Tiptoe
They all danced around him as if he was something fragile ready to shatter and he didn't understand why.
TAGs: Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, one-shot, established relationship, Writing Exercise, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, set during Sonic Forces, because I'm still not over the awful changes made in the English translation of Sonic Forces
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
Sonic expected many things when he first set his foot in the Resistance HQ after six months of being Dr. Eggman's prisoner—mostly many many hugs and people expressing their happiness about his well-being. He had looked forward to those.
But once the joy of him being back fell away, something else emerged. Every time he turned his back, he would see it from the corner of his eyes; an endless number of pitying eyes that would turn his way the moment they thought he wasn't looking and the hushed whispers obviously not meant for his ears that accompanied them.
At first, he had tried to ignore them believing them not to be important, just people pitying him for being locked up for so long with only gloating Eggman as occasional company; the man's gloating was something you had enough just after three days of being Eggman's prisoner, so six months...yeah.
However, when they continued days after his return he became curious enough to try to listen—but he could never make out anything that made sense beside his or Eggman's name.
However, those were not the only oddities; anytime he would try to lend a helping hand—be it any kind of hard physical work, scouting mission for food or helping out with the constant surge of badniks—he would be ushered aside and told to rest.
He tried pressing his friends to figure out what was happening and even some other members of the Resistance but none of them said anything. Instead, they all told him to focus on resting and getting back his strength. Rest. Take it easy. Exercise. Every single one of them was saying the same thing, all the while looking at him with concerned look and treating him with such amount of cautiousness as if they were defusing a bomb that could level half the planet.
It frustrated him.
They all danced around him as if he was something fragile ready to shatter and he didn't understand why.
-O-
The whispers didn't disappear but eventually Sonic did get out and fight...by sneaking out when no one was looking. By luck, he even stumbled upon Shadow, who had been returning from a mission back to the Resistance HQ.
Overjoyed by seeing the other again, Sonic had hugged and kissed Shadow right there right then, telling the agent how happy he was to see him—Shadow had eagerly returned the sentiment but allowed their moment to only be brief, pointing out that the war-zone with hundreds of fakes and bots ready to take advantage of them being distracted was not the greatest place for reunion and that it would be better left to once they were at the base. Which Sonic had to agree with and so he let the other reluctantly go; though he did steal himself one more kiss from the agent as compensation for having to wait before promptly breaking into a run, throwing the slightly-surprised Shadow a wink, grin and taunt over his shoulder, which was enough to get the other moving too in pursuit of him.
Once they were back at HQ, Shadow's dispatch didn't take long; he told Knuckles—man, the fact Knuckles of all possible people was the Head Commander of Resistance still felt really weird to Sonic—all the information he had acquired on his mission and after clarifying on the few question Knuckles he was free to leave.
Of course, there were some hushed whispers exchanged between the two as well—because there always had to be at least one conversation about him without his actual involvement while he was in the room and one stern look from Knuckles, which Sonic interpreted as Knuckles voicelessly scolding him from sneaking out. He didn't bother to respond to it.
As they made their way to their room, Shadow, unsurprisingly, didn't say a single word about whatever Knuckles had told him. The agent did inquire about how he was feeling—as everybody did the first time they ran into him after his rescue—and after being assured he did feel well, spoke about their enemies, sharing with him all kinds of valuable information that Sonic didn't doubt would save himself from unneeded trouble or injury—areas to avoid, most effective ways how to deal with the fakes, the weak spots of Eggman's bots, et cetera.
However, once they were safe behind the closed doors of their room, there was no longer any talk about the war raging outside. Instead there were tight embraces, soft kisses and 'I'm glad to see you safe,' kind of sentiments shared between the two of them. It was completely innocent but intense all the same, and Sonic would love to just abandon himself to it for the rest of the day.
But he could feel there was something off in the way Shadow touched him; the difference was very subtle, but Sonic was familiar with the feel of Shadow's hands enough to notice it, the small soft touches not feeling as aimless as they should. It wasn't caress, Shadow was feeling him for something.
And Sonic tired of pretending he wasn't fed up with everyone's secretiveness, decided he might as well stop now.
"What exactly is it that you're trying to find under my fur?" he questioned, peach hands sliding down to grip on the other's striped forearms as he pulled away slightly. Not enough to break the embrace but enough to put some distance between them. "And you better say the truth because I'm tired of everyone keeping things from me and refusing to tell me what's wrong."
However, instead of answering him, Shadow only gazed at him for a long moment, crimson eyes thoughtful and intense, the agent obviously having an internal debate on whether to reveal his reasons or to try to slither his way out of answering.
And just when Sonic had a feeling it would be the latter, Shadow did finally speak. "...Scars," the agent said, his tone almost hesitant as if he wasn't sure whether it was good idea to tell him or not. The crimson eyes also seemed more scrutinizing than moments ago, intently watching him, Shadow obviously wary of his reaction for whatever reason. "New ones."
"New scars?" Sonic questioned, not understanding why would Shadow be even concerned he had a couple more since they had last seen each other; with all that had gone down in past months it was expected. "Sure, I have some. But why does that matter?"
Tan lips pressed into a thin line, a sign that Shadow didn't really want to answer this question either.
Sonic sighed, leaning his forehead against the agent's as he moved his hands to instead squeeze onto Shadow's in a silent plea. "Be honest with me, Shadow."
Tan lips opened but it wasn't without an obvious pause before words left them. "...There are rumors going around about your time on the Death Egg," Shadow explained, the agent's red eyes gazing at him with some strange emotion, a haunted look that made something uncomfortably twist in Sonic's gut. "That you were...tortured." Green eyes widened slightly at the other's words, the gloved hands that held on him clenching around his own just as some dark emotion flashed across the other's visage. "I...I wanted to know how bad you got hurt without reminding you about that time."
"...But Eggman didn't torture me," Sonic said, confused. Was this why everybody was treating him like a fragile glass? Because they though he might have a mental breakdown at any moment? "Well, unless you count being tortured by boredom and Eggman's horrible cooking...or whatever that stuff that he fed me was."
The expression that overtook Shadow's face at his words was a criss-cross between suspicious and hopeful. "So those were just rumors?"
"Yes. All rumors." Sonic nodded, rubbing the other's arm reassuringly as Shadow stared at him with the same scrutinizing look, clearly looking for any signs he was lying for his sake.
Therefore, to underline his point, Sonic pulled both of the agent's hands and returned them where they had previously been on his body, wanting the other to see for himself that the new scars he had were minor ones. He raised his own hands as if he were surrendering, just as the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile.
"Though feel free to continue your examination if you want more evidence—I'm definitely not gonna complain," he said and for good measure also gave the other a flirtatious wink.
The other stared at him for a while longer but eventually Shadow's shoulders did sink from their defensive stance, tension clearly leaving Shadow's posture. "I believe you."
"Well, you're definitely the only one so far, which is kinda funny consider you're pretty darn more skeptic than others normally," Sonic muttered, earning himself a small amused snort and tiny grin from the other with the remark. Sonic let his own grin to show at the positive reaction. "So do me a favor and spread that to others, 'kay? I'm really tired of everybody being so super cautious around me."
"I will," Shadow promised just as dark arms wrapped around Sonic's body, pulling him closer so Shadow could press a gentle kiss to his temple.
"You better," the hero hummed as he let his arms slip behind the other's neck, twisting himself to meet Shadow's lips with his own this time, smile tugging at their corners at the familiar sensation and how Shadow's arms tightened ever so slightly around his waist as he knew they would.
Man, it was great to be back.