Redhawk Caldera Every songbird says

For anybody in the den. :D

The day prior, Fidget's left eye had begun to open. It was a slow process, starting with only a tiny pinhole. Within the next twenty-four hours, his baby blue eyes were visible to the world, though he could hardly see much of anything. Really, he could see light, dark, and movement. The latter was the most fascinating to him, and he would often bumble toward any movement his not-really-functioning eyes managed to observe.

It was chillier today than it had been the day before, and Phox was currently huddled up next to his siblings for warmth. He struggled to keep his eyes open, fascinated by this new sense he had acquired. He blinked (another new concept, though a completely inherent one) then shook his little head, determined not to fall asleep.

Towhee's eyes were partially open too, though she barely noticed this new development. At any given time, she was too busy whimpering, shivering and trying to wedge herself underneath the nearest warm, fuzzy body. No matter what she did, though, the cold seeped into her little bones. It was especially horrible if she messed herself; the excrement would grow cold almost immediately and then she would tremble uncontrollably until a broad tongue coaxed some warmth back into her tiny body.

Too cold to sleep, eat or even move much currently, Towhee rolled from her back to her side and clung to the warm lump beside her, ignoring its slight movements. She did register the blurry black silhouette in front of her face, the sharp backdrop of pale blue light (the wintry morning sunlight pouring into the den) and even the little blue blob of her brother's eyeball. But Towhee didn't care much. In fact, she mashed her face against Phox's, desperate to share his body heat.

Towhee's face mashed into Phox's and he squeaked, swiping a paw in her general direction. In fact, he took it as an invitation to play (yet another new concept that had only recently developed). His vision, poor as it was, had awoken an innate sense of chase. Targeting his sister's ear, he attempted to put it in his mouth, quite likely gumming it up with slobber in the process.

His back feet kicked at the puppies behind him, upsetting a few of them into whimpering and shivering against the cold. Fidget was cold, too, but now that he was wide-awake, he didn't much care. He continued glomming Teehee's ear for as long as she would allow it.

Although she didn't really mind much, Towhee couldn't stop herself from shaking her head every few seconds because her brother's tongue in her ear tickled! Eventually, she shook him off entirely and she dropped back an inch or two. Each eye blinked slowly and independently of one another as she attempted to focus on Phox's little black face. It was too difficult, especially in this shadowy place, so she tipped forward and head-butted him in the chest for no good reason at all.

The ear disappeared from his mouth, and Phox tasted nothing for a few seconds. Not two seconds after, he was (surprisingly gently!) head-butted in the chest by his sister. For the first time since his birth, Phox smiled. For the umpteenth time since his birth, Phox did a happy little sigh. He liked all of his siblings on some basic level (didn't every child?), but this one in particular he had grown especially attached to. Maybe they had floated around in Fox's belly together.

@Elwood, upon seeing this adorable little interaction, had swooped down to give both of them a boop on the top of their tiny heads. When he did so, Phox looked up at him with wide, curious eyes. While he had certainly smelled his caretaker before, this was the first time he'd gotten a good look at him. Well, a good blurry look.

As Phox stood there, smiling at her like a dope, Towhee only stared back. She was fascinated by the flash of pale pink gums. In fact, she scooted forward and attempted to insert her face into his mouth to get a better look. But then a touch atop her head caused her to freeze. She looked up even as a strange, soft gobble escaped her.

Her eyes widened comically, only to squint to slits a second later in response to a slight stinging sensation. Towhee made another odd noise, this time like a yowling kitten, then ever so slowly reopened both eyes. She peered up at her godfather, blinking rapidly now, her tail beginning to stir slowly behind her.

Phox blinked, bewildered by the sudden muzzle in his mouth, but he didn't immediately pull away. Instead, he let his sister sit there for as long as she liked. Which, honestly, wasn't very long. He was busy watching Elwood at that point, but the movement of his sister's tail caused his attention to quickly divert to that. Instinct took over, and Phox began to move toward the wiggling worm of a tail.

Although his balance was quite horrendous, he attempted to swat at Teehee's tail, even going so far as rolling right over onto his side. He didn't complain at this, though, and instead persevered in an attempt to "hunt" the tail.

Elwood likely knew the pups' vision was blurry at best, so he lowered his head to put his face closer to Towhee's. Her lips made an "O" shape, eyes widening again. Fortunately, her godfather's head cast a shadow over her face, preventing the requisite stinging and allowing her eyes to stay wide open this time. Her irises were the customary cornflower blue, though currently they were almost overtaken by the black of her overblown pupils.

She stared and stared and stared some more, until the faint breeze at her backside captured her attention. Blinking rapidly, Towhee tried to turn around only to lose her balance and fall onto her hip. Undeterred, she simply hopped back onto her feet, though her lack of coordination caused her to overbalance and go tumbling right into her little hunter of a brother.

