Chapter Text
It's gotten really loud, you can hear loud pops even as you cover your ears with the pillow and tuck yourself into a corner, blanket overtop yourself. You've never heard anything like this, but maybe this is another test. Some kind of conditioning to get you to be normal. Like any other human. It gets really loud, like it's closer, and you can smell something earthy and smoky. Shaken, you smell several new things, along with a strong scent of blood. The popping finally stops after a few more minutes, but it last sounded super close.
And now there voices, you don't dare open your eyes or uncover your ears, but you know there are people. You sense the footsteps close to the door of your room and your eyes squeeze tighter together. Your hands are shaking, in fact, you think your whole body is. You're scared, petrified. Are they coming to scold you? Call you a baby and say that the noises weren't even that loud? Say you'll never be able to do your job properly, whatever that is?
You hear shouting after a moment, something you think is 'found something!' And you can hear more footsteps hurry over to be in front of your room door. You know they can see you through the large black rectangle, but even if you looked you couldn't see them. They can see you huddling in the corner like the scared little failure you are. How great you were supposed to be, but look at you know.
You don't bother to listen in to the muttering that goes on, but after they stop you hear loud bangs at the door. Something heavy is hitting it, over and over. Your tail is tucked between your legs and ears pinned back. You're horrified. You hear the door give in and open before footsteps are approaching you. The smoky and bloody smells are stronger. You don't dare peek out of your little protective blanket, even as you know someone's standing right in front of you.
You don't know when you started, but you're growling, giving off your best scary snarling, but even to you it sounds pathetic, scared. It devolves into a whimper until you shut yourself up.
"Careful, we don't know what it is." You hear a deep gravely voice from what you assume is the doorway, you haven't heard it before. You notice something block out some of the light in front of you, your heart is going a thousand miles a minute, it's making your chest hurt a little.
You feel a hand grab at the edge of your blanket and your eyes snap open. You can see fingers near the floor grabbing a the bottom of your force field and slowly begin lifting. You shift to clutching the pillow to your chest and trying to press yourself into the corner as much as possible, making some pathetic whines while you're at it.
The person much more quickly lifts the blanket now, exposing your face to the unfiltered light and you can see the human before you. It's a big man dressed in some weird black gear and has a big metal thing set on the ground beside him. He's got a funny hard looking hat on and lots of fur on his face.
Your eyes widen and you clutch the pillow harder to your chest. You're quaking, this isn't a scientist, who is this? He's new and scary and you can't take your eyes off of him out of pure fear. As he looks over you, he looks surprised, curious. The lab people used to be like that, then they got mean. You let out a fearful whimper.
"Shhhh, it's okay, you're alright kiddo. I'm here to help you." He says softly, his voice is like a rumble.
Your ears are still back and tail still tucked, quivering. Your blanket lays at rest over your shoulders and your pillow could not be held tighter. He reaches a hand out and you let out a mix between a growl and a whine. He hesitates but eventually places a hand on your head as you try to shrink away into yourself.
"Some nice ears you've got there. Very pretty." He continues his soft tone, the crumbly sound of his voice somewhat comforting. He brushes his fingers through your hair and over your flattened ears very gently. If feels good, comforting. Something you haven't felt in a long time.
"I'm John, me and my friends are going to help get you somewhere safer okay?" How can you trust this man? You haven't seen him before and he only showed up after the loud popping. Did something bad happen? Is he a bad guy? His fingers have started scratching the base of one of your tense ears and it feels really good. Maybe you can trust him.. if he shows kindness maybe he means what he says. Then again, the scientists used to do the same when you were younger.
You quietly nod, deciding the man with the nice voice and good touches will take you to a better place than the lab at the very least. He smiles slightly, motioning for you to come closer. You don't uncurl yourself, but you do scoot a bit closer to him, away from the corner.
He gently pries the pillow from your arms and you panic a little, but he quickly wraps the blanket around you. Then you panic as he picks you up, squirming and wiggling until he gently shushes you. Only then do you cling to him like you were to the pillow, tail sticking straight and tense with your leg. He holds you against him and you bury your face against his shoulder, closing your eyes. His smell is comforting.
He's warm, a little musky and he has a lot of different scents you don't think you've smelt before, but it calms you a little. Then he begins walking, out of your room. You don't know what he's doing, and you really hope he's not taking you to the room with all the pokey things, but he said he would bring you somewhere better, so it can't be, unless he breaks his promise.
When he does step out of the room, you can hear him and a few other people begin to talk.
"Holy Christ.. a child? What are they doing here?" A man with a funny way of speaking you've never heard of before says.
The man, John, holding you briefly pets over your ears with one large hand and it goes quiet for a moment.
"They're doing worse things than we thought.." a man speaks, his voice having a much more calm feeling to it despite his clear concern.
