Hemlock drifted in and out of sleep, mostly stirring when she felt @Droman or @Reed move - especially when they cried out. The pair seemed a perfect blend of Arturo and her coats, even the softest touches of Lotte gracing Droman especially. She still did not play favorites, especially when the two were so small and so tiny, her attention split between son and daughter as she tended to their every need. It was exhausting, motherhood, especially when she felt so....isolated. When the Lotturo's had been born she had visited frequently because of Eirlys - but then there had been a constant stream of Arturo and Chusi both before the darker girl had turned tail and her scouting trip became....something else entirely. She didn't want to get worked up - it seemed every time that her emotions rose the children somehow responded in kind, stressing themselves and whining, working at the furs that lined the den as if to take out their meager frustrations on the world. 

"Easy," She murmured softly, nose brushing across the crowns of both children. A simple instruction but they wouldn't hear it - they wouldn't know what her words meant anymore than they knew right then that she provided the world for them. It all came down to the sanctuary their home provided her, even if it still didn't feel like home. It still was so acidic the air itself was turned. She was tired of fish, but then sometimes she was brought hares or other kills and it actually provided her something familiar and almost welcome to her. She gave a hum, looking towards the opening of the den as she listened to the waves dance beyond her line of vision. 

 


Hemlock turned her gaze to Tapat, hearing his soft whine and offering a little crooning sound of her own. She wouldn't chase him away - he was like a child of hers himself, as much as she truly cared for him. "Careful," She did intone, her voice a bit sterner than normal when it came to Tapat. "I am still very tired, and they," She glanced over the children again with a fond smile. "- They are still tiny." So infinitely small that Hemlock could scarce believe that they had taken up so much space in her and now she felt deflated. 

Reed began her whimpering whines again, Hemlock trying to soothe the girl as best as she could although she was realizing that her daughter had no interest in being coddled. Droman by contrast was quick to soothe himself, taking to nursing like a champion. She chuckled quietly and chewed the corner of lip. "Are you okay, Tapat?" She asked, turning a bit so that she could keep an eye on the three of them at the same time. 

 

Gods, how much she cared for him. She gave a soft sigh and watched him, appreciative of the offering that he brought her and finally breaking into a tired smile. "You are sweet," He always had been, and the fact that he cared to catch a meal for her did not go past her. Tapat had worked for this, and it would be disrespectful to insist that he eat the kill himself. Instead she might see if he would take some of it, but then her body had used so much of her own resources she didn't exactly want to give up the meal either. She reached out when he was close to press a fond lick across his brow. "My sweet boy," Hemlock all but cooed. "There is a little boy and a little girl. And once they are bigger you will be able to play with them and teach them." She promised. Tapat meant a great deal to her and she wanted to include him in the life she'd stolen them away to. 

She wished she could have given him the answers of why his family had chosen to leave - she was a greedy thing though, and she was glad that he was there and that he had not gone with them. "Soon I will not be so preoccupied." She promised. The children wouldn't need her as much - not once they didn't need her milk and warmth all the time. "What do you think of the sea?" She asked, wishing she could take his mind away from some of the darker points of their recent lives.