Riley slept for... she wasn't really sure, especially if she were to include the exhaustion nap as they were driving back home yesterday.
One moment she just realized she was awake, the soft, muted tune of Lily practicing her violin providing her with something to focus on as she slowly stirred back into awareness.
Wait.
Lily practicing her violin.
Which she didn't do before breakfast.
Which meant it was after breakfast.
...
Fuck.
With a loud groan Riley tossed the covers aside as hard as she could- which in her half-asleep didn't amount to much beyond a couple feet.
After taking an ungodly amount of force to pry her eyes open her suspicions were confirmed- it was way past morning, with the winter sun already up high, filling her room with cold, white light.
A few worm-like motions later, she had managed to slide herself off the bed, eventually standing up right and straightening her back, still aching after her couch nap.
As she slid off her shirt to change into something less dirty, she managed a whiff of herself, realizing she hadn't showered in... three days.
The realization she probably stunk the most out of a household of skunks did force out a bizarre half-chuckle, half-exasperated groan out of her, which combined to a sound not unlike an old man whining.
Or dying.
She begrudgingly put the dirty shirt back on so that she'd have something on her to get over to the bathroom, the convenience of having one attached to her room missed dearly.
A pile of cleaner stuff in her hands later she was about ready to head out before she noticed a pair of framed photos on her dresser which definitely hadn't been there before.
One was the photo of her and her late mom she saw yesterday, displayed proudly for everyone to see, Riley having to stop herself from tearing up at the sight once more.
What was more interesting however was the second photo standing next to it, one she hasn't seen before. It was... wait, it was her mom. Definitely her but younger, couldn't have been older than Riley is now, and aside from sporting actually well-kept pigtails instead of her own incoherent mess of a hairstyle, she was so, so similar. A happy realization affirmed with a glance at the mirror that stood next to the photo.
She was wearing what must've been some school's uniform, looking so much more professional and stuffier than anyone Riley would willingly approach within ten feet of. Remarkably she didn't seem to mind much, smiling softly at the camera, the brick and grass background hinting the photo may have been taken at the back of a school.
Riley dumped the clothes on the chair, grabbing the photo to inspect it closer, holding it softly as she realized she could pull it out of the frame, turning the slick photo around and finding a short note hidden on the other side-
'''
Bridgette Williams
Bday: 10.22
The forever misunderstood one, fuck her parents
Wish I could convince my parents to help her somehow
05.22.01 ~ Riley H.
'''
Guess this was the other Riley her mom mentioned in her letter.
The present Riley wondered whether she could ask her grandparents to help her contact the past Riley, after all she was the only one that talked to her mom...
Yeah, she could. But that comes later, and right now she reeked.
She slid the photo back into its frame and grabbed the pile of clothes, planning her dash to the other end of the long corridor as she opened the door with her elbow.
And as usual, her desire to remain unseen was dashed once more.
"Hey Riley!" Timmy's squeak rung from the other end of the corridor, followed up by the sound of socks on carpet as he ran over and hugged her legs, the poor girl paralyzed once more.
"Morning Timmy, c-could you let go for now? I need to take a shower but afterwards we can hug for as long as you want, is that alright?" She answered with a hint of exasperation, unable to respond with the clothes in her arms, or even to see the lil' kit with her vision all blocked.
"Why do you need to take a shower?" The question was as interesting for him as it was baffling for her, the big sister eventually responding with-
"Because I stink." Riley's response was as deadpan as she was able to deliver with her face buried into many layers of clothes.
"Hehe, Riley stinks!" The tyke sounded like he'd just invented comedy.
Of course.
"Ya ya ya, I sure stink, now can I go to the bathroom so that I don't stink anymore?"
"But why are you taking a shower so early?" Timmy answered as he thankfully let go of her.
"Because stink doesn't wait." She trailed off as she dashed towards the bathroom, managing to slide herself in before the lil' brother could respond.
One layer of sweaty clothes less she was already inside the large bathtub, confused by how these things are used in the first place as she turned on the hot water.
As her joints and muscles relaxed, the tiny girl unable to fill up the entire length of the tub even when laying down on her back, she realized something with a glance at the shelves with shower gels and such.
She left her human ones in the bathroom of the large bedroom, forcing her to have to borrow someone else's.
Eeney, Meeney, Miney, this one.
Reddish pink bottle, a lot of colorful, large letters and pictures of pastel-colored cartoon anthros made it clear that it could only be Timmy's shower gel. Hopefully he wouldn't mind...
She grabbed the large pink bottle, pouring some of its contents on her hand, shuddering immediately as the slimy, reeking substance touched her skin, its consistency not unlike snot.
