adults talking

It was pleasantly warm outside, and Bazi took the opportuniy to enjoy the broken rays of sunshine that had found their way down to the forest floor. But only with her front half - bum and boobs were still indoors. She could feel at least two pups suckling away, and sensed two other little bodies moving against her in the dark. There had been no visitors yet today - apart from Scimitar, but her mate was a famously poor conversationalist. Bazi looked for a *real* chat - like those she had shared with Paarthurnax.

:) visit! this can be her first, the rest can go behind the scenes (if there were more, idk)

Danica's timing was impeccable, and if she had known that the objective of her visit was hoping for 'real chat', she might have laughed. It had never been one of her strong suits.  Still, slow as her acclimation was to life in the Peak, and hesitant as she was to meet any of her new packmates, she did yearn for company more often than she'd care to admit.  And since this was one of those times, she decided to finally give over to curiosity and pop in on Bazi and her new progeny.

"Bazi?"  She poked her head in, never really being one to lend too hard towards courtesy.  The first thing she saw was Bazi's white fur, stark against the darker backing, before her eyes traveled to the smallish things that accompanied her.

A familiar, adult face appeared over the lip of the sloping den - with functioning eyes, ears, and more in her brain than the need to feed and subsequently poop. Bazi squinted up at the answer to her fervent prayers for civilized company and grinned. "Barely," the Alpha answered. "Please come in and laze about with me - I feel like everyone else is doing something useful." She nodded to her left, where a wolf-sized space normally reserved for Scimitar lay empty. "And can you check that there are still four of them? I've lost all feeling in my nipples."

"And you assume I'm not?" she asked with a ghost of a smile, though she obliged.  "You'd be right."  She'd done a bit of hunting here and there, but most of her time had been spent regrouping and relaxing.  As a result she felt more herself than she had in months, the security of a home and the knowledge that someone had her back doing much for her state of mind.

"By my count, at least three and a half."  She studied the pile of wriggling blobs, darkened ears perked forward in interest.  "Do they have names?"  They were cute, in that wierd alien newborn way.  Danica preferred when they actually began to show some personality, but she had nothing against babies either.  They weren't exactly interesting, but there was something seriously endearing about a creature who relied so solely on you for everything.

"Boob monsters 1 through 4," came Bazi's prompt reply. She was about as obsessed with nipples as her children - there was precious little else to focus on, not counting the constant clean-up operation. Whittier gummed at her with fresh enthusiasm, and his long-suffering mother flashed Danica an ugly but short-lived grimace. "Three boys - Swift, Pasha, and Whittier. I think Swift will be white. Then there's Allure #2 - named after Scimitar's.. grandmother, I think? Three brothers, poor girl.. and they're messy brothers." Bazi shifted a little and cast a searching look at her abdomen. Three and a half seemed about right - someone's head was poking out from under her thigh. "They're not even three days old.. do you know how much poop I've cleaned up?"

Whit was having a hell of a time at that moment. While he'd been napping peacefully, it seemed he'd passed out a little too hard, for his siblings had succeeded in rolling him away from Bazi's milk duds. Thus, when he'd awoken from his nap, the little wolf-lump was very stressed indeed.

Wriggling wildly, Whit had thus far succeeded only in wedging his muzzle just beneath his older brother's rump. Try as he could to gain some sustenance from the back left foot that repeatedly kicked him in the face, the boy eventually rolled away with a squeaky huff. For a moment, he laid there with his belly fully exposed, unmoving, simply pouting and wondering what his next action would be before a series of vibrations upon the floor let him know that someone else had joined their gathering. Blindly, he pointed his muzzle this way and that, searching for the newcomer, waggling his paws about as though to entice them forward so that he could latch his booby-sucking mouth onto whatever part they drew near enough to him.

From what she saw, the first names were perfection.  There wasn't much for the little things to do besides eat, poo, and sleep.  Fascinating, and this said without an ounce of sarcasm.  That something so complex as an adult could start out as such a little, simple brain.  It freaked her out a little, but it was also a little overwhelmingly great.

"She'll have her hands full.  Then again, so will you.  I think poop'll be the least of your worries in a few weeks."  Once they started moving, oh man.  All bets were off.  "How does it feel?  Is it... great?  I mean aside from the poop and the whole nipple-vamp thing."  She asked this a bit tentatively, not sure if she wanted to know the answer but wishing for it regardless.  The play at the end made it easier to ask, a bit less serious an inquiry.

One of the kids seemed to somehow have taken a particular interest in her, though what drew the sensory-deprived blob to her was unknown to Danica.  She watched as it windmilled, but didn't immediately approach, old habits of keeping her distance dying hard in this case. She hadn't been around many pups this tiny.

Danica's arrival prompted one of the little potatoes to act. Whittier made a failed attempt to approach the visitor, but ended up on his back with all four legs paddling uselessly in the air. He didn't seem particularly distressed about being upside-down and went on making his demanding om-nom-nom face in Danica's direction. Bazi watched him, shook her head, and smiled. What an adorable little dolt. The mother stretched out her hind leg and tipped little Whittier onto his side in the hopes that he would continue dragging himself in Danica's direction. Curiosity was a good thing - perseverance even better.

