*The latter half of this chapter contains heavy sexual content.

40 - Art - 40

South Island - Green Hills, Green Hill Zone

Late Afternoon, 5:00 PM

Returning home, the two hedgehogs placed their bags of newly purchased goodies on Sonic's couch. After getting some nice clothes, they took home some food to-go for later. No cooking tonight. The blue one tossed off his jacket on the coat hanger near the foyer, as he felt it was too restrictive. He was too used to having nearly nothing on. Shadow felt the same way and more neatly placed his outerwear on the hook. The hero then walked over to the couch to dig in the bags and pull out the art supplies. "Do me a favor and put the food away in the fridge for me?" He asked as Shadow walked over from the coat rack. "I'm gonna get to work on drawin' you after I get done some practice sketches. Once that's done, I hope you don't mind posin' for a while." He sat down on the couch and flipped through the sketchpad. Shadow picked up the bags of food and left the room to place them in the kitchen as Sonic instructed. When he returned, he saw the hero carefully sharpening the graphite pencils not with a pencil sharpener, but a long blue spine. In old days, people would use knives to sharper pencils or other utensils. To this day, some people still did so, as they preferred it over a sharpener since knives made better results. He supposed Sonic preferred doing it this way, just with one of his own appendages. Shadow was never truly aware of just how useful their Mobian bodies were until now.

Curiously, Shadow sat beside Sonic to watch him work. "I still can't believe you can draw or cook. I never knew you were someone who paid careful attention to detail." He murmured as he saw the blue one make swift and quick motions with one of the pencils. The lead was so light, he could barely see it. "How do you know which ones to use?"

"It depends on how bold you want your strokes to look, and what phase the drawing is in." Sonic scooted closer to show Shadow what he did so far. "It's hard to see, but I'm using really light graphite. I'm also not pressing too hard so it can be easier to erase." He drew more curved lines, creating what looked like...a circle? And it was an almost perfect circle, too. Shadow was perplexed, and soon he wasn't able to keep up with Sonic's movements. He was making crosses and t-shaped figures. Why was he doing that? "I'm not going off of a reference so this'll be a little harder than usual for me, but that's why I'm practicing before I draw you." The strokes became sharper, more refined and perfectly curled. His wrist was moving so quickly, he couldn't follow the lines he was making. There were clear shapes being made, and before Shadow knew it, there was a pair of eyes that were perfectly symmetrical despite being drawn at an angle. Soon, there was a face, a muzzle and a pair of ears. His strokes were aimed lower, forming what appeared to be the linework of a body. It was feminine, as there were a lot of curves and rounded strokes. A dress was made, along with puffed sleeves and wedged boots.

Shadow blinked, was he drawing Amy? "Is this Rose-Err...Amy?" He saw Sonic nod silently as he continued, not interrupting his work and keeping close attention to what he was doing. After the line work was completed, he began to make strange marking within the lines. More lines? "What are those?"

"This is called cross hatching," Sonic briefly explained. "You basically make a bunch of cross-like marks to create the illusion of shadows and lighting. Doing that helps shape whatever you're drawing, while giving it some texture. Depending on how emphasized the marks are, determines how dark or light the shading's gonna look on the composition." He faintly smiled as he felt Shadow lean closer against him to watch. "It's super simple, but you need some experience to actually make it look good and not random. Lighting isn't easy to mimic on paper." He made more of those "cross hatching" marks all across the figure of the drawing, causing it to appear more in depth than it first seemed. He even purposefully left some space of the drawing blank from markings. "Some marks you don't need to make, because leaving some space blank gives it brighter lighting." He pointed to a part of Amy's unfinished dress. "See? If my source of light is say...Here," He pointed above the drawing's head. "Then there should be some light here just above her chest. Not too much though, 'cause her head's in the way." He began sketching darker lines under the figure's chin. "So there should be some shadow here, and maybe some there too..." He placed the pencil down to reach for one of the white erasers he bought, and carefully began to shave off some strokes. "There's still some lines showing from me drawing the base of the body...Don't need that. I don't like the rough sketch look."

How did he know what to do? Shadow scratched the side of his head. "How do you know what not to do and what to erase?"

