Knothole Kitchen: Fine Dining... Ish

[Leda]

"Easy, easy...." Sally coached gently as she aided Fora in entering the kitchen. "I doubt your ankle's in too bad of shape, but I'd still rather not take any chances." With one of the cheetah's arms held securely around her neck, the ground squirrel guided her ward over to the table and brought her to a rest in one of the chairs. "There! Hard part's over! Noooooooww...." Sally took to rifling through the pantry. "Is there anything in particular you like to eat, Fora?"

[dcbishigirl]

Fora couldn't help but feel embarrassed as she was guided into the kitchen. Sitting in the chair she crossed her legs, putting her hurt leg on top.

"Well, I really like blueberry pancakes, but I'm okay with pretty much anything, I'm not really picky," She looked around the room, taking in the scenery of... the kitchen.

[Leda]

A smile spread across the ground squirrel's face. "Pancakes it is! And I know we have some fruit around here; hopefully blueberries is among them." Upon pulling the dry goods from the shelves and the cold goods from the fridge, Sally had them whipped up into pancake batter in practically no time.

But wait! Were there blueberries? As a matter of fact, there were.

As the first round of pancakes sizzled deliciously upon the griddle, Sally went about chopping up a few oranges as well.

[Lans]

"Well, I see you seem to be in a rush for breakfast today, Princess," said a slightly sleepy looking Rosie from the door as she walked inside. She looked around and spotted Fora.

"Ah I see we have..."


At that moment Tails, still dragging Ray, rushed into the room. "Good morning!" he said, "What's for breakfast?"


"...Several new arrivals I see," Rosie finished.

[dcbishigirl]

"Your the best, Sally," Fora just watched as Sally cooked. She was surprised to realize how hungry she was. So she just watched until, that is, several people entered the kitchen.

Fora turned to see an elderly woodchuck, a fox who looked a little younger than herself, and a small squirell. She just stared, was everybody getting up early today, or did they always get up this early. She felt oddly shy and slid her ankle behind the chair.

[Leda]

"It's really no trouble!" Sally replied cheerfully as she slid Fora's pancakes onto a waiting plate. Adding a few of the orange slices, the princess set the plate before the cheetah just as Rosie arrived. "Oh, great timing! Rosie, I'd like you to meet Fora. She just arrived last night." Noting how uncomfortable the young girl seemed to be about her injury, the ground squirrel pulled their resident nanny aside to explain the situation in finer detail.


It was around then that Ray arrived, tethered at the arm to Tails. The tiny squirrel had seemed somewhat jittery in the first place, but upon noticing the room filled with several strangers, Ray clamped down around the kit's arm with both hands and locked his heels into the ground. "...T-Tails!" he squeaked as tears brimmed his eyes.


"Good morning, Tails," the princess greeted with a glance. Her smile quickly scrunched into a look of concern over the squirrel's obvious anxiety. Look's like he's still just as scared as he was when we found him, she silently lamented. Rather than put the child on the spot, Sally instead knelt down to the boys' eye-level and said to Tails, "Who's your friend?"

[Lans]

"Oh, this is Ray," Tails told Sally, unconcerned by Ray's timidness, "Ray, this is Aunt Sally."


Meanwhile, after listening to Sally' explaination, Rosie went over to sit down next to Fora. "Hello there," she aid, "how are you today, young Fora?"

[dcbishigirl]

"I'm doing okay, I guess," Fora looked thoughful as she said this. She took bite of her pancakes. They were really good. She would have to tell Sally later.

"Sally told you what happened?" Fora asked, looking at the older female. She then took a bite from one of the orange pieces.

[Leda]

The small squirrel had visibly begun to shake, clinging ever tighter to Tails' arm and hiding behind the fox kit among his twin bushy tails. This place was extremely stressful -- possibly even more stressful than living as a nomad. Even though Ray had previously had less safety, he at least had more of a sense of security.

To his relief Sally didn't seem to be paying him too much attention, but even so he'd begun to weep into Tails' fur.


Ray's cowering stabbed at the princess' heart. Sally wanted nothing more than to hug the little boy and assure him that everything was alright, but it was obvious that it would only make things worse. However, she took solace in the fact that their new resident seemed to have found some comfort in Tails' presence, and that was good enough for the time being. It had to start somewhere, after all.

Rather than force the child into an extended introduction, Sally rose to her feet and returned to the waiting bowl of batter. "Well, Tails, pancakes are on the menu for breakfast this morning. Blueberry ones, in fact! Your friend is welcome to them too, if he wants them."

[Lans]

"That sounds great, Aunt Sally!" Tail said. He looked back at Ray oddly, "What's wrong? Nothin's gonna hurt you here."


"Mmmhmm," Roise said to Fora with a nod, "May I take a look? I may be able to help."

