A/N: A direct continuation of where Junior 7 left off.
~ Shards of Opal ~
"Papa, eat dis," Junior said, holding a stick up to Hector's mouth.
He took the stick from her and set it aside before informing the child, "I don't eat sticks."
Undeterred in her quest to feed her father, the dhampir child held up a leaf.
"Eat dis?" she inquired.
Hector sighed.
"I don't eat leaves either."
At least, not the kind that came from trees anyway... but he wasn't sure his daughter would understand the difference between edible plants and things which humans couldn't digest. He was debating whether or not to try explaining it to her when he saw Junior reaching for a worm.
"I don't eat worms, either!"
And he definitely didn't want her sticking one on his face.
Frowning at her father, the child held out the worm to her pet fox. The fox seemed apprehensive at first, but did eat the worm from Junior's hand, then proceeded to eat the other worms and various bugs from Junior's pile of forest junk.
"Ruby eated dem," Junior told her father in an accusatory tone.
"Yes, he did," Hector replied. "But I'm not a fox."
Junior started to reach for the bird corpse.
"That's been dead for too long, and it's too small to have much meat on it anyway."
The child's face scrunched into a thoughtful expression.
"Hmm... eat a big bird, den?"
"No, I don't-"
But it was too late. The child was not listening to her father's answer, having already jumped up to run over to her mother - who was standing nearby, watching the conversation play out without contributing to it.
"Mama!" Junior said, tugging on Carmilla's skirt to get her attention. "We gotta get a big bird!"
For a moment, Hector thought that his wife might actually explain to their child what it was that he actually ate, but then Carmilla smiled and swept Junior up into her arms, promising the child that they would catch a big bird next time. Apparently she wasn't going to say anything that would discourage her daughter's newfound interest in hunting...
~oOo~