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It was widely known that Silver didn’t visit the past often outside of trying to fix the future. Mostly because he wasn’t good at time traveling on his own without help from the Chaos Emeralds. Silver also didn’t want to bother people too much since he knows he’s not the best at recognizing social cues. The trials of being from a time where social conventions weren't really a thing anymore.
As such, Silver now knows that his quills shouldn’t be standing on end like they do, nor should he be covered in soot if he wants to go inside of someone’s house. But it’s not his fault that the water isn’t safe to bathe in half the time, same with the lack of brushes! It’s just not worth the risk most of the time.
And he’s never really had a place of residence in the future he stays in. It was often an active hellhole no matter what he does to fix it in the past, and at this point, Silver has gotten to a point where he's used to being covered in debris.
So of course when he shows up to fix his future (again), he’s often covered in soot and dirt and ash, his quills stand up and defy gravity, and of course he probably smells like roadkill. At least Amy is nice enough to let him shower in her bathroom, unlike Sonic who tried to bathe him in a sink (neither of them will talk about that now), or just uses the garden hose these days.
Speaking of time traveling, he doesn’t use it for every little crisis that he comes across. Sure, he hates worrying the others when he shows up with more bad news but it’s only when he reaches the point of "yeah, I can't fix this in the future, the situation has gone from horrible to impossible"
This was one of those times, and as Silver frantically uses chaos control with the emerald he had finally finally found, he holds his wounded chest together. He reappears in the forest, collapsing to the floor. He knows he won't have the energy to float himself off, it takes too much focus anyway. Focus Silver doesn’t have the patience to find. So he struggles to stand, and starts stumbling off, leaving a sluggish trail of trampled plants.
He'll apologize to Amy later. But for now Silver needs to keep moving. The wounds are long, but not too deep, well, not too deep for his standards... he’s still probably gonna need stitches though.
Time slips away as Silver walks. The first house he sees, he drags himself over, pounds on the door, then slumps on the doorstep with a gasp of pain. He's made it, now he just needs to survive long enough to fix the future again. Everything aches but the wound drowns most of it out. Gaia, he’s bleeding all over the doorstep, it’s gonna take forever to clean.
"Hello? Is anyone- SILVER! " He hears someone shriek before it registers. Oh...it's Amy. Amy's smart, and strong, she can help him.
“Hi, Amy...help." Is all Silver manages to mumble out before he's getting picked up and carried inside. He's safe. Amy will help him, he doesn't need to worry anymore. He wants to close his eyes, but he knows better than to do that, so he shoves exhaustion into the back of his mind and watches silently while Amy sets him in the bathtub.
“Silver, if you can manage it, start washing your fur, okay? I need to go grab the first aid kit.” A task, Silver can do that. He nods and takes a deep breath as he reaches for the shampoo. It hurts, but he manages. He cleans mostly around the gashes since Silver doesn’t think he can manage much else. Then he tries to focus on his powers only to whimper at the headache pounding in his head. That's definitely going to become a migraine. He kicks his shoes and socks off and tosses his gloves into the same pile.
When Amy comes back, she still looks worried but just helps Silver rinse off, she can help him clean after the stitches are in. Amy threaded the needle and started the repetitive but stressful process of stitching Silver’s side back together. In, through, out and thread through the loop. In, through, out and thread through the loop. Over and over, at some points, Amyhad to pinch the skin together so that the stitches held the skin more firmly. And with every wince and whine of pain Silver made, Amy apologized quietly.
“Silver I’m so sorry, hun.” Amy was saying as she finally tied it off, her white gloves covered with blood. Silver tries to smile but it looks more like a grimace.
“It’s okay, Amy. Not the first time I’ve needed to be stitched up,” Silver doesn’t mention that normally Blaze was the one to help him, but she’s often busy with her princess duties.
“Well I still don’t like hurting you, even if it is for your own good. Now, stay still while I shampoo you up.” With that, Amy discards her ruined gloves and begins helping Silver wash up. The younger hedgehog did what he could, but Amy was able to reach all the spots Silver couldn’t with his injury. Then she rinses him off and begins to grab the conditioner and a comb to deal with Silver’s quills. This is a much lengthier process since she has to deal with the occasional mat in his quills or fur. But eventually, Silver has his white coat and his spines sit flatter against his head instead of straight up.
“Thanks, Ames.” Silver later whispers to avoid hurting his head more. Amy turns off the lights, and comes back to drag the blanket up over Silver, it’s light, but soft, and Silver smiles when it doesn’t irritate his wounds.
“No problem, Silvy, I’m always here to help you out, I just wish you would come visit more.” Amy runs a hand over Silver’s head. Then she backs up.
“I’m going to go clean your things and tell the others you’re here, okay?” At Silver’s nod, Amy leaves and leaves the door cracked behind her. Silver smiles again and closes his eyes, quickly falling into a dreamless sleep.
Silver may not have a place to call his own in the future, but that’s okay. He’s always felt more at home in the past anyway.
