Roxanne left the daycare with a heavy heart. The wolf knew things were bad, she knew that he lived on the streets for some time, that alone is unacceptable. However she never stopped to think about what drove him to that point in the first place. Not once. A terrible oversight on her part, and the parts of the rest of her family…and to think that he said he was far from the only one.
Her anger at this info overflows within her, she has never felt as such before, not even when playing a game of mini golf. It is amplified when her mind drifts back to Gregory's biggest danger as of now.
'Coward…always will be. Preying on those who can't fight back!'
The fact that people like that exist makes her wonder just how many are actually around. Has she encountered one, or many, without knowing? The thought makes a shiver down her skeleton.
Something like this will be hard to set aside when dealing with the grown ups. She could only hope that these types of people don't have children to begin with, and therefore, will never be seen in the 'Plex.
Wishful thinking most likely.
At the very least she could help one. Regardless of how they met or how they managed to reach an understanding, she could make a real difference for just one. With the help of her friends of course.
'They are still good with him…mostly. Monty better not get carried away again…'
She purges the thought, as dumb he can be, he isn't bad at all with kids, far from it…though it would have certainly done him some good if he learned when to back off, especially around the more skittish children.
'Hopefully they get better acquainted, he doesn't deserve to feel that fear anymore.'
Speaking of fear, her thoughts once again drift back to the 'rabbit lady'. Something to note was that she hasn't directly seen this figure yet, not hide nor hair. Two and two either means she is long gone, or really good at keeping a low profile. Neither of which are particularly good options by any stretch.
Her eyes start to glow as she looks around the area both high and low. The only other being she could see through any of the thin walls was Sun performing his clean up, completely at peace. Her eyes dim as she quickly makes her way back to the security booth.
It was already bad enough that he was subjected to horrible abuse, at the very least you could say he escaped from that form of torment. However he found something much worse in the process: a psychopathic child killer…and she is after her pup.
She is after her pup.
She is after her pup.
She unconsciously flexes her claws as her anger spikes.
'For your sake, you better not still be here…if I find you, it'll be the last mistake you make.'
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"So how is the leg holding up so far? I don't need to adjust it at all? No chafing, pinching? Anything like that?"
"Well…nothing seems to be making it worse, so I guess I'm okay. Still hurts a lot if I move it too much."
"I suppose that counts for something. I guess we'll get more noticeable results in the coming days…or weeks." 'Assuming I didn't screw it up anyway.' She relaxes, resting her feet on the counter.
"Does it really take that long?" He is completely dejected at the thought of being grounded for such a long time.
"Yes, if you're lucky maybe you'll heal sooner. Just make sure you don't do anything too strenuous with it." A drawn out sigh slips through his lips.
"...Okay."
"I get it, but trust me. You'll reach the end of the tunnel at some point. Hell, maybe you already did."
"I hope so." 'I don't think I'm out of the dark yet.'
"Well at least you have mama wolf to lean on, along with the rest of the gang." Gregory blushed.
"S-She isn't my mom."
"Heh, well you could've fooled me."
An awkward pause followed thereafter, at least it was for the child. Vanessa on the other hand had a clear smirk. The boy crossed his arms and diverted his attention to the cameras, trying his best to not appear embarrassed. She continued.
"...All joking aside, she really does care for you. I've never seen her be this, well, maternal in all my time working here. She isn't even a fraction as affectionate to her most die-hard super fans. Honestly, I'm kind of jealous." She finished with a chuckle.
"It's only because she feels bad for me."
"And maybe that's true, but from what I've observed it still goes a bit further than that, wouldn't you think? It's painfully obvious that she sets aside her colossal ego when you're around."
"...Hard to deny that, I guess."
She felt a small amount of triumph getting one over with the little scamp. Her moment of silent celebration is put to a halt when she catches a certain wolf in the cameras, seemingly heading in their direction. Something to note though was that she looked awfully irritated.
'Speak of the devil.'
"Seems that someone is angry, and she's coming our way." The boy follows her line of sight, seeing how upset she is he could only wonder what it was that Sun told her.
"What do you think happened?" Vanessa shrugs.
They didn't have time to dwell on it for long. Soon after Roxy had disappeared from view, there was a knock on the door before it opened. Only now she didn't have a hateful scowl on her face, rather it was much softer. She pauses once she makes eye contact with Gregory, a heavy sigh slipping out. He could feel her repressed tension.
"I-Is something wrong?"
"Not particularly, no."
She approaches the child then picks him up without saying a word. She continues her silence as she moves to leave with him, acknowledging Vanessa with a nod, who awkwardly tips her hat in return.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The duo ended up in Roxanne's green room, curtain drawn, Gregory on her lap, and using her bushy tail as an impromptu blanket. Eventually she started to carefully run her hand through his hair. The child she watched over felt quite snug and relaxed, it brought forth the same fuzzy feeling she often experienced lately. She could only hope that she doesn't ruin it with what she wants to quickly discuss. She leans slightly to whisper.
