Mable: I wrote this for September, but was too uncertain to post it. Finally decided just to go ahead with it, because I have a pending Sonic idea that I'm considering going through with. (It's also a celebration for getting my computer fixed.) This takes place after 'Tune Up', so you're probably going to want to read that first. That being said, it can be read without it. XD It's not too hard to figure out what's going on.
Anyway, I don't own Sonic. Enjoy!
Breakfast at Tails'
Tails was still awake. This was a given; he was usually awake late into the night working on whatever he had on hand. So even though he retired to his room, here he was writing at his desk, already planning most of the next day. Him and the others would be visiting Chris soon and Tails wanted something substantial to bring with him to show off. Maybe his grappling beam, perhaps his scooter, absolutely nothing explosive; unfortunately, he waited until the last minute to go through with making something specific.
Tails knew he was overthinking this and yet continued to write and erase, and write some more. His pencil wore down its lead and the bulb in his lamp dimmed and flickered in duress. The night continued to drone onwards and silence had overtaken the house, other than the dull scratching of pencil on paper.
The last thing he expected was to hear a soft tapping on his window. His ears twitched, briefly wondering if he imagined it, and then he looked over. To his surprise, there was Bokkun hovering in the window.
The biobot gave him a wave and a toothy smile, then pointed at the latch on the window to signal that he wanted to be let inside. Tails stood from his desk, crossed over to open the window, and sent Bokkun a confused look as he awaited some form of explanation.
"Sorry to come by so late, but you weren't sleeping anyway," Bokkun pointed out as he slipped his legs into the window and sat on the edge, looking around. "Not exactly what I expected your bedroom to look like." He looked at the bed and frowned at it, "Really not surprised that you sleep on a cot." With that, he dropped inside and let himself in the rest of the way.
The fox chuckled slightly and shut the window behind him, "I'm downsizing."
"Try downsizing that clutter you have downstairs next time," Bokkun quipped as he collapsed sideways on the bed. "So… How long are you staying awake? Because I've got a few hours to kill." This piqued Tails' interest and he sat down in his chair again, turning it to face his guest.
"Did something happen?" Tails asked. He watched as the biobot rubbed at his own face with a tired groan. "Do you want to talk about it?" The smaller gave what was almost a shrug. "It might make you feel better."
"It's Dr. Eggman," Bokkun admitted. He quickly went from reluctant to talk to spilling everything. "We got in this huge fight- I don't even know what it was about. He was yelling and I was like, 'I'm practically an adult, I can do what I want'. So, he said, 'As long as you're living in this house you're going to do what I say'. And then he goes on about that fiasco over at the casino, and I'm telling him that I wasn't- You're not even paying attention," Bokkun flatly finished as he looked over at Tails.
"No, no. I'm listening, keep going," Tails remarked as he continued to work at his desk, back turned to the bot.
"Oh yeah? Last twelve or so words," Bokkun challenged as he sat up and crossed his arms. Suspicion narrowed his yellow eyes.
"'You're not even paying attention'," Tails recited back. He then turned to face Bokkun, sending him a playful smile as he draped his arm over the back of his chair. "You were talking about Eggman being upset about the casino that Sonic blew up."
"Ugh, yes!" Bokkun lamented, tossing his arms into the air dramatically. "He thinks I blew it up!... Or at least, he thinks I did it alone." He wrapped his arms around his legs and glared at the wooden floor. "It's always, 'Bokkun, go find that Chaos Emerald'. 'Bokkun, go clean out the storage room'. 'Bokkun, you missed curfew again'. He's always badgering me now! He never used to do this when I was little…" His annoyance briefly changed to a look of sadness. "I used to be his little buddy and now I'm just that guy he yells at all the time."
"Kun, you know it's not like that." Tails wasn't one to defend Eggman, but he felt like he needed to be assuring for Bokkun's sake. All of this sounded more like mixed communication and less like something more serious. After all, Eggman did exclusively treat Bokkun more like his child and less like his robot. Even when he was young, Eggman seemed to cut a lot of breaks for Bokkun, and this change in the relationship resembled more natural. Though that didn't mean that it was a welcome change.
Setting aside his work, Tails walked over to the bed and sat down beside him. Bokkun responded by turning over and facing the wall, seemingly growing embarrassed by the emotion he had exhibited. While the fox considered trying to give vocal consoling, he had a feeling that it wouldn't work that well. It was one thing telling Bokkun that Eggman really cared, but it was another thing getting him to believe it. Instead, Tails laid back on the bed, arms folded under his head, and stared at the ceiling.
It was a comfortable sort of silence. They weren't talking or touching, but them being there was just enough to make it all feel better. Tails turned his head towards Bokkun and decided to make an offer, "You could stick around here for a while. I'm not going to bed anytime soon."
