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It was a somewhat special day at the restoration HQ. Eggman hadn’t launched any attacks for a while, so Jewel took the opportunity to have a sort of ”cleaning day.” The headquarters hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned for some time now, with dirt and dust being an increasingly annoying issue.
Sneezes had become common due to all the dust.
So, multiple volunteers split up around the headquarters in an attempt to cover as much ground as possible.
The basement had been assigned to Tangle & Whisper.
While the bottom floor was seldom occupied, it housed many important documents. Profile descriptions for restoration members, enemy intel, that kinda stuff. Due to the important contents, the room was blocked off by a giant vault-like door.
It was basically a giant vault.
”Yeesh…” Tangle said, looking at the basement entrance. ”Brings back some unpleasant memories…”
Whisper looked at her with concern. ”I can do it myself if it’s too much.”
”Nah. I appreciate the concern, but I’ll be fine. Gotta conquer my fear someday, eh?”
The wolf didn’t look entirely convinced, and proceeded to softly grasp Tangle’s shoulder.
”I trust you, but please let me know if you change your mind. I don’t want your claustrophobia to be triggered.”
Tangle was surprised at the sudden physical contact, a blush rising to her cheeks. ”Mhm. Yep. Of course.” She said with a small voice.
This seemed to be enough for Whisper.
”Good.” She flashed a smile, and walked over to open the large door.
Tangle thought about how pretty Whisper’s smile was.
Okay, maybe she had a bit of a crush on Whisper. Maybe the crush happened to be a little bigger than that. Maybe she had fallen head over heels for her best friend.
Don’t judge.
The door to the basement was controlled digitally, and could be opened with the use of a small keypad. Whisper entered the password to unlock the mechanism.
0-6-1-9
The entrance creaked loudly as it slowly revealed the contents of the cellar. It was a single room, with multiple bookshelves holding tons and tons of folders. There was also a couch in the corner of the room.
Everything was covered in dust.
”I don’t get it.” Tangle questioned, proceeding to sneeze. ”Why don’t they just put all this stuff in the archives?”
”The archives aren’t well-protected. All of the classified stuff’s down here.” Whisper replied, dusting off a bookshelf.
”Ohoho! Perhaps we could do some snooping, hm?” Tangle rubbed her hands together mischievously.
”Tangle, if you look at those files you could be tried for treason.”
”Oh.”
After they had cleaned for about an hour, Tangle noticed something odd.
”…Whisper?”
”Mm?”
”Is the keypad supposed to look like that?”
Whisper instantly turned around to be met with the sight of the keypad giving off countless sparks, nearly going up in flames. As if that wasn’t enough, the heavy door slowly started to close, as if the world was purposefully messing with them. Tangle tried to make a mad dash for the exit, but ended up slipping on a pen that had fallen to the floor. She fell to the ground, having to watch as their only exit out of here was now shut.
They were covered in darkness.
The wisps quickly appeared, providing some much needed light. Whisper gave them an appreciative nod, before being startled by a loud clang . The wolf quickly looked over to the door to find Tangle attempting to brute force her way out by slamming her tail against the object keeping them trapped. She hadn’t even dented it.
”HELP! WE’RE STUCK! SOMEBODY!” She screamed in desperation, voice cracking. Tears started streaming down the lemur’s face, claustrophobia-induced panic setting in. Her breathing quickened to a worrying speed, which resulted in her not getting enough air. Whisper watched in horror, knowing she had to act quickly.
She carefully walked over to the lemur, and placed two firm, yet gentle hands on her shoulders. Whisper delicately spun her around. Coming face-to face with her terrified friend.
”What are y-” Tangle began, but she was interrupted by Whisper.
”Focus on my voice, okay?”
The lemur gave a shaky nod, unsure what else to do.
”Take a deep breath, hold it for seven seconds, and breathe out. Can you do that?”
Tangle once again nodded, trying to follow instructions as closely as possible.
”Okay good, I’ll do it with you.”
Whisper breathed in, Tangle following suit. They both held their breath for seven seconds, before exhaling.
”Good. We’ll do that a couple more times.” Whisper said.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
After repeating the action a few more times, Tangle was no longer hyperventilating. However, she hadn’t exactly calmed down yet.
”I-I don’t wanna die Whisper, I don’t wanna die.” She sobbed.
Whisper felt her heart ache at seeing her usually cheerful friend being in such major distress.
”Tangle, listen to me.”
Tangle whimpered slightly. Whisper didn’t like being so commanding towards the lemur, but it was necessary in this situation.
”Tangle, you’re not gonna die. Someone is gonna come down and check on us eventually, and they’ll realize what happened. We’ll be fine, okay? We’ll make it through this.”
”Y-you sure?”
Whisper smiled reassuringly toward her.
”I’m sure.”
