Vecails -- Summertime Livin' Easy WIP

The solar cycles for the planet had a nasty habit of being semi-erratic. One year, it might be a cold winters eve. The next day; hotter than the fiery depths of hell. Not even top scientists could pinpoint exactly why this was. Never mind the fact that things became increasingly weirder when you threw Zones into the mix. Those oddball shapes of land that shouldn't be possible. That defied all possible realistic science. To one particular scientist, it'd been a maddening journey into weather-themed experiments deemed fit for insane professors. The kind which left you gibbering into a pillow.

To Miles "Tails" Prower this was just but a speedbump.

Or, he'd like to say it was. He would've LIKED to say he was making progress in his general objective and overall lifegoal and pursuit of science, but that'd be like admitting he had any idea why Sonic was able to break the sound barrier. When pressed on the issue, he simply gave a half-hearted smirk, shooting off a nonchalant response. Something like "I go quick."

Indeed. Sonic indeed went quick. But that wasn't here nor there anymore. Now it was a quiet Saturday afternoon where Tails wholeheartedly devoted himself to getting some projects done, if he could remain undistracted long enough. That proved to be enough of a challenge in itself. He found that when not pressed with life-or-death situations, the fox tended to be extremely scatterbrained. From leaving projects half finished, to spreading mulch in his yard at night because he forgot to do so yesterday.

It didn't help that Sonic was wholly uninterested in any sort of garden work beyond picking flowers and Knuckles just wasn't available for comment. Amy only really knew how to keep potted plants on a window sill. The only one who'd offered to help keep his home tidy and looking nice came from the unlikliest source.

The whole ordeal was painful enough for Tails, if just because he'd snagged a deed-restricted home on Emerald Beach, and only because he'd had the audacity to model it after his head. Even Sonic thought it was gaudy. Tails had done it as a sign of irony and a way to subtly poke fun at Sonic, who either didn't get it-- or he did and just pretended not to. "Smooth move." he'd said, when Code Enforcement said he had to keep his weird home up to standard just in case any buyers attempted to retire there or settle for a timeshare. So he didn't complain much, if at all, when Shadow happened upon him, walking by on the sidewalk. The act itself was already strange. Shadow didn't "walk" anywhere. He didn't seem like the type. He also didn't seem like the type have any interest in gardening, but there he was, holding a pot of chrysanthimums, bright and cheery.

He'd taken one solid look at the sad, pathetic state of Tails front lawn, watching the fox boy spread mulch and excellent grade dirt during the witching hours, in an attempt to structure the failing garden that cold night, before offering a hand to help out.

To say Tails had a notable scare was an understatement. He was halfway sure a couple years were shaved off his life.

The arrangement had been suitable enough: let Shadow have full control of the garden, as well as one (1) glass of lemonade after a days work. After all, this wasn't the underground shopping mall where the black and red hedgehog seemed to work, if idle conversation was anything to go by... This was humid heat by the water, where breeze got choked up by the palms and the nearby buildings. He had his work cut out for him. He never turned down a challenge.

It also gave him something to do other than sit and do nothing at Club Rouge. He refused to be a disc jockey or serve drinks, resulting in Rouge kicking him out during the night.

The rest of the house was easy to clean, since no one was coming inside, he just had to make the outside look good. This left him to his research and experimenting. Back to work, and back to that stray weather balloon he'd been trying to gather data from for the last two days. Back to the sound of Shadow digging, using garden tools and gloves.

...Back to being an utter dunce about weather science.
Miles "Tails" Prower. Able to build a gauss cannon in a few hours; unable to accurately surmise why tomorrow's high tempurature was 98 degrees fahrenheit.

Frustrated beyond belief, Tails had set down his various devices and doohickeys in a manner he'd remember them and not say, on a shelf inside a cramped closet, before heading to the front door and out, passing by Shadow tending to a rosebush.

"Just goin' for a walk." He'd stated, looking down at Shadow, on his knees in the soft dirt. Shadow merely grunted.

If he ever went to college, he knew what he was going to major in.

