No reviews last chapter? I guess I said it... Yeah, it was an amusing little chapter but again really one of my weakest thus far (and probably the weakest to boot, though 2 was also thin.) At least Angels got a new review, so it balances out. Never too late to show some love. Anyway, here's a chapter I'm proud of, so I hope y'all love it. I figured I may as well just finish the one I had originally begun to be the previous. The small talk was the part that I was drawing a blank on- the previous chapter had logical spark points for dialog, hence why it went first. This is also actually one of my newest ideas, only recently conceived.
The language is getting another raise, but we're still totally around Japanese Sonic X level. By the way, Discotek just released the entire series in Japanese with subtitles. Only took 20 damn years. Yeah, I'm casually edgy normally if you haven't figured it out yet- I'm REALLY holding myself back here as it is...
It's Sonic's B-day? Excuse to release it early!
"Come on, you're smart. I know you can come up with something that sounds cool," Rouge prodded the fox who was trying to hold a conversation while finishing up whatever he was doing to one of his planes.
"You mean, something even cooler than Foxboy and Batgirl?" Tails answered cheekily.
"Yeah, something way cooler than that," she responded dryly. That was what Westwood still occasionally called them.
"How about... The Critters?
She almost groaned. "You know that one too, huh?" It was the more recent name Westwood (and possibly others) had come up with to refer to them collectively, though he hadn't said that to their faces... yet. Agent Topaz, bring in the Critters for a briefing... It wasn't exactly offensive, but she'd put up with enough pet talk from Westwood to last a lifetime. "I said something COOL.
"Something cool... Like..." His voice turned dramatic. "Shadow Dancers?"
"That's cool, but you stole it from one of your games, didn't you?"
"Yeah. Why? Too nerdy for your tastes?"
"Sort of. It almost sounds like you're trying TOO hard to be cool."
"Is that a problem? We could go for clever instead..." The genius vocalized the effort of his thinking with a serious HMMM. "Maybe... The Flying Fox Squadron?"
"I only get half of it, but I'm guessing there's a clever reason for the other," she replied.
"A flying fox is a type of bat. They're called that because their heads resemble a fox's."
"A bat with the head of a fox?" She tried to picture it. "How much? Like, exactly like a fox?"
"Pretty much."
She still had trouble visualizing it, even when she simply imagined Tails' head on a bat's body. The resulting picture was weird though still cute. "I don't think we have any of THOSE back home. I'm pretty sure I'd remember..." A bat with the looks of a fox... She shook the thought out. "It might work. Anything else?"
"Not really."
"Come on, try harder." She leaned back against the workbench once more, putting her hands to the surface.
"We could do something a little self-deprecating... like Beauty and the Beast?"
"Tails!" she immediately objected. "No self-deprecating!" Westwood might actually roll with it. "We're more like Beauty and Cutie."
The fox practically chirped, "Team Cutiful?"
"NO," she said firmly. "Don't you DARE."
"Or maybe just something simple, like Angel Team?"
She mulled it over. "You definitely fit the bill, but not me."
"I think it works. Between us, I've got the character, and you've got the look."
She smiled warmly. "Well, you're growing up into a little charmer. I like it. The name..." she clarified, then added, "...and the charming, too. Keep it up." Tails' titular features swished just a tad bit more at the praise. "Now, are you done yet? You said it'd only take a few more minutes... like, a lot of minutes ago."
"I'm almost done, seriously." He glanced back to her as he spoke and suddenly stopped, a look of shock on his face. "Rouge..."
Her face mimicked his. "What?"
"Your fur... you've got some-" She instinctively reached for her fur until he shouted, "Stop! Don't touch it! Look at your hands!" She did so to find that her hands- or rather her gloves- were almost completely black. She looked to where she had been leaning against the workbench... right where a rag covered in what looked like oil sat. Immediately realizing that she had absentmindedly run her hands through her fur on at least one occasion and transferred the muck in the process, she let out a distraught gasp. It was fortunate that she hadn't touched her eyes.
