#NOT ME ALREADY HAVING SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG TAGGED ON HERE

[smoreal]

If shadow is created in the 70s for sonic movie 3, perhaps…. Pink Floyd songs??? GREAT GIG IN THE SKY????

[arahdow]

⠀ ⠀[⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ better read on mobile app ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀]

LOVE IS A COMPLEX AND POWERFUL FORCE, ONE THAT PLAYS OUT IN A NUMBER OF EMOTIONAL, COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL WAYS 🤍❕

⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ THERE ARE SIX TYPES OF LOVE

HEY HELLO!! This is a little series i’ll be working on at the moment! but Arah, don’t you have requests to work on??? I do!! but I still wanted to plan this because i fell in love with the idea.

The dynamic will be, in the following days, i’ll be writing six fics for different sonic characters, one character per love type.

And you’ll help me! How, you may ask, well… Here’s the thing. I already have the list of type of love — character BUT, i’ll make this more interesting!!

PLAY WITH ME !

1. I’ll give you the list of love types and a one (1) word description, then i’ll give you the list of characters.

2. You may send your guesses through asks, be anon or not! And why you think that’s the combination (a brief explanation, but it’s not mandatory jsjs just have fun!)

3. I’ll be posting the writings in order of being guessed and, of course, i’ll tag the first person (or anon) who guessed the combination.

There isn’t a limit on guesses so, go wild!!

READY? GO !

Here’s the list of love types:

EROS — Arousal

LUDUS — Teasing

STORGE — Soft

PRAGMA — Arrangement

MANIA — Possesive

AGAPE — Beyond

okay? now, the list of characters i’ll be writing for:

Silver the hedgehog

Knuckles the echidna

Shadow the hedgehog

Scourge the hedgehog

Espio the chameleon

Sonic the hedgehog

And that’ll be all!! Have fun and make your best guesses 🤍❕

⠀ ⠀ ⠀

⠀ BEING OPEN AND COMMUNICATIVE WITH ⠀ YOURSELF AND YOUR PARTNER MAY BE ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ONE WAY TO IMPROVE THE BOND ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ YOU TWO HAVE.

[mars-wuz-herez]

Here are some theory's I think might happen in the movie. Nothing real! Just my take on things.

(Skip if you don't wanna read it)

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3:

This is a floating theory amoung the internet but it's also what I think might happen

Sonic is introduced to Shadow at the house. The only people who are there are Sonic and Tails. (Tom and Maddie are out of the house)

They fight, Shadow immediately knocking Tails out

The house getting more destroyed than it already is

Shadow seems to be looking for someone but when he can't find them he chaos controls away.

Sonic and Tails are confused and they know that he must be involved with Eggman in some way and now they have to stop them both.

They go on the adventure and Tom tags along

Now at some point in the movie they will probaly invade some military base and learn more about Project Shadow

While Tails and Sonic are looking around Tom is somewhere else looking through files. There he sees a young girls name and the soldier who killed her

When he sees the name is face might go wide but immediatly hides the file and joins Sonic and Tails (maybe Knuckles I dont really know)

Then later in the movie Shadow might say: "You'll pay for everything you've done" and Sonic might respond "I dont even know you that well what are you talking about?" Shadow will then say, "I'm not talking to you im talking to him" and then points at Tom

Sonic is genuinely confused and Eggman comes from his flying robot or something and says "Oh you don't know?"

Eggman or Shadow will tell Sonic about Maria and how she was killed and who killed her, Tom's dad.

Sonic will deny it and when he looks to Tom, he will have a guilty look on his face, indicating he already knew

Fast foward and everyone saves everything

Now here are my two takes on how the movie would end

If Shadow falls from Space:

Tom and Maddie would say it's time to go home but Sonic will stop in his tracks

He will say that it hurt him how Tom didn't tell him and how he lied

It hurt how he lied, and Sonic really did think of him as a dad.

Tom will try to apologize but Sonic would want some time to think about everything.

He would leave home and probaly not go back until whatever show is next

Tails would most likely go with Sonic, as he came to earth in the first place to help Sonic

Knuckles would see Tom's lie as dishonorable and would leave as well probaly staying with Wade

Here is my other take:

If Shadow didn't fall

The same things from prev would happen

Sonic would leave home and not plan to return for a while

If Shadow is still alive and with him, Sonic would show him the beauty of Earth

Sonic would show Shadow what Maria wanted him to protect

Thats all! Remember just theories! I don't if this would actually happen.

Let me know what you think

[dracarialove]

📄 F it, I'm posting my finished fics here, too 📄

Buried Desires

*Check the 'buried desires' tag if you haven't read chapter 1

[Chapter 2: Intoxicated]

From the bushes across the street from Doctor Golvin's private estate, G.U.N's most skillful agents watched and waited for the scientist to leave. It was still early in the morning, which would give them time to find what they were looking for once he went off to work.

Though the view of his house wasn't entirely clear thanks to the high fence that surrounded the property, it didn't seem to be guarded, at least on the outside.

"He probably assumes the gate is enough," Rouge commented, faint arrogance in her tone. "Sure, he's on the edge of town – but does he really think he's not in danger of being robbed here?"

Shadow merely shrugged when she glanced at him, using their time in hiding to get familiar with the handheld device Tower had given them to locate the stolen weapon.

His partner tugged at the long strips of cloth hanging from the back of her head, tightening the hood of her spy outfit, and kept her eyes on the area near Golvin's front door.

Shadow, of course, found a disguise to be unnecessary; and she knew it was pointless to advocate for one. He didn't really need one if they were going to make it a quick mission. She just liked to be prepared.

Then, Rouge spotted the man walking away from his house, already talking on the phone while he strolled to his car. She kept her gaze on him but held her hand out to the hedgehog, gaining his attention. "There he is, leaving now."

Shadow shifted his position to crouch beside her, the dastardly pair watching the scientist get in his vehicle and pull out of the long driveway. Just to be safe, they kept an eye on his car until it disappeared down the slope of the hilly road, then shared a glance.

"It's clear," stated Rouge, getting a nod from him before they sprang into action.

They approached the backside of the fenced area, Shadow teleporting past it to hug the home's wall while the bat flew over to dismantle any cameras – but she was surprised to not see any around.

'What kind of rich asshole doesn't have security cameras?' she thought, hovering level with the second floor. 'Even I have them...'

She looked down at the Ultimate Lifeform, who looked at the Commander's device and then up at her. He raised it towards her, then tossed it in the air for her to catch, being careful not to speak too loudly as he did so. "I don't think it's on the first floor. What color is the dot at that height?"

Rouge studied the black screen and the steadily blinking spot that sat on the right side. "It's yellow."

"It was orange down here," he replied, "so it must be up there. Try the windows."

The flying spy turned to the two windows on their side of the building, attempting to nudge each one open, but they were locked. When she looked at Shadow again, his expression silently acknowledged the hindrance, but she didn't hesitate in reassuring him as she dropped the device down into his grip.

"No worries, a little lock won't stop me." She pulled out a putty knife and a hammer, going to work on disarming one of the windows while her teammate waited.

He admired her skill, watching the thief pry the window open in less than a minute. And once she was able to lift it from the sill, she gave him a thumbs-up.

Shadow assumed she must also be smiling behind the veil of faded purple fabric; the same sly smile she always had when she succeeded at something sneaky.

He smiled, too, and reached his free hand out for her to take, then she hauled him up to the second story and they let themselves in. The agents ended up in a hallway, dark hardwood beneath their feet and light gray wallpaper sitting behind spatterings of paintings and decorous art pieces.

Rouge took a look around and said to Shadow, "Lead the way, master tracker."

They cautiously wandered the halls, him walking ahead and watching for the tracking dot to change color as it moved according to their location, while she scanned their surroundings for cameras or guards.

It put them a bit on edge how little security there seemed to be in the Doctor's home, but they eventually found the room they were looking for. Shadow stopped when the spot turned green, their wander ending outside a brown mahogany door.

"I believe it's in here," he said, pointing at the door, then tried the knob.

It was locked, as well, so the stolid hedgehog gave a slight bow to Rouge and stepped aside. She used the simpler tool of a metal paper clip to open the door, kneeling and pressing her ear against the wood as she fiddled inside the lock.

When she heard an affirming click, she hopped to her feet and eagerly nodded at Shadow, a mischievous twinkle in her cyan eyes. He could tell she was giddy to finish the mission so quickly and leave the Commander's office thousands richer by lunchtime, and it amused him to see the lady in such high spirits.

He opened the door, holding the device in front of him to follow it even closer to their target. The room was a decently sized lounge that seemed to double as a small library, judging by the bookcases that lined the walls.

Rouge closed the door behind them, looking around but unfortunately noticing too late that there was a keypad on the wall beside the entrance.

Shadow, a few steps ahead, unknowingly crossed one foot into the path of a near-invisible laser. A harsh hissing sound filled the air above them, which made him look up as water spurted from a handful of sprinklers on the ceiling.

"Ah!" exclaimed Rouge, throwing one arm above her head.

But as Shadow quickly saw, it couldn't be ordinary water bursting from the flower-shaped fixtures – purple liquid rained down on them, causing the hedgehog to cry out when a drop of it fell into his eye. It stung a little, making him clutch his face and grit his teeth.

Once she was past the initial surprise, the bat was quick to jump up and kick the nearest sprinkler off the ceiling, dispatching the rest while her companion stood briefly incapacitated. With the downpour halted, Rouge stepped across the soggy carpet towards him, worry in her voice.

"Are you okay? You're not blind, right?"

Grimacing, Shadow removed his fingers from pinched eyes and opened them, squinting and blinking the sting of the liquid away. "I'm alright... it doesn't burn that badly, just... smells flowery."

The scent was strong once it set in, a sickly-sweet aroma that strangled the air around them and buried itself in his quills. But despite his claim of being unharmed, Rouge began swiftly removing her spy suit, stripping to her usual outfit underneath.

"We don't know what was in that stuff," she said, pulling off the drenched material and dropping it on the equally wet floor. "It clearly wasn't normal water – we need to get it out of your fur. I'll be right back!"

Without hesitation, she ran out the door, leaving him in the perfumed room. Shadow took a moment to check his tracking tool, assuring that it still worked before continuing to follow the direction of the dot.

It pointed him to the right-side wall from where they'd entered, and when he walked up to the wide bookcase in between two thinner ones, the spot on the screen started blinking more rapidly.

It didn't change color until he held it closer to the books, turning blue to alert him that they were close to the object they were hunting. But when the soaked being reached out to grab one of the novels – intending to test if it was a secret entrance to another room – he suddenly felt woozy and had to steady himself.

One gloved hand clutched the government device tightly while the other splayed at his side, his arm straightened for balance and one foot planted farther behind his body to keep him from falling backwards.

