Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“It’s late.”

It’s windy here on the roof too. Silver brushes away the quills in his face as he turns his head to look at the source of voice.

He shrugs and turns back, continuing to stare into the distance.“The stars are brighter at this time.”

“So you snuck out of bed to see some stars?”

“What do you mean snuck out of bed? You guys keep treating me like a toddler.”

A hum. “Then maybe you should be in bed.”

Silver turns to Shadow as he sits down beside him, “you are not either.”

“I am the Ultimate Lifeform, it’s different.”

Silver rolls his eyes. “Sure.”

Shadow raises an eyebrow at his expression.

Silver huffs and looks away, eyes searching the stars once again. 

“Does the stars look different in the future?”

Silver hums, “I don’t have a lot of memories of them. For…reasons. It’s complicated.”

Shadow nods. “The moon didn’t look like this.”

“What?”

“They showed me pictures of how it used to look like. It was…”

Silver waits, but Shadow is taking his time. “Prettier?”

“No. It was…”

“Brighter?”

“…It was brighter.” Shadow agrees with a sigh. “When it was still a full satellite, it was brighter.”

“But that’s not what you wanted to say.”

“No.”

Silver shrugs, “…alright. Do you like it? It looks kind of cool with the floating rocks and stuff.”

“…I have only seen it once, I don’t remember much of it. But I saw it in space a lot.”

Silver glances at him. There’s something more behind it, but he doesn’t know if he should ask. He doesn’t know how to ask, either. The silence drags on. Eventually he inhales.

“I mean, it’s pretty this way. Kind of worrying, I guess? But it’s very pretty.”

“People say it’s tragic.” 

“How so?”

“Tragic because…what once was perfect now is not.”

“Well, I don’t know what it supposedly looked like.”

“I am sure they can show you pictures of it.”

“Who?”

“Tails. Amy. Them.”

Them.

Silver’s face scrunches up in thoughts. “Hmm. Would I hate it, do you think?”

Shadow raises an eyebrow in mild surprise. “I don’t know.”

“I think I wouldn’t like it.”

“Things always look different in person.”

“Then I guess I would never know if I like it or not.”

He looks up at the night sky. The broken moon is beautiful. As far as Silver knows, this is how it’s supposed to look like. And it looks pretty. A full moon would have been boring appearance wise.

“…I blew up the moon with the doctor.”

Ah.

“…Ah.” Silver says eloquently, “so…uh…” what does he even say? “…was it fun?”

Shadow snorts. A genuine, quiet snort.

“No.” He says, voice quiet and faintly faraway, “it wasn’t.”

Silver politely looks away. It feels insensitive not to for some reason, so he kicks his dangling feet, pretending to be busy.

A hand lands on his shoulder. Silver looks at Shadow, and Shadow looks back at him.

Silver waits for Shadow to say something, but Shadow is looking for something in his expression, and the silence between them is starting to feel too much. Silver blurts out, “you eyes glow.”

Shadow blinks. He lets out an amused huff in a slight disbelief that Silver doesn’t quite understand, “it’s Chaos energy.“

Silver is pretty sure it isn’t, because when Shadow turns away, the glow disappears.

He looks down and finds himself engulfed in blue.

“Are you okay?” Shadow pulls his hand back.

“What?”

“You looked like you were thinking very hard. Don’t hurt yourself.”

Silver gasps. “Hey!”

Shadow smirks a little.

“I am not dumb!”

“No, of course not. I am asking you if you are okay.” Shadow looks vaguely smug.

“I- you- I am fine!”

“So you glow for no reason,”

Silver huffs and looks away.

They remain quiet for several moments before Shadow breaks the silence.

“It’s easier to notice at night.”

“What.”

“The glow. I know you do it sometimes.”

Silver looks up in surprise. He shouldn’t be, but he is. Shadow notices his Chaos energy flaring is the most normal thing that has happened to him lately, honestly.

“It’s not dangerous.” Silver mutters.

“…if that’s dangerous, I would have already been locked up by G.U.N. You wouldn’t be talking to me right now.”

Silver fiddles with the cuffs of his gloves.

Shadow sighs. “…it’s about what that bear said about you being dangerous, isn’t it.”

“…no.” Silver mutters petulantly.

“No.” Shadow repeats with a dry tone, “no as in, ‘I came here to brood because I feel like it?’”

“I am not brooding!”

Shadow raises an eyebrow.

“I am not, I am just- sighting seeing. I am enjoying the night view!”

“I know brooding when I see it. You forgot who I am.”

“I—” Silver sighs irritably. “I just want to be alone for a while. And you came, and—”

Shadow ignores him, picking at some invisible dust on his glove.

“—and you are not even listening to me.”

Shadow shrugs. “You are throwing a tantrum. I am not a babysitter. Although G.U.N. certainly likes making me one whenever they could.”

“Why can’t you just let me be?” Silver says sourly.

Shadow is silent for a while.

“You know you don’t have to listen to him, right? He’s obviously an idiot. People don’t march in a room full of powerful fighters and demand being compensated for a war we fought and protected them from. The Restoration owes him nothing. He’s obviously a nutcase.”

“…but what he said was true. I am dangerous, my power—”

“He tried to grab Amy. We saw it. You were trying to protect her. He could have had weapons on him. We don’t know.”

“…Vector did find a pocket knife on him…”

Shadow gives him a look. “See? It makes no sense that you are still hanging over his word.”

“I should have controlled my strength better.”

“He lunged for a girl half of his size in anger. I think he had it coming.”

“…he’s still grieving for his home—”

“It makes me angry that you are even defending his ass,” Shadow snaps, “who isn’t grieving?”

“I am not justifying his behavior, I am just saying that he wasn’t really trying to hurt her, and yet I flung him across the room—”

“But what if he was?” Shadow glares at him.

“Doesn’t matter if he was or not. I could have just restrained him—”

“It was a lot in that moment and we just fought a war. What did he expect? A gentle tap on the wrist? He should be grateful he got away with only bruises and not broken bones.”

Silver pales a little at the thought.

“Don’t. Don’t you dare feel bad for a scum like that.”

Silver winces slightly. “Calm down. You are getting worked up.”

“I am. Rightfully so.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s not right! Just because you are powerful doesn’t make you dangerous! Having power is not a crime. It’s not a sin, it’s not even what we choose—”

Silver stares.

Shadow stiffens a little, although it’s obvious he tries very hard to relax and not get defensive.

“…just forget about that jerk. He’s not important enough that you have to listen to his bullshit.”

