Thankfully, Tails was right; his house wasn’t very far away at all. In fact, it only took the boy genius mere minutes to make the trek. Unbeknownst to you, Tails’s house was actually a small abode situated directly next to the hangar that served as his workshop. After you both passed front of the car, Tails had deftly maneuvered through a number of very large and complex engineering equipment until he reached the far left hand corner of the hanger.
The doors that stood there lead to a small corridor, only about a few yards long and about four yards wide. In sharp contrast to the very imposing construction of the hangar, this hallway appeared quaint and practical. As Tails took you down it, you gazed upon the walls and noticed that they were made out of slats of corrugated metal riveted together. Though the materials may have been crude, you could tell by the straightness of the lines of rivets that great care was taken in the corridor’s building.
At the far end of the corridor, a plain looking wood door blocked off the entranceway to Tails’s house. Tails’s footfalls seemed to grow more impatient as he approached the door; by the time he did, he practically threw it open in front of you both.
Even though it was daytime, the fox boy’s home appeared to be rather dark, any windows that filtered in light appeared to be on the far end of the house and out of your view. Your new host took a few steps forward, entering what appeared to be the kitchen and dining room areas. He placed you down on the simple wooden table as gingerly as he would place a flower, and it was only then that he ran back across the room to pull the thin white string that was connected to the lights above.
When the florescent bulbs hummed to life, you were finally able to take in your surroundings properly. You were right in your assumption with this room you are standing in was the kitchen; off to your right, a series of mismatching cabinets adorned the walls above a countertop that looked more fitting as an examination table in a doctor’s office. The rainbow of colors and materials in the kitchen alone made your head spin…evidently, Tails scavenged sets from whatever he could find and simply put them together in a sort of Frankenstein fashion. Even the light fixtures above and the tiles below didn’t match from one to the next.
However, in spite of the fact that their origins may have been drastically different, you can’t deny that the whole set up was carefully put together and lovingly maintained. Everything looked brand new; reflective surfaces were polished to a brilliant shine and the woods sparkled brilliantly with fresh coats of wax and varnish. The tiles below you looked spic and span, even in the grouting.
You turn around to see what was directly opposite the kitchen, but unfortunately there’s not much to look at. The room next to you appears to be the living room, though the majority of it stretched around a bend and out of your sight; what you DID see was a thickly cushioned brown couch and small end table (which, of course didn’t match the couch OR the rug underneath it in the slightest).
You thought the flooring below the couch, which ran from well inside the living room to about a few inches before then end of your table, was some kind of strange green rug. However, upon further inspection, you realized that it was actually some kind of AstroTurf, patterned with pinstripes of light and dark green. You wonder why on earth he would have a rug that looked like that...but then you remember the fox boy’s first appearance in the game series.
Tails gets your attention when he suddenly speaks directly behind you, initially causing you to flinch as the boy spoke in a particularly loud and enthusiastic voice.
“So little guy, whatcha want to do first? I can head to my room and bring out some board games or something…Oh, or I could take you around the house and show you around…OR…”
The boy is cut off by the particularly loud grumblings of your tiny stomach. Your cheeks brighten in embarrassment, but Tails simply giggles it off.
“Oh, yeah; I guess you’re pretty hungry, huh? Well, I think I got just the thing for that.”
His tails begin to spin, and soon the young inventor is airborne, hovering over towards the cabinets. As soon as he opens them, you see that they are littered with a myriad of containers…some of the labels advertise that they are filled with hand wipes, or nails. Still others look like simple glass mason jars; it’s through these that you discern that every container in that cabinet is filled with a myriad of brightly wrapped confections.
Tails first flies over to an adjacent cabinet and produces a large glass bowl. He then hovers back, and begins taking fistfuls of candy out of each of the containers, depositing the pieces in the bowl. Once he’s stuffed it to the brim, he abruptly stops spinning his tails, causing him to drop to the floor with a cacophonous crash. It’s loud enough to cause you to wince, but your smile returns when you see Tails joyous face as he rushes back over to you with his bowl of goodies.
