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writingtraumaforever · 2 months ago

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Die With A Smile: A Sonadow Oneshot

Notes: My friend challenged me to write Sonadow karaoke. This is the result. Very crackhead. Much gay.

Summary: Shadow loses a bet with Rouge and has to attend a karaoke party. Shenanigans ensue.

Rating: T for language

Start:

Shadow has got to stop placing bets with Rouge.

It’s his own fault, really. His ego is too big, and his need to prove himself as the Ultimate Lifeform in every possible way is far too strong. Rouge? Rouge knows this and takes advantage. Every. Time.

And as it has been many times before, her cons came in the form of a bet.

Walking over with a towel, she fiddled with it in her hands as she spoke, “So you coming to Amy’s Karaoke Spectacular??”

“I’ve already answered this. Seven times,” Shadow grumbles as he washes dishes, passing one off to Rouge to dry. This is their routine. They’ve been roommates for a little over eight months now, and the deal is whoever doesn’t cook has to wash the dishes. Tonight, that’s Shadow.

Rouge gives him a little pout, placing the dried dish on the rack and waiting for the next one, “Aw come on, Shadow.. Not even for me?”

“Why on earth would that make a difference?” Shadow questions with a quirk of his brow and teasing little smirk.

Rouge rolls her eyes at him with a huff, “Okay then. What if I said ‘pretty please’??”

“The physical appearance of the please doesn’t matter,” Shadow says unbothered, handing the next dish to her as he then begins scrubbing at the pan the chopped potatoes had cooked on, “And begging doesn’t suit you..”

“Hmph,” she growls a bit, placing her hands on her hips a moment before then growing a slow smirk, “What if we made a bet??”

Shadow’s ear twitches at that, looking at her out of the corners of his eyes a moment. She has that mischievous glint in them. He knew it was trouble, and still he-

“I’m listening..”

Rouge moves the pan Shadow is working on out of the sink, Shadow’s brows furrowing questioningly as he watches her instead place the towel she’s been holding in his hands.

“Here’s the bet. I lose, I’ll cook and wash the dishes for three months.”

Shadow’s brow raises at her, looking at the towel in his hands a moment before back to her, “And if I lose I have to come to the karaoke spectacular??”

“AND sing a song of my choice,” Rouge adds with a wicked grin.

Shadow is immediately handing the towel back to her and shaking his head, “Absolutely not.”

“Oh what’s wrong??? Got a case of the stage fright??”

“No. I just refuse to lower myself to such insolent and ridiculous standards as singing cheesy songs that no one asked anyone to cover,” Shadow’s arms cross.

Rouge shrugs, “Fine. Guess I just didn’t expect the Ultimate Lifeform to back down from a challenge so easily.”

Shadow’s eyes narrow at her with a scowl.

Rouge’s narrow with a challenge.

“...We have a deal?” She asks, reaching her hand out to him with a knowing grin.

Shadow growls a bit, already mentally scolding himself for falling for this shit again. But he still finds his hand reaching out to shake hers, nodding with a firm, “Deal.”

Rouge giggles a bit giddily, “Great!”

“So what’s the challenge?” Shadow questions as he retracts his hand, realizing now he probably should’ve asked that before making this bet.

Rouge hands the towel back to him again, Shadow watching as she moves his hands into position under the tap of the sink. Shadow holds an end of the dish towel in each hand, arms outstretched and spread as wide as the towel goes. Rouge then reaches to turn on the water, the tap flowing in the space between his arms, himself and the towel.

She crosses her arms then, nodding her head to him with a simple, “Move the towel without letting go of either end or getting it or your arms wet. And NO chaos control.”

Shadow’s brow raises at her. Crimson eyes roll at this, smirking confidently with a scoff, “That’s it?? I expected more from you-”

He looks back down at the towel and his brain freezes.

He stares at it a long moment, the gears in his head practically groaning and creaking with how he tries to find the solution. He could move it to the left, but then his right arm would get wet. Same with the right getting the left wet. He can’t simply move it towards him because then it’s wet. His brain begins to hurt. Rouge can’t help but let her grin widen as he successfully allows himself to get overwhelmed and overthink the entire puzzle.

