I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness,
nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory
Their very quiet watch comes to a noisy and spectacular end; the large feline and the colt collide with no few noises and start to struggle for the upper hand, while the copper-and-white yearling spins around with wide eyes and a little yelp. Not for the first time, Ryan is glad that his daughter’s shifting form has retractable claws like his own as she attempts to bring her brother to the ground, and that foals of Mikael’s size aren’t particularly dangerous as he returns fire with hoof and tooth. Tickaani walks forward to referee before Ryan can move, her voice bright over the sound of theirs.
Keeper leans into him and he turns to breathe her familiar scent, equine-and-ursine, and with one mulberry-tipped ear flicked to catch all of the words exchanged between Tick and the children, he wonders if she ever grows tired of how quiet – literally – their existence has become. Ryan has never been one of many words but it seems like nowadays he speaks even fewer, and years of existing alongside Keeper in their second skins with no line of direct communication has made the two of them more adept at communicating nonverbally than elsewise. The Pampas itself is quiet too, and his cousin their host as soft-spoken as the wind through her beloved wildflowers.
Hearing Fiadh give an expressive grumbling growl instead of replying to something spoken aloud to her by her aunt, he resolves on the spot to do better. To speak more often to the children themselves, as well as to Tick, and stop relying so much on other forms of communication. It was fine when it was just Ryan-the-panther and Keeper-the-bear, but they are a family now and noncommunication was never something his own mother would have condoned.
The gold stallion brushes another kiss along Keeper’s neck and draws away to help parent, stepping smoothly into Fiadh’s space in a way that gently separates her from her brother, both of the children seemingly unpleased at not having a clear winner in the wrestling match. He sympathizes, but not at the chance of any real injury if their play would become too heated. “Perhaps a new game,” he suggests, smiling warmly over Tick’s back at his niece to include her, trying to draw her closer into their group. “What about a scavenger hunt? You could go and find your mothers and I five new types of flowers or bugs we haven’t seen before. I’m sure Noma would help you.”
Conveniently, it would also keep them occupied for some time, because he knows it would take them some time to find things they agreed the adults had never seen, as well as trek all over the Pampas to find the far-flung treasures. It’s a peaceful game, as well, to give everyone a break from the sneaking and the pouncing. And the adults can do…adult things. Even if those adult things mainly consist of their mothers able to nap in peace, for once, while Ryan keeps watch for them.
Ryan
( I love only that which they defend. )
I'm the worst on timing but have a thing? TT_TT @[Tickaani] @[keeper]