Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

❥ prologue. x 

It had to have been hours before the door finally opened again, the noise snapping Silver back into focus. What time was it? Was it even the same day anymore, he wondered. 

The troubled teen had been long lost in his own thoughts, a whirlwind of tyranny mocking him in bleak silence. And maybe that was what the chameleon standing before him had wanted. Wanted him to sit and think and dwell and think and stress and think and think and think and think and -

    - until, finally, he’d snap.

“Welcome back, Commissioner,” Silver greeted dryly, tired eyes never once looking up from the silver table that separated them in the dimly lit room. The albino just wanted to leave, the itchiness in his skin begging him to get out for a cigarette. Maybe a joint or a drink, something to take his mind off of this.

Espio only nodded as he sat across from Silver, curiously peering at him as his suspect scratched at his right arm. The silence was only making him more irritable now, instead of paranoid like it was when he was first brought into the interrogation room. When offering the frightened hedgehog food or water didn’t get anything out of him, Espio became less inquisitive in favor of studying him. It was nerve wracking, forcing him to reflect on himself in tandem and question everything leading up to this moment.

But there wasn’t a need for him to question it, he had all the answers laid out for years - there was just no room for sharing any of them after his promises made to Mephiles over the years. Especially not to the authorities. 

Silver had been able to lie once years ago, his questioner back then being a friendly crocodile taking it easy on him because he was only a bright-eyed tot. But the chameleon before him now was all about business, and he’d finally made progress in cracking Silver it seemed - he just needed to bide his time in earning the albino’s frustrations in place of the trust he wasn’t willing to give. Keeping him in here without being barraged or other outside influences was draining his suspect, and they both felt it. He just had one more piece to nudge before Silver’s tower would collapse.

“I don’t know what else you want me to talk about - I’ve answered everything. I didn’t do anything to them, I was just there—“ Silver began to defend himself, immediately followed by a defeated sigh once he realized that would get him nowhere.

“…Look, can I just go? I’ve been here long enough, this chair’s made my ass go numb hours ago, and I’m fucking exhausted. I can come back tomorrow if you want, but can we please just wrap this up for today?”

Espio propped his elbows up on the table, peering at the hedgehog across from him. Trying to look empathetic, and it made Silver seethe.

“I suppose that’s quite alright,” the chameleon began slowly, momentarily getting his suspect’s hopes up. That is, until he continued.

“But I’d like to ask you about one more thing before we resume this session.”

Silver’s brows furrowed in confusion as he watched Espio sit back and start digging through his coat pocket, dropping two plastic bags on the cold metal table. The albino squinted curiously as the chameleon leaned back in his chair, watching as the boy’s facial expression shifted into one of terror upon seeing the articles sealed in each of them.

Two matching tattered gloves the color of fuchsia, no bigger than the size of a small child’s hands.

“How did you..” Silver trailed off, voice quivering.

“We took this one off your person when we brought you in for questioning,” Espio said as a gloved hand tapped one of the bags, then gestured to the one on its right as he continued his exposition. “And, strangely enough, ” he exaggerated, “it’s a perfect match to the one from a case years ago.”

“But I-“

“Where did you get this glove from, Silver?”

“I didn’t-! She-“

“She what , Silver? Where did you get this glove?!” Espio growled. 

“Blaze died years ago..!” Silver exclaimed, his cry of useless information practically falling on deaf ears.

“Her killer was never found , Silver - where did you get this from?” Espio continued to question, remorseless at the pathetic quivering mess unfolding before him.

Silver stared at the materials, blinking away the tears making his vision too fuzzy to see the date written on the bag from nearly ten years ago. His chest tightened, flashbacks of her lifeless body in the snow hitting him like a freight train. Suddenly the dirt he helped bury the cat in was piled onto him, harder than it ever had been since the day she died. 

He wanted to sob, to scream, but someone was still holding his tongue as a voice echoed in his head - one he’d heard in the flesh, guiding him on the outside when Blaze’s voice could no longer guide him within. 

Timing’s going to snuff you out.

He found himself mute, shell-shocked and at a war with himself - this was the day he feared, and now he was trapped. No longer without any guidance, just the reality of the target painted on his back by the guy who could physically no longer take the blame for his actions.

