Grandpa play date

Darika began her little concert and Alastor settled in to listen with rapt attention. Nothing else in the world was even a blip on his radar while he listened to the little pup akin to his own granddaughter sing in the language Ikigai often did. It didn't matter if she wasn't 100% on key or in time with her own rhythm, Alastor listened and smiled from ear to ear. The development of skills, talents, and self-esteem in a young pup came entirely from the encouragement of their family and no one knew this better than Alastor did. So when Darika finished, the great dire brute pounded his massive paws on the stone in applause. "Bravo, bravo! What a spectacular show!" he cheered on the little girl, no hints of sarcasm or feigning in his tone. He was truly proud of her performance. "You're well on your way to becoming as good of a musician as your mother is, Darika—if not an even greater one!" Laughing with delight, Al scooped Kintsugi up as she pounced at his paws, nuzzling her face and forehead with his huge muzzle and showering her in affections.

Then Darika said it was his turn and Alastor let out a slow whistle, an overwhelmed look on his face. "Oh, I don't know if I could ever follow up a performance like that... but if you insist!" Sitting upright, Alastor cleared his throat and sorted through his memory banks of songs in the language of Mirovis. He knew several, many of violence and war, and some of romance and desire. But for Darika, a child and still innocent, only one felt fitting... one he hadn't heard or sung in almost a decade. With a voice smooth and mellifluous, Alastor began to sing Darika a lullaby.

"Dormite liberi,
Dulci pueri dormite, caloria et,
Comodus Vester lecti noni.
Osservo te, semper te,
Latus tui costa te, autem solus,
mitite,
Latus tui hic sum.
In Sommnium plati
Floridus plena, dormite liberi
Dulci mei dormite
Mitite liberi,
Sine pater autem, mitite, liberi,
Visi te tua mater.
Osservo te, semper te,
Latus tui costa te, liberi sine
sentite,
Momentum dormite.
In conclave sine mater.
Conclave dum dies saperis."

As he finished, Alastor felt a heavy weight settle into his heart. Dark memories rose in his mind, haunting visions from his past, of the last time he'd ever heard the song sung. But he held back his emotions in front of his granddaughter, dark eyes blinking back some of the pain of a time long gone, of a wolf he no longer was. Instead, he simply smiled down at the pup and gave a bow of his own head as his performance came to an end. "Now you know two songs in other tongues," he said with a bit of humor in his voice.

"Alastor Mendacium"