[PRP] My Darling (Mzu x Faiz) FIN

[xo -- k a i r i]

She was BORED! And what better activity to partake in when she was bored than mentally torturing those stupid cubs that's only fortunate thing in life was having someone as amazing as Faiz for their father. Mzuka'hila chuckled lightly to herself at the thought. Faiz knew she wouldn't actually torture them - she wouldn't. But she still liked to tell them how she would, just for a bit of fun. She wasn't that kind of lionness - only the severely insane would ever dare touch a cub. And she wasn't insane. She was just grumpy, and irritated that her beloved Faiz found it necessary to have cubs with the others in his harem. And before he had them with her, at that.

She was his Beybanu - his favourite. And that made her happy. But the smile he'd had on his face when that stupid glowing lionness had birthed him five cubs...it was special. He'd never given her that smile. And no matter how many times he assured her she was special, there was still that nagging voice in the back of her mind, telling her that because there were four of them, she'd never be special.

And she so wanted to be.

 

[Reeshie Hack]

Faiz rose an eyebrow as he watched his... Adjectives were hard to come by with Mzu. She wasn't timid or overly sweet, in fact she was most often the thorn in his side. In truth he must be crazy to love her like he did, and yet he couldn't help it. The poor male couldn't explain why he loved her so much, simply that he did. She was beautiful, and quick-witted, traits he did very much like to see in his females, but there was something about Mzu that just made her stand out from all the other females he had (or ever had) within his harem.

He knew how upset she was over the birth of Tuliua's cubs, but that didn't excuse her from bothering HIS cubs. They were his sons and daughters, no matter how much she didn't like it and that was reason enough to love and care for them. Naji and Fae loved and cared for them, why couldn't Mzu?

"Mzu, dearest, you have that gleam in your eye again. What are you plotting?" he asked from several strides away from his Beybanu, his eyes narrowed slightly at her. He hadn't intended for his tone to sound as stern as it did, but it was becoming a habit around her. His Beybanu! She was his favored mate, he had publicly made this clear! How could she be jealous of the other girls when everyone knew that he liked her best?  

[xo -- k a i r i]

Mzu almost jumped when she suddenly heard the voice of her beloved - almost. She managed to restrain herself, instead turning to face him with a joyful expression - one you might expect of a cub, seeing their parents after a long time apart. It was an endearing expression of pure happiness, as she covered the distances between them in two merry bounds, stopping just before him so their noses were mere millimetres apart. Before he had time to react she'd closed to distance, playfully licking his nose before pressing hers to his, grinning with the same playful attitude.

"Ohhh...nothing," she replied absently, moving back as she lowered her hind into a sitting position, raising a paw to begin cleaning. She was in a good mood now, that was clear - it was just her and Faiz in this entire area. That pleased her - none of his other females or any others in general were around to take his attention from her. "I thought of maybe telling the cubs some...stories, but then you turned up! So now everything's much more...interesting."

She flashed a slightly more teasing grin as she stood up again, lowering her front and shaking her hind high in the air in a very playful manner. She knew she annoyed him - she loved teasing him, especially when it ended up with hugs and cuddles. Because that was all she wanted. To be loved back by Faiz.  

[Reeshie Hack]

Faiz's look was stern and disbelieving at her words. He was inwardly amused by her playful attitude, but he needed to make sure that she understood that he wasn't happy with the idea of her telling "stories" to his cubs.
Never one to beat around the bush, he closed his eyes with a sigh and shook his head.
"Mzu, do you hate my cubs?" he asked as he opened his eyes again to look down at her. He wanted to get to the bottom of this and that was that. He had something he wanted to give her today, but he wasn't sure he wanted to if she had been thinking of being naught towards the cubs.  

[xo -- k a i r i]

Mzu's grin faltered for a moment, the shaking of her hind slowing before stopping altogether as she straightened herself up, casting her gaze downwards as she used a paw to kick aside a stone, before drawing circles in the sand. Her mouth formed a thoughtful expression, before she growled softly, the anger clear in the rough, gruffness of the growl.

