Work Text:
In a flash of light he’s here, then there, then everywhere.
The featherlight tapping of his footsteps ensure that much, Sonic’s speeding towards Shadow’s home having been picked up upon from miles away with his enhanced hearing.
It also becomes evident very quickly that he’s playing around—darting over the hills that littered the path yonder, and brushing across the subsequent ponds with the occasional, carefree chuckle.
It allows Shadow to lower his guard, an action that he quickly comes to find is foolish when the blue blur comes in hot and ready, tackling his body into his bed and knocking the breath clean out of Shadow’s lungs.
He grunts, annoyance immediately plastering onto his face, yet Sonic only laughs, nestling into his dormant quills.
"Guess who’s home!"
"…"
"Aw, you’re not even gonna entertain me?" A pout is formed seamlessly, then, Sonic’s pursed lips coalescing with the lowering of his ears. Shadow simply sighs.
"Get off."
"You don’t want me to." He fires back, quick, assured, right. He would’ve been flung him off—caught him in the middle of his ascent, even. And yet, as their hearts sync against one another, and the pleasance of his presence truly began to sink into him, Shadow found himself at peace.
Nevertheless, there would be nothing peaceful about his lover, despite his charms, claiming victory here, no matter how minute.
So Shadow huffs, quills teetering with the urge to spike upward and jab themselves deep into his lover’s simpering maw.
… And yet, instead, they simply fall right back into dormancy, allowing Sonic to glide down and press his muzzle against his own. And despite the flickering of rivalry within his chest, the barebones urge to fight, Shadow closes his eyes to the sensation of warmth he may never quite get used to. "I believe I’ve mentioned you irritating me before, no?"
The hero chuckles.
"No," sardonic, sweet, "never, really. Why?"
Shadow feels the corners of his lips twitch. A hand rises to rest atop of Sonic’s head, his claw running up and down along a stray set of quills. He smiles wider in response, quick to entangle with the rest of Shadow’s body.
Legs slot between one another, his tummy pressing into Shadow’s side. And thusly a haphazard, messy sort of "hug" that rears more into cuddling the more Sonic settles in is formed.
"Just how long do you intend to trap me here, hedgehog?" Shadow queries, a smile in his voice. Sonic blinks at him, then purrs in mock thought.
"A couple hundred years, give or take. That sound good to you?"
Shadow hums.
"In other words, five more minutes… I can work with that."
Sonic’s responding laughter comes akin to a fresh breeze rolling across their entwined torsos, a sweet sounding coil that has Shadow’s heart stutter.
He feels himself get shoved then, with little to no fanfare, amusement peppered throughout his lover’s gaze.
"Jerk!"
"Hmph. I’d consider the one who came barging in here the 'jerk'. Did you even use the front door? Or was it the window agai—"
"Alright, alright, Shads!" Sonic says, a tad bit too quick and high to serve as a proper shield for the brief, sorely hanging truth of 'maybe' about them. He pulls away with an almost nervous smile, tail wagging behind him.
"Enough blabbering, yeah?" Ironic, coming from him. "How about a kiss? It took me ages to get here, y’know, and even longer to see you! Eh, eh?"
Ignoring just how blatantly untrue the former statement is, Shadow rolls his eyes. Gauges Sonic’s halfhearted desperation, the playfulness in his body language, and the quiet truth behind his excuse—an edge of longing dripping from his admission that only he would be able to catch—and pulls him in.
It catches the speedster by surprise, a small "mmpf!" punctuating him as Shadow is quick to ravage his mouth, feeding him his own silent candor. The buzz of an I missed you, too bubbling in his throat but never quite leaving, manifesting in the need to capture Sonic’s tongue with his own.
And of course, as he is with all things, Sonic is quick to catch on, reciprocating with a more muted vigor. It is very clear this isn’t the kiss he had in mind, with the bursts of red dying his fawn skin glowing proof, but that does nothing to stop his occasional sounds of pleasure when Shadow’s fangs nick at his bottom lip, or when he sucks just a tad too hard on the skin of his tongue.
They remain this way for a long while. Panting in each other’s mouths, too prideful to say more than what’d already been left to hang in the air. Eyes closed to the bleeding sunlight that kissed at their fur from Shadow’s half-open blinds, and their bodies molded together in loving stasis.
It is a tranquil sort of thing that Shadow knows he could never truly find anywhere else. That he … cherishes. Loves. With each slight movement and sigh and hum Sonic makes, he’s reminded once more of an aching desire he hadn’t felt in a long time: The urge to be.
To selfishly cradle this stasis close to himself, for now and forever.
Sonic pulls away first.
"Hah… hah, phew." He murmurs, taking in exaggerated gasps of air. "Guess you missed me more than I thought!"
Shadow takes him in, wordless, for the moment. He then smiles, small and undoubtedly loving.
"Yes," he says, bringing the hands still planted on Sonic’s face to his quills. They then slowly trail down his back, before finally making their rest at his hips, an exceedingly gentle touch that has the other hedgehog’s face a quietly burning, crimson heat.
"I suppose I did."