#parataxis

He doesn't waste any time before teleporting to the general area he knows Sonic will be in—doesn't even bother smoothing down his undoubtedly ruffled quills or pulling on his shoes and gloves. He has no more need for modesty anymore if he's just going to see Sonic.

The blue hedgehog isn't hard to find. He's curled up under a tree; his quills blend in with the dark of the night, but the bright red blanket covering him stands out.

Shadow approaches quietly, but not quiet enough; Sonic starts to stir when he's a few paces away. He rubs his eyes and pushes himself up on one elbow, squints blearily in Shadow's direction. "Shadow?"

Shadow doesn't respond immediately. On the one hand, seeing Sonic with his own eyes and hearing his voice is enough to assure him the blue blur hasn't vanished; on the other, it makes him feel embarrassed to have been worried at all. Of course Sonic is still here—Shadow is the one who saved him, after all.

He's being silly. He should have just gone back to sleep, shouldn't gave come here even though—

"Bad dream?" Sonic asks, smiling gently.

Shadow's ears tilts back. "I'm not some kind of child," he snaps. "I don't need to be coddled."

Sonic yawns. In his half-asleep state, he's somehow even less impressed by Shadow's attitude than usual. "So what happened?"

Shadow balls his hands into fists and trains his eyes on a point over Sonic's shoulder. "You died," he admits. "I wasn't fast enough. You just… vanished."

"I didn't, though," Sonic says. "I'm right here."

"I know that," Shadow growls. "I just…" He looks at Sonic again, finds him staring back with half-lidded eyes that nonetheless sparkle with amusement.

"Needed some reassurance?" Sonic finishes for him. He lifts one corner of the blanket invitingly. "Come on, then."

Shadow hesitates for a moment, then drops to the ground beside Sonic and curls up next to him. It's a little awkward, at first; his knees knock into Sonic's thighs, squishes his ear against his upper arm—but eventually they find a comfortable position with Sonic on his back and Shadow's head resting on this chest. He can hear his heart beating. It's nice. Grounding.

Sonic trails his fingers absentmindedly through the fur of Shadow's upper arm. After a few minutes his movements start to slow, as does his breathing and heartbeat. Shadow thinks he's fallen asleep, tilts his head to look up at him and check—and finds Sonic looking back at him, smiling gently.

"Hi," he says, voice soft and a little raspy with the edge of sleep.

Shadow's heart constricts painfully. He wants to kiss him—and remembers a little belatedly that, as of one week ago, he can.

He tilts his head up and presses their lips together. They've kissed a few times now, but Shadow still feels uncertain of himself every time. He doesn't think Sonic necessarily has any more experience in this area than he does, but Sonic makes up for his lack of experience with enthusiasm in a way Shadow simply can't.

Now, too—the kiss Shadow initiated was chaste, but Sonic moves with it, turns it into more than a simple press of their lips together. He winds a hand into Shadow's quills and pulls him closer, tilts his head and opens his mouth—

Shadow pulls away. "You should sleep."

"First you wake me up, then you tell me to sleep." Sonic huffs, amused. "Make up your mind, dude."

Shadow looks down at his hand on Sonic's chest. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"But you did," Sonic says, not a hint of accusation in his tone, "so we might as well make the most of the situation."

"You mean—"

"Making out, yeah." Sonic grins, bright and boyish.

Shadow levels him with an unimpressed stare. "You're insufferable."

Sonic's grin starts to falter. "But you like me anyway?"

Unfortunately, Shadow does. He doesn't give himself the chance to say something embarrassing, leaning in for another kiss.