The unknown isn't scary - with Sonic

By Noonui

Day 9

Dear diary. I suddenly woke up because my right ear is hurting! So much! I don't know where it came from, but it hurts, and I don't know what to do about it! I don't wanna wake up Sonic and bother him, but I don't know if I can fall back to sleep. Should I wake him up? I don't know. I don't wanna wake him. So, I'll try falling asleep again – hopefully, it'll go away in the morning. Goodnight.

He dropped the pen onto the page, a small sigh going through the cub as his eyes travelled over the page. He closed the book with the pen and hid it under the mattress as always, shoving his head into his pillow as he pressed one hand onto his right ear.

It was hurting, not ringing but a constant pain that wasn't hammering like a headache. He had woken up with it, wondered briefly if it was because he had slept on it or something, but pretty quickly he had figured out that it was hurting inside of it. Maybe it was because he had taken a bath this evening and had gotten water into it?

But usually it didn't hurt this much, and he doubted that it was because he had been fighting badniks today as well. The explosions did sometimes make his ears ring, but they didn't suddenly just begin to hurt in the middle of the night. One thing was for sure though, and that was that he didn't want to wake Sonic and bother him with this.

Therefore, he softly whimpered into his pillow, pressing onto the ear with more force to somehow negate the pain and try and fall back to sleep. He wanted to cry into his pillow, the pain being severe and burning, a constant surge of pure pain. But he knew that crying would make Sonic wake up from reasons unknown to himself.

He wasn't completely out of the stage where you were slipping and sliding between the realms of reality and dreams and could jump back into the limbo if he tried. He pulled the blanket closer to his chin, wrapping his tails around his body for comfort more than warmth, as he tried to ignore the pain through the vestiges of sleep.

The battle was hard and fierce but eventually, the small fox slipped back into dreamland, hoping that tomorrow the pain would go away.

It didn't.

By the time he had woken up again, the sun's rays slipping through the glass panes in his bedroom, his right ear was still hurting. He tiredly opened his eyes into the room, having turned around at some point and was laying on his right ear again.

The large organ of hearing seemed frozen, all hearing being dull and sounding like he was constantly under water. Like when you had water in your ears and if you leaned your head the right way, the water would cascade out and a 'pop' sound will make everything alright again.

But no matter what he did it wouldn't go away, and his theory about it being water was outdated at this point, since it would have escaped through the night. All he wanted to do was to make it 'pop' make the pain stop because he wanted to cry about it, but he wasn't a crybaby, and he didn't want it to hurt and he just wanted it to go away!

The fox whimpered to himself again before deciding that he didn't want to endure it if he couldn't get rid of it himself and kicked his blanket off to go tell Sonic. Normally he was up before the hedgehog and some days the cub would run in and bounce on him and wake him, while he on other days would simply wait and watch TV, since he wasn't allowed to use the stove. This time he had decided to wake him but glanced at the clock on his nightstand and realized that Sonic was definitely up by 6:41 in the morning.

The both of them were morning people by the simple fact that they had no choice but to be. When you ran around on adventures and ran through different zones, it was much more difficult to navigate through the areas during the night, despite the toddler having night vision. That, and the fact that they needed energy and sleep to continue their trek and were used to going at the crack of dawn.

Their routine hadn't changed when Sonic introduced him to his home, from pure habit more than anything, despite that they could now sleep without wondering if they were going to be ambushed in the middle of the night. Taking rounds was one of the most exhausting parts of adventuring, despite the hedgehog not making him stay up too long. He wondered how many times Sonic had fallen asleep without telling him.

The pain in his ear made him shake the memories off, and instead somewhat made the bed and snuggled his feet into his shoes, stopping at every movement since any movement at all made his ear cry out. Turning on his heel he quickly learned to move carefully as he made it through his room and opened his door. From the hallway he could smell the breakfast that Sonic was already cooking, revealing that he had woken up at the perfect time.

