"You know, gold is a very nice color," Sonic starts as he throws his tunic over a low hanging branch. His shoes follow soon after and a mere moment later, he is already standing in the crystal clear water of the the creek, submerged to the ankles in the cold element. "And many things have this color. Sun, flowers, jewels, ichor..."
Knowing where this is leading, Shadow only sighs in exhaustion. "Sonic, please, don't start with this again..."
"Why not?" The cobalt nymph turns around, the fawn lips now curled in an angry scowl. "'Respect, loyalty and honesty, Shadow,'" the nymphs emphasizes, referring to their weeding vow, "that is what you've promised me."
"I want to be honest," Shadow argues, tan lips pressing into a thin line briefly, "but if I tell you, things between us might never be the same again."
"They won't ever be even if you don't tell me," Sonic replies, blue ears briefly pressing against head in discontent, "because then I'll know I've married a liar."
The ebony warrior frowns. "In order to be a liar, I'd first have to tell a lie."
"Tell a lie, not say the truth. What's the difference, really?" Sonic shrugs his shoulders as he cups some of the water into his palms and takes a sip. "Either way it's still dishonesty."
Letting out another heavy sight, the warrior stands up from the hard flat stone that he has chosen as his sitting spot while Sonic bathed. He makes a quick work of his weapon belt and his metal shoes, and then throws them to the ground before approaching the sulking nymph in the center of the small stream.
"I haven't meant to upset you," Shadow starts as he wraps his arm around Sonic's middle from behind, pressing a kiss to the nymph's right shoulder. The blue speedster doesn't really protest against the action, but doesn't really react to it anyhow either, which Shadow presumes is meant to show him that his husband is still mad with him but at the same time cannot really fight the natural nymph desire to be touched. "I just think that you knowing my heritage would do more bad than good."
"How exactly?" Sonic asked, finally giving into his instinct and leaning against the other's sturdy body with a sigh. "You're immortal. I'm immortal. We, all know the family relations between immortals are completely fucked up in most cases." Sonic turns around and loops his arms around the other's neck. "So, what's the secret you're so adamant about hiding? Father's a pervert god that cannot keep it in under his toga and Mom's some kind of a mortal-turned-beast?"
Shadow snorts at the way too accurate description of most demigods' parents. "Am I supposed to expect something like that on your family reunion?"
Sonic chuckles. "Nah. My heritage is not so complicated. Mom's a nymph, Dad's a mortal. Simple as that." The blue and peach speedster presses his forehead against the other's, green eyes staring into blood-red ones. "So, what about your parents?"
"I never really had any. Well, at least practically."
Sonic quirks his brow.
"You see, I wasn't born..." Shadow makes a pause, hesitating if to reveal this information and then decided that, yes, he should, as Sonic deserves to know—he gave a promise, after all. "...I was made."
"Made?" Sonic furrows his eye-ridges in confusion. "What exactly do you mean by 'made'?"
"Exactly, what the word means." Shadow takes a deep breath. This is it. "An alchemist made me with the use of an ancient titan's ichor."
"Wait...so you're a titan?" Sonic asks, his face twisting in puzzlement as green eyes look him up and down. "But you're not tall."
"Being a titan has nothing to do with height. Giants are the tall ones."
"But titans are very powerful."
"Indeed."
The nymph frowns. "No offense, Shads, but in all the time I have known you, you haven't really done anything that much," Sonic gestures with his hand, trying to to find the correct words, "...spectacular."
"I know." Shadow sighs and raises his free hand, crimson eyes briefly darting to the golden ring that was around his wrists, three identical replicas adorning the other wrist and both ankles as well. "Because I cannot."
As he has noticed the warrior fleeting gaze, Sonic runs his thumb over the smooth surface of Shadow's left ring that until now he has believed was supposed to be just a piece of jewelery. "These rings are part of the curse as well?"
"They are the curse."
Sonic raises his gaze from the metal bands, a questioning expression on his face.
"My creator made them for me so they would help me channel and store chaos energy better so it would be easier for me to perform chaos techniques," Shadow explains, "Before, I could take them off whenever I wished. But now they cannot be opened and instead of helping me are draining all of my chaos energy and are thus slowly killing me. Aging is just a mere side effect."
