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are left reeling after their mother's departure. They start to pick up the pieces.\nStarring Ayda (wolf herm, 18) and Olivia (wolf female, 13).\n\nPart 5 of the Ayda & Olivia series. \n\nbonus points will be awarded to anyone who can identify the joke of tom's screen name :3", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Ayda & Olivia are left reeling after their mother's departure. They start to pick up the pieces.
Starring Ayda (wolf herm, 18) and Olivia (wolf female, 13).

Part 5 of the Ayda & Olivia series.

bonus points will be awarded to anyone who can identify the joke of tom's screen name :3", "writing": "[b]Ayda & Olivia V[/b]\n[b]Bad Days and Good Days[/b]\nby OttersInTrousers\n[i]\nAyda & Olivia are left reeling after their mother's departure. They start to pick up the pieces.\nStarring Ayda (wolf herm, 18) and Olivia (wolf female, 13).\n\nPart 5 of the Ayda & Olivia series. [/i]\n\n[center]-----[/center]\n\n[q]\"I don't wanna—live with a mom who thinks I'm—I'm—[i]trapping [/i]her,\" Olivia sobs. Ayda's heart breaks.\n\n\"Hush, [i]hussshh[/i],\" Ayda croons. \"You're not gonna. I swear to you, Liv, I am gonna keep you safe, here with me. You don't have to go [i]anywhere [/i]you don't want to.\" A quiet moment passes, Ayda combing hir fingers through Olivia's fur. \"Let's go inside, hm?\" Olivia nods her assent.\n\nCarefully, so as not to separate them, Ayda swings open the door and waddles them across the threshold. Then shi picks up hir little sister, kicks the door closed, and carries her to their bedroom, collapsing onto their bed. \n\nOlivia cries. Ayda holds her.[/q]\n\n[center]-----[/center]\n\nAyda tries not to cry. \n\nAfter showing up unannounced and spending an entire day and night making condescending remarks, Ayda and Olivia's mother left, but not before dropping a bombshell—she's fucking off who-knows-where until winter break, abandoning Olivia here until the Solstice, because she thinks of the pup as a [i]burden[/i]. As an obligation she's [i]stuck with[/i].\n\nAyda [i]tries [/i]not to cry.\n\nShi cries. \n\nHow could Jess even think like that—how could [i]anyone [/i]think like that—of her own child, of [i]Olivia[/i], such a wonderful, brilliant, adorable pup? Ayda is [i]so[/i]—shi's so many things all at once that it's hard to tell what all shi is. So shi clings to hir precious little sister, weeping for the pup. \n\nOlivia sobs into Ayda's chest, tears soaking through hir shirt.\n\nAfter an hour, Olivia has mostly cried herself out, now only sniffles and the occasional whimper. Ayda just keeps rubbing her back, holding her close. Then the pup takes a deep breath in, and out, and pushes back to sit up.\n\n\"Livie?\"\n\nShe dries her eyes with a paw, then wipes her snout in her tanktop—[i]Ayda's[/i] tanktop that she stole this morning—before tearing it off and flinging it into the corner near the door.\n\n\"Okay!\" She drums her hands on her thighs. \"Positives.\" \n\nAyda interrupts whatever she's about to do.\n\n\"You don't [i]have [/i]to be okay right now, baby sis.\" Shi trails a paw up the pup's bare side. \"It's okay to be hurting.\"\n\n\"I [i]know[/i], Ayda.\" The sharpness of the words seems to surprise her—her body stiffens, eyes wide, before her ears droop. \"Sorry. I know. But if I don't do [i]something [/i]I'm gonna think more about how much my mom [i]resents [/i]me and I [i]can't[/i], Ayda, [i]I can't[/i].\" Ayda moves hir hand up to cup her cheek, and she leans into it, closing her eyes for a moment. \"So.\" She shrugs. \"Positives.\"\n\nAyda smiles, and waits.\n\n\"I don't have to go back home anytime soon! I get to live with you a while longer!\" She chuckles, a little manic. \"I get to fall asleep in your arms every night—\"\n\n\"—And wake up in my arms every morning.\" Ayda finishes the idea for her.\n\n\"I get to share meals with you.\"\n\nAyda smirks. \"You mean steal all my fries.\" \n\nOlivia giggles, a real and proper giggle that fills Ayda's heart with warmth. \"That's right. Girlfriend [i]and [/i]little sister privileges!\" She sighs, lying back down, pillowing her head on Ayda's breast. \"I get to hug you anytime I want.\"\n\n\"You sure do.\" Ayda squeezes her tight.\n\n\"Sorry about your shirt.\" Olivia pokes the spot left by her earlier tears.\n\n\"It's just clothes, it'll wash.\" A moment passes, quietly. Ayda combs hir claws through Olivia's fur. The pup sighs.\n\n\"The whole house is gonna smell like her now.\"\n\n\"For a bit, yeah. I could air it out again, like I did when she got here?\"\n\n\"Please.\" She turns to look over her shoulder at the bedroom door, in thought. \"Is it wrong that I wanna fuck on every surface she touched just to spite her?\"\n\nAyda squawks a surprised cackle. \"No way I can balance on the countertop [i]and [/i]hold you up to fuck you against the overhead cabinets.\"\n\n\"I mean we could [i]try[/i].\"\n\n\"Nope.\" Ayda rolls them over so shi can loom over hir little sister. \"I'm not breaking our necks just for spite.\" Shi leans down to place a quick kiss to the tip of Olivia's muzzle. \"I will [i]absolutely [/i]give the whole place a real good cleaning to try and get her smell out, though. And there's plenty of things we [i]can [/i]safely fuck on.\"\n\n\"Mkay.\" She giggles, pauses, averts her eyes. \"Can we start in here? I know we didn't let her in here, but still.\"\n\n\"We can start here. It's comfortable, it's safe, it's [i]ours[/i].\"\n\n\"And we can take our time.\"\n\n\"We sure can.\" Ayda leans down to capture Olivia's muzzle in a kiss, soft, sweet, slow. \"We have the rest of the [i]year[/i], baby sis.\" \n\n\"Mhmmmmm.\" Olivia starts unbuttoning Ayda's top, so shi reaches a hand back to unfasten the tail loop of hir pants. \"Have I told you recently how [i]hot [/i]you are, big sis?\" She snaps the shirt open, then uses her fingertips to jostle Ayda's breasts. \"Just look at these boobs.\"\n\nAyda chuckles, letting hir breath fall into a lusty growl as shi leans in to capture Olivia's muzzle in a kiss. Olivia arches her back, roughly grasps Ayda's breasts and squeezes, earning her a hump of Ayda's hips. Ayda pulls away with a grin, only to take in the state Olivia's already in—topless, panting with need, clutching at her big sis—and dive right back in. Shi presses in against Olivia, fur on fur, bracketing her against the bed.\n\n\"I love you, Livie.\" Ayda [i]breathes [/i]the words against Olivia's lips, then smooches hir way along her jaw and down her throat to nuzzle into her ruff and draw a squeaking little moan from the pup.\n\n\"Mmmlove you too.\" Olivia buries her nose in Ayda's ruff, drinks in hir scent. She grunts, \"Pants, [i]please[/i], I need you in meeeee.\"\n\nAyda smiles, places a kiss to Olivia's pulse point, and slides a hand between their bodies to effortlessly tug Olivia's too-big shorts down. Getting hir own capris off takes a little work, especially when shi doesn't want to stop cuddling, but with a few grunts and a lot of wiggling, shi manages, much to Olivia's amusement.\n\nAnd then there's nothing between hir throbbing cock and Olivia's dripping spade. Shi rolls hir hips, sliding hir length along Olivia's clit. \"Love you, [i]so much[/i].\" As shi lines up hir tip, shi leans in for another kiss, then delights in the [i]needy [/i]little moan shi pulls from Olivia's throat and into hir own mouth as shi slips in.\n\nOlivia's hands wander over Ayda's back, before latching onto hir fur and pulling hir down. Confused, shi pulls away. \"No no don't pull away don't stop,\" Olivia [i]begs[/i]. \"I need you on me, all of you. I wanna—squish me, [i]please[/i].\"\n\n\"Okay.\" Straightening hir back, shi lies flat over Olivia, the pup [i]just [/i]able to get her chin over hir shoulder. \"I'm here, baby sis.\" Another roll of hir hips, knot already beginning to engorge and slow hir cock's passage through Olivia's spade. \"I got you. You feel me?\" Shi grinds in, insistent, as shi lets hir knot finish and tie them. \"I'm [i]here[/i]. Not going [i]anywhere[/i], and neither are you.\" Shi kisses Olivia's eartip. \"You're okay.\" Olivia sniffles. Her little pussy convulses. \"I love you. You're okay.\"\n\nAyda repeats the words. \"I love you.\" Olivia's shoulders shake. \"You're okay.\" Olivia hitches her hips. \"I love you.\" Olivia clenches down hard. Again and again, Ayda repeats hirself as Olivia rides through an emotional orgasm. Somewhere along the way, shi cums too.\n\n\"Wanna nap,\" Olivia slurs. \"Can I be on top?\"\n\n\"You sure can, Livie.\" Careful, gentle, Ayda rolls them over. Olivia snuggles in, rests her head on one of Ayda's boobs, and goes boneless. Ayda pets along her back, dull claws combing through soft fur. \n\nWithin minutes, Olivia's snoring.\n\n[center]-----[/center]\n\nThe previous night's TLC still buzzing in her heart, Olivia's gathering everything together to scramble some eggs, reaches into the \"spatula drawer\"—which is really just the drawer that Ayda shoves everything that doesn't have a better spot elsewhere—and notices that the menu to the nearest pizza place is sitting on top of all the junk, out of place. She picks it up, and something falls out of it, fluttering to the floor. Cash. One of the bills has a note stuck to it, and she reads it before realizing what it is.\n\n[i]\"So you don't starve when your sister inevitably forgets to feed you.\"[/i]\n\n[i]She [/i]even signed it with a heart, like this could have [i]possibly [/i]been motivated by love.\n\nAyda finds her frozen there, staring through the note in her hand, minutes later.\n\n\"Hey baby sis, how's breakfast going—\" Ayda freezes, ears forward and tail stiff, then approaches slowly. \"Liv?\" Shi reads the note over Olivia's shoulder. \"Oh, Livie.\" Shi gently pulls the pup in, wrapping hir arms around her and holding her close as the tears start.\n\nOlivia turns slowly in hir arms, slips her arms up to wrap around Ayda's middle, buries her snout between hir breasts. \n\nFor most of the day, Ayda turns the house [i]upside down[/i] looking for any other \"surprises\" Jess may have left; all the while, Olivia stays wrapped around hir waist, trailing behind hir like a second tail, with her hands alternately in the pocket of hir hoodie or under the hoodie and splayed in hir bellyfur. Shi doesn't find anything.\n\nThat doesn't make either of them feel any better.\n\n[center]-----[/center]\n\nDays pass in a grey haze. Some moments, Olivia seems fine, perky, [i]almost [/i]like her usual self. Others, she's clinging to Ayda and fighting back tears, or staring blankly into nothing, lost to her thoughts and [i]numb[/i]. Ayda just does hir best to be there.