Redhawk Caldera in a chaise and four to see the place,

come meet an asshat!

he was pulling his weight. thus far the man spent plenty of time in and out of the save collecting dead things that had just up and died in the territory. this cold was incredibly taxing on everyone, and he was surprised that not a single wolf had been found dead in the snow yet, he gave it another week before a packmate died.

today he brought in a pair of rabbits. the one was surprisingly fat for the winter season, but they were both stiff as stone. he dropped the thinner of the two in the center of the cave, taking the fatter one back to munch on. he disliked being the lesser of the pack here, but he was, at least, only here temporarily.

You know that utterly wonderful sensation of water draining out of your ears a few hours after you get out of the pool? Or the equally pleasant feeling of your ears popping after you've been on the plane up at high altitudes for a few minutes? That was what Phox had experienced this morning. Suddenly, muffled sounds were clear as a bell, and it added to his whole experience of being alive on this earth.

When Aaron came into the cave with OMG!FOOD! Phox waddled over to him, fully expecting to get some of that delicious, half-digested meat right into his belly. Now that his milk teeth were starting to come in, it was even easier to chew whatever was thrown at him. And while Raven, Finley, and Elwood usually provided sustenance, Phox didn't really care who gave him food as long as he got it.

he adjusted himself stiffly into a proper position and bent his head to bite into his prey, though he was stopped mid bite. his teeth were clamped around the rabbit just as a small, dark critter waddled up to him. he almost killed it right there. it wasn't his, and it were his genes that deserved to live on, not some strangers. but he reminded himself of who he was in this pack, and unfortunately zeta was not a rank that was worthy of children. he raised his head, licking his lips thoughtfully and then studying the child. "you are not an adult," he commented quietly to the thing, his tail flicking.

"do you speak?" he asked it. he missed the memo of 'throw up in my mouth please, stranger,' and instead just assumed the damn thing had gotten lost.

Sounds came from the other wolf, and Phox's tail wagged in delight. Sounds were good, right? At least, this sound seemed quite alright. It was soft and pleasant, and Fidget had no reason to be afraid of it (or the wolf who was making the sound). Another sound was made, but considering Phox had no idea what language was, he stared at the wolf expectantly.

When nothing happened, Phox stepped closer and nosed at the side of Aaron's mouth (assuming the much older, larger male allowed him close enough to do so). Whether Aaron knew it or not, this would hopefully kick in the instinct to upchuck some of the food he'd just eaten and spill it directly at Phox's feet. If he was even luckier, it'd go right into the pup's mouth.

the kid came closer, and aaron's eyes narrowed suspiciously until he felt a gentle nudge against the side of his mouth. he jerked his head back, scowling at the child with an icy blue gaze. "do not touch me," he said, though his voice was not as harsh as his gaze was. it flickered from the child to the rabbit he'd begun to eat, and his ears cupped forward. the man's head tilted forward to better glare at the dark pup.

"do you not have a family? are you going to make me stoop so low as to do this?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, though it was clear that the small child was unaware of social boundaries and would continue to ask for food until he either gave in or killed it. not eager to be killed himself, aaron decided that it may be a better call to go ahead and vomit up his gorgeously plump rabbit.

with a hideous gagging noise, the man went ahead and regurgitated what he'd just eaten into a nasty little pile on the ground.

Up to this point, the sounds Phox had made had been limited to whines and soft sighs. At the sight of a much-too-large-portion of meat, though, the wriggling little boy let out an enthusiastic "Ooogh!" and began to chew—more like gum—his way through a small morsel of rabbit meat. It wasn't liquid like the only food he'd known for so long, but he was already growing used to it and found it palatable enough.

He half-choked on the meat, but managed to get it down without suffocating himself. His tiny puppy teeth couldn't do much ripping and tearing, but it was better than only using his gums. Phox looked at the large wolf again, this time picking up a tiny piece of meat and putting it closer to his newfound friend. He grinned, little shards of milk teeth gleaming.

the child almost choked, and aaron observed him with vague interest. he managed to get it down though, and to the man's both relief and disappointment, he didn't suffocate himself. he huffed.

the gray kid then shoved a piece of regurgitated meat towards him, and aaron frowned. "you are not serious," he said with a narrowed gaze, "you are offering me food that you took from me? that is the worst form of indian giving, small child." but food was food, and he'd rather not make the thing cry since-- according to elwood-- he wasn't supposed to be near the children yet. so he lapped it up reluctantly and followed the half-digested food up with a piece of the still solid rabbit. "i hope you are happy," he said, eyeing the kid.

More sounds, which Phox could only think of as a positive thing. Maybe if he'd been better able to read expressions, he would have realized that Aaron was none-too-pleased with his regifting sharing. The adult ate the piece of meat that Phox had given him, and the little boy wagged his tail happily. It was the simple things that pleased him, and these early interactions would mold him into be a generous, kind, and confident wolf.

Fidget went back to his own pile of softened meat, but it seemed the other puppies had gotten the memo, too. @Towhee, @Titmouse, @Oriole, and @Orca clamored over, lapping up the half-eaten food without giving much thought to who had brought it. Phox backed away almost immediately, having learned that fighting for food was an exhausting pastime. While he was often first to the pile, he rarely got the most food.

The transition from liquid to solid food was still... Well, in transition. While the others seemed to have adapted to a point, Titmouse was still eagerly nipping at Raven's poor nip-nops and holding on for dear life; whenever he hungered, he went after her. But eventually he would have to accept that the milk would stop flowing and that he — like his siblings — would have to put in the effort of actively chewing this new food source. He didn't like it, but it was happening.

So when the babes migrated out of the den and towards the adult who had arrived (led by Phox), Titmouse stayed behind. He was more than eager to have Raven all to himself. She must've been asleep or something though (honestly Java just skimmed the other posts and doesn't know whats going on) because she didn't notice as the pups moved in on Aaron's offering.

After a few seconds of trying to get milk out of his exhausted (likely comatose) sister, Titmouse followed after the horde of stumbling potatoes. He tripped up as he got close to Oriole and face-planted against Towhee's butt, then clambored around them all to take a spot next to @Phox; but he didn't dive in to eat the chunks of meat. Instead he just stared wide-eyed at the strange man — barely making a sound, and not even blinking.

more came, and aaron was absolutely appalled. "did you call them?" he said accusingly to the first one, scowling. a grayish one plopped himself down next to his brother, and stared wide-eyed up at him. "what?" aaron questioned, "eat, or leave, i have nothing more to offer you lot." his gaze fell back onto the dark gray child, sucking in more air. this was ridiculous, why were there so many in this horrid winter weather? how had they all managed to survive? "you should be dead, you are all a miracle of nature-- and not one of the better ones. what in christ's name have they fed you?" 

Last post for me. Trying to clean up the ol' thread log. ;)

The other puppies were all over the food, but Phox was satisfied enough. In fact, he felt he had gotten all the interaction he'd needed from the adult pack member, so he began to wander off toward the other side of the cave, probably to go bother some other adult for attention.

Tit decided the man was strange, and he didn't like the tone of his voice. He didn't know he didn't like it, just that there was an unmistakable feeling of nope when he heard it, and then he was chasing after Phox and away from the food - although he did take a second look, curious and hungry, but ultimately too wary of the stranger to follow through.