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She was still too young to understand a lot of things, though Meerkat was not oblivious to the sudden downshift in everyone's moods lately. Towhee was particularly broody today as she led her young daughter toward @Niamh's den for a visit with @Alyx, @Quetzal and @Primrose Redhawk. The pup tried a tickle attack, which earned her a fleeting grin, and then yanked on Towhee's tail, which earned her rump a playful smack. But no matter what the puppy did, her mother's smile slipped away and her orange eyes grew distant.

Even when they arrived, Towhee's demeanor remained pensive. She motioned for Meerkat to pop inside even as she reclined next to the doorway to wait her turn. The pup's gaze lingered on her mother for a moment before she faced the den's mouth, slinging her belly to the ground and wiggling across the threshold. As she had been taught, she remained in this position, tail whipping hither and thither and chin rested on her forepaws, awaiting the signal before she properly entered to smush herself in among her couslings.

It was hard to believe that a few weeks had passed- Niamh was no expert at keeping track of time (or names, as she realized, given the fact that she still had little to no idea which daughter was which) but the benchmark of her children beginning to open their eyes reminded her how quickly time passed. Some days, the hours felt long and heavy; she worried about Primrose, who continued to be a sullen child, especially when compared to his two firebrand sisters. But in time, she knew he would grow- and eventually, he should grow out of this ridiculously long sad phase. 

She saw the light flicker as forms approached the mouth of her den, and she sniffed- catching Towhee and Meerkat's scents. Meerkat wormed her way in, and Niamh's tail thumped against the ground to welcome her. "Heyyyyy Meerkat. Can you grab your Towma an' bring her in here? An' then git back here and give Neema a cuddle. Just be careful around Prim," She said, with a chuckle. Probably too much to ask of a kid- but she couldn't just shout for Towhee to come and join them in the den.

Q had been pretending to nap. 

In the midst of all that pretending, she really had begun to doze off though. She was planning her next "make a break for it" moment. Which was the instant anyone else showed their face... that seemed to be when the tall, leggy blonde (read: mom) was busiest. Cue snoring whilst she planned her thrilling adventure, head on Prim or Alyx all the while, the cadence of their little heartbeat lullaby enough for sinister monster #1 (or was it #2?). 

Voices woke her quickly enough. Her snores seemed to cut short as familiar stuff started up and Q opened up one eye (the obvious, visible one... that she could also see with, now) to squint around. Indeed, there seemed to be something blocking the den entrance and obscuring the light... 

Quetzal rose to all fours and bolted, looking hella similar to track star Usain if you asked her. Ask anyone else though and they'd compare her to a bat literally flying out of hell but hitting every obstacle along the way. Firstly, she tripped over Rosie (god!!!!) and fell into Alyx (UGH!). But she got onto her feet again (fall 20 times, get back 21, right fam?) and stumbled like a drunken sailor towards the out direction. 

That was when Meerkat popped her head in, and her mother spoke. The first earned a hearty, Kevin Mcallister AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! from her. To her credit, though, she didn't stumble backwards or fall. Her flight or fight instinct told her to root herself right there (ineffective, then) and just gawk. Who was this? What was this? 

Nevermind her other plans, quickly forgotten. Q launched toward this new and exciting thing with excited verve, babbling, Ahhabfhagakg, kanbawba!!! all the while, which translated roughly to, oh, shit!!! you're not the redhead or the brunette I know!!! Which was incredible. Her little rat tail whipped wildly left and right, a perfect visual representation of her excitement.

Before Meerkat could process her Neema's words, much less obey them, there was a small, babbling face pressing in on her own. Her tail sped up so much it cracked audibly against the den's doorway as she sniffed noses with her smaller cousling. Her right ear twitched in response to Quetzal's shout, though it didn't perturb her. Loud was not a concept she might ever comprehend.

A joyous little noise escaped her as Meerkat shuffled further indoors to get closer to Quetzal, nose skimming that little body from head to rear end as she pushed onto all fours again to loom over the smaller pup. After giving the baby's bottom a good sniff, she snorted loudly and withdrew slightly, still beaming like the sun itself.

