Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Okay, the entrance should be right about he-aah!"

Thud.

Shadow looked over the edge of the hole his suitor had just plummeted through, assessing the damage. No blood, no crying, and Sonic was pushing up to hands and knees, groaning in complaint, which probably meant no broken bones or concussion.

Good. Shadow didn't have to feel bad about how hard he was laughing. "Break anything, hedgehog?"

"No," Sonic grumbled, sitting cross-legged, ears flat to the sides. "Shut up," he added, as Shadow's laughter continued.

Well, if Sonic didn't want to get teased when he got hurt, he should have picked a different hedgehog to court. Still, this night, at least, Shadow could be kind. Pushing the rest of his amusement down, he dropped through the hole, landing in a deep crouch before his...well, not quite mate. Not yet.

"You look whole enough." Reaching out, Shadow pressed an index finger to Sonic's chin, urging his patient to turn this way and that. "How's your head?"

"Smelly," Sonic said, wrinkling his nose. "The lavender broke my fall."

True enough, the soft scent of flowers haloed the hero, and a few stems peeked from between quills. He looked rather sweet, actually. Like an innocent god of Spring.

Brought to the underworld, Shadow realized, glancing about the cavern to which they had descended. It was dark and cool, smelling of wet earth and, now, lavender. Rock walls were mostly bare, but a few vines adhered along the northern curve. The space—no larger than Shadow's office-turned-bedroom—was homey, pleasing to his burrowing and denning instincts. Natural, uncluttered, pleasingly musty, with none of the detritus he was used to seeing every day on the streets of Station Square.

Except, perhaps, for the pile of pillows and sheets off by a wall, not under one of the natural skylights, but well in view. The sight caused a moment's alarm. Was some human living rough in this literal hole in the ground?

But then Shadow noted the bright racecars all over one of the many blankets, and he sighed. "You bring flowers for ambiance, but you decorate like a six year old?"

"Hey!" Sonic scowled, leaning back so Shadow could no longer manipulate his head. "That's the good linens!"

Lip curling, Shadow was about to snap back, following the pattern of banter they'd established over the years, but Sonic held up a hand. "Ah pah pah pah!"

Shadow narrowed his eyes. His tail lashed in defiance. "Hedgehog—"

"Be a catty bitch, if you want," Sonic interrupted again. "Or," he rushed on, "and I'm just throwing this idea out there...you be nice, and I touch your dick."

Shadow blinked. "Ah. Point taken."

"Smart man," Sonic said, leaning forward to plant a kiss on Shadow's cheek. "Give me a hand."

"Where?" Shadow asked, eyes roving across the plump blue body before him. Fuck, he would happily lend both hands, and anywhere Sonic asked. Though he did have some preferences. Those hips looked so grabbable.

"The lavender, you horn-hog," Sonic snorted, gathering an armful and standing. "Give me a hand with the lavender."

"Oh. Right." Disappointed, Shadow gathered the rest of the stems, following Sonic towards the nest.

Sonic glanced over his shoulder, tail flicking high. "And then you can give me a hand with my dick."

The rock Shadow tripped over came out of nowhere. At least, unlike Sonic, his fall was onto a thick pile of clean blankets and sheets. Quite fortunate, as the foremost part of his body to make contact with hard stone would have been very unhappy with the impact.

Shadow decided to lay face-down for a bit. The pile of fluff went up to his ears, blocking out some of Sonic's howling laughter. 

A shower of lavender fell upon Shadow's back, and he felt the blankets shift as Sonic plopped down at his side. Peeking over the sheets, the black hedgehog saw his partner was holding his stomach, curled in on himself

"Hedgehog," Shadow growled.

Sonic, still victim to paroxysms of mirth, struggled to speak. "S-so you re-hee-heally did fuh-fall for me!"

Shadow sighed. Shadow had learned to let go of his desire for revenge. Why couldn't Sonic?

Wrapping an arm about Sonic's waist, he none-too-gently yanked his suitor down. He swung a leg over Sonic's thighs, tucking the male under his body.

Sonic yelped at the sudden change in position, but that sound was replaced by a gasp as Shadow settled upon him. Their mouths nearly touched, chests only brushing with matching breaths, but their groins made full contact, pressed tight together. The roll of their hips was instinctive, insistent, and both hedgehogs jolted at the slide.

"Fuck," Shadow muttered, and now he did get a hand on those beautiful hips. Their bodies had changed, over the years. Sonic's far more than his, though. Where Shadow had mostly grown taller, Sonic's diet finally did a little catching up to him, giving a roundness to his tan stomach and a bit of give to hips and thighs. Below the fat were tight runner's muscles, but all that squish tempted Shadow to sink in. Claws, teeth, cock, he wanted to push into this hedgehog until he quaked.

He was doing a pretty good job, already. Sonic bit his lip as they came to a silent agreement,  bodies matching rhythms. The horniness cooldown from their relocation to the cave was coming undone, and it was beautiful to see in the hero's sparking eyes. Blue arms wrapped about Shadow's neck, pulling him down, but not for kisses. For nuzzles and licks on Shadow's neck, spreading his new partner's scent all about his muzzle, anointing Sonic in a spot where he could not escape his partner's mark.

The rutting and rubbing made Shadow swell in his sheath, his tip threatening to slip free. He needed to slide his cockhead across soft fur, between giving thighs, now. Growling, Shadow moved a knee between Sonic's legs, urging them apart.

But Sonic's powerful legs clamped tight together, trapping Shadow's knee in place. The hero's muzzle left Shadow's neck, and he gasped in the fresh air. "I-I don't wanna have sex!"

Shadow had never moved so fast. One moment, ready and eager to mount his old rival. The next, throwing himself back to fall on his ass, arms braced behind to prevent himself being knocked out on the stone floor. His tip throbbed briefly into sight, out of the black sheath, before retreating as blood moved on to circulate elsewhere. Mostly his deprived brain.

"I'll go—" Shadow began, but Sonic was pushing up from the covers, reaching out to his dark counterpart.

"No! No, wait, I didn't mean like that!" Sonic rolled all the way to hands and knees, grabbing Shadow's ankles, preventing his escape. "I meant not sex sex."

Shadow wasn't thinking so well, as, from this position, he had a full view between Sonic's legs, to his blue, full sheath and the inch of tan cock peeking out. Fucking gorgeous. Fucking delectable.

"I meant, not like," Sonic ducked his head, blushing, "like buttstuff?"

"Like—"Shadow repeated, then his mind processed the next word. He snorted, shaking his head. "Buttstuff?"

"Yes, buttstuff!" Sonic's cheeks flushed a deeper red. "What would you call it, huh? Genital-anal coupling?"

The panic was abating. Thank goodness they were learning to use their words. Shadow pushed up so he could sit more comfortably, elbows on knees, hands dangling before his groin. His eyes landed on the bit of Sonic's cock peeking from its sheath. That was going to be hard to ignore.

...fuck, wait, that was hard.

"I'd probably just call it 'fucking your ass,'" he answered.

Within his blue sheath, Sonic's length twitched, another inch slipping free. "O-oh."

Shadow forced himself to look into his suitor's eyes, but found they were not meeting his own. They were doing much the same as his had been, focused solely on the bulge between Shadow's legs and the fun hiding within.

"Okay," Shadow agreed. "No buttstuff."

Sonic nodded, dazed. After some moments, he shook his head, quills clattering. "Tonight," he amended. "Not tonight." He took a long, shaky breath. "Fuck, I cannot think straight, Shadow."

"Well, that's fortunate." Shadow grinned wickedly. "Seeing as this is pretty damn gay."

"Oh, ha ha!" Sonic released Shadow's ankles, pushing back to get away from his tormentor. He crossed his arms, flopping back to rest on blankets and pillows, another puff of lavender scent billowing out at the impact. The change in position made his tip sink back into the sheath, but by now, the hedgehog's normally smooth groin was proving him to be very much male.

The anatomical privacy of Mobians was impressive. Even moderately aroused, they had a Ken-doll aesthetic, male and female and, doubtless, the ranges between and beyond. Yet a simple shift in intention allowed things to swell and open and drop. Now, literal blue balls—or, well, ballsack—hung between Sonic's legs. They would both fit perfectly in one of Shadow's hands. Or one at a time in his mouth. Maybe both, if Sonic lay nice and still and let Shadow give it his all.

Above the sack was a fur-covered bulge, which shifted just a millimeter with each of the speedster's rapid heartbeats. There was a lot of elasticity in the skin, which could be pushed down to reveal more than just a cute tan tip. If only Shadow could put his hands there...

"Can I touch you?" Shadow decided to just outright ask, pointing between Sonic's legs. He might have felt embarrassed over the sudden request had Sonic's eyes not opened wide.

And had the hero's cocktip not poked out and jerked its individual nod of affirmation.

"I—" Sonic swallowed. His arms uncrossed and he pushed up on the pillows until he was in a gentle recline with a perfect view. "Y-yeah. Go nuts."

Shadow immediately took control of every facial muscle. He would not ruin this moment. It was too perfect. Open and waiting, the timing just right. Slowly, Shadow leaned forward, one hand bracing on the sheets, the other reaching up, up between Sonic's legs, to delicately cup the hedgehog's cobalt balls.

Objective obtained, Shadow couldn't suppress a foolish grin as he looked Sonic in the eyes and chirped, "Go nuts, show nuts."

Sonic did not laugh, as Shadow had expected. After all, it had been exactly the kind of joke he would have expected from the perpetual goof. There was no way Sonic would have missed the opportunity to do the same to him.

Except Sonic squeaked, hips rising, then immediately slamming back to the blankets and lavender as the smaller hedgehog realized his thrust had broken contact with black and red fingers. In Shadow's hands, Sonic's balls contracted, tightening, while up above, the hidden length in the sheath surged.

Scowling, Shadow made a mental note to remind Sonic of the joke later. After he was well-fucked. Shadow was proud of the pun, damnit!

He'd address that later, though, as his pride was already subsumed under another sin. He needed, he lusted to see his new mate react like that again. But how? They should have talked this all through before getting in the nest, but a little discussion now was better than nothing.

"What do you want, Sonic?" Shadow asked, surprised to hear how deep his voice rasped. He hadn't aimed for outright seduction, but, apparently, that was another one of his bodys' hidden skills.

"H-hands" Sonic gasped, one of his own slapping about at the sheets. "Your hands, I want—oh fuck, here." Having found what he sought, Sonic tossed it haphazardly in Shadow's direction.

A clear, wavy-shaped bottle hit Shadow's thigh, landing at his knee. The agent raised a brow at the purple cap and trio of droplets on the front. "Lube?" He smirked, tail lashing. "Lube, but no touching your ass?"

Sonic's lips pulled back, teeth flashing in the moonlight that filtered through the hole in the cave's ceiling. "I want you to jack me off, and I like my hand wet when I do it."

"Oh," Shadow breathed, because he could imagine it now. Some vague place, maybe in the privacy of the forest, where Sonic could find a nice spot to sit back and work at his cock. Did the hedgehog take his time? Stroke slow and careful, right to the edge, before backing off? Over and over, until he made a mistake and spilled in his hand? Or did Sonic lube up thick so he could grip tight, pump fast, fuck up into his fist and shoot all over his stomach and chest?

Shadow's hand left Sonic's balls, fumbling with the bottle of lube. It had been opened before, half the contents gone, and the flip-top lid was slick. Shadow cursed his week languishing in bed. His claws were too long, now, ruining his fine motor control. "One second," he grumbled, putting the lube down and shifting to drape his torso over the side of the nest, in reach of the rocks.

Sonic scowled, sitting up to watch. "What are you—"

Shadow dug his claws into the cave's stone floor, pressing down hard. Spine arching, he dragged his hands back, digging into rock. His ears flattened against the shriek. It made Shadow's teeth itch, somehow.

The annoyance was worth it, however. He wasn't disarmed, but a good centimeter of claw was worn away, giving the dark creature a much better surface to work with. Sitting up and grabbing the bottle of lube once more, Shadow triumphantly flipped the lid. "Hah!" He poured a generous puddle on his right hand, then turned to enjoy Sonic's eager, desperate face. 

Sonic was not waiting and watching eagerly. He was staring at the ten deep claw marks newly decorating the cave floor. His mouth was open, slack. A little drop of drool fell from the corner of his lips.

Shadow tilted his head. "Uh, Sonic?"

The sound of his name jolted the hedgehog back into focus. He looked to Shadow's face, then to long-fingered black-and-red hands. "I want those inside me."

Shadow's groin throbbed with interest. They did have lube, but... "You said no buttstuff."

"I..." Sonic took a deep breath, nodding, then shaking his head. "Right. Yes. Another time." He hesitated. "Somewhere with band-aids."

Shadow snorted. "Hedgehog, I'm insulted." He lowered his head, getting it closer to his lubed-up hand and fascinating claws, fighting for a dollop of Sonic's focus. "I promise, I can finger-fuck you without injury."

"Ha...haaa," Sonic whimpered. His body lost all muscle control, and he slouched back into the nest of lavender and pillows, stirring up the soothing aroma. His legs fell apart, open and waiting. "Other. Another time. Shadow, come on." He wriggled, dick penduluming about. "I want you to touch me."

A low, strident purr rose up Shadow's chest. He'd never liked how talkative Sonic was before, but he could get used to this. "Leg up a bit," Shadow requested, pushing against Sonic's outer thigh. Once his squishy little hedgehog complied, Shadow scooted up to spoon against his suitor's side, settling the leg back over one of his own. It kept Sonic's thighs wide apart, while still letting Shadow in close enough that he could wrap his left arm about the back of the hero's neck, hand guiding Sonic to turn his muzzle to accept a kiss.

It was slow and thorough and deep, Shadow's tongue working his partner's mouth and stealing Sonic's breath away. Sonic let out a lovely combination of purr, whimper, and moan, his hips rising, seeking out Shadow's slick hand. Little by little the whining took over, until it sounded like the hero would sob at any moment.

Kindly, Shadow broke the kiss, giving his new mate a little lick on the nose. "I'm going to touch you now. Okay?"

Sonic nodded, turning his head to look down at his half-exposed hardness and Shadow's lube-shiny hand. "Please."

Shadow grinned, nuzzling into Sonic's ears to whisper, "Very good manners, dearest." Gently, he lay slick fingertips to the desperate hedgehog's tip, tickling and traipsing about, spreading the lube well over the glans. It was a twitchy thing, bobbing with each of Shadow's light touches, constantly moving out of range. Sonic's cock really needed to learn some teamwork. Some restraint.

Making a circle with his fingers, Shadow lay his hand upon the tip of Sonic's cock, pressing down, sliding as far as he could while keeping his fingers joined together. It wasn't too far. Not even over the head. Sonic's cock seemed to be an adequate length—Shadow didn't know what hedgehog average was, but he certainly had no complaint with what he saw—but it was a thick thing. Chubby, just like the hero himself. Fitting it in Shadow's mouth would be...well, not a challenge, but a delight.

"Yes, good," Sonic whined, thighs and glutes flexing, pressing into Shadow's firm grip. The movement was just enough for the ridge of his cockhead to pop through the circle of fingers, and the sudden movement turned the hero's muscles to jelly again.

"You sound lovely," Shadow continued to whisper in Sonic's ear, dragging his hand back up the length he'd conquered. He focused on spreading the lube, wondering if it was enough. The agent had never bothered trying it on the occasions he fisted himself to thoughts of annoying laughter and blue quills. (The many occasions, especially since the big snowstorm. He'd been very bored while they were stuck inside.)

Shadow allowed some looseness to his fingers, now, gliding down Sonic's length, coming up against the rim of Sonic's sheath halfway down. The dark hedgehog's brows rose as the sheath moved aside quite smoothly. Shadow's didn't stick when he got into things, but, apparently, the lubricant wasn't just for the jacking-off portion. Although....

Shadow switched his grip from Sonic's cock, down to his sheath, muzzle wrinkling at the feel of fur and lube on his palm, but all discomfort fell away as he gave an experimental pump and Sonic's hips jerked, his lover's name slipping like a prayer from his lips.

Well well. Useful. Shadow began working at Sonic's sheath, dragging it up and down over the hedgehog's dick. The straining length popped in and out of cover, lube and little drops of precum easing the way.

Sonic's hand came up to grab Shadow's wrist, halting his work. "Shadow, fuck," he moaned, keeping the long-clawed hand stationary as fucked up into it. "Where's the lube?"

Shadow's ears folded back. He thought it had been enough, but it seemed he had much to learn about pleasing his partner. Slapping about with his free hand, he retrieved the bottle, popping the top with his thumb and squeezing a good spurt onto the tip of Sonic's dick.

Sonic's hand left Shadow's wrist, going to squeeze at his tan tip, fingers moving fast, precise.

Shadow's quills went limp. He'd thought those moans meant he was doing well, but if Sonic had to take matters literally into his own hands...

Except Sonic almost immediately let his cock go, weaving his arms under Shadow's. He grasped the dark hedgehog's sheath and pushed down fast.

Shadow yipped in surprise, contorting so he could get a look at what his lover's hand had done.

Whereas Shadow had gone slow, playing at his rival's first inches, with a good portion of Sonic's cock still hidden under loose blue fur, Sonic had wasted no time laying Shadow bare to the root. A trail of lube shone inconsistently along his length, but the coverage was soon made total and perfect by another half-dozen rapid strokes.

It took that long for Sonic to realise what he was looking at. Stopping his strokes to take a firm grip on Shadow's base, he angled his rival's penis about, examining. "Dude," he giggled, "you look like you're smuggling a firecracker."

"I, hah," Shadow tried to respond, hips fucking into Sonic's fist. "I do not."

"Shads, you are red as a tube of lipstick."

Growling, Shadow jerked at Sonic's sheath. Hopefully that would shut him up. Yes, the blue bastard was correct. Whereas Sonic's cock was a tan to match his muzzle and chest—the coloration below all of his skin, even where blue fur lay—Shadow's penis was a match to the tips of his quills and the stripes along wrists and ankles. But, whatever. That wasn't a problem. Now, if he could just stroke this twerp hard enough to keep him from noticing—

"You got jingle balls."

Well, apparently, aggressively jacking the blue asshat off wasn't enough. With a huff, Shadow let Sonic's dick go, crossing his arms and flopping back on the sheets.

"Aw, hey, Shads!" Sonic tried for comfort in his tone, but the giggles that burst through betrayed him. "It's fine! They're cute!"

Shadow looked away and tried to cross his legs to block the view, but Sonic caught the movement, rolling over to kneel between Shadow's legs, hands to black inner thighs, pushing them apart.

"Hey, no!" Sonic said, and now the laughter was gone. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting that! Let me look." He pouted. "Please?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "Do you only have nice manners when you're trying to get what you want?"

"Uh, no. I was raised right." Sonic held his hands up in prayer. "Now, can I please play with your cock and get a good look at what you're packing?"

Shadow's ears perked forward at the initial request, and back at the second. But the embarrassment of the second was well worth the fulfillment of the first. "Fine," he muttered. "But stop being a smartass."

"Okay, okay," Sonic breezed. His tone might have overridden Shadow's willingness to endure scrutiny, except the blue hedgehog snatched up the lube, spurting another drop on his hand, and scooted down Shadow's body, laying between his legs. His tail wagged, ass swaying along.

"Now, let's see...." Gently, Sonic reached out, taking a grip of the bit of Shadow he had yet to properly enjoy.

Shadow wasn't quite sure where all the skin and slack came from when he was aroused, but normally the space between his legs was as dark as the majority of his body. But once his arousal rose high enough for his sheath to present and his sack to descend, it was, as Sonic had joked, red as a Christmas ornament. It was so embarrassing, so obvious, except, well, one of the benefits of being obvious was that it was impossible to miss.

Sonic cupped Shadow's scrotum in two slick hands, gently running his thumbs across the short red fur, balancing it out until he had one testicle snug in each palm. He whistled. "Damn, Shadow. What do you cum? Mercury? Heavy." He gave a little tug and a sort of juggle.

"I just—" Shadow hissed as Sonic gave a pleasant squeeze. "I've not been all that horny, this week."

"Dude, how?" Sonic asked. "You're lucky I didn't chafe my skin off, with how much I've jerked it, thinking about licking your lips."

"You should try licking other things," Shadow blurted out.

Sonic's very fuckable lips twisted. "How about when you're not covered in lube? It doesn't taste great." He paused. "There are flavored ones, though."

Shadow's head swam. Maybe he should run home, shower, then run back so he could push that blue head down between his legs?

But even better than a theoretical hot bath and making Sonic gag on his cock was the actual, real-life, here and now movement of Sonic's hands, one taking over the weight of Shadow's whole sack, the other finding a new home wrapped around Shadow's dick.

Yes. His very red dick. Fucking meteorite alien weirdo DNA. But at least it hadn't done anything horrific to his dimensions. His cock was thinner than Sonic's, easy enough to wrap a hand about, but also at least a good two inches longer. He imagined that would be a battle between them, someday: whose dick was technically bigger.

"You've got little, like...ridges here," Sonic said, running his thumb along one of the subtle swells which circumnavigated his suitor's length. "Almost thought it was veins." Bending over, his face getting awfully close to Shadow's dick, he examined intently. "Maybe they are?"

"No, it's...I don't know," Shadow panted. Maybe he could convince Sonic to put those pretty lips about his cock. Right the fuck now.

"Honestly, with the claws and all, I expected you to be, I dunno, barbed like a cat."

Shadow bared his teeth. "The barbs come out later."

Sonic jolted back, wide, alarmed eyes meeting Shadow's.

Except Shadow's eyes sparkled. "Gullible," he chided.

"Yeah, keep being smart," Sonic snapped. "Scare me away from your junk."

"Hm. Point taken."

Sonic gave Shadow's length a few slow strokes. "Seriously, though, any tricks up your sleeve? You shoot out eggs or something?"

"N-no," Shadow said through gritted teeth. Sonic was a master at balancing eroticism and inanity. "I, uh...I get a little bigger, before I ejaculate," he amended. Reaching down, he pinched at the middle of his cock. "Like, this much?" He moved his fingers perhaps a quarter-inch from the skin. "I don't think it's to get stuck. Maybe it's so you finish at the same time?"

"Same time," Sonic murmured. He tilted his head. Considering. "Hey, uh...Shads?"

"Yes?"

"So, I know I said to jack me off, and I'd totes be cool with still doing that. But, uh..." Sonic chewed at his lower lip.

Shadow's ears swiveled forward. Buttstuff?

"I kinda wanna, like..." Sonic clicked his tongue, working at his words. "I wanna rub up on you."

"Rub...up on?"

"Yeah, like," Sonic tilted his head the other way. "Rub my dick on your di—"

"Yes," Shadow interrupted.

Sonic's posture straightened out. He smiled. "Yes?"

Shadow nodded. "But if you don't start humping me in the next five seconds, I am going back to the Dark Side and destroying the Earth. For real, this time."

"The Dark Side?" Sonic snorted. He spoke in a tone that managed to be both gravely and nasal at the same time. "Blue balls lead to anger, anger leads to—"

"Four."

Laughing, Sonic scooted up, placing his hands above Shadow's shoulders, getting a good grip on the pillows. "This good?"

"Three," Shadow warned. Sonic's cock barely rested upon his, and it was wonderful and insufficient.

"Oh, shut up," Sonic giggled, then rutted his hips forward.

"Shit!" Shadow snapped, at the same time Sonic let out a drawn-out "Fuuuuck."

A few moments of heavy breathing followed, before Sonic asked, words cracking in his throat, "Was that okay?"

Shadow squirmed. "T-two."

"Oh, good," Sonic huffed, pulling his hips back.

A thick dribble of precum leaked from Shadow's tip, spreading along Sonic's length as he pulled away, until the tan tip swished over the fully retracted rim of his black sheath. Then Sonic was rutting forward again, their slick cocks sliding by one-another.

Shadow pushed up on his elbows, looking down to the place where their bodies met. Fuck, the color scheme was horrible, but the contrast was perfect. Blue and black torsos surrounding fully exposed, glistening red and tan lengths and a growing pool of creamy-white pre. Sonic's cockhead was spilling, as well, though not as much. Still, when the hero slid forward once more and the little white drop at his tip mixed with the generous bead on Shadow's glans, the dark creature growled.

"Bad?" Sonic asked, pausing his movements, following Shadow's gaze to look upon their pressed lengths. His jaw fell, ears perking. "Goddamn," he whispered, reverent.

"Let me," Shadow began, but couldn't form further words. Instead, he reached between their bodies, circling fingers as best he could around the two hardnesses.

Sonic thrust forward, the movement involuntarily, keening at the additional pressure to the slide. Shadow couldn't do much more than press them closer together, not really squeezing their cocks tight, but the added pressure had Sonic trembling.

"You're so fucking smart," Sonic murmured, rutting faster, eyes fixed upon their lengths. "So strong, so sexy, Shadow, my Shadow."

Shadow's quills rose in proud display, before flattening back in compliance to the body fucking against him. The response was going to bug him later, but right now, his body wanted to give Sonic all the access he desired. Sonic could drag that beautiful cock of his down between Shadow's legs, and all Shadow would do in response was spread himself wider.

Of course, he longed for the same from his blue lover. Not submission (well, sometimes that), but more like enthusiastic welcome. Someday, hopefully soon, he wanted that mouthy hedgehog face-down in bed, bent over a pile of pillows, tail raised high, quills low and smooth as his ass was fucked wide open and filled with cum.

Of course, getting Sonic bent over with a little fight, a little play, a little friendly competition...that also sounded perfect.

Sonic was moving faster, now, and their pressed cocks made little schlick sounds with each thrust. The rhythm of Sonic's movements was joined by an off-beat tap as his sack brushed at the curve between Shadow's own cock and balls.

Curious over the sensation, Shadow released his hold on their cocks, thrilled by the little growl which rolled up Sonic's throat at the loss of contact. Rather than be cowed back to his grip, however, Shadow reached down further, stretching awkwardly, and cupped at his sack, lifting it to meet Sonic's own on those lovely counter beats. The brush was novel, but not quite so nice as holding their aching members together.

Sonic, though, groaned. "Shadow, nooooo."

"Shit, did I hurt—"

"It's gay, now."

Shadow blinked. "It's what?"

Snickering, Sonic pressed his hips in instead of up, rolling so their testicles rubbed together. "It's only gay if your balls touch."

Ears flicking back flat to his head, Shadow yanked his hand from between their bodies. "This is one of your damn memes, isn't it?"

"Nah, dude," Sonic said. "It's scientific fact. You're gay."

Eyes blazing red, Shadow snarled, "One."

"You're no fun," Sonic grumped. Shifting his weight back to sit on his thighs, freeing up his hands, Sonic reached between their bodies, wrapping each hand around a hard, twitchy cock and starting up rapid strokes.

"Ngh," Shadow grunted, hips rising into Sonic's touch. It wasn't the grip or pace he'd use on himself, but the fact that it wasn't his own hand, that it was this silly blue hedgehog's palm stroking him from tip to base, made up for the unrefined touch.

"You look so nice on your back," Sonic mused. His hand paused on an upstroke, squeezing Shadow's glans in rapid bursts that set the black hedgehog's teeth on edge. "What do you wanna do when I make you cum?"

Shadow's brows knitted. Do? Besides scream?

"I got a few towels in here," Sonic clarified, "if you don't wanna make a mess."

"No," Shadow groaned, thrusting up so Sonic's hand would begin its fast jerking once more. The squeezes on his tip were almost too much. It felt like finishing that way would hurt. "Need to cum," he mumbled.

Hissing between his teeth, Sonic stroked himself faster. "It's gonna get all over you, Shads." He bit his lower lip, eyes roving over Shadow's sweaty body. "You saying you want to cum on yourself?"

Shadow hated the idea of a towel coming between them. He didn't let himself get messy when home alone, but by now his abs were already well-coated in lube and pre, fur matting to his skin. "You. You cum on me," Shadow said, delighted by the way Sonic's pupils blew wide at the words.

"On you?" Sonic whimpered, hands faltering.

Shadow slapped one of Sonic's hands aside so he could be the one taking hold of Sonic's wide cock. He tried to emulate the rhythm the blue hedgehog was using on him; perhaps that was how Sonic pleasured himself.

Given the way Sonic yelped, hips thrusting into the strokes, it apparently was. With a smirk, Shadow also copied the little squeezes to Sonic's tip, adding in his own contribution of a light graze of claw along the thick line of the frenulum.

"Shadow, seriously," Sonic mewled, shuddering, his rhythm on his lover's cock faltering further. "I-If you don't get a towel or something—"

"Don't be stupid," Shadow snapped, squeezing the blue hedgehog's tip tight, then forcing his hand down along Sonic's cock, grinding the whole length through his ungiving grip. "I want to watch you cum, and if that means I've gotta take it on the chest, so be it."

"Chest?" Sonic laughed, getting back to stroking his hand along the more muscular hedgehog's bright red dick. "Shadow, you got me so bad I think I could hit your face."

Shadow felt his quills flare again, but this time they did not lower to submission. That sounded like a challenge. "Do it, then," he snarled, pumping faster, base to tip and back again, willing the blue hedgehog to lose his damn mind.

"Ah! FUCK!" Sonic howled, throwing his head back, hips twitching into Shadow's hand as he finally did what he was told. "Shadow!"

Shadow watched in fascination as a spurt of white rocketed from Sonic's slit, landing up amidst the black hedgehog's ruff. A second jet painted Shadow's stomach. The rest of Sonic's spend came out in a long dribble, not even clearing the black and red hand that stroked Sonic through his orgasm. Fuck, it was lovely, so lovely, even if Sonic hadn't reached his goal. Shadow wished he had a picture, video, something, because he wanted to remember everything about this moment. How Sonic's back arched, nipples just visible as little mounds under fur. How his breath came in hard gasps, the space under his ribs rolling out as his lungs sucked up oxygen. How his thighs flexed as he fucked up into Shadow's hand to work through the rest of his orgasm.

And then, how Sonic looked down upon his mate, grinning and panting, biting his lower lip as he regained control, regained rhythm and momentum. One blue palm kept stroking Shadow's cock, while his other hand came back from where it had been slapped aside, sliding Shadow's sack into his grip, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Shit," Shadow groaned, letting his focus fall away from his satisfied lover, giving himself the time to indulge in his own pleasure. Sonic's hand was fast, faster than the black hedgehog ever went at himself, but the lube made each stroke a smooth wave of sensation, not a fast, needy jerk. The friction and natural heat of Sonic's hand warmed his cock. He could smell Sonic's cum, his satisfaction with Shadow's skill, and it made the agent's head spin.

He could feel his balls tightening up between his legs, ready and aching, desperate to release, to spread, to fill, even if he wasn't inside Sonic. Shadow needed to spill over. To claim.

"Let me see, Shadow," Sonic urged. "I want to watch you cum."

Shadow snapped his hips up into Sonic's hand, almost throwing the smaller hedgehog off. His lover reacted quickly. Bucked forward by his lover, he released his hold on Shadow's sack, burying his temporarily free hand in Shadow's ruff to keep himself steady. 

"Shit," Sonic laughed, focusing his hand near the fierce Mobian's base. "It does get bigger. Oh, I can't wait for you to wreck my ass." Sonic licked his lips, looking straight down at Shadow's length sliding through his palm. "Come on, beautiful. Cum for me."

Where Sonic had failed, Shadow succeeded. With aplomb. The first fire-hot spike of pleasure rocketed up Shadow's legs, flaring across his sack and straight through his cock, a thick burst of cum splattering the underside of Sonic's muzzle, earning a yip of surprise from the hero. The next stream and the one after lay long stripes on Sonic's blue chest and stomach. What was left coated Sonic's hand, a few drips managing to flow over his fingers and down to Shadow's sheath.

Sonic kept stroking, slowing down bit by bit, until Shadow's gasps turned to whimpers, his overstimulated dick trying to retreat into its sheath. Shadow pushed his mate's hand away, twisting and flexing leg muscles until his member slid away, back to its protective cover, where it could slowly throb its way through the last of his orgasm.

"Damn," Sonic murmured, laying a white-coated hand on Shadow's stomach. Then, again, words unsteady through deep breaths, "Damn. Workout. Mind if I flop?"

Shadow took a few seconds to parse the words before nodding. If he wasn't already on his back, he'd have also collapsed, by now.

"Cool." Sonic let Shadow's cock go and collapsed atop the black hedgehog's chest, squishing cum between their torsos.

What had been so sexy seconds before made Shadow's skin crawl, now that their mixed semen soaked through fur and cooled his skin. "Hedgehog, what the hell!? Move, move, you little..." He grabbed a pillow, pulling the sham off. Pushing up on Sonic's shoulder, Shadow wiped at the thicker pools and stripes until his revulsion abated. "Ugh. Don't do that again."

Sonic's ears flattened. "Er, sorry. You asked me to...so don't cum on you?"

"No, that was great," Shadow clarified. Finding a dry bit of fabric, he moved on to wiping at Sonic's cumstained chin. "But don't turn me into an inkblot test."

"Oh. Good. Gotcha," Sonic said, ears easing as his mate cared for him. "Anything else? You okay?"

Deciding his hedgehog was adequately cleaned, Shadow tossed the pillowcase aside and nuzzled up into his mate's chin, giving it a little lick. He found he didn't mind the flavor of his own spend, especially when combined with tan fur. "Very okay. You?" He continued licking, pausing on occasion to drag his muzzle through Sonic's wetted fur. A little distant part of his brain—conditioned by now mostly-dead scientists who found licking weird or outright disgusting—was a bit put off, but it was settled with each swipe of his tongue and rub of chin to chin. This. This was what his body was supposed to do. Nuzzle and lick and blend their scents. He purred.

Sonic tilted his head back, giving the other hedgehog easier access to his chin and—foolish thing—his neck. "Fantastic. Can we do that again? The humping thing? Please tell me the whole space-hedgehog thing didn't get rid of your ability to go more than once a night."

He couldn't help but nip at Sonic's neck, nor stop from echoing back his suitor's words, tone mystified, "More than once? A night?"

Sonic jolted away, looking down upon Shadow with horror, but his expression quickly morphed to annoyance as he took in his mate's sharp-toothed grin. "Asshole."

"You said no buttstuff," Shadow teased.

"My mistake," Sonic said, making Shadow's heart soar with hope and...well, more trepidation than he'd expected.

It was an actual relief when the speedster sneered and continued, "Seeing as how you're already such an anal little bitch. I told you there's towels in here." He looked towards the cum-soaked pillowcase which had landed on the stone floor. "You didn't need to use—"

Sonic winced.

Frowning, Shadow followed his partner's gaze, eyes falling upon the white sham.

Well, mostly white, with a red...cartoon car on the front? Did it...did that car have eyes?

Eyes covered in semen?

"What the hell is that?" Shadow asked, baffled as to why a vehicle should grin.

Sonic buried his face in Shadow's neck, hiding from the debauched cartoon. "He," Sonic muttered, "is Speed. Ka. Chow."

Chapter Text

A long night, many hand jobs, and a first trip to Shadows' apartment later, Sonic fell into his first deep sleep in over a week. While he had been trying to intercept his intended, Sonic had only dozed, on alert for any crackle of chaos energy or boom of the sound barrier. During his day of plotting, following their disastrous first kiss, he'd had no rest whatsoever. And once Shadow had calmed down and lay down...well, Sonic had other priorities.

But once he was welcomed into Shadow's home and pinned under his mate's weight, minus the context of a red dick pestering, Sonic was out. No dreams—not even of flirty claws or sweet words—broke up his rest. He probably could have slept for a day straight.

If Shadow hadn't tickled him awake.

Well, not intentionally. Shadow was trying to lick Sonic, but the gentle brush across his chest jolted the blue hedgehog to consciousness, and he was all giggles a moment later.

"D-dude, what are you doing!?" Sonic laughed, squirming under Shadow's tongue.

The space-hog had flattened the wet muscle out, allowing for long, thorough strokes. He worked just above Sonic's belly-button and up to his lowest ribs, focusing on one area at a time, licking it over and over before moving an inch to the side, cleaning a new section.

Shadow paused his work at the apex of a lick, lifting his head so he could meet his lover's gaze. His tongue still stuck out. He shrugged.

"You're gonna get a hairball," Sonic teased.

"Doubtful," Shadow said, that adorable tongue finally retreating. "You're very well-groomed."

Sonic grinned. Hell yeah, he was! Half of the previous day had been spent in not just planning, but also grooming. His anxiety had been turned up high, and the best way to self-sooth was self-care. He'd brushed and moisturized his coat to a softness even an alpaca would envy.

"And it felt good," Shadow went on. "You smell wonderful." He buried his nose in Sonic's stomach, indulging in both scent and the bit of give to his lover's flesh.

Sonic twisted about at the poke. "I smell like spunk."

"My spunk," Shadow countered, blessing Sonic with another caress of the tongue, followed by rubbing his chin across the wet fur.

Sonic snorted. "I guess this is probably one of those instinct things?"

"Anointing," Shadow supplied, scooting a few inches down the long couch, eagerly getting to work on a fresh (well, the opposite, really) section of fur. "Fuck, I just want to...grrr... this." Shadow's jaws opened wide, pressing to Sonic's side, biting down on a generous stretch of skin. His teeth were gentle, but quite inescapable.

Sonic gasped, watching in fascination as his flesh was pressed within Shadow's mouth. Hot breath flowed over twitchy skin. Saliva dripped down Shadow's fangs, wetting blue fur. "Wow," Sonic breathed, the movement of his lips the only voluntary shift of his body.

Not the only shift, though. Sonic's sheath began to swell between his legs.

Shadow released the bite, dragging his tongue across the dimples left by his teeth. "Sorry."

"Nope," Sonic said. "Do not apologize. That was...um..." Sonic wiggled, certain his approval was obvious up against Shadow's abs.

Shadow looked up through half-lidded eyes. A gentle rumble echoed out from his chest, into Sonic's groin. "I meant for not asking first."

Sonic shrugged. "A little spontaneity never—" His mouth went dry as Shadow's head moved to his left hip, the dark creature's jaw dropping open, teeth flashing in the overhead lights. "Never killed any—aah!"

This bite was less gentle. No punctures, no blood on the surface, but with how hard Shadow's jaws clamped down, there was going to be a bruise.

And Sonic had moaned like a hentai star. A bad hentai star. He covered his mouth with a hand, trying to keep in further cries, but it was far too late for any preservation of dignity.

Shadow pulled at his fleshy prize, and Sonic half expected to be shaken like a chew toy. The black hedgehog locked gazes with his mate again, and there was something... redder in those eyes. Thicker, but not darker, and certainly not shining with his normal chaos powers. Not electricity. Fire.

Danger.

However, a moment later, Shadow once more opened his mouth, released Sonic's flesh, and licked away the marks he had left.

"Please don't cannibalize me," Sonic whimpered.

Huffing a laugh, Shadow moved another few inches down the couch, now tending to Sonic's pelvis. "Don't insult me." His licks started...really low, now. Really, really low. "I'm not planning on eating you raw." His hands ran up the insides of Sonic's thighs, thumbs pressing in where leg swelled to ass.

Sonic gulped. "Condoms," he blurted out. "We should use condoms!"

Shadow's hands swiftly moved back down Sonic's inner thighs. "I didn't intend—"

"Not now," Sonic clarified, and Shadow's shoulders loosened. "Just, Maddie mentioned asympto-something-or-other, and Auntie Rachel said we could get GUN to run some tests—"

"Oh, Chaos," Shadow dropped his head to hide. Nevermind that he hid in Sonic's groin. (Well, Sonic minded, but not much.) "Are you saying my CO knows we're fucking?"

Sonic glanced at his smartwatch. "Uh...Mads and Rachel don't have their sister phone call until the afternoon, so...not yet?"

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Shadow mumbled between Sonic's legs. "Can't wait for the meeting with HR."

"Hey, at least I'm only on retainer," Sonic said. "Not like I'm in your chain of command. Ow!"

Shadow's teeth were not gentle on Sonic's inner thigh.

"Shadow, I am not breakfast!"

Shadow stopped biting. He turned hungry eyes upon Sonic. "But I want you in my mouth ."

The sudden extra flow of blood to his groin made little spots dance on the edge of Sonic's vision for a few seconds before the pressure regulated through his body. What had been nondescript flesh below his navel shifted, ligaments slackening and letting the hedgehog's sheath gain its definition. Below blue skin, his length twitched, growing larger with each heartbeat.

Shadow's tail swished as he observed the change. The way he lay—with legs together, calves draped over the couch's armrest— pressed his balls back between his thighs. The red beacon betrayed his own revealed state, even if the black hedgehog's sheath was hidden against couch cushions.

"Well?" Shadow purred, rubbing his hands along Sonic's thighs. "May I?"

"Bwuh?" Sonic squeaked.

Shadow liked his lips, and Sonic felt a bead of precum smear within his sheath. "Sonic," his suitor pressed, eyes doing that strange fiery thing again, "may I have your cock in my mouth?"

"I—one sec," Sonic wheezed. He looked over the side of the couch. There had been—yes! He leaned over, grabbing the throw pillow Shadow had dropped before their nap. Sonic sat upright, scooting up against the armrest, positioning the pillow behind his back. A little adjusting and he got the support needed for an easy recline with plenty of view. Once he was sure the position was perfect, Sonic gave the best reply his brain could manage: two thumbs-ups.

"Thank you," Shadow said, a model of politeness and gentlemanly behavior.

Until he grabbed at Sonic's meaty calves, lifting his partner's legs up to drape over his shoulders.

Sonic yelped, face gone red at the sudden exposure. In this position, Shadow could see all of him, touch all of him. And Sonic really hoped Shadow would touch everything.

That seemed to be the plan, as it wasn't cock his rival went for, first. Spread and lifted, Sonic was certain the first swipe of tongue would be across his hole, which puckered in anticipation and trepidation. But the boundary on that had been well set, and Shadow instead laved his tongue across something to which he'd already been properly introduced: Sonic's well-drained balls.

Not so well-drained anymore, it seemed. Their session of lovemaking near dawn had been arduous, desperately wanted but incredibly difficult, with the pure-breed hedgehog giving Shadow a shot of cum so small that the overly-virile space-hedgehog had confused it for a spot of pre. It was only when Sonic had whimpered "Stop" that Shadow realized his mate had orgasmed. He was simply fucked dry.

A nap had cleared that up. Sonic's sack was full and, judging by the fervor with which Shadow licked, delicious. The black hedgehog was thorough. His tongue shaped flat and wide, as it had been when he cleaned Sonic's chest, first enjoyed the dangling base of Sonic's balls, each lick up dragging them along the way, until they slid off Shadow's tongue to plop and jiggle back in place. With the fore of the sack clean, Shadow picked a new spot to tend, thrusting his tongue between the joint of Sonic's hip and the loose flesh of scrotum, breathing deep of the musk trapped there.