And it felt even worse as she tried to lather herself with it, the chemicals stinging a bit, their faint aroma making her nose turn in disgust as she tried to get it over with as fast as she could. Thankfully it did at least clean grime and after bubbling up it no longer felt... as horrible.
Still, Riley felt so much better after finally getting rid of the slime as she rinsed herself off, moving onto her tangled, matted hair.
Fortunately, the shampoo she'd grabbed was usable with all hair, her fingers lathering her blonde hair, feeling it become less and less greasy with every motion, much to her sanity.
The fewer things she had to be anxious about with regards to her appearance the better.
An application of conditioner later she was finally free to rinse thoroughly and wrap it all up, getting rid of the leftover gel that still stuck to her. Do all anthros have to put up with that stuff?
All grievances with the shower were more than made up for with the fluffy towel she wrapped herself with, just enjoying how soft it was for a while before she dried herself thoroughly, a new, fresh set of clothes making her feel just so much more comfortable overall.
With a puff of vapor in her wake, she finally left the bathroom, any concerns over how late it might have been dissolving themselves once she heard Lily's tune as she made her way back into her bedroom.
She was still left with a handful of dirty clothes, very dirty judging by her yesterday jeans, knees and shins positively caked in dried mud.
Guess she was a bit more... dramatic with her grieving than her tattered memory could recall.
She could barely remember anything that had happened yesterday, but with another glance at her mom's photo, the aftermath of it was definitely appreciated, so, so much.
And today, she was really hungry.
Riley grabbed her phone and knife from her yesterday's pants, confirming that it was just after eleven. The resulting question of 'how did she sleep what must have been sixteen hours total between the nap and the actual rest' left forever unanswered.
With all else out of the way, she was finally off to the races, dirty clothes carried under her arm to be deposited in the laundry room first and foremost.
The dining table thankfully had one set left over for her, a couple of what must have been hard boiled eggs next to a piece of toast with something green on it.
What was more interesting is that while there wasn't anybody around, the door to the basement was open and there were a handful of boxes around, some Christmas decorations sprawled on the couch.
She moved her breakfast around the table so that she could watch whatever it was that was happening around the basement, cracking her eggs and grabbing a bite of the toast, the green stuff tasting... buttery. Roughly.
Halfway through her cold but still really tasty meal, she saw Rick and Andrew drag another box out of the basement, seemingly the last one with them closing the door behind themselves before setting the cardboard container down.
Riley kept observing quietly, slowly eating her belated breakfast as they pulled something large, flat, and judging by their movements, really heavy out of it, setting it down on the floor before taking out the rest of the things, too distant to really make out, the whole scene given a serene soundtrack with Lily's practice.
"Good morning sweetie, are you feeling better today?"
So serene she hadn't even noticed Ella making her way downstairs before she was literally standing right next to the table, sudden appearance making her jump just a tiny bit.
"O-oh, good morning! And yeah, I do, hard to overstate just how much even." Riley responded with a sigh, calming herself down as she smiled up at Ella, warm appreciation filling her features.
"I'm so glad to hear Riley. Not gonna lie, it was just a bit scary to see you three just storm out of the house like that, especially since we overheard some of your... conversation." Her mom admitted, Riley suddenly feeling much more embarrassed about it.
"O-oh... how bad was it?" Riley asked as she looked away from Ella, now really regretting her request to have the cork pulled out yesterday.
"Yeah, we could hear you getting angry occasionally, and while I somewhat understood how bad something like that must've felt to go through, I'm not sure the kits did, had to calm Lily down a bit once you three had left. And you returning asleep with mud all over certainly didn't help in making it look less gruesome, haha."
"Oh... yeah, that. I really hope they weren't all scared..."
"Don't worry sweetie, Marv has a knack for making up cover stories, you just slipped on the wet mud and fell over and was a bit hurting and tired. Which... not that far from the truth now eh?" Ella chuckled at the last addition, Riley not able to disagree at that, thinking of a small quip of her own before a gentle embrace stopped that, skunk mom holding her softly.
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"And, well, he told me and Rick the true story and... I'm so sorry Riley." She quietly whispered as she held the sitting Riley, who quickly turned around to hold her back, as tightly as she could from this position.
"It's all fine now, I promise. Yeah, it did hurt a lot, but I do feel so much lighter afterwards, like I was carrying a heavy bag all along and it's finally gone now." Riley tried to verbalize how she felt about it all with the benefit of hindsight, taking a deep breath to really feel the weight gone from her conscience.
"I can only imagine. I cried like a baby on granny's burial, but this is just... so much sadder." Ella kept her quiet voice, having to herself focus on not tearing up at the story.
