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Tom is sitting at the kitchen table, his coffee dripping away on the coffee maker while he mindlessly scrolls on his phone, just waking up.The bright sun peeks through the trees of the forest, projecting some interesting patterns on the kitchen table and covering the kitchen in a warm glow.As usual, the echidna walks in to get a couple watermelon slices to snack on, greeting his father with an upward tilt of his head.Tom tilts his head back with a little grin.After Tom and Maddie got curious about the gestures they saw their boys doing (the most recent one being where Tails gestured to Knuckles and climbed up on the echidna's shoulders, the fox's face being the definition of innocence), Tails was teaching them a few of the various gestures that Mobians used to speak to eachother.The basics were easy enough. A heat tilt upward is a greeting, much like giving a handshake. Placing a hand forward and spinning it around is the same as saying What or Why, and raising your hands up with palms facing outward with a little shake means honesty.Speaking of gestures, Tails had fun learning the various gestures that humans used on Earth (including the vulgar ones, the reason being, in his words, just for understanding).Tom does a small smirk as he thinks.
Surrre. Just for understanding.
The fox's little sailor mouth from time to time is bad enough (to give him credit, though, the little guy got pretty creative with swearing sometimes).He does not want to see any middle fingers being thrown around.Nevertheless, it's helpful to know what some of these gestures mean, and in a way, become closer to the boys. Just as Knuckles walks out towards the couch, Tails flies into the kitchen and gets some Hawaiian Punch from the fridge, giving a wave."Hi there, little guy."The fox's smile is infectious.Sonic also walks into the kitchen to get his share of Hawaiian Punch."Hi, dad.""Hey, Sonic."Apparently that struck a nerve with Sonic, his emerald green eyes staring down into Tom's eyes."What is it?""You give cute little nicks to Tails and Knux yet I'm the one who's just called Sonic. I will never hug you again."The point with one of his ungloved hands might as well be a handgun."You wouldn't dare. And come on, you're still my first kid.""You could call me Blue guy, Speedy guy, Awesome guy, The one who still doesn't sneak out at night-"Tom raises an eyebrow as the hedgehog is now realising what he's saying and quickly tries to recover with a shit-eating grin on his face."UhhhhhhTheOneWhoTOTALLYDoesn'tSneakOutAtNightAndBehavesAsBestAsHeCanAndInNoWayDoesAnyTroubleAndCleansHisRoomAndMakesHisBedAndICan'tThinkOfAnythingElseSoImaJustEndItHereGuy?"Tom goes to think of a nick (he's definitely keeping an eye out on Sonic) while Tails can't help but snicker."I'll go with Speedy guy."The hedgehog smiles with glee and does a victory pose, complete with a twirl."YESSSSS!!!"The excited hedgehog then gives Tom a hug."You're the best dad ever.""And you're the best hedgehog ever."The hedgehog laughs as he nestles into the human's chest and suddenly realises that he's hugging him.The fox melts at the sight."Awwwww! You look very cute, Sonic."The hedgehog quickly releases himself and pretends as if nothing ever happened."Heh, Me? Cute? I'm the farthest thing from cute. I am fucking awesome, though!"A snort comes out of the fox, knowing that his brother owes $10 to the swear jar. The rest of the day goes well, with the fox repairing a Panasonic TR-555 with an intent on using it as a spare monitor for stuff like if his servers are online, or for other miscellaneous readings.He happily flies out to the attic to chill with Sonic.The hedgehog is excited to show his little brother the skills he's mastered in Distance, a futuristic racing game one of his friends recommended to him (and the one that he got mad at a few days ago).Needless to say, Sonic's gotten very good at it.His face is total concentration as he's focused on beating the track at his fastest time yet.Tails could even say he's in the zone.There's loads of obstacles to avoid, let alone the number of tight turns and tracks that split off into various angles, sometimes even going upside down, requiring perfect timing and accuracy to flip the car around with its jetpacks.He narrowly avoids lasers, buzzsaws, and various other obstacles as he completes the map in a new record time!Sonic is elated!"FUCK YES!"The swear jar can wait, anyways.Meanwhile the fox cheers his brother on and ruffles his quills."Nice job, Sonic! That was tense!"They both do a high five."Man does it feel good when you beat a hard level in this game!""Yeah. I might give that game a try, I like the artstyle.""Speaking of, it kinda reminded me of you."That's when Tails receives a weather alert on his Miles Electric via RSS with a cute little beep.