\n\nAyda wakes Olivia up by kissing her brow, quietly calling her name. The pup curls tighter against hir with an [i]adorable [/i]little groan, then stretches out and cracks open her eyes.\n\n\"G'morning, Ayda.\" Her voice is syrupy-thick with sleep, slurring the words together.\n\n\"Morning, baby sis.\" Ayda squeezes her, then rolls them both over so Olivia is on the free edge of the bed. \"Ready to start your day?\" \n\n\"[i]Ew[/i], no.\" Ayda laughs, which only seems to encourage Olivia, who scrambles over hir to press herself against the wall again with a little giggle. \"Not gettin' up today.\"\n\n\"Not at all?\"\n\n\"Nope.\" Olivia catches hir by the arm. \"And you're not, either. We're staying in bed all day cuddling.\"\n\n\"[i]Just [/i]cuddling?\" Ayda raises a brow.\n\n\"[i]Obviously [/i]we're gonna fuck a bunch, too.\"\n\n\"Okay, phew, good.\" Ayda mimes wiping hir brow. \"I was a bit worried for a second there.\" That gets a giggle out of Olivia. \"How about we cuddle a bit—fuck too if you want—then I go make breakfast while you stay here?\"\n\nOlivia hums in thought. \"An acceptable arrangement, but you're definitely not leaving 'til you give me a creampie.\"\n\n\"Are you in heat again already?\"\n\n\"No!\" Olivia giggles. \"I just—I dunno, it'll make me feel better to have your cum in me while you're gone.\"\n\nAyda can't help but to pull her into a crushing hug, kiss her deeply. \"I won't be far, and I won't be long. I promise.\" Shi pets through Olivia's ruff. \"Now, let's get to work on that creampie, huh?\"\n\n[i]-----[/i]\n\nAn hour later, the door clicks softly behind Ayda as shi carefully makes hir way to the kitchen, leaving a well-fucked Olivia to nap in bed. Shi really is going to make the pup breakfast, but...\n\nBut finding that money in the pizza menu got hir thinking, and now shi is [i]terrified[/i]. Shi just needs to do the math. Shi just has to be [i]sure[/i].\n\nThirty minutes and half a pad of paper later, she's pretty sure this is [i]apocalyptic[/i]. There's just no way shi can afford to keep Olivia for the fall—not without some kind of big change. Hir student stipend has been [i]plenty [/i]so far, including keeping Olivia for the summer, but the school supplies, clothes, medications, doctor trips, are all going to add up fast, too fast for the stipend to cover alone. If shi had [i]custody[/i], it would be different. Then, the stipend would be greater, shi'd get benefits to help cover cub-raising costs. Instead, the pup's just a long-term visitor—so [i]Jess [/i]is still receiving cubcare in her monthly welfare.\n\n[i]Shit[/i].\n\n\"I'll say.\" At Olivia's voice, Ayda squawks and flails, limbs pinwheeling and chair teetering, pages of notes fluttering across the table. Did shi say that out loud? Liv's standing there in the doorway, looking—concerned? Angry? Ayda can't quite place it, but hates the pinch in the pup's brow, the tentative way she moves as she approaches. \"That's [i]a lot[/i] of notes, and [i]zero[/i] breakfast. You okay, big sis?\"\n\n\"Y-yeah, Liv.\" Shi hastily gathers everything up in a pile and shoves it away, [i]hopefully [/i]before the pup can read any of it—she doesn't need all of this weighing on her, one more reason to feel like a burden. She is [i]not [/i]a burden.\n\nAfter breakfast, they laze on the couch. Without moving from her spot on top of Ayda with her ear over hir heart, Olivia mumbles, \"What're your friends up to today?\"\n\n\"Hmm?\"\n\n\"Your friends. I haven't seen you check in on them in a couple days. What're they up to?\"\n\n\"Oh. I guess I haven't. Been a [i]little [/i]preoccupied, I guess.\" Shi pats Olivia's butt for emphasis, earning hir a slow, sweeping tailwag. So Ayda opens the group chat and navigates to the \"shinies for Ayda :3\" room, then holds the phone so they can both see it and scrolls through several pages of memes and selfies, while Olivia does her best to remember who is which screen name, quizzing herself.\n\n\"Okay so, [i]GracefulEmber[/i] is easy, that's Grace, she's a bear. And [i]Caro[/i] is Lina, the maned wolf, because it's the other half of her name. [i]Mendicanterer[/i] is Maple because she's a horse. [i]Red[/i] is Tom but I don't remember why.\" \n\nAyda snorts a laugh. \"It's a dumb, two-step inside joke.\"\n\n\"And he's a cat?\"\n\n\"Mhm.\"\n\nAt the latest, she tilts her head.\n\n\"Who the heck's 'The Gardener'?\"\n\n\"That. Is. A great question.\" Ayda checks the userlist and finds that it's, \"Claire, apparently?\"\n\n\"Why?\" Ayda agrees with Olivia's question, so shi types into the chat for the first time in two weeks.\n\n[i]Ayda: Why @The_Gardener?[/i]\n\nThe reply is suspiciously instant.\n\n[i]The_Gardener: You could say my spade is[/i]\n[i]The_Gardener: groundbreaking :3[/i]\n\nThere's a sudden flurry of activity. \n\n[i]Caro: :tomato:[/i]\n\n[i]GracefulEmber: How dare you make me read that, you goober.[/i]\n\n[i]red_ryan_j: FUCKIGN[/i]\n[i]red_ryan_j: INCREDIBLE [/i]\n\n[i]The_Gardener: lolol gottem[/i]\n[i]The_Gardener: and i heard u snort lina >:3[/i]\n\nOlivia giggles as the messages scroll by.\n\n[i]Ayda: you got a laugh from Olivia.[/i]\n\n[i]The_Gardener: thank you Olivfdgpioudgh[/i]\n\nNeither Lina nor Claire send anything else for twenty minutes, during which time Ayda and Olivia go another round. They're cuddling through Knot Time when Ayda's phone buzzes twice.\n\n[i]The_Gardener: we should rename lina \"The_Farmer\" because she's plowing me[/i]\n[i]The_Gardener: dont show that to Olivia.[/i]\n\n[center]-----[/center]\n\nAyda tries doing the math again the next chance shi gets, a few days later, after Olivia's asleep. Hir previous notes in a stack to the side, shi does all hir calculations a second time [i]to be sure[/i]. Shi drops hir head into hir hands, staring unblinking at—through—the scattered pages before hir. Can shi even do this? Nothing is adding up. The stipend [i]was [/i]enough—plenty really—but now it's not even a question of belt-tightening. Shi [i]might [/i]be able to get an advance on the stipend, but that would just be borrowing from the future. Shi considers a part-time job, but that would take even more time away from being with Olivia. \n\nWhen shi makes it back to bed, shi's still shaking.\n\nThe next time they go shopping together, Ayda nearly has a panic attack at the till. There's no reason to—shi still has plenty enough to get through the summer and then some—but suddenly shi can see every little thing adding up, and shi's taken back to hir math over the kitchen table, that [i]stupid fucking[/i] note, and the knowledge that this [i]can't last[/i]. It's only thanks to Olivia that shi doesn't fully melt down right there in the store, tugging hir down by hir collar to bury hir snout in the pup's ruff, and whispering in hir ear a mantra of, \"You're alright. I'm here with you. We're both okay.\" \n\nThe look she gives Ayda the whole walk home—fear and love and so much more Ayda can't quite name—somehow feels worse than the emotional hangover. \n\n[center]-----[/center]\n\nIt takes five rings for Jess to pick up.\n\n\"I'm surprised you even called. I didn't expect you would want to speak to me.\"\n\nAyd pinches the bridge of hir snout, already out of patience. \"Yeah. Did you fill out Olivia's school transfer forms like you said you would?\"\n\n\"I figured as mad as you were, you'd want to do that yourself.\"\n\n\"I [i]can't[/i]. You're [i]her mother[/i]. You're still her legal guardian. [i]You [/i]have to do it.\"\n\n\"What do you expect me to do now? I'm on the road.\"\n\n\"It's been [i]two fucking weeks[/i].\"\n\n\"Watch your language around your little sister.\"\n\n\"[i]I[/i] chose to make this call [i]outside[/i], [i]alone[/i], so there wouldn't be any risk of her overhearing you say something else awful about her.\"\n\n\"Oh [i]shut up[/i].\" And [i]that's[/i] new. Jess usually isn't the type to be so direct, even with Ayda alone. Usually it's just passive-aggressive remarks. \"You think you can just [i]show up[/i] when she's already thirteen and [i]almost healthy[/i] and pretend like you're [i]so [/i]responsible, but you didn't do [i]anything [/i]to take care of her when she was dying.\"\n\n\"I [i]tried[/i]. I tried [i]so much[/i] but you wouldn't fucking [i]let me[/i]!\" Shi's screaming into the phone. This is already spiraling out of control. Shi let Jess get under hir skin and now shi's screaming and Jess is going to say something—\n\n\"Well good! You probably would have screwed something up and killed her anyway!\"\n\nAyda has already pulled hir arm back to throw the phone when shi realizes what shi's doing and freezes. The phone didn't do anything, and breaking it won't help. Shi sobs.\n\n\"Oh! And now you're [i]crying [/i]about it?!\"\n\n\"Fill the transfer forms. Don't ever make me call you again.\" Shi hangs up in the middle of something vitriolic.\n\nFor a long moment, shi stands in the grass staring through tears at the blurry screen of hir phone, fighting to hold in the worst of hir feelings—fury, terror, sorrow all vying to be the first to boil over. Hir shoulders shake. Shi can't go back in like this. Shi [i]can't[/i] tell Olivia about this. Phone clutched too tight in hir claws, shi drops to hir knees, sniffles hard, and as the first tear falls, shi looses a quiet, mournful howl, broken by a sob, trailing off into a whimper.\n\nAnd then a wolfpup-shaped missile crashes into hir, tackling hir to the ground, unleashing a string of questions all in one breath. \"Ayda what's wrong? I was coming to check on you and you [i]howled [/i]was it someone on the phone?\" She pries it from Ayda's grip while she continues, \"Was it [i]her[/i]? What'd she [i]say[/i]?\"\n\nAnd Ayda can't find words, can't possibly [i]tell her[/i] what their mother said, so shi just clings to hir little sister, and weeps. Olivia joins her in whimpering and sobbing.\n\n[center]-----[/center]\n\nA couple hours—and an extended cuddle and nap—later, Olivia emerges from her impromptu thirty-minute shower, fur warm and ruffled and fluffed up, another of Ayda’s hoodies swallowing her tiny frame—and hiding whatever else she may or may not be wearing—and immediately shoves her snout between Ayda’s breasts. Ayda wraps her in a hug.\n\nAfter a moment of rubbing her whole face in Ayda's fluffy cleavage, Olivia pulls away, grinning. \"You should probably put a top on.\"\n\nAyda cocks her head. \"Why?\"\n\n\"Becaaaaauuuse, your boobs are [i]real [/i]tempting, and—\" there’s a knock at the door, a rapid tap-tap-tap that feels familiar but Ayda can't quite place. Hir confusion deepens, but Olivia just stands there expectantly, tail waving slowly behind her. Through the peekhole, shi spots two of hir friends, and sends a quick, accusatory look Olivia's way. The pup’s grin only brightens.