Don’t worry about it! You actually had a reason, ^=^
And I was wondering if you wanted Alexey to be in the birthing thread?
500+
Alexey’s warm touch brought a gentle flinch from the black fae. But with a soft breath, the warrior calmed herself. For a moment, her eyes turned down to the woad-bound hand upon her stomach. Just as it had been when she had first come to these lands, physical contact from other made her react in such a way. A quiet smile came to her maw, flickering faintly in apology, for truly she did appreciate the freely given gesture.
"I have imagined myself alone," the quiet melody said at length. And she paused. Was that not the way of a wolf? Did the females not birth alone in their dens? But she could not go into her den, such was her girth. Perhaps after, she would have enough energy to change, perhaps not. She did not know what would happen, how drained she would be, how capable of caring for the lives that would be born. There were so many uncertainties. And yet, even if she could retain enough strength to do what was required, she did not necessarily know what was required; perhaps, in those moments, instinct would guide her as it always had. But she could never be sure. Would the virus that allowed her and many others to shift distort such a thing? She was still uncertain as to how the birthing process worked in the optime form, for the shape was certainly different than that of the lupus.
And Onus.... Now that she considered the matter, she knew that she wanted him to be there. Even if the litter did not belong to him, she wanted him to be there. It was something that she could not necessarily explain, for she had never truly needed another as she needed him. But Onus knew very little of the care of young. She wanted someone else to be there as well, a precaution, just in case. Just as in battle, there must always be another plan should the first should fail. And the warrior was determined that the lives within her should not fail—was it the instinct to procreate, or was it something else? "But I would like it if you were there." A soft smile was given to the golden-eyed Caregiver, offering her a silent thanks.
There was a silence that fell then as the white orbs turned to look upon the fox, and the black fae contemplated the small canine for a long moment, remembering an encounter of several days prior. "How gentle must I be with them—after they’re born?" She could have asked how to care for them, but she knew that there was no singular answer to that question. And she would raise them, and she would be careful. She did not want to hurt them or cause them trouble. Although the black female had never truly been fond of pups in general, she knew that she would care for her own. And so she did not ask that question. Instead, she was afraid that she might hurt them. How fragile they must be once they are born. "I had heard that they cannot see. Is that true?"