Sun Mote Copse The stars collected, each world accounted for

With his mother laying close by, watching over him, he was allowed to play around just outside the den. She was watchful, and a bit paranoid if nothing else- the shadow of a bird passing overhead made her growl, a noise which at first alarmed Bronco a bit, until he got used to it, and failed to notice every time she got nervous. Of course, he didn't exactly know why it was that she feared birds passing by overhead- they were so far away, and so small, how could they ever be dangerous? For a young one who had yet to experience any sort of pain or fear, it was all too easy for him to be governed by a false sense of bravado. 

He'd been given something meaty to chew on, now that his milk teeth had come in. His father had regurgitated it the last time he'd come by, and Bronco found it delicious. He fended his sister off with pealing growls and little shoves every time she came too close. Now that they had teeth, they were both beginning to learn that it hurt to be bitten- but he was willing to incur a bit of damage as long as he inflicted more and could fend his sister away from what he thought was his. He'd taken the choice chunk of regurgitated meat, had fended his sister off from it- leaving her to a smaller piece- and began to rip and tear away at it, growling to himself as he enjoyed his meal. 

And as long as the kids weren't chewing on her, Niamh didn't mind at all that they occasionally chewed on each other. This was peace.

Eljay felt rather guilty that he hadn't been there for Niamh when she gave birth to these latest Blackthorns. He should have, but everything had been so hectic at the time; Eljay didn't even remember if they were born before or after Wiffle had passed away, honestly, as that whole period in time had been a blur to him. All he knew was that the pups were here now, and he was late to the party in welcoming them to the world.

As he approached the den, Niamh lay outside. Heya, Eljay greeted and he then looked at the children outside. They were chewing on and wrestling over a piece of meat they'd been given. Eljay lowered himself to his belly and said, Oh, aren't you a little fighter? Then he looked at Niamh and asked, How are they doing? All healthy? Did the birthing go well?

hope you don't mind also interacting w/ niamh in my post, but if you do, let me know and i can edit those bits out :)

It's PERFECT, Eeris :) <3

Niamh lifted her head when she heard another wolf approaching, and for their sake, she hoped it was one of only a few other wolves in the pack- namely Colt, Finley, Elwood or Eljay- and she was comforted when she saw the familiar, albeit somewhat sullen features of Eljay as he approached. She felt a pang of guilt in her heart, knowing that she had not had the chance to go and see Wildfire the day she'd called for everyone, and she regretted it. Maybe the kids would have been OK for those few moments- but maybe they wouldn't have been. There was no telling whether a weasel or badger might have found her den and stolen away with her youngsters had she chanced going out and leaving them alone. And since then, she'd been entirely absent from Eljay's life as well- and she felt bad about that too. Nevertheless, she gave him an empathetic, tired, but welcome smile as he came to greet her and her kids. 

She chuckled very softly as Eljay addressed feisty little Bronco, before speaking to her. "It went fine, thank you, Eljay," She said. "Two healthy little sprogs." She said. "Kids, this is your..." Oh dear. Niamh had never been good at figuring out family relations- was Eljay an uncle or a cousin? Finley was their aunt, wasn't she? And Eljay was their kids- but he seemed more like an uncle to Niamh, than a cousin. "I'm just gonna have them call you 'uncle,' if that's OK?" She asked. There was a certain amount of respect that came with being called an aunt or uncle, and she wanted them to look up to Eljay that way. "Uncle Eljay." She said. 

Part of her knew she should offer condolences- but she was sure he'd heard plenty of those, and they probably made him feel sad every time he heard them. She knew she should ask him how he was doing- but he probably got that all the time too, and was probably ready to have everyone stop worrying about him. She didn't want to seem insensitive about it by not doing either- but she figured she'd try, at least, to be a bit more neutral- and keep his visit positive. 

"This little one is Nellie, and that," She said, gesturing deftly to her rowdy little boy, "Is Bronco. Just...Mind your toes and nose. He bites and I swear, those little needle teeth are agony," She said with a smile.

Bronco didn't notice the stranger at first. Thus far, his world consisted of only wolves that looked like his mother and father- given that he himself looked like his father and Nellie looked like their mother- and then there was the big dark wolf that Mom had brought home one time to meet them, whose voice was a bit louder and rougher than most. He noticed his mother's reaction- as she sat up and cast her glance suddenly to one area, but he paid it no mind. Probably another bird. So he was surprised when he turned his head to give the scraps of juicy meat a shake and saw a grey wolf walking toward them. He jumped- but didn't let go of the meat he had in his mouth, but scuttled back a few paces, the hair along his spine standing up. 

His Mom was calm, and the guy who approached lowered himself to the ground, in what Bronco took to be an invitation. There was a bit of talking back and forth between the two, but most of it went over Bronco's head. He heard his name, and turned his head to look at his mom when he was mentioned, but otherwise, just watched the newcomer. He clumsily pawed his snack bahind himself, so that it was protected- if not from Nellie, then at least from the new guy. He was given an introduction, but Bronco didn't quite grasp the idea of that yet, and wasn't sure what he was supposed to call this guy. Nevertheless, he was interesting- and he looked pretty harmless.

He stepped forward, his hackles still lifted a bit, stretching his nose out to try and get a sniff of this stranger, his big, blueish eyes questioning and bright. He inched closer and closer, looking at the male's calm, soft facial features, and though he was still quite calm himself, his tail was a dead giveaway that something else was coming. It started to wave from side to side as the boy began to plan- and when he got close enough, his gaze dropped suddenly, and with a playful growl, he dove for one of the male's outstretched front paws, intending to turn it into his new chew toy.

