This particular chapter may have some questionable moments. Hopefully, nothing shot past the T rating. And I probably had too much fun writing certain moments.
For the last few weeks, Tails and Cosmo were mostly busy with the preparations for their upcoming wedding. The whole process caused more than a few headaches, and left both lovers rather tired. Luckily, everything was already set behind – the place for the wedding ceremony was decided to be a particular place in the Station Square Central Park, the financial matters were resolved with quite a bit of help from their friends – well, it was mostly Sonic and Amy who chipped in a bit. – both the wedding dress for Cosmo and the tuxedo for Tails were already commissioned as well as the wedding cake, and there were still a few days left before the ceremony itself. At the moment, Tails and Cosmo were getting ready for their respective bachelor and bachelorette parties.
"It's rather strange how Sonic describes bachelor parties as "a guy's last hours of freedom". I mean, maybe that is how he sees it, but personally, I think there's no need to equate a marriage to a prison sentence." – Tails remarked while Cosmo was putting on her makeup. Normally, the seedrian didn't use any makeup whatsoever, but just this once, she decided she might as well go for it. Her choice of makeup was some green eyeshadow, a pink lipstick and a bit of black mascara.
"You know, in seedrian traditions, there doesn't exist such a thing as bachelor parties. I guess it's because that, to seedrians, a marriage represents the union of two kindred spirits." – Cosmo had just done all the finishing touches, so she looked over herself in the mirror a bit more, still speaking:
"And that is why it's always held sacred – the man and the woman involved are committed to each other and only each other, and cheating on your spouse was considered an offense that would pretty much brand you as an outcast. And I heard that there was no such thing as divorces – a bond formed like this is a bond formed for the rest of the two seedrians' lives and even beyond."
"Yeah, I guess Greengate's society took marriage quite seriously." – Tails remarked, looking over at the clock – he already had put on his usual black pants and white shirt, but Cosmo still had some preparations left. "Guess Sonic didn't lie when he said that taking too long to prepare for any occasion is something most girls have in common." - The kitsune thought. Luckily, it didn't take long, and the two soon went downstairs. As they exited the house, Cosmo was the first to speak up: "Welp. So, we take the train over to the city, and from there, we part ways, heading in different directions – you head over to wherever the guys had invited you, and I head over to Amy's place."
"Exactly." – The remainder of the way over to the city went by fairly normally, with the couple exchanging some usual advice like "Don't get too drunk, no one wants to be suffering from a hangover on their own wedding" or "Don't go completely overboard, will you?" After Tails and Cosmo arrived to Station Square, just as they exited it, they exchanged one last kiss and parted ways for the night.
The walk over to Amy's house wasn't that long, and as soon as the plantgirl stepped into the fairly average house, she was immediately greeted by not just the very person hosting the party for her – Amy herself, of course – but also the guests that arrived over there, them being Cream, Shade, and heck, even Rouge decided to come over, although under a promise that she wouldn't sneak out of the house with any valuables – old habits die hard.
"I figured that, since you're the most modest of us gals, I might as well try not to go overboard with the party itself – just a typical dinner." – Amy remarked as she and the guests had went over to the dining room.
During the dinner itself, the girls were spending less time eating and more chattering about.
"…I mean, if Shadow did want to propose to me, he would probably need a hell of an expensive ring to impress me." – Rouge joked after she was asked about how things were going between her and Shadow. – "Overall, he's still being his usual cold self. But he does seem to be enjoying my presence – he seems about ten percent less "Sir Gloom and Doom" when I'm around. Now, what about the two "luckier" gals that gave up their freedom for a questionable choice? What do you have to say? How were things going with your respective husbands?" – Of course, Rouge was obviously talking to Shade and Amy. In Amy's case…Well, even after she stopped chasing Sonic and actually got him, she still couldn't help but constantly gush on about him. At least Shade remained more civil and talked about how the Angel Island guardian duty's been treating her and Knuckles.
"I mean, aside from a certain guest over here giving us quite a bit of trouble on random occasions, everything is going fairly smoothly. And there's nothing quite like sitting at the edge of the island and admiring the views." – The terracotta-colored echidna said, finishing her story. – "But hey, we can be talking about this at any other time, really. So, Cosmo…" – Shade turned to face the seedrian, who was quietly eating her dessert – a slice of strawberry cake. – "How's it been going with Tails? How close were you two getting?"
"Oh…Well…" – Cosmo hesitated to discuss the matter at first, but after some convincing from the others, she spoke up: "Well, he really helped me out a great deal with the wedding preparations. And the six years that we've been together for were actually the best ones of my life – it's rather nice to have a loving and caring person always by my side, especially after some of the things I've gone through. But sometimes…He kind of takes it a bit to the extreme. I mean, I really appreciate how he's trying his best to make me feel loved, but sometimes I feel outright overwhelmed."