His teeth grit, growling low as his body starts to tremble.

Rouge just leans against the counter and waits, examining her nails as if she has all the time in the world.

They stay like that for a solid sixteen minutes, which is terrible for the environment to let the water run that long. And then Shadow groans and growls out, “I can’t! I don’t get it! What the hell am I supposed to do!? Tell me!! Tell me or I’m gonna destroy this damn sink and rip the towel to shreds–!”

Rouge simply takes the towel from him, moving her arms into position while holding the towel. She then moves her hand while still holding the towel to simply turn off the water, successfully retracting the towel back to her body without getting it or her arms wet.

Shadow just stares dumbfounded and feeling smaller than a pathetic worm.

“But you can’t just– you– that’s–”

“See you at karaoke~,” She coos as she playfully rolls the towel up to whip and snap his tail, making him jump about two feet with a yelp.

And that’s how he ended up here. Standing outside Amy Rose’s front door with nothing but shame for what’s going to happen tonight. He can hear music coming from the backyard, what sounds like an agitating rendition of ‘We Built This City On Rock and Roll’ being sung.

He could run. He could chaos control somewhere far away, and no one could ever force him to socialize or sing or any of it.

But he can’t.

He made a bet and promised Rouge he’d come.

And he always keeps his promises.

Taking a deep breath, Shadow collects his dignity while he still has it and lifts his hand to ring the white doorbell next to the pink door.

Breathing out the breath he had just taken slowly, he hears footsteps approaching from the inside.

The door opens to reveal Amy standing there with a wide grin that only seems to get brighter the second she sees it’s Shadow who had rang the doorbell.

“Shadow!” she beams, her voice reaching octaves that shouldn’t be possible for most Mobians. He’s always like Amy, though, so he tries not to seem too agitated by this.

He offers a tired sort of smile in return, not quite reaching his eyes but still trying to be in good spirits for his host’s sake, “Hello, Rose.”

Amy quickly reaches to grab his wrist, dragging him inside and shutting the door behind him, “Come in! It’s chilly out there..”

“Isn’t the party outside??” Shadow asks with a quirk of his brow. Amy giggles in response with a sheepish, “Well, yes, but we have a bonfire going and everyone is toasting marshmallows and hotdogs and there’s a chili bar with hot cocoa— I even made some coffee in case you showed up!”

Shadow hums with a soft look to his eyes at her thoughtfulness. “That was kind of you.”

“I’m so glad you came!” Amy grins, bouncing on her toes as she leads Shadow to the kitchen where Cream and Miss Vanilla are helping her whip up some more chili since they’re running low outside, “Rouge has been saying you’d be here, but I honestly was doubting her.”

Before Shadow can respond, another squeaky voiced girl is wrapping her arms tight around his torso and squeezing for dear life, “Mr. Shadow! I’m so glad you’re here!”

Shadow looks down at the rabbit hugging him, chuckling a bit as his hand rests between her ears and pets there tenderly, “Nice to see you too, Miss Cream..”

Cream giggles at how he addresses her formerly, looking up at him with those big, starry eyes he can’t help but have a soft spot for, “Miss Rouge said you were coming, but I wasn’t sure she was being honest.”

“Why would Rouge lie, Creamy Dear?” Miss Vanilla says as she approaches, “Hello again, Shadow.”

“Miss Vanilla,” Shadow nods to her politely before looking back to Cream, “Unfortunate for all of us, Rouge is right most of the time.”

Cream giggles at this, letting go of Shadow and moving to tug on his hand, “Come with me, Mr. Shadow! I have a free seat next to me just for you!”

Shadow smirks a bit and allows himself to be towed behind the little one towards the backyard’s door, giving a small wave to Amy and Vanilla as they stay back in the kitchen.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so terrible.. Shadow does enjoy seeing Cream. She reminds him so much of the time he spent on the ARK taking care of Maria.. That and the little rabbit has never once looked at him with any sort of judgment or fear in her eyes. She always looked at him as though he had all the potential in the world to be nothing but good. And he couldn’t ever say why that meant so much to him, but it did.

If Cream ever looked at him with disappointment, he’d lose his mind.