Sonic's ears flattened as he became suddenly conscious of the state of his fur down south. His chest and stomach might have been coated in 100% hedgehog sperm, but surely Shadow was licking up just as much lube and sweat as cum in the current mix. "Are you okay?" he checked in. "We could shower—"

Shadow moaned mid-lick, rising tail visible beyond his quills. "The shower," he murmured, muzzle rubbing at Sonic's thigh. "I want you in the shower."

"Alright, lets'—" Sonic began, pushing up on the armrest.

Black claws dug into Sonic's outer thighs. With a push of shoulders under his mate's knees, Shadow put the hero back in place. "No," he growled. "I want to have you in the shower," Shadow clarified. "When I'm done swallowing you down, I want to take you in the shower."

The way Sonic's heart stuttered, he had to wonder if there was some underlying cardiac disease of which he was not aware. He shivered. "T-take?"

Huffing a laugh, Shadow shook his head. Awkward, as his head was still balls-adjacent. "Easy, hedgehog. I told you, I will only take your 'virtue' when you are ready to give it to me. With enthusiasm."

Sonic's bulge throbbed, cockhead aspiring to break out. It was feeling pretty damn enthusiastic.

"But I have fucked myself over and over in that shower, imagining you there with me. There's plenty of dreams you can make come true without us going further."

Shit. Shit. How precise were those words? Because Sonic would have described his own shower sessions as "jacking off," not fucking himself. Which had Shadow done while thinking of his friend? Stand under a hot fall of water while fisting at his dick? Or was it like it sounded, like Sonic hoped, Shadow panting into the steamy air, imagining Sonic's cock while pumping fingers into his own ass? Or, fuck, a toy? There were a Iot of interesting products you could get delivered, nowadays. Sonic had seen beautiful dildos that suction cupped to walls, and the only thing that made him delete from cart was having nowhere to hide such a thing in his small shared living space. But Shadow had his own private room, his own bathroom. What sort of fun had he been able to hide away?

One of Shadow's ears flicked. "Huh. We forgot the new soaps you brought. I should get those—"

"Not now!" Sonic yelped, grabbing hold of Shadows quills and shoving the villain's head down.

Before Sonic had a chance to apologize for the force and the lack of discussion, Shadow found a very effective manner to communicate his approval of the treatment: sucking one of Sonic's balls into his mouth.

The hybridized hedgehog ran at a much higher temperature than his Mobian counterpart. His mouth was hot. Hot and wet and Sonic could feel a prick here and there from those deadly teeth. Just enough to thrill. And, oh, that tongue manipulating his testicle, laving and poking, then pushing the morsel out of Shadow's mouth, his pliant lips molding to its roundness as it went, ending with a sweet kiss.

Then the same treatment to its partner. Shadow's commitment to fairness was laudable, and he worked with such enthusiasm that Sonic began to wonder if his mate planned to suck his cum out via the direct route.

But, eventually, Shadow released his second victim. He looked up between Sonic's legs, smirking. "Calm down." He kissed Sonic's left thigh. "I did mean after I finish you off."

"Yeah, and when are you planning on doing that?" Sonic snapped. "Because I hear a lot of words coming out of that mouth, but I don't see any dick going in!"

"Temper," Shadow chided. "I just need to do one more thing."

"What, your fucking taxes!?"

Shadow flashed his teeth. "Oh no," he purred. "This."

Where Shadow's tongue went next wasn't Sonic's hole. But certainly t'wasn't his balls, either.

Sonic yelped at the sensation, legs clamping down on Shadow's head. When Shadow began to pull back, making entirely incorrect assumptions about Sonic's opinion, the hero gave his lover a nod and whimper. He spread his legs again, pushing down on Shadow's head, asking for more.

Shadow, blessedly, understood, once more bathing Sonic's perineum in a long stroke of tongue. Then another. Each firm caress made his lover's hips jerk up, a bit of cocktip throbbing free of sheath.

Sonic wanted to watch, he really did, but Shadow's mouth was so far down, now, his eyes closed in concentration. About all there was to see was a black tail wagging and red balls twitching with each of the agent's oddly slow heartbeats. So Sonic let his head fall back, over the armrest, opening up his airway for deep gasps.

His cock was half-unsheathed, though fully hard, a bead of precum cooling the tip. It needed to be touched so bad, but when Sonic made his next request, it wasn't begging to be stroked or sucked down, but a broken "lower."

Shadow froze.

Sonic put just an iota more of pressure down on his suitor's head. "Lower."

Shadow pulled his head back. "Sonic, you said—"

"Once, then, damnit!" Sonic thrust up, trying to move Shadow's mouth where his whole body felt focused. "I just—let me feel it. I want to feel your tongue there."

Still his lover hesitated. "I think you're too worked up—"

"Because you have been edging me for half-a-fucking-hour—"

"It's not even been ten minutes."

"I can't think, and I want—"

Shadow shook his head, freeing it of Sonic's grip so he could rise to hands and knees. "Exactly," he said. "You set a boundary, and you are too worked up to change that boundary, now!"

"Says the bitch licking my taint!"

"That is not your asshole, Sonic!"

"Yeah, cause you're my asshole, Shadow!"

It was meant to hurt, but Shadow began to laugh.

"Hey!" Sonic protested, pushing himself up on the armrest, scowling past his penis to Shadow's contorting face. "I'm trying to insult you!"

Shoulder's shaking, the movement jostling Sonic's legs, Shadow replied in a voice unsteady with amusement and lust. "It's hard to feel insulted with your dick in my face."

Sonic pouted. "It's not in your face, and that's the problem!"

"Okay, okay" Shadow chuckled, sitting all the way up, Sonic's legs falling from his shoulders. He cupped Sonic's cheeks in his hands, smiling fondly at his lover's pout. "Fair point. How about you let me suck your dick for real, I have my fun in the shower, and then we actually discuss boundaries. Deal?"

Sonic scowled. "Fine. But get sucking, damnit."

"Gladly," Shadow said, kissing Sonic on the little ridge of skin between his eyes, "my hedgehog."

Shadow was true to his word. He took an immediate handhold on Sonic's sheath, pumping slowly as he maneuvered to lay again between blue legs. It brought out an immediate sigh from the beleaguered hedgehog, a bit of complaint still in the tone, but that was swept away as Shadow set to work.

It started with a kiss. Just a brush of lips on frenulum. Then a lick, taking in the line of precum which had flowed from tip to halfway down Sonic's length, absorbing into blue sheath. He followed the trail up, savoring shaft and glans, forming his tongue into a point before dipping as far into Sonic's cockhole as he could reach.

All the while, Sonic was nothing but hisses and pants, fists digging into couch cushions. He watched, eyes wide, jaw slack, as a thousand late-night fantasies came true. Or nearly true. Just a little more, a bit further, please, please.

Shadow's lips parted, but, this time, not for another kiss. He—finally, thank Chaos, finally —wrapped the wet ring about Sonic's cockhead, just down to the ridge, and dragged back up, releasing it again with a delicate pop. It would have been an unforgivable tease, had Shadow not been still gripping Sonic's sheath, gliding it across the rest of his cock, the dual sensations just barely enough to keep the speedster content.

Shadow swirled his tongue about the head of Sonic's cock before bringing it into his mouth once more, a tiny bit further down. A second swirl of tongue earned a small whimper from his mate, which Shadow rewarded with a deeper bob down Sonic's shaft before he dragged back up again. Recalling how avidly the hero's hand had squeezed upon his own tip, Shadow paused at the tan cockhead. His head stilled while his lips stretched down and up in slow, wet caresses.

"S-Shit," Sonic gasped, a thicker bead of pre dribbling from his tip to be instantly devoured by his lover. "Can I—fuck, lick there more, ah!—can I grab on again?" His hips twitched, rising up into Shadow's mouth, though getting no further than his tormentor had deigned to go already. "I won't push, promise."

There was a little sparkle to Shadow's red eyes as he looked up to meet desperate green. His lips quirked about Sonic's cock, and he nodded.

Given that there was a dick in his mouth, the nods slid his lips along its shaft, taking it in deeper with each bob. He'd made it halfway, achieving the thickest portion, with no need nor desire to stop.

Sonic threaded his fingers through black and red quills, holding on for dear life. "So good," he whispered, hands fisting tight, though his biceps remained loose. He truly just held on, losing his mind at each oral and manual stroke along his shaft.

Although, it seemed the handjob portion of the event was coming to an end. Shadow pushed Sonic's sheath fully down, popping his mouth off Sonic's hardness so he could bathe the full length in licks and open-mouth, roving kisses.

"Shadow, I don't know how much more of this I can take," Sonic whimpered, watching in fascination as Shadow tried to wrap his tongue about the base of his twitchy cock. Sensation-wise, it did little, but the mental stimulation was massive. "Are you really good at this, or do I just have no control?"

Shadow nuzzled down to the rim of Sonic's sheath. "Hopefully just the latter. I want to get in a lot of practice sucking your cock." His tongue worked in under the loose sheath, exploring the inside. The taste there was much the same as his boyfriend's sack, only with a bit more of the lube than he'd prefer. He'd have to try tasting there again, after they bathed. Perhaps not the upcoming bath, seeing as they had agreed on a proper, serious talk. But someday.

"Look, I'm really close, and I hate to rehash old conversations, but where should I—"

"In my mouth," Shadow interrupted. His teeth grazed Sonic's shaft.

"Eep! Ah, stop, one sec!" Sonic pushed Shadow's head away. His cock twitched, spurting a large bead of pre, and another. "Shads," Sonic whined, annoyed, "you almost set me off!"

Shadow smirked, placing a gentle kiss to Sonic's base. More precum dribbled, setting his mouth to watering. "That would be unfortunate, after I just requested to swallow you down."

"Heh, yeah." Sonic took several deep breaths, the bobbing of his cock calming. "Good thing I had a handhold." In fact, he still did, and gave Shadow a playful tug to the quills.

Shadow gasped, tail and hips rising high, mouth dropping open, every part of his body inviting, willing.

"Uh," Sonic murmured, the bobbing of his cock picking up again.

"Let's...let's discuss that after I hump you in the shower," Shadow said. His neck angled down, pulling against Sonic's grip, lips seeking out one very mobile cock.

"Yeah," Sonic panted, giving Shadow free reign, though he still kept a grip on his mate's quills.

"Oh. And hedgehog?" Shadow gave Sonic's cocktip another open-mouth, pliant kiss, his tongue swiping up the fresh pre.

"Uh huh?"

Locking eyes, Sonic's dazed, his own wild and dark, Shadow purred, "I never said you couldn't push."

"Push?" Sonic's brows furrowed.

Reaching up, Shadow grabbed Sonic's wrist. He tugged, making his suitor's hand press to his skull. "I didn't want you to make that promise." He growled. "So break it."

Sonic processed what Shadow meant at about the same moment that the Ultimate Lifeform sucked his cock in to the root. For several full-length sucks, Sonic was paralyzed by sensation. Wet, hot, smooth, sliding, tip to base and back again. And, above, Shadow's hand, tugging at his wrist, black ears tipping back in annoyance as Sonic failed to catch on.

It wasn't until his balls began to tighten, a fire building in his entire groin, even down to his untouched hole, that Sonic flexed his biceps, pushing Shadow's head down, holding him at the base. His lover let out a hot exhale from his nose, stirring the pale fur of Sonic's lower stomach.

Pulling up, Sonic let his partner breath. Wait. Did Shadow even need to breathe? Well, he certainly took a generous lungful of air, and at least the breath seemed calm. Shadow's ears weren't flat with anger, anymore, either. They were...droopy. Off to the side, not alerted to anything. His mouth was slack, tongue laying out over lower teeth, ready for more.

Sonic felt a little flop in his stomach. He didn't feel comfortable going quite so hard again. Not with how compliant Shadow was being in his service. This, too, felt like something that needed to be discussed further. Sonic curled in, over Shadow's head, nuzzling in beside an ear, fighting for his rival's focus. "Work with me, Shads," Sonic whispered. "Your pace."

Shadow was still a moment, before humming notes that matched a weak "uh huh." They began to move together. Shadow chose when to suck Sonic's cock down or slide back up, and Sonic put just a bit of force into both directions. Not merely holding on, not taking over, but guiding and helping. His hips rose up to give Shadow more of him, deeper into his rival's throat.

Sonic couldn't take much of this. The pace was so slow, and perhaps that was worse, since it let him feel every millimeter of slide along his cock. Soon, he was forced to gasp out, "I'm gonna cum, Shads. You sure? Your mouth?"

Shadow's nod was smaller than his earlier tease, but the way his ears pricked forward, suddenly alert, made Sonic sure that his lover understood. His sack tightened further, sensations right on the edge.

Sonic pushed down urgently, just as Shadow sucked in, the pair nestling his cock as far back in Shadow's mouth as it could go. "Okay, I'm—ah!" Sonic yelped as his orgasm punched into him. A swift jolt, from his tight sack, to somewhere inside that made his asshole clench, and then spurting out his cocktip, directly to the back of Shadow's throat. 

Shadow swiftly removed his hand from Sonic's wrist, bringing it down to join its match on the couch cushion, which he proceeded to puncture with ten neat dots. He humped against the cushions, not close himself, but responding on instinct to his lover's cries.

Very little of Sonic's spend didn't go directly down Shadow's throat, and what escaped was rolled about the agent's tongue, savored a moment before being forced back and down, where it belonged. Fresh and direct from the source was definitely better than adulterated with lube and dried out. Although Shadow wouldn't turn down either.

Soon, the flow stopped. Sonic's fast breaths evened out. His whole body shivered, overcome, cock especially entirely too sensitive. Gently, he pulled back on Shadow's head, glad when he didn't have to fight for freedom. His softening penis flopped down to his thigh, forgotten as Sonic scooted down towards Shadow, kissing his forehead and stroking him behind the ears.

"Thank you," Sonic said. "Fuck, Shads, thank you. That was amazing. Are you okay? Did I hurt your throat?"

Shadow snorted. "Big opinion of yourself, hedgehog."

"Alright, Ultimate Cocksucker. Be that way."

Shadow's tail gave a little wag at the title. His cheeks reddened, and he smiled, small and shy.

"Now, are we going to take that shower, so I can return the favor?" Sonic grinned, dragging a thumb along Shadow's lower lip. "I'll admit, you probably do need to teach me a thing or two. I don't think I'm a natural throat goat, like you."

Shadow chuckled, nipping at Sonics' thumb. "Oh, no," he said, voice fucked deep and gravely. "I won't be having your mouth."

Heat shot up the back of Sonic's neck. Trepidation, but, more than that, curiosity. "Oh?"

Shadow placed a kiss on Sonic's inner thigh. "Come on. Let me show you."

Chapter Text

"Soap," Shadow murmured, looking to the front door. "We left all that lavender stuff behind. I better get those."

Sonic snorted. "Uh. No, you better not." He rose from the couch, legs still a bit wobbly from his first BJ. He felt ridiculous. Sonic wasn't the biggest romance fan, but he didn't recall any leading men walking about like a fresh colt. "Gimme a minute. I'll go."

Looking over the subject of his many attentions, Shadow smirked. He was quite proud of himself. "You're not winning any races right now, hedgehog."

"Sure, maybe," Sonic snipped. He pointed to Shadow's groin. "But at least I can't compete in the pole vault without the equipment."

Shadow followed Sonic's gesture, confronted by his unsheathed and erect penis. It bobbed happily. "Ah." He nodded. "You run out, I'll set up the shower?"

"Heck yeah, run time!" Sonic zipped up to press a kiss to Shadow's cheek. "Leave the door unlocked, 'kay? And try not to knock anything over."

"Hah—" Shadow began, but Sonic was gone before the second sarcastic laugh was out.

It was a leisurely run, and not just because Sonic's legs periodically tried to go AWOL on him. Spring had truly, fully hit Montana, and the world felt fresh. The sun threaded through his coat, warming down to skin. Birdsong came to him as individual notes from dozens of species, second notes lost as he sped past.

He'd have to take Shadow out on another fun-run, like the one following that two-week GUN mission. Plus another date, after. A bit of exercise, a packed lunch, a nap in the sunlight, and an outdoors fuck. Perfection.

The shopping bag and Shadow's gloves were easy enough to find. One of Sonic's gloves was also easy. The other...

"Shadow," Sonic called out as he reentered the apartment, "did you put my glove through an industrial shredder?"

Far back in the apartment, just over the sound of running water, Sonic heard a bark of laughter.

"You're lucky you tore up the left glove!" Sonic stomped down the long hallway, into the sunlit primary bedroom. "I lost a right over winter," he said, opening the bathroom door, "so at least this...evens things...out."

About one percent of Sonic's awe was for the bathroom. Whoever designed this building had priorities. It just about matched the kitchen in size, but even the unrefined blue hedgehog could tell there was higher quality in these materials. The whole space was done in a gradient of neutral grays, black fixtures, and spotless glass. The right-hand wall was dedicated to a black-marble countertop and single-pane mirror. At the far end of the room was a door, probably for the otherwise missing toilet. Moving back, the left wall housed a tub larger than Sonic had ever seen in his life and, separate from the tub, a walk-in, glass-doored shower big enough for a whole prickle of hedgehogs.

A whole prickle wasn't necessary to generate the other ninety-nine percent of Sonic's awe. Shadow did that all on his own.

He stood below the steady drops of a square ceiling-mounted shower head, the stream wide enough for two bodies. Shadow's fur had better water resistance than Sonic's, so most of the flow beaded through black quills and down his torso before forming two rivulets at the V-line dips of his groin. Sonic realized he was parched, and he really wanted to get down there and take a long drink. 

Where the water went after leaving Shadow's hips, Sonic had no idea, as his gaze was frozen, watching in wonder as his mate traced fingertips along the full length of his still very erect cock.

Sonic's legs felt rather wobbly again.

"Took your time," Shadow said, lips quirking. "I was beginning to wonder if I should just take care of this myself." Cupping a hand under his balls, Shadow lifted them and pressed his thumb to the base of his hard length, making it surge high before sinking back to its natural angle. Little water droplets dripped from the tip and, no, Sonic decided, that was where he was going to slake his thirst.

"Please never think that," Sonic said, staggering to the shower door. "Can I come inside?"

Chuckling, Shadow sauntered out of the water, his length swaying with each step. "I thought you wanted to wait on that."

"Shadow," Sonic complained. Barely any time had passed since he'd watched that smart mouth swallow him down, but already he could feel a swell in his sheath. The smug bastard was going to work him down to a nub.

"Fine, fine." Shadow opened the shower door. Grabbing Sonic's wrist, he pulled the hedgehog in, steadying him as he stumbled at the two-inch drop in the stone flooring.

"Stand here," Shadow instructed, grabbing Sonic by the shoulders and arranging him under the hot water. He grabbed the shopping bag, setting it on a stone ledge at the far end of the shower. The ledge was big enough to hold a person comfortably, with its own long-hosed sprayer mounted to the wall. "Check out the pressure," Shadow said, turning one of a half-dozen unlabeled knobs on the wall.

Sonic had been under gentler waterfalls, though none so warm. Instantly, he was soaked to the skin, the dousing doing a good job of cooling his ardour. Horniness faded to relief as the last half-a-day's worth of sex started to rinse away. Even if they hadn't been waterlogged, his quills would have drooped in relaxation.

Pleased with his houseguest's appreciation, Shadow set to work laying out the bottles. "Can I wash you?"

Sonic perked up, his tail wagging. He opened his mouth to answer, and was lightly waterboarded for his troubles. Stepping out of the water, he sneezed his airways clear and replied, "Dude, hell yeah!" He would have never thought he could want something so badly as he wanted Shadow's hands and lips on his length, but Shadow's gorgeous claws working soap into his fur sounded exquisite.

"Come sit here," Shadow said, wetly slapping the stone seat. "I'll be able to reach better."

Obediently, Sonic hopped up on the bench, enjoying how it brought their eyes onto the same plane. The stone was cold on his ass and descended balls, but it just served to bring attention to how they slowly throbbed. "Okay, but I want to wash you, too. And give you brushies!"

"Brushies," Shadow snorted, but he leaned sideways to peck Sonic on the lips. "Gladly. Now, you said this one for fur, but this for quills?" He pointed at the arrayed products.

"Yeah," Sonic confirmed. He pointed out a few more items. "That for face, that to exfoliate. I kind of over-conditioned yesterday, so skip that."

"Anywhere I should avoid?"

"My feet, unless you want to get kicked in the dick. They're ticklish."

"Noted. Does touching your butt fall under the 'no buttstuff' prohibition?"

"No," Sonic said, eyes rolling. "Just don't go sticking things up there."

"Excellent. I'll enjoy getting a good grip on that exquisite ass."

Sonic's breath hitched. He was going to enjoy that, too.

"Alright, head down," Shadow directed. "Let me work."

The Courtship had plenty to say on grooming, and certainly Sonic was familiar with the serenity and warmth that came from being tended to by his family. But with a mate, it was very different. Sonic knew what those hands could do. What they had done over and over, across the last night and morning. Yet, now, the intent wasn't sexual satisfaction, but a thorough care for Sonic's body. It was a touch that encouraged his comfort and health and happiness. His alone.

Shadow had listened to Sonic about the over-grooming, not digging his claws too deep. He worked slowly, ensuring that each cluster of quills was cleansed. One of those many knobs on the wall connected to the handheld sprayer, which allowed Shadow to tip Sonic's head back and rinse until black hands squeaked through immaculate blue quills.

"Body, next," Shadow informed.

Sonic's eyes closed as he let himself concentrate on his lover's care. He only jumped a little as hands covered in cold, lavender-scented body wash began to knead into his shoulders.

Shadow worked one part of his boyfriend's body at a time. Shoulders to back, between the two smallest quill clusters. He held onto Sonic's right hand, stretching the arm out to scrub along biceps and triceps, elbow, flexors and extensors. He massaged Sonic's hands, pulling the first purrs out of his lover. The procedure was repeated for the left, and when Shadow let go, Sonic's arms hung limp and the hero smiled stupidly.

Shadow moved on to Sonic's chest, spending a little extra time finding and circling Sonic's nipples. Sonic had never been particularly sensitive there, but, hey, Shadow was having fun. Fingers then traced the outline of tan fur, dipping wonderfully low before scratching up Sonic's pelvis, past his belly button and over the plane of his chest.

Sonic squirmed as Shadow's hands ran along his sides, and the black hedgehog pressed harder in response, turning an accidental tickle into a firm caress. The hands continued their firm press back across Sonic's stomach, exploring the give of this plumper figure. Sonic had never minded the layer of fat he'd put on after being adopted, and he especially didn't care when Shadow's hands strayed so close to his swollen sheath.

Except the traitorous hands didn't work soap into Sonic's groin, instead moving on to the hero's legs.

"Aw, Shadow," Sonic whined, spreading his legs, leaning back to present his sheath. "Why you gotta tease?"

"I'll be back," Shadow promised, lifting one of Sonic's legs by the calf, kissing his knee. He placed Sonic's foot upon his chest and began to work a fresh handful of soap all along the speedster's tight muscles. At first, it was merely open palms to cleanse, but once Sonic was sufficiently clean, Shadow began to dig his thumbs into weary sinews. It hurt, and then things unwound, and Sonic groaned in relief.

"I think you were quieter when your cock was in my mouth," Shadow teased.

"Well, I can definitely say you were quieter," Sonic shot back.

"Hm. Imagine how loud you'll make me when it's your turn to suck me off."

"Fuck, Shads." Sonic whined. "Now?"

"No." Shadow switched to Sonic's other leg. "I told you, I have a plan."

"Shaaaaads."

"Shush. I'm almost done."

The steamy shower smelled thickly of lavender, and still Shadow pumped another generous portion of soap onto his hands. Sonic wanted to wipe at his eyes and get a good look at his lover's movements, but there wasn't a reachable part of his body not covered in suds.

Sonic felt a poke against his inner thigh as Shadow moved to stand between his legs. His lover's length slipped past his hip, just missing Sonic's sheath, as Shadow pressed in close. Shadow's lips brushed against his in a slow caress, and Sonic responded languidly, opening his mouth to receive whatever his suitor offered. Shadow's tongue worked in deep, and he was rewarded with a happy trill as he began exploring his lover.

Soapy hands reached around, taking a firm grip on Sonic's ass. It turned that trill to a squeak, and Shadow chuckled darkly, squeezing tight. With a little shift of hips, he brought his member back to alignment, gently sliding across Sonic's rapidly retracting sheath.

"Shadow," Sonic whispered. He trembled as claws dug into his flesh, pulling his asschecks apart. His tail rose, the hole underneath puckering. "I hate boundaries."

"Me, too," Shadow groaned. One hand shifted to stroke, to jack Sonic's tail, staying carefully high. "I really would love to finger-fuck you. You'd make such cute noises."

"Shit, man." Sonic tucked his head into Shadow's neck, nipping at the skin. "You got any toys?"

"Toys?"

"Dildo, vibrator, nice tight pocket pussy?" Sonic bit harder. "You said you fuck yourself in the shower."

"All by hand, sadly."

"Shads," Sonic groaned. And then again, louder, as Shadow's fingers moved below his hole, pressing into his perineum, sliding along the tight skin. "Just jacking off or...?"

"Three fingers to the base in my ass, wishing it was you."

"Oh god," Sonic yelped, feeling his cock fully unsheath. "Three—I wanna see that sometime."

"And you?" Shadow pulled Sonic's cheeks apart again, a line of bubbles flowing and popping across the fluttering muscle between. "You certainly had the lube to slick up and imagine me wrecking this needy hole."

"A few times," Sonic confessed.

"Did you say my name?" Shadow growled, rutting in harder against his boyfriend's length.

Sonic's ears fell. "I didn't want to be heard."

"A pity." Shadow pressed close and held, swiveling his hips back and forth so their cocks and balls bumped past one-another. "Do you enjoy saying my name now?"

"Yes, Shadow," Sonic breathed, bringing his legs up to wrap about Shadow's thin waist.

"Again," Shadow commanded.

"Shadow," Sonic said. "Fuck, Shadow, how did you get me hard so fast? I'm exhausted."

"Again."

"Shadow, if you don't stop playing with my ass, I'm gonna blow!"

"Ugh. Fine." Shadow moved his hands to Sonic's sides, leaning his body back until blue legs let his waist go. "Here. Follow me. Careful." He guided Sonic off the bench and under the ceiling showerhead, which had been turned down to a more reasonable torrent.

Sonic immediately wiped at his eyes, blinking back the last drops of water and getting a good look at his lover.

Shadow's shoulders rose and fell as he breathed, slow but deep. His lips were parted, tongue tracing over them in anticipation, little fangs just visible beyond. His chest and stomach fur was flattened and soapy, his dick coated in tiny bubbles. He began a circuit about the blue hedgehog, taking him in from every angle, running hands across fur to help rinse, but also to grope. To grope rather excessively.

The movement, so like a courtship circle, made Sonic's tail wag. It squeegeed across Shadow's pelvis as the black hedgehog pressed in at his back.

One black and red hand rested on Sonic's giving hip. The other slotted between Sonic's legs, rising up to brush against his sack. Shadow slid his fingers in deeper, claws peeking out below Sonic's balls and twitchy cock.

"Here," Shadow rasped. "I want to fuck into you right here. If you're okay with that."

Sonic's thighs clamped on Shadow's hand. Likewise his tail pressed down, protecting his hole. "Uh—"

"Between," Shadow clarified. "Not inside you. I want to fuck between your legs. No ass. I mean..." The hand on Sonic's hip shifted to get a full grip on pliant flesh. "Grabbing, but I won't touch your anus."

Sonic snorted. "Anus," he mocked. He looked down at the bit of black claw peeking between his legs. Shadow's penis. There. Sliding. Thrusting. Breeding him in a way that seemed...less scary. Hell, he realized, not scary at all. Shadow's cock had rubbed all over that area the night before. The only difference would be the positioning. And the trust.

"Yeah," Sonic said, nodding.

"Are you sure , Sonic?" Shadow pressed. "I'm fine with your hand or—"

"Fuck me, Shadow," Sonic begged, rolling his hips back into his lover.

Shadow needed no further consent. He pushed Sonic before him, back towards the wall by the shower controls and the bench. Sonic was pressed between cold stone and a hot chest, Shadow's muzzle tucking into his neck. Lips closed about wet fur, sucking in hard. A growl vibrated from Shadow's chest as he worked a hickey under Sonic's pelt.

The cold wall shouldn't have felt good on his hardness, but Sonic went to tiptoes, rutting into it and then back on his lover, whose dick had come to rest between his cheeks, laying flush to his tail. It wasn't enough, and blue quills rose in irritation.

Shadow's mouth moved to the nape of Sonic's neck, clamping down hard.

The hero's reaction was instant. Instinctive. Hands slapped to the wall, steadying. His rebellious quills flattened. His hips thrust back and stayed that way. Legs parted and a short blue tail rose high. Offering.

Shadow purred and let Sonic's neck go, giving a soothing lick. He stepped back, taking his perfect cock away from Sonic's waiting ass, his pulsing hole. "Just like that," he cooed, petting down Sonic's back, thumbs rubbing circles in the dip at the base of his spine. "If you want me to fuck you, keep that pretty little tail up."

"Uh huh," Sonic mumbled. He rose higher on his toes, trying to present himself, to expose himself further.

Shadow reached over to the bench, coating his fingers in soap. He brought his hand back between Sonic's legs, spreading the slick, jerking in and out to build up the suds. "Legs back together. Yes, just like that. Make yourself nice and tight for my cock."

"Shadow, please," Sonic whimpered. Each movement of his lover's hands caressed his balls, his taint, and while the anti-hero kept that boundary on his mate's asshole, the connecting skin was jostled, stretched, sending his sphincter and the space just beyond fluttering.

"Sorry," Shadow said, "I'm not pleasing you anymore. I've been so good to you, sucking you off and cleaning you up, and now I'm taking care of myself. If you want to cum..." Shadow removed his soapy hand from Sonic's legs, leaning forward and reaching up to pull one of Sonic's palms from the wall. He guided Sonic down to his own tan cock. "You're going to have to do it yourself."

Sonic squirmed and clasped his prick, hips arching back as his lover's hand left his groin and settled on a hip. Its match grabbed the opposite side. Shadow adjusted his own hips, cock surging high, landing at the base of a raised blue tail.

Sonic gasped as Shadow's cockhead glanced over his hole, the sound loud enough that he barely heard Shadow's hissed "Sorry." Purely accidental, Sonic knew, but fuck, what a happy accident.

Shadow pulled back, angling lower, dropping his dick under Sonic's balls.

He pressed in. The red tip slid easily between Sonic's thighs, finding a gap to occupy. It worked through, clenched by strong blue legs layered in a giving plumpness. All the way he went, in one long stroke, until Shadow's chest pressed to Sonic's compliant quills, his muzzle up by Sonic's ear. He breathed hard, squeezing his lover's hips, then rubbing hands over his lover's round ass.

"Tell me if I should stop," Shadow whispered, nuzzling the curve of Sonic's ear. "But if you don't, I'm not holding back."

"Good," Sonic panted, flexing his thighs, thrilled when he felt his suitor's cock twitch between them. "Fuck me, Shadow."

A broken groan creaked from Shadow's throat. The male wasted no time in complying.

Shadow's thrusts were long. Efficient. Powerful. Each slow pull back, he withdrew until only his tip remained between Sonic's legs. Each pounding slide in, he impacted with enough force to make Sonic's ass shake, balls slapping against Sonic's thighs. Shadow grunted, fingers tightening on Sonic's hips, pulling the hero back to meet his rutting.

Sonic tried to stroke his own cock at Shadow's pace, but Shadow was too damn slow. When the black hedgehog had said he wouldn't hold back, Sonic had envisioned being pounded so fast he was crushed against the stone wall. No, this wasn't tender lovemaking, but it wasn't the relentless breeding he craved. They'd been so careful, so gentle with each other, and now Sonic just wanted to be used.

"Getting tired, old man?" Sonic poked. "Careful. I hear showers are pretty dangerous for the elderly."

Shadow snarled into Sonic's ear, his pace, blessedly, kicking up along with his ire. "I'm going to put a fucking gag in your mouth one day, hedgehog."

"Ah!" Sonic nodded, finally matching his pumping fist with Shadow's thrusts, but it was still so torturously slow. "You got hands. Why not shut me up now?"

"And let this go?" Shadow paused with his cock fully caressed by Sonic's legs. Hands shifted from hips to glutes, pulling Sonic's cheeks apart. He groaned at the view, pressing in tighter. "Your pretty ass shakes every time I fuck you." Grabbing hips once more, he got back to breeding, faster again.

"Imagine—" Sonic began, losing his train of thought as his newly matched strokes began to solidify the sensations along his prick. This, kept up, would certainly get him off, eventually. Eventually was far too nebulous. "Imagine," he began again, whimpering, "what my ass will look like when I'm on my knees. When you're behind me. Mounting me."

"Sonic," Shadow warned, claws digging into skin. How much of what was slicking his way was soap, and how much was a steady drip of precum?

"Spreading me open," Sonic went on, doing his own imagining. Each slap against his ass gave a tiny jolt of electric pleasure to his hole. "Holding my tail up—"

"Hedgehog," Shadow warned, nipping the edge of his lover's ear.

"Sliding into my tight hole," Sonic whined, his head tilting back, offering his neck to the taller Mobian. "Fucking me however you want."

Shadow pressed into Sonic's back. "I'm trying to, you goddamn tease!"

"Breeding your mate."

"Ngh!" Shadow grunted, and Sonic knew he had won.

Shadow fucked into him. Relentless. Those same full, hard strokes, but now at a speed Sonic's hand could barely match. Each movement was accompanied by a musical schlick schlick and panting in Sonic's ear and the slap of hips to ass. Sonic could barely keep braced to the wall, buckling under the pressure, catching himself on his forearm, forehead pressing to cold stone for much-needed stability. His balls tingled, overtaxed but almost there, ready to give, just a little more...

"Mine, "Shadow huffed, moving his mouth down to lick Sonic's vulnerable nape. "My mate. Mine."

"Yours," Sonic agreed, squeezing his cocktip rapidly, right there, on the edge, a heartbeat away.

Shadow's jaws dropped open, wider than Sonic thought possible, and pressed over his lover's nape. Teeth threatened to clamp down, to force the smaller hedgehog into compliance once more, into accepting the cock using him as its owner desired.

The brush of fangs was what did it. They didn't break skin. Hell, it wasn't even an actual bite. But their sharp hardness through fur sent a shock down to Sonic's stomach, which joined the fire along his prick and the tingle in his sack, coalescing. Building. And, finally, breaking.

It wasn't earth-shattering, mind-blowing, life-changing. Sonic's orgasm was a series of slow waves across his whole body. Yes, stronger in his sensitized penis and needy ass, but it worked down to his toes, up to his ears, along the whorls and ridges of his brain.

It seemed a direct contrast to Shadow's climax, which his mate announced with a scream, almost a roar, against Sonic's nape. Claws dug deep into his skin. A line of white cum splattered against the shower wall, a second on the next thrust. The rest dripped down Sonic's thighs, harder whenever the red cock thrust in, the flow lasting for what felt like ages. At least long enough for Sonic to come down from his own high, giving him a clear head to enjoy his boyfriend's pleasure. The pleasure he took in Sonic's body, took from Sonic's body.

Eventually, Shadow slid deep between Sonic's legs a final time, staying between as his flow ebbed and his penis began to soften. Black hands left Sonic's hips (probably bruised, after the grand finale), arms coming about to encircle Sonic's waist. A long tongue soothed the blue nape before Shadow rested his chin on his partner's shoulder. He sagged, groaning, and now it was the Ultimate Lifeform whose legs wobbled.

"Maybe you should get a safety bar installed, gramps," Sonic teased.

"This is elder abuse," Shadow grumped. In retaliation, he shifted more weight onto his lover's back.

"Come on, Boomer," Sonic chuckled, shifting sideways, towards the stone bench. "Sit, before you fall and break both our hips."

There was grumbling about "takes more than a fall," but Shadow complied, plopping down on the stone. Even sitting, he looked boneless, bracing himself with hands on the edge of the seat. Red eyes stared, unfocused, at the shower drain.

Sonic ran his fingers through wet quills. He stood between Shadow's legs, guiding his lover's head to rest on his tan chest. "You okay in there?"

Shadow nodded, slowly. "Still...feel it. A bit."

"Still?" Sonic whistled. Or did his best attempt to whistle. All the moisture and steam made things difficult. "Whatever Martian DNA you got that from, can you splice it into me?"

"I will give you," Shadow huffed, rubbing his chin up and down Sonic's chest, "all the DNA you could want."

Sonic patted black quills. "Maybe when you don't look like you got run over."

"Yeah," Shadow laughed, "by you . You got insurance for that dump-truck ass?"

Sonic blushed. "My ass isn't that big."

"Your ass is breathtaking."

Sonic snorted. "Dweeb. You relax, now. I've been waiting to have my turn cleaning you up."

"Mmm." Shadow's tail thumped wetly on the bench. "Thank you, Sonic."

Over the next hour, Sonic worked through the full array of bath products and across every inch of Shadow's body. The purring started up almost immediately, soft and sustained. Weak, but only from Shadow's exhaustion, instead of a lack of enjoyment. A few spots ratcheted it up some decibels: ears, chin, hands, chest ruff, calves. Lather, rinse, repeat. Head to toe, and personal spaces between.

Sonic soaped up his fingers and gave Shadow a warning before dipping into his mate's black sheath, working free the last day's worth of lust and love and lube. Shadow's cock didn't even stir, though the hedgehog did squeak at the invasion. Cheeks reddened on both sides, but there were no protests, and Sonic's clinical work was soon done, soap and all other fluids rinsed away by fresh water. Shadow took a few deep breaths, thighs flexing, hips twisting, until his penis slid back to cover, inner ligaments pulling down, flattening him to anatomical smoothness.

They rinsed off together, standing under the ceiling showerhead, letting hands brush gently though quills and fur, ushering suds down to the drain. No kisses or grinding, just foreheads pressed together and tiny, content sighs. Eventually, their companionship would regain its undertone of lust, but, for now, they were sated. Clean. Warm.

Together.

Chapter Text

Shadow snuffled into Sonic's dry, freshly-brushed neck fur, breathing in deep. "Hm. You smell like..."

Under his muzzle, Sonic squirmed, head tilting towards his shoulder. "Eep! Shadow, that tickles!"

Puzzled, Shadow shifted his attentions to the other side of Sonic's neck, huffing deeply as Sonic writhed again. Data confirmed, the agent reeled back, muzzle wrinkling in disgust. "Hedgehog—"

"Yo, seriously," Sonic yipped, jabbing an elbow back to force his suitor away, "we have not discussed tickling as a kink yet—"

"Why do you smell like chili dogs?"

"Huh?" Sonic lifted an arm, sticking his nose deep into the pit and breathing in (ignoring Shadow's recoiling horror). "No, I don't," Sonic said, taking his nose back out. "Just lav—"

Sonic sniffed.

His ears flicked. Raising his nose high in the air, he took several quick breaths. "Huh. It does smell like chili dogs." Another sniff, this one long, appreciative. His tail wagged. "You order in?"

The dark hedgehog's upper lip curled. "If I made a delivery order, it would not be for chili dogs."

"Aw." Sonic pouted. "Not even for me?"

"Hmph." Shadow looked away, tossing the comb he'd been using to preen his mate onto the black countertop. "...maybe."

Leaning to the side, Sonic lightly headbutted Shadow's stomach. "Such a romantic."

Shadow was about to throw out a catty reply when a third speaker decided to join the conversation: Sonic's stomach. Its growl was loud and sustained. Both hedgehogs' ears zoned in on it, and Shadow's brows rose high.

"What?" Sonic shrugged. "It's past noon, Shads. And we didn't have breakfast."

"I do suppose I should feed you."

Sonic nodded, sagely. "Man cannot live on being bred alone." (Shadow rolled his eyes.) Rising from Shadow's office chair—brought into the bathroom so Sonic could be groomed in comfort—he made a break for the apartment proper. "Maybe your neighbors ordered in and can give me a recommendation!"

Shadow's quills rattled in irritation as he followed Sonic down the hall. "This isn't Green Hills. You don't go asking neighbors about...well, anything."

"See, that's how you lose all sense of community," Sonic said, already past the kitchen and opening the front door. "You transplants come in, you jack up rent and only shop big business, and suddenly the whole town is just a Walmart and two gas stations." Sonic bent over and snatched up a plastic bag, spinning about to present his find. "None of which serve a good chili dog."

His partner scowled at the bag, from which came the heavenly aroma of beans, onions, perfectly blended spices, and meat so tasty you forgot all notions of food safety or artery maintenance. "I told you, I didn't order anything. Is it for a different apartment?"

Locating a taped-on receipt, Sonic scanned the details. "3624, that's you. Oh!" His tail wagged. "It's for Rouge!" A pause, and his tail drooped. "She must have forgotten to change delivery to her new place."

Sighing, Shadow reached for the bag. "I wish. Rouge wouldn't be caught dead eating anywhere without a dress code. This must be for you." He breathed out sharply, clearing his nasal passages of the offending smell, as if he wouldn't just breathe it in again in another moment.

"Aw!" Sonic clasped his hands under his chin. "Your ex-wife doesn't mind our affair!"

"Well, she already took everything in the divorce."

"It's what you deserve, you manslut." Practically skipping, Sonic headed back to the kitchen. "You set the table, I'll get drinks. I'm so oddly dehydrated."

"I don't have a table, Sonic," Shadow reminded over the rapid slamming of cabinets. He walked past the kitchen, disappearing into what he'd pointed out as his old bedroom.

"You don't have cups, either," Sonic said. He began rooting about in the lower cabinets, finding naught but dust and stray hairs. "She really did take everything. Oh!" Diving into a tricky cabinet blindspot, he reemerged with two plastic takeout soup containers. "Good enough."

"I'm going to have to inventory everything," Shadow grumped, returning to the common area. He tossed down hand towels, a pair of white legal pads, and several pens. A large bath towel was laid out with more care, the takeout containers arrayed on top.

Sonic joined Shadow to sit on the towel, handing over one soup container of water. "You can't act like it's a shock, dude. She's a thief." Sonic began to drink. Once he began, he didn't stop until his head tilted all the way back and the pint container ran empty. Shaking his head and gasping at the brief lack of oxygen, he said, "Damn. Maybe you did suck me dry."

Shadow smirked, sipping his own water as Sonic got up for a refill.

"Alright," Sonic said, plopping down once more. He slapped his hands together, rubbing them eagerly before reaching for the delivery. "What are we working with? Ooooh ho ho!"

