embxace

[tk-writer]

Peace and Quiet. [platonic Sonic x Shadow]

Peace and quiet. All he wanted was a little peace and quiet.

What Shadow got instead were flashes of cobalt blue always appearing somewhere in his vision, along with constant chatter in his ear about this and that and stupid shit he only half-listened to when he had the patience for it. Conversations he prayed would end as quickly as possible but seemed to drag out every time. Or worse, when his attention was demanded for an absolutely ridiculous reason. Like it was at that very moment.

“Shadooooow! Look, I finally figured out how to do that one trick I told you about!”

The black hedgehog watched from his chair on the front porch as Sonic make his 47th fucking attempt at an upside down kick flip on the oak tree in front of the house and fail, quite miserably. He hit his head on a sharp rock and cradled it in his hands as a giant lump appeared on his forehead.

“Owwwowwowwoww...! Ugh, I thought I had it this time!”

“Hmph.”

He should’ve known that peace & quiet was too much to ask for, being around that blue menace and the rest of his friends. All of those big personalities shoved together in one house. That immature fox who cried every time someone made fun of him. That knuckleheaded echidna whose fists were bigger than his brain. That pink wannabe soothsayer who always tried to “pull cards” for him and analyze his natal chart or whatever new age shit she was into at the time. 

And worst of all, that loudmouth hedgehog who never stopped shoving chili dogs into his big stupid mouth and didn’t know the meaning of silence.

Under normal circumstances he would have hightailed it out of that tiny shack on the edge of the forest, but times had changed since they all first met. There was always a new crisis manifesting, a threat to the world they were all expected to handle by themselves. Living together made it easier to assemble their little “hero” team instead of having to chase down everyone on all corners of the earth. It wasted precious time and energy, both inconvenient and annoying.

But despite the fact that they had been together for months already, the lifestyle change was still difficult for Shadow. He was used to being on his own, fending for himself, not having to speak at length for long periods of time. Having roommates who practically begged for his companionship and attention was a huge adjustment. Being expected to make idle small talk everyday was a pain in the ass. Hell, having anybody in his personal space for too long was too much.

But he did it anyway, because no one had ever wanted to be friends with him until now. And as much as he hated to admit it, he didn’t feel as lonely now as he used to.

While Sonic recovered from his clumsy little stunt, Shadow’s ears perked up as he heard a panicked cry for help coming from inside the house. Before he could turn his head to see what it was, flashes of orange and red appeared in his peripheral vision.

“Leave me alone! I didn’t do anything!!”

“Get BACK here you lying brat!”

Tails was, well, hightailing it as far as his two tails could carry him, followed in close pursuit by an angry and vengeful Knuckles. The two passed by Sonic, who watched them run circles around him before finally stepping in.

“Soniiiiic! Help meeee!”

“Lemme at him! He ate my last grape!”

“I didn’t do it!! Amy was the last one with the grapes!”

“You’re LYING! I caught you red handed you little twerp!”

Shadow shook his head as he returned to reading his book. Such foolishness over something so silly as food. He prayed it would be over soon so he wouldn’t have to hear all the fucking whining.

��Wait, I wanna play too!” Sonic finally piped up, ready to play. “I’ll grab him for ya, Knucks

“SONIC! NOOOOO!”

Shadow watched them attack one another with eyebrows furrowed. Such childish behavior over something so trivial. He wouldn’t bother getting involved. He gave up on reading and crossed his arms, closing his eyes as he listened to the commotion.

“You grab him and I’ll pin him down!”

“NO! Pleeeease! I didn’t do anything!!”

“You’re gonna get it now, foxboy. I’ll teach you to mess with my stuff.”

“Wait, no, no! NOOO - ahahaha! PLEEHEHEHESE DON’T!”

Confused by the sudden laughter, Shadow opened one eye to see why the fox was suddenly squealing and begging as if being tortured by hot skewers. What he saw made his fur stand on edge.

Sonic had pinned Tails’s arms to the ground, holding them down tightly as Knuckles tickled his pits mercilessly. The fox was squeezing his eyes shut, wiggling from left to right as he struggled with all his might to break free and laughed loud enough to scare the birds away from the trees. Sonic was grinning deviously as he watched Knuckles dig into what must have been the poor fox’s most ticklish spot until he cried. It was enough to give him the chills.

Shadow decided that he did not want to get involved under any circumstances. He uncrossed his legs and stood up, walking towards the back of the house where he would be out of sight and out of mind.

“Hey, Shadow! Wanna give us a hand?” Sonic called out, making Tails plead even harder.

“Nope.”

“Aww, come on! Stop being a grump for once and come play!”

“I refuse.”

“If you don’t help, we’ll get you too!”

Nope, nope, nope. There was no fucking way.

Shadow scurried off, hoping that if he was not seen and not heard that he would be forgotten. That’s always how things had been, anyway. He was really good at blending in with the background and avoiding all interactions. Maybe Sonic would leave it be and move on with his life.

“Tch,” he scoffed. Wishful thinking. Before he took his next step, Sonic was in his face grinning at him like an idiot.

“... AGH! How the hell…?”

“You ran away pretty quickly there, Shadow. Why’s that?”

“Mind your business.”