"...No," she spoke carefully, still avoiding his eyes as she stopped the circle she was tracing over and over, moving on to start another one, "I...I just hate that they're not mine."

Her voice was somewhat sad, but another growl crept through as her tone became angrier, "I should have been first!"  

[Reeshie Hack]

Faiz's heart broke at the sadness in her voice and he shook his head slowly. He understood her frustration and yet he didn't. It was such a silly thing to be so mad about, really. A thought crossed his mind then, one he hoped would console her and he closed the distance between him. He raised a paw to the bottom of her chin, tilting it upwards so that she could look at him.

"Perhaps you should have, but that's no reason to be so upset over it," he replied and touched his nose to hers, the love he had for her in his eyes as he looked at her.
"Did you ever consider I did this on purpose? Perhaps I was concerned over none of you having birthed or raised cubs before and I wanted to make sure that if anything went wrong, we'd know how to fix or prevent it in the future. That I'd rather have that first time go to another of the harem instead of you, my beloved?"  

[xo -- k a i r i]

His paw touched her chin and she growled stubbornly, defiance clear in her eyes as she struggled a little against him - she could've broken away if she'd wanted, but it was clear she wasn't. She liked being touched in affectionate ways - she was quite a cuddly lionness, all in all. Just somewhat...teasing, too. She just wanted to be sure that he knew she still wasn't happy. And she snorted at his words, clearly not fooled. She didn't move from her position, though.

"I'm not an idiot, Faiz. If that had been the case, you'd have chosen Nayi or whatever her name is, not Tuliua. If something were to go wrong it'd be with her, she's so bloody delicate." There was bitterness in her voice, but an idea flashed through her mind as she suddenly pushed forwards, pushing her nose to Faiz's but not stopping, still stepping forwards, clearly planning to force him backwards into falling over. "You've got to make it up to meeeee~"  

[Reeshie Hack]

Faiz stood strong against her pushing, letting his paw fall and giving her an almost bored look.
"Who says I wasn't trying with Naji and Faeqa? Tuliua just ended up being first," he replied before pushing her backwards, intending to knock her backwards so that he could pin her down.
Sweet consoling wasn't seeming to work for him, so he took another route, his eyes narrowed slightly. His Mzu was always forgetting her place in the pride. Maybe it was because he was too nice, too lenient with his females. Perhaps he should take some of the advice his fellow Vizier sometimes shared.
"You don't tell me what I have to do, Mzuka'hila. I may be lenient with you and the rest of the harem, but don't forget your place. I am your pad and you are to do as I say, not the other way around."  

[xo -- k a i r i]

"HEY!"

She wasn't expecting him to push back, and at the sudden shift in weight lost her balance quite spectacularly, rolling backwards onto her back with a loud, angry roar. She growled, wriggling around a little in irritation as he pinned her down, flashing her teeth. She was spunky - he knew that. He'd known that ever since he'd met her, and he knew it when he'd chosen her to be his Beybanu. If he hadn't liked it, she would still be a Kajira. But still, he always seemed to be trying to scare it out of her with silly little shows like this.

"Let me up!" she growled defiantly, still wriggled until she eventually gave a small whine of pain at his weight - he was a good deal heavier than she. "I know my place," she spat back bitterly, sinking into a sulk, "That's the point. I'm your Beybanu - surely I should have cubs before your stupid Banu. Some of them have even been muttering about me being infertile, stupid whores." This fact clearly upset her, as she turned her head to the side, stubbornly refusing to meet Faiz's gaze as she glared furiously at a rock.  

[Reeshie Hack]

Faiz's eyes had just held sternness and annoyance at her behavior. But when she growled her words at him, they darkened in fury. He didn't have the right mind at that moment to get off of her, not after that.
"What?! Who said that?!" he snapped, his eyes narrowed. How DARE someone... If there was one thing Faiz took pride it, in was his choice of females. And for anyone to suggest that one of his was infertile... He would tear them apart. It would probably be better if Mzu didn't mention any names to him at that moment; there was no telling what he would really do. Faiz wasn't the type to really get angry, but when he did it was a scary thing to be up against.  

