Brother of Mine

Short but I wanted to put a happier chapter where nothing explicitly bad happens in here somewhere, y'know, just to show what their relationship might look like without all the angst. Thank you to all those who read/review/favorite/follow this story! It means a lot to me!

Disclaimer: Never owned Sonic the Hedgehog, probably never will.

Chapter 11: Shopping Trip!

Sonic's POV:

It's 9 a.m. already huh? Jeez, time sure seems to be flying these days, I thought while getting out of bed. My eyes briefly glanced at the calendar. Oh yeah, only one more week till Tails tells me why he was sad... I actually forgot about that. Hm, he probably got over it by now, we haven't argued once since I gave him that pep talk!

I yawned and stretched my arms as I walked into the hallway. Tails' door was still shut as usual. I went to go knock but then decided to let him sleep in today when I remembered that we had gone exploring all day yesterday. And 'cause I'm the one who told him to slow down and enjoy life after all. Still sorta surprised it worked this well too! Maybe my social skills aren't as bad as I think!

"Milk, cheese, butter, half-eaten chili dog, and an egg… man, we gotta stock up on groceries soon." Sighing in defeat, I started making breakfast with the uncooperative ingredients which I hoped would be at least half-tasty. But knowing my cooking skills, that probably wasn't going to happen.

Tails' POV:

It's finally 9 a.m.… thank Chaos, I thought as I rolled over on my bed. Even without a mirror I could tell that my fur was messy from tossing and turning around ever since I got in bed (It was either that or an electric shock, which if you couldn't tell already, I do NOT like at all).

Sonic's footsteps thumped from outside the door as I kicked my feet over the edge of the bed and sat up tiredly. That's all I could think of right now. I was tired-no wait, scratch that, I was reaaaaaaaaalllyyy… tired. So tired I couldn't even think of a word to use other than tired, that's how tired I was.

The smell of breakfast came flowing through the door and I almost throw up. Not from the smell! - I mean, but from the tummy cramp I suddenly got.

"Urghh…!" Oh why did Sonic's cooking have to be so good? Compared to my surprise 'breakfast' a couple weeks ago, he could slap two moldy sandwiches together and it would still taste better. That's how good he is at it.

I quickly rubbed my hungry tummy a couple times, trying to ignore the feeling as I stepped out of my room and into the kitchen.

"Good morning Sonic." Tails said upon entering the kitchen and taking a seat at the table.

"Mornin' lil' buddy," Sonic casually replied before realizing who he was talking to, "wait a sec... what are you doing up so early?"

"... guess I wasn't as tired as I thought I was, unless you want me to go back to sleep."

"No way, if you're not tired I'll take your word for it. Besides, I was gonna wake you up for breakfast soon anyway." Sonic said before placing a plate in front of the hungry cub, "I know it doesn't look that appetizing but at least it's edible," He stated scratching the top of his head awkwardly. "Sorry I couldn't make somethin better for you to eat, it's just that I forgot to go grocery shopping and since the store doesn't open for another hour I didn't wanna make you starve for that long."

Tails took one mouthful of the plain egg themed breakfast in front of him and instantly formed a grin on his face. "You kidding me? This stuff tastes awesome!" He said before taking another big bite.

Sonic pat Tails' head and grinned at the sight, "and that's why you're my favorite four year old, you always eat whatever I give you." He said taking a seat across from the kitsune. "When I was your age I wouldn't eat anything other than chili dogs."

Tails perked his eyes up into a "really?" look.

"Oh yeah you shoulda seen me," Sonic continued reminiscently. "I used to spit everything I ate back at my parents unless it was a chili dog. I remember this one time my mom made me try broccoli and boydid that not end well!" He motioned his hands and explained how nasty the aftermath of that particular incident was in just a little bit more detail than his singular audience was comfortable hearing.

Tails smiled and nodded through it all, always fascinated by the hedgehog's (in this case, not so much) heroic stories. Inwardly however he was a bit surprised to hear Sonic talking about his past so unrestrictedly, seeing as how neither of the two had so much as spoken of their separate pasts for the better part of a month now.

Pretty soon breakfast was finished, sped up by the lack of available ingredients (or when Sonic said he accidentally spat a half chewed chunk of broccoli into his mother's nose... yeah, even Tails lost his appetite after that) and, much to their surprise, it was still 9:30.

"Want me to help you wash the dishes?" Tails asked as he clambered onto the counter top.

