Chapter Text
It was exactly two minutes past 6 pm, as the watch on his wrist helpfully displayed. The sun had long retreated from the sky, leaving the domain free for the stars’ taking, the small dots shining persistently, driven by a great sense of purpose in their brightness. It was as if they had been begging to be looked at by appreciative eyes, all giving their best to combat the ever-growing darkness clouding every street.
Unfortunately, their radiant glory could do nothing against the sheer amount of decorations adorning the city.
Hung on every door, the garlands of holly and bows filled the neighborhoods with green and red, joined by the whitening pine trees in the gardens and fake Santa Clauses propped up in front of shops and driveways. Some had decided to test their weather-resistant decor, bringing the joyous spirit to the outdoor trees; others had settled for showering their houses in lights, either challenging the stars with white LEDs or choosing to create a sky of various colors, blue, red, yellow, and green flashing over roofs and windows. The wind was low, gently swaying the branches of the trees now bare of leaves and pushing the falling snow straight into Shadows eyes.
Yeah, that wasn't exactly the pinnacle of enjoyable, but the white waterfall created such wonderful swirls in the breeze that the hedgehog found he could not care much.
With snowflakes littered over his eyelashes, Shadow walked through the streets with the pace of a careful photographer, slow and attentive, taking in the festive landscape with a quiet contentment as he soon knew his surroundings would be anything but peaceful. Leaving the center of the city, the pleasing aroma of clove and cinnamon still clinging to his fur and trailing behind him in the whirls of air, Shadow made his way towards the outskirts, the impressionable sight of the palace already gracing his eyes from half a mile away.
White lights hung on every window, the strings wrapping around the gates and pillars, illuminating the white marble and resembling the entrance of heaven. Which it clearly wasn’t, considering the amount of people that Shadow would have to deal with that night.
Don’t get him wrong, he wasn’t being forced to go to that party; he quite enjoyed seeing his friends (not that he’d ever let them know), but the sheer amount of people that would soon fill those walls left the hedgehog feeling a bit on edge. The idea of that many eyes even just laying on him once was distressing, especially if a certain someone decided to attach himself to Shadow’s hip all night. Maybe he was still in time to go back home, save himself from that nightmare. Yeah, he could just send Blaze a text and apologise for not showing up…
The idea was slowly but surely growing on him, his steps slowing to a stop in the middle of the road, and he would’ve followed through with it, gladly, had it not been for the unfortunate interruption of his train of thoughts by the image of a fuming bat, who would’ve dragged him out of his house by his ears had he even tried to miss out on the party.
Oh well, he was already there anyway; might as well go…
Shadow picked back up his pace, quickly reducing the distance between himself and the palace, closing in on the open gates that patiently awaited every guest of the princess, the muffled noise of music and chatter reaching him long before he could step onto the marble stairs that would take him to the entrance. The towering wooden doors had been left open, letting the cold air and snow enter the vast palace, the heating system courageously fighting the freezing temperature to ensure the utmost comfort of the invitees. Although vacant, the entryway had been dutifully embellished with garlands and lights, almost managing to turn the imposing structure into a welcoming, homey sight, invoking warmth into the hedgehog’s worrisome heart. Here, the music felt louder, beckoning Shadow to traverse the vast hallways and reach the main ballroom, probably already bursting with mobians caught in an endless dance of prate and twirls.
Swallowing down his uncertainty, the hedgehog turned right, down one of the long corridors, letting the noise guide him towards his objective.
Stretching all over the wall on his left, windows twice as tall as him (maybe even more, by the looks of it) let Shadow’s eyes explore a portion of the royal gardens, catching onto the moving figures of some of the guests currently roaming the grounds and admiring the statues and peculiarly shaped hedges and trees. The apparent serenity of the park greatly tempted the hedgehog; however, tearing his sight away with a resigned sigh, he kept going down the hall.
The main ballroom had been built deep inside the palace, designed to hold the most extravagant parties with ease, wide both in length and width. Rows of arches lined all sides, with waterfalls of fairy lights acting as curtains, mobians moving gracefully through the room and the surrounding corridors thanks to the openings. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, which had been embellished with intricate gold accents and baroque frescoes, catching any eye that set into the room even for just a second.
