Today was one she’d set aside to rest from her usual regime of exercise and exploration. It had been awhile since she had stayed continuously within the borders like this - long enough that waking up in the same place yet again was beginning to almost feel weird, like she belonged out in the wilderness and finding herself in the same den wasn’t supposed to happen. Rolling to her ivory marked paws with a yawn and a few sleepy blinks, the girl huffed softly. Managing to move only far enough to bask in the warm light of morning, the young woman contemplated how she might want to spend her self-assigned off day. When no manner of mischief managed to pop into her mind - a rare occurrence indeed - she eventually settled on paying her parents a visit. Cael had been scarce since she got old enough to wander farther more freely so they might like seeing her for once. The trail from her chosen den to her parents’ wasn’t terribly long, but it was a path she hardly ever took a moment to wander down. Guilt panged in her chest at the realization of just how absent she’d been. Her parents never seemed to mind anymore, though they were probably just tired of trying to wrangle her anymore so Caelestis somehow doubted they’d complain even if her wandering did frustrate them still. Well, what better time than now to make up for it? Once she arrived at the all too familiar den, Caelestis sat a few paces from the entrance and called out softly, "Hello, hello, anyone home?" "Talk" "You" Think

The dappled light of morning was just starting to glow at the entrance to the den when she woke briefly, blinking sleepily for a few moments before turning to curl up tighter facing away from the faint sunlight that beckoned for her to rise. Just five more minutes. Maybe an hour. There was no rush to get up just yet, right? Her muscles were sore from a lengthy hunt the other day, just one of the many ‘perks’ of getting to be old and fragile.

Sleep was almost upon her once more when the soft voice called from outside. Cae’s ears stood to attention and a brow lifted as she was suddenly quite awake. Well, if it wasn’t that wild aspiring adventurer of hers swinging by for a visit for once. Pulling herself slowly to a standing position while her arthritic joints protested, she stretched and yawned before making her way outside. Seeing Caelestis brought a smile to her face almost immediately. When had the girl gotten so tall? It felt like not long before she’d been little enough to pick up, and now here she was almost as large as Zephyr. Hm, actually, Caelestis might be fair competition as far as muscle mass these days.

”Good morning, this is a pleasant surprise,” she greeted warmly, giving the girl an affectionate nuzzle on the cheek before asking, ”What brings you out this way? Tired of seeing the world yet?”

Sleep, something that once Zephyr had to struggle for, came much more easily now that he'd grown older. Slowly, as he got accustomed to sleeping with Caelum at his side once again, the nightmares seemed to lessen, though instead of being replaced with more pleasant dreams they simply were replaced with darkness. The peaceful sleep didn't go unappreciated by the aging male, though, and even now when his body felt his mate stir at his side he hardly reacted. Somewhere in the depths of his mind he knew she was there, and knew they were both safe.. and so his body wouldn't react quite as quickly as it would have once. While in the past he might have leapt up at the slightest noise, ready to fight, now he merely rolled to his side and curled tighter into himself, intent on falling back asleep. Hearing Caelum's voice, though, jostled him properly awake. Zephyr grumbled something incoherent, finally pulling himself onto his stomach and letting his jaws part in a wide, loud yawn. It took him a moment longer to recognize that the other voice belonged to Caelestis. Grinning slightly, he shook sleep from his limbs and pulled himself upright to join his mate as she slipped from the mouth of their den to greet their daughter. "Morning, you two," he grumbled, far less conscious than Caelum was, though he easily tipped his head to Caelestis and let his grin grow at the sight of their grown daughter. "Talk" "You" Think

Seeing her mother appear at the mouth of the den automatically brought a childish grin to her features and set her tail to wagging wildly. Ducking her head slightly at Caelum's affectionate touch, Caelestis giggled, "Never, but I did miss you. I couldn't sit around and wait till noon for you guys to wake up." Her playful words earned her a gentle swat of her mother's paw, but they were soon briefly distracted when her father came to join them. Bounding the single stride it took to reach Zeph's side, she sat herself down next to him and gave the aging man a sidelong glance. Looking rather pleased with herself, she chirped, "Hm, I think I'm almost taller now." Even if Zephyr wasn't standing upright and alert she already knew she was actually just a bit shy of matching him. "Talk" "You" Think

Swatting gently at her daughter, Caelum shook her head. Unfortunately Cael might be right about their tendency to sleep in, but hey, they were hardly energetic yearlings anymore. The way Cae figured it meant they'd earned the right to relax a bit once in a while. Still, she retained her good humor.

As Caelestis sidled up to Zephyr with a cheeky grin, Caelum chuckled and shook her head. "Close, but not quite." When did Caelestis get to looking so grown up? There was a lot of her father in that mischievous expression and her coloring somehow looked even more like her father than when she'd been a pup. It was the bright pink eye that always warmed Caelum's heart though since it reminded her of her own mother every time she looked Caelestis' way.

Glancing back towards Zephyr, she asked, "Now that we're up, what do we wanna do today?"

Zephyr, still slightly groggy from sleep, was slow to react as he listened to his mate and daughter interact. Sometimes the way his life had turned out still surprised him, even now - how he and Caelum had been foolish enough to have yet another child at their age, and after all they had been through, was beyond him. In his old age though he was finding that he was enjoying the simple life they'd made; it was a welcome distraction from everything else that had happened in his life. He'd never even gotten around to properly telling Cae everything he'd done in their time apart - he wasn't even certain he'd ever properly apologized to her, nor had she, but pushing all that aside and focusing on the present seemed a more fitting route for the two of them. Life, after all, was short and could be taken from them at any moment; why dwell on the past when it could not be changed? He snorted loudly at Caelestis's realization, shaking his head. "Yeah right," came his easy retort, knowing fully well that her posture was far better than his. It felt like she was leagues ahead of them in plenty of other ways, he wasn't going to let his daughter be convinced she was taller now, too. Somehow, in the blink of an eye, she'd blossomed from an excitable, mischievous pup (that reminded him more of his younger self than he dared admit) into... well, an equally mischievous adult, but a full-grown one now. Their days of trying to control her were far beyond them and the truth was that both were too old to pretend otherwise now. "Wow, I get to make the plans for once?" Zeph commented gruffly, still attempting to shake away sleep. As he grew older, he realized he was less and less likely to push for things to go his way.. so long as his mate and daughter were happy, he was content. But now that he'd been given the cue to do as he pleased, he'd take full advantage of it. "Now that you mention it, I was wanting to explore the cliffs to the east of here. I'm sure Caelestis has been there a dozen times already. Maybe she could show us," he suggested, shooting his daughter a playfully accusing look.

She smirked at her parents responses to her antics while basking in the attention the entire time. It felt good to be here and see her family for once, though the itch to get out and see the world never completely went away even in these happy moments. Still, the beckoning of the outside world far from Abaven was... quieter, at least so long as she was here enjoying teasing her father. "Humph, you wound me. Both of you. At the very least I'm close," she muttered in feigned disbelief. The moment the suggestion of the cliffs left her fathers lips Cael was practically bouncing with excitement and already turned in the direction of said cliffs. Tail waving hard and expression bright, she was already moving as she said, "That sounds perfect! This way!" And she was off, bouncing along at a jaunty gait but occasionally circling back to ensure she didn't lose her parents in her excitement. "Talk" "You" Think