Upon entering the backyard, he looks around at the decorations. Amy really is the best host for gatherings. She never misses, always hits the nail on the head perfectly and seems to enjoy seeing everyone have fun and appreciate her hard work.

The yard has fairy lights dangling all around, circling a bonfire in the middle that is in the center of a stone firepit. There’s wooden seats around the firepit for those who get a bit chilly, though most are empty currently. Only Espio sits there, not seeming too keen on the cold weather. There’s a coat rack just to the right of the door with complimentary, hand-knitted gloves, hats and scarves. Next to it along the porch is the coffee, hot cocoa and chili bar Amy had spoken of along with a little basket with long, metal skewers sticking out of it and a chalkboard dangling from the front that reads ‘For your Hot Dogs and Marshmallows’. There were hot dogs and marshmallows stacked into little pyramids on a table, ready to roast. Amy even had a vegan option..

To the far left is a stage pressed against the wood fence surrounding the yard, white curtains providing a backdrop behind it and spotlights hanging from the bottom of the stage to provide good lighting.

On the stage bouncing far too energetically up and down was none other than the dynamic duo themselves: Sonic and Tails.

Sonic is jamming on his electric guitar he seems to have brought for himself and Tails is singing next to him with laughter in his voice. Sonic is banging his head so aggressively that Shadow wonders if he’ll still have all his quills by the end of the night.

Rolling his eyes at the ridiculous display, Shadow looks back down to Cream who leads him to the coat rack.

The rabbit lets go of his hand to ponder the choices of winter weather clothes for a moment before she reaches and pulls off a deep blue scarf, turning to him and holding it out for him to take, “I think this one will look nicely with your eyes!”

Shadow looks at the scarf as he takes it into his hands, observing it a moment. Amy really outdid herself making all these for everyone.

He can’t help but look at it and think of—

“Thank you,” he says with a gentle smile at the little girl, wrapping it around his shoulders and then tying it secure but comfortable around his neck, “I like your light blue one.”

Cream giggles at this, beaming at him as she rocks back and forth on her toes, “We kind of match!”

“I believe we do,” he says with a wink, offering his hand to her again which she takes with pride.

Walking them towards the stage, Cream Explains her seat is in the front row. She likely chose this spot due to her short size, but Shadow really dreaded being near the front like this..

As they approached the stage, Shadow took notice in who all was there.

Vector was DJ-ing, of course. Charmy was sitting on a speaker near him, watching Vector’s hands move over the sound system as if he was taking notes. Rouge had Knuckles cornered near the back of the seats, leaning towards him a little too close for Knuckles’ comfort if how red his face was was anything to go off of. Omega was stood behind them, seemingly ignoring them with his robotic eyes locked towards the stage. Sticks the Badger was there. She was a relatively new member of the group that Amy had apparently taken quite the liking to. And Shadow trusted Rose’s judgment.

Big the Cat was sitting in the front swaying side to side in his seat with his frog in his hand as if this was a slow song, not at all matching the upbeat momentum of it. Even Silver and Blaze were there, to Shadow’s surprise. It’s not every day one should break the time stream just to come to a party.

He doesn’t dwell on this, though. Moving with Cream towards the front to find his seat just as Sonic and Tails finish up their number. The group hoot and holler for the two, applauding as Sonic gives a dramatic bow and Tails sheepishly grins and rubs the back of his neck. They exit the stage and Vector announces the next song,

“Alright everyone! That was a pretty sweet song, gonna be tough to follow up with that! Next on the song list is another duet! ‘Club Can’t Handle Me’ by Flo Rida! Let’s see who our duetists are!”

Shadow’s eyes watch Sonic as he walks off the steps to the right of the stage, high-fiving Tails as they go. They’re both laughing and saying something to each other that Shadow can’t make out, but it’s probably dumb anyway.

Sonic’s whole voice is dumb. And his dumb face and his dumb smile and dumb eyes—

He’s looking at Shadow.

Shadow quickly looks away, feeling his cheeks heat up a bit as he dips his head down in hopes his scarf will mask it some. Was he staring?? No, he wasn’t- he just got lost in his thoughts of how dumb that faker is..

