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Whisper was overstimulated.
This was a common occurrence for her. The world always just seemed too loud, which is why she mostly kept to herself.
The lights were also too much, hence the mask and the constantly squinted-shut eyes.
Before she met the people of the Resistance, she didn't think much of her quirks. It was just the way she was, and the reason she was on her own. Nothing more to it.
Now that she had friends, though, things were different. She was far more aware of how her quirks came across to others. Though, thankfully, the Resistance was mostly accepting. Sure, she heard some of them talking about her like she wasn't within earshot, but no one made fun of her. Some of them were even kind to her.
Silver was like her, she could tell. It looked different with him, but he had the same thing going on with his brain that she did with hers. He didn't get social cues and would panic at loud sounds. It was very familiar.
Sonic wasn't like her, but he knew how to treat her like a person and respect her boundaries regardless.
Tangle also wasn't like her. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Tangle was loud and hyperactive and always seemed to be in motion, both physically and mentally, bouncing from one topic to another while she fidgeted in one way or another.
Usually, this abrasive sort of personality would sit weirdly with Whisper, but it wasn't like that with Tangle, for some reason.
Despite the occasional too-loudness that the lemur brought with her, Whisper felt calm and secure with the girl. Tangle didn't judge her for her quirks and always seemed to know when to tone it down so that Whisper's brain could catch up and regulate.
At this particular moment, Whisper's brain was far too overloaded, and she helplessly curled herself into a ball, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands clamped firmly over her ears.
Everything was too much, and she was completely out of control of the way she rocked back and forth and growled endlessly.
Tangle had dismissed the other Resistance members who caught notice of what was happening, assuring them that she had it handled and that crowding the girl would just make it worse.
Though the instinct was to reach out, Tangle did well not to touch the girl, which probably would've made it worse. Instead, she just stayed with the wolf, holding out her hand if she did choose to take it, but not calling attention to it.
Whisper never took the girl's hand, but Tangle's presence did make her feel at least a little better, especially when Tangle would occasionally mutter some basic reassurance.
Whisper had never had someone with her when her brain got like this. It was nice, or as nice as it could be considering that it felt like her brain was melting into a puddle of electrified mush.
After about ten minutes, Whisper calmed down, but found that she couldn't speak.
"Whisper, you good?" Silver asked, noticing that the wolf had settled. She couldn't bring herself to answer him but, thankfully, she didn't need to, as the lemur spoke for her.
"She's okay, she just needs some space"
"Ah" Silver nodded in understanding. He'd certainly had some pretty rough meltdowns before. "Alright. Let me know if you guys need anything"
Whisper nodded gratefully.
And that was enough.