"Well, in what way does he make you feel overwhelmed?" – Amy asked, curious. Even Cream perked up at hearing this question, as she was previously looking around with a somewhat disinterested expression on her face.
"The usual things…Kisses, hugs, pet names, compliments… Sometimes even gifts that make me genuinely wonder if the sole reason he takes any extra work is just so that he can pay those gifts off." – Cosmo replied, still blushing.
"Heh, if Sonic was that affectionate with me, I would be feeling like a queen." – Amy remarked, giggling. – "You're really lucky to have such a devoted lover."
"Pretty sure that if another world-ending threat suddenly appeared, he would stick with you till the very end." – Shade also remarked.
"I do, however, feel that this kind of devotion is…Rather self-destructive." – Cosmo remarked in a somewhat sad voice. – "I mean, back then, when I disappeared for four years, he was outright depressed because he thought he lost me forever. And right now, it feels like I'm his only reason to live. Not to mention I can't really do anything to return the favor…"
"Oh, can it already!" – Cream shouted. – "Look, the guy genuinely loves you! I mean, if I had a guy show that much devotion and loyalty to me, I would be feeling like a goddess!"
"Cream actually has a point here. I think you definitely deserve all this attention from him – I mean, you're probably the kindest person I know." – Shade remarked, taking a slight sip of champagne from her glass. – "And I'm sure that just the fact that the feelings between you two are mutual is enough of a reward for him, is it not?"
"You know, Cosmo, you've got to learn to not just appreciate the things that guy's doing for you, but also take advantage of it, at least for once! I mean, if the feelings between you two really are mutual, that fox's all too happy to outright shower you with gifts and attention. " – Rouge said, leaning back and emptying her glass of champagne.
"Yeah, what you're in here isn't just love – it's pure, undying loyalty. I'm sure your marriage's going to last a lifetime, and your bond – even past that!" – Amy remarked, even giving Cosmo a light nudge on the shoulder. The plantgirl smiled and replied: "Thank you, girls."
"Speaking of affection… Have you two gotten around to "it" yet?" – Rouge asked with a sly smirk. Cosmo didn't quite understand what the bat meant at first, but when she did, she immediately blushed and quietly said: "We…We decided to wait until we're married until we get around to that."
"Let me guess – seedrian traditions?" – Amy asked.
"Exactly. A person only gives themselves in to only one person like this. I heard that, on Greengate, marriages lasted until either of the lovers in the pair dies." – Cosmo replied.
"I wonder how many uxoricides and mariticides happened there…" – Rouge said, to which she got quite the death glare from all the other guests. – "Okay, okay, I'll shut up."
"Polygamy in any form was strictly forbidden there, and if anyone were to be found out cheating on their spouse, then they would be essentially branded an outcast. I often talked about such matters with some of the seedrian elders way back when I was still living on that space colony. I was quite a curious kid."
"Wow. A whole planet of puritans. Most of the women on Mobius would have gone insane if they were to live there even for a month." – Rouge remarked, looking off to the side.
"You included." – Cream said.
"Yep, me included."
And with that, the chatter between the gals returned back to the smaller subjects – random rumors and gossip.
As for Tails' bachelor party…
Tails soon arrived to the place where he agreed to meet up with everyone. The kitsune gazed up at the sign and frowned. Of course. A strip club, what else? And the most known one in the city, too.
"Of course." – Tails grumbled under his breath as he walked into the building. Welp, everything as he had remembered from one of the past parties – still the same eye-straining neon lights, still the same shameless stripper gals – oh, no, wait, one of them was actually replaced, but that wasn't on the list of Tails' concerns – and still the same people drinking a lot of alcohol.
"Hey, there he is!" – Tails heard a voice shouting from one of the tables. Sure enough, as he walked over, he saw the whole company over there – Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow and even Charmy.
"Wait, how did he get here?" – Tails asked, pointing to Charmy. The teenage bee shrugged and remarked: "Just some document machinations. And some convincing."
"Riiight." – Tails sat down beside the table with the same grumpy look on his face.
"Hey, li'l bro, is something bothering you?" – Sonic asked. The kitsune replied: "Well, I thought we'd opt for an ordinary bar instead of a place like…This."
"Relax, Tails, it's not like you're going to cheat on Cosmo with any of the gals here or something. Shad's not too happy with this place either, but you don't hear him complaining, right?" – Knuckles remarked, slurring a bit. Seems like he had quite a bit of alcohol already, as evident by a few empty glasses next to him.
