His Royal Highness Is Exhausted
Sonic was stressed. That much was certain. As the upcoming ball drew ever closer, he found himself overwhelmed with everything going on around him. Turns out that choosing decorations for a ball was much more complicated than one would initially think. Although Saffron had been a huge help, it was still up to Sonic to make the final decision, and the cobalt hedgehog could be quite decisive. And on top of that, his Mother had placed him in charge of the décor layout now too. On top of that, he still had several documents and paperwork to look over that his Mother expected him to get done in a timely manner.
And he had a first date with his arranged fiancé to worry about on top of the even larger dumpster fire that was becoming his schedule.
But Shadow being the absolute saint and charmer he was told Sonic not to worry about their date as he would take care of everything.
“Your Highness, it is crucial that you make a decision for the banners.” Saffron spoke, holding up a folded stack of banners in an array of assorted colors. Sonic ran a hand through his quills and gripped tightly, having no clue what color to pick that would be fitting for the theme AND the rest of the décor he’d already picked over the course of the past two weeks.
“Could we go with the yellow one?”
“I hate to object, Prince Sonic, but are you sure that this shade of yellow will go well with the shades of blue and green you’ve chosen for the rest of the décor?” He slowly lowered his head down till his forehead was touching his desk, trying to drown out the assistant.
“I guess I am not sure. I’m not sure about any of this stuff.”
“I understand, Your Highness, but the ball is only one week away and all decisions you make now are of utter importance. As your event planner, I advise you to make the best choices possible.”
“Clearly mine aren’t the best choices possible. Mother was wrong to choose me for this task.” He abruptly stood from his chair and left his office before Saffron could say anything. Briskly walking throughout the castle halls, he stopped just outside the library doors and looked around to make sure nobody would follow him inside. Upon entering, he was greeted with the pleasant smell of old paper, finding solace and comfort in the bookshelves around him. He greeted the elderly librarian as he passed her desk, the grey and white cat greeting him with a smile and a hard candy. Sonic pocketed it for later. Turning the corner of a shelf, he found an unexpected sight.
Shadow leaned back in a plush chair at a table pressed against the corner, a novel held in one hand and the other hand draped over his stomach. Crimson eyes lazily scanned over the ink on the pages, not noticing the arrival of the other hedgehog. He took a few steps closer towards the table that Shadow sat at, and the prince seemed to hear him, looking up from his book.
“I see they finally let you leave your office for once.” He teased.
“I left before Saffron could stop me.” Shadow’s gaze seemed to linger for a bit longer and Sonic rubbed his neck nervously at the attention. “What? Is there something on my face?”
“You look tired.”
“I haven’t been sleeping well.” He admitted. “But don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
“You can only do your best when you feel your best, Sonic. Now that I think of it, It has been awhile since I have seen you during meal times.”
“What are you reading? Seems very interesting.”
“Don’t deflect. You and I both know that you are exhausted.”
“I’ve already told you that I’m fine, Shads. Stop worrying about me.”
“I will stop worrying about you when I know you are okay. And right now, it is obvious you are not.” Sonic huffed and crossed his arms, pouting and not wanting to listen to Shadow being right. He wouldn’t deny it, he was very very exhausted. “Fine. If you won’t listen to me, then at least come, and sit for a while. You can take a break, can’t you?”
Sonic tried to fight the smile from coming across his face but couldn’t resist softly chuckling at Shadow’s persistency. He sat in the chair just beside Shadow and did the one thing he hadn’t done in just over two weeks. Relax. The plush red fabric of the chair was welcoming, and he found himself sinking into the feeling. He felt his body being lulled into a state of drowsiness, eyelids blinking lazily, slowly. He folded his arms atop the table and rested his head on his arms as a makeshift pillow.
“Maybe, I will take,” a yawn cut him off. “just a small nap.” A hand settled on his forehead, smoothing a few errant quills into place, and softly pet the remaining fur on his head between his ears. Sonic could feel his chest thrum, drowsiness continuing to overtake him as Shadow continued to rub his head. One last blink and he couldn’t make himself open his eyes again and let sleep overcome him.
.
.
.
.
Knuckles searched the halls for the Prince and his friend. After quite the scare from Saffron, she enlisted his help to search for the runaway hedgehog. If both of them wanted to keep their high positions, then they’d keep this under wraps. After over an hour of searching, they were given a rather big lead from the old grey cat who watched over the library.
“Excuse me, Ma’am.” Knuckles got her attention, the cat turning around to face him with a smile. “We were wondering if you have seen any sign of Prince Sonic and his whereabouts in the castle.”
“Yes, hon! The little ragamuffin is in my library with that other handsome young man. Quite the couple those two.”
