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As it always happens in summer, the sky darkens without a warning. One moment Sonic and Shadow are tussling and fooling around, and the next they’re scampering for the nearest shelter. They are lucky enough to dive under a canopy of two trees just as the heavens open. The trees’ low-hanging branches intertwined in an embrace provide enough cover to keep a simple bench underneath dry and safe for the two hedgehogs to huddle on. The leaves are trembling under the raindrops but not letting them through… Yet.
Sonic stares up at their flimsy protection and tucks his legs closer to himself while Shadow fixes his spines in an almost nonchalant manner. Barely, the ends of their fur touch, – the Ultimate Lifeform’s presence is electric to Sonic and an extra reason to always want to be closer. So the second Shadow puts his hands down on the bench seat, his left is nudged.
“Some date, huh?” the blue hedgehog says, his fingers sliding between Shadow’s on the wooden surface.
“I don’t remember us arranging for a date.”
“We’re dating, right?” Sonic smirks, trying to catch the other’s eyes. “So, every time we meet is a date!”
“I think you’ve absorbed Rose’s faulty romance logic,” with a huff, Shadow turns his nose up but then immediately angles himself towards his boyfriend. “A sparring session does not constitute a date.”
“It totally does.”
“Does not,” the black hedgehog repeats tightly, leaning into Sonic’s space to where their noses touch. “Is beating up the Doctor’s badniks a date?”
“Huh.”
“See—”
“We could make it one if you’re not a coward~”
Faced with that shit-eating grin, Shadow’s itching to put his personal annoyance in his place, but he refrains. For a whole ten seconds, that is. Then he grabs the back of Sonic’s neck and pushes him out into the rain. His great revenge feels satisfying but only until the other hedgehog bolts back and wraps himself around the dark body.
That’s two wet hedgehogs now… The indignant sounds Shadow makes mix with Sonic’s vindictive cackles.
However, after some grumbling and a light scuffle the two quiet down. The rain became heavier while they were busy with each other, and now it feels almost like they’re completely alone in the world behind the curtain of water… With Sonic lounging halfway in his lap and idly picking at his chest fur, it would be almost peaceful, but then a cold raindrop lands on Shadow’s nose. The leaves above finally got so drenched, they can’t hold up to rainfall’s pressure anymore. Where there’s one drop there’s another, and more and more of them find their way into the couple’s alcove.
“Perhaps we need to find a drier place,” Shadow muses and shivers. “I’m not interested in getting my fur soaked.”
“I dunno, it makes for a great smell,” Sonic says and as if to prove his words, noses into Shadow’s wet fur, making an exaggerated sniffing sound. The black hedgehog pins his ears and leans back, about to fall off the bench, but Sonic’s nose follows.
“You’re sickening, leave me alone!”
“No-ope! You have weird human views on smells,” the blue hedgehog detaches himself from Shadow’s chest. “My expert hedgehog opinion says you smell so-o good…”
The eyes he gives Shadow in that moment are unmistakably what Rouge would call “bedroom eyes” – that is, if he and Sonic ever shared a bedroom.
Hmm, a bedroom…
Ignoring his boyfriend’s flirting for the time being, the dark hedgehog mentally maps out this part of the city. The public garden they got stuck in isn’t so far from his team’s place, is it?
“We’re leaving,” he says and pushes Sonic off his lap.
The other recovers fast and stands upright, staring at Shadow incredulously. Shadow doesn’t look at him, pulling his gloves tighter, with his gaze fixed beyond the wall of rain instead. The blue hedgehog points a finger in the same direction.
“Out there?!”
“Yes. Staying here is going to have the same result,” he does a little head shake to prove his point, and tiny drops spatter everywhere. “Might as well get wet faster so we can reach someplace dry earlier.”
After a moment of thought Sonic agrees with the idea, and his expression becomes calculative as he looks out with renewed determination. He stretches his arms behind his back and rolls his shoulders.
“Alright then! Where’re we heading, Shads?”
“My apartment.”
“Omega and Rouge won’t mind?”
“I’m a grown man, hedgehog. I can invite whoever I want.”
“Well! Lead the way!”
Instead of shooting ahead, the Ultimate Lifeform hesitates. Whether it’s Sonic’s stupid “date” talk or practicality speaking, something makes him reach for the other’s gloved hand to securely wrap his fingers around it. Thankfully, Sonic chooses not to comment – only grins and looks away, rubbing his nose.