Shadow found he had no time to spend admiring the handiwork of whoever had created the ceiling, for the room was teeming with life, both his friends and absolute strangers filling the vast space. He could already see Rouge, occupied with what seemed to be a very captivating conversation with Espio (Shadow could not remember the last time he had seen that dude, but he digressed), both waving their hands around as they spoke, accompanying their words with expressive motions.
A splash of pink stood out further away into the ballroom, Amy’s twirling gown following her movements as she danced with Blaze, the host of the party and owner of the beautifully decorated palace, both their eyes shining with contentment the hedgehog had rarely seen outside Christmas (although he could’ve sworn that those two always looked at each other like that).
More of his friends were littered around, everyone easily participating in the practiced flow of socialising, a realisation that brought a dull spike of envy to pierce his gut, a feeling that was quickly smothered by a huff and his first step into the ballroom.
Finally walking through the crowd, Shadow was made aware of how warped his perspective had been just a few seconds ago. The sea of people he had been looking at was not actually as dense as he had thought, leaving him enough room to breathe and move around freely. Swiftly flowing through the nameless bodies, the hedgehog made his way towards Rouge, hoping she would be the one to help him get into the natural rhythm of conversation without having to stand around awkwardly until someone that recognised him came to bother him.
Luck had apparently decided to bless him that day, because just as he surpassed another mobian, the bat appeared in front of him, eyes gleaming as she regarded him with a smile.
“Oh my, I thought you’d never show, how come you’re so late?”
Shadow scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Nothing that would interest you, Rouge, just a small setback.” By small setback, he in fact meant the decorations in the city, which had stolen his attention for longer than he’d like to admit. She did not need to know that.
“My my… well, whatever the 'setback' had been, I’m glad you showed up.” She laughed, the glint in her eyes betraying the genuine affection blooming inside her every time her eyes set onto the dark hedgehog.
Shadow couldn’t say he disagreed; really, he had not been there enough to, still plenty of energy swirling inside of him, sufficient to survive a few hours at that party.
Rouge opened her mouth to say more, maybe comment on the strange addition of a watch to his usual pretty much undressed self; however, before she could even make a noise, her attention refocused, eyes settling on a new presence next to Shadow.
“Blue! I finally get to talk to you!” Rouge beamed.
When had he gotten there.
Sonic stood tall next to him, grinning from ear to ear as Rouge explained how she had been trying to talk to him all evening but had been stuck into a very important conversation with Espio about what best equipment would get her into this one unspecified, surely not fortified warehouse she so desperately wanted to enter for completely legal reasons.
Now, Shadow would’ve loved to listen to whatever Rouge had started talking about with the hero, but his attention had been completely stolen away by someone’s clearly intentional attempts to torment him, the gentle brush of Sonic’s shoulder gracing his own every couple of seconds.
The little bitch.
Why had Shadow not stepped away, you ask? Well, its actually for a really simple reason! Never ask him that again.
His arm was akin to wood in a fire, ablaze and feeling weak after every touch, the dark hedgehog unconsciously leaning just a tad bit closer to the hero, shoulders now in a constant state of contact. They would’ve gotten away with more had they been facing anyone else but the bat; however, their current companion was way too vigilant to miss anything that surpassed their casual touching, so they both had to settle for this.
Swallowing nervously, Shadow’s eyes started moving again, leaving Rouge’s face to focus on the softly swaying strings of light that hung in every arch. It was enchanting, especially against the dark background of the windows in the corridors, their swaying reminding the hedgehog of the thin tendrils of jellyfish, or maybe those lines of code you would see fill every screen in movies, when the designated hacker would do their magic and solve whatever problem with the unrealistic powers of a computer.
Shadow wished a simple line of code could fix his problems, how simple life would’ve been.
Lost in thought, Shadow spent his time wandering around the room, either following Rouge or leaving her side to explore the crowd, stopping only to speak with whatever acquaintance he would find in his travels. Unfortunately for him, every time he would stop for more than a second to chat, a certain blue hedgehog would magically teleport to his side, acting as oblivious as he could while leaving delicate touches on the dark hedgehog. Between a brush of their shoulders and warm caresses behind his back disguised as simple accidents, Shadow was beginning to consider the idea of breaking one of the windows to launch the hero as far away from him as possible.
He could already imagine it, grabbing Sonic by his waist… getting a firm grip on his soft fur… flinging him outside the window at the speed of light… how pleasant of an image.
