Archive of Our Own ^beta

Silver's eyes fluttered as he found himself slowly drifting from dreaming to reality. His head was slightly fuzzy, but he recognized that he wasn't in his own bed—it was far too warm and he was far too comfortable.

He had...had had slept with Sonic and Shadow. In both senses of the word, and now he was squashed snugly between them; his nose was pressed into Shadow's chest and his legs were tangled with Sonic's. The blue hedgehog had one arm flung across his waist, and had somehow stuffed his head right under Silver's long quills—he could feel the fur on the back of his neck ruffling slightly with every one of Sonic's soft snores.

Silver shifted slightly, and winced just a bit—his shoulder stung where Shadow had bit him, and everything below his tail ached. He was also pretty sure that a nonzero amount of sticky something (not going to think about what that was right now, nope), was matting the soft fur of his thighs. Everything else, though, felt decidedly warm and mushy—the benefit, he supposed, of sleeping between two ridiculously warm hedgehogs instead of tossing and turning in his own bed.

And, he realized, that one of said hedgehogs was looking at him with intense red eyes.

As soon as Silver met Shadow's gaze, the black hedgehog smiled in a way that made Silver's heart do flip-flops, before breathing, “Good morning, starlight. How are you feeling?”

“Mmm...a little sore honestly...” Silver whispered back, trying to stay quiet for Sonic's benefit.

Shadow's eyes sparkled mischievously, but he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the center of Silver's forehead, one hand brushing against the mark on Silver's shoulder, “Hmm...sorry...”

Silver giggled softly at the fluttering feeling of Shadow's lips, and when the black hedgehog slid a hand under his chin, he eagerly tilted his head up to kiss Shadow properly. He could feel Shadow's lips smile under his, and when he pulled away, Silver snuggled back into his chest with a happy contented sigh. This was pretty much hands down the best morning of his life, and he was going to enjoy it.

Shadow brushed a thumb along his cheek, and a deep purr rumbled out of Silver's chest. Behind him, Sonic shifted, his grip tightening on Silver's waist as he grumbled into his back, before settling again. Silver felt Shadow's chest moving, and realized that the black hedgehog was actually stifling laughter—he wasn't sure if he'd ever heard Shadow really laugh before, and he felt his own smile spread across his face as he tucked his hands into Shadow's chest fur.

They stayed like that for awhile, Silver occasionally purring as Shadow's hand caressed his cheek, traced down the edge of one fluffy ear, scratched just behind his crown-like quills...eventually, though, Sonic's sleepy grumbles turned into actual words, and then, a moment later, his head appeared, resting his chin on Silver's side after yawning obnoxiously wide.

“Ugh. Morning.”

Shadow quirked a brow ridge, “For the fastest thing alive, you sure aren't quick at waking up.”

“Silver's comfy.” Sonic gave Silver's waist a little squeeze, “What time is it?”

“After noon...but since you didn't fall asleep until nearly 4...”

“No wonder I'm starving.”

Shadow rolled his eyes.

While they were talking, Silver wriggled to roll onto his back so he could actually see both of them, and as he did so, he made a face at the protest of sore muscles and sticky fur, which both of the other hedgehogs noted instantly.

“You okay, Silver?” Sonic repeated the sentiment of Shadow's earlier question.

“Hm? Yeah just a little sore.” A slight blush dusted Silver's cheeks as he briefly recalled the reason for that.

“Aww...” Sonic patted Silver's undamaged shoulder, “Bubble bath first then: it helps. Not to mention...” Sonic gave a little shake, “I could use a bath too.” The blue hedgehog stretched, and rolled sideways to literally fall out of bed, before bouncing back up.

Silver didn't really want to get up, but he had to admit, “A bubble bath sounds really nice...” He shifted to move, and winced slightly before just using his powers to float straight up, swooshing over to hover by Sonic since he still wasn't sure his legs were actually functional yet.

“Aww...” Sonic sounded a little disappointed, “I was just gonna carry you—Shadow got to last night.”

Silver rolled his eyes but smiled, “I'm perfectly capable of moving myself.”

“I know...” but the pout remained on Sonic's face, and Silver relented.

“Fiiiine.”

Sonic instantly brightened and held out his arms: Silver swooped over him and specifically made sure to stop flying a good foot above Sonic's hands, making the blue hedgehog stagger to catch him, “You did that on purpose!” Sonic stuck his tongue out, and Silver just beamed back at him.