“Are you nervous or somethin’? You look like you saw a ghost.”

“No. Now leave me alone.”

“Whyd’ya gotta be so grumpy all the time? Have some fun for once in your life!”

“Fun to me is peace and quiet, two things I can’t seem to get living with the lot of you.”

He turned his back on Sonic. A grave mistake, in hindsight. If he had only paid attention to that glint in his eye, that mischievous expression of his… he would’ve seen it coming.

Instead, he felt two hands grab his waist, which made him fall to his knees, and yelp like a dog that had been hit with a rock.

He froze. Every quill on his body stood on end. He swung around to face Sonic, who looked just as surprised as he was.

“What was that?!”

“Shut your mouth. Not another word.”

A cheeky grin spread across Sonic’s face, and Shadow knew it was all over.

“No way… Shadow, you’re-”

Shadow took off before he heard the end of the sentence. He didn’t know what to say. And even if he did, he wouldn’t have been able to say it. So instead of speaking, he ran.

He bolted into the woods in attempt to get as far away as possible. He knew it was futile; Sonic had always been faster and nimbler than he. But it was all he could think of. It was his last hope for escape.

It only took a few seconds for Sonic to catch him. The blue hedgehog slammed into him, pushing his darker rival to the ground and pinning him on his stomach by sitting on his lower back. He couldn’t move. He could barely struggle. He started to panic, realizing what a compromising position he found himself in and began squirming like a snake speared through.

“Urrgh, get off me!”

“Why? You worried I’ll do something to ya?”

“If you touch me, I swear to God…”

“What, you’ll kill me? Dontcha think it'll be kinda hard to do that when you’re trapped like this?”

Sonic poked one of his sides, right under his rib, and Shadow jolted as if struck by lightning. He let out a gruntled yelp, trying his damned hardest to stifle a laugh. Sonic poked him again, and again, in again, alternating between the left and right to throw him off guard. Each touch caused him to jerk around as he choked back his laughter.

“Something wrong, Shadow?”

“Nghhh! N-No! ACK!”

“You seem a little tense. It couldn’t be because of these little pokes, right?”

“Mmpph! GAHHH!”

“The big, bad ultimate life form... taken down by tickles. Who woulda thought you had such an adorable weakness!”

At this point Shadow couldn’t muster a single word without potentially letting his facade crack. He bit his lip, pounded his fists on the ground, attempting all forms of physical release if it meant that his laughs wouldn’t escape. He couldn’t laugh, he wouldn’t laugh, not when he knew what would come next if he did…

Unfortunately for him, it didn’t take long for him to finally crack.

He felt Sonic’s hands at both sides of his waist again, fingers pressed against sides and ribs waiting for the right moment to attack. Shadow was breathing heavily, bracing himself for the next tickle attack. The anticipation was making it worse. If he was gonna do it, then he should just d-

“AAAAAH! Nghhh, mmhmhmmhm, FAHAHAHACK!”

Ten fingers dug into his body, wiggling and pinching and stroking every sensitive inch. It was way worse than he had expected. He had no idea that his seldom-touch body could be so sensitive or that light touches could make him thrash about so wildly. He understood why Tails was screaming and begging so loudly before. It was absolutely unbearable.

“Tickle tickle tiiiickle! Wow, this must be really bad for you, huh?”

“Ahahahahahaha! Fffff-FAHAHACK!”

Shadow couldn’t even muster a proper word. It was all too much. And it seemed to go on forever. Sonic somehow managed to find every horrible spot on his upper body. His underarms, his waist, the horrid spaces between his ribs. All of them tickled terribly as he screamed and tried to buck him off. The worst part was Sonic’s incessant teasing. It was humiliating enough being taken down with tickles, but to be teased about it? Certain death.

“Say uncle or I’m not gonna stop!”

“Fahahhackahahaff!!”

“Saaaay it! Or else I’ll keep going!”

“NAHAHAHAHA!”

Only a couple minutes had passed and he was already out of breath, red in the face, and willing to do whatever it took to make it stop. He had no idea how sadistic Sonic could be. If he hadn’t been so proud, he would’ve begged for mercy long ago. 

Finally, after what felt like forever, it stopped, Shadow felt the pressure lift off his back, but instead of running he found himself stuck in the same spot on the ground, struggling to catch his breath. He was completely tuckered out from the tickling. Embarrassed of his display of weakness, he kept his eyes on the ground despite feeling Sonic’s gaze.

“You alright bud? That took a lot out of you, huh?” The blue hedgehog extended a hand, which he pushed aside while he pulled himself off the ground.

“...Ha… haaaa… leave me alone…”

“Aww I’m sorry Shadow! I guess I got a little carried away. You just sounded so… happy, for once. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you actually laugh hard like that.”

“You… don’t you dare tell anyone about this…”

Sonic smiled sheepishly. “Hey, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about! Lots of people are super ticklish. But I promise I won’t tell a soul. Scout’s honor!”

He crossed his heart and looked at Shadow with such a genuine expression that he couldn’t help but feel relieved. He couldn’t fully trust him, at least not yet, but at least his honor could stay intact for the time being.

He would never admit it out loud... but messing around like that was more fun than he had expected.