To my surprise Riv was not terribly happy about needing to sleep in his own room again. It hurt me to see his big eyes well up over the news that night, but he seemed about as understanding as he could be for his age when I explained the reason behind the decision. Growing up here without any real peers was evidently grating on him and the last thing I wanted was to make him feel as though he was being pushed away. That wasn't at all my intention.

Nevertheless, we resumed our much older routine of Daniel and I bringing him to bed, tucking him in, and saying our goodnights. He wasn't happy at first, but with our affection and reassurance he did eventually grow used to it, making up for the distance the next day at the table during breakfast. At least with Kuri here watching the hall I could sleep a little easier even without Riv in our room. Kuri was very quick to let me know if anything seemed strange or amiss and his security was one I couldn't be more thankful to have.

The new staff seemed just as leery as the previous, if not more so. They did eye me quite a bit, probably trying to figure out how something like me could threaten their comrades-- all five-foot-one and ninety-five pounds of me. I was hardly a threat even during my worst moods, and something about their stares told me they knew this.

Through the summer Daniel and I were more than happy to take the little boy outside and around the wilds of the back yard. With the foliage in full green glory this was probably the happiest I'd ever seen him. He sped off around the yard, through the grass, and up the rocks and trees faster than we could keep up with him. He was also growing even more yet and would need another few changes of clothes before too long. I'd have to keep note of this so I could take the extra work and send Daniel into town to find something he'd like. I couldn't help but worry about how large Riv might get as, well, new types are quite a bit larger on average than pures and it might get to a point where clothes might need to be tailored or custom made, and that was not a cheap indulgence. As much as I hated to think about it, should Daniel still be here by then I may need his help with that.

Unfortunately I could pick up some hesitation and general disdain from even the day staff more and more these days, with the exception of Heather. She always seemed to watch us out of a genuine interest in our wellbeing, which was something I appreciated. The others, though...were a different story.

There came a time when Heather would finally, quietly approach me one day while the three of us were eating lunch. Normally we'd go outside, but the weather had taken a turn for the worse come the late morning.

"U-Um, sir?" she whispered from around the corner.

I turned my head and gave her an inquisitive look through my chewing.

"Would you...please spare me a minute while the others are upstairs?" she asked.

Piqued, I left the other two to eat for a moment while I investigated this matter. She stood close to me and whispered into my ear, hoping to not be heard by other staff.

"I-Is it true that you, um, have been copulating with the nurse?" she asked, red-faced.

"No!" I said harshly. "Even if I were, why would that matter to anyone?"

"S-Sorry, just...I heard some things being said lately, how that was going on and...somehow involving Riv in the matter?" she recalled. "I don't...want to believe such a thing, but--"

"Heather, please, none of those things are true," I said, my ears fallen back and heart pounding. "I was keeping Riv in my room following an attack from one of the nightstaff, because they tried to poison him. I was doing it so I knew he was safe, not to get my jollies. He's my son and he's a child, so why is anyone even humoring this claim?"

"...Well, you were all sharing a bed," she said, her eyes full of discomfort as they fell to the floor. "The allegations seemed strange to me having gotten to know you all a little bit, but...there's always that wonder."

"I assure you that nothing has happened between any of us," I replied, gently placing my hands on her shoulders. "Riv was staying with us because I wanted to keep him safe. I promise you that is all. Please, please don't ever think I would do something so vile and untoward to my child."

"Well...that's part of this problem, sir."

"What?"

"The...accusations haven't stopped. I still hear about them, even from daystaff. I don't want to ruin your day, but...please be careful. You have all been very kind to me and I don't want to see anyone get hurt, so I'm telling you this while I can."

I sighed.

"...Thank you for your time, Heather," I whispered, seeing the shadows of staff down the hall. "I'll try to keep these things in mind."

She nodded and quickly ran off to the rest of staff to carry on with her usual work. With my head clouded from this unfortunate knowledge I walked back to the lounge to resume my lunch.

---

The day carried on as normally as it could, though I found myself trying hard to eavesdrop on every small conversation the staff might have amongst themselves. Much of it was just mundane matters like family, dinner, and hobbies. I handwaved these things and went along with my work as usual, Daniel and Riv at the small table as one read and the other painted. We had a couple residents staying with us currently but they were often in the common areas, not taking much interest in the lobby.

After a nice dinner with my friend and child I grabbed a bit of my extra work and we all headed upstairs for the evening. Setting it aside on my desk I turned around to be startled by a staffmember that had followed me to my room. He said nothing and just stared at me, eyes narrow, from around the door before retreating back into the hall. Being invaded in my personal quarters like that had my pulse pounding even after he vanished.

When I stepped back out into the hall, he was gone and both Riv and Daniel were nowhere to be seen.

...Odd.

Down the hall I could see a couple other nightstaff both staring at me and whispering to each other. I couldn't tell for sure from where I stood but they didn't seem to be the same person I saw just moments before. Before long Daniel and Riv returned from the bathroom and came back to the staff room. Daniel looked at me with concern as I continued staring down the hall at the staff, who just stared right back.

"Reverend?" he asked. "Are you alright?"

"I...thought one of the staff came down here," I said, looking back to my door. "I went to set my work down on my desk and when I turned around one of the staff was staring at me from the door."

"Oh?" he said, his ears askew. "Well, sorry, Riv and I were in the bathroom so I didn't see anything and I'm not sure Kuri's awake for the night yet. Did they do or say anything to ya?"

"N-No, just...stared at me like a circus sideshow," I replied, hugging around my front and my ears sunk back. "It was...really unnerving, especially just outside my own room."

