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 Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:29 pm
She had linked it to the pregnancy at first. She linked everything to that lately. After all, it was so hard NOT to think about it. She was getting awfully large and her appetite grew more and more everyday. If she had been a rogue, she would've eaten her paw off. Thank goodness for the pridal hunting parties. It'd been very recent that she'd stopped joining them to bring game back to the pride. Her weight was slowing her down severely, which only hindered the party. Luckily, they were always willing to share with her. It was their job in the pride, after all.
So, while she would've been out catching something at this moment, she was instead lounging on a flat rock near a watering hole. Despite how horrible this whole baby thing was for her figure, she wore it proudly. Other lionesses gave her knowing smiles, almost as if she had been initiated into a new club. To say that she didn't want it to be over soon, though, would've been a massive exageration. Secretly, she couldn't wait for her little one to pop out. Considering how large she was, though, she was beginning to think she might have a litter of two on her hands. She didn't mind, really, she could handle a couple of cubs...
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:46 pm
Coincidence did not exist in the world of this yellow lion, and it was not purely by chance that he showed up at the watering hole at the same time Intombi happened to be lounging. He'd had his first vision relating directly to him, directly to what he wanted it to, for only a fool would not hope that visions might help.
From a distance, Habu could see Intombi lounging. He couldn't see yet just how big she was getting, but he was trying to work up the courage to get closer to see it, and to talk to her.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:55 pm
Intombi, despite being less happy than usual, was doing something that was so typically her it would've given her away if her looks didn't. She was grooming. She'd been doing that a LOT more lately, since she didn't have much else to do. Grooming and walking and staring at her reflection. She would've felt like a cub again if it hadn't been for her precious cargo. Without the responsibility to hunt, she had resorted back to her old ways. So, on the plus side, there wasn't a moment when her coat wasn't glistening, and she was at a healthy weight from all that walking. At least, a healthy weight for a pregnant lioness.
Every once in a while, she'd cast her glance around to look for someone to talk to. Having no one to talk to all of a sudden was definitely sucking. After all, she didn't have Habu or Riko around, and she didn't have other lionesses to chat up since they were out hunting at this time. So when she happened to glance in Habu's direction, she first thought the yellow lion was all her imagination. It at least seemed to make more sense than him actually standing there. With her twisted family ideals, she'd never thought he'd go looking for her, and she was still linking her attitude change to hormones. After several blinks, though, he still wasn't disappearing. It took a few more seconds, but it sunk in that he was really truely standing there. Her eyes widened and she quickly stood up, unsure of how she should react. "Ha - Habu?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:02 pm
Habu was a distance from Intombi, but it seemed so easy to block out all other sounds at that very moment and there was nothing to prevent him hearing Intombi. Besides, he was already watching her. She'd noticed him first, though she hadn't seemed too.. happy to see him, surprised actually. It wasn't an awful start to this confrontation, though it wasn't idea either. The lion cleared his throat quietly before taking some steps closer so they could easily have a conversation.. if she would talk to him.
"Intombi," he mumbled a greeting before getting his voice back up to a normal conversational tone, asking lamely, "H-how have you been?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:17 pm
Intombi debated for a few good moments if she should run right up to him and give him a warm welcome, oooor run away. She was confusing herself far too much with this whole thing, but she didn't know what else to do. She had to raise her cub (or possibly cubs) on her own, right? Right. She didn't have any problem with Habu, so maybe... maybe visits weren't so bad? For all she knew, her own mom had visted her dad sometimes. For some reason, she really doubted that, though. And for some reason, she felt like this was a different situation.
So, stuck between these two options, she opted for middle ground, and simpley stood where she was. "I've been... okay. What about you?" She'd been worried about him lately, considering Riko's reaction to her leaving. Plus, something just seemed off about him. She didn't like it.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:39 pm
Habu stood tensely as Intombi didn't say anything, clearly considering the idea of fleeing- and if she did, Habu realized he wasn't about to just let her get away. And what with the state she was in, he suspected he could catch up easily. There would be no point in her running away, and if he ran out of courage now and fled.. well, it would be that much worse. He looked rather sad when she said she'd been OK, not because he wanted her to be awful or anything but.. he wanted her to want to come back, especially now.. he was growing used to the idea of being a father, but more important right now was that Intombi come back, he couldn't seem to be happy without her, putting aside the father thing.
He ignored her question, searching for the right words.
"Why'd you leave?" he asked, very to the point. Riko never had had said there was a specific reason for this, just that Intombi was pregnant and was leaving because of it for some reason.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:08 pm
"Riko didn't tell you?" Intombi's jaw was open slightly. She had told Riko that his nephew didn't need to know, but she hadn't expected him to last too long without telling him. Was it really possible for Habu NOT to know? After all, he was standing right there now, looking at her. Wouldn't it be at least a little obvious? Considering how much weight she'd gained, and all.
"Habu, I'm pregnant. I've been pregnant. You didn't know?" She looked at him, almost not believing the idea that he hadn't a clue. In her mind, her pregnancy lead to running away very logically, so she didn't even consider that he might know about it but just not understand. She had assumed that Riko understood, despite his obvious anger at her leaving. She didn't like him angry, but she just sort of... shrugged it off after the first week or so. She missed him and Habu terribly, but she was doing what she was supposed to do. Right?
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:17 pm
Habu's already sad expression seemed to deepen, a frown now taking over the sad, blank stare he'd had before. Now it was almost like she was just rubbing it in his face, taunting him.. except she wasn't, there was something about her tone, about the question, it wasn't intentional on her part. Her being pregnant was the reason she was gone, Habu could very easily see that. He just couldn't understand what in Africa made her think that meant she had to move away, had to be on her own.
