Redhawk Caldera I ain't got a theme yet

forward dated to.... Monday?

He was still small. A tiny little grub. But for a grub, he had a considerable amount of motion. He squirmed around, pedaling his feet ceaselessly against his dam's belly.

Soon, he found his way up her springy ribs—a little mountaineer in the making. Up, up, up; God, she must hate him right now. Bouncing slightly, as if on a trampoline. 

Were neonates supposed to move quite this much?

Whatever—perhaps it was a harbinger of things to come. Perhaps his writer is drunk and forgot to look up the exact capabilities of a 3-day-old wolf pup. Either way, he's crushing it in the precocity department. Fuck, soon he'll be speaking and all that. Driving his parents wild.

For now, Killdeer bounces, deaf and blind, oblivious to anything but the joy he feels in the motion, and in the warmth of his mother's pelt against his tiny paw pads.

Fennec woke up abruptly to the feeling of being prodded, repeatedly, in the ribs. Definitely not the best way to wake up, and she jolted, feeling whatever it was that was on top of her tumble off. And then she remembered - right. Oh shit.

Luckily they were surrounded by furs, but she still felt her stomach drop as she carefully nosed around, searching for him. If she broke their kid she'd never live that down. She'd never been in charge of anything this size before and a part of her was just kind of waiting for her to fuck it up, though it was a part she wasn't at any point going to let win. She had this shit. Except... for now. Where the hell did he go?

Pure fun, and then the ground beneath his paws began to shift dramatically. He scrambled for purchase and failed to grasp on, tumbling down the slope and landing in the furs with a muffled grunt. 

A heartbeat went by, after which Killdeer let loose a shrieking squeal akin to a teakettle going off, except you don't even like tea and what the fuck is this doing in my kitchen? The sound eventually subsided into whimpers, but it was clear he was quite irked about the situation. 

He rolled around in dramatic fits, apparently having chosen the thespian approach over any kind of silent, reserved stoicism.

At least the shriek let her know where he was. Fennec let out a hissing breath as it assailed her ears, though, tipping them back and gritting her teeth as the noise reverberated through the den. She reached towards it and felt for the pup, snagging him by the scruff and drawing him closer to both check him over and muffle the noise. Holy fuck.

Thankfully he relented after a minute or so. We aren't going to go into who deserved what, but god you've got a hefty jump kid. She could still feel it in her side. How the hell did you even get up there? Wait, did he manage to climb her!? First off, she'd been out like a light. Second, that was seriously impressive.

I'm gonna set you loose on dad tonight, she said with an evil grin, picking him up and setting him on the first a little to the side, then reclining back down. Would he try for it again? Or had he learned his lesson?

The wailing ceased relatively quickly once Fennec had brought her son close, into the warmth of her. Killdeer fell into contented silence, little nose twitching, mouth rooting. . .

Ahhh, yes. He latched on furiously to a nipple, suddenly ravenous. Big adventures took a lot out of a tiny tot, after all. 

Fairly soon, the events that had caused his tumble were forgiven and forgotten. Food made everything better.

Food won out, damn. Fennec did make a mental note to set him on @Bronco that night and see if he'd do a repeat of his trampoline exercises, forgetting entirely the part where she'd nearly flattened him waking up to that. It'd be too fun to see the reaction, and if she couldn't occasionally use this to torture him, what fun was it?

You've got like 7 to choose from and you always pick the same one. She complained, shifting slowly enough that she didn't pull herself away but prepping to move as soon as he released. Maybe he could give the lower nips a go since the top were feelin a bit well-used.

He didn't hear nor understand her, but if he had, he'd have scoffed, perhaps. He loved all the nipples equally. If one had been used more frequently than the others, well, it had drawn the short straw. It was literally blind luck. 

Killdeer leaned back, milk at the corners of his mouth, and his little belly rippled in a belch. With sweet baby's breath and inquisitive pudgy nose, he began to explore again, eventually snuffling his way up to Fennec's face. 

He traced the lines of it as long as she'd allow, nosing at the soft fur of ears and graceful arch of cheekbone. His movements grew slower with each second; his full belly was steering him down the path of deep slumber, luckily for his momma.

Fennec held herself still as she felt her son explore her face, smiling when his nose brushed her ears and began to chart a course down her cheek. It didn't occur to her why he might be doing this; she'd done it so many times to him. She hadn't spared a thought as to whether he was blind or if and when he's open his eyes; that was a milestone that would probably come and go without her even noticing it.

As he tipped towards sleep, she laid her head down next to him and pulled him close with a paw, rubbing her cheek gently once or twice against his soft puppy fur. Cutie. she muttered quietly, smiling while there was no one there to see.