Season 1 Chapter 9

Tails took off through the main gate to the Academy, using his new rocket shoes to propel himself across the grassy field to the treeline of the nearby forests surrounding the campus. "If they don't want me in their dining hall, I'll make a nice table to have my own candle-light dinner," he thought. "It's still sorta light out, so I should have plenty of time to get this set up before the sun goes down completely."

With a quick tap of a button on his wristcomm, he brought up his T-Buster and switched over to plasma-cutter mode, the bright yellow beam filling the air with a pale light. He walked over to a massive tree farther into the forest and took a quick practice swing before cleaving through it with a single swipe. With a soft hiss, the blade vaporized its' way through the wood faster than it could combust, leaving nothing but charred, smoldering fibers. A single, firm push, and the tree came crashing to the ground with an enormous thud, ready to begin carving into the general parts. He took one length of timber and began slicing it into four posts roughly three feet long, tapering one end of each post to a point. He then took the widest part of the trunk near the stump and sliced it into a single large disc about four feet in diameter, two inches thick. Four quick stabs around the edge of the disc cleared holes for the posts, the wood-sap still hissing from the heat.

"I wonder what I'll have for dinner tonight. Hopefully the cook will be done in the kitchen, so I can make something myself. Maybe they'll even have rabbit or quail I can cook up tonight," he thought as he worked. He took each of the four posts and jammed it into the holes, creating a tight pressure fit for each one. He then flipped the table up on its new legs to cut off the protruding spiked tips, leaving the surface of the table nearly flush. Returning to the remains of the fallen tree, he then constructed twelve new legs and three flat circles of wood, repeating the drilling process to create three basic stools, burned smooth by the fast cuts of the blade. "That should do it! I like this caramel color the laser gave it," he thought, running his gloved hand over the rough table surface. "A bit of sandpaper will clean it right up. Heck, I might have to build one of these when I get home. Now all I need are tablecloths, cushions, candles, food, silverware, and the stars!"

After admiring his work for a moment, Tails opened the storage slot on the T-Buster and withdrew a freshly-generated Power Ring and stowed the T-Buster back in hammerspace. He activated the Power Ring and set the three stools on top of the table before hoisting the full load overhead. It took him several minutes of walking to bring the hefty load into the Academy's perimeter wall, setting down in the grass not far from the side-door to the dining hall. "Now, for dinner," he said to himself. He ran over to the kitchen, where he found the head-chef he had met before doing some end-of-evening cleanup. Tails tapped him on the shoulder to catch his attention. "Excuse me, Mr. Chef? Do you mind if I make my own meal? It's a bit of a special occasion."

The white-clad man turned to him and gave him an inquisitive look "Well, I normally don't let anyone else except myself and my sous-chef and his coworkers to use my kitchen, but since you helped us out so much, Warrior, I'll allow it. What do you have in mind?"

"I'm sure I can make something with whatever you are willing to spare," Tails replied.

"Well, I had a student attempt to plan a romantic dinner for a girl, but he was tragically left behind. He never came to collect the ingredients. You're more than welcome to use them. They are over in the ice room in a brown bag, over that way." The chef pointed to a door on the far end of the room, nestled between two stacks of produce crates.

"Thanks so much! I'll get right on it and get out of your hair," Tails said, walking over to the door. He yanked the heavy oak door open, receiving a blast of cold air to the face that caused him to squint. Inside, a thick sheet of ice coated every shelf, topped off with stacks of various vegetables, fruits, and meats. Just to the left of the door, a brown leather sack sat on a small block of ice, separated from the rest of the supplies.

"This must be the one," he thought, grabbing the bag by the neck and giving it a quick shake to remove the ice that had formed on it. He stepped out of the room and pushed the door shut, then walked over to the work surfaces coated with cutting boards. Dumping the bag onto the table revealed a variety of ingredients including two steaks, cherries, salad materials, black pepper, and other necessary supplies. "Perfect! Steaks are high-class, just what I need to one-up Louise. I'm guessing these are for the steak's sauce," he thought, setting aside the cherries and alcohol. "Next, the supplies," Tails thought. He walked over to a hanging rack of pans and pots and withdrew a small selection of each, carrying them over to his workspace under the watchful eye of the chef. "Excuse me," Tails said, turning to the chef. "Where could I find some knives?"

