@jegulus-microfic 6 & 16 march - scent & arrange - 2329 words
have some 1800ish-something a/b/o jegulus curtsey of me rewatching bridgerton over the last few days lol (the soundtrack goes so unnecessarily hard)
Regulus is in need of a drink, and Regulus is in need of it fast.
His useless Alpha excuse of a brother is nowhere to be found, has left him alone amongst the bloodthirsty throng of eligible Alpha bachelors of the ton and Regulus is but a piece of medium rare steak marinating in his own juices. No pun intended.
Regulus is supposed to have his first dance of the evening with his newly engaged fiance which he, not to mention, has yet to even meet and none of his family or friends are in a reachable vicinity to aid their support.
He is going to throw a fit.
The padded mesh cloth around his throat is so tight he feels unable to breathe, there are a dozen different scents wafting at him from all sides at any given moment and Regulus feels stupid with it. And not in a positive sense, just– horribly overwhelmed. Dizzy from the sensory overload.
He desperately needs something to take off the edge.
Cue, the drinks buffet.
He’s almost at his destined location when he collides with a warm chest.
“Oh, careful there,” a deep voice responds, grip tight on Regulus’ shoulder but not untoward.
But Regulus is already in a foul mood, insults read at the tip of his tongue, bitter and stinging.
“Are you not in possession of a working pair of ey—” the last syllable dissolves uselessly on his palate before it can do more damage when Regulus is, with a sudden burst of clarity, pulled from his distressed state in an instant.
Cloaked in a realm of fresh outside air, meadow and wood, like someone had opened a window directly beside Regulus to rescue him from his torment. He breathes in again, greedily, taking in the patchouli and vetiver notes. Something rich and friendly that immediately lulls Regulus into a much more acceptable mood, shoulders untensing, heartbeat slowing. His body’s reaction quite similar to whenever Sirius is scenting him.
That’s before he looks up at the man though.
He’s all bronze skin and unruly dark hair in the most endearing sloppy way that it infiltrates Regulus with the urge to reach out his twitching fingertips and righten the mess, kind brown eyes behind perfectly round, wire-framed glasses and the most dazzling smile Regulus has laid his eyes upon this evening or ever, maybe.
Which currently twitches wider at the corners, at Regulus’ loss for words, presumably, making him blink violently and stoop into a hastened curtsey.
“My apologies, Lord–” Regulus cuts himself off, realising he doesn’t even know the man’s title nor name. He could be a foreign duke, a prince even, for all that Regulus knows. Or, rather, doesn’t know.
“Just James,” the Alpha responds. With his given name, of all things, much to Regulus’ confusion.
He’s smiling warmly down at Regulus, if a little amused, holding a respectable amount of distance that he has stepped back into.
The grin makes Regulus feel all kinds of woozy and cotton-mouthed and out of sorts despite the lack of just one drop of alcohol having landed on his tongue. A spectacle he must appear as, gnawing at his bottom lip and gawking at the unnecessarily handsome stranger like a simpleton without getting a single word out.
The Alpha cocks his head, grin widening and Regulus finally finds it in himself to rip his stare away when there’s a waiter gliding past them with even more champagne on a tray. Reminding him as to why he’s made his way over here in the first place. Regulus snatches up a glass and downs half of it in one go, going against every single thing his family have ever taught him but he can honestly be less bothered right this moment given they have all abandoned him anyways. Stupid Papa with his stupid business arrangements. Stupid Maman with her ever so unsatisfied need of new gossip. Stupid Sirius and his stupid staff mistress.
“And you might be…?” the same warm voice says, a little closer now.
“You’re still here?” Regulus throws over his shoulder, aiming for annoyed, though the question coming out strained and to his surprise, yet again, he gets a laugh in response.
He turns, allows himself to properly look this time and there’s mischief dancing in James’ eyes as he raises dark brows, “Is there something troubling you?”
“Is there ever not?” Regulus sighs, taking another sip against his better judgement. Anything to drown out the reminder of his predicament.
“Well, as your self-proclaimed rescuer in this clearly distressing time of need, I am all ears,” the stranger offers with a cheeky smile.
Regulus narrows his eyes, his unused arm wrapping protectively around his front.
The Alpha narrows his eyes in imitation, lips straining with a dimpled grin, apparently finding ridiculous amounts of joy in Regulus’ miserable state, though he doesn’t look the type to be of malicious intent. A jokester, perhaps, someone silly and rather unregarding of any rules, maybe—much like Sirius, actually, and Regulus, despite their differences and how horribly annoying he can be at times, would be the last one to label his big brother as a bad person.
And, well, desperate times and all.
Regulus sucks in a big, steadying breath, “I am to dance with my fiance in mere minutes.”