[xo -- k a i r i]

She hadn't expected that. She glared up at him when he got angry, trying to seize the opportunity to wriggle out from underneath him, growling and grumbling to herself as she did so. But it didn't work - he was too heavy. "I don't know - some stupid Kajira. I doubt you even actually care anyway! You just care about your stinkin' reputation!" she spat again, beginning to wriggle a little more strongly. She regretting the comment as soon as she made it - she knew Faiz cared about her. She just teased lots. But her teasing sometimes went too far, and as soon as she'd spoken the words she knew that was the case.

She was too stubborn to admit it, though, "Faiz! Get off of me!"  

[Reeshie Hack]

That certainly broke through the haze of anger clouding the lion's mind. He blinked for a moment before slipping off of her. In all honesty, he actually looked hurt by her words. But instead of pushing the subject anymore, Faiz closed his eyes and shook his head again.
"I'm s- displeased that you feel that way," he said, turning and heading back towards the den. How had this day gone from so sunny to such a storm? He had wanted to give her something very special, to make up for the fact that Tuliua had come first when it came to having cubs.

And yet there he was, heading back to the den, some parts furious at any who would think to sully his beloved Mzu's name, some parts angry at himself for losing his temper and for letting her have that kind of hold on him, some parts sad that he had screwed this whole thing up. He had been truthful with her, he was worried for her. After seeing Tuliua go through the birth of his cubs, he wasn't sure he ever wanted Mzu to have them. He didn't want to put her through that kind of discomfort and strain. Even though he so wanted to see cubs that were a mixture of himself and his beloved.  

[xo -- k a i r i]

Well, she got what she wanted. He slipped off of her and she quickly scrambled back to her feet, dusting herself off and grumbling about how it was about time. But then his words broke through her facade - displeased? That wasn't a word he used. Not unless he was angry, or sad, or a mixture of the two. Ugh, she'd gone and blown it. Her plans this morning had been to find him, and make so it was certain she'd be the next to have cubs. Second was better than third - or even worse, fourth. But this had all gone so wrong! And now he was walking away...

Growling softly to herself, she watched him for several moments, before finally chasing after him. Sometimes, only for Faiz, she dropped her stubborn, defiant attitude. But only rarely. "Faiz, wait! Wait, damnit! I didn't mean it like that!" she shouted, so glad there was no-one else around. She'd never live it down if others heard. Catching up she grabbed his tail, trying to tug him back. She hoped he wasn't walking too fast - otherwise it could be quite a hard tug.  

[Reeshie Hack]

Faiz stopped with a low growl when she pulled his tail. He couldn't DEAL with this hot and cold game right now! His brother had just gotten back from the raids with a lot more members to deal with and he had just been relieved from watching over the entire pride, he had a new litter of cubs, and to top that off, he had been saddled with a few more cubs from the raids or soon after. Adding Mzu's attitude to the mix was a headache he didn't need.
"What now, Mzu? I'm going back to the den," he sighed, sounding very tired. The pendant around his neck was heavy, a reminder of what he had thought about doing today. Best laid plans apparently didn't work well with him.  

[xo -- k a i r i]

His growl threw her for a bit, but she simply growled back, clearly grumpy now as he turned expectantly, watching and waiting for an answer. An answer she really, really didn't want to give. Was he really going to make her? She glared up at him defiantly, but her expression soon softened at the tiredness in his voice, and on his face. She really wasn't being fair, was she?

"...I'm sorry, okay!?" she finally grumbled, averting her gaze as she spoke. An apology was a very, very rare think from the stubborn female, "I just...I just wanted to be first! You have a smile...a smile you give Tuliua, whenever she's caring for the cubs. ...You never give me that smile."