Silver fluttered his eyes open; he rested blissfully and now is bursting with energy. He tried to turn onto his side but the pain from his leg immobilized him. It shot a mild shockwave of pain, Silver lightly flinched. He felt a warm breeze of air caress his cheek; he ignored it until it became a bothersome rhythm. He turned his head towards the breeze to find it was coming from Arrow's mouth, he was curled up towards him extremely close. Silver tried to sit up straight but was held down by Arrow's arms that were snaked around his waist. Not even his waist, just below it. Silver sighed; he thought he might as well let the prince sleep. After all Arrow did help him with his ankle, and it did feel a lot better. Arrow's tail brushed against Silver's nose, causing him to sneeze.
Luckily Arrow didn't here him.
After a couple of hours longer, Silver became bored and began inspecting the room from his angle. It was roomy, but boring in his mind. He turned his head again, looking at Arrow. He was sleeping peacefully, the silver hog breathed on Arrow's ear causing it to twitch. He continued to blow on it seeing as it's the only amusement he has.
Arrow started getting flustered, groaning every time his ear would twitch, until he couldn't sleep through it any longer. His eyes slowly opened, the pink irises flaring once more. He looked up at Silver, and blushed.
"Oh... I'm sorry; it seems I ended up cuddling you all night... I just... Wanted to make sure nothing could hurt you... I was afraid that the leg splint would make you uncomfortable, so I thought I'd fill in for the missing comfort..." Arrow yawned, releasing his arms from Silver's waist, and sitting up. His fur was standing on end, he didn't even care that it was ungroomed, though, he was happy.
"Its fine, I bet I would have been in a worse state if you didn't hold on to me. I could've hurt my ankle more." Silver said removing the ice pack from ankle, moving it a bit. It looked like he could walk on it, since the swelling went down foremost. "Arrow, you think I can walk on it now?"
Stroking at Silver's chest fur, Arrow smiled at him, nodding.
"By the looks of things, it should be alright by now. But, just to start, let me get out of bed first. I'll pretty much have to hold you up; you won't be able to put any pressure on it for about another day or so. Seeing at how fast it's healing." Arrow got out of the bed, forgetting that he was halfway undressed when he fell asleep the night before, as he walked around to Silver's side of the bed, moving close.
"Just wrap your arm around my shoulder, and slowly stand up. I won't let you fall, Silver."
The silver hedgehog, wrapped his arm around his friends shoulders, at that moment he noticed the lack of clothing Arrow had on. He remembered the fact that he was an extremely heavy sleeper and in very few cases, he ever woke up with any help. Silver hesitated to get up, but Arrow had already pulled him up on his foot. He lightly played with the pressure he could put on his ankle which was a very good amount. He didn't need Arrow to support him at all but he didn't say nor do a thing."Arrow, when I was asleep… Did anything happen?" Silver had to ask this, he did feel comfortable around Arrow, but skittish at the same time.
"What do you mean?" Arrow seemed confused for a second, then realized what the hedgehog meant, blushing. "You really don't trust me, even after all that bonding yesterday?" He began to giggle, slightly kissing Silver on the cheek. "No, you silly hedgie, nothing happened last night, I know my boundaries. The cuddling was all that happened, and, even then, that wasn't my idea. You started to cry and mumble in your sleep, then grabbed my hand, so, I moved closer, thinking you were having a nightmare. You didn't calm down until I actually wrapped my arms around you, after that, you slept soundly for the rest of the night."
Silver blushed when he felt Arrow's lips press gently against his cheek. Silver pushed him playfully, "No I didn't mean it like that," he lied, "I meant… what you had explained. About me having that nightmare, I just wanted to know if I did anything stupid. So now that I know I did, I'm at rest."
Giggling, Arrow brushed his tail against the side of Silver's face. "You suck at lying, Silver." Staring at Silver's face, Arrow couldn't stop himself any longer. He started to lean in, closer to the hedgehog's face, until their lips were pressed together.
Silver gasped, he raised his hand balling it into a fist. He cuffed Arrow on his cheek violently. The angered hedgehog pushed himself away from the wolf. Remembering that his ankle wouldn't be able to support him right away, he fell on the floor, he looked up at Arrow. "What the hell Arrow?" Silver screamed. "What was that? I thought I could trust you!" Silver began to crawl away fuming.
Arrow was now sprawled on the floor in front of Silver from the force of the hit, blood streaming from his nose and mouth. Silver had accidentally cut across the side of his face, near his eye, with a claw, and was now bleeding from there, as well. Scared, Arrow crawled back, and curled up on the far end of the room, crying hysterically.
Silver turned his head around to see, Arrow crying. The blood and tears were staining his fur. Silver frowned out of guilt; he didn't mean to hurt Arrow. He just wanted to give him a warning of his own boundaries. The saddened hog crawled back over to the crying wolf; he placed his hand softly on his shoulder squeezing it gently. "I'm sorry, Arrow. I… I didn't mean to make you bleed. I'm so sorry." Silver began to weep after the wolf, not as strong but as meaningful.
"I'm so sorry... Silver, I just couldn't stop myself... I'm so sorry... It'll never happen again... I'll make sure..." Arrow lifted his face, still stained from the mix of tears and blood. "I guess I should go take a shower... You know, get this blood off... heh, it's... Just like old times... From when my father did the... Same..." Arrow gasped, his eyes widening. "Father..." With that, the wolf let out a blood-curdling scream, banging his head accidentally on the wall behind him, crying once more. "DON'T LET HIM HURT ME!" Arrow's memories were taking control of his mind, "DON'T LET HIM TOUCH ME!" Arrow screamed once more, crying even more.