“Tch,” Sonic laughed, and pressed a quick kiss to Silver's cheek before directing his attention to the third member of their party, “Shads? You coming?”

“Perhaps in a moment,” Shadow shooed them towards the bathroom door, “I will start some food—oh, and Sonic?” he interrupted as Sonic had started to turn.

“Yes?”

“If you ruin the bathroom again, Rouge will probably murder you in your sleep.”

“Yeah, yeah...”

…

The bathroom was really, really nice. Palatial, even. Marble everything, gold trim on the enormous mirror that stretched over a double sink, and the tub, which Sonic was fussing with after he propped Silver up against the wall, was probably the biggest one Silver had ever seen (although this was coming from a hedgehog who hadn't known what a bath was until he was 14, and could count the number he'd actually had on one hand).

Steam was starting to fill the room, and Sonic was humming to himself as he pulled a few bottles from the polished marble shelves, pouring flower-scented gels into the water where iridescent bubbles started forming; Silver inhaled the scent and already felt himself relaxing more, “That smells nice.”

Sonic shot a grin over his shoulder, tossing the little bottles back where they went without looking, “Rouge has the best stuff—none of which she actually BUYS of course.”

Silver raised a brow ridge, but Sonic apparently didn't want to elaborate on that; instead he scooped Silver back up again and carefully lowered him into the pile of bubbles.

And Sonic wasn't wrong—the feeling of warm water washing over him was marvelous. He could already feel some of the stiffness and residual soreness leaving his muscles as well as the griminess that had stuck in his fur after the long night of dancing and...other things.

He shoved those particular thoughts out of his head for the moment again though and just closed his eyes and soaked in the smell of flower garden...it reminded him of Shadow.

Sonic shuffling around finally caught his attention though, and he cracked open his eyes...before they shot open and he squealed, “Sonic! Sonic no!”

But, of course, Sonic was too fast for Silver's words, and had done a spectacular canon ball into the bathtub, spraying water and bubbles everywhere. Silver was only just fast enough to raise his hands up, cyan glow barely providing a shield to his face, but his long head quills got drenched, as did the entire rest of the room.

Sonic stuck his head out of what remained of the bubble bath, laughing hysterically, and Silver couldn't help but join in, although his giggles turned into a yelp as Sonic splashed another wave of water at him with his arm.

Oh two could play at this game: and Silver was going to win it.

Cyan shimmered over the water, and a moment later, a whole globe of water nearly the size of a hedgehog raised itself out of the bathtub at Silver's command. Sonic's eyes got wide...

And Shadow slammed the door open.

Both Silver and Sonic froze, as Shadow's eyes took in the bath (or what was left of it at the moment), the totally soaked walls and floor (and ceiling, when Silver glanced up), and the giant orb of water floating ominously over Sonic's head.

“I seriously can't leave you alone for two minutes, can I?” Shadow sighed, shaking his head, but Silver could see that there was definitely the tiniest bit of a smile there.

“Nope!” Sonic draped himself over the edge of the bathtub, splashing his feet behind him, “That's why you should have come with us to start with.” He scooped up some bubbles and flicked them at Shadow.

“Rouge is actually going to kill you,” Shadow replied, watching the bubbles land harmlessly in one of the many puddles of water on the floor, “And besides, I had to get some food started or else you would have complained about it after you got out.”

“Me? Complain? Neeeeever,” Sonic grinned, and made grabby hands towards the black hedgehog, “Anyways, you can come here now and help me get Silver's quills all washed.”

Silver had actually kind of almost forgotten that he was doing anything except just watching the banter, and so when two pairs of eyes turned on him, he blushed, sinking down into the water up to his nose...and lost concentration on the giant globe of water floating in the air.

It crashed down onto Sonic's head, who immediately sputtered out, “Silver!” as Shadow actually started laughing, bracing himself on the door frame, “You absolutely deserved that, faker.”

“Blegh,” Sonic spit out water, and huffed, “You know I can't swim...”

“Stop complaining. You're the one who suggested this in the first place,” Shadow said, amusement radiating off him before finally coming over to them and swooping down to press a kiss to Sonic's damp forehead and then, when the blue hedgehog tilted his head back in a silent plea for more, to his lips as well...before promptly turning to kiss Silver's forehead too.

