Sonilver: Yes/No

Requested by thekyuubivixen

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Silver, lying half-buried in the snow, flailed desperately with his arms. Try and freeze it, Sonic had said. I'll try and take it down. Shards of red light cut through the heavy snowfall – practically horizontal because of the wind – and Silver could only see brief flashes of the battle: a long, spindly leg of metal, high-lighted for but a second, or an explosion burning out in the snow. And then, a flash of deep blue, going for the robot.

He's freezing down to his very bones, the storm raging around him and beating at him with wet, heavy snow, but when he saw that glimpse, he somehow managed to stumble up to his feet, hands out. His focus narrowed down to that monstrous robot, its thin legs holding the body up high above them – and he aimed a blast of thought (angry thoughts) at its knees.

There was a screech of metal buckling and ripping apart –

-and then it collapsed, enormous bulk crashing down like the sky itself. Silver is knocked off his feet when the ground shakes, right back into the snow, spitting and rubbing at his eyes. He looked up just in time to see a blue streak climb the robot, zapping from platform to platform and then hitting something on the top. That something exploded, and then all the lights promptly died.

"…Sonic?" Silver tried to shout, but the wind tore his voice away.

He rubbed his hands, tried to get them to glow like they do when he's throwing things. It worked, cyan sparks and then a gentle, steady glow. He started trudging through the snow, thinking that he had to move. He had to find Sonic; being left alone out here wasn't an option.

And that's when he spotted him. Sonic walking toward him, and Silver immediately headed his direction, waving- Sonic waved back, mouthing something.

Silver didn't catch it.

They reached each other, and Sonic pulled at his arm, motioning wildly into the dark. He started walking then, and Silver followed him, because surely Sonic knew somewhere safe…


A cave. A shelter in the blizzard – praise be to whoever-the-hell deity is even listening.

They stumbled inside, and Silver fell down to sit at one wall, Sonic on the other side. The cave wasn't big – not big at all – but the tunnel leading up to it – a tiny thing in which you had to crawl – had a turn in it which made sure the icy wind stayed outside. Though the air inside was stale and chilly, and the place was as dark as a tomb…

It felt like a crypt.

Silver felt something seize in his throat, so he just lit his hands, blinked twice at the light, and glanced over at Sonic. He was leaning against the wall, knees pulled up to his chest, and he looked up just as Silver did. That exact moment, was when they both realised that if they speak in here, the wind wouldn't drown it out.

…Sonic spoke, and- "Really nice job back there." -collided with Silver's, "You were pretty amazing."

Sonic looked amused; Silver felt embarrassed.

"Thanks… you hurt anywhere?"

"No. And you…?" Silver couldn't see any injuries, really, but then again there was not much he could see.

"I'm alright." Sonic gave him another look, a bit curious, and Silver had to look away after a few seconds. He was too cold to be blushing – which Silver thought was pretty handy, except that, you know, it's fucking freezing.

(Nothing's hot compared to home – instead everything here feels like ice)

They waited. And waited. And waited, the muted roar of the wind always at the back of Silver's mind. He hoped desperately that they wouldn't be snowed in. And then he realised that he could probably just levitate all the snow away, anyway…

It took a few minutes before Silver noticed how much he was trembling. Shivering. His body felt cold, and wet, and beat-up and a tad bit numb even before getting inside the cave, so. So that could be an explanation.

It took a few seconds before Silver realised Sonic had spoken.

"-Pardon?"

"I said," Sonic said slowly, "-that we could try sharing body-heat?"

"I- what?"

"Body-heat? You know, like when you hug someone and they feel warm-"

"I meant- no!"

Sonic just blinked at him, raised an eyebrow. "You're not cold?"

No, no, of course not, have never felt toastier in my life- "Of course I'm cold!" Silver snapped.

"And so am I! So why can't we-"

"Just, no," Silver protested. "We're not doing that."

"Hugging?"

"No." Silver saw Sonic's look, and added quickly- "Personal space. That's really i-important." Cold be damned. Sonic's looks be damned.

"Is it really that bad?" Sonic asked carefully, kindly.

"I," Silver fired back. "Am trying to be respectful of your personal space-" wait. Was the math even adding up- "-and you k-k-keep being…" he trailed off, another shiver making him tense up.

"Wait," Sonic held up a hand, which drew a shadow across his face as it blocked out their only source of light. "Is it my personal space that's the issue? –Because I don't mind."

Alright. Okay. Sonic was the one to suggest it, of course he wouldn't mind. And they were both freezing. And it wasn't like Silver's silly sort-of still big-deal crush was messing up his thinking abilities and making him feel scared and awkward when thinking about holding Sonic, or like – like how Silver felt like Sonic really shouldn't have to do this. (Except this isn't even that big a deal, aghhh-)

"Silver-?"

