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 Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:42 pm
Since parting ways with Juhudi her concerns over Bari's threat hadn't lessened much, but she was forcing herself to remain calm about it. She patrolled as she always had, visited with the council, but had no particular task unto herself so her days were spent with friends or on the borders or prowling the lands for threats or sometimes just hunting and spending time with her broken little family. She still saw the other children when she could, and vice versa, but two were with her still, San and Lela. She looked after them as best she could, while wishing that perhaps she had been able to feel the way she once had for just a while longer. Why did feelings change?
But then, she and Ezeoha had, at least, rekindled the old bond of their friendship again. They had always been friendly even after she became spoken for, and he a father several times over (including to her aunt-in-law's litter), but she never expected what happened next. Maybe it was just her imagination, but they'd seemed drawn together again, thick as thieves as before.
She'd just put the cubs down to sleep and was settling down in the den herself, watching the fading sunlight and wondering how much later Ezeoha would be visiting his and Tai's litter, making his rounds before he found his way back home.
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:46 pm
 It had been a good day, spent with the children he had with Tai. He was silently astounded by how big all of them had begun to get, all becoming the young adults he was proud to claim as his children. His other litter was off with their mother, though he suspected that soon all of them would strike out on their own, and once again he would see less of them. The ache in his heart, though, was lessened, because he had new lives to share his with, and he couldn't be happier because of it. Mosi had moved in with him, unsual, surprising, but desired circumstances. With her cam her two growing cubs, and they were a treat in themselves. He did dread it when Palli stayed with him, his mind eased only a little by the news that Palli and Lela had 'broken up'.
The day was waning, and Ezeoha was just then managing to drag himself from his children. He said his farewells and good-wishes to Tai, one of the best mothers he had ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was glad that they had a litter together, and while at times he regretted his past litters, this one he did not. Kia had panicked and dumped the cubs on him, Chinara hated him now for not remaining her's alone, and Kohpi was someone he felt was still a stranger to him. Tai gave him that semblance of a family. Though, reflecting on it, he felt like he had more of a family with Mosi now than anyone else, and it put him at ease.
With a smile, he departed from one of his families, and made his way home to another. After a long, but refreshing walk, he found himself near the borders of the Pridelands. There it was, his den. His little home, where he had raised some of his litters away from the clutter of Pride Rock (and away from his father - but that was something he didn't enjoy thinking about). Ducking his head, he squeezed into the den, gaze sweeping the landscape to rest on the dark lioness he had somehow grown closer to again.
"Mosi."
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:49 pm
Her attention turned, eyes easily finding his golden form in the fading light. Her tail twitched behind her, flipping lightly to one side and back again. "Had a good visit...?"
She certainly didn't fault him his trips, she thought it was good that he was so much a part of his cubs lives still, where he could be. The question was more to be polite. Manners, yes, Mosi has them.
Her voice was kept low and quiet, however, with the briefest of glances to the sleeping children from the corner of her eye and back to Ezeoha again.
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:51 pm
He nodded his head to her, gracing Mosi with a somewhat tired, but pleased smile. Yes, it had been a good visit. He was astounded with Tai's ability to raise cubs, and some withdrawn part of him was glad that his exploits hadn't influenced his children poorly. The last thing he wished for them was to lead a life style exactly like his own. He loved grandchildren, he loved having cubs to play with - but, he didn't want his children going through what he went through. He didn't want them making the same mistakes. While it had all turned out for the better, he could have done without it, gladly.
"Yes, they're growing up to be almost as big as I am." Of course, he wasn't a very big lion to begin with. He was small and sleek, a hunter, but not a fighter. It was part of his charm, he supposed. A soft, pleased purr rumbled in his chest, and he crossed the den to meet Mosi. He nuzzled her briefly, his gaze flickering fondly to her cubs.
"I can't believe you got them to sleep so easily," he said with an amused laugh. Well, he had always experienced some difficulty getting his children to bed, and had difficulty getting them to sleep in.
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:55 pm
She rumbled back, eyes shutting to recieve the greeting, returning it in kind briefly. "Made it look easy, maybe, but trust me it was anything but."
Her gaze once more moved to the sleeping heap of paws and tails and bodies. Somehow they had been fortunate, and the strain hadn't affected the cubs yet, it seemed. They had come full circle to the paths early childhood set them out on. It wasn't that long ago that she'd been talking with Ezeoha about Palli and Lela reminding them of themselves.
"... Can you believe we were that small once...?"
Which was saying something since the cubs weren't really all that small anymore at all. They'd been smaller still.
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:57 pm
"You should have waited for me to get back - I would have gotten them to sleep in a matter of moments." He would have sat on them until they agreed to quiet down, but then again, he wasn't going to tell Mosi that. His children had learned early on that Ezeoha liked his beauty rest, and that it was unwise to disturb him. Then again, they hardly listened to the knowledge they had obtained. He was still woken up at ungodly hours in the morning, to playful, excited cubs.
