Playpen

An ear twitched anxiously once his mother had left the room, for the first time in charge of something other than Stomps, his most faithful pet. He was afraid of messing up, afraid of doing something and hurting these small babies in front of him as he would pancake to the ground with two bright embers that wouldn’t allow them out of his sight. He didn’t want what happened to him to happen to them and the best way to prevent that is to not let them go outside this house. Keep them in the walls, that had to be the answer. Still, they weren’t exactly moving around yet, having only recently opened their eyes to the world. It was strange how they went from useless cute beans to functional wolves. Well as functional as one could be with those stubby little arms of theirs, he gently nipped at only to feel a dark paw whack his nose, causing him to let out a little laugh.

“Were we ever like that?” he inquired of Sheik as if she would have a better memory of being born than he did. All he recalled was darkness vanishing and life beginning, he couldn’t remember a time when he was such a grub that couldn’t do anything without help from others.

Before she could ever hope to answer, one of his brothers had become daring and started to hobble instead of keeping nice and still where danger could never hurt them. He was starting to see why his mom needed a little break away from this, staying vigilant was exhausting as he hopped to his own paws to block the tiny guy from creeping toward the door where he cried for the return of likely the protection of the one with him most. “Blockade the door, they can never be allowed to escape! For their own protection!” he chirped at his sister with an exceptionally serious face as he puffed out his chest and pointed a paw at the exit, they could end up waddling out.

He fully expected her compliance like back when they were smaller, and he needed help opening doors by standing on her back or standing guard as he stole a scrap of junk food out of the pantry he’d get scowled for if he was caught. Granted he was always caught thanks to his parent’s good noses. “Wish Rara was here,” he pouted more so to himself at wanting his older sister here, remembering her being a great babysitter. Maybe she could give them some tips even.

Art by Ulfarna | Coding by Plymouth

Sheik was terrified. She didn't want to mess this up like she'd messed up her chance at joining the Army. Like she felt she messed up... everything. Every since her failure she'd been a little down on herself but when her mother asked them to watch their brothers so she could take a break she'd jumped at the chance to prove herself. That didn't mean she was any less afraid of the small beans that wriggled and writhed on the floor. They were so delicate... so hurtable... she would have to be extra careful with them. As Haskell nipped at them, she bristled and jumped up, feeling exceptionally protective but also knowing her brother would do nothing to hurt their younger siblings truly. He received bat to the face, as he should, and she settled slightly.

"Probably, but I don't really remember," she said. The earliest she could remember was maybe opening her eyes and having the darkness become something more. It was a strange feeling, trying to remember when she was a wiggling worm, but she came up empty pawed in the end.

Then suddenly, everything began spiraling. A panic settled in as her brother ordered her to block the door to prevent their escape as her brother began ambling that way. Sheik was quick to act, shutting the door swiftly and coming to stand in front of it to block the little one from running out. "Oh no you don't!" she said, her voice high and tinged with slight panic. There... this wasn't so hard...

Her ears flicked as Haskell muttered about Rara and she smiled, thinking of their older sister and how much better she'd probably be at this. Their mother had to trust them a whole lot to leave these two beans with them, she thought, just as she had entrusted Aurora with them when they were younger. She did wish she was here, it would feel a lot better if she was. "Yeah, she would be able to keep them busy..." she muttered, then looked to Hask. "What.... what do we even do with them?" she didn't have experience with younger children, much less pups. She was no mother herself and wasn't even sure if she ever wanted to be. The way her parents were sometimes made her want to gag and the thought of being pregnant confused and scared her. She wasn't sure how it all happened and honestly she didn't want to know. She'd live in her own little bubble for now where she just had to worry about her brothers and nothing else.

manip + code: clae

He could sense the prickle of his sister, though he didn’t bother passing her a glance as she did so, thinking he wasn’t doing anything wrong. This was how they used to play all the time, so he couldn’t fathom it would hurt these little beans that they both loved so dearly. If he did hurt them, it would be purely made by accident like when one of them would fall off the other in their little childish adventures.

