Broken Boulder oh, give me a break already

Queenie is laboring! This thread is open to everyone. I'm not sure how many will join, but there is no post order. I'll post with Queenie once or twice a day, regardless of who is there between replies (trying to work with a realistic timeline). Anyway, come say hi!

It was time. That both dreaded and anticipated moment had finally come storming right up to Queenie's groin, anxious to make itself known. It was really quite inconvenient how it had all happened; she'd been in the middle of a meal, relaxing on the assorted pelts that @Alarian had gifted, feasting alone without a care in the world. The morning had been slow and relatively quiet, up until that first pain hit. 

Startled, Queenie stood and allowed her hackles to raise steadily as she glanced around the whelping site. Now, she had just as much knowledge of birth as the next first-time mom, but it didn't take an expert to tell what was happening. A few painless moments passed, so Queenie settled back down with a speedy heart to finish what was left of her hare.

It was getting close to that time; Alarian (thankfully) didn't know the specifics of conception, so he wasn't quite sure when it was supposed to happen— but he knew it was close enough he should check on Queenie. So, reluctantly, he went to do just that. On the way there, he muttered a quick prayer or five. Not that he actually believed in like, wolf-god or anything, but just in case, y'know?

When he approached, nothing seemed off with Queenie— initially. Hey, He called to her, noting the hare she was eating. Okay, not quite baby time yet (or so he thought). It didn't quite occur to him that anyone would eat through that. Though, she did seem... tense? He tried not to tense up himself; his fears from last time weren't applicable now, he reminded himself, and there was no need to annoy (or upset) Queenie. As if he could avoid that anyway, haha. Everything alright?

He had slowly trailed after Alarian. Ulf had contemplated trying to socialize with the gold kissed male but it was obvious he was headed somewhere specific. As if he was doing something important. So the wolfdog stayed silent and a fair distance away.

When it was obvious that his friend was visiting someone, Ulf settled a good bit away. His body slowly lowered to the ground as he lounged on the earth. It was obvious he had no interest in interrupting but he would be a liar if he said he wasn't at least a little bit curious.

But being out of earshot, he was forced to wonder what was being said within the confines of the whelping site.

he's not moving far from the den these days -- the children are undoubtably coming any day now, and for all his -- everything right now, he'll be damned if he isn't there for the birth. you can't arrive late to the birth of your own children.

you can, however, arrive third. delight, carrying a vole between his teeth, doesn't expect to see the wolfdog loitering outside the den -- a fair distance away, but close enough to make the androgyne bristle slightly, an instinctive reaction. but he can smell alarian, too, and so he forces himself to relax, giving ulf a quick nod as he climbs into the den, dropping the vole. "is it..?" he asks softly, glancing between the governor and queenie with wide eyes. there doesn't seem to be any birthing happening yet, but something in the air, a scent or an energy, makes delight think they're at the edge of that moment.

Oh, poor Alarian. All he'd ever wanted to do was help! How was he to know that Queenie was a lost cause? He came to the mouth of the den with his usual, well-meaning curiosity, only to be met with a bubbling growl and a very unhappy momma. He was a welcome guest any other day, but this time? Not so much. I'm fine, she gritted between tight teeth, pushing her body further back into the den.

Another pain came then, and Queenie's vicious growl was replaced with a pleading whine. They were short and came with plenty of recovery time in between, but the contractions still hurt like a buttcheek on a stick. Delight came then, relieving her of some of her edge. I don't know, she answered honestly, finding herself creeping back toward the mouth of the den to meet her friend.

I'm gonna assume some preparations have been made bts (with Ali's help ? ) but lmk if that's not cool!

The growl startled him, but he didn't flinch back; his eye caught the movement of her stomach, a faint ripple, and he knew it was likely time. Likely, because he knew there were false alarms sometimes. That doesn't sound fine to me, Alarian commented a bit nervously, hanging back with a slightly lowered posture.

Delight's arrival was welcome. He took the opportunity to edge towards some of the herbs stored in the den for this very occasion, shooting the Chancellor a look that said I hope you're here to help. Help keep Queenie from biting his face off, mostly.
You might want to lay down, He advised softly, watching the ripple of her abdomen. It'll probably get more intense soon— A pause as he nudged some leaves towards Delight, glancing from him to Queenie expectantly because there was no way he was getting near her. Yep, your job, buddy. Shoulda kept it in your furry wolf pants. These will help, if it's really time. Raspberry leaves— for the pain. Eat some when it gets bad, if you can.
Alarian paused again, a little awkwardly this time: It should go fine, once they start— once it starts. I can leave if you want, or I can stay just in case. It was directed at Queenie; for the most part, instinct should guide her through the experience, but he knew that things did not always go as planned. And while admittedly there wasn't a lot he could help with, if something were to go wrong, he did figure he had more knowledge on the subject than Queenie and Delight combined.

oh jeez oh jeez it's happening. delight whines, pressing his nose against queenie's cheek if she'll let him get close enough, accepting the, uh, leaves that alarian shoves at him. he listens to the explanation, or tries to, his heart hammering so loud he can barely hear himself think. leaves: good, seems to be the gist of it. he nods, about ready to chew and regurgitate the leaves into queenie's mouth himself if that's what it takes. 