Silver flung himself away from Arrow; he pounced back once he knew what the hurt prince was screaming about. He flung himself around the wolf, hoping to give him comfort. It didn't stop; he began to cry out rapidly as Arrow clawed at him. He held onto Arrow harder, "ARROW! STOP! PLEASE!" Silver cried out. "You're scaring me!"
As quickly as it had begun, the wolf suddenly stopped screaming. He was now just laying in Silver's arms, his hands and legs trembling, still crying, but starting to calm down.
"Silver... I'm so sorry... Silver, don't let go... Please, please just don't let go of me... I'm so alone..." Arrow dug his head deeply into the hedgehog's soft chest fur.
"No Arrow, you're not alone. Jake, Sonic, Tails, and I are all here for you. We all care for you and I know for sure nothing bad will ever happen." Silver clasped him harder, "I won't let go, and I'll stay by your side. Promise." Silver gasped as he felt the blood trickle down his back. He released one hand from Arrow, feeling the blood. It wasn't bleeding heavily, but enough to scar for a bit. He shifted his position to get more comfortable while holding his friend. The now tired hog rested his head on Arrow's shoulder; he didn't care if it got infected. He would wait as long as it took to get the prince back on his feet.
Feeling the blood, Arrow pushed himself away from Silver just enough to see the wound on his back, but still close enough to remain in his arms.
"Silver... I accidentally cut you... I'm sorry... Do you want me to do what I did for your leg? Or, would you rather have it heal itself? In any case, you really should take off your shirt. It'll air out the wound, and, if you want, I can heal it..." Arrow didn't even blush at what he had just said; he was completely serious for Silver's safety.
"No thank you Arrow, it'll be fine. But I should probably wash it off, along with your face… sorry." Silver said smiling sheepishly, trying not to get eye contact. He snuggled into Arrow, he kinda liked the way his fur patted down softly when he rested on it.
"Silver, really, it'd be better for your health... But, I won't force you... I'm just saying it'd help if you just took off the shirt..." He snuggled deeper into Silver's chest.
"Well you did help my ankle get better, but I'm not going to trouble you again so I'll just take my shirt off." Silver said without any hesitation. He pulled himself off of Arrow and used his knees to stay up. He bent down low and grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled it off. It ruffled his fur, and quills making him look ten times fluffier then he already was.
Blushing, Arrow dug his head back into Silver's chest, wrapping his arms around Silver's waist. Under his breath, he murmured, 'I love you...' and sighed. Right now, he didn't care if the world was ending. He was finally happy, here, in Silver's arms.
Silver giggled when Arrow got into his fur, "C'mon Arrow, we should probably get the blood off, I don't want it to dry, it'll only make life harder."
Blushing even more, Arrow continued. "Well, I'd say you ARE in need of a shower... But, you won't be able to stand on your own... Unless, of course..." Arrow giggled, throwing himself back into Silver's chest once more. "Of course, you'll probably never agree to that... But, the thought's nice..."
"Agree to… what?" Silver thought for a moment, "Oh I see, I guess. I kinda want one anyway, besides I can't stand on my own. At least for now."
"Wait... Did you just... Agree... To taking a shower with me?" Arrow lifted his head from Silver's chest fur, still clinging his arms around the hedgehog's waist. "Are you... Sure?" He began to blush, trying to hide it with his tail.
Silver smiled heart fully, "Yeah, I probably reek. So you wouldn't mind, would you?"
"No, not at all. And, I also don't mind the smell, but, whatever. Come on," Arrow stood up from the floor, holding his hands out for Silver to grab onto, "Let's go." He blushed noticeably harder.
The grounded hog grabbed onto the eager wolf's hand not noticing the blush. He was pulled up into Arrow's arms. For a couple of moments they stood like that, "So… we going or not?"
"Oh, yeah, we should get going... Come on, I'll help you get the rest of those clothes off." Arrow was giggling uncontrollably, and slowly walked Silver to the washroom, locking the door behind them. Inside, Arrow first turned on the showerhead, feeling to make sure the temperature was just right, and then turned around to face Silver, leaned against a sink.
"You don't... Mind, if I help you take off your clothes... Right? I mean, it's only your pants and underwear, left, anyways..." Arrow placed a hand against Silver's waistline, awaiting an answer.
Silver smiled nervously, blushing with his ears flat against his head, "Gonna have to, I still can't do much."
Arrow couldn't stop from smiling. "Alright, then." His hands shaking, he went to unbutton and slide Silver's pants off, then, carefully, raised the hedgehog's legs out, careful not to jar the bruised ankle. He stared at Silver, now only in his underwear, the wolf couldn't have blushed any more than he already did. "Now for your undies..." He whispered to himself, then, repeated the careful unclothing process. Silver now stood before him, naked.
'Heaven...' Arrow thought, but, to the hedgehog, said "Lean against the sink while I get undressed, okay? And, um, don't look? Unless... Well, unless you HAVE to..." He tried not to giggle, and, as he slowly let Silver down from his shoulder, onto the edge of the sink, he quickly undressed himself, then picked Silver's arm back up, and wrapped it back around his now completely nude shoulder. One step at a time, he led the hedgehog into the shower tub, making sure not to strain his ankle.