“Thank goodness, he is alright.” Saffron felt relieved at the good news. “I’ll fetch him, and we will resume our work. Thank you for your help, Knuckles.” The guard gave her a stiff nod, pounding a fist against his chest before turning and walking away. The feminine bird turned and walked toward the direction to the library, opening the door upon arrival. She searched the entire first floor, worried to find nothing until she turned around the corner of a shelf and found them.
Two princes, one calmly and quietly reading, and the other napping with his head laid in his arms. The foreign prince had been petting the fur atop the other royalty’s head, and Saffron felt her heart melt a bit at the sight.
“Are you here to whisk him back to his office again?” Shadow abruptly asked, spooking her a bit, and making her feathers stand on end.
“I do apologize, Your Highness, but there is too much work to be done.” She answered softly, not wanting to alarm Sonic out of his slumber.
“Hmm. I won’t allow it.”
“Pardon?”
“I will not allow him to continue working in the state he is in.”
“I understand that Prince Sonic is tired but-“
“He is more than tired, he is exhausted. Sonic expressed to me that he has not been sleeping well and knowing him, he most certainly hasn’t eaten much in the past two weeks either. If he continues to work like this, then nothing will be achieved.” He interrupted. Her feathers ruffled slightly, and he knew that he was frustrating her by the second.
“Well, without his orders, nothing can be done. How do you propose I move forward if he is to continue resting?” Shadow looked over at the sleeping hedgehog beside him, rubbing the soft, silky smooth fur atop his head. He observed the long eyelashes that fluttered gracefully on the tops of Sonic’s peach cheek. He brought a hand down and gently caressed the peach fur of his muzzle, gaining a sleepy purr from the prince. Shadow smiled at the sound.
“Until further notice, you will consult me as I will take on his duties.”
“I don’t mean to offend you Prince Shadow, but I don’t believe you can make a decision like that.”
“Well, seeing as I am the only other Prince in this castle who has planned a ball before, I believe I am rather qualified for the job.” He stood up at that moment, closing his book and placing it back on a nearby shelf. “Unless you would like to make the Queen aware of this sticky situation.”
“Seeing as I apparently have no other option, I suppose I will allow you to take over for the time being.”
“Wonderful. We shall get started right away. Let us move back to his office.” Saffron nodded with a hesitant smile on her beak. He walked back over to the table that Sonic was resting a, gently adjusting him so he could bridal carry him back to his office. The cobalt prince’s head unconsciously nuzzled into the crook between Shadow’s neck and shoulder, his hands lightly fisting his red tunic.
The walk back to Sonic’s office was silent, Saffron walking beside him as they trotted along the halls of the large castle. Upon finally making it back to the office, Shadow ever so gently placed Sonic down on his elongated chair, laying him out before grabbing the plush, red-wooled blanket and draping it across his body. The hedgehog stirred at the action, eyes blinking open blearily but not necessarily looking at anything in particular.
“Wh’ happened?” He confusedly wondered, looking into Shadow’s crimson eyes.
“Shhh. Go back to sleep.” He hushed with a small murmur that only Sonic would hear. He rubbed a hand over the top of Sonic’s head, smoothing out the bright blue fur and quills. The other prince smiled softly, dozing off once again and soft snores emitted from him once again. Shadow stood up from his kneeled position and went to sit in Sonic’s desk chair.
.
.
.
.
Sonic lazily blinked his eyes open, forest green orbs looking around. He quickly deduced that he was laying down on the lounge in his office. Blurriness still swam at the corners of his vison, but he was able to focus in on the familiar figure that sat at his desk. As his vision became clearer, he saw the silky ebony fur adorned with red stripes, the crimson eyes that looked so drawn to the ink on the papers he was reading. His button up shirt had the sleeves casually rolled up to his elbows, and Sonic thought that Shadow looked good with his guard let down just slightly.
He moved to sit up, rubbing a gloved paw through his bedhead of quills. A yawn escaped him, and he stretched his arms out to shake a bit of the sleep out of his body.
“How do you feel?”
“A bit better. How long was I asleep?”
“Four hours.”
“WHAT?!” Sonic scrambled up from the cushions he lay upon, the blanket pooling out underneath him and causing him to stumble on it. “Why did you let me sleep that long?” He questioned, voice still raised in slight anger.
“You needed the rest, Sonic.
“There is too much to be done! Rest can wait. I can rest when I’m dead.” He managed to fully stand up from the ground and started marching his way over to the desk.
“Don’t worry, I took over for you while you slept. Things are continuing to move as scheduled.” Sonic blinked confusedly.
“What do you mean you took over?”
“All decisions regarding the upcoming ball were to be ran by me instead of you until you were deemed well rested.”
