Dragoncrest Cliffs mond mwen an

all sibs/anyone allowed near the den welcome!

mireille was in danger of being obscured by her ravening brothers. at least one of them. erzulie provided for the daughters as dutifully as she was able, but the girl's intuition did not lead her to squabble so much.
and maman left too often, perhaps more than she should in these early days. this was why she had become more warm toward the new presences of older sisters, and the motherly figure that did not give milk.
today she squalled into @Sobo's ear, shoved her round muzzle into @Loko's shoulder, and clambered over @Coraline. nothing to be heard or seen, yet, but she wanted free of their sprawling heap.

Rosalyn worried over Erzulie's frequent departures, and silently disapproved, but she would not force her wife to remain. She could not, even if she wished to, and lately found herself less and less willing to say anything that might remotely cause a conflict. There was a silent weariness in her, something bone deep that weighed heavily. She didn't speak of it, but occasionally it lent a silent shadow to her features.

As the pups grew loud Rosalyn murmured to them, softly and almost idly hushing them. Aye, little one. This is an early start to become a wee tyrant. She smiled somewhat crookedly and lifted Mirelle from the pile of her siblings, then rolled and rested the bab upon her chest. Is that any way to treat a crew? She felt the others clambering against her side, but ignored them for now, her attention and eye trained on her daughter's scrunched up and tiny features.

other-one, came the wordless thought: only a silent sensation of familiarity washing her primal little senses. she was lifted and placed in the easy calming scent of her mother. hers was a bevy of outdoor things that mireille had not yet explored, and would not for some time.
calmed now that she had been plucked from the pack of them, the girl yawned and went hunting through the texture of rosalyn's fur for the bouquet of fragrances, pausing here and there to fill her nostrils truly with one or another. her voice was soft, questioning rather than a sharp pierce.

Rosalyn remained patiently still as she rooted around, clearly parsing the scenes of the world outside. The borders, pequeñita. And the meadow, where the grasses and flowers would swallow you whole. Rosalyn growled playfully, a light rumble that barely resembled the description, and shifted left to right so the ground would 'tremble' beneath the pup perched on her breast.

Careful, the earth is a hungry one. She came in for a series of pecking kisses, breaking into a wide smile despite herself.

the vibrations of rosalyn's voice soothed mireille. she cooed in response, the trill of the r providing another sort of sussuration beneath her small paws.
a darting, babyish yip at the kisses, head bobbing and searching and steadying the girl as she inched forward, arching into her mother's affection. small trilling sounds emitted from mireille. in this moment, she was joyous and curious as she could be in this age, hunger briefly forgotten.

The trills were one of her favorite things, a baby laughter that warmed her from her muzzle to her toes. She tipped her chin down and over Mirelle, clutching her close for a moment as she rocked and pretended to "gobble" her up. Then with a burst of her own laughter she released her, turning sideways enough to gently deposit her beside and glance at her siblings. All seemed well with the ones napping close.

How about a game, love? Can you? Rosalyn smiled, then trilled a quiet note. It was a game she'd played occasionally with the musical Chacal and she wondered if this daughter too would like to sing. Her maman's gifts were in her if so, then.

maman; she brought a thousand joys to tiny little mireille, and as much as a puppy of her age could reach for the sunlight of her mother's face, the child did. a coo came from her at the sound of rosalyn's voice, and then stumped auds heard the muffled note.
perhaps she was not yet ready to hear, perhaps she was consumed by the rapture of the moment.
what came from mireille was not a repetition, but the first pure high note of oui, a sound she had heard in utero and after, a sound she did not know but only came when those around her brought milk and smells with them.
a sound to answer back her pirate mother.

She reached for her with grasping puppy paws and it was all Rosalyn could do to not bury her face in that soft belly entirely. But she waited, watched the concentration on her sweet little features as she worked out what had happened. The note that came was not the same, but it was music and she beamed proudly that she'd followed so well.

Beautiful, cher. Another page from Erzulie's book. She took the note and added another two then. And then, absolutely unable to resist... she did tackle her with tickles from her muzzle, unsuspecting.

mireille was delighted. the bond between her and rosalyn had been strong as birth and milk and blood; she had been born into the pirate's presence and knew her from the beginning. 
and now it came in the form of sound and scent and vibration, and her tiny jaws gaped silent now, something like an early smile that transformed into a yawn as the moments and gestures settled her small body in a warm way.

gonna wrap this <3 I let it get real old

Even this was a lot of work for a small one. Rosalyn smiled as the wise baby-grin turned wider still, stretched by an unashamed yawn. She could barely help repeating it.

Mirelle, I think you have the idea, she agreed quietly, moving so that she could draw the pup in closer. A nap it is.

She would sleep lightly, but she did not worry overly much about napping while watching. Generally the pups slept longer stretches now and did not require as much attention as they had - a welcome change, despite the passage of time it represented.