Star-crossed Lovers

Chapter 14 – Orderly Opportunities

Later that night, Espio felt that he couldn't sleep. His stomach was feeling a tad bit queasy, and he was pretty close to just blaming Vector's pizza for giving him food poisoning. Though, he didn't want to jump to conclusions, so he just stayed up and walked around the house for a short time to hopefully settle his uncomfortable stomach. After that didn't work, Espio though that it would be better to just go outside and get some fresh air.

He exited the home and enjoyed the nice night air as it cleansed his fur. He was feeling better already, though he was strongly urged to go to his "spot". The spot where he laid upon the ground, looked up at the stars, and thought about his future. It's where pure serenity was, and Espio felt like he needed that right now, especially with being in a relationship and going to be apart of a detective agency soon. He didn't know what to expect.

He walked for about ten minutes down to his normal Cliffside. It is just as he remembered it from a couple of days ago. He simply laid himself down onto the ground and planted his head into the wet grass. He was comfortable and he had a good view of the stars that night.

After some of his thoughts on the future, Espio began identifying figures from the shapes in the stars. Some of them almost looked like Vector's face. Though, it was actually Vector standing right in front of him, sporting a big smile as he watched his lover lying on the ground.

Vector lied down next to Espio and said, "You never went back to bed. Is there something wrong?"

Espio didn't want to say anything about his sick stomach so he just twisted the truth a little. "I just thought I should get some fresh air and then I found myself walking towards my normal spot."

"Yeah, but this is the normal spot that you go to whenever you are mad at me."

"No, this is the spot that I go to whenever I need to think."

Vector raised his head and looked over to Espio. "What do you need to think about? You seemed pretty happy last night."

"I just need to think about the future. I am new to this relationship thing, and I'm not sure how things will change when we bring back Team Chaotix. I'm so confused about it all, so I just need to… think."

"Espio, I'm new to this whole love thing, too. But it's cool, because I get to be confused with you." Vector paused, hoping to get a response from Espio. When he didn't get one, he continued, "We shouldn't worry about the future. We should just let it happen."

This opened Espio's eyes a little. He was shocked that Vector was teaching him a pretty vital lesson about love and the future. He knew that he loved Vector, no matter what happens. "Wow… I can't believe I'm being so ignorant. I should know something like that."

"You're not being ignorant. You're just… not used to this yet." Vector paused and turned over to his side so that he's facing Espio. "But… I can help you with that." Vector grabbed the back of Espio's head and brought it towards his own. They connected lips in a warm embrace.

The kiss was something new… something special. This kiss in particular exemplified the fact that these two would be with each other for the rest of their lives, despite any obstacles that may get in their way. This kiss shows off a rare kind of love that everyone in Mobius would only dream of having.

Under the stars of the rich and cool night, this kiss brings out the two Star-Crossed Lovers: Vector and Espio.

They both separated that magical kiss and looked into each other's eyes, which glimmered in the moonlight. Espio smiled and said, "Vector. I have never had this before, but I think I can truly say that I love you. I love you a lot."

This made Vector smile as well, making a small tear exit his eye. Thankfully, Espio couldn't see the tear, and Vector would never admit that he cried. "I love you, too, Espio. Why don't we go back home and get some sleep? Who knows, someone could call us tomorrow morning and ask for one hundred missions for a pay of a million dollars."

Espio chuckled and replied, "I don't think it's going to work that way, Vector."

"Hey, it's just a thought. Why rule out something like that?"

"I guess you're right." Espio got up and reached his hand out to Vector. Vector grabbed it and got himself up. "Let's go get that million dollars." Vector chuckled and kept a firm grip on Espio's hand as they walked back to the house.

Upon reaching the home, they silently opened and closed the door in an effort to not wake Charmy up. They went over to Vector's room (or their room) and turned on the lamp before closing the door behind them.

While Vector sat on his bed and kicked off his shoes, Espio looked around the room and saw some of their past memories of Team Chaotix. There were a couple of pictures of their past missions on the walls. "Do you really think that after we start up Team Chaotix again we will be successful?"

"Of course I do, Espio. We just have to wait, you know? All of this can't happen in one night."

"Yeah, I know that, but I just don't think that we will be as good as we were before. This world has changed and people don't need detective agencies much anymore. We also don't have the skills that we used to have."

"Well, then it's alright if we don't get as many customers as before. They're still customers. We'll work to get something out of this agency."

"If you say so."

"I know so."

Espio took off his shoes and properly placed them by the door. He left his gloves and cuffs on, because he felt that it would be appropriate to have them on always. Shortly after Vector went under the covers of the bed, Espio slipped into the bed as well. They both said "good night" to each other and Espio shut off the nearby lamp. They then both began to snuggle into each other's arms.

