Just Adjectives

By Hikari-san42

Universe: Game-verse

Rating: K

Pairings: None

Warnings: None

Notes: This story is a result of my outstanding disbelief of how harshly people can react to a freakin' character design. Calm down people. Sonic still loves you, no matter what color his eyes are.

Disclaimer: All recognizable media belongs to its respectable owners. Any character names, allusions, or attitudes do not belong to me unless otherwise stated. If there are any similarities to real life people, events, or other creative works, it is merely coincidence. I can assure that I have made everything (besides the characters and their world) up because I wrote it. Once again, all recognizable material belongs to its respectable owners (most likely SEGA).

o0o

Sonic sighed as he glanced around the meager kitchen in Tails' workshop. The room was a mess, with food splattered on the walls from the fox's previous attempt at cooking, mail piled on the table, groceries scattered across the floor, and the sink piled with unwashed dishes. Sonic had been ordered to decontaminate the room by his younger brother with no more than an eviction notice hanging over his head, i.e. "Go clean the kitchen or your shiny blue butt will be out on the curb tonight."

So, here he was, staring down this mess like it would rear up and eat his face off at any moment – and with the way the dishes were fermenting in the sink, it was quite possible. He heaved another sigh before starting towards the white bags littering the ground. Reaching into the first one, he grabbed a can of chili and dashed across the room to put it away, careful not to drop it. It was probably his dinner tonight.

Going back to the bags, he grabbed a package of hot dogs out next and put those away as well. After that came a bag of mint candy and then a pound of grapes. Seemed Tails had considered everyone's needs when he had made his monthly grocery run.

The next few bags held essentials for the household: milk, cheese, eggs, bread, toilet paper (Sonic had to refrain himself from ripping the package open and shoving one of the rolls onto his nose), and some seasonal candy that Cream adored. These were put up quickly and without fuss, the bags then thrown into the trash under the sink.

Next, he tackled the dishes. Remembering to take his gloves off, he scrubbed at the twenty some-odd plates for about an hour, working furiously to get rid of the caked on chili, cheese, and whatever else the many residents of the house ate that week. Tails' workshop was the social hub for Sonic and his group of friends, and you never knew who you'd find bunking there for the night. Sonic and Tails himself were the only constant people living in the place and it was mainly their job to keep it clean, not that either of them cared.

Until this moment in time. Sonic grumbled to himself as his wrinkly fingers scrabbled at a particularly stubborn glob of pasta sauce. Who thought it was a good idea to make pasta and not wash the dishes afterwards?

Of course, Sonic knew the answer to that, having gluttoned himself on that very same pasta four days prior. It was Espio who had cooked it, surprising Sonic with his water-boiling and sauce-mixing skills. Everyone in the house that night – Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Espio, and Charmy – had made complete pigs of themselves eating those sauce covered noodles, because Espio held an uncanny ability to season everything just right. Sonic had had fun pestering Espio about his ninja-like 'way with the sauce'.

Sonic sighed in relief as he placed the last dish in the drying rack, his reflection staring back at him in the white surface. Let's hear Tails complain about my uselessness now. He was about to move onto the food that had exploded onto the walls, but a sound of a door opening stopped him.

Speak of the devil…

"Hey Sonic," Tails greeted as he stomped his way up the two steps from the workshop, attempting to get all the grime off his work shoes. His hands were gloveless and covered in something dark while his face was blacked from exhausted, a nice ring of cleanliness around his eyes from where his goggles had been resting. "How's cleaning?"

The hedgehog glared at the fox. "Don't even think of taking another step in here, Miles Prower. The floors are spotless from Knuckles' own blackmail, and I don't want to have to do those as well."

Tails scowled at his given name before rolling his eyes. "Yes Mother," he muttered, skittering back across the workshop threshold. "Silver and Blaze are coming over later," the kitsune said loudly, carefully wringing his dual tails of any oil that may have gotten into the fur. "They said something about there being a crisis up north. Apparently, a group of humans crash landed there and they don't have any food.*"

"Humans huh?" Sonic asked, not really paying attention. He was busy attempting to scrape something unidentifiable off the wall with a spatula. "They're just coming here in droves, aren't they?"