"Nah, there isn't that much anyway," Sonic said.

"Oh, okay."

Tails looked around the kitchen trying to find something else he could do to help Sonic but everything seemed nice and orderly already.

"Hey Sonic, what are we gonna do today?" Tails asked while twiddling his thumbs.

"Well we could always explore more of Emerald Hill Zone if you want," Sonic said wondering what other places they could go, "we already went to Chemical Plant Zone yesterday, no way we're going to Aquatic Ruin or Casino Night Zone, so that leaves Hill Top, Mystic Cave, and Oil Ocean if you still wanna go exploring."

Tails scrunched his face up in thought before he asked, "do you wanna go exploring?"

"Me? Well, we found enough rings already so I guess we could do somethin other than exploring...but what?"

Tails stopped staring out the window when he realized that Sonic had directed the question at him, "I'm fine with anything you wanna do," he said quietly.

"Alright then… how about we go toooooo- Twinkle Park!" Sonic grinned.

"Twinkle Park?" Tails repeated doing his best to remain interested despite the idea already not settling too well inside him.

"C'mon you can't tell me you've never heard a' Twinkle Park!"

Tails shook his head.

"...the best amusement park on Mobius?"

Another no.

"...the fastest, biggest rides on the entire planet?"

...

"Oh we are SO going there now!" Sonic said grinning as he grabbed Tails' hand and led them to the doorway. "C'mon Tails, we gotta show you how to have some REAL fun!"

"But Sonic!" Tails whined as Sonic practically dragged him to the door. "What about the dishes? And the grocery shopping?" He let out a small gasp. "What about Robuttnik?"

"Robuttnik huh?" Sonic pondered putting a thumb to his chin. "You're right... he has been pretty quiet for a while, and if he does attack while we're at Twinkle Park then I'm not sure if there's any way for me to know about it," he sighed, "and... groceries," he glanced back at the fridge. "Right...I almost forgot about that."

"We don't have to go to Twinkle Park if you don't want to,I'd much rather do something if you want to do it too."

"Jeez kid, you've sure been giving me a lot of options to choose from lately. Somethin happen that I should know about?" Sonic asked but Tails quickly shook his head. "Riggghhht... and you're sure it's not 'cause you're scared to meet other people?"

Tails timidly held his hands together wondering what answer would make the hedgehog happiest, which was just enough time for Sonic to draw his own conclusion.

"C'mon Tails, there's nothing' to be afraid of," Sonic said kneeling down to the kitsune's height. "So you had a bad first experience, nobody hates you for it. None of what happened that day was your fault, okay? And besides, nobody got seriously hurt so it all ended well anyway."

"I guess..." Tails muttered lowering his ears.

"So, what d'ya say lil' buddy?" Sonic asked slowly raising his fist, "you wanna go to Twinkle Park?"

Tails let a small grin form as he returned the fist bump. "You bet Sonic!" he beamed.

"I'll be with ya every step of the way, now let's go! Twinkle Park here we come! ...right after we go grocery shopping."

Tails sighed leaning his elbows against the handle of the shopping cart. "Sonic do I have to sit here?" he half-grumbled to the hedgehog in front of him.

"Sorry Tails but you saw the sign, all children five and under gotta sit in the cart, store policy." Sonic replied apologetically, referring to the sign that confronted the duo at the store entrance. "And with how smaller you are compared to other kids, you could pass off as a three year old to anyone who doesn't know you."

"But it's so embarrassing; everyone can see me up here." Tails checked over his shoulders with a frown.

"Don't worry alright, doesn't look like a lot of people are here and we'll hurry up and get the groceries so we can go to Twinkle Park, sound good?" Tails nodded. "Good, you still got that list of stuff we gotta buy I asked you to write down?"

The little fox began rummaging through his tail giving Sonic a chance to look around. There were only a couple other people around them which was probably due to the fact that the store had just opened, and luckily none of them seemed to be that interested in the hero or the two tailed fox.

"Got it," Tails said handing Sonic a folded up piece of paper.

"Thanks bud," Sonic glanced around a final time before refocusing his attention back to his own shopping. "Uhh... Tails?"

"Yeah?"

"...what does all this say?" Sonic asked bewilderedly.

Tails leaned forward and saw the horribly crude handwritten words on the sheet. His finger traced the lines of what he presumed to be words as he fruitlessly tried to make sense of his own writing.

"That's umm...I'm... I don't actually know..." he nervously admitted.

