Chapter Text
Tails was ten when he met Sonic. He was newly homeless, having just ran away from what was supposed to be his home. Sonic himself was homeless as well, though he had been on the streets way longer than Tails was seemingly alive. Give or take a couple of years where he had some temporary lodgings.
Neither of them really spoke about the time before they met each other. There was almost an awkward tension between the two whenever they bring up before. Of course, they do occasionally mention a few things here or there, where they make a comment about their parents or old teachers. And it definitely didn’t stop the nightmares.
Sonic knows that Tails’ parents weren’t the best, Sonic is well aware of his struggles with his namesake, and Sonic knows about the nightmares that still haunt his ever waking moment, even though it had been years since any of these things happened.
And, just as Sonic knows him, Tails knows Sonic.
He knows that Sonic was practically born on the streets, he knows Sonic had a brief stint with someone he considered a father, only to be betrayed in the end, he knows Sonic still screams out to the man, begging that he’ll be better, only to wake up in a cold sweat.
But just because they know each other, that doesn’t mean that they still can’t surprise each other either.
Case in point, the little piece of paper that had come into the mail that morning, coming from a relatively high end human STEM college (Caltech, it was Caltech. Tails knows this because he’s done some of their free online courses in his free time). Tails kept looking it over, looking for any sign that the letter might be a scam, or was possibly meant for someone else, but no, from what little information he could gather about an enclosed letter, Tails could only say that it was legitimate.
But Tails has no clue as to why Sonic might have been the recipient. Sonic never spoke of spending time in college, and there were certainly no college t-shirts or any other memorabilia that might have made it obvious. Hell, Tails wasn’t even sure that Sonic had a degree. And yet, here an innocent letter stands, stating Sonics name like it was from a long lost friend.
He could satiate his curiosity. He absolutely could. He just needed to open the letter, and he would know what it was about. As far as he was concerned, it might have even been one of those generic ‘We Want You’ letters that seniors in high school get all the time. And the idea would have been believable due to how much Sonic saves the world. It would have been, if this wasn’t the only college letter Tails had ever seen directed at Sonic. Or anyone from the party of people who constantly save the world on a regular basis.
He could have absolutely opened the letter, but it would also be a violation of privacy for Sonic. Tails knows Sonic, he never brought up ever being in college, so if this wasn’t a generic letter, and was something far more personal (or as personal as official letters from a high end college could get) it would break a huge amount of trust Sonic had in Tails. Sonic obviously never brought it up for a reason and while they might get on each other’s nerves sometimes, Tails didn’t want to hurt his brother.
It was as Tails warred with himself that Sonic came tumbling downstairs, eyes bleary and bagged, quills ruffled that spoke of constant tossing and turning that only appeared after one of his quieter nightmares.
Sonic gave a quick yawn and waved at Tails before making a beeline for the kitchen. It looked like one of Sonics’ quiet days. That didn’t really surprise Tails, the eye bags spoke volumes about how little sleep Sonic actually got last night. He wouldn’t really be all that surprised if Sonic had come to his room several times in the middle of the night to check up on him.
And it was due to this, that Tails reluctantly looked back over at the letter in his paws. If this wasn’t something major, then it was no big deal. Sonic would be just fine and Tails would feel silly for overreacting over a silly little letter. But if it was a big deal, and Sonic didn’t talk about it, then it was probably from before he met Tails. And Sonic didn’t like talking about that time if he could help it. And it was already one of Sonics’ bad days and he didn’t want to make it worse and he can’t help but-
The light tapping on Tails’ head drew him out of the mental spiral he was on. Looking up, Tails noticed Sonic, with a bowl of cereal and a concerned look on his face. He picked his hands up and signed at him, asking what was wrong.
Tails shook his head, allowing his previous thoughts to drain out of his brain. “Nothing, Sonic.” Internally, Tails cringed. That was only going to cause Sonic to worry more. And judging by Sonics’ scrutinizing gaze, that was exactly what he was doing. Tails sighed. “It really is nothing Sonic. Just my mind going in circles. I don’t even know why I’m so worked up over this.” Sonic nodded, allowing Tails the explanation.