“I didn’t need rest in the first place!” He snapped, very annoyed with how Shadow wouldn’t let him do his job, the very important job that his Mother had entrusted him to do.
“The bags under your eyes would say otherwise.” The striped hedgehog flipped a page in the document he was perusing. “Are you hungry?”
“I need to get back to work, Shadow. Move.” He gestured for Shadow to get up from his chair, crossing his arms with a huff and tapping his foot.
“I’ll stay right here, thank you. Now, I’ll ask again; are you hungry?” The cobalt hedgehog growled lowly in frustration. His stomach was next to growl, and he placed a still-gloved hand over his stomach to urge the feeling to go away.
“Get out of my damn chair.”
“Will you eat something if I do?” Shadow asked, setting the document down. Sonic nodded curtly. “Very well then.” He stood, brushing himself off briefly before grabbing the prince’s hand and guiding him out of the room.
“Where are you taking me? I’ll eat later, Shads.”
“You will eat now, and then you will get a bath. And after all of that, you will be going to bed for some real rest. Not a nap in your office.”
“This isn’t fair! You can’t just take my duties away from me. Mother will have my head if she knew you did.”
“She can take up any issues she has with me. I won’t allow you to be overworked and run to the point of exhaustion.” Shadow stopped in the hallway, turning to look at Sonic with a look that said not to challenge him.
“I just don’t want to disappoint anybody, especially my Mother.” Sonic whispered quietly, staring at the floor. His worries were valid. Sonic was under a giant amount of pressure to appease everyone and appeasing his mother had always been extremely difficult.
“Sonic,” A deep rumble cut in. Two hands grabbed his, gently holding them and applying a light pressure. “You could never disappoint anyone. You’re doing your best and that is what matters. If your mother or anyone else can’t see how hard you’re working, then they are a fool.”
Emerald eyes gazed into crimson, and Sonic smiled at Shadow’s sweet words. If the other hedgehog was trying to cheer him up, he was successful.
“Thank you. I’m sorry for being such a nuisance.” The prince apologized. Shadow pulled one of Sonic’s hands up, pressing a light kiss on his knuckles.
“Nonsense. You’re the best thorn in my side I could ever ask for.” Sonic let out a loud laugh, covering his mouth to stifle his chuckles.
“You’re ridiculous!” He laughed, and Shadow smirked at the other hedgehogs amused state.
“Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”
.
.
.
.
Sonic let the soapy bubbles and hot water consume him as he let the stress roll off his shoulders. He can’t remember the last time he felt relaxed like this. But alas, it wouldn’t last long considering that he would have to go back to his office once he was finished with his bath.
When he was done, he toweled off his fur and quills, not caring about their untamed state. He threw on the red long-sleeve tunic and leggings he had set aside, snapping his cloak into place before exiting his bathroom.
Only to get the living daylights scared out of him when he saw Shadow sitting on his bed.
“What are you doing in here?”
“Confirming my suspicions. You were going back to your office, weren’t you?”
“I was just going to look over something really quick.” He lied.
“Liar. Going behind my back like that, even after I fed you.” Shadow huffed, turning his muzzle to the side.
“I didn’t want to go behind your back, but my sleep schedule is already messed up so I doubt I would have been sleeping much tonight.” Sonic moved to the door to his chamber, but Shadow quickly moved in front of the door, blocking his path.
“Well, you’re not going back to your office.” He crossed his arms with a huff.
“Fine. I won’t go back to my office tonight.” Shadow nodded, not moving an inch from his spot at the door. “You can leave now.” The blue hedgehog tried to shoo him away.
“I don’t trust you right now. I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”
“Aren’t you tired? Wouldn’t you rather retire for the evening?”
“I don’t need sleep.” Shadow stated obviously.
“That sounds rather pretentious, don’t you think?”
“I’m serious. My body doesn’t physically require rest.” Sonic found himself letting out a breathless laugh, shaking his head in disbelief.
“You’re quite the jokester, aren’t you?”
“Hedgehog, I’m not joking.” The cobalt quilled prince continued to look at him with a cocked brow, disbelief still laced on his features. “I’ll tell you about it if you let me tame that nest you call ‘quills.’” Shadow bargained.
The next thing Sonic knew, he was sitting on his bed, clad in his favorite pair of green silk pajamas. Shadow had a brush in hand as he separated the sections of Sonic’s quills in the way they naturally parted. The sharp spines twisted and intertwined within their sections, and Shadow used nimble and skilled hands to unlink them and brush the tangles of knotted fur out.
“I guess the easiest way for me to explain is that I wasn’t ever actually born, but more so created.”
“I mean, aren’t all of us created in this world?”
“In a sense. But you and your siblings are all a result of procreation. I was created artificially through science.”