His eyes are on the ground as Vector pulls two random names from a hat and announces it will be Blaze and Big performing this next song.

“Woo! Everyone’s favorite purple felines teaming up for the win!” Sonic yells supportively, Shadow flinching slightly at how close he sounds.

Oh.

That’s because he’s close.

Bright red, signature shoes appear in his line of sight, crimson eyes trailing up Sonic’s form to find emerald looking right back.

Sonic smirks. Shadow scowls.

“Well looky here. Didn’t expect to see you here, Shadow!“ the blue hedgehog beams, wearing a red scarf that matches his shoes. His has a tiny ‘S’ on the end of it, Shadow notices. Amy must’ve made one especially for him.

“I try not to make a habit of social gatherings,” Shadow gruffly replies, looking away as if to take in the event except it’s really just to escape that gaze..

Sonic chuckles at that, hands moving to his own hips as he speaks, “Well, maybe you should..”

Shadow’s eyes return to him at that, eyeing the blue hedgehog questioningly which seems to make Sonic blush a bit as he quickly gestures to Cream.

“Looks like you’d make a certain little rabbit real happy if you came around more.”

Cream beams at that, standing on her chair to try and be as tall as Sonic, “I would be, Mr. Sonic!”

“See??” Sonic grins, looking at Cream now, “Who could say no to that face???”

Cream giggles, bouncing on her toes to which Sonic reaches over and picks her up to toss her up then set her back down as she laughs excitedly. He bends down as she speaks to him.

“Can I make you a ‘little-bit-of-everything’ chili dog, Mister Sonic?!”

Sonic winks at this, giving her a thumbs up, “You make the best ones, Cream.”

She nods with a determined face, dashing off to the chili dog stand as if she’s on a mission.

Sonic watches her with a chuckle, rubbing under his nose as Shadow looks at him..

Sonic looks at Shadow.

Shadow looks away.

Sonic smiles a bit at this, moving to take a seat next to Shadow as Blaze and Big start their performance. It’s quite a comical one. Blaze’s raspy and shier voice paired with Big’s own off beat and tonedeaf one. She definitely looks uncomfortable but Silver is giving her thumbs up in the audience so that seems to motivate her.

“So what made you come?” Sonic asks after a moment, looking at Shadow with a tilt of his head.

“Rouge,” he mutters, looking over at the bat who is still pestering that poor echidna, “Lost a bet.”

“Ah,” Sonic immediately answers with a grin, “She’s a trickster for sure.”

“Mm..,” Shadow nods in agreement, his arms crossed over his chest.

There’s a long moment of silence.

“…So how have you—“

“I’m getting coffee,” Shadow interrupts, standing from his seat and leaving Sonic behind. Sonic’s ears droop a bit, watching Shadow go with a quiet, “Oh. Okay. See ya.”

Shadow walks quickly towards the coffee bar, grabbing a cup once he gets there and working to fill it up with his heart pounding in his chest.

Anxiety is a bitch.

He takes a long shaky breath as he pours the drink, watching the steam rise from it. Black. Just how he likes it.

He cups it in his hands and blows on the top before taking a sip and immediately feeling his shoulders slouch and some tension fade. His sighs slow and takes another sip, swallowing down the lump that felt like it had been forming in his throat.

He hated he got like this. It always made him feel so weak. He didn’t do well in groups.. he always felt out of place or like he has nothing to contribute to conversation.

And that hedgehog… that damn blue hedgehog.

Sonic always seemed to make Shadow lock up even more than usual. Made him feel like his defenses were both down and up all at the same time. Like his walls were crackling apart and thus making Shadow panic to rush to build them higher and stronger.

He thought it would get better with time, but instead, it just seems to get worse.

He does fine on assignments or missions with Sonic, whenever they’re required to work together for the greater good. It’s easy to speak to him then. They work well side by side, a power that can’t be beat. But in casual conversation??? Sonic is.. intimidating.

He’s so quick witted and talkative. He always knows what to say and how to say it. Shadow admires this and hate it about him. It’s overwhelming.

Just like his dumb face.

After a moment to gather himself, Shadow moves to instead approach Rouge who sees him coming and snaps up with a grin, “You came!”

