2The next day, Scourge was just about to leave the house with Miles when one of the maids said to him, " Wait! Your father told me to give you a message. " Scourge shrugged and said spitefully, " Why should I care? He wants me to hear something, he can say it himself, " thinking afterwards, " When he's actually here. " Miles, being the more polite one, asked, " What is it? " out of curiosity, which Scourge was a bit annoyed by. He only kept it subtle to humor him.
" They've started giving out the flu vaccine now, and your father thinks that while you get yours, you should ask about giving one to Miles if he hasn't had it already. We don't want him getting sick in this house, " the maid explained. The mere mention of it made Miles look terrified. " Ugh, can't argue with that, I guess. Okay, Miles, it's time to see my doctor. If you're gonna be a part of this family, you might as well start going to him, " Scourge said reluctantly.
Miles exclaimed in fear, " What?! " and turned to him looking hurt. Caught off guard by it, Scourge stammered before saying, " What's wrong?! You know it's to help you, right? Do you know what a vaccine is? " There was a silence before Miles nodded unhappily.
Scourge wished that the maid wasn't right there watching him during all the commotion, but was fortunately too stubborn to let that prevent him from being comforting. " Come on, Miles, it's just a really brief prick on the arm that'll keep you from getting too sick. I don't blame ya for being worried, a lot of people don't like needles, not just you. But you're a smart kid, right? " Scourge said to him quietly with his arm around him in a sideways hug. At the end, he threw his compliment back at him, calling him smart when Miles gave him the same compliment. Not only did he do it to genuinely compliment him, but he was hoping this would manipulate him into proving him right about it by doing exactly what he wanted.
" Yeah, " Miles admitted with downcast eyes. " So do the smart thing and get the needle, " Scourge said with a satisfied smirk that Miles couldn't see at the moment. " Okay, Sonic, but you'll have to hold me still, " Miles whispered ashamed of himself. Scourge nodded in response, and with that, they left for the hospital, Scourge of course leading the way.
It felt strange, actually stepping foot inside of a hospital without being kicked out of it for his second tail. Miles had received many injuries in his young life, but the one time he tried to go to the hospital for them, he was told to leave by everyone in the room. It was hard to believe that things had changed so much that suddenly he was allowed to even so much as walk inside of a hospital, let alone take advantage of its services. He tried to ignore all of the strangers he passed by as he followed Scourge through the hospital. At one point, they entered an elevator, something Miles had never experienced before, and he found it strange feeling the floor rising up below him, though he was so used to quickly reaching high altitudes from flying that he didn't mind too much. Things were relatively calm for him, all things considered, until he finally walked into the room where the doctor was.
Fortunately for Miles, the doctor didn't start out with trying to give them needles. Instead, he asked in curiosity, " Oh, is this a new patient? " Miles looked away with his eyes squeezed shut sitting on the wide red chair beside Scourge, immediately revealing his social anxiety to him. Scourge explained looking serious, " His name is Miles. M-Miles Prower. "
The doctor raised his eyebrows a bit and joked lightheartedly, " You mean like, miles per hour? I can see how you took a liking to him! " He wasn't intending to make Miles uncomfortable, but it was clearly not a joke he was appreciating. " That's a new one, " Miles thought. He had almost never been made fun of for the pun on his name before. He supposed the fact that he pointed that out and not his second tail was reassuring, except he might have just been not mentioned his prejudice to keep from angering Scourge for all he knew.
" He's not just my friend, I adopted him! Found him in the woods on an island last week and took him under my wing. He's part of my family now! " Scourge said, trying to reassure Miles by acting cheerful instead of annoyed from the doctor's joke. " Really? You went through the legal process and everything? " the doctor responded. " Screw that! Point is, he lives with me now, and he's like a brother to me. I don't need any fancy papers or anything to make that true. So why don't you give him a check-up first, see if he's alright? " Scourge replied, getting impatient.
The doctor said, " Alright. I'm Dr. Hofstater. It's nice to meet you, " and Miles looked at him in a mixture of confusion, anxiety and suspicion. He seemed to be rather friendly for a stranger. He was a Moebian of the duck race with glasses and a white coat. Could he not see that he was a mutant? " Um, ditto, " he mumbled quietly with his head hung low, and Scourge rolled his eyes.
