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A young fox hummed to himself as he worked on perfecting an old invention, rain sparsely drummed against his lab ceiling, inviting itself as the only noise in the room, occasionally accompanied by the clicking sounds of metal tools being picked up and put down in a delicate manner.
The slow rain and quiet atmosphere brought a small smile to the lone fox, sure, he'd much rather work on the tornado outside where he could move more freely, but there was little that could be done about that when it was raining at 1am and Tails had the itch to get to work. Just for a little bit —or so he proclaimed roughly two hours ago—.
Truth to be told, the Tornado didn't need any urgent fixing, but the fox insisted on changing a few old pieces here and there, often going a little overboard. In nights like this, where he found himself missing a certain blue hedgehog just a bit more than usual, spending time on the plane that was still technically owned by him helped calm the fox's feelings.
Specially when said hedgehog has been going on more and more adventures on his own. The fox had his own reservations in regards to that —mostly fueled by his curiosity, alongside some concerns—, which he planned to keep to himself for the time being.
The rain started to pick up, making his namesakes lazy swing become slightly agitated. In the distance, the sound of thunder roared like an approaching beast announcing it's presence. Tails swallowed his nerves as uneasiness crept up on him, gathering his tools for a quick wrap up. Between a moment and the next, the gentle water drops from just a few minutes ago started to harshly hit the ceiling, and the next lighting came crashing a lot closer than expected.
Another loud noise came and went in a flash, something crashing and struggling, basically intelligible as it drowns with the sound that the wind and rain brought. And as if on cue, darkness took over in the blink of an eye.
Tails took a deep breath before deciding on his next action, "maybe that's a sign." He mutters to himself, he'd been up way past his Sonic imposed bed time, it was a good time to sleep as any.
The power outage would need to be dealt with first, though, even if the fox dreaded the thought of going outside to check exactly what caused it. One quick look around for an umbrella later, he was heading towards the back door to check the circuit box.
The first thing Tails noticed as he stepped outside was the tell tale signs of a clumsy fight, the grass near the circuit box was ripped off in uneven and small patches, revealing the dirt beneath it. The mess was to be expected, the fox was already assuming that some animal or fallen tree branch caused the power outage in the first place. But there was something else here, something that immediately made Tails' fur stand upright.
There were paw prints on the dirt, which by itself wouldn't be alarming if it weren't for the fact that only one of those paw prints is bigger than the fox's head, that, paired with the scratch marks littered through the wooden wall only served to stir his nerves further. Upon careful inspection, Tails started to take notice of how hastily and messy the slashes on the wood are, both wild and half hearted looking, in a way.
He settled on quickly taking care of his electricity issue before letting the discovery fully sink in. It wasn't anything complicated, just a few misplaced pieces and a cable that got unplugged when... whatever that thing was crashed near it.
"That should do it." The fox set the final piece in place, putting an end to the short lived power outage in his lab. The rain starts to quiet down little by little, and it's in that short moment of stillness that a very small detail came to his mind.
He left the back door open.
Before he had another second to think, a loud thump came from just a few meters away, followed by the frantic sound of nails scratching against the floor. Tails hurried inside, finding the culprit of said noises standing in all fours in the middle of his garage.
It was huge, that's the first thing that his brain uselessly spat out. It was huge and had sharp nails and teeth and it could probably swallow him whole if it wanted to. The sight alone made the fox yelp and step back almost instinctively. This, however, only brought all the beast's attention towards him. Oh he was screwed, this is it.
Tails didn't back out more only because he was practically frozen at the doorstep, his heart raced inside his chest as he held eye contact with the beast, if only due to the sheer trance his fear put him in. He expected it to snap at any moment, to slash and bite and snarl at him, but the beast remained almost as still as the fox, its only movements so far being the way it was desperately gasping for air, its breaths becoming increasingly erratic the longer they stared at each other.
His brain slowly started to catch up to the situation, no longer clouded by dread. Now, he could identify what was in the intense stare of the beast, it seemed hurt, it looked like recognition and... fear. Oh.
