CHAPTER 41: Nothing To Do

"Welcome to my humble abode," Tails said, opening his front door. "I'm sure you've probably seen better."

"I have," Cream said, looking around. "I've seen worse, too. You should see my oldest cousin's bedroom. I don't know how he moves around in there."

"Sounds like fun," Tails said, stretching. "Ah well, you should have seen how I used to keep my room. I had to fly in and out of there."

"Why 'used to'?" Cream asked.

"Let's just say, you have no idea how bad a claw hammer can hurt until you have a cramp and fall on one barefoot," Tails said. He sat down and removed his right shoe and sock, then held up his foot. There were two straight scars on the bottom of his foot, side by side.

"Wow," Cream said. "How long ago was that?"

"About a year," Tails said. "Sonic wanted to rush me to the emergency room, but I refused to let him. It was just two really deep gashes. I've had worse."

"I see," Cream said. Tails noticed she seemed to be trying not to breathe too deeply, and sniffed the air. It took him a moment, but he figured out what the problem was.

"Yeesh, guess I kinda smell, don't I?" he asked. "Not a surprise, I guess. I haven't had a shower in days. I don't think I'm the only one who hasn't, either."

"I guess not," Cream said.

"I'm gonna go take a shower real quick, then we can figure out something to do around here, how's that?" Tails asked.

"If that's what you're going to do, be my guest," Cream said. Tails stood up, kicking his other shoe off and picking his other sock up off the floor.

"Alright, I should be out in about fifteen or twenty minutes," he said. "The TV's all yours. Oh, and help yourself to anything in the fridge."

"Thank you," Cream said. Tails walked past her, toward the rather short hall in which the doors to his room and the bathroom were. He headed into the bathroom, closing and locking it behind him.

"Damn, that hot water feels good," Tails said to himself, nearly five minutes later. By this point he was already soaked to the skin, and had just begun to lather shampoo in his hands. This was one thing he hated about having fur all over his body: he went through shampoo like a theater goes through popcorn. Of course, he started with his head, being very careful not to get any shampoo in his eyes as he scrubbed between them. Unfortunately, he wasn't as successful when he scrubbed around his ears. He wound up with lathery shampoo running down each ear. Grumbling, he held his breath and put his face into the hot stream of water, this time without any shampoo on his hands. Once he had all the lather away from his eyes, he lowered his head and began to wash it out of the area around his ears, allowing water to flood them and wash the shampoo out. As he rinsed his head down, he opened his eyes for no real reason. What he saw startled him a little.

"Wow, they don't show much besides sports anymore," Cream commented, looking at the TV guide. "Fifteen sports networks, that's incredible. What is so exciting about a bunch of men slamming each other to the ground for an hour?"

"ACK!" Tails yelled from the shower.

"Tails, are you alright?" Cream called.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine!" Tails called out. Then he thought, Until I get out of here. Looks like I'll need to start wearing shorts or pants now, too. I was kinda hoping my fur would be long enough to cover all that up for a bit longer... Perfect. Just fucking perfect. I don't have to brush my fur aside to see my crotch, I don't have any shorts or pants, I have a girl in my apartment... I wonder if she could see it and wasn't saying anything, or if it's just visible when I get wet? ...Well, guess I'll have to think of something before I get out of here...

"What's that?" Cream said to herself, hearing what sounded like a hair dryer. She got up off the couch and walked back toward the bathroom, lifting one ear with one of her hands. She thought to herself, I didn't know Tails had a hair dryer. Well, I guess with fur as long as his, a towel wouldn't work very well for drying. I guess I should feel lucky, since I'm all fuzz.

Damn, so many wrong ways this could be interpreted, Tails thought. It's not even funny. I'm sitting here with a blow dryer inches from my crotch, the heat turned up to max... If someone were to walk in on me right now, I'd never be able to explain what the hell I'm doing. That, or if I did, I'd never live it down. Thank God for door locks.

"Hey Tails, can you hear me over that?" Cream called through the door.

"Yeah!" Tails called back. He managed to keep any note of nervousness from his voice, although he was feeling more than a little nervous at the moment.

"Can't you just let your fur dry out on its own?" Cream called. "There's nothing to do out here! There's nothing but sports channels on TV!"

"Uh, sorry, but I kinda can't just air dry, actually!" Tails called. "It would be a little too much information if I told you why, too!"

