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Puffy has always been good with the young ones, especially after discovering her powers of empathy a couple years back. It's why, out of the older kids, she was tasked with helping the youngest children get ready for days like these – adoption days.
The eager ones lined up in the entrance room of their hollowed out stalagmite. “Everyone ready?” There were several nods and she could practically taste the combination of hope and nerves that filled the space.
“Your duckling is missing,” one of the caretakers teased lightheartedly but they had a point… where was Clay?
She’d never forget her own surprise against the confusion and anxiety she felt rolling off of him when the young human - only 6 years old at the time - had walked in through their door saying his mom had told him to show the last message on the holowatch around his tiny wrist to the first person he saw. With crooning instincts, Puffy had transmitted the message to her own holowatch and read, ‘no longer wanted, he’s yours now’.
She saw herself in him despite Clay’s lack of hybrid features.
The boy was one of the only humans at their establishment since older generations still held prejudice against the hybrids that began to appear after the Fall. Yet, it had been their genes that were altered by the radiation of the enderplasmic nuke that decimated the surface and nearly wiped out all of humanity about two-hundred years ago. It was the very reason why Puffy was there in the first place… her growing horns and cloven hooves were in stark contrast to her biological parents and thus, she was not wanted.
While most of the kids shared his enthusiasm for her presence, none came close to the level of clinginess that the little human had towards her. Clay had practically imprinted on Puffy despite having no instincts of his own. When he wasn’t seated in her lap, he could be found following her around wherever she needed to be, thus earning the nickname ‘duckling’.
It’s what made this particular occurrence all the more jarring.
There were no fingers clutching the fabric at the back of her knees, adorable giggles muffled by tiny hands, or vibrant green eyes staring up at her when she turned around.
On adoption day, no less.
The goat-hybrid felt the instincts rise up from the back of her mind and start to bleat frantically for her lost kid.
Several long minutes were spent looking in every spot Clay had ever spent time at - which basically meant the entire stalagmite - the boy would never stop moving if he could help it. Eventually, she heard shuffling in the closet of the little human’s shared room. As she got closer, a feeling of sadness and a bit of anxiety washed over her but it was not her own.
“Clay? Are you in there?” She asked softly, just outside the door.
Puffy could hear the boy’s sniffles before he replied just barely above a whisper, “No…”
The closet door creaked as she opened it. Light flooded the dim room and she could just barely make out a small shape tucked in the corner. He looked up at her with teary eyes.
“Aww duckling, what's wrong?” She sat down beside him and he immediately crawled into her lap - clinging to her shirt with white knuckles.
Puffy almost missed the confession of “I don’t want to be adopted…” that was whispered into her neck.
“Why not? You could go live with a nice family and have your own room!” That was apparently the wrong thing to say because his body began to shake with the force of his wails. Her sensitive ears flicked involuntarily at the volume but she just pulled him closer and drew invisible patterns across his back. Her own confusion overpowered the despair coming off of him.
Several minutes went by like that before Clay finally calmed down enough to pull away slightly. “But I don’t want to leave you,” he croaked - lips trembling with the tears that threatened to spill once more.
She was at a loss for words….
Ignoring the tears welling up in her own eyes, Puffy tucked him under her chin again; running fingers through his dirty blonde curls as she rocked them gently back and forth.
“Can we run away together?” The boy asked sleepily.
The rocking paused.
“Maybe when you're older,” she whispered back.
He raised a pinky finger up to her. “Promise?” Those vibrant green eyes were staring at her, she could tell without even looking.
His hope was nearly suffocating… how could she say no. “Will you join the others downstairs if I promise?”
Clay lifted his head again - nodding frantically.
She couldn’t help but chuckle at his enthusiasm. “Alright, I promise.”
The boy’s entire face lit up as he practically threw himself at her - tiny arms wrapped tightly around her throat in an almost deadly hug - relief palpable.
And Puffy tried not to think about the fact that she might be leaving him first if he wasn’t adopted within the next couple months….
