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Espio was excited, a rare feeling for the purple chameleon. Of course you can never really tell, what with that stoic mask he wears all the time. The only times he ever really lets it drop is when he’s around Vector and Charmy. Even then, those moments of true emotion making their way onto his face were few and far between.
So when Vector mentions something about the weather warming back up, and how the sky would be clear this week for some stargazing, Espio seems to take more interest in the conversation than usual.
“Y’know, spring is finally starting to come around, we’ll hav’ta climb up onto the room some night and do some good ole stargazing!” Vector announces to the group at breakfast. Espio perks up slightly, looking up at Vector from his food. Charmy jumps from his seat at this.
“Oh mi gosh really? Ooooo that would be so much fun! We could stay up late and watch the stars and Espio could tell us all about the cool constellations like that one Onion Belt!!” He turns to Espio, “But a belt of onions is kinda weird maybe you could tell us about-”
“It’s Orion’s Belt, Charmy. And so you are aware, this would not be an excuse to stay up late, you still need an optimal amount of rest, like the rest of us.” Espio corrects the excited bee.
“But you and Vector get to stay up late all of the time! Why can’t I hang out with you guyssss…” Charmy whines slowly floating back down into his seat.
“Well Vector and I aren’t four, so your argument is inva-”
“Hey I’m six!-”
“Same difference.” Espio talks through Charmy’s interjection, solidifying his argument against the young bee.
“Ok, chill out you two, otherwise we won’t go at all. And I never said we would be going out tonight anyway-”
“Neither did we-”
“But if you keep interrupting people, we will be sitting in the living room listening to my favorite tunes from high school, got it?”
“Apologies, Vector. Forgive my intrusions.” Espio conceded. He knew how poor Vector's taste in music was in high school. Espio shuddered at the mere thought. “But I do not think going tonight would be a poor idea. The forecast is supposed to be clear and we could watch the sunset before it gets dark as a bonus…” He trailed off slightly at the end.
Vector picked up on this small inconsistency in Espios speech pattern, being a long time detective and all. Was he… nervous over the idea?
“Well I mean we can, but we don’t have to rush if you don’t want t-”
“No! I want too!” Espio blurts out hastily, before curling in slightly on himself after Vector gives him a look. “Right, sorry.” He mumbles, avoiding eye contact.
“...Ah, it’s all good! Let’s totally do it tonight! How’s a sunset picnic sound to you guys?”
“Yipee!!! This is gonna be so fun!” Charmy springs back up from his seat, breakfast long forgotten.
Vector turns to confirm again with Espio, but stops short. The chair across from him is empty, spinning lazily as though the chameleon rushed off in a hurry.
What has gotten into him?
~~~~~
Finally! It’s finally happening! Espio thinks, swiftly making his way up the stairs to his room.
Let’s see. What was he going to need? A blanket of course, probably some pillows for comfort. A couple of plushies for Charmy as well. Oh and Vector had said picnic hadn’t he? Make sure to add some snacks and cutlery to the list. Oh! And a basket to hold all of this stuff in! Did they even own a basket? Well, maybe just a normal box could do. But this needs to be perfect!
Espio frantically searched around his room, gathering the few meager blankets he held in there before opening the window and jumping out of it, prepared to scale the building.
The moment Vector mentioned something about stargazing, Espio had a plan. He new the perfect place to set up camp, and what better way to show the other two his secret safe space that he went up to every morning to watch the sun rise? Of course, coming up in the early hours to watch the sun break through the skyscrapers would be preferable, but Vector was hardly ever up that early anyways, and Charmy needed all of the rest he could get, lest he get too grumpy.
But a sunset, Espio could work with that. The night would be warm, and the weather should be pretty mild, meaning no harsh winds cutting through the skies.
Espio worked throughout the day, sneaking different items up to the roof incrementally. As a ninja (and someone who wanted to make this set up a bit of a surprise) he needed to be cautious, sneaky. And if he were to grab everything he needed all at once, he would surely get caught.
But Espio was careful, he knew he wouldn’t get caught.
~~~~~
Vector knew something weird was going on with Espio. He just couldn’t pin down exactly what it was.
He was pretty normal this morning. His usual calm, contemplative self. But when Vector mentioned stargazing, Espio had almost perked up at that. Like he was anticipating something, or maybe he was intrigued? Vector couldn’t seem to figure it out, he didn’t have enough clues yet.
Suddenly, there was a clang from the kitchen. Vector got out of his office chair and made his way into the shared space. As he turned the corner, he saw some forks and knives moving out of the drawer and into some random cardboard box on the counter, all on their own?
“Es, whatcha up to, bud?”
The silverware crashed back into the drawer as Espio popped into existence.
