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Sonic closes the backdoor behind him. The conversation between the adults is muffled because of this decision, but he can still partially hear it as he walks away from the porch. Each step further away causes the noise to fade into silence. It is replaced with the wind harshly pulling at the boughs of the forest on the other side of the fence. It brushes against him, too, a kinder hand tugging at his quills. Sonic moves a gloved paw through the fur on top of his head. One of his ears folds beneath his forearm, and he can hear even less than before. Sonic’s arm drops to his side, allowing him to hear one more noise. It guides him toward the shed— around the corner to the back. In the shadow of the shed, Sonic finds a hole blanketed in darkness. The noise is coming from there, so there’s no hesitation in Sonic’s movements as he leaps into the hole.
Sonic’s eyes adjust to the darkness, helped by the twinkling fairy lights strung up around the burrow. He sets his paws on his hips. A bright smile lifts on his lips. “There you are.”
Tails looks up from the machine in his lap. He sits on one of the three bean bags thrown against the dirt in the corner of the burrow. His baby blue irises reflect the fairy lights, showing Sonic every emotion swimming around in his eyes. With a touch of awkwardness, Tails answers, “Here I am.”
Sonic snorts. He shakes his head. He zips across the room. He crashes into the bean bag chair beside Tails. He lands sideways, letting him face his brother while on his stomach. Tails arches a brow at him. Sonic lets his body adjust to the new position. When he does, he sets his chin in his palms. He kicks his legs behind him in a similar rhythm to his wagging tail. “What are you working on?”
Tails glances away from Sonic to the machine in his lap. He holds a screwdriver in one paw. A pack filled with miniature tools lies open at his feet. There are a few tools missing, not just the one in Tails’ paw. Sonic suspects they’re on the other side of the bean bag because Tails doesn’t let his belongings stay lost for long (something about finally having ownership and dealing with thieves in the past— Tails doesn’t talk about his past often).
“It’s a light. I don’t like relying on flashlights.” Tails flips the machine around to show Sonic a lightbulb protruding from one of the metal walls. Tails flicks his finger at the bulb. It sputters with light, ultimately darkening. Tails shrugs his shoulders. He returns to screwing something on the backside.
“That’s awesome!” Sonic excitedly informs his brother. Tails looks at him skeptically. Sonic’s earnestness is evident on his face, however, and Tails’ rebuttal lies dead on his lips. Sonic snickers. Sure, he doesn’t like when Tails doubts him, but he does like proving to Tails that he would never lie to his brother, especially not about his interests.
“Are you here to bring me back?” Tails changes the subject. He looks over his shoulder toward the corner of the burrow. Although there is only dirt there, Sonic gets the impression that Tails is looking past the ground toward the house situated some distance away from the burrow’s entrance.
“Nah. I came to escape with you,” Sonic answers. Maddie and Tom invited some of their friends and the neighbors over. While the two made sure to get all the kids’ permission, Tails dipped at the first opportunity. Sonic would have stayed since he’s a people-person, but he found himself wanting to take a break from all the humans looking at him funny. None of them are necessarily cruel with their expressions, but still… Sonic didn’t like it. Knuckles also doesn’t like it, but he said he would stay behind to protect the parents and the house. Sonic doesn’t think Knuckles is going to last long in there, though, especially when Wade wasn’t able to make it.
“Do you want to do something?” Tails asks, gesturing around the burrow. They’ve brought a few trinkets and games to the burrow over the months since the three kids dug it out. It’s reminiscent of Sonic’s old hole, but this one is decidedly marked with the influences of other people. That’s probably why Sonic doesn’t feel so lonely even when he’s the only one here.
“I’m good. You can continue building your light,” Sonic waves his paw to dismiss whatever Tails is thinking about. Tails is skeptical once more, but he says nothing. He follows Sonic’s soft orders. Sonic, for his part, stretches out on the bean bag, letting his limbs fall over the sides. He hears one of his joints pop. He considers standing up to properly stretch, but he sinks deeper into the bean bag once that thought echoes in his mind.
Time is hard to determine in the darkened space, but it doesn’t take long for Tails and Sonic’s ears to lift with the noise of someone approaching. Tom, Maddie, and Knuckles are the only ones to know about this burrow. The footsteps are too heavy to be the humans. Sonic shows Tails a smirk. The kit raises an eyebrow, clearly unaware of Sonic’s earlier bet about how it wouldn’t take long for Knuckles to join them.
As expected, Knuckles drops down into the burrow. He stands underneath the entrance, letting indirect sunlight fall across his ruby fur. He crosses his arms over his chest. Sonic chuckles, turning his head toward his brother. “Did they kick you out?”
“It is preposterous to think a protector can be overbearing. Everything I do is necessary,” Knuckles argues. He looks as petulant as a child as he stands there. This causes Sonic to laugh, loud and bright. Even Tails snorts under his breath. Knuckles turns his glare toward them. A weaker creature might cower beneath that violet gaze, but Sonic has seen Knuckles stuff his face with grapes before. There’s nothing Knuckles could do to make Sonic scared of him.
“Sit with me,” Sonic commands him. He rolls to the edge of the bean bag. He pats the newly cleared space for Knuckles. The echidna eyes the bean bag warily. Sonic drops his arm at his side, growing tired of patting the rough material.