They stood there for a little bit, the only sound being Tangle’s occasional sniffling.
”Okay, this is gonna sound stupid but uh,” she looked down to the floor, face reddening slightly. ”Could you… hold me?”
The lemur almost immediately backpedaled, face becoming increasingly crimson. ”Well, um- y-you don’t have to, it was a stupid-”
She was interrupted by Whisper hugging her.
”’S not stupid.” The wolf whispered. The wisps, who had up until now been uneasy spectators, joined in on the embrace.
Tangle started tearing up a little, and returned the hug. Whisper heard a muffled ”thank you” and rubbed circles into her friends’ back.
”Don’t mention it.” She replied.
Whisper wasn’t sure how long they stood there, but they eventually heard a voice from outside call for them.
”Tangle? Whisper? Are you in there?”
Tangle immediately let go of the embrace and ran to the door, practically smushing her face against it.
”Lanolin! Thank chaos you’re here, we’re trapped! Can you help us?”
Lanolin’s muffled voice was barely audible from the other side. ”We’re working on it. Seems like the door malfunctioned somehow, and locked you two in. We’re gonna cut through the gate, but it’ll take a while.”
”How long?”
”Thirty minutes, give or take.”
Tangle felt a wave of relief wash over her.
”S-sounds good! See you in a bit!”
She turned around to see Whisper smiling warmly at her.
”See? We’ll be fine.”
”Y-yeah, guess so. We’ll just have to wait it out.”
The two of them stood in silence, and Whisper couldn’t help but notice how much Tangle was trembling.
”You okay?”
”Whuh? Oh- yeah, I’m fine, just a little shaken-up.”
The wolf hummed, and came up with an idea. She walked over to the dusted-off couch, and laid down across the furniture. It was relatively large, providing plenty of comfort.
”If it makes you more comfortable, maybe we can cuddle while we wait it out?”
Tangle took a couple of seconds to register what Whisper had said, and proceeded to blush intensely. Her muzzle was comparable to that of a strawberry.
” Sure .” She replied with a voice so small it was barely present. She went over to the couch, and laid down stiffly, half on-top of Whisper.
”Relax a little,” the wolf chuckled. She shuffled around a bit with Tangle, finding a comfortable position.
”Does this work?”
Whisper was sitting slightly upright, with Tangle leaning her back against her. The former was embracing the latter, slowly stroking her thumb against the lemur’s hand.
”Mm. Feels nice.”
Tangle couldn’t even bother feeling embarrassed, because felt completely at peace. She felt safe. The wisps joined in on the cuddling, spreading themselves out and finding several comfortable spots on the two girls.
After some silence, Tangle spoke.
”Sorry.”
For what?”
Tangle sat up, looking Whisper in the eyes.
”You were right, help was really close, but I still freaked out! This room isn’t even that small!” She gestured wildly to the area around them. ”I just keep messing up…”
The lemur was surprised to find Whisper cradling her cheek.
”Tangle, you don’t need to apologize for something out of your control.”
Tangle looked off to the side, unsure how to respond.
”And no, you don’t keep messing up. I know how distressing these situations are for you, but you’re handling it really well.”
Tangle blushed. ”That’s mostly ’cause you helped…”
Whisper blushed a little back and smiled. ”Then I’m happy I could help.”
The room fell silent after this, though after a few minutes, Tangle once again broke the silence.
”How did you know to do that?”
”Hm? Do what?”
”The whole breathing thing.”
”Oh, that. Well, I used to suffer from panic attacks, and most of the time, nobody was around to help. Fortunately, Pink informed me of a technique they’d heard Smithy talk about.”
She petted the pink wisp, smiling at the memory of her friend. She then noticed Tangle’s sorrowful expression, and decided to elaborate.
”Don’t worry, I barely have them anymore.”
”That’s still super messed up…” Tangle mumbles.
”It was. But it’s better now. And I think it’s sweet that you’re so concerned for my wellbeing.”
Tangle sat up once again, speaking before she could think.
”Of course I’m concerned about you! I lo…”
At that moment, Tangle realized she was halfway through professing her love for the wolf. She tried to rectify the situation.
”…I loathe to see you sad!”
She certainly tried.
Whisper wasn’t fooled at all, but decided to play along.
”Well, I loathe to see you sad too.” She winked at Tangle, the latter nearly suffering a collapsed lung from sheer affection. The lemur, feeling bold, decided to go for it.
”So, um, when we get out of here, do you wanna maybe, uh-”
She gulped, realizing Whisper was looking at her with an expecting gaze.
”…Maybe w-we could get some dinner somewhere…? Sometime…?”
”Like a date? Sounds lovely.”
Tangle wasn’t exactly expecting that.
”T-that’s- uh-”
She proceeded to stammer for a couple of seconds, eventually getting interrupted by Whisper.