A pause.
“Then I understand congratulations must be in order,” James bows his head, teeth digging into his lower lip as his grin widens impossibly.
“Certainly not,” Regulus hisses, outraged, “What about me at the very moment says happily engaged Omega, I must inquire?!”
“Mm, the distressed frown and wide squirrel-about-to-be-shot-eyes, of course.”
Regulus ignores him, on a roll now, feeling the rush of complaining tug on him like a wild current, “I do not even know the man, have yet to even meet him. For all I know he could be a troll! An ogre of a man, or worse; an Alpha ready to bore me to death!”
“Or he might be the most handsome, charming, talented, ingenious, chivalrous, witty Alpha for miles—perhaps the whole continent?” James counters, ducking closer.
His scent increases for a second and Regulus has to take a moment as he feels it settle on the back of his tongue to remind himself of his manners. Face flushed, he turns to look back into the room, desperate for distraction. Settled on the musicians, watching them play their violins and the pianoforte, Regulus sniffs primly, “Or a troll.”
A snort, smile evident in his voice when the Alpha speaks next, “Well, I suppose there is only one way to find out.”
“Or,” Regulus says pointedly, taking another big gulp of the sparkling alcohol, “I pretend to faint and you will be witness for my family to convince them to take me back home where I shall crawl under the covers and feign illness until the very end of the courting season.”
“And what if I told you that you can’t hide forever?” James ducks his head to catch his gaze and Regulus rolls his eyes into his champagne glass, “You might have already been found out before you even know.”
“Then I would tell you that you underestimate me,” he replies, turning back to him and leaving the sight of musicians as the ballroom fills up.
“Hmm,” the Alpha makes sceptically.
“Hmm,” Regulus mocks, wobbling his head.
James narrows his eyes, mouth twitching, “Are you mocking me?”
“I would never dream of it, my Lord,” Regulus answers.
James makes a noise resembling an indulgent Sure and takes the almost empty glass out of Regulus’ grip and replaces it with another. The new glass is more curved, with a glittering golden rim and the liquid inside equally sparkling but with a delightful added hue of soft pink.
It looks enticing but Regulus knows better than to trust just any obscure Alpha, “Are you trying to get me drunk, my Lord?”
This time it’s James’ turn to roll his eyes, “Take a sip.”
He doesn’t use the voice yet Regulus finds himself almost eager to obey nonetheless, so he lifts the glass to his lips.
It’s lemonade.
When Regulus looks back up, licking his lips off the residue, James cocks his head expectantly with a smirk.
Regulus can’t stand his arrogance.
It’d do him some good to be knocked down at least several pegs. Regulus certainly wouldn’t pass the opportunity to volunteer for the task. Wipe that self-assured grin right off his face and for some reason there is heat crawling up into Regulus’ cheeks suddenly—the champagne must be getting to him.
He sniffs quickly, eyes darting away to occupy his gaze with something else and falling to swirl along the intricate pattern on James’ coat. His broad chest is well on display with the way his hands are folded at the small of his back.
Regulus blinks again, studying James and the way he’s been standing next to Regulus at the drinks buffet for minutes without ever attempting to take one for himself.
“You’re not drinking?” he asks curiously, brushing an errant curl back behind his ear.
James does something weird then. A flutter of his lashes, nostrils flaring, and his jaw drops open slightly. A breath punches out of him that tapers into a chuckle as he slips into a grin, averting his eyes for a moment.
He winces slightly, still smiling, and then takes another half step closer. Regulus narrows his eyes in warning but James just keeps the short distance, grinning shamelessly. “Well, actually, I came to the buffet because I could have sworn I smelled lemon tart—see, they’re my favourite.”
Regulus frowns, head swivelling to glance behind James’ big form, along the length of the table, occupied solely by glasses of champagne and lemonade. He turns back to James, a derisive scoff tumbling from the centre of his chest that would have earned Regulus a sharp warning glance from his mother, “Perhaps you should consider a visit to the Doctor, my Lord. Your sense of smell must be awfully off.”
Or maybe he’s just particularly dull. Well, Regulus thinks, it is only fair this way. If you’re already this handsome and well-built you don’t deserve to be a genius as well. Balance of nature and all.
The Alpha’s grin does not wane though and Regulus feels a shiver run up the curve of his spine when the tall Alpha hums in a deep timber. “My nose works just fine, actually,” James tilts his head to the side, eyes wandering down Regulus’ face towards his neck, “As opposed to your scarf.”
It takes a moment and then Regulus’ mouth drops open. Oh, the sheer audacity. A sound of disbelief jumps from his dry throat, “I beg your pardon?”
“Oh, no need, I am perfectly capable of controlling myself even with such a delicious treat dangled right in front of my nose,” James grins. It’s infuriating.