"Fine." Silver said. And Sonic stood up, shuffled his way over to him – not a long distance – and sat down next to him. Silver sat very, very still, while Sonic carefully, carefully didn't touch him. The tension in the air was as thick and heavy as sleet, the echoes of the furious storm the only sound…

"Silver," Sonic said quietly, after a moment. "Have I done something to make you feel uncomfortable?"

What? No! "No?" Silver said hesitantly, and promptly scolded himself for that 'hesitantly'. "You're… really nice." And admirable. And brave. And- "I like you. You haven't… done anything."

Sonic exhaled, slowly, slowly. Silver noticed, belatedly, that he was shivering too… And then Sonic said, "Then what's the matter?"

"…About what?"

"This!" Sonic exclaimed. His eyes seemed to flare green, for just a split-second burst of agitation. "We're both freezing, you have no problems with me, I like you, and yet-!"

"Okay!" Silver exclaimed right back, looking at him exasperatedly, expression just a bit friendlier than a glare. "We'll cuddle then!" He snapped. "If that's what you want!"

He shoved his arm around Sonic's shoulders, but Sonic catches it. "Hey – we don't have-" Silver's eyes turned away, and he felt stupid. And annoyed. Sonic just held his arm loosely, and said gently, "We really don't h-h-have to." –except that when he said it, a shudder went through him, messing up his speech.

Silver shivered too. And slumped a bit, rigid posture relaxing. "It really is fine."

(Okay, not really-)

Sonic gave him a single long look, and then he put an arm around Silver and shuffled closer to him, all in one motion. Silver's arm came to rest around Sonic's back instead, sort of, and then they both kind of leaned into the other's side. It was… Sonic was cold, but it was… it's nice, Silver realised with a sort of horror. And then, slowly, they're actually starting to get warmer.

Sonic turned to him then, abruptly, put his other arm around Silver's waist, and Silver's stupid mind thought a lot of things. Silver looked stubbornly away – until Sonic put his head on Silver's shoulder. A flash of cyan, and then Sonic's reeling backward, eyes wide with surprise- and so are Silver's. His heart pounded so much it hurt, and Sonic just-

-hissed something pained. Oh dammit.

They've just been in a battle, of course Sonic's beat up – yet here Silver was, just – just throwing him around like that.

"I'm sorry!" Silver exclaimed, panicked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Sonic looked at him, rubbing at his shoulder. His expression wasn't angry, or hurt – it was blank. Blank. Silver wished so much, in that second, that he would've just coped with it and frozen up or-

"You startled me," Silver managed to say. He swallowed. "Can I…?" He made a vague gesture. Sonic sighed, and let him have a look at his shoulder. His shoulder, with a wound, dried blood and all. Silver doesn't understand how he didn't notice it before. (Because Sonic's face is pretty, his brain supplies) He – he feels intensely guilty for lashing out like he did. And then he feels angry – at himself, at Sonic, at his feelings.

"It's not that bad." Sonic said, and Silver gave him a look.

"It's a wound. A big wound."

"Which isn't that awful, really. I mean, I have no broken bones!"

And Sonic and Silver live in such a world, that Silver agreed with that logic. On some level.

He looked at Sonic, who looked back. Let this blizzard end, Silver thought desperately. Almost like a response, wind thrashed against the cave, howling. Sonic's eyes, dull green in the dark, never left Silver's face. And Silver felt the sudden urge to let the light surrounding his hands go out, to just sit in the darkness and try to breathe.

…Instead, Silver moved a bit, sitting down beside Sonic. He couldn't bear Sonic looking at him no more.

Sonic tried to lean into him – and Silver's torn between moving away, or letting Sonic do it. He hated this. He just-

He let Sonic lean into him. He thought, if Sonic wants this then I'm in, right? –and then he positively melted against Sonic. The noises from outside were just echoes of shrieking, loud sounds stripped of everything loud; the faint blue light the only thing illuminating this little terrible cave. The cold an ever-present unpleasant chill – limbs numb – and Sonic so warm.

And Sonic said quietly, "It's like the rest of the world doesn't exist." Stuck here. Alone together. It's true, but if you say it out loud it becomes that much more final.

"…How long do you think it'll last?"

"The blizzard?" Sonic shrugged. "No idea.

"But I hope it won't be long…"

Silver wanted to say me too, but that's cliché. And sounds sad. He looked at Sonic, glancing at his face – or as much as he could see of it. And then Sonic caught him, looking back. Time didn't feel real in a blizzard, and Silver doesn't know how long he stared. But Sonic stared just as long – and at the end of it, Silver leaned down like it was just gravity, Sonic tilting his head like he had planned for this all week-

And they kissed as if they were frozen to their very bones, as if the other was holding a fire.

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A/N: uh uh uh I kept switching tenses randomly the whole story and I don't know why – though I think I fixed 'em all.