A New Start [End]

[Tigeress]

Covered by the soft weight of his sister, Irving obviously wasn't waking up for a while for a tornado or anything of the like. Inca, however, was persistantly flopping at her brother, nudging him with her little head as she attempted to come up from under his head, trying to butt it away with her own. Had she been capable of speech, she might have explained that she just wanted a taste and would give it right back, unless it was better than the one she had, in which case he could have hers.

Astyana listened nervously for the sounds of Igal bathing, she hated to leave him in such a distressed state, she knew she should have tried to weasle her way out of introducing them one by one until... well, until when? Wasn't it better now than to hide it and have his affection for them be tainted by the sudden knowledge? Everything seemed to be a loose loose situation for her lately... except for this... and she found herself struggling for a way to piece it all together. She'd given Silvanus a pardon last time from visiting again, telling him instead to get some rest. She knew he worried about her, as he worried about everything, and she knew trying to work around Igal's schedule was hard for him. They'd only been in a room once together since Igal started living with her, and she almost choked on the tension. That had been a particularily short visit.

She managed to shift her weight so that she was partially sitting up, her ears perking to the sounds of hard scrubbing and slight grunts here and there. He was either extremely frustrated, trying to hold back tears, or both. "Igal... are you alright?" She wished she could get up and go to him, but she didn't want to leave her children to catch cold without her body to keep them warm, and she wasn't sure she could walk very well anyway. Biped form would be a challenge she didn't want to face for a while, the soreness would be more awkward to walk with in that body structure.

She was at a loss for words really, she could only hope he finished his bath quickly so that he might come out and find comfort by lying with them. Irving didn't look so miserable, in fact, in sleep he looked quite happy and peaceful. Maybe if Igal saw that... he would have the hope that she did. Maybe he wouldn't end up being so miserable as they were all expecting, maybe.

[FlyingPanther]

Ilana continued to sleep, periodically flicking her ear in her sleep, as if she was trying to swat a fly or something. Claudius contined to try to get his butt in the way so that Inca couldn't get close enough. He was determined not to let her have his teet, though eventually Inca was able to push her way underneath him and he rolled over on his back as he unhinged from the nipple. He gave out a cry of dimay and disapproval before rolling back on his stomach and began nudging his own way back to the nipple, seemingly convinced he wouldn't get it back if he didn't do so. Aurelius watched the interaction, nuzzling his head into his mother's side affectionately. He liked the feel of her warm body against him.

Igal groaned, he hoped that he hadn't been to loud but it was obvious that he hadn't succeded in being stealthy. "I'm fine....Do you need anything?" he asked to attempt to cover up the fact that he was obviously lying. Not that he wouldn't get her what she needed if anything, but it gave him something to do that didn't let him think about the things he had just been thinking about. He poured water on his soapy body, making sure it get it all out, finally dunking his head in one more time to quickly get everything off before getting out. The cold air hit his warmed body like a speeding car and he couldn't help but whince a bit, as he was sobered up even further and as he reached frantically for a towel, quickly drying himself off. When he had gotten the excess water off his body he shook a little trying to get as much water off him as possible. It made his hair stick out in awkward ways, but he knew it would resume its normal shape once it was fully dry.

[Tigeress]

Inca's mewl of joy could be heard as she successfully stole the nipple, sucking on it slowly, considering if it was indeed better than the one she'd had. Really, it wasn't, but she'd worked so hard to get it, that she didn't feel like moving now. However, unluckily for her, Astyana had been watching the echange, and nosed the tiny bubblegum pink femme out of the way to allow Claudius to move back in. She snorted her disapproval but decided to curl up in place, watching her brother. Irving's leg had begun twitching in his sleep, and Inca didn't appreciate it nudging her, so she decided to flop on top of it and use it as a pillow.

Feeling Aurelius move against her, the tired doe moved her leg upwards to try and cup him, creating a small pocked of warmth. Upon hearing Igal's voice, she froze and tried to decipher if she was just being paranoid, or if she really had heard those sound of frustrated emotion that she'd thought. He was probably just trying to hide it now. Sighing softly, she shook her head, but then realized he couldn't see her. "No, but I may require some assistance when I have a chance to bathe." She didn't know if it would awkward him out, remembering the last time she'd been in a bath and he'd been in the room, but hopefully he wouldn't mind. She'd need a lot of help with pretty much everything soon. She heard the sounds of him drying himself with a towel, and closed her mouth to the words she'd been about to say. She didn't want anything wet to touch her babies, for fear they might catch cold. The dry heat radiating off him from his bath would probably grab their attention though.

[FlyingPanther]

With a couple more shakes and rubs from the towel, he was as dry as he was going to get. His agitated fur stuck out in comedic ways he knew would stay that way until the very last bit of water evaporated off his body, but it shouldn't be to long before that happened. He stepped in the room, looking very much like a new man. His fur was spotless white, he looked alot more sober, and he didn't smell like alchohol anymore (since he had also brushed his teeth...he had had a bad taste in his mouth). The only thing that had not changed drastically was his facial features. He was back to his unemotional look he had always had as a child, and had as a sober adult. It was only when he was drunk that his emotions were allowed to show through clearly. But there was a certain disturbed sadness about his eyes, if you looked really close, that betrayed him.