The hero placed the eraser down and continued shading in some parts of the drawing. "Well, when you draw something, you think about how realistic it's going to look. If realism isn't your style, that's one thing, but if you're gonna use elements of realism with a stylistic twist, you gotta factor some of that in." He turned the entire sketchpad around to get in a better position. "What I usually draw is like eighty percent realism, but my style manipulates a little of what I'm drawing. However, since I'm trying to convey a more authentic look, I need to think about proper anatomy and all that jazz. For example," He pointed to the torso of the figure. "I know that if I'm drawing a girl, I need to take in account for her breasts and the curves of her abdomen and lower body. Females have more fat in certain places than we do, so I gotta put in more circles and rounded edges. On the flip side," He went to a small corner of the page to draw a miniature example. With a few quick strikes of the pencil, he created a masculine-looking torso. "Guys are more jagged and flat with straighter lines. Depending on how muscular they are, I need to convey that through lines in the limbs and the body. Oh, and let's not forget about people with different weights and body shapes. That's a whole other can of worms right there."

Shadow's head hurt. "...That's too much to think about at once." He suddenly mumbled.

Sonic giggled in return. "Yeah, anatomy's a bitch. Not easy to learn, and it's hard to translate what you see in your head onto a piece of paper. You know," He added with a somewhat solemn tone. "Some artists go through aphan..." He paused with a frown. "Aphan...The hell was it called? Aphantasia. It's a condition that makes it real hard for them to imagine what they're trying to see in their head. Art usually depends on mentally visualizing what you're going to create, so that makes it almost impossible for them to create anything."

"You sound like you went to school for this."

"Pffft! Hell no." The hero laughed. "I told you I'm street smart, not book smart. I mean I do read sometimes, I got a couple of favorite books and novels stuffed in my closet. But let's be honest, I ain't studious by a long shot." He continued his drawing of Amy. "I heard about the condition online, a lot of artists are struggling with it and they're trying to raise awareness about it. It's messed up, dude." He made a few more strokes, before placing down the pencil and handing the sketch pad over to Shadow. "How's that? Not too bad, right?"

The biohog was blown away. This looked nearly exactly like Amy Rose. She was smiling, sitting on her knees with a bundle of flowers tucked in her arm. The pronunciation of her feminine anatomy was indeed emphasized like Sonic explained. She had lashes on her eyes, but also many smaller ones on her lower eyelids. Which was indeed incredibly realistic. Her physique was skinny, but lightly curved in the right places to convey that this was a female-based figure. Her dress had just the right amount of folds, flaps and wrinkles within the fabric. The anatomy of the body was flawlessly accurate, and the fingers were expertly done with each digit being properly drawn within every joint. "This is unbelievable," Shadow said breathlessly. "How...How do you know how to do this? And this is practice?"

Sonic continued to chuckle at his reaction. "That's not even good, man." He took the sketchpad back and flipped to another page. "The lines are weak, the cross hatching sucks and the anatomy's mid." He saw that Shadow looked offended at this, as if he was the one who drew it. How could he insult such good art? This made Sonic laugh even harder. "Her elbow's not as pronounced as it should be in that angle, and I made her boobs just a liiiittle too perky. I love Ames to death, but she ain't got honkers like Rouge."

"Are you kidding?" Shadow was blown away by his harsh self-critique. "That was a practical carbon copy of Amy."

"Bah, to you." The hero flagged him off as he glanced at a few different graphite pencils. "With an untrained eye, yeah it looks nice, but a creator knows their mistakes. They can spot them way faster than anybody else can. It's like making a professional musician listen to his first soundtrack. They'll hear the imperfections even if you don't." He cracked his knuckles and looked over at Shadow. "Alright, I think I'm good. I probably need to sketch a little more than that for practice since it's been a while, but I just wanna get this done so I can get in bed and cuddle with you~"

With a small blush, the biohog asked another favor. "...Could you give me a massage before that?"

"Of course I can~" He pecked Shadow's cheek before gesturing him to move to the loveseat across from the couch. "Alright, do me a favor and go over there. I don't care what pose you wanna do, just make sure you can stay in that position for at least..." He took a moment to think. "...thirty minutes, tops. I usually draw pretty fast, but it's been a minute for me so it's gonna take some time to get this right."

"Any pose?"

"Mmhm."

"Doesn't matter?"

"Nope."