Silver, though, just blushed, his cheeks nearly hidden in the water and bubbles, and Shadow brushed a hand along his damp cheek, “Are you all right, Silver?”

He had to raise his chin out of the water to answer, and brushed a cloud of bubbles off his nose, “Yeah...it's just...new sometimes.”

The looks of absolute fondness on both Sonic and Shadow's faces almost made him hide under the water again, but Shadow's hand had made its way under his chin, keeping him looking up at the dark hedgehog's scarlet eyes, “Promise that you will let us know if anything is ever scary or uncomfortable for you?”

Silver nodded as much as he could into Shadow's palm, and the black hedgehog smiled, pressing another quick kiss to Silver's forehead and then a much slower one to his lips. Silver sighed softly into the kiss, his eyelids fluttering, but it didn't last long, and then Shadow was sliding into the water on the opposite side of him from Sonic, scooting him over a bit so that he was between them again. Apparently, for right now, that was just where he was ending up...which, if he was being honest, he didn't mind nearly so much anymore, especially when, shortly, he found himself draped over the edge of the tub, chin resting on his folded arms, with skilled hands combing through his quills.

Silver was pretty sure he'd never had anyone else really groom him before: it wasn't exactly a common concern in the future, and since coming here he'd never felt close enough to anyone to actually allow it, but chaos it was nice. His eyes were half lidded, and soft rumbling purrs left his chest at the light rake of Shadow's claws through a particularly sticky area under one of his long head quills that he always had trouble reaching.

“Your quills are so pretty, Silvy,” Sonic commented, reaching up to find something in the shelves that Silver could vaguely make out from the corner of his eyes; it was apparently some kind of conditioner that smelled like ocean mist as Sonic combed it through his fur. Silver purred again, and one ear flicked slightly to hear a reciprocating sound from Sonic, but that was all the movement he really wanted to engage in right now: otherwise he was quite happy to continue being a pile of Jell-o.

“As I said last night,” Shadow's voice was so soft that Silver had to twitch his ear to make out the rest of what he said, “You seem to have no idea how truly beautiful you are...” Silver felt his cheeks flame, and buried his nose (and sappy smile) into his arms again.

Eventually, though, touches continued below the water line, and Silver stiffened slightly as someone gently stroked his tail, “Is that all right?” It must be Shadow, since it was Shadow's voice asking, and nothing further happened until Silver cleared his throat, and said, “Uh...yeah...” He trusted both of them implicitly that they knew what they were doing, even if he wasn't entirely used to everything yet. And there was nothing particularly sexual about Shadow's touch right now, despite the location—it was much more just making sure Silver was actually all right.

“Still sensitive?” Shadow asked, as Silver winced slightly at a light prod to a particular spot.

“Yeah...”

“Yeah Shadow did a real number on you,” Sonic remarked, gently tracing around the mark on Silver's shoulder, which also still stung a little bit any time it got wet.

“I'm pretty sure you had plenty to do with that as well, faker,” Shadow pointed out, and Sonic rolled his eyes.

“I mean yeah probably, but I didn't bite him like a freakin' vampire—you've got the fangs for it, Shads, you sure you aren't one?”

Shadow just rolled his eyes and shook his head, as Silver finally moved, trying to peer at his shoulder and finding that he just couldn't do it with the angle. He'd have to check it out in the mirror later—hopefully it wasn't too noticeable or he might have to actually try and explain it to people.

“Sorry, starlight,” Shadow nuzzled into his cheek.

“It's okay...it was...uh...kinda hot in the moment,” Silver's words dissolved into mumbles by the end, ducking his head to hide his cheeks again (DANGIT would he EVER stop blushing?). Both Sonic and Shadow chuckled, and somehow read each other's minds to simultaneously press kisses to his flaming cheeks.

“You're so darn cute, Silvy,” Sonic laughed; now that he was done preening Silver's quills he went to run a quick hand through his own, but was stopped when a cyan glow encased his hand, “Wha--?”

“Can I?” Silver asked, peering out from shy eyes, letting Sonic's hand go as he reached out questioningly.