"How bad is it!?" Her voice was almost a shriek.
"It's not that bad," he lied unconvincingly. "You can just wash it out! Follow me!" She followed him into the house proper as he led the way, opening all the doors while doing so, though more to avoid having her touch them than out of manners, finally ending up in the bathroom. The fox grabbed a container of soap or something similar.
"Here! Use this! It's what I always use to clean myself when this happens! You'll be fine! Just, uh, let me know if you need anything else."
"Okay." Huh? She was surprised to find herself suddenly alone in the bathroom and the door closed by the time her head turned. When did Tails slip out? Did he have supersonic speed too? He really wasn't risking ANYTHING with her. Oh well, she probably didn't need an explanation on how to clean herself. It would just be a heavy-duty shower. While she personally preferred baths, using the shower would work better for this endeavor.
Removing her suit, she was further dismayed to find that she had also partially sat on the dirty rag, resulting in a spot on it as well. Great; now I gotta clean that too... But one thing at a time. She stepped into the bathtub. There was a large mirror located directly across the room, allowing her to easily see if she was clean from where she was. Fortunately, her beautiful white fur made the mess look much worse than it actually was. It took a while, and a whole lot of vigorous scrubbing, but eventually she removed all the visible blemishes. After drying off to satisfaction, she simply wrapped herself in a dry towel and exited the bathroom with dirty suit and gloves in hand.
Tails had occupied himself by sitting on the couch in the living room and watching TV, apparently some kind of sport. "So, were you able to clean up..." he trailed off upon looking in her direction.
With a wicked smile she replied, "You tell me. Did I get every spot?" She turned around as she moved closer, with her free hand up behind her head to indicate the area that she couldn't personally see. It doubled as part of her final pose when she twisted more than turned towards him. Five full seconds passed without an answer. "Well?"
"What? Oh, uh, yeah... you did," he sputtered out, a blush starting to appear.
"Good. Now, do you have anything for my clothes? I also got a little bit right on my bu- suit."
"Uh... well... I can just throw it in the washing machine."
"Thanks sweetie." She held out her clothes for the fox to take, who seemed to achieve maximum redness at this point.
She sat down on the opposite side of the sofa to await his return, whereupon he stopped in place and asked, "Um... are you warm enough? I've got some quilts if you want one..."
It was considerably cooler in the house outside of the steamy bathroom, and it had been a slightly chilly day in general. But somehow, she suspected that he would have offered even if it were 100° in the room. Still, it was a tad cold for someone not entirely dry yet, so she said, "Sure."
He zipped off to retrieve one in a hurry, leaving her to sigh alone. He quickly returned with the promised item. "Here you go."
He sat down as she settled in. "Wanna share it?"
He looked almost aghast at the offer, desperately trying to keep composure while answering, "Nah... I'm good. I've got all my fur." Come on Tails, haven't you at least seen a girl in a towel before? I'm only showing more leg than usual... I actually feel kind of bad about the teasing though... You're so easy...
They simply sat in silence and watched the game: hockey, was it? During a commercial break the young genius picked up own of his own creations from the coffee table and began checking something. It was an electronic device he referred to as the 'Tailblet', though he insisted that Sonic was the one who actually came up with the name. It gave her a thought. "Say, I'm still wondering about those fox-bats..."
He looked at her curiously. "What about them? Do you want me to pull up an article on them or something?"
"Nah, I just want to see what one actually looks like."
He clearly found the request unusual but would oblige regardless. "Well, okeydokey."
He fiddled with the device a bit, then handed it over. The picture looked exactly as promised, though in Earthly form as opposed to her own kind. "Huh. They're actually kinda cute... It's not fair... How come foxes are cute wherever they are but bats are ugly here?"
He laughed nervously. "I, uh, don't know... maybe the bats here just don't put as much work into looking good as you do."
