[PRP] A Modest Proposal (Merope/Ram/Lanka)

[Epine de Rose]

Something had happened behind the scenes and while there had been no songs or dance, certain elements of the pride had shifted away from the young king and returned to the eldest lion's mantle. While some may have seen this as cause for celebration, Lanka knew better than to assume things were quite so simple and despite his eccentricities he was not so naive as to rub any sudden change in dynamic in anyone's face. Suffice to say that this shift was likely to spark discomfort and even anger among some, while it would bring relief and a cause for celebration to others.

Whatever the end to that tale might be still remained to be seen, but with little time to waste Lanka had pursued his request for an audience with great fervour, only to be advised that he could have his audience but it would be with Ram and not Shui. He wasn't entirely sure if this was a good thing yet. After all, the Architects hadn't really had the best of starts when it came to the older lion... but Lanka was still willing to try.

His project was important.

Its success was important.

Nevertheless he had been pacing back and forth in a manner that might well create a moat in the sand if he wasn't careful. Ram wasn't late by any means but Lanka had arrived very early. Evidently this meant a lot to him and while he was rarely troubled by anxiety in regular life it seemed to be plaguing him this morning!

oo Ded

 

[oo Ded]

Merope had never really been one for politics. She didn't seem to really have a preference who was in charge. To be honest she didn't even really care for policies or ideologies, either. She was pretty easy-going and adaptable as far as all that went, happy to fit into whatever schema the current head honcho felt like. It was a privileged way of thinking, probably.

So perhaps it was for the best that she didn't feel the sort of nerves that was clearly affecting her companion. She was sitting patiently nearby, tail tucked neatly around her paws, and watching him with slate eyes. "You're going to wear holes into your paws," she called, "and you're making me dizzy."

Mer was a little surprised to see him so anxious. She understood that this was important to him (and it was getting surprisingly important to her, too). The pink lion didn't think him to be… well, capable of this level of anxiety! The sight of him pacing around couldn't help but get her heart going a little bit.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

"The last time my kind met with this particular leader, he was not particularly willing to grant us the respect we deserved," Lanka explained, coming to a halt briefly to glance over towards Merope. To be afforded the luxury of some hope and confidence in this scenario would have been lovely, but past experience had taught him to be sceptical of this particular leader's willingness to acknowledge and work with his kind.

"If anything his son has afforded us significantly more recognitions and relied on us to ensure the security of these shores," he admitted. For all intents and purposes, while peace may not have been on Shui's mind he might have at least been willing to listen to the proposal and consider other uses for it. Granted, Lanka had always been more inclined towards peace than war, but if his creations could prove useful elsewhere then he would see that to fruition.

"Evidently, things are changing again," he mumbled.

"Things always change, such is life," the voice replied as the blue lion came in to view. His lips pursed thoughtfully as he glanced towards Lanka and then towards Merope. Out of all of them, she seemed to be the most calm and collected; and perhaps the only one without any preconceived notions or reservation.

"Sometimes for the better, sometimes for worse, but even that is a matter of perspective," he lifted a brow. "From what I am told you have a project of great interest you wished to discuss and it is safe to say I was intrigued by the initial proposal... so, shall we?" He motioned to Lanka.

...Who had promptly frozen and could only utter a quiet 'uhhh' in reply.

oo DeD

 

[oo Ded]

Merope had fallen quiet when Ram had begun to speak. Her back even straightened a little. It was her understanding that she was just here for support. This whole endeavor seemed to be Lanka's brain child, after all. Merope helped out here and there, of course, but Lanka was the one with the ideas. With the vision. So she was fully prepared to just hang out. Maybe give an enthusiastic nod wherever it seemed appropriate.

Any hopes for that were thrown into the sea when she looked to the blue-green lion, following Ram's motioning. Lanka seemed good at finding words when they weren't… well. Called for. But of course when his words were needed most, he had none to be found.

A faint sigh left her and she leaned forward a touch into the conversation, giving a little clear of her throat. "We truly appreciate your interest in the proposal. My… partner here…" she had paused to find the right word, but 'partner' instantly made a strange feeling in her stomach. "…has been putting a great deal of work investigating ways to build bridges. Study ones. Reliable. With such technologies we think that we can access resources not previously available, but we can only do so much work between the two of us…"

She purposefully trailed off, turning her eyes from Ram to Lanka, hoping he'd find some inertia in her introduction and run with it.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

It was a start at least and Ram afforded the lioness his complete attention. While Lanka remained incoherent there was little reason to provide him with similar, but that didn't mean that the elder lion was going to ignore him in the long term. For now, he merely listened to the brief and rather vague introduction, when that clearly seemed to imply that Lanka should be talking at this stage.

