It was a frenzy the likes of which she had never felt before, satiated only by the scent of fresh, damp dirt between her toes and the process she made in widening the chamber. Despite winter’s grasp on the outside world her labor and the smallness of the den warmed her, pink tongue lolling out from her muzzle as she persisted. Dirt covered her paws and most of her legs by now, pieces of it dusting her golden fur, even tinging her nose and mouth, but she had made progress and with that she was pleased and so was whatever instinctual drive fueled her. She paused only for a few breaths, luckily enough this is when she hears him enter the cave. She spins around, a huge smile plastered on her fox like face as he rounds the corner to her haphazard work space. It is then she sees the sun streaming in flickering and reflecting the tiny particles of dust that lingered in the air around them like a million tiny stars. Their own universe.

Her tail waves excitedly behind her, no doubt stirring up the dust even more, as she steps toward him. She laughs at his inquiry, nuzzling beneath the soft fur of his chin and licking his face lightly as she considers the best way to go about telling him such big news. The winds shift and she raises her slender nose toward the mouth of the den, a spark of hunger glinting in her sea-green eyes. “Oh you brought hares?” she said, her voice a bit distracted even as her stomach growled quietly as it tended to do these days. She shook her head slightly, aquamarine eyes flicking back to her moon’s face. “Oh this? It needed some sprucing up, the pelts were musty and the birthing chamber hasn’t been used since you were a pup I’d wager,” she said with a look of mischief on her face, nudging his cheek with her final words.

She stepped back only a few steps, waiting to gauge his reaction and if he would catch onto her words. After a few heartbeats she continues on, her voice a touch quieter, condensing everything into a few words, “I daresay we may need the room come spring.” Her slender neck curves back, nosing the gently bulge of her stomach most likely unnoticeable to the less scrupulous eye. Straightening she waits for the full weight of her words to connect with him, for no doubt he couldn’t be oblivious any more. For the first time her breath catches, wondering for one perilous moments that he wouldn’t be thrilled by the news. But no, she shoved the doubts down, he was her soul and anything they created together could never bring about something negative.