Chapter Text
Sklonda is exhausted, feet heavy as she drags herself through the front door of their apartment after a shift at the precinct that had lasted entirely too long. Riz had texted her to give her a heads up that Adaine was spending the night—he had told her more than asked for permission and something at the back of her mind had twitched with a hint of some sort of clue but she only had the time to send him a quick acknowledgment text before she was pulled away from her phone by a colleague badgering her about the case she was working.
She's expecting to see them both when she enters the apartment, maybe working a case of their own despite her wishes that her son would do something for fun instead of working himself to the bone. Still, in the dim lighting of the apartment, she is startled to find them both curled up on the couch, no homework or investigation material in sight. Her stomach drops immediately. Something is wrong.
Adaine is on the couch, seemingly asleep and curled in on herself almost as tightly as Sklonda often sees Riz do, and her entire face is drawn into uneasy creases even as she breathes slowly in her sleep. That by itself wouldn't worry Sklonda as much as it does if Riz wasn't wrapped protectively around Adaine despite his small statue. His ears are flattened tight against his skull and Sklonda mirrors that body language immediately, anxiety coursing through her. Riz is wide awake, eyes rounded and dilated as he blinks slowly at her, and his tail is puffed at the end even as it is wrapped tightly—protectively, Sklonda immediately recognizes—around one of Adaine's ankles. The only thing that eases the terror coursing down Sklonda's spine in sharp pins and needles is the fact that both children appear to be physically unharmed and that Riz's breathing is steady despite his tense posture.
"Sweetheart, what's going on?" She asks, closing the door quickly behind her and locking it. Riz's eyes dart carefully to Adaine as she stirs at the noise but doesn't fully wake and Sklonda takes the note to lower her voice. "Are you two okay?"
"Yeah, Mom, we're fine," Riz's words hum low as he speaks and Adaine unconsciously gravitates closer to the sound of Riz's voice, tucking herself more firmly against him. Sklonda is struck by how small, how young, she looks next to her son who is, in reality, smaller in stature than her. Even despite her lingering hesitancy towards Adaine, Sklonda can't help but feel her heartstrings tug out towards her in sympathy. Something is wrong, even if not physically so.
Sklonda tilts her head in consideration and pads closer to the couch, dropping her work stuff on the coffee table haphazardly. As she nears them, Sklonda recognizes the puffy redness of Adaine's face and the tear-stained tracks that still linger on her cheeks. As Riz wraps his arms more insistently around Adaine's body, Sklonda winces in sympathy. "Is there anything I can do for her? Anything she needs?" she murmurs in easy acceptance, carefully tugging her hair out of the bun it had been pulled into and shedding her work boots, relieved to feel her feet settle on solid, flat ground after hours of walking.
"She can't go home," Riz whispers, his voice teetering on the edge of being a hiss as Sklonda watches her son's hackles rise. "She can't, Mom." He's pleading, begging her for something in a way that he very rarely does. Sklonda knows it's serious if only by the way Riz, always so resistant to burdening her even if she is his mother and always wants to protect him, is nearly hysterical with want to keep Adaine safe. The thought of from what, exactly, makes Sklonda uneasy but she's not dumb, she’s met the Abernant family before. She makes no mistakes about their treatment of their children.
Sklonda agrees easily, wordlessly. The mother in her is protective of Adaine immediately. The bags under Adaine's eye, the rigidity in every single one of her muscles, and the way she clings to Riz like she's sure he's going to abandon her leaves little for Sklonda to have to hypothesize about. She knows what happened even if not in so many details. "Have you eaten?" Sklonda eyes her son critically, watching the swish of his tail as he looks at Adaine.
"Not since lunch," he admits but still tightens his grip like he's convinced Sklonda is going to drag him away from Adaine just to make him eat. "Adaine didn't even have lunch." His voice is low when he says that, a frown deepening on his face as he stares at Adaine like she's a puzzle he can't solve.
"Okay," Sklonda hums to herself, trying to piece together a meal in her head. She had just gotten paid a couple of days ago and the groceries had been done as a result which meant there were actual ingredients to cook with. She's tired but her worry for the kids outweighs that and, besides, tomorrow's her day off. She can stay up a little longer if it means getting them fed. “I’ll make dinner.”
