Work Text:
Kit was staring at his phone absentmindedly while he waited. He was lingering outside his favorite café, Sunrise Sweets, while he waited for Cream to show up. As usual, she was punctual enough that it was pointless to actually do anything on his phone. He just wanted to look busy in case someone else tried to talk to him.
“Hello, Kit!” Cream greeted him warmly. “It’s so good to see you! I was getting really worried!”
Kit had been unexpectedly absent from his home for about two months. He recently got back after an exhausting adventure with a bunch of people he didn’t particularly like (not to mention being thrown into a life-threatening experience against his will). Needless to say, it was refreshing to be back home and be in the presence of someone that didn’t stress him out.
“Sorry about that,” Despite being equally happy to see her, Kit had an almost detached, even tone as he spoke. “Let’s get something to drink while we talk. I really missed this place.”
“Um. And you, too,” he ducked his head awkwardly.
“Nice save,” Cream giggled in response.
Kit smiled slightly as he held the door open for her. She was so easy to be around.
They sat down at a table after placing their orders (Kit already knew exactly what he wanted), and Cream looked at him expectantly. As nice as it was just to hang out, Kit had promised to get her up to speed on the reason for his disappearance. He wasn’t the most riveting storyteller, instead giving her a rather dry play-by-play.
Abducted by robot aliens, getting his memories tampered with (again.), being forced to fight in a twisted gameshow for the entertainment of said robot aliens. Not even having the solace of going at it alone, as he eventually had to team up not only with Surge, but Tails of all people. But they eventually escaped and he was able to give Surge the slip once back on Mobius.
“That’s why I took even longer to get back here. I didn’t want her to follow me. But she was mostly preoccupied with her own things. It was easy to disappear when she dragged me out to a club.”
He shuddered at the thought. Forget the life-threatening situations; being in obnoxious social settings was far worse torture in his opinion. But it was okay now. The dichotomy of all that nonsense compared to the current quaint setting, the current agreeable company… The genuine empathy that drifted from Cream’s doleful eyes to his own. How she remained so quiet and attentive while she listened to him talk. Yes, he was okay now.
Cream reached across the table and put a hand on his. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
He glanced between the hand to her eyes. Unsure of what to do, he gave her hand an awkward little pat with his free one. “Thank you. Um… How have you been?”
It was a bit of an awkward transition, but Kit insisted he wanted to hear about her ordinary day-to-day activities while he was busy being a space-prisoner. It didn’t need to be anything extraordinary. He just wanted to know because she was the only mobian he really liked. The only one whose opinion he actually cared about.
The time passed easily and it didn’t seem like long before they were parting ways. Standing outside of the café once more, they exchanged goodbyes. But just as Kit was turning to leave, Cream tagged on one last question.
“Kit, do you need a hug?”
“A hug?” Kit tilted his head quizzically. “What for?”
“You’ve been through a lot. I just wanted to offer you some comfort; if you need it.”
Kit just stared at her for a moment. It was rare for him to even come into contact with other people and he couldn’t even remember the last time he hugged someone. He didn’t feel the need to touch anyone, and preferred that others kept their distance. But this was a gesture of kindness. From Cream.
“Uh… Sure,” Kit didn’t sound all that sure, though.
Nevertheless, he held his arms up slightly in preparation for it. Cream wrapped her arms around him and gave him a gentle squeeze. He reciprocated, surprised by how natural the action came to him. It was brief, but nice.
“Keep in touch.”
“I will.”
~
A few days later, Kit was standing outside Tails’ lab in Mystic Ruins. Despite knowing exactly why he ended up here, he still couldn’t wrap his head around it.
One moment he was pleasantly catching up with Cream, and the next, he was being implored upon to visit the pest of a fox he had been all too happy to be away from. Unfortunately for him, his one and only friend was a normal person with a multitude of connections. One of those connections was the loathsome two-tailed fox. And, as a good friend, Cream of course had to also catch up with him after she learned about his recent robot-alien-kidnapping via Kit.
