It was tough to run in winter. The snowfall made for low visibility, the ice threatened to make him skid right off the roads, the cold set a countdown to hypothermia.
Sonic loved it, of course. The snowfall challenged him to dodge faster when a tree or road sign materialised in his path, the ice was a riot to drift on, and the danger of hypothermia—though less flashy than say, explosions—added the touch of spice he craved.
Part of him wished there was a way to go on forever in the pure white hills. Tomorrow he'd let Amy drag him shopping with her in hopes of finding a good hiking coat, but for now, it was way past midnight. Time to head home.
He sighed, lamenting that the night couldn't keep going—but forgot all about his run when he approached his little cottage and saw the porch light was left on for him.
He grinned widely in anticipation. Shadow finally returned from his mission—one that ran over by three full days. First thing in the morning, Sonic would give him some lip for making him wait such an aeon. Tonight, he'll very much appreciate cosying up to his boyfriend, who always warms him up in minutes.
Their cottage was silent as the night when he stepped in, and Shadow wasn't downstairs. He must've gone to bed already. Sonic pouted as he shrugged his sneakers and winter gloves off, but decided not to feel offended. The dark hedgehog only did that when he was exhausted. Sleep could have him for now.
Sonic hopped upstairs, trying to be quiet. If he disturbed Shadow, he'd definitely get warm, but it would be from a Chaos Spear to the chest. Much less pleasant than snuggles.
He slipped into their bedroom without turning a lamp on. He didn't need one when Shadow was already in here. One of his many bizarre supernatural Chaotic abilities was the warm golden glow that radiated from his body whenever he slept in low temperatures. It wasn't quite powerful enough for Shadow's body to show through the duvet. But his whole head, down to the tip of each individual quill, glimmered in the dark like a star.
Sonic let his grin turn dopey. Ever since their first night together, he'd always thought of Shadow's light as a homing beacon for him. And he followed effortlessly, crossing the room to reach Shadow's side of the bed. The dark hedgehog was facing out, which was fine by Sonic. He never hated being the big spoon. Shadow kept his quills trimmed and conditioned to a near obsessive degree. When he was relaxed, his boyfriend could almost forget they were quills, they were so soft against his face.
Sonic brushed one of his bare knuckles against Shadow's cheek. The dark hedgehog's nose twitched adorably. Sonic beamed and leaned over to kiss his forehead before he walked the edge of the bed around to his side.
He stifled a yawn, peeled the duvet up and crawled in.
Before immediately leaping back out at a protesting yelp. Sonic blinked rapidly a few times and focused on Shadow's face. Did he accidentally lay his leg on the other hedgehog's tail or something? No... Shadow didn't move. Not to mention the yelp sounded nothing like him.
It had been muffled... understandable, since it came from under the covers. Sonic took hold of his duvet corner again, and lifted it slowly.
A tiny ball of fur was curled up in the curve of Shadow's back. Sonic blamed the late hour for his brain not processing what it was at first. He poked the little thing gently in hope of revealing answers. In the faint illumination of Shadow's fur, a fierce little whiskered face looked up at him.
Since when did they have a Mobini kitten? Did it sneak in, and Shadow was so tired he didn't notice? Sonic was torn between being flabbergasted at the little thing showing up out of nowhere, and delighted at its cuteness.
"Sorry for almost crushing you there, little guy," Sonic whispered. He reached out for the fluffball. It hissed in outrage and scooted away from Sonic's hand until it was fully pressed up into Shadow's back.
Sonic shushed soothingly. "You're super cute 'n' all, but you're in my spot. I'll let you stick around near our legs, sound like a deal?"
He grabbed the kitten. Which turned out to be a mistake for a couple reasons. First, it looked like the little thing couldn't comprehend Sonic's diplomacy. It yowled, the sound criminally loud now it was carrying in the open air, and immediately scrambled like a snake to try and escape Sonic's grip.
Second, it had reinforcements. From further down in the duvet, he got a split second of wide flashing eyes as a warning before another kitten shot out and sunk its claws into his wrist—since when did they have two kittens?!—and another came out to launch itself directly at Sonic's handsome, previously unscratched face.
"Whoa—!" He yelled and reflexively stumbled back. He didn't have so many hands to deal with this so he floundered at the side of the bed for a second before something small and fast threw itself against the back of his ankles. He crashed over, feeling like that Gulliver guy, and half a dozen paws batted at the hand he used to hold kitten number one.
Now he was on the floor, Shadow's light wasn't doing him any good—Sonic had no clue what was happening. He let go of the kitten in his grasp and the paws retreated, but not before one of them gave a final swipe to the side of Sonic's head for good measure.
"What the hell?!" Sonic yelled.
"What the hell is right," Shadow said. Sonic heard a faint click as he turned Sonic's bedside lamp on. Its artificial beam washed over Shadow's attractively dishevelled but dangerously grumpy face as he hung over the side of the bed to glare down at him. A thought flashed through Sonic's brain for just a second, that the lamp's light didn't hold a candle, literally, to the gorgeous sight of Shadow's own light.