"Morning Tails!" He had most likely heard the door click closed the moment it slipped into the frame, the fox walking down the hallway and down the stairs, realizing that he needed to take his steps slowly.

His ear protested with every movement, as if the very small change of velocity were enough to make it protest. At the bottom step he had to put his hand on the ear and let out a small whimper, sighing to get the pain to stop as he looked at the living room.

The room was separated by an empty door frame, giving him full visibility into the kitchen. Sonic's back was turned to him, standing in front of the stove with a spatula in hand, presumably having a pan of something in front of him.

"Morning Sonic," He said, while Tails considered sticking a finger into his ear in case it was wax that sat there, but he didn't want to put anything into it.

His ears were sensitive enough, foxes hearing being better than most other species, being able to hear at other frequencies than the average mobian, his larger ears in general being better at picking up sounds than Sonic's. He remembered many times on their adventure that he could hear stuff that the hedgehog couldn't – if it were badniks that were coming their way, the sound of a frog cracking nearby or the faint sound of a waterfall. He didn't understand how Sonic couldn't hear some stuff, but he figured that it was because he was a simple hedgehog. Well, as simple as the hero of Mobius could be.

"Sonic?" He asked, as he walked through the living room and into the kitchen, the small table there already set, plate, glass, and cutlery at the ready for the morning battle.

The hedgehog turned his head to look over his shoulder, a wide grin on his face, looking like he was about to burst out laughing.

"Yeah bud?" He asked the grin faltering a little bit and kept eye contact, Tails guessing that he could tell that he was in pain of some sort.

"My ear's hurting," He said, kept the hand on his right ear to try and negate the pain, having no idea if it actually helped or if he was convincing himself that it was helping. Sonic turned fully around with the notion, his eyes travelling over and landed on the right ear, being able to guess which one from the cub's actions alone.

"Like a lot?" He asked, having briefly turned back to the stove and moved the pan away from the burner before he turned back to the fox, eyes wide with attention.

Tails decided to nod, hopping up on the chair and sat by the table, tried rubbing his ear on the outside, though that only made it hurt more. He whimpered from the action, making the hedgehog act on the sound, speeding over and stood by his side.

"Did it hurt yesterday?" Tails shook his head this time, deciding to leave the ear alone, since whatever action he did, did not help the situation.

"Nuh uh. It started hurting at night – and it still hurts a lot," He said in a small voice, and could suddenly feel the urge to cry much clearer than before. But instead, he looked at the hedgehog who had put his hands on his hips and had a critical look in his eyes, humming thoughtfully to himself.

"You didn't get too close to the badniks yesterday did you?"

Another shook of the head, albeit with less enthusiasm since moving his head in general hurt.

"Alright, then let me see. You could have gotten some metal in there or something," Sonic then decided, having already pulled gently at the tip of his right ear to look inside. The action didn't make the pain any worse, though the cub sat still for the hedgehog to be able to get a good look. He could have got a piece of shrapnel in there or something, but that still didn't explain why it started hurting in the middle of the night. Slightly perplexed, he simply remained still when Sonic looked into his other ear and returned to the right one, another thoughtful hum accompanying his investigation.

"Well, it looks a bit yellow at the bottom," He concluded, letting go of the organ, and stood back with hands on his hips, as the fox turned his head around towards the hedgehog.

"Yellow? What does that mean?" He asked, as he absentmindedly started rubbing it again, winced as the pain suddenly sparked but calmed down again in the course of two seconds. Sonic shrugged, though a grin started to replace the thin line his lips had made from thoughtfulness alone.

"It means we gotta see the doctor after breakfast. I don't think it's nothing bud," Tails' eyes widened immediately in fear more than anything, the pain in his ear suddenly not feeling as bad. A beat of silence appeared between them, making the hedgehog raise a brow in question.

