Redhawk Caldera let your heart run, child, like horses in the wild

She knew her mother was extremely weary from tending her litter 'round the clock. It took forever to coax Towhee to take a break and go out for a short walk but Meerkat eventually convinced the Sovereign to leave the Hobbit Hole. She immediately took her mother's place, offering Towhee a reassuring grin as she reluctantly headed outdoors.

Secretly thrilled to have @Caracal, @Marten R, @Tierra and @Fear to herself for a few moments, Meerkat lowered her face and gently smashed it in among their tiny, warm bodies.

This prompted an indignified yowl from Sphyra, who was having none of it. She'd been happily snoozing when the nose disturbed her peace. With a huff and a scowl — though her face was too tiny and underdeveloped to really tell it was a scowl — she made certain that it was clear that she would not be treated this way. She decided when she slept and awoke. In revenge, she lashed out tiny paws and mouth to grab the nose, unaware that in her current tiny state it would probably be seen as no more than an adorable big ole' hug around Meerkat's nose.

She earned an indignant cry and a lashing for her lack of courtesy. "Sorry, sorry," Meerkat apologized, grinning like an idiot as she took her beating and then attempted to soothe her baby sister with several slow passes of her tongue. "I don't know what I was thinking. You're just too damn cute, I guess I couldn't help myself. Will you ever forgive me?"

The three others remained rather quiet and still, apparently unbothered by the yearling's affections. Although she loved them each so much it made her heart feel like it might burst, Meerkat decided to take this opportunity to focus on a single puppy, at least until given no other choice.

"Hmmm, are you Sap or Rap? Sorry, I don't think I can pronounce your full name if you are, uh, Sphy...rap...ic...us?" Okay, that actually came out sounding about right.

It seemed that her siblings were unbothered by these unwarranted touches, and it was up to Sphyra to chase off this intruder. Of course any words fell to deaf ears, as her world was much more limited than that. Sphyra mewled as she let go of the intruder's nose, and then lifted her little head and sniffed the air tentatively. It did not tell her much, and so she opened her mouth and tried to reach out to any part of Meerkat that she could touch, just so she could figure out what was going on.

She supposed names didn't matter much right now, considering the pups could neither hear (spoken word) nor see (signing). Meerkat mused about name signs for all of three seconds before her little sister recaptured her attention by pawing at the air.

Meerkat gently pushed her nose into the child's wee grasp. "I'm here," she said, well aware that Sap/Rap couldn't hear her. Surely she could smell her, possibly even feel the vibrations of her voice. "Why did mom give you guys such weird names anyway?" she mused, the query followed by a loud hum.

Finally, success! All by Sphyra's own intellect, of course, she managed to re-find the intruder. With her gums she mouthed at Meerkat's nose, trying to make sense of what she was nomming on. She turned towards the side of the nose and managed to get her gums around some hair, which just caused her to sneeze in surprise as Meerkat's hair poked at her little nose, and fall backwards.

"Then again," Meerkat continued musing, "my name's weird too. It's actually Suricate, though everyone calls me Meerkat. You're wel—" Her voice cut off abruptly when the baby sneezed, tumbling backward and prompting the yearling's foreleg to strike out instinctively to catch her.

"Bless you," she said with a smile, righting the little girl and licking her forehead soothingly. Meerkat doubted she needed it because, "You're a feisty one, aren't you?"

Sphyra stared — well, she lifted her head up towards Meerkat, anyway — up at Meerkat. As if agreeing, she let out a singular loud MEWL!

The way her little sister seemed to gaze up at her made Meerkat wonder exactly how puppies perceived the world at this stage. How much of this exchange could her tiny, newborn brain fathom? If the yearling hadn't known better, she could've sworn Sap/Rap was both looking at her and listening, despite being blind and deaf.

Her whole face lit up with a grin at the baby's loud war cry. "You tell 'em!" Meerkat said, touching her nose to the baby's. "I bet mom will train you up as a warrior. I'm not a fighter myself, although I know that you guys will learn a lot through play. And I'll definitely play with you as much as you want," she promised, booping Sap/Rap again.

Unaware of the conversation that was happening, Sphyra was startled when she was booped again. She tried to bite at the intrusion to ward it off, but instead, considering her mouth was too small to fit around, she licked Meerkat's nose. Which probably would be perceived as cute rather than fierce and fearsome.

Her baby sister rebutted by licking Meerkat's nose, her tiny tongue prodding right into her nostril very ticklishly. She began to laugh and tried to gently push the pup away when a very sudden and violent sneeze burst from her. Little Sap/Rap took the brunt of it to the face, which made her older sister feel bad. But there was nothing to be done about it, as several more sneezes followed, causing Meerkat's head to shake rapidly as her face scrunched with the sheer force of them. She did have the wherewithal to turn it sideways to avoid spraying the poor little girl more than once or twice.

A sudden sneeze caused Sphyra to recoil away from Meerkat. A second later she decided that she would not be treated that way and turned back towards Meerkat, once more crawling over to launch an attack and get her revenge.

They just kept on coming! Meerkat's eyes watered even as Sap/Rap decided to visit her vengeance upon her, eliciting a laugh of surprise even as one last sneeze burst from her. Finally, the fit stopped, leaving the yearling to blink and wipe at her watery eyes and nose.

"You got me! I'm died!" she joked affectionately to the feisty baby. "I deserved it too. Sorry 'bout that, lil' sis. And thanks too; I think your pounce cured me." Her whole body jiggled as she laughed and stretched out a foreleg to bundle the pup closer to her chest.

That was when Towhee reappeared in the Hobbit Hole's entryway. Meerkat looked up at her mother, who paused and smiled wearily at the sight of her daughters for a moment before padding nearer and saying, "Alright, the food truck's here." She flopped to the floor beside Meerkat with a loud sigh.

Sphyra struggled when she was bundled close to Meerkat's chest, squealing loudly all the while. She was soon distracted by the milk bar's reentrance though and with an indignant huff Sphyra settled by Towhee's side and started to nurse.

Towhee didn't seem to mind when she lingered, so Meerkat didn't bother moving other than to maneuver herself into a better position as the Sovereign steered the pups toward her teats. She exchanged a smile with her mother, whose head sank to the floor a moment later, her eyes closing. Clearly she needed a nap. Meerkat would be happy to watch over them.