\n\nAyda opens the door. \"Hey—\" shi barely gets out before the fennec on the other side throws herself into into hir middle, nuzzling into hir cleavage. Still outside, Lina shifts her weight from one paw to the other, careful of the stack of four pizzas in her hands.\n\nClaire pulls away from her tackle-hug, big ears perked. \"You go topless around your little sister?\"\n\n\"Uh.\"\n\n\"Please,\" Olivia intercedes, voice casual and dismissive. \"I know what this town’s like. Plus, I've seen [i]waaaay [/i]worse of Ayda than just hir boobs.\"\n\nClaire looks from Olivia to Ayda, wide grin on her muzzle. \"Ohhhhhh, I like your little sister, Ayda.\"\n\nAyda chuckles, then smooshes Claire's face with a paw. \"Well too bad, she’s mine, you can't have her.\" Shi blinks. Shi still has no idea what Claire and Lina are doing here, uninvited, with a stack of pizzas. \"What happened this time,\" is the best shi can muster.\n\n\"What happened,\" Claire begins, the fennec fox smiling brightly as she steps back to take the pizzas from Lina, \"is your little sister sent the group chat a [i]manifesto[/i], about how hard you've been working taking care of her, and how worried she is that you won't let her do the same for you.\"\n\nAyda turns to find Olivia standing in the middle of the living room floor, hands in the pocket of Ayda's big hoodie. Then hir vision of the pup swims with tears, and shi rushes across the room to lift her in a fierce hug, clinging to her as tight as shi can. \"I'm sorry, Livie. Thank you. I love you [i]so much[/i].\"\n\nOlivia hugs hir back, just as hard, giggling wetly. \"I love you too, Ayda. Please talk to your friends.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" Shi glances back to find them standing in the doorway, waiting patiently. \"Sorry.\" Shi sets down hir sister. \"Come in, I—should introduce you.\" Tossing an arm around Olivia's shoulders, shi steps back to let hir friends into hir home. \"Claire, Lina, this is Olivia, my little sister. Olivia, this is Claire,\" shi gestures to the fennec, arms laden with pizzas, \"and Lina,\" the tall maned wolf gives a nod, stepping in and closing the door.\n\nClaire is wearing a pink camisole and very short running shorts that do nothing to hide her bulge—something Ayda is sure Olivia has also [i]definitely [/i]noticed—while Lina's dressed how Ayda does when shi's home, baggy athletic shorts and a tank top, but with Claire's cutesy purse over one shoulder offering a dramatic aesthetic clash.\n\n\"Can I just toss these on the kitchen table?\" Claire asks as she passes by. \"Then we can do proper introductions.\" \n\n\"What do you mean 'proper'?\" Lina trails after her girlfriend, freezing as Claire pokes her head back through the doorway. \n\n\"Don't you worry, Olivia, you and I are gonna be [i]short buddies[/i]. I'll make sure the tall ones behave.\" She winks. \"Now come on, both of you, I wanna make sure Ayda has at least one slice in hir before the others get here and we gotta be serious.\"\n\n[center]-----[/center]\n\nThey're standing crowded around the table, eating directly over the pizza boxes, when the front door swings right open. Claire rolls her eyes. \"I guess that's the rest of them. Or [i]Tom[/i], at least.\" She turns to Olivia as they move to the kitchen doorway, counting on her fingers as she continues, \"you'll like them. Tom can be a lot, but he's silly and he means well. Grace is super sweet and gives [i]great [/i]hugs. And she dotes on everybody so don't worry it's not just you. And Maple's a little skittish, but she's a sweetheart if you give her the chance to come out of her shell.\"\n\nOlivia just blinks at the whirlwind primer, so Ayda pets her head as shi passes.\n\nAll three other members of Ayda's circle of friends are in the living room. Tom, the tortoiseshell cat wearing a tie-dye pink-and-blue tanktop and raggedy shorts is standing with his back to the kitchen, hands in his pockets and tail swaying. Grace is a brown bear in a powder blue sundress with a gentle smile on her muzzle as she ushers the third through the front door, Maple, a strawberry roan horse in grey capris and a pink tee shirt trying to make herself as small as possible as she enters.\n\nTom's ear flicks. He turns, easy smile on his muzzle, but freezes when he spots Olivia, pupils blowing out as he reaches behind him, swatting in Grace's general direction. \"Grace, Grace look at 'er.\"\n\nGrace catches his hand with a scowl, then she and Maple peer around him. Grace's look softens. Maple [i]squees[/i]. \n\n\"Ohhhh, Graaaaace she's so tiny, she's like if Ayda got hit by a shrink ray!\"\n\nGrace steps forward, stopping in front of Olivia, and though she towers over the others—[i]especially [/i]Claire and Olivia—she kneels in front of the pup. \"Hi, Olivia. I'm Grace. Thank you for contacting us.\" With a teasing smile, she adds, \"It's good to finally put a face to your name.\"\n\n\"Hi, Grace.\" Olivia offers her a little wave. Ayda gives her a quick squeeze.\n\n\"And this is Tom, and Maple.\" Tom gives a lazy wave as he swaggers across the room and pours himself into the armchair. Maple smiles shyly where she's still standing right by the door. Grace looks to Ayda. \"Hi, Ayda. It's good to see you again. Sorry we just barged in, you know how Tom is.\" \n\n\"I do know how Tom is.\" He's purring loudly enough it's rumbling through the whole room. Shi adamantly refuses to look his way and see his shit-eating grin.\n\n\"I'm sorry things have been rough for you two lately. Pizza, and then let's talk?\"\n\n[center]-----[/center]\n\n\"Jess visited, two weeks ago.\"\n\nAfter a couple slices each, they've moved to the living room, gathered in a circle. It isn't lost on Ayda that the only other couple present is also on the couch, sitting the same way shi and hir sister are, with the smaller one cuddling up in the larger's lap.\n\nAyda only gets that one sentence out before Grace wordlessly rises and approaches, pulling both wolves into a tight hug. \"I'm sorry,\" she says, and she doesn't even know what Jess [i]did [/i]she's just already sorry. Something white-hot boils up inside Ayda, being held so gently but so [i]fiercely [/i]by someone bigger than hir, who loves hir, and hir shoulders shake. Olivia's tiny paws circle around hir middle, clutch at hir fur. And then other paws find their way in, as the others join the hug. \n\nAyda sobs.\n\nTrapped and hidden in the middle of the hug, with an ear right over Ayda's heart, Olivia presses a kiss against the inner side of hir breast.\n\nIt takes Ayda a few minutes to cry those feelings out, but once shi's settled, they return to their seats, but with Grace much closer to the couch, near enough to keep a paw on Ayda's knee, leaning against Tom's chair. Ayda notices the damp spot on Grace's shoulder. \"Sorry about your dress.\"\n\nGrace smiles. \"It's just clothes. It'll wash.\" She pets a soothing little circle with her thumb. Olivia smirks up at Ayda.\n\n\"Speaking of 'just clothes'!\" Tom hops up and pads to the center of the room, points an accusatory finger at Ayda. \"Shi's [i]topless[/i], Grace!\" There's a [i]threat [/i]in his voice.\n\n\"Tom don't you [i]dare[/i]—\" Grace manages to get out, before he takes his shorts in both fists and yanks, tearing them off—tearing them [i]apart[/i]. Grace heaves an exasperated sigh.\n\nOlivia [i]beams[/i]. \"Yessssss!\" She hops from Ayda's lap to her paws, reaches up under the hoodie's hem, and shucks her panties right down her legs, before dropping back onto Ayda.\n\nAyda flushes [i]incandescent [/i]through hir fur. \"Livie, you—that's—[i]just panties[/i]?\"\n\nTurning her best impish grin on her sister, Olivia wheedles, \"What, miss Titties Out? No one was gonna see, and [i]still [/i]no one can see.\"\n\nOn the other side of the couch, Claire giggles and kicks her paws. \"[i]Ohhhhohohooo[/i], I [i]really [/i]like your little sister, Ayda.\"\n\n\"Besides,\" Olivia continues, poking Ayda's side. \"Tom has his whole pussy out—ohhhh I get the shirt now, that's funny.\"\n\nTom purrs like a motor while he slinks back into his chair, throwing a leg over Grace's shoulder and batting her snout with his tail.\n\nOnce shi's able, Ayda picks back up the story. \"She just [i]showed up[/i] pounding on the door and yelling,\" shi says around another slice of Tom's Meat Eaters' pizza, trying not to jostle Olivia in hir lap, \"and we were in the—middle of—uh, things. Because I was—Olivia, she—\" \n\n\"Aydaaaaaaa,\" Olivia whines. \"[i]Please [/i]don't be weird at your friends just because I'm here.\" She turns to Ayda's friends. \"I was in the shower, and shi was using that time to masturbate.\" Ayda's ears blush and shi pins them back.\n\nTom just nods sagely. \"Gotta use whatever time you find for that, with a roomie.\"\n\nIn fits and starts, they make it through the retelling of Jess's unexpected visit. It's a cooperative thing, each filling in bits and pieces the other missed, hugging through the hurt, covering for one another. Ayda's friends mostly just listen quietly, offer little jokes to lighten the mood, provide refills of water and pizza. By the end, they're all squished together in a group hug around the corner of the couch. \n\nFrom somewhere near Ayda's armpit, Claire chimes in, \"We should have a big cuddle in the middle of the floor!\"\n\n[i]-----[/i]\n\nThey dim or darken most of the lights, drag all the cushions from the seats and the spare blankets from the back of the couch onto the floor, piling themselves together on them.\n\nOnce they're settled, Grace prompts, \"Ayda, is there more?\"\n\n\"Yeah, Ayda, what was with the kitchen table math and the grocery store freakout?\"\n\nAyda sighs, and tilts hir head back to stare up at the ceiling. \"I'm sorry, Liv. I just—I didn't want you to worry, this isn't your fault and it's not fair to put it on you, but I—I don't have enough money for this, long-term. My student stipend has been good so far, I have plenty of savings, it's more than enough to get us through the summer, but if you're living here all fall, it just won't be enough. I've gotta get you new clothes, and food, and school supplies, and—\" shi cuts off when Olivia squishes hir face between her paws.\n\n\"Ayda why would I need new clothes? I've got [i]plenty[/i], [i]and [/i]I steal a bunch of yours!\"\n\n\"What about when it gets cold? You can't just wear camis and shorts when it's freezing out.\"\n\n\"So we go get the rest of my stuff from—\" Olivia chokes on the word 'home', wilts in Ayda's arms.