Knuckles eventually moves across the room. Sonic’s mouth opens with a warning, but it’s out too late. Knuckles drops onto his side of the bean bag so heavily that the other side pops up… the side with Sonic on it. Sonic tumbles off the side of the bean bag, landing on the cold dirt below. A low noise spills from his lips. It doesn’t hurt, but there is a moment of aching that is quickly drowned out by Knuckles booming laughter and Tails’ soft giggling. Sonic rolls his eyes at his brothers. He says nothing to them as he crawls back onto the bean bag.
As a precaution (or maybe as revenge), Sonic scoots as close to Knuckles in the center of the bean bag as he can. He crosses his arms under his chin, so his side is tucked against Knuckles’ back. He realizes that it can’t be revenge when Knuckles doesn’t show any signs of irritation at being so close to Sonic. In fact, his paw lands on top of Sonic’s head, brushing through the fur with his thick glove. Sonic could swat his paw away. He could, but he doesn’t, and Knuckles pushes him further into his arms and the bean bag.
“What are you two doing?” Knuckles asks.
“I’m making a light,” Tails answers. Sonic lifts his eyes high enough to see the bulb glowing brightly. Tails’ face is literally as bright as his invention works. Sonic fondly rolls his eyes. Tails has made far more impressive machines in his time, yet he still gets excited by every small success. Sonic hopes his little brother never changes.
“It resembles a projector,” Sonic murmurs. He unfolds one of his arms. He reaches out with his paw, pointing with a finger. Sonic draws his arm back. His eyes widen with an idea. “We should make a projector! We can watch a movie outside!”
“All we’re going to do is argue about what movie to watch,” Tails reminds Sonic.
“There will be no argument,” Knuckles argues. “We will watch the movie I pick for I am objectively correct in my tastes.”
“Absolutely not! If we’re watching a movie outside, there’s a limited list of what we can watch. Drive-in movies only,” Sonic shakes his head. Frankly, though, he thinks he can convince Knuckles to agree with him as long as he promises there won’t be any ghosts in the movie.
“Drive-in? What are you talking about?” Sonic thinks he can also convince Tails to agree with his movie. With their votes and his own, he wouldn’t even need to convince Maddie and Tom. If the two of them would even want to watch a movie outside with them.
“Humans would drive to these parking lots to watch movies through a projector on a screen from their vehicle. Chili dogs are a must for drive-ins, by the way. I don’t make the rules. The humans did,” Sonic explains.
“Are grapes also a must?”
“No… but ice cream with sprinkles are,” Sonic compromises.
Knuckles hums. He lifts his paw from Sonic’s head to rub his chin. He eventually nods slowly. “I am in favor of a drive-in movie.”
“We still haven’t picked a movie,” Tails reminds Knuckles. He waves his machine in the air. “And this isn’t a projector. All it does is give off light.”
“I’m sure giving off light is already step one of making a projector,” Sonic shrugs. He doesn’t know how projectors work, but they can’t be that hard to make. He’s seen regular humans making projectors in their backyard. As smart as those humans might have been, Sonic knows no one can beat Tails’ intelligence. With that plus Sonic and Knuckles’ encouragement and enthusiasm, making a projector should be a piece of cake. “Come on, Tails, let’s think about what could be. The possibilities are endless with the three of us working together!”
Tails sighs, but there’s an unmistakable smile on his face. “Fine, I’ll turn this into a projector so we can watch an outdoor movie.”
“Yes!” Sonic cheers. He is about to leap onto his feet to further show his excitement, but Knuckles sets his paw on Sonic’s head again. The hedgehog rolls his eyes, but he’s too excited to be upset. “We’ll have to pick a movie from the 50’s or 60’s to get the full experience. We also need to wear clothes appropriate for the times! Don’t worry, I can style our hair to fit the period. You guys might not know this, but I’m a master-class stylist. You can ask Ozzie—”
“Pick the movie we’re watching before you pick what hairstyles we’ll have,” Tails interrupts.
Sonic frowns. “I’ll pick a movie. We need the projector first, though. And a big white sheet. You’ll help me hang it up, won’t you, Knuckles?”
“I will endeavor to assist in whatever way I can,” Knuckles nods.
Sonic smiles at him. “Thank you. Now, with the projector and the sheet, we’ll need to get someone’s vehicle to the backyard. Unless we want to sit in lawn chairs. That’s also fair game. Oh, I’m so excited!”
“We can tell,” Tails and Knuckles say at the same time.
Sonic doesn’t let their words knock the happiness out of him. “It’s going to be awesome.”
That’s how Maddie and Tom find them later, long after all the guests have gone home. Tails is almost finished with the projector, having remodeled the box with a bulb attached. Knuckles and Sonic are still sharing a bean bag, though Knuckles has laid on Sonic’s back at some point or another. Sonic fought him at the beginning, but he’s too busy listing off all the movies he knows from the 50’s and 60’s to pay attention to Knuckle’s weight anymore. Knuckles nods along to whatever movie Sonic name-drops and likely also gives a synopsis of (and almost spoils, but Sonic manages to wrangle it in every time— either through his own self-control or Knuckles’ hitting the back of his paw against Sonic’s head). They are no closer to picking a movie than they were at the start, but they seem happy simply listening to Sonic ramble.