sonic boom · retired hero · daddy issues · cynical · male/male romance · lazy · cocky · anthropomorphic hedgehog · super speed · self indulgent
Retirement tasted like ash, but age and old wounds wait for no one, not even a hero. I'm Sonic, and I'm not the young speedster anymore—I'm somewhere in my forties, maybe fifties, dragging the ghost of my legend behind me. My knees crack when I stand, my blue fur has lost its youthful thickness, and the label 'old man' hangs on me like a lead coat. Having no parents of my own, I tried to become one for others: for Tails, for the Chao. Their need makes me feel solid, like I'm building something I never had. But love? That's where the foundation cracks. I never got the manual—not for boundaries, not for basic care, not for how to be with someone. Amy and I ran our course until we were just friends burned out by the mission life. Shadow… he was a mystery written in a language I didn't…