Silver kicks his feet. This building that he picked had just finished its reconstruction, and the railing hasn’t been installed. Looking down, most of the debris is gone, but the traces of war still lingers. It reminds him of home- a distant and gradually fading memory, one layer after the other. “They weren’t around the last time I went back. G.U.N., I mean.”

Shadow looks at him.

“Of the three outcomes that I came back to, they were always absent.”

“None of the outcomes were the same?”

“No.”

Silver watches the way Shadow’s look softens. He scoffs, looking away. “What?

Shadow only shrugs as he turns his gaze to the night sky, just like what Silver did.

“…this is very strange, is all.”

Silver frowns. “It’s how time-travel works.”

Shadow glances at him. “No, I meant this conversation.”

Silver pauses. It is very strange. They are not exactly close, although it would seem that Shadow is less disgruntled around Silver for some reason. Silver is observant, contrary to what people believe. Shadow barely tolerates being around Sonic, and even with Rouge he can be impatient at times. Although with Silver, Shadow is just…there. He isn’t irritated, angry or grumpy, instead he always looks deep in thoughts. Considering that Silver has the tact of a bull in a china shop, he has no idea why he hadn’t driven Shadow away. It makes no sense that they are here, sitting side by side deep into an autumn night, tittering on the edge of something.  

They both spend too much time alone. It’s a habit that they never talk about these things- the vulnerable, almost tender things. It makes sense, because that’s just how it is. 

“…then why are you here, Shadow?”

He can see the way hesitation flashes through Shadow’s face. The dark hedgehog extends a hand towards the sky as if waiting for something to fall into his palm. Silver shifts in discomfort, waiting the other to get on with it.

“…you remind me of someone.” Shadow says, expression distracted as he studies the sky through the gaps between his fingers, “when you are quiet.”

Silver frowns to himself. Did Shadow just insult him?

Shadow snorts, “not a lot, but…”

“But?”

“But enough to remind me what she looked like.”

It’s a strange feeling, knowing that your friend is seeing someone else in you. He’s starting to notice how out of depth he’s currently feeling. This seems to be a delicate subject, and the heaviness settles in his stomach along with the discomfort the comparison gives him.

“How do I look like her?” He says with a little reluctance. He needs to keep the conversation going, because he doesn’t know what else to do.

“You look nothing like her. I didn’t mean your appearance.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“It’s…optimism, I suppose. The look of hope is always present, I don’t understand how you do it, but don’t let jerks like him take it away. It’s not worth it.”

The discomfort lessens a little, but Silver has no reply for his comment.

“You are glowing again.” Shadow says.

Silver blinks and quickly gets it under control.

“You need to be careful with it. Although you are a power front, if you were to run a mission that requires stealth, your habit could easily blow your cover.”

“It’s- not a habit.” Silver protests rather weakly.

“Apparently it is, otherwise I wouldn’t catch you do it twice just tonight.”

Silver grumbles under his breath. He hears Shadow chuckles and looks up in surprise.

Shadow looks taken aback himself.

Silver has a snarky comment ready on his lips, but then Shadow’s expression softens. The change catches him off guard, and he gulps the sentence back down. It lodges in his throat, making his stomach weird.

“You two have nothing alike apart from that. She’s…calm, collected, hopeful, but resigned. You are full of anger, and that’s good.”

“How’s anger good?”

Shadow shrugs and doesn’t answer. “She would have liked you.”

“Why?”

“Because she was just like that.” Shadow stands up and dusts himself off.

“You haven’t told me why you are here.”

“Amy sent me. She’s worried.”

Silver is about to accept that when he remembers how Shadow brushed him off earlier, trying to distract him with the topic of his friend. “She didn’t send you.”

Shadow gives him a bored look. “You can go ask her.”

Silver senses the soft vibration of Chaos energy and he stands up as well, “you are fleeing the conversation?”

“I am just going to go back to sleep, unlike a certain lunatic.”

“You don’t need sleep that much.”

“I don’t. But it’s none of your business.”

Despite it, Shadow is still just standing there. The silence that follows is charged with tension. Silver doesn’t know what it is, but it’s almost tickling. Shadow stares at him, and Silver can’t help but averts his eyes.

“Well, good night.” Silver mutters.

“Same to you. Do get some sleep.”

Shadow teleports away. Dramatic, Silver thinks to himself. The tickling sensation lingers long after the Chaos energy dissipates.

Chapter Text

Silver idly picks at the bandage on his forearm, his eyes mapping out the sky. Blaze told him about the stars. What they are, what people used to use them for. Amy taught him how to read the constellation last week. He’s trying to spot the Scorpion, trying to put what she taught him to use. She also taught him how to make out direction using the North Star.

“Sight seeing again?”

Silver doesn’t bother to turn his head. “Yeah.”

“You are looking for something.”

Silver nods, still keeping his eyes on the night sky.

Shadow sits down beside him.

Silver keeps searching for a while. The silence drags on, and eventually it gets a little too much.

“I am looking for the Scorpion. You know, with the S shape?”

“The Scorpion?” Shadow looks at him.

“Yeah. Do you know about it? Does it look different up there?”

“…I know about it, yes.” He says quietly, “but you are not going to find it.”

“What? Why? Do you need an equipment for it?”

Shadow hums.

“Well…it’s March. It doesn’t show up until May.”

Silver pauses for a long moment, and then he groans.

“I’ve been trying to spot it for…I don’t know, half an hour?”

“You are a patient person.” Shadow says, amused.

“I am an idiot.” Silver mutters.

“That, too.”

Silver gives him a glare. Shadow raises an eyebrow at him. They stare at each other for a while—it becomes a challenge to see who would break first. Shadow has surprisingly long eyelashes—

“How’s your arm?” The competition breaks when Shadow looks down at Silver’s arm.

“My arm?” Silver looks down as well, and it takes him a moment to realize that he had messed up the bandage. “I mean…good?”

“It was a pretty bad slash.”

“You had it worse though. It was…” Silver grimaces, “you know. There was a lot of blood.”

At the mention of blood, Shadow gets quiet. Silver, pretty quickly, feels like he said something wrong.

“I mean—not like you are weak or anything, but like, it was a lot of blood, you know? And you asked me if my arm was alright, so I thought…I don’t know, I just thought that your injury needs more discussion than mine.”

Shadow shakes his head. “You are fine. I was only…thinking.”

“About what?”

Shadow shrugs. “It’s not important.”

Silver takes a good look at him.

“It’s all healed, you wounds.”

“…yes.”

“So how does it work? I know you are very strong, heal pretty fast, but I never learned why. Everyone acts like it’s a bad thing.”

Shadow stiffens a little.

“…what did they say?”

