Note: To the anon who left several reviews asking about headcanons, since I can't answer you personally, I answered them on my Tumblr! If you search the tag "milestones verse" there (VirgoGreen) you should find them!

Date: May 1st, 2033

Setting: Bloodmarch Apartments, 9:12 am

Event: Toralei and the twins get settled into their new dynamic, though her friends have doubt about a certain promise she claims to intend on keeping.

Go With The Flow

It had been one week since she had let the strays stay with her.

And apparently, if it wasn't already obvious from the beginning, one week had been enough to reassure her that she had made a big, big mistake.

Toralei glanced around the small living room, forest green eyes narrowing as she took in the mess: the frumpled blankets pulled this way and that over the edge of the couch, the pillows that had been tossed astray, the various clothes and wrappers that littered the floor, the crumbs that stood out on the already threadbare carpet, even the shoes that were normally lined up along the baseboard of the wall near the door were in disarray, having been turned over.

And no two certain little werekittens that were most likely responsible for this mess anywhere to be seen.

She sneered. Oh, boy, was she going to love this.

Just then, Sweet Fang darted out from around the corner. Toralei's head sharply turned towards her pet, her eyes widening when she noticed the sabertooth was absolutely filthy, her orange fur matted and damp with Bastet-knew-what, stained a dark brownish color in some spots. Her paws were coated in some kind of substance (Toralei prayed that it was just mud) and Sweet Fang looked up at her owner with wide seagreen eyes, fear and confusion swimming in them like she had just been given the scare of her life.

Toralei stiffened when she noticed her pet shoot a glance at the one white couch pillow, which seemed to be the only thing in the living room not dirty.

"Please don't…" she quietly requested.

Too late; Sweet Fang ignored her as she pounced onto the pillow, smeared grey paw prints instantly appearing over the smooth satin surface. Sweet Fang twisted and spun on it, trying to get comfortable. Toralei sighed in frustration; it seemed like an allegory for the mood she was in right now.

It was too early to be dealing with something like this.

Someone made a mess in here- and she knew for a fact that it wasn't her- and they were going to clean it up. She took a deep breath.

"GINGER!" she suddenly yelled, "TYE! Both of you in here now!"

Her ears twitched as she heard the sound of muffled footsteps on the carpet, before she turned to see said two kittens scramble into the living room. Her eyes nearly bugged right out of her head when she saw the damp stains that coated the front of their shirts and pants, her gaze lingering on the too-big rubber gloves that covered their hands and went all the way over their elbows.

Both twins stared up at her, their ears folding a little bit as they crouched back slightly in fear as her angry expression landed upon the both of them. Toralei crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently as she regarded them with an angry emerald gaze.

"What did I tell you two about keeping things clean?" she demanded moreso than asked, "Look at this mess! It's like a tornado came through here! And what the hell did you do to Sweet Fang! I specifically said if you make a mess, clean it up!"

Tye pouted and looked at his feet, putting his hands behind his back guiltily. "W-W-We're sorry, Miss Stripe, we were gonna clean it up."

"We were gonna do it after we cleaned the bathroom," Ginger explained, rubbing her arm.

Toralei's head perked up, her exasperation only further aggravated as her eyes widened.

"Why…would you need to clean the bathroom?'" she questioned, her voice stiff.

Ginger cringed at the barely concealed rage that the orange cat's tone had taken up. She looked down sheepishly, rubbing her arms as she slowly looked back up at Toralei with fearful, nervous blue eyes.

"We…kinda had an accident," she stated.

Toralei's eye twitched. "What do you mean 'accident'?!"

Tye grimaced as her voice became high pitched. He scuffed his foot against the carpet, his shoulders hunching up like he was trying to disappear into his enlarged shirt collar.

"Well, we got up and we got hungry, but we thought you wanted to sleep in and we didn't want to bother you," he said, "So we just watched TV and ate some toast for a little while."

"We kinda burned it," Ginger put in.

