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Espio’s morning had been going perfectly for the first time in weeks. He managed to get a full night’s sleep without anything waking him up before his six o’clock alarm, meditate on the roof without some absurd house disaster striking, and even finish his daily training in the backyard uninterrupted. The house was quiet, everyone else was sleeping in, and he was enjoying a cup of black tea, perfectly steeped, while reading the newspaper. Everything was exactly how he liked it. Until there was a knock at the door.
He paused, reeling in his frustration at the disturbance. If it was a client, that would have been fine by him, but he knew it wasn’t a client. It never was.
Begrudgingly, he refolded the newspaper and abandoned his tea, padding over to the front door. Once he arrived he snuck a glance through the peephole. Though the darn thing was blurry and cracked, he could see a mix of pink and purple. He had a slight idea of who it could be, but dismissed it as assumptions were just immature inferences.
Espio twisted the knob and swung the door open, gaze landing on two people who were, in fact, his earlier guesses.
“Hey, Espio! Hope we’re not interrupting anything, we know you guys are usually busy with all the detective stuff.” To the right, Amy Rose exclaimed with an eager grin on her face, a blue shiny bag in her hands. Beside her, he could see that she was accompanied by Blaze, arms tucked behind herself professionally.
They were interrupting something, but he didn’t feel the need to make it known. “Don’t worry, I was not doing anything of importance. Greetings, Amy. Blaze,” He nodded to her, receiving a smile and nod in return. Before he could ask of their intentions being here, Espio spotted a strange arrangement of white spines, concealed by the wall. He stepped out of the doorway slightly, noticing a third person standing there. Silver.
“Hey, Espio!” The hedgehog said with a smile. “Sorry, I was looking at your plants.”
He paused for a moment, staring at his face. “Hello, Silver.” It was certainly a rare occasion that he showed up to the agency, let alone with two others. He decided he’d dwell on the peculiarity more later. “So, what brings you three here this morning?” He asked.
“Well,” Amy started. “Recently I’ve been doing photography and scouting jobs for this one guy who runs the magazine. He wants me to showcase some clothing and find somebody to model.” A suspicious smile was plastered on her face.
“So… you want our help to find a model?” He cautiously continued the conversation. There was an energy in the air that was severely unnerving.
Blaze let out a small laugh. “Actually, she’s already found her model.”
Espio faltered. “Then, what do y—“ The realization hit him all at once. “No. Not happening.”
No way was he going to sacrifice his dignity for some magazine that likely nobody looks at.
Silver huffed exaggeratedly, front quills deflating. “C’mon, Espio! It’ll only be for a few minutes and— ooh! You’ll get great publicity for the agency.”
The tone in which he said it somehow swayed him ever so slightly. Publicity did sound nice, but he wasn’t going to do such a thing for it, and no matter how nicely Silver asked, he’d need to stay strong.
“The answer is no.” Espio asserted. Then, he saw Blaze reach into her pocket.
“We’ll pay you.” She said, holding the largest stack of cash he had ever seen in one place. He was instantly entranced.
Espio cleared his throat and outstretched his hand. “I humbly accept your offer, thank you for the opportunity.” This earned a stifled chuckle from Silver, one that captivated his attention for longer than it should have. Amy shook his hand, beaming.
—
There was nothing but regret in his eyes as he stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, clothes adorned. Espio wasn’t used to wearing anything more than his gloves, shoes, and the cuffs that went with them. Now, he had on a fully unbuttoned dark brown dress shirt and an annoyingly baggy pair of black jeans. So much for ‘publicity’, he looked like a moron. At least the pay was good, that was the only thing keeping him sane.
He exited the bathroom, hoping that neither Vector nor Charmy were awake to see him. Surprisingly, in the centre of the living room was now a large white sheet held up by some metal rods, draping onto the floor with a wooden stool over it. In front of it, Amy seemed to be planning out shots by the way she held her hands up, shaped in a frame. Blaze and Silver were setting a camera on a tripod and adjusting its height.
“Oh my goodness!” Amy suddenly squealed. “You look amazing, Espio! Sit, sit,” she rapidly gestured to the chair on the sheet.
Espio wasn’t used to feeling self conscious, but with all eyes on him, it was hard not to be. He did notice that for some reason, Silver in particular was staring extra hard, but looked anywhere else when he met his gaze. Perhaps he found the chameleon to look as atrocious as he thought he did. Yes, that would be the most viable reason.
He did as he was told and sat down on the stool, the denim on his pants striking discomfort.
“Alright, you two, is the camera set up?” Amy asked, to which Blaze nodded. She momentarily turned to Espio, who was rigid in discontent, retrieved a notebook from her bag and flipped through it.
“For the first few shots we just want you to look casual, very relaxed.” She instructed.
The chameleon considered that and looked down at himself. He relaxed his shoulders. “Is this good?”
Amy pinched her nose bridge. “You can’t possibly think that’s casual and relaxed.” She said.
“I am relaxed.” Espio retorted.
She took a deep breath and looked away, muttering something to Silver. He could hear that she asked him to ‘handle this’. Whatever that meant.
Silver appeared hesitant and surprised at the moment, but quickly recovered and stood next to the camera, Amy’s notebook in hand. “Okay, Espio… shift your legs forward, rest your elbows just above your knees. And tilt your head down just a bit.”
He did as he was told, regardless of how dumb he felt doing so. “Like this?” The chameleon asked, cheeks burning in shame.
“Yup! Keep that pose, try not to blink.” Silver said, giving the rest of his crew a thumbs up. The camera flashed without further warning, multiple times. When it was done, the three of them gathered around it. Espio drummed his index finger over his thigh while he waited.
