Hushed Willows The keeper of this host

The boy was bold, and she liked it. Hopefully the world would not temper such exuberance out of him by the time he was her age; maybe that fire for life would be what kept them all going. Surviving on the blazing energy of a child. As Octavia stood there she witnessed the way that Tambourine thrust himself towards Grace, and then realized what he was going for — and with each of his nips, Grace got more and more overwhelmed. He was hastily graduating from ankle-biter to nipple-nipper, and what was worse, Tavi was too entertained by the entire spectacle of it to intervene.

She laughed without intending to, and tried to swallow the next round as Tambourine rooted about in Grace's plush fur for another few moments. When the girl's protest finally grew so great that she couldn't ignore them, Tavi stepped in. She carefully swept Tambourine away from Grace with a wave of her paw - or she tried to, but he was holding tightly and not very interested in letting go.

Oh come on you little nipper, she cajoled, and with some effort managed to wedge herself between her son and the girl. If and when he let go, Tav would sweep down and grab her son by the scruff and haul him in to the air; he was safe up here, and Grace's delicate parts would be safer for it too. When Tavi turned to look at Grace again she was grinning around Tambourine's chubby little body, casting her an apologetic - but mirthful - look.