“Sonic!” The mentioned hedgehog’s ear twitched at the call of his name, a single eye opening so he could look for who was calling for him.
It was Tails. The small fox was running towards him, a smile on his muzzle that Sonic could see clearly from his spot in the tree.
With a smile of his own forming, the teen hopped down from his perch. He stretched his arms up above his head as he watched the kit run up to him.
“Ms. Amy helped me make you something!” Tails’ smile was just about as wide as it could be as he came to a stop before the hedgehog, cupping his paws behind his back. The older couldn't help but chuckle at him, raising a brow once he noticed the batter-like substance that clung to the fur on his cheek.
He had a pretty good idea what that something is.
“Yeah?” Sonic asked softly, taking the kit’s chin in his paw to look at the batter. He licked his thumb before running it over the younger’s cheek, wiping away the batter. It smelled like chocolate.
Tails’ face scrunched up at the action, grimacing at the wet feeling running over his cheek. When the hedgehog was finished he wiggled out of his hold, using the back of his paw to wipe his cheek.
Sonic snorted as he wiped his paw on his leg, “Would that something happen to be a cake of some sort, buddy?”
“It's a surprise, Sonic!” Tails reminded, crossing his arms with a pout. The teen shook his head before raising his paws defensively–he's learned it's best to play along when his little brother adopts an attitude.
“Right, my bad.” Sonic closed his eyes and covered them with his right paw, extending the left one out to the younger. “Go on, take me to my top secret surprise, buddy.”
“You can't close your eyes now, Sonic.” The fox groaned, raising to his tiptoes to tug on the paw covering the older’s eyes. “We've gotta get to Ms. Amy's house first!” Sonic isn't sure why the kid kept calling her ‘Ms. Amy,’ she was only four years older than him. But he refused to drop the title, so they just kinda went with it. He'd grow out of it. Probably.
“Ohh, right. Obviously.” Deciding he wanted to mess with the kid a little bit more, he glanced down at the fancy little watch the fox made him. Taking note of the direction they needed to head to reach Amy's house, he turned and started walking in the opposite direction. “Let's go, then! Can't wait to–”
“Sonic!” Tails tightened his hold on the other's arm, pointing in the correct direction. “Her house is that way!”
“What? No way! it's definitely this way, li’l bro.” Sonic tugged his arm back just hard enough to pull the fox towards him a little.
Tails huffed at the action and spun his tails, taking to the air and quickly pulling the hedgehog up with him.
“Woah, woah, okay!” Sonic laughed, reaching up to pat the kid's paws. “I'll go the right way, promise.”
The kit’s eyes narrowed at his brother, but he ended up choosing to believe his word. He lowered the teen back to the ground, glancing at his own communicator to double check that he was right about the direction.
Sonic laughed and reached up to the flying fox, gently ruffling his bangs. The kit swatted his hand away, dropping to land beside him. His paws wrapped around his brother’s wrist once again so he could drag him down the path and back to the pink hedgehog’s house.
“Ease up on me, will ya, bud?” Sonic asked, though he didn't really care. He just wanted to be annoying. The fox rolled his eyes as he continued to pull his brother along. “It was an honest mistake!”
“Be happy you're still getting your gift.” Sonic wasn't really sure if it was normal for six year olds to grumble, but he figured it was best if he stopped pushing his luck. The kid had a pretty mean bite if provoked. Literally.
It was a short trip back to Amy's house. Sonic hadn't gone far on purpose, knowing the fox was still a little on edge being near others without him. It'd been a good few hours though, so he thinks it's safe to say the kiddo likes Amy.
“Found him!” Tails called out once they entered the house, letting go of the hedgehog’s wrist. He hurried to the kitchen to find the girl.
“Good!” Amy smiled sweetly at the fox as she carefully picked up a stand that held a small cake. “We worked really hard on this!”
Sonic couldn't help but snicker as he leaned against the doorway, “Figured it was a cake or something. Little guy carried some evidence in his fluff.” The kid shot him a glare, rolling his eyes when the teen winked at him.