'Shit, what is this?' his mind asked, while his physical form stood frozen in fear of his legs giving out. His view of the bookshelf became slightly warped, the once-straight edges of the hardcovers seeming to bend. '... Not good...'

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before fixing his posture. However, he didn't trust himself to try testing the books again, standing still a moment and trying to work out what the hell had been in the sprinkler system, or what exactly it was doing to him.

Doctor Golvin clearly wanted to inhibit intruders' rational thought and coordination; as much as he lacked security elsewhere, Shadow decided he was a strange man for booby trapping this room using such an odd method. Though, it was working to cloud his mind from completing the next step of his task...

Thankfully, Rouge didn't take long in returning with a towel, rushing back into the room and immediately throwing it over the hedgehog's head. "Good to see you're still standing! I was afraid I'd come back and you'd be passed out on the floor or something."

Instantly, Shadow knew things were worse than he initially thought – her voice sounded stronger, almost angelic while retaining a charming mature timbre.

And when she started rubbing the towel against his quills to dry them, his heart rate spiked. He placed his free hand against the bookshelf, his vision partially blocked by the shuffle of the towel and his head swimming with flustered nerves.

His dear friend's annoyed tone sounded sweeter than it normally would as she spoke, "Ugh, the stink of lilac is so strong – even for me! Sorry, Shad, I don't think this scent is coming out any time soon..."

The man let out a shaky breath and raised his hand to weakly grab the towel, trying to pull it from Rouge's grip. "I can dry it... myself."

When he managed to look at her, his heart pounded harder than before. She was so close to him, Shadow almost felt like he couldn't breathe, and the glow he saw around her silhouette scared him. 'What the fuck is happening?'

He didn't notice how quickly he was breathing, but she did. Combined with the faraway look in his eyes and his limp grasp on the towel, the ivory-haired huntress recognized an alarming amount of incoherence in his demeanor. "Shadow? You're not gonna faint on me, are you? Hey..."

She placed one hand on the side of his face, trying to establish eye contact, but it only served to freak him out further; because instead of calming the hedgehog down, Rouge's touch made him feel flush and more anxious than before.

He inhaled sharply and fought through the urge to lean closer, pulling away and taking better control of the towel. The colors of everything around him were slowly becoming more vivid.

"I'm fine." His tone was solid and steady, as close to normal as he could muster, and he managed to act calm and collected while drying his fur. "Take this... I'm pretty sure that bookcase is fake."

Shadow handed over the tracker, trying not to look directly at her. Rouge took it, but kept her eyes on him for a second, wary of his behavior.

When she turned to inspect the shelves, he couldn't resist the gravitation of his gaze towards her body, blood-red eyes lingering over womanly curves that taunted him as she pulled on different books.

The pretty super spy made finding a secret entrance look graceful, her figure elegantly posed even as she didn't acknowledge how stunning she appeared.

His stare trailed down the arch of her back to the sight of shapely hips – and more – snugly hugged by a flattering bodysuit, before he realized what he was doing.

'Damnit...!' Shadow's thoughts rushed forth, and he forced himself to look away. 'This is a side effect of that... liquid, whatever it was. I shouldn't be looking at her... like that.'

He began dragging the towel across himself more fervently for quicker results and a distraction from the scene in front of him; meanwhile, Rouge found the cluster of faux books which opened the shelf. It cracked inwards like a door.

"Yes!" she blurted, balling her fist in triumph before pressing onward through the newfound entrance.

The room it led into was made of pearl-colored tile flooring and reflective silver walls. It was like a hallway, with glass tables on either side that held different technological projects and inventions. She looked down at the tracker while walking inside and noted the more frantic flashing of the blue dot.

"Shadow!" she called over her shoulder. "You were right, I think it's in here. Come on!"

The Ultimate Lifeform dreaded following, as even the click of her heels on the solid floor rang through his head like a melodic chime. But he didn't have much of a choice, so he took another deep breath and steadied himself, dry enough to discard the towel.

In the long room, Rouge reached an area that was sectioned off from the rest by a half-wall, where the device she held showed a white dot when she pointed it at one of the objects on a square of marble counterspace. The item was stark white in color, covered in buttons and shaped like a spiky trapezoid.

"Found it!" announced the bat, taking a moment to study it in amusement. "Man, this thing looks weird. What the hell could all these buttons possibly do?"

She didn't dare touch any of them, instead thinking of the Commander's offer. She turned around and beamed at her partner in an expression of victory. "Ooh, Shadow, we are gonna be so set after this!"

Unable to contain her excitement, Rouge impulsively threw herself towards him, hugging the hedgehog and chuckling gleefully. Her gushing admiration of the sizable payout to come was drowned out by the shock coursing through Shadow's body at her sudden affectionate outburst.

The harmony of her voice became a string of music as warmth overtook him, the intoxicated G.U.N agent fully engulfed by ardor brought on by the scientist's strange trap.

He felt dizzier as his heart thumped more forcefully at the feeling of her body against his. He didn't even realize he had hugged her back until the astonishment passed, suddenly recognizing the squeeze of his arms around Rouge's familiar form.

Shadow was holding her tightly, feeling as if time had stopped for them both, until she tried to break the hug. Only after she realized he wasn't pulling away did her voice manage to cut through the pheromone-fueled haze of their embrace.

"Shadow...?"

[sonicboomseason3]

Sonic Boom - Theft

NOTE: Here you guys are, a random excerpt from the larger Sonic Boom Season 3 project I've been working on! If people like this one, then I'm down to share more in the future as well (but only occasionally because I don't want to clog up any of the tags). But yeah, I'm not usually someone who's super confident in my writing, but I genuinely did like how this one ended up, and I want to test the waters with this so. lol.

Some context for this: Shadow has a part-time job at Meh Burger. and it's a running bit for Sonic to have a shitty time every time he tries ordering from him, but people who have been on my blog long enough already know about that particular lore. Also, sometime before this, Meh Burger replaced all of their menus with thin slabs of steel with words etched into them due to Reasons. Don't worry about it. Smiles.

--

“Uh…” Sonic faltered when he noticed that Shadow’s expression was visibly stormier than it usually was. “You… okay?”

“Where are my gloves.”

“Come again?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, hedgehog,” Shadow snapped. He pointed an accusatory finger right between Sonic’s eyes, causing him to go cross-eyed. “I haven’t been able to find them since this morning, and so I’ve had no other choice but to wear a backup pair provided by Meh Burger. Where are they.”

It took Sonic another moment to register the words coming out of Shadow’s mouth. Indeed, the latter was wearing the standard white gloves that everyone else wore instead of those weird gauntlet things. Aside from the golden rings clamped around his wrists, Shadow’s whole look was suddenly looking very, very plain.

“I… don’t know?” Sonic slowly replied, pushing Shadow’s finger back towards its owner. “What makes you think I have anything to do with that?”

Shadow scoffed and crossed his arms, clearly not believing him. “Because you are the one who would gain the most out of stealing from me. You want my gloves to enhance your own gear, which will in turn make your battles more efficient.”

“Are you serious, Shadow? I don’t even know where to begin with any of that,” Sonic said, beginning to get annoyed at all the hoops Shadow was jumping through just to blame him for his personal problems. “One, if I really felt like upgrading anything, I would’ve just asked Tails instead of going through all that trouble. Two, I have a perfectly good pair of gloves that I’ve been wearing for years, and I have zero problems with them. No holes, no chafing, no nothin’. I don’t even see what makes your gloves so special.”

“Of course they’re special. They’re the only pair in existence, unlike your inferior ones.”

Sonic’s eye twitched. “Yeah, well, at least mine don’t make me look like I’m wearing a couple of toilet plungers on my hands.”

“What?”

Honestly, Sonic didn’t really think that Shadow’s gloves were that bad, but he had his limits to how much he would take lying down before dishing right back. While he was definitely getting better at the whole ‘ordering Meh Burger when Shadow was on his shift’ thing, there were still times when he lost his patience. This was one of those times.

“Hey, can you exchange insults somewhere else?” Dave, showing up out of nowhere to stand next to Shadow, whined. “I’m sick of doing overtime cleaning up after your fights.”

Sonic supposed he should feel some semblance of gratitude towards Dave for preventing the fistfight that had definitely been about to happen, but he was still too irritated at being falsely accused. “Dave, tell Shadow it makes no sense for me to steal his gloves.”

Dave turned to Shadow with an eyebrow raised. “Your gloves are missing?”

“Since this morning. And if it truly wasn’t Sonic who took them—”

“Dude, for the millionth time, it wasn’t.”

“—then I will hunt down this unknown thief if it’s the last thing I do,” Shadow finished, completely ignoring Sonic. “And they will pay for daring to steal from me.”

“Wow, it’d sure suck to be them then,” Dave yawned, raising a hand to cover his mouth. The other two immediately took notice of the fact that he had on a very familiar red, black, and white gauntlet. “Too bad I don’t know anything.”

Sonic stared at Dave’s hand shielding his yawn, and then stared at his other hand hanging by his side. Sure enough, there was Shadow’s other glove. “Seriously?”

“David,” Shadow ground out through clenched teeth as he reached for one of Meh Burger’s steel menus.

To Dave’s credit, he didn’t even flinch at the realization that he had been found out. Instead, he closed his eyes in acceptance right as Shadow smacked him in the side of the head with the menu, the CLANG resounding throughout the entire restaurant. He fell to the floor, out cold.

“What’s wrong with you, Shadow?” Sonic asked in exasperation. “You’ve been here with him for hours at this point. How in the heck did you not notice until now?”

Shadow didn’t reply, only gazing down at Dave’s unconscious form with open disdain. Something else in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and his scowl deepened. “Sonic,” he snarled, his mood worsening even more. “My air shoes are missing.”

“Come again?”

Shadow, growling like a wild animal and possessing more flexibility than a limp pool noodle, kicked his leg high up in the air and slammed it down on the counter for Sonic to see.

Thankfully, he had socks on, but Sonic still could have gone on with his life without the increased proximity to Shadow’s unshod foot. “Oh my god, dude, don’t—”

“I said my air shoes are missing,” Shadow repeated dangerously, his leg still resting on the counter. The counter where food was supposed to be served. “If you have something to do with this, say so now.”

Sonic threw his hands up in the air. “We’ve already proven I didn’t steal your gloves, so why would I steal your stupid shoes?! And again, how do you go around not noticing this stuff?!”

Shadow opened his mouth say something, but the sound of an evil laugh coming from above cut him off. They both looked up at the sky and saw Eggman hovering in the air… with some newly acquired footwear and not his Eggmobile. Sonic slapped a palm to his forehead as Shadow’s eyes narrowed into slits.

“There you are, Sonic! Behold, my greatest plan yet!” Eggman announced smugly, descending to the ground and striking a pose in front of his foe. He was trying to look cool, but the effect was slightly dimmed by how he was clearly in pain despite all his gusto. Of course he was, given that Shadow’s shoes were a few sizes smaller than his own. “I’ve figured out a way to match your speed, and now I can finally defeat you, thanks to my new roller skates! Don’t even try to stop me—”

“Trust me, I don’t have to,” Sonic sighed, hand running down his face.

