Shadow had been called in for a meeting with G.U.N.

He let out a breath when he got back in the house, feeling far more stressed than usual.

As usual when Shadow had been called in to work, Mephiles teleported in front of the door to greet him. "Hello, Shadow!"

Shadow sighed. "Mephiles...sit down. We need to talk."

Feeling nervous, Mephiles did as he was told.

Once Shadow was seated next to him, he explained, "There's a mission that I was assigned to go on. I'm being stationed on a different planet."

"Well... It won't take long, will it..?"

Shadow ran his fingers through his quills. "Getting there alone will take a week."

Mephiles did some quick calculation. "So you'll be gone for at least three weeks?"

"I'm... I'm being stationed for over six months. If things don't go well, it'll be closer to a year."

Mephiles tried to stay calm and not burst into tears. "Why? Can they not take care of things by themselves?"

The red striped hedgehog shook his head. "I have to go."

Mephiles turned away. Soon, Shadow saw him shaking. It made him feel extreme guilt.

"I wanted to ask you for a few more favors before I left." Shadow continued.

The blue striped hedgehog wiped his eyes and faced Shadow. "*sniff* You've got my attention."

Shadow stood and held his hand out. "First, I want you to make something with me."

Surprised, Mephiles asked, "You mean food, correct?"

Shadow nodded and waved his outstretched hand, telling Mephiles to grab it.

"Al...right then." Mephiles said.

~A few minutes later~

"'Mix all ingredients together.' Shadow, not so fast! You'll make a mess!"

The two hedgies decided to bake a cake. As Mephiles read off the instructions, Shadow was getting bored of how slow things seemed to be going.

"Well, this is taking forever! And how long is this thing supposed to cook?"

Mephiles read the box. "It says to cook for 25-30 minutes."

Shadow groaned.

"Alright, I'll finish mixing. You can grease the pan." Mephiles said, handing Shadow the cooking spray.

Shadow did as he was told, then held the pan steady as Mephiles poured the batter in. Finally, they put the uncooked cake into the oven and cleaned up.

As he dried the now clean mixing bowl, Mephiles asked, "That wasn't so bad, was it Shadow?"

Shadow turned away and crossed his arms. "Sure."

"Was there anything else you wanted before... *ahem* leaving?"

Seeing clearly that Mephiles was still upset, Shadow nodded. "Feel free to decline, but I wanted to just watch t.v. with you. Maybe a movie?"

Mephiles blushed. Shadow, the object of his affections, wanted to spend even more of his last break hours with him? "I don't mind. What did you have in mind to watch?"

"Take a seat on our couch and I'll show you.

Mephiles froze. "I'm sorry, could you reiterate that?"

Slower, Shadow repeated, "Take a seat, on our couch, and I'll show you. The couch we always sit on when we watch t.v. together?"

Unable to make sound, Mephiles mouthed, "Alright." and did what he was told. As Shadow set up the movie, Mephiles was still in shock. 'He called it OUR couch...' he thought.

Once Shadow had set up the movie, skipping the previews since he hates them, he sat next to Mephiles.

'He's much closer than usual...' Mephiles thought.

A few minutes into the movie, Shadow thought he'd give Mephiles another task. "Mephiles."

Immediately, Mephiles snapped to attention. "Yes, Shadow?"

"I have another request."

Mephiles's ears pointed up.

"I want you to sit anywhere on this couch you want."

This was a bit confusing to Mephiles. "Are you sure, Shadow? Anywhere is a strong word."

Shadow smiled and nodded. "Anywhere at all, as long as you're still on the couch."

Mephiles thought for a moment. "Alright. You cannot be upset with my choice, as you said sit anywhere I'd like."

Honestly, Shadow already knew very well that Mephiles only wanted to be closer to him. (Shadow wanted that, too.) But he wasn't expecting what Mephiles decided to do.

Mephiles spread Shadow's legs and sat on the exposed couch space in between. "I want to sit here."

Shadow blinked and decided to go with it. "But... I can't see the screen if you're right there. You're blocking my view."

Mephiles knew just how to solve that issue. He scooted a bit, then laid on Shadow's chest, his forehead close to touching Shadow's neck. "Is this better?"

"No."

That answer made Mephiles nervous. Until Shadow put his arms around his body, holding him tight. Now Shadow said, "This is better. By the way, your quills are really nice and soft..."

Smiling from giddiness, Mephiles strained to not melt under Shadow's hold. He paid no mind to the movie now.

This alone was far more entertaining.

~20 minutes later~

Shadow wanted more. He wished that he hadn't waited so long to be affectionate to Mephiles, but there was no more time for feeling sorry for himself. "Mephiles."

"Yes, Shadow?"

'So obedient... So cute...' Shadow thought. "I have another request."

Mephiles listened. But all thoughts and reasoning disappeared when Shadow's warm hand reached and held his face.

"You're too adorable. You really are." Shadow said. Mephiles heard something in Shadow's voice that he hadn't heard or noticed before: pure affection.

Admiration, fascination, protection, even desire, it was all there. It made Mephiles want to both cry from happiness and give Shadow the biggest kiss he could muster. Instead, he waited for his instruction.

The hand cradling Mephiles's face was joined by the other. "For your next task... I want you-"

'BING!'

"Oh! Th-that was the um, oven. I should answer- no, I sh-should go open- get-"

Shadow covered Mephiles mouth and asked, "You should take the cake out of the oven?"

