"Welcome- What."
Denver gripped Wulfenite's side protectively for a moment, but Wulfenite gently shook him off and instead walked over to his father, the older man looking down at the Wolf-like gem with a mixture of fear and curiosity. It never failed to amaze her how curious humans were...
She sat down before him, dipping her head in greeting. He merely stared for a few seconds before looking up at Denver imploringly.
"That's Wolfie," Denver explained, stepping forward and patting Wulfenite gently. "Don't worry, he's tame."
"Uh... does he have Rabies? Or anything?" He inquired helplessly. "I assume you want to keep him?"
"Yeah, I want to keep him," Denver confirmed, "and no, Wolfie doesn't have Rabies." Denver scrunched up his nose in distaste.
Thanks for asking, Wulfenite thought sarcastically.
"I guess I can't stop you, but you're paying for him with your allowance," Denver's father sighed. "Just stay out of trouble, okay?"
"I will, Dad, don't worry." He smiled at Wulfenite. "C'mon, Wolfie, we'll head upstairs and I can make a bed for you in my room."
Wulfenite nodded and followed behind Denver, pausing as he ran up the steps to look back at his father.
"You're an interesting one," he commented, walking quietly up to Wulfenite and holding out his hand. Wulfenite, not really sure what to do with it, tapped it gently with one paw. Shaking his head, he sighed, "and I thought Emma was the weirdest thing he'd bring home. Apparently I was wrong."
Wulfenite nodded, turning back to the stairs and walking up to the room she'd seen Denver enter. She poked the door open and peered in, glancing around the room after making sure Denver was in there.
Denver was sitting on a small bed, which looked old but well cared for, almost handmade. There was a desk covered in haphazard papers and large, bulky books. Strewn along a board on the wall were a collection of images that showed him with Emma, Emma, or rarely him with his father. The window was thrown open, the spidery silk curtains fluttering gently as Denver began pulling blankets out from under his bed.
"We'll put you near the closet for now," Denver decided, throwing the blankets on the floor and leveling them out a bit. "until we can find something better. Make yourself comfortable."
Wulfenite nodded, then quietly asked, "Can I return to being myself? I'm getting tired holding the transformation."
"Go ahead, just be quiet," Denver allowed. Wulfenite quietly changed back, trying her best to make the light around her as dim as possible. She sat down on the blankets and fell into deep thought.
"Denver, stop doing that."
Wulfenite woke up with a start. When had she fallen asleep? She shook herself and quickly transitioned to wolf, nosing the door open and peering downstairs. Denver's father shook his head as Denver hid back in the living room behind the shop.
"I don't get it though," he protested. "What's so wrong or different about standing about in the shop, Dad?" Wulfenite plopped down on the staircase, peering down at the pair with curiosity glowing in her eyes.
His father groaned. "Don't... uh... just use my name, Denver, it makes things easier."
Denver frowned. "Fine then. What's so wrong or different about standing in the shop, Jerome Dallson?" Wulfenite caught a hiss of unhappiness in his voice, but decided to let it continue.
"You're just... it's just..." he growled. "Just don't do it, okay, Denver? You're just..." his voice drifted off. "Nevermind. Just don't, okay?"
Denver huffed. "Fine. If you don't want me here, I'll just go live in the woods."
"No!" His father spun around from where he was dusting off some antiques. "No," he said again, a bit more gently. "That's not what I meant. I- uh- go outside and have some fun. I'm sure Emma would be happy to see you."
Denver's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing, instead turning around and watching in shock as Wulfenite stormed up to Jerome, eyes firmly on her destination. She parked herself in front of him and glared.
"What?" Jerome inquired, looking down at her. "What do you want?"
Wulfenite looked back at Denver, then back at Jerome. She hummed curiosity.
"I..." he looked up at Denver, as if to ask what was happening. Denver shrugged and walked up to Wulfenite's side.
"C'mon, Wolfie, let's go see Emma." Denver soothed, patting Wulfenite gently. She allowed herself to be led out of the shop, but as the door was about to swing shut, she looked back, letting it fall on her side. Jerome stared at her, and she stared back.
"I'll try to be nicer to him," he whispered, too quiet for Denver to hear. Wulfenite let her ears pop upwards and nodded her approval, finally leaving the shop.
As they left, Jerome fell to his knees. His face was a mixture of shock and confusion.
"I'm trying so hard to respect him, Wolf," he muttered, looking down at his reflection in the antique vase he was holding. "I'm trying so hard to love a kid that's... different. Can't anyone see that? Will it ever be enough?" He thrust the vase back on the shelf and rushed to another antique that needed dusting.
Maybe if I work harder, I can forget...
