’t want to make it any worse. For whatever reason, the idea of Sonic getting hurt really bothered Shadow, so Sonic would try to avoid mentioning past injuries until he could figure out exactly what was wrong. He thought for a second. It had to be something about his past, right? That girl, Maria, who he’d been close with? Sonic wondered if the dark hedgehog had considered the girl family. Chaos, he hadn’t even thought about that earlier; of course Shadow would have issues with that stuff after Maria. That seemed so obvious in hindsight. Sonic would try to be more mindful of that going forward.
“I’m sorry for shouting,” Shadow said.
“That’s ok,” Sonic said, trying to keep his voice even. “But I’m alright, Shadow, I promise.”
That wasn’t a lie. The dark hedgehog folded his arms. Was he still a little angry? Or was that his resting levels of scowling? Sonic still didn’t know his expressions enough to tell. He just knew that faint smile was gone now and that wasn’t a good sign. How was he supposed to get that back now? Was it even possible?
“I could really use that coffee,” Shadow muttered.
Shadow still wanted to do this. So there was hope for this morning after all. Sonic forced his shoulders to loosen, his muscles to untense. Everything was fine. If they could move on smoothly enough, they could forget this happened.
“City’s not far,” Sonic said.
There was a moment of silence that passed between them. A silence that made Sonic’s teeth hurt.
“Race you there then,” Shadow said before taking off towards Central City.
For a dumbfounded moment, Sonic just stood there, blinking. It took his mind a moment to comprehend what had just happened. Then he dashed after the other, quickly catching up since Shadow wasn’t going at full speed either, just like earlier. Shadow also didn’t want him to be left in the dust, which was a good sign.
“Sorry,” Shadow mocked. “Would you like me to slow down?”
“Very funny,” Sonic grumbled.
Still, he found himself grinning at Shadow. He wasn’t bothered in the slightest, he was more just relived at this point. Things were back on the right track again. Their eyes met for a brief moment and Shadow mirrored the grin in his own, muted way. Sonic had to drag his eyes to look elsewhere but it made him feel a lot better. Possible crisis averted? He’d count it. Even if he’d somehow almost caused it himself. By accident. Without thinking. But he had to try and put that behind him now and move on because it seemed like that’s what Shadow was doing. If they didn’t think about it, did it really happen? No, it didn’t. Sonic was perfectly ok with that, used to doing it even. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
The two hedgehog kept pace with each other, even if their strides were wildly different, as they neared the city. They didn’t speak but Sonic found solace in the sound of the wind whipping around his ears, dragging through his fur. He enjoyed it while he could, the feeling finally scratching the last of the itch that had been bothering him since this morning. Once they were closer to the outskirts, they both independently reduced their speed. Sonic could do with a little more time chasing that rush but he’d deal with it. Maybe he could get in another run a little later.
Shadow voluntarily fell a little behind as they slowed even further, allowing Sonic to take the lead. The blue hedgehog had a very particular, very special place in mind. A place he didn’t share with just anyone. A place he’d only taken two others before. He angled them towards the city centre, though they wouldn’t be going fully into it. Sonic petered out into a jog as they neared more populated areas. Then he was forced to slow to a walk. Shadow stepped up beside him.
The streets were packed this morning. And they’d found themselves almost completely boxed in.
“Sorry,” Sonic muttered. “I didn’t realise it would be this bad.”
“It’s ok,” Shadow responded. “It doesn’t bother me that much.”
Shadow was eyeing a pair of humans walking by as he said it. He didn’t look ok. And he sounded a little strained. Sonic set his shoulders again. He didn’t like crowded places much himself. Without even thinking about it, Sonic reached for Shadow’s hand. When he made contact, they both jolted. The blue hedgehog wanted to pull his hand away so badly but he didn’t.
“The place we’re going isn’t usually this busy, I promise,” Sonic told Shadow.
His fingers twitched, tightening their grip when another mobian brushed shoulders with him. Too close, everyone was just too close today. Suffocating. But he was used to navigating them, to forcing down the urge to jump out of his own skin and scream. So he pulled Shadow through the throng of people, hand clamped down so as not to lose him. Sonic had done this countless times with Tails in the past. He knew exactly where he was going, sense of direction not impaired too much by the crowd. So he tugged Shadow along as fast as he could, trying to get them out of the crowd as soon as he could.
