Dead Empress Backwater we're flat broke

For @Eros Khalon has taken a tumble and needs minor medical attention. Note for me, Khalon is about 11 weeks old.
late night before midnight, smoke, 64F/18C

from charming to alarming in seconds

Kahlon was taking after some of the other nocturnal wolves in the Backwater, at least since the weather had gotten hotter. It was cooler at night, and the smoke wasn’t as bad, which meant he got more play time in before getting worn out. Even now with the moon almost at its highest point in the sky the night was still warm, partially due to the haze that hung thick in the air, casting the world in an eerie orange. To the child this was all normal, he had never experienced a summer any other way so he just assumed it was always like this.

He knew better than to go too deep into the water without an adult, a lesson that had been drove very strongly into his head by both his parents. But, that didn’t stop him from playing in the shallower areas, leaping from fallen log to fallen log. He liked to see how many he could do in a row before falling into the still water below, so far his record was ten, which he personally thought was very impressive.

He was about to break his record, going for number eleven, this was going to be huge. Sinking down into a stretch and wiggling his bum in the air, trying to warm up as if he was about to complete some olympic feat, Khalon took a deep breath. The sudden inhale of smoke caused him to go into a coughing fit, his eyes and throat burning a little. The sudden spasms knocked the child off balance, his paws slipping against the wet wood beneath him. Before he could stop himself the Valle child had fallen onto his belly, bonking his chin pretty good against the log, splitting it open.

He began to cry.

The sound of a wailing child was pretty unique, and it drew Eros in swiftly. His lips were ready to curl into a snarl and his nose twitched back and forth as he took in great huffs of air, making sure intruders wasn't the cause. When Khalon was in sight, it was pretty easy to see the blood upon his bottom jaw and to take a guess at what had gone down.

"Aww, what happened bud?" Eros asked as he approached, peach eyes trying to get a better look. It didn't appear severe, but of course they would need to clean it just to be safe. Which would hurt, and he didn't see his little brother taking well to that. Hopefully he could be cooperative enough, though.

from charming to alarming in seconds

The Valle child was just starting to get it together, quieting down to a whimper when Eros arrived on the scene. The arrival of the adult caused a swift row of emotions within him, on one paw Khalon wanted to seem grown up and able to handle himself, and on the other hand his chin really hurt and his brother might be able to make him feel better. Plus, he wasn’t opposed to being coddled as long as none of his litter mates were around to see it happening. The tears came back, though this time they were 50/50 real and crocodile for attention.

He slipped off the log, splashing into the shallow water below him. Blubbering over to the tawny man, Khalon pressed his skull against his brother’s leg in a way that was rather pathetic. Rather than answering the question with the truth that he fell - which was embarrassing - he said, ”It really hurts.” That ought to stir him up some sympathy. And maybe the older wolf wouldn’t press too hard and he wouldn’t have to admit that it was his fault that he had gotten hurt. Opening one eye he glared sideways at the log that had wounded him, as if it were a creature that had come alive and done this to him on purpose.

Eros hadn't yet learned the difference between this new batch of siblings' genuine and feigned emotions. He'd only just started catching on to the triplets' when...

The thought was pushed swiftly from his mind, focused instead on the scent of blood and the sight of the wound. Though it was hard to get a proper look with the way Khalon positioned himself. Eros couldn't help the fond, empathetic look that swept over his features for a moment before he bowed his head to give the pup's crown a few comforting licks.

"We better getcha cleaned up then. How quickly do you think we can get to momma's infirmary?"