“I’ve been here,” he grumbles with a roll of his eyes, noticing how Knuckles seems relieved her attention is elsewhere.

Shadow can’t help but wonder if Knuckles feels the same way about Rouge as Shadow does about Sonic. Two painfully charismatic people talking to two painfully awkward people.

Except with Knuckles and Rouge, it’s flirting and bickering.

That’s not what Sonic and Shadow do.

Well.

They bicker.

And Sonic might be naturally flirtatious now and then.

But it’s not the same.

“Oh. Sorry, I’ve been busy with Knuckles here,” she smirks, gesturing to Knuckles who offers a small “sup” to Shadow, Shadow nodding back before returning his gaze to Rouge.

“How long do I have to stay??”

Rouge blinks, “But— you just got here?”

“I’ve been here for about ten minutes, actually. And that’s plenty long, I think.”

“Don’t be dramatic,” she rolls her eyes at him, placing a hand on her hip as she juts it out all sassy-like, “Besides, you still have to sing your one song.”

Shadow had been hoping she’d forgotten about that.

“Then can we just get it over with so I can leave??”

“No way!” Rouge huffs, poking his chest with a finger as she narrows her eyes at him disappointedly, “You are going to stay here and socialize and be happy about it! And when I decide you can sing and leave, you’ll sing and leave.”

She crosses her arms, sticking her nose up a matter-of-factly as she closes her eyes with a “hmph.”

Shadow blinks.

He looks at Knuckles for help.

Knuckles just shrugs at him, “She scares me too, dude.”

“What did you say?!” Rouge glares down at the echidna who flinches immediately with a “Nothing!”

“Oh I’m scary, huh??? You know what’s scary is an echidna whose only friend is a rock!”

“Oh yeah?! Well—“

Shadow leaves before he gets a headache.

He looks at the spot near the front that Cream has saved for him.

Sonic is still sitting there eating his chili dog and talking to Cream and Tails and now Amy as well..

He turns on his heel and makes his way to the bonfire where Espio sits alone. At least he can depend on Espio to not try and spark a conversation with him.

He sits in one of the wooden chairs, leaning back in it with a sigh as he sips his coffee.

Espio, in fact, does not try to talk to him. He keeps his eyes shut in silence a few seats away from Shadow. Honestly, Shadow thinks he might be asleep.

His eyes flutter shut, holding his coffee in his lap as he sighs and lets the karaoke going on fade to the background.

He surely won’t actually be able to sleep Like Espio. He’s use to silence in his slumber. White noise. Like when he was in the tank on the ARK..

But he might be able to look enough like he’s sleeping that no one will disturb him.

He stays like this a long time.. at least three or four songs are performed as he sits there unbothered.

‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ performed by Silver and Cream.

‘Firework’ performed by Amy.

And ‘Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better’ very ironically performed by Rouge and Knuckles.

The next performance is Tails singing ‘Count On Me’ when Shadow hears footsteps approaching.

He doesn’t open his eyes, hoping whomever it is will take the hint and leave him be.

His ear twitches at the sound of the wooden chair next to him creaking with someone being seated in it. The person takes a breath as if they’re gonna speak and then stops.

Shadow expects them to get up and leave.

Instead he hears some fidgeting and movement. And then he hears the quiet sound of guitar strings..

His eyes slide open just slightly to peer over and see Sonic sitting there with his guitar in hand picking a quiet and relaxing melody..

It’s… odd to see.

Sonic who is chaotic and fiery and adventurous and always loud and obnoxious and can’t sit still..

now sits there picking one of the softest and quietest melodies he’s ever heard.

And he looks content while doing so. His face is soft with a smile on his muzzle, humming quietly as he plays. Like a lullaby.

Shadow watches him a long moment.. and then his eyes drift over to the fire. He watches it burn as Sonic plays, finding himself almost hypnotized by the moment. The calm of it. The warmth and the lull of the melody..

He sips his coffee. Sonic doesn’t bother him.

It’s nice. Shadow wasn’t even aware Sonic played guitar before tonight, if he’s honest. He never thought the hedgehog could even sit still long enough to learn such a thing.

And without much thought, he voices this, “I didn’t know you played.”

