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Tangle wanted to lighten the mood after the Diamond Cutter’s training mission went a little sour. Well, that may be an understatement. Silver accidentally caused an avalanche and a giant robot fish almost ate them, but Tangle felt that it was still a great learning experience.
Sure Silver stormed off after Lanolin really tore into him and Duo was still a bit of a mess after the whole ordeal, but accidents happen all the time. Besides, Tangle personally felt that the best way to learn was doing. She was confident that Duo would handle the inevitable next giant killer robot WAY better.
Everyone seemed REAL tense on the way back to HQ, so Tangle made a run to Spiral Village to pick up some pastries. She wanted to give them out during the training debrief, but everyone just wanted to rest in their bunks after today, so Tangle decided to just make some hand deliveries.
First up, Duo. She figured the new guy could use some sweets and advice after the attack.
Tangle knocked on his door. “Sweets Delivery!” Tangle sung. She heard some shuffling behind the door before the dark blue cat opened up.
“Tangle! What are you doing here?” Duo had only partially opened the door, but Tangle noticed that he seemed to be tugging his mittens over his hands.
“Well, since nobody wanted to meet up, I decided to just stop and drop off some pastries from my hometown. We all deserve something sweet after today.
Duo seemed ready to close the door again before Tangle continued. “M- maybe later Tangle. We should really be resting after all of that.”
Tangle stuck her foot in the doorway to keep it open. “C’mon, we deserve a pick-me-up after today. You survived your first robot attack as a Diamond Cutter, that warrants at least a little celebration” Tangle urged as she forced her way into the room with her elastic tail.
‘ Grr, I forgot how strong that tail is and how stubborn this stupid lemur could be ’ Mimic thought to himself as he recomposed himself and fully assumed his Duo persona. “Oh, come on in, I guess…”
Tangle closed the door behind her before pulling out a box. “You looked like you could use some cheering up after today, and what else are teammates for!” Tangle plopped the box on a near table, flipping the lid open to reveal a pastry inside. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I got you a strawberry strudel, it’s one of my favorites.”
Mimic grimaced as the lemur was turned away, quickly switching back to his meek Duo act when she met his gaze again. “Tangle… I know it looks like I tried to abandon Silver back there, but I really was just trying to get help. I- I mean, what could I have really done against that thing? I probably would of just made things wo-”
Duo was cut off as the lemur hushed him with the hand at the end of her tail. “Oh, I’m not going to ride your case about that. I’m sure Lanolin gave you enough of an earful already.”
Tangle thought back to the walk back to HQ. After Silver stormed off, Lanolin started berating Duo over things like ‘Abandoning his teammates’ and ‘Failing to communicate’ which did not help the already tense vibe. Frankly, things probably would have smoothed over much better if Silver hadn’t ran off. It probably would’ve given Duo a chance to apologize, and Silver in turn for accusing Duo of abandoning him, but things rarely work out that simply.
“Uh, Tangle?” Tangle snapped out her deep thoughts when Duo called her, “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, sorry, just thinking about stuff.” Tangle handed the pastry over to the cat. “Here. Congrats on surviving your first giant killer robot! And to many more!” Tangle raised her fist in a sort of combination fistbump/toast gesture.
Duo took the strudel and awkwardly returned the gesture.
“Hey, Duo,” Tangle took on a more serious tone, “You’re going to make mistakes sometimes, and sometimes those mistakes are going to seem like the end of the world, but they’re not. You have to keep moving forward or things will just get worse.” The lemur put her hand on one of Duo’s shoulders. “We all make mistakes, but we can learn from those and get better. That’s why we have these training missions in the first place. And, hey, now that you’ve seen some action up close, the next time should be WAY less scary!” Tangle concluded her pep talk with a reassuring pat on the pack.
Mimic was using all of his willpower to resist strangling the gray and white nuisance right then and there. The experienced mercenary gritted his teeth as he was talked down to by this small town hick of a hero .
