Mivu, now fully grown and just as handsome as his father (or so his mother told him; he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to believe her), had still not found a girl to settle down with. His mother also found this necessary to comment on. He loved his mother, of course.
But sometimes she just didn't need to talk about things like that.
"Why haven't you found a pretty girl yet, Mivu?" He said quietly to himself, pitching his voice high enough to imitate Auri in a mocking manner. "I'm sure there are plenty out there who think you're handsome. You should go talk to one. They won't bite, sweetie." Ugh. Sometimes...
With a sigh, the yellow lion shook his head and closed his eyes, preparing to dunk his head underwater. His paws had led him to the close waterhole that was near his family's den: a place he hadn't been to in a while. Not since he had grown up enough to find his own place. Sure, he went and had dinner with his parents and sibs every so often. But for the most part, he was living on his own. And he liked it.
"Maybe if you weren't so busy talking to yourself, you might have time to go find out."
Sharifu had spotted his son on his way back towards the den after a hunting trip. It hadn't been successful, but he wasn't terribly worried about it. Still, it cheered him up when he spotted a familiar yellow lion near the waterhole and he had immediately headed in his direction, catching up just in time to hear him mutter to himself. It was a bit cut off at the begging but Sharifu was pretty sure he knew exactly what it was about, which is what caused him to comment playfully. He stood a short distance from the water's edge and from Mivu, but he was beaming.
Mivu froze for a second, lowering his ears slightly in embarrassment for being caught talking to himself. It wasn't even that he was being rational and talking to himself like he usually would. He was imitating his mother, that's what.
"I like talking to myself. It gives me an excuse to not go out in the first place," he retorted with a half-snort, rolling his eyes. Although in the same playful manner, of course. He wouldn't back-talk.
"That's not a good excuse," Sharifu responded with a chuckle, rather amused by Mivu's reaction to his sudden appearance. He took a seat and curled his tail around his feet, staying at the distance he was. He had been wondering, like Auri, how long it would take their children to find their own mates and have their own children.. but he was in no rush and, before now, had made no direct comment on the subject. Mivu just happened to make it far too tempting not to, but then perhaps he could be nicer than that.
"If you wanted to tell your mother you were actually trying, I'd go to the main waterhole and not this little one," he suggested with a small grin, "At least there are actually other lions around there."
"It's a good enough excuse for me," he said at first, but then made a face at his father's suggestion. "I am trying...kind of." Kind of. Not really. Truth was, he was pretty lazy. He was interested in girls, of course, just...lazy. That's all.
Eventually, he knew it would be nice to find someone and settle down and have a family, but for some reason..the task to find that someone was more daunting and more troublesome than he would have liked. This was probably the main reason he hadn't done much in the goal in the first place.
"Kind of?" his father echoed, tilting his head at Mivu, "What does that mean? Are you really interested in finding someone or do you just think it's something you have to do?" It would be kind of sad to spend you life looking for someone you loved and loved you back, but it wouldn't be nearly as sad as ignoring a perfectly happy life because someone made you think that was all there was to it. Sharifu knew they put pressure on Mivu, but it was all in good fun. If he didn't want to do anything, he just had to ignore them. Put up with it, most likely, but overall just ignore it. But without knowing what was on Mivu's mind, he wouldn't know what advice to give. He could only think it through.
Yeah, kind of. It's a bit of both, maybe. I would like to find someone, but I don't want to have to. Can't she just come find me instead?" If that wasn't he laziest, egotistical thing ever spoken, then he didn't know what was.
"I know you and Mom want me to find a family, and I do too. It's just a lot harder than it seems, I guess. There are only so many girls here in the Pridelands..." he trailed off a bit, fully knowing that there were a lot of girls in the pride.
Sharifu listened as Mivu explained, nodding along to show he both was listening and understood the sentiments. It was really very easy.
"Well, you don't have to do anything," he started brightly, "There are plenty of girls around here, you could make a hundred friends if you just went out and spoke to them all! Finding the right one is the problem, and she might find you but it won't be sitting here alone." And they were back to the suggestion he had given already. Head to the main waterhole, there would be others there. He might find someone to initiate a conversation with or someone might initiate a conversation with him. That's what had happened to him.
"Your mother and I met at the waterhole," he commented quietly, thinking back to when they had met, "All I said was hello and we were friends."
