After he had been born, the pup had drank from his mother and had fallen asleep. He had slept contently for a couple of hours, until this moment. The pup awoke with a disgruntled high-pitched squeal, for his awakening was a remembrance that the world was a harsh and painful place. There were so many things he felt: the dirt beneath him, the fur of his mother -- the only thing that was soft and pleasant in this place -- and even the air that surrounded him felt pressuring, as though it would crush his tiny body, the way gravity weighed down on him.
On the outside, one would barely notice that the pup was awake. After his initial squeal, he had grown silent again, and he remained in place by his mother's side. He remained silent and still, bar the slow but steady breathing and the beating of his heart, while the pup tried to deal with the muchness and harshness of all of the new things that surrounded him.
The moment Eljay was born, Elwood's senses became more finely attuned than ever before. He noticed every little sound that the boy made -- the subtlest hiccup, the tiniest squeak, the most breathless sigh. So when his son squealed, Elwood's attention was immediately focused on him.
He leaned down and nudged Eljay with his nose, his touch gentle. The new father still couldn't believe how small the cub was -- it made sense, considering the riskiness of Finley's pregnancy, but he had never before seen or interacted with a creature of Eljay's size. Elwood was particularly careful with each of his movements, fearing that he could crush the babe without even realizing it.
"You okay, little dude?" he crooned, despite knowing that Eljay couldn't hear him.
Not much changed when the nose touched him. Although the pup liked the touch, for it was soft and warm like the fur that he was laying against, and it rescued him from the harsh pressure of the air around him if not only for a moment, there was no visible outer change when he was touched. He just remained there, silent and un-moving, while he was touched. The words spoken did not get through to him.
Only when the nose would disappear again, when it would stop touching him, the pup would squeal out again for a moment, before falling silent; screaming for the good feeling to return again. For even though the pup was small and fragile, and remained silent most of the time, he knew well what he liked and did not like.
Elwood was startled by the ferocity of Elwood Jr.'s response after he touched him. He wasn't sure if the cry was caused by the pressure of the gentle poke or by the absence of it after he pulled his nose away. Thus began the state of uncertainty that the new father would likely reside in for some time; he had little experience with puppies, and even less with newborns, so he often second guessed his every action.
"Sorry," he whispered, though even as he did so, he reached out to nudge Eljay again. He felt as though the first few weeks of his son's life would involve a lot of trial and error, at least on his part. How else would he get to know the kid? This time, he snuffled lightly into the child's downy grey fur, ruffling the dark ridge along his spine affectionately.
The squeal had been short and disgruntled, and afterwards the pup fell silent again. He had nearly forgotten that he had been touched when the touch came again, lingering this time. When the fur along his spine was ruffled, the pup let out a content grunting sound; the first time that he had shown appreciation for an action he liked rather than only disgruntledness for an action he did not like.
"Oh, you like that, huh?" Elwood chuckled, pleased by the snorting sound that his son had made. He sounded like a little pig, and Elwood took the noise to mean that he liked the attention he was being given. The new father took a moment to exchange an excited glance with his mate, then redirected his focus back to Eljay.
He touched the boy's tummy, gently rolling him onto his back. He paused, yellow eyes sharp as he waited to see what sort of reaction Elwood Jr. would give to that motion before he continued any further.
just a little cameo from mama-bear :3
Fin was completely exhausted. She had thought the way she'd felt while she was pregnant was tired, but there was nothing that compared to this feeling that enveloped her in the hours after giving birth. It was as though the weariness had sunk into the marrow of her bones. She was quite confident as she'd fallen asleep that there wasn't a thing in the world that could have awoken her. Little did she realize the power of an infant's cries.
Finley didn't awaken immediately when little Eljay had begun to squirm and squeak. It wasn't until the boy really let his lungs loose that she stirred, and even then she simply turned her head to blink wearily at her mate as he leaned over to placate their son with the return of his touch. She smiled gently as little Jay fell quiet again, and almost as suddenly as she'd awoken, Fin fell right back asleep again, knowing and trusting completely that nothing bad could befall little Twig when big Twig was on the job.
Attention stopped for a moment and the pup fell silent again, just laying there doing nothing in particular. He was still small and weak, and reliant on his parents for everything in his life, and the pup instinctively surrendered himself to the mercy of his parents. He was only beginning to develop his full awareness, and for now the pup did nothing more than simply being alive.
When he was moved by the nose, the pup wanted to object at first, for his comfortable touch with the mother's fur was broken and the other elements around him were turned upside down, the ground and the air. By the time the pup had taken all of the changes in, he had already been on his back for a few seconds and so he did little more than flail his tiny little sausage-paws around and grunt.
Elwood shifted his gaze away from his mini-me only long enough to glance at the stirring Finley. She was exhausted after giving birth, and rightfully so. He was happy to let her sleep and regain her energy while he took care of Elwood Jr. He glanced back down at the boy, who was now squirming on his back with his little paws flailing in the air.
He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, along with Eljay's grunting. The child was already learning to express his likes and dislikes, though at this point Elwood wasn't really sure the meaning of each individual sound. He reached out with a paw to pat gently on Elwood Jr.'s tummy -- he couldn't believe how big his toes looked next to his son's little body.
For a while, things remained still, and the pup grew still as well. He stopped his wriggling and stopped trying to get upright again, until the touch to his stomach came. The pup grunted, not knowing what the touch was, and he wiggled his paws to try and touch the thing that touched him. The pup could not reach the thing, however, and so the pup just wiggled around again, letting out disgruntled little grunts of effort while it squiggled about.
It wanted to touch the thing that touched him so that he could draw it near and inhale its scent to determine what it was, but the pup could not quite reach it, let alone draw it near. So it just remained in place, squirming about while letting out disgruntled noises, though they were never louder than a soft grunt.
Elwood Jr. was a determined little guy -- even though he was very small, he moved and squirmed and wiggled like a much bigger pup. He grunted as though he were trying to have a full on conversation with his dad, and Elwood grinned. "You're a tough little guy, aren't you?" he murmured, moving his snout closer to his son.
He placed his nose close enough to Eljay's paws that he could bat at it, preemptively closing his eyes in anticipation of the miniature punches he would receive.
The paw was gone, but he received a nose in return. The pup stopped squirming when the paw was out of reach, remaining in silent disappointment for not being able to reach the furry paw. The pup fell silent again, and did not paw at the nose. He just sniffed the air around him, breathing in a faint wave of eau the dad.
Knowing he was with safe wolves, the pup fell silent again, laying on its back and waiting for sleep to overcome him, or for the other wolves to move him around again.
this is my last post, thanks for the thread ^^
<3
Gradually, Elwood Jr. grew still once more. Although he was only a few hours old, it already appeared that he wouldn't be an overly active pup. Perhaps that was due to his small size, or the time of his birth; Elwood couldn't be certain, but he wondered if Finley had gone into labor early. Whatever the case, the boy was still a fighter, and his parents would give their best efforts to help him grow.
Fondly, Elwood watched as his son slipped into slumber, and then he breathed a soft whisper of a kiss over Eljay's head.