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“Okay, Ashley, good as new.”
Inside the Babylon Rogues’ blimp, Wave had just gotten done fixing up Ashley’s Turbo Star.
See, today was another day of Extreme Gear “class” for the leopard. They were in this forest that was actually pretty close to Metal City. It didn’t have an actual name, but Ashley heard people on the train ride there refer to it as Leaf Storm.
As for Jet and Storm? They were completely absent this time. Apparently, they liked to have a guys’ day out every once in a while, and this was one of those times, so they left Wave with Ashley.
“That’s pretty dickish, though, isn’t it?” Ashley had asked. Wave only responded with, “Kinda, but hey, if they wanna get killed out there, it’s not my problem.”
And that only had Ashley wondering what the hell they got up to when Wave wasn’t around.
Anyways, Wave and Ashley practiced in the forest, and to the swallow bird’s surprise, she was actually improving a lot. Still a bit of struggling and stumbling, but she didn’t fall off her board…
…until she rammed straight into a tree, wiping out. Thankfully, Ashley only made it out with some scratches, but the Turbo Star completely malfunctioned, thus putting an end to the lesson.
And for the next half hour, Wave was fixing up the board while Ashley anxiously paced around the blimp’s living room, quietly berating herself.
When Wave got done, though, and she presented it to her, it looked good as new. Damn, this girl was good.
“Holy crap, it’s like I never crashed it at all!” the leopard exclaimed, examining the board. She gave Wave a wide smile. “Thanks a lot! I’m really sorry for having you do all that.”
Wave rolled her eyes and dusted off her pants. “Don’t be. No one’s better than me when it comes to the tech of Extreme Gear. I cannot tell you how many times Jet and Storm broke their boards apart in our early days.”
Ashley squinted at her.
“...okay, I may have fumbled a couple of times as well,” Wave groaned. “Not nearly as much, though.”
The leopard chuckled, before getting an idea. “...say, what would you think about working with the machine shop?”
Wave leaned the board on the nearby couch. “The machine shop? What, you mean in the Restoration?”
“Mhm! Not like getting a full time job there, but just going in for a day and seeing how it feels! It must be boring working on Extreme Gear all the time.”
Ashley raised an eyebrow when Wave sucked in air through her teeth and glanced away.
“Isn’t that museum curator from Spiral Hill the director?” she asked.
“You mean Jewel? Yeah.”
“That may be hard to arrange then,” Wave sighed, crossing her arms. “You know how we’re thieves, right?”
“Also yea-” Uh oh. “You stole from her, didn’t you.”
“And probably kidnapped her as well.”
Upon hearing that, Ashley’s jaw dropped.
“Okay, to be fair, that part was Storm’s fault!” Wave pleaded her case. “He mistook her for an actual jewel!”
Suddenly, the albatross mistaking Ashley for a tiger made a lot more sense.
“And I wanted to release her! But for some god-forsaken reason, Jet wanted to race the two tonsil-hockey players for her back! We did end up letting her go… while Tangle sneakily took back all the loot.”
Ashley wanted to laugh at that story, but it felt in poor taste.
“...then again, a while after, we did come across each other again at the beach. And Jewel was actually alright with sharing her spot. Didn’t even hold a grudge,” Wave remembered. "Not before we had a little competition, though..."
“So, like… it’s water under the bridge?”
“Probably. I’m not exactly sure how she’d feel about me entering the premises, though. Or Jet and Storm, for that matter.”
Ashley hummed, thinking to herself. Then, an idea.
“What if I put in a word for you?” she suggested. “Not just to Jewel, but to the chief mechanic. I have a feeling he and his co-workers will like you… just as long as you make a good impression.”
Wave rubbed her chin. She didn’t want to admit it, but Ashley was right; working on nothing but boards did get a bit tiring sometimes. And if Jet and Storm could have days by themselves, there’s no reason why she couldn’t.
"...alright, fine,” she decided. “I’ll do it.”
That perked up Ashley.
“Just to see how it feels, though. And you’d better make me sound like the greatest mechanic in the world,” Wave warned, squinting at her. “Even better than that ‘chief mechanic’ you mentioned.
“Alright, alright,” Ashley put her hands up, laughing nervously. “Not so sure about that last part, but I’ll do you nice, don’t worry.”
“Yeah, you’d better. …by the way, are you feeling okay?” the swallow bird asked.
