Belong

Chapter 18 - Midnight Musings

Despite the late hour, Silver could tell Venice was still awake as they snuggled together in the darkened room. Their attempts at being stealthy had been for naught and Amy had run into them basically the moment they had entered the kitchen, lovingly scolding them about their irresponsibility as she and Sonic prepared the most delicious snacks and bites. Venice's eyes had shone and he had thrown himself into tasting everything with unwavering enthusiasm, at least until Amy had brought them back the medbay and made them brush their teeth before tucking them in. His friend had become completely silent as they laid down to go to sleep, wide awake and breath shallow as he fiddled with his hands. Though not sure what was exactly on his mind Silver knew that if Venice wanted them to talk he would eventually take the initiative, so he waited patiently for the other to start speaking.

He didn't have to wait long. "Hey, Silver?" a tiny voice piped up from next to him, near his chest. "Are you still awake?"

Moving his hands to stroke Venice's quills he nuzzled the other's forehead. "I am," he assured him.

"...I can't sleep."

"Thought so." With a chuckle Silver reached over to the nightstand, switching on the tiny nightlight Tails had given to them. As its soft yellow glow filled the room he could make out Venice's features, taking in the other's wide eyes and scared face as he peeked up to him.

Venice crawled closer, pushing his face into Silver's chest fur fully. "I keep having nightmares," he whimpered as Silver calmingly scratched him behind an ear. "About that man, and before..." He took a shuddering breath as his hands grasped Silver's fluff. "Sometimes I die, sometimes you... Or we both fall to the ground before Sonic can reach us... Or I need to save you from getting captured and I fail, or instead of them it's that man who's hurting me, or you..."

"Vennie." Carefully slipping a hand underneath the other's chin he lifted up his face so they could see each other eye-to-eye. "Knowing this won't make your dreams disappear, but they're not real. You and I are right here, and you're safe."

Venice's lips trembled as Silver stroked his cheek with his thumb. "I'm scared... I just want them to go away..."

Silver felt a stab of pity go through his heart at the tearful exclamation. If he could somehow clear Venice's mind and give him some relief he would without hesitation, but what could he possibly do to help him, other than being there and giving support? "The memories will fade away with time," he murmured softly as his hands continued their petting. "They won't ever leave completely, but eventually they'll find a place, and you'll have peace."

With a shudder Venice pressed himself against Silver more, burying his nose underneath Silver's chin. Despite that, Silver could feel his breath had calmed a little bit. After spending some time in silence, the hybrid unexpectedly started talking again. "I think I can be okay with being both a hedgehog and a mink," he murmured as his hands played around with a tuft of Silver's fur. "It's not as weird as I thought it would be."

The statement brought Silver huge reprieve. He had seen Venice's fearful reaction when Sonic had burst in with the news, how utterly unresponsive he had been once they had told him what they had found out. "I'm glad to hear it," he assured the hybrid with a small smile. "Like Sonic said, you're still Venice. It just has a name now."

As he said the words he felt a jolt go through his body. There was something that had crossed his mind a while ago, when Venice had been sleeping and he had quietly been studying the ceiling as to not wake him. PK-HMH, Venice had said his name was when they first met. He knew PK stood for psychokinesis, which would make sense considering their similar psychic powers. But HMH...

"Do you remember when you told me your name was PK-HMH, back in Frozen City?" he asked Venice, taking note of how his body went entirely rigid the moment the other's former name left his mouth. The other psychic nodded guardedly. "I know PK is an abbreviation of psychokinesis, but do you think HMH stands for... hedgehog mink hybrid?"