Tails: Prologue

If there was anything more pathetically stereotypical than having a crush on a foreign exchange student, Miles wanted to know what it was. For starters, there was a need to hide the very fact that he had a silly spat of puppy love, for what was historically the most unattainable type of people to desire. A worry much bigger, though, was admitting that the object of affection was another guy.

The young two-tailed fox was in his third year of study at university. When facing sexuality issues, he was long forbidden to come out to anyone, even his childhood hero and dear friend, Sonic. Things were already awkward around that subject and he hoped that none of his friends noticed the sidelong glances given to fellow students, who had caught his eye. In most cases, he was capable of avoiding it, or had, at least, been able to be stealthy about it. However, with this new guy, suddenly on campus, Miles "Tails" Prower was truly challenged to be subtle, and paranoid.

He was a genet, that student-in-question. Taking a lucky guess, going by the looks, Tails would have figured him to be a graduate student, but he did not have the right atmosphere around himself. Also, judging by how often the fox was seeing him in the campus' coffee shop, the viverrine had far too much free time to be a graduating scholar. A more significant problem with the genet always residing in the shop was that Miles was usually located there, too.

Quite honestly, they were both there right now and, like he had been doing all week long, Miles was staring at the genet from over a few tables. He allowed his brilliant brain to run through a number of fantasies, innocent fantasies, at least, about being able to share as much as his first kiss with someone like that.

The genet was lovely. His features were pretty, in a way. He almost looked more like a tomboy, in some respects, rather than an actual male. The fox admired the feline look-alike for having such a beautiful striped tail that ran so long and fluid before joining up against his backside. Alas, when the orangey mammal's eyes reached the genet's rear, they took a moment too long to gaze. Consequently, the irises looked away with haste, as Miles had felt an uncomfortably warm blush burning his ears and cheeks.

Besides the tail, the rest of the body was equally fun to stare at. He dressed in a way that was sporty and amusing, yet conservative enough, so that Tails could not see the patches of darker fur that he knew ran along the genet's sides. That was, indeed, a shame. Though, it did make trying to picture him naked a bit more interesting. Miles bit the tip of his tongue at those thoughts. Perhaps, being extremely self-restricted and undersexed for that long had finally taken their toll, now that he had accepted reality. He was gay.

And yet, it didn't matter at all, the fox told himself. It was possible to lust after Mister Genet from there until graduation and it wouldn't have made any difference. Moreover, he'd been gazing all week, seeing how the girls would gather around other tables and gossip about him, tittering immaturely. He was a big hit with the ladies, obviously, and it was only a matter of time before one of them caught his eye and…

Tails sighed. He detested the feeling of helplessness that came as a part of his sexuality parcel. It was even harder if regarding that he was in the age, when peer pressure and hormones just made him crave for a partner immensely. Following his shy, distant gawking sessions, Miles would regularly spend the next class period feeling really down on himself for being reduced to that level. Life is tough when even your fantasy world disappoints you.

For now, though, he got to stare up from his coffee cup and notebooks every few minutes, having a reasonable guarantee that nobody was paying attention. He could only allow himself the dream while it lasted. It was better than nothing.

Unfortunately, things seemed like they were going to return to "nothing" territory then. The genet that he had been adoring so busily began to pick up his items to depart. Prower felt a twinge when he saw that, urging to whimper inside as he watched the only pleasant distraction being taken away. Miles tried to hide his disappointment behind the paper cup full of coffee, eyes shifting past the rim, not quite willing to give up the last glance.

Possibly, it was a stroke of luck that he did not, too. The genet tossed a few things into a backpack, grabbed his jacket and began to walk away, but the viverrine had left something behind on the chair. It looked like a carrying case of some sort. The kitsune look-alike eyed if for a moment and stood up.

That felt rather silly, because it was merely a handful of seconds before he thought about how ridiculous that sort of action was. Then again, he didn't care. Tails didn't really expect it to get anywhere, but he'd at least get an opportunity to have an excuse for eye contact. Sure, it was sad and he knew it, but he'd take what he could get.

With the little plastic case in-hand, the young fox trotted quickly after the departing genet, his two bushy tails in a blur of orange as he tried to catch up.

