Midnight
Many would be concerned about their partner getting up and then leaving in the middle of the night without uttering a single word of explanation but Shadow wasn't as he knew what was chasing Sonic out.
TAGs: One shot, Writing Exercise, Wordcount: 100-1.000, established relationship, hurt/comfort
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
If you were to ask anyone to describe Sonic, Shadow was sure there would be two facts about the hero being stated the most—that he was a people person and would never stay at one place for too long if he could help it.
Most people would just chalk these things up to Sonic's personality alone. Those who knew that Sonic had spent most of his childhood on an isolated island that was inhabited by a mere few dozen people thought it might partially be Sonic making up for the years of monotone—that wanting to discover the world and meet new people would logically be the thing anyone would want after being confined to such a small part of the world.
Until not so long ago, Shadow had believed the same; he himself had desired to learn all of the world when he was finally released into it from his cryogenic chamber—of course, Sonic, who loved to experience all kind of new things, would want something like that.
Therefore, Shadow had never tried to make any other connection between these particular personality traits of the hero and Sonic's early life experiences; he just took Sonic for an explorer.
However, after they started living under the same roof and Shadow became aware of Sonic's habit of going on random midnight runs, he found out his impressions were wrong—that Sonic's reluctance to stay at one place wasn't the hero getting bored and that his want for company had deeper reasons than a simple urge to associate.
It was a coping mechanism. Because like most other people even Sonic had unpleasant memories plaguing him.
Sonic had shared a few of the tales of his times spend trapped in Eggman's cells, the rare times the doctor actually had managed to catch him; he'd spoken of tiny cells, ice-cold walls, thirst and hunger, and long weeks of being deprived from any kind of company save for a badnik that would deliver him food every few days...
It just made sense that after such experiences, Sonic would seek out people at every chance he'd got—and that he would prefer to wander the vastness of nature to being cooped up among the same four walls of their house that apparently made him feel borderline claustrophobic if he spent too long inside them.
Shadow understood that feeling.
Thus he had no problem with letting Sonic have his space. After all, it would be hypocritical of him if he didn't—Sonic always honored his requests when he wished to be alone.
Though he definitely wouldn't mind if Sonic moved his runs to a bit more acceptable time...
Shadow sighed and rolled over onto his other side. A black ear twitched as it caught the faint creeping of wooden boards reached it. Shadow let his inner sense of chaos reach out and check whether it was Sonic coming back from his run.
And truly, the mattress dipped just a moment later. "Hey," a quite voice spoke as a greeting, "you still awake?"
"Sure..." Shadow rolled onto his other side, red eyes peering up to stare at the green ones of the hedgehog beside him. "How was your run?"
"Ineffective," Sonic replied with a sigh as he undressed himself, piling his clothes on a nearby chair, shoulders drawn up and shivering ever so slightly. Whether it was an aftereffect of the cold outside or some unpleasant memory, Shadow didn't know and obviously Sonic didn't feel like talking about it.
Therefore, Shadow just said, "Come here," and wrapped his arms around the other when Sonic slipped back under the sheets, offering the other a warm embrace to retreat into when the demons of his past were haunting him.
Sonic let out a pleased sigh as their bodies brushed, curling a lazy arm around him in return and tangling their legs together, the hero letting his warmth chase the coldness from his own skin.
Shadow just hoped it would also be enough to chase the unpleasant memories from Sonic's mind.