“Huh?”
“You’re sweating. Like, a lot,” Wave pointed at her.
Ashley was, indeed, sweating a lot. See, in this specific area, the temperature was higher than it was back in Metal City. And the humidity of the forest did not help things. The only reason Ashley wasn’t sweating before was because of the air being blown on her while training. Now her head looked like she had dunked it in a pool; a very warm pool.
“Oh, am I?” Ashley said. “Well, it’s a little hot, but-”
“You know you can take your jacket off, right?”
Ashley blinked.
“WHAT? I, um, uh-” she stammered. “I mean, are you sure? I-I-I’ve only got a crop top underneath, since I knew where we were going was gonna be hot, and, well, erm-” She stopped rambling when Wave facepalmed.
“What is this, middle school? Ashley, I go around wearing a tube top all day. Do you see me getting nervous?”
“Well…” the leopard tried, before sighing. “...alright, yeah, you’re right.”
A deep inhale. “Just… ugh… could you turn around?”
Wave paused. “Why-?”
“Wave, please.”
“Jeez, okay,” Wave turned her head. She was confused as all hell, but she figured it wasn’t the best idea to pry into why she was acting like this.
Some nervous muttering could be heard, then the sound of the jacket being hung on a nearby rack. An inhale, and-
“Okay, um… you’re good to turn back around.”
Wave did just that. And to her bewilderment…
…there was nothing different about her at all. Just that she was in a teal crop top.
But the leopard didn’t seem to think so. She was anxiously fidgety, tapping her foot and folding her hands together.
“So… what’s the issue here?” Wave asked.
“Huh?”
“No offense, but I don’t know what there is to be all worked up over,” the swallow bird told her. “You acted like you were hiding something underneath your jacket.”
Relief could be seen washing over Ashley’s face.
“Was I? Heh, sorry if I seemed that way,” she apologized, rubbing the back of her head. “I just… got nervous, is all.”
Wave’s face softened up a little.
“Again, Ashley; nothing but a tube top,” she chuckled. She hopped over the back of the couch before flopping onto the cushions. “And hey; we’re both girls, aren’t we? Showing off some feathers or fur wouldn’t hurt either of us.”
Both girls.
Slowly, Ashley’s nervous expression turned into a grin.
“…yeah. You’re right.”
She got her phone out. “Aaaanyway, I should check the train schedule in Metal City…”
“Awww, you don’t want to hang out with little ‘ol me?” Wave asked, looking back at the leopard.
“No, it’s not that! Just… the Restoration’s a busy place. Lanolin and the others could need me with something at any moment,” Ashley chuckled. “I can’t leave everyone hanging.”
The swallow bird picked up the remote next to her and turned on the TV. “If you say so.”
While a re-run of Chao in Space blared on the screen, Ashley asked, “Oh, um… you mind if I take a seat there?”
Not looking up, Wave shrugged. “Sure, whatever. Put your feet on the cushions and I’m pushing you off, though.”
“Noted,” Ashley snorted. She went around and found herself a seat next to the swallow bird, opening up an app on her phone.
What followed was a minute of awkward silence, other than the sound of lasers from the Chaos’ spaceships on the TV.
“Ughhhh…”
…and the sound of Ashley quietly groaning, and slumping down on the couch.
“The next train got delayed?” she muttered. “Damn it, I’m gonna have a lot to catch up on when I get back, aren’t I…”
Wave was about to get on the leopard’s case for sprawling herself out like she lived on the blimp with her, when something caught her eye.
She didn’t know how it went unnoticed by her until now, but it turned out Ashley actually had a dark tan section on her torso (belly fur, as some would call it), the same color as her muzzle.
It shouldn’t have come off as surprising, since plenty of mammal mobians share this feature (Sonic obviously being a prime example), but for some reason, the swallow bird imagined her torso just being a bunch of spots, like on her face, arm and legs.
(Please don’t ask why she was imagining her body.)
There were still spots there, for sure, but mostly on her sides. There were probably more on her back, and others covered by her crop top-
STOP- stop thinking about that.
Normally, this wouldn’t be so mind boggling. But then her eyes focused harder, and she saw… more spots.
Not like the ones outside her belly fur either; some were fully visible, and others were semi-transparent. She slightly tilted her head, and then… some became half-visible, some disappeared… and new ones even showed up.
How in the-
“Wwwwwhat are you doing?”