Regulus can feel the vein in his forehead popping with his anger, “Have you no manners?!”
“I certainly do,” he volleys back, “I just take my liberties with whenever to apply them.”
“Well, then I advise you to take a tighter reign of them when in the company of strangers,” Regulus spits, cheeks warm.
It’s just that James is still so close, smelling divine and knee-weakening and now that he’s been made aware he can’t help but notice their scents mixing in the air surrounding them. Their space neither of them seems quite taken to leaving, creating a wonderful concoction of syrupy sweet-sour citrus and heavy spicy-woodsy musk.
“There will be no need around you then, Regulus,” James counters and Regulus gasps, head reeling, feeling like he’s just fallen from his horse, “Given you are my fiance, love.”
Oh, there is no way.
No.
This must be a joke.
Regulus feels like his eyes are about to pop out of their sockets as he eyes the length of the Alpha again. The tousled black hair, the handsome features, the pleasant build, the clearly expensive clothing. Reminded of the fact that his aristocratic, powerful family would never arrange an engagement with anyone less than fully deserving for their only Omega. “You–”
“Allow me to introduce myself,” he grins, stooping into a curtsey, “James Potter, Duke of Godric’s Hollow.”
“Oh, goodness in the heavens.”
“Now I believe I was promised a First Dance?” James looks in no way angry with Regulus’ disrespect, if anything, just as amused and cheerful as the whole time. The whole time in which he evidently knew who he was talking to, making a right fool of Regulus, just for the fun of it.
Regulus barely has the time to pout when the Alpha already continues, “I think that is the least you can do after calling me an ugly tr—”
“Yes,” Regulus cuts him off, clearing his throat, “I will dance with you.”
Something softer shimmers in James’ warm, chocolate eyes and then Regulus gasps silently when a warm hand touches the gloved curve of his palm, “I am nothing short of delighted to hear that, love.”
They step onto the dance floor together, hands entwined and basking in each other’s presences. Regulus feels fizzy and warm on the inside.
James is witty and interesting, effortlessly able to keep Regulus on his toes—both metaphorically and literally—and excellent dancer and an even more stunning conversationalist. Not to mention, quite easy on the eye. And Regulus doesn’t even want to get started on James’ scent again.
One dance turns into many, turns into walking around the room side by side bickering and gossiping and laughing, turns into a lively game of chess, turns into wandering through the halls and appraising art, turns into Regulus passing out on James’ shoulder on a settee before Sirius eventually finds them and takes him home.
The next day, James is there in the drawing room for tea, as he promised he would. Regulus has told the kitchen staff to prepare lemon tart.
And the rest is history.
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"Sonic vs. Tails - The Ultimate April Fools Battle"
AO3 link if you'd rather read it there ;)
6:38 a.m.
Early on a Monday morning, Sonic awoke to a rocking sensation. For a moment it was nice, soothing even, and he thought perhaps he'd fallen asleep on a hammock or something.
Except, it was in fact not soft fabric beneath him, but wooden boards.
A faint smell of salt alerted him next. Then a strong gust of wind. Then the cry of a seagull.
A seagull?!
His eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright, panic immediately flooding his chest upon seeing a huge mass of water all around him. He found himself sitting in a wooden fishing boat, smack dab in the middle of it.
He jumped up to his feet with a squeak of true fear, wobbling as the rocking of the boat nearly made him lose his balance.
He raced to the pole where the sails were attached and jumped onto it, full-body clinging to it with both arms and legs. "HOW IN MOBIUS DID I GET OUT HERE?!" he yelled indignantly, as loudly as he could for having just woken up.
A snicker sounded above him, and he jerked his head up so fast he nearly got whiplash.
And whom should he see perched atop the sails post but his little brother, Tails, his namesakes waving around and mischief practically written all over his face.
"Happy April Fools," the smug little fox greeted him, still giggling.
Sonic relaxed slightly, but shot Tails a feigned death glare. "It's on," he shot back, unable to hide a smirk.
-
8:23 a.m.
He had to be subtle about this. Tails was obviously very well aware what day it was. He had to be sly.
So, for his first prank of many, Sonic ran out to buy a cheap whoopie cushion, then slipped it in the Tornado's cockpit, at a perfect angle so Tails wouldn't see it until it was too late.
He was pretty proud of himself for keeping it cool, going on runs and swinging back by the workshop every few minutes to see when Tails needed to go out for a flight.
Except it was taking too long.
If he didn't get that over with, all his time to come up with more pranks for the day would be gone. And that simply wouldn't do.
"Hey, Tails!" he called from the roof, where he'd been leisurely lounging for the past five minutes. "Wanna go for a shopping run?"
