The other had his back turned towards him, while working with the yellow sparks that gave off warmth. He didn't understand... Why did the other help him? What was the other going to do with him? He seemed kind enough... but he had learned long ago that his life existed mostly of fear and pain.

"Here, I made you some food." The other turned towards him, with an expression that seemed to elicit kindness and goodwill. He held out a container of... something. It did smell nice... And the gesture seemed similar to how the other had held out the cloth that was now snugly wrapped around him, just before pushing him down on the longer soft cloth. Deeming it safe, he grabbed the container from the other, before stopping. Inside the container was a liquid. He knew how to eat food, in the facility he had also eaten, but this was different from anything he had had before. Glancing over at the other, he saw he had a container as well. Judging by the smell it contained the same liquid as his. The other lifted the container to his mouth and drank from it. He copied the movement.

When the liquid entered his mouth he sputtered and nearly spat it out again. It was warm, and did not taste like anything he knew! But if the other could consume it, then he could too, couldn't he?

"Are you alright? It's called soup. My friend Amy made it for me, she's the best cook I know! Said she made it as healthy as possible so I could get enough nutrients. She's a really big worrywart sometimes!" The other spoke a lot. While he understood the words that the other said, they carried no meaning to him. What was soup? What was a friend Amy? Not knowing what was happening shrouded his heart and mind with fear. He took another sip from the container to distract himself. He did enjoy the way it tasted...

Between taking sips of his own container the other kept talking. Realising that it was probably not aimed at him particularly, he tuned him out and started studying the other's body. He somewhat knew what he looked like, he had seen his reflection in a glass wall in the facility once, a long time ago. He suppressed the memories that started to coil in his head and turned his attention to the other again. They had the same kind of quills, he saw. Five on their brows, and two longer ones protruding from the back of their heads. And the other also had fur around his neck, though his was orange while the other's was white, and a bit shorter. Most notably, the other had the teal marks on his hands that he usually had too, though his were entirely greyed out at the moment. He figured it was because of what happened when he... no, he wasn't going to think about that again. He intensified his focus on the other, and took in some differences. The other's hands were white, instead of the grey of his fur... how odd. He also had two spiky-looking tufts coming out of his back, which he himself lacked. Didn't that hurt? He took a peak at the items covering their feet, and noticed that the other's looked a lot better than his. While his footwear consisted of simple black fabric, the other's shoes were taller and looked a lot more sturdy, not to mention more colourful.

Having gotten lost in his musings, he nearly didn't notice the other looking at him intensely. A "hey!" made him jump up and nearly spill his liquid all over himself. The other quickly grabbed his container with the teal-coloured power he also possessed, and gently put it down next to him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. You were looking kind of lost in thought there, but I wanted to ask you something." The other looked... apologetic? But why? He simply couldn't wrap his head around it...

"This might be an odd question to ask now, but what is your name? Then I know how to refer to you." Name? What did the other mean? Wasn't his name PK-HMH? Why did the other not know this already?

Silence prevailed, he had no idea how to react. After a few seconds the other made a sad huffing noise. "That's alright, you don't need to answer. I can see you're still kind of spooked. But I mean no harm, really!" The other was quiet for a few seconds more. "Actually... can you even understand me? Do you know what I'm trying to say?"

"... ... ..." What was he doing?! He needed to react to the other! He opened his mouth, noticing how hopeful the other looked. He closed his mouth again, then opened it once more, before closing it anew and deciding to settle for a nod. Despite his lack of a vocal answer, the other looked thrilled, jumping up enthusiastically with a bright grin etched on his face. "That's great! Then you can understand me when I tell you that everything's safe and I won't hurt you, right? I'll take care of you, I promise!" Take care? Why did the other want to look after him? No-one had ever taken care of him before...

In his surprise he nearly didn't notice the other sit down on the long cloth he was sitting on as well. He flinched, worrying that the other would do something to hurt him, but he very gently took his hand and... gave it a shake? "My name is Silver, Silver the Hedgehog. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Not knowing what to do, he just kept holding on to the other's hand. The seconds ticked by wherein neither moved, before the other grinned sheepishly. "You'll get it in no time, I'm sure. But can you let go of my hand now?"

