It wasn't often that Haddi was in an off mood, but it happened from time to time. Something random would suddenly swing his demeanor from the usual happy-go-lucky, almost cubbish glee to a more typically teenager blue funk. Generally speaking he could head such moods off at the pass, see them coming and take steps to counteract them before they changed his behavior. Today was not one of those sorts of days.
He currently was sprawled disconsolately in the middle of nowhere. No trees to provide shade, no piles of rock to perch on, no watering hole to slake thirst, no trickle of stream or river to cool the air. No, he was simply laying in the middle of dry, waving grass with a few scraggly, low-lying bits of brush to keep him company. There weren't even any meerkats, warthogs, or even a tortoise anywhere in sight to break the monotony of his solitary sulk.
That was how Zinkia and Bahra came upon him. The falcon hadn't been scouting this time, as the land was relatively flat and featureless, making an ambush practically impossible. Neither was hungry, as they'd eaten very well indeed the day before. One of the many hooved creatures had made an excellent meal, and had been small enough to cause no regrets for leaving too much food behind when they'd moved on. It was the lion's bright blue mane that had attracted the both of them with curiosity, though not enough to simply approach in a friendly manner.
After circling around the prone figure slightly, with both of them eyeing him warily, Bahra had discarded her suspicions. Either this was a very injured male, or he was terribly unobservant. He didn't even flick an ear at them. He wasn't especially large, so she was quite sure she'd be able to hold her own if it was a ruse of some sort. To what purpose, she had no idea, but it wasn't in her nature to trust a male wholly until he'd proven himself worthy. Even so, if he needed help, she supposed it was her duty to attempt to offer it. She wouldn't have bothered, save that it looked unlikely that anyone else would be within range to help him anytime soon. This area of land was woefully empty of much but the small hooved ones they'd eaten yesterday.
Zinkia fluttered up atop her head to peer at the sprawled lion as they approached him from the front. Bahra had looked him over carefully and couldn't see anything amiss. No wounds or obvious injuries at all. She frowned faintly, ears canting back in disapproval. "So what's wrong with you?" she demanded from a relatively safe distance, certainly near enough for an easy conversation. She was tempted to go and poke him with a paw when he didn't immediately respond, but restrained such a foolish impulse.
Haddi finally gave a great, gusty sigh and answered the random lioness without looking at her. "My life is empty," he informed her in woeful tones. "I am all alone, and none care for me as more than a playmate." Poor Haddi, with no one to go home to, he thought to himself. All joy was vanity when the heart was left adrift without an anchor of love and devotion! Sunk in his self-pity, he just stared unseeing at a tuft of grass not far from his nose, unaware that the female voice was a lioness, nor that she had a companion.
Zinkia gave a snort and a rude noise as only birds can make. "Poor widdle cubbie," she crooned scornfully, the feathers along her head and back twitching in irritation. Was this the worst of this lion's woes? Loneliness?! Why, her mistress had gone through so much more than this, and without breaking down into such histrionics! Why, if he'd been a member of the pride, she'd have flown over to give him a smart peck on the head to wake him up! She made the rude noise again and peered down at her mistress with a huff through her nares.
Bahra had to agree with her feathered companion. Was this male really bemoaning something as trivial as companionship? Why, he could find such at a whim! There was nothing wrong with him, he looked to be in good shape, capable of defending himself or fighting for what he wanted... his colors were a bit odd to her, but he likely was plenty handsome enough for most lionesses, if that was the sort of caring he wanted! "Well you certainly won't get what you want laying there like a carcass," she told him sternly. "Pitiful, really, a big strong male like you pouting like this." She made sure her tone held the full measure of scorn and irritation she felt. She wasn't one to coddle anyone, much less a perfectly capable stranger like him.
Haddi raised his head at the double measure of distinct lack of sympathy he was receiving. He stared at them for a moment in bemusement. Were they making fun of him? While his heart was in the depths of despair? Really?! He drew his brows together, beginning to frown as his unhappiness turned yet another unusual direction... resentment. Caught in his whirlpool of emotions, his logic removed entirely, he sank to yet more adolescent measures. "What would you know?" he demanded sulkily, "You've got that thing, and obviously are too snooty to be taken frivolously." There, that would show them!
Bahra, however, was distinctly unimpressed with his childish comeback. "I have lost my family and my pride. I was a princess, and now I am a nobody out here in the wastelands." She paused to cast a disdainful look around them. "But you don't see me wallowing in the dirt, feeling sorry for myself!" She scuffed a pawful of dirt at him, dusting his yellow and green stripes with another layer of the stuff. Why, he was even neglecting his grooming in his babyish pout! What a waste. She had no more time for such nonsense. "You go ahead and keep feeling sorry for yourself. Those of us with strength and purpose will keep right on without your antics just fine." With another withering look, she turned away and moved off with a purposeful and unhurried step.
She felt Zinkia turn back, flipping her tail feathers into Bahra's eyes so she could flare her wings a bit and make her scornful noise again at the male they were leaving behind. The lioness thought it probably was rather a bit much, but didn't comment as the falcon turned back around and settled down into her headfur. The both of them had had plenty enough, and gladly left the mopey male to his own devices without another thought. They had somewhere to get to, and weren't about to let his pitiful excuses for unhappiness hold them back.
Haddi watched them leave with astonishment. That... why... the nerve of that lioness! Why, if she'd known he was a god, she wouldn't have dared! Resentment shifted to outrage, and he was for a moment inclined to shift to his fully divine form and fly past her to show her good! But the image of himself swooping in front of the two and then strutting along with his wings waving and his chest puffed out importantly flashed through his mind, and he suddenly burst into loud laughter at the idea. Why, he'd look like a peacock, showing his feathers for no other reason than his own ego! How utterly and hysterically self-centered!
Unsurprisingly, the laughter did the trick for breaking him of his mopey cycle. It was hard to take his own cranky feelings seriously when they impelled him to do something so utterly silly as show off his wings to a huffy lioness to prove his sulk was worthier than her non-sulk. He rose from his dustbath, shook himself off, and watched the lioness and bird disappear into the distance. Time to put aside his woes and see if he couldn't find some friends to frolic with for a while. Maybe he had no home, no mate, and no offspring, but he did have friends... and besides that, perhaps it was time to consider at least a few other options to fill those gaps in his life. Could it be time to be a father? Perhaps... perhaps.
