Laf'lari:
Lari had left the main confines of the pride, using the word 'confine' in an affectionate – not really – term for the pride's main den area. Her stomach was swollen with the cubs she was carrying, and as much as she was looking forward to them being born, her face was set into a frown. She was still required to go out and hunt for herself and her mate, and she was sore and grouchy from being forced to. Well, not forced, as she knew her mate Rai would likely have found them food somehow had she simply refused to go out to hunt, but he was such a wuss, he'd probably whine about it for ages. This time, the particularly biting words were actually thought with affection for the slowly fattening male waiting for her back in their den.
Huffing a little, not out of annoyance, simply out of breath from the walk. Now, she paused, looking around with a frown. How was she going to capture food? Lay on it? She let out a laugh at that thought, knowing she could likely squish something adequately enough to kill it, but she couldn't chase it down, that was for sure! Perhaps Rai and her would just make do with a bird, or a hare. Small, but it would tied them over for a while, which was all that mattered. A cub kicked her stomach and she winced. Apparently, the babies were not pleased with that thought and she laughed a little. “Fine, I'll try for something bigger,” she told her stomach, likely looking crazy for talking to herself. Considering she was near the border of the pride lands, it wasn't exactly a strange thing. Everyone was crazy here, and it made most things so much more enjoyable, or at very least, amusing.
Eurig'amideir:
Euri padded ahead of Phae and the cubs, scouting in the direction the older lion had told him to head in. Both sons of gods in a pride of demon hunters, Euri took a sort of kinship to the former warrior. Though, they didn't have a tremendous amount in common, but when it all came down to it, they wanted to leave.
Well, Euri did anyways, and Phae wanted to take his cubs out of the pride, so that was all that really mattered. He didn't want to hunt demons, especially when he could go blind at any moment. He didn't blame either of his parents for the curse, but rather fate.
His head was bent as he walked, his gold eyes hidden quite well behind his growing mane, a gift from his huge father. As he put one more paw in front of the other, his vision was struck and a mist sprang up around him in his mind. His head jerked right and left as a voice whispered to him.
"Help her," the voice said softly and his vision immediately cleared and he saw a large blue form just ahead, coming his way.
Laf'lari:
Swinging a little, or rather, waddling, as she walked, Lari was scanning the area quickly, trying to spot the nearest thing which could pass for food, but instead her eyes slipped across and landed on a young male. She blinked and paused, glancing back towards the pride. Perhaps he was one of the pride's youth? There seemed to be a lot of them and she didn't really get out and meet many, so it was possible. Either way, she was going to be friendly, she decided, since she couldn't just run away with her belly this big.
“Hello,” she called out, her voice cheerful and only a little strained. She dared anyone to try carrying around cubs all day and not feel stressed or strained every once in a while. It wasn't exactly an easy thing to do. She didn't step closer, out of worry that perhaps he was threatening. If she stayed where she was, she was at least closer to the pride should anything go wrong. “Enjoying a walk?” She asked, making sure her smile was fixed in place. It would have been flirtatious, except she was heavily pregnant and he was far too young for her, handsome or not.
Eurig'amideir:
Euri bowed his head politely to her, frowning a bit. His visions had never really been this precise and that voice had never really been there. Had he been hearing things?
But, then, his lioness looked rather pregnant, maybe she did need his head. How strange.
"Not exactly. I'm scouting ahead for some of my friends. We were looking for a pride my friend knows of, it's supposed to be near here," he explained, feeling comfortable around her. He doubted she was any sort of threat, so he only worried about others coming along.
"My name if Euri."
Laf'lari:
Lari blinked, and tilted her head, continuing to smile pleasantly. He didn't seem too threatening, but she still had to be cautious, so she didn't approach him further, keeping her place. “A pride? The only pride I know of near here is the Kizingo'Zaa, is that perhaps the pride your friend was looking for?” She didn't know of other ones around this area, but she wasn't overly familiar with it, so she could have been wrong.
“Euri? What a lovely name. My name is Laf'lari, but please call me Lari,” she said, having finally gotten used to introduce herself as her new name, rather than her old name.
Eurig'amideir:
"Lari, okay." It was a rather pretty name, for a pretty female, but she looked as if she could be his mother and he was astute enough to notice the pregnancy. He frowned a bit in thought for a moment before nodding.
"I think that's the one. He's bringing his new son and daughters here," he paused to let a small smile take the place of his thoughtful frown. "I came along to help and hopefully find a more... relaxed place to live."
He didn't hate his old pride, per se. It was just that it was too dangerous for him and he had never felt right there. He wasn't a fighter, he was more of a traveler like his father, and yet part of him really wanted a safe place to live and maybe even have a family of his own. Despite being something of a jerk half of the time, he really had enjoyed helping Phae with the cubs. Taking care of them and making sure they didn't get into trouble. He guessed he just liked cubs.
