Alan opened the door of well-heated room and let them walk in. "I do know it isn't penthouse suite, but I do hope it will suffice for time being." He opened the door leading to the small balcony, noting- "plus, Mr. and Miss Cheeks might also enjoy the view".

The male squirrel went right outside and whistled. "Bro, that's sick! Sandy- Come check this out-the SPACE NEEDLE! And hey!"-he turned back to address Alan, already standing next to exit door- "Do me a favor and it's Randy and Sandy for you, y'hear?"

Alan, somewhat relaxed, replied "I'll be happy to do so. Welp -If you can excuse me- I gotta help out with the room prep, however feel free to call the reception if you'll need anything, I'll see to it- personally" with a friendly tone.

Sandy walked almost too tried to find a 10-dollar note to tip him, but he declined. -"Why all the do-goody two-shoes deeds, Alan?" she inquired, with a tired voice, but with hint of suspicion- "Why you decided to help us?"

The towering black panther shrugged his shoulder, looked right into her eyes and leaned towards her. "I found you two adorable- guess I couldn't resist helping, y'all." He turned around and started walking towards the elevator.

Sandy was watching him disappear inside the elevator almost in some trance. Right before the doors closed, his head popped out for a second, enough for her to notice his dedicated whimsical smile and wink. She looked into the hallway behind her but there was no one around. "What was that about?" She asked herself as she shut the door, set her Phone alarm to 5PM, knocked her shoes off her feet and flopped on the King bed, not even bothering to change clothes. The overwhelmingly comfortable mattress with a combination of a subtle scent of fresh bedsheet made her pass out in mere seconds.

Randy came back from the restroom, just to find his sister curled-up on the bed. She was already slumbering, hugging her fluffy tail, just like squirrel babies do. How much he cared for her yet how little he could offer. He covered her with the blanket, trying to tuck her in gently, without waking her up. He turned on the TV and lowered the volume to minimum, but he paid little attention to it, watching her face instead. After a moment of thought, he leaned to the end table, grabbing the complimentary hotel pen and notepad, and started to scribble. He was fully aware that he never really amounted to much of an artist, he enjoyed sketching sceneries and things from time to time. For the very first time he started to draw the person. And not just any. The very one he'd be willing to die for. His caring, loving sister.

Sandy woke up to Randy gently shaking her shoulder. "Wha-what's goin' on?!" she asked while rubbing her puffy eyes.

"Your alarm went off" Randy said with calm voice. "I snoozed it but after it rang again I wondered if I should wake you up for your conference and..."

Sandy sprung to life in a heartbeat, looking at the time. "Shit, SHIT- I gotta get me'self ready, and I hafta make it snappy". She was still wearing her travel clothes, now sweated-through as she cooked herself sleeping in an overheated room with two thick blankets thrown over her for some reason. Grabbing the bag with her spare clothes, she darted to the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She wanted to take a five-minute shower, however she noticed the bathtub. She whistled and woow-ed out loud, let the hot water running, barely hearing her brother laughing-

"The friggin', most Brobdingnagian tub west of Mississippi, ain't it ?! .

She could not agree more, as she slipped into the steaming warm water, scrubbing herself clean. She submerged herself in the tub all the way to the ears, enjoying the spreading warmth made her space out, dozing-off for a brief moment of time. She glanced at the clock and noticed that good 15 minutes passed since the moment she got up. She reluctantly crawled out of the bathtub, and while wrapping her dripping head into the towel, while drying the rest with another one, she promised to herself to return back after she's gonna be done with the... conference. She started to multitask with the towel wrapped around her waist, and started to rummage through the backpack, pulling out the clean formal clothes on the vanity base as she called the cab to come pick her up and drive her to the Conference center. She was calling with her phone between her head and shoulder, using both hands, to dig through the content, looking for the binder, containing printouts she needed for the presentation. "They-They're NOT here!" She shouted with notable panic in her voice. "WHERE are they?!"

"What'cha lookin' for?" Randy asked, turning off the TV.

"The PAPERS... my RESARCH- I swear I've put them in my bag. Without them I'm... I don't.." -She was starting to have a tunnel vision, heaving heavily, nearing shock.

"You mean these?" Randy asked, pulling the folder, packed with paperwork out of his carry-on bag.

Sandy darted outta the bathroom, she nearly slipped on small water puddle on the tiled floor , and upon seeing the binder she was looking for, she gasped in huge relief. "H-How did they end-up in your knapsack, Randy?!"

