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This… was horrible.
He hadn’t stopped tapping his foot as Tails checked over the biplane he was going to use to fly away. Checking the food and water supply every time Sonic asked, as if someone had stolen it in the last 5 seconds after he turned away. Checking over medkits--and if Tails noticed Sonic put two more in there, he didn’t say anything--and ensuring the craft was safe for flight. And then Tails would be gone, for Gaia knows how long. Off on his own adventure to grow into his own name.
Was Sonic proud of him? Yes. Was this bound to happen eventually? Also yes. Was he ready for it? Absolutely not.
It was like he turned around and Tails could suddenly meet him eye to eye. One day he was so small and the next he’d outgrown him. And now his little buddy--could he even call him little anymore?--was going off on his own, without Sonic, for the first time since they’d met. Barring other circumstances.
Sonic opens his mouth. “Tails, maybe you should--”
“--it’s still there.” Tails huffs at him, smiling down from the high ground. Was this how he had seen him when they first met? Was he haloed in the sunlight, cracking a sideways grin, so large compared to him?
Jeez, he thought he could handle things at least a little bit better than this.
“Okay, okay, I get it,” he gave his brother an exaggerated huff, “you want me to stop nagging, fine… But are you sure you don’t want to take the Tornado?”
“That’s yours, Sonic,” Tails shakes his head, “And I checked, she won’t be needing any repairs unless Eggman pulls something. And I already did maintenance, so she’s in top shape!”
It’s ours, Sonic bites his tongue and just grins at him, “Look at you; all bases covered, eh?”
“Of course!” Tails laughs, swiping his thumb under his nose, just the way he does it. Amy had pointed it out some years back, and at first Sonic had laughed it off, but now it was way too nostalgic. Sonic wanted to watch over him, see just how many things he’d picked up from his mannerisms.To watch him find his confidence. To watch him take the world by storm.
But Tails couldn’t do that with him hovering over his shoulder all the time. It was ironic; Sonic valued freedom more than anything and yet this is what makes him pause? His brother finding his own way? He should be seeing him off with far more gusto; it’s what Tails deserves, after all.
That was probably why Tails hadn’t set a destination for his first flight yet. Wherever the wind took him, that’s where he would go.
He watches Tails fly down to him, and when he lands Sonic just shakes his head and chuckles at him.
“Guess you’re all ready to go, huh? Gonna fly the coop?” He curses how much he shifts on his feet. Every part of him wants to cross the distance, to hold onto Tails, to do something so he stays a while longer, but he can’t bring himself to do it. Physical affection was Tails’ thing, and he never really got used to it, but he was fine with it because it was Tails. What better sendoff than to show his brother what he’s done for him?
And yet here he stands, unable to cross that distance. And now Tails is staring at him. His smile wavers, though he tries to keep it as normal.
“Just one more thing,” Tails says, tapping his wrench on Sonic’s arm, “Then I’ll be on my way.”
Sonic furrows his brow. “I thought the plane was fine?”
“It is,” Tails chirps, and then his brother’s arms are around him and he is smothered in his yellow fur, but that he could care less about. There is not a moment’s hesitation before Sonic returns that hug, maybe a bit too tight, but right now it’s the easier thing to focus on. He has to take deep breaths, but he leans his head on Tails’ and for a moment it’s like he’s not leaving at all.
But his brother’s arms loosen and he swallows before he lets go. It’s Tails who steps back first and that horrible feeling coils in his throat.
“I’ll miss you,” Tails offers, “A lot.”
“You promised you’d call, right? I’ll hold you to it,” Sonic nudges him towards the biplane with his elbow, “I’ll miss you too, buddy.” He adds, when Tails swats him for trying to rush him. But he’s laughing, and all it does is strike him with the realization that he won’t hear that around the house anymore.
There’s nothing more to say, so Sonic steps away and watches Tails start up the plane just as he had done so many times, except this time Sonic wasn’t hopping on the wing or getting buckled into the seat behind him. He stays down, as if he’d been pinned to the ground, and waves at Tails as he takes flight and lifts into the bright blue skies. He waves until it feels like his arm is about to fall off and it’s still more tolerable than the weight on his chest.
His brother disappears into the sky and Sonic stands out on the runway.
The lab is quiet. There’s no chatter, no radio playing, no parts being fixed or welded, no new inventions being made, no offhand jokes about Eggman’s scrap, nothing. It’s unbearable. He retreats inside, doesn’t close the hangar just in case, and stares at the neatness of the lab. Normally, Tails had tools or scrap scattered about, but now the only thing out of place in there was that there was one plane instead of two. He was standing in the place of the second.
… Maybe his lab wasn’t the best place to be right now.
Sonic slips inside the house this time, quietly closing the door to the lab, and even then the sound feels loud compared to the lack of noise in the house. His shoes aren’t where they should be--Tails would have yelled at him for that, because he would trip over them if he had his nose in the Miles Electric--and before he knows it he’s moved them to the proper spot. He peeks his head into the kitchen. It’s completely quiet; no meals are being cooked or microwaved and he’s not arguing with his brother over chili dogs for dinner and he said he wasn’t hungry so why is he in here anyways?
“Come on,” Sonic pats at his face, trying to snap himself out of whatever stupor this was, “he’s gonna come home--he told you that.”
He was clear about it; their home was his home and yes, he was coming back, he just needed to get out there. He was going to call him or send letters and occasional souvenirs and it would be fine.
Being in the house right now wasn’t the right call either, it seemed.
He’s out the door in an instant, flying over hills and across valleys and taking in the view from the tallest trees and it doesn’t matter where he’s going, it just matters that he’s not home right now where it’s suffocatingly quiet without the one person he’s shared home with for years. The world was at the whims of his speed and he has nowhere to go and nowhere to be, and he doesn’t know where he’s going so he just keeps running. So long as he isn’t at home.
But he had to face the music eventually. The stars eventually flickered into view and beckoned him towards home. He had yet to have had dinner and another day would be on the horizon soon.
Sonic took one last stock of the area he ended up in, only to realize he didn’t recognize where he went at all. A valley with a lake at its deepest point, reflecting the North Star and evergreen trees pointing up towards it. A forest lingers at the edge and hides the rest of the area from his view. Somewhere worth investigating when he wasn’t in this sort of state.
Finding home wasn’t an issue; a quick run brought him right to his doorstep thanks to the guidance of the north star.
He opens the door and, forgetting himself, cheerily announces his return.
The house echoes his words and his stomach drops when there is no ‘welcome back.’