“Wait, what?”

“They’re air shoes,”came three menacing words from right behind Eggman. Eggman barely had the chance to realize that Shadow had teleported from his spot at the counter before another CLANG even louder than the last one rang out. Down the street, a few villagers in their homes opened their windows, poking their heads out in confusion.

“This pathetic island is populated by trash and trash only,” Shadow sniffed. He threw the menu off to the side and bent down to take his shoes back. When he couldn’t remove them so easily, he growled again and resorted to yanking on them with so much force that Sonic was surprised that Eggman’s feet didn’t pop off with them. Putting them under one of his arms, he stomped back over to Dave’s body to do the same with his gloves. With all his gear now back in his hands, he glanced over his shoulder at Sonic. “I’m out of here. You can go get your swill elsewhere. Or starve. It makes no difference to me.”

He teleported away to who even knew where, leaving Meh Burger completely unmanned by anyone still lucid.

Sonic stood quietly for a second before looking down at Eggman, who was face down on the floor with his butt in the air, his toes red from being crammed into ill-fitting shoes, and his hands covering the rapidly forming bruise on the back of his head. “You okay, Egghead?”

“Mombot…” Eggman whimpered, dazed. “I want Mombot…”

“Yeah, I dunno how you thought that could’ve ended any other way, to be honest.”

[pajulammas]

This whole story idea was originally just a silly little daydream I liked to imagine while trying to fall asleep. I'm not super into the idea of Sonic and Shadow being parents, but the idea of Galahad being Lancelot's son from a previous relationship and Sonic being a stepdad was intriguing. It would have such a different dynamic, especially if Galahad is already an adult. My friends had to witness this AU Getting Me in real time, and now we're here. It's actually a fic now-

This AU is partially inspired by original Arthurian lore, partially by Sonic lore, and the rest are just all kinds of ideas that popped into my head. This AU is basically just "Since Sonic's Arthurian world doesn't have Guinevere in it, it's only logical that Lancelot would be in love with Arthur instead, right?" and old man yaoi-

Chapter 1: The Lost King’s Return 

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Relationship: Sonic the Hedgehog/Lancelot (Sonic and the Black Knight), Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added

Characters: Sonic the Hedgehog, Lancelot (Sonic and the Black Knight), Galahad (Sonic and the Black Knight), Gawain (Sonic and the Black Knight), Percival (Sonic and the Black Knight), Lamorak (Sonic and the Black Knight), Other Character Tags to Be Added

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Forbidden Love, Developing Relationship, Parenthood, Single Parents, Step-parents, Trans Male Character, Trans Sonic the Hedgehog, Family, Aged-Up Character(s), Arthurian, Chivalry, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Asexuality, Pining, Dadow, Internalized Homophobia, Period-Typical Homophobia, Betaed

Summary: Sonic has reached the ripe age of 50 and is now longing for another adventure. One day, he wakes up back in Camelot, but it’s not the same one he left, as no one seems to remember those events other than Sonic; and on top of it all, they all think that he is the lost king Arthur who has simply lost his memories.

Arthur’s most loyal knight Lancelot is the same age as Sonic and a single parent, who is struggling with his sudden loneliness as his son Galahad has recently moved away. Sonic is enthralled by him, since he’s something that Shadow isn’t; mortal. Given their position as king and his bodyguard, the two quickly become close, closer than their titles would suggest in fact.

Now Sonic is struggling with his new duties and expectations – ones that he didn’t really even ask for in the first place. In the midst of it all, he’s trying to keep his newly blossomed relationship a secret, while also adapting to yet another new, unexpected title; stepfather.

[l-sincline]

Cybernetics - Chapter 30

Amy Rose is a mechanic, plain and simple. But aside from that, she feels utterly alone in a cruel world where she makes just enough to scrape by. One night she’s visited by a mysterious Cyborg that needs his arm fixed, little does she know this repair will change her life.

Flung from the confines of her normal life, Amy finds herself working with Anarchists set on creating a new life for themselves and the poor people of Mobius. The only downside? Seeing who she thought was her best friend fight against her.

AO3 Tags:  Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Amy Rose/Shadow the Hedgehog, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Amy Rose (Sonic the Hedgehog), Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles “Tails” Prower, Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik, Rouge the Bat, Whisper the Wolf, Cream the Rabbit, Knuckles the Echidna, Badnik (Sonic the Hedgehog), E-123 Omega, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Angst, Slow Burn, Partners in Crime

AO3 Link

Previous/Next

Amy had taken Shadow rushing off to last minute check the plan with Blaze in stride. Her and Rouge now sat in their respective seats in the small ship, pointing out at the other Mobians outside. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had all gotten similar flight suits- highlighted with the colors blue, yellow, and white respectively. From where they sat, they could see Tails listening intently to one of the technicians with Sonic beside him looking bored, to say the least. Knuckles had been instructed to step inside their ship a while ago after he managed to dent one of the metal floor tiles. 

“You guys ready?” Blaze had appeared at the open door to their cockpit, Shadow in tow. 

“We’ve already been up there and survived once- we can do it again.” Rouge grinned and flashed Blaze a thumbs up as Shadow squeezed past the cat mobian and made his way to his own seat. 

“How come you two get to sit in front?” He questioned.

“Because we got here first!” Amy shot back with a smile. Shadow shrugged and rolled his eyes. 

“Alright, I’ll go check in with team Sonic. You’ll get some last words and a count down from me over your comms system and then you’ll be on your way- got it?”

‘Got it’ the team echoed, nodding their heads. 

“I trust you guys a lot more than them-” Blaze gestured vaguely out the large front window in the direction of team Sonic, “-so I’m trusting that no matter what those idiots do, you three know your objective and stick to it. Okay?” Everyone nodded quietly. 

With a dip of her head, Blaze turned and exited the ship. They watched quietly as she made her way across the large hangar to Sonic and Tails, who followed her into the ship. Resistance technicians rushed around silently, doing last minute button presses and screw tightens. They scribbled notes and nodded confidently to each other. This really was it. 

“What are you thinking, Amy?” Rouge inquired, leaning forward in her seat slightly. 

“Hmm…” Amy hummed, leaning back and looking up to the ceiling, “Just that I can’t believe how much time has passed. Everything seemed to happen so quickly. And now we’re here.” 

“You think we win, then?” She pressed.

“We have to win.” Shadow interjected. Rouge shot him a look over her shoulder.

“I didn’t ask the passenger. I asked my copilot.” She smirked. Amy smiled. 

“I think we win.” She turned to look at Shadow, “Especially since you’re so determined.” 

Shadow’s ear twitched, but he was silent. 

“Listen up, crews.” Blaze’s voice suddenly boomed to life over the speakers. “The time is now. In the next minute your ships will be ejected and you’ll be put on the flight path to dock at Doctor Robotnik’s main ship. Your goal is to take him down from the inside. Once we have this egg head out of our fur we’ll be free to move on with much bigger strides. Don’t fail me now.”

The cockpit was eerily silent as Blaze’s mini speech concluded. It seemed that they were all feeling the pressure, even Shadow- who she noted had shut his eyes and ducked his head down as she glanced behind herself. Amy couldn’t help but notice the strained mouth and furrowed brows, hands gripping his knees tightly- she didn’t take him to be the type to pray, but it certainly seemed like he was talking to someone in the privacy of his own mind. 

Next to her, Rouge looked ahead. She seemed determined, the corners of her mouth quirked up in a small smile. Amy tried to copy her look and looked ahead. Then, the ship shuddered, and started moving.

The Sonic crew’s ship moved along next to them, being carried by whatever rail was beneath them to get to the hatch. They stopped, there was a loud, blaring beep, and then the hatch above them began to screech open. Dirt and rust rained down on the two ships, light pouring into the otherwise dark hangar. 

Then, before she knew it, they were launched out into space. 

The city flew past sooner than she could blink, as did the clouds and the used to be blue sky. Before she had even taken a breath the sky had grown pitch black, dotted with little stars in the far off distance. It was silent and beautiful.

But there was no time to admire it, they had to stay focused. 

Ahead of them Robotnik’s ship loomed, dangerous and brooding. She could see other ships docking and being taken in, that's when she realized she wasn’t even quite sure which one Tails was in anymore. But no one said anything, as if all of space had held its breath just for this moment. Amy’s heart pounded in her chest as the main ship grew closer and closer.

Docking sequence started. 

The ship spoke to them, robotic and female, as she heard the thrusters change intensity. The hatch to the main ship hissed open, and then they landed. 

[sirenium]

ID: 'This user bites sysmeds and queer exclusionists.' In grey Engraver's Old English text. The background is black, and to the left and image of a wolf barking is seen, separated by everything else by a grey border. End ID

'Shipcourse is stupid. Any side is welcome as long as you aren’t an asshole about it.' in dark, faded red Engraver's Old English on a black background. The text is outlined in a darker red. To the right, a GIF that starts off zoomed in on a motorcycle wheel, but zooms out to reveal Shadow The Hedgehog riding the motorcycle. The banner has two dark red bars, one on top and the other on the bottom, with a thinner bar separating the text and the GIF, End ID

Guys I made a carrd lmfao (link)

My sideblog (link) where I coin shit and make flags, and my otherkin sideblog (link). Our system blog (link).

Time for a long overdue introduction!

I'm Canis/Canid (you can always just call me 'Sirenium' if that's easier!). I am a namehoarder, as well as namefluid, so I tend to prefer different names at different times (I will attempt to stick to a certain pair of names per theme). I'm 19. I have pieces of paper agreeing with me that I'm autistic and have ADHD, also known as 'I am professionally diagnosed', and I am almost certainly cluster B but have no desire to receive a 'professional diagnosis' for any cluster B disorder, as I've already been mistreated by the mental 'profession' enough as is.

My pronouns are in my bio, but for the sake of convenience my current preferred ones are it/its and ze/hir, he/him is tolerated and they/them is on very thin ice because people love to use that set as an 'easier' option when faced with a scary it/its user. I am intersex. my gender is currently best described as xenic, agender, pangenderflux dude. I'm a loveless, polyamorous lesboy, panaesthetic, and on the aplatonic and asocial spectrums. I am a biracial black individual.

My interests include, but are (just barely) not limited to, the Sonic franchise (I now have a specific tag for sonic related content. It's #random self indulgent sonic related post, and I went through and tagged [hopefully] every sonic related post with it. edit: I don't remember to use this tag much anymore, apologies), The Legend of Zelda, music, Warframe, and LGBTQ+/xenogender flags, history, and identities.

I have decided to lift my DNI. Be warned, however, that I use the block button frequently.

