35 - Brothers - 35

6:50 PM

He didn't want to do this, but he forced him to activate a power he promised himself he wouldn't use.

A power he refused to use unless pushed into very specific circumstances.

Circumstances like this one.

With a small inhale, Sonic commenced:

Dad mode.

He roughly pinched the tip of one of the fox's large ears, causing him to yelp in pain. "You are so freakin' grounded, you little brat!" Sonic yelled, causing both Tails and even Shadow to flinch. "Do you have any idea how tired I am!? I literally just came back from Spagonia, yelling at Professor Pickle and his interns as to where your little two tailed ass went!" He let go of his ear and shoved a finger into the teen's chest, making him squeak in fear. "I was so worried about you! I got a goddamn sinus infection and a sore throat, and you think I feel like running track cross-country around the globe just to find you chillin' here at the beach with Shadow the whole time?!" Sweating nervously, the fox took a cautious step backwards before he was yanked by the cords of the hoodie. "You've pulled some dumb shit before, but this one really takes the cake. You are so not going back home without rules or regulations, little boy. You may have your own place but as long as you're a minor, you ain't an adult yet. I make the rules, and you listen to what I say, whether you like it or not! You will not leave my sight until I say so." His death stare could slice the fox's namesakes in half if it wanted to. "Got it!?"

Shadow blinked several times with a sweat drop.

Yeah, Sonic was hot when he was mad, but the biohog didn't expect to see this kind of anger from him today.

Fatherly slash brotherly rage...That's a new one.

Nodding anxiously with a very nervous grin, the fox conceded to his conditions easily. Chaos, he hadn't been scolded like that in years, but it was definitely warranted. "Y-Yeah, n-no argument from me this time. You're right." He bowed his head to the blue hedgehog with respect. "I acted like an idiot for a while and I should have apologized and cleaned up my act a long time ago." As he apologized, Shadow could see that the pinnacle of Sonic's anger was reluctantly beginning to decrease as Tails apologized thoroughly. Pfft, and that's why Sonic had a scary temper: He was too damn nice for it to truly let loose. So predictable. "I had no idea you had so much on your plate, and I…I was being selfish. And…I'm truly sorry, Sonic." Tails ruefully rubbed his own shoulder as he looked away shamefully. "I really mean it. I just hope you can forgive me. I'll stay on punishment for as long as you want, no complaints." He nodded in confirmation, he accepted his fate. "I promise."

At first, Sonic just continued to glare at him with a very disapproving frown, but then a wave of sadness washed over him. He remembered when Tails, only four years old at the time, grew blisters on his feet for trying once again to keep up with Sonic, who was only eleven. Sonic caught that he was suffering in silence, lifted him up on his back, and carried him home, promising that he'd heal him up in no time. He also promised him that he'd never have to worry about bullies again, that he'll always be by his side to protect him no matter what. From that moment on, he took the pup in to care for him for years up until this point. He remembered how small and cute he was, he was so precious and excited to be with someone who didn't demean him for having an abnormality. He grew up so fast, where did the time go? Where was his little buddy from all those years ago? Meanwhile, Shadow could see Sonic was breaking. He couldn't keep up the angry parent schtick, no matter how genuinely pissed he was. He loved Tails too much to hold anything against him. He only chuckled to himself and shook his head. Again, predictable.

Sonic sighed heavily and crossed his arms. "Geez, you can't even let me be mad at you." His expression went from exasperated to regretful. "'Sides, I don't like yelling at you, you know that. I don't like making you upset. Not any kiddo, but definitely not you little man. Sometimes it feels like you use that against me..." He said in an accusatory fashion, but then it quickly softened in defeat. "You've always been a sweet kid at heart, so it's hard to stay mad at you." However, he still maintained his firm tone. "But you'll still be grounded for a while, at least two weeks. You've been gettin' away with murder lately, but this is the straw that breaks the camel's back. You wasted everyone's time and made all of our friends worried. They're still looking under rocks in Station Square like idiots, desperately trying to find you. Not to mention you made me get Rouge and Shadow involved, who work for the government. Their work is way too important for them to rush outta the office just to look for you." He shook his head, his decision was final and he wouldn't be softening the blow of his punishment this time. "You're on lock down until further notice. I'm talkin' no science fairs, no splurging your allowance on rare materials for your plane, no late flights after midnight, and no binge-eating on pounds of mint candy in a single night. You'll be in my house, under my rules. And you are not finalizing that deal with the president about the Chemical Plant until your punishment's over." He raised a brow, daring him to object. "Understood?"

