Hera hummed quietly to herself as she hopped around the area around the den, batting around a small rock the had found between her forepaws like a soccer ball. It was just the latest of the little games she made her herself to stay entertained in this otherwise boring place. Hercules and Aura would play with her sometimes, but there wasn't anyone that could keep up with her boundless energy. She kicked her little rock and it rolled away from her a bit and she went chasing after it till rolled into a larger rock. "Oooooh," she said in awe as she tipped her head all the way back to look up to the top of the rock that was at least as tall as Momma! Her head leaned one way and then the other, looking around the sides of it to see if there was some way to climb up. Her ears flicked back thoughtfully. If only she could fly like a bird! Then she could get up there no problem! She could even fly up to the top of the mountain! She could go anywhere she wanted. Giggling, she turned and ran in circles around the rock, jumping every once in a while to pretend like she was taking off. ""

The beast had never really considered the possibility of having children. It was obviously the next logical step once he found a woman that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, but his thought process had never quite reached that milestone. His warrior mentality hadn't really gone away, which was probably why he hadn't really been able to picture himself as a father. Would he be a good one? He liked to think so. His father had been the best father he'd ever known and he could only hope to be the same for his new adopted daughters. He'd need to start getting in the habit of calling them just his daughters because it didn't really matter that he wasn't their biological father. He was the one that was here, taking care of them, hunting for them, playing with them. He was more their father than their biological one was.

Before he'd come back, he'd assumed that Phoebe had been with the pups night and day since their birth, never really having had a moment to herself. Conan was here to change that. He was more than capable of taking care of two young pups; what was the worst that could happen? He'd given his wife-to-be the day off, telling her to go enjoy a day without the pups. He would be just fine watching them on his own. And he was doing pretty well so far. He'd taken the girls out for breakfast and a bit of exploring, having come back to the den to take a nap. Aura, the more quiet of the two, had retreated back into the den to do as she'd been told, while Hera ran around in the clearing in front of the den, obviously not keen to follow orders. The behemoth didn't mind; much. If Hera wanted to play outside, then that's where he would be.

His massive body was splayed out in front of the entrance to the den, barring anyone from entering, as well as letting him know when Aura woke up. His body was curved inwards, massive head resting against his sooty paws as he watched his silver daughter prance around with rocks. It was amusing to say the least, seeing her become entertained with the simplest of things. So entertaining in fact that the beast began to nod off while watching her. He fought it, his eyes snapping open every time they started to droop, but eventually he gave in. He figured it wouldn't be much longer before Hera tuckered herself out and came to join him. Oh but how wrong he was.

In one of her rotations around her new rock of choice she just so happened to spot daddy laying in front of the den, and that his eyes were closed. She skidded to a halt, falling backwards onto her rump from the force of it, blinking with surprise and confusion at the sight. Why was he sleeping? She knew Aura was asleep, but her sister napped a lot more than she need normally anyway. But she couldn't remember seeing momma ever take naps... Well this just wouldn't do! She got up with a little shake of her fur before trotting over to where daddy was laying, a little frown on her muzzle. Without hesitation, she leaped toward him when she got close enough, landing with the top half of her body on top of his massive head, her form hitting him in a solid flop. Daaaaaaaaad!" she whined loudly, reaching up and pulling on one of his ears with her jaws. "Why are you sleeping?! I wanna playyyyyyyyy!" Her words were muffled a bit by the ear she currently had held captive between her little jaws, tugging on it again before letting go and going tumbling backwards off of his head and onto her back with a 'oof'. She blinked up toward the sky with her silver gaze for a moment, then quickly rolling over and hopping back up, turning to pounce on one of Dad's large paws. "Play with meeeeee!" ""

His eyes were closed and his breathing had slowed down, but by no means was the beast asleep. He knew all to well that if he were to fall into an actual slumber, disaster was surely to slumber. Training from the age of his daughters had conditioned him to be a light sleeper when the time was necessary, and this was one of those times. He was simply resting his body, but his senses were still very much alert. He could still hear Hera running around the boulder while Aura slept inside of the den. He wasn't worried about anyone coming to touch his daughters. They had a death wish if the thought even crossed their mind.


As he rested, the sudden patter of paw steps would stop. Sooty ears would perk, rotating in Hera's direction as he listened to her tiny rump hit the ground. What was she up to now? Had she found something more interesting to observe rather than run herself dizzy around the boulder? His ears would relax when the sound of paws beating the earth came to him again, figuring she'd started up with her chasing once again. What he hadn't been expecting was for Hera to come barreling into him, throwing her entire weight on top of his head. Daaaaaaaaad! But she didn't stop there. As if the force of her tackle wouldn't be enough to rouse him, she thought it necessary to grab one of his ears and tug on it, her sharp puppy teeth digging into his flesh. Why are you sleeping?! I wanna playyyyyyyyy! It wasn't until she gave his ear a tug hard enough to send her tumbling back into the dirt that had the giant raising his head in alarm, ruby eyes snapping into view as they sought his daughter's silver figure. She seemed unfazed by the fall, rolling back onto her feet as she pounced at one of his paws, demanding that he play with her.


He would respond accordingly, bringing his free paw up to come down over Hera, pinning her tiny frame beneath his massive appendage. His jaws would come bearing down, nipping at the girl's ears while he rolled his paw back and forth over her spine, wanting to see just how exactly she would try and get herself out of this one. She'd asked for him to play with her, and now she was getting it. A wry smile curled the man's lips as he watched his daughter struggle. Fatherhood was better than he'd thought.

Hera glanced up just soon enough to see a flash of Dad's red gaze and then his huge gray paw blocked her view as it came down over her. It was easily big enough to cover the middle of her tiny body and she squealed and laughed when it squished her down against the ground. She giggled and gave a little puppy growl as she wriggled her way onto her back so that his paw was covering her stomach. She put her forepaws over his paw like one might lay their arms over a blanket in bed. Giggling the snapped her little laws around the side of his paw, not biting hard but putting little playful bites there and gently shaking her head like she might do to a rabbit later in life to shake the life out of it. Not having any real intentions of trying to get away she finally gave up her wriggling after a while and flopped back, swatting at his paw with her forepaws and giggling, stretching her neck so that her silver gaze could find his. "Dadddddd lets play a different game! Momma will be mad if my fur is dirty." Little did she now her ivory back was already covered in dirt from her wriggling and struggling, but she didn't like it when mom fussed at her and made her go take a bath. The water was cold! ""