Dead Empress Backwater only son of the ladiesman

@Eros <3

Slower and slower became the state of Katna.

Some days she bobbed above the surface of this slowness, most days she swam below it. Today was the later. Which meant she was close to the collection of dens that housed the bodies of Backwater. Perhaps someone had left her here when they went off to attend other duties, perhaps she had settled herself here by mindless choice.

A sunspot. Warm despite the chilled breeze in the air. A comfort to behold for such achy joints.

In the back of her throat built a low hum. A melody lost to time from her young days. Her tail mindlessly tapped against the earth, some outward sign of the contentment she felt in these moments.

It was a rare, odd stretch of space and time for Eros; he was without his brother @Archer. Boredom seemed to fill him up so much more quickly without his closest sibling at his side, and the gangly pup wandered around looking for entertainment. He looped back around toward the main den, intending to check if anyone had come home, especially his littermate. When he heard the familiar, throaty hum of his great-grandmother, Eros perked and bounded forward.

"Gram'na!" he greeted, once spying her old, aching frame. The pup was ignorant to the woman's deteriorating state - this is simply how great grandma's were, as far as he was aware.

"Watcha doin'?"

A soft putter of oversized paws followed by a name and question. A question that she did not entirely register, as was tradition.

"Hmm?" She hummed as one eye cracked open lazily. She very much resembled an old hound on a porch. Melted into the ground in her weary state and yet just as happy to see whoever it was who had caught her at a good moment.

"Come," She beckoned for him to find a spot either at her paws or her side. Somehow it always seemed easier with children. A connection to her early days of motherhood. To nurture something again. "Did you escape again?"

Somewhere in between she could not decipher if this was one of her own or another. The newer faces seemed to the hardest to commit to a failing memory.

katna is showing signs of mental decline
as such, she might be unreliable or confused

Eros' tail wagged happily as Grandma Katna answered him calmly. He was eager to take her up on the offer of come, flopping down in front of her paws and stretching his own out to swipe gently at her grizzled legs. He twisted and lazed, peering up at her through now-solid peach eyes from an upside-down point of view.

"I can't be contained," he answered her in a goofy voice, screwing up his eyes to make a silly face for emphasis before dissolving into giggles.

"Jus' ask Aunt Mo'."

He turned up his small chin as he spoke, adding a touch of arrogance. He'd definitely told his great-grandmother about the goose attack before (he'd made sure to tell literally anyone that would listen), but the fun thing about Gram'na was oftentimes she listened to his bragging like it was the first time all over again.

Her aged features crinkled with amusement at the goofy declaration.

Children. Such rowdy and incontrollable things. Bound to cause trouble at every turn.

How long had it taken for her to learn that? Far too long. Still she struggled with it as the young child settled at her paws, big puppy peach eyes stared at her.

"What did you do now?" The words might have seemed harsh if not for the lull in her dull voice. Far more intrigued in shutting her eyes as she listened to him than trying to dole out any sort of discipline.

That was what Aunt Mo' was for.

katna is showing signs of mental decline
as such, she might be unreliable or confused

His grin overtook his face like a wildfire, bright and all-consuming as she asked that magical question. Eros flopped onto his stomach and scuttled backward, giving himself room for the show that was about to commence.

"There were a hundred gooses, with red eyes and fanged beaks," he began with wild exaggeration.

"They wanted our water, and I said, 'UH UH GOOSE'," he lowered himself close to the earth as though a lioness about to pounce, and then lunged forward and began to tussle enthusiastically with the air.

"I ran at it and bit it's leg and they all a started hittin' and peckin'. They thought they had me."

He was on his back now, gnashing his fangs as though the bird's limb were still betwixt his jaws, and twisting and kicking at the invisible others.

"but then there was a big krsch and Aunt Mo' bit the dumb thing right in half."