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Painter was in a bit of a… pickle.
He had only intended on exploring the wilderness around the safe house just a little bit. It was calling to him! All the wonderful landscapes and countless pieces of nature that were just waiting to be explored and painted. The possibilities were endless. He could never pass up such an opportunity.
He had already seen a lot of the surrounding area, but there was still much that was left unseen and it was driving him insane. He wanted to see everything. All of the variety.
The others had warned him of not straying too far from the safe house, as he could get lost or be putting either them or himself in danger.
Painter was well aware of this, and he reassured the group that he was not a child. He didn’t need any supervision. He had learned what and what not to do from the last time he’d left the group and wandered off on his own. The results were not pretty, and it still haunts him even now. The crack on his screen is a constant reminder of that.
After some consideration, Anzu and Gabe ended up eventually just opting to accompany him on his exploration like they always did, much to his dismay. He just wanted to be independent for once, was that too much to ask for?
Yet now in his current situation…. he was starting to reconsider that.
They had been just fine a few minutes ago, strolling along and admiring the nature. But he wandered too far. He assumed that his friends were following him as he ran deeper into the wilderness to chase after a butterfly that had caught his eye. It wasn’t until he eventually decided to look back that he realized they were gone.
Of course he just had to do the one thing that his friends had strictly warned him not to do. How could he be so stupid? He shouldn’t have ran off so suddenly like that, because now he was facing the consequences of his actions.
He frowned and sat down on a smooth rock that was lodged in the ground, the large tree next to it casting the spot in its shade.
He examined the area around him. All of his surroundings were beginning to look the same. Everything seemed to be blending into each other to create on endless loop that he couldn’t seem to find a way out of. He was used to the endless loop that was the Blacksite, but while that place had contained cold metal and the buzzing of fluorescent lights, this place contained trees and the buzzing of cicadas that covered up any attempt Painter made of calling out for his friends.
His frown deepens as he feels an overwhelming sadness consume him, taking over every part of his systems. He only wanted to paint! He didn’t want to be a burden for his friends again like he always was. How was he even supposed to find his way back? It’s not like he had a constant map to guide him through this like he did underwater.
As Painter is contemplating what he could possibly do, he hears the soft puttering of feet on the leaf covered ground. He lifts his head and quickly scans the area, searching for the source of the sound.
He hears a soft mew come from behind him. Turning his body, he ends up face to face with a little cat.
The cat was tiny. It was not a kitten, but instead appeared to just be very malnourished, with its ribs slightly sticking out of its thin frame. It had a white chest with orange and black markings covering its body. One half of its face was orange, the other black. Its light green eyes were staring into Painter’s own digital ones, pupils widened.
Painter’s expression morphed into one of joy, as he couldn’t contain his excitement from seeing the adorable creature. It was a cat! A real life cat! He had never seen one with his own two eyes before, “Hello friend! You’re so cute!” He shouts excitedly. The cat seemed unfazed by Painters loud volume, simply tilting its head curiously.
Painter examines the cats face and attempts to recreate it on his own face screen.
:3
He carefully reaches a hand out towards the creature, allowing it to get used to his scent.
Believe it or not, he did know a thing or two about cat behavior from his extensive and very important research he did when he was not busy mining for roblux or shooting expendables. His very limited free time was spent very wisely.
The cat immediately poked its small pink nose into Painters hand, sniffing twice before deeming it worthy enough to let touch it.
Painter wasted no time in running his fingers along the smooth fur, giggling to himself as he did so. The texture was unlike anything he had ever felt. He grins, “I’ve gotta show the others, they’ll be so happy!”
Painter eagerly hops off of the rock and is about to run off to go retrieve Anzu and Gabe, when he suddenly remembers his current problem.
Right, he was lost.
His excitement falters as he slowly turns back around to face the cat that was still innocently staring up at him. He feels his sadness return and he kicks a pile of leaves in frustration.
Sighing in defeat, he kneels onto the ground and buries his face screen into his hands. He was going to be lost out here forever wasn’t he?
As he’s finally starting to come to terms with the situation he had put himself in, he feels a soft thump against his bent knee. Removing his hands from his face, the cat is right there looking up at him. It lets out another soft high pitched meow, nudging his knee once again for some more pets.