The next morning, Espio was greeted with the sun as it entered through Vector's window. This, like normal, did not wake Vector up, so Espio decided to go out and start the day early. He briefly went outside of them home and began to meditate. He wanted to get his mind ready for the day, so he thought of the day's events, much like he used to do. This was actually his first meditation session in about a week.

He thought to make some more phone calls to clients and he also wanted to do some chores around the house. He wanted to make himself seem useful since all he has been doing lately is stuff with Vector and Charmy. It almost felt like a… break from his normal routine.

Though, Espio's train of thought was ended when the phone began ringing. He got out of his meditative position and re-entered his home. Espio went over to a nearby table that had a phone on it, and picked it up from its receiver. He hoped that the ringing didn't wake anybody up, though he knew that it did.

"Hello," Espio softly asked into the phone.

"Hi, is this the Team Chaotix Detective Agency?"

Espio's heart then began to speed up, because someone had actually returned his call, even though it has only been a day. "Yes, my name is Espio," he said in a determined voice. "I am one of the detectives."

"My friend Sil recommended me to you guys after I began to experience… problems around my house."

"What kind of problems, sir?"

"I live in Telle Creek, which is right next to Green Hill Zone, and I've been hearing voices echoing through my walls. At first I thought it was just the wind, but I'm almost certain that the voices have said my name on several occasions."

"Do you think your house is haunted?"

"I don't really know what to believe. I normally would just ignore it, but it has gotten to the point where things have been getting… physical."

"Physical?"

"I have fallen down my stairs today three times, and I have only been awake for an hour now. I'm not clumsy at all, but I feel like there's something tripping me, even when I'm holding onto the banister."

Espio kind of figured that this guy was probably being pranked, perhaps with a hidden speaker in the house and a thin string on the stairs. Though, he didn't want to say that to his client, just in case that there is something more happening. And… because Espio really wants a mission. "Would you like us to come out there? We currently have no clients, so our schedule is cleared."

"If you could sometime today, then that would be great. I would like to have a good night's sleep tonight since I have this big interview at a really important job tomorrow."

"Alright, then we will be there as soon as possible. You have our number, so keep us informed if any of these things keep occurring."

"Thank you, Mr. Espio. See you soon."

"Good-bye." Espio then hung up the phone and a big smile grew on his face. He couldn't even believe it himself, but Team Chaotix has gotten their first client since it broke apart several months ago. Espio wanted to start jumping around and celebrating, but he knew that that would be a little inappropriate to start doing. Though, he did end up having someone to celebrate with. Espio felt a hand go onto his shoulder, forcing him to turn around. He saw that the hand belonged to Vector who was smiling as well.

"I heard most of the conversation. Was that… what I think it was?"

"Were you thinking of a call from Sonic to help him fix his plumbing?"

Vector frowned, totally disappointed that it didn't end up being the result that he wanted. "Uh… no."

Espio then chuckled and said, "Well, good. Because it wasn't that. It was a call from Amy to help her fix her plumbing."

"What? I am not doing that even if she hit me with her blasted hammer for 24 hours!"

Espio laughed even harder and finally said, "Alright, I'm just going to stop messing with you. We actually have a client for Team Chaotix!"

Vector actually let out a small gasp which got rid of the slight frustration of actually doing plumbing for Amy. "Not only do I not have to do pipe work for a pink brat, but I have a client to work with? That's…" Vector was a little lost for words. "What does he want us to do?"

Espio briefly summarized what was going on with the guy's house and Vector nodded his head and smiled. "Alright, well let's uncover the kid under the white cloth with 2 eye holes in it and find the thin string that keeps tripping this dude. He is clearly getting pranked."

"That's what I said, but a case is a case, and it seems to be an easy one."

"It sure does. Why don't you wake up Charmy? We have some detective work to attend to and we need the whole gang here in order to do it."

"Yes, sir," Espio said in a militaristic tone. He walked over to Charmy's door and opened it. For some reason, Espio saw that Charmy was already putting his shoes on and was getting ready for something. "Charmy, are you going somewhere?"

"Yes, I'm going with you guys. I heard everything and I want to find some ghosts. I knew they were real!"

Espio rolled his eyes a little, but he didn't mention the fact that he thinks that the guy is being pranked. He thought it would be appropriate for Charmy to know that ghosts aren't entirely real, but he allowed Charmy to have a little bit of an imagination while he was young. He'll soon learn that some things in life aren't real.

"Then let's get going. We're going to do some ghost-hunting."