The Hedgehog Way

Summary: When Shadow started dating Sonic, he had not expected that the relationship would double as a course on the hedgehog culture too, but then again Professor Gerald nor any other of the human scientists on ARK had been knowledgeable enough about the cultural heritage of either of his biological donor species to teach him about it themselves. [Sonadow]

TAGs: established relationship, Sonadow, confused Shadow, oblivious Sonic, aka the story where I come up with a hypothetical hedgehog culture, beware as it contains entomophagy (insect consumption), you probably should not read this if that makes you uncomfortable, but hey that is your decision to make

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.

AN: So, I watched a documentary about hedgehogs and, of course, my brain immediately said 'You need to make a story out of this,' so now I'm here with this. Hope you'll have fun reading it!

He's taking unusually long today... Shadow mused internally, crossing his arms as he glanced towards the heroes' house for the fifth time, still clueless at what was taking Sonic so long. The hero was capable of brushing his teeth, combing his fur and dressing all in ten seconds flat—he's seen him do that—if necessary and yet it had been already five minutes since Tails had answered the door and told him Sonic would be finished in a minute.

Shadow was not annoyed, not in the slightest; he was just confused and...a bit curious, to be honest. Because what could possibly be taking Sonic the Hedgehog—who was renowned for his speed—so long?

"Hey, Shadow!"

Dark ears swirled around when they caught the cheerful greeting, the rest of their owner's body following them just a moment later. Crimson eyes watched as Sonic approached him, with a bounce in his step skipping over to him and flashing him a bright smile before pressing his lips against his own in a quick kiss.

The smile was still on Sonic's face even when they separated. "Sorry for keeping you waiting!"

Shadow took a breath and opened his mouth to respond that he didn't mind, but was momentarily thrown for a loop when he suddenly caught a whiff of a new scent that he was sure hadn't been there before. He couldn't put a name to it but it smelled pleasantly...spicy, he supposed? But where it was coming from...?

However, it didn't seem that Sonic noticed his brief moment absent-mindedness as the cobalt speedster just continued on talking. "Look what I've found!" he announced excitedly as he brought forward his hands which he had previously kept clasped behind his back.

A familiar red gem rested on his hands.

"A Chaos Emerald?" Shadow mused aloud, quirking his brow as he glanced up at Sonic, the sudden train of though about the scent being forgotten as quickly as it appeared. "Am I supposed to take it as that we're having our date somewhere we need to teleport to?"

"Yeah. Ever been to Chun-nan?" Sonic asked, his eyes sparkling excitedly as he threw the gem up in the air and then caught it again. "There's one amazing restaurant I think you'll enjoy."

"Oh?" Shadow raised a brow. Their dates tended to be spend either lazing around together or with more adrenaline-fueled activities like racing rather than eating at a restaurant. Not that he minded the change of pace. "We'll see about that," he said, uncrossing his arms.

Sonic moved to stand at his side, using the fact Shadow's hand was now free to lace their fingers together. "Hold on tight, then," the hero said with a grin and then raised the Chaos Emerald up, the gem shining brightly as he began concentrating on pulling energy from its core to teleport them wherever the restaurant was.

"Chaos Control!"

Suddenly, the tranquil greenery that surrounded them disappeared in a flash, an absolute silence briefly encompassing them before they flashed back into existence in a completely different place, loud voices and other well-known sounds of a busy street reaching them before their sight had the chance to set in again.

Blinking to clear his vision, Shadow glanced around curiously. It was dark in this part of the world already but the red lanterns that were hung everywhere were giving off just enough light to make everything fairly visible. There was music playing somewhere in the distance and almost everybody around was dressed in fine clothes with intricate patterns, making him believe there might be some kind of festival going on at the moment.

"Alright, that took a bit more energy out of me than I planned," Sonic commented wit a chuckle, sounding a bit out of breath and leaning against Shadow's side for support, the action drawing the agent's gaze back to him. "I think it'd be better if you keep the emerald."

Shadow accepted the offered gem, though it was with a small frown. "You need to practice chaos control more, Sonic. You're using up lots of unnecessary energy."

"Yeah, yeah." Sonic waved him off. "I still remember the lecture you gave me yesterday, Shadow—chaos drainage and all that other stuff. I get it."