“That’s the thing! They refused to say anything.” Silver pouts. “I mean, being strong is a good thing, right? I can ask Knuckles about how he got so strong, and he would talk for three hours. It’s experience, it’s valuable. I get that they might want me to hear it from you, but still! They didn’t have to act as if I asked a weird question. I mean, I get it. Some people are just born with it, you know? Like Sonic. He can’t give me an answer why he’s so fast…”

“…I see.”

“See what?” Silver huffs. “Why are you all being cryptic?”

“You saw my blood, didn’t you?”

“I did. Why?”

“Did it not disgust you?”

“I’ve seen more blood than that. I’ve been fighting stuff for a long time. Why is that relevant?”

“My blood wasn’t the right color.”

“What?” Silver frowns. He’s completely lost the topic here. “What does that mean?”

Shadow looks at Silver, a weary look on his face. Silver is a little taken aback by the soul-tired expression.

“I…” Shadow hesitates, and then he seems to get angry at himself. “You know about the Black Arm invasion, correct?”

“Yeah?” Silver says, confused. “I read about it. It was…oh, it was around this time, wasn’t it?”

“It happened a few years ago.”

“Oh.” Silver blinks. “Okay. Um. What...”

Shadow doesn’t say more as he pulls off his gloves to reveals his claws—actual claws. It doesn’t look like Silver’s own paws at all, all pointy and sharp. Silver opens his mouth to ask questions, but then Shadow draws his index finger across his own forearms, nail on skin. Blood oozes out.

“Shadow!” Silver grabs the gloveless hand to stop Shadow immediately. “What are you doing?!”

“Demonstration.”

“Demonstration of what?!”

Shadow shoves his arm in front of Silver. Silver is forced to take a good look of it, and…the color tone seems off. It looks…bluish. Not all red.

“It’s purple.” Shadow bites out. “How did you not notice?”

“…you have black fur.” Silver points out.

Shadow seems to fume more at that. “Another thing thanks to them.”

“Them? Who—”

Shadow snaps, “it’s not important.”

Silver feels his fur stands up. The air is charged with Chaos energy, and he tries to not take offense at it.

“Did I do something wrong?” Silver says, tone soft yet stern. “Why are you angry at me?”

Shadow looks away, his hands balling into fists. It takes Shadow several moments to produce a reply.

“…I am not angry at you.”

“It feels like you are.”

“Sorry,” Shadow bites out, “for losing my temper.”

Silver sighs. “Shadow, I don’t know what I did wrong.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You act like I did.”

“It has nothing to do with you.”

Silver looks at Shadow for a long while.

“I can go ask others.” he says quietly, “but I would rather hear it from you, Shadow.”

Shadow closes his eyes for a moment. “…I was created with Black Arms genes.”

The air feels heavier, all of a sudden. Silver feels something sink a little in his stomach.

“…is that why you always fight like that?”

Shadow glances at him. “Like what?”

“Like you are waiting for something.”

Shadow frowns at his claws. “I don’t follow.”

“No?” Silver looks at him, a small frown on his face.

“No.”

“Okay.” Silver lets out a quiet sigh. “What do you usually think about when you are in battle?”

“I focus on the fight.”

“Uh huh. Then why would you let that badnik get a hit on you? It was a badnik.”

“They had advantage in number.”

“Sure. Because badniks aren’t the most basic of Eggman’s robots.”

Shadow falls silent.

It’s funny, Silver thinks, because Shadow probably would have walked away by now had it not been him who came to find him. That part is still a mystery, but Silver doesn’t have the mind to think about it just yet.

“I am not trying to…you know.” Silver sighs. “But I just feel like I can’t not mention it. You—”

“You can.”

“I can. But it doesn’t feel right.”

“I don’t know how you carry that bleeding heart of yours into battles with you.”

This time, Silver is taking offense. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Sentimentality will only get you killed.”

“And fighting like you have to prove something with every cut you get won’t?”

Shadow sets his jaw. Silver glances over, and then he turns his gaze back on the horizon. The night is quiet, and the Restoration has no plans for him tonight or tomorrow. The moon is high on the sky, hanging like a hook that pierced through a piece of fabric. Silver fiddles with the bandage on his arm.

“…it’s none of your business.”

Silver snorts sarcastically. “You know that’s funny, right? You came to sit with me.”

“A mistake, apparently.”

Mistake. Which part? Silver doesn't ask out loud.

“I am glad though.” He sighs and looks over at Shadow. “That you are here.”

Because he is. It had started to get a little too quiet.

Shadow pauses for a long moment—and then looks away, looking caught for some reason.

Silver turns his eyes back on the scenery- the village has begun to look like a normal village, with only a few scaffolding still standing. He absently brushes his quills with his fingers, just for something to do. His quills are softer than Amy’s and Sonic’s, which could be a future thing, but he isn’t sure. Even if he checks, the fact will change one day anyway. He wonders about Shadow's quills briefly before remembering that Amy explained to him why you can’t just touch people’s quills—apparently quill-preening is considered intimate between hedgehogs, a culture that never reached Silver’s time. Or maybe it did, and Silver just missed it. He doesn’t know. He can’t remember it too well.

“It’s complicated.”

Silver blinks back to present and looks over at Shadow. “What is?”

“…everything." Shadow mutters. "I don’t know how you manage to act like it isn’t.”

Silver tilts his head up- the clouds are leisurely traveling through the sky, making them almost like the undercurrent in a dark river. The wind has picked up a little. Not enough to be cold, but enough that his quills sway. They slips out of his fingers when he clasps his hands together in his lap.

“It shouldn’t be. Things are always shifting, if you think too long then it’s gone. When it’s gone, then it’s gone. Sometimes lost forever. Or, it changes. If it changes, what you think about it doesn’t matter. So, it’s just not worth it.”

Shadow turns to look at him, his expression caught between surprise and sour.

“…yeah, I know. Too preachy, huh?” Silver says sheepishly.

Shadow only replies with an quiet humph.

Silver chuckles to himself. He plucks the grass blades under his hands and twists them around in his palms. There’s a smell, grassy and wet. He feels kind of bad.

“You can’t possibly tell me you don’t have any experience with complicated matters.” Shadow says quietly.

Silver opens up his palms and holds them up. The grass blades take flight and disappears into the night. “I have. But…if it nothing lasts, why care? I can’t be everywhere all at once, I don’t last forever, so I try not to think too much and focus on doing what I think it’s right. Or focus on what's in front of me.“

Shadow crosses his arms, looking down. “…it’s easy for you to say.”

“It’s not.” Silver inspects his gloves. They are green from grass murdering . “You don’t know me.”