You don't hear the voice you did warning John earlier, but you're sure they're probably still here. You remain clinging to him like your life depends on it and the men converse in somewhat quiet voices, though you can clearly hear them still. They talk about 'grabbing intel' and 'evac' but you don't listen too hard. You're trying to calm yourself, your adrenaline and anxiety still running high.
..
John tries to peel you off of him but you won't budge, making noises of distress. Wherever you are is strange, you can hear all sorts of new and different things and the air is colder, only some smells and sounds being vaguely familiar.
Eventually deciding trying to get you off of him is no use, he gets in the passenger seat with you still clinging on. He readjusts you in his lap and you can get a much wider hold on him.
There's a large rumbling noise after the few loud slams of metal doors and you can feel the area around you vibrating as the rumbling continues. Eventually the rumbling gets even louder and the whole place gets bumpy as wherever you are starts moving.
Holding John it feels like one of those stuffies they gave you when you were younger and couldn't sleep. You can hear the steady beating of a heart, feel the breathing and warmth. It feels good, comforting, and it makes you sleepy, but you're still trying to calm down.
You're worried, but you're trusting. Trusting that you'll be taken to a better place, somewhere away from all the strong clean smells and pokes. You rest your chin on his shoulder and then nuzzle into the junction of his neck, holding him a bit tighter as his scent wafts over you.
"You're alright. I've got you kiddo. You're already out of there, the hard part is done." Mr John mutters by one of your soft ears. He brings a hand up and gently pets through your hair, his blunt nails scratching at your scalp lightly.
Your shoulders relax at his motions, eyelids becoming too heavy to keep open. As your eyes shut, you let out a tired sigh, melting into John even if clinging onto him is a little uncomfortable with the weird things he's wearing.
Your brain hones in on his heartbeat and the steady beating of it in his chest, elevated but more calm that yours. It soothes your brain more, and mixed with the rumbling of the area it lulls you to sleep.
…
"How could we have missed this?"
"Poor kid was stressed out of their mind."
"Passed out hard now."
"Yeah.. not sure what we're going to do with em."
…
When you wake, there is no warm body, no breathing or heartbeat to listen too. Instead you're in a dark room, your blanket still over you and a pillow in place of Mr John.
You can see in the dark quite well, but you're too busy stressing over the lack of a warm body and the change of environment to realize someone's in the room with you. Sitting up and pushing the pillow away in a small fit you let out distressed whines, sniffing around for something familiar. You aren't even in the itchy gown you always wear, these are some big clothes.
"Hey.. hey it's okay kid, take a second." You hear that weird voice from the lab near your feet. You pick up that familiar earth and smoky scent as you turn to look at the person speaking.
Along with his different voice he has a silly haircut, but you're not too focused on that right now. You're still freaking out about where you are and where John is. You curl up away from this new man and wrap your blanket around yourself, ears pinning back against your head.
"Oh, come on now wee one, I'm not here to hurt you. I was there helping you get out of that scary place, I was with John."
You're skeptical, your eyes showing as such, but he cautiously approaches, offering a hand with the palm turned up slowly in your direction. You lean just as slowly towards it and sniff properly, keeping eye contact with him.
He smells similar to how John did, and you do remember his voice, so you allow yourself to relax a little. Your body loosens from its tense state and you uncurl slightly. You see him smile as he sits on the edge of the bed you seem to be on.
"See, not so bad am I?"
You cautiously inch closer to him, still keeping your blanket around yourself, staying in a pretty tight ball. When you're only a few small scoots away from him you stop, looking him over thoroughly and taking another sniff near him.
He smells of that weird smoke and earth, but also has a pleasant other smell that reminds you of the few times the scientists brought you outside to the woods. You look at him curiously, tilting your head to the side a little as you look at his face.
He still has a small smile and it only seems to spread as you tilt your head, he tilts his the opposite way in turn.
"My name is John, same as the other one, but you can call me Soap." Soap is a weird name, but you already have a John so you'll have to figure something out.
You're pretty sure the other John is bigger, so maybe he's Big John and this is just John. Yeah, that makes sense.
"John.." you say very quietly, trying to mimic the way he sounded saying it.
His eyebrows raise and he looks surprised as you speak. You know you're not the best at it, it's really hard for you to talk as well as other people, the people at the lab only really taught you small words because you couldn't do big ones. It just feels weird to make those sounds.
"Yeah. John." His smile is back as he continues looking at you.
"Where…. Big John.?" You ask, tilting your head the opposite way as it was.
His smile grows at the nickname.
"Big John is talking with some other people. He'll be done soon."
This saddens you a little. He has the good touches and the nice voice. He's very warm and he got you out of the lab. You want to be with him right now, he helped you and was very comfortable.
"Take… to.. Big John?" You ask your head still tilted to the side.
"No kiddo, he's talking to some very special people, it's very boring, trust me, you don't want to be with him right now."