“Well, when you have fun while baking it tends to get a bit messy.” The girl defended, walking over to present the treat to the older. “Now here!”
The cake was simple. It was small and circular, covered in a royal blue frosting with a line of bright red framing the bottom of the cake. The words ‘We Love You, Sonic!” were drawn out in, mostly, white frosting, with the ‘W’ being pink and the first ‘E’ being yellow.
Sonic could feel his heart swell up at the sight of it. It was typical of Amy to give him pastries with messages similar to this, but it was a new thing for Tails.
They didn't really vocalize their ‘I love you’s, it was just something between that went without saying. And while this wasn't technically saying it, he knew that the kid had to muster up a lot of courage for it.
With that knowledge, he carefully sped behind Amy to where the little fox was standing and trapped him in a hug. Tails squeaked at sudden contact, but started laughing when the hedgehog nuzzled his head.
“You did the decorating, didn't ya?” He asked, resting his chin atop the younger’s head. “It's just screaming you.”
“It's meant to represent you, Sonic,” Tails informed, trying his best to look up at the teen from their position.
“And it was a team effort, mister!” Amy scolded, huffing as she sat the stand on the counter. “We both baked and decorated it for you.”
“You know I'm just teasing, Ames.” Sonic sent the girl a grin, finally letting go of his little brother with a quick head ruffle, “It looks great though, really. Thanks.”
“Of course!” The pink hedgehog clapped her hands together excitedly and turned to the fox, “It was a pleasure to bake with Tails! He's really good.”
The youngest shrunk into himself at the compliment, muttering a quiet ‘thank you’ as his cheeks flushed red.
Amy smiled at him but decided to pivot away from his embarrassment, “Go ahead and sit down, I'll cut the cake!”
Sonic didn't argue with her and sat down at the table. Tails pushed a chair over so he could sit closer to his hero before climbing onto it.
“So, what flavoring did you two use, big guy?” The teen asked, emphasizing the 'two' so Amy knew he was crediting the both of them.
Tails giggled at his brother and looked over to the counter, “It's mint chocolate chip.”
“Mint, huh?” Sonic raised a brow, just barely managing to repress his snicker at the choice. “You sure this is for me?”
“No, the mint's for me. You won't eat the whole cake anyways.” The kit admitted looking down to his paws as he toyed with his gloves, his legs gently kicking as he waited for the treat.
“That is what's mainly for you.” Amy said as she sat the cake stand onto the table, nodding over to a small box on the counter next to the sink. “It's stuff for chili dogs for you two to cook later.”
“Oh, Ames, you didn't have to do that.” Sonic rubbed the back of his neck. He's mentioned struggling a little to get himself full meals with Tails tagging along, but he didn't mean to make her think she had to supply his food.
“It's no problem, Sonic!” The girl simply waved him off before using her knife to carefully pick up a slice of the cake and set it on Tails’ plate. “He mentioned how you guys have been cooking together lately and it's so cute!”
“Oh, yeah, it's a blast.” The teen decided to run with the topic change, setting his elbow on the table so he could rest his chin on his paw. “Little guy's pretty good. Won't be too long til he ends up being better than me.”
“Nuh uh! No way,” Tails firmly shook his end at that statement, moving around so he could sit on his knees to be taller. “I couldn't ever be better than you, Sonic.”
“No talking like that in my house, young man!” Amy scolded the fox with a stern look, reaching over to poke the tip of his nose. “I won't stand for it. Now let's enjoy this cake.”
Tails didn't argue, instead listening to the girl's command and taking a small bite of his slice of cake. He hummed around his fork, his twin tails wagging gently in delight.
Sonic wasn't surprised that the kid liked it. He'd eat anything mint flavored.
Meaningless conversation flowed between the three of them easily as they ate the cake. Sonic was glad that Tails was able to talk with someone other than him so effortlessly. It had been a long process, but they were making progress and that's all he cared about.
It didn't matter how long it'd take. His patience was endless when it came to his little brother, and he was more than happy to slow down for him.