Steam burst free as Sonic opened one container, revealing two long, untopped hot dogs alongside several sealed containers of toppings. Chili, cheese, sour cream, and grilled onions in abundance.

"Rouge, you have my undying loyalty," Sonic cooed, picking up a hot dog and cradling it like a baby. "Light the beacons and I ride to your aid."

"You're ridiculous," Shadow grumbled. Reluctantly, he flipped open the second container. His ears perked at what he found inside.

Sonic, far too busy adorning his first dog and shoving half of it into his mouth, took some time to notice Shadow's own meal. When he did, he stared, cheeks bulging, chili splattered down his chin. He pointed. "Whash thash?"

"Please don't put me off my food before I've even eaten." Shadow sprinkled little green flakes across the top of his creation. "It's seaweed."

Swallowing and wiping at his chin with a hand towel, Sonic leaned over Shadow's hot dog. His ears flicked curiously. "And what's the pink stuff?"

Shadow pushed his mate's chest, getting the brat away from his braut. "Bonito flakes. That would be fish, for the uncultured among us."

"Fish flakes?" Sonic stuck out his tongue. "I always suspected you were a beta male, but I didn't mean the fighting fish kind."

"At least my meal doesn't look like it's already been digested."

"So harsh!" Sonic lay a hand to his forehead. "Oh, Shadow. This relationship is never going to work. We're just too different."

"Yes," Shadow drawled, squeezing a packet that was helpfully labeled "wasabi mayo" across his dog. It must have been intended for both franks, as it made the one he worked with practically disappear under white. "And what would the children look like?"

Sonic, in the middle of a more reasonable bite, nodded. He had adequate enough manners to swallow before speaking, this time. "Hideous, no doubt."

"Like their mother," Shadow said, moving his second hot dog to Sonic's container, grinning at the sudden, loud thumps of his lover's tail.

"Yeah. Wait." Sonic frowned, head tilted. "Which one of us is getting pregnant, in this fantasy?"

"Well, only one of us is a little bitch."

"Ahh!" Sonic nodded.

He reached out to squeeze Shadow's shoulder. "Don't put yourself down like that, Shads. You're beautiful."

Shadow lowered his head, ostensibly to take a bite from his overloaded hot dog, but it was also quite helpful in hiding his reddening cheeks.

"Still a bitch, though," Sonic added.

The ever-grumpy hedgehog puffed at his mate, but made no response. Not even denial.

Sonic took his time in savoring his next chili dog, head bobbing about happily. Shadow ate with quiet focus, wiping up any overspill about his lips as he went. They finished at roughly the same time, and Sonic gestured at the gifted half of Shadow's meal.

"You sure? Don't wanna leave you hungry."

Shadow waved his partner off. "I never eat much."

Sonic began dressing his third dog, using the dregs of his chili and a fair bit of Shadow's own abandoned toppings. "You are pretty trim. That, like, a thing?"

"A thing?" Shadow frowned in brief puzzlement. "Ah, no. I really do need very little to eat. Food is more a...ritual. Enjoyment." Finding a wet wipe in the takeout bag, he began to clean his hands. "Even when the scientists made me eat very high-calorie, I stayed like this."

The final chili dog had nearly been in Sonic's mouth. He let it drop back down, giving his mate his full attention. "Made you?" he repeated.

The dark hedgehog's cleaning slowed. He looked down at his hands, as if they required total focus. "My calorie requirements aren't very...logical. You do know we expend far more energy in running than we consume, yes?"

"Figured it was the Chaos energy."

"Most likely." Shadow tossed the towelette onto his empty tray. "Well, other than maturing—which was quite a surprise, when I noticed; fifty years in stasis, nothing, but take me out and I have a growth spurt?—it seems my physiology doesn't change, high calorie diet or low."

Sonic looked at his third chili dog. There was a roiling in his stomach. "How low?"

Shadow's ears pinned back. "That's irrelevant—"

"The lab guys. They tried the opposite, didn't they?" Sonic pressed. "They starved you."

The black hedgehog shrugged. "Briefly," he answered, words level. Casual. Insincere.

"How briefly?"

Shadow's chewed on his cheek, considering. "It was hard to tell. I was in the chamber, and I couldn't see sunlight or a clock. The standard stasis fluid should contain nutrients. They simply...didn't include them, once. I think it was about...five weeks? Eventually, Walters noticed and ordered that experiment to end."

Sonic was silent for a time, just watching Shadow. The black hedgehog's quills spiked to defense, but, as nothing happened, they settled down halfway. Being constantly on guard was exhausting. Sonic knew that well.

He looked down to the food in his hands, judging its heft. "My first winter in Green Hills," he said, "I almost starved to death."

Shadow's gaze shot up to watch his lover.

Sonic rubbed the back of his neck. "The island where I lived with Longclaw—I told you about her, right?" At Shadow's nod, the blue hedgehog continued. "It was hot year-round. Tropical, fruit all over the place. So, when I came to Green Hills, I didn't realize the forest and farms would just...stop growing.

"Thank goodness it wasn't a super snowy winter. I was never stuck in the cave, so I was able to raid the trash cans in town." Sonic laughed awkwardly. "Except I couldn't pick them back up if they fell over, so the townies thought it was a bunch of raccoons or coyotes or something. They started putting locks on the cans. Or mixing in rat poison."

Shadow slowly took his lover's words in. "How old were you?"

Sonic looked to the ceiling, lips pursed. "I don't know my birthday, so I'm not totally sure. Four, maybe five?" He pasted on a grin. "Eventually, I figured out which houses had food storage in the basement and didn't bother with security. I just had to be careful to not take too much or be seen."

More silence. Long. Awkward.

Sonic pushed his tray toward Shadow. "Getting cold."

Shadow snorted, pushing it back with far more feeling. That feeling being disgust. "One was barely tolerable. I promise, that was an entirely typical meal for me. And I don't skip meals, if you're worried. I do enjoy most food." He wrinkled his nose. "Most. Either eat that or it goes down the disposal. It's stinking up the place."

"Oh, well." Sonic picked up his hybrid bonito-chili dog. "If you insist." Dutifully, he dug in.

"This is like," he spoke out of the side of his mouth, the other side occupied with chewing, "a thing we're gonna have to do, huh?" A little fleck of meat tumbled from his lips to his lap. Swiping it up with a thumb, he popped it back in with the rest of the half-chewed bite.

Shadow curled his lips, leaning back. "A thing?"

"Whatsit called...trauma bond?" Sonic swallowed. "Or just, you know...learning more about each-other? Having a relationship, it's not just gonna be blowjobs and brushies, is it?" He went on eating.

"I suppose you're right," Shadow huffed, disgruntled at this truth. "Though I'd rather be done with the 'trauma' portion of bonding for a while, if we can."

Sonic, hands already empty of hot dog, sucked at his dirty fingers. "Seconded."

Shadow watched Sonic's lips, nose wrinkling. "That would be so much more alluring if I didn't know how damn greasy your hands are."

Sonic smirked around one finger, and proceeded to slide a second between his lips, lidding his eyes as he fellated away at hot dog juices.

Shadow threw a wet wipe at Sonic's face, puffing up in irritation at his mate's laugh. "Disgusting."

Sonic dutifully wiped at his hands, giving a saucy wink. "Just practicing for your foot-long hot-link, sweetie."

"I appreciate the flattery," Shadow drawled, "but you keep that up and I will never get erect again."

"Okay, okay." Sonic raised his clean hands in surrender. "You win. No giving my old-man boyfriend erectile dysfunction."

"Wise. Now, I do believe we had more to discuss than childhood trauma and hotdog toppings."

"Yeah," Sonic chirped, pointing a thumb at his chest. "Me topping!"

A moment later, he was struck in the chest by a flying notepad.

Rubbing his sternum, Sonic muttered, "So is that a 'no' to me being on top?"

"Oh, certainly not," Shadow crooned. He rearranged himself to lay on his stomach, feet popped up in the air, his own notepad laid out before him. "But we agreed to discuss our boundaries, and I'm holding you to that."

Sonic leaned in towards Shadow, gaze tripping across his mate's prone body, entirely too smarmy. "You can hold me and leave me bound whenever you want, baby." He stuck the tip of his tongue out, wiggling it enticingly.

Shadow began scribbling on his notepad. "Sonic gives blanket permission to be restrained."

"Woah, hey!" Sonic slapped his hands on Shadow's notepad. "Come on, I was teasing!"

"Well, perhaps you can stop teasing and try to take this a little seriously?" Pushing Sonic's hands aside, he scribbled out the note.

"Ugh. Fine." Sonic flopped to his belly, grabbing a pen of his own. "But do we seriously have to write this down? You want to get it notarized or something, Mr. Grey?"

"Seeing as your impulse control seems to extend to sex, I think a written record is needed. I'd rather you not beg me to do something and then regret it right after."

"Stupid post-nut clarity. Fine. Item one," Sonic scrawled across his notepad, "The butt: You may knock, but you can't come in."

Shadow thumped his head to the floor. "I chose this..."

"Hell yeah you did!" Sonic snickered. "You chose all of this." Reaching back, he gave the ass that Shadow so appreciated a slap. The flesh jiggled for a moment, and Shadow's avid gaze locked on.

Shadow pointed to Sonic's shapely rump. "Can I do that?"

Sonic's tail flattened over his anus. "I just said you can't come in!"

"No, I meant..." Shadow coughed and mumbled, "striking you."

Sonic blinked. He looked back to his ass. "Oh. Huh." He tapped his roundness again, grinning as he heard Shadow's tiny gasp. "Uh...yeah." He turned back to his mate. "But, like, gentle?"

Shadow tapped his pen to his lips. "I think..." He looked at the pen, brows drawn. "Wrong supplies."

Sonic tilted his head. "Supplies? Like, what? Condoms? Lube? Yaoi paddle?"

Shadow stood, heading back to his former bedroom. "Erasers."

"...huh?"

Shadow reappeared shortly, tossing down an impressive 100-count color pencil set (still in its plastic wrapping) and several large white erasers. He sat and began opening the pack. "Pen is permanent, but consent is not, correct? If we try something, that does not mean the act is always acceptable from there on."

"Uh, right." Sonic picked up an eraser, flipping it over between his fingers. "Are you, like, into coloring books or something?"

"No," Shadow snorted as he dumped out the pencils. "Some GUN busybody recommended I try art to help with my...self."

Sonics' eyes narrowed. That merited further questions, but he had agreed to cut the trauma bonding for a while. Instead, he fished out the sparkly pencils for himself. "So, why do we need colors? I mean, I do appreciate a visual aid, but surely you have regular pencils."

Shadow flipped to a new page in the notepad, which he began to section off with vertical lines. "Traffic lights," he said, finishing the lines and picking up pencils in red, yellow, and green. "Or whatever colors you choose." He wrote his name in red at the top of the right half of the page, selecting a blue to add Sonic's name to the left. Below the main sections, he labeled the five columns. Give, receive, activity, receive, give.

Sonic stared. "Chaos within," he murmured. "You've turned our sex life into a spreadsheet."

"It's an effective way to organize infor—"

"You made a spreadsheet about spreading me out on your sheets!"

Shadow's ears dropped flat. "It's not on the computer," he muttered, "so it's more a chart than a spreadsheet."

"You Ultimate Life-dweeb," Sonic bemoaned. "Keep it that way. I don't want Google to know if I prefer traditional or reverse cowgirl."

"...I'd prefer you in reverse."

"You would, Ass-Man. Alright." Sonic sighed, leaning closer to Shadow and the chart. "How should we fill out your paperwork? In triplicate? Do I need to file my TPS reports every time we bone?"

Shadow frowned and spoke hesitantly. "You're...okay with this?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Sonic shrugged. "But I'm buying stickers for my side."

Shadow's ears lifted. "Oh. Uh. Good." Turning his attention back to the paper, he began to write. "As I was saying, traffic lights, for me. Red is no-go, at least for now. Yellow for things I'm willing to try, but you should warn me, first. Green is go ahead, I like it. So...hand job: receive, green, yes. Give, green, yes."

Sonic looked to his pencils, picking out four. He filled his first two cells with a series of stars. "Gold for the win. Hell yes, more please." Holding up the unused three, he explained further. "Silver I like, but not the most. Bronze I'm willing to try. Sparkle black, don't even ask."

Shadow nodded. "I like the preference communication. I may have to pick a color for favorites, as well."

Sonic plucked a pencil from the pile, presenting it with a grin. "Blue should be your favorite."

Rolling his eyes, Shadow accepted the pencil. Taking up an eraser, he rubbed out the green "yes" in his "give" column, filling it in with a blue "yes."

Sonic tilted his head. "Tis better to give than receive?"

"Tis better to fuck you from behind than get jacked off."

Sonic swallowed. Loudly. "Ah. Um, Let me...." Taking the notepad back, he filled in two new lines.

Blowjob: Receive, gold, hearts and stars. Give, bronze, "PLEASE?"

Leg stuff: Receive, gold, stars. Give, bronze, "In bed?"

Shadow smirked. His chest puffed out, making his freshly-groomed ruff more prominent. "So everything I do to you is a gold star?"

Sonic scowled and wrote once more.

Up the butt: Receive, black, angry frowny face. Give, black, frowny face.

"Ah." Shadow tapped his pencils to his palms. "Is a black entry forever or...?"

Sonic sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "No. I just...it feels big." At the little quirk to Shadow's lips he added, "Not your dick!"

Black and red quills rose high. Clearly, Shadow didn't believe that amendment.

"I do really want to, but I'm going to need some time." Sonic looked to his hands, which clenched his pencils tight. "I...sorry."

"Hedgehog," Shadow snorted, reaching over to poke his mate's forehead. "I will admit to being eager, but there are plenty of ways to enjoy your body in the meantime."

"Enjoy—" Sonic began, eartips shifting pink. The rest of his thought was lost as Shadow leaned in, crooking an index finger under the blue speedster's tucked chin, urging him to look back up, into red eyes.

Shadow pressed a light, yet hot, kiss to Sonic's mouth, breaking away—with a tiny lick to Sonic's upper lip as he went—before it could turn into something more.

Sonic sighed, mouth open, receptive.

All he received were Shadow's words. "I am ready for you."

"Shadow," Sonic said, pulling back, brows drawn, "I get it, but—"

"I'm ready," Shadow reiterated. "For when you want to have me."

Sonic watched in confusion, then wonder, as Shadow took up the notepad once more and began to fill in his side...plus a small edit.

Up the butt Anal sex: Give, yellow, "Waiting." Receive, green, "I'm yours."

When he finished writing, Shadow watched Sonic for a good half-minute before he chuckled and pressed a palm to his partner's unmoving tan chest. "Breathe."

Sonic complied with an initial gasp. Wide, wild eyes turned upon the black hedgehog. "I kinda assumed you...wouldn't?"

Smirking, Shadow got to writing several more interests into the central column. "If your cock feels half as good as my fingers, I'll gladly bend over for you."

"Haaaa," Sonic wheezed. Overdramatically, he leaned, then flopped to his side, cheek landing on Shadow's thigh, quills jostling the notepad. "Shadoooooow."

Balancing the papers on his unoccupied thigh, Shadow used one hand to continue his documentation, the other scratching under Sonic's chin. "Yes?"

"Why am I horny when I can't get it up anymore?"

Shadow blessed his mate with harder scritches. "Well, obviously it's because I'm irresistible."

"Hm." Sonic tilted his head, guiding those fingers to a place that sent a jolt all the way down to his toes. "Speaking of irresistible...after a bit, how about a little...you know...light bondage?"

The pencil in Shadow's hand snapped.

The noise was sharp, startling. Sonic rolled to his back, looking up at his lover's eyes.

There was almost no black there. Just a red eclipse marred by a pinprick black hole, which looked forward, but not really at anything. Now it was Shadow's chest that did not move. Or any other part of his body.

"Woah!" Sonic sat up, grabbing tight shoulders. "Shads, hey, you home?" Receiving no response, Sonic shook his mate, calling louder, "Shadow!"

White fangs flashed, a deadly-strong jaw parted to fully arm the hybridized hedgehog's maw. "No," he snarled.

"Yeah, I can tell!" Sonic yipped. He took the red pencil from Shadow's left hand, trading it for the two pieces of black in his right. "Red, do not pass go, do not collect $200!"

Shadow's eyes focused on the red pencil. His pupils began to slowly widen to a more natural roundness. He took several long breaths, lips moving in silent counting. Finally, after what was easily a full minute, he added and filled in a column some halfway down the page.

Restraints: Give, red, "No." Receive, red, "NO."

Sonic took the notepad and pencils, setting them to the floor. He sat back on his thighs, holding his arms open.

Shadow leaned away, an odd clicking coming from his throat. "I don't need a hug."

Wiggling his fingers, Sonic cooed, "Aw, come on, tough guy. I'll rub your ears."

Teeth still bared, Shadow glared at his partner. A low growl rumbled up from his chest. Yet he did not move away.

"Eh?" Sonic waggled his brows. "Eeeeeeeh?"

Shadow snorted out a breath, dismissive. Looking away, ears pinning back, he grumbled, "I just want rubs."

"I believe you," Sonic lied, welcoming Shadow between his legs and up against his chest. The black hedgehog didn't wrap arms about Sonic, nor did Sonic encase him. They pressed together, Shadow resting his chin on Sonic's shoulder, giving access to his head.

True to his word, Sonic massaged the base of Shadow's ears, thumbs rolling across the furless insides. His humans always found it a bit gross (earwax, after all), but he'd seen the ill-advised things they did with Q-tips. There was no denying the pure enjoyment of ear rubs.

Shadow seemed to have no hangups about the touch, his growl fading, though his body retained its tension.

Sonic nuzzled his chin down on Shadow's forehead. "Remember what you told me?" He pitched his voice low and gravely. Grumpy. "Plenty of ways to enjoy your body?"

Hesitantly, Shadow nodded.

"Bondage is so off the table. No worries. You wanna talk about it, or are you invoking no trauma bonding?"

A hot, warm breath clammed up Sonic's neck. After a bit of hesitation, Shadow spoke in a mutter, though it was close enough to the blue Mobian's ear to be intelligible. "Lab tests. And fifty years in a forced coma."

"Ah, yeah." Sonic dug his fingers in harder, relieved when Shadow's shoulders slumped. "Really putting that DSM in BDSM."

"Do you mean the rest of the acronym, or the psychiatry text?"

"Given Grandpappy Eggman, both."

"Probably true." He let out a dismissive snort, exorcising the demon of his adoptive grandfather. Tucking his muzzle into Sonic's neck, he breathed deeply of his suitor's scent, muscles unwinding further.

Sonic pursed his lips, composing his thoughts. "On the couch, though...you told me to push your head down."

"That was not restraint. I could break free if I wanted."

Sonic decided to not mention that Shadow could also break free of any restraint they might bring into the bedroom. Logic didn't have to play into preferences. "I just hadn't imagined you'd be so...compliant?"

Chuckling, Shadow nuzzled deeper into Sonic's neck. "Oh? You never imagined me doing your bidding? Being your plaything?"

"Oh, well," Sonic squeaked, glad Shadow couldn't see his face. "Maybe. A bit. But, like, I didn't think you'd be...into that. Being, er, submissive?"

"Hm." One of Shadow's ears flicked, but stilled again to encourage Sonic's hands. "Not the word I'd use."

"Okaaaay. Then what word would you use?"

Shadow's claws tapped at the floor between Sonic's legs. Twice, his mouth opened, but no words came, and it closed once more. On the third try, however, Shadow answered, "Service."

Tilting his head, Sonic repeated, "Service?"

"I was giving you my service."

A hot flash went up Sonic's spine. His fur puffed. He swallowed, hard. "O-oh."

Chuckling, Shadow pressed a kiss to Sonic's neck. His hands, which had stayed on the floor between Sonic's legs, rose up to grasp at the joints between his lover's hips and legs. "Using my body to please your body. Giving you my service. I like it." He pushed up, pressing his chest firmly into the smaller hedgehog.

Sonic lost his grip on Shadow's ears. He let his hands fall, arms finally taking the wiry Mobian into a hug. Though it was perhaps more accurately described as an embrace. "I like it, too, but, um...it feels a bit weird, you disappearing in your head like that. Letting yourself be...used. Could we try a different thing, for now?"

"I'm all ears, my hedgehog. Do you have a suggestion?" A suggestion was perhaps going to be needed very soon, as Shadow's teeth had begun scraping Sonic's neck, while his thumbs explored low on the junction of the hero's thighs.

"Ears," Sonic repeated. Then, more sensibly, responded, "Instead of 'using' you, I could tell you? Tell you when what you're doing feels good, or how I'd like to, um...be serviced?"

"Fuck," Shadow groaned, pulling at Sonic's hips. His tongue laved across his lover's neck, hot and wet. "Yes. I'd love that. Tell me what you want, Sonic." His head shifted to dip in directly below Sonic's chin, jaw dropping open, teeth pressing over Sonic's trachea.

Sonic froze, except to squeak out, from the corner of his mouth, "Can't if you crush my windpipe."

Shadow, nearly attached to Sonic's throat, paused. He blinked. Gently, he pulled back from Sonic's neck, leaving behind warm saliva. He stared at Sonic's neck, breathing heavily, and licked his lips.

"Okay," Sonic said, holding up a hand. "That I'm gonna have to call a boundary on."

"Sorry," Shadow murmured, ears pinning back. "No biting, got it."

"No, dude," Sonic laughed, "just don't go super freaky on my airways. Or arteries. I don't heal like you do. Go easy on me. And no blood."

Shadow let out a heavy breath, collecting himself. "Red on red, then."

Sonic snickered. "Is that your safeword or something? Red?"

One of Shadow's ears flicked. His voice pitched low. "No. As much as I want to tease you about how bad you blush..." Shadow leaned in and nuzzled Sonic's cheek...then nipped, quite gently.

"Hey!" Sonic protested, the immediate flush which raced across his face beautifully illustrating Shadow's point.

"No," Shadow said, pressing a hand to Sonic's chest, "'red' won't work at all." He moved forward, gentle, but unyielding, chin and quills lifting high as Sonic let himself be pushed onto his back.

Sonic gulped, looking up at the larger hedgehog, pupils blown wide. "I thought we were talking boundaries?" he squeaked.

Shadow settled his knees to either side of Sonic's hips, straddling him. Pinning him. Leaning over, he cupped a hand behind Sonic's neck, claws tickling through short fur. "We are," Shadow cooed. He leaned over, back a tight arch, bringing his head to Sonic's chest, teeth scraping over tan fur. Searching. "We're picking a safeword. Tell me, Sonic: what would you never, ever scream when I'm pumping your cock through so many orgasms you've lost count?" At the feel of a tiny bump against his sensitive lips, Shadow knew he'd found his target. "Or when your cock is so far down my throat I choke?" He scraped teeth over the very tip of a nipple, humming appreciatively as the small bundle stiffened, allowing him a target for a nice, firm bite.

"Ah!" Sonic squirmed, his own short nails digging into his mate's muscular back. "Chaos, Shadow, gentle."

"No, not that," Shadow mused. The hand not occupied with Sonic's neck began to shift over his lover's torso, fingers tracing the small rise in Sonic's groin. He really was fucked out, but the hero's hidden length was putting up a valiant effort at response. "'Gentle' is good communication, but it doesn't mean 'stop.' And my name? Certainly not. I want to make you scream my name over and over. I want your throat to go raw on my name."

"F-fuck, Shads!"

Shadow's claws searched until he found his goal: the little hole at the tip of Sonic's still undefined sheath, where that tasty fat cock would emerge. He snuck a finger inside, exploring his lover's hidden spaces.

"Shadow!" Sonic moaned, back arching, fingers digging into quills and holding tight.

"Yes, like that," Shadow said, moving to Sonic's underappreciated nipple, sucking until it was brought to prominence with its twin. Below, his finger went deeper in the filling sheath, finding the hardening cock within, tracing its head, a pawpad rolling over the slit. Damn. He wanted to hook a claw in there, but that certainly warranted discussion. "You better come up with a word to get me to stop, hedgehog. You said you couldn't get it up, anymore. I'll gladly prove you wrong, if you can't think of something."

"Ngh." Sonic winced at the sensation. "Too much," he keened. "Shadow, I—"

"What's the safeword, dear one?" Shadow pulled at Sonic's sheath, widening the hole, flirting a second finger about the rim. He sucked at one of Sonic's nipples before continuing his interrogation. "Poodle? Avocado? Ukulele?" The tip of his second finger snuck in.

Sonic's hips bucked and he screamed, "E-Eggman!"

Shadow froze.

Sonic was unable to be so still. His breaths were ragged. His hips twitched. Claws scrabbled at black quills.

Silently, Shadow removed his fingers from Sonic's sheath. He shook his head, dislodging his lover's hands. Scooting a good two feet back, the aggressor folded hands over his lap. He looked away from his mate, up to the recessed lighting.

Sonic's twisted spine straightened and he flopped onto his back. Free of fingers, his sheath opening contracted, groin going smooth once more, but for the bump of a rapidly deflating half-chub.

Shadow sniffed, dignified. "That is...suitable."

Sonic laughed, slapping hands over his eyes. "Noooooo. Something else!"

"No, no. You made this bed. Now lie in it."

"Damnit." Sonic pressed palms harder into his eye sockets, fireworks sparking across his vision. "At least that is something I'd never yell. That bastard better not come back. I won't be able to look him in the eyes."

"Let's not go borrowing trouble." Shadow picked up the notepad once more, scribbling down a few final ideas. "I suppose that's all I can think of, at the moment. Feel free to add more." Reclaiming his four color pencils, Shadow began to fill his side of the chart.

Sonic, still flat on his back, gave a thumbs up.

Observing his lover-victim, Shadow's chest swelled, shoulders pulled back. Teeth glinted through a cocky smirk.

By the time Shadow finished his side of the chart, Sonic had managed to flop onto his stomach, sensibly hiding his groin. He took the notepad with no comment, though he made various "hmms" and "reallys?" as he took in Shadow's answers while entering his own.

Shadow earned a nice tail wag, and its associated view, by fetching another water refill for his lover. Once up, he set to work opening kitchen cabinets, musing over what he did (or, more accurately, didn't) find within. Taking the notepad Sonic had initially worked upon, the now roommate-less hedgehog started up a new, less sexy list.

"You're really not a digital guy, are you?" Sonic asked.

Tapping his pen on the notepad, Shadow answered, "Digital has its uses, but I write faster than I type. And I'm afraid I have a lot to write." He sighed. "That bat really cleaned the place out. I'll have to steal my good pans back. But at least I'll be able to get matching dishes, now."

"As high as she lives, I'd have thought Rouge had bone china for sixteen settings."

"Sixteen settings, certainly," Shadow agreed. "Each part stolen from a different millionaire. She adores ruining people's collections. Frankly, I'm surprised she didn't leave the hodgepodge behind and start all over.

"I can get most of this delivered," Shadow went on, considering the list. "But there is one thing I'd like your input on."

"Oh?" Sonic looked up from the completed chart. "What?"

Shadow sighed dramatically. "I'm afraid only a full-size mattress made sense in my old room." He looked down on his mate with hot red eyes. "So, Sonic, if I'm going to spread you out and leave you well-fucked, I'll need an upgrade."

Chapter Text

Thump thump thump thump thump.

"Cannonbaaaall!"

Creak, sproing, THUNK.

"...ow. "

Shadow sucked his teeth. Turning to the mattress saleswoman, he heaved a massive sigh. "I apologize for my boyfriend. Everytime he shows an ounce of maturity, the universe resets him to be fifteen years old."

The squat, dark-skinned woman nodded. "I have an ex-wife like that."

"Dear Chaos. And you let her live?"

The human flashed a malicious grin that was certainly not in the employee handbook. "Alimony."

"Hm. A compelling argument."

"I'll give you my lawyer's contact," the woman—whose name tag helpfully identified as 'Cindy'—said. "Get you an ironclad prenup. But I don't imagine you came in here for legal advice."

Thump thump thump thump thump.

"Cowabunga!"

Creak, sproing, thump!

"He sticks the landing, and the crowd goes wild! Raaaah!"

Cindy raised a brow. "Or a trampoline."

"Indeed." Shadow greatly appreciated this woman's unshaken demeanor. This was the sixth mattress store they had entered—how even Station Square had enough residents for the pockmark of stores that appeared on the map, Shadow had no idea—and it was the first where the seller had not immediately whipped out their phone to take a picture of the two hedgehogs. Her tolerance for blue shenanigans was also downright miraculous. If she kept this up, Cindy was getting all the sales add-ons she dared suggest. "I suddenly find myself in need of a new bed."

"Oh?" Her lips quirked, skin at the corner of her mouth wrinkling deeply. "Sturdy?"

Shadow gestured at his blue lover, currently testing the springiness of each mattress.

"Gotcha."

"What do you have in a queen or king, ready to go out the door?"

"You got yourself a truck?" The older woman asked, peeking out the store-wide windows. The street outside only hosted sedans and a few minivans. Certainly no hauling vehicles.

"Something like that."

"Do you have a frame already?"

Shadow frowned. "Is a frame necessary? I just have a mattress and box spring, at the moment."

Cindy was visibly horrified, rich, dark skin gone sallow. "Pray you don't have mold. Sir?" Her voice rose, thrown towards the blue bounce-tester.

Sonic paused his acrobatics and looked about the store. While it was spacious, it was also well-lit, with nothing taller than chest-height to obstruct the view. Finding no other customers, Sonic jolted, suddenly realizing he was "sir."

"Could you narrow down some frames?" Cindy requested. "Any with a blue sticker on the price tag are take-home ready."

Sonic's ears perked. "Oh! Yeah!" He began to zip about, inspecting bed frames closely, tail wagging. Knocking on wood, pushing in all directions, spreading his arms for unknown measurements, he judged, and judged harshly.

"Well done," Shadow chuckled. "Did you keep the kids in the divorce, as well?"

"No kids, but I kept her niblings. The in-laws all like me better. Now!" Clapping once, the crafty divorcée guided Shadow through the options.

Shadow didn't care so much for all the minutiae of materials and warranties, and Sonic had helped narrow down firmness. Now all that concerned Shadow was, as always, scent.

Several of the mattresses reeked of dozens of human testers. Long-term displays, deeply marked down, and completely unsuited to his territorial nature. One or two had a deeper scent—returns, the saleswoman clarified—of just one or two humans, which didn't make his scruff rise as much, but which still did not suit. Finally, blessedly, Shadow found a mattress with just a few light human odors, which were nearly overpowered by the more chemical smell of new production.

Giving the surface a brief push, Shadow nodded to his personal shopper. "This one."

"You sure?" Cindy crossed her thick arms. "It's a new arrival, but it got a little scratched in delivery. Honestly, it should be priced down more than it is."

"If I can take it home right now, I don't care."

"All yours, then. Sir?" She called out again to Sonic. "Looks like you're going with a standard king."

"Oh!" Sonic flitted to a black iron frame, gripping the top bar of the headboard and jumping onto the siderail. He leaned over, tail wagging. "This one!"

"Looks sturdy," Shadow mused.

Sonic's tail wagged harder. "Yep," he affirmed, lips popping on the P. The head and footboard were a simple spindle style. Lots of places to grab, either to put power behind your thrusts or to hold on for dear life.

Shadow's quills rippled in anticipation. "Done." Fishing a card from his black drop-leg bag, he handed it over to the women. "Ring it up, please."

She blinked, looking between Shadow's proffered card and Sonic's continued exploration of the head and footboard. "Don't you need to know the total? Like I said, the mattress really should—"

"I appreciate the concern, but I think it's best I get him," a jerk of the chin towards his mate, "out of here before he sheds a quill for someone else to jump on later."

"Esh," Cindy winced. "Okay, paperwork speedrun. Come with me, let's do this."

Still quite pleased with their treatment and in no mood to extend his time in the store arguing about add-ons, Shadow went ahead with his plan to let her sell him every bell and whistle she was brave enough to suggest. He didn't even bother checking the bottom line as he signed, and only briefly considered the complimentary sheet options before accepting a plain cream set. He'd need to buy better quality, no doubt, but they would suffice for the night.

"Alright," Cindy chirped, visions of commission dancing in her head, "you want to bring your truck around?"

"Oh," Shadow chuckled, "no, I don't have a truck. More of a motorcycle man."

"Uh." Unease flashed across the woman's face. "We'll have to do some more paperwork to change this to delivery—"

"No, that won't be necessary." Taking his upsell goodie bag and paperwork, Shadow headed back to where his mate was still admiring the bed frame, gripping tight at various points. Clearly, Sonic had plans. "Hands off, unless you want to be left back home," he warned his fellow hedgehog.

Dutifully, Sonic jumped off, lacing his fingers behind his neck. His eyes went to the mattress seller, and the trickster grinned, anticipating.

Shadow took hold of the frame. He gathered his energy and intent, and released the chaos, disappearing in a buzz of red electricity.

Back in his new bedroom, Shadow let the frame go and promptly teleported back to the store.

"—the fuck!" Cindy finished, her first word only enjoyed by Sonic. With how loud Sonic laughed, he'd enjoyed it and her shock immensely.

"We'll need to put the mattress and box spring on the floor," Shadow warned, "or else that other frame will go along with."

"I... okay?" Cindy plopped down on a display bed. "Do you need any help?"

"You've been quite helpful already," Shadow assured, getting to work maneuvering the rest of his purchase to the ground.

"Glad to hear," she said, dazed but on script. "There's a survey at the bottom—"

Shadow disappeared, back to his bedroom once more. He was chuffed that the box spring settled perfectly atop the frame. Pure skill. He took a half-second to unpack the sheets and make the bed—hopefully Sonic and he would be falling into bed together the second they returned—and popped back to the store.

"—feedback is appreciated," Cindy finished.

"And your help was greatly appreciated," Shadow praised. "Sonic, what are you feeling for dinner?"

"Ooo!" Sonic hopped to his mate's side, lacing their fingers together. "Veggie-heavy, I'm thinking."

"Agreed." The pair walked out of the mattress store, leaving behind a stunned employee who would be blessed by a very positive review the next morning.

Station Square was certainly the preferable location to have their first real outing as a couple. The people of Green Hills would have been full of questions for the town hero, should he show up with a beau in tow. Most of Station Square was aware that Shadow was in residence, but the general standoffish nature of cityfolk kept them from doing more than staring and snapping a picture upon seeing not one, but two animal people. The ability of humans to ignore strangeness—or at least strangeness which was well known to be able to defend itself—was impressive.

Shadow had enjoyed a few days out like this with Rouge. Coffee, light shopping, idle chatter. But, with Sonic, he was able to share soft glances, brief kisses, teasing chatter. Perhaps this was a taste of a "normal" life. One where he wasn't just sitting in his room, waiting for GUN to call him up to rescue some hostage or subdue a mutated threat that rose up from the ocean's depths. It was...nice.

"Sit down or take out?" Shadow asked.

"It's nice out. Let's eat outside somewhere."

"Hmmm...falafel salad work?"

"Perfect!"

"I know a good place," Shadow said, taking his phone—so rarely used, but useful today, as he made dozens of delivery purchases—from the small pouch of his black drop-leg bag.

(Sonic had been fascinated by that article, and periodically hooked his fingers in the waist-belt or, when he thought they had more privacy, the thigh-belt, pulling Shadow back into his chest for a little nip to his neck and hot words of promise.)

The agent swiped a bit with his non-dominant hand, unwilling to let Sonic's hand go just for the convenience of typing. Yes, the extra regard of strangers was disconcerting, but the warmth on his palm and the occasional brush of arm to arm made the irritation fade away.

"Alright. Order is in." Shadow stowed his phone away. "Ever been to Oakland?"

"Aw!" Sonic bumped into Shadow's shoulder. "Dinner and a run? You know just how to treat a guy."

"As much as you were bouncing around on those beds back there, a bit of exercise seemed prudent."

"You could always bounce me around on your bed, Shads."

"Oh?" Shadow glanced sideways, raising a brow. "Have you recovered enough to get it up again?"

"Siiiiiigh. No." Sonic huffed at his suitor, cheeks puffed out. "Stop looking all smug."

"I'm not smug," Shadow denied. "This is merely pride in a job well done."

"Uh huh. Allow me to take that pride down a notch." Sonic let Shadow's hand go and disappeared down the street.

Shadow followed close behind, making up the distance swiftly, coming abreast of his rival. They glanced at one-another, grinning, and let the race truly begin.

Fifteen minutes was more than enough time for the pair to reach the west coast, so they passed the extra minutes sprinting along the beach. They slowed down, careful to not kick up a gritty spray over the miles and miles of beachgoers. The ocean air was chilly, the sand rockier than either hedgehog liked, but the waves left a beautifully flat stretch for running. They passed several dozen joggers doing just that before Shadow's internal clock judged that a suitable amount of time had passed.

They arrived at the falafel truck right as their order number was called, snatching the bag on the fly. This time, they ran north at the shore, until the sandy stretch thinned, land rising up, the beach replaced by tall, rocky cliffs. Finding a spot far enough from the coastal highway for privacy, with not too many sharp rock chips underfoot, they settled down among the short, scrubby bushes to share another meal as the day began shifting to dusk.

Shadow completed his online shopping (hopefully), they both did a bit of texting with Sonic's plotting crew (and light bickering with one-another over Shadow's continued antipathy towards a purely helpful pink hedgehog), and they shared a shockingly sweet bit of baklava that had Sonic sucking his fingers clean. Shadow smiled softly as he enjoyed the sight. The smaller hedgehog might be well-satisfied, but Shadow hoped those lips wouldn't be too tired by evening.

Even with Sonic's attempts to lick the syrup away, when his smartwatch rang and he swiped to answer, his finger left a smudge behind on the glass face.

"Hey, Doc," Sonic said, turning his back on Shadow for a semblance of privacy. "Didn't think you'd call so late."

"Normally, I wouldn't," a woman's voice—a bit scratchy, clearly older— replied, "but I had a cancellation and wanted to see if you'd like to move up our session to tomorrow, eleven a.m.?"

"Oh, sweet!" Sonic's ears perked. "Yeah! Sounds great!"

"Alright, penciling you in. Anything I should know beforehand? You said you had updates."

"Banana shirt, good news only, Doc. Just wanna keep you in the loop."

"Love to hear it, Sonic. Alright, see you at eleven."

"See ya!" Sonic chirped, smearing his watch again as he hung up. He frowned, examining the smudges, and licked the glass, rubbing it on his chest fur to polish.

Shadow examined the hero carefully. At the word "Doc," he'd half expected to hear Ivo begin evil monologuing. The voice he did hear was completely unknown to him. He was not a fan of unknowns. Or doctors.

Judging his watch clean enough, Sonic turned back to his partner. "Looks like I'll have to head out tomorrow." His brows drew down. "Unless you want me to go back home tonight? Am I overstaying my welcome?"

"I'd like you to stay," Shadow reassured. "If you want to?"

"Woo, cuddles!" Sonic cheered. "I call little spoon!"

How to ask, how to ask...doctors and appointments were clearly a private matter. He shouldn't expect Sonic to disclose his whole medical history, certainly not after barely a day together, but it ate at Shadow's scarred brain. Was Sonic ill? Was this the proposed testing, from his earlier talk about condoms? Sonic didn't seem particularly motivated to move on to penetrative sex, but perhaps he was just medically dotting i's and crossing t's. Should Shadow make a similar appointment? What doctor at GUN would he even trust to—

"My therapist," Sonic said.

Shadow jolted back to the real world.

Grinning, Sonic leaned back, propping his arms behind him to keep from tumbling into thick coyote brush. "You had that lost-in-your-brain look," Sonic explained. "You wanted to ask, right?"

"I—" Shadow began, ears pinning back. "It's none of my business."

"Yep," Sonic said. "But I'm fine with telling you. That was my therapist."

"You...have a therapist?"

"Uh huh. For about six years, now. Though I only see her every few months, nowadays." Sonic's chest puffed. "I 'have made impressive progress.' But I thought I should give her an update sooner than we had scheduled."

Shadow looked beyond the cliff edge to the choppy ocean far below. Somewhere down there, sea lions were arguing with gulls. It must be a horrendous cacophony up close, but this far, it blended nicely with the strong winds and crashing waves.

"You okay with me telling her it's you?" Sonic asked. "I mean, you that I'm dating. Although she'll probably get it real quick, when I say 'boyfriend.' Unless she thinks I got the hots for the furless." Sonic stuck out his tongue, muzzle wrinkling.

Shadow hunched over, quills spreading with the arc of his spine. He shrugged. "Whatever."

A particularly loud sea lion trumpeted, and several gulls rose on cliffside winds, high into the air, to begin a slow glide back to the rich cove below. A few braved a swoop by the hedgehogs, but they'd secured their trash well, and the noisy thieves banked away again.

"You gonna brood until it gets dark, or you gonna speak your mind, Shadow?"

"I am not seeing your shrink," Shadow snapped, tucking his knees up to his chest. Little crackles of red energy curled across his quills.

"Uh, good," Sonic drawled, tail giving a single, terse thump. "Doc hasn't taken new patients in years. And it'd probably violate some sort of psych rule. Also, she hates 'shrink,' it's got a bad history. Call her a 'head doctor' if you want to be petty without being offensive."

"Look," Shadow growled, "if this is you trying to be subtle about telling me I've got issues to work on, I'm well aware."

"I'm pretty sure most of the planet is aware, after the whole Eclipse Cannon thing." Sonic gestured to the darkening sky, where the faint glow of the debris field was just beginning to emerge against the backdrop of space. It was no longer bright enough to be a second moon, but it retained enough glow to be visible even in the light pollution of Station Square. Here, on the edge of the continent, it streaked the sky like a second Milky Way. "I am doing you the favor of letting you know that I'm gonna tell my therapist that I bagged the guy I've been whining about for the last half-year—"

"Seven months," Shadow interjected.

Sonic flipped him off. Shadow should have smirked at the hero's consternation. He did not.

"Look. I'm not gonna kiss and tell," Sonic went on, "but keeping her updated on big changes when I'm in a good headspace helps speed things up when I'm not in a good headspace."

"You—" Shadow glanced to his partner, an ear swiveling, as if to fully catch the conversation. "Are you...not trying to get me to see a therapist?"

"Oh, hell no," Sonic snorted. "It took me a year to find someone who didn't go all National Geographic on me, drooling over getting to be the first analyst to poke around in an alien's brain." He rolled his eyes. "And that was with Maddie doing most of the screening. I like you, but I am not cold-calling a hundred clinics, trying to find another therapy unicorn. There are limits."

"Oh," Shadow said. "Uh. Good."

Sonic shrugged. "Not saying you're mentally sound, but your emotions aren't my responsibility."

"Hmph. Is that something your 'head doctor' told you?"

