Requested by: Cloey5
"Yeah."
"And then Sonic ran up the wall and sprang off, doing a spin dash, but it was all so fast it was kind of a blur. You can probably keep up with him, can't you?"
"Yeah." Tails screwed something onto the Tornado, only half listening to the (a/t) rambling about a scuffle Sonic had had with...he didn't even know and didn't really care. He wasn't exactly the happiest with the hedgehog at the moment.
"You're not listening."
"Yeah."
"Okay." Tails froze, then whirled around and looked at (Y/n). She eyed him, then sighed. "It's okay. You probably hear about this stuff all the time. I just got so excited that I thought...." She shrugged. "Nevermind." Her face lit up. "I bet Fiona will listen!" She then turned and ran off. Tails opened his mouth, then closed it, his tails drooping.
The (a/t) was a young new addition to the team, a lot like Tails, at least in age. She was fascinated by Sonic and often liked to watch him fight, but also like Tails, she was really smart. Just fighting alongside the world's favorite hero was a new thing and she was very excitable. It was a sort of childish wonder Tails found he'd been missing out on, but not enough to want to listen to her ramble about Sonic's fights and how Fiona was so nice to her.
Tails didn't like those parts of her rants. It seemed like the female fox wanted Tails to start paying attention to (Y/n) so that he would let go of her. And when Sonic talked about the (a/t), that seemed like a very prominent undertone to his conversations about her. It just made the fox want to whap the hedgehog hard across the face with his tails.
"'Sup, buddy!" Speak of the devil. Tails glanced behind him as Sonic sauntered into the workshop. "How you holding up?"
"Fine," he said.
"I saw (Y/n) run out of here earlier. She looked a little sad. Did you say anything to her?"
"No...." That was true. Tails hadn't really said anything.
"Okay," Sonic said, sounding unconvinced. He put his hand on Tails' shoulder. "Well, if you ever need anything, you can just ask. Though, she might be the better option. She totally helped Rotor build a robot yesterday and it's awesome! You should check it out."
"Maybe later," Tails said, returning to work on his plane. "I have to finish this first."
"Okay. We're all having dinner at Uncle Chuck's tonight, so don't miss it!"
"Okay." Tails heard Sonic leave after a small moment of hesitation and let out a breath. Then he straightened and went back to work.
~
"Oh, really? That sounds intense!" Fiona said, clasping her hands. (Y/n) nodded. "I mean, he did use one of your creations to help out."
"Well, it wasn't that good," the (a/t) said, scratching behind her ear.
"Did Tails hear about this?"
"I didn't get that far with him."
"Why not?"
"I don't think he cares very much?"
"What? Why?"
"I don't know. I don't think he likes me. He probably thinks I'm annoying." (Y/n) sighed. "I sometimes think I'm annoying. I may be...smart, like some people tell me, but you only live once and people like Tails, they're sometimes so focused on saving the world and being a hero that they miss out on the things that make life worth living, like the small moments. So I try and treasure those. I try and live my life to the fullest. That's what I noticed in Sonic. That's probably why you like him, right?" Fiona nodded, giving her a small smile.
"Well, I'm going to go meet up with the blue blur," she said after a moment. (Y/n) shook out of her thoughts and smiled up at the fox. "And, what you said about treasuring every moment, that's deep. I'll keep it in mind."
"Cool! See you around!" The (a/t) waved then scampered away to go find Rotor.
~
The fox settled down next to Sally and (Y/n) at the table in Uncle Chuck's Diner. Charles served them himself, congratulating them all on a day well done.
"Thanks!" (Y/n) said when he passed her the meal. Sonic whispered something to Fiona and Tails' ears dropped, muzzle twisting. Sally nudged him.
"Oh, thanks," he said, taking his food from Chuck. (Y/n) was talking with Rotor, making the walrus burst out into laughter. Bunnie caught onto the conversation and started snorting as well.
"You ever wonder how she does that?" Sally murmured.
"Do what?" Tails asked.
"Be so happy." The fox glanced at the (a/t) as she bit into her food, nodding as Bunnie added something. Even Antoine was smiling, now. "I've always wondered how Sonic manages the battle banter and then to be so cool afterwards. We're in the middle of a war and he's still laughing at Eggman."
"Yeah," Tails said, staring at his own food. "I wonder that, too."