[alert]
.:severe thunderstorm watch:.
conditions are favorable for a severe thunderstorm to develop.
updates will be rolling out if anything happens.
severethunderstormwatchseverethunderstormwatchseverethunderstormwatchseverethunderstormwatchseverethunderstormwatchs̢̢̀eve҉r̵e̢t͠h̴́͞ù̶̧ń͜͠der͟s̨t̴͠o͜͏̢rm̸͘͞w͟at͟͏͞c͘h͏̧sè҉v̶͟͡eŗ̸et̸͠hú̴͝ńḑ͏͟er̛͘s͠t̷̕͡or͜͟ḿwa̕͜͡t̀͢c̨̡hsevé̸͞r̴͟͠e͏͡thunder͞͏̧st̡oŕ̸m̢͜͞waţ̀͞chş͡ev͢͡͡ęret̶̕͏h̛̀u̴n͏͢de͏r̷̕s̢͡t̶̡͜or̨̡m̵̢̨w̢a͏͡tçh̢̧s̢͝é̛v҉̕͝e̶ré̕thun̸͏der̛͞s͜tor̸͘mwatćhseve̢͝ŕe̸t́͘͝h̷͝u̵n͏́derstoŗ̸̸mẁ̷̕a̶̧tchse͠v̀̕e̴re̕ţhù̧nd̡͜͝ers̨̧͟t͝͠͏o͞r̶͟͞m̧w͜a͘tchs̨ȩ̧́vere͟t̶h̢͜unders͢t͜͡or͘͢mwat̶̸c҉hs͠͝e̢̢͞verethu̶͡n̨d͟͠eŗś҉tó͝r̴̀m̕҉́w̢͘à̕͘t͢҉ch̨́s̷̵̢ev͢͠ere҉̶th̛͘un̷҉d̷̛͡e̷͡r̀şto͜r̵̛mw̡a҉t́c̵̢͠h̴͏sev̵́erethu҉͏͡nd̵́͢é̸̕r̢st̢̡͟ó͞͝rmwa̴̛t͠ch͘͜͞se͘vę͝r̨e͝th͏͏u̴͟͡ń̷̶derstorm̴͘ẁ̀͢á̛͏t҉c͝h̷̴͜s̢e̡ver̛͜et̕͝͝hu̵ndeŕ̸st̛oŗ̵͝mẃa̶̢t̵̨c̶h
"Tails?"He doesn't look so good."You okay, buddy?"The hedgehog glances at Tails's device.
Oh shit, No wonder.
The fox's expression suddenly goes back to his chipper self.But even Sonic could tell that something is off."Yeah, I'm fine, Sonic! I was just reading this weather alert on my Miles Electric. (trademark pending)."Ooookay, something's definitely up.Sonic copies what he'd seen Knuckles do whenever Tails is upset.Soft gentle motions with his thumb on Tails's back."Hey. You have the coolest hedgehog to ever hit this planet, the strongest and most noble echidna warrior in the galaxy, and 2 loving parents to protect you. We're all here for you, bro."The fox returns the favor by suddenly hugging the hedgehog tight, his face buried in his brother's chest.Not as warm or soft as Knux, but it'll suffice.A soft scoff comes out of the hedgehog."What, I don't shower well enough for you? Knux is practically in there for a straight hour, and all of the hot water's gone! Can only shower for so long. Fricking hate cold water."The fox does a little laugh and then sits beside Sonic, with one of his namesakes caressing his brother."Yeah, he sure loves very warm showers."An idea pops into his brain."Speaking of warm showers, maybe you two should shower together. Might help."The fox laughs some more as the hedgehog's expression gets more weirded out by the second.The hedgehog is very quick to respond."UhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmNoThanksThatAin'tHappening!NopenopenopenopenopenopeI'llJustDealWithTheColdWater!""But you'll both have the hot water for yourselves! Also, didn't Knux say that it was normal to shower together in his tribe?""CanWePLEEEEEEAAAAAASEStopTalkingAboutThis?!"Knuckles, being curious, opens the attic door upon listening for a bit and getting inteerested when his tribe's traditions came up."Communal showering is indeed a tradition in my tribe. Would you like to try it, hedgehog?""N-no! B-but Ye-ONLYForTheHotWaterPart-ButNoBecause-Eeeewwwwww-Just-UGHGOAWAY!"The echidna thinks for a moment which seems like infinity to Sonic."At your request, brother."The fox's laugh fills the attic."Have fun getting blasted by cold water, then. You could always ask.""Can we just... get back to the wholesome stuff?""Yes."Sonic gives Tails a boop before they hug eachother.Banter and tangent aside, a muffled "Thanks for comforting me, Sonic." comes out from the fox.They both stay that way for a while.They then chill for a bit before Tails flies down to the living room to spend some time with Knuckles, who's lying down on the couch, appreciating the soft fabric.He's in echidna heaven alright.They both do a head tilt to eachother as the fox climbs up to use his biggest brother as a makeshift bed and pillow, gently sighing as his body meets the softness of the echidna's fur.The echidna does a slight smile and rubs the fox's ears.Tom looks over and gestures his wife to look as well, both melting at the sight and taking a picture of the scene."It's amazing how gentle he is with Tails.""Yeah, I always knew that big guy had a soft spot somewhere."Tails is so comforted that he falls asleep on Knuckles, causing the echidna's smile to light up.Sonic happens to walk by and even takes a couple pics for himself.Meanwhile a gentle pitter-patter of rain makes its way towards the Wachowskis. Tails is suddenly put out of his good dream to a loud, booming noise outside.He instantly tightens his grip on the echidna, his fur strands standing on end.The echidna only grimaces a little bit as his youngest brother's claws pierce his skin.For such a small and young fox, he sure had