Stavanger Bay Peek-a-boo, I see you

forward dated to sepember 27

Despite his odd colouration in the form of his grey freckles, Charon did not stand out much as a child. While adventurous and eager to explore and trample all over the boundaries and limitations set to him by and in this world, Charon was not a very fussy child. He did not cry or complain much; he simply tried again when he was deterred from reaching his set goals. The ivory child appeared content and lively and went through life without much complaint, always able to entertain himself and easy to handle.

The Outside remained alluring to Charon, who time and time again had tried to find a place that was different, new and exciting from Home, but he had never quite found the exit of Home. He suspected it had something to do with being deterred from leaving, for each time he'd feel a breeze - a funny and exhillarating feeling - he would be picked up and put back elsewhere, or he'd be distracted with play by his parents, never reaching his goal.

Something new happened today; when Charon awoke from a nap, followed by a squeaky-sounding, drawn-out yawn, he found that he could open his eyes. The world looked blurry and strange and consisted mostly of blobs of colours. Stumbling over to his siblings and mother, Charon let out an excited mewl in their direction, as though he wanted to show them what cool new things he could do now. Mostly, though, Charon wanted to see them, see what they looked like, and further explore this new ability he had just learned.

A few intricacies were apparent in Kevlyn's personality, the most defining being that he hated being dirty or wet.

A recent rain storm had washed some debris and mud into the den not three days ago. While Julooke had slept, he had used the newfound strength in his legs to toddle blindly toward the place where smells originated, the yawning maw of the den. He'd never made it further than the threshold, for a sixth sense always seemed to rouse his mother like a conveniently placed trip wire. On that day, he'd made it as far as the puddle, but as soon as the chill, damp mud soaked through his thin fur, he'd cried and cried until someone rescued him.

That had been a few days ago, and since then, even the barest hint of dirtiness was responded to with raucous wailing. Kevlyn was just as vocal today as he'd been when he was born but, being larger, he was also quite a bit louder. He could walk now, albeit slowly and laboriously, and that was what he was doing now. Kevlyn liked walking, because it kept his tummy from getting full of grime, not that he consciously knew much about it.

Today, he had learned a new skill in the form of Sight, level 1. He could make out the faint outlines of his siblings, Charon being the most visible to his weak and blurry eyes, as well as the shaft of light that penetrated the den's darkness from the outside. This change came as no surprise, for now that he had sight, he couldn't remember a time without it. That the world had been nothing but darkness days prior, he didn't recall.

Charon was moving somewhere nearby and Kevlyn, spotting him, made a clumsy lunge for his brother's tail in hopes of initiating a baby wrestling match.

The puppies were as rambunctious as ever, Kevlyn being chief (and most loudmouthed) among them. For the most part, Julooke remained close by them in the den, while Verrine remained vigilantly and protectively posted just outside. He came inside frequently, of course, but he found it stuffy and crowded in there, and it was easier to simply stay right outside than to risk squashing a kid or something by staying in the den.

Today, a new wonder was unfolding -- the puppies' eyes were opening. Their collective muffled fussing had taken on a new pitch, and when the curious father poked his head in the den to see what was going on, he was surprised to see several sets of beautiful, clear, stormy-blue eyes peering back at him. A wide smile of affection and delight spread over his cheeks and he gently nuzzled first Kevlyn, then Charon. Levi and Liyaní were nestled over by their mother, presumably asleep.

At the sight of the movement of his brother, Charon halted at first – the sight of the movement was new and it took a moment to register what happened – but when he sniffed Kevlyn’s familiar scent he let out an excited squeak. His stubby little tail wiggled just as Kevlyn made a dive for it, before Charon managed to nuzzle his brother to see if he still felt the same or if something had changed there too.

When their father approached, Charon excitedly looked up at him, licking his lips and flattening his tiny ears further against his head in enthusiasm. He let out a yip of protest when their father first nuzzled Kevlyn, instead of him – I’m important too! – but was soon soothed when he, too, received the affection he wanted.

His attention was drawn back to the matter of Kevlyn making a grab for his tail, and Charon turned around as quickly as he could – which wasn’t very quick at all yet – in order to launch a counterattack at his assailant. The freckled boy tried to get his tail out of his brother’s direction and, at the same time, he tried to grab something of his brother, anything, but preferably something that moved, with his mouth so that he could drool all over it.

Although they were shaky on the legs still, the pups were steady sitters. Kevlyn proved this with ease when first Charon nuzzled him, and then an enormous something blocked the light from the outside. The young Ostrega twin momentarily panicked when his newly discovered sense of sight was blotted out by Verrine's head, but the familiar scent of his father coupled with the illuminated side of the man's snout put him at ease. Like Charon, he responded with an excited flattening of his stubby ears and wiggling of his tail, his hunting practice briefly forgotten.

But once Verrine had shown him some quick affection and then moved to Charon (eliciting a jealous squawk for more from his silver son), Kev returned to the matter at hand. That tail was just out of reach, and though he could scarcely make out its exact outline, it was pale against the floor. He steadied himself on his pudgy paws and then pounced once more, awkwardly and ineffectively, for Charon had managed to get his mouth around one of his forepaws at the same instant.