“Oh, will you please pay Tails a visit? He’s working himself to death over some new invention again. It has to do with the robots that kidnapped all of you? It’s impossible to get him to take care of himself when he gets into workloads like this, but… Maybe… You could help him? I know you don’t get along, but… If you could just take a look… It would mean a lot to me.”
Kit sighed loudly. She wasn’t even guilt-tripping him, not really. She was too genuine for that. But it worked just as well all the same. She was so delighted when he finally relented, and drove him to the train station the next day.
“If you need help with anything, just text me,” she said as she dropped him off.
“Why would I need…?” Kit started to say, but just shrugged it off. “Okay. Thanks, Cream.”
And now he was here, ringing the doorbell. Disdain was already seeping in through his soles and climbing up his spine as he awaited a response.
“I’m coming! Just a minute!”
Kit rolled his eyes at the mere sound of his voice.
Then the door opened to the shocked expression of a disheveled two-tailed fox, “Kit!?”
“Hi,” Kit tried not to sound too annoyed. Luckily, his voice usually had a deadpan tone regardless of his feelings.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you! Uh, come in?” Tails shuffled to the side.
“I heard you were working on a new project regarding our recent abduction,” Kit got straight to the point.
“Oh, yeah!” Tails was unperturbed by the lack of social niceties. His scruffy, sleepless features even lit up more intently at the mention of his project. “I’ll show you- right this way! You want some coffee?”
“No.”
Kit followed the oddly bouncy fox down the hall to his workshop. Well, it was essentially a hangar with how massive it was. And it was absolutely littered with suitably large equipment and parts. Tails clamored over to a partially-constructed hunk of junk and tapped on it proudly.
“It doesn’t look like much now, but this is the early stages of Mobius’s new planetary defense system! It will shield us from unwanted frequencies, monitoring, and transporting people without their consent. Among other things.”
“Hm. That sounds ambitious. How are you going to accomplish such an enormous feat by yourself?”
Tails’ exuberant smile faltered slightly, “A loooot of time and resources, mostly. Ha… ha. But I can do it!”
“I suppose. But don’t you need to occasionally sleep in order to accomplish such a goal?” He sent him a dour look. “And bathe?”
Tails’ white cheeks flushed a bit as he glanced down at his stained and disheveled fur. “I just forgot to put on an apron today. I bathe, jeeze…”
“And did you forget to sleep and eat ‘today’ as well? Your eyes look like they’re going to fall out of your head and I can hear your guts roaring from here,” Kit glared at him. Cream likely brought these things to Tails’ attention as well, but she was probably far too gentle about it. Kit, on the other hand, didn’t mind making him feel gross and guilty.
“If you just came over to needle me, you shouldn’t have bothered,” Any lingering excitement was sapped out of Tails’ voice and expression. He turned away from Kit. “I have work to do.”
“You’re upsetting Cream with how awful you look,” Kit scolded the back of his head.
“Yeah, well…” Tails didn’t finish the sentence. He got right back to tinkering as if Kit wasn’t there.
“Get more sleep. Or at least send her pictures of you where you edited those awful bags out from under your eyes so she won’t worry so much.”
“I’ll get right on that after I make sure our entire planet is safe from bloodthirsty robots,” Tails hit him right back with the sass.
This wasn’t going to be as easy as Kit thought. He huffed in frustration and glared at the fox that was all-but ignoring him. After a few moments of irritated deliberation, Kit marched over to him and tapped on his shoulder with a water tendril.
“What?” Tails glanced at him, his tone one sliver away from being outright snippy.
“Give me something to do.”
“What?” Tails repeated, his gaze lingering in confusion this time.
“I’m here now. I won’t be for long, but while I am, I may as well do something. Make use of me.”
Tails seemed caught off guard as he struggled to process this. Kit, offering to help?
‘Don’t get used to it…’ Kit narrowed his eyes as if reading his thoughts.
“Um,” Tails said finally, “I actually could really use a second pair of eyes to check the software I built so far. It’s on that computer.”
