God this was dithering.

The brush of his mother’s tongue for the umpteenth time across the bright gold of his fur and dark chocolate ears was a barely tolerable exercise and yet he permitted it, for now, if only because he lacked the skill in this moment to dissuade her from the task at hand. Bright emerald eyes, the perfect replication of his grandsire, peer readily about the den to eye each of his siblings in turn, Rhett by far the largest of them and perhaps the only one amongst them who would prove, in future, to remain unaffiliated by the virulent disease of shortness that seemed to plague this distinct line of wolves. He manages something very akin to an eye roll as his Niviaq proceeds to groom his side and underside now, that golden fur pulled back to reveal the creamy tone beneath, earthen coloured legs afforded the same treatment before she proceeds to finish her task by licking at the collection of near white hairs upon his chest. The single brown smudges above each eye forever affording the boy a look of sarcastic surprise and yet perhaps it was oddly fitting for the child all the same- a creature in possession of every bit of his Father’s intelligence and yet with no desire to use it for anything really. Stubborn, perhaps, would be the most accurate of descriptions.

It is only as his mother finishes her work and finally releases him that the boy manages to scramble up and onto his paws, heading eagerly for the exit of the den, aware he is not permitted to stray far from it and yet desiring to be free of any more of his families embrace for now. He pauses, briefly, if only to assure himself Pan does not linger just outside with words ready to assault his ears with their flow before he proceeds to step out and into the sun with golden pelt utterly aglow. For a moment he blinks against the sharpness of it, the sun blaring at him as he turns his head from it before wandering a few steps forward all the same to peer down the small hill before them and towards the grassy clearing below all dotted with scattered stones and rock. For now at least, he held little interest in such things, hardly bothered to waste his time and attention upon it as he abruptly seats himself now- if only in the hopes of enjoying the sun a little longer while still remaining within the confines of his parents desired borders.

He has little with which to occupy his mind today, content to simply recline in a decidedly callous fashion, the boy perhaps in a possession of a slightly high opinion of himself and yet he had never truly been given to discover anything outside of himself so far- his trips outdoors infrequent at best and yet more and more Niviaq had seemed to allow it. He relishes this moment now, having already learned that moments to himself were a precious thing- despite his shockingly young age, form stretching out in it’s entirety now to full absorb the warmth of the sun.