Broken Boulder un jour tu t'en voudras

 

she is outside again, where she is probably not supposed to be.  but she has just begun to learn that the world is bigger than her and momma and molly and brilla, and that curiosity is what fuels her excursions.  dad is still not allowed around the den very often, and it is only sometimes she is able to see him.

but dad's love is different than mom's love, and she doesn't really understand why.  she is still too young.  but she knows that even if it is just because mama is (mostly) always there and daddy is not, that she prefers the company of her father.

foolishly, she trails after his smell until she finds him, and she makes a childish attempt to stay hidden from papa.

unsurprisingly it is not hard to avoid alarian, though he wishes it kind of were, since that means alarian is avoiding him too. or maybe he's overthinki--- oh who is he kidding he knows alarian well enough at this point. they should probably talk at some point about what they are and what they want.

today is not gonna be that day.

instead he is coming by to check the children, glad that they seem to have bounced back from their initial interruptions. he doesn't know enough about biology or babies to know what the long term affects may be, and he still doesn't trust queenie the way he used to (it hurts), but they are appropriately wriggly he thinks. he's yet to bring up the fact he wants eris to check them over again with his estranged friend, knowing full well it will be the start of a fight and possibly the end of whatever fragile peace they've built between themselves.

what he is not expecting is to catch sight of his daughter outside of the den, looking caught out. "solomon," delight says admonishingly, coming towards her, "where are you going?" even if she can't understand him yet, probably. babies sure do take a while to grow.

the perk of being a child is that although there are already many complications to her life, she is unaware of about ninety percent of them.  what she does understand she doesn't really, at least not yet.  

but that tone in daddy's voice, she has heard it before.  she squats and had she not just urinated somewhere else a puddle would've formed beneath her.  as it was only a tiny golden dribble leaked from her, tiny round ears flattening upon her head.

daa-aaad-dee, she whines, sweeping herself between his (compared to her) massive paws.

it's not the reaction he expects -- immediately the young father is made guilty, apologetically licking the top of her head as she comes towards him. "hey now," delight says, making sure to keep his tone softer, "it's okay, you just can't be wandering off alone, okay?"

but well, he's here now. shifting, he settles down, laying in a sphinx-like position to keep her framed between his delicate paws. it's startling how much she looks like him -- brilliance and mali both seem to have taken more after their mother, their merle pattern more clearly showing these days, but solomon has stayed that familiar burnt umber. she seems to have inhabited his glower, too, though if that's just a side effect of her... early difficulties, he doesn't know yet. he gives her head another little lick if she lets him, humming. "what are you up to, anyway?"

daddy seems to get it. his demeanor shifts ito something softer and more accommodating. of course, that doesn't mean that solomon will listen but she becomes much more absorbant. it's awkay, she mirrors, tongue seeking the bottom of his chin. i'm a-walkin's, dadda!

she seems to calm much to his relief. he does not have sternness built into him -- he is glowering, saturnine, occasionally sullen, but these things do not speak to authority so much as childishness, and it seems he will not develop an austere streak in regards to parenting either. well, maybe that's a good thing -- he would have been a good balance to queenie, maybe.

nevermind. hurts to think about. instead: "you are walking," he agrees, charmed by her assertion. "but you should stay by the den, okay? it's not safe to walk by yourself." delight tries to give her a Look, though it looks less commanding and more pleading. hey, it works with everyone else in his life. pity does get you pretty far. 

he gives her a look, but it does not hold the same commanding sharpness that queenie's did. she does not cower beneath it. instead, she reaches as high as she can on her tip toes with her tongue out to blep up against delight's chin. okays, she concedes, s'long as i can wok. only time would tell how well she actually listened.

cans i wok wit' you?

he strongly suspects she will forget this conversation by breakfast time. but to answer her question he returns her blep, licking briefly the crown of her little head. "sure thing," he says, stretching out briefly before starting back up in the direction solomon seemed to be heading. "this way?" he asks her to confirm, a smile brightening his face a bit.

she is happy to walk in any direction with him, so long as they are walking together... but it does help that he picks the direction she has started in. her pace varies. sometimes, she walks between delight's towering stilt legs. sometimes she lingers behind, nipping at his tail. and now.. she barrels ahead as fast as her little legs will carry her towards something interesting — a very shiny rock. daddy, look!

walking with her beneath his feet is very nervewracking: at any moment he thinks he will trip over her and hurt her, even if he is not quite large enough to properly crush her. it does not come to pass, though he stumbles when she darts forward. a rock has caught her attention of all things. "very pretty," he agrees (assuming that is what she is thinking). "you really like to explore, huh?"

she picks up the rock and puts it in her mouth before she decides that is one of the things that does not belong in her mouth. it doesn't taste bad, but it is cold and much harder than anything else she's put in there, even bones! daddy acknowledges her again and she turns her head quickly like "i totally didn't just do that" before she realizes what he's said. a slow, happy smile forms over her lips and her eyes twinkle. yeaaaaaah! she squeals, running back towards daddy so she can weave in and out of his legs.