Again, at least.
Riley nodded at that, her hug only tightening.
"Yeah. But I'm finally past all that and can finally just... appreciate her for the mom she tried her hardest to be, and you for the mom you are... mom." She responded similarly quietly, smiling widely at her addition, and at Ella's reaction-
"Oh cmere you!" She squeaked happily at Riley's words, surprisingly managing to lift Riley off the chair she was sitting on as she held her daughter tightly, only setting her back down on her feet once her back started complaining.
Riley couldn't help but to laugh at her gesture, her standing position letting her hold Ella even closer, all the warmth of fur and her sweater making it all feel so... welcoming and caring, a-and-
Like she felt with her old mom.
Both girls shed a couple of tears at their embrace, opening their eyes in unison once they felt a third person join their extended hug, Andrew's overjoyed smile only lighting up Riley's mood even further.
"H-heh, hey Andrew." Riley slowly muttered out, the combined pile of three bodies slowly rocking back and forth to Lily's music.
"Good morning Riley! I see you're feeling better?" He asked in his usual soft voice, further deepening his gentle hug, leaning in to nuzzle the top of Riley's head, the sensation definitely enjoyable if ticklish.
"So, so much better. Sorry for giving y'all a scare yesterday, heh."
She almost choked with laughter as both mother and son tried to 'Shhhh' her simultaneously, all three breaking into giggles as they let go of their warm hugs.
"But yeah, don't sweat it sweetie, we were confused for a bit but it's all alright now. Guess you could still show yourself to Lily and Timmy so that they see you're bac-"
Speak of the devil.
"Hey Riley do you still stink!?" Timmy squeaked as he ran up to her and held her legs, managing to somehow stealth his way downstairs in the meantime, the addition of the lil' tyke making her giggle loudly for almost a minute straight as she scritched him before crouching and giving him a long, close hug.
"Nope, took a shower!" She answered cheerfully, petting him some more as he took a deep sniff, his expression growing a bit surprised as he smelled something... weird.
"You smell weird." He flatly admitted, Riley rising a brow in response, sniffing herself all she can, but only catching a tiny hint of the leftover chemical tang of the kit's shower gel.
"No I don't." She responded triumphantly, her smirk fading once the skunk mom herself walked up closer to give her a sniff, her expression deeply confused at what she'd smelt.
"You showered, right?" She asked, tone of her voice inquisitive as her brain ran on all cylinders, Riley more than confused at what was happening around her.
"Y-yeah, I just said so. Forgot to take my shower gel from the bathroom in the large bedroom so I just had to use Timmy's." Riley slowly muttered, eyes going wide at the skunks' reactions, Andrew joining the other two as his nose twitched at the faint smell.
"Timmy's... wait, how did the bottle look like?" Ella suddenly realized what must have happened, suppressing a chuckle as she awaited the confirmation from Riley.
"Reddish, large colored letters, some cartoon characters... what did I do this time?"
"Well, you did use a Timmy's shower gel- but it's his descenting one we'd use a lot while he was much younger, I knew I remembered this smell but couldn't quite place it until now." She giggled as she recalled the many, many times she'd have to wash Timmy with it, poor baby being quite a scaredy kit when younger, much to the suffering of everyone else's noses.
"Oh." Riley couldn't help but to just flatly acknowledge, having absolutely no idea how she should react at any of this, the whole situation so far off any experience she ever had.
"So, should I wash again or something?"
"Oh no, no need to, it will weather away in a bit, just best to sort out your shower supplies as soon as you're done with the breakfast so that it won't happen again. And so that you don't smell like a burnt tire again, teehee."
"Why haven't you had your breakfast yet?" Timmy asked in confusion as he looked up at her, the girl sitting back down on the chair and quickly resuming the meal. Internally she was profusely thanking the curious kit for impromptu-questioning their way away from the awkward subject not wanting to subject herself to even a moment more of it.
Andrew turned towards stairs with a muted chuckle at his sister's predicament only to be cut off as Rick finally spoke up, walking up to the table-
"Oh don't worry Riley, you're far from the first person that made that mistake, hehe." His chuckle made the poor Andrew blush in embarrassment as he recalled making the same 'mistake' many, many times back when he was much more insecure.
Except his were deliberate to an extent.
"So, after you wrap up your breakfast and sort out the shower stuff, we're gonna head out to grab the Christmas tree now that I got all the measurements, wanna get some fresh air and help us look?" Her dad turned towards Riley, the girl nodding strongly as she chewed on the hard-boiled egg, definitely wanting an opportunity to weather the smell of her mistake away.
