Sun Mote Copse if panties were snowmen, you were march.

"Elwoooooood," Finley catcalled as she pranced along through the copse. She was definitely in heat. After failing to recognize it for like five years in a row, she'd figured out the signs and learned to take advantage of them. Wildfire had given her blessing to them long ago*, so there was nothing to hold them back. They would be mommy and daddy again to a brand new batch of kids that they could disappoint and ruin emotionally.

Ah, parenthood.

"Hey! Where are you Twig?" Fin barked as she cruised around the space in the copse where they'd taken up residence. She wondered if he was maybe out marking the borders or doing something useful when he should be nailing her. @Elwood was so like that. Figuring that might be the case, she tipped her head back and howled, trying to sound as alluring and suggestive in her call as possible so he would know what was up. Nevermind that her kids and her brother and everyone else would also know what was up. Fin had lost her ability to feel shame quite a long time ago.


*probably

Truthfully, Elwood wasn't doing anything especially productive. He had just woken up from a nap, and was stretching lazily in the sunshine when he heard Finley's howl. (And it was especially seductive since it was a kEk.) He disregarded it at first, in his half-awake state, but once his brain caught up and deciphered the message, he pushed himself abruptly into an upright position. He blinked once, twice, then said out loud, "Oh, shit."

It wasn't an expression of disappointment, but of realization and gradually building excitement. No matter how many times they had done this, every time still seemed like the first time -- except that they were actually old enough to realize what was happening now. Elwood jumped to his feet and hastened to meet his mate, ignoring the twinge in his left shoulder that resulted from getting up too quickly.

He made his way towards their homestead, and reached it in record time (at least, for someone his age). He slowed his pace to what he imagined to be a sultry stride and raised his brows suggestively as he approached Fin, a question in his gaze that didn't even need to be spoken aloud.

It didn't take Elwood too long to respond to her call. That wasn't surprising, of course. After all, he'd been summoned for sex. What man didn't sprint to that call? She fidgeted as she waited, her mind racing with thoughts of what this batch of Blackthorns would look like, how many there would be, how many girls and how many boys, etc. She was eager to be a mother for the fifth time over. She didn't know how many litters at this point her own mother had succeeded in making, but Fin was getting a bit hopeful that she might overtake the matriarch one of these days. She did like being the best.

Elwood's arrival stole her focus away from her thoughts. Her tail wagged as she smiled broadly at him. "Elwood! Hey, hey, hey, hey, listen, listen, guess what!" she chirped as she began to bounce towards him, "Do you know what time it---ARGHH!" Her question ended with a cry as she landed oddly on one of her bounces and her bum hip chose to give out. She collapsed onto the ground in a heap, smarting over the pain as she said, "I'm hurt."

There wasn't anything more enticing than the sight of Finley hopping from foot to foot -- especially when her bad hip gave out and left her sprawled unceremoniously on the ground. It didn't dampen Elwood's spirits much, though. He bent down to nudge her gently, then stepped back to regard her with a good-natured smirk.

You okay? he asked, and then followed that up with a secondary question: Are you sure you're up for...you know? He accompanied that query with a little shake of his hips; if he knew Fin, a little arthritis wouldn't stop her.

It was usually pretty hard to bring Finley down. I mean, emotionally. Obviously not physically. It's pathetically easy to bring her down physically. But anyway, maybe it was due to hormones, or she's just getting old, I don't know. But the moment she hit the ground, Fin quite suddenly felt the weight of her advanced age come crashing down upon her, and she sank.

"I don't know..." Fin answered as she straightened, cringing, "I'm suddenly wondering if having more kids might kill me. They are an awful lot of work. And I'm... I'm kind of fragile, aren't I?" Holy shit. Had she just said that out loud? She looked at her mate, bewildered.

Well, things took an unexpected turn. What had started as playful teasing soon took on a more serious note -- way more serious, in fact, as Finley began to muse aloud as to whether or not they should have another litter. Elwood blinked and his hips stopped swaying as he contemplated her words. She did have a point, and she wasn't the only one who was growing fragile; he couldn't deny that he was beginning to feel the effects of age in various ways as well. Could they really keep up with another horde of rambunctious puppies?

He managed to keep his instinctual desires at bay and forced himself to really consider it carefully. Truthfully, this wasn't all that difficult, since he tended to over-analyze things anyway, but there was still a small part of him that just wanted to go for it. "If you think it's not a good idea, then we won't do it," he said. The words felt strange in his mouth, but he still meant it. Finley's well-being was his top priority.

The Finwood relationship was a truly magical, idyllic one. But that didn't mean that things never went wrong. It didn't mean they always said the right things to each other when they needed to hear it. Finley blinked at her mate as he told her they didn't need to have another litter if she chose not to have one. He was always so reasonable, so supportive and level-headed.