‘This is Hell,’ the disguised octopus thought to himself, ‘that giant fish actually killed me and now I am in Hell. I don’t even like strawberries.’
Tangle was looking at him expectantly. Duo slowly took a bite of the strudel and forced a smile. “Mmmmm… Yummy. Thanks Tangle. I really needed that. I’m feeling much better now. You can leave now,” the infiltrator practically shoved Tangle out of his room as his hatred and disgust began to boil over. Once the door was closed, he completely dropped his ‘Duo’ disguise and spit the bite of pastry into a trash can. “That one dies first,” he decided, planning the next convoluted situation to abandon his teammates in, hoping they would die in his absence as he leaves, not checking to confirm their deaths. ‘A fool-proof plan’ the traitor thought himself, ignoring the multiple times said plan had failed, including earlier that day.
Having successfully cheered up the young, innocent, and kind-hearted Duo, Tangle marched off to her next stop, Whisper. She initially thought of seeing Lanolin first, but Tangle had some choice words for how she’s been handling unforeseen circumstances, so she decided to delay that potentially long conversation so she could check up on the others.
‘I hope Whisper is ready for some of her favorite dessert!’ Tangle gleefully thought to herself as she skipped down the hall. Tangle relished every moment she got to spend with Whisper, especially since she had just gone through Whisper leaving, getting hurt, finally coming back, and almost immediately getting on her bad side with the whole ‘Diamond Cutter Name’ incident.
Tangle shook off the memories as she stopped at Whisper’s dorm. She rhythmically knocked on the door with her tail, “Whisper, pound cake delivery!”
A blonde wolf opened the door with a small smile. “Oh, Tangle. ‘S actually just about to step out.” Whisper shifted as she eyed the container Tangle held. “Wanted to go check in with Silver after what happened earlier. Y’know, make sure he’s doing okay…” The wolf seemed to draw back a bit, almost concerned about what the lemur was going to say next.
“That’s a great idea! Aw, why didn’t I think of that? I absolutely should’ve chased after him when he left.” Tangle almost forgot what she had originally come for. “Wait, do you have a minute for some delicious dessert? Since no one wanted to meet up, I figured I’d just hand deliver some.” Tangle presented the box containing Whisper’s favorite food, pound cake. “I actually just got done talking to Duo.”
Whisper snapped her eyes to meet Tangle’s gaze, even opening her brilliant blue eyes slightly. Tangle was distracted by the rare chance to look into her partner’s eyes and almost missed what Whisper was saying.
“Tangle, what did Duo say?” Whisper seemingly repeated, intensifying her gaze slightly.
“Wha- Oh, well I guess he didn’t say too much. It was mostly just me trying to cheer him up and giving a Grade A pep talk if I do say so myself,” Tangle puffed her chest slightly in pride.
Whisper squinted her eyes shut again as she quickly rushed the lemur inside. “Come in for a second.” Tangle hid her disappointment of no longer seeing Whisper’s eyes, but was delighted by the even rarer instance of Whisper initiating physical contact, even if it was just to rush her inside.
“Oh, I guess you do have a minute. Great!” Tangle seemed reluctant to pick up on the sudden shift in tension. She put down the pound cake on a nearby table. “After this we can go check on Silver together. How about that?” she suggested.
“Tangle, just… listen for a second. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but doesn’t Duo seem… familiar?”
“And I still don’t really see what you mean.” After Duo initial enlistment, Whisper had casually mentioned how she felt that she had met the new recruit before. Or at least, tried to be casual about it. At the time, Tangle was worried that the sniper’s paranoia may be rising, even Lanolin had raised an eyebrow. Whisper dropped it pretty quickly, thinking that it was just a coincidence, or maybe she had briefly met him before. However, during the training mission, Whisper noticed something that threw the cat back into suspicion, and now Tangle had just met with him. ALONE. Which made Whisper almost shiver thinking about what could have happened if the situation were slightly different.