\n\nGrace lays a comforting hand on the pup's back. \"That's a good idea, and it should be relatively safe with her already being gone again. And as for your stipend not being enough, Ayda, have you spoken with anyone at the financial office yet?\" Ayda blinks up at her, surprised. \"Okay, then that's probably a good place to start. Their [i]job [/i]is to help make sure that between welfare and stipends, anyone attending can live here and study comfortably.\"\n\nIt seems so obvious now that Grace says it, Ayda wants to be embarrassed that shi didn't think of it. \n\nClaire chimes in, \"And we could go with you, for moral support.\"\n\nTom scoots forward from where he's been leaning into Maple's side, purr softly rumbling his voice. \"And if [i]somehow [/i]all of that isn't enough, Ayda, take a look around you.\" He gestures to the gathered friends, piled up around the wolf sisters. \"Me, and Grace, and Maple, and Claire and Lina, all five of us here right now will do [i]anything it takes[/i] to help you both.\" His hand joins Grace's in petting down Olivia's back. \"We're gonna make sure this wonderful pup you love so much is taken care of, that I swear.\" He tousles Olivia's ears, then Ayda's.\n\nIt's a lot for Ayda, to be reminded again that [i]this [/i]is what love is—showing up with pizzas and open ears and determination to make things [i]better[/i]—and they they [i]do [/i]love Ayda, have just about from the start when shi met Claire almost a year ago and got dragged into their circle. And by extension, they love Olivia. Although, judging by this one evening together, it won't just be \"by extension\" for long—she's a delight, and they can all see how much she and Ayda love each other.\n\nEven if they can't know—and must never know—the [i]sort [/i]of love that is.\n\n[center]-----[/center]\n\nPerched on the arm of Maple's chair, a hand idly stroking along the horse's mane, Tom offers, \"Y'know, Maple brought some games! We could play something and cuddle more to destress a bit.\" Olivia perks up with an audible [i]ooh[/i]. He leans down to catch Maple's eye. \"Where's your bag, filly?\" \n\nMaple looks around the room, puzzled, before it dawns on her. \"Shoot.\" She turns to the wolves. \"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking and I put it on the bed in the spare room like usual.\" She starts to push up, but Grace returns from the kitchen and puts a hand on her shoulder. \n\n\"It's okay, I got it. I'm already up.\" \n\nOlivia stiffens a little in Ayda's lap, even as she brushes off Maple's worry. \"Oh it's fine, I don't mind. You needed [i]somewhere [/i]to put it, and we've kinda taken over the whole living room.\" \n\nAyda [i]tries [/i]hir best not to watch Grace as she enters the dark room, grabs the bag's strap, and just... \n\nStands there. \n\nBreathing. \n\nAyda tries not to focus on how the room is pristine, hasn't been used since the visit, hadn't been used for weeks before then. How it doesn't smell of a wolf pup. How obvious it may be that Olivia isn't sleeping in there. How there's only one other bed in the house, shut in a room that [i]reeks [/i]of two wolves and sex. Shi tries not to focus on any of that, and instead on the warmth of the pup lying against hir, of hir friends' bodies and scents and voices around hir. \n\nIt doesn't quite work.\n\nBut then Grace comes back with the same soft smile on her muzzle, and she doesn't [i]say [/i]anything about it as she hands the bag to Maple then settles onto the floor with her back to the couch. While Maple and Tom fiddle with the TV, Olivia leans towards the others, quizzical look on her muzzle.\n\n\"Why did Tom have tearaway shorts, anyway?\"\n\n\"Theatre,\" comes the deadpan chorus from Claire, Lina, and Grace.\n\n\"Ah.\"\n\n[center]-----[/center]\n\nThey play video games, and discover that Olivia is [i]just [/i]good enough at the latest kart racing game to bring out Maple's competitive side. With Tom sprawled across their laps and purring like a motor, Maple, Olivia, Claire, and Lina compete in a relatively close tournament to see who will become the evening's champion. Ayda mostly tunes out. After days of nonstop anxiety and adrenaline and caring for Olivia, shi is running on fumes and a little overstimulated for games. So instead, shi focuses on the way they tease each other and Olivia, absorbing her into their antics and catching her up on in-jokes, cheering every time she steals another little victory from Maple, the usual queen of game night.\n\nGrace looks over and finds Ayda nodding off. \"Gonna take a nap?\"\n\nAyda slurs out, \"I shouldn't. Gotta take care of Olivia.\"\n\nAnd Grace pets hir ears, and in a quiet voice reassures hir, \"Olivia's got all of us too. She'll be okay for you to take a quick nap, we'll make sure of it.\"\n\nAyda goes quiet for a moment, then whines. Olivia's ears perk, and she pauses the game and turns to look over her shoulder at Ayda giving her the most pleading eyes. \"One sec, duty calls.\" She scoots back far enough for Ayda to grab her around the waist and pull her into an awkward sideways hug. \"Okay, good to go.\"\n\nBut no one else is, because they're all cooing at how sweet the two of them are. Ayda manages to growl half-heartedly at Tom. Olivia just basks in the attention, tail wagging rapidly against her big sister.\n\nAyda doesn't manage to properly sleep, but surrounded by hir friends and exhausted by the last day—[i]two weeks[/i]—shi's had, shi does lose track of time for about an hour, punctuated by Lina's quiet curses and Maple's [i]whoops [/i]of victory and Olivia occasionally turning her whole body with her controller.\n\nThey take a break and pick up some of their mess as things wind down after Maple defends her title.\n\nClaire nudges Olivia, points out the back of the house. \"You know Lina and I live right on the other side of those trees.\"\n\n\"Really?\"\n\n\"Yep! It's like a two minute walk from our apartment to get here.\n\n\"What the heck, why haven't we met before now.\"\n\n\"Because [i]someone [/i]wanted to keep you to hirself alllll summer.\" Claire giggles, poking Ayda in the side. \"Shi [i]begged [/i]us to leave you alone. Shi wanted to make hir summer all about you.\"\n\n\"Awwwwwww, Ayda.\"\n\n\"I missed you!\" Ayda hates how defensive hir own voice sounds. \"And I knew you missed me too and the chats and calls weren't enough.\"\n\n\"And all of you were okay with hir disappearing all summer?\"\n\n\"Back in early May, at the tail-end of exams, we set up a new channel in the group chat to put links and send messages we want to be sure Ayda will look at, and we made hir promise to check in there occasionally.\" It was a little silly, but even Ayda will admit that without that promise shi would have completely disconnected from hir friends for the entire duration of Olivia's visit. Claire smirks, dangerous. \"We've been teasing hir every time shi talks about you that we can hear hir tail wagging.\" \n\nGrace hums in thought, passing through the kitchen. \"It might be a good idea to make sure you have all our contacts, so it'll be easier to get to us next time you want to talk.\"\n\nLina nods. \"May as well invite her to the groupchat, too. Not like she hasn't seen everything else we've been sharing all summer.\"\n\nOlivia smiles, devilish, fangs bared, as plans start rolling up in her mind. Ayda considers, for the first and only time, that this may have been a mistake.\n\n-----\n\nIt's nearly midnight when Olivia yawns, a squeaky, whining thing that has her snuggling deeper into Ayda's side, drawing another chorus of [i]awwwws [/i]from the room. Shi pets along the pup's belly, careful not to drag the hoodie up with hir claws.\n\n\"Guess we better get to bed soon, huh?\"\n\nLina stretches out to lightly kick Ayda's paw for hir attention. \"Want any of us to stay over?\"\n\n\"Ooh yeah!\" Claire hops up. \"We could drag all the cushions and bedding back into the floor and camp out in the cuddle puddle.\"\n\n\"I think we'll be alright.\" Ayda pets over Olivia's ears one last time. \"Thank you all, so much. It really means a lot, how fast you all came together to help us.\" She turns to Olivia, nuzzling her ears. \"And you were [i]right [/i]to call on them, thank [i]you[/i], too.\"\n\n\"Promise you'll let us know before things get so fucking dire next time?\"\n\n\"Promise. And I promise we'll see each other again a lot sooner, too.\"\n\n\"That's right, somebody's gotta go with you to the financial office.\"\n\n\"We can work out all those details when we're not all crashing from too much pizza and feelings.\"\n\n\"Bah, maybe you're crashing, but I feel juuuust fine.\"\n\nGrace gently tugs Ayda into another hug, one hand cradling the back of hir head, the other rubbing down hir back. \"I'm so proud of you. Of both of you, really, but I've got you right now.\" She chuckles. \"You are doing [i]so much[/i] for that pup, and I'm so glad we got to meet her. Thank you for trusting us with all this.\" She squeezes just a little tighter, adding, \"And we meant everything we said, Ayda. We're gonna get you two through this.\"\n\nAyda takes two long, shaky breaths to steady hirself. \"Thanks, Grace.\" Shi pulls away, turning hir attention to the rest of the group. \"Now we really need some sleep, so you've gotta go.\"\n\nThey all get one last hug on their way. As they're all filing through the back door, Claire offers, \"If any of you want, we have plenty of room in our place, too, so you could crash with us!\"\n\n[center]-----[/center]\n\nThe door closes. Ayda cuts the lights one by one.\n\nOlivia yawns again, stretching her arms over her head and drawing Ayda's eyes to the hem of hir hoodie sliding up the pup's thighs, threatening to expose her spade. \"Ayda, I'm exhausted. Is it gonna be like that every time someone visits, or we even [i]talk [/i]to friends?\"\n\n\"I hope not. Today was—we don't exactly have a lot of experience with this, and we were trying to tell a whole miserable [i]story [/i]and still hide things, and I—I'm sorry I was such a mess, baby sis. It's not fair that I put [i]so much[/i] on you to cover for me being a mess.\"\n\n\"We gotta take care of each other, though. See?\" She spreads her arms wide. \"I'm okay.\" She pokes Ayda's belly. \"And you're okay. It's not just [i]you [/i]taking care of [i]me[/i]. It's okay to lean on me a little, too. [i]And [/i]your friends. Don't just bottle everything up and hide when you're hurting. It's not fair.\"\n\nAyda takes a deep breath in, and sighs it out. \"Okay. I'm sorry I worried you so much.\"", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Ayda & Olivia V
Bad Days and Good Days
by OttersInTrousers