Painter slowly reaches down and scratches behind its ear with his fingers. Lightly grabbing its face, he brings it closer to his own, “If only there was a way you could help me back to my friends so they could see how adorable you are.” He mutters somberly.
Immediately after he says this, the cats calm demeanor changes as it suddenly pulls away from his grasp and takes off in the other direction.
Painter gasps and stays kneeling there for a second, processing what just happened. It isn’t until a couple of seconds later when he finally jumps back onto his feet and runs after the sprinting cat, “Hey wait, come back!” He yells frantically. Why was it running? Did he do something wrong?
The cat is incredibly fast, but Painters robotic legs don’t have too much trouble keeping up with its pace. However, he almost loses sight of the creature multiple times with how it’s expertly weaving its way through the bushes and tree trunks, its small frame and agility helping it travel through all of the complicated twists, turns, and obstacles the wilderness has to offer.
Despite Painter’s inhuman speed, his size still made it quite difficult for him to keep up with the much smaller cat he was chasing.
As he was considering giving up on his chase, the cat abruptly stops and Painter just barely keeps himself from toppling over onto the creature and crushing it with his heavy metal body.
As they both slow down to a stop, he bends down and snatches the cat up into his arms, holding it out in front of him, “Why did you do that!?” He exclaims exasperatedly, “I was only trying to-“ He cuts himself off as he hears a faint noise nearby. Listening closer, he quickly realizes that the noise is a panicked voice coming from up ahead.
“He couldn’t have wandered off too far! We have to keep searching!” The voice yells desperately. Frantic footsteps can be heard crunching the leaves underneath them, “Oh god, what if something happens to him!?”
It’s Gabe.
Painter looks in the direction of the voice and his assumption is proven correct as he sees a very distressed Gabe next to an also visibly worried Anzu.
He gasps, capturing their attention. The two of them turn their heads, and as soon as they make eye contact with him, Gabe is already sprinting towards Painter.
“Oh my god!” Gabe throws his arms around the computer’s shoulders, “Painter, where did you go!? I was worried sick!” He yells, squeezing him tightly.
The sound of someone clearing their throat can be heard from beside them, and they look over to see Anzu who has a hand on her hip.
“Ah!” Gabe pulls away from Painter and frantically gestures back and forth towards Anzu and himself, “I mean- WE were worried sick!” He chuckles nervously.
Anzu nods approvingly, “Thank you.” She crosses her arms over her chest and looks at Painter. Whether she is aware of it or not, there is clear relief present in her eyes, “I’m just glad to see you’re okay Painter. Maybe next time don’t go running off like that… for both of our sakes.“
“And also maybe don’t tell Sebastian about this…” Gabe mutters fearfully. His eyes begin to scan over Painter’s figure, presumably searching for any sort of scratch or dent, when they suddenly stop on his chest and he gasps, “Were you holding that this entire time!?”
Painter looks down and remembers what had led him here in the first place, “Oh right! While I was looking for you guys, I ran into this little cutie! I think it led me here!!” He holds out the cat that he was carrying in his arms.
Gabes face immediately lights up as he reaches his hand out to scratch behind its ear, “Oh my god, he’s so cute!” He bends down so that he’s face to face with the creature, “Hi buddy! Aww look at that little fac- OW!” The cat suddenly bites Gabe’s nose, causing him to jump back and grab it in pain, “What was that for?” He says, betrayal present in his voice.
Anzu silently walks up beside Gabe, causing him to jump slightly when she opens her mouth, “Maybe it’s cause you crushed the poor thing when you went to hug Painter.”
“Oh.” Gabe chuckles and looks back towards the cat with an apologetic look on his face, “I guess I did kinda crush you… Sorry about that.”
The cat stares at Gabe and simply tilts its head with a slight twitch of its ear.
Anzu walks up to it and gently sticks out two of her fingers in front of its face for it to sniff, “It is a little odd that a feral cat would be so friendly.” The cat nudges its forehead against Anzu’s fingers, allowing her to gently run them along the top of its head.
Painter looks at the small creature in his arms and then back up at Anzu, “Maybe we’re just special!” He says with a smile.
Laughing, Gabe responds enthusiastically, “You’re right! We are pretty special aren’t we?” Gabe puffs out his chest, giving a proud grin and a huff. “You could even call us cat whisperers.”
