Amy sported a jackpot smile, caught mid-leap like a cheerleader. She radiated happiness while Miles, hunched alongside the crane machine with a sheepish grin on his face, oozed embarrassment. He held aloft a stuffed version of himself that was, humiliatingly, five inches taller.

It was, he had to admit, a great picture.

Miles sighed.

He just wished it wasn't on page 7 of "Yak!" magazine complete with three columns of not quite libellous speculation underneath.

"Whatcha readin', Tails?"

"Ah!" Miles startled, stuffing the magazine under his pillow at multiples of the speed of sound.

Sonic stared at him half-lidded.

"Buddy, we've talked about this." He walked into the room, pulling the magazine from its hiding place with thumb and forefinger.

Miles winced.

"You don't need to hide things that aren't actually embarrassing, you dig?" Sonic held the magazine up. "It's okay to want to read about… 'Yeti sightings in Nights Casino', and… Only the juiciest celeb gossip'?"

Sonic handed it back to him with a frown.

"Okay, maybe you should be hiding that. Want me to pick you something up a little more-"

"Sonic!"

"Okay, okay." The hedgehog raised his hands with a grin. "Anyways, I was just going to head over to South Island, wanna come with?"

Miles nodded, sliding the magazine back under the pillow. "You go ahead. I'll pack up what I'm working on then catch up."

He always did. His life could be summarised as an endless game of catch up with the blue blur that was even now leaving his bedroom at a ludicrous speed.

Once Sonic bored of South Island, he'd fly to another island, or maybe Soleanna, he liked to stop by the festival of lights around this time of year. And Miles would follow him wherever he went, and settle into another lab nearby. Hopefully Miles would have time to clear the dust off before it was time to leave again.

Shadows were never far from the light, after all, and he was the shadow of the brightest star of all. Just because Sonic was doing nothing but kill time waiting for Eggman to strike again, that didn't mean that Miles didn't need to be nearby, facilitating Sonic's bohemian existence and reminding his friend that he was useful.

Plus it would be nice to get out of here before any reporters showed up.

Miles rolled off his bed, grabbing only the magazine as he left his room. Nothing worth packing in here. Each lab differed only slightly from the others anyway, and most important things he kept in the hammerspace surrounding his person. All he really needed was his plane, his fuzzy butt, and the data he'd need to take with him out of the lab to keep Eggman, and a few of the more annoying governmental agencies around the world, from trying to mess with his stuff.

:: hey

The message already hung on his screen, pink avatar making it clear who it was from. Miles leaned over and tapped in a response.

:: Good morning, Amy.

He turned back to clearing his desk, but the response came almost immediately.

:: Sonic left today?

How the heck did she always know? Her stalking skills were scary sometimes.

:: Yeah, just left this morning. Off to South Island.

:: is he mad?

Miles raised an eyebrow.

:: What did you do this time?

:: nothing

:: forget it

:: nayway did you forget our deal?

:: anyway*

:: Huh? I thought you enjoyed hanging out at Gameworld with me?

She'd certainly been happy when he won that giant plush. Probably the unwanted veteran of five years in that crane machine, its more popular blue counterparts had long vanished.

She'd probably only told him to get it to mess with him too. Joke was on her, now she was stuck with the silly thing.

Still, he had to admit she'd surprised him. Not just with how happy she'd been to receive a stuffed toy bigger than the real article, but with the afternoon in general. He'd more than half expected her to spend every moment talking about Sonic, comparing Miles' childish attempts to keep her entertained with some grand gesture Sonic had pulled off during one of her often referenced dates from the rare times Sonic had actually relented in the face of her tireless pursuit.

But his friend had been remarkably considerate on the topic, barely mentioning the hero the whole afternoon and-

Ah.

:: you were going to help me with Sonic

:: remember?

:: Alright, fine. I'll talk to Sonic for you when I get to South Island.

:: oh no no no

:: not now I have seen your true power, little fox!

:: I want you to arrange the *perfect date* that Sonic cannot refuse!

Miles headbutted his desk hard enough for rings to fall out.

:: I see. And how do you expect me to do that?

:: you're the genius

:: you know that I can't do it without you

:: if I even *think* about something romantic

:: he'll run to the other side of the planet

:: and your date yesterday was amazing!

Miles snorted. She'd only given him a "B-", and even then under protest.

:: if it's you I know you'll be able to think up something Sonic will enjoy

:: even if it's with me

:: and maybe then he'll finally realise how much he likes me!

An image icon flashed up on the screen. Miles clicked it to reveal Amy knelt on her bed, hands clenched together as she made puppy hog eyes at the camera, batting her eyelashes at him on loop while her chat messages continued to scroll beneath.

:: come on please?

:: we're friends, right?

:: I'll do *anything*

He didn't want anything. Miles rubbed his temples with a frown. Peace and quiet? Amy not breaking into his lab anymore?

Well… He didn't really want that either. The way things were right now wasn't perfect. Amy wasn't happy getting turned down by Sonic, Sonic wasn't happy getting chased by Amy, and Miles wasn't happy that his workshops kept getting smashed up thanks to their drama, but…

If Sonic and Amy did, somehow, hit it off successfully… What then? Regular dating? Marriage? What use would they have for a third wheel like him? He'd be left even more isolated than usual. And what if it backfired again? If they got mad at each other, or him… would he lose one of his friends for good? Both?

Miles wrapped his arms around his tails, staring at Amy's animated plea looping over and over on his screen.

Better for him that things stayed the same. Satellites weren't supposed to ever actually reach the thing they orbited.

He shook his head, reaching for his keyboard.

:: Fine.

:: I'll come pick you up next weekend.

:: I'll let you know when once I'm set up in South Island.

:: you're the best Tails!

:: oh! I forgot

:: you look adorable in that photo by the way.

:: have fun with the reporters!

Miles groaned, reaching around the back of the machine to pull a metal cartridge drive from its base with a spark. The computer screen winked out as he slipped its core into his hammerspace.

He slowly stood, wheels in his mind spinning as he tried to cobble together a solution the whole time he ran checks on his plane.

But Miles wasn't actually the best at anything, and so the perfect answer eluded him however much he tried.

Something was going to have to give.

And he was going to have to figure out which thing that was.