welcome home 8

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Her dreams have thankfully left her alone this time, well almost. There were no wisps or advertisement giggles to torment her, but all the time she felt like she was falling. Or sinking deeper into the mattress. Couldn't really tell.

For once, she didn't get woken up by anything. Just gradually unbinded herself from being tied up in her sleep, shaking a bit on the massive bed before she finally opened her eyes.

After a moment of confusion the events of yesterday fully caught up to her, the gathering doubts making her say goodbye to any hope of getting any more sleep. With a tired groan, she threw off the thick covers, exposing herself to the slightly chilly air of the room, making her shiver just a bit.

Outside was still rather dark, the sun only beginning its journey up the horizon. With a stretch, Riley put something on and listened in on the hole in the floor, hearing some faint music. Guess she wasn't the first one to wake up this morning.

She slowly opened the door, proceeding upon only hearing nothing on the other side. As she walked towards the stairs, she could swear she heard some noise from the work room, but wasn't too inclined to actually check for herself.

Downstairs, the soft tune from earlier filled the room, Rick calling out to her when she stepped off the stairs-

"Good morning Riley. Quite early to be up on Sunday, isn't it?"

She shrugged and approached him, sitting on the other end of the sofa, smell of coffee filling the air.

"Just woke up like that I suppose." She leaned into the soft seat, snuggling into her new jacket.

"Right, not like yesterday we went to bed particularly late either, heh." He chuckled to himself, a hint of tension hidden behind his tone.

"Has Ella-"

"Yes, she did tell me what happened to Lily." He took a deep sigh, rubbing his temples.

"Can't really offer much advice beyond what she did, maybe teach you how to brush a tail and such. Beyond that, only time will help, sadly." He sounded unusually resigned, closing his eyes and taking another sip of his coffee.

Riley nodded at this, feeling his defeat. Worries started trying to worm their way into her mind again, and she wasn't gonna let them.

"You told me you can get from here to the orphanage on foot, right?" She brought up, really needing a walk out in the cold.

"Aye. There's a path from behind the house that leads to the old playground, and then on the other end another one that leads to the street with your old place."

"You know of that playground?" She asked, surprised. All this time she thought it was hers and hers alone...

"Pfft, of course. Used to take kids there all the time. Judging by your tone you're not unfamiliar with it either?"

"That's putting it lightly. I guess we just never ran into each other?"

"Probably. If you went there in the mornings then that explains it, since we took kids there after school and such. Still, at least I'm glad I know where to find you in case, heh." He chuckled, some of the tension diffused.

"So... can I-"

"Of course! You're a free person Riley, feel free to go wherever, just tell us beforehand, aight?"

"Heh. Thanks, Rick."

"No need to thank me for anything. Just watch out for yourself, alright?"

Riley smiled and nodded, getting up from the way too comfy sofa with a small yawn. After going back up to grab her sneakers, she was just about ready to head back down and venture out into the cold, when the door to the work room opened in front of her, half asleep Ella walking out, bedraggled all over.

"Management waking me up on Sunday to just sort out merge conflicts, kiss my fucking-"

She stopped as she noticed Riley in front of her, letting out a soft 'Oh' of surprise.

"Going out?" She asked curiously, taking a look over Riley's clothes, softly shaking her head.

"Y-yeah, just want to go out for a walk, is some-"

"You're not going out like this young lady. Wait just a moment." She scolded her gently, quickly going back into her and Rick's bedroom, leaving Riley confused in the middle of the corridor.

What did she mean, not going out like this? Did I put on my jacket backwards or wh-

"Catch!" She heard Ella shout from behind, Riley's reflexes managing to grab a blur that turned to be... a rainbow-striped bobble hat, soft and plush.

Oh. Not going out without a hat.

She pulled back her hood and dragged the hat on, the thing just a bit too large, almost covering her eyes.

"And also this!" Riley only barely caught the white scarf, unsure how to even tie one. In the end she just wrapped it around her neck and chin a few times, sticking the tip in on the inside of the loop.

"That's better." Ella said approvingly, Riley turning to face her, wrapped up all over.

"Don't want you catching a cold on your second day here after all. Now go on, get some fresh air sweetie, we could all use some after yesterday."

Riley nodded, her "See ya" muffled into incomprehensibility as she head back down, Rick bursting into laughter upon seeing her as he washed his cup.