“Why?”

“Why what?” Silver frowns.

“Why did you say that?”

Silver looks at him, “I don’t get it.”

“What part did you not get?”

“I don’t understand what you are asking.”

“I am asking you why you said I don’t know you.”

“Because you don’t.”

“Yes, but why?”

“Yeah, why what?”

They stare at each other for a while. Shadow sighs and looks away. “I would like to think I know you well enough.”

Silver raises an eyebrow as he turns back towards the moonlit scenery. “You do know it’s kind of rude thing to say though, right?”

“I expressed an opinion.”

Silver kicks his feet and let them dangle on the side of the building. “You think I have it easy.”

"...I see." Shadow sighs. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Then what did you mean?”

“I was trying to…say that you are more optimistic. More hopeful. I don’t mean it to be insulting. It’s just that you always treat everything like they are simple and clear.”

“Oh. Okay.” Silver mutters.

They are silent for a while.

“It’s not easy for me, you know. I just can’t…I don’t want it to be complicated. So I try not to think of things in that way.”

Shadow nods. "Sorry for…being inconsiderate.”

“It’s fine. I get why it might be different for you.”

“…oh? So you think you know me?”

Silver pauses, and he laughs. Shadow looks at Silver as Silver laughs. Silver doesn’t know why, but he raises his hand to cover his mouth, feeling a little self-conscious.

“Yeah, it sounded hypocritical, didn’t it? I mean…okay, okay. I mean I could think of a few ways why it might be different for you. I don’t know if I should bring it up though. Blaze’s been teaching me about…appropriate hanging out topics.”

“It’s a little late for that.” Shadow says dryly.

Silver snorts, “is that an encouragement?”

Shadow pauses for a moment, and then he nods. Silver pauses too, and he sighs. “Alright.”

Silence.

“…so?”

“I am still thinking, don’t rush me.”

Shadow raises an eyebrow, but he falls silent and waits.

Silver leans his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. “Your time works different. Things follow you. Trail behind you. You are…like a big tree, you know? And I am a dandelion.”

Shadow raises an eyebrow.

“Dandelion-?”

“Not in like a cute way or something. Just…time wise. You know?”

“…no, not really.”

“Well, in short, I think you are like when someone draws a line across a paper. But I am like…someone throws ball of color onto the paper and it splashes everywhere.”

Shadow frowns in confusion.

“I have a finite amount of time, a shifting timeline and existence. You…don’t. That’s why I can’t afford complicated things and you can.”

Shadow looks at Silver for a long time before finally looking back at the scenery.

“For someone that claims he doesn’t do complicated, you sure think about it a lot.”

“Yeah…which is the problem, isn’t it?” Silver sighs, but then he shrugs, pulling off his gloves and sets them in his lap, tired of wearing them after a full day of work. Even though he didn’t move things with them- not directly. “Look at my nails. Amy taught me how to trim them.”

Shadow lets out a faint snort, but he looks at them. “Well, for a beginner, that’s not bad.”

“Really? Awesome.”

“Don’t cut it too close to the pink line.” Shadow points at it.

Silver nods. “She said that as well.”

They continue to sit there, on the roof top of a freshly built house, in silence. Neither of them say anything. It doesn’t feel like a silence that needs to be filled.

“I don’t know which is worse. Your situation or mine.” Shadow says, voice barely audible.

Silver shrugs. “Maybe both suck, maybe both are just how they should be, who knows.”

Shadow snorts but doesn’t offer a reply this time. He stands up from the ground and dusts himself off. “The Restoration needs you to join the search party tomorrow. I am just here to deliver the message.”

“Oh...okay?”

“Yes or no, hedgehog?”

“Why are you doing messenger work?”

Shadow huffs, but it sounds amused. “Yes or no?”

“I mean, yes, sure. I’ll be there. Why though?”

“Amy said you look troubled and asked me to check on you.

“She could have come to me herself.”

“She’s busy enough as it is, and you keep disappearing at night.”

“I can be wherever I want.”

“That makes her job harder, you know.”

Silver sighs. “Fine. How did you find me anyway?”

“You are not hard to find.” Shadow turns away. “Do remember to join them for breakfast. She complained that you always forget to eat.”

“Okay. Before you go though, your arm—”

With a loud snap, Shadow disappears in a flash of green light. Silver looks at where the dark hedgehog was a second ago and sighs irritably. He rubs his face.

“Idiot,” he mutters.

Chapter Text

“Here’s what I’m thinking, Shadow.” Silver says conversationally, twirling his quills because he saw Amy did it when she tried to look harmless, “since you kept interrupting my free time, I am gonna interrupt yours.”

Shadow pauses in the kitchenette, mug in one hand and a bag of instant coffee in the other. He turns his head to glance at Silver, who’s leaning on the doorframe with a slightly awkward angle. “What.”

“It’s only fair.”

“What.”

“Are you done making that coffee?”

“It’s instant coffee. It takes two seconds, if I am not being harassed.”

“That’s harsh. I didn’t say you harass me when you did it.”

“Because I didn’t.”

“Uh huh.” Silver raises his hand lazily to his chest, and he taps in with his power. Shadow is engulfed in blue in an instant. 

“I did not try to kidnap you.”

“So you were trying to do something, huh.”

“Silver, get your power off me.”

“It doesn’t work that way.”

“What doesn’t work that way?”

Silver only stares at Shadow. There’s about a hundred ways he can interpret that questions, a hundred different answers can be given, and he doesn’t know where to begin. So he doesn’t. “It’s not like I am squeezing you.”

“I have a very high level of sensitivity when it comes to Chaos energy. You are drowning me.”

Silver’s eyes widen and he immediately drops his power. “Sorry!”

Shadow’s expression softens just a little, though without the annoyed look, he only looks more tired. “I was messing with you. It wasn’t that serious. Come.”

Silver sulks slightly; it’s on Shadow’s term again. He still follows, however. Because he needs to make sure.

They walk in silence. The headquarter is quiet at this hour. Shadow are leading them out of the building, his rocket shoes clicking quietly against the tile.

There’s a very small patch of green just outside the Restoration. A garden. It’s Cream’s personal project—none of them wanted Cream to be involved in the reconstruction; after all, you can’t bring a child to clean up rubbles from a war. You don’t know what you would find under them. But she insisted she wanted to help, so they gave her something peaceful and tame to do. Tails built a bench in the middle of it as a downtime activity—he had been banned from going out at all. Sonic had made sure of it. None of them dared to object when they saw his face; it was not his usual calm confidence, it was a quiet, raw panic, hidden under fragile jokes and banters.

