[FIN] My Ears! (Mmeremeto & Yksivarinen)

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The moon was shining, the fireflies were dancing, the breeze was light and refreshing...all was right with the world. It was late enough that 'Varinen was aleady done with his shift and free to do as he pleased, but not so late that everyone was heading for bed.

Oh sure, there were rumors and such of this and that...but even before King Shangyue's reign began such things had existed. And the monochrome male had made a conscious decision to ignore those hateful gossipmongers. They almost never said anything good about the King anyway. The lion's brow furrowed in a frown for a moment at the thought, but then he shook off the melancholy, determined to enjoy such a beautiful night.

It was so beautiful, Yksivarinen couldn't help humming to himself. Unfortunately for anyone nearby, he was sorely off-key.  

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Something bright yellow caught 'Varinen's eye as he strolled thorugh the pride aimlessly. It wasn't too common in the Mwezi'Johari, where whites and blacks, soft blues and light yellows tended to dominate. As he came to a stop, still humming, the Royal Guard considered the lion before him. It was the wing markings that had been hidden before by his angle that helped him place the lion at last. One of the Midwives had come from...somewhere else...and she had wing markings and was a very, very bright yellow that stuck out light a sore thumb, or like a sun in the moonlight.

Okay, so maybe that wasn't a very good comparison, but that wasn't his job anyway. His job was to be a Royal Guard. Which was...mostly like being a Guard, except being low class and awesome because King Shangyue said so. And though 'Varinen wasn't one to abuse his position like some people...he could use to as a convenient excuse.

So he headed for the brightly colored male.

"Evening there!" the monochrome lion hailed.  

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"Song?" 'Varinen was momentarily confused, distracted from his purpose in coming over to the other male by the question. He thought back to how he'd been admiring the night, hummed a bit more, and thought about it some more. He'd hoped that humming more would help, but not in a very useful way.

"I, er, don't think it's actually a song. I was just...humming." His ears flattened somewhat in embarrassment because it wasn't a real song. He hated to have to give an answer that wasn't actually an answer.

"Do you know a lot of songs?" the Royal Guard asked in turn. After all, if the bright lion was asking him the name of a song, he must've been hoping to recognize it, right?  

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"Oh." The disappointment was clear in Yksivarinen's voice. He would've liked to know some actual songs, but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen. The conversation died a bit as the two males faded into silence.

Hmmm. Well, he'd had a goal when he came over here. Now seemed as good a time as any.

"So...your mother's not from around here, right?" the Royal Guard stumbled into the change of subject with four left paws the way he managed to stumble through everything.  

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"A long time, huh," 'Varinen mused. Well, he'd been quite young when there was the fuss about the Shaman and her Apprentice disappearing. The other lion's mother had been an adult then, able to become one of the new Midwives.

So...yeah. She had been here a long time. Well. That was something he probably should have thought of before.

"Well, that's good," he continued after the awkward silence continued for far too many long moments.  

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"Oh, okay," the monochrome lion responded lamely as the bright male stood to go. If he had to go on patrol, that meant he was a Guard. A regular one and not a Royal Guard because Yksivarinen would have known if the lion - whose name he'd never asked, he realized belatedly - was one of that special group.

"I guess I'll...see you around," 'Varinen called softly after the other's retreating back, not even certain he wanted to be heard. Then his shoulders slumped. That had gone...not well. The Royal Guard sighed. How did he manage to make a mess of everything?

Oh well. There was still a good portion of night ahead of him. He'd find...something...to do with it.