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Chapter 13 Vowels of silence

An arrhythmic tapping on the wood of my crib brought me out of the void of unconsciousness. I opened my eyes to a world turned slightly pink from the light diffusing through my blanket , feeling my tail wag the cloth back and forth over me.

"Good morning sweetie, you awake enough to see that pretty face?" Miss Luna pulled the blanket down a little, then up, and down, making me giggle at her silly faces each time. I eeped a bit and put my paws over my cookie stash, doing very little to hide the three cookies that had survived the trip back from the kitchen.

"Hmmm..."Miss Luna's nose brushed up and down my fur, air blowing in and out as she sniffed me. Her own tail wagging. "Save any thin mints?"

I blushed and put my little paws over the scant remaining evidence. One.. well now two halves of a thin mint, a chocolate chip, and a chocolate cookie with a chocolate swirl on it broken into a bunch of pieces. I knew how silly it was as soon as i did it. Her undoubtedly powerful nose aside, she could SEE the cookies i was trying to hide.

Ears flat and tail tucked I handed her the big half of the thin mint. I mean, she could have gotten an entire chocolate chip as a bribe, but not a thin mint. I held up the other half, clicked it to hers and nommed it. It wasn't much of a bribe but... a jar of cookies left out in the open, under minimal security where we had to work together to get it? They'd probably planned the whole thing as some sort of socialization exercise.Ugh, why hadn't I seen it before?

-Because you were having fun- i answered myself, barely registering that the Wolfess was picking me up and carrying me over to the changing table. "Awww what's got you so fussy, you lost a thin mint?" I shook my head and licked her muzzle, retrieving some more of my hard earned crumbs. She smiled at me and licked my snout, doing the same. One paw on my sodden padding she used the other to rub lightly at my neck, naping me lightly before petting over and between my ears.

"How's that feel hon, weird?"

"Kinanice"

"Alright then" she put me on my back gazing up. Her eyes reflected an adorable little fox kit smiling up with a dopey grin on her face. Warm, sterile smelling gel enveloped my front and bottom for a moment before being peeled off with a vanderwaals rag. She washed her hands and rubbed my ears some more "Alley oop" abd rolled me atop the soft, pink, crinkly padding started humming softly and rubbing my back with and against the grain of my fur, with and against, with and against, until my paw thumpthumped on the table.

She Barked a laugh when I turned around to glare at her "Okay that one was my fault ." slipped my tail through the elastic hole in the back, brought the tapes snugly over my hips and taped me in. Enormous paws nearly wrapped around me as they stood me up, then a bluntly called finger tugged on the waistband and ran over toe leg bands. Her wriggling fingers tickled my tail a bit "tail up" she commanded, pat my rump and declared me ready to roll.

I should have known something was up when I got to pick my shirt for the day. The yellow sauropod on a gray shirt didn't exactly scream manly, but it was parsecs ahead of the pink velociraptor shirt that said "Clever girl".

"Today we start language training" I wagged my tail furiously "I know it's frustrating not being able to communicate, but don't get too excited. Learning to talk again is VERY hard for kin. You learned to walk right out of the vat i heard....." my tail tucked a bit at the memory, but kept up it's back and forth motion regardless "That's something humans need to work at a bit. So you got off easy there, but this is payback. Things have a way of evening themselves out over the long haul.

She kept talking as she carried me down the hall. We passed Chuck, who asked his caretaker to pick me up so he could high five me. The two nurses even stopped and backed up down the hall when we missed the first time to let us do it over.

The door pulled into the wall to admit us, giving me a good view of an oddly large room with bright colors, a padded desk in the shape of a flock of parrots, an extra soft carpet and a punching bag of all things. A quick sniff revealed that the tree in the corner was full of food and drinks. I was sat on the floor where Edda's scent was strong as was that of the Wolf and salt water?

Miss Luna sat cross legged across from me, "Okay sweetie, I know you're eager to get talking again. But you need to take this slow. Trust me. Do exactly what I tell you, and don't try to rush ahead on her own. Understand?" I nod nodded. She showed me a pacifier with a stars and planets strap, and pinned it to my shirt, making me tuck my tail. "It's a therapeutic device sweetie. When this is in your muzzle you STOP talking, okay?"

I nodded eagerly, and opened my muzzle... and immediately found the paci in it. I HEYED.. But Miss Luna glared at me, ears forward and tail still. I lowered my eyes and nodded.

"We'll start simple Aaaaaaaa Eeeeee iiiii. Ohhh.. yooooo...

"Aahh eeeeEeee" I was interrupted with a firm tap to my pacifier.

"Paci is in. You don't talk. You listen, THEN you do. Aaaaa Eee...

The day went downhill from there. Even when i KNEW i was supposed to be quiet I'd start making sounds when I was supposed to be listening. Miss Luna was calm, patient, and non reactive to my increasingly whiny complaints and mild tantrums. Her stoic attitude just made me madder, and in short order i was slamming my little paws on the thickly covered floor. After the third such outburst in under five minutes i started punching and tearing at the punching back, slamming my tinny fists against it in a rapid series of hammer blows. After a dozen i was still angry enough to open my mouth put it into the foam padding and..and...realized what i was doing, pushed it away from me and curled up in a ball, crying.