some very sharp claws.The claws of a warrior, he might add. If the fox's tribe wasn't so spiteful and envious of him, he would have been heralded.The echidna holds the now shaking fox as he goes for assistance.Tom and Maddie are in the kitchen, with Maddie getting some food ready while Tom watches the weather on his phone."Jeez. Looks like this storm's gonna get real nasty according to radar. We're currently just teetering on the edge of it."He then sees Knuckles to his right."Hey, big guy. Coming to help with the finishing touches?""The fox is afraid of the storm."It was made very evident after a subtle flash of lightning followed by a louder, more menacing boom of thunder.Tails, who's already curled up into a ball, curls up even more, hitching in a short shaky breath as he rubs the tips of his namesakes to comfort himself.He looks miserable.Tom tries to comfort the fox."I know it's scary, little buddy. It'll pass."The echidna looks down to his brother."Would you like father to guard you while I help mother?"The fox does a nod.The echidna places his brother down against Tom and goes to help Maddie with plating and serving the food.The fox is instantly intrigued by the weather app, currently showing the reflectivity product on radar.He tries to see if there's at least a velocity product or maybe even a correlation product, but is disappointed to find that neither are there."I researched the weather radar system on Earth and learned about all of the products that it can produce, only for me to come here and this app only has reflectivity? Now that's bullshit."Even when he's shook the kid still has snark that would outdo Sonic.Mid radar implementation aside, it looks like this storm's about to get bad in the coming minutes.Luckily it's just a bit of rain and thunder right now. Supper is good (aside from the occasional rumble of thunder), although the storm has been ramping up a little.Tails goes to chill on the couch with his brothers, sitting in the echidna's lap as he watches the weather radar on Tom's phone, with Maddie sitting beside Knuckles.He is a mother's boy after all.Yup, they're on the outer edge, alright. Wind and rain picked up significantly.Suddenly, Tom's phone and Tails's Miles Electric device simultaneously go off, making the already agitated fox jump out of his skin, thankfully not dropping the phone in his hands. The phone is rapidly vibrating while emitting a shrill alarm, the notification at the top reading SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING, while Tails's device emits a rapid transmission of SOS in morse code.Tom comes sprinting over to see what the alert is all about.Both devices essentially say that a severe thunderstorm is crossing over their area, with the risks being high wind gusts and even some hail.That's when a deafeningly loud crack of lightning struck down scarily close to their house, causing Tails to yelp and shake, almost dropping Tom's phone, although Tom is quick to catch it.The echidna protectively holds the fox close to him, seemingly using some ancient passages for comfort.Tom's too startled to watch his language."Shit! That one was too close. You're okay, little man, you're safe."He sits down and comforts the distressed fox, rubbing his ears to hopefully calm him down.Sonic chimes in."I think that one hit a tree! I've never been that close up to a lightning strike before."Sonic softly ruffles his brother's fur."I'm with you, Tails."Hail is now beginning to pelt down while the wind seems to increase with no end."Damn, this storm doesn't let up!"The echidna's heartbeat grounds Tails from slipping into another flashback.Another loud crack of lightning illuminates the house for a split second, the fox quickly covering his ears, barely muffling a whine, followed by what sounds like a very harsh word in his native tongue.Sonic continues comforting his brother."We all got you, little bro. We got you."Maddie's presence is reassuring to the fox."It's okay. Mom's right here."Even the master emerald chimes in.
𐑿 𐑸 𐑕𐑱𐑓, ·𐑓𐑪𐑒𐑕.
Tails feels a calming energy inside him.The loudness of the storm is reduced to a more bearable level.How that is even possible is beyond him.The fox thickly whispers back.
"𐑔𐑨𐑙𐑒𐑕, ·𐑧𐑥𐑼𐑩𐑤𐑛."
Needless to say, Tails gets lots of comfort that evening.The echidna insists on all of them sleeping in his bed, which recently got converted into a semi truck bed.The fox sleeps fondly, nestled in between the soft warm fur of his brothers.