Shadow smiled at awakening with the fact that Silver was finally home. No more hiding from him, no more guilt. At least some part of Selene was here now, and that would make everyone happy. The atmosphere in this house was reclusive since the night she died; perhaps her son could fill her place. Mephiles was upbeat during the talk.
"It's wonderful to have a silvery hedgehog back in the house," he said. "Mephisto will be pleased, I hope." With an irritated sigh, "He's been avoiding Silver for some time, insisting he would scare his guardian family or the like. And as much as I hate to admit, he'd probably be right."
Shadow nodded a little. "He is your demon-spawn, after all. He's just living up to the name, right?"
"That's what I'm afraid of. The Dark name is the title of a manipulating demon, and he's a full-blown pyromaniac." He hummed, figuring something out. "Or…maybe it's just Iblis avoiding his most powerful enemy. I suppose instinct can't be helped, and fighting myself is too difficult." As the black hedgehog sipped his warm cocoa, Mephiles changed the subject to how it would be the first Christmas with Silver. "I've always wanted to buy him a present. What do you think he's into, now?"
"He's too much like his mom; he doesn't really ask for much." From behind the kitchen wall Mephisto appeared, his slits hair-thin.
"What are you two so excited about?" he let out in a growling manner. "And why can't you be excited about it later, like when the sun's up?" Mephiles looked him in the eyes and said something like when he was over 100 years older he would understand, and his demon-spawn tossed that aside. This was nothing surprising for the father; he had mentioned Iblis' stubborn habits before. "Heredity was having a bad day when Mephisto was spawned."
"That didn't answer my question," the fiery one replied. "What were you talking about? Or was it about my presents?"
Both concluded with a glance it was typical for him to assume the world revolved around him. "Even if we were," Shadow said, "why would we tell you? You want to ruin your own surprises?"
"We were talking about your cousin."
Mephisto huffed at this, shaking his head. "Torturing yourself, Uncle Shadow? That's not good; just go watch him while your at it."
If the speaker wasn't Mephisto, he would find himself on the floor, with some dislodged teeth. A disapproving glare was enough for the fire demon though. "I guess you don't want to know, then." Realizing his mistake the young one took it back, though with hesitation.
"But, why are you talking about him?"
"Because he's home," Mephiles sighed, as if Silver were his, or at least he wished.
His real demon-spawn's pupils dilated. "What?"
"You know what I said. He's home now, and we're going to celebrate, aren't we, Shadow?"
"Err..." he avoided the glances, "I guess we are now."
"Let's go to a steakhouse!" Mephisto jumped up with excitement. Then he heard whimpers coming from his dad. "Oh, uh, sorry. Maybe not."
"I'm not sure if Silver wants to keep eating out," Shadow said. "His guardian family took him out to lunch, and he ate out with his girlfriend later. He'll think he's being spoiled."
"It can be a fast-food place," muttered the demon-spawn. "And then we could go to an arcade." Shadow sighed at the happy memories with Selene at a certain one. What a beauty she was then... He wondered what she might look like now if she was still alive.
"That sounds nice," he let out with a sigh.
Mephisto's pupils dilated a little more and he walked over to his uncle. "I miss Aunt Selene, too, Uncle."-he nudged the side of his head-"We all do."
Dawn's gentle light crept into the house. Maybe Silver will be up soon..? Mephiles drooped his head and stood up. "I think I'll go back to sleep. I'll see nephew later today."
"Morgen, Dad," his son said as he walked away. "I feel nice today; I'll cook some bacon for Silver."
"Don't burn it to a crisp this time," he warned, "and do half-chewy half-crispy; I don't know how he likes it."
"Okay."
"I think he's more her than me, though, just to warn you."
Nodding, the pyro began to spread a good deal of bacon on the flat top grill. Turning the grill on its lowest setting, the demon then blew fire above the strips, pausing to move to one side to define between crisp and chewy. "I think that's okay," Mephisto mumbled, sniffing the sizzling strips. "They're done."