He just wanted a quiet morning with Shadow. He’d forgotten it was a Monday. The morning rush was always unbearable. Chaos, he was so stupid. Maybe they should have just stayed at one of their places instead. Maybe he should have invited Shadow over or something. At least the flow of people was so tight, everyone so focused on getting where they were going, that they were hardly noticed. To be recognized right now would be hell.
Despite what he’d told Sonic, the crowd really was getting to him. Shadow hated strangers, least of all them hounding him, pushing him in all directions. He grit his teeth. Sonic’s hand wrapped around his own was the only thing currently grounding him and he was so grateful for it, if very surprised. The hero was dragging him through the sea of bodies, grip tight almost to the point of hurting. And Shadow could tell Sonic wasn’t handling it well himself. When there weren’t humans and mobians blocking his view, he could see that Sonic’s ears were pulled back. And despite the strong grip, Sonic seemed a little unsteady; Shadow could feel a light tremble running from Sonic’s arm up into his own.
Sonic was touch-averse. Crowds like this were probably hell for him too. Still, he’d taken charge, braving the sea and pushing through, trying to get them out. If Shadow had been on his own, he may have ended up freezing. But Sonic was tackling it like a pro in a way that almost felt practiced.
Perhaps it was. How many times had he seen Sonic face crowds like these, both in person and on TV? How many times had Sonic had to fight through ones this dense to get where he was going? Humans had the advantage in crowds like this, mobians liable to get shoved and crushed. The hero just put his head down and forced his way forwards. Once the crowd began to thin a little, Sonic pulled Shadow even closer and sharply changed direction. The dark hedgehog’s head spun. How did Sonic even know where he was going? He seemed so sure.
Suddenly, Shadow found himself being yanked down into a decently wide alleyway. The crowd was behind them. He felt like he could breathe again. Chaos, when did he stop?
Shadow felt awful for snapping at the other earlier. But Sonic seemed to be taking it in his stride. By the time they were in the city, the hero seemed completely unphased. Up until the crowds, of course. The blue hedgehog suddenly dropped Shadow’s hand. He watched those fingers flex a couple times and then Sonic shook out his fur. Shadow caught the brief grimace on his face before that too disappeared under a mask of calm.
“Sorry for dragging you back there,” Sonic said.
Shadow shook his head.
“I probably would have gotten swallowed up if you didn’t, thank you.”
Sonic sighed. He still looked apologetic and a little guilty. Shadow hoped it wasn’t because of earlier. He genuinely hadn’t meant to get snappy, he just wanted Sonic to be more careful. He must have been in agony that entire time and he’d never said anything. Sonic hadn’t asked for help, he hadn’t taken a break, he hadn’t stood aside and let Shadow deal with it. No, he’d forced himself to keep going, trying desperately to help. If Shadow had known at the time, he would have dragged the hero aside himself and made him stop.
He wasn’t sure why he was surprised, to be honest. But Shadow really didn’t like knowing that Sonic was wiling to push his body like that. At that rate, he was going to end up killing himself before Eggman got the chance. And the worst part was he was sure Miles had tried all he could to get Sonic to slow down for a beat. It just wasn’t possible with Sonic though, was it?
“We aren’t going directly into the city centre; I didn’t think it would be so busy this far out,” Sonic huffed. “Anyway, the café’s at the other end of this alley.”
Shadow widened his eyes, casting a glance down the alleyway. He though Sonic had only pulled them here for a break from the crowd. This place was so unassuming, so drab. He couldn’t see where this café would be from here. There certainly was no A-frame sign outside like most cafés had. Nothing really stood out. Sonic strolled away but Shadow was stuck in place for a moment. Sonic knew the strangest of places, didn’t he? Did he make it a habit to wonder down random side passages all the time or something? Chaos, he seemed to know the city just as well as the land beyond it. He was truly something special.
“Wait, really?” Shadow asked. “I didn’t know there was a café here.”
