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“Go on, Mads, give ‘em a wave!” The wolf pup gave a shy but energetic wave in the direction of her father, uncle, and older sibling, who waved back at her and got in the car together as her aunt Zena slowly pushed the front door shut with her hip and hoisted the little wolf up in her arms further. “Now you’ve got me and your cousin to put up with for a few hours, how ‘bout that?”
~
Most of the Singers had gone off to watch a movie that they had been planning on seeing for a while now, but as Maddie was both far too young to watch an action movie like that and also too sensitive, they had called on their cousin Zena to babysit. She had leapt at the chance, having looked after the Singer pups a few times now and taking a big role in raising her little sister Paint - whose given name was Andromeda, which the bat kit couldn’t pronounce, so she’d decided on Paint because ‘it sounds nice an’ it makes things colourful’ – and as such she had decided to bring the little bat with her in order to make it a playdate as well.
Maddie liked Zena a lot; the big hyena lady was nothing but friendly and fun whenever she was around, along with being super affectionate and seemingly having a particular soft spot for her youngest cousin, and she felt safer and more comfortable around Zena than she did around most people outside of her immediate family. The hyena carried Maddie back through into the lounge where Paint was playing with a plush alien in the middle of the floor, at which point Zena spun around on one heel with a flourish and threw herself down against the sofa, causing the wolf to giggle and the bat to squeal happily and clap as her aunt went 'boom!' and effortlessly lifted her up off her chest with both hands and set her down next to her.
“So, what do the judges say about our little performance?” “Ten outta ten!” cried the kit, flapping her wings excitedly. As Maddie and Zena watched, Paint picked the toy alien up and held it in front of her face, making it rub its paw under its chin thoughtfully before gesturing at the two. “Hmm...issa six maybe, maybe six anna half,” she said in a lower and scratchier voice.
The last time Maddie had seen Paint, the bat had taken to using her favourite plush to talk through sometimes. Whenever she wanted to be cheeky, or be more confident, she would hold the alien in front of her face and move its arms and head around along with putting on a different voice to act as though it was talking on her behalf. The plush was called Middy, which was short for Midnight but “she prefers just Middy” and had a surprising amount of backstory to her involving being from ‘the other side of the asteroid belt’ and ending up on Earth for reasons unknown, along with not respecting most Earthlings other than Paint (“’cuz she’s nice”) and Maddie (“if Paint likes you then you’ve gotsa be nice”) and taking an instant dislike to Riley for the crime of “bein’ a BIG NERD”.
“A six?!” yelled Zena in mock outrage, causing the bat to let out a giggle in the same voice. “That’s out of order, it was great!” “The judges’ desizzion is FINAL,” came the reply from Middy, and Paint crossed the plush’s arms across her chest for effect. “Middyyyy, it was super good!” said the bat, moving the alien away from her face and giving her a grumpy look before quickly moving it back in front of her face again. “DUN’ CARE. LEAST IT WASN’T A FIVE!” The hyena scoffed dramatically and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her thighs and reaching forward to poke the plush’s nose gently. “You wouldn’t dare, it was totally a ten! Maddie, what do you think?”
The little wolf shifted in her seat shyly as both her aunt and the alien turned to look at her, Paint tilting the plush’s head slightly for effect as well. “Um…” The bat peered out from behind the plush and gave her a little smile, causing her to feel more comfortable right away. As chatty as Paint was, and as blunt as she could get when she was talking through Middy, she seemed to always know exactly how to make the wolf pup feel at ease. Despite being the same age as Maddie, the kit had a sort of ‘protective big kid’ energy to her when the two were together that she seemed to take from her sister, and this meant that the two got along very well...even when she was putting on the Middy voice and being ruder and cockier than usual, as although the alien had a frosty attitude towards her sibling – which was completely missing from Paint, somehow – she seemed to take the younger wolf under her wing as well despite being a cuddly toy.
Maddie mimicked her aunt’s pose, leaning even further forward than she did and tumbling off the sofa into a somersault that made her cousin giggle harder. “Das’ like a eight point five,” said Middy. “Oh, that is it!” Zena boomed from behind both the girls, and scooted off of the sofa directly in front of Paint with a mischievous smile across her muzzle. “I ain’t having any more of this! You girls know what time it is?” “What time is it, Auntie Zena?” the wolf asked. “No, don’t say it! That’s what she wants you to say!” Paint shouted, having gone back to her regular voice again.
The hyena brought her hands up and wiggled her fingers menacingly. “It’s torture time!” With that, Zena’s hands came down on both girls’ bellies at once and began tickling the two of them, causing them both to laugh helplessly as the hyena’s fingers ran up to behind both their ears and started ‘attacking’ them. Maddie kicked her leg instinctively at the feeling of being tickled behind the ears, which quickly turned into light scratches instead as Zena noticed her doing it, and Paint just cackled at having her tall ears played with as she tried to playfully fight her sister off with the toy alien.