Taking a deep breath, Sonic uprighted himself again. "Alright, time to go!" he announced excitedly, playfully bumping his hip against Shadow's own before stepping forward, obviously very eager to finally get on with the date he had planned for them.

Shadow raised a brow, his gaze briefly flickering to Sonic's hip in mix of confusion and curiosity before focusing back on the road ahead of them, hiding the Chaos Emerald into his head-quills and falling into step beside the other speedster.

However, Sonic was clearly oblivious to his confusion to the unusual gesture as instead the hero began to chatter about how he and Chip had traveled through Chun-nan to restore the power of the Chaos Emeralds, how he ran from the start to the end of the Great Wall of Chun-nan, how he celebrated at the New Year's festival and how he and Chip had fought over the last...meat-dumpling?

Confused by the unexpected remark, he glanced at Sonic, who however had already moved onto another story about...house haunted by ghosts?

Frankly speaking, if Shadow hadn't personally seen in what kind of crazy situation Sonic could get into, he would have believed Sonic was just pulling his leg right now.

Though knowing how much of jokester Sonic could be sometimes, there was also high possibility that Sonic was pulling his leg right now...

Shadow sighed and shook his head to dismiss the particular train of thought. Breathing in the chilly evening air, Shadow blinked surprisedly when he noticed that the spicy smell from before was actually still present. He sniffed the air to pin-point its source, raising a surprised brow when he realized it was coming from...Sonic?

He gave the other's appearance a scrutinizing look. When he actually tried looking for it, he could see Sonic's big twin back-spikes had a glossy look to them; the hero must have applied some kind of scented oil to them.

But why? Shadow furrowed his brows in thought. As far as he knew, Sonic wasn't keen on using any kind of perfumes and actually preferred to avoid them if possible; like other Mobian hedgehogs he had a rather sensitive nose. Therefore, what reason would he have for using it? A special occasion possibly? But what occasion? Today wasn't special anyhow either as far as he knew—and he made sure to keep track of all important days. Their anniversary was still far away and neither of them had birthday. It wasn't even Valentine's or any other 'special day' of that kind.

Shadow pressed his lips together. Had he missed something?

"Here it is!"

The loud exclaim snapped Shadow out of his musings and made him focus on the building before him. There was a banner with Chun-nanese symbols over the opened double door, lit lanterns on each side of it and a list of items which Shadow believed to be the menu couple of inches lower but nothing more.

It was...quite plain in Shadow's opinion.

Obviously understanding what kind of thought he was having, Sonic lightly bumped him into the shoulder, drawing his attention. "Don't let looks deceive you!" Sonic advised him as he stepped into the establishment, tugging him along into the warmth of the restaurant, multitude of scents attacking their noses the moment they set a foot in. "It's one of best restaurants in all of Chun-nan! Trust me on that."

"If you say so," Shadow hummed, not really having a reason to think otherwise. Even though he spent a lot of time abroad because of his missions for GUN, it was always work related; Sonic spent significantly more time enjoying fine cuisine and culture of different countries than him.

"I do." Sonic chuckled, once again hip-bumping him before he headed for the other side of the room, where a waiter was already gesturing at them to attract their attention to one of the now empty tables.

With a small scowl, Shadow glanced at his side, the feeling of Sonic's hip against his own still lingering; the hip-bumping was an odd habit that Sonic had recently picked up and Shadow still had no idea what to think of it.

Did it have a meaning? Or was it just another of Sonic's playful gestures?

Figuring he wasn't getting answer to that question anytime soon, he just sighed and instead began looking around curiously.

There was quite the amount of customers—both human and Mobian ones—who were all chatting animatedly among themselves while enjoying their dinner. Surprisingly, they were all sitting on the floor as, except for the low tables on which the food was served, the room was not furnished at; Shadow supposed the owner either didn't care too much about decor or simply wanted to save as much space possible to fit more customers.

Once by their table, Sonic gave the waiter a polite nod and smile, muttering something Shadow believe was 'hello' in Chun-nanese. The waiter greeted him back, responding with a 'hello' in their own language with a heavy accent. Sonic, of course, gave the man a thumbs up for it and a short "Great!" making Shadow believe this might be something Sonic have taught the waiter during his last visit here; it seemed like something the hero would do.

The waiter nodded and smiled in response to the praise. He once again gestured them to sit down, letting them both take a seat by the low table before handing them menus and leaving to give them time to choose their meal.