"No, you did not," Bunnie said, staring at (Y/n). Rotor was laughing even harder and Antoine was covering his mouth to muffle his snorts.
"I did! I swear!" the (a/t) said. "But I rebuilt it for him afterwards."
"That's even better!" Rotor exclaimed.
"Yeah, but I...sort of reprogrammed it to insult him whenever he gave it an order. I'm always wondering if that robot is still standing."
"What's happening?" Tails asked.
"(Y/n) destroyed one of Eggman's robots with another one of hers," Bunnie said. "Then she rebuilt the thing and programmed it to insult him when he gave it an order." Rotor started laughing again. "I want to meet this robot!"
The rest of the dinner played out like that, sharing stories and laughing. Tails even found himself laughing with the rest of them, almost forgetting about his girl problems.
Almost.
When they walked out of the diner, Fiona linked her arm through Sonic's and the pair walked away, leaving Tails to stare sadly after them.
"Hey, Tails!" (Y/n) said, coming up behind him and tapping his shoulder. He turned around and she held something out for him. "Rotor helped me make this for you." It was a small robot, a dragon looking creature. It lifted off the (a/t)'s hands and flew once around Tails' head before landing on his shoulder and nuzzling its smooth head against his cheek.
"Wow," he said. "What's its name?"
"Oh, I...I didn't name it. I thought you might want to." She hugged herself. "I've just kind of been thinking of it as Dart, 'cause he's so small...." She shrugged, waving a hand. "I'm going to my place. I'll see you around."
"(Y/n)!" Tails called. She glanced back at him. "Thank you." She nodded, offering a smile before skipping away. He glanced at the dragon as it stared up at him with shining blue eyes. It opened its mouth and spurted a small burst of fire that startled the fox. "Whoa!" He smiled. "Well then, Dart, why don't we get back to my place?"
~
The next morning, Tails got up bright and early, placed Dart on his shoulder, and walked out to meet with the Freedom Fighters.
"(Y/n)!" he called. She waved to him as he lifted off the ground, flying over Bunnie and Antoine to land beside her. "Dart is like a little heater at night! He's the best! And last night, I found that one control you put in that allows him to identify and retrieve! Holy Chaos, that's awesome!"
"Thanks!" she said. "But don't let him sleep by your ears. His engine runs really loud when he's right there, so it'll keep you up all night."
"Noted." They began talking about the other mechanisms inside the little dragon, who was perched atop Tails' head, seemingly unaware of the topic of conversation. Sally stood off to the side, smiling. Tech nerds.
"There's a blood moon tonight," (Y/n) said when they'd exhausted the topic. "And did you see the stars last night? So pretty!"
"I crashed last night," Tails said.
"Oh. Well, maybe you can come see them tonight! Nature can be super fascinating, just like tech." Tails tilted his head. "Though sometimes, the constellations really confuse me because they take three stars and then say: 'Yeah, this looks like so and so.'" Tails giggled. "Right?" She laughed. "Anyway. What are you doing today?"
"Adding a couple mods to the Tornado," the fox said. "You?"
"Rotor asked me to help Nicole with something. I'm super excited! Nicole is the best! I saw her hologram form. She's so pretty!" The (a/t) sighed dreamily. "Alright. See you later!" She ran over to Rotor, who had Nicole's computer form in hand. Tails stared after her, then a smile broke out over his face.
"Come on, Dart," he said. "Let's see what we can do to the Tornado."
~
"What you got going on in here?" Tails froze, his tails lifting. He turned around and saw Fiona leaning against the door frame.
"Uh, n-nothing," he said, his ears dropping as he blushed and rubbed behind his neck. "I just finished, actually."
"Hm," Fiona said, walking forward and putting her hand on the plane. "Slick." Tails flicked his tails. For some reason, he felt like she was baiting him. Trying to make him feel something. It didn't feel right. His ears stood up.
"Thanks," he said. "But I have yet to test it. See you around." He hopped into the pilot seat and started up the plane, forcing Fiona to move as he guided it out the large door. He lifted off the ground, placing a pair of goggles on his face. He didn't look back as he situated Dart next to the dashboard so the dragon had a view out the front window.
He flew around, testing out the speed and maneuverability. Good, good, good. The fox turned back and flew down to the ground, parking back in the workshop. Fiona was gone. And for some reason, Tails for once didn't care.
