Wolf RPG

He didn't pause once on his journey back from Silvertip Mountain, except to kill a wild pig that made the mistake of walking through his crosshairs. He had been gone an entire day and late into the night but at least he wouldn't be coming home empty handed! This thought gave him strength, though by the time he arrived at the den's mouth and dropped the bleeding kill, he slumped to the earthen floor, exhausted.

"Sorry I was gone so long. Lots of impromptu ambassadorship," he explained to Fox even as he grabbed the nearest pup (Wildfire) and unceremoniously stuffed her beneath his head to use as a pillow. When he realized which child he'd grabbed, he expected her to shriek in his ear, yet she remained asleep. "I saw... oh, who cares. I'll tell you in the morning." Tiredly, he leaned up to kiss her jaw, then promptly began snoring.

When he woke up the next morning, Peregrine rolled over and opened his eyes to find himself face-to-face with the dead pig. Her jerked subtly, then sat up and looked around the den. It looked like Fox had eaten some of the pig. She was asleep now, all three pups curled at her breast. The Alpha male smiled, then stood up and stepped outside to relieve himself before relaxing in the door and tucking into some breakfast.

He hoped the pups would wake up soon. Peregrine wanted to spend the whole day just staring into their eyes and memorizing each other's faces.

Although the opening of his eyes barely phased him at first, Nightjar was now the perfect picture of a curious kid who couldn't get enough. It was in a wolf's nature to be curious about new things, so it likely came as no surprise to Fox and Peregrine that he was next to impossible to settle down. Eventually he did, though, and sleep came easily, but didn't last nearly long enough.

When he blinked awake, the first thing the messy-furred pup did was suck greedily and violently at his mother's teat until he was full. Once he was, he began casting around for the next big discovery... and spotted his huge black father staring back at him. The pup flattened his body against the floor and wiggled his tail, waiting for acknowledgement and acceptance of his very instinctual submission.

As soon as he finished eating, Peregrine licked his chops and turned to face his sleeping family. He slowly lowered himself onto his belly, then craned forward to sniff at them. It was amazing they were all asleep like this, even little Wildfire. Little did he know that she had been feeling under the weather the entire previous day and had barely made a sound. If and when he found out about that, he wouldn't know whether to feel guilty for leaving his mate alone with their sick child or relieved that Fox had had a perfectly timed break from Wildfire's usual noisiness.

Nightjar started to move, effectively stealing his father's attention. Peregrine stared raptly. He knew the boy's eyes had opened the morning prior, shortly before he'd left to go hunting. He held his breath, waiting for them to open now. His son didn't make him wait. Suddenly, they were staring at one another. The puppy seemed a bit intimidated and flattened himself, though his little tail wiggled, eliciting a giddy chuckle from the Alpha male.

He lowered his head between his forelegs so that his chin was flush with the floor. He then smiled at his son, his own tail wagging behind him powerfully enough to slightly sway his entire body. Ever so slowly and gently, he inched forward so their noses touched. Peregrine's tongue then curled out to lick at Nightjar's face.

The giggle roused her from her slumber, and Fox blinked a few times before frantically counting and touching each of the three babes. Peregrine and Nightjar seemed to be having some kind of "moment," and a smile tugged at the corners of Fox's mouth. It was the first genuine smile she'd worn since Derp's death. The pups were opening their eyes little by little, and for whatever reason, it made them seem more real to Fox. They were no longer blind and deaf, but alert to every sound and shape around them. Well, maybe not shapes just yet, but definitely shifts in light.

Already, Fox had taken to keeping the children from escaping the den, even though she could tell they wished to venture out. "Soon," she told herself. Perhaps even today, they could bask in the light of the sun with her and/or Peregrine's watchful eyes over them. "What were you trying to say last night before you passed out?" she asked, her voice rasping from sleep.

Peregrine proceeded slowly, a fortunate fact for both pup and father. Even with the world as blurry and out-of-focus as it was for Nightjar, it was the only sight he'd ever known, so to him everything was sharp and fast. Sudden movements were likely to startle him, and in fact when his father's tongue snaked across his face he visibly flinched back and instinctively shut his eyes.

