ooc: so excited for this thread! This is set on December 1st. Also, Liam is in Optime. (1077 words)
Snow was actually sticking to the ground when Liam woke up on that first of December, stretching out of bed with a stifled yawn. He didn't have any big plans for the day – perhaps he'd go see if he was needed at Chien Hotel and if no one put him to work, he'd seek out his mother or the pups. Ever since Mara had left to travel Liam had been a bit grumpy. He hated everyone leaving, even know Mara hadn't left on bad terms. Of course, Zafier's death was perhaps the cause of such a sudden departure – Liam knew better than anyone how hard she'd taken it – but her just running away like that seemed a little cowardly in Liam's eyes. He hadn't say anything though, not wanting to upset his mother. He'd just wished his older sister good luck and told her he was hoping she'd return to them soon. It was like Noah all over again. But at least this time it hurt a little less... Shrugging the bitter thoughts away, Liam made his way towards the nearest window and gawked for a little while. Snow. It was so beautiful; like a million stars falling to the ground. “Wait until Lottie, Skoll and Hati sees this.” he said with a beaming smile.
After a quick breakfast – a couple nuts and berries – Liam pulled his rucksack over his head so that it hung on one shoulder, its contents rattling slightly at every step. He had his medical supplies in there, which took up most of the space, as well as a silver lighter and a pocket knife. It took a lot longer for the brown-pelted Catori to get from his home to Chien Hotel, at least compared to any other day these last couple months. His bi-colored eyes were fixed on the cloudy sky as the tiny specks of white continued to fall. He felt childish as he spun around on his heels, taking in the sights. This was even more fascinating than the patch of ice he'd slipped on the other day – or the frost that had appeared on occasional mornings in September and then most days in October and November. Curiously he watched a flake that had fallen on the padded palm of his hand. He watched as his body heat made the speck turn into water before it completely disappeared. He then bent down to scoop a handful of snow, the brownish green grass making an appearance. He watched the snow in his hand before dropping it on the ground again. The cold aspect of winter wasn't that great but so far everything else was perfect and Liam loved every moment.
For a few hours Liam worked alongside some of the pack-members, doing whatever he could to be of use. As a Duke for the pack, his job was to fill in for the co-ranks that weren't currently being filled. He was also supposed to babysit pups and protect the pack-lands but he wasn't required to do those as much, considering the only pups that truly needed to be watched were his baby siblings – and he didn't consider that a job at all. Besides, his mother was almost always keeping an eye on them and didn't require his services much. Today he helped with butchering and smoking the meat that had been gathered in the last day or two. He salvaged body parts that weren't good enough to eat yet good enough to use for practice. He was growing bored with practicing his stitches though and lately had been getting into more complex work like opening up the skin and flesh and focusing on getting to know the anatomy. He had seen some drawings in Soran's books – a human and its human parts. Human anatomy wasn't that different from Optime anatomy, Soran had said, but it was different from squirrels and hares – the fact that they were smaller meant their anatomy was to. Liam was fascinated by his discovers. He had hunted squirrels for as long as he'd been hunting yet he had never seen a heart the way he'd been seeing it (with an analytical outlook) until now. Could the heart – that ugly bloody thing – be why he loved his family? Why these strange feelings were slowly becoming harder and harder to bare whenever he thought about a particular young lady?
After leaving the cellar area Liam went to Lunenburg and gawked at how well the construction was coming along. He only stayed there for fifteen minutes, walking back to Chien Hotel afterward. The sun was very high in the sky by that time, about to start declining towards the west. His belly rumbled, the nuts and berries he had consumed this morning already long gone. A part of him wondered if maybe his mother had made something for the pups and if there would be enough for him. But then as his first birthday approached, he knew he'd have to grow more and more independent. Going to his mother and hogging all of the food she made wasn't exactly independent, now was it? Maybe it was time Liam thought about finding himself his own place... away from his parents and the pups. He was almost all grown up, after all. Maybe he could talk about it to his parents after his birthday – tell them he wanted more independence and a chance to be his own person. Maybe if he had his own place to live he'd be a better man – able to better understand his sudden urge to be intimate with his best friend. Maybe he would be able to even tell Robin how he felt about her.
But right now he was hungry and since his birthday was still twenty-eight days away, he was going take advantage of his dear mother as much as possible. Still in Chien Hotel, Liam rubbed his hungry belly before walking towards the front door that would lead to the cold outside world. He had reached out and cracked open the door when he caught that oh-so familiar scent. He stopped as he caught the scent of blood mixed with Robin's. A moment later however, as a gush of wind pierced through the silence, the two smells were gone. Liam opened the door further and glanced around, unable to spot Robin. It hadn't been a figment of his imagination, right?
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