The demons in our blood

A soft little girly giggle from somewhere in the room made Alastor's ear flick in the direction of the sound, the master hunter's sharp senses honing in on his granddaughter's location almost immediately. Dark eyes locked on the stone table and the oiled fur that acted as a tablecloth, a playful grin slowly peeling across his muzzle. Oh, so it was hide and seek time, was it? Rather than go right for her, Alastor slowly prowled around the den, making a big dramatic show of sniffling loudly about trying to find her, starting on the opposite end of the room and leisurely making his way towards the table. "Hmmm, I wonder where little Fe could be?" he mused aloud, his claws click-click-clicking on the cave floor with each heavy step. "Could she beeee... in here!" Alastor dipped his head into Avacyn's workshop, pausing for a moment for dramatic effect with a wide toothy smile on his face before continuing around.

He moved over to some pillows and furs stacked up against the wall and paused by them, giving more loud sniffs at them. "Could she beeee... in here!" Alastor gave a triumphant laugh as he pulled the pile apart, finding no Fever, as he expected, but giving an exaggerated groan of disappointment all the same. "No?! How could this be?!" Doing all he could to stifle a chuckle, Alastor prowled over to the table then, pausing with his paws right at the edge of the tablecloth fur. His smile was almost painfully wide by now, dark eyes shining with mirth as he reached for the edge of the fur. "Could she beeee..." But before he could finish, his little granddaughter came bursting out from underneath the table with a playful growl. Alastor let out a dramatized wail of shock and fear as she latched onto his foreleg, tiny teeth barely feeling more than pinpricks against his thick skin and fur.

"Oh no, she's got me! I'll never get free! This is the end! My end!" Alastor cried out as she nibbled and gnawed at his foreleg, clinging onto his giant paw. While she hung on, Al scooped the girl up in his paws and flopped onto his back, depositing the pup on his broad chest with his ankle still in her jaws while he made a big show of collapsing to the ground with a guttural groan and feigned death throes, complete with eyes closing and tongue hanging from his mouth. When Fever did finally let go of his leg and asked if she'd scared him, Alastor miraculously returned to life and lifted his head, beaming at his granddaughter perched atop him as he ruffled the fluffy puppy fur on her head, digits dancing between the little nubs of horns growing on her crown. "Why you scared me so good, my little princess! I had no idea where you could be!" Sweet little fibs to inspire the growth and confidence of a child. Play was an important part of learning and growing for a pup. This reminded him so much of years gone by, when he got to play with his own children this way.

"Alastor Mendacium"