"Gregory, Sun told me about your previous…home." She took his rigid silence as a sign to continue. "...I won't let anyone treat you like that ever again. You are safe with me, with us, and you can very well be assured that I won't let our unwanted guest lay her bloody hands on you. I promise, or my name isn't Roxanne Wolf." She held him closer to emphasize. He still remained silent, however now his breathing pattern became abnormal, trying his absolute best to remain composed. "Did I say something wrong?"
"N-No! I just…heard similar promises before. Y-You're the first one in a long time who I actually believed."
"...I'm happy to have earned your trust." Internally she is seething. "I hope the others have that same privilege too."
"Mostly. Still don't know about the green one."
"I'm sure he'll learn to contain his enthusiasm, otherwise he is out of luck."
"Why does he have to look so scary?"
"Actually, me and him are both cut from the same cloth. We were made to solely attract an older audience, also known as teenagers. Of course we still get a considerable amount of attention from the little ones." She ruffles his hair.
"Oh…"
"But I do agree that he takes things too far sometimes. I think he is jealous that I have more fans than him." She flicks her hair with a smile. "On top of that, my attraction is simply much more fun than his snooze fest of a golf course."
"Well I mean, have you ever played on his golf course?"
"...Yesssss, I have."
"Did you win?"
"...I'll tell you one thing, the golf clubs certainly didn't." Gregory couldn't help but giggle incessantly.
"So if you broke the golf clubs, does that mean you lost?"
"I-I never said that." He grinned.
"You know what, if you won't tell me, I'll just ask Monty instead." Her features start to twitch at the thought of that.
"T-That's okay, I'm sure he'll tell you the same t-thing."
"Alright then, let's go." Her ears dropped.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"You heard me." She barely resists the urge to grind her teeth.
'Don't get mad. Don't get mad.' "O-Okay, but you won't get a different story."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It's been a little bit of time since Freddy dragged Chica back to her room kicking and screaming to relieve Sun from her destructive rage, much to Monty's amusement and disappointment. To keep her from getting any ideas they simply stood outside her room observing from behind her window.
"You would think she'll know that not everyone enjoys Pizza like her, but here we are. Doesn't she run Mazercise?" Monty muttered to Freddy as they watched her sit and pout with her arms and legs crossed.
"I thought so too, but I've been wrong before sooooo…" He shrugs.
"But hey, at least we got entertained for once, am I right." He bumped his elbow into the bear with a massive grin, only to be met with a disappointed stare. "Hmph, killjoy."
"I agree with Monty." The sudden appearance of Roxanne and her charge startles them both. "We get bored too, but to each their own I guess." The gator quickly snaps out of his stupor.
"I knew I wasn't the only one! Bring it in!" He steps forward only for her to move back the same.
"As much as I'd like to reinforce your once in a while correct opinions…that is not what I came here for."
"Then what uhhhh…"
"Long story short, the pup wants to know who wins our…golf matches." She forces her words out like she was in pain. It took a moment for him to process what she said, then found himself amused by it.
"HAHA, I'd love to know how it came to that." He gives a knowing look to Roxanne, entirely enjoying the moment. She looks away in embarrassment.
"I wasn't that bad…"
"That's far from the truth, she spent more time murdering my golf clubs than actually playing the game, and on top of that she has the nerve to blame me for it! Though in hindsight I think it's very funny."
"At least I can compete! You were never even close to winning a race!"
"...I have a good reason for that."
"Don't bother, it's always the same excuse."
"No it's not! I can barely fit in the largest cart!"
"But you can still operate it, right?"
"Well…yeah, but–"
"Case closed."
"You still have an unfair advantage."
"Like you don't? You know the course inside and out!"
Freddy stepped in between them.
"Look, we all know you both love to win, but facts are facts, you were both specifically designed for your respective attractions. Naturally your compatibility is sort of…up to question. If you ask me, I think you should leave it at that."
"But that's where the fun is! Who will beat who first?! You can't have that sort of tension with simple arcade cabinets!" Monty argued.
"I suppose not."
"I knew you'd agree!" He suddenly turns to Gregory, who is highly amused by the group's bickering. "Hey kid, who do you think has a better shot at winning? Roxanne Wolf at my Golf course? Or yours truly at her raceway?"
With no hesitation, Gregory gave his answer.
"Roxanne." The gator's confidence instantly fizzled out, while hers skyrocketed.
"Uhhh, a bit biased don't you think?"
"No, I just think she has a better shot." Roxy nuzzled him.
"That's my pup!"