“I don’t think a lot of people do,” Sonic replied over his shoulder.
Shadow jogged to catch up with him. They walked most of the way down the alley, then it opened up to their right. An indent in the walls around them almost. That’s why he hadn’t seen it before. Not only was it down an alley, it was recessed into the wall as well. There was one large, arch-like window, bordered in lavender paint. The door was the same hue with what looked like a swirly wrought iron fence set into it. The rest of the bricks were black with a few white lines here and there. In purple cursive above the door, Shadow read: One For You, One For me. What a bizarre name. It didn’t look massively inviting but Sonic stepped up to push open the door. The bell above jingled as they entered.
Inside was much the same, with pseudo-gothic style décor. A lot of black and swirly silver filigree. Grand wallpaper covered the walls. There was a bookshelf with leather-bound tomes off to one side and a chandelier above them, equipped with fake candles that actually flickered. Skulls, moons, ravens and candles covered every surface. Even the tables and chairs looked very ornamental, following the same black and purple colour scheme. It felt both hostile and weirdly cosy at the same time. Certainly not the kind of place he’d expect Sonic to like though.
But then, he always seemed to be wrong about his assumptions, wasn’t he?
Sonic ignored the counter and led Shadow to the back of the café, a booth by the window. The café was very quiet, only one other customer sitting at one of the tables. The blue hedgehog gestured for Shadow to sit.
“Black coffee, I assume?” he asked. “Or did you want something else?”
“Black coffee, please,” Shadow responded.
He was surprised Sonic already knew his preference. But it wasn’t exactly a secret and the cake he’d made for his birthday hadn’t been too sweet either. Sonic was quite observant. The blue hedgehog went to go order their drinks while Shadow stared out the window. With no foot traffic and not a lot of patronage, how did this place stay open? Were the prices ridiculous? He took a quick peek at the menu and nothing seemed to be priced any worse than anywhere else. Weird. Maybe they had a bigger rush later in the day? It was still very early, he supposed. It was odd though. If the coffee was good here, however, he might just come back. He trusted Sonic’s judgement on this – even if he didn’t fully trust his judgment on other things…
The blue hedgehog slipped into the seat across from him a moment later. He said they’d bring over the drinks in a few minutes then they lapsed into silence. It felt a lot more oppressive than their first date. Shadow tapped a finger on his leg, unsure how to proceed. After he’d raised his voice at Sonic, the other had been rather quiet. Other than for apologising, which he hadn’t done up until that ridge. Sonic had been relatively more confident, bolder, before that. Shadow felt like he might have fucked up.
“I…” Sonic began, then paused. “I don’t know why I said coffee yesterday. I don’t drink coffee. Think I panicked.”
Shadow rose a brow. Odd opener. He wondered what Sonic was drinking instead then. But that didn’t really change anything; it was just the most efficient way of asking. Shadow told the blue hedgehog as much. Sonic hummed, agreeing, albeit hesitantly. Not for the first time, Shadow found himself pondering why something so small bothered the hero so much.
“Too bitter?” Shadow guessed.
“It’s not the taste,” Sonic muttered. “Makes me jittery. Like my heart’s tryna jump out of my chest or my nerves are on fire.”
Shadow made a mental note of what Sonic had said. No coffee. He’d heard that caffeine could make anxiety worse, so that checked out; no need to cause him extra stress. Shadow knew now not to make any for him if he ever came over again. And not to offer anything too highly caffeinated. Still, he was curious what Sonic preferred instead; if he knew, he’d make sure he had some in the house. Just in case. He wanted Sonic to feel comfortable in the house if he was there. Perhaps a nice hot drink would be a good tool for calming down a panicking hedgehog. Chili dogs already seemed to work a treat.
The waitress, a grey-furred stoat in a Victorian-style frilly dress, came over with a tray. She set down their mugs – the liquid in Sonic’s cup was a lot lighter than his, almost white, and had a sweet but heavily spiced aroma. The mugs were both a soft seafoam with brown speckled insides. Then the stoat set down a matching coloured plate with a slice of cheesecake on top. The base was a golden brown, the rest a cream colour flecked with black specks, topped with a dollop of whipped cream and a heart shaped piece of white chocolate. Sonic started.