"Maddie taught me that one, actually. But Doc backs it up." He tilted his head, considering. "Can I tell you what Doc said after the Cannon? Back before I knew you survived?"

Shadow considered. The idea of yet another doctor poking at him, even obliquely, made his stomach sour, his meal threatening to rise up and disperse over the cliffside. He barely tolerated GUN's occasional inquiries, and only if they could give a damn good reason. Which, given his ability to heal and disease resistance, was rare.

But Sonic was certainly no doctor. "Fine," he grumbled, tucking tighter to his knees. He dug claws into short, spindly plants, uprooting the ground cover.

"She said that it was fortunate that I could be there for someone. Someone who was hurting. But it wasn't—well, isn't, now that I know you're not dead—my job to save you." He puffed a quick laugh. "Even if it is kind of my job to save the world. Which is something she really doesn't like."

"I imagine she'd like it even less if the next threat was left unchecked."

Shadow felt a brush on his pinky finger. He looked down, watching as Sonic's own hand slid close. After some time, and with no attempt by Shadow to pull away, Sonic tucked his hand under Shadow's palm, lacing their fingers together.

"I can be there for you, if you want comfort," Sonic said, words slow. Considered. "But I am not responsible for or trained to 'fix' you. And you don't have to be 'fixed' for us to be together, so long as your issues—or mine—don't fuck us up."

"And if they do?" The words had left Shadow's lips before he could even think. He winced, leaning away from his partner, but was arrested by Sonic's firm grip.

"If they do," Sonic replied, "that's when we make decisions. For ourselves, first. For us together, second."

Slowly, Shadow nodded. His fingers shifted, lacing more comfortably to his lover's. He held tighter.

Sonic scooted in close, until he was flush to Shadow's side, picking their conjoined hands up to settle on Shadow's thigh. He rested his head to a black shoulder, their quills melding together.

They watched the sun set and the Eclipse Cannon debris field come aglow, until the moon rose, its light overshadowing Earth's strange secondary satellite. The sea air grew colder, and Shadow switched his hand out, leaving his nearer arm free to wrap about Sonic's shoulders, the further cradling Sonic's palm, thumb brushing across blue knuckles. That only bought a half hour of warmth, however, and soon Sonic was shivering, his weakness to the chill overcoming the peace of the moment.

Shadow rubbed his hand along Sonic's soft shoulder. "Do you still want to stay over?" He wasn't sure if what had transpired was an argument, but it seemed only fair to give Sonic an out.

"You're not getting out of big spoon duties that easy, Shads."

"Blast. My plot has been foiled." Reluctantly releasing Sonic from his grasp, he stood. "Then I suppose I must fulfill my obligations."

"Damn straight," Sonic said, rising to his feet. "Wish I wasn't too fucked out to give that bed a nice christening."

If asked, Shadow wouldn't deny his flash of disappointment, but he only shrugged. "At least I can feel pride in finally tiring you."

Sonic snorted, kicking a leg up behind his back, grabbing it for a stretch. "You tired out my junk," he said, giving a good pull and switching to the other leg. "These legs are good to go."

"Of course they are." Shadow rolled his eyes. "When are they not?"

Sonic let his leg go, sidling up to his partner and giving him a wink. "Give me a proper challenge on the way home and maybe you could wear them out." He leaned closer, chest fur brushing Shadow's arm. "Maybe you could make them weak enough to send me to my knees."

Shadow's eyes opened wide. His jaw dropped, letting the sea air and Sonic's scent flow over the Jacobson's organ tucked into his hard palate. The smell-taste was delicate and arresting. "Oh. Would you...are you sure?"

Sonic's muzzle brushed up under Shadow's chin. "How about you stop talking and start running?" he purred. "Tire out my legs, not my mouth."

Normally, it was Sonic who jetted off first, expecting Shadow to catch up. This time, Shadow found he had ample motivation to get the race started, and he didn't bother with the courtesy of letting Sonic catch up before kicking into full speed. If Sonic wanted a race, wanted his legs so tired he sunk to his knees before his mate, Shadow would do his utmost.

Sonic's legs actually were kind of wobbly, by the time they made it back to Shadow's apartment. Not that he'd ever admit it, of course. He'd just let his eagerness to wrap his lips around red dick serve as an excuse for why he fell so swiftly to his knees. Only a fool would question that.

Shadow hadn't even managed to fully close the apartment door before Sonic was on the floor, grabbing at his mate's slim hips and pushing back. He used Shadow's ass to slam the door. Shadow might be obsessed with Sonic's roundness, but his butt had its own appeal. It was incredibly muscular, with so much of his "running" motion coming not from calf, hamstring, and quadriceps, but from abs, hamstrings, and especially glutes. Grabbing the taller hedgehog's ass didn't reward you with a good squish, but with a solid hunk of delectable meat.

"Sonic!?" Shadow yelped, looking down. As Sonic looked up, their gazes locking, Shadow took a deep gulp. "Uh, the bed—"

"In a moment," Sonic said, spotting the hole of Shadow's sheath and zeroing in. "I want to feel you get hard in my mouth." Hooking a finger into Shadow's slackening sheath, Sonic pulled to the side, giving his tongue the space to dive in.

"Shit!" Shadow yelped, throwing his head back, thumping hard on the door. Hopefully none of the neighbors would be wandering down the hall anytime soon, as his tremulous groans kicked in almost immediately.

This was a different kind of race. If Sonic took too long, Shadow's penis would achieve far more firmness than he desired, but finding the thing was the issue. Part of a Mobian male's anatomical privacy was being growers, not showers; everything had to tuck nicely away, and a compact package helped that along. Good for discretion, bad for working by touch alone, even if the touch was to a sensitive tongue.

Sonic had always been a lucky hedgehog, and luck remained on his side tonight. Shadow's soft cock seemed to almost crawl onto his tongue, twitching and growing with each rapid heartbeat. Sonic repressed a triumphant cry, fearing any move could push the responding length away. With a careful lick up, Sonic ushered Shadow's soft member between his lips and got to work coaxing the beauty to full attention.

There was so much room in his mouth, at first, but Sonic couldn't complain. Shadow's taste was fascinating. Thoroughly cleaned of lube and spend, what flavor remained was subtle. A light saltiness of sweat from their run. The watery, thin natural lubrication that kept the sheath from sticking to itself. The smooth, mildly umami tang of flesh. Really, it was almost more texture than taste.

The texture was...squishy. At first. Not the most exciting mouthfeel. It was the change that made Sonic's mouth water. Shadow's cock progressed in rapid throbs, from a weak thing that barely made it to the curve of Sonic's tongue, into a more respectable length that lay heavy back beyond his molars, and longer and harder still. Soon, Sonic's inexperienced throat spasmed, and he pulled back just enough to calm his gag reflex, letting lips and tongue work Shadow to his full length.

Dimly, Sonic realized Shadow had been talking the whole time. Some nonsense about "so pretty" and "I've dreamed of this" and "can't believe how fast you get me hard." There was no safeword in all that, and that's all that mattered to the blue blur. That and finally being able to bob his head along his grumpy boyfriend's savory prick.

When Shadow grabbed Sonic's quills, pulling him off, leaving a tightrope of spit to snap between lips and frenulum, Sonic growled. He tried to lean forward again, but Shadow tilted his head back, making him look up into desperate red eyes.

"Bed," Shadow ordered.

Sonic scowled. He pulled against his lover's grip once more, but the dark agent's strong arm kept Sonic's head firmly in place. Oh. Oh. He wanted Shadow to hold his head still as he did the work. Sonic was about to ask for just that, but Shadow was hooking his other hand under Sonic's armpit, hauling him to his feet.

His knees were incredibly wobbly, now, but cruel Shadow didn't do his lover the damn courtesy of sweeping him up bridal style to bring him to bed for ravishment. No, Shadow had the gall to lay his hand upon Sonic's backside! To slap his poor boyfriend's ass and again snarl "bed" in a sensitive blue ear.

Sonic complied. But only because he wanted to! Yeah!

The lights were out in the bedroom, but it was by no means dark. The curtains of the room-wide windows were open—Sonic was pretty sure they had a reflective privacy film, but couldn't give two shits to confirm he wasn't putting on a show—and city lights shone in. This high up and far off, they were reduced to thousands of fairy lights in myriad shades.

Shadow closed the door behind them—as if someone might enter? Old habits—and pushed Sonic's right shoulder, spinning the smaller hedgehog about and catching him up in his arms. One went about a giving waist, hand taking a solid grip on plump ass. The other slid up Sonic's back, between two short spines, fingers digging into longer head quills. Black claws scraped at Sonic's scalp, sending a tingle down his spine to the tip of his tail. Taking a new handful of quills, Shadow pulled Sonic's head back, drawing a gasp from the smaller hedgehog, allowing a mouth full of sharp teeth and skilled tongue full access to invade.

Sonic was very thankful for Shadow's unrelenting hold. After a minute of his suitor's avid kisses, there was no way Sonic could have kept himself off his knees. If he'd gone down again, he'd have missed the way Shadow whispered unintelligibly against his lips. Missed how the black hedgehog's breath came in shaky gasps. Missed the grind and thrust of a fully hard red cock up against his own tired (but valiantly responding!) groin.

Somehow, Shadow managed to maneuver them to the bed. They toppled without grace, bouncing, teeth clicking together. Sonic giggled, Shadow huffed, and they got back to making out and grinding.

They'd done a lot of this the night before. Sure, the whole first time, childhood home, nest of lavender thing had been romantic, but a cushiony mattress and indoor warmth was pretty goddamn nice, as well. That and not getting poked in the ass by a woody stem. Or meeting eyes with a sentient car.

The rutting was pleasurable, but Sonic knew things weren't really going anywhere for him. If he allowed Shadow to attempt to bring him off, it would just lead to frustration for all. Sonic was satisfied. Deeply. In all ways but one.

"You gonna let me suck your dick or not?" Sonic growled up against Shadow's lips.

Shadow's hips jerked sharply, his length sliding along the tiny bit of tip that had struggled free of blue sheath. "Yes. How do you want me?"

"On your feet, soldier," Sonic teased. "I'm not done kneeling for worship."

"Don't mix your metaphors," Shadow said, upper lip curled. Still, he obeyed orders, standing quickly, clasping Sonic's hand to help him to his feet.

Shadow's hands were just about to dig deep into Sonic's quills once more, but his dutiful attendant looped fingers under inhibitor rings just in time, yanking black hands away.

"Stop getting distracted, Shads," Sonic chided. "I'm trying to take care of you." Sonic settled Shadow's hands atop his own shoulders, waiting until his lover took hold. Once he was sure the naughty hedgehog would play nice, Sonic slid his fingers free of the rings, giving him the freedom to enjoy a brief forry into Shadow's down-soft ruff.

Then, as steady as he could manage on legs worn weak from so many runs, so little sleep, and so much satisfaction, Sonic sank down. Down, slow, hands sliding over Shadow's chest fur—groomed lustrous and sleek by Sonic himself—and his twitchy stomach muscles, then to the side, to Shadow's slight hips and tight, strong thighs.

Sonic gazed lovingly on Shadow's prick, which surged up every few seconds, seeking a nice, wet hole, before it settled down again. "I wish I could get you soft and suck-start you all over again," Sonic purred.

Shadow chuckled, squeezing Sonic's shoulders. "I'd oblige if I could, but there's only one way this is going down."

"Yeah," Sonic smirked. "My throat."

Red eyes went wide, pupils expanding to take in every lumen of city lights. Shadow's member rose high once more, managing to stay up for an impressive period, before it fell again.

Sonic's tongue was there to catch his new friend, guiding the tip of his lover's pretty prick between his lips. He maneuvered it carefully, not letting more than the head inside, blessing that with gentle sucking kisses and full-circumference swirls of tongue.

Black thigh muscles flexed under Sonic's hands. Shadow hissed, hips twitching forward a mere inch before he got a hold on himself again, settling back to let Sonic do as he wished.

The reward for Shadow's good manners was great indeed. Sonic's mouth was so wet, so ready, drooling at his first taste of precum, and it swallowed cock down in a steady glide. The feel of Shadow's tongue loving his own while they kissed was an electric thrill, but it had nothing on the weight and steady pressure of Shadow's cock.

Sonic hummed happily, eyes and ears gone droopy as he enjoyed his mate's thickness. Well, not precisely thickness. Thick was Sonic's gift. Shadow was long. Long enough that Sonic once more reached his limit before he reached base. He wanted it all, but that was going to take practice. Maybe some research. For now, all Sonic could do was stretch his lips, trying to give Shadow another quarter-inch of attention before reluctantly pulling back.

"Sonic," Shadow rasped, claws tightening on blue shoulders. "Could you—fuck—could you hold there a second?"

With a good inch of space between cockhead and the spot in Sonic's mouth that had warned him to stop, Sonic was content to oblige. He breathed easily and calmly through his nose, tail wagging as he enjoyed the very male musk of his lover's sheath and balls. Looking up, Sonic met his rival's eyes.

Adoration. Shining down on him. Shadow's eyes weren't ablaze, but instead shone. Sonic began to wonder if those were tears, but then Shadow blinked and they were clear once more, yet still so very reverent.

One of Shadow's hands left Sonic's shoulder, sliding up neck and chin, until his fingers traced the wet line where Sonic's lips wrapped about his partner's cock. The touch was slow and light, tickling every nerve of Sonic's mouth. Shadow traced the whole way around, panting and shaking all the while.

"Can I—" Shadow whispered, breaking off to groan, his cock twitching between Sonic's lips. Licking his own lips, Shadow tried again. "Can I thrust a bit? Slow?"

Sonic tilted his head until Shadow's cock slipped from his lips, giving him freedom to speak. "Uh huh. But don't go deeper, okay?"

"I won't," Shadow assured. Cupping his hand under Sonic's chin, he tilted the hero's head back up. He pressed a thumb to Sonic's lower lip, and a great purr burst from his chest when Sonic took the hint, opening his mouth and sticking out his tongue. "Don't push yourself," Shadow said, placing his tip upon Sonic's tongue. "I'm just going to hold you like this. You need a break for any reason, just pull back, okay?"

Sonic's kind, welcoming mouth twisted to a snarl. "Shut up and fuck my face, faker."

Shadow's quills jumped high and wide, making him seem so, so much bigger, especially at this angle. For a moment, all those jokes Sonic made about the Ultimate Lifeform rang hollow. Shadow was something truly different. Powerful and majestic. Beautiful.

But, even in all his strength and ability, Shadow was gentle. When his hips rutted forward, red cock penetrating Sonic's slack, hungry lips, he didn't go fast or deep. He made one good stroke, as far as he could while respecting Sonic's limits, before pulling back for several one-inch thrusts to that borderline. Then he pulled all the way out of Sonic's mouth. Dropping his hand from his lover's shoulder to take a grip on his own base, Shadow guided his cockhead across Sonic's panting, tingling lips, and then fed his cock in deep all over again.

Was this a blowjob? Or just being face-fucked? Who the hell cared? Sonic was going to have to memorize all this, because he was going to give Shadow's sassy mouth the same treatment, the next time he got the dark beast to go down.

"Is this okay, Sonic?" Shadow groaned, once more tracing his thumb on the line where their bodies met. "Are you having fun?"

Sonic managed a little nod, then stilled again to let his mate continue breeding the one hole he was willing to give. For tonight, at least.

"How do you want me to finish?" Shadow asked. "Swallow?"

Sonic's brows drew down tight.

"Not that, huh?" Shadow chuckled, thrusting in and holding long. He sighed, breathing heavy. "Should I get a towel?"

"Hrmph," Sonic grumbled. He gave Shadow's dick a suck, pulling it in deeper than ever.

"Fuck!" Shadow froze, letting Sonic bob on his length. "T-there's not a lot of options. Shit, Sonic, keep doing that without telling me what to do, and I'm going to shoot all over your face!"

Sonic smirked. He sucked harder, bobbed faster, tightened his grip on Shadow's thighs. He pulled his mate in deeper than he had thus far dared. Not to the base, but improvement was what really mattered, wasn't it? Whether it was the few minutes of practice or the confidence brought from his boyfriend's unrestrained moans, there was no queasy roil to his stomach. Just an urgent drive to give satisfaction.

"Sonic, Sonic," Shadow groaned, mouth hanging open, tongue lolled out. One of his ears had gone flat to the side of his head. He looked so overcome, so silly, so ready. "I'm there, I'm there, I'm—"

Up against his lips, Sonic felt the swell Shadow had mentioned as the sign that the hybrid had reached his peak. He pulled his mouth off with a wet pop just in time, Shadow's first gush of cum splashing across well-bred lips.

Shadow's hand at his base tightened and he jacked himself quickly, using his own cum and his mate's spit as lube. More of his spend hit Sonic's check and chin, the hollow of throat. The rest flowed across black and red fingers.

Sonic really had no clue where the hybrid kept it all. Did he have, like, a reservoir up there? He really wanted to ask, to tease, but there was cum on his mouth, and it was taking him a while to work up the courage to lick it away to speak.

Shadow did him the favor. Dropping to his knees, he dug his clean hand into Sonic's quills, pulling the smaller hedgehog forward. Shadow's tongue swiftly licked up his own spend from Sonic's lips, moving on to groom his lover's cheek.

Sonic scowled. Yeah, it was kind, but he was gonna handle the problem! Honest! Getting his own two-fisted grip on Shadow's chest ruff, Sonic forced the hedgehog's mouth onto his own, shoving his tongue deep inside to take back a taste of his lover's satisfaction.

Okay...well, yeah, that flavor was going to take a little getting used to.

Shadow picked up on his partner's consternation, breaking off the kiss with a laugh. "I think you taste better than me," he confided. "Shocking, given your trash diet."

"Hey! I get my five-a-day!"

"Five what? Oscar Mayer wieners?"

"You shut up or I'm naming your dick Oscar Mayer."

Shadow mimed zipping his lips, but immediately broke the seal to say, "Let me get some towels to clean you off. Unless you want me to start a bath?"

"Too tired," Sonic replied. "Towels are fine."

With a kiss between Sonic's eyes, Shadow disappeared into the bathroom, briefly running the sink before reappearing with a few damp hand towels. He cleaned Sonic, then himself, using a final dry towel to rub the damp from their fur.

A little domesticity followed. Shadow found an unopened toothbrush under his old bathroom sink, and they stood together before the mirror, brushing and flossing. Glancing at one another, they grinned around mouthfuls of toothpaste. They shared a quick brush-down of fur to remove bits of detritus that had snuck into their quills during the afternoon. Shadow located an extra cable so Sonic could charge his watch overnight.

Then they slipped into bed. Sonic almost asked Shadow about a blanket, but then his boyfriend pressed his chest to Sonic's back, wrapping an arm about Sonic's waist and pulling him close. Shadow's body ran hot. He was the perfect space heater.

Dual purrs harmonized under the sheets. Shadow nuzzled into Sonic's neck, giving him a lick and kiss.

"I have nightmares, sometimes," he said. "Sleep paralysis. Just give me a good shake if I start to get loud."

"I do, too," Sonic reassured. "But I try to run."

"What?" Shadow snorted. "Like a dog?"

"Hope you still think it's funny when I kick you in the balls."

"Then my balls go out as champions."

"Dweeb."

"Loser."

"Asswipe."

"Bitch."

"Shut up," Sonic huffed. "Let me sleep!"

"Fine, fine." Shadow squeezed Sonic's waist tighter. "Good night, honey."

"Honey?" Sonic snorted, glancing over his shoulder. "You've been trying out pet names, haven't you?"

Shadow blushed, muttering into Sonic's quills, "A few, yeah."

"Hmph. 'Hedgehog' not good enough anymore?"

"I've always called you 'hedgehog.' Derogatory. Shouldn't I use something nice for my mate?"

"I like it. It's mine. And you're 'Shads.'"

"Well. All right, then. Good night, hedgehog."

"Good night, Shads."

Chapter Text

Strictly speaking, Shadow didn't need to sleep that often, just as he barely (if at all) needed to eat. On longer missions, he would often forgo both altogether, staying up and on guard so Rouge could rest, taking only a sip of water from their rations.

Like food, sleep was about a rhythm to life and a way to track time. Stuck in his stasis chamber with only the changing shifts of scientists to track, time could stretch and contract, until he was unsure if his isolation had gone for a day or weeks. The arrival of Maria had put an end to that. She'd broken every lab protocol, contaminating the Project's research left and right, even freeing Shadow from his chamber on several occasions. She'd still had a feel for the day-night cycle, and when she slept, she expected Shadow to sleep, whether in his chamber or, more and more as time passed, at her side.

The scientists had hated her. Her meddling was the excuse given for removing Gerald from the Project, on that last day they'd spent together. The researchers needed pure data, and the only way to get it was to put Project Shadow back in isolation.

Well, Shadow hoped the Project and, later, GUN, had gathered enough data during his coma to satisfy their curiosity, because now he refused any cooperation that didn't involve a very clear mission. He would protect Maria's world, but when he wasn't needed, Shadow would eat and he would sleep and he would live.

Though he hadn't expected to sleep so deeply, his first night in bed with Sonic. He should have been brought out of somnolence by the blue hedgehog's every movement, but it took the mattress dipping as Sonic got back into bed to bring him around.

"Turn over," Sonic said, pushing his shoulder. "I'll let you be little spoon for a bit."

Shadow blinked, eyes blurry with sleep. The room was mostly dark, the curtains having been drawn before they settled in. Thin bands of sunlight snuck in about the edges of the long, moss green fabric sheets and the center line where the two halves met. It was plenty enough to take in Sonic's very alert regard. Blue ears tipped forward, focused solely on his lethargic partner.

Shadow complied blearily. His right arm, which had been stretched overhead the whole night, to accommodate for snuggles, came down with a startling thump. He hadn't even felt the thing move, but, moments after it was freed, Shadow felt the tingle of awakening nerves all through his hand.

Sonic slid back under the sheets—where had he been?—and pressed up to Shadow's back. Black quills lay flat, letting Sonic squish the lowest pair between their bodies, gaining a bit of protection from puncture. The smaller hedgehog's innate understanding and respect for quills would keep his face safe from the upper set, unless he did something terminally stupid.

Sonic wrapped an arm about Shadow's waist, pulling him in tight. Instantly, Shadow's chest rumbled, filling the bedroom with a content purr. Little spoon privileges were worth fighting over, it seemed.

Sonic's tongue began running up Shadow's neck in long rasps, mussing the fur. He was languid about it, but focused. Thorough. Shadow's tail, pressed to his mate's pelvis, tried to wag, but only managed a few twitches.

With a growl, Sonic clamped his teeth down on Shadow's scruff and held tight.

The black hedgehog's reaction was instantaneous. His back arched, tail struggling free to flip up against Sonic's stomach, leaving his asshole vulnerable. His legs parted slightly, giving even greater access. Shadow gasped as he became suddenly aware of the throb of Sonic's sheath against his rump.

Letting go of Shadow's nape, Sonic gave it soothing licks. He chuckled, pulling the larger hedgehog tighter to his body, hips rolling to grind upon Shadow's ass. "So it works for you, too."

"What was that?" Shadow barked, rising on an elbow to look behind him.

Sonic was the very picture of smug satisfaction. His tail wiggled under the sheets, like a little burrowing creature. "Scruffing," he said. "Lots of animals do it for mating, but I wasn't sure if it was a Mobian thing or just a me thing."

"A you thing?" Shadow rubbed the back of his neck, scowling. The instant response had been...unsettling.

"Yeah. You did it in the shower, and woo!" Sonic shivered, quills bristling. "That needs to go in the spreadsheet, and I am a gold-star fan. Rowr!"

"I..." Shadow's shoulders hunched.

The lascivious grin on Sonic's lips faded. Pushing up, out of the cuddle, he sat at Shadow's side, pressing a hand to his cheek. "Oh, shit. That is not a happy face."

Shadow's ears pinned back. "No, if you like it—"

"Nope!" Sonic interrupted. "I don't like making you uncomfortable. No scruffing."

"I didn't mean—" Shadow raised a hand, stopping himself and Sonic, giving him a moment to consider. "I was...not aware that was a thing. It startled me. But it also felt...good."

"Uh huh," Sonic said, head tilting. "You still don't look happy."

"How effective is it?"

"Effective?"

"Can it be resisted?" Shadow clarified. "Or are you entirely immobilized?"

"Huh." Sonic's left ear flicked. "I dunno. You're the only person who's ever got a grip back there." He grinned, turning and laying on his side to present his back. He curled in on himself, exposing a wide sweep of vulnerable neck. "Try me!"

Shadow hesitated. Fuck, he did love biting the plump hedgehog, but doing something that would force him to submission...

Well, submission was nice. Helplessness was not. He didn't want Sonic spreading his legs due to an involuntary action, but how involuntary was it?

Nervously, Shadow reached out, pinching Sonic's scruff. Nothing happened, not even a tail flick. He tried again, using his whole hand to grab the loose skin.

Sonic's tail lashed in irritation. Reaching back, he batted Shadow's hand away. "Oh, come on, pussy. Bite me!"

Shadow's ears pinned down. A tiny fraction of the discomfort had eased when Sonic pushed his hand away, proving he had some mobility, but still he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I want to see if I can break free, now—aah!"

Shadow clamped his jaw down on Sonic's neck and observed.

Arched back, tail up, legs spread. Sonic whined, claws scrabbling, cock slipping free of his sheath to twitch on the sheets.

A second later, his elbow crashed into Shadow's chest, breaking the hold.

"Woo!" Sonic cheered, sitting up, dick standing like a bollard. "That's what I'm saying! Get wrecked, faker!"

Shadow rubbed his sternum, ears flicking forward. "So you can get free?"

"Took a second, but yeah. I think it's, like, a reflex, not paralysis."

"Oh." Shadow's curiosity stirred. "Would you be okay with me biting there, then?"

"Very," Sonic purred. "You want me to try? Make sure you can stop me?"

Shadow snorted. "Of course I can stop you." Despite the bravado, his shoulders tensed, quills pricking, but he turned to his other side, showing his rival his back.

"Shaaaads," Sonic needled. "You're freaked."

"Just...look, if scruffing can make me helpless, I need to know. Before it happens during a fight. So do it."

At his back, Sonic sighed. "I guess, but...okay. Here's what I'll do: once I get a hold, I'll count down from three. If you're not free by zero, I let go. Okay?"

"Fine. Just do it."

Sonic reached carefully between Shadow's quills, giving the most delicate of pinches.

Shadow shook his head, breaking the grip before Sonic could even start counting. "Harder."

"Okay," Sonic said, doubtfully. This time, his hand was harsh, pulling at the loose flesh. "Three—"

Shadow reached back, twisting Sonic's wrist until he let go.

"Eep! Careful, Shadow!" Sonic flicked his wrist, ensuring it was just the grip that broke.

"Bite me," Shadow ordered, tucking chin to chest. A fraction of the anxiety had eased. Enough that, with concentration, he made his quills go flat, giving Sonic access. His heart rate and breathing was still rapid, but now for a more positive reason. His sheath stirred.

"Do not quill me in the face," Sonic warned. "I'd rather choose my piercings, thank you very much."

Shadow snorted. "May I suggest a nose ring? So I can keep you in che—aah!"

"Free," Sonic growled around a mouthful of fur. "Foo—"

Shadow spun to face Sonic, the hold on his neck torn away, along with a fair bit of loose pelt.

"Pluh!" Black fur flew from Sonic's lips. "Pluh! How are you still shedding!?"

"As hard as you can," Shadow demanded. "I don't care if you draw blood. I'll heal. I need to know if I can still do it." His tail—which had certainly risen at the bite—lashed.

"Uff, fine." Sonic dragged his open mouth across a pillowcase. "Then I need to floss. Bluh."

Shadow turned his back to Sonic once more, chin tucked, quills down, shaking but ready.

Sonic scooted back in, pressing his hips up to Shadow's rump. His hard-on had softened during the proceedings, but the touch inspired a small twitch of interest. He pressed one hand to Shadow's upper-back quills, pushing them down. His other went to head quills, pushing them up. His breath heated Shadow's exposed nape, and he placed a small kiss there. "Okay, Shads. Here goes."

Pressure. Pain. Pleasure. Need. Shadow's tail shot up, his hole throbbing, hyper-aware of the bulge nestled between his cheeks. One of his legs lifted, asking for more. His back arched, and he gasped, an odd mix of growl and purr bursting from his chest.

"Free," Sonic growled against his lover's neck. He pulled his head back, taking loose flesh with him. Teeth breached skin, a warm trickle running through black fur. "Foo. Fun—"

Shadow slammed a fist backwards, into Sonic's stomach.

Sonic's mouth popped off like a suction cup. "Heeeeen," he wheezed, grabbing his belly, curling in on himself.

"Yes!" Shadow cheered, sitting up, pumping a fist. "Hell yes! That's—Sonic!" Suddenly remembering his partner, Shadow turned, wincing at the doubled-over male.

"Hap-peeee?" Sonic rasped. His muzzle was sprinkled in blood and black fur, but, despite the obvious pain, he grinned.

"Fuck, I'm sorry," Shadow said. "Come here, up, up." Scooping Sonic into his arms, the agent slipped out of bed, trotting to the bathroom. He set Sonic on the counter by the wide sink, turning on the water, flicking his hands under until the temperature felt neutral to his skin.

Looking over his shoulder, Sonic checked himself in the mirror. At the sight of blood, his eyes went wide and he turned to Shadow. "Your neck! Come here!" He grabbed at black ears, pulling insistently, making Shadow bend over for inspection.

"Healing," Shadow reminded. The flow of blood had stopped some seconds ago. Now the wound itched, edges stitching back together. Other than crusted blood, no evidence would be left after perhaps a minute. Not even a scar.

"I'm sorry," Sonic whined.

Shadow laughed, lifting his head to steal a bloody kiss. "I told you to. And it worked! You were right; it's just a reflex. I won't be letting things near my nape, but I didn't tend to let enemies get behind me before." He grabbed a hand towel, wetting it under the sink. "Well. Other than you. That was...interesting." He rubbed the back of his neck, blushing. The increased blood flow to his head made the wound throb, but the pain was, if anything, a perk.

Sonic leaned sideways, dunking his muzzle under the faucet, scrubbing away at his rival's blood. Sitting up once more, he sneezed out a mist of water. "Please don't tell me you want it that hard all the time." Getting a pump of hand soap, he worked it into his face, building up an epic bubble beard. "I don't even like my steak bloody."

"No, definitely not. A bit harder than the first bite would be perfect." Leaning in, he poked their noses together, a dollop of suds staying on his snout. "Just enough to lift my tail and spread my legs wide for you."

The soapsud Santa Clause boggled at his flirtatious lover. "Spread..." he whispered.

Abruptly, Sonic dunked his head under the faucet once more, splashing at the bubbles. He came away dripping, sputtering, and grabbed a fresh hand towel, rubbing his face hard. He was still quite damp when he jumped off the counter, grabbing Shadow's hand and pulling him back into the bedroom.

They giggled, kissing messily, and tumbled together into bed, Sonic landing on top. His hands were frantic, touching Shadow in a haphazard manner. Everywhere they went, he grabbed. Sides, thighs, arms, hips, chest, calves, ankles, and holding on that last one, pushing Shadow's legs up, draping them on his shoulders so they could rutt closer together.

"You're so fucking tempting," Sonic rumbled. His hand wrapped about Shadow's prick, taking it with long strokes. "I don't know if that stupid chart was a good idea or the worst idea." He kissed harder, hips snapping. His cock tilted down, against Shadow's hole, sliding to rub between firm cheeks. "I want to fuck you so bad, Shads."

Groaning, Shadow wrapped arms about Sonic's lower back, pulling him in with each thrust. "Maybe," he panted between kisses, "maybe next time, hedgehog. Whenever. Whenever you want. I'll take you all."

"Fuck!" Sonic bucked fast, hips slapping to Shadow's ass, prick settling deep in the cleft, throbbing. Pulling back from the kiss, he bit his lip. Brows knit tight together. "Hold still. I'm too...." He shook.

Shadow chuckled darkly, resisting the urge to grind up and set the hero off. Sonic on top of him, on the brink, was more perfect than he'd ever imagined. Shadow wasn't sure when he'd even need to masturbate again, but that was going to the front of the line in his dirty daydreams. Fare-thee-well, fantasies of turning their post-blizzard cuddle into bouncing the blue whiner on his dick until he was warmed outside and in. Someday, you may return.

"Fastest thing alive, huh?" Shadow teased.

Sonic's upper lip curled, tiny, dull teeth flashing. "Ultimate...Ultimate...oh, shut the hell up! You're such a bastard."

"Aw, don't call me a bastard," Shadow pouted. "I want you to make me your bitch."

"Nyeep!" Sonic trilled, quills flaring. He pulled from Shadow's grip, backing away. His cock jerked rapidly, precum dripping from the tip. He dived to "his side" of the bed, a hand rooting about under the pillows. He produced—ah! Shadow's shower lube. That explained the empty bed. The blue one must have gone in search of a bit of slickness.

Shadow snorted. "Is that why I got to be the little spoon?"

"Grrr," Sonic responded. He nipped Shadow's ear. "Roll over," he demanded. "Show me your neck, if you really want to be my bitch."

Shadow did not need a scruffing to lift his tail that time. Words. Words would need their own chart. Sonic had brought up praise, but degradation...that had potential.

Shifting to his side, Shadow ran both hands up his quills, pushing them out of the way. It wasn't cold in the bedroom, but goosebumps covered his nape. They only grew worse as his partner's body slid in behind, aligning ass to hips.

Sonic's breath steamed across his mate's scruff. "That's nice," he rasped. "Hold like that. You're so good for me." The lubricant's lid flicked open, its click reverberating through the room. "Now then...."

The bite was firm and sustained. Shadow panted, tongue lolling out, tail lifting to give Sonic whatever he wished.

Lube was squeezed generously between Shadow's thighs. The bottle was closed once more and dropped to the sheets to free up Sonic's hand. It slid between Shadow's legs, much as he had done to Sonic in the shower. Smooth, momentarily cool, and then warm. Not from body heat or the friction, but by design.

"Huh?" Sonic let Shadow's nape go, looking down at where he worked. "So that's what that's like. I've never tried the warm stuff." He pursed his lips."Do you just use it to jack off, or...?"

Shadow huffed, pressing his hips back, delighted to receive a responding poke from a fat dick. "It was in my shower," he pointed out. "What do you think?"

"Oh, good," Sonic said. He brought his fingers up to circle Shadow's anus.

Black claws tore a long line in the cheap complimentary sheets. "F-fuck," Shadow hissed, revelling in the slickness, waiting for the warmth, praying for Sonic to venture deeper.

"Let's see here," Sonic mused, shifting. His hips moved down, cock brushing the back of Shadow's lubed legs. "Okay, that's—holy shit." The hand on Shadow's hole shot away, landing back on a black hip, pulling their bodies together. "Shit, shit, that tingles!" With a little roll, Sonic penetrated between his rival's thighs. "D-damn, I need to get some of that."

The blue hedgehog did not immediately commence thrusting, still adjusting his position. Shadow's overnight dead arm proved that spooning was not so convenient for the big spoon, and Sonic grumbled as he jostled about the arm which was pressed to the mattress. With a little work, he finally managed to snake it down, fumbling at Shadow's cleft, fingers picking up the work he'd abandoned.

That other hand left Shadow's hip, going forward, taking a loose, slick grip on the agent's red cock. Cool, then warm, all over. Shadow shuddered, unsure if he should thrust forward or push back. Fuck Sonic's hand or grind onto his fingers.

Sonic solved the dilemma by taking it entirely out of Shadow's control. His teeth caught the dark hedgehog's nape, clamping down, making Shadow present. Tail up, back arched, legs spread, ready.

"Yesh," Sonic moaned about the flesh, huffing into black and red quills. The elbow of the arm he held about his mate's waist tucked in, pressing the automatically spread legs back together, giving the speedster a warm, tight path to breed. Which he did, swiftly.

Sonic's hand on Shadow's length moved in erratic bursts. There was no focus there, no art. The poor rhythm was maddening. Every time it began to build Shadow up, Sonic's jerking hips stuttered and the hand went clumsy.

The thumb rolling across his hole was just as frustrating. In. He wanted it in, but Sonic played it like a laptop trackpad. Brushes, the occasional press, but nothing near what his mate needed.

"Sonic, come on," Shadow whined, ears pinned flat. Fighting off the scruffing reaction, he opted on pushing back, longing for at least one finger in his hole.

"I am," Sonic gasped, hips picking up, jackhammering. He bit harder. His hand left Shadow's prick, arm wrapping about the taller hedgehog's waist. He pulled Shadow in tight, and a new warmth spread between black thighs. "I'm cumming," Sonic whined, lodging his cock deep, hips moving in tiny, final jerks. "Shads, Shads, Shadow, so good, fuck."

Shadow blinked. He looked down upon his sad, abandoned dick. No, they hadn't always finished together over the last two days, but the black hedgehog hadn't expected this session, after all the previous talk of sexual exhaustion, to be so...brief. And unsatisfying.

Sonic released and kissed Shadow's nape, chest rumbling. "Condom. Next time we use the warm stuff, I need a condom. That was too good."

"I can tell," Shadow muttered.

"Oh, don't be so pissy," Sonic teased, bumping his forehead to Shadow's upper back. "I'm not leaving you hanging. What kind of guy do you take me for?"

Shadow pressed his ass into Sonic's hand, appeased by the warm slide across his perineum. "Then get to it."

"One sec," Sonic requested. He pushed up on an elbow, throwing his next words out to the room at large. "Wadsworth, what time is it?"

"The time is currently nine forty-five in the morning," a prim voice called from the floor.

Shadow jolted at the unfamiliar voice, looking over his shoulder to find the intruder. A moment later, he realized it must be Sonic's watch. He'd never heard it activate before.

Sonic clicked his tongue. "Shower, dry, brush, breakfast, head out...Wadsworth, set a timer for thirty minutes."

"Timer set. Do you wish to label this timer?"

Sonic looked down upon Shadow. He smiled, full of teeth. "Let the bitch cum," he answered.

Shadow's fur and quills puffed to full alarm. "Um, Sonic—"

"Timer 'let the bitch cum' starts now."

Sonic nipped Shadow's ear. "On your back," he instructed. "You wanna make 'fastest thing alive' jokes? Then I'm gonna take my time with you." Letting Shadow's waist go, he pushed at his lover's hip, rolling Shadow over.

"What are you going to do?" Shadow asked. His face felt hot, and there was no lube up there to justify the heat.

Sonic grabbed two pillows, gesturing for Shadow to lean forward so he could slip them behind his head. The other two, Sonic held to his own chest as he shifted to kneel between Shadow's legs. "Nothing that wasn't on the green list." He tilted his head, considering. "Well, one yellow. And a blue. Butt up."

Shadow's mind raced, trying to recall how he'd filled in his side of the chart. Yellow, what was yellow? Biting, nipples, spanking—

Before Shadow could identify yellow, blue burst on him like a religious revelation. There were only two blues, and Sonic was not ready to send a home video.

He thrust hips up, giving Sonic ample room to slide the two pillows under his rump, lifting his ass for easy access.

"Thank you," Sonic said, gently patting Shadow on the dick. "Now, safeword is?"

Shadow snarled.

"Good enough for me," Sonic chuckled. "Just laaaaay back and let me enjoy this, okay?"

Him? Let him enjoy this!? Sonic was not the one about to scratch something off his bucket list!

Well. Maybe he was, given how wide he smiled as he located the bottle of lube, flicking it open and drizzling the liquid generously over his raised middle finger. Not the most dextrous phalange, but no doubt preferred for its traditional message.

"I'd appreciate feedback," Sonic said, laying down between Shadow's spread legs, resting his cheek on a black knee. "I didn't last long when I tried this on myself." Reaching out, he ran his slick finger up and down between Shadow's parted asscheeks. "I'm just too...."

Sonic pressed the tip of his finger against Shadow's hole, gentle, but persistent. A moment, a deep breath from the dark hedgehog, and the muscle relaxed, welcoming Sonic's finger inside.

"Sensitive," Sonic finished in a reverent whisper.

There was so little in him, but knowing it wasn't his own finger, and instead one which moved in an entirely unpredictable manner...maddening. On his own, Shadow would have gone straight to two, scissoring himself open, prepping for a third. He preferred to pump himself full, get things done, not play around.

Sonic loved to play, in any way possible. He seemed fascinated to watch as his finger pushed all about the sides of Shadow's sphincter, exploring the elasticity while only in up to the first knuckle. His legs rose up behind him, feet kicking like a schoolgirl chatting on the phone.

"I can take more," Shadow said.

"I know," Sonic acknowledged. "You said three fingers, wishing it was me?" His hand pressed forward, glacially slow. "Impressive. Is ass all you think about?"

"Sonic," Shadow whined. His hole clenched and released rapidly. There was no pain, for this little, but pleasure? Certainly. Enough to make him yearn for more. Reaching down, he grabbed his cock, giving it tight strokes.

"Oh, nuh uh," Sonic said, pulling Shadow away by the wrist. "No you don't."

"But I need—"

"Denied," Sonic interrupted.

Shadow's brows drew down. "What?"

"The yellow," Sonic said. "You wanted to try not being allowed to cum."

Shadow tried to sit up, but was brought low by a quick jab to his ass, Sonic burying the rest of his middle finger inside. "Fuck!" he cried, skull grazing the metal headboard. "Forever!?"

"No!" Sonic laughed. "Of course not, dude. Wadsworth, how much of that timer is left?"

"Twenty-five minutes."

"Fuck, damnit, shit!" Shadow barked. "You can't be serious, Sonic!"

"Safeword?" his lover asked.

Whining, Shadow shook his head.

"Thought so. Now, if those hands need something to do, they can spread your cute ass wider. Otherwise, behave yourself." Confident that his victim wouldn't get any more cheeky ideas, Sonic settled back to business. His finger worked slow and steady, in and out, insufficient and glorious.

Twenty-five minutes was way too long to hold his legs, but Shadow needed to hold something. The sheets were a lost cause, but he didn't want to dig claws into the mattress. Showing up at the store for a replacement this soon would be so embarrassing.

Sonic's finger pressed deep, testing his mate's limits, and Shadow keened. His hands shot up, grabbing two bars of the black iron headboard, holding so tight he thought the metal would bend.

"The wood ones were really pretty," Sonic said, the change of subject sending Shadow's thoughts reeling, "but I figured you'd claw them to splinters."

"What?" Shadow panted. "Have you been planning this since yesterday?"