Actually, Eljay was very grateful that Niamh didn't ask him how he was doing. Everyone asked him that and he never had a good answer. It was easier when he wasn't forced to think of how he was feeling. Eljay smiled, grateful that the birthing had gone well. As a midwife he would've been devastated if things hadn't gone well. He would've felt terrible to know that his absorption in Wiffle's illness would have cost his uncle's family anything -- or anyone.

Niamh doubted a moment what exactly to call Eljay. He smiled when she decided on uncle, for the same reasons that she had named him so in the first place; it was a title that commanded some sort of respect, and it meant much to Eljay that Niamh saw him as a person who deserved such respect. Hi, little ones, Eljay said with a smile and a wag of his tail. It was a lot easier being a little happy with tiny innocent beans around. Especially when they didn't have your dead mate's faces.

Niamh introduced the pups as Nellie and Bronco. Eljay looked at Bronco, who stood and stared at him. He offered a smile, and Bronco's tail started to wave. Aren't you a happy little fellow, Eljay said, just as Bronco burst forward and pounced at his paw. Eljay fell to the ground dramatically in pretend-being-slain as this mighty warrior grabbed his paw.

She'd judged Eljay, before, for being so soft-hearted. Of course, it was a personality trait that she'd lacked, and she'd found it irritating that he would be so gentle and kind, as though he had no idea how vicious the world could be. His sweet-tempered ways had no place in a wolf who would be expected to fend off intruders, or fight off predators- and she'd found him at fault for being that way, because that was what she'd prized the most both in herself and in other wolves. That glint to the eye that meant 'I could kill you if I wanted to-' she admired wolves that had that. Eljay didn't. But now that she saw him interacting with her son, she realized that he'd not been built to be that way. This was what he was built for. 

And she envied him, immediately. She had little patience, and didn't know how to act around puppies. Until they were the age where they could learn how to hunt and patrol the borders, she didn't know what to do with them. She didn't know how harsh she had to be to punish them, or how gentle. She didn't know, really, how to play with them either, without teaching them bad manners. Eljay effortlessly captivated Bronco, and gave in to her son's demand for attention, flopping down onto the ground, much to her son's delight. She exhaled a small puff of air in admiration. Okay; so Eljay had skills. Mad skills. 

"Hey Bronc," She said, but as per usual, he wasn't listening. "Bronco," She said a bit more emphatically, which had a 50/50 chance of getting his attention. He cast her a glance- but then turned to look at her for a moment, because for once, she didn't have a stern look on her face, but a smile. "Tickle."

Well, this guy was fun- not a stick in the mud like his mom was. With one bite he'd managed to fell his foe, and that was enough to drive Bronco absolutely bonkers with delight. He shrieked with glee and began mouthing at Eljay's paw, and then went for his muzzle and nose and ears- but he felt no need to bite hard. Instead, he mostly just nibbled on Eljay, wherever he could get a hold of the soft, grey fluff, and bopped him a couple times on his nose, giggling over the fact that he was allowed to get away with that. 

He didn't hear his mother the first time she spoke his name; he'd already gotten very good at using selective hearing. When she said his name again, he gave her the side-eye; until he caught her grin. He knew that look. This meant something fun was going to happen- and he wasn't disappointed. The word she spoke was one he knew very well! Emitting another high-pitched note that only dogs (and wolves, I guess!) would hear, he stumbled over Eljay's forelegs and went straight for his abdomen, pushing his nose against Eljay's belly to see if he was ticklish.

Oh no, felled by the mighty Bronco, Eljay said with a grin. For a moment he could just be puppysitter Eljay, and not heartbroken father Eljay. He bit at the air a few times as Bronco passed by to nibble and nip at him, though always missing Bronco himself. His tail wagged jovially. Niamh tried to get her son's attention a few times before actually managing. Such were little children.

Eljay didn't realise entirely what was going on until it was too late. He giggled as Bronco booped him right in the ticklish spots. He'd never particularly liked tickling, but he supposed it wasn't that bad when it was for a child's education.

Success- with Eljay down, Bronco was able to storm over to the grey male's side and start poking and prodding him, which elicited exactly the reaction he'd expected. Bronco nosed his way along Eljay's side, wriggling his way up between his forelegs where he stuck himself to the male's side, flopped over onto his back, and looked up at Eljay from his upside-down position and uttered a happy bark. He liked to be cradled against other wolves- but from this position, he could also reach up and try to bat at Eljay's whiskers- another favourite trick of his.

It was nice to just have some light-hearted playing. With his own babies it was never truly light-hearted. They all struggled with the crushing grief of losing Wiffle, and Eljay worried about them all the time. Even when they were just playing. It was easier to let go for a bit with a pup that stood so far away from all of the grief that encompassed his family, and it made Eljay feel bad that he felt that way.

Eljay smiled down at Bronco when the tickling stopped and Bronco flopped down by his side. He was such a cheerful carefree pup. As Bronco batted at his whiskers, Eljay smiled down at him. Then, rather abruptly, he got up. I should go, he said and he smiled apologetically at Niamh, then at Bronco. I'll visit again, little tyke. Eljay booped his nose gently against Bronco's forehead and then he turned away, seemingly in a hurry to get out of there out of the blue. He suddenly felt bad for being cheerful, like a traitor to Elfie and Weejay, but also a traitor to Wiffle by being happy. He felt the sudden urge to check on Elfie and Weejay, too, make sure they were alright.