"Ella caught you, hasn't she?" He managed to force out between fits of laughter, the devil herself having quietly followed Riley downstairs, leering at her husband as he recovered from almost laughing himself to tears.

"O-oh, hi honey." His laughter was flushed immediately once he caught his wife staring expectantly at him, desperately trying to suppress a smirk of her own.

"One more word and I'm gonna catch you, and you're not gonna enjoy it one bit~" She teased and walked back upstairs, chuckling to herself as Rick recovered from being caught like that, his tail still fluffed up a bit as he snuck a glance at Riley-

"Aren't you supposed to be out?" His words threw her out of her daze, Riley opening the front door with a slight giggle, taking in a lungful of winter.

Outside was mostly covered with snow, the stone path leading to the tiny sidewalk only peeking out of the white cover in spots where the salt crystals fell, illuminated by the hazy sun, itself struggling to get up.

She took a deep breath, warmed up a bit by the fabric of the scarf and turned to the right, following a path around the house, the back yard housing a snow covered trampoline and a few smaller trees, quite different to the pines and oaks of the surrounding woods. There also seemed to be a few rows of regular bumps underneath the snow, a small field?

Shaking that possibility aside, she finally spotted the path leading to the old playground, carefully walking through the thick layer of snow towards it, not wanting to trip on anything on accident.

After making it through, she swiped the excess snow off of her boots and calves, not wanting them to soak through already. She turned around and looked at the back of the house, spotting a hidden back door that must have lead to the drying room. With a glance at the upper floor windows she hastened her leave, quite sure she spotted Lily stretching in one of them, judging by her tail. Thankfully she wasn't looking at her, Riley didn't want to give the poor girl any more grief than she already did.

This path was quite covered up, guess they haven't used it recently with all the snowfall. Riley trudged through, each step kicking old snow around, hopefully making the way back less of a chore.

The seclusion stilled her anxiety as she pushed on, Riley finding herself whistling the tune she'd overheard this morning.

How could she win Lily over, or at least make herself a better sister? What did sisters even do with sisters? Rick suggested teaching her how to brush tails, was this a social activity for them? Even if, it wouldn't exactly be a two way thing, she didn't even have enough head hair to brush or tie up into braids or anything. Most you could do was to dye it, but what color even?

Black with a white stripe maybe, let's play it on the nose.

Riley shook it off as she finally made it to the playground, the ruins to her left a familiar marker. She walked towards the swings, this time having enough foresight to get rid of any ice on top of the seats before sitting on them.

Play with her maybe? But what could they even play, the most Riley know to play was card games she learned during breaks at the kitchen she worked. She doubted whether an eleven year old would be even remotely interested in Poker.

Another thread that went nowhere.

She gave it her all as she rose higher and higher on the swing, the rush of air against her head blowing the hat off and ruffling her hair even harder. She was nowhere near stopping, the freezing cold on her face feeling like it cleansed her thoughts time after time.

Higher and faster still, higher and faster.

As she reached the apex of one of the swings, she felt a gust of biting wind strike at her, her hands clenching hard around the chain links as the entire swing wobbled threateningly, forcing her to ease down and out of it. She definitely wasn't looking forwards to a repeat of previous time she was here.

After a few chaotic moments she managed to slow the swing to a still, digging in her legs into the snow.

Well, no wonders Riley doesn't know what to do with her if she doesn't even know her. What does she actually enjoy doing, her preferences and stuff like that. Can't base much on the fact she's eleven and a girl with a tail.

God knows she at that age was more interested in downing the entire contents of her mother's medicine drawer than any real girl stuff. And while she doubted Lily was dealing with anything near as dour, aside from Riley herself of course, she still didn't quite strike her like just a 'normal' tween girl.

If such a thing even existed.

A swing bonking into her from behind snapped her out of her thoughts, the sudden pain in her ears making her search for the hat, rolling through the snow at the edge of the treeline. Riley snatched it back up as another nasty gust struck, forcing her to hold onto it even after she slid it back on, lest the quickly intensifying wind blow it off of her again.

She ran madly back to the path home, the trees thankfully muffling the wind out. There was the serene kind of cold, and then there was the kind that made her afraid for having her feet and ears frostbitten off.

Even as the trees did their best in softening the blows, she still tried to make her way back as fast as she could, feeling her feet going numb. It wasn't quite as bad as being caught in a full blown blizzard, but the wind certainly tried its hardest to make up for the lack of snowfall.