That's when Shadow thought of an impish idea. As Sonic picked out a few graphite pencils from the coffee table, the ultimate life form walked over to the loveseat as instructed. However, before he sat down, he unclipped his limiter rings and placed them on the other side of the table. He then pulled off his gloves and bent down to take off his shoes. Once fully nude, he placed himself onto the loveseat and got in position. He leaned back in the seat, crossed his legs and folded his hands in his lap. When Sonic was done gathering what he needed, he briefly looked up before looking back down at the sketchpad.

Then he stopped.

He blinked and gradually turned his attention back to Shadow. "...Come on, man."

"What?" Shadow asked innocently.

Blushing, Sonic berated the elder hedgehog for his nudity. "You can't get me hard before I draw you, that's like totes unfair!"

"Okay," Shadow opened his legs widely. "Is that better?"

"...!" The blue one's cheeks became beet red. "S-Stop that! Look, if you wanna pose nude that's fine, but don't get me all distracted or I'm gonna end up drawing somethin' else that is not safe for work."

The GUN agent smirked. "I'd like that."

A flustered, angry pout appeared on Sonic's muzzle. "Quit it or I'm kickin' you out of my living room! Pose normally already. I'd tell your horny ass to leave so I could just go off of a mental image as a reference instead," Steam blew from his ears as he mentioned that, because all he could think about now was being plowed in bed upstairs. Shadow was literally pogo sticking in his mind and he couldn't stop picturing it. "But you ruined that too, because now all I can think of is...Ugh," He became pitifully frustrated. "Shut up and pose!"

Shadow just pretended not to comprehend what he wrought. "Okay." He simply replied.

5:35

Time passed by, over thirty minutes. After around ten, Shadow closed his eyes and meditated. He was able to stay still in a single position for a very long amount of time due to his practice of concentration, so it didn't bother him at all. If Sonic needed to see his eyes, he'd wait until he was instructed to open them. Until then, he'd keep them closed and relax. He didn't think he'd like being stared at, as he hated it before when he was on the Ark. But being gazed upon by his lover was different, and it made him feel very special. Like he was the most important thing that existed. Being the subject of Sonic's attention was an emotion he couldn't describe, and he never wanted to stop feeling this way. Besides, the way he was looking at him riled him up. Sure his eyes were closed, but he could sense Sonic's irises peering at him intensely. He took art very seriously, which wasn't something anyone would think of when picturing the Hero of Mobius in their mind. Shadow sees now that the blue hedgehog was much more sensitive and attentive than he let on. He was probably so embarrassed and shy about this side of him, which was why he never talked about it or brought it up during their date. Perhaps a part of him was ashamed, but Shadow wasn't sure. Sonic was so closed off, so unwilling to speak about himself.

Actually, maybe he could get something out of him now. Something that's been bugging him today. After all, time had passed and it was over thirty minutes. "...Sonic." Shadow addressed calmly, breaking the steady silence.

"Hm." Sonic barely responded as he looked back and forth from the sketchpad, and the meditating biohog.

"May I ask you something else? I won't request anything else of you for today."

The blue blur just shook his head as he made a few more strokes on the paper. "You can ask me whatever you want, Shads. I'll do it for you, you know that."

"Can you be more honest with me?"

Sonic paused and looked up from the sketchpad. "...What?"

Shadow had to be careful here, because Sonic was quick to shut something down the moment he was uncomfortable. "That ex of yours at the shopping district," He brought it up smoothly. Not with any roughness, but enough firmness to indicate that the hero couldn't avoid the subject. "It bothered you that he was harassing you, but you didn't tell me. You just brushed it off." He opened an eye at the blue one. "Are you okay?"

The artistic hedgehog made an indifferent expression and looked back down at what he was doing. "I'm fine." He simply replied, with nothing else to add. His tone was empty, void of any emotion. That was a red flag right there, he didn't mean what he said.

He was being difficult, but the biohog already expected that. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Shadow closed his eye back and shook his head. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not." Sonic's voice grew a little annoyed. "I told you, I'm fine. Happens all the time, it's nothing I'm not used to." He gave Shadow a stern glare, and he knew he could feel it. In other words, he was silently telling him to stop asking about that if he knew what was good for him. After a brief pause of silence, Sonic lowered his gaze back to the sketchpad.

