Sawtooth Spire aufgeregt
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Ooc — ebony
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Private 
backdated to the 24th, lmk if that works <3

for the first time in many years, mahler was experiencing the deep sense of fear that is almost exclusively particular to almost-fathers.
the general demeanour of pride and capability @Wylla wore day-to-day suggested that she would not need him to assist with the whelping, and he was unsure if this relieved or frightened him.
mahler crossed through the high, proud forest to where she had decided to den, a duck dangling from his jaws. it was the fattiest bird he had been able to find; she would need the extra sustenance for her travails.
he set it down, cast his gaze about for her, cleared his throat. "vylla?" the gargoyle called softly. "i have come to fuss over you." a chuckle. she would loathe the very notion.
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Ooc — Chelsie
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Yep it does!

Wylla remained unaware that several of her packmates were working to kit out a whelping den for her, so in the meantime, she'd selected a clearing surrounded by Engelmann spruce trees and dug a modest den directly into the ground. A small part of her was nostalgic for the mouldy log she'd left behind in Swiftcurrent Creek, but those days were behind her. The den was bare and minimalistic, which would make it easy to abandon if and when she ever figured out what Quellcrist and Ainhoa were working on.

Mahler knew where to find her regardless where she went. Her fellow Eisen kept a closer eye on her than she expected—last time she'd done this more or less completely on her own. Having someone dote on her was a nice change of pace, though her pride wouldn't allow her to admit it. She was lounging in the clearing, inspecting her belly and concluding based on her minimal previous experience that there was probably only one pup in there (she wasn't much, if any, larger than she had been with Tiercel) when he came upon her, dropping a tantalizingly fat bird and chuckling through a joke.

Absolutely not, she said, rolling onto her side and stretching her forelegs out as though to ward him away. Don't you know it's rude to look at a lady's body?
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Ooc — ebony
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"oof, you vould not turn avay your midvife," he scolded gently, nudging the plump fowl closer and settling near. he wanted to jestingly remind wylla that he had also done more than simply observe her figure, but ultimately decided that was far too salacious for his tastes to utter aloud.
he would then content himself with memories, which cast an approving sheen to his gaze as he pretended not to look at her softening curves and pelt gone lush with the glow of pregnancy. "how is your sleep?" mahler inquired at length. by this place in motherhood, most she-wolves might find it uncomfortable to settle for the night. 
wylla did not seem quite heavy with large pups. this relieved mahler, for their sizes were quite uneven, and he worried greatly that he might bestow the sort of birth that had tried takiyok so terribly.
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Ooc — Chelsie
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Oh, but I vould, she cheekily replied, pitching her voice low in a poor effort to match his own. She didn't fail to catch his eyes wandering over her belly and in a dramatic display, made to awkwardly cross her limbs and protect her modesty. Ha, like she had a single modest bone in her body.

Great if only I could stop dreaming about rock slides, she replied. It was a poor jest. She hadn't dreamed of rock slides at all, but Mahler was aware of her concerns regarding the mountain's safety. They would be tested before long, and perhaps that was the day that Wylla learned that wolves, even little ones, weren't as fragile as she liked to think.

I'm fine just, y'know, hungry all the time and useless, she said, reaching pathetically with her forelegs for the fowl in an effort to appear helpless. Damn you for cursing me with this affliction, she groused.
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Ooc — ebony
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her teasing elicited only a wide smile from mahler, who was pleased to be within her graces. "i shall make a safe path for you," he declared, "and come into your dreams to hold back the rocks myself." a chuckle; the gargoyle eyed her briefly before snorting a bit at wylla's pronouncement.
"you are far from useless. and i vill take all the blame for your predicament," mahler grunted with faux seriousness, batting the kill even closer to her small paws and round body.
"do you have names?" he asked after a moment, the hard purple light of his eyes momentarily quelled as he closed them and leant into the spare sunlight.
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Ooc — Chelsie
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She couldn't hold back the snort of laughter when she imagined Mahler trying to hold back a rock slide. What a romantic way to commit suicide. You'll be remembered as the noblest fool who ever lived, she told him, righting herself and finally seizing the bird, which she immediately hoarded and began to devour. A more modest or polite woman might've offered it back but Wylla had no qualms with scarfing down food right in front of Mahler without any regard for cleanliness or table manners. He wanted her to eat, didn't he, so he could watch the show.