"Maybe I need to teach them." When the conversation tapped out, she couldn't resist some more teasing. "Would you like me even more if I were a flying fox?"
Another nervous laugh came with a side of bashful. "I think you're fine just the way you are."
"Great answer." But I'm sure you would... Maybe I would like it too...
Tails used the resuming game as an excuse to turn his focus elsewhere. She let it go. While it wasn't her preferred form of entertainment, there was a certain appeal she found in the sport that allowed her to become engrossed. All four of their ears perked up at a sudden strange sound outside, their heads turning in the direction it had come from. It sounded like... something being dragged? Or sliding across something? They looked at each other. He grabbed the remote to switch off the TV and whispered, "Sonic."
Slightly louder, she whispered, "Shit." The door opened. They hunched down in the sofa, staring at each other with expressions reading WHAT DO WE DO? The couch was within line of sight of anyone once they came through the door, so attempting to slip away was not feasible. "Shit." Although Tails' BFF was PROBABLY also friendly and open-minded, being found secretly palling around with Tails wearing only a towel probably made the worst possible first impression.
Footsteps walked inside before stopping. Sonic called out, "Hey Tails, you home?" Thinking fast, the bat laid back down in her corner of the sofa sideways while pulling the fox over as well, holding him close, then flung the quilt over the two of them. He caught on to the idea quickly, putting the throw pillow between them and making like he was sleeping on the couch. Hopefully Sonic wouldn't notice that there was someone else squished between him and the sofa under the quilt... and she didn't get smothered by the pillow in her face. Footsteps came around the side of the furniture. "Tails?" The fox made an unintelligible grumble as if just waking up. "Oh... sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I never thought I'd find you sleeping around."
The bodies under the quilt stiffened at the choice of words. "What?" Tails almost choked out.
"You must have worked a little too hard today if you're taking a nap."
"Y-yeah... I did..." They both loosened up.
"I totally understand, buddy. I had a good run myself and need a good rest. I could have gone just a little longer, but Amy did some baking today and is bringing over the goods..."
They both stiffened again. Tails asked what she was thinking. "Amy's coming here?!" Amy was most certainly NOT her biggest fan. Worst enemy, in fact. Now she REALLY had to get out of here or things would get ugly.
"Uh, yeah..." the hedgehog answered, clearly taken aback somewhat by the sudden outburst. "Sorry, I just assumed it'd be okay with you... but if it's not..."
"No... I mean... Yeah, it's okay... But it's just a little sudden..." Part of her hated the fox's inability to say no right now, but she doubted it would have made any difference at this point anyway. "Is she on her way NOW?"
"I would assume so. I took a detour on the way back... so she could be here any time now." Great... Footsteps indicated the hedgehog was now walking away deeper into the house. Perhaps to his own room? It didn't matter as long as he wasn't in this one. Seizing what could possibly be the only chance she was going to get, the bat crawled out from her hiding spot over the fox. But then she hesitated.
"Go," Tails urged.
"My clothes are still in the washer." A moment later she added, "Some of them. The rest are still in the bathroom." The fox simply went into visible shock. She weighed her options. Going outside in nothing but a towel was less than ideal in this weather though hardly the end of the world, but Sonic finding her clothes left behind was about as bad as finding her. She could just hide in another room and wait out the visitors, though there was still the problem about her clothes being found. Her thinking was cut short when the front door rattled again. The fox and bat looked at each other and exclaimed (quietly) in unison, "SHIT!" It was the first time she ever heard him swear. She dove back onto the sofa but landed on Tails, who had fallen into the corner with her absence. "Move over."
"I can't." Her weight was pinning him on his back. With very little time remaining, she simply threw the quilt back over the two, then pulled her knees up, laid her head sideways on his chest, and flattened herself against him, in turn flattening him into the sofa, in order to make the smallest profile possible underneath the covers. He drew the quilt up for full coverage and crossed his hands atop her head in an attempt to further camouflage the bulge. She could feel as much as hear the fox's heartbeats, drowning out her own.