“Ah! Vector! Uhm, funny seeing you here!” Espio startlesa, seemingly having trouble finding his footing, he bumps the drawer closed with his hip. Vector eyes him up and down. Super suspicious.
“I heard a noise and came to check what was going on… what’re ya doing with all that silverware?”
“Oh-this? Well I was just grabbing some extra weapons to practice with, you never know when you will run out of throwing stars. I figured I should be proficient with other, uh, unconventional weapons.” As he speaks, Espio picks up a stray knife that missed the drawer and settled on the counter. He seems to gain his suave confident nature back as he continues explaining his excuse, leaning up against the counter and tossing the knife into the air. He fumbles on the catch, breaking eye contact with Vector as he scrambles to catch it and not to make a complete fool of himself.
“Uh-huh…” Vector nods skeptically.
He did not buy that at all. Espio thinks.
“Well now if you will excuse me, I need to go practice with my new weapons.” Espio picks up the box and bolts out of the kitchen. Vector stands confused in the doorway, rubbing his chin in thought. What the fuck was that all about?
Charmy buzzes in behind the crocodile a few short seconds later, hovering over his shoulder. “What the fuck was that all about?”
Vector is shocked out of his stupor.
“WHA-?!?! CHARMY GET BACK HERE-!!”
Charmy flies away giggling as Vector chases him in heated pursuit.
~~~~~
Later, the sun hangs low in the sky, and the air chills slightly. It was go time.
“ Alright gang it’s time to head up! Let me go get some snacks and then we can-”
“That won’t be necessary, Vector.” Vector whips around to see Espio standing next to an open window in the kitchen.
“Kid! You gotta stop sneaking up on me like that!”
“Apologies. But if you would follow me outside, I can show you where we will be, uh, ‘hanging out’.” With that, Espio crawls out the side of the window, Charmy diving out the window behind him.
“Es?! Charmy?! You two better get back here or so help me-!” Vector sticks his head out the window, looking for the two.
“Charmy, if you could give him a ride please?”
“Sure thing Es!” Charmy flies back towards Vector holding out his hands.”Ready to roll, boss?”
Vector, after a little help from Charmy and Espio, squeezes through the window and holds tightly onto Charmy. The three slowly make their way up the side of the building before Espio holds his hand up in a ‘stop’ motion. He crawls over the ledge, disappearing from sight briefly, before his head pops back into view over the ledge.
“Ok.”
Charmy and Vector fly up the rest of the way before Charmy sets the crocodile down gently, well, as gently as he can for a six year old, no matter how strong that six year old may be. Vector brushes himself off as he glances up to the scenery around him, freezing in his tracks.
They were in a secluded section of the roof, a weird spot where the generator was, set at in such an odd way that it blocked off the rest of the roof, should anyone look over at it. Perfectly secret. There was enough space next to said generator for the three of them to sit. So that’s what Espio’s been up to all day.
There were piles of blankets and pillows in the little space, a cozy little nest thing almost. Even a couple of Charmy’s favorite plushies were sitting comfortably on one side, though Vector didn’t want to ask how he was able to secure them without Charmy throwing a fit.
“I hope this is… up to your standards for a sunset picnic.” Espio motioned at the picnic set up around them. “I wasn’t sure what exactly you were planning, but I thought it would be a nice surprise if I had it set up in my- in a nice area I frequently visit up here.” He elaborates.
Vector continues to scan the area. He really did all this just to surprise them? Vector smirks when he notices the cardboard box from earlier, now full of snacks and drinks for the evening. It seems to have a strange criss cross pattern drawn on it- almost to mimic a real picnic basket.
Vector's smirk turns into a full on grin as he looks back at Espio.
“Kiddo, this is perfect! I had no idea you were planning all this!” He scoops Espio up into a crushing hug, lifting the smaller chameleon completely off his feet. Charmy flies up beside the two, barreling in between Vector’s arms to join the group hug.
“Ye-yeah, glad you like it so much.” Espio gasped out. He started tapping Vector’s arm vigorously. Vector let him go quickly.
“Heh, my bad kid.” Vector rubs the back of his neck sheepishly as Espio kneels over slightly, clearly trying to catch his breath.
“No worries, Vector.” He gets out, coughing slightly.
“Yipee! Picnic! Picnic! Picnic!” Charmy exclaims gleefully, doing loopty-loops in the air.
“Well, shall we then?” Vector looks to Espio, gesturing to the set up.
“I suppose we shall.” Espio replies.
As the sun begins to sink below the horizon line, Espio sneaks a glance at the two sitting beside him, he smiles softly, the mask falling from his face completely. The chameleon snuggles further into Vector’s side.
Worth it.
He thinks.