The doctor proceeded to do the usual check-up routine on him, including the typical reflex test tapping on his knee lightly, checking his temperature by putting a gray thermometer in his ear, and listening to his heartbeat with a stethoscope, all the while with Scourge trying to quietly reassure him through his nervousness and discomfort. " How is he, doc? " Scourge asked casually. " His temperature's fine, but his reflexes are a bit hyperactive as you could see, and his heartbeat's faster than it should be, " the doctor explained. " T-That's just because he's nervous. He's never even seen a doctor before, " Scourge explained, hoping that was the only explanation and his only friend didn't have any kind of heart trouble. " Never? " the doctor said in surprise, concerned about just what kind of life that orphan had in the woods.
" Anyhoo, all that's left is to test your eyesight. It's quick, don't worry about it. Stand on the other side of the room and read out the letters on that chart over there, " the doctor continued quickly. Looking unhappy, embarrassed and confused, Miles took a few seconds before asking him quietly, " How? " There was a silence as they both looked at him in confusion. " How do I, pronounce them? They're not even words, they're just one letter each. How can I possibly know how to pronounce them? " Miles said in confusion, getting the bad feeling that this was one of those things he missed out on learning about that everyone else knew by heart. " Some genius I am… " he thought, for what was far from the first time.
Scourge thought, " He hasn't heard the alphabet? " dumbfounded by what he just learned, and briefly imagined himself awkwardly trying to teach him the alphabet when he would be too embarrassed to sing the alphabet song in front of him. Could he bring him to the window of a kindergarten very briefly just so he could hear it and then leave? Would that be too much for him? Knowing what his ignorance implied and not wanting to be impolite, the doctor instead humored him by saying, " Just say the letters how you think they should logically sound, then. It's to test your vision to see if you're near-sighted. "
Miles sighed unhappily, prepared himself for a long period of embarrassment and reluctantly did what he was urged to do. He soon revealed that, while he could at least read in general, it didn't take long for him to start squinting and finding the letters too blurry to continue. By that point, the doctor decided, " Alright, you're done, then. " Scourge asked in concern, " So does he need glasses? " and got the reply, " Not quite, but his vision is below average. Just not terribly so. He might need some when he's older, though, if it keeps getting worse. "
Scourge asked, " But why? " and started to get worried again as Miles explained, " I've, had a lot of dirt kicked in my eyes and stuff… and sand, and, one time something nasty called, ' pebber spray. ' D-Do you think that might be it? " The doctor had to hold back gasping sharply at hearing that, and so did Scourge, with both of them knowing exactly what he meant to say. After a few seconds, the doctor said in shock, " Pepper spray?... I, suppose so, but again, your vision isn't that terrible. I-It's perfectly servicable. "
" What kind of monsters would do that to a little kid? " Scourge growled under his breath, head down and fist clenched in vengeance, and to his embarrassment, his family doctor turned to face him hearing him show that compassion. Miles was caught between appreciating how he cared about him and being annoyed that he was once again being referred to as a label, only this time it was " little kid " instead of " freak. " Sometimes he worried that it would never end. " I'm not that little, " he muttered defensively with his arms crossed, and while he tried to look annoyed, Scourge and the doctor only saw a pout, which made them smile at how cute he could look. Then the smiles stopped as they realized just how heartless his bullies must have been to hurt someone so young and innocent.
Unfortunately for Miles, just then a nurse walked into the room carrying the next batch of flu vaccines, and he gasped in fear just from seeing them. Remembering what he said, Scourge told him, " Miles, relax! " and let him hug him tightly, returning the hug to hold him still as the nurse gave him the needle quickly. The familiar sensation of a needle pricking into his skin made him briefly yelp, and he started breathing quicker with his pupils shrunken trembling, close enough to Scourge that he could feel his heart beating faster in response. He didn't even notice that Scourge was being given a vaccine as well.
" No, no, no! I don't wanna die! " Miles exclaimed crying, frightened beyond reason as his mind flooded him with the memory of being pinned down by a gang member in the woods and having tranquilizer put in him. He was very lucky he was able to throw him off him with his tails, moving them almost as fast as the speed of sound throwing him into the tree ahead of him, and then rolled over, pushed himself back to his feet, and spun his tails behind him to get sent away in a blast of wind before he could finish him off. But all of the extra exertion only further tired him out, and the increased heart rate he had only spread the tranquilizer faster, and as a red haze blocked his vision, he eventually tripped and started tumbling down a rocky cliff, passing out before he reached the end of it. When he woke up, he was being held captive in a basement washroom, and while all of his injuries had been treated correctly, he would not be treated with kindness.