...For all intents and purposes Ram was beginning to suspect that he probably should have been doing the majority of the talking and this was very not going the way things may have been planned. Had stage fright gotten to the architect, or had something else cropped up that the blue lion was unaware of.

"And you require more man power in order to achieve...?" he pressed.

"A bridge," spluttered Lanka.

"I had gathered as much from your partner's introduction," Ram replied. "But for what purpose?" he continued patiently and glance between both lion and lioness in the hopes that at least one of them would provide him with at least something to go on.

"To get across," Lanka replied lamely. "What else would one do with a bridge...?" he asked in confusion. Any grand speech he might have planned, any presentation that might have been rehearsed had gone out the window and he had forgotten his great mission to inspire peace - not the best of starts.

Ram could do little more than flick his gaze back to Merope with a brief head tilt, a small request for assistance, or at least the tiniest bit of clarity. Even if it was to boot the lion up the head so that he might reset and attempt the spiel again!

oo DeD

 

[oo Ded]

Oh good. That was so very useful, Lanka! She'd have to commend him later for his eloquence and his silver tongue.

Merope sighed and gave Ram a wry smile. At least he didn't seem peeved by Lanka's incoherency. She herself hadn't interacted with any of the rulers during their tenure. Not like, this, anyway. And she hadn't really paid enough attention to things to have a good feeling for Ram's temperament.

He hadn't outright dismissed them, so there was something to be said there.

"Well. We were speculating that it would be possible to access the coastal islands. It seems as though there would be resources there that would be beneficial. Or, if anything, a nice spot for… well, a variety of things. Bridges could be useful to get there reliably, even in the high tide." She motioned towards the islands for good measure.

"We've tested the concept enough to feel confident in the bridge construction. I'm sure there's salt water in my fur permanently from taking enough tumbles from failed attempts," she said with a wry chuckle, seeming much more okay with her guinea pig status now than she was before. "But those attempts had led to some breakthroughs. Wouldn't you say?"

Once again she tried to divert the attention to her companion. Or at least give him an opportunity to stumble through a few words again.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Ah yes, the islands that were Bahari and yet not Bahari. Due to the tides they had always felt a touch more isolated and he had been forced to acknowledge that his lacklustre approach to improving relations had done more harm than good. His son had performed admirably in this, reaching out to these islands for allies and expertise in a way he had not. For all intents and purposes he had defended his home in a fairly effective way even if Ram would have preferred significantly more diplomacy.

...But in the end even Shui had regularly had to wait for the tides to lower had he not? The sand bars were only visible then, and even during those periods one needed to remain mindful that once they went across they might be there for a day or two.

"I would imagine so, your companion comes from those islands if I am familiar with his kind," he replied smoothly and peered at Lanka.

Whatever it was about that phrase did seem to tweak something inside the green lion though, as he snapped to some form of attention and set his gaze on the elder lion. Somewhat steely, Ram may have struck a nerve and that was all that was needed for the Lanka to gain some form of coherency - evidently all one needed to do was irritate him enough to cause a lecture.

Preferably one that put him on a soap box.

"My assistant is correct, we have reached a point where the bridges would provide an ample way to traverse between the islands and resolve some of the issues each island has expressed frustration with for several years," Lanka cleared his throat. "We were provided with ample scope to research and improve upon our existing creations while here and we have increased the efficiency of many but this evaded us -"

He sucked in a breath and frowned.

"While you did not deem it necessary to resolve this grievance, the freedom we have been permitted has afforded me the opportunity to do so and if it were to be successful then perhaps it could be expanded beyond the Bahari."

"Is that right?" Ram refrained from countering his points, he had been remiss and to make excuses would do no good.

"The divide between here and former allies - perhaps with aid on both sides, we might be brought together once more."

Silence followed and Ram provided Merope with a brief glance, as if reaffirming what he had heard and perhaps acknowledging the truth behind her words. If such a thing could be done well here, it would certainly resolve some of the issues between the mainland and the islands and then after that... Well, should the Kizingo'zaa ever decide that peace was on the cards again then they would review their options.