Kit flopped down in the office chair at the indicated computer and (after raising the seat quite a bit) started pouring over the code without a word.
“Thank you…” Tails’ quiet voice barely met Kit’s ears. It may as well have because he ignored it as he checked Tails’ work.
~
Hours later, Kit had long since finished picking apart and improving Tails’ software. He was now holding up two large sheets of metal while Tails welded them. Kit carefully set the construction down when Tails was finished and stole a few moments to admire the work. So what if he couldn’t stand the guy- that didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate the fruits of his labor.
“Ack!”
Kit spun around in time to see that the genius had fallen flat on his ass- well, more like two fluffy tails, but still.
“What happened?” Kit demanded as he marched over and, instead of offering a hand, just yanked Tails to his feet without prompt.
“Thanks,” Tails said despite the light wince. Kit wasn’t exactly known for his gentle touch. “I just tripped, no biggie.”
Kit scanned the floor. Despite the general disarray of the workshop, the spot Tails fell at was actually clear of any clutter.
“On what, your own feet?”
Tails sighed. “I don’t know; I guess?”
“You’re not normally so clumsy. You need to take a break.”
Tails rolled his eyes and started to walk past him, but Kit caught his arm.
“You’re going to hurt yourself if you continue on like this. Don’t be so careless.”
“I’m not going to die from tripping,” Tails scowled.
“Don’t be obtuse. You’re working with all manner of dangerous equipment. Who’s going to finish building this thing if you kill yourself in a preventable sleep-deprived accident?”
Tails’ hardened expression wavered.
“There’s just so much work to do… I can’t stop. I don’t want anyone else from Mobius to have to endure what we went through.”
“Accidents don’t care about noble intentions. My point still stands. You’re taking a break.”
Tails groaned.
“We’re taking a break or you lose my help. Which do you prefer?”
“Fine…”
~
Kit intended to feed him something on this break, but the idiot’s tiny kitchen was completely sparse. Not counting the foul-smelling mystery container that rendered the refrigerator useless. The only thing he could find was a half-empty gallon bin of mint chocolate chip ice cream in the freezer.
‘Really?’ Kit grimaced. It was better than nothing.
He scooped out two large bowls of the stuff and headed outside where he left Tails sat on a bench. It was a warm spring day and Tails had likely been cooped up inside for days on end. Kit insisted that he get some sunlight on their break.
“This is all I could find,” Kit handed him the bowl.
“I told you there wasn’t really anything- Oh, I completely forgot I had this!” Tails perked up when he noticed what was in the bowl. He hurriedly shoveled some into his mouth and curled his tails up happily. “Thanks!”
Kit raised an eyebrow as he sat down beside him. “It’s your ice cream. All I did was put it in a bowl.”
“It tastes better when someone else gets it for you,” Tails beamed while relishing his treat.
“That makes no sense,” Kit mumbled and started eating with less enthusiasm. He hated chocolate chips in ice cream.
“It totally does. I’ll get you something next time. You’ll see.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. After today, I’m going home. And staying there.”
“Oh… I guess you said you wouldn’t be here long…”
“Mhm,” Kit confirmed with a mouthful of mint.
“Well, I appreciate all your help. Really,” Tails pulled his attention away from his ice cream to hit Kit with a grateful look. Despite all the sass and fuss earlier, there was nothing but genuine appreciation behind those tired eyes. He looked so worn down, so vulnerable. Kit kind of wanted to tease him about it.
“Tails, do you need a hug?”
Kit meant to be condescending. Kit meant to be rude.
But Tails didn’t sneer or laugh. Instead, he was completely quiet. He stared into his bowl, stirring the melting substance around without eating it.
“You want to give me a hug?” He asked quietly without looking up.
‘What? No! Why would you even think that?’ Kit wanted to blow him up. Why would he ever sincerely offer him a hug? Was Tails stupid? Inept at reading tone? Sleep-deprived and delirious? Oh, right.
Tails had set his bowl aside and was facing him now.