"Excuse me!" he called out, padding on the ends of his feet as he caught the male's attention and slowed down. "I…I think you forgot this!"

There was a flick of the tail and the viverrid turned around to face Miles.

Oh, those eyes! He was even prettier up close!

He seemed legitimately surprised at the reason, for which he was being flagged down. The primary mildly startled expression melted into one of curiosity as he looked at the fox. Prower chastised himself inwardly for the wishful thinking that the viverrine might have been checking him out, but then, the gaze went on a moment longer than necessary. It was topped off with a little smile that made the mandarin-colored stranger tingle with a blush.

The genet's oculars motioned to the small box that Tails held in his hands, "Oh, thank you!" he exclaimed, chirping with relief.

The fox smiled at the miniature outburst-like reply. It was a bit exaggerated and effeminate. Perhaps, there wasn't a need to think wishfully, after all?

"H-here you go," the vulpine stuttered, holding the case out.

His admiration source took the belonging and put it away into his shoulder bag. A few moments had passed, then, and neither of the two moved; both just sort of stood there awkwardly, as if each was waiting for the other to say something. Burning with temptation, the lesser's tongue curled up and chuffed out a predicament.

"I'm Miles…Tails! By the way," declared the stiffened, nervous fox.

Smooth. Real smooth, that was. Now, he needed to think up an excuse, for why he bothered to randomly introduce himself after being merely polite. Alas, he could not. And he began to panic frantically, run flush with embarrassment and kick himself mentally at the same time for being so incredibly stupid.

"Tails," the genet responded, testing the name's sound, "do you know that you're the first student at this school to have had the courage or open-mindedness to say "Hello!" to the weird new foreign guy?"

His voice had an accent that Miles couldn't place, but the brain was spinning too fast at the elation of such kind words. Everything seemed so clichéd, so fake, yet there it was: happening! It was not the time to be overly excited, though. Not yet.

"R-really?" he stammered out again. "Aw, I was just being nice, you know?" the vulpine managed to reply, reaching up to rub the back of his head.

The listener shook his head, clicking his tongue, "Doesn't change that you were the first," kindness reiterated, performing a smile that Miles' heart wanted to believe was only for him.

Damn, he felt like such a sap, but the thumping in his chest made everything okay.

"Say," the effeminate scholar continued, the smile growing enough to reveal flashy white teeth, "you seem like a nice and outgoing young fellow. Maybe, you can help me make friends here!"

Oh, it was so unreal! An actual conversation with a stupid crush! If the vulpine's eyes were not positively glowing and sparkling right now, then… Oh, there was just so much to consider!

"Oh, I don't know," Tails replied timidly. "I mean, I'm just…"

"Nonsense!" the genet exclaimed to cut him off, clapping a hand on the fox's shoulder, making him stand bolt upright.

Physical contact! Prower's tails could barely keep themselves away from spinning him into the air.

"You can be my first friend here! How's that?" barged in a question, leaving just enough room to sound like a command.

Miles took an opportunity to swallow a lump choking his throat and nodded, "Sure!" protruded a squeak, making the fox sound like a pre-teen for an instance. "I think that's a…"

"Take me to a party!" the genet interjected suddenly, again.

Tails flinched back in shock from both: the enthusiasm, with which the stranger spoke, as well as the words themselves.

"It's the weekend in a few hours, right? Some of your friends must be having a party!" asked the excited viverrid, forcing his companion to struggle in responding.

The fox's mind raced through the memory bank. Surely, he wasn't being hit on, was he? The foreign guy just wanted to have someone to help him get to know people, so that he'd fit in better…right? "Yeah, I…guess so. I suppose," answered the two-tailed creature, wishing for all the world that he wasn't so flustered and dopey.

"Here," the genet ended Tails' pause verbally, clicking his tongue as a pen was fished out of a pocket. Ripping a paper scrap out of his shoulder bag, he scrawled something on it and gave the writing to the troublesome fellow. "This is my number. Call me tonight after you're done with class and we can see about partying together, okay?"

Afterwards, with what might have been a wink (but was, probably, only a blink, Miles told himself), the civet turned around, heading out of sight again.