Tails nodded, picking at a small glop of oil tangled into one of his tails. "Apparently, Shadow's at a U.N. meeting on Earth, trying to make them understand that we're just gonna send them back. We don't have time or money for humans right now, especially with Eggman dormant and probably planning something." Grabbing a brush, the little fox combed the small, black droplets away from his gold fur. "They don't seem to understand that we're not a tourist attraction." Making a noise of success, Tails threw the brush across the room before standing up and going to the doorway again. "Anyway, I hope you're finished by then, because I think Blaze wants to make something for dinner to make up for their spending the night." As he spoke, the canine started spinning his tails in full 360 degree turns, getting himself airborne before zipping his way through the kitchen, never touching the spotless floors.

o0o

The next few hours were spent in comfortable silence as Sonic worked to disengage the food from the walls, all the while attempting to puzzle out how Tails had gotten it there in the first place. The little fox was tight lipped about the whole thing, turning red every time he tried to bring it up, and Sonic had mainly given up on asking. So far, Sonic had scenarios including (but not limited to) the Chaos Emeralds, flickies, the Sol Emeralds, Super Sonic (don't ask), and a radioactive tree. All seemed likely.

"Hey Tails!" He yelled suddenly, smacking himself in the face with his spatula when the piece he was working on decided to finally give.

"Yeah?" The flying wonder's voice filtered from across the house, where he was most likely preparing beds for Silver and Blaze. He had since washed himself off from his morning escapades in the workshop and had already started up the vacuum bot of his own design. Sonic could hear it wrestling with the pizza littering the floor in his own room.

Sonic grumbled and answered while rubbing his sore nose. "What exactly happened in here again?" He grimaced as he heard something crash up in his room and he hoped the robot hadn't decided to spit the assorted foodstuffs he had stashed on the floor around the room out of spite again. It had taken days to pull all the spaghetti noodles off his ceiling fan…

"I never said!" The answer came seconds later without hesitation and a smug tone. Sonic opened his mouth to reply, but Tails cut him off. "There's some mail for you on the table!"

Sonic sighed, seeing right through Tails' ploy, but decided to bite anyway. Plus, he needed a break. "Yeah, fine." He breathed to himself. "I see the game you're playing, Miles!" He yelled. A noise of protest followed. "Don't think we won't have this talk later!" There was a sound of loud grumbling and some stomping as Tails fell into his young skin for half a minute. Sonic smiled and shook his head. No matter how mature that kid acted, he was still eight and Sonic was still his older brother and caretaker. Besides, he paid part of the bills on this place, and he had a right to know why it was partially trashed.

The hedgehog carefully placed the spatula on top of the counter before trudging his way sluggishly towards the table. Mail addressed to him usually pertained to one of three things: bills, perfume scented letters from Amy suggesting 'hot spots for young couples', or death threats from Robotnik.

Silently hoping for the last one, Sonic sat down heavily in one of the chairs and started to sift through the multitude of white envelopes, praying to Chaos that he didn't get a paper cut. Eventually, he started to sort the letters, thinking that it would be easier and he could knock out two birds with one stone.

Grinning like an idiot as a vision of Jet and Wave both being pelted with rocks washed through his mind, he started to mindlessly place each scrap of paper into three piles, crap for him, crap for everyone else, and crap that was crap.

Soon enough, the table was overflowing with 'crap that was crap' while the 'crap for everyone else' pile was coming in second with the sub-file 'crap for Tails' taking up the bulk of that. Sonic bit his lip before taking the 'crap that was crap' pile and shoving it into Tails' pile out of spite as well as because he was pretty sure that his version of crap was different from the fox's. (Tails had almost lost a court date for his newest patent that way.) His own heap was pretty small in comparison, but he was happy with it, because he could catch no scent of perfume from any of the letters.

There were about six letters in his stack, and he could practically feel the money slipping out of his bank account at the sight of four of them. Considering how much I've done for Mobius, he thought to himself, they really should be giving me a tax exemption or something.

The only source of income the household of Tails, Sonic, and sometimes other people got were the random donation they received from random fans and the random repair or detailing job Tails did on someone's hover car. Tails drove a hard bargain on prices, usually jacking them up when someone drove in and they reeked of money or they came in just to see Sonic. Of course, when he actually did get a job, they usually had enough money to last them half a year.

Shaking his head, he grabbed the other two letters that didn't make his metaphorical wallet hurt and shook them. One made a nice jingling sound, like there were coins or something inside. Excited at the prospect of free money, Sonic ripped the paper across the top before shaking the contents into his palm.