Mephiles was dead, and he…

He was dead, Silver had to remind himself. He was dead and he wasn’t here, he couldn’t do anything in this moment, couldn’t hold his hand or his tongue anymore.

And while the angel on his shoulder often had to sit back, her childish voice drowned out by the devil, the devil was no longer on his shoulder at all to lead him into the darkness.

He was gone. 

He was gone.

“Silver,” Espio spoke up more softly now, a careful hand reaching out to place on the albino’s head. A soft touch naturally soothing his suspect, the chameleon pressed on with gentle encouragement. He would coax a confession from him before long.

“Listen, Silver… I know a lot has happened to you, I know that Blaze was a very close friend of yours as a child..” Espio whispered. “I think this information would be very helpful in not just bringing peace to her, but to you as well.”

Silver took a few unsavory breaths in, tears continuing to well in his eyes faster than he could fight them away. Maybe Espio was right.. Maybe his childhood had been too far from normal, and maybe his subconscious was beginning to catch on.

“Listen,” the chameleon murmured, “if you could be so kind in telling me anything you may find useful in any of this, I can help you. I won’t let anything bad happen to you. I’m here to help - you can trust me.”

Silver bit his lip, the metal pierced through it resting between his teeth as he thought it through. Could he get out of this..? Could he really walk away peacefully, if he just finally told the truth? 

“I… alright. If you promise I won’t get in trouble, I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything.”

“I promise. You have my word, Silver.”

Chapter Text

❥ chapter 1 -

 today, today

 is the day i burned away. x 

Rimy flakes slowly spiraled out of the sky, dusting the earth in a soft, weighted blanket. Ice long paved over the roads during the night, luckily forcing schools to close - and on a Friday, too!? Silver was buzzing with excitement as he trotted through the snow with his best friend, their boots often sinking beneath the surface and forcing them to awkwardly pull each other up. 

They were on their way to their favorite spot in the woods - their cherished hiding place away from the rest of the nosy neighborhood kids and their parents, a hollowed-out general sherman with just enough space for them to hide in. It was almost a daily occurrence to spend time here after walking home from school, where they’d catch up and tell secrets or funny new inside jokes they’d thought of throughout the day. On Silver’s most favorite days, Blaze would save the treats packed in her lunches and they’d share stories over snacks.

They were getting close, judging by the marks they’d noticed on the other tree trunks that had magically appeared one day - neither Blaze nor Silver had left them there, and they weren’t quite sure how they came to be no matter how much they speculated. At first, they feared it to be a big, scary monster out to eat children. The thought kept Silver up for days at the time, but then Blaze made a good point: it couldn’t have been a big, scary monster - the markings were too low as if whatever creature had left them were shorter than the two of them. And if it was something shorter, they could definitely take it on together! But until that day came, the marks themselves served as the perfect roadmap.

“You’re still coming over for my birthday party tomorrow, right?!” Blaze giggled as they urgently trudged through the snow, part of her worried that the storm would ruin her big day. But like every time she had any concerns, Silver quickly reassured her.

“Duh!” He said, “I wouldn’t miss it for anything! Besides, I can just walk over - do you think your parents would let me spend the night?”

“I’d have to ask, but I’m sure it’d be okay! I wanna show you this scary movie I found,” the feline responded.

The white hedgehog made a face, dubious at the remark. As similar as they were, Blaze was the only one that was a fan of horror and could still sleep like a baby after watching them. Silver, on the other hand, was still struggling with nightmares from movies they’d watched ages ago.

“Well.. it is your birthday,” he said reluctantly, not quite agreeing - maybe he could distract her from the idea. “But also, I got you the best gift I could find and I’m so excited for you to open it..!” The albino tested, his giddiness remaining genuine, however.

“Really?! What is it?” Blaze asked, already forgetting her initial plans in favor of potentially pestering her friend to spoil the surprise.

“Nuh uh! I’m not telling you, you’re gonna have to wa-“ Silver started protesting as they made it to the trunk, immediately freezing at the entrance when he noticed a figure already inside, and a rancid smell hitting his nose. Blaze stared in confusion for a moment before looking over Silver’s shoulder, understanding his hesitance as her nose wrinkled up in disgust.

