Chapter Text
Sonic squeaked as Silver grabbed him right by the shoulders.
“My job!” the psychic cried in delight. “Sonic! We can get tons of rings from my job!! Then we don’t need to go travel around for hours to collect enough!”
Sonic… rubbed at one ear with his face contorting in a pained grimace, for whatever reason. “Your job,” followed next in an absent-minded hum, accompanied with a shimmy in Silver’s grasp. Warm hands curled over Silver’s and tugged them away-
Before Sonic halted in his movements, and his ears perked right up. “Wait, your job!” got repeated again, far more like Sonic’s usual eager self. “That’s a great idea, actually! You work in the mail business, right?”
“I do,” Silver responded.
But a bit absent-mindedly himself.
Because Sonic’s hands were quite warm, from where they held his own. His powers shimmied right to the surface of his marks to go nuzzle against Sonic’s palms, with a thrum and thrill that made Silver’s chest flutter all weirdly. Strange, the psychic mused. He couldn’t recall a single time when getting his hands held had elicited such a reaction before. Sure, that hadn’t happened often to begin with; he would go so far as to say it’d happened so little he could count all instances of hand-holding he had experienced in his life with less than ten fingers easily. But it had never made him feel this…
Odd? Strange? Weird?
In a way that made him quite unsure whether he even wanted to go out and get rings, or whether he just wanted to sink against Sonic and sit here for hours?
The psychic jolted as his hands were given a squeeze. “Earth to Silver,” Sonic chuckled as Silver’s head snapped up from where he’d been staring at where Sonic held onto him.
“Oh- Sorry. Just lost in thought. We should leave right now.”
And yet, the way in which Silver tugged his hands back was altogether slow. And strangely tender, in a way that felt fitting but also completely foreign. And it made a silence fall between him and Sonic, as the latter cleared his throat and Silver himself tried to figure out if that something in his chest would go flutter right out at this rate.
But with the warm touch of Sonic’s hand gone, it diminished enough for Silver to be able to at least think clearly. “I do gotta… put on my uniform,” he broke the silence between them, gesturing vaguely to his collection of bags. “That’s really important and stuff.”
Sonic’s lips twitched up. “Heh. The mail service doesn’t accept hoodies?”
“I think,” Silver responded, “that Foreman Marco would actually kill me.”
That made Sonic laugh, Silver snorting as well. Foreman Marco wasn’t the easiest person to get along with, general consensus of everyone working under him was. On the one hand, Silver didn’t really see why: the guy yelled a lot, sure, but when it came to the mail service he hadn’t ever had a single day wherein everything hadn’t gotten delivered at the end, so the tales went. On the other, Silver himself had also gotten yelled at before and hadn’t been all that happy about that, and apparently “the warehouse had been left quacking for days” from their impromptu shouting match, his colleagues had proclaimed. But from that all, Silver had always figured Foreman Marco was simply a timely person with a temper, and he hadn’t spent much thought on it otherwise.
Also now, the psychic didn’t feel particularly threatened about the prospect of getting killed by Foreman Marco for disregarding the clothing protocol. But as he shrugged amusedly at the mere thought, that irking hoodie made its presence known all the more, by clinging all around his arms and snagging in his elbows. “My uniform is in one of my bags,” Silver thus piped up, floating over to his supplies and determining which one held his clothing. Then he could also put the hoodie away immediately, which was an efficiency of actions that made the psychic perk up in delight. “I’ll show you, hold on.”
“Do you need a hand?” Sonic offered, though Silver had focused on the bag in question.
“Thanks, but it’s okay,” he called out over his shoulders as his powers grabbed it, some hums of jolly nothingness reverberating in Silver’s mouth as he tore the bag out and plunked it down to the ground. After some digging he could tug out the slightly-wrinkled blue jacket from its depths, that got handed to Sonic before Silver dove back in again. At least the hat he wore too was sturdy as always, dusted off before getting handed to the speedster as well. “It’s got the official post office logo and everything,” Silver proudly pointed out.
