He is hungry, is the first thing Silver determines as he comes tumbling right into the Agency after a fun-filled spring afternoon in the sunny outside. And the second is that the kitchen is ominously empty and the third is their cabinets are too.

"Espio," Silver chirps, bouncing right into the living room next where his beloved is working on some job or other. "Do we have any food?"

A hum is his response, the chameleon frowning deeply at his notes and Silver's ears receiving a mere pat for his trouble. There is... a lot of red on the particular paper his beloved is writing on, the hedgehog realises, and if Espio's face is any indication it is not the accidental kind of red that stems from not paying attention to which pen is getting used. Oh dear... And they haven't had any jobs in a while, either...

Which usually means their financial situation is not the best and the chameleon is imagining every doom scenario that could possibly stem from that.

Deciding to not bother his beloved Silver purrs gently, giving Espio a little nuzzle onto his cheek. Somehow they always manage despite all their monetary woes: a job or another gets found or is provided after all, and Eggman's regular attempts to take over the world getting foiled often results in a meal and some money for the heroes by those they have helped out too. In that regard there is not too much to be worried about, the hedgehog muses... But that does not take away his stomach makes some noises of complaint at him, that makes his ears flick slowly and Espio stiffen, interrupted in his work. Smiling sheepishly Silver leans back; he'd best not do anything to sour Espio's already-irked mood, even if he knows he can't help being hungry and the ninja will not be mad at him for it either. "I'm in the kitchen," he murmurs against the side of his beloved's head, another mere hum following.

Stifling a concerned sigh despite his optimism Silver floats back, keeping the kitchen door slightly ajar so Espio can call out to him in case he is needed. "And you behave," the hedgehog scolds at himself, giving his offending belly a poke to quiet it down. "Just because you eat a lot these days doesn't mean you didn't spend years not having enough food, so you can manage for a few hours."

"If I find you starving yourself, I am personally showing my own meal down your throat," resounds from the living room, and Silver can only giggle at Espio's dry tone.

"I'm not, Es. I'm not that hungry."

But someone else here might be, Silver realises, tucking his legs underneath him from where he is floating in midair. Now that he thinks of it, he cannot recall if he saw Espio eat anything this morning where he and Charmy were given their last bowls of cereal... And if he himself already wants to eat now, how will the chameleon feel?

Shaking his head firmly the hedgehog floats over to the cabinets once more, scrutinising whatever few things they have left. Some flour, he sees, made of... rice? That doesn't seem right, but the package does proclaim rice flour to him. And there definitely is some sugar also, Silver cheekily scooping up a bit from it to munch on in his exploration, and some herbs and spices and food colouring, and butter in the fridge... which are many things that cannot be eaten just like that, if his cooking lessons from Amy and Espio are any indication. Crud.

Though... If they cannot be eaten alone, then maybe...

With a hum as a bold idea crosses his mind Silver opens a different cabinet, pulling out an old and worn-down book he knows is hidden there in the very back to protect it from grubby hands large and small. It is Espio's, the other's name written down in its usual graceful swirliness underneath the big words on the cover that indicate it is a book specifically for cooking. And he knows a thing or two about cooking now... Grinning confidently the hedgehog opens the pages, reading all ingredients to the best of his ability. If he can find something that can be made with that rice flour...!

"Momiji, you are far too quiet in there," Espio calls out from the living room, and Silver giggles cheekily at the other's not-that-accusatory-but-still-painted-by-experience tone.

"Is that so bad, Es?"

"Yes, because if it is silent in this household it usually means someone is plotting something." The sounds of a chair scraping back and footsteps coming closer flow in from the living room, followed by Espio peeking his head past the door. "So, pray tell, what are you up to."

Floating over to him with the cookbook in hand Silver hums. "Since when can you use rice for flour?"

"For quite some time already, small one, and that does not answer my question."

Grinning at his beloved's slightly-narrowed and very suspicious golden eyes Silver gives the other's horn a nuzzle, a more incredulous little noise following. "I want to cook something for you," the hedgehog explains, showing Espio the book. "We have flour, and sugar, and spices, and some butter and stuff in the fridge; we can make something out of that, can't we?"

"Something nutrient-poor, yes."

"But delicious!" Beaming at his beloved Silver snuggles close against him, floating still, and gentle caresses on his head are his reward. Espio can never stick to his scolding for too long, the chameleon scrutinising the floating cookbook and humming contemplatively.

"Well, we could make dango, I do suppose."

Ears perking up at that last word Silver wags his tail. "Those are your favourite!"

"Indeed they are, and they are quite easy to make. Not that filling, but-"

"Can we make them?? Please?"

"...but tasty," Espio finishes dryly, and Silver can only purr at the kiss getting pressed against the side of his head. A deep heaving sigh follows, the chameleon stretching out his arms above his head with a grunt. "Oh, alright, I am staring myself blind on those papers anyway and so far it has solved nothing."