After the adrenaline rush, words came a bit clumsily to the fox. "You.. you're just scared, aren't you?" He carefully took a step forward. The beast's fur bristled as it flinched back, a wild look flashing through its eyes briefly. Tails recognized the warning, but also the hesitation of its actions, it looked almost conflicted. The small fox took another step, a bigger one this time.
The beast backed away even further, clashing with the opposite wall. Startled, it immediately went for the door that led to Tails' lab.
"...!"
Tails ran after it, alarm bells ringing off in his head the moment that he started to hear the noises of multiple objects being pushed around or falling to the ground. The beast was fast, but ultimately uncoordinated.
When he got there, he let out a sigh of relief. The mess the beast left behind was admittedly not as bad as he expected, but now it was nowhere to be seen.
Or at least, that seemed to be the case, until his eyes caught on to a twitching, bushy tail that poked out from a closet that wouldn't close property because of its current occupant. The sight was a bit endearing, all things considered.
"Hey." He started as he stood in front of the closet, keeping his voice gentle. He heard a small sound coming from the closet, was the beast.. talking?
"Don't." Was the only word the fox could make out. He was mildly surprised at the beast's deep and raspy voice, it seemed like it had a hard time formulating sentences, though.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Tails took a step closer.
"Don't... look."
It was almost a whisper, but the sadness lingering on it's voice rang loud an clear in Tails' ears, making the events click together. He internally winced when the image of his own frightened reaction to the beast flashed through his mind, he obviously offended the creature, even if accidentally.
Tails sighed, a bit of guilt creeping up his chest, he carefully gathered his thoughts before speaking once more. The beast was clearly distressed over the fox's perception of it, so... "I'm not scared of you." "That should work, right?"
The door to the closet opened just a bit further, he pretended to not notice how his words got the creature's attention, keeping his eyes on the wall.
"If I was scared I wouldn't be talking to you right now." He was met with silence as he sat down on the cold floor. Maybe elaborating on his statement would help? "Ok... I have to admit I was rather... startled, at first, but now I can see this is just a big misunderstanding." Although it didn't mean he wasn't still on edge. "Plus, being in that cramped closet must be pretty uncomfortable, right?" He carefully added to try and ease the mood.
Slowly, very slowly, the closet doors started to open, revealing a large, fluffy creature. It kept its head low and ears pressed down turned in what Tails could only assume was a poor attempt at looking less intimidating, its mouth was tightly closed, hiding any fangs from Tails' view.
The fox's expression softened as they locked eyes once more, and, there it was again, that sad look on the beast's eyes, clearer now that they were in a room with proper lighting. It almost seemed to be pleading, waiting for something, but, what exactly?
Tails briefly mused what the most effective course of action would be. "How did you find my lab?"
No answer came, it kept staring at him in mild disappointment. Tails wondered if it was due to the beast having any problems understanding him or rather, talking back. "But it was able to mutter some words just a few minutes ago... maybe it doesn't want to talk...?" The fox hummed to himself as he stood up, he quickly noted the fact that despite standing up while the beast kept its body closer to the floor, it was still taller than the fox.
"I assume you were looking for a place to wait out the rain?" He tried again, the creature perked up slightly but by the end of the sentence it looked even more deterred, if that was even possible. It rested its head on the ground with a half hearted huff. "D-do you need any help with something? Are you hurt?" Piercing green eyes flickered from him and the floor, was that it?
If it was help it wanted, then maybe... "Are you looking for Sonic?" That, was what got a proper reaction, making the beast's ears stand upright and locking eyes with the fox once more. "Ah, of course, I should've known." And it was immediately back to looking like a miserable, kicked puppy. Now that Tails thought about it, that description wasn't actually too inaccurate.
"So you're... not looking for Sonic." Again, a small ear twitch, a quick glance.
His brother's name seemed to be the trigger, Tails was about to make another question when a wild idea came to mind. Maybe it was those oddly familiar emerald eyes, or the dark blue fur, sure, those could be coincidences, but it didn't hurt to try.
