Northstar Vale comfort in the clutter

Their trip to Brecheliant had been, uh, something, and Phox was glad to be back home. Back with @Towhee and her husband and their kids. He slept well that night and morning, late into the afternoon, back on his normal schedule. Phox awoke to the squawking of a crow (unbeknownst to him, Sixsix) roving overhead. Instead of being cranky, he rolled to his feet—all three of them!

He did not have anything on the agenda for the day, and so he sought out his sister. Not for any particular reason, but just because that was what he did when he had nothing else to do. Maybe he could pick her brain about the gals he'd been talking to.

Towhee had woken up on the right side of the bed today. All day, she had been frolicking around the willow grove, humming under her breath and clicking her heels. Everybody else was off doing their own thing and she didn’t mind that one bit, entertaining herself by making her way to Wraen’s Nest and having a three-hour-long, one-sided conversation with what she thought was a bird perched in a tree. Upon closer inspection, it was just a leaf.

She decided to head back to the roost to spruce up the den a little before Maxim and the kids turned up again. Still feeling energetic, she ran the length of the field and went bursting through the trees on the spring’s western edge, crashing loudly through the brush and singing at the top of her voice.

You are the thunder and I am the lightning! she roared as she popped up behind Phox near her willow. Hi.

Without any warning whatsoever, Towhee vomited spectacularly.

In classic Towhee fashion, she vomited right on his front feet.

GOOD GRIEF! Phox shrieked, trying to shake the chunks off his feet and promptly falling on his ass because he couldn't very well balance on two feet (yet). Whatever topics he'd had planned were quickly forgotten as he frantically cleaned his paws, his face twisted in a wretched distaste.

She didn’t feel it coming at all. There was no nausea, no salivating. She just opened her mouth and blew chunks all over her brother’s feet. Towhee couldn’t hear his scream, though she saw the way he awkwardly scrambled backward. She tried to throw out a leg to help him balance but too late: he fell on his ass.

Bits of vomit still dripping from her mouth, Towhee tried to yell, “Are you okay?” and “I’m fucking sorry!” and instead bellowed, ARE YOU FUCKING SORRY?!

ME??? SORRY??? TOWHEE, YOU DINGU—but he began to choke on one of the bits of... whatever her last meal was, trying to clean it from himself. Pretty soon, he was a mix of choking, laughter, watering eyes, and just a complete mess.

Ah yes, so good to be back with Towhee. Always a joy. A pleasure.

That, Towhee verbally flailed, didn’t come out right!

She began flailing in the actual sense, especially when he appeared to be choking. Towhee lunged toward him, prepared to perform the wolfish version of the Heimlich maneuver, but then she realized he was laughing.

Shit! she exclaimed, falling back. I’m sorry! I don’t know what the fuck just happened. My stomach doesn’t even hurt.

It could be morning sickness, though she couldn’t remember ever dealing with that before. Her pregnancies had been pretty asymptomatic—to the point where she hadn’t noticed the first one—save for the complications last year from playing Ruenna’s wet nurse.

The spring’s right over here, let’s get you cleaned up properly, she suggested, guiding him to the water’s edge.

He finally managed to clear his throat, hacking a bit to clear the rest from his airway. Everything still felt a bit raw, but at least he didn't feel like he was going to expire in the next breath.

Epoch has a healer, right? Maybe you should, uh, get checked out so that doesn't happen again. He followed her without further comment to the spring. The water was bitter cold, but he let it wash away the rest of her half-digested food before dipping his muzzle down for a long drink to rid the taste of... well, vomit.

His throat soothed and his breath probably much better, he collapsed back on the bank.

I think I came here to talk to you about somethin', but that's fine. We can just vomit and choke instead.

Towhee watched Phox rinse himself off for a moment before dipping down for a drink to rinse the sour taste out of her mouth. Her stomach still didn’t feel remotely funny. She raised her head, jowls dripping, and wondered again about whether it might be morning sickness.

Maybe it’s morning sickness, she voiced aloud to her brother, shrugging.

He mentioned wanting to talk to her about something. Towhee took a seat, bringing up a foreleg to wipe at her mouth. Her eyes remained fixed on him, brows lifting to invite him to say what was on his mind.