" Miles, it's okay! It's to prevent you from getting sick, not cause it! What the hell happened to you?... " Scourge tried to reassure him in vain. The kid was hysterical, hugging him for dear life as his only tether to reality, and even then, he was only vaguely aware of him. The doctor told Scourge, " Bring him to the bed, " and with that, he was gently carried to the hospital bed across the room and laid down in it as he fainted from fear, still clutching his chest, with Scourge having no choice but to continue holding him as the nurse awkwardly left the room. Needless to say, he shot the doctor a glare silently warning him to not let word get out about what a soft side he had.
Getting the message, the doctor cleared his throat nervously, before cautiously asking, " Do you think he might have experienced some, trauma in the past? " " Ya think?! " Scourge said in annoyance, before briefly stroking Miles' head to reassure him. The doctor wanted him to get checked for post-traumatic stress disorder, but Scourge didn't look like he would be very willing to cooperate. He might be offended at the very idea, and accuse him of insulting Miles. Even trying to be subtle about it by saying he should get an MRI might just be too uncomfortable for the both of them. He supposed he would have to wait until the off chance Miles got a head injury and he had an excuse.
They both waited for him to wake up, with the doctor being uncomfortable with the wait looking away from them while Scourge tried to take a short nap with Miles, and he would've appreciated holding him a lot more if the doctor would have only left. Miles, however, felt content and at peace as soon as he regained awareness and realized that the person who cared about him the most was holding him in his arms, and he even pretended to still be asleep for a little while to keep experiencing it. Unfortunately for him, Scourge soon noticed the difference in how he was breathing and let go of him, said quietly, " You awake? Come on, let's go, then, " and they were walking out of the room before he knew it.
With the doctor no longer in earshot, Scourge said quietly, " So, Miles, uh… What was that about? " Feeling hurt, Miles asked with his ears drooping a bit, " What? " thinking that he knew about how he was trying to get him to hold him for as long as he could get away with. Scourge, not exactly the most tactful speaker, said unhappily, " You don't remember? The nurse gave you that anti-flu thing, and you freaked out! " Miles instinctively gasped at hearing one of the final words of his sentence.
" What? " Scourge asked, realizing too late that he hadn't chosen his words carefully enough. He stammered afterwards upon noticing his tactless mistake. " I-It's just a figure of speech, Miles, I didn't mean anything by it. I meant that you got all scared, " he quietly clarified to him, and Miles quickly wiped away his tears, hoping it wouldn't be obvious to anyone seeing him later that he had been crying, as silently as he could manage to. " I-I don't wanna talk about it… " he said sadly with his voice cracking, and Scourge soon decided that for now at least, he knew enough. " Why don't I carry ya home, buddy? Run ya there faster, " Scourge said to him, and Miles nodded with a smile.
Scourge was worried about him for the entire time that he was running home, and between all the different places in the city that Miles had been scared at seeing and the outright panic attack that the vaccine had given him, he was determined to do something to make it up to him, because his first two days experiencing the city only made him upset. Remembering what he had said he'd do for him on the first day of their friendship, Scourge looked in the phone book for music teachers that would teach private lessons, and managed to find Miles a violin teacher.
Calling the number, feeling awkward about what he was about to do, he tried to speak casually as he said, " Yeah, I'm lookin' for someone to teach my lil' bro Miles how to play the violin. You interested?... The name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm sure ya already know my reputation by this point, and how rich my old man is. Point is, my new partner in crime wants to learn music, and if you're willing to be polite to him, and teach him what he wants, I'll pay you handsomely. " He smirked, planning on intimidating the music teacher into working for free. " Then it's a deal! You'll show up at my mansion for a half an hour every Monday and Wednesday at 4:00 PM, and teach Miles what ya know for as long as he wants. Don't underestimate him 'cause he's a 5-year-old kid. He's way smarter than he looks. You might have a prodigy on your hands, " he said into the phone, and told the teacher where exactly he lived.
