Sonic the Hedgehog one-shots

Foxes go floof

"Stupid water," Sonic grumbled as he ducked into Tails' workshop, his little brother right behind him. It had been pouring outside for hours, and had caught the two right in the middle of a run/flight. They had been quite a distance away from the workshop, which normally wasn't a problem, but the rain made it hard for both of them to go as fast as they normally did. Sonic had had far too many embarrassing incidents of slipping in mud and crashing into trees because of the rain, and it was a lot harder for Tails to fly when his fluffy tails were wet and weighed down with water.

Tails was shivering, and his fur was soaked through and dripping wet; much moreso than Sonic, since his coat was thicker and longer. The second he was indoors, the little fox took off his socks and shoes, which were also filled with water, and made a face.

Sonic did the same, hopping on one foot as he took off each sneaker. He immediately headed for the closet where he knew Tails kept his washcloths and towels, brushing the water off his quills as he walked.

"Hey bro, you want a towel, blanket, or both—"

He broke off and jumped back with a hiss when Tails bent down and shook himself off, spraying excess water everywhere. The moment he'd finished, his golden fur just went POOF, sticking out at least a few inches more than it normally did.

Sonic couldn't help himself. He doubled over laughing, and laughed even harder when Tails just stood there for an extra few seconds, his eyes big in surprise.

"D-Don't move!" he wheezed at last, stumbling to the back of the workshop. "I need to grab the camera!"

Tails rolled his eyes with a tiny grin, but went along with it. The water still soaking him all but forgotten in the silliness, Sonic fumbled for the camera, turned it on, and raced back to his still-poofy brother.

"Make the face you had a second ago!" he pleaded, still on the verge of laughter.

His brother sighed a little, then regained his wide-eyed expression for Sonic. He snapped the picture, and as soon as he was sure the picture had saved, set the camera down and went right back to laughing uncontrollably, this time on the floor.

"You're tired," Tails pointed out with a grin. "It's not even that funny."

"I'm not tired, I swear," Sonic giggled. "It's totally funny. Look!" His voice was practically delirious with glee as he grabbed the camera again, pulled up the photo, and showed him. "I'm framing this and hanging it on the wall."

"Soniiiiic." Despite his supposed annoyance, Tails couldn't help finding his brother's goofy hysterics and the whole situation pretty endearing. "Don't you have enough embarrassing pictures of me in your possession? I don't need all our other friends seeing them too when they come to visit!"

"Yes, you do!" Sonic clambered back to his feet and scooped Tails up in a cradling hug. "They need to see how cute you can look!"

"Hey, you're still wet!" Tails protested, flailing out of Sonic's arms. "I just got dry!"

"Yeah, and it was adorable, too!"

"Okay, okay, your turn!" Tails snatched the towel Sonic had dropped on the floor and took to rubbing down his older brother, much to Sonic's protests. Since Sonic had more quills than fur, it didn't have nearly the same effect, but it did end up completely messing up his head spines.

Sonic shot him a look when he was done, although the stupid smile was still plastered on his face.

"If you're framing that picture and hanging it up, then I'm taking a picture of this and doing the same," Tails announced, a smirk in his voice. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!"

"Fine, fine," Sonic sighed, but stepped back and posed proudly, messy quills and all. Tails snapped the picture and snickered.

"You look like a complete doofus."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Sonic gave him finger guns, and Tails rolled his eyes yet again.

"I'll print both of those out in the morning," Sonic announced. "But for now, it's been a long day. Whaddya say I make you a cup of mint tea and we call it a day?"

His little brother grinned. "As long as you let me make you a cup of hot chocolate. No taking chances after all that time in the rain. And you're staying here for the night."

"No, duhh." Sonic held up his hand for a fist-bump, then headed to the kitchen, followed closely by Tails. "I need a little break. Water actually drains my power, that's why I hate it."

"That's a lie and you know it," Tails scoffed, grabbing a packet of cocoa from the cupboard while Sonic snatched a mint tea bag from beside the kettle. Tails filled the kettle and turned on the heat.

"Yeh, yeh." Sonic jumped up onto the counter and sat down, falling silent as the two waited for the kettle to boil. Tails climbed up beside him, and, after a moment of yawning, leaned into his brother's side.

Sonic tilted his head down against Tails'.

Both of them had drifted off a little by the time the kettle finally started whistling, and they both jumped a little. Tails moved to take it off the stove, but Sonic held him in place with one hand as he jumped off the counter and turned off the heat. He took a mug down from the cupboard and poured Tails' cup of tea, and was just about to make his own warm drink as well when his brother started whining.

"Hey, I wanted to make your drink," Tails protested, jumping off the counter and landing with a slight thump. "Lemme through."

"Okay, okay," Sonic sighed with a little smile. He stepped aside and let Tails get to it while he added a couple things that he knew the fox kit liked in his tea. After another minute of quiet preparation, the two handed each other their mugs and made their way out to the couches.

Sonic set his mug down on the end table, then grabbed a pillow from the other couch and fluffed it up. Tails had flown into his bedroom, but he flew back out a moment later with his blankets and pillows, which he arranged on the other couch. "I thought a camp-out sounded cool," he informed Sonic with a tired grin, then stepped over and slipped a coaster underneath Sonic's steaming mug.

Sonic reclined on the couch he'd chosen with a contented sigh. "Sounds good, bud. It's been a while since we last had one."

And so the two relaxed there, in sleepy conversation as they sipped their beverages. Tails fell asleep maybe a half hour later, and despite the unplanned events of the evening, Sonic couldn't help but feel like it was the best day he'd had in a while.