Silver placed half his weight on Arrow, he felt kinda odd being completely nude in front of a gay guy. Arrow helped him into the shower, Silver melted once the very warm water splashed on his fur. He still held onto Ado, while he cupped water in his hand the lightly slamming it on his head. He kept repeating that until he head was completely wet. It started to get a little hot now, which made Silver's face go red and he lightly gasped for fresh air. The air around them became humid and steamy.
"Don't you just love how beautiful hot water is? It really is refreshing. You know, I've heard people say, before, that a warm shower can actually warm your heart up to people. Of course, I don't know how that could be possible; maybe it's the steamy air that does it." Arrow grabbed a bottle of his favorite shampoo, squeezing the liquid out onto Silver's head, and then rubbing it in. As it became foamy, Arrow then spread it out all over Silver's body. "You're gonna love it, just wait until you blow-dry your fur after this."Still massaging the shampoo into Silver's soft, delicate fur, Arrow started to hum his favorite song, until he found himself slightly singing. "... But I don't wanna go; I wish we could stay here forever alone..."
The silver hog relaxed into the wolf's touch, the shampoo tingled against his skin. It changed the scent of the steam into a fresh tropical scent. Silver listened intently to the humming his shower buddy produced.
"You really are enjoying using royalty for your own needs, aren't you?" Arrow was laughing, after massaging the shampoo over Silver's entire body, he now moved onto his own. "Hey, don't wash it out till I'm finished, it'll take a minute before it really sets in." He moved onto washing through his thick, furry tail.
"Heh, sorry." Silver laughed nervously. Silver stood there patiently waiting for Arrow to finish lathering himself in shampoo. He grabbed onto the railing for support, he fingered with his wet chest fluff making it stick out funny.
Arrow moved himself closer to Silver, when he was close enough; he wrapped his arms around the hedgehog's waist.
"Don't worry; I'm enjoying, too, no need to get all embarrassed." He softly whispered into his ear, smiling.
The silver hedgehog blushed deeply; luckily the steam hid it well. He placed his one hand on the arms that had snaked around his waist. He tried pulling away gently; the blushing hog slid his foot on a patch of washing shampoo that was heading for the drain.
He pressured his foot on the patch causing him to slip back onto Arrow. He grabbed on tightly to what ever he could to prevent himself from falling. But he only grabbed onto something he didn't quite want to touch.
Arrow yelped, and then bit his own hand to stop himself from screaming. His cheeks turned a scarlet red, he couldn't very well speak. All he could do was stand, in shock, at what Silver was doing.
"S... Silver!" The wolf gasped.
Silver looked up at Arrow confused, he tried to pull himself up with whatever he was holding only causing Arrow to yelp again. He loosened his grip, and then looked at what he was holding. Silver gasped and moved his hand away quickly. Silver backed away rapidly. He had grabbed his manhood unintentionally.
"Owwww... Okay, that REALLY hurt, Silver, sheesh! You know, if I were still in the castle, I could've gotten you hung for that." Giggling, Arrow helped Silver regain his balance, then hugged him tightly, not caring that the two of them were completely nude. "But, lucky for you, I didn't mind that at all." He whispered into the hedgehog's ear.
Silver placed his hand on his neck on the thought of being hung. "Even if we were back at your place… would we even be in a shower together? 'Cause the only reason we're in here is we both need a shower and I can barely stand on my own."
"No, please don't be scared, Silver; I wouldn't EVER let them hang you... You mean too much to me..." Arrow grabbed hold of his tail, snuggling into it. "Oh, I forgot, we never got washed off... Well, here, let me rinse you off, Silver." Taking the showerhead and detaching it from its post on the wall above them, Arrow ran it over Silver's body, massaging the shampoo from him, moving in close to wash himself simultaneously.
"I wasn't scared," Silver scoffed, "just don't appreciate the idea."
"Alright, your highness, I'll believe what you say... Now, if you could, get out. I still need to get your fur fluffed up and ready for going out. Our camping trip begins today."
"Okay." Silver replied simply, after they were both done rinsing off they got out of the shower to dry off.
Grabbing his favorite blow drier, Arrow led Silver back into the bedroom.
"I won't be able to hold you up if I try his, so you're just gonna have to sit down at the edge of the bed. I can't wait to see how this is gonna turn out. You don't mind being extremely fluffy, do you?"
"I don't know, I'm not really used to it I guess, my fur isn't that thick."
"You really don't know a lot about style, do you? Well, don't worry; this is why you've got me." Sitting Silver down at the edge of their bed, Arrow plugged in the blow drier, setting it to a high heat setting, and grabbed a round brush, ready for styling. "Silver... It's time for a makeover." The wolf grinned, and began to dry his fur off, occasionally taking the brush to tease though his thin quills.
"A, a makeover?" Silver asked, "I… like the way I look though. Is that really necessary?" He was blushing embarrassed, did he look stupid with his natural look? "But if you want you can keep doing it, guess it's time to… try something new."
"No, trust me, it's not 'cause you look BAD the way you do, trust me, you look PERFECT just the way you are, its just... I wanna try to up the level even MORE. I wanna give you the royal treatment today, Silver." Arrow smiled, and then started to blush. "Um... You do know that... To blow-dry your fur, I mean ALL of your fur, right?" Arrow gestured for him to lie on his stomach, so he could get to the hedgehog's back.
"Oh um, 'kay." Silver crawled onto his stomach, shivering lowly at the fact Arrow and him were still naked. He crossed his arms over his muzzle to cover his hardened blush.
