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It happened in December. The first of December, to be exact. That was the day Shadow realized, he knew absolutely nothing about Tails.
It wasn’t that he didn’t care about him or ignored him, he just hadn’t ever had a casual conversation with the boy. You couldn’t exactly blame Shadow. After all, they'd only interacted when saving the world so far. Those were the only times it had been necessary. Still, Shadow had talked to Sonic and Amy so much before and after saving the world; he’d even spoken with Silver and Knuckles. How could he ignore Tails? He felt he owed it to the fox to try and get to know him better. This, however, was far easier said than done.
***
“You want to know more about Tails? Hm, I suppose you haven’t chatted with him since Amy’s birthday… “ Rouge remarked when Shadow brought up his concerns at their apartment, “Still, I never had pegged you as the sociable type, and the kid’s your exact opposite. What brought this on?”
“We’ve had far too many misunderstandings and I just don’t know enough about him. I planned to get him a gift for Christmas, but I don’t even know what he likes.”
Rouge chuckled, “I see. But are you really sure about this? I’m just a little worried you’ll get all worked up. Do you really want to…?”
“I just want to know more about him, that’s all there is to it.” Shadow repeated as he chewed another spoonful of his morning coffee beans. He had planned to just talk to Tails on his own, but he had no idea where to find the kid. Moreover, it felt wrong to just walk up to him and start a conversation. So here he was, talking to Rouge about his problems, hoping she’d understand and actually help.
Rouge shrugged as she sipped her drink thoughtfully, “Hmmm. Well, if you insist. But what do you need me for? I know you wouldn’t tell me all of this without reason.”
“I…don’t know how to talk to him.”
Rouge raised an eyebrow, surprised, as she crossed her arms, “Well, what do you want me to do?”
“Could you just set up a meeting for us?” he asked, looking up from his bowl straight at Rouge intently.
Rouge looked startled for a few seconds, before chuckling, “You want me to set up a meeting? I don’t regularly chat with him either, you know. And really, Shadow, a meeting? To talk to a nine year old?” She sighed, “Still, I suppose I’ll see what I can do. I do expect a good meal in return.” She added at the end with a wink.
Shadow sighed in turn, “Of course. Thank you, Rouge. I’ll get you something later.”
This was how Shadow found himself, clad in a scarf and gloves on a snowy Tuesday afternoon, standing outside Tails’ house and knocking on the white wooden door. Rouge had managed to set up a meeting and given him the exact address. “Don’t you dare get distracted in a fight with Sonic or something of the sort!” She had warned, “I’m not getting you another one of these meetings!”
Looking at the large yellow house shaped like Tails’ head, he couldn't believe he hadn’t figured it out earlier. Frankly, he thought the whole place looked a little ridiculous, but he was trying to withhold judgement until he actually talked to Tails. It wouldn’t be fair to leave the fox waiting without even trying to chat with him. After a brief wait in the snow, during which Shadow counted the icicles on Tails’ windows, the door opened to Tails himself with a nervous smile and stained goggles on his head.
“Hey, Shadow! Rouge said you wanted to chat with me, right? Come on in.” He said awkwardly, opening the door wide and stepping to the side. He took off the gloves he was wearing and put them on a shelf near the entrance as he stepped aside from the door.
Shadow entered the house, giving a slight nod in greeting as he passed Tails. In a few quick movements, he took off his scarf and gloves, setting them on the shelf with Tails’. Glancing around the house, he saw that it was filled top to bottom with inventions, all of them efficiently working away to make tea, wash clothes, organize cabinets and accomplish all other manner of household chores. The scent of cosmos filled the air, drowning out the smell of machine oil coming from Tails’ worktable. He could also spy some cosmos bouquets in almost every room he could see.
Tails watched Shadow examine his surroundings before asking, “Would you like some tea? I’ve got cookies too! They’re…mostly mint if that’s ok. I think I might also have jam but we’re out of bread at the moment.”
“That’s fine, I’ll just take the tea.” Shadow replied cordially, sitting down at the chair in the sitting room and crossing his arms.
Tails got together two flower painted cups and filled them with tea before grabbing a tin of cookies from his cabinet, setting them down on the table in his sitting room. He had to push a few screws and bolts off the table and take a half finished robot off one of the chairs so they could sit down. On top of the table was another pot with some small, green, leafy plant growing in it.
Shadow sat down across from Tails, taking a sip of his tea. The taste of apples and cinnamon filled Shadow’s mouth and the warm feeling it brought him helped calm his nerves as he took another sip.
“Hmm. It’s an interesting blend. Did you make this yourself?” Shadow asked.
“Oh! No, I um I got it from Vanilla. She said she’d wanted to experiment a little bit but she made too much. D-Did you know she’s been teaching Cream how to make it? Though Cream’s concoctions are a little more…unique…..I-I don’t even want to know what she put in the last batch. Certainly something I wouldn’t bring home.” He said with a nervous laugh.
