Oh mai... This is new...

After napping to catch up on missed sleep, Marie sat down and started to work on some of her little projects. Knitting and sewing were comforting to her, and she loved the idea of giving some nice personal gifts to others. She had already made a plush toy for Maude's sweet little boy, since he had been so traumatized when he and his mother were attacked, and at the moment she was making something for another person who could use some extra comfort.

---

Meanwhile, Chase was lounging with Pippa... and he happened to doze off. The Papillon met her doom when he rolled over and wrapped his arms around her, squishing her between his broad chest and the mattress. He mumbled in his sleep, his nose buried in her hair. "Pippa..."

---

Celeste was with Laura, dozing with her head on her sister's lap. Laura was still experiencing a bit of terror at the idea of someone dating her sister... Would she be okay? What happened if her heart was broken? How was Laura supposed to take care of her when someone else was trying to as well? Frightened and wishing her parents were there to provide guidance, Laura cradled her baby sister close, even though the two were about the same size now.

Duel was a little beat up since he went to investigate what was making him feel watched, luckily he was able to hide his injuries this time. He quickly teleported to Marie."Hey." he said.

---

Pippa woke up at the sound of her name. She half opened her eyes to find Chase cuddling her. She kissed his cheek and rested her head back on his chest as she snuggled with him. She gave a little weak smile as she murmured, "Chase..." 

---

 Ronnie decided that enough passed and that Laura had calmed down a little bit. He gently knocked on the door.

"We were almost Irish Twins. He was almost born in the same year I was, but not quite." Tina admitted, smiling a little. She then fell silent after Greyson knocked, and stared rather intently at the door, as she waited for someone to answer. 

Someone did indeed answer the door. The said otter they were looking for had answered, looking a little tired with some immense bedhead, not that his usual hair was much better than what it was now. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes, a little out of it, "Oh, good morning.... I didn't see you two coming... Literally." 

---

"H-hey...." Aaron reached out and grabbed Nani's arm before she could leave, and still looked rather concerned, "Jusht chill for a minute, alright? It'sh not that big of a deal...." 

---

"Alright.... Just..." Benjamin trailed off, not really sure what he was going to say. "Just... I don't like to see you in pain.... Or, anyone, really...."

Marie looked up, smiling tiredly, "Hello, Duel... I'm just getting a little bit of sewing and knitting done. I couldn't sleep any longer." Her dark auburn hair was pulled up into a messy bun, strands of it dangling in her face and at the nape of her neck.

---

Chase heard her talk in his sleep, and his tail wagged back and forth. He rubbed his head against hers, mumbling in his sleep again, "Mmnnnnn... my Pippa... I gotchu..." He squished his face against her, hugging her tightly.

---

Laura heard a knock at the door and almost yelled for whoever it was to go away, but stopped herself. Instead, she gently eased Celeste's head onto the couch as she rose to her feet, then headed towards the door. She cracked it open, and just felt upset all over again when she saw who it was, "... Hi."

---

"Sorry if we woke you, it was just pretty important for Tina to come see you," Greyson told him apologetically. He kept an arm around Tina as he spoke, knowing that the physical contact was comforting to her.

Inside the apartment, Maude and Jasper were asleep together on the couch, and Shiloh was for once the first one who had gotten out of bed. She was making a little breakfast for everyone, making sure it was high in protein so she and Phillip could work on regaining their body weight and, for her, muscle mass.

---

"I... Um... O-okay..." Nani was reluctant, but she sat down again when Aaron grabbed her arm. She shifted closer to him again, taking a moment to calm down. When she was a little less wound up, the ocelot let out a breath and reached over with one hand to gently caress Aaron's face, her gaze suddenly very focused and serious as she stared at him.

---

"I know, lad..." Scotty smiled faintly, "I'll take something right after we eat." He took another bite of pancake, which was extra soggy with syrup so he could swallow it easier.

"Here." Duel said, he got her hair out of the bun and pulled it into a cleaner bun instead. He then pulled Marie into a gentle hug.

---

"And you're my Chase. I'm not going anywhere."she replied and nuzzled his neck.