“I mean,” Whisper clarified, “he just really reminds me of…” Whisper paused for a few moments, “Slinger.” Whisper almost winced as she finished her thought. She wanted to keep it to herself, not get anyone else involved, but she had learned to not push away her friends. Besides, if her suspicions were correct, then Tangle would be in danger too. It would be cruel to hide her concerns from her partner.
Tangle should have realized where Whisper was taking this right then, if not earlier, but she was more worried that Whisper may have been projecting on to the new recruit. Tangle had learned quite a bit about the original Diamond Cutters through Whisper. Slinger in particular was Whisper’s adoptive brother. They had been raised by a mercenary, leading to their high skill at a young age, as well as a fierce rivalry. Tangle decided to humor her partner for a moment, worrying she’d upset her otherwise. “I guess,” Tangle considered the resemblance between the past and present cat Diamond Cutters, “but Duo’s coat is WAY darker. Sorta like-”
“Mimic.” Whisper looked sternly at Tangle.
“I was gonna say Roni from the salon, but now that you mention it, he is sort of the sa-” Tangle finally realized where Whisper had been going with her train of thought. She looked over the wolf more closely. Tangle’s sporadic disposition leads many to think that she would be oblivious to most body language. However, while her mouth certainly seems to go faster than her brain sometimes, Tangle is very good at reading people’s emotions when she manages to focus and right now, Whisper’s cool, calm demeanor did little to hide how she really felt.
Whisper was scared, not just of the worst enemy, the source of her trauma, the one who was constantly posing a threat to not just her but everyone she had come to know and love, but of how Tangle was going to react. Tangle had already done so much to make her feel safe and welcomed. And Whisper spent so much time trying to throw all of that away.
Tangle had risked her life multiple times to catch Mimic the first time. She had left her place in the Restoration behind to track her down. She almost refused to leave Whisper’s bedside after her encounter with Surge. And how had Whisper repaid all of that?
Gave her the cold shoulder at Tangle’s first slip up. Whisper was furious at Tangle’s suggestion to use the name Diamond Cutters without consulting her, but Whisper regretted how she didn’t even talk to Tangle about it until they were stuck in some weird side dimension. Most of the wisps were actually in favor of the name. They felt that the others wouldn’t have wanted the Diamond Cutters to end with them, but the wisps also agreed that it wasn’t Tangle’s suggestion to make.
Regardless of Tangle’s chronic foot-in-mouth, she had put so much effort into building their relationship and Whisper felt that she had been too quick to cut it off. She was worried that if she pushed anymore, eventually Tangle would give up on her. Whisper sometimes felt that she deserved to have Tangle leave her for once…
“ Whisper! ” The wolf suddenly snapped back to attention, her eyes wide open. Tangle was looking at her, scared.
‘Oh no, was I ignoring her? How long has she been talking?’ Whisper frantically thought to herself.
“Whisper…” Tangle spoke more softly now that she had her partner’s attention, “are you okay?”
“Yes… yes, I am.” Whisper took several deep breaths. “I was just… thinking…”
“Whisper, you can’t really think that Duo is…” Tangle looked a mix of concerned and in denial.
“He can be anyone.”
“But he can’t even hold a full disguise for more than a few seconds.”
“H- his mittens,” the words almost stuck in Whisper’s throat. She didn’t want to be right. She didn’t want to point out how much the possibility made sense. She wanted this to just be her own paranoia. Because then her friends wouldn’t be in imminent danger.
Tangle took a breath. Hesitantly taking a more firm stance. “I know we haven’t found any leads on Mimic yet, but we can’t just assume that our new recruit is secretly an escaped convict bent on killing us.”
“I’m not assuming. I’m saying he is. I’m just saying coincidences are too convenient… And there’s just nothing to prove otherwise…” Whisper looked, no longer able to meet the lemur’s gave. She couldn’t bear the thought of how her partner might be looking at her.
