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It was a quiet afternoon for Shadow who was currently lounging on Rouge’s couch. Stuffing his face with a handful of premium roast coffee beans. It was quiet. Almost too quiet. But would Shadow complain? No. Not when he was content with the peacefulness that became a rarity from balancing his life between G.U.N missions, Robotnik and the blue nuisance…Sonic. A single mention of his name would sometimes annoy Shadow to no end.
Oh, how he found that stupid blue hedgehog a pain in his backside. Seriously?! How energetic can one mobian be? It was like Sonic was a constant energy source that never ran out of battery. Always bouncing around and speeding into scenes within an intense blur. Shadow scoffed, shoving a handful of premium dark roasted coffee beans into his mouth with a sharp crunch. Stupid Sonic and charming face.
“Thinking about your boyfriend, handsome?” Rouge cooed with a playful glint in her eyes, gliding towards Shadow with a soft flap of her wings before leaning against the back of the couch and scratching behind the ebony’s perked up ears.
“He is not my boyfriend, Rouge. I can barely stand that blue nuisance. Don’t make absurd accusations.” The ebony hedgehog snarled in annoyance while swatting Rouge’s gloved hands away, glaring at the bat with disdain and a small blush on his tan scrunched up muzzle. How could she possibly believe that? Him and Sonic? No. It wouldn’t happen if he had anything to say about it.
Why would Shadow trap a light as bright as Sonic in a life as dark as his? Sonic was born to shine, to guide everyone around him to glory while remaining the living embodiment of the freedom he adored. Freedom was another factor that Shadow thought about when it came to the blue blur. Freedom was Sonic’s thing, his purpose to Shadow. He could never take Sonic’s freedom away. That would be like trapping a bird in a cage instead of letting it fly freely without restrictions bound to it. Shadow could only imagine the embodiment of freedom tied down to him. It would destroy the hero.
“Finished yearning, hon?” The jewel thief teased with a knowing smirk, observing how her best friend stopped chewing on the coffee beans and started off into space. The denial of his feelings was almost comical if not a little bit sad. Shadow deserved to be happy even if the stubborn fool thought otherwise. The tension was so painfully obvious between the two chaos-powered hedgehogs. It’s surprising how neither of the two turned the spars into a well-needed makeout session.
“..I don’t yearn, Rouge. I have no idea what you’re on about and it’s quite ridiculous that you think I do silly things as such. I am the Ultimate Lif-“
“Yeah, yeah, The Ultimate Lifeform. I’ve heard it all before, Shadow.”
Silence fell over the two agents. It wasn’t awkward but not uncomfortable either. Eventually Rouge sighed and spoke up again, “You can say you don’t yearn, Shadow, but I know you do. It’s so painfully obvious that you’ve got the hots for big blue even if you somehow haven’t realised it yourself or in a major stage of denial. Just know, you’ve got someone and something potentially good to you waiting out there. Let yourself be happy. You deserve that. Don’t let the past guide you and dictate the future.” With that, Rouge left with a small pitiful smile and left Shadow alone with nothing but the coffee beans and his thoughts. Stupid Rouge and her remarks..
Pathetic…Shadow the Hedgehog does not yearn, especially for a rival as insignificant as Sonic.
He does yearn for those gorgeous emerald eyes to be locked on him at all times with a lovestruck dilated pupils, thick cobalt blue fur to brush against black and red for a small rush of adrenaline from the simplest of touches, the peach fuzz of Sonic’s muzzle to turn a lovely shade of pink, the cocky teasing grin turning into a flustered thin line of beautiful peach lips and much more like Sonic’s paws hidden under white cotton gloves.
Maybe the speedster has soft pink paw pads with tiny little scars scattered around his paw from hand-to-hand combat, possibly short claws instead of long pointed ones like his dark-counterpart.
Shadow doesn’t concern himself with Mobian standards as they are useless to him. But he’s kind enough to respect the fact that paws are seen as the most intimate part of the body. If the blue hedgehog ever gave him the chance to see one of the many intimate and precious parts of him, he would take the chance to see it. A chance to be closer to Sonic in a moment of vulnerability and a deep sign of intimacy that is rarely shown from either hedgehogs.
A deep show of vulnerability from Sonic could potentially make Shadow reciprocate. That scares him. Being vulnerable and open. Shadow knows talking about his feelings and being vulnerable is a step to healing himself and a possible way to vent his frustrations to someone who could come to understand what he feels in the present and felt in the past even if it’s not conveyed in a way that bears his heart on a silver platter.
The thought of being open and domestic with Sonic is nice. Almost a goal he wants to achieve. But he wouldn’t take Sonic’s freedom. Not something that makes Sonic…well, Sonic. Another thing to consider is Sonic reciprocating. It wouldn’t happen. He’s destined (encouraged) to be with Amy. After all, how could he possibly compete with someone who’s been there since day one? Not that he’s in-love with Sonic. Why would he be? He finds the hedgehog a constant thorn in his side! The ebony hedgehog would rather smash Sonic’s face against dirt and make him eat grass.
The thought is still nice though. Beating the blue blur. Not being a sickly-sweet couple. It’s safe to say that Shadow the Hedgehog does not yearn for the affection and love from his rival.