The sand had cooled down quite a bit by the time the family reached the shoreline. The sun was no longer high in the sky and the air felt comfortable as she padded along through the dunes. The pups were out of sight, carried in a wicker basket that she carried on her back. The basket helped to shade them, but it also allowed a lot of air flow so that they could breathe alright while she carried them. Naniko had been considering taking them out of the den for a week or so now, and had finally decided that today would be the day for it.
As soon as she found a decent spot she put the basket down, reaching inside to pull the three whelps out. There wasn't much for greenery around this portion of the beach, but the cliffside left a nice shadow for them to sit in where the sand wouldn't be quite so hot and where they could escape the heat if they needed to. It wasn't bad outside, but she knew that pups were more sensitive to such things than adults were. To her it didn't feel too hot, but who knew how it felt to them. She planned on taking them over to one of the tide pools and cleaning it out for them to sit in and experience. Water that wasn't too deep for them, but that they could splash around in a bit if they wished to.
A quick meal for them and it was off to the water's edge. As soon as she stepped away from the bundle of squirming fuzzballs they began to tumble along after her, rolling and scooting around on the sand. They seemed perplexed by the new texture beneath their paws, used to the hard rocky surfaces of the caves or the softness of the furs that they slept on at night with Naniko. One pup, the lightest of the group, seemed to catch onto the idea of crawling on the sand more quickly than the others, though, and clumsily rolled and scooted after his mother as she headed toward one of the tide pools.
His mind was focused on other things as he went about his daily tasks, never really fully attentive to the work at hand. The book on his lap was open with charcoal staining the somewhat clean pages, a dulling pencil between two black fingers as he tried to detail more of the clan's procedures for certain events. Today, it was Rast. The day before, it had been mateship rites, something he expected he wouldn't have to go through again -- perhaps not of his own choice, but because his sole possibility was a free woman he wouldn't want to tie down. A heavy sigh was drawn from his jaws, red eyes closing while the book was tossed to the side, allowing the bulky Tuyul to stand and make his way from the den he shared with his two children. Hands rubbed at red eyes, feet carrying him somewhere he had no true control over.
The sunlight made him cringe. Emerging from the caves was always a feat, for he prefered the cool air underground to the summer's heat up top, but something far deep in his chest told him to follow some invisible path from his home to the sandy shoreline. It only took a moment for him to realize why -- on the late summer air, he caught the scent of four familiar faces: Naniko, and the three boys he had taken under his wing despite less-than-ideal parentage. From the distance, for a moment, he watched as the Queen stepped closer to the tide pools, followed by the light white D'Angelo with red eyes. Though he felt undeniable jealousy over the whole subject, he couldn't help but smile -- they were growing quickly, and under he and Naniko, they would be worthwhile.
A few long strides brought him ever closer, stepping around the slate-shaded boy and his clear-fathered brother to make his way to Naniko. "Careful, Naniko -- their curiosity might get them into trouble, and I don't swim very well to help them." He didn't swim at all, really, not having the patience for the water past his hips.
Another territory that she had been spending some time in lately had been Sakana no Puru. Naniko was interested in hauling in more fish for that, and hoped that she could do some fishing for it over the next few weeks. It would be a great resource in the winter, if the canines weren’t able to break the ice in any of the small streams that ran through their mountainous territory. She was glad that they had claimed a big portion of the woods and parts of the beach – fish that came from the sea tasted pretty good too, as well as the mussels and crabs that she had sometimes found there.
The waves crashed noisily nearby as she reached down into the tide pool with one hand, picking out some of the sea creatures and tossing them away. A crab scuttled by and Octavius watched it with interested eyes, his tail wagging behind him. He seemed to enjoy this new experience, unlike the other two puppies who laid quietly near the basket. They seemed content to soak up the sun and rest while their sibling had bigger adventures. As soon as she got the bad, spiny creatures out of the pool she sat down in the shallow water and reached for the boy, setting him on her lap.
