in which ivan becomes a father at 9 weeks of age | weekly prompt

[wormwood.]

☆ HUNG PICTURES OF PATRON SAINTS UP ON MY WALL TO REMIND ME THAT I AM A FOOL. TELL ME WHERE I CAME FROM, WHAT I WILL ALWAYS BE: JUST A SPOILED LITTLE KID WHO WENT TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL —

Aurum had made his best attempts in the past to, for the most part, entirely avoid Tanglewood's flora and fauna. He did this mainly so that he wouldn't be forced to face the odd horrors that were growing within his own backyard, and also so that he wouldn't be forced to dispose of them as a result. He knew that there were some awful things out there, such as the enormous mutated bear creature that had once attacked him and snatched away the necklace he had been given by Poetking, but for the most part he wasn't confronted with things such as that. Most prey still remained blissfully unmutated when the angel got his claws into it, and the few mutated creatures he had met otherwise were, thankfully, most of the time friendly. Of course, the proxy had never been forced to bear witness to their births as Ivan just had, and he had certainly never been forced to watch any of the mutated beasts murder their siblings in cold blood, even if it was not necessarily done with malicious intent. Perhaps the little beast had just intended to eat them, and had been interrupted by the presence of someone to imprint on... it was hardly a comforting thought, but it was at least one that made some sense.

Late night walks had begun to come a bit of a habit for Aurum as of late, the proxy eager to get outside and enjoy the territory while he still could before he would be forced to remain in camp due to his pregnancy. He had been out on one of these walks when the strong scent of Tanglewood invaded his senses, not because of a border-line, but because of several Tanglers all clustered together in a group. Feeling curious, the tigon made his way over slowly to where Ivan was, accompanied by his mother and father, as well as Caustic. Aurum found himself recoiling slightly when he caught sight of the mutated chick, but he bit his tongue to keep from saying anything that would make Ivan even more upset. It was obvious that the child was also horrified by the avian, but Aurum didn't need to insult it either. Hesitating, Aurum mumbled softly as he sat nearby, watching the chick cling to Ivan's paw, "Like your father said, you don't have to do anything... although I doubt it'll survive very long without anybody caring for it... maybe you could see if somebody else would want to help it, if it upsets you so much?" His suggestion wasn't quite the same as Selby just saying to leave it to die if it really frightened the boy so much, but it had the same spirit behind it.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #722227; font-size: 24px;"][color=#c16f78]— AURUM

#psychosocial.