BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
Tails grumbled as he turned over to look at his alarm clock.
It read "9:30."
With a muffled sigh, the two-tailed fox promptly slammed his fist on the snooze button (oh how he hated that annoying chirp) and groggily sat up on his bed. He rubbed the sleep from his eye and yawned, stretching his appendages out as he did so. He hobbled to his feet, attempting to get his legs steady beneath him. He had gone drinking last night, but it was just light beer, nothing too serious. Even still, he had somewhat of a hangover, which shouldn't be surprising considering that he had just gotten old enough to consume alcoholic beverages (as of this year).
The kitsune stumbled into the bathroom and began to wash up, then took the time to fix his bangs while inspecting himself in the mirror, as well as brush out his namesakes, which now appeared to have neatly groomed much like the rest of his body.
Riiing!
Tails sighed.
He gingerly strode out of the bathroom and towards the nightstand where his phone laid, answering it with a mild annoyed expression.
"Yes? Who is it?" Tails asked, his tone matching his described facial features.
"Whoa, sounds like someone had a rough morning?" Came a sarcastic response from the other end.
Tails sighed, rubbing his temples. "I'm sorry Sonic, I just have a slight hangover."
The two-tailed fox could practically see Sonic's eyebrows perk up on the other end. "Huh? You're a drinker?"
"Obviously not much of one," Tails quipped. The two friends then shared a small chuckle.
"Anyways, I'm just callin' to give you a heads up that things are getting serious between Sally and I," The cobalt hedgehog spoke.
Now it was Tails's turn to perk a brow. "Oh? How serious?" He probed.
"Well I'm in the shop now looking for an engagement ring," Sonic replied, his voice carried with it a hint of excitement.
"Wow Sonic, this is big news ya' know. Am I the first person you're telling about this?" Tails asked.
"Yea, but there's a reason for that..." Sonic trailed off.
A faint sigh escaped Tails's lips. He knew where this was going. "How much do you need Sonic?"
"Just a couple hundred!" He immediately responded. "I promise I'll pay you back, and in return, you can also be my best man!"
Tails rolled his eyes at the last statement. "Weren't I going to be your best man anyways?" The kitsune countered.
Sonic snickered at his long-time friend's response. "Okay you got me there, what do you want in return?"
Tails cupped his chin to think, then just shrugged and replied, "One favor of my choosing." He figured it was vague enough that it would end up being useful sometme down the road.
"Deal!" Sonic exclaimed. "I'm over at the Station Square Jewerely Shop, right off Nineteenth and Gerald Avenue, next to an Italian restaraunt, we can eat there afterwards."
"Sounds good, be there in a few," Tails replied. After both he and Sonic said their goodbyes the two-tailed fox began to make his way downstairs until he heard an unexpected knock at his door.
What now? He thought as he opened it. To his shock, the lovely figure of Cream the Rabbit was the one to give him an (albeit pleasent) surprise.
"Oh, hi Cream..." Tails said, his namesakes were practically swishing up and down in excitement, much in the manner of an exhilerated dog.
"Is someone happy to see me?" Cream quipped with a slight giggle, referring to her host's namesakes.
Embarassed, Tails looked away in an attempt to avoid eye contact with the rabbit. Despite Cream being just a couple years his junior, he was never used to the fact that her humor began to mimic that of the rest of the group's as she aged, but she always managed to keep it in good taste (unlike some blue hedgehogs the kitsune knew).
"Please Cream, come in," Tails said, shutting the door behind him as the lovely Rabbit entered his home.
"Can I get you anything to drink or-"
"No that's okay," Cream kindly interjected.
"Oh, then why are you here?" Tails asked.
Cream narrowed her eyes a bit, causing the two-tailed fox to inwardly flinch. "I was getting to that," she hastily responded.
He wasn't used to her Amy-like temper either.
But her temper simmered just as quickly, now replaced with that pleasent smile of hers that always made Tails's heart skip a beat. "I heard from Amy that Sonic is planning a party and invited everyone," Cream said.
"Is he now?" Tails pretended to be surprised, but he knew all to well what the occasion was.
"Yep!" Cream nodded, "And so, I was wondering if you would do me the honor of being my date..." Cream's voice trailed off, her cheeks now filled with a rosey tint as she blushed like mad.
Tails himself was blushing as well, however, he managed to get himself together and smile at her, replying with "Yes! Of course!"