I will just tag self promotive posts with 'self promotion' because my previous custom tag was so fucking cringe/lighthearted

BYF (before you follow)

[Pt: BYF (before you follow) end pt]

Unless you give me a reason to block you, I see no reason to bar certain people from interacting with my posts (please note that if I go to your blog and am exposed to some dumbass take about mspec lesbians or something, that is typically grounds for a straight up block). Now that that's out of the way, let's move on.

Here, we believe that there's no such thing as an invalid queer identity, and this encompasses lesboys, m-spec lesbians, gaybians, and anything else that people hate for no reason. We are pro endo, believe that pronouns and presentation don't necessarily equal gender, anti capitalism (especially rainbow capitalism), pro-choice, pro self diagnosis, are of the opinion that PCOS can be an intersex condition (but honestly it's up to the individual to identify as such), queer isn't a slur (though I don't immediately jump to demonizing those who think it is, bc there are certainly older people who've had that word used against them in a derogatory way), xenogenders aren't transphobic, paraphile≠abuser, and more that I don't feel are necessary to state on this blog.

Stance on transID and radqueers (link). Since it apparently needs to be said, don't fucking derail my posts because of my stances on these things. It's not up for debate, especially on a random ass post. Your comment will be deleted and I will most likely block you, because in my humble opinion getting your panties in a twist about something unrelated to a post is obnoxious. Thanks!

What's this blog about?

[Pt: What's this blog about? End pt]

I don't even know anymore, man. There's stuff about being neurodivergent and queer, sonic shit, and whatever I feel like reblogging. Enjoy your stay.

Lastly...

[pt: Lastly... end pt]

I will block any exclusionists, TERFS/SWERFS, truscum/transmeds, or pro-lifers who touch my posts because frankly, I'm not interested in interacting with y'all (I will cave occasionally when I am extremely bored lmfao).

ID: 'This blog respects and supports all good faith identities, and is adamant about creating a space where EVERY queer person can exist as themselves.' In grey Old Engraver's English font on a black background. To the right, a wolf pack dogpiling is featured, and the image is separated by the rest of the banner by a dark and reddish border. Two borders, one on the top of the entire banner and the other on the bottom, are the same color. End ID

Thanks for reading. :)

Please note:

[pt: please note:. End pt]

I don't look at peoples DNIs before interacting all the time (banners are right there so like, obviously I check those. I'm talking about DNIs in bios or pinned posts). Please, if I'm included in your DNI because of my beliefs and identity, block me and/or message me to remove anything I've reblogged from you if you need to. It's basic human decency: I wouldn't want someone who fits any description on my DNI to interact with my shit, so it's only fair I provide that same respect to others (even if they're exclusionists or other people I generally don't like). Additionally, I'd rather handle situations like this with mutual maturity in the case that they happen. Thank you.

Also you can message me if you just don't want your stuff on my blog, btw.

I reclaim slurs, and there are posts that feature slurs on my blog. There's serious subject matter discussed here, and I don't add trigger warnings all the time. Please be careful if you are triggered by stuff like death, transphobia, etc..

I often don't make image descriptions for things I reblog, but I try to make IDs for things I make/post myself.

Quick warning: stuff about the Gaza war shit will appear on this blog every once in a while, though I hope to provide a space that is mostly void of reminders that humanity is horrible and people are dying for no reason. That being said, fuck off zionists I stand with Palestine.

[mxbo]

✦ Hello fellow tumblr users !!

I'm new here pls don't bully me

I made my Tumblr account years ago but never used it because reblogging and tagging was/is scary.

Anyway, my name is Mx. Rom Bo and I'm an it/its.

A COUPLE THINGS ABOUT ME !!

✦ Agender, aroace, it/its ✦ I am a minor, everything I reblog and post is SFW (they may contain angst, heavy themes like death or blood if I find the fanart to be really cool (definitely not talking about Shadow, Maria, and Emesis Blue as a whole), but generally I keep it wholesome). NO SEX GO TO HORNY JAIL. Keep that in mind because I'm quick to block people who cross my boundaries, specially since my ask box and DMs are always open. ✦ I am extremely paranoid. I WILL NOT TALK TO YOU UNLESS YOU SEND AN ASK OR TAG ME. Then, I WILL ANSWER, MAY FOLLOW YOU/FOLLOW YOU BACK if I don't already, and NOT TALK TO YOU AGAIN UNLESS YOU SEND AN ASK OR TAG ME AGAIN. ✦ I MAINLY REBLOG ART AND MEMES. I DON'T REBLOG PEOPLE'S THOUGHTS because I get paranoid that it's something personal and OP won't want a random like me to interact. ✦ I draw!! ✦ I write!! English is not my first language, so I always think what I write is cringe, but I can share if someone asks. ✦ I'm from Spain and my first language is Spanish ^^ I study Baccalaureate of Arts here ✦ I have a neocities!! Where I sometimes vent because it serves as my diary, so mindful with the TW.

Want to know more?? Check out my neocities!!

I MAKE STUFF !!

⛏ = Has been requested and I'm working on it !!

USERBOXES

TF2 ✦ TF2 [teams / classes] ✦ Scout [RED / BLU] ✦ Soldier [RED / BLU] ✦ Pyro [RED / BLU] ✦ Demo [RED / BLU] ✦ Heavy [RED / BLU] ✦ Engie [RED / BLU ⛏] ✦ Medic [RED / BLU] ✦ Sniper [RED / BLU] ✦ Spy [RED / BLU] ✦ Saxton Hale ✦ Pauling ✦ Sniperspy ⛏ OTHERS ✦ Wordgirl (Dr. Two Brains) ⛏

STAMPS

TF2 ✦ Soldier [RED I, RED II / BLU] ✦ Pyro [RED / BLU] ✦ Heavy [RED / BLU] ✦ Engie [RED / BLU] ✦ Sniper [RED / BLU] ✦ Emesis Blue [1, 2] ✦ Boots n' Bombs ✦ Heavymedic ⛏ ✦ Helmet party ⛏ ✦ Sniperspy ⛏ STH ✦ Shadow The hedgehog OTHERS ✦ Captain Laserhawk (Bullfrog and Rayman/Ramon) ✦ B&W Sea Creatures ✦ Fallout New Vegas ⛏

BLINKIES / BUTTONS

✦ Creepy, ocean-themed ⛏

I HAVE ALL MY GRAPHICS IN MY WEBSITE !!

For easier navigation ;]

OTHER STUFF !!

WRITING

✦ Meet the sunshine: Sniper's daughter (reader) meets the team

ART

✦ I have a blog where I post all my art: @mxartbo

I will edit this introductions if things change :]

(All userboxes by @marcelinepink)

[suna1suna1]

Hello, Tumblr! It's WIP Wednesday!

I think I'm gonna switch some stuff up because I haven't been getting much interaction with my WIP Wednesday game for a while, which is understandable. After a while of the same things, it isn't as exciting anymore and just gets boring.

So for this week, I'm gonna start a (no pressure) tag game! If you don't like participating in these, you don't have to, and if I tag you and you don't want to, PLEASE feel free to let me know. I don't want to be that annoying moot in your activity every week.

That said, here are the rules.

If I tag you, you can send 500-1000 words if your current WIP if you're a writer, your current WIP or WIPs if you're an artist, or both if you're both!

Then, once you're done, you can tag as many or as few people you want! Once again, NO PRESSURE! You can do or not do this as you please! ^^

Gonna get the tags out of the way first

@deadrabbithq @killingthecringe @nodulemodule

Starting with the art WIP, I have Silver's ref that I'm working on for To Catch a Hedgehog (as requested by the poll I put out)

And underneath the cut, here's about 500 words from To Catch a Hedgehog (if you don't like sonadow, no need to look under this cut. Ik at least one of the people I tagged isn't too big on it so yeah, no need to read if you're not into it lol)

"Informant. Now, why haven't you moved yet?" 

Sonic: "SO YOU WERE STALKING ME! GO AWAY!" 

Shadow: "I told you, it's not stalking. And I'm trying to save your ass."

Sonic: "After trying to take me out? Nah. I'm good." 

Shadow: "Look, I get it. But if you don't get out of the city, Robotnik is going to fire me and sick somebody else on you, and I doubt they'd be as merciful as I have been." 

Sonic: "Huh... 'have been'... interesting word choice. Okay, I'll bite. Why do you want to save me so bad when it's obviously putting your job at risk? I'm literally the person trying to wake people up and get Butt-nik out of power. Why are you turning on your boss?" 

Shadow didn't respond for a while. Why was he doing this? Sonic was right. He was putting his job, hell, maybe even his life on the line for a random guy. But this random guy was the only person stubborn enough to pull the kind of stunt he did. But if Robotnik wanted him dead so bad, then maybe it was because it was working. 

Besides, while Shadow had a job, it wasn't pleasant. It had never been something he wanted. He remembered wanting to help people, help Maria. He remembered saving up for medical school... before Ivo took out the council. Now he'd ended too many lives with his own hands.

Maria would have hated the person he'd become. He sure did. 

Her face flashed in his mind's eye. Her smile, encouraging. 

He swallowed. Then he typed out his reply.

Shadow: "You're not the only one who's lost people you loved to that monster." 

Sonic didn't reply for a bit. Shadow wasn't sure if he was going to, if that was a good enough reason to listen to him. 

Several minutes later, there was a new reply. 

Sonic: "I guess everyone has. But then why have you gone along with it for so long?" 

Shadow: "In the moment, I guess it beats starving." 

Sonic: "...Yeah, I still don't trust you. How do I know you're not gonna come here and murder me in my sleep anyway?" 

Shadow: "If I were going to do that, I already would have."

Sonic: "Sure... Anyway, is that all? Because I'm hungry and I can smell my roommate making chili." 

Shadow: "No. I want to know how you got those paintings up so fast. And you said you'd seen it when people become completely cybernetic. How?" 

Sonic: "Question numero uno, trade secret. Question numero dos, you don't want to know." 

Shadow: "I work for the government and even I don't know. I didn't even know that could happen." 

Sonic: "Oh, it does. All the time. Not pretty." 

Shadow: "How do you know?"

Sonic: "...Alright, look. I'm gonna set up a more secure account (and probably burn this one). I'll message you on the one condition that you don't tell anyone who I am. We can go from there after I've eaten." 

Shadow: "Fair enough."

[fanfictin]

"Hey- hey. Sonic."

Someone shook him just slightly roughly, and he managed to blink up enough to see Shadow's usually neutral expression shaded with concealed concern.

"Don't close your eyes," Shadow said shortly when Sonic slowly met his gaze. The latter took a moment to process the words, but Shadow had already disappeared before he could answer.

The computer console wouldn't benefit from physical aggression, but Shadow felt like punching it anyway as he continued trying to find a way to unlock the doors. Eggman's trap had turned out to be, unsurprisingly, a trap, but despite being ready for it, it had ended up actually succeeding.

