Sonic wakes up to a hand groping his chest. It's not painful, but definitely rougher than he'd expect anybody to be considering he's waking up from a a deep sleep after crashing into bed at the end of an hours-long fight the previous day.
He groans, turning vaguely onto his side to shake the hand on his chest off. The appendage doesn't retreat fully; it stops squeezing, but stays where it is, just resting gently right over his heart.
Blearily, Sonic peels one eye open. For a second he thinks, absurdly, that he's looking into a mirror—but then his vision clears and he realizes it's Metal staring down at him.
"Aw." Sonic tries to coo, though his voice comes out gravelly. His throat aches from where he got slammed into the wall by a grip on his neck during the fight yesterday. "Don't tell me you were worried about little old me? That's sweet, but I'm..."
Sonic trails off as the rest of the scene registers. Metal's other hand rests on his own chest, a perfect mirror to the way he's touching Sonic.
"Ah," Sonic says. "So you're just curious."
He wonders what it feels like. Can Metal feel the beating of his heart under his skin? Does he feels something similar in his own chest? Or are his insides quiet, a mechanical humming at most?
"You can—" Sonic winces as the words catch painfully in his throat. Chaos, but that fight messed him up. "You can explore a little, if you want. Just—be gentle."
It's not something he'd usually ask of Metal. Nothing between the two of them is ever gentle. The two of them together are rough, fast, electric—but Sonic is already hurt. He's perfectly willing to help Metal indulge in his curiosity, but not at the cost of his own recovery.
Metal hesitates for a fraction of a second before he goes back to what he was doing before Sonic woke up. He squeezes his chest, focused on the squish of Sonic's flesh around his fingers. It's still rough, but bearable—until he squeezes harder.
Sonic hisses in pain and jerks away, hand twitching up to grab Metal's wrist before he restrains himself. "Not so hard," he chastises.
Metal beeps, sounding annoyed—but he does as Sonic says, softening his touch. He spends a few more seconds exploring his chest before moving further down, stroking his hand down Sonic's stomach before he grabs a handful of the flesh there too.
Sonic winces. He got hit in the stomach quite a few times, and apparently he's more than a little bruised. "Not there," he hisses, breathy with pain. "Move on."
Metal does, sliding down to his hips instead. No problems there, then when he moves down to grope Sonic's thighs the touch is actually sort of pleasant, almost like a massage for his aching muscles.
Sonic sighs, melting into the bed as Metal continues to explore. He releases a pleased hum whenever it feels good, though he doesn't know if Metal recognizes the significance; the robot touches any one part of his body only long enough to satisfy his own curiosity before moving on.
When Metal finishes exploring Sonic's legs, he rolls him—surprisingly gently—onto his stomach and starts massaging his back instead. Sonic sighs again, eyes slipping closed. He doesn't realize he's drifting off until he wakes up again when Metal withdraws fully.
Sonic turns his head to look at him, eyes half-lidded and heavy with sleep. Still, he makes an effort to smile. "Satisfied?"
Predictably, Metal says nothing. He stares at Sonic, quiet and unmoving—then between one blink and the next he's gone, with the only evidence of his presence being the slight reduction of the ache in Sonic's muscles.
yesterday's warm-up! probably the sweetest thing i've ever written for this ship
#metonic
sfw
prompt: touch