"C'mon, ya don't know how to read your own handwriting?" Sonic teased, "then again, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to draw the list. Hey, is this an elephant?" He said rather amused by the situation and pointed at a large cluster of doodles, "Tails, you know we can't eat other Mobians!"

Tails' face turned red in embarrassment as other customers overheard the remark and Sonic just continued to playfully mock him. "I think I see a carrot here, and a couple birds, don't think we can buy those here though. OH look, at least you got the egg right, although for some reason it has a pretty big moustache..."

"Sonic!" Tails cried childishly throwing his hands up to cover his face in embarrassment.

Sonic couldn't help but laugh at the timid cub's reaction. "This is exactly why I brought you along Tails," he sighed happily patting the fox's head.

"To mess up your shopping lists?"

"Hehe, funny, but not exactly," Sonic said as he pushed the cart down the nearest aisle to begin stocking up. "It's 'cause you somehow make everything seem less boring to me."

Tails perked back up, no longer red faced but a bit surprised. "I do?"

"Oh yeah, big time too," Sonic grinned, "can't even tell you how much you affected my life since we met cause I'm not exactly sure myself. But I guess the best way to describe it is it's been a lot more fun having you around."

"But aren't you mad that I messed up the list?"

"Oh, that thing?" Sonic sneered pulling the sheet back out and crumpling it into a ball, "I never liked following instructions anyway. Always preferred doing things my own way, even if it'll take us a bit longer than I want."

Tails looked longingly at the passing aisles of fully stocked shelves, but never once missed a word said by the hedgehog. "But if that's true, then why'd we make a list anyway?"

"Guess I just wanted us to spend more time at Twinkle Park, since you've never been there before... and cause it's special chili dog day." Sonic muttered as an afterthought.

A slight frown formed on Tails' face, "If you want me to I could start practicing writing again, but I might need a little help 'cause eh… I haven't written anything in about two years."

Sonic grinned, "Don't worry about it Tails, you're still only four years old. I was just thinking that if you could fix a plane then for sure you could do something as simple as writing. I'll help you out if you want, would be kinda nice if I taught you something for once instead a' the other way around." He smirked bringing a smile to the younger fox's face. "But don't worry about it for now k? Let's just finish shopping so we can head over to Twinkle Park."

The rest of the shopping trip went by in a blur, much to Sonic's surprise. Though he somewhat expected it after he started racing the cart up and down the aisles and making race car noises to entertain the excitable kitsune, keeping true to his belief that bringing Tails along would make the trip less boring and thereby more fun.

The duo soon found themselves in the check-out line where, to Sonic's amusement, Tails was purely ecstatic that he was finally able to get out of the 'baby seat' and walk around on his own.

"Hi, how are you tod…" The cashier greeted them but abruptly stopped when she noticed who she was talking to. "Oh my gosh! You're Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"The one and only!" Sonic proudly replied with a grin.

"I can't believe this is happening!" She beamed, "Do you come here often? I'm new here but nobody told me about you! What's it like fighting Robotnik? And how do you do it if you're so young?"

Sonic smiled awkwardly at the barrage of questions, not having fully adapted to being famous yet. "It ain't an easy job, but someone's gotta do it, right?" He stated.

"Of course but I mean- you're so young! It's incredible how you've survived for so long," she said. Gee, thanks for the encouraging words, Sonic sarcastically thought. "What do you do you're not fighting Robotnik? Run around trying to find another one of his bases? Creating a plan to take back Robotropolis? Or donating to charity and helping the poor?"

"…actually I sorta run around until I get tired and take a nap," Sonic replied bluntly, grinning in amusement when he saw her mutter an 'oh' in disappointment. Heh, fangirls. Well, at least she doesn't look like she'll ask any more questions. "But today we're going to Twinkle Park, right lil' buddy?" He said in an attempt to get at least get Tails to say something but became confused when there was no reply.

"Tails?" Sonic looked down and saw the little fox staring very intently at something. Following his gaze, Sonic noticed exactly what the cub was looking at. He grinned, "A mint flavored lollipop huh?"

Tails snapped out of his longing-trance and turned from the lollipop display to his best friend, then back again. "Yeah…" he muttered sheepishly, "mint candy is sorta my favorite."

"Well what are ya waiting for?" Sonic asked bringing a confused look to Tails' face. "Go get one."