Arrow started to blush as well, climbing on top of Silver to blow dry the hedgehog's back, while massaging with his round brush.
"I hope this isn't... Awkward, for you, Silver... I mean, I'm just... Helping style your fur, that's all... Just wanted you to know, this is nothing more..." Arrow kept trying to sound innocent in order for the hedgehog to not freak out; he didn't want to risk this new friendship they had.
Silver calmed down once he had heard Arrow's assurance. He relaxed as much as his consciousness would allow him.
Out in the hallway, Jake was wandering around searching for the blue wolf and silver hedgehog. Everyone woke up searching for them. Sonic was outside searching the grounds; Tails was searching downstairs while he was looking upstairs. Although Blaze had left, she had made a fair share in searching. He had looked through each room, each corridor at least three times. There was no sign of either of them. He was going to go downstairs to help the young kitsune with his search since he was positive they weren't up there. Near the staircase, he sees a small notch in the wall. At first he though someone had damaged it. Probably Sonic, but it was too deep and to complicated to be a regular hole. He peered inside the hole, it sort of looked complicated… like a lock. He edged around the small column in the wall. He never noticed before but there was a secret door in the hallway. He pulled on the little space opposite of the hinges. It took a great deal of effort to open it, once open beyond the door revealed a dorm. Slowly and unsurely he strolled down.
Once Jake had reached the end of the hallway he saw a door that frightened him a bit. Of course he thought a carving was actually a serpent. But it didn't lung out or hiss so he was positive it wasn't real. He heard some odd sounds past the startling passage. He cautiously opened the door finding Ado and Silver, both on a bed, naked.
Hearing the door open, Arrow turned his head, to see, in dismay that Jake was staring directly at him. He dropped the blow drier in shock, accidentally turning it off. As he yelped, the wolf fell off of Silver's back, onto the floor beside their bed.
"JAKE! What the hell are you doing here?" Arrow pulled a pillow off of the bed, using it to cover himself.
Silver ducked under a pillow as well hiding as much as he could. He eventually built a little fortress around him covering almost his entire body; his face was as red as a beet.
"I should be asking you the same question. So, who's banging up who?" Jake asked coolly, he asked like he truly didn't care.
"Wait, what? No, Jake, it's... It's not what you THINK it is... He's straight! The blow drier! I was drying his fur for him; I wanted him to look cute today for the camping trip... He hurt his ankle, though, and I had to take a shower with him... And now, we were just..." Ado held his tail up to his face, covering his blush. "Well, you know!"
"Ah, I see. Well I'll just leave you to… alone while I go and cancel the search." Jake said mockingly.
"Wait, what search?" Silver questioned.
"Oh, right. Well since neither of you left a trace or left anything indicating you were alright, we all played search and rescue. Looks like I won."
"Wait, Jake, please, don't be angry, it really wasn't what I know you're thinking! We're just friends, nothing more..." A tear ran down Ado's face as he finished that sentence, it pained him.
"Well, since you're leaving anyways, can you at least tell them that we're almost finished? All I need to do is get Silver's outfit ready, bye now..." Ado put on a false smile for Jake.
"Oh Ado, I'm not angry with you. Whether you did it with him or not, I understand the need to molest something. I'll be sure to tell the others that I found you. Bye." The weasel stepped out, Silver sat embarrassed on what had happened. He noticed the indignant structure on his friends face.
"Arrow, are you okay?" Silver solicited, he shifted over to the wolven prince still covering himself up.
"No... I'm not okay... Jake just... Saw that... And thought... Ugh, why doesn't ANYTHING ever turn out right?" Arrow's eyes filled with tears, but he instantly wiped them away with his tail. "Well, now's not the time to be upset, your furs dry, now we gotta get you a cute outfit. Don't worry; it's my pleasure to dress you." Arrow smiled at the hedgehog, then stood up, walked towards his large closet, and pulled out piles upon piles of clothing.
"Um… what about my underwear? Aren't we going to get that first?" Silver asked blushing, bringing up this topic was different for him. He undressed himself from the fortress of pillows, and sat at the edge of the bed again.
Blushing, Arrow spoke. "Well... All of YOUR personal clothes are still back in your room, Silver... Well, if you want, I'LL go out there, back to your room..." Arrow found a furry pink robe in his closet, similar to the black one he had worn when the hedgehog first met him a day earlier, and threw it over himself. "There. Good? I'll be back, just... Just hold on..." With that, the wolf led himself out of the room, back up the dark side corridor, into the main hallway. When he turned around from shutting closed the secret door, he came face to face with Jake.
Jake stared blankly at Ado; there was a small unreadable glint in his eyes. He hugged Ado, kissing the side of his neck. "I'm deeply sorry for last night dear. I got lost in that hedgehog, could you ever forgive me?"
"Jake... Jake, of course I forgive you. I love you... And, I promise, what you saw back in the bedroom was NOT what you were thinking, I'd never even THINK of doing THAT with anyone other than you..." The wolf wrapped his arms around Jake's waist, pulling him close, burying his head in the weasel's chest fur. "I love you, Jake..."
"Perfect." Jake kissed Ado on his soft lips, "When you two are ready we have breakfast ready downstairs. I can already tell what Sonic's making, or trying to since I hid the chili and wieners." Jake chuckled darkly; he seemed to like torturing the blue hero.
"Baby, you're so mean sometimes… I love you…" Ado detached himself from Jake, running back down the hall towards Silver's room.