Luckily for Sonic, Shadow had no desire to cause any kind of destruction to Blaze’s palace, much too aware of how insensitive it would’ve been, so the hero was safe, for now.
✮✮✮
It had been exactly two hours and fourteen minutes since the hedgehog had arrived at the party, and he swore he could hear ringing in his ears from all the chatter and music. Somehow, Sonic had finally disappeared from his side, off to bother Amy with whatever (when did that hedgehog ever say anything important anyway?) on the other side of the room. Shadow’s prayers extended to her in solidarity in these trying times.
The absence of that idiot at his side finally let the dark hedgehog notice just how much his head had been hurting, pain that had been muffled by the warmth of the hero’s presence now reclaiming his full attention, the pounding in his temples acting as a manifestation of his desire to leave that room immediately. And who was Shadow to say no?
Slowly, the hedgehog inched closer and closer to one of the arches, making sure none of his too curious friends saw him escape the party and decided to follow him into the abyss that was Blaze’s palace. When even Rouge’s attention had slipped from his form, Shadow took his chance, quickly entering the corridor behind the arch and leaving. The further he moved from the room, going down vast galleries that would have been vacant if not for the statues lining the sides, his headache gradually dulled, no more sharp than an old blade, ruined by time. He only stopped once he reached a dark hallway, where the tendrils of white lights had not extended their grasp, leaving the space to be illuminated by the great windows lining one of the walls, the lights of the royal garden blinking together with the stars of the night sky. There was a sort of disconsolate feeling seeped into the walls of this place, the vacuity of the bare marble leaving Shadow unsettled after witnessing the festive state of the other rooms. No family paintings had been hung, and the pictures on the ceiling were hardly distinguishable in the near darkness, serving only to blacken it and make the corridor appear lower.
The statues felt lifeless, the kind of lifeless that perturbed when experienced. The shadows had hidden the curvatures of their soft smiles, the carefully sculpted crinkling near the eyes, leaving them as expressionless husks of stone. Shadow walked by them slowly, eyes observant as they tried to catch the details he knew to be there, but could not find. Completely engrossed in his research, he failed to notice the arm shooting out from behind the statue he was walking past.
A hand grabbed his bicep, pulling him in and against the wall, a small grunt escaping his lips as his back hit the marble, eyes squeezing shut as he grimaced.
A soft laugh reached his ears, his muscles relaxing as he realised who had been behind the ambush. Opening his eyes, they settled onto the dear silhouette of his boyfriend, Sonic grinning at him as he caged him against the wall. However, before Shadow could return the smile, a fit of pain in the back of his head stole his attention away, the fast movement having renewed his headache.
“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” Sonic’s grin fell as he watched Shadow hiss and bring a hand up to his nape to massage it.
“No, it’s just a headache; don’t worry about it.” The dark hedgehog groaned, still grimacing. Sonic pouted, like a loser, and brought both of his hands to Shadow’s cheeks, cupping them as he placed a tender kiss on his forehead, followed by a couple more littered around his whole face.
Totally against his will, Shadow relaxed into the hold, his own hands moving to settle onto the hero’s waist. Sonic’s mouth moved, his trail of kisses leaving the dark hedgehog’s face to explore his neck, Shadow’s grip tightening in response.
“Sonic, people are going to notice if you’re absent from the party.”
The hero huffed into his collarbone, clearly having no interest in the events that were occurring outside of that corridor, much more inclined to stay into his lover’s arms.
“Oh come on! There’s so many people at that party!”
“Yeah, but they’re not you, Sonic.” Shadow cupped the hero’s face, moving it so he could gaze at his emerald eyes, face lacking the usual scowl that warped his striking features. The blue hedgehog shamelessly stared back, wonder glinting in his eyes and a slight red tint warming his cheeks. Shadow wasn’t wrong; Sonic’s absence was always the first to be noticed, his bright personality and renowned heroism making him a beloved public figure. Everyone would feel his sudden disappearance from the party, whether he liked it or not.
“But I wanna stay here with you…”
Shadow sighed. He would be lying if he said he didn't want Sonic to keep him company, especially since they hadn’t seen each other in a week. But was he really so weak that he would jeopardize their whole secret for a few kisses?
“... Just a bit longer.”
Yeah, obviously, he was.
Sonic beamed, closing the distance between them with a kiss.
