"So how did it go?" Tails asks looking at Nine.

"It was awesome" Nine responds.

The two fox's are sitting outside a cafe in a city Tails' designed, a city called Aldcliffe City, a city located a few miles from the base of a mountain in the Wood Zone.

"Those Gazebo's were great" Nine says.

"I told you they were a treat didn't I?" Tails responds.

"You were right they are relaxing"

"Would you go back?" Tails asks.

"Yeah... I would" Nine responds, "I uh, saw this arctic fox at the Heartburn Lounge, he slid a card with his phone number in it-"

Tails looks up from his coffee when he hears that.

"Oh he like you-" Tails says with a smug grin on his face.

"I-I guess" Nine responds.

"You should go for it" Tails says, smiling at him.

"You think so?"

Tails nods and takes a sip of his drink, "If he makes you curious, then you know you got something"

Nine looks up at the tall buildings surrounding him and Tails, at the slow moving clouds in the sky. Nine looks back down at Tails who's kicking his legs around while waiting for Nine's answer.

"I'll try it" Nine says.

"Good luck, you're gonna need it" Tails responds.

"Do you have any advice?" Nine asks, curious to see what Tails would say.

"Just be yourself" Tails answers, putting his hand on his shoulder.

Nine nods.

---

Ruby Heights
North Nightstar City

It's night time, it's quiet, still as Nine walks down a damp sleepy street with brownstones and holographic road signs, headphones on listening to music and his hands in the pockets of his jumper. He looks down at his black gloves on his hands and he approaches an intersection with a corner store nearby, the light isn't his so he waits for the cars to pass by. The smell of humid air and rain calms him as he waits patiently for the light to change.

A pair of white boots come next to him from behind as he looks forwards while listening to music. Nine notices and looks up at him, taking off a headphone when he notices him.

"What" Nine goes coldly.

His hair is wild and messy, he's got clothing that blends in with his fur, the only thing that's not white on him are the buttons on his coat, his red eyes, and blue phone. He's a tad taller than Nine and he has a pretty average build.

"Aren't you the fox I saw at the bar?" He says with a smooth English accent.

"I don't know, am I-"

The arctic fox laughs loudly, "I'm joking... So what brings you to Ruby Heights? Looking for a new place?"

"I'm on a walk" Nine responds.

"Ah, I see. I'm on my way back home so I can put my groceries down and then go to work"

"You work at night?"

"Whenever I'm needed but yes, mostly at night"

"Cool... I guess"

The light changes and Nine crosses the street, white furred fox walking next to him.

"You know... I find it pretty interesting how you turned up in my neck of the woods" The fox says looking down at Nine with a slick grin on his face.

Nine grunts and looks up at the trees, "I haven't been here, so lucky guess"

"Okay, If you say so"

"Why are you following me?" Nine asks, visibily irritated.

"My house is this way... Do you want to come in for some coffee?"

"I had some this morning, and no I don't know you"

Just as Nine finishes saying that, his stomach rumbles... Audible for the white fox to hear, His face turns red and he looks down at the sidewalk while the fox grins at him.

"If you're not interested in having coffee, could I at least offer you lunch?"

"I'm good"

That's followed by another loud stomach rumble, which makes Nine blush even harder. The other fox at this point crosses his arms and looks at Nine giving him the I told you so grin.

"Soooo can I make you lunch?"

Nine looks up at him, growling as a way of hiding his embarrassment.

"20 minutes, then I'm leaving"

"Wonderful!" He says, smiling excitedly.

Nine rubs his arm and blushes harder, The fox kneels down to meet his eyes while still giving him a silly smile.

"So, what's you're name?"

"N-Nine"

The arctic fox puts his hand on his shoulder, "I'm Winter, lovely to meet you Nine"

---

Sonic falls ontop of Tails' bed, blushing heavily. Sure enough the fox comes and crawls on top of him kissing him on the lips and wrapping his arms around Sonic, the hedgehog slowly wraps his around Tails' waist and the two lay there kissing eachother until they hear footsteps. Tails quickly crawls off Sonic and he sits up on the bed.

Cream pokes her head into Tails' room. When Tails sees it's her he looks back down at his notebook, Sonic standing over him looks over at Cream and waves.

Cream narrows her eyes and leaves the doorway heading back to her room, Cheese in tow.

When she's far enough they breathe a sigh of relief.

"How many times is that now?" Sonic asks, regarding how many close calls they've had.

"Ten... Ten times... We're getting sloppy at this"

"Couldn't agree more, so when are we heading to Tokyo?"

Tails smiles and lays his head on his shoulder, "Someone's eager to go"

"Can you blame me? I wanna spend time with you... The cutest, most beautiful fox I've ever met" Sonic responds, playfully poking his companion's nose.

Tails giggles and kisses him on the cheek, "Hey!"

