[FIN] And You Are? (Soren & Vlerke)

[mouselet]

The grey lioness didn't sneak through the pride lands, but she didn't stride either. "Slinking" might be the best term for it, though most Stormborn would consider it beneath them when not out on a Viking.

Well, Vlerke wasn't a Reaver. Wasn't certain she wanted or needed to be. But she didn't think slinking was beneath her dignity. After all, in this pride, everyone strode around proudly with their heads and tails high.

Which made it much easier for the wing-marked lioness to go around quietly, gathering information. Most of it was useless in and of itself, but put everything together and things added up to something big. Her gold eyes glinted with satisfaction at the thought.  

[nessiaing]

Soren had had a growth spurt recently and the once awkward cub was now starting to look more like and adult. His mane was starting to fill in but it did have a long way to go still. His mane was still missing from his chest, but his braid was an impressive length.

With this new growth Soren began to recognize that he needed to sort his stuff out. As a teen he was old enough to go on his first Viking. Soren knew that he wanted to be a Reaver just like his father. He wanted to be more than a Freeborn. He needed to be closer to the rank of his father and further from the rank his mother had held until the day he was born. It bothered Soren that his mother had been a thrall, and the reason she wasn't a thrall now was just because his father had knocked her up. Soren loved his mother but he wished things where different that his mother had proved his worth by fighting the true Stormborn way opposed to just getting pregnant. Any female could get pregnant not all could fight and earn their place.  

[mouselet]

It was hard to miss the golden-furred male wandering around aimlessly. Like Vlerke, he was an adolescent, but if she remembered correctly, he was a few moons younger than her. It wasn't a big deal, but given the difference in her own parents' ages, she could see that such a small difference in age would matter much less in the future.

She had two options - the first was to approach the easily visible lion with speech, and the second was to simply sit and observe him. Vlerke didn't know a great deal about the other lion - his name escaped her at the moment - he was just one of many in the pride.

Which argued that observation was the better choice for the moment. She could always choose speech later.  

[nessiaing]

Soren didn't notice the female in the vicinity for awhile, too wrapped up in his own thoughts. He shook his head angry at himself, what sort of Reaver would he make if he didn't see what was right in front of his face. He studied her from a far at first. She was a good looking female, a little older than he was. And she had wonderful red wing markings that stood out a great deal on her black pelt.

He moved towards her, he was pretty sure she had noticed him long before he noticed her. He kept his face neutral, not a smile not a frown. "It is a good day to die." He greeted her as he came up. He kept his distance a little, he knew he didn't like to be crowded so he respected other peoples boundaries as well.  

[mouselet]

"Is it truly?" the lioness replied, eyeing the boy. He certainly seemed young in that moment, attempting to ape their parents' speech patterns. "Do you wish me to try and kill you?"

To be fair, she didn't know if she could actually kill him, but it wasn't as if she hadn't had some training. Neither of them were Reavers, as far as she knew, so a match should be fairly even. It would be a shame, she supposed, if one or both of them were to die for something so pointless. But it wasn't entirely unexpected given the pride and its priorities.  

[nessiaing]

Soren frowned his green eyes narrowing. Didn't she know it was just a common greeting here in the pride, perhaps she was an outlander who didn't know enough about the pride yet.

"I was just saying hello. No need for violence." It wasn't that Soren didn't think he could take the female, even though she was a little bit older than him he figured he could fighter her off, after all he had been training with his dad since he was just a little cub.

"My name is Soren. What is your name?" he asked. He figured he would shy away from the way stormborns often spoke as she seemed adverse to it. He was curious about her and hoped that she would talk.  

[mouselet]

"Vlerke," she answered shortly. He had taken her remark rather literally, without her own understanding that it could be meant in several ways. Certainly she was willing to fight, but it wasn't the focus of her existence the way it was for far too many others in this pride. They could have taken those simple words to a philosophical discussion on the nature of the Mysky Syntynyt, to how silly a phrase it was, to its deeper meanings...

But apparently that wasn't how Soren thought about things. Stormborn was her birth and blood, but he was ignoring that fact in order to focus on the fact that she hadn't responded as expected was a potential blind spot.

He might grow out of it, being young, but then again, he might internalize that foolishness and live that way for the rest of his life.

It didn't occur to Vlerke that most lions didn't overthink everything and analyze it the way she did.  

[nessiaing]

The golden male studied the female, he couldn't quite get a grasp on her. He smiled a little when she actually told him her name, he had wondered for a minute if she would even bother telling him. He counted himself lucky in this small win.

"Vlerke, I am Soren." he said. It was only fair he gave her his name. "What are you doing skulking about the pride lands?" he asked her. He had noticed the odd way she had been moving through the pride, not quite proud not quite hiding in the shadows a good balance of both.

His question were flowing through his brain, was she training to be a Reaver, or something else? Was she a freeborn or perhaps a thrall? Did she have a lot of family here? He bit back all his questions knowing it would do him no good to through them all at her in one go. He would get his information slowly but surely.  

[mouselet]

"Watching," was the only answer she gave the lion as she continued to observe him and make mental notes. Had he already forgotten that he'd given her his name? Why introduce himself twice? Did he think she'd forgotten?

She didn't forget. Not that easily. You couldn't expect to keep track of what was going on in the pride if you couldn't remember one lion from another. Not that she knew everything that happened in the Stormborn. Yet.

There was always time to find out though.  

[nessiaing]

Soren frowned at her one word answers. Apparently getting to know this female was going to be harder than he thought. He started to weigh his options. He had a limited amount of patience as was typical for a male his age. He made a decision at this point in time it wasn't worth it as much as he found her appealing and wanted to get a better look at those winged markings it wasn't worth his time to try to get information for him one tiny piece at a time.

"Well I hope you have fun watching." he told her as he turned to make his leave. He would find someone else who was willing to talk to him more freely. He didn't bother looking back as he moved away there was no time to waste looking back he had already wasted enough time.  

[mouselet]

As the male walked away, he missed seeing Vlerke's lips curve into a smile. That had been fun! Oh sure, he was an idiot who failed to see anything beneath the surface level, but she'd had fun thinking circles around him.

The only regret she had was that he hadn't had any idea of how far off their conversation had been from what she was actually getting out of the interaction.

"I will have fun watching," she told his long-gone back and herself.