"I – I don't think it's that bad," The fox stammered, the great surge of pain returning, stopped rubbing it again in case that was the case for it. The brow was still raised for reasons unknown to the cub, a critical look going over the younger individual.

"If it's hurting as much as you say it's hurting then I think it's worth getting a professional look at," He rationalized, something that the fox couldn't compete against since he was perfectly aware that the both of them were not medical experts.

But he didn't want to. He had been at the doctor once before because he needed to get a shot for something he didn't know and didn't care about, and he just remembered that it hurt.

"But Sonic - I don't want to go to the doctor because the last time he did something that hurt me, and now that my ear is hurting, I don't want him to make it hurt even more!" He wailed, had been somewhat calm at the beginning, but as the pain and the frustration was slowly overwhelming the small kid, he felt the unfairness hit at him before he retorted to the one thing he wanted to do.

Tears erupted in the small blue eyes, staring straight at the hedgehog, and only needed to blink to make the water run down his cheeks. Sonic's expression softened immediately, at the same time that the cub did blink, and the tears ran down, while a sniff accompanied the action.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, don't cry It'll be fine," Sonic calmly pulled him into a hug which only intensified the desire, hitched for a breath, and cried out the pain in his ear.

A hand rubbed the back of his head, while the cub had practically shoved his head into the tan chest of the other, shaking and crying and only wanting the pain to stop.

"The doctor only wants to help you bud. I might hurt at first, but he'll make the pain go away I promise," He soothed, keeping the fox close as Tails merely cried, a toddler reacting in the one way that only made him feel better, the pain still there but everything wasn't as horrible in Sonic's embrace.

And he heard him nonetheless, and already knew that doctors were created to help people and not hurt them, but he couldn't help but be scared of the pain. It was already hurting a lot now and he didn't want to imagine what it felt like if it was going to hurt even more.

Eventually, the small rubbing on the back of his head and the familiar fur made him calm down, hiccupped once then twice, and pulled back, looking back at Sonic who smiled sympathetically at him, running a thump over his cheeks to get rid of the tears.

"Okay," Tails sniffed, trying to conjugate a smile. "We can go. After breakfast," He announced, trusted that Sonic knew what he was doing. The hedgehog's smile widened from the conclusion, giving the fox a head ruffle before he turned back around towards the pan.

"Then I guess we gotta eat," He chuckled, putting the pan on the table, and turned around towards the fridge. The fox's fear was temporarily forgotten just looking at the bacon that looked somewhat burned but alright on the pan, looking forward to eating than the day ahead of them.

His eyes were closed tight for reasons unknow, feeling the small metal tip deep into his ear canal, the stupid mobian apparently wanting to get a look at his brain rather than his ear.

It felt like an eternity before the doctor pulled back, having an otoscope in his hand, a thoughtful 'hmm' accompanying his thoughts. It was a grey and black striped raccoon, a pair of glasses on his forehead with a white coat on, being not obese but not thin either, with wrinkles around his eyes.

They hadn't visited the pediatrician's office since Tails had gotten his shot, but neither of them had noticed the wrinkles beforehand.

"Well little one – it looks like you have an inflammation of the middle ear," He announced, like he was talking about the weather, sitting down on a rolling chair behind him, a patient smile on his lips that every pediatrician seemed to have. Tails frowned at the information, not following along how he would have gotten it and would have asked, but the doctor interrupted him.

"It's quite common among small children, and it's rare that they don't get it," He explained, to Sonic since he was the guardian, but kept smiling at the cub.

"Normally they go away within three to four days at a time or when the eardrum erupts, but because you're a fox we need to do something different. You see, vulpine hearing is very sensitive and if the eardrum erupts then it can take much longer for it to heal, and you could have less hearing for longer than months at a time. We want to avoid that don't we?" He asked, his smile widening just a bit, looking back at the cub.

Tails didn't register the fake smile that the devil had on his lips and was instead perplexed at the information that was suddenly thrown at him.

