Sun Mote Copse I feel so close to you right now, it's a force field.

Towhee had never nursed a newborn before, so her frame of reference was pretty narrow, but she felt especially lucky that Meerkat seemed like such an easy baby. She fed and slept, fussing only occasionally when she needed help with relieving herself. The Regent imagined she did make some noises, though of course she couldn't hear them. She might've felt sad about missing out on that, though honestly, she barely gave it a thought, since sound had never been part of her life experiences.

She was fortunate in another sense. Despite being totally oblivious to her own pregnancy and delivering without a clue, she seemed to be recovering pretty well. In hindsight, the labor had been quite understated and the birth had been painful but not devastatingly so. As far as Towhee could tell, everything was healing as it should. She was still sore a few days after the fact, though she hardly noticed and figured it was normal.

But between the two of them, the Regent wanted to be sure everything was okay. Towhee was not too proud to howl for @Eljay this morning, nor would she bat an eye at letting him look under her hood. Despite their friction, she trusted his skills when it came to these things. Sure, he hadn't noticed her pregnancy any more than Raven had but Towhee herself hadn't known, so she would hardly hold that against anyone.

It was quite the miracle, just like Wraen had hinted, that Towhee had given birth even though she didn't look pregnant at all. Eljay had decided to give Towhee and the pup some space at first, because he imagined it must be a shock for her, too. Besides, it was quite early in the season and so it was hard to find herbs properly against the pain and whatnot. He wasn't too sure she'd want them, anyway, either. Everything had seemed okay enough initially.

Just as Eljay himself was contemplating whether he should go drop by for a visit, Towhee called for him. Surprising, considering he was never too sure what Towhee thought of him -- except not very highly -- and he wasn't sure she wanted his help. It was good in some way to get the confirmation that she did, so that he could stop contemplating whether to go visit and when he should visit.

So without further ado Eljay made his way towards Towhee and her child. Hey, he said when he arrived, and he glanced at the child. Congratulations. How are you two doing? It was harder than he had anticipated, seeing pups born this year, for the first time. Everything about it just reminded him of the journey he and Wiffle'd gone through the year prior.

He came promptly. Perhaps he had been hovering nearby. Towhee actually smiled as Eljay appeared and came closer, her tail giving one solid thump on the log's interior when he congratulated her and asked how they were doing. Before replying, she motioned toward the babe currently suckling greedily at her breast.

That was probably answer enough, along with her entire demeanor, though she did look back at him and say, "Thank you, and we're doing great. I didn't know if I would be able to feed her, at first, but the milk just... came. And she's smaller than any newborn I've seen but she's pretty lively. She does sleep a lot though." She paused, head cocking slightly. "That's normal though, right?"

It was really weird for Eljay to see Towhee wag her tail at him and smile at him. He didn't remember ever before seeing her do that, bar when she was really really small. But the whole situation seemed very foreign to him. He looked taken aback for a few seconds before he recollected himself and smiled back at Towhee. What she then described in similarly cheerful manner was something that was familiar to Eljay: all the doubts of the first time mother, but most of them sorted themselves out, such as the milk factory or all of the worries. He was glad that overall everything seemed to be going well.

What it was that she showed when she asked if the pup sleeping a lot was normal surprised Eljay a bit; was it worry? He supposed that Towhee had worries just like everyone else, it was just that he had never seen her show doubt in any kind of way. Eljay quickly pushed that to the back of his mind though and answered: Yes, yeah, that's normal. I guess being birthed is a pretty tiring ordeal. He looked at the pup and then tentatively asked, Should I -- do you want me to look at her..?

She noted his hesitation, which did not really surprise her, but Eljay answered her question with reassuring promptness. Her head canted slightly as she pondered his offhand comment before her orange gaze dropped to Meerkat. She hadn't even thought about it, though she supposed that being forced from a warm, snug sanctuary into the world at large was an ordeal, not to mention the part where her own mother had initially mistaken her for a particularly large pile of scat.

Towhee didn't realize Eljay had posed a question of his own, though she caught herself and snapped her attention back to the caretaker's face. "Would you like to see her?" she asked, unaware that she was being extremely redundant. He could probably make her out, latched to one of her mother's teats, but she was partly obscured by the shadows and Towhee's own body. Reluctant to disrupt her feeding, the Regent mulled a moment before shifting very slowly, rotating herself further back into the log and scooting Meerkat forward into the proverbial limelight.

Aside from a few curious touches from @Phox, @Figment and @Fennec (who'd gently sniffed and touched the babe quite a bit at first), no one aside from Towhee had really touched Meerkat much. She did feel a little reluctant to let Eljay poke and prod her, though despite her personal feelings toward him, she trusted him in a professional capacity. It wasn't the easy, implicit trust she felt with Raven, though her very behavior demonstrated the amount of faith she had in Eljay as a medic.

Eljay was unaware that Towhee had missed his gentle suggestion and so he just nodded when she asked if he wanted to see her babe. He was a little confused that she would ask a question in return to his suggestion but maybe he'd been unclear. He was quite used to Towhee not entirely catching his words and the communication between them being stuff; not just because of their social differences but also because he'd always been bad at ptero, and she'd been bad at reading his lips when he was mumbly like this.

She was quite tiny, and Eljay smiled between Towhee and the pup when she was put forward by Towhee moving back a bit. He'd initially not even seen her when she was born, but now she was a lot more noticeable. Eljay crouched down on his stomach and looked into the log. His tail wagged gently in automatic response as he reached out to gently sniff the child, then, if there was no negative response, he gently nudged her with his nose to see if her reaction to that was normal.