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It was only seven-or-so pm when Vector found himself staring up at a garish neon sign, all bright pinks and blues and greens, spelling out in no uncertain terms what could be called "Underworld" in some fancy cursive font. The kind of sign that was extra vibrant during those twilight hours, when it wasn't so dark you could say you were from a dystopian future movie, trying to act like a cool man on a mission, prowling the backstreets and looking for criminals to apprehend.

Not that Vector wasn't cool, and not that he also wasn't on a dangerous mission, but some tended to doubt his credentials purely on bad luck or reputation. Others saw his freugal spending as a penny-pinching miser, and not because his father trained him from the tender age of 10 how to handle bank accounts and finances.

But any doubts about him at this very moment would undoubtedly be incorrect. Because he wasn't here to bust up any illegal rings or criminals of the sort, and he hadn't been hired by a worried wife tracking her husband to the kind of "sordid place" he was currently staring at. No, he was here for personal reasons, and he'd make sure it would stay that way. Not a soul alive would know what he was up to. The large crocodile could be discrete when he wanted to be. He knew how ironic it sounded.
Opening the door to Underworld, Vector was greeted with a sight unbefitting of such a name. Rustic wood paneling and a maroon carpet, accompanied by a young dog sitting behind the nearby desk, flipping through a magazine on cars rather disinterestedly

Walking up to the front desk, he tapped the silver bell sitting innocently upon the desk, getting the canines attention, who, jumped upon the loud DING sounded out in the quiet store. It took several seconds for the dog to collect himself, and it took several more to focus his eyesight on the massive man standing in front of him, peering down curiously.

"Oh, Hi Vector."
Vector waved.

Collecting himself, the dog smoothed out his polo shirt, with an unreadable tag pinned to his lapel that was supposed to be his name, but was written in magic marker and not sharpie upon not a piece of sticky paper, but a miniature whiteboard. No one had the nerve to ask him his name or tell him it was smudged beyond readibility. For the dog, he just liked to think everyone talked to him in a friendly way that didn't require names.

Putting down the magazine behind the counter, it didn't take long for the employee to reach  for a case on the wall behind him, fetching a bouqet full of large, vibrantly white lillies inside a paper bag. Vector had already procured his wallet by the time the dog had collected the bouqet, placing the required payment upon the desktop. He'd called ahead and asked for the simple arrangement some hours ago. He was just here to pick them up.

Picking up flowers from a flower store called Underworld. What a world.
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Tails tried really, really hard to understand the puzzle before him.

That puzzle being of course, the flower box outside this store, with various various roses and carnations and lillies and whatnot lining a wooden box. They were lined up in rows of three going down about six sections. It was a long display; one that boasted an impressive array for any occasion. Breakup? Celebration? Symbolizing death? It was here.

As for why he was here; Shadow had called ahead and asked Tails during his walk, to pick up some "Endless Summer Hydrangea" to complete the flowerbed outside his house. The name itself was enough to make Tails want to gag, his current predicament notwithstanding regarding this crappy summer weather, but also because he didn't see any such flower with a colorful name and Shadow had apparently assumed Tails knew what to look for. This was the first flower store Tails had seen, and opted to check it out.

Tails, being totally braindead lately, had failed to ask what endless summer hydrangea looked like. He couldn't ask Shadow, because Shadow was notorious for never answering any calls, even if it was important, and he really, really didn't want to make two trips just to ask. He was fast, but dammit he wasn't that fast, and whoever ran the store deemed it smart enough to NOT label any of the flowers on display outside. Maybe to deter thieves, but who the heck stole flowers??

Tails let out an aggravated groan, facepalming with both hands, pivoting 180 degrees in place, trying to understand  how he'd gotten into this situation. It should've been so simple. But thats probably why it was so frustrating in the first place. Maybe he should just go inside and ask for help. There was no shame in it. If he could get Shadow help then by golly he could probably get the store clerk to as well.

For the second time that day, Tails had failed to spot the obvious. This time it was the bell of the store door ringing above him.

When he turned around to walk into the store, Tails couldn't spotcheck the massive green wall that materialized in place. When did THAT get there?