"How does it feel? Is it... great? I mean aside from the poop and the whole nipple-vamp thing." Bazi pulled her leg back but kept her eyes on her brood of pups. "I don't know yet," she answered honestly, flicking an ear back. "Of course it's great that I made them, and gave birth to them - although that wasn't great at all, I'll have you know.. it's just that they haven't existed for more than a couple of days and I'm already exhausted with worry." She turned her twinkling blue eyes on Danica, studying her features. It had occurred to her that Danica might never experience the mixed feelings of motherhood. How would it work? "I'm not at all like my mother. She was a power-house. Knew everything. I'm still figuring out that these guys don't even know how to poop without my help."

Whit whimpered pathetically when his flailing achieved him nothing, which actually seemed to help as he felt a cold nose against his side that rolled him back onto his belly. Once righted, Whit felt good and ready to search for some nipples to shove in his mouth. Unfortunately, he had no idea where he was, what direction he was going, or which way he even needed to be heading.

The baby Frostfur sniffled blindly at the air before setting off, actually headed in a wriggly, awkward line towards Danica. When after moving about two inches, the boy became quite certain that he was woefully and hopelessly lost. He slowed slightly with his paddling then to let out a long, whiny Awrhhhhh. It was half whimper, half squeaky howl. His first! Even at such a young age, it seemed his infant mind was aware that he was a wolf and wolves got attention by throwing their voices for as long and as loud as they could. Having lungs the size of quarters (maybe?) did not allow a whole lot of breath for success with the howl, and thus it quickly faltered off into a little burp.

Danica watched as Bazi tipped the puppy over once more, setting it to continue the trek towards her, and she felt a twinge of trepidation.  This was quickly stifled, though, by curiosity, and she reached out her nose to brush the pup's soft fur as Bazi continued to answer her question, feeling the mother wouldn't mind. 
Perhaps it would quiet the cries that the little thing was releasing, which were adorable but also rather grating on the ears after a length.

"I can't imagine," she murmured, glancing at the other three who remained cuddled up to Bazi.  Worry was one of the unavoidable curses of parenthood, motherhood perhaps especially.  But it was one of those curses, she guessed, that made the whole thing worthwhile.  To love was to worry, and it meant you had something truly great if you were so afraid to lose it.  "I doubt that anyone knows everything.  I'd be willing to fact most first litters are the experimental children.  Gotta start somewhere."  She snorted.  "At least if you screw up, they'll turn out interesting?"  She doubted that, growing up in a pack like this, anything could royally screw them over.  But life could surprise you sometimes.  She wouldn't have called her outcome for herself, after all, and she definitely could have turned out better.  Bazi would make a great mother, she had no doubt.  But she figured it might be for the best that she herself might never see that chance.

Whittier made a valiant effort to cross the abyss, but only made it a few inches before losing his bearings - which was understandable, given his baby blindness. Though she spotted the potential for distress before her son did, Bazi patiently waited to see what he would make of the situation. A tiny, squeak of a howl escaped her baby boy, punctuated by a burp. His mother held back giggles, placing one leg near Whittier to reassure him of her presence whilst Danica touched his fur. "Experimental children," she repeated, "I'm sure they'll love to hear me call them that in polite company - or when we have litter two." Bazi said it without thinking - as though litter two was guaranteed. One litter at a time, she reprimanded herself, watching Danica soothe little Poopie McHowler. "If you keep giving him kisses, he's going to think he's got a shot with you," she laughed.

Whit actually felt quite pleased with himself after his squeaky little display.  And it seemed the big whatevers he was smelling were pleased with him as well, for after a moment, he felt a wet whatever-it-was prodding gently at his shoulders.  Eagerly, he turned his head to search for whatever was poking him with his gaping jaws and waggly little pink tongue.  He was certainly a curious fellow, and soon his searching was rewarded with a find.  Of course, it was just Bazi's arm again, but Whit went right to work nibbling on it as though it was brand new in spite of the fact that, next to her nipply bits and his siblings' faces, he had suckled upon his mom's legs more often than anything else.  Still, it made him happy and his stubby tail wriggled about to show it.

Another litter or two.. It was strange for her, thinking about the future in such a long term scope.  But were there to be more pups, she would be around.  For the pregnancy, the birth, the growing... And even though they wouldn't be hers, she found a good measure of excitement in that. Maybe looking ahead was only for those with something to look forward to. She loved being in that number again.

"A little confidence never hurt anyone. I'd hate to crush his dreams so young." She did stop, though, as the pup contentedly set about chewing on his mother's leg. Pups were so wierd. She wouldn't leave just yet, though, as she was sure Bazi could use a little more non-baby company. So she settled in, lying parallel to the mother. "So, I want all the details. How'd you guys end up here?" She hadn't asked before, but her curiosity was intense. What had happened to them all in the time she was gone? Many familiar faces she knew were missing, and there had to be a good story behind it. Hopefully Bazi would be willing to tell, and they would while away the time with talk until Scimitar returned or the day passed.

end for me! Feel free to post again or just close her up!

Whittier attached himself to his mother's leg and began to suckle, unconcerned with the fact that his efforts were in vain. Bazi scooted him to her belly, lining him up with a nipple. If he did not shed his baby weight in adulthood, she would blame his gluttony for it - even though Bazi frequently enabled her son's excessive eating by offering the boob. It let her knew where he was, even when she closed her eyes.

"Well," she began, "Once upon a time.." ..and started to giggle. Soon, however, she was telling Danica the tale of how Nova Peak came to be, and her own fraught road into motherhood.

Last one from me!