"Good job," Shadow praised with a smile. "They smell good. That was a nice thing to do for Silver."
The demon's eyes widened a bit and he made a metallic noise, like a curious whimper. He turned the grill off and managed a "Uh, thanks... So he really is home?"
"Yes."
"This is his home?" he wondered. The black hedgehog caught his breath. The demon looked at him with innocence. "I-I knew you meant here, but I never thought this was his home. I thought... He liked his guardian family, or his home was with Aunt's family... Not here."
Not here? Why not here? He belongs here. Doesn't he? A confused mask was on his face as his nephew went on.
"Well, I guess I was used to him being gone for a long time...I...I-I guess I thought he belonged where he was. And that, well, he would always belong where he was."
What? Silence grew between the two until a small creak from behind Shadow caught his attention. The door that was closed had a gap between the frame, and out shuffled Silver. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head.
He was the masculine Selene. The boy's silver fur shimmered in the sun light, and his white mane radiated in it like morning snow. His two down-curving quills complimented his spiky hair. Black skin framed his marvelous golden-amber eyes. When he lived with his guardian family, he fit very nicely, seeing that he bore a brotherly resemblance to Venice, the son of Florence and Vienna. Grayish fur, a mane, two head quills, it was the perfect home for him.
"I thought he would always belong where he was." Mephisto's voice rang like a deathening church bell. Perhaps...
Silver let out a sigh before saying, "It's great to finally be here. Good morning Meph. Morning, Dad." Shadow urged himself to get used to his voice. Silver's young chords would never get past the stage due to inherited agelessness. At least his divine image would be preserved.
"Morning," the fire demon greeted, then he muttered, "Angel-child."
The younger 'hog shook that off and sat down by his dad. The latter let out a curious huh, which made his son confused. "What?"
"That's her chair."
The silvery boy smiled. "I figured you'd say something like that. Everytime I go visit Aunt Aurora or Uncle Helios they say I sit in her chair. That that's her favorite soft serve. It just always seems like I am her." He rested his head in his hand with the other close to the elbow. His father would've said that seemed Selene too, but it wouldn't help.
"There, there," he soothed. "Your memories make you act a certain way, that's all. The time-paradox might have made your mother amplify her memories to cover mine up. If we spend time together maybe mine will resurface." The boy thought about it, then nodded with a hum.
"So what's for breakfast?"
Silver had been raised to put away things as neat as possible. "Vienna doesn't like messy," he explained, "and Venice went out for swim team so Florence was around him a lot. So I was raised by her most of the time."
"I see," Shadow agreed as he put away homemade fuzz socks. "Did you make these?"
"Don't laugh. Yep. Mom's memories made me do girly things all the time." The black hedgehog couldn't help stopping a grin from spreading on his muzzle. "Like crocheting and going to crochet socials."
He huffed. "Your mom was not the social type."
"I know. That's one thing I did for myself. And it's not so bad. I also let Aunt Aurora make me a- I don't know the-oh! A mannequin. For...ugh, girl's dresses."
Mephisto was passing by and burst out laughing. Not like his father, more like any other teenage guy. "What-what's the name of her company... So I can buy one for someone and say 'My cousin Silver modelled this; you'd really like him!' Bwaah!"
"She's out of her mind. I don't know how I have the physic of a girl."
"She probably just needed a body to put it on to see the basic layer," the black hedgehog encoraged. "Right?"
"Sure," the demon replied, with a hah-hah.
Silver then tilted his head and replied with, "Yeah, I think her... Whatever, was at the cleaners or something."
"Well, that's the rest of your clothes, Silver," Shadow announced. "What else have you got?"
"It's all good; everything's in its new place," he replied with a smile. "I'm settled!"
"No surprise there; you're a 'hog," Mephisto let out with a huff.