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Vector barely felt the fuzzy object smack into his abdomen, only barely recoiling as he watched an orange, fuzzy object reel back and fall squarely onto his rear. A groan followed, and what appeared to be a small fox rubbing his noggin.

"Tails?" Vector chanced, looking down at the two-tailed fox with curiousity peaked. The fox had to squint his eyes, now that the sunset was hitting his spot in just the wrong way, so he couldn't exactly make out who that rough voice was just now. It didn't take long for his eyes to adjust, and Vector The Croccodile entered his vision.

"Oh! Hello Vector." It wouldn't be the last time Vector waved today.

Scrambling up to his feet, Tails put on a friendly smile, gazing up at the reptile in his own inquistive manner. "What brings you here?"

Vector, despite being quick on the take, wasn't prepared for such a forward question. He'd somewhat hoped no one would question his presence, but nuts to that, he guessed. He supposed it also didn't help he was cradling a rather large collection of white lillies under his arm, remaining undamaged from the spill.

"Ah, it's private." Tails quirked an eyebrow at that, placing his fists at his sides. "What's private about flowers?" Vector wasn't inclined to explain to anyone that didn't already know. Which at the moment consisted of Espio and no one else.

An uneasy silence hung in the air, but the situation was no more tense than before. Vector took a deep breath. He reasoned that Tails was just a kid. What harm could be done? "They're for a friend." He finally said, letting go of that breath he forgot he'd been holding.

Tails nodded. That made sense. Flowers were for all sorts of occasions, as Shadow had taught him some time ago. Love, friendship, even death had specific flowers. There was no event that couldn't be commemorated by them, new or old.

Which snapped Tails back into why he was here in the first place. "Oh!" He started, pumping both fists in an energetic gesture. "Maybe you can help!" He pointed at Vector, who only blinked a few times to process this sudden shift in topic. He was grateful, nonetheless.

"Why do you think I can help?"
"It's your job."
He couldn't argue with that. Snickering for just a second, it was his turn to cross his arms, cradling the lillies like they were his newborn. "Well, alright. What is it you need help with?" Tails adopted his aggravated look from earlier, jerking his head toward the flowerboxes in front of Underworld. He didn't exactly want to out Shadow about his hobby just yet.

"I own a house on the beachfront. It's deed restricted, so I need to keep it looking nice for the neighborhood Cod Enforcement. I'm almost done with the garden, but I'm missing a vital piece of the puzzle... The last piece has to be Endless Summer Hydrangea." Vector soaked in all the info, nodding all the while. He knew some about gardening, but he wasn't an expert at it.

"Well," he started, taking another deep breath."I'm no botanist, but I think it's collection of  blue and purple petals." Vector pointed  at the box at the nearest to the door, adjacent to the entrance to Underworld. Sure enough, there was a massive display of blues and purples and speckled yellows, sticking out proudly amidst the greens and reds.

That simple? Vector nodded, as if hearing his thoughts. "'Course, I only know that because we had Shadow do our garden, and he suggested we use that spruce up the office waiting lobby to our building. Said it was seasonal."

Oh. That made sense. Tails sighed good-naturedly, chuckling a bit low to himself. "This would have ben so much easier had they just labeled the darn boxes." Vector couldn't help but agree, if is own laugh was anything to go by. "This is a great place to get flowers, but the current manager is pretty lazy, and it's only staffed by three people during the week." Tails craned his head as he walked over toward the box of hydrangea's, looking at the tall croc.

"You come here often, then?" He's not sure why he asked. Perhaps he just ached for a little conversation. Vector visibly stiffened for a second, almost imperceptibly squeezing the hand not secured around the pure white lillies. Tails noticed, but said nothing. "Yeah, I do." It was a simple, curt response, appearing almost guilty about admitting such a simple thing, if he didn't appear a bit shaken.

It was clearly private, and Tails didn't wish to pry deeper. Vector had something of a temper, and tended to shout when pushed too far. He'd never hurt anyone that didn't deserve it, but boy, that scratchy baritone sure boomed when he wanted it to.