There was not much to little Cirilla's life. She drank deep her mother's milk and she slumbered, tucked away safely beside her sister where they were snug and warm. Her world was an easy one, quiet and simple, and she remained blissfully unaware how she'd become someone else's entirely.
Careful nudges roused her from sleep, and her response came in a frustrated little grunt. Paws waving, the darkest of the lioness' cubs rolled comically to the side while waving tiny paws in the air, eager to bat away her dam's interfering snout.
Her heart felt as though it had swollen ten times it's normal size to accommodate the immeasurable affection that Nyx held for her newborns. In only the few short hours since they're arrival, despite exhaustion, the new mother curled herself snugly around their tiny little bodies and rarely let her gaze drift away, so fearful she was of missing something.
Truthfully, she'd anticiated being far busier following the arrival of her litter, but at seemed that newborns were pretty good at doing what they were supposed to do. They only needed her to act as some never-ending milk bar, which was... rather dull. Still, Nyx knew she would do anything for her babies, so she would serve without complaint.
Mahler had stepped out, leaving the tawny Ostrega alone with her brood. She poked at each tiny dorsal with her nose, peppered them with delicate little kisses, but one was quick to oppose. Nyx grinned at her dark-furred child and shifted to better look upon her for a moment before leaning in close to deliver further affection regardless of Ciri's dissatisfaction.
the first day of existence went by without much fanfare. she spent most of it, after all, asleep in the warm between her mother and her sister, dreaming about color, about touch, about sensation. vague pulses in the dark that she reached out to, and that reached out to her.
at her mother's gentle touch, her sweet breath, elke snuggles in further to her belly. her sister is replaced by empty space as she rolls away, and elke whines at the non-warmth. as of now, her brain was developed enough to view the world like this:
warm things, good.
cold things, not so good.
she might've been trying to dig a hole through poor nyx. she basks in the familiar embrace and mindlessly kneads for more milk. more milk, more warmth, to carry her back out to slumber again, her sister and mother at her side, just where she likes them to be.
Tiny, dark paws collided uselessly with her mother's interfering nose, sweeping past whiskers to settle firmly on a smooth cheek. Cirilla, eager for peace and sleep, made a poor attempt at shoving this much larger creature away.
Instead, the birth-giver moved to pepper kisses along her exposed underbelly, which at first she objected to. After emitting an outraged squeal, the little lion cub's voice softened to hushed little mewls. She relaxed into the ministrations for a few moments before she tired of the attention. Managing to right herself, Ciri bundled in close to her sister to seek a teat alongside her, feet paddling to free milk into her maw.
Cirilla, unimpressed by her mother's eagerness to shower her in affection, settled in alongside her sister to nurse. While she didn't mind rousing them from slumber, Nyx was loathe to disturb her babies as they suckled. She exhaled softly in a sigh, and tucked herself protectively around the pair to shield them while they feasted.