Big long description to this one! Basically, I drew FalloutFox's Minerva and my Mia meeting in a drawpile session we did together. The picture was cute, so I had to make a sequel for it. Then I wrote a story...

Mia's nose is very good. No surprise for her species, but it does explain why she would be wandering the raggedy ports of Auremsville.
Scents normally unpleasant to smell have fascinating, complex backstories when you can smell the scents that are hidden under pungent rot, sea spray and deck-stain. Workers toiling from sun to sun, some happy with their lot, some doing it only for love of their family, and others only for money. The
smells of casual drinking indicated these sailor's salty tongues and jolly manners... Although she told herself that was probably just her optimism talking. Every turn still revealed something new.
Ten minutes ago in fact, someone quite a bit younger than all the others came running this way...

She doubled back. Something about this particular scent was more interesting than the others...
Following quietly down the pier, she came upon a nervous looking girl of indeterminate species. Scruffy looking and not well settled, She seemed to be moving aimlessly, but every scent Mia caught told her the girl was trying to get away from something. She was hurting, judging by the fear and a touch of blood (probably a bruise), but her movements told Mia she was quite alone in life.

Definitely wanted to fix that.

When the girl stopped moving to take a breather or get her bearings, Mia approached her to more thoroughly take in her scent.
She seemed quite nervous, but the fox embis was already in her own mental world by the time the girl was wondering if she should stand still or back away.
Excitedly, smiling softly at her, she sniffed quietly. Small family, it seemed. Only one other in her house- distant but clearly family. She hardly ever touched her. A pang of sympathy rose up in Mia- Family is supposed to hold one another close.
More of the port's fishy scent. Lots of it. Probably the girl's job or chore- Or maybe she was just around fish for it. She worked it too much, she could tell.
The bruise was from an escape attempt today. Succeeded, Mia thought. The girl was clearly relieved right after she hurt herself.
She almost caught something else before noticing her very nervous silence. With her about two seconds away from running, Mia decided it could wait.

Fearlessly (as an embis always does), she wrapped the girl in the biggest hug she had gotten in a very long time-
The girl stood quite a bit taller than her own kids, so she could guess she was older. Still compared to Mia's great height, her forehead only just made it up to her neck.
She was underfed though. Plenty enough muscle, of course, but it was not at all balanced by the less than solid bones and total lack of fat in her body. She worked hard and didn't eat much- even less the right kinds of things. Probably was always hungry.
She also looked cold to Mia. The thin clothes didn't look like they did much to block against the ocean wind. The thickest thing she wore was now pressed between them- a big locket, much better cared for than anything else, and the way she fidgeted with it before showed how important it was.

Drawing away just enough to respect her space without letting go, she saw the girl look back at her mostly confused, but large parts pleasantly surprised, with a lowered guard and, saddeningly, a fear of betrayal.

Beneath all this though, she was used to suffering. She expected a bad end to their encounter.
As Mia giggled at her quizzical expression, she knew she would have to surprise her again.

“What was that, lady?” She finally managed- Forgot to speak, it seemed.

Mia did not miss a beat. “It's called a hug, honey. You want another one? I'm certainly not going to run out of them.”

The girl stiffened in Mia's hold. She couldn't believe this woman actually cared anything about her... But maybe it'd be okay to tell her a little bit. She might pretend.
Her voice bit the air anyway. “I just wanna get away from home. It smells bad and nobody likes me there.”
Then bristling a little, she added-
“She calls me a mangy little orb-rat...”

Mia stared down at the shaking figure, and her heart dropped into her guts. That woman's an adult. She should know better than to name-call.
She didn't allow herself any anger, though. Instead, she gave her another hug, again asking no permission and relying only on timing, as embis do.
“She really shouldn't. You're a beautiful young woman,” Mia stated with utmost confidence, ”You're strong and you're cute as heck. What's your name?”

She softened again and allowed herself to try to smile. It was a hollow attempt and nothing showed in the eyes, but it seemed right.
“M-Minerva. What's yours?” She asked back, daring to believe the stranger was as nice as she led on.

Mia took Minerva's hand as her motherly instincts started to take over, and began leading her back down the dock they stood on.
“My name is Mia. Let's take a walk out to the beach. There's a bench right by the tide away from the bad smells and people. We can sit there or keep going, if you like.”

Minerva's ears twisted down a little in conflict. She had only just met this woman, but already she cared more about her than anyone in her life for years had even pretended. Dark thoughts pushed in- What if she only wanted her to work, like back at home? What if she kept her there, locked up? What if she thought of worse names? Or even hit when she was mad?
But she couldn't pull her hand out of Mia's grip, and found she liked it.

How long ago was it? On vacation when she was still a kid, her mom and dad would take her down the beach. Dad was always on her left, and Mom on her right, each holding one of her hands just as tightly while her sister walked in front...
She'd pull herself into the air to try to pick up some of the shells with her toes, usually dropping them- But Mom and Dad didn't drop her. They never did and she felt safe then.
Now Dad's gone. Mom... Too...

Minerva's eyes got blurry and wet and she wondered why until she looked at the fox who held her hand- On her right, just like Mom.
...How dare she.

She pulled back. “Stop. ...Just stop. Stop holding me!”
They were half way to the spot before she dug her toes into the sand. Mia dragged her about a foot before she noticed, turning around to suddenly see her sharp, dark blue eyes glaring back with the feeling of betrayal they foresaw, but she did not stop holding her hand. That would hurt Minerva more than anything the girl could do to her if she didn't.
Minerva can't keep going on without ears to listen to her, eyes to notice her, a voice to tell her she has a friend. At least, Mia knew this.

