Sun Mote Copse You've got a fast car

While he was still trying to keep a sort of respectful distance from his mother, she did manage to pin him down for a bit of a conversation in the early morning hours, before he could drop off breakfast and then take off. She looked...Normal, for the most part, but her belly was getting bigger and bigger, and she smelled sort of different too. But when he actually gave her a few minutes to talk...He realized for the first time in months that this was still his mother. She was still herself, and she still had the same softness in her eyes when she looked at him- especially now. He had been bringing her food regularly, and she had thanked him for it, and had given him a smile that was more tender and honest than what he recalled ever getting from her. Of course, he'd grown up- he wasn't being a brat, he wasn't mouthing off...He'd been helping her. While he considered the food drop-off to be a means of apologetically avoiding her, she'd considered it as a way for him to safely keep contact, and show that he cared...And in the end, it was. She nuzzled his cheek, and finally, he didn't bristle at the touch. This was his Ma- even if she was pregnant with another man's children...She was still 100% his mother, and he felt reassured. 

"Take that to your auntie Towhee," She suggested, with a smile, once his nerves had been calmed. She'd winked. "An' go see your first little sister. She needs to get to know you while she's still young. That way, she knows to look up to you." She said. He felt a nip of anxiety, realizing then that he wasn't completely prepared to be a big brother- but he obediently nodded, picked up the partridge he'd caught, and carried it to the place he'd been told that Towhee had settled in. 

He approached cautiously, forgetting for a few moments that Towhee wouldn't have been able to hear his footsteps or the soft puff of his breath. He knew to approach her where he would be directly in her line of sight, rather than potentially surprising her and startling the little one. As nervous as he was, he didn't see the pup at first- but he didn't get too close, not knowing exactly how comfortable Towhee was with him visiting. He'd never even seen a puppy, after all, and he was well aware of his inexperience. He put the partridge down on the ground and cleared his throat needlessly, and as soon as he cauht Towhee's gaze, he would give her a sort of awkward, but still honest smile, hoping he might be given the chance to stick around and meet little @Meerkat.

When Towhee grew weary of being a chew toy, the Regent sprang atop the log den, out of Meerkat's reach. The month-old pup proceeded to scramble around the log, circling her mother like a tiny shark before attempting to bound up onto Towhee's perch. No matter how hard she tried, she kept slipping back onto her bottom. Rather than feel frustrated by this, Meerkat reveled in the game, particularly when Towhee took pity on her and dangled a foreleg in front of the log's entrance. The puppy immediately seized hold of it and began to gnaw, giggling wildly when her sharp teeth prompted Towhee to fling her sideways.

It was about then that Bronco appeared, causing Towhee to withdraw her foreleg and sit up straighter. -Mama!- Meerkat signed plaintively, then noticed her mother's fixation on something behind her. The youngster pivoted and blinked at the visitor, immediately abandoning Towhee to romp right up to this newest friend. -Hi!- she tried to sign even as she moved toward him, which resulted in Meerkat losing her balance and face-planting, the fall fortunately cushioned by the dead bird's plump breast and downy feathers.

Towhee's posture, atop the log, caused Bronco to feel as though he was being watched- and that he had to be careful, so he was perhaps unnecessarily wary when a small, fuzzy beige pup romped toward him. He flinched in surprise, but jutted his head forward when he saw her make a funny movement with her forepaws, and he found himself somewhat awestruck at the fact that Meerkat was signing at him- until, that is, she tripped over her paws and fell directly into the feathery gift he'd brought for Towhee. "Ouf!" He empathized, sinking down to the ground, worming forward an inch or two with his jaw only a couple inches off the ground. His eyes lifted to gauge Towhee's expression, and he whined softly. It alarmed him to see a child fall- even though it was into something soft. 

"Hey, hey," He said, softly. "You okay?" He asked, daring to bring his nose just a bit closer- but he didn't reach out to touch her just yet, still unsure of whether he was allowed to or not, and unwilling to push any boundaries.

