Chapter Text
Light filtered through the curtains of the window as Espio slowly began to wake up. He let out a sleepy groan as he sat up and stretched. Despite the slight grogginess he was feeling, Espio knew better than to stay in bed all morning. He climbed out of bed and quickly put on his gloves and shoes as he prepared for the day.
As Espio left his room, he immediately noticed the waft of breakfast coming from downstairs. He felt slightly disappointed in himself as he realized he had slept in for far longer than he wanted to. Still though, breakfast was important and he knew the others would be waiting for him.
“Ah, there he is,” Vector greeted as soon as Espio entered the dining room, catching the chameleon’s attention. “You almost missed breakfast.”
“Don’t listen to him, Espio,” Vanilla spoke from the kitchen as she was still preparing the meal. “We wouldn’t have eaten without you.”
“Thank you, Vanilla,” Espio replied. “You are always so accommodating.”
Espio took his seat at the table, right between Vector and Charmy. He looked around as Vector took a sip of his coffee, then glanced over at Charmy and Cream who were both doodling on some paper while they waited for breakfast.
Cream looked up from her drawing. “Did you sleep well?” she asked.
“Yes,” Espio replied. “And you, Cream?”
“I slept well, too!” Cream assured with a nod.
“Surprising because you kept me up all night talking about chao,” Charmy gave his input.
“Cream, were you up past your bedtime?” Vector immediately interrogated.
“No, I went to bed right on time,” Cream insisted. “Charmy was the one who wouldn’t go to bed!”
“Hey! Don’t drag me down!” Charmy argued.
Espio couldn’t help but smile at the bickering children. Little kids always seemed to have the silliest problems to deal with. Sometimes it really felt like they had more problems than the adults did. Espio couldn’t remember the last time he had an actual argument with someone.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Vanilla interrupted the conversation as well as Espio’s thoughts as she started handing everyone their plates.
“Thank you, Mother!” Cream said.
“Yeah, thanks!” Charmy agreed.
Vanilla smiled at the two children before handing the next plate to Espio.
“Thank you, Vanilla,” Espio replied.
“You’re welcome, Espio,” Vanilla responded. Finally, she handed Vector his plate before sitting down next to him. The two of them exchanged a quick kiss with each other before beginning to eat breakfast.
Espio ate some of the eggs on his plate, smiling as Vanilla’s cooking was always delicious. One of the perks of living with her was that every meal was guaranteed to be a good one.
“So,” Vector said, “got any plans today, Espio?”
Espio swallowed his food before responding. “I was going to head out into town for a bit,” he explained. “Why?”
“Well, you remember that Vanilla and I are going out on a date tonight, right?” Vector responded. “Someone’s gotta watch Charmy and Cream.”
Espio blinked. “This is the first time I’m hearing about this,” he said.
“Really? I could’ve sworn I told you,” Vector replied.
“It’s alright, Vector,” Vanilla assured. “We’re not leaving until much later. That should give Espio plenty of time to get back.”
Espio nodded. “You can count on me,” he insisted.
Espio knew that watching Charmy and Cream wouldn’t be a problem. Besides, it’s not like he was ever really busy with anything. None of them really were. And with how much Vector and Vanilla helped him out, this was the least Espio could do for them.
After breakfast was finished and the dishes were washed, Espio made his way outside. He smiled as he looked at the bright blue sky. The weather was absolutely perfect, the same as it was just about every day. Espio didn’t exactly have anything he needed to do in town, he just liked having an excuse to spend some time outside.
Espio was in the middle of his walk when he heard a familiar voice greeting him.
“Espio!”
The chameleon turned around as he saw Silver walking up to him, wearing his usual black jacket and top while waving happily.
“Silver,” Espio greeted back, “good to see you.”
“Well I think it’s great to see you,” Silver replied playfully.
Espio chuckled quietly at Silver’s silly comment. “What brings you here?” the chameleon asked.
“Oh, I was on my way to Amy and Blaze’s place,” Silver explained. “They wanted help with some baking. Oh! You should come with me!”
“I’d love to,” Espio replied, “but I have other plans. Vector and Vanilla are having a date night, so I have to be back before they leave so I can watch Charmy and Cream.”
“Aww,” Silver responded, clearly disappointed. “Oh well, we can still meet up later, right?”
“Of course,” Espio assured. “I can always make time for you, my love.” Espio gave Silver a quick kiss on the cheek, Silver responding with a big smile.
“It’s a date then,” Silver teased.
“We can spend time together without it being a date,” Espio argued.
“Well yeah, if you wanna be boring,” Silver continued teasing. “You gotta loosen up more, Espio.”
“I’ll think about it,” Espio assured, his voice matching Silver’s playful tone.
“Alright, I better get going,” Silver said, “Amy and Blaze are probably waiting for me.”
“You wouldn’t want to keep them too long,” Espio agreed.
“See ya later!” Silver said as he ran off, waving goodbye.
Espio waved back, smiling as he watched the hedgehog. Even though he got to see Silver just about every day, he was always so happy to see him. Although that made sense, the two of them loved each other dearly. After Silver was completely out of sight, Espio’s smile slowly faded away as he stood there for a moment longer.
The rest of Espio’s walk was relatively uneventful. He had walked into town, saying hello to his other friends as he happened to pass by. It was a normal walk through the town. Just like he had done every day.
Eventually, Espio did have to return home. He arrived at the cozy cottage with plenty of time to spare as he didn’t want to make Vector or Vanilla worried. It began to feel like it took longer for Vector and Vanilla to get ready for their date than Espio’s walk took in its entirety, but he wasn’t going to complain. At least not out loud.
“Alright, we’ll be back in a few hours,” Vector assured as they began to leave. “Make sure Charmy doesn’t cause any trouble.”
