Sairin lay out in the sun, watching the grasslands peacefully. He never really left the area. Not after his son was born. His son! He smiled. He'd been there, raised him... And it felt warm, it felt right. And he'd enjoyed it. Every minute of it.
Elua had made sure to stay around the same area Sairin was in, so her son would never be too far from either parent. It was, quite literally, the FIRST time she'd done such a thing. She'd never stayed around one area so long before. And she would keep to that area until Niju was grown. It just...seemed right. For now. Eventually her wandering paws would take back over.
Speaking of...she danced over to Sairin happily and flopped onto his back like a cub (though larger since she was an adult). "Good day, my friend!"
Sairin immediately purred. Only one ever glomped him that way, Elua. He smiled, standing so she could rest on his massive back, purring softly.
"Hello, there~" He churred softly. "And how are you?"
Elua giggled and nuzzled his broad back. "I am well! And very happy! Mother had cubs! So Niju has more playmates now, alongside Eisheth's little ones!" She grinned. "Surrounded by so much life! It makes me happy!"
Sairin beamed, rumbling once more.
"That is good. No cub needs to go without playmates."
He recalled his own youth. So cold. So distant-- how had he been so? Not as he was now... He wasn't free. He was trapped.
Elua nodded. "Yeah...Even when I was little, when we didn't spend time with others who had little ones, Mother always played with me. Even once I got so much bigger than her." She would be forever thankful to her adoptive mother. "And now...now I get to do that!" When Niju was lonely, she could scoop him up and make him smile and bring him to his Daddy. And suddenly, life would be well again.
"I... Didn't play often. I tried tending my mother." Sairin confessed. "I really didn't know how, I supose."
Elua just gave him that bright, comforting smile she somehow always managed and licked his cheek. "Oh come now...You loved her, yes? Then certainly she felt better! Just knowing someone loves you can do a great deal for one."
"It does indeed." He purred, laying down to enjoy her company.
"I was lost until I knew love. You know that, right?"
He wanted to confess... But... He was afraid to do so.
The cheetah shimmied off his back to lay beside him, enjoying the deep purr only a lion could make. It was a comforting sound, and one of the most beautiful things about lions. Especially Sairin's. His made everything feel better. She was a bit surprised though. "You were? That...that's sad." She leaned against him. "But that you found it is wonderful!"
"Yes." He smiled shyly, and nuzzled into her neck, taking in her scent, rumbling deeply in his chest happily. Gods he loved her, he'd give up everything for her, there, now, any time. Gently, he twisted, to face her, and wrapped his paws around her, embracing Elua before licking her nose gently.
Elua giggled and nuzzled him back. "So who brought the light into your life?" Was it someone before her? Or their son? Or...possibly herself? The thought that she'd lit up someone's life was a nice one...One day, she wanted to know that everyone could smile because of someone else's love! That the world wasn't so cruel as it was now.
Sairin blushed, then licked her again softly.
"...You. It... Was you."
He blushed shyly.
So...she had made him smile. She grinned and licked his cheek in response. "I'm glad I could make you happy." She wasn't sure of one thing though...She knew many did not 'love' as she did. Elua's heart was so big...she couldn't help but love many. She loved her mother, and Niju, and Sairin, and Cassiel, and Eisheth, and all the others they'd met in their travels. "And I love you too. But...you are not the only one I love." She deflated a little, hoping he wouldn't take it the wrong way. She really did love him!
Sairin blinked, swallowing, then settled to listen. Was she scared of his reaction? His protective instinct flared first.
"....That's OK." He said softly. He thought of the one night with a lioness, his brother Toshiro, his siblings.
"It... takes great love to teach love."
Elua perked back up. "I...thank you, Sairin." She sighed. "So many others...thought that because my heart didn't belong to only them, that I didn't love them." It was hard...but she still smiled. "I just...can't help but love. There's so much to love in the world...so much to cherish and admire." And the dark bits only made the bright bits all that much more lovable!
Sairin nodded, listening, then sighed.
"Not.. Everyone can be loved." He admitted.
His mind went to Toshiro, and he shivered. That lion.... Sairin wondered what became of his mother, sometimes...
"Perhaps..." Elua did not like to think that, however. "But maybe....the right creature to love them just needs to be found." Like Sairin. He only needed to meet her for his life to brighten up! Perhaps...whoever he was thinking of just needed an Elua of their own!
"If there's one for my brother, I'm loathe to meet the poor creature." Sairin confessed. "My brother... Tried to kill our mother, once."
Before he left home.
Tried to....Elua deflated a bit. "Why?" She couldn't comprehend trying to kill Leru. And from what Eisheth had told her...her birth-coalition had only abandoned her to die because of superstition. They had a reason, ingrained for generations. But what would cause a cub to try and kill his parent?
"Because he's evil." Sarin sighed. "We fought... I drove him away... Because he accused my mother of abandonment... and.. It wasn't his place." Sairin shivered. "Toshiro... Is a monster."
Elua nuzzled him. Such cold memories..."He isn't here. And perhaps, you shall never see him again." One day, she hoped, darkness like him would not exist. That the only darkness one needed to worry about in the world was when their time came, and the night sky.
Sairin shivered, pressing into Elua, trying to force away the memories. He hated his brother, hated leaving his family behind. He hated all of it, and he buried his muzzle and face into Elua, trying to escape.
"It's okay now." She gave off her own chirr, not the deep rumbling noise Sairin's purr was, but as best a comforting sound she could produce without words. "Right now, it is just you and me. The rest of the world can't touch us until we decide we're ready."
"I hope so..." He shut his eyes, holding on. Some part of him was afraid... Why?
"Why don't we take a nap? It's a nice day out, and we don't have pressing matters...So...let's be lazy! And if you have bad dreams or memories, I'll chase them away!" She would make sure his sleep would be a peaceful one.
"Are you sure?" He looked worried. He didn't want to be trouble...
Elua nodded. "Of course!" She rolled over and pawed at his mane. "I love you, 'member?" And she'd do anything for the ones she loved, no matter how thin it might stretch her.
Sairin smiled, snuggling into her as one would a mother, shutting his eyes.
He'd trust her.
After all... Trust was part of love.
Elua shut her eyes soon after, tail swishing happily and lazily. She'd be his 'dreamcatcher' this time. And maybe those cold memories of his would stop haunting him, at least for a little while.