"Two drawers to your left. Do be careful," the man replied.

Tails nodded and reached over to the drawer, withdrawing two suitable knives. He began splitting the cherries and de-pitting them, followed by crushing the peppercorns with the flat of the blade. He dumped the salad greens and additional toppings in one of the pots and gave it a quick toss before setting it aside, turning his attention to the magic stove range. With the assistance of the chef to get it started, one of the several burner eyes put forth a small red flame, adjustable via a small lever at the back of the stove. "Perfect," he muttered as he reached for a bottle of olive oil, lightly coating the pan. "It's been a while since I've had to cook anything other than Sonic's chilidogs, so we'll see whether I give myself food poisoning by the end of the night..."

Within thirty minutes of searing steaks, melting butter and making the pan sauce with the wine, the dinner was fully assembled and plated on a single large serving platter. "Now THAT'S what I call a meal!" Tails exclaimed out loud, admiring his work by taking a deep waft of the dish. "I think this will work out great."

Suddenly, a round of percussive applause filled the air behind him. "Very good, Warrior!" the chef said, patting Tails on the shoulder with his massive hand. "Your timing on the heat was perfect for a tender medium-rare steak, and the sauce smells perfect in
proportions! You demonstrated great skill in my kitchen, and thus are always welcome to use it as you wish. I'm sure the lady will enjoy her meal!"

Tails shook his head. "Oh no, this was just for me. I got invited by one master to the dining hall, then kicked out and called uncivilized by the other, so I decided to take things into my own hands. Thanks again for letting me use these! I'll be sure to drop by with my own supplies and try more things. Do you know where there might be a couple blankets, tablecloths, and maybe a candle or two I could use?"

"There's a back room, nothing but supplies inside. Please wash the cloths and bring them back when you're done."

"Will do! Thank you so much!" Tails replied with a bow. He walked over to a door in the back of the kitchen and withdrew a set of silverware, a candle, a napkin, a large tablecloth, and another smaller blanket to lay over his stool. He wrapped everything in the tablecloth and hoisted it over his shoulder before fetching his meal and kicking the door open to head outside. "Nice guy," he thought to himself. "I'll have to make him something nice to pay him back for this,"

Outside, the last shreds of light had disappeared over the horizon, leaving the sky a deep black freckled with stars. "A good night tonight!" he mumbled to himself as he carried his load to the table. He took down the stools and set the bundle on the table, slowly untied the knot with one hand before setting his plate down and arranging his seat. Finally, he took a seat, drew his T-Buster and used its plasma-cutter function to ignite the candle. "This should look nice to Louise, if she tries to bother me," he thought, putting his T-Buster away and using his silverware to carve his first bite of the steak. "No yelling "masters", a candlelight dinner. Life doesn't get better than this! I don't think I could get this on Mobius even, with all my maintenance work piling up, because I can't do anything even if I worry. Good riddance!"

He barely had a moment to enjoy his first bite of steak before his ears registered the soft shuffle of footsteps on grass. In a moment of panic, Tails launched off of his stool and spun around, his sharp steak knife in hand and ready to fight. In the combined light of his candle and the twin moons, he could see Tabitha standing a few feet away, the moonlight glinting from her glasses.

"Oh, it's just you, Tabitha," Tails said with a sigh of relief. "Sorry, I thought it might have been those two bums from earlier trying to ambush me. Why aren't you inside eating with the other students?"

"Looking for you," Tabitha replied, her voice hardly more than a murmur.

"Oh, you were helping Kirche look for me? Sorry for all the commotion, I just got frustrated and wanted to get away from Louise. Hey, if you haven't had dinner yet, you are welcome to stay," he replied, taking a seat on his stool. "I made some steaks for myself from the kitchen, but there's more than enough to share."

Tabitha nodded her head and walked over, setting her staff against the table and pulling up another stool. She borrowed his silverware and cut a small slice of the untouched second steak, gently lifting it to her mouth and savoring the slice.