"They are taking your life-force away..." Sonic murmurs quietly as he absently strokes the arc of the ring. "Have you tried removing them in some other way?"
"Of course," Shadow says, "none of them was successful as you can see."
"Hmm..." The cobalt speedster furrows his brows in a deep thought, most likely trying to think of extreme way to possibly split the rings. "I guess we'll have to find the Chaos Emeralds then..."
"Yes, we'll have to. So finish your bath quickly so we can return to searching," Shadow finishes and gives the other a quick kiss before turning to walk away so the other can finish his bath in peace.
"Wait a minute!" Sonic suddenly calls and Shadow turns around, raising an eye-brow questioningly. "A god is always an offspring of a titan, and if you're technically a child of a titan, it means you're god as well!" Sonic announces with a grin. Crossing his arms over his bare peach chest, the cobalt deity smirks. "Now, what were you saying about not being a god?"
Shadow chuckles and shakes his head. "Being a child of titan doesn't immediately make you a god, hedgehog."
"What does then?"
"Being a child of a titan, ruling from the Sacred Mountain and having very obscure powers that allow you to transform people into roaches or other vermin."
"Well," Sonic smiles as he slowly squats down, submerging his hands into a water with a smirk on his lips, "I guess it's better you don't have such powers because otherwise you could punish me for this."
Shadow starts to turn around. "For what—?"
And suddenly the warrior finds himself very very drenched from head to toe.
"Oh, I'm sorry, you're wet now." Sonic's smirk turns into an 'innocent' smile as he approaches the other. He grabs hold of Shadow's soaked toga, wringing the dark material slightly to make some of the liquid escape for emphasis. "Who could have known me taking a bath would have such an effect on you," he comments with a smirk as he rubs their noses together, green eyes sparkling mischievously. "What do you say about returning the favor?"
"With pleasure," Shadow growls in response, eyes flashing dangerously before the warrior puts his hand on the nymph's hips and pulls the blue deity closer.
"Ah, it will be with pleasure." Sonic sniggers as he feels the familiar hot touch of Shadow's mouth on his jugular and in response he tilts his head to give the other more area to work on. "Definitely~"
~O~
"You really need to try this one, Shads! It's amazing!" Sonic shouts, a beaming smile on his face as he emerges from the mass of people and throws an arm over Shadow's shoulder, shoving yet another goblet of wine right under his partner's nose. It is either seventh or eighth time in last ten minutes; Shadow kind of stopped counting somewhere around the fourth cup. "It's sweet and spicy at the same time. But don't let it fool you, it's also—!"
Shadow chuckles and gently pushes the offered cup away and instead takes a mouthful out of his own. "I take it as that you're enjoying festival."
"Of course! It's freaking awesome!" Sonic announces with a smile, taking a swig from the goblet when Shadow does not want to have a taste. "Especially, the wine! No one really grew grapes back in my home region, you know? It was just olives, olives and olives. Occasionally, wheat—though that was also rare. So, yeah, we didn't really have that much wine."
Shadow hums in acknowledgement as he takes another swig of his wine, from the corner of his eyes studying Sonic. It is obvious that his husband is already getting a bit affected by all the alcohol—he has a slightly flushed cheeks and his walk has also gotten a bit clumsier.
Though it would be more surprising if Sonic wasn't affected after full seven goblets of wine.
"You should slow down with the wine, Sonic. There's no need for you to get drunk twenty minutes after we arrived," Shadow advises him, eyes moving to look over the assembly; the festival has already gotten rather wild with the surfeit of wines and other alcoholic beverages that vintners have brought to the summer festival. People were already dancing, chatting, starting fights and 'hiding' in the forest to do other things that their sober selves were definitely going to regret in the morning...
But, unfortunately, the reason why they have came here in the first place is still nowhere in sight.
"Immortal, remember?" Sonic nudges his side, grinning widely. "It takes more than few cups of wine for us to get drunk. You should know that yourself."
Shadow sighs. "You're drinking too much even for an immortal, so slow down or I'll have to take measures."