Surprisingly, Tails nodded with a bright smile. He hadn't realized how much he actually missed his parenting. He was only annoyed by it before because of his distrust of him, but now, it felt relieving. "Yes sir, of course. I'll call everyone myself and let them know I'm okay, and I'll even do chores around the house without you having to ask."

"That's what I wanted to hear. And for Chaos's sake," Sonic further complained while pointing at the hoodie. "Stop wearing that hoodie like a depressed E-Boy, it's raggedy and shitty. You've already got a rattail goin' on, this ain't helpin'. You're better than that."

"B-But," Tails made a sad pout. "I really like this hoodie..."

Sonic made a very unimpressed expression. "It has moth holes in it, dude. Throw it out, or I'm rippin' it off of you and burning it in a damn fire pit. I'll just buy you a new one. It probably smells like dank piss anyway...When's the last time you even washed that thing?"

Blinking slowly, the fox suddenly found the sand to be really interesting. "Ummm-"

"Tails." Sonic stressed with a disgusted glare. "Seriously? You're almost seventeen, you've got no excuse to be wearin' stuff that smells like a corpse. Throw that thing out the second we get home, or else I'm gonna bathe your ass raw."

"O-Okay, okay! I'll throw it out." He started poking his fingers together with a timid smile. He knew asking this would bite him in the ass, but..."Sooo, I know I'm on punishment and everything, so I'm sure any form of entertainment is off limits. Buuut," He saw Sonic squint his eyes at him harshly. "I can still have my phone, right?" He tried to grin charmingly to attempt to ease in his small request.

A twitch lingered in Sonic's right eye. "You little shitbird. You really think you can smooth talk your way out of-You know what? Screw it. I'm keeping the damn phone."

"W-Wait, wait!" The fox pleaded desperately as he reached up to Sonic's quills, where he knew his phone was hidden. "Can't we negotiate or something? I need my phone to make updates to my new wi-fi router! If I patent it, I can get the whole city to start using it and generate a stable city-wide income!"

Shadow gawked. Good God, why was this kid trying to create a monopoly out of Station Square? Sonic was basically one of the one-percenters, he just didn't show it. He could drown the child in cash if he really wanted to. Did Tails really just want to make a business that badly? Maybe it was a good thing he didn't go to school. Sonic however, wasn't having any of it. "I don't give a good goddamn if you found a cure to cancer, I'm keeping your phone." Sonic slapped the teen's hands away and pulled the device out of his quills himself. He turned it on and checked to see if anything untoward was on there. Tails was a good kid like he said, so there wasn't anything scandalous on the phone. "Hmph." Still didn't help his situation, though. Sonic was now tossing it up and down in his hand. When Tails tried to reach for it, he easily snatched it away and then crushed his fingers against it. The fox begged him to stop. "You're lucky I don't break this sci-fi crap, but I should. You obviously don't care about it since you left it at home. Actually," He noted. "It's been fryin' your brains a little too much, so maybe you do need to take a step back from it. You get too easily distracted with this thing."

"Awww, Sonic come on! The smartphone is an invaluable, delicate tool that greatly aids a teenager's personal development and social skills! It's my baby, I need it!"

A larger vein throbbed on his forehead from such an elaborate lie. "You crashed your freakin' plane into the side of a mountain five months ago, 'cause you were doom scrolling while flying."