The Rabbit practically squealed as she jumped on Tails, sending them both sprawling to the floor. They chuckled at first, but as soon as it subsided, the full realization of their compromising positions finally dawned on them. Their eyes met and Tails's oceanic eyes stared longingly at Cream's hazel ones. They remained like this, unsure of how to proceed, that was, until Cream made the first move and dipped her head closer to his.
Surprised, the fox's eyes grew wide as he began to take in Cream's heavenly scent. He could practically feel her warm breath on his muzzle, which tickled it ever-so-slightly. But even in a high-tensed situation such as this, Tails still had his wits about him. He placed a firm hand on Cream's shoulder and gently pushed her back, causing her eyes to flair open as if she had snapped out of some sort of trance.
"Let's hold off on that okay? I want to make it special," Tails said with a warm , glowful smile.
Cream herself smiled and nodded, before then standing up and reaching a hand out for Tails to stand with her.
It was just then that Tails's phone rang, and after muttering a few inaudible curses beneath his breath (something about ruining the moment) did he run to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Yo' Tails where you been!? You said you were on your way almost an hour ago!" Said an (obviously ansty) blue hedgehog on the other end.
Tails's eyes grew wide as he got a good look at his watch, which confirmed that Sonic's statement was indeed true. "Oh right, sorry! I got caught up with-" He turned to look at Cream, who nearly dipped her head in confusion. The two-tailed fox shot her a nervous smile before then simply saying, "I'll fill you in on the details later." He then hung up and approached the still confused Rabbit with a smile on his face.
"Cream, I gotta go meet Sonic for something, but you can stay here if you want," Tails offered her, however Cream shook her head.
"No thank you Tails, I have some shopping to do, and so do you, I can't have my date dressing like Knuckles," she quipped with a chuckle. Tails chuckled lightly as well before heading out of his house after she did.
"Goodness Tails, what took ya' so long!?" Sonic exclaimed.
"Sorry, sorry, I got caught up with something," Tails simply stated.
Sonic perked a brow, "Speaking of which, what did hold you up?" He asked curiously.
Tails fidgeted slightly, his cheeks a tint of pink before he managed to say, "C-Cream asked me to be her date for your surprise party."
"Really!? That's great!" Sonic exclaimed. Tails could only smile at this, as he knew that Sonic was aware of how much Cream meant to him, and he was glad that his best friend was as excited for him as he was.
"A-Anyways, did you pick out your ring yet?" Tails asked, eagered to change the subject.
"Yep sure did!" Sonic approached the cashier who had been holding the ring for him until he could make his final payment, which Tails promptly finished with a swipe of his work card.
"How much money do you got on that thing anyways?" Sonic asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"More than enough," Tails said simply. It wasn't as if he didn't trust Sonic or anything, but even Sonic himself had always taught him to always be responsible with his money and to never let anyone know how much he carried, which was ironic since Sonic was extremely irresponsible when it came to money and doesn't mind letting people know about his funds.
"Uh, Okay, but thanks again Tails, you're a life saver," Sonic said. It was just then that Tails's cell phone beeped, annoyed, he looked to see who was calling and was surprised to see that it was his boss, Rotor.
"Uhm, hello?"
"Tails where are you?" Rotor asked.
"I'm with Sonic, why?"
"I need you down here at the shop pronto, I'm being swamped here!" Rotor exclaimed. Tails could practically hear the customers's shatter in the background.
"Hey, you're the one who told me last night that I had the day off today," Tails said matter-of-factly.
"Well things change, and you're all I've got!"
Tails sighed before then saying, "On my way."
After he hung up and said his goodbyes to Sonic, the two-tailed fox rushed over to the Rotor-Tails Mechanic Shop, which as titled, was a business ran by Rotor and Tails. Being the mechanical geniuses that they were, they were more than capable of repairing just about any vehicular discrepency quite easily. However, they were still Mobian, and often times they would get swamped with requests which often lead to them having late nights. But the money was good (seeing as they only had to split it between the both of them) and it was satisfying work.
As soon as the kitsune entered the garage he could tell that it was going to be a long day. Vehicles from small boats to cars and busses were lined up in the wide-spread garage, already he could see Rotor working on one while attempting to play crowd control as well. Mobians sure were impatient.
Tails quickly assigned the crowd to the waiting room so that he and Rotor could have at least some semblance of peace and quiet while they began the repairs. It was in the midst of their work that the two-tailed fox finally decided to bring something to Rotor's attention that he had been dying to for awhile now.