Daniel opened his arms to receive me, hugging me close and resting his snout on my head.

"I'm sorry that happened, Reverend," he quietly said. "If need be we can accompany each other to whichever place for the rest of the night and hopefully that'll deter them."

"Father, what's wrong?" Riv said from the staff room.

"Oh, it's nothing, Riv," I said, trying to smile. "Please don't worry."

Of course, this would not do. He stood up to offer his own hug around my narrow waist, resting his head against my side. It was funny how, in moments like these, I felt the most loved and cared about as I wasn't getting pushed away or laughed at anymore.

I slowly closed my eyes to just take in and enjoy the comfort they brought, but just before I could completely close them I saw the silhouettes down the hall again. They stared back, talking to each other, and made questionable gestures from here. Before I could completely open my eyes again to get a better look, they were gone.

Was I...just seeing things?

No matter, I would get over this.

We resumed our time spent in the lounge, but it wasn't long before a clap of distant thunder could be heard. I looked out the window to the dark, sullen sky and, sure enough, a couple flashes of lightning heralded an oncoming storm. Given how dull it had been today I wasn't surprised, but I also knew what this meant and it was already pretty late.

It wasn't long before the rain began pelting hard upon the roof of the building, and being this close to the roof meant that pelting was awfully loud. Some bright flashes of lightning were followed by obnoxious bellows of thunder. Riv was already looking quite uncomfortable, but trying to put on a brave face.

Even nearly a year later he hated thunderstorms, though given what they meant to him I couldn't blame him at all. I moved aside a bit and pat the opened spot on the couch, an invitation he eagerly took. With Riv on the couch I pushed myself behind him a bit and we both lay on Daniel's side, my arm around the small boy to hold him close and comfortable. Daniel reached around and laid his tail around both of us as we lay there in quiet comfort, my rubbing my snout on the nervous boy's head and rubbing his hand to brave the storm.

"Not a fan of storms, huh?" Daniel said, looking back to both of us.

A large gust of wind slammed a blast of rain loudly against the window.

"Mm, not this one," I quietly replied. "Given it's a storm that took away his home he's quite terrified of them, so I try to keep him extra company when they come through strongly like this one. Some of the more distant ones aren't too bad, but the large, noisy ones like this are another matter."

"That's fair, poor kid," he said, softly tugging Riv's ear. "Fortunately this is a very stable building so it's unlikely anything'll happen."

We lay there in relative silence, just trying to weather the storm. Before long it was time for Riv to go to bed and, given the storm was still pressing on, it pained me to have to do this. Daniel carried Riv to bed as I followed close behind, both of us tucking him snugly in and saying our goodnights. I sat beside him and hugged on him twice as long, rubbing my snout upon his head twice as much, hoping this would be enough of an apology for making him deal with the remainder of the storm alone.

"Please remember, honey, that I'm just a couple rooms down if you need me, okay?" I whispered. "If you need me to keep you company for a while, I will do that. We both will. Okay?"

He shallowly nodded, pulling his stuffed animals closer and facing away from the window. I pet his head a few times before standing up, Daniel having already gotten up to wait by the door. Before completely leaving I turned around to wave, his returning my gesture before closing the door. As we both turned left back toward our room I was caught by a silhouette from the corner of my eye to my right, but when I turned to get a better look it was already gone. Given that Daniel said nothing I could only assume he hadn't seen anything.

Hm.

With my extra work done we turned in a bit early, storms having an odd effect of making me tired. My roommate didn't seem to mind the idea, himself, grabbing his sleepwear and heading to the bathroom to change for the night. I took the time to get changed into my own and figured I'd relieve myself for the night once he returned. Fortunately it didn't take too long, so I navigated the dim hall to the bathroom and found a stall for my business. After washing and drying my hands I turned back right to head back, but still there was that strange shadow from down the hall.

I looked back to see two staff staring at me, but they were much too far for me to hear. I think they knew this and took advantage of their distance, but as long as I couldn't hear what was said there wasn't much to be done. Before returning to my room I detoured to Riv's room to check on him. By now the storm had calmed down so maybe he'd appreciate my doing so.

I opened the door and from here I could see he was fast asleep. Walking in I gingerly sat down beside his bed to pat his head, his stirring awake as I did so. He seemed much more at ease now than he had been when the storm was still coming in strong, so I leaned over to rub my snout on his forehead. With a groggy little smile he slowly nodded back off to sleep, and as he did so I swore I saw a shadow growing behind me, creeping up the far wall. When I turned my head to look out to the hall nobody was there and the shadow had subsequently vanished. My brow furrowed and my ears slunk back, not knowing what that could have been. Maybe I was just tired from such a long day.

Walking back into the hall I closed his door, but before I could complete my rotation back toward my room I could see them still staring at me, their fierce orange eyes piercing parts of me I didn't know I had.

One would point and seem to say something while the other would nod or shake their head. I could only imagine the things being said, and given where I had just come from I knew it wasn't kind.

Even with their distance, even with their relative silence, the accusations hadn't ceased. The unnerving stares, the lack of any meaningful privacy...somehow was getting worse, more ridiculous, even in my own house. With what happened last time and what Heather had told me just earlier today I was afraid to approach these new staffmembers, as at least this way I still had...some kind of employment, when nobody else would humor my work.

It was all I had. I quite literally couldn't afford to lose this, and...I think they knew this, too.

I sighed and awkwardly rubbed my brachium, quietly walking back to my room to conclude my evening.

I had a bad feeling about all of this.

---