To so many, the Mystic Ruins were a place of utter tranquility.

The domineering cliffsides overlooking the natural vista, giving way to lush jungle enfolding the ancient shrines. The ruins themselves, untouched for so long by no other hands than nature, and host to a rich and natural song borne by the winds whistling through them. The tides, building upon their back-and-forth symphony, tireless; the bracing scent of sea salt in the air.

This itself was overseen by a moderately-sized building. Situated a fair bit back from the land’s end, it sat next to a generator on the peninsula. A large door facing the sea appeared to mark the only entrance; an emblem of two yellow fox tails marked it, well-worn, nearing a darker shade. Anyone looking outside would see the undulating, blue expanse framed by palm trees, plus the odd too-venturous spray of foam that wouldn’t return to join the rhythm of the roiling waves.

The space inside was occupied mostly by one room, this in itself dominated by a long workbench. Among a scattering of notebooks and contraptions in varying stages of completion, a yellow fox flopped down on a chair not really intended to be flopped down upon, wincing at the sound that it made more than how it actually felt. There was a lot on his mind. His two fluffy, white-tipped tails hung loosely, their now-and-again twitching doing little to break the uncomfortable atmosphere.

Over the past...unidentifiable but still long period of time, he couldn’t say with confidence that any progress had been made. He’d thrown all he could into it, to no avail. Even the slightest hints of a positive, achievable goal were about as palpable as air--undeniably there, but slipping through his fingers every time. Whether they were beyond his current capabilities, or beyond anyone’s in their non-existence, he didn’t know.

Tails pushed off the chair, hoisting himself around into an actual sitting position. He breathed in, deep and slow, in as measured a manner as he could.

...Only to deflate, one of his tails drooping over to brush its pale tip against the floorboards. The sunlight continuing to slant through the window was no comfort. It seemed to make his fur not sit right. He fought the urge to scratch. The air was thick today, and the swirl of sawdust and fumes of chemicals and overworked machines were making it hard to focus. Interesting, given how he’d disregarded them whilst in the ‘zone’. Pathetic, the sight of him sprawled out and not doing anything.

So unassuming, the sight of one golden ring around his wrist.

In concept, it sounded ridiculous. He’d experienced so much in his life already. So many life-or-death dilemmas and tests of strength and will. All manner of mystical artifacts had been discovered and sometimes utilised in whatever situation demanded it. In all that the yellow-furred Mobian had seen, with his adventures of varying stakes, alongside varying fellows, a ring sitting a touch too tight on him shouldn’t have raised any eyebrows.

But something about it just held a brand of mystique. Unmarked, of average weight, so close in appearance to any other common-or-garden ring--and all this heightened the offness of the thing.

Should have been a venture that could be looked back on only absently. Joining Sonic to investigate Carnival Island. Alongside the fledgling Chaotix, following a false lead, who wound up dragged into a challenging journey. Joined in more than one sense by the rings conjured up after they’d crossed Robotnik’s latest contraption. They’d served a purpose, albeit an unintended one--depending on how the Doctor saw the use of his modified creation--and had run their course alongside the course everyone had run. Knuckles and the others no longer wore the gaudy chains, the Chaos Rings having possessed the power to reduce them to a glimmer in their eyes. All involved parties had broken free...all except for two.

The accessory rested there, damning, almost smug. Encircling the fox’s wrist in tandem with an identical one around Sonic’s, it still seemed to possess a kind of attractive pull even without sparks of energy physically dancing between it and its twin.

Such a hold over his every thought, waking or otherwise. It couldn’t just sit, even if the forces of evil momentarily were; as if looking for absolutely anything to stop him from just having a break for once, it all came back to this ring that looked just like the thousands of others he’d seen in his life.

It was like fighting against the pull of a rubber band: stumbling blindly ahead, progressing nowhere, with an ever-growing ache across his tiring limbs and addled brains, sometimes appearing to struggle a touch further forward, to a clearer state of mind...and yet slowly, inevitably, the reality of its unrelenting grip would sink back in, and one loss of footing would send him spiralling back into the cycle of helpless theorising and wondering and fearing...