"Sonic," Shadow said carefully. "I can sense your deception. You're not-"

A crack echoed in the room.

A loud sigh exhaled from Sonic as he looked at the now broken pencil. He broke it from gripping it too harshly due to his exasperation. He tossed it on the floor somewhere before placing the sketchpad down onto the table. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the paper with an unreadable expression. He said nothing. Shadow opened both eyes to see that his blue lover wasn't very happy at the moment. He knew he must have struck a nerve, and Sonic couldn't hide it this time. "You told me thirty minutes," Shadow said cautiously, knowing very well the atmosphere was a little tense. "And usually when you give me an estimated time, you always hit the mark. I've noticed you draw very quickly, which means you could have finished the drawing several minutes ago. But you haven't, because you're bothered about something. Personally, I think it's because of your ex. Although," He quickly added. "If I'm wrong, please tell me so. I can tell you're uncomfortable, and I don't want you to force yourself to do this if you don't want to."

Sonic leaned back in his seat as he continued to stare at the unfinished drawing. "Shadow," He began with a moderate tone. "I'm fine." He emphasized that last word heavily. "I told you several times, this happens way more often than you think. That's why I asked you to guard the door."

"I meant to say this earlier," Shadow said with a sincere voice. "But I'm sorry he slipped past me. I should have known someone would try and sneak in through another stall."

"It's cool, I told you that already." He retorted with a more curt pitch. "I just," Sonic furrowed his brows and scowled as he picked up the sketchpad once more. "I didn't want you to see that." He grabbed another graphite, checking it's led to make sure it wouldn't be too heavy or too light. "I'm really starting to regret slingin' myself around, 'cause now it's causing problems in my relationship. The one relationship I care about." After affirming its lead, he began to draw once more. "It's...embarrassing, Shadow. And I have no one to blame but myself. You have no idea how often this happens," His voice became more stressed and tired. "No idea how many times I have to ask Rouge to file restraining orders for me, or to have someone arrested instantly without all the paperwork. Before, I didn't care. Being touched, threatened, half-assed attempts of being doxxed, a bunch of shitty stuff. It never bothered me because all I cared about was myself. As long as nobody hurt my friends or my family, I didn't give a damn what they did to me." He reached over to grab one of the erasers. "Now I'm goin' steady with someone, and you seeing that is...It's deplorable. It shows just how much of a slut I really was before I got with you. How's anyone supposed to look up to someone like that? How are you supposed to love someone like that? Like me? I'm ashamed." Sonic finally said with a quiet voice. "That's all it is, shame."

A sorrowful silence drifted in the air.

Shadow had nothing to say to that, so he just closed his eyes again. He could scold him for his self loathing, but that'd be incredibly hypocritical of him. He could argue against this, easily detailing how wonderful Sonic was to be with regardless of his former sex life. He could tell him how much he loved him and that because of his love for him, this didn't make a difference to him, but this would all just fall on deaf ears. Plus, he didn't want to irritate Sonic any further. Maybe it was best to stay quiet, but only for now. He needed to practice what he preached about loving himself. He could tell Sonic genuinely did have some legitimate adoration for himself, just not as much as he should have. Shadow would get it through to him that he was wrong, he'd just wait for a better time to do so.

When he got the chance, he'd make Sonic see how much of a rarity he truly was.

5:55

"Oof, that took way longer than I expected...but it's finally done." Sonic stood up and walked around the table to the other side to hand over the sketchpad to Shadow. "Sorry for the wait, you don't have to pose anymore. Just make sure you don't touch it directly, you'll smudge the graphite."

Shadow opened his eyes and reached to grasp the sketchpad. Meanwhile, the hero walked back over to the couch where the bags were to get the fixative spray. When the striped hedgehog looked down at the hand drawn image below, he was immediately dazzled. Just like his other masterpieces, he drew the ultimate life form perfectly. Accurate anatomy, realistic strokes within the fur, delicately placed cross hatching marks with grayscale color of lead...It was flawless. And despite how mirror-like it seemed, he couldn't help but feel that tiny details within the drawing were just ever so slightly exaggerated. That must have been the stylization that Sonic was talking about before. He made Shadow look far more attractive than he actually was, at least in his opinion. Is this how Sonic saw him? This beautiful work of art, is what he saw whenever he looked at him? The biohog couldn't help but blush, this was the greatest form of flattery there was. He didn't think he could blow his mind again with his talent, but he literally just did. He blew his mind again.