Bokkun stiffly rolled over and looked to the fox. After a few moments, he sent him a small smile, "Yeah, alright. I think I can stand you that long."
Apparently he couldn't, because the next thing Bokkun knew he was waking up.
He stiffly fidgeted on the bed and sighed at the warmth surrounding him. Something soft and warm was wrapped loosely around him, and he nestled further back into the softness with the heavy fog of sleep still weighing on him. It wasn't until his yellow eyes opened a slither that he realized the wall he was staring at shouldn't be there. Then he glanced downwards at the warmth hugging onto him.
Arms and tails. He was at Tails'. He hadn't gone home.
"Gah!" Bokkun choked out as he suddenly flung his arm out, knocking off Tails' grip, and fumbled off the bed. "Oh Chaos, Eggman's gonna deactivate me for this! Oh Chaos- Tails! Why didn't you wake me up?! He's going to notice I was out all night!" Bokkun babbled as he stumbled over his feet. His vest was still on and his goggles still hung around his neck thankfully. He grabbed his jetpack off the foot of the bed as Tails sat upwards on the bed. Apparently, the entire event was unplanned as Bokkun doubted that Tails usually slept on top of his blankets.
"What? What's going on?" Tails groggily asked, blue eyes still unfocused as he watched the biobot scramble around.
"I spent the night here!" Bokkun blurted out in a panic. "And if Eggman finds out, he's going to lose it!" He grabbed his messenger bag off the floor and rushed out the bedroom door. "I'm confiscating whatever sweets you have in your fridge for repayment!"
As he dashed down the stairs, he could only barely hear Tails calling after him, but ignored it as he took a sharp right around a tower of cardboard boxes. His mind was focused; grab some sort of replacement for breakfast, dash out, get to the base, and then lie convincingly.
And it all would've worked so well too if Bokkun hadn't walked around that tower and suddenly came face to face with Sonic.
The exchange that followed was almost completely silent. Bokkun's eyes widened and his mouth clenched. Sonic's brows raised in confusion, but then a quick look of realization suddenly flittered by. What followed was a slowly spreading smirk that did everything it could to tell Bokkun that Sonic was almost entirely onto what happened. The bot could only stare blankly as a pink blush spread along his face.
"Well, good morning, Bokkun! When'd you turn up?" Sonic asked with a fake innocence. Then his tone turned coy, "Seems a little early to be delivering messages, isn't it?"
There was no way that he could know. Unless Sonic had camped out on the couch and knew that Bokkun hadn't come in this morning. Or unless he heard the yelling upstairs, which he very well could've. Either way, Bokkun found any sort of real response starting to fade away.
"Uh, just… You know, around, thought I could mooch some breakfast, you know," Bokkun answered as he faked a casual shrug. "Just about the same thing you're doing, probably, so watch out for that glass house."
It was at this moment that Tails suddenly sprinted around the corner and came to an abrupt halt behind Bokkun. While the bot didn't dare to look back, he could only assume that the fox looked as flustered as he did, with messy fur and widened blue eyes that gawked at Sonic's smug look.
"Oh hey, Sonic," Tails greeted. His tone was only moderately more believable than Bokkun's was. "Bokkun was just coming by about a message from Eggman- it was about Chaos Emerald locations, but it's not important, so you don't need to see it- so I offered him breakfast before he left." As detailed as the explanation was, Bokkun had a feeling that it had the opposite effect.
"Yeah, about that… I'm just going to take off. Places to go, people to prank, duties to avoid," Bokkun tried his own excuse and turned to head off towards the front door. Before he could even take a step, Sonic darted forward and blocked him off, leaning against the doorframe into the living room.
"What's the rush? It's too early to go running off." Sonic then snapped his fingers, "Hey, why don't you stick around for breakfast. It's almost done."
"As much as I'd love that, I…" Bokkun glanced over at Tails. Just seeing his look made his own blush intensify dramatically. The messenger started to lose his compositor. "I, uh… I've got to get back or I'm… I'm dead," Bokkun choked out as he looked over to the side. The blush was excruciating, as was that clear smirk that Sonic seemed to be wearing. Yet the hedgehog wouldn't let them go anything soon. "I'm dead."
"Well, the best cure for death's a hot meal, I always say and I don't know why," Sonic remarked matter-of-factly. Then he gestured into the kitchen, "But anyway, breakfast is in the kitchen. Come on, you can enjoy with us. Maybe shoot the breeze about what kind of nights we've been having." As the blue hedgehog disappeared into the kitchen, Bokkun looked at Tails in horror. Tails raised his hands in defense.
"Maybe he's just testing us! If you run off now, he's going to suspect the worst!" Tails whispered in defense and Bokkun slouched with a huff.
