[PRP] Well...don't look at me!

[Kimaria]

"Will you GO AWAY!!!" Azar'bijan roared at the top of his voice, turning on a dark, pure-black cobra that insisted on trailing behind him. The serpent had picked up on his tail as he'd passed by the Regent's den and now refused to get lost!

Azar knew what snakes could do. They were poisonous, they could bite, and they were damn irritating. However, push him that little bit too far and that was that. He'd bite off its head and drag its sorry carcass across the sand, drawing pictures with its entrails.

Nice...

His eyes snapped to the pointed face of the snake, its head lifted and as it hissed he could have sworn it was laughing. At him? Why?!

"Red isss good." The serpent hissed. "Firekin fire. Fire isss red." The snake was clearly bored and trying to push his luck to see how far he could get without truly risking his life.

"But too much red isss a very bad thing. Yesss, a very bad thing. No white to cleanssse. No black to calm." He shook his head. "A sssorry, sssorry thing, indeed." And he narrowly dodged a large red paw that came slashing at his head.  

[Kimaria]

"Azar...?"

She stared on at the scene as Azar swatted at the snake, not sure if he'd lost his mind or his temper. By now the pride knew she was expecting, and no one knew any more than the next lion who was the father, (Well, save for maybe her father... with his visions.) which was hard enough as it was, but to be so young and not knowing? It was no wonder she'd been so frustrated lately. She and Azar had yet to properly speak since that day, she simply couldn't muster the strength, everytime she looked at him...

Their age difference had just been apparent, though, she had always had a better handle on her emotions. It hurt, but since clearly she had to be the more mature one between the two, she could at least be civil and stop him from being suicidal. Attacking a snake out in these lands, he really must have lost SOMETHING.

She had come seeking one of the regents for some advice, but instead on her way there, she had found this.

What a way to start the day.  

[Kimaria]

That voice.

He froze on the spot, snarl slowly fading away into something akin to terror. Yes, terror. He was completely, stupidly afraid of what Ursa would do to him. As far as she was concerned he hadn't made an attempt to come and see her or do or say anything to try and improve things. Oh and if only she knew how he had troubled over what to say.

For days after the event he had paced back and forth between his den and hers, speaking aloud what he intended to say. But Azar had never been very good with words and it didn't matter how much time he deliberated, it always came out wrong and the phantom Ursa his mind had conjured always got angry and lashed out at him.

And here she was for real.

He braced himself for pain, for anger, and turned from the snake to glance at her. He lowered his eyes almost immediately, ashamed and not knowing what to say or do.

The snake, however, had plenty to say and after he slid a wide arch around the angry red lion he shuffled his body between the two and glanced between them.

"Dark asss my Dark One." He hissed softly, referring to his own charge, Fia. "But ssshe hasss fire in her eyesss, beware her wrath male." He chuckled and noted the females condition with some interest.

Oh, so what had happened here? Had he been hiding away so long he'd missed out on some wonderful pride gossip? Yes, apparently so.

"What an awkward sssituation."  

[Kimaria]

Ursa didn't lash out, but when he looked away she did frown. She should be the one embarrassed and uncomfortable, she was the one that had been made to look the part of the fool, after all, even if it was half her own doing.

"Unless you'd like to be on the receiving end of that wrath, snake, do you mind?" She hissed, sparing the snake only a brief glower. It wasn't his fault, but she was definitely irritable, unable to move about as she was accustomed to, feeling the stares from the others once in a while when she moved about the pride, how she tired of being out of her preferred condition, over her perferred weight, and under her preferred disposition.

If it weren't for her brother, Iroh, and her dear friend Yin-li she likely would have lost her own temper much more than she had. She missed her other friends, what sad fate that they both left at the same time when Uddhava had reached adolescence.

"LOOK at me." She commanded, tail lashing uneasily. "This is ridiculous. These cubs may be yours, and I won't have them growing up not knowing their father just because he can't find it in him to apologize. So you look at me, Azar'bijan, right NOW."  

[Kimaria]

The snake, casting them a suspicious glare, drew back; well away from striking distance. He didn't, however, leave straight away. He was a curious thing and it seemed like something interesting was about to conspire here.

He smiled and two sharp, hooked fangs glimmered in his scaled jaws.

He looked up, instantly. If there was one thing that Azar could do, it was take orders. He'd taken orders from Uuo since a juvenile and though it had been unwilling at first, he'd grown to respect her and almost yearn to obey her every command. Yes, he was still crushing desperately on her and that didn't help matters between him and Ursa.

Gosh, how did he get himself into this mess?!

