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Since he spent most of the day working in the medical bay, Ulaz found that he had been missing some of Keith’s important milestones. Though Thace always took videos of Keith saying his newest word, or pulling himself up using the edge of a chair, Ulaz wanted to be there in person for something—but he hadn’t been able to get leave since they had brought the cub back to the main base. However, today the medical bay was mercifully empty, save for two hapless initiates who had gotten into a training accident. So, he decided to take a break around the time when he knew Keith would be down in the medical bay. Thace brought Keith down multiple times a week so that the Chief Medical Officer, Kellun, could test Keith’s motor and cognitive development.
As he ducked into the room he knew Kellun was using that day, Ulaz took care not to make too big of a deal out of his arrival. If Keith realized he was there, the cub might refuse to pay attention… Kellun glanced up as he entered, acknowledging him with a slight twitch of his ears. Noticing this, Thace shifted, glancing over his shoulder, and smiling in greeting. When Ulaz returned the smile, Thace turned his attention back to the cub sitting in his lap.
At first glance, it appeared that Keith was watching Kellun with rapt attention and wide eyes, but upon closer examination, Ulaz saw that Keith was actually watching the twitching of Kellun’s large, fluffy ears.
“Okay, Keith, I want you to roll the ball back to me,” Kellun said, carefully rolling a small red ball in the direction of Thace and Keith. He seemed to purposefully aim it so it rolled past them, rather than aiming directly for them, where it would have been easier for Keith to catch it. Instead, Keith flopped over in Thace’s lap, trying to reach for the ball with tiny, clawless hands. His fingers barely grazed the edge before it rolled out of his reach. Thace began leaning over grab the ball for the cub, but Kellun let out a sharp hiss and Thace froze.
“He’s going to get upset if he can’t—” Thace started.
“He’s never going to learn if you do everything for him,” Kellun retorted. “Just sit there and let him figure it out.”
Thace huffed as his ears pinned back, but he didn’t say another word. Instead, his gaze dropped back to the cub that was flopped over in his lap. Keith was wiggling around, kicking his tiny legs for leverage as he flopped out of Thace’s lap onto the soft play mat Thace was sitting on. Then, he crawled off after the ball.
Kellun’s ears drooped and he sighed. “Roc, darling, make a note,” he said over his shoulder. “Keith still won’t walk.”
Roc hummed softly, and began typing on the datapad he held in hand, crossing two of his arms over his chest while the other two focused on note taking. Thace appeared to be rather disappointed too, but he feigned a smile as Keith carefully rolled the ball back over towards him. The cub scooted along the floor on his knees, rolling the ball in front of him, smiling brightly. Ulaz tried to bite back his own disappointment, although Thace and Kellun were not as good at hiding theirs. While he didn’t have much experience with young cubs, he figured that most Galra cubs who were Keith’s age would have been walking around by now—even if they still would have preferred to be carried by their parents.
Keith flopped back into Thace’s lap, holding out the ball for Thace to see. “Ball!”
“Yes, I see that, kitling,” Thace said gently as he leaned down to nuzzle the cub’s temple.
“Is it always like this?” Ulaz asked, gaze softening as he watched his bondmate and cub interact. Thace was rubbing their noses together now, causing Keith to completely lose interest in the ball as he giggled happily at the attention from his father.
Roc let out another hum, signing with one of his free hands that Kellun disliked Thace distracting Keith. Having trained for years under Kellun, Ulaz was not surprised by that—but Kellun also wasn’t heartless, and certainly wasn’t going to deny a cub the chance to cuddle with their parent. While Kellun’s ears had shifted back against the sides of his head, and there was the slightest crease of his brow, he only let out a soft, exasperated sigh and shook his head.
“Thace?” Kellun said. “Could you get him to roll the ball back, please?”
“What? Oh, right,” Thace said, fur fluffing up in embarrassment as he looked away from Keith—much to the cub’s annoyance, judging by his disappointed pout. “Kitling, how about you roll the ball back to Luni?” Thace suggested gently.
Keith looked first at the ball, and then at Kellun, and then finally back at Thace. When Thace gave him an encouraging nudge and smile, Keith smiled back and set the ball down on the floor of the examination room. Then, he shoved it with all his might in Kellun’s direction. The ball spun a little wide, and Kellun made a show of nearly diving to the side to catch it—even though he could’ve certainly reached it otherwise—drawing an excited giggle out of Keith.
