flawless existence

Shadow’s smirk was met with that cocky grin and twinkling emerald eyes. “Well~ You’re here so that’s a pretty good day right there, but when it comes t’ what I wanna do…” A shrug. “Sittin’ ‘round doing squat is what I usually do today.”

Shadow's smirk soothed into a smile at Sonic's statement. It was funny how casually Sonic complimented him like that... Perhaps Shadow should be making statements like that more. He ran his fingers over Sonic's arm. "We can do anything else that you would like to." He paused. "You deserve it." There, that was one. He could make a count in his head. Give at least five a week, that would be his new goal. He wanted to work on this whole romance thing.

“Okay, I get it.” With an amused eye-roll the blue hedgehog gave his boyfriend a cocky grin. “So, since it’s my day and all, what’re we gonna do t’ celebrate?”

At least Sonic was conceding defeat. At the question Sonic gave him, Shadow returned a rare playful smirk as he approached the blue hedgehog and pulled him into a gentle hold. "I don't know. It's your day -- what do you want to do?"

"Big whoop. Just another day." Apparently some more explanation might have been needed but Sonic was already giving Shadow a concerned look. "Y’know you oughta work on a way t’ fix that, Shads."

"It's the day you were born," Shadow repeated, with a sort of patience he never displayed with anyone else. Said patience was also to deride the conversation cropping up here that Shadow certainly did not want to take part of.

     they say the mirror exposes your  f  l  a  w  s                  your lies                  your faults                                     well then, it’s no wonder why the mirror  s h a t t e r e d                                                                                      when it saw me.

Seeing as how he was enjoying it so much, Shadow probably wasn’t too happy when his boyfriend’s touch suddenly vanished and was replaced with a sudden disconcerted noise. With mismatched ears pulling back Sonic’s hand retreated back to its owners lap with the other, fists forming as the hero tried to stop the rapid fury growing in the pit of his stomach. Though gritting his teeth was doing nothing to hide his discomfort in the slightest. Sonic wasn’t sure what was bothering him more. The fact Shadow had announced this all so casually like they were talking about weather and nothing more or that it had even happened to being with. He had a vague idea of what had happened on the ARK but now he knew too much and couldn’t help but look over Shadow’s content form in silence with a mix of worry and doubt.

Shadow definitely wasn't too happy. His back was beginning to itch and Sonic was no longer touching him at all, making the black hedgehog squirm a bit and open his eyes, which had closed again straight after his explanation, purring halting. He blinked at Sonic in confusion, then winced when the movement of his head caused it agony. "Why did you stop?" he asked in a small croak, settling his cheek against his arms as opposed to his chin. His head felt so heavy... He was tired and sleepy and just wanted to forget things for a little while.

Sonic’s hand didn’t stop, even with Shadow’s odd reaction. His interest was nagging at him and his index finger went to tracing that rugged line along his boyfriend’s back, ears twitching about. A few second later those jade eyes went to Shadow’s, the hero’s head titling. “What is this?” To emphasize just what he meant the hero traced that mystery line again, coming to a stop in the middle of Shadow’s back. 

As Sonic's finger began to trace that line, Shadow's eyelids grew heavy again, purring increasing in volume. Seems that even though it was clearly a scar, Shadow was happy to have it touched, though the trail Sonic's finger left behind left the areas itching, and the black hedgehog squirmed a bit as a result. At the question, he tried to recall past the fog-- Oh, that's right. That's what that was. Shadow yawned. "They must've forgotten to fully sew that up," he said casually and tiredly. "Or they used that glue instead... They were a little careless with those experiments sometimes." He mumbled something about the back of his head before speaking more clearly again, "They'd hook me up to machines, then cut me open a little. That one... That one was an accident, maybe? It's rather large. I must've...been out when they did that one, specifically." And then he returned to purring contentedly, apparently done with his explanation.

Sonic was taking that as a green light and let his fingers pass over Shadow’s side and back with an affection that he didn’t often get to display. Usually it was Shadow doing one thing or another to the blue fur - a certain brushing incident was a good example of that - but now the tables had turned. Not that Sonic was going to do much with it, he just wanted Shadow to feel better. Leaning forward slightly, the hero let his fingers slide over the other’s shoulder blades before passing over his spine, a sudden unevenness under the dark fur catching his interest. 

Shadow didn't shift for a while, simply letting Sonic's hand roam with easy purrs leaving his lips. It was only when Sonic brushed up over a specific part of his spine that Shadow shivered, his breath hitching in response to the contact, and his eyes fluttered open to glance at Sonic tiredly. His head was a bit foggy, so the only thing he could manage right then was a slurred, "Wha' was that?" The contact was too brief for his mind to catch up on what that was.

Shadow’s word only seemed to help a little, but it still got a little smile out of the hero though it faded a notch or two when he remembered Shadow was in pain here. The speedster’s gaze travelled over the other’s body for a second before one hand reached out cautiously, brushing that dark fur gently as Sonic waited for some reaction from his boyfriend.

When Shadow felt his hand on his back, at first the hedgehog stiffened, then he relaxed with a very soft purr passing through his lips, a lazy purr that only made its way out upon the last stretch of exhalation but one nevertheless. His eyes began to slip closed, ears pressed to his skull. "Nnh..." It felt nice on top of the pain, and while the pain was still there, it helped.