He simply noded as he headed back to Astyana and the children, "I will be happy to help, when you get a chance." he said smoothly, not unlike the stoic voice he used to have. Since that day when he had first helped her bath (he now knew what he was washing off her in the first place and this discusted him to a certain degree that he couldn't have told), it had been the first time he had seen her bipedal. The first him he had seen her breasts and lovely body, not that she hadn't had one in animal form, but bipedal seemed to show it off more. He had been nervous. But now, he had seen her bipedal body many a time, and there was a bit of mystisism gone from it now. It probably helped that he knew he would never have her, so why pine away and be nervous about her body anymore? As far as he was concerned, he was almost equivelent to the gay friend...though...he did have that one night with that Torquehelmite man. But no, even now despite himself, he looked at her and saw the girl of his dreams. Least...every now and again. He was a bit to jaded now for his own good.

He laid down beside her and the children, though gave enough room so that he didn't crowd them, and just watched the children. Aurelius' attention turned back to him in a millisecond...like a crow to a shiny object. The strangely colored Avington then tried to make his way over to the canine rodent. Claudius was triumphantly suckling on his teet, and had he the more mature muscles in his face he might have give Inca a "Hehe...I win...you loose" expression. Instead his tail wiggled happily. Ilana got pushed a little from Inca's equal eagerness to rest upon Irving, but didn't really wake up.

[Tigeress]

She watched Igal walk out and smiled, the scent of fresh skin and soap radiating off him and creating a pleasant feeling in her mind. For some odd reason it had become a comforting smell, and she couldn't help but copy Aurelius' move to get closer to the biped male. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed, her eyes closing for the first time in... far too long. "I'm sooo tired." She couldn't help but giggle almost drunkenly at this, shaking her head and making sure her movements hadn't woken the sleeping bundles below her.

Inca perked almost immediately, curious to this new stranger. And, being unusually protective of Claudius and Aurelius, she started to hobble after her escaping brother, making a cry which might have been 'stop!' or 'wait!' if she could properly use her vocals. Irving stirred a little with the loss of warmth and contact, but managed to recurl around and under his sister who still remained with him.

"They seem to like you. Maybe I'll get a chance for that bath sooner than I thought. As soon as I find a place to put them... I haven't had time to buy a crib or anything yet." She frowned, realizing this. She was not going to just leave them on the floor or in a pet basket or something silly like that. She wanted them to have a comfy bed like her own. Gods was it going to be pricey when they reached an age where they could no longer share beds, and she barely had enough room to house them all. Her storage room would become a storage room no more, she imagined, and her guest room would become the girls' room... she'd have to ask if Igal felt uncomfortable sharing a bed with her. She would of course allow him any sexual activities, providing the sheets were changed. All things to discuss later.

[FlyingPanther]

It felt like the first time Astyana had cuddled with him in such a long time. He might have melted, but he simply didn't, thought there was a small and unmistakible ache in his heart that he didn't let be known. He wanted Astyana to feel comfortible around him. "I can imagine, giving birth to 5 beautiful children is no walk in the park." he said softly, so as not to attempt to wake those that were asleep, watching the drama unfold between Inca and Aurelius. he wasn't sure if he should touch Inca to reassure that he ment no harm, or to just keep his hands to himself. With the amount of alarm teh child had, he decided he would just let her see that he wasn't about to harm Aurelius.

The Avington meanwhile was inching closer to Igal. He looked nice and fluffy, and while his mom was warm, he knew that Igal would be equally warm and fuzzy to top it off. Not to mention, he already felt a connection to the other strange male. He gave a babies smile as he wandered forward. Igal couldn't help but let one of the sides of his mouth twitch into a smile. He was a cute one. Ilana had stired with all the commotion, and with a small wail of disapproval of all the noise, she went right back to sleep. Claudius would not forsake his nipple, but instead positioned himself so he could watch what was happening and continue to suckle. Boy that child was hungry...

Igal began looking around the room, and got up quickly, much to the dismay of Aurelius who began whimpering pathetically. Igal ignored him for a moment however, as he wandered around looking for something to make a makeshift bed for them. It would obviously not be good forever, but it would do for a moment so that he could help Astyana get all the dried blood and internal fluids off her in a bath. He squinted, before spotting a nice blue and woolen blanket. He snatched it up and showed it to her, "I could curl this up around them...your bath shouldn't take to long...and I can check in on them every couple of minutes if it would sooth you for me to."

[Tigeress]

She couldn't see his expression, but she wondered if he felt uncomfortable in this position, the one Silvanus should have been in, but wasn't. She didn't hold it against him, in fact, she was kind of glad Igal was here instead. She had feelings for Silvanus, that was true, but his inability to take care of his responsibilities made her mothering alarm go off bright red in her mind. She didn't trust that having him around would be more beneficial, in fact, with his commonly downtrodden moods, she rathered him not be around. The last thing she wanted was to expose her children to his depression. She'd tried to help him out, but he had to surpass his guilt, and learn to take care of himself before trying to take care of everyone else. She knew he had it in him, it would just take time for him to figure it all out.

