In and out, in, out. They wanted him here, in this crowded room. A room with a window, weird posters and a lady. A lady he met, but still was a potential stranger. A threat.
Take a breather. Sonic told him, it would be quick and that the hedgehog would be waiting outside for him with open arms. It's just a short time, fast. It will be fast, like his idol.
Mr and Mrs. Wachowski, they were most inclined on going through with this notion. He couldn't, wasn't going to deny them. The fox considered himself fortunate they hadn't thrown him out after his gnarly behaviour. So he would comply, try not to be scared, give it his best.
This was easy, after this he could go see Sonic's gleeful face. Mr and Mrs. Wachowski would be pleased enough to let him do that. Right? That seems right.
Envision it like a problem, a puzzle that needed solving. I'm really smart, this should be no biggie! Right? He stole another bit of air, the woman ruffled some files on her desk.
"Well, Mister Tails, me or you gonna start this conversation?" Her glasses glinted the sunlight that shone through a creak of the ridiculously small window. The child sat back in the same blue swivel chair, sensing a case of deja-vu. Last time he was here-
Tears were blinked away. No, no more crying.
"H-hi?" He gulped it down, his throat itched. That was way harder than it needed to be, the lady was a bit surprised.
Her shock soon shifted into a heartfelt grin, she pointed to a gold plated badge on her vest. "Hello, there! As ya can tell I'm the same gal you saw 2 weeks ago! That right?"
Tails nodded, fluctuating between panic and calm.
"Do you remember my name?" She quickly removed her hand awkwardly, realising she was hinting the answer. The fox looked at her bluntly, titling his head to the side.
"Miss- err- Dr. Glossrare." He affirmed, almost rubbing his nose with his finger in attempt to imitate his hero. Almost. Gosh, that would've been so embarrassing...
"Call me Glossy, y'know? I like it better, just like your nickname thing." The shrink smirked, earning a shy nod from the boy. Over the years, she had learnt that relating a topic back to your patient was the best vantage point. To chisel your way through their core.
"Heyo, mind spilling what happened to your arm, champ?" Glossy noticed it as soon as he got into her office, it stood out like a sore thumb.
Tails looked down at his feet, humming, immediately cutting himself off in the space of two seconds. "Accident." He could slap himself sometimes. How was she meant to understand the context with just one word?
Before he was determined unresponsive, he uttered out more. "A car accident to be more precise- I-" His mind was fuzzy as he tried to regroup pieces of the memory.
"Ah well. Happens to the best of us. Gee, you were mighty strong to get out of that hassle with only a broken arm."
The kit flashed red, mumbling something incomprehensible, then turning away to face the wall. Hm, easily flustered by compliments.
There was a weird pause, no one amongst the two spoke, the doctor took the time to pull out her 'pre-session document' from earlier in the month. The ruffles of paper, caught the patient's attention.
"You have that many people like me?" It was so quiet, a rustle in the wind maybe. She wouldn't have heard it if she wasn't trained specially. Glossy stopped her task, exchanging looks with the inquisitive child. His 'care takers' did say he was a smart cookie.
She was impressed, this would prove interesting. But didn't mean the kid thought so.
Tails clasped both hands over his jaw, ears folding backwards. That sounded rude. No it was rude. Oh no- is she going to be mad? If she's mad then she'll tell Mr and Mrs. Wachowski how bad he was- then they'll- He'll never see Sonic ever again, what has he done? Why- no-
"Whoa!! Kid! Calm down!!"
His vision dysfunctional, Tails didn't pick up the way he clawed the wooden desk, digging his extracted claws into it. Or how the rims of his eyes were drenched with moisture. Fur fluffed up like cotton candy, his mouth was open, saying something. W-what??
Did he accidentally voice his thoughts?!
"Tails! Tails, Shh, shh! Darling, I'm not mad, okay? I couldn't be angry at any kid even if I tried my mightiest. You just asked a question, a good one at that. It's no reason to hurt yourself over, right?" It echoed into his ears as he neglected the advice and his breathing skyrocketed.
Why did he take this random woman's help instead of Maddie's?
"I'm no random woman, darling. Just Glossy, ya average shrink."
He did something wrong.
"You didn't do nothing wrong."
Biased opinion, selfish reasons for obeying-
"Your brain is on overload, it's thinking too hard. How 'bout ya simmer down for a bit?"
Then he ran, the door was open and as promised Sonic was nearby. Just in the lobby, intently glancing back at him. He wiped the spilling bitterness with his forearm.
"Tails!"