The blood wasn't pouring, and he was pretty sure the skin was just scraped. He had half a mind to challenge Kha to a race to help distract him from his pain, but left the decision in the boy's paws instead. Eros certainly didn't want to propose anything that would just make him more upset.

from charming to alarming in seconds

Eros played right into what Khalon was hoping he would, kissing him upon the crown and speaking in a soothing voice. It felt nice to have someone fawn over him since he often felt like he had to compete for attention. It was mostly imagined, but there were so many cubs this season some of it was probably justified. So, to have the one-on-one attention of his older sibling who was ready to coddle him was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

He sniffled, ”okay,” he could agree to getting his life-threatening wound cleaned up and taken care of. He thought over the request of how quickly they could get there, and part of him wanted to answer he could run there faster than anyone else, but that might let him know his boo boo was not actually that bad. So instead, he leaned into it, ”I- I don’t know,” his lip quivered as his eyes once more misted over, ”It really really hurts Eros.” Maybe if he kept this up and mom and dad heard about his injury they might bring him something special for dinner. That would be ideal.

Eros had hoped to catch the attention of that competitive side he knew his brother had, but the boy didn't bite. Instead, he insisted the pain was too much. His features turned somber and he moved, craning his neck as needed to directly see Khalon's chin. He wanted to clean it, but knew that would sting and didn't want to assume it was something the pup was okay with enduring. Still... it really didn't seem that bad. Certainly not enough so to affect his ability to walk...

Which meant this could be for attention, and so Eros recognized the incidental teaching opportunity for what it was. His brows pinched with concern now as he met Kahlon's eyes. His voice was grave as he continued.

"You mean... you can't even walk? Khalon... Oh no..."

from charming to alarming in seconds

The tawny child’s ploy for more attention began to backfire as Eros looked at his chin closer and seemed to have growing concern. He almost wanted to roll his eyes, clearly he could walk and his brother had seen him moving around before the wound inspection. So he sniffed back the tears and responded, ”I can walk but running would bump it around too much.” Surely he could understand that?

He sniffled again, looking up at his older brother expectantly, waiting for some kind of instruction. He had never been to the medical den before, he didn’t like the way that it smelled on his mom’s pelt when she came back from it. Plus he tried to avoid anything that might involve him having to do chores or anything that seemed too much like work. But, his chin was really starting to throb as the shock of falling was wearing off, and this time the moisture in his eyes was half real. He kind of wanted his mom, but he didn’t want to seem too much like a baby.

Khalon was not amused, and Eros had to make a conscious effort in keeping his face straight, otherwise he would have been snickering at the poor kid's reaction. He let out a sigh of relief, shoulders falling as though a great weight had been lifted from them.

"Thank goodness," he answered, before swinging his muzzle to motion forward and beginning the trek to the infirmary.

"For a moment, seemed you were so hurt, I thought we were gonna have to amputate..."

He looked at his cousin-sibling from the corner of his eye, a devilish glint therein. Had Khalon learned that word yet?

"Woulda been my first, too. I definitely woulda made a mistake."

(This post was last modified: Mar 09, 2024, 02:11 AM by Eros.)

Feel free to fade on your next post!

from charming to alarming in seconds

The Valle child was happy that Eros seemed to be taking things seriously now and was going to take him to the infirmary to fix his chin. Then he said a word that Khalon had never heard and the child had to weigh his options. They began walking and he kept rolling the word over and over in his mind. Amputate. On one hand if that was something that might happen to him he should really know what it is, but on the other hand would it make him look stupid if he didn’t already know it?

In the end, curiosity to learn something new won out. They were nearing the infirmary when he finally convinced himself to ask, ”What is amputate?” It was something that someone does but what does it mean? Something medical maybe. Once he learned what it was maybe he could threaten to do it to his siblings if it was something he could threaten with.

That seemed to be it, and Eros was thinking about something else completely by the time they'd almost reached their goal and Khalon spoke up again.

"Oh, it's gruesome," he told him, slipping back into character without missing a beat. That sparkle of amusement was back, but it would also help drive home the little lesson Eros wanted Khalon to know; be careful not to get yourself in over your head, especially when it came to overexaggerating a serious situation.

"First, we'd have to cut off the blood supply..."

He'd give his brother all the grizzly details as he tended to his scrape, oblivious to the kind of psychological ammunition he was arming him with.

/Fade