"No." Sonic pulled his finger from Shadow's hole, making the larger hedgehog whimper. That sound rose higher as two fingers pressed back to his entrance, pausing there. "This was a spur—" Sonic jabbed his fingers in, deep as they could go before Shadow clamped down and howled. "—of the moment decision," Sonic finished. His fingers withdrew, leaving Shadow just the tips. "I was actually daydreaming about you holding the footboard while I fuck you from behind. Get a chance to enjoy that city view."

"Nyah," Shadow said, intelligently. Sonic's fingers were starting to move again, and he was realizing something: Sonic's fingers, as with so much of the blue hedgehog, were just a bit thicker than Shadow's. A fraction, really, but on something so small as his lube-warmed hole, it felt enormous. And this was at two. If Sonic gave him three....

Dear Chaos, please let Sonic give him three.

The movement of one finger had been nearly silent, but the gap and divot between Sonic's index and middle finger allowed little bits of air and lube to get trapped. The sound was small, but deliciously obscene. Wet. An aural beat to coincide with the percussive force under Shadow's tail.

As for other sounds...well, Shadow was no longer capable of holding a conversation, and while Sonic talked to his new toy, he clearly expected no answer.

"Gotta tell you, Shads, this looks kinda weird up close, but it is so damn sexy."

"Aw, that squeak! You are so cute."

"Relax, relaaaaaax. Let me go...yeah...deeper...fuck, you take it so well."

"You're being so good for me. So pretty. So loud."

"Oh, man, your dick went nuts! If I do that again, will—hah! Dude, cool."

"Horny little bitch. Ope! Relax! Sorry, should I not say that?"

"I—" Shadow panted. "I'm your bitch."

"Goddamn," Sonic whispered. His fingers withdrew nearly all the way, and when they returned, a third joined in. "Yes, you fucking are."

"Sonic," Shadow sobbed. His neglected dick hurt, but his ass drank the third digit in, fluttering and pulsing.

"I never figured out the prostate," Sonic said. "Tips?"

"Uh...uh..." Shadow arched his back, trying to remember anything other than the fingers fucking his ass. "Curl? Fingers? Up?"

"Like this?" Sonic queried, pressing in slow, slow, stretching Shadow, pulling a sob from his throat as those ever-so-slightly thicker fingers worked in to the limit. There, they twisted, curled, explored, but didn't hit.

"Less," Shadow said, lifting his hips, urging the fingers to withdraw. There was only a twinge of pain from the deep penetration. Sonic had fingered him long and thoroughly, and Shadow had always boasted a high pain tolerance, anyways. Now, his attendant's new goal was of greater concern. Maybe, if Shadow was lucky, hitting the mark would tip him over the edge early and end this torture.

"Really?" Sonic asked. "Okay. So, like, here? Hm...here? How about—"

"YES!" Shadow screeched, planting his feet on the mattress, lifting his hips up, trying to fuck into something, anything.

"Get back here!" Sonic laughed, draping his arm over Shadow's thigh, pushing down. "Hold still, Edgehog."

"Ngh...W...W...Wadsworth, left? Timer left?"

"Two minutes, seventeen seconds."

"Noooo!" Shadow cried, actual tears building up in the corners of his eyes. "N-no, I need—"

"Safeword, Shadow," Sonic pressed.

"Nnn! No!"

"Good," Sonic breathed, working his fingers back in, pressing his bodyweight down hard on a black thigh. "Hold on. You're being so good. So patient. So pretty." Gently, his fingers curled up, just until Shadow began to tremble. "Do you like this?"

"Yes. Yes, Sonic."

"My beautiful mate. Spread out for me. Shads, you're gonna make me update that fucking spreadsheet. I am so jealous. I think I want your fingers, next time. Your fingers are so long. I noticed, when we were holding hands. I bet you'll make me feel so good, shoving them in my ass."

"Hngh!"

Tender pawpads worked tiny circles up against the front wall of Shadow's rectum. It was an imprecise movement, half the time missing the delicate nerves, but every time they rolled back over the prostate, it was another jolt of electricity all along his entire reproductive system. Balls, taint, cock, hole, and rectum, even a tingle up in his bladder and down its path of release.

"Hold on," Sonic urged. "Not much longer. My pretty boy. You can do it, I know you can do it, Shad—"

Beep beep beep.

"Let the bitch cum."

"Good job," Sonic praised, and then could say no more, as he grasped Shadow's cock, sucking it deep into his mouth. His fingers thrust hard and fast into Shadow's asshole.

The only thing keeping Shadow on the bed was his lover's full bodyweight. The agent's powerful hips snapped up and his ass clamped down, and he saw stars in the daytime. Beautiful swaths of celestial glory, birthed and gone supernova in the span of a few heartbeats.

And then, he actually came.

Shadow yelled something, he'd never be able to remember what, but he probably deafened Sonic, anyways. His release came out fast, thick, the first jet making Sonic sputter and gasp. The blue hedgehog valiantly held on, not swallowing, but sliding his mouth along Shadow's cock, spend flowing out from his lips to pool across the black groin below.

The fingers in Shadow's ass worked steady, taking full strokes, pushing against the clenching resistance of the orgasm. Each withdrawal, fingertips sought out that bundle of nerves, hitting haphazardly. The inexpert movement was a blessing, giving Shadow a moment to recover before Sonic hit the bullseye again, earning his overwhelmed mouth another spurt of semen.

"S-stop," Shadow yipped, some eternity later. Letting the headboard go, he pushed Sonic's head away from his dick, closing his legs to protect his tender anus.

Sonic gasped, sitting up and off Shadow, removing his fingers and going to hands and knees. His face was a wreck, fur matted from nose down to collarbone, white drips falling from his chin and panting tongue. His whole body heaved with each deep breath and harsh exhale. "S-Sorry," he stuttered, wiping at his mouth, smearing cum and saliva all the way to the inside of his elbow. "I tried to swallow, but I couldn't —"

"Shut up," Shadow interrupted, looking down at the absolute disaster between his legs. "You are the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

A dark flush covered the bridge of Sonic's muzzle, his ears flattening to the side. He looked down, a tiny, shy smile on his lips. "Oh. Thanks."

"I think," Shadow groaned, neck going wobbly, head falling back to the pillows, "I need a nap."

Barking a laugh, Sonic shifted to the edge of the bed. "And I need a shower. Let me clean you up, first, though."

"Hmm." Shadow nodded. "Wish I could join you, but I have no legs."

"Good," Sonic chirped, patting Shadow's nonexistent left leg. "I get that sweet shower all to myself."

Sonic left Shadow's side for but a moment, returning with towels. He wiped away at cum and lube, slow and tender, especially when he came to Shadow's hole. Another brief disappearance, and he tapped Shadow's temple for attention, getting the black hedgehog to open his eyes to see one of the plastic soup containers, once more full of water. Shadow took it, drinking deeply, soothing the rawness in his throat brought on by so many cries. A third time, Sonic left and came back, this time, with, of all things, the blanket from Shadow's old bed. With winter well over, Shadow generally wouldn't need it, but as it draped over his spent body, he purred, wiggling to achieve perfect comfort.

"You're really going back to sleep?"

"Mmmhmm," Shadow hummed, tail trying to thump under the weight of the blanket.

Running fingers through Shadow's quills, Sonic sighed, soft and content. "I ordered coffee and bagels. Want me to wake you to eat, or let you sleep?"

"Sleep."

"Heh. Okay. I'll leave yours in the fridge. Need anything before I shower and head out?"

"Kiss."

Sonic chuckled. He obliged. It was a soft thing, and as chaste as possible, what with his muzzle reeking of sex. "Anything else?"

"Hmm." Shadow's ears twitched. "Date. Wednesday?"

"Oh? Yeah!" Sonic brushed gentle knuckles across Shadow's cheek. "Should we meet—"

"I'll pick you up," Shadow said, eyes still closed. "Four o'clock."

"Sounds great. Anything I—" Sonic began, but Shadow had no idea how that question ended. He was already fast asleep.

Chapter Text

A long sleep, with cuddles. A good morning fuck. Hot shower, hot coffee, bagel with lox, and a (literal) cross-country run. Sonic. Was. Thriving.

The speedster blasted through weather patterns and geographical features as he made his way to the east coast. Vast plains blessed with rain, tall mountains buffeted by wind, forests dappled in sunlight. He kept to the roads, where he could open up the throttle without damaging wildlife. If he'd left a half-hour earlier, Sonic could have enjoyed a bit more nature, but...priorities.

Much like the roof entrance to his home in Montana, Sonic's therapist left a window open for him to sneak in for his appointments. The Mobians regularly found themselves featured in the news, their presence endlessly intriguing to humans, and Sonic would rather not deal with an observant neighbor spotting him and cluing in on the mental state of Earth's favorite alien.

Sonic ran up the ivy-covered back of the immaculately maintained brownstone, landing silently in the building's tiny top-floor bathroom. Taking a peek at his messages (a little disappointed to see nothing from Shadow, despite knowing he'd finger-blasted the grumpy hedgehog back to unconsciousness less than an hour ago), Sonic found a ping from the illustrious Doctor Medha. A simple "Text 'ready' to check-in."

Sonic didn't bother replying. Doc was "too old-school" (her words) for an automated message system; this was the all-clear. No previous client, housemates, or other visitors loitered to break the privacy of their session. Still, as he opened the bathroom door, his ears went on a swivel for living presences, while his watch—fox-make, of course, and full of many clever tricks—did a scan for electronic spies.

This time, neither search turned up anything, which was a relief. Sonic really wanted the freedom to brag about his strong, surly suitor. Occasionally, GUN and various other government agencies (foreign and domestic) still tried to peek into his personal life. The in-person attempts to get info from Doc never made it past her front door, though she had been forced to replace a few rather nice umbrellas destroyed in the defense of patient privacy.

The more technological spying got caught up in Tails's checks. Most of the time, the fox finagled some sort of interference to disable a drone or beef up the therapist's digital security, but sometimes it was fun for Sonic to spout off outrageous lies about his "tragic past." (Which, obviously, Sonic had one, hence the therapy, but creating a new story was diverting. Somewhere, some agency was still convinced Sonic was a prince-in-hiding.) However, when Sonic actually needed help sorting out his brain, being forced to cancel a session or self-censor was an unbearable burden.

But not today! Today was all about showing off. His favorite!

Traipsing down to the cozy, pastel and earth-tone decorated first floor, Sonic called out, "What's up, Doc?"

"Ah, Sonic," a woman greeted from a circular table, giving him a smile that barely crinkled the skin about her mouth, in defiance of the near-total gray in her hair and the soft smokiness of her voice. "I'm glad the new time worked for you. Sit, sit." She gestured across the cross-stitched tablecloth, to the chair situated across from her own, a small tremble in the motion of her hand.

Doctor Medha was constantly hinting that she wished to retire, but not before her patients moved on. A few had done so since he began attending her sessions, significantly lightening the aging therapist's load. Yet Sonic suspected it was only a matter of the right patient prodding her bleeding heart (as he had), and Doc would be back at the beginning of the journey all over again.

Six years ago, being put on the woman's supposedly unmoving waitlist was the first sign that this therapist could be the fit Sonic had been searching for. Several dozen prospects had kicked patients off their rosters to get a chance to speak with a Mobian. Several dozen more had been successfully tempted by Maddie—disguised with one of Tails's holograms to masquerade as Commander Rockwell (Rockwell hated that setup, which was why Maddie currently preferred the uptight woman's form for family espionage)—walking into their offices and offering generous compensation...should they be willing to break professional ethics and tattle about the hedgehog's sessions.

When Doctor Medha had faced such temptation, the tall Indian woman had responded by turning over Maddie's unfilled teacup and, in the softest voice imaginable, asking that "Commander" please leave. It didn't sound like much to Sonic, but Maddie, whose grandparents had gifted years of after-school etiquette classes (which she loved to disparage), claimed the move was "absolutely devastating."

Medha wasn't the first therapist to pass the tests (professional ethics were stronger than Sonic had anticipated), but Doc was the one to stick.

The tea and cookies she put out for their sessions might have had something to do with that. Despite his recent breakfast, when Sonic sat he began piling his small plate with treats, remembering to give a "thank you" to the woman before he stuffed his face.

"So, Sonic, you said...what was it?" The woman clicked her tongue, thinking. "Pineapple shirt, good news?" Taking up a teapot, Medha poured a portion out for Sonic, then herself, before hiding the delicate container under a knit cozy shaped like a snail, complete with eyestalks extending over the spout. She delighted in softness and eccentricity in decor. The walls of the little kitchen were overloaded with the most striking pieces she'd found on her rare vacations.

"Buh-nuh—" Sonic began, before he remembered his manners. Swallowing his mouthful, he tried again. "Banana shirt."

"Ah, banana, not anaanaas." Medha took a few cookies decorated with black sesame seeds, though she didn't dig in with the fervor of her furry patient. "Well, I am always happy to hear good news. So, do tell."

Cradling his warm cup in bare hands—he would have to start keeping spare gloves at Shadow's place—Sonic began, "So, it turns out spring is the time for hedgehogs."

Shadow awoke in a bed infused with Sonic's scent, a glorious tenderness under his tail. Sometime in his nap, he'd located the pillow Sonic had used overnight, and pulled it close to his chest. It didn't have the right density to emulate the blue hero's squish, but still Shadow purred, burying his face in the softness. His tail thumped under the blanket.

Swiveling his ears about, Shadow tried to detect any foreign sound. He found none. No footsteps, no rummaging in the kitchen, not even a breath, except those from his own lungs. Shadow was truly alone. His first time alone, in his newly-solo apartment.

Privacy confirmed, Shadow rolled to his back, legs kicking in the air, throwing off the blanket. Clicks and trills and squeals burst from his chest. He wiggled, he writhed, he hugged the pillow tighter.

His suitor. Sonic. Sonic was his. His boyfriend, his rival, his pain-in-the-ass, his mate. Up until a few weeks ago, an actual partnership wasn't something he'd even considered. Oh, yes, he'd indulged in extensive fantasies of his counterpart, but even those did not dare stray past the melding of their bodies. Certainly he'd never allowed himself to consider the intimacies of grooming, cuddling, or even just sharing a meal and conversation. But they'd experienced all that, and more.

Sighing, Shadow let his legs sprawl back out, tail continuing its rhythm between each thigh, a happy metronome. A tiny fraction of himself wanted the blue fool back at his side already, but, mostly, he was thankful for a bit of space to let his mind catch up to what had happened over the last few days. Shadow had ridden plenty of emotional rollercoasters in his life, but ending the journey up high was a novelty.

Being alone also had the benefit of no one catching how he'd gone silly. Shadow could chirp and rub his chin across the sheets and let his tongue loll out as he breathed in the aftermath of Sonic's dedication to his pleasure. Closing his eyes, he let his body relive each touch, his brain replay every word.

"So strong, so sexy, Shadow, my Shadow."

"Fuck me, Shadow."

"I want to feel you get hard in my mouth."

"You take it so well."

"You're being so good for me."

"Horny little bitch."

Shadow squeaked, grasping the pillow tighter. Oh Chaos...oh fuck...

Oh no.

"I'm...I'm your bitch."

Shadow's eyes shot open.

Surely not. He hadn't. It was just a...a fantasy! One of the dozens of scenarios he let unfold in his mind, in the privacy of his room, alone. He, the Ultimate Life Form, would never say...that! To anyone! Certainly he'd never say it to his rival. To Sonic.

"Goddamn. Yes, you fucking are."

Shadow pressed Sonic's pillow to his face and screamed.

"Goodness," Doctor Medha said, blinking several times as Sonic came to the PG-version ending of his story. "Yes, that is big news." She tapped bit-short nails ("Even professionals have things to work on, Sonic. Anxiety is, as they say, a bitch.") on the sides of her empty teacup. "I would like to read this Courtship book, if possible. I do feel a bit in the dark about your behaviors, sometimes. A scholarly work would be quite helpful."

"Oh, yeah." Sonic fiddled with his watch, sending off a digital copy to her email. "I get that. Shadow and I were all confused, too!"

"Hm." The therapist nodded, taking a sip of tea. She often used the gesture as a delay to gather her thoughts. This drink was one of the shorter ones. "You said Tom and Maddie had read it before, though? That's good. Educating children about romantic and sexual matters can be quite embarrassing for parents, as is. I've never had a patient with a cross-species consideration on the subject, as well."

"Eh, Tom and Maddie did the best they could," Sonic said. At a raised brow, he sighed, and corrected himself. "They did what they thought was best, yes, yes, I know. But I did get The Talk." He scowled. "Several of them."

"Yes? About what?"

Sonic pressed a paw pad into cookie crumbs, cleaning up his chicken-adorned plate before selecting his next round of treats. "You know, the usual. If someone touches you in a way or a place you don't like, that's no good. Romances are written to be entertaining, not healthy, and, er...adult movies are made to be exciting, not realistic. Safe sex, STIs, pregnancy." Sonic snorted. "Could have skipped that last one."

"Well, you have mentioned some feelings of attraction to women," Doc reminded.

"Yeah," Sonic said, nose wrinkling, "but that's kind of a moot point, now, isn't it?"

The statement was met with a raised brow. "Is it?"

Sonic's ears started to flatten. "What do you mean?" This was the first in-person talk he'd had about his relationship with someone who wasn't actually a part of said relationship, and already he was getting pushback?

Or, wait. Was this the uterus question again? Damn, he really would like a peek at Shadow's internal setup before he went in raw. He wasn't ready to be a dad. He wasn't sure he'd ever be ready, or even interested.

"It is rare for someone to be in a single, entirely unchanging relationship their whole life," the therapist explained, pouring herself a fresh cup. "Most people date several partners over their lives, as they seek out their 'perfect match.' Or matches." She set the teapot down, fixing a bend in the snail's eyestalk. "I have mentioned that my first husband was also my third husband, yes?"

"Heh, yeah." Sonic snickered. He stopped snickering when he realized what she was getting at. "Isn't it kind of...self-sabotage to start thinking Shadow and I might not work out?"

"Perhaps. However, my particular concern is not that you are incompatible." The woman tilted her cup to swirl the hot tea, coming dangerously close to the rim. "Rather, that your isolated situation on Earth may make you..." She looked up, considering

Sonic crossed his arms. "Desperate?"

"No, no, not precisely." Doc Medha said, waving the harsh suggestion off. She perked up. "Oh! 'Precise!' Or, rather, 'particular.'"

Sonic tilted his head. "Particular?"

"You must be particular. Many people consider having a partner to be of greater concern than having a good partner. Often this gets tied up in their head with ideas of maturity, where they 'should be' on their life path, or their worth as a person. They think that being in a relationship is a sign they are 'on track' or 'winning,' and, conversely, that not being in a relationship means they are 'falling behind' or 'losing.'"

"Racing metaphors?" Sonic tried to smile, but his ears remained low. "For me?"

"If you wish to believe so," she teased. "But these are very common feelings, and they can result in people not being particular when choosing a long-term partner." On the word "particular," she thumped a fist to the table. Not very hard, but enough that the thin cups and saucers clattered. "The desire to 'win' at love results in people 'losing' at many other aspects of life."

Sonic found his arms dropping, wrapping about his souring stomach. He wanted to snap back, brag that he was always winning, but his therapist had seen Sonic on plenty of days where he demonstrably was not. She'd even been there on days so bad that Maddie had brought a tablet up to her son's bedroom for a video call, because even getting out of bed, much less running, was too much. It had been years since a session like that, but not so many years that Sonic could forget his emptiness.

"Fine. Then how do I figure out if this is...I dunno, good? Winning? You got the secret to finding my one true love, Doc?"

"Oh, if such a thing exists, I certainly haven't found it." She held up her bare left hand. Even the imprint of her last wedding ring had melded out to smooth flesh. "If you feel you two need relationship counseling, I have colleagues I can recommend." Turning her hand to inspect the naked ring finger, she frowned. "Not ones I used, though, so hopefully you'd get better results.

"But what I have been told—and shamefully often—is that a romantic partner is a teammate. Someone who makes your life better." She laughed, the sound raspy and comfortable. "Not always, certainly. Sometimes, being with another person can be hard, especially when they are going through a difficult time in life and look to you for help. But you should feel that your life is better for having them as your teammate. You should not be simply looking for the happiest you've ever been with another person, but also to be happier with that person than you are without them."

"I..." Sonic stopped himself. He grabbed another cookie, shoving it in his face. There was a bit of spiciness to this one, blending intriguingly with the sweetness of honey.

"It's not a forever decision," the woman continued. "And it's also not made in every moment. As I said, sometimes life can be hard, and good partners deal with that together. The important thing, the thing you must ask of yourself, is...does Shadow make your life better by being in it, Sonic?"

Sonic copied a page from Doc's handbook, picking up his teacup for a sip, washing away sugar and spice as he thought. His brows drew down.

The last two days had been...fantastic. The sex, for one, obviously. He'd never had the privacy or drive to reach such total satisfaction before, but Shadow had gladly serviced Sonic to exhaustion. Then there was the calming presence of another creature beside him—and atop and below him, of course—regardless of if they were mating. Sharing meals and runs, banter and cuddles, and a new, soft bed.

Waking up beside Shadow...wow. Wow. Sonic had spent a good ten minutes just laying there, letting himself feel his suitor's arm about his waist, a firm chest and soft ruff pressed to blue quills, the stir of warm breaths on his nape.

Shadow was great fun, yes. But he was also surly. Damaged. The other hedgehog had had several small meltdowns over the long weekend. Doubtless, there would be more clashes between them; periods of irritation and personal crisis and instability. Bigger ones, even, once the "honeymoon phase" was over.

If Shadow went harder, punished him again with something like the week-long shut-out, the manipulative kiss, the attack? That...that Sonic couldn't take. It would destroy him, destroy them. Would it happen again? Was Sonic willing to risk it happening again?

Risk...yes. Tolerate? No. Drama and pain and explosive resolution was good for a romance novel. Not for an actual relationship. He didn't long for a boring life with Shadow, no. But a life where the battles were thrust upon them, not brewed between them?

Teammates. That sounded nice. That sounded wonderful.

"Right now," Sonic finally replied, a small smile braving his lips, "yeah. I think he does make my life better."

His therapist let out a heavy breath, her shoulders easing down at her patient's answer. She smiled, claiming a new cookie from the tray. "I like that answer. 'Right now.' You really do seem quite happy today, and I hope you stay so. Remember, do not jump to conclusions on a bad day, but be honest with yourself about how bad the days might be. And no sacrificing yourself for someone else's happiness!"

Sonic opened his mouth.

"I still object to the savior complex," she preempted. "The fate of the world should not rest on a single person's shoulders!"

"Hey," Sonic smirked, holding his hands up in a shrug, "there's two teams, now. Technically, it's on six sets of shoulders."

"Mmmhmm." Her eyes narrowed. She crunched at her cookie.

"And we're not kids anymore! I mean, except Tails." He held up a hand, another going to his heart. "And we never plan on having a minor join us on another mission," he lied. "Never, ever again! Tails is just the tech guy!"

The ever-disgruntled mandated reporter snorted. "I'm sure." Taking to her feet, she began gathering cups and plates onto the serving tray, clearing the way for her next session. Her daily cookie and tea intake was massive. "Oh!" She paused her work, looking upon Sonic with sparkling eyes. "Speaking of children...."

Sonic's fur puffed. The pregnancy grilling again!?

"My lovely daughter-in-law signed me up for a softball team as a birthday gift."

Sonic blinked. "Uh...cool?"

"Very," the therapist affirmed, lifting an arm to flex a thin bicep. "I'm apparently a beast at the bat." Her lips quirked. "I keep mine in the umbrella stand, by the front door. To show off for surprise guests." She winked.

Sonic's muzzle wrinkled, teeth flashing. "Visitors are such a delight."

Shadow would have to teach Sonic which restaurants in the area were to be trusted. The bagel and lox was passable, but the coffee was unforgivably weak. Rouge had, of course, stolen his espresso machine and bean stash, so he couldn't even toss the delivery swill. That almost hurt more than the copper pans. If he didn't get a good dose of caffeine in, it would hurt more. Immune to most diseases he might be, but caffeine headaches were unstoppable.

Shadow had the good sense to shower and hide his "shame" before leaving the apartment. No being called a "hussy" by GUN's hussy-in-chief. He tapped modestly-gloved knuckles on the apartment door three units down and waited.

From within, he heard a sharp squeak, skittering claws, and shifting fabric. It seemed he wasn't the only one in a state of undress at this early hour, though it was more a late hour for his nocturnal partner.

Shadow's ears flicked at the rapid shuffles, curses, and, finally, clicks as the door was unlocked and wrenched open.

"Dah-ling!" Rouge trilled, arms and wings spread wide. A purple bathrobe cinched loosely about the bat's waist, desperately holding on to her dignity. "Oh, how I've missed you!"

Sweat. Bat. Hedgehog. Matcha. Lube. And something else that had Shadow's mind tilting between fury and disgust. Covering his snout, Shadow stepped out of Rouge's reach. A strong, unpleasant vibration rose from his throat.

Large ears twitched, registering the growl. Rouge stopped with just one slipper out of the door. The short white fur on her arms rose up. At her back, the agent's wings folded halfway, ready to fully snap out for escape or tuck in close for protection.

The agents' stand-off continued for several tense moments. Eventually, however, Rouge noted Shadow's protection of his muzzle, and tilted her head. "What, you got another foxtail up your...oh." The bat's own nose twitched. The insides of her ears went pink. Tilting her head down, she sniffed between her cleavage. "Ah. Not a fox tail."

"You know what?" Shadow backed towards his apartment. "Keep the pans."

"Oh, grow up, you little bitch."

Rouge's ears might be pink, but the entire upper third of Shadow's body went cherry red. A tiny squeak escaped his throat.

Blessedly, Rouge had already turned her back to him, giving the hedgehog a few seconds to recover. "Here." Stepping into the apartment, Rouge kicked a large box out into the hallway. One of the flaps was decorated with a red frowny face. The contents clanked and clattered. "I moved this myself. No cooties, I promise."

Shadow still hesitated, loathe to go closer to the door and the rival scent beyond. Dear Chaos, how had Rouge ever hidden this dalliance?

"I'll shower," Rouge said. "Meet me on the roof in ten."

"The roof?" As much as Shadow loathed the idea of entering that den of iniquity, he knew Rouge was at best tolerant of noontime sun. Surely his own apartment...

Which...probably also smelled like a sexy slip 'n slide.

"I'll be fine, Shadow," Rouge said, turning her back on him, letting the apartment door go as she stepped inside. "And don't you break your word, now you got the pans! I want tea!"

The door clicked closed and Shadow finally uncovered his nose. A bit of scent remained in the hall, but a brief examination proved none came from the box. Flipping a flap open, Shadow sighed with relief. Not just the good pans, but also his espresso machine and a respectable portion of his bean collection.

Taking his loved ones back inside, Shadow got to the extended ritual of a proper double-shot pull. Rouge could wait on the ransom. He needed his coffee.

"I'm home!" Sonic called out, closing the front screen door gently behind him. His ears perked up, searching for signs of the house's current inhabitants. The squad car had been parked out front, but Maddie's truck was gone, so just one parent should be present. Unless Tom had taken Ozzy for a walk. But, no, as Sonic toed off his shoes, he saw the retriever's leash hanging by the door. On the shoe rack, Tails and Knuckles's own kicks wanted.

Sonic's tail wagged. Boy time!

"Kitchen!" Tom called. "I'm making lunch. Tuna melt?"

Sonic's stomach, which had worked through his breakfast bagel and Doc's generous cookie portions, growled mightily. "Yeah, thanks!" Zipping to the dining room, Sonic greeted his father and brother's with a wide smile. "Heya!"

Tom had his back to Sonic, prepping sandwiches by the heating panini press, but Tails and Knuckles, seated at the island which delineated the line between kitchen and dining room, turned to look at their wayward brother. Then they looked to each-other. They smirked.

"So you could run home," Knuckles commented. His tone was neutral but his teeth glinted.

"Knuckles...." Tom's tone was far more tense. He glanced over his shoulder at the brothers. "We talked about this."

Sonic blinked. Talked? About what?

...oh.

Sonic was very, very glad he'd showered before heading home. He might reek of lavender soap, but at least he didn't waft about lube and spunk. Not that the family needed his scent to betray his activities. Even should he try playing off his two-night absence as a cuddle-fest, Shadow had betrayed at least some of their intimacies during the texting check-in.

His family knew. Sonic's family not only knew that he had a boyfriend, but that he'd gotten laid. Maybe not in specifics, but....

Tails mouthed something. It was definitely not "shut."

"Come unload the dishes," Tom said. "These two had to split your chores while you were...out."

"Yeah," the fox chirped, tails raised high, quivering. "We worked really hard."

Knuckles nodded. "We had to stay on top of things."

"Make sure you didn't get behind."

"Boys," Tom snapped. "One more comment like that, and there will be consequences."

Despite being the actual adult of the teasing pair, immune to nearly every "consequence" his parents could once inflict, Knuckles looked far more alarmed than Tails. His lips pressed together so tight they became a line.

"Dishes, Sonic," Tom reminded.

The hedgehog got to work reclaiming household responsibilities, glad to be briefly safe from ridicule at his father's side.

"Decaf," Shadow grunted, holding out one of his reclaimed coffee mugs.

"Oh, thank you, pumpkin," Rouge crooned, accepting the hot drink with her free hand, its opposite still occupied with combing out tufty tan chest fur. She'd donned a fresh robe, but it was left open to give her access for grooming; it was more to appease any potential human arrivals at the shared rooftop gardens, not her fellow Mobian. "I'm just about back on a normal sleep schedule, after that bullshit mission, and—"

The bat stared into obsidian-black java.

Shadow sat across from her, his slight weight barely creasing the stiff green cushions of the wickerwork loveseat. He took a long drink of his own double-strength, very not decaf Americano. A little bitter, but hot and smooth. His shoulders unwound.

"No milk?" Rouge's fresh, untinted lower lip stuck out, wobbling.

"You stole the milk," Shadow reminded.

"Ah, right." Setting the mug down on the glass table between them, Rouge got back to two-handed grooming, focused on fluffing up her ruff. Hers had nothing on Shadow's pillowy pelt, but she really did try. Tits helped a lot. "I would have thought you'd have bought groceries already." The bat looked upon her partner with half-lidded eyes. "Or were you too busy eating out?"

Shadow rolled his eyes and took another long drink. The coffee was already rapidly metabolizing through his system. The small tension between his brows eased, ears going to an alert, unperturbed swivel. There was some human typing away nearer to the center of the rooftop garden and lounge, but they had barely glanced at the passing hedgehog before getting back to work. A few pigeons fluttered and cooed about a nearby table, and smaller birds argued in the garden's carefully-pruned native flora.

Rouge had carefully picked the downwind seat, and the breeze which swept her scent away was just cool enough to balance out the noontime sun beating down on Shadow's black fur.

Caffeinated. Warm. Soothed. Satisfied.

"You're smiling," Rouge sang.

"Am not."

"Oh, you are just too cute!" Rouge flapped her wings, startling the pigeons, which flew into a cube-shaped honeysuckle bush. "I should have got you laid years ago!"

Shadow snorted. "And how would you have accomplished that? Planning to give up the musclehead now that you have..." Shadow's ears pinned back. His claws ticked sharply on the coffee cup.

Across from him, Rouge slowed her brushing. Her lips turned down.

Shadow collected himself, speaking as civil as one could, when hissing between clenched teeth. "Now that you have Rose."

"Give him up?" Rouge tsked. "As if. I think a bit of Red will fit in quite nicely with my color scheme. No, I'd have picked you something nice and fresh. Maybe from GUN."

Sharp teeth bared, Shadow glowered at the woman. "Humans? Pass."

Rouge chuckled, moving on to brush at her stomach. "Don't knock it until you try it." The fur of her lower torso was short, recently buzzed down to speed up the spring de-shed. She became incredibly fluffy over winter, and, even with the cut, maintenance had been up twice already this season, clearing out her shower drain.

"I'm good," Shadow said, watching as a small brown bird hopped up, pecking at a tuft of fur on the ground. Gathering an impressive mouthful of white fuzz, it flitted off into another well-tended bush, this one an enormous sphere with tiny blue flowers.

"Hm." Rouge let her eyes travel across the hedgehog's body. She smiled. "I think you really are. You look...happy."

Shadow was about to snap a reply, but paused. Considered. Raising his nearly empty mug to his muzzle, he answered, "I suppose I am." Tilting the mug, he drank slowly, hiding his smile behind.

"Well, well," Rouge cooed, extending her wings and curving them forward, edges framing her face. "Blue really pounded your ass into the mattress, didn't he?"

Most of Shadow's mouthful of coffee sprayed back into the cup. The mist that escaped was blocked by Rouge's wings, which snapped into place before her face.

Crowing with triumph, Rouge flapped her wings back out, shaking off the majority of the spray. "I knew it!"

"Rouge!" Shadow barked, wiping the backsplash from his muzzle. "No!"

"You walked up funny, honey," Rouge teased. Picking up a hand towel from her grooming supplies, she wiped the rest of the secondhand drink from her wings.

Shadow's tail pressed down tight on his still-sensitive hole. "I did not!"

"Amy owes me fifty bucks."

"She does not!"

"Uh huh, sure." Leaning forward, muzzle ridge wrinkling about a smirk, Rouge spoke in a low voice. "Some people bend over backwards to please others, but I always suspected you preferred bending forwards."

"I DON'T!" Shadow yelped. "I mean, I didn't! We didn't!" Quills puffing, he snapped, "Not that it's any of your business what we did!"

"Shadow, I am your best friend." She considered. "Best friend who isn't fucking you."

Shadow growled, ears pinning back.

"Come oooooon," Rouge whined, leaning forward to grab Shadow's hands. "You're supposed to tell your bestie all about your sexual exploits!"

Shadow puffed. "Then why haven't you been blabbing about the fe...Rose."

Rouge beamed. "Well, since you asked, she brought over this new dildo that has a big hollow down the middle, and these cute pink silicone eggs—"

"Stop talking!" Shadow screeched, ripping his hands away from the torturer, covering his ears.

Snickering, Rouge leaned back in her chair. "We'll work up to that story."

"No, we won't. We do not need to discuss...that."

"Come on, Grumpy McGrumperson. Gossipping about your sex life is fun! Healthy, even. It's like therapy!"

"Ugh." Shadow huddled in tighter to himself, halfway to just balling up. "Now you think I need therapy."

Rouge snorted. "Of fucking course you need therapy, sweetie. Anyone who's been through a quarter of what you have needs at least a few dozen sessions on the couch with a professional."

"I'll spend my couch sessions with Sonic, thank you very much."

"Oh ho!" Rouge's eyes sparkled. "Couldn't even make it to the bed, eh?" She wiggled, unrestrained breasts jiggling about in a way that (were Shadow not so set in his sexuality) should have been entrancing. "Tell. Tell! Pleeeeease!" She clasped gloved hands before her bosom.

(How Mobians could handle near-total nudity, but draw the line at bare hands, Shadow had no idea. He'd inherited the opposite sensibilities from Gerald and Maria. Although he was certain ungloving would soon feature prominently in his and Sonic's foreplay routine...)

"We napped," Shadow clarified tersely.

"Boo!"

Scowling, Shadow looked away. After some time, he muttered something.

"What's that?" Cupping a hand behind one enormous ear, Rouge lied, "I couldn't hear that, Shadow."

"We—" Shadow narrowed his eyes. His own ears swiveled about. All he heard was birdsong and typing. He disliked the typing. And the birdsong, a bit. Sonic had joked about bird-shaped surveillance drones before, and while there was no way this dumpster fire of a government could actually make a convincing fake bird, the damn fox....

Reaching out, Shadow grabbed his partner's wrist, pulling Rouge from her chair. Scooting to one side of the loveseat, he made her plop down beside him.

"Eee!" Rouge turned sideways, crossing her legs and leaning close to the hedgehog. Satellite ears swiveled forward. Several portions of her fur had yet to be combed out, leaving her pelt disheveled, but that no longer concerned the gossipy agent.

Tucking one leg under the opposite thigh, Shadow also turned sideways. He scooted an inch or two closer to his friend. There was a gentle whiff of matcha under a thick layer of whatever stolen perfume Rouge was sporting this week, but no rival hedgehog odor fought through to set him off. She'd been very careful in her grooming. Very considerate. As mischievous as she regularly was, she had always been considerate of him. Shadow could...trust Rouge.

Glancing about, but finding no robot flock eavesdropping, he leaned in so their muzzles nearly pressed together and he whispered, "We napped, and then I...I gave him oral sex."

"Oral—" Rouge began, then snorted. She smacked Shadow's bicep. "Come on! I've heard the shit you say in the shower. I know you know normal people words."

Shadow hunched down. The back of his neck burned. "You could hear—"

Rouge poked the male's nose. "Ain't you glad I moved out?"

Now Shadow did fully ball up. Head tucked down between his legs, he pressed knees to ears, blocking out most of Rouge's laughter.

The sound died out, but slowly. Shadow's muscles eased and he tilted his head up, peeking at Rouge from under his quills.

She smiled fondly, eyes soft. There was a devilish cant to her lips, but his partner remained quiet, this time.

Reluctantly, Shadow uncurled enough to be more hunched than balled. Hugging his legs to his chest, chin resting on his knees, he gave this awkward gossip thing one more try. "I...I sucked Sonic's dick."

"There ya go!" Rouge patted Shadow's head, ignoring how his ears tilted back. "But come on! More details?"

"What?" the hedgehog snorted. "You want a blow-by-blow?"

"That's precisely what I want!"

Shadow snapped at his coworker's hand, which darted out of reach just in time.

"Kidding! Calm down." Rouge fluttered her wings out, curling them forwards to shield their gossip on the sides. "No, I don't need you to tell me about every freckle on Blue's junk, but, like...did you enjoy doing it? Whose idea was it? Has he returned the favor?" She scowled. "Don't let that hog leave you hanging, Shadow."

"He didn't!" Shadow yipped. After a moment, he sighed, tilting his head, resting a cheek to his knees. His ears drooped lazily to the side. "He really, really didn't."

"Eee he heeee!" Rouge tapped at her thighs, building an insistent rhythm. "Spill! Spill! Spill!"

Shadow rolled his eyes.

He spilled.

Sonic wasn't fool enough to think Tom's warning had any real effect on his brothers. Not long-term. Their father couldn't monitor them forever. Soon enough, the family finished cleaning up their lunch and Tom went to the primary bedroom to iron out his uniform for an evening shift, leaving the three Mobians to rise to the attic.

Sonic prepared himself for impact.

High above the house proper, the attic staircase clicked closed, the sound echoing across the unfinished walls and slanted ceiling of their secret bedroom. Slowly, the eldest and youngest child of the household turned to their middle sibling.

Sonic minutely bent his knees, hunkering down, ears pressed back. He made himself as small as possible without outright balling up.

Knuckles approached and laid his hands on Sonic's shoulders, managing a squeeze that was just gentle enough to not shatter bone. "Are you well?" He leaned in, nose twitching. "You smell of cardamom cookies. Your therapist. Why? Did the dastardly hedgehog harm you?"

"He's not dastardly," Sonic said, rolling his eyes. "And I'm fine. It was an early check-in, not a crisis thing."

"Then you are well?" Knuckles pressed. "You are safe here. Do not hide the truth. Were you mistreated?"

"Dude, no," Sonic crossed his arms. "Shadow didn't mistreat me." He didn't need to get into the intricacies of Shadow's biting kink. There were definitely a few bruises under his skin, but fur would maintain his privacy. "All good, 'no means no,' enthusiastic consent, blah blah."

Knuckles intensified his shoulder squeeze to a painful level. "Good." He, blessedly, let go, stepping back from the middle child.

Knuckles gestured at Sonic's bare palms. "Now go put some clothes on, floozy."

Sonic's ears pinned back again. "Floozy?"

Tilting his head, Knuckles inquired, "Would you prefer 'trollop?'"

Rather than answer, Sonic leapt upon the guardian, tackling Knuckles to the floor. The hedgehog growled, the echidna laughed, and Tails sighed, suffering ever-so greatly, and flopped down on a beanbag, well out of reach of the brawl.

The wrestling match went on just long enough for Tom to begin thumping on his bedroom ceiling. By then, Sonic's raised quills and snarls had eased. His tail still lashed, but there was a little twitch at one corner of his mouth as he went to his drawers and donned a fresh pair of gloves. It felt odd, having them back on after two days of Mobian-style nudity, but also quite cozy in the gentle warmth of spring.

Maybe, come summer, Sonic could spend the hottest days at Shadow's apartment, sweaty but scandalously bare. The thought made him giddy.

The older brothers claimed their own beanbags besides Tails, kicking about and mashing the filler into place before flopping into cozy circular nests.

The trio let a silence stretch out between them. Every so often, Sonic would rabbit-kick at Knuckles's hip or Tails would smack a while-tufted tail-tip on one of his brother's muzzles, and they would share playful growls and snaps, but the tension fizzled swiftly, and they went back to lounging in peace.

Tails leaned his head back on the green beanbag, looking over the edge to appraise his childhood idol. "So you're, like...happy?" He flicked an ear.

"Heh." Sonic folded his arms behind his head, stretching out overworked muscles. "Yeah. I am."

Tails scowled. "With Shadow?"

"No," Sonic drawled, lifting one side of his upper lip to bare a canine. "Rouge and I hooked up, instead."

Knuckles sat up so fast that his beanbag's tiny styrofoam pellets squealed as they pressed together. "You WHAT!?"

Sonic recognized his error immediately. Kicking at the floor, he jumped to the edge of his amorphous seat, closer to Tails. Blue quills puffed to maximum tension. "Knux, I—"

The echidna was on his feet, towering over his siblings. "You, who I called BROTHER!?" Rich purple irises sparked to furious pink. Flames danced about the Guardian's fists, scorching the orange polyester beanbag fabric below. The already stuffy attic air began to cloy, irritating Sonic's throat.

"JOKING!" Sonic yipped, rolling backwards, over his little bro, landing crouched behind his new meatshield. "It was a joke!"

The air about Knuckles wavered in heat haze. "A joke?" he snarled. His shoulders rose high with each intense breath. His teeth shone with saliva.

"A very bad joke!" Sonic insisted, ducking lower, tucking his head under an orange tail. He prayed the echidna wouldn't go for a headshot if it also meant harming an innocent. "The worst!" His own tail tucked between his legs. "Please don't kill me."

"Please don't kill him up here," Tails added, though his words lacked Sonic's urgency. He waved at the ceiling. "These beams are holding up my workshop."

The Flames of Disaster blazed brighter.

Tails huffed, unimpressed. "Turn the fists off, dingus. You'll burn the whole house down."

Knuckles clenched his fists tighter and gnashed his teeth. Yet, a moment later, the flames were quenched. The attic air remained uncomfortably hot and heavy in Sonic's chest, but that could have also been a byproduct of his brother's continued glare.