“Thank you, Keith,” Kellun said sincerely, smiling warmly at the cub. Then, he pushed himself to his feet and tossed the ball back into the bucket filled with other toys they had fished out of the storage deck shortly after Keith had arrived on base. Kellun let out another tired sigh, scratching behind one of his ears. “Alright, we’ll try another way of getting him to walk,” he said, turning to face Ulaz and Roc. “Ulaz, this is perfect for you.”
Ulaz’s ears perked in surprise. “What?” he asked.
Kellun didn’t explain, though. Instead, he guided Ulaz over and shoved his shoulder so he sat on the floor opposite of Thace. “Sit here, and just… encourage him,” he said, gesturing vaguely and seeming beside himself. “Keith is your cub too, so if all goes well, he should hopefully want to walk to you.”
“And what if he doesn’t?” Ulaz asked, carefully crossing his legs and leaning forward to rest his forearms on his knees.
Keith had noticed Ulaz by now, visibly perking up. “Laz!” he shouted happily. Behind him, Thace let out a soft, almost coo-like purr, seeming amused.
Ulaz offered a gentle smile. “Hello, kitling…”
Carefully, Thace helped Keith stand up in front of him, even though the cub didn’t seem particularly pleased about it. Keith whined, looking unsure as Thace gently placed his hands on Keith’s shoulders, holding him steady. Ulaz chirped softly, in an attempt to distract Keith and grab his attention back. Keith perked up again, although he still seemed unsure.
“Go on, kitling,” Thace encouraged him, purring softly as he nuzzled Keith’s temple. “Laz is right there…”
“Come on, Keith,” Ulaz added, opening his arms. But even with the encouragement, Keith was still extremely reluctant to move, clinging to Thace’s hand. Ulaz’s shoulders slumped and he sighed heavily as he thought. Perhaps Terrans had slower growth rates compared to Galra and Keith’s development was taking unforeseen turns because of it. He really had no idea what to do…
One of Ulaz’s ears twitched as Roc lightly tapped one of his claws against the examination table behind him. The noise drew Kellun’s attention too, and Roc must have signed something, since Kellun let out a sigh after a couple of moments, uttering a curse under his breath in his native dialect—softly enough that Thace didn’t catch it, lest he scold Kellun for his language.
“Well, yes, I know it’s worrisome, but perhaps we should—oh, well yes, we could try those tests—” Kellun whispered. There was another pause, and Ulaz heard Roc click his claws again as he thought. Tuning out the rest of Kellun and Roc’s conversation, Ulaz turned his attention back to Thace and Keith. Thace’s ears had dropped against the sides of his head, although he was smiling despite his dour mood as Keith pawed at his face and giggled happily.
“He could just be a late bloomer,” Ulaz suggested, gaze softening as he tried to ease his bondmate’s worry. Thace gave a noncommittal hum, more focused on trying to dislodge Keith’s tiny fingers from where they were gripping tightly at the short fur of his cheek. Ulaz couldn’t stop a chuckle at the sight. “He’s lucky he’s cute.”
Keith glanced over at Ulaz at the sound of his voice, perking up, and Ulaz purposefully twitched his ears in order to draw Keith’s attention away from Thace. Immediately, Keith lost interest in yanking on Thace’s fur, turning away and letting out an excited string of nonsensical babbling. Thace let out a soft sigh, shooting Ulaz a thankful look.
“Laz!” Keith chirped.
“You’re causing us a lot of stress, you know,” Ulaz said teasingly.
Keith let out a soft, almost chirp-like sound that was reminiscent of a sound young Galra cubs made when they were happy. When he did it, though, it came out more garbled and muted. He wiggled in Thace’s grasp, reaching out for Ulaz, repeating “Laz” over and over again in between his babbling. Then, tentatively, Keith took a step forward as he managed to wiggle out of Thace’s grasp. For a tick, it looked like he was going to revert back to crawling so he could get over to Ulaz…
But then he remained on two feet. Ulaz sucked in a breath, quickly holding out his hands to catch Keith if he fell. Elation rose in Ulaz’s chest, and he let out an excited chirp before he could stop himself. Keith fell into his outstretched arms, giggling happily as Ulaz gathered him up and nuzzled him.
“Thace! Did you see that?” Ulaz asked, unable to contain his smile as he looked over at his bondmate. “He did so well!”
Thace was watching the both of them with a soft smile, his ears at ease. “Yes, he did.”