Chapter Text
Allura had been cleaning since 5 Am. Kima knew that, because that was what time it had been when Allura had kissed her head and rolled out of bed, and it was now 9 am and the smaller woman was finally getting up. She trotted down to the kitchen, leaning against Allura’s side with a sigh. “Remind me, what’s the story on the one coming today?” Allura sighs, wrapping an arm around Kima’s shoulder with a fond smile. “Keyleth. Her mom vanished when she was little, apparently, and her father was killed a few months ago. She’s autistic, and her last three homes apparently didn’t end well.”
Kima nodded, forcing herself to remain calm even though her fairly high level of worry. Allura, seeing right through this mask, pressed a kiss to her wife’s head and leaned into her side with a fond smile. “We’ve got this.” She was about to speak again when a knock drew her attention to the door. Kima gave her a reassuring smile, nudging her wife towards the door and taking over the bacon cooking.
Allura’s heart clenched with pain as she took in the girl in front of her. Keyleth was small with red hair and green eyes. She was holding a leash that was attached to a large pitbull who had red fur and was wearing a vest that Allura noted said “Service dog” on the side. She paused, mentally cursing out the foster agency for not mentioning that their new foster kid had a service dog before smiling and opening the door wider. “Hi there, you must be Keyleth, come in.” She sized up the somewhat enthusiastic-looking caseworker with a tired smile, moving to one side to let both inside.
“Keyleth, your room is the second one on the right if you want to go put your bag down.” The girl nodded, still not raising her head high enough to show her face as she scrambled down the hall, moving so fast the dog had to race to keep up. Kima grimaced as she heard the door click closed and the lock clicks into place, following the social worker into the kitchen to listen to the very-too-short information.
Keyleth was scared. Tiberius was picking up on it, nosing at her hand and crawling into her lap as soon as she sat. She pressed her hands into the soft fur, making little whining noises as she rubbed her fingers down the dog’s back until the worst of the panic had faded, pressing kisses over the fuzzy face. She knew she should probably go out and greet the women, the one at the door had seemed nice enough, but she couldn’t bring herself to move from the little cocoon she’d made with her blankets and Tiberius.
Allura wasn’t sure how long they should wait before going in to make sure Keyleth was ok. The girl had looked terrified as she ducked into the bedroom, leading a dog who was almost as big as she was, but Allura wanted to give her time to relax for a little bit before they talked to her. She turned her attention back to the social worker, who gave the duo a smile. “I know you two have said you’re willing to foster disabled children, which I really appreciate as it’s hard for me to place many of my wards who are disabled. I’ll be back in a few days to check in on you guys and Keyleth, and if everything seems to be going well we’ll probably have at least one more, if not more, who need a long-term placement in the near future.”
Once the man had left, Allura turned to Kima and sucked in a long, shaky breath. “Ok, let’s give her a few minutes to relax and then we can go chat” she suggests. Kima nods, digging into her breakfast but jerking upright in surprise at the sound of footsteps coming in her direction, eyes falling on the small child at the door. “Hi there, Keyleth. Would you like some breakfast?” the girl was gripping the leash of the big dog, who was lapping gently at her hand as she gave a small nod, eyes firmly facing the ground. “We don’t have any dog food yet, your social worker didn’t feel the need to tell us about your beautiful dog, so we’ll go get some of that later but would he like some eggs and bacon?” Keyleth gave another little nod, sliding into the nearest chair and making a hand motion, causing Tiberius to lay down by her side as she loosened the leash a little.
Kima served up four plates of bacon and eggs, adding toast to the plates for the humans. The dog lay patiently as Keyleth put his plate down, till she gave a tiny “eat” and he dug in. The girl herself didn’t touch the eggs, but devoured the bacon and the toast, sending disgusted glances at the eggs as she ate that made Kima laugh. Allura had already finished eating and was washing the dishes, grabbing her coat and sending a fond look at Kima, who was feeding the extra bacon to the dog. “What’s his name, Keyleth?” Keyleth glanced up, eyes still down but brighter. “This is Tiberius. He’s the best.” She slid down to wrap her arms around the dog, who nuzzled at her head quite happily.
