Sun Mote Copse I feel so close to you right now, it's a force field.

He looked more awkward than usual, which was saying something, and Towhee gave a little snort of amusement. "So everything looks good?" she pressed, peripherally marveling. Had she just made Eljay laugh...? "Meerkat looks healthy and everything? I know she came out kinda small but I swear she's grown already."

Only now, after his assessment, did Towhee think of anything outside of Meerkat's birth. "Hey," she blurted suddenly, "did you ever send out scouts?" Just asking that jogged her memory, which flooded with snatches of their last conversation. "And you're looking after yourself, right? We need you to help make sure this year's pups are healthy," she said, thinking of Niamh as well. "Raising pups is hard, like you said. And, yeah, they'll have good parents. But it takes a village, right?"