The fox just flagged this off with a raspberry. "Oh that was an accident, it could have happened to anybody-"

"Miles Prower the Fox," Dear Lord, he used his whole name. He used his whole name and his quills were growing way too sharp for comfort. "Do not piss me off any further than you already have tonight. The phone's gone, end of story."

As Sonic placed the phone back in his quills and bent down to grab the fox's backpack, Tails immediately looked down at the ground with flattened ears. "Okay, I'm sorry..." He replied meekly as the hedgehog walked over to lift him up over his shoulder like a sack of feathers. "...!" Wow, he hasn't been carried like this since his plane crash during the whole Chaos ordeal. "Y-You're carrying me?" He asked with protest. "But Sonic, I'm sixteen-"

"Shut up."

"-Okay."

Chuckling more under his breath, Shadow smiled at this banter of fraternal love. It was one thing to see it in sitcoms or TV shows, but witnessing it up close was truly a humorous experience. Plus, he didn't realize how much Sonic was forced to grow up. He was arguably more mentally mature long before he actually physically matured. He watched as the hero, who still had a rather annoyed expression on his face, walked over to thank the biohog for finding him. "Damn Alpha teenagers..." He hissed under his breath before looking at Shadow and sighing tiresomely. "Thanks babe, I owe you-" He sneezed, shocking himself from the self-interruption. "Damn it, this is getting annoying."

Shadow shook his head. "Think nothing of it. Will you be okay taking him home by yourself? You look red in the face, I'm sure you still have a fever." He frowned. "Amy gave me a recipe for soup to make you, but I see it didn't work very well."

"I'll be fine," Sonic grumbled. "It's a short jog a few miles to my house, I can make that no sweat. Just do me a solid and Chaos Control my bag from your apartment later tonight when you get the chance. If you're that worried," He leaned over to press a kiss on his cheek. "You're more than welcome in my home anytime you like, in case you wanted to check up on me. It's the least I can offer~" Shadow replied with a small kiss on the lips, making the blue one hum in delight. They could hear Tails mumble "Eww," behind him, so Sonic roughly elbowed the fox in his back. "You keep mumbling under your breath back there and I'll break your gaming consoles." That was at least the fifth threat tonight, Shadow silently noted.

"O-Ow-What...!?" The fox panicked, pathetically wriggling in his hold. "N-Not my achievements! No! Anything but that! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Sonic could feel a headache grow as he rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna need so many bottles of aspirin after this..." He used his free hand to rub his fingers on his right temple before continuing with what he was saying to Shadow. "Anyway, I wanna have a talk with you about something important. Come by the house in maybe a few days from now, I'll text you." He gave him a small smile. "Don't worry, it's nothing bad. Actually, I think you'll appreciate it. I'm gonna take this little shit home and get some rest. I'll call you later."

Shadow nodded, finding that part about this "important conversation" rather intriguing. "Understood. I'll keep that in mind. Goodnight, hedgehog." He smirked as he saw the fox lying in defeat over his older brother's shoulder. "Hmph. Goodnight, Tails."

He held out a pitiful hand as he whined for the biohog to save him. "S-Save me Shadow...We're friends, aren't we?"

"Sorry," The striped hedgehog shrugged, his hands were tied. "But I'm afraid not even I can go up against the authority of a loving older brother."

"He's gonna kill me!"

"Walk it off, Miles." He waved a hand before disappearing in a green flash. "Farewell, for now."

Snorting a laugh, Sonic began to walk away from the beach while carrying the fox. "Ha. He's such a dick, I love that about him." He claimed proudly with a smile. As he walked, he briefly looked down at the vulpine. "Y'all cool now? You looked pretty chill with each other when I showed up. I thought you didn't like him."

With a small smile, Tails nodded. "I misunderstood him. Shadow's a good guy, just like I thought when I was a kid. I had it right the first time. I guess my teenager angst blinded me." He said dramatically. "I won't let it happen again, though." After another minute of silence passed, Tails asked a question that Sonic found absolutely adorable. "Hey, I know you're super tired and sick, and I know I'm grounded. But, could I play video games in the living room while you watch until you fall asleep? Like old times?" He made a nostalgic smile. "I liked when we used to do that. It was really fun."