“Oh, hello,” the small figure greeted as he looked up from his wood-carving, pools of green staring warmly at the two arrivals. As if he hadn’t already invited himself into their secret getaway, the unwelcome guest was already interjecting into their previous conversation.

“You’re having a party tomorrow? I didn’t know it was your birthday,” the dark hedgehog pondered.

Blaze glared, suddenly shoving past Silver and pointing at the other hedgehog. 

“What are you doing here, Mephiles? This is our clubhouse, and we didn’t invite you here!” The feline spat, the flicking of her tail whooshing beneath the bottom of her coat. “Get out, go home!”

“…You’re turning 8 tomorrow, right?” Mephiles questioned with a curious tilt of the head, unfazed by her fury. When he received no response other than a look of disdain, he merely shrugged and held up a black plastic bag as a peace offering. 

“Here, take this. Happy birthday.”

Blaze gagged, the smell coming from the bag once again wafting up her nose. “No! Take whatever that is and leave!” 

However, Silver seemed to start feeling more pity toward their visitor. He’d often heard stories around school about Mephiles not having any friends - granted, many of the rumors would explain why, but rumors were just rumors, right? Even if Mephiles was off , that didn’t mean he was actually going around telling other kids when they were going to die or spouting off nonsense about how his father was in Hell. He just seemed.. awkward and quiet. Lonesome. And Silver could relate to that feeling, especially when he already knew that Mephiles did have an absent father. That had to hurt.. And bullying probably didn’t help either, another feeling Silver could relate to. 

And Mephiles didn’t have someone like Blaze to protect him from bullies, unlike Silver. He considered himself lucky to have such an amazing friend, maybe he could share his blessings..

“Wait, Blaze,” Silver spoke up, stepping between the two of them. “Let’s calm down,” he pleaded. “I know this is our spot, but isn’t it kinda cool that someone else found it and saw how special it is? Maybe we should let him stay and hang out with us for a little bit - it could be fun.”

Mephiles looked down at his lap, pointing his toes together rather bashfully - but still, Silver could already see the small smile that the smaller hedgehog was trying to hide. And even though Blaze was rolling her eyes, Silver’s chest was warm with pride - this could be a good thing, having a new friend was always exciting.

“I really.. don’t want to,” Blaze muttered. “Whatever’s in that bag reeks, and I wanted us to spend time together, Silver.”

“Are you just afraid of boys?” Mephiles asked with genuine curiosity, still not quite grasping Blaze’s actual grievances with him as he looked up at her. “I understand.”

“No! Silver’s my best friend ,” Blaze said defensively, causing Mephiles to furrow his brows.

“But isn’t Silver a-“ he stopped when he saw the uncomfortable look on the ivory hedgehog’s face, everything taking a moment to process. And then when it finally clicked, Mephiles understood everything and dropped it. “Ah, I see - I’m sorry for assuming.”

Eager to brush the topic off, Silver simply smiled and changed the subject. “Hey, uh, can I take that..?” The ivory hedgehog asked, gesturing to the bag which Mephiles happily handed over so it could be taken outside. Silver wanted its contents to remain a mystery, personally - and it seemed Blaze did too.

When he returned, the two hadn’t been talking at all. And as much as Silver often let his best friend do the talking, he had to take responsibility for this one it seemed.

“So uh.. How did you find this spot, Mephiles?” Silver questioned.

“…I‘ve followed you here before,” he admitted, eyes trailing down once again as he nervously resumed his wood carving as he spoke. The more he spoke, the slightly more aggressive his blade became against his material. “A few times. I didn’t want to forget it, so I left a trail… I wanted to say something, but I wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea. But I thought today I’d get over it and beat you both here, as a surprise..” 

Truth was, Mephiles had been dying to speak to the ivory hedgehog for ages now - something about him drew the dark hedgehog in, but every time he could’ve spoken to Silver in school, well.. either his nerves had gotten the best of him, or Silver was around too many friends to even be noticed. This was the only way he felt he could make a lasting impression..

It was just unfortunate that, still, they had a third wheel in the equation.

But as odd of an explanation as it was, Silver was at least relieved that they suddenly had real confirmation that it wasn’t a monster leaving traces behind in the woods..