After a pause of silence filled only with the sound of some metal clanging, Tails called back, "For what? I thought we were stocked."
"No, we need more— flour." He quickly improvised, having not actually checked the pantry beforehand.
"Why do we need more flour?" Tails sounded both distracted and confused as he continued whatever he was clanging around with.
"Because bread." Sonic flipped onto the ground and leaned his head through the window. "We should make bread."
Tails finally pulled back his goggles and shot him a look. "Why do you want to make bread?"
"Don't question it, Tails! Why can't I be allowed to wanna try new stuff?"
"Because it's April Fools, that's why." Tails smirked and pulled his goggles back down, studying the chunks of metal he was abusing. "There's probably a prank waiting for me at the store or something."
Sonic clasped a hand to his chest dramatically. "You seriously think I went and sabotaged public property just to pull a prank on you?!"
Without missing a beat, and without shifting his eyes from his work, Tails replied, "Yeah."
Sonic huffed and crossed his arms. "Well, I didn't. And the only way for you to see that is to come on shopping with me. I'll even let you pick the store so that you can be sure."
Tails looked at him, arching a brow and resting one hand on his hip. "You're so random," he said, shaking his head with a grin. "You realize you can go shopping by yourself, right?"
"Well, sue me for wanting to spend time with my darling little brother," Sonic pouted, trying his best to pull off a puppy-dog-eyes look.
"Since when did you become so clingy?" Tails laughed, finally setting aside his things and flying over to the window.
Finally!
"It was inevitable. You're too loveable." Sonic yanked him into a hug, right before letting him start flying towards the Tornado.
"I don't know whether to feel touched or suspici—" Tails abruptly broke off as he hopped into the cockpit, and the whoopie cushion immediately squeezed beneath him, filling the air with its awful sounds.
His face went beet red for a moment, then he closed his eyes and sighed. Sonic had already fallen over laughing, tears springing to his eyes at Tails's expression.
"Bread, huh?" Tails sounded way too calm as he turned to face his brother, but there was a terrifying glint in his eyes.
"You bet!" Sonic laughed. "Come on, what are you waiting for? Let's go get flour!"
Tails picked up the whoopie cushion and hurled it full force at the hedgehog's face.
-
8:52 a.m.
After the whoopie cushion incident, Tails forced Sonic to go out shopping anyway. He even managed to trick him into thinking he was doing it as an apology.
Oh, was that poor hedgehog mistaken. He was so in for it. Tails had sent him out shopping— alone— so he could set up his revenge prank.
He decided to go with a simple one. Perhaps he would save the more intricate and wild pranks for later in the day.
This one would still be personal, though.
Barely suppressing a little cackle of glee, Tails snatched a large bottle of clear super glue and generously poured it all over the welcome mat at his front door. This glue wouldn't fully dry for another twenty to thirty minutes, and since Sonic was only getting one thing from the store, he wouldn't take nearly that long.
Sure enough, five minutes after he'd laid the prank, he heard the distinct BOOM in the distance of his brother's impending arrival.
Tails already knew Sonic wasn't going to notice the glue. If it wasn't immediately obvious, and he wasn't in danger, he didn't pay attention to detail like that.
The door handle jiggled for a moment, then was followed by a banging on the door. His muffled voice called, "Tails, if you're gonna send me out to buy stuff we don't actually need, the least you could do is leave the door unlocked for me to actually give you the stuff we don't need."
"Oh, dear chaos!" Tails called back, deliberately sounding way too dramatically surprised. "How did the door lock itself?!"
It didn't matter if Sonic caught on. If he was banging on the door, it was too late for him.
"I don't like your tone, young man." Sonic definitely sounded suspicious, and Tails could barely suppress his triumphant laughter.
"Sorry, Dad." With a snicker, he unlocked the door and swept it open, where he found Sonic standing with a hefty bag of flour, shooting him a look.
He was standing right in the middle of the super glue puddle.
"Seriously, bro? Locking me outside? That's the best you g-GAAUHH!" Sonic broke off as he tried to take a step forward, only to pull the entire doormat up with his foot and lose his balance. He tried desperately to right himself, but only ended up pinwheeling his arms, losing his grip on the bag of flour, and falling square on his chest. A second later, the bag of flour came down on his head and immediately popped open upon pricking his quills.
After the flour dust settled, the two brothers looked at each other for a solid ten seconds, the younger standing tall with his arms crossed and a smug smile, the older slumped on the ground, covered in flour to the point of looking like a ghost, glaring daggers.
He sneezed. "That was low. I like my kicks."
"They'll be fine," Tails insisted, brushing off the flour that had drifted into his fur. "I've got a solution that'll cancel out the glue."