She didn't get up right away, instead burying her face in the soft, warm pheasant and inhaling deeply the scent of wild game. It made her mouth water. Only when she heard a concerned voice above her did Meerkat sit up straight, a droll look on her face even as she heard her mother say from behind her, -"Don't worry, she does than about 47,000 times a day."- The pup's grin broadened as if in agreement with this statement.

-Hi!- she tried again now that she was seated. Meerkat could sign more effectively than she could speak at present, though she remembered to try it out loud too: "AY!" That sounded right, more or less, to her one working ear. And then back to signing as she added, -Eat?- Her eyes dropped to the pheasant.

Bronco looked up, at first unable to understand what it was Towhee had said, given how distracted he was. Generally, he relied on using ptero to speak with Towhee, and found perhaps that he relied a bit too much on it in order to understand her speech, but he figured out soon enough by her expression more than her tone that Meerkat was fine, and that her taking a tumble wasn't too bad. She seemed to enjoy the softness of the feathers, anyway, so he smiled down at the little one, and lowered his muzzle again. 

She sat back and surprised Bronco by signing, blurting out a greeting loudly enough for him to flinch a bit, though his smile didn't fall shy whatsoever. He sat up then, gave a quick glance to Towhee, and signed back -Hi- though he found it hard to not laugh as he did so. Meerkat was absolutely adorable. He still felt a bit self-aware, given his size in comparison to Meerkat's, but as long as he stayed where he was, he wouldn't have to worry about squishing her with one of his big paws. He blew out a breath in surprise as she asked about the pheasant, and he looked at it, and then looked at Meerkat. Didn't pups just drink milk? He looked up at Towhee, wondering if she'd seen her daughter's question. "Uhm," He said. The last thing he wanted was to take anything that Meerkat liked away from her...But he also had absolutely no idea whether or not she could eat meat. So he decided instead not to encourage that she try to eat something she might choke on and put one paw on the bird to get her attention again, and then signed. -Bird- He said. He signed and spoke more slowly. -Birrrrrd-

-"She just ate,"- Towhee said to Bronco even as Meerkat bent her head down to sniff at the carcass. It didn't resemble her usual fare (milk and pre-chewed meat), yet it certainly smelled delicious. Her nose crinkled when a feather tickled her nostril, prompting a soft sneeze.

Their guest was saying something, so Meerkat turned her attention to him. "BIRB!" she exclaimed, quite pleased with herself when it came out sounding almost exactly right. She licked her lips, then tried saying it and signing it at the same time. Her sign was almost spot on, only a tad clumsy, just like her tongue.

A shadow fell over her and Meerkat tipped her head back and smiled upside down at her mother. -"Meerkat, this is Bronco,"- Towhee said, pausing and glancing at the young male before adding, -"He's your older brother, like Fig."-

"FIG!" Meerkat chirped. Apparently, her volume dial was stuck on max.

Bronco was relieved both when Towhee told him he wouldn't have to worry about Meerkat possibly choking on the bird, and when the youngster simply seemed content to sniff it. Her sneeze was adorable, and made Bronco melt a bit, and before he could stop himself, he tilted his head, made a fake pout and crooned "Awwww!" He surprised himself, and laughed softly, clearing his throat to try and regain whatever was left of his composure. Okay, so kids were cute, this one especially. Meerkat was special, primarily because she was the first puppy he'd ever seen, but also because Towhee mentioned, then, that he was like an older brother, life Figment. And that made his eyes tear up a bit. 

He chuckled, when Meerkat piped up, and he shook his head. "Bronco," He said, and then reiterated, more slowly, "Bron...Co" While he wasn't exactly sure about getting too close to the kid, for fear that any movement he might make would hurt her, he did think that as long as he was careful...He could probably handle this big brother thing.

Towhee retreated back to her perch on the log. -"She's loud, isn't she?"- she guessed, having noticed the vehemence of her kid's vocalizations and the way others often flinched whenever she opened her mouth. -"I'd tell her to pipe down but I don't think she knows what that means yet,"- she said to Bronco as she crossed her forelegs.