"You mind turnin' that around and holding it up for me?" Sonic asked with a can in his hand. The biohog didn't want to stop staring at the work, but he reluctantly turned the sketchpad around and held it up anyway. "Turn your head." He warned before spraying the paper with the solution. Shadow turned his head to the side, smelling the strong chemicals of the fixative. After it was properly coated, Sonic stopped and placed the can down onto the table. "That'll have to sit for a while. Lemme get that out of the pad." He carefully placed his fingers against the bottom corner of the paper, before slowly tearing the page properly out of the book with the indented line. Once securely torn out without any damage, he handed it to Shadow before taking the sketchpad out of his hands. "Still try not to touch it, that needs to dry. So," He said with a small smile. "You like it?"

Now having the drawing back in his hands, Shadow wanted to clutch it to his chest and keep it forever. Maintaining self control, he nodded before glancing up at Sonic. "I...Can't describe how I feel about this." He looked back down at the picture. "It's excellent-No, immaculate. I don't even look this good in real life, but you made it as if I do. I'm...I'm shocked." He needed to have this framed at home. "Can I have it?"

"'Course you can, it's you!" Sonic chuckled. "Just let it dry first and I can get you a frame to put that in."

"Did you sign it?"

The blue one shook his head. "A signature? Nah, I don't do that." Sonic gathered up the art supplies from the couch and the table, and placed them back in the plastic bags. "I like to leave a little mystery, y'know?" He then neatly placed the bags back on the table. "I'll put those away somewhere later, too lazy right now." He looked over at Shadow. "You can leave that on the table too, just make sure nothing touches it before it dries." He watched Shadow place it onto the surface with precision, making the hero giggle a little. He treated it as if it was some sacred treasure lost to time. Sonic then pulled off his gloves one by one. "Alright hot stuff," He made a playful smirk as he flexed his now bare peach colored fingers. "You ready for that massage~?"

Shadow stared back at him with a blank expression, before it slowly turned very risqué. "No."

Sonic blinked. "No...?"

"I don't want that anymore. Instead," He walked over to Sonic and grasped one of his hands. He suddenly lifted him up in his arms, causing the blue one to gasp. In an amber red flash, they were Chaos Controlled to Sonic's bedroom. "I just want you." He carried Sonic to the bed while gazing at him fiercely.

"W-Wait wait wait wait, what's happening?"

"I said," Shadow gently placed him down on the bed and walked over to his nightstand. He found the lube from last night and slowly glanced at Sonic. He knew what he was referring to. "I want you." He opened the cap and softly commanded him to get fully naked. "Take off your shoes."

The hero was clearly caught off guard by this sudden proposal. "U-Uhh," Although, he couldn't say that he didn't feel a little horny from Shadow modeling nude for him. He wasn't opposed to the idea at all, he was just a little confused as to why he suddenly wanted this. And why did things get sexual every time the subject of giving Shadow a massage was brought up? "Not that I'm complainin' or anything," He said as he kicked his shoes off of the bed. "But is there a reason why you suddenly wanna do this? Feels a little outta left field."

Shadow scoffed as he got on the bed along with Sonic. "I don't need a reason to fuck you, hedgehog." He declared firmly. "If I want to have you for the night, that's all the reason I need." He watched hungrily as the blue one smirked at his words and rolled over onto his stomach. He raised his arse high in the air on his hands and knees, his tail teasingly wagging and beckoning for Shadow to come closer. The biohog licked his lips before getting closer and squeezing some of the lube onto his fingers. After doing so, he threw the bottle over the end of the bed and leaned down to press a wanting kiss onto the left cheek of his ass. He used his free hand to grope it, before giving it a nice smack. Sonic snickered at this and waved his bottom from left to right. He wanted Shadow to do more, obviously. Shadow then stuck out his tongue and slid it against his entrance, causing the blue one to inhale sharply. Considering what transpired more or less than twenty-four hours ago, it was a little more willing to open up for Shadow this time. After licking it a few more times, he pressed the tip of his tongue against it. It easily slipped in, so Shadow pressed some more. Sonic bit his lip and moaned deeply, pushing his lower body more against his lover's face.