Sonic shook himself off, then stood up and sneezed again. "You owe me twenty rings for the waste of perfectly good flour that we didn't need."
Tails stuck his tongue out at him, then started blowing the spilled flour out the door with his tails.
-
9:35 a.m.
Sonic took a shower after the flour incident, and he made it quick enough so that Tails didn't have any time to try anything more on him, since he was still cleaning up said flour.
Once he'd gotten out and dried off, Tails brushed past him into the bathroom, and a few seconds later he heard the shower start up again.
No way there was this golden opportunity just dangling in front of him . . .
Grinning, Sonic first went to the kitchen and hit the switch for the power hose. Next time Tails went to wash the dishes, he was in for a little surprise.
Then, very quietly, he nudged the door open to the bathroom (where Tails was still in the shower), reached in, and flushed the toilet.
A second later, there was a high pitched "Yipe!" and one very startled, very wet fox kit scrambled out of the tub at the suddenly freezing water.
Sonic heard his name screeched furiously from over his shoulder as he laughed and booked it for the front door, only to catch on the doormat and faceplant the sidewalk, his socks now stuck in the super glue still coating the mat.
-
10:14 a.m.
He deserved this fate, Tails claimed.
"It's called revenge!" Sonic yelled through the door from where he lay on the ground outside in the yard. "Sweet, totally fair, revenge! Can I have the anti solution for the glue now?"
"Nope," Tails called back.
"C'moooon. These are my last clean socks, I can't just take them off and put on dirty ones. Do you want me to defile the house with smelly feet?"
"Ohh, manipulation. That's a new one!"
"Tails!"
"Just wear flipflops. Or go barefoot. I dunno."
"I don't like flip flops!" Sonic squirmed onto his side. "And I don't like being barefoot! Running barefoot is painful!"
"Ah, well. Guess you'd better apologize for ruining my lovely shower and forfeit all your desserts to me for the next three months, if you ever want to run again."
"Sorry, who was being manipulative?"
"You were!"
Sonic huffed. "You know, I could just do laundry. Yeah. Do laundry and be free."
"Wow!" Tails sounded way too amazed. "That's so genius!"
"I'll wash all my socks! I'll wash all the socks!" With caution, Sonic forced his way back onto his feet, then hopped inside the house, doormat still attached. "I'll be free in a matter of . . . hours." He frowned. "Hey Tails, can dish soap clean clothes? And how fast does a fur dryer dry clothes?"
Tails was standing in the kitchen, pouring the remains of the flour that hadn't touched the floor into a canister. He eyed his brother for a moment, then smiled sweetly. "There's one way to find out."
Without thinking, Sonic broke into a relieved grin and started hopping his way into the kitchen. "Good, because if I have to be stuck like this for one—"
He turned the faucet on, and immediately a powerful spray of cold water shot out at his face from the power hose. He yelped and sputtered, immediately switching it off as he suddenly realized he'd fallen for his own prank.
Or, more likely, Tails had seen right through his prank, and had made him fall for it.
Sonic looked down at him, water dripping down his face and off his quills. Tails had lost his cool composure and was doubled over, squeaking with laughter.
-
10:30 a.m.
"I deserved that one," Sonic grumbled, toweling off his face.
Tails sat beside him on the porch, eyes closed in smug contentment as he brushed out his tails. "Yes. You did."
Sonic turned and grinned devilishly. "You realize this isn't over, lil bro."
Tails turned a fanged smile right back on him. "Far from it."
-
11:04 a.m.
Sonic burst through Amy's door and immediately said, "Ames, I need a favor!"
Amy nearly jumped out of her skin, dropping her paintbrush onto the carpet. She sighed, but picked it up without complaining, set it on the ledge of her painter's stand, and gave him her attention. "What's up?"
"Sorry for that," he said quickly, then added, "Could you make a batch of chocolate chip cookies, but like, make three of them with raisins instead?"
Amy wrinkled her forehead even as she smiled. "Wait, what? Why?"
"It's April Fools. I need to get back at Tails."
"Oh, no." Amy laughed as she stood up and started heading for her kitchen. "What'd he do?"
"Oh, many things." As Amy set to making the cookies, he told her all about the events of the day so far. He told her about the pranks on both sides, just to keep it fair.
Amy was aware of their April Fools traditions. The same basic thing had happened the past two years as well.
It had been last year that they learned the hard way not to prank Knuckles. Or Shadow.
"You should really learn to bake," Amy commented as she eventually pulled the batch out of the oven. "It's really very fun! And satisfying."
"You know what'll be satisfying?" He snickered. "The look on Tails's face when he thinks he's gonna taste chocolate and tastes raisins instead!"
Amy shook her head with an amused sigh. "That too, I guess."
