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Sonic can't remember the last time he slowed down like this, had to have been at least a few months now, but the night is relatively comfortable, and the wind blowing causes a nice chill that crawls between Sonic's quills. He pulls his red blanket closer with a shiver, leaving a gloved hand out to pet the fox kit beside him. Tonight has perfect weather for the boy, making it the perfect night for Sonic. Even with the intermittent shivering.
The small fox has been with Shadow and himself for almost a year now. What used to be snippy little growls and loud gekkering has slowly turned into somewhat broken words that Sonic can almost always decipher. The new language has allowed the kit's curiosity to truly shine despite the stilted half words he speaks.
"Sonic." The kit says, his voice quiet, high and raspy. "What are those things?"
The kit points upwards, toward the night sky.
"You mean those bright lights up there? Those are stars."
"What're they?"
Sonic stares for a moment, blank. He's never been one to study the technological side of things, that's more Shadow's deal, but he still feels the need to answer the kit. His answers will probably end up half-assed and only partially true, but it'll satiate the kits curiosity for the moment.
His bright blue eyes seem to burn into Sonic's own skin as he waits for Sonic to reply, tiny fangs nip at white gloves that cover sharp claws.
"Uhm..." Sonic stutters, "They're like big balls of gas. In space."
"Space?"
"Yeah, you know, like... What's beyond Earth and whatnot. Where planets are, and galaxies, and other universes possibly."
Bright yellow fur ruffles in the wind as Sonic gestures vaguely. His sentences are no more in-depth, and his explanation only seems to get rougher with no improvement. Behind him, he can just barely hear the tap tap tap of the kit's tails smacking the cement porch as he listens. He absorbs the surface level information like a sponge, letting Sonic know that they'll have to get some children's books about space soon.
"So... Space... Is a place I can go?"
Shadow would probably say something smart and scientific to him about the likelihood of the kit ending up in space, or maybe what age he would have to be to go. He would spit off rapid odd facts about astronomy, or how astronauts prepare for space travel, something incredibly detailed that the kit wouldn't be able to get enough of. However, Sonic is not Shadow, no matter what conspiracy theorists say.
"I don't see why not." Sonic shrugs. "It's really high up though."
"I fly though!"
"Yeah. When you go to space promise to send me pictures okay? I wanna see too." A playful smile tugs at Sonic's lips. "Then get me a rocket, so I can come with you and see it for myself."
The kit's tails stutter in their insistent tapping for a moment, and he gives Sonic the most serious nod a six year old can muster. He even removes his teeth from his glove for a moment to show how serious he is, but then immediately shoves some of the fabric in between his jaws again. It's endearing, if not a little unsanitary.
There's silence for a minute and thirty seconds, not that Sonic is counting, but he can hear the kit whisper his numbers from one to ninety. A compulsion that he's developed as he's learned to count. When his counting pauses, he begins to furrow his brow as his teeth grind harder into the tips of his glove.
"What'd you call those again? The stairs-gas-ball things?"
"Stars."
"Yes! If I go to space, can I be a star too?"
Sonic chuckles, not having the heart to burst the kit's inquisitive bubble.
"I don't see why not. You're already bright yellow, you'll blend right in!"
The kit doesn't seem to notice the teasing as he giggles back at Sonic, his poor glove has finally started to tear at the seams and snags on his fangs.
"When I grow up, I'mma be a star!!"
"I thought you wanted to be me when you grew up?"
"Oh yeah." The kit mutters. "I can just do both, e-easily peasily."
The mispronunciation makes affection flood Sonic's stomach. The kit is just so small, adorable, and still somewhat helpless, even if the bite mark scars on legs say otherwise.
Sonic's ear twitches as the door behind them opens. He quickly checks the clock on his phone for the time, and his shoulders hunch a little bit as he reads it.
9:30pm.
The kit's bedtime is 8:45. Whoops.
Sonic turns to face the now wide open door, a bashful smile on his face as he gives a greeting.
"Hey Shads... Long time no see."
Shadow rolls his eyes, the kit cutting off his sentence before he can begin to lecture Sonic. Mentally, Sonic thanks the kit for interrupting his companion.
"I'mma be a star when I grow up!" He bounces on the balls of his feet, hovering in the air for just a second long enough to look unnatural. "Like the ones in space!"
"And who told you that you could do that?" Shadow teases good naturedly.
"Sonic did!!"
"Well that was nice of him." Sonic feels Shadow's hand lay heavily on his shoulder, squeezing just slightly. "We can talk about how stars are formed some other time."
"Why not now?" The kit frowns, finally pulling the torn glove from his mouth.
"Because right now it's time to put pajamas on."
The kit pauses, staring at Shadow for a moment. He doesn't whisper count nor chew on his glove, and his tails are still while being stiff as a board. When he doesn't move Shadow gives him a gentle shove, allowing the kit to nip at his arm.
"Go on Miles, upstairs."
Miles seems to snap out of it, quickly placing the other untorn glove in his mouth. His tails wag out of sync with each other and a somewhat fast paced one, two, three, four, five… quietly leaves his mouth as he shovels into their breezeway.
"G'night Tails!" Sonic calls.
Miles chitters slightly louder in return.