"Hey Amy," he managed to greet in a passably calm tone.
"Hey Tails," the female hedgehog responded.
"Hey Amy," came again, this time from Sonic, who reentered the room and quickly crossed it to the kitchen where the other hedgehog had gone. "Looking good, as always." It took a moment to realize that he was (probably) talking about the food. "Okay, we got dessert covered, but what about dinner? You guys just wanna make a pizza?" NO!
"Sure," Amy replied. "What about you, Tails?"
"Uh... sure..." the fox answered uncertainly, still unwilling to rain on anyone's parade as ever.
Oh yes, that just sounds wonderful... The situation was getting really dicey. She'd pulled off far less intimidating heists. Judging the hedgehogs to be safely out of eyeshot in the kitchen, the bat rose up and crawled out from under the quilt until stopping just short of touching noses with the fox, his hands sliding off her head with the movement to fall upon her bare shoulders instead. "Tails... do you have any ideas here?"
His eyes darted around before focusing on hers. "I'm... thinking..."
"Do it faster, Tails. And harder." He gulped and seemingly tried to answer. Someone approached. She ducked back under the covers like before, a little higher this time. Her head now practically tucked into his neck, his chin rested on her head with his hands on the upper back and wings instead. It was a somewhat awkward position on more than one level, though not actually unpleasant... In fact, it was even surprisingly comfortable... Tails made a nice pillow... And a girl needed to be held sometimes... Were the circumstances different, she could fall asleep like this.
The footsteps had paused for a few seconds, teasing the possibility they would go elsewhere, before resuming their approach. The footsteps got closer and closer. Coming around the couch. Getting really close. They paused... THEN SOMEONE SAT DOWN AT THE OTHER END. She wasn't so comfortable now. The hands above her moved and lifted the quilt slightly. Tails practically stuck his muzzle into her ear and whispered, "Don't move." Like she DIDN'T already know that. The warning did however help ensure that she wasn't startled when he lifted her off and into the corner again, carefully keeping the quilt in place. Standing up from the sofa, he began rolling up the quilt, along with the bat hidden within, into a ball. She kept perfectly still, even while being folded up with her head between her knees. "I'll just take this quilt to the bedroom," he unnecessarily narrated for the benefit of the charade.
"No," the person at the other end of the sofa- Amy- protested. "Let's use it." Good lord no...
"I'll go and get a big one," he answered in a much more natural way before lifting the bundle up. It was a good thing that he could hide the fact that the quilt was much heavier than it should have been. After a short carry, she heard a door get toed shut, which she calculated meant they were in his bedroom. He shifted the hold until she was in a much more dignified bridal carry... or perhaps mummy carry would have been more apt. She was laid down onto a soft surface that presumably was his bed. What is going on here? She couldn't help but start giggling at the absurdity of the whole thing. He unwrapped the quilt to expose her face. "Okay, just stay in here and keep quiet for now."
"Sounds fun," she dryly replied with rapidly fading humor as he went back out and closed the door, leaving her alone. She sighed. A girl like me deserves WAY better than this... At least I'm probably safe here... With nothing else to do, she simply laid and waited. And waited. Alone. In silence. While everybody else in the house was having fun. She began to consider just revealing herself. Why am I really hiding? So what if they discover we've been hanging out? They might think that we're a couple? Let them... It'll be hilarious... I'm the closest thing he has to a girlfriend anyway... The inverse piece of reality kicked back. I guess that means HE'S the closest thing I have to a boyfriend... What's the worst that can happen? Well... there was the fact that Tails was probably still a little too young for that sort of thing. His friends might take issue with that- Amy most definitely. And they might not believe that it REALLY wasn't what it looked like. She sighed again and put her head down to the bed. No... not yet... Maybe not ever...
