 |
The rain pounded outside the den, thunder crashing and lightning lighting the sky in irregular flashes. They were soaked, of course, and the female couldn't help but shake herself when she got under cover, turning in the small space to look outside once again at the pouring sheets of rain. The small cave they'd found was raised slightly, and the floor was rock. It wouldn't be comfortable by any means, but it would be dry.
She laughed quietly. They'd had to race to get here, and she actually had had enough energy to do it. Now she sunk down into a sprawl on one side of the cave, aware that it was too small for them not to touch one another, and turned her head to try and smooth out some of her fur. "The skys are angry tonight.. " The female paused and then snorted at herself. "its almost as if they're giving a sign." Was she not supposed to be bringing this one home with her? or was she merely not supposed to go back at all?
He shook his mane a little as he sunk down against the floor, leaned against one wall on his shoulder. His tail flopped slightly behind him, watching the storm clouds and lightening with a bit of a manner. He found storms beautiful, though he found the darker side of nature beautiful on most occasions. He was, after all, of the darkerside himself.
"Don't be silly," he said with a weak grin, turning his bright eyes back towards her. "Why not see it as a blessing? The rain nourishes the lands, the lightening is one of the most beautiful parts of nature, albeit dangerous, and is something I quite admire." He shrugged, glancing back out, "I do not find storms to be all that bad. Without them, we'd miss a lot."
"True," She nodded in return and continued working on her pelt. "I could do without being caught in them, thouhg. So... wet." It was obvious, but there was some strange sort of comfort in stating the obvious. "it makes me messy."
Ever since he'd found her, Embamba had begun to clean herself regularly again. In fact, she was almost back to her normal fastidious levels. It had been a few days, she'd not really kept count, since they'd met. Much to her surprise, it was harder to find Mteo than she'd thought--of course, she hadn't been paying much attention when she'd run away from it in the first place. "I suppose it has its own beauty."
He chuckled at her words and reached over to tuck down a stray strand of fur on her foreleg, though it was just a friendly gesture. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, you don't look any less attractive even when you are wet."
He glanced back out towards the storm, smiling softly to himself. The past few days had been a blessing, in a sense. He had a purpose, even if he knew it was going to be short-lived, and he felt as if he belonged somewhere for once. Sure, it was all temporary, but it made him feel.. better. She needed him, in a way, and he had needed her in another. "You can find beauty in anything if you look for it."
Emamba gave him a look. "you're such a dreamer," she chided, but it lacked any sort of venom. In fact there was a, dare she think it, affection behind her words. It didn't escape her notice entirely that she was becoming attached to this male. He was very friendly, and there for her when she desperately needed someone, and kind. It was good to have someone to talk to that listened.
"Well, at least you find beauty in the right places as well." The female chuckled, allowing herself a vain sort of joke.
He smirked at her words, though his eyes shone with a form of affection that couldn't really go missed. He had become attached to her - so much so that he was beginning to entertain the thoughts of staying in her pride if they would allow it, simply because he really did feel as if she gave him a purpose. She was actually quite likeable now that she'd toned it down with that heathen talk so much - and stopped being so jittery around him. "I prefer the term hopeless romantic, actually."
He laughed at her next words, shutting his eyes as he did so. Once he opened them again, his brow quirked, and a slow smirk spread across his maw, "what can I say? I have good taste."
"Indubitably," She replied droly. There was a smirk across her lips, and she finished straightening her chest. Once that was done she sighed and looked out across the rain. She felt better out here than she had for months, now. For one thing, she felt as if she were actually being paid attention to.. and she had company that didn't seem to be merely tolerating her. Embamba glanced at him, wondering how true that really was. "'hopeless romantic'... that isn't a term i've ever heard used outside of fairy tales."
He smiled, rather softly, as he noticed that she seemed to finally become satisfied enough with her fur that she quit cleaning. It was a big step up from the mess he had seen her in when he first found her. "Well, I guess I must have listened to a lot of fairy tales when I was younger," he chuckled, taking a moment to push down an unruly piece of mane. He paid little attention to the fact that his own fur was a bit disheveled.
She was a mother, and a grandmother.. with how fast her first grandcubs were, she was liable to be a great grandmother soon, should they find someone unrelated to them. That sort of training was hard to break, and Embamba found herself responding with little more than a laugh before she did something even she hadn't expected.
The female leaned forward and began to clean his chest for him, patiently working out some knots and slicking down the fur.
His eyes widened slightly as she did so, quite surprised at her even taking the initiative to do something of that manner. He chuckled though and shifted, exposing his chest a little better. He hadn't had this done since he was a cub, with his mother - needless to say, it had been a while.
"I hope it stops raining sometime soon, though, at least before tomorrow. Bad enough today's traveling was cut short, I don't want to stay in this little cave too long." His eyes half lidded as he spoke, watching the sheets of rain outside.