Anzu pulls her hand away from the cat and gives the man a look, “And yet it bit only you in the nose.” She points out, placing a hand on her hip, “Yeah… great cat whispering there Gabe.”
Gabe crosses his arms and lets out a frustrated huff at her sarcastic comment, “Oh come on, I didn’t mean to crush it! ”
Painter giggles at Gabe’s exasperated reaction, with Anzu chuckling slightly.
Painter reassuringly pats Gabe on the back,“It’s okay! I’m sure it forgives you by now,” He holds out the small cat towards the taller man, hoping that it will cheer him up, “Here, you can hold it on our way back to the safe house!”
Anzu raises an eyebrow at that, “And who says we’re keeping it?” She questions.
Gabe and Painter’s panicked faces immediately whip around to face Anzu, “ Please!” They both yell in unison.
“I’m kidding,” She says, slight amusement present in her tone, “Of course you guys can keep it.”
“Oh.” The two of them say in perfect unison once again.
Anzu rolls her eyes at the interaction, “Sometimes I feel like a mother around you two I swear…”
*****
Sebastian stretches his body out in the spot he is currently lounging in on the floor, letting out a small grunt as he turns to face Sadao, “They’ve been gone for a pretty long time” He points out, lifting himself into a sitting position.
The shorter man sitting next to him hums in agreement, “Now that you have pointed it out…” He turns his head to stare out the window, “They have been gone for quite a while.”
“You think they’re okay?” Sebastian questions worriedly. He was always so anxious and overprotective of everyone, having grown used to constantly protecting them despite there being no imminent danger anymore.
Sadao nods, placing a reassuring hand on Sebastian’s shoulder to hopefully relieve some of his stress, “I’m sure they are fine Sebastian. Do not stress yourself out over them too much. You have already done enough of that.” He brings his hand down and hesitantly places it onto one of Sebastian’s, allowing the man to pull away at any time if need be, “Now that we are out of the blacksite, this is your time to get some much needed relaxation, okay? The others are fully capable of handling themselves.” He says, smiling softly at the man sitting next to him and comfortingly rubbing his thumb over his blue, clawed hand.
Sebastian lets out a sigh, staring down at the hand that is currently atop of his, “Yeah… I guess you’re right.” He flips his hand over and gently wraps it around Sadao’s, admiring the scaling on his green fingers. Looking back up into the others yellow pupils, Sebastian returns with his own fond smile, “Thanks Sadao.” He says quietly.
Despite his quietness, there is still so much fondness and admiration clearly present within his voice, that Sadao’s heart cannot help but skip a beat. He cannot deny that every single moment spent with Sebastian is amazing, however, he will always especially cherish these small quiet little ones where the world around them melts away and the only thing that is left is themselves. He can still feel the faint fluttering of butterflies in his stomach whenever the other man would look at him with such fondness during these moments. Sadao could not even begin to fathom how he of all people was blessed with such a wonderful soul for a partner.
He does not say any of these thoughts out loud. There are far too many to convey through words. So he simply squeezes the taller man’s hand and prays that that simple action will somehow show just how much he truly feels for him, “Of course.” He whispers, his voice flooded with adoration and love for the other man, perhaps a little bit more than he intended.
Before Sebastian can form a response, the quiet moment is suddenly broken as the sound of two loud voices could be heard in the distance outside.
Sadao clears his throat as he pulls his hand back, immediately missing the warm contact, “Ah, it appears they have made it back…” Sadao mutters disappointedly, the sound of Gabe and Painter’s voices growing closer.
Sebastian sighs dramatically with a less than thrilled look on his face, “And here I was hoping we could get a little bit more time to ourselves.” Despite his comment, the man is clearly relieved to know that the others are alive and well, the tension in his shoulders disappearing completely as soon as the voices were heard. A particularly loud laugh can be heard from Gabe, and Sebastian overdramatically winces at the noise, “I admire Anzu’s ability to put up with those two together so well. I need my time away from them or else I think I’d lose my sanity.“
An amused smirk forms on Sadao’s lips. He rolls his eyes and looks up at the three armed man, “Oh please, do not act like you are so innocent. You and Gabriel’s incessant and constant bickering is far more bothersome than anything him and Painter are capable of doing.”
Sebastian gawks, offended by the statement, “Not my fault that Gabe is so annoying and easy to argue with!”
