Moonspear ^_^

Anyone’s welcome, though I’d love an @Acrux and/or @Maggak! :)

Treepie’s world continued to expand, particularly with the gift of eyesight. On this gloomy morning, they toddled around the ulaq, matching all those people and things they knew well by smell and touch with their appearances. It was a joy to finally see their mother’s, brother’s and sister’s faces.

Suddenly, the den cooled as a breeze stirred a thousand rich scents through the door. Tiuttuk wobbled toward it, sniffer twitching, and froze when something cold and wet struck their face. Not one to complain, they nevertheless let out a small noise of confusion as they batted at their own mug.

Pie lost their balance and topped face-first onto the increasingly wet patch of ground just inside the threshold as the early spring rain shower strengthened outdoors.

the rains of spring had begun to dull the colors of his fort. the vibrance was disappearing, much like the dependance of his youth. he and maggak would soon be sent to learn from the other villages and when they returned, they would be considered children no more. was he supposed to feel ready to become an adult? was it supposed to feel this terrifying? 

he dragged his feet through the muddied soil until the ulaq came to view, a small, calico babe capturing his attention as he stepped near. "look at you!" he cooed as he stood overhead to block the rain from his younger sibling. "quite the explorer already, huh?" 

it was a marvel to think that once, he had been that small too.

They made a little oof! noise and slowly pushed upright again. Pie felt dirt clinging to their face and wriggled their nose in a futile attempt to remove it. When that didn’t work, they began raising a paw, though their older brother’s arrival froze them in place.

They stared up at his face, mesmerized by the bright blue of his eyes against the gray backdrop. Their own gaze dropped as Tiuttuk gleefully pounced one of his forepaws. Their little tail whipped back and forth as they wrapped their body around his bony digits in a happy little hug.

Meanwhile, they craned their neck and reached for the underside of his jaw. The babe couldn’t reach, of course. They chirped, begging Acrux to lower his head a little.

blue met gold, and a toothy grin spread wide across the youth's maw. "you have the same eyes as anax̂," he admired, his own tail tapping softly against the damp floor. he wondered the eye color of his other baby siblings, if any would hold the same blue as him or the green of maggak. 

but his attention was held to tiuttuk as they pounced upon his paw in a squirrely hug. a chirp brought about an amused chuckle. "anang named you appropriately," he let out as he lowered his snout to place a gentle kiss atop his sibling's crown.

They hardly noticed that his paws were a little wet and dirty, like their face. All their attention remained on his own toothsome grin as it lowered toward them. Treepie gave a happy little squeal when he kissed the crown of their head.

They unwrapped their little legs from his paw and bounded upward, trying to return the favor, pecking him on the chin like a little bird. When they slipped on the rainwater pooling at their feet, they instinctively grabbed and clung to Acrux’s snout to avoid falling down again.

tiuttuk's affections were met with soft murmurs and cheerful praise. a smear of muck was left upon his snout after the first peck, though acrux found he did not mind. he realized very quickly that despite not knowing how to be a good big brother or what the responsibility of the title came with, that it was worth it for moments like these. 

it was an instinctual jerk that he moved to catch the babe when they slipped, though it seemed his younger sibling was just fine as they caught themself. unfortunately their grip landed on the youth's snout, and it the next moment he fought the build up of a sneeze.

he lost that battle. 

a loud, echoing "ACHOO!" was blasted at the poor babe, snot flung in goops as acrux reeled back in horror at the fact that he'd likely just given his little sibling a mucus shower.

They shifted their grip at a natural twitch from their brother, one of their little paws coming precariously close to inserting into Acrux’s nostril. Perhaps this was what tickled the sneeze out of him a few heartbeats later, sending Pie tumbling to the slick floor with a shower of phlegm and saliva casting over them like a sticky film.

Treepie blinked and sat up a second time. They were covered in grime and slime, which felt a little strange. They lifted their forelegs one after the other, admiring the way Acrux’s mucus webbed between their limbs. Their eyes lifted to his inquisitively for a second before Pie brought one catarrh-covered fist to their mouth to give it a lick.

the jerk of his head from sneezing was almost enough force to give him whiplash, but he recovered with a shake of his noggin and a quick wipe of his paw across his nose. it was only a moment later that he looked down to see what now resembled a small, moving pile of mucus. "ahhh," was about all that manage to leave him as his jaw unlatched and hung wide open in shock. 

"no! don't eat that," he let out a bit louder than expected at the sight of tiuttuk attempting to eat what should not be eaten. 

some movement in the ulaq caused the youth to scoop the babe towards him in a frantic attempt to conceal the mess he caused. "umm," he mumbled as his eyes darted around at his younger slimy sibling. a paw lifted to begin wiping away the mess, though the attempt only really resulted in the goop spreading elsewhere.

“No!” Acrux exclaimed, causing Pie to freeze with their tongue a hairsbreadth away from their gluey paw. “Don’t eat that!” They only understood that very first word—and only barely, at that—so they finished their taste test. Afterward, they set down their paw and gazed up at their big brother inquisitively.

They didn’t put up a fight when Acrux scooped them toward himself, though they giggled and wriggled when he began wiping at them. It tickled! With the mucus acting like a lubricant, they managed to squirm out of his grip. With a particularly mischievous giggle, they tried to run past him.

They weren’t very quick, nor coordinated. But they stumbled toward the door, forgetting what was happening there. They darted out into the rainstorm, the rush of it muffling the gasp that escaped Pie at the cold deluge. Within seconds, they were soaked and flattened to the ground. At least they were now free of brotherly bogies.

tiuttuk slipped from his grasp and fled the ulaq. acrux chased after with a stomping "hey!" to try and halt his sibling from running any further. be it his words or lack of balance, the young babe came to a stop, now drenched in rain but free of mucus. 

acrux padded up to the runaway, lowering a snout to give some reassuring boops in hopes of ushering them back to the cover of the ulaq. "you are going to get sick if you stay out here," he tried to explain, half aware that the little one could not fully understand him. 

They didn’t really mind the wetness but the cold was something else. When Acrux fetched them back into the ulaq, Treepie pressed close and followed. They shivered all over, teeth chattering. Even once the roof was back over their head, they clung to their older brother, leeching his comforting warmth.

the pair returned to the ulaq with tiuttuk shivering like a drowned rat. he pulled the babe in close, a paw gently stretching over the small body as a makeshift blanket. "you are a handful," he thought aloud, deciding right then and there that being a big brother was more difficult than he thought it'd be. 

"tell ya what?" he glanced down to the tiny, drenched figure of his younger sibling. "how about you be my snuggle buddy and we take a well deserved nap. sound like a plan?" but he didn't wait for any approval before shifting himself to nestle tiuttuk in the warmth of his chest. his tail curled around neatly as he mumbled a bedtime story in hopes of lulling the little one to sleep.

Acrux bundled them more tightly against his warm body, earning a soft, appreciative peep from the shivering pup. Treepie pressed their dripping face into his soft furs, their little toes twisting into them too as they clung to him like a baby koala.

They remained latched in place as their older brother carefully rearranged himself into a more supine position. When Acrux settled into stillness, Tiuttuk let out a happy sigh. They felt utterly safe and warm, clutched close to his steady heartbeat like this. It was almost as good—no, it was as good—as being held by Sialuk.

His boyish voice rumbled quietly overhead as Pie closed their eyes. The rain fell steadily in the background, the noises combining into the perfect soundtrack to lull the baby to sleep.