Sonic whistled as he turned the hat around in his hands. “It looks amazing!” followed-
As did a moment of hesitation, almost, before Sonic shot Silver a slightly-strange, tender little smile over the hat’s top. “I’m sure you look… you know, really handsome in it.”
“That’s what my colleagues say too,” Silver nodded back, chest puffing up only more. The brown satchel in which he put the paper mail got retrieved easily also and put in Sonic’s hands, and Silver grabbed the jacket from there to put on and show Sonic just how handsome this outfit made him-
Before halting as his movements got rather snagged in that hoodie still holding him in a stifling embrace.
Sonic laughed as Silver made a noise not unlike an angry kettle. “Are you all warmed up again?” the speedster inquired with a wink, and Silver groused.
“Absolutely. I just… gotta…!”
…Try to get out, and fail miserably at that.
Silver hissed only more as he tried to pull the hoodie over his head, only for it to get caught in about every single quill his body contained. It tugged on his mane as well, the psychic jolting with a yelp as the skin underneath got pulled at. With a growl Silver spun and flailed his arms, but-!
“Easy, easy,” Sonic’s voice calmly rose up. Silver, with his vision half-blocked and head craned up awkwardly in his predicament, huffed as a tender hand brushed over his arm and the jacket Silver madly clutched got taken out of his grasp. “Let me see. Can you teleport out of it, maybe?”
“Oh! …No, I don’t think so.”
With a thought Silver focused, and cyan flickered around him as he materialised in a different corner of his hideout… with the hoodie still on him. “Aw,” the psychic settled on. “Well, back to wringing, I guess.”
“You’ll hurt yourself,” Sonic pointed out, though Silver shrugged. Wrenched muscles would heal easily enough, that was no matter.
…But as Silver flailed only more, the thoughts that this was not a dignified position to be in and rather unpractical as well clamoured for his attention both. And twisting himself into a pretzel did hurt. And with every tug, it seemed like he was only getting more stuck.
And…
Sonic had helped him get into this dumb hoodie yesterday, tugging at it with warm hands and gentle patience. And now Sonic stood similarly as Silver fussed and fought, eyes certainly twinkling from where Silver shot them a glare, but almost like he was…
Waiting?
…Perhaps Silver just had to ask if he could lend a hand.
“Hey… Sonic?” the psychic piped up. “Can you help me?”
Warm emerald eyes flicked over him. “Of course I can,” Sonic smiled, walking over to where Silver half-heartedly floated and clothing plus satchel getting put on top of the bag. Strong hands grasped the hem of the hoodie next as Silver braced himself, flying backwards…
All in all, it still took some firm pulls from Sonic’s side and a few curses from Silver’s for them to make any leeway in tugging the hoodie over Silver’s head. But in a snap of a second Silver’s world shifted and he shot out of the fabric’s hold, stumbling backwards in the air with a half-pirouette. “Ouch!” the psychic hissed, baring his teeth at the green fabric-
Before realising that this meant he could move freely again to begin with, and promptly his snarl turned into a smile. “Hey, it worked! I’m free!!”
Sonic had also taken two, three steps backwards from the force, though the speedster rebounded with the hoodie in hand just as easily. “Heck yeah!” got cheered out, the hoodie folded in a swift movement and held out to Silver. With ease the psychic picked it up, dropping it into his bag and grabbing his blue jacket from there.
Psychokinesis made quick work of any wrinkles in the clothing, the item smoothed out before Silver tugged it behind his back and past his arms. “Look,” Silver purred as it settled in place. “I look really handsome indeed, don’t I?”
That twinkle in Sonic’s eyes shone again, as the speedster grinned. “Quite so, heh. That blue looks great on you.”