“Whisper, we talked about this-”
“I saw him kick Silver earlier!” Whisper turned back to the lemur. She still didn’t want to believe it. At first, it was just Whisper’s paranoia, but when she caught the cat kicking Silver’s leg after encouraging him to really show off his psychokinesis, she knew he had something sinister going on. Whisper had spent the walk back contemplating what to do next. “That’s exactly how Mimic operates. He sets up a dangerous situation, then abandons his victims to their fate.”
Tangle was in shock. “I-I’m sure there’s an explanation.”
Whisper loaded up the clip on her mask and held it up to Tangle’s face. It was distant, but Tangle could make Duo’s leg connecting with Silvers’s.
“M-maybe he just tripped.”
“Maybe, and maybe he just left Silver out of fear. But I can’t ignore the possibility. Even if it’s not Mimic, I doubt he’s the only one who wants to infiltrate the Restoration.”
“That’s why you want to see Silver,” Tangle said as other pieces started to click in her head, “You want to know what he saw.”
“I do want to make sure he’s alright,” Whisper said defensively, “but I need to know what Duo did when they were alone with that robot.”
Tangle looked at the ground, disappointed, “I really didn’t think this was how this chat was going to go.”
“I want to be wrong, Tangle. I really do. I have to go and make sure.”
“Okay, well, maybe I can come along with you,” Tangle suggested, not wanting their conversation to end on such a sour and accusatory note.
“No… I should go alone. I don’t want Duo to notice us talking to him. Besides,” Whisper looked at the box Tangle still had her tail wrapped around, “it looks like you still need to meet with Lanolin.”
“Right!” Tangle put her palms on her face as she remembered she still had THAT uncomfortable conversation. “And I should tell her about what you saw.”
“Well,” Whisper shuffled her feet, “you can just tell her about what I saw. You don’t have to tell her what I think of it”
Tangle relaxed slightly. “I guess. To me it really just looked like he tripped. I trust you Whisper, I really do, but I can’t accept this without more solid evidence.”
Whisper turned towards her door. “We both have things to do. We should get going,” she said as the door slid open.
“W-wait,” Tangle stuttered as Whisper walked out, “You’re coming back right?”
Tangle’s question made Whisper pause. She turned back around. “Of course. After all,” she glanced back to the table where Tangle had put her bakery delivery and smiled, “we still have a pound cake to split.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” Unexpectedly, Whisper quickly swept the lemur into a tight hug, though only for a moment. When she pulled away, both girls were blushing intensely. “Uhokaybye!” Whisper swiftly put her mask on and dashed out of the room. The various wisps utilized by the wolf rushed back into their pods, having snuck out a moment ago to watch the two’s goodbye.
Wiping a tear from her eye and trying to calm herself to get the redness out of her face, Tangle glanced around the room. “All of this is making me hungry. Drat, I forgot to get something for myself.” The two boxes Tangle had brought in were out of the question, but Whisper had once mentioned that she was welcome to anything in her snack cabinet.
Opening the cabinet door, Tangle immediately spied a jar of peanut brittle. “Perfect! I’ll be sure to pay Whispy back later!”
As she used her tail for extra leverage to twist the cap off, her heart almost jumped out of her chest as suddenly a swarm of multi-colored plastic snakes exploded from the jar.
“Oh, I’ll pay her back alright.” Tangle put the now empty jar on the table. She considered cleaning up the mess, but figured that Whisper would get a kick out of knowing she got Tangle so easily.
With the tension deflated like a popped balloon and not trusting which snacks were actually food and which were Whisper’s signature ‘Prank Snacks’ Tangle decided to continue on to Lanolin’s room with an empty stomach, against her better judgment.
Tangle walked up to her final destination. Her previous discussion hadn’t been quite as relaxing as she had hoped, but she still wanted to talk to her more strict teammate. Besides, she already had the apple fritter for Lanolin.
She knocked on the door. “Lanolin, I brought you something.”