Sonic smiled, green eyes glittering, “Sure.” He spun around, making the water lap and let Silver get to work on his own cobalt blue quills. They were plenty messy too, which somehow didn't surprise the white hedgehog given Sonic's penchant for doing everything fast and probably not-too-carefully, but apparently Sonic didn't mind the pampering treatment any more than Silver did, given the chorus of rumbling purrs that Silver was able to pull from him as he worked. And Silver, of course, had an extra trick up his sleeve, because as well as his own manicured hands, soft touches of glowing cyan stroked through Sonic's quills, gently combing and arranging them to the perfect, swept-back look that the hero preferred.

“Damn, you're really good at this,” Sonic purred, casting a quick, lazy smile back at Silver. Shadow, meanwhile, just watched in silence, leaning his chin on Silver's shoulder and occasionally flicking a cloud of bubbles away as Silver worked. Sonic's quills weren't nearly as complicated as Silver's though, and the additional help of psychokinetic energy made it so that, pretty quickly, Silver nodded, satisfied, “You look great, Sonic.” The blue hero spun back around and grinned, as Shadow added in his smooth voice, “Absolutely stunning.”

“Of course I do! It's easy when you've got base material like this!” Sonic tried to do a pose, but it didn't work too well in the limited space of the bathtub, and Silver just giggled at the hero's posturing, “Yeah, yeah, I know, Silver. Anyways, it's only fair, Shads, that you get a turn too.”

Silver glanced at Shadow, tilting his head slightly to ask the question, to which Shadow just nodded, turning himself so that Silver could groom his quills too.

Up close, Shadow's quills were actually quite different from Sonic's and Silver's—they were stiffer, and the highlighted ones, Silver realized, were actually partially clear with a red filament running through them that made them seem like they were glowing with crimson light. His fur was also fundamentally much thicker than either Sonic's or Silver's (with the exception of Silver's extremely fluffy chest fur), which, Silver considered, made a lot of sense: Sonic was built for light speed, and Silver had been born on the doorstep of an active volcano in a world where a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit was considered “balmy”--Shadow was from the cold depths of space. And he remembered very well how cozy it was snuggling up next to him. If Silver could sleep next to him every night, he was pretty sure he'd never be cold again...anyways.

Silver couldn't quite get Shadow's unique quillstyle totally right—it was much more complicated than Sonic's sweep back, but he did his best, “There you go.”

To his surprise, Shadow spun back around far quicker than he'd thought, and instantly dove forward to capture him in a kiss, mumbling against Silver's lips, “Thank you, starlight.”

Behind him, Sonic complained, “Aw hey! Why didn't I get to do that?”

“Because,” Shadow drew back, smiling at Silver, who was staring at him with slightly dreamy eyes, before continuing to address Sonic, “Despite how fast your feet are, your brain is still as slow as a snail, faker.”

Silver, of course, was having none of this, and, after he blinked life back into his brain, it was him who, for the first time, actually fully initiated a kiss, spinning around and pressing his lips against Sonic's—who kissed him back with a smile.

“Happy now?” Silver asked, teasingly, as he settled back into the water, which was starting to get a little cold with how long they'd been here.

“Heck yes,” Sonic grinned back at him, and then held up a hand, “All right, I'm gettin' all pruny and also I'm hungry so let's go get food.”

“Told you I had to make breakfast first,” Shadow pointed out, as he stood, reaching for a towel only to realize that nothing that had been out during Sonic's canonball and Silver's subsequent water globe was actually dry. The black hedgehog sighed, carefully stepping out and diving under the marble countertop to emerge with three soft white fluffy DRY towels.

Sonic, of course, practically leapt out of the bath, and, in a whirlwind of blue, was suddenly dry (although a bunch of the work Silver had done preening his quills to perfection was immediately undone.)

Shadow just rolled his eyes, and offered a hand to Silver, ever the proper gentleman, and Silver gratefully took it—he could use his powers here easily, but all this touching was still new and he was finding that he really quite liked it. Even more so when Shadow wrapped the towel around his shoulders, fluffing it against his wet fur—Sonic, for his part, had already dashed out of the room.

“We'd better hurry,” Silver laughed, doing his best to get his chest fluff as dry as possible, “Or who knows what he might get up to out there.”

Shadow rolled his eyes, but that fond smile was firmly fixed on his face as he toweled off his own fur, “Don't I know it.”

…

Fortunately, Sonic hadn't done any more property damage by the time the other two hedgehogs emerged, and instead was sitting at the kitchen table, swinging his legs impatiently, “About time! I'm hungry!”

