She didn't mean to pop her stitches open again. Hen swears. No, she swears she wasn't roughhousing with the kids, Molly certainly hadn't pounced on her, and no one was going to be telling anyone any differently. If anyone asked, Henbane had slipped and popped open the tenuously closed wound on her shoulder, yet again. That was her story and she was sticking to it, babysitter's rules.

And Cricket probably already knew, but who was keeping score? For as much as she didn't like being in anyone's debt, it wasn't so bad here. Henbane was trying to make their lives easier, trying not to ruffle too many feathers, and trying not to get in the way. Or... well, as much as she can. As much as she can when she's limping back to Cricket's den with an open wound and an apologetic smile.

"Speech"

Despite most of her children being quite small, it was a huge help to have Henbane's help with burning off their energy. Of course, she was still injured, and Cricket wished she had some sense of self-preservation (all she'd need to do is stand up to be out of reach). But she got it too. The kids were fun to rumble with. She'd always liked being on the bottom of the sleep pile, these days, she had more bodies to keep her warm than ever. She was having the best time of her life.

The tang of iron caught her attention first, her head popping out from underneath the willow and canting her head as she spotted Henbane. Her Zorilla was already fetching the needle and thread. "You gotta stop fallin' over Hen..." She knew it was pointless to try and assume otherwise.

”Speech”  ’Thought’

It's time to raise the curtain

Self preservation is a river in Egypt, or whatever they said. Hen wasn't interested in either one, instead, giving a wag of her tail as she ambled toward Cricket. Dad had never worried too much about them getting banged up as kids, and they'd turned out good enough. Playful grin stretched over Hen's face, even if she felt a little bad about all the extra work she'd made her friend too.

"Think of all the practice you'd miss out on if I didn't!" She calls back, picking up a light jog for a few steps before the impact causes her to flinch. "I'll even try to be a good patient this time." Tilting her head down as she looked to Cricket, trying not to grimace too much. Okay ow, maybe this was a bit worse than usual.

"Speech"