The day after her 18th birthday, Puffy had thought she might have to ask one of the caretakers to distract Clay while she packed but she hadn’t seen him all morning. The goat-hybrid had tried to find him instead but there were new children needing her room which meant she had to leave quickly.
The sting of not getting a goodbye was an ache in her throat that persisted all the way up until the moment she was leaving their large stalagmite for the last time. Instincts, particularly unhappy.
Perhaps it was for the best.
Then a young voice cried out, “Wait for me!” The sound carried around the relatively empty clearing and echoed off the surrounding stalagmites. Puffy couldn’t help the way the corners of her lips tugged upwards at the sight of him racing towards her - little green backpack on with things spilling out like he hadn’t had time to fully zip it up properly.
Puffy knelt down and asked, “Duckling! What are you doing?” Although the goat-hybrid had a pretty good idea….
Excitement bubbled out from him as he replied, “You promised we’d run away together!”
She was right.
“I said when you were older.” She’d meant to sigh in exasperation but her fondness was evident.
Crossing his arms, the human glare at her defiantly. “But I am! I’m this many now!” The boy held up seven fingers proudly.
Puffy felt the sting of tears approaching as she looked at him in those vibrant green eyes. “Clay, I promise I will be back for you one day but I need you to be good until then, okay?”
Noticing the shift in mood, the boy nodded solemnly.
The hug they shared was brief but still encapsulated the grief she felt for this most likely being the last one… for a while anyways. Then her kid was guided back into the building by a caretaker. And Puffy was off to fend for herself.
At least she’d gotten a chance to say goodbye.
“Alright, ‘dry patrol’ from 2300 to 0100. Then downtown from…” Puffy mumbled to herself - vocoder giving it a mechanical sound as she read off the hologram that displayed the week's schedule from Scott Smajor, the Director, on the holowatch she’d been given after joining the newly formed Noxite Hero Corporation. “Faun and Warden said they also needed some hel- Oh sorry!”
The young man she’d just accidentally run into nearly towered over her. His annoyance was as pervasive as the bright green sweater he wore and the off-white mask with an unsettlingly wide grin did nothing to hide his distaste for her in that moment. But behind the eye holes was a familiar vibrance.
“Clay…?” The goat-hybrid asked, a little stunned at the similarity between them.
“It’s Dream now,” the human responded curtly - they were one and the same, it would seem.
“You’ve grown so much.” Puffy’s heart ached at the sight of how much he’d changed until she recalled where they were. “Wait, what are you doing here?” Suddenly remembering that the rather underwhelming reunion was taking place in an upper floor hallway of the Column that was ‘employees only’.
Clay Dream pointed a gloved finger to the embroidered, red circle with a large white letter N emblazoned in the middle that she hadn’t noticed.
She gasped, “You’re becoming a hero!” Pride warmed her chest - it seems he really was still her duckling… even following her into this profession.
“No thanks to you,” he replied coldly as a wave of resentment flooded her mind like he’d purposefully sent it her way.
“What?” The goat-hybrid just barely managed to choke out; his hatred almost suffocating.
“You left me!” The human snarled. “I sat outside that godsforsaken stalagmite every single day with my things all packed just waiting for the day you’d come back like you promised!” Puffy couldn’t decide whether her stomach was rolling due to his anguish or the guilt that seemed to eat her alive. “So forgive me if I'm a little bitter,” he finished.
Before she could even react, Angel rounded the corner and into the hall they were standing in. “Everything alright in here?” The avian asked - dark feathers fluffed as if sensing the tension in the air.
Dream was entirely composed as he replied, “Just fine, Sir. We were just parting ways.” Even his emotions were completely neutral… not because her powers had suddenly stopped working, because she could still feel the avian’s concern but more like he’d managed to turn them off somehow. It left her skin prickling with unease. “Good day Captain,” he spat as those vibrant green eyes bore into her through the holes of that unnerving mask again and it left Puffy’s instincts flaring up with frantic bleats of ‘predator’.