"Might be...mine?" He gaped. Yes, the thought had crossed his mind, just briefly, but he had pushed it away as ridiculous. Cubs weren't that easy! You had to work at cubs and you had to be in a relationship. They certainly were not in a relationship and it had only been the one time! The odds were against it!

"They aren't mine!" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, but that was Azar. The very thought of responsibility scared him more than Ursa's claws and teeth did right now.  

[Kimaria]

Either distracted or satisfied that the cobra had pulled away from them Ursa saw red at Azar's words, and not just because of his red coat either. "DON'T GIVE ME THAT!!!" She roared back, fangs bared in a rare display of rage. She stalked closer quickly then, not intending to hit him, but getting very close in his personal space, glaring. Funny how she seemed taller than him than the last time they'd talked. Had it really been that long...? "They're either yours or your brothers', and don't you ******** DARE try to deny me after you already had me on the dunes, or I'll put you out of your misery right now!" She growled challenging, just daring him to say that again.  

[Kimaria]

His brother. Peh. What an a**. It grated on him that his brother and Ursa had spent a moment together, that his brother would butt in on their friendship and spoil its sanctity.

What was this feeling again? Jealousy? He hated it. He absoloutely HATED feeling like that, and it niggled away at him, bringing anger and disgust not at Ursa but at his brother.

He wanted to claw his eyes out.

But enough of that. Things were getting scary and he sensed that he was about to be murdered right then and there. He cowered back, his pride practically shivering into weak strands before his very eyes.

"Well then, go shout at my brother about it!" Azar replied, angry. "Since he seems to care about you so MUCH!" He bristled, digging his claws into the sand. "I'm sure he'd be glad to be of great service, seeing how he's such a god damned gentleman!"  

[Kimaria]

Ursa set her jaw as he threw... she wasn't really sure what they were meant to be, his words, but they hurt. She stood her ground, but did stop towering so much. "So that's it?" She asked simply, cursing herself because she was so full of frustration about the whole situation that she actually felt like she could shed a few tears just to feel better, but not in front of him, never in front of Azar. Any shred of... anything that he had left for her, fear at this point, she was sure was all, would be dashed away if she let him see her cry, let him see her that upset. It was difficult, though, she had hoped that she had been wrong, but every time this issue came up he either ran or tried to chase her off. "You'd really rather just run away? Send me off to some other male?"

Ursa swallowed a hard lump in her throat, only to feel it return. She turned away from him, shutting her eyes as she turned her side to him.

She'd lost. She wasn't even sure when the competition had started, but clearly he was more worried about Uuo and himself than he was about the friend he might have impregnated. What else did she expect? Firekin weren't soft like that, they weren't Pridelanders. Why would he look after cubs that weren't his own, why would he look after cubs that were his when they weren't even together? It seemed to be the norm for females to be left raising their own children by themselves.

"Fine." She ground out weakly. "Fine. I won't bother you anymore, friend." She spat, whiskers quivering with high strung emotion. She couldn't even look at him, turning to leave.  

[Kimaria]

What was he doing!?

What are you doing, Azar? Are you really going to go let her walk off and be with your brother? That b*****d brother who doesn't deserve to have Ursa as a friend! Yes, he almost talked himself into following her and then realised that he didn't deserve to be her friend, either.

Was he just angry at his brother because, despite the fact he'd messed up, the situation between them wasn't sour? That even though they had made a mistake they could still be friends?

And Azar made a mistake and he messed it all up.

He felt as if his heart had just dropped straight out of his chest. He felt broken, not knowing what to do or what to say. He knew he should go after her, but he was afraid to. If he did, that would be admitting the cubs might be his and he...he wasn't ready to be a father, dammit!!!

And here he was, letting his friend walk away. He just stood there, watching it happen, knowing it would be the worst mistake he ever made and yet doing nothing to change it.

The tears came with such ferocity that he could not hold them back and he quickly turned away, padding away before she could notice.

The snake, clearly pondering on this little scene, made to follow the red lion, intent on seeing where he would go and what he would do. But, at the same time, he felt a reluctance to go, because he'd never seen a firekin cry before, let alone a male his age.

At the lion's ferocious growl, the snake, eventually decided to hang back, watching him leave with some feeling of regret.

Lions led such complicated lives...  

[Kimaria]

As she walked away from him for a second time, this time she didn't bother hoping he'd follow her. All she could really do was marvel at the fact that two lions could miss one another so effectively that it could even ruin a friendship. Was she just too jealous? No, even if they had just remained friends, it would have been better than feeling like she'd lost him completely. The implication that Jua would care about her more than Azar, who she'd known far longer and talked to far more often...

She really should just go back to focusing on her lesson and figure out what she was going to do when the cubs came, because if they were Azar's it looked like it was going to be her and Iroh doing most of the parenting.

/fin