Redhawk Caldera giraffes are unable to cough.

As much as Fin tried, her mind seemed determined to wander back to Eljay.  She had complete trust that he would be safe in Elwood's company for a few hours.  Her mate wouldn't let anything happen to their precious little one, especially not after all they'd been through to get to this point in their lives.  That, however, didn't mean that there wasn't the potential for some type of freak accident to happen... Like maybe a hawk were to swoop into the den, grab Eljay and make off with him before her mate could even get to his paws.  Rather unlikely, Fin realized.  Although... what if a weasel burrowed into their den without Elwood noticing, grabbed their son and disappeared right back the way it came when his back was turned...


Fin had quite nearly convinced herself to turn around and dash back home to make sure that nothing - bird nor mammal - had touched her precious boy when she was distracted by the sudden appearance of her nephew.  She turned at the sound of his growls and canted her head slightly at the sight of his display of dominance.  There was no denying it - Nightjar was going to be a formidable creature once he was grown.  Even now it was hard for Fin to imagine that the growing boy before her had once just been another potato suckling greedily at Fox's teets.

Fin's ears pressed forward as she lifted her own posture, recognizing the challenge.  A grin slipped across her muzzle as her tail wagged.  NJ still wasn't old enough or strong enough to be a real threat, and thus Fin saw his actions as little more than his usual bold, eager nature shining through.  The beta pressed her paws into the ground to ready herself, though it probably would have been wiser for her to discourage him from the challenge given the fact that this was her first time out at all since her son's birth.