“Oh, so you just… really wanted to be friends this whole time,” Silver murmured, a bright smile coming to his face when Mephiles only nodded in response - well, then this would be easier than the ivory hedgehog thought. Blaze would just have to come around eventually.

“I get it! Well, we can be friends,” the albino offered a welcoming hand out, tail wagging as he felt Mephiles’s smaller hand awkwardly shake his own after tucking the blade back into his coat pocket. “C'mon then, let’s go play a game or something together!”

Blaze sighed as she followed the two outside, disappointment showing in her sagging shoulders - this kid was weird and creepy, she didn’t trust him.. he’d been stalking them after all. But if she had to stick around even just to protect her best friend, she supposed it couldn’t hurt to try and make the most of it.

“What should we play..?” The feline asked softly, her ideas usually only consisting of the two of them. Now they had to cater to a third, and she was at a loss for what to do.

“Hm.. you know,” Mephiles spoke up, glancing over his shoulder at Blaze - his gaze seared into her, lingered for a bit too long for her comfort. “I have an idea - why don’t we play hide and seek? I’ve never been able to with anyone other than my mom.. I think it would be fun with more than two people.”

Without even waiting for a response, the dark hedgehog trotted in front of Silver and picked up a stick. Drawing a line in the snow, he separated himself from the two. “How about this - you both run off, I’ll count to thirty. Then, I’ll come and seek.” 

Immediately, the smaller hedgehog turned around and covered his eyes. “Are you ready..? One, two…”

It was a rather forward approach in starting their game, but Silver shrugged. Blaze wasn’t as fond of this, but with a reassuring nudge to her shoulder from her best friend, the two separated ways and began trudging off into the snow as fast as they could.

“…Five, six, seven…” Mephiles kept counting out loud, peeking through his fingers as Silver went past him. When he was certain that the albino was out of sight, he stopped counting altogether and turned in the direction where he heard more crunching snow opposite from Silver. 

Simpering, Mephiles pulled out his knife and quietly trailed after Blaze into the woods…

Meanwhile, Silver found himself giggling quietly in his new hiding spot. Quite a distance away, he’d found a huge pile of snow he burrowed himself into, knowing his fur and coat would easily blend in - there was no way he’d be found before Blaze! 

But after a few minutes, the cold was starting to settle in - the young boy had a thick pelt for weather just like this, but all the snow on top of him was persistent in dropping his temperature. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be easy to just dig his way out and find a new spot in time.. He sighed, hoping maybe this wouldn’t last as long as he originally thought it could. Shivering, he decided he needed to just tough it out.

In fact, his heart skipped a beat when he heard Blaze scream in the distance - Mephiles found her! Giggling quietly, the ivory hedgehog curled in on himself in an attempt to both warm and disguise himself more.

…

And while it was a good plan, it seemed to be working way better than he assumed, as it felt like at least twenty minutes passed since he heard Blaze scream. Could they really not find him..? Silver had used this trick on Blaze before, so surely she’d know… Maybe she was just refusing to tell Mephiles his tactics out of stubbornness. And now he was suddenly worried that maybe they’d been fighting, or Blaze sent him home.. or maybe she went home without Silver because she was mad at the circumstances. Mad at Silver himself for all of this..

Biting his lip nervously, the ivory hedgehog eventually began scuffling out of his hiding spot. Snow kept falling on him, threatening to trap him underneath. But he eventually managed to wiggle his way free and dust himself off, teeth chattering from the cold. 

“Blaze..!” The ivory hedgehog called out as he slowly walked through the woods, looking each and every way to spot his friend. 

“Blaze, where are you..?! Did you go home?!”

Hm… Nothing.

“Mephiles?! Hey, Mephiles! I quit, you win..! Let’s play something else,” he tried calling out, thinking if he found at least one of them that he could get some answers.

The more he was left alone in silence, the more anxious he became. Finding his way back to the tree trunk, Silver poked his head inside to also find it empty. And when he stepped back, his eyes looked over at the plastic bag that was causing so many problems earlier.. It was opened, and it looked like it had been rummaged through. Puzzled, the ivory hedgehog wondered if this would serve as some sort of clue.

