New Beginnings

Chapter 10 - Old and New

With a deep sigh and content chirp Silver crawled into his nest underneath the bed, fussing a little until he laid fully comfortable. With his chest hurting a lot less he could almost curl up into a full ball, safely tucked away into himself and protected against any attack that might befall him during his rest. "Goodnight, Silver," Espio's voice whispered somewhere in front of him, eliciting another warm purr. In his sleepy mind he could feel a hand trail a few times over his still-exposed back, resting on his crown of quills for a moment until it got pulled away... and Espio got up and left. Silver's eyes flew open once he noticed the retreating footsteps, and he scrambled to uncurl himself as his powers shot out of his hands to catch the door before it could close fully and leave him alone in the room.

"Where are you going?!" he cried out as Espio rushed back in, surprise evident in his gaze as he shut the wooden construction behind him. Struggling to rid himself of the cloth he had gotten ensnared in the psychic grasped Espio's hand as the other came over to the bed. "Don't leave me!" he panted, heart racing from the unpleasant surprise.

"Shh, don't yell, Charmy is sleeping already. Also, I'm not going anywhere?" Espio retorted with surprise, his free hand nimbly pulling away the last bits of the cloth. The moment he was free Silver launched himself at the chameleon, firmly wrapping his arms around him so he couldn't get up and ditch him again.

"Yes you were!" he objected, though he did lower his voice at another shush coming from Espio. "I promised I'd sit guard with you so you could sleep, remember? I can't look after you if you're not in the same room as me! How will I know when you're about to get attacked and I need to save you?!"

"And I told you that this place is safe enough for there to be no need to sit guard in the first place, if I recall correctly," the chameleon calmly responded, placing his own arms around him and shifting him around until Silver leaned more comfortably against his chest.

"I mean, you did, but..."

"Silver. I won't always be around to watch over you, as much as it pains me," Espio softly murmured as he soothingly rocked him in his arms and stroked his back. "You need to learn to do things on your own, without me breathing down your neck every second."

"But what if anything happens to you?" the hedgehog protested once more. The idea that there weren't any monsters around here, lurking behind walls and in the shadows while waiting for the best moment to attack, still seemed too unbelievable to him to be true. And besides, being near the chameleon felt warm and safe anyway, warmer and safer than he had ever felt before. In fact, he couldn't remember ever having been so relaxed and happy as he was when he and Espio were undertaking something on their own, just the two of them... He didn't mind never having to leave the other's side for even a heartbeat if being near Espio made him feel so good.

"I appreciate the concern, but you need not be worried about me," the ninja smiled kindly at his serious frown. "I have plenty of ways to ensure I do not get assassinated in my sleep."

Silver sighed, not encouraged in the slightest. Espio's hand calmly stroked over his quills, and he whined pitifully as he pressed himself against the chameleon more, refusing to undo the strong grasp his arms had on the other's midriff. Maybe if he acted sad and cute enough he'd convince his friend to not leave him alone. "Now don't act so down, this isn't the end of the world," Espio laughed quietly, softly poking his side and rolling his eyes at the giggle it elicited. "Tell you what. How about you try to sleep on your own for now, and if it really doesn't work out you can come to me? My room is right across from the guest room, you'll run right into it. Would that be alright with you?"

That wasn't exactly what he wanted, but it did seem like a reasonable offer, Silver mulled. Perhaps Espio just liked having some privacy and time to recharge on his own, without the hedgehog fussing over him or vice versa. "Alright, I'll give it a try," he conceded, loosening his death grip and letting the other go. Stretching himself a bit by standing on his tiptoes he affectionately nuzzled against Espio's cheek like he had done a while back also. "Thank you, Espio."