Hearing his gentle voice talk about how things used to be before made the hero sigh heavily. He was making it really hard to stay mad at him, but he had to stay firm. "...I'll allow it tonight, and only tonight. Don't ask me again."

"And um...Can I stay over your house a little while longer after my punishment's over?" The younger brother asked delicately. "I know you're probably tired of me, but I like staying there. I won't be annoying like I was before, I'll give you your space."

"Alright," Sonic responded wearily. "I already told you a thousand times before, that you're always welcomed in my home. It was yours too, once upon a time. But then you just had to grow up and move out on your own at age eleven..." He shook his head, grimacing at the memory. It almost broke his heart. "You grew up way too fast, but I guess I did too." He then placed the fox down onto his feet on the ground and leveled with him. "Look at me when I'm talking to you." The fox flinched and nodded while looking his big brother in the eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about...What I turned into. I didn't know how to approach anybody with it. I didn't even know how to explain it to Shadow 'cause...I really don't know what's going on. And plus, Tails," He said sincerely. "You gotta understand: You're just a kid and you do everything in your power to not be a kid. I know that's my fault and I know I'm a shitty role model, but I didn't want that for you. It's why I tried to get you to go to school or send you off to those science fairs—I was trying to fix the damage I already did but...it was too late." He shamefully looked elsewhere. "You ended up just like me. It's only right you get to have the chance to be normal, but I messed that up. I hate getting you involved in stuff like this, not the hard hitting stuff. It's different if we're doing a casual little raid on some random Eggman base or having fun on some intergalactic amusement park planet, but this..." He ran his hand through his quills. "This wasn't an adventure, this wasn't fun. It was...Terrible, and I didn't want you getting hurt. I got stabbed, Shadow was tortured, there was so much blood...I couldn't let anything happen to you, too. Not like last time." He placed his hand on his shoulder, the one that was still scarred from the gunshot three years ago. "You have no idea how guilty I feel that I scared you that badly. I didn't know what to do."

Tails tilted his head. "You didn't...?"

"Of course not, isn't it obvious?" Sonic laughed at this. "I almost never know what to do. I just rush in without a plan, letting my instincts and my gut take over, always. It's a really dumb idea, but old habits die hard. Still," With his hand still on his shoulder, they continued to walk. "I know I did the best I could with what I was given. I just hope you see that, too."

The teen genius nodded without hesitation. "Yeah, I do. Shadow helped put things in perspective, I don't blame you for anything that happened. It was a life or death situation—Literally." He still couldn't believe he technically lost his big bro that day. "You did what you could. I forgive you, and I'm sure the others already do." He blushed a little, he had never told Sonic this before. In hindsight, maybe he should have. "You're a good role model and an even better big brother. I appreciate everything you're doing for me and...I guess I should try a little harder to see where you're coming from. But I think you're doing great!"

That made the hedgehog genuinely smile a little. "That's nice, I'm really glad you think so." Sonic suddenly and painfully tightened his grip into his shoulder. "But hohoho, if you pull a stunt like this again...I'm gonna turn you from Tails to Tail."

Gulping, Tails instantly started to panic. "I-I won't!" It's a fear he hadn't felt in a while, but it was a fear they both felt was more fitting. The fear of getting your butt whooped from your older brother was way better than fearing a demonic presence.

Sonic made a more lighthearted chuckle and pulled the fox close to give him a gentle noogie. "Ahh, I'm only kiddiiiing! Mostly."

Tails laughed nervously as he attempted to fix his now messed up hair. "H-Heh, I haven't seen you that angry since the time I crashed the Cyclone into my workshop.

Sonic remembered that day, it cost a lot of money to repair his house and he was worried he blew himself up in the wreckage. "Geez, I almost took your damn head off for that one. I thought you blew yourself up to the stratosphere. Thank goodness you only had a few scratches." He playfully poked the fox's head. "You've got a lot of brains in that noggin of yours, and a lot of dumb luck."

