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 Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:12 pm
Halili was nosing around the pride, looking for one black and grey lion in particular. She hadn't found him in the high class dens or the low class ones either. This weren't the only places he could be of course, but they were the most likely places and thus where she always started her search. They'd been spending a lot of time together lately, and she quite liked it. Orion was her best friend in the entire pride, even more so than any of her siblings. Yes he was older than she was, by quite a lot, but he was a kind person and sometimes so awkward it was hard to believe there was such an age difference. She thought him sweet and he thought her...well, she wasn't really sure. He must think some good of her, else he wouldn't spend so much time with her! Of course, none of those thoughts were helping her to track him down today.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:21 pm
Despite his apparent absence, Orion was having a very slow down and had chosen to follow around Stellaluna on a whim. The shaman wasn't terribly busy today but it was interesting enough.. and much more pleasant than hanging out with Caritas or the twins. Yes, right now if he had to pick a favorite sister it would be Stella.. or Hala, but he hadn't been able to find her.
But thinking about that made him feel a little bit guilty so he was headed back around towards the low class dens to visit with his littlest sisters. Maybe Hala would even be there.. he didn't feel so much guilt about Caritas, she scared him a little bit.
He wasn't expecting to run into Halili, though.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:26 pm
It was with a sigh of relief that the adolescent finally found him as she was leaving the slave dens. She had no idea where he would have been, but that wasn't important.
"Orion!" she called out. "I finally found you!" It only took a few large steps (or small leaps, if you considered how pleased the young lioness was) for her to reach his side. The brown lion leaned up against Orion's bulk happily.
"How's a girl supposed to find you if you're never where she expects you to be?" Halili teased.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:42 pm
Orion was getting used to Halili's affectionate behavior but it still made his heart flutter when she was happy to see him and was so close to him. He would have been a mess if he hadn't mastered keeping it together despite his obvious (at least to him) crush on her.
"Hey, Halili," he said, smiling sheepishly, "I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking for me, I was just hanging out with my sister."
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:48 pm
She smiled up at him (probably the biggest disadvantage there was to hanging out with someone older than you) and shook her head. "Which sister was it? You do have a few of them, and it's not like I've met them all."
The lioness did have cause to meet a large portion of the pride, but she didn't think there was a single person in the Mwezi'Johari who knew EVERYONE. It wasn't that small a pride, after all. But she was learning, and making an effort to get to know Orion's siblings since they were his brothers and sisters.
That was what happened when you were best friends with someone, after all.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:54 pm
"Stellaluna," he said, knowing she'd be one that Halili would definitely know- if not personally then she'd know who it was. Stella was the shaman after all, "She wasn't very busy today so I don't think I was much of a bother."
He shuffled his feet a bit, smiling.
"I was just on my way to see if mom and dad needed any help with the twins," he added, "Unless you had something in mind."
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:59 pm
Halili nodded. She did indeed know who Stellaluna was. Not that the young lioness had many dealings with the Shaman, most of her interaction on that score was with Lailah K'chol, Stellaluna's apprentice. The other lioness was an adolescent, though perhaps a bit older than Halili herself. Not that it made much of a difference either way.
"No, I just wanted to be with you," the lioness replied cheerfully, completely unaware of how her words could be construed. She thought about the twins. They were small, still just cubs, and it was remarkable how many pairs of eyes were needed to watch them.
"I'm always happy to help, especially with cubs," she told the older lion at last with another grin. Besides, Orion's parents were nice too and she never minded talking to them about anything and everything that came to mind.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 1:26 pm
Orion's stomach twisted and he couldn't help but smile a little more widely. He knew she was innocent and oblivious but it didn't make much difference to him, he was a happy friend.. maybe. He was getting better at controlling himself but he really ought to do something about this, he had to tell her or move on.. and definitely not take her to visit with his parents and little sisters, his mother at the very least would see through him.
"Uh- well, you don't have to do that," he said, though he had no idea how to change the plan if she didn't have something specific in mind. At least his sisters would be oblivious, too.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 1:31 pm
The lioness paused to look up at her friend again. There was a funny expression on his face and she wasn't certain what it meant. "Sure I don't have to do that, but what if I want to? After all, they're your sisters and you're my friend and even when all's said and done they're just cubs wanting to play with anyone and everyone they meet," Halili pointed out.
She had no idea of the consternation she was causing Orion, or the notions that arose when anyone saw them walking together like this. She certainly didn't have any clue how the word "impropriety" could be said to apply to them.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 1:42 pm
It was annoying to admit that she wasn't exactly giving him much to argue against, she knew she didn't have to come babysit with him but she wanted to and cubs (especially his sisters) didn't make it very uninviting... so how was he supposed to get out of this??
"O-ok," he stammered, realizing too late that all he managed to do was agree. Which meant he really was stuck. Hopefully his parents would be tactful and kind enough to wait to comment after she left.
"OK," he repeated, "But I'm not positive that they're even home, I haven't visited yet today."
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 3:21 pm
Halili raised her eyebrows. "Really? I'd think, given your sisters' age, that at least one of your parents would be home with them at all times. And, since yours are such good parents, both would be there as often as possible," the adolescent reasoned aloud.
It was odd though. It almost seemed like Orion didn't want her to go with him to his parents' den. This was most unusual, since they'd gone practically everywhere else in the pride together at one time or another, except her own parents' den as well. Thinking back, it had never come up before. Not that she saw a problem with such visits. And sweet as he was, Halili knew Orion could be a bit awkward at times. She would just chalk this oddity up to that and hope there wasn't any real reason to be worried.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:31 pm
"Or all four of them could be off somewhere together," he said when she reasoned (quite reasonably) that it was likely that at least three of them were at home. If he was lucky, it would be his dad with the twins now.
He shrugged and put on a smile. It would be OK.
"Let's go see."
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