Meerkat paid her mother no attention, her focus fixed solely upon Bronco. "BUN!" she exclaimed, pausing to take a breath before adding the second syllable, "CO!" Her tail waggled before she sucked in another breath, deeper this time, and blared, "BUNCO!" It didn't sound quite right to her one functional ear but it was close enough. She beamed.

Glancing at the pheasant again, Meerkat pointed a toe and said, -"BIRB!"- She then lifted her tiny fist toward Bronco and hollered, "BUNCO!" Her head canted sideways then, eyes brimming with a question he may or may not understand: what was the sign for Bronco?

It was easy to forget that Meerkat's mom was sitting right there, observing the interactions, given how adorable the little one was. Bronco was watching Meerkat with a mix of fascination and adoration, bewilderingly intrudgued by this novelty that tugged at his heartstrings. He hadn't expected puppies to have this sort of effect on him, because he hadn't really known what to expect. All he'd had in mind was a tiny little nearly inanimate thing that he shouldn't touch, lest he do something to harm it inadvertantly. But this...This was something miraculous and wonderful. He glanced up at Towhee, his eyes brimming with glee, and shook his head. -She's great. I don't want her to pipe down.- He admitted. His ptero was somewhat awkward and hesitant, given how distracted he was by Meerkat. 

She continued to look up at him with her dark, sparkling eyes, and he waited, holding his breath as she sounded out his name. For her, of course, sounding something out quickly turned into shouting it out, but Bronco didn't mind. After all- he had been brought up by a screechy, outspoken mother who had shouted at him quite a bit when he'd been very young and rebellious. Talking loudly was simply a manner of expression. 

"That's right!" He chuffed proudly, and was amazed yet again when she identified both the bird, and then him. He glanced up at Towhee, wide-eyed. -She's smart- He said softly, with a smile. He hadn't quite picked up on Meerkat's request- but the question in her eyes, and the outstretched paw, pointing at him, finally clued him in. "Oh," He said, and chuckled. -Bronco- He signed, and then repeated the gesture again. -Bronco.- The sign for his name was a combination of a head toss and the pawing of one of his front feet, an imitation of horse body language, and an homage to his late father.

Bronco's gaze strayed to Towhee and Meerkat emphatically shook that little fist, impatient to recapture his attention. He didn't leave her hanging long, cottoning onto her unspoken question and making a brief series of signs that absolutely delighted the little girl. -Bronco!- she imitated, quite enthusiastic in particular about pawing at the ground. "BUNCO!" she remembered to shout a beat later before lapsing into silently repeating his name sign over and over again.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Meerkat had the extremely short attention span of the very young. She soon dropped Bronco's name altogether and, yet again, her attention shifted back to the pheasant. She thrust her pale face into the mess of feathers once more, enjoying the soft, ticklish sensations as well as the mouthwatering odor that swamped her nose. It was only a matter of time before she took to gnawing on it, her mouth quickly filling with bits of downy fluff that clung to her tongue.

"Ohjeez."

What else was he supposed to do? The kid was adorable- but maybe the sign for his name might have been a little bit...Too thrashy, to be teaching a child. Bronco figured she was, due to her newness and size, about as hardy as a china doll- and that the sudden flailing she did as she repeated the sign for his name over and over might give her whiplash. "Hey-hey-hey- good job!" He said, trying to get her attention, and stop the headbanging. Fortunately, it seemed to work- and she buried her nose back into the pheasant feathers, which for a moment seemed safer than for her to be wildly flinging her little head about. He licked his lips, suddenly realizing how quickly his anxiety had gone from zero to ten. It was OK- she was a kid, and not as breakable as he thought, right? He tried to reassure himself of that and was about to say something to Towhee when he suddenly caught sight of all the feathers in Meerkat's mouth. 