You frown, ears swiveling to pin back lightly.
"Big John…"
Soaps heart aches as he sees those puppy dog eyes and hears that pitiful tone. Price is in a meeting with Laswell and some of the high brass about you, about how the hell anyone could have missed this. Well.. maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have you there yourself? Especially if you're going to keep giving him that look. He sighs and stands.
"Keep a hold of your blanket kid, I'll take you to Big John." He opens his arms and you scoot close to the edge of the bed, your blanket wrapped around your back and shoulders, happy you're being taken where you want to go.
He picks you up with an exaggerated grunt, making sure to support your body against him and pulling up your blanket to be over your fluffy ears and ensuring your tail is covered.
He opens the door to the dark room and you're met with a bright hallway that has you squinting your eyes. Eventually you adjust and you're being carried down a hall. It kind of reminds you of the lab, but the walls are different and there should be no bad rooms here if it's as safe as you think. You should be going to Big John.
As you're carried, there's a few other humans you pass by, all wearing the same kind of outfit, kind of like how all the scientists wore the same coat and kinds of clothes. There's a lot of new smells to take in, but most of them have that same kind of lingering smoke smell.
John stops in front of a brown door after turning in several hallways. You would definitely get lost on your own here. You hear voices on the other side, one of them being Big John and that makes you happy. John knocks and Big Johns voice goes quiet before he tells him to come in.
As soon as the door opens your eyes are set on Big John and you're extending your arms to him. Big John looks at you and then John with some kind of expression you aren't sure of. You make grabby hands towards him and he sighs, motioning for John to come closer and pass you over.
As you're exchanged in arms you smile as soon as you're in Big Johns lap, already attaching yourself to his side. You hear some chatter from the weird rectangle in front of him but you don't really care. Not as you're wrapped up in your blanket and clinging to Mr John. Your tail wags faintly, breaking free from the cover of the blanket as you nuzzle your face into his shoulder, ears perked and happy, pushing against the fabric over your head.
He's sure to readjust you and make sure his arm has a proper hold on you, keeping you pressed against his side before he dismisses John. You listen to his breaths and his heartbeat as there are people talking from the weird rectangle thing that you aren't facing anymore and when he speaks up to say something, it's like magic to your ears.
You smile lightly as your tail wags a little faster when you hear that deep grumble of a voice. It makes your eyelids want to fall heavy despite having been asleep for who knows how long.
He brings a hand up to your head, petting your ears and scratching lightly behind them as he has a small back and fourth with several other people. All you can think about is how comfy he is.
Everyone is using big words and you don't really understand them all, so you tune it out in favor of steeping in what you do know about Big John. Sometimes you can hear his heartbeat or breathing pick up, but otherwise it's consistent and somewhat calm. He keeps one hand on your back as you rest your head on his shoulder, your tail swishing gently across his knee.
At some point he turns his head to yours a little and asks in a soft voice,
"Can you speak?"
"Speak." You parrot back, pulling your head back from his shoulder and tilting your head, you hear a small puff of a laugh at that.
Your smile is small but it's there and you stare at him as he looks at you. You get the urge to reach out for his face, so you do. As he looks back towards the talking thing, you reach a hand up and feel the side of his face. He's caught off guard by this action and turns to look at you but you're just smiling back at him.
His heart warms. Despite what you've been through, the reports on what they've seen, you're obviously still just a kid. And it seems that small bit of wonder hasn't been lost.
He mutters a small
"Hi." And your smile grows a little larger.
He can see sharp canines that nearly poke out of your mouth with the action. He feels the way your tail swishes over his knee gently. It's all too precious, and it's all too sick that you exist the way you do in the first place.
As you look over his face with big eyes and one hand feeling it, you hear the weird thing on the desk make noises again. Like lots of different people having a conversation. You awkwardly turn yourself as much as possible, trying to look at it but you aren't able to get much of a good glance.
You want to struggle until you get there, but then again, the new weird hat Mr John is wearing takes your interest. You reach up and unceremoniously take it off his head and begin looking at it, messing with the brim and dragging your fingers over the stitching and different textures.
His attention is divided between you and the talk he's having. You're not listening much, but he will hold you a little tighter every now and then, his hand on your back rubbing over your blanket.
Eventually he sighs, saying "Understood." Before the voices from the weird thing behind you stop. He turns his full attention to you, who is still messing with his hat, and you look up at him with big curious eyes.
He's never thought of having a kid, commanding adults is work enough, but damn if you don't already seem like you'll be the death of him. It seems you've already figured out how to work Soap with the way he brought you in here.
He sighs, gently taking his hat back from you and standing. You rest your chin on his shoulder, holding on tighter to him as he begins walking, leaving his office and going for the his room. He needs a coffee, and probably a break after that meeting, but he can't really let you be seen given all your… physical quirks.
