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 Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:10 am
 Life had been going well for Aesir lately. Incredibly well. His wife and mate, Morrigan, had borne him a litter of four cubs. Two beautiful, fierce girls and two strong, ambitious boys. He was absurdly proud of all of them, even though he was much harder on the boys and couldn't help doting on the girls. As a bonus, matters between him and Morrigan had been much improved. He actually felt comfortable around her for once, and had done for a while.
And yet when he woke up that morning, even before Morrigan stirred, his paws took him out of the pride's official boundaries and into the forest where he'd met a bewitching lioness with a pelt like fox fur and a way of turning everything into a game with an excellent reward for winning. Or for losing. He enjoyed the challenge of her, and the way she made no demands of him, and how she was not quite forbidden fruit.
He didn't know for certain he would find her. In the past it had always been nighttime when they met for their interludes, and it had been a long time. She might not be there, or if she was she might be angry with him and decide not to approach him out of spite. But he had felt an irresistible urge to see her, and he didn't ignore his hunches.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 4:26 pm
Räven had not been thrilled to find herself pregnant, but she had accepted it with the stoic, practical resolve of any forest creature. She was not sure who it had been, not at first. There hadn't been many lovers, not in her self-imposed isolation in the forest, but she hadn't bothered to keep track in any case.
Once the cubs were born it became very obvious who they belonged to, but Räv felt no urge to seek out their father. She had never desired a family. The thought of taking a mate did not hold much appeal for her. Besides, the fierce dark warrior might try to kill her cubs. Such things had happened. While Räven had not wanted cubs, she did not want to be rid of them in such a fashion, either. They were hers now.
When she heard the lion's paws in the underbrush and caught his distinct scent, she did not feel relief or any particular strong emotion. Her only fleeting emotions were of regret -- regret that she was too busy, and her body too tired, to play with him as she had in the past. She stood waiting for him, silent, wondering what to say. So tempting to tease him as she had, but that would be a waste of time. Having to think so deeply about a social interaction was strange to her, and she frowned with distaste.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 4:37 pm
Aesir caught a whiff of her scent and marveled not for the first time that he didn't even know her name. That was something he would really have to fix this time. And yet why should he bother? He had come in search of her to put an end to their dalliances, to tell her that he would not be looking for her in the woods anymore, and that they would no longer be playing their amorous games.
He didn't think that it would hit her particularly hard. He had the feeling that he was not the only lion whose company she enjoyed carnally, and he wasn't much bothered by that. She was a fine companion, thoroughly enjoyable, and that sort of thing didn't happen without experience he knew for a fact. The stories about people being surprised to learn that they were expert lovers after living totally celibate were patently untrue.
He followed her scent until he caught sight of her. She was standing as if she had been awaiting his arrival. That wasn't so strange in and of itself. She always seemed to sense him before he sensed her. It had ceased to bother him. He did wonder a bit at her frown, however. Had his absence irked her more than he'd anticipated? The arrogant male part of him was pleased by this, but mostly he wondered at it. He had never thought she would be the sort to mind much.
"I think we need to talk," he said briefly, his voice less of a growl than she had probably ever heard it.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 5:55 am
If Räven had known his mission, she would not have been very interested. Sometimes lions did things that perplexed her. Tracking her down simply to tell her that he did not want to see her any more would have been one of them. If you did not wish to see someone, you simply did not seek them out. She had never formed an emotional attachment to the dark lion, and would not have minded in the least if she never saw him again.
But now he was here, and wanting to talk.
The fox-pelted lioness talked to her cubs, to teach them what they must know, but she found conversations with other adults tiresome. She could not imagine what the dark lion wanted to talk about, but she did not think she would find it interesting. At least he didn't want to play. She was spared the effort of having to rebuff him. After a moment's thought, the lioness shrugged. "I do not have time to talk," she said bluntly. "I have to feed the cubs."