Running while holding hands is a little awkward, but they manage. The hardest thing for them is remembering not to race – there’s no point in trying to overtake each other just to be pulled back… All the while, the rain continues to pour and it gets so bad that by the time Team Dark’s apartment building comes into view, the hedgehogs are soaked to the bone. The roof is slippery as they land on it – Shadow’s room window right under the roof canopy. A ray of sunlight flashes off a tile, escaping the heavy clouds, and the rain ends as suddenly as it started.
Sonic laughs, trying to shake the water off his fur and, of course, failing.
“So much for staying dry…”
Shadow can’t help but smile a little at the statement and also rakes his fingers through his top spines, the dislodged water dripping down to the glistening tiles. This is… truly ironic how this happened.
“Let’s get inside.”
“Why? The weather is fine now—”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” the black hedgehog interrupts. “We need to warm up and dry. And this,” he points at the stripe of even darker clouds on the horizon, “is definitely an approaching storm front.”
“You could have just told me you want me in your bedroom,” Sonic teases, and Shadow swings off the edge of the roof into his open window before the other can see his face. He has a reputation to keep after all. The blue hedgehog is right behind him, and he doesn’t give Sonic a chance to have a look around, ushering him out into Team Dark’s living room. Surprisingly, it’s empty. Same as the other rooms. Well, Rouge is a grown woman, and Omega is a grown… robot. Whatever they’re doing out of the apartment is not his business.
The hedgehogs don’t spend long in the living room, instead opting to go to the bathroom and “steal” the towels. Sonic can only wonder how one can be stealing from their own bathroom, but Shadow insists on the specific wording. So they “steal” a few mismatched fluffy towels.
“What tea do you drink?” Shadow asks once they move to the kitchen. His spines are swaddled in a pink towel with white orchids on it, same as his boyfriend’s, and there’s a purple one atop his shoulders.
“Chamomile or something other herbal,” Sonic says absent-mindedly, looking down. They got rid of their shoes in the bathroom, leaving them on the tile to dry so they don’t track mud on the carpets. But now when he looks at them, his socks aren’t much better – they’re sopping wet, and he can almost hear a squishy sound they make when he shifts his feet. There are a few clicks and clunks as the dark hedgehog turns on the kettle and places two big mugs on the counter. Sonic sneezes.
Shadow immediately rounds on him with an orange towel, wrapping Sonic’s body in it and vigorously rubbing his arms.
“You’ll get sick if you just stand like that,” he says. He makes a pause. “Maybe a hot shower…”
“Aww, how about you, don’t you need a hot shower, too?” Sonic bats eyelashes at him in what he hopes is a flirty manner, but it’s completely lost on Shadow.
“I don’t get sick,” he says dismissively, thinks for a moment and then continues. “Okay, dry yourself the best you can, that might be enough. Take these, go to my room and close the window. I’ll bring the tea there.”
With that, the black hedgehog pushes a stack of towels they left on the kitchen table at the other, and pouting Sonic turns to exit. His way from the kitchen to Shadow’s bedroom passes through the darkening living room, and walking past a big window there, Sonic looks outside. Shadow was correct back there on the roof. The sky is overcast, dark, and just as the hedgehog walks into the bedroom and stops in front of the window to close it, a lightning blazes across the sky far away in the distance and then comes a clap of thunder. He shivers, pulls the damp towel around himself tighter and takes in the room.
The room seems pretty cozy. The bed is only half-made and missing the bedspread, but the comforter is folded neatly on top of the sheets. All of the bedding is this light purple colour – mauve or lavender? – as well as the carpet underneath the bed. Sonic dubiously studies the carpet. The only chair in the room is occupied by some things, so he’d sit on the bed he guesses… But he definitely doesn’t want to ruin the pretty carpet or the bedding for that matter. Having made a decision, he takes off his socks and after a second of hesitation, his gloves, too. Then he tries to quickly rub his fur dry with a fresh towel, throws another (a blue one with a geometric pattern) on the bed and finally plops on it.
When Shadow walks in balancing the mugs full of tea, the first thing he notices is how the cloth on Sonic’s head unraveled, barely hanging on to his spines, his ears are falling forward in a very cute manner and just then, he takes the most adorable yawn. This first thing, though, doesn’t distract the Ultimate Lifeform from the second thing for too long: Sonic is as naked as a hedgehog can be. The towels don’t count. He stops in his tracks.
Sonic catches sight of him, and the shocked expression clues him in to the reason for the hold-up right away. He breaks into a huge radiant smile, wiggles his toes and asks:
“What?”
He perfectly knows what.
“You know what,” Shadow says aloud and tears his eyes away from the indecent display. His cheeks flush rapidly.
“Oh, come on!” the blue hedgehog falls backwards and throws his arms and legs out like a starfish. “We’re dating! It isn’t… it doesn’t have to mean anything! We can just… be comfy with each other,” he finishes, feeling slightly insecure about his state of undress now.