You take many long hallways, just like John had, eventually you're going into a room that looks a little like the one you woke up in. There's a lot more stuff everywhere though, and it all smells like Big John. He sets you down on the bed to which you immediately crawl around on the sheets, managing to inch your way under along with your blanket. Its something you feel you have to do when at a place of rest, one of the few things itching your brain that the people at the lab would allow you to continue with. His bed is much more comfortable than the bed you've had until now, all soft with sheets that don't crinkle.
He smiles at your actions before pulling something from his pocket. Another rectangle… very odd. How many mysterious rectangles are you going to encounter in your life?
Price texts for one of the boys to bring him a coffee before he moves over to privately messaging Laswell. He has no clue on how to care for a child, he got you yesterday unexpectedly for crying out loud. He doesn't know what he'll need, plus there's an added thing of you being a hybrid of sorts. Does he get you dog toys? Is that insensitive?
You're all too comfortable in his bed, you've practically buried yourself in the sheets and your tail is trying to wag. You inch closer to his figure sitting at the edge of the bed as you stay a lump beneath the sheets. When you get to him you awkwardly try to wrap yourself around him while still under the covers. It's.. not very effective. So you just lay with your body pressed against his back.
You hear the door open and sit up quick, but you're still stuck beneath the blankets so you don't really see anything.
You hear a small laugh and something being placed down.
"That the kiddo?" A calm and quiet voice says. That's one of the voices you heard with Big John.
"Yup.. already getting up to no good." Mr John says.
You wiggle your way into peaking your head out of the covers at the edge of the bed and look at the man with the calm voice.
He has shorter and darker hair than the rest, it's also very curly. You tilt your head as you look him over. He smiles down at you just like John did.
"You?" You question. This is going to be a lot of people and names to remember, not like there were any fewer at the lab.
"Me?" He asks pointing to himself.
You nod, correcting the tilt of your head.
"You." You point to him and then you point to Big John.
"Big John."
You point to the man again.
"You?" You wish you could talk as good as others but it's hard, you don't have the skills to make all those complex words or the brain power to make sure you're using them 'correctly'. You don't like words you can't say. Anything with the 'th' or 'z' sound is hard for you to say. It's also sometimes hard to understand others.
Big John seems surprised that you've deemed him as such and this other man seems to find some delight in it.
"Ah, I'm Kyle. Or you can call me Gaz."
You try to say that second name.
"Gas. Gasss." You can't get it to sound like he did, ears pinning back for a moment in frustration. You'll just call him Kyle.
"And who are you?" He asks with a slightly silly and exaggerated tone. Like the scientist used to do when you were smaller to get you to eat one of the nasty treats they made.
You tilt your head again for a moment.
You didn't have names like them or the scientists. They would call you a really long number. Or child, or kid, or dog, or thing or creatureormonsterorfailure-
You feel soft touches on your head and it pulls you away from the lab. Your ears perk back up and you lean into the large hand. Big John is the one with the hand on your head and you scoot closer, resting your head on his lap.
"No name then.." Kyle says quietly and Big John hums.
He's been looking at the rectangle for awhile, when you look at it there's a few different colours and some words but you can't really read that well. After a new thing of colours and words pops up, Big John looks down at you, moving the hand on your head to your chin.
"Can I see those teeth kiddo?"
You lift your head. This is something the lab people would do, especially when you were younger. All your big teeth have come in though and you don't need all the chewing things they gave you anymore but it's still nice to have something to gnaw on every now and then.
You open your mouth like how you used to, letting him look before doing a toothy smile to show him how they sit.
"They bother you at all?" You shake your head closing your mouth.
"You like to chew on stuff?" You nod.
"Right then.." he looks back to his glowy rectangle and then to Kyle who is still standing there.
"You want to help me look for stuff for the kiddo?"
"We're keepin 'em?"
"Until further notice. No group is really specialized for this, brass wants to keep this one the down low, and we're on the bench for a bit anyway as Laswell processes all the records we picked up."
"I'm sure Johnny would love to help too."
"Yeah, I'm not sure we would stay in a budget if he helped."
"True.. best not to let him in on it then." Kyle sits down on the edge of the bed next to you. You're now enclosed on both sides, your head resting back on Big Johns lap.
Big John picks up a cup that wasn't there before from the table next to his bed, taking a sip of it. You smelt it as soon as Kyle came in, but smelling it closer it's very bitter. Some of the scientists would smell like this sometimes. Usually they were very tired and shaky.
You pull back from the two men, the position getting a little uncomfortable so you retreat back under the blankets. They talk in quiet and even voices, and that mixed with the warmth of being under the covers and the comforting smell of the two, your eyelids grow heavy and you doze off.
You must've slept a little hard because when you wake you've been moved so you're laying in the bed properly, all tucked in and curled up around your blanket that you hold in a bundle.