“I don’t really know what you’d like, so I grabbed a little of everything. Here, let me lay ‘em out for ya.” He does so right away, deftly picking different pieces from the bowl and presenting them to you. Once they are arranged in a neat line a few paces away, he pulls a chair closer to him before sitting down, resting his elbows on the table in order to prop up his head by his cheeks.
You can feel his glimmering blue eyes follow you as you inspect all the pieces of candy that lie before you. Each one varied in size from sour sucky candies the height of your waist, to a lollipop that stretched out to about two times your height. After looking them over, you decide to start unwrapping a medium sized piece of chocolate. Though it’s fairly awkward, you do manage to rip the package open yourself.
You happily chow down on your food, highly aware at the bedazzled boy looming over you. Each time you glace up at him and meet his eye, he seems to twitch with glee; though he doesn’t speak a word or otherwise make a sound.
You slowly begin to find the silence awkward, so you decide to strike up a conversation. Of course, you need a pad of paper to help with this, so you sign up to Tails that you’d like a writing implement and something to write on. Much to your surprise, the boy genius looks miffed when he gives his reply.
“Aw man, how could I be so careless? Of course you need something to write on in order to talk to me. Just wait right here, I’ll be right back.”
The boy flies away and around the bend. In the distance, you hear distinct rustling sounds that start and stop at seemingly random intervals. In time, the sounds grow louder and louder; until eventually you hear a loud crash and a feeble interjection of pain from your young host. All’s quiet for a moment, and then you see Tails hover around the bend again, one hand gripping a pencil and sheet of paper, the other one rubbing the back of his head.
He gently places the items in front of you, and you decide to immediately go to work on crafting a message. You had a lot to say to the boy…in truth, while you liked every member of the Sonic cast, there was always a special place in your heart reserved for the orange fox. You fondly remember the hours you would spend playing as him in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and how, in a way, the boy was just like a kid version of yourself. You watched the boy grow as a character in every game; going from an obedient sidekick playing second fiddle to the titular character, to growing into the very hero he had idolized.
And HE was interested in YOU. A chuckle leaves your lips at the irony of the situation as you scribble your first question into the ground beneath you.
When you finish, Tails looks over your message excitedly, reading it back aloud. “ ‘What were you going to use those measurements for?’ OH, yeah those…well, ya see I kind of promised Silver that I’d make you some kind of protective suit, in order to keep you safe whenever he wasn’t around.”
You tsk in disgust. Of COURSE he would commission Tails for that…his overprotection truly knew no bounds, didn’t it? But before you could get too mad at that, you notice a change in your host’s expression. He looks down at his fidgeting hands, while his perky triangular ears lower slightly and his whipping tails slow considerably.
“But…I didn’t really tell him that I…well, I don’t really have the materials and tools I’d need in order to make it. I was hoping he’d…bring you around one day, and then I’d have an excuse to…hang out with you and stuff.”
He suddenly clasps his hands together in a praying motion, closing his eyes when he speaks again. “Please don’t tell Silver…he’s been nice enough to give me descriptions of future technology. I wouldn’t be able to develop that stuff without his help and…well he’s just a cool guy and stuff and I don’t want him mad at me.”
You quickly write a reassurance to him when he opens his eyes, consoling him that you’ll keep his secret. He looks immensely relieved at first…then he brightens up.
“Well, I may not be able to give Silver what he wants…but from what I’m told, I think I might have something that YOU’D be interested in.” He winks at you, though you’re unsure as to why.
He suddenly stands and places his hands on his hips as he says, “I’ve been itching to learn more about you. Whaddya say about being a test subject in a few experiments? And don’t worry; it’s nothing dangerous or anything. In fact…I bet you’ll like it.” He giggles in that adorable fashion again, but this time you sense the slightest hint of deviousness in his voice.
Just what do these experiments entail, exactly?
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