Amy turned away from the camera. “Looking great so far, Espio!” She called out, nudging Silver in the arm, an action he didn’t really understand.
“Of course.” He responded with confidence even though he possessed none at the moment. “With my level of skill, I provide nothing but the best at all times.”
Blaze seemed to suppress a smile, while Amy had one on wide and proud. “Okay, we’ll do a few more like that and then we can—“
She was interrupted by a loud and dramatic gasp coming from behind her.
Espio craned his head to see who made the noise, silently praying that somehow they were all hearing things. No prayers were answered.
Standing in the doorway of the main floor bedroom, Charmy had his mouth widely agape, similar to his eyes, glued right to Espio who had the overwhelming urge to disappear.
The bee began to cackle, pointing at his brother. “You look so stupid!” He cried out, still laughing heartily. Blaze had faced away from him, assumedly to also convey amusement at his situation.
“Charmy, stop it this instant!” Espio ordered in vain. He sighed, covering his face with his hands. “Is there any chance we can move this outside?”
“Sure. Let’s pack things up, guys.” Amy ordered, already disassembling the tripod. The chameleon got up from the wooden stool and attempted to attend to the backdrop setup. In his peripherals he could see Silver approaching him.
He gently waved Espio’s hands away from the metal rods. “You don’t need to worry about this, I’ve got it.” He said, getting to work. “Also… don’t listen to Charmy. I think you look great.”
Espio paused. He wasn’t used to receiving compliments. His scales flushed a lighter colour. “Oh. Th—thank you, Silver.”
—
Once they had moved outside, a few more sets of photos had been taken, surprisingly leaving him less embarrassed each time. Silver did make it a habit to hype him up after every shoot, which Espio did find encouraging.
As of recent, they had ditched the white sheet, much to his confusion. Amy and Blaze were quietly conversing until the pink hedgehog excitedly tapped her fingertips together.
“Espio, this next shot is really important. We need to display the flexibility and durability of this clothing line, so,” She pointed one finger in his direction and another in Silver’s. “You two are gonna fight.”
The chameleon had a moment of stunned silence. He sputtered, “I beg your pardon?”
Silver’s expression revealed his mutual perplexity. Blaze had one hand on his back, guiding him closer to Espio. “As Amy said, we need you two to fight for the next shots.” She faced the chameleon. “Obviously, you cannot go invisible during the match. Silver, refrain from using your powers to make it fair.”
Espio frowned. “No, no, if we are going to spar, I’d like for it to be authentic.” He spoke.
Blaze crossed her arms and retreated to the camera. “Alright, just don’t let the fight get too heated. We still need photos.” She adjusted the equipment. The pink hedgehog held her hands up in an imaginary frame again, giddy and gleeful as ever.
“Just forget we’re here, guys!” Amy exclaimed.
Espio sighed and lowered his body to a defensive position. “Ready when you are.” He said. Silver picked up on it soon enough, hands glowing.
The chameleon never made the first move. It gave him more time to examine an opponent and more opportunity to catch them off guard. Sometimes it left him waiting for a while, as it did now, but he wasn’t going to let up. No matter how impatient he felt Amy and Blaze become.
Soon enough, Silver lunged for him, giving him an opening to slide out of the way and come up behind him.
The hedgehog caught on swiftly and grabbed at him with a shroud of cyan, pushing his back into the dirt. Espio rolled over, managing to dash out of the hold before getting fully trapped.
With a huff of effort he charged at Silver’s neck, wind whipping past him. Once contact was made he pushed him down, pressing his knee into the hedgehog’s chest. He kept his senses keen, ready to bolt for when the other’s psychokinesis entered the space again.
Strangely, it didn’t happen. His guard still raised, he examined Silver, wondering if perhaps he had injured him or something. The hedgehog’s face was flushed, slightly rosy at the cheeks. His golden eyes were glued to his.
Espio felt heat rise to his own cheeks, pulse throbbing in his eardrums. He heard Silver’s breath suddenly hitch and in an instant, the chameleon was in the air, barreling harshly across the ground. For a reason he didn’t understand, his discipline had been completely dismantled by the other. Now he had paid the price, the side of his head aching and some high-pitched noise ringing through the air.
“Crap, sorry!” He heard Silver exclaim across the yard, followed by his heavy footsteps as he approached.
Espio rubbed his head gingerly and sat up. A gloved hand was hovering in front of him. He looked up to see the hedgehog, eyebrows furrowed in worry.
“Are you okay?” Silver asked, moving his hand closer. He parted his lips to reply a simple I’m fine. But, he paused. As that wasn’t true.
His heart was racing, no sign of it slowing. Heat was still moving through his face. His stomach seemed to be doing strange things, like it was flipping over inside his body. He swallowed thickly, hoping to push it down, and took Silver’s hand. That only worsened his symptoms.
“…I’m doing fine.” Espio lied through his teeth. The hedgehog was none the wiser.
The rest of the photoshoot had been a blur, his mind only occupied with his strange feelings and fleeting images of a certain white hedgehog. He had gotten the money, which had done a bit to soothe him.
But now, he was sitting on the edge of his bed, newly earned stack of cash right beside him, though somehow not even the subject of his thoughts.
Espio didn’t know how he let Silver take his guard down, or steal his composure with a single touch. Intrigue filled his mind, he needed to know this technique that had been used on him.
Perhaps if he met up with the hedgehog, one on one, he could ask about it. He looked over to his earnings. If he took him to a place, maybe a café, he’d be more inclined to share the strategy. Yes, this seemed reasonable.
He wandered into the living room and picked up the landline. He would have to be swift, who knows when he’d get another chance to ask Silver out for a drink.
Espio dialled the number and waited patiently, knowing that he was only doing this for information and nothing more.