"Then you need a break, Es," Silver tells him, sinking down onto his feet and dragging his beloved over to the counter. The ease with which Espio opens the book to a particular page that says dango on top gives him the feeling the chameleon has frequented this recipe a lot... Hiding an amused smile Silver grabs some bowls and the scale after washing his hands, merely flicking his ears. His beloved is not always the serious and stoic ninja he wants to show to others.

"It is an easy recipe. But we should make enough for Charmy and Vector also." Pouring out some of the flour and sugar into one of the bowls the chameleon flicks his tail. "You need the food colouring to make the characteristic pink and green colours. Can you grab me a measuring cup filled with water, please? Up to the third line on it."

Purring in agreement Silver quickly fills the plastic contraption, Espio pouring all three ingredients together with an ease as if he does it on the daily. "Don't you want to measure it, Es?" the psychic inquires; Amy always is adamant about making him measure everything to the gram, after some mishaps with cookies so sweet even Silver, Charmy and Tails had not liked them. But Espio merely smirks, grabbing the water cup and pouring the liquid into the bowl in one fell swoop.

"No need, I know how much is needed of each by eye alone."

"Have you made these that often, then?" Silver retorts cheekily.

"Let us change the subject," the prompt response comes, the hedgehog merely giggling as the dough is kneaded before getting divided into three bowls. "With the matcha powder we can make this green, with the food colouring this one can become pink, and this one should stay white." The colours are added to each bowl quickly, Espio beckoning Silver closer with his tail. "Could you roll these into orbs for me, tenshi?"

With a chirp of delight Silver sticks his fingers into the gooey stuff, carefully scooping some of it up to roll into a ball. He's seen Espio eat dango often enough to know how big they need to be... "It's kinda sticky," he notes, his beloved fiddling with a pan on the fire.

"As they should be, otherwise I did not add enough water. Which is impossible with how skilled I am at preparing dango, of course." Opening a drawer Espio pulls out some wooden skewers. "Here, you can put them on these. I'll boil them."

Sliding one of each coloured ball onto the thin wooden stick Silver purrs, standing a safe distance away from the match lit by his beloved as Espio hums and busies himself with the pan. "Should I grab your tea?" the hedgehog realises, already turning away to turn on the kettle and acquire the green stuff from the cabinets. "That'll really finish it!"

"Nothing better than dango and tea as an afternoon snack," his beloved agrees amusedly, Silver scrutinising the stove and deeming Espio to have everything under control fire-wise before snuggling against the other's back as they wait for everything to be finished. Snug, warm, and comfortable; everything he figures the worried ninja needs right now. "Thank you, tenshi," Espio murmurs more softly, hand gently stroking over Silver's. "I needed this."

"We'll be fine, Es." Intertwining his fingers with Espio's the hedgehog rears up on his tiptoes to press the sides of their heads together. "There's lots of jobs out there- we can go to the harbour again and see if they need some hands, or help out in gardens or babysit Charmy's friends from the park."

"Not really detective jobs, though..."

With a helpless little shrug – even he cannot conjure means to make money out of thin air, no matter all his prowess with matters unexplained by logic – Silver lets his chin rest on the other's shoulder, the dango bubbling softly in the pan before them. It is the only noise in the silence stretching out between them, Espio quietly staring out the window- before the kettle begins whistling and Silver flicks his ears at the noise. Giving Espio's hand a final squeeze the hedgehog moves to make the tea, cups grabbed and the bags with leaves and herbs put in swiftly. "I mean, detective jobs tend to show up most when Eggman is causing trouble, or when we've beaten him and people have disappeared and stuff," the hedgehog brings up with a deep sigh, pouring out the boiling water into the two cups just like Espio has taught him. "And we all know he is plotting and coming up with new things right now. We'll defeat him again and get more work to do after."

"That is true." More determinedly Espio scoops the dango from the pan as well, placing the two biggest skewers on a plate. "And first we will enjoy these together. No fretting about an uncertain future for now."

"You don't want me to do so, so I won't let you either." Enshrouding all of their stuff plus him and Espio in his powers Silver chirps playfully at his fondly-head-shaking beloved, floating them into the living room- and going right past the couch, racing up to the attic and through the window there instead. Fresh air on a sun-baked roof will be even better for the chameleon to feel better, he is quite certain, and if he can spend every day like this with Espio, worries about their future not allowed to bother them and delicious food at their sides in the beautiful spring weather, he is happy.

And the fact these dango are the most delicious ones he has eaten in his whole life certainly helps, too.

Author's notes:

Hi everyone ^-^ I wrote this chapter quite some time ago, and I remember I *very* extensively looked into how to actually make dango, haha. I have never had any myself, but Espio is a master at making them, so they are ~delicious~ for him and Silver. Not much else to say about this chapter other than the fact I love supportive Silver and having these two just spend time together (I'm a sucker for physical affection) <3 So I hope you enjoyed! Have a nice weekend and stay safe, everyone🍀