Ayda & Olivia are left reeling after their mother's departure. They start to pick up the pieces.
Starring Ayda (wolf herm, 18) and Olivia (wolf female, 13).

Part 5 of the Ayda & Olivia series.

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\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t"I don't wanna—live with a mom who thinks I'm—I'm—trapping her," Olivia sobs. Ayda's heart breaks.

"Hush, hussshh," Ayda croons. "You're not gonna. I swear to you, Liv, I am gonna keep you safe, here with me. You don't have to go anywhere you don't want to." A quiet moment passes, Ayda combing hir fingers through Olivia's fur. "Let's go inside, hm?" Olivia nods her assent.

Carefully, so as not to separate them, Ayda swings open the door and waddles them across the threshold. Then shi picks up hir little sister, kicks the door closed, and carries her to their bedroom, collapsing onto their bed.

Olivia cries. Ayda holds her.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

-----


Ayda tries not to cry.

After showing up unannounced and spending an entire day and night making condescending remarks, Ayda and Olivia's mother left, but not before dropping a bombshell—she's fucking off who-knows-where until winter break, abandoning Olivia here until the Solstice, because she thinks of the pup as a burden. As an obligation she's stuck with.

Ayda tries not to cry.

Shi cries.

How could Jess even think like that—how could anyone think like that—of her own child, of Olivia, such a wonderful, brilliant, adorable pup? Ayda is so—shi's so many things all at once that it's hard to tell what all shi is. So shi clings to hir precious little sister, weeping for the pup.

Olivia sobs into Ayda's chest, tears soaking through hir shirt.

After an hour, Olivia has mostly cried herself out, now only sniffles and the occasional whimper. Ayda just keeps rubbing her back, holding her close. Then the pup takes a deep breath in, and out, and pushes back to sit up.

"Livie?"

She dries her eyes with a paw, then wipes her snout in her tanktop—Ayda's tanktop that she stole this morning—before tearing it off and flinging it into the corner near the door.

"Okay!" She drums her hands on her thighs. "Positives."

Ayda interrupts whatever she's about to do.

"You don't have to be okay right now, baby sis." Shi trails a paw up the pup's bare side. "It's okay to be hurting."

"I know, Ayda." The sharpness of the words seems to surprise her—her body stiffens, eyes wide, before her ears droop. "Sorry. I know. But if I don't do something I'm gonna think more about how much my mom resents me and I can't, Ayda, I can't." Ayda moves hir hand up to cup her cheek, and she leans into it, closing her eyes for a moment. "So." She shrugs. "Positives."

Ayda smiles, and waits.

"I don't have to go back home anytime soon! I get to live with you a while longer!" She chuckles, a little manic. "I get to fall asleep in your arms every night—"

"—And wake up in my arms every morning." Ayda finishes the idea for her.

"I get to share meals with you."

Ayda smirks. "You mean steal all my fries."

Olivia giggles, a real and proper giggle that fills Ayda's heart with warmth. "That's right. Girlfriend and little sister privileges!" She sighs, lying back down, pillowing her head on Ayda's breast. "I get to hug you anytime I want."

"You sure do." Ayda squeezes her tight.

"Sorry about your shirt." Olivia pokes the spot left by her earlier tears.

"It's just clothes, it'll wash." A moment passes, quietly. Ayda combs hir claws through Olivia's fur. The pup sighs.

"The whole house is gonna smell like her now."

"For a bit, yeah. I could air it out again, like I did when she got here?"

"Please." She turns to look over her shoulder at the bedroom door, in thought. "Is it wrong that I wanna fuck on every surface she touched just to spite her?"

Ayda squawks a surprised cackle. "No way I can balance on the countertop and hold you up to fuck you against the overhead cabinets."

"I mean we could try."

"Nope." Ayda rolls them over so shi can loom over hir little sister. "I'm not breaking our necks just for spite." Shi leans down to place a quick kiss to the tip of Olivia's muzzle. "I will absolutely give the whole place a real good cleaning to try and get her smell out, though. And there's plenty of things we can safely fuck on."

"Mkay." She giggles, pauses, averts her eyes. "Can we start in here? I know we didn't let her in here, but still."

"We can start here. It's comfortable, it's safe, it's ours."

"And we can take our time."

"We sure can." Ayda leans down to capture Olivia's muzzle in a kiss, soft, sweet, slow. "We have the rest of the year, baby sis."

"Mhmmmmm." Olivia starts unbuttoning Ayda's top, so shi reaches a hand back to unfasten the tail loop of hir pants. "Have I told you recently how hot you are, big sis?" She snaps the shirt open, then uses her fingertips to jostle Ayda's breasts. "Just look at these boobs."

Ayda chuckles, letting hir breath fall into a lusty growl as shi leans in to capture Olivia's muzzle in a kiss. Olivia arches her back, roughly grasps Ayda's breasts and squeezes, earning her a hump of Ayda's hips. Ayda pulls away with a grin, only to take in the state Olivia's already in—topless, panting with need, clutching at her big sis—and dive right back in. Shi presses in against Olivia, fur on fur, bracketing her against the bed.

"I love you, Livie." Ayda breathes the words against Olivia's lips, then smooches hir way along her jaw and down her throat to nuzzle into her ruff and draw a squeaking little moan from the pup.

"Mmmlove you too." Olivia buries her nose in Ayda's ruff, drinks in hir scent. She grunts, "Pants, please, I need you in meeeee."

Ayda smiles, places a kiss to Olivia's pulse point, and slides a hand between their bodies to effortlessly tug Olivia's too-big shorts down. Getting hir own capris off takes a little work, especially when shi doesn't want to stop cuddling, but with a few grunts and a lot of wiggling, shi manages, much to Olivia's amusement.

And then there's nothing between hir throbbing cock and Olivia's dripping spade. Shi rolls hir hips, sliding hir length along Olivia's clit. "Love you, so much." As shi lines up hir tip, shi leans in for another kiss, then delights in the needy little moan shi pulls from Olivia's throat and into hir own mouth as shi slips in.

Olivia's hands wander over Ayda's back, before latching onto hir fur and pulling hir down. Confused, shi pulls away. "No no don't pull away don't stop," Olivia begs. "I need you on me, all of you. I wanna—squish me, please."

"Okay." Straightening hir back, shi lies flat over Olivia, the pup just able to get her chin over hir shoulder. "I'm here, baby sis." Another roll of hir hips, knot already beginning to engorge and slow hir cock's passage through Olivia's spade. "I got you. You feel me?" Shi grinds in, insistent, as shi lets hir knot finish and tie them. "I'm here. Not going anywhere, and neither are you." Shi kisses Olivia's eartip. "You're okay." Olivia sniffles. Her little pussy convulses. "I love you. You're okay."

