Light glittered off tinsel and ornaments on a small tree, in a lab somewhere in Mystic Ruins. A cozy fire burned in the fireplace, keeping the sole occupant of the house warm. The whole house had an aura of contentedness to it.

Christmas was a wonderful time of year, and Tails had always thought so. The gift-giving had had a special appeal to him when he'd been younger, and even now, the happiness and good cheer and overall warm, special feel that Christmas had gave the day a special place in his heart.

A knock at the door pulled him out of his thoughts, making the two-tailed fox get up to answer it.

It would probably be Sonic, back from a run around Mystic Ruins. Even if it was super cold outside, only the heaviest rain or snow would keep Sonic from going on a run. He was just too free of a spirit to stay cooped up in a house or workshop all day-even if it was Christmas. Tails had a feeling he would have stopped and said hi to anyone who'd seen him running.

"Heya, bud," a grinning Sonic greeted him at the door. In the few seconds he stood there, snow started to dust his shoulders in a light covering.

"Hi, Sonic," Tails replied, smiling back. "It's pretty cold; you should come in."

"Heh, will do. Got any chilidogs?"

The question was so typical of Sonic. Tails found his smile growing a little wider with amusement.

"Yeah, I made a couple. Come on already, there's snow on your shoulders!"

"So there is. Huh." Sonic lightly swept the covering of snow off of each of his shoulders.

"It's Christmas."

"Huh? Well...yeah, I know. You wished me Merry Christmas when I woke up, didn't you? And I did the same." Tails was a little surprised at Sonic's blatant statement, unsure of where he was going with it. He'd also noticed that Sonic seemed a bit distracted while he'd chowed down his chilidogs.

"Yeah, but...while I was running, I kept thinking about what we should do, since I didn't get ya any presents or anything...Amy, Cream, and her mom are throwing a party, so we could go there this afternoon."

So that's what was bugging Sonic. He'd been wondering what to do for Christmas.

Tails chuckled nervously. "That sounds great! ...I'll admit, I don't have any ideas either. I wanted to come up with something special, but I couldn't, so I just left it at that."

"Hey, it's okay! Really," Sonic reassured him. "So until it comes time to go to Cream's little party, what do we do?"

"Just….hang out, I guess," Tails murmured. It didn't seem like such a bad thing to him. The warm glow of the fire on the tinsel and decorations was beautiful, and the whole room smelled of pine. It was a nice place to be in.

He wondered what Sonic was thinking about. He, for one, as he stared into the fireplace, remembered all the times they'd had together, good and bad-fighting Eggman, saving the world….and between all that, they'd had time to hang out with friends and just be brothers.

He looked at Sonic to see his surrogate older brother giving him a warm smile. Tails smiled back and inched closer to Sonic, feeling the flames' warmth on his fur. Sonic put a protective arm around his shoulders and brought him closer.

"Merry Christmas, Sonic," Tails whispered.

"Merry Christmas to you too, bud," Sonic replied, affection showing through in his voice.

As they looked at the fireplace, they both smiled.

A/N: Grrr, this sucks so much. -_-

I wanted to write SOMETHING for Christmas, since I forgot Halloween. Insert me sneaking my laptop into my room and writing this crappy thing until 12.

I didn't see Santa.
But then again, I've got no tree, so…. :P

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!