Work Text:
“Chao chao!” The quiet voice of a young chao reaches your ears from under the counter.
Turning to see youre greeted but five worried little faces staring up at you. “Chaaaooo!” The yellow hero chao at the front of the pack exclaims again, reaching its round paw up at you.
The remaining chao begin to shuffle their feet and flutter their wings, soft worried whines easing from their mouths as their concern starts to become more than they can handle. You crouch to better meet their eye level “Is something wrong?” You ask, your own paw reaching to take the yellow one’s.
It urgently taps at your paw while pointing in the direction of the storage closest with the other. “Chao chao chao, chao!!”
“I see.” You respond.
You knew when deciding to open a chao rescue and sanctuary that, as cute as they are, chao are clumsy and mischievous no matter their alignment. Both you and your newly acquired coworker have made it a habit to check for stragglers when closing doors and then double check the door is closed. This is not the first time someone has been accidentally closed in.
The blue hedgehog that is your coworker has recently made himself scarce. While youre not in direct eye sight of the closet door, you should have at least seen his exit as he went down the hall. Whatever, as long as hes not getting into trouble it doesnt matter, you have a chao to save.
As you make the short walk down the hall to the closet, the group of chao also run ahead to the door, scrambling to keep from underfoot and doing a poor job of it. You’ve gotten used to minding your step for the babies that haven’t learned better yet.
Theres no crying or knocking on the other side of the door, making you doubt that its a fellow chao in the closet. ‘Maybe its a toy?’ You think to yourself, though the chao have never complained of a lost toy before. ‘But sometimes the chao are shy too’ is your follow up thought.
When you open the door, no little chao comes toddling out. Instead, you register red and blue before youre pushed forward, into the closet, the door closing shut behind you with a slam. You stumble into something hard and chilled, sharp claws grabbing at your waist to steady you. Looking up, distinct, glowing red irises meet your surprised gaze. “What?”
Of course, Metal Sonic says nothing in response. You both glance toward the door as a small round of cheers sound from outside, the chao celebrating the success of their plan to trap you both in the cramped closet together. His eyes roll across his visor before his gaze settles back on you.
The close proximity makes you blush, you hope its not enough to register on his heat readings, and you break the eye contact. On your waist, you can still feel the prick of his claws but you also feel how they’ve rounded some in his time working with the chao, how they absorb the heat of your body. You don’t know if he notices he’s still holding you, but the feeling is nice and you dont want to give it up yet.
“H-how long have you been in here?” You internally curse your stutter. Your eyes drift back to his face to take in the annoyed attitude he manages to betray. You huff a laugh, warm breath dispersing across is face. “That long huh?”
His glare sharpens at that comment in a way that makes your heart jump in your chest. He’s so handsome when he expresses himself. You feel warmer knowing that its something he’s comfortable showing you, instead of maintaining the stony mask he wears when there are customers around.
“You know,” your hand reaches for the door knob and his eyes track the movement despite the low lighting. “This door does open from the inside.”
He moves suddenly as you close your hand on the knob. Quickly his hand covers your own, keeping the door closed. His other hand moves around the small of your back, pulling you in closer to him. His internal fans kick up a notch and you gasp alongside it. He leans in closer, impossibly. The small distance between you closed in an instant though he makes to get even closer still. His eyes dim the closer his face gets to yours, your breath still ghosting across the bridge of his nose.
You cant help the way your eyes close when he’s close enough, though you dont know what to expect. This situation is entirely new. You can feel thats hes close enough to kiss, that you could lean in and plant your lips on where you assume his would be. Youre tempted to do so but before you can wrangle the confidence his cheek brushes against yours. Its gentle at first, warm from your breath, when you tilt towards him to increase the contact a rumble erupts from his chassis. He nuzzles in close to you and you return the favor, relaxing into his frame. Slowly his face warms up with the contact and friction, his rumble not ceasing through the entire moment. Your own joins in too
It feels like an eternity passes as the two of you affectionately nuzzle back and forth in the cramped space, occasionally turning cheeks to ensure the oils under your fur spread evenly across your plating. Its wonderful to be so lost in the moment, no sense of time ore responsibility just the warmth and feeling of each other pressed close. Until, a very loud crash rattles in from beyond the closet door.
You jump apart, startled and breathless from the contact. His eyes come back online with a look you can only describe as content. Despite the interruption you feel the same. “Guess we should head back out there huh?”