"And what will you do if I don't listen? Bend me over and spank me?" Sonic asks, a cheeky grin playing on the nymph's lips as he once again presses a cup to them, a playful defiance radiating off the cobalt deity in waves.
"Even though the idea is tempting..." Shadow lets an amused grin to show on his lips. "I wouldn't as I know it would not be effective in your case. It'd be more likely to motivate you than deter you..."
"Well, what would be the point of playing with fire if you don't have any burns to show for it?" Sonic comments with a smirk as he uncurls from his side with an elegant spin, downing his goblet mid-motion before once again locking gazes with him and winking at him.
"You should not taunt a snake with bare hands, hedgehog," the warrior replies as he makes a step forward and wraps an arm around the nymph's thin waist, bringing his husband close. Unsurprisingly, Sonic doesn't try to fight the physical contact and instead leans in, pressing his slender blue and peach body against Shadow's own. "Unless you wish to get bitten, of course."
"I may actually," Sonic responds with a smile, curling his arms around the dark neck as he presses their lips together. The kiss is nor gentle nor rough but with an obvious desire in it, the taste of wine which dominates it making it easy for Shadow to guess why.
But suddenly the cobalt one is giggling like a maniac, one peach hand pushing him away. "Hey! Slow down, Shad! Don't want me to drag you behind a nearest tree, do you?" Sonic asks with an amused grin as he grips the dark hand which had moved from Sonic's waistline to cup the nymph's rear instead—all without Shadow's conscious involvement. It seemed the wine was getting a bit into his head as well. "I'm sure it would be quiet a show for everybody around but we have a mission. Remember?"
Sonic being the rational one around here? Yes, the wine is definitely getting to his head. It seems the deity isn't the only around here that needs to slow down.
...Though that doesn't mean he's still not scolding Sonic. "You're a damn tease, hedgehog."
"I'm well aware, but thank you for reminding me." Sonic grins his usual blinding smile as he sets his cup on a nearby table, green eyes scanning the surrounding quickly—most likely to see if the male they are waiting for hasn't appeared already by any chance.
But, no, the echidna hero is still nowhere in sight; they need to find the strongman so they could get the Chaos Emerald back from him and to convince him to help them with finding the last one—there is almost no time left and Knuckles is well-known for being an expert treasure-hunter.
"Hey, Shads, how do you even know Knuckles' gonna be here?" Sonic asks suddenly, drawing the ebony warrior from his thoughts.
"Where is wine, there are heroes," Shadow responds simply, "and given this festival just started, Knuckles definitely couldn't have already gotten tired of it and moved elsewhere—he'll come. We just have to wait."
"Well, whatever you say," Sonic replies, clearly not really convinced by this logic but not arguing. The deity himself hasn't really met any heroes yet during his first two month of being free to wander, so he cannot really know whether he's right or wrong. "Do you want to dance while we wait? We've never danced together before, you know."
Shadow takes a moment to ponder the offer, his red eyes darting at the 'dance-floor' where many people were attempting to dance, 'attempting' being the important word.
"...I suppose," Shadow says in the end and places his own goblet beside the nymph's. The deity gives him a blinding smile and grabs his hand to tug him towards the plaza before he can change his mind.
They choose a spot at the very edge of the dance-floor; both to have some room to dance and also so the other—mostly drunk—pairs won't constantly bump into them. The musicians have already switched from playing energetic music to playing a more ballad-like song, obviously realizing that calmer music will significantly reduce the chance of the drunk dancers accidentally hitting each other in the face when none of them will feel the urge to flail their arms wildly.
Sonic continues to grin even as they start to move in sync with the slow rhythm, mindful of each other's slightly intoxicated state and thus not doing any abrupt movements that could potentially send either of them sprawling onto the ground. They slowly twist and turn in accordance to the song, warm hands touching tenderly and bodies brushing together on occasion.
It feels perfect.
...but it isn't.
"We must look odd like this," Shadow says suddenly, breaking the silence between them, crimson eyes surveying their surroundings. "...me, an old man, and you, a young lad."