Even as his father explained it again, Mivu found himself shaking his head. "It's not that easy, though," he tried to say. "No one likes to talk to me." He conveniently neglected to mention that he hadn't really tried very hard, either.
"But..I guess I will try. Harder, I mean. Just to say hello. If you could have met Mom that way, then I bet I could do the same," he joked, elbowing Sharifu slightly. Meeting at the waterhole often sounded so cliche. But if his parents had done it...what was the harm?
Sharifu got to his feet when Mivu started shaking his head, moving closer and never losing the smile he wore. He laughed when Mivu nudged at him, claiming he could do anything his father could do, which Sharifu didn't doubt! He had complete faith in all of his cubs, they could do anything they set their hearts to and they knew they could always ask for help if they needed it. There was nothing wrong with needing some help. And besides, it helped nosy parents stay nosy.
"Try smiling a little more," he responded with a return nudge, backing up a bit, "You don't need to find a mate but I do think we'd like to see you around with someone else a little more. Life isn't interesting if there's no one to share it with. Do you still talk to your sisters or brother often?"
Just to be difficult, Mivu gave his father the straightest, most serious face he could muster. "No," he said monotone-ly. "I haven't really talked with any of them recently. Haven't seen them around too much." His voice broke a bit and he couldn't push away the smile anymore. "As long as you promise not to try and give me 'The Talk' again, I promise to try harder in finding someone to hang out with. A friend."
Really. One time through that talk had been enough for five lifetimes.
Sharifu gave Mivu a return 'look' with similar serious intensity. He let him finish up his little deal, then he rolled his eyes and sighed-- looking away and pretending to think about it. Finally he looked back with a grin, then with what he hoped was enough force, he tackled Mivu in an effort to push him into the water. It would be embarassing to fail at something as simple as shoving your own son, even though he wasn't a cub anymore. Still.
"Deal."
Ohmy--the next thing he knew, Mivu was in the watering hole. It had been a tough push, but Sharifu had been lucky that his son had been caught off-guard; otherwise, it might have been a bit more difficult to push him in.
The yellow lion sputtered, surfaced, and whirled his head around to glare at his father. His wet mane dripped and covered most of his eyes, so it was a wonder he could even see at all. "Deal. Good."
And then he lifted a huge paw and swung his arm against the surface of the water, aiming the huge wave at his father in retaliation.
Sharifu was ready for a counter-attack, being the one who started the little game. He jumped back, and not too soon- the water splashing at his feet but getting little more than his paws wet. He was still grinning, of course, "Nice try but you're not going to get me that easily." He laughed and kept walking back to make sure Mivu didn't make any successful attempts to get him wet. Feeling triumphant, he winked.
"Now, get out of the water," he said, "Let's go see your mother, I'm sure she'd enjoy a visit. She should be back soon."
Of course Mother would enjoy a visit. She always wanted them. Besides, after this little talk with his dad it wouldn't be easy to get out of such a suggestion, so he might as well go along with it anyway.
Obediently, Mivu rose out of the water, walking slowly so he contained every last drop of water utterly possible. He moved a few steps towards his father, stopped to grin, and then launched himself at the older lion, intent on knocking him down to land atop him, soaking wet, and then shake his wet mane all over Sharifu.
He misjudged the intended revenge, so when he prepared to have more water flung at him he had a whole lion lunging at him-- and he was knocked over, a soaking wet lion on top of him. He turned his head and closed his eyes and then kicked Mivu off of him, laughing the whole time. He deserved it, he knew he did. And it was good to see Mivu smile, even if it meant he was going to be knocked over.
"Ok, you got me," he said, getting up and attempting to shake the water and dirt from his fur, "Let's go before you cause any more trouble."
Mivu happily shook himself a bit drier once he had been kicked off; it had been worth it.
"Trouble? Me? You were the one who started it. I was doing nothing wrong and then you pushed me into the watering hole."
But he followed Sharifu towards home anyway, smiling a genuine smile for the first time in a long time. Tomorrow, he decided, would be the first day of a new goal.
"Whatever you say, son," Sharifu muttered, clearly joking in his attempt to place all the blame on Mivu's shoulders. Still, he made no direct effort to accept the blame himself and he headed off to see if Auri was in the den or not. He didn't have any food but he definitely had something better, he couldn't do a great deal better than this.