“I don’t know if there’s a reason why it’s blue. The eagle from the logo is obvious, because the city really likes eagles. From legends and stuff.” Legends that Silver vaguely knew and hadn’t minded much otherwise, and also this time he merely ran a thumb over the logo on his hat before pressing it snugly against his quills. A peek into his satchel showed all his supplies to be in order, the clipboard and pens and booklets all sitting safely inside. And beside them laid Silver’s slightly-crumpled tie, that he always kept in there too so he wouldn’t forget it. With that strange urge to hum some more Silver grabbed it and slung it around his neck and-
“Silver,” Sonic interrupted with a chuckle, “that is not how you tie a tie.”
Most disturbed from where he had haphazardly flung the two ends together so the knot would be right below his chin Silver peeked back. “Sorry?”
“It’s gonna get all wrinkled around your neck. That’s just not comfortable.”
Slowly Silver blinked. His gaze dropped next, to the tie and the knot he’d been forming. “It’s fine if it looks fine on the front. They can’t see it because of my mane anyway. It fluffs all around it,” he pointed out… but Sonic’s lips twitched up only more, a suave wink shot Silver’s way.
“How about I give some instructions?”
“You can tie the thing if you want, to be honest. It’s always a fight,” Silver shrugged back. And it was: that knot in his tie never looked as gorgeous as it did in other people’s. In one swift movement the psychic pulled the strap of fabric loose again, stepping closer to Sonic until he was right beside him. How strange, that it bothered him so much less than before to have Sonic in his personal space… “Knot needs to be in front and no folding of the tie part itself,” he recited what he’d been instructed at the mail warehouse; they had a reputation of orderliness to upkeep, he’d had to basically swear on his life.
Sonic did not grab the edges of the tie to tie it, however.
“Sonic,” Silver urged him, “we’re in a hurry.”
“Er… yeah. We are,” the approximate response came. Sonic looked altogether flustered… but then why had he brought up the tie in the first place?! Still, as psychic sparks prodded at his hands Sonic did lift them up, the other clearing his throat before leaning closer. “I need to make sure it’s smoothed out fully. Also around your neck ‘n stuff,” got mumbled out next. And Silver blinked as fingers pressed down on his mane, his body tensing by instinct…!
But it felt nice. Sonic smoothed out the downy fur of Silver’s mane, fiddling with the strap of the tie that rested over it. His thumbs brushed down on the nape where Silver’s head met his spine, and the psychic almost shuddered, a wave of tingly pleasantness coursing through him. Most tenderly the fingers moved from there to Silver’s shoulders, one hand on each side, coming closer to Silver’s front where the rest bungled… “And then you just… tie it like so…” Sonic hummed next, emerald eyes firmly on the bits of fabric he was fiddling with.
And in two, three quick movements, the strips of fabric got knotted together perfectly.
“…Huh. You’re good at this,” Silver mused, head craned all the way down too to see. Exactly how everyone else at the post office carried their ties. “Thanks!”
Sonic stepped back, head given a quick shake before that grin reformed on his face. “Anytime. This whole fit looks great on you.”
“It’s the official clothing. Everyone has it,” Silver explained, one final check of all his supplies commencing before he gestured for Sonic to follow him into Mountain River Zone. “But I’ve never managed to make the tie look this good! Foreman Marco is gonna want to hire you just for that, heh.”
“Strict guy?”
“Yep. He yells a lot at basically everyone, all the time, for no reason.”
Sonic’s eyes twinkled altogether suspiciously. “Sounds rough.”
“I’ll just yell back if it annoys me,” Silver shrugged. “But the other people who work there can’t, for some reason- Oh, I need to take produce with me for them, actually! I promised.”
Spinning around on his heels and with his quills nearly snagging in the bramble thicket, Silver dove towards his plants instead. They hadn’t suffered too much under the rain, it seemed, and drying the carrots and spring onions and spinach leaves off was plenty easy with the end of the tie and then Silver’s shirt when that became too soaked. While doing that the psychic could have sworn Sonic snorted about something, but a curious peek over his shoulder revealed Sonic studying the plants as well, and thus Silver merely shrugged. Sonic was strange like that sometimes, he just supposed. The mere thought of it made him amused too in some odd way.