They hung out together for another twenty minutes or so, then Sonic bid her farewell and took off back to the workshop.
-
12:22 p.m.
Tails had resumed working on whatever project he'd been doing earlier that morning.
"Yo, Tails!" Sonic raced into the room, holding the container of cookies. "Amy made us cookies!"
"Ooh, she did?" Tails immediately paused what he was doing and lit up, but then suspicion clouded his face. "Wait . . . what's going on?"
"Bro, it's just cookies," Sonic laughed. "What, do you think they're poisoned?"
Tails kept hesitating, but Sonic could see him scenting the air. Since the majority of them were chocolate chip, he was detecting that— not the few raisins.
"Okay. I'll take one," he finally relented, and Sonic handed him one with raisins.
He started heading back to his project as he took a bite, but immediately stopped in his tracks. Sonic watched him stop chewing and look at the cookie for a long moment, then turn and shoot him a deadpan look.
"You're so mean," he complained, mouth still full with the bite he refused to swallow (he hated raisins). Then he tried to spit it out onto Sonic, who yelped and raced away, dropping the container of cookies on the floor.
Tails picked it up, having already figured out that most of the others were actually chocolate chip. Jokes on Sonic, now he had all the good cookies to himself.
-
1:01 p.m.
Their prank fest had delayed lunch a bit, so Sonic (after eventually returning) told Tails to kick back and relax while he made chili.
Tails seemed a little too pleased with the idea, but Sonic barely noticed, too hungry to care.
As he stirred through the pot, Tails watched him, grinning in anticipation for the meal. Earlier, while Sonic had been lying around the front yard with the doormat glued to his socks and complaining, Tails had switched out the salt and sugar.
Half an hour later or so, they sat down together to eat. It seemed Sonic thought they had reached a temporary truce, but oh, little did he know.
Tails deliberately took his sweet time in spooning the chili onto his hot dog, eyeing his brother in his corner vision. Sonic had made his in no time, digging in with two big bites before Tails had even finished dressing his.
Almost immediately Sonic paused, blinked a couple times, then kept chewing. Then paused again, frowning.
His eyes flicked to Tails, who quickly resumed dressing his chili dog.
Sonic finally swallowed. "That's weird."
"What's weird?" Tails asked innocently, actually being subtle this time.
"Chili tastes more like dessert." The hedgehog squinted at him. "Did you sabotage the chili cans?"
Tails sniffed. "How dare you accuse me."
"Did you?"
"No, I didn't. The cans were sealed, weren't they?"
"Hm." Sonic took another hesitant bite, but stopped again, shaking his head. "This tastes so weird. Have you tried yours?"
Tails shrugged. "Try salting it," he suggested, avoiding the question.
Sonic grabbed the salt shaker and generously covered his chili dog with its contents, then took another bite, only to actually choke over it this time.
"Okay, did you—?!" He snatched the shaker again, shook a little onto his finger, tasted it, then chucked it at Tails, who laughed and dove out of the way. "You switched the salt and sugar?!"
"Well, duh!" Tails switched to hovering over the table, snickering. "There are no truces today, dearest brother!"
Sonic threw the too-sweet chili dog at him next, inevitably splattering chili over the table.
"You're cleaning that up!" Tails called in a singsong voice. "I'm going out to Josef's Pasta Alla Paccico!"
"OH, NO YOU DON'T!"
-
2:10 p.m.
They both ended up eating out at Josef's, and even though they did truly call a ceasefire for a grand total of twenty-five minutes, they split the time between actually eating and blowing their straw wrappers at people, having mini sword fights with the butter knives, and constructing architecture with the plates and takeout boxes.
Needless to say, the only reason they didn't get kicked out was probably because both Sonic and Tails were practically world-renowned.
Not long after they returned to the workshop, Sonic inevitably crashed for a nap. He usually couldn't make it through a day without a nap at some point, which was always unfortunate for him on this particular day of the year.
Tails studied him where he slept, on a branch of the tree in his front yard. He knew he'd been the last one to pull something, but hey, who said they were taking turns?
There was simply no way he was passing this up.
First, he grabbed a sharpie and very carefully drew an elaborate mustache worthy of Eggman across his brother's face. He added a few random smiley faces on his cheek and arms, as well as the phrase "SLO-MO" on one shoulder.
Then he grabbed an assortment of potato chips and began carefully stacking them on his head, in his hands, on his stomach, in an entire tower.
He made sure to take pictures through the whole process, then— leaving him there to sleep, still covered in sharpie and potato chips— flew off to print the photos.
Going above and beyond, he put the printed photos in a fancy envelope, marked them as "priority mail," addressed them to Sonic's post office box, disguised himself, then dropped them off at the post office.