"The eardrum can erupt?" He asked, not believing that this raccoon was a doctor at all. But he smiled yet again, as he rolled away from them, with the rolling chair, typing something into his computer, sitting stationary at an old desk.

"Yes, it can. Usually, it's a good thing with this type of inflammation since then the pus can escape. But since we can't let it do that with your sensitive ears, we need to do something else," He said, turned around in his chair towards a drawer and began rummaging around for something.

Curiously, the cub turned towards the hedgehog who was sitting beside him, knew very well he had been listening despite the guardian looking at the pictures that hung on the walls. In the pediatrician's office there were more models of different organs than pictures or anything, small notes of tips and tricks for parents that none of them needed.

Though, Sonic's head turned back to the doctor as he rolled back towards them, having something small in his seemingly large hand.

"About four to five ear drops three times a day, and by day three, the inflammation should be gone. After you have put the drops in, let him lay still for a minute to let the drops settle. If it still hurts after six days, then contact me again. Let him have his first drops when you get back home," He explained, having talked directly to the hedgehog, who picked up a small bottle with a plastic tip in his hand, listening while he was observing it.

Tails had listened as well, didn't like the thought of getting the liquid into his ears three times a day and gulped with the knowledge, looking back at the doctor.

"Does it hurt?" He asked, though his voice was timid and small, and it surprised him that the raccoon actually hurt him, turning his head towards the cub. The smile that appeared this time seemed to be genuine.

"Only a little bit. It sounds like a lot of rice popping and it can be uncomfortable. But it shouldn't hurt too much," He calmly explained, turning back around towards the computer.

Tails wasn't reassured one bit, since 'not hurting too much' still meant that it was going to hurt. And he didn't like it when he was hurting.

Therefore, he decided that he didn't need the drops.

"Tails! Taaiells c'mon I'm not playing this game with you!"

The cub gasped, the sound of Sonic's voice being closer than before and huddled close together under the bed. He hadn't found him yet, running away from him the moment that they got home, being well aware that Sonic was going to listen to the doctor's advice.

And he knew that hiding under Sonic's bed was much better than hiding under his own, though now the hedgehog was back into the hallway. He swallowed spit, his ear still being painful against his head, but somehow, he would rather endure this pain than getting more. That was the least of his desires.

He smacked a hand against his mouth when the door to the room opened, and could feel his heart beating when Sonic's red and white sneakers with a golden buckle came into view.

"Tails! Come on out!" He called, his voice sounding much more annoyed than he thought it was going to be. Normally Sonic was chipper whenever they played hide and seek, but now he seemed like he wasn't in the mood for playing. Neither was Tails but this wasn't a game. This was a fight till the end.

He huddled closer against the leg of the bed when the sneakers made it up to the bed, hearing the hedgehog shuffle around the blanket and pillows on the bed. A sigh appeared above him, saw the feet walk away and open a dresser, and then hoped that he was lucky since Sonic was close to the door.

But his luck ran out, gasping startled when a hedgehog head appeared in front of him, having bent down to look under the bed.

"There you are!"

Sonic didn't get to see or do anything else since the fox was already gone, bolting through the door and hallway, already spinning his namesakes to fly over and down the stairs.

"Tails get back here! I'm not playing around!"

He ignored him as a small hand tried to turn the knob at the front door, but it was locked. Sonic wasn't as dumb as he thought.

Not having time to check for the key or try and smash his way through it, he flew towards the door to the workshop instead, hearing Sonic's rapid feet tapping against the stairs behind him.

He almost smashed the door against the hedgehog's nose when he made it to the bottom landing, his eyes landing on the Tornado first and foremost and flew under the underbelly of the plane.

He was trying to not pant too loudly as he hid behind one of the wheels, the door getting flung open, seeing once again red and white sneakers in his vision. A deep sigh left Sonic, making the cub realize that the annoyance had turned to anger at this point.