"Sweet. Afterwards it'll be time for everyone to help decorating the tree- so Timmy, while we're gone, you'll get to prepare all the baubles and ornaments and lights and garlands-"
"What are gar-ga-garliclands?" The kit asked with a tilt of this head, Riley not breaking into giggles only because her mouth was full of avocado toast.
"Long things we wrap around the tree, the paper rings, the 'shiny strings' as you called when you were younger, this kind of stuff."
"Shiny strings!" He recalled happily, wiggling in place in excitement as Riley wrapped up her meal, really hoping that Timmy wouldn't just be left alone to deal with the glass bubbles...
"Aww, remember when you were just one and a bit and liked the glittering ones so much you just wrapped yourself with them and just rolled on the ground as I sorted the other decorations out, have a photo of that tucked in there somewhere." Ella reminisced with happy nostalgia in her voice, reaching down to scritch her lil' kit some more.
Riley giggled at the mental image as she put the plate into the dishwasher, dashing back upstairs and relocating her shower supplies to the shared bathroom, taking a moment to actually take a closer look at the bottle she'd mistakenly used-
'''
Schwarzkopf
Scent-off
Kids!
No discoloration
Skin and fur friendly
Eliminates all smell
Gentle formula
'''
She hoped that at least the first point wouldn't be as bullshit as the other three, her eyes rolling so hard at the advertising nonsense she was afraid she's accidentally roll them onto the back of her head.
With that dealt with she quickly dashed back into her room, changing into some outside clothes, grabbing the thick cordu-something pair and slipping neatly into it, her legs wasting no time in starting to cook themselves in the indoor heat, urging her to change faster.
A couple minutes later she was dressed up and ready, dashing out of her room only to find that Andrew was just entering his, unzipping her jacket at the realization she'd have to wait a while.
Riley was about to just head downstairs and wait on the couch as she realized that she still hasn't spoken with Lily today, wanting to relieve the kit's doubts as she walked up to her door and knocked quietly, her practice immediately ceasing.
She couldn't even get a word in edgewise before Lily hugged her as tight as her tween body could, all her strength managing to squeeze the air out of her, Riley choking for a moment before hugging her back, definitely appreciating how concerned she must have been.
"R-Riley oh my god a-are you okay!?" Lily muttered out as her body shook, older sister petting the back of her head as she answered-
"Yeah, I am. I feel... better now, I'm so sorry for scaring you all back there." She answered apologetically, continuing to pet the kit's back.
"W-what happened? D-dad told us that you were visiting your old mom's grave and I was scared t-that something bad happened to you..."
"Well, I did visit her grave, and said my goodbyes." Riley recalling slowly, trying to mute the still vivid memories and stop them from making her sad by proxy.
"B-but why? I thought you said she was a bad person?"
"I was wrong Lily. I was so, so wrong, and our grandparents helped me finally realize that. It did hurt, a lot, but I'm happy it did, and I'm happy that my memory of her is no longer so awful."
"You're happy it hurt?" Lily whispered out in confusion, the concept refusing to make sense to her.
"Think of it like, like shots. They hurt and you don't want to take them, but after you're done with them, you're happy you did since you don't get sick." Riley tried to explain the emotional maelstrom she's been through the best she could, her wording deliberately hiding the sheer amount of pain.
Nobody would want to take shots if the needle was the size of your finger.
"I-I see... s-so your old mom was g-good?" She followed up, trying to make secondhand sense of it all.
"She... yeah, she was a good person, and tried her best to make me happy." Riley had to focus on not tearing up as she slowly conveyed what she'd learned, the sheer impact of it all still threatening to send her into sobs.
"It's just... her own parents weren't good people and kept hurting her and it all was just too hard for her, if that makes sense."
"Your mom's parents hurt her?" Lily asked in clarification, Riley's grip tightening a bit as she remembered what Liz told her.
"Yes, they did, they hurt her a lot. But they're not important anymore, and I'm just happy I got to say goodbye to my old mom, and that I finally remember how she looked, and how happy I was with her."
Lily took a while to come up with a response, loads of questions swirling inside the scared kit's mind as she held tightly onto her sister.
"H-Happier than you are with us?" The crassness of kit's question clearly evaded her, Riley's brain going into overtime trying to answer it reasonably well.
"I don't think I can compare it, I was so young back then. But I know that if given a choice between you all and her I would just kick down the table and grab both her and you, since I love you all just so much~" Riley answered with a tight hug, petting some more as she felt Lily tear up just a bit at her kind words.
Damn it feels good to be so smooth.
"I-I see... h-how did she look like?" Lily asked with a whisper as she wiped her tears into the sleeve of her jumper, a lightbulb lighting up in Riley's mind as she dashed to her room with a parting-
"Oh, I've a photo now, just wait a second!"