"Sonic." He called out, almost talking to the air while he wasn't sure of his little theory. The result was just as expected, the beast turned its face towards him. "Sonic?" It- he, was standing now, hopeful eyes staring directly at the fox and his bushy tail wagging a bit hesitantly. "I-is that you?" Tails redundantly asked, it wasn't that he wasn't sure, but it.. "how?" It just didn't make sense.
The hedgehog —if he could still be called that— looked away in a very uncharacteristically shy gesture. In fact, almost all of his behavior so far seemed so, out of character. Instead of saying anything else, he closed the gap between him and Tails, gently pressing his nose to his brother's chest, every action careful and uncertain, as if he was afraid of startling the fox again.
Tails, ever the perceptive child, noticed this, and rested his head on top of Sonic's, immediately bringing his hands to his brother's fluffy face and playfully ruffled the fur on the sides, mostly as a way of reassuring his big brother.
That, too, stood out to him. Because well, when did someone like Sonic ever need reassurance?, it was usually the other way around.
Silence took over for a few minutes, Tails dedicated that time to half absently running a hand through his brother's fur, it was still dirty from the rain and he had some sticks here and there, but it didn't deter the fox. Rather, it made him question what Sonic was doing before crashing in his lab, or why he was basically hyperventilating after getting inside. It filled Tails with worry, but his concern started to dim the more Sonic's breath evened out, finally getting into a steady rhythm.
"Sonic?" He called out gently, the blue hedgehog barely lifted his head, giving Tails a sleepy glance as he tried to blink away his exhaustion, if they were in any other situation, he would've found the act endearing. "I know I'm not getting any explanation from you right now so... could we at least go to bed? You, um.." He considered how to organize his thoughts, while carefully inspecting his brother's appearance. "My best guess is that you might be nocturnal in this form, but you should also get some rest regardless. I promise you we'll figure this out in the morning."
Sonic stared at him blankly, before begrudgingly moving away. Tails was the first one to exit the lab, sluggishly making his way towards his room, if only his brain didn't feel completely fried, he'd be dragging Sonic for some testing and ask a multitude of questions.
Sonic walked behind, still in all fours. Once they reached the door to Tails' room, the small fox basically face planted on the bed, only pausing to half absently remove his shoes. The older brother stood near the doorframe, he was aware enough to know his place was in the guest's room, that was technically still his room when he decided to stay on his house for once, but...
A weak whine escaped him.
Tails turned to look at him, a little startled by the sudden noise, and maybe also because he wasn't expecting the large, fluffy silhouette that stared back at him.
"Ah- I thought you left." The fox sat up. "I assumed you wanted to be alone right now...?"
Sonic opened his mouth to say something, only to immediately shut it and let out a heavy sigh. Whether it was from frustration or exhaustion, Tails didn't have half a mind to ponder on it at the moment. Sonic got closer, carefully bumping his muzzle to Tails' knee.
The fox got the idea almost immediately. "You can stay here if you want."
It was odd, seeing the relief that washed over his brother's face, or the way he climbed up the bed with a reluctant wag of his tail. Last time they shared a room was also on a rainy night, one with a particularly strong thunderstorm, Tails begged his brother to stay that time, and the next time there was a thunderstorm. And the one after that.
He couldn't even begin to imagine how Sonic must've been feeling if he was the one asking to share a room.
Tails' concern basically melted off his body once he was surrounded by a wall of fluff, though. Sonic curled up around the small fox, pulling him closer by throwing one arm across his chest, Tails thought it might be inconvenient if he needed to get up before Sonic, but decided not to fight it right now. It was a problem for the Tails of tomorrow.
...
Tails woke up to a low, quiet rumble, and despite how soothing it might be to listen to, once he properly registered the sound after getting past the Just woke up brain fog, it snapped him wide awake just by how foreign it was on his ears. He sat upright, only now noticing the huge, dark furred arm that trapped him. The sudden movement seemed to startle his companion, cutting the low purr like sound short, and making Sonic's eyes open abruptly.