"Is it embarrassing?" Cream called.

"Yeah, kind of!" Tails called.

"You can tell me, whatever it is!" Cream called. "I promise, I'll take it to my grave with me!"

"Are you REALLY sure you wanna know?" Tails called.

"Yes!" Cream called back.

Quid pro quo, Tails thought. She told me that whole thing about her mother, so I guess it's my turn to say something I don't really want to. "Alright, but I warned you," he said as he turned off his hair dryer: he was getting tired of yelling over it. "I noticed while I was rinsing the top of my head that the general and his two privates were a little exposed, meaning my fur's not covering it up anymore. At least, not while it's wet. Problem is, I don't have any pants or shorts."

"Ooh, that's not good," Cream said. "Can't you just wear a towel around your waist?"

"I was kinda hoping just to dry off and get by with that, actually," Tails said. "I was honest with you, so I want you to be honest with me. Whether you intended to or not, you didn't happen to notice anything peeking, did you?"

"No," Cream said awkwardly.

"Alright, good," Tails said, feeling just as awkward. "Let's change the subject to something a little less awkward, then put it on hold until I get dried off and get out of here."

"You've got it," Cream said. "There's nothing on TV but sports. I'm going to go look again and see if I can find anything else."

"Okay," Tails said. He turned his hair dried back on, and Cream headed back to the living room.

"Wow, that looks complicated," Cream commented, looking at Tails's blueprint over his shoulder(her chin actually resting on his shoulder).

"As soon as I figure out where I can get my hands on the right raw materials, I plan to build it," Tails said. The two of them were sitting in Tails's room, obviously looking at the blueprint. The whole reason they were there was because Tails wanted to check his room in case Sonic had left an old pair of jeans in there. No luck, so he'd decided to sit down at his desk, and Cream had noticed the blueprint and shown an interest in it.

"What exactly is it?" Cream asked.

"It's a subatomic energy converter," Tails said. Cream was silent for a few seconds.

"So, what exactly is it?" she repeated.

"Well, that's just the name I gave it," Tails said. "Makes it sound more complex than it really is. I figure a better way to say it would be that it's a miniature nuclear reactor. A special one. Do you know how a fission reactor works?"

"I haven't the foggiest," Cream said.

"It works like this," Tails began. "When a specific isotope of an atomic element is put into the reactor, a neutron is fired into the element. This hits an atom, and it bursts, releasing energy and more neutrons. These neutrons hit other atoms, which in turn causes a chain reaction. The released energy is harnessed by the reactor, converted into electricity, and then it's sent out to power pretty much everything. That's the simplified explanation, though. There's a lot more to it than just that."

"Please don't go into specifics," Cream said. "I barely managed to understand what you've already said."

"Don't worry, I won't," Tails said. "Now, these fission reactors have a drawback: the fuel supply is rather limited. Scientists have been trying to create a fusion reactor, which would generate even more energy and create more fuel for fission reactors. That works by combining atoms instead of breaking them up. Now, what I'm trying to design is a special reactor that both creates fuel, then uses it up. It's on a much smaller scale, mind you, but it's the same principle. A fusion and fission reactor all in one, basically. Only problem is, I'm not entirely sure if the waste from the fission reactor can be used by the fusion one. If it can be, and the thing can even be built, and the ratio of fuel production to consumption is 1:1, then I've single-handedly invented the solution to free energy. If not, then we're not much better off than before I designed it."

"Wow, sounds amazing!" Cream exclaimed. "I still barely understood, but it sounds to me like you could sell that design and make more money than most people know what to do with!"

"Well, I would patent it, of course, assuming it worked," Tails said. "But before I did, I'd have to make absolutely sure I had a way to keep the press away. They're really annoying. Remember that guy a year ago that got killed in that movie store?"

"Yes," Cream said.

"I heard that when his mother showed up to identify the body, and she positively ID'ed it, the press was all in her face asking her stuff that no person should ever be asked," Tails said. Cream shook her head.

"I guess they'll grill anyone for a story, won't they?" she said.

"Yeah," Tails said. "Like I said, I'd have to figure out a way to get rid of them. I once heard one way to do it that might work."

"What's that?" Cream asked.