You lift your head and look around, briefly panicked that you've been left on your own but you see the two men still in the room, Kyle sat comfortably on the floor and Big John at the foot of the bed.
You let out a small and sleepy huff as you tug the covers off gently, crawling your way over to the end of the bed, keeping one hand holding the blanket and dragging it behind you.
Resting your head by his leg, Big John makes a small noise of surprise before giving your head a brief pat. He still has that rectangle in his hand and he seems to be looking at a lot of different things. Kyle also looks like he has his own.
You reach a curious hand out, he seems to be able to move the things on the rectangle by moving his fingers so you want to do the same. You are able to touch it, it's smooth on the parts that are glowing, but he moves your hand out of the way. You frown looking from him to it.
"What is?" You question.
"It's a phone. You can do a lot of things with it." He says calmly.
That doesn't really explain much and you want to keep touching it, want to know how it works. You reach out to touch it again. He moves your hand away again. You let out a frustrated huff.
"I wanna see."
He looks over at you, sort of surprised at your full sentence, even if it was short. Obviously not the most developed English but it's more than you've said other than names and short words.
"Well.. you can see but don't touch. It's very sensitive."
You nod, not quite what you wanted but it's better than nothing or getting told to go away. You scoot closer, side of your face pressed against his arm as you watch the phone. It looks like he can interact with all of the things it shows on the smooth surface.
He's looking at clothes, lots of them with bright colors or interesting things on them. They don't look like anything he would wear, but then again, you don't know if adults wear anything other than the same outfit every day. It seems from your two experiences with groups of adults they do, the only outliers being Big John, Kyle, and John.
You're still trying to wrap your head around how this phone thing works too. He clicks on one of the clothing things and it becomes bigger, showing lots of words next to the picture.
"We don't even know what size the kid is. This would be easier if we could just shop in person." Big John grumbles in frustration.
Kyle pauses a second looking up to Big John.
"We can do that."
"Oh… right. We can. How would we deal with this one though?"
They both turn to look at you, you stare back flicking your ears.
…
Not to long later you're wearing Big Johns hat with your tail tucked a bit uncomfortably in the oversized pants you're wearing.
You're being carried out to a weird rumble box, not too unlike the one that you first got in after leaving the lab. You, Big John and Kyle are getting lots of looks. You think it's mostly you though. You try to hide your face in Big Johns shoulder. When you get to the box, this time you don't get to hold on to him, you're being put in the back on your own, a belt being placed over you. You let out a small whine, not wanting to be back here on your own.
The two men look between each other before Big John gets in the driver seat and Kyle gets in the back, sitting next to you. You make him hold your hand since you can't move towards him with the belt over you. You look out the window as the car starts and then moves. The outside moves a lot, you see all kinds of trees, and the sky alone is something to marvel at. You weren't allowed outside unless they were testing something.
When the car comes to a stop finally, you're outside a big building and before you know it you're being let out of your seat. Well, you're moved from the seat in the car into a far more uncomfortable seat in a weird cart thing. You hardly fit in it, and it's really bumpy as it goes over the uneven ground, but as soon as you make it up to and in the building it smooths out for the most part.
You've been told to keep the hat on your head, no matter how uncomfortable your ears are. You've also been told in the event you are let out of the cart, you should stick to either of them. As you're pushed along, they seem to know where they're going and what they're doing. You are just looking around at all of the bright colours and new things you've never seen.
Then you get to an area with clothes that look similar to the ones that were on the phone. And they're.. your size. Well, at least some of them look to be.
Big John and Kyle begin looking at all of them, Kyle eventually picking a shirt up and holding it up to you. It looks a little small so he swaps it out for a size bigger and then the two men look between each other then back at you.
"Might grab a size bigger. I hear they grow fast." Big John says.
Kyle nods and does so, tossing the new shirt into the cart behind you. Then he grabs a pair of pants, holding it up to you. It's harder to tell since you're sitting down, but it looks about the right fit. He does the same as he did with the shirt, grabbing a size a bit bigger than he thinks is needed and putting it in the cart.
He makes sure to get the same size in several other kinds of pants, even some shorts, doing the same for different kinds of shirts and a jacket. They almost forgot, but they make sure to grab a pack of underwear in the same size as the pants. Then they look at hats. Price really would prefer not to have you wearing his hat instead of him all the time. They look through several options that seem too small to hide your ears before landing on a beanie. It was either that or a sun hat and a sun hat doesn't look quite as causal, though next to Price, it might look natural.
Then they move on to the shoes. They grab a miscellaneous pack of socks before actually browsing the shoes. They look for pretty basic ones, not too expensive because Jesus shoes are pricey these days.
These take more effort to gauge size so they start with an estimate and go from there, taking shoes from boxes and holding them up to your foot until they get down to a size that looks decent enough and awkwardly putting it on one of your feet. You don't seem too bothered by it and it to them it feels alright at the toes so they shrug, deciding this is probably the right size and going with a pair of plain black Velcro on shoes.