"Yeah, I see now that I've still got a lot of growing up to do."

"Meh," The hero shrugged. "We all do. You never actually stop growing, y'know." He looked down at him with a gentle smile. "We've both got a lot of growing up to do, but we can do that together lil' man."

The fox smiled brightly as his head was patted again. "Heheh."

August 12th

DAY 33: Tuesday

Evening, 9:00 PM

"And that, my little brother, is how it's done."

Groaning, the sixteen year old fox pouted as he stared at the TV screen. The Hero of Mobius stuck out his tongue as he twirled a wireless gaming controller in his hand. He had stopped sweeping the floor to look over and see that his big brother just beat his high score, and since he was grounded, there was nothing he could do about it. "You are such a cheater." He grumbled in his new orange tie-dye hoodie.

"No I ain't. Get good, scrub." Was all the blue hedgehog said before using the remote to turn off the TV. As he placed the controller back where it belonged, he shooed the vulpine away. "Aight, fun's over. Less talkin', more sweepin'." He watched the younger Mobian stick his tongue out right back at the hedgehog, before turning up his nose and returning to his exile of chores. Chuckling at this, Sonic walked away from the couch and headed for the stairs. He pulled his phone out of his quills and checked his notifications to see old, happy and relieved messages from their friends. Days ago, Tails did as he promised and video-called them all one by one to apologize for worrying them and wasting their time with a ragtag search team. He was really guilty when he did it, and Sonic glared at him over his shoulder the entire time. Knuckles and Rouge only laughed, while Amy sighed. They said it was fine, but to please not do something like that again after they just had a crisis.

The night Tails was found, Sonic and the fox sat on the couch. Tails played video games all night, while his big brother watched until he fell asleep like he wished. He woke up to Tails giving him a bowl of soup to help treat his ailments, and he surprisingly got a lot better after eating it. Tails said he secretly stole some herbs from Angel Island the last time he was there, right under Knuckles' nose. He used some of them as ingredients, followed a recipe from Amy and made the sickly hero some much needed homemade broth. It was pretty good, and went down easy. With four days to recover, Sonic felt like he was back to his old self. He wanted to think he could fight the illness off on his own, and he didn't want to ask anybody for help. Even when Shadow tried to make him soup, he was very reluctant to accept it. But Sonic could see that this in itself was his own undoing. He didn't get better until someone offered to help him without him asking, and he couldn't deny that he was flattered either. Tails hadn't did something like that for him in a very long time, and the last time he tried to make him breakfast, he too blew up the oven. He was only ten years old, and he cried for hours. He was so cute back then, so it was easy for Sonic to forgive him.

They spent the rest of the week hanging out in Station Square, having some much needed downtime with each other at the mall. Sonic bought him a new hoodie like he said, one that was orange. It was basic, but Tails wanted it because he asked Sonic to do some tie-dying to it. It came out perfectly with a cool zig zagging pattern, and Tails instantly fell in love with it. He warned Sonic he'd probably wear it to pieces, but the hedgehog advised him to at least wash it often and to ask Amy to sew up any holes that might appear in the future. The day after that, they went to the food court and got some grade-A chilidogs, bought some engineering tools and got some movies to binge at home. Tails was grounded, but the rules could be modified under Sonic's authority at any time. So for those several hours, Tails had some freedom. They had spent so much time together, the sun was setting by the time they were done. From then on during the rest of the week, they watched a couple of movies together, again, under Sonic's permission with popcorn. They haven't done a movie night in a while, so it was way more fun than they expected. And like a good boy, Tails took it upon himself to do some chores every night before he headed off to bed. All before Sonic could even ask, just as he promised.