While right now, Tails only found himself in a more literal spin cycle, in the wake of a familiar blue-and-brown figure speeding on into the organised chaos of his workspace. Gone one minute, here the next--unsurprising, given who it was.

And while quite the marvel in anyone’s eyes, his younger acquaintance had set his focus elsewhere at present. “Sonic!” came the indignant cry, as two dozen sheets of paper fluttered to the floor like overgrown flower petals. They should have been filed, that was the thing. He was meaning to get on that, wasn’t he, a robot that could lighten the load a bit. He had so many blueprints just sitting there, schematics that needed finishing--

“That’s my name, and my game: don’t wear it out!” Having registered the layout of the room, the neat and precise arrangement of pinned notes and reminders and schedules contrasting with the newer ones scattered across the table and floor--moreso in the wake of the sentient gale that had blown in--he seemed to have a handle on the situation immediately. “Still on that grind, are ya?”

Sonic’s own wrist displayed a matching ring, one that seemed to share that odd aura despite the three other bracelets surrounding it. Ones that weren’t affixed to him, and yet came with him wherever he went. All glowing under their own brands of power, at rest like underground rivers.

He’d had to play up so much interest in the ancient Babylonian tech to bury his instinctive unease towards its continued use.

“Of course I am! This isn’t a matter that can just sit, and any researcher, scientist...whoever! They’d agree with me!”

“It’s nothin’ world changin’, chill! And if it was, we’ve got it handled!”

Easy for you to say! “But we should still be prepared in case we’re not! I don’t think Eggman knew what he was dealing with! I’ve gone through every study I can find that has the slightest reference or similarity to this case, and every relevant text that’s been translated, too. The energy I’ve been able to isolate isn’t one any of my containment protocols can recalibrate. All the sensors I’ve built, and not even the strongest--“

“Tried reversin’ the polarity, bud?”

Tails paused, and shot him a look. “Sonic, this is serious. I really don’t understand why you don’t understand that, being in the same situation as I am. Plus, don’t you think I would’ve tried something so obvious as that? It would’ve taken priority, as clichéd as it is.”

He only returned the explanation with a smirk. Brown-streaked cobalt fur rose and fell underneath, frustratingly measured against lazy breaths.

How he’d seen him pretty much 100% of their time spent together. The hedgehog had likely never felt scared in his life. And if he had, he hadn’t shown it. It might as well never have happened. How easy to live your life that way.

Tails felt his fur spiking up.

Then immediately felt guilty. Sonic had come to see him. He had his whole life to live, running carefree and with so many sights to see, and yet he’d come here with interest--albeit joking--in what Tails was doing. Something the fox found so difficult to grasp, each and every time it happened.

Leaning there, the picture of poise, and a catalyst for calm in anyone nearby. Sprinkled with vague annoyance in some cases--how could anyone just roll through life and not expect it--but still present and correct. As he lifted his head, his quills swished, and the movement was almost hypnotic in the room’s light.

...Yet, there it was, that other cursed ring, catching his eye, all expectant like he was wasting his time just standing there, doing nothing.

It called to him. It was an addiction, and he knew it. An item that physically linked two separate parties via non-physical force appeared, in a frantic pair of blue eyes, to be a portent for worse things to come. While the sparkling chains of energy were seen to dance before them, spangling an already bright and loud adventure with even more flashing lights, he’d lost count of how often his mind had wandered from their (somewhat malformed) objective. They were joined no longer, but Tails felt the forced synergy run deeper. And to an extent hoped it did.

Because this was an important matter, whatever way Sonic tried to colour it. As a scientist, Tails zeroed in on such things. Creating a sensible hypothesis. The conclusion that waited behind however many repeats. Envisioning said conclusion as something that could be studied, pored over, built towards--as opposed to some unknowable future.

The problem was figuring out whether you could even start.

Reverse the polarity? Huh. That was something.

“We’ve been through this.”

Sonic had sauntered over to a table, face turned towards a sketch showing a cross-section of the ring. All theories, of course. Couldn’t take the strongest of power-saws to the damn thing.

Tails would know.

“Sure have. ‘Cause someone ain’t heard of moderation.”