Being able to find one would cause him to use the same method months later to find a piano teacher for Miles after he was done with his violin lessons. The two music teachers, one after the other, were polite and intelligent people who were good at their jobs, and as Miles insisted on to repay them for their help, they would indeed be paid, rather than only having to do it to avoid injury like Scourge wanted.
Scourge threateningly warned both music teachers against ever hurting Miles or his feelings too much, saying to the violin teacher on his first day as he brought him to Miles' room, " Do a good job, and be polite to him! I swear, if you so much as slap his wrist, there'll be hell to pay! So be nice to him! Capiche? " The teacher, a tall lynx, nervously nodded as he walked up the stairs with him.
Scourge knocked on the door of the guest room and said, " Hey, Miles! I got a surprise for ya! " in a friendly tone, before whispering to the teacher, " Wait here, " going into the room and saying to Miles happily, " I got ya someone to teach ya the violin, just like I promised! " walking up to his bed. Surprised, Miles turned off his TV with the remote control, stood up from the bed nervously, and Scourge reassured him whispering, " Don't worry, he won't hurt ya. You've got nothing to worry about. "
Miles smiled nervously at the teacher as Scourge left the room, awkwardly trying to hide his second tail behind his first after the teacher noticed it. " Alright, then, I'll be your new teacher, Mr. Ivanstrom. I've heard you have a lot of potential, " the male lynx started saying awkwardly, noticing Miles' social anxiety and feeling pressured to not upset him. The last thing he wanted was to get on Scourge's bad side. " Let's start with the basics. Hold this bow and move it briefly along the parts of the strings I'll point out and I'll tell you what the name of each note is. " Miles said in confusion, " Bow? I thought that was a, projectile shooting weapon. "
Mr. Ivanstrom, wondering if this response was due to his young age and lack of experience with the world, simply stayed polite and explained, " That's a different type of bow. This is what people use to play stringed instruments like the violin. " Miles replied looking a bit embarrassed with his ears down, " Oh, okay, " and followed his instructions, playing each note on the violin one at a time with the teacher listing the letter of the alphabet they were associated with and their pitch relating to each other. This didn't exactly teach Miles the alphabet, as he still didn't know the order all the letters were in, and he instead simply associated the letter names he was being told of with the notes he was hearing.
When all that was done, he was told, " Well done. What I just told you was basically the scale of pitch. An easy way to remember the order of the letters is to remember the sentence, ' Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. ' You take the first letter of each word in the sentence to get ' E, G, B, D and F, ' " and briefly explained which letter was the lowest note. " W-What's fudge? " Miles asked, embarrassed again of his ignorance. The teacher was stunned at the question, before answering, " I-It's chocolate, basically. You should ask Sonic to let you try it some time, it's really tasty, " before continuing on with the lesson.
" Now obviously, having several notes play close to each other produces a melody you can hear, and there are many different melodies in the world that join into groups called songs. Technically, the word song only refers to music with lyrics in it, with actual words, but the definition can be used in a broader sense as well because ' this music piece ' takes a bit too long to say at times. Why don't you try playing this small song? " Mr. Ivanstrom said, pulling out of his black briefcase some sheet music, consisting of seven notes.
After studying it for a few seconds after which the teacher moved it out of his sight, Miles ended up playing the song perfectly on the first try. Needless to say, the teacher was impressed. He had been expecting Miles to stumble and play the wrong notes, but he memorized all seven notes and played them.
" Splendid! You did it perfectly! How'd you remember so many notes at once for your first ever melody? " he asked, unable to hide his excitement for the unusual-looking child's talent. " Well, I remembered what each, letter, sounded like, and that created the melody I needed in my head, and I just played along with that, " Miles explained nonchalantly, confused that it was even considered a big deal.
The teacher went on to teach him some other slightly longer melodies, including ones traditionally taught by music teachers like " Bah Bah Black Sheep, " and other nursery songs, which Miles had no problem with because he had no way of knowing the context those kids' songs were used in. Sure enough, Miles showed a knack for memorizing the notes of those songs, too. He often played music after hearing it being played by his teacher, and was always able to play it back to him.