"Wha? Nah, it's alright," Tails said scratching the back of his head, "I didn't say I wanted one, I just y'know… liked looking at it. Besides, it wasn't on the shopping list anyway, we don't need it."

"I don't know…" Sonic began with a sly grin, "I mean, it could've been on the list… but we just can't read it."

Tails looked up in surprise, his mouth forming an 'O' shape. "You really mean it Sonic?"

Sonic couldn't hold back his own smile from the sight. "Go on lil' buddy, pick any one you want."

"OH thank you so much!" The cub squealed catching the hedgehog in a surprise hug before dashing off to the lollipop display.

"Jeez, didn't think he'd be that happy over a lollipop," Sonic said to himself as he returned to the checkout line. Not even a moment later he felt a tug at his hand prompting him to look down to see the giddy kitsune holding the lollipop in his hand.

"That was fast," Sonic said taking the sucker and placing it with the other items before turning his attention back to the cub. "You sure you only wanted one? Most kids your age would've asked for the whole display!"

An abrupt cough brought Sonic's attention back to the cashier who was once again looking at him in admiration.

"That'll be 152 Mobiums please."

Before he could even pull out his wallet Sonic felt another tug at his arm.

"Sonic that is way too much money!" Tails whispered fearfully much to Sonic's confusion. "Maybe we shouldn't get the lollipop, yeah, that might be a good idea."

Sonic held back from laughing at the cub's scared face. "Tails one little lollipop isn't going to change the price that much! Besides, I told you already didn't I? I don't mind spending a little more money for you."

Before Tails could say anything else, Sonic handed the necessary amount of money over making the fox gasp in surprise.

"You didn't have to do that you know…"

"I know, but I wanted to," Sonic grinned.

"Alright, here's your chang- Oh my gosh!" The cashier cried, confusing the two. "He's soooooo cute!" She squealed leaning forward to get a closer look at the four year old fox.

"Hah, he sure is," Sonic laughed ruffling Tails' hair while the cub looked down disappointedly.

"And so well behaved too! I didn't even know he was there until I looked over the counter!" She added to which Sonic agreed to.

"C'mon kiddo, let's get these groceries back home so we can head to the park!" Sonic said picking up the bigger bags so Tails could get the smallest.

"Thanks for coming! Have a nice day!"

"Heh, she seems awfully cheerful," Sonic noted as the two left the store. "See? Didn't i tell ya that nothing bad would happen?"

"Yeah," Tails agreed, although his thoughts seemed to be elsewhere.

Wonder what he's thinking about, Sonic thought as he rummaged through one of the bags. Probably what we're goin' to do at Twinkle Park today… ah, here it is!

"Hey Tails," perking up to the sound of his name, Tails turned to see Sonic holding the mint lollipop out towards him.

Tails gingerly took the sucker and stared at it, then at Sonic as if he were asking "can I eat it now?"

"What are ya lookin' at me for?" Sonic grinned. "Open it! I know you wanna!"

Tails smiled guiltily before eagerly ripping the wrapper off and sticking the lollipop in his mouth, letting out a satisfied hum.

"Thank you Sonic."

"Anytime lil' buddy." Sonic said making a mental note to buy more mint flavored candy for the cub. "C'mon, let's go home."

After a while of walking in silence, Tails' ears suddenly twitched as they picked up on sound that piqued his interest.

"Uhh… Sonic?"

"Yeah?" Sonic turned around to see Tails pointing at the building beside them. Following it, the hero was met with an image he most certainly did not like plastered across several TV screens.

"Robotnik…" he sighed.

If it wasn't obvious enough already, the esteemed doctor had just launched yet another attack, this time having decided to target the city of Westopolis.

"Sorry Tails, looks like we're gonna have to go to Twinkle Park tomorrow instead." Sonic said apologetically as he scooped the cub up, "c'mon, I'll take you home before I go fight Robuttnik again."

In a blur and rush of wind, Tails felt his surrounding morph into the hedgehog's usual speedy blobs and blotches. If he were truly honest with himself, he wasn't that disappointed that their trip had been postponed, and may have even been relieved by it a bit. But he knew that was wrong.

With a final goodbye, the hero ran off leaving him standing on the doorstep of their shared home. And in the comfort of the still cold air, Tails wondered whether what he was doing was right.

But then again, how could it be wrong? He thought with a slight grin, I'm not causing any more problems, Sonic's happy-

"OW!" He suddenly yelped rubbing his wrist in pain.

… and... that's all that matters.