"As much as I'd like to Chaos Control myself out of here because a good half of the guests here are the city's more known marginals, I figured I might stay, because it's rude to leave someone's party early, and they serve good drinks here." – Shadow replied, sounding rather sober.
"Guys, I won't be staying here for too long." – The kitsune said. – "I promised Cosmo I won't get too drunk tonight. What kind of husband would I be if I were to fail to keep my promise to my fiancée? And I don't want to be suffering from a massive hangover on the wedding either."
"Okay then. Hey, waitress! Fetch this guy something non-alcoholic!" – Sonic shouted.
"Hey, be more specific. It's not like all we serve here is alcohol. Not that you drunktards would know." – The waitress, a black viper-mobian, said. – "Will the Millionaire Sour be good enough?"
"Eh, why not." – Tails replied. – "Seems like they only serve fancy drinks here."
Then Sonic ordered more drinks for everyone else, but Tails didn't bother listening, instead looking around some more. The guests…Yeah, just like Shadow said, most of them were definitely out of many different parts of the town. Some of them were your typical drunktards and lowlifes, some of them were actually more high-class.
"I got to say, that gal's got curves, but she completely sucks at this." – Charmy remarked, looking over at one of the random strippers – a gray-furred doe with quite the large chest and wide hips. Tails tried not to stare, to which he got a nudge from Sonic, who remarked: "Let me guess - you're so into aliens that normal mobian gals don't get your attention anymore?"
The kitsune gave Sonic a death glare to end all glares, to which the blue hedgehog backed off, saying: "Okay, okay, bad joke, I get it."
"So…How's it been going with Amy, Sonic?" – Tails asked after a few minutes of semi-silence.
"Remember how I told you she's quite nice when she's not being a stalker?" – Sonic asked back. The kitsune nodded, and the blue hedgehog replied: "That still stands. We've been in a fairly good relationship, but…"
"But what?" – The fox asked as soon as he noticed that Sonic stopped for a while. The blue blur sighed and said: "Knuckles, as much as you seem to be enjoying it here, I suggest you move over somewhere else for now this conversation is not for any drunks to ruin."
"Okay, okay, I get it. I was en route to leave this place anyway." - Knuckles soon went over to the exit, and when he was asked to pay for all the drinks he had, he said, heavily slurring, that "Don'cha worry, these guys o'er at 'at table will pay up for me." and left.
"So, what's the problem with Amy?" – Tails asked, to which Sonic, after a bit of awkward grumbling, replied: "Amy and I have been together for less than a year, and she already wants to have kids."
"And I assume you're not ready for this kind of responsibility." – The kitsune remarked. – "What did she have to say on the matter?"
"Well, I did tell her that I didn't want to have kids yet." – Sonic answered.
"And her reaction was?"
"Better than I expected – after all, you know she's normally a walking proximity bomb, but when I told her that I'm not ready for that yet, she at first frowned at hearing this, but then said that it's alright, and she's ready to wait for as long as I need." – Sonic took a sip of his drink and continued: "So, what about you and Cosmo? How were things going?"
"Fairly average, I guess. I mean, the wedding preparations did cause quite a few headaches, but other than that, nothing too problematic." – The kitsune replied, sipping his drink as well.
"Oh, usually all the tiredness and headaches come not during the wedding preparations, but after the wedding. Specifically, on the first night after it." – Sonic remarked, stifling a laugh.
Overall, most of the bachelor party went by in a relatively friendly atmosphere, except near the very end, when Tails had to practically crawl out of a bar fight – long story short, one of the visitors thought it would be funny to trip the waitress and make her drop whatever she was serving, and then things went downhill from there.
Meanwhile, Cosmo was already en route to the train station – after all, it was the last train for tonight. The plantgirl was a tiny bit tipsy – she couldn't resist having at least one glass of wine. Luckily, she wasn't in a completely smashed state, but still had trouble walking straight. Tails soon saw her entering the Station, and frowned as he saw her state.
"Cosmo, you promised you wouldn't drink!" – Tails shouted as Cosmo got close enough.
"Hey, I had just less than a glaaass. Just baaarely on the bottom. I can still think straight enooough, so no need for any long, winded taaalks. Let's just boaaard the train and head on baaack home." – The plantgirl remarked, slurring a bit every now and then. Tails sighed and helped Cosmo get into the train. Once there, he felt her lean on his shoulder, a drunk smile crossing her lips.
"She definitely had more than what she specified." – The kitsune thought. – "Well, at least she's the only one who'll need hangover pills this morning. But she manages to be rather cute even in a state like this. "
And with that, the remainder of the way back home went by rather silently – after all, at this time of the day, there was hardly anyone bothering to take the train at all.
Yeesh...Well, I tried. I hope my lack of research on some subjects is not too apparent.