[dcbishigirl]

Fora pouted slightly, she really didn't want her food to get cold. She looked at her food for a moment then looked back at Rosie.

"Can I finish eating first?" she asked. She hadn't really eaten anything in a while, she was hungry.

[Leda]

Ray tried to reply to the fox, but a flurry of hiccups had overtaken his speech. This unending feeling that he wasn't safe brought the ache of missing his parents back full-force, if not harder than before. Straining in a gasp between the hiccups, the squirrel abruptly burst into tears, wailing at the top of his lungs. He couldn't do this by himself. He needed his mom and dad. Now.


At the sound of the child's devestated bleating, Sally let out a short sigh and felt her heart plummet to the pit of her stomach. Sooner or later, they were going to have to tell him something... but she had no idea what that something would be, or how she'd even go about it. Things had been so much easier with Tails; even though he'd suffered quite a bit of separation anxiety himself, he had binded himself to Sonic fairly quickly, which relieved him of much of his pain. This new child, however... So far it appeared that he'd be hanging onto his former life with every fiber in his being until...

Well, until what? Until he was completely broken down? That certainly wasn't healthy. But neither was this state of near-constant fear, either. Sally internally grimaced. She knew from the start that Ray's progression would be slow, but it hadn't really occurred to her how much it'd affect the people around him, too.

The smell of sizzling -- and threatening to burn -- pancakes brought the princess back to reality, and she quickly dumped them onto the next waiting plate. "Here, Tails," she called, continuing to make sure not to push attention onto the golden squirrel. "Your pancakes are ready. And, please..." Sally knelt down and pulled the kit close. "Do me a favor, and share with him, okay? Maybe food will calm him down. I'll make you guys some more in a minute." Planting a quick kiss on the fox's forehead, the princess returned her attention to her meal preparation.

[Lans]

Tails nodded solemly at Sally's instructions as he slid the plate between them on the table. "Hey, it's ok, remember?" Tails said, "Everyone's cool here." He reached over and grabbed a small jar of syrup from further down the table. "You like yours with syrup?"


"Oh, of course dear," Rosie said, "I can take look later, after you've gotten some food in you."

[dcbishigirl]

Fora smiled lightly at Rosie. She was surprised at how nice everyone here was.

"Thank you Miss Rosie," she turned back to her food and began to eat with much enthusiasm. Though that wasn't really easy to stay focused on, with a crying squirrel at the table and all. She looked at him and the fox, slightly confused, but decided against saying anything. She wasn't really used to meeting new people and the little boy really didn't look like he was in the mood to talk. So Fora went back to eating.

Then with a little bit of pancake still in her mouth she looked at her new favorite cook and asked, "Sally, can I have some milk, please?"

[Leda]

The blonde little squirrel, visibly trembling, continued to sob into his hands. Every so often it would seem that he was starting to quiet down, but each time it turned out that he'd just been choked for air, and after a couple of gasps went right back to wailing.

Tails had pushed a plate forward and mentioned something about syrup. Ray had no idea what exactly was on his plate, but he did remember syrup. Syrup was something they didn't get to have often; just a little here and there when they found a good tree. That was always an exciting find. Without really answering the kit's question, Ray reached up (or to him it was up; he could barely see level with the tabletop) and ungracefully ran his hand through the pooled syrup. As he licked and sucked the sticky sweetness off his fingers, his cries continued, but had become muffled by his hand. The word, "Mommy," was barely intelligible.


It was always hard to maintain a heart of stone when a child cried -- or it was to Sally, anyway. It took every ounce of her restraint to keep from attempting to comfort him. That was why Fora's request was such a relief: it gave her someone else to focus on. "Sure, no problem."

[Lans]

Tails giggled, "You're supposed to put it on the pancakes, silly!"


"Tails, don't make fun," Rosie chided, moving over to the two while leaving Fora to eat. "Here, let me help you, dear," she said, gently taking the jar from Ray, and then giving the plate of pancakes a light coat of syrup.

[Jamie Lee]

And with a mighty yawn coming from outside, the door opened up and a much more presentable looking Bunnie strode inside.

"Mornin' ya'll," she said cheerfully.

[Leda]

Rosie's intentions were of course friendly and helpful in nature, but unfortunately Ray had been trained not to trust anyone. As the unknown woodchuck closed in and loomed over him, the squirrel's golden body contorted until he'd slipped free of his seat, yelping and hyperventilating. At this point, he didn't care if he got lost; really, he was already lost in the first place. Ray bolted for the door...

...Only to collide head-on with Bunnie as she entered. The child stumbled backwards, nearly falling off his feet completely. Just as further panic was about to make the situation even worse, recognition cut it off, and Ray's reddening eyes widened. He remembered her from the night before. She hadn't hurt him; in fact, she'd even fed him. She'd been very kind and gentle. In fact, she reminded him greatly of his mother...

