New Beginnings

Chapter 35 - Dissension

"You know, when I told Espio you'd come and visit I didn't mean for it to be like this."

The grey hedgehog, smaller and scrawnier than Sonic had ever seen him before, didn't react other than a flick of his ears. His eyes were closed, breaths laboured and the plethora of bandages his body was adorned with sticking out half from under the blanket covering him... With a grimace Sonic beheld him as he shut the living room door behind him, stepping closer into said space with soft steps as to not make the returned time traveller startle. Vector's phone call a few minutes prior had been... hectic, to say the least, but Sonic had quickly determined their friend had woken up after the days he had spent floating between unconsciousness and brief moments of being awake. Racing over to the Agency had hardly taken any time at all, and Sonic sighed in relief at the breaths he could hear from underneath the blanket. Silver was alive still, frail and injured but getting a bit more strong every day. "He's still exhausted," the crocodile murmured from where he was sorting out their medicine kit at his desk. "Be careful with him, okay?"

The psychic bristled just barely at those words, which Sonic figured was a good sign. At least he was awake, and alert enough to react to his surroundings; with how fever-struck he had been before the speedster would have expected it to take much longer, but Silver always had been more tenacious than they had given him credit for. "How do I look?" the time traveller croaked as Sonic crouched down in front of him, even his voice sounding raspy and pained.

"You want an honest answer?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely terrible."

"Let that be exactly how I feel right now."

Sonic laughed at that, stroking the other's quills gently as Silver's face assumed something like a grin also. Heat still emanated from his forehead, fur ragged and breaths rasping... Pushing away any spark of pity his face might have been showing Sonic tried to smooth out the thin spines, worries soothed by the spark of cyan forming above his fingers to push them away in protest. At least that had not changed in the week the other had been gone and the days he had spent here knocked out. "I'm so glad you're awake, little buddy. We were scared you wouldn't."

"Vector said so too, and Espio..." A golden eye slowly blinked open, glossy exhaustion clear in its depths, but Sonic smiled at the spark of defiance and vivacity that was clearly visible there also. "I'm just happy I made it back here. Mostly in one piece."

"Not exactly, though," Sonic grinned, settling next to the other on the couch as Espio entered the room from the kitchen with four steaming mugs of tea and one glass with soda on a platter, placing down one of the former in front of the speedster with a nod as if he had known the other would be coming over without prior warning. "Thanks. How do you always do that?"

"It's the way of the ninja," the chameleon hummed by way of greeting, the second mug getting placed down carefully where Silver was resting and a third closely next to it.

With a grumble Vector walked over, a mug of tea getting pushed in his hands as he scrutinised it with a look of disgust. "Did the ninja not realise that I'd much rather drink soda also?"

"You're an adult, you can drink tea. It's healthier," Espio retorted, eyes immediately flicking over to the blanket as a soft giggle resounded underneath it. At least the chameleon was acting more like his usual self, Sonic realised as his shoulders sagged just barely in relief, smugly mothering over the Chaotix and fussing over Silver like he had been doing before also. And the psychic immediately perked up now that the chameleon was here, peeking out past the rim of the blanket and his tail clearly giving little wags behind him as Espio sunk down on the couch pillows next to them as well. "And I have soda for you," the chameleon added with a sigh as Charmy came crashing down from upstairs, squealing happily as his eyes fell on Sonic and tumbling right against him.