"Tails I'm not kidding! I'll make you take these drops if you don't cooperate with me!"

The first thing Sonic did was to investigate the cockpit, before walking around and checking the workbench and the shelves. Luckily, the fox had begun to stash a couple of things, meaning that there were a lot of hiding places that the hedgehog needed to check, as long as he didn't look under the fuselage.

But he was well aware that he was going to look under the plane at some point and therefore swallowed spit, his lungs hurting since he couldn't be breathing too loudly and his ear screaming at this point. He swirled his left ear backwards since Sonic was there and started to slowly crawl away from under the plane and towards the door.

He came out, his small heart pounding with fear as he slowly came to his feet and tiptoed to the stairs. The toddler bit his lip as his foot hit the first step, tails stiff and not moving to make any sound as he lifted the next foot.

"A ha!"

He yelped in surprise more than fright and bolted upwards, could already hear Sonic's feet catching up behind him. He made it to the upper landing again, his panicked mind looking into the living room, ran in there and suddenly saw the window.

Of course! The window! He could escape through there!

He panted and started sprinting towards the paned glass but was suddenly assaulted. He yelped again, this time in fear as Sonic had bodily tackled him, the two of them rolling once on the ground before the hedgehog was on top.

"Stay still! –

"No! No, I don't want the drops!"

He was struggling, but strong hands were locking his wrists into the floor, his chest and abdomen pinned by a knee that wasn't using all its force, the other leg keeping his tails still.

He frantically moved his head from side to side, pinning both ears to his skull, despite Sonic trying to pry the right ear upwards.

"You need the drops!" –

"I don't need them! I don't want them! They're going to hurt!"

He tried kicking again, thrashing, anything that would get him out of the grip, but Sonic was strong, too strong, and he could feel the tears press against his eyes once more.

"I don't want it to hurt Sonic! I don't want it to hurt more!" He said, now looked at Sonic, his thrashing intensifying in the mist of panic, heart beating as his eyes blurred with tears. The hedgehog had stopped trying to pry his ear off the yellow skull, the mad expression he had beforehand was gone with confusion.

"I don't want you to hurt me. Why do you want to hurt me Sonic?!"

He was pleading now, tears running down his cheeks, panting to get air into his lungs. He had stopped struggling, and trashing, merely stared at the hedgehog with watery eyes, his hands shaking under Sonic's hands from fear.

He could feel it, against his chest, the fear. The fright of his ear hurting even more than it did now, the thrashing and the quick movement upsetting it even more.

Sonic wasn't pushing him anymore, his mouth opened halfway and stared at the cub, the hedgehog still pinning him to the ground. Seconds passed where the hedgehog looked at him, eyes staring at the tears, the hero of Mobius looking lost and defeated.

He suddenly let out a sigh and let go of him, sitting back on his rear end. Tails calmly got up on his elbows, staring at the hedgehog who looked back at him, the former sniffing.

"I'm sorry squirt. C'mere," He raised out his arms to the sides, looking at the fox apologetically, looking sorrowful at his actions. The cub hesitated only for two seconds before getting up on his knees and fell forward into Sonic's embrace, once again crying into his chest. Yellow arms hastily clung to a spiked back, fingers curling around his fur in pure fright.

"I'm sorry bud. I don't want to hurt you – I don't want to ever hurt you okay? But we need to do this otherwise your ear could get worse. It hurts me just as much as it hurts you," He soothed, his voice gentle and soft, running a hand up and down a shaking back, the cub crying out of fear more than sadness.

He regretted saying that to Sonic. He knew that he would never hurt him, he had promised him to never hurt him, and he knew that he was going to keep that promise. He had never broken one.

But he was scared. He was scared of the uncertainty, the pure unknown knowledge of how much it was going to hurt. He didn't want it to hurt.

"I'm sorry," He said between sniffles, arms still clinging to the hedgehog, silently asking for protection that he knew he would give him. "I didn't mean it. I'm just scared."

