Soft thuds echoed in my head, the only noise to accompany a fading blackness. They sounded like footsteps, small ones.

"Father?" came that familiar voice. "Are you okay?"

The most I could do was utter some kind of noise or grumble before falling back into the black haze again. It wasn't long, though, before more muted sounds and scuffs along some hard surface would break way for the soft feeling of a small hand on my shoulder. Finally I relented, the blackness fading again into the warm glow of the morning sun.

Riv had woken me. He'd moved his chair quietly to my desk, carefully standing on the end just to reach me from where I lay. I must have been up very late if I didn't remember passing out, especially out here, slumped over the inner shelf of my desk like a corpse.

"Ah...good morning, Riv," I said, trying to blink the sleep film out of my eyes. "Sorry, I don't...remember falling asleep out here. I didn't mean to worry you."

Ugh, even fell asleep in my work clothes. While not exactly uncomfortable for what they were, they didn't breathe well so the stickiness of night sweat clung to my joints. I stood up from behind the desk and gingerly straightened my back, gritting my teeth as the skin and few muscles pushed and pulled back into place with my spine. This would probably put me a bit off for the rest of the day.

I grabbed and lifted the heavy desk arm, freeing myself from the wooden cubicle and taking a few slow, long steps to stretch my tired legs. Before I knew it the small boy was on me, hugging softly around my waist and laying his head against my side as though I hadn't seen him in months.

"Well hello to you, too," I said with a small laugh, stroking his head. "What's gotten into you this morning?"

"You weren't upstairs so I got scared," he said. "I thought you left again."

"Heh, no, I will not be doing that a second time if I can help it," I reassured, rubbing and playfully tugging one of his soft ears. "If they bruise much more of me I'll turn completely blue."

I felt him cling a little tighter from that one.

"Relax, I was joking," I laughed. "Would you be alright with waiting a short time before breakfast so I can take a shower? Sleeping in these clothes makes me sweaty. You could take one after me while I sort out our options."

"Okay!" he chirped.

I looked down to his shining, pale eyes so full of simple cheer but hindered by hesitation. As I rested my hand on his messy hair I wondered just what could compel a person to try to cause harm to someone like this.

Side by side we ascended the stairs to the upper floor. He split to go to his room and I continued my way to my own, rifling through my dresser for the work clothes I'd have normally put out for the morning. I looked at myself briefly in the dresser mirror to see a small, soaked man staring back at me, with hair and fur both matted down and pointing every which way. Somehow I could only be amused as I grabbed my clothes and comb.

As I walked back toward the bathroom I looked in Riv's room to see him grabbing his own clothes and small brush, then coming to the door.

"Can I shower now?" he asked. "I wanna help make breakfast."

"Sure, I don't see why not," I said.

In the bathroom we both grabbed a clean towel and our own separate stalls, closing the changing curtains behind us. After the soft 'plop' of clothes hitting the floor came the piercing squeak of the water knobs, followed then by the sliding thud of the stall locks.

I felt more relaxed and at peace while he was here, probably because then I knew where he was. It was a useful distraction from the usual issues I had with showers, this time paying them very little mind as the hot water loosened my sore muscles. For some reason I thought I heard a noise, but thought it was just the hot water settling the pipes.

As always, I carefully scrubbed the soap into my hair and fur, using any and all falling lather I could to cleanse myself of the awful sweaty feeling. Anything left went to my tail, the obnoxious thing that it was, dipping my fingers down to the warped skin to get rid of whatever it might have collected when I wasn't looking. In a way, though, I liked the thing given that the fur was long enough to cover the damage accrued from another time unless one knew what to look for. Riv seemed to like it, too, often holding onto it for comfort.

Once clean I turned off the water, hearing the other shower do the same not long after. I went to town with the towel against my tail before turning it to my hair and the rest of me. This felt much better.

I picked up my clothes and hastily covered myself before walking back out into the main bathroom.

"...Um, Father?" Riv squeaked from behind the curtain.

"Yes?" I replied.

"My clothes are...a little too small," he said.

...Ah, right. New types.

"Hm, alright, I will be right back," I said, placing my comb on the counter.

I departed the bathroom and walked down the hall to where we'd housed the pures from Stipa. After going through enough dressers I assembled a set of clothes a bit larger for my young charge. I'd forgotten how fast children tend to grow, let alone new types who, on average, were quite a bit taller than pures. It wouldn't be long before I'd need to get him some new clothes, though given my circumstances I wasn't sure how to accomplish that.

I returned to the bathroom, clothes in hand. Riv was still behind the changing curtain.

"Alright, I'm going to give you some clothes I found down the hall," I said. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," he responded.

I turned my head away and put my hand through the curtain, offering what I'd found. He carefully took each article, one by one, until my hand was empty and I could retract it.

"I'm sorry if you don't like them, but I don't have much else right now," I said, a bit defeated. "I will try to figure out some way to get you your own clothes when I can."

"No, I like 'em!" he said cheerfully.