After a moment, Tails broke the silence with a quick question. "What do you think? It's been a while since I've cooked like this, since I rarely have the time to do grocery shopping, and my friend Sonic usually just stocks up on chilidog supplies and nothing but."

Tabitha nodded in reply. "Good."

"Glad you enjoy it," he said, nodding. Tabitha sat in silence and continued to chew, seemingly deep in thought. "Well, that may be all the conversation I get out of her tonight," he thought, turning his eyes upward to the night sky. "The stars are pretty, though. Maybe she'll want to talk about that."

Soon, another round of footsteps peeled his eyes away from the stars, redirecting his attention to some point beyond the candle's flame from the center of the table. "Heeey, Tails! There you were! I was worried about you!" a familiar voice called. Soon, Kirche came running up to the table out of the darkness, no longer obscured by the light of the fire. "Wow, where'd you get all of this?! This is beautiful! I brought you a meal from the hall because you left, but it seems you got yourself covered. That looks delicious!" she blurted, setting her plate on the table and taking a seat.

Tails shrugged. "I made it all myself. The table took about five or six minutes, the meal about a half hour. Sorry to make you worry, I sorta got in my 'zone' and forgot about everything, for the most part."

"Aww, that's soo cute!" Kirche exclaimed. "Mind if I join you two? I haven't eaten yet, looking for you and all."

"Sure. Feel free to help yourself to this stuff, we've got more than enough food between the two meals," Tails said, getting up from his seat. "I'll go grab two extra sets of silverware and some drinks, I guess." He jogged back to the kitchen and raided the supply closet, retrieving two sets of silverware, three small plates, and three glasses. Looking around for something to drink that wasn't alcohol, he found a small indoor well and took a moment to fill the glasses with fresh water, still icy-cold from the well's bottom, before slowly carrying everything back out to the table. He took his seat and handed a set of silverware and a glass to both girls, now sitting on either side of him. The two girls took a plate and began dissecting the two meals, taking small portions of everything onto their own plate before leaving the rest for Tails.

Several minutes of silent eating passed, until Kirche finally spoke up. "Hey Tails? I know Louise should be the one to say this, but, sorry for what happened back there. She can be a bit selfish sometimes, it's just something you'll have to put up with."

Tails nodded, taking a bite of potatoes from the plate Kirche brought out. "Yeah, I suppose I will. All I gotta say is, I feel sorry for Saito. He's stuck with her 24/7, and that can't be fun."

"Yup. Tonight, you've got me, darling, so we'll try to make up for what she did."

Tails gave her a weak smile, trying to comprehend the true meaning of her statement. "Uhh, sure... Thanks?" he said, trying to be polite. He returned to his meal and finished off the last of his dinner before resuming the conversation. "Hey guys, I have a favor to ask of you two."

The two girls looked at him. "Yes?" Kirche asked.

"If we see Louise tonight when she leaves the dining hall, try to be nice to her," he said, locking eyes with both girls momentarily. "I'm guessing that she's been putting up with a lot recently, being teased for having a human familiar, which I take is rather odd. It doesn't help that you, Kirche, call her a 'zero', either," he added, turning to the red-haired girl.

Kirche thought about it for a moment before responding. "…well, she is, whether you like it or not. She's probably the first Noble that hasn't been able to use magic properly."

In response, Tails simply gave Kirche a long, electric stare that caused her to back down a bit. "She can use magic, just not in the ways you expect," he suggested. "Perhaps she's a fire mage that specializes in spontaneous combustion such as explosions, as opposed to a continuous flame like Professor Colbert or yourself? Anyways, promise me you'll do your best not to tread on her toes for a while. If not for her sake, for mine, since she takes it out on me and Saito when she gets mad."

The two girls nodded in response. "I never thought of it that way," Kirche stated. "Alright, I'll do my best. But if she starts arguing with me, I'm not necessarily going to back down. We can't let her become bossier than she is already."

"Sounds fine. Thanks for understanding."

Soon, students began to filter out of the dining hall back to their dorms. Just as Tails predicted, Louise came out of the dining hall, and upon spotting Tails seated with his other two masters, stormed over in a big fuss.