"But it was still done in record time,"-Mephiles slunk by the door frame, commenting. "I timed it compared to the last hedgehogs who moved in here. I was ruled out- I just made replicas as you know, and your father had a whole moving van of items. That took half an hour. And then there was..."
The silence flooded the room with ice water, the only one unaware was the newest edition. "Was-was it... Mom?"
The third-(second, now that she was gone) newest nodded. "What was the time, Dad?"
"Oh, Silver beat it. Hogs are top scorers when it comes to settling. Less objects to put away. But sows are better at other things." Mephisto was making a whimpering noise as he gazed at his father. He growled, then went, "Go ahead."
"What's for lunch, Uncle?" he asked, apathetic to Mephiles seething as he stalked away. "What do wanna do now that you're settled?"
"I want ice cream," he said to himself, licking his lips as he thought about it. "I want a shake."
"Could we go to get ice cream after lunch?" Mephisto's forest green eyes glittered. "Burgers?" Shadow nodded, making the audience fist pump and go "Yes!" After lunch the trio went to an ice cream shop. Silver was the first to order an extra-chocolate shake. Mephisto got a tropical sundae, while Shadow ordered a chocolate-fudge-truffle shake in honor of Selene.
Vanilla ice cream stained the demon's muzzle. The silvery hedgehog sipped away, and his father scooped up ice cream-truffle bits. Silver asked his cousin about the dessert's taste.
"Pretty good," he replied, before trying to drink the melted remains.
The other then turned to the one across. "How's your shake?"
"Your mom had excellent taste," he replied, smiling. "How's yours?"
"It's so good it's almost gone," the light-furred hedgehog answered, with a few laughs coming from both him and his cousin.
"We can get you another one," Mephisto offered, "I'll go get you another one." Silver let the demon out of the booth then at back in when the tip of his long tail had passed him. Now he was face to face with his father. Noises signified that he was sucking an empty cup.
"Wow, that didn't last long, now, did it?" Shadow joked, laughing to himself before eating another spoonful. "You certainly got that from your mother."
"I figured," his son puffed, stirring around air inside the cup with his finger. "You know that's the only thing we've ever talk about." His eyes became a dull yellow as he looked at the crumbs left from the last customers' meal. "Mom...and before that..."
A rock made it into the black hedgehog's heart. His ears echoed the past times before Silver had known the identity of his father. "I hate you!" was the most frequent saying the hog spat at him. "Yeah..." he mumbled. "That's all I think I can relate to you with; your mother."
His eyes were dark amber, like a rejected sample of it. "I know. I wish there was something else."
"Things take time," Shadow cooed, rubbing the hog's shoulder. "Just stick around; we'll find something."
"For dinner we'll order pizza," Mephisto declared. "Pepperoni Lover's in honor of Aunt!"
"Get off of the counter," Shadow commanded, glaring. "Or you'll have to clean that as well."
"As well?" The demon puffed. "You mean I have to-"
"You're ordering the pizza; you're cleaning up after it."
Silver chuckled at this rule, making his cousin growl. "You should be lucky yesterday was your birthday," he warned, "because tomorrow I won't have to be nice to you." A puff was induced by the new hog, but then he hummed and went into his room. Shadow noted him wandering back in with a phone, tapping and sliding his fingers across the screen. His eyes were canary colored.
"Something wrong, Silver?" he wondered.
The hog shook his head. "No, I was just wondering about something... Aunt Aurora said she and Twilight would be taking a cruise together and might not be here on her birthday or Christmas." He tapped on his phone some more. "She wanted to get her presents and celebrate early, so I was invited, too," the hog mewed. He gazed at his father. "Would you like to come to the party?"
Instinct would've made Shadow blurt "Not a chance" at him, but his ears picked up a "I'll try if there's a chance; you can hold that against me" from a fall morning.
His stomach felt weights in it before the pizza was even ordered. "I'll go," he let out with a sigh. Seeing Silver's face light up made him see a female double from the past when he promised that.