Laf'lari:
“Well, if you get used to a bit of their...quirky nature, the Kizingo is a wonderful place to live,” Lari remarked. “Though I can't say what it's like for young cubs, but give me a few weeks and I could probably tell you.” Her mouth was twisted up in a tiny smile, poking gentle fun at her rather heavy-set condition.
“You're a little young to be going off without your family, aren't you?” She asked, sounding very much the hypocrite. Her first litter had been off on their own adventures at adolescent, and once or twice well before adolescence. Having settled down, she seemed to have changed mentalities when it came to youth and their freedoms. She gave a tiny grin, as she decided to tease a little, “or did you come with him so you could make your own family?” She gave a slightly outrageous wink, her tone playful but not flirtatious.
Eurig'amideir:
Quirky nature, Phae hadn't mentioned that, but he would live with it. Anywhere but home, really. He'd wanted to go with his father when he was young, but that just hadn't happened. Best laid plans and all that. He sniffed a bit at her comment, taking a slight offense at her assumption at his age and whether or not he could leave his family.
No matter how much he had grown, Euri still was the arrogant little brat from when he was younger. At least sometimes, anyways.
"I'm old enough. It was just my mother and brother and sisters, anyways. And I'm not alone, I'm just scouting ahead right now," he replied and his eyes blinked wide at her second comment, thought it was doubtful she could really see them behind his mane.
"N-no, I mean... I'm certainly too young for THAT," he added and quickly shook his head. "Besides, I have to help him watch out for his cubs right now."
Laf'lari:
Lari was unaware that he had taken offence from her comment, listening rather curiously as he spoke. Well, he seemed old enough, not overly childish. At least he had travel companions, if nothing else. Now, what really caught her attention was the stutter of his answer to her second question, and her grin brightened just a little.
“Oh,” she waved off his comment of 'too young', “I was around your age when I settled with my first mate! Never too young for love,” she said with a giggle, thinking fondly of her own romance with her first mate. He had been the perfect first romance and she still remembered every day with fond memories. “Mmm, I think I see, a wonderful girl in your future,” she lied pleasantly, not having seen a thing. She was a Fortune Teller, but had no skills in Seeing at all, she simply told people what they wanted to hear, or rather, what she thought they wanted to hear. “She will be very pretty.”
Eurig'amideir:
Euri listened to her, but let out a small "Keh" sound at her prediction.
"I would think if there was, I would have seen her already," he replied, also lying through his teeth. Oh, sure, he did see a female, sometimes. And it was that he'd seen her a couple of times that really mattered. Sure, he saw females all the time, at least he thought they were, it really was hard to tell. Or he heard their voices. But there was one that kept coming back, he knew it, even though he couldn't remember much about her once he came back to reality.
But he never put much stock in his visions, they only brought him trouble, so he'd never really mentioned them to another creature before then, besides Phae and this Lari.
"Can you See things, then, or are you just jerking my tail?"
Laf'lari:
Lari blinked at his words. How could he expect to see a female, when he hadn't even entered the pride yet? Perhaps he could See things, or maybe she was just reading too much into his words. “Maybe you just haven't met her yet,” Lari retorted lightly, shifting on her feet. Goodness, even standing made her whole body strain, the belly was far too heavy for her preference.
“You're a blunt little thing, aren't you?” She asked, sounding amused at his rather straight-forward question. “Why would I be yanking your tail? I have nothing to gain by lying to you.” She was lying, but she disliked telling people that. She told them their happily ever after was coming, that wasn't a bad lie, it was simply instilling in them some hope they might not have had on their own. It was the good kind of lying, if there was such a thing.
Eurig'amideir:
Euri shrugged his shoulders a little bit. Blunt was a good way to go, no tip-toeing around and missing meanings involved.
"Always have been, really. It just seems better to get to the important things while I have the time," he replied and tilted his head a bit, considering her. "You could be. Some lie just because they can... But that seems a silly thing to lie about, so I'll take your word for it."
In truth, he wanted to meet someone nice to talk to, but didn't actively seek her out. She'd have to deal with his visions, his arrogance, his headaches, and his moodiness.
Headaches, huh, he didn't seem to have one, even though he had a vision. His head felt fine, in fact. How interesting.
He watched her fidget for a moment before smiling a bit in pity.
"Do you need to lie down?"
Laf'lari:
“I suppose that's true.” Lari was impressed by this young male, he seemed very well learnt, even if he was rather blunt. “Glad to know you believe me, however reluctantly.” It was a tease again, and she smiled a little.