Now he was stuck with an injured tag along that wasn't even supposed to be along for this mission, and more infuriatingly, had got to this state by taking a hit that Shadow should have seen coming and calculated for.

Then they'd both fallen down into whatever pit like room this was supposed to be, with only a console and an inpenetrable metal door to work with, the walls too slick to get back up to the higher levels with.

He glanced around again, ruthlessly pushing down the sense of wrongness that seeing Sonic quietly leaning against a wall was, blinking heavily against the effects of a nasty head injury.

It was bad enough Shadow was trapped, let alone with someone else. Let alone someone who was hurt because of him and he needed to get out to get to help.

With a huff, he turned his attention back to the console, trying unecesfully to navigate through menus in order to do something about the situation.

But it seemed like a dead end.

Letting his temper get the better of him, Shadow gave up restraint and let a fist bash down onto some of the keys with a growl. Stupid technology.

There was a snort from behind him, one ear flickering towards the sound before turning his head to face it.

Sonic had slipped down the wall to sit sideways against it, which immediately set off alarm bells in Shadow's continued assessment of the situation - Sonic didn't sit when there was clearly something to do, didn't just stop when he was obviously trapped.

He closed his eyes despite the wry smile, and Shadow immediately found himself skating to his side, snapping two fingers right in front of his face on instinct.

"Keep your eyes open," Shadow repeated sharply, "and tell me whats so hilarious."

Sonic's gaze was slow at best, one pupil dilated against the light of the room while the other refused to focus. But his smirk was more familiar, even marred by a bloody nose that he lifted an arm to wipe at.

"You're not the best at computers either, huh." There was no jeer in his voice, and the light teasing felt like the most normal thing that had happened in the past ten minutes.

Shadow stared back blandly. "I've never had the opportunity to know much about them."

Squinting in a way that suggested he couldn't really tell where exactly Shadow stood in front of him, Sonic chuckled. "Fair enough. I only know the basics."

"Id wager you couldn't even read a line of text on a screen right now," Shadow half grumbled, before sighing and holding up a gloved hand with two fingers extended. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Sonic squinted some more, which wasn't very confidence inspiring. "Three? Wait- four."

Shadow pursed his lips, dropping his hand to instead push at Sonic's shoulder when he wavered from being away from the wall's support for too long.

"No." He paused, assessing the situation. "Do you have any ideas on getting out of here?"

It took a moment for the words to process. "Oh, yeah. I turned on my location earlier. Tails'll be here at some point." Sonic shrugged.

Shadow blinked. "Why wouldn't you say that before?"

"I didn't want to interrupt your computer time." The smirk in his voice was clear this time. Shadow inhaled through his nose.

Great, now he just had to keep the usually hyper hedgehog conscious for an unknown period of time. When usually he'd prefer the opposite in such a situation. Being trapped with someone who refuses to shut up would at least be less… involving.

Well, maybe. It may include a fist in a face after a while.

Either way, he couldn't pick and choose. This was the scenario in front of him, and he had to deal with it.

Shadow sat against the wall with a sigh, keeping a couple of metres from his current companion, who eyed him amusedly from a half-lidded gaze.

"Not gonna argue?"

He looked at the opposite side of the room from the eyes on him. "No point. Door won't open, the technology is useless, and this place is big enough to provide air for a little while."

"Hmm. Guess so." Sonic took a slow breath, settling against the wall with his back to copy the other. "Shame you don't have an emerald. Though, you'd've used it already if y'did."

Shadow frowned at the computer instead of looking around. "That wasn't a word. You can't have that many contractions in it," he said, wondering why he cared.

"Eh. Does 't matter if y'can understand what 'm sayin'?"

The question was rhetorical so Shadow didn't bother to answer. The increased amount of slurring to the words was becoming very noticeable.

After a pause, he responded. "What makes you think I would have left if I could? Maybe I do have an emerald right now."

Sonic snorted. "Uh-huh. Sure y'do. Jus' choosin' to stay here w'me."

It was said in a matter of fact way, not harsh or judgemental. Just as if it was a fact that was to be expected. It made Shadow pause again.

"You think I would have just left you if I could?"

"Mm. Prob'ly."

The voice was getting quieter aswell, but Shadow frowned at the wall, thinking about the clear way his actions were being assumed. It struck something in him, though he didn't know quite what.

After a moment, he spoke again, slowly. "Earlier, perhaps," he admitted, "but I would not leave someone in need, that I am aware could not or won't be able to get out on their own. Even if someone else is due to arrive, if there's a chance my presence could stop a deterioration in health, I would often choose to stay. Even if there was the option. Unless it would be more prudent for me to leave and find help, of course. But it would depend on the situation, and how much energy I have myself."

There was a silence after his little speech; it was the most he had said in one go for quite a while, at least. Long periods of conversation were not usually his preference, but it seemed important to outline his principles in a genuine way here. Being assumed as someone who would leave the second he could didn't feel right.

Granted, he felt like a different person these days from the vague memories that occasionally could be recalled of space stations and falling and--

There was a small grating noise and Shadow's ears immediately flicked towards the sound above, entirely focused on the present again. Nothing occurred after a couple of minutes, so he sighed and glanced towards his companion to share the feeling of heightened senses.

"This place is-- Sonic?! Hey!" The sight of a silent slumped over blue hedgehog had Shadow on his feet and crouched next to him in a split-second, mind filled with alarm as he scanned the still form.

A single shake of a shoulder was all it took for the precarious balance of the unresponsive form against the wall to shift, and Shadow quickly found himself lowering Sonic to lie on the floor without so much of a twitch.

"Sonic, wake up. Open your eyes," Shadow ordered, shaking him again a little more roughly than ideal. "Sonic. Can you hear me?"

There was no reaction to patting one side of his face not so lightly, and Shadow swore under his breath. He looked up and around the room, trying to quash the strange panic that threatened.

But it was just as bare and jeeringly empty as ever, and he took a breath before focusing back on the most imminent problem.

"Right. Fine. Just-" He pulled one of Sonic's knees up and put a hand palm outwards against a cheek before pulling him over onto his side facing the room. With one hand, Shadow also nudged his chin up resting on his fingers above the cold floor.

Shadow checked his work for a moment. Though clearly unconscious, Sonic was at least still breathing if shallowly, and there didn't appear to be any more injuries than already inflicted by the time they fell in here. Though, Shadow mused absently, given he'd been here the entire time too and hadn't noticed anything, it stood to reason.

With the room quiet again, Shadow's ears suddenly twitched when a small hissing sound registered. He frowned, not recalling when he had heard this in the last half hour or so. Glancing around, he noticed where Sonic had been sitting against was what seemed to be an air vent of some sort in the wall.

Shadow leaned closer to it suspiciously. The hiss grew louder, confirming where it was coming from. He sniffed, detecting something just slightly off in the air around the vent. It wasn't particularly strong, but there was definitely something off - it certainly wasn't fresh air, nor the stale state that most of the base emmetted.

He leaned back, narrowing his eyes. There was no way to be sure without any sort of analysis, but considering how quickly Sonic had gone from responding fairly coherently to practically comatose, and the fact that this had been, after all, a trap…

Well, Eggman never seemed to tire of new or backup plans.

With a growl, Shadow swiped at the vent cover, removing the metal with a punch that had it folding in on itself. The hole in the wall gaped, the hissing and smell emitting from it stronger now, confirming his suspicions.

Shadow glanced around the room for something that could block it up. The only items were related to the computer he had been trying to access previously, so he quickly skated over, eyeing the variety of technology for something that would be able to block the passage of air.

Frustration reaching a peak, a protective rage rose within him and he grabbed a black rectangular box-like thing with flashing lights dotted on its front. With a sharp yank, he broke it free from the wires connected to who knows what from the back of the box, and immediately returned to the wall.

With a few shoves, he wedged the box into the vent hole, edges crushing slightly in the space just a little too small for it.

But it seemed to fit well enough.

The hissing tapered off and Shadow thumped the box into the vent one more time, making sure it had stopped the gas from escaping. He wrinkled his nose, testing the air. The scent of whatever poison used still lingered, but was surprisingly quickly dissipating, given the fair size of the room.

He glanced at Sonic, checking he hadn't stopped breathing in the minutes the gas he been concentrated on him. Thankfully, either it hadnt been exposed long enough or it wasn't made to cause asphyxia, and Sonic's free shoulder moved slightly with short but steady breaths.

With a sigh, Shadow settled in front of the unconscious hedgehog and briefly closed his eyes. The strange protectiveness that had roared began to quiet with removal of threat, and he calmly soothed himself while his ears honed in on the reassuring pattern of inhales and exhales from nearby.

After a short while, there was a groan.

Ever stubborn, Sonic shifted as soon as began to slowly gain awareness, fingers under his cheek feeling the floor for purchase before his eyes even began to open.

"Stay down. You've been subject to some sort of poison and I'm not sure of its after effects."

"…huh?" Was all Sonic managed to eloquently reply. He forced his eyes to groggily blink open, taking in the sight of the sideways floor and the form of someone in front of him.

He exhaled a sort of 'ugh' sound and closed his eyes again, pushing against the floor with the hand supporting his face in an attempt to rise.

"Hey-" His head was immediately caught before it could smack against the ground when the attempt to push up failed after a few inches. It was lowered gently back to the floor and tilted up slightly, the careful touch at odds with the annoyed voice that accompanied: "I said don't move. Passing out again could cause further neurological symptoms. Not to mention injuries."

Once again, Sonic could only utter a half-formed "…'uh?"

He heard Shadow sigh as the hands retreated, fingers briefly pressing into his outstretched wrist before Shadow spoke again.

"How are you feeling? Other than the obvious weakness. Is breathing difficult at all? Any nausea?"

Sonic blinked and squinted to try and bring what he could see from the floor into view. Shadow's gloved hand released his wrist as he waited expectantly for an answer.

Instead, Sonic turned his head slightly to find Shadow's concerned frown looking down at him. "When did you become a medic- doctor- uh, person?" He tried to ask, trying and failing to keep slurring from his voice.

Shadow's expression changed into a more familiar unimpressed gaze. "I was created to be a cure," he intoned, "So I happen to have quite substantial medical knowledge."

"Mm. Oh, yeah," Sonic mumbled, eyes closing again when they refused to focus anyway.

"Hey." Fingers snapped in front of his face and his ears twitched in annoyance. He frowned up at Shadow, squinting again. "Keep your eyes open. Try to stay conscious," the hybrid said.

Sonic grumbled wordlessly, but let his gaze wander instead of closing again. The room looked the same as before; the only difference was on the computer table, where some of the technology looked searched through or pushed haphazardly aside.

He tried keeping focus by counting the number of edges on all the rectangle or square shaped things, but haziness made it difficult.

There must have been a few moments of time missed, because Shadow's voice had taken on an only parted covered urgent tone when it registered in Sonic's scrambled mind again.

