Arching her neck to lift her head as high as possible, Coryth trotted quickly but pleasantly, all the while trying not to let the end of the hip bone drag in the dirt. The priests would have a hard enough time doing the ritual cleansings without having to worry about caked on dust. Besides, the friction might splinter off fragments and leave her with a less than ideal specimen. Which would be disrespectful.
Coryth never would've thought she'd settle into pride life, but in the months she'd been it had come to fit her so naturally that she couldn't imagine leaving. She got along well with the priests, she was doing necessary work, and so long as the body piece wasn't a particularly fresh one the smell didn't bother her too much. It wasn't much different than the rank smells of fresh dirt. And of course she had her mate, dear stoic companion and confidant.
Unlike Coryth today Pya didn't have any items to collect for the priests so instead he layed outside the secluded den that he and his mate shared. He too had adjusted to the life of a pride but he wasn't a very social being and prefered to keep to himself. There was only one exception to this general rule and that was his Coryth. He wasn't ssure what it was about the female but he found her very nice to be around.
The male relaxed placing his head down atop of his paws. It was while he was laying here there that he saw his mate stalkin across the prides lands a bone in his mouth. He watched her walk, she looked very proud despite the fact that she was carrying a very heavy awkward bone. He smiled knowing that she would soon be home.
Spotting her mate in the mouth of the den, Coryth picked up the pace for the last leg of the journey, until finally she was able to lay the large bone down with a thump. She smacked her jaws and scraped her tongue against her teeth to get rid of some of the taste. It wasn't a bad taste, but it made her mouth dry. She leaned down and butted her head against Pya's flank tenderly, resting it there for a moment.
Even on the rare occasions when she wasn't sure if pride life was suited to her, when things were going downhill or she'd made some embarrassing blunder, this position always comforted her. Feeling her mate's warmth and heavy muscle against her cheek, knowing she always had this to come back to. He was a solid presence in her life that grounded her. She licked at his ear, wanting to express some of her thoughts but not break the gentle silence.
Pya purred lightly as Coryth rubbed up against him than rested beside him. Purring wasn't a typical thing for Pya to do but he tried not to think of the odd amount of affection he was showing. It was on odd sensation for him it made him smile and feel unsettled all at once. "Welcome home dear." he said in a light but still serious voice. "Was it too hard to find what they needed today?" he asked wanting to know a little but more about his mates day. He hadn't seen her since earlier and he had found that he missed her a great deal.
Chuckling, Coryth rumbled back at him, well aware that this purring was a sound he reserved just for her and no one else. "They were very particular about the size today. This one's a bit old, and a little fragile, but it was the best match I could find. I'll take it up to them once I've caught my breath." She sloughed down onto the ground beside him, leaning against his flank to relax. She wasn't the slightest bit out of breath, but it was a convenient excuse to get some snuggling time.
Eyeing the large bone, she contemplated her own legs as the stretched out parallel to it, trying to imagine the very similar bones she knew hid inside her. She always wondered what sort of lions the parts she took used to belong to, and whether those lions had, during their lives, wondered whether they'd end up as pieces for rituals some day. She didn't ask if Pya had known the lion; he probably didn't, he didn't socialize much. "That part of the graveyards is getting a bit crowded, I had to shift some things to find what I needed."
Pya placed his head on tops of hers. "I know that it is crowded there its unfortunatly a sad part of the circle of life, one day we are all going to be there... But even in death we will be help to our pride." Pya didn't have the same adversion to death that most others had. He found it interesting, he wanted to know more about it how it happened what happened after all of it was very very interesting.
"Are you well my dear?" he asked. He was worried about her logging such a heavy bone she was always working so hard to be a good member of the pride. He had to wonder if perhaps he should get her to take it easy, surely it couldn't be good for her to be working so hard she was but a female afterall.
Scoffing at his worried tone, Coryth nudged Pya in a mock chiding gesture. "I can take care of myself, you know that. I handled heat and wilderness lugging bone-stones around before I met you, so dragging a real bone back to from the graveyard is hardly going to break me." She glanced behind her into the den, where the last of her own fossils stood. The rest she'd handed over to the priests, but they'd cleaned and consecrated one for her to keep as a sacred relic. It was all the more special to her now.
"It is getting rather crowded in the graveyard though," she mused, trying to bring them back around to her point. "And I was wondering... do you think the priests will want to make another Hounfor shrine soon? Bury some of the dead instead of leaving the graveyard full? Because if they were going to, I was hoping to talk to them about being a digger for it maybe... if that's allowed." She was still timid at times about the prides taboos and the risk of breaking them, but she so itched to put her digging skills to service.
"I can not say what they will plan to do but I am sure if they are going to build another Hounfor shrine they would be more then happy to have you join them as a digger, I have seen your abilities." he nuzzled into Coryth's neck.. "I think that I would be happy to see you in a less emotionally demanding job too."
Pya too turned to look into the den it was a fairly large den one that he was beginning to fill with cubs... an odd feeling he was sure a male to feel. But now that he had a mate that he loved he started to feel the urge to extend there family. He was entirely sure how to bring the topic up with Coryth though. He of course knew that she had mothered a litter before. "The den looks so empty to me" he said half to himself but loudly enough that she was able to hear him.
Coryth leaned into the cuddling happily, inwardly pleased that her mate was so sensitive to her moods. It was true she was getting the hang of handling recently dead remains, and she didn't get her fur on end quite as often anymore, but it was still a bit much at times. "As soon as I heard about Hounfors I started thinking about working with them. If anyone can dig up or bury remains so as not to damage them, it's me," she admitted proudly.
Glancing around the den at his words, she tried to fathom out his meaning. There'd been a definite nuance in his tone. What could a den be filled with? Not relics, the one they had was enough. And he didn't like company... she peered at him intently, and got it with a spark of intuition. Ah. So that was his meaning. She ducked her head against his side, feeling a blush creeping up. "Empty?" she asked back, prodding.
Pya offered a kind mew at him, "I can't help but fill that now that I have found you we really should be having cubs. I mean thats the next step and part of me knows that I should have cubs... I would even say that I wanted them." It wasnt often that Pya admitted any of his desires but this was one that needed to be said. "If you aren't ready the we can wait there is no hurry I just thought..." he trailed off he didn't know what else to say. The ball was in her court now. He looked at her his eyes hopeful.
Coryth pawed the ground thoughtfully, trying not to let him see her shyness. She'd always thought of cubs as something that just happened, as they'd happened to her before. And lord knows she hadn't been the most responsible single parent in the past, as much as she tried. She'd known cubs would happen to her eventually with a mate around, but she'd put it out of her mind until now. There was also that niggling paranoia in the back of her mind, the thought that if she had cubs in the pride, there was never any turning back. She was here for good.
Curled up against a supportive partner and lover, however, she felt a confidence and peace that hadn't been there before. Pya wanted cubs, clearly, and she very much wanted to make him happy. She honestly didn't want to be anywhere else, except here in his pride and part of his family. Creating his family, even, with his help. "I think I'm ready," she murmured into his fur. Then she laughed. "But let me go deliver that bone first, or the priests might get cross."
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