Sonic almost grabbed at his little bro's tails as the fox stood and took a leap, fingertips brushing the ceiling window, venting it open to let in fresh, cool air. Tails staggered a moment as he landed on shifting beanbag filling, but flicked his tails to regain balance. The teen genius crossed his arms, looking between his big brothers with disgust.

"I'm not letting you ruin my sleep because you're down here being pissy about your love life, so get. Over. It."

Sonic nodded, hard. He was over it. So over it he was under it.

The same couldn't be said for their elder brother, who looked away. His thick tail twitched. "I do not have a love life," the last echidna grumbled. He collapsed heavily back to his beanbag.

The impact burst the flame-thinned polyester, sending up a great puff of tiny white beads. They floated down gently, swirling about in the breeze from the open window, scattering to every corner of the bedroom. A few landed on Knuckle's head, decorating his locs to the very tips.

"Sort your..." Tails flicked a hand at the echidna, "issues out on your own." He cast a disgusted look at Sonic. "I've done enough matchmaking for a lifetime."

"I do not need matchmaking." Knuckles crossed his arms, head hunching down so far between his shoulders his neck seemed to disappear. "The Soultouch will do that for me."

"Uh huh. Well, while you're holding out on getting your soul touched, don't complain that you're not getting your di—"

"Tails!" Sonic yelped.

He yelped again as he was knocked left then right by a one-two tail-slap to the face.

"I'm sixteen!" Tails barked. "I can say 'dick!'"

"No," Sonic gasped. He held a hand to his chest. "Illegal."

Sonic ducked just in time to escape a second double-pummeling. He was instead hit by Tails's gekkers of irritation.

From his place on the ruined beanbag, Knuckles watched his brothers. He chuckled, the sound deep and rich, a little of the light returning to his eyes.

Deciding to trade one meatshield for another, even if it was one which had so recently threatened his life, Sonic stood and lugged his beanbag around to Knuckles's other side. He fell atop it with a great "oomph," the impact sending settled styrofoam flying once more, granting the hedgehog's quills their own tiny decorations.

Tails circled on his beanbag and lay back down, arms folded under his chest, tails wrapping about his sides, their white tips framing his face. He glared upon his brothers, daring them to further disturb the domestic harmony.

"Our brother is merciless," Knuckles grumbled.

Sonic nodded. "A tyrant."

Two tails lashed. The fox's eyes narrowed. Suspicious.

"So cruel." Knuckles glanced at Sonic from the corner of his eyes. His muzzle wrinkled.

"So heartless." Sonic leaned forward, just as his brawler brother did, the well-coordinated pair readying themselves.

Tails's ears pinned back. He bared his teeth, a deep rumble rolling up his throat. A warning.

It was ignored.

Sonic and Knuckles looked to each-other and, in unison, crooned, "So CUTE!"

They pounced.

"No!" Tails yelped, springing away from his beanbag, but it was too late. Sonic slammed into the kit's back, Knuckles into his legs, and the three went rolling. Moments into the attack, the trio landed on the half-destroyed orange beanbag, and scrambling fox claws finished its ruination. The attic floor was coated in a fresh, thick layer of styrofoam snow, as were each of the Mobian's pelts.

Eventually, Tails's snarls shifted to laughter, matching his brothers' own cries. Not merely in emotion, but also quite close in vocal range. His voice was nowhere near as deep as Knuckles's boom, and he still had the occasional crack, unlike Sonic, but the fox's laughs were loud, low, confident, and happy.

Tom yanked the attic stairs down and popped his head up to glare at his rowdy sons.

A drift of styrofoam avalanched down the hole in the floor. Tom watched its slow progress into his recently cleaned home.

Slowly, he turned his gaze back upon the brothers. "Maddie gets home in fifteen minutes," he intoned. "I'm not explaining this mess. Your move."

Knuckles let Sonic out of his head lock. Sonic stopped biting Tails's bicep. Tails stopped yanking at Knuckles's locs. The trio burst into motion, fetching brooms and garbage bags and the vacuum.

Bursting into motion was a bad idea. The household became a blizzard of miniscule beads. The brothers shrieked and laughed as they hunted each flurry. Knuckles ran at the mess, vacuum hose extended, but wound up yanking the plug out several times, and always just as he was about to suck up a thick pile. Tails bagged up the ruined source of the pellets, and then bagged up that bag, its staticky surface coated in pellets. Sonic's speed allowed him to pluck the tiny dots from the air before his movements puffed them away, but there must have been thousands. Tens of thousands! It was hopeless.

With under two minutes to impact, Tails paused his frantic hunting. He looked at the double-bagged beanbag (triple-bagged?) and excitedly barked, "Static!" Giving no explanation, he disappeared out the front door. Rather than abandoning his brothers to their adoptive mother's wrath, he soon returned. He brought with him an extension cord draped over one shoulder and a large metal ball cradled in his arms.

"Stand back," Tails proclaimed, setting the ball down. He grabbed the device's plug in one hand, the extension cord in the other, and held both high overhead. He grinned, eyes wide and wild, tails wagging so hard he nearly lifted off the ground. "I'm going to try science!"

From the second story, where he'd been leaning over the balcony railing to observe the chaos, Tom stretched out his arm and screamed, "TAILS, NO!"

Tails did not 'no.'

Tails slammed the plug ends together.

Nothing.

And then a loud FWIP! as every single loose bead in a 100-foot radius rushed in and stuck to the metal ball.

Also, every speck of dust and strand of stray fur and hair.

And a sizeable bit of hair that wasn't quite ready to be stray. Most of it orange.

With a yelp, Tails yanked the plugs apart. He jumped back from the now fuzzily-coated metal ball. Slapping hands to his stomach, the fox looked down, inspecting the damage. He did still have a coat, though now every remaining hair stood on end. He shone with freshness and tiny pops of static.

Sonic tilted his head, appraising his de-shed little bro. "Huh. Can I use that on Shadow?"

Before Tails could respond, Knuckles tensed, looking out the front door screen. "The Matriarch," he announced, trembling. "She returns."

Tom looked to the fuzz-attractant ball, eyes widening. That invention had definitely not been cleared for household use. "Tails!"

The sly fox needed no further orders. Grabbing a fresh garbage bag from Sonic, he scooped up his device, detritus and all, running through the kitchen and out the back door.

Knuckles changed the overfull vacuum bag, Sonic did a final sweep for strays, and Tom prayed his loving wife would remain in the dark. He also made sure to direct the boys out of the house; too many times had they betrayed him with their poor attempts to act innocent.

Maddie came in the front door looking uncharacteristically fresh for having just finished a shift at the clinic. Even good days tended to include at least one minor emergency, painful diagnosis, or pet farewell to leave her frazzled. She confirmed Tom's suspicions by raising fists in the air and declaring, "Only checkups! Woo!"

"Nice," Tom said, and laughed; a little too high-pitched, but Maddie didn't seem to notice. Instead, she had gone to one knee, arms outstretched to embrace her youngest furry baby.

"Oz-zeeeee!" she cooed, rubbing the golden's head, making his ears flap. "No one died today! Yeah! No one died! I'm the best vet ever!"

Ozzy panted, tail a-wag. He licked his mom's face as she laughed and did her best to dodge.

Abruptly, the dog stopped licking. He coughed, high up in his chest, the sound a deep honk. The retriever backed up a few steps, hunched over, and yakked up a tiny pool of bile and half a dozen styrofoam beads.

Maddie stared at the throw-up.

Ozzy sat, panting, happy once more. He barked. <Snacks!>

Maddie looked to Tom.

Tom forced a smile. "Sonic's home," he squeaked.

Maddie let out a long sigh. "Come on, Ozzy," she commanded, standing and patting her hip. Woman and dog walked off towards the kitchen. "Let me cook you some sweet potato to go in your dinner, for absolutely no reason."

"You made a spreadsheet."

"It's a chart," Shadow insisted, hiding the notepad behind his back.

"Uh huh. You gonna send Blue some calendar invites, next?" Rouge mimed typing, nose high in the air. Her voice did not mimic her partner's gravely tones, instead shifting to something far more prim and posh, closer to the cadence of her ladyfriend. "Saturday, eighteen-hundred hours, lick my anus. Répondez s’il vous plaît.”

Grumbling, Shadow crossed his arms, leaning back to lay on the notepad. No, he hadn't planned to sext a schedule, but a calendar note about their upcoming date had seemed reasonable. "Well, how do you manage things, then? Send a picture of your tits and hope for the best?"

"Pfft." Rouge gestured at her fuzzy chest. "Ain't no hoping with these babies."

"Your confidence is an inspiration," the black hedgehog drawled. "I suppose you think I should just send Sonic a snap of my balls the next time I'd like a romp?"

Raising a singular brow, Rouge sat silent.

Shadow huffed. "Yes, yes, that probably would work." So long as Sonic didn't ruin the mood by texting back a picture of a Christmas tree. "I just...I have no clue what I'm doing, Rouge. I want to do this right."

"Right?" Rouge snickered. "What, you want to introduce yourself to Blue's parents? Tell Tom and Maddie your intentions for their son?"

"...should I?"

"Only if you invite me along to film."

"Hmph." Shadow's ears pinned back. "I suppose it would be a bit out of order, given that we've already been intimate."

"Intimate," Rouge snickered. "You're fucking."

"Courting," Shadow corrected.

"Not exclusive concepts. And besides—"

Doot doot dee-doot.

Rouge's eyes narrowed. Shadow's nose scrunched in disgust.

Doot doot dee-doot.

"Let the world burn, Rouge. "

"You don't mean that," the bat sighed, leaning over the glass table to retrieve her phone from the vacant chair opposite.

Doot doot dee-doot.

"I do mean it," Shadow insisted, "and if they even try to—"

"Commander," Rouge said, looking down at her phone screen. No video. A pity. She'd have loved to throw their CO off with her bare chest. The human woman might have been flustered enough to drop whatever nonsense she'd called about.

The stern voice of Commander Rockwell burst from the phone's speaker. "Agent Rouge, are you in a secure location?"

Shadow's ears flicked, catching the sound of intermittent typing across the terrace.

"Yes," Rouge lied smoothly. "With Shadow. To what do I owe the pleasure, Commander? Is Shadow finally getting that promotion?"

"He hasn't completed the assigned work for his rank to be reinstated, of which you are both quite aware."

Shadow suppressed a growl. The assigned work was as bullshit as the demotion had been.

"We have another round of Team Dark candidates," Rockwell said, earning a groan from Rouge.

"Oh, come on," the bat snapped. "We've not even been back for two weeks, and you're already sending us out on this crap again? Hell, I requested time off!"

"Well, you will have been back for two weeks, when compatibility tests begin. You fly out Wednesday night, twenty-three hundred. Three days of trials, and then I can approve your time off, barring a major crisis."

"Ugh. Three days? Can't you just split the tests up, give us a nine-to-five for a couple weeks, Sylvie?"

"That's Commander, Agent. And, no. You're damn lucky everything lined up with the candidates as-is. Any deviation from schedule, and you'll be out at least three times as long. So shut it and do your duty."

Rouge tapped her thumb on the side of her phone. Her wings shuddered, membranes tight. "You know this is gonna be another crap-out. Shouldn't you stop wasting GUN resources on this? It's been four years."

"GUN protocol states that each team should consist of no fewer than three agents—"

"GUN protocol used to state that Shadow and I were K-9 units, too."

Shadow scowled at the reminder. Most of their fellow agents had been respectful about that bullshit tangle of red tape, or at least enough to never attempt a sit-stay command. The automated systems, however, hadn't realized they shouldn't deliver a "holiday bonus" of rawhide chews and a large dog bed to their lockers.

"The system did not have a designation for Mobians—" Rockwell began, but was cut off by her subordinate.

"You never did say who thought it better to list us as animals, instead of people," Rouge mused. "I should go ask HR if they ever sussed that out."

Silence on the line.

Shadow's shoulders shook, and he grinned at his partner. Fuck, she was magnificent. The shit she got over on GUN was impressive.

But it did have its limits. On the phone, Rockwell finally spoke, words crisp. Shadow imagined she was really going at it with one of her many stress balls. "Wednesday. Twenty-three hundred. And after you are boarded, I will approve a full month of leave, and another of local training after."

Rouge rolled her eyes, mouthing along to the Commander's customary addition of "barring a major crisis."

Tugging a tuft of loose winter fluff from her thigh, Rouge added her own amendment, "And you drop the counseling for Shadow's rank reinstatement."

"Anger management is a standard requirement for offenses such as his."

"And he has a lot of anger to work through," Rouge said. "I'm sure the counselor would be quite interested in hearing all about what caused his little outburst."

"...actually participate in the partner assessments, amicably, and I will consider that proof of his progress and the counseling will be dropped."

Shadow sat up straight, the skin along his back bunching and rolling, quills gone aquiver.

"Aw, thanks, Sylvie, baby," Rouge crooned. "See you Wednesday!"

"That's 'Comm'—" shrieked out the phone. Rockwell's rage was cut short as Rouge hung up, turning the device off entirely for good measure.

"Rouge," Shadow crooned, "you are too good to me."

"Oh, pshaw." Rouge waved off the compliment, though her wings stretched out, wide and dominant. "I can't let my partner go around saluting first to everyone in the agency. It's unbecoming."

"I don't salute," Shadow pointed out. "But thank you."

"Besides," Rouge went on, leaning in to whisper, "I bet getting Blue to say 'yes, Captain' is gonna be way better than 'yes, Lieutenant.'"

Shadow's brows rose. "I had not considered that..." Fangs glistened.

"It's the best part about coming home in uniform." Her lascivious grin lasted only a few moments. Sighing, Rouge leaned back in her seat, tapping the powered-off phone to her thigh. "Pity about the damn hoops, though. When is GUN going to shut up about this team minimum thing? I swear, they spend more time trying to hook us up than sending us out."

Shadow snorted. "Hook us up?"

"Open our relationship," Rouge continued, lips twitching. "Add a third. Don't they know how devoted I am to my partner?" Reaching out, she pushed a finger up the ridge of Shadow's muzzle, scratching him just right.

"No respect for monogamy," Shadow agreed, huffing a warm breath out on Rouge's gloved palm. His eyelids drooped.

"Hm." Rouge took her hand back, stroking her chin. "Speaking of...what is your arrangement with Blue?"

"Arrangement?" Shadow repeated. "About missions?" Ugh. That was going to need discussing. Especially with this damn team trial. Their date on Wednesday wouldn't need rescheduling, but it would present a "love 'em and leave' em" dilemma. He'd been looking forward to several more days in a row of exhausting his mate. Did their first days together take the edge off Sonic's desires, or had they been stoked?

"No. About having other mates."

Shadow's claws sliced straight through the reinforced fingertips of his gloves, into his central paw pad.

"I mean, I assume he knows the work-spouse thing is a joke," Rouge went on, waving off her own concerns. "But multiple courtships is quite normal at your age. Especially for hedgehogs, according to Amy. You—"

Shadow's snarl drowned out Rouge's words. "She said that, did she?"

"Ah." The bat sucked her teeth. "I take it you haven't discussed things, then."

"Sonic is not interested in Rose," the black hedgehog hissed. "He said so." A thought occurred to the dark beast. Shadow's eyes narrowed. They pinned his fellow agent down. "Rouge," he rumbled, eyes glowing red, "are you—"

"Calm your tits," Rouge said, eyes rolling, though the fur along her nape and ruff stood on end. "With those stick-figure arms? No thanks. I'll focus on the big guy; someone I can actually sink my teeth into."

"I can sink my teeth into Sonic," the hedgehog grumped. There was still a deep growl in his chest, but it was more generalized, no longer focused on his teammate or her partner.

"Yes, you said," Rouge drawled. "But back to the point, are you planning on sinking those teeth in anywhere else?"

"I—" Shadow blinked. His tiny mental rolodex flipped rapidly. His muzzle wrinkled. "I leave the echidna to you."

"I wasn't talking in specifics, hun. I meant generally. Did you two discuss if you'll be exclusive?"

"We...it was implied," Shadow said. He frowned. "Wasn't it? We're mates. We chose each other." He hesitated. "I...I didn't think Sonic wanted..." He examined his friend, who was giving him an unparseable look. "Do you think Sonic wants...other partners?"

Rouge shrugged. "I wouldn't even try to guess. That's for him to say. Pickings may be slim around here now, but you never know when we might get a new arrival. The Queen might even come a-calling for help, and if you all go back to Mobius..."

Back to Mobius. Shadow's one trip to the "home planet" (perhaps not his, but close enough) had been a roil of emotions, but he'd not matured enough for "attraction" to be among them. It must have been the same for Sonic, seeing as their developmental levels were roughly equal. Aesthetically, Shadow had been able to recognize the attractive qualities of the Mobians, and thinking back now, memories of quite a few gave him pause.

But not a rise. Not a need. Nothing near what he felt for his mate.

Would Sonic say the same? He'd made many alliances as they fought Metal Sonic, most roughly his own age. Those Mobians would also be mature, by now, seeking their own partners. If given the chance, would Sonic pursue them? Would Sonic...prefer them?

Shadow slouched, ears drooping. "I...don't know." Someone else for himself? It didn't compute. Someone else for Sonic? He felt sick.

"Look, hun," Rouge broke into Shadow's thoughts, "I didn't mean to freak you out. I've got Amy quite well-occupied. Hell, she'd prefer watching ya'll, instead of muscling in. But talking about whether a relationship is open or closed is better than assuming and being proven wrong."

Shadow's claws ticked across his already-healed paw pads. "What if Sonic and I...want different things?"

Rouge took a deep breath. Her cheeks puffed out on the exhale. "Then that sucks, and you've both gotta decide if you're willing to let it be, or if that's a dealbreaker."

"Oh..." Shadow's ears wilted.

Rouge clicked her tongue. Scooting across the love seat, she came in close to Shadow's side, pressing their thighs together. "Come here." Leaning in, she thumped her chin to Shadow's nose, forcing him to look down. She began to drag her tongue up the ridge of her best friend's muzzle. Hers was rougher than Sonic's, easily combing through short fur to scratch at the skin underneath.

Shadow blinked, eyes crossing to focus on his partner. She'd never shown this sort of affection before. There had been the rare hug, their one shared kiss, and plenty of punches to the shoulder and buffeting of wings about his head. This was...nice. Not the same feeling as Sonic's grooming; that always had an under-current of desire. This was almost....

Damn.

Familial.

Shadow closed his eyes and let Rouge wash his already clean face. She let out squeaks and clicks, high-pitched and rapid. Shadow had no idea what they meant, but the sounds felt gentle. Little by little, his shoulders loosened and his quills drooped. The worrisome thoughts remained, but slowed, giving him a chance to work out what he wanted.

Chapter Text

Normally, Sonic did not envy Shadow's isolation. The Blue Blur had endured enough of that in his most formative years. Even in his teens, when the proximity of his family made his skin crawl and his teeth itch, the memories of life in a damp cave pushed down his desire to strike out for dispersal. The most independence he could tolerate was a night here and there, spent running from the first star of the evening until the rising of the sun, whereupon he would collapse to bed just as his brothers arose, leaving the attic to their moody sibling.

So, no. Normally, Sonic did not envy Shadow's isolation.

Except for those times when his mind was filled with thoughts of sharp claws and strong legs and beautiful black-and-red quills. When Sonic felt himself swell in his sheath, he seriously envied Shadow's private room. And his private shower. The damn luxury. To feel your cock twitch and rise and, instead of fighting the urge down, just disappearing to your little territory to stroke and squeeze and spill over, with no pesky, sharp-nosed brothers snickering when you returned.

About the best Sonic got at home was a solo quickie in the shower, jacking fast and manically washing away all scent after. It was less embarrassing to leave behind the reek of all-purpose cleaner, instead of jizz. Tom and Maddie still had no clue why the boys' shower, of all places in the house, was so sparkling clean.

When the need really struck Sonic, and one time and fast wouldn't cut it, it wasn't to the shower he turned. Instead, the hero stretched his legs and took to the wilderness. The world was wide, and it had many places for a hedgehog to hide.

And many places to store a bottle of lube.

Sonic had planned on holding back for the few days until his date with Shadow, excited to give his mate everything he had, once more. Except he really hadn't accounted for the lucrative deposits that had been made to his spank bank.

Thoughts of Shadow had left him addled before they'd welcomed one-another as mates. Now? Now Sonic knew the shape of his lover's cock. The weight of it in his hands, the taste of it on his tongue. His hips still twinged with tiny bruises from the dark creature's grip as he'd rutted between Sonic's thighs in the shower. A little echo of Shadow's whines and panted declaration, "I'm your bitch," rang in his ears, and Sonic could swear he felt Shadow's pretty hole clamping down on his fingers.

In short, Sonic was a fucking idiot to think he could wait three whole days to get off. So, Tuesday afternoon, he went on a run.

Sonic made sure his hideaways were a few states from home. No chance for bros to go stumbling upon a den of iniquity. A literal den, most of the time; Sonic had lost quite a few caches as Earth animals moved into his chosen caves, burrows, and the like. Luckily, today, he faced no grumpy fauna nesting atop a stashed baggie of bottled lube and bar soap.

Sonic was going to have to introduce Shadow to his "love nests," sometime. Cluing him in during a run sounded nice. He could get his mate's blood pumping, then lure him to a hidey-hole and get his hips pumping. Sonic could really go for getting pinned face-down and fucked between the thighs. He wanted Shadow's hard abs and soft ruff pressed to his back, while teeth dug into his scruff.

Woo. Okay, maybe he should concentrate on getting to his hideaway, first. This one was a bit tricky. The high cliff before him was mostly stable, with plenty of scrubby plants anchored into the face, fighting off erosion. However, the footholds were thin, and the hedgehog had to be quick and light. A moment of lost concentration and he'd knock a stone out of place, destroy the path, and lose out on another den.

Luckily, Sonic got his brain in order and only a few pebbles trickled down under his swift shoes. A few dozen well-practiced jumps, and Sonic finished with a roll into a dusty niche some halfway up the rock face. There had been a small tree here, once, the stray bits of roots in the hollow the only remaining evidence of its presence. He'd not even found the tree far below, likely washed away by the snaking river that kept the valley so green.

Sonic took a moment to sit at the rock lip of the niche, enjoying the soft spring breeze and setting sun. Yeah. This should be Shadow's introduction to his nests. Beyond its use as his personal love shack, the view was killer. The sun touched snow-capped mountains in the distance, but its light still shone upon the wide coniferous forest below. A few hawks swooped about, riding the thermals.

Even as high up as he was, with so much horizon before him, the only evidence of humans was a fire tower about fifteen miles off, and there was plenty of cover about the lip of the hole to keep out of its line of sight, even should human eyes plus binoculars focus this way. He and Shadow could tuck themselves any and fuck themselves away and--

Lube. Sonic poked about in the back of the hollow, glad to find his normal stash. A little purple bottle for now, some soap to get rid of the evidence after. He should have brought some condoms to stash, but it would be some time before they would actually be needed.

Back when he'd found this hideaway, Sonic had clawed out a nice, smooth bowl in the ground, clearing it of sharp rocks and shaping it just right for a hedgehog's quills. He should dig it a bit wider, upgrade to accommodations for two, but for now, Sonic was ready for fun. He lay back, wiggling to achieve perfect comfort, and finally let his fueled-up mind wander.

The first time he'd stroked himself while imagining Shadow had felt...honestly, a little bad. A trespass. He'd been able to justify his previous erotic thoughts of his rival as invasive. The fault of pesky hormones. But sitting down, cock in hand, and daydreaming about an intense fight leading to angry make-outs and Shadow going to his knees? That felt like a line crossed. Still, it didn't stop Sonic from crossing it again and again, hiding away to hump into his hand as he called out his clueless friend's name.

Now, Sonic was totally allowed to fantasize about Shadow! Encouraged to, even! Oh, what dedication, to be alone, able to imagine anything, and opting to imagine his mate's ass welcoming in three fingers, and how that eager hole was waiting for so much more.

Sonic sighed, letting the muscles and ligaments of his pelvis relax, sheath rounding out and growing plump. He looked upon the sensitive handful, lips quirking. Shadow had liked his dick. Better yet, Shadow had licked his dick. The thought made him giddy. Shadow had tasted him, teased him, and sucked him down. The stoic hedgehog had allowed himself to show his appreciation for the very service he gave with purrs and strong hips humping into the couch. And in swallowing Sonic's cum down, every last drop.

Sonic's cock throbbed, a hint of tip peeking through his widening slit. Popping the lube open, Sonic dribbled a generous amount on the tan skin, which twitched at the cool wetness. He swelled, cockhead popping free of sheath. Good to go.

Sonic started out easy, rolling the paw pad of his thumb around tip and slit, right on the line of his sheath, while letting his mind play back the sensation of Shadow's tongue taking its first taste. Fuck, he'd been so desperate by the time the black monster had actually licked him. It was a miracle Sonic hadn't shot off right then. Shadow's tongue...but, oh, Shadow's lips.

Using all five fingers, Sonic massaged his tip, trying to emulate Shadow's small, sucking kisses. His dick throbbed, an inch slipping free of lubricated sheath, and a second on the next throb. A breeze cooled the lube about his newly-exposed skin, and Sonic shivered.

Shadow's mouth had been so hot. Almost overwhelming. It would be a cozy place to hide his dick on cold winter evenings. Maybe Shadow would let him ride out the next snowstorm in his apartment. Oh! He could buy Shadow a little Christmas tree! With a bunch of paired-up red globe ornaments. Fuck, that would piss Shadow off so much. What would the dark hedgehog do to get back at his naughty mate?

Sonic let his fingers trail down the unsheathed portion of his shaft, hooking a claw in the loose ring of flesh that still covered the rest. He pulled, out and down, whimpering at the stretch. Little sparks and tingles shot down to his toes.

Sonic would have to devise more ways to get his partner riled. Shadow had been so good to him. Slow and receptive, if a bit of a tease. Perfect treatment for an inexperienced lover.

When Sonic got his mate alone again, Sonic desperately needed Shadow to treat him bad.

The shower had been so close to what Sonic wanted. The stronger hedgehog had been so selfish, so fast, so rough. At least, once Sonic had irritated him enough, he had. Yeah, maybe Sonic could have just asked Shadow to let loose on him, but pissing the surly male off was half the fun.

Outside of his mind, in his little cave, Sonic wrapped his hand about his tip and began to push down. He kept his fist tight, fingers fighting against the penetration. His hips gave tiny upward jerks, forcing his slick cock through.

The scruffing. Fuck. Yes, he wanted more of that. But not testing or playing, next time. Sonic imagined Shadow throwing him on the bed, following and looming over him. Imagined Shadow pushing his head down into the sheets, claws digging into Sonic's scalp. Teeth clamped on an offered blue nape, forcing his mate to present.

No, Sonic wasn't actually ready for Shadow's cock to split him open, but in his daydreams? He wanted his suitor's long red prick to ruin him.

Sonic wished Shadow was here, exploring the places he was no nearly ready to give up. All he could do was tuck his free hand between shaky legs, gathering a dribble of lube that had made its way down to his testicles to help ease the way. His perineum was taut, belying the skin's sensitivity. Blue balls rose up at the brush, holding for several seconds before easing back down.

Sonic's fingers went further. Between his asscheeks. Further. Slowly. Until a paw pad rolled over his hole, and he moaned, full and throaty, "Please, Shadow."

He'd need Shadow to be slow in real life, but in his mind, the former villain was merciless. Frenzied. Shadow's hips rolled into him, cock seeking out Sonic's hole by touch. Sonic's hips pushed back, just as needy, but he stopped at a feral snarl against his neck, sharp teeth digging in harder on his nape.

"No," Shadow seethed, hot, wet breaths clamming up Sonic's peIt. "Stay still, hedgehog. Know your place."

"Beneath you," Sonic whispered into the dusty cave air. "Please, beneath you. Fuck me, Shadow." He pressed harder against his hole, but eased up as the muscle began to relax under the touch. Too fast. He'd cum too fast if his finger went inside, as he'd done the handful of times he'd gotten this far.

Fuck, he wanted Shadow to take him apart too fast, not himself! Not his own stupid hand.

But, no. It wasn't Sonic's hand. It was Shadow's. Shadow's hand, reaching around his lover's hip, grabbing Sonic's cock, pumping him slow and tight. "Tail up, hedgehog," he crooned, licking along the marks he'd left on Sonic's nape. "Prove that you're worthy of being bred."

His tail was already pressed high on his back, but Sonic still tried to show the Shadow in his mind how good he could be, the tiny appendage straining higher. His hand moved faster, a pressure already building. "Yes," Sonic whined. "Yes, sir."

Shadow chuckled, dark and rich. He licked and nibbled at Sonic's nape, purring deep. "Very good." He grabbed Sonic's tail, his hips, his quills, his ass, his cock, Shadow had too many hands, but Sonic needed every single one to mould him, make him what his mate wanted, needed, owned. Fingers thrust between Sonic's lips, stroking his tongue, making him drool. Shadow's mouth was clamped on his nape, biting his ears, bloodying his jugular, kissing his lips so sweetly, and whispering to him, "Good little slut."

Shadow pounded in, tearing through Sonic's virgin hole, hips slapping against Sonic's ass, and Sonic came all over his own hand.

"Shadow!" Sonic yelped, hips rising, seeking out a real touch, his mate's now-familiar embrace. His hole throbbed against his finger, trying so hard to welcome it in, but Sonic pulled his hand back, stroking the line of skin up to clenching balls instead.

Sonic let the sharpness of the orgasm ride out. The Shadow of his mind pumped and clawed and howled as he released in his mate's body. This Shadow atop him, pressing him down, was twice as large, twice as dark, and utterly magnificent. A lord, a king, a master. His mate.

As his pleasure began to die out, Sonic transitioned to squeezing the tip of his prick, lube and cum mixing, helping his fingers move rapidly. He gasped and squirmed under his own touch, but forced himself to endure the overstimulation. A dozen good presses, and his balls gave a final clench, his cock an electric throb, and a weak drop of spend dribbled from his slit.

Sonic finally let his prick go, arm flopping out to the side. The finger at his premium continued its strokes, but gently, now. Idle pets, more soothing than pleasurable.

In Sonic's mind, Shadow licked at his neck, soothing the wounds he had left. He purred, pulling Sonic's used body into his lap, stroking a hand along his suitor's thigh. Nuzzling into Sonic's ear, Shadow whispered his praise, "Magnificent. So well-behaved. Well done, my love."

Sonic's eyes shot open. His cheeks burned.

Ah.

Shit.

Chapter Text

Customers who purchased this product have also liked...

Shadow was about to click away from the pop-up, but paused. His brows rose.

...no. He moved his finger back over the little black X...

...and tilted his head.

Well...Sonic had asked if he owned one. And marked himself willing to shop. This could be a surprise. An experiment. For them both.

Before he could change his mind again, Shadow added to cart, swiped to checkout, and completed his purchase.

Shadow was pleasantly busy during the days between Sonic's departure and their scheduled date. He had a whole apartment to resettle, most of the supplies coming in via delivery. For furniture, no self-assembled Ikea trash could ever satisfy the agent; he might shop online, but he shopped quality, handmade, and fully-assembled. Deliveries came in clean vans with understated logos, not coughing 18-wheelers overloaded with dozens of other shoppers' bargain-bin plywood

The delivery people were classy enough to hide their irritation when Shadow requested they set down their charge for inspection while still in the parking garage, but couldn't hide their alarm when Shadow popped out and back from his solo Chaos Control drop-off. They eased, however, when Shadow signed off on all the paperwork and handed over tips which would have been generous if they'd actually had to lug the heavy wood and metal pieces all the way to his apartment.

The household essentials required less shopping scrutiny. Every day, many, many boxes were left at the building's communal mail-room, where the employees were already familiar with Shadow's teleportation shenanigans. The office would send a text notification, Shadow would 'port down, and, three-out-of-four times, the employee on duty didn't even startle.

(Honestly, he was a little disappointed. Perhaps he should walk in for deliveries for a while; get the humans to drop their guard.)

Shadow would gather the new boxes, pop back to his apartment, and spend ages dithering over where the new items should go. In the kitchen, drawers were first sectioned by adjustable dividers, and then filled with utensils in logical sequence of use. The living room shelves welcomed a few decorations, plus Shadow's small collection of hardcovers and motorcycle publications (the latter in dark-stained wood magazine files), but remained mostly bare. His old bedroom was converted back to an office, though he had little paperwork to manage there.

Sonic's preferred scent of toiletries was given its own shelf in the shower and a drawer at the bathroom vanity. Extra gloves were stowed in the bottom drawer of the bedside table on "Sonic's side" of the bed. In the top drawer of both tables, Shadow inserted custom-fit organizers, filling a few with condoms in tidy rows and a variety of lubes. One side of each deep middle drawer was loaded with hand towels and water bottles, for cleanup and refreshment, the other side left empty for personal use.

His own bottom drawer also housed a few gloves and, under them, a small gun safe, just big enough for a personal piece. The majority of his collection—technically on loan from work—remained in an inconspicuous trunk in the office. He was fairly certain Sonic would show due respect to the firearms—his father was a sheriff, after all—but he made a mental note to discuss how absolutely off-limits the arsenal was. He didn't need his upcoming (re)promotion rescinded because his mate fired off a round into the neighbor's apartment.

Shadow considered the built-in drawer safe. Had Sonic ever shot a gun? Again, his father was a cop, and they lived in a fairly rural area. Wasn't hunting some kind of rite of passage in Green Hills? He couldn't imagine Sonic killing an animal, even if it was something he'd eat later, but the notion of Sonic taking aim in a practice range was...intriguing.

Tucking the gloves over top of the safe and closing the drawer, Shadow went back to unpacking his latest delivery.

For the couch end-tables, condoms and lube were hidden in discrete boxes, slid to the very back of the single drawers. The shower got a larger bottle, with a pump-top. The office desk—oh, that was high on his list, but after bending his mate over the conveniently hip-height gun locker—hid its own collection.

The hedgehog paused, frowning. Was he overdoing it on the caches? Did it seem kind of...desperate?

Well, fuck it. Shadow was desperate. There hadn't been a five-minute stretch since his mate had left where his brain wasn't fogged by the memory of Sonic's thighs welcoming his red cock between them in the shower, or how Sonic's sassy mouth had stayed so still as he thrust in. And, goddamn, Sonic's lips and chin soaked with Shadow's long-denied release...

Clearing his head with a shake, Shadow went back to his new kitchen table (wood, sturdy, he couldn't wait to eat out there) to finish emptying the latest box.

Scissors, glue, tape, sewing repair kit, new bath towels, diamond file, red nail polish, a few books, silicone penis stroker—

Shadow froze, staring at the special delivery.

He'd honestly forgotten.

Damn. Where would he hide this?

Shadow shook his head again, ears flapping on his skull. Ridiculous. Hide it? This was his apartment, now! He'd just stowed away an embarrassing amount of lube and condoms, but a sex toy was where he quailed? The shower, the office desk, his bedside drawer, he could display it on the living room shelves if he wanted! The solo renter could leave a sex toy wherever he wanted, use it whenever he wanted—

Shadow's cheeks burned.

Well...yes, obviously he could use it! Shadow hadn't bought the thing as an art piece! It was just...well, different. New. He might not even enjoy using the thing. Although, it wasn't like the toy was returnable. And, damn, what if he tried it on Sonic and his mate didn't like how the material felt?

A test run. Yeah. That made perfect sense. If it didn't feel good, Shadow could toss the stroker in the trash chute and the only evidence left would be his shopping algorithm.

But first, Shadow kicked two door stops under his deadbolted and double-chained front door. Rouge would still find a way past, if she was determined, but he'd probably have enough time to clean himself up before his old roommate busted in.

Shadow kicked two more stops under his bedroom door. Which he also locked. After a moment of thought, the hedgehog hit the wall switch to close the motorized curtains. The windows were supposedly one-way, but...well, no sense trusting.

Shadow sat on the edge of the bed and dragged a claw through the dot of tape securing the package. The toy inside was further encased in molded plastic, which popped apart easily. Shadow took the silicone in hand and gave a gentle squeeze.

The shopping app had presented plenty of toy suggestions, after he'd added all those condoms and lube to the cart. Most had been distressingly anatomical, yet also divorced from the idea of an actual body. Orifices. This toy had caught his interest for being a basic, minimally-textured torus.

Shadow rolled the clear silicone about in his hands. It was designed for humans, but looked...compatible enough. The outside had a gentle dip in the middle, for a helpful grip. The interior was more complex: a series of ridges. No. A spiral. Like a threaded nut for a bolt.

Shadow giggled nervously. Nut. Well, that was the point, right? This didn't go inside him, but vice-versa. Self-explanatory, no video tutorial required. Well, one probably existed, but he didn't want that in his browser history, working in tandem with his purchase history to ruin his digital footprint. No, he had this figured out. Just...get cozy, apply some lube, do the thing...

Shadow slapped hands to his burning face, yelping as one eye was bonked by the fuck-tube. Dropping it to the sheets, he fell back on the bed. His heart pounded.

Masturbation hadn't ever been an event, before. Self-pleasure was not planned, just something that happened. Shadow would start his shower, and sometimes—more and more frequently, as time passed, especially on the build-up to this spring—his brain would stumble upon thoughts of soft blue hips and an infuriating attitude.

The first time he'd soaped up his prick and came to the fantasy of Sonic rubbing against him, Shadow had been angry. How dare the blue bastard invade the privacy of his brain? Nevermind that the real-life Sonic had nothing to do with the occurrence; Shadow refused to run with his rival for a whole week after.

When they finally raced again, Shadow had lost disgracefully and gone home to fist his cock to the image of that juicy ass running just out of reach. Twice.

About the only planning Shadow ever did was buying lube and keeping it in the shower, after a painful lesson about soap, claws, and untempered ambition. He didn't bathe with the intention of getting off, no. It simply occurred to him that an orgasm would feel nice, so he took care of things. And then Shadow would promise himself that he'd never imagine Sonic while doing all that again.

He'd broken so many promises. But now, he never had to make those promises again. He should feel, if anything, encouraged to explore while entertained by thoughts of his partner.

But, yes, the Ultimate Life Form was embarrassed by a sex toy. Maybe if Sonic had been here to be all bouncy and enthusiastic, asking to try it out on him...

Oh. That...that was a thought. No, not actually messaging his boyfriend with an invitation to jack him through silicone—which Sonic would, no doubt, break all speed records to do—but imagining it was Sonic using the toy on him, and not his own hand...

Shadow knew an easy way to bring the echo of Sonic to life. Grabbing the two pillows from the left side of the bed, the dark hedgehog hugged them tight to his chest, breathing in. The scent had begun to fade, and the use of Shadow's new lavender-scented products muddled the normal mix of his partner's musk, but the smell had Shadow's cock surging with interest in just a few breaths.

He'd need to find a better way to keep Sonic's scent around. Probably not with the pillowcases, which needed washing. Perhaps Sonic could be convinced to roll about on and mark up a blanket. Or, fuck...yeah. Shadow would have to buy his mate a sweater, like the absurd cat-themed one Sonic had worn after the blizzard. A day in that would leave plenty of strong spore inside. Even more if Shadow worked hard to get his lover nice and sweaty. If Sonic could give up shooting in Shadow's mouth or between his thighs, and instead decorate the sweater with his release...

Shadow shifted to lay fully on the bed. Reaching over to his table, he felt about blindly until he grabbed a small plastic bottle. Still hugging the pillows with one arm, he used his free hand to flip open the lid of the lube, letting it dribble into his palm. Sonic's preferences were already rubbing off on him.

"Miss me?" he heard Sonic ask, deep in his mind, just as a hand took gentle hold of his black sheath.

Shadow whined, nodding. "Yes," he whispered, pushing his sheath down, getting it quickly out of the way. His cock was still only partially hard, but another deep breath of his lover's scent and a roll of hips was making quick progress.

"Well, good," Sonic laughed, hand dropping to grab Shadow's balls tight, almost painfully so. "That means you liiiiiike me," he sang.

"Hedgehog," Shadow growled, pulling his hips back to get the hand off his testicles and back onto his throbbing prick. "Don't tease."

"Alright, alright," Sonic laughed, gesturing at the silicone pocket...well, not pussy or mouth or ass. Convenient hole. "Hand that over, dude. Can't get started without it." He snickered. "You look like making you wait would give you some serious blue balls."

Shadow hissed. No. He had not just...just goddamn punned himself. In the sanctity of his own damn mind. This was bullshit, and he was blaming Sonic.

Still pissed at the blue jerk in his head, Shadow let his dick go, flailing about until he slapped silicone. He grabbed, and it slid through his lubed hand like a fresh fish. Luckily, the toy didn't go far, and Shadow was more careful the second time, wrapping his fingers gently about the center grip.

"Thanks, dude," the echo of Sonic said, taking the toy from his partner. "Huh, interesting." His fingers (Shadow's fingers) prodded at one opening, spreading lube in past the lip as he explored the texture. "Ooo, bumpy. I dunno, Shads. Feels risky. I think you might wind up preferring this to my ass."

"Impossible," Shadow growled, nipping at Sonic's pillow. "Your ass could be lined in sandpaper and I'd still fuck myself smooth to be inside you."

Sonic snorted. His eyes sparkled. "So romantic." He pressed into Shadow's embrace, lining up the toy to his lover's tip. Sonic parted his legs, settling the tube between his thighs, squeezing them shut to keep it in place.

"Then prove it," Sonic said. He wrapped his arms about Shadow's neck, rubbing his cheek in under the larger hedgehog's chin. "How about you fuck your little toy...but before you do that, try out the new purchase, huh?"

"Shit," Shadow groaned. Pumping his hips forward, he entered the silicone, his well-lubed dick and the earlier bit of fingering play at the tube working together for a nice, easy penetration.

If Sonic were home, Shadow would be kissing him. Licking his lips and into his mouth, and clicking their teeth together. Messy and open. All alone, all Shadow could actually do was pant and flick his tongue across his own lips, then curl it back into his mouth to trace the sensitive roof.

"How is it?" he imagined Sonic asking, a little laugh in the blue male's words. "Can you feel the bumps?"

Shadow nodded, breath coming as deep huffs, out on every stroke into the toy. "Yeah. On my glans."

"Cockhead, dweeb," Sonic said flatly.

Shadow bit the pillow, imagining his jaws latching onto Sonic's throat, shutting up the faker. Shadow's hand squeezed the stroker, and he imagined it was Sonic clamping his thighs together, using them to tighten the toy's grip about his dark lover's prick. He didn't feel every level of the spiral, his hips moving too fast to distinguish the sensation. The crown of his glans bumped and tapped rapidly as he fucked in. Then it was pulled as he stroked out, until the tension of the silicone grew high enough to slip, the entire inside of the toy rattling across his ridge as the torus regained its shape.