After an exhausting fifteen minutes or so she finally ran back onto the backyard, having to hold onto a rough tree bark to not get thrown onto the small field the moment she slid her nose out from the safety of the trees. It stung and cut her palms before she finally let go, dashing towards the household and trying to get through the back door, unfortunately left locked.

After managing to make her way around the house she caught a glimpse of the day sky, the gentle sun having finally fully come out of hiding, to the backdrop of wispy strands of clouds and a pale blue sky. After pushing through the last gust she finally reached for the door handle, the wind flinging it open before Riley managed to dash inside and pull it close again, gasping in exertion.

"Well, good morning Riley!" She heard Andrew call out, looking up to see most of the family looking at her in surprise as they ate breakfast, sans Ella and Lily.

"Hey." She forced out between strained breaths as she unwrapped the scarf and took off her hat, helping her breathe, the frosty red cheeks standing out against her pale skin.

"Riley isn't a skunk?" Timmy asked in surprise as he looked up at her, Rick and Andrew sharing unsure glances before she responded-

"Well, I'm not!" She responded as cheerfully as she could, trying to keep up the mood in the room.

"Oh. Okay!" He answered, focusing back on a half eaten pancake, the rest of the skunks releasing a shared breath of tension as Riley hanged her jacket, shirt soaked with sweat underneath.

"Leave some for me, just have to change and I'll be back-" She called  out as she ran upstairs, laying her soaked clothes down on the radiator, changing into something less drenched. Judging by her socks being drenched her shoes were no longer as seemingly indestructible as they once were.

The cold made her wish she had something to put on top of herself other than just her old jacket, not really wanting to use it more than needed anymore.

She decided to just weather it, sliding on her flipflops and running back down, a plate full of pancakes waiting for her on the table, Rick having just finished his share and sliding his plate into the dishwasher.

She was just about ready to sit down and sink her teeth in before the stinging in her palms reminded her she needed to wash them, and clean the cuts.

"You alright Riley?" Rick asked as she approached the sink, scrubbing her hands clean with the dish soap.

"Yeah, just a bit cold, wind really caught me out..." She shuddered as the hot water brought feeling back to her hands, cleansing the scratches.

"Want to borrow one of Ella's jumpers? She won't mind, and you're still shaking."

"I-I'll be fine, r-really!"

"Well, that isn't in question, but I'd rather you not feel cold just because you're a coat of fur short. Go and dig into the pancakes, I'll be right back with her jumper."

Riley nodded in defeat, not succeeding at not making herself a bother as she sat down at the table, Andrew slowly mulling through his plate as Timmy looked up at her again and asked-

"Why are you not a skunk Riley?"

She and Andrew exchanged glances, both slightly taken aback, having no idea how to answer. Timmy looked at his brother expectantly, as if it was the most normal question in the world.

"I guess I just wasn't born as one." She sighed, smearing some peanut butter on her pancakes and taking a bite, the taste sweetening the sour mood from yesterday, brought back by the question.

"Why not?"

She stopped mid-bite, ticked off by the idea she chose to be born in a trailer to a junkie, her grip around the fork tightening.

"It's not nice to ask questions like that Timmy." Andrew interjected and took Timmy's attention onto himself, noticing Riley's wordless annoyance.

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"What?"

The little exchange eased Riley's mood a bit, her mouth starting up again as she kept working the utensil.

She sure wished she was born as one right now.

With Timmy's attention brought back to the food he quickly finished his plate, sliding it back into the dishwasher before walking up to Andrew-

"Andy can you race with meeeeee?"

"Sure sport, just let me finish." Andrew sent him off, turning back towards Riley-

"Hey, sorry for this sis." He said softly, smiling apologetically.

"It's fine." She responded shortly, still cooling off, before a too relevant question slid onto the forefront of her mind.

"Where's Lily?"

"She ate in her room, said she feels a bit sick."

Sick of her, maybe.

Riley sighed again, the couple of remaining pancakes feeling like an impossibly large amount as the guilt tied her stomach shut.

"Sorry for the wait Riley, took a while to dig this one out-" Rick walked downstairs, looking a bit excited as he showed off the jumper.

All black with two white stripes running down the back.

She had enough.

