Sometimes, living with a hedgehog from a ruined future who is still learning how things in developed society work has its ups and downs.

Silver is adorably curious, Espio has to hand him that with no hesitation. He is friendly too, willing to learn about people's habits and trying them out himself with endless gusto and goodwill, and he is patient when others explain why something does or does not work the way the time traveller initially expected...

But that does not mean he always listens to it.

And despite how often Espio has told his beloved to not wake him up before the clock shows it is seven in the morning, somehow those pleas had never truly stuck for Silver... and thus Espio finds himself the victim of an early rising far more often than he would like.

"Espio?" resounds in a whisper above his head, and the chameleon's face twitches as he slowly awakens from his deep slumber. "Es, get up. The sun is still not here yet and it's getting late."

Groaning in full Espio blinks open his eyes, sleepiness making them sting and making him as a whole all groggy. He is in his and Silver's shared bed, he recognises the walls of their bedroom and the ceiling above him- or at least the parts he can see, his vision mostly blocked by twitching dark grey fur and blurry shapes. Which makes sense, he sleepily realises a heartbeat later as he draws a wheezing breath; his beloved is flopped right on top of his chest and all but hanging over his face, periodically leaning closer to nuzzle his twitching black nose against the chameleon's horn. A half-hearted sneeze follows, the ninja far too enshrouded by sleep still to truly put any effort behind it. "Good morning," Silver chirps, so awake and alert Espio can only blink at him dumbfoundedly. "Look, it's all dark outside, but it's not cloudy!"

"...Silver," Espio mumbles, head flopping to the side so he can look at the clock... and a deep groan slipping past his lips as he sees the time. Just before six 'o clock...! "What did I say about waking me up before seven?!"

"To not do that," the frank response resounds from above him, and Espio can only sigh and grab one side of his pillow to bury his face deep inside to and hope, pray, sleep will just take him again right here and now. "But!! Just look how dark outside it is!" follows right next to his crest all the same, whatever deity out there not listening to Espio's pleas in the slightest. "Where did the sun go? It was here yesterday."

Mercilessly the pillow is pulled away, the hedgehog snuggling all over Espio's body and sparks of cyan half-lifting up the chameleon's head so he can see the window. And yes, sure, behind the opened curtains the sky is a lot darker and glum than it had been yesterday at the exact same time...

Which is not that weird, considering this night had been the start of daylight savings.

"We moved the clock ahead one hour, tenshi," the ninja mumbles, drowsiness making his words slur. "It's actually a little before five now."

"...Wut."

"Because otherwise in the summer it would be light much too early in the morning so they put the clock ahead one hour to avert that and now go back to bed."

"But your clock says it's almost six now!" Silver protests, fussing and scrambling around right on top of Espio's chest to look outside as well. "It's not five."

Merely wrapping his arms around the floundering psychic to pin him down Espio mumbles back something unintelligible, the other's squeaks and protests a not-that-suitable backdrop to doze off to... but eventually Silver seems to get the message that Espio really has not had enough sleep yet and calms down, flopping over to lay on the mattress as well so that Espio can hide his face in his tuft of fluff and breathe in the familiar scent of his beloved. "I'll close the curtains, for when the sun comes back," softly resounds above the chameleon; and then his crest is getting stroked and Espio dozes away in full on a gale of soft downy fur and quiet purrs, and when the ninja stirs again and opens his eyes at a much more reasonable time he can only smile down at his zonked-out hedgehog laying in his arms. Even Silver can't help get drowsy when laying down and getting cuddles, as odd as the other's sleeping habits are at times.

Pulling his pillow up against the headboard so he can sit comfortably Espio moves up, helping Silver back onto his chest; warm and snug and much less painful for his ribs when the psychic is laying still, the ninja grins to himself as he scrutinises the other. He had promised his beloved a while ago he would get his horribly torturous revenge each time the hedgehog woke him up at an unreasonable hour... and even with the confusion of daylight savings making it understandable the time traveller is caught off-guard, that does not mean Espio will not follow on his promises. Deft fingers quickly find themselves on all Silver's sweet spots, stroking and petting and tickling and tugging in exactly the ways that make his beloved squirm and squeak and laugh and purr, and it does not take long before the hedgehog squeals at the top of his lungs and shoots right awake. "Espio!!"

"Good morning, love," the chameleon remarks back at him, not letting up the teasing touches as Silver's hand futilely grabs his... and then the other tries to escape a bit too desperately and all but tumbles off Espio's chest again, the ninja laughing in full at the heap of quills and blankets his beloved falls into. "Annoying, to be woken up when you are sleeping all nicely, is it not?"

A little mew is his response, Silver's tail wagging delightedly and the hedgehog lifting himself up on one elbow with a beaming smile. "Not when you wake me up, Es," he protests- and then he freezes, gaze flicking over to the window and the muted beams of light flicking through the curtains before relaxing. "Oh, the sun is back! Good, I was getting worried."

"It did not leave us, tenshi," Espio assures him, face falling the tiniest bit as he realises just why his beloved is so worried about the sun. With how he hadn't seen it for fourteen years or so, any deviation from its usual behaviour is sure to make the other worried, despite the many logical explanations there are for the sun being later than usual. Rubbing his eyes at the sea of light getting unleashed by psychokinesis pulling open the curtains again the ninja fondles one twitching grey ear. "But we do need to do something about your ridiculous sleeping schedule. You are far too much of a morning person."

The golden eyes that meet his are filled with mischief. "I thought you prided yourself on being the first of the Chaotix up and running when everyone's waking up."

"I am, and I do, and yet I meant at a reasonable time," Espio explains, only fondness in his words as he holds Silver close against him. "Which for me does not start before half past six at the very earliest. Meanwhile you have made it a habit to rise the most ridiculous of hours."

"I need to make sure there are no monsters here," the frank response comes, gentle nuzzles getting placed against Espio's cheek. "And I like watching you sleep. You look so... soft, I guess. Not so guarded."

Merely laughing – he would protest to that being creepy, were it not that he adores watching Silver sleep just as much when the other is taking a nap on his lap – Espio smooths out the other's quills from where they'd gotten all messed up in their roughhousing. "If you only wake me when it is seven, you get to watch me sleep much longer."

"Huh. I do suppose that's true... but if I wake your earlier we'll eat breakfast earlier too." And with that Silver presses a peck against Espio's cheek before tunnelling underneath the covers and pulling them off the chameleon in one fell swoop, and the ninja can only laugh in protest as his cackling beloved makes a quick escape to downstairs. Silver still has a lot to learn about how the past works, that much is certain...

At least in six months' time, the hedgehog will wake him up an hour later than planned, which Espio already is looking forward to.

Waking up with his beloved at his side is preferable when it is at a decent hour, after all.

Author's notes:

Hi everyone ^-^ Poor Espio, he's not getting a break for a single second! By complete accident, this story is actually getting released in the weekend where in the Netherlands we move the clock back one hour (so I guess it's the end of daylight savings?). Daylight savings and the moving of the clock in general somehow is greatly confusing to me when writing about it, so I hope I didn't make any mistakes, lol. Also, Espio's reasoning is apparently not wholly correct; it's not just that the sun rises too early in the morning without daylight savings and thus sets too early at night, it also has to do with saving energy and the like. Confusing stuff, but I suppose it's useful! Have a nice weekend and I'll see you all next week🍀