“Hm.”
Without looking at the bed and its occupant, Shadow walks to his bedside table and places the mugs there. His next stop is by the window as he closes the curtains since it only got darker outside. Then he plugs in his reading lamp, lightly tapping it to change the intensity of the light to its lowest. All this time Sonic watches him silently.
“You aren’t going to get in bed with your wet socks on for the sake of modesty, right?” he says at last.
“I suppose I’m not,” Shadow sighs and meets his partner’s eyes. “You’re annoying.”
“You like me!”
“Unfortunately.”
The black hedgehog tugs his gloves from under his bracelets and throws them on top of Sonic’s clothes on the floor. All of them will need washing anyway. Next, he takes off his socks, and they meet the same fate. He still tries to ignore their shared outrageous nakedness as he crawls onto the bed and passes Sonic his chamomile and lingonberry tea… Outside, the rain starts again. Only this time it’s a proper thunderstorm – the wind and streams of water beating into the glass. And yet, it’s peaceful almost like they’re back in the public garden, but now there’s no risk of getting soaked. While the weather becomes worse, the couple drinks their tea, bathed in the warm light of the lamp.
Sonic quickly becomes bored and rummages in the bedside drawers (Shadow grumbles at him for not asking permission and then lets him do it anyway) until he finds a card deck and talks the other into playing a game.
This is the first time they’re like this. They sit on the bed with their limbs tangled, colourful towels thrown around them like a nest, and Sonic’s little claws sometimes scrape Shadow’s leg when he reaches for a card from the talon.
“You know what I’ve got here?” the blue hedgehog carefully picks two cards from his hand and turns them around for Shadow to see. “A Rivals marriage!”
He snickers when Shadow rolls his eyes, and plays a Rival card.
“This game is so gay. Take these pairs, for example… A Werewolf and a Vampire? A Captain and a Pirate? A King and a Knight?”
“You’re gay.”
“Thanks for noticing!” Sonic takes a new card and grins, looking down at his hand. “You could’ve flirted back sometimes. I start doubting.”
The dark hedgehog stays silent as he wins a trick with his only trump card, and they take a new card each. His luck is not the best right now, but when he looks up, he sees Sonic frown as well. He puts down his Captain, watches Sonic cover it with a Knight card and finally confesses:
“I don’t know how,” and he’s blushing in frustration at having admitted not being perfect at something. He likes touching Sonic as if by accident, once in a while holding his hand when no one sees, maybe a kiss here and there… Actions are difficult sometimes, but words are even more so. The banter he and Sonic often exchange is predictable, casual, easily recognisable. Flirting? Not so much. But he wants to give something back, he wants to do more. The storm thunders beyond the coziness of his room as if sharing his feelings.
“Ah,” his boyfriend’s voice has an edge of confusion to it, but then he recovers. “Do whatever feels right?”
Easy for him to say, Shadow thinks, staring at the cards still lying between them. The Knight in the picture is kneeling in reverence – a dark and silent pair to a shining King in golden armour. Perhaps Sonic was right in his characterization of the game. There’s nothing gayer than devotion shown through actions like this. The unexpected thought makes the Ultimate Lifeform let out a relieved chuckle, and he covers his mouth with a fist. He feels so brave right now as if he really was given a sword and a shield. The cards fall down from his other hand, but he ignores them.
“How about this?” he asks and stands up on his knees, puts his palms on Sonic’s cheeks and kisses behind one of his ears. Then, still kneeling, he grabs his bare hand not occupied with the cards and looks into the wide green eyes before tenderly pressing his lips to the center of the palm. “Or this?” He turns the light peach hand around and plants another kiss on the fingers. “Every time you do your thing, I will do mine.”
The blue hedgehog only makes an embarrassed sound in reply. There’s a million thoughts fighting in his mind and neither seems to come out on top, so his body acts on its own as he tips forward, knocking Shadow over on his back to kiss him senseless.
“This… this works,” Sonic gets out, as red as Shadow. He looks at the cards thrown around the bed now. “You definitely won this round. Three points to the Ultimate Boyfriend!”
Shadow doesn’t dignify it with a response, dragging his partner back down. And as the thunderstorm outside becomes a regular steady rain, the hedgehogs rearrange themselves to cuddle with Sonic on top once again messing with Shadow’s chest fur.
“So… would you still say that this is not a date?” he asks in a teasing tone.
“Not in the slightest,” Shadow says stubbornly, raises the other’s chin and reaches forward to lick under his jaw. He won’t give Sonic the satisfaction…
Even though it definitely is.