The white sheep opened the door and greeted Tangle. “Oh, Tangle. When you said you were going to make a bakery run, I didn’t think you’d get something for me.”
“Course I would. Why wouldn’t I?” Tangle looked at Lanolin quizzically.
“Well… you know… Nevermind, just come in.” Lanolin moved aside to let Tangle enter her room.
“I figured I should stop by since you canceled the debrief. I already met up with Duo and Whisper.”
“You did? How were the others?” Lanolin seemed to jump slightly at the mention. After Silver ran off, much to her chagrin, she proceeded to berate Duo for poor communication and abandoning Silver. That was when Tangle had decided to make a bakery run. The rest of the trip back was smothered in a deafening silence. Whisper seemed despondent, keeping her mask on the whole time. Lanolin had wanted to ask her about it, but felt that Whisper probably wouldn’t answer, or it would just drive more tension into the team. Duo on the other hand seemed resentful towards Lanolin. She understood that the cat obviously wouldn’t be happy with being chewed out, but it’s important that he understood what he did wrong. The same with Silver; he wasn’t a member of the Diamond Cutters, but he shouldn’t have just run off like that. ‘Why am I the only one who can be mature about this training?’ Lanolin thought to herself, completely missing her teammate’s answer.
“Hey, boss?” Tangle tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jump slightly once again, her bell ringing slightly. “Did you hear me? I gave Duo a little pep talk and he seems to be doing better. Whisper’s going to check in on Silver.”
“Right. Good. Great… And stop calling me boss. We’re all the same rank.”
“Yeah but you do all the mission planning and paperwork stuff.”
“Just because I handle the administrative tasks doesn’t give me any more authority over you than you have over me.” While Lanolin was happy to have a more active position in the Restoration, she was hesitant to accept the role of leader in the group she had spearheaded the formation of. ‘She has a point though. Administrative tasks would usually be done by the person in charge. Whisper’s even said that while the old Diamond Cutters didn’t have an official leader, Smithy had fallen into something of a de facto leader since he did most of the planning,’ Lanolin thought to herself as Tangle pulled the apple fritter out of the box.
“Anyways, here you go! Apple fritter straight from Spiral Village Bakery!” Tangle presented the pastry to the sheep. “You told me this was your favorite, right?”
“That I did. Thank you, Tangle.” Lanolin wore her doll-like smile as she took the plate and placed it on a nearby end table. “I’ll have it in a bit, but first… You wanted to talk to me right?”
“How’d you guess?”
“You wanted to meet for debriefing when you got back… You messaged me to tell me that…” Lanolin crossed her arms. She had learned that Tangle is a very capable and even clever person in the field, but she also felt that the lemur could still be a little scatterbrained.
“Oh yeah, I did say that.” Tangle dropped her usual cheery demeanor and adopted a more serious face. “It’s just… You know you’re still doing that thing… where you snap at everyone after something goes wrong.”
Lanolin tensed up, opening her mouth to defend herself before closing it again.
Tangle continued, “Look, I get being mad at Silver, but you know accidents happen, even when those accidents involve dropping half a mountain on us. And you didn’t have to go off at Duo like that. It was his first time in the field. It’s perfectly understandable for him to panic in that situation.”
“Why didn’t you say this earlier?” Lanolin was suppressing the urge to yell at the lemur.
“Because then you would’ve REALLY gotten defensive. You probably would’ve started yelling about me not taking the training seriously enough.”
Lanolin felt her face get hot. She was right, Lanolin probably would’ve done that. The only reason she’s not doing it now is because she knows that’s not quite true. While the lemur was smiling and laughing while weaving through boulders earlier, she was also managing two people attached to her and coordinating maneuvers, exactly as they had set out to do. “Well, Duo did fail the purpose of the mission. He didn’t communicate with Silver in a certain death situation. He didn’t even properly report on Silver’s status when he met with us.” Lanolin avoided Tangle eyes.