Sonic sighed, the hand that rubbed his back stopping its course and instead squeezed the fox a bit more.

"I know you are litl' bro. But it's going to hurt even more than now if we don't use the ear drops. The doctor said it would go away after three days. That's only five times you have to do this. Okay?"

Tails was still crying, but was slowly calming down, the hedgehog's words reaching him. He knew he was right, and he knew that he was behaving like a baby, but he couldn't help it. Though he hiccupped with a frown, finding a flaw in Sonic's explanation.

"That's still either 20 or 25 drops in total," Despite the numbers making sense to him, the hedgehog chuckled and affectionately padded his head.

"You're too smart for your own good bud," He said, at the same time that Tails pulled back, rubbing at his eyes before Sonic had time to get rid of the water for him. He looked at Sonic, but he was smiling instead of being mad, his eyes sparkling with sympathy. It made the cub not feel as scared inside.

"C'mon," The hedgehog got up from the floor and jumped into the couch, padding the spot next to him.

Tails bit his lip, the fear suddenly returning to him at full thrust but decided that he just needed to get it over with, trusting Sonic this time. With a sigh filled with trepidation he slowly got up from the floor since his ear was still hurting a lot and went over to the couch.

He sat down beside Sonic, looked up at him, but the hedgehog ruffled his bangs with a smile. The toddler then looked at the small plastic bottle with the ear drops Sonic had in his hand, before he sighed and laid down across the hedgehog's lap, his right ear facing upwards. It hurt more to lay like this, but almost forgot the pain as he felt Sonic's hand pull gently at his ear again and shifted a bit.

"Ready?" The hedgehog asked. He wasn't, but he nodded nonetheless, biting his lower lip.

He clenched his eyes shut the moment he felt the ear drop hit his ear canal, a spark of pain emitting from the drop. Two more and the popping feeling began, sounding like bubbles exploding, a surge of pain going through with each drop.

He whimpered at the last drop, the sensation still there and the uncomfortable popping happening all at once, sounding like a whole orchestra of drums. Sonic's hand began running up and down his arm in comfort, the cub keeping his eyes closed.

"Just lay still for a minute," He didn't answer the question, instead began counting the seconds in his head, the popping sound becoming louder and louder. He whimpered again but felt Sonic's hand squeeze his shoulder while Tails' fists were shaking, whole body tense.

As the seconds passed the popping sound began to dim, the ear still hurting but there was a dull throb there, that was – surprisingly pleasant.

"Alright, I think that's good," Tails opened his eyes more in surprise than anything, blinking at the TV he was staring at before slowly getting back up to sit. The popping sound briefly returned before it disappeared, leaving behind the throb.

"So. Was it bad?" He looked at Sonic who was practically smirking at him, giving him a 'told you so' face more than anything.

"It - it was still bad," Tails said, blinking. "But. Not as bad as I thought," He admitted, flicking his ear in habit more than anything, looking at Sonic who was still smirking at him.

"Now we know. It isn't that bad," He said, then leaned forward towards him a little, the smirk turning into a grin. "And I think you need some mint ice cream don't you think?"

Tails perked up immediately, tails thrashing in happiness from the cold treat, mouth left agape in excitement.

"Really?!" Sonic laughed at the exclamation, ruffling his bangs yet again.

"Really. If you promise to behave the next time," The hedgehog winked, though the fox was nodding enthusiastically.

"Promise!" He said, as Sonic got off the couch, heading towards the kitchen.

The toddler followed him with his eyes shining, his right ear not feeling as painful as before. He would keep his promise though, because now he knew that it wasn't as bad as he thought it was.

Despite being a small toddler, he supposed that maybe sometimes the unknown was scary and was much worse than you thought. But as long as Sonic was there to help him, he thought that it shouldn't be as bad.

What else was a brother for anyway?