"And then we thought it'd be best if we took a bath so we'd be all clean and then you wouldn't have to be all annoyed that we were messy and dis…disheveled," Tye continued, "So then we were going to start it. But then we noticed that the water wasn't going all the way down the drain when we were making sure it wasn't too hot. We thought that it maybe was clogged."

"So we were gonna just put some drain cleaner in it!" Ginger announced, "Only…when we did…"

Toralei's mouth flattened into a straight line. She sighed, rubbing her face with her hand.

"What happened?" she asked reluctantly.

Ginger looked down, a look of embarrassment coming across her features.

"Well, we were just gonna put in the cleaner like it said on the bottle," she explained, "But the bottle was really heavy, and we had trouble getting it into the tub. We thought Tye would just sit in the tub and I would stay outside to give it to him. Except…" she trailed off, wiggling her toes.

"Except?"

"Except as we were doing that, the bottom of the bottle caught on the edge of the tub," Ginger said, "And it tipped over and ended up splashing everywhere. Like on the floor and on us and stuff."

"Only then, we kinda realized it probably wasn't drain cleaner," Tye said sheepishly, his chin digging into his collarbone, "It started bubbling up and fizzing and when it went into the drain, it only came right back up, all brown and gooey and nasty and stuff."

"Sweet Fang came in and some of it got on her," Ginger finished up.

Toralei pinched the skin between her eyes. A heavy sigh came from her, accompanied by the large blanket of dread that was settling on her shoulders.

Finally, she asked, "….how bad is it?"

Though something told her she probably didn't even want to know.

The way they both stared at her like a couple of deer spirits in headlights was all she needed to know, to her immense dread. Deciding she should probably go ahead and see how bad it was before she started dealing out the damage, Toralei took a deep breath; her feet felt like they had been tied with lead weights with the way she forced herself to pick them up one by one and make her way over to the bathroom. Her heart beat rapidly as her wild imagination came up with thousands of different scenarios of the possible state of her bathroom, neither any less terrible than the other. Turning the corner, she stepped to the doorway.

She would've been less shocked watching a bomb get dropped right in front of her.

There was water everywhere; every inch of the floor and the rug were soaked in the brown-tinted water (she really didn't want to know why it was that color), discoloring the white tiles and covering everything with what looked to be at least an inch of water. Toralei's eye twitched as she looked into the tub. Her stomach rolled when she saw a thick brown goo surrounding the drain, fizzing up and spreading across the length of the tub.

She heard footsteps behind her.

Ginger and Tye grabbed each other in fear as she whipped around at them, her eyes blazing as she glared down at them; her expression made her look more beast in the moment, like an angry lioness ready to fight a competitor.

"Are you two stupid or something?!" she yelled, making the both of them flinch, "Look at this mess! It's going to take forever to get this water out! And thinking you could handle chemicals all by yourselves?! What if it was drain cleaner, huh? What if it got on you? God knows what it could've done if it got on your skin! Do you really want that? A massive burn?!"

The twins looked down at their feet with guilt as she scolded them. The empty bottle that they had mistaken for drain cleaner still lay in the tub, though Toralei noted it was almost completely empty. She growled in annoyance. Whatever the chemical was, she couldn't remember. But she had a good feeling that probably meant that she probably needed it for something, and now had to worry about buying more.

She groaned in frustration, and looked at her watch, gritting her teeth at the time.

"Great," she said, turning back to the twins, "I have a meeting in only a couple of hours and still have to get ready, and now I also have to worry about cleaning all this crap up! What were you thinking? Why didn't you just come get me?!"

Tye bit his lip and rubbed his arm, cheeks burning with shame.

"We…we didn't want to bother you," he said in a low voice, "W-W-We didn't think you'd want to be woken up and thought we'd let you sleep in."

Toralei paused; whatever words she had been preparing to say next died and shriveled up on her tongue as she looked down at the little kittens. Despite her best efforts, a pang of guilt went through her chest. They both looked away from her, rocking back on their heels as their tails swished about their toes nervously.

A soft look came upon her features, and she bent down on her knees so that she was eye level with the both of them.

