Tegwen approached the mattress slowly, wondering how many thousands of cockroaches it currently sheltered. When she was close enough, she crouched down beside it. It was difficult to see by the dim light, but as far as Tegwen could tell, the white fabric was as pure white as it could get. Dropping her backpack on the floor beside her, Tegwen timidly poked at the mattress. She gasped, running the palm of her hand along the silky design. "Is this new?!"

Megavolt nodded, continuing to play cards.

"You went out and bought me a new mattress?!" Tegwen squeaked. She glanced up at Megavolt with a sappy smile on her bill.

"I didn't buy it. Furniture store was closed." He glanced at her slowly. She scrambled to her feet, raced over and pulled Megavolt from his chair and into a tight hug.

"Oh, God," Tegwen gasped, pulling back quickly. What's wrong with me?! Ew! I hugged a . . . Well, I don't even know what he is! But I hugged him!

Megavolt teetered, quickly bracing himself against the table.

"Uh, thanks," she coughed, clasping her hands behind herself and leaning forward slightly. "I haven't had an actual bed in . . . Well . . . A real long time!"

"Yeah, well . . ." Megavolt looked away quickly. "I figured that . . . Ya know, when . . . The thing at the bridge and all . . ."

A moment of extremely uncomfortable silence ensued.

"Hey, uh . . ." Tegwen cleared her throat after a moment. "You know what I haven't done in forever?"

Megavolt blinked. Before he could wager a guess, Tegwen took a flying leap onto her mattress. She landed on it, bouncing a few times before flopping on her back. Flailing her arms out to either side of her body, she heaved a contented sigh.

"You're a nutcase, you know that?" Megavolt chuckled, walking over to his couch.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." He leaned over and picked something up from the floor behind the old, orange piece of furniture. "Heads up!"

A solid, royal blue comforter landed on Tegwen. She quickly pulled it off her head, noting the distinct department store smell. "You got me a comforter, too?!" She gasped.

"It was there." There was a lengthy silence. Reluctantly, he said, "Ya know, earlier? When I asked if -- if ya had someone back in Duckburg? I wasn't, ya know, asking if there was a . . . boyfriend."

Tegwen lifted an eyebrow. "What did you mean, then?"

"Well, I -- I meant . . . Didja have family? Friends?"



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