“I DO have moderation, and this is the amount of attention this thing needs! If whatever process takes place, and we’re not able to prepare for it...” His voice trailed off, having hit a plaintive note. An involuntary noise, part-growl and part-whine, caught in his throat, and his fists clenched. And relaxed just as fast.

Feeling it all boil up, his fur standing on end, tears in his eyes--no. The fox blinked them back, his chest starting to judder even more. He was not going to cry. Not in front of Sonic.

Said ‘hog’s ears swiveled, but he didn’t turn around.

“Son...ic?” The name seemed to fragment, passing his lips in two pieces. “What could happen to us?”

The unsaid corollary hung in the air.

Moreso you?

Physically, Tails was going on autopilot by now, and the older Mobian having turned to look at him hadn’t registered. The instigator ring left a trail through the sawdust as Tails reached over. Stretching toward his target instead of just walking around the table.

A piece of mint candy soon found its way from a jar on the smaller table into Tails’ mouth, the fox letting the sharp taste overtake the persistent pangs of things forcing their way through his psyche. Mental motors so overworked that he was surprised he couldn’t feel his fur burning or something.

Had he felt this way back then? Once the crimson behemoth that Metal Sonic turned into had been subdued, and everyone was bound together no longer? The chains of mysterious energy having long since dissipated, leaving only familiar golden rings around their wrists, was far from a reassuring factor to the fox as he felt a sickly spider-web of possibilities spiral out through his ever-active mind. These rings, dormant as they seemed, only opened up the likelihood of worse things occurring in the future. Near or far.

Not that he remembered dwelling on such things at the time, actually--he’d just let the rhythm of Sonic’s footsteps pave the way forward. With a smile on his face, and his twin tails a-whirring, and something always seeming to weigh on the back of his mind. If he just kept smiling, then his friends wouldn’t get dragged into his constant worrying, because no questions could broach the subject if there didn’t seem to be any subject to broach, right? Tails had figured that he could solve the problems himself, at the time. Nowadays, he’d grown so used to shouldering the burden that the idea of having it lifted may have been just as scary.

While his fellow Mobian wore that perpetual easygoing attitude, his heart on his sleeve and scars across his body, and seemed to let so many larger issues slide off his back like nothing big. Like some permanent shield was rippling around him. Tails would feel jealous, if he weren’t so disheartened.

Oh, yeah, the whole blue thing’s relatively new--the way Sonic had just SAID that, not dwelling on it at all as he’d spilled it so casually ages ago...it stuck in Tails’ mind, almost pinned there like a note for the future, a reminder that he couldn’t address his own worries and never would find a way to do so, ever. There was no way of replicating the vibe of the Blue Blur, of course. But that wouldn’t stop his sidekick from wondering. Seeing any potential gain or loss more like...an afterthought? Who could even do that?

Every time he tried to prove himself worthy of running by Sonic’s side, or at the very least right behind him, there was some outwardly tiny thing ready to trip him up. Every time, his mind conjured up just as many pitfalls as there were actual bumps in the road, and these mental hurdles were just as big a struggle. Every time he felt like less of a friend and more of a burden at best, worrying, whining, falling--

And more and more plain exhausted. Someday there’d be a hole too deep to fly or even climb out of. Then what could he do...no, scratch that, what would happen to Sonic if he met such a fate? Meaning the hedgehog himself falling, not the kit pretending to be an adult...except what if it did? What if Sonic got into some tricky situation, one that Tails could have thought his way through? What if he couldn’t protect him? What if one day something awful happened, something he could have easily prevented, or at the very least predicted, to lessen the blow the slightest bit, to stop him from feeling so completely worthless--

Sonic’s voice took a second to breach the choking cloud of nausea surrounding the shuddering fox, and yet it was the careful moderation of it that made it suddenly crystal clear in his consciousness.

That measured tone. Focused his way. Being addressed, being told--no, asked to breathe for him, and in a moment of guilt he started trying to do so. He’d let it take over again. This horrid, creeping feeling. And of all the people to see him in this state...

What could he have said? Tails’ heart lurched in his chest. What had he said without realising? All manner of questions and ideals and fears could have escaped their cages to meet Sonic’s no doubt disdainful ears...

