Chapter 2: The Most Important Meal Of The Day

A loud knock was heard in the door to Peter's room "PETEY, WAKE UP! BREAKFAST IS READY!" The sound of his sister yelling woke up the sleeping teenager, who slowly began to open his tired eyes. The bed he slept on was about as bloody as his work uniform, this mess was definitely going to be hard to wash off without anyone finding out. Maybe his dad could be convinced that he was attacked by a bloody badger on his way home or something, which would ironically only feed more into his paranoia regarding Pete’s safety.

"I'M COMING!" Peter yelled in response, praying that the mutant girl he brought home the previous day would still be asleep, fortunately the Fox was still slumbering in the small bed he left her in. Her wounds looked much better, but the red stains on her fur and the small mattress she laid upon made him realize the amount of trouble he was in. How the hell was he sneaking something that bloody into the laundry, and most importantly, how would he deal with her?

Now was the time for the big decision, should Pete wake her up or just rush through breakfast? On one hand if the mutant woke up while he wasn’t there she might wander off and accidentally enter the kitchen in plain view of his family. However, if he stayed and tried talking to her, there might be a chance that his dad would use his copy of the keys to get in, especially considering how much time their conversation would probably take. Right at that moment a great idea sparked within Peter’s mind, leaving a note! 

“Hey, I want to help you, ok? You can clean yourself in the bathroom, there are old clothes in the closet that might fit you, I went out to get some food for us, be right back! :)” Perfect! Now she’d know his intentions were good, nobody could doubt the trustworthy aura of a smiley face. Peter left the sticky note on the door, and went to his private bathroom to quickly wash himself and put on clean clothes before leaving.

Looking into the mirror the reflection staring back at Pete was of the same pale blonde kid that he saw every morning. His body was as scrawny as ever but he could definitely feel that the six pack that would bring all the girls to him was just around the corner, he just had to actually start training something besides combos in fighting games.

But enough of appreciating the human form. With new clothes and no sign of the bloody mess from yesterday the anxious teenager left his room and ran downstairs into his kitchen. He probably should’ve mentioned the fact he’d leave the door locked in the note, but it was too late for that now.

“Finally we get to eat! You could at least try to wake up with the rest of us, it’s 9:38 AM already you know? I have stuff to do!” Pete’s sister Agatha was only 2 years younger than him, however her insistence in using pigtails and polka-dot dresses made her look way younger. 

“Give Pete a break Agatha, you know he had a busy night at the store. After all, that mess in the storage room didn’t make itself, ain’t I right, Raccoon Fighter?” Well, This certainly was a problem, looks like dad actually decided to be observational for once and checked the back of the store after Peter left. “You’re gonna let me and your mother check on any injuries you got, kid. I can’t believe the mess you left back there, used one of the first aid kits, tons of blood everywhere, disorganized the inventory too. You need to be careful Peter, we worry about you.”

“It was nothing dad! The raccoon was bleeding when it showed up, I uhh... Tried patching it up with the first aid kit and let it go back into the woods once I was done. There was no fight, she barely even touched me, it just kept bleeding all over the place.” 

“YOU HELPED A RACCOON WITHOUT ME???” His sister screamed, incredulous that her sibling would dare to try and steal her thunder. Unlike her brother she was already set on her future career, her love for animals had opened up an obsession into becoming a Zoo Veterinarian. Something their parents were pretty against, and insisted was just a childish dream.

“Calm down dear, Peter was probably worried the poor thing wouldn’t make it without his help” Now even Pete’s mom was involved in the discussion, thankfully she was the one person that took his side.

“Well Peter, it's noble that you decided to actually help this animal. Even though we would prefer to keep Raccoons away from the store, but next time maybe ask your uncle-” 

“Or me!” Agatha added while interrupting her father’s moral lesson.

“Right…look kids. The world out there is filled with a lot of dangers, and one day I know you’ll both try and wander off into things you’re not prepared to handle. I only want to try and show you that you can both have a good future without running head first into the unknown. So next time, please Pete, just ask for help alright? Remember that your family is always here for you”

“Right, thanks Dad…” With the talk over the family began devouring their daily breakfast of pancakes and scrambled eggs. But Peter’s mind wandered as he ate, all he could think about was his father’s speech, he could tell the intention in his words, the Raccoon was an excuse, another way of closing in the leash on his children. He wanted his son to stay at the store and was planning for his daughter to enroll at the nearest university possible if she didn’t abandon her dreams of being an animal helper, and that was only because she would probably run away if they didn’t, but Agatha would certainly only work at a local pet clinic and not the big zoo she dreamed of, not with how dangerous those animals could be. Pete’s dad was always planning on how to keep his children under his wing, with his wife only making sure he didn’t lock his kids in a basement to keep them extra safe.

There was nothing that could be done about it, running away would mean leaving his sister alone and probably giving his parents heart attacks. They had good intentions, only wanting to keep him away from the dangers out there, maybe deep down they were right and staying in the town was the better option. He certainly didn’t want to have to rely on random kids in gas stations for help when he got hurt, but if he was going to stay here for the rest of his life then the least he could get is a little bit of independence, perhaps some excitement once in a while too. Then again, maybe the solution to those problems was in his room right now, staying completely alone… Hopefully she didn’t jump off the window.

