Shadow wasn’t the type of person to believe in things like love, especially this thing people call ‘love-at-first-sight.’ As a Werehog, Shadow was brought up to believe in ‘mate sense’ and ‘instincts.’ Well, he wasn’t until he met that girl. And it wasn’t his mate sense or instincts that reacted to seeing her. He had felt a small tug on his heart that drew him to her.
The day was quite average. A regular spring day, people milling about and being the normal amount of annoying as they always are. Annoying in a certain Werehog’s perspective, that is. Though Were-Mobians were known by many people by now, it didn’t stop the fearful glances and side eyes he gets. He pays them no mind as he goes on with his day, not caring in the slightest. The only time he did care is when they have the nerve to start talking about him. His hearing was far greater than the average mobian, so their whispered and hushed tones were easily heard. Any time they did, he would stop and glare at them, instantly quieting them.
On this day, Shadow decided to go to the park, not caring that he would probably terrify a couple of children. They weren’t his concern.
He found a quiet shady spot to sit and relax for a bit. He pulled out the small book he kept in his back pocket to read. Despite his hulking figure and harsh demeanor, Shadow was actually a quiet person that enjoys his peace.
The Werehog doesn’t know how long he was sat there. It must have been a couple of hours, judging by the way the sun was starting to set. There weren’t many people in the park at this time. Children had been taken home by their caretakers, various groups of teens parted for the day. There were still some people jogging along the path, not many as most people go jogging in the morning. He could hear a set of footsteps closer to him than any other had been that day. It was only when the sound stopped that he looked up.
Shadow felt his heart rate quicken, despite not having moved from his spot. The mobian, a hedgehog to be exact, that his eyes landed on was probably the most beautiful person he has ever seen. And judging by the small breasts on the creature, it was most likely a female. Her fur was a vibrant sapphire blue that shown in the dying light. She had four large downturned quills in the back and two smaller ones that framed her angelic, cream-colored cheeks. And because of his heightened vision, Shadow noticed the bright emerald irises of her eyes. She was wearing a light blue tank top, black running shorts, and a pair of red and white sneakers that looked like they were custom made. She was overall very cute.
The blue hedgehog had stopped to take a break and stretch. Shadow’s eyes followed every movement her body made like he was in some kind of trance. He was startled when she looked over at him and gave him a little smile. Shadow’s face burned bright red in embarrassment as he stuck his face in his book again. He could hear a small giggle before the blue hedgehog, thankfully, continued her run.
Shadow didn’t look away from his book until she was gone. He stared at the way she had gone in wonder. ‘What was the feeling I just had?’ He chalked it up to his body just reacting to someone his eyes found appealing. He stood up and closed his book with a sigh, deciding now would be an appropriate time to head home. He still had some things to finish anyhow.
Sonic didn’t believe there was such a thing as ‘true love.’ After her many, many, many, failed relationships, she had given up on love altogether. And it didn’t help that all the guys she dated just wanted sex, her saying no being the reason they end the relationship. She just hopes she’ll find someone she can tolerate for the rest of her life at least. That was what she thought, until the day she went for an afternoon run in the park. He was different than the others.
Sonic went to the park near the end of the day, around sunset. It was the perfect time to run since the sun wasn’t too hot and the air wasn’t too cool. She decided to keep it to a short run, about fifteen laps around the park was enough.
There was a downside to going running in the park with other people around. She always lapped them because she was faster than them. She would notice the looks and glares she got because of it. It wasn’t like she was doing it on purpose, it just happened. She never cared about the looks. They can snare all they want.
Sonic wasn’t at the park for long. A fifteen-lap run wasn’t much. She was nearing the end of her run, on lap fifteen, when she finally decided to take a small break, slightly upset that her stamina didn’t last long enough for her to finish them all in one go. She started stretching out her muscles, feeling the pressure mostly in her legs and chest.
She was going to start running again when she felt eyes on her. She hoped it wasn’t another creep staring at her again, that happened more often then she would like. She looks over and, oh, that’s different. Her cheeks tinted pink as her heart skipped a beat.
The person staring at her was a male, a male Werehog to be exact. He had a ruggedly handsome look to him. His fur was mostly ebony with striking streaks of crimson on his upturned quills, arms, and legs and the color of his eyes. He was packing some muscle, that’s for sure. She also noticed a hint of white fur peeking out from the red shirt he was wearing. Along almost dog-like tail stuck out from a hole in his dark jeans. He was also wearing a pair of heavy looking work boots, wonder what he does for a living. If Sonic had to use one word to describe him, it was intimidating.
