#shadow fluff

“You’re grounded, Shadow. No leaving the house, no thoting understand? You need to think about your actions.”

Shadow scoffed and rolled his eyes, him 'grounded'? Yeah no. "I'm the untalented lifeform you can't ground me." The scowl on Maddies face made him bite his tounge.

Her tone had been firm, and Tom had backed her up, which meant Shadow’s plans to see you were temporarily derailed. Maddie rarely pulled the “grounded” card, but when she did, it stuck.

Shadow huffed, glaring out the window at the setting sun. It wasn’t fair. Sure, he’d gotten into a minor argument with Sonic earlier that day—and maybe caused a little collateral damage in the process—but it wasn’t like he was in the wrong. Sonic always pushed his buttons!

He flopped onto his bed, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at the ceiling. His mind wandered to you, as it always did when he was alone. Spending time with you was one of the few things that made him feel truly at peace.

You never judged him, never treated him like some kind of weapon or anomaly. You just... cared.But now, thanks to Maddie, he couldn’t see you.

“I don’t need their permission,” Shadow muttered to himself. His ears twitched as he listened for signs of life downstairs. The sound of laughter and a TV show told him the family was occupied.

He sat up, formulating a plan. Tails had rigged the doors and windows to set off an alarm if any were opened unexpectedly. Lucky for him, teleworking didn't set off said alarm.

It wasn’t too far of a drop, and he could use his Chaos abilities to soften his landing. With one last glance at the door he zips out the window and softens the fall with chaos energy.

“Grounded or not, I'm going,” he muttered, determination flaring in his chest.

---

When Shadow arrived at your place, you were sitting on the porch, enjoying the calm night. You looked up, startled but delighted, as he appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

“Shadow! I didn’t think I’d see you tonight,” you said, a smile spreading across your face. He crossed his arms, his usual stoic expression softening slightly.

“I wasn’t supposed to,” he admitted. You raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” He sighed, sitting down beside you. “Maddie grounded me. She said I needed to ‘think about my actions.’” His gloved fingers making a quotation motion as he spoke.

You stifled a laugh, imagining Shadow sulking under Maddie’s stern gaze. “What did you do?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said quickly, his ears twitching. “What matters is that I’m here now.” You reached out, brushing your fingers against his arm. “You know it means they care about you when they ground you, right? But I’m glad you came.”

For a moment, the tension in his shoulders eased. Being with you had that effect on him. “Just don’t tell Maddoe I snuck out,” he said, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. You chuckled, leaning against him. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

It started out as an accident. a small brush against his arm as you were passing by, the sensation barley lasted a second but for the first time he felt relief the biting cold dissipating for a brief moment.

"Oh, sorry Shadow."

"It's okay Y/N. Just be more careful next time."

"Sure thing, See ya"

"yah, Bye"

That night Shadow laid in bed stroking the small area you touched, unable to sleep.

"How did they do that?" he thought to himself. he couldn't make sense of it, he tried everything to get rid of the cold he felt, and in one fleeting second you had managed to fight it off for him.

A few months later, you did it again.

It was your second date and shadow was walking you home. the streets were empty except for the two of you the stars guiding the two of you to your destination.

"The stars are beautiful tonight" you commented

"It's a lot different looking up at them then being amongst them."

"What was that like?"

"The constellations were un recognizable me and Maria used to make up our own."

"sounds like fun"

"It was enjoyable although, I don't think the other scientists would agree"

you giggled as you turned your attention to the sky. the stars twinkled above you illuminating the night.

mindlessly your hand had drifted against his knuckle's barley touching.

the small moment sent a wave of warmth through his hand, but before he could even comprehend the feeling you took his hand in yours and held it.

You didn't let go and if he was being honest with himself he didn't want you to let go. somehow even through your gloves you had managed to break through the chill.

for the last few blocks shadow had gotten a taste of relief, but nothing could have prepared him for what would come the next time the two of you made contact.

The two of you had been official for the better part of a month. Shadow was over at your apartment watching a movie with you. the two of you sitting side by side, not uncomfortable but a little stiff to the outside viewer.

Shadow's attention was fully on the screen, the plot was a little cheesy for his taste but you had claimed it as your favorite movie so he was determined to complete it. he had been successful so far, that was until he felt a weight on his shoulder.

Turning he saw that you had placed your head on his shoulder using him to keep you upright.

normally with this kind of contact Shadow would have been resistant, shoving whomever off of him. but with you, things were different. not only did he accept your touch, he wanted more.

His arm moved on it's own wrapping itself around you bring you in closer. you happily accepted his guidance laying your head on his chest, not yet brave enough to burry your face in the chest fluff though.

you wrapped your arms around his middle holding him in a sweet embrace.

Shadows breath hitched, the sensations coming to him all at once. He felt your warmth cutting through the cold that had been so present. he felt your tight squeeze around him fighting off the emptiness he felt around him.

Colors grew brighter, a strange lightness fell upon him. For the first time in years Shadow had felt relief. Relief from the cold that had plagued him for the past fifty years, relief from the numbness he felt every day since he woke up.

He felt you nuzzle into him, sending another wave of warmth throughout him. he heard a faint purr escape your chest. he smiled wrapping you tighter in his arms. he didn't want this to end.

Then he felt it, a small vibration in his chest that reverberated through his whole body. He was confused until he heard it he was purring. He wasn't even aware he could until now. it was completely involuntary, but not unwelcome.

The two of you held onto each other, purring in tandem until the credits ended.

"so what did you think?" you asked softly.

“It’s not like he’s graceful or funny, he’s just… Shadow. Seriously, what do you see in him?” Sonic pressed as the girl groaned in frustration. She knew her friend was naturally curious, specially speaking about a certain hedgehog, but it was seriously hard to explain.

As she started to jog, leaving the blue creature behind as he kept stretching, she started thinking about what she really thought of him. What did she even like? His humor? He barely had any. His grace? He was actually a really rough man. Sighing, she kept on moving, her mind running in circles.

Her mind was dissociating enough that she didn’t notice the presence beside her.

“You’re right, I don’t know what I like about him… It’s just that… He makes me feel different somehow, is that weird?” The girl asked turning to look at Sonic.

“Different how?”

But it wasn’t Sonic.

She lost control on his lower limbs, suddenly tripping on the ground, hands barely taking the impact that her face would’ve taken. Laying face down on the floor she thought: ‘If I don’t look up, he might go away.’

“So?”

Okay that didn’t work.

Holding in a grunt, she got up on her knees to shake her hands off of the dirt. Looking at the man, he was looking at her from where he was standing. It made him look intimidating. Graceful. Graceful?

Feeling her cheeks redden, she cleared her throat. “Nothing, just talking to myself.”

Shadow hummed as he got on one knee, bending down so they looked at each other face to face. He scanned her face and pressed his lips. “Talking with an expert?”

The girl frowned for a second. Then she understood that he tried to joke, and it was so bad she snorted. Shadow looked at her amused, his face showing a neutral face as he got on his feet again and held his hand out for her to take.

“Your face is full of dirt, by the way.” He added as she got back up on her feet.

“Of course it is.” She grumbled lowly, swiping the back of her hand on her face.