When Bluey was 10, her cousins and their parents suddenly moved to America without much explanation. Bluey's parents said something or other about Socks needing to go to a special school, and that's all she really knew.
So Bluey kept in occasional contact with Muffin, and, well... to be honest, Bluey kind of forgot about Socks for a while. Muffin never talked much about her, and the sidestepping she'd do when Bluey would ask how Socks was doing was awkward enough that she just stopped asking entirely. And eventually, she stopped wondering.
It wasn't until ten years later when Bluey, now a 20-year-old college student studying abroad, finally got to see her cousins again. It was a truly wonderful coincidence that North Carolina had both a thriving population of red wolves for her field research and family for Bluey to reconnect and lodge with.
Muffin was still the same excitable ADHD ball of energy all these years later, just as Bluey had expected. and it warmed her heart with the chubby grey heeler tackled her into a hug when they first saw each other again, both girls' tails wagging fast. Muffin had grown so much; she was nearly an adult now, and was so eager to talk about everything Bluey had missed.
Socks, on the other hand...
Looking back on it, Bluey couldn't say what she expected when it came to Socks, but it wasn't the tired, pierced-up teenager that she caught sight of as she pulled away from her hug with Muffin. Still, Bluey couldn't have been happier to see her baby cousin again, and she yipped out an excited greeting, bouncing on her heels. "Socks! Hi!"
...Silence.
For almost an entire minute, Bluey grinned awkwardly and waited for a response, smile slowly fading the longer her younger cousin stared at her with an indiscernible expression. Muffin rolled her eyes and reached out to tug Socks forward, coaxing a surprised yip out of the moody teenager and seemingly bringing her out of whatever daze she'd been in.
"Hi," Socks grumbled, narrowing her eyes at Muffin in annoyance for a moment before very briefly glancing at Bluey and then pointedly aiming her gaze past her instead. "So, uh, my name is Sox now."
Bluey faltered. "What?"
"My name. It's Sox."
"Isn't that what I said?"
"No, you said Socks. My name is Sox, with an x." She glared at Muffin. "You said you told her."
Muffin shrugged, earning an eyeroll from her younger sister. Bluey found herself lost for words for a few moments, but finally settled on, "Oh! Okay! Got it!" She smiled and reach out her hand. "Well, hey, whatever your name is, it's really nice to see you again, Socks!"
"Sox."
Bluey raised an eyebrow; the distinction seemed inaudible to her, but the look Muffin gave her told her not to question it. "Ah, sorry," she said quickly. "You'll have to give me time to get used to it, I guess!"
Sox huffed in frustration. "Yeah. Whatever," she muttered, turning and walking back down the stairs to the basement. Bluey winced as the door shut with a heavy thud behind her.
"Wroooong thing to say, dude," Muffin whispered to Bluey, patting her on the back sympathetically. "'Give us time' is what our parents always tell them."
"Oh," Bluey said. "Oops. So, she's—uh—they're nonbinary? Or..."
"Yeah, I guess," Muffin said with a half-hearted shrug. "Sox doesn't tell anyone much of anything, to be honest. They keep to themself most of the time. I feel lucky that I even know what pronouns they prefer. I kind of hoped that since they know you're a trans girl, they'd like, open up to you about this stuff or whatever, but I guess not."
Bluey nodded, gaze falling to the floor for a moment as she processed everything. She didn't have much time to dwell on the pang of disappointment in her chest, though, as Muffin grabbed her by the hand and tugged her towards the other room to see Stripe and Trixie, chatting her ear off all the while.