And a second later she was indeed back, holding the framed photo towards Lily, the kit smiling wider as she inspected the picture, asking for clarification-
"So... that little one is you?"
"Yep! I must have been what, two, maybe three back then."
"She looks so similar to you..."
"Oh, she was. And now, after all, I'm happy I got so much of her looks." Riley answered with a beaming smile before her head darted to the side, Andrew having finally finished dressing up.
He wordlessly walked over to check out whatever it was his sisters were sneakily talking about, a sly expression melting into a wide, just a tad bit teary smile as he saw what was on the image, pulling both Lily and Riley into a quiet group hug, neither objecting.
Afterwards he pushed on towards downstairs, Riley ready to put the photo back and follow him before a question from Lily caught her off guard-
"Riley... can I do something with the photo while you're gone?"
"Something l-like what?" Riley was definitely uncertain at this, not wanting to risk one of the only images she had left.
"Just want to scan it and do some digital touch-ups if you don't mind..."
"Scan it? A-alright then, just be careful, alright?" Riley asking the question primarily to just reassure herself that her sister wouldn't deliberately damage it like that.
"I will, promise promise!" Lily answered in an instant, gently taking the photo and holding it like a baby as her sister smiled down at her.
"So... good luck with whatever your plan is?" Riley chuckled as she joined Rick and Andrew downstairs, the three quickly making their way back into the car once more.
While Riley Asher had more questions about her body than answers pretty much constantly, the mystery of why was it so easy for her to keep falling asleep despite already having a decent night's rest was seemingly destined to forever remain unsolved. Though, as much as the warmth of the car's heating and the engine's rumbling were pushing her towards another nap, it wouldn't be the time for that yet, as signaled by the buzzing in her pocket.
'''
_________
Madeline Johnson: morning Riley, how are you doing?
'''
Well this is random.
As nice and... cute as Maddy was, Riley wasn't sure why would she just message her out of the blue like that, especially with something so... small-talky?
The mystery wouldn't leave her on its own, Riley knew herself enough to be sure on that, so a few fumbled attempts later, she managed to dig into the menu to compose a message in return, quickly tapping out-
'''
Riley Asher: Im good , did Something happen?
'''
With a response written, she was ready to slide the phone back into her pocket and give in to the car's comfort- at least before she felt it buzz in her hand once more, not half a minute later.
'''
Madeline Johnson: Glad to hear Riley, and it's really nothing big, was just thinking if you'd want to check out some stuff at the mall after the xmas rush dies down?
Madeline Johnson: Or maybe meet up sometime before that
'''
Riley blinked in confusion after reading the message, the request not really making much of a sense-
Unless...
She felt her cheeks blush something fierce as she considered the possibility she hadn't thought of before, an unsure smile wobbling like mad on her lips as she kept repeating the message over and over to herself, trying to find the right words as fast as her overheating brain would let her. The girl quickly realized she had absolutely no idea what to write though, unsure even if this was actually anything more than just Maddy being bored and wanting someone to help with shopping or just hang out.
It was time to use Riley's famous subtlety to find out.
'''
Riley Asher: is this A date?
'''
Nobody said it was famous for good reasons.
Her heart rate felt like it was somewhere in the upper three-digit range, seemingly gaining yet another digit as the answer came through almost as soon as she'd set the phone down again.
'''
Madeline Johnson: ...maybe.
Madeline Johnson: So, interested or not?
'''
Maybe yes or maybe n- nobody would respond 'maybe' if they meant 'hell no', of course it was 'maybe yes'.
Riley's entire body squirmed as she quickly mashed out a response, a sudden grin refusing to wash itself from her face.
'''
Riley Asher: yes yes yes
'''
This time, the response was too quick for the overexcited girl to even distract herself before it'd arrived.
'''
Madeline Johnson: YUS
Madeline Johnson: When would you be available?
Riley Asher: i thnk we'll be busy putting up the xmas tree today, so maybe tomorrow?
Madeline Johnson: Aren't yall gonna be knee deep in christmas preparations?
Riley Asher: not sure
Riley Asher: well, if so you could come help us if you wNt
'''
Riley immediately bit her tongue at that, realizing how badly that came off the very instant after she'd pressed the send button, wincing after she heard her phone buzz afterwards, her heart sinking as she slowly slid the phone back into her pocket, not quite having the heart to face the consequences of her blunder, especially with the drowsiness that kept nibbling at her.
And with the immediate distraction of her phone gone, she was out before she could even worry too much more, dozing off to the comfy rumble of the car, especially when contrasted to the cold white of the outside world.