Chapter Text
Tails watched the two of them as he ate his bowl of cereal. Sonic had gotten a lot closer to his rival lately. Shadow seemed to be showing up earlier and earlier in the day with each visit, and hanging around until the evening. Today, he wasn't sure whether Shadow had left the previous night at all. At the moment, Sonic was pressing a single piece of cereal onto Shadow's cheek, in a hopeless attempt to make him eat it. Tails couldn't feign a lack of investment in this breakfast drama, as his tails swished side to side. He'd seen Shadow eat before, but apparently, not eating breakfast food was a hill the ultimate lifeform would die on. What's more, the ultimate lifeform has proven that he cannot die. The hedgehogs were still carrying on by the time he had begun to drink the milk out of his bowl.
"It's too sweet."
"C'mon, Shadow. You might like it!"
"Stop it. You're his dad, not mine." Shadow gestured towards the fox. Tails laughed, suffering the unfortunate consequence of having milk come out of his nose. He wasn't sure if Shadow knew, but that was a button. From the moment Sonic swore he would always have Tails' back, they had always referred to one another as brothers. This didn't prevent the occasional slip of the tongue. Tails had accidentally called him 'dad' when he was younger. When he saw how Sonic reacted to the word, he put it in his pocket for times he wanted to throw him for a loop. It was something that bothered Sonic, and Tails could get away with it because really, what could he reasonably do about it? Tails was just a little guy, a fellow orphan Sonic brought into his life. Of course Amy thought it was so cute when he "accidentally" called Sonic 'Dad' in front of her when he was about to tell her an embarrassing story.
"I'm not trying- I'm not old enough to be anyone's dad. Right little bro?"
"Hmmm," Tails pretended to think, hopping down from his chair and walking between them to fetch a paper towel to clean his face with, "I suppose that depends on whether or not I have a bedtime."
"That's right," Shadow smirked, leaning against the refrigerator, "you're always telling him to go to bed. I've seen it."
Sonic fidgeted where he stood, flustered. He wanted to argue that, as the older sibling, he was wearing multiple hats. He was a dad, a mom, and a super cool older brother. However, Tails was a genius and didn't need much from those boring, strict parental hats. Somehow, he knew arguing these points with these two wouldn't lead anywhere. Cornered, he decided to fight dirty. He was going to get back at that little genius for siding with Shadow, and hopefully de-weaponize the d-word at the same time. He scooped his little brother with one arm.
"Fine! C'Mere little buddy," Sonic spoke with the same cadence he'd use towards a chao, "Let good 'ol dad clean your face. A dry paper towel won't do."
"I'm eight! I can clean my own face!" Tails protested while being carried like a football. Sonic wet a clean dish towel in the sink and sat Tails on the counter, cleaning his muzzle at once.
"Squirting milk out of your nose while Shadow picks on me isn't very fun, huh? But don't worry dad is fixing it for ya, anyway. I can't stay mad at you."
Once no trace of milk was left standing on Tails' face, whose complaints were muffled the whole time by his big brother's parental efforts, Sonic stopped the torture and set his brother on the floor again. Tails wasted no time flying out of the room. He hated being babied, and Sonic was sure it was even more mortifying with a witness. He laughed and called after him, "Have fun in your workshop! I love you, 'Lil bro!"
"Shut up," Tails called back, "and you, too. I guess."
Sonic had won the dad fight against his own brother, but he was perturbed to find that smirk hadn't come off Shadow's face. He crossed his arms and leaned against the kitchen sink.
"Any comments, Mr. Smiley?"
"Good job," Shadow sauntered towards him and leaned in close, "Now we can have fun."
Tails, who had been eavesdropping to see if Shadow thought any less of him after being smothered by Sonic, waited to hear a sparring match or race start after those words. It never came, as far as he could tell. He heard mumbling, and then Sonic and Shadow left the house together without a commotion. He shrugged, not wanting to waste any more brain power on the rivals-gone-something this morning.