An hour passed after he had done all that, and Sonic finally stirred awake.
Upon seeing the stack of chips in front of him, he promptly fell out of the tree with a yelp, and Tails started giggling.
"What did you do to me?" Sonic whined, brushing all the crumbs off his head and chest as he stood up, still groggy.
"You think that's bad?" Tails teased. "Go check the mirror."
A look of horror filled his brother's eyes, then he was gone in a flash. Tails kept giggling, and laughed harder when he heard the yell from inside: "WHY DID YOU MAKE ME LOOK LIKE EGGFACE?!"
"It's called revenge!" Tails called back gleefully. "Sweet, totally fair, revenge!"
Sonic came storming back outside. "How dare you use my own words against me."
"Sorry," Tails told him insincerely.
His brother scrubbed at his cheek. "How long will it take for this to wash off?"
Tails shrugged. "A couple days, probably."
Sonic's resulting screech was loud enough to startle away all the nearby flickies.
-
4:32 p.m.
Sonic spent at least half an hour in the bathroom desperately trying to scrub the marker out of his fur, but only succeeded in making it fade a little.
"Taking advantage of my sleep cycle," he huffed, reaching out to mess up Tails's bangs from where the fox kit sat on the couch. "So rude."
Tails tried to fix his bangs, while Sonic flopped onto the other end of the couch. "Consider it payback for you dyeing my fur green last year."
"You still looked cool, at least!" Sonic protested. "If Egghead sees me like this, I'm never going to hear the end of it."
"I looked like a lime!" Tails shot back. "I had to hide from society for an entire month!"
"It wasn't a month."
"Three and a half weeks. Close enough."
"Mm."
Tails shot him a look, and Sonic reached over to mess up his bangs again. He was rewarded with a throw pillow to the face.
Sonic threw it back, and it was just about to escalate into a fully fledged pillow fight when the doorbell rang.
Both of them froze, and Sonic zipped away in a flash. "I'm not here! You don't know me! If anyone asks, I'm in Holoska on a nice, arctic vacation!"
"Chicken!" Tails taunted after him, then flew over to the door and pulled it open to find Amy and Knuckles standing on the other side.
(Thankfully, the super glue had dried hours before.)
"Hey, guys!" he greeted them, stepping back to let them in. "What's the occasion?"
Amy said sweetly, "We just wanted to make sure you and Sonic were doing okay!" at the same time Knuckles said, "We came to supervise."
Tails rolled his eyes. "We don't need babysitters."
Amy glanced around. "Did Sonic leave?"
Knuckles frowned as Tails snickered. "I guess he did. He's telling everyone he's going to Holoska."
"You can't stop me!" Sonic's muffled voice shouted from somewhere towards the back of the workshop.
"Nobody's trying!" Tails called back, his voice catching on a laugh. "Just be sure to warn Jari-Pekka about your new look!"
"New look?" Knuckles echoed.
Amy facepalmed. "What did you do to him?"
Tails waved a hand flippantly. "It'll come off in a few days."
"And this is why we thought you two needed supervision," Knuckles groaned. "Today always gets out of hand."
"Do we need to separate you two?" Amy asked, although she was grinning.
Sonic chose that moment to burst explosively out of the closet, zip to his brother's side, and pull him close in a protective hug. "No, don't separate us!" he insisted, forcing a huge smile. "Everything's going just fine!"
Knuckles and Amy took a solid ten seconds to stare at Tails's artwork all over Sonic's face, then started laughing, albeit good-naturedly.
Tails grinned at where he was still trapped in his brother's hold, only to start violently trying to squirm away when said brother slipped a sharpie out of hiding and started drawing his revenge on the fox's face.
-
6:00 p.m.
Knuckles and Amy chose to spend the rest of the day at the workshop with them, just to make sure things didn't get any crazier than they already had. By the time dinnertime arrived, both Sonic and Tails had sharpie all over their faces, although the "art" on Tails's face could hardly be called as such. Because of his squirming during the whole process, it was nothing more than random scribbles of blue in random places on his face.
"Next year I'll dye you blue," Sonic promised him as the four of them had dinner together (after Amy switched back the salt and sugar). "We can match!"
"Pass." Tails swallowed his bite. "I'll just look like some kind of mutant smurf."
Sonic snickered. "All the more reason to do it, then!"
Amy groaned. "Boys . . ."
"Hey, we should rope you into this!" Sonic exclaimed suddenly, staring straight at Amy.
"If you want a hammer to the face next, feel free!" Amy stuck her tongue out at him, although she had to hide a giggle.
"As long as you leave me out of it, do whatever you want," Knuckles put in wearily, sounding much like a parent tired of trying to control his children.
