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"Uno!" Tangle called, kicking back in her chair with a smug grin on her face. Whisper and Lanolin glanced at each other and, without words, decided they needed to work together.
"Are we playing exponentially?" Lanolin asked. Whisper tilted her head in confusion, and the sheep noticed. "It's when you can stack a plus four on a plus two." She explained. "I don't usually play that way."
"Let's just say we are," Tangle replied. "Not like it's going to make a difference."
Lanolin just smirked, placing down a plus two she had spare in her hand. Whisper then promptly placed a wild plus four. Tangle stared in shock, then glanced back up, a determined look on her face.
"What color?" she asked. Whisper thought hard for a moment before speaking.
"Blue," she replied. The respective wisp perked its head up from its perch on her head. "No, not you." The wolf corrected.
"It doesn't matter," Tangle laughed as she placed down a wild, one of those custom ones where you could write any rules you wanted on it. And dead in the middle was a draw of ten instructions. She snicked at Lanolin, who promptly smacked her cards down and stepped away to the coffee machine. The lemur howled with laughter! "And that's why I'm the undefeated champion!" She boomed.
"Don't be so confident," Whisper replied. "I'll get you next time."
Suddenly, the crackle of the PA system echoed throughout the building, catching everyone's attention. They all looked up towards the ceiling.
"Good morning everyone!" Jewel began, though her voice sounded like she was already tired and on her fourth cup of coffee. "I have a couple of morning announcements to make, because why not just add that into my workload today?" She cackled, her voice teetering on the edge of maniacal.
"Is she good?" Tangle asked, sitting up straight. Before she could get an answer, the beetle continued.
"Friendly safety reminder: there is to be no running in the halls under any circumstances!" Jewel announced as a blue blur screeched to a halt. Before he could do anything, Jewel spoke again. "And no flopping around all dramatic in disappointment either, SONIC."
"Okay, that's just straight-up targeting!" The blue hedgehog groaned before walking off.
"Now to the individual who burned 'Eggman can go to hell' into the side of the building—"
"I'm sorry, WHAT!?" Lanolin yelled as she spat out her coffee.
"-I'm going to let it go this time, but please check yourself in the future!" Jewel finished. Across the room, Surge smirked, burning hot lighting crackling off the tips of her fingers.
"Now this is a message from the medical wing to Whisper the wolf specifically," Jewel began. "Please stop sending apology cards on Tangle's behalf every time she gets into a scrape. It's a quote: 'Weak, desperate, unattractive,' and frankly, you're better than that, sweety!"
"Is everyone out for blood today or something?" Whisper mumbled to herself. Tangle just sat back in shock the whole time.
"And this is a message from the janitor to Tangle specifically!" Jewel added. "Please stop stuffing Valentine's Day cards into Whisper's break room locker! It's the middle of January, she never checks it, and frankly, you are also better than that, sweety!"
Tangle promptly smacked her head against the table in embarrassment, both she and Whisper exploding in blushes. Surge snickered, unaware Jewel was coming for her next.
"And next, Surge the Tenrec, please report to my office immediately! My phone is on ten percent, and NO, I WILL NOT GET A NEW CHARGER!"
"THIS IS BULLSHIT!" Surge yelled, but promptly stomped off in the direction of Jewel's office.
"And lastly, Shadow the hedgehog!" Jewel boomed. There was a pause, as half the building had no idea he was even there. "...You scare the shit out of me!" Jewel finished. "Thank you everyone, have a good day, and please do not die or get pregnant!"
And with that, the PA system promptly shut off. There was a stunned silence, everyone glancing back and forth. Shadow promptly made his leave, quickly ditching the place through the back elevator to Victory Garden. Tangle and Whisper glanced at each other, and without a word, agreed to not say anything about each other's cards.
"I'm... going to go check on Jewel." Tangle said as she stood up. She quickly made her way through the halls, passing by Surge, who still seemed miffed. Tangle knocked on the door but didn't hear anything. Concerned and curious, she pushed open the door to find Jewel's desk a mess of coffee cups and paperwork.
The beetle was lying on her desk, her head in her arms. She just wanted to fall asleep for the rest of the day.
"Hey," Tangle spoke up. Jewel just replied with a half-hearted grunt. "Having a bad day?" Tangle asked, and Jewel nodded to confirm it.
"Sorry about calling you guys out like that," Jewel apologized. "I truly didn't mean to; it just slipped out."
"Hey, it's all good." Tangle replied, patting her friend on the back. "Honestly, you look so burnt out back here I'm surprised you didn't snap." She observed. "Sorry, I should've visited to drag you away from working yourself into a hole."
"Thank you, but I still need to apologize to everyone," Jewel said. "Ever since we got confirmation Eggman is sabotaging us and planning something, and then you guys came back after destroying Prototype T... it's just been nonstop paperwork."
"Tell you what," Tangle said. "Send a couple papers our way," the lemur offered. "The Diamond Cutters aren't just a field team. Besides, we don't have any missions today."
"That would be great," Jewel mumbled, already falling asleep on her desk. Tangle gave her another pat on the back, grabbing a pile of paperwork before promptly leaving. She struggled to balance the pile of paperwork, but managed to get it all the way to the break room. Lanolin and Whisper were confused when she set it down on the table.
"Would you two mind helping me out with these?" She asked. "I offered to help so Jewel can sleep- she says sorry by the way- But I might have bit off more than I can chew." She admitted. Lanolin rolled her eyes but sat down.
"You owe me a coffee if we end up working past lunch," She said, tossing a pen to both Tangle and Whisper. To make a long story short, Tangle had to make an emergency run to the nearest coffee shop after they finished.