"I'm travellin' light, thought you might need room in yours for extra clothes so I've offered to keep'em fer ya"

How could she forget? She was shaking her head and laughed nervously as she leaped across the room to get the papers from Randy. A loosely tucked corner of a towel around her waist shifted, unrolled, and fell on the floor in between the beds. "I'm sorry to make you freak out. If I had..."-Randy stopped mid-sentence, with mouth agap, eyes wide locked on her. Took a second for her to realize she forgot to put on clothes… any clothes.

She stood there, in the middle of the room, naked and immaculate as some female ancient statue, except she was still panting, her firm breasts were moving with every breath. He knew he should turn away, avert his look, close his eyes, make any effort to make his twin sister less uncomfortable, but something deep would not let him do what was right. He saw her eyes widening in shocking realization, her mouth opening. Frame-by-frame, Slow motion. But he also saw far more than a brother is supposed to see. Her nipples, wet stomach fur and the parts that were concealed until the towel fell. Pronounced female hips, thighs, and the intimate parts in between. The moment lasted mere seconds; however it etched in Randy's brain with every intricate detail.

It was Sandy who came out of the shock first, briskly turning around and grabbing the mischievous towel from the floor. Her phone buzzed, letting her know her ride is ready to pick her up.

"I gotta get movin'. The cab's here and won't wait f'rever" she said from the bathroom while feverishly putting on nice formal clothes she had prepared for this occasion. "How do I look?"-she asked in casual tone, while walking into the light in small hallway, looking in a mirror as she tried to use some make-up essentials. Randy although still recovering from the stun he experienced, but already able to recognize her sister looking gorgeous, and all lady-like.

"I... umm... really dig the skirt, but the blouse looks great on ya, too!"-he tried to compliment on her outfit, a satin made white blouse with subtle flower pattern and ¾ sleeves as well the teal-colored skirt, covering her knees. "You comin' with me?-you better be ready!"-as she put long socks and slipped in comfy felt shoes in green hue.

"I wouldn't wanna miss my sister's performance of a lifetime"-he tried to nudge her while she was putting on the gray fleece jacket on her way out, She hasn't acknowledged any of his answers, and Randy shut the door to their room, trailing her fast paced walk towards the elevator. He glimpsed at her reflection in elevator cabin, noting her expressionless face, and overall tense behavior. She was clenching the edges of her binder in both hands, her eyes were shut closed, all the way to the ground floor, lips inaudibly reciting the speech she memorized like some secret incantations of a druid wizard. She was in her own world, unwilling to get disturbed by anything around her, or anything that happened.

Few moments after the cab dropped them off, she paid the fare and rushed up the flight of stairs, not even looking back if her brother was keeping up. She was talking to the entrance guide, prompted the answers she needed and briefly glimpsed at her brother- "The main conference hall is at the very end of corridor. They'll seat you up."-she was about to leave him there, but she turned around. He wished to hear some affection from her, but she just told him dryly She'll look him up before the conference's over. Nothing more. He wanted to wish her best of luck, but she already disappeared in small crowd of newly-arrived guests. The depression was creeping on him as he wandered slowly towards the auditorium. The reason why he wanted to be here for her, was to support her, however she didn't show interest in any support, heck- it looked like she wasn't even to be seen involved by his mere presence. For a first time in a long time, he felt abandoned, and stranded in no man's land.

Randy's level of his boredom was peaking by the time her sister started her speech, and despite his best effort he was unable to understand anything her speech was about. Projected charts, magnified images of some molecular structures, numbers in columns, equations and formulas and more molecules. His head was hurting, partly because he didn't get any sleep as well as all the science mumbo-jumbo she was presenting. He stood up after 10 minutes and started shuffling toward exit to get some water. He yearned to get back to hotel, but he still wanted to wait for his sister so they can leave together. As he neared the exit, he looked towards the podium, he accidentally bumped into a hedgehog lady in opulent dress, moderately intoxicated. They both apologized at the same time, and made her giggle at his half-baked attempt to turn his clumsiness into a joke. Vanessa presented herself as one of representatives for US branch of German pharma company, and admitted, that the best part of this conference is the food and drinks, both available in abundance and variety, at the other side of the building. Her untroubled free-spirited charm started to appeal to Randy, getting out of his depressive shell, and offered to accompany her on her perilous journey as long as she keeps sharing her secret get-rich scheme, and warned her of his firm beliefs, that each and every German sausage jokes are the wurst and intolerant.