He didn't even see anything unusual about it. He heard a note, and it always stuck in his head what it sounded like, how much lower and higher in pitch it was in relation to the other notes, and most importantly where on the violin it was. He was taught about every single note that the violin could play, every single pitch. By the end of the lesson, the teacher, while not even close to done teaching him all of the songs he had planned, was already considering teaching him more about music itself, like the terminology associated with it such as tempo and rhythm.
Miles himself was nervous but polite to each of the teachers, appreciating how they weren't being abusive to him, and despite not liking his second tail, his teachers were nevertheless very impressed with his natural skill and quick learning. Scourge was worried upon the teacher exiting Miles' room for the first time, but cheered up upon seeing the smile on Miles' face and hearing from him in an excited tone, " I've learned so much! This is really cool. Thanks, Sonic! Make sure to pay him a lot, alright?! He's earned it! " revealing to Scourge's unenthusiasm that he had to pay him for his work after all. As Scourge remembered where exactly the money in the mansion was kept, Miles whispered, " He wasn't mean to me once! " to his relief, and then added,
" By the way, we should try some chocolate ' fudge ' some time. Apparently it's really tasty! " As Scourge walked down the hallway leading to the stairs with him, he asked Miles with a smile, " It sure is! How'd you know? " and Miles told him about the pitch scale sentence he was told to remember. " Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge! " Miles said, with a childlike enthusiasm for the topic he was learning about that gave him a smile brighter than it had been in days. He may not have had a fun day before that point, being terrified by a simple vaccine, but Scourge knew now that he had made up for it.
He politely stayed quiet and let Miles ramble on and on about what he had learned as he tried to explain where on the violin each note was without having the violin with him, before being interrupted playfully, " Alright, Mozart, settle down. Music is your passion, not mine, so I doubt I'll remember all that. I'm just glad you're having fun. " Unhappy at being interrupted and potentially being insulted, as well as the revelation that he wouldn't be able to share his new knowledge with his friend, Miles replied, " Mozart? " in confusion, trying to hide how upset he really was.
" Oh, right. It's the name of some famous music-making guy. Lived hundreds of years ago and was great at the piano, so he was pretty popular and well-known, especially back in his time. 'Course, classical music isn't really the big thing anymore. No one's gonna get super famous and praised at being great at it now, but then again, that's a good thing for you, I can't imagine you'd like the attention. " Scourge explained.
After a brief silence, Miles nodded, and admitted, " Yeah. I don't know if I'd be willing to play music in front of anyone if I didn't have to, " and whispered to him to avoid having the teacher overhear, " I don't like the idea that I'm being judged, that there's a lot of pressure on me to get everything right. I still can't believe I managed to do that well in front of him, considering that. "
The teacher walked with Scourge down the stairs as Miles reluctantly followed them to the front door, telling Scourge, " You were completely right! He's able to memorize notes and where they are on the violin and play melodies back to me, and without making any mistakes! I'm already considering giving him more advanced teaching! At that age, he's a musical prodigy! He has a lot of potential. "
Unfortunately, Scourge didn't truly appreciate that potential. Miles' interest in music always just looked like some random hobby to Scourge, who didn't see how it benefited him personally, particularly considering that Miles was too shy to play that music in front of him anyways. He was proud of Miles, but didn't see how it mattered.
Miles would pick up on Scourge's cheerfully dismissive, " it's just a hobby, " attitude towards his interest in music, even if Scourge never actually said it to his face, and this would plant the seeds for a long-standing insecurity about whether his playing music was actually worth anything to begin with. Unlike Tails, whose passion would lead him to building inventions that his friends would take advantage of, Miles' passion for music didn't look like anything useful, just something he did because he liked music, and enjoyed expressing his feelings through it.
Having a music teacher for Miles allowed Scourge to not have to spend every single second of the day with a little kid around him, when he was trying to build a feared reputation in the city by himself. It was already getting out that he had a soft side thanks to Miles, and despite being lonely, the kid's clinginess was still a bit overwhelming for him. Unfortunately, the lessons only lasted a half an hour, and took place close to supper, when he was usually heading home anyways, so ultimately, it didn't give him any time to break the law by himself.
Instead, he just ended up heading home with him a half an hour early from then on, watching TV while leaving Miles alone with a fortunately polite music teacher. Since Miles' room had fairly thick walls, like the rest of the well-built mansion, Scourge couldn't even hear the music he was playing to listen to his progress.