"It isn't so bad in here," She replied, "At least we won't have to watch our backs when sleeping." When she was satisfied that he was clean, Embamba sat back up and leaned against her side of the cave. The lioness didn't even realize why she had done that, but didn't think it wise to share that. "I just hope we're going in the right direction," She murmured and looked out into the pounding rain. It was so dark she could only see through flashes.. but that was fine. There was some comfort in it, actually.
"No, not too bad, but it is pretty small and I'm not exactly a little boy," he said with a chuckle, waving his paw for emphasis. She could have curled up here by herself, or with a smaller lion comfortably probably. While it wasn't horrible, he wouldn't like being cramped up for a day or more. He turned his attention away from the rain, frowning at her. "I hope it is too, or we're going to be walking a lot longer than a few days," he did give her a weak smile, looking away and back to the storm.
"So how long have you been back in the pride?" he asked, for conversation's sake. He knew she had talked about roaming for a while, but it was obvious she had gone back at some point.
"No, you're not," Her voice was neigh unreadable at that line, and she was glad for a topic change. Even if it were a close one to the original. "oh... it can't have been that long." She frowned to consider. "About a season or so... no. It has to be more."
The lioness was silent as she considered. "My eldest had her first litter shortly after we returned. They're nearly grown now..." Emamba sighed softly, "Then Ata had her litter last month.. but yes. At least two seasons, if not more. Long enough that we should have adjusted."
He nodded slowly, thinking it over. Well, that meant that she had been there a while, though he really didn't know what difference that made. He had only asked for the sake of conversation and he quite soon found himself with nothing to say. With a frown, he quickly shifted through his thoughts to bring something up before an awkward silence set in.
"So you have kids?" he said, glancing over at her, deep green eyes curious. He had none, obviously, and the only nieces or nephews he had belonged to his sister.
Embamba gave a light smile. "Three... two girls and a boy; Kimya'asikari, Barazahi and Ata'Jasisi." She chuckled, "My greatest accomplishments, I suppose, despite where they were born..."
The lioness shifted a little so that her side wasn't pressed into a rather sharp rock. she settled after a minute and continued to look out into the rain with hooded eyes. "Strong and healthy, not like their mother. ... strong minded, too," She snorted, "Both girls have had children now... Ata by a rogue, and Razi... Razi with a male that had helped to raise her." Her hackles only raised a little, then settled again. She didn't have much against her in-law.. not anymore. Not after all of this.
He smiled, watching her as he lay his head down on his paws. "My sister had daughters a little while ago," he said with nod, "though I don't really like their father too much. He fills their head with nonsense." He shrugged, glancing away. It was the only way he could relate, but he realized quickly that he wasn't as close to his sister and hadn't seen much of his nieces.
"You are strong," he said finally, head tilting slightly as he shifted, his shoulder against the wall again and one foreleg stretched out comfortably. "Not physically, but in other ways. Strength is not everything." He tried to ignore her feelings on her daughter's mate - it seemed to displease her, and he didn't want to cause her to linger on something like that.
"Perhaps.." She sighed, "At least you see the difference."
He frowned, pushing himself up slightly and moving to look down at her. "If others can't see that, then they are blind, Emba," he sighed, shaking his head. She was a brilliant lioness and her sickness was nothing of her own fault. "When someone lacks something, they make up for it with something else. Your strength may not be as great as others, but you are not weak. I know, I've seen your perservere these last few days." He smiled, glancing towards the sky again, "you have come a long way from who you had become when I found you. Not everyone could turn their life around like that."
"I wasn't always like that!' She exclaimed, suddenly feeling a great more shame for the way he'd found her than she had even before that. It was silly to have said that, after a second, and she blushed, looking away. Maybe it was worse that she'd fallen to that level.
He smiled, glancing back towards her, "I know that." He shrugged, turning to face her, turning his back on the storm that still raged outside the den. "It takes someone strong to pull themselves out of a hole like that," he leaned in, tipping her chin up with a paw, then letting said paw fall back to the ground. "I didn't mean any disrespect."
"issy," She she breathed, unsure about.. something without really knowing what it was. Embamba sighed and looked down, though she didn't pull her face from his paw. He put it down a moment later and she stared at it. ".... thank you..."
The lioness sighed, then laid her chin down upon her paws. "I'm still surprised that you think there's nothing for you back in your home pride. No family... no... surely you must have friends there.. or a girl?"
He smiled weakly at her thanks, watching her, though trying to figure out just what about her reaction had given him pause. He simply settled for a nod and a soft "it's not a problem, Emba."
"My family have either left, or found their own family," he shrugged it off, though at her next question he glanced away. "I've never gotten close to a female - I don't feel understood and their happiness makes me feel worse, and then I feel worse for blaming them for that." It was an endless cycle - he usually just steered clear of females, especially those his age and looking to start families.
She snorted. THAT she understood better than he thought. "because if you say anything about being unhappy yourself, you know that you'll just make them unhappy, and it isn't something you can bear. Meanwhile, you just continue to say less and less to them that's the truth, because even when you tell them something real they never get it or they just don't listen anyway."
|
 |
Reply