Back in the hidden room, Silver was bored, resorting to playing with his chest fur, awaiting Arrow's return. Slowly, the door opened, the albino wolf standing with a suitcase in his hands.
"I kinda got sidetracked and forgot what you asked for, so I just packed your entire wardrobe into here." The wolf blushed, placing his suitcase on the bed beside Silver.
"Oh, thanks." Silver undid the zipper and found all his clothes neatly folded into place. His underwear was on top and he took out the tight black pair he had on top. It looked like a Speedo, but he loved tight clothing.
Arrow began to blush, and giggled. "I know EXACTLY what you should wear… It's sporty, for the hiking, yet cute at the same time!" Tearing through the piles of clothes from his closet, he found what he was looking for: a v-neck, cut off belly shirt, emerald green in colour, with an embroidered "A" on the left side of the chest, extremely tight thigh-high leather socks, and a pair of red furry boots. "Oh my gosh, it'll look so CUTE on you! Plus, it works PERFECTLY with your… Heh, particular style of underwear…" Trying to hide his blush with his tail, Arrow handed Silver the complete outfit. "Now, get dressed while I pick out my outfit, you're gonna look AMAZING!"
Silver smiled brightly at the tight clothing. Sure it was a little… exotic for his taste, but it was still tight. He rushed to put on the v-neck shirt that cut off at the bottom of his chest. It looked great on him from what he could see. His chest fur had covered the "A" completely. He gingerly put on his black underwear, then did the same with the jean shorts and fastened the golden belt. It was short around the waistline so you could see bits of his black boxers/Speedos. He gently slid one leg through one of the leather socks, he had to try and pull up the shorts since it went under them, except by the inner thighs. He did the same with the other. He undid the shoelaces on the red boots, they looked like his regular ones, but fluffy, red, and they had laces. Once his outfit was complete he looked at himself in the mirror, he was still sitting but he looked great. He turned his head to see what Arrow had picked out for himself.
The wolf was standing, on the other side of the room, near the closet, looking for the final piece of his outfit, he still needed shoes. He turned around giving Silver a good look at his outfit: a royal violet cut-off shirt, like Silver's but sleeveless, with a white leather unzipped jacket over top. Two coattails hanging down the back, the ends on the sides frilled out. The coat ended right at his waistline, where his shorts were, shining black leather shorts that barely even made it to his thighs, couples with thigh-high leather socks of his own, blue and white horizontal stripes. He chose a pair of fluffy purple boots that were a little bit higher on his legs then Silver's, but still the same style. His fur had been dried as well, and now looked messy, but with a touch of elegance to it. He placed his crown back on his head staring at Silver.
"Wow… Silver… you look…" He couldn't find the words for the rest of his sentence.
"You look great Arrow." Silver smiled softly, his stomach growled loudly causing him to blush deeply. "Uh, guess we should go down and get something to eat huh?"
"Yeah, that would probably be the best idea right now… Come on, I'm sure they're waiting for us." Arrow led Silver out of the room, watching to make sure he wouldn't fall again in the dark hallway, and took him back down the grand staircase. In the dining room, where sure enough, Sonic, Jake, and Tails were all waiting for them to return, all dressed and ready to leave for the camping trip. Tails waved at them.
"Good morning, we looked for you guys for the past two hours! Glad to see you're both alright and dressed well!" the fox smiled up at them.
"Yeah, I guess we look okay. So is there anything to eat?" Silver asked eagerly.
"Yeah, I couldn't find the chili dogs, so I just had Tails make his special: the Miles High Breakfast in Bed Platter." Sonic started to laugh, Tails blushed.
"Sonic, you actually came up with a NAME for it!"
"Well, was I not supposed to? Wither way, bring it out hun!" Tails nodded and retreated to kitchen wit food-heavy plates, assorting them around the table.
Three main dishes were part of the meal; a giant stack of waffles, with shining gooey maple syrup running through them, a large mound of hashed potatoes, crisped to a golden brown, and a large meat platter consisting of sausage links and bacon strips, all assembled around a giant ham. With the side dishes were a plate of scrambled eggs and a fruit salad.
"Eat anything you like, you gotta be full on energy before the camping trip takes place!" Tails beckoned both Ado and Silver to the food. Silver went for the meat platter instinctively; he grabbed a plate and filled it with bacon and a whole sausage link. He went for some hash browns and took a pile and a pile of fruit salad.
"Aren't you going to take some waffles or something?" Jake asked randomly.
"No, waffles make me sick to my stomach. Heh…" He started to inhale the sausages hungrily and greedily.
Ado, on the other hand ate more reserved, taking smaller portions of just about everything around the table. "It's a sign of respect to eat with dignity when someone cooks for you Silver." The wolf folded up a cloth napkin, folding it in half and placing it on his lap. Picking up his fork and knife, the wolf began to nibble at everything, making sure to keep his mouth clean with almost every bite. Sonic and Tails stared at him, weirded out by the wolf's actions.
"Who on Mobius is that reserved?" Sonic mumbled to himself, low enough to keep Ado from hearing.
Silver gulped down what he had in his mouth and sighed, around half his meal was gone, and he still was without a bulge on his stomach. "But it's so good, how can anyone be expected to eat like that. You don't mind do you Tails?"
Tails blushed. "Well… I guess I don't mind… I'm just glad you guys like the food…"
"Well, it is pretty amazing Tails… You're one hell of a cook. Wish I were as good as you." Ado kept delicately eating his breakfast.