”It’s alright, there’s no rush.”
The lemur went quiet for about a minute, before continuing to embarrass herself.
”Y-yeah, like a date.”
Whisper smiled widely, and began giggling. Tangle loved that sound.
Infact, she was so caught up with listening to Whisper’s laughter that she almost missed what the wolf said to her afterwards.
”I love you too, by the way.”
This time, Tangle’s brain registered the dialogue immediately. The lemur shot up from the couch like a scared cat, landing unceremoniously on the ground next to the furniture.
”H-how’d you know-”
”Tangle, with all due respect, you said you ’loath seeing me sad.’ It wasn’t that difficult to figure out what you really meant to say.”
Tangle crawled back on the couch, face red from embarrassment.
”…Do you really love me…?”
Her voice was muffled due to lying face down on the couch. This didn’t last long, however, as the lemur was pulled into a warm hug by the girl she loved.
”Of course I do. You make it impossible to not adore you.”
She let go of Tangle slightly to make eye contact, exposing her rarely-seen blue eyes.
”In fact, I’ve loved you for some time now. I just never told you because I valued our friendship too much.”
”Oh, guess this worked out really well, huh.”
Whisper chuckled.
”Yep.”
The two of them slowly drifted closer, both knowing what they wanted to do. Tangle decided to make sure though, just in case.
”Can I, uh…”
She trailed off, but Whisper understood. The wolf nodded, and the two of them closed the gap. The kiss was brief, but from the girls’ perspective, it felt as if time had frozen. After an undetermined amount of time, the two of them broke away. Their gazes met, full of adoration and love. It was almost like they were having a staring contest, except instead of seeing who could last the longest without blinking, they were seeing who could look at the other more wistfully. They enjoyed the silence, which ended up being broken by Tangle.
”Gotta say, I’m experiencing some pretty strong emotional whiplash today.”
At that moment, the girls were spooked by a loud clang . They looked over at the door to see a large mobian-sized hole in the middle of the hatch, letting in some much-needed light. On the other side of the hole stood Lanolin (equipped with a welding mask and an experimental-looking blowtorch), a very distressed Jewel, and a few other restoration members. Tangle was instantly on her feet, half-jogging to the exit.
”Careful!” Lanolin warned her. ”The edges are still hot.”
Tangle made sure not to give herself any second-degree burns, and when she was in the clear, dramatically flopped onto the ground.
”SWEET FREEDOM! OH HOW I’VE MISSED YOU!”
She rolled around for a bit, eventually standing up on wobbly legs, only to almost embrace the ground a second time due to Jewel tackle-hugging her.
”I’M SO SORRY TANGLE! I SHOULDN’T HAVE ASSIGNED YOU TO THE BOTTOM FLOOR, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WAS THINKING!”
”Jewel-”
”WE’VE BEEN BEST FRIENDS FOR OUR WHOLE LIVES, I DON’T KNOW HOW I DIDN’T TAKE YOUR CLAUSTROPHOBIA INTO ACCOUNT!”
”Jewel!”
Tangle gripped the beetle’s shoulders firmly.
”I’m fine Jewel. Don’t worry, I know you didn’t mean any harm.”
The beetle looked like she’d burst into tears any minute. Tangle felt kinda bad for her, she must’ve been really worried.
”Plus, Whisper helped me calm down. It was a little cozy, honestly.”
She pointed her thumb to Whisper, who was awkwardly standing to the side.
Jewel glanced at the wolf, then back to Tangle. She knew of the lemur’s crush, so this could be a good moment to make up for her mistake. She came up with an idea.
”Tangle, I think it would be advisable for you to rest. This event must have been exhausting for you.”
The lemur was a little surprised at the sudden dismissal.
”Oh, uh, okay-”
Jewel then turned to Whisper with impressive speed.
”Whisper, if it’s not too much to ask, could you look after her? She usually tries to escape when I make her take breaks.”
”Hey, that’s not-”
Tangle tried to refute, but had a hand placed over her mouth, courtesy of Jewel.
”Please?” The beetle asked Whisper.
”Um. Okay.” The wolf said, quite confused.
Jewel clapped her hands together proudly. ”Great! You should probably get to it then, because Tangle’s looking a little wobbly.”
Sure enough, Tangle’s legs were shaking , and she would’ve collapsed onto the ground if Whisper hadn’t grabbed onto her waist. The lemur blushed at the physical contact, embarrassed beyond belief.
”Oh, that’s unfortunate. You might have to carry her, Whisper.” Jewel had a mischievous smile on her face, enjoying this maybe a little too much.
Whisper picked up Tangle in a bridal carry, the latter’s muzzle decorated with a fine red tint.
Jewel looked on with a smug expression as they walked off, proud of her work. Lanolin simply rolled her eyes, mumbling something about how ”we really oughta get this door fixed.”