I chuckled, a bit relieved. The clothes were nothing special, but if he liked them that's all that mattered.

Before long he pulled back the curtain, dressed in a clean tanktop and jeans that were a little bit too long, the hems covering everything but the tips of his toes. He looked quite pleased with himself over such a simple thing.

"Hm, if you get cold I'll try to find some kind of overshirt or jacket for you," I said, looking at his exposed arms. "You get cold easier than I do and I'm sure there's one down the hall somewhere."

"It's okay, I'm fine now," he assured.

I gave a little smile and walked back to the sink to attempt tidying my hair. Though it never looked much different after combing, at least this way I knew it was maintained. I looked over to him, appearing to struggle a bit with his own brush.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

"...Please?"

"Sure, one moment," I said, finishing up my part.

Just like before, I took the brush and carefully ran it through his thick, messy hair, teasing apart tangles and gnarls with my fingernails. I couldn't help but notice that he'd slowly close his eyes after a while of pulling the blunted teeth over his scalp and through his unkempt mane of hair, staying as quiet as he could. I would brush a little while longer just for his sake.

"Alright, you're all done," I said, returning his brush as he opened his eyes.

He looked in the mirror, happy with his tamed hair. How it got to be so messy so easily was beyond me. Once we were both finished we grabbed our laundry to take downstairs, descending the staircase back to the lower level. As we did I thought I heard some strange, muffled noise coming from down one of the halls.

My walk slowed and I put my arm out in front of Riv.

"Father?" he asked.

"Shh."

I kept listening. It sounded to be coming from the east wing, where the lobby was. There was no pattern or rhythm and it didn't sound like the usual clank and bang of a settling home. It seemed to get rougher and more upset the longer I listened until quieting to a lull.

"...Something or someone is in the house," I said quietly. "Whatever it is, it sounds like it's coming from the lobby. Stay behind me and go to the back door. Do not make a sound."

We placed our laundry on the stairs and I turned to cover Riv as much as I could as we continued our descent. Keeping as quiet as possible we made it to the lower floor. He silently crept down the narrow back hallway to the back door, my refusing to move until he had.

Once he was stationed I delicately toed my way down the larger hall, keeping my back against the wall. It wasn't long before I reached the lobby corridor. Poking my head around it brought to my sight a large broken window with stones on the floor below and papers from my desk scattered amongst the glass shards. Riv's table was missing a leg and the chair was nowhere to be seen. Turning to my right I saw the stockroom had been forced open as well, with papers and folders strewn about the floor as though a storm came through.

My eyes widened at the damage that lay before me. I carefully stepped to grab the papers from the floor, looking in passing to the stones littering my home. Various slurs and threats had been either written on them directly or tied to them with twine.

RACE-TRAITOR.

WE KNOW YOU HAVE IT.

WAR CRIME.

WE KNOW WHAT HE IS.

I collected my work from the floor, page by page.

ABERRATION.

HERETIC.

YOU'RE NOT WANTED HERE.

I gathered what all I could find into some miscellaneous folder--

KILL ALL DILUTES.

HAND IT OVER.

--and closed it in my other hand.

LEAVE THIS PLACE.

...O nameless assailant, how I wished so much I could.

"...Riv, you can come back out now," I called.

The soft rhythm of footsteps grew louder as they advanced, stopping in the doorway. Without turning around I already knew his expression and couldn't bear to look at it right now.

"I'm sorry," I said. "This must have been the noise I heard in the shower. It seems like they were...waiting for the opportunity to hit without being seen."

"...I'm s--"

"Riv."

He whimpered.

"Please...none of this is your fault. None. I may need to...work a lot more to cover for this broken window, I'm afraid."

I stood back up, folder in hand.

"...I need this for when Kuri arrives," I said under my breath, trying to hold back my tears. "Let's try to get something to eat so I can sweep up this mess."

The child said nothing, but followed me to the kitchen to acquire some milk and fruit for the morning.

"I'm sorry I can't do anything more until he gets here, Riv," I said, pouring the glasses. "Right now I just can't trust being away from the lobby for long, not without the window intact."

"It's okay," he said into his glass.

"...It's not okay," I said as I ran my fingers through his clean hair. "When you are finished, could you please grab the laundry from the stairs and put it in the washtub? I don't want you to fill it, I just need it off the stairs."

"Yes, Father..." he trailed off.

"Hey."

"Hm?"

"Everything will be alright."

We finished our small breakfasts and I quickly washed out the glasses before heading back to the lobby. I went into the stockroom to grab the broom and began sweeping up the thousands of jagged glass shards coating my floor. One by one I picked up each stone and tossed it back into the bushes where trash like this belonged. Several passersby gawked at me from afar, this small man and broom cleaning up the untoward hatred of cowards.

I could not afford another assault-- not upon me, not upon my home, and absolutely not upon my child. Replacing this window would wipe out nearly the remainder of my savings, and with the questionable ethics of those in town there was just no guarantee of filling that financial hole.

We were stuck here.

There was no way out.

I...

...I needed to contact Morissey.