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WC: 1010 :3
She didn't mind explaining things to others about the objects in her den. Many were pieces of pride to her - the bed, for example. She and her apprentice Grace had hauled it back from the city piece by piece, day after day until they had been able to reconstruct it. Afterward, they had gone back for a bed for the cinnamon canine as well. When they had brought each one back, they'd had to puzzle through how to get it all to fit together right. Without screws she had thought that it would be impossible for her to get the frame together correctly...but it seemed to be the type that could be put back together without any outside help. Each little arm on the frame had fit together very well, nice and tightly. The first time she had sat on it she'd almost expected it to collapse beneath her weight...but it had held. And it still held her, as well as the one or two pups who still chose to sleep in her bed some nights. She didn't know if it was normal for children to sleep in the same bed as their parents at five months of age...but she didn't have the heart to tell them no some nights. They still had bad dreams at times or would wake up unable to fall back asleep. Then she would sit up with them and comfort them, stroking their fur until they were able to drift back to sleep. The Angela spent many nights up awake in her bed reading aloud or to herself from the various books that she had brought back from Citta Umana and Halifax over the years. She'd nearly memorized some of the textbooks on herbs by now, and a few of her favorite tales she could tell by heart. Her insomnia was both a curse and something useful, depending on the night. Sometimes she liked to be able to stay up all night trekking the border or looking over the slumbering canines that lived in the caves...but other nights she just wished that she could fall asleep like she used to be able to before the addiction that had gotten her kicked out of her last pack.
"I've got many things - some dishes, old devices that no longer work...some of those really puzzle me..a knife set, this big bed, countless books, and many other old unworking objects" She said, pointing to each item as she said its name. Naniko wasn't used to having visitors inside of her den and Finn was fairly new..but she didn't mind. She as doing her a service by entertaining the pups with her story, a story that Naniko was interested in hearing as well. She settled down to listen as the pups did, sitting cross-legged. Judas came to her before his brother could, settling onto her lap. Naniko reached down to pat his fur absently as they both listened, roughing it up and patting him backwards and then forwards again as the story went on. It was a very intriguing tale indeed, unlike anything she'd heard before. The Angela listened eagerly, gasping at certain parts and giving other appropriate responses where necessary. She seemed to be caught up in the trance as well, and sat silently for a few moments after the story had ended. When she did look down at Judas to see what his reaction to the story was, she was surprised to find him fast asleep there in her lap. Severus too seemed to be in a deep sleep, his breathing coming slow and deep. She looked to Finn then back down at the boys, gesturing that she was going to take Judas into the other room. She stood up and went around the fire to the small cave off to the side of her own, setting him down on the large pile of furs that the children often slept on together. She came back for Severus next, picking him up carefully and placing him next to his brother. The mother looked over both boys for a few moments to make sure that they were asleep, watching for the movement of their breathing to be certain of it.
She then re-entered the main room, crossing it to sit next to Finn once more. "I'm amazed - normally they have trouble settling down and falling asleep. I should read to them more often..find some new books in the city that they might enjoy or something. Because I've never seen them go to sleep so quickly" She confided. Naniko stretched her arms out, jaws opening in a wide yawn before snapping back shut. "Thank you for telling us the story - it was very interesting. My own family history is dark...full of inbreeding and backstabbing..and treachery. The D'Angelo name was once a very famous one around the lands." Her family name had been synonymous with the words "insane," or "evil" at times in the past. But not all were alike, and she was one of the more mild in her family. Naniko got up to sit by her bed, opening up a box on her bedside table. "You wanted to see a few artifacts? I've got a very interesting one...it's even useful, now." She pulled out the piece of blown glass that she had found years before, in the city. She had only learned what it was supposed to be used for more recently, around a year earlier. "You can use it to smoke things. Certain types of plants." She explained, pulling out a small baggie containing bits of greenery. Naniko held the pipe out to Finn to show her, reaching into the bag for a nugget and breaking it in half. She put the other half back and set to pulling the first apart, separating out the stems and seeds from the good part of the plant. "Have you ever smoked before? I can help you..hold it for you and tell you how to do it. You don't have to, though, if you don't want to. "