The biohog slowly pulled his tongue out, before inserting his index finger in next. It was easy to get in the first half of the digit, but it was a little more resistant to the rest of it. With a steady pace, Shadow gently pushed his finger in more. When it finally reached the knuckle, he pulled it back out with care. He continued this motion and after a while, his walls were loose enough for one digit. It was time for the second. His middle finger went in next, and he used his free arm to hold Sonic's legs close and still. Like the first, his muscles quickly got used to his digits. Sonic was moaning and lightly panting, mewling for more as he fingered him. As he did so, Shadow laid the side of his face against his ample bottom. "You're not as tight as you were before, that'll make this easier..." He pressed more kisses against his ass, quickening the pace of his fingers thrusting in and out of him. He felt his blue legs shudder on instinct, and his moans grew a little louder. He saw that Sonic was watching him do this, looking over his shoulder with a red face. "You're beautiful, you know that?" Shadow murmured as he added a third finger, and simultaneously unsheathing his own hardened member from its hiding spot. "I'm blessed I get to touch you this way, to see you make that face and make those lovely sounds..." He pressed all three fingers knuckle-deep in, making Sonic yelp and arch his back. "Gorgeous..." He pulled his digits out of his entrance.

He turned Sonic onto his back and held up his legs over his shoulders. He leaned down to press a loving kiss onto his lips, and Sonic immediately deepened it by wrapping his arms around his neck. Shadow tried to be careful and penetrate him slowly, but it slipped right in and made him accidentally thrust it inside. "...!" Sonic's eyes became lime green hearts as he squeezed his calves against Shadow's shoulder blades. He liked that, there was little pain. They continued the kiss as Shadow began to pull out, but Sonic stopped him. He broke the kiss. "N-No, don't go slow, just fuck me." He said in a hurried voice. "Just fuck me, please." He then continued the kiss, his glossa protruding Shadow's mouth desperately. Their tongues wrestled for dominance of the kiss as the biohog thrusted against the blue one again, causing them both to moan out loud. He did exactly as he was told and didn't hold back, continuing to thrust his length within him. Sonic reached one of his arms down and pressed his fingers against his own crotch, revealing his swollen erection. They were both ridiculously hard for each other before they even started. He stroked himself as Shadow drove into him, and they both broke the kiss with hot breaths. "I'm no one else's..." Sonic whispered desperately. "I'm yours, only yours...Make me yours every fucking night if you have to..." He moaned loudly after he felt another hard thrust. "I just wanna be with you...nobody else..."

His words weren't as vulgar as they were supposed to be.

They sounded rather...sad.

Shadow frowned at this as he increased his speed and strength. Did he believe that because Shadow wasn't his first, that because he had such a high body count, he didn't believe that he was truly his? Did he think that because of his past actions, that he was a whore? Did he really think that little of himself? That shame that he held in his heart was strong. Well, Shadow wouldn't stand for that. He'd prove to Sonic that he was wrong. He grunted as he slammed himself inside of his inner walls, smacking his hips against his pelvis harshly. "You're so fucking beautiful..." Shadow cursed as he gripped his fingers against Sonic's legs. "And yet you think so damn little of yourself...Ngh..." He laid his head against Sonic's shoulder and next to his neck, biting him. He heard the blue one squeak in shock, before moaning pleasantly at his roughness. "I don't understand you..." Shadow hissed, feeling some parts of his insides still tightening against him. He felt so good inside, he felt so good. "You keep hiding things from me...Hiding what you feel, and yet..." He groaned as he made another powerful thrust, causing the already broken bed to rock against the wall. "You tell me not to do the very same thing that you're doing..." He bit his neck harder. "What sense does that make, faker?"