Shadow’s heart skipped a beat— no, scratch that, it stopped completely, still not quite used to the hero’s touch after two months of relationship. His eyes fluttered closed, hiding pupils so dilated it would’ve worried every doctor in the city. Moving from Sonic’s cheek, his right hand grasped a fistful of quills on the back of his head, using the leverage to angle it so that he could deepen the kiss, Sonic gladly complying with the quiet request. The hero apparently had no qualms about doing this in his friend’s palace, immediately pushing his knee inbetween Shadow’s legs and resting his hands on the small of his back, his touch featherlight as he trailed the other’s spine with one finger, earning a delectable noise of contentment from the dark hedgehog, joined by pleasurable chills running up his back.
Shadow isn’t too proud to admit how fast he folded after that, hands roaming desperately all over his lover, grabbing whatever his frenzied mind desired. Hungry, he was so hungry. He licked Sonic’s bottom lip, the hero quickly catching on and opening his mouth for him, letting Shadow taste what he so adored, the warm flavour of the sun reaching his heart in rays.
He might never get tired of this, the dark hedgehog thought. Being able to access something so intimate of the hero’s, hearing all the little noises spill from his lips right into his mouth, like a waterfall of delightful music, all for his ears only. The way Sonic touched him was mouthwatering, blending soft touches and rough grips to mold him right under his hands as his heart desired, bringing out of him a harmony of sounds to match his own.
One of Sonic’s hands moved to squeeze his thigh, Shadow bit his lip in retaliation, earning a short gasp from the hero and starting a whole new wave of teasing from the latter, his caresses starting to explore his chest, fingers treading through his chestfluff and playfully tugging at it before moving back down to brush his thumbs over his ribcage. With a stifled whine, Shadow arched his back into the other’s touch, maybe getting a bit too eager. The sounds escaping their joined mouths filled the hall, the silence unable to cloak them under a still secrecy.
Sonic had been the one to break the kiss, face flushed as he gasped for air, enamoured emeralds stuck on the holy sight of the dark hedgehog’s flustered appearance. Shadow’s lips felt sore and hot, maybe even a bit numb, so it took him a second to notice the smile that had sneaked up on his own face, his earlier headache chased away by the hero’s unplanned interruption of his walk.
Sonic’s eyes crinkled in delight, a oh so sweet laugh cascading down his beautiful puffed lips, a stunning sight for the dark hedgehog to behold, all for his eyes only, hidden in the shadows of the lonesome corridor.
“We should get back now; wouldn’t want Rouge to come look for us.” Sonic grinned, hands slowly dropping from Shadow’s waist, before stopping at his hips. Nodding, the dark hedgehog stepped away from the wall, taking the hero’s hand in his to guide him back towards the ballroom.
“Remember, the moment we step in there again, you’re going to have to leave my side. For the whole night.” Shadow cautioned, choosing to ignore his boyfriend’s distraught look clearly exaggerated to try to get him to change his mind. “We can’t risk it; we’ve already been gone a while, and I'm sure at least someone has noticed.”
Sonic huffed, openly against this plan of theirs. He couldn’t quite understand why Shadow was so against being public with this, but every time he brought it up, the other’s troubled expression would quickly change his mind. Sonic would’ve flipped the world upside down had Shadow even just asked.
“Yeah yeah, I know; don’t worry, I’ll leave you alone.” The hero playfully rolled his eyes, before pulling on the other’s hand, signaling Shadow to move as he started walking down the corridor.
Their walk back had been silent, surprisingly, the only conversation being held with hand squeezes and fond looks thrown over a shoulder, with Sonic taking the lead to bring them back to the ballroom. After a couple of twists and turns in hallways that frankly looked all the same, the duo reached their destination, hands separating as they both went their separate way.
Shadow quickly found Rouge, the bat not questioning once where he had been, much to the hedgehog’s surprise, immediately jumping back into one of her favorite topics (who knew she could talk so much about robberies when drunk; this woman knew way too much about them). As promised, Sonic didn’t appear once for the rest of the night, leaving the dark hedgehog to wonder about their predicament, completely disconnected from Rouge’s monologues. Would they be able to keep this a secret? Worry gnawed at his gut, the peace previously acquired flowing away like a gentle rain. Would Shadow ever be able to handle it becoming public?
Something in his mind told him no, but if he had listened to his mind, he wouldn’t have been in this mess in the first place.