Sweet cheese and crackers, these kids man. The sun was barely up, and for starters, Scarlett had the zoomies something fierce. Raisa was up, had been, but laying curled in the nest didn't constitute waking either. She unfurled only to watch her daughters shenanigans with a loving smile, limp and not keen on rising for the purpose of running. Just a few more minutes, she told herself, and she'd get up and let the girl stretch her legs outside.
But Anastasia was eager to keep her company! This was fortunate, and Raisa simply continued to watch, dozing gently between heavy blinks. Idly, she heard their excitement ramping, felt Phim stir to join them and thought it was finally time to get up if everyone else was out of the nest. One more shriek about bugs and they might wake the rest of the ravine too.

Then one small summons for her cut through the rest of the commotion, and Raisa sat up in a flash, scrambling to her paws and blinking the sleep from her gaze to focus.
What the hell was happening?

Phim ran into the wall. Scarlett didn't want to go near her sister. Anastasia was bucking around like a wild little horse.
The girls were still wailing about BUGS and her son was looking at HIMSELF like he was going to pee.

Raisa stepped forward on long legs with a groggy, but amused grunt of come, to -hopefully- make this easier on all of them, and reached for Ana first.

Worse case, they were getting dunked in the pool outside. Raisa supposed at least now, it was warm.

Phim's round-eyed stare at his own shoulder was funny enough that Raisa couldn't help a snort of laughter, brief and soft. He seemed to think that moving would only make things worse, by the way he was absolutely frozen in place like part of the mountain itself, but that was preferable to poor Ana flailing about - what if she hurt herself? Scarlett, dutiful and sweet, let her know just what was happening. But Anastasia flung herself at Raisa, overwhelmed and upset and scared, a quivering mound of fur at her paws still screeching about bugs!

Raisa swiped a tongue over the girls muzzle to banish that bug, first, with a comforting: Shhh, Mama's here, everyone's fine. Dramatic ass kids, the right lot.

She reached for a gentle grip at the Ana's scruff, lifted her off the ground juuuuuust a little, and let her plop back to the earth to dislodge the tiny creatures. The good ol' tap em off never failed! It would be easier than flicking EVERY single bug off one by one while her daughter was freaking out - when Ana touched the ground again, more than a few of the creepy crawlies lost their grip and went crackling to the floor of the den. A second grab - she lifted Ana, turned to shift her even further from the wall and the already evicted beetles, and carefully dropped her down again, leaving even more of the bugs falling from her pelt and scattering.

Scarlett was pattering carefully, slowly, towards Phim.

At that point, Raisa just used a claw and started flinging off the remainders - she hadn't been rough in any sense of the word, but even she was only so willing to keep making Anastasia either catch herself or plop onto her rump. There you are! Ana was, of course, perfect fine, and the sapphire tigress wasn't about to ask if she wasn't - the question made kids think that something WAS wrong, when there really wasn't. Smile. Be confident! Nothing was wrong, and her own certainty could soothe their lack of unless something was really amiss.

One kid down.

Raisa looked up and saw Scarlett blowing on the creatures, ridding her brother of each beetle one by one by way of gentle request. She crowed in victory, and given Phim's frozen state, Raisa let Scarlett handle it - let her feel like a big girl! Perhaps her own conviction would bolster her littermates in a way their Mother's could not.

She didn't want to squish the bugs, Raisa heard her whisper quietly, because they were not mean - just gross. The Rodion woman beamed, sending another comforting lick to Anastasia (and, admittedly, making sure she had not missed any!). When it seemed both of them had rid their respective charges of beetles, the other children came flocking to her. One might've thought a mountain lion was lingering outside ready to snap them up, and Raisa mused that it must've seemed just as dangerous to someone who didn't know any better. Being overrun with tiny little bugs probably wasn't pleasant in and of itself, either.

Good job guys, she said to nobody in particular, though she wasn't sure anyone but Scarlett had actually assisted. Still, Ana had come when called, Phim had TRIED, and Scarlett's courage had all made this as easy as possible. Still: 'Can bugs go home now?' That would be nice, no? Though... Raisa could do her best, but she suspected they would be finding the little things all over for the next few days. She didn't mention as much, just nodded.

What did we learn about digging after beetles? If it was only to do so outside, she would take it.

She could see the hole there against the wall, swarming with unhappy critters, and could only assume what had started all this based on the little scratches around it. Raisa sucked in a deep breath, taking notes right from Scarlett's book; stepping in front of her babes protectively and loosing that air to push the critters closer to their hole. Many of them grew frantic again, running faster, but away from the wolf family -- either up the wall, back into their own den, or right out the cave altogether.

Poor Мать. He had wanted to save her the effort, not make her get up from the comfy cozy nest she was clearly enjoying! He stood there frozen for many moments, breath held, unsure, as the beetles crawled about his back - their little legs somehow felt strange even against his thick grey pelt, in a way that made him want to wriggle and run and kick up his heels and roll upon the earth all at ONCE!

But Mama, dearest Mama, she came loping over to save the day. She called for Ana, who abided Raisa at once -- all much to Phim's relief. Yes, save his sister! He had tried, and failed, and if he died here then so be it! He watched Raisa pick her up and drop her twice over, which actually looked quite fun.... but moreover, he watched the insects fall and scatter immediately.

Part of Phim thought to hop, but Scarlett's arrival bolstered him. A tiny little whine keened from his chest. Scar help, he squeaked, his wide eyes rounding further.

And she did!

With a puff of air, one skittered off his back and down a leg, which felt even more strange but was not so scary. Lifting his paw and putting it back down, he made the little bug fall in the same way Raisa was getting them off Ana, and in this way he and Scarlett shed the bugs from his own dark pelt.

'No squish bug,' Scarlett said, and while Seraphim didn't really care one way or the other, he nodded seriously after only a brief eyeballing. They were not mean, no, he had to admit. But they were scary! And they had extra scared Ana! No squish bug, he accepted nonetheless, more willing to please his sister than he wanted to pounce about at them on the ground.

When he was free, and Scarlett made for an escape, Phim was hot on her heels. He wasn't getting crawled back on either, thank you very much! Together they found Raisa's sides, and Phim tucked himself on her other side, grumbling in his embarrassment.

Scarlett wanted the bugs to go home, and Phim nodded seriously. They might've been fun to chase, but Scarlett wanted him to be nice and Anastasia had been scared! Banish them.

Phim moved to copy Raisa, his curled tail sticking up high as he puffed tiny breaths on singular bugs crawling the wrong way. This was fun too, he thought!