Sklonda sets to work in the kitchen, giving the two kids some space as she begins pulling out ingredients and pans from various cupboards with practiced, quiet efficiency. She can feel Riz's eyes on her, cautious and protective of his friend but also silently pleading for reassurance as she moves around the kitchen. Sklonda knows her son and knows his worry so whenever she turns towards him, she offers him a small, sad smile to let him know she's there for him. Slowly but surely, the flicking of his tail eases to an easy swish back and forth.
Eventually, as Sklonda is beginning to plate up a hearty heaping of vegetables, bread, and pasta on three plates, Adaine stirs on the couch, mumbling something incoherent. Sklonda pauses to glance at her, feeling a pang of empathy for the girl who seems to be carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. She sits up with a jolt, most likely noticing the presence of an extra person in the apartment, not in small part due to the wafting aroma of the meal Sklonda is cooking. Adaine doesn't try to flee Riz's grasp like Sklonda thought she might but instead melts into its safety, head slowly and nervously swiveling to glance into the kitchen where Sklonda is finishing up.
"I'm almost done with dinner, kids, if you two want to clear off the coffee table so we can all fit around it," Sklonda says in place of offering a greeting towards the clearly terrified girl, words purposefully casual and soft, as she digs around for clean utensils to use for eating—something in rare form for the Gukgak residents. She very consciously doesn't mention the elephant in the room, especially not with the way Adaine seems half a second and one oddly placed look from Sklonda away from running out the door and never coming back. And they certainly can't have that happen.
Riz and Adaine diligently do as they're told, Sklonda wincing at the urgency and forced prim-and-proper movement of Adaine's hands despite the fogginess still in her eyes. The task does seem good for her, though, if only giving Adaine time to orient herself to the space and settle before Sklonda gathers in the living room with them. Her posture remains perfectly straight and rigid but she still lets Riz tuck himself firmly into her side once they're done with their chore. Sklonda glances over for a moment in surprise when she hears the distinct sound of purring, something Riz stopped doing around other people besides his family—once her and Pok but now just Sklonda—after he fully understood what other people thought of goblins. Adaine doesn't shy away from the noise like Sklonda is worried she might but instead melts into it, gripping onto the back of Riz's shirt like a lifeline as he vibrates into the space between them.
Sklonda doesn't want to break up the moment, heart swelling as she forces herself to stay grounded in the face of these two children and not react to this rare display of affection. Still, she knows that they need to eat so she begins the process of carrying the dinner over to the living room, her movements diligent and broadly forecasted, body language open and easy-to-read, as she brings their plates to the table and settles them down. She hands out utensils and glasses of water after a second trip back to the kitchen, aware of the way Adaine just barely flinches when she reaches to grab the cup out of Sklonda’s hand. It seems ingrained into every inch of her to be wary of traps no matter the gesture. Sklonda’s heart breaks just ever-so-slightly more.
"Thank you, Mom," Riz murmurs after partially extricating himself from Adaine as Sklonda sits down next to him, giving Adaine a purposefully large amount of space to herself. Despite the extra room, she still has the body language of a cornered animal as she stares down at her plate, legs tucked carefully under her as she poises perfectly over the table. Sklonda can't imagine Adaine has ever eaten in a living room before, let alone sitting on the floor crowded around an unbalanced coffee table.
Still, Adaine echoes a soft, "Thank you," her voice barely above a whisper, but her gratitude unmistakable. Sklonda offers her a warm smile in response, hoping to convey her genuine support as she picks up her fork to signal to them to do the same.
"You're welcome, dear.” Sklonda’s eyes meet Adaine's for a brief moment before she turns her attention to her plate. Riz sits up and digs into his food eagerly, his appetite seemingly returning now that the tension in the room has eased slightly. Sklonda continues to keep an eye on Adaine for a moment before tucking into her own food, noticing the shaking of her hands as she tries to grip her fork. She hesitates to say something, worried that pointing it out might make Adaine panic even more but after over a minute of watching Adaine struggle and fail to begin eating her dinner, she eventually murmurs, "Take your time, hon, there's no rush.”
Adaine's frustration is palpable, her attempts at eating thwarted by trembling hands and a racing mind even after several minutes of effort. Riz's attention is split between Adaine and his food, so enraptured by the rare treat of a homemade meal that he misses some of Adaine's haste. Sklonda, in turn, watches her closely, her heart aching for the girl who seems to be slowly crumbling under the weight of her situation.
Sklonda shifts closer to Adaine after a long, painful stretch of silence. "Hey, it's okay," she murmurs, reaching out to place a slow, comforting hand on Adaine's shoulder. "You don't have to force yourself. Take a deep breath and try to relax."
