Redhawk Caldera Oh, what a noble, distinguished collection

"Choo-choo-choo," Peter cooed, going in circles in an attempt to catch his tail. Though it had always been there and he had been using to wag it quite a lot and on frequent basis, up until today he had not realized, what it looked like and that - in fact - it was his! Once the discovery of the fifth foot was made, the kid kept spinning and clacking his jaws, when it seemed that he had almost got it. 

Eventually he tripped, lost balance and fell to the ground, while the world spinned around him and the ground felt to shake underneath. The feeling was not entirely unpleasant, therefore being a cheerful child, he rolled to his back and began to giggle.

*swoops in with superhero costume* finally some time to pop into a new thread :)

It was nice to see the pups grow up. Eljay was a little frightened that Gannet and Peter might turn into wussies like him, because they liked to spend time with him so much and he liked to be around them, too. But he tried his best not to be so scared when he was around the pups, because he wanted them to grow up just fine. It was really strange not to be the youngest and smallest around anymore, too; where had the time gone?

When Eljay approached the den, he noticed Peter running in circles and then falling to the ground in a pile of giggles. Eljay wondered if he had ever been like that... Probably not. He felt a pang of envy, but quickly swiped it under the carpet because it made him feel guilty — he had wonderful parents and he should be happy that he was so privileged to live here. He wondered if they'd move, or if they'd stay here; the thought of moving panicked Eljay, but he figured the pups might not even remember once they were all grown up that they had ever moved at all. Maybe he ought to go outside of the Caldera's boundaries at some point. He was almost a year old and had never left the pack, after all. But it wasn't all that easy...

Eljay took a deep breath and pushed his many thoughts and worries aside, then stepped forward the giggling Peter. "Hi Peter! What'cha doing today?" he asked, a soft smile on his face.

ooc: thank you for saving the thread! I will have it set for present day.

The day got even better, when Peter caught sight of his favorite person in the pack hovering above him. "Yeeeep!" he squealed in delight and scurried to his feet quickly, forgetting entirely his previous game and being very, very ready for something cool and great that Eljay definitely had to offer. 

As with all people (except for Ferret, whom he had not quite forgiven yet for the coughing incident) he did his signature move, by standing on his hind-legs and reaching up as high as he could in order to hug the young wolf and give some affectionate licks. "Woof, wrrrrr-uff!" he barked and was wagging his tail happily.

Eljay giggled as Peter abandoned whatever he'd been doing and came rushing to greet his babysitter. Eljay licked the top of Peter's head when he stood on his hind legs for a hug, his tail whirring because he was happy to see his little friend again, too. It was amazing to Eljay how these pups could be so happy. Eljay didn't remember much of the period when he was this age and he wondered if he had been this excited about everything, too. Probably not, he thought with a brief note of sadness before he focussed his attention back to the present and Peter.

"I'm happy to see you, too, Petey," Eljay said softly. When the mutual greetings ended, Eljay wondered what they could do. He'd intended to join in with whatever Peter was doing, but it turned out Peter just wanted to do something with Eljay. "Want to go hunting?" asked Eljay, deciding to combine his trades by trying to teach Peter a thing or two. He wasn't super good at hunting himself, but they could always practise. "Look, over there's a very dangerous and tasty stick we could catch." Eljay pointed a paw in the distance, hoping to catch Peter's attention and focus and making him excited for the game.

"Ouff, ouff, ouff..." Peter replied to Eljay's speech and smiled, as if their wayward conversation made a perfect sense, when in reality neither of the parties understood what the other had said. 

Though words were not Peter's specialty, he had been diligent at learning tones and intonations, as well as reading the body language. Mor often than not these two means of communication made more sense than following through words.

Therefore, when Eljay posed a question, Peter's ears perked up and he regarded his best friend/mentor/baby-sitter with a quizzical look. And then, when the other lifted his forepaw to point at something (which Peter did not follow through), the boy let out a victorious squeal and jumped up to grab the young wolf's extended paw.

At first it looked like Peter understood what Eljay intended, but then he launched at his babysitter's paw rather than the intended stick. Eljay giggled and decided to just roll with the way the game was turning, not wanting to discourage little Peter. "You're such a mighty warrior!" he excitedly said and he rolled to the ground while (carefully) batting at Peter in play-pretend fight. He wanted little Peter to feel good about himself and anyway, in a way he still practised useful skills for later use.

"Wow!" Peter was surprised by his easy victory, when Eljay decided to take the play-fight on the ground, where they could be in the same eye-level. Having his baby-sitter so close and his every body part so easy to reach, he targeted his attack from the paw to the wolf's cheek, trying to get a mouthful of the loose skin there and tug it. Ferret had done this to him many times and it would be nice to be the "predator" for a change.

Eljay giggled when Peter seemed excited by the shift to the ground of their play. It was nice seeing Peter so cheerful. There was a sudden shift in the play area when Peter moved to grab his cheek instead of the paw and it took Eljay by surprise for a moment. The tugging on the more sensitive area hurt a little more, but Eljay decided to pretend like it didn't hurt that much as to not discourage Peter. He let out a playful growl and continued to bat at Peter's face, without too much force behind his 'attacks'.

For a person, who could not boast about self-confidence, Eljay was quite good at giving it to Peter. Not only he didn't protest, when the little cub's grasp on the skin got stronger, his tiny needle-like teeth sinking in deep in the folds, he even did not put much effort at actually hitting the boy with one of the paws. Needless to say that there was no effort needed to evade the "attacks" and, as Peter got more and more carried away by the game, his growls growing fiercer.

It was encouraging for Eljay to see Peter so cheerful through the game. Eljay was perhaps kind of a nerdball himself, but at least he could help make Peter a strong and proud child. Eljay wondered if others had played with him like this. But maybe he had been too scared to do so. Eljay didn't remember, really, whether he had been too scared or whether others had not tried enough, but it didn't matter. At least he could make Peter's life better now.

For however long Peter wanted it so Eljay stayed, biting away whatever pain he felt through Peter's bites. Just enjoying the time they spent together.

want to wrap this up? i will miss you and peter! <3