"Hey Rotor, why don't you hire more employees?" Tails asked.
"Because we're the only ones who can handle something like this," Rotor responded.
"You sure about that?" Tails countered.
"Remember when he tried to hire Sonic and we had to fire him because he was always late?"
"Yea but-"
"And remember when we tried to hire Knuckles but he kept breaking everything?"
"Yea I get that but-"
"And then we tried to hire Amy but she kept telling off the customers-"
"Okay!" Tails exlaimed. "I see your point, but this does get old though," Tails grumbled as he began to put the finishing touches on the repair of a car's bumper.
"Well if it makes you feel any better, there's a female I met who happens to be every bit the mechanical genius as us the other day, I offered her a job here and she said she'd consider it," Rotor said.
"Really!? That's great!" Tails felt so upbeat by the good news that he sped up his work, and by mid-afternoon, he and Rotor had finally managed to return the vast majority of previously wrecked vehicles back to their grateful owners.
"That didn't take as long as I thought it would," Tails said as he sat down in a chair, enjoying a bottle of water.
Rotor, who was seated next to him, nodded as well before then saying, "Oh, I almost forgot, Amy called."
Tails perked a brow. "Really? What for?"
"She wanted to see you actually, something about catching up with you," Rotor said.
"Oh, okay. You wouldn't mind if I left would you?" Asked Tails. He didn't want to be rude and leave Rotor right after coming in to help him.
"Of course not, this was supposed to be your day off remember? I'm actually gonna have to pay you overtime for this."
Tails could only help but smile, "Thanks Rotor."
After washing up in the lockeroom and taking his leave, the two tailed fox took out his cell phone and dialed Amy's number.
"Hello?" Said a familiar female voice on the other end.
"Hello Amy, it's Tails."
"Oh, hi Tails! Did Rotor give you my message?" She asked.
"Yea, where do you want to meet up?"
"Gospacho's restauraunt, just off of 43rd and Julius Boulivard, and don't worry about paying, it's my treat."
"Come on Amy, you know I can't let you do that-"
"Just accept the damn offer," Amy cut him off with a hint of venom in her voice.
"Y-Yes ma'am," Tails replied fearfully.
"Okay, see you soon!" You could practically see Amy beam as she hung up the phone.
Tails arrived within a few minutes of hanging up, and as he looked around, a pink hedgehog in a booth waved her arm to signal him to come over.
"Nice place," Tails said as he took a seat across from her.
"Thanks, this is one of my guilty pleasures when I feel like splurging," Amy remarked with a smirk.
The two then ordered their food and began to talk about what they had been doing in the mean time. Amy was obviously fully aware of Tails and Rotor's mechanic shop business that they ran together, but Tails himself wasn't even aware that Amy had recently opened a small boutiquitte just a ways from her own home.
"Anyways," Amy began, her face leaned closer to Tails as if she was about to tell a very personal secret. "I didn't call you here just to catch up, I wanted to tell you what I had planned for Sonic's ultra-secret surprise party."
Uh-Oh, this aught to be goo. The fox thought to himself. "What is it?"
"I'm going to ask Sonic out!" Amy revealed, her voice held so much excitement in it that she nearly shrieked.
Tails however, was not as enthusiastic as her.
"What's wrong Tails?" Amy frowned. "You could at least pretend to be excited for me, you know how much I like Sonic and this could be a big chance for me."
Tails gazed upon the pink hedgehog with widened azure irises before then regaining his composure. "Amy, I don't think that's a good idea," he simply stated.
"What? Why? I had a gift for him and everything-"
"It's just not," Tails cut her off. "Please trust me on this."
Amy tilted her head in confusion. Tails was hiding something, but what? What did he know that she didn't? She reached her hand across the table and gently placed it atop of Tails's own.
"Please Tails, if you know something then tell me," Amy practically begged.
The two-tailed fox gulped. No doubt if he told Amy that Sonic planned on proposing to Sally, she would be so devastated that she might immediately attempt to clobber his best friend. Not only that, but he would be betraying Sonic's trust, which is something that he could never do, not even for Amy's sake. As such, he couldn't allow himself to stay there and continue to subject himself to Amy's pleading, he had to get out of there.
Tails kindly removed his hand from Amy's grasp and stood up from his seat. "Just trust me on this okay? It might even be best that you don't show up," He said. He then removed his wallet and placed a few bills on the table. "Here's for my half, thanks for the lovely time but I got to go."
The two-tailed fox made his escape before Amy could protest.