-----

The other... Silver had gotten up some time ago and was now doing things with a yellow contraption of sorts, touching the blue rectangle that was in the middle while muttering to himself and occasionally scratching his head. He wondered if Silver was taking notes about something. Back in the facility they had also taken notes on blue rectangles, often after they had hurt him in some way, but this seemed... different. Silver had no interest in him in particular right now, it looked like.

Fiddling idly with his ivory fingers, he practiced in his head what he wanted to say to Silver. My name is PK-HMH. He had heard it thousands of times before, it couldn't possibly be so hard to say it himself. Scraping together all his courage, he jumped up, the sudden move astonishing himself. The noise it caused made Silver turn towards him, looking startled as well. "Hey, what's up?"

"M.... m.... my-" Fear gripped him and he stopped before even stuttering out the first word fully, but then he took in Silver's delighted face. "It's alright, go on!" He swallowed.

"M-my n-n-name is.... P-PK... um... PK-H... HM... uh... PK-HMH." That didn't go exactly the way he had in mind, but he managed to get it out anyway. Silver looked at him very surprised. "PK-HMH? That's a very unique name, I have never heard anything like it! Is it an abbreviation? What does it stand for?"

"I-I don't k-know... they c-called me... called me that in.... in... t-the f-facility." The surge of pain that shot through his mind and body when he spoke the word out loud made bitter gall rise from him stomach and he swayed on his feet. Silver gasped in surprise at his reaction and was next to him in an instant, pushing him down gently onto the longer cloth and sitting down next to him. "Shh, shh, it's okay, you're safe. You're safe and I'll protect you." The hedgehog gently stroked his head, which felt nice. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. That was insensitive of me."

"'s Okay." He leaned into Silver's touch a bit more, trying to calm his breathing.

After a while, when he had calmed down a little, he looked up at Silver, who seemed to be lost in thought. When he shifted a little the hedgehog turned his attention back towards him, looking at him kindly. "I was thinking... would you perhaps like it if I chose a new name for you?" A new name? For him? He couldn't deny that it sounded appealing... he nodded.

"Awesome! Okay, it needs to be something that sounds nice, and cool, and is easy for people to remember, oh! And it needs to fit you too, of course, and you need to like it yourself as well. Let me think..." So many requirements, it made his head hurt. Silver seemed to know what he was doing though, so he decided to let him ponder this while he waited.

"We could name you after a colour like me, but Grey or Orange aren't really as nice as Silver, so I propose we veto those. Maybe something in relation to your eyes, like Sapphire or Pearl? No... those don't fit you. Or maybe we need to look at this from a completely different angle, like a famous person or city! Your chest fur reminds me a little of the sun, it's so bright, but Sunny or Sol or Flare don't fit you either, and I already have a friend named Blaze... Although, the sun... Oh, I've got it!"

Silver shot up, beaming eye to eye. "Venice! How do you like Venice?!" Venice... he had never heard the word before, but it did have a nice ring to it. He tipped his head in confusion towards Silver. What did Venice mean?

"There's this city I know called Soleanna, they worship the Sun God Solaris there. But before Soleanna was named that way it was called Venice! They changed the name ages ago to be more in line with their god, but Venice is very fitting for you, don't you think?" Silver looked at him with enthusiasm shining clearly in his eyes. Venice...

For the first time since he could remember, Venice thought he could feel the ghost of a smile on his face. "V-Venice... I... I like it." He hesitantly stood up and reached out to grasp Silver's hand like he had done when introducing himself, then awkwardly shook it. "S-Silver... It's nice to meet you, t-too."

"Then it's settled!" Silver's broad grin hadn't left his face at all, and he firmly shook Venice's hand back. "I propose we go to sleep now, then tomorrow I can check your injuries and then we can go look for information about just what the heck happened here." He turned around to ready the long cloth that they had been sitting on. Venice awkwardly cleared his throat.

"I have... h-have a question."

"Hm?" He had Silver's attention once more.

"...What's a sun?"

Silver stared at him, appearing surprised. Then, he beamed widely, and grabbed his yellow rectangle with the teal-coloured power. Gently pushing them both down again on the long soft cloth, he started talking. About the sun, and the stars, and the world, mythical gemstones, and heroes, and adventures... Settling himself on the cloth in a way that he had never been comfortable before, Venice hung on to every word that came past his lips, though after more time had passed than he had been aware of he felt his eyes droop. Still listening to Silver's voice, darkness eventually overtook his vision, and he fell into a peaceful slumber.