Wulfenite followed the two, finally able to be in her base form again, and smiled as they threw water at each other in the small waves of the beach. It was barely evident that there had been any fighting here; it looked almost innocent and peaceful, like nothing bad had ever happened there. Her smile, however, was thin and reserved; she could still see the phantoms of her first human and the gems running around her in a frantic hurry, the explosions of colour and the bombs being dropped.
"What's wrong, Wolfie?" Emma inquired, looking up from her building a small sand structure. Wulfenite sighed.
"There was a war here," she commented, brushing the sand gently. "I remember it. I must have only been fourty or fifty at the time..."
The two glanced at each other, then nodded. Denver turned back and asked, "Please tell us about it?"
Wulfenite was about to refuse, but decided she had nothing better to do. "Okay," she agreed, "but please forgive me if I drift off a bit."
They silently agreed, and she began to recount her tale, slowly describing the different gems and the society. The two often interrupted to interrogate her, making brief comments on the restrictive nature of Homeworld, and Wulfenite agreeing whole-heartedly.
"Peridots," Wulfenite rumbled, "are not very good at fighting, but are generally very good at surviving in the place of soldiers or superiors. It's considered an insult to not shatter for your superiors, which is why they are often scorned."
Emma frowned. "That's wrong," she stated plainly. "If somebody wants to live, let them. They don't have to shatter just because they're supposed to be utterly devoted to their leaders."
Wulfenite nodded sadly. "Unfortunately, that's what Homeworld likes to believe."
"Hey, is that one of the Lazuli you were talking about?" Denver inquired suddenly, pointing up at the sky. Wulfenite's head snapped up to look, and her eyes grew wide.
"I'll be right back," she said quickly, shifting into the form of an eagle. "promise, just want to chat with her." She lifted off with a strong beat of her wings and quickly rose to match pace with the Lapis. She twirled and flipped down next to the startled gem, and observed her for a moment.
"Who are you?" She asked incredulously. "...JASPER?" She flipped away before Wulfenite could protest, but Wulfenite showed her gem quickly, causing the Lapis to relax.
"I'm a Wulfenite who's been residing on this planet for a while now!" Wulfenite called out. "I promise I won't lay a finger on you!"
Lapis frowned and slowed down enough that Wulfenite could fly next to her, though she was careful to only be as close as she needed to be to speak comfortably. "What're gems doing on this planet? I thought the war ended?"
The Lapis hissed, "I was trapped here after that war. It's over... sort of. I was just looking around... I needed some breathing room." She turned back to flying for a moment, then seemed to gain interest. "Say, do you know Steven?"
"No," Wulfenite replied, confused. "Should I?"
"So you're allied to Homeworld?" She continued, her dark look growing.
Wulfenite paused to think. "No, not any more," Wulfenite decided. "I... well, I'm just lost now, I guess. Not really allied to anything or anyone, but I protect the two humans down there." She pointed to the pair still on the beach, watching them fly in awe.
Lapis's expression softened. "So you're like me," she nodded to herself. "what's your name? Are you known by your gem?"
"My gem name works," Wulfenite confirmed, "but the humans call me Wolfie."
"Wolfie," Lapis repeated, a small smile appearing. "It sounds nice."
"Thank you." She looked down. "I'd better be going back now, though. Will I encounter you again?"
"Probably," Lapis confirmed. "I live in a barn a short flight away from here with a Peridot."
Wulfenite scrunched up her nose. "Huh. So there're Peridots on Earth." She shrugged. "See you, then."
"Yeah," Lapis replied, choosing to ignore Wulfenite's reaction. "See you."
Wulfenite nose-dived back down to the ground, transforming back a few meters from the sand and landing heavily on her feet. "She isn't with the guys who made the mutant, we're good." Wulfenite nodded, then paused. "I should have asked her about that mutant..."
"Say, Wolfie," Emma inquired, frowning, "What are the gem mutants?"
"Homeworld's idea of an experiment," Wulfenite hissed. "Ugly things made from the dead bodies of gems. They're mindless, simply searching constantly for the rest of their body, to be whole again."
"Sounds like a great horror movie," Denver commented dryly. Glancing at the setting sun, he continued, "we should probably head home. It's getting late."
"Oh, oh!" Emma cried suddenly, grabbing Wulfenite's hand. "Could you sleep over? It'll be fun, I promise, and Mum and Mom'll really want to meet you!"
Wulfenite tilted her head. "If Denver is okay with it," She decided at last. Denver gave her a thumbs up and Emma hummed her thanks.
"I'll see you both tomorrow?" He inquired hopefully.
"Tomorrow!" Emma agreed, and after a brief moment, she began to drag Wulfenite home.
Emma burst through the door of the small apartment and waved eagerly.
"Hey Mum! Hey Mom!" she called, distracting the two women. The first was cleaning up some dishes in the sink, the other folding clothes. They both grinned and launched themselves on the youngest girl.