“Oh, uh, we didn’t order-”
“It’s on the house,” the stoat said with a wink.
As she walked away, Sonic buried his face in his hands with a groan. Embarrassed. To be honest, it wouldn’t be massively surprising that the hero would get free stuff wherever he went. He’d saved everyone in this city, in the world; his name and face were known all over. It was a rather specific freebie though, which suggested the staff knew Sonic personally and knew his preferences, his order. The hedgehog’s next words confirmed as much. It kind of tickled Shadow.
“I might come here too often,” Sonic muttered.
“Cheesecake, huh?”
“My one weakness,” Sonic said with a sigh. “That and chili dogs.”
Shadow hadn’t known that. But now he did. Cheesecake was one of Sonic’s favourite foods. He stored that information away for a later date too. This was all very helpful information that he wanted to make sure he remembered.
“Oh, and that Sundae Supreme from Apotos!” Sonic continued wistfully. “I haven’t had one of those in a long time…”
Once again, after a line so innocuous, Sonic sounded sad. But, paradoxically, it had a mild cheery quality to it too. A fondness. Even a longing, just like yesterday. It seemed Sonic had some very complicated feelings about some very minor things. Books and ice cream. How strange. He wanted to ask the significance of this ice cream, why it elicited such a reaction from the hedgehog, but he dared not. He couldn’t, not after earlier. Maybe one day he’d learn what was up with Sonic. Today was not the day for those types of questions though. Shadow wanted the rest of the morning to go much smoother than before. Hopefully the cheesecake would actually help in that department.
Sonic pulled the plate towards himself, muttering something about leaving some rings. Even after receiving something for free, he was still thinking about paying for it. If it had been Shadow, he would have accepted the cheesecake without question. Sonic was a better person than he’d ever be. Despite his grumbles, Shadow watched the him happily dig into the cheesecake with the provided fork. The hedgehog made a contented sound, something bordering on a purr. Shadow smiled. A beat later, Sonic looked up at him and furrowed his brow.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Shadow said, reaching for his mug.
The blue hedgehog stared at him for a moment, head at an angle. Shadow regretted not picking up his camera. He hid his widening grin behind the seafoam mug and took a sniff. Dark, rich, mildly nutty. It smelled like a quality brew. Shadow took a sip and let the rich bitterness wash over his tongue. He let out a satisfied sigh; it was excellent. The dark hedgehog would definitely be coming here again. Preferably with the mobian sitting across from him, two steps away from wagging his tail. Sonic’s face was crinkled up in delight, ears upright, completely absorbed in his cheesecake. The silence that followed this time felt a lot lighter and Shadow was perfectly content just watching Sonic munch away. He was cute when he was so distracted. No stress, just happiness. That’s all he wanted for Sonic. Shadow hoped to one day bring him that kind of calm, the kind that let him forget about everything for just a few minutes.
While Shadow nursed his cup of coffee, relishing the warmth bleeding through his gloves, Sonic finished off his cheesecake. He had, halfway through his food-induced trance, offered some to Shadow who declined. The dessert was quite good, especially when it was more on the tangy side than the sweet side. But Shadow would rather leave it to Sonic. The hedgehog forewent the white chocolate for now, reaching for his mug instead. After Sonic took a sip, he set it down again. Shadow caught the light tan colour underneath the frothy foam before it was swallowed up. He asked Sonic what it was. The blue hedgehog told him it was chai, a type of spiced tea. Sonic admitted it was probably too sweet for Shadow but once more asked if he’d like to try it. This time, he accepted.
It was too sweet. Very creamy. But it gave a gentle, pleasant burn on the back of his palate. With less sugar, Shadow might consider trying it again. Sonic offered to make some without sugar – or honey, as Sonic apparently took it occasionally – for him sometime. The dark hedgehog thought he might just take him up on that. And possibly soon.
They sipped their drinks quietly until they were gone. They barely spoke but that was fine. When Sonic began to look antsy, they got up to leave. Shadow saw Sonic slide a few rings on the counter before they left. The stoat, clearly on the verge of protest, had a knowing, resigned look in her eye when she caught the dark hedgehog’s gaze. One that practically screamed, “I knew he’d do it.” Instead of saying anything about what was likely a regular occurrence, she called a thank you as the little bell pealed. They walked a little ways down the alley together, awkward but unable to say goodbye just yet.