---

"Hey, I thought you might've calmed down a bit. Look I know that you must be worried about someone dating your sister and I understand that. Celeste might not even like me that way anyways, if she does she'll let you know. You might be her older sister, but this is ultimately her own choice. I just hope you at least understand that I'm trying to the right thing by saying this stuff." Ronnie explained.

"Don't worry about it... I just got up before you two got here. Maude and Jasper are asleep, though." Phillip then turned his attention back to his sister, and his demanour changed a little, "Are you okay...?" He took a step towards her, his eyes wide with worry. 

The siblings exchanged a quick hug, before the older sibling stepped away. "Well.... As okay as I can be." Tina admitted, before saying, "Nani came over and helped me a little earlier... Don't worry so much..." As much as she would take a while to recover fully from that, she had Greyson and Phillip to help her, rather than being on her own. 

"And you're saying that." Phillip replied, crossing his arms, before saying, "A-anyway, you wanna come in?" 

---

"There we go..." Aaron let go of Nani's hand after she sat down next to him. He stared back at her as she caressed his face like that, his yellow eye blinking a little, "Yesh?" 

---

"Alright...." Still worried either way, Stone tried to focus more on eating. He wa a rather big fan of syrup himself, and hated dry pancakes.

Marie smiled as Duel fixed her hair and pulled her into a hug. She leaned against him, "Do you want to go with me down to the infirmary to deliver this little gift?"

---

Snoring faintly, Chase wagged his tail again and let out a heavy sigh. He let out a happy little whining sound as she nuzzled him, though if he was awake he likely would have had a severe blush attack.

---

"I..." Laura began, about to say something angry. She didn't really appreciate being lectured by this boy, but she controlled herself. "It's just hard... Without our parents, I have to take care of her by myself... and it's scary..." Admitting to being scared was probably the first step to figuring things out.

"Sure." he said and gave a small smile.

---

Pippa kissed his cheek again, she was glad that he was happy when she did this or at least when he was asleep.

---

"I know that feeling in a way. It can be scary at first. You don't have to take care of her by yourself, I'm sure your friends could help you." he tried to assure.

"Yes, please. We'll be quiet so we don't wake Maude and Jasper," Greyson replied, taking one of Tina's hands when she stepped back after hugging her brother. He could see the mother and son pair on the couch, curled up beneath a colorful throw blanket. Little Jasper had his head on his mother's chest, a little stuffed toy tucked under his arm, with Maude's own arms wrapped firmly around him. Her hair wasn't braided like it usually was, the pale gold strands draped around her spotted face.

---

Nani gazed intently at him, getting that lost look on her face. She murmured softly, "I'm just... thinking about how grateful I am to have you... Safe here with me..." She brushed his hair back, so she could see his blue eye as well as his yellow one. The ocelot was starting to get emotional all over again as she thought about how many times she almost lost him, and she leaned forward to rest her forehead against his, holding his head in her hands.

---

Scotty ate what he could, but eventually just couldn't tolerate the pain and decided he was done. He rose to his feet and washed off his dishes, then went to find the painkillers, telling Stone, "Gonna take the medecene now..."

"Alright..." Phillip opened the door wider and let them in, before gently closing it after them. He then turned around, and saw them looking at Jasper and Maude-- he smiled a bit as he said, "Marie made that little stuffed animal for Jasper.... It's helping him recover quite well, thank Aurora." 

"Is Maude alright?" Tina asked, looking rather curiously at the fact that the cheetah's hair was down. 

"For the most part, yes." 

---

Aaron didn't do anything when Nani brushed his bang away from his blue eye, as he knew she loved to see his eyes... And then they widened a little when she finally spoke, and looked like she was struggling not to cry. The panther wrapped his arms around Nani again as his head rested against hers, while ignoring the pain, "I'm not going anywhere.... You know that." 

---

Stone looked relieved to hear that, "Good..." He watched the sheep go, before turning back to his plate. He was almost done himself, so he went to wash his plate off, too. He felt kind of lonely without Scotty there with him, but the sheep was just in the other room.