Sonic hugs him, Tails moans and returns his embrace smiling like a happy child.

"I'll see what I can get prepared. Maybe we can leave this weekend!" Tails responds.

"Woohoo!" Sonic shouts, full of excitement, but then he remembers something that quickly shuts down his excitement, "... Knuckles' funeral is tomorrow"

Tails' smile goes away too, "O-Oh, yeah"

Sonic's head drops when he realises that, Tails puts his hand on his back and rubs it gently.

"I already miss him"

"Same"

"Where's Nine?" Sonic asks.

"He's with that winter fox you guys saw at the lounge" Tails answers.

Sonic remembers who he's talking about, the snow white arctic fox who left the restaurant last night, "Oh that guy with his big messy hair and white turtleneck?"

"I think so, I haven't seen him before"

"Pretty suave guy, a bit taller than you and Nine, eyes the colour of blood. I'd expect Nine to go for something like that"

"Eh"

"Anyway, I should get to Angel Island to help prepare for funeral arrangements" Sonic says.

"You can take the ship" Tails offers.

"Thanks" Sonic responds, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

With that Sonic runs off to the landing pad where the ship is, Tails sighs and goes off to his workshop. When Tails gets there, he sees Cream spinning around on his chair.

"What the hell are you doing..." Tails asks, scrunching his fist.

"I wanted to talk to you Tails, I haven't spoken with you in a long time" Cream says looking at Tails with a friendly smile on her face.

"Get out, I have things I need to do" Tails responds, coldy shooing her away.

Cream sighs, "I was angry Tails, I'm sorry for what I did. I really am-"

"You stabbed Sonic... Over me! Do you really think I'm going to forgive you for that?!"

Cream looks down at the ground, her chest feels like it's being ripped open.

"Get out... NOW!"

She flinches and falls off the chair. The his teeth baring towards her.

"Get out! And stay the fuck away from me and Sonic!"

Cream at that point sees apologies won't solve the issue so she stands up and leaves the workshop, head lung low and trying not to breakdown into tears.

"And I know you're watching me when I work, stop sneaking up at my door" Tails says as he sits down and picks up a device.

When she's gone, Tails rubs his face and scans a wrench ok his table for any toxins. There are none so he picks up the screw driver and starts working on one of his inventions again.

---

Nine looks out the window and watches the cars pass by the brownstone, he's at Winter's home in the Ruby Heights section of Nightstar City, Tails decided to base that area off of a row of streets him and Sonic saw when they first visited New York City, the area became popular almost instantly and was one of the most popular places to live in within Nightstar City thanks to it's New York like vibe.

Winter's brownstone was neat, refurbished, and had a contemporary feeling to it. The hardwood floors were so clean Nine could see his silhouette in them and it smelled good too.

Winter comes out of the kitchen holding a bowl of ramen and a plate with a steak on it, the fox in a simple white turtle neck and trousers.

"Foods ready!" He says.

Nine turns around and sees Winter setting the plates down.

"So Ramen or Steak?"

"Ramen"

He slides the plate over to Nine's seat as he walks over to the table and has a seat with him. Winter gives him some chopsticks and smiles at Nine as he watches him eat the ramen while resting his head on his hands.

Nine notices his crimsom coloured eyes looking into his as he enjoys his meal.

"What?" Nine goes.

"Nothing, you look cute when you're enjoying your food" Winter responds, still looking into Nine's sky coloured eyes.

Nine's face turns red and he throws the salt shaker at him, Winter shields his face and laughs.

"Sorry, that must have flustered you"

"Ugh, my ex used to do that"

"Ex?"

Nine looks at a shelf with some fancy books on it and then back at Winter who's genuinely curious to know about Nine's "ex".

"Y-Yeah... He died not too long ago"

"Oh, I apologise..."

Nine goes back to eating his ramen and Winter cuts a piece of the steak off and puts it in his mouth.

"Why me?" Nine asks.

"Hm?" Winter goes, food still in his mouth.

"Why do you like me?"

"I've never dated a guy before" Winter responds, then he puts another piece of steak in his mouth.

"W-What?"

"I also like shorter people"

Nine prepares to volley the pepper shaker at his face, which makes Winter flinch, "I'm not making fun of you! I swear!"

Nine grunts and puts the shaker down, Winter sighs and adjusts his shirt collar.

"You're an awfully angry guy aren't you?"

"I've... Had a rough past" Nine responds as he bites into a boiled egg.

"Be glad you have one, I can barely remember my past at all"

Nine looks up at Winter who's looking down at the table.

"I don't know if I had a mother, a father, any siblings... At all. All I remember is just water and water and more water"

"Winter are you..."

"Sorry, that was random?"

"No, it wasn't. I don't fully remember my past either, and I'm pretty sure I'm an orphan" Nine says, trying to give him a reassuring grin.

