Neverwinter Forest lxxv. put your toes down in the water

Lótë giggled, a sound she had not made since her first litter was this young, and rasped a tongue along the songborn's sandy spine. Soft babbles of her own escaped her maw as she curled closer around him -- leaning down so that she was within easy reach as the cub explored. 

"Amil," she murmured to him. "Anaa." "Mama." She gave him all the words for mother she knew. "This I am to you," she explained with a warm smile, though she knew he was too young to understand.