And with vegetables and fruits floating around them aplenty Silver handed Sonic a bunch for breakfast, and Sonic urged him to eat a bunch in turn, and Silver could have sworn he’d never been in this good a mood when making his way to the mail warehouse in previous days.
Sonic just seemed to have that effect on him, maybe.
…Even if Silver just didn’t know what exactly that effect was.
☆☆☆☆☆
What the heck was going on between him and Silver, Sonic pondered not for the first time today as the two of them made their way through the city.
Was there something going on to begin with? Pensively Sonic studied his friend from where Silver guided them both past the cobblestone-paved streets. The difference between Silver’s demeanour two days ago and now could not be more stark, at least: even if the psychic wasn’t smiling per se, he did look… sunny. With a quiet but content happiness in his features, that made his brows just slightly less furrowed and his lips just slightly less set in a frown.
But, though that did indicate there was something going on indeed, Sonic didn’t find the answers to what exactly.
Perhaps Silver just acted like this because he had never accepted the prospect of having friends before, the speedster mused next. Anyone who thought themselves friendless and alone in the world would surely be quite delighted when that got proven false, assuming they weren’t someone like Eggman. And maybe Silver’s sudden cuddliness and bouts of affection could be explained by that too: him being comfortable with Sonic’s presence, which was a thought that made a sense of fond relief form a smile on Sonic’s face. All possible explanations for any oddness that Sonic felt hang in the air around them…
Even if that oddness intensified a dozenfold as Silver halted, before smiling. Smally, lightly, and just for a second, but with an affection in it that could soothe every hurt and pain plaguing the world. “This is the warehouse where they sort the mail,” the psychic spoke up, an ear poking towards a building as massive as all others in his city. “I pick up my tasks for the day from there, and all the stuff I need to deliver, and then I go do just that.”
“Sounds great!” With a wink Sonic bounded forward, following Silver as they went past the fence and through an otherwise-unassuming door in the building’s front-
And promptly Sonic’s eyes widened and a whistle of awe slipped past his lips.
The warehouse stretched out far, just as far as the library’s floors had: but where those had been filled with quiet paths between overflowing bookshelves, this warehouse hustled and bustled with a brewing liveliness amidst machines instead. Swaths of people, all dressed in the same fancy blue as Silver’s clothing, made their way around with envelopes or boxes or machines at their side, while around them huge robotic arms and endless conveyor belts whirred from floor to ceiling. And on there, boxes and crates and envelopes moved to and fro with what simply had to be oiled precision and a neck-breaking speed on top. “Does all the mail go through here?” the speedster inquired, marvelling at the sights as Silver nodded.
“Yep! Entire city. A lot of it is done automatically with scanners and stuff, but they still need people to check everything is going well and to upkeep the machinery. The warehouse has dozens of sections and tons of specialised equipment, and one of my colleagues – Eliza, from the carrot cake – knows how to repair those. And her brother James… also does stuff. I think he’s supposed to be in charge of checking that getting everything in the correct spot went well.”
Sonic had to stifle a laugh at that callous explanation. As did a woman standing a bit wayward by one such machine, who shook her head. “His job is made a bit more difficult with you always jumping in and getting everything out before he’s done with that, Skyfire-” she began saying, turning around-
Before jolting and gasping. “Oh my goodness, are you okay?!”
Silver… blinked, slowly.
“Of course I am,” followed, in a surprised tone that contained only a hint of hesitance. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Sonic grimaced as he realised quite a few reasons why it would appear that Silver wasn’t, starting with the copious amounts of bandages wrapped around his limbs. “Silver, you look like you’re… rather injured.”
“But I don’t feel like I’m rather injured. Because of the Emerald,” the psychic pointed out most didactically.