"Oh, uhm, eeee, Towheeeee," He whined, and reached out as though to touch his nose to Meerkat's, but he still didn't feel at ease with the idea of actually touching the pup so he jerked his head back. He gritted his teeth and shuffled back on his belly, flattening his ears. Why the heck did he bring a choking hazard with him?! "Her mouth's all full of feathers, I dunno what to..." He moaned, and glanced over his shoulder. Maybe if he made a run for it now...He could run so fast he could go back in time, and leave the partridge behind. Hastily, then, he gingerly reached out, grabbed the partridge by its long tailfeathers and as soon as Meerkat let go of it, he absolutely launched the bird with a flick of his neck, sending it spiraling over the bushes off into the distance where it eventually landed with a soft flump. 

He surprised himself with how far he'd managed to throw the partridge...He'd just wanted to get it out of the kid's grasp, so she couldn't eat any more feathers, but at the same time...It had been a gift for Towhee. Awkwardly, he shrugged, and shrank back, submissively. -I...Guess you c'n...Have it later?-

This was one of the odder sensations she'd experienced thus far. Meerkat opened and closed her mouth a few times, sticking out her tongue and spitting. She wasn't in any danger of choking, though she went pliant when Towhee swooped in and nosed open her feathery maw, using her own tongue to sweep the bits of downy fluff from her child's mouth before it caused any real problems.

Distracted by Towhee's ministrations, Meerkat didn't even see Bronco pitch the dead bird off into the brush. When the Regent retreated after a gentle pat to the baby's head, Meerkat turned to look again and stared at the spot where the partridge (not pheasant, as my earlier posts wrongly indicated) had been just seconds ago.

The tot blinked, looked up at Bronco, down at the bare ground, and back up at her big brother, looking utterly and innocently quizzical.

Towhee casually checked out her child's face, making sure there was no danger of her choking on fluff or feathers, making Bronco gulp. Okay, so he'd panicked over nothing, maybe- but better that then just letting her chomp down more feathers, right? He felt a bit stupid, and a bit useless, and probably even a bit less inclined to volunteer as babysitter given the fact that he had no clue what to do in any sort of emergency situation. He stayed quiet for a moment, and felt bad when Meerkat suddenly noticed that the bird was gone, and looked at him, questioningly, for answers. 

He did his best not to look off in the direction the bird had been chucked, as it was out of sight for now, but he figured Towhee would want to find it and eat it later. He also didn't want Meerkat to get at it without supervision, so he tried his best not to hint at its location. So he shrugged, and did his best to offer her a somewhat guilty smile. -Bird...Flew...Away...?- Of course, dead birds didn't fly. But he wasn't about to give her any more explanation than that.

She met his halted explanation with a politely puzzled look, nose scrunching a little, then apparently decided to move on with her life. In fact, Meerkat burst into sudden motion, dancing and wriggling in a very crude mimic of Bronco's name sign just for the pleasure of moving her body. When that didn't suffice as an outlet for her energy, she even more abruptly broke into a case of the zoomies, running in rapid circles around the little clearing by the log.

Eventually, she broke the cyclical pattern and zigzagged toward Bronco, barking loudly and diving toward the space beneath him.

Bronco tried to smile as apologetically and innocently as possible, even though he'd just straight-up lied to the kid. Dead birds didn't fly. All he could do was wish over and over again that she'd give up on the bird and just forget about it- and technically, she seemed to do just that, but it meant that she just went back t flailing and thrashing her little head around, minicking his ptero name. She seemed to vibrate for a moment before she took off- and he froze, not...Not sure what to make of all this. 

He could recognize the zoomies, though, when he saw a wolf who had them, and he was glad to see that she was fine with just going in circles, on her own, at what looked like a safe patch of ground. He didn't want her to get any closer to the bog, though, because she could easily fall into the water and either get suffocated by mud or drown- but fortunately, she turned back toward him- and charged. "Eehhhh," He moaned, uncomfortably, before he realized that Meerkat wasn't going to stop- so he had to get up. He bounded away, skipping sideways to avoid having Meerkat pile right into his ribs knowing that it'd hurt her more than it hurt him. But as long as he was moving away from her, he couldn't step on her, right? "C'mon!" He lured, dipping down into a play bow before springing back again. "Come getcher Bronco!" He said, before he began to bound away, always keeping one eye on the tot to make sure she was following him, but not getting too close.