Mephiles nodded and rushed off.

~Later~

Mephiles had cut two large pieces of the cake, and was bringing it to the living room. The events from earlier still had him flustered as he sat down. "I think the cake turned out nicely."

Shadow took a piece and nodded once he bit into it. It turned out great to Shadow.

"OWW!"

"Oh! Shadow, what's the matter?!"

Embarrassed at himself, Shadow answered, "Ah bih mah ton."

Mephiles blushed and responded, "Stick it out."

The first thing that popped into Shadow's head when he heard that was really perverted, so he asked, "Wha?"

"Stick your tongue out. I can heal it."

"...how?"

Now Mephiles's blushing worsened. "It's better if I show you."

Shrugging, Shadow swallowed away the remaining cake in his mouth and stuck his tongue out.

First, Mephiles glanced at Shadow for permission to continue. Shadow made a small grunt, a sign of encouragement. Mephiles smiled before taking Shadow's face in his hands and lightly dragging his purple tongue against Shadow's pink, bleeding one.

Shadow had not expected Mephiles's actions. Though, he was happy that the pain in his tongue was diminishing. And that Mephiles wasn't licking anything but his tongue, because he wasn't open to having slobber all over him.

Finally, he was healed. But either Mephiles didn't know it or was unable/unwilling to stop. He kept licking and began sucking on the once bleeding tongue.

Shadow had to stop him, since he really didn't want another 'crotch' incident.

Mephiles panicked, taking that as a very bad sign. He let go of Shadow and backed away. "I, *ahem* my apologies, Shadow..."

"Mephiles..."

Shuddering, Mephiles asked, "Y-Yes, Shadow?"

"There's something else I want from you." he held Mephiles's face again. "I want you to kiss me."

The little air Mephiles had in his lungs seemed to vanish. He didn't bother to attempt speech (since he knew he'd fail) and obeyed. Feeling extremely uncertain, he pressed his lips onto Shadow's.

He pulled away and asked, "Was that alright?"

Shadow smiled. Then he laughed. "Either you're really nervous or you've never done that before."

"It's both in my case. Was I bad?"

"No, but you could use work."

Mephiles made a questioning face. "You have experience with kissing?"

"I'm not an expert, but I've kissed a few people. They said I wasn't that bad."

Mephiles blushed and turned away, letting out a grumble.

This confused Shadow a bit. "What's wrong? I told you, you're not bad."

"I heard that." Mephiles said grumpily.

Then Shadow then realized: "Oh, you're jealous!"

"No! I'm... That's... Silly. That's just silly."

"No, your jealousy is silly. You're jealous, of something that happened over a year ago. This is too precious."

"I. Am not.-"

Mephiles was interrupted. Shadow had taken his face and kissed him, deepening it the second he could.

As this happened, Mephiles couldn't help but disagree with Shadow. It wasn't silly that he was jealous.

Because Shadow wasn't just 'not bad' at kissing. He was really good at it. Not only was Mephiles upset that he wasn't the only one who got to get a taste of what Shadow could do (and this was just his lips), but he wasn't the first.

Mephiles's thoughts fled again when Shadow slipped his tongue into his mouth. He was slowly lost to the slightly familiar feel and taste of Shadow's tongue and lips.

Shadow pulled away and smiled at Mephiles. "Did you even notice?"

"...notice what?"

Shadow's smile grew. "You were just making out with me. How did you not realise that you were kissing me back?"

Mephiles was surprised, since he really didn't notice. "Well... Was I better this time?"

Nodding, Shadow pecked Mephiles's lips again. "That was nice. Did you want to start this time? I really want to kiss you again."

Mephiles thought for a moment before nodding. He connected their lips again, rubbing Shadow's shoulders as he kissed him.

Shadow sighed (which was all he could do to not moan), and was about to kiss back. That is, until Mephiles moved lower, trailing kisses down his jaw.

"Mephiles, what are you doing?" Shadow asked, really trying not to moan. This time, his thoughts fled as he felt a tongue and a pair of lips on his neck. "Mm..."

On the inside, Mephiles was doing his happy dance. He'd had many dreams of kissing Shadow's neck. Hopefully, Shadow wouldn't be too upset with what he was planning.

Once he felt sucking on his neck, Shadow gave up. He let out a soft moan, pulling Mephiles closer. Then he realised: "Mephiles, wait. It'll leave a mark... Ah, yeah, right there..."

Shadow was lost in Mephiles's kisses. Even after he stopped, Shadow was in a daze. "I'm so stupid."

Mephiles gave one more smooch before looking up. "Why do you say that?"

"Because I wanted to feel tough, or just didn't want to accept my feelings. I was keeping myself from this, from you, when for most of the time you've been here, you showed me you cared. More than anyone else at that. We could've been doing stuff like this months ago, but it took me getting deployed to come to terms with myself. I'm so sorry."

Mephiles nuzzled Shadow's neck, relishing in the mark he left there. "I do wish you hadn't waited, but I forgive you." he said, hugging Shadow tight.

It took a moment, but Shadow's arms found their way around Mephiles to hug him back. "Mephiles... I..."

Shadow knew what he wanted to say, but he just couldn't get it out. Sighing in defeat, he instead asked, "Could you kiss me again?"

Giving a sad smile, Mephiles nodded.