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 Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 11:13 pm
Ili'ella knew it had been a bad idea to tell her mother – who was once again visiting, since apparently she enjoyed tormenting her current mate by leaving him alone with their cubs – that she was going to meet someone. Thankfully, she had not let it slip that it was a male someone, though she was fairly sure that her mother had assumed as such. Lari, who had been supposedly babysitting Ili'ella's cubs, quickly passed them off to a family friend to look after and announced she wanted to 'get to know' her daughters friends – which was why Ili'ella was trudging along to the spot where she had met Raiquen last time, but hoping she could lose her mother in the forest before stumble upon the male again.
Ili'ella knew she was pretty, but her mother was always told she was gorgeous and too many times had the focus shifted from Ili'ella to her mother whenever the vivacious grandmother was around. Not the mention she was a terrible flirt, Ili'ella thought with a faint frown.
 Laf'lari, formerly Ecaterina before she changed her name after taking a mate, had a bounce in her step as she moved, pleased that she was going to meet this mysterious boyfriend of Ili'ella's. She knew her daughter, and the only friends she ever attempted to keep from her mother was of the male variety, and to be honest, any male who was swayed by her flirtatious jokes was not good enough for her daughter – she wasn't sure if Ili'ella knew that or not, but Lari was content with protecting her daughter this way.
“Don't frown, darling, it'll give you old-lady face,” Lari scolded, spotting a frown building on her daughters face. She nudged her with fond affection, before glancing around at the landscape – the trees were becoming thicker and closer together now. “Are you sure you know where we are, darling?” She said sceptically, peering around them with distaste. She missed the ocean, she realised. Forests were a thing of her past, and oceans -well, they were her present, like her mate waiting impatiently for her return. A fond smile lit her face unknowingly.
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 8:17 am
"Are you alright with me leaving you here?" Raiquen's voice was tinted with worry as he watched the lioness turn towards the forest. He often led the way for visitors to the shrines and tended to escort them to the border, but this was the first time that he had taken this path with someone. For someone who hadn't been around forests much in his life, the lion only saw darkness between the trees. It was cramped and he didn't like how the sky was hidden by the towering branches and leaves.
"Yes. This is the way I came in." The lioness smiled at him, "Don't worry about me, Raiquen. Thank you for your guidance today. I would've been lost without you."
"You're welcome." The lion nodded respectfully, "May the gods bless you."
"Ah. I hope so." She laughed before nodding back, "I hope the same for you as well."
Then she was gone. Raiquen sighed as he watched her form disappear beneath the trees. At least he had been able to guide her to the shrine. Maybe the goddess she prayed to would have mercy upon her. The thought made the lion smile warmly. But now he had another realization. Had he ever gone this far out before?
Once. Raiquen's gaze noted some familiar markings with satisfaction. He was near that spot - the spot where he had first met her. The goddess. "Out of all the places to stumble upon." He laughed softly before shaking his head. No. Stumble wasn't the right word since it seemed that he went there almost every other day. It was almost like he was purposefully straying off of the path to pass through this area. Almost as if he was hoping that she would come back again.
He really was silly sometimes. Raiquen stretched before turning to leave. But something made him pause. Since he was out here shouldn't he explore some? Surely no one would miss him if he was gone a bit longer than planned. His mind made up the lion started towards the edge of the forest. Were there lions out here? Startled he moved forward as he heard some noises. Could it be? "Ili'ella?" The name came out as a faint whisper.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 6:24 pm
Ili'ella had to wonder what had softened her mother's features so abruptly, but guessed that it was her new cubs, or perhaps simply her mate back home, and the thought made her smile. A flirt she was, yes, but she was rather hopelessly in love with her current mate.
"Of course I know," she told her mother firmly. "Father raised me with a good sense of direction, remember?" Neculai had been the one who knew where he was going, and admittedly, Ili'ella just tended to wander and hope she would end up back where she wanted or needed to be. This was one of the few times she was actually hoping to return to somewhere in particular and actually needing to keep track of where she was going.
She was surprised when she heard a faint noise in the distance, almost sounding like...her name? She perked up, before casting a glance at her mother who appeared not to have heard the whisper. Maybe Ili'ella was hearing things? Either way, she wasn't going to call out to Raiquen when her mother was there! She'd have to lose her.
She felt like a cub again.