Soon the whole family was done with the meal, with only a handful of scrambled eggs and 2 pancakes remaining. When his Dad and Sister left the kitchen and his mother began washing the dishes, Peter took a plate with the leftover food and stealthily returned to his room. He closed the door before even processing the current state of his guest, who was no longer laying on the bed. “Hey Arctic Fox, where are you? I got some food, I just want to talk.”

"You really fell asleep next to someone that had threatened your life and left her in your room alone? That kind of behavior could get you killed where I'm from" The fox said while leaving the bathroom, she was wearing one of Pete’s old hoodies that were now too small for him. Her fur was a bit wet, but it looked like she cleaned off the blood that was left over from last night and put on some new bandages. "But… You did help me for some reason, brought me to a warm bed, even got some food, so you must have some interest in me. I helped myself to your sink to clean and got one of your hoodies as well. Your note said I could use them and I didn’t want to walk around wearing rags while drenched in blood" Pete could tell she looked much better than in the previous night, her fur appeared soft and less dirty, the purple face paint she had yesterday looked like it had been touched up a bit. He could now see her full muzzle including her mouth, which formed a soft smile. Even her posture was better, no longer arched back like an animal, but fully straight, making her look a lot more human-like.

Also, she still wasn’t wearing any pants for some reason, but that felt like it would be a rude observation to make. Maybe her tail was too big to fit on anything.

"I couldn't leave you there, sure I was scared before, but I felt like you were just defending yourself you know? It was a heat of the moment decision. You wouldn’t believe how boring things are in this place, but here you are, something completely unbelievable sitting right in front of me! I can tell you're not any type of regular animal, so what are you? An alien? Some kind of mystical fox god? An escaped science experiment?" At this point Peter could no longer hold back his curiosity, he wanted to know everything about this girl.

Her expression immediately shifted "Hold up a bit, so you only helped me because you were bored?" Pete could tell that his response had not pleased her at all.

"No I didn't mean it like that! it's just that the opportunities aligned. I saw you were in need and that not even the people you were riding with wanted to help, so I couldn’t leave you to rot in the bushes behind a gas station" Peter's desperate addition to his speech led to the annoyance in the girl's face to vanish, replaced with a visage of sadness.

"You’re right, sorry. I guess you deserve some kind of answer, so here it goes: My name is Alopex, I'm a teenage mutant arctic fox, yes, I was made in a lab, and that is all you need to know about me… at least for your own safety" Alopex looked fragile while talking about who she was, but denying the boy before her any kind of deeper information for his “safety” was a terrible idea. “Look, thank you so much for everything, but I’ll just eat some of the food and leave”.

“So that’s it? You show up, tell me you’re a mutant made in a lab and run off forever?”

“What did you expect? Look Peter, I'm sure you’re a nice person, I hope one day you’ll help someone that deserves it more than me. It’s better if I go off on my own, I know how to handle myself alone”

“But…” Pete couldn’t follow the mutant if she ran off, as much as something inside him told him to get out of this town, not only would she not want him to tag along, but leaving his family with no explanation would make him carry guilt for the rest of his life. As overbearing as they were, his parents still loved him and he didn’t have the heart to abandon them and his sister like that. On the other hand letting the fox go would mean that not only would she be completely alone, but he’d have to spend the rest of his days wondering What if…? If only he could ask someone for help… Wait, ask someone… Maybe ask his family? BAM! The spark of a brilliant idea was born in Peter’s mind, this had to work, he wasn’t going to let her be out there to get herself hurt again with no one to help. Maybe he couldn’t leave this place, but he could introduce a new element to it, he was going to convince her to stay using his father’s advice! “Alopex, sorry if this might come off as rude, but do you have any kind of family?” 

“What? I… No, I used to, but… I’m fine on my own'' Alopex looked shocked at the sudden question, like it brought back a wave of memories. The tortured look on her face when she talked about how she was fine with being alone showed how much of a lie that truly was. This was Pete’s chance to show her why she should stay.

This is it, make your family proud Petey boy, use a bit of that Manners charm and make her stay! “My dad always told me to ask for help from my family before facing the unknown. I'm sorry that you’re alone now, but I don’t think you should stay that way. I get that you’re trying to keep me safe from whatever is out there, but this is a big world and since you have no one else to rely on, well… Alopex, would you like to stay here and be a part of my family?” Once the words came out of his mouth the only thing Peter could think about was how much better that speech sounded in his head.

The two stared at each other for what felt like hours, Alopex looked like she couldn’t properly comprehend what Pete told her. Even after warning him about the danger he might go through, the teen still wanted her to stay and actually offered a chance to be a part of his family, whatever that was supposed to mean neither of them truly knew. After a few more millennia of staring the mutant finally broke the silence. “I think i’d like to eat some breakfast” 

Well, that was at least better than a no.

“Oh sure, sorry I forgot to bring a fork” Peter said while handing her the plate he had been carrying since he entered the room.

“It’s ok, I’ll just use my hands” As Alopex chowed down her meal the boy swore he saw a small smile form on her face, hopefully this was her way of saying yes.