They were back! Ophelia's tan-tipped ears perked up high on her head as she raced from the den as fast as her stubby legs would carry her. She stumbled several times in her excitement, but regained her paws without throwing up a fuss. "Daddy!" she yipped, spotting @Veho first. Immediately, the tiny princess ran to him and sat unceremoniously on his front paws. She sat up, front paws clawing along his forelegs while she licked at the corner of his mouth.

The little pup was taking well to her weaning. As she usually didn't get as much as her siblings anyway despite her constant bellyaching about it, she was more than willing to accept the newfound gifts of food in the mouths of her packmates. "Hungry!" she complained when Veho didn't immediately open his mouth for her to steal a regurgitated meal from his recent hunt.

Only after she was fed would she show her Daddy her newest discovery. Earlier that day, Ophelia had found her father's medical den and had delighted herself with rolling in piles of carefully stacked herbs and plants that now laid strewn about the den. She was quite proud of her redecorating and knew he would approve and praise the princess for a job well done. However, she couldn't even think about that until she ate!

Ophelia squirmed in place with excitement as her father eased away and lowered his head in preparation of her feeding. The little princess danced, bouncing on her paws and spinning in circles as the sounds of her meal being brought up filled her tan ears. As soon as chewed muscle and sinew was dropped for her, Ophelia raced to the pile and chowed down sloppily. Tiny jaws, already growing into a more appropriate dimension to her lengthening legs and body, smacked with each mouthful she engulfed. As there wasn't all that much for her, she finished off the pile in short order and could finally turn to Veho without incessantly whining about food.

She didn't offer thanks. It wasn't that she was ungrateful or trying to be rude. Rather, it was something she had simply come to expect as her due course and no one had ever told her otherwise.

Instead, the pale pup raced over to rub along her father's legs in typical attention seeking behavior before remembering the thing she'd wanted to show him. "Daddy! Daddy! Come look!" Without waiting for him - she knew he would follow - Ophelia raced towards Veho's medical den and dove down into the cozy place. As he was lagging a little behind, the pup went back and forth, indecisive on just where to wait for him where he would get the best view. In the end, she plopped her butt down right in the center of the madness of tossed-about herbs and plants. When she spotted his muzzle dipping in, Ophelia sat straighter and beamed, quite proud of her redecorating.

At her father's instruction, Ophelia paused on her way to the den and tilted her head. Oh. Was that how it worked? The little princess smiled serenely at @Veho, a genuine smile, as she waddled back to give kisses along his jaw. "Thank you, Daddy." Everyone had always given in before without telling her she was being impolite. Did that mean everyone else thought she was mean? The little princess frowned at that disturbing thought. How come no one ever told her before? Is that why they liked Joan better?

For now, such things were pushed aside. She could ask Daddy about it later. After he saw her masterpiece! For sure, he would like her best after seeing all the hard work she'd done for her medical den. Her tail wagged fiercely as he entered, quite proud of her work. It had taken a while to spread everything over every inch of the floor rather than having the various plants, seeds, and other odds and ends placed in junky piles. Now, he could find whatever he needed so much easier! Each sprig and leaf had its own place on the floor.

When he asked her what she had done with something akin to horror in his eyes, her tail slowed in its wagging and she tilted her head. "Daddy?" Worriedly, her lip quivered. He didn't sound happy. Was he upset? Why? Did he...not like it? For the first time, Ophelia ducked her head with shame and walked slowly back to him. She looked up with painstaking slowness after taking a seat in front of him. "Daddy mad?"

@Veho had been praising her not long before. Now his silence left Ophelia nervous! He was definitely mad! In a flurry of movement, he bent to sniff furiously at her mouth, muzzle bumping against her own intensely. The young pup let out a few plaintive whimpers as she flopped bonelessly onto her back.

"Not eat!" she swore anxiously, tan-tipped ears pinned back as her tail tucked. She'd never seen her father in such a state before. It was frightening. "Not eat, not eat!" Ophelia whimpered, short tail tucking against her belly as her paws made to push his face away from her own. Usually she loved whenever he got so close, but this was different!

"Chew maybe," she admitted, afraid of what he may do should she lie. "It grass." Angling her face away from his, she spotted said grass and pawed towards it to pull his attention away from herself. "There. That grass." Said grass had plain chew marks along the stems, but nothing indicating she'd eaten any part of it. A few of the plant's leaves were laying nearby, tossed off with needle teeth holes through bits of them.

"Sorry, Daddy. I sorry!" she whimpered for the first time in her life. Ophelia was a rather unapologetic girl, but in the face of her father's odd behavior, she just had to say it!

Sensing that her father needed to get his snuffling out of his system, Ophelia lay half curled upon the ground and waited as his warm breath ghosted over her frame. Even when he was distracted from her to go over and investigate the chewed pieces she'd left behind, Ophelia waited in place for him to return. The pale princess heard her father's sigh and knew she was in the clear, but still made no move to join him as happily as she'd been before.

In all honesty, it felt nice to have him worry over her, to devote himself to single-mindedly providing her all the attention she craved. Ophelia knew herself in that moment to be selfish, but couldn't find a reason to feel guilty about it. A small sound was made at the back of her throat, plaintive and adoring, as Veho nudged behind her ears and licked along the back of her neck. She would be content to lay there all day and have him continue the repetitive motion. As a leader, it felt to the demanding girl that he so rarely had the time to just sit with her and provide the physical proof of love.

"Okay, Daddy," she promised. "Will you lay with me?" It was the meekest request ever made from the pup who usually only offered demands and exclamations. "I just wanna snuggle with you."