Sun Mote Copse Everybody hates Monday mornings.

When it seemed like Arcturus might slink away, only to turn back, his attention fixed on her child, Towhee finally tore her eyes away to glance down at the pup. Her face remained blank for several beats as she watched in wonder as her child made an incredibly rudimentary sign for "hi." Her breath caught in her throat and she forced her gaze upward again, shrewdly fixing on Arcturus again just in time to catch the last two words and thus the gist of his query.

"Nunya," she said vehemently, attention drifting downward again as Meerkat stopped waving and instead flopped forward onto her belly, tail wriggling wildly as she presumably barked at their unwelcome visitor. "Her name is Suricate," Towhee acceded without looking at him, her eyes only for her baby now.

Despite being grounded as such, Meerkat still flailed her little forelegs, unmistakably in play. At least, that's what the Regent thought initially. But rather than just thump her paws in invitation, the pup also lifted her right paw in the air in an a silly little wave. In a way, this was Meerkat's first word, and this fact was not lost on her rapt mother.