Bearclaw Valley seminole wind

she had spent the morning trying to hunt, but since she was fat and miserable all of her efforts had been in vain.  she was injured and pregnant; hunting had become exceptionally difficult.

alexander often brought her food but she was ravenous.  the pups were now big enough that reigi was quite round; they could be seen moving against her flesh.  she didn't know how much more of this she could take!

so she had set upon some more methodical work this morning.  she had gone to the cache where she had seen @Blondine and her weird-seeds, and taken it upon herself to separate the good meat from the bad.

Hormones were everywhere, unfortunately for Blondine. The breeding season was coming to a close, and she still hadn't gone into estrus like the others. Probably for the best, she thought; Xan didn't seem to know how to control himself around receptive femmes and she was in no shape or motherhood. In fact, Blondine was just fine caring for everyone else's litter without the commitment of having to feed them and clean them and help them go poo. 

@Laurel didn't seem to want Blondine's help just yet, and that was fine; she wasn't comfortable caring for her where their relationship stood. Fixing that bond was going to be a priority, come time for the births. 

On this day, Blondine's mind was more focused on being a hunter than a caregiver; like Reigi, performing an actual hunt didn't seem to be in the cards. It's a sortin' kinda day, huh? she cooed as she closed in on the girl, quickly immersing her face into the meat pile.

blondine arrived shortly afte she began her work, and reigi's tail began to wag soft and slow against her hocks.  she quickly turned back to her work but moved closer to the medic, brushing her shoulder with her nose.

yeaaa, she says in return, not really knowing what blondine had said but wanting to indulge her in conversation anyway.  how?  she gestured at the woman with her paw, how are you?

With a mouthful of stripped moose hocks, Blondine turned to Reigi and smiled, not quite sure of what she meant. She dropped the meat and licked her chops, asking, How am I? The girl's vocabulary seemed to be growing, albeit slowly. I'm alright. How are you? 

Blondine's eyes drifted to Reigi's swollen belly before focusing back in on the meat pile.

well, it sort of worked.  it got a response, and it was one that reigi had been hoping for.. but she didn't know how to respond.  she gave her head a single nod: yes and she became excitable, obviously happy that she had gotten something right.

she turned her attention back to the cache, digging a hole to bury the discarded meat to replenish the earth.

The lack of a response created a lapse between the two of them, but Blondine didn't mind. As the Lord had designed her, she was a chatterbox, and having a friend who didn't know how to reply gave her all the room she needed to pour out her inner emotions. After picking up a sour tasting hock that must have been rotting for ages and handing it over to Reigi for her meat-tomb, Blondine sighed and sat back for a moment's thought.

I think I'm going crazy, she laughed, I must've really lost it. I've let this girl get into my brain and, my God, she doesn't even know it! There was something about the two of them that Indra seemed oblivious to, and no matter how much that irked Blondine, she didn't have the guts to bring it to light. I'm crazy, right? I think you'd tell me.

M E A T   T O M B

they worked in silence.  reigi had decided, probably some time ago, that she quite liked the medic's company.  somewhere deep inside she knew she owed the healer for taking care of her so well, but she had not come up with an adequate thank-you gift.

it was there her thoughts had wandered when, suddenly, blondine erupted into life with words a-plenty.  reigi drew her gaze from the meat before her to blondine's face, searching.  her jaw parted gently, her brows furrowing as she cocked her head in confusion.

and then slowly, she would slink forward and brush against the girl in a treasured embrace, touching her cheek with her nose to assure her of.... whatever the hell was wrong with her.  she wasn't a fixer like blondine, but she would help in the only way she knew how.

The skin-to-skin contact was just what Blondine needed, though she didn't know it. Even if she had, Reigi would have been the last wolf she asked for a bit of comfort, considering her general fear of pregnancy. While Blondine was well aware of the fact that fertility wasn't contagious, she still thought that she ought to keep her distance whenever possible, just to be safe. 

Oh, sweetheart, she cooed, nuzzling Reigi as the two of them embraced, You always know just what to say. The two of them had work to do, and while Blondine was much more set on the idea of not doing it, she knew that it was necessary. Part of the scut work, she thought to herself, picking another piece of rancid meat from their pile.

it seemed to work, and reigi was glad.  blondine seemed to be reigi's only friend in the valley.  although she had made acquaintence of most of her packmates, it was blondine whom she spent the most time with and she wanted her friend to be alright.

reigi released a small, dumb-sounding giggle as she broke their contact and began to bury the piece of garbage that blondine had separated.

It was unfortunate, Blondine thought. Reigi was such a kind wolf, and yet, it seemed that her hand of cards had been dealt by Lucifer himself. It'll come together for her, Blondine thought as she watched Reigi handle the slab of meat, Just gotta wait. The Lord has his own timeline for things, and He did not work on anyone else's. Often times, this was something that Blondine had to remind herself of, else she risk becoming too wrapped up in her own bitterness.

Stealing another glance at the mother-to-be, Blondine asked, How're those babies treating you? It was a risky move, prodding her nose in the no-good-nether regions of another wolf without their permission, so she stopped herself, hopeful that she wouldn't have to.

everyone was so enamored with reigi!  the fatter she got, the more and more it seemed like people cared about her — and the life that swelled inside of her.  

and the more her packmates interacted with her, the more conversation she'd begun to understand.  hurt, some time.  it obviously took her a lot of effort to come up with this explanation, and her brow furrowed.  it wasn't quite right, was it?  

most good.  she looked bashfully to her swollen belly, letting out a breathy whine.  never before would anyone on the entire planet have guessed that this girl would make a good mom... but the longer her pregnancy went, the more connected she was to her children.

they had begun to move and kick recently, too!  one of them definitely nunataq, although reigi did not know how many there were yet let alone have names prepared thought that now was the most opportune time to start doing backflips and somersaults in her womb, and the mother-to-be's ears flattened to her side.

with a small, uncomfortable smile, she asked, touch?  she would allow blondine to feel them, if she would like... although she was mostly just seeking reassurance that this was normal, because oh my god.

Most of the mothers who Blondine had encountered in her life were doomed for death, pregnant with the actual antichrist (thanks to the ever famous Blondine Abernathy Sr.), so she knew about as much on normal pregnancy as the next. Still, some discomfort had to be okay, right? After all, Reigi did have other wolves actually living inside of her, and there was no way that that could be constant rainbows and sunshine. 

That's good, Blondine finally managed to choke out. The severity of her own nausea was hidden behind wide eyes and a (mostly) genuine grin. It made her incredibly nervous and anxious and uncomfortable and oh-my-god-i-cannot to think about actually feeling the pups, but she wasn't about to turn down the opportunity. 

Blondine gulped and looked at Reigi one last time to make sure that she was sure (because if she wasn't sure then Blondine definitely wasn't sure) but eventually found the courage to lower her muzzle and rest it against the tightly-pulled skin of Reigi's belly. It took a minute for Blondine to actually feel anything, due to the fact that she'd been holding her breath and cutting off most of the oxygen to her brain, but once she was able to breathe again, she could feel the tiny paws just beneath the surface, tracing the shape of her nose.

Holy shit, was it terrifying. 

Immediately, Blondine straightened up and cleared her throat, unsure of everything except her desire to never do that again. They feel healthy, she said to Reigi with an assuring nod of her head, Really healthy, doll.