This led Kevlyn to topple down onto his own face, with tail out of reach. Though he was stunned for a second, it took only that second for him to start crying.

Sorry for holding you guys up so long. I'll try to be faster with my replies from here on! <3

He loved the way his children responded to him already. As blind, deaf newborns, they had learned his scent and been comforted by his presence, but now that they could see him, it was different. They looked at their father, recognized him, and responded…and it was so rewarding and heartwarming for him that he truly could not find the right words to describe the feeling. He loved Julooke, of course, and he loved his brothers and sisters and his parents, but this…this was a whole different kind of love. It transcended anything he had ever known before. Looking into their tiny, hopeful faces (or, in Kevlyn's case, it was a tiny, frowning, crying face), he saw pint-sized extensions of himself. He saw his hopes and dreams embodied, the future of his family and his bloodline. He saw tiny people that he had made. How could that evoke anything but the most profoundly incredible kinds of love?

He pulled himself into the snug entrance of the den, carefully stepping around the boys tussling on the floor. Kevlyn had started up his crying again, and a glance showed him splayed out on the floor near Charon. He smiled, figuring it was another botched attack, and kissed the top of the child's head in an effort to comfort him. Rising from where she lay near the back of the den -- taking care not to wake the two puppies who slept beside her -- Julooke gave Verrine a grateful look and exited the den to stretch her legs and take a break from childcare for a bit. Content to take up her post for a while, Verrine stretched out where she'd been laying, pulling Liyaní and Levi closer to him so as to keep them warm, and watched Kevlyn and Charon with amusement on his face.

no problem dad <3

Success!

Charon would’ve squeed in excitement that he had managed to grab his brother’s paw, if it wasn’t for the fact that he had a paw in his mouth. He tried to hold onto the paw to the best of his efforts, but his little mouth was not very effective for latching onto things and keeping them there just yet. It didn’t take Kevlyn long to free his paw, which resulted in him toppling over.

When their father drew nearer, Charon’s stubby tail wagged in excitement. He had just bested his brother, and surely he would get rewarded for his bravery!

Imagine the freckled boy’s surprise when Dad showered Kevlyn with kisses instead, just because he had the loudest mouth. Kevlyn let out dismayed mewls, trying to gather Dad’s attention and show him that he was the brave hero and he deserved to get all the attention, not Kevlyn.

Apparently, winning wrestling matches was a bad thing if it made your siblings cry. Charon shuffled over to Kevlyn and licked his cheek, trying his best to mimic Dad’s behaviour to the situation.

Had his mind been further along, Kevlyn would have noticed that they responded to his cries much more readily than they responded to victory. Charon had bested his brother, as he was likely to do in future conquests as well, but it was Kevlyn who got the attention. He couldn't correlate his cries with the outcome but someday, perhaps, he would recognize it and learn to use it to his advantage.

Charon bumped snouts with him and suddenly the boy's wet tongue was dragging along the side of his muzzle. It wasn't the same sort of comfort as Verrine's but it was positive and Kevlyn therefore responded positively. His snout found its way instinctually under his sibling's in an awkward deferential nuzzle. It lasted maybe three seconds, about as long as his attention span, before he struck up the battle again with an open-mouthed hook to the side of his brother's chubby neck.

When Julooke and Verrine moved, Kevlyn's assault ended immediately in favour of staring at them with his brand new eyes, leaving him completely open to attack. For the next month or two months he would immediately look at anything that moved while his brain adjusted to sight... an unfortunate reality, for he would probably lose more than one brawl that way.

Houkie won't be able to post again here, so let's finish this? My last post here, feel free to add another if you want!

Charon nearly flopped over onto his back when Kevlyn nuzzled him on the underside of his chin, because he hadn't seen the movement coming. The boy regained his composure and balance, however, and managed not to fall over.

With his tongue hanging lopsided from his mouth, Charon looked at his parents while Mum left the den and Dad took her position and pulled their siblings close. Charon didn't even notice that he could've attacked his brother, as mesmerised by all of the movement as Kevlyn was.

When Verrine had settled down and pulled Levi and Liyaní close, Charon let out a jealous mewl, cast Kevlyn a last glance and started to bound over to his father. He squirmed himself between Levi and Liyaní, making sure he would find a spot at the least equally as warm and comfortable as theirs near their father's body, before drifting off to sleep, tired from the excitement of the day.

Their play ended and without further adieu, Charon toddled over to Verrine's side. Kevlyn remained where he was for a little while, staring at his white brother's backside, before he too decided it was time for a nap. He moved slowly and clumsily over to Verrine's side, then settled down roughly on top of some unfortunate sibling.

Nestled in close for warmth, the boy fell into a fitful sleep, as all his sleeps were. He tried his best not to lash out in the midst of his dream but, at some point, Verrine would feel Kevlyn's hind leg roughly hit his stomach as the boy settled deeper and deeper into his dreams.