AN: Ignore the fact that I haven't written anything in a while then decided on Christmas eve to stay up all night to write this. Also, don't judge me. Sonic Prime is good, and you should watch it. Merry Christmas!

Miles 'Nine' Prower was no stranger to the unusual. Born with two tails and an IQ that could rival even the Egg Council's, he was far from ordinary. He had decided today, however, that he had reached his strangeness quota, and that was because of the sudden appearance of a fast talking (and running) hedgehog. One minute he was minding his business, and the next this blue blur casually walks in his secret lab, and starts talking to him like he knows him. This, of course, did not mull over well, resulting in an attack by Nine that took them through half the subway system before finally being resolved. It's hard to keep attacking someone right after they go out of their way to save your life, and even harder when they describe your past perfectly to you, as if they really did know you.

He still didn't know what to think. Was he telling the truth, and this "Egg Man" had somehow changed everything, even his memories? Not likely, but the hedgehog didn't seem like he was lying either. Was he from some alternate dimension? Possibly, but he had no way of proving that yet. Was he actually lying in an effort to trick him? That just didn't seem right. Despite everything Nine had believed in, that everyone had their own agenda and would use whoever they could to get what they wanted, he had an indescribable feeling towards the hedgehog. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on. Fondness? Comradery? Trust? He had never so much as had a friend before, yet when he looked at this hedgehog, Sonic if he was remembering correctly, he saw the face of someone who cared about him. He didn't know why, but he felt like he could have actually known him his whole life. Is that what having a friend felt like?

He pondered all this as he worked on a device that would hopefully help Sonic control the energy that was coursing through him. (A device that only had a small chance of blowing up.) That's when he realized something about Sonic: that he didn't just talk fast, he never stopped talking.

"Why did you decide to make seven extra tails?" He asked his fifth question within the past minute. "Wouldn't it make more sense to make it so you had, like, eight tails? It just seems like nine would make everything uneven. I'm big on symmetry myself, much more satisfying than having one side-"

"Do you ever stop talking?" Nine suddenly interrupted, clutching the juice box he had been trying to drink from as he worked.

He thought he had come off too strong. He was about to apologize and explain that he wasn't used to having people talk to him so much, but to his surprise Sonic actually laughed.

"Sorry, I got so excited that I forgot how you don't like people interrupting your focus." He put his hands up in a gesture that Nine supposed meant he was backing off.

Nine huffed as he turned to look at him, just to take a quick break and focus his attention on him. "So you annoy me like this back at home?"

Again, Sonic laughed. "Oh, you have no idea. Back home we're practically brothers, and brothers are always annoying each other."

Nine was surprised before when Sonic had called him his friend, but brothers? He couldn't even imagine what that was like. A friend was one thing, but a brother was a whole different ball park. A brother, from what he understood, was with you through everything. You were connected, either by blood or by choice, and the thought of someone choosing to be his brother, to always be there to take care of him, was something he didn't know how to process. He didn't even really know what a brotherly dynamic was supposed to be like.

"Brothers annoy each other?" he asked.

"You better believe it." Sonic quipped as he ran to Nine's side, putting a hand on his sholder. "But it isn't all bad. We get to do fun things too. Movie nights, games, going for runs, picnics."

As Sonic went on about all the fun things they would do, Nine tried to picture a life like that. A life where he had friends and family who cared about him. A world filled with trees and beaches, without a building in sight or smog filling the air.

"Oh," Sonic suddenly remembered, "how could I forget the tickle fights?"

This caught Nine off guard. Out of all the things he had talked about, this was the one he just couldn't imagine. No one had touched him in years, much less tickled him. He didn't even know if he was ticklish or if he'd ever been tickled before.

"Okay," he responded, a slight frown now on his face, "Now you're messing with me."

"What? You think you're too tough for tickle fights?" Sonic questioned, a slight smirk on his face. "Actually, you're right. They weren't tickle fights, more like me completely wrecking you to get you to smile, or to apologize for stealing my snacks."

Nine scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Please, as if I would be ticklish." He tried to play it cool, but the truth was he had absolutely no experience with tickling. It was just so childish. He had worked hard to build up a reputation of ruthlessness and self reliance. He couldn't imagine anyone daring enough to so much as touch him.

Sonic suddenly gave a mischievous grin. "Oh, are you willing to bet on that?"