"Oh, come one, you're not old! Yeah, your fur is getting a bit gray, but it suits you," Sonic argues, peach hand coming to caress the slightly grayish quills of the warrior's head, red-blood eyes turning to look back at the blue deity because of the action. "Plus this is Apotos, Shads. This kind of thing is normal around here."
The obsidian warrior frowns. "Then why are people staring?"
Sonic raises a questioning eye-ridge and looks around, noticing a quite of bit people blatantly staring their way. He turns to his still scowling partner and shrugs his shoulders. "It's probably just because of your attire. After all, the capital is quite far so people are questioning what an imperial soldier is doing around here."
"Hmm..." Shadow is not really convinced by the explanation but he's pondering the possibility.
"Well, now when we are talking about this—why do you even wear an imperial uniform?" Sonic asks, "is it just a fashion choice? Or is there an actual reason for it?"
Shadow makes an amused sound at the back of his throat. "You would be surprised how easy it is to make people spill secrets just thanks to wearing an uniform."
"Oh?" Sonic raises his brow in surprise. "So, you wear this to induce the feeling of authority?"
"Basically said—" Shadow starts as he grips Sonic by the waist, pulling the blue deity closer as he begins spinning them in circle, "—yes."
"That's a neat trick." Sonic grins, his hold on the dark body tightening a bit to adjust to the sudden change of momentum, legs stumbling a bit because of the different tempo. "Did it help you with finding the Emeralds?"
"Significantly."
"Hmm," Sonic hums as he leans in a bit closer to the other hedgehog, using his body as a support, laying his head on the warrior's shoulder. Why is the world swimming so suddenly? It's making him feel dizzy... "Maybe you could try using it even here—Ya know, to find out if somebody hasn't seen Knux around?"
"While you take a nap?" Shadow suggests with a hint of amusement in his voice, noticing his partner's apparent struggle with coordination and keeping upright. Plus the redness of Sonic's cheeks is an obvious tell-tale sign as well.
"...sounds like a good idea," Sonic mumbles just as Shadow stops spinning them. They only stand there for a minute, Shadow letting the other have a moment of stillness so he could re-orientate himself in the space again.
Though it's apparent, Sonic doesn't really feel like moving on his own anytime soon, the cobalt deity still leaning on him heavily even after this moment passes.
"...Hey, Shads, don't you wanna carry me by any chance?" the deity asks suddenly, not moving from his position.
Shadow rolls his eyes. "My body is now technically over eighty years old, hedgehog," he reminds the other, "you think I'm risking hurting my back because of your laziness?"
"Had to try it." Sonic shrugs his shoulders and grins as he gives him a peck on the cheek, smiling gently. The deity rests his arm around Shadow's shoulders as a way to stabilize himself. "Just help me get over to that bench, will ya?"
Shadow lets out a sigh and rolls his eyes, but truly helps him to the aforementioned bench. It's bit secluded from the rest and nobody is really there, but Shadow believes it is better this way anyway; at least it will be easier to keep an eye on Sonic even from distance when no other people will be blocking the view.
The moment they reach the bench, Sonic immediately slumps down on the wooden furniture, putting his arms under his head as a make-shift pillow, his eye-lids slipping shut no longer after. "Yeah, this is... per...fe..." Sonic mumbles, the sentence left unfinished as he dozes off on the very bench without any previous warning.
Shadow looks amusedly at the scene before shaking his head and making move to return to the main table. Sonic clearly isn't going anywhere and that leaves some space to go around and ask people whether they haven't seen Knuckles by any chance.
There is a big variety of people already feasting and talking animatedly at the table when he reaches it. He only stands there and studies the various discussing groups, trying to determine which of them look most sober and thus could provide most accurate information.
He picks a group at the very front and gently interrupts their conversation, questioning whether they know anything about Knuckles' possible whereabouts. Unsurprisingly, all of their answers are negative ones and thus he moves to another group, asking the same question.
It is about eight people later, he notices that Sonic is no longer where he should be. The flash of blue that can be seen moving through the crowd and flash of mischievous green eyes easily tells him what is the hedgehog up to now.
...somehow he's not surprised at all.
~O~
"Would you like some more wine?"
