[PRP] Hello, Ndale. I've seen you before. (Ndale x Liraz)

[Uta]

It surprised Ndale how much she seemed to smile, especially when she admitted to being sick. If he was sick, he wouldn't want to smile, and he certainly wouldn't want to be so sociable! If he were sick - - -well, maybe that was the difference between them. He wasn't sick, and he didn't have any intention of getting sick either, nu-uh! No way. Not him. He was too tough to get ill, and he'd prove that to the world.

Still, he was glad Liraz wasn't grumpy. She wouldn't be nearly as pleasant if she was grouchy and prickly like he could be. But he had his reasons, he had his defenses, and she had been lucky to have two parents. Even though Sliabh kept an eye out on them, Ndale hadn't yet embraced him as a father. He knew the blue and black lion loved Haruma, but he didn't expect the same care to transfer over to Faraa or himself. But that was fine. He didn't need a father anyway, he'd done just fine on his own.

Hmph.

"Well, I'll hope you get better soon. I don't see why everyone has to be so sick all the time. None of my sisters or I are, and . . . well. . . they weren't either," he grumbled, looking down as he actually mentioned his mother and lost sister. He remembered enough to know there was no coughing or sneezing or oozing or bleeding. They'd been fine. Still, dual eyes looked back up at Liraz and he let his features soften a bit. "But I don't have any intention of getting sick and I'll help you out when you're not feeling good or strong, too. Just like my sisters." He puffed his chest out proudly as he stated this, his good hearted nature shining through his slightly sulky exterior.

He really wasn't a bad lion. He had a heart of gold, it just sometimes was a little more difficult to see. He was rough around the edges, but that made him interesting. He was glad he was different then the pride lions, because to Ndale, he believed that meant immunity. He didn't want to get sick, and he didn't want his sisters to succumb either.

Ndale's eyes looked up as Liraz spoke about the clouds. They were white and puffy and slow. They weren't something he had ever considered,and he tried to see what his new friend spoke of. A butterfly? All he saw was white puffs and wisps. Well, he could almost imagine a butterfly, but he wasn't entirely sure he saw. "Oh, it really does!" He could almost see it, but most of the clouds just looked like clouds.

"What about that big one? What d'ya think that looks like?" He pointed with his paw, deciding Liraz was much better at this. So long as he kept her talking, he wouldn't have to make something up. Besides, it would make her happy anyway. And Ndale figured he wanted his new friend to be happy.

 

[bipolar bee]

Liraz couldn't help but wonder why Ndale seemed so bristly. She didn't know who 'they' were. Honestly, it didn't seem like a wise topic to breach, and so she could only hope that someday in the future, perhaps when they were greater friends, he could open himself up to that. Time would tell, and Liraz accepted that. For now, she would try and show him how to open up and have fun, and cloud-shaping seemed to be the best way to do that.

"I ... I don't know if I'll ever get better," Liraz whispered, though there was no sadness in her voice. "Sometimes it feels like I'll be sick forever. It's a sad thing, sometimes it makes me real sad... but then I think about how happy I am and how much I love my mama and papa and my sister and brothers... and then it makes me happy that I have all that, even if I am sick." She shrugged and then fell silent for a moment before speaking once more in a voice too sincere and grave for one so young.

"If you ever get sick, Ndale, I will help you too. We are friends now and that is special to me. I saw you in my visions and that means that we were 'posta meet each other, and now that we are friends, well... no matter what happens, I will take care of you and help you."

Enough of the heavy conversation. Liraz turned her attention to the sky, giggling when he agreed at the shape of the butterfly she'd pointed out earlier. She could spend hours looking at the clouds passing by, stark in contrast to the bright blue of the sky. "A bird," she whispered gleefully, glad he was taking part in one of her favorite games.

Liraz was glad she'd found Ndale. Until her visions showed her more, she wasn't really sure why it'd been so urgent for her to find him. Now that she had found him, she wasn't going to let him slip away. Ndale needed a friend, and Liraz... well, Liraz needed a friend, too.  

[Uta]

Ndale listened to the striped female, surprised at her honest prognosis. How could they just not get better? Sicknesses didn't last forever, at least not as far as Ndale was concerned. He was still very young though, and while he had been told that many lions were sick within the pride, he hadn't entirely understood that it was something they never recovered from.

It was, in essence, a death sentence that could strike as quickly and kill one in a matter of days or even hours. . . or linger and last for years. Such a thing wasn't something he fully understood though the cogs of his mind were beginning to wonder. Especially when Liraz said she felt like she wouldn't ever get better. "It's good that you have family to make you feel better," he conceded, even if it tasted bitter on his tongue. He had no mother, no father - they had all turned their backs on his sisters and he. And that was something he had been unable to truly accept. It was his source of bitterness, his source of anger.

The dual eyed cub was surprised that Liraz could devote such trust in to their friendship. Even if he were sick? "Well, I won't get sick, Liraz. I'll be strong, so I can help take care of you when you're not feeling so good." He puffed his chest out a bit, a proud little smile crossing his features as he sat a bit taller with a promise his own. "I'll do whatever I can since you're my friend."

She wouldn't abandon him too, would she? Hopefully not. Outside of his silver coated sister, he hadn't been turned on by cubs his age. He'd hesitantly put trust and faith in to Liraz that she'd be the same. A friend would be good . . . even if she was smaller than him. Today was full of accomplishments for the young cub.

