[PRP] A Sick Child (Saoirse & Beo)

[Tanakako]

Her cough had finally eased up a little, the first time it had since it had started over a week ago. The white youngster yawned heavily, amber eyes usually so bright and alive were dulled with sleeplessness, shadowed by dark smudges below them. Yet despite her tiredness she was not going to let this day without her cough be wasted. Pushing herself to her paws she slipped from the mouth of her family's den and set out across the pride's main living area, barely managing to side-step out of an adults way as she went.

She paused by the stream and after drinking, soaked her head in the chilly flow, hoping it would revive her. Surfacing with a gasp and shivering, she couldn;t help a faint smirk. Well, it had certainly woken her up, it was so cold!. Sneezing water from her nose she turned her back on the frigid trickle of water and headed into the pride, aiming for the cub's play area. She would see if her newest siblings were around and if not, maybe Zeki would turn up and the could go exploring together.
 

[Lorne_Sionn]

Beo waved to Haravana and Tara, pleased that the two cubs still looked bright eyed after their trip to the Bench. He didn't expect the little leopardess to be ill at all, but sometimes there was strain when your adopted sister and close friend ran the risk of being sick, and Tara had seemed a little listless at first, but by the end of the play date, she was much better. Maybe she'd just not slept.

The though pulled a frown at the Secrect Keepers muzzle and he thought briefly of speaking to Eva when he saw her tonight at the burial. Perhaps it would be better for Tara if she joined Eva's family. She'd get more nurturing than she did from Haravana's mother..though mama bird seemed to fill the gap as much as she could...still...if Tara and Isia continued to show signs..maybe being with the Master Healer wouldn't be so bad.

With that thought between his ears, Beo began to trot back toward the main gathering area and Eva's healing den. He'd only taken about a dozen steps when he saw young Sai padding along. She didn't look well, and why was her head wet?

"Sai?" He asked in his soft tenor, coming up beside her, " are you ok?"  

[Tanakako]

With water in her ears making that weird bubbling, echoey sound to the beat of her blood, and the outside world sounding far away, the sudden bubbly, echoey voice so close to her made her jump a mile in the air with a startled and most undignified "EEK!". Wide eyed she turned round and stared up at Beo, her heart hammering against her chest as she blinked, finally registering who it was.

Sagging with a rush of breath she gave the hyena a lop-sided grin. "You scared me..." She said sheepishly, painfully embarrassed to have been so distracted that he had surprised her so badly. Plopping her butt on the ground as she looked up at the mature male, she finally realised he had said more than just a sound, it had been words. A question. She should probably answer....

"Oh yes.. I'm fine." Hoping to hide her blush she smiled sweetly. "Much better today than I was yesterday. You been up at your bench with the kids?" She had realised the direction he had appeared from and knew the most likely thing that was out that way.
 

[Lorne_Sionn]

Beo chuckled at her, his laugh warm and filled with his kind nature, " My apology young Sai, it was not my intention. Its just you look like you are barely placing on paw in front of the other, and for the love of Pestilence, why is your head all wet?" The hyena frowned at her, reaching out a paw to see just how soaked her fur was.

" Ah, yes. I took Haravana and Tara up. They wanted to play Grass-Cat-Hop without Rain and Ruko. It seems both your brothers cheat." Beo's tone was very amused, as if most boys cheated according to most girls.  

[Tanakako]

For a moment, the young lioness looked embarrassed that he had seen how much she had been struggling, yet his almost-cussing brought a bright giggle to her maw and she grinned cheekily up at him as he mussed her cubbish ruff. "I stuck my head in the stream." She explained, chuckling but then looking slightly embarrassed again. "I was sleepy so I thought it would wake me up.... I've, not been sleeping much lately." She finally confessed in a softer tone of voice. he had helped look after her and her siblings along with most of her half-siblings since they had arrived, and there was almost nothing that she could actually hide from the gentle-natured Hyena.

Pausing she giggled at the mention of her siblings. "Yeah, the boys can be bad, but not half as bad as the Twins!" She exclaimed, meaning Lochlan and 'Pala, the identical twin brothers who were two of her newest half-siblings.
 

