[ P ] one step forward

Now that there was newfound confidence in the young son of Xandria and Belfast, it was difficult to keep Mios in one place for long. Endless curiosity made him adventurous and the itch to explore was impossible to deny. He particularly loved seeking out new insects - his latest discovery - but today there were none skittering away from his clumsy puppy paws. The boy sniffed at every crack and crevice to no avail, not even a spiderweb in sight. He was beginning to feel disheartened when his ears perked forward, catching the sound of distant giggling. He detected his sister's voice mingled with those of his cousins, Sheik and Haskell, and instantly Mios perked up, bounding forward.

By the time he reached the room he'd followed their laughter to, there was no signs of his desired playmates. There was only one lone figure in the room. Mios, carrying an extinguished torch, approached his aunt and pawed at her side insistently, wanting her attention. If she were to comply, Mios would set the torch down next to her and nudge it towards her, his own manner of asking where her pups were. He'd heard Haskell once telling them about the pyrepantcers and their special fires, and that had borne an association of the Asgaut heirs to the torches that lit the hallways and rooms of the Tiamat manse. Mios gazed expectantly up at Sif, still as quiet as ever, having yet to speak a word.

manip + code: clae

SIF ASGAUT

The yammering of children had finally subsided from her ears as Khepri had guided them away from the room, her head throbbing from the constant noise after such a poor quality of sleep the past couple weeks. She had avoided going with them due to the books he was taking them to only reminding her of her eldest daughter who wasn’t within the structure, missing her dearly and feeling like this change had put a rift between them.

She could only hope Aurora knew she loved her and wasn’t assuming she was trying to get rid of her with a new family.

A sigh escaped her, resting into herself as the sun showered in from the window, bathing her golds in a vibrant light as the Summer heat soaked into her form. The immense warmth that crawled into her was starting to lull her to sleep, even though she worried for the kid’s safety with her husband as Haskell had gotten injured the last time the two were alone together. Not that a little pain wouldn’t do them good, it was often the best way to learn was from mistakes one created themselves and where she didn’t want them hurt, Sheik truly needed to learn a lesson with how airheaded the girl was.

Drawing in a breath, she felt like Xandria was whom he’d have to hide from, the thought making her snicker to herself. The girl had been a spitfire since she met her three long years ago and she wouldn’t put it past her to light the entire building on fire if something happened to her kids and she wouldn’t even blame her because she’d do the same. Her ears tipped back at the concept that they were family now even if Xandria wouldn’t call her Aunt, preferring it so, but there was still that slight feeling because she wouldn’t that she didn’t see her as part of the family.

Just as her eye closed and she started to drift to sleep, the throb of a headache lessening, there would be the gentle prodding of tiny paws upon her side. At first she had thought it to be Haskell, used to his paws being the smallest pair to encroach upon her space regularly but as no voice came with the jostling there was a different little boy that came to mind. “Mios,” she yawned, raising her head to look at him groggily. Even though he was two months younger than her children, he was already gaining on them with his size, growing far quicker than any her brood and it would cause her to sigh realizing neither of this new litter was going to be bigger than their parents. Expected.

Gently she’d lean over toward him, gingerly pressing her muzzle into his cheek with an affectionate kiss parted into his ebony furs, feeling like day by day he was looking more and more like his mother. “Left behind again?” she asked softly, appraising him with her singular eye for a moment until she noticed the torch at his paws. She had thought it a plain stick at first before registering it was shaped a little irregularly from just one he’d find outside. That thought alone brought her some relief, her tail swaying from side to side thankful he hadn’t wandered out of the Manse unattended. “They are in the library. Do you want me to take you there to listen to your Uncle reading or do you want to spend a little time with me?” she asked with a soft chuckle. She’d carefully spread out her forelimbs, seeing if he would come and waddle into them for further snuggles.

Am I Beautiful As I Tear You To Pieces

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Sif's dark face and single vibrant eye would heed his gentle beckoning, fixating Mios with the attention he was seeking. Relief flooded his features as she explained the whereabouts of his kin, reassuring him that they were not on some wild exploration without him. Mios wasn't prone to jealousy unless he thought he was missing out on seeing new places. Now realizing that they were in the library with Uncle Khepri this whole time, he could relax, the brief but dramatic imaginings of Miread, Sheik, and Haskell getting to explore ancient runes and find rare, undiscovered insects put to rest.

Sif offered to bring him to them, but suggested an alternative as well, shifting her forelegs to create a Mios-sized space between them. Eager to have some one on one time and be lavished with singular attention, he bounded forward (almost tripping over the torch he'd left haphazardly in his path) and plopped himself, snuggling against the snowy white streak on her chest. He rolled over so he was on his back, head and haunches cradled by Sif's dark limbs, looking up at her. His tongue lolled out from black jaws parted in a happy smile.