Kit briefly considered smashing into him with a tidal wave that sent him clear across the field and flying all the way back home in a panic. But that was a bit ridiculous. What, was he afraid of this idiot now? His unkempt, pathetic and sad looking rival? No. He could face him. It was just a hug. Whatever.
Tails leaned over a bit and Kit met him halfway, giving him a weird, one-armed hug. It was nothing like the one with Cream. Awkward angle, weird vibes, stiff posture from both participants, and an overly pronounced back-pat to break it off. It was the worst thing ever.
And yet, Tails was smiling. Already sitting back in his original position, finishing off the last bits of his ice cream.
“Thank you, Kit.”
Something twisted in Kit’s stomach. ‘This ice cream must have gone bad.’
“I’m just here on Cream’s behalf,” He turned his head away. “When I leave, you better keep up with the breaks. And rest more.”
He expected another sigh or groan or something from his repeated pestering. But there was only silence. Kit finished eating his ice cream that had supposedly gone bad without looking at him. And when he finally did take a peek, what he saw was the serene face of an exhausted fox that fell asleep sitting up completely straight.
Gingerly, he used a water tendril to take the bowl from Tails’ slack hands before it fell to the ground of its own accord. He was about to walk away when Tails himself started to lean forward. Kit lashed out and caught him with surprising gentleness before the inertia could build up enough to jostle Tails awake. Slowly, carefully, Kit picked up his rival’s limp body and layed him down on the bench. It wasn’t the most ideal place for a nap, but it was better than the concrete floor of the workshop. The sunrays and clean, spring air were certainly a necessity at this point.
Kit said he would stay if Tails took a break, but he didn’t really want to sit around for hours while he slept. He could get back to work, but he wasn’t completely sure what direction Tails wanted to go in next. He didn’t get the rundown of the entire project; he was just doing bits here and there.
So Kit went home.
~
Tails was stiff and irritated when he woke up to darkness, a shiver creeping into his fur. He slept all through the afternoon somehow- out on the bench? Oh right, Kit made him go outside. Kit, who was now gone. He wanted to be annoyed for being duped into taking such a long nap, but he couldn’t really. Despite how much he needed to get this done, how he couldn’t afford to waste any time…
‘It was… Really sweet that he wanted to take care of me. Er. Not take care of, just. Well. It was on behalf of Cream, anyway- like he said!’
Tails’ cheeks heated up at the mere thought of it. Kit taking care of him. Kit being nice to him.
Kit hugging him.
“Kit telling me I’m obtuse and careless and need a shower,” Tails chuckled to himself, diffusing the internal threat of being consumed with his feelings for the fennec. “Anyway, time to get back to it.”
And so he did, well into the morning when the sun started warming the earth once more. Not that Tails would know from the windowless state of the workshop. It was just as well because he didn’t need the added distraction of being made aware of the passage of time.
And then he was hit with a much more obnoxious distraction anyway: The doorbell rang.
Tails wasn’t sure what he expected, but it absolutely wasn’t the reappearance of his rival so soon.
“Kit-?!”
“Before you say anything- No. This is not going to be a pattern. I said I would continue to help if you took a break. I’m simply honoring that, giving you a few more hours. I’m leaving at noon.”
“Okay,” Tails stepped aside as the fennec marched in like he owned the place. “What’s happening at noon?”
“No small talk. Put me to work.”
“Alright,” Tails didn’t argue. He simply wondered if there was any particular reason for that timeframe other than Kit limiting his exposure to himself. He had no issue with going straight to work. It would serve his purposes to do just that (and help to quell the fluttering in his chest).
Kit didn’t leave until well into the evening.
And he forgot his charger, so he had to go back a few days later.
And it just annoyed him how empty the kitchen was, so he stopped by to drop off a few inexpensive groceries.
And it wasn’t a problem to start stopping by once a week- just to make sure he was keeping those eyebags somewhat at bay. For Cream’s sake.
It wasn’t a pattern. He didn’t like seeing him. He would stop whenever he felt like it.
He just didn’t feel like it yet.