Adaine's shoulders tense at the touch, but she doesn't pull away. Instead, she does as she's told on instinct, closing her eyes and taking a shaky breath as she wills herself to calm down. Sklonda gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before releasing her so as to not totally overwhelm her, allowing her the space she needs to compose herself. Sklonda hesitates over the line between being worried and overbearing, not sure what the breaking point might be for Adaine. "Would you like me to cut your food for you?" she offers after a moment of hard deliberation. "I know some of the pieces are a little bit big and it might help to start with smaller bites."
Adaine hesitates for a long beat, her gaze flickering between Sklonda and her plate, as Riz watches them both with rapt attention, his eyes half on them and half on his plate. Sklonda is just about to turn back to her food to give Adaine some space, taking her silence as a no that she's not willing to risk vocalizing when, to her surprise, Adaine slowly and shamefully nods. Sklonda, not wanting to make a big deal out of this request and embarrass Adaine, picks up her fork and knife, deftly cutting her food into bite-sized pieces before sliding her plate back over to her.
"There you go." Sklonda presses a warm, steading hand over Adaine's for a moment before pulling away. "Take your time, and don't worry about making a mess. We're not strangers to messy eating around here," she says, earning a small smile from Adaine when Sklonda turns and winks at the nonplussed look on Riz's face.
With a few more of Sklonda's careful encouragement, Adaine tentatively picks up her fork. She very hesitantly takes a small bite, chewing painstakingly before swallowing. A faint smile tugs at the corners of her lips as she appears to finally eat the first real, solid food she's had in at least the last twelve hours—who knows how much longer it's been since before that.
As they continue their meal, Sklonda keeps a watchful eye on Adaine, offering small words of encouragement whenever she needs them but not overdoing it so as it infantilize or overwhelm her. Slowly, Adaine begins to relax, the tension in her body beginning to melt away.
As they eat, the atmosphere gradually shifts to something less tense as Sklonda makes small talk, asking Riz about his day at school and Adaine about her general interests and hobbies. Adaine's responses are guarded at first and monosyllabic, but as the conversation progresses, she begins to open up, sharing small snippets of her personality over their meal. Sklonda listens attentively, watching the weight lift off Adaine's shoulders with each passing moment, replaced by a possible glimmer of trust. It makes her wonder how long it’s been since an adult has truly taken the time to listen to what Adaine has to say.
After they finish their meal, Sklonda insists on cleaning up, shooing Riz and Adaine away from their attempts to enter the kitchen—Riz much more insistent about wanting to help but Adaine very clearly embarrassed about not contributing to the meal in any way. Sklonda eventually succeeds in ushering them back to the couch, both children collapsing onto the couch with little fanfare as they return to their positions.
As she washes the dishes, Sklonda watches the two of them curl back up onto the couch together, finally having eaten a full meal and relaxing into the exhaustion that seems to be catching up with them. Riz curls back up around Adaine without hesitation. Sklonda knows that there's no way she's getting them to sleep apart for the night no matter how much she wants them both to get an easy, comfortable night of sleep. It seems for right now, the most comfortable they're going to be is squeezed together on the living room couch.
It doesn’t take long for Sklonda to clean up in the kitchen—she’s a pro by now at creating as little work for herself as possible when cooking. Once she finishes up in the kitchen, she joins Riz and Adaine on the couch, careful not to disrupt their fragile peace as she chooses the obvious spot next to her son. She settles in beside them, wrapping an arm around Riz's shoulder and offering Adaine a gentle smile even as the young girl stares at her, still clearly a little wary.
"Feeling a little better?" Sklonda asks while purposefully making her voice as non-oppressive as possible. Adaine nods slowly, her gaze fixed on her lap as she fidgets with the hem of her shirt. One of Riz’s hands is clutching at the loose fabric at the bottom of her t-shirt even as Adaine fiddles with it.
"Just tired," Adaine mumbles, her voice barely above a whisper. Sklonda's heart twinges with sympathy, recognizing the exhaustion that lingers in her words despite her effort to maintain her prim and proper high-eleven aura. "Thank you for letting me stay in your home, Detective Gukgak." She's half hiding her face behind Riz's like she thinks it'll protect her if Sklonda suddenly decides to lash out.