"Hey," she said, getting their attention.

They looked at her, scanning her features for any hints that she was about to blow up.

"I'm sorry I called you stupid," she said, forcing eye contact, "That was uncalled for. I get it, you two were only being considerate.

"But," she added in, "Next time, if you have a concern, make sure- even if you think I don't want to be bothered- that you ask me first. There's a reason why those chemical bottles say to handle with care, okay?"

"Yes, Miss Stripe," they said in unison.

It made Toralei smirk, and she nodded. "Good."

"Does…does that mean you're not mad at us?" Ginger asked tentatively.

Toralei sighed, looking back down at the floor as she ran a hand through her hair.

"I was- I mean, I'm still pretty upset," she clarified, "This crap's bound to take forever to clean and dry."

And on top of it, I still need to get ready, she thought to herself.

Ginger's ears perked up, and she hunched her shoulders before she slowly looked up at the orange werecat.

"Do you want us to help you?" she asked.

Toralei shot her a look, eyebrows furrowed incredulously.

"Do vampires shift into bats? Of course I want you to help me!" she exclaimed angrily, "You two made this mess, you're going to clean it up! No way I'm picking up after you!"

Another three days passed before she finally got around to explaining the situation to Meowlody and Purrsephone.

Well, that was a misspeak.

It was more along the lines of Meowlody and Purrsephone demanding answers when they wanted to surprise her with an afternoon out to lunch, only to be greeted with some mysterious six year old cryptid that opened the door, who then proceeded to freak out when they freaked out. Which was just the 'perfect' way to wake Toralei up when she actually managed to get a decent night's sleep for once.

"Sooooo….they are…?" Meowlody asked, gesturing to the window as her golden eyes lingered on the subjects at hand as they played with Sweet Fang on the balcony, before they slid back to Toralei.

Purrsephone gave an equally confused look.

Toralei rubbed her head as she leaned on the kitchen counter, trying to figure out how to best word this situation. Well, this was awkward. Definitely not how she planned on letting the ghouls know.

Then again, she didn't really think of telling them, period.

"Well…they're twins," she finally said, "And…they're staying with me. For a while, at least."

The older pair of twins' eyes bugged out at her statement, and they gave each other a look before looking back to her, looking even more confused.

"They're…staying with you?" Purssephone said slowly.

Toralei shrugged, "Yeah, I mean, it's not for that long or anything. "

Meowlody frowned, blinking a few times, "And how exactly did you come to this arrangement?"

The orange werecat frowned, thinking back to that night, the pitiful states of Tye and Ginger still fresh in her mind. A surge of anger went through her that she fought to keep down- she hated kids as much as the next guy, but seriously, who the hell would just throw a pair of kindergarteners to the streets and make them fend for themselves?

"I found them one night in an alleyway," she said as she looked at the countertop, "They're orphans, and from what I can tell, their parents died not too long ago. According to them, however, their paperwork got lost in the melee of getting them settled into foster care, and when the money stopped coming, their asshole foster parents tossed them to the streets."

The sisters' eyes widened in unison at the statement.

"Goodness, who would do that to a bunch of children?" Meowlody questioned as she brought a shocked hand to her mouth.

Toralei shook her head, her brow furrowing, "Who knows? No matter, they were literally tossed out and left to become a bunch of strays. I found them in the rain, you guys. You should've seen them- they stunk, and their clothes were disgusting. They looked like they went dumpster diving."

"That still doesn't explain why they're now here with you," Purrsephone pointed out.

Standing up straight, Toralei looked at her nails, chipping at the polish. She shrugged.

"I thought they looked pathetic enough and thought maybe I should reach out and give them a hand," she said, "I mean, I'm not that heartless, leaving two kids by themselves like that."

They just stared at her. Meowlody and Purrsephone shared another look with each other, a silent conversation occurring between them, before they turned their heads to look back at the younger twins present.