Shadow nodded, “I’ve tried some of Cream’s teas. She has gotten better since she first started making it and I’d say her tea is better than yours would ever be. Her progress is truly impressive.”
“Oh…uh I wasn’t really comparing…w-well um I didn’t know she's improved! I mean, it all seemed a little inedible last I checked. No offense to her of course!”
“Hmph. Maybe for someone who isn’t the Ultimate Lifeform.”
“Ha ha, busting that out on me? Do your alien genetics give you immunity to food poisoning?”
“Yes, actually, they do.”
Tails laughed again, “Lucky, I wish I got that! If only…”
A long silence passed between them as the conversation died. The ticking of Tails’ wall clock and the clink of machinery flimsily attempted to fill the blank space. Tails sat at his seat for a few moments, fiddling with his teacup, just watching Shadow before asking, “Sooooooo…did you need anything from me? Like anything important…?”
“Oh, yes, I…” Shadow searched for something to say, trying to think of some small talk or a way to explain his situation. “What would Maria do?” He wondered to himself as was often the case before immediately envisioning Maria’s voice in his head as he recalled a conversation they once had.
“Ask him about himself! Anything but stand there all menacing, it’s going to scare him! Like…how about-”
“What’s your favorite color?”
“...Huh?” Tails stared at Shadow in confusion.
“You heard me fox, What’s your favorite color?” he repeated, staring at Tails intently.
Tails still looked confused, but he thought about it for a few seconds before replying, “Well, I guess I like green. It kind of reminds me of Green Hill. Yellow’s also good though. It’s like sunshine, or my fur. Aaaand… red’s nice, uh, it’s a good bold color. Reminds me of my shoes…And orange sort of makes me think of home and fresh fruit! But purple always calms me down... And white is nice for science and flowers! Black is good too I suppose… And gray can look really nice for clothes! But, it’s probably blue. It reminds me of clear skies and beaches…and Sonic…Uhm, yeah, blue! Blue. Uh, wh-what about you?”
“I like blue like the sky. And the ocean! Don’t you think blue’s sort of like the color of life?”
“Lavender.” Shadow replied, trying to get Maria’s voice out of his head and focus on the conversation at hand, “It’s a very… soothing color. It reminds me of the flower.”
“Oh! Yeah, I uh, I agree. Personally I prefer white cosmos or daisies but-but lavender’s good too! Their scent is amazing, isn’t it?”
“Yes, I've gotten into the habit of keeping lavenders in my room.”
“Really? I wouldn’t have thought of you as a flower type of person. I figured you’d have like…candles or incense or something.”
“I’ve gotten into flowers recently. Soon after I began bringing lavenders into my room, I started gardening. Gardening was-“
“I love the flowers on Earth…Oh, Shadow! I wish we could visit already! Well, when we do, let’s plant a garden together! We can have flowers from all over the world in a little field of our own.”
“-enjoyable for me. I found it a worthwhile bit of time when I picked it up as a hobby.”
“Oh, I like gardening too! I've been trying to grow flowers for a while now. I think I've gotten a whole lot better since I started. What do you grow?”
“Lavender.”
“Oh, uh…just that? N-Not that that’s bad! I personally only grow a couple flowers too. Lavender’s totally fine! I mean, I personally like to grow cosmos! Aaaand lilies and tulips and apples. I only really grow orange tulips though, Yknow? Orange tulips are my favorite! They’re so pretty and bright…Red tulips are nice but they remind me too much of bell peppers. And yellow ones are good in moderation. White ones though-! S-sorry, was I talking too much?”
“Hmph. Lavender’s are superior to any flower. But fine. I suppose you have a good selection.”
An awkward silence passed between the two of them again before Tails spoke up again, nervously glancing around, “W-was that all you needed or…?”
“No. I…I wanted to get to know you better.” Shadow admitted, “I thought it would be useful.”
Tails looked surprised, “Get to know me? I mean, I guess we don’t know a lot about each other but…Well-alright then, I’d like to get to know you too!”
“Thank you, Tails. Then do you…” He hesitated, racking his brain for something to say. Casual conversations weren’t often in order when you were the Ultimate Lifeform. He eventually continued, “H-have any hobbies?”
Tails looked excited when he brought up hobbies, his eyes sparkling in just the way Maria’s used to when she talked about Earth as he, quite energeticly, replied, “Oh, well, you can probably tell I like inventing,” he began, gesturing around his house, “I started by fixing old broken things I found. I only started branching out to inventing shortly after meeting Sonic! I got new ideas to upgrade the Tornado sooo I just started working on it! And I already mentioned I love gardening. Especially with flowers in little planters! Orchards are nice too but they’re a lot of work! I’ve only really worked on the one Silver wanted to make! But I also really like reading books. My favorite genre is definitely mystery! Though adventure books are close second. It’s just that nothing can beat trying to figure out the culprit before the detective! It’s always a challenging way to exercise my brain. I usually read at least one chapter of a book every day. Though sometimes I get too caught up in them and read a whole two or three books ha ha…Oh shoot I’m rambling again, whoops!”
