Whitebark Stream i lose my balance

@Alsek maybe? Their eyes aren't open yet, fyi.

Pele's primary sense was still touch. Eyes and ears were still closed, and her nose wasn’t quite working at one-hundred percent yet. But she could feel many things: her mother’s body, an almost-constant presence; the soft floor of the padded den beneath her; and… a wriggling, squirming thing that was constantly fighting her for food. Whatever this parasite was, it was a persistent little devil, but Pele was patient. If a baby can even be patient. Whenever it stole her particular teat, she simply moved to another one on her mother’s body. There was plenty to go around, yet the parasite’s job in their blind, deaf lives seemed to be to find whichever teat Pele was getting her milk from and take it by any means necessary. Pele had learned very early on that it was much easier to simply move than it was to fight the parasite for her territory. And this laid-back attitude would be something she would be carrying with her into the future.

The outside world wasn't living up to his non-existent expectations. Finding food wasn't difficult, but pulling it from its source had become an uphill battle. Alsek's belly was rarely filled; to soothe himself, he would often chase after the other pup and suckle on one of her appendages. It didn't bring him any milk, but it did bring him comfort. The boy released his teat and screamed, simultaneously turning his body to follow after his sister.

Pele did whatever the pup equivalent is of sighing dramatically and saying, “Can you not?” when she felt Alsek’s body wriggling up to her. She tried to move away but was as yet unable to stand, let alone walk, so she just ended up rolling like a potato (or a puptato). She squealed in surprise and suddenly found herself being nudged back towards the giant belly that was her mother by none other than… well, her mother. Or, her mother’s giant nose, really. Pele let out another squeal, this one in annoyance, but quickly quieted down again. Her brother was also forced back into position at Grezig’s belly, so Pele felt this was fair enough.

alsek didn't want milk. his small brain was beginning to make the association between suckling and pain, causing some apprehension as he was nudged toward grezig's breast. the child paused, then tried to latch on, eventually stopping after again finding the sensational unbearable.

Pele couldn’t hear or see her brother’s discomfort, yet she sensed it all the same. Perhaps it was some vibration she felt when they were close together. There was no way to tell. All she knew was that this bigger creature that was always beside her was unhappy most of the time, and she didn’t really know why. Unsure of what else to do to cheer him up, and without really thinking much about it, as she wasn’t really able to think all that well, she sort of rolled over and snuggled into him, hoping that her warmth might calm him down.

the child was still hungry and continued to scream accordingly, but found some comfort in pele's warmth. he leaned into his sister's touch, enjoying the simple sensation, and slowly regained control of his emotions.