Silver wonders if there would ever be someone who cares about him on such a level. His childhood is gone like his home. Swallowed by flame and layers of different sets of memories.

They sit down on the bench.

“Do you drink coffee?”

“No. I tried it once, but it was really bitter.”

“This is the cheep, sweetened shit.”

“You’re giving me your coffee?”

Shadow presses the mug into his hands. “I’ll go get another one.”

“I can do it.” Silver pushes the mug back, preparing to get up.

Shadow lets out a quiet huff and stands up, “why?”

He walks back into the building, leaving Silver alone in the small garden. Silver blinks at the coffee in his hands. It’s hot. He can feel it through the gloves.

He realizes after a moment that Shadow meant to ditch him here. That’s what’s happening, isn’t it? He’s ditched. He glares at the coffee mug. This is not fair. Why can Shadow harass him but he can’t? Why can Shadow walks away whenever he wants to?

“Why are you glaring at it?” Shadow sits down beside him. Silver almost jumps. He looks up at the dark hedgehog.

“I thought you ditched me here.”

Shadow looks confused for a second before he seems to understand. “…no. I went to get this.”

Following his gaze, Silver looks at his lap—Shadow is holding a tin box, and another cup of coffee. He puts the cup on the bench and opens the lid.

“Cookies?”

Shadow nods, holding the box to Silver.

“What’s the occasion?” Silver doesn’t take one.

Shadow frowns. “You don’t want it?”

“No, no, I want it.” Silver reaches out quickly and takes a cookie. It’s a chocolate chip cookie. “What’s the occasion though?”

Shadow takes one for himself and takes a bite, chews on it, swallows, before he replies. “Why does it have to be a special occasion?”

“It doesn’t have to?”

Shadow pauses slightly and looks at him. “…no.”

“Oh. Okay.” Silver looks at the cookie in his hand. “I thought—”

He stops. It would sound stupid, wouldn’t it, if he says that he thought cookies are for special occasions only. Like celebrations, holidays and stuff. Because…well, because they are special. Cookies, celebrations, holidays. Rare moments of simple joy. No disaster, no world-ending catastrophe, just sweetness on his tongue and a brief moment of reprieve. It sounds very, very stupid. It sounds dumb that he thought cookies are reserved for special occasion, of course it isn’t. It’s just food. It’s abundant here. He doesn’t want to sound like he’s being pitiful.

Shadow sips at his coffee before he speaks. “…I made them myself. If you don’t eat it, I am going to get grumpy.”

Silver blinks at him in surprise.

“Eat.” Shadow mutters, sipping at his coffee again.

Silver turns back to the cookie, looking at it. He brings it to his mouth and takes a bite.

“…is it bad?” Shadow asks, a rare hesitance appearing on his face. “You are frowning.”

“Oh, no, it’s good. It’s just…less sweet than I expected. And…it’s a little bitter. Because of the chocolate, right?” Silver looks at him.

Shadow nods, “I prefer them less sweet.”

“I think it’s good.” Silver stares at the cookie. “I am not a big fan of chocolate, that’s all.”

“What do you prefer then?”

“Um, you mean…flavor?”

Shadow nods.

“Strawberry?”

“I see.”

They fall in silence. 

Silver takes another bite of the cookie. It’s starting to grow on him for some reason. They munch on the cookies in silence, and Silver takes a sip of the coffee. Hmm.

“So you hate bitter things.”

Silver looks at Shadow. “Huh? Oh. I think so?”

“But you are still eating them.”

“Well, yeah.”

“You don’t have to, if you don’t like it.”

Silver makes a funny face, “I guess. But I am not going to let it go to waste. Besides, it’s kind of good after you get used to it.”

Shadow nods and takes a bite of the cookie.

Silver likes how the flavor of the chocolate chip cookie blends with the coffee. He likes that the coffee is sweetened. The snack and the hot drink is making him feel warm, a very comforting sort of warm.

“Have I told you that I was horrified when I first saw a flower crown?”

Shadow hums. “I didn’t ask.”

“I know. Do you want to know?”

Shadow looks at him. “You are going to say it anyway.”

Silver chuckles, “well, the future I came from didn’t have a lot of plants. Playing with them is…very wasteful. It’s food, and it’s also medicine, I think? That’s what people always say.”

“…I still didn’t ask.”

Silver rolls his eyes playfully, and then he gets quiet, staring at the coffee mug in his hand. He is about to sip his coffee when he notices his own reflection—strange, because it should have been hard to see reflections at night…oh.

“Can I touch your quills?”

Silver’s head snap up to look at Shadow. “What?”

“…you are glowing again.” Shadow says, as if that’s an acceptable explanation.

Silver stares at the dark hedgehog, and he can feel Chaos energy radiate off of him, almost as if trying to resonate with Silver’s own. Silver is feeling warm and a little fuzzy, and maybe a little raw, inside, so he nods before he could really think over the situation.

Shadow’s hand lands on Silver’s quills like a feather. Soft, tentative, gentle—Silver shudders. Gentle?

It’s understandable, Silver thinks to himself. Who asks to touch other’s quills and then gets violent with it? That would be rude. Shadow certainly isn’t trying to be rude. “Um. How does it feel?”

“…it’s hard to describe.” Shadow says vaguely. “You are glowing brighter.”

Silver looks down at himself, and indeed, he’s glowing brighter.

Shadow turns his head a little, showing his quills. “You can try mine.”

Silver blushes. “…I, I don’t…”

“It’s only fair.”

Hearing his words being mirrored back, Silver composes himself. He sets the mug down on the bench, reaching his hand out.

Shadow’s quills feel…a little harder than they look, but they slip through Silver’s fingers easily. It’s apparent even to Silver that the quills are being taken care of. He runs his hands through them, mesmerized by the silkiness.

Shadow lets out a choked sound.

Realizing he might have overdone it, Silver pulls his hand back immediately— “sorry! Did I pull on it?”

Shadow shakes his head, but he refuses to speak.

“I mean…do you want to…you know, just so it’s fair?” Silver turns his head away so Shadow has easy access to his quills.

Silver doesn’t get a “yes” or any sort of reaction, but Shadow’s touch comes only a moment after. It’s not the featherlike touch like earlier. Shadow gently smoothes down the quills first, and then Silver feels that he starts parting the quills, running his hands through them. Once. Twice. It feels nice. Silver sighs out loud.

Shadow’s hands still.

Silver can’t see him. “Shadow?”

Shadow pulls his hands back. “…there. Fair.”

“Okay? But you kind of froze there…”

Shadow stands up. “…I need to go.”

“Wait, so soon?”