Sonic stops dancing and twists at the sound of unfamiliar voice, stumbling a bit in his surprise. A young female bunny in pinkish dress is standing before him, the young woman holding a jug of wine in her hands. He stares wordlessly at her for a moment and so she repeats her earlier words. It takes Sonic's drunken mind a moment to process the offer.
"Yeah, sure." Sonic shrugs his shoulders and offers his goblet so she could fill the cup with the beverage. The girls smiles and pours him a generous amount of the great wine and the disappears back into the depths of the dancing crowd, surely instructed to offer the wine to everyone.
Sonic takes a sip from his cup and lets the wine roll on his tongue for few seconds before gulping the liquid down, the bitter aftertaste of alcohol left at the back of his throat. However, despite his dislike for bitter things the nymph still downs the goblet in record time.
It's time for some fun.
With a smile on his face, Sonic sets the goblet on the floor and dives into the crowd of the dancers. He looks around curiously, trying to spot whether his husband is somewhere in the mass and in the end spotting the ebony warrior on the main table. Shadow looks towards the bench he had left him and for a brief moment the obsidian male looks confused by not seeing him there. The warrior immediately turns around to look for him and soon their gazes lock.
Knowing Shadow's full attention is on him, Sonic smirks and starts to gently sway in accordance to the song again, working his hips and torso and moving his arms in gentle waves, imitating an oriental dancer that he has seen performing on a street while he and Shadow were in Spagonia searching for the last Emerald. And, boy, it seems to be working—
Until a group of dancers blocks the view and ruins everything.
Oh, come on— "Hey, nice dance! Mind showing it to me again in my room?"
Sonic rolls his eyes at the typical satyr-like comment that has just sounded somewhere from behind him. He turns around at the unfamiliar male voice, planning to give the guy a glare and possibly a piece of mind as well— "Look, pal, that's not—"
Male. An echidna. Red fur. Armed and looking a way too bit like an adventurer.
...Knuckles. Accompanied by a purple-colored weasel that Sonic supposes is the originator of the remark.
Well, two of them according to his vision.
The weasel looks him up and down, his previously arrogant smirk changing into a perplexed expression. "...You're not a girl," the weasel blurts out, clearly surprised by the fact, "...to be honest, you look much better from behind," the weasel continues, his brain-to-mouth filter apparently completely destroyed by the alcohol.
Though Knuckles clearly doesn't have the same problem as the echidna opens his mouth, clearly planning to save the situation but Sonic speaks up before he can even utter the first syllable.
"You know, I would slap you for the comment if I knew which of the two is you." Sonic gestures to both of the weasels in his vision, truly having no idea which of them is the real one. "So consider yourself lucky that I'm only gonna steal your companion. Knux, Shadow needs to speak with you."
Somehow Sonic manages to get a hold of the hero's forearm. Chaos knows how he managed to do that with everything in his vision swimming. He starts to pull the stronger male towards the place he had last seen Shadow at; the echidna doesn't resist the pull and instead follows his lead, clearly surprised by the sudden turn of events.
"Wait, you know Shadow?" the echidna questions, clearly puzzled; Shadow is not a very social person let's be honest about that. "Shadow the Hedgehog?"
"Sure, I do." Sonic shrugs his shoulders. "I'm his husband."
"You're his what?!"
However, the nymph doesn't react anyhow to the...question? Exclamation? Sonic honestly doesn't care what it is. He just focuses on getting the echidna towards the main table.
"Hey, Shad, I've found Knuckles!" Sonic announces with a broad smile as he spreads his widely arms like salesman presenting its newest product. The obsidian warrior immediately turns to them, eyes widening slightly at the sight of the red-furred hero.
However, the first to react is not him but Knuckles.
"What? Wait...Shadow?" the hero asks, clearly shocked by the other's appearance. Which is no surprise as the last time they had seen each other, Shadow looked sixty years younger. "What happened to you?!"
"Aging curse," Shadow answers simply. "To remove it, I need the Chaos Emerald I gave you and the other six. I already have five and to find the last I'll need your help—consider it as returning a favor."
"Oh, sure, I just need to finish a labor for the city mayor and—"
"I only have six weeks to finish this, echidna," Shadow cuts in, ruby eyes turning hard. "I don't have any time to spare."
