[SONADOW] To Be Selfish

oneshot

“I’m fine, Ames!” Sonic flashed a confident smile, hopefully convincing enough to make the pink hedgehog believe he wasn’t in pain right now “I’ll be fresh new in a couple days, don’t worry.” The teethy grin became little, falling into an honest reassurance.

She sighed “Okay.” Aware of the hurt he must be feeling yet not wanting to be pushy, she turned around “Do call me if you need anything.”

So stubborn. Why couldn’t he be more careful?

Only when her footsteps faded completely, he gave himself a breather. Back immediately giving in to the weight of his injured, bandaged body, he laid down in the hammock harshly.

An arm flew to his face, in an attempt to hide the prototypes of tears from forming and overflowing. But hiding from who anyway? He was alone at his shack.

For once, he didn’t try to stop his pain from manifesting physically, hand retreating back and resting on his chest. A single drop of water slid through his cheek as he numbly stared at the ceiling. Random stings on the most open wounds shot electricity through his limbs, a reminder his body was, as much as he’d like to not think about it, frail and 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭.

The sudden light blinded him for a second. Spooked, he turned to his side, he knew exactly what was about to happen – a couple bruises screaming at him for the careless movement.

Even not looking, Sonic could feel another presence in the room. Yet, he didn’t turn. He couldn’t.

He brushed over his wet fur, wiping the tear away. At this point, he honestly expected a sermon, a discussion to start, a “welcome back”, a worried reassurance, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Nothing.

Silence just happened to be too much for his hyperactive brain. Unwillingly, he turned around, simultaneously sitting up “I know, I got hurt again and I said I wouldn’t.” Though he did not dare to stare at the other in the eyes, looking at the ground pertinently “But I needed to help Tails. At the time, it didn’t look like too much of a risk.” Green irises rose to metallic shoes, his throat felt immediately dry “Also, I wasn’t going to just let him there! Who do you think I am?!” Dramatically, he did face up, with closed eyes and turned sideways, gesturing and actively avoiding eye contact.

But he couldn’t avoid it forever.

(C’mon, just like a band-aid, just rip it off!)

Sonic opened his eyes rapidly, met with a stern gaze from piercing scarlet. The ebony hedgehog had an uncharacteristic beaten posture, neutral expression and a slightly agape mouth. Incredibly, Shadow wasn’t crossing his arms with the angriest face like he had a hundred percent expected.

Emeralds and rubies found themselves, static, it felt unnerving.

“...Shadow?” He risked a call, no answer whatsoever.

Before he noticed, it walked towards him. That was it. Sonic was going to get punched in the face so hard, maybe even break a few more things and–

Two surprisingly warm arms wrapped his higher torso with such a caring, comforting aura, he immediately let all the tiredness and pain he pushed back to take over him.

“Stop choosing yourself last,” Something about his quieter, softer tone of voice made Sonic want to cry and incessantly apologize “𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦.”

He reached for the other’s body as well, plopping his hands on Shadow’s back as tears threatened to spill all over again.

They stayed like this for a while, embracing each other’s warmth, engulfing their worries and sharing the suffering. Sonic wasn’t sure how many minutes – or were it seconds, perhaps? – went by while he held it in his arms. But Chaos, did he not want to let go.

“I’m sorry.” Finally, he said, doing his hardest to make his voice not crack but letting his emotions overflow with bittersweet tears.

“You need to be more careful,” Shadow backed away and promptly cupped his face with both hands “I don’t like how you keep getting hurt every time. Your safety matters just as much as other people’s.” Such care in his touch, it was like Sonic was made of glass.

A giggle escaped him “But I’m a hero, Shads. Everyone says so.” A gloved hand rested atop his beloved’s, a complacent frown composed his expression “I did nothin’ more than my job, I protected people!”

“Protect people all you want, don’t risk your own life over it.”

Shadow let his hands falter, though still holding the other’s close. They shyly glanced down, fidgeting around with their finger, threatening to hold hands but not quite there yet.

Seeing him like this hurt. Seeing Sonic suffering made Shadow get both upset and angry. A visible feeling, his cobalt counterpart could see the frown on his face no matter how hard he tried to mask it.

“...I’m not okay.” Finally, he intertwined their fingers “But I made it back in one piece, I think it’s safe to say that’s an improvement.” An insincere laugh, he couldn’t handle overly serious situations all that serious anyway “I’ll heal and I’ll be running again, sooner than you’ll realize.” His eyes lit up with confidence, looking right into Shadow’s “You’d better be ready for our next race, faker!”

His signature smile spread across his face. Infectious, the dark hedgehog found himself smiling too.

“I will be, and I won’t go easy on you.” He leaned in, conceding Sonic a light kiss on closed eyelids, it made him feel all fuzzy inside “For now, though, you will lay low.”

He didn’t argue, knowing how useless that would’ve been, only nodding while laying down once more, shifting until he got comfortable. Shadow gave him another peck, this time, on the back of his hand.

“I’ll check up on you daily. Don’t even think about running this week.”

“But Shaaaaads...” He whined.

A lighthearted smile softened the other’s words “That is final.” It distanced itself, heading to the door. A last look over the shoulders “Rest easy, Blue.”

And with an equally bright flash as previously before, he was gone.

Heat crept up Sonic’s muzzle, his heart racing like crazy. Shadow was genuinely worried for him. That was enough to make him want to be more mindful of himself.