Shadow shifted in his seat, moving to sit cross-legged on one of the big pillows that were used as substitute for the missing chairs.

It was...surprisingly comfortable.

"So what are your first impressions?" Sonic asked from the other side of the table, raising a curious brow.

"Surprised you know Chun-nanese," Shadow remarked with a small smirk, raising his gaze from his yet unopened menu.

"You're not the only one here who knows bit of languages," Sonic quipped back with a grin. "Just the one who knows more of them."

"True," Shadow hummed. Professor Gerald had wanted his education to be as extensive as possible so he made him learn multiple languages—the fact scientists on ARK were from all around the world, had only helped with that. "Do you speak Chun-nanese well?"

"Nah. Just 'hello' and 'More dumplings!'" Sonic shrugged his shoulders, his gaze falling down to his opened menu. "I've never needed anything else..."

Shadow hummed in acknowledgement of the remark, but unlike Sonic's gaze, his didn't sway to his menu. Instead, Shadow used the fact the hero was distracted with his menu to inconspicuously look for any other differences he might have missed about Sonic's appearance.

Sonic's fur was well-groomed, laying smooth, with not even a strand out of place; Sonic always made sure to comb it when they were going on date, but it had never been with this much precision. Also the gloves he was wearing... It wasn't unusual for Sonic's gloves to be torn, having dirt stains or be otherwise blemished; considering his life-style his clothes got damaged on regular basis and he usually didn't bother to throw any clothing away until it was absolutely unwearable. For their dates Sonic usually just picked the freshest and least-damaged pair. But these ones... Shadow would bet it was the whitest and most fine pair of gloves Sonic owned, possibly even a completely new one.

Simply said, it seemed Sonic gave much more thought into his appearance than usually.

But why? Why was he trying to impress him?

Shadow mentally went over all the important days, but once again came up empty. Today wasn't special anyhow ; Sonic had no reason to spruce up like this.

...or did he?

Maybe there was something he was missing? He wasn't well-versed in Mobian customs and culture so it was possible that today was considered a special day among Mobians for some reason...

He frowned. What was he supposed to do now? Tell Sonic and thus possibly ruin the date? Stay silent and pretend he didn't notice the extra effort Sonic put into his look? Compliment Sonic and hope to find out that Sonic just felt like sprucing up today and that it wasn't for a special occasion...? The hero could be quite impulsive sometimes...

Tan lips pressed into a thin line. Considering the possible outcomes, compliment was probably the best choice here; he'd make it obvious he noticed the work Sonic put into his look as well as possibly find out what it was for.

Shadow nodded. That was the best way to approach the situation. "You—"

"So what are you gonna have?" Sonic interrupted him suddenly, the hero looking up and giving him his full attention once again. "I think number 4 looks especially tasty."

Reminded that he actually hadn't taken a look at the menu, Shadow's gaze fell back to it. "Ehm, I..." He hastily opened the menu, crimson eyes scanning it quickly so he could say the first thing that looked appealing. However, all the words he might have said died on his tongue the moment his brain processed what he was actually looking at.

Instead of there being just names, all the dishes were listed with name and a photo and Shadow had to look around at what it was that people were actually eating to confirm he was actually seeing right.

"Shadow?" Sonic questioned quietly, the hero's worried green eyes meeting Shadow's own when he turned back to him. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. Sure, just..." Shadow trailed off, unsure what he should even say; he decided to just shake his head in the end instead of saying something. "It's nothing."

Sonic looked at him for a long time, the hero clearly not convinced—however, he didn't try to pressure him into saying more. "If you say so..." Sonic just muttered and then looked back at his menu—though it wasn't without one more unsure side glance to him.

Shadow sighed and looked back at the menu, his initial surprise wearing off. He wasn't sure why he had even been surprised in the first place; these kinds of restaurant were everywhere in both Chun-nan and Adabat—back at home he had even seen a couple; he'd just never actually visited one—never really felt the desire to visit one.

He had never really particularly cared about the food he was eating. Generally, he'd just buy and eat the same things he'd been fed back at ARK (or whatever Rouge made at the times she actually decided to cook) as he didn't see the point in changing his diet as it served his body well.

However, he was aware that Mobians tended to keep their diet similar to that of their feral ancestors (both to prevent health issues and because they simply liked the tastes) and thus Sonic having the same diet preferences—and expect him to have the same preferences and appreciate the restaurant choice—should not be surprising.

