Phantom Hollow All decent predictions rhyme.

In the two weeks since Venamis' birth, he'd developed from a wriggly potato to a wobbly potato. He'd gained not only his sight but his sense of hearing, having picked up on the sound of his mother's voice and the cries of his siblings over the past few days. He had tasted the partially digested goodies delivered by his father and consumed each morsel as though he'd been starved for days. His gums were often sensitive with the arrival of milk teeth, prompting him to gnaw on anything he could fit into his mouth: littermates, accessible body parts of his adult providers, any leftovers that be laying around... it didn't matter what he found, as long as it could soothe the ache of his growing fangs.

The tiny Melonii, having recently found his feet and braved his first steps, was determined to better acquaint himself with his environment. He pulled himself shakily only his delicate little legs and padded clumsily across the den floor in the direction of @Damien, who rested nearby to avoid the heat of the midday Spring sun. "Rrrrr," he growled ferociously adorably in a request for attention as he drew nearer, baby blue eyes lifting in attempt to better make out the contours of the raven wolf's face.

Only time would tell if all the effort he was putting into building his own legacy would pay off, but in the meantime he was most definitely having one hell of a ride. While the kids had so far been mostly manageable, they were slowly starting to show signs of restlessness, every day there was a new big thing whether it was their first peek through half-sealed eyelids or the first attempts at howling (that usually sounded more like wailing). Damien had no way to know what would come next.

It was right in the middle of his slumber time that things started to feel more like a slumber party, with Venamis, always the first of the bunch to try new things, came up at him with a little growl. It took a moment for Damien to realize what it was, but as he turned around from his post at the den's entrance to address his child he realized that Venamis was totally challenging him. What do we have here? said the recently made father with a vocal tone that only his children would ever hear. A challenger! he whispered, allowing his throat to let loose a much scarier (although innocent) growl that said 'show me what you've got!'.

When the raven adult's attention turned focus on him, Venamis' stormy blue gaze lit up in the cheer of his success. He made zero sense of what his father said to him, but he responded merrily. His fuzzy little tail twitched to life at his rump until the increasing force of its sway caused his hind limbs to give way beneath him.

Unphased by the weakness of his inexperienced legs, the spiderling shuffled on and piped up with a soft "rooo?" Venamis didn't know what his sire's deep rumble meant, but he was intrigued, and he was keen to better investigate.

A swirl of emotion behind Venamis sent him falling flat on his ass, and the sight of it brought a smile to Damien's stoic expression. It was these little things that had him going even in the middle of their unfortunate situation. Thrilled to finally be able to interact with his young Damien licked the babe from chest to chin with a flick of his tongue, encouraging him to get on all fours again.

Damien rearranged his own position to bay Venamis between his forelimbs, and nudging the kid he responded his demand for attention with a very serious comeback.

The adult drew nearer, leaning in close enough to touch his snout to Venamis' downy chest in gentle encouragement. A firm lick was pressed to his tiny frame and, having attempted to mimic the hint of a smile that tugged each corner of his father's mouth upward, he released a soft giggle in response to the ticklish sensation that Damien's affection delivered to his delicate throat.

He pulled himself shakily onto all four paws again when the pale-eyed brute removed his face from before his own, and did not hesitate to follow. Venamis wobbled forward on unsteady limbs, welcoming himself between his sire's willing forelimbs, and fixed his attention where obsidian fur transitioned to Winter white. Ever curious, he thrust his little muzzle among the pallid warmth with a fond coo.

He could swear that the little voice coming from Venamis' chest was tingling his chest. It was exciting, thinking that this entire life form was the product of his very own flesh and blood, that he could claim the creature as his and that he meant so many things for their shared future.

Their little game took real form when Venamis responded to his encouraging nudges. He was wobbly and unstable, but even at his current stage of development Damien already felt like he knew who his successor in the more physical aspects of their lifestyle would be, and he had high hopes for his evolution.

His chest was Venamis' chosen target, which he aimed for with his little snout and curious toes. Thankfully he didn't yet have too long of a set of claws for he was insistent in his exploration of the white patch that adorned him. Damien wrapped his nech around the child, tossing him gently to a side to bury his nose on his belly to tickle him, and hopefully that would gain him some more of that heartwarming laughter.

He snuffled at his father's pelt rather rudely, licking and nipping the pale fur as he poked and prodded with his tiny snout. Venamis instinctively searched for a teat to latch onto, but this particular adult didn't seem to have anything of the sort to offer.

The spiderling was a stubborn babe, however, and his hunt continued until the Sovereign swept him aside. His response came in the form of a sharp yip in surprise, though the tickles on his exposed undersides brought forth smiles and laughter, and little paws shoved uselessly against Damien's muzzle.

Innocently Damien believed that his son had tried to do the same to him and was attempting to tickle his belly, but if he'd known the real intentions behind those actions he would have felt rather awkward. But as he didn't he continued to gently bop his son's tender skin here and there, aiming for the most ticklish spots. His son't laughter was unbearably cute, and it brought forth a big smile and chuckled of his own. He wondered where @Nyx was, wishing that she too was witnessing their son's joy alongside him.

Tiny, tender paws flailed about his snot, seemingly attempting to free Venamis from dad's merciless tickle attack. And for a while it didn't really do anything, but as it was only natural the spiderling had started developping what would soon be a mortal weapon. His claws. A stray one unexpectedly found Damien's nose, scratching its tender skin enough to make him yap and pull away from the little one. Ow! the dark king groaned and licked his nose. Those things were already dangerous! We have a little assassin on the making here, don't we? he pondered aloud as though his son could understand him.

His father jerked back and the spiderling, having unknowingly nicked his nose with a rogue claw, was not ready to give up their play fight. "Rrrrr!" Venamis' pitiful growl vibrated in his chest, and he writhed around between the dark Sovereign's forelimbs to right himself up onto his belly.

He attempted to scoot closer, though Damien's snout was far out of his reach. The charcoal cub parted his lips to wail in protest, but was swiftly distracted by the tension in his jaw muscles that resulted in a wide yawn - a sudden weight of exhaustion. Being an eating, breathing and growing poop machine was hard work apparently. As sleep made his eyelids heavy, despite trying to fight it off, the little Melonii was no match for its strength and he was quickly swept away by his dreams.

By now it was clear that Venamis would keep coming back for more every time his dad tossed him aside, and Damien couldn't decide whether he liked it or not. Kids could be hard to handle, and though he was really proud of his playful son's willfulness he really enjoyed his quiet brooding time. His kids had rendered that impossible.

But something that Damien would soon learn was that getting his kids tired quickly would almost always result in them falling victim to their yawns and heavy eyelids. 'That'll do' he thought to himself as Venamis, who'd settled himself as close as he could from his dad's chest, got knocked out by a powerful yawn. He allowed the sleepiness to take him, and sighed a happy sigh as he wrapped himself around his son to finally take the chance to think in complete silence.