Dragoncrest Cliffs But I’m still tired of sleeping with the light on

Mr. Bubbles?

He flinched lightly at the sudden, loud interruption, but being a fairly child-friendly wolf, Bronco’s expression quickly turned to one of confused amusement. He would’ve given the kid a crooked grin had his mother not stepped between them, and then uttered a string of words that served both as an introduction to the child and to Meerkat’s parenting style. 

She’d gone the full name route. Bronco pursed his lips together to keep himself from grinning, but his brows raised and his eyes squinted in sympathy with the child. Getting the full name was always horrifying. Of course, he too disapproved of youngsters wandering where they shouldn’t go- but Bronco was an uncle now; which meant he should also be the fun uncle. 

He pointedly avoided eye contact with the kid while he was chastised, so that he was at least establishing a “hey, do what your Mom says” sort of air, before he gave Stingray a glance over Meerkat’s shoulder to give him a wink when his Mom wasn’t looking. 

So when Meerkat did look at him, his eyebrows were still raised, and his lips pursed in a way that showed how impressed he was with the Mom-voice she’d just used. He smiled. She was new to being a Mom, but she had great instincts. It was tough, finding the little grey area where respect lived, between the poles of overbearing and underattentive. 

”Stinkray?” He asked, pulling a face, trying to lighten the situation. ”C’mon Meerk, the little dude doesn’t look too stinky to me.” He said. ”You tell me, Ray, who’s the stinky one? There’s always a stinky one. Is it you, Swordfish or Vixen that’s the stinker?” He egged, hoping the kid might take the bait. He leaned forward and in a hushed voice- loud enough to be blatantly audible of course- he half-whispered ”It’s yer Mom, innit?” He scrunched his nose.