"Oh for cripes sake, Alyx," She moaned quietly, squinting as she worked her jaw to get the ringing in her ears to stop. It had become only slightly easier to tell the girls apart- but she didn't realize until she looked down at the little girl still nestled in with her, and saw the way the fur on her forelimb was wavy and damp. "Ugh. Quetzal, sorry." It was, presently, her best ditch effort at getting the kids right. Alyx had a habit of sucking on the fur near her carpal pad, which left the fur there a bit thinner, and often wet and wavy. 

It looked as though Meerkat was too distracted by Quetzal to follow direction, and bring her mother into the den, so Niamh huffed a quiet sigh. While she and Quetzal got acquainted with each other's scents, Niamh pulled herself free just enough to sneak out the den's entrance, and reach out to grab a small pinch of Towhee's fur and give it a tweak to catch her attention, (and thereby extending the unspoken invitation) before she chuckled and backed up into the den again, carefully stepping over her kids until she found her warm spot, circled, and lay down again. Between the both of them, they could easily keep an eye on the kids, though it was about time they began to play together anyway.

Q circled Meerkat with the enthusiasm of a starved shark who had just found some food. Bad comparison because she didn't think Kat was food at all, she was just that excited. Once her butt was sniffed, Q jumped at the others to do the same. When her mother moved, she was distracted for a second—and then her eyes found another outside, and Q again remembered the forbidden fruit she wanted. 

Dangled just there. 

Not Towma, but Outside. 

She invited Kat along with a, aHhfawhaw ajngjanga ,ang a, a clear and coherent a babies gotta do what a babies gotta do while proverbially wrestling a screwdriver out of her diaper, a veritable Tommy Pickles. Ahfjafja mna aiwra, come on let's go fellow baby, before making another poor escape attempt.

Meerkat tore her eyes away from the smaller puppy when Neema rose and stuck her head outside the den. She gazed adoringly at Niamh, though Quetzal quickly reclaimed her attention as she made a beeline toward the doorway. Meerkat chortled and happily followed.

Towhee suddenly blocked both the exit and the light. Meerkat pounced her mother's nearest paw out of pure reflex, burbling and glancing at Quetzal in invitation to do the same. But before either one could do anything else, she found herself being nudged further back into the interior again, right before Towhee flopped down just inside the door.

With that particular plot foiled, Meerkat spun on a heel, wobbling slightly, and then cocked her head at Quetzal as if to say, What'cha wanna do now?

Niamh huffed, happy now that her friend wasn't just sitting outside like a regal, but lonely sphynx, guarding the wolves inside the den. It was darker now, but her eyes were well enough adapted to darkness that she could still see the kids who were probably surprised by the change in their plans- and how much harder it would be for them to see. She knew things would get very loud,  very soon if the kids weren't entertained, though she was content to see if Quetzal and Meerkat could just play together, without needing their parents to guide their playtime. She looked at Towhee, quietly, and smiled. This was nice; this was how their family was meant to be.

Q blinked several times in a confused fashion when suddenly, their path out of dodge was obstructed. She looked up to see Towma, and then 'Kat who looked at her. Usually what helped her get her way was a boat load of yelling, and so she yelled up at Towma most articulately: ASGNASNAJ AJNFKAGN AF NAF ANFAJFAH!! Unaware that these screams fell, literally, on deaf ears.

Then they were pushed a bit into the den, and Q scoffed, looking over her shoulder in a fashion that said how dare! But, soon enough, bygones were bygones. She was excited Meerkat was here and babbled to her before she launched at her like a bat straight out of hell.

Before she could so much as blink, Quetzal lunged at her, latching onto her neck like the world's most adorable vampire bat. Meerkat reeled slightly out of sheer surprise at the blitz attack, then realized it tickled and began to giggle. She didn't try to shake off the smaller pup, though she did began to squirm and wriggle as a reflex, which caused her to slip from Q's grasp.