There was a bit of flesh there on his belly she intended to seize in her teeth. Fortunately for Bronco, he either guessed at her intentions or simply wanted to engage in Meerkat's game. Whatever his reasons, he sprang out of reach, forcing the pup to course correct in order to give pursuit. She didn't mind this development in the least. In fact, she grinned as she gave chase, a trilling noise somewhere between a battle cry and a laugh escaping her mouth.

She seemed incapable of catching him, the burly yearling always just out of reach. Meerkat began to flag, the energy sapping from her little limbs, though her high spirits did not falter. She loved the game of chase, even if she never could quite close in on her target. She had absolutely no intention of giving up or stopping.

But, of course, everybody has a limit. The pup reached hers and collapsed dramatically to the ground, tiny flanks heaving with her rapid, panting breaths. Still she smiled, eyes rolling as she tried to seek her brother upside down, another titter tearing loose from her throat as she struck out a paw and weakly thumped it on the ground.

She seemed to enjoy chasing him, and Bronco remained just slightly out of reach- allowing her to get close before he'd bound a few steps away again. He didn't really realize that you occasionally had to be caught, in order to be good at playing cat-and-mouse, just to keep the one playing 'cat' interested. He didn't seem to outlive Meerkat's entertainment, though- but on such short little legs, there was no possible way she could keep going forever and she eventually slumped, panting. He lowered his haunches to slide to a stop, and turned on his heel, mock-galloping back toward her...Basically moving at the speed of a slow trot, but exaggerating his movements to make it look like he was actually running, until he lowered his head and went down over one shoulder, essentially ducking into a somersault so that he ended up sliding to a halt not far from where Meerkat had indicated that he should stop, with a tap of her foot. He was dusty now, and a bit dizzy, but he sat up, with a wide grin, and said "Uh...Ta-da?" Somewhat self-consciously. Was he being reduced to performing circus tricks, now?

She felt the impact when Bronco sprawled nearby, a vibration which made her eyes widen even as she continued panting. Her eyes sought him again even as he declared, "Tada!" Meerkat didn't know what it meant but she couldn't resist the impulse to shout the two simple syllables: "TA! DA!" Despite her shortness of breath, it came out just as loud as anything else.

Her eyes slipped close then as the pup succumbed to her exhaustion. She didn't fall asleep, just rested as she caught her breath. When she reopened them a moment later, she saw her mother's face hovering. Meerkat pushed herself up onto an elbow, licking her foamy chops.

-"Thanks for tiring her out for me,"- Towhee quipped to Bronco right before she bent down and snatched Meerkat's scruff. The pup was nearly too large for this now, so the Regent waddled a little as she carried her over to the log and deposited her in a boneless heap inside.

Meerkat peered sleepily from her cozy spot in the makeshift den's mouth, giving her mother and Bronco a dopey smile. She then promptly curled into a ball, tucking her nose beneath her whip-like tail, sighing contentedly as her eyes drifted shut and stayed closed this time.

Bronco, too, was panting, and like Meerkat, he looked up with a smile when Towhee's shadow stretched over the both of them. When Towhee picked Meerkat up, she was gentle, and the puppy hung limp and relaxed until she was placed in the log of a den they had, where she curled up and went to sleep. He waited until Towhee had her little one snuggled down comfortably, before he responded so that he could make eye contact with her. He smiled. This had been sort of terrifying...But also sort of good. 

-Any time- He offered, though the thought of puppysitting and playing with kids still made his heart race a bit. -I'm gonna go do a patrol now, though...She's adorable...Congrats- He said, and then he grinned for a moment, and then let his jaw hang slack and signed -Suh-man-thuh- Before he broke into laughter, nudged his auntie's cheek fondly, and trotted off toward the borders.