Without warning, Ray latched hold of Bunnie's right leg and burst into tears.

[dcbishigirl]

At the sound of squirrel's yelp, Fora turned and watched the amazing escape. With wide eyes she watched as he ran... straight into the rabbit from earlier. As the little squirrel strangled Bunnie's shiney leg, Fora could only think of one thing to say...

"Woah," at least now she knew what made the sound. She looked back at her food and smiled. This place just got cooler and cooler. Well, except for the screaming squirrel...

[Lans]

Tails turned, startled, at Ray's sudden retreat. "...It was only pancakes..."


"Oh dear..." Rosie said mostly to herself.

[Jamie Lee]

Bunnie gave a startled blink and looked down at the boy, recognizing him as the child who'd been sneaking around with Tails the previous night. Well, she certainly hadn't been expecting this.

"Well now, what's got ya'll down so early hon?" she asked, brushing at his hair. "Ya'll're cryin' like a babe who had his lolly swiped!"

[Leda]

Ray gasped for air and looked up at Bunnie desperately, his tears soaking the fur of either cheek. The squirrel repeatedly looked from his savior to the group he'd left behind, and each time inched farther and farther behind the rabbot. If she'd still had sensation in her legs, she probably would've felt him shaking.


He had apparently bonded with Bunnie, too? Sally found this to be a great surprise, but, good news was good news. Trying to maintain her strategy of ignoring the little squirrel, the princess turned to her roommate and called over the wails, "Bunnie, do you want any pancakes?"

[dcbishigirl]

Fora ignored the scene near the door and continued to eat. Man, she thought, boys are such drama queens. As she finished her small stack of pancakes, she moved on to the rest of her orange slices. She was pretty full, though she didn't want to be. That meant Miss Rosie was gonna wanna take a look at her ankle.

"Thank you for breakfas Sally, Its the best I've had," She said sweetly, and since Sally looked like she had her hands full with cooking, Fora put her silverware on her plate and stood to take the dishes to the sink. She winced at her ankle, how did she keep forgetting about that..

[AnT]

Suddenly a window opened, and then a dragon craned her head inside, like a giraffe. Normally, Dulcy would have a bright face when it comes to the smell of food, but today was not one of those times. She had bandages wrapped around her forehead and neck, and she was looking quite gloomy and exhausted. She was still sore over letting that girl get captured, and she had some bad dreams.


"Hey Sally." Dulcy muttered, rather depressed. "You got any blueberry pan---"

Her eyes sprouted at the cheetah girl.

"You're okay!!!"

[Lans]

As if the dragoness sticking her head through the window wasn't enough to further taumatize the little squirrel, there was a loud BOOM from the door as a blue blur flashed inside and over to the cabinets before resolving into Sonic as he stopped. "Morning guys," he took a big sniff of the air, "Mmm I see breakfast is served."

[Leda]

".... *SHRIEK*"

Between a newcomer that was probably big enough to squash him with one foot, and another one that was deafeningly noisy and shook the walls, Ray's panic level went off the charts. In the midst of his terrified wailing, those with sharper ears might have been able to pick up on a subtle trickling sound...


The princess sighed and dropped her face into one hand. "Oh brother..."

[Jamie Lee]

And it just so happened that Bunnie was one of those with the sharper of hearing. She gasped at the boy's outburst and then froze in place as realization sunk itself in. Glancing down her expression filled itself with horror.

"... YEEP! Whoa nelly, sugah! Oh shootinanny!"

She glanced to either side quickly, and without really thinking about it she'd snatched the young boy and went running out of the kitchen with him in embarrassment.

[Lans]

Tails suddenly turned to Sally, "I didn't know he was afraid of pancakes, Aunt Sally, honest!"


"Oh, now now, Tails," Rosie said, "I'm sure what happend wan't your fault in the slightest."


Sonic meanwhile just looked confused, "Um...did I miss something?"

[dcbishigirl]

Fora put down the dishes, first there was a loud shout... that sounded really familiar. Surprised, she looked towards the voice. Her eyes widened and her face almost split in two from the smile.

She was about to respond when the little boy started doing damage to her eardrums. She winced at the sound. Fora merely watched as Miss Bunnie took the boy outside. She looked back at the dragon. She gave a big toothy grin.

"Hi, Miss Dragon!"

[AnT]

Dulcy could barely respond a word. Tears flooded out of her eyes before she knew it. She feared for this girl all night, wishing she could've rescued her. She almost could hear the girls cries of pain in her nightmares. But at least now that dreaded weight was lifted off of the dragoness.

She could give the girl a big hug if she wasn't too big to be inside.