Then.. to the toys. Not to the kids toys though, the dog toys.
As soon as you enter the area, there's a strong smell of rubber and a weird kind of meaty mix.
It's straight to the chew toys, looking for simple ones that will take you awhile to get through but also make no noise. Nobody needs that headache. You're looking over all of them as well. You point to a soft plush one that looks like a fox, getting Big Johns attention.
"No kiddo, you don't want to chew on that one."
"Want."
"He's for chewing, we can go get you a proper stuffie in a second just-"
You let out a big huff, causing him to look to you with a sharp gaze. You immediately shrink back into yourself away from him, letting out a small whine.
You did bad. Bad subject. Wrong. Dumb dog. Stupid mutt.
Price sighs, looking at the tears that almost immediately started brimming in your eyes. He steps back closer to you, and when you flinch back he's sure to take mental note of it but he puts his palms up in surrender.
"Garrick.. go find a small fox plush." Price says softly as he continues keeping eye contact with you.
This is definitely going to be tricky in the future. If you flinch at just a harsh look he's going to have to be really careful with what he says and does to discipline you.
"Look.. kiddo.. I get you want it but I told you we'd get you something better. Right now we're looking for other things, things you can chew on. And that-" he points to the fox chew toy, "-is not meant for what you want it for. And see, Kyle's already got you something better."
You turn your head and see Kyle approaching from down the aisle, a different small fox plush in hand. As he gets close you carefully take it from him, your head still in mild turmoil but you focus on the fox.
Thank god. Price was not about to buy a toy that's likely twice the amount and probably has a squeaker in it. He lets out a silent sigh of relief as he can look back to the dog toys.
He and Kyle silently debate and give confused looks before Price realizes they can literally just ask you. He holds up a three pack, one a rope like thing, one in the shape of a bone and the third looks like a stick.
"Would you chew on this?"
You look over, taking a moment before nodding.
"Great." Price says and tosses it in the cart. They've got everything they can think of, everything that was on the list of necessities Laswell gave Price. Clothes, shoes, something to chew on, something to hide the ears, and a small toy you like.
As you mess with the ears of the fox toy you're left in the silence of your own head instead of looking around. Your heart is still racing a little and you're still unsure of Big Johns intentions now. Usually when you get a look like he gave you have to be alone until you can figure out the right thing to do. But he just talked. And he still gave you a fox, just not the one you wanted.
It's very confusing and you sit thinking through it as you go through check out.
The lady at the register looks between Price and Gaz a moment and then to you. She seems to come to a conclusion, speaking to Price as she bags the clothes.
"Dad helping with grandkid?"
It surprises Price for a moment but he'd rather not awkwardly come up with another cover story on the fly.
"Yup. Making sure kiddo has all the essentials before anything else."
"Only of course. Make sure everything is thought of." She says with a smile as she takes the coat off the hanger and puts it in the bag with the shirts.
Kyle comes up to you, putting a cautious hand out for the fox plush. You hold it closer to your chest.
"I need it just a second, we have to scan 'em so you can take it home." He says gently.
You look between him and the fox a few times. They.. haven't lied to you yet. They've done all they said they would since they first saw you, so you suppose you can hand him the fox and expect to get it back.
You very slowly place it in his hands and he takes it as gently as you had it before passing it off the the cashier.
You watch as she scans it, making a small high pitched beep noise that has one of your ears twitching from under the hat.
And as promised, the fox is given right back to you after it is scanned.
Price pays and picks up the few bags of clothes and things. He's glad she didn't mention to dog toys, he probably wouldn't be able to come up with a proper lie quick enough.
"Adoption is a wonderful thing."
"Uh-huh. Couldn't agree more." Price responds giving a quick smile.
"Have a good day!" The clerk gives a small wave but you're enraptured with your fox again.
You're picked up out of the cart by Kyle before leaving the store, you keep a tight hold on the fox as you rest your chin on his shoulder.
Once out of the store, Kyle speaks up.
"Adoption, sir?" There's an amusement clear in his words.
"Might as well be."
"Grandkid though?"
"You're my adopted son, this is your first adopted child. I'm helping you get the essentials. Cover story put right into my lap. Can't say no to that." Price says as he puts the bags in the back of the car.
Gaz gives a small huff as he opens the car door and buckles you in.
"Naturally."
You get home much the same way you left, you going from staring at the fox to out the window, opting not to hold Kyle's hand this time. There are drops that begin to fall on the car and you tilt your head as you see some specks appear on the window.
"What?" You ask pointing to one.
"Hm?" Kyle hums as he looks over.
You repeat your word as you point to one you're sure he can see.
"Oh.. that's rain. It's just water coming from the sky, won't hurt you."
"No?"
"No, just water."
You nod, satisfied enough with that question answered.