Ayda repeats the words. "I love you." Olivia's shoulders shake. "You're okay." Olivia hitches her hips. "I love you." Olivia clenches down hard. Again and again, Ayda repeats hirself as Olivia rides through an emotional orgasm. Somewhere along the way, shi cums too.

"Wanna nap," Olivia slurs. "Can I be on top?"

"You sure can, Livie." Careful, gentle, Ayda rolls them over. Olivia snuggles in, rests her head on one of Ayda's boobs, and goes boneless.  Ayda pets along her back, dull claws combing through soft fur.

Within minutes, Olivia's snoring.

-----


The previous night's TLC still buzzing in her heart, Olivia's gathering everything together to scramble some eggs, reaches into the "spatula drawer"—which is really just the drawer that Ayda shoves everything that doesn't have a better spot elsewhere—and notices that the menu to the nearest pizza place is sitting on top of all the junk, out of place. She picks it up, and something falls out of it, fluttering to the floor. Cash. One of the bills has a note stuck to it, and she reads it before realizing what it is.

"So you don't starve when your sister inevitably forgets to feed you."

She even signed it with a heart, like this could have possibly been motivated by love.

Ayda finds her frozen there, staring through the note in her hand, minutes later.

"Hey baby sis, how's breakfast going—" Ayda freezes, ears forward and tail stiff, then approaches slowly. "Liv?" Shi reads the note over Olivia's shoulder. "Oh, Livie." Shi gently pulls the pup in, wrapping hir arms around her and holding her close as the tears start.

Olivia turns slowly in hir arms, slips her arms up to wrap around Ayda's middle, buries her snout between hir breasts.

For most of the day, Ayda turns the house upside down looking for any other "surprises" Jess may have left; all the while, Olivia stays wrapped around hir waist, trailing behind hir like a second tail, with her hands alternately in the pocket of hir hoodie or under the hoodie and splayed in hir bellyfur. Shi doesn't find anything.

That doesn't make either of them feel any better.

-----


Days pass in a grey haze. Some moments, Olivia seems fine, perky, almost like her usual self. Others, she's clinging to Ayda and fighting back tears, or staring blankly into nothing, lost to her thoughts and numb. Ayda just does hir best to be there.

Ayda wakes Olivia up by kissing her brow, quietly calling her name. The pup curls tighter against hir with an adorable little groan, then stretches out and cracks open her eyes.

"G'morning, Ayda." Her voice is syrupy-thick with sleep, slurring the words together.

"Morning, baby sis." Ayda squeezes her, then rolls them both over so Olivia is on the free edge of the bed. "Ready to start your day?"

"Ew, no." Ayda laughs, which only seems to encourage Olivia, who scrambles over hir to press herself against the wall again with a little giggle. "Not gettin' up today."

"Not at all?"

"Nope." Olivia catches hir by the arm. "And you're not, either. We're staying in bed all day cuddling."

"Just cuddling?" Ayda raises a brow.

"Obviously we're gonna fuck a bunch, too."

"Okay, phew, good." Ayda mimes wiping hir brow. "I was a bit worried for a second there." That gets a giggle out of Olivia. "How about we cuddle a bit—fuck too if you want—then I go make breakfast while you stay here?"

Olivia hums in thought. "An acceptable arrangement, but you're definitely not leaving 'til you give me a creampie."

"Are you in heat again already?"

"No!" Olivia giggles. "I just—I dunno, it'll make me feel better to have your cum in me while you're gone."

Ayda can't help but to pull her into a crushing hug, kiss her deeply. "I won't be far, and I won't be long. I promise." Shi pets through Olivia's ruff. "Now, let's get to work on that creampie, huh?"

-----

An hour later, the door clicks softly behind Ayda as shi carefully makes hir way to the kitchen, leaving a well-fucked Olivia to nap in bed. Shi really is going to make the pup breakfast, but...

But finding that money in the pizza menu got hir thinking, and now shi is terrified. Shi just needs to do the math. Shi just has to be sure.

Thirty minutes and half a pad of paper later, she's pretty sure this is apocalyptic. There's just no way shi can afford to keep Olivia for the fall—not without some kind of big change. Hir student stipend has been plenty so far, including keeping Olivia for the summer, but the school supplies, clothes, medications, doctor trips, are all going to add up fast, too fast for the stipend to cover alone. If shi had custody, it would be different. Then, the stipend would be greater, shi'd get benefits to help cover cub-raising costs. Instead, the pup's just a long-term visitor—so Jess is still receiving cubcare in her monthly welfare.

Shit.

"I'll say." At Olivia's voice, Ayda squawks and flails, limbs pinwheeling and chair teetering, pages of notes fluttering across the table. Did shi say that out loud? Liv's standing there in the doorway, looking—concerned? Angry? Ayda can't quite place it, but hates the pinch in the pup's brow, the tentative way she moves as she approaches. "That's a lot of notes, and zero breakfast. You okay, big sis?"

"Y-yeah, Liv." Shi hastily gathers everything up in a pile and shoves it away, hopefully before the pup can read any of it—she doesn't need all of this weighing on her, one more reason to feel like a burden. She is not a burden.

After breakfast, they laze on the couch. Without moving from her spot on top of Ayda with her ear over hir heart, Olivia mumbles, "What're your friends up to today?"

"Hmm?"

"Your friends. I haven't seen you check in on them in a couple days. What're they up to?"

"Oh. I guess I haven't. Been a little preoccupied, I guess." Shi pats Olivia's butt for emphasis, earning hir a slow, sweeping tailwag. So Ayda opens the group chat and navigates to the "shinies for Ayda :3" room, then holds the phone so they can both see it and scrolls through several pages of memes and selfies, while Olivia does her best to remember who is which screen name, quizzing herself.

"Okay so, GracefulEmber is easy, that's Grace, she's a bear. And Caro is Lina, the maned wolf, because it's the other half of her name. Mendicanterer is Maple because she's a horse. Red is Tom but I don't remember why."

Ayda snorts a laugh. "It's a dumb, two-step inside joke."

"And he's a cat?"

"Mhm."

At the latest, she tilts her head.

"Who the heck's 'The Gardener'?"

"That. Is. A great question." Ayda checks the userlist and finds that it's, "Claire, apparently?"

"Why?" Ayda agrees with Olivia's question, so shi types into the chat for the first time in two weeks.

Ayda: Why @The_Gardener?

The reply is suspiciously instant.

The_Gardener: You could say my spade is
The_Gardener: groundbreaking :3

There's a sudden flurry of activity.

Caro: :tomato:

GracefulEmber: How dare you make me read that, you goober.

red_ryan_j: FUCKIGN
red_ryan_j: INCREDIBLE

The_Gardener: lolol gottem
The_Gardener: and i heard u snort lina >:3

Olivia giggles as the messages scroll by.

Ayda: you got a laugh from Olivia.

The_Gardener: thank you Olivfdgpioudgh

Neither Lina nor Claire send anything else for twenty minutes, during which time Ayda and Olivia go another round. They're cuddling through Knot Time when Ayda's phone buzzes twice.

The_Gardener: we should rename lina "The_Farmer" because she's plowing me
The_Gardener: dont show that to Olivia.

-----


Ayda tries doing the math again the next chance shi gets, a few days later, after Olivia's asleep. Hir previous notes in a stack to the side, shi does all hir calculations a second time to be sure. Shi drops hir head into hir hands, staring unblinking at—through—the scattered pages before hir. Can shi even do this? Nothing is adding up. The stipend was enough—plenty really—but now it's not even a question of belt-tightening. Shi might be able to get an advance on the stipend, but that would just be borrowing from the future. Shi considers a part-time job, but that would take even more time away from being with Olivia.

When shi makes it back to bed, shi's still shaking.

The next time they go shopping together, Ayda nearly has a panic attack at the till. There's no reason to—shi still has plenty enough to get through the summer and then some—but suddenly shi can see every little thing adding up, and shi's taken back to hir math over the kitchen table, that stupid fucking note, and the knowledge that this can't last. It's only thanks to Olivia that shi doesn't fully melt down right there in the store, tugging hir down by hir collar to bury hir snout in the pup's ruff, and whispering in hir ear a mantra of, "You're alright. I'm here with you. We're both okay."

The look she gives Ayda the whole walk home—fear and love and so much more Ayda can't quite name—somehow feels worse than the emotional hangover.

-----


It takes five rings for Jess to pick up.

"I'm surprised you even called. I didn't expect you would want to speak to me."

Ayd pinches the bridge of hir snout, already out of patience. "Yeah. Did you fill out Olivia's school transfer forms like you said you would?"

"I figured as mad as you were, you'd want to do that yourself."

"I can't. You're her mother. You're still her legal guardian. You have to do it."

"What do you expect me to do now? I'm on the road."

"It's been two fucking weeks."

"Watch your language around your little sister."

"I chose to make this call outside, alone, so there wouldn't be any risk of her overhearing you say something else awful about her."

"Oh shut up." And that's new. Jess usually isn't the type to be so direct, even with Ayda alone. Usually it's just passive-aggressive remarks. "You think you can just show up when she's already thirteen and almost healthy and pretend like you're so responsible, but you didn't do anything to take care of her when she was dying."

"I tried. I tried so much but you wouldn't fucking let me!" Shi's screaming into the phone. This is already spiraling out of control. Shi let Jess get under hir skin and now shi's screaming and Jess is going to say something—

"Well good! You probably would have screwed something up and killed her anyway!"

Ayda has already pulled hir arm back to throw the phone when shi realizes what shi's doing and freezes. The phone didn't do anything, and breaking it won't help. Shi sobs.

"Oh! And now you're crying about it?!"

"Fill the transfer forms. Don't ever make me call you again." Shi hangs up in the middle of something vitriolic.