He asked about names and Wylla swallowed her mouthful of bird before responding. Yup. Was thinking of naming them Rot, Mould, Lumpy and Bumpy. What do you think? She didn't even know where Tiercel's name came from, so she was hardly prepared to name these kids. She was kind of counting on Mahler for that one.
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Ooc — ebony
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wylla continued to provoke mahler into deeper shows of affection; curling up the corners of his mouth, the musiker turned his attention elsewhere so that she might enjoy her meal in relative peace. at her proclamation, however, mahler put his gaze sharply upon her once more. 
deadpan, as always, but he had come to know her sardonic nature. aside from a perplexed exhale of breath, mahler teased her back with his silent lack of a reaction. "so you think ve vill have four children? wonderbar." it secretly made him rather anxious, outside the joke, but this was a jest for the present.
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Ooc — Chelsie
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Oh, absolutely not, said Wylla, smiling. I like to stick to one, any extra will just be extra food stores for their chosen sibling. You get to pick your favourite name. Jesting, of course. If she had four, she'd cry, but killing kids was basically out of the question for her, especially not her own. She was pretty well convinced there would only be one pup, though, given she didn't feel any different than she did last year. A little more prepared, perhaps, but otherwise similar.

Then she fixed Mahler with a long, searching look before abruptly blurting, do you have a last name? Please tell me it's not Vunderbar. She didn't have a surname and neither did Tiercel. She wouldn't mind bestowing something upon these new children, but even no surname would be better than that.
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Ooc — ebony
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so sardonic, she was! but despite wylla and her jesting, it seemed she had a question. it was not one mahler had expected; his features pooled with surprise and then a deep amusement. for a long moment he did not speak; at length he sighed, an uncommonly large smile playing upon his lips. "mahler," the man explained, "is my surname."
and then, for the simple reason that wylla would undoubtedly ask, he went on: "my first name is gustav." a wince, a chuckle. surely she would see why he had not gone by such!
"ve could choose our own title for the children," mahler suggested, though his tone was careful, awaiting wylla's reaction, which was sure to intrigue him no matter what form it took.
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Ooc — Chelsie
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Talk about a blindside. All this time, Wylla had been calling Mahler by his last name and failing to come up with any funny jokes about it when all along, his name was, Gustav? Oh. My. God. She winced almost at the same time he did, lips curling into a smirk. Yeaaaaah, I guess if my mom didn't love me then I wouldn't use my real name, either.

Lusca loving anyone more than she loved herself was debatable, but at least she'd had the good sense not to name her Doris or something.

A happy coincidence that Mahler suggested giving the children their own surname. She didn't think she could handle giving them Mahler as a last name, not when she knew her fellow Eisen as such. Not that she would call him by that anymore when she could teasingly call him Gustav instead. Probably a mistake, telling her that. What's this mountain called? she asked, having never thought to wonder before. It was maybe a little cliché to name cubs after their home territory, but no one ever said she was creative.
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Ooc — ebony
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mahler chuckled, unable to keep himself so aloof during wylla's intriguing reactions. "ach, my heart," he shot back dryly, though he was not without his great amusement. and passing his gaze to the woman even sardonically afforded him another surreptitious glance along her flanks, though he would tell himself it was only for the children that he looked.
wylla, he knew, would file that delectable little tidbit away for another time. he only hoped it was not during the distant possibility of another embrace, though he wisely kept that to himself.
"sawtooth," the eisen responded. "for those foothills you hate so much." the jagged teeth protected the mountain; mahler had yet to regret their choice.
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Ooc — Chelsie
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Don't you worry, Mahler—it was an absolute certainty that that name would come out in only the most embarrassing of situations. Names like that were made for loudly screaming in the throes of passion, weren't they? No matter when or how it happened, getting her kicks out of it was a guarantee he could count on.