“Oh jeez. Well, at least you’re patched up this time- Oh, and your tie looks very handsome! I told you one day you’d learn how to get it right.” Had the woman started with a wary shrug, her face did soften as her eyes fell on the strap of blue around Silver’s neck, and Sonic got shot a smile as well. “Eliza. And that over there is James, my little brother. James!!”
At the mention of his name, a man who made a very small dot in the distance of the warehouse turned around too- and similarly startled at Silver’s appearance, Sonic grimacing again at his visible jolt despite how far away he was. “I’m fine!” the psychic yelled before anyone could so much as say anything about it, though, and Sonic hid a concerned laugh in a cough at the worried look on James’ face as he came over as well.
“Er… Sure. I’m James,” got hummed, Sonic shot a nod. “I take it Silver has brought in an extra pair of hands today?”
“Sonic and I gotta collect rings so we can go to the Special Stage-” Silver began explaining, though altogether distracted for his usual behaviour as he peered to the side and his ears gave a flick. “Oh, yes, this is Sonic. He’s staying over at my place.”
“Sonic the Hedgehog. Nice to meetcha,” Sonic smiled at the two humans.
Who, like more people in the future, regarded him with most curious gazes most promptly. “Sonic… Like the Blue Wind, huh? That famous hero from centuries ago?” James spoke up first. “You do look a lot like the guy who’s got all the statues and stuff, and who’s in all the history books.”
“Sonic is that hero, and he’s my friend. And you guys apparently are also my friends! Did you know that?” Silver absentmindedly called out over his shoulder from where he’d wandered away to study a screen spanning a significant width of the warehouse’s wall.
Sonic had to stifle a laugh at the way James and Eliza regarded each other next, with raised eyebrows and twinkling eyes. “Of course we knew that, Skyfire,” the latter responded first, her brother shaking his head with a smile. “As for you, Sonic… If you are that hero, you’re pretty fast, huh?” That got accompanied by a wink Sonic’s way, that the speedster returned in stride, his own lips tugged up as well; poor Silver wasn’t believed yet again and mercifully didn’t seem to notice that either.
“Fastest thing alive, yep.”
“We can always use fast people here,” Eliza nodded-
And promptly both humans shot a worried look over their shoulders, in perfect sync.
Sonic reared up on his tiptoes to follow it, and saw quite a few tense faces on the people scattering about further into the warehouse. “Foreman Marco is displeased. Not that that’s unusual, but it makes for a miserable work experience,” James added, his eyes rolling; but Sonic also did not miss how his voice had dropped to the quietest of whispers. The exact kind of whisper used by people who knew the person they were talking smack about was lurking nearby, and could very well overhear and then promptly explode. “Something about how we’re all slackers, how the mail service is going down the drain, that we’ve got protocols for a reason and those need to be followed, what have you… At least he likes Silver. We think. Which is impressive, because he likes nobody else.”
Sonic hummed at that. “How come Silver’s special, then?”
Eliza snorted. “Look at him. He’s small and fluffy! We met him because he just wandered onto this terrain one day with zero regard that that’s forbidden, and Foreman Marco went off entirely and so did Silver, and he, like… apparently thought that Foreman Marco didn’t believe he could deliver all the mail easily, and then he just picked everything up and he did. And he did it so well that he got hired on the spot despite there being no positions open and stuff and him not having a residence anywhere and what-have-you. It’s apparently the first and only thing Foreman Marco’s ever done that goes against his holy protocol. But how could he not hire someone who can lift literally hundreds of heavy boxes and crates and containers with wares like they weigh nothing, just with his mind?” got explained at a rapid-fire speed and with the quietest of laughs. “But the fact he’s small and fluffy must have played a role too. We don’t get that. We’re broke college students.”
“I’m not a broke college student, but I’m also not fluffy and I can’t lift things with my mind. Your foreman’s gonna like me better than he likes you, but not as much as he likes Silver,” Sonic dramatically decreed, both humans laughing. Sonic chuckled as well, though he did flick an ear warily alongside it. If things were so strict here, then… “Very random question: what is the protocol on inviting friends to help you out with delivering mail?”