"Sonic. Stay with me. Sonic." Something tapped the side of his face persistently and Sonic screwed up his expression in distaste.

"Ngh," he said eloquently. Heavily, he managed to open his eyes yet again.

The next unknown amount of time passed in a similar manner. Shadow snapped at him every now and again as Sonic drifted in and out of consciousness, but the constant presence nearby gave a consistent feeling of safety despite the numbness and confusion and slow seconds.

After a while, though, when Shadow shook his shoulder roughly in an attempt to get him to come round and take a some deep breaths to see if that helped to stave off unconsciousness, there was a commotion outside the room.

Both hedgehogs glanced around from their respective positions on the floor - sitting and lying - as the metal door seemed to take several hits from the other side, clanging in a way that made Sonic wince in typical head injury sensitivity.

"Sonic?! Are you in there?" A shout came muffled from the other side inbetween attacks, and beside him, Shadow stood up, an uncharacteristically clear look of relief on his face as he walked towards the metal to help the others break in.

Backup had arrived.

[cringelordofchaos]

my tagging systems (??)

Ok I felt as if I should explain how I tag my posts here and how I'll tag them from now on.

For trigger warnings, I simply tag #tw [trigger] and sometimes #[trigger] and/or #[trigger] tw. For example: #tw slur, #slur, #slur tw

For fandom posts, when reblogging, I simply tag the acronyms (EXAMPLE: for Sonic The Hedgehog I tag #STH), there may be exceptions then and there (for Jackson's diary for example, I just tag #jacksons diary, and #jd). I tag all webcomics with #webtoon, even if they're not from or on webtoon,

Anything related to neurodivegence is tagged as #nd.

Any post I make related to music, is tagged with #music.

For Sonic, I'll just tag the characters by their single names (like for knuckles the echidna I'll just tag #knuckles). For any duos (platonic, familial, romantic, doesn't matter), I'll tag "Character A & Character B "(example: #sonic & shadow), character a will be the character that was released before character b. sometimes I might tag character a & character b & character c. For teams I'll try and tag them too with "team [__]". EXAMPLE: #team chaotix. For ships in a specific romantic context, I'll tag "character a x character b" (example: #espio x silver), the same rules apply for the other duo tag system. If the characters in question came out at the same time, I'll tag either with both "character a &/x character b" and "character b &/x character a", or whoever's name comes first in alphabetical order, I'll put them first. (Example: #shadow & maria AND #maria & shadow, OR ONLY #maria & shadow) . This is all very new though so I'll have to go back and edit quite a few tags

general tags I use are #ehlp (for posts that invoke a sense of laughter in me), #mecoded (for posts I can relate to), #others art (by art it can be any form of artistic expression, it'll mostly be digital drawings though), #my art and #toki drawz (Ii haven't implemented the latter tag to all my art posts as of yet, though ), #toki rambles (I often forget to tag that though), #gay screenshot collection (for "evidence" of fictional homosexuality or general queerness, doesn't even have to be in screenshots), #asks (might make a new ask tag in the future ..? Y'know. A cooler one??), #writing advice & #drawing advice (self-explanatory), #intro post for anything related to introducing myself, and probably more I forgot.

Any of my posts that made it to be absolute top are tagged as #my top posts .

#into the rosyverse, #tmf religious lore, #freakblr color/colour war, #🐀🥚 or just general #freakblr (it's chaotic as it is and I love it) are all full of incoherent shit related to freakblr I love.

#ultra chaos knuckles is a tag for a super form I made up that is created by the use of the master emerald OR uncontrolled chaos emeralds/chaos energy (haven't decided yet). I don't think knuckles would like to use this form at all but I already explained all of that in that tag.

#ghost!Sunny AU is full of incoherent rambles about an OMORI au similiar to OMARI, but the focus is still on SUNNY and how he experiences his perspective of the story. (I intentionally made the description vague cuz I don't want to reveal any spoilers)

#carla and silvia involves occasional posts about my OCS, Carla and Silvia that I barely every talked about on the internet, but trust me there's so much to say about them.

#serbposting for, well, serbposting!

#animalsss, is for guess fucking what. and #>:] is a tag for evil purposes only. mhm.

When I talk about a social media or it's userbase, I usually tag the social media in question.

#house design inspo also exists though I never use it. or was it #home design inspo

I think that's all for now, I might've forgotten some shit

[basicallyahedgehog]

2022 In Fic

This is so late, but oh well! Big love and hugs to my faves @phoebe-delia (x) and @corvuscrowned (x) for the tags. Go and check theirs out too!

January

Harry’s Spiny Adventure (Wolfstar, toddler Harry)

“A ned-chog!” Harry was dancing on the spot now, unable to contain his excitement.

“Hedgehog, Harry,” Sirius sighed. So much for a normal day. “Why do you have a hedgehog in the house?”

Til The End Of The Night (Harry-centric, nil pairing)

Perhaps, he mused as he poured the boiling water into his mug, tremors causing the water to splash across the benchtop, the worst part wasn’t the words themselves, but the fact that the public was truly convinced of what they saw. All they could see was their Hero, their Saviour. The Boy Who Lived, who defeated the Dark Lord.

March

The Brightest Thing (drarry)

When I was young I expected my wedding to be stuffy, full of heavy vows. Yet here we are, your hands clasped in mine, giggling like two schoolboys.

April

The Evolution of Soup (Or, How Harry Learned To Be Loved) (Drarry)

As he succumbed once more to the ever-present fog at the edges of his brain, Harry felt a feather-light kiss in his hair, followed by another one on his temple. He fell asleep with a smile on his face, hand curling towards the one person who could make everything ok.

From The Shadows (Drarry)

I watch and I watch until one day; one day, I realise that you are watching back. How long, I wonder. How long were we watching each other without realising, caught in a never-ending dance?

May

Out Of The Darkness (Drarry)

I hate him, until he smiles. Before he smiles he is the saviour, he is the poster boy, he is the carrier of the weight of the world. But when he smiles he is Harry, my Harry.

With You Between My Arms (Drarry)

Trying to squash his hope - this isn’t what it looks like, he just wants to have a friendly dance, don’t be an idiot - Harry takes Draco’s hand, allowing himself to be led onto the dancefloor. He runs his free hand through his hair, trying in vain to tame his ever-messy curls.

“Don't,” Draco murmurs, grabbing Harry’s hand from his hair and placing it on his own shoulder. “The messy look suits you.”

The Strings That Weave Us (drarry)

The same tiny little shop where Draco worked.

Which is how Harry had found himself trying to make an appropriate amount of eye contact – look at his eyes, Harry, not his soft hair and just-right arms and the dimple in his left cheek and – as Draco explained how the thread worked.

June

Still Into You

They told me that it would fade, this feeling. That one day I would look at you and the butterflies wouldn’t come. But here you are, and here I am, joy bubbling in my stomach like champagne, hearts in my eyes.

All The Time In The World (drarry)

It was another week before Harry received the letter. Ginny was still screening his mail, but she was out with Luna. Besides, Harry knew that handwriting. He was sceptical as to whether Ginny would have let this letter through or not, but he knew that he definitely wanted to read it.

Why would Draco Malfoy be writing to him?

July

My Heart Was Unprepared (Darry)

My mind Healer told me to keep a journal, so here we are. I don’t see what the point is, really. Writing in this book isn’t going to magically erase the trauma of growing up in a cult, being forced to join said cult, having said cult live in your house… you get the picture.

I tried to point out that a diary actually caused quite a lot of trouble during the war, but Eugenia — my mind Healer — insisted. 

August

Like This, My Beloved (Drarry)

What I didn’t picture was you walking into the room that first day of Auror training, your face still pale from two months in Azkaban. I didn’t picture the quiet, “it’s ok, I can convert the old janitors closet to a bunk. I know no one wants me.”

I think I already knew, in that moment. I just didn’t know it yet.

September

The Love You Find (Drarry)

They never talked about it, but Harry took to crawling into Draco’s bed during the night, until they just pushed their two beds together. Harry wondered if they should discuss it, but he didn’t know how he’d handle it if Draco wanted to stop.

Mads (Drarry)

“What did I do to deserve you?” Draco whispered against Harry’s lips, tears coursing down their cheeks once more. 

“You don’t need to earn my love, Darling,” Harry said, pulling Draco against his chest. “It is freely given, for however long you want it. No matter what pronouns you use.”

October

I'll Be Loving You (Drarry)

“Loving someone doesn’t mean you endorse them,” Harry murmured, thinking of the hazy love for his aunt that had been squashed in his childhood, of the love he knew his mother had held for Snape even to her death, of the love he held for every version of the man in his arms, even the misguided teenager he had once been. Maybe especially that boy, fear a constant presence in his grey eyes.

November

The Threads That Bind Us (Drarry)

Every thought, they shared with each other. Every fear, every doubt, every self-recrimination. Every dream and hope and decision were shared and cradled and made together. 

It was their greatest strength, and Draco’s greatest joy.

December

Them (pre-slash)

Draco turned away with a little hum, contemplating his gingerbread man — person — with his head tilted first one way then the next. Harry held his breath, feeling like he was witnessing something important. 

Colour Outside The Lines (Harry-centric)

To be trans, Harry thinks, is to be alone in a crowded room. It’s learning a language too late, putting together a puzzle and discovering a missing piece.

The Brightest Star (pre-slash)

“Because I have a pretty awesome roommate,” Harry said. “And they just told me something about themself that I didn’t know, and I’m happy for them.” Draco shivered with each use of their pronouns, burying their face in Harry’s neck to hide their blush. 

Tagging anyone who hasn't done this yet who wants to :)

[cloudofdarkness]

I need your help

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning :Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Category: F/M

Fandom: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types

Relationship: Amy Rose/Sonic the Hedgehog

Characters:

Sonic the Hedgehog

Amy Rose (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Miles "Tails" Prower

Additional Tags:

Comfort

Angst

Fluff

Language: English

-

No one can bottle up their feelings for too long, not even Sonic

Give a like and Fave here as well if you please!!

Okay, I need your help.

Please don’t tell anyone.

Amy stared down at her phone in silence, her fingers gently tracing the sides of her case as she read the two texts back over and over. She’d done it on her way over there, and who knew how long she’d been standing here in front of his front door. Sonic had never actually reached out to her about these things before, let alone anyone else. He wasn’t really someone who liked to willingly express negative emotions, so it shocked her to suddenly get such a text. Usually when something was wrong, it was played off as “Hey, you wanna go throw baseballs at glass bottles in the junkyard at three am because we’re both upset?” It wasn’t ever just..I need your help. That’s what worried her.

Gently, she knocked on the door, tucking her phone away in her shoulder bag and waiting for a moment to be answered. It took longer than she expected, already plunging her worry deeper than it already needed to be, and when he answered..He seemed perfectly normal. That might’ve actually weirded her out the most.

