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Espio truly was wonderful.
And he didn’t even want to accept it, Silver smiled to himself as he studied the sleeping face of the other and listened to his soft breaths. His purple colour, not exaggerative but unique enough to stand out just a bit, the way his face morphed in a smile and the corners of his eyes crinkled just barely when the hedgehog dragged him into their usual shenanigans, the gracefulness and calm with which he carried himself from day to day… There wasn’t a single thing Silver didn’t adore about the chameleon.
Well, perhaps that wasn’t entirely true. Espio’s tendency to follow a strict sleeping schedule wherein he rested for what Silver considered to be literally forever could be a bit annoying at times, if only because the psychic operated more on the principle of ‘fall asleep where you want when you want’ than anything else. In the ruined futures, where knowledge on time and dates and resting for eight hours a day had long been lost, that habit had served him well; the ninja he tended to share a bed with more often than not however considered it to be unacceptable, and thus Silver was stuck every night with the other snoring away in his chest fur while he himself fell asleep only sporadically in short intervals.
With a chuckle at his inward musings the hedgehog pressed a kiss against a peacefully-smooth brow. “Love you, Es,” he whispered, the other not even reacting to his touches and words. He had to be sleeping quite deeply… Espio touted himself as a light sleeper, and perhaps that was true when he was on his own and had to fend for himself in case of an attack, but Silver had long learned better. Warm cuddles and soft chest fur were a combination no-one could resist when it came to long and comfortable sleep.
Checking once more if the other was truly resting comfortably Silver smiled, letting his thoughts drift further. Any other person perhaps would have gotten impatient and restless when forced to lay near-unmovingly for so long with only their thoughts and no sleep to keep them company - he could only imagine what Sonic would be doing when stuck in such a situation - but the psychic could not care less. Not with Espio to marvel at, all his wonderfulness wrapped up in an adorable package of slight shifting and soft breaths which were meant for Silver's eyes and Silver's eyes only. He didn't feel tired at all, he had already slept, and the other was simply too captivating...
Studying the other’s rising and falling chest more closely Silver grinned, a cheeky idea crossing his mind as a spark of mischief flared up inside him. Espio indeed was devilishly handsome, as Vector once told him to consider with a grin and a huge wink, and if there was anything he loved it was to study his beloved up close and see how far he could go in his investigation before the other began to complain. Espio’s body held no secrets for him anymore, but his sturdy purple scales never failed to catch the psychic’s interest regardless…
The grin on his face only intensified as Silver’s hand snuck down, homing in on its target as the hedgehog shifted up a little so he could see what he was doing. A peach-tinted stomach was the first to fall victim to his exploration; Espio’s lips twitched up as Silver’s fingers wandered over it, marvelling at how soft it was underneath his fingers. Pressing them down a little he smiled at the giggly murmur it elicited, waiting until the other piped down before continuing his journey. The chameleon’s sides were next, Silver taking note with delightful cheekiness how Espio’s own fingers dug into the covers just barely as his flanks got petted. The long purple tail that always laid curled over a grey-furred back twitched and moved also, and Silver made sure to give it some appreciative caressings for its diligence and how protectively it tended to hold him close. Both sleeping and laying here while waiting for Espio to wake up always felt more safe with that tail resting on his body.
He flicked an ear as the ninja shifted around with a quiet mewl of protest, and Silver patiently waited for the other to have breathed a deep sigh of relaxation instead, his heart overflowing with adoration as it resounded and the other sagged fully into the pillows once more. Since he couldn’t reach the chameleon’s legs and he didn’t feel like using his powers he decided to leave those be for now, instead moving up to Espio's face to marvel at that instead. Though it had held a tiny smile at the sensations it had taken on its peaceful expression once more, and the hedgehog leaned up to press a kiss against a uncreased forehead, holding the other as closely against him as he could without waking him up. “Love you,” he repeated, his hands moving in to cup a pale cheek as he buried his face away against the other. “I love you so much, Espio.”
“…Silver?”
The quiet whisper made the hedgehog's ears perk up, a smile forming on his face immediately as he looked into sleep-lidden golden eyes. “What are you doing?” Espio hummed with a small yawn, which immediately got muffled as Silver leaned up and pressed a kiss against the other’s lips in full.
“I love you, Espio,” he murmured back, rubbing his nose against a sturdy yellow horn. "Love you, love you, love you."
“Is that so?” A smirk formed on the chameleon’s face, and before Silver could realise he was in danger the other’s hands were already scribbling away at his sides as a yelp of surprise and laughter got ripped from his chest and he scrambled backwards before realising the other had him trapped. “And you decided to show that by poking and prodding and petting and tickling me for Chaos knows how long?”
“You weren’t awake!” Silver protested between his bout of giggles, Espio’s grin growing only more smug and amused as a peck got placed against the hedgehog's head this time.
“And yet I was. You know I’m a light sleeper, tenshi.” With a final caress the other’s hands relented in their loving torment, and the psychic’s laughter piped down too as they moved to rest on his stomach and he could place one of his own over them.
“…Maybe,” he settled on, turning his head around so he could press another kiss against Espio’s lips. “And it doesn’t make me love you any less, heh. You’re wonderful, Espio.”
The look of affection and adoration in Espio’s eyes made his cheeks turn just a little more rosy, the hedgehog and chameleon cuddling close. “I’m not even half as wonderful as you are, my love,” the latter whispered back, and Silver cooed in delight as his quills got smoothed out from behind.
“Yeah, that’s ‘cause you’re… ten times more wonderful instead. A hundred. No, a million! One billion million!” His ears flicked in victory as the ninja began to chuckle, another kiss being pressed to his brow.
“Perhaps we should then concede we are each wonderful in our own way.”
“I like that,” the hedgehog agreed, turning around in full so he could press himself tautly against the other. “Is it time to get up yet? I don’t want to.”
He whined pitifully as Espio shifted around a little to look behind him at the clock on the bedside table, though the chameleon returned to their original cuddle position quickly enough. “We have some time left before we must present ourselves downstairs,” the other assured, one hand sneaking up to begin massaging behind a triangle-shaped ear. “So what do you say about more cuddles?”
“Yes.”
Oozing against his beloved Silver closed his eyes with a chirpy purr, his body taking delight in the physical affection that was being lavished on him for a change. Espio’s other hand sneaked down against his midriff, and he gladly clasped it, giving it a squeeze as their fingers intertwined and he placed a clumsy kiss against the other’s shoulder. The purple colour that he was pressing himself against, the face adored with a warm smile resting just above his own, the graceful movements with which the chameleon petted his ears and wrapped the long purple tail around his body as if it was on instinct… Espio truly was wonderful, and even if he considered Silver to be so much more wonderful than himself the hedgehog knew the truth. He wouldn’t change a thing about the chameleon, nothing at all; Espio was just perfect the way he was, the fact that he loved Silver of all people making the hedgehog feel more loved and cared for than he had ever figured possible. And maybe, the hedgehog dared hope as he closed his eyes and pushed away the thoughts of needing to get up and going downstairs to face this day, just maybe, through all his love and adoration and wonderfulness of his own, the other helped him be wonderful too.