“Forbidden. Only certified mail deliverers allowed. We have a reputation on various fronts to upkeep here,” Eliza grinned his way wryly as her brother shrugged beside her.
“Meh, I’m sure it’s fine. Foreman Marco will come to love you if you’re as fast as you say and you deliver all this mail today.” And with that James’ voice rose again. “Hey, Silver! You’ll be showing your buddy the ropes, will ya?”
The hedgehog in question peered up from where he’d been… amassing what had to be hundreds of crates in neatly-stacked piles. Those towered over Sonic completely, blocking out the lights in the ceiling and casting shadows that reached all the way to the opposite end of the giant warehouse. Sonic promptly lowered his ears in trepid awe. “Is that all the stuff that has to be delivered?”
“It’s been a disaster with all the mail this whole day. Yesterday too,” Eliza spoke up lamentingly. “Tons of stuff has to go to the industry terrain for some reason and we’ve got no idea how to get it there in time.”
Silver for his part simply grinned. “You guys know I can do that easily! And I’ve got the fastest thing alive with me. Sonic, I can handle the crates and stuff; how about you do the paper mail? You gotta go in and out of a ton of buildings with that, but it’s a lot less to carry around. We’ll be able to work it out together.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Sonic chuckled back… before frowning. Silver was too, stacks of crates regarded more pensively.
Would the psychic be able to lift all that, considering he’d been hurt so much in that explosion? Sure, he’d slept and seemed energetic as usual, but…
But before Sonic could bring up those concerns in a roundabout way that wouldn’t freak out any friends of Silver about how Silver got blown up, the psychic had already jumped into action. In one fell swoop, cyan coated the crates, and all the stacks moved…!
“Silver,” Sonic breathed, rushing closer so he could murmur in the other’s ear. “You sure this is a good idea?”
Golden eyes regarded him curiously. “Yes? We need to get rings.”
“Not the job, but lifting so much. You sure you’re not too tired?”
“…Oh.” Silver blinked, and Sonic jolted as all the crates got plunked down again. “Sonic, look at my marks. They’re bright as always, aren’t they?” the psychic added… and Sonic could have sworn that twitch of his nose was from amusement. “You really don’t need to be worried about me!”
Amusement… Two could play that game. With a wink Sonic curled his fingers around Silver’s hands lightly, angling the limb left and right and up and down as he inspected the mark all over. Meanwhile he swallowed down a chuckle at Silver fondly rolling his eyes, the psychic standing fussing and twitching as Sonic’s fingers trailed over his glove. “Well, let us seeeeeee… This does look to be glowing quite healthily… The other hand too… And the backs of them as well… Seems pretty firm and powerful, like they are part of the world’s most powerful psychic… Yes, I can give this my blessing,” the speedster blabbered on, before laughing in full as the world’s most powerful psychic prodded him psychokinetically in his ribs.
“That’s great, and we gotta start moving, because if we don’t, Foreman Marco is going to give us what for.”
“And that’d be bad,” Sonic chuckled. “You can lead the way?”
“I got a list of all the addresses we gotta go to. While I drop off the heavy stuff, you go in the streets and deliver the paper mail wherever. The numbers speak for themselves.”
And in one fell swoop, Silver threw the strap of his brown satchel over Sonic’s neck. “Let’s go!” the psychic smirked, the crates getting coated in cyan again as he raised up his hands and a large door psychokinetically rattling open in one wall, and slowly they all flew out of the warehouse.
“I’m right behind you. We’ll see you in a bit!” Sonic nodded, peeking over his shoulder to wave at Silver’s two friends.
It was the perfect moment to catch the most intrigued way they were looking at each other.
And thus, Sonic had blasted off after Silver into the city before any questions could be send his way.
He wouldn’t have an answer for them to begin with.