“I’m what?” Gabe’s voice suddenly cuts into the conversation the two of them were having.
Sadao and Sebastian quickly turn their heads to see that the others have finally reached the house and are all now standing in front of the doorway, staring at them.
Sebastian chuckles lightly and looks towards Gabe with a sly smirk, “Oh you heard me.” He says, twirling his hair mischievously.
As Gabe glares daggers at his younger brother, Anzu chooses to ignore them. She clears her throat and pats Painter on the back, urging him to step forward.
Painter grins and enthusiastically stretches out his arms to put the creature he was currently holding on display, “Sebastian, Taka, look what we found!”
Painter’s voice breaks Sebastian and Gabe out of their intense staring contest. Sebastian looks down at the cat that Painter was currently holding and his face lights up as he gasps, “Holy shit, a cat? I haven’t seen one in years! ”
Sadao’s eyes also visibly light up as he sees the small creature. Much like Sebastian, it has been far too long since Sadao has gotten the chance to see a cat, and he has to fight the urge to immediately walk over and pet its beautifully patterned fur.
Painter giggles excitedly, thrilled by the reactions from the two mutated men, “Yes! Gabe told me that you’re fond of them Sebastian!” He pauses and studies Sadao’s face, “Do you also like them Taka?”
Sadao blinks, averting his eyes from the creature as he processes Painter’s question, “Yes, I am also quite fond of cats. I have always wanted to own one, however my profession made that quite difficult unfortunately...” He pauses and looks down at himself briefly, “And now given my appearance and size…. I doubt I would be a very suitable owner for such a skittish creature.” He states somberly.
As soon as Sadao says this, Sebastian’s ear fin twitches as he lets out a small breath. His hands ball up into fists by his side.
Sadao quickly notices the man’s change in demeanor.
Painter’s digital face frowns slightly at Sadao’s response. He turns towards Sebastian, “Well what about you Sebastian? Do you want to hold it?” He walks towards the taller man and holds out the creature. Its green eyes stare up into the man’s own glowing blue ones.
Sebastian backs away slightly, shaking his head and lifting his arms up, “No, no it’s okay, I’m in the same boat as Sadao unfortunately. Probably even a worse boat if we’re being honest here. I’m over ten feet tall after all. My looks are definitely not screaming super cat friendly.” He chuckles, but his smile does not reach his eyes.
Sadao is suddenly filled with guilt. He did not wish to ruin Sebastian’s excitement, he was simply being rational. He knew what he looked like. What they looked like. Even if he did find Sebastian’s mutated form beautiful, it was wishful thinking to hope that the cat would allow them to even get near it.
Anzu uncrosses her arms and steps forward, “While I do understand the point you two are making, this cat is unlike any other feral cat I’ve encountered. It’s not very skittish and it seems completely unaffected by our presence.”
Gabe also takes a step to stand beside the woman, quickly nodding his head, “She’s right! He’s super friendly!”
Sadao looks back at the creature and analyzes its body language. He notices that the others words must hold some truth. The cat seems content in Painter’s arms, its pupils thin and slitted and its tail lazily and calmly swaying about. It was staring directly at Sadao, yet it seemed to be staring more out of curiosity than fear. If it were out of fear, its pupils would be widened and it would appear a lot more tense with its ears flattened.
Painter finally decides to lower the cat down onto the ground and it hops out of his arms. It starts strolling over to where Sadao is standing and he immediately tenses as it gets closer to him, unsure on whether or not he should back away from the creature or stay where he is.
Choosing to stand still, the cat looks up at Sadao expectantly, and eventually decides to just walk forward and break the distance between them. It rubs its body along Sadao’s legs, purring loudly, and Sadao’s heart swells.
He finally decides to just stop fighting his urges and carefully bends down, slowly holding out his clawed hand towards the cat.
The cat nudges its head forward, so in return he glides the back of his hand over it. The texture of its fur is smooth compared to his rough scales, and he cannot stop himself from wrapping his hands around its small form and lifting the creature up into his arms. He picks the cat up very gently, not wanting to hurt the fragile thing with his sharp claws.
It’s so light, he thinks. Its weight is slightly worrying, but he supposes that can be fixed fairly easily with some love and care. He feels his lips curl up slightly, and before he knows it, he is full on grinning. His sharp teeth and fangs are on full display, but he can’t find it in himself to care much. He could not remember the last time he was able to hold a cat in his arms like this, let alone any creature. Feeling the vibrations of its purring throughout his arms and his chest is a comforting feeling, and he relishes in it.
