Synthetic (Silver the Hedgehog x Reader)

-8-

Silver glanced down as (Y/n) groaned loudly, lifting her head briefly before thumping it back onto the pillow. She opened her eyes, looked around for a moment, then yelled and sprang to her feet. She instantly wobbled and collapsed back onto the couch. 

"Where am I?" she demanded, popping back up and staring at Silver. "Silver! Oh, no, you didn't." 

"You were hurt," he said. "You needed help." 

"YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME DIE!" Silver flinched. 

"Why?" he asked, walking over to her and sitting next to her. 

"Because I can't take it anymore! Ever since I helped you, you've been prying into my origins! You don't need to know! But it's bad enough that if I had the opportunity to die, I would take it! Then I wouldn't have to deal with this anymore!" She rubbed a hand down her face. 

"Deal with what?" Silver asked quietly. 

"Nothing." She looked away. "Sorry. Th...thank you." She looked up at him. "Why are you helping me?" 

"I owed you one." She shook her head. 

"That's not all," she said. "I mean, I guess you are a hero, but I did force you to basically hold up the city." She fiddled with her thumbs. "And, I was thinking about the first time we met. I attacked you. You never seemed to want to get to know me after that. Why do you care at all?" 

"Because I know you're lying," Silver said, turning to face her. "You have had so many opportunities to take me out. That fox is right. When it comes down to it, you can't finish the job." 

"Okay, you got me," (Y/n) said, gazing steadily into his eyes. "I'm totally in love with you." Silver's breath stuttered and his eyes widened. The (a/t)'s widened as well. "Y-you don't believe me, right?" 

"Wh-what? No, no." He shook his head, his ears pressing flat to his head. He scooted away from her, hugging himself. Why are you so disappointed? She was his nemesis. The amount of ways it could go wrong were endless, yet his heartbeat wouldn't slow down. 

"Do you need anything?" he finally asked, desperate to change the topic. 

"Can I have some water?" 

"Yeah." He quickly stood up and hurried out of the room, ears still flat against his head. It's not like he'd ever thought about feeling romantically about her. So why when she said those words that it seemed to shine a light on something that had been in the dark? 

"Here," he said, sending the water over to her with his telekinesis. She grabbed it and took a sip, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. 

"You seem rattled by the fact that I joked about that," she said. "I, um, I didn't actually think you felt romantically about me. I'm sorry for toying with you like that." She squeezed the glass. "But you do know that it's like, super taboo, right? Heroes and villains shouldn't fall in love." She shrugged. "But that's always how it works doesn't it? Or the damsel in distress and handsome prince. Whichever works. I could actually work for both in some cases." She patted her stomach. "You know." 

"I don't...I don't feel that way about you," Silver said, but it wasn't very convincing. 

"You're a horrible liar." 

"I don't!" He cleared his throat. "I really don't. It's fine." To prove his point, he walked back over and sat down. She finished her water and set the glass aside. She leaned towards him, tilting her head slightly. Silver forced himself to meet her gaze, one of his ears twisting back nervously. 

"You give everything away with those big eyes of yours," she whispered, putting her hands on either side of his face. Silver blinked, his ears falling back again. Then, she took her hands off his face and leaned back. "Okay, I'm done now. I feel like that's invading your personal space." She scooted to the edge of the couch and leaned against it. Silver took a deep breath and faced forward. 

"Okay, weird conversation aside," she said after a moment of awkward silence. "What does that fox lady want? She seems oddly interested in us and has sent both of us to each other's places for healing. That seems strangely specific." 

"The pathetic heroes and villains," Silver said, though he wasn't really thinking about the fox. He needed to get his head in the game. 

"Right. 'Cause I showed her I was pathetic." She crossed her arms, frowning. "Okay, so, maybe we need to see what this lady is up to. Like, what if we tried to find her base of operations? Especially since she's got those weird Mobian experiments. She might have a lab or something that she makes them in." 

"Yeah." She glanced at Silver. 

"You're not really listening, are you?" she said, leaning back against the armrest. 

"You can't just say something like that and expect me to brush it off!" She huffed. 

"Silver, I'm sorry," she said, reaching over and putting her hand on his arm. "If you really feel that way, I shouldn't have said anything. But I just assumed! I shouldn't do that either." She groaned, rubbing a hand down her face. Silver bit his lip. 

"I don't have those feelings," he said. "I'm making a big deal over nothing." He ran a hand through his quills. "Okay. What were you saying about her base of operations?" 

"You saw her little pets, right?" (Y/n) opened her mouth, ready to say more when she paused, her brow furrowing.

"What?" Silver asked.

"We're just accepting that we're working together?" she said, turning to look at him. "We-we can't do that."

"Why not? We seemed to be doing just fine two seconds ago."

"Because I need you to-" She took a deep breath to calm herself, raking a hand through her hair. "We've been fighting each other for two years. I don't think we can make up this easily."

"I'm willing to give you a chance," Silver countered. He held out his hand to her. "You just have to be willing to give me one, too."

"You don't understand," the (a/t) mumbled, pushing his hand away. "I think it's best if I go."

"You won't make it far. You can hardly stand."

"I can hold myself up!" She forced herself onto her feet, Silver following. Promptly, the (a/t) stumbled, her only lifeline being Silver holding her up with his telekinesis. "Okay, maybe not."

"Just rest for now," Silver said. "I'll see what I can find." Reluctantly, (Y/n) obeyed, curling up on the couch. Silver then exited the house, lifting off the ground and above the city.

"We'll find you," he murmured, scanning the city below for their common enemy. "Just you wait."