Ever so carefully, Rajeev contemplated the petals of a flower he'd found. The petals were all perfectly shaped, and the flower itself was a beautiful shade of blue. Towards the center, the petals turned white, and towards the tip, they turned a darker blue. The very center was a happy, cheery yellow, much like the sun above. The lion carefully cradled the flower in his paw, close to the grass and still on the stem it grew from, smiling at it. "Good morning, little flower, the sun says hello!"
Padding along, it hadn't taken Huong long to find her youngest child. Since the last time she and Dongo had talked about the young lion, what she'd initially thought to be exceptionally long hair had blossomed into a mane. It wasn't a FULL mane, by any means, but it was the next stage toward one. It made it impossible to deny it... Rajeev was a boy, not a girl, and now she'd know what to look for on any future cubs she had. With a smile, the dark lioness went over to her son, leaning down. "Just what are you up to, Rajeev? Something to make your father worry about you?"
The brown lion blinked, turning his eyes to his mother. His surprise turned into a smile, as he showed her the flower. "I'm just greeting the flower. See how pretty it is!" He looked back at it, smiling. "I hope I meet someone like this flower one day... Happy and pretty." A light sigh escaped, before he removed his paw. The flower vanished back into the rest, just another flower in the patch. "Mother.. Do you still think I'm a girl? As much as I like pretty things, do you still deny that I'm a boy...?"
Sitting down next to her son, she smiled at him, licking his forehead. "No, Rajeev, I don't deny it anymore... It's as clear as my nose in front of me that you're a boy." She buried her cheek against his pale, white mane, rumbling out a purr. "Though you HAVE come out with some very... Feminine... Mannerisms... Like examining flowers... Why are you doing that, anyway?" She carefully selected one, roughly the same shade of blue as his eyes. Plucking it, she gently placed it in his mane, smiling at how it stuck out. "There, now you've got something else to attract lionesses to you..."
Rajeev blushed under his fur, gently batting his mother away. "Aw, Mom..." He looked at the flowers, then stood up, looking through them. Soon he found a white one, plucking it and taking it back to his mother. Carefully cradling it in his paw, he placed it behind her ear, then sat back with a smile. "There, now you have one, too!" He let out a bit of a puff, looking back down at the flowers. "And... I don't know why I look at them like this... I guess... I just like pretty things." He smiled. "Maybe somebody will find that a good mannerism, to like pretty things..."
"You DO have a point..." Huong smiled, looking down at the flowers. On closer inspection, they WERE lovely. She scooped a pink flower up part-way, examining the way the petals started a deep, sunset pink at the center, and slowly went to white at the tips. To put it simple, they were beautiful. Then there were all the other flowers, with different variations. It was simply stunning to look at, to comprehend. To somebody who was noticing flowers for the first time, it could almost be intimidating. "So... If you like flowers this much... What about butterflies?"
Rajeev thought about it, looking at the flowers. After a moment, he got up and started to walk. "Well, butterflies have their own beauty... But I guess they're like everything. They start out a little ugly... And then become something much better." He stopped under a tree, looking up at it. "Even moths have their own beauties..." He looked at his mother, smiling. "I met a little bird a few days ago... She told me about a big moth, with HUGE wings, and it's green in color." He hoped to one day see a moth that big.
Huong's ears went back. Okay, moths she wasn't fond of. "I'm not sure a moth can be beautiful, Rajeev..." She rose to her paws, following her son. "But, then again..." She licked his ear, smiling. "I didn't think you were a boy, and look at you now... Turning into a bit strong male!" Maybe she'd give moths a chance. For right now, she was iffy about the little night creatures, not too grandly fond of their shades of browns and grays. There was also the fact that they, well, fluttered about at night. They were hard to see and easier to walk into. There was really nothing for her to look at, that was worthwhile.
The male let out a laugh, cuddling up to his mother. "Thanks, Mom..." At that moment, a butterfly danced by, cheered on with a breeze. The male smiled at his mother, then took off after it. When it landed, he crept close to examine it, taking in the multitude of colors on it and the tiny scales on the wings that made up the colors. When it fluttered off, he went after, intent on finding out more about the intricate colors and patterns. The way each color glimmered in the sun was so... Fascinating!
Watching her son wander off, Huong let out a wistful sigh. He was so big... In fact, all of the cubs were so big. They weren't cubs anymore, they were old enough to start looking for mates. It made her... Sad. Happy. Multiple things. She'd miss how they cuddled to her when they were small, and cry about bad dreams, and she'd then comfort them... Huong let out another sigh, then went off to find Dongo. They needed to talk about their children, and how big they had gotten.