“Just take a sec. Deep breaths. Got a lot on your mind, huh…”

Yes, it was starting. He’d better try and listen, to prepare to get laughed at over his stupid, stupid thoughts--

“...Tails? Just keep breathin’. For me, okay? I’m right here with ya.“ A soft exhale. “Should’ve figured, really. This stuff again, yeah?”

Right. These were so painfully obvious to anyone watching. Of course Sonic could see what was going on. How ridiculous it really was.

The meeting of four bracelets gave rise to an odd jangling noise, Sonic having clapped his hands together. “It’s quite the freaky sitch we got ourselves. I get that. But so far it’s come up blank, and you’ve only been lookin’ at the worst-case scenario stuff. I mean, think back for a sec! Even if these things were meant to trip us up, did they? Only rememberin’ a whole lotta help we wound up with! And I wasn’t really expecting too much good outta them, either!”

Figured, this. More proof of how the blue speedster saw every moment like this as a new venture. Gain over setbacks. The risks of gambling taking a backseat to opportunities. Endless ones.

Not exactly encouraging, thought Tails, but he held his tongue. It was how Sonic saw these kinds of situations--just another adventure. He’d learned to brave it out, for his best buddy’s sake.

Holding that fact in his mind, he begged it to stick, as a reminder of how the two of them just kept. On. Going. The recollection was vital to him right now; it was like one of those pitfalls was opening up before him, approaching too fast to register, let alone jump over.

Sights surrounded him in blurred snapshots. Sonic’s eyes darting over him, taking in every little change in his demeanour: the departure of tension from his shoulders and unclenching fists; the set of his fur.

“And it’s not just about me. ‘S about you, too.”

That simple statement cutting straight through those choking clouds, even as they clustered back together with unsurprising speed. He saw right to the heart of the issue, even if he couldn’t quite subdue it. He knew at least how to start addressing it, even if he wasn’t the one who had to finish it.

Tails gave Sonic a desperate glance, wanting something to jerk him out of this spiral, but not sure what he needed. It could just be one otherwise unimportant-seeming action. But he might be borne out on its wings.

The hedgehog responded with a slight tilt of his head. A slow, careful step closed the distance between them. He was nearing him while asking in those measured looks if it was okay to do so.

Just as non-verbally, Tails’ relaxing posture gave him confirmation.

“And whatever goes down?” Sonic strolled over, and clapped a hand on Tails’ tense shoulder. “We’re in it together, buddy.” The other three accessories adorning his wrist alongside his own golden ring jangled together with the movement.

The green orb on his smallest bracelet caught the light. It seemed to wink at him.

The candy in his mouth was near-gone by now, and he hadn’t even noticed.

“That’s, well, it’s easy enough to say, Sonic,” went Tails’ traitorous brain through his tired tongue, trying to reinstate the feeling of unease. “”But there’s empirical evidence here, and it does really need immediate attention. According to my calculations--”

Sonic snorted.

“There are…honestly, I’m telling the truth. I haven’t got around to analysing them, but they’re there, Sonic. Sonic, about six more came up in my past study alone--”

“Which ain’t ones all mashed up by that head o’ yours into somethin’ they never were?”

“Chaos energy is, well, chaotic enough, Sonic, but this is in a different realm...” He’d started to give off a certain aura again, one that Sonic took note of and backed away from even as Tails jerkily drew back himself.

Experience had taught Sonic to take these closer encounters in increments, observing his fellow Mobian for signs of anything too different as he switched to keeping his hands to himself.

“Being scared does things to ya. Ain’t sayin’ it’s anythin’ personal, but I still know how it is. Trust me, the real gnarly futures are ones you’re more than capable of handlin’. Even without me. And you need the energy to do that, Tails, so why ya burnin’ it all on the silly stuff?”

Tails wasn’t looking at him, but it seemed more of a silent indication to continue than one to ease off.

Sonic put a gamble on the former. “I mean, given all the stuff that’s probably lingering in our systems by now, is it really somethin’ that’s gonna jump out and shock us? In whatever sense?”

And it eased off slightly again. Crude, but it had worked. Sonic’s quills shook as he tilted his head, keeping an eye on Tail’s movements, the set of his fur and ears.