-Remember when you shat out Meerkat without even knowin' she was in there?- he laughed. How's she doin', anyhow? Still up in... whatever that ocean place is? His memory had gone to shit. Let's blame it on genetics.

He felt like Towhee was expecting him to remember what he had come here to talk about, but he had forgotten entirely. Let them talk of their kid instead. That was plenty entertaining.

Maybe it was weird to be fond of that particular memory, though it was the day Towhee had given birth to her first child! It had certainly been an unconventional delivery, to say the least. She laughed along with Phox.

She’s still with Sapphique, as far as I know, Towhee said, wondering if her missing husband had ever reappeared.

She made a tch noise with her tongue, disapproving of the man who’d hurt her daughter’s heart. But she also found herself hoping he had come home so that Meerkat could be happy again. Ugh, was she becoming a romantic in her old age? Somehow, she just knew Maxim was responsible for this.

Trying not to smile like an idiot over her dumb boo, Towhee asked, So, have you met any promising ladies yet?

Ladies, right. Phox thought about the few he had met lately, putting together a short list for Towhee.

-Meadow’s taken, I guess. I’m supposed to have a date with this gal named Malia after she visits Mereo. Met a really angry, scared thing at a cave, and I left her a meal, but I don’t think she’s really my type. Met a dancer. Never seen anything like that. I think she’s supposed to come around sometime, too. Oh. yeah, and some crazy lady who nearly got trampled by a deer, then wanted me to keep hunting with her. I was outta breath and she was clearly a heckuva lot younger than me, so I gave up on that.-

Towhee’s eyes grew wider and wider as Phox casually relayed interactions with so many ladies, she genuinely lost count. Out of the lot, she supposed the Malia one sounded the most promising, especially if she was affiliated with Mereo in some way. It was kind of too bad Meadow was already involved with Reyson, though Towhee wouldn’t begrudge Sunshine his happily ever after.

What about Keyni? Did you ever track her down? Towhee wondered, grinning as she tacked on, You player you.

Seriously though, she was thrilled to hear Phox had met so many potential mates. Her brother deserved all the happiness in the world, after everything he’d been through. Towhee wanted him to find his very own Maxim, maybe sans the dong.

That thought prompted her to point out, Hey, nothing wrong with a younger lover… especially one with shared interests.

-I mean, yeah. But if I run out of breath during you know what, it's gonna be pretty embarrassing.- Phox laughed heartily at the image, slumped over a lover, panting and unable to complete the deed.

-I don't think Keyni is around anymore. If she is, she's really been doing a good job of hiding herself away.- It was a bit of a bummer, considering she was a pre-existing relationship. Some of the roots had already taken place there, but Phox wasn't going to force it if she wasn't interested.

-Anyway, the search continues! And if anybody looks like they might be interested, I'll be sure to bring them by and see if they pass your muster. Wouldn't want to go getting involved with anybody who couldn't appreciate your humor,- Phox said with a wink.

She couldn’t help but think of Maxim again. Neither one of them had ever run out of breath, though they’d had to draw on some creativity and patience dealing with her back. He had never once complained, which Towhee acknowledged now with a warm feeling curling around her heart.

Keyni wasn’t around anymore. She met this update with a blink. Towhee was pretty much indifferent, though she was bummed on his behalf. Oh well, he seemed to be holding onto a very positive outlook with the whole thing. And Phox was keeping her in mind.

If you like a lady and she makes you happy, that’s what matters to me, Towhee countered affectionately. On the subject of mates, I was gonna clean up the den before mine gets home. Wanna pitch in? she asked with a knowing grin.

-Yeah, I suppose that's true,- he said with a shrug. At her suggestion, Phox scoffed. -What's this? You've turned into some kind of boring housewife? I mean, I'm totally in, but I'm just gonna watch and poke fun at you the whole time instead of helping. What good would I be, anyway?- Phox wiggled his nonexistent leg, the muscles twitching where it once connected to his hip.

Dude, I’ve been a boring housewife for, like… a while now, she bantered right back at him. And that’s fine. Actually, I was thinking you could lie down on the floor and pretend to be a rug, like you used to do outside our house in Mereo.

She aimed a playful punch at his shoulder, although not too hard; she didn’t really want to knock him on his ass. Then Towhee did a pretty impressive pirouette and led Phox to her cozy little corner of the vale.