New Beginnings

Chapter 38 - Realisations pt. 2

He really didn't know what to make of this situation.

"It's getting late," Sonic eventually spoke up after a period so long Silver had been utterly unable to track how long it had lasted, the speedster crouching down to pet over his quills and shoot him a smile the psychic presumed was meant encouragingly. Whatever it was, it didn't work; Espio's words, Espio's anger kept ghosting through his head, stirring up only more as the others began to stretch themselves out also and the room slowly became more lively. He couldn't talk, he couldn't say anything... "I'm going home, and you lot should go to sleep. I'll be back to check on you tomorrow," the speedster added, nodding towards Vector and ruffling Charmy's head also; no words slipped past Silver's lips still.

"Thank you for everything, Sonic," the chameleon responded, the first words he spoke ever since his snapping. The three others had been talking some more, normally at first but increasingly sparingly and softly as yawns and stretches took over, but both Silver and Espio had stayed silent, the former tucked into his little ball on the other's legs and the latter holding him close. The psychic himself wasn't tired at all, his mind was reeling, but he couldn't say that...

With a wave of his hand Sonic smiled. "Don't mention it. See you guys in the mornin', good night!"

And with that the other darted away, two doors getting shut quietly as Vector called out a goodbye also. "We should go upstairs," resounded much nearer and softer to Silver's ear, making him flinch and his gaze dart up at golden eyes so close to his own. "Ah, or... do you want to stay here?"

Staring at the chameleon blankly Silver meekly shook his head as the question registered; on his own in the living room in the dark, he'd be frightened... "Very well. I will carry you, if that is alright," Espio told him, carefully getting up and lifting him in his arms also before he could do anything to object. He could keep himself up with his powers if he pushed himself like he wanted to, but they'd been so mad at him when he had done that...! The hedgehog fought down a grimace as best he could at the stinging of his injuries and the stabs of grief in his chest; he was doing fine and people who were doing fine weren't in pain, and thus he wasn't in pain either. And his powers weren't hurting his head and his heart wasn't hurting either and he could go back to the future and fight for its liberation any moment he wanted, and he did not want to at all.

"Guest room's still yours if ya want it," Vector spoke up as Espio walked into the hallway, the crocodile turning off the lights in the room and grabbing a widely-yawning Charmy out of the air. "But maybe you'd rather stay with Es...?"

Merely shrugging at his words the hedgehog stared at his banged-up knees. He would say it was more likely Espio did not want to be with him, considering how livid the other had been... But he couldn't think like that, he scolded himself harshly. Espio was carrying him right now and was holding him beyond carefully, so he had little to fret about- probably. "Then you can take my bed. I'd rather you stay close to me, so I can... just in case," the ninja murmured, and Silver could have sworn the other was holding him just a bit closer.

Scraping all his courage together the hedgehog gave a timid nod, making himself tiny in the other's arms. "Goodnight," Charmy yawned as Vector repeated the statement, followed by Espio quietly murmuring the same and Silver merely humming something. He got whisked away into the chameleon's bedroom moments after anyway, the door getting shut softly and Espio looking down at him with a look he had no idea how to place.

"Small one... Are you alright? You're so quiet, it scares me," the chameleon murmured, and Silver struggled to keep his eyes dry at the hurt welling up in his chest as Espio's head leaned into his.

"'m Fine," he mumbled back, getting placed on the bed slowly and flopping against the chameleon's chest with a deep sigh; he didn't care anymore if the other was mad at him. "I'm- everything's fine, I'm fine. It's all fine." And he was fine, and fine, and fine; if he pushed away his heartache and kept his head up and repeated it often enough he could convince even himself.