Their eyes locked. Emerald meeting crimson. They stared at each other for only a couple of seconds before Sonic smiled making the Werehog look away, a blush evident on his face. Sonic giggled at his embarrassment. As much as she wanted to talk to him, she had to get home soon. Maybe they’ll run into each other again, it wasn’t a very big city after all.
It only took that first look to make a link between them, even if they didn’t know it yet. Because of that connection, they couldn’t seem to stop running into each other. The second time was kind of strange.
A bookstore. Somewhere Sonic would never be. She doesn’t read much, never was interested in books in general. But something told her to come here, and if she didn’t, it would be a missed opportunity.
She sat around the store a bit bored for a while, wondering what caused her to come here in the first place. She browsed around, not really finding anything to read, not that she thought she would anyway. She was going to leave until she saw someone. It was that Werehog she saw at the park the other day. That was understandable, considering she had seen him with a book before.
Sonic tried to look like she wasn’t staring while trying to get a good look at the Werehog.
He walked so calmly, ignoring any look people gave him without a care. He really was intimidating, even from so far away. He seemed to a have a certain genre he liked to read as he strode over to a collection of books and only took a minute or two browsing before he found something. Going over to the counter to purchase the book, Sonic noticed the cashier didn’t give him a strange look. He must come here often. Before he left, he happened to take a look around the store, eyes widening when he spotted Sonic. She gave him a smile and small wave. He bolted without making it obvious. But Sonic knew, being on the receiving end of the flight response one too many times.
That’s two times now and so far, it seemed the Werehog wanted nothing to do with her. Just her luck, she finds a guy she might like and he already hates her.
The third time was a bit different. They actually spoke to each other.
Shadow entered a coffee shop, one he never heard about before, so he wanted to scope out the scene. Despite the shop being so new, there weren’t as many people around as he thought there would be. There was no one standing at the counter but there was a bell there. Wow, what great service.
With a sigh, Shadow rang the little bell and a hurried, “Hold on a moment!” was shouted from the back. He heard some noises that sounded like crashes and raised an eyebrow. They should be lucky he’s not a critic. He saw a flash of blue rush out of the back room and disappear under the counter before popping back up and – oh no. That blue hedgehog again.
She’s even cuter up close, despite looking slightly haggard. When she notice who he was, she smiled. It was such a beautiful smile too, the kind that could light up a room. From this close Shadow saw the little freckles around her cute button nose and the natural pink tint to her cheeks.
“How can I help you?” Shadow was so distracted by her smile, he almost missed when she spoke.
“Uh,” He cleared his throat. “I’ll take a coffee, black.” He was surprised to see her face flush a dark shade of red.
“O-okay. C-coming r-right up.” The blue hedgehog stuttered.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah. It’s just y-your voice is really deep.”
Oh? Shadow always heard about some men having a voice to make women weak in the knees. He never thought it was true, let alone it would be his own voice.
“Thanks?”
The blue hedgehog quickly made his order, seeming to not want to embarrass herself any further. Before Shadow could even thank her for the coffee, she disappeared into the back room again. Well, okay then. Shadow left the shop, sipping his bitter coffee.
Is this a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ kind of situation? Sonic was hoping it wasn’t because if it was, she shouldn’t be allowed to date ever again. They’ve seen each other three times in the past month and so far, she made the Werehog run from her and gave him a weird compliment. Was he giving her the cold shoulder or something? What is she thinking? She doesn’t know the guy and he doesn’t know her. What is she getting so worked up about?
Sonic sighed, before running into someone and almost falling over. That’s what she gets for not paying attention. She feels a strong pair of arms steadying her. She’s staring at the ground in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I should have been watching where I was going.”
“You know, I’m starting to think this isn’t a coincidence anymore.” A familiar voice muses. Sonic looks up and -oh of course- it’s him again. Her face flushes, because she’s so close to him and -oh god- he’s so soft and warm and smells amazing. Like sage and mandarin. And he’s so much bigger than she realized.
She backpedals out of his arms, nearly falling over again. “It’s you!” She said kind of rudely. “Sorry, I-I meant…”
“It’s fine.” He said with a sigh. “So, what’s your name? I mean, if we’re going to keep meeting like this, we might as well make it less awkward.”
“I-I’m Sapphire.” She says. “But everyone calls me Sonic.” She would say why, but he probably wouldn’t care.
“Sonic.” The Werehog says to himself. The way he said her name sent a shiver down her spine and cause her face to burn brighter. “I’m Shadow.” He says.
‘Shadow? It suits him.’ Sonic was going to say something else before Shadow looked at his watch.
He looks back to her. “I have to get going.” He starts to leave. Sonic didn’t want him too, not yet.
“Wait!” She calls out, causing him to stop and turn to her again.