Painter breaks his train of thought with some cheerful claps, “Yay!” He jumps up and down giddily, “We told you it’s friendly! It already loves you Taka!”
Sadao chuckles lightly, “I suppose it does.” He turns his head to look at Sebastian and his smile dims. The man next to him is staring at him with a fond smile, but his eyebrows are slightly downturned and it’s clear that he is yearning to hold the cat as well.
“Sebastian, do you want to hold it?” Sadao questions gently, tilting his head.
Sebastian shakes his head, “It’s okay. I don’t want to spook the poor thing. I’m a lot… bigger than you are.”
Sadao ignores his request, and instead pushes the cat into Sebastian’s arms before he can back away.
Sebastian has no choice but to wrap his own hands around the creature, not wanting to drop it, “Sadao-“ He says frantically, but cuts himself off as the cat suddenly nuzzles its face into his chest.
“I don’t think you’re spooking it very much.” Sadao states, smirking.
The taller man’s breath catches in his throat as the cat purrs into his chest. He feels a few tears begin to well up in his eyes. This cat didn’t see him as a monster, but instead saw him as a regular person.
Sebastian was unsure as to why he was feeling such strong emotions from such a simple action. He tries not to dwell on it though, instead choosing to squeeze the cat’s small purring form against his chest just a bit tighter.
Painter skips up to the two men, “Look at that! You three are getting along so well!” He cheers. The computer stops in his tracks and gently taps his finger onto his hypothetical chin, “Hmm, I do wonder though. Is it a boy or a girl?”
Gabe hums and mimics Painters movement, placing his human fingers onto his own chin, “I don’t know…” He squints at the cat, “I’ve been getting boy vibes from the little guy.”
Sadao’s ears immediately perk up at this, and he wastes no time in cutting into the conversation, “Ah well, this cat is a calico, and they are typically female. Male calicos are extremely rare, so the chances of it being one are doubtful.” He states enthusiastically, happy to share a bit of his extensive knowledge on the species.
Sebastian nods, also aware of this fact, “He’s right,” He lifts the calico above his head, checking its underside, “And by the looks of it… This ‘ little guy ’ is most definitely a girl. Sorry to burst your bubble Gabe.”
Gabe crosses his arms, “Oh well excuse me . I wasn’t aware I was hanging around a bunch of cat nerds.”
Sebastian scoffs at his brother’s response, “And so what if we are? Cats are fucking awesome.”
Gabe gasps at the last sentence, “And to think that you got upset with me for swearing around Painter! Don’t use such foul language near such an innocent robot Sebastian!” He yells, walking up to them and grabbing Painters shoulders, pulling him back and away from his younger brother as if his mere presence was going to taint his innocence.
Painter tilts his head confusedly, looking back at the man whose hands are currently gripping onto his shoulders, “But Gabe, I’ve heard and seen much worse from you guys.”
Gabe shushes him quickly, “It’s for the dramatic effect, just go with it!” He yell whispers.
Sebastian simply rolls his eyes and puts a hand on his hip as he stares at his older brother.
Idiot.
Once Gabe takes Painter a good distance away from Sebastian, he steps forward again and looks up at the man angrily, “Also I’ll have you know that I am perfectly happy with a female cat! I’m not some douchebag who’s gonna discriminate a cat based on its gender. Who do you take me for?”
Sebastian opens his mouth, another snarky response about to fall out, when suddenly a voice shouts and interrupts them both.
“ Enough! Please. I seriously do not think we can take any more of you two and your pointless arguments.” Anzu says firmly, clearly exhausted with their sibling rivalry.
Gabe’s frustration falters as he laughs nervously, and Sebastian clears his throat, composing himself. He spares a glance at Sadao, and immediately looks away once he catches sight of the disappointed look very similar to Anzu’s that he was currently sporting on his face…. directed towards him.
He supposes it’s fair that Anzu and Sadao are annoyed with their antics. Him and Gabe were being quite feisty towards each other today for no reason in particular. One of those siblings days y’know? That still doesn’t prevent him from feeling a small hint of embarrassment in the back of his mind from the Leviathans look though.