[Lorne_Sionn]

The Secret Keeper gave her a conspiratorial groan and shook his head, " Please..for my sake,let's not discuss the twins. I think the fur on my tail has just now started to fill in." He gave her a suffered look.

" Really, I have no idea how Ruko and Rian came up with the insane thought I had eaten a snake who and therefore must have a snake what. They apperantly passed that onto the Twins, who took it to mean I could grow back my tail. Considering that its lizards that grow them back, not snakes, their experiment was already doomed. Now add to the fact I am a hyena, not a snake...and well, you can imagine."

He flipped his tail forward, showing the much shorter fur on the top than the bottom of it. " Try explaining this to the Queen at court that night. Though to her credit, she did not even crack a smile...though you could tell she wanted to." He gave a suffered sigh.

The whole time he'd been talking, he'd gathered dry segi grass and at the end of his story, began to dry her fur with practiced ease.  

[Tanakako]

Giggling in return the young female grinned broadly even as she leaned forwards to peer at the hyena's mauled tail. "Ouch, they really had a go, hu..." Looking up at him as he recounted the unfortunate incident, Sai couldn't help the utterly blank look that crossed her face as he went on about snake whos and snake whats. Though she did get the jist of the story, it seemed her twin brothers really were as terrible as she had known they were and tried to make poor Beo grow back his tail, though what the two twin terrors had done to take the fur of the hyena's limb completely escaped her. And as she thought about it, she really didn't even want to know...

"I guess the twins worked out your not a snake after all then?" Wondering if she should be worried for her own tail or not.... Not even reacting when Beo started to dry her frizzed up mane, she gave his shorn tail along, considering look. "Did Nawari know it was the boys?"
 

[Lorne_Sionn]

" I would like to hope they have figured out I am not in anyway a snake, either in who or what, but the other day I did catch them checking my back to see if I was peeling my skin, just in case according to Lochy. Poor Eva and the nannies, it is amazing any of them are still sane...or you for that matter." He teased her with good humor, " Or are you? You've had to grow up with Rian and Ruko, and now the Twins....humm..maybe it was insanity that drove you to wetting your fur when you already have a cough..hummmm?" Beo raised an eyebrow at her discarding the used Segi grass.

To her question concerning their queen, he gave another long suffered sigh, " Yes, yes she did...and after court so did Eva. I ended up spending most of the night in Eva's healing den while she tried to save the fur. She ended up just having to shave most of it off." Clearly, the memory was not pleasant.  

[Tanakako]

Grinning up at him she giggled at his teasing look and rubbed up against his chest playfully, giving him her patented 'cute little girl look'."f course Im perfectly sane! I had papa and my older sisters to help with the boys!" Pausing she seemed to consider something for a moment then looked at Beo with a very serious expression. "Why are boys always so much more troublesome than girls?"

She considered her own question for a moment before his comment pulled her back to the present. Giggling again she gave him a contrite look. "I was sleepy so I thought it would wake me up if I got my head wet.. and it worked!" Smiling sweetly she looked back at his tail again, trying to hide her grin. "Mama is the best healer around. At least it doesn't look all that bad any more." She tried to reassure the older hyena with a gentle smile.
 

[Lorne_Sionn]

Beo brought his paw over her shoulder, giving her a hug, " Yes Eva is one of the best healers there is, which works out very good for you, since we are going to go see her and have your cough checked out...for my sake..humm?"

The hyena shook his head, " and the reason boys are more trouble is because they are not given a 'think' switch until they are far older. Girls are smart enough to figure out that sometimes you should think before you go around trying to pull of one of the Queen's Secret Keepers tails, snake who or not."

As he spoke he deftly moved her toward the trail that lead up to Eva's healer den, steering her with a gently nudge now and then with his shoulder.  

[Tanakako]

Quiet happy to be hugged by her friend, Saoirse snuggled in against Beo's thick dark fur and purred happily. Even her half-hearted protest that she didn't need to go see her adopted mother didn't have much force behind it as she let Beo prod and guide her forwards. As they went she launched into a question and answer session on boys and their stupidity (with a special emphasis on four certain boys in her family) and sneaking in questions about Beo's poor tail, trying to find out just how the twins had de-furred it.