Glancing up at the sky, the cub Ndale squinted a bit. Well, he could amost see where she understood it was a bird. The clouds did kind of look like wings. . . and . . . wait. "That one over there looks kinda looks like a fish!" He'd only seen fish a few times, when they were caught now and then, but this one was puffier and white. He glanced over at Liraz, hoping she might agree. He wasn't really good at this game of make believe, but . . . he'd indulge her just for the company.

 

[bipolar bee]

Liraz nodded. "Yes, my family is a good family. We all get along pretty good," she added softly, though a frown mussed her pretty face. "Sometimes my mama is real sad, though, and I know she cries at night time even if she tries to hide it. And my papa doesn't hardly ever sleep in our den. He has sadness in his eyes too but he tries to hide it. He isn't real good at it, though." Enough was said on the topic for now. She much preferred a conversation that wasn't entirely sad and depressing.

His declaration made her grin happily at him before she turned her attention back to the clouds. "Maybe we can take care of each other, Ndale. You can take care of me when I'm sick and I can make you smile when you are being sad." That sounded like a good deal to her, really.

"A fish?" She laughed loudly, the sound rasping in her throat and rattling in her chest. "I guess so," she said, turning her head to the side.

"I'm glad you're my friend, Ndale."  

[Uta]

Ndale said nothing as she spoke of her family. How her mother would cry, how her father didn't often sleep in their den. Part of Ndale was unsure whether or not that was normal, as it seemed many cubs had only one parent or other. Still, his bitterness couldn't help but cause him slight annoyance at the thought of parents. She still had a mother, and a father. She still was able to know that, come the end of the day, she was loved. Certainly, some of the cubs within the pride had no parents either. Death often snatched lions within the pride, sometimes with littler warning. But at least they had time together. At least the cubs and adults had formed some relationship. . .

Hmph.

Unlike his own mother. She dropped them and ran.

Still, he wasn't going to talk to Liraz about such a topic. She didn't need to know and he wasn't going to bring it up. Somehow, he thought she might not want to be his friend anymore if she found out. So instead he gave a small grunt and nod to her words, but kept his eyes on the clouds.

The white and black cub did involuntarily bristle some when Liraz laughed at his cloud description. Was she laughing at him? Did it not look like a fish? His tail flicked a bit defensively as she turned to look at him, smiling at him, and he gave a small shrug. " . . . I guess I'm not very good at this cloud game." He hastily added, even as she began to agree. He was a very jumpy sort of individual, wasn't he? Still, her words surprised and confused him.

Friends. Did she really still want to be his friend? "Uh. I'm . . . I'm glad to get to know you too." He added a bit awkwardly. While he was very new to friendships, he did offer the female a small, genuine little smile. "You're nice to me. It's . . .kind of new." Most cubs were too small to want to get to know the grumpy older cub. Liraz didn't seem to mind his grouchiness either.

 

[bipolar bee]

Liraz wasn't completely sure why Ndale had that anger about him, that quiet darkness she sometimes caught in his pretty mismatched eyes. He was bristly, too, but Liraz didn't mind. It made his smiles more special, she figured. If he didn't want to be silly and giggle, well... he must certainly have a reason for being the way he was, just like she had reasons for being the way she was. Liraz wasn't about to judge him or change him. She could only be here for him for as long as she could.

"I like being nice to you," she said softly, tilting her head to the side. "It's nice to make friends, don't you think? Who wants to be alone all the time? Not me." She shook her head softly, those bright green eyes of hers quietly thoughtful. No, she certainly didn't want to be alone all the time. She got enough of that when she was stuck at home, sick and weak, while her brothers and sister played about and her mother watched over the pride-cubs.

Liraz fell silent. It was growing late, and though she was hesitant to leave, she knew that she would have to go home sooner than she'd like to.  

[Uta]

Ndale still wasn't entirely sold about making friends. Part of him wondered when and if Liraz would find new friends, different friends, better friends and then turn and walk away from him too. Abandonment was something his life seemed to revolve around, and he worried that it might be the story of his life. He wasn't sold on Sliabh being a father figure to the cubs, though Haruma certainly seemed to adore him so. He couldn't help but be jealous that the black and blue lion favored and was favored by his quiet and serious sister.

So would Liraz grow up and leave him too? Maybe. "At least when you're alone you don't have to worry about getting hurt." He added with a shrug, reaching down to paw at a nearby stone. "But," he added tentavly. "I suppose being alone can get boring. You're fun to talk to, and nice, so I like you being my friend. You're okay, Liraz." And coming from Ndale, a compliment like that was pretty good!

"Maybe we can look at clouds again later or . . .something." Haruma and Faraa would be proud of his advancement in socializing. This was the first time he'd really made any sort of effort to get to know another. But Liraz was pretty and was friendly and had some strange and optimistic sort of views. She was refreshing to be around, and somehow he liked the idea of her thinking of him as her friend.

She was pretty sickly though, so he could take care of her when she was around. Yes, that's what he'd do. He'd be her friend and protect her too, just like he would his sisters. It was only natural of the lion to desire to do such a thing. He wouldn't tell Liraz that, no . . he'd justs show her, someday.

"Anyway -- it's getting late. . . I . . . should probably go." Giving a small shrug, the lion cub smiled at her. "I'll see you around!"

[.fin.]