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Tangle sat in front of a display case, staring at the polished gemstones inside as she waited for Jewel to finish her work for the day.
"Tangle?" Tangle flinched as she felt a hand on her shoulder before realizing it was Jewel. She must have zoned out more than she had realized.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah." Tangle quickly changed her expression, smiling back at Jewel, but it was clear something was bothering her.
Jewel looked in the display case, seeing what had drawn Tangle's attention. Inside was a beautifully polished piece of jasper that Tangle had brought in about a month prior.
"That's the one you found with Whisper, right?"
"Yeah..." Some of the sadness she had before creeped back into her voice and face. "I was just thinking about that mission."
"Did something go wrong?" Tangle had told Jewel at the time that it all went well, but her current mood implied otherwise.
"The mission went fine. It's just..."
"Yeah?"
Tangle sighed before continuing. "I wish she would trust me more."
"What do you mean?" From what Jewel had seen, Tangle was probably the person Whisper trusted the most. The only beings that Whisper trusted more were her wisps.
"She always wants to put herself in more danger. She tells me to stay back even when I could easily do something. She feels less like an ally and more like a bodyguard sometimes."
"It sounds like she doesn't want you getting hurt."
Tangle groaned, upset with herself for feeling that way. After a moment of silence, she spoke at a more quite volume. "I know, and I know why. Anyone would feel that way after going through...that. It's selfish. I just don't want her to hurt herself when we could do it together and be fine."
"Have you told her that?"
"No..." Tangle knew why Whisper was the way she was, so she felt bad telling her something that felt like she wanted her to get over what she had experienced.
"I think you should. I'm sure she would want to know you care that much."
Tangle thought about it for a minute before responding. "Ok."
Tangle wiped the sadness from her face, putting on a smile and changing the tone of her voice back to her normal, energetic way. "Thank you, Jewel."
She hugged Jewel before they left the Mineral Museum, ready to hang out.