For a long moment, shi stands in the grass staring through tears at the blurry screen of hir phone, fighting to hold in the worst of hir feelings—fury, terror, sorrow all vying to be the first to boil over. Hir shoulders shake. Shi can't go back in like this. Shi can't tell Olivia about this. Phone clutched too tight in hir claws, shi drops to hir knees, sniffles hard, and as the first tear falls, shi looses a quiet, mournful howl, broken by a sob, trailing off into a whimper.

And then a wolfpup-shaped missile crashes into hir, tackling hir to the ground, unleashing a string of questions all in one breath. "Ayda what's wrong? I was coming to check on you and you howled was it someone on the phone?" She pries it from Ayda's grip while she continues, "Was it her? What'd she say?"

And Ayda can't find words, can't possibly tell her what their mother said, so shi just clings to hir little sister, and weeps. Olivia joins her in whimpering and sobbing.

-----


A couple hours—and an extended cuddle and nap—later, Olivia emerges from her impromptu thirty-minute shower, fur warm and ruffled and fluffed up, another of Ayda’s hoodies swallowing her tiny frame—and hiding whatever else she may or may not be wearing—and immediately shoves her snout between Ayda’s breasts. Ayda wraps her in a hug.

After a moment of rubbing her whole face in Ayda's fluffy cleavage, Olivia pulls away, grinning. "You should probably put a top on."

Ayda cocks her head. "Why?"

"Becaaaaauuuse, your boobs are real tempting, and—" there’s a knock at the door, a rapid tap-tap-tap that feels familiar but Ayda can't quite place. Hir confusion deepens, but Olivia just stands there expectantly, tail waving slowly behind her. Through the peekhole, shi spots two of hir friends, and sends a quick, accusatory look Olivia's way. The pup’s grin only brightens.

Ayda opens the door. "Hey—" shi barely gets out before the fennec on the other side throws herself into into hir middle, nuzzling into hir cleavage. Still outside, Lina shifts her weight from one paw to the other, careful of the stack of four pizzas in her hands.

Claire pulls away from her tackle-hug, big ears perked. "You go topless around your little sister?"

"Uh."

"Please," Olivia intercedes, voice casual and dismissive. "I know what this town’s like. Plus, I've seen waaaay worse of Ayda than just hir boobs."

Claire looks from Olivia to Ayda, wide grin on her muzzle. "Ohhhhhh, I like your little sister, Ayda."

Ayda chuckles, then smooshes Claire's face with a paw. "Well too bad, she’s mine, you can't have her." Shi blinks. Shi still has no idea what Claire and Lina are doing here, uninvited, with a stack of pizzas. "What happened this time," is the best shi can muster.

"What happened," Claire begins, the fennec fox smiling brightly as she steps back to take the pizzas from Lina, "is your little sister sent the group chat a manifesto, about how hard you've been working taking care of her, and how worried she is that you won't let her do the same for you."

Ayda turns to find Olivia standing in the middle of the living room floor, hands in the pocket of Ayda's big hoodie. Then hir vision of the pup swims with tears, and shi rushes across the room to lift her in a fierce hug, clinging to her as tight as shi can. "I'm sorry, Livie. Thank you. I love you so much."

Olivia hugs hir back, just as hard, giggling wetly. "I love you too, Ayda. Please talk to your friends."

"Oh!" Shi glances back to find them standing in the doorway, waiting patiently. "Sorry." Shi sets down hir sister. "Come in, I—should introduce you." Tossing an arm around Olivia's shoulders, shi steps back to let hir friends into hir home. "Claire, Lina, this is Olivia, my little sister. Olivia, this is Claire," shi gestures to the fennec, arms laden with pizzas, "and Lina," the tall maned wolf gives a nod, stepping in and closing the door.

Claire is wearing a pink camisole and very short running shorts that do nothing to hide her bulge—something Ayda is sure Olivia has also definitely noticed—while Lina's dressed how Ayda does when shi's home, baggy athletic shorts and a tank top, but with Claire's cutesy purse over one shoulder offering a dramatic aesthetic clash.

"Can I just toss these on the kitchen table?" Claire asks as she passes by. "Then we can do proper introductions."

"What do you mean 'proper'?" Lina trails after her girlfriend, freezing as Claire pokes her head back through the doorway.

"Don't you worry, Olivia, you and I are gonna be short buddies. I'll make sure the tall ones behave." She winks. "Now come on, both of you, I wanna make sure Ayda has at least one slice in hir before the others get here and we gotta be serious."

-----


They're standing crowded around the table, eating directly over the pizza boxes, when the front door swings right open. Claire rolls her eyes. "I guess that's the rest of them. Or Tom, at least." She turns to Olivia as they move to the kitchen doorway, counting on her fingers as she continues, "you'll like them. Tom can be a lot, but he's silly and he means well. Grace is super sweet and gives great hugs. And she dotes on everybody so don't worry it's not just you. And Maple's a little skittish, but she's a sweetheart if you give her the chance to come out of her shell."

Olivia just blinks at the whirlwind primer, so Ayda pets her head as shi passes.

All three other members of Ayda's circle of friends are in the living room. Tom, the tortoiseshell cat wearing a tie-dye pink-and-blue tanktop and raggedy shorts is standing with his back to the kitchen, hands in his pockets and tail swaying. Grace is a brown bear in a powder blue sundress with a gentle smile on her muzzle as she ushers the third through the front door, Maple, a strawberry roan horse in grey capris and a pink tee shirt trying to make herself as small as possible as she enters.

Tom's ear flicks. He turns, easy smile on his muzzle, but freezes when he spots Olivia, pupils blowing out as he reaches behind him, swatting in Grace's general direction. "Grace, Grace look at 'er."

Grace catches his hand with a scowl, then she and Maple peer around him. Grace's look softens. Maple squees.

"Ohhhh, Graaaaace she's so tiny, she's like if Ayda got hit by a shrink ray!"

Grace steps forward, stopping in front of  Olivia, and though she towers over the others—especially Claire and Olivia—she kneels in front of the pup. "Hi, Olivia. I'm Grace. Thank you for contacting us." With a teasing smile, she adds, "It's good to finally put a face to your name."

"Hi, Grace." Olivia offers her a little wave. Ayda gives her a quick squeeze.

"And this is Tom, and Maple." Tom gives a lazy wave as he swaggers across the room and pours himself into the armchair. Maple smiles shyly where she's still standing right by the door. Grace looks to Ayda. "Hi, Ayda. It's good to see you again. Sorry we just barged in, you know how Tom is."

"I do know how Tom is." He's purring loudly enough it's rumbling through the whole room. Shi adamantly refuses to look his way and see his shit-eating grin.

"I'm sorry things have been rough for you two lately. Pizza, and then let's talk?"

-----


"Jess visited, two weeks ago."

After a couple slices each, they've moved to the living room, gathered in a circle. It isn't lost on Ayda that the only other couple present is also on the couch, sitting the same way shi and hir sister are, with the smaller one cuddling up in the larger's lap.

Ayda only gets that one sentence out before Grace wordlessly rises and approaches, pulling both wolves into a tight hug. "I'm sorry," she says, and she doesn't even know what Jess did she's just already sorry. Something white-hot boils up inside Ayda, being held so gently but so fiercely by someone bigger than hir, who loves hir, and hir shoulders shake. Olivia's tiny paws circle around hir middle, clutch at hir fur. And then other paws find their way in, as the others join the hug.

Ayda sobs.

Trapped and hidden in the middle of the hug, with an ear right over Ayda's heart, Olivia presses a kiss against the inner side of hir breast.

It takes Ayda a few minutes to cry those feelings out, but once shi's settled, they return to their seats, but with Grace much closer to the couch, near enough to keep a paw on Ayda's knee, leaning against Tom's chair. Ayda notices the damp spot on Grace's shoulder. "Sorry about your dress."

Grace smiles. "It's just clothes. It'll wash." She pets a soothing little circle with her thumb. Olivia smirks up at Ayda.

"Speaking of 'just clothes'!" Tom hops up and pads to the center of the room, points an accusatory finger at Ayda. "Shi's topless, Grace!" There's a threat in his voice.

"Tom don't you dare—" Grace manages to get out, before he takes his shorts in both fists and yanks, tearing them off—tearing them apart. Grace heaves an exasperated sigh.

Olivia beams. "Yessssss!" She hops from Ayda's lap to her paws, reaches up under the hoodie's hem, and shucks her panties right down her legs, before dropping back onto Ayda.

Ayda flushes incandescent through hir fur. "Livie, you—that's—just panties?"

Turning her best impish grin on her sister, Olivia wheedles, "What, miss Titties Out? No one was gonna see, and still no one can see."

On the other side of the couch, Claire giggles and kicks her paws. "Ohhhhohohooo, I really like your little sister, Ayda."

"Besides," Olivia continues, poking Ayda's side. "Tom has his whole pussy out—ohhhh I get the shirt now, that's funny."

Tom purrs like a motor while he slinks back into his chair, throwing a leg over Grace's shoulder and batting her snout with his tail.

Once shi's able, Ayda picks back up the story. "She just showed up pounding on the door and yelling," shi says around another slice of Tom's Meat Eaters' pizza, trying not to jostle Olivia in hir lap, "and we were in the—middle of—uh, things. Because I was—Olivia, she—"

"Aydaaaaaaa," Olivia whines. "Please don't be weird at your friends just because I'm here." She turns to Ayda's friends. "I was in the shower, and shi was using that time to masturbate." Ayda's ears blush and shi pins them back.

Tom just nods sagely. "Gotta use whatever time you find for that, with a roomie."

In fits and starts, they make it through the retelling of Jess's unexpected visit. It's a cooperative thing, each filling in bits and pieces the other missed, hugging through the hurt, covering for one another. Ayda's friends mostly just listen quietly, offer little jokes to lighten the mood, provide refills of water and pizza. By the end, they're all squished together in a group hug around the corner of the couch.

