sth oneshots

what lovers do

They didn’t need to talk about what needed to be done first, so they started with that and kept right on going. As soon as the words “we should” left his mouth, Shadow felt his throat tighten up and his chest constrict. His eyes prickled. He hadn't been expecting to say it, but it seemed that if he didn’t say anything he would choke up and never get out those three little letters.

He wasn’t used to feeling nervous, or even having these sorts of emotional reactions to things. The most emotion he ever experienced was from anger.

He fidgeted, "Well," he started, stuttering.

His hands caressed, and grazed his own. It was warm and sweet. Warmer than his blood, sweeter than sugar.

He felt his breath catch. But his heart still couldn't beat the way his heart beat faster when he thought about holding him and kissing him...

"Shadow?" Sonic asked, gently. His voice made Shadow's ears twitch. That soft tone sounded like pure silk. He wanted to listen to that tone for eternity. "Are you sure we should-"

Shadow gasped, "Yes."

One word. Just one.

He had stared into him, and Shadow couldn't help but suck in another breath, "..Maybe. Have you done it?"

"Well, yeah. You?"

"I guess? I don't know what counts."

He blinked, and Shadow didn't.

He didn't realize that his eyelids were already half lowered until Sonic's hand cupped his cheek.

He pulled Shadow’s face closer, "Shadow. You have to trust me." He said, his thumb tracing lines from Shadow's lips. It looked like he was touching him from his heart, stroking him through the fabric of Shadow's soft clothing.

Shadow's face reddened, "I do. I do trust you. It's just, hard," he admitted, "To talk about this? Discussing about boundaries... It's not really my thing."

He knew that his boyfriend knew, but the way that Sonic's face softened, the way his voice took on a gentler tone... Shadow almost melted at it.

"It'll work, Shadow. We've gotten past our own shit enough that we won't fall apart because we think we might not be ready for something new together. We'll try. If it's new and.. unfamiliar, we'll try! Until we get used to it, or start to hate it.. If something makes your skin crawl, just say it, and I will too. I promise."

Shadow held Sonic's arms like he was his entire universe, "..Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me."

Sonic took the chance to press a kiss onto Shadow's lips, "If you think you're not ready for it yet, we can do it next time. That's okay," he smiled.

Shadow sighed, "I'm ready, I've come prepared, but it's.. Not easy to tell you just what I want," he said, "I want to. But since I can't.. Even form a proper sentence when I'm nervous or something, how am I supposed to communicate to you that I need a break? Or want you to stop?"

Sonic listened.

"Safewords are a thing but I'm forgetful! I forget things! You know.." he frowned, "I just don't know if I'll suddenly just burst and interrupt."

Sonic smiled, "You know that's not a problem," he kissed Shadow's cheek, "Besides, you don't do that very much either, so I doubt that that'd happen!" he reassured, "But in all seriousness, if you can't do a safeword, just tap me a few times or shake your head. I can see that."

Shadow nodded, "Yeah."

"Anything else before we talk about it?"

Shadow whispered, "...Yes. What if I don't like it? What you do? How you do it? Should I tell you?" he was afraid to sound like he was insulting him, so he held back on a few things he wanted to say, just to stay on the safe side.