"I remember it clearly, you were cute back then. Your dad was going to kill me just from all the times I hit on you." Hell, if Nukta ever found him he was sure he was going to be skinned. He'd do the same, too, if anyone was hitting on his daughters that he didn't approve of. "You were a brat, too. Always dragged me around and never paid attention to any of my compliments." He snorted, lightly teasing her. His voice, though, remained soft, mindful of the slumbering cubs.
"They were fun times, though. Good times." He inclined his head a little to her, his gaze still resting upon the two children fondly.
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:05 pm
"...." Mosi boxed his shoulder with one black "gloved" paw, smirking dryly at him. "Back then? A brat, was I? I didn't exactly hear you complaining about spending time with me either. And I did pay attention, you just didn't pay attention to any of my complaints about them."
Her voice was kept quiet as well, remembering those days fondly, before Nyekundu's attack, before Mufasa and Sarabi passed, life was simple then, so simple. No complicated feelings, no disappointments, no psychotic cannibals, no former members threatening with genocide, no regretful break ups... But there were a lot of good memories too, three for every bad one, even if it felt otherwise at times. For instance, she and Juhudi's children, the good times they had shared, watching Kani find and start a family of her own, then Shin. There were the families and the time it had given she and Ezeoha to grow, and her reuniting with old friends and new experiences like becoming head scout and now a member of the council.
"They were good times... but I think I like these more." She looked at him meaningfully, wondering if he'd realize that she meant them finding one another, finally confronting the growing feelings that she'd tried hiding in just recent months. "... You know..."
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:08 pm
He laughed softly, pretending to flinch at the paw that smacked against his shoulder. He was thankful that her temper had since toned down, or he imagined he would have received some scars from that one. "You were hardly agreeing with me, I had to refuse to listen to your complaints." He grinned impishly at her, casting a quick glance to the cubs to make sure that he had not woken them from their slumber accidentally. He felt like a cub again with Mosi. Ezeoha wanted to rough house and play, and tease her mercilessly by telling her how beautiful he found her. The truth of it was that he /did/ find her beautiful. He found her thrilling and enchanting. She kept him on his feet. There was... balance with her.
Ezeoha could easily remember the days of their cubhood. Mosi had been the tomboy, so much that Ezeoha was probably more girly than she was. He had been decked head to toe in bright red jewelry, which he had long since passed on to two of his children. They had been inseperable in a land that was considered one of the most peaceful of places on the savannah. But, no longer were they cubs. His cubs were having cubs (and oh gods, he felt so bad for his son Shaji, who had quite the brood himself). Now they were adults, and well... things had changed, for the better, he imagined.
"Yeah, I like these a lot more." His voice was soft, tender. He could feel his heart swell with warmth, and turning to her, he licked her cheek fondly, a loud purr rumbling in his chest. Yes, he liked these times a whole lot better, especially since he had a beautiful black lioness by his side.
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:09 pm
"Hmm... someone had to try to check that ego of yours. It was even bigger than your head." She grinned impishly with her tease, turning her head to watch him now instead of the darkening sky and stars beginning to dot the purple-blue canvas. When she could hear Lela and San's breathing she knew they were beyond the point of stirring. She focused instead on the moment, the conversation. She would have agreed had Ezeoha spoken out loud, there was balance with him. Life with Juhudi had been good, he was a good lion, a good male, and this wasn't the reason that she left, but she had missed this. The constant banter, the playful bickering, the flat out arguing-- Ezeoha was perhaps the one lion that she spoke with on a regular basis that wasn't afraid to argue with her, to meet her head on in a verbal match everytime-- even if his preferred method was calm smooth talking.
If Mosi was Ezeoha's anchor, Ezeoha was Mosi's beacon.
When her energy had no where else to go, like these days that she had given up her official title as head scout, he was always there to help her blow off some of that steam weather it was good steam or bad steam. Mosi LIKED to get angry and riled up once in a while, it kept life... interesting, and he wasn't afraid to give her that.
"That's because I'm not a girly girl like all these petite little cave-wall flowers." Like Kimya'ukilia, the most gentle-souled lioness Mosi could ever recall meeting. She lacked all semblance of a spine.
Feeling unusually open she scooted over closer and rested her chin over one of his shoulders, using his mane for a pillow.
"Good thing for you you're so damn stubborn, huh?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:10 pm
Ezeoha had spent most of his life looking for the one thing he never truly had - a family. It might have been the driving reason behind his many flings and playful flirtations. It had been the only way he knew how to accomplish some sort of a family. He didn't regret all the cubs he helped bring into the world, but a small part of him did regret how he had gone about it. It was habitual now, and some times he caught himself flirting still with every female that tempted him. It was becoming difficult to break it, but the thought of Mosi getting pissed at him was intimidating. He wasn't going to tempt fate any time soon, not when he had what he wanted right in front of him. All he had to do was reach out and grab it. Grab her.
He swore his cheeks heated up just a little as he felt her head pillowing into his light brown mane. But he was already moving, making action on it, leaning closer to her and wrapping his tail back around her. He lightly nuzzled against the top of her head, though he didn't dare do much else more. If he gave off the wrong implications, he was doomed to be smacked, and hard... and some part of him did not want to ruin this moment. "I didn't have an ego," he mumbled back, playfully defensive. Ah, it was good to be able to hang around her freely again. He'd always been worried what Juhudi thought of him. He had expected the lion to act like Nukta and hissy fit at him for being around Mosi.