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:19 am
Aesir was absolutely unsure what to make of the first part of his former paramour's statement about not having time to talk. He had never had a time when she allowed him to find her that she didn't have time for him. He had assumed in the past that when he came out and didn't find her she either didn't have time for him or didn't care to see him, or simply wasn't around. He was never offended by her nonappearances, though he was sometimes disappointed.
But his minor bemusement was nothing compared to the way his brain flip-flopped when she uttered the word "cubs." He had never imagined that she would be the sort of lioness to have cubs. It rather changed how he thought of her, and made him wonder what else she hadn't bothered to tell him. He had never cared before because theirs was a relationship of convenience and not the sort of relationship which tended toward talking, but now he couldn't help wondering.
"Cubs?" he repeated, barely stopping himself from asking if they were hers. He couldn't imagine her feeding someone else's cubs. That didn't mean that he wouldn't ask the next question on his mind, however, because he did care about that answer.
"Are they mine?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:26 am
Räv watched the dark lion warily as he digested her statement. She wasn't the type to go soppy over cubs, but neither did she want them killed. Sometimes male lions could be unpredictable, especially warriors like this one. Well. That didn't matter. If he tried to go after her cubs, she would fight him tooth and nail, no matter how imposing he was.
She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell him that the cubs were his, but deception - at least verbally - had never been her strong suit. "Yes," she said. There was no doubt about it, really. The boys, but for their facial markings, could have been clones of her. The girls, however, looked like tiny female versions of their father. "They are strong and wise." Well, they weren't actually wise yet, but they would be soon enough.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:46 am
Aesir nodded, not surprised, and a little proud. It was, of course, foolish to be proud of something he had not intended to accomplish, but it was always a pleasant, life-affirming sort of thing to learn that he had fathered cubs on more than one lioness. At least for him. That Stormborn lions were allowed to have saltwives and enjoy themselves as they chose while viking was an excellent thing, and he had considered asking if the foxy lioness would like to come back to his pride as his saltwife, but he had never really felt it would suit her, and he very much doubted it would suit Morrigan.
"I would like to see them," he said simply.
Strong and wise they might be, but he would like to be the judge of that for himself. For that matter, there was a portion of his mind which said he might wish to take the cubs back to the pride at least. Providing they didn't look too much like he had fathered them. He could adopt them and claim them as his in that respect without making Morrigan feel slighted, he gathered. At least as long as they weren't too like him. An undeniable relationship between him and them could be...awkward.
"How many are there?" he asked, curious and hoping for a large number to better demonstrate his virility, even if there wasn't really anyone to appreciate it.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:57 am
The dark lion did not have the look or scent of anger about him. Räv relaxed slightly. In fact, he looked proud, as though he had accomplished some arduous and noble task in creating the cubs. Räv was tempted to roll her eyes, an instinctively normal and womanly impulse that she immediately squashed.
"There are six," she said, taking a moment to decide whether to let him see them. She still felt it was dangerous to invite this male - who was really a stranger - back to her den, but once he had seen them he might peacefully go his own way. She didn't want to get into an argument with him and possibly end up fighting him.
"Why do you want to see them?" she asked, still hesitant to take him to the cubs.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 10:08 am
Aesir observed the fiery-furred lioness relaxing and realized that he hadn't even noticed that she was uptight and tense before. He had gotten used to thinking of her as being not-a-threat, and so he had tended to let his guard down around her. It was a bad habit to be in. Outside of his pride he knew he should not be quite so carefree. He was a warrior, and certainly unafraid of anything he might encounter in the lands surrounding his own, but that didn't mean he could afford to let his guard down. Yes, all that came from noticing the lioness relax.
"Six," he said, barely able to conceal his arrogant pride at having accomplished so much, and without even meaning to.
His litter with Morrigan had only had four cubs, though they were spectacular cubs in his opinion. The girls were fierce, as were the boys, and they all seemed inclined to take after him, which pleased him. If they'd turned out to be like Morrigan he might have been a little uncomfortable. He'd not known Morrigan when she was young, but she was plenty creepy now when she chose to be, though motherhood had mellowed her significantly.
"I'm curious about them," he answered truthfully. "It's not everyday a lion learns he has cubs he didn't know about."