A ding broke the relative silence aside from the muffled talking. Sonic announced, "It's ready!" It was easy to deduce the resulting flurry of noises was everyone grabbing their plates for pizza. Everyone BUT her. Her stomach grumbled at the thought of food. It's an absolute crime for a girl like me to be neglected like this...
Tails spoke loudly, "Hang on, I need to go do something real quick."
Of course, Sonic just HAD to ask, "Do what?"
"I... uh... left something on in my bedroom... so I'm gonna go turn it off." The voice was getting closer. Oh, you needn't worry, Foxboy... I've been turned off for a while now...
As soon as the bedroom door closed, she opened up- quietly. "Well it's about time! I was beginning to wonder if you might have actually forgotten there was a beautiful woman waiting in your bed."
Surprisingly, this earned nothing but an eyeroll from the fox. "Oh, don't worry Rouge, I haven't been able to think of anything BUT you the whole time." Sarcasm aside, that was actually a smooth answer, whether or not it was intended as such. Did snark act as a nullifier to her flustering effect? "That's why I brought you some pizza in case you were hungry."
"Pizza?" she asked incredulously before her stomach nudged her. "Well... okay then, I forgive you." A girl like her still deserved better, but it was undeniably rather sweet of him to still be considerate despite the secretive circumstances. He transferred several slices from the plate directly to the nightstand. "Don't I get a plate?"
"Sorry, I didn't think I could grab another one without them noticing."
"Come on Tails, you suck!"
"Hey," he said in offense, "I'll just take the pizza back then if you don't want it without a plate, princess." His arm, in the process of transferring a slice, reversed course.
It was almost certainly just an act, but she said, "Fine! I'll take my pizza without a plate." The pizza unloading resumed as before.
"Oh, and I moved your stuff to the dryer. Your boots, compact, and... everything else I hid in the towel hamper, just in case you get an opportunity to grab them." He broke eye contact halfway through the sentence, likely because the only other item 'everything else' could mean was her underwear.
"Good to know." It was unlikely she could sneak out unless the visitors moved elsewhere or were fully engrossed in the TV, but the information was useful nonetheless.
"Are you talking to yourself in there, bro?" Sonic interjected from the distance, startling them both. They froze up.
"I was just pondering aloud!" Tails lied. There was a silence. Did the hedgehogs actually understand anything heard? Did they only hear his voice? The genius hadn't been speaking as quietly as the thief.
"Well, what's taking you so long in there?"
"It needs to be powered down before I can safely turn it off!" the fox answered. "It's very delicate!" He turned back to her and whispered quietly, "Thanks Rouge, for making them think I'm talking to myself."
"You DO talk to yourself," she pointed out.
"I like to vocalize my thoughts." He turned back to the door to announce, "I'm turning it off right now!"
She gave him a saucy look. "Just TRY it, Fox-"
She stopped dead as he poked her nose with a finger and went, "Boop," flashing that stupid grin of his. She had to admit he wore it well. It was sly, and she liked a bit of sly in a guy. Maybe she'd even describe it as foxy. But of course, he WAS a fox. "There. It's off now," he proclaimed to the hedgehogs in the other room. She just watched him pick up the plate and walk out. Then she simultaneously smiled and shook her head. It's not fair... I have to work at it, but foxes can just do it naturally...
The pizza was delicious. Time ticked by. Hours. That wasn't anything new to her; she had sat and waited outside plenty of places for the occupants to leave to do her thing. It was getting surprisingly late though. How much longer were they going to hang out? The talking gradually died down, leaving nothing but the TV for audio. At some point it seemed the talking had ceased completely, so she finally decided to take a peek out the door. The entire house was dark; nobody had cared to turn on the lights. The two hedgehogs and fox were all motionless on the sofa, with Amy leaning on her boyfriend's equally slumped form. Asleep- perfect. Slightly insulting, but perfect. And she had just a slight pang of envy for the pink hedgehog.