Of course during that time, Sonic made sure to share some attention between Tails and Shadow. He would text and video call him whenever he had the chance, usually in the dark hours of the night when the fox was asleep. They never did anything raunchy however, and only talked about unimportant subjects. They just liked each other's company, even if they were physically separated. Tonight however, he had a plan and wanted Shadow to visit him physically, just as he requested days ago. When the hedgehog got to his bedroom, he went to his bathroom to go into the medicine cabinet and pull out a thermometer. He checked his temperature, and while waiting for the results, he scrolled through the messages on his phone. He had asked Shadow earlier to come over, about an hour ago.

lil man and i are home. drop by when you can ;)

The biohog was busy himself with downtime on his day off, so he did a lot of meditating and napping. He saw that Shadow saw his message, and had replied twenty minutes ago or so.

Very well, I'll be over soon.

That's when both of his ears perked up. The thermometer beeped, and there was knocking on the front door. First, he checked his temperature, seeing that it was finally down a normal number. He cleaned it off in the sink, grateful that he wasn't sick anymore. That made him feel even more confident with what he had to tell Shadow. Tails wouldn't be spending the night here, or in the next few days as a matter of fact. Considering what Sonic was planning, it couldn't be helped. "Sonic! Shadow's here!" He heard his little brother call. It'd be lame to go back downstairs like a normie, so instead, Sonic exited the bathroom and went to the nearest window in his bedroom. He lifted it up and crawled out, walking along the shingles of his roof and seeing Shadow talking with Tails outside. The hedgehog whistled to get their attention, and they both glanced upwards.

Sonic made a flirty wave. "Heeeey~"

Tails nudged Shadow playfully as the GUN agent faintly blushed. "Don't keep him waiting, you know he's impatient."

"You're just as much of a troll as he is." The biohog glared.

The fox made a grossed-out expression. "Ugh, you guys are probably gonna make out for hours and hours and hours...Blegh." He then lowered his voice in a whisper. "Hey, do you guys do that weird tongue thing? Like is that real? 'Cause that is a lot of bacteria and I personally don't think that's very healthy-"

Entirely red in the face, Shadow yelled for Sonic to just get down here already. "Hedgehog, get your kid."

Sonic jumped down and strolled over casually to the two. "What'd he say?"

"Well, I was just asking if the whole tongue exchange thing is real." Tails asked aloud. "What's it called...? French kissing? That's a lot of germs and I'm slightly concerned for your health."

Slowly, Sonic gave the fox a look and raised his brows. "...Tails, I'm not gonna explain the tier system to you again in front of company. You don't need to know what tier Shadow and I are on, and our hygiene ain't got nothin' to do with it."

Tails made a surprised expression. "Wait...Are you guys at tier eighteen already? Isn't that marriage?"

Silently, Shadow gaped between the two of them, speaking as if he wasn't even here. The hero frowned with a cringe. "What? No-Dude, that's the dating tier. Shadow and I ain't there yet, we've been dating for maybe a month. Look at him," He gestured to the fuming biohog who was glaring daggers into his face. "He's like a steamin' vegetable over here, we ain't ready for that." He then looked to the side with a thoughtful expression. "Damn, I only warned you about mating season. I guess I didn't teach you about the intimacy tier yet, but French kissing's definitely on there. That's like tier five. You don't need to know about the rest of that stuff, though. You're a baby, you're way too young...Unless," Then he smirked mischievously at the fox as he wiggled his brows. "You want me to tell you in excruciating, anatomical detail how we-"

The fox immediately stepped away. "Oh God, okay I'm sorry I asked."

"Mmhm." Sonic casually stretched his arms behind his head, secretly taking something out from the depths of his quills. "Anyway, you might be heading over to Ame's place for tonight. Aaaaand the next few days."

"W-What?" Tails' face fell instantly. "But why?"

"'Cause I need the house to myself for a bit and I don't trust that you're going to do what I say and stay grounded, along with the specific restrictions we agreed upon. So," He suddenly tossed him a light pink flyer, apparently formed into a paper airplane. Tails barely caught it, then unwrapped the paper to reveal its contents.

That's when the fox's face went from dejected to horrified. "Sonic, no."