Towhee looked on avidly as Eljay hunkered down and took a closer look. He moved slowly, telegraphing his intent, before touching his nose to the baby's back. Meerkat wriggled at the contact, though she did not stop suckling. She did let out a tiny whimper of acknowledgement. The Regent couldn't hear it, though she felt a small vibration in her nipple (how strange), as well as a tiny puff of air from the pup's nostrils.

"Is she noisy?" she couldn't help but wonder out loud, eyes searching Eljay's face.

When Eljay touched the pup there was a tiny mewl that got lost somewhere in Towhee's tits. Everything seemed normal as far as he could tell. He looked up at Towhee's question, which surprised him at first but then he realised that of course, Towhee had no idea how much she did or didn't cry out because she could not hear. Not much right now, Eljay answered.

Do you have a name for her yet? he wondered. He didn't remember if it'd been mentioned when she was born or if it had all gotten lost in the fuss at the time.

His lips formed the words, "Not much right now." Towhee's own lips parted to ask if that was normal, though she decided that it was, judging by his unconcerned expression. She blinked down at Meerkat for a beat, who unlatched and began to squirm tellingly.

"Meerkat," she replied to Eljay's question right before plucking up the newborn and placing her between her forelegs. Under the caretaker's watchful eye, she gently rolled Meerkat onto her back and began licking her, compelled by some instinct to help her infant eliminate and then clean her. It should've been gross—especially with a witness—but Towhee accepted it easily as part of her new role. If anything, it was kind of funny.

"Maybe I should've called her Poop Factory though," she mused, finishing the job and looking at up her older brother, giving him a literal shit-eating grin and wondering if he'd remark on her skills at wiping a baby's ass with her tongue.

Towhee introduced the pup as Meerkant and Eljay nodded, committing the name to mind. He looked at Towhee as she started to clean the pup after she started squirming. Even though you'd think that he was used to this kind of shit show (ha ha) Eljay felt rather awkward and he looked away, unable to watch it.

I uh, he mumbled, which was probably hard for Towhee to see/hear since she was both deaf and busy, and then Towhee looked up and joked about the Poop factory name. He he, yeah, he said, clearly a little uncomfortable looking. I'm glad to hear everything is going well. Better to change the subject to try and forget about that haunting poop smile Towhee just gave him, Eljay reckoned.

He looked more awkward than usual, which was saying something, and Towhee gave a little snort of amusement. "So everything looks good?" she pressed, peripherally marveling. Had she just made Eljay laugh...? "Meerkat looks healthy and everything? I know she came out kinda small but I swear she's grown already."

Only now, after his assessment, did Towhee think of anything outside of Meerkat's birth. "Hey," she blurted suddenly, "did you ever send out scouts?" Just asking that jogged her memory, which flooded with snatches of their last conversation. "And you're looking after yourself, right? We need you to help make sure this year's pups are healthy," she said, thinking of Niamh as well. "Raising pups is hard, like you said. And, yeah, they'll have good parents. But it takes a village, right?"

Towhee had never been the worried type, so it was surprising for Eljay that she asked him if everything was alright. Maybe it was different for her to be a parent. He'd certainly never seen her this way. Eljay nodded and said, Yeah, I think she looks good. She would catch up and there didn't seem anything wrong with her at least, as far as Eljay could tell. All in all, Meerkat was quite the little surprise mystery.

Then Towhee asked about the scouts, and went on to say that he should also be looking after himself. Eljay nodded. I talked to Maia. Wraen thought maybe I should go with... But I don't know. I'm a bad navigator and I'd probably just hold Maia back in getting everywhere fast... Eljay didn't sound like he was asking for advice necessarily, mostly as if he hadn't made a decision yet what would be the smartest move. And yeah, I'll -- I'll be there to help. He offered a meek smile, thinking back to Wiffle. She'd wanted him to become a father, for him, and as if that was some sort of last wish accomplished she had dropped dead right after. If only they'd had more time; if only they'd have little ones this year to play with Meerkat. Not necessarily for the sake of having more children, but for the sake of having their family still together. Maybe Elfie would've stayed, too, if...

... But it wasn't to be, and Eljay wasn't sure he would ever have or want more children after the experiences. He was grateful that he had gotten Elfie -- a pang of sadness as he thought of his lost son, but a small spark of hope Maia might be able to uncover more about him -- and Weejay -- whom he loved more than anything in this world and was grateful to have her nearby still -- though, and that was enough for him.

There was nothing left to do but nod and say, "Thanks, Eljay." Parenthood had changed her; first, with Fig and Fen, and now with Meerkat. She felt simultaneously more fiercely protective than ever before and yet softened at the edges somehow. It was a trip. Towhee didn't mind at all embracing all the surprising changes that had come about in these past few days.

"I'm going to catch some sleep while I still can. You're welcome to stop by again whenever," the Regent said casually to Eljay, yawning as if to punctuate her statement. She then curled more tightly around her little furball, even happier now that she knew Meerkat was healthy and well.

Eljay nodded as Towhee thanked him, figuring he was only doing his job. She then said that she'd catch some sleep, and Eljay nodded at her. Smart, considering Meerkat was still rather sleepy and complacent now and she would turn into a screeching toddler at some point in time. He nodded and said, Good idea. Take care of yourself. I'll drop by with some food later. Eljay smiled briefly at Towhee and then he took off, feeling weirdly content considering it was the first positive encounter he'd had with Towhee in quite some time.