After all, hedgehogs were omnivorous; entomophagy was natural to them.

"You know, Wu's seems to be getting a bit of antsy," Sonic suddenly announced, glancing in the direction of the waiter that had seated them before looking back at him. "You ready to order?"

Well, I guess it's time to try what it's like to be a 'real' hedgehog, Shadow mused as he closed the menu, deciding that he might as well try this; it could be an interesting experience. "Sure."

"Alright." Sonic smiled, gesturing to Wu that they were ready to order. "What are you gonna have?"

"Just order twice whatever you've picked."

"Huh?" Sonic looked at him surprisedly—which wasn't that unexpected as when it came to food their tastes were vastly different. "Are you sure? You might not like it."

"I have no experience with any of this." Shadow vaguely gestured to the food of their neighbors. "So I'm just gonna trust your taste here."

Sonic looked greatly surprised now. "Wait—you've never had bugs? Like never?"

"No," Shadow simply replied, "I'm used to eating the same way I had on ARK, and there weren't many insects running around as you can imagine..."

"Um..." Sonic looked a bit hesitant. "We can go to a different restaurant if you want...?" the hero offered, obviously not wanting him to push him into trying something he might not like.

But Shadow just shook his head. "It's fine. I'm curious to try this." And that wasn't a lie; he was truly kind of curious.

"...Okay," Sonic's response was a bit delayed; it was apparent the hero hadn't actually expected him to be alright with it. Though he snapped from his surprise once Wu cleared his throat to remind him he was still waiting for their orders.

"Oh, yeah..." Sonic glanced at Wu sheepishly before focusing back on the menu in his lap. "I guess we'll be having, hmm, this one then..." Sonic pointed to a picture in his menu and Wu immediately scribbled the number of the dish into his notepad before taking both of their menus and leaving to deliver their order into the kitchen.

It took only few minutes of light conversation until their food was served. It seemed that Sonic had ordered the 'bit of all' kind of meal; there were numerous bowls filled with all kinds of insects cooked in different ways, two big bowls of rice, a big bowl of mushrooms and sliced vegetables, and couple of sauces—everything one needed to prepare a meal exactly to their liking.

Shadow let his gaze linger at the selection. All in all, it looked quite appealing—and even smelled appealing; he'd honestly be surprised if he didn't find at least one thing in it he'd enjoy.

Wu bowed his head, murmuring few words in Chun-nanese that Shadow presumed meant 'Enjoy your meal,' before leaving to serve other customers while they ate.

"I thought you may enjoy more variety at your first try," Sonic commented to break the silence as he reached for his chopsticks and one of the rice bowls. "I generally order a spicy mix, but I don't think you'd enjoy it much."

"Probably not," Shadow agreed aloud as he took his own bowl of rice and chopsticks; he wasn't exactly against spicy food but he wasn't a big fan of it either unlike Sonic.

He rove his gaze over the variety, wondering which of it to try first.

"Start with meal-worms, that's usually the ones hedgehogs enjoy the most," Sonic suggested when he saw his indecisiveness, tapping the specific bowl with the tip of his chopsticks. "Or the big crickets, they have most flavor of all."

Shadow decided to go with the second option as he felt more eager to try that one. It was crunchy and it tasted kinda like...sea food? Kinda like shrimp, honestly—which he supposed made sense, considering insects and Crustacean both belonged among Arthropods...

"Sooo," Sonic drew out somehow hesitantly, snapping him from his musings, "how...is it?"

"It's..." Shadow looked up to the other, noting that Sonic looked a bit tense, obviously feeling nervous about him hating it; thought there really wasn't any need." It's...tasty, definitely."

Sonic smiled, his shoulders sinking a bit with relief, the tension melting away. "I'm glad." Peach lips even spread into a small smile, the hero obviously happy that he was enjoying it. The hero motioned towards another bowl. "Try it with that brown sauce! It's even better like that!"

~O~

"—It's kinda why I love visiting Chun-nan and Adabat so much. The chefs around here have a lot of experience with cooking insects and these kind of restaurants are really easy to come by! I generally eat alone as most my friends don't really enjoy it much. The only one I've managed to get here is Knuckles. You see, he just cannot say no to rice with ants—it's his favorite food." Sonic explained excitedly, stuffing another portion of rice into his mouth. "Well, right after grapes, of course," he added with a chuckle.