Sonic sneered. "Sonic, yes."

The fox immediately started whining in protest. "Sonic come oooonnnn! Why do I have to go on a flower retreat with Amy in Frog Forest? That's boring!"

"'Cause you're grounded and I want the house to myself, I literally just said that."

Tails quickly got annoyed with his smarminess. "No I mean, why can't I go to Angel Island or something? That'd be way better and Knuckles could just keep an eye on me in his bunker."

"One," Sonic held up a strict finger. "'Cause Knux is an asshole, will totally break my rules and let you do whatever you want just to spite me. I don't feel like beating his ass right now." He held up another finger. "Two, because Amy's been bugging me to get you to go with her on this trip for two months straight, and I'm tired of her messages." He held up a third. "Three, because it's basically a camping trip and you love camping trips. Those are totes fun and you need to get some air. 'Sides, it's not normal flowers. Amy said they were really rare and kind of dangerous. Giant Venus flytraps and whatnot." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean she's going with a couple of other people, and a couple of students interested in botany. It's not like you'll be alone, so I figured you'd be cool with that. The trip starts tomorrow sometime in the morning, so I asked and she was willin' to let you spend the night so she could take you." He walked past the salty teen slowly as he mentioned one last thing. "Oohh and I almost forgot to mention, I heard that Zooey'll be there~"

Like any predictable sixteen year old boy, Tails immediately sprinted towards him and got close to whisper. "...You said Zooey's gonna be there?"

Pretending not to notice, Sonic spoke as if he truly wasn't sure about what was said. "Ohhh I dunno...I mean Amy said something along those lines. Sayin' Zooey was soooo enamored with the science of anthology and the symbolism of flowers, and how the flowers in Frog Forest represent love...Apparently the poor girl isn't too good at understanding the intricacies of botany and cells, and she really could use some help. Yeah Amy's there, but sometimes you need a second opinion." He continued to smirk and winked at the fox. "From, oh I don't know...A genius with a three hundred IQ? But you didn't hear that from me-" A dust cloud was left where Tails was, who was already inside the house, upstairs, packing his bag. Giggling impishly, the hero nudged the previously forgotten striped hedgehog's arm. "I am such an asshole."

"Yeah," Shadow deadpanned. "You are. Very much so."

"Aw it's not like I set him up for failure, she already likes him anyway. He just never had an excuse to go see her."

Deciding to humor this conversation, Shadow might as well have asked who this person even was. "You said it's some fox girl?"

"Oh Zooey? Yeah, she's a cutie. She was at a local science fair in Station Square, Tails was there and welp," He grinned. "He got a crush on her. This was earlier this year. Her and Cream go to the same school, she ended up meeting Amy, she needed a tutor to help with some of her projects, Amy introduced her to Tails, they recognized each other-" Sonic and Shadow started coughing from an even bigger dust cloud suddenly hitting them in the face. They looked down to see the fox vibrating in excitement with a heavy looking bookbag strapped on his back. He looked and smelled much more well groomed than he did a second ago, and his eyes were swirling with hearts. "-And then this happened." The hero laughed. "Hahaha. Ahh you're terrible, Tails."

"H-Huh?" Tails was suddenly woken out of his daydream. "What do you mean? I wanna study rare plants, that's all."

The GUN agent shook his head incredulously as Sonic wheezed a laugh. "Chaos, he's just as shameless as you. He is your child."

The fox tugged at Sonic's glove to indicate that he needed him to get a little closer. The hedgehog bent down a little to listen as the fox whispered. "Hey," He said quickly. "You said the retreat's tomorrow morning, right?" He saw Sonic nod. "Okay, do me a solid and let me take my phone so I can make an album and a playlist."

The hedgehog gave him a disappointed stare. "Really? You're gonna show her pics of your plane and serenade her with EDM? 'Cause if that's what you're gonna do, the answer's a solid 'no'."

