Okay, sure, Alastor might not have been Ikigai’s father by blood, but with how much love and paternal affection he had shown the young woman since she came to Elysium, she could almost call him dad. And by proxy, that made him grandfather to the three little angels she had just birthed. Alastor had never been a grandparent before! Hell, the very thought that he would ever be a grandparent hadn’t been a possibility in his mind until he met Manea and she’d forever changed his life! Now the giant brute was leisurely plodding along through the balmy northern summer day, enjoying the shade of the pine trees as he made his way toward Ikigai and Deimos’ den, an ear-to-ear grin splitting his face every step of the way.

Approaching the den in the side of the mountain, Alastor’s nose twitched as his keen sense of smell picked up the unmistakable scent of new puppies coming from the cave. Alastor’s smile widened and his flowing tail began to swish like an excited black waterfall behind him. Walking up to the mouth of the den, Al peeked his head inside and listened in silence for any signs of life within. When his hearing picked up the sounds of movement within, the great dire wolf stood back and called out into the cave. "Ikigai! I am here to exert my grandparent rights and abscond with your children! Please surrender the puppies for immediate snuggles or I’m coming in there!"

"Alastor Mendacium"

Kintsugi was watching with awe while her mother pulled out some of her numerous pretty garments and robes, resisting every urge she had to reach out and touch them. She wanted to play with the soft, silky looking fabrics so bad, but she was trying to be good so that her mother wouldn't take away the privilege of getting to see them. When she was older she could try them on and maybe even have some of her own! Till then, she'd just enjoy learning all about them from her mother. This little lesson of sorts was interrupted, however, as a loud voice from outside the den called in for her mother, making her jump a bit with surprise as she turned around to face the voice that was demanding that she hand over her pups for snuggles.

After the initial surprise wore off, Kintsugi realized who it was and grinned as she immediately ran outside to greet him. "Avus!" she called as she bounded out into the sunlight with a giggle, her extra fluffy tail wagging away behind her. She'd seen Manea and Alastor a few times during little visits and lessons, but this was the first time she'd get to have her grandfather all to herself. Dominus and Damira are out with dad right now," she explained as she began to climb up Alastor's foreleg with her little claws hooking into his thick fur so that she could climb him like a tree till she was on his back and nestled into the thickest, fluffiest fur ever. "But I'll play with you!"

"Kintsugi Mendacium"

It didn't take long after his declaration from the doorway for Alastor to hear the scampering of puppy paws come barreling towards him. Bracing himself with a toothy grin that spread from ear to red-tipped ear, Al watched as the alabaster form of Kintsugi rushed out to greet him in their special tongue, the giant dire wolf uttering a hearty laugh as he dropped his head to intercept her with a nuzzle. "Nepoata!" he greeted her in return, rubbing his massive snout against the top of her head and face. "How's my beautiful little princess doing today? Not giving your mother too much trouble, right?" He chuckled again and braced his legs so Kintsugi could use her feline claws to scale his body more easily.

Once the pup was nestled safely in the dense fur of his scruff and she had informed him that her siblings were out with Deimos, Al gave a resolute nod and smile over his shoulder to his granddaughter. "Then it's settled. You and I are spending the day together!" Turning his head back into the den, he called in to Ikigai, "Ikigai! I'm absconding with your daughter and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" Once he heard the call back that they were free to go, Alastor grinned at Kintsugi with a mischievous gleam in his obsidian eyes. "It's just you and me today, little princess! What would you like to do first?" Today was all for her, and whatever her heart desired, Al would do with her. He'd even play dress up and have a tea party if that was what Sugi desired.

"Alastor Mendacium"

"I never give my momma any trouble! A princess has to be on her best behavior after all!" she insisted with a proud little up turn of her nose, but the grin she couldn't quite hide gave away that wasn't entirely the truth. Once she was settled on her grandfather's back and ready to go wherever he took her–and once her mother gave them the okay–she retuned his grin with an excited wag of her fluffy tail. She hummed thoughtfully as he left it open to her what they might do today, tapping her chin with one of her large, rounded paws.

She gasped as an idea finally came to her and she grinned as she told him, "I know! Momma has been teaching me some songs! Can I sing them for you, grandpa?" She could have just sang them here, but what was the fun in that? "Lets go to the island lake first though. That's a way better stage!" There was that flat piece of shale that her parents had told her was usually for pack meetings, but today that would be the stage for her grand debut!

"Kintsugi Mendacium"

Even Alastor had to give Kintsugi a dubious raise of his brow and a smirk when she declared that, as a princess, she was always on her best behavior. He shared a chuckle with her when she grinned in obvious opposition to her words; yeah, that's what he thought. When asked what she wanted to do, Kintsugi's response surprised him a bit. A concert by the lake? What a marvelous idea! Alastor loved music and singing as well, and given that she was the daughter of Elysium's resident maestro, it really was to be expected that she would take up the musical arts as well. "I'd love to hear your songs, paulo amores! A lakeside concert it is!" he said with a boisterous laugh as he picked up the pace, loping with a little bounce in his gait in the direction of Alias Lake.

It didn't take long for the dire brute to cover the distance to the lake at the heart of the island. The place was peaceful and deserted, save for some ducks that floated lazily about on the lake's surface. Alastor carried the small pup over to the slab of shale that the pack used as a dais to hold meetings and special events, clambering up onto it with ease and drooping down to his belly to let Kintsugi slide off his back. Once she was dismounted and settled, Alastor shifted to lie comfortably before her, settling in for his own personal concert. "The stage is set and the show is yours, Kintsugi! Let's hear your songs! Maybe I'll teach you one of my own if you'd like too." Alastor winked at his granddaughter, all smiles as he waited for her to begin her show.

"Alastor Mendacium"

Kintsugi grinned happily when her grandfather agreed so eagerly to her idea, her fluffy tail wagging happily at his excitement. He picked up the pace as he carried her to the lake so she held on tight to his thick fur, enjoying the view of the island from his back as it passed by. It didn't take much time at all for them to get to the lake and once Alastor laid down on the slab of shale she slipped off of his back, landing on the stone with a little flourish of her tail. She pranced over to stand in front of him with a little bit of space between them, just enough to make it obvious that she was the show and he was the audience. She felt very important standing up here! She knew it was usually just the Matriarch and Commander that stood here so it felt very cool to be doing her little show here instead.

As her grandpa opened up the stage for her and offered to teach her one of his own songs when she was done she gasped with excitement and nodded eagerly in response. "Okay!" Then she cleared her throat a little bit and took a deep breath before she started singing a piece of the longer song she had been learning from her mother. It was in special language that she didn't really know the meaning of the words very well, but her mother had told her that she had learned it when she was little like her. Even though she didn't know the meaning of everything she was singing yet, she was able to replicate what her mother taught her pretty well. The notes were a little off key at times and probably more high pitched than they were meant to be since her puppy range was more limited, but she still sang it confidently and proudly all the same. She was still developing her ear for music so she didn't know any better yet. To her she was singing it exactly like her mother had no one could convince her otherwise!

When she was done she held a dramatic pose for a moment before dipping into a low bow in front of her grandfather. Only then did she break character and give him a wide grin. "How was that?" she asked excitedly, bouncing over to his large paws and pouncing on them playfully. She did love performing and she especially loved performing for a really good audience like Alastor! "Your turn, grandpa! What songs do you know?"

"Kintsugi Mendacium"

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"