The bat’s expression suddenly changed from helpless laughter to a look of shock as Maddie’s ears pricked up on hearing a quiet hissing sound, followed by her putting her arms back down and looking slightly embarrassed. “Uhm, sis? I think I need a change now…” “Oh crap, sorry sis,” Zena said sheepishly. “Shoulda thought about that before going in with the tickles.” The hyena scooped the little bat up in her arms as she stood back up and hugged her close against her chest, looking down at the wolf pup who was still sat on the floor. “Just gonna go get her freshened up, sweetheart, we’ll be right back!” “...s’not my fault, it was Middy’s fault for bein’ mean…” mumbled Paint, causing Zena to tap her nose gently. “Well, make sure that you have words with her once you’re dry, then!” the hyena said, walking off into the other room with her and leaving Maddie by herself.
~
The wolf looked over at where her cousin had been sitting before Zena picked her up. Sitting there, undisturbed from where Paint had dropped her when she got taken off to be changed, was Middy. The alien stared silently up at the ceiling, unmoving and unblinking. In her heart, Maddie knew that she was just a plushie. She was no different from Skittles, her rainbow teddy bear, who smelt like pineapple and had sparkles on their pawpads and also did not move or do anything that she didn’t make them do by themself.
At the same time, though...there was that little spark of curiosity. The way Paint talked through Middy and talked about her made her sound fully real and fully separate from her, but surely that was impossible? Toys couldn’t do things by themselves unless it was in cartoons or films or stories, and she could see Paint moving it around whenever she used it to speak. At the same time though she’d never actually held or played with Middy herself when Paint wasn’t there, so maybe...the cub glanced over at the door where Paint and Zena had gone through and got down on all fours, head low against the floor as she slowly and carefully crawled towards the toy alien. She would get to the bottom of this, one way or another.
Listening carefully for any sign of her aunt and cousin coming back in, she picked up pace as she got closer and stopped right before touching Middy. The little wolf leaned in slightly snout-first to sniff at the toy. Aside from smelling like Paint, who generally smelt like baby powder and fruit and occasionally chocolate if she had any as a treat, nothing seemed off about it just yet. Hesitantly, the cub reached out with a finger and poked the soft belly of the plush. Nothing happened as her finger sank into the fur and back out again. Finally, holding Middy away from her with arms fully outstretched as she did so, the wolf picked the plush up and shook it about a little. Not a thing.
Against all odds, despite how Paint was with her, Middy seemed to simply be just a toy and an imaginary friend after all. With a little sigh of relief, Maddie pulled the alien in close for a hug, resting her muzzle on top of the plush’s head between its ears and wagging her tail gently about finally getting to hold Paint’s favourite toy since the little bat almost never let go of it.
~
“HEY!” came the little bat’s voice from the doorway, and Maddie’s head shot up in time to see Paint standing there with a fresh diaper on and an outraged look on her face. The wolf clung tighter to the toy alien as she stomped in closer, charging at full speed towards her cousin as fast as her little legs would take her, and immediately locking on to the plush. “LEMME GO!” she yelled. The bat suddenly gasped, and her eyes widened. “I...I mean, let her go…” The wolf’s ears pricked up as she realised that her cousin had been using ‘the Middy voice’ the entire time since she had come back into the room, and hadn’t stopped when she stopped acting like Middy.
“I just wanted to give you a hug, Middy!” Maddie replied. “’M not MIDDY,” said the bat, voice still lower and scratchier than her normal speaking voice. “I’m PAINT! ‘N you gotsa let her go, she duzznt wanna be hugged without askin’…” The cub loosened her grip on the alien, allowing her cousin to snatch it back and hug it defensively against her chest while wrapping her wings around it. The kit stood there for a moment glancing down at the plush with a fretful look on her face, before noticing that Maddie hadn’t stopped staring at her since. “...what’re yu lookin’ at me like that for…”
“...you’re not actually Paint, are you?” The little bat flinched and buried her head down in her wings, whispering almost inaudibly to herself. Maddie couldn’t make out the words even with how sharp her canine hearing was, but she could tell that the voice that was coming from behind the leathery wings was switching back and forth between Middy’s tone and Paint’s normal one. Eventually, slowly and shakily, the head tilted up slightly to show a pair of dark eyes looking back at her. “...you gotsa promise yur not gonna be scared or fink we’re weird or nuffin’…” “I promise.”