Back on base, it's escalated into a light downpour. Gaz is glad he grabbed that jacket for you. He grabs you from the car, making sure the hat is still secure on your head and your tail is still tucked into the pants before he helps Price by grabbing one of the bags and carrying them in with him.
You go right back to Prices room, everything quickly getting sorted out, stickers and tags coming off.
Somehow, eventually, they get you into a fresh and fitting outfit. They've had to cut holes in the underwear to make it comfortable. Your tail can tuck into the pants and it doesn't look too awkward. Everything looks like it fits well enough and the beanie doesn't look all that out of place.
You stand still in front of them, not really knowing what to do or how to feel about these clothes. You've only really ever worn the weird itchy thing the scientist had on you and now some clothes that were way too big, but feeling clothes that fit properly? It feels weird. And shoes? You've never had those before. It's a very weird sensation to have your feet enclosed but you don't hate it.
You're wearing a black shirt that has small white paw prints on it towards the bottom and some khaki pants with far more pockets than you need. Still holding your fox toy in one hand, you look up to Big John who has his phone thing out and it's pointed at you for only a moment before he's doing more things that you can't see and eventually puts it away.
"Who was that to?" Kyle questions.
"Laswell. She asked if we got everything we needed."
You walk over to the pair as they sit at the edge of Big Johns bed, going to grab for the stick shaped thing they had freed from its plastic packaging. You put your plush down in order to feel it with both of your hands, deciding it's a good enough texture and strength before testing it on your teeth.
It makes your gums feel nice enough, and that's good enough for you. You sit down on the floor between the men, grabbing your fox again as you idly gnaw on the nylon toy in your mouth. You pet over the little black ears, the texture soft against your skin. You feel its face, brushing all the fur in the right direction as you be careful not to 'poke' its beady eyes.
The adults begin having a quiet conversation as they watch you.
"You think Ghost is avoiding 'em?"
"Can't say for certain, it's Simon. You never know. Might not be trying to avoid them much more than Soap is trying to get stuff out of the way to watch over them."
"Hm. Yeah he's been running ragged since he dropped them off with you. Almost beat me to getting you a coffee but some recruits needed him for something."
"Surprised he hasn't ditched some work all together-"
There's a knock at the door and everyone's heads lift to look.
"Yes?" Big John calls out.
"Oh good you're back." You hear the voice of John from the other side of the door.
"Speak of the devil.." Kyle mutters.
"Come on in." Big John says and the door doesn't take long to open.
Obviously, it's John, and he looks at the other two men briefly before looking down at you, his eyes going wide and his face brightening. He closes the door behind him quickly going to kneel in front of you.
"Awe, you didnae tell me you dressed them up! Wee bairn looks adorable!"
You don't think some of those words were real words, but regardless you stare up at him, chew toy held firmly in you mouth by the teeth and your plush in your lap.
"And who's this little fella?" He says pointing to the fox in you hands. You hold it up a little, letting him see it better, using your other hand to remove the chew toy from your mouth.
"Fox." It comes out more like 'Fos' but you're not repeating yourself.
"Yeah! Fox! Can I see it?" his voice is very enthusiastic and excited.
You look between him and the small fox, very reluctant to hand it over but eventually you offer it to him slowly.
He takes it carefully and then turns it to face you, beginning to gently manipulate the legs and make some noises. It's slightly entertaining and you watch with wrapped attention. Then unexpectedly he brings it to your face and the fox 'attacks' you. The fur tickles and you let out a small giggle.
That's the first real laugh they've heard from you. You've been quite clingy the past day but not smiling all too much. But that small laugh has all the men's hearts melting. They don't know how comfortable you've been or how happy you were allowed to be in your life before this, but that small expression of joy has them hoping you can find that happiness more.
John continues to play with you and the fox. At some point you break your tail free from the pants because it keeps trying to move. Once it's out in the open you're subconsciously wagging it as you continue to mess with John and the fox.
Your chew toy as been ditched on the floor as you've moved closer to John, play wrestling with him as he keeps the plush from your reach, occasionally having it come down and tickling your neck.
You're having a great time, the hat having been knocked off at some point freeing your ears. You mostly ignore the sounds from outside the room, but suddenly you're hit with a faint scent that you think is familiar. You pause in your position, on the floor on your back with John 'attacking' your stomach with the fox. Your sudden pause confuses him and the others.
You try to think why it's familiar, taking deep inhales. You can smell a bit of it on everyone in this room but it's not like the weird smoke everyone in this place seems to smell like. It's a little more earthy, like how John kind of smells like a specific kind of tree.
The scent only gets stronger until there's a knock at the door, causing everyone to freeze. You break out of your paused state and scramble away from John and to the door, reaching up to the door handle hearing a brief and panicked 'no!' From John before the door is open and you're staring up at a surprised looking man with a weird looking face. It looks like those pictures of your head that the scientists would take. This tall weird man seems to be the source of the smell.