From somewhere near Ayda's armpit, Claire chimes in, "We should have a big cuddle in the middle of the floor!"

-----

They dim or darken most of the lights, drag all the cushions from the seats and the spare blankets from the back of the couch onto the floor, piling themselves together on them.

Once they're settled, Grace prompts, "Ayda, is there more?"

"Yeah, Ayda, what was with the kitchen table math and the grocery store freakout?"

Ayda sighs, and tilts hir head back to stare up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry, Liv. I just—I didn't want you to worry, this isn't your fault and it's not fair to put it on you, but I—I don't have enough money for this, long-term. My student stipend has been good so far, I have plenty of savings, it's more than enough to get us through the summer, but if you're living here all fall, it just won't be enough. I've gotta get you new clothes, and food, and school supplies, and—" shi cuts off when Olivia squishes hir face between her paws.

"Ayda why would I need new clothes? I've got plenty, and I steal a bunch of yours!"

"What about when it gets cold? You can't just wear camis and shorts when it's freezing out."

"So we go get the rest of my stuff from—" Olivia chokes on the word 'home', wilts in Ayda's arms.

Grace lays a comforting hand on the pup's back. "That's a good idea, and it should be relatively safe with her already being gone again. And as for your stipend not being enough, Ayda, have you spoken with anyone at the financial office yet?" Ayda blinks up at her, surprised. "Okay, then that's probably a good place to start. Their job is to help make sure that between welfare and stipends, anyone attending can live here and study comfortably."

It seems so obvious now that Grace says it, Ayda wants to be embarrassed that shi didn't think of it.

Claire chimes in, "And we could go with you, for moral support."

Tom scoots forward from where he's been leaning into Maple's side, purr softly rumbling his voice. "And if somehow all of that isn't enough, Ayda, take a look around you." He gestures to the gathered friends, piled up around the wolf sisters. "Me, and Grace, and Maple, and Claire and Lina, all five of us here right now will do anything it takes to help you both." His hand joins Grace's in petting down Olivia's back. "We're gonna make sure this wonderful pup you love so much is taken care of, that I swear." He tousles Olivia's ears, then Ayda's.

It's a lot for Ayda, to be reminded again that this is what love is—showing up with pizzas and open ears and determination to make things better—and they they do love Ayda, have just about from the start when shi met Claire almost a year ago and got dragged into their circle. And by extension, they love Olivia. Although, judging by this one evening together, it won't just be "by extension" for long—she's a delight, and they can all see how much she and Ayda love each other.

Even if they can't know—and must never know—the sort of love that is.

-----


Perched on the arm of Maple's chair, a hand idly stroking along the horse's mane, Tom offers, "Y'know, Maple brought some games! We could play something and cuddle more to destress a bit." Olivia perks up with an audible ooh. He leans down to catch Maple's eye. "Where's your bag, filly?"

Maple looks around the room, puzzled, before it dawns on her. "Shoot." She turns to the wolves. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking and I put it on the bed in the spare room like usual." She starts to push up, but Grace returns from the kitchen and puts a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, I got it. I'm already up."

Olivia stiffens a little in Ayda's lap, even as she brushes off Maple's worry. "Oh it's fine, I don't mind. You needed somewhere to put it, and we've kinda taken over the whole living room."

Ayda tries hir best not to watch Grace as she enters the dark room, grabs the bag's strap, and just...

Stands there.

Breathing.

Ayda tries not to focus on how the room is pristine, hasn't been used since the visit, hadn't been used for weeks before then. How it doesn't smell of a wolf pup. How obvious it may be that Olivia isn't sleeping in there. How there's only one other bed in the house, shut in a room that reeks of two wolves and sex. Shi tries not to focus on any of that, and instead on the warmth of the pup lying against hir, of hir friends' bodies and scents and voices around hir.

It doesn't quite work.

But then Grace comes back with the same soft smile on her muzzle, and she doesn't say anything about it as she hands the bag to Maple then settles onto the floor with her back to the couch. While Maple and Tom fiddle with the TV, Olivia leans towards the others, quizzical look on her muzzle.

"Why did Tom have tearaway shorts, anyway?"

"Theatre," comes the deadpan chorus from Claire, Lina, and Grace.

"Ah."

-----


They play video games, and discover that Olivia is just good enough at the latest kart racing game to bring out Maple's competitive side. With Tom sprawled across their laps and purring like a motor, Maple, Olivia, Claire, and Lina compete in a relatively close tournament to see who will become the evening's champion. Ayda mostly tunes out. After days of nonstop anxiety and adrenaline and caring for Olivia, shi is running on fumes and a little overstimulated for games. So instead, shi focuses on the way they tease each other and Olivia, absorbing her into their antics and catching her up on in-jokes, cheering every time she steals another little victory from Maple, the usual queen of game night.

Grace looks over and finds Ayda nodding off. "Gonna take a nap?"

Ayda slurs out, "I shouldn't. Gotta take care of Olivia."

And Grace pets hir ears, and in a quiet voice reassures hir, "Olivia's got all of us too. She'll be okay for you to take a quick nap, we'll make sure of it."

Ayda goes quiet for a moment, then whines. Olivia's ears perk, and she pauses the game and turns to look over her shoulder at Ayda giving her the most pleading eyes. "One sec, duty calls." She scoots back far enough for Ayda to grab her around the waist and pull her into an awkward sideways hug. "Okay, good to go."

But no one else is, because they're all cooing at how sweet the two of them are. Ayda manages to growl half-heartedly at Tom. Olivia just basks in the attention, tail wagging rapidly against her big sister.

Ayda doesn't manage to properly sleep, but surrounded by hir friends and exhausted by the last day—two weeks—shi's had, shi does lose track of time for about an hour, punctuated by Lina's quiet curses and Maple's whoops of victory and Olivia occasionally turning her whole body with her controller.

They take a break and pick up some of their mess as things wind down after Maple defends her title.

Claire nudges Olivia, points out the back of the house. "You know Lina and I live right on the other side of those trees."

"Really?"

"Yep! It's like a two minute walk from our apartment to get here.

"What the heck, why haven't we met before now."

"Because someone wanted to keep you to hirself alllll summer." Claire giggles, poking Ayda in the side. "Shi begged us to leave you alone. Shi wanted to make hir summer all about you."

"Awwwwwww, Ayda."

"I missed you!" Ayda hates how defensive hir own voice sounds. "And I knew you missed me too and the chats and calls weren't enough."

"And all of you were okay with hir disappearing all summer?"

"Back in early May, at the tail-end of exams, we set up a new channel in the group chat to put links and send messages we want to be sure Ayda will look at, and we made hir promise to check in there occasionally." It was a little silly, but even Ayda will admit that without that promise shi would have completely disconnected from hir friends for the entire duration of Olivia's visit. Claire smirks, dangerous. "We've been teasing hir every time shi talks about you that we can hear hir tail wagging."

Grace hums in thought, passing through the kitchen. "It might be a good idea to make sure you have all our contacts, so it'll be easier to get to us next time you want to talk."

Lina nods. "May as well invite her to the groupchat, too. Not like she hasn't seen everything else we've been sharing all summer."

Olivia smiles, devilish, fangs bared, as plans start rolling up in her mind. Ayda considers, for the first and only time, that this may have been a mistake.

-----

It's nearly midnight when Olivia yawns, a squeaky, whining thing that has her snuggling deeper into Ayda's side, drawing another chorus of awwwws from the room. Shi pets along the pup's belly, careful not to drag the hoodie up with hir claws.

"Guess we better get to bed soon, huh?"

Lina stretches out to lightly kick Ayda's paw for hir attention. "Want any of us to stay over?"

"Ooh yeah!" Claire hops up. "We could drag all the cushions and bedding back into the floor and camp out in the cuddle puddle."

"I think we'll be alright." Ayda pets over Olivia's ears one last time. "Thank you all, so much. It really means a lot, how fast you all came together to help us." She turns to Olivia, nuzzling her ears. "And you were right to call on them, thank you, too."

"Promise you'll let us know before things get so fucking dire next time?"

"Promise. And I promise we'll see each other again a lot sooner, too."

"That's right, somebody's gotta go with you to the financial office."

"We can work out all those details when we're not all crashing from too much pizza and feelings."

"Bah, maybe you're crashing, but I feel juuuust fine."

Grace gently tugs Ayda into another hug, one hand cradling the back of hir head, the other rubbing down hir back. "I'm so proud of you. Of both of you, really, but I've got you right now." She chuckles. "You are doing so much for that pup, and I'm so glad we got to meet her. Thank you for trusting us with all this." She squeezes just a little tighter, adding, "And we meant everything we said, Ayda. We're gonna get you two through this."

Ayda takes two long, shaky breaths to steady hirself. "Thanks, Grace." Shi pulls away, turning hir attention to the rest of the group. "Now we really need some sleep, so you've gotta go."

They all get one last hug on their way. As they're all filing through the back door, Claire offers, "If any of you want, we have plenty of room in our place, too, so you could crash with us!"

-----


The door closes. Ayda cuts the lights one by one.

Olivia yawns again, stretching her arms over her head and drawing Ayda's eyes to the hem of hir hoodie sliding up the pup's thighs, threatening to expose her spade. "Ayda, I'm exhausted. Is it gonna be like that every time someone visits, or we even talk to friends?"

"I hope not. Today was—we don't exactly have a lot of experience with this, and we were trying to tell a whole miserable story and still hide things, and I—I'm sorry I was such a mess, baby sis. It's not fair that I put so much on you to cover for me being a mess."

"We gotta take care of each other, though. See?" She spreads her arms wide. "I'm okay." She pokes Ayda's belly. "And you're okay. It's not just you taking care of me. It's okay to lean on me a little, too. And your friends. Don't just bottle everything up and hide when you're hurting. It's not fair."

Ayda takes a deep breath in, and sighs it out. "Okay. I'm sorry I worried you so much."", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Bad Days & Good Days", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "text/rtf", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "4", "name": "Sexual Themes", "description": "Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "3", "views": "422" }