The Sonic in Shadow's imagination whimpered, and Shadow longed to feel that whimper under his teeth. Maybe someday, when he'd impressed Sonic with his self-control, boundaries could be renegotiated and his mate would eagerly tilt his head back in trust and surrender.

"You gonna," the imagined Sonic began, but paused as Shadow snarled, teeth pressing down harder. Fool as he was, the hero only needed a moment to work up his nerve to try again. "You gonna save any of that for me?"

Shadow thrust deep into the toy, imagining his cock holding between Sonic's legs. He was close. Very. But this wasn't how he wanted to finish, essentially fucking his own hand.

Shadow stopped biting the pillow and growled, "Turn over."

Sonic snickered. "Back or front, dude?"

Snarling, Shadow sat up, dragging the two pillows under his chest. He grabbed at sheets and blankets, plus the other two pillows, and tucked them in tight under his body. Most of the material went under his hips, making a soft, high mound.

Shadow pulled the stroker from his prick. He fumbled at the pile of bedding, barely resisting the urge to just tear a convenient hole in his second set of new sheets. He needed to teach the mouthy brat a lesson. Before he was reduced to wanton destruction, Shadow managed to wedge the stroker in a fold of fabric at just the right height. All settled, Shadow let his mind wander back to the fantasy.

Sonic knelt before him, chest low to the bed and hips high, glancing back over his shoulder and luscious ass to watch the larger hedgehog's approach. His thick tail was curled up towards his spine and wagging. Inviting. Hmm. Virgin? No. No, this was a Sonic who had enjoyed Shadow's cock before. Many times. Eager. Unafraid of how his mate could take him apart.

Shadow hunched over the bedding. It sank beneath him, but he wrapped both arms about it, pulling the mound close to his body, imagining he hugged Sonic at the waist. One of his mate's pillows had been kept out of the pile, and Shadow pressed his muzzle into it, once more taking in Sonic's scent.

"I'm ready," Sonic gasped, claws scrabbling at the sheets. His hole throbbed up against Shadow's penis. "Go on. Find out which of us feels better."

Shadow laughed, tracing his nose along Sonic's ear. "I already know it's you."

"Then prove it," Sonic demanded. "Impress me."

"Yes," Shadow groaned, tucking his chin and pressing his forehead to the pillow. His cock twitched, tip rising to just catch the lip of the clear stroker. Maybe he should have gone two rounds; once on his side, and the second mounting like this. The pent-up male wanted to savor this. He closed his eyes and pressed his nose deep into Sonic's pillow. In his mind, Sonic giggled at the tickling touch.

"Come on, man," Sonic said, lifting his hips higher, pushing back on his mate's hardness. "Nice and slow."

Shadow complied. With a little twist of hips, his cock lined up just right to the hole below him. He slid into the artificial opening, eased through by Sonic's preferred brand of lube. Slow, gentle, until there was nowhere else to go. Shadow bottomed out with a groan, arms tightening on the form below.

"Ah!" The imagined Sonic panted, a shudder running up his quills. His spine arched up higher, hips rutting back to take his mate deeper. "You're so good for me, Shads."

Shadow kissed behind Sonic's ear, purring. He didn't have words, anymore. He was all sensation, and the next sensation he wanted was the slow drag out. He did so, allowing himself to moan freely. Wet. Tight. Divine.

Shadow fucked slow. He would first stay in deep, taking his dream-formed mate with tiny thrusts. Right as his vision of Sonic began to whine, asking for more, Shadow pulled out to give him less. He fucked with just his tip, cockhead popping in and out of the tight ring of his lover's hole. And when that made his lover whimper, sob, and lower his quills in submission, Shadow graciously filled him completely once more.

There was no rush. They had so much time to share. Time to savor. The only reason to do more than just this was to satisfy Sonic's own need.

"Sh-Shadow," Sonic whispered, somewhere in the aether. "I...can't...I can't."

"Stop?" Shadow asked.

"Finish," Sonic sobbed. "I'm so close, but I can't. Please, Shadow. Cum in me. I need to feel it."

Folding his legs under his hips, Shadow planted the balls of his feet to the mattress, going from kneeling to crouching. Pulling the sheets harder to his body, he hunched over, giving his hips a wider arc in which to move. His teeth bit into Sonic's pillow, longing for it to be his mate's nape.

In his mind, Sonic gasped, tongue lolling out, ears flattening back. His ass rose obediently, lining up the path between their bodies for total convergence.

Shadow rolled his hips up and forward, humping in, balls swinging and slapping to sheets on each full stroke. He growled, biting harder, shaking his head in a manner which would have injured his real partner, but which now served only to tear the pillowcase, spreading feathers and scent and sending a spark down the hybrid creature's spine, to his own upturned tail and clenching hole. He bred his mate, thoroughly, swiftly.

"Breed me!" Sonic begged, fists clenching at the sheets, ass shaking with each deep thrust. "Pups. Give me your pups, Shadow!"

"S-Sonic!" Shadow yelped, and he was done for. Swinging testicles drew up, throbbing, urging the hybrid's spend forward. His red cock swelled, jerked, and let free great bursts of precious cum, shooting though the silicone toy and into cotton bedding, instead of his needy mate's clenching ass. Shadow gave a final deep thrust, holding himself in to the very root, giving over all he had.

Below him, his dream of Sonic screamed, cock drooling pearly white spend on the sheets, rapid and thick, as if what he spilled were to make room for what Shadow gave. Except Shadow had seen the difference in their volume; there was no way Sonic could equal what his mate supplied. Would Shadow's load be enough to make the smaller hedgehog's hole overflow? An enticing idea, but for the fact that Shadow wanted Sonic to keep every drop he gave. To treasure it, utilize it.

"G-get pregnant," Shadow snarled, pressing his hips down, into the sheets, desperate to hold himself and all his spend in his mate. "All of it. All my pups."

It seemed like it took ages to soften. Eons more to regain sanity. Shadow only snapped out of his fantasy when his crouching legs began to cramp. Now groaning in pain, he shifted back to plop on his ass. Faced with the sloppy toy and the mound of linens, Shadow winced at the mess he'd made. Damn. He'd never left so much behind. Blankets, pillows, flat sheet, fitted sheet, all dark where he'd released and soaked through.

"Shit!" Shadow yelped, jumping off the bed. He yanked the sheets off. His fur puffed.

Below the fitted sheet, the mattress protector displayed a large, dark wet spot.

Shadow tore the mattress protector off. He cringed, but his raised fur began to ease. The "waterproof" protector had mostly done its job; only a dime-sized spot showed where Shadow's release had snuck through. It probably didn't go too deep. Blotting with a damp towel would mostly solve the problem, and it wasn't like Sonic would object to the lingering scent of his mate's semen.

Legs still a bit stiff, Shadow scooped up the bedding, taking it to the laundry nook out in the hallway. Thank Chaos he wouldn't have to send out sexed-up linens to a dry cleaner or, even worse, go to the laundromat to cleanse his sins.

Shadow shut the door on the load of his load and hit start on the wash cycle. He thumped his head against the see-through drum door, glad for the support as he finished catching his breath.

The impact and the rumble of the drum starting up knocked recent memories to the fore.

Shadow blinked.

"Get pregnant?"

Chapter Text

On Wednesday morning, Shadow walked out of the needlessly enormous front doors of his apartment building and fell in love.

"Chaos," the hedgehog breathed, extending a trembling hand, but pulling back before he could be so vile as to touch this...unblemished vision. "She's...beautiful."

"Ah, a man of taste," the delivery woman said, stroking the magnificent creature beneath her, giving it a sharp, echoing tap on the side. She held out a plastic bag, which her customer accepted automatically, never taking his eyes off the shining beast between the woman's thighs.

"A '74, right?" Shadow asked, though he really didn't need to. He'd never seen such perfection in person, but he'd looked at these fine ladies from all angles in his magazines.

"Oh!" The burly human sat up straighter on her motorcycle. She'd already been giving the Mobian all her attention, fascinated to finally lay eyes on one of the aliens, but if he wanted to talk specs....

The woman removed her helmet, letting free a cascade of pastel pink hair. The timbre of her words shifted from amused to friendly. "Not just taste, then? You know your stuff. Yep, '74. Good eye."

"The front end threw me a bit, actually," Shadow said, tilting his head. What he saw almost looked right. The black paint on the upper third of the fork and headlight assembly matched the black of the fuel and gas tanks, giving aesthetic unity, but the shapes weren't quite correct, the lines a little off.

"Ugh, yeah." The rider patted at the odd front of the Yamaha. "Got brake-checked by a Wankpanzer last year. She's already a rebuilt title, so insurance fucked me over." She shrugged broad shoulders, fleshy upper arms wobbling. "It's what I could afford."

"Poor girl," Shadow murmured, ears falling.

The delivery woman snickered. "Well, at least she got her revenge. The other side was marked totaled, too. I think we came out ahead." Glancing behind to ensure no cops were watching, the biker swung her leg over the seat, getting both feet on the ground. Giving a little twist to the throttle, she popped the old Yamaha up on the sidewalk and killed the engine. In the new relative quiet of the Station Square street, she asked Shadow, a sultry lilt in her words, "Wanna touch?"

Shadow whined. His eyes sparkled. They had yet to leave the marvelous machine. "Can I?"

"I love showing my girl off to a man who can appreciate her." The woman paused, eyes narrowing. "Um. A...buuuuck...?"

Shadow chuckled, coming forward to lay reverent hands on the two-stroke goddess. "It's 'boar' for hedgehogs. Well, Earth ones. I've never heard it used for us." His ear flicked in consideration. "My mate uses 'guy' and 'dude' frequently." He began to move about the motorcycle, leaning and crouching, gazing upon it from all possible angles.

"A guy who can appreciate her, then." The owner crossed arms covered in dark black hair, not the thick jacket a human rider should have been wearing. She inspected the Mobian just as he inspected her ride. "I wouldn't have thought you aliens were into old Earth stuff."

"Stuff!?" Shadow barked, head popping up from behind the seat as he interrupted his admiration of the engine. "A 1974 RD350 is not 'stuff!' Old, sure, but, oh...she is absolutely gorgeous."

"Yeah, she's a real cougar," the owner teased. She raised a brow. "You in the market?"

Shadow gaped. "You're selling!? What's wrong with you!?" He did not question the integrity of the bike. The bike was perfection. It was the human who was flawed.

"Moving to London."

"Take her with you!"

The human roared with deep laughter, head thrown back. "Don't make me reconsider!" She looked back down on the hedgehog, her eyes and several piercings glinting in the sunlight. "My fiancée's place doesn't have parking."

Ears drooping, Shadow returned his attention to the Yamaha. "I know the pain." He stroked the dark red seat, trilling to the poor old girl. "I'd consider moving for a 350, but I just signed a new lease, as well."

The owner clicked her tongue. "Damn. Woulda been damn nice, selling to a connoisseur like you." She glowered, fingers clenching tight at biceps. "There's buyers, but I keep getting lowballed."

"Bastards," Shadow growled. Reluctantly, his fingers lingering one last second on the clutch, he stepped away from the gorgeous metal girl. Circling around the motorcycle a final time (the hedgehog's lips quirked as he realized he was formally circling), he moved to stand between it and his damned low-parking apartment building. "Do not sell to someone who intends to part her out, please. That would be a disgrace."

"Amen," the delivery woman said, mounting the bike once more. "Nice talking, sir. Enjoy your breakfast." Donning her helmet, she gave Shadow a little sideways glance, eyes sparkling under the visor. Lifting her right foot, she gave a gentle nudge to the kickstarter, and the RD350's engine roared to life.

Shadow's quills flared, chest fluff puffing out magnificently. His whole body shivered, from toes to the tips of the very ears which were so caressed by that stupendous roar.

Shadow watched, heart breaking, as his soulmate rolled off the sidewalk and sped away. She turned at the next light...and was gone.

The hedgehog's tail dropped down, limp. His bagged breakfast hung from careless fingers. He wasn't very hungry anymore.

But...at least there was Sonic. In a few hours, for a few hours. Then the damn team trials...ugh.

He didn't bother running back to his apartment. Air shoes dragged across the marble floor of the building's gaudy lobby, the metal of the sole vents clicking with each step.

Shadow was halfway to the painfully slow elevator when the management office's door opened, letting out an older-looking man he'd never seen before (not surprising, given the building's population and turnover), as well as a person the Mobian occupant had dealt with somewhat extensively over the last few days.

"Oh! Mister Shadow!" The building manager beamed at their most notorious (yet most private) resident. "Just the person I needed to see! There's been an opening—"

"If it's a higher-up unit, ask Rouge," the hedgehog interrupted. "The inquiry should be under her name, not mine."

"Oh, no," the manager laughed, shaking their head. "Not an apartment. I know you're not on that list. Something else!"

Shadow's feet froze. That same shiver caused by a sonorous two-stroke engine returned, making the fur along his nape rise.

"Oh?"

"CASH OR CHECK!?"

"BALLS!" the delivery woman screeched, barely keeping the Yamaha's front tire pointed forward. She darted her head sideways to confirm that, yes, the funny black-furred dude was running beside her.

Wait. No. He was skating beside her. What. The. Fuck?

"Cash or check!?" Shadow repeated, not quite so loud, now that he had her attention. "My bank opens in fifteen minutes, if you prefer cash!"

Still looking ahead, mindful of the tricky, oft-slowing traffic of Station Square, the biker began to smile.

"Ooo," Tails sneered, hanging upside-down through the attic's ceiling window, arms dangling. "Are you getting all cute for your daaaate?"

Ears flattening, Sonic looked up to his little brother. "Duh," he answered, continuing to brush out the fur on his legs, getting it to lie flat and tidy.

"Aww!" Tails squished his cheeks, lips fish-puckering out. "You want some help with your nails?" The fox batted his lashes. "Your makeup?"

"I don't have makeup," Sonic rumbled, freshly brushed quills rising. He didn't address the nails thing. He'd taken care of those already: filed down and sealed with a clear topcoat. He didn't want to scratch up his mate's insides, after all.

"You picked your outfit, then?" Tails needled. Just visible through the window, his twin tails lashed, kicking up roof dust and pine needles. "It's pretty warm out, but don't you go wearing something too skimpy, hussy."

Tails dodged a flying hairbrush. It thunked to the underside of the attic roof before landing on one of the beanbags.

"Could you stop?" Sonic snapped, glaring at his littlest brother. His fists clenched. His tan muzzle took on a rosy color.

"Aw, come ooooon!" Tails whined, letting his body slide through the window. He did a lazy somersault as he fell, landing rump-down on a bean bag. "I'm only gonna get to tease my bro about his first date once!" He tossed the brush back to Sonic. "I gotta savor this."

From where he sat on his bed, Knuckles harrumphed.

Tails flicked an ear at the echidna. "Do Soultouches even court?"

"Of course they do," Knuckles said. "A Soultouch reveals the bond. It is up to the partners to maintain the bond." He raised his muzzle high. "The echidna people are renowned romantics."

"Uh, the echidnas barely talked to other Mobians," Tails returned. "You aren't renowned anythings."

Knuckles scowled. "Cease attacking me and recommence attacking our brother."

"Okay!" Tails chirped. "You gonna wear your new gloves, Sonic? Or are you worried Shadow'll tear those—"

Tails was not successful in dodging the hairbrush a second time.

"Yarp!" The fox rubbed his elbow, trying to soothe its tingles. "Geeze, Sonic! Can't take a joke?"

Pointing to his tormentor, Sonic reminded, "You know Maddie hates that question. Only assholes ask that question."

"He is an asshole," Knuckles pointed out.

"Yeah, true."

"Hey!" Tails yipped. "No I'm not!" He pressed delicate hands to his down-soft chest. "I'm the baby!"

"Babies are assholes," Knuckles decreed.

Tails snorted, an ear twitching fIat. "Don't you want, like, fifty babies?"

"Yes. And I shall love all fifty of my asshole puggles."

"Yuck."

"Good luck finding a girl up for that," Sonic said, rising from the bed and giving his quills a final finger-comb. He looked at the full-body mirror affixed to one of the attic's vertical walls. Sleek, shiny, utterly dashing; Sonic made a mental note to catch Shadow, because his suitor would be swooning. "Don't wait up for me. I'll be..." he clicked his tongue and winked, "busy for a few days."

The sound of Tails's disgusted yacking followed Sonic down the attic steps.

Speed trap duty might have been Sheriff Wachowski's least-favorite assignment, but Wade Whipple kind of liked it. So long as Green Hills wasn't windy or too cold, he could roll down the squad car window and keep his ears on alert for approaching vehicles, giving him hours to focus his eyes on a phone game or the next Mobian book club pick. Today was the latter. He was only a half-hour in, but already the romantic tension between the lioness pastry chef and her caddy-corner neighbor, a 50's-something hyena bookseller, was ramping up. Not that he expected anything less from an Amy Rose selection.

Tearing his eyes from the ebook was a struggle, and Wade huffed as he heard a deep rumble in the distance. Of course someone would come along right as the hyena stumbled off her shop's front step and into the lionesses muscular arms. Stupid drivers. It was probably another tourist, out to catch a glimpse of the town's alien residents. Well, duty called. Hopefully it only called for him to take an acceptable speed reading and nod sternly at the passing motorist, so Wade could get back to the decadent tension.

Wade's right arm, which had been hanging out of the patrol car's window (he had an epic one-sided tan) lifted, aiming the radar gun down the road.

Motorcycle. Gas engine, by the roar instead of whir of the engine, which was becoming pretty uncommon, even here in the boonies. Wade squinted past the sunlight, trying to make out the rider. No, not a local, no one in town had that kind of build. Damn, this guy had a huge head, what the—

Red eyes locked onto Wade, burning deep as the motorcycle and its hedgehog rider streaked past.

Wade blinked. Ah. The evil one. Well, formerly evil. Maybe? Could...could that switch back with a speeding ticket?

Stomach sinking, Wade looked down at the LCD readout.

67.

Wade's lungs emptied violently. Good enough.

Radar-arm going limp once more, Wade scooted further down in his seat. He returned his focus to the book displayed on his phone. With any luck, he'd get to the first kiss by the time the next motorist came along.

"Are we supposed to be waiting for Shadow to show up?" Maddie asked, glancing at her husband, who sat at her side on the porch swing. She was already in pajamas and sipping sleepytime tea, after an early-morning emergency out on one of the farms kickstarted her shift, giving her the evening free. "Sonic is twenty-three. I think we missed the awkward teen dating period."

"I know," Tom groused. He kicked one leg to keep the swing moving, his alternate leg crossed across the other thigh. He wore his uniform, despite also being off the clock for a good while. He'd moved up his own shift to be sure he was home by 3 pm. "But I want that whole 'Overprotective Dad' experience."

"Uh huh." Maddie turned sideways on the bench to give her husband full focus. "Is this about what my dad did?"

"No!"

Maddie raised her brows.

Tom crossed arms over his khaki button-up. He kicked hard, giving the swing extra oomph. "It's not," he lied.

Snickering, Maddie ruffled her husband's brown hair. It had been lightening considerably over the last year, but the gray was still fairly sparse. It was nice. The slow changes in their bodies hadn't become inconvenient quite yet. The most shocking change had been the evening, two years ago, when Maddie realized she finally felt like an adult, instead of a child pretending to be grown.

"We're still not getting a cat," Tom said. He rubbed a callused hand on his ankle, where his socks had fallen to expose a barely-visible four-line scar right over the bone.

"Sure," Maddie purred. "But don't you think Ozzie would be a great foster—"

"Hey, Sonic," Tom interrupted as their first/middle child walked out the front door, failing, as always, to grab the screen before it slammed behind him, jittering on the hinges.

"Dang, sorry," Sonic said, tail puffing at the sharp noise. He hunched, smiling weakly at his parents.

His ears swiveled about as he actually registered their presence. "Whaaaaat are you two up to out here?"

"Nothing," Tom said.

"He wants to play Big Scary Papa for your boyfriend," Maddie corrected.

Tom snapped his head to the side, glaring at his life partner.

Maddie puckered her lips, blessing the air between them with little smacking kisses.

Chuckling, Sonic leaned on the porch railing, his back to the street. "You gonna sic Ozzie on him?"

"He's napping," Tom muttered, returning his attention to the front walkway.

"Not every pet can be Mister Pickett." Sonic nodded to his mother. "How's Pick doing, by the way?"

"One tooth and he still managed to bite the mailman last week," Maddie said with a grin.

"Only the good die young," Tom grumped.

Preferring to steer the conversation off cats—it was kitten season, after all, and Maddie knew it would take just one litter for Tom to foster fail so hard—Maddie asked Sonic, "So, what does Shadow have planned for this date?"

A shrug. "He wouldn't give specifics. Just that he'd get here at four." The hedgehog glanced at his watch. "3:59. Any second now."

Her son didn't seem worried at the time, nor was she. Sonic sometimes forgot appointments, but, from what Rouge had said of her coworker in their brief conversations after book club, Shadow was a more precise hedgehog. She wouldn't be surprised if Sonic's new partner was at the outskirts of Green Hills, waiting for his own clock to hit 3:59:59.

"Will you be home tonight?" Tom asked. He was looking at Sonic, but Maddie noted how Tom sat forward on the swing, head tilting, frowning.

A moment later, her own ears picked up the popping roar of a motorcycle engine. No one on the block had one, unless Fernando down on the corner got his running again. But, no, he had an electric. Another looky-loo, then? Thank goodness for long driveways and Tails's anti-trespassing measures.

One of Sonic's ears flicked as he also took note of the approaching bike's roar, though he didn't turn to look. "Daaaaad," he whined, grinning all along his long muzzle, "you're not gonna give me a curfew again, are you?"

"Did you ever respect your curfew?" Tom's frown deepened as the engine's roar kicked up in volume. He leaned sideways, getting a better angle on the view down the street.

"Of course!" Sonic pressed a hand to his heart. "I'm a good son."

"Good for—"

Maddie grabbed Tom's arm. He had a better view of the street, but she could see Sonic's watch, which had advanced to read "4:00."

"Everything!" Sonic finished his father's sentence, lifting his nose high. "I'm not the one who got the zoning board on your butts for unapproved additions!"

"Sonic—" Maddie tried to interrupt, but her child was focused on his own greatness, and not the vehicle now waiting at the end of the driveway.

"And I only made one hole in the walls last year!" Sonic held up his hands to stop Tom from making his own attempt to interrupt. "Yeah, it was me-sized, not fist-sized, but at least I did it through the garage! And, I mean, the truck backfired! What do you expect me to do, hide under the stairs like Ozzie?" He snorted. "At least I didn't piddle on the rug."

Tom and Maddie did not respond. They looked past their son, to the idling motorcycle and its dark rider at the curb.

The rider rolled his eyes and twisted a fist on the accelerator, making the gas engine roar.

Sonic frowned at the aural assault so close to his cozy, quiet home. Quills prickling, he turned, teeth bared and mouth open to bark at the intruder.

Sonic's tail shot up.

Oh, Maddie was not explaining that to Tom, but given how her husband scowled, he didn't need the education.

"Woah," Sonic breathed.

"Sonic," Tom began, but stopped, shocked to silence as Sonic turned and flung one arm about each of his parents' necks.

"Mwah!" Sonic pronounced, pressing his muzzle first to Tom's temple, then, with a second "mwah!" to Maddie's. "Don't bother keeping the porch light on!"

"Helmet!" Tom shouted, but it was too late.

Sonic sprinted down the porch steps and the driveway, leaping onto the pillion seat of his suitor's motorcycle. Maddie had no clue how he got in so close to the red and black spines without being skewered. Sonic had barely wrapped his arms about Shadow's waist and tucked his muzzle into the other male's neck when the motorcycle engine kicked up again and the bike carried her little boy out of sight.

Maddie leaned back into the wooden swing. She whistled.

"That damn—" Tom growled, rising from his seat. Fists clenching, he turned to his wife. "I didn't mean that Dad experience!"

Resting her elbow on the armrest, head cradled by her hand, Maddie smirked at her husband. "You think anyone does shotgun weddings when they're both boys?"

Lavender. Shadow. Exhaust.

Okay, the last one wasn't so great. Sonic buried his nose in Shadow's neck, sneaking up into his quills, which served as a filter for the more objectionable elements which whipped by.

Lavender. Shadow. Perfection.

The motorcycle's engine was almost painfully loud, this close, but there were definite benefits to a gas engine, over a whining electric. The machine roared and vibrated between Sonic's legs. Not enough to get off on, but when combined with exposure to his mate's musk, after days apart, it was invigorating. Sonic's purr harmonized easily with Shadow's new toy.

Blue arms about Shadow's waist began to go rogue. One traveled up, and Sonic dug gloved fingers into white chest fluff. Already, he wanted the gloves off so he could feel that soft fur thread between each finger and tickle his pawpads.

Sonic's other arm drifted south, fingers working lazy circles about Shadow's naval. Then under, at the rise of fat over the hybrid's internal organs. And lower still, to fur which was a fraction longer, a smidge coarser, hiding a mouthwatering—

Shadow's let go of one handlebar, snatching Sonic's hand from his groin. He brought the eager male's hand up to his mouth and bit down on Sonic's wrist, just below the glove and just shy of breaking skin.

Sonic squeaked and squeezed at Shadow's chest. His lover remained firmly seated, while Sonic slid up tighter between relaxed black quills, groin tickled by a twitchy tail.

Removing his teeth from the hero's wrist, Shadow soothed the spot with a lick. Still holding on, Shadow gestured both of their hands far down the road.

Tilting almost 45° to the bike frame, Sonic peeped what was coming.

A squad car! That could only be—

"Hi, Wade!" Sonic shouted, followed by, "Bye, Wade!" as he whipped his head about to look at the road just traveled.

Wade's radar gun waved and was soon too small to see.

Snuggling up into his suitor's fur once more, Sonic let himself enjoy the ride. Yes, it was far slower than even his most casual jog, but with his eyes closed and Shadow controlling speed and steering, it felt unpredictable. Whenever they banked around a turn, that little bit of unanticipated G-force pulled at his body. When the turn ended, there was a millisecond of floatiness in his internal organs before gravity settled them into the right places.

They headed up a steep incline, old trees on one side, an increasing drop-off on the other, and the engine roared with added effort. Sonic took his hand back from Shadow, wrapping his lover up in both arms to keep himself from slipping. Under his hands, he could just differentiate the purr of the motor from the purr of his hedgehog. Sonic nibbled at Shadow's nape, careful to only cob at the fur. Scruffing and causing a crash would definitely be a fight.

The road leveled out and the bike slowed, veering onto a gravel turnout. Sonic held tighter as the bike leaned to the side, but eased when Shadow kicked out the stand and put a tip-toed foot to the ground for good measure. The engine shut off, and the sudden quiet was shocking

And soon broken.

"Dude!" Sonic barked, jumping off the motorcycle and doing several quick spins about the vehicle and his mate.

Shadow sat tall, lips quirked. He brushed his quills back into order. "Yes?" he said, voice low and smooth.

Sonic resisted the urge to laugh at his preening mate. He put his mouth to better use, rising to tiptoe so he could press his lips to Shadow's smirk. It only took a moment for his lover's mouth to open, a gentle tongue venturing out to taste the smaller hedgehog's lips. Shadow cupped a hand to the nape of Sonic's neck, bringing his partner in closer, until Sonic's stomach pressed into Shadow's hip.

A car roared around the turn in the road, startling the canoodling Mobians into jumping apart.

"You like?" Shadow asked, finally swinging his leg over the seat and dropping to a far more even height. There was merely a three-inch difference, with them both on the ground. Only two inches when the shoes came off, Sonic now knew. And height really didn't matter, once he got the black hedgehog on his back.

"Kiss or ride?" Sonic asked. "Either way, yes. When did you get it?"

"This morning, actually," Shadow answered. He turned away from his mate, stroking gentle hands across the motorcycle's metal frame and leather seat. "Isn't she perfect?"

Sonic raised a brow. Shadow's voice was so...soft. His mate's fingers brushed every part of the Yamaha, thorough and tender.

"You two want some alone time?"

Shadow's ears flattened. Taking his hand off the motorcycle, he turned back to his living, breathing partner. He grinned awkwardly. "Sorry."

"Nah, no worries." Reaching out, Sonic booped the silly hybrid's nose. "You get to be excited. It's a new toy."

Black quills bristled. "She is not a toy!"

"She?" Sonic interjected, but any further attempts at teasing were crushed by the cascade that left Shadow's mouth.

"She is a 1974 Yamaha RD350, with original engine. Two-stroke, parallel twin, she's a beast, given her size and age. One of the fastest road bikes for years, but, hell, you'd expect that when the design is based off the TZ 350. Plus, the RD350 is where Yamaha introduced their new reed valve system, so she handles smooth at high and low rev. Not to mention—"

Sonic tried to pay attention, he really did. He fought the slide of his mind, but still the world went fuzzy. His eyes remained pointed at Shadow, but lost all focus. Likewise, his ears ceased differentiating words, Shadow's speech washing over him like waves. The synapses in Sonic's mind did not so much disconnect as wiggle loose, filling his brain with static. He supplied an occasional automatic "uh huh?" and "really?" and "nice," with no clue if what Shadow said was, in fact, nice at all.

"The RD350 was game-changing for road bikes, especially when it came to handling turns. Not to mention...Sonic?"

Hearing his name yanked Sonic back to the present. He blinked the blur from his vision.

Shadow was looking away, ears drooping. "Sorry, I—"

"Me!" Sonic interrupted. "I! I'm sorry!" He grabbed Shadow's hand, squeezing tight. "My attention span is kind of terrible. But you're excited about this!" Sonic bounced, enthused himself. "I've never seen you excited about something! Interested, maybe, but not excited."

Shadow braved meeting his partner's gaze again. There was still a downward turn to his lips, but his ears rose to a more neutral position. "I suppose I am." Reaching back with his free hand, he stroked the bike's red seat once more.

"Smaller doses," Sonic advised. "And conversation, not info-dump. You said it's for racing?"

"Not on official circuits, that would be more the TZ 350, but the RD350 held up well on the street." Shadow shrugged. "Modern street bikes would destroy her, though. Max speed could maybe hit 100 miles per hour."

Sonic snickered. "Miles Prower."

"Don't deadname your brother."

"Oh, rich, Shadow. Real rich." Jerking his head at the bike, he asked, "Have you hit max speed, yet?"

"Nooooooo," Shadow drawled, tail starting to twitch.

Stepping in so their chest fur brushed, Shadow's ruff tickling and raising little bumps all up Sonic's arms, the blue Mobian asked, "Aw, why not?"

Freeing his hand from Sonic's grip, Shadow tucked a crooked index finger under his partner's chin, lifting the male's mouth to easy alignment. "I didn't think showing up at your house trailing half the highway patrol would impress your father much."

"But that sounds fun!" Pressing in harder, flattening the fur between them, Sonic went on, "But maybe not first date fun. So, what's on the agenda?" He revealed little bright teeth. "Did ya whip up an itinerary in Excel?"

Shadow nipped at Sonic's lower lip, immediately soothing the reprimand with a lick that left his mate's mouth open in a small gasp.

"I don't even like spreadsheets," the dark hybrid grumped. "I only had a few simple things in mind. I thought maybe food, a ride—"

"On what?" Sonic's eyes darted down. He showed off more teeth.

Shadow coughed, cheeks gone pink. "T-the bike."

"Juuuuust the bike?" Sonic gave his own lick to Shadow's lips, uncharacteristically taking his time. He cupped both palms on his partner's hips, then further back and down, pulling his boyfriend in as he rutted forward.

"I-I—" Shadow glanced away from Sonic.

To his bike.

"I barely know her," he whispered.

Sonic snorted and eased up on Shadow's ass. "Wow, okay. No jerking you off on the highway, then."

"Uh...." Shadow's eyes crossed. "Not...today?"

"I can wait," Sonic said, kneading at muscular black ass. "Maybe one day, when you two are better acquainted, you can squeeze me in up front and fuck me while cranking up that original engine." He grazed teeth along Shadow's clavicle. "Enjoy two hogs purring between your legs."

Shadow swallowed and, breathlessly, corrected, "S-she's a Yamaha."

Sonic blinked. He halted his attentions, above and below, pulling back to look into Shadow's eyes, which were nearly lost under droopy lids. "What?"

"Hogs are Harleys," clarified the owner. "She's a Yamaha."

"You boob," Sonic laughed, thumping his head to a strong shoulder. "Fine, fuck me over a piano's cousin some other time. We can stick to the bedroom tonight."

Shadow winced. "Actually, we can't."

"Oh?" Sonic's tail twitched. "I like your ambition."

"No, I..." Shadow grumbled. "Rouge and I are going on assignment, starting at twenty-three hundred."

"What!?" Sonic grasped his mate harder, as if he could keep the agent with him by ass-hold alone. "Fuck, is it gonna be two weeks again?" His whining words went shriller. "Longer?"

"Three days, and the Commander claims she will respect my request for leave after." The agent scowled. "For whatever her word is worth."

"Uuuuugh!" The civilian stomped a foot. After a moment, he repeated the gesture, but the outburst did little to relieve his frustration. "Dammit! I thought we were gonna fuck around again." He pouted, cheeks puffed fat. "I've been at half-mast for days."

"If you..." Shadow's shoulders slumped. "If you'd rather that, we can go back to my place..."

Sonic frowned. "But we're on a date."

Crossing his arms, Shadow looked to his right. His ears pinned to his skull. "If you need the relea—"

"I need," Sonic interrupted, letting Shadow's ass go and zipping about to stand in his suitor's line of sight once more, "to find out what a dweeb like you considers," Sonic held up air quotes and turned his expression stern and words raspy, "a 'date.'"

A small, unsure twitch came across Shadow's lips. "You'd...prefer that?"

"If I can't be greedy, I'll pick the romance." Sonic paused, considering. "Today. No guarantees, the next time this happens."

"Likewise," Shadow said. Leaning in, he leered down at his mate. "Although, if it was another two-week mission, I'd have opted to leave you satisfied and sore."

Sonic grinned, entire body shivering, toes to eartips. "Bet. So, if we're not doing it, then...what are we doing?"

"There's a place I've been wanting to try, up in Great Falls," Shadow answered, jerking his head to the west. "About an hour's ride." He quirked a brow at Sonic. "Unless..."

Sonic's tail began to wag. "Unless...?"

Shadow's tail synchronized to his rival's. "Unless I don't have to worry about the highway patrol."

"Oh?" Sonic began a slow amble about hedgehog and bike. He clasped hands behind his neck. With each step of the circle, his feet kicked out, swinging wide. "They're tricky. Like to hide around turns and stuff."

"I know." Shadow swung one of his legs over the seat of his motorcycle. He had to go on tiptoe to rest in the seat and still have support from the ground, and the added height to his natural advantage made him tower over the silly male circling him. "If I knew where they were hiding—"

"Say, if someone took a peeksie ahead?" The deep cobalt hedgehog gave one of Shadow's upper back quills a little yank, like a naughty boy playing with pigtails.

Every black and red quill on Shadow's body shuddered, the motion traveling like a wave. "And if that lookout then gave me a head's up...."

Stopping in front of the bike, Sonic straddled the wheel. Folding his arms across the handlebars, he rested his head atop. His ass shook enticingly with each tail wag. "And then what?"

Shadow's head came down, nearly touching noses with his mischievous partner. "I could open up the throttle and show you what this old girl can really do."

Sonic snickered. "One-hundred is still pretty slow. But I would kinda like to hop back on when you're really going." His muzzle wrinkled with a smile. "Be your passenger princess."

"Hm." Shadow grasped Sonic's chin with thumb and forefinger, lifting to get access to that smart mouth.

He didn't kiss Sonic right away.

Instead, he growled, just a breath from his lover's willing, parting lips, "It's called 'riding bitch.'"

Sonic took a quick, gasping breath. His pupils went wide, jittering as he searched Shadow's eyes, which had begun to glow.

The agent's grip tightened, pulling his partner in, until Sonic's pelvis rubbed over the front fender, making him whimper.

"Are you ready to be my bitch, Sonic?"

Sonic nodded, but soon found his head arrested as Shadow's mouth finally crushed down over his own. A long tongue invaded, thrusting deep past Sonic's lips, as if it sought to fuck deeper than the dark hybrid's prick had thus far ventured.

Sonic's mind went immediately foggy as he allowed Shadow to use his mouth however he wished. Maybe the creature had worked out his playmate's lung capacity, because, just as Sonic's chest began to burn and his brain started sending up alarms, Shadow took his tongue back and let their lips part.

Shadow pushed at Sonic's chin, sending the blue hero staggering off the fender. Sitting up straight, he smirked down at his addled mate. "Well?" he chuckled. "You taking point?"

Laughing shakily, Sonic chopped a hand to his temple. "Aye aye, Cap—" He hesitated. "Uh...what's your position?"

"Rank," Shadow corrected, eyes rolling. He scowled. Then laughed, deep and dark. Quills lifted high, spreading wide. "You're a civilian," he reminded, baring sharp fangs. "You can call me 'sir.'"

Sonic's tail shot up. He squeezed his thighs together, desperately hoping he could keep things contained enough to actually do the date thing. He was one hot look away from dragging Shadow off the bike and over the edge of the scenic overlook to dry-hump against the steep, secluded hillside.

"Yes, sir," he squeaked, and sprinted down the highway, steps wobbly for the first five miles.

Sonic was thorough. He ran ahead for a minute at a time, scouting the roads for tricky patrolmen or traffic hazards. Then he would zip back, match the speed of the old bike, and hop on so smoothly that Shadow barely realized the lookout was on board. That is, until Sonic chose a new part of Shadow to grip for "safety." He eschewed the more reasonable hold about the biker's waist, instead squeezing hips and biceps and deep into white fluff to pectorals.

Tucking his muzzle right up to Shadow's ear, Sonic would relay his intel, with fairly accurate mile estimates and less useful landmarks.

And then Shadow let his lady stretch her legs, while Sonic giggled against his neck, squeezing even tighter.

The highway was far from empty, but there were good stretches where Shadow could hit full throttle before having to slow again to weave between other vehicles or appease the highway patrol. They'd need to get out late at night for an uninterrupted, traffic-free ride, but, for today, Shadow was That Asshole Biker. The one who appeared out of nowhere, hinted at by the distant whisper of an engine, its tones shifted sharp by his speedy approach, roaring past so loud that windows rattled, leaving a long trail of deep rumbles as he disappeared around the next bend.

Sonic took on a good half-dozen scouting missions before Shadow grabbed at his partner's impertinent hands—which had decided, this time, to take hold high on Shadow's thighs—and shouted, "Almost there! Close your eyes!"

"Ooo!" Sonic licked the base of Shadow's ear. "Sir, yes, sir!"

"Fuck," Shadow muttered, teeth grinding. He lifted Sonic's hands from his thighs, relocating them to his ruff, which Sonic began to play with immediately. Okay. Physical distraction lowered, mental distraction...when he got home, he was going to make Sonic repeat those words until they lost all meaning. And then he'd fill up the hedgehog's mouth with something new.

The highway traffic slowed as the outskirts of the city grew denser, houses becoming strip malls, drive-thrus, and other businesses. It was hard to consider this an actual "city," having just come in from Station Square, where even the smallest downtown building dwarfed the tallest Great Falls edifice. But Shadow wasn't here for the culture.

He was here for the laughs.

Taking a right off the main road, Shadow swung past a drive-thru line, pulling into an open parking spot in perfect view of the burger joints black, white, and red sign. He killed the engine and gave Sonic's ears a moment to recover before announcing, "We're here."

Sonic leaned to the left, looking past Shadow's shoulder and quills. His head tilted back, following the long pole up to the restaurant's all-too-familiar name.

Sonic.

Sonic punched Shadow's shoulder, hard enough to make the other hedgehog hit the handlebars.

Shadow finally let out his long-suppressed roar of laughter. Fuck, that went exactly how he'd hoped.

"Ha. Ha." Sonic scooted back on the pillion seat, denying his boyfriend his touch. "Original. Really. Not like I haven't gotten a Coney Combo delivery from every townie coming back from the city for the past five years!"

"Depending on your neighbors for a snack?" Shadow slipped off his bike, turning and leaning against the fuel tank to keep the Yamaha from toppling over under Sonic's weight. "Are you telling me they," he gestured at the sign, "didn't give you a controlling share in the company stock?"

"No!"

Shadow waited. He'd stumbled across the news articles. The coverage of the kerfuffle over the unsanctioned drive-in tie-in was fantastic. He wanted to get the ads blown up and framed.

Sonic's ears pinned back. He knew. He knew that Shadow knew. Grumpily, he admitted, "It was five-hundred shares. Three-fifty, after legal fees. And I sold them last year."

Shadow glanced at the sign, which cockily claimed "Sonic" to be "America's Drive-In." He hummed in consideration. "Selling yourself for money?" He studied the hedgehog pouting before him. Shadow's teeth gleamed. "I think that makes you a whore."

A strange chirp escaped Sonic's throat. His fists clenched, but instead of taking another swing, they pressed in at soft blue thighs. Shadow couldn't see Sonic's backside, but he knew that tail was flipped up again.

Interesting.

"We can go elsewhere," Shadow relented, but didn't reach for the handlebars. He had a pretty good guess of what Sonic would say.

And, indeed, he was right, as the drive-thru's name-twin huffed and walked past Shadow, towards a group of metal mesh tables and attached seats. "Their chili dogs are passable." He held up a finger, proclaiming, sternly, "Tots, not fries! And whatever's the new lemonade."

Chuckling, Shadow went off to place their order. Being fast food, the process was swift, but Sonic's right leg was already jiggling under the table by the time Shadow returned with two drinks, straws, and a plastic triangle to display their order number for the employees.

"Maybe you should get a second job here," Sonic sniped. He gestured at Shadow's feet. "I hear they pay skating carhops extra."

Setting the drinks down, Shadow took his own seat, crossing one leg over the other. He gave the raised air shoe a brief push of chaos energy, letting it flare. He shook his head. "I'll stick to serving one Sonic."

Sonic stuck out his tongue and grabbed a straw. "Dickhead," he muttered, tearing off a small portion from one end of the paper wrapper.

"You wanted this," Shadow said, unwrapping his own straw and taking a long drink from his iced coffee. He closed his eyes in bliss as the cold drink soothed his dry throat. He hadn't anticipated such a short ride would leave him so parched. Perhaps he should get a helmet, just as a windbreak. Breathing in miles of car exhaust and dry air on asphalt was incredibly unpleasant.

Opening his eyes again, Shadow continued, "Don't act so off—"

Sonic lifted his straw to his lips and blew hard at the unwrapped end, shooting the paper directly between unsuspecting red eyes.

