New Beginnings

Chapter 24 - The Mysterious Client

There were no doughnuts on the tables.

With drooping ears Silver looked the wooden constructions over and over, finding none of the round pastries no matter how well he searched. Amy and Tails had seemed so certain about it, and despite the twinge of fear in his chest the hedgehog assured himself they wouldn't have tried to trick him to make fun of him... but that didn't explain where the snacks he desired so had gone. How could he ever get one back to Espio if they weren't here?

Ears lowering only more at the thought of letting the chameleon down Silver slowly walked around the table, his search yielding nothing still. Though, there was a large empty spot in the middle of one table, where he presumed a plate similar to all the others had been standing. Maybe Vector had eaten all of them, or someone else had, but why would they have taken the plate also? Surely the shiny metallic constructions weren't edible?

The crocodile was talking with Knuckles and Espio, he saw as he looked around for a potential suspect plus the snack that had enamoured him completely. While his search did net him the sight of Espio laughing in the distance which made his knees feel remarkably weak – Amy's teasing words regarding love and romance came rearing up immediately, and he frowned in confusion as he tried to push them down again – it did not yield any of his much-coveted doughnuts. He'd ask the chameleon to help him look for them; it would spoil the surprise, but it would be even worse if he had nothing to surprise him with in the first place. ...But the other did seem to be quite busy, plus the fact that Knuckles of all people was talking to him right now. Shaking his head firmly Silver straightened out his back. He was a detective, Espio had said so, so he could find his own missing stuff!

More determinedly the psychic moved away from the tables and began to weave through the people anew, mumbling something that could be taken as a greeting to everyone who said something to him before quickly making his escape. Each time he had found something to eat in the ruins of the future he made sure to take it far away from any others, the only way to prevent them from attacking him and stealing it; which gave him a solid lead, he figured. It didn't seem like they were near where Espio was sitting and talking, but there was enough undisturbed forest left still for someone to eat unbotheredly-

Sniffing the air Silver caught a whiff of the scent that he had also smelled in the tiny building with all the pastries where Espio had taken him, and a grin formed on his face. There! His quills puffing up proudly the hedgehog began to chase after it, his senses well-developed from how much he had to rely on them in the burning ruins of the future. Surely the chameleon would be impressed when he told him how he had detectived the snacks back! Following the scent unhesitatingly he traced it back to Rouge and Shadow, the bat sitting on a wooden bench and the hedgehog staring at the distance with his arms crossed, away from the bustling of the party and with the entire plate of doughnuts at their disposal...

Oh. Shadow and Rouge.

His enthusiasm shattering in a heartbeat Silver stumbled to a halt, memories of his disastrous meeting with both the hedgehog and the bat during the whole debacle with the Ifrit rearing up in his mind. Shadow had had no problem with attacking him, and Rouge... Suppressing the stab of grief at how she had mocked him for collecting the Chao Silver clumsily tried to step closer, fiddling with his gloves as his mind only grew more agitated and his legs refused to cooperate. Espio had told him he should try talking to more people, but... They wouldn't- They weren't going to-!

"Oh! Hello there, sweetie. I hadn't heard you come here," cut through his whirring thoughts, and Silver jolted as he looked up and met Rouge's eyes. Standing frozen entirely he could only stare... but then the bat smiled, winking at him with none of the vitriol he had seen in her gaze before as he confronted her at the haunted mansion. "Come to pay us a visit?"