Inca tried to flop onto her brother numerous times, but was just barely managing to keep up. It wasn't that she didn't trust Igal, she just... didn't like her brothers wandering away from her, unsupervised, and vulnerable. Maybe she just didn't want to be left alone, who knew? Irving stirred when Ilana did, making sure she was okay and trying to stay awake for a few moments to see what he missed. He, however, like Ilana, was much more content with continuing his nap.

Nodding her head a few times in agreement, she took a weary breath and smiled. "I suppose no matter how much I clean them, they're only going to get dirty again unless I clean myself." Chuckling, she pushed herself backwards a little, trying to gently unattach Claudius, fearing that she might have to make a run for it with how hungry the little guy was. She grinned down at him apologetically and looked at the woolen blanket. It was nice and plush and warm, and would create an effective barrier from getting them to escape. So long as they all piled together, it would incubate them nicely. "That's a wonderful idea. Help me up?" She shifted into her bipedal form and found that her legs didn't feel quite as weary, and her stomach wasn't quite as much of a burden. Though the aching sensation between her legs was still searingly painful when she tried to move.

[FlyingPanther]

Claudius bit down, though it wouldn't have hurt, what with him having no teeth, attempting to cling on to his mother and not let her go. But eventually gravity won over his gums, and he found his mouth nippleless. He might have wailed, but instead he pouted, not liking the situation as it was. Ilana continued to sleep, starting to get irritated by all the movement and commotion while she tried to sleep, but not really expressing this. Maybe if she just ignored everything she would go back to sleep. Aurelius didn't really like the situation either. The man he had been wiggling towards was gone...and now his mother was leaving to? He wailed in utter dismay. This woke Ilana, and she raised her head to look at her wailing brother, beginning to wiggle towards him to comfort him.

Meanwhile Igal, without so much as another word, quickly scooped up the children and placed them on top of the blanket, then bundled up the edges to make a nice warm barrier/nest. "What do you think? Good enough until we get back?" he said, patting the wailing Aurelius' head. To be honest...he was a little worried about that one...but Ilana seemed to be on top of trying to comfort all the wailing children. It would only be a moment, especially if Igal helped her. He looked up at Astyana and watched her struggle a bit. He stood up finally and offered his sholder as a crutch. "Here...let me help you..."

[Tigeress]

Irving yelped as he was picked up, the sensation of his spine moving in such a matter obviously very distressing to him. As soon as he was put down, however, he rampantly scrambled after Ilana towards his wailing brother. Inca simply sat where she was put, blinking a few times before racing Ilana towards her brother, not liking whatever it was that made him cry. She fell over a few times, but managed to come up behind him, perching her head on his comfortingly.

She waited until the children had calmed slightly before allowing Igal to offer her a helping shoulder up. The little nest would do nicely, especially with how they were already grouping together. "I think it should be perfect until we get back." Even the most rambunctious of her litter couldn't seem to figure out how to get over that strange plush wall that had formed around them. Smiling softly, the look was stolen with a grimace of pain as she began to force her body to support her upright weight. Taking a few breaths as she tried not to fall over or pass out, she began to limp towards the bathroom, using Igal as a crutch. "Thank.. you.." She gasped as she hobbled along, only stopping when she had the counter to lean against.

"Could you set the temperature for me? I'm a little cool from lying on the floor, so everything will feel hot to me. If I did it, I'd probably make it way too cold for when my body adjusts." She admitted thoughtfully, looking down at the empty porcelain tub. She managed to reach behind her and grab a towel, placing it on the sink as she eased herself down to sit on the closed toilet lid. This whole birthing thing... well, it wasn't more trouble than it was worth but it was painful.

[FlyingPanther]

Ilana found herself being trampled as everyone rushed over to make sure that Aurelius was ok, and she simply made a squeek while attempting to get close to him without being trampled. Aurelius suddenly realized everyone was paying attention to him, and he stopped crying, instead staring at everyone with a bit of a smile. Claudius was the only one not within the bundle. He seemed content to pout until his mother came back so he could finish his meal. He would either turn out really fat, or just be a big eater.

Igal wished he had the strength to carry her to the bath, but he didn't want to risk it. He was after all, not completely sober, and he didn't want to risk falling over or dropping her. So he simply tried to take as much weight from her as he could, leading her to the toliet so that he could work on setting the temperature for the bath. He took a wash rag and drenched it in luke warm water, handing it to her. "It might be good to use this to take some of the excess birthing off you. It would be better to keep the tub water as clean as possible." he said to her, after handing the towel, quickly setting himself to pouring the water. He was happy for the distraction and the busy work. It didn't let him think about anything, he just seemed to do it...like a machine.

When the water was finally the right temperature he lead her over to the tub, helping to allow her slowly to get in, "Is that temperature good? I can let a little water out to make it warmer or colder..."