Humming in acknowledgement of his partner's words, Shadow took a sip of his drink, a soft smile tugging at his lips as he continued to watch Sonic chatter excitedly. He'd never thought a simple meal would please Sonic this much. They ought to do this more often.

"I guess it's a bit of guilty pleasure of mine," Sonic finished with a laugh, laying down his chopsticks so he could stretch himself without having to worry about accidentally stabbing someone in the eye.

"What do you say about doing this again next week?" the hero asked, laying his forearms on the table as he leaned forward. "Or do you have some mission planned?"

Shadow took a moment to check his mental calendar. "...I should be free next weekend."

"Great! Though...could you call like two hours in advance so Tails would have the time to wake me up just in case? It's getting colder and I may end up hibernating."

"...Hibernating?" Shadow raised a questioning brow, trying not to appear as surprised as he felt at the moment because of the simple remark. Mobians actually hibernated? He thought Rouge had been pulling his leg with that one...

Well, that at least explained why she always looked half-asleep and drunk so much coffee during the winter months.

"Yeah, it sometimes happens to me during winter, I get really drowsy around this time of year—I can fall asleep virtually anywhere," Sonic explained with a small laugh as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "Even if I'm in a warm place. Tails then always has to warm up a blanket in the oven and wrap me up in it like some giant hedgehog burrito to wake me up, heh—oh, speaking of burritos—" Sonic laughed and patted his belly. "—I usually even pick up few pounds for hibernation. Though, I think I'm doing pretty good this year."

Instinctively, Shadow's gaze fell to the other's stomach; he had had a feeling that Sonic had gained some weight in the last couple of weeks but he had always dismissed it as being an optical effect caused by Sonic growing thicker fur because of the upcoming winter.

Shadow's lips pulled into a thin line. He himself had never hibernated; he had never really felt even anyhow drowsy during winters nor did he pick up any weight.

Another thing in which he was different from a regular Mobian because of his Black Arms DNA...

A loud noise akin to a thunder sounded from the outside, snapping him from his musings and making him glance over his shoulder in alarm.

"Well, it seem they have started with the fireworks." Sonic grinned. "About time we check out the festival, don't you agree?"

~O~

After calling Wu back to the table and quickly paying their bill, the hedgehog duo made their way outside, where the festival seemed to already be in full swing; people were walking all around, chatting and eating, dancing to the music that could be heard from further down the street or just watching as the fireworks were exploding in a show of colors in the dark, starry sky.

And Sonic was apparently in the mood to dance as he almost immediately began to sway to the rhythm of the faraway song, waving his arms around and spinning as he danced.

"Dance with the dragons and eat with a panda~" the hero sing-songed, improvising lyrics for the unfamilar melody. "I don't know the lyrics, but that doesn't matter~!" Sonic made few spins until he was facing the agent again, a bright smile at his face as he looked at his partner.

"Shadow, come on! Sing with me!" Sonic twisted around Shadow, once again playfully hip-bumping the agent. "Don't leave me hangin'~!"

"I don't sing well," Shadow argued, not able to fight off the small smile that wanted to show at seeing Sonic so excited and full of energy; he supposed that was also something Sonic had inherited after his ancestors—nocturnal activity and sleeping over the day...well, unless the saving of the world was required, of course.

"Nonsense!" Sonic argued as he continued to twirl and move. "All hedgehogs can sing great! What else we would have such a great hearing for? To better our singing!" he announced, opening his arms widely to emphasize his words.

"Or hearing predators approaching," Shadow suggested.

—for which he a received a light punch to shoulder just a moment later. "Don't be so pessimistic, Shad," Sonic said, at last stopping his dance.

"It's true." Shadow lightly shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like you could see them approaching," he emphasized, not able to resist jabbing a bit of fun at Sonic's night-blindness; that one time Sonic tried to prove he could see just enough in the dark by challenging him to a race at night, only for the race to end two minutes later when the hero managed to smash into a tree and give himself a minor concussion was still fresh in Shadow's mind.

Sonic made an expression that almost looked like a pout. "You know, I actually have a pretty good eyesight for a hedgehog. The only thing I have trouble with is reading small print and dark from time to time." The hero gave him a pointed glance. "While on the other hand, Amy, for example, is pretty near-sighted. Yeah, and she's also partly colorblind—that's why she has problem recognizing people unless she stands very very close."