"Nope," The fox confidently replied. "Gonna show her some flowers from Angel Island and add some classical baroque music. Show her that I know my stuff, and that I'm sensitive."

That high school jock smile of Sonic's crept up quickly as he fist bumped Tails. "Atta boy!" He pulled out an orange smartphone from his quills and handed it right over to him. "Don't forget to give it back to Amy when the trip's over, but you better reel her in before then. She better be hangin' off your arm when you get back, and you better gimme deets! I need details, lil' bro!"

A sharp glint shined in Tails' baby blue eyes. "Tch, you're kidding right?" He held up a strong thumbs up. "It'll be a cakewalk. I got this, big bro."

A lone tear slipped from Sonic's eye. "...Oh my God, I'm so proud."

"You're tainting that child with your jock shit." Shadow mumbled to the hero.

"'Jock shit', huh?" Sonic repeated callously with a raised brow. "That same 'jock shit' got you here at my house, nine at night, as my boyfriend. Evidently it works." He smirked. "Got anything else to say?"

With an exasperated glare Shadow just rolled his eyes. "Fuck you."

"Sure, in a second. Anyway-" He ignored Shadow's shocked reaction to that and gave Tails a noogie. "Alrighty champ, you got all your stuff?" He saw Tails nod like a rabid animal. "O-Okay bro, chill. You're not gonna see her 'till tomorrow. Make sure you listen to everything Amy says, got it? I don't want her to call me and tell me you gave her lip, you're still grounded after all. Oh, and don't think when you come back that your punishment's over, either. Nope, still grounded. Cool?" He winced when the fox nodded again like a jack hammer. "Dude, stop. You're gonna give yourself a headache. Alright, I'll let you go then. And remember what I taught you about hangin' out with someone you like."

Tails nodded once more with a salute. "Rule number one: Consent is awesome! Rule number two, anything that's not PG-13 is off limits until I'm eighteen. Rule three: Don't be a 'nice guy.'"

He didn't know why he was even remotely interested in this conversation, but Shadow found himself asking about that particular rule anyway. "Aren't you supposed to be nice?"

Sonic instantly shook his head. "Incel shit." That word was foreign to the ultimate life form, as he was of a much older generation. That's when the blue hedgehog rephrased it. "Infinite."

"Ah," Shadow instantly understood. "Got it."

"Aaaand that's all you gotta know." Sonic quickly patted his head before shooing him. "Aight you're good, go ahead. Be safe, be respectful, don't eat random 'shrooms, all that crap. Just have fun." It's like Sonic's parenting went from one hundred to three in just under an hour. The fox gave a more sincere smile at the two hedgehogs before jumping up high, letting his namesakes propel and ascend him further. He waved goodbye and winked at Sonic before disappearing in an orange-yellow streak in the sky. "Oh wow, he got faster. Haha, that's my lil' man."

He thanked God that conversation was over. He already didn't like talking about his feelings and the complications of romance with Sonic, so he definitely wasn't interested in hearing about it between two teenagers. Shadow sighed and glanced at the blue hedgehog. "You panicked about him being missing, grounded him, and now you're sending him away? You confuse me."

Chuckling, Sonic flagged this off. "Nah nah nah, you don't get it. Tails an' I are cool now, and we trust each other. I know he won't do anything stupid like that again, I know he'll be okay and I already poked one of my spines behind his left ear while he wasn't looking. And, well..." His voice slightly decreased in volume as he admitted something, making a slightly sheepish expression. "I guess I was kind of panicking last week. But like you said, if doggy's in another realm, we've got time before something else goes down. Can't live in fear forever. 'Sides, Tails is still grounded and he knows that. I just wanted him to stop shutting himself in the house. Beyond all of that," He mysteriously turned his back to the ultimate life form as he walked towards the steps of his porch. "I really gotta talk to you about something. I promise you won't be disappointed~" He beckoned for the biohog to follow him inside.

As he did, Shadow took a brief pause before replying with a request of his own.

"Actually," He said. "I need to talk to you about something, too."

35 - END - 35