"This is one of the best meals I've had in years that I didn't have to make." Silver ate slower once he neared complete fullness. Once he was done, he waited for everyone else to finish. Jake put his fork down and inspected the finished hog.
"Did you even eat? You still look like you need to eat." Jake questioned Silver concerned.
"Jake, don't pester the poor child, we don't want him sick off a stomachache when we leave for the trip." Ado finished his own food, wiping his mouth off with his napkin. "Alright, so are we driving out of town or hiking?"
"It'd be more fun if we hike it!" Silver divulged. He was plainly jumping up and down in his seat.
"Well I think it would be better if we drove, it's a long way out." Jake explained. He stared at the others, wanting to know what they would like to do.
"Well, anything you guys end up choosing is fine with me… Sonic darling, what about you?" Miles couldn't speak his own mind if his life depended on it. "But, if it came down to me having the final decision, I'd say we should drive, it could be dangerous…"
"Tails, you're such an Uke… I love that about you though…" Sonic chuckled at the fox, and then continued on. "I think we should run it."
"Leave it to the jock to go for the run." Jake smiled teasingly.
"Hey, shut it! You want this fist up your ass, weasel?" Sonic curled his hand into a fist, pissed off.
"Sonic, calm yourself. We're all friends, here, there should be no animosity." Tails grabbed hold of Sonic's arm, massaging him smoothly.
"Well, apparently it's up to me..." Ado thought about it, he could either side with Jake or Silver. And, it wasn't a life threatening situation or anything. "Well, since we ARE going for the camping experience, let's hike it." He smiled comfortably at Silver.
"Cool!" Silver cheered while Jake moaned in displeasure. He was really hoping to drive it since he really isn't the active type. "Let's go now!" Silver began to dash up the stairs to get his belongings. Ignoring the fact his foot still stung lightly but it was fine. He rushed to the 'secret room' and retrieved the suitcase. He ran back to his original room and began to re-pack his clothes in his carry-on backpack. Racing down the stairs he plowed into Sonic.
The cobalt hedgehog shrieked. "Hey, what the hell! Watch where you're going, Silver!" Ado laughed at the two of them, and then helped them both off the floor.
"Alright, stop fighting; settle it with the hike, okay? We don't want an actual fight breaking out, here, you two. Let's get going." Ado went over to Jake, grabbing his arm, pulling him towards the front door. Tails went to get all the camping supplies for the trip, then beckoned Silver and Sonic.
"Heh, sorry about earlier Sonic." Silver apologized and ran over to Tails to see what he needed. "What is it Tails?" Silver smiled brightly.
"Well you don't expect me to carry everything do you? I just need someone to carry the tent and someone to carry our luggage." Tails said walking away carrying the food.
Silver picked up the bag with the tent in it and began to walk off towards the others, but he looked over his shoulder to make sure Sonic was right behind him.
"Don't worry, Silver, I got the luggage. I'll be able to handle it." The cobalt hedgehog looked almost like a pack-mule, under all the suitcases filled with clothing. Outside, Ado, Jake, and Tails were all starting to walk towards the camp grounds, when Ado spotted Sonic, and began to giggle.
"Jake, can you help the poor guy? After all, I can' do anything, I'm just a weak Uke..." He gave Jake the cutest, most irresistible look he could.
"Of course Ado, I'd more then willing to help." Jake smiled sweetly but once he turned away he began to grin smugly. While Ado had moved away he took long route to find himself behind the blue pack mule, he lightly pressed his hand against some of the luggage and pushed forward very slightly, causing the blue hedgehog to fall forward. "Need some help hedgehog?"
Sonic looked back, and let out a short shriek. "Oh GOD, Jake, don't fucking SCARE me like that!" He held his hand over his chest. "You're going to give me a heart attack, you damned weasel!" He started to laugh, then let down a few luggage bags, beckoning Jake to come and pick them up. "Well, if you wanna help, I'm not stopping you, just don't freak me OUT. We've got a LOT of catching up to do, and a distraction's the LAST thing we need."
I agree but it was worth it. Seeing your reaction made my day." He laughed darkly again, and picked up half of the luggage. It was pretty light, which baffled him whether he needed any help. But he continued walking ahead of Sonic. Shortly after though the blue speedster caught up.
"Another thing, don't DITCH me like that! Sheesh, we gotta hurry, but you don't have to RUSH it!" Sonic complained to the weasel. Further ahead on the path, Tails, Silver, and Ado were all still walking.
"Silver, why don't you just use that psycho-whatever-it-is to carry the tent? Wouldn't be easier on the strain?" Ado asked the hedgehog, confused.
"It's kinda big, and I probably won't be able to hold up for more then five minutes. I'll only end up being more tired anyway." He smiled strongly, but it faded once his mind had formed a question. "Don't you remember? I explained it all last night at dinner."
"Yes, I remember, silly hedgie, its just that I thought it wouldn't be TOO heavy for you, and, I kinda wanted to see it, again..." Ado blushed at the thought of his "strong" Silver. Miles rolled his eyes at the wolf, laughing.
Silver smiled, "I could do it again, just not with the tent." He pulled out a couple of metallic stones from his pack and held then in his hand. He focused his energy again, and the stones lifted in the air with the special aura around them. They began to twist and turn around into different shapes and sizes. "These are special rocks; I don't need to focus much energy on them since their completely compatible with my energy."
Ado stood in amazement. He'd seen the same trick with Silver's wine glass from the night before, but it was still completely shiny and new for the wolf.