Tails smiled at all of them. Knuckles was right; this day was always crazy, and sure, things got out of hand sometimes. But he had no regrets. It was fun. It was a stupid way of bonding with his brother, and that was something he would never regret.
A Happy April Fools Day, indeed.
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Genshin Characters During Finals Season (College AU)
Characters: Zhongli, Thoma, Venti, Xiao, Albedo, Bennett, Childe, Kaeya
Type/Genre: Bulleted headcanons, comedy
Warnings: Foul language, slightly suggestive humour/for comedic purposes
Zhongli
Calm and collected at first
As the days go by, Zhongli would start looking more and more like a tired dad
Walks around slightly frowning, bags under his eyes from all nighters, and clutching a mug of coffee so hard that people are afraid it’s gonna break, but even more afraid to tell him to be careful
Has heat compresses on the back of his neck and forehead to ease the headaches from the lack of sleep
Probably told Childe to shut the fuck up and mind your own business when he warned him about his cup
“Childe, if I do not kill this final I will kill you in its stead. Leave me be.”
Thoma
Probably part of one of those student care organizations that makes care packages for other students
His smile when he hands out the packages is so bright and healing it could bring back the dead
Always motivating his peers and tries to keep everyone’s spirits up
Offers to get everyone in the study group coffee
He’s not the best at school but he has a lot of friends that are willing to tutor him and do his assignments help him with his work
Likes to snack while he’s studying
“No giving up yet! Let’s take a snack break, you’ll think better with something in your belly.”
Venti
Chills at a coffee shop with a big friend group to “study”
They do jack shit
Probably spends more time staring at the drink menu than his exam notes
Grade A procrastinator, does all his homework the night before it’s due and studies for exams the morning of
Due tomorrow do tomorrow amiright
Always seems to do okay tho?? People wanna scold him for his bad study habits but he actually does okay in school so they can’t really say anything
Doesn’t study hard but parties 100x harder
“Come on, live a little! If your exam is at 2pm, you can just start studying at 9 tomorrow morning and you’ll be fine.”
Xiao
Pulls all nighter after all nighter after all nighter after all nighter after-
No one can ever find him during the day on campus or in his dorm—it’s like he despawned and just does not exist
Only time he is spotted by others is always at 3am in the morning like a cryptid and he looks like a zombie
He’s actually working a part time job along with going to classes and helping others with their work. An angry looking good boy.
Studies in the lecture halls by himself, blasting music as loud as he can on his headphones to keep himself awake
Mf going to go deaf is2g lower ur volume boi
“…hey. I’m getting a coffee, do you want one?”
Albedo
Plans his time meticulously. Has an extremely organized planner where he writes out exactly what he’s going to do at every hour of the day so he can maximize his week
Includes mealtimes, breaks, and poop times relaxation periods
Usually studies in his room, but for some reason people keep barging in on him to ask for study help so he has to find different hiding places to work in peace
So far, the best place has been the graduate students lounge. No he does not belong there, but no one questions him because it looks like he does
“If you really need my help, I have twenty seven and a half minutes between lunch and my bathroom break this Thursday. Come find me then.”
(Rejected quote: “What’s my masters in? No no, the only thing I’m a master of is your mom.”)
Bennett
The type of person to have the “please don’t talk to me I have work to do and if you talk to me I won’t stop” sign on his back while working in the library
Fell asleep while completing an assignment
Missed the midnight deadline for said assignment
Slept through the exam the next morning
At this point just let him sleep at least he won’t have to deal with it then
“That was a good nap…now I got the energy for my assignment and the exam!”
Childe
Would be a good student if he wasn’t bothering other people so often
Probably bakes when he’s stressed. His roommates are always awoken at 4 in the morning to the sound of the oven beeping and the heavenly smell of freshly baked cookies
Has a friendly rivalry with Zhongli. He always asks when Zhongli will be turning in an assignment, and what mark he’s aiming for for the final exam
Turns in the final paper at least a week before it’s due and aims for ten percent higher than Zhongli on the exam
If he needs bonus marks to reach that then so be it
Otherwise slacks off a bit
He’d be a really good student if he wasn’t so competitive with Zhongli all the time
“You good, Zhongles? You trying to squeeze a better grade out of that mug?”
Kaeya
This man probably used red bull as the liquid for his instant coffee
An absolute menace and loves messing with people
Tells them that the exam is on a whole other different thing than what they were studying for, or that the due date of a big assignment was changed
Nobody goes to him for help
If you do genuinely need help with a concept, though, he’s more than willing to help
Just make sure to provide adequate compensation for him ;)
By compensation I mean more red bull this man has drank 3 cans in ten minutes please stop him
“What? If they do shit, that only helps with our bellcurve, right? Their fault for trusting me anyways~”
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