The strumming stops a moment, Shadow seeing Sonic’s head lift out of his peripherals to look at him. Sonic starts playing again and shrugs as he does so, “Yeah, I have since I was a kid. Use to be in a band, believe it or not.”

“I shockingly can believe that,” Shadow says with a small quirk of his brow, eyeing Sonic as he sips his coffee to which Sonic chuckles at in response.

“I don’t play a lot anymore. Only when I need to clear my head some or am at events like this. Sometimes both..”

Shadow turns his head a bit more towards Sonic at that, eyeing him a moment as Sonic’s own gaze returns down to watching his own fingers move.

“…Has something been on your mind?”

Why is he asking that??? It’s not his business and he doesn’t care—

“Mm..,” Sonic shrugs, “Just been having trouble sleepin’..”

Shadow hums at that, “Can’t say I relate fully. As the Ultimate Lifeform, I don’t require sleep.”

Sonic’s head lifts a bit at that, looking at Shadow with a slight tilt of his head, “Seriously??”

“Mm,” Shadow nods.

“Then what do you do most nights??” Sonic asks curiously, his picking on his guitar never stopping.

“It varies..,” Shadow says, not planning to elaborate but seeing how Sonic is leaning in tentatively, he keeps going, “Sometimes I read. Sometimes I do research for work.. sometimes I watch the stars or go for a run.”

Sonic smiles a bit at that, seeming to relate to that, “So you never sleep at all??”

“Well.. occasionally. For the sake of the pastime. Or for the sake of simply resting for a bit.. shutting down and not having to think for a period of time can be therapeutic.”

“I can’t imagine not sleeping,” Sonic says with a chuckle, “I’m a professional sleeper, I’ll have you know.”

“Well what kind of professional sleeper has trouble sleeping?”

Sonic’s cocky demeanor falters at that, looking at Shadow with a faded smirk before he looks back down to his guitar and mutters, “I’ve been having nightmares is all.. they’ll go away, though, and when they do, I’ll be a shooin’ for the Snooze-lympics.”

Shadow watches the blue hedgehog deliver the joke with a little grin, but he sees how it doesn’t meet his eyes..

He knows about nightmares.. he has far too many of his own.

“Do.. you want to talk about it??” Shadow asks after a moment, holding his now nearly empty coffee in his hands as he shifts his body a bit more towards Sonic.

Sonic hums a bit, looking up from his guitar to the fire instead. He seems hesitant. Reluctant. Shadow won’t push him if he is made uncomfortable by the conversation. He shouldn’t have asked in the first place, frankly.

“…You know.. in all my years of heroing and what not, I’ve rarely not been able to save someone,” Sonic says after a long pause, Shadow’s brows furrowing a bit at the subject change but he doesn’t interrupt.

“..So I guess when I fail, it would haunt me.. huh?”

Shadow purses his lips, not liking the way Sonic guilts himself but understanding the toll being a hero can take, “Makes sense..”

Sonic nods.

“..It’s the same dream. Over and over. Reaching and not being able to grab it. Not being fast enough.”

Shadow feels a sense of uneasiness grow inside him, his heart starting to rise into his throat again. He grips his cup a bit tighter and raises it to sip to try and swallow the feeling back down.

“I watch it fall like a star.. out of my sight. I try to get to it, but it’s like I can’t move. I feel so helpless..”

Shadow swallows the last of his coffee but keeps the cup to his lips, eyes staying on Sonic.

“…Why didn’t you let me save you, Shadow??” Sonic’s eyes lift to Shadow’s then and Shadow feels his chest hurt.

When did Sonic stop playing his guitar??

The only sound now is the crackling of the fire and the distant karaoke performance currently happening on stage.

Shadow doesn’t answer. Just watches Sonic in a long moment of silence. Sonic doesn’t push. He just waits, leaning his elbows against his guitar in his lap and chewing on the inside of his cheek.

The ebony hedgehog lowers his cup after a moment, clearing his throat before speaking at last, “I-… don’t really remember much of that event.”

