(w/c 1192)
It felt like so long ago Sen had been of the mindset wandering around aimlessly was something only the damned and the lonely did. She remembered thinking rogues were interesting - but interesting from far away. They weren't anything to be envied, she'd been sure.
Time had a way of changing things, including the mind of a stubborn lioness such as herself. Her viewpoints had done a complete turn around; now, she couldn't fathom being stuck anywhere. Nsundu may have been a ball-and-chain, but it was an accessory she wore with pride and came to miss when she didn't have it.
They were scheduled to meet up again near what had once been her home: the Pridelands. Part of her had considered she may feel the pain of nostalgia, but a much larger portion of her was relieved when she didn't. What was there to miss?
Other than her parents... and her siblings... and the neighbors...
Sen huffed and shook her head.
Just a little further and she'd be there. Judging by the position of the sun, right around night fall.
------------
Winza was not like Sen; he didn't try to deny he was homesick. He embraced the feeling, seeing it was one of those life lessons you always heard about but never really understood until you got the chance to live. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Lakisa had told him. Too true, those words.
On the other hand, he found the complete absence of everyone didn't make his heart grow fonder, it only made his mind grow bored. So very bored that he could have squealed with joy when he caught sight of the familiar face. (Not that he would since it would far too girlish.)
"Sen!" he called out, stopping his tracks. "Hey! Sen!"
---
Sen stopped, too. She stopped and she stared and she wondered who this crazed lion yelling for her was. Just being brown wasn't enough for her to recognize him; a lot of lions were brown. Nsundu was brown. Mind you, that probably should have hinted at his identity, but it had been months since she'd been on Mtaishi grounds.
All of three of them had been, what? Days old? One? Two? They looked more like dirt-covered worms squirming around in that den than lions.
"Who are you?" she shouted back.
---
Winza had, in fact, been about a month old when Sen first saw him and the only reason they were squirming was because there mother had made them sit still long enough to meet her. She had scolded them for close to an hour about coming home covered in filth - which was nothing versus the lecture they got from Lakisa about being 'presentable' later. He'd never been so happy to be a boy when she took his sister aside to add on some rules about behaving like a proper lady.
He sighed. "Winza. Don't you remember?" No, obviously not. Next question. "You remember Waseme? I'm one of her sons."
---
A more polite lioness would have felt embarrassed they'd forgotten someone so closely related to such a vital role in their life. Without Waseme, she'd still be stuck back there as-- Oh, who was she kidding?
Without Waseme, Yue would have had to remain the king without any queen there to help him. Sen would have left anyone, being the irresponsible and selfish female she was. But man oh man would it have sucked for her poor brother. So she was still really glad that Nsundu had two daughters and only needed one of them.
And, apparently, her grandkids were popping 'em out just as fast.
Looking at him made her feel old. Was that laugh of awkward mourning really coming from her?
"I remember now. You've just gotten a lot bigger and a lot more handsome so I barely recognized you." To end it, she winked.
Psh. As if she'd recognized him at all.
---
The flustered lion responded in kind by looking down at his paws and running his tongue along his teeth. He wasn't girl shy, but he'd also never been blatantly hit on. That would have been awkward enough, let alone when the one making the advances was the former ruler of your pride and the apple of your mother's admiring eyes.
When at last he looked up, he slowly nodded and mumbled, "Thanks. You look as young as ever."
---
His reward for that compliment was a broad grin only Nsundu had gotten to see for quite a while. Not that her smiles were worth much. She was a lioness who had left everything and everyone but her best friend aside. Shooed out her own son from her first brood to keep herself out of trouble, among other things.
Things like basking in his words more like a lovestruck juvenile than a full grown adult.
"It's hard to tell the difference with me," she said coyly. "White and gray are my natural color." Perhaps because he had put her in such a good mood she could spare a moment to ask, "How's the pride doing?"
---
"They've been doing all right, as far as I know..." Winza's voice trailed off and he wondered if there was a second part of that question she was holding back.
Or was Lakisa's gossip about how close she had been to Yue just another one of her exaggerated stories to help pass the time? If he didn't know better, he would have thought Sen was on edge trying to bite her tongue. Either way, he wouldn't pry. He knew well the intensity of sibling quarrels.
Some things were better left unsaid.
---
Sen would agreed if he'd told her so, but one of those things best left unsaid was that there were things best left unsaid. Questions better off unasked. Answers that should never be uttered. What she wondered was harmless, though.
"What are you even doing out here?"
---
He hadn't thought it was strange of her not to ask, but when she did, he had to wonder how they had gone this long without it coming up. Were their positions reserved, that would have been the very first thing he inquired about.
"The Mtaishi don't really need me," he said. "They've got the rulers sorted out for right now, and I'm not cut out for that kind of stuff. Since we're not going to war any time soon it's all right if I see the world for a little bit." Winza grinned and joked, "My cousin also said I needed to learn to be a little more manly."
---
Good news all around! The pride was fine, the leaders were fine, everything was fine. Not that she needed him to tell her they weren't at war. War and the Mtaishi were like a leopard and lion having a baby.
...Oh, wait. They did do that now, didn't they?
Anywho.
"I can help you with that," she grinned, all too suggestively. "Follow me!"