Nine was suddenly nervous. This wasn't a nervousness he had felt before though. He felt giddy, almost excited. The same excitement one would feel on a rollercoaster about to drop, or a child about to get tossed up into the air only to fall safely back down again. There was no danger to it. He couldn't understand how the thought of something so harmless could get his heart racing and his fight or flight response going without actually feeling like he was in danger.

He held his ground. "Oh please, you really think I could be ticklish?"

Sonic smiled, his hands curled up into a claw-like shape. "I don't think so, I know so."

Nine slowly backed up, not expecting him to actually go through with it. Either he was more daring than he had thought or he was more stupid than he had thought.

"I-I, um, I don't-" Now he was stuttering? There goes that tough guy reputation he worked so hard to build.

"Hmm, I wonder if you're just as ticklish as the Tails from back home. Only one way to find out." With that he pounced. With a flash of blue he was suddenly behind him, hands squeezing at his sides. That's when Nine did something he never thought he would do: he sqeaked. It was a sound that was so foreign, so unlike himself that for a moment he questioned whether or not it was actually him that made the noise. He didn't have time to wonder about it as his knees buckled and he suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Normally he would have his robotic tails prop him up so he could fight back, but his mind was so jolted by the sudden attack and surprised reaction to it that he couldn't even make them move.

As he fell down Sonic quickly followed, continuing to scribble all over his sides. "Yep, this was always a bad spot for you." He noted.

Nine couldn't respond as he was too busy trying to suppress the laughter that seemed to pour from him with no stop. He squealed suddenly as he suddenly felt a squeeze to his hips.

"Yep, that spot's just as bad, too." Nine couldn't see through his squinted eyes, but he could just hear the sly grin on Sonic's face as he teased him.

"Whahahahah-why dohoho you know thihihihis?" He asked through his giggling.

"I thought I just told you," Sonic said, feigning offense, "We have tickle fights all the time. Tickle fights that I always win."

Nine tried to command his robot tails to surround him as he curled into a defensive ball, but the feeling of light fluttering all across his torso seemed to override his brain. He couldn't even bring himself to try and slap away his attackers hands, he could only laugh as he tried to protect his sides and turn away.

"And you always do this." Sonic suddenly stopped for a moment as Nine remained curled up, only his two natural tails moving to cover himself. "You curl into a cute little ball. You just can't run away or try to fight me off. My guess is that you always kind of enjoyed these fights."

Cute? Enjoy this? Nine would be angry if he wasn't still snickering into his hands that covered his face.

"Oh, and you always leave yourself open for a second attack. Just like this!" he suddenly shot his hands to his under arms. Nine immediately shot his arms down, trapping the wiggling fingers underneath.

"And you always end up trapping my hands when I get you here." Sonic couldn't help but laugh along with his friend whenever they got into tickle fights like this. He also couldn't help but tease him for being so easy to bring down with tickling.

"OHOHOHKAY, I GEHEHET IT! STOHOHOP!" Nine cackled. He couldn't remember ever laughing this hard, so hard that he felt tears forming in his eyes and his stomach beginning to hurt.

Sonic also knew his friends' limits, and he had just about reached them. He stopped wiggling his fingers, but Nine's arms remained firm against him. "Pal, I can't move my hands if you keep them trapped." He snickered.

Nine was still giggling even as his hands had stopped moving. He knew he was trapping his hands, but he couldn't bring himself to lift his arms, feeling like it would lead to another tickle attack. "Ihihihi can't!" He exclaimed.

"Yes you can." Sonic laughed. "I'll call a truce, I promise."

Nine took a moment to calm down, then quickly lifted his arms to release Sonic's hands, only to bring them down again as soon as his hands were away from him. He curled up again and still felt these residue tingly sensations all over.

Sonic smiled fondly at him. "Sorry about that. It's just that even before, when everything was normal, you were stressed and working a lot. It was mostly because of me. I haven't gotten to hear you laugh in a while, so I guess I got carried away." His expression softened. "Plus, this is sometimes how I would get you to loosen up a bit. I thought you could use a laugh."

Nine finally gained back control of his robotic tails, and he got them to help him stand again. He didn't feel mad, but he still felt his face flush red. Was this just embarrassment, or did Sonic actually manage to cheer him up and he was afraid to admit it?

"I-I'm not. I mean- I'll just get back to work." He suddenly ran back to his desk, his tails working around him as he continued building his gadget.

Sonic felt his smile grow again. No matter where they were, or what version of Tails was with him, they would always be brothers.