Sonic doesn’t seem too convinced of his answer, so Shadow tries to add, “After the fall, I simply remember waking up and not knowing anything anymore.. I’m not sure what was going through my head—“

“You remember,” Sonic says. And there’s such conviction in his voice that Shadow’s mouth immediately shuts. Their eyes stay locked as if a challenge.

Shadow’s crimson orbs glare for a moment longer before Shadow huffs and pushes himself to stand from his chair. Sonic watches with his ears sinking back a bit.

“I’m leaving. Tell Rose I appreciated the hospitality.”

Sonic stands then, moving his guitar out of his lap and setting it on the chair, “Shadow, wait—“

“Alright! Next up is a special request from our belovedly devious Rouge the Bat!” Vector announces from the stage, Rouge standing beside him with a wicked little grin. Shadow is making his way to the door with Sonic not far behind him.

“Our two performers will be..,” Rouge whispers in Vector’s ear and Vector seems a bit stunned, “Sonic and Shadow???”

There’s immediate silence and whispers among the group, Shadow’s attention brought to the stage upon hearing his name and his eyes widening at realizing he’s being summoned.

Sonic too has paused, staring at the stage and then back to Shadow and then the stage again.

Shadow doesn’t spare a glance to Sonic, defensively crossing his arms with a stubborn, “I was just leaving.”

“Ohhh no you don’t, Grumps,” Rouge immediately protests, leaping from the stage to glide over to Shadow and tug at his arm, “You promised me a song of my choice. It’s your turn to perform.”

“Now is not the time, Rouge,” Shadow growls under his breath to which she shrugs unbothered.

“Not my problem,” she pulls him to the stage and pushes him towards the steps, “Now knock ‘em dead, Shadow! Metaphorically, of course.”

Sonic has walked to the stage now as well, seeming very off-put by this but also seeming as though he’s resolute.

Shadow watches him approach the mic on the stage, refusing to join him as he stands at the bottom of the stairs. He looks out at the small intimate crowd staring at him expectedly and then back to Sonic and then to Rouge and—

“Fuck this-“ he huffs before quickly making his way towards the exit again, Rouge standing from her seat to follow him.

“Hey! Shadow, hold on a second!”

The music starts playing.. emerald eyes watching the black hedgehog making his escape. Sonic swallows hard, moving a hand to hold the mic as he keeps his gaze on Shadow.

A surprisingly angelic “oooh” coming from him as he warms up to the song. Shadow’s steps falter a bit at this, not expecting Sonic to actually perform. Rouge stops behind him, her attention turning back to Sonic again, and then Shadow who is now standing still with his hand on Amy’s backdoor..

“I.. I just woke up from a dream,” Sonic sings with a slight sway on his feet, trying to loosen up some but his eyes stay on Shadow, “Where you and I had to say goodbye..”

Shadow’s brows knit a bit, turning to look towards the stage again and seeing Sonic standing there watching him.

“I don’t know what it all means..,” Sonic sings with a small shrug, averting his eyes a bit shyly now as he continues, “But since I survived, I realized..”

Shadow steps away from the door.

“Wherever you go that’s where I foooollow. Nobody’s promised tomooooorrow.”

Sonic’s eyes shut as he grips the mic a bit tighter and gives his all, “So I’ma love you every night like it’s the last night- like it’s the last night!”

Everyone watches as Shadow approaches the stage between the chairs, Sonic singing his heart out quite literally into the mic with an undeniable amount of emotion and earnest.

“If the world was endin’, I’d wanna be next to youuuu! If the party was over, and our time on earth was throuuuuugh.”

Sonic’s eyes open again to look up at the stars now, reaching a hand out to them as if to grab, “I’d wanna hold you just for a while..,” his hand returns to his mic with shut eyes, “And diiiiiie with a smile!”

Everyone is in absolute awe of what’s happening. Sonic’s voice demands attention and captures them with its feeling, but so does the fact it feels like a very intimate moment between Shadow and Sonic..

“If the world was ending, I’d wanna be next,” Sonic’s eyes open again, “to you..”

Sonic’s eyes widen a bit when he looks for Shadow but doesn’t see him, a quiet breath escaping him as he immediately backs from the mic and begins to leave the stage to the right to look for him when—

“Ooooh lost..”

