"Hm?"
"I was just wondering," Elise murmurs quietly. "You don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable."
"Nah," Sonic mumbles into her neck, an arm thrown across her waist on the bed they share. "Never really questioned it? 'Ve always had 'em. Here." He sits up and reaches for her hand. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours?"
She doesn't hesitate to take it. "Okay."
In all honesty, she'd forgotten about her gloves, too. It'd been a busier day than usual–it was the summer, which meant there was an influx of traders and merchants around the kingdom, and she'd taken her time to keep track of the stock and make sure everything was running smoothly, so she'd always made sure to keep up her appearance. No one would listen to a princess in sneakers and sweatshirts.
Although she had the tendency to forget that she needed rest, too.
She pulls from the top of her index finger to remove the white gloves she'd neglected to remove, and wiggled her fingers. Unused to looking at them? No.
Unused to letting anyone else who wasn't part of her close-knit community see them? Yes.
It's not that he isn't part of her world now, it's just…she's never really gotten the time for him to look at her hands. Really look at them.
"Can I see?"
"Sure."
Her hands fit into his smoothly, and it takes her a second to realize that his gloves are off, too. There's a tiny gash on his right hand, the one he'd booped her nose with when he told her to smile the first time they'd met.
"Butterfly knife," he says, no questions asked. "Got into a fight with some really awful people. It was a long time ago though, so I don't remember it real well."
If he's already answering the question in her head, he must not want questions. That's okay. She'll respect that.
She's taken out of her thoughts when his index finger traces lightly around her left hand, along the veins that're visible, and quite a few are–they're more noticeable because of how pale her skin is, and even more so in the pale blue of the moonlight.
"Y-yeah, they're, um…a little odd, I know, I–"
"Nope."
"What?"
"I think it suits you." His finger brushes against a blue vein, and then he looks back up at her and kisses just below her right eye. "Blue's a nice color for you, " he says, winking playfully. "Don't you think?"
She blinks, surprised, before giving him a lopsided smile. "Of course you would, you big dork."
"You love this big dork."
"Yeah," she says, reaching over to press a kiss to the center of his left palm, just above the cut. He turns a bright red and she gives him a pleased smile. "Guess I do."
i love bedtime cuddles? look at them? how do you not? ship them?