When they opened again, it was due to a soft touch on his back. Wriggling his nose, the boy turned himself onto his side and tried to catch sight of the culprit. He spotted Fox, that red smear that took up a great deal of the darkness at any given time. His little tongue curled out between his lips and he licked his nose, swaying in place from the force of his tail wags as he attempted to appeal to her with submission as well.

The boy seemed a little bewildered, though that wasn't unexpected. Grinning, Peregrine withdrew perhaps a foot to watch as the Nightjar slowly bumbled around to face his mother. His own eyes flicked to Fox's face. She had a small smile touching her lips. He realized he hadn't seen her do that much lately. Over their son's wobbling head, Peregrine sat up and kissed the edge of her jaw.

"Oh, I only meant to go on a hunt, then I found myself running all over creation. I ran into a wolf named Bindi from Duty's pack, then ran into Blue Willow. Then I went to see Duty myself. It was a busy day. I'm sorry I was gone so long." He leaned forward to place another, softer lick on the corner of her mouth. "I hope these buttholes didn't give you too much trouble," he added, unaware that Wildfire had been unusually quiet the duration of his foray.

"How cute is this goober?" he queried, motioning toward the fumbling Nightjar. He bent down to give the pup's tail a playful tug in the hopes of getting him to face this way again. "Let me see those pretty baby blues. Then your mother and I can start placing bets on what color they'll end up."

Peregrine ran off a list of names he talked to during his journey, though none of them were particularly interesting to Fox. Now that FitzDutiful was off taking care of his own pack, and she had the children, she rarely thought of him. Not because she was uncaring, but simply because he was no longer a part of her life. The same went for Blue Willow, even if the two of them had never really gotten along that well.

I hope these buttholes didn't give you too much trouble. "It's getting easier with them," she replied. And really, it was. Fox could take longer and longer breaks away from them, so long as they were being watched by somebody else, which was definitely helping to improve her mood. There was also the fact that they would soon be able to spend more time outside the den (supervised, of course), which would hopefully combat the feeling of being stuck inside so much. "I'll probably take them outside tomorrow and let them start exploring. Not far, of course, just within eyesight of the den."

Perry, eager as ever to know what the kids would look like when they were "grown up" made a comment on Nightjar's eyes. It seemed he (Perry) was always ahead of the game. He wanted to name them before they were born, and now he wanted to predict their eye colors. "You'll have to place your bets against somebody else. Way too many options to choose from." Fox replied, sticking out her tongue. "I still haven't settled on a name for the little girl... but I do have some ideas."

Unlike the darker one, the red-haired mother didn't really acknowledge his submission or his stare. Noting in the instinctual part of his brain that it probably wasn't enough, the boy flopped onto his side, still staring up at the blurry red smear that was Fox with one dark blue eye. The two adults were speaking, something that Nightjar was vaguely aware of by the rumbling in his entire body each time their mouths opened.

As though he thought he could mimic them, he opened his mouth as well, and a series of tiny, adorable growls began to pour out. Surely that was how they were making each other vibrate, right? In his little world, Nightjar's growls were making them vibrate as well. They were certainly making his body rumble!

Her rejoinder was a bit surprising, yet he was glad for it. His eyes shifted sideways when she mentioned taking them outside the den. Peregrine was pretty sure they were still a bit young for that but he didn't want to rain on his mate's parade. Being cooped up all the time must be such a drag. He chose to say nothing. What harm would come of it, really? A little fresh air and sunlight would probably be good for their little bodies.

"Sounds good," he said simply, glancing at Nightjar as he began to growl. "Oh, yeah?" he teased the deaf pup before addressing Fox again. "Oh, yeah?" he repeated in an entirely different tone. "Let's hear 'em." While he kept one ear pricked for her ideas, he reached out and rolled the little grumbling Nightjar onto his back, then blew a loud raspberry right on his pink tummy.

Thus far, Fox had continued to be the less-attentive parent. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she hadn't immediately bonded to the children like Peregrine seemed to have done, or maybe it was only because she was a new mother, and Peregrine had more experience in dealing with youngsters. Whatever the case, Nightjar's antics caught her attention, and she gave him a lick on his belly once his father had rolled him over and given him a nice, loud raspberry.