"Welcome home, Emma," the first smiled, hugging her.
The other cackled and tickled Emma's ribs, grinning at Emma fondly.
After a few moments they seemed to notice the orange hulk in their doorway, and the second woman left tickling Emma's sides to look right up at Wulfenite.
"Who are you?" she asked bluntly.
"My name is Wulfenite," she responded, "but Emma calls me Wolfie."
"It's okay, Mom," Emma waved her off. "She's a friend, promise."
'Mom' turned around and sighed. "She doesn't exactly look like a girl to me, but okay," she shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat."
"She's genderless, that's just the pronoun," Emma corrected her patiently. "Wulfenite's an alien."
"Oh, okay." and with that, 'Mom' lost interest and went back to folding clothes.
The other woman, petite but with clear-as-day intelligence, commented, "An alien, you say? Can I ask you some questions?"
Wulfenite nodded, despite Emma groaning out a long 'Mum!' of exasperation. She assumed that there was some sort of meaning behind it, but she politely ignored the gesture.
'Mum', as she was designated, ushered Wulfenite in, closed the door, turned off the tap and showed Wulfenite to a comfortable chair, which she sat in comfortably. The woman whipped out a laptop, and after tapping on it a bit, she asked, "So you're an alien?"
"I believe that's an appropriate term," Wulfenite agreed. "My species are known as 'Gems'."
"Gems, right," she nodded. "So all of your species look like you, or..?"
"No, we're very diverse," Wulfenite explained, describing the different gems.
That led on to explaining gem hierarchy, and further in to how she ended up on Earth and the intricacies of Gem functions, until finally Emma called from sitting in front of the TV, "Mum! Twenty questions rule!"
The woman suddenly looked very sheepish. "I'm sorry," she apologized, closing down her computer. "I get carried away. I'll... ask more about the fascinating nature of your species later."
Wulfenite nodded, instead trotting over to Emma and sitting down next to her. She idly observed the small apartment for a few minutes, then tapped Emma on the shoulder.
"What is it, Wulfenite?" She inquired, muting the television.
"What is the role of your 'Mum' and 'Mom'?" Wulfenite asked quietly. "Denver had a 'Dad'. Do you have one? Do 'Mum' and 'Mom' serve the same purpose?"
Emma nodded. "They're the same, just different genders," Emma explained. "Mums and Moms are female, Dads are male."
Wulfenite nodded. "I'd forgotten briefly that humans insist on having different terms according to gender," she commented. "why is that?"
"It's a language thing," Emma waved it off. "it shouldn't matter, but it does."
Wulfenite nodded seriously. "I'll make sure I get it right."
Wulfenite relaxed on the couch, watching the two women with intense curiosity. Something about how they interacted seemed... planned. Streamlined. Rehearsed. Like they were two parts of one whole, instead of just two people.
They were sitting across from each other at the small kitchen table, both sipping small cups of hot cocoa. Emma was asleep, snoring softly in her bed in the next room, and Wulfenite was pretending to be asleep on the sofa.
'Mum' shook her head gently. "Our Emma leads such an exciting life, doesn't she?" She commented, sipping her drink.
'Mom' sighed and planted her chin on the table. "She needs protecting," she grumbled. "Much more than she's getting. And all you can say is 'oh, let me ask the alien some questions'. Why did we let an alien sleep over again?"
Mum smirked. "Sofi, I know you better than that. You enjoyed the alien's company."
"But Kayla..." Sofi mumbled, stretching out.
"But Sofi," Kayla parroted, snickering into her cup of chocolate. "I know you don't want her being in danger, but this 'Wolfie' seems like a perfect gentleman. I'm sure she'll protect her." She hummed. "And with muscles like that, I'm sure she could."
"Kayla!" Sofi cried in mock horror. "How could you? Do I not go to the gym often enough?" She made an exaggerated pose. "Alas! My wife doth want another woman!"
"Shush, the neighbors will hear you," Kayla chuckled. "Do I need to shut you up?"
"Let me see you try!" Sofi responded with confidence.
Wulfenite felt vaguely awkward listening in after that point, and instead opted to stare at the wall as the teasing went back and forth.
"Bye Mum, bye Mom!" Emma called, dragging Wulfenite out the door. "Wolfie and I've gotta meet up with Denver again today!"
"See you," Kayla said softly, waving.
"Yeah! You go make sure that kid stays happy!" Sofi agreed, waving far more enthusiastically.
As they left, Wulfenite commented, "I believe your 'Mum' and 'Mom' are very kind people. I find them fascinating."
"They are," Emma agreed. "I love them very much."
A/N: Meeting the parents!
There's so much more I need to write of this, but I still have 2 exams and other stories to keep up with. I'll work hard though!
Don't forget to read and review! It means a lot to know that you guys want the story!