He immediately backed off in a jerky movement, which gave Tails some clarity as the events from last night came back to him. Ah, so that means it wasn't a dream.
Bright daylight filtered through the blinds, shining on the beast's dark fur, he looked alarmed, but nowhere near the same degree as the night prior. In fact, something about his expression seemed a lot more familiar to Tails now, a bit more controlled, far more aware.
And that expression only meant Sonic was ready to bolt out of the room in a blink, the fox tentatively reached out with his hand, not touching him yet.
"Good morning." He tried to keep his voice even.
Sonic took a few seconds gathering his thoughts, his face went blank for a split second before easing into a somewhat strained smile. "...morning."
Tails returned a small smile of his own, but something about his brother seemed so... off, different looks aside.
"You must have some questions, uh?" Sonic let out a breathy, almost humorless laugh. He looked at the space between his tail and the fox's hand, it nearly instinctively retracted further away from reach.
Tails' smile wavered as he put his hand away. "Quite a few, actually, but what concerns me the most right now is... are you alright? Aside from, uh. All of that." He vaguely gestured at the hero's general direction.
Sonic's eyes flashed at least three different emotions in a fraction of a second before settling on an easygoing smile, he almost looked like his regular self like that " 'course I am." And as per usual, he wasted no time before shooting down Tails' worries. "Just a bit more fluffed up, heh."
"You seem to be able to speak more easily now." Tails got off the bed, sensing Sonic's slowly increasing discomfort despite his casual attitude. "Do you remember anything from yesterday?"
He paused briefly. "Yeah." His voice was a little toned down. "It's a little hazy but, I'm pretty sure I do."
"Well that's interesting, do you know what caused this? We should go to my lab after breakfast, we need to know whether it is permanent or-"
"No, no." Sonic quickly cut off with another stiff smile. "I um, already know what's going on. It's just.." a quiet growl was building up his throat. "This wasn't supposed to happen."
"Uh? What do you-"
"I shouldn't be here." The statement came off more snappy than intended, the deeper and rougher voice being part of the reason.
"How is that a problem? You clearly..." Need help, yes. But he instantly caught himself, knowing very well by now that uttering those words never led to anything productive when it came to Sonic. "Could use some assistance. D-don't you want to know more about this?"
Sonic gave him a deadpan stare, seeing right through him as a thin piece of fabric, then sighed and plastered on his face the most carefree smile he could manage.
"Seems like you're the one who wants to know."
"Ah, nonono I didn't mean it like that. I know you've been sort of my test subject before but-" He stumbled on his words, afraid of the risk Sonic would get the wrong idea and close off even more. The uncertainty that Tails felt was starting to make him nervous.
"Just messing with you, don't worry." Sonic dismissed with a small paw wave. It was a normal thing, he usually moved his hands a lot in fact, but the action made him overly conscious of how big his paws were on this form. He stole a glance at Tails before quietly putting it down. He could probably hold him with only one hand. For some reason that thought made him uneasy.
"This is a lot more normal to me than you might think." He started in a low voice, as if he wanted to prevent anyone from listening despite them being alone in the house. "It started a while ago, when uh. Remember the time Eggman shattered the world?" He stepped down the bed to sit on the floor. It bothered him how Tails was still smaller than him even when he tried to be at eye level with the fox. "It left some...side effects. It'll wear off."
Now that peaked Tails' interest. "Of course I remember that. Wait.. so you mean..." His face scrunched up slightly. "Have you been dealing with this for that long? H-how often does it happen?, is that why you were so distant during that whole situatio? no- actually, is this why you usually disappear near the end of every month for a few days?"
Sonic let out an amused whistle, if he let Tails ramble further he was sure the little fox would piece the full picture together in just a matter of minutes.
"Is it triggered by moon cycles, by any chance?"
Ok, maybe just a matter of seconds.
"How'd you figured that out?"
Tails shrugged. "Just seems logic, based on some of your past actions."
"Heh, so you were caught onto me already."