"But- why?" he asked, seemingly ignoring her comments again. He could reply specifically, but it seemed harder to do that. He did realize quickly how the question might sound, he knew perfectly well why she was pregnant, how she'd come to be.. that wasn't the answer he wanted now.
"Why leave?" he added.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:37 pm
The worst thing Habu could've done was look sadder. When that happened, Intombi had to sit down. She had trouble looking at him when he was like that, and so she simply didn't. She dropped her gaze to his legs. She was unsure of what to say next, how to explain it. After all, his own parents had stayed together, right? His mom traveled and his dad moved on. Suddenly, a thought struck Intombi. His dad had moved on, but had stayed with his new mate and cub. She continued to stare at Habu's legs, trying to figure this out. It seemed that everytime she thought too much about anything she got extremely confused, and so she avoided thinking about them. Right now, though, she was being forced into it. Habu was right in front of her.
"It's just... well, I have to raise it on my own." She stated it matter-of-factly, as if it was pure logic. Taking a chance at looking at his face again, she was immediately disappointed. He looked so, so sad. That wasn't what she wanted at all. Part of her wanted to break down right there, rush over to him and just lean in for as long as she good. There was still that slight run and hide urge, but she was managing to surpress both for the time being.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:48 pm
"Alone?" Habu asked dumbly, staring at her with the same sadness and confusion over his complete inability to automatically understand why this could possibly be. It was very clearly something that Intombi firmly believed in, and that by itself made arguing so much more difficult. Habu had always tried so hard to respect what others believed, something he figured must be the way things should be from how his mother had tried very hard to keep her identity secret so as not to upset the beliefs of the Pridelands.
"I- but-" he stammered, trying to find the right words, "Why do you have to do it alone?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:18 pm
Intombi stared at him for a few seconds, blinking somewhat dumbly, unable to process his question. To her, it was just what happened. The mama met the daddy, did the deed and then had kids on her own. It was how she raised. She hadn't even known her dad. It was a difficult thing to explain, but it made sense to her. Plus, there was the underlying factor that she really did like Habu. She knew she did. What she didn't fully understand was how far her feelings for him went, and so she was confused. That had definitely added to her desire to run.
"It's just... what you do." She didn't know how to even begin to explain it. "Please don't be so sad..." She managed to look directly at him as she said it. His expression was really starting to get to her now. Not that it hadn't before, but it was building up. It wouldn't be long before she'd have to end this little visit purely because Habu was pulling so tightly on her heart strings.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:08 pm
Outbursts from Habu were rare, so rare in fact that it had only really ever happened once before when he'd been so frustrated with his father he felt the need to say exactly what was on his mind at that exact moment without taking the time to think it through entirely. He swallowed hard to keep the words from coming so sharply, so thoughtlessly, when she said that it was just what you did when you were pregnant. She wasn't announcing to him that she couldn't stand to stay with him, didn't really want him even if she was going to raise his cubs. She wasn't saying that it had some deep, traditional meaning.. no reason, there was no reason other than Intombi said so.
"Don't be sad?" he repeated, seeming finally to reach the peek of the emotional crisis he'd been putting himself through with all of this, "Don't be sad--! Intombi, you don't have to do it alone- I can help, I want to help!"
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:44 pm
The lioness simply stared at Habu, subconciously taking a half step back. She'd never seen him have an outburst like this before, and she was honestly a little frightened by it. The reason he was having this little breakdown was also scaring her. She didn't know how to handle this. "Habu..." She dropped her gaze to the dirt in front of her. After a second, her front feet started shuffling. "Y - You don't need to..." She couldn't figure out WHY he was so upset about this. The whole situation was beyond her experiance and causing her great confusion.
Intombi hadn't been raised with any type of intimacy. She had loved her mom and brother, sure, but they had never been on close terms. Through Habu, she'd been exposed to the three types of intimate relationships that she had never had. Her friendship with him had gone deeper than any friendship she'd had in her whole life. She'd seen how close he was to his family members and had even found it endearing. Secretly, she wanted to be a part of something like that some day. And then love... That was complicated. She wasn't even sure how to handle it, just as she wasn't sure how to handle the family one. The cub, or cubs, would hopefully help her with that one, but she was still confused by it. Intombi definitly had some figuring out to do.
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:39 pm
Habu remained tense, but at the same time he seemed to droop sadly as she looked away and just said he didn't need to do anything. She still wasn't saying that she didn't want him, but continually pushing him away seemed only to give him that impression. It was very saddening, he didn't want to miss out on life he'd helped to create, it meant so much to him.. but he didn't want to force Intombi, he didn't want her to resent him for wanting it, for trying to be a part of it all.
"Intombi," he moaned in an almost pleading tone, still on a very emotional edge, "You can't do this to me.."
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Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:53 pm
Intombi was slowly slipping into a numb state, no longer now how to react to Habu's emotional break down, her own raging emitons (and hormones, for that matter), or what the conversation was focusing on. Her brain shut off, her eyes sparkled over, and she just stared at the lion. It took several moments for her to be able to even come up with anything to say to him, much less speak.
After a tense few seconds, Intombi managed to bring a glassy gaze to Habu's face again. If she knew how to handle emotions, she would've been at Habu's break down level. Instead, she was shutting herself out from it, and about ready to run away. "I'm not... doing anything." She shuffled her feet again. "I think I need to go..." Her eye darted to the fastest exit, and then back to Habu.
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