Anzu lets out a sigh of relief upon realizing that they listened to her, “Thank you.”
Painter eventually cuts through the silence that follows afterwards with his cheerful voice, wanting to quickly get back onto the topic of the cat, “Well what should we name her!? I have so many ideas!” He taps his foot giddily, clearly excited at the prospect of naming the calico.
The entire group pauses at that, wracking their brains for any name possibilities they could come up with.
Sebastian furrows his brows as he tries to conjure up names in his mind. Yeah, he’s got nothing. Looking around at the rest of the group brainstorming, they all appeared to be coming to the same conclusion that he was.
That is, until his older brother’s face lights up and he gasps, an imaginary lightbulb practically floating above his head. He walks over to Sebastian and studies the creature in his arms, “How about Imogen?” He suggests.
Sebastian looks down at his brother. He raises his eyebrow, “Imogen? Like your imaginary friend Imogen?”
Gabe nods enthusiastically, his eyes sparkling as he pets the calico’s head, “Yes! When we left the blacksite she disappeared. I don’t have the remote any more, so I won’t be able to see her again. I never even got to say a proper goodbye.” He frowns slightly as he thinks back on her, “I really miss her, and I’d like to keep her memory alive in some way. Imogen is such a pretty name, and I think it would fit the cat really well!”
Painter lets out a drawn out hum at that, “Imogen, huh?” He squints his eyes as he considers it, “Imogen, Imogen. I-mo-gen.” Painter repeats the name, testing it out to see if he likes it. Once he’s satisfied, he smiles and looks towards Gabe, “I love it!”
Gabe smiles at that. He turns towards the rest of the group, “Guys, can we name her Imogen? Please?” He lifts his hands up and places them together in a pleading position, staring at the others expectantly.
Anzu smiles fondly at the man underneath her mask, “Yes Gabe we can name it Imogen.” She says. She waves her hand and looks away from his face, “Now stop giving us those puppy dog eyes.”
Lowering his hands, Gabe immediately cheers and pumps his fist in the air, “Yes!”
Sebastian looks at his older brother and feels his lips curl up slightly. Despite their bickering a minute ago, he still can’t stop himself from feeling happy whenever he saw the other man happy. It spread like a disease, and soon the entire group was infected.
Placing the cat down, Sebastian looks down at it, swiping some hair out of his face, “Alright, Imogen it is.” Imogen sits down, facing and staring up at the fish man, “How does that sound Imogen? You like it?” He asks the cat.
She stares into Sebastian’s blue eyes. He tilts his head and she tilts hers, blinking. After a few seconds, she responds with a meow before lifting her paw and grooming herself.
Painter giggles at that, “It’s almost like I have a daughter now! A cat daughter!” He exclaims joyfully.
Sebastian profusely shakes his head, “Oh please don’t say that… It’s making me feel like some old grandpa. I can’t be a grandpa yet, I’m only thirty-two!”
“If you’re already a grandpa at your age, then what the hell does that make me? Great-grandpa? Ancient?” Gabe questions loudly.
“Dead.” Sebastian shoots back automatically. He covers his mouth to stifle a giggle, but a snort still comes out.
Gabe places his hand onto his chest in offense, immediately opening his mouth to fire back at his younger brother.
Sadao and Anzu back away from the two of them, tuning the argument out. They look at each other and Anzu simply rolls her eyes and shrugs.
Sadao thinks back on how he and his siblings were with each other, “Me and my siblings never acted like this with one another,” He mutters, “I suppose that is just how we were raised though.”
“Makes sense that you didn’t bicker with your siblings like this, you don’t seem the type to engage in pointless arguments.” Anzu turns her head back towards the two brothers, “But them? Definitely the type, unfortunately.”
Sadao sighs and looks over at Sebastian. It boggles him how he could fall so deeply for such an idiot.
But he is my idiot. He thinks sappily.
He immediately cringes at the thought. Perhaps he was in a little too deep.
The fanged man is broken out of his thoughts when he hears the low rumble of a growl.
He turns his head towards the sound to see that Painter had at some point appeared next to them and was holding Imogen again. She was staring at the Solace brothers with squinted eyes, growling.
Anzu also takes notice of this, turning her head as well, “Well, it looks like we aren’t the only ones who are tired of their bullshit.”
The three of them share a laugh at that.
It appears that they now had a new addition to their found family.