"you got this," he tells queenie, feeling like he should say something -- he put her in this situation, after all -- but largely he's on standby, on leaf duty. ready with the leaves as soon as queenie needs them. these leaves are now the single most important thing in delight singing-sunlight's life as far as he's concerned.

(oh god oh god oh g

His head lowered against the earth and his ears pulled back the prickly arrival of another wolf. Ulf politely scooted his form a bit further back from the scene. Truthfully, he had no idea what was going on and he was more or less here for Alarian. Although he would help with anything if asked.

Patiently he waited - almost looking like a lazy guard dog.

Okay, so, at this point, Queenie was 90% sure that none of the males who had come to her aide had any malintent (including Alarian's wolf-dog companion), but it was that last 10% of doubt and instinct coupled together that made their efforts to help darn near repulsive to their patient. Each of Alarian's movements was followed with watchful eyes, his words by warning snaps; still, she didn't want him to leave, because he was the thing keeping Delight calm and of all the things that she couldn't handle, an uppity Del was at the top of the list. Stay, she conceded with the fall of her shoulders, but go over there.

Normally, Delight's touch would have been taken with kind regard, but Queenie was in no mood for affection. His daring step into the den was stopped by a loud snap of her jaws; another — the last warning any of them would get. I don't need that, she barked, referring to the raspberry leaves.

Fast-forward about three hours. Gotta get this show on the road!

I need it, Queenie whined as she paced back and forth outside of the mouth of the den. Things were moving too quickly! Was this normal? I mean, of course it was going to hurt, we knew that, but was it supposed to hurt like this? The kids that came out of her would need to be pretty cute to make up for all that they'd put her through (not that anyone doubted it; just look at their parents, for crying out loud). How am I supposed to know when?

sorry for the wait + this being terrible

He really wanted to leave, by now; Queenie was being spiky, Delight was a mess. They could honestly just deal with each other— but then she asked him to stay, and he couldn't say no. Especially if something did happen to go wrong. He assumed that was the reason she was asking him to stay, anyway; honestly, if anyone had asked him, he'd definitely have guessed his presence was doing the opposite of helping Delight. Or anything, at all. Please let me leave.
So he moved away as she asked, and waited through the three hours.
When she finally caved and asked for the leaves, he only glanced to Delight. Alarian was still entirely unwilling to get anywhere near Queenie, but he was willing to answer her question. Somewhat. Uhh, I think you'll... just know. It was actually as honest as he could get. That was what his friend had told him, and after watching it, he definitely believed it. The answer would probably piss her off, but, Alarian had already had three hours to accept the possibility of being bitten; it was cool now.

haha i didnt realise i skipped you last time, bunyip!! sorry!

in his haste to get out of queenie's way he nearly drops the leaves, stumbling over his paws, and the ensuring panic sees him pressed as tight against the entrance of the den as he can, as if he could merge into the stone until leaves are needed. except queenie says she doesn't need them? well he better hold them just to be safe. he is a taut string about to snap, dead quiet for nearly three whole hours until queenie breaks the silence.

leaves!!!

delight springs alive, again nearly stumbling over his feet as he hastily brings the leaves to queenie, dropping about half of them across her paws. "h-here!" he blurts, shoving the half still in his mouth at her to take as alarian speaks in the background, his presence dimly registered. after she's either taken them or he's just dropped them all everywhere, delight stumbles back as quickly as he can,  not too keen on getting close to her teeth again after she nearly took his nose off last time. wide eyed and fur spiked out, he presses himself as tight to alarian as he can and says, "what do i do?" because surely they need him for something and if not well he'll just stand right here and gape at queenie until there are puppies to gape at instead.

no worries!! he's not doing much so i don't mind ulf being skipped (:

Throughout the duration of the three hours, Ulf had dozed on and off. The occasional loud sound or heavy chatter stirred him back awake allowing him to never fully fall asleep. A yawn escaped him as he adjusted himself to sit up. Sharp ears stood tall as he waited for something. Hopefully, he hadn't slept through whatever was going on inside of the whelping den.

By the time Delight managed to get the leaves close enough to Queenie's mouth, she'd already found her position against the wall of the whelping den and begun to push out the first of the litter. It took another few minutes of intermittent pushing for the little one to actually make their way out, but Lord knows everyone knew exactly when it happened. The first sound to escape the den was a pained yelp, followed by an aggressive snarl, finally concluding with the melodic cries of a newborn babe. 

All that one can do is pray that no one came to the den entrance to see what all of the commotion was about, for their sake. 

There was a short period of euphoric recovery, during which Queenie was allowed to simply sit and watch in awe as her child enjoyed its first meal. This didn't last long (because why would it?); another set of paws were pushing their way out before she even had a chance to prepare. Unlike with the first, this pup resisted every part of the experience. No matter what Queenie did to coax it out (including using her teeth to gently pry it away), it wouldn't budge!