Shifting on her feet, she was surprised at her comment. “Oh, no, no. I'm just getting used to this whole, carrying cubs around with me. It's rather irritating but I suppose I have to get used to it, after all.” She smiled and looked down, twisting a little to peer at her swollen belly. There was a material glow about her as she looked at her belly, where her babies were before she glanced back at him.
“If your friend is as nice as you, tell him that if his cubs ever need a play mate, when my brood is born I'm sure they'll be pleased for friends.” A devious look crossed her face. “My mate might even babysit for him sometime.” She was being a little cruel now, but oh, Rai around cubs would be such an amusing sight. He was so paranoid of shadows, he'd likely go crazy when their little ones are born. She wondered if she could get his job changed to a nanny without telling him...Her smile turned into a slight smirk.
Eurig'amideir:
Euri frowned at that. He didn't think she really should be up and about, not in her condition. He had insisted he was too young to have a mate or a family of his own, but he knew that if he was going to be a father, he would make sure his mate (Because he didn't think he would ever have just a fling, despite his flirting and his heritage) never lifted a paw while she was carrying their cubs. But if Lari wanted to be active and wandering about, it wasn't really his place to be telling her she shouldn't. He didn't even know her.
"I'll tell him you said that. I'm sure they could use someone to play with besides myself and each other," he replied and glanced away, pondering. He would offer to sit as well, but he didn't even know if they would really be staying there or if he would be any good at it at all. Sure, it was fine watching Phae's cubs, there were only three, after all, and they had known him nearly all their young lives. But he didn't know how many he could handle and didn't want to trust himself with anyone else's cubs, what with his visions. Noomi, Aiman, and Kindoro all knew about his visions and understood that when he told them to stop moving, in that one tone of voice, it meant business, that he couldn't see and it was important that they do exactly what he told them to. Would other cubs understand that?
Doubtful.
"Do you need help at all? I can't imagine doing much is very easy in your condition."
Laf'lari:
Lari nodded along, when he spoke of telling his friend of her offer, her face twisted into a frown at the twinges her paws were giving her. She couldn't wait for this pregnancy to be over already, not only because she wanted to see her babies, but because she was really sick of being pregnant. It made everything so much harder. And Rai was useless, calling her fat and such, though she knew he could be sweet occasionally, else she wouldn't be in this mess to start with, she thought, a fond smile twisted her mouth before she quickly snapped back to the conversation at hand.
She looked surprised at the male's offer and went to turn him down immediately, “No, I'm-” she paused, and stared at her feet, knowing she'd never catch prey like this. She sighed. She hated asking youth for help, she was old enough to take care of herself after all, but not both her and Rai it seemed. Not in this condition at least. “Actually,” she said slowly, looking reluctant. “Would you be able to help me hunt? My mate is useless for hunting and I'm usually in charge of finding food for us, but with the cubs, I've been rather slow. I can't imagine me catching much, except if I fall over and squish something, which is unlikely to happen.” She shifted, and hurried on, quickly to reassure him, “it doesn't have to be very big! Just something to feed myself and my mate, and you don't have to help if you don't want to.” She was not used to asking for help. She'd rather do things herself.
Eurig'amideir:
Euri tilted his head at first, when she tried to tell him no at the start. The vision had told him to help her, he was sure that was it. Which was odd, the mist had never done that before. So even if she had flat out told him no, he likely would have insisted.
But then she changed her mind, accepting his offer as long as it wasn't too much trouble for him. The young male slowly shook his head.
"That wouldn't be a problem. I have my difficulties, but I'm no novice at hunting," he replied and nodded to a nearby tree.
"Why don't you go over there, and I'll be back with something? Wouldn't want you to get hurt or anything, I think I'd be better off on my own, you know?" he asked and started heading in the direction he had come from. There had been a small herd of gazelle that he'd passed on the way, if he could get a smaller one, he could easily bring it back to her and they could get it back to her mate, no problem. And then he could go get Phae and the cubs.
Laf'lari:
Lari was grateful for the younger male, not only for agreeing to help her but also for not making a big deal out of it. When he motioned to the tree, her eyes lit up. Yes! She could get off her feet. Clearing her throat she nodded. “That sounds wonderful, thank you Euri,” she told him and moved – she refused to call what she was doing waddling, though it was close to it – over to the tree. Lowering herself down by the tree, she gave a low sigh as the weight was taken off her feet. Sprawled out, she made a purr like noise, watching as the male disappeared.
Ah, no more hunting for her for the day, which was wonderful. Perhaps she'd play up how handsome, or rather, increase his age a bit, Euri was, make Rai a little jealous...she huffed, no, Rai probably would just get sulky and that wasn't worth the annoyance it would cause just for a little teasing.
She lowered her head, enjoying her impromptu rest, and waited patiently for her meal to be brought back to her.
