I seem to only write pointless fics, which is a little sad, to be honest.
The idea for this comes from StorySmall, who writes a lovely little fic called Letters which is about Tails' life through a series of letters, go figure. One chapter was about his birthday, and while it was a little different to this, I loved the Tornado idea. They said that I could borrow the idea, so that's where this came from. I hope you they enjoy it!
I'm not exactly sure how old Tails is turning, so you can use your imaginations for that part.
Birthday.
Tails rubbed his sleepy eyes in an attempt to keep them open. He'd been out in his workshop for hours working on the Tornado - upgrading the engine and messing around with various parts which only he knew the name of; and while he knew that he should probably go back inside (his inability to stop his eyes from closing every two seconds was proof of this), the mechanic in him wouldn't allow it until he had completely finished what he was doing.
Fortunately, he was almost done. He tightened the final screw and then batted the propellor with his hand to make sure that it wouldn't fly off and hit someone next time they used the plane (he neglected to think of his own safety here, but it was late and he was tired). It didn't, and he stood up from his seat and stretched his arms, satisfied that he'd gotten it all completed. Sonic was going to be so pleased, and hopefully that meant he'd get to use it more often.
He cast a glance over to the clock on his desk and his stomach did a flip. It was two in the morning, which meant that it had been his birthday for a whole two hours and he hadn't even known. Of course he knew that today was his birthday, he just hadn't realised it was past midnight yet (he tended to get caught up in his work like this, and in the past had been late to several important things due to it). And no, he hadn't been working hard because he was excited about said day, quite the opposite actually. Today would mark the first birthday he'd had since meeting Sonic, and he hadn't even told him. Being the centre of attention definitely was not something he enjoyed too much and it's not like he was really important anyway.
Well, he'd mentioned it months and months ago, but he didn't expect Sonic to remember. Actually, he'd been downplaying it. He, in fact, didn't like his birthday at all as it was the one day his mind decided to hate him and constantly remind him of how...unpleasant his life had been previously. As much as he disliked wallowing in his own self pity, he seemed unable to do anything but that on this particular day. It was stupid, he knew that, but he just...couldn't help it (and in all honestly, he'd prefer just not to have a birthday at all). Plus, he didn't want to ruin Sonic's day by whining, so he hadn't said anything about it. And with that final thought, he dragged himself through the house and into bed.
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The day had been as uneventful as he'd imagined. There had been no mention of today being said day and the afternoon had progressed as it normally did. Sonic had gone out running, leaving him alone to do his own thing. There was no need to tinker with stuff as he'd finished it all last night, so he'd ended up just curling up on the couch with a book and some mint chocolate in an attempt to distract himself. To be honest, this birthday had been one of the most pleasant he'd ever had, as sad as that sounded.
He couldn't remember ever having had a birthday that was a big deal (he'd been alone for all of them until now and he'd never felt important enough to have a proper celebration anyway), but he imagined that it would all be a little awkward. What with the present giving and everything - how did you respond to that anyway? Just by saying thanks? It felt kind of rude not to give them a gift in return. Plus, everyone would try and keep you happy (which most people liked, as most people liked birthdays), which he didn't want. He just preferred to be treated normally, something he'd been striving for for most his life thus far.
Oh, don't get him wrong, he wasn't against birthdays altogether, he liked celebrating other people's. Just not his.
"Tails!" The voice made him jump, and he looked up from his book to see Sonic hanging his head over the back of the couch. When had he gotten home? "How's it going, buddy?"
He blinked a few times, adjusting his eyes to the sudden change of angle before replying. "Not bad, how about you?"
Sonic walked around to the other side of the lounge so that he was now standing over the young fox. "Yeah, I'm fine - hey, I have something to show you," He grabbed his hand and yanked him up from his position. "Close your eyes first,"
"No way," He laughed. "That's silly,"
"You have to," His brother responded, tapping Tails' nose lightly. "Because otherwise it won't be as much of a surprise," He sighed and shut his eyes tightly, feeling a slight sinking feeling in his stomach. Had Sonic realised it was his birthday? He better not have organised a party...
He felt the other boy pulling him through the room and then into another which he immediately recognised as his workshop (due to how the floor felt when he walked, or perhaps just because he had been stepping on carpet a moment ago and now it felt like cement). Oh great, maybe he hadn't but instead had noticed all the adjustments he'd done on his plane and didn't like them! Darn, he knew he should have told him exactly what it was he was doing instead of just assuming he wanted it changed. He hadn't even been able to show Sonic yet because he wanted to take it out for a test run first, but he had to ask permission to use it so he hadn't had a chance.
Oh God, he felt awful. Sonic was going to be so mad at him!
"Ready?"
No, no, no!
But one at a time he opened his eyes anyway, and the sight he was greeted with made his jaw drop in surprise. There was a ribbon wrapped around the Tornado, and as he glanced towards Sonic and back to the plane, he put it together in his mind. He wasn't angry, he was...he was giving...
"Happy birthday, Tails!" Sonic cheered, interrupting his thoughts and ruffling the fur on the kit's head. "I know you love this plane, and I don't really use it anyway, so it's yours,"
"No way..." He mumbled, staring up at the vehicle. He turned to Sonic, intending to maturely thank him (he was a year older now), but instead found himself with his arms latched around his brother, hugging him tightly. "Thank you!" He repeated, a huge grin on his face. "This is the best thing ever,"
"Everyone deserves something on their birthday, even if they try to keep it quiet," He smirked, raising an eyebrow.
Tails laughed nervously, he should have known that he couldn't fool his brother. But that didn't matter, because right now he was just feeling so...happy. It was his plane now! His! It was a mechanic's dream, he could do whatever he wanted to it now!"How did you know anyway?"
"Dude, did you think I'd forgotten when you told me when your birthday was?" He shook his head, but grinned at the younger boy. Tails chewed his lip, embarrassed - he'd underestimated Sonic (which you think he would have learnt not to do after all the times he'd surprised him by doing things like running faster than anyone thought possible). "So when you went to bed last night, I did this," He motioned to the plane.
"But I was up really late!" He protested, and Sonic just shrugged in response.
"Shall we take your plane out then?" He responded, and Tails couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Okay, so maybe birthdays weren't so bad after all.