That was a new information to Shadow; he had suspected Rose was color-blind—she had mistaken him with Sonic who was freaking bright blue, after all—but he hadn't known she was near-sighted at all.

Well, that actually explained a lot of things.

"Though I totally have a better nose than you." Sonic grinned, the teasing remark snapping Shadow from his musings once again.

Shadow huffed. "I doubt that." Professor Gerald had made sure to enhance all his senses to be better than those of common Mobian.

"Oh?" Sonic raised a questioning brow, crossing his arms over his chest. There was an amused twinkle in the green eyes. "How come I'm still waiting for my compliment then?"

"I was busy trying to figure out for what occasion it was. But if you insist..." Shadow wrapped an arm around the other's waist, pulling the other closer. "You smell great today," he emphasized. "What's the occasion?"

However, it didn't seem like Sonic would tell him that easily. "Can't you take a guess?" the hero teased as he twisted out of Shadow's embrace to instead twirl around the agent, lightly brushing against him and bumping his hip against the agent's own at end of his full spin around the other. "I'm sure Mr. Ultimate can figure that out."

There are other things I'd like to figure out... His curiosity finally getting the better of him, Shadow asked, "Is this something Mobian couples do?"

"...what?" Sonic stopped in the middle of his step, the hero's green questioning eyes meeting his own red ones once again.

"The hip-bumping," Shadow clarified.

"It's...more of a hedgehog thing," Sonic explained as he shifted to stand at the spot, brows furrowing in puzzlement. "You...don't know the hedgehog carousel?"

"Hedgehog carousel?" Shadow repeated, raising a questioning brow at the term. "I've never heard of such thing."

"Maybe you call it differently. You know...it's just..." Sonic tried again, doing unsure gestures with his hands. "...flirting the hedgehog way?"

"Hedgehogs flirt by bumping their hips against one another?" Shadow asked, intrigued by this information. So Sonic had been trying to low-key flirt with him the whole evening?

"Well, sorta. But there's lot of other stuff to it too..." Sonic explained, his tone and expression betraying that he was still getting over his surprise. "You...really don't know the hedgehog carousel?"

"I'm not very knowledgeable of Mobian customs," Shadow replied. "Rouge hadn't been exactly helpful in this department."

Surprise was written all over Sonic's face. Thought it was replaced with a grin almost immediately. "Well, hedgehog carousel is actually pretty simple to do!" the hero started to explain excitedly, gesturing wildly. "For the most parts, it works kinda like a game of tag mixed with a bit of dancing, actually."

"A game of tag?" Shadow raised a brow, pondering the analogy for a brief moment and how oddly it seemed like certain hedgehogs' behavior... "No wonder Rose used to chase you around so much...and you chasing me down just to see me when we were younger."

"You talk as if we were old," Sonic said, laughing. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess it's just kind of...instinct for hedgehogs to chase after the ones we like..."

"Am I supposed to take it as that you like Robotnik?"

"Don't you dare." Sonic gave him a stare and pointed an accusing finger at him. "Or else we are gonna start talking about your unhealthy obsession with shiny gems." Sonic let his hand fall back to his side. "You and Knuckles really need to get counseling."

"I'll give my hours to Rouge; she needs them more," Shadow deadpanned. "Though she'd most likely use them to flirt with Knuckles than solving her problem," he added, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah." Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at the remark. "I guess the two are a lost cause."

"They are," Shadow affirmed. "Though the hedgehog carousel..." the agent inquired, wanting them to return to the original topic of their conversation.

"Yeah, the hedgehog carousel..." Sonic got a thoughtful expression on his face, gesturing with his hands somehow un-surely once again as he was figuring how to explain it. "It's...well, you...As I said it's mostly like a game of tag, you'd usually start is by circling or dancing around the person you're interested in—" He slowly started to circle the agent. "—and nudging them. Either like this," he continued to explain, poking Shadow's cheek with his muzzle at the same time, "or with your hips." Sonic lightly bumped his left hip against Shadow's right one, before shifting to face the agent again. "If the other person returns the gesture, the game can start. One of the pair is gonna run off and the other has to chase after them."

Dark brows furrowed. "How is it different from a game of tag then?"

