Redhawk Caldera disconnect the dots

When Finley compared the children to chicken wings, Peregrine pretended to be affronted, then warned her, "Just don't slather them in sauce and eat them." He chortled, then rolled her eyes when she called them moles next. She wasn't exactly wrong about either comparison, though. Peregrine could draw much less flattering comparisons himself. The pups did resemble giant turds come to life...

"Thanks, Uncle El," the Alpha said emphatically, playfully shooting Finley dirty looks. "Most of the credit has to go to my leading lady, of course," he added, looking at Fox. She seemed distracted and distant. Only now did he really notice how she wasn't responding to the Beta pair's visit with any excitement at all. His lips pursed.

"I think we're going to try to get some rest," he said quietly in the next moment, giving their visitors meaningful looks that were only slightly apologetic. Fox looked like she could sleep for days and nobody could hold that against her. "Come back soon, though. And thanks for the gift. I'm totally going to use it decoratively somehow." Within the next day or two, it would in fact be skewered on a root growing over the den's entrance, a simultaneous welcome and warning.