“That’s okay, I don’t remember either though I kinda remember our cousins being like that. Miread was so much cuter before she could talk,” he whispered, remembering him trying to communicate with her in his earliest memories and it all just sounding like crying. Much like these two little guys were doing now. As cute as it was, it was a bit distressing to know exactly what they wanted at any given time. He wished they could actually talk instead of being like the lady bugs Mios liked to study from time to time. The thought of his cousin made him a little sad, barely having any time to play with him when he was busy doing school work and being a bigger nerd than his professor of a father.

As his heart raced in his chest, he would see Sheik flank the other side, acting like a perfect duet to keep the two tiny beans safe from harm's way. He then ran over to grab some wood to put in front of the door so it would stay shut for sure and it made him laugh thinking how much he used to try to escape and enter rooms when he wasn’t supposed to. Now he was big enough to do it all on his own. Most of the time anyway. There were sometimes moments where having a taller older cousin was a lot more helpful than his own two tiny paws.

His attention shifted to conversation about their sister, and he let out a sigh, half hoping she wouldn’t agree with him and be a cheerleader of positivity of what they could do on their own. “I’d say let's dig a hole in the courtyard and keep them in there but I’m pretty sure Mama would be angry if we did that and make us clean them after,” he stuck out his tongue, already thinking of how bad dirt tasted. “Then never let us be alone with them ever again.” He flopped on his butt and thought a little bit longer, trying to find something not so alarming as making a tiny dirt prison.

“Ya know, you can read! Why don’t you read to them? I’m not as good at it as you or I’d try. Rara and Daddy still read to us and it gets us to settle down and better yet, sleep,” a toothy grin poked out, thinking it was a great plan if they could get the two beans to zonk out for them.

Art by Ulfarna | Coding by Plymouth

At his comment, she giggled, recalling when Mios and Miread were just tiny things. They had all once been tiny, helpless little beans but it was so hard for her to wrap her head around that. She wondered what it was like for her parents growing up and if they remembered anything back from that time in their lives. They were both so old now, she doubted it. She giggled again at the thought then stepped up beside her brother as he plunked his behind down while talking about digging a hole to keep them in. "Yeah, I don't think... mom and dad would like that," she said, though there was humor in her tone. "Mom would probably stick you in the hole next!"

Her dark ears perked as he then mentioned her reading to them and she nodded her head. Stories always got her in the mood for a nice nap or sleep, especially when her sister or dad told them to her. She wondered just how long they'd do that for her and Haskell before saying they were too old for such things. She shifted her paws and looked around the room, finding some old books nearby on a dusty table.

At least she wouldn't have to go to the library and chance her brothers following her. She swiped one up in her jaws then settled beside the wriggling duo. They yipped and mewled, just making noises instead of words, and she wasn't sure of this would work but it was worth a try. Could they even understand what they were saying at all? She didn't know. Sheik glanced at Haskell, then back to the book as she used a paw to open in up to the beginning. "The Three Little Pigs..."

The story began with some pigs living in a house, all fat and happy, and she smiled. But then a wolf came along and wanted to be let in. Sheik raised a brow, knowing that there was probably only one reason he would want in and that would be to eat the little pigs! She glanced at her siblings as they began to calm at the sound of her voice telling the story. She smiled and then looked at Hask. "This story is kinda scary but I don't think they'll know the difference. Right?" she said hopefully. The whines stopped as she carried on, the pigs fleeing to a better house every time the wolf blew it down. Before too long she reached the end of the story and miraculously the pigs found a house sturdy enough that the wolf could not get them. So... a happy ending, for now!

manip + code: clae

He felt a cold sweat coming on at the mention of being the ones tossed into the hole instead, causing his fur to fluff up like Sheik’s kitty friend when it was startled. “Yeah, let's not even test that,” he forced a smile, his nose wrinkling with discomfort at the idea. Their mother wasn’t the biggest tyrant in all the land, but he always feared getting on her worse side possible in that chance she lost her temper like he had seen her do with strangers on the street. He was pretty sure Sheik was with them a few times when that happened, though he couldn’t be entirely sure. He just remembered feeling his fur wanting to crawl off like it very much wanted to do right this second.