”I was hoping to keep to the tide pools…these waves could easily suck one of them in, they’re so low to the ground” She turned to look at Ravesque, unsurprised by his arrival. Her silent stalker, she had come to expect that he be around - whether she knew he was there or not. ”The others just want to sleep, though.” The white pup wriggled on her lap, slapping his paw against the cool water in front of him. On top of Naniko’s lap he was only sitting in around an inch of it. ”I can swim, but I don’t think I could catch all three at once. In a week or two this would be a more dangerous place to take them…now I can catch or control them, at least, or put them back into the basket if they’re bad.” The pool was large enough for both luperci to sit in, and she patted the spot next to her in it to indicate that he could sit if he wanted to. "They're getting so big already"
OOC text for your viewing pleasure. Because that's how I roll, bitches.
i wear this crown of thorns
upon my liar's chair
He watched the waves as they crashed against the sands, eyes only partially on the Queen and her son in the tide pool, listening so patiently to her words. Yes, it was sensible to keep them away from the water -- pups so young could so easily be taken from the land by the turbulent waters, quickly and before anyone could stop it. It would be a shame to see these ones lost, when he was certain they would be his last children, despite their non-connection to him biologically.
The faintest smile crossed his dark features as red eyes came to rest upon the pristine coat of his white Queen, his charming Naniko who eased his mind of all his apathy and unrest. Oh, she was his Naniko, even if they hadn't really settled on what their relationship was -- she slept with others, but he was the one who took iniative to care for her, who wanted her for more than her ample body and took pains to show her what she meant to him despite his lack of the word love. Words were meaningless. He showed her through other things, his companionship and tenderness that no other was capable of experiencing.
A faint chuckle escaped his maw as she spoke of the three of them. "Boys will be boys, hm?" It always seemed, in his experience, that male pups were far more rambunctious than the females. He fixed his gaze on little Octavius, sitting atop his mother's lap as she beckoned to Ravesque with a pat to come and sit beside her. He sighed softly, but gave in to Naniko's desires, taking a seat close to her and closing his eyes. "They are, but that's how it always works. I doubt they'll be as big as some others." Certainly not as large as he was, for their father was a slight creature unlike the physically endowed Acidic who had adopted them.
Heavy fingers rubbed the tired from crimson eyes, mind making decisions before his rationalizing cells could object. "I've been wanting to tell you something, Naniko; it's personal, and I don't say this to many women." He hadn't said it to any woman, as far back as his foggy mind could remember, and that made it all the more a large decision. The possibility of rejection was not at all in the forefront of his mind.
She was amused by the fact that he would get himself wet in the tide pools, that he'd taken her invitation to sit beside her and the pup nearer to the water. Naniko often wondered about how the pups would turn out when they got a bit older, if Octavius would prove to be more adventurous than the other two; right now he was bold, but would something happen to him as he grew that would change him? She could already see a bit of personality in each one despite their young age. "I wonder if they'll become more adventurous...I try to let them out every once in a while, but Judas is always so naughty. He's a smart one, there's no doubt about that." Already she could see this beginning to emerge in him.
"Maybe if we keep feeding them like we have been, they'll grow bigger. I'm large...I wonder if at least one will grow to be like me. I hope so." Size did have its advantages. Ravesque was bigger than her by a little bit as far as height went, and she had a more female shape with much more fat than muscle. Hopefully her boys would gain her height with a bit of muscle. "I think we match up well, as far as our bodies go" She said, patting the top of the water and sending small ripples his way in a playful manner.
She started to relax as they sat together in silence for a few moments, letting out a small sigh of contentedness. The silence broke before too long, however, the male speaking once more. Naniko sat up a bit straighter, Octavius tumbling partially into the water for a moment before she gathered him back up onto her lap. His words made her nervous. She felt unsure of how to react, not certain if the words that he wanted to share with her were good ones or bad ones. Perhaps she'd done something to aggravate him and he couldn't take holding it in any longer. "Ok...did I do something?" She queried.