"Such a beautiful power..." He mumbled under his breath.
Silver continued his tricks, "The best part about this is I could do this all day. It helps me experience how a real psychokinetic being feels." He formed the rocks into their original state and put them in his back pocket. "But it also makes me jealous too, knowing I have this great power and I can't do much. Guess it makes me feel weak, not like I really care though. I'm plenty strong."
"Silver, you're DEFINITELY not weak. You're... Amazing..." Ado drifted off into his daydream world, still staring at what the hedgehog could do, when suddenly, the fox interrupted them.
"The camp grounds! Guys, we're here!"
Silver cheered out of energetic joy and progressed forward. "So where are we camping?"
"Well, we four found a nice spot near this river last week, when we came up here to plan, so, all we've gotta do is hike all the way back there." Sonic teased Silver.
"Its way in the back of this forest ground, actually. Hehe, so, it MAY take a while to find. Sorry, Silver."
"Hey that's fine, as long as we still get there." The silver hog stated smiling patiently waiting for someone to lead the way.
"You're all lucky I know the easiest way." Miles led the group off into the grounds. The trees were clumped closely together; no sunlight could shine through the thick leaves. Still, although dark, this forest had an odd, mystic feeling, almost enchanting. Ado linked his arm with Silver's after a while, pretending he was scared of the forest. Sonic laughed at Jake, teasing him over the silver hedgehog along the way. Suddenly, a rustle in the bushes was heard. A rustling noise that didn't belong to the group.
"What the hell was that?" Ado now clung to Silver, actually scared.
"Guys, don't freak out, just from the sound of the noise, I'd say it were either a small rabbit, or possibly a snake." Tails still kept a watchful eye to the bushes, looking for another sign. Suddenly, a pair of gleaming red eyes shined through the shrub, directed right at Silver and Ado.
Silver cringed at the word 'snake'; he clung to Ado in to comfort him and himself. He exposed an expression of courage hoping to scare away the creature, but inside he was bouncing with fear. The ruby eyes darted around looking at everyone else then pulled away deep into the bushes. In the distance more rustling was heard from other bushes.
"Well whatever it was, it's gone now." Jake said hugging Ado comfortingly.
"Oh god, that thing better not show itself again... Jake, I'm scared..." Ado shivered, holding onto Jake tightly, burying his head into the weasel's chest.
"Guys, don't worry, I'm SURE it was nothing..." Tails looked back at the bush, sending a chill down his spine. "Maybe we SHOULD get going, though..." He stuttered, and then walked off, with Silver following.
"Jake... You won't let it... Hurt me... Will you?" Ado clung even tighter to Jake.
"Of course not Ado," Jake chimed; he took off Ado's pack holding it on one arm. Then he swept Ado off his feet into his arms holding him bridal style. "I'll be dead before anything touches you." Jake buried his face into Ado's chest, kissing it lightly while he was nuzzling it as well.
Ado blushed, giggling. "You just can't WAIT for the wedding, can you?" He wrapped his arms round Jake's neck, leaning in close enough to kiss the weasel. Meanwhile, Sonic had snuck up behind Jake, took in a large breath, and screamed.
"GET GOING, YOU TWO!"
Jake jumped coming close to dropping Ado, he turned around furious. "You are such a child hedgehog. You and Tails better watch your backs." Jake spat. He turned around and began to walk again calming down with every step.
From behind them, Sonic laughed at the weasel. "YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN THE LOOK ON YOUR STUPID BOYFRIEND'S FACE, YOU IDIOTIC WEASEL!" He yelled, teasing. "IT TRULY WAS PRICELESS! SHEESH, HOW COULD YOU EVER EVEN LIKE THAT DOLT?" Ado had his head turned backwards, trying not to cry from what Sonic was saying. He couldn't hold it back, though; he started crying into Jake's chest.
Jake had stopped dead in his tracks and set Ado onto his feet pulling his head up gently and wiping away his tears. He faced Sonic, "Are you trying to make things worse for yourself or do you really enjoy pain." Jake said lunging at Sonic.
Tails and Silver were not far ahead of the rumble. The silver hedgehog could still feel the like he was being watched, but he began to ignore it once he had heard what Sonic had said. "Sounds like your boyfriends acting up Tails." Silver sighed walking in the opposite direction.
"Ugh, he's got too much of an attitude problem... He's just always such a big-shot everywhere he goes, he thinks he can get away with almost anything..." Tails drooped his head, sighing in annoyance. Back at the fight scene, Ado watched in horror as the hedgehog and his boyfriend were out for blood.
"Ha, is that all you got? No WONDER you can't do better than HIM! You're WEAK, weasel." Sonic kicked Jake off of him, rushing in to punch Jake in the face.
The red furred weasel gritted his teeth, "Not like you could do any better then Tails, your egos so big in your head there isn't enough room for a brain." Jake dodged the punch and pushed one hand onto Sonic's back pushing him forwards into the ground, he jumped on his back holding one of the hero's arms behind his back pushing it up, "And by the way, I could do a whole lot worse to you. But I chose not to."
"Fuck off, you pathetic newbie." Sonic flipped himself over, landing with Jake under him, breaking his concentration enough to slip free. The hedgehog stood above Jake, laughing, and started to thrust multiple kicks into the weasel's side. "HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, HUH!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. In the background, Tails and Silver had caught back up with Ado; Tails was holding a gleaming syringe.
