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Human pups were strange.
They couldn’t communicate, but were incredibly noisy. They could barely move, but could command the attention of an entire room. Worst of all, they had a tendency to yank at everything their oddly-shaped human paws could cling on to. Kosmo had a sore ear that attested to the fact.
For the past few days, he watched the paladins (and Coran especially) take turns to fuss with the tiny being. Even his Keith, his emotionally-stunted human, was reduced to making strange faces and even chuckling whenever the little creature yanked at his long hair.
Her scent was distinct. That much, Kosmo was sure of. He had scented her before her mother had even known she was growing in her. Her cries were sharp and piercing. Even now, as the baby’s father carefully carried her from his bed and towards him, Kosmo could hear her soft whimpers.
The cosmic wolf tilted his head as he inspected the fussy bundle presented to him. This was what was giving the smallest paladin such trouble for nine months?
He leaned down and nudged his snout against the hand that had freed itself from the swaddle. He gave a tentative lick and recoiled away as soon as the tiny fingers attempted to grip at his tongue. Above him, the youngling’s father chuckled and wiped her hand with a cloth. “Careful now, she’s just learning she could hold things. The other day, she almost ripped Allura’s earring off.”
Kosmo blinked and took a few, wary steps backward, much to the blue paladin’s amusement. Not only were they utterly helpless, human pups were dangerous.
Lance lifted the bundle, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head and carefully wrapped the cloth tightly around the babe - for their protection, Kosmo surmised - before setting her down in the odd seat she was often carried around in.
“Pidge is asleep now, she was up all of last night feeding her,” Lance whispered, tilting his head towards the tiny woman curled up on the bed. “Could you keep an eye on Hazel for us while I take a quick shower?” Kosmo curled up by the tiny human dutifully in response, his tail surrounding the seat protectively to which he received an approving pat to his head.
For a while, Kosmo inspected the small creature. Her eyes were round and wide, her irises the same soft browns of her mother’s. She squinted up at him and smiled, slobber dribbling down her chin.
That, Kosmo could relate to.
He flicked his tail over her, feeling a sense of warmth as she giggled and attempted to reach for the new fluffy toy over her. But it didn’t take very long for the small human being to grow restless. His ears pricked up in alarm as the first pitying cry rang out, immediately waking her mother.
Pidge stumbled out of bed and yawned. She stretched out her arms, smiling tiredly at him before she knelt before her baby. He nudged Pidge’s knee worriedly, wondering if he’d been the reason she was upset.
“She gets a little cranky when she’s hungry,” Pidge laughed, slowly cradling the bundle with one arm and wrapping the now-loose swaddle around the baby with her free hand. “She gets it from me.”
All the same, Kosmo curled up by her feet as she fed her little one. His ears pricked up with every little sound and he sat up in alarm when she burped. Pidge cooed praises to her as she stood up, walking around with the baby on her chest.
“Ugh, sorry Pidge. I thought I was quick,” Lance returned, a towel on his head and changed into his sleep wear. That was a quirk Kosmo could never quite understand; his Keith never did such a thing.
Pidge gently rested the baby in Lance’s arms, smiling as Lance kissed her cheek. “Rest,” he murmured, nudging her to the bed. “I’ll look after her for the night. Get some sound sleep.”
The tiny human was only a few days old and she was already her parents’ whole world. Their days started and ended with taking care of her.
Kosmo perked up as Lance made for the door, dutifully padding after him till he was by his side. He kept his gaze trained on the little one - who’d now fallen asleep in her papa’s arms.
He was not entirely sure why, but he felt an immense urge to protect the small, vulnerable bundle. But he had no time to ponder on that, as little one had woke herself with a soft sneeze.
“Bless you, sweetheart,” Lance chuckled, cuddling her closer to him and pressing more doting kisses to her temple. A sleepy eye fluttered open then and found him; a little fist escaped the swaddle yet again and he’d like to think she was reaching out to him.
Much like the humans around him who’d melt at the smallest thing this tiny creature did, Kosmo knew this little human - as strange as she seemed - was his human too.