Sun Mote Copse Refuge in breathing.

*tags literally everybody*

Mother and daughter sprawled in the shade at the edge of the rendezvous site, Meerkat napping while Towhee kept watch. She continuously scanned the nearby clearing, though everything was relatively still on this peaceful June afternoon. She sighed and licked her lips, pondering a brief siesta of her own, even letting her chin drop to rest on her outstretched forelegs. But instead of falling asleep, her thoughts drifted.

Meerkat had come home the other day with traces of @Pippin's scent on her. Even now, that thought made the Regent's hackles prickle as her eyes darted to her slumbering cub. They might've made amends somehow, except that he'd more or less disappeared from their lives entirely. Her lip curled before she forcibly redirected her thoughts to another man: @Arcturus. She had barely seen him lately, though she knew he was around based on his scent markers. Funnily, time and space hadn't made any difference in her peculiar crush; the thought of him still stirred her guts strangely.

Once more, she tried pushing her wandering mind toward a more pleasant avenue. She thought about how fast not only Meerkat but @Alyx, @Quetzal and Primrose were growing. It seemed they developed by leaps and bounds every day. Even with three parents and the rest of the pack lending an assist, the four pups could be a handful. Nonetheless, Towhee loved them with all her heart and knew @Phox and @Niamh did too. This batch of pups was as amazing as last year's.

Then, of course, her thoughts strayed to @Figment (such a great older brother, along with @Bronco too, of course!), which made Towhee think inevitably of @Fennec. She had gone through a rough patch a few days ago, missing her eldest daughter. Her heart still ached when she thought of her, blooming with worry for the blind yearling. She just hoped Fen was enjoying herself out there, getting whatever she needed from the road trip. Maybe she would head back for a visit soon?

She didn't realized she'd fallen asleep after all until she jerked awake some moments later, a dream about @Wraen and @Eljay hooking up and @Weejay throwing an uncharacteristic fit about it still swirling in the back of her mind. Towhee coughed a laugh and sat up, stretching luxuriously, pointing her snout in the air as her spine curved. She rose onto all fours and shook out her coat, eyes drifting to Meerkat again. Her daughter was still snoozing, belly flat to the grass and all four legs splayed.

Soon, they would get to go see @Hydra in the flesh, perhaps her own pups too. That made the Regent think: should she talk to @Maia or @Chanel about training Meerkat, who aspired to be a "scoot"? Her lips twitched faintly at that title, though she frowned thoughtfully to herself. The kid was going on four months old now (whoa, what?) and often wandered the copse by herself. But did Towhee trust just any other adult to safely escort her daughter outside of the territory?

She sat again, musing over any- and everything, happy to be alone with her thoughts until Meerkat woke or someone else came along to distract her.