"Welcome to the club..." Winter says as he takes a bite into his steak.

The two eat a bit more before continuing their conversation.

"So what do you work as?" Nine asks

"I help manage a tech company, I do a lot of travel, it's not interesting at all... What about you?"

"I just invent things" Nine answers, scratching the back of his head.

Winter raises an eyebrow, "What do you invent?"

"Depends on my mood" Nine answers, he slurps up some ramen while still looking into Winter's eyes.

"Mm, I'd love to see one of your inventions sometime" Winter says.

"Maybe... What does your tech company make?" Nine asks out of curiosity.

"A lot of things. Laser cutters, computers, smartphones, cars, trucks, trains, various kinds of ships... You get the idea" Winter says while waving the fork around.

"It sounds fun... You're pretty young to be working that high up in the company"

"I always found myself pretty smart, I love it and hate it at the same time"

"Something else we agree on" Nine says.

Winter notices Nine's gloves are off and sees his painted finger nails, he looks up at him and then back at his hands.

"Something on my hands?"

"No, I just didn't notice you painted your finger nails"

"Yeah, I was in the mood for it one day and I decided fuck it why not"

Winter laughs loudly, "I've had plenty of those moments too believe it or not"

"Really?"

Winter nods, "I was sitting in my office, I have nothing to do because it's almost time for me to go home, and I don't know why but I like to collect these sweets. So I'm sitting there for twenty minutes just eating all of them... I had a bad stomach ache in the morning but it was worth it"

Nine chuckles, "I like sweets too"

"Really... I love candy canes and anything with chocolate in it" Winter says as he finishes off his steak.

"What?!... Same!" Nine responds, his eyes lighting up with excitement.

Winter smiles at his enthusiasm as Nine looks at him with joy in his eyes, seeing him this happy would make anyone smile.

"You're like a child" Winter says, adoring Nine's enthusiasm.

"I get that a lot"

"I can see why"

Nine picks up the bowl of ramen and drinks the rest of it.

"Did you enjoy your food?"

"Yeah, it was great. Thanks"

"I'd offer dessert-"

Winters head droops low and he sighs as he puts the last piece of steak in his mouth.

"-If I had any to offer"

Nine snickers and stands up from his seat, "It's cool, maybe another time"

"Ah alright" Winter responds, adjusting his gloves.

Winter stands up from the table and checks his trousers making sure no pieces of food got on his white clothes. Nine looks up at his messy hair, it reminded him of a picture Sonic had on his wall of the black jackal known as Infinite, and Sonic stepping on his back. When Winter is done he looks up at Nine and smiles at him. Before Nine's ready to leave, he has a question for him, about a particular feature he noticed about Winter the moment they met.

"So uh, where's your tail?"

Winter is thrown off by the question.

"What tail?"

"I haven't seen your tail since I've met you... Did you lose it?"

"No... Heavens no, it's uh embarrassing"

"Isn't revealing embarrassing stuff part of the dating experience?" Nine asks, crossing his arms and smirking at him.

"How bad could it be anyw-"

Winter's tail suddenly reveals itself, sprouting up from under his trousers... It's big, up to Winter's ears and fluffy like a cloud, as it wags around it blows air. Nine's mouth drops open when he sees it, Winter freezes and slowly turns when he feels it pop out of his trousers he blushes in embarrassment and covers his face.

"Fuck" He whimpers.

"It's... Like a pillow" Nine says, mesmerized by it.

When Winter uncover's eyes he sees Nine isn't there, "N-Nine, where did you YIPE!"

Winter turns when he feels something one his tail, it's Nine hugging it like a pillow, the orange fox sniffs it and smiles, "Smells good too"

"Embarrassing, embarrassing, embarrassing embarrassing, EMBARRASSING!"

Nine laughs emersess himself further in it, Winter stamps his foot and groans loudly trying to make it clear that Nine was getting a bit too emersessed in it. Nine eventually lets go and slaps Winter on the back making him flinch and shout.

"You're a lot cuter than I thought" Nine says, giving Winter a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"And you're um... Bold" Winter responds, slightly annoyed by what Nine did.

"Want my phone number?" Nine asks, still holding on to him.

Winter sighs and takes his phone from his pocket, showing him his phone number. Nine takes his phone from his pocket and takes a picture of Winters red face, using it as a profile picture.

"H-Hey!"

"What you look cute?"

At this point the arctic fox feels he's entitled to revenge, so he grabs Nine by the face and doesn't hesitate to kiss him, squinting his eyes shut, Nine jumps and almost drops his phone on the floor, he can feel the blood rushing to his face and his heart warming up like it's in the sun.