The first rub to my back was tentative, but when i didn't pull away or, more importantly turn around and bare my teeth it was followed by more pets, up and down, up and down from tail to ears. Something soft and squishy was pressed against my closed muzzle. I shook my head, but the instructor was insistent.

"Come on sweetie. You're not biting. You're suckling. Open...good girl. Suckle. Relax. Suckle. Relax. Goood girl" I was.. Not.. going to be coddled like... I not tried to suckle but my lips wouldn't stop. Once she started petting my ears and i calmed down enough for the dopamine reuptake ..things to kick on I stopped trying to struggle. Suckle and relax like a good girl. Let the waves of relaxation wash over me. The warmth between my legs was just a nice, steady stream Nothing to worry about. I didn't want to worry, the grown up told me not to worry. I could just listen to the grown up. Enjoy the lovely pets, the nice warmth in my chest. Being held and carried to the wall, which folded out a pair of winged shaped chairs, but we only took the one as i was in Miss Lunas warm fuzzy lap. Her first few pets to my ears were tentative, but once i gave a relaxed sigh and leaned against her she started to sub them in earnest, flattening them out. "I'll believe this was a good idea when they try it with a human, but since it seems to be helping..." the pets moved to my belly and she turned me around.

"I'm taking the pacifier out , but you still hush until you're told." I nodded, getting the first spoonful of banana custard on my chin. A few licks determined that it was in fact, delicious, so when Miss Luna offered me the next bite with a "Say AHHHHHHHH" I complied, the next "AAAAAA" and so on. Soon the alphabet was done and the bowl was empty.

"Well, I could get you ALL of your sounds back this way, but you'd be the size of a house" she teased, licking my chin a bit. "Now let's try a few consonants... "

I only had my pacifier tapped twice for trying to run ahead and make full words.in the hour after breakfast. Instead of a third tap she pet my ears " I know it doesn't seem like it, but you've made a lot of progress today sweetie. Just learning to do what you're told is the hardest step." She gave me a hug, and walked me to the dining room.

Lunch went fairly well. I had to sit in the cafeteria, but an owl statue on the table was emitting enough white noise to keep the room down to a dull roar. A Wolf with grey , white, black, and tan markings and striking blue eyes tapped me on the shoulder and started singing "What can I say you're welcome..." and left dancing. I looked at Chuck, who was giggling under the table with Mathias

"I forgot about that vid." in between bites of hot dog Chuck explained "The Tape Deck made a whole song and dance routine with you singing "you're welcome" . Your little show of defiance in the courtroom was pretty famous.. .probably still is, not that we'll be able to see anything about that until we're old enough to watch uncensored tv."

"Or reprogram the Nanny protocols..." Suzie muttered. Probably not as quietly as she thought.

"Yeah, bit of a rallying cry for the Fuz..Kin community." Matthias paused for a second to see if I noticed, or offended. I had but I wasn't. At least not by him.That Wolf was lucky he was cute though. Chuck bumped my shoulder. " He's a fan. Lighten up. Most Kin are. So are a good chunk of humans... certain exceptions not withstanding. "

Something whizzed through the air from behind me for a moment before splatting against the back of my head. I turned around to see Cygnus smirking with an exaggerated "Oopsie..." Suzie held onto my tail so in case i tried to go after her. Which i didn't. I typed something into my sphere which it not only refused to translate, but made it shrivvel up into a red ball and start beeping. Suzie of all people was the one to get up, taking the owl with her. "Scuse me, we need to have a little talk, girl to girl". "And whispered something to her with her hand over her mouth so the room couldn't see. Whatever it was it left the bully stammering in tears for a few seconds before running off crying.

I didn't know if the owl had a recording option, or if my sphere set off a warning but Miss Rabuka stormed into the room through the wake that Cygnus had left. I tried to plop the locked typing sphere into my muzzle discretely, unfortunately Miss Rabuka saw it, held her hand out for it, and replaced it with a pacifier once she got it.

"Words can hurt as much as..." she stopped to look at me "almost as much as actions" she took my typing sphere off the ground, and plopped a pacifier in Suzies muzzle as well. "You two are going to stand here, in the corner. While everyone else gets dessert." she tsked. "Messy eater..." and pulled the food off the back of my head and gave it a quick spit clean."

Okay. Standing in the corner wasn't that bad. It was just standing. On two legs. Which was a little uncomfortable at this age. And smelling the chocolate, starch rich. pudding the rest of the room was getting. And listening to all 20 kiddults in the room look over at us and snicker. The milk I'd drunk worked it's way through me at the worst possible time. Trying to hold it in just made me dance squirming from foot to foot increasing the giggles. A fast stream burst out between my legs causing the padding around my waist to droop down against my shorts as warmth spread over my front and to my rump. I kept telling myself it wasn't as obvious as it felt, but someone with a keen nose, probably that stripey wolf, started laughing louder than the humans a few seconds later. After that i couldn't keep my tail anything but tucked up between my legs. On my own anyway.