“Huh?”
“I can be classified as a hybrid, of sorts. Twenty-three years ago, my Father was devastated from the loss of his wife, the Queen, after she was killed in a castle raid. It was then that he realized how essential it was for him to produce an heir to the kingdom.”
“Why not just get married again?” Sonic interrupted.
“My Father is very hard to please, and she was the only one who would ever have his heart.” He sighed, a tad annoyed as a clump of bright cobalt quills decided they wanted to be difficult. “Anyways, it was imperative that my Father produce an heir. But he couldn’t just adopt a child into the royal family, for that would go against tradition. That’s when he met Gerald.”
“Gerald?”
“Gerald Robotnik was from a few kingdoms over, and my Father sought him out when he heard of his capabilities. The professor agreed to work for my Father as the head scientist and doctor. He moved into the castle and was put straight to work trying to find a way for an heir to the throne to exist. After a year passed, he concluded that he would mix the DNA between a female hedgehog specimen and my Father’s DNA. My Father thought it would be best if we forewent his alien appearance and made me look more approachable, seeing as I would be the one taking over the throne. I inherited different traits from each parent. The alien side of me is more apparent biologically, so that is why I do not require things like food and sleep so often. Physically, I look more like the feminine specimen, who was a hedgehog.”
“Ow!” Sonic winced as the brush in Shadow’s hand snagged on a knot. He gave a half-hearted apology before continuing to brush the quills. “So, who is your Mother then if it wasn’t your Father’s wife.”
“It was his wife. When she died, she was embalmed so her DNA was conveniently available. Her DNA was used to create my brothers as well.”
“Why not just call her your Mother then?”
“Because she didn’t raise me. The Professor and Maria were the ones who helped raise me alongside my Father.”
“Maria?”
“She is the granddaughter of the Professor. When I was nine, the Professor brought Maria to live in the castle after her parents passed, and he was given guardianship of her. Maria is like a sister to me.” Shadow smiled softly at the memory of his sister. Ever since he’d left his kingdom to be with Sonic, he had been a tad homesick in the sense that he really missed his sister. He could do without the antics of his Father and brothers, but not being able to see Maria every day was upsetting, to put it lightly.
“Tell me about her.” Sonic turned and smiled at Shadow over his shoulder. “You seem fond of her, and she is going to be my family soon after all.” He found himself a bit shocked that Sonic so bluntly asked to hear about Maria.
“Well, she’s just turned twelve, and she has this silky blonde hair, fair skin, and the most striking blue eyes that could remind one of diamonds. She’s sweet and kind.”
“She sounds amazing. Will I get to meet her?” Sonic asked. Shadow was quiet for a long time, thinking back to the state Maria was in when he left. She had been born with a rare illness that left her with a weak immune system. Because of her illness, she wasn’t permitted to go outside the castle, or some days even outside of her room in fear of her sickness getting worse. There were days where even Shadow, her best friend and big brother, wasn’t allowed near her.
“Maybe. We’ll just have to see when we get there.” Shadow muttered out. He ran a hand through Sonic’s quills, all smooth and laid back in nice sections. “There we go. Now I can tell you have quills on not a bird’s nest on your head.”
“Hush!” Sonic barked with a laugh, playfully smacking Shadow’s chest when he turned around. “Thanks for doing this, Shads.”
“I couldn’t allow you to go to bed and mess them up even further. Hedgehog spines are delicate, and you need to treat them with better care.” The striped hedgehog lectured.
“Not just for brushing out my quills, but I appreciate you telling me all of that stuff. I can tell that you’re a reserved person, so it means a lot that you feel comfortable enough to tell me about something so personal.” Sonic grinned, running a hand over a smooth quill as he stared into scarlet orbs. Shadow grinned back. The cobalt teen let out a yawn, covering his mouth with a still gloved paw.
“I think I’ll go back to my room for the evening now. Can I trust you to go to bed and not to your office?”
“I’ll be good. Cross my heart.”
“Good.” Shadow stood from the bed, heading towards the door. Sonic got up and followed him suit. “Goodnight, Sonic.”
He looked down for a second, contemplating, before Sonic took him by surprise. Swiftly grabbing his tan muzzle and holding the ebony furred prince in place to press a deep kiss on his cheek. Pulling away, Shadow took in the very red blush of his arranged fiancé.
“Night!” Sonic yelped out, a look of embarrassment on his face as he pushed Shadow out of the door and closed it in his face. He stood in the hallway, shock present on his face as he cradled the cheek that Sonic had kissed. Without the control to stop it, a dopey smile flashed upon his muzzle, and he shook his head with a small laugh.
“I wish it was a week from now, for this date could not come any sooner.”