"What the hell?!" she cried, her eyes wide. "Where'd you get all of that dining equipment and food? The furniture… what?... Did you steal those from someone?!"

Tails shook his head and grinned. "No, no, I built the table. See?" He got off of his stool and walked over to the other side of the table to lift the tablecloth, revealing the caramel-colored wood. "As for the food, I cooked these dishes myself, and Kirche brought this other dish, thinking I was without food after I ran off."

Louise crossed her arms and gave him a resigned stare. "So you build and cook? Fine, but that doesn't mean you aren't my familiar, so what I say has just as much authority as them. Anyways, get to bed. It's late, and the Princess' competition is in two days. We need you up and training as soon as possible tomorrow, so that you can rehearse for us after morning classes."

"Hey, it's my night with him, so leave him alone!" Kirche exclaimed, pointing at at Louise. "I-"

"-Chill, Kirche," Tails interrupted, holding up a hand to silence her. He then turned his attention back to Louise, matching her stare. "Sure Louise, we'll be in bed as soon as we finish up here. We're almost done here. Don't beat Saito up too much, please."

Louise pointed an accusatory finger at the yellow fox. "Don't you tell me what to do with MY Familiar! He doesn't belong to you. Anyways, goodnight!" She turned on her heels and strode off toward her dorm without giving any of the three seated at the table a chance to talk back.

Tails leaned back on his stool and let out a silent sigh of relief, running his left hand over the back of his ears. "Well, that went about as well as I hoped," he mumbled to himself. He returned to his stargazing while the two girls finished up their meal, occasionally stopping to rub his neck as it got sore. "The stars sure are nice tonight!" he said a little louder.

The prompt for conversation elicited no more than a thoughtful "Hmm" from Tabitha, but Kirche decided to keep it going. "Yeah, they are! I've never spent much time outside about now, I've always been asleep or dealing with boys knocking on my door."

"Am I going to have to deal with them tonight as well?" Tails asked.

"Probably. There are usually at least one or two a week, and I haven't had any yet this week. Say, do you think the stars are similar in your home as here?"

"Possibly," Tails said with a shrug. "It would be a pretty big coincidence, because we could be in entirely different sections of the universe, but it's possible that our planets share the same space over dimensions. There was a pretty cool theory back on Saito's world that extremely small bits of matter are constantly flipping between dimensions, so some of Saito's world could be flicking in and out of existence here, and, say, some of this table could be flicking in and out of my world. Not sure if it's true, but it would be cool to find out."

"Wow, you guys really know a lot in your world! How do you figure it all out?"

"A long time of study. We didn't have magic, so we instead developed scientific queries, especially after most nations on Earth, Saito's world and Chris' world, came into a peaceful relationship. My world hasn't had that luxury due to a lot of global takeover attempts, but I still do plenty of research on my own."

By now, both girls had finished their meals and pushed back their plates and dirty napkins. "Thanks for coming out guys, it was fun," Tails continued. "I'll clear the plates and deal with cleaning up. Tabitha, I'll see you tomorrow. Kirche, I'll be up in a bit."
Kirche nodded. "Alright. Thanks for dinner! It was really good. I'm on the fourth floor of the red-roofed tower, third door on the left."

"Thank you," Tabitha added.

"No problem! Glad you guys enjoyed it," Tails concluded. He began to collect the several dishes as the two girls stood up from their seat and retreated to their dorm rooms. With a bit of balancing practice, he was able to slowly carry the several plates and silverware in one hand and the ball of various cloths in the other back to the kitchen. He set the cloths next to the small well and pulled over a large bin to set the dishes in before drawing some water to fill the bin. Fifteen minutes of labor with a sponge and some soap, and the cloths and plates were thoroughly clean and ready for storage. He replaced the plates and cloths back in their storage room before dumping the water and heading for Kirche's dorm, the red-roofed tower built into the perimeter wall.