"If I can just get close enough, I can sedate him, but, there's always a chance of hitting Jake... Ado, could you do it for me?" The fox pleaded to the wolf standing beside him.
"Wait, me? Couldn't you get Silver to use his... Psychokinetic power thing?" Ado blushed, turning away and giggling. The fox turned back to Silver, asking the same.
Silver bared a look of doubt, "I could try." He was a bad shot, so he would have to go against Ado's wish and actually get in between the weasel and the hedgehog. He came behind Sonic unnoticed at the time, but the rustling came from the bushes again and something brushed against his leg. It made Silver jump on Sonic in fear. Accidently stabbing him in the process, without injecting the serum.
A scream was heard from the cobalt hedgehog, as he fell to the floor in pain.
"GET IT OUT OF ME, OR I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!" He flailed his fists about wildly.
"Silver, inject it! Now, before he gets back up!" Tails screamed from the background, as Ado ran over to Jake, clinging around the weasel's waist.
Silver dodged some of the swings, but he was hit when he leaned in to inject the serum. Sonic had caught his jaw pushing him back making the needle move around a bit in his flesh. Silver pulled back in dodging some other throws; finally he dived onto the cerulean hedgehog and whispered, "Sorry Sonic." Before he injected.
Jake lifted himself up dusting off some dirt like nothing had happened; he stared down at his rival. The weasel looked up at Silver who had a small cut from Sonic's fist. "Thank you Silver, he needed that even if he won't admit it."
Silver sighed in relief, unaware that Sonic could still move slightly as well as talk. "Does this happen often, or is this a special occasion?"
"Screw... You... All..." Sonic passed out onto the floor, as Tails rushed in, carefully pulling out Sonic's syringe.
"It's so odd; he's normally not like this... I'm so sorry you all had to see him this way... I guess being a big-shot hero really gets to your head after a while..." The fox mumbled on about how he couldn't believe what he had seen. Ado didn't seem to care, though; he let go of Jake, and was now all over Silver, scared for the hedgehog's minor cuts.
"Oh, Silver, you're so brave..." The wolf cuddled himself into Silver, forgetting once again about Jake. "I couldn't have ever done that, I'm not as amazing as you are. Are you okay, Silver?"
Jake continued to dust himself off while Silver was gently trying to get out of Ado's hold. "I'm fine Ado, and I wasn't that brave. I just didn't want to see anyone else get hurt."
"Okay, who's gonna carry my passed out douche of a boyfriend?" Tails looked around the group.
"Well Jake's out, the kid might wake up, and we don't want ANOTHER fight." Arrow stopped for a moment. "But, then, none of us three are strong enough... Damn, how ARE we gonna get him to the camp site?" Tails pondered, pacing back and forth for a while, before he finally got an idea.
"I got it! We don't take HIM to the camp site, we take the camp site to HIM! We have all our supplies, and this seems like a pretty safe spot, why don't we just camp out here?"
"Here?" Silver asked hiding the fear in his voice. He remembered that thing that had touched his leg; it was more of a swipe then a touch not that he thinks about it. "I don't know… I don't think we should camp here." Silver began to sound nervous as he looked around in the bushes.
"Is there something wrong Silver, because this seems like a good place?" Jake asked concerned.
"Silver, we won't be able to drag Sonic any further, relax, it's not like anything's going to happen." Tails had already started on building up the tent. Ado stood beside the hedgehog, wondering what was wrong.
"Are you sure?" The ivory hedgehog questioned. He looked around frantically feeling like he was being watched.
"Well, either way, it's too late now, Tails has his mind set!" Ado went over to help the fox set up tent, telling Jake to start a fire to cook for dinner.
Jake beckoned Silver over, "Why don't you help me make some food, help get your mind off of what's bugging you." He started unpacking the bag that Tails was carrying with all the food in it. "Go get Sonic, maybe we can make a stew out of him."
Silver blinked at Jake hearing his request. "That's really gross, don't think like that." Silver said whacking Jake with a stick, getting a grunt from the weasel.
"I'm a weasel aren't I?" Jake spoke mocking himself.
Tails looked at Ado, creeped out.
"So, that's your boyfriend, huh?"
"Shut it, fox." Tails started giggling, trying to compress his laughter. The deep red eyes from the bush returned, as Ado noticed, and a dark, scaly hand appeared out from the underbrush, reaching directly for Silver. He instinctively grabbed one of the iron rods for holding up the tents, and ran towards it, smacking the hand into the ground. A loud shriek was heard, and the hand retreated back into the bushes, the eyes disappearing with a hissing sound.
Silver jumped forward when he heard the whack near his backside, soon after he heard the hissing which had caused him to run in the opposite direction. He took shelter behind the unconscious hero, "Ado, was that a snake?" Silver asked terrified.
Ado shivered as well, staring at the ground, where a single scale from the ground lay, bloody.
"I don't know WHAT the hell it was... It had HANDS! It... It had fucking HANDS..."The wolf started to twitch in fear, as Tails grabbed the iron rod from his hands, looking at it.
"A little bloody, but that won't hurt anybody." Tails set it up in place, completing the last of three tents. "Now we're ready for later tonight."
Silver turned to Ado, "I just hope you scared it off. Whatever it is." He began to help Jake again with their meal; he didn't seem to notice what had happened.
Arrow bent down, picking up the scale off the ground. He studied it closely, it didn't seem like a normal reptilian scale, it was much shinier, almost like a fish's, but was large in size, and as rough as a snake scale.