“Plus, they really anythin’ we can’t deal with? Real broken record, right here, I got that. But do ya let them catch up to ya all the time?”

Tails looked like he was about to speak; his idol gently forestalled it.

“In places that let you breathe a bit? Ones that aren’t this workshop?” Sonic waved a hand. “It’s nice and all, don’t get me wrong. ‘S real ‘you’. But I can’t say the same for this guy.”

Tails’ question died on his tongue, Sonic having given the fox’s fuzzy head a gentle tap.

“That ain’t my little buddy. See, there’s nothin’ wrong with being scared. Anyone tells you otherwise, they’re lyin’. And it’s fine to look to the future, but dang, 24/7? Y’gotta have a limit, bud! Everyone needs a breather! And no ancient curse or monster or nothin’ is gonna sneak up on ya while yer on that snooze cruise o’ yours. If they do, they got two real powerhouses to deal with!”

The gentle clash of bracelets marked his step back. His stare was arresting.

“It’s a lot to think about. I get it. And it’s fine spendin’ the time thinkin’. If anyone can figure it out, it’s you--but it’s no good burning yourself out over it. Anything real gnarly would’ve went down long before now, trust me. Not just me who knows it, too.”

It wasn’t the first time Tails had gone through this cycle. Despite his vehemence in clinging to them, his worries didn’t have a lot of meat to them--even more so when they were being described back to him so casually. But it was hard to just...dispel them. Even when he knew they were inaccurate.

Persistent, doom-laden things. Childish, paranoia-fuelled dreams about having the ring work some antic spell into his brain, forcing him into either extreme of unnatural, evil intelligence or complete ego death. It turning his bones to dust, or setting his entire body alight. Restless nights capped off with a pain in his wrist, worsening as he squinted at it, rubbing uselessly at whatever skin he could reach.

The issue of addressing them alone kept him awake as much as the dreams themselves. Was his fretting mind bloating these things beyond proportion? What was a genuine concern, and what was an imagined dilemma?

And how could he tell which was which?

On a certain hero’s side, his ‘keepsake’ from a certain exploration of classic literature told plenty without words. Looking at his scarred pectorals, where the infernal curse of that vengeful djinn had left its mark even after the afflicted ‘hog had outlasted it, as he had all bumps in the road...

His gaze had wandered toward a nick in Sonic’s ear, which jumped into his awareness as the hedgehog gave it a rakish flick. Emerald-green eyes flicked aside in turn, an action Tails hadn’t put much stock in before. Less than half a second, it had lasted, and yet it still made him wonder.

The tang of mint lingered on his tongue. He thought about the little moments of control between what he remembered as dragging periods of worry. Long-term, not the most reliable, he’d believed. But it had gotten him this far...

“And check this!” Going far enough as to prove how in-tune he was with Tails’ line of thinking all over again, the hedgehog gestured to the burn that spiraled out across his chest. “Did I burn out? After a not-so-hot curse kicked in, an’ all? Nuh-uh! Still shmoovin’! And that’s, what, a thousand years ago, technically? Days? Plus one?”

“Not...really,” was all Tails could manage, while sifting through a strangely mellow cavalcade of thoughts. They were drifting through his mind at the easiest pace yet in a matter of hours. Days, in fact.

So much for speaking without words...and yet the two-tailed fox couldn’t help but take some solace in this affirmation. Space-time shenanigans aside--which was easy given some of what they’d experienced. Funny how that was simple enough to swallow, while one over-friendly ring out of millions wasn’t.

Being a hero didn’t just help those around you. A sense of do-right must help you feel like everything is being properly set in motion by your actions--or at least to act like that was happening by your command. Harder to think about without an out-of-control situation to, well, bring under control. Generally he’d not directly taken on gods so much as those with god complexes.

But they’d possessed just as much power, or at the very least, threat. And if they were threats to all he cared about, then didn’t it mean just as much to try and stop them?

The attempts could matter. Burning this into the mind of someone that only saw success as valid...that was the problem.