His journey was cut short, feet no where near the ground. Sonic held him under the arms, minding his fractured one, twirling into the air.
Just like in Serbia but different, Sonic was carrying him now, spinning in joy. He couldn't help but break into even more tears within his grasp. Ones filled with bliss and excitement.
What he wished for. This was the price for the sensation? Comply to orders? That seemed simple enough, the fox could do that. Yes, if it meant spending more time with Sonic. Then yes, Mr and Mrs. Wachowski this is possible. Challenge accepted.
No matter how frightening it is.
--
"Hello, thanks for coming over." Dr. Glossrare shined the specs of her glasses with a velvet cloth, upon finishing she pushed the spectacles back into their proclaimed spot. It was useful to bide time.
"Yes, thank you. Is he doing better? What have you gotten out of him so far?" Maddie was interrupted by a hand, flailing in her view. The couple appeared agitated, so she would cut the crap and get to the chase before they could tell her off. Honestly, she didn't need the wife giving her looks anymore.
"Yeah. Okay I'm gonna get to the bullshit. No I'm not minding my language either. He's lying, this is some sort of act that kid is playing." She applied spit to her fingertip as she made it a file that had 'TAILS' imprinted on it.
"What-- how? He's fine! Do you not see him outside?" Tom pointed past his wife, through the open door. Glossrare squinted, shrugging, holding onto her theory.
"Look, I don't care. Your child's condition is pretty surreal, right then he had a mental breakdown. That is not fine, why do you think he rushed out in such a hurry? We hadn't even spent five minutes together!" She watched pridefully, as the adults considered the sentences. And no, if these people were really claiming themselves to be parents, then she wasn't going to cringe when she referred to anyone as family. She'd be adopted, she'd know how hard it is to transition.
"Uh! You know, lemme just talk." No more, time to listen. She spread two fingers out to the vacant seats on the opposite side of the desk. "Take a seat. This will be a while."
She heard the aligned swivel chairs clink and that's all she needed. The doctor opened her mini file, guiding her finger to the bold word at the top. It was held up for all to see.
"Sonic?" Tom read, rubbing his head. "Yeah, the kid hangs around him a lot. Sees him as a role model."
"Yeah, I wanted to do this more slowly, but he be yelling this name through the rooftops just 'cause he asked a damn question. What kind of hell did whatever-is-it put him through?" She slapped the file down, fiddling with her thumbs. As expected the parents appeared unsure, ignorant of the dangers of trauma.
"Well, Sonic did say-"
"No!" She covered her ears in haste, flipping her chair to face the back wall.
"What?"
She groaned under her breath, unprofessional, unprofessional, unprofessional. Glossrare spun back, leg over another. "You can't tell me yet, I need to get it from ya kid. He needs to spill it, not you, if he finds out you've been dropping info on him to me."
She mimics an explosion, Maddie facepalmed, Tom hid disappointment.
"I'm gonna lose his trust just like that, you will too. Besides I don't want another mental breakdown."
Tom scoffed, leaning in, cupping his hands on his chin. He messed the excess files on the table but that was an exception... for now.
"What trust? The kid doesn't trust us, okay?"
Then it happened, Glossrare laughed her little head off. Spitting like a maniac, banging the sturdy table present.
"What's so funny?" Maddie whispered, almost mouthing the words, at this point she was remembering why she even called this therapist.
"Doesn't trust you? Y'all sure of that? He seems pretty high and mighty on impressing you, means he's oughta have some kind of hidden trust, yes?"
This was getting old, fast. She sighed, she had two clueless adults glaring right back at her. Did they not fully understand, was she being too vague?
"Look, all I'm saying is, I'm scared.." She popped her tongue, swaying her legs gently. "This Sonic guy is pretty important to Tails and he's reliant on them?"
"You could say that, definitely." Maddie spoke, trying to figure out the angle of this conversation.
"Exactly, now let's say Sonic was taken away." She made obvious quote marks much to adults' impatience, the shrink leaned back in her chair. "In the case of that happening, this important figure in Tails' life, it could have some negative impacts."
She cleared her throat. "Irreversible negative impacts."
Tom and Maddie caught on, pulling away, faces filled with horror. No? "You wouldn't reckon he'd- No, he couldn't.. just like that?"
"Mr. Wachowski these cases are unpredictable, anything has to be ready to be taken into account. My personal suggestion, is that Tails should never be left alone, thoughts are nasty things. So anyone else he might be able to branch out to?"
The couple contemplated a decision, upon looking at a swirling red dot in the distance. "Yes, yes there is."