“I…” Sonic muttered. “I didn’t really have any plans for after.”
“Well, what do you usually do?”
Sonic chuckled. He was looking out at the street beyond, a little less crowded than before but still quite congested. There was the briefest spark of annoyance there but by the time Shadow blinked it was gone. Definitely not a fan of crowds either. He still wasn’t looking at the black-furred hedgehog but his features had mellowed out. A sort of unreadable stillness gripped him. Nothing worrying; no panic or terror or gloom, just nothing. But even that too melted back into a calmer expression after a few seconds.
What was that about?
“Well, I guess it depends,” Sonic admitted. “There isn’t usually just one thing I like doing. There’s a chao garden in the Mystic Ruins I haven’t visited in a while... But I can do that later.”
“We can go there now if you like,” Shadow suggested.
The little creatures had always been an enigma to Shadow. He wasn’t entirely clear on what they were, had no clue how to read one properly. But he quite enjoyed Cheese’s presence on occasion. In a way, they sort of reminded him of Sonic. In some weird state somewhere between wild and… well, not quite tamed. But something akin to it. Civil, he supposed, but even that didn’t quite sound right either. Sonic was his own ambiguous being and Shadow was drawn to that aspect of him.
“Are you sure?” Sonic asked. “It’s a little out of the way.”
“Does it look like I’m doing anything?” Shadow huffed.
Sonic grinned at him. He was pleased by Shadow’s response. He’d been gauging if it was a good idea. Shadow wasn’t sure why he didn’t just say it to begin with. Maybe that was also his fault for snapping at him outside the city. The hero’s short-lived confidence had evaporated. Would it come back?
“Then get ready to be swarmed by chao. They don’t hold back.”
“I think I’ll survive.”
“You think that now,” Sonic sung. “But you’ll be drowning in snuggles within the hour.”
Shadow frowned. The blue hedgehog had said it playfully and he’d detected no hint of anxiety. The prospect of getting charged by an indeterminate amount of clingy chao didn’t seem to put him on edge. So was he having a more touch-accepting day or was it somehow… different? Yesterday, the blue hedgehog admitted he’d been particularly bad. It was possible that had changed today and he had reached for his hand before. But that had been out of necessity really, perhaps a hint of panic, so he couldn’t really prove if that was exactly significant in any way.
But was it significant? Was Sonic feeling a little better today? Had he, perhaps, been willing to hold hands with him intentionally? Or was he reading too much into that moment in the crowd? Had Sonic reached for him to comfort himself or comfort Shadow? Or had it purely been a means to get them through together, to not get separated?
He wanted to ask. So bad. But he couldn’t, could he? Not without pushing the hero further away.
“Does that not bother you?” he asked.
It seemed to take Sonic a while to realise what he was really asking. He thought it over, looking up at the sky. He did that a lot. The dark hedgehog followed suit, scanning the clouds for a little while. White, puffy, no sign of rain. The blue was so much more saturated today, a sure sign of summer officially on the way.
“Not really,” Sonic muttered thoughtfully. “I guess sometimes it does. I don’t know, it’s always been different with animals and chao. Is that hypocritical?”
“I don’t think so,” Shadow said. “It is interesting though. What’s different about it, if I may ask?”
Sonic muttered something. It was quiet, low, obviously not meant to be heard. But Shadow did catch it, just barely. The blue hedgehog shook it off and beamed at Shadow. Like it never even happened. He offered a race – a proper race – to get there. Shadow didn’t exactly know the way but he distractedly accepted anyway. He was too struck by what Sonic had said to really be paying attention. And as they traced their way back to the outer fringes of the city, making for their starting mark, it stuck with the dark hedgehog. Haunted him even though he wasn’t quite sure what it meant. They counted off the seconds together, Sonic zipping ahead a beat after they got to one. Shadow stalled only a second more, head replaying that quietly uttered phrase.
“The obligation.”