He thought this over while trying to rub his shoulder as discreetly as he could--Sonic’s surprising strength had been inadvertently pounded back into his awareness time and time again, this way--

Just like something else that needed beating into him. Time and time again. Taking a deep breath, the fox found himself wanting to not so much prove Sonic right but accept what Sonic knew was right. Pretending to do so just to appease Sonic...was a prospect that Tails found no issue kicking to the kerb. This situation had brought so much into the light, and he should at least try to keep it alive. (Plus, Sonic could see right through him, most likely.)

Where was there to start, though?

“The, uh, the schematics…” He trailed off, expecting another one of those looks from his idol that would make every word out of his mouth--and those forming in his head--sound ridiculous, and make him want to shut up and run off into the forest to vegetate.

But the hedgehog tilted his head, expression neutral (i.e. cool, self-assured, ever-slightly-smug for Sonic) and giving silent encouragement to carry on.

“What they were based on...well, it was guesswork, but still. Turned up no...real threatening conclusions. Or prospects? I don’t think? There’s nothing...overwhelmingly...negative. Hasn’t been for a while. And the power-drawing sessions, and the one with the inhibitors, the conclusion was accurate, but…”

Just rambling, getting nowhere, talking about nothing in particular, he was, but Sonic was nodding and he kept on going, breathless yet not feeling so unsettled about it.

Was that initial feeling of silliness related to denying his fears, or to denying that they weren’t notable?

“I mean, I couldn’t get anything from it, but I wasn’t really...expecting to…”

“Nothin’ to write down about, if you get what I mean?”

“That I’ve found. They might still be there. The urgent ones. Waiting to be discovered while I--”

“Jeez, Louise. Wake up smellin’ any burnin’ fur, or?”

...A bit blunt, but also pointed in regards to some of the thoughts he’d had. “Um…well, I thought--”

“Ya thought. Right. And was it goin’ down, for real?”

“...No…”

“And what’s really been goin’ down? I mean, anythin’ straight up bad?”

“Not really…”

“Not really, really?”

“No...I mean, yes. Yes...nothing, uh, bad.” And there it was. It seemed almost sacrilegious to let the words out, but there was no reigning them back in now. Tails’ heart was beginning to pound.

Not wholly due to fear--some prevailed, for sure, and yet the feeling of something else long held down by it was testing the doors. To unlock them, instead of breaking them down. Moderation was necessary.

Which also meant he had to dispel the shadows of unease, just for a short while.

“Well, I know where to start, I guess, the earliest...no, uh, the more common results, and if I extrapolate from them then I’ll...find something, not...bad?”

Sonic’s own permanent accessory caught the light. Its bearer offered it an idle glance, before crossing his arms and tilting his ears forward. His expectant gaze returned, full force yet somehow gentle.

Tails’ namesakes were bunched up against his thigh. “...Right? I guess?”

Didn’t feel like he was making any mental ground, but...

“Yep! So you’ve got this nailed, bud. Think of the positives! I’d say ya found plenty, and this is only the start. We’re all in it together, see? Every last one of us. So don’tcha ever go thinking you’re alone in this!”

Even then, Tails failed to hide a smirk. He understood why Sonic couldn’t go more specific...they had a lot of friends…

Yet the thought was appreciated. Very much so.

“Ye-yeah.” Then a touch louder, accompanied by a frantic nod. “Yeah!”

“Yeah!” Sonic grinned, and nothing mocking or even remotely snide could be seen in it. “You gettin’ it? Sounds like you got it!”

“I think I--yeah, I think I got it!”

“Don’t think ya got it! Ya do got it!”

A snort. “Guess I do got it!”

“So, you get to workin’ on these friendship bracelets, buddy!”

“Sure thing, Sonic!”

Tails’ face disappeared behind a set of storage drawers.

...Then it emerged again, wearing a disgruntled pout.

“Sonic, they’re not friendship bracelets!”

“Ooh, yeah, my bad! Buddy bracelets! Need the proper address, these, don’t they? The Emblems of Bestest Buds, Across Time Immemorial…”

The yellow-furred head ducked out of view again, ears still in view and giving away how much their owner was shaking.