He reached up to tap her cheeks three times on each side with his paws. Pat, pat, pat. It was an affectionate greeting unique to Mios, replacing what words he wouldn't (couldn't?) speak with touch, a direct inverse to his mother whose aversion to physical contact was well known. His features and brilliant golden eyes may have mirrored his Xandria’s, but the emotion, the delicacy, the innocence – that was all Belfast. The emotion he sported now seemed to be curiosity, if the tilt of his head and expectant look upon his face was anything to go by. What do? Mios asked without asking.

manip + code: clae

SIF ASGAUT

A small smile pulled at her lips as the little boy came to nest between her forelimbs, watching a relief seem to flood over him in a wave which had her head tilting a touch as she pondered why. He had never been vocal and it often made her wonder if he was mute, even though she knew he wasn’t, so she didn’t often give him questions that were too complex to answer beyond ones he could better answer with a movement of the head or action he could do. She was used to it from when Aurora couldn’t get a word out with a horrid stammer that had never fully gone away and it made her wonder if learning to read would help him become more vocal like it did her eldest. It was more an idea to bring to Xandria and Belfast than to ask the little one that was making himself comfortable in her arms, not wanting to make him self conscious to any extent as it usually just made it worse for them.

Besides, she couldn’t even read herself, so the offer would be foolish from her own mouth. For all she knew he might already have a grasp on it anyway, she didn’t know every little thing about Mios and Miread.

Physical contact was never something she was good with but children had an exception within her eyes, having no concern about one abusing her as some wolves had done in the past. All she saw was a cute little rolly polly that was as far from a threat as one could be, observing the way he offered his belly to her. It was so outrageously innocent the way he looked up at her, how trusting he was. How naive. Would he be so willing to crawl into her arms if he knew the mantle she held, the blood she spilled, the wolves she killed? She inhaled a breath, knowing how easy killing was. Each vital point that could so quickly give this child an early grave she could never allow.

Losing her birth family was hard enough, she couldn’t lose this new one as her head lowered to gently muzzle his belly as his patting on her cheeks brought her attention fully to him. “You look just like a little plump grub. Will you curl up and wiggle like one too?” she mused as she tickled him with her nose, taking notice that his face was nearly the same color of the insects she often saw him around. He was just missing a cream body while his eyes were the golden hue of the creepy crawly legs. Hopefully he didn’t take offense to it and run off, knowing her view of cuteness didn’t often match others. Maybe he’d accept it, though, with his affinity for bugs. A light chuckle vibrated her throat at the idea of him having a swarm of pet bees at his disposal, if only they could listen to commands.

Am I Beautiful As I Tear You To Pieces

table by rae - image by Lunicea

One perk of puppyhood was that the worries that plagued the adult mind were kept under lock and key. Whatever Auntie Sif was pondering was obscured by doting tickles and amused questions that made Mios wiggle and squirm on his back like an overturned turtle, emitting delighted giggles as her nose snuffled across his exposed belly. The concept of not trusting his aunt was foreign – her touch was and had always been gentle, her reprimands stern but adoring.

Sif’s thoughtful suggestion that he bore a similarity to the critters that fascinated him so much caused his joy to metamorphosize into an even greater wonder if it were possible. It unfurled across his face like the wings of a butterfly breaking free of its cocoon to take its first flight. He jumped to his paws, overtaken by an incredible zest. Mischief seemed to take hold of the placid and shy Tiamat child who was beginning to break out of his own cocoon. The grin Mios thought was well hidden was plain on his face while he approached his beloved aunt and pressed his paws into her side in an attempt to roll her as he’d seen his latest discovery, the dung beetle, do to what he’d then presumed to be mud. If she humored him, he would squeak with joy; if not the boy would plop onto his haunches, panting from the strain exerted on his muscles by her resistance.

manip + code: clae

SIF ASGAUT

His silence truly was a pleasant virtue the other kids could learn from as she watched his patience with admiration, in some ways waiting for that to stop being the case for him as she smiled down at his flailing limbs. The giggles were a boost of serotonin she couldn’t quite explain as she gently tilted her head as she stopped tickling him, if only to fondly take in the cute little insect colored puffball. Much to her own delight, he didn’t seem distraught over her teasing comment, seeming overjoyed by the shimmer in his big golden orbs that reflected her all too easily. Some of her form blended in, her coat similar enough in color that it was like a green screen effect where parts of her vanished into the background. It was becoming more uncomfortable the longer she took in the image of herself in those molten pools.

The only thing that had broken the hypnotism was the sudden movement from the energy bursting within the small boy, surprised how agile he was for being so young, not having to help him up at all. Still, on instinct, her paw would raise just in case he might topple over from his own weight clumsily tipping too far to one side. He definitely was more able bodied than her own son who was as clumsy as could be at times when his tiny legs betrayed him. Her lone ember widened a little at the complete demeanor shift in him, though at the same time with his love for insects she supposed maybe she had hit a special button she didn’t know she had that made him blossom. That mischievous expression looked rather wrong on his face but at the same time, it made her only compare him to Xandria more on the visual side. If his mother wasn’t being a little beastie toward her, then she knew something great was bothering the woman.

Didn’t mean she ever got answers for why.

Her head tilted the other direction as he moved toward her side, watching him with curiosity of what he was getting up to. A flush took to her cheeks for a second when he first pushed on her side at a mild miscommunication as to what he wanted, though she quickly realized he wasn’t asking to nurse. Not that she’d be against nursing a child that was not her own but he had a perfectly good mother in the house he could go to for such things, he was no orphan. A chuckle sounded from her throat as she brushed the thought away and promptly followed his request to roll over. She went onto her back at the very least, not fully understanding he wanted her to roll around wherever he pushed her.

“I surrender to you, oh great grub king,” she mused, swatting a paw playfully at his dark nose at his joyous giggles of what to her sounded like victory.

Am I Beautiful As I Tear You To Pieces

table by rae - image by Lunicea