Out fell a piece of paper, two half Mobium pieces, and a small metallic key. Puzzled, Sonic grabbed the folded piece of paper and opened it before reading the message written there.

Dear Sonic,

I know your birthday is coming up soon, and I thought I'd get you something you'd never even possibly imagining having.

You see, I had been pricing cars for a while before eventually settling on my motorcycle and I can across a nice little brand of car here I thought you'd enjoy. But, then I realized that you had no need for such things, so I just got you the key instead. I'm sure your imagination is wild enough that you can run around making car sounds, while holding your make-believe steering wheel. Do try not to run into pedestrians. Remember they have right-of-way!

~Shadow

P.S. I sent some parking fare too, just to make your first drive enjoyable.

Sonic growled, crumpling the paper into a ball as he made a fist. Stupid Shadow. It was just like him to waste postage for something this stupid. His birthday wasn't for another four months anyway. Jerk.

Setting the key aside (maybe Tails could make it into a power ring or something useful), Sonic reached for the other letter. He looked it over once before opening. The address was written in flowing script and there was no return address, which was odd. Finally, he ripped it open in the same fashion as Shadow's and easily slipped the slip of paper resting inside out.

Dear Sonic the Hedgehog,

You don't know me and I don't really know you, but I want you to know that I love what you do. It's very brave of you to go out and fight bad people like Eggman. And you usually never get anything in return. I just wanted to let you know that I'm grateful.

I've been following what you do ever since you first started about five years ago. And I have to say that I have enjoyed seeing you mature over the years.

That's all I have to say really. I hope life is good for you now that you have some down time. Tell Mr. Prower that I said hi and please just keep doing what you do best. Mobius needs you.

~A loyal fan.

Sonic grinned stupidly, re-reading the letter a second time before chuckling and shaking his head. It was moments like these that he lived for; fans that appreciated him for what he did, not what he looked like or how he acted. Actions spoke louder than words, he always thought.

He remembered a time back when he was younger – about ten – and he had just taken on Robotnik for the first time and won. It was one of the best moments in short life. He had been in the papers and all over the news which pleased him to no end.

Until people start criticizing how he looked.

They claimed his pot belly should have hindered his speed and his short stature should have made it impossible for him to jump as high as he could. His quills were too short and his eyes too dark and pupiless. In time he learned to ignore it all and be happy with who he was. Then, when he met Tails, it didn't take long for those same people to get a hold on him as well. He was too short, too round, and too much of a freak. It had taken a lot of damage control by the hedgehog to keep the young fox – about three or four at the time – from seeing any of that. He had gone through a lot what with his unusual genetic circumstances and gigantic brain and he didn't need to add media criticisms on top of that.

After that, media hype about their looks died down and the news mongers focused more on their actions than their looks. They did expositions on Eggman and his origins, Sonic and his speed, and Tails and his brain. They were finally covering the things they were supposed to be covering and not the gossipy stuff teenage girls usually looked for in magazines.

Until, that is, Sonic hit puberty. He shot up about a foot and his weight shifted along the taller frame, making him look slimmer and more streamlined. His quills elongated, making it easier for him to smash through robots and his longer legs made it possible for him to jump higher. At around the same time, he started to see green swirls around everything, especially Tails, the Emeralds, and himself and after one quick trip through Tails' Chaos Energy scanner it was discovered that there was a great amount of Chaos Energy concentrated behind his eyes. This meant that he could see the Chaos Energies that made up the world in a crystal clear green color, and he had to ask Tails to make him a set of contacts to filter out the green.

Soon after this happened however, many of his own fans, the people he relied on to keep him up and above the media, started to criticize something he couldn't control: his looks.

They wondered why he had to change. He was so different now! They wailed to the heavens as they gazed upon his visage. Why did he have to change?

What he didn't understand is why. Why was this a big deal? Why did the way he look matter so much? He still ran fast. He was still blue. He was still a hedgehog. He still fought Robotnik. Why did it matter if he was taller or if he eyes were greener or his quills were longer? Tails had grown taller as well, and he had adopted contacts too to help with his night vision as well as to make Sonic feel better about his own. Why didn't anyone complain about him?