“So, um…” Paint took a deep breath and blinked, her expression lightening up a bit and unfurling her wings slightly. “...we’ve kinda been like this since f’rever. Or at least as far as we can ‘member,” she said, voice snapping back to the higher and lighter tones that Maddie was used to. “This is Paint speakin’, by the way! You know when it’s Middy ‘cos of the voice.” Paint suddenly sat down heavily, placing the toy between her legs and causing a powder-tinged scent to bloom around her. “Middy takes over for me when I’m feeling sad or scared or I gotta be more...more…” The little bat thought for a moment to figure out what the word she was looking for was. Suddenly her face lit up, and a smile spread across her muzzle. “...confident, fankyu Middy!” she said, giving the plush a pat on the head.
“An’ I come back when I wanna do stuff or she’s sleepy from doin’ too much or I feel okay ‘cos of her.” “That’s super cool,” said Maddie, who had decided to lay on her front and look up at Paint and Middy from the floor. It was strange to her; she had basically discovered that Paint’s imaginary friend wasn’t that after all but a whole different person that lived in her head with her, and that wasn’t something that you heard about often or at all even, but she had also essentially gained a cousin that she didn’t know that she had and said cousin was the alien girl who played with her and came up with stories and teased Riley to make them both giggle.
A thought came to her, and she leaned in close so that her snout was almost touching the plush. “Does Auntie Zena know ‘bout this…?” she whispered to it. The wolf suddenly felt a warm, soft sensation on her forehead as the bat leaned in and pressed her nose against her fur. “Yea, totally!” said Middy at full volume, causing Maddie to yip in surprise and pull back a little to look at the two of them properly, blinking the breath out of her eyes and rubbing at them. “She’s known since...kinda since a little while after I started showin’ up, ‘parently.”
"An' what made you show up?" Middy paused for the briefest moment, and then shrugged. "Dunno," came the reply. "All I know's what I toldju before. Imma alien from the other side'a the as-ter-oid belt, that my name's Middy an' I'm two years old, 'n' that I'm here with alla yu Earflings now." A playful glimmer came into Maddie's eyes. "How's it feel not bein' a plushie any more?" Middy broke into a giggle and kicked her feet, the question having taken her off guard. "I was NEVER a plushie, dummy!" she said, and lightly tapped the wolf between the ears with the arm of the toy alien. "S'how I gotsta hide out here on Earf, yu KNOW that 'cuz it's what I've been TELLIN' yu!"
Maddie began to giggle as well at the little alien lightening up, and gave the plush a flick on the head in return. "But Paint's wigglin' you around an' makin' you do things with it!" Middy's laugh suddenly broke into a louder and more bubbly one, causing Maddie to jolt as she realised that Paint had switched back in again. "I do nooooot! You're makin' her mad at meeeeee!" she giggled helplessly, causing the wolf pup to laugh harder as well. "Siiiiis, I told Maddie about Middy an’ now she's sayin' I'm mean to her!" the bat yelled in the direction of the other room.
~
Over in the kitchen, having let Paint and Middy wander back in after their change by themselves so that she could get some lunch, Zena froze with the sandwich halfway to her mouth. She told her? The hyena set the food back down on the counter as she moved towards the lounge again, a rush of thoughts going through her head in an instant. How did Maddie react? Is she bullying her sister...either of them? And is any of this going to get back to the rest of her family? It wasn’t that she was ashamed of how things were with her, or felt as thought it was something broken that needed to be fixed since Middy’s presence clearly made Paint happy and the two made a good team - and Middy seemed to have taken a few of her personality traits from her big sister, which never failed to make Zena smile when she noticed it – but at the same time she felt deeply protective of her little sister, her little sisters, and she wasn’t going to let them be hurt or made to feel weird because of how they were.
Speed-walking back through the flat and into the doorway to check on the kids, Zena stopped in her tracks as she saw the scene in front of her; Paint was cackling with laughter with the plush toy she used to let Middy ‘speak through’ not in her paws for a change, and Maddie was laying in front of her on the floor giggling as well while holding the arms of the toy up and making it dance about a bit. “Noooo, s’not gonna make me DANCE!” Middy cried, pressing her arms down into the carpet to deliberately not move like the toy was. “Keep doin’ it, Maddie, she’s gotta dance eventually!” shouted Paint in return, making the wolf pup laugh more and kick her feet about as she played with the two.
The hyena’s shoulders relaxed as she watched them from a distance, leaning against the doorframe and smiling as the three cousins in two bodies went about playing and making each other laugh. She should have known there was nothing to worry about, she realised, but seeing them all be this free and happy around each other like this and for Paint and Middy to not feel like they had to be cautious around Maddie any more made her feel as though a weight had been lifted off of her. They had a true friend in their cousin, a true ally as well, and deep down she knew that it’d be something that would last no matter what happened with her little sisters.