In the end it was Kima who finally brought up the question of pet food again. “Do you and Tiberius want to come with us, Keyleth? You don’t have to, one of us can stay here with you if you’d like.” The small woman offers. Keyleth seemed to consider for a moment before deciding “I want to come.” Kima nodded, grabbing her messenger bag and coat and leading the way out to the car. Allura called driving, because she did not want to traumatize poor Keyleth with Kima’s horrific driving skills. She’d opened her mouth to ask if Keyleth needed a hand, but two hand motions later Keyleth was leaning against the window and Tiberius was sprawled on the floor dozing.
Keyleth was getting twitchier and twitchier as they approached the door, positively vibrating as she slid out of the car, looping Tiberius’s leash around her shoulder so her hands were free to flap nervously. Allura paused, somewhat concerned the large dog would speed up and pull the small girl off-balance, but the pup slowed to Keyleth’s pace and plodded along at her side as they entered the store. It was Sunday, so the grocery was loud and Keyleth yelped, pressing closer to Tiberius’s side. Allura turned to glance at her, grimacing at the sound herself and wrapping an arm around Kima’s shoulders as her wife pressed closer. “We’re gonna be super quick.” She promises, turning towards the pet food aisle.
She scanned the bags of food, unsure of which was the best, but Keyleth went straight to a bag on the far side and nodded at it. Kima grabbed the bag over her shoulder and carried it to the cart as the girl wandered a little further down the aisle, pausing as Allura calls “we have to go grab some food but if you want to stay right here and look at pet toys, that’s fine. Pick a few for him, and anything else he needs.” Keyleth nods, plopping onto the floor and examining each pet toy.
A few minutes later, Allura and Kima had finished with their food-getting, and with finding a few things for Keyleth. They walked slowly back to the pet aisle, freezing when they heard shouts. Kima broke into a run, Allura stumbling after her since the cart she pushed was slowing her down. There were two teenagers, both boys, standing over the terrified looking 10-year-old on the floor, dog crouched next to her. Kima noted in surprise that even in this situation, the dog wasn’t being scary in any way. He seemed nearly as scared as Keyleth, who was flapping in terror as Kima grabbed both boys by their wrists and hauled them out of sight. Allura moved to kneel by Keyleth, but the girl howled and scrambled back, and Allura raised an eyebrow as Tiberius now shoved himself between her and the girl before scrambling forward.
Keyleth was sobbing, tears streaming down her cheeks as she shook and rocked frantically. A wet noise drew a little of her attention to the dog resting on her knees and she gave a gasping whimper as she gave the sign for up, feeling the heavy animal press his paws to her shoulder and all of his weight on her body, cold nose nosing at her ears and forehead. She wrapped an arm around him, feeling her other hand smacking and clawing at her leg but ignoring it as she tried to focus on the dog’s warm body, slumping against him and slowly working her other arm around him until the worst of the screaming in her head quieted. She kept her head down, unsure of how long it had been and unwilling to look anywhere near Allura, already knowing how much disappointment she’d see on the woman’s face. Why couldn’t you be normal for three hours they’re going to get rid of you already.
Kima waited as the girl slowly uncurled, heart breaking at the fragile look on Keyleth’s face. Allura had gone to pay for their things, and grabbed a few toys for the dog, and now Kima was left on “watching the kid” duty. She rummaged in her bag, finding her noise-canceling headphones and holding them out, feeling Keyleth’s small hand grab them and slip them on. “Time to go” she signed, not sure if Keyleth knew what she was saying or was listening but hoping she was as she started towards the exit.
Keyleth felt about five times better with the headphones on. Her own pair had been destroyed two homes ago, by a woman who thought she just needed to act normal to be normal. Tiberius wouldn’t leave her side, her hands clinging to his fur and harness as she let him guide her out of the store and after Kima. Allura had already packed up the car so Keyleth scrambled into the backseat. This time, Tiberius hopped onto the seat and sprawled over her lap, nuzzling at her head as the girl leaned against the window. Her eyes caught Kima’s hands as the woman signed “You ok?” Keyleth blinked in surprise but her hands were already moving into a responded “Yes, I am ok.” Kima nodded, signing back an affirmative “You are ok” as Keyleth settled down against the window, closing her eyes and falling asleep to the feeling of Tiberius’s heartbeat under her fingers.