"Hey, Tails!" He looked up and waved when he spotted (Y/n) situated in a tree. She waved back and patted the branch. He used his tails to get up to her, landing and sitting beside her. "How's the Tornado? I saw you flying it around."
"It was good," the fox said. "Dart loved it." The metal dragon gave a little agreeing gurgle, flapping his wings eagerly. He glanced at the (a/t). "I could take you flying later."
"Oh, that's okay. I have a project going."
"Surely you can spare a half hour?"
"It's...it's really important. I just came up here for a breather." She looked away. Tails hesitated, then nudged her.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "You seem to be avoiding me. Like you always have something to do."
"I'm busy a lot. That's normal, right? I mean, for you heroes, I guess." Tails tilted his head, one of his ears falling.
"Did I do something?" he asked.
"No. Honestly, it's fine." She inched towards the trunk of the tree. "I've got to go. This stuff ain't going to program itself!" Tails watched her climb down the tree and trudge away, head lowered. Something just wasn't quite right and he was going to find out what.
~
"You're good with people," Tails said later that evening to Sally. The princess shrugged, glancing up. Sonic walked past with Fiona, talking amiably with the fox.
"I guess," she said. "Most of the time, anyway. You saw how I handled that relationship." She sighed, hugging herself. "Anyway. What did you need?"
"(Y/n)'s been acting off towards me. She always has something to do when I want to do something with her, but she acts as friendly towards me as ever when we're as a group, so I just can't figure it out. She doesn't want to spend time with me alone, I guess."
"Maybe she got the wrong vibes," Sally said, turning Tails around and pointing at Fiona. The female fox quickly looked away, engaging herself quickly in a new conversation with Sonic. "I mean, you have been pining after Fiona for a long time, and have you ever thought that (Y/n) might have a crush on you like you have one on Fiona?"
"And...and I pushed her away!" Tails exclaimed. "She's just trying to be polite!" He slapped his forehead. "I've been an idiot! I have to make it up to her."
"The blood moon tonight," Sally said. "Talk to her then." Tails paused, then nodded. The (a/t) did love nature.
"Thanks," he said. "I'll do that!" Then, with an idea in mind, he ran off to his workshop.
~
Tails found (Y/n) sitting in the tree above her house, staring up at the colorful moon that night. He flew up behind her, landing softly and gripping his gift.
"It's pretty," he said softly. Her ears flattened but she didn't look at him. She gave a tiny nod. Tails sat down on the branch, fingering his gift.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I gave you a bad vibe, especially with Fiona. But I know I'm probably never going to get her - she's Sonic's now. And I know she doesn't care about me, so it's time to let her go."
"Good for you." The fox sighed. Then extended his hands to her.
"This is Wonder," he said. A tiny robotic griffin stood on his palm. Dart was still curled up on his shoulder, eyeballing the new creation. (Y/n) finally glanced at him, a smile breaking out on her face.
"He's beautiful," she said. Tails nudged the griffin into her hand and it spun in a circle, flapping its wings and purring as it looked up at her.
"He's a growing AI," Tails said. "And since you love nature...." He tapped Wonder and pointed at the moon. The robot looked up at the red sphere, staring before turning back to Tails. "Wonder, project."
And then the image was in front of them. (Y/n) gasped, delighted. "Oh, Tails, he's wonderful!" She let out a laugh at her pun.
"And he's yours," the fox said.
"Th-thank you," she said softly. "And I'm sorry that I brushed you off. I just thought you might think I was annoying. Just, fighting alongside Sonic is so exhilarating, so I sometimes forget that you're all used to it by now."
"It's okay," Tails assured her. "Sonic still baffles me sometimes, too." He patted Dart's head. "But you have taught me something." He nodded at Wonder. "I named him after something you show. You've showed me what I've been missing! If you hadn't told me about the moon, I never would have seen it. There are so many things to life that I haven't been paying attention to lately and you made me see that. I still have so much life to live, so much love to give, and I almost missed it." He linked his arm with hers. "So thank you for giving me another chance to see that."
"Oh!" she said, grinning. Her cheeks tinted pink and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "You're welcome!" She pointed up at the stars. "In that case, Wonder, do you mind?" She glanced at Tails. "I'm going to use him a lot, okay? I've got so many things I want him to save, so many things I want to keep for a lifetime! Best gift ever! Thank you so much!" She hugged him as best she could from the side and he smiled. "Now, this night isn't going to catalogue itself!"