He pondered for a second before hesitantly saying. "You weren't too subtle anyways.." Sonic lifted an eyebrow, as if silently expecting a proper explanation. Tails sighed, he almost felt guilty for suspecting anything from his big brother from the beginning. Almost. "You're always on adventures but, one, they're usually very sporadic and hold very little rhyme and reason. And two, you usually take me with you."
The last part wasn't meant to be too accusatory, but Sonic could feel the light edge the statement had to some degree. Tails fidgeted with the cuffs of his gloves.
"So when you start going on "solo missions" At very specific times of the month for a set amount of days, -which as far as I'm concerned is three to five, people start to make... at least some assumptions. At one point I even thought you were secretly hanging out with Shadow or something."
Sonic let out a laugh. "Me hanging out with Shadow? While the world isn't on the brink of destruction? Doesn't seem too likely."
The fox gave him a bit of a nervous smile as he put his hands up a little, doing a small sign of surrender. "I don't know, I don't know. Maybe he convinced you to be a top secret GUN agent or something." Tails joked, but it would be a lie if he said such a thing wasn't on the suspect list just a few months ago.
"Guess I can't keep any secrects from my sidekick." Sonic huffed in good humor, even if there was an almost bitter undertone to his words.
"You shouldn't have to." Tails stated instantly. The cobalt furred one gave him a mildly surprised stare, and then lightly shook his head as he sighed with a fondness so genuine, it nearly made Tails forget the fact that Sonic might not be as fine as he claims. The fact that his other smiles and gestures could sometimes be a fabrication.
The gentle smile that was sitting on Sonic's face right now, however, was nothing short of honest. "I'm glad to have such a reliable sidekick, y'know." And even if weariness coated his words, a subtle tenderness was there to accompany it.
It was a bit surreal, and it completely caught Tails off guard. After all, it was on very rare occasions that he got to have any sort of meaningful conversations with his brother.
He didn't like to think about that, though.
"Do you think the others have noticed anything?" He asked abruptly, his voice mostly keeping his usual nonchalant tone, but there was something else to it.
"I don't think they do, no." Tails stared at the floor briefly , not entirely sure of his words, but he didn't want his brother to overthink things for the time being. "I only realized those details because I'm always babysitting you when you get into trouble." He added to try to lighten the mood.
Sonic chucked. "And also because you're pretty smart. And it's not my fault the world needs to be saved every other day."
Tails smiled at him, although he faltered at the thought of his next suggestion, already expecting to be met with apprehension by Sonic. "Are you sure you don't want to come to my lab? It'd be quick! Maybe we can find a way to cure it..?"
Sonic shook his head. "Already tried, didn't work." He stood up from the floor, it was the first time that Tails has seen him standing on his back legs in this form, the older brother was immediately put off by the bigger than usual height difference. He walked towards the door, deciding to fall back on his four legs.
"Hey- where are you going?"
His steps started be quicker as he headed outside the room, towards the front door. "Just uh, need to go for a run real quick. Don't worry about it."
"We haven't even had breakfast yet!" Tails called out, trailing behind him.
"I'll get something on the way. Catch you later."
And just like that he sped off the house. The fox stared at his brother's figure getting farther and farther away, he was noticeably slower in this form, Tails could've probably caught up to him if he decided to fly after him. The fox contemplated the thought as words that went unsaid hung in his mouth, before closing the door with some unease sitting on his stomach.
Going for a run first thing in the morning was a very Sonic thing to do, that was the most normal thing that has happened to him in the past 24 hours. What worried Tails, though, was the fact that Sonic seemed to have other motives for running off like that.
He sighed, it wasn't even 8am and that hedgehog was already going to give him a headache.
...
To say that Tails' concern grew overtime was, a bit of an understatement.
Sure, he was a little uneasy over his brother's situation at first, but when he didn't appear to get lunch with the fox, or at night, or even the next morning- Tails started to feel that smidge of anxiety spread through his brain, often making him pause his activities to wonder how Sonic was doing. At some point he assumed the hero just opted to run off.
The small fox let out a frustrated huff as he opened the door to his garage -just in case Sonic was still around and decided to come back-. He thought he knew everything about his brother but...