“You're not my mom! She's dead! You can't be her! You can't ever be her and you can't replace my dad! Just stop! Let me go! Let go!”
Minerva pulled harder.
She kicked.
She grunted and threw sand in Mia's face.
She smacked her fist on the gripping hand.
She stomped Mia's foot.
She was enshrouded in yet another tight, furry hug. It broke the cold wind of the sea.
She heard Mia's heartbeat.
She remembered Mom again.

She didn't cry. She just... Needed to breathe.

Drawing a shuddering breath, she pulled herself away and seized Mia's collar. The material was soft and thick. The fur more so...
Stupid nosy woman and her sniffing.
“What's your game, lady?! You-” She began, but the fire in her voice utterly melted away as soon as she locked eyes with her strange escort.
Two, big, calm eyes gazed back at her patiently. She was listening. Really listening, not just waiting for her turn to speak. This creature wasn't suulkie or human, like her mom or dad- But on a whim she decided to care about her. That suddenly seemed to be a horrible thing to waste.

“Okay,” She finished weakly and trundled her way to their beach-side seat- A silent, half-minute walk more before she plunked herself on the bench. The cold water lapped at her toes as she waited, gazing at Mia, but not looking into her eyes. The older patiently walked over and sat at her left before doing the curious act of wrapping her tail around Minerva.

They stared at the open ocean, seemingly calm in the distance as ships traveled to and fro, making their various noises from horns to bells, neither one of them speaking.
Mia (though she never seemed to get angry at anything) was a little irritated that her new friend hit her and threw sand in her face, but she knew Minerva felt much worse about it. As well as in general. Speaking of...
Minerva played with the furry tip of Mia's tail, now pulled around her possessively. She wanted Mia to like her again after that stuff she did. She also wanted another hug, but didn't want to ask. She was strong. She didn't need it.

Mia let out a sigh and leaned in to her. The poor girl evidently had a rough and horrible life. She wasn't even sure what to do with herself when given affection. She sought to teach her by putting an arm around her waist, while the other she laid on her shoulder.

“You've had a rough time of it,” She began, “Do you want to tell me?”

At this, Minerva started crying. Not, of course, anything so open as she had been trying this whole time not to cry, but her breath shook and her face screwed up and tears fell. She rubbed her eye with the ball of her hand and began.

“I'm... I'm almost an orphan,” She bit her lip.
“I had a mom and dad. And I had a sister. We lived together and it was... It was nice. Mom loved me and Dad did too.”

Briefly forgetting her dignity, she sniffled and choked out a sob- But when Mia offered her a handkerchief, she only crinkled it in her fist.
“D-dad left when I was six...
We don't know why. Just knew that Dad never came back and Mom stopped smiling at us as much as she used to- Though she tried.”

“I started to hate myself that he left, I was so dumb. I'd... I'd break things, and shout, tell Mom I didn't want to get good grades because what... What was the point, you know? They weren't both there. I'd scream at Mom to make her bring him back like she was hiding him from me! Th-then I started running away. I'd be away from home for... For up to two days. Never told them about it.”

Minerva paused to take a whimpering breath. She began again with a heartbreaking squeak.
“If I never left, she wouldn't have gone looking for me. I saw a man with a gun k-k-KILL her, kill my mom and cut of her t-tail... He left her there...”

“I ran away for good then. Away from my sister, my house, my... My neighborhood to this... Fish-hole. Now I live with my aunt. She's horrible. Just...”

Finally, Minerva ran out of strength to continue. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed quietly. There was a bit more she wanted to tell her, but she just couldn't. She simply couldn't.

As Minerva continued to sob, old wounds never healed finally beginning to, Mia looked out into the sea again and held her. Mia didn't cry for her though- She couldn't imagine what Minerva had gone through for all her trying. She had no siblings. Her mom and dad were still quite alive, and she could go home if she liked. She had many friends.
She wished she could cry- It might help the suulkie... But she had already done more than enough and both knew it.

Not even an hour had passed in all this, but the whole thing felt significantly longer. Yet as Minerva and Mia got up from their seat, something still didn't feel right.

Mia was an adventurer. Adventurers often sacrificed far more than their time. She wanted to help more than just by being a shoulder to cry on or a kind ear. If she possibly could, she would have taken her home to Beta-4. They would have liked her there, she thought. Maybe her mom and dad, or Mr. Turner or Doctor Jacob, or even herself imagine that could take her in.
But Minerva was firmly planted on the celestial body she stood upon- a registered citizen on a world without even a single rocket or satellite, and if she attempted it, everyone would know. There were systems within other established empires to trade citizens, but this was no empire- The Councilship might never be allowed to have any one of its citizens set foot on this planet's soil ever again.

They stared at one another with that awkwardness that comes only after a good cry. Then Minerva pulled something out of her pocket. A single piece of paper that fixed everything in a bittersweet way.

“Ms. Mia? I want you to have this. It's... It's my address. I know how to get there now so I don't need it anymore, but maybe you could use it to send letters if you aren't staying...”

Mia took the paper, about to say she could probably see about coming back at some point before Minerva cut her off with a desperate cling to Mia's neck. The suulkie wanted to say something, but ended up whispering half-words instead. They might as well have been the holiest blessing from any goddess ever spoken, because she clung back. She promised she'd at least visit. She rubbed her back and squeezed her tightly, even lifting her off the ground.

Finally the two parted ways. Minerva could go on now, last a little longer, try a little harder. She knew it.
But Mia, as she turned back to the raggedy ports of Auremsville, couldn't help but prefer the beach with it's lack of interesting sights and scents. There was only one story she cared about now on this planet, and she would have to share it with her friends.
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