“Urgent business.”

Shadow disappears with a flash of green light. Silver stares at the vacant space next to him, and then the two coffee mugs on the bench.

“What, am I expected to finish all this?” He jokes to the air, but he knows the attempt is a completely and utterly failure.

For a while, Silver doesn’t see Shadow. Shadow is working with G.U.N., so he disappears every once in a while, but before, Silver would see him about three days a week. He hasn’t seen Shadow in two weeks.

He can’t stop thinking about what happened. Did Shadow suddenly decide to hate him? Was it because Shadow doesn’t consider he a friend, and yet he touched Shadow’s quills like that? Silver wishes he knows more about the preening tradition, but he’s too embarrassed to ask. 

Or was it something that he said? Was it that he…what’s the term…trauma-dumped on Shadow?  

The more Silver thinks about it, the angrier he gets. He did not ask for this. He only wanted quiet times for himself, and yet Shadow tried to interrupt it. Silver was just returning the favor, and Shadow went and disappeared? It’s unfair. It’s so unfair. Granted, last time it was him who sought Shadow out, but it was because Silver wanted to check on his arm. The wound had looked deep, and Silver was worried, even though he knew Shadow heals quickly.

Well, fine. Silvers thinks as he kicks the pebble near his feet. If Shadow wants to be an idiot, then I don’t care.

He flies up and perches on the railing of a skyscraper that just finished its construction about a week ago, thinking about what he would say if he sees Shadow again. He comes up blank.

He probably would just ask Shadow if he did something wrong. He really wants to be Shadow’s friend, it turns out. He sighs.

The thing is, he really thinks they can be good friends. Shadow is good company, Silver feels like they can communicate super well together. He droops a little, feeling stupid. Why is he still thinking about this? If Shadow doesn’t want to be his friends, then that’s it. There’s nothing to be done. Silver tried seeking him out, but he obviously didn’t like that at all.

“Silver.”

“Gahh!” Silver almost falls off the railing, startled by the sudden noise behind him.

Shadow reaches out quickly and catches his arm. Silver is in no danger, of course, because he can fly, so Silver doesn’t understand why Shadow reached out at all.

In all honesty, Silver has the urge to both punch him and—hug him? He’s not very sure. The older he gets, the less sure he becomes. Ever since he was little, it was either survive and fight back, or close his eyes and wait for the flames to take him. The choice might not have been clear for everyone, but it had been clear to him. He was full of spite and anger—and turned out that was enough to rewrite the fate of the world once. Now though, now he’s left with too many options moving forward. He’s both fortunate and unfortunately to witness as everything unfolds.

He misses the time when he could just be angry and there would be a target that he could be angry at.

Maybe that’s why he’s staring to get angry with the way Shadow wouldn’t leave him alone, both physically and mentally. Maybe that’s why he wants to punch Shadow, because getting angry is easy. It’s easier to understand, quicker to react to. Sonic said to Silver once that he seems to like a challenge—but the thing with challenges is that Silver hates things he can’t do. He only likes to try everything because he doesn’t know what would happen tomorrow

.…yeah. He doesn’t know. There’s no point in being angry, is there? He reaches out and wraps his arms around Shadow. “…I am sorry.”

“What?” Shadow looks genuinely baffled, but he hugs back. He pulls Silver off the railing and back on to the rooftop securely, and he lets go. Oh.

“…I…I felt like I crossed a line. When I…was touching your quills. I just…I got carried away, I’ve never touched others’ quills before, and it was really new, and you take care of your quills so well they are like, so smooth, so I…”

“…no, what?”

“I am sorry?”

Shadow pinches his brows with his fingers. “…I am not angry at you.”

“But…but you…you were gone, and…”

Shadow looks away. “I went on a mission for G.U.N.”

“…oh.” Now Silver feels stupid.

“I am sorry if I made you feel like I was upset with you. You are…you are fine, really.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am sure.”

“…do I get to hug you again?”

“Don’t push it.”

Silver smiles a little. “So…are we good?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Shadow pulls out a tin box and opens the tin. There are cookies in them, again. They are pink.

“I made cookies.”

They eat the cookies together. Silver glances at Shadow’s arm—it’s already healed. There’s not even a hint of a scar. The wound is gone without a trace, like it never existed. The strawberry flavored cookie loses its charm on Silver’s tongue, and Silver turns his eyes to the dark horizon, forcing himself to stop staring.

It’s gone.

It’s gone.

He doesn’t know why that’s so difficult to accept.

Chapter Text

The view from this cliff is breathtaking. He stumbled upon this place a few months ago during a scout mission, before the war turned ugly, and now he can finally come back out here again. There’s a tree sticks out from the side of the cliff, growing out from a crevice, and Silver lands gently on its branch. The air is cooler here.

He wonders if the tree would still be here two hundred years later. He hopes it would because he wants something that stays, something that can remind him of this time, when he gets back to the future.

He kind of wishes Shadow’s here. He thinks he would like the view. Shadow seems to be the kind of person to appreciate this sort of things…

Silver sighs. Great. He just sits down, and he’s already thinking about Shadow. Ugh.

But he thinks Shadow would like it.

He wishes he doesn’t wish that Shadow’s here. 

It’s starting to annoy Silver, the amount of time he thinks of the hedgehog. Silver knows he’s getting attached like he never had before—he loves his friends, he does, but Shadow is…different. Shadow is different in many ways. Shadow is so much quieter than most of their friends, for example. The most Silver has seen him talk was when he joined Silver on his late night escape…

No, no. See, this is why Silver has to leave. He’s starting to get the wrong idea. Not to mention, it was Amy who asked Shadow to do it, and…Silver never wants to come between them. It works out, too, because they belong to the same time.

Silver has to go. He can’t afford to stay anymore.

He is about to stand up from the branch when the voice that’s been haunting him appears behind him.

“Silver.”

Silver looks back at the cliff, where Shadow’s standing. He wonders why he didn’t hear him coming. He wonders if this is exactly what he had been waiting for, to be found, despite knowing he should have left by now. “…Hello.”

Shadow throws him a bag. Silver catches it with his power, slowly floating it over.

“What’s this?”

“Amy packed you snacks. She wasn’t happy that you didn’t tell them you are going away.”

“Oh, sorry. I forgot.”

“Hm.”

Silver didn’t forget. He opens the bag as Shadow hops down onto the branch, sitting down next to him. There are some crackers, some cookies, and a lot of candy. He unwraps a piece of candy and pops it into his mouth. It’s strawberry flavored. He hums.

“…how did you know I hasn’t left for the future?”

“I could still detect your Chaos energy.” Shadow looks down. There’s a ravine under them.