"Your real face?" You ask your natural curiosity overthrowing any sort of filter you might have.
He stares down at you silently for another few seconds before saying a quiet and grumbly,
"Yes."
You tilt your head to the side, really looking over him.
"No." You don't believe him.
The strange man lets out a small huff and steps past your small figure and into the room, closing the door as he slips in. You remain staring at him, trying to figure out why his smell is familiar and also trying to guess what his real face looks like.
"Kiddo- you can't go opening doors like that." You hear Big John say and you turn to look at him before pointing at the new addition to the group.
"I smell him."
"Well I'm sure you smell all of us-"
"I smell him you." You interrupt and the phrasing seems to confuse everyone.
You really wish you could speak better.
"I smell him little you." You point between Big John and the man.
The others don't seem to understand but the man with the weird face does.
"You guys smell a little like me." He says for you. You nod furiously.
"Yes!" It feels so good to be understood much more easily. You turn to this magic man and ask,
"You?"
He points to himself a moment, taking a second to process before saying,
"Ghost."
You shake your head.
"You." You're not asking for a silly name like the others tried to give you.
He looks to the others in mild confusion before Kyle says,
"Calls us all our first names."
The man looks back to you and remains quiet for a long while.
"You don't have to tell 'em. Don't let a kid pressure you." John says.
You continue staring back into his eyes. He has a very intense gaze, and it almost scares you, but you're sure hes with the others so you don't think he'll hurt you, so you shouldn't be scared.
"Simon." He finally says.
You nod, repeating,
"Simon."
You sit back down in front of John, but now you're staring at Simon. Your ears move a little as you're thinking, pondering his familiarity before it finally clicks and your ears perk.
"Careful!" You say very enthusiastically, recalling him as the voice back at the lab before Big John carried you out of there.
Everyone is confused again.
You point to Simon.
"You speak careful."
He tilts his head as he looks down at you. It's clear he doesn't get it fully but he nods. You let out a slightly frustrated huff but go back to looking at John. The fox is sitting in front of him and you make a small pounce forward to grab it.
John quickly gets back to playing with you, gently wrestling and trying to get the fox out of your hands. The others start speaking as you're distracted in play.
"At least the mask didn't scare them?" Gaz says.
"Yeah, that's something." Ghost says watching as you lightly tackle Soaps arm. The reason he came in here, or at least what he convinced himself was the reason, was to get your reaction to the mask in an environment where you could hide away if he scared you.
"You good at child speak?" Price questions.
Ghost looks over slightly confused by the phrasing for a moment before responding.
"Guess I find it easy enough to decipher."
Price hums and nods.
As your arms are wrapped tightly around one of Johns arms, him trying to shake and gently pry you off you yawn suddenly. You've had a big day today and you're tired. Really tired all of the sudden.
You let yourself be removed from Johns arm, sitting on the floor in front of him and now blinking slowly. Hit with a wave of sleepiness you look around, unsure what to do. Usually you would just crawl into your bed, but this isn't the lab and none of this is your room. Sure, it's Big Johns room but does he want you to sleep in a room of your own?
"Sleep." You say, yawning again.
"Aw, all tuckered out." John says and ruffles your hair.
"Sleep where?" That one doesn't need much translating, eyes turn to Big John. He seems to think for a moment before answering.
"Do you want to sleep in your own bed?"
You think about it, long and hard. These beds are nice, but you didn't really like waking up on your own. It makes you feel like a bit of a baby but you would like to be able to have someone there with you.
You shake your head and he sighs. He looks between everyone and John speaks up.
"You can sleep with me in my room."
You turn to look at him and nod. It seems it's settled then as nobody else has any objections. Big John passes over your blanket from the bed to John as he stands, grabbing your fox and chew toys as well as your abandoned hat. John does his best to swaddle you in the blanket as he picks you up, covering your still exposed ears and tail.
"Right, seems like an early night for me then. Night lads." He says to the others as you rest your chin on his shoulder, eyes feeling heavier by the moment.
He carries you out of the room, walking down the hall a bit before entering a different room. It smells like him, but you can also smell a bit more of Simon in here than you could in Big Johns room.
He sets you down on his bed, setting the toys and hat on the bedside table then taking off your shoes. He himself then changes into some sleep clothes as you lay in a little sleepy bundle on his bed.
When he comes back over to you, he moves you around with ease. The pants you're wearing are uncomfortable with your current situation so you kick them off and he doesn't complain, just grabbing them and setting them aside.
He gets under his covers, making sure they go over you and your already blanket covered form. You scoot closer to him, eyes feeling heavier than ever as you attach to his arm. You can hear his breathing and his heartbeat, feel the warmth flooding under the blankets, smell his scent comfortably overwhelming, and it doesn't take long for you to be out. You've had a big day, nobody can blame you.