Thanksgiving with the Wolves

Riley's hand could be heard banging on the door earlier than expected. She was alone. She was supposed to be coming with someone from the school, like her dorm parent, because a girl Riley's age shouldn't be running around on the island by herself. But here she was, unaccompanied.

Her messy hair-bun had almost entirely disintegrated at this point, only barely holding together enough to still count as one. She was out of breath from a long hike on short legs. She wondered who she would meet at the door - Sofia had told her there would be kids here only a little older than herself.

And for that matter - what the heck was a Thanksgiving supposed to be like, exactly? All she knew was that it involved a home-cooked meal and being away from school, and that was all she honestly needed to know.

It was a long night for Eric. He could smell all the delicious aromas, making him hungrier and hungrier with each passing whiff. That's the downside of having a great nose, the smell of food becomes harder to ignore. So he resorted to staying in his room. His door was usually unlocked in case anyone needed him, and having Colette repeatedly knock like a serial killer was after her had gotten a bit too annoying.

He left his window open too since Oz, a raven that has started following him, was always a welcome guest, and it often tapped on his window, wanting to come in and just perch. And through this window, Eric could smell a different scent. It was very faint, and he didn't pay it much attention as he was busy watching a video on his phone.

With the smells of the food, keeping him distracted, he decided to go downstairs and either see what Sophia was cooking, or find out what Lucas and Colette were up to. As he reached the living room, Eric heard someone knocking on the door. "I'll get it," he called out out of habit. He wondered who it could it have been. It was his dad that's for sure. He opened the door, and to his surprise, he saw a girl there. "... Uh..." He turned to the direction of the kitchen and called out to Sophia. "Hey Sophia! Are we expecting a guest? There's a little girl at the door!"

The girl was still catching her breath from the long walk over here. Sensitive noses might smell her sweating. "I'm Riley," she said. When she heard Sofia call out to let her in, she didn't wait for Eric to give her permission.

Her first question would be for Eric specifically: "Who're you?"

As he answered, she would be heading straight towards the kitchen, because there were two very important orders of business she needed to take care of. Firstly, greeting her benefactor. "Hi Sofia!" Her face lit up. She really liked Sofia now - she was one of the few Good People who worked for the school, possibly the only one. She had proven herself to be good.

Second, "Can I have a glass of water?" After all this hiking and evading campus security, she was parched.

Eric was less than impressed when this girl just went in without a second thought as soon as Sophia told him who she was. Rude did not begin to describe her. "Eric," he simply answered her, his tone not really capturing a friendly note, instead it was mostly disgruntled.

"Make yourself at home," he huffed as he shut the door. Who was this girl anyway? Didn't smell like Sophia, so she couldn't be related to her. With a sigh, he went to the couch and promptly sat on the corner, opening his phone again to pass the time.

Riley sipped greedily at her water. "Thanks."

Another werewolf-child came in, with a bird named Oliver. This one, too, was asking Sofia about her. At least it wasn't quite as rude as what Eric did - Sofia was actually in the room with them, so it sort of made sense to ask Sofia instead of Riley herself. And at least the new girl gave her a nod in greeting.

Instead of waiting for Sofia to do so, she introduced herself. "I'm Riley Keegan. Nice to meet you." She nodded back, and then gave a nod of acknowledgement to Oliver. Oliver might have been a person; Riley had met several shapeshifters already. Sometimes Sofia was a giant dog, because she was a werewolf. Maybe Oliver was a wereparrot. Was that a thing?

Eric was unfazed by the door slamming open followed by two blurs shooting past and into the kitchen. "Colette..." He could only sigh as he settled in. If something broke on the door, he'd be sure to point to Colette when dad asked.

But then again, it was mostly a non-issue since this house was mostly built to hold the likes of his sister. And himself when it was one of those days when he just couldn't handle the berserker rage on a full moon, though he wouldn't admit it.

But since Colette's burst-in left the door open, he had to get up and close it properly. Lucky for him, Lucas was... not as destructive as Colette with his entries.