Maybe it was wrong to just look through it, but Mephiles had been so willing to give it away earlier - clearly, he didn’t have an issue with anyone seeing what was in it…

Dubiously picking it up, Silver felt his stomach twist as soon as he spotted what was inside. A bloody, mangled corpse of a feral rabbit was shoved inside.. except parts of it were missing, like the head and one of its feet. The smell was stronger than before, and now Silver understood why it was so awful earlier - it was the smell of death he’d heard others talk about before. Foul and bitter, Silver dropped the bag and backed away, trying not to vomit everywhere.

Why the hell did Mephiles have that..?! Where did he get it from?!

Now having more questions and a renewed desire to get away from that putrid bag, Silver bolted back off into the woods in hopes that finding Blaze would just help him forget about it.

“Blaze..! Please talk to me! I’m sorry I made you mad - you were right! Can we please just go home and watch that movie and forget about this?! Blaze, please..!” Silver frantically pleaded as he ran through the snow, now more easily than before with the haste in his step.

“Blaze..! Bla-!” Silver kept screaming until he saw a hint of lavender through a pair of snowy bushes, stopping in his tracks as relief washed over him.

“Blaze, there you are..!” Silver cried out, over joyous as he pushed his way through leaves and thorns and more snow. But the ease he felt was shattered the second he made it through, noticing his friend was lying face down in the snow.

Not only that, but Mephiles was on top of her…

“Wh.. Mephiles, what.. happened..?” Silver began to ask, his mind already starting to go into a frenzy - he immediately thought that he had to be going insane when Mephiles turned to look at him, blood all over his face and coat. And as amber eyes trailed beneath him, he noticed the body was also lying in a pool of red. 

As Mephiles slowly got to his feet, Silver stumbled backward and fell right onto his ass when he saw the knives protruding out of Blaze’s body.

“What did.. why… what did you do…?” Silver shakily whispered, the tremors in his body no longer a result of the cold weather alone.

“M-Mephiles, is she..?” 

“I had to do it, Silver,” Mephiles murmured as he calmly approached the other boy, a bloody hand reaching out to caress the ivory hedgehog’s cheek and wipe away the tears pooling in his eyes. “I had to…”

“W-why..?!” Silver exclaimed, flinching away from the smaller hedgehog in front of him as panic began to settle in. “Mephiles, we have to take her to a hospital right now - we have to go tell her parents..! Her mom’s going to be so worried, I-!”

“It’s too late for that.”

“No.. No it’s not..!” Silver argued, pushing Mephiles off of him as he then got back onto his feet. But before he could run off and tell anybody about this, Mephiles was quicker than that - his weight slammed Silver up against a tree, his strength rather remarkable for his size. 

“She’s no longer with us, Silver..” Mephiles reasoned. “It wouldn’t do anything. And if you went back now, then..” Serpentine eyes trailed to the blood rubbing between their bodies now, the dark hedgehog holding back a grin. “Don’t you think you’d get in trouble for this..? They’d take you away from school, your parents, all your friends.. All you’d have is me.”

And I’m all you’ll ever have.

“Come on, Silver.. think about it. You don’t want to go to prison, do you..?” Mephiles went on, igniting even more panic into the ivory hedgehog - fuck, what if he did get sent to prison..?! What would he do in there?! He still had so much to live for.. he wasn’t even in middle school yet, and they’d take everything away from him for something he didn’t even do!

And he’d be stuck.. with Mephiles . 

“I…I… what are we going to do..?” Silver whimpered.

Mephiles smiled, pleased that the ivory hedgehog was wavering toward the compliance he wanted. “We’re going to hide the body out here somewhere.. And then, we’ll never speak of this again, okay? If you tell anyone about this and get me in trouble, I’m taking you down with me. Do you understand, Silver..?”

Unsuccessfully holding back more tears, the white hedgehog wept as he nodded in defeat. “O-okay…”

“Do you promise me that you’ll do this, Silver..?”

“I..” Silver wheezed, “I-I promise..”

“Very good… Now then, let’s get to work.”

Chapter Text

❥ chapter 2 -

and it leaves me rotten, 

but i doubt he’s had enough.