There was a frailty about the both of them- they weren't skin and bones, but there was a slight gauntness to their faces, their cheeks not as full and round as you'd normally expect them to be for kids their age, their wrists a bit too tiny. Their fur and hair were clean, but there was a distinct thinness to them. The most obvious features were their tails, though; though you could miss it first glance, Tye's was noticeably much shorter than it should've been by at least a few inches. Ginger's, meanwhile, was covered in scars, like it had been cut on a few sharp edges once or twice.

Toralei watched them, too, her eyes carefully trailing their figures as they played with Sweet Fang. Tye had a toy in his hands, giggling as knelt and held it above Sweet Fang, the little sabertooth on her back as she pawed at the fake mouse on the end of the string, batting it endlessly. Ginger held a plastic ball, rattling the small beads inside to get her attention. Sweet Fang stretched her neck out, reaching back to try and get the ball. The twins grinned in delight as she batted at the toys, her back legs kicking out.

They had already pushed her buttons enough these last few days, but in all honesty, she could gladly say she'd rather have them around annoying her than to think of them spending one more day in that wet cardboard box, digging for scraps.

Feeling like she was being stared at, Toralei turned back to the sisters, cringing slightly when she noticed they were both staring at her.

"What?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable.

Meowlody shrugged, "It's just surprising, is all."

"Yeah," Purrsephone agreed, "Never took you to be the adoptive type. I mean, with all those stories you told us about the kids from the high school? You made it sound like you'd rather die on your first life than have kids. What changed?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, there! Hold up, hold up!" Toralei waved her hands frantically, "Don't get it twisted, now. This isn't going to be forever."

That made them raise their heads at her in surprise.

Meowlody commented, "But you said you're letting them stay with you."

"Yeah, for a while," Toralei clarified, "Not forever. God, forever?! What a nightmare! No, the second I can talk to the courts and get this whole thing settled out, CPS is getting called and those two are finally going to get put in a proper living situation.

"That was the deal I offered, that's what they agreed to," she further explained, "Obviously it's probably going to take a while, considering their paperwork's gotten lost and whatnot, but believe me, this isn't going to be forever. A few months, at the most, but that's it!"

Meowlody frowned her, raising an eyebrow in doubt.

"So why haven't you already?" she asked.

Toralei looked at her, gesturing with her head like it was the most obvious thing, "Well, because I haven't had time, duh."

"But…you know they have places for kids to stay when stuff like this happens," Purrsephone mentioned, "You know, like temporary foster homes. Like Mrs. Kindergrubber's house."

"I know, but like I said, they said the system screwed up their paperwork," Toralei refuted, "I don't want to give them up only to have them end up right back where I found them."

She grabbed a glass off the drying rack, walking over to the fridge and grabbing the bottle of apple juice out of it. Pouring herself some, she continued her explanation to the twins as she put the bottle back on the shelf.

"But like I said, I already explained it to them how it's going to work," she said, "For as long as they feel like, they can live here, just as long as they go to school, help with the chores, and don't bother me too much, until they're finally found a proper family to take them in. They know that eventually they'll be put somewhere else, so once social services gets a move on, everything's a win-win."

She raised the glass to her lips and took a big gulp, sighing as she put it down and wiped her lips. Meowlody's mouth flattened into a thin line, her brows furrowed in doubt.

"You sure that's the only reason?" she asked, crossing her arms.

Toralei gave her a look of surprise, frowning. "Why do you say it like that?"

"Just saying," the white haired cat said, "I mean, I get wanting to help two kids in need, but normally even the most charitable of people don't just bring them straight into their house."

The orange feline's brows furrowed, and she backed up slightly as she started to get a feeling of what exactly Meowlody was implying.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked defensively, not liking where this was heading.

Meowlody gave her a look of pity, her expression softer.

"Nothing," she said innocently, before she gave Toralei another look.

"…Just, two little werecats with no family left out on the streets to fend for themselves? I seem to remember a particular werecat in question in that position not too long ago, and thought maybe she's doing it for a more personal reason than she lets on. Like giving them the home she never got."

She watched her friend's reaction, watching as Toralei's eyes went wide at her implication.