"I'm not hungry anymore." She got up and headed for the stairs, deliberately ignoring Rick as she got back to her room, slamming the door shut a bit too strongly.

She laid on her bed face down, angst and insecurities flowing out of her tear ducts.

She got it, she was fucking broken, no need to rub it in everyone. Lil' Riley can take care of it herself. Come on Lily, be nice and come share your tail with the class, we've such a pretty knife here-

"SHUT UP!" She shouted into the mattress, trying to silence the voice that always came up during the times like this, shoving the most deranged and monstrous fantasies into her conscious.

Oh come on, what would they even do? Return you for being deficient? Besides, you'd be more of a skunk than you could ever even hope for otherwise, more so if you take some of her skin as well-

Riley pulled out her knife and got up, heading to the bathroom, pouring the cold water as she placed her forearm palm up on the sink, hatefully staring at her own reflection.

There was only one surefire way to make that voice fuck off, and Riley was more than ready to make use of it for the first time in months.

Oh dearie dear, what would this pristine family think of you? Cutting like some gutter scum? After all, what use is there of a pretty little daughter with scars on her wrists, let alone a sister? Now, if you cut them a bit, that would be so higher class, especially at the ne-

Riley brought the blade to her wrist, pushing it in a bit but not cutting just yet, the tiniest bead of blood leaking out.

Do it, you coward.

Riley took in a deep breath, tensing up in anticipation-

*knock knock knock*

She took the knife away, flushing the small scratch with cold water before splashing some more on her face, trying to shake it off before she walked up to the door, taking a deep breath before opening it, Andrew standing on the other side, looking concerned.

"What?" She barked, too angry for being amicable right now.

"Can we talk?" He seemed unphased by her hostility, his tone as calm as ever.

"About what?" Her response was quieter, his serenity rubbing off on her.

"About you and Lily."

"Guess Rick did tell you about what had happened?"

He nodded slowly in response, sighing and looking away for a moment.

"What more is there to say?" She followed up quietly, trying to focus on not letting that voice surface again.

"I don't know what they've told you already, but I do know you're in pain."

"As is Lily."

"And as are you. You're not somehow less important than her. You deserve to feel good in your own skin."

"And so does Lily in her own home."

"She already does. I've just talked to her a bit about the whole thing, and, well, she's sorry for how she reacted yesterday. She still does feel hurt and needs some more time for herself to come to terms with it all, but she didn't want you to feel hurt."

Riley processed the news with a slight nod, looking up at Andrew before responding-

"Well, can you tell her I'm sorry for hurt-"

"You hadn't hurt anyone Riley." He interrupted firmly, guess took that from Ella.

"Yes, Lily does feel hurt, but it's not because of anything you did, and you don't deserve to feel bad for it. If you really want to blame someone for that then blame our parents for not making it all clearer to her beforehand, and not yourself."

Riley sat down on her bed in silence, trying to form a cogent thought once more after being silenced like that, the hurt making her speak up reflexively-

"But I'm still not who she's been hoping for..."

"So what? You're your own person Riley, you're not made more or less worthy of feeling good depending on someone else's whims. If we want to go that route than even Timmy shouldn't feel good about himself, I still remember Lily's tantrums when he came around because parents didn't tell her it's not gonna be a sister. And guess what, she got over it in a couple of weeks."

"I, I see." She responded, taking the words in, some of the guilt having evaporated.

"You're still gonna be the best sister Lily could ever have, skunk or not." He cracked a smile, sitting down next to her, needing a moment to balance himself after sinking too deep into the mattress.

"T-thanks Andrew, I- I needed that." She returned the slight smile as she looked up at him, wiping off the stray tears.

He wordlessly extended his arms for a hug, Riley taking a moment to compose herself and close her eyes before leaning onto him, hands forced into tight fists on her lap as he held her warmly, gently rubbing her shoulder.

Her heart sped up to three digits but she didn't bulge, withstanding her body shouting at her to run before Andrew let go of her himself, his smile widened.

"Still feeling cold?" He brought out the jumper from behind himself, Riley too occupied by her own brooding to notice it earlier.

She quietly took it and put it on, soft material feeling comforting as she warmed up beside her brother.

"Hope you're feeling a bit better Riley."

"Yeah, I think I am. Thank you so much, bro."

"Hehe, you're welcome sis. So, wanna join me and Timmy on the couch?"

"Definitely. Let's go."

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