Chapter Text
When Lanolin joined the restoration, she knew that she would face trials and tribulations unlike any she’s known in the town of Riverside. In just the last year, she’s survived a continent wide robot zombie outbreak, headed the infiltration as well as the destruction of a self-perpetuating and life draining city, and helped repel a hostile (as in violent) takeover of the very organization she swore herself to, one that she had almost played a pawn in. But none of that would prepare her for today, no amount of training, planning, or even first hand experience could help her through this gruesome challenge: Lanolin was in charge of Girl’s Night.
The sheep sat in the Restoration break room, rubbing her temples and looking over her multiple attempts at writing a schedule for tonight. “So after dinner, we’ll go see the new Chaos in Space… Wait, Tangle will probably want dessert at the restaurant, and then she’ll probably be too hyper to sit down for a movie, so we have to get there early enough for that we’ll have time for dessert and then I can show them the park. After that Tangle should be calmed down, but then we’ll be getting to the restaurant during their busy hours. Even if we manage to get a reservation, Whisper will probably hate being somewhere so crowded…” Lanolin continued muttering to herself as a pink moth walked up behind her.
“You know the break room is typically for ‘breaks’ and not work, right, Lanolin?” The moth said.
Lanolin jumped slightly at the unexpected company. “Oh! Hey Lamp. This isn’t work. I’m just trying to plan out ‘Girl’s Night’ with the Diamond Cutters,” Lanolin replied, with air quotes.
Lanolin first met Lamp when she joined the Restoration between Neo Metal Sonic’s attack and the outbreak of the metal virus. She was assigned first to record keeping, paperwork, and such since she lacked combat experience. Lamp worked the same station as her and the two got to know each other quite well. Lanolin got a taste of active duty during the metal virus pandemic and strove to get stronger and make a bigger difference afterwards. While Lamp herself wasn’t a fighter, she did help Lanolin pitch the idea of a dedicated combat team to Director Jewel and on occasion would handle some of the paperwork that came with managing said combat team. Lamp had only met Tangle and Whisper briefly on a couple of occasions, but she would always lend an ear when Lanolin needed someone to talk to, especially when it came to Diamond Cutters work.
“Ooh, fun! What’cha got so far?” Lamp sat down next and looked over at the paper Lanolin had in front of her.
“I keep running into the issue of balancing Tangle’s extroversion with Whisper’s introversion.”
“Lin, you’re overthinking this. You’re trying to plan out a whole itinerary. I mean, is Tangle even capable of following a schedule?” Lamp took the sheet that Lanolin was writing out a timeline on.
“Actually, Tangle has a pretty strict sleep schedule. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little jealous.”
“Have you tried cutting back on the coffee?” Lamp teased.
“Anyways!” Lanolin glared at her friend, “What do you think I should do?”
“Why don’t you just show them around and let them decide what to do?”
Lanolin frowned, “I can’t do that. I’m in charge of ‘Girls Night’ so I have to make the plans.” She turned back to a fresh page, “And I have to make sure I do it right. I can’t let them down on this.”
Lamp put a hand on Lanolin’s shoulder, “You’re not going to let them down. When is this happening anyways?”
The sheep slumped down, “Tonight.”
“Really? It’s unlike you to plan something so last minute.”
“Well, really it was Tangle’s idea. She said it should help with team building.”
Lamp smirked, “Ooh, taking orders from Tangle the Terror?”
Lanolin waved a hand at Lamp, “Don’t call her that. She’s not that bad. Just, a little eccentric. And it was Whisper’s idea to visit my home town.”
“Wildcard Whisper pitching in, huh?”
“Stop that,” Lanolin furrowed her brow, “Tangle and Whisper don’t deserve to be called that. They’re committed and dependable teammates.”
Lamp backed off slightly, “Sorry, Lin. I’m just so used to you venting all of your frustrations about them.”
“Well, I’ve come to realize that maybe they’re not the problem…”
“Lin?” Lamp leaned back towards the sheep.
Lanolin sighed, “Ever since the Diamond Cutters formed, I feel like I just haven’t contributed that much. I mean, the last few weeks have just been cleaning up the mess I helped make. I let the person who killed the last Diamond Cutters in, and then defended him when Whisper tried to call him out. I antagonized Silver when Mimic tried to kill him. I played right into Clutch’s plan to take over everything everyone here has worked for, and I dragged Tangle and Whisper into it. I was just trying to run the team in ship shape, but I missed every red flag, and dismissed everyone else’s concerns. And now I have one last chance to prove that I’m not a total screw up.” Tears began to form in Lanolin’s eyes. The commotion caused the magenta wisp, Maggie, to rouse from her resting place in Lanolin’s wool. She floated into Lanolin’s arms and attempted to comfort her.
Lamp hesitantly reached a hand, “Lanolin… I didn’t realize how much this stuff has been getting to you.” She solemnly placed a hand on her shoulder. “But do you really think your teammates are going to cut you off like that?”