Sklonda softens, humming quietly for a moment in the still air. "Sweetheart, you're welcome here as long and as often as you need, okay? And please, call me Sklonda, I just put in my two weeks so I won't be a detective for much longer," she says ruefully, trying to draw Adaine out of her shell. Her humor doesn’t have the intended effect, however, when the young elf flinches suddenly at her words, eyes widening in panic despite how tired she was a moment ago. Riz's tail lashes out on instinct and his lips curl like he's restraining himself from hissing at the sudden change in atmosphere.
"Oh, I didn't...I, sorry, I—" she takes in a sharp, panicked breath and Sklonda cuts her off before she can continue to spiral into her anxious ramble.
"Adaine, there's no need to apologize, you've haven't offended me. It's alright," and, hesitant but not able to resist the maternal instinct she feels towards Adaine now, Sklonda squeezes in closer to her and reaches out a careful, soothing hand past Riz and settles it onto her shoulder. Adaine tenses at first, eyes screwing closed in anticipation, and Sklonda contemplates pulling her hand back before Adaine's muscles suddenly go soft under her touch, not quite leaning into her but very clearly wanting to. Sklonda brushes a careful thumb across the ridge of her shoulder and squeezes softly, watching the way Adaine keeps her eyes closed as if by merely making eye contact she'll ruin this moment of affection.
Sklonda maintains her gentle touch, sensing the sudden fragility of Adaine’s emotional state. "Adaine, you're safe," she reassures softly, her voice a soothing purr in the quiet room. "Nobody is going to hurt you here." And it doesn’t feel like enough, just to say it, but for now, it’s all Sklonda can manage.
Adaine's breath shudders out in a quiet sigh, her tension gradually dissipating. She briefly leans into the comforting touch, just barely, as her muscles relax further under Sklonda's gentle guidance. Riz watches the interaction with a mixture of concern and relief, his gaze flickering between Sklonda and Adaine. He shifts slightly closer to them, tail coming up to wrap around Adaine’s wrist this time and brush at her trembling fingers.
After a moment, Adaine opens her eyes, meeting Sklonda's gaze with a shining mixture of vulnerability and gratitude. "Thank you," she murmurs, her voice barely audible above the soft hum of the apartment. "I... I appreciate it."
Sklonda offers her a warm smile, squeezing her shoulder gently. "Anytime, Adaine. We're here for you," she says softly, her words carrying the weight of her sincerity. She can tell by the way Adaine’s eyes flutter closed once more that she’s bracing herself against the overwhelming wave of emotion. Sklonda can’t imagine Adaine got much of anything like this at home. Huffing out a careful sigh, Sklonda pulls her hand away from Adaine’s wiry, shaking shoulder as she says, "Now, why don't we all get some rest? It's been a long day. I can make up the couch so you and Riz both fit."
With a nod of agreement mostly to herself, Sklonda gently extracts herself from the couch, giving Adaine and Riz a moment of privacy to collect themselves together as she heads to the linen closet to grab some blankets and pillows. With practiced efficiency, she pulls out extra bedding, coming back to quickly arrange them on the couch to ensure that Riz and Adaine will be as comfortable as possible. It’ll be a tight fit but that doesn’t seem like that will be an issue with the way the two of them are clinging together even as they stand and watch Sklonda make the bed.
Once the couch is prepared, Sklonda turns to them both with a wide, flourishing smile, as she gestures at the couch, "Alright, kids, time for bed.” Riz moves first, surprisingly, lying down on the makeshift bed with a contented sigh, while Adaine hesitates for a moment before joining him, curling up beside him with a small, shy smile. It’s the first time in a long time that Sklonda has seen Riz willingly crawl into bed before dawn and for that, she’s grateful. Riz ends up laying half on top of Adaine just to get them to both be able to fit together, Adaine holding on so tightly to his small frame that Sklonda has no worries about either of them falling off of the couch in the middle of the night.
As Riz and Adaine settle in together, Sklonda can’t resist the urge to tuck the blankets over them both, smoothing the sheets over their shoulders with a motherly touch on instinct. "Sleep well, you two," she murmurs, brushing a kiss on Riz's forehead before turning on instinct to do the same for Adaine. She seems like she could use it, all things considered.
Adaine's eyes widen in surprise at the gesture, her breath catching in her throat. Sklonda offers her a warm smile but doesn’t linger, her eyes soft with understanding as she reaches over to turn off the illuminating light of the nearby lamp and cast the young pair in darkness.