Suddenly (okay, it was pretty slowly) the hunter became prey. Towhee fell right into him, and Phox went roly poly onto the ground, legs flailing, grunting, and generally looking like a doofus. Elwood looked alarmed at first, but after a brief moment of concern, he relaxed and allowed the children to figure it out on their own. Which was exactly what Fidget attempted to do next.

Shifting his weight, he rolled onto his left side, got his feet underneath him, and propped himself upright. He did not attempt to get back on his feet just yet, but instead tried to focus on his sister and observe what she was doing.

They tumbled into the floor in a mess of little legs and whip-like tails. Towhee grunted as she landed partially on top of Phox, her brother cushioning her fall. When he rolled and sat up like a sphinx, she slid off him onto the cold floor. Disliking the icy stone against her warm pink belly, she pushed herself onto all fours. She enjoyed looming over Phox; it made her feel big and strong. She lifted a little forepaw to place along his back as if to keep him down there at her feet.

Unlike his late, power-hungry mother, Fidget was content to let others lord over him, just as Towhee was doing right now. Then again, he was less than two weeks old, so who knew what he'd be like in another couple of years. His own mother had only become obsessed with control after gaining it in Swiftcurrent Creek. Not that he knew any of this, Remedy just went off on a tangent.

Anyway.

The pressure on his back did little to faze him. All he did was turn his head around to look at his sister and grin at her.

Phox didn't seem to mind her paw on his back. In fact, his head twisted around and he grinned at her, pink gums with little white cones emerging as his milk teeth prepared to present. Despite herself, Towhee couldn't help but smile back. She kneaded her little toes against his backbone a moment, then set her foot back on the floor and lowered her head, butting it gently against his as she proceeded to rub on him like an overgrown kitten.

The kneading was surprisingly pleasant, and Phox was only mildly disappointed when Teehee decided to step off of him and nuzzle up against him. He returned the favor by letting out a toot, stinking up the whole gosh darn den. This only made him grin more, feeling oh-so proud of himself for no reason in particular. Who really knew what kids this young were thinking, anyway? Stubby little front legs reached out to embrace his sister in a half-hearted attempt at a hug.

All farts would be silent and deadly for Towhee. This was neither the first nor the last. She paused in her rubbing to squint at the sudden odor. She opened her mouth and inhaled deeply as if savoring it. The pup then resumed her interrupted snuggling, at least until Phox captured her with his stubby forelegs.

She resisted for a moment, then let herself sink down in front of him. Towhee rolled onto her back (her very favorite position) and wrapped her own forelegs around her brother's snout, fresh eyes merry and a silly sort of hkk hkk hkk noise escaping her.

Just thought I'd throw in a cameo since I was tagged. Carry on! :D

No matter how much time Elwood spent with the firebirds, he was constantly amused and surprised by their antics. They tended to keep each other occupied, though they did invite him into their world occasionally, as they had just a few minutes ago. As soon as Teehee and Fidget -- as Finley had so lovingly named them -- resumed their wrestling, he settled back into a comfortable position, lying on his stomach with his chin propped on his forepaws.

He was content to watch the puppies, quietly observing the dynamics between them. His own litters had been much smaller, so he wasn't accustomed to having so many babies around at once, but from his surveillance he had determined that these two were particularly close to one another. He was pondering this phenomenon when a rotten odor suddenly permeated the air, and he wrinkled his nose. Someone had farted. Again.

He scrunched up his nose, but Fidget didn't pull away from his sister's nose-grabbing. Instead, he licked her forelegs, beginning one of his very first grooming sessions that weren't only about him. There was something crusty on one of her legs, and he focused his attention on that, leaving her leg damp and slimy with his saliva. He did it with the best intentions, of course! At least he wasn't like Titmouse, pulling hair right off of his sibling.

When he began licking her, it triggered Towhee's own instincts. She rolled onto one side and began swiping her tongue up and down her brother's neck, even nibbling a little (as much as she could with her gummy mouth). Between passes of her tongue, she made little rumbling noises akin to purring. She very much enjoyed the mutual grooming session.

It relaxed her so much that Towhee was tempted to fall asleep. But before she let that happen, she felt the need to get even closer to her baby brother. Too lazy to stand or even sit up properly, Towhee scooted across the floor until she settled flush with Phox's flank. With a happy sigh, she let her head come to rest along the slope of his back, hazy blue eyes staring straight at their godfather as they slowly began to drift shut.

Towhee drifted off to sleep, but Phox was too awake for any of that. He continued grooming her for some time, eventually distracted by some movement on the other side of the den, and toddled off in that direction. It was nothing more than a bug crawling around on the ground, and Phox batted at it before he was corralled in with the others and eventually closed his eyes and fell asleep.