“Scourges of apathy! Joining buddies across the ages, heart ‘n’ soul, or else. Blast yer head off if ya look at ‘em wrong…”

“Sonic!” One of the worst parts was how this correlated with not only the wear but the entire belief system of an ancient society in a distant future he’d studied...

His chest was starting to ache from all the laughter he was trying to suppress, knowing that the slightest giggle to get out would be Homing Attacked the heck onto, thereby dooming him to more and more of these dumb, childish, wonderful cracks.

He tried to measure out some easy breaths again, slowly but surely working around the spikes of amusement that would likely doom him more than anything else here if they broke free. From the start he’d figured this whole thing would seem silly, but...this kind of silly? Seemed the trickiest to deal with, sometimes.

But at least it wasn’t as serious.

Getting up on slightly aching legs, he watched as Sonic lifted his arms above his head. The bracelets knocked together, and the sound combined with the sunlight framing his figure gave the whole scene...something.

“Don’t mean to cut it too short, but ya know how it is, here.” He breathed out, and the ease of it was arresting. “Bit too long stayin’ still, for me. Don’t wanna wind up as a museum exhibit!”

“Sor--” Tails almost let the word slip, but swallowed it down even before the hedgehog shot him a look of gentle caution.

“Onto what I came here to say. ‘Cause talkin’ was cool and all, but that ain’t the only reason I dropped by.” Almost as an afterthought, he shook out first one leg, and then the other--perhaps he’d stretched them too while Tails wasn’t aware. “Was gonna make you a deal--gonna go stretch these legs for about...eh, half an hour, let’s say? And once I’m done, I’m heading on back here, and you’re comin’ out with me and gettin’ more than a little bit of fresh air, you got that? Then we can chill here for a bit, after ya got a bit of sunlight in ya, and we can get into this ring business some more. And I’ll chip in, some. All ya need.”

Followed by a thumbs-up, which carried the sincerity of his entire presence here, and another of those penetrating stares. As if he knew just how much his fellow Mobian needed it. “Good luck with those buddy bracelets! Catch ya on the flipside!”

And Tails didn’t even bother trying to correct him this time, knowing that the Blue Blur was now living up to his moniker at present. Just stood still, and tried to gather his thoughts and observations. He side-eyed the pages of notes and reminders as they fluttered under their pins.

Turning back to the table, he let out a soft ‘oh’ at the papers that had been stacked back up again. Hadn’t even noticed. Sonic had even distanced himself in such a way that his exit wouldn’t have sent them flying again.

They weren’t quite sorted properly, but Tails didn’t mind. The thought counted more. It would be relaxing to tie up the loose ends anyway. Would be a nice distraction from, well, some clinging, cloying thoughts.

That were nowhere near as numerous or domineering as before.

The fox couldn’t help but wonder how often he’d gone through this song and dance before. However many times he’d have to do it again. These worries were persistent, and yet in the probing face of someone else a lot of them seemed more silly. A lot.

Not all. But still a lot.

And such a different method from his idol--or what he could figure his idol did to cope. Or if he needed to cope at all. Anything negative was just shelved into procedure, and addressed and taken on alongside everything else ahead. It was all taken in stride, and with speed: such was the Sonic way.

Sky-blue eyes slid toward that ring again, the wearer fully prepared for the rubber band to snap back and the surge of helpless theorising and unease to overcome him once more.

It...did not.

Hadn’t really been focused on how warm it was today...but there it was again, and he shook himself off. An odd thought of what he might look like flitted through Tails’ head. Only just felt like he could register the sun on his fur. Illuminating. Warm. Huh. What was he, a plant?

Gaze still locked on the ring, he set his lip. He absently ran his fingers over it: feeling the golden surface unbroken by any markings or engravings. In his awareness, it felt heavy. Solid. Immutable.

That being a trait that required no clarification through experimentation. It was a certainty from the beginning, even as he’d fussed and internally debated and worried over its presence--it wasn’t coming off. At all. Ever. It was simple enough to accept that, but then other concerns had reared their ugly, scaly heads from the immaterial hydra’s still bleeding stump.

However, looking over the thing now, locked around his wrist like the jaws of some tiny creature whose bark was far louder? Disregarding what others told him about the exact same thing was simple, but now that he was alone it seemed to stare him directly in the face. A whole lot of poring over futures that fizzled out as he neared them. Here and now? Nothing out of the ordinary.