“Oh hey! You made it!” His usual cheery tone was there, but somewhere she heard a slight crack in his voice. He looked around her as if to make sure no one was following, before stepping back to invite her in. “Tails made cookies! He wanted to try this weird mint chip recipe he found, since we all know he’s crazy about mint. They’re actually not that bad! Just..not my thing. You can grab some if you want! He knows you’re coming by!”

He was..a bit too cheery for someone who’d texted her like he did. It’s not like it was his normal to text with periods and lowercase either. She knew that, everyone knew that. Something was up. And she figured it had something to do with him avoiding his feelings. She knew it was coming, that he’d get so close and then back out of it, but she’d crack him somehow, that’s what she was here for. She knew that’s what he wanted too. “Right. I’ll Ah..bring some home with me. Why don’t we catch up first? It’s been a good minute since I’ve hung out with anyone. I know you and Tails have been up to a lot~ wanna ramble about that?”

His ears perked up in interest as he turned on his heel toward her, leaning against the counter all casual like. “Well~ we met this cool gal, Tangle! She’s this lemur with a super long tail that’s almost like a hand! We hung out with her for awhile..oh! And Blaze is back! She wants to help with the resistance! Thought you’d be happy to know that~”

Amy had to keep her cheeks from flushing at the mention, before clearing her throat with a smile, going to sit back in one of the bar stool chairs. “I’ll make sure I keep an eye out for her~ Anyone else I should know about?”

“Oh yeah! This gal named Whisper! Silver’s all about her, and at first I didn’t really get her, but..she’s kinda like Shadow! She works with people she really trusts, even if at first she seems kinda cut off from everyone else!” He continued, already feeling a bit better just talking about new friends, though he knew it wouldn’t wholly stir the problem from his thoughts. “There was a couple other smaller things but~ not much from my end besides daily plane tests and explorin’ the countryside~ what about you?”

Amy simply laughed at this, playing with one of her bracelets before leaning against one of her arms. “Well..nothing as exciting as you, I’m sure..just resistance work and sometimes visiting Vanilla and Cream. She’s grown so much, it’s crazy! I work for so long sometimes, it really doesn’t hit me how long it’s actually been until I can feel my quills hitting my shoulders, you know?” She tried to lighten the mood, playing with her longer hair for added effect. There was something about her that just..made Sonic feel better than he was before. Even if it was just talking to her, she always managed to keep a positive attitude. How was she so good at that?

“Hey..Ames, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what’s on your mind?”

He hesitated for a moment, not wanting to ruin the small, happy reunion they were having..but he needed to know. “How do you..stay so positive all the time? I mean, you’re the leader of the resistance and yet you seem so unfazed by everything..like when you guys rescued me. Yeah, you were pretty emotional then but..it was only because you were worried about me. You never once seemed stressed that Eggman had taken over Mobius..and that you were at the head of all that.” He paused, noticing that she was avoiding his gaze now, her fingers tracing the patterned lines on the counter. “..I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that..I just-“

“No it’s okay.” She quickly interrupted him, her eyes falling down to her lap as her tracing slowed to a stop. “I guess you got me~ I..I’m not good with my own feelings. Probably because I’ve never had to deal with anything big before. I’ve never felt upset about anything significant. When I started the resistance..it was a simple thing to look for you. Just our friends and I hoping that you weren’t dead. And then months passed, things became more serious and..everything depended on my judgement. Every time we lost something, it was on me. Every time we lost someone? Me again. Every time..I’d write to myself, and when that wouldn’t work..I’d just..cry. I’d find somewhere that nobody else was, and I’d cry. Shadow left, Tails left..and I felt like I failed you. Even if you were dead, I couldn’t keep two of the most important people in your life safe. I didn’t even go after them..” her voice wavered at that last part, before she stopped, realizing there were tears dripping into her lap. She tried to wipe them away, before sighing softly. This wasn’t about her..but she felt like both of them needed to know this. “..I realize now that..what I felt then, that’s what you feel like every day. And I’m so sorry you have to carry that burden.”

Damnit. She really knew how to read people. He bet she could hear the cracking of his shell. He bet she knew he was going to break any minute now. Maybe that was okay, but he still wasn’t sure. He’d try to put this as delicately as he could. Gently, he took one of her hands, watching her head lift a little. “Remember when we first met? I saved you from Metal and you said I could stay with you because I was a stupid runaway kid not much older than you. And I said, sure but don’t get attached! And then your parents ended up spoiling me so much I stayed for almost a year? I think that was one of the best homes I’ve had.”

Amy nodded, a small smile coming to her face as she met his gaze with watery eyes. “Hah..yeah..and we would stay up all night watching corny movies and looking at cute boys. And you’d act like you hated school, but then saw how fun my classes were and tried to join in with me.” She earned a laugh with that one.

“Yeah well-! They weren’t normal classes! I’ve never met anyone who took five language classes and a chao caretaking class!” He tried to defend himself, pouting rather indignantly. “Besides that, they had cool PE games. And I totally kicked butt at every one! But..then I left for awhile..I met Tails and Knuckles..we all went on adventures..people started knowing my name..they started looking up to me, counting on me. And I became exactly what I’d ran away from.”

Amy noticed his voice fading again, watching as he sat back in the stool behind him, still leaning against the counter. “I became someone that gave orders..that..people would solely trust in just because I did a couple really cool things. It’s like..I know I’m fated to do great things, I know I’m connected to chaos and I’m super powerful, but I just..I wanna do all that and still be me. I don’t want people thinking that my word is law. I don’t wanna be the reason behind failure..I don’t want people sacrificing themselves for me. I’m just one guy.” He paused again, looking down to his hands, before clenching them into fists. “I sometimes wonder what the world would be like if I did die. Not that I want to..but I wonder. Sure, things would be awful..but they’d get better, right? Shadow’s just as good at saving the world as I am. Silver too..you’re an amazing leader, even if it’s stressful sometimes. So is Knuckles. Tails is practically following in my footsteps..it’s like..things would be okay without me. And I’m not just saying that because I think I don’t matter..I just want the world to know that they don’t always have to look to me. They can look inside themselves for judgement.”

When he finished, he realized how quiet the atmosphere had gotten, and he quickly grew nervous. “Sorry, I guess the deep feeling juice is really running its course.”

“Does it feel better?”

“Huh?”

Amy smiled, knowing she’d worked her magic on him. Not even Sonic could bottle up his emotions around her. “Talking about it with someone. Does it help?”

Ah shit..that’s what she was doing all along, wasn’t it?? He’d really gotten eased into this so easily! He simply scoffed, trying to play it off as a small blush came to his cheeks. What a sucker. “I guess it does~ ya really got me there, Ames~ remind me to get you back.”

Rolling her eyes, she hopped down from her stool, going over to hug him and hearing his playful groans of embarrassment. “No~! Not the gentle hugs~! I refuse to be this sappy!”

“Deal with it, punk. Because I’m staying like this for a good minute!! If you squirm, I’m only making it tighter!!” She teased back, before backing out of the hug with a giggle, she met his gaze for a moment, brushing back her quills before feeling herself being pulled back in. Her head rest against his chest, feeling his muzzle against the top of her head. “..Thanks, Amy. I really needed this.”

She gently hugged him back, her fingers brushing the spot between his back spikes just like how she knew he liked it. It was calm. It was nice. It was a small moment, before the kitchen door was kicked open by Tails, causing the both of them to frantically jump out of the embrace.

Tails simply eyed the two in confusion, before going to grab a soda bottle from the fridge. He grinned playfully to Sonic, earning a side eye from him before hurrying back to the door. “It’s nice to see you, Amy!”

“Tails..” Sonic spoke between his teeth, faking a smile as Tails cackled, shutting the door behind him before he could face the other’s wrath. He knew exactly what he’d done..

“..so. You wanna watch corny movies and talk about boys like old times?” Amy tried to stray from the awkward moment, gently squeezing his hand and causing him to revert his gaze.

“Totally.”

[dracarialove]

📄 Posting my finished fics here, too 📄

*Check the 'shadow's heart' tag if you haven't read chapter 1

[Chapter 9: Commitment]

Shadow rolled the long sleeves of his teal-green shirt up to his elbows as he left the bathroom, bright red eyes landing on the beautiful lady facing the window of their hotel room.

She primped curved locks and studied her makeup in the reflection, her figure poised in a navy-blue calf-length cami dress and black heels. And when he approached closely enough to catch her eye, Rouge turned around, immediately looking the hedgehog up and down.

"Mm, you look incredible," she said, eyes glimmering under cyan-painted lids. She stepped towards him and her gloved fingers slipped around the silver silk of his necktie, adjusting it and curling red lips into a sly smile. "Can't wait to tear this off you later."

She winked at him and the Ultimate Lifeform chuckled at her flirting, slipping his hand onto her lower back to escort her out. They visited the city again for a fine-dining experience, being seated in a room where roses and peonies bloomed in ornamented arrangements hanging on the dark walls.

Shadow stared at his date while she ordered wine for them to share, memorizing her elegant beauty before they were given menus to look over. He saw all the effort that went into her appearance – the attention to detail in making sure her lips shimmered just the right amount, that her dress fit her perfectly, that she hadn't a hair out of place.

Though wearing a tie was a good start, he held the belief that he couldn't compete with just how good she looked all the time. Glancing at the bat over his menu, Shadow was eager to make her his fiancée. It was killing him to wait.

When the waiter returned with their wine, Rouge seemed to perk up a little more excitedly than she already was. Charming as always, she commented, "Now it's officially a fancy dinner. And what great timing you have, coming back right when we've made up our minds."

The vested jaguar smiled humbly, opening the bottle for them. "Thank you. You're ready to order, then?"

"Yes," she said, turning her attention back to the list. "I'd like the red snapper with the side salad."

Shadow added, "And I'll have the lamb stew."

"Very good." He looked between the both of them. "Would you like any other drinks with that?"

"I think we're fine, right?" Rouge asked her boyfriend with a graceful hand gesture.

"Yes, the wine is enough."

The waiter nodded and smiled again. "I'll be back with your meals, then. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you, sweetie," the woman said casually, and grabbed the wine bottle to fill their glasses halfway while she spoke. "Shadow, you are just the most darling guy to take me out like this, you know that? And not just to dinner, I mean this whole trip."

A deeper, more sincere smile spread on her face and she seemed to blush a little, resting the bottle on the table and staring a bit coyly at her cup. "I always wanted a man who cared this much."

The speedster was softened by her words and the genuine emotion in her expression. He smiled back and lifted his cup to her. "Then it's a good thing I found you. I can't imagine experiencing this if I hadn't."

She lifted her glass, as well, and clinked it against his before they took a swig. Over the course of their dinner, Shadow found himself more and more entranced by her, letting Rouge lead the conversation and getting lost in her eyes while she told stories.

