whilst emaleth slumbered in her father's embrace, lasher turned his attentions to the delicate deirdre. named both for witches in whose dark coven lasher had once served, the druid had dreams of their powers being manifest at some unknown age. their mother was a skilled healer, their father a worshipper of the earth and the glen -- what else could their daughters be if not blessed and powerful witches? he gathered his children more snugly into his arms and breathed in the baby-fragrance of deidre's downy head.
the youngest mayfair contented herself at her mothers bare belly, bare, pink pads kneading as she did so. by now, she was used to brief absences from her sister; but she still mourned with quiet, anxious whimpers the first few moments. her suckling paused and she stilled as something pressed against her crown. she had only the capacity to do this, and she lay there rigidly. it was a testament to how unsure she was of any measure of change... but as he lingered, it was decided this was a change she abided by. she gurgled gayly, and latched again upon The Giver.
he felt tension sweep the body of his pale daughter -- without thinking, lasher crooned unto her, soothing whatever doubt deirdre might have. presently she latched to his lip -- the curve of a smile tightened the flesh there beneath her grasp. it was an odd sensation, but one altogether quite welcome. "little deirdre," the druid murmured. "whatever shall you grow to be?" he was not the giver of milk, but he hoped to be a source of comfort for both children in the days to come.
she held fast, suckling gently. when it yielded nothing she released and let out a sob of protest, and investigated the feathery lips of her father without knowing quite what it was. her own plush muzzle mouthed and found nothing of use to her in this moment. she was hungry, after all, and had not finished her supping before being distracted by Something Big. his crooning was familiar to her in the basest of ways. perhaps she could understand his every word, even without hearing. that youthful knowing, innocent yet there. but no, presently this was not the case. truthfully, the young witch knew nothing at all but of her needs, and when this need was not met (oblivious that she faced the wrong direction), a distraught hiccup came before next, a loud wail. her mouth worked at what it would but still! nothing was there! and only a day old, she was not quite certain what she ought to do, so she wiggled toward the left thinking, ?????????? whilst her mouth opened to catch only air. wrong.
deidre had been a slight and shy witch, unassuming in her nature, but tormented by the cruel bitch carlotta until the very end. well, lasher supposed, there was no carlotta here, to torture such a delicate force of nature into suicidal madness. the little witch's gifts would not be condemned, nor supressed, but nurtured and trained. taltos was no witch, and neither was blue willow, and so when the time came, he would find a fitting mentor for his daughters.
but for now there was only a paternal amusement as deidre faced away from him, wriggling in consternation. lasher gently guided her back to his bosom with slow rounds of his forepaws, settling her against the slumbering emaleth softly. "you will have all the time in the world to explore the universe outside these four walls. stay with me a while, stella."
her confounded thoughts were brought to a head as she was spun. instinctively she latched to his bosom again and when once more nothing was found, she let out a mewl of frustration. his murmurings captivated her, and she felt them, trying to interpret what it might mean. she herself desired to be understood and she mouthed again at him before mewling a long, sad cry: food! she paused for a moment, before repeating, the way things played at her throat quite interesting. she produced her own vibration so different and again she mewled, food! and three times after, food! food! food before she thrust her snout into his breast and spoke again, food! this was cut short when she felt a tickle in her nose, and then, and then!!!!
YE GODS! her world was about to end, she could feel it! a dreadful feeling hovered until she spasmed and out came a violent CHOOOOOO, followed by an abrupt screech of terror. she froze again, quite stiff, entirely unsure what had just occurred and all too frightened by this other thing, this new new thing. if her features were capable of shifting they would morph into a perplexed frown. as it were they remained quite still. only emaleth moving caused her to let out a nervous little sigh, but she shivered even so.
he was quite amused by deirdre's little antics; he gave a loud chuckle, one that woke emaleth, as the paler of the girls let out a sneeze and horrified herself with its sensation. such tiny, blind things they were -- in such a short time would they race with casmir and eilidh, and become fruited members of donnelaith. he curled deirdre into his bosom, lowering his lips to the tiny bud of one folded ear -- taltos murmured soft vibrations of affection in his glen-tongue, hoping to calm her frenzied nerves.
she quieted completely as her father spoke in his glen-tongue, and settled for a moment. her fears wore her into exhaustion and her hunger was replaced by a tiredness that she could not escape, though still deirdre tried once more to mouth at his chest to find her sustenance. her mouth was filled with nothing but his chesthair and this was unappealing to her, though there was no way for her to spit it out immediately to her misfortune and chagrin alike; she moved her head to the earth and rest it there, the mixed shade of his furs gone from her at last so that now the youngest witch could rest awhile.
fade with your next post? <3
he coddled her, chuckling somewhat as she spat out his chest-fur; taltos gathered his little child closer and lay his muzzle across her warm and small body. soon, she would sleep, and he would bundle both girls together, and wrap himself around them until blue willow arrived back to take his place. for now, he basked reverently in the innocent auras of his tiny progeny.
yes <3
his muzzle behaved as a blanket, his chest and forelegs her downy bed and firm pillows. it did not take long for her to give way to sleep, which his rhythmic breathing unwittingly carried her to. she dreamed of what she knew, and of what she was coming to know, and of what she would remember now for later, but would need to forget to grow further. but deirdre did not linger too long upon any one subject; the witch instead let in the thoughts that kept her warm, and so she would not stir until she hungered next.