New Beginnings

Chapter 11 - Misunderstandings

"...and so we found out that our client was actually Dr. Eggman all along, and he had been giving us orders from where Neo Metal Sonic had locked him up in one of his ships," Espio came to the end of the story he had been recounting as Silver listened intently, hanging on to every word he spoke with utter intrigue. "Everyone helped defeat Neo Metal Sonic in the end, but we didn't get paid."

"Wow," the hedgehog whispered in awe as the epic tale came to a close. Espio's words had entirely mesmerised him, and he stared at him with open mouth in adoration before he realised something and his ears flicked agitatedly. "Wait. You guys got hired by Eggman?"

"Even more shameful is neither Charmy nor I were aware of it, though Vector knew," Espio scoffed in response. "I suppose Eggman was desperate to be aided... but he also made enemies for life, if we weren't already. As it stands the good Doctor has at least one payment for us that's long overdue, and I am not fond of unpaid financial obligations." Silver grinned at the sour face the other pulled. It definitely seemed to be like the selfish madman to try and weasel himself out of anything wherein he was forced to actually aid others. "But that's not something we'll be concerning ourselves with anytime soon. Also, we have arrived," the chameleon sighed as his pace slowed down, coming to a stop fully.

With a jolt Silver realised he had no idea where the two of them had ended up, too enthralled by Espio's story to pay attention to literally anything else. How many potential dangers had he walked past without him knowing or keeping his guard up?! Twirling his head around haphazardly to try and determine whether they were somewhere safe his eyes fell on a large glass entrance that he could look through somewhat, though it was matted and had curly white scribbles on it. "When you open the door a bell will chime, that's normal," Espio assured him as he unhesitatingly pushed it open with one hand, the other still in a death grip from Silver. Indeed a tinkle sounded from inside the room as the hedgehog bristled, hackles raised and digging his heels in the ground. Everyone knew randomly going inside buildings was just asking to have it collapse on top of you-! ...Oh. Scrutinizing the bricks that made up the wall Silver found none of the cracks and broken rocks that had adorned the structures where he had lived aplenty. "Are you coming?" his friend asked, quirking his eyebrow as the hedgehog leered past his shoulder, unable to make out what was happening behind the door. "It's safe, I promise... and they have food," Espio slyly added.

Silver frowned as his stomach grumbled and whined at him, earning a chuckle from the chameleon. It had been a while since he had eaten... Any objections he could have presented to convince Espio not to inflict this on him quickly dissipated, and after taking a deep breath and raising his quills as much as he could he nodded tersely once and followed the chameleon inside. "Good morning," Espio called out beside him, and Silver frantically glanced around to see who he was talking to. The room was empty other than one woman in the back, he noted as he trailed his eyes over the space, who seemed to be messing around with... the most delightfully sweet scent he had ever come across in his life. His mouth falling right open Silver took in all the colourful goods that laid behind glass walls, surroundings entirely forgotten in the moment.

"Wha- There's so many of them! What are these?!" he whispered in awe, pulling Espio with him so they could take a better look. Leaning as close to the glass as he dared to he twisted his head around, tail wagging as he took in the array of oddly-shaped food. For a moment he wondered why they were locked behind windows.

The chameleon chuckled from where he was held captive by Silver's hand still. "These are commonly called pastries, though they have a plethora of individual names as well. You can eat them for breakfast, like Vector is planning to do now, or simply when you're hungry for something tasty. But it would be polite if you greeted the owner of the place first before you rushed up to the food like a maniac, don't you think?"