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Even if Bara's relationship with her niece, Tahari, was a mess, somehow her sister Zuri had recovered from whatever was wrong with her and had offered to watch the couple's children for the afternoon. Bara had a touch of worry, with Zuri's unlucky habit of losing kids. Ishida had told her how silly it was to even worry about it, as they were within pridal lands, and they'd be spending time with their grandparents as well as Zuri. Bara always hated how Ishida seemed to dismiss her worries so easily; she wished she could do the same thing.

They had decided to spend some time together near the waterfall, an area that wasn't too far from the dens. Ishida wondered if it was because Bara was still worried, but he chose not to bright it to light. This was supposed to be a relaxing day together, and not one full of little arguments. Bara trotted in front of Ishida, feeling a touch excited to feel the spray of mist that the waterfall gave off.

Ishida's ears had alerted him of the noise, and he couldn't help but be a little alarmed. Bara, on the other hand, seemed to not be too worried, and so Ishida let himself relax. It wasn't really a terror-scream, but it was still a scream. Soon enough, they approached a scene where it was evident something had happened, with a soaking wet cheetah in front of them.

The pale blue lioness laughed. There was some mischief going on, even if the pair seemed to act a little morr 'proper' with their arrival. Enough to greet them.

"Hello, Aeron," the Elohim greeted her co-worker of sorts. "I don't know if I've really introduced you to my mate? This is Ishida." The white lion offered a polite bow, as Aeron was an Elohim, and the cheetah near him an assumed important person to him.

Bara giggled. "Did you go for a dip, Verdandi?" Her name was very pretty, and even moreso when spoken aloud. SHe glanced over at Ishida who offered a not to the cheetah as well. He thought he recognized her, if only as another Malakim about her duties. He wasn't the most social, though he should be. Sometimes it was easier just dealing with things on one's own, or he just spent way too much time with his mate and kids. Probably the latter.

"We were just over here to relax and chat a bit, but if you wouldn't mind chatting with us, it could be enjoyable." Bara found a perfect rock to recline on, and leaped atop it, reclining and grinning at Ishida. Yeah, she had left him to find his own comfortable stop. Hopefully Verdandi would start to dry out soon, being soaked wasn't too fun.

Ishida nodded, just plopping his rump down right where he was. Hmph. "Yeah, get a little time away from the kids," he added on. He thought he had seen others lingering around the pride that fit Aeron's and Verdandi's pelts, so they must have had little ones at some point in the past.

Feeling a little awkward that he wasn't the only one on a rock, Ishida jumped up onto one, lower than the rest of them. He didn't mind, really, since he was somewhat close to Bara. It felt like a pleasant afternoon, with good company. Perhaps after this he could convince Bara that a nap would top it all off. Though the kids were getting bigger, he still liked the chance to catch up on a little missed-out sleep.

"It has been," Bara replied. "And also, just fun regular conversion that doesn't have to deal with work." She didn't think of it as work-work, but still, talking about other things, even if it was something as silly as the weather, would be a welcome change. She felt like it would tighten their bonds as well. Having friends was always pleasant.

"Six?" Ishida repeated. "Goodness, we just have three and sometimes I feel like there's twice as many of them. If there were, I don't know what we'd do."

Bara gave him a look. "We'd probably get even less sleep, though at least they're older now to not be so needy."

Ishida shook his head. "Still. Man, how did you guys handle it?"

"Ohhh, yikes." Ishida made a face too. He didn't deal with kids as gracefully as his mate, but he thought that a lot of it was just a female thing. They seemed to handle all of it a lot better than the males, it seemed. He remembered Bara mentioning that her dad didn't take part in any of their raising, but then Bara's father was an....interesting character.

Bara thought she had an idea of the ideas running through Ishida's face. Really, he wasn't good at hiding his emotions. She gave him a weird look, the turned to her company. "Well, sleepless nights aside, even though they're getting old enough to start really thinking on their own, they're still a pawful." And even more so. While the pride didn't view them as adults yet, they were starting to want to butt heads and make their own decisions. They were going to reach there soon.

"Did you take it well when they got old enough to find their own caves?" Bara worried about how she would feel once they got that old.

(playing them at just the cusp of juve-adol, haha)

Bara didn't want to think about that. Her babies, gone! Even staying within the pride, she was certain that she would feel heartbroken. She glanced at Ishida, who was still busily thinking about what reassurances the pair had said. She wouldn't be alone, but...they were her babies! She had waited a very long time to start her family, and they seemed to grow up much too quickly.

"Oh, I hope they don't do that," Bara said with a sliiiight frown. "Don't they like to wake you up in the middle of the night anyway?" Bara was normally up early as she enjoyed watching the sun rise, but she didn't like those nights were the kids would wake her up a couple hours before than. It just wasn't enjoyable.

"I'm guessing they still swing in more than once in a while," Ishida chuckled.

Ishida nodded. "I don't know, they seem pretty independent already, but I guess we won't know 'til they have to take that step of being on their own." Bara laughed when he said that, and Ishida only shook his head. "Oh, you know it, Bara. You and your sister were something else, but who knows how they'll react."

Bara stifled her snicker at that, feeling a little irritated that he brought that up. Not everyone needed to know that, but... "We didn't grow up in prides, at least, I sort of did, but I'd never consider it one. So I have no idea how they'll react. But if they're still going to linger around, then I'm sure we'll see them a lot. And if they ignore me, I'll just march right over to them and try to give them a bath!"

Ishida shook his head. "That might just piss them off, silly mate."

Bara sniffed. "They shouldn't doubt the will of their mother then."

Ishida only rolled his eyes, glancing at Aesir, having a hunch he might understand his plea.

Bara kind of liked the idea that they'd realize what she and Ishida had done for them. They were thankful now, sure, but with the lack of many other young ones to play with, they were a bit of a handful at times. Trying to act older than they were, surely, but she couldn't quite blame them for that. She was the same when she was younger.

"Oooh, now there's an idea!" Barafu laughed, feeling a suge of appreciation for the cheetah. She had liked her before, but she obviously had more playful antics up her sleeves. Aeron had quite a mate to deal with.

Ishida would think the same of Bara, but only because she had been a hard shell to crack. She still put on her serious face on too much, but at least she was learning to laugh and enjoy the silly parts of life. Even while still being an Elohim.

"Don't put too many ideas in her head, she won't know what to do with them," Ishida joked, dodging a swipe from the blue lioness.

Bara glared at Ishida for a moment before standing up to bow to the two of them. "I thank you for your time, and it was a pleasure to meet you, Verdandi. I'm sure we'll spend more time together in the future. Please, feel free to call on me at any time, Aeron."

Ishida was wondering why she wanted to leave, but he knew better than to ask. Perhaps she was worried about her family. Leaving Tahari unattended for a length of time was...playing with fire. "Yes, a pleasure to make more friends, especially ones that have been through much the same we have."

The both bowed again, as being proper was never a bad thing. "Until we see you again, be safe!" As being a Malakim might bring dangers out in the world.

(ending it since I'm not sure if you're coming back. sorry. :c )