"W-W-What…t-t-t-that's not…I-I-I a-already said it was only temporary!" the orange werecat sputtered, "Y-Yeah, m-maybe I did feel bad, and yeah, maybe I d-did think of myself in that situation when I was a kid, b-b-but l-l-like I said, this isn't permanent! I-It's just an impulsive thing I did that was kinda stupid and that I wasn't thinking all the way through, and this is already coming back to bite me in the ass, b-b-but l-like I said, I'm going to call social services a-anyway! It's not like I-I decided to pull a little Orphan Annie or anything like that!"

They just stared at her. She went red in the face.

"Stop looking at me like that!" she snapped, "I mean it! Whatever you think happened, it didn't, so forget about it! Yeah, I felt bad for the brats, but it's not like I just signed up to become a mom! It's only temporary!"

She clenched her fists angrily.

That was the deal. Temporary. Until she could get in contact with CPS, she told herself.

Yeah, she felt sorry for the two and saw a little bit of her inside of them, but it wasn't like she decided to open up an orphanage. She was nobody's mother, and she planned to keep it that way. Yes, that was how it was. And Ginger and Tye knew it perfectly well.

They could stay here for now, but the day would come where they'd leave and be with a proper family like they were supposed to.

A family that actually knew how to care.

So you tell yourself now, the little voice in her head sneered.

Shut up, you.

The dark furred twins just blinked at her, looking at her frazzled state. Toralei glared back, an angry frown on her face. Finally, Purrsephone just shrugged her shoulders, closing her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Toralei," she said.

Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Toralei nodded curtly, crossing her arms.

"Good," she replied, "Now that that's settled, we still up for this lunch thing? The kids are a little messy, but they know how to behave."

"You don't think she's going to go through with it, do you?" Purrsephone asked later on that day, after they ended up going through with their original plans- which granted a chance to get to know Ginger and Tye a bit more personally, as well as the promise that next time they'd both bring their kids so that they could bond. They had just bid the three werecats goodbye, and had stepped out the door.

Meowlody looked at her, her brow furrowed. She turned her head to look back at the view of the street from the stairway, her mouth thinning into a flat line.

"I don't think she's being honest with the real reason she took them in," she said as she started down, her hand on the railing, "I mean, letting two random kids stay with her, eating her food and living in her house for little to no cost? Does that sound like our Tora to you?"

"Maybe she just felt obligated to. You know, teacher's conscious and all," Purrsephone suggested as she descended after her sister.

Meowlody shook her head, disbelief in her golden eyes.

"Yeah, but this is Toralei we're talking about," she emphasized, "No offense to her, but I mean, come on, we've known her long enough. She hates kids. Hell, the only exception she makes is for Rosie, Purrtricia, and the boys, and that's only because their ours. And all of a sudden, she lets in two little strays- the age range she says she can't stand the most- into her own domain? And has been for almost two weeks? There's got to be more to it than that."

As they reached the bottom, Meowlody turned to look at her darker haired twin. A sly smile had graced her red painted lips.

"Besides," she added, "Try as she might, I saw that soft look she was giving them. If my gut tells me correctly, I'd say she's already getting attached."

Purrsephone gave an identical smirk, shaking her head.

"I must say, I'm inclined to agree," she admitted, "Though, I wonder if she realizes that."

"Maybe not," Meowlody said, "But I have a feeling she'll realize it sooner or later.

"And when she does," the white haired cat chuckled, "I'm sure she'll be positively mortified."

They broke out in a giggle, imagining the look of horror that was bound to come across their friend's face once Toralei realized she had dived in much deeper than she herself even realized.

It was almost sad. The poor girl tried to act tough and uncaring, but deep down- which wasn't even that deep, to be honest- she was softer than spider silk.

Which made the situation much more hilarious.

"I only hope we're around when she finally does," Purrsephone commented, smiling, "I would give my other eight livesto see her expression."

"Then best have the camera ready," Meowlody grinned darkly, "Because I can't wait to rub it in."