Open to whoever is allowed by the den :)
Things were changing; Mur's eyes had opened, revealing to him a murky world of greys and blues which was equally intimidating and inviting. The youngster's diet still consisted mostly of his mother's milk, though his craving for something more was growing almost as fast as his wobbly body. Soon, his ears would perk up, and he would be able to tell the difference between this body and that based on
voice, rather than scent.
And yet still, even as everything else seemed to shift this way and that, Mur's attitude remained static. Had he been able to speak, one might have even heard his whisper,
This totally freaking sucks.
Life outside of the womb wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Things were weird and unpredictable and unlike it was inside of his mother's tum, it got cold out here.
A lot.
Nonetheless, our young adventurer Mur was determined to make the best of it. He rose onto wobbly legs and made his way to the entrance of the den, curious to what might lie beyond it.
curiosity draws her to the densite. she's never seen infants before but she knows mama has been helping with them, and that's reason enough to deem them worth investigating. reed hesitates when she gets to the den, spotting the man by the den -- less out of fear she won't be allowed and more attempting to place his name and face. she needs to make an effort to learn the island's inhabitants; she needs to be more informed than at least maegi.
drawing herself up to her (still small) full height, the fearghal strides confidently to the lip of the den, in time to see one of the tiny bodies stumbling outside. the man ... whatever his name is seems to be keeping a handle on things so she shrugs and pokes her head inside, spying coelacanth, the strange creature that governs them, and another tiny body. "may i see...?" she asks (she may have an ego but she was raised to have manners.)
Well, nevermind. It wasn't long before Mur was stopped and apprehended by Stockholm, to whom he completely submitted. It wasn't fun admitting defeat, but when the thing that had won was freaking huge, it was easy to find a way. He fell and went limp, waiting to be placed back at Seelie's side.
reed hadn't met the babies' mother -- the strange appearance of the girl takes her aback, her exotic coloring strikingly intriguing. perhaps they're like coelacanth, a strange, not-quite-wolf thing. speaking of her ink-mark leader, reed tilts her body towards her, listening to the breathed words. has she spoken to seelie before now? no, she doesn't think so -- when she was young the woman frightened her a little bit, her dramatic shape cartoonish enough to make her leery despite hemlock's obvious affections for her. now she thinks it was silly to have ever been scared by this delicate, kind creature. she looks down at the puppy again, a tiny smile stolen out of her by it's similarly tiny chirps. "busy," the fearghal's daughter echoes, thinking she understands what coelacanth means. "their parents?" she asks, knowing vaguely the circumstances around them but feeling a strange pull to know more.
the information the inkdog gives her is sad. sad in a way reed doesn't really know how to handle, as privileged as she's been in her upbringing. reed had never met poppy but she carefully memorizes the name anyway, feeling somehow it must be important for the two babes to know some day. "i see," she says, voice soft, dropped to match seelie's breaths. humming, she says, "then they're lucky," thinking of the island and its inhabitants -- who even reed wouldn't trade for anything, despite her short temper. smiling she adds, "they'll have me," the most important gift the island could give them, of course.
coelacanth is soft and kind and so like mama in her infectious kindness that reed couldn't help but fall into loyalty to her and to undersea. reed deals in arrogance but that arrogances comes with her willingness to ally herself with those that suit her. seelie's agreement settles into her bones, warming her from the inside. especially the comparison to her mama, who has done no wrong in reed's young life -- really the only one worth aspiring to be like as far she's concerned. ever well mannered despite her vanity the girl smiles and nods, "thank you" spoken in soft tones as she peers down at the suckling babes.