Prower stood there momentarily, idly watching in stunned condition, trying to comprehend what had just happened. It was way too much to consume for the unadulterated genius all at once.

There was a little yelp, for the genet had suddenly spun around and called out, making Tails hop onto his toes, "By the way, my name's Solus! But you can call me Sol, okay?"

"This is not a date. This is not a date." Tails was repeating himself that phrase all afternoon, worked up and feeling uneasy, whilst waiting for the party countdown clock hit zero. Sol was right, of course, about a bash being easy enough to find. The difficult part was trying not to think of it too much.

Miles' hopes had been that nothing would seem odd about him showing up and hanging out with the genet. It seemed to be the case; everyone looked like they were assuming that the vulpine was merely a generally nice fellow, helping the new guy meet some folks. Since Sol was "the new guy", the fox didn't think that any of his friends would find it weird Tails'd be spending so much time with him. He was the one to invite the genet in the first place.

Sol, for his part, looked like he was having a good time. The viverrine was so well-mannered and polite when speaking to everyone. The vulpine's friends seemed to treat him nicely enough in return. Sure, he was a tad strange, but that was to be expected. When he was not interacting with the genet directly, Miles paid close attention to his movements and mannerisms. The exchange student was definitely a bit on the…"swishy" side, but the observer still wasn't going to allow being convinced just yet.

Moreover, the fox kept telling himself, there wasn't actually any reason to believe that anything would matter, even if Sol did turn out to be gay. There might have been signs, but how much of that was just the naïveté digging too deep for hidden truths? He didn't have any real experience to come by, thus he was left confused, at a loss with faint hopes.

Every time he was starting to feel lonely and awful, however, it appeared as if Sol would look up from whatever he was doing and head back to him. It was like the genet had an intuitive sense of when Tails was feeling down. He knew that it was silly to think that, but it was comforting, nonetheless. The night resulted in steadily becoming better and better. While Sol seemed to get along well with Miles' friends, the duo also would seem to just click so well.

"You're not drinking," Sol noted, having two hours behind midnight.

The genet himself had been drinking, albeit slowly, but the fox had refrained from doing so completely. The two-tailed male was too afraid of making a fool out of himself.

"Yeah, I know," Miles responded, trying to think up something believable on the go. "I sort of drank a bit too much last weekend and my stomach's not too happy with the idea of more just yet."

He was a skinny guy. Sol would probably buy it.

The viverrid patted him on the shoulder, once more, making Tails wonder hopefully, "Sure you don't want just one?" Solus asked. "You seem a bit tense."

Prower shook his head and flashed a friendly smile at Sol's face with all the courage he could gather, "Ah, I'm fine," the fox assured. "I kind of wish they had some soda here or something, but it's no big."

The genet nodded, "Okay. You're cuter when you're not nervous, though," declared the speaker.

Startled by that, Tails quickly looked around the room to make sure that nobody had heard it, especially his friends. The music was a bit loud and so it seemed like that comment went unnoticed. The vulpine's heart pounded with embarrassment, fear and excitement all at the same time.

Thoughts were decided to be interrupted by the civet, however, "Although the look on your face right now is quite cherishable."

There was no doubting or denying anymore. Solus was definitely making a pass at him. Tails might have been prude, but he knew that much. He tried stuttering something out, but Sol silenced him with a fingertip raised to the lips.

"Let's go and try to track down that soda for you, shall we?" the genet added, winking.

Those yellow eyes became suddenly the most inviting sight that Miles had ever seen. The fox felt like his arm was moving on its own accord as he reached out to brush a few fingers over Sol's wrist, and then, he just nodded silently. The fox followed the civet's lead out of the room, trying hard not to giggle at what was going on.

They got out into the dormitory hallway. It was empty. Sol didn't stop, though, and continued to walk. The fox followed steadily, staying just a few steps behind. When they made it past a few doors without either of them saying anything, Miles had decided to finally speak up.

"Are…are we really going to find ourselves a soda machine?" he asked, wringing his hands together in nervousness.

"Of course!" Sol exclaimed, looking back over his shoulder, not missing a step. "I'll even buy it for you."

His striped tail flicked sharply to the side after he had said that, as if it were a flag for Tails' heart to begin beating faster.