"I-I'm not-" Sonic gasped strongly, almost as if he was strangled for air. "I-I'm not beautiful-Ahh!" He gripped the back of Shadow's quills. "I'm a God damn mess...I'm ugly. I don't know why you-Ahh...! Want me..." He panted quickly, clenching his teeth and his eyes at the brutal impacts Shadow was making with his manhood. He was practically pile driving him into the mattress, showing him no mercy. "Ahh...Ah...! Ahh! Ah! I'm just...A used up trash bag-Aahhh~!" He tossed his head back, his lover was reaching his prostate at a rapid rate. "I dunno why you-Mmnn...! Love me...But if you really do...Then..." He gripped his hold onto Shadow's quills tighter, and he looked him dead in the eyes as he continued to ram his member inside of him. "Then fuck me harder and fill me up...Make it so that no one else is allowed to have me, ever." In other words, even if they were to break up, he wanted Shadow to make it so that he will never be able to move on or make love to anyone else. Last night, Shadow thought he was joking about that. But no, Sonic was being serious then and he was serious now. He didn't want anyone else, and he hated that he already gave his chastity away. "I should have given myself to you first...I'm sorry..." His nervous system electrified as Shadow went even harder. "F-Fuck...!" He almost screamed, he was hitting his prostate. "Holy fucking shit-" That felt way too good. "I'm so sorry...!" He moaned. "I'm sorry! I don't know what the fuck I was thinking, but I'm sorry...!"

He was moaning and nearly screaming for him again, but it wasn't just the lust. He was truly upset, and this was the only way he could express that. Internally, he was hollering at himself, beating himself in the head for being so stupid with his maidenhood. He hated that he couldn't see Shadow was right in front of him this whole time, and he gave up something so valuable. For this, he saw himself as not just shameful, but ugly. Shadow couldn't believe this, Sonic thought he was...Ugly. An angered growl broke through the biohog's lips. He went harder, he was annoyed by Sonic's refusal to believe the truth. "You fucking idiot," Shadow insulted roughly as he shoved his blue calves and his legs down against the bed over his lover's head. He increased the severity of his thrusts even more, his sack slapping against his ass in brisk succession. "To think that you'd believe something so stupid...You model for God's sake, how the hell could you think something so ridiculous!?" He yelled as he gave a punishing blow to his entrance. That earned him a panicked scream, he was near his climax. Sonic was in disbelief at his words, so he looked away as he suffered in pleasure. But Shadow wasn't going to go easy on him, not even if he begged. "I'm gonna make you feel everything I've got, I'll make you'll think twice before you ever think something that foolish again!" He could feel his own release coming soon, and it was going to be wild. "If I have to love myself, you have to learn to love yourself too. I'm not doing this alone, because you promised me we'd do this together!" He snarled as he seized the side of Sonic's muzzle, forcing him to keep his eyes on him. "Do you fucking understand me? I'm not gonna let you believe that anymore!"

Sonic nodded quickly, his face stuck in awe at how hard Shadow was going. He placed his hand over Shadow's, his eyes rolling back with fresh tears rolling down his cheeks. "I-I'm sorry, I understand, please keep going, I'm sorry-" He continued to ramble apologies with pleasured delusion until he felt it happen. "Aaahh!" His back arched further, his body almost lifting. "Fuck! Cum inside me, cum inside me...!" He made one last stroke against his own length, climaxing all over himself. "Please fucking cum inside me, I need your fucking cum, please cum inside-!" Shadow firmly placed his hand over Sonic's mouth, reducing him to nothing but loud and intense muffled moans. "M-Mmnnn!"

Witnessing Sonic's orgasm was too much for him to handle, it was a tantalizing sight his own body couldn't ignore. "Shut the fuck up," Shadow released a loud moan as he released inside soon after. "And take it...!" He thrusted a few more times as his essence flowed throughout his inner walls, clenching his eyes shut tightly at the critical tightening sensation on his member. "Shit...You're so fucking tight, I can't stop...!" He thrusted one last time, white attempting to ooze out. "Aahh..." Panting heavily, he slowly opened his eyes at the mess they made. He saw that Sonic's body was twitching, his hips violently reacting from the explosive orgasm. He was still cumming, silently gasping in near excruciating euphoria as his release finally began to end. Shadow pulled out, continuing to watch his blue lover miserably attempt to recover from his climax.

Sonic fell limp against the mattress and pressed his face into the blankets. He gripped them, quietly sobbing. Seeing this, any lingering feelings of pleasure in Shadow's mind disappeared. He saw something troubling happen right before him:

Sonic wasn't just crying from lust anymore, he was crying because he was actively distressed.

He rushed to embrace him, feeling him lightly shake as he continued to cry. "...Sonic?"