“I won’t take my eyes off of him,” Espio promised.
“And make sure he and Cream get to bed on time,” Vanilla added.
“I promise to take care of it,” Espio assured.
“Thanks a bunch,” Vector said before he and Vanilla finally left.
Despite Vector and Vanilla seeming slightly worried, the night ended up being very calm. Espio, Charmy and Cream had decided to watch a mystery movie and were all sitting in the living room doing just that. Espio sat on the couch with his legs in a criss-cross formation while both Charmy and Cream sat on the floor. They were both completely entranced by the movie while Espio found himself less interested.
Cream looked up at Espio. “Who do you think did it, Espio?” she asked.
“Hm?” Espio replied.
“I think it was the Duke!” Charmy interrupted. “He’s clearly the bad guy!”
“That would be too obvious,” Espio argued.
“Huh?” Charmy replied.
“All the actual evidence points elsewhere,” Espio explained. “If you actually pay attention, everything points to the brother. He’s just trying to frame the Duke.”
“What? No, the brother’s cool!” Charmy argued. “You just don’t like him because-” Charmy was cut off as he heard the next line in the movie.
“Brother! How could you! I trusted you!” the character said in an extremely dramatic tone.
“See?” Espio replied confidently.
“Wow Espio, you’re really smart!” Cream complimented.
“Yeah, how’d you do that?” Charmy asked.
“Well I sort of have to be good at figuring out mysteries, don’t I?” Espio responded. “I’ve been doing it for years.”
“What are you talking about?” Charmy questioned. “Why would a ninja need to solve mysteries?”
Espio blinked. “I-” he started before realizing he didn’t have a proper rebuttal. “I suppose as a ninja, I wouldn’t necessarily need to do that. I apologize.”
Espio’s face scrunched up slightly as he had no idea where he had gotten the idea that he was so well versed with mysteries. It seemingly came out of nowhere despite Espio saying it with such confidence. Charmy and Cream continued to watch the movie without a second thought, but Espio found himself slightly lost within his own thoughts for the remaining runtime.
The rest of the night went about as well as it usually did. Espio tucked both Charmy and Cream into bed, and soon afterwards, Vector and Vanilla had returned. Espio took this as an excuse to head to his room. He wasn’t quite tired enough to go to bed yet, so he decided to do some late night reading. However, he didn’t get very far into his book when he was interrupted by a knock on his window.
Espio blinked and looked over to see Silver floating and waiting outside for him. Espio smiled and walked over to open the window.
“Did you forget about our date?” Silver asked, a clearly playful tone in his voice.
“I apologize, Silver,” Espio replied. “I guess I got too focused on watching Charmy and Cream.”
“Eh, I get it,” Silver assured. “Now come on, let’s get out of here for a bit.” He held out his hand, waiting for Espio to take it.
Espio hesitated for a brief second before he grabbed Silver’s hand and the hedgehog pulled him out of his room. He carefully floated the both of them down to the ground, refusing to let go of Espio’s hand the entire time. Once they landed safely, Silver gave Espio a big smile.
“Come on!” Silver urged before he began running.
“Woah!” Espio yelped as Silver began pulling him away. The two of them continued running for quite a while until they finally reached a familiar hill. This was one of the couple’s favorite places to just sit and spend time together. Once they arrived, Silver finally let go of Espio’s hand and walked over to their spot, sitting down. He looked over at Espio, patting at the grass next to him.
Espio stared at Silver for a moment, the hedgehog’s bright cyan eyes feeling very inviting. He walked over, sitting next to Silver and staring up at the sky. It was perfect for stargazing, not a single cloud blocking the view.
Silver smiled at Espio before closing his eyes and resting his head on the chameleon’s shoulder. Espio barely acknowledged Silver as he kept staring at the starry night sky.
“How was your day, Silver?” Espio asked.
“My day was perfect,” Silver replied. “How about yours?”
“My day was good,” Espio responded.
“Well that’s good to hear,” Silver said cheerfully. “Amy, Blaze and I made a lot of sweet treats today. Maybe you should stop by tomorrow and try some of them? I know how much you love sweets.”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Espio agreed before looking down at the grass. The weather was calm, the sky was beautiful, and Silver was right by his side. Everything seemed completely perfect. Absolutely perfect. Yet somehow, it didn’t sit right.
Espio kept that feeling of uncertainty to himself as Silver continued telling him about his day. Silver was so happy as he recounted the mishaps in the kitchen, explaining how much Blaze struggled with the recipes and how Amy had to step in to help her. There was no malice in his voice, he was just genuinely happy to talk about his friends. That pure happiness was what Espio loved seeing the most from Silver. That smile always managed to put a smile on his face as well. And even though every day was always great, Silver always seemed extra happy to talk about a good day. He held a sort of whimsy that Espio had never seen in anyone else before. He always wondered where that attitude of Silver’s came from.
After talking for what felt like hours, Silver finally let out a yawn. “It’s getting late, isn’t it?” he asked. “I guess we should probably get some sleep, huh?”
“Sounds like a wise decision,” Espio agreed.
“Here, I’ll walk you back home,” Silver offered.
“Thank you, Silver,” Espio replied.
After walking back to the cottage and helping Espio climb back into his room, the chameleon was ready to call it a night. He turned the lights off and laid in bed, however he didn’t fall asleep. Instead, he found himself staring up at the ceiling, his face scrunching up.
Something doesn’t feel quite right… Espio thought to himself. But… what?
Espio tried his best to get some rest, but he struggled as that nagging thought refused to leave his mind. He tried to assure himself that everything was fine. Everything was always fine. But for some reason, that sentiment only made him feel more unsure.