She really needed him to tell her to quit being stupid though. "I... Really?" she asked, feeling numb and weird and weird more. Finley was a nutcase on a good day, but going into heat always increased her crazy level tenfold. "But... they're so cute too," she added with a thoughtful tilt of her head.

This was a weird situation. Truly, Elwood didn’t want to push Finley past her physical limits — but a piece of him quietly mourned the death of their youth. (Wow, that’s cheerful.) But really, it was one of those times where you never really realize something could be over until its potential end is staring you in the face. So yes, he meant what he said to her, but he also hoped for one more litter. Were they ready to close that chapter of their lives?

It was consolation to Elwood to hear that Fin was essentially feeling the same way. At least, that’s what he understood from her words. Despite the underlying seriousness of the conversation, he smirked. They are cute, he agreed, and how cool/weird would it be for their children to grow up alongside their grandchildren?

But you’re cuter, he added a moment later, and then clarified: And by that I mean you’re too important to me to risk something happening to you if you don’t feel right about this. But if you do... He raised his brows, and not in a flirty way; more of a seriously-questioning way.

Elwood agreed, but he still didn't tell her to shut up, which gave her the room to continue down her spiral of self-doubt. In fact, he seemed to be along for the ride. Oof. What an ordeal.

Fin was quiet for a moment, thinking about things. When finally she spoke, it was not to add any level of optimism to the conversation. She just started to bring them down more. "Remember back when we had that famine? When the locusts came and wiped out all of the plant life and the prey disappeared?" she asked, "That was when we had Liffey, Lagan and Lucy, remember?" She paused, looking at her mate and waiting for the recognition to come to his face before she continued.

"I thought I was going to die giving birth to them. I almost did," she said, the paused before asking hesitantly, "Would you have regreted having them if I had?" Fin looked at him for a moment. She wanted to let him answer first before she said anything else, but she couldn't help herself and her own answer slipped out, "I wouldn't have."

Which, I mean. Of course she wouldn't. She'd have been dead and incapable of regretting anything. But Fin knew that her mate would understand. That was kind of his thing.

Elwood wasn't going to push Finley into making either decision, so when she grew momentarily quiet, so did he. He waited patiently for her to speak again, and when she did, he listened carefully. He did indeed remember the troublesome days surrounding the famine; though it had faded from his memory, the images resurfaced in vivid colors at the reminder.

He recalled the fear he had felt when he thought he was going to lose Fin. But he also remembered the joy of the birth of Liffey, Lagan and Lucy. Fin asked him if he would have regretted their existence if she hasn't survived. Without hesitation, he replied, No.

And then he knew, without even speaking it aloud, that they would be trying for one more litter. They had to. It was their last chance, and Finley was likely stronger than she felt. It would be fine...right?

So you want to do this? he asked, feeling a similtaneous twinge of excitement and apprehension.

Elwood took no time answering. Almost just as she informed him that she wouldn't have had any regrets, he was doing the same. So, as usual, they were on the same page. They were going to do this.

"Yeah," Fin said, a smile returning to her face, "At least once more. I think we got that at least left in us." She pulled herself up onto all fours then, a little shaky, but able to manage. She looked at her mate again and her smile turned to a smirk. "Besides, if I do die, I'll just come back and haunt all of you," she informed him with a wry grin.

I guess it won’t be so easy to get rid of you then, Elwood teased. Their conversation had taken somewhat of a playfully morbid turn, but he forced those thoughts to the back of his mind and essentially turned his brain off. He didn’t need to overthink what they were presumably about to do; his body would operate on autopilot, and he could already feel his instincts beginning to take over as the talking concluded.

With a whisk of his tail, he stepped closer to Fin and began to nibble at the fur on her cheek, gradually working his way to the underside of her jawline. I’ll be gentle, he promised, though he would wait until she gave him the official green light to move further.

Finley smiles at her mate’s response, knowing perfectly well he was teasing. She shook her head to confirm his suspicions. No, she wouldn’t be easy to get rid of at all. Especially not for him. She had decided a long time ago that he was hers, and she was completely prepared to stick to him like a love tick until their dying day. And beyond, if he happened to break his promise to her and go first. We’ll just hope it doesn’t come to that though because I’m really uncomfortable writing about her snuggling with a dead body. But I digress.

”You better be. I’m quite elderly,” she purred as she moved to meet him, returning his affectations with little nips and kisses along his ear and down his neck. Her tail flashed high over her haunches in the international Wolf signal of lets do this as he, presumably, got into position for the start of their week long kerflomple extravaganza. Then she got pregnant.

thinkin we can fade here ;)