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The storm had reached full power by the time Tails popped into the tiny cave entrance behind Knuckles. She sat now with her back to a comfortably curved dirt wall, brushing dirt from her voluminous tails and staring out at the deluge. The small excavation was thankfully dug into a bank, with the entrance angled upwards to prevent moisture from dripping in.
Further in the small den, Knuckles rumbled around in the semi-dark and produced a thick mat, presumably from a cache in the wall, and unrolled it. It was a large, sturdy weave of plant fibers, just large enough for its owner to stretch out and then a little more. On this he dropped a pair of very large, round fruits that he had snatched somewhere along the way to the cavern. Then he removed his gloves, and cradled one in his palm.
Tails twitched an ear at the ripe 'thunk' that the fruits produced, and she turned to look. Knuckles sat looking at the fruit, rotating it several times in his hand before viciously splitting it in half with a blow of his spikes. One half fell neatly on the mat, open-end up, revealing a large, oval seed surrounded by orange-yellow meat.
'What is that?' Tails inquired, her nose twitching at the pungent aroma.
'Mango.' Knuckles answered simply, using his spikes to flip his half of the seed out of the fruit in his palm. 'It's good. Eat.'
Tails noticed the low growl in Knuckles' voice as he spoke, and it was followed up by a loud gurgling protest from his stomach. She chuckled and reached out to take the fruit, but instead drew her hand back quickly when the fingertips were soaked in juices. She blushed and drew off her gloves, quickly laying them aside and took the great round half-fruit in her hands – and Knuckles paid her no attention, devouring his portion with gusto.
Her first bite was quick and hungry, because the smell was sweet and musky, tempting her. The fruit itself ended up being a strange, stringy flesh, requiring the strength of her jaws to pull out a bite and causing juices to run down her jaw. Knuckles cast her an amused look, and watched her eat, as he masticulated on a particularly large bite.
Tails managed to tear off a strand, working awkwardly on it in her canine teeth until she managed to get the practice down. It was indeed a sweet, addictive taste, which, as she swallowed, turned into an almost overpowering sensation of peppermint aftertaste. Had she not, at that moment in time, found herself so hungry, she would have eaten much slower. By the time she was more than halfway through her fruit, she found Knuckles gazing at her, rumbling softly as he lapped the last fruit from his fingers. His eyes in the semi-dark reminded her of a night, a very long time ago, around a campfire…
And her reverie was broken off when he sat on his knees, bowing to keep his head down from the low ceiling, and brushed the second mango aside off the mat and came towards her, to sit down at her side. She rumbled slightly at him in greeting and a partial thanks for the meal – then closed her eyes and continued eating the last of her mango. As she ate, she felt Knuckles' arms curls around her form, drawing her in to lean against him while he sat up against the cavern wall. He nuzzled his chin over her head and suddenly, with her ear pressed to his throat, she could hear his rumbling, deep and merry in its own way. The sound was relaxing – soothing – until the crash of thunder echoed into the cavern from outside, and she lept, frightened, in Knuckles' lap and dropped the last nugget of mango into the dirt of the floor. He managed to just turn his head, avoiding a nasty knock of the teeth together as she bounced.
He chuckled and brushed down the fur of her back and neck as she unfurled slowly, rumbling to her even more in the close contact. Tails had no great fear of thunderstorms and rain, but for some reason the crack of thunder had snapped her out of her reverie and tripped her nerves. Knuckles simply took advantage of the situation – after she had stopped twitching her ears about, he lifted her chin gently with his ungloved fingers, and smiled at her.
'You are simply a mess. Worse than I was at age 5 with my fruits.'
Tails found herself looking up into his eyes, finding them calming, and the rest of her fur settling into place. 'Oh?'
'Yes, my father said I learned to be very neat. And look at you, you're a soaking mess. '
'Well, I do have an excuse.' Tails whimpered, her ears swivelling back as Knuckles' other hand rose to brush a fleck of mango from her muzzle.
He simply murmured an 'Mhmm' and leaned forward, his nose almost touching hers. Tails found herself flinching for some reason, a pleasant warmth stirring in her.
'Relax.' He said as she twitched – then he quietly placed both hands at either side of her head, and began grooming the remains of the fruit from her short fur.
The sensations of Knuckles unexpended tenderness made Tails feel almost ashamed for flinching away, She fell silent, her eyes closed as he paid her extra attention and started purring again.
She fell into a lull, and then a shiver as Knuckles followed the sticky line of juice down her throat. He nipped here and there, his muffled rumbling growing stronger – and a thought hit Tails as she nestled there.
'Knuckles?' She called to him, trying to draw his attention. His face was buried at her collarbone, engaged with the great tuft of fur there. 'Knux, what about the tea you always gave me?'
He paused only a second in his attentions, not loosening his grip on her shoulders. If he had exposed ears, Tails would have seen them twitch. He paused in his purring, and spoke, 'We don't need it right now.'
'But…' Her protest was cut short by a nip at her neck, and his rumbling returning in full force. She had it in mind to protest further, but he distracted her by trailing drown from her collarbone, and drawing her form up against his.
And from that point, until the rainstorm stopped, neither of them really felt the need to speak.
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