Redhawk Caldera Beneath the black sea

Anybody who'd be in the den. :D

Fidget was still blind and deaf, but he certainly wasn't unaware of the world. He had begun to subconsciously keep track of the routine. There was the coming and going of the various adults, feeding time, sleeping time, and exploring time. The latter was an obvious favorite as Phox spent as much of his time as he could tasting and feeling anything and everything in the den.

He was squirming on top of one of the adults right now, though it wasn't obvious how he had gotten up there in the first place. It was more difficult to balance up here (versus on the den floor), but it was also warmer and softer. Soon, Phox was sledding down the ribcage of his victim, paws splayed out in an attempt to steady himself.

Raven slept like the dead, sprawled on her right side with her cheek smashed to the den floor. Drool dribbled from her partially opened mouth as her flank billowed with slow, deep breaths. She remained oblivious to the puppy squirming on top of her, jerking awake only when he slid down her rib cage and only because it tickled terribly.

"What is—?" she blurted nonensically, sitting up suddenly and blinking. Her dopey yellow eyes scanned the den and she noticed nothing amiss. Licking her lips, Raven slowly counted each of the pups. One, two, three, four, five... For good measure, she did it twice. With a final nip to her still tingling flank, she then slumped back to the floor.

When Raven stood up, Fidget lost his balance and did a somersault the rest of the way to the den floor. He squeaked when he landed on his back, tubby sausage body flailing wildly as he tried to right himself. Bending his spine left and right several times eventually got him to where he was upright again, and Phox snorted, blowing a small puff of dust up off the floor.

He couldn't feel anything warm and soft around him anymore, and his little head wobbled on his neck (or lack thereof). He sniffed at the air, but a particle of dirt had found its way there, so he sneezed once, twice, thrice, and then four times. The last time, his head hit the ground, which probably looked pretty dang comical.

She fell right back to sleep, though a yellow eye cracked open when the nearest pup, the fidgety black boy, began to sneeze uncontrollably. Raven lifted her head and eyeballed him, hoping he hadn't somehow caught a cold. There wasn't much she could do for him in that case and she knew even such a common, minor ailment might prove disastrous for such a young pup. Feeling like her heart had jumped into her throat, the medic swallowed and took a breath.

She then leaned forward to lick gently at the pup's face, clearing away any dust, debris or phlegm that might be causing him issues. After she was done with that, she re-positioned herself to crook a leg around him and draw him closer to her chest.

A warm, wet sensation swept over his face, clearing away the dirt that had been tickling his tiny pugged nose. Almost instantaneously, he felt better. Fidget was in the middle of a happy sigh when Raven pulled him closer, and the movement caused him to hitch his breath until he was still again. As much as he loved moving around on his own, he didn't care for being moved by anybody else. He would tolerate it, of course, but he'd rather be left to his own devices.

The warmth was pleasant, and the softness had returned as well. Not two seconds later, he pooped all over his wet nurse's front leg, surely to her delight.

Her nose wrinkled but Raven didn't react otherwise, except to clean the excrement off her leg with detached movements of her tongue. Messes were just a part of life akin to breathing and blinking these days. Although she wished for a drink of water afterward, Raven (literally) swallowed her distaste and then leaned down to nose the culprit.

He didn't appear to be having any trouble breathing, so that was good. She tightened her foreleg ever so slightly to hold him against her chest in a loose embrace. Whether or not he was sick, the warmth would be good for him.

She hugged him even closer, and Fidget—true to his name—squirmed in an attempt to free himself. His little sausage body wormed left and right, and he whimpered pathetically. He was no match for the much larger, much stronger Raven, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try! Phox continued to struggle against her until he was exhausted (which didn't take long), and then he huffed. Restraint was one of the few things he had decided he did not like.

She ignored the pup's struggles for now, holding him tightly and running her tongue over his face and back in an idle attempt to soothe him. Raven couldn't help but muse about possible names for him. He was a black smudge with a fine dusting of silver and the most adorable white tip on his tail. She wracked her brain for birds he might resemble. She was not nearly as well well-versed in ornithology as her parents, however, and could not come up with anything other than Blackbird. They couldn't call him that; it would be like naming him after her in a way and Raven wasn't a fan of that idea. Besides, it was too generic somehow.

There's lots of black animals other than birds, she thought, still grooming him. As her tongue passed between his little ears, she made a mental checklist: Bears, horses, wolves... Heck, most animals came in melanistic phases. The sheer amount of options might make picking a moniker more challenging. We'll find the perfect fit for you, though, she mentally reassured the fidgety baby.

She didn’t let go of him. In fact, she gripped him tightly, and Fidget gasped when he managed to wriggle himself just a little bit out of her grasp. Now, at least, his lungs weren’t being compressed by his well-meaning wet nurse. The sensation of her tongue across his fur was a familiar, comforting one, and Phox stilled for a few precious seconds. When she groomed between his ears, he twitched them.

He, of course, had no idea what was going on through her head. Hell, he barely knew what was going on in his own head. He was still limited to very basic range of emotions and thought—something that would change gradually over the next few months.

She let thoughts of possible names fade into the background of her mind as she peered down at the pup's squishy features. Although she still ached dully over the loss of Fox and, more recently, little Stoat, Raven felt happiness and love so fierce that it seemed to vibrate through every fiber of her body. You're so cute, it hurts, she mused. In fact, she couldn't bear the intensity of it for long, so she bent down, closed her jaws around his midriff and set the black puppy about half a foot away, facing the opposite direction.

Be free, she thought with a twitch of her lips, knowing the squirmy boy would enjoy the opportunity to wriggle to his heart's content.

The familiar sensation of being picked up caused Fidget's muscles to stiffen all at once, relaxing again once he felt solid ground beneath him and Raven released him. Immediately upon hitting the ground, Fidget began to crawl in whatever direction she had set him in, his stubby little legs propelling him forward as fast as they possibly could (which was about as slow as a snail). His nose bumped into a large clump of dirt, and he took time to sniff at it, ever-curious about his home and what was in it.

He motored away, just like she knew he would, and Raven smiled. Luckily, Elwood was currently blocking the door, so she needn't fear some serendipitous escape. In fact, with no real reason to keep an eye on him at all—the Alpha was more than capable of vigilance, despite the accident with Stoat—the Gamma let her chin fall back to the floor. She huffed out a breath, then curled slightly and closed her eyes, falling asleep in seconds.

Once he was convinced that he knew everything there was to know about the big clump of dirt, Fidget continued on his journey away from Raven (and toward Elwood). It was only a matter of time before he felt the soft, ticklish fur on his nose. Elwood stirred for a moment, then drew Phox in. A few short seconds later, the little pup was yawning something fierce, and he was out like a light in a few seconds more, twitching as always.