Shadow just rolled his eyes at Silver, and made his way to the toaster oven, from which a smell like crystallized sugar and cinnamon was emanating—shortly, Shadow revealed that the source was a stack of three of Julian's Belgian waffles, which he shuffled onto plates, “I presume, Sonic, that you want your usual toppings?”

“Of course!” There was a blur of blue, and the sound of the refrigerator opening and closing, and suddenly Sonic was back at the table with his waffle stacked high with whipped cream, strawberries, fudge syrup, and chocolate chips.

Silver cocked a brow ridge at the decadent display, and Sonic stuck out his tongue at him, “I run through a lot of calories.”

“He's also a literal child about his waffles,” Shadow teased, earning himself a lighthearted glare from Sonic, “Do you want any toppings, Silver?”

“No, thank you,” Silver was hungry right now, but he could never manage more than a light breakfast without feeling overfull, and he was pretty sure that the standard waffle would be plenty.

They finished breakfast and it was just...so nice. Sonic and Shadow's banter now felt comfortable rather than ominous; they seemed to be more relaxed about their rivalry here than in public, and there was no threat that something might suddenly become Silver's problem, so he could sit and listen, eventually resting his chin on his hands with a fond smile on his face as he watched Sonic inhale his ridiculous stack of waffle toppings and Shadow primly cut his into tiny bites—somehow that felt fitting to both of their personalities.

Unfortunately, the moment came to an end far too soon, when Shadow's communicator beeped from where he'd left it on the table. A frown crossed the black hedgehog's face, and he reached to switch it off, but it simply beeped again, more urgently this time.

“Chaos,” Shadow muttered, squinting at the display, “Apparently they think it's an emergency...” he looked apologetically up at the other two hedgehogs, “I might...have to go...”

Silver could feel a pout wiggling on his lower lip, but he forced it down with a smile instead, “Hey—it's okay, Shadow.”

“Yeah,” Sonic added, stretching and rocking his chair back on two legs, “'Sides I probably have stuff to do today anyways...”

“All right...if you're sure....” Shadow grabbed the plates and tossed them into the sink, before throwing a glance at the bathroom and just shaking his head, “Sonic, if you don't want to actually and literally be eviscerated by Rouge when she gets back you should...”

Before he could finish talking, the chair Sonic had previously been sitting in had fallen over, and the Blue Blur whirled around the apartment before reappearing at the table with a grin, “Fixed it.”

Shadow raised a brow ridge, but just shook his head, “All right then, let's go.”

Silver tried to squash down the little bit of disappointment in his heart as he got up, eyes fixed on the floor as he made his way towards the door: he'd had the nicest morning he could ever remember and he wasn't entirely sure that, if he went home and was all alone again with nothing but his plants, he wouldn't start thinking that this had all actually been a dream. A gorgeous dream, which he could come back to and revisit over and over again, but, fundamentally, just a nice dream.

Apparently his expression was a dead giveaway to his thoughts, because he felt Sonic looping his arm around his waist, and he looked up to see a soft smile and sparkling green eyes, “Don't worry, Silvy. We'll figure out something else again real soon, yeah?” Sonic leaned forward just a bit, and Silver met him halfway, promptly slinging his arms around Sonic's shoulders to deepen their kiss, and for a moment, there was nothing else but them.

Then Shadow was gently prodding them out the door, “You are thoroughly adorable and terribly distracting but I have to go to work.”

“I know, I know Shads,” Sonic looked slightly disappointed, but tugged Shadow close to kiss him too, and Silver could see that he nipped Shadow's lower lip as he pulled away with a grin, before he gave them both a two fingered salute and disappeared in a whoosh of blue, leaving the other two alone.

Silver didn't really know what to say at this point, so he just sort of stared pleadingly at Shadow, who continued to be far too good at reading minds, because he swept the white hedgehog up, kissing him deeply, and Silver's eyes fluttered shut as he fisted his hands in Shadow's fur and lost himself in the moment for one last second of the morning.

It was over all too soon, Shadow pulling back with a soft adoration in his eyes, “See you soon, starlight,” he whispered, and then he was gone.

Soon, Silver reached up to touch his lips, where the ghosts of Shadow's and Sonic's kisses still lingered as he turned to make his way home; he liked the sound of soon.