Lanolin sniffed, “I would…”
Lamp’s eyes darted to the side momentarily, “I admit, patience is not one of your virtues.”
“Thanks…” Lanolin glared slightly.
“But,” Lamp quickly inserted, “that’s only because you’re so determined to keep everyone safe.”
“Hmph,” she hugged Maggie a little harder.
“And if there’s anything I’ve learned about your teammates, it’s that they are nothing like you. Infuriatingly so sometimes. So there’s no reason to assume they’ll treat you like that.”
Lanolin smirked a little.
“Aw,” Lamp smiled at her friend, “there’s that cute smile of yours.” Lanolin blushed lightly in response. “Now, about this whole ‘last chance’ nonsense. Is that what they told you?”
“...It seemed to be implied…” Lanolin avoided eye contact.
“Implied by her, or implied by you?”
“Maybe I was… extrapolating a little…”
“What did she actually say?” Lamp’s face went stern.
Lanolin sighed, “She said ‘Hey Lanolin, we hang out now that that whole nonsense is done with. I think it’ll help with our teamwork.’ Then I said that I could try to plan something. Then Whisper said ‘Why don’t we visit your hometown, you haven’t told us that much about it.’ And then I panicked and agreed,” Lanolin sputtered out her words.
Lamp pinched the bridge of her nose, “Lanolin, they are literally trying to be friends with you. Why would you think that this was some test of your competence?”
Lanolin looked a little confused. Maggie looked up, relieved that her partner was feeling better.
Lamp continued, “They ask to hang out with you. They want to get to know you better. Those are things that friends do!”
Lanolin still looked a little confused, “What?”
“Lin! They just want to spend some time with you, not as coworkers, not as teammates, but as actual, real friends!” At this point, Lamp had grabbed the sheep by both arms.
“B-but, I still have to plan girls night for that to happen.”
“Lanolin, just show them around town. It’s not complicated. And stop worrying about trying to appeal to them separately. Aren’t they dating or something? They should have no problem doing things together.”
The mention of her teammates’ romantic tension managed to bring some composure back to Lanolin. This was something she had much less trouble talking about. “Ugh, neither of them have gotten the guts yet. Honestly, another thing I was dreading about tonight was playing third wheel, again.”
Lamp sat up as her friend seemed to calm down, “Well, that could be easily rectified if you perhaps bring another along.” She sat with her eyes closed and smiled expectantly.
“I mean, Maggie and the other wisps will be there I guess, but I don’t have one of those translators…” Lanolin looked over at the moth, who was clearly waiting to be invited. It was then that Lanlin realized she was talking about taking the Diamond Cutters to Riverside, but hadn’t once considered bringing Lamp, who had been with her since she joined the Restoration, to come along. “Oh, OH! Lamp, do you want to come along on girls night?”
“Yes, I would love to. Thank you so much for offering,” Lamp said in an artificial, customer-service voice. Lanolin was very familiar with the concept. Her expression relaxed into a more earnest smile, “Frankly, I’m a little offended you didn’t offer sooner.”
“Sorry, I was so caught up in the Diamond Cutters that it didn’t even occur to me.”
“Well, it’ll be good to have someone there to keep you from spiraling again. Also, it’ll be fun to see this hometown you’re always telling me about, and to meet your teammates properly. After all, if they do kick you out, someone will still have to handle the paperwork,” Lamp said with a wink.
Lanolin scolded her, “Not funny, Lamp.”
Lamp simply giggled in response.
“Are you sure we should’ve let Lanolin plan the whole thing, Whisper? I think she might still be shaken up by the whole Clean Sweep thing,” Tangle said to her canine companion. They were sitting in Whisper’s room. Tangle had come over to discuss Operation: Make Lanolin Our Best Friend.
“Might be, but she’s just showing us ‘round Riverside. Shouldn’t be that stressful. ‘Sides, she could use a win after every thing,” Whisper replied in her normal hushed voice.
“I just don’t want to push too much on her. I’m worried that she might think that we hate her or something. She’s been even more distant than usual lately. Maybe it would be easier if we just go to Spiral Hill Village?” the lemur offered.
“Lanolin said she would handle it when you brought it up. ‘Was your idea to try and get to know her more.”
“Lanolin ALWAYS jumps at the chance to do MORE work!” Tangle exclaimed. “We’re trying to get her to chill out a bit.”
“You’re never calmer than when you’re in your hometown. Maybe Lanolin will be the same? Peanut brittle?” Whisper held out a can to the lemur.
Tangle looked discernibly at the snack, knowing Whisper’s propensity for pranks. She glanced at the wolf. Whisper had moved her mask over her face while they were talking, a sure tell that she was trying to hide something. “No thanks, I’m good…”
“Suit yourself,” Whisper popped open the can and took out some peanut brittle. Tangle saw a satisfied smirk as Whisper moved to mask again to eat.
‘Drat, she got me with a fake out,’ Tangle thought to herself. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. “Well, we should go find Lanolin, it’s almost time to go.”