Winter lets go of him and separates his lips from the surprised Nine who's frozen like an icicle still trying to process what just happened, Winter uses the opertunity of him being in complete shock to snap a picture of his blushing face, when he's done he smirks at him and pokes his nose.

"There now we're even"

Nine scrunches his fists and throws a right hook into Winter's stomach, the arctic fox collapses to the floor and curls into a ball, moaning in pain.

"A-Asshole!" Nine shouts, covering his face.

"Heh heh payback... Oh fuck... Who taught you how to punch?"

Winter laughs weakly and gets back up to his feet using the table as support. Nine feels guilty for throwing the punch so he helps Winter to the couch and sits him down.

"Sorry" Nine says, messaging his stomach.

"It's fine, I was out of line anyway" Winter responds, he sighs and lets his head fall backwards.

Nine sighs and sits back on the couch with him, Winter puts his hand on Nine's head and rubs it gently.

"Again, thanks for the food, it was really good"

"You're welcome"

Nine takes Winter's hand and holds it firmly, whil smiling at him.

"I have the feeling you're just the right one for me" Nine goes looking into his eyes.

Winter chuckles and holds Nine's hand a bit more firmly, "Likewise"

Winter stands up and walks Nine to the door. Nine gets his shoes on and turns to Winter who's grinning at him.

"So what are we doing next time?" Nine asks looking at him with curious eyes.

"Maybe we could go to the cinema and watch a film. I know a great place" Winter says, excitement in his eyes.

"That sounds nice... I don't think I've ever been to a movie theater before" Nine responds, scratching the back of his head shyly.

"Great! Then it's decided then" Winter says, clapping his hands together.

Winter opens the door for Nine and the fox puts his hands in his pockets again before looking up at Winter and giving him a smug grin.

"Cute tail by the way" Nine says.

Winter covers his face and sighs loudly, Nine laughs as he walks out the door and down the steps. Winter waves at him and watches Nine walk off while waving back to him, once he's out of sight Winter closes the door and sighs.

"...I can still feel that punch, ow" Winter winces as he sits back down on his sofa and sighs.

"That's him" A distorted voice says from his television.

Winter flinches and sees a shadow on the screen in a dark room. He sighs and runs his hands through his hair.

"...Yeah, he's no Miles Prower but I can confirm he's better than him. In some aspect at least..."

"Good, continue with your mission and report back to me after you've made contact with him again"

Winter looks down at the coffee table, visibly concerned about what he's doing.

"What's going to happen to him when we're done with him?" Winter asks, worried about an uncertain future.

"That is none of your concern... Continue on course"

The television screen goes dark and Winter rubs his face, he lays on the sofa and curls up into a ball.

"...What am I doing?"

---

Nine bursts into Tails' workshop, Tails looks over at him and sees Nine breathing heavily as he comes up to him and sits next to him.

"So how did it go?" Tails asks.

"It was amazing" Nine responds, his eyes shining like stars.

"That's good to hear" Tails responds.

"His name's Winter. He's smart, relatable, got this huge tail and it smells soooo good, his cooking is amazing and he's in charge of a technology company!-"

"Okay, I get it. Slow down, you're more excited than usual"

"I-I'm just super happy" Nine responds.

Tails embraces him, Nine does so too, as they hug. Sonic watches them from the doorway as Nine just unloads all his excitement onto Tails and tells him all about the date and Winter almost like a fanboy. Sonic sighs and grins and he walks away from the doorway to his room.

---

Unknown Location
Earth, England.

Shadow is blasted with what looks to be yet another round of hot water, all the while being chained and suspended in the air. Robotnik tosses a bucket of salt at him, making Shadow grunt and squirm.

"It's s shame your friends aren't coming back for you, if they could see what you've become-"

The doctor puts his hand on his chest and gives him the fakest sad frown possible.

"-They'd be heartbroken"

Shadow says nothing, he only stares the doctor in the eyes as he laughs at him.

"Give me that death glare all you want, as long as you have that collar on your neck, you're powerless"

"When I get out of these, I'm going to snap your neck... Just watch" Shadow growls.

"Do you see that gentleman, he's threatening me! How adorable..."

The scientists in the room and the viewing room laugh as Shadow continues to stare at Robotnik with a piercing death stare from hell itself.

"Take this oversized goth hamster back to his containment cell, we'll continue this tomorrow" Gerald says clapping his hands.

Shadow is dragged out of the testing chamber to his containment cell and tossed inside as if he's a bag of rubbish, Robotnik stands there as the guards close it and lock it up tight leaving Shadow in the darkness to yet again sit there and brood.

It's times like these he just thinks about annihilating the fox that's responsible for making him go through this torture... Tails and his psychotic, crazed smile is all he sees, his skin crawling laugh and giggle playing over and over in his head like a record that just won't stop. It pisses him off so much he kicks the wall and it dents the metal shielding the concrete.

"...Just you wait"