"I saw some beautiful flowers over that way, mother, if you'd like to pick some for Rai and the little ones," she said smoothly, motioning in the opposite direction to where she'd heard the whisper.
Lari had raised several cubs, and knew when she was attempting to be duped. She narrowed her gaze at her daughter, before smiling brightly. "Oh, I'm not too interested in flowers at the moment, darling," she responded calmly, moving towards where Ili'ella had been motioning away from.
"Besides, I think this direction seems fascinating," she teased her daughter, laughing lightly when Ili'ella protested lightly, still trying to draw Lari away from the direction of Raiquen's voice.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 6:57 pm
She had to be here! The lion moved forward with a smile. He had heard some more noises again. It sounded like a lioness's voice as well. That soft voice. He could close his eyes and imagined Ili'ella standing before him. But what if he was just imagining things? The thought made Raiquen pause. Was he? The lion frowned. He sometimes did stray from the path just because of some feeling...but was that wrong? It had led him to his new pride after all not to mention it was the reason he had gotten lost that day he had met Ili'ella.
So he decided to continue.
Raiquen nodded to himself before continuing on through the trees. If he wasn't mistaken this was the area that he had the voices. Voices. Not just one voice, but at least two. Now he was curious - if it was Ili'ella then who was with her? Did it matter who she was with as long as he could see her again? The lion quickly picked up his pace to catch up to the voices. Not caring about the uneven ground which was littered with brances he rushed. Several fallen branches cracked under his paws before he finally slowed and it was only because he finally saw the two figures. Pausing he peeked out from around a tree. Should he hide or just announce his presence? Still... "It was you." He breathed softly with a warm smile. Even though the other lioness perked his curiousity it was obvious that the male's gaze was drawn to Ili'ella.
Still he lingered in the shadows, curious and wary. Would she be happy to see him or was it a bad time? Raiquen sighed. Jeesh. Leave it to him to be so eager to see a lioness, but then freeze once he did finally run into her again.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:10 pm
Ili'ella could hear crackling and rustling from the direction of Raiquen - if he had been there of course and not merely her imagination - she glanced back at her mother seeing her curiosity piqued as well.
"It's not that fascinating, Mother," she tried to excuse, wanting her mother far away from Raiquen as possible. Really, was it too much to ask for just one guy to like her and not her mother?
"If it wasn't fascinating, then you wouldn't be so eager to see the back of me, darling," Lari pointed out dryly, bumping her daughter lightly with her hip as she tried to brush passed her.
Lari was well and truely curious now, wondering why her daughter was so eager to see her mother go. Perhaps her initial suspicions had been correct and her daughter was sneaking out to see a lover? Oooh, she thought brightly, how interesting! She hoped the male was nice, since Ili'ella did need a nice male in her life, but it was Lari's job to make sure he wasn't a jerk in disguise.
She was walking towards the noises, when she spotted eyes peering out of the darkness. Oh! She hid a smile. Maybe this was her daughter's boy?
"Hello handsome," she purred flirtatiously, just in case. She couldn't see if he was handsome, but she knew her daughter had frozen behind her - this had to be the boy.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:28 pm
Was it wrong of him to hide? But honestly he just didn't know how to go about approaching them...either way he felt it was odd to just randomly interrupt. Though now he was finally close enough to make out some of what it was that they were talking about. Mother? Raiquen blinked at the word. Did he hear her right? That other lioness was Ili'ella's mother? The lion was baffled. So if Ili'ella was a goddess then this other lioness would be...oh. He shook his head. This was no time to be trying to figure that out!
Still he was interested in what it was that they were talking about. He leaned forward interested and took a startled step back when the other lioness spoke. Handsome? Raiquen looked around trying to see if another lion was nearby. No...it was just him. "Umm...hello." He spoke quietly before finally taking a step out in the light towards the two. Sheepishly Raiquen looked towards Ili'ella, uncertain of what to do now.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:43 pm
Ili'ella froze when her mother called out flirtatiously to someone, peering into the shadows at where her mother was looking, surprised to spot Raiquen hiding there. Well, he did seem to be forming a habit of hiding, didn't he? She unconsciously began to smile at him as he glanced towards her, sounding slightly awkward about her mother's compliment.
"Hi Raiquen," she greeted him softly, hoping to put him at ease a little. "How have you been?"
There was no hiding that she knew Raiquen now, and she cast her mother a glance that said 'play nice!'.