"It mainly works on the Jehovah's Witnesses, but the press would probably work too," Tails said. "Get yourself some religious pamphlets, then at night take a piece of chalk and draw an outline of a body on the ground, then scatter the pamphlets. Sleep till noon if you want to. Now, for the press, a camera and a pad of paper would probably be needed instead of the pamphlets, but it should work both ways."

"He he!" Cream giggled. "Sounds like fun. You should try it!"

"We don't have many problems with the Witnesses here," Tails said. "But hey, why not? All it would cost me is a couple credits to get some chalk, and a visit to a church to get some pamphlets. That's not much cost for some fun, especially the sort that's not prohibited by law."

"True," Cream said. She stood up straight, stretching, then she blinked a few times before saying, "Is it hot in here, or is that just me?"

"It IS a little warm," Tails agreed. He got up, walked over, and opened the window. Outside, the sun was shining bright. Tails stuck his face out the window and said, "The news said it was supposed to be really hot today. You might not have heard it while you were talking to Rouge."

"I guess I didn't," Cream said. "I don't watch or listen to the news anyway. Everything in the news is about sex, violence, and the weather these days. Even the news in movies. I'm still waiting for the day when I walk into the living room and find Aunt Kim watching a report about a porn star shot dead in a hurricane or something."

"Just wait, it'll happen sooner or later," Tails said.

"Tails, I was just wondering, do you have to work Saturday?" Cream asked.

"No, I don't think so," Tails said. "How'd you know I had a job?"

"Amy told me over the phone last week," Cream said. "Anyway, I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the beach that day or something."

"Did I just hear you ask me out?" Tails asked, pulling his face back in the window to look at Cream. She nodded, blushing.

"I did," she said.

"Well, I don't have any plans that day, so I don't see why not," Tails said. "I thought you would be afraid of the water, though, after..." His voice trailed off.

"You have no idea how difficult it was for my aunt and uncle to get me into a bath for about three weeks after that," Cream said. "Eventually, I guess I got over it."

"Oh," Tails said. "Well, before we even think about the beach, I need to get some clothes for my lower half. I may not be indecent dry, but when I get wet, it all hangs out. I saw it in the shower. In the middle of the beach? Not a chance. But, I'm gonna wait until I get paid before I do that."

"Ah, okay," Cream said.

"Well, I don't know," Tails said, rubbing his chin with one hand. "Maybe I can get Rouge to take me shopping before then, and then I can pay her back."

"Maybe so," Cream agreed.

"I wonder what she's doing right now," Tails said.

"Listen, I told you before, I'm done!" Rouge snarled into the phone, leaning out of the shower as the hot water quickly poured out of the shower head. "I left for a reason- ah shit!" She'd dropped the soap, and since the phone wasn't waterproof, she couldn't continue trying to wash one-handed, lest she get the phone soaked and break it. She couldn't turn the water off, since the knobs were out of reach, and she wasn't talking to the kind of person you hang up on.

"It's still a little hot in here," Cream said.

"Stick your face out the window," Tails suggested. "The breeze feels great." Cream nodded and walked over to the window, pushing her face out. Tails was right, the breeze felt wonderful.

"That's better," Cream said.

"You know, under that fuzz on your face, you looked a little red," Tails said, grinning. "You sure you're not just hot because you're blushing?"

"Um, I might be," Cream said. "It was a little embarrassing for me talking about why you weren't coming out of the bathroom until you were dried out pretty thoroughly, and then it felt awkward asking you out, even in private."

"The feeling's mutual," Tails said, grinning sheepishly. At this point, Cream yawned widely.

"I'm a little tired," she said.

"If you want to take a nap, go ahead," Tails said.

"I usually wouldn't, but I think this time I'll make an exception," Cream said, pulling her head inside and yawning again. "I got to sleep late last night and woke up early this morning."

"I see," Tails said. "By the way, why aren't you in school today?"

"Teacher inservice day," Cream said.

"Oh," Tails said. "Well shoot, MY school doesn't have one this month."

"Bad luck I guess," Cream said.

"Well, anyway, pick a spot," Tails said. "The couch or my bed. It doesn't really matter to me."

"I think I'll take the couch," Cream said.

"Alright," Tails said.

Twenty minutes later, Tails found himself sitting in his room alone, with no music, and Cream out in the living room sleeping. He sighed and said to himself, "Back to square one. Nothing to do. Well, except now I have to worry about getting wet in public."

Alright, bit of a... different chapter, I know. No other really significant comments for now, so review away.