antrozous

@Sitamat

Whenever she slept, he ate. Even when she roused, he happened to be eating. It was very likely he slept in the time between, but Tonravik had not yet noticed it. He suckled away... until he stopped. Tonravik licked at him, to help him release anything within... and he did not disappoint. His mother cleaned up the mess promptly, and then did the same with her other cubs. Once finished, they began to suckle hungrily and for the first time, the youngest surviving son did not. She sniffed at him, and her keen ears listened to the sound of his slow breathing.

Was he asleep? She was not sure. He was quiet... in fact, they all were. So she placed her muzzle down, curled around them, and closed her eyes. Now was as good a time to take a power nap as any.

Any time he was able to latch onto a teat, Sitamat drank until he was about to burst — in fact, a few times he did. Thankfully, their mother was there to rearrange them and clean up before they blindly stumbled into their own mess. One of those times was now, and the newborn released a burp as Tonravik moved to clean each of his siblings, each boy returning back to suckle once she was done.

Sitamat did not join them, instead lying still as they shuffled around. A hot breath of air was released just above his head as their mother sniffed at him, and the darkest cub gave a surprised squeak. There was a slight pause as he processed the information, before he jolted back to life and started crawling towards Tonravik's muzzle.

The alpha female was typically a light sleeper, but her exhaustion could send her into a deep one... And her breathing became heavier. Surely her cubs could feel the warm bouts of air that came from her nostrils while she exhaled, but that did not occur to her. The sound of movement caused her to open her eyes. Her cubs, for being only hours old, were strong in that they could move so much at all. She was proud of it, but also aggravated by it. Their clocks were not in sync, and she would need to bring some order into the household. Of course, now was not yet that time. They could no more understand her commands than a moth could, nevermind hear her.

Her eyes closed again, and she positioned her muzzle in such a way that it could not be moved around. One ear remained cupped and in their direction in case they fussed, which she would attempt to ignore for a while before tending to them. Tonravik was by no means the best caretaker, but the woman did what she could.

While he was perfectly safe within the confines of Tonravik's curled body around them, Sitamat had strayed too far from his siblings and suddenly felt coldness on all sides of his body. While realistically he was really only three inches away from his brothers, it was the first time in his short life that he hadn't been pressed against or near them. He could smell them but, other than that, the boy had no idea where his fellow bundles of heat were and started to cry for them (or, rather, the warmth they provided). The hot air from before rushed over his fur again as his mother exhaled and Sitamat slowly moved towards it again, every wiggle forward made with tremendous effort.

Her breathing slowed by the moment as she nearly fell into the throes of sleep... but, the sound of dragging caused one eye to open. It was that, and the sound of his cries. He came toward the warmth her nostrils surely provided in their hot breaths, and Tonravik closed her eye yet again in the vain hope that he would simmer down. Her body acted as an effective barrier... and when he drew nearer to the warmth she provided, hopefully he would quiet down. That remained to be seen, but her twitching ear regarded his sounds and identified it for what it was: a nuisance.

Unfortunately for Tonravik, Sitamat did not quieten down. Oblivious to the mother's need for sleep, he kept inching forward towards her nose, making soft squeaks along the way. The heat was unlike that of his brother's, it was moist and smelt much different. Still, it was warmth — something the puppy instinctually craved — and so he made his way towards it. When he was close enough, he started to probe with his own tiny nose, prodding Tonravik's lip and nose gently as he examined the strange texture.

Her efforts were futile, but she persisted despite that. Her will was mighty, and her desire for sleep was great. He quieted some, but was still noisy enough to tear her dreams of a nap asunder. The mother let out a groan as she opened one eye to look for the restive creature, who had just begun to prod at her lip, and then her nose. As he poked at the sensitive nostril, a great tickle overcame her... and then she turned her head aside to let out a mighty sneeze. Tonravik then looked back to her son, tongue dragging over her own nose to remove whatever might remain there. She turned her face some, so he would not go for her nose again (having not enjoyed that herself).

His probing caused the thing to move away from him then, and Sitamat released the quietest of squeaks as he expressed his surprise. He made to follow it, wherever it had moved to, crawling along on barely working front legs. Like a caterpillar, he paused every few seconds or so, raising his head and wobbly holding it there while he tested the air.

Unfortunately, his sense of smell could only get him so far, and so the boy ended up crawling right into the plush fur of Tonravik's neck (where her muzzle was prior to her moving it out of the way). The previous encounter with her nose now forgotten, the boy mistook her neck for her belly, pressing his face against it and trying to find a teat.

When the mother noted her son mouthing at her plush neck, she realized what he sought... again. So she lifted him and placed him near her belly where the youngest would find exactly what he was looking for. Of course, she made things difficult in where she placed him... behind his brothers. He would have to do a little more squirming to earn his meal, and Tonravik was fine with that. He could afford it, certainly... the more moving he did, the better.

Last post :D

He continuously prodded at the soft fur, growing more and more confused when his persistence was not rewarded with a teat. Usually, when he nosed around enough, he would eventually find one. Today proved different. Unaware he wasn't anywhere near the food source, Sitamat squeaked in protest as his mother moved him.

It wasn't until he was reacquainted with the warm bodies of his brothers did he stop and his tail started wriggling happily. Here, the scent of milk was much stronger. He head-butted all three of his sibling's backsides before deciding on clambering over the smallest — Pingasut. The firey-furred pup shifted as his pudgy brother made his way over him, before eventually he slipped between another body and found a teat, quickly latching on and suckling until he fell into a food coma.