Just a little read only with some reference tags.
There was exactly one constant in Gideon's dark, silent world: @Ezra was always with him.
He did not always know where his littermate was in relation to himself, but there had always been a connection there. It was the same connection he shared with @Heda and it elevated both his mother and his brother from the other inhabitants of the den, who for that first week were merely obstacles. He stuck close to his littermate and Mother at first, and he still naturally gravitated toward Ezra when he wanted warmth or comfort, since sometimes Mother left, but Ezra was always there. However, as his concept of self became a spark that grew along with him, and as his senses began developing, Gideon became more and more aware that there were Others here.
The predominant Other was a third puppy who frequently joined he and Ezra for feedings. This Other was roughly the same size as them, by whatever metric Gideon could measure or even comprehend these things, and this little soul would one day be known to him as @Kikimora. There were other Others, bigger than he and Ezra and Kikimora, but smaller than the big Others who came and went. These small-but-larger Others (@Artio, @Goldfinch, and @Averie), he did not have as strong a bond with, since they were fed separately so as not to impede the smaller puppies. Thanks to their living arrangement, Gideon would someday be unable to differentiate them from true siblings, but there would always be some miniscule mental barrier that identified them as Other and identified Ezra and Kikimora as Same, despite which puppies belonged to whom.
The big Others, Gideon was beginning to recognize by smell. Mother was his preferred source of warmth, but he accepted most of them when she was away, with his only issue being the Other who sometimes came to the den with heavy steps and the bellows breath of a large creature. In the incomprehensible and seemingly irrational way that babies choose to accept or reject certain adults before they are old enough to have real opinions, Gideon did not like the bellows Other (@Glaukos) much and frequently fussed when he was left with him. In the same irrational way, he behaved in a manner suggesting he was very fond of the green thumb Other who always came smelling of fragrant herbs and critter fur (@Fiona). As much as a deaf, blind baby could like anyone, he liked her very much. He liked the company of the other-mother-Other (@Druid) almost as much as green thumb Other's, but it was almost like he could sense the dark cloud that enveloped and suffocated her. Gideon was especially quiescent and sleepy in her presence.
Thus did Gideon's preferences and the beginnings of a personality become apparent day by day as he ate and slept and grew stronger, learning to rely upon his nose to identify the Others and his sense of touch to interact with them. His world remained dark and silent.
Soon, though, very soon indeed, he would learn of other ways to interact with them.
There was exactly one constant in Gideon's dark, silent world: @Ezra was always with him.
He did not always know where his littermate was in relation to himself, but there had always been a connection there. It was the same connection he shared with @Heda and it elevated both his mother and his brother from the other inhabitants of the den, who for that first week were merely obstacles. He stuck close to his littermate and Mother at first, and he still naturally gravitated toward Ezra when he wanted warmth or comfort, since sometimes Mother left, but Ezra was always there. However, as his concept of self became a spark that grew along with him, and as his senses began developing, Gideon became more and more aware that there were Others here.
The predominant Other was a third puppy who frequently joined he and Ezra for feedings. This Other was roughly the same size as them, by whatever metric Gideon could measure or even comprehend these things, and this little soul would one day be known to him as @Kikimora. There were other Others, bigger than he and Ezra and Kikimora, but smaller than the big Others who came and went. These small-but-larger Others (@Artio, @Goldfinch, and @Averie), he did not have as strong a bond with, since they were fed separately so as not to impede the smaller puppies. Thanks to their living arrangement, Gideon would someday be unable to differentiate them from true siblings, but there would always be some miniscule mental barrier that identified them as Other and identified Ezra and Kikimora as Same, despite which puppies belonged to whom.
The big Others, Gideon was beginning to recognize by smell. Mother was his preferred source of warmth, but he accepted most of them when she was away, with his only issue being the Other who sometimes came to the den with heavy steps and the bellows breath of a large creature. In the incomprehensible and seemingly irrational way that babies choose to accept or reject certain adults before they are old enough to have real opinions, Gideon did not like the bellows Other (@Glaukos) much and frequently fussed when he was left with him. In the same irrational way, he behaved in a manner suggesting he was very fond of the green thumb Other who always came smelling of fragrant herbs and critter fur (@Fiona). As much as a deaf, blind baby could like anyone, he liked her very much. He liked the company of the other-mother-Other (@Druid) almost as much as green thumb Other's, but it was almost like he could sense the dark cloud that enveloped and suffocated her. Gideon was especially quiescent and sleepy in her presence.
Thus did Gideon's preferences and the beginnings of a personality become apparent day by day as he ate and slept and grew stronger, learning to rely upon his nose to identify the Others and his sense of touch to interact with them. His world remained dark and silent.
Soon, though, very soon indeed, he would learn of other ways to interact with them.
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