“…how sensitive to it are you, exactly?” Silver blinks.

“Very.”

“So you cheated, is what you are saying.”

“In what sense is it cheating?”

“I dunno. I just feel like it is.”

They fall silent, the only exception the sound of the candy bumping into Silver’s teeth.

The silence drags on. 

And on.

“…why didn’t you say anything?” Shadow sighs.

Silver sighs too. “…if it were you, would you say anything?”

Shadow runs a hand through his quills. “…someone would know if it were me. Rouge, or Omega. You left a fucking note that only says ‘going back to the future.’ Amy understands, but she’s upset. They are all upset.”

Silver clutches the bag of snacks tighter.

“I have to justify going back home, is that it?”

Shadow gives him a look. “Of course you don’t. Don’t get smart with me.”

“I am not getting smart or whatever. I am asking: do I have to justify going back home?” Silver doesn’t back down.

“You don’t, but that’s not the problem.” Shadow says tightly. “The problem is that you planned on disappearing without saying anything.”

Silver scoffs. “Why do you care?”

“You made Amy very upset.”

“She’ll get over it.”

Shadow balls his fists. “You are being a jerk.”

“What if I am? I don’t want to say goodbye, is that such a crime?”

“You can at least told someone!”

“Why does it matter to you?” Silver glares at him, “you don’t care. That’s what you do.”

Shadow is leaking with Chaos energy now, his anger rising. He looks almost hurt. “Why can’t I care? Do you think I am heartless?”

“If you care, why waited three days to come find me? It’s easy for you to find me, isn’t it?!”

“Because I didn’t know you were gone! If I had known, I would have stopped you from leaving like that, damn it! But as it was, I didn’t know, and I showed up at Restoration three days after you were gone! Do you know how—” Shadow squeezes his eyes shut. “Fuck. Fuck! Silver, people care about you. You are important. You can’t…”

Silver sighs, the defiance leaving. He knows he’s being unreasonable, anyway. Besides, he doesn’t want their last conversation to end in bad terms. Shadow can care about Amy. He can come to Silver for Amy, it’s all fine. Silver’s leaving anyway.

“…I am scared to say goodbye. I mean, that’s obvious, right?”

“Why are you leaving?” Shadow lets out a sigh.

Silver tugs at his gloves. It’s not as if he can tell Shadow the reason. “…I can’t stay.”

“Why can’t you stay?”

“Because—”

Because he doesn’t belong here. Because he’s starting to entertain the thoughts of the what-ifs. Because it’s dangerous to the integrity of the time continuum. Because everything about his staying here is wrong.

“…it doesn’t matter.” Silver says quietly, his tone tired.

“It matters. Why can’t you stay?”

“I can’t be here. I am…” Silver tugs at his gloves again, trying not to list all the ways Shadow makes his heart does things in case he blurts them out. “I am starting to get comfortable. Things always go wrong when I do. I need to go back, I need to make sure everything’s…okay.”

“…is there someone waiting for you there?”

Silver forces himself to stop fiddling his gloves. “…I mean…”

“Yes or no?”

He sighs irritably, “No, but it doesn’t—”

“If there’s no one there—”

“Just leave me alone!” Silver yells, his entire frame lighting up in blue, “you just—why can’t you leave me be? Why can’t you just go away? I want to be left alone. You make everything so—complicated!”

Shadow is cracking with Chaos energy too. It snaps and crackles, but then, the energy calms down, and Shadow lets out a breath. “…I make things complicated.” He repeats quietly, frowning at the air in front of him, seemingly trying to figure something out.

Silver was ready for a fight. The way Shadow suddenly calms down blocks the built-up frustration inside of Silver, and he feels a little sick. He wants to fight. It’s easier if they fight.

“…I am sorry.” Silver chokes out, trying very hard to hold back the tears, “but I just can’t do this.”

Shadow reaches out quickly to grab Silver arm, his hold firm. Silver doesn’t understand why he grabs him—again. Like how he pulled him off the railing last time. He looks down at where he’s grabbed—the bandage is long gone and the wound has healed, but the scar remains, faint yet visible. Silver knows he’ll carry it for the rest of his life—he realizes with a start—despite how the future shifts and rewrite and erases. He’ll carry it everywhere he goes, whether he wants to or not.

“…it’s okay.” Shadow sighs, but he doesn’t let go, “if you need to go home, then go. I just wish you would have told me.”

Silver wants to shakes this man, wants to demand straight answers from him, or maybe beg for him to stop sending him the wrong message, but he only nods. He bites his lips to keep himself from actually breaking down in tears.

“…can I know why you are still in this time?”

Silver rubs his face, trying to calm himself down. “…it’s messy.”

“I’ve dealt with messy.”

“Not like this.”

“Explain to me.”

Silver opens his mouth—and closes it. Shadow doesn’t know. He doesn’t know this could be goodbye, like every time Silver exits a timeline. Silver wants to hide.

“…I don’t want to.”

Shadow pauses, and he lets go of Silver’s arm, looking away. He is silent for a long while, his shoulders tense.

“…I wish I know how to explain, but I don’t know, and I don’t want to.” Silver mutters. “Please don’t make me.”

Shadow nods stiffly.

“…I am sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Shadow mutters.

“I am.”

“I know.”

“…you don’t.”

Shadow doesn’t reply, but he opens the snack bag in Silver’s lap and takes out a piece of candy and eats it.

“I am sorry.” Silver says again.

“I am serious, don’t apologize. I should be sorry for blowing up on you like that. It was insensitive of me.”

“I am bad at making friends.”

Shadow snorts, “you are fine.”

It sounded bitter. Why would it sound bitter? Silver is going insane.

“…you are very important to me, all of you.” Silver looks through the bag of snacks, because then he doesn’t have to look at Shadow. “And Amy prepared this for me even when she was upset. This is why it’s so hard to leave you guys.”

It is true. He loves everyone here, and Amy’s been treating him like a overprotective sister. If he leaves, there’s a chance he might never get to see them again. 

“You don’t plan to come back?”

Leave it to Shadow to catch that. Silver sighs. “I would want to. But…well, time-travel. There’s stuff I can’t control.”

Shadow pauses.

“And you left with nothing but a note?”

“I said I am sorry…” Silver whines softly.

There’s a loud crunch—Shadow crushes the candy between his teeth very loudly.

Silver closes his eyes. He really wishes Shadow would just stop reacting like that. It’s not helping at all. It makes something in him stirs, something Silver is afraid to admit even in his own head. They are friends. That’s how friends react when they learn that you are going away.