“Lanolin, I’m not saying Duo didn’t mess up. He did, and he’ll learn. Besides, I'm not here to talk about him.” Tangle crossed her own arms as she furrowed her brow. “You know what I’m talking about.”
She did, but she hated to admit it. After the Eggperial City incident, Lanolin had hoped she would finally get over her tendency to startle easily, as well as her tendency to panic when things start to go wrong. While she’d constantly scold Tangle for goofing off or not paying attention, Lanolin was jealous of how well Tangle worked in the field. The lemur had hardly hesitated to sweep them out of there. Lanolin only just managed to get her bearings straight while Tangle was effortlessly swinging them through the air. “I- it was so sudden…” The sheep finally said.
“Which is why we wanted to do this in the first place. You need to learn how to adapt. I know I seem like just some goofball, but I have gone on my fair share of adventures. Something almost always goes horribly wrong, even when you’re being as careful as possible, but over time you learn how to get out of those situations. Do you think that was my first avalanche? You can ask Jewel, I used to get caught in some kind of rock slide or cave-in on a weekly basis, at least.”
Lanolin was surprised. Director Jewel had mentioned how Tangle used to get her into all kinds of dangerous situations, but she would always vouch for her reliability. She even claimed that if Tangle hadn’t dragged her along all of those adventures, she probably wouldn’t have stepped up as Director of the Restoration or even have a mineral museum back in Spiral Village. “Okay, you’re right,” Lanolin relented after sitting on Tangle’s words for a few moments, “I still don’t react well in… unforeseen circumstances, and I may have been a little to hard on Duo, but I’m not just going to take back what I said to Silver. His carelessness did almost get us killed.” Lanolin firmed up her stance and expression.
Tangle rolled her eyes. “Seriously-”
“Yes, Silver should have much more control over himself. You remember what he did on Angel Island to the metal virus.” Lanolin pointed at the lemur, recalling the moment when a pair of flying golden figures purged the land of the dreaded plague. The shining saviors who she recently had the chance to meet, much to her disappointment “You were there, weren’t you?”
“Well, actually I was a little distracted…” Tangle scratched the back of her head, blushing slightly as she recalled being pounced on by her canine teammate almost immediately after being cured.
Lanolin saw an opportunity to gain an upper hand in the argument. “I was one the last uninfected Restoration members there. I was a part of our last push to save everyone. Where were you?” Despite rejecting any claim to authority earlier, Lanolin seemed keen on flaunting her seniority while falling back into her defensive clamoring.
Tangle’s expression shifted back to a scowl. “I got infected and stayed behind to hold off the zombots when we were evacuating Spiral Village. The next thing I knew, I was on Angel Island getting tackled by Whisper. She… didn’t react well to me getting infected.”
The sheep’s confidence quickly drained as she reevaluated what she was doing. Tangle had sacrificed herself to save people. All Lanolin really did was direct people and keep count of the survivors. Once again, she was reminded that despite the time she’s spent at the Restoration, she’s still a fledgling in the ‘hero’ department while Tangle had taken the role long ago. “I’m… sorry. I’m still getting defensive.”
“It’s fine, I get like that too sometimes when I mess up.” The lemur’s expression finally softened as she put a hand on Lanolin’s shoulder.
Thinking back on what Tangle had said, something occurred to Lanolin. “Wait, about Whisper…”
“W- what about Whisper?” Tangle blushed at the mention of the blonde wolf.
“She seemed really distant on the trip back to HQ; had her mask on the whole time. Do you happen to know what that was about? I would’ve asked, but she’s usually not very responsive when she’s like that.” Lanolin was quickly bounding back from pitying herself as she recalled Tangle wanting to make up for the canceled debriefing.
“Oh, that… Yeah! That’s actually kind of important. So, and don’t freak out about this, Whisper said she saw Duo kick Silver right before he dropped those rocks.”
“WHAT!”