With the adults forming a barricade on all sides, there was no escape! Meerkat squawked, laughing as she began to gallop in circles around their makeshift playpen. She actually managed two complete circuits before she glanced around to pinpoint her cousling's location and promptly tripped over one of Neema's outstretched forelegs. She face-planted quite forcefully, directly into Niamh's fluffy chest.

Well, so much for that last thought. 

Her daughter squealed loudly at Towhee who wouldn't have heard the high-pitched voice, but surely would have seen the outrage on the little girl's face. She came by her dramatic flair honestly, Niamh thought, as she watched the two play, running in rings around the small den, knowing that at some point they'd get overstimulated and one of them would probably end up crying...But at least they were playing on their own, without needing their parents to entertain them. She was about to sign something to Towhee, but Meerkat's loop around the den went a bit wide and she ended up tripping over one of Niamh's legs, and fell right into her grasp. 

She growled playfully and wrapped her forelegs around Meerkat, nuzzling her muzzle into the fawn girl's fur before she gently redirected her back toward her playmate and gave her bottom a nudge to encourage her to return to their game. -Hooligans,- She chuffed proudly.

Q watched as 'Kat stumbled into her mom, and darted toward her to make sure everything was a-okay—that would make Rosie cry, she bet—but when all was well again they were off to the greyhound races once more. Q didn't know what the hell the objective was but all she knew then was this singular thought: gotta go fast. No wonder Niamh was proud, she was watching tiny wolf puppy Seabiscuit in action. Except definitely not as fast. This would continue until she was winded, which would take a while for Q because she had a surprising and unfortunate [for her caregivers] reservoir of energy.

Meerkat hiccuped in surprise, then began giggling madly when Neema clutched at her. She was soon released back into the wild... well, more like the zoo. She didn't begin racing around the den just yet, instead righting herself and watching Quetzal zooming around instead. It made her dizzy!

Eventually, she did rejoin the littler puppy, the two of them laughing up a storm as they circled and circled. At some point, Meerkat remembered there were two other puppies and sidelined to nip at their toes to get them to join the fun. When they didn't, she shrugged and went back to the races.

Quite without warning, she slowed and dropped her nose to the den floor, sniffing in her mother's direction. Towhee recognized the signs and scooped up the puppy, swinging around in the den's entrance to drop her outside just in time for Meerkat to relieve herself of a bad case of runner's trots.

Towhee sighed and ducked her head back inside the doorway. -"Somebody just shat all over herself, so I'm gonna go throw her in the nearest river,"- she quipped. -"Sorry about the mess... and the smell... I'll..."- Her voice trailed off as she began kicking dirt over the smear of diarrhea sitting on the den's doorstep.

When that was done, the Regent picked up her soiled child and ducked inside the den one last time. Both of them offered a little wave to the den's inhabitants before turning to go. It was bath time.

Well...They weren't quiet, but they were happy. So Niamh was content to rest her head upon her long forelegs and let the girls chase each other around, though she was fully prepared for one of them to have a magnificent whipe-out and go tumbling into her. It didn't happen, though- and she;d kept one eye open just in case she needed to catch one of the kids again- but Meerkat would break from the whirling circle and start sniffing. Niamh lifted her head just a moment after Towhee picked her up, and she couldn't help but utter a quiet groan when the stink wafted into the den. Yes, Niamh was a mother, and yes, she knew that runny poos happened- but it didn't mean she enjoyed it. "You- stay here," She said, and moved toward the entrance to try and block her kid inside- if she slipped past, Niamh dreaded that she would likely careen right into the dirt-covered mess. 

One poopy kid was more than enough. 

-Later,- She signed hastily as Towhee waved goodbye, and sighed. The smell still hung about the den, making Niamh's nose wrinkle. "Yick. Stink," She said, with a soft chuckle. "Stink stink stink," She repeated to herself, and looked down at her daughter reaching out to try and boop her snoot with a touch of her own. "Stink." She would exit the den, having given Towhee some time to depart, and continue covering up the mess with dirt, grass, and anything she could find that would get rid of the smell.