"What is with the racket?!" his both gorgeous and furious boyfriend snapped.
Sonic choked out a laugh. Shadow got even more churlish than usual when he was tired. "'Scuse you!" he snapped back. "What's with the bloodthirsty cats?!"
Shadow's eyes widened and darted around the room, searching the floor. "I left a note in the kitchen—I thought you'd get something to eat when you came in. What did you do with them?"
Sonic's lips pressed together at the lack of attention Shadow was giving him. His poor arm and face were stinging. "Nothing! I only tried to shift one of 'em and the clawpocalypse rained down on me."
Shadow grumbled to himself for a second. He focused on a far corner of their room, and his face calmed. He hopped off the bed and shuffled slowly over to the corner.
Sonic pushed himself up to his feet and went after him. He intended to stand by Shadow, but the other hedgehog raised a hand to his chest, keeping him back without looking at him.
Sonic's ears flattened. He placed his hand over Shadow's, keeping it in place for a second. "Babe, I know that wake up call wasn't your idea of fun, but don't be mad at me." After all, the floor already made his tailbone pay for his sins.
Shadow shook his head slightly. "Nevermind that. I just don't want you scaring the mother any more than you already have."
Sonic frowned and tilted his head to see what Shadow was seeing.
A fully grown cat stood in the corner as close to the two walls as possible, using Sonic's conveniently placed leaning guitar for extra cover. Sonic realised she was what had knocked him over. Her back was arched fully, her fur stood on end, with a stark five potato-shaped little kittens in a huddle under her belly. All the cats stared up at the two hedgehogs, shivering in fright.
"You could've been more careful," Shadow murmured. Sonic supposed he was keeping his voice down to not alarm their guests. "It took me three days to win her trust."
When he was within reaching distance, he knelt down fully and placed his spread out hands palm down on the carpet.
Sonic copied him, and looked over the other hedgehog carefully. He still had full focus on the cats. "This is why you were so late coming home?"
Shadow nodded. "As you can see, the mother's emaciated. I wasn't about to leave them to their own chances. Not this time of year."
Sonic glanced at the cat. Shadow was right, she looked pretty thin. Sonic got it. The shivering wasn't just because they were all scared, but their tiny bodies couldn't hold their body heat too good.
"Aw..." Sonic smiled despite himself. "You're such a softie, Shad." Shadow huffed but didn't argue. They all stayed where they were for a moment, until Sonic said, "So... what's the idea here?"
"We need the mother to become comfortable with you. Watch me and repeat what I do, slowly."
With far more patience than he typically extended to Sonic, Shadow turned one of his hands palm up and held it out to the mother. She came out of her frozen pose just slightly to sniff at it. Then he retracted his hand and his gaze checked his boyfriend. Sonic nodded in assent.
It took a while, but Sonic and the cats' introduction went much better now that Shadow was refereeing. The mother's hackles lowered. The kittens waddled over to Shadow and made a pile of themselves in his arms. He rose to his feet, Sonic and the mother following him as he returned to bed.
"Say, babe?" Sonic spoke up. "Are we definitely letting them on the bed again? They could be mangy—you don't know where they've been."
Shadow raised his brow at him. "Tell me how they're any different from you then."
Sonic scowled. He only pointed it out 'cause Shadow was the prissy one, and would hate to have to deal with any lice or ticks or whatever the cats might pass over. But Sonic shrugged to himself a second later. If it happened, he knew Shadow would accept it. The cats hadn't gotten any less thin, and the night hadn't stopped being cold. And the kittens were very little and very cute—especially now they were no longer in attack mode.
Shadow stopped at the edge of the bed and cast a meaningful look between it, his occupied hands, and Sonic. The blue boy nodded and threw the duvet up for him. Their mama cat guest leapt up deftly, and settled in a spot low on Shadow's side of the bed. Shadow lay his kitten bundle down beside her and slipped in himself, his bent legs making a perfect little nook for the family.
The smile on Sonic's face probably made him look drunk, he bet. He couldn't control it, this sight was just too precious. He crawled into bed too, mindful of where Shadow legs stopped and the catpile started. He dragged the duvet back up over them all, and looped his arms around his quietly soft and generous boyfriend.
After planting his traditional goodnight kiss on Shadow's cheek, Sonic asked, "So, are we keeping 'em?"
Shadow shook his head slightly, his quills tickling Sonic's neck. "The mother's condition means they need special care. I'll take them to a rescue centre tomorrow."
"Aw. That's a shame." Sonic meant it, but he also meant, "I'll be happy when we have the bed to ourselves again, though."
Shadow scoffed. "I'm sure you will, you degenerate."
Sonic scoffed back. "Not 'cause of that. I mean... not just 'cause of that."
His boyfriend chuckled and leaned back into Sonic's chest. Sonic held him tighter, and brought his legs closer. Between the two of them, the catpile was protected from the cold on all sides.
Sonic really didn't mind doing this, because when he drifted off to sleep, golden warmth graced him just like every night.
Thanks for reading :) I hope y'all are having some happy holidays!