"Fine," Bokkun grumbled in embarrassment as he wandered into the kitchen. "I'll just tell Eggman that Sonic held me hostage. I won't even be lying."
One would assume that Sonic's main hobbies were running, fighting crime, and largely drifting around the world at his leisure. This was largely correct, but cooking was one of the few things that broke the pattern. Cooking required patience and observation, two things that most would assume to bore Sonic, but he enjoyed cooking. Though Sonic's idea of creativity came out as rather peculiar.
"The dogs are just about ready," Sonic assured as he approached the stove. "You two just sit down and don't run off while I'm not looking."
"I'm not promising anything," Bokkun muttered as he slumped down, propping his head up with one hand. He still didn't feel fully rested and suppressed a yawn, not wanting to tip Sonic off any further. As it was, Sonic was suspicious but knew nothing, and he had to keep it that way. He looked over towards Tails and could see that he was moderately more nervous looking. The fox anxiously twiddled his thumbs and chewed at his lip, looking just about ready to start hyperventilating.
But Bokkun understood why. Sonic finding out for Tails was just as bad as Eggman finding out for himself. Though he doubted that Sonic would consider 'scrapping' Tails over something like this. More than likely, Sonic would mock relentlessly, tell everyone, it would circle back to Eggman, who would also mock, and then Bokkun would be shipped off to 'spring cleaning'. Bokkun inwardly shuddered at the thought. Perhaps Tails somehow noticed as he looked upwards. They briefly shared a gaze for a few seconds, but then both lost their nerve and quickly looked away.
"Here we go!" Sonic exclaimed with almost pride as he laid down a plate of chili dogs. Or, at least, they resembled chili dogs. Instead of chili, they were topped with scrambled eggs, bacon, and melted cheese. Sonic then dropped himself into the seat between the two. "Dig in! Remember, it's the most important meal of the day, and I doubt you've eaten yet," the last comment was directed at Bokkun.
"What does that mean?" Bokkun asked back with suspicion. "I don't know what you're suggesting-."
"I'm suggesting that you're up with the rooster running errands for Egghead," Sonic 'innocently' offered. "And we're all friends, right?" The hedgehog ignored the bot's quiet 'no'. "Who better to have breakfast with? Hey Tails, you okay? You look a little spacey."
"Huh?" Tails asked, clearly not paying all the attention that he could be. "Oh, yeah. Sure thing, Sonic." He then went for a breakfast dog as Sonic looked back to Bokkun.
"Five bucks says he has no idea what I just said," Sonic joked as he grabbed one for himself. "Come on, try it. It's not going to kill you." Bokkun frowned at the comment, but decided to risk it and go for the breakfast. Again, he needed to act casual or Sonic would catch onto something being amiss. He took a tentative bite. "Well? What do you think?"
"It hasn't killed me yet," Bokkun answered quietly. He absentmindedly fiddled with his vest, trying to ignore how nervous he was. Tails was obviously not going to handle a conversation on his own, which meant that Bokkun had to continue with Sonic. "Alright, it's good. Are you happy?"
"Pretty much," Sonic answered. He continued eating, pausing to ask, "So, what's Eggman up to?"
Tails suddenly listened in and knew this could go one of two ways. Either Bokkun could be dismissive and the conversation would change, or-.
"I'll tell you what he's been up to; making my life a living nightmare."
-Or Bokkun could pick up from last night and make everything even more awkward. Tails lowered his ears and meekly coughed, trying to catch the bot's attention. It didn't work.
"Eggman's been on this thing about asserting his dominance and it's seriously going to his head. I've had it up to here with his constant rules. Don't run in the base, no unacceptable music, constantly asking me to make him sandwiches-." Bokkun cut off with an angry bite of his breakfast dog, then changed tune. "Honestly, I'm about to bum on Tails' couch instead of going home. You do it, so I couldn't be that tacky."
"Uh, Bokkun-!" Tails finally broke in. He cleared his voice once the pitch came out too high, "…Orange Juice?"
"Sure," Bokkun answered. Thankfully, it seemed to click that he was walking a fine line, so he quickly pulled the conversation back. "But of course, I wouldn't want to take the couch from you. Then where would you sleep?" He sent a somewhat smugly playful smile at Sonic.
"But of course," Sonic simply responded. Tails' ears twitched at the tone, but nobody seemed to notice. "See? We can all hang out without fighting! In fact, I'd say you two probably should hang out. Who couldn't use a good friend. Especially one who can work on you if you get a glitch or something." This was the comment that finally broke Bokkun's compositor. He dropped the dog on the table and his yellow eyes widened in a very guilty way, along with the rapid darkening of that blush.
Unfortunately for him, he thought that Sonic had not known about the occasional tune ups. Tails had mentioned it in passing to Sonic before they had even gone to Balloon Park together, so Sonic knew this, and maybe Sonic now figured out what else was going on. Tails felt about ready to panic and looked back to Bokkun. He didn't look any better.