Looking down at the two youngest, he gently tucked a paw behind Rune’s back before the big lump could go prancing off again and causing them more trouble. That focus should have remained on them but seeing his sister move would dial his attention right back to her, watching her move toward some of Dad’s collection he kept in here. There were times he wished he could read better. At least not being able to do so too well meant he got to bond with family more frequently so they could read to him, giving him all their attention. He sure would miss that when they stopped but he hoped that day might never come, liking to believe Sheik would always happily read him a story if he asked her just as she was about to do now.

Well not to him, to Rune and Nasirye but by proximity, him too. This definitely wasn’t partly to get her to read to him too.

He settled in with the other boys, slowly finding himself cuddling up to them and Sheik as she read. His eyes were growing heavy while a smile remained huge on his face the whole time, up to the point she stopped. It would snap him back to the waking world, tilting his head curiously. “Go on sissy. It might be scary, but it ends good….I think,” he squinted his eyes in thought, trying to recall how it ended in the moment. He remembered some of the story but not all of it. He would be proven right as his tail thumped merrily the more she told.

It was shocking he didn't fall asleep, but he would notice the little ones quiet and seemingly gone to dream land of maybe other pigs. “You did great!” he chirped without thinking, instantly regretting it as he felt one of them stir against his arm. He would shhhhhhhh at him, giving a few little hums to try to keep the bean at peace before shooting Sheik a guilty smile with lopsided ears.

Art by Ulfarna | Coding by Plymouth

Haskell got comfy too as she read and soon the boys were asleep, snoozing away quietly like they should be and not crawling around giving their big brother and sister headaches. It seemed Hask was enjoying the story as well and even encouraged her to continue, despite the grizzly matter at hand. But he was right, it ended well and all was right with the world. The younger boys stirred slightly at Haskell's praise and she eyed them as they settled back in, then looked to her brother and grinned wide. "We are super good at this!" she said, though her voice was an attempt at being hushed. Rune and Nasirye squiggled a little as she spoke but did not rise.

Sheik slowly put the book back where she found it then nestled down the opposite side of her brothers so she could watch them without getting too sleepy herself. The last thing she wanted was to fall asleep and wake up to her mother finding her having done so or worse, the boys gone.

Her dark rimmed ears twitched as she looked to Haskell and yawned, a little tired now that things had settled down.

"Now we just have to pray they stay asleep until mom gets back!" she said in a whisper-shout. Again, the boys wriggled at the noise she made, one even opening his mouth to make a few noises himself before settling back down. She grinned at Haskell before leaning against the nearest table and settling in for the time being.

exit sheik

manip + code: clae

He was content with his sibling shaped beans being all cozy and sound now, basking in the glory of a well earned victory of peace and relaxation. Well, that would be the case if Sheik didn’t suddenly soft cheer in celebration, causing him to jolt in surprise with full expectation that a certain two little boys would wake up. He froze in horror, waiting, expecting. Not a single whine piped up from them, though there was stirring to show they certainly weren’t deaf to it either. As they settled right back in, he found peace again and let out a long exhale of relief that they stayed snug as bugs in a rug. He was just glad she hadn’t yelled it from the top of her lungs and dispelling the very point she was making.

He gave her a crooked smile, not quite agreeing they were good at this but not about to argue with her either. They were barely average at babysitting in his own opinion, though that would hopefully improve with time for when he had his own little family one day separate from his birth one. The idea of having his own little bundles was very much on his mind as he watched them, curious what babies from himself would even look like. Though, he hadn’t a clue where babies really came from besides a mother’s tummy.

How did they get there?

Quietly he hushed Sheik as she whispered to him again, tempted to just slap a paw over her muzzle so she stopped risking them waking right by up. Sucking in a breath, he shook his head, opened his own mouth and shut it tight to try and sign to her that talking was a bad idea. He kind of wanted to slip out from being their pillow but that too might wake them up. He looked defeated, pouting in place with a look that says help me.

-end thread-

Art by Ulfarna | Coding by Plymouth