Darkness was replaced by a fuzzy haze in his vision when Silver finally came to, stars swimming within both his peripheral and his veins. They were flowing out of him, leaving him bogged down and motionless as he tried to gain his bearings. Static danced across his limbs, paralyzing him to the snowy ground as a whimper escaped him. Despite the eerie waves of calmness caressing his body, which never once felt as heavy as it did now, something within shouted and pleaded for him to move. He needed to get up, he needed to feel real and he needed to run far away from wherever this was. It was getting darker outside, which is how he rationalized to himself to believe that that must’ve been the reason he could no longer see his own breath billowing from his mouth out in the cold. 

Drained ambers tried to focus, but still he couldn’t fully make out the two figures standing above him. He wondered if it was his parents, but the reality left a pang in his chest that practically sullied the rest of what little energy he had. No.. that wasn’t possible. Had he passed out in the woods, there wasn’t a chance that they’d even be out here on a search when he didn’t come home after school. That called for too much effort, and too much concern to bother with. Silver dismissed the notion of their presence, which in turn gave him a warm feeling in his otherwise numb frame when he realized that there was a possibility that whoever had found him must’ve been concerned.

There was much dialogue being exchanged between the two figures above him, and while he couldn’t distinguish any of the words from their distorted voices, he began to tune into the sound. It was beginning to sound familiar, especially the more boisterous of the two, one filled with a relaxed confidence: Mephiles…

The other was much quieter, almost sounding too afraid to make any noise at all. He’d never heard Blaze sound so subdued before… She was always loud and opinionated - at least when she was around him. 

“Help me grab this end,” he heard Mephiles order through the ringing in his ears.  There was no response before Silver suddenly felt his body being lifted, the sensation of floating on clouds coupled with the sensation of gravity sobbing for him to come closer to her possessive embrace taking over. He wanted to rest with this, let his weight simultaneously wane and drag in a state of bliss he’d never experienced before. It abandoned everything he knew, lifted all the stress from his shoulders despite demanding so much from his drained vitality - he could let go if he just subdued at any given whim ordered of him, and yet nothing was asked of him at all but to relax. Silver still experienced the nagging to move his limbs, to regain consciousness and get out of here.. but being carried like this was too generous to pass up. The motion disoriented him more, a drunkenness further sedating him and lulling the albino to an ominous comfort he wished to remain in.

Unfortunately, all wistfulness plummeted just as quickly as his body had once hands released him. Now he lie helpless in the dirt, unable to make a sound in protest or even despair. Everything was heavy, all of what little energy he had snuffed out in one fell swoop. And before he could even attempt to lift his eyelids again, weight began to badger down upon him. It was crushing him, the paralyzing agent being rather redundant as he already was motionless. Once again he was back in the womb, squeezing and suffocating him as a bitter reminder of how unwanted he was in this world. Silver wanted to kick and scream from being forced back into the womb, a loveless cavern caressing him with pure apathy - agony, even, desperate to snap his body into twigs just to rid his existence.

There was no fighting he could do, forced to give up before he even had a chance at his start in discovering his life; his likes, his dislikes, whatever ambitious shimmer he could shine upon this desolate land of living and breathing. It wasn’t fair, being buried away like a dirty secret - and it was all for the sake of Mephiles’s comfort. If everyone had just forgotten about Silver as quickly as Mephiles had, the sick bastard wouldn’t have even rejoiced at the news. No, he’d just forget due to how minimal his heinous deeds were according to his own moral compass. 

It was dark and lonely, suffocating beneath the earth without even an answer as to why Mephiles thought he deserved this.. why Blaze was even helping in getting rid of him - what had he done wrong..?

‘ You were my best friend, Silver…’

XxXxX

Silver suddenly sat up, drenched and panting as dreaded sunlight flash banged his vision. The heat coming in from the screen window made the room stuffy and hard to breathe as it was, and Silver shuddered as he shifted to let his legs dangle over the cot, resting his head against his palms as he tried to come back from reality. This hadn’t been his first night terror over Blaze’s death in the past ten years - this was recurring, actually. The albino couldn’t even remember the last time he’d had a good nights sleep.. And when he had, different forms of self medication often had a hand at play in laying him to rest.