"Well," Fox began, "there’s plenty of birds that are black." She hadn't quite settled on a particular bird just yet, but there were certainly plenty of black-feathered birds out there. Hell, a Magpie was in their midst, and Fox vaguely remembered something about Pie's mother being named after a bird. Wasn't that right? "And I like the idea of naming them after birds, since it goes along with your little family theme, too." Although Fox still hadn't figured out how "Atticus" fit into all of that.

That had got their attention. Nightjar wiggled enthusiastically on the spot before being rolled quickly over by his father. He couldn't hear the challenge in Peregrine's voice, but if he could, he would've responded with a vigorous amount of enthusiasm and excitement. Play fighting was going to be the coolest. Unfortunately, he wasn't much of a contender yet, for Peregrine had no problem holding him down and blowing against his belly.

A strange sensation crept all the way up his torso and into his neck and he squealed, waved his paws and giggled wildly. Fox followed up with a more tender lick, which Nightjar received with a round of approving coos before striking the air with his forepaws in his father's direction. Already, he was pretty much addicted to being tickled and was demanding more, even while his parents had a pretty serious conversation about names.

"Indeed," Peregrine agreed, smiling to himself. "There's lots of obvious options, then there's the less obvious ones. You could name her Cormorant, for example. I can't remember if I ever told you this but when I lived in Flightless Falcons, we took the Latin names for birds as our ranks. Mine was Sulcirostris, after the little black cormorant. They're black seabirds with jade eyes and a green sheen to their plumage." He glanced at Fox, then added, "And that's just one of... hundreds of options. I'm sure you'll settle on the right one." The tip of his tail wiggled.

Although he definitely loved discussing names (and talking to his mate, period), Nightjar effectively stole his father's attention. "You like that, don't you?" Peregrine teased, speaking more because he had an adult audience than because of the puppy himself. "What a weirdo," he remarked to Fox, smirking playfully, before pressing his muzzle against the little boy's cheek this time and blowing an even louder, wetter raspberry.

Peregrine suggested a name, and although Fox wasn't terribly fond of it, "Cormorant" gave her something to think about. Time would reveal the girl's name, and Fox would patiently wait for that day to come. But her attention was once more stolen by Nightjar, who—sans words—demanded more tickles from both of his parents. Fox was quick to oblige, nosing his armpits and breathing soft air out her nostrils to placate him further.

Fox withdrew after a moment, then said, "A cute little weirdo, right?" She didn't expect a response from her "little" one (he was the largest of the four three), of course. It seemed all the raspberries had woken the two girls, and they began whimpering and yelping for food. Obliging to their demands, Fox made her way to them, settling herself onto her side so they could eat. "I'm pretty sure he'll be hungry soon enough," she said to Peregrine, eyeballing Nightjar. That boy could eat! Fox knew that she would be drifting off to sleep in no time. It seemed to happen every time she nursed them. There was something oddly satisfying about those suckling babes.

Nightjar didn't have to wait long before Peregrine coated his cheek in wet slobber from a sloppy raspberry and Fox's large nose found his armpits. The boy flailed and squeaked out giggles, not realizing that if it went on much longer, he was likely to pee himself. He was probably a bit of a weirdo for enjoying it, but secretly, everyone liked being tickled, and Nightjar was just a little bit too dim to realize that it was also pretty close to being tortured.

Thankfully for all of them, Fox's ministrations ended before Nightjar's bladder could release itself, and Peregrine was soon to follow. In the absence of a better stimulus, hunger crept into his stomach and soon he was mouthing the air and fussing. It didn't take long for him to be placed at Fox's side, where he found a teat waiting for him and, post-meal, quickly fell into a comatose slumber.

"Cute as fuck," Peregrine confirmed with a sage nod. Over the next moment or two, Fox observed aloud that he must be hungry, then settled down with the little pup pressed against her side. Sure enough, he suckled greedily, then promptly fell asleep as the pups often did after a good meal.

"Okay, who's next?" he whispered, glancing at the pair of slumbering girls. Surely they would wake up and open their eyes soon. "Come on, guys, the plan was to have staring contests all day," he jokingly complained. But the father knew better than to wake sleeping pups.

He was well-rested and well-fed, so aside from waiting for the children to wake, Peregrine wanted for nothing. He decided to relax next to Fox, simply enjoying the pleasure of her company and conversation and providing some more details on the previous day's (mis)adventures.