“…Sorry you had to…sorry you had to be here. To give me this.” Silver holds up the snack bag.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Shadow says tiredly.

“I know Amy’s busy with organizing and stuff, so you are tasked to babysit me.”

Shadow breathes in deeply as if physically trying to hold himself back. “No one’s tasked to babysit you, Silver. You are an adult.”

Yeah, sure. “Well why do you keep showing up when I go on my late night strolls?”

Shadow closes his eyes and breathes in deeply again.

“What?”

“Could you stay quiet for a while?”

Silver scoffs weakly, “the audacity—”

“Just…a while. That’s not a lot.”

“Still.”

Silver stays quiet for a while, despite the complaint. He eats another piece of candy for the distraction it provides, and waits for Shadow to gather his thoughts.

He’s not ready to leave. He really isn’t. He loves everyone here, he loves how everything here is so concrete and real, and he loves sitting here with Shadow.

He wonders if he’s pretty. Sitting next to Shadow, it’s hard not to feel insecure. Silver knows he should stop the train of thought, but he’s tired. 

There are many differences between them. Shadow has such dark fur, and Silver has grayish white fur, so standing next to each other, they draw everyone’s attention. The night however, provides an illusion that makes everything slightly easier. He’s no longer blindingly white, and Shadow’s so dark his fur reflects the moonlight. They are closer at night, the lines blurred just like their colors. 

It makes sense that Shadow is willing to sit so close. It makes no sense that Shadow came to sit with him again and again. Or maybe it does.

People can’t see them here. In fact, the only time they are ever close is when no one can see, and Silver is fine with that. He tries to savor the comfort the knowledge gives him, like they have some secrets that’s just theirs. He looks over at Shadow, who always has a frown or a scowl on his face, who acts so aloof but still sits with him on nights where the quiet is too loud, where Silver can’t bear for people to break that deafening silence. Shadow provides a silence of his own, and it resonants with Silver deep in his core.

They are not that different, at the end of the day.

Silver glances at Shadow. Shadow’s ear does a subtle flick, but somehow Silver figures out that Shadow has noticed that he’s staring. He has half the mind to be embarrassed, but he can’t find it in himself to feel flustered.

Shadow said that Silver reminds him of someone. Hopeful, optimistic…but Silver’s full of anger, and get angry Silver does.

“I don’t want to remind of you of someone else.”

Silence.

“I don’t think you do.” Shadow says quietly, almost to himself. “Not anymore.”

Silver knows he’s screwed, very screwed. But if he’s screwed, and he’s leaving…

The candy clinks against Silver’s teeth. Silver crushes the candy with a crunch and reaches for Shadow, hand on cheek, sharing the crushed sugar with him. Shadow lets out a surprised noise, but he quickly leans in, kissing back urgently. Silver is knocked off balance, and they fall off the branch.

“This is way too dramatic!” Silver breaks the kiss and yells over the air rushing past them, his head swimming with the fact that Shadow kissed back.

“I don’t give a fuck, Silver, you are a fucking idiot!” Shadow says before going back for another kiss.

“We are going to die!” Silver laughs, feeling slightly hysterical because of everything.

“I still don’t give a fuck.” Shadow growls against his lips.

Silver can’t see how close they are getting to the ground since he’s falling backwards, but he leaves it to Shadow. Because it’s easier that way.

The wind is so loud around them, the only things Silver could feel are the rush of excitement from the free-falling, and Shadow’s lips. Soft, slightly chapped, sweet. It’s strawberry flavored, with a slight bit of bitterness that’s distinctively coffee.

“…stay.”

The word is almost swallowed by the wind, but Silver catches it nonetheless. He opens his eyes to look at Shadow—ruby red eyes, framed by the night sky that’s full of stars, overflowing with emotions that the owner couldn’t fold up in time—and he feels a strong and warm energy surrounds him. Shadow teleports them back onto the edge of the cliff, and he keeps his hands on Silver’s waist. They stare at each other in silence for a long while.

“I…” Silver starts.

Shadow closes his eyes, his forehead dropping onto Silver’s shoulder, his breath shallow.

“You are driving me insane, Silver. This is all your fault.”

Silver scoffs with a laugh, “what did I do?”

“What didn’t you do?”

Silver lifts his hands, and hesitantly, he runs his hands through Shadow’s quills. Shadow doesn’t resist.

“…I don’t have a place here.”

“That’s bullshit. You do. They want you here.”

“And you?”

“Is it not obvious?”

“I want to hear you say it.”

“You are really going to drive me crazy.” Shadow grumbles.

Silver chuckles weakly. “So are you.”

Shadow lets out a grunt.

They stay there, Shadow’s hands still on Silver’s waist, and Silver’s hands still in the dark quills. Silver wonders, vaguely, that if it’s a bad idea to get used to the feeling of this. He wonders if Shadow know what it means, the preening.

“…please, stay by my side.” Shadow finally murmurs into his shoulder.

And Silver thinks about a line on the paper that stretches and extends, about having an anchor. He thinks about the past, and he thinks about the future. He thinks about easy and complicated. They would have to embark on a very hard journey, but Silver can’t say no to the plead in his voice. And maybe it’s Silver’s own selfishness, he doesn’t know, but he’s tired of going on walks alone.

“…okay.”

Because he never could have left anyway.

||Epilogue||

“…wait, wait. Let me get this straight. That was all a ruse to get me to fall in love with you?”

“Yes!” Amy claps excitedly.

“No.” Shadow pinches his eyebrows. “I expressed my concern to her, and she threatened me to ‘do something about it’—”

“Uh, no? I heard you out, gave you advice, and pushed you to take actions! And now you two are together!”

Silver hides his face in his palms. “…no,” he says miserably.

Shadow takes one of his hand—a tentative, gentle gesture, one that doesn’t allow refusal. “It turned out well for us.”

“It’s easy for you to say. You are—you are shameless.”

“Maybe I am.”

“You are not supposed to agree!” Silver wails.

Shadow only smiles. Amy strikes off something on her notepad, muttering a yes to herself.

“And? Who confessed first?”

“Me? Technically?” Silver mutters, “I mean…not verbally, but—”

“What do you mean not verbally?” Amy looks at him with a look of a hawk.

Silver shrugs, face pink.

“Oh my oh my spill right now!”

“Give him a break. He had a long day.” Shadow steps subtly in front of Silver, and Amy squeals, because of course she noticed.

“I thought you and Amy were a thing.” Silver mutters petulantly.

Amy drops her notepad. Shadow drops his jaw.  “We were not!” They both exclaim.

“I know that now, but I didn’t…”

Both Amy and Shadow groans.