He revealed the mountain's name and she couldn't hide a grimace. Ugh. Sawtooth was a pretty cool name, but all she could think about was pups bouncing down the sharp mountainside. Not the most inspiring imagery from a surname. Might as well call them Sharkbait or Chum, she said resignedly, since those foothills will chew them up and spit them out.

Or maybe, just maybe, Wylla's difficulty with the foothills was purely her own and her kids would grow up to be excellent climbers. Nah. Couldn't be.
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Ooc — ebony
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"you hate those hills so much, vylla," mahler sighed, feignng annoyance. "vone vould think they had personally done you wrong." and while he expected her to lecture him about her common sense, and his apparent lack of it, he awaited the crass lash of her tongue with a boyish glee?
masochist? not at all. but among all the reasons he had for treasuring wylla, her thorough lashings of him ranked high.
perhaps then, he pursued it for his own bemusement. it was the way between them, and he enjoyed it far more than he had any right.
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Ooc — Chelsie
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Would you rather I hate the wolf who thought they'd make a suitable home? she asked, stretching her lips wide in a churlish grin. Mahler was absolutely right that the foothills had never done anything to her, but at her core, she was a sea wolf. The only hills she was accustomed to were the sweeping grassy dunes marking the transition from inland to sea shore. The sprawling heights of Sawtooth Spire were unfamiliar and uncomfortable for her, and she automatically assumed she was going to get hurt some day.

Aren't you worried about the pups falling on them? She couldn't begin to understand how surefooted a cub raised in the mountains could be... someday, perhaps she would be the one scoffing when her cubs found sand slippery under their paws while she sailed easily over the coast.
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Ooc — ebony
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he looked at her a long moment, blinked, looked away toward the horizon. after a moment he filled his eyes with the sungold of her own. "i think they vill fall like children do. but i do not think they vill fall upon the foothills. i think sagtannet is a very full place, and they vould have little reason to even leave."
"but," he went on, lest his words be prophetic, "i think that ve should take them down the mountain vhen they are older. show them vhat is below. show them how best to go down."
"ve can only do vhat ve know. we cannot plan for everything."
monologue finished, mahler cleared his throat with an aged harrumph and gathered up his ruff around his shoulders as he took a stoic expression.
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Ooc — Chelsie
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Wylla knew she was being over-cautious, verging on outright ridiculous, and Mahler hammered it home. Nevertheless, she would see those foothills only for the death trap they were until proven otherwise. Maybe her children wouldn't be harmed, but perhaps someone else's would, and then she'd show him, wouldn't she?

Mahler looked the very picture of an elder chastising a child just then, and she wrinkled her nose in response. You best hope that'll be enough or an injured pup will be the least of your worries, she vowed, with only a hint of mirth to suggest she might be teasing.
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Ooc — ebony
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he closed his jaws upon the air playfully. "i vill accept your beating in the event that such a thing comes to pass, vylla," mahler intoned gravely, then glanced at her quite pointedly. "you are looking very vell these days," he observed dryly, arching a brow at her lush figure.
she had always appreciated directness. better to be this always. "come and let me feed you something."
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Ooc — Chelsie
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Wylla narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing her fellow Eisen throughout his commentary, only to smirk devilishly and say, you'd like it.

If ever she'd known a sub, Mahler was probably it.

His observation was met with the subtle puffing of her cheeks, a pout pulling at her bottom lip, and a huff of air from her nostrils. By very well, he surely meant very pregnant. He saved himself the misery of her response by offering food. Wylla struggled to her paws and gave her body a mighty shake, wincing only a little at the extra weight that swayed from her belly, then urged, well, c'mon then, feed me!
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Ooc — ebony
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fading! <3

the contents of her mind would have been incredibly scandalous to mahler, but he did not know it. instead, he gave a chivalrous shake of his head and stepped grandly to her side, talking in teasing lilts as he accompanied his domina to the grandest kill-site where she might eat her fill.
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