Redsand Canyon maiestas

The sensation of warm air puffing along his clavicle, then rounding along his belly, stilled Cornelius for a very short time. He did not hear the words his father spoke but he did feel the rumble of the voice; it felt big like an earthquake and destabilized something within Cornelius.

He began to wriggle more insistently—but still without the fine motor control that would come later in life—and ended up in a swatting match with his brother Aquillius. As the dark boy stumbled, he was met with a series of slaps by wilding paws.

It wasn't quite the level of, 'float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,' but the effort was there.