Shadow’s mind flashed to a memory as Tails spoke, “I really love mystery novels. Isn’t it so fun to hear the twists and turns? Someday, Shadow. Someday I’ll go to Earth and read every book I can get my hands on.”
He shook his head, shaking Maria’s voice out of his mind. Why did Tails keep making him think of her…
“Mystery is the superior form of books.” Shadow agreed, “There should be more of them published.”
Tails chuckled, “I couldn’t agree more! What’s your favorite? I’m partial to The Flower Shop on Petal Boulevard myself.”
“I prefer The Creeping Shadow, but I have heard of Flower Shop. It’s by that Natalie woman, isn’t it? what was her name? Natalie…”
“Natalie Fountains, mm hmm. She’s my favorite author! And she started writing when she was just seven! It’s so inspirational. I heard she made the manuscript for her first bestseller when she was only twelve. It really made me feel seen, you know? I’ve even got her signature in my room. Oh, she’s so incredible! She’s my third role model!” He added after a bit of thinking, “I haven’t heard of The Creeping Shadow before, though. Is it new?”
Shadow shook his head, “It’s fairly old, actually. About seventy years. Maria was the one who first introduced it to me. I can lend it to you if you want.”
“Yeesh. I keep forgetting you're really old. No offense, I didn’t mean it! Sorry…it just slipped out. Uh, I’d really love that though! H-How about in return, I’ll find one of my mystery books you can read? Oh, I know! Have you read The Ethics of Larceny by H K Mountains? It’s a little less focused on mystery, but it’s still an amazing read. And it’s got some mystery elements in there. The author encouraged people to try and figure it out themselves when he first published it too. He said that he added a murder mystery so every reader could try out a test of their wits! They even have a back section that's just lined paper where you can write your deductions! Uh… they’re a little bit full now though.”
“Hm. I don’t think I’ve read that. I would be willing to have a read through it, if you’re offering. H K Mountains, hm? I’ve heard of him in passing. Very well, I’ll take your book.”
“No problem!” Tails replied, “Let me just fetch it for you!” He got up from his seat and quickly ran off into another room to find the book.
While Tails looked for the book, Shadow sat back in his chair, contemplating. Tails was more energetic than he remembered, but the fox was good company. He seemed reliable, sweet…he was clearly trying to be a good host. Shadow sighed as he sipped his tea again. He wondered if he would have had a chance of being like Tails had that incident on the Ark not happened. Would he have been as excited about such simple things? It reminded him so much of Maria. Would she have been like Tails if she hadn’t…?
“I’m back!” Tails said in a chipper tone, walking back in with a thick book in his hand. “Sorry I took so long, I forgot I’d taken it off my bookshelf. Here you go!”
Shadow looked at the deep red book, its spine was breaking, its pages were worn and the grey bookmark in it looked beaten up at the edges. As he took it from Tails he remarked, “It looks fascinating enough. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome! Just be careful with the spine, I bought it second hand, so the spine’s starting to break all over the place. Plus, the last few pages are falling out.” Tails quickly warned, fidgeting with his thumbs in just the way Maria used to.
“I’ll be sure to be cautious with it.” Shadow assured Tails, gingerly setting the book on his lap as Tails sat back down, “And I’ll get my book to you as soon as possible.”
“Thanks, Shadow! That would be great. Maybe we can even start a book exchange! Discuss the books we read and trade every week…”
“…Yes, that would be nice.”
After a brief silence, Shadow spoke again, looking up into Tails’ eyes, “Tails, if you don’t mind me asking, how are you so…positive about this?”
“About the book? I mean it’s really good and the author-”
“No, about…life. Your books and inventions and tea…Surely you’ve gone through so much with Sonic. How can you be so happy and excited about all these small things?”
Tails looked around as he thought about an answer before looking back at Shadow and replying, “That’s just it though. I’ve gone through everything WITH Sonic. And with Amy and Knuckles, Rouge, Cream, Blaze and Silver, the Chaotix… I can stay positive because we went through it together! Sure, I've had some rough times but right now? Right now I have a bunch of awesome friends and a lovely house. I’m just lucky to be here! So…it’s easy to stay positive.”
Shadow listened intently. Tails' views were so different from his own. They seemed so foreign yet so similar. So similar…to HERS.
“So let’s keep being friends, Shadow! That way we can always keep smiling together, okay?”
“That truly is… admirable, Tails.” Shadow said softly.
Tails looked up, surprised at the compliment, “You really think so?”
“Yes.” Shadow said, sincerity in his eyes, “It’s… incredibly hard to be so positive all the time. I would know. And yet here you are, acting as if you haven’t seen the world end more than once. As if you haven’t suffered far more than any child should. I-I don’t think I could do it.”
“Then…Then let me help you!” Tails burst out with a bright smile, shining in just the way Maria looked whenever she would sneak into Shadow’s experiment sessions. “I’ll help you be more positive! Th-that is if you want that.” He quickly added at the end.
Shadow smiled back for the first time in their conversation, “I’d like that. Thank you.”