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 7:31 am
Räven still wasn't terrible thrilled about having this male traipsing around her cubs - whether he was their father nor not - but she no longer thought he might be a threat to them. He was proud, and seemed honestly interested in taking a look at them. Probably to see how many looked like him, she thought with some amusement.
Well, that settled it. She gave a somewhat grudging nod. She would take him to see the cubs, and then he would go about his business and she could finish the wearisome task of finding food for them.
"Follow me," Räven said simply, turning and leading him back through the woods towards the place where she kept her den. It was a nice little glade surrounded by humped-up tree roots and choked underbrush. Safe, concealed ... and defensible. It wasn't only other lions that Räv worried about.
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 4:46 pm
Aesir gave a mental shrug and did as he was asked to do. He hadn't much choice except to follow the lioness after all. Oh, he might have tried to hunt down her den, but that would have been an act of supreme foolishness, he suspected, since she was standing but a few feet away from him and did not seem particularly eager to have him come to her den anyway. She would almost certainly be able to get home before he did, though he would also be able to follow her, but she would be in a more defensible position, and he didn't want to turn this into a real battle, which it would.
When they reached the glade where she made her den, surrounded by tree roots and underbrush, Aesir was glad she had played guide to him. It would have been difficult to find without assistance, even working by scent, for the entrance was well concealed and not exactly accommodating for a lion of his large size. He felt cramped and uncomfortable, which was often the way of it when he invaded the home of a solitary lion. They did not tend to choose their homes to be spacious and commodious for visitors, for obvious reasons.
"You seem more at home here," he observed. "But I wonder at your fitting with six cubs."
So saying he looked around carefully for evidence of the cubs' presence and saw it in small ways, but mostly he figured the family took care to leave little evidence of its presence. Prudent. He was eager to see the cubs.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 2:01 pm
Räv liked her home close and cramped. It didn't seem so tight with her and the cubs. The presence of the dark lion made it seem terribly small. He was simply too large and too vital to fit. She would be pleased when he had gone his way and left her and the cubs on their own. He was disrupting her day.
She laughed softly at his comment. "The cubs are clever. They live well out here." By which of course she meant they knew how to blend in, how to be quiet and crafty. Some of them perhaps weren't masters of woodcraft yet, but she was confident that they would be in time.
Padding to the back of the den, Räven sidled around a cunningly placed bundle of tree roots and nodded towards the little alcove where the cubs were sleeping.
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 3:07 pm
Aesir didn't mind being forced into such close proximity with Räven. She was no less attractive and appealing than she had been before. She was, however, forbidden fruit at this point, and he didn't find that he craved her as much as he had. He wanted her, but it wasn't the sort of overwhelming, overpowering desire he'd felt in the past. He wanted her, but he didn't need her, and he was cognizant of the fact that this would not have been a good time to indulge himself anyway.
He distracted himself with surprising ease by listening to her speak about their cubs. They were clever, she said, and lived well. That pleased him. And as he followed her carefully into her hidden den he saw that they were definitely a fine-looking brood. Three of them, slightly smaller and so probably female, they looked a great deal like him. He would never be able to deny that they were his, but fortunately he wouldn't have to. His people would never know of their existence, and even if they did, no one thought anything of cubs sired while viking.
The three orange cubs caught and held his attention more than the girls did, however. They seemed at first glance to take after their mother, but he could recognize his markings, even though the cubs themselves were almost indistinguishable from one another. The most different of them had a dark tuft where his mane would grow in, another had a blond tuft, and the third had orange streaks in his blond. They, too, were good-looking boys and he was pleased by them.
He stepped closer, making his large paws move silently over the ground, and then he lowered his head to one of the boys, sniffing him. A moment later he had the cub by the nape of his neck and was backing out of the den. He had been seized by a sudden urge to take one of his sons as a prize or trophy. He wouldn't be able to claim him as his own son, of course, but just having him in the pride. He would say he came across him somewhere and no one would question it. And if they did, they'd have to answer to him. He doubted there would be a problem.
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