"Well, you aren't allowed to talk during it—though you can hiss." Sonic gave a very short hiss that sounded like an unsuccessful attempt to whistle through one's teeth. "And huff and stomp." Sonic gave an example of both activities. "Though, generally speaking, those are done only by guys. Girls usually only stomp."

The agent raised a puzzled brow. "You...hiss at your partner?" That sounded like an awful flirting technique to him...and gave Shadow a sneaking suspicion that Mobian hedgehogs might have not bothered to update their flirting technique since the prehistoric times.

"It's really really old tradition, okay?" Sonic said a bit defensively, confirming Shadow's theory. Prehistoric, indeed. "I know it sounds weird and silly, but it's really fun once you get into it!"

"We'll see about that," Shadow said and then—to Sonic's apparent surprise—the agent semi-circled the other, lightly bumping his hip against Sonic's own—daring the other to rise up to the challenge. "Think you can outrun me, hedgehog?"

There was surprise written all over the hero's face—Sonic had probably expected it would take some convincing to get him to try it—though it melted away just a moment later, leaving a confident smirk in its place instead, "Think you can catch me, slowpoke?" Sonic jabbed back with a grin. Then, ever so lightly, he bumped their hips together and started the game.

And a heartbeat later, only a trace of flying dust was left after him.

~O~

It was only minutes later that Shadow could say that he truly understood the appeal of hedgehog carousel.

The whole thing was ridiculously simple, really, just chasing after one another, not speaking and instead let their body language do the talking, silently challenging and teasing the other with a hiss or look here and there, and generally just having fun with a ridiculously simple game that was known to every living being on Earth.

He supposed this was what going back to one's roots felt like—just letting his instincts take charge for once and not bother about anything.

It was almost strange how natural this seemed to him—his very existence could hardly be called natural and all his life he had been taught that logic and discipline should rule him, that he was the ultimate being, the strongest and the smartest that ought not be ruled by something as primitive as instincts...

And yet, here he was, doing exactly that with Sonic and not giving a damn.

He supposed that was why Mobians generally seemed so much happier and content with their lives—felt so happy just to be in nature. They embraced their animal ways of doing things, remained true to their roots unlike humans—they knew who they were and didn't try to pretend otherwise.

It was refreshing.

But even though he was enjoying this game, he was also curious what winning it would mean. And so just as Sonic made another sharp turn, dancing his way through the thin bamboo forest, Shadow made his move and finally caught the lithe hero that had been escaping his capture for so long, the abrupt move sending them both rolling onto the ground.

And even though they were surely both going sport couple of dark bruises because of the ungraceful landing, a laugh still erupted from Sonic's chest the moment they came to a stop.

"Well," Sonic started with a grin the moment his laugh subdued, the hero's chest rising and falling in quick intervals as he tried to catch his breath, "it seems you've finally caught me."

There was a small pause as Sonic took a deeper breath, the two just staring at one another.

"I wonder what do you plan to do with me now..." Sonic commented, looking at other through half-lidded eyes and a smirk at his face, not making motion to move from where he laid beneath his partner, awaiting the other's move.

Shadow had a few ideas in mind with Sonic splayed like this but still... "What is one supposed to do when they finally catch their partner?" he inquired in a low voice, letting his breath over blue ear, already having an idea what the answer would be.

After all, hedgehog carousel was an prehistoric tradition, wasn't it?

"I'll let you take a guess," Sonic murmured back as he looped his arms around the dark neck and raised his leg and hooked it around the agent's waist to pull the other closer in similar manner, confirming Shadow's suspicion.

"Any ideas now?" the hero continued with a grin as Shadow leaned slightly back to meet the other's gaze.

"Way too many," he confessed quietly, a small smirk forming on his lips when he saw Sonic grin at the answer.

"I guess we'll have to do the hedgehog carousel again then sometime."

"Next week seems like an ideal time."

"I second that," Sonic agreed with a grin as he pulled the other down into a quick kiss, a confident smirk breaking out on the his face once they separated. "Thought you better enjoy your victory prize now or else I might just run off."

"I'd just catch you again."

"You think you'd manage that?" Sonic teased. "Are you reeeally sure, Shad?"

"Positive."

"Alright, then." Sonic flashed him a smile. "Catch me."

Before Shadow could even realize how, he was suddenly on his back while Sonic was already about dozens of feet away and widening the distance.

Shadow huffed.

He definitely should have seen that one coming.