“Hold on!” Tangle raised her arms, “I looked at the footage on her mask. Duo’s foot definitely connected with Silver’s leg, but it was kind of hard to tell whether it was on purpose or he just tripped.”
“Tangle!” Lanolin grabbed her teammate by the shoulders, “Why didn’t you say anything earlier!? Why didn’t Whisper say anything earlier!?”
“Look, I was worried that you’d just get angry with Duo again if I opened up with that. Whisper’s going to ask Silver about it. We’ll get this whole thing worked out. It’s probably just a misunderstanding,” Tangle unconvincingly assured.
Lanolin released her grip. “But still, that would mean it wasn’t Silver’s fault at all. That must’ve been why he ran off. He would’ve known he got kicked. Why didn’t HE say anything?”
“Were you going to believe him?” Tangle questioned earnestly, though it only made Lanolin feel worse.
“Oooh, this is all my fault.” Lanolin put her hands on her face as she began to panic.
“Lanolin! Calm Down!” Tangle began shaking the sheep. “What did I JUST say about making mistakes?”
“Okay, okay! Just stop that.” Lanolin grabbed Tangle’s wrists. “Just… let me think for a second,” she said, releasing the lumer’s arms.
Tangle stared blankly at her teammate while Lanolin rubbed the bridge of her nose.
Finally regaining her composure, Lanolin began to decide how to deal with the situation. “Okay, we’ll get what happened sorted out. Whisper will get Silver’s side of the story. We’ll compare with how Duo remembers it. Then we can apologize as needed. But I still want to know why Whisper didn’t tell me?”
Tangle tensed up, she knew that Whisper didn’t say anything because if Duo really was Mimic, then he would know Whisper was onto him, but she didn’t want to tell that to Lanolin. Tangle was still convinced that this was all just an accident and didn’t want everyone to be suspicious of the new recruit secretly being a mercenary bent on killing Whisper and probably Tangle as well after their last fight. “Um, well, she didn’t mention that part…” Tangle technically didn’t lie, as Whisper did not verbally state her reason for withholding the information.
“You didn’t ask?”
“Well… actually… I was a little… distracted.” Also technically not a lie, Tangle did have a lot going through her head at the time, but she also didn’t need to ask.
Lanolin sighed, eyelids drooping as Tangle took up the same expression when asked about Angel Island. ‘This better just be a misunderstanding, otherwise I’ll once again be stuck as the third wheel to the world’s most oblivious bicycle.’ Lanolin spoke up, “Alright, let’s wait for Whisper to report back with Silver and we’ll go from there.” She looked back over at the apple fritter Tangle had brought for her. “For now, let’s just sleep on this. Thanks for the fritter, Tangle, and the talk, really.”
“Oh, yeah, it is getting late.” Tangle’s stomach suddenly growled. “Aw, that’s right, I haven’t eaten since before the mission.”
“Did you want the fritter,” Lanolin offered.
“No, I got that for you. I’ll figure something out. See ya tomorrow!” Tangle began to take her leave before stopping at the door. “And you better actually go to sleep, not just drink a bunch of espresso,” Tangle glared at the caffeine addicted sheep.
“Promise,” Lanolin lied as Tangle closed the door behind her, not breaking her stare. Once out of sight, Lanolin sighed, walked over to her personal coffee machine, and began brewing another pot. “Sorry Tangle, but someone has to do all of the paperwork.”
Tangle sat in the lounge room eating a stale bagel; it was the only thing she could find that didn’t have a note from someone else. ‘I should probably get one of those mini cabinets like Whisper,’ she thought to herself. The Restoration HQ had begun to quiet down as the night went on. Whisper had messaged Tangle to say that she would be longer than expected. They had decided to rain check their little get together until at least tomorrow considering the time. Tangle sighed as she took another bite from the stale bagel, “Man, being a part of a team is exhausting. I knew it wasn’t going to be friendship bracelets and sleepovers, but I didn’t expect so many issues so quickly.”
“You are good at getting in over your head, aren’t you?”