"Well, that went better than expected," Tails thought as he climbed the stairs to Kirche's floor. "Both of them were remarkably polite, even with Louise being sorta rude. I wonder why Louise is so high-strung these days. I can't imagine it's ALL in the name-calling people do." After three flights of stairs, he finally reached Kirche's room and gently opened the door. Inside, Kirche, dressed in what could hardly be called "night attire", sat over Saito, who was sprawled out on the floor. Next to her, a large red salamander-esque creature with a flaming tail stood on its two hind legs, staring at the window in the far wall of the room. Kirche and Saito looked up from Saito to see Tails standing in the doorway, thoroughly confused. "Oh, hey Tails! Do me a favor and watch out for the boys that pop up in the window behind me. They're being a nuisance."

"Uhh… Sure," he replied, shutting the door and taking a seat at a table to his left. "What are you… you know what? I've a feeling any knowledge of this is gonna bite me in the rear, so I'll leave it between you two. Pretend I don't exist."

Throughout the evening, several boys popped up into Kirche's window, but Tails either gave them a quick stun with his T-Buster or left it to the salamander to send them packing with a quick fireball. Eventually, however, word got around to Louise who came and kicked Kirche's door in with unexpected strength. "Saito, you DOG!" she yelled. "How should I have known you'd be here! Tails, you aren't out of this either for letting him do this!"

Tails simply gave her a blank face of boredom and tiredness. "Hey, I don't worry about what people do in their free time. I just assumed he's here of his own will. Maybe it's a different story, so don't jump to conclusions," he said. "But since you'll get pissed either way, at least give me enough time to hang myself so I can skip dealing with your shit," he thought in addition, but didn't dare to say.

Louise quickly returned her attention to Saito, making a massive fuss about peeling him out from underneath Kirche and beating him senseless on the spot before dragging him away. Kirche simply stood up and returned to her bed, shutting her window on the way. "Well, that was exciting," she said.

"Maybe to you," Tails replied with a yawn. "I'm guessing you have a thing for Saito, and every other boy on campus has a thing for you?"

"That's an abrupt way of putting it, but yes, I'd say so."

"And I'm also assuming that Saito wasn't here of his own will, since I haven't heard of you proposing anything like this to him in advance?"

Kirche nodded and smiled. "I did send Flame here to fetch him, yes. I don't think with Louise breathing down his back, he would have come willingly. It was worth it… Anyhow, I'm tired. I'm headed to bed. You are welcome to join me whenever you're tired."

"Well, given you have an entourage of boys after you, I think I'd be signing my death warrant sharing a bed with you. Besides, after what you just displayed to Saito, I think I'd rather sleep on the roof or in the grass downstairs anyway. Do you have a spare set of sheets and a quilt I could use?"

"Are you sure you don't want to join me?" she asked, sitting up in a way that displayed her "assets".

"Sorry, that's not my thing," Tails replied. "Yes or no on the sheets?"

Kirche let out a sigh and shook her head with a smile. "Bottom drawer on my dresser. 'Night."

Tails hopped up from the desk and walked over to Kirche's dresser, pulling open the bottom drawer and withdrawing several heavy, folded quilts and thinner sheets that he thought he would need. Content that Kirche wasn't watching him, he flicked his tails into life and gently opened Kirche's window, shutting it from the outside before flying up to the top of the tower.

On the roof, a small weather-vane-esque spike that protruded from the center of the dome, catching Tails' attention. He quickly unfolded the sheets and quilts and began laying them out on the flattest part of the dome next to the spike, wrapping himself up tight in his sheets to keep from rolling off the roof. Once he was fully situated, Tails laid back in his bundle of sheets and watched the stars and moons as they progressed across the sky. "Wow, this feels so weird, not seeing any moving satellites or space stations," he thought as his eyes scanned the scenery above. "The two moons is also really weird, something I never really noticed. Seeing two large celestial objects like that reminds me of Space Colony ARK and the various Death Eggs from years past. Too bad Sonic isn't here to see this, I'm sure he'd love it. Plenty of free running space, with no rules or anything to abide to. Not sure he'd like being a familiar though. Then again, I'm not sure he'd have been caught when running away, either. Probably would have just left Saito and bolted, or perhaps thought kissing normal and left him. Who knows?" He let out a loud yawn, shifting around in his bundle to get comfortable. "Whatever, I've got a big day tomorrow. Might as well get some sleep." With that, he closed his eyes and nodded off into sleep, mind blank for the day to come.