Suzie, cheeks burning and eyes shining with some barely unshed tears shuffled a little closer and pulled my tail out, and gave it a hug. "Come on, tail up. You've stood up to worse bullies than her. You're fine as long as they don't let them see they got to you"

My tail wagged a little in her grip. Either she was right, or the spectacle wore off, or the chocolate pudding was as good as it smelled. The kids went back to normal, and shuffled off to their various therapies, medical tests, or outside playtime.

"Suzie, you can go play outside now." Miss Rabuka took the pacifier back."Rona, you'll be cleared to play outside tomorrow." I awwwed "And you have an appointment with Dr Bernard this afternoon" She picked me up and carried me there. Giving my rump a pat.

"Very Good. Nice and relaxed. Nothing to worry about. Let all your worries just drift away. Just a good little fox, holding her new plushie" I wagged my tail some. It was amazing how fast today's troubles had disappeared when Dr. Bernard had taken Fox from behind his back and held him out, lion king style. With the tiny pediatrician guiding my wrist i pet the lil foxy's soft fur, feeling it bristle against the hard pads of my paws.

"You are relaxed, and listening. Breathe in.... And out. Good girl. The game is called vodoo. You control the vertical. You control the horizontal." he set the plush in front of me and sat behind me. "You pet the foxy and I'll pet you the same way. Any time you want you can stop, and we can just watch Eye of the Black hole"

"Your tax credits at work..." Dr. Ockerman put in from behind the computer screen. The three of us stuck our tongue out at him. Well Fox didn't have a tongue but the look on his face said it all.

I hesitantly put my paw on top of the lil foxes ears, and the doctor repeated the motion on mine , resting his hand there without even the full weight. I moved my paw in a circular motion, the doctor moved his back and forth over the ears, a dopey, pleasant warmth spreading through me

"Of course you'd use the ears. We made that so it would feel very nice. We tried to make it feel organic, but there's something about genuine, natural experiences you can't always replicate." I hmmed? A bit before picking up his meaning. And put my paw down over Fox's belly. I saw the doctor smiling at me in the mirror, reaching around to gently rub my belly in slow, kneading circles. I giggled and my paw thumpthutmped when he went over one of the ribs, stopped, made him do it again, stopped, and again. Before gently petting the little fox's bushy tail. The little doctor smiled and pet down the tail, tracing the border of orange and black along the end. I pet the little foxes back, but that kind of made me tense up with the doctor put his hand there, so he took it away. After a few moments i went back to the ears, then wrapped my arms around Fox and enjoyed a warm hug from behind in return. I had him lightly tap my shoulders, hips, and hold onto my hands, looking at my reflection in the mirror the entire time. I made some funny faces, flicked my tongue against my little milk teeth, and felt over my dainty little snout.

I pointed to the screen, and watched Eye of the Black hole, and old favorite. Everyone on the ship wakes up from Cryosleep and has to deal with an alternate version of themselves from a quantum entanglement macguffin, and see themselves as another person, and watch the other them slowly grow different over the course of multiple lifetimes.

Of course there's no reason i couldn't do that AND get a few hugs and ear pets.

That night I resolved to wait up for any after hours rendezvous. Which lasted all of six seconds after by head hit the fluffy pillow. This time Mathias had rigged up a flashlight from some foil, wire, and potatoes. We snuck into the top floor of the obstacle course, which had an enclosed room where you couldn't see the flashlight from the outside. Chuck had it pressed up against his chin, casting his face in scary lights and shadows.

"And after a life of war crimes against the Kin, General Pekanbaru emerged from the vat , was cleaned off, showed to the mirror... where his face was now a muzzle, big sharp, pointy teeth, and the cold black nose of a Wolf!"

My tail wagged. I wasn't sure how a happy ending really qualified as a ghost story. Suzie and Bob squirmed a little, Suzie was running a hand over her nose.

I promised the typing sphere i wouldn't swear, and it popped open.

" I don't see what would be so bad about being a wolf. Faster, stronger, big teeth...

"All that fur has got to feel weird though" Suzie put in, and hugged my tail. "Always wondered what a tail would be like. Maybe i can get one when I turn 18 again.

"Do you think they can really do something like that ? Turn a human into a Kin?

I shrugged. - I wouldn't worry about it. When mom told that story the General was a wolf that got turned into a human-

"That's an old one." Suzie had managed to save a few cookies from the other night, and nommed one. I wasn't the only one sniffing the air near it. "When I was a girl the first time and heard it, they infantilized him, raised him, and THEN told him who he was. Now THAT's revenge"

Mathias shuddered "Could you imagine that? Finding out you used to be someone else, someone horrible? Isn't that something you'd.. You know. Feel in your soul?"

Chuck shook his head "You are your brain man. That's it. There isn't anything else, that gets scrambled you're not you anymore. Seen that happen to a few people over the years." at my tucked tail he flicked a finger at it. "Relax. I've seen scrambled brains before and you don't have one mister public enemy. I mean, you might be girl you but you're still you you know?" He punched my shoulder, and Edda punched his hard enough to make him fall over.

"Hey! Good news. She used her left hand!

"Yeah, great news..." he rubbed his shoulder. "This reminds me about the one time in a kiddults only summer camp on the lake..."