Bearclaw Valley You, of course, should always chant when you wash your hands

Aventus was pleased to find that Solaria knew her place in Ursus, and relented his display the moment she melted to the ground. He took several steps away from her, granting space once more, while the wave in his tail became more fluid. He peeked at his mother for approval, pretending that praise wasn't what he sought by looking away just as quickly.
The stream captured his attention once more with another flash of silver, causing a giddy playfulness to creep up his legs. Aventus was playing a dangerous game lately, convincing his sire he heard the bear as Merrick did, but underneath the act he was still childish. Buoyant. Not in the outward fashion other kids were, but deep inside, suppressed.
Maybe that was why he whirled around to face both of them, forming one point of a triangle created by their bodies, and dropped his chest to the ground, tail flung high and whipping back and forth.
Some time later, body heaving with laboured breaths from play, he parted from his mother and their curious new mute companion.