New Beginnings

Chapter 8 - The First Time

Espio pushed aside a few of the boxes with his shoulder and a grumble, sneering as he tried to move them back and nearly hit his head against the ceiling of the attic. He had entirely forgotten where he had actually dumped Charmy's wretched little booklets when banishing them to the storage, and it was clear he now suffered the consequences for it. Storage was a grand word anyway; one day they had realised that there likely was some more space underneath the slated roof of their often-cramped little home, and with some elbow grease a hole had been cut in the ceiling above the landing on the second floor. The amount of space they had come across had been nothing short of disappointing, but it functioned well enough to house their broken furniture and dozens of boxes filled to the brim with clutter. The office downstairs was as messy as it was, with the heaps of files, detective novels and children's toys making it difficult enough to work and concentrate any other day. The chameleon had been happy that at least some of it could be moved out of his sight, if only for his own mental wellbeing, but he supposed this had been just another moment that showed you couldn't trust the whims of a six-year-old. His grumbles were cut short as some of the ever-present dust struck his muzzle, and he could barely suppress a loud sneeze.

A small giggle rose up behind him, and he clumsily scooted around from where he half-crouched, half-laid on the floor to take in the hedgehog he knew the voice belonged to. Two bright golden eyes peeked from the rim of the opening in the grimy floor, he saw as he awkwardly twisted his body around while mindful to not smash his head against the ceiling, though any attempts of Silver at being stealthy were utterly ruined by the crown of quills on his head that proudly kept itself upright in the air above the gap. "Come in," the chameleon sighed, pushing himself against the wall as much as he could to give the other room to enter.

With his permission Silver easily clambered inside the attic, and Espio felt the blush come right back as Silver nearly ended up in his lap with how crowded it was. Deepening his focus he suppressed the rosy colour from shading his cheeks once again, making sure they had the same peachy hue as always to hopefully discourage the hedgehog from asking questions. Being a chameleon had its perks sometimes, and he was the epitome of cool and composed when shifting back as much as possible to give his friend some space also.

"Could you pull up the ladder, please? Then we have some privacy," he asked, knowing very well why the other was here and also knowing he had no explanation for his odd behaviour himself. Silver hummed, colliding right into Espio's chest despite his precautions as he turned around and grabbed the wooden construction with his powers. It became a lot more difficult to remain cool and composed with the hedgehog clumsily wriggling around against him, both of them having to press back even further with the foldable ladder taking in quite a lot of space also. Luckily for the chameleon the room was shrouded in darkness except for Silver's symbols, cloaking the space in their teal colour and taking away the edge of the shadows. Thinking quickly he shifted himself towards the place where the roof was highest, pulling Silver with him and settling them both at a spot they could at least sit upright.

"This place is kinda cramped," Silver noted casual as ever as his gaze drifted over the storage, and despite his flustered feelings Espio had to snort. Kinda cramped could only be described as an understatement if he ever heard one, boxes and crates packed to the already-low ceiling and everything surrounded by wrecked lamps, chairs and other clutter. The hedgehog leaned over, poking at a few objects with his powers. "What's inside all the boxes?"

"Just junk and broken stuff," he retorted with a small sigh as Silver scooted away from him fully and began nosing around, trying to ignore his chest that suddenly felt quite cold and tingly now that the hedgehog was no longer leaning against it. Any attempt of his to convince Vector and Charmy to clean this space had ended in failure so far, and their storage looked like it. However, despite his earlier annoyance he found that having Silver around made the whole place feel peaceful and exciting instead of irking and drab, as if there was an adventure waiting right around the corner and the two of them were right at the start of it. "You can look around if you want, but I doubt there's anything that catches your fancy," he assured the curious hedgehog who was looking at him with a questioning gaze.