Chameleon means "earth lion" in Greek

ectothermic

"well, yawn, better follow the little guys lead" vector laughed as he began to get into his own bed 

"goodnight" espio simply said, still sitting on the edge of his bed 

while vector so very desperately wanted to get into his own hibernation 

there was they shaky feeling like something was up 

specifically with his teammate

and what type of detective was he if he didn't trust in his gut 

looking up the crocodile saw that the chameleon made no move to go to sleep 

was it because he wasn't ready ?

was it because he wanted to eat something before starting ? 

or was it because...

"you don't hibernate do you?" vector questioned 

vector saw the little chameleons body shiver slightly, and he knew it wasn't because of the cold 

speaking of his body, the entirety seemed to have become darker 

the more vector thought about it, there was over stuff he had seemed to fail to notice 

while he was making sure charmy was fed he had forgotten to see how much the chameleon had eaten, it seemed like the ninja was looking a bit thin, and he could have sworn he heard the odd little rumbles of the stomach 

vector scolded himself for taking so long to say something, what type of detective did that make him if he couldn't see what was happening right under his noes 

"...no" espio muttered, taking vector out of his anger growing thoughts 

with a sigh vector got out of his bed and began to walk over to the young chameleon 

(no time for self-pity, your teammate needs you) vector said to himself as he sat down next to the ninja 

"why didn't you tell me?" vector asked both softly but sternly 

"I didn't want to trouble you, I know how winter is a hard time for you" espio responded slowly 

"yes but it doesn't seem any more pleasant for you bud" vector continued 

"I can take it" espio stated 

(why must you be so stubborn) vector sighed internally 

"no offence kid, but your not looking so great to carry out that statement" vector tried to joke 

it was only then did espio finally face the larger reptile, his face looked like he insulted everything about him

pride, vector found was something the little reptile held to the highest degree, almost as much as freedom 

so vector knew he needed to bend to those rules so he would be able to get somewhere with him 

"listen, alright, winter is a cold and miserable time for us reptiles, and it would seem an even worse time to do it all on your own, so why don't you let me help in making it less bad yeah?" vector persuaded

espio seemed shocked at the offer 

"but you need your rest, it's in your nature" espio began worriedly 

but vector cut him of 

"crocodiles like me can either hibernate or go dormant, I've never done it before but it would be good to try, cus what if there was an attack from eggman, I'd need to be up and ready to protect us and the others" vector said

both to espio and himself 

in honesty, now he was a freedom fighter, it would be good to stay alert, even if he was very slow and drowsy 

so even to espio's protests it was decided 

of course they would sleep, it would just be his responsibility to make sure he woke up (an alarm set into his headphones)

of course they would need to keep quiet so charmy's hibernation wouldn't be affected 

vector although sleepy made sure to keep tabs on his younger teammate

espio had always been picky when it came to food, and winter had made it worse 

sometimes vector had to pin the chameleon to the floor before espio agreed to eat

it made fighting him easier thanks to his sluggishness 

normally he was as gracefully as a feather floating in the air 

in winter he wasn't as much 

espio's skin didn't become any much brighter as they had to spend most of the electricity money on extra food as they had to continue eating if they were staying awake 

(ordering food to the one room so they didn't have to go outside)

vector remembered espio looking so guilty, thinking it was his fault that they had to cut down on the heat 

but vector made sure to say that non of it was little esps fault, they needed to eat, it was a survival basic afterall 

and in all honesty, it seemed to have made their relationship stronger 

yes they had their arguments, they had many different opinions on things 

but the times they laughed, played bored games, told stories 

yes he and espio were tired and cold 

but if vector was asked "would there have been anything you would have differently or changed?" 

vector would simply reply that "he would have done it all over again" 

and so they did 

each winter they would go into the small room and wait out the cold

all bundled up together in their cocoon of warmth