There wasn't a cloud in the sky.
The summer sun sparkled off the rooftops of Water Palace zone in the distance, a pod of whales basking lazily in the azure waters, and a refreshing breeze blew in from the coast, bringing with it the faint smell of brine.
"Hello again, Mister Tails!"
Once more working beneath his plane, Miles started at the sudden greeting, though without smacking his head this time.
"Cream?"
"That's me!" Cream replied happily. Today, from what Miles could see from his vantage point, she was wearing shorts and a shirt with a yellow star on it. "Since the weather was so nice again today, I'd thought I'd come and pay a visit again."
"Mhm." Miles rolled his eyes. Apparently she'd picked up a taste for mint ice cream after all. "Well, sorry but Sonic still isn't here."
"Really? That's a shame. Is he still in Carnival Night?"
"Yeah, that's right." Miles nodded, though she couldn't see his head anyway. "Did you want me to call him today?"
"No, that's fine. I don't want to bother Mister Sonic when he's busy." Cream twisted from foot to foot.
Didn't want to- What about when he was busy? Well, sort of busy. Planes didn't fix themselves after all. Miles sighed into the access panel. "So… Can I get you anything? I still have some ice cream in the freezer."
"Hm… No, thank you! I'll just go sit over there, don't mind me."
"Uh, sure?" Miles glanced over at the rabbit girl as she wandered away from his plane once more, humming a little tune as she settled down on the grass where she began to pick flowers one by one.
Miles shrugged and looked away, content to ignore her and get back to work... Except he wasn't. A few minutes later, he found his eyes drawn to her once more. Then once more when he forced himself to concentrate, over and over, until his brain pieced together what was bothering him and he crawled out from beneath the plane to walk over.
"... No Cheese again today?"
This time it was Cream that started in surprise, almost dropping the chain of flowers she was holding.
"Oh! Mister Tails, you startled me!"
"Sorry." Miles grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "Just noticed you were missing your blue buddy too is all."
Cream shrunk down a little bit, twirling a finger round one of her ears. "Yes, Cheese is… staying with Mom again today."
Miles nodded sagely. That explained why she was here again, at least. Given how rarely the two separated… Well, he could relate.
"Alright!" The fox plonked down on the grass next to her. "Then the least I can do, as a fellow abandoned sidekick, is to keep you company."
"Abandoned sidekick?" Cream tilted her head at him.
"Sure, I've seen you in action. You follow Cheese around and point at things he needs to break." Miles grinned. "I do that too!"
"That seems wrong... somehow." Cream puffed out her cheeks.
Miles' grin just broadened.
That was easier. When people needed help, he could focus on identifying the problem and how to fix it. His brain actually worked in his favour, rather than running through endless scenarios and questions in his head. Getting sidetracked onto tangent after tangent while it explored all the possible angles of a situation. Like- oops.
Cream laughed, breaking through his lost concentration. "Thinking again, Mister Tails?"
Miles shrugged, picking at strands of grass by his feet. "I didn't say I'd be very good company."
"I think you're doing okay." Cream smiled. "I'm... a little glad."
"What? Why?"
"I thought for a long time that you didn't like me very much." Cream picked another flower, weaving it into her growing chain with practised fingers.
"What? No, I…" Miles trailed off. It was hard talking to people his own age. Would she understand if he said it was what she represented? What she reminded him of? 'It's not you, it's me' seemed wrong in this situation, somehow. "I'm just… shy, I guess."
"I'm glad." Cream had picked out two more flowers in the meantime. "It's okay if you don't, though. You've always been nice to me. You helped Mister Sonic save mama when she was in trouble, and you fixed G-Merl to take care of us."
Miles nodded, tails twirling behind him. Smooth as silk. Now to seamlessly guide the topic away from himself and-
"So, how old are you, Mister Tails?"
"What?" Miles opened his mouth, then hesitated. "Eleven, I guess."
"You guess?" Another flower.
"Well, I don't know my birthday." Miles shrugged, then smiled. "Or year. When I met Sonic, I guessed I was eight years old, same as Amy."
"You thought you and Amy were the same age?"
"Yeah…" Miles leaned back onto his tails, rubbing a finger across a fuzzy cheek as he remembered. "Well, she was a lot smaller back then, though she sure got big fast. In the end, Sonic figured out I must have got my age wrong, so we had a big unbirthday party for me."
"Unbirthday party?"
"Yeah! He invited all his friends - well, Amy invited herself anyway - and there was a huge cake." Miles stretched his arms out as far as they could go. "And when I blew out the candles, boom, I was... Still eight again."
He smiled at the memory. "Well, I had a few unbirthdays over the years until we figured I more or less 'caught up'. And now I celebrate my birthday on the same day. Still not sure how old I am exactly though. Can't be much younger though. It's been six years since Sonic and I met, after all. And I… remember things before then."
"I… see." Cream wiped an eye with her glove.
"Are you okay?" Miles' tails straightened in surprise.
"I'm sorry." Cream brought her other hand up, leaving flowers unattended as she sought to stem the flow of tears. "Not knowing your own birthday just seems so… sad."
In the end, Cream did get another of Miles' precious supply of ice cream cones.
"Thank you." Cream rubbed at the still wet fur on her cheek. "I feel better now."
I bet you do. Miles smiled. He couldn't be bitter. He had one too, after all.
"Still, I could believe it if you said you were older, Mister Tails." Cream punctuated her statement with a lick of ice cream that left a green spot on her nose.
"Yeah, I bet. I look so old." Miles flexed his tiny frame. He'd grown so little in the last few years the rabbit was almost caught up. "Oldest fox you've ever seen, right here."
Cream laughed. "Well, that's true. But I meant how mature you are, Mister Tails. You seem to be so grown up, it's a little intimidating sometimes."
"Wow. First time someone's ever called me intimidating. I better put these bad boys away." Miles dropped the pose, recovering his ice cream cone from his tail to resume eating.
Cream laughed again, brushing her ear back before finally standing, brushing her legs and tail just as she had the day before. Once again Miles had no idea where the ice cream disappeared to so fast. Well, most of it at least, her nose was still green.
"Thank you very much for sitting with me again, Mister Tails. I should get home for dinner now." She bowed politely.
"Oh, uh, okay, sure." Miles glanced up. The sun was still high in the sky. "Well, safe journey back. Tell Cheese to stop being so mean to his sidekick."
He waved goodbye as she ran down towards Water Palace before standing up, still holding his own half-eaten confection as he turned back towards his plane.
Hm. Wait, maybe he should have mentioned her nose? She wouldn't get in trouble with her mom for eating candy before dinner, right?
Miles turned back, but there was already no sign of her on the rolling plains.
"Gone already?" Miles lowered both ears with a frown. "... Was she always that fast?"
He shrugged and headed back to his work, snagging a mint from the bowl before looking around for his wrench with a frown.
"Again? She's not stealing them, is she?" Miles turned back to where they were sitting to look for it, his frown deepening. "... Wait. What happened to the flowers?"