Then, abruptly, Bokkun stood from the table. "Well, this has been a blast, but I have at least twenty more things I've got to get done before Doctor Eggman will let me back in the base," Bokkun rushed out. "So, I guess I'll see you when I see you. Thanks for breakfast." He pulled his goggles up over his eyes and sped out to the front door.
"I'll see him out," Tails choked out as he stood from the table. He followed after Bokkun, rushing to catch up before he fully got away. Sonic didn't follow or say anything, he just moved onto a second Breakfast Dog.
Bokkun was standing outside the front door, looking a bit frantic, clearly preparing to take off as Tails hurried out. "Bokkun, wait," Tails stopped him as he shut the front door behind him. "Wait. It's okay."
"What was that?!" Bokkun blurted out as he turned to face the fox. "He's definitely faking it; he knows exactly what's going on!"
"Sonic was just talking out loud," Tails defended as he raised his hands. "He… He knows I've worked on you before, but he doesn't know about us. It's too soon. It's too soon for us for him to know." In a way, perhaps he was so defensive because of his own denial. Yet the turn in conversation suddenly gave him an idea. "You know, we could actually use this to our advantage," Tails remarked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I could just tell Sonic that I was tuning you up and we were a little uncomfortable talking about it. It would be better than whatever he's thinking."
"People usually talk out loud," Bokkun flatly remarked.
"Huh?...Oh, yeah." Tails rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish chuckle. "You know how well I do under pressure." This got a small and amused smile from Bokkun. However, the bot was clearly just as worried as the fox was. "But what do you think?"
"I don't think he'll buy it, but it's worth a shot," Bokkun suggested with a shrug. He reached into his bag and pulled out a wrist watch, one that Tails had never seen him wear or knew existed before now. "Yeah, I need to keep moving… If Eggman asks, this morning never happened."
"If only Sonic was that easy," Tails joked and tiredly crossed his arms. He was about to turn and head back inside when Bokkun inched a little closer. The biobot tapped his fingers on the watch in his hand before shrugging again; apparently, Bokkun thought that shrugging so much made him look casual.
"Yeah, well, we'll live. We survived breakfast," Bokkun assured. He still didn't go anywhere, as though he was unsure whether to leave or not. It was possible that he was just afraid to go back to the base and confront Eggman.
"Kun, I'm sorry about all this," Tails apologized as he reached out and pulled him closer, as though preparing to hug him. "Next time, the bed's off limits."
"It's too late, I already figured out your bed is comfortable. You're just going to have to stay up all night next time," Bokkun suggested. This coaxed lighter laughter out of Tails. "And maybe next time you should make sure we-."
It was at this moment when Tails leaned down and pressed his lips to Bokkun's forehead. Almost immediately, Bokkun's mouth shut and the heat coursed over his face again. He still wasn't used to this, but he enjoyed he. He enjoyed that fluttery feeling more than he could put to words and more than he could show beyond a shaky sputter.
"I'll, uh… I'll see you later?" Bokkun suggested in a much quieter tone. "If the Doctor doesn't wall me in my room or something. If you don't see me for a week, just assume I'm miserable." He gave a small smile, fixed his goggles, and drew back before taking off. "And again, this never happened!"
"Same to you, Kun," Tails called after him. He then turned and headed back inside, as to not leave Sonic alone too long. He sat down and reached for his Breakfast Dog. "So, what's the agenda today?" Then he looked at Sonic and realized he was still smirking. The Hedgehog was still looking just as smug now that Bokkun was gone and Tails' ears lowered again. "You know."
"You better believe I do," Sonic remarked matter-of-factly.
"It was that obvious?" Tails squeaked out, lowering his head to the table in embarrassment.
"Yeah, it was," Sonic answered, "but I was tipped off by the mini tantrum he threw before he came downstairs, so I got an unfair advantage." Tails groaned against the table. "Don't sweat it, Tails. I'm not going to tell anyone."
"You won't?" Tails asked, turning his head to face him.
"Not a soul. Besides, I think it's a good thing." Sonic punctuated the thought by shoving the rest of his Breakfast Dog into his mouth.
"You do?" Tails sat upwards and his face brightened in surprise. His eyes widened and his brows raised. "Why?"
"It's about time you got something to do other than fiddling with machines all day," Sonic said with a playful smile. Then he gave a small punch to Tails' arm, "And, you sly dog! You found a literal machine that you could fiddle around with all day! You cheated the system!"
Tails' head hit the table again and didn't raise throughout the rest of breakfast.
Mable: Because of course Sonic could care less. XD Just as long as he gets access to the kitchen and gets to make as many cracks as he wants. I hope you enjoyed!