He had gotten pretty good at spitting. A little too good for his own sake.
The first signs Sonic recalled Tails developing this new hobby was after Perfect Chaos. The Fox felt so confident in himself after he stopped the missile that he had started to chew gum. (Wow!)
His favorite flavor was watermelon, which sometimes proved difficult to find in Central City (mint was all the rage apparently); but Sonic managed to locate the convenience store where it was sold, and used his fame to bribe the cashier into a free pack of gum a week.
Then two free packs. Then three. Soon enough, Tails was going through a pack a day.
Sonic looked over the pink, white, and yellow mess.
Maybe this is why Eggman hasn't been around… he knows we'll just destroy ourselves.
Tails gave a nervous smile, and Sonic raised his eye ridge.
"So, uh… could I get some help?"
Sonic let a chuckle escape his mouth and air blew out his nose. He face palmed and shook his head.
"How did you do that?"
Tails crossed his hands behind his back and tapped his foot.
"Well, I was in the Tornado, and my gum became tasteless. So I decided to spit it out and…"
"It spontaneously combusted?" Sonic gestured his little brother to come inside; he had just landed the Tornado outside his warehouse, and he didn't want the sticky goo to stay any longer. Sonic walked through the kitchen and opened the bathroom door.
"Noo, I thought if I were to dive down and put negative Gs on the plane then spit straight forward the gum would fly back over my head. That's what all the physics say."
"And here you are, covered from head to toe with Double Bubble."
Sonic let Tails through, motioning for him to sit down on the toilet seat. Sonic got a good look at the… well, damage, and wasn't exactly thrilled.
"Oh man, where do I even start?" Sonic said, as he attempted to pull out a wad of gum out of the kitsune's chest fur. Needless to say, the attempt failed and only managed to pull on some sensitive spots on Tails' chest, where Sonic knew the brother was insanely ticklish.
Whoop.
Tails continued his explanation.
"And so I pushed the stick down, put the plane into a dive, then I spit straight forward."
"And then?"
"Well…" Tails' cheeks flushed red. "I spit a little too far and it hit the propeller blades, then it… yeah. You get it."
Sonic stopped with the tweezers and turned his head around away from Tails, covering his mouth.
"Okay, you can laugh now."
Sonic squeezed his eyes shut and expelled a chortle, doubling over and hitting the floor with his palm. He began wheezing, trying to recover his breath but unable to through his mirth.
"Smooth move there buddy… smooth move…" He managed to choke out.
Sonic knew that his attempts at pulling the gum were getting nowhere, so he needed to get the fur wet first. He looked towards the tub.
This is gonna be awkward.
"Tails, it might sound weird, and trust me, it is, but I'm gonna have to give you a bath…"
Tails' cheeks were burning as if it was a wild fire, redness spreading across his whole face. However, through the red, Sonic failed to notice a faint smile ghosting his lips.
Sonic held the fox by his waist, curling his nose when his fingers touched a glob of pink, and placed him in the bathtub, bridal style. He took off Tails' shoes and socks, and the kitsune handled his gloves himself. Sonic turned on the current, and warm, clear water flowed into the tub, lapping at Tails' feet.
"Cup your hands and get your chest wet; I wanna get this over with man." Sonic ended with a chuckle.
Tails closed his eyes and starting splashing water onto himself, face burning. He turned his head away.
"This can be taken out of context pretty easily."
Sonic shook his head as he splashed another handful of water on his brother's chest.
"There's no one to take this out of context. Hope."
Once the bright yellow fur had become orange from the water, Sonic started to pull blob after blob out of the kitsune's fur.
"Jeez, how many sticks were you chewing?"
"Uhh... about four..."
"Tails," Sonic said. "I think it's time to admit you have a problem." He nodded his head.
"It's not that I'm denying anything; it's that I don't see the problem."
"You're the science guy here! You should know how much sugar your flavor of gum has!"
"But I'm a kid, all the kids have a large sugar intake!"
"If all kids were stupid, would you be?"
"I'd just be imitating you then."
Sonic stopped washing and wheezed another long laugh. Tails joined him, muzzle flashing red.
"No one can catch you without a comeback, can they?"
"You've done it a few times."
"Okay, 99 out of a hundred times you've had a comeback."
"But what if it's that one time?"
Sonic thought back to when that exchange of words first happened.
He promptly shuddered.
He continued to pull pink glob after pink glob out of the fox's fur.
We haven't had something like this in a while; just the two of us with nothing to do but tend to each other. Jeez, I can't waste this, what's something I haven't been able to bring up before?
Tails seemed to ponder as well, and as if he had been reading Sonic's mind, he came with an answer.
"Sonic, we all know who likes you, but who do you like?"
The Blue Blur, although slightly startled, appreciated the response to the silent call.
"I like everybody; even Eggman. Most people in the world are cool."
Tails laughed.
"No Sonic, the other like."
Sonic made an O with his lips.
"Oh… uh, I really don't know. Actually, I haven't thought about it."
"Come on!" Tails said, "There's no way you haven't once thought about who you like,"
Sonic looked up, and met gazes with the Kitsune, eyes sparkling and mouth curved upward.
"Sonic?" Tails asked suspiciously
"Wha-what?"
"There's no more gum on me." He giggled.
He looked down, and sure enough, there really was no more of the sweet and sticky substance on the fox. Instead, Sonic had just been massaging his adopted brother's chest and sides.
Tails sat up, splashing a little water around in the process. He then leaned forward and Sonic thought he was going to hug him. However, the kitsune rested his arms on the hedgehog's shoulders, and the two stared at each other.
"...Tails?"
"Mm?"
Sonic sighed.
"We've done a lot together; and I know, sometimes our adventures turned into… well, my adventures. Sometimes I just pretended you weren't there."
"Mmhm…"
"And… I'm sorry about all that. Really, I am. But we also had times where I really couldn't do anything without you… remember you carrying me through that Chemical Plant? And when you figured out what was wrong with me when I was doing the whole Werehog thing?"
"Yep."
"And you saved my life with that fake emerald…"
"Yeah…" Tails' breathing started to buckle.
Jeez, how the hell am I gonna put this...
"After all that, of course you're gonna get attached to me, but…"
His muzzle finally agreed with Tails', and they shined the same red.
"...do you-"
Tails interrupted him.
"...like me?"
Sonic turned his head to the side, too embarrassed to face the truth head on. His blood red cheeks exposed for the Kitsune to see.
Who knew the first thing to make me take an indirect approach would be confessing to Tails.
"I do like you, Sonic…"
He turned back to the fox, whose eyes were half lidded.
"You like me?" Tails pushed.
Sonic nodded. Like a farsighted person putting on glasses for the first time, Sonic looked over Tails, details that were once a blur now stuck out; he could make out the individual strands of fur on his adopted friend's fur, he could see dimples through the fur on his muzzle.
Most of all, he saw, not through sight or any of the measurable senses, through a sixth sense:
No… I have to be sure.
"Tails, I need to know something."
"Anything you need."
"So, when I first adopted you… who knows how long ago, you were like two years old. Since then you've always looked up to me and treated me as a brother. Don't you think it's… I dunno… weird that we like each other now, after everyone including ourselves were convinced we were siblings?"
Tails pondered the question, breaking eye contact for a moment to look at the ceiling. The chill of the air going through his wet fur sped up his thinking.
"I don't really think so, while you have been a really good guardian and role model… okay, with some exceptions…"
Sonic chuckled, and Tails blushed again.
"But I always thought the brother title was in name alone, really. So, I see you-"
The sapphire hedgehog completed the statement.
"...So much more than a brother."
X-X
Note:
Sex scene later not now