New Beginnings

Chapter 17 - Meals, Meetings, and Mysteries

With a warm smile Espio trailed the brush a final time over Silver's quills, gazing proudly at his handiwork and the hedgehog underneath it. He hadn't been brushing all that long, from what he could tell not even twenty minutes had passed, but the sturdy spines and soft fur looked remarkably better now that the mud and foliage previously adorning it had been removed. And Silver had been so calm and at peace, perhaps making the chameleon even more proud than the actual clean-up had. He himself had nearly melted at least three times with how adorably the psychic oozed against the pillows at the loving strokes, purring and shuddering in enjoyment underneath his fingers... With a loving smile Espio felt his heart and mind go soft all over again at the memory of those adorable happy chirps, clearly audible for all to hear as the ninja's other hand moved his head around with only the gentlest of touches against his cheeks. "There," he murmured soothingly as said appendage moved in and preened the quills just a bit more, grinning amusedly as a shiver rushed past the psychic's spine at the caress and his eyes got pressed shut just a tad more strongly. "You're clean again."

Giving Silver a final quick scratch behind his ears -merely a reward for how well he had behaved himself, nothing more- the chameleon stood up and stretched himself out lavishly. His own torso had been freed from the confines of the bandages, as had Silver's; though his own injuries had almost healed in full he'd made the hedgehog promise multiple times to be careful with his own, the deeper cuts still looking sore and fragile. The psychic's little escapade with Sonic to the beach hadn't helped them heal better in the slightest, though to his great relief they weren't infected, the chameleon had seen as he scrutinised each of them and applied a dabble of sanitising cream wherever he deemed it necessary. He'd have to thank Sonic later for filling up their medical kit while he was asleep and providing the brush and shampoo; after all, it was up to him to set a good example for Charmy, and now Silver as well.

A small whine sounded from next to him as he brought his arms down, and with a chuckle the ninja looked down into two large, pleading eyes of gold. "Have you not had enough attention yet?" he asked the hedgehog fondly, smiling as Silver playfully shook his head and leaned up the tiniest bit to press his nose against Espio's hand. Charmy had nodded off from where he had nestled himself against the psychic's legs, and Vector seemed to be a bit too entranced by his novel for it to be natural as Espio peeked over his shoulder at him, but the coast appeared to be clear enough. Another small whine caught his attention anew, and he shook his head affectionately at the imploring hedgehog who batted his nose against his hand a bit more insistingly. "No need to act so pitiful, I will comply," he assured the other as he leaned over, deeming it best to leave the I can't say no to you unspoken for now. It perhaps was wise to not give Silver too much power over him, he noted with an inward chuckle; keeping himself composed around the other was difficult enough at times already.

But before Espio could sit down on the couch his hand got shrouded in teal energy, his body jerking forward as his limb got mercilessly tugged towards the now-cheekily-grinning hedgehog's crown of quills. Though he had foreseen the mischievous psychic doing something to grab his attention it hadn't been this, certainly also not this literal, and with a yelp Espio stumbled closer as he was tugged off-balance. The unexpected movement made him lose his footing, resulting in him toppling right over as he gasped and manically mowed his free arm through the air to try and regain his posture. Underneath him Silver squeaked frightfully as he realised what was going to happen, smile fading away and body scrambling up as he flung out a teal-coloured hand that shrouded the chameleon instantly... only for the hedgehog's forehead to collide painfully against Espio's with his movement, nose and horn nary an inch apart as both cried out in pain.

"No rough-housing," Vector offhandedly called out behind them as Espio lost his balance in full and fell right on top of Silver with a cry from both, the teal colour disappearing around him and failing to stop his fall like intended. The chameleon's yelp got cut off as his head crashed into the other's body and his sight turned black, sending another wave of pain through it as he heard Silver yell out also and felt him flounder panickily underneath him. Too taken aback by the unexpected happenings and the pounding soreness of his skull Espio groaned from where his face was mushed against the hedgehog, unable to move as the crocodile laughed from outside his field of darkened vision and Charmy shifted and giggled also. With all the ruckus he no doubt had been woken up, and presumable the entire rest of the street and the city as well. Somewhere behind him Espio thought he could hear a door get closed, but he paid it no mind as he lifted up his hand to tenderly stroke his head. That had hurt quite a bit more than he would have anticipated... "Are you two okay? That was quite the fall," Vector inquired as the chameleon tried to reorient himself, needing a second to understand just what in the world had happened before jolting up and startling backwards with rapidly-growing eyes. He'd fallen face-first into Silver's patch of white chest fur...! Immediately the blush crashed back onto his face, no amount of camouflage able to suppress it as he gaped at the other like a petrified fish.