"..." Sonic said nothing and shoved his face against the nook of his shoulder. He hugged him closely, not daring to reveal his face to him.

Slowly, he held the back of his head with more care. He closed his eyes as he felt him cry even harder against him. This wasn't just him being upset about the dressing room incident, he was letting out everything. Him dying, watching Shadow die, upsetting Tails, becoming a demon, giving himself fully to someone else...It was a lot to keep inside for so long. He was positive Sonic wasn't a crier, if at all. He only saw him cry once on the Egg Armada, and he didn't think he'd ever see him cry again. Crying during sex was different and even Sonic admitted he never did so until he did it with Shadow, but that was more extreme euphoria and pleasure, not immense sadness. No, this was not the same. Because this time, it was so much worse. He was almost bawling, he was at his very lowest. He was beyond inconsolable. And thanks to the demon's transformation...Shadow's eyes widened. That's why everything was hitting him so hard, Sonic was secretly miserable ever since that day and never said a word. He was suffering in silence this whole God damn time. Sonic had been the one comforting Shadow, helping him get through his issues while he neglected his own. How many years has he done this? How many people did he have to be strong for? How long has he ignored his own darkness? Why couldn't Shadow see this sooner? Shadow didn't even realize this until now, and he felt guilty for it. He only knew Sonic was a little annoyed and regretful, but not this. He didn't know he was putting himself in such despair. Shadow also didn't realize that sex could cause such intense emotions. He felt a little more responsible for triggering them, but at the same time, he was glad Sonic was letting it out now.

No words were needed, and he didn't want to ruin this moment.

After maybe ten minutes passed, he could hear that Sonic's sobs fell silent.

Shadow lightly moved the blue hedgehog, making him get up from the bed with him together. He allowed him to continue hiding his face in the side of his neck as they walked to the bathroom, his weight leaning against his body. He ushered Sonic into the shower, turning on the faucet at a mild temperature before leaving him be. He knew he needed to be alone right now. And he was right, because the second he left the room, the hero got down to sit on the tile floor. His head was hanging low, his face still not visible. His back laid against the glass wall as he felt the water cascade over him. He got in a fetal position. He no longer cried, but he was broken at the moment. Shadow took this time to gather up the soiled sheets and put them in the wash that was just out in the hallway. When he returned, he remembered Sonic had some spare sheets in his closet. He remade the bed that was still broken, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the other legs didn't give out. They definitely went harder than last time, but the surviving legs were hanging on by a thread. The biohog finished making the bed and heard the bathroom door open. He saw Sonic walk out of it with a blank expression, as if he was completely fine. He wouldn't ask, nor would he probe. There was no need. Shadow just walked past him to get inside of the bathroom to bathe himself next.

Sonic sat down on the bed and moved to get within the sheets. He laid the side of his face onto the pillow and stared at nothing.

Soon, Shadow had returned from the bathroom with dampened fur. The blue one felt him crawl into bed behind him and embrace him. He heard his steady breathing and heartbeat against him, and it made him crack a smile. Sonic placed his hand onto one of Shadow's forearms and closed his eyes.

They didn't need to say "I love you," they could both sense that this was how they felt without words.

The only thing heard in that room next, were quiet snores from both lovers.

40 - END - 40

Everyone...I say this with a heavy heart.

I think I need to put the story on hiatus for a while.

You see, I have at least nearly 30 chapters ready after this one, but I'm kind of at a block. I need more time to ready up more chapters. This story is going to be very long. That's why I post at least three chapters at a time every weekend. I need to get out of this funk so I can have more work ready for you guys to enjoy. Right now, I'm experimenting with other fandoms. (I won't say which until that work is prepared to be published, so don't hold your breath.)

I think I need...maybe two months. Two months to get myself back on track. Until then, this is goodbye. When I'm ready, I will post an update on my X/Twitter account: /PMillennium78. PLEASE understand that I AM NOT abandoning this story, and I will not leave this story in limbo for more than two months, no matter what I have ready or not. I WILL be coming back, and I'll hopefully have some new material with me that's already been prepared.

You have all been so incredibly supportive. Thank you all so, SO much! I'm new, I didn't think I could get this far, but you all welcomed me with strong open arms. I'm not going anywhere until this story is finished, so...just give me time. I promise I'll return soon.

Until then...

...Sayonara, for now!