Request from a friend LunaNatsukiMoonlight!! This is her OC, Luna 😁
(ART NOT MINE, ART BELONGS TO ORIGINAL OWNER)

Pairing: Shadow x Luna

***

Night time has fallen over Green Hill, and while everyone else is getting ready for bed or already is sawing logs, Shadow remains awake.

He's considered a nocturnal being, rest was always last on his mind. It's always been like that, even in the beginning.

He would stay up late sitting beside Maria's bed during one of her ill spells...

And now, he sits on top a hill that overlooks a beautiful water landscape, one leg dangling over the cliff edge, while the other remains propped up.

His gloved hands work tirelessly at polishing one of his emeralds, all the while his mind is somewhere else.

That was, until the sudden, FORCEFUL, hug from behind catches him by surprise, making him nearly drop his emerald.

"Hey Shadow!" A cheerful voice belonging to a female says, her arms wrapped tight around Shadow's shoulders as she nuzzles her face in the crook of his neck.

The action nearly causes Shadow to flip the girl over his shoulder and send her to the bottom of the hill, but since the voice sounded familiar...he refrained himself from doing so.

Instead, he let out an annoyed huff, his body immediately tensing and going rigid.

"What do you want Luna?" He says through a low tone. It nearly sounds like a growl, even when he isn't meant to be growling.

Luna chuckles, using her fingers to mess with Shadow's quills.

"Are you always gonna be so grumpy? Not even a nice to see you?" She muses, attempting to braid a couple quills together.

Shadow grumbles. "Don't touch my quills."

Touching his quills is an absolute no-no, touching him in GENERAL is a huge no-no, everyone respects that! Well...minus Luna, and the idiot Sonic.

Easily, Shadow could use Chaos to get Luna to stop, but...he doesn't.
Why? WHY?! He can't answer that...but there's something about her touching his quills that makes him feel something...warm. Something he hasn't felt in a long, long time.

Luna grins. "You're blushing," she whispers.
Immediately, Shadow's eyes shape into a hardened glare. "No, I am not."

"Yes you are," Luna responds in a sing-song way, "the ultimate lifeform is now the ultimate blushing cutie."

"Shut up, don't call me CUTE," he nearly shouts, the red on his cheeks turning as red as his quills.

God why is he blushing now all of a sudden?! He's Shadow the Hedgehog! The Ultimate Lifeform! And here he is...blushing over someone touching his quills.

Chaos kill him now...

Luna continues to gently braid his quills, making sure they were good and secure that way they don't come undone.

Once she was finished, she sat down beside him, staring at his flushed cheeks.
"I don't think I've ever seen you blush this much before, I'm guessing you LIKE what I did?"

Shadow remains quiet, hands clenched at his sides while he refuses to meet her gaze.

That alone was enough proof to Luna that he did indeed like it.
"Awww," Luna hugs him, "you DO have a heart..."

"One more word and I'll throw you off the cliff," he growls.
"You know you wouldn't do that," she continues to hug him, "you would be so bored without me..."

Well, she certainly is some added color to his black and white life.
His pride won't allow him to admit THAT though.

A very quiet chuckle escapes his lips, as he decides to just...let Luna hug him.
Maybe he missed the feeling of someone hugging him, or maybe he knows he can't break out of her tight grip, it doesn't matter...

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say," Shadow responds in a soft tone, letting his guard down, for the first time in years.

But moments like these, where it's calm, the air is right, and with good company...
Maybe, he doesn't have to be The Ultimate Lifeform.
Maybe, if short-lived, he can be just Shadow.

Thanks for reading!!