Carefully stepping into the hallway, she crept to the dryer and quietly opened it to retrieve her suit and gloves. Putting the latter on, she crept to the bathroom next to get the rest. She considered getting fully dressed now but decided getting out of the house first was higher priority. As long as nobody saw her, it didn't matter how dressed she was. Creeping once more, she made for the front door, crossing the living room in full view of the couch potatoes. If someone woke up, they'd immediately see her. Nothing new to her either; while not preferable, she had been forced to sneak past far less occupied homeowners before. Plus, if she was being completely honest, on some level she was actually ENJOYING the rush of this old thrill again.
Her footsteps were silent, but one certain floorboard was not. The resulting creak made her freeze. Canine ears perked and their owner stirred awake. His head had been propped on the pillow and armrest, turned in her direction. As soon as his eyes opened, they fixated on her. She raised her free hand to put a finger to her lips. Thankfully he realized the situation immediately and didn't freak out. Even more thankfully the hedgehogs remained asleep. She resumed creeping. Once past the couch she was out of direct line of sight. Nearing the door, she paused to look back.
If I'm doing all this sneaking, I may as well not leave without getting something I want... With her own trademark mischievous grin, she turned around and snuck back directly towards the sofa. Tails watched in pure confusion bordering on worry. His face screamed WHAT ARE YOU DOING? but he didn't move an inch for risk of disturbing the slumbering guests- a risk she was currently flouting. She was now standing at the couch's side. All one of the hedgehogs needed to do was look over. She leaned down and gave the fox a smooch square on the lips. "Thanks for dinner cutie," she whispered. He just stared back dumbstruck.
She slipped away again towards the door. Silently cracking it ajar, she paused once more before leaving, realizing that she actually DID have something belonging to Tails she was about to leave with. She glanced back over to where he was still watching from the couch and considered one last time. It was dark, with only the faintest of light coming in from the windows or the TV. Flashing another smile, she pulled the towel off and threw it on the table by the door. The watching eyes widened at the sight of her teasing silhouetted profile gracing their vision for three full seconds before she went out the door. Sweet dreams, Foxboy...
DVD Commentary: I may have put a subverting spin on her character and been downplaying her nature, but Rouge is still Rouge. Since this is all written, I hope I did the visuals in my head justice conveying how suggestive our pair looked at times... though they're still surprisingly cute in spite of all that. I probably pushed it a little at the end... Don't worry though, the more suggestive moments are exceptions rather than the rule in this story. It just makes them all the sweeter.
The Critters was actually my mom's nickname for our dogs- she'd say, "Time to go let the Critters out."
Yes, they DO actually wear gloves in this story! Though I actually originally forgot that bit (see what I mean?) and considered having Rouge thus ask Tails to unzip her suit for her (because her hands were covered in oil.) Our fox just has all the luck, doesn't he? It did occur to me late that Rouge washed off her makeup again but I didn't have anything in mind to do with it.
The Tailblet is in fact the Miles Electric... because of course since Tails doesn't have a real name, he wouldn't have something called the Miles Electric.
The joke might be on Rouge... Canines have good night vision.
Not sure about chronology with the next chapter I have in mind. I ultimately went with this one first largely to space things out. That's my main plan right now: buffering content to mix things up and not have (too many) consecutive chapters of dramatics, the more risqué, the fun chapters, or just similar ideas (hence why I didn't want to do more GUN socializing last chapter.) The big changer throttling ideas right now is getting out of Rouge's outright antihero phase where she sometimes actually fought against the crew (seen in Adventure 2-Heroes) to 'uneasy ally' phase (seen in 06-Riders-Rivals.) Clearly by Generations (after several no-shows) she's fully in. I've got an idea or two about Tails breaking Rouge into his social circle but it will probably be mostly off-page. I'm still grappling with when she and Knuckles finally get past the whole ME theft...