Ashley’s voice brought Wave out of her observation. She made eye contact with her, and the leopard was staring at her, looking very confused.
“I JUST- um-” She shook her head and put on a stern look. “You’re leaning back on my couch as if you own the place. At least act like you’re not bored.
“...oh!” Noticing her position, Ashley sat up straight. “Sorry, my bad, I… got a little lost in my thoughts there.”
“Clearly.” Wave turned around with a huff, as Ashley bounced her leg, embarrassed.
…
…fucking hell, this is going to kill me.
“What’s up with your spots?”
Ashley looked back at the swallow bird. “My.. what?”
“Your spots. What’s- what’s up with them?”
“Wh-what’s up with-” Ashley started, completely baffled. “Uh, Wave, in case Storm’s comments about me caused some confusion, I’m a leopard.”
Okay, clearly, that was the wrong way to go about it.
“Let me try that again…” Wave sighed. “I mean the spots on your mid-section. The ones that keep disappearing.”
“Disa-” Ashley looked at her stomach, and the pieces finally clicked in her head.
“Ohhhh! Okay, I see what you mean now,” she laughed, poking at one of the spots (which Wave couldn’t see) with a robo-finger. “Yeah, this is just…”
She paused, smile fading. “...something I was born with.”
Before Wave could question the sudden somber tone, the leopard stood up in front of her so she could get a closer look. “They’re not exactly disappearing. They’re still there, but you just can’t see them under certain lighting.”
Wave raised an eyebrow. “So- hang on a second…”
Eyes not leaving Ashley’s stomach, she clapped her hands twice, and all the lights in the room went out. All of the spots that were there before disappeared.
“Didn’t know you guys had a clapper…” The leopard said to herself. “But yeah, you see what I mean?”
“Yeah…” The swallow bird clapped her hands again, bringing the lights back on. Naturally (was it?), some of her spots became visible again, too.
“That’s… I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before,” she said, now captivated by this little known fact of Ashley’s. She got up and began to walk around her, soaking in the spots fading in and out of her view.
“I’ve come across a lot mobians with spots on them in my life,” Wave started. Some we’ve stolen from, but not the case right now. “Dalmatians, cheetahs, giraffes… and obviously some leopards like yourself.”
Ashley had no idea what she was supposed to do. So she just stood still, trying not to let how close the Babylon Rogue currently was get to her.
“Uh-huh,” Ashley gulped.
“And I don’t think I’ve seen any of them with a trait such as this,” Wave continued. She crouched down in front of her, tilting her head and rubbing the bottom of her beak.
God, I am begging you to not let Jet or Storm walk in right now.
“Do they have, like, some sort of feeling different than the rest of your spots?” Wave asked, tilting her head side to side. “Like if I were to touch your stomach there?”
“Wh- no, why would they-”
“Does anyone else know about this? Like your team, for example?”
“I mean, if they did, then they didn’t say anything about it-”
“Is this something that’s actually common, and I’ve just never noticed?” Wave began to reach. “Or is it rare-?”
Yeah, that’s enough.
Ashley leaped backwards, covering the spots with her metal arm with a flustered look on her face. Once Wave was able to look at her more clearly, it dawned on her she might have gotten too… “intimate” with her research.
“...sorry. I just…” She sighed, getting back up on her feet. “This is just really fascinating to me.”
The leopard began to let her guard down. “Like… like a ‘good’ fascinating, right?”
“Yeah, for sure,” Wave replied, with a genuine grin.
“Heh… well, thanks.”
Both of them only looked at each other for the next few seconds. Ashley coughed into her fist, while Wave scratched the back of her head.
“...say, uh, tell you what,” the swallow bird decided. “Clearly, I overstepped some boundaries there. So to make things even…”
Ashley’s eyes widened. “What? Wait, Wave, you don’t have to-”
But it seemed she had already made up her mind. Because she’d already turned around and was doing… something with her hands. So, getting curious, Ashley walked closer to her.
She saw both the bird’s gloves get tossed onto the couch. And finally, Wave turned around, holding her hands out.
“Check it.”
A soft gasp left Ashley’s throat. Suddenly, her hands and arms looked so much different than how they were with gloves on.
The tattoos on her arms went up to her palms, and stopped at her fingers, which were purple like the rest of her body. And her fingertips looked more like wingtips, having these pointed edges while still looking fluffy. Then, there were her forearms, which now had a bunch of fluff standing out. It started at her wrist and ended at her elbow.
