Shadow's nose burned as he trekked through the forest; the moss and various plant particles floating around his face caused his allergies to act up. The evening sun bled through the trees and onto his fur warmly. A small house came into sight.
The house was small, but there was a large metal contraption attached that he supposed was Tails' lair. Supposed- he was never allowed in. Shadow walked up to the front door and lifted his hand to knock, but before he could, Sonic called to him from the nearby beach.
"Shads! Over here!"
Shadow offered the other hedgehog an awkward smile, even though he was probably too far to see it. He allowed himself to be beckoned to the beach.
"I'm glad you came. I saw you walking up," Sonic said.
Shadow nodded. "The walk was enjoyable."
He made the walk most Sundays, but it was always enjoyable.
"How are you feeling today?" Sonic dug his bare toes into the sand.
"I'm..." Shadow took a moment to look out across the horizon. The sun sparkled on the water and reflected the clear, blue sky. He looked down at his own shoes, contemplating on removing them, before looking back to Sonic. "I'm okay."
"Good," Sonic smiled. "Is there... anything you want to talk about today...?
Shadow took a moment to think. He honestly did feel better since their last visit two weeks prior.
Ever since the Black Arms invasion, Sonic had taken it upon himself to aid Shadow with healing. Shadow had half a thought to refuse, but his exhaustion and mental state at the time pushed him into uneager resignation.
His memories were fine. They came back to him at full force without so much as a second missing from his eidetic memory. But for some reason, his motor skills were terrible. One thing Sonic was good for was physical therapy. The religious coaching and encouragement did wonders for him, but the severity of his condition mostly depended on the day. Some were better than others.
Once most of those issues were solved to the best of their ability, they slowly began to work on more emotional hurdles. Sonic gave Shadow his phone number for the difficult nights of tossing and turning- which Shadow occasionally used. Sometimes Sonic just sat on the phone with him until he fell asleep; other times he would have to visit Shadow at his apartment where he stayed the night.
Shadow wasn't sure why the other was so determined to help him. He liked to blame it on his "helpful to a fault" personality. Any inkling he may have gotten of something more was shoved deep into the back of his head.
Shadow finally did take his shoes off. He ran his feet through the sand, the beads feeling nice on his toe pads.
"I think I just want to visit for a while," he finally answered. His face showed none of the tremulous feelings in his gut.
Sonic smiled warmly. "We can do that."
Both hedgehogs stepped down to the very edge of the beach where they sat in the damp sand, letting the water barely touch their toes.
"I've been out here for about an hour," Sonic began. "I wanted you to see the sunset. It goes down super early this time of year."
Shadow hummed.
"I missed you last week..." Sonic said.
"... I missed you too, I guess."
They sat in silence for a moment.
Shadow's heart beat in his ears.
"I wish you could've come with me. It was a short mission and you would have liked the fast paced environment," he said.
Sonic chuckled. "Right, next time tell Commander to bring me along."
Shadow gave him a side glance before muttering something he couldn't stop in time.
"Nothing is fun without you."
Sonic froze in place for a second. Shadow wanted to rip his quills out thanks to his tactless statement. He watched Sonic hesitantly glance in his direction. He refused to open his mouth again, afraid of what would come out.
Shadow's nerves trembled through his body. He felt almost sick to his stomach and he didn't understand why.
Sonic scooted closer to him, almost bashfully.
"Is that so?"
Shadow stared blankly.
"I guess I'll just have to always stay by you then, huh?" Sonic continued. A smirk raised his lips.
"That's an irrational conclusion," Shadow muttered.
Sonic snickered softly while eyeing Shadow's paw set in the sand next to him.
Shadow noticed and began tapping his finger. He wasn't sure where to navigate the conversation, and the silence between them grew along with his anxiety.
Sonic finally spoke up. "What's wrong, Shads?" he asked. "You seem more tense than usual today."
"I'm fine."
"You don't seem fine."
"Well, I am."
The air between them grew slightly awkward. Shadow tried to look anywhere but in Sonic's direction. After all Sonic had done for him, it didn't feel right to be so rude, but with all of the emotions stirring in his chest and in his head, he couldn't really concentrate on his behavior.
Sonic sighed softly, looking at Shadow with an almost pitiful expression.
"You know I hate it when you look at me like that," Shadow spat.