He didn't understand what he'd heard from some unsatisfied couples – that the love fades, or that the passion disappears after the honeymoon phase. He hadn't felt that way at any point and couldn't imagine it happening now.

They were certainly content in their relationship, comfortable and happy with the direction their lives had taken. But complacence wasn't something he experienced, and now, sharing a table with Rouge and listening to her tales, he had the inkling that he was falling even more deeply in love with her.

The way her face lit up when she gesticulated to enhance her retelling of a memory; the sparkle her eyes gained when she stared at him for long enough; the confidence he felt being loved and desired by someone like her; it was everything he wanted and more.

He knew there would be a right moment for the talk, but not during dinner. Their meal together would be a romantic one, the second half of which was Shadow's turn to tell stories.

Those of the interesting and funny variety were few with him, but he had some instances of shenanigans to reminisce about, harkening back to his time working at the coffee shop.

Rouge listened, as he had, and when they were sufficiently filled with food and wine, the couple left to walk the streets once again. It was dark out, the sidewalks illuminated by streetlights and the businesses that remained open.

"Do you have room for dessert?" asked the hedgehog, spotting an ice cream parlor down the road.

"Hmm, I think so! A milkshake would be nice."

So, they went inside, patronizing the establishment right before they closed, and walking out with the treats of their choice. Rouge had a vanilla milkshake with little bits of strawberries mixed in, while her lover had a big scoop of black cherry ice cream on a waffle cone.

They walked a little longer, enjoying the crisp night air and the faintly busy sounds of the city at a less crowded hour, not talking much but enjoying each other's company all the same. Then, looking around at the area ahead, the bat's eyes trailed up one of the decently tall buildings and she got an idea.

She pointed up to it while looking over at the quiet lifeform. "Hey, babe, you wanna gaze out over the city?"

Shadow followed the direction of her pointing finger, then nodded. "Sure. It must be pretty colorful in a place like this."

"That's exactly what I was thinking! Come on."

She hopped off the ground to hover in the air, dropping her arm down so Shadow could grab on. His free hand gripped her wrist, and hers grabbed his, then the winged woman lifted her beau off the ground to fly them both up to the rooftop of the nearby building.

And when she was able to see above it, the brightness of the city was apparent. It really was colorful, the night lightened by glowing hues of rainbow colors from the different attractions beckoning people to occupy their business.

"Wow," Rouge uttered in awe, her eyes twinkling. "It's like a hundred gemstones glittering in the dark!"

Shadow didn't care as much for the lights as she did, but the colors were still nice to look at, and he cared more that his partner found it pretty. They landed on the flattened slate and approached one side of the raised barrier that lined the roof.

Leaning their elbows on it, the couple went back to enjoying their ice cream while staring at the different attractions, some of whose signs they could still read clearly – namely, the casinos and nightclubs.

As the seconds passed by, Shadow felt the pertinent moment getting closer, his gut instinct telling him that this tranquil, secluded place would be the best spot to have that important conversation. So, he savored the moments before that, sharing glances with his lover until the ice cream was gone.

And when he looked down at the empty wafer cone in his hand, he felt he'd lost his appetite, and knew it was time. He placed the cone on the raised stone and then hoisted himself up, gaining Rouge's attention as he sat on the edge of the structure.

"Oh, we're sitting now?" she said teasingly, then set aside her cup and positioned herself beside him.

"Yeah, we've been on our feet enough these last few days, I think." He smiled at her and the bat wrapped her arm around his, then gave him a peck on the cheek before resting her head on his shoulder.

In truth, the Ultimate Lifeform had no worry for their feet, or how much they'd been walking; they both had more than enough endurance to handle traveling on foot, and Rouge even hovered every now and then.

Really, he felt his thinking skills were a little better when he was sitting on the edge of a rooftop, his legs dangling over the side. It was something he'd done often at his old apartment, sitting on the roof and just thinking for an hour before bed.

He hadn't done that since moving in with Rouge, so replicating it now activated those memories and the thought-stirring nature of the night air surrounding the city.

Except this time, he wasn't alone. He had a woman by his side, a beautiful one; one he loved so much that the introspection of it was daunting. Because the last time he'd cared about a girl, he'd gotten hurt.

Although it was different with Rouge, the fear of loss was very much still present, and he was still reminded of the painful ache he'd felt before he met her.

With romantic feelings now thrown into the mix, how much would it hurt to lose her, too? He thought he'd done away with those frets, but they kept coming back.

It irritated him to know his concerns still had some sort of power over him. But he had to stop letting those troubles resurface. He knew it would psyche him out of getting things done if he didn't take control.

And Shadow the Hedgehog was rarely a quitter, determined to overcome the lingering worries from his past now that he had a duty to someone again. He'd done well for two years – he wasn't going to be beaten now.

"Rouge... love..." he started, his gentle voice soaking into the night. It came out weaker than he wanted, so he swallowed to push back the unease still threatening him.

Rouge's head shifted a little, but didn't leave him. He could guess she was now looking at him. "Yeah?"

He pulled in a breath and let it out softly. "I have a secret to tell you... and before I do, I'm sorry I haven't said it sooner."

Now the weight of her head did leave his shoulder, and his gaze caught her cautious expression when her posture straightened. Their arms were still enwrapped, so he rested his other hand on hers and looked earnestly into teal eyes. Her worried demeanor dared to strike more hesitance into the hedgehog's heart, but he forced himself to speak again.

"I've told you about how I came to exist. You know that I'm an artificial being; that as organic as I feel, I was created with certain features and abilities that change how I live."

The bat nodded, her voice coming out a bit somberly. "Right, things like godly strength and chaos power. What about it?"

"Well... I also told you that... my body won't deteriorate like a normal Mobian's as I get older."

"Shadow, what are you talking about?" Her gaze scanned over his figure. "Is something wrong?"

His mouth tightened into a tense line and he squeezed her hand. 'Just say it...'

"Rouge," he said firmly, "I understated my lifespan... greatly. I won't ever get old... I was created to be immortal."

Shadow expected her to gasp, but it seemed like she'd stopped breathing instead – he could no longer hear her quietly anxious exhales in the still air, only his own. Her eyes never left him, and slowly, her lips parted.

"You're immortal...?" she nearly whispered.

The fear he saw in her eyes made the lifeform want to reassure her that everything would be okay. But he knew the thoughts going through her mind were all the valid reasons he'd imagined for her to worry over.

It was written on her shock-stricken face that questions about their future were forming as he'd predicted they would. He hadn't planned exactly what to say next. Instead, in that moment, he caught the urge to pull her into a hug, doing so with a shaky breath and embracing her tightly.

"I'm sorry. I should've been honest from the start. But I couldn't..."

Rouge didn't hesitate to hug him back, the pair sitting in silence for a minute. She was picking through the thoughts that whirled in her head, trying to focus on the ones that really mattered. And he gave her as much time as she needed, afraid to speak again first for fear of falling apart.

"So... you'll outlive me, right?"

Shadow didn't want to say yes; didn't even want to nod. His arms squeezed her tighter and his face nestled into her hair. Another minute passed, then the bat started to pull back from his grasp.

"Baby," she spoke tenderly, meeting his eyes again once they were face-to-face. His looked sad, but still a little hopeful. "I still love you... is that what you were worried about?"

An uneasy swallow fell down the dark man's throat. "Well, I was worried that... you would be afraid. Too afraid to..."

His eyes dropped from hers as he trailed off, holding her gloved hands and running his thumbs over each one. He recognized that it was to calm himself more than anything.

Though not immediately brushing aside the news, Rouge didn't seem as panicky as he expected anyone would be. She didn't say anything for a few tense beats, and when he looked back up, her expression was surprisingly firm.

"There's very little in this world that scares me, Shadow." Her eyes twinkled with unwavering certainty. "If anyone can handle an immortal partner... it's me."

The woman's maroon-colored lips curled and she raised a hand to cup his cheek, making Shadow smile in return. His eyes closed and he slowly leaned his forehead to rest against hers, then asked with less hesitation, "Don't you have questions? You can't really be this calm, can you?"

A sweet chuckle permeated the air between them. "We make our own destiny, sweetheart. You and me... we adapt when things get tricky."

His head pulled back so he could look her in the eyes as she continued, "And we learn to navigate unclear paths. So that's what we'll do. The questions can come later."

"It's possible I'll live forever... that's not daunting to you?"

She then broke eye contact to gaze over the city, taking in a thoughtful breath and letting it out in a deep sigh. Her shoulders raised gingerly in a brief shrug before she answered, "Maybe a little... if I think about it alone."

Teal eyes met him again, and her smile remained. "But I'm not alone! I'm with you, and... you're on my side." She grabbed one of his hands with both of hers and pulled it close, squeezing lovingly. "So, if you thought that would send me running, you were wrong! I'm not going anywhere."

Shadow's confidence was whole again at Rouge's words. She was true to her determined spirit, not giving up on him – just as he'd been told. He inched closer. "Neither am I. As long as we're breathing, I'll be here."

She glanced at his lips, leaning in slowly. "Even if we can't spend eternity together... we'll make the most of the time we have."

They kissed, their devotion blessing the night air where they sat. The secluded rooftop over the glitzy vacation city would be marked in their memories as the place where they reaffirmed their commitment even in the face of an existential quandary.

But it wasn't the place where Shadow would make her his fiancée. The ring, he knew, had to shine as brightly as his love for the enchanting bat when the moment came. So, with the passionate seal of loyal lips, the evening ended there.

Before it got too dark, they headed back to the hotel to sleep off the outing. Their figures rested peacefully entwined throughout the night, and when it was morning, the hedgehog woke his lover with a room-service breakfast.

"Mm, best vacation ever," said Rouge through a bite of scone. "Seriously, I wish we could do stuff like this every day!"

"Hah, well... I can always make you breakfast in bed, you know," her man offered, pouring a cup of coffee.

"Knock yourself out, handsome," she bantered with a wink. "But I mean... we're just so busy at home! Imagine if we could both just be served every day?"

"Hm, it might be glamorous for a time... but it also might make us lazy."

Rouge sighed, "Maybe so," then her face lit up with an idea. "Hey, let's go to the beach after this! It's just about the best time to sunbathe."

A smile crept across Shadow's muzzle as he thought about the little black box sitting in his bag. "Sounds perfect."

[mmthemayoarts]

I mean this in a silly way, not a mean way but I think it's funny in that tags of your first Shadow art piece, it says don't expect more hedgehogs. And then two months later, it's sorry guys, it's going to be all hedgehogs from here on out. Looking forward to seeing the hogs!

Well damn, you really got me xD

I forgot I said that in the tags, and to be honest, I really did think it will be the only Sonic fanart I'll draw.

By the time I realized I may have a problem, I already posted next one and had my WIPs folder full of hogs, whoops! Truly, you cannot control what moves into your brain to live there without paying rent :' D

I need to post other fanarts so it won't actually be all hogs, but it may be a close call