He was having some doubts now, it only made him even more uneasy. Having second thoughts about the image of Sonic he constructed in his head was something that just, didn't happen.
And it wouldn't be happening now if he could make sense of any of the hedgehog's behavior.
Tails moved to his lab once more, not like he has left the cluttered place in almost all day, trying to keep his mind from wandering. It was just odd, wasn't it? Sonic usually never declined help during battle, even when he didn't ask for it, they were a team. Why was this any different?
...he was getting distracted again.
Tails sat with a heavy sigh, looking at the table occupied by unfinished projects. The first night Sonic was worried about scaring Tails, but he knew that wasn't the case, so that couldn't be the reason for his avoidance.
Was it something he said?
The fox hummed to himself. No, he couldn't remember anything of the sorts, although he did notice something about Sonic's actions, he was mainly hesitant at night, but acted very deliberately during the day, spoke carefully to keep his fangs mostly out of sight, paws and body hung low in a sloppy attempt to hide his claws and look smaller. Was he ashamed? Is that what this is about?
Tails' train of thought was cut short by the sound of clumsy shuffling and something scratching the floor, followed by the loud noise of spared pieces and scrapped metal falling to the ground. He put his tools down and headed to the garage slowly, if it happened to be Sonic, and he was in a similar headspace to when he first appeared on Tails' lab, then he should be a bit more careful.
Stopping near the door frame leading to the garage, he confirmed his suspensions. A big, hairy beast was currently sitting beneath a variety of materials that the fox kept neatly organized and stored away. He was frantically staring at every corner of them room, as if looking for something, then, his eyes stopped on Tails, giving him an apologetic look. The younger brother returned the gesture with a soft smile, holding off the scolding that hung on his tongue and the relief that washed over him.
"Need a hand over there?"
As if on cue, Sonic drastically pulled himself from under all the mess of metal parts, and backed away in a clumsy step, favoring his left side. Tails squinted at him.
"Are you hurt?"
Bringing attention to it seemed to be wrong move, however, judging from how Sonic looked more like a deer on headlights despite his current form. Tails thought he was planning to run off for a second.
"I'll just.. close the door, it- it must be cold outside." He wanted to help the hero, but perhaps he needed a less hands-on approach.
He sidestepped Sonic carefully, deliberately not looking at his direction, then closed the garage door to finally go back to his initial position. Sonic remained frozen the entire time.
"I'm going to be on my lab, alright? You can come in if- if you want."
There was nothing else he could do when all Sonic seemed to want was to stay as far away from him as possible.
As Tails worked the night away, he caught something in the corner of his vision, it was fleeting, but every time he moved from a place to another, he could spot a fluffy silhouette that followed from a distance, almost out of view. He snorted, maybe his first assumption about Sonic seeking for solitude was mistaken.
At some point he settled on his desk once more, and as the minutes ticked by, his fluffy companion inched closer and closer from his spot on the floor, where he watched Tails work, until eventually his nose brushed against the fox's leg.
Tails regarded him with an analyzing gaze, by the werebeast's movements earlier, he was inclined to think that his brother got hurt during his time outside, but from that angle and the fact that Sonic had his arms and legs tuckered beneath his body, it was impossible to discern any possible injuries. Tails ended up softly ruffling the fur on his head, deciding to hold those thoughts for the following day. Sonic, encouraged by the physical contact, pushed his head further, now fully resting on the other's lap.
Tails gave him a few last pats before getting back into his project, frustration and confusion caused by his brother's predicament quietly bubbled under the surface that was his mind, but got slowly pushed down as a low rumble filled the room like white noise. He briefly looked down at the culprit of said noise, only to find Sonic with his eyes closed and a small, drowsy smile. Tails absentmindedly reached to pet him once or twice every few minutes, each time rewarded with a content sound from the hero.
The situation was still far from ideal, Tails had lingering worries and far too many questions occupying his head, but surrounded by the warmth that radiated from the other's fur, and alongside his quiet company, it almost felt like maybe things were going to be alright.