Wave smirked, admiring Ashley’s astonishment.
“Surprised, huh?” she chuckled.
The leopard looked up at her, jaw agape.
“It- those- how?!” she exclaimed. “...that’s an amazed ‘how,’ by the way.”
“Figured,” Wave nodded.
“No, but seriously; how do you hide all that?” Ashley asked.
Without looking behind her, Wave just picked up one of her gloves.
“You see this ring?” she asked, tapping on it. “They aren’t just for show. They help keep my feathers up.”
“But, like… why hide them? I can’t imagine that’d be comfortable,” the leopard pointed out.
“Hey, my body’s covered in feathers already. It’s not as bad as you think,” Wave shrugged. “And they tend to get in the way of things. Like doing mechanical work… and eating. I’ve gotten way too many feathers on my pancakes more times than not.”
“Uh huh…” Ashley nodded. Her eyes didn’t leave the bird’s arms.
“...if it’s not too weird to ask, can I, like…” She shrunk in on herself. “...feel them?”
Wave’s irises shrunk slightly. That was the last thing she was expecting to ask of her, but… at least unlike some people, she actually did.
“Ehh… knock yourself out,” she said.
With her metal hand, Ashley gently took one of Wave’s.
Wow, that’s… kinda cold, Wave thought.
And with her organic hand, she gently brushed against the bird’s stuck-out feathers. They were soft; really soft. It was like running her hand through a blanket.
Wave looked at Ashley as she did so. And seeing the warm smile on her face… it made her kinda happy.
“I’m kinda shocked you like ‘em as much as you do,” Wave said. “Back then, I was made fun of by others for this quirk of mine.”
Hearing that last part brought Ashley out of the moment. “People made fun of you?”
“Some, yeah,” Wave nodded, glancing to the side. “But… I had backup a lot of the time.” A giggle escaped her as she remembered Storm throwing hands on some bullies that kept mocking her back when they were kids.
Looking at her sadly, Ashley gave her hand a light squeeze.
“Well, to hell with ‘em. I think they look nice,” she told her with 100% sincerity, rubbing her thumb back and forth on the feathers. “This is only a suggestion, but… maybe you should try letting these out more. Like, give your hands and arms some breathing room, y’know?”
“...I. Um.” For some reason, Wave couldn’t properly get the words out. “I’ll… think about that.”
Noticing the wavering (heh) tone in the Rogue’s voice, Ashley looked up to find her turning red. She let go of her immediately.
“Désolée,” she yipped, putting her hands up. “My fault. Got a little carried away there.”
Wave just looked at her hand, then up at the leopard again. “...you’re alright.”
Then something clicked. “Wait a second… was that French?”
“Oh, heh heh, yup!” Ashley laughed. “Tu m’as eu!”
Wave couldn’t stop herself from giggling again. “Gotta admit; I’m learning more about you than I thought I’d be.”
“Same to you,” Ashley rubbed the back of her head. “Thought I’d only learn Extreme Gear stuff when it comes to you, but… guess not!”
“Hm hm,” Wave smiled. She wouldn’t say it out loud (not yet at least)... but it really felt as if she was making another genuine friend. One outside of the Babylon Rogues.
“Aaaanyway, the nearest train isn’t gonna be here for another hour, so…” Ashley pointed a finger gun at her. “Guess I am gonna be hanging out with little ol you.”
“What a horror. However will you survive?” Wave jabbed slyly, jutting her hip out.
“I didn’t-! …mean it like that," the leopard grumbled. "What I’m trying to say is, should we get more practice in, or…?”
Wave folded an arm over her waist. “...you mentioned something to me about making origami a while back. What exactly do you make?”
Like most would upon hearing someone ask about their special interest, Ashley grinned widely.
“Are you alright with me showing a demonstration?” she asked enthusiastically.
Wow, 0 to 100 real quick.
“I guess one or two. Are you good with printing paper?”
“Yeah! Not my usual forte, but I can manage with that!”
“Sweet,” Wave nodded. “C’mon, you can show me what you can do in the repair room.”
“Heh heh, sounds good!"
They both left the living room, Ashley following behind the bird’s footsteps.
And it was a good thing they weren't facing each other, because on them, one would be able to percieve faint blushes.