Sonic’s eyes widen as he spins on his heels to see Shadow has joined him from the left side of the stage and is now holding the second mic singing into it..

He seems shy.. quiet at first, but his voice is so.. enchanting. Smooth like silk and mesmerizing.

“Lost in the words that we scream..,” Shadow sings with a knit to his brow, cheeks rosy as he glances to Sonic from the corners of his eyes, “I don’t even wanna do this anymoooore.”

Sonic quickly moves to his mic and joins in to harmonize as they both sing.

“‘Cause you already know what you mean to me!”

“And our love’s the only one—“

“Worth fighting for..”

“Cause wherever you go that’s where I—“ Shadow turns towards Sonic then, point down at the ground as if to make a damn point and Sonic just smiles and steps towards him a bit.

“—Fooooollow.”

“Nobody’s promised—“

“—tomooooorrow.”

Shadow and Sonic are now gripping their mics tight, and it’s as if the rest of the world has faded away.. Shadow’s stage fright gone as it feels as though they’re both confessing to one another right then and there.

“So I’ma love you every night like it’s the last night! Like it’s the last night!”

“If the world was ending, I’d wanna be next to youuuuu! If the party was over and our time on earth was throuuuuugh!”

Shadow gives an ever so small smile as he sings,

“I’d wanna hold you..”

Sonic harmonizing with him with a heart melting grin, “Just for a while..”

“And diiiiiie with a smile!!”

“If the world was ending, I’d wanna be next to you..”

Sonic smiles as he steps closer to Shadow, “Right next to youu..”

“Next to youuu..,” Shadow coos with a slight tilt of his head, taking a tiny step closer as well.

“Right next to youuu..,” they harmonize, Sonic’s hand moving to touch Shadow’s only for Shadow to reach and place his hand on the small of Sonic’s back. Holding him there, he pulls him close so their chests bump together.

Sonic beams at this, face going red as he tosses his head back and lets out a howled, “Ooh-Oh!”

And then Shadow is yanking Sonic in as the music reaches its climax, planting a hard and firm kiss on his lips to which the crowd of friends screams and cheers at excitedly. Whistles and applause but all of it is drainage in their ears as they share their kiss. Sonic’s free hand lifts to hold Shadow’s quills tight, fingers curling there as he holds himself to him and feels his heart soaring. Pieces of him mending that have been broken a long time..

Shadow feels whole in that moment. Complete. And not alone for the first time since he can remember..

It’s euphoric. It’s cheesy. It’s straight out of some corny chick flic and neither of them give a damn.

They eventually part a bit reluctantly, Shadow’s eyes staying shut as his forehead presses to Sonic’s with quiet pants for air. Sonic’s eyes open all half-lidded and dopey as he lifts his mic in the small space between them to sing,

“If the world was ending, I’d wanna be next to youuuu..”

Shadow smiles at him a bit dopey as well, opening his eyes as he lifts his hand to lock their arms and sing into his own mic, “If the party was over and our time on earth was throuuuugh..”

“I’d wanna hold you..,” Shadow’s hand lifts to cup Sonic’s cheek, “Just for a while,” Sonic’s head tilts to nuzzle into his palm.

Both of them then tossing their heads back to sing with their whole chest, “And diiiiiie with a smile!”

“If the world was ending, I’d wanna be next—“

“To youuuuuu!”

“If the world was ending, I’d wanna be next to you..”

Their foreheads touch again, noses nuzzling as they melt into one another.

“I’d wanna be next to you..”

Their eyes lock as the music fades, Sonic’s grin wider than ever and a soft little smile on Shadow’s own face..

He leans in to kiss him again only to be snapped out of his daze by the wolf whistling and applause their friends teasingly and knowingly give them.

A mix of “about time”s and “congratulations” were shouted at them as Shadow’s cheeks heat up beet red,

He turns his head away from them towards the back of the stage, trying to hide from the group. Sonic chuckles at this and moves to crouch slightly and tilt his head up to put himself in Shadow’s line of sight.

His hand moves to squeeze Shadow’s. And Shadow smiles and squeezes it back.

“In their defense,” Sonic teases with his thumb rubbing The back of Shadow’s hand, finally able to reach him..,

“That was super gay.”