Tangle turned to the sudden voice. “Hey! I’m not that bad!” As she turned, Tangle recognized her childhood friend, Jewel the Beetle, Director of the Restoration. “Jewel! What are you doing here?”
Jewel looked at Tangle for a second, “Tangle, I’m the Director. I run this place.”
“No, I mean- Why are you in the lounge at this hour?”
“Taking a break. I can only work myself to death so much,” Jewel giggled.
“Don’t say that. Lanolin’s already swearing off sleep.” Tangle slumped into her chair as Jewel took the seat next to her.
“What’s the matter? Is being a Diamond Cutter not what you thought it would be?” Jewel placed a box in front of her as she sat.
“It beats filing papers,” Tangle smirked at her friend, “I think it’s shaping up as well as being Director.”
Jewel smiled and shrugged at the lemur.
“And you say I get in over my head.”
“What can I say? I learned from the best.” Jewel turned her attention to Tangle’s late night ‘meal’. “Why are you eating a stale bagel? Didn’t you go to Spiral Village’s bakery earlier?”
“I forgot to get something for myself, and everything’s going to be closed by now.” Tangle laid her head on the table.
“Well, it’s a good thing that I also made a little trip there, and got a whole box of jelly-filled donuts,” Jewel huffed proudly as she opened the box in front of her.
“Are they-”
“Strawberry? Yes they are.”
Tangle immediately shot up and hugged her small, light blue friend. “Oh thank you Jewel! You always come through!”
The hungry lemur wasted no time grabbing a donut and shoving it in her face. “Ha ha ha! Remember to breathe, Tangle!”
The two childhood friends enjoyed the sugary goods while catching up on their recent escapades. Tangle was still worried about how things would continue with the Diamond Cutters, but talking with Jewel… She remembered why she wanted to join in the first place. “Thanks for this Jewel. I really needed this after today.”
“It sure sounds like it,” Jewel paused for a moment before continuing, “I’m glad you found a place here, and I’m sorry that I could only ever get you medial busywork before.”
“Hey, I wanted to support you, and I… wasn’t ready to take Whisper up on her offer yet, but that just led me back here. Funny how things work out. Now you’re really stuck with me,” Tangle sneered.
“Well, at least now I’m officially in charge of you,” Jewel grinned back. “Now instead of trying to play voice of reason, I get to just make it Director’s orders.”
“Pfft, you’d never abuse your power like that.”
“I hardly call keeping you in line ‘abuse of power’, and I’d hardly call you one to actively defy orders.”
Tangle stood up from her seat. “Well, thanks again for the donuts. I should head to bed,” she quickly shifted her eyes to Jewel, “and so should you.”
“Oh, come on,” Jewel waved her hand, “I’m not that bad.”
“When was your last vacation?”
“I reorganized my museum just last weekend,” Jewel folded her arms.
“No, no, no. Working vacations don’t count,” Tangle rebutted.
“Oh… well… When we went camping with Amy?”
“Jewel!”
“I’m doing fine, Tangle,” Jewel insisted.
“Fine, but you better get a full eight hours tonight.” For reasons beyond Tangle’s understanding, she was the only Diamond cutter with a healthy circadian rhythm. With Whisper constantly sleeping in and Lanolin practically swearing off sleep.
“Getting real mouthy with your boss, Tangle,” Jewel teased.
“More like caring about my friend,” Tangle corrected.
“Thanks for the concern, Tangle. Good night.”
“Good night, Jewel.”
With that the two old friends parted to their rooms. Tangle lay on her bed, thinking about what happened with Silver, about Whisper, about who Duo really is, about Whisper, about her rocky relationship with Lanolin, about Whisper, and about Whisper. She trusted Whisper, but she knew that the wolf never backed down from danger. She just wanted Whisper to be safe, here with her, wrapped in her arms.
Tangle’s eyes shot open at that last thought, “WAIT A MINUTE!”
THE END