Sonic looked at all the letters on the table, wondering how many in Tails' colossal pile were about the good he did for the world and how many were just people begging him to send them a signed picture of Sonic. His little fox buddy always shrugged off the lack of recognition he seemed to get, even though he knew that Sonic wouldn't be able to do any of the stuff he did without him. In fact, he seemed to accept the simple brainiac role the world had assigned him. No one believed him a fighter; heck, most thought that the little kitsune couldn't even keep up with Sonic unless he was in a plane.

Sonic sighed as his mind called up a memory of Tails flying alongside him as he broke the sound barrier. The golden fox had been with him the whole time, actually breaking through the rippling air at the same time as Sonic and shooting forward as the oppressive force was removed. Nowadays though, Tails didn't go running with him in the mornings, and he always seemed to have an excuse so he wouldn't have to leave the house. Sonic had a sinking suspicion that it was so no one would recognize him as 'Sonic's nerdy sidekick'. The hedgehog glared at nothing and resisted the urge to slam his fist into the table.

He sighed again before closing his eyes and counting to ten.

Fanbases were a strange thing. They're never happy with what they have until it's gone and then they have to complain about it. Of course, there were the few who understood that change was necessary for a person to grow and get better, but they were hard to hear among the voices of the protestors.

Still he had to wonder, how could all of those people be so offended by something as natural as nature when all he had done was fight for them and stick by their side? How come they couldn't give him the same courtesy?

Tall. Short. Green. Black. Round. Skinny. All these were were just adjectives, simple words to describe something's physical appearance. He was still the same blue hedgehog on the inside. Still the same thrill seeking creature that stepped out of his place in society to take down someone who was threatening his home. Still the same person that adopted a homeless fox cub and became his big brother.

Still the same hero.

Sonic shook his head before slipping the letter back into the envelope and tossing it back onto the table in a new pile. One he labeled 'Stuff to Keep'. Then, he pushed himself away from the table before standing and cracking his back.

"Hey Tails!" He called into the silent house.

"Yeah Sonic?" The voice was soft and came from right behind him. Sonic twisted around quickly before grinning hugely and grabbing the fox kit into a hug. Tails yipped in surprise before relaxing into the hug and returning it. When Sonic finally loosened his grip, Tails leaned back in his brother's arms and placed both of his hands on the hedgehog's shoulders so could look him in the eye.

Sonic grabbed Shadow's key off the table while he balanced Tails with his other hand. "What'cha say we go for a drive, lil'bro?" He asked cheekily while waving the piece of metal in the air.

Tails eyed the key dubiously before glancing back at Sonic, blue eyes shining. "We don't have a car, Sonic." He answered obviously and with a giggle, settling lower into the speedster's arms.

Sonic put on an act of looking surprised before looking back and forth between Tails and the key. "We don't?" Tails bit his lip and shook his head, attempting not to laugh at Sonic's perplexed face.

"Well then," Sonic answered, placing the fox back on the ground. "We'll just have to go for a run instead."

Suddenly, Tails' face wilted and he started to inch away. "Uh, actually… I have a lot of work to do before Silver and Blaze get here…"

Sonic dropped down to his knees faster than Tails could blink and grabbed the kit's hands. "Tails," he mumbled, staring at the glove encased digits. "There's nothing to be afraid of. No one'll say anything about you. You can fly little bro'. Don't forget that."

Tails sighed once before turning away from Sonic and starting back the way he came. Sonic could feel his heart breaking with every step his little buddy took and he wished that the boy would stop and come back. When Tails got about half way out of the room however, he turned around with a mischievous look on his face.

"But, how will Silver and Blaze get in if we're not back in time?" The question was said in an innocent tone, but it made Sonic's ears snap up and a grin light up his face.

He was across the room in seconds and had the fox scooped back into his arms. He handed the key to his best friend while he answered his question, feeling nostalgic at the prospect of just running with his little brother again.

"We'll leave them a key."

o0o

Don't fall apart

Speak with your heart

And always take it with you back to the start

o0o

* Ignore the random human intrusion. This is just an issue for Sonic and Tails to talk about. It holds no weight in the plot whatsoever. I repeat IGNORE THE HUMANS.

o0o

Once again, this was just a way for me to address this issue. Like it or hate it, I don't care. This was my opinion on things.

Review if you want, though I really would appreciate it.

PLEASE LET IT BE KNOWN: This is my 20th post one month before the year of Sonic's 20th birthday.

FUN FACT: The car Shadow was gonna buy was a powder blue Prius, because that car just screams SONIC.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!