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 Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 12:04 pm
She sighed, waking herself out of her near-dream before it could settle in. Shani didn't want to think about that, she didn't like thinking about all of the bad things that had lead up to how their family was now. She had the girls, and she had Enzi, Kubwa, Tete.. she was not alone, they all had each other.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 12:44 pm
Enzi had some idea about the origin of him and all of his sisters- like he knew he was right that they were all his sisters, even though four of them were born to Shani's sister. Ghali was a more common topic in the family than Aadil, they were both sensitive topics but Ghali was someone they'd been prepared to face again at some point, to meet again. Enzi, for one, had not wanted to push the topic on Shani. So he and Anya had not asked a great deal about it. All that really mattered was Shani, she was as good as a mother and that was that.
He was getting tall and he was getting fuzzy, but he wasn't yet caught up to the average size of a lion his age. Some of his sisters were bigger than him, even. He was becoming more independent, and after a short walk out around on his own, he came back to the den. He slowed down when he saw Shani napping outside, and stopped entirely when she sighed and opened her eyes.
"Sorry," he murmured quietly, "I didn't meant to wake you."
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 12:52 pm
Surprised to find she was not alone, Shani blinked when the blue boy spoke, then she lifted her head and turned to look at him. Immediately she was smiling. No matter what she had been thinking about, she was not unhappy to see her brother, her son. She sighed again, and stretched out her legs and toes. She was awake now.
"No, it's ok," she said, "You didn't wake me. Where were you off to?" She looked him over from head to toe, noting just how big he really was getting. He was still small but he was growing. She stopped at his eyes, Aadil's eyes. And her smile deepened.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 2:10 pm
Relieved he hadn't woken her, he stepped closer and flopped onto the ground beside her, snuggling up close beside her. He was growing up, but at that moment he wasn't sure he'd ever be too old to sit with her. He was a lot like Shani used to be. He was kind and eager to please, but unlike Shani he was rather quiet and shy. He preferred to stick with his sisters and other family when he could, and he hadn't really made any friends outside of the little group though he knew some of the girls had.
"I was just out for a walk," he answered with a shrug, "I don't know where all the girls went today, it's really quiet around here."
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:44 pm
"Yes, it has gotten very quiet," she commented with a small smile and a glance around, "You've all gotten so big! It's hard to imagine it's been that long." It had gotten very quiet around here. It seemed like if her mother were still around, there would be more cubs. Ever since Shani was small, there had always been cubs around- even Tetemeko. Now her father was alone and her brothers weren't in any hurry. Even Tete wasn't going anywhere quickly, it seemed. She certainly hadn't thought much about cubs for herself, and Ghali was gone.. maybe things were just going to settle down now. Until all the girls got mates, or Enzi..
That unusual thought finally creeping into her mind, she looked over at Enzi again. He was certainly old enough that he should be- or could be- thinking about girls. She didn't want to tease him about it, though. She wasn't entirely sure he had very many friends outside of his sisters.
"Where did you go for a walk?" she asked.
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:59 pm
"Mhmm," he agreed off-handedly, not really having expected anything different. Having a bunch of adolescents around seemed quite busy to him, though he knew they could be much busier and louder at their age. Shani was not home free quite yet.
"Nowhere in particular," Enzi said with a shrug, and he lay his head down and rolled over so he was staring up at the sky. It was a very nice color, not much unlike his own fur, "No one was really around, I don't talk to very many lions you know."
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:10 pm
"You shouldn't be so shy, Enzi," Shani said, watching him roll over and away from her. She was hardly one to scold another for a lack of friends, she had very few lions she spoke to outside of her family but she had been so focused on impressing her mother when she was young.. and then her mother and sister had cubs.. and.. well, all of this. She mostly had had her mother and her sister. At least Enzi had all of his sisters, but there weren't any boys his own age. It was one reason Shani often worried about him most.
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 3:16 pm
Enzi sighed, staring up at the sky thoughtfully. It wasn't the first time some more social behaviour was suggested to him, he just preferred to hang out with his sisters when he could. Especially Anya. Pausing a moment to scratch at his face, he eventually turned his head over to look at his aunt-mother.
"I know," he said, "But I like just hanging out with you and the girls and everybody. Besides, you don't really go out that often or anything.."
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:41 pm
Shani twisted her neck and looked up at the sky, not surprised by his turning the comment back on her. It was true that she didn't get out much, but that clearly wasn't the same. Not to her at least. It was a do as I say, not as I do situation.
"I'm a mother," she reminded him, "You guys are all I need. But you should have more friends your own age."
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:45 pm
An immediate reaction might have been to correct Shani when she said she was a mother. It was common knowledge she had not borne the cubs she had raised, but Enzi didn't think that necessarily made a difference. And he would argue with anyone who said anything different about it. However, that did not excuse her from a personal life. It did when the cubs were little, they didn't think about their parents as anything but parents but by adolescence they knew better.
"You guys are all I need," he mimicked, finally looking over to Shani and sticking out his tongue.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:49 pm
Shani made a very maternal disapproving look at the bright blue boy, wrinkling her nose and then, with a sigh, pushing herself up to her feet. This argument was going to escalate, it seemed. They almost never managed to have serious conversations, only about really important topics and those didn't come up every day. And Shani was never alone doing that, but this she felt was important.
"Is that so?" she asked, stepping over so she hovered above the flopped over youth, "You think that's going to work on me?" Carefully, she rested a paw on his shoulder- or what she could reach of it from the way he was laying- and pushed.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:59 pm
Enzi watched Shani suspiciously as she got up and stepped closer, recognizing the worrisome approach. Shani was so young herself, there was still a great deal of playfulness in her and often it showed. It was a side of her that only ever seemed to show with the cubs, it was how she was with him and his sisters. Not that they were cubs anymore, which he happily pointed out.
"You think I can't take you now?" he retorted with a grin, though he rolled over when he was pushed, "I'm almost as big as you!" He puffed up for effect. Truthfully he wasn't as close as he could be or should be, but he was getting bigger.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 9:13 pm
"You may get bigger, but I'll always be your mother," she countered with a grin to match his own, a common trait acquired from their biological mother (though Shani could not say she ever recalled such a devious look on Aadil's face). Shani stepped forward, placing a paw on his shoulder again.
"Are we going to keep arguing?" She pushed on his shoulder again, but this time not aiming to shove him over again.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 9:30 pm
Enzi rocked and pushed back against her paw with his shoulder defiantly, though he was pleased she chose not to comment on his choice of words. He could easily be argued with, but she had a clever point. It was hard to argue with that. At least, without hurting anybody's feelings. Aadil was not replaced or forgotten, she was almost placed as something higher. Something understood by all of them but that was difficult to explain.
"No," he shook his head, swaying to push back at Shani again.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 9:44 pm
"Good," Shani responded with a hint of triumph in her voice, and then she turned and settled back down beside Enzi, "So, you gonna keep wandering around by yourself or are you gonna go make some new friends? If we're so interesting that we're all you need, imagine how interesting everybody else could be."
Had Enzi not already claimed he only needed his family, she might have been reluctant to imply a lack of friends. She would have loved to know he did have friends he saw often, to see them around together, perhaps he'd even a girlfriend. It would certainly be an interesting thing to tease about, but even more it would be interesting to tease the other boys about it.
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