The mother and child pair sat in limbo for a while before the latter finally decided to give in. Beside the first was this one placed, albeit much less enthusiastically. Right on the tail of the second came the third, lacking so much as but a cry! Had it not been for the intense beating of the little one's heart as Queenie cleaned the sac from around it, she might have thought that they had a tragedy on their hands. 

I'm done! she called, about an hour or so after the last of the three was born, I think I am, at least.

Funny how things hit you all at once, sometimes. Standing outside the den with Delight pressed against him, looking thoroughly freaked out, that was exactly what happened to Alarian. Suddenly he realized how real it all was— and how ill-placed he was in this scene. Inexplicably, it hurt.
Nothing, right now. She'll be okay, He murmured, trying to reassure his friend as best as he could even through the sudden crisis hitting him. These were not his children— and for the very same reason he should not care at all, he found he cared far too much. The place he had stubbornly carved for himself, for his patchwork family, held new life; new life he could not help nurture. These children were Delight's— Queenie's. He wished— he wished they were his— but he didn't.

He was frozen, quiet, until she finally called out. His gaze turned to Delight, expression soft despite the strange, unwanted rawness in his chest; he held tightly to the fresh memory of his friend pressing against him, used it to fake whatever emotion he should feel right now. Go see them, then, Alarian told him with a gentle smile. Remember— there are borage leaves in the den, for milk flow, if she needs them. And make sure she eats soon.
It was time for him to go— and as he turned to leave, assuming Delight did not stop him, he spotted Ulf. His pace slowed almost to a stop for a beat. Then, he hurried to the wolfdog's side, muttering when he got close enough so only he could hear, I want to leave. He didn't bother asking— if Ulf didn't want to follow him, he would leave alone. Find somewhere to think about the fact that he didn't even want kids before this, damnit.

there is not enough consciousness in her to feel resentment despite her recalcitrant entrance onto this world. the reluctant, the second born! she shares her mother's lack of enthusiasm for her state of existence, offering only a handful of protesting squalls before instinct pushes her to find a teat. there is little to her now but milk-greed and complaint, but she is alive, she is healthy, and she is here, yet unnamed.

He was unusually quiet.  The whole thing was a rather shocking ordeal for a bean such as himself.  What happened?  The world was cold, empty, and full of far more weird sensations than he'd had to interpret so far.  His little brain was just outright overwhelmed.  Eventually he wiggled around, trying to figure out his orientation in the world, creeping towards the greatest warmth -- the body heat radiating from his mother's belly.  His siblings were warm too, but not nearly as alluring as the comparatively giant mom-creature.  He finally made a quiet mumbling noise before latching on for his first meal.

alarian's presence and his words are enough to keep delight grounded, even if it's not the answer he wanted. if there's nothing he can do, there's nothing he can do but hold still and wait, until queenie's voice snaps the last restraint in him. delight looks to alarian, slim slivers of silver around rounded pupils, and takes his advice with a nod, barely registering it as he begins to stumble toward the inside of the den. 

alarian does not come with him. the chancellor pauses and says "ali?" but the governor has already moved toward the wolfdog (who, honestly, delight had forgotten about in the commotion). there's a strange ache in his chest that he can't process, and then he hears baby-squeaks and yips and his attention returns fully to where it should be. three tiny, squirming things, unrecognizable as wolves. there is a fierceness in him he did not think existed when he looks at them. "oh," his voice catches in his throat, "they're perfect."

brilliance @ delight



you better believe this bitch is perfect.

she’d been swimming in the void for a few weeks but her awareness came and went before now. the last few days she definitely started to have opinions. eventually, those opinions didn’t matter and she was leaving whether she fuckin’ wanted to or not. a rent controlled apartment is hard to keep these days, it seems. the others didn’t have to leave!

fuckin’ rude.

anyway, after learning a thing or two about “eviction,” she discovers she doesn’t really like it. it’s dry and gross and, ugh, what is that fleshy thing touching her? she mewls unhappily until she’s shuffled forward and introduced to her first meal—her first real food!—and she latches on immediately and luckily for queenie her milk teeth haven’t come in yet in the first few minutes of life. she’ll use those later, once she finds out about them, but for now she’s happy to have a teat to herself without anyone else to disturb her.

after a while, with a full belly, two other puppies are placed unceremoniously beside her and she grumbles though she doesn’t put up much of a fight, too overcome with sleepiness to protest anymore before drifting off in slumber.

As Delight approached, Queenie's lips curled and her eyes squeezed almost shut. Behind her, her tail twitched, warning him to take a few steps back. While she wouldn't have acted this way under most other circumstances, instincts had taken a hold on her; for now, and for the weeks to come, the whelping den would be strictly off limits. Yeah, she said, finally able to tone down her defenses, We did okay. 

Before Delight could have possibly replied, Queenie was drifting off to sleep while the three newborn babes suckled happily at her side.

He shuffled from his position at the approach of Alarian, the words were clear enough and Ulf needed no more convincing. The wolfdog swiftly followed after his usual companion. It was only after a few moments that he threw one last glance over his shoulder. There was nothing unusual going on from what he could see with his good eye. He figured that perhaps the Governor was merely ready for another adventure or even slumber.

Whatever the gold-kissed male wanted, Ulf would give.

-Ulf Exit-