"I just care about you, Shads."
"I don't need you to care about me. I'm not a child."
Sonic bristled. "Are you serious? You're going to be like that tonight?" He growled and stood abruptly. "You know, you're such an insufferable hedgehog sometimes, Shadow."
He turned to march back up to his shoes, kicking sand behind himself in his fury.
Shadow blinked in confusion at the sudden outburst before his anxiety turned to anger. He stood, too. "If I'm so insufferable, why do you even bother, huh? I didn't ask you to help."
"You didn't stop me, either," Sonic said under his breath. He bent down to tug his shoe back onto his newly socked foot.
"It's not like you would have listened," Shadow scoffed. His ears hugged the top of his head. He couldn't stop the words from falling past his lips.
"Dammit, Shadow," Sonic growled, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. "You can't give me mixed messages like this."
Shadow stepped back in surprise.
"You're right. I don't have to help you. I don't owe you anything. You're not family. I really thought we were starting to connect, though. I thought...-I thought you liked having me around-"
"I do-"
"You don't show it very well! I understand that you have issues and you're trying to work through them, but that doesn't excuse you from fucking with my emotions," Sonic stalked up to him dangerously, finger pointing accusingly. "Friends don't treat friends like shit. I thought that was what we were, but apparently I'm just a big fat idiot."
Shadow was having a hard time wrapping his head around the situation.
"I... You're not an idiot," he managed to say.
Sonic stood in front of him stiffly with his arms crossed.
"Then what am I? What am I to you, Shadow? You say nothing is fun without me, that you just want to visit me and then you sit there and throw sand in my face. Please, enlighten me," he snapped.
Shadow's gaze softened. "Sonic... I don't understand."
Sonic's brows furrowed. "Don't understand what, Shadow?"
"The feelings that I have around you," he said. His mind churned and tried to develop the words he needed to say. "I didn't stop you from helping because... I wanted you around. You made everything less difficult after... you know."
Sonic uncrossed his arms and placed them on his hips, trying to decide how to go from there. "Right, well... what kinds of feelings do you have around me?"
"I-" he cleared his throat,"- my heart beats faster and I get warmer. I get kind of sweaty. Anxious." He stared intensely into Sonic's eyes. "Am I allergic to you?"
Sonic looked at the other's face questioningly, and after seeing pure discontent on Shadow's face, he let out a puff of laughter.
"Shadow, I don't think that's possible."
"Then what is this? It's agonizing."
Sonic placed a finger to his chin, looking Shadow up and down. It seemed as though multiple gears were churning in his head.
"Shadow..." he sighed.
Sand gave way to Sonic's feet as he stepped forward. His gaze was a strange mix of timidity and confidence that took turns presenting themselves. Stepping toe to toe with Shadow, he dove in to peck him on the lips.
Shadow jerked along with his heart, but didn't step away. His expression bled befuddlement. His intestines slithered slimily through his gut when Sonic placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back in for another, longer kiss.
Sonic worked his mouth over Shadow's slowly, trying to coax a response.
Shadow stood there, eyes wide and hands hovering over the other's waist.
Sonic grabbed them and placed them onto his own fur without breaking the kiss.
The thoughts running through Shadow's mind ceased all at once. The only thing then was the feeling of Sonic in his arms and on his lips. His eyes fluttered shut, and he apprehensively started to match Sonic's movements.
Sonic smiled into the kiss and pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around black shoulders to deepen the contact.
The chilly ocean wind flew between them, almost as though alerting them of the sun's decent. Neither listened, though, and continued to touch and feel all of the new sensations involved with each other.
Shadow had no idea what he was doing. All he knew was that he felt as though he'd finally scratched an insatiable itch. He suddenly had a thought break through and immediately pulled back to look into Sonic's dazed eyes.
"What does this mean?" He muttered.
"... what do you want it to mean?"
Shadow stared for a moment, unsure of how to answer.
Sonic laughed. "Why don't you worry about meanings another time. What do you want to do at this moment?"
"I want... to kiss you again."
"Good. Me too."
Thanks for reading! If you follow my story "Take Root", I'm here to tell you that I'm rewritting it. Like, completely. I got to a point where I hated it and I had to start over. Soooo I apologize! I'm not sure when I'll be updating that again, but I do hope to get there. Thanks!