Jolting back, the agent—disgraced by a civilian!—pawed at his brow, but the paper had already fallen away. "Hedgehog!"

Sonic giggled and wiggled, all too pleased with himself. Raising his nose high, he echoed, "You wanted this!"

"Oh, keep being a little shit," Shadow growled. "Add to your tally."

"Tally?" Sonic punched his straw into a shockingly purple drink. "What, we going Dutch? Didn't know we'd need to break even." He took a long sip, lips wrapped teasingly about the straw.

"Even?" Shadow swirled his coffee, ice rattling musically. "Even isn't what I plan on breaking."

Sonic's head shot up, straw coming with, sucking on air and ice. His eyes widened and his ears pricked forward.

Shadow leaned over the table, wrapping his hand about Sonic's wrist. Sharp claws itched within gloves.

"When I return," Shadow rumbled, quiet and confidential, delighted by how blue ears swiveled with every word, "I am going to take my time paying you back for every smart-mouth remark and stupid little prank you've pulled."

The lemonade in Sonic's hand bowed under a clenching fist, lid popping off.

"So keep being cute," Shadow urged. "You know how well I heal. My hand will stop stinging long before your ass does."

Lemonade spilled, shaken from its plastic container. Sonic set the drink down. His glove dripped.

Letting his partner's wrist go, Shadow tugged a napkin from the metal dispenser in the middle of the table, offering it to his mate.

Sonic stared at the napkin. He did not take it.

Sonic slapped the acrylic order number off the table. It flew across the parking lot, clanging and bouncing.

Shadow's brows shot up. He watched in fascination as Sonic's ears pressed flat to the side and he lowered his eyes, staring, fixedly, into his drink. A flush raced across the smaller male's muzzle.

Shadow smiled.

Chapter Text

The carhop eventually figured out who was waiting on order 35, despite finding their display triangle halfway across the parking lot. After laying down the food, she reached into her apron, bringing out a phone, eager to ask for a selfie with perhaps the most famous being on the planet.

The glare of the black alien made her think better. She spun on a heel and skated away, resolving to take a snap from the safety of the kitchen.

"I see why you're in the tabloids so much less," Sonic said, popping a chili-dipped tater tot into his mouth.

"That's GUN's meddling," Shadow corrected. "They buy up any for-sale photo they don't consider to be 'representative of the image of the service.' But also, no, I don't take the time to indulge every human's fascination." He took a large bite of his burger. Sonic could swear the agent's jaw unhinged to fit the tall double-meat burger in his maw.

"What do you have time for?" Sonic asked, wiping another potato bite through the drippings of chili which were all that remained of his already-inhaled main course. "I'm guessing not a movie buff, since I had to hold your hand through the original Star Wars. Seriously, five years uncorked, and you'd never even heard of Yoda?"

"In retrospect, I think a few agents used his syntax for a joke around me. I don't see why, though. I'm not green." He shrugged the thought off. "I do have a job to fill my hours, unlike you. But I occasionally go on my own runs—"

Sonic gasped, "Without me!?"

"Hedgehog, don't pretend you don't enjoy a little alone time."

"Hmph!" Sonic shoved more tots into his mouth. He chewed grumpily.

"A little reading," Shadow continued. "Mostly nonfiction; science history more than military, a little technology. I'm subscribed to a few motorcycle publications. There was a telenovela I followed, but it finished last year."

Sonic grinned. "Oh! Was it that one Stone liked, La Última Pasión?"

"Yes," Shadow affirmed. "He threw a finale watch party at the Mean Bean. Rather well-attended, actually."

"Yeah? Which brother got the girl? Pablo? Juan?"

"Neither," Shadow chuckled. "Lucia."

Sonic gasped. "¿La MADRE!? ¿Y Gabriella? ¿Está lesbos?"

"Son lesbianas," Shadow corrected.

"Ooo, proper conjugation," Sonic cooed. "So sexy. Didn't think that show was actually educational."

Shadow shook his head, snorting. "Of course it isn't. It's almost entirely English. They even have to subtitle it for broadcast in Mexico. Spanish was the first language GUN had me study."

"Wait." Sonic sat up straighter. "You actually know Spanish?" His eyes shot wide. "Wait, first language!?"

"First that GUN assigned me to learn," Shadow clarified. "Gerald taught me French and I picked up Russian from a few of the other scientists."

"Picked up?" Sonic gaped. "How many languages do you know!?"

Shadow flicked an ear. "To fluency, or enough to be useful?"

No words, from any language, came from Sonic's flopping tongue.

Shadow took another great bite of burger while he considered his answer. Swallowing, he explained, "I don't have any sort of official tests to prove things—GUN prefers as little information as possible about me gets out—but I no longer use references when speaking French, Russian, Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, and Arabic. I can get by in some of the related languages, in an emergency, but not so much that I'm sent on missions without a translator. Unfortunately, Japanese is proving difficult." He huffed, ears tipped to his skull. "It's the context for conjugation. And counting." A shrug. "At least I have a head start on the writing system."

"How," Sonic whispered, "the fuck?"

The strange space-borne creature smirked. "Ultimate Life Form doesn't just mean I can kick your ass."

Sonic's quills bristled. "You haven't been able to kick my ass for years!"

"I haven't deigned to kick your ass for years."

"And I haven't deigned to actually race you in years!"

A little muscle above Shadow's right brow twitched. "Oh, really?"

"Really."

Food entirely forgotten, Shadow slapped his hands to the table and leaned across, getting in his rival's face. "If that's true, then how about we take the gloves off, hedgehog?"

Copying his dark counterpart, Sonic got in close enough to mix heated breaths. "Gloves off?" he chuckled, voice going nearly as raspy as Shadow's regular harsh tones. "You propositioning me for a race and a fight? Or for a fuck, faker?"

Flicking his tongue out, Shadow licked up Sonic's snarling mouth, delighted to hear a thin hitch in the male's growls. "Sun's not down, yet," he teased. "Could have time for all three."

"Heh." Sonic's tail drummed against the metal seat with each quick lash. "Take a trip down memory lane? First to the old place wins?"

"And first on their back loses."

"Oh, I can't wait to take you two-for-two."

"And I can't wait to take you," Shadow hissed. Swiftly, he grabbed a cluster of blue quills, yanking Sonic the last millimeter forward, forcing their mouths together. He was greatly rewarded for his rough treatment, with Sonic's hands digging into his white ruff and Sonic's tongue venturing deeper past sharp teeth than it had ever gone before.

Both hedgehogs might be distractible, but neither was off their guard. Of one mind, as their lips parted, they also released one-another's pelts, taking off eastward at full speed. Food was left half-eaten, their drinks thinned with melting ice, and Shadow's motorcycle sat idle in its parking spot.

The Yamaha was left unbothered, though occasionally admired. Eventually, the food and drink was cleared away by the carhop. But only after she shared her surreptitious snap of the lip-locked aliens with a few dozen friends. Who each shared it with a few dozen more. The photo achieved a true viral spread, which GUN stood no chance of containing.

Off in Green Hills, a news alert popped up on a busy fox's feed, absolutely ruining his dinner.

Neither hedgehog would ever admit defeat. The argument after a race or spar was part of the fun, after all.

The race had been over in seconds, of course, with both hedgehogs arriving at their old meeting place—a clearing in a primarily fir and spruce forest, with a large, decaying, recently exploded redwood stump in the middle—close enough together that only the most advanced of slow-motion cameras might be able to detect a winner.

They bickered over victory for some time, but both knew nothing would come of it except posturing. But the posturing was...fun. Especially now that the pair had some education. Some context. They fell into a mutual circling, heads held high, quills puffed up to make themselves seem larger. Here and there, one hedgehog would move in closer, making little snorting sounds between their arguments and insults. Their opposite responded with sharp puffs from their nose and, should that fail to repel the aggressor, a snap of teeth and a few darting steps forward. Then back to circling and quarreling and rising tension, their glowing eyes lighting up the advancing twilight.

Finally, something broke, and they were on each other, and, this time, it was not lips which crashed or tongues which battled for dominance.

When Shadow had first fought Sonic, the heroic hedgehog hadn't stood a chance. Sonic was all Mobian, albeit one with the gift of Chaos energy. Most Mobians were, at best, reluctant warriors. Their battles were generally personal, not global. Tests of skill, not necessities of survival or struggles for Queen and country. They warred reluctantly.

Whatever Shadow was...was not all Mobian. No one at the labs had taught him to fight; that would be utterly foolish, with all the tests they put him through. Shadow just...knew. He knew how to strike, when to strike, where to strike. If he'd been so inclined, Sonic's little team would have left Tokyo in body bags. Hell, a second encounter, in the sanctity of the only home he'd ever known, had irritated him enough to leave the primary-color posse to be crushed by a microscopic black hole's gravitational pull.

But it had been five years since then. There had been Metal Sonic. Mobius. More world-ending threats than any Earthling could imagine, many of which they'd handled together. And there had been...this. GUN would call it "sparring," but that was too elegant for what Shadow and Sonic did. This was brawling. Continuous, direct, and dirty. If a mean trick got you a hit, it was a great trick.

(Shadow had no idea why Sonic called one of his tricks "pocket sand." Sonic didn't even have pockets.)

Racing had a strict no-Chaos rule, but that was lifted for fisticuffs. Shadow had never anticipated that Sonic would adapt to his opponents powers. Somehow, the blue hedgehog had developed a sort of extra sense for the release of energy which issued wherever Shadow popped in and out of existence. Shadow could be swinging a fist right at the hero's face, then snap to Sonic's rear, the punch now aimed for a devastating strike to his neck, and Sonic would be dodging before Shadow's gloves even made it halfway to their target.

They did land hits, of course. Plenty. And that was the only part of these fights where Shadow still made allowances for Sonic's abilities. The hybrid never slowed his attacks, but he didn't give them full follow-through. His hits landed, but just on the surface. Still hard enough to send Sonic reeling and leave pretty bruises whenever they fought, but nothing which would break bones or burst internal organs.

Sonic didn't need to take the same precaution for Shadow. Shadow didn't break so easily, and when he did, his injuries would heal in seconds. Sonic, the pure-hearted pure-Mobian, could not do the same. So, if Shadow could land a hit, he did, but he'd long-since decided that killing his rival was no longer his goal.

Tonight, their fight went on until the sky turned deep ultramarine, broken by millions of pinprick stars, the glow of the moon barely flirting through the thick stand of trees on the eastern horizon. The dark didn't bother the crepuscular creatures. They fought on, swinging fists, kicking legs, and snapping teeth.

And laughing.

Finally, just as the moon peeked over the treetops, the fight came to a clumsy stop. The breathless combatants stood locked in a grapple, trying to tip one-another over and get the victory pin, when the mossy ground below their feet shifted. They both staggered, letting their opponent go so they could try to regain their balance. Both hedgehogs failed and, simultaneously, both smacked face-first to the ground. By silent agreement, neither tried to rise.

Shadow enjoyed laying next to Sonic, watching him struggle to catch his breath. Race recovery, fighting, fucking, whatever the cause, the way Sonic's body heaved and strained was lovely. Especially when he lay as he did now, on his stomach, arms stretched out, tail flipped high over that perfect round ass.

"I'd tell you to take a picture," Sonic snarked, "but you never keep your damn phone on you."

"I've improved on that. It simply made no sense to bring a phone when I'd already be with you."

"And now all you have are memories." Sonic shrugged, and transformed that shrug into a long stretch, gloved hands reaching out, digging into the dirt. He shifted to his knees, hips rising in the air.

"Stunning," Shadow rumbled. His eyes roved, memorizing. "Perhaps you were right about the phone..."

Sonic stuck his tongue out, blowing a raspberry.

With far less petulance, Shadow let his own tongue free, but his was more mobile, traveling about his mouth to lick his lips. It was delicate; not at all how he longed to use that tongue on his mate. He would devour this hedgehog, given the chance.

Sonic's eyes widened, fixating on his mate's hungry mouth. His cheeks went cherry red, color traveling up to the insides of his ears and down to his clavicle. Despite the embarrassment, he did not shift to a less provoking posture. Quite the opposite. Sonic pushed deeper into the stretch, spine arching, pressing his chest to the mossy dirt. That round ass that Shadow so admired rose high, lifted tail revealing the blue hedgehog's every delicious secret.

The temptation was too much. And why should Shadow resist his lover's offered temptation? Looking was enjoyable, but touching...

Shadow rolled to his knees and swiftly came up behind his mate. Taking a firm grip on strong blue hips, Shadow rose up and draped himself over Sonic. He pressed in close, hips slotting to ass, chest to back, grinding, mounting, his jaws opening and salivating and aching for a long stretch of vulnerable nape—

Sonic yelped, entire body tightening.

Shadow dove muzzle-first into Sonic's fully-armed quills.

"Fuck!" Shadow removed his hands from his lover's hips, falling away and pawing at his face. He came away with a single blue quill, which was easily dislodged from his nose, but there were at least a dozen small punctures on his tan muzzle and between his brows. These healed quickly, leaving behind freckles of blood on the aggressor's face.

Sitting up, Sonic crossed his arms. "And what have we learned?"

Shadow flung Sonic's quill off into the trees. He turned a glare upon his partner. "That I need to scruff you so you'll behave when mounted."

Sonic's fur puffed up, but he did not move away from the surly male. His widening eyes never left his strong suitor. "N-no," he said. His tail—which should have clamped down to protect his hole—wagged.

Shadow's lips twitched. He licked at them once more, tongue swiping up a drop of blood at the corner of his lips. "Oh? Then what do you want to teach me, hedgehog?"

"Uh...I mean..." The great, brave hero gulped, ears swiveling back. Sonic laughed, the sound sharp and brief. "A-ask?"

"Ask," Shadow echoed. A dark ear flicked. "Hm. Well, then," he said, and paused, eyes narrowing as he considered. His tongue clicked softly, as if tasting his coming words.

Suddenly, Shadow grinned, teeth flashing in the moonlight. He leaned forward, out of his awkward fall, going to hands and knees. Reaching out, not too fast, giving his opposite a chance to react, he cupped a bare palm (glove lost sometime in the skirmish) under Sonic's chin.

Sonic shivered as his suitor's thumb pressed down on his lower lip, claw tip dragging, threatening to break through skin.

"Would you like to get on your knees again, so I can mount you like a bitch in heat?"

Sonic gasped. His quills rose up, but only momentarily. They were already settling flat when he opened his mouth to answer.

Lifting his thumb higher, Shadow pressed on Sonic's upper lip, halting the smaller hedgehog's words. Tilting his head, the dark Mobian continued, "Or would you rather I was the one to bend over and lift my tail, so you can have some fun?"

Sonic whined. His entire body shook, and he leaned into Shadow's hand until it became the only thing keeping him upright. "Shadow...."

Shadow stretched his thumb up further, tapping at the blue hedgehog's black nose. "Oh, but I forgot," he mused, shaking his head regretfully. "You wouldn't want to get all messy and go home smelling freshly fucked."

"Chaos...God...Damnit, Shadow!" Sonic squeezed his knees together, hips turning away to hide the swell at his groin. "Ugh! You made your point, you are very sexy! Now can you stop? I need some time to calm this down, if we want any chance of you taking me home so you can leave for Mission: Cockblock in time!"

"Could take a while," Shadow said, leaning sideways to admire his mate's bulge.

Leaning away, Sonic freed himself from the tempter's touch. "It'll take longer if you keep bringing it up."

"And it'll take less time if you fuck my mouth and cum down my throat."

"Shadow!" Sonic yelped, eyes widening. He sounded genuinely scandalized. Despite that, his bulge swelled, a hint of tan tip peeking out of cobalt sheath. "No, it won't! And I'll smell obscene when I get home!"

"You're already going to smell worked up," Shadow pointed out.

"And if you blow me, I'll actually smell like jizz!"

"Sonic," Shadow gasped, pressing a hand to his chest, "you know I wouldn't be so wasteful."

Sonic's lips parted, but all that came out was, "Duuuuh..."

"Down my throat, hedgehog," Shadow purred. "No evidence, I promise. I'll swallow every drop and lick your cock clean."

"I-I—" Sonic squeaked. His sheath retracted just enough for the entire head of his prick to pop free.

"But you're right," Shadow sighed, pushing back to his knees, making ready to stand, "it's too late—"

"No it's not!" Sonic barked. He clamped a hand on his mate's dense, muscular shoulder, pushing down, keeping Shadow on his knees. "It's, uh..." Sonic laughed weakly. His cock throbbed once more, another inch slipping free.

Shadow smirked. "It's what, hedgehog?"

"Uh...you know?" Sonic ducked his head, but he couldn't hide the near-total red of his face. "Okay?"

"Okay?" Shadow repeated. His eyes dropped to the smaller hedgehog's groin and the redeemed villain bit his lower lip. Raising his gaze, he was pleased to see Sonic's focus had zeroed in on his mouth. "Just 'okay,' hedgehog?" he cooed. Shadow felt his tail rise, a throb centered just underneath. "That hardly feels enthusiastic. I think you should...ask."

"Ask?" Sonic squeaked. "But you already offered—"

"Ask, Sonic. Ask me to stop. Or ask me to—"

"Blow me," Sonic yipped. He rose, unsteady, to stand before his kneeling partner. Blue legs trembled, and Sonic reached out to dig steadying hands into Shadow's quills, pulling Shadow's head towards his bulge. "Suck me off, Shadow, please." His hips pressed forward, cock tip poking at Shadow's evil mouth.

Shadow pressed his palm over Sonic's groin. He leaned back, looking up into frantic green eyes. "No," he said.

Before Sonic's gasp of shock could be followed by more beautiful pleading words, the black hedgehog continued, ordering, "Fuck my face, hedgehog." Jerking his chin down, he clarified, "I've got to concentrate on finishing this in time. So you do the work."

Sonic's eyes followed Shadow's gesture.

He keened.

The hand that didn't restrain Sonic by the groin had been denuded sometime in their fight, and long black-and-red fingers were already full of Shadow's full erection. His strokes were tight and quick, wasting no time. Deadlines were a bitch.

Removing his glove from Sonic's bulge, Shadow bit at each leather-clad fingertip in turn, pulling the covering until it slid out from under his inhibitor ring, dropping unceremoniously to the ground.

Sonic's breathing picked up.

"I just want a little..." Shadow began, and finished by tapping his index finger to the weeping slit of Sonic's hardness. He swiped up a bead of precum, which glistened obscenely on a red paw pad.

The hands in Shadow's quills tightened. The high, desperate sounds Sonic had been making began to shift lower.

"It'll have to do," Shadow sighed, examining his lover's sparse wetness. He shifted his knees further from one-another, asscheeks parting as his body dropped low. Carefully, the dark beast tucked his hand between spread legs, smearing the bead of pre over his hole. Black quills rippled in response to the slick touch. With so little lubrication, and of a type so quick to dry in the air, Shadow wouldn't risk more than rubbing at his hole. But Sonic didn't need to know that. Sonic could imagine his mate's fingers were fucking his own ass with abandon.

Shadow had decided early on that faked orgasms were ludicrous, but a theatrical moan here and there seemed fine. So he stroked at his prick and rubbed at his hole and opened his lips to call out his suitor's name.

And was shut up by a delicious mouthful of musky, sweat-damp cock.

"Shit!" Sonic yelped, hunching over his boyfriend's head. "Sh-Shadow, you goddamn tease. I should leave your throat bruised for that!"

The moan Shadow let out on his mate's length was no longer theatrical. Sonic's sheath rammed into Shadow's lips, pushed down with each thrust into the dark hedgehog's mouth. The blue fur tickled. Shadow smiled around the thickness caressing his tongue, resisting the urge to laugh. He would not allow this moment to be interrupted; not when Sonic was finally using his body, taking Shadow's service as he wished.

"I want you," Sonic panted, "to stick your tongue out. It feels so fucking amazing. All wet and soft. You look gorgeous when you're drooling on my cock."

A flash of heat ran down Shadow's throat, a jolt of electricity on the next downstroke to his own length. Oh. Telling him. That was right. Sonic had offered to tell his mate what he could do in service. Shadow was elated to comply.

On Sonic's next long withdrawal, he followed his lover's retreating prick with his tongue, resting it as far out as he could stretch, covering lower teeth. He kept the muscle stiff, giving Sonic's dick a landing strip.

"Very good," Sonic cooed, gazing down with adoration at his mate's open, salivating mouth and obedient tongue. His hands left Shadow's quills, thumbs hooking into the corners of his servant's cheeks, one pressing to top molars, the other to bottom. He forced powerful jaws wider, peering deep inside. "You're always so hungry for my cum. Licking it up like you're starving."

Shadow nodded, ears drooping contentedly to the side. Drool pooled on his lower lip, dripping down his chin.

"Beautiful," Sonic breathed. "Your mouth was made to suck my cock. Pretty soft lips. Deep, tight throat. Nice long tongue. I want you to savor my cum on your tongue, next time. I want to hold you open like this and watch you swallow it all down."

Shadow trembled. A gush of saliva flooded his mouth, oozing in long lines to the forest floor. It was joined by the thick flow of his pre, red cock dripping like a leaky faucet. He could feel his heartbeat pounding at his hole.

Sonic finally let his lover's mouth go. He moved his hands to scratch behind Shadow's flat ears. Their very tips actually went a little limp as every muscle and tendon which controlled the black triangles loosened.

With a little aiming of his pelvis and a flexing of thighs, Sonic's prick twitched, rising to settle on Shadow's tongue. Rolling his hips, he finally penetrated the agent's lips once more, trilling as they promptly suctioned about his length, urging the speedster inside.

"Hm. I wanted to try..." Removing one hand from Shadow's head, Sonic brought a glove to his teeth, biting and removing it with less seduction than his mate had utilized. Once his fingers were bare, the blue speedster brought them down to caress Shadow's cheek. He paused on a deep thrust in and traced a finger along Shadow's lips, around to his tongue and through the generous saliva his compliant mate had provided. "Oh, that is nice." Sonic wrapped a hand about his prick, right up against Shadow's lips, and rutted into the hybrid's wet hole. He gasped at the feel of Shadow's lips, pushed in by the pressure of his thrusts, stretched back by his withdrawls.

"It made my lips all tingly when you did that. You got the tingles, Shads?"

The hedgehog's stuffed hole buzzed with a moan of agreement. He was still able to breath through his nose, but a bit of additional pressure and Sonic would block his airway.

Shadow leaned in.

"Ah!" Sonic yanked on Shadow's ear, pulling him off his erection. "Ex-cuse me!?" He shook Shadow by the ear, rattling the kneeling male's already addled brain. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I—" Shadow gasped, but was shut up by Sonic's drool-soaked cock filling his mouth.

"I thought you liked giving service?" Sonic snarled, pulling Shadow's mouth onto his length. The hand which had been so gently exploring how their bodies met now dug back into black quills, adding more power to each deep fuck. "Now you're trying to take it?"

"Hnnng," Shadow whined. Sonic was hitting well into the depths of his throat. With every tap to his dangling uvula and the tight muscle beyond, the desperate male's stomach jolted. Involuntary tears—brought out by the strain of his gag reflex—began to build at the corner of Shadow's eyes.

Brows furrowing, Sonic slowed and shallowed the movement of his hips and arms. Green eyes darted across his servant's face, taking in the wetness there.

A single tear finally grew large enough to fall down Shadow's cheek.

"Shadow!" Sonic gasped, leaning back, pulling out.

Shadow's ears folded back. He wasn't allowed to lean in, so all he could do was hollow his cheeks, creating as much negative pressure about his lover's cock as possible, trying desperately to keep Sonic in his mouth.

"Fuuuuuck," Sonic hissed, stopping with just his tip still between his rivals' lips. "Shads," he keened. Sonic ran a thumb across the darker male's cheek, wiping the tear away and urging him to look up. "Hey. Hey. Shads, are you okay?"

Shadow could only nod a tiny bit, lest he risk the loss of his treat.

It was enough. Sonic stopped trying to deny him. He stood straight, tentatively allowing Shadow more dick to suckle, which the overjoyed male did promptly. Sonic groaned at the return of sensation and the kneeling male's active participation. He adjusted his quill grip. "Was I going too hard?"

Shadow shook his head. To help drive the point home, he picked up the jacking pace to his own dripping cock, right shoulder shaking with the movement. Hopefully, the message was clear: I liked it.

"Can..." Sonic licked his lips. Leaning to the side, he watched how Shadow pleasured himself. "Can I be...rougher?"

Groaning, Shadow gave Sonic a nod and another hard suck. Black hips tensed, trying to thrust into an orifice that wasn't there. All he could do was keep stroking himself and hope.

"Oh, Shadow," Sonic breathed, petting his partner's wet cheek. "Thank you. You're so perfect. Okay..." He grinned, quills rising with pride. In his mate? Himself? Both, most likely. "Get that slutty mouth ready for my cum."

Gasping, choking on Sonic's prick, Shadow gave another nod. He stuck his tongue out eagerly. Drool flowed out past the hardness testing his throat, soaking him from tan chin to white ruff.

Each stroke Shadow made along his own cock felt like it would be the last. Heavy red balls rose up, tense, at the ready. The finger at Shadow's hole rubbed faster, pushing the muscle side to side, stretching the edges.

"Swallow everything," Sonic ordered. "No making a mess. Choke, if you have to."

Gladly. He'd gladly choke, give up air, pass out impaled on Sonic's prick. But Shadow couldn't say that, so all he did was nod one last time.

Relentless.

Sonic yanked at Shadow's quills, double-fisted, forcing the eager hedgehog's skilled hole down on his thickness. He bumped into the back of Shadow's throat, once, twice, then the black hedgehog shifted his neck slightly somehow, and Shadow felt a hard pop as a tan cockhead moved past the previous limit, lodging in the curve of his throat.

Sonic yelped, rhythm stuttering. Hips pulling back an inch, his length popped free again. "Shadow, I'm gonna—"

Shadow was there already. The conquering of his throat had done him in, but the curve of claw he slipped past his anal sphincter after Sonic's frenulum breached was also a help. The agent's length tingled, then overloaded, buzzing energy swamping his body. Semen shot forth, between Sonic's shoulder-width parted legs. The dark humus of the forest floor was decorated in milky-white jets; less volume than when Shadow bred his new toy the day before, but landing further than seemed possible at this angle and height.

"Ah! Shadow!" Sonic howled, pulling at Shadow's quills a final time, hard enough to yank a few quills free, and with plenty of force to once more shove the very tip of his cock into the bend of Shadow's throat.

Against his lips, Shadow felt Sonic's testicles draw up, quiver, and suddenly relax.

Warmth flowed Shadow's throat, fast and thick. With as deep as his lover spilled, Shadow was denied his new favorite flavour. It was delivered directly to the hedgehog's esophagus, settling far down in Shadow's stomach as a small end-of-date treat.

Shadow couldn't let it all go, of course. He waited until Sonic's grip on black quills loosened, his strength sapped directly from his dick. Before all of the male's spend was gone, Shadow leaned back, dislodging the prick from his throat.

Only a few drops were left, but Shadow savored them. He suckled at Sonic's tip, tongue lapping at the slit. When Sonic's length began to soften and no further spurts seemed to be coming, the dark Mobian poked his tongue far down the hole, trilling with delight as he stole a final taste.

"I'm clean, Shadow," Sonic gasped, pushing his lover's head away. "You're not getting more without a straw! Chaos." He stumbled, leaning over, resting one gloved and one nude hand to his knees. He wobbled, but the added stability from his arms kept the hero upright. With labored breaths, he pointed out, "I don't think that saved us time."

"Oh, no worries," Shadow said. He rubbed cum-covered fingers across his thigh, drying off before he picked up and donned his gloves. He'd have enough time to soap off his legs and grab fresh clothes before mission pickup. "I've got us covered." Retrieving Sonic's abandoned glove from the forest floor, he stood.

Sonic looked at his watch and frowned. "Uh, you gotta take that bike home, dude. That's a, what, hour ride?"

"You're forgetting something." The agent grabbed his black sheath, lifting up to slide his softened red penis inside. Abdominals tightened, shifting his groin to smoothness.

Sonic frowned at the absence of a little red friend. "And what's that?"

Shadow gave his mate no warning. He stepped in and grasped Sonic's blue sheath, yanking it up—far harder than he'd done to himself—to engulf the hero's dick.

Sonic's fur puffed like he'd been connected to a live electric wire. "EEP!"

Shadow released his gathered chaos energy, snapping himself a good ten miles back on the race route, dragging Sonic along by the junk.

Earth's favorite hero screeched. He looked about, no longer seeing conifers, but instead chest-high bushes. These were in full leaf, giving the hedgehog some much-needed privacy, even if the only things about to see him were wildlife; his dick might be hidden, but the bulge of his sheath was still quite evident.

"Dude!" Sonic snapped, slapping his partner's hand off his bulge. He reeled away from Shadow, who was bent over, laughing and clutching his stomach. "You dickhead! Not funny!"

"Extremely funny," Shadow countered.

"Grrrr...and how is this saving time?" Sonic waved at the field. "Ooo, ten seconds! And you've already wasted it giggling."

"I'll skip the ride back from Green Hills," Shadow explained. "Chaos Control instead of riding will save me an hour, after I drop you off."

"...oh." Sonic nodded. "Right." A moment later, his ears pinned back. He bared small canines at his lover. "So you teleported me by the dick to be funny?"

"Of course not," Shadow chided, leaning in to tap their noses together. "I did it to be mean."

Sonic choked on his fury.

"Now finish packing up," Shadow said, patting Sonic's loose sheath, earning an irate series of clicks. "Race you to your restaurant."

"It's not my—" Sonic began, but found himself speaking to air. Growling, he tightened up his lower abdomen, making things nice and aerodynamic, and took off after his asshole boyfriend.

Sonic held tighter, the closer they came to Green Hills. There was no scouting and breaking speed limits, this time. Just a quiet ride back.

Normally, Sonic's heart lightened when he got close enough to recognize the environs of Green Hills. It was his territory. His home. The inhabitants were rapidly becoming a sort of extended family.

But there was another home, now. New and not entirely comfortable, yet, but growing more-so every moment he spent there. Not exactly in an apartment high above Station Square. This home was at Shadow's side. And he didn't want to leave. He didn't want Shadow to leave.

Fifteen minutes sitting still would normally send Sonic vibrating with anxiety, but the ride home from Great Falls, tucked up close, surrounded by his mate's scent, passed with nary a wiggle of impatience. Maybe the same could be said of Shadow, as, despite the lack of late-night traffic, the return ride took more like seventy-five minutes, instead of the anticipated hour.

But, too soon, they turned off the main highway, onto the local route. Wade's patrol car was gone. They passed the last gas station for fifteen miles outbound, then Zimmerman's farm. A few small homesteads, then the newest stand of "suburban" streets. Past the sheriff's station and volunteer fine department, the library and single grocery store, the downtown gas station, the darkened front of the Mean Bean, and on through the center of town. Green Hills had two intersections with streetlights, now, but, this late at night, both were permanently green in one direction, blinking red in the other.

Shadow eased up on the engine as they wove through the hilly streets of the old residential neighborhood. There was still a whisper of the Yamaha's growl echoing off trees and rooflines, but not so much that any neighbors peeked out of windows to find the source.

And then, they arrived. Shadow pulled a few feet into the long driveway leading up to the Wachowski house, killed the engine, and...sat there.

Sonic squeezed tighter.

Taking a limpet-like arm from his waist, Shadow lifted it to his muzzle, kissing Sonic's wrist. "Three days. That's all."

"You better come pick me up the second you're off-duty."

"Then you better be ready for me."

Nibbling in at Shadow's neck, Sonic whispered, "Yes, sir."

"Fuck." Shadow breathed. "Stop trying to make me stay." He squeezed Sonic's hand tighter. Then let go.

The blue hedgehog slid off the bike, but didn't move away, instead leaning against Shadow's leg, tilting his head up to look at the reluctant agent. "I don't like missing you."

Shadow had been gazing upon his mate, eyes soft, but, at Sonic's words, a dullness came to them. His ears fell. "Sonic, would you...would you like to see other people?"

Sonic's quills shot up. "W-what?" he shrilled.

Shadow fiddled with the bike's clutch. "If you—"

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"What!?" The agent jolted so hard the bike wobbled and tipped. Shadow abandoned it to its fall. He jumped off, ignoring the crash at his back, and grabbed both of Sonic's wrists, making sure he didn't run off and start this courtship drama all over again. "No!"

"But," Sonic began, then hiccoughed against a locked-up throat. He took a deep breath and tried again, words high and shaky. "But you said we should see other people."

"W-want to," Shadow stammered. "I asked if you want to see other people!"

"Want—other—what?" Sonic blinked against the shimmer which had built up in his eyes. He took another deep breath. "Words, Shadow."

"This isn't my last assignment. I'm not retiring. I'm going to get called out on missions, Sonic. Longer ones. So if you don't like missing me, maybe you'd feel better if you had...someone else."

Sonic sputtered, the fur on his nape rising. "Like a...a..."

"Another ma—"

"A substitute teacher!?"

"Uh..." Shadow stared. His head began a slow sideways tilt. "Nooooo...?" he said, hesitantly. Warily. Trying to find the tripwire.

"Because what I'm hearing is you think I'm so desperate that I should call in a pinch-hitter when you have to go to work!"

Shadow's mouth began to spout as fast as his mate's. "If that's what you need to be happy with me, then—"

Sonic wrenched a wrist from his mate's grip and slapped a hand over Shadow's lips. Green eyes flickered with power far in their depths.

"Okay, maybe you should actually shut up," Sonic growled. "Just shake or nod."

Shadow nodded.

"Are you trying to break up with me?"

Shadow shook his head so violently he almost dislodged Sonic's hand.

Sonic let out a breath and his whole body seemed to shrink. "Okay. Okay. Good. Are you asking if I want a second partner?"

This nod was more reluctant.

Sonic chewed at his cheek. "Are you asking because...." There was a crack in his quiet voice. "Because you want someone else?"

Shadow squeaked and tried to open his mouth, but Sonic wasn't having it. He stopped merely pressing his palm over the panicky male's muzzle and instead wrapped his whole hand about it, squeezing Shadow's mouth closed.

Chastised, Shadow shook his head again. (This nod-shake game was a lot less fun when he didn't have a dick in his mouth.)

"Are you..." Sonic hesitated. "Are you worried I'll end this because you have to leave me behind sometimes?"

A long, long stillness.

Shadow nodded.

"You idiot," Sonic laughed, leaning in to kiss Shadow's black nose. "Did you think I hadn't already figured out I'd have to wait for you sometimes?"

Shadow gave a slow shrug. Under Sonic's hand, his lips tried to turn into an awkward smile. A single, small nod.

Rumbling came from deep in Sonic's chest, the sound a blend of amused purr and irritated growl. He gave Shadow's muzzle a shake. "Dickhead. Come here." Releasing his partner's jaws, Sonic used his free arm to encircle Shadow's waist, bringing their interlaced fingers up to rest between their chests, close to scared, pounding hearts.

"Sorry," Shadow muttered, reciprocating Sonic's hold about the smaller hedgehog's plump waist. "Rouge mentioned—"

Sonic's quills rippled and his body grew large and imposing. "Is Rouge courting you?"

"No!" Shadow's swift response was not alarmed, but amused. "No," he chuckled, "she is well-occupied with Rose. And hunting your brother."

A mischievous smirk. "Actually, she might not need to—AMY!?"

"Oh. So you didn't know, either?"

Sonic murmured, "Son lesbianas." One ear fell flat. His brain's gears seized up, unable to pass that bit of info through their teeth.

Shadow considered. "Creo que son bisexuales."

"Bisexuales...." The hero shook his head, eyes wide in wonder of this world.

Shadow ran his thumb over gloved knuckles. "Sonic. That hedgehog book. It did mention that we're not generally a monogamous species. Especially at our age." He swallowed. "Rouge said I should ask if...if you intended to...if we are..." Shadow's mouth remained open, trying desperately to get the words out.

Sonic came to his rival's rescue. "If we're...like, exclusive?" His tail started to wag. "Shadooooow," he needled, "are you asking if I wanna go steady?"

"I'm asking," Shadow grumped, unable to restrain a pout, "if you wish to pursue additional partners."

"Uh. I think that's kind of a moot point, for me." Sonic's muzzle wrinkled and he stuck out his tongue. "Unless you think I'm into humans."

Lips twitched, revealing the tips of sharp teeth. "Keanu?"

Sonic dug his fingers into Shadow's pelt, trying to reprimand, but all it got him was a knowing smirk. Which quickly faded as Shadow continued speaking.

"Sonic. If you had the option. If, say, someone arrived from Mobius or you could return—"

"Shadow—"

The real words, the core words, the full fear that ate at Shadow's heart, finally came tumbling out. "Do you want more than me?"

The second the fear was voiced, Shadow squeezed his eyes shut, ears going flat to his skull. His jaw tensed, grinding, teeth threatening to chip. He leaned back, away from his old enemy. His new lover.

"Shadow," Sonic whispered, counteracting his mate's retreat, leaning so far forward they both stumbled a step, nearly toppling over the fallen motorcycle. He pressed his forehead up against Shadow's and continued, "I already said I want you."

Shadow braved opening his eyes to slits.

Sonic's gaze was soft. He rubbed his head back and forth, kicking both of their scents up about their foremost quills. "I reeeally like you, Shads," he teased. A little pink crossed his muzzle. "N-not ready for the, er...major L-word...."

Shadow nodded. "Likewise."

"Whew!" Deeper pink surged up Sonic's face. "Uh. I mean..." He cleared his throat. "Shads, I'm really enjoying this." He pressed at Shadow's back and squeezed his hand, aching for a greater closeness. They could never be close enough, for him. "You're pretty nice, for being such an asshole."

"Hmph."

Sonic pursed his lips a moment, contemplating. "I've never," he went on, slowly, "considered dating more than one person." He hummed, contemplating further. "Might be from growing up on human TV. Whenever anyone tried that, it looked like a lot more work than it was worth."

"You are incredibly lazy."

"Oh, sorry for being unemployed." He poked out his tongue, trying for cute. "You know, if you do ever ask me to move in, you're gonna have to pay most of the bills."

"A kept man?" Shadow suggested. "Out to play Suzy Homemaker?"

Sonic snickered. "Homemaker? What, you wanna get me barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen?"

Shadow's tail wagged violently. The black hedgehog's whole body moved.

Sonic's brows rose.

"We, uh..." Shadow popped his lips. "We probably don't have time to get into that." He tried to grin, but the whole attempt looked painful. "When I'm back?"

"Noted," Sonic drawled, giving Shadow a little wink.

"So, like, I'm pretty sure I don't want to be with another guy," Sonic finally directly answered. "Or girl," he added.

Emboldened—and also still plagued by specifics—Shadow asked, "Not even," his tone went nasal and oddly...French, "Her most gorgeous of Majesties?"

"Please," Sonic whined, "never talk like that dweeb again. And, no." He snorted. "Oh, Chaos. Can you even imagine me as King? No, thank you!"

Shadow was standing taller, now. Enough so that Sonic's forehead couldn't quite fit to his, anymore. Instead, the smaller male tilted his chin up. Their muzzles had some space between them, and the springtime late-night air cooled their breaths. The thinnest, most ethereal of ghosts danced between their lips before departing to some other life.

"I'm pretty sure it's just you, Shadow," Sonic said. "But I'm definitely sure that if I did ever want someone else, it wouldn't be to...to fill in the gaps. It would be because I like them, on their own, too." He was still for a moment.

Always dangerous.

"Unless Mobian lizards also have two—"

Shadow bit Sonic's cheek.

"Ah, ow, hey!" Sonic laughed, taking his hand from Shadow's back to yank on black quills, the sharp movement breaking the hybrid's grip. "Geez, spend some work hours fixing your aim! My mouth is over here!" Still using his quill grip, Sonic brought his mate's lips down to his own, beginning one final, long kiss to end their date.

It went on for longer than it should. For Shadow's obligations, at least. For their needs, it was too short. The kiss wasn't hot and desperate, but languid and thorough and deep. While it stoked desire, it was of a more sustained sort. One that, if asked, could wait.

The light on the Wachowski porch flicked on.

The hedgehogs broke their kiss, turning to look at the family home.

A round, red face peeked out of the tall window to the right of the front door, a long, golden face through the left.

Up on the rooftop, two pinpricks of reflected moonlight glared.

Sonic groaned. "They are going to eat me alive."

"Count yourself lucky," Shadow said. "I'm almost late. I won't be able to shower before I get in the 'copter with Rouge."

Sonic took a deep, appreciative sniff of Shadow's gloved hand, humming in satisfaction at the scent of the dark male's release hiding under leather. "Hmm. Lucky woman. I'll miss that."

"You know," Shadow ventured, "you have access to my apartment. Feel free to stop by. If you miss me too much."

"Ooo..." Sonic's ears perked. "Privacy!"

"Indulge," Shadow urged. "But remember," he growled, letting the touch at Sonic's back fall, exploring a convex, not concave, curve, "your ass is very literally mine when I get home."

"Oh, good," Sonic purred. The sound kicked up as Shadow gave a tight squeeze.

Two hands snuck into Shadow's ruff. They explored and twisted about. Kneading? No, not that. Shadow's ears flicked forward, curious. With his mate's muzzle so close, he couldn't look down easily; what in the world were Sonic's hands doing in there?

Leaning in, standing up on tiptoe, the tricky blue hedgehog whispered in his lover's ear, "Because I've got some items to change from black to bronze when I get my hands on your little chart." Swiftly, Sonic gave Shadow a peck on the cheek and, before it could turn into something more and really make the agent late, the little temptation zipped off, halfway up the driveway, out of reach but still facing his suitor.

Shadow still felt something in his chest ruff. With Sonic gone, it shifted, slipping, falling into Shadow's hands.

Shadow looked down at a loose white glove.

His head shot back up. He stared at Sonic, mouth agape.

Raising his nude right hand, Sonic wiggled his fingers, tan pawpads standing out against blue fur in the high moonlight. "In case you start missing me."

And then he was gone, the house's front door clicking closed gently, the screen slamming a moment after. Two faces left the windows. Two eyes on the roof narrowed, and then they were gone, as well.

Shadow lifted Sonic's glove to his nose, taking in a long breath, brain going swimmy with his mate's thickly contained scent.

With a dreamy sigh, Shadow finally attended to his mechanical lady, lifting the bike from the ground, relieved to find nary a scratch. Incredible luck. Taking hold of the clutch, he gave one last look back at Sonic's home.

And then he, too, was gone, leaving behind a flare of chaos energy and a whiff of ozone as he returned to his own home, which had already begun to feel so empty.

No.

Not empty.

Incomplete.