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Everything was cold.
Intangible and dark.
Incomprehensible.
He felt like he could barely move.
Floating.
He could barely grasp onto consciousness.
Where was he?
Shadow strained to remember.
He… was fighting something.
Did he lose?
By how drained his body was, probably.
Normally that would've bothered him. But he barely felt anything at the moment.
He barely felt alive.
Was this it?
Was he gonna be gone for good?
He couldn't find the will to fight it.
He just felt cold and paralyzed.
—------------------------------------------------
Suddenly, he felt something warm approaching
It arrived, and held him on his back and legs.
He felt that something warm pressing on his chest. It left too quickly.
He couldn't help but yearn for its return.
He didn't have to wait long. It held him closer, closer to the warmth, and he felt a pressure against his forehead.
From that contact, warmth started spreading through his entire body. He felt his strength returning and his entire being getting filled with energy.
Shadow tried to open his eyes. Whatever was in front of him, it was way too bright.
He turned his head away, attempting to blink and open his eyes. When he did, he mostly saw darkness, with splotches of light scattered here and there.
Was he in space? He still couldn't recall much.
“Hey. You ok?”
His ears turned to the source of the noise involuntarily, alerting the owner of the voice that they had been heard. Shadow slowly turned his head, trying to get used to the brightness and identify who talked to him.
A bit of blinking later, his eyes locked onto the fire red eyes looking back at him expectantly, expression unreadable. He looked over the golden hedgehog holding him.
Oh.
“... did you hear me?” Super Sonic looked in slight concern, leaning in slightly.
“Ah… yes, I'm-” Shadow starts looking around “Where… how…”
“We were out here trying to fight these weird creatures, probably sent by eggman, and one of them attached itself to you. I wonder if it was sucking your blood, you passed out and looked completely drained when I found you.”
He slowly processed the information.
He couldn't recall much, truthfully
He looked back at Sonic. He was pretty sure he wasn't in his super form last time Shadow saw him. Hell, he doesn't even recall him having all the emeralds yet. Did he go out of his way to transform just to save him?
With Super sonic holding him this close, strongly and comforting, eyes full of power looking at him seriously but with a hint of concern. Looking at him felt dizzying.
Normally he wouldn't allow himself to think these things, but right now he still felt too tired and out of reality to truly care. The truth was, he wouldn't mind staying in this position and just looking at his eyes for as long as possible…
“... You didn't answer my question, you know. Are you ok? You seem… out of it.” Super Sonic asked again, his concern becoming more apparent. It broke Shadow out of his trance.
He tried to focus on how he was physically feeling to answer truthfully “I feel… a bit dizzy. My heart is pounding…”
“Is that so… Well, I wouldn't be concerned. It's probably the healing taking effect.”
Now that he mentions it, Shadow could feel chaos energy thrumming through his body. That's probably what Sonic had done earlier, healed him.
“You should probably rest, let me handle the rest of it” Sonic tried to sound firm, looking into the distance.
Even as he felt himself being healed, Shadow still felt weakened. He had no energy to protest.
“...Alright.”
Sonic looked back at him, surprised. Then, all seriousness vanished from his expression as he chuckled and gave him his trademark grin.
“Hah! You're just gonna let me take your fight?! Wow, you really are out of it!”
He should have been mad.
But that goddamn smile. Stupid ass smile. Why did it feel like an arrow shot straight through the heart.
There have been times where he wondered how Sonic and Super Sonic could be the same person. When Sonic turned super, he gained this piercing, serious stare and a determined stance that seemed unheard of for someone as usually laid back as him, in Shadow's eyes at least.
But here, when he gives him this look, that smile… It's Sonic. It's so Sonic. It’s never been so clear as seeing that irritating face he’s so used to seeing by now.
Shadow hates how this thought makes him feel these feelings burn stronger.
He frowns. Despite all this he still feels irritated as he realizes Sonic is right.
Sonic chuckles again at his expression. “I better take you to rest then before you change your mind!” He proceeds to hold Shadow tighter as he reels back slightly and then takes off flying.
As the stars around them become blurs, Shadow feels his eyes getting heavier once again. He allows himself to close them, unconciously knowing he can trust the one who is holding him.
All he feels is the chaos energy flowing strongly around them, both inside of him and around Sonic as he is being held close. It feels warm and peaceful. Something he hadn't felt in a long time.
As he is nearly drifting off, he feels himself being set on a comfortable surface carefully, the energy he’s feeling leaving. It lingers a bit, almost like it doesnt wanna let go, until ultimately leaving as Shadow finally drifts away feeling at peace.
—-----------------------------------
After an unknown amount of time, Shadow wakes.
He groggily opens his eyes, blinking a couple times as he tries to wake up properly and clear his head.
He sits up on the bed, whatever bed this is, as he puts a hand on his head and tries to remember what happened. Slowly, he processed the events that led to him being here.
And as he processed, there was only one thought on his mind:
“...What the hell was all that.”
Of course, he should focus on whatever creature managed to take him out so easily, and why. He is the ultimate lifeform, but lost to a little blood loss? Shameful.
Despite this, however, his mind wouldn't stop annoyingly drifting to his barely conscious interaction with Sonic.
It felt almost like a dream, but the little leftover energy let him know it was real. Hazy memories but so clear at the same time.
He remembered Sonic’s eyes staring at him in concern, only visible up close.
He remembered being held tightly, but not uncomfortably, almost in a protective manner.
He remembered that concern being replaced by a smile that was so him it hurt.
He remembered how he felt. The coldness and emptyness being filled by warmth, which burned stronger the more they interacted. In a bubble all their own as Shadow's mental inhibitors were turned off by his tiredness and the emotions that filled his body.
…sickening.
Shadow almost slapped himself. How could he allow himself to be in such a state? What caused him to become so dizzied and far from reality that he didn't even mind any of what transpired? That just allowed himself to feel his energy being healed-
Oh. That 's probably it. Yes, that's definitely it. Sonic was still inexperienced at channeling healing chaos energy.
He must've caused some sort of imbalance in Shadow's system. Caused his heart to beat faster than it should, caused him dizziness, caused him to feel like he was burning.
Shadow wouldn't look any deeper into that.
He thought about chastising Sonic for his terrible job at using his energy. But he knew that if he let Sonic know about how much he affected him, Shadow would never hear the end of it. Best to keep that to himself, for now.
But still, even as he left the room and thought back to his interaction and the feelings that came with it, part of him couldn't help but look forward to feeling the coldness inside him dethaw once they inevitably met again.