"Admirable, but what do you need from the mainland that you don't already have?"

"Manpower," Lanka replied simply. "And supplies," he added after a moment.

A momentary pause.

"My assistant is more than capable of guiding several teams towards the completion of the project while I guide the others," the lion flicked his gaze quickly to Merope. "Isn't that right, Merope?"

oo DeD

 

[oo Ded]

The conversation had taken a turn towards being a little bit more political and Merope found herself looking at her paws as she shuffled them uncomfortably. That sort of thing had never really been her forte.

At least Lanka had found his voice.

He had mentioned before that his ultimate goal behind all this was to rebuild political relationships. To be honest, the whole idea of it was a little heavy for her. It was all fun and games when it was banter, razzing, and falling into the sea. She tried not to think about the intention behind it all.

It was just easier, that way.

As they continued to speak, Merope found it within herself to glance up again. She did so just as Ram looked to her and she did her best to stay composed and not look too overwhelmed. When it came down to it, they were all valid points. Yes, divides were difficult to overcome. But peace and cooperation was better than the alternative, no?

"It is," she chimed in at the end. We've been working on this for long enough that I'd say we're both more than competent. The resources needed aren't enough to make any sort of lasting negative impact, or anything. And the project shouldn't take so long as to deprive us of manpower where it might be needed elsewhere, or anything."

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

"Well then, let us walk before we can run," Ram clucked his tongue softly and nodded at both. "You will need to provide me with specifics and I will see to it that you have what you need."

"Specifics?"

"Number of lions, types of material, volume of material?" Ram shook his head. "One would assume the materials need to be gathered first lest this take longer than is strictly necessary," he hazarded and turned on his heel. A wry smile had climbed on to his lips and it seemed that for now he certainly seemed sold on the idea. If someone really had found a way to bridge the divide between both parts of the Bahari then it was foolish to ignore it.

As for the other bit...well, they would need to be patient and see what fate might await them in that respect. The complexities of what had occurred within the Kizi were not lost on him and recovery from that might never come, but at least they would have some options to bridge the gap should it ever come.

"Ah, of course," Lanka cleared his throat and peered at Merope for a moment. Had he expected it to be this easy? With Shui he had expected more questions, the young lion often did. Minor details, every little aspects of a project was supposed to be accounted for according to Lanka's own superiors. There were rules to follow, details to provide, by comparison the boy's own father seemed more inclined to allow him to conduct his project without interference.

Whether that was good or bad wasn't something he was sure of yet.

"When you are ready I will ensure you both have access to me; we will discuss some of the finer details then... But for now, I will leave you to your calculations," he nodded towards Merope and then to Lanka. "We will speak soon," he reassured them and took his leave.

Suffice to say that Lanka was once again lost for words, or at least he was for several minutes.

"Minion we have a great deal of work to do!" Lanka announced, bursting with renewed energy and much the same 'enthusiasm' that he was more well known for. At this point, it was safe to say that he was deserving of every slap she wished to give him. "We must make haste, time is of the essence and if this is to succeed... " he motioned with his paw.

"Fantastic job, I couldn't have done it without you."

Another pause as he began to walk away, though he was soon babbling to the lioness he assumed (perhaps incorrectly) was immediately behind him. They had many things to determine, including the exact type and quality of the materials required. Ah yes, no offcuts would do, only perfection... everything needed to be perfect!

oo DeD

 

[oo Ded]

Merope did her bet to hide the breath of relief she heaved when Lanka truly seemed to have the rest of the conversation handled. She seemed to be able to be a bit more comfortable, now. She set her paws neatly before her and let her eyes wander back and forth between each of the two lions as they spoke.

As Lanka glanced over at her she shrugged her shoulders. The exchange seemed logical to her. In fact, it was going much better than she had anticipated (aside from that little hiccup at the beginning, there). To be honest, she didn't really know what she had been expecting. Ram had been more open and friendly than she had been anticipating. It was a welcome surprise.

As their leader left, Merope blinked after him. Had… had that worked?

Her ears flattened as Lanka began to speak again. She was about to open her mouth to speak in protest of how he was addressing her. 'I couldn't have done it without you.'

She sighed and shook her head. "Haste indeed," she murmured as she turned to follow him. Maybe she should start to just take it as a term of endearment.

Epine de Rose