Marie rose to her feet, pulling on a pair of slippers instead of bothering with her shoes. She picked up the sweater she had knitted, explaining, "This is for EJ... I made it in Roy's size, though. He seems to like borrowing his sweaters, so I made him a big one of his own. Hopefully it'll help him feel better after how traumatized he was yesterday... I think Rachel will appreciate him calming down, too. She's so scared for him..."

---

Chase dozed for a little while longer, enjoying a short nap, but he started to wake up after a little while. His bleary eyes peeped open a little, glazed with sleepiness, but he still held onto Pippa, perhaps not awake enough to be embarrassed.

---

"I... I know..." Laura was trying not to cry in front of him, but it was hard. She had never talked about her parents before, not even to Roy. Letting out a shaky breath, she asked, "But... if Celeste does want to be with you, you'll take care of her, right? Because I-I swear, if you h-hurt her..."

"It should help a little bit at least." he replied.

---

"Morning." Pippa said and give him a little nuzzle.

---

"I would never harm a girl like Celeste, Laura. I will take of her if she does. Even if she doesn't I would at least want to be her friend." he replied. He hoped he wouldn't make her cry, he was kind of bad with that sort of thing since tears would hurt him.

Shiloh heard voices and peeked out of the kitchen. "Oh, hi guys... I'm just making some breakfast for Phillip and myself. How're you doing?"

"Okay-ish," Greyson replied, keeping his voice down since the cheetahs were sleeping. He couldn't help but keep glancing over at them. Maude had bruises on her head and arms, and shadows under her eyes as though she had a hard time sleeping lately... And poor little Jasper even seemed oddly pale with exhausted eyes. It wasn't right for a young child to be attacked like that.

As though he sensed someone looking at him, Jasper peeped open one eye. He gazed drowsily up at the teenagers, his little pink tongue flicking out to lick his lips.

---

"I-I know... I know..." Nani spoke in a more serious tone than she had in a long while, her voice seeming to carry weight, "Y-you're just... you're all I have right now... My whole world." She still held his face in her hands, pressing a long kiss to his forehead.

---

Scotty took a pill, wincing as it went down, then plodded out into the living room and sat down to wait for Stone. He couldn't help but rub at his sore bruises, his eyes glazed with pain, "Nnnnggg..."

Marie nodded, "I hope so..." She then took his hand and walked with him out of the apartment, the sweater for EJ draped over one arm. The mouse really hoped that this little gesture would help the shaken young couple in the infirmary, "I might make Rachel something, too... and Roy... Oh! Celeste mentioned that her sister's birthday is coming up soon... I wonder if Roy even knows that."

---

"G'mornin... again..." Chase mumbled tiredly, yawning. He was too comfortable to be weirded out by the cuddles, starting to get used to Pippa's touch... she was gentle, loving, and her silky hair smelled like vanilla. It was nice.

---

"Y-yeah... just... I worry..." Laura stammered, wiping at her face with her shirt sleeve. "We've been hurt by someone before, and I don't want it to happen again, is all... B-but I am sorry for yelling at you... I-I didn't mean to be like that."

Tina couldn't help but look away after observing Maude and Jasper for too long. It pained her that they had been attacked... It had to have been so hard on them. It was heartbreaking. Especially since Jasper was so young... Her ears angled down slightly, she turned her attention back to Shiloh and Greyson. Shiloh seemed to be doing better since the last time Tina saw her, which was nice. 

Phillip went over to Jasper as he started to wake up a little. He knelt down by the young cheetah, "Hey... You can go back to sleep, if you want. It's okay...." His voice was soft, so that Maude wouldn't wake up. 

---

"I know.... You are, too, for me...." Aaron had no idea about his mother, ever since this war happened. They had been separated, and he had been worried sick ever since. "We can help each other...." 

---

Stone finished up what he was doing, before turning back. He saw Scotty sitting at the table again, and went over to sit across from him. The hybrid didn't know what to say, and what to do, either.

"I could mention it to him later." Duel offered.

---

She gave a small laugh and put her hand in his. Her tail started to wag."We should get up." she said.

---

"It's ok, no hard feelings. I didn't mean to make you cry...I promise to help Celeste in anyway that I can." Amigo said.

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