"The petite wall flowers don't have any spice. You've got enough to spice up the whole world." He chuckled to himself, red eyes bright with amusement. God, Mosi had spunk. It's what got him in trouble a lot of the time, and he had to be masochistic for enjoying it. There was nothing /hotter/ than a fiesty lioness. It turned him on. More than just being female did. He shook his head slightly, trying to pull the reins on his mental processes. He was going to get in trouble thinking like that.
"Yes, good thing I am, or you would have scared me off by now... and every other male in existence."
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:13 pm
Mosi had to chuckle at this, unaware that his thoughts had threatened to take a more mature turn, as she so often seemed to be. As he shifted she did accordingly as well, now leaning her head against the thick fur of his mane that covered his throat instead, so that he could keep his chin atop her head. His warmth enveloped her, as best it could at least, for she was no tiny thing by any stretch of the words. She too had felt unsure and guilty to be around him once she and Juhudi had found one another, but it was a combination of the unexplained disappointment that he had moved on without her so happily and easily and also because somehow it just felt wrong.
She'd ignored it, always, but looking back now maybe there was more to it than just irrational guilt. She'd loved the tan lion of course, it wasn't that she lacked that at all, but one couldn't help the secret longings in their hearts, especially the ones that stay locked so deeply that they remain secret even from their keepers.
"Damn straight... Life's boring any other way."
Though it was fine with her that she and Ezeoha seemed opposite sides of a sunbaked stone, him cool and collected, and her hot and seemingly short tempered (In actuality she simply liked being rowdy.).
"And I could have found someone. Just like that, if I'd wanted." She joked.
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:14 pm
Reflecting on the past, he imagined that it was his greatest guilt, not pursuing something more with Mosi. All the times he had hit on her, it was more joking than serious, as if he could not believe for a second she would entertain thoughts of him in that way. They were best friends, going on adventures together, teasing each other mercilessly until they got so angry they could cry. It had just... happened, him and Chinara. They had been good friends too, though that had gone to waste rather quickly. It was his fault, he knew it, but he didn't like to think about it. He didn't want to reflect on the many errors he had made in his past.
"Tch, you certainly keep life interesting and painful." How many times had she proven she was physically better than him? Countless. He imagined he still had bruises from all of their encounters. He was almost tempted to prod his shoulder to check and see if he really did have bruises from ages ago, but Mosi was being sweet and tempting. Instead, he smiled and just rested against her. This was nice, simple, and nice.
"You could have. You'd have bullied them into a relationship with you," he grunted in response. He imagined that was true as well. It made him rather relieved that she didn't bully any male into a relationship with her. Because... well, he wanted her to be his, quite frankly. Oh, the dilemmas in life.
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:15 pm
A chuckle was his answer, his reply clearly amusing her. Oh how she really had missed this, even just spending time like this (For one can't miss what was not before.). "You like it. You're a sucker for punishment." She teased, resting her eyes and letting her chin come to rest atop her forepaws. "I just almost wish that our old haunts were still around for the cubs to see. Like the old termite mounds," Which had since been claimed by the Outlanders. "--I never did get to drag you to the graveyard though, you know." She realized. "There were so many places to make our own adventures, I never really missed not having the chance to make them outside of the Pridelands. I want Lela to have that chance if it's really what she choses."
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:19 pm
"I only take punishment because it's coming from you - gods know that you need the ego boost." He rolled his eyes, his voice dripping in playful sarcasm. He actually really did enjoy receiving punishment from her - not because it was overly painful, but because it enlivened things. She made life fun, and that was all there was to it. Ezeoha couldn't really imagine living life without seeing Mosi every now and again. He'd been careful before, when she was with Juhudi, because he had never wanted to give the other male lion the wrong impression. He was a flirt, but he didn't take away other lions' ladies.... eh, except maybe this could be viewed as him nabbing the girl.
...Oh well, he saw her first. It was dibs.
"The termite mounds were horrible. I was picking bugs out of my ears for hours." He shuddered in memory, and they had met that horrible pudgy creature. It was not one of his favorite childhood memories... and yet again it was. He had spent it with Mosi, just being a kid instead of trying to desperately act like the adult he wasn't. "I understand, I want my children to explore more than just the Pridelands, if that's they're desire. I know for certain that Shaji and Ma'rihn are likely never going to step foot out of the Pridelands. This is their home to them... but, our kids deserve to have the adventures we did. Though, they were absolutely /horrible/ sometimes, mind you."
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:23 pm
A mocking head shake, as if to say "Ha ha, very funny." was his only answer to the ego comment. "Well I told you to watch where you were going." Mosi grinned. "Well, you're children are mostly grown now, aren't they? Think they'll be striking out on their own any time soon?" She wasn't sure if hers would, Lela, for as much as she loved adventure, seemed just as rooted to this place as she herself had become. Perhaps she'd simply had enough separation in her life already.
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