Silver wasn't a difficult person to read, even as children it only took a glance to tell something was troubling him, but his tendency to put the world upon his shoulders made him rather inept about discussing his issues; minimizing them even if he was clearly torn up inside. He was quite the frowner, lips arching downward and brows descended, the quills on his forehead bending down with them. "I'm fine Blaze, it's nothing. Just a couple of bad thoughts, they'll pass."
She could frown too though, and she knew hers was far better practiced. It was late, the two were sat in the royal library; an unreadable number of books covered the walls and three floors, she was sat beside him on a low wooden table. He wasn't really reading as much as staring at books and replacing them every so often. The book sat on the table, a mildly hyperbolised recount of a well-known pirate, was one she knew would spark his interest on any other day but he seemed to keep forgetting that he was reading. Despite that he wasn't meeting her eyes, keeping his gaze focused on the page. She loosed a sigh to audibly show her annoyance; "You've been locking yourself in here for days Silver, you know I can only spend so much time here and Marine has hardly seen you; you know you can't hide these problems from me."
He flinched a little at that but didn't return her gaze, turning the page he continued; "I'm… just tired of playing with her is all." He was an awful liar too, Silver's ears weren't nearly as expressive as her own but she'd seen them flex up to their highest; a tell. Despite the lie, he continued; "I'll go see her tomorrow, I just… I need to focus on reading."
Blaze shook her head, this was a tough one; she couldn't tell what was eating away at him. They'd been reunited and remembered around four months ago and those four months had been some of the best they'd ever shared, introducing him to her world and spending almost every moment of their free time together; he'd settled so well into this world, found such wonder in nature, but that'd suddenly come to a screeching halt five days ago. She'd had to do some additional guardian work for two days and, upon her return, he'd been in this state. Was it that she'd left? She'd been spending time by his side for days now, despite his grumpiness, so that couldn't be the case. Marine might have done something but Silver had such a good rapport with the young Racoon, and for her childish antics to prompt this reaction would be bizarre.
Blaze watched as he flipped a page, psychokinetic energy glowing on the page as he gently gestured with his right hand; his left had been abandoned to lie flat on the table. She knew that she too wasn't the best at sharing her emotions; Silver was the only one she could comfortably confide in, but by being blunt perhaps she could finally get to the root of hand pressed over his, fingers pushing in to fill the gaps between his digits and her palm weighing atop his, immediately their eyes met. Realising he'd been caught his eyes sealed shut; she reopened them by cupping his cheek with her free hand, radiating a steady warmth. There was a hesitation in his eyes but they met hers eventually. "Silver I am your partner and when you suffer I suffer; I know you like to reduce your own issues but it is my job to help you with them as you help me with mine. Please Silver, let me in."
"I'm sorry for worrying you Blaze I… it's just…" He took a deep breath, "When you went away for those days I did a lot of thinking, you have this really big responsibility and so do I; we have a lot of people counting on us and… I just… I feel like I should be more mature to fit it?" That was all this was about? Maturity? He'd stopped playing with Marine because he thought it childish, locked himself away to study because he thought it more adult? Foolish, he was mistreating himself to put forth a guise of maturity; not become more mature. "Well it wasn't just you going away those days, we've lived for twenty-eight years across our lives and I while you're mature I feel like I kind of just..."
He was leaning into her palm but his eyes were drifting, she couldn't help smiling a little; now understanding the root of the issue and how simple it was. He wasn't hurt, he'd just thought far too hard, as he was apt to do. Granted, they were in an incredibly abnormal position, she hadn't considered it until now, but she could already pick apart the ways he was misconstruing their situation.
"You're so naïve. We might have lived for twenty-eight years but neither of us is twenty-eight, not in body or in mind. You've just…" How to phrase it, he was looking back at her with those honeypot eyes… she was distracted for a moment, realising the intimacy of their position. Shaking it off she finished, "You've just been fourteen twice. We've lived twenty-eight years, yes, but we've never reached adulthood. Don' worry yourself about maturity; if you're being immature I'll be sure to let you know. You're new to this peaceful life and I want you to enjoy it, as immaturely as you want to."
"Yeah, I-I guess… I do miss playing with Marine and just reading for fun. We've had clear nights but I've not been stargazing, I read about a couple new constellations to find…" He'd regained his smile for a moment only for it to halt its growth, reverting back to his prior nervous look. "But you're so mature Blaze; you're strong and you're wise and you treat your job with such amazing seriousness while I'm just messing around here, waiting for another lead rather than investigating." She felt herself warm up at the compliments but a chill washed over her at the thought of him leaving. She kept listening. "You're so good at being mature while I'm in struggling to fake it, we're the same age even if we're not twenty-eight; shouldn't I be better?"
She lowered her hand from his cheek to his shoulder, half immersed in his mane of chest fur. She gave it a moment of thought, "We have very different jobs, as difficult as mine is I at least know what each day will bring; you need to take breaks otherwise you'll get hurt." She took a moment longer, absentmindedly fiddling through his fur. "I think it's amazing that you are as you are, so naïve; to grow up as you have and maintain your kind heart and wonderment is incredible. No one would blame you for being overly serious all of the time but you aren't; and that's amazing to me, how you can laugh and smile so freely. There's a difference between being mature and being better, I think you're great the way you are but if you want to change that's fine; just don't force yourself over such a non-issue. Being mature isn't about ignoring what you enjoy; have fun, we'll both be true adults eventually."
He'd relaxed significantly, eyes meeting hers again she felt his hand shift; now palm to palm atop the desk. "It's still a little weird in my head but… alright, I guess I am just fourteen, but that means you are too. We should enjoy ourselves before life gets too serious, right? I'll only have fun as long as you are."
"Well, as long as you're by my side I'm sure I'll have a wonderful time." She gently smiled, finally pulling away from his shoulder. "I think the journey to adulthood will be quite strange. We've reached the cusp of puberty twice, progressing through it will be quite bizarre."
He blinked, "Huh? We're going somewhere? Where's puberty?" Blaze's eyes widened, scanning his face only to be met with a sincere look of confusion.
The Princess felt herself boil with embarrassment, releasing a rare chuckle out of a combination of bewilderment and surprise. She wasn't comfortable with how her own body was starting to change; let alone explaining how his would! "I-It's… not a place but a thing that w-will happen to you. Y-You'll see, try not to worry a-about it t-too much either."
He shrugged, closing the book; the tome began to float back to its shelf. "Oh okay. Just let me know if it's going wrong." He gripped her hand, beginning to lead, "Come on, the stars should be out!" She allowed herself to be pulled, trying to shake the thoughts from her head.