Silver’s groan was greeted with a soft ‘good morning’ murmured from the other corner of the shack. And when he had forced himself to gain his bearings, the white hedgehog looked over his shoulder at Mephiles standing over one of his many folding tables, fiddling with something he couldn’t see.

“Mm.. good morning,” he grumbled, groggily patting over the cot in search of his cellphone, but not without having to either shuffle through random pieces of wadded up paper and trash or accidentally knocking an empty bottle over. Finally getting ahold of the cracked device, Silver groaned even more at sight of the time. 

“We’re gonna be late again,” Silver complained.

“Yeah, I know - you’re a pain to deal with when I interrupt your sleep, though. So today, I thought I’d at least let you wake up in a good mood,” Mephiles answered without even looking up.

Silver rolled his eyes, reaching for one of the outfits he had haphazardly tossed into a corner of the room and sliding it on. The wrinkled gray shirt hung loosely around his bony frame, and black denim jeans hugged at his waist. They had a familiar smell of smoke clinging to them, and Silver once again found himself considering the offer Mephiles’s mother had given him to use her washer a few days ago. She was always too considerate of him, even if it meant occasionally chastising him to take better care of himself from time to time.

He didn’t have time to do any makeup, he realized with annoyance as he slid his shoes on. Whatever.. he’d looked worse before. Grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder, Silver felt his impatience growing with whatever Mephiles was doing over there - sure, he’d been the one to sleep in and the darker hedgehog was all put together, but at least he wasn’t the one dawdling when it came to finally heading out the door.

But once he stepped over and realized what exactly was taking his friend so long, a flit of amusement crossed his features - and Mephiles had taken the brief glance between them to notice it. 

“Need some help..?” Silver asked coyly, looking at the joint that Mephiles was unsuccessfully trying to roll for both of them. As talented as the dark hedgehog had been with many things, this was one craft he couldn’t ever perfect no matter how hard he tried. It was always Silver that ended up rolling despite the protests that Mephiles ‘almost had it figured out.’ 

Silver remembered the joint roller he’d purchased as a gag gift, smug to this day at how stubborn Mephiles had been in even trying to use it - he had no idea where that thing disappeared to in this dump.

Finally, a defeated sigh left his companion as he slid the tray of grinded flower over to Silver and saying nothing else as he went to grab his own bag with a pout. He’d never admit that he was amazed that Silver had already packed and rolled the joint by the time he grabbed his things, rolling his eyes and ignoring Silver’s shit-eating grin as he took the perfected joint and lit it. 

And by the time Silver was able to take a few hits, his previous urgency in getting to school was suddenly gone. 

-

The car ride was shaky as usual in Mephiles’s truck, the white hedgehog slumped in the passenger seat as he stared out the window. He hadn’t said a word the whole ride, his mind beginning to race over last night’s dream.. He knew it was fair, the guilt that weighed on him every single day. Silver had almost wished that he had a lack of remorse similar to Mephiles, that he could just move on and not be plagued with the memory of her massacre.. But at the same time, Silver had grown to understand that Mephiles had his own paranoias to deal with.

Such as his extended silence right now.

“…Are you alright?” Mephiles suddenly asked when the truck rolled to a stop at a red light, serpentine eyes fixated on his companion expectantly.

“Yeah,” Silver answered without much thought, knowing it wasn’t true.. But even if he spoke of what was on his mind, Mephiles would never actually understand what he was saying.

He felt a hand suddenly resting on his thigh, giving a small squeeze as an attempt to comfort Silver. He knew that something was wrong, and that was enough to put him on edge. Especially when Silver hadn’t even looked up at him.

“Are you sure?” Mephiles inquired again, “You can tell me if something’s wrong… I want you to be comfortable with me.”

“I’m fine,” Silver said with a shrug, finally meeting the other’s gaze and staring as if to prove a point.

Mephiles lingered on the silence, knowing he likely wouldn’t be able to draw anything else out of Silver at the moment. And he hadn’t wanted to keep repeating his question to the point where Silver would become annoyed with him. 

Letting out a sigh as he withdrew his hand to grab the wheel, he kept driving once the light changed.

“…I’ll choose to believe you,” Mephiles murmured.