New Beginnings

Chapter 4 - Learning

"Chao in Space! A distinguished choice," Sonic greeted Charmy as he walked into the room, the little bee whirling around and throwing himself at the grinning Blue Blur with an enthusiastic cry. Clearly he had missed all the commotion in the hallway just now, too absorbed by the program to pay attention to his surroundings. Lifting him up under his arms Sonic badgered around the room, spinning around on the carpet with a squealing Charmy held firmly in his grasp as both shrieked with laughter.

With the cartoons entirely forgotten in the moment Espio gratefully grasped the opportunity to shut off the noisy things, the high-pitched squeaky voices both from the TV and his friends behind him pounding in his brain. Shambling out of the kitchen with trusty cup of coffee in hand, no doubt lured in by all the tumult, Vector appeared as well. "Mornin', Sonic. What's up?" The words got accentuated by a yawn, all people present getting treated to a nice view at his rows of teeth and upper part of his trachea, before it snapped shut and Vector looked around worriedly. "Wait, where's Silver?"

"Yes, about that." Gesturing for Sonic to stop fooling around and sit down on one of their couches he waited for Charmy and Vector drop themselves on another one. He placed himself also with a barely-suppressed groan, exhaustion making his movements clumsy and awkward. The last time he had slept in full was more than two days ago, spending the last two nights meditating instead to keep an eye on Silver, and he felt like it. He had known Sonic's unexpected appearance was going to end wrong, which was why he had attempted to keep the hedgehog out of their house in the first place. With Silver and Sonic having encountered each other despite his precautions he might as well get straight to the point now. "Silver ran into Sonic in the hallway, basically freaked out, and fled upstairs. I presume he's in the guest room now."

Vector hummed in response, appearing quite surprised as he looked at the door leading to the entry. "That's- Okay, I understand why you would freak out when Sonic suddenly appears in your vision-" he and Charmy snickered loudly as the speedster gasped in mock offense, though he was laughing also "-but do ya know any reason in particular why he would have reacted so intensely?"

"Silver doesn't like Sonic, though an actual reason I have never able to discern." He turned to the hedgehog in question, who wiped away the last traces of a smile from his face and took on a more serious disposition. "He did tell me he has met you before, so perhaps you could elaborate yourself?"

Sonic kept quiet for a few seconds, which was probably a first, Espio thought to himself with a small smile despite his exhaustion. "That's true, but..." Sonic rubbed his chin, frowning deep in thought. "The first time I was going after Eggman. Just your usual fare, nothing out of the ordinary. Suddenly a grey hedgehog appears behind me and starts yelling at me to get out of his way. Honestly, he seemed so angry he might just explode." His brow furrowed more as he recounted the tale. "Apparently the same happened with Knuckles and Shadow. He'd get in their face, either demanding they'd leave him alone or give him information and picking fights only after seconds. He's got some mysterious powers, and he's crazy strong, too! Knux and Shads aren't all that fond of him, and I have to say that he has gotten on my own nerves more than once."

Nodding along Espio thought over the blue hedgehog's words. Knuckles and Shadow had been present on their adventure the other day as well, partnering with Rouge and Metal Sonic respectively, and to say that there had been friction between all of them would have been a massive understatement. It had also been the case with Sonic and Tails, tempers running high among all teams and Silver not helping to mitigate that in the slightest.

"Silver possesses psychokinesis, specifically the ability to make objects move with his mind," he nevertheless explained as Sonic listened along, appearing very intrigued. While it was not uncommon for people to have some kind of power, actual psychic powers were very rare, Espio knew also. "Your description of how you met Silver is almost exactly the same for me, though I have to add he makes a formidable and trustworthy partner once you get to know him. As for his aggressive behaviour towards our friends and acquaintances, I don't think he knows how to actually collaborate with other people. Us managing to work together well seems to be quite a coincidence, although it might be because I did not attempt to fight him myself."