And regardless, if anything untoward did wind up happening...he was far from alone. Tails needed to remind himself of that--having spent a significant amount of his life looking out for himself and only himself, with all other parties out to get him, the fox found having friendly faces in his memory to be a frustratingly intangible concept to grasp.

One of which shared the exact same ‘affliction’.

See, looking at it now, it really was nothing more than an accessory. Right? Seriously...wasn’t it?

And, thinking back on the name...Tails’ face grew warm at the recollection. It wasn’t exactly annoyance that had made him snap at Sonic over the ‘buddy bracelet’ thing. Not entirely. Feeling the subject of the past few months--or maybe years--reduced to that seemed to be what had stirred his tongue at first. But every time he ran those words over in his mind…

His two fuzzy namesakes looked even more frizzed up than usual.

The yellow Mobian puffed up his chest, likely not looking any less flustered with the action, and made his stiff-feeling legs take him back over to the table. The gentle breeze through the window rustled the papers lightly.

He’d set the timer before he realised--about half an hour, was it? An increment lower, he should go, maybe twenty-five minutes or so, to have a moment to try and come out of the zone and be ready.

A little tinge of amusement arose at himself, and it was the gentlest he’d felt in a while. Always had to go through these motions, but they did help.

Picking out a sheet at apparent random, he looked over the words before grabbing a pen from the nearby ring binder of a notebook he’d stuffed it in. The click of it under his finger was loud, yet satisfying.

On the Conventions of Carnival Island Technology and Relevant Observations by the Afflicted, Miles Prower. Regarding Hypotheses Drawn, Beginning with the Item of Varying Monikers: Sling Rings, Contra-Bands*, Buddy Bracelets--

Tails crossed it out.

Then glanced around, feeling a little flustered despite knowing he was in fine enough health, and wrote it down again. Marked it with an asterisk. Added two more.

And appended a footnote to the page, began to write down the source, and was aware of being a little way off the ground due to how quickly his tails were buoying him higher. For once he was relieved that no-one could see him fighting off these feelings like a school-kit. He didn’t want to look back and see how jittery his handwriting had likely turned.

It appeared to take a while for him, but he knew it wasn’t too long in reality. The fox forced his fluttering namesakes to calm for a moment, taking the notes in his hands. Shelving them together and starting to reorder them with the part-attention of someone that knew the process in their sleep. Feeling like the ‘something’ that he felt obligated to get done was finally the kind that made him feel accomplished. Only took however long to find it in this one mundane activity.

He could still taste mint.

Tails took a deep breath, and held it for a moment before letting the air out in a sigh. A yawn soon followed. His tails were feeling a touch stiff; he made his feet touch the ground again, unsure of whether to work out the kinks more or let them settle.

Well, in less than half an hour he’d learn what worked, wouldn’t he?

His breathing was already coming more easily. Tails squinted as he moved towards the source of sunlight; the air held a different fragrance as he opened the window fully, not bothering with a gadget to do it this time. He remained at it for a second, looking out at nothing in particular, the wind playing with his settled fur.

The roaring of waves meshed with the rustling of notes. Yellow-and-white fur shifted over flexing tail muscles. One more shuffle of papers, followed by one clarifying flick through them to ensure they were all in line, and the song and dance was done. The yellow Mobian’s eye caught the shine off of a discarded piece of tech, and he looked it over, narrowing his eyes. The melodrama of it all was a touch annoying, but it provided a place to start at.

Couldn’t remember exactly what he’d been working on with this thing, funnily enough, and it wasn’t the first time this had happened. But the rubber band wasn’t even starting to stretch, this time. Something to keep in mind, even if it would only resurface when it wanted to--once he saw what was on the screen, he’d fall back into the process like he hadn’t even left it. Not all that the depths of his brain held was a hindrance.

He picked it up, and felt this prove true in an instant. The device flickered on from standby as he shifted it to one hand. The other moved to rest, the bracelet hitting the table. Its wearer flicked an ear.

Back to experimenting, again...but with his head far more clear.