An awkward silence took over the two as Sonic sat on the other side of the couch, munching on cereal. Tails looked back at the letter. He really should just hand the letter over. It’s not like the thing would do much. It might even make Sonics’ mood even better. Tails bit his lip, if he was gonna do this, it was now or never.
“Actually Sonic, there might be something going on.” Tails admitted, looking towards his brother. Sonics’ response was just a flat stare stating ‘no shit Sherlock’. Tails chuckled. With how often his brother just talked, Tails often forgot that he was just as expressive, if not even more so, with his body language.
“It’s just… you didn’t happen to go to college, did you?” Tails asked, gauging Sonics’ body language, noticing him tensing up just subtle enough that if one wasn’t looking, they wouldn’t have seen it. “It’s just… a letter came in from Caltech,” Tails held up the letter, “I didn’t open it or anything, but it’s not everyday that a letter from a high end STEM college comes for my brother.”
Sonics’ body was stone still, eyes trapped on the letter that Tails still held up. He didn’t know how long they sat there, minutes, seconds, hours, it didn’t really matter. They were practically in a standstill. Slowly, Sonic took the letter. He opened it, and he read.
He didn’t even finish reading the first sentence before he started to laugh. It was strained, as was most of Sonics’ vocalizations on his quiet days, and it wasn’t any more than a chuckle. But Tails supposed it was better than an alternative.
‘Just a reunion.’ Sonic signed after putting the letter in his lap. ‘My graduating class has these every couple of years. Nothing more than a college trying to gain money from their alumni.’ Tails nodded. That made some sense. Of course a college would contact an alumni after a couple years. It was one of the best chances they had of getting money donated to the school. But…
“I didn’t know you went to college Sonic,” Tails prodded. “I don’t mean to say this in a wrong way, but you just don’t seem like the type to survive.” Mirth colored Sonics’ face.
‘I barely did,’ Sonic explained, a fond smile forming. ‘But I got the material well enough and when it came to things related to my major, I excelled. Classes were boring and the tests were a nightmare, but the projects were amazing.’ Tails nodded along. That made sense, Sonic was always a doer, he would always be better with his hands than he would be on a pen and paper.
“Alright, that makes some more sense. But Caltech? How on earth did you get in? And what did you eve major in? You never seemed to understand me whenever I spoke about my projects so it’s obviously not something to do with mechanics.” Sonics’ smile fell a little, a look of longing forming in his eyes.
‘Yeah, I definitely wasn’t a Mechanical Engineer. Didn’t really care for the physical stuff most of the time. Might have landed myself in the Physics department if it wasn’t for my sponsor.’ Tails felt a spark of intrigue. Sponsor. Sonic was sponsored to go to Caltech. Did Caltech even do sponsors? ‘But I wound up in computer science believe it or not. I was even in my first year of getting a doctorate before-’ Sonic stopped there, his hands stuck in the air.
Several things flew through Tails’ head. Sonic has a degree in computer science? Since when? Why did he never offer to help Tails whenever he needed to program something? Why was he only just finding out about this now? Was Sonic seriously on his way to a doctorate? Wasn’t Sonic just barely 17 when he met Tails? How fast did he fly through his degrees?
But he didn’t ask any of those. Not today at least, not on one of his brothers bad days, and especially not when he likely just pulled up a bad memory.
Sonic gave a full body shake before bringing his hands back up. ‘It doesn’t matter. Couldn’t get through a single semester of that so it’s not important. What is, however, is you getting some food. Don’t think I didn’t notice that the kitchen wasn’t disturbed when I got myself some breakfast.’ Tails both internally sighed and cringed. On the one hand, Sonic was changing the subject. Rather drastically too. He could try to keep on track of the conversation, but he really didn’t want to push his brother on one of these days.
On the other hand, he really didn’t eat this morning. He was planning to after he collected the mail, but then he saw the letter, and the rest was basically history now. And just as he realized that, a gurgle came from his stomach and Tails felt himself blush. He nodded his head. This conversation wasn’t over, not by a long shot, but Tails was well aware of how much Sonic wanted him to have a solid three meals a day, and he was also aware that pushing the young adult when he was like this was a bad move.
So, in an, obviously exaggerated and, defeated movement, Tails stood up and went to the kitchen. He wasn’t in the mood to cook, but some cereal sounded really good right now.