Following his impromptu meeting with Horace, Theo didn't see the skunk for a week. Sure, it walked him home that day and graced him with a farewell squeak when he wished it an awkward good night, but after that it seemingly disappeared, as if it had only wanted to be acknowledged before leaving his life for good.

Theo kept his cool, regularly showing up at both of his jobs like he hadn't accepted a funky new friend into his life only to have that friend immediately turn around and abandon him. There was resentment there, resentment that disappeared in a puff of stank as soon as he felt a familiar shuffling in his mind. Theo sat up ramrod straight as soon as the skunk made contact, dropping his book on the couch without marking his page and rushing outside in his sock feet.

"Hey!" Okay, that had been a little exuberant. Theo took a breath, bringing himself back down to a less awkwardly needy level. "You're back. Good to see you."

The skunk barked in agreement, coming closer and placing a forepaw on Theo's foot.

"What've you been up to?"

The burst of anxiety that overtook him was unexpected. He was treated to a choppy slideshow of other emotions—excitement over being accepted by a large fuzzy, confusion after they'd separated, panic over getting lost—

"You were lost?"

Bark.

Theo was relieved and amused on his own, but the skunk's upset on top of it disoriented him, making him feel like he was two different people crammed into one body. He closed his eyes, steadied himself, and opened them again, wiggling his toes under the skunk's.

"Sounds like it sucked."

Rmrmrmrmrm.

He was starting to suspect that what seemed like responses from the animal were just random noises. Theo snorted, pushing the door open just a little more.

"Do you want to come inside?"

It felt far more inevitable than he would have hoped. The creature that Theo had secretly wanted, then refused, then missed rather terribly had just been invited into the house for the first time. Despite the fact that this wasn't a surprise to him, never did he forget that his familiar was a skunk. Theo hurried to close and lock the door behind him as he followed the animal inside, intercepting it with a foot as it tried to venture deeper into the apartment.

"No," he said gently. "Not until you stink less." He gestured at the sofa. "You can sit up here with me, maybe? On the cushion over there." He moved his hand, pointing at the farthest end of the sofa from him as he retook his seat and retrieved his book from where he had tossed it.

The skunk turned from the hall and trotted over, propping its paws on the far cushion and looking up at him. He had never seen a skunk jump... he had never seen a skunk do anything he hadn't seen this one do, and he let out a chuckle as it awkwardly climbed up instead, buzzing with brief satisfaction at its accomplishment. Theo's mirth faded, however, when it didn't stay put, hurrying over to flop on its side and rest up against his leg.

"Nonononono," he muttered, reluctantly nudging it away with the back of his hand. The skunk pushed back with a series of similar noises, continuing to do so until Theo relented with a sigh.

"Yeah, all right, fine." He looked around, as if he would find someone peeking in his window, witnessing his moment of weakness. "You can stay here for now. Just don't... exude anything."

The skunk craned its head back to look at him vacantly, then with a tiny huff, it rested its head on its paws and closed its eyes.