Lari perked up when the male stepped forward, revealing himself. Oh, he was handsome! Her daughter knew how to pick them, she decided, and he didn't immediately fawn over her, so that was good.
"Raiquen?" She purred, still flirting. "A handsome name for a handsome lion." Her daughter was frowning at her now, and Lari wanted to laugh. Oh, this was fun. She'd forgotten what it was like to tease her daughter like this.
"As you already know my dear Ili'ella, I doubt you need much introduction to her, but my name is Laf'lari, but please, call me Lari." She smirked playfully at him.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:02 pm
It was a relief to see her smile. "Hello, Ili'ella." He returned the greeting with a small smile of his own, "I've been doing well - how about you? Are your cubs fine as well?" Now that he knew it was safe for him to talk to her the lion was eager to hear about how she was. And for a moment he almost forgot that Ili'ella wasn't the only one standing in front of him. Looking back over he couldn't help but to gaze at the other lioness with faint curiousity. So this was Ili'ella's mother?
Even though he had been flirted with before the lion was never too keen on picking up when a lioness was actually flirting with him. Rather he was put back by how Lari was complimenting him. "I don't think that I'm-" He frowned before shaking his head. There was no need to argue with her, but still it did make him feel odd to be complimented. "A pleasure to meet you Lari." He gave the lioness a respectful nod of his head.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:12 pm
He seemed to relax a little after her greeting, and Ili'ella's smile grew a little more. "I'm glad to hear that. I've been doing well too, and the cubs are still growing like little flowers," she said, still refusing to compare her cubs to weeds. She slumped a little when his eyes were drawn towards Lari, though she tried to keep her smile on her face, even as she shot her mother a annoyed glance.
"Mother came down to babysit the cubs for me, actually," she said, trying to explain her presence. "But decided that she'd rather take a walk with me instead, so the cubs are with a family friend." She trusted the family friend, of course, but it was still annoying that she had thought she'd get time with Raiquen without her mother, and that idea was now spoiled.
"A pleasure to meet you too, Raiquen," Lari purred, amused that he'd tried to deny his attractiveness. Had Ili'ella found a modest one? Interesting.
"Ah, yes," Lari said smoothly. "I love to spend time with my grandcubs, but I rarely see my daughter anymore it seems, so I thought I'd spend some time with her instead." She got a slightly devious look on her face and added, "but if I knew Ili'ella was meeting her lover, I would have stayed at home."
She grinned inwardly. Oh, she felt deliciously devious, taking delight in her daughter's wide-eyed look.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:33 pm
"That's good news." Raiquen smiled at her with warmth. Ever since he had last seen her all he could seem to think about was how she was doing. To hear that she was doing well was a blessing. The lion listened to her with faint amusement. So she was still that close to her mother? He was a bit jealous. Maybe one day he would have a family like that.
"That's understandable." He commented to Lari with a small, polite smile. He was happy to hear that she cherished time with her daughter, but torn on the fact that if she had been watching the cubs then he would have been alone with Ili'ella. Not to mention that the cubs just needed someone to watch them as well. But meeting her mother was nice too - it allowed him to know more about her. His thoughts tumbled to a complete stop as Lari's words slowly sank in. Lo-lover? Raiquen took a startled step back and looked over at Ili'ella. Her wide-eyed look matched his.
"No-No. This wasn't planned. We're friends. I mean I cherish- but not that I haven't, but that we aren't..." The lion shook his head, "We haven't done anything - I mean we aren't lovers. Just acquantices or friends?" Right? His words got tangled up and he looked away from Ili'ella embarressed at the thought. Not that the thought scared him. But he didn't want Ili'ella to get upset...plus they were just friends. Right? Nothing more...though he did peek over at her to watch her reaction.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:46 pm
Ili'ella liked the feeling she got around Raiquen. He made her feel noticed, which she hadn't felt for a while - especially not around males. Having a large litter of cubs seemed to put most males off, even ones she merely wanted to be friends with - as if she was going to make them babysit or something. Ridiculous.
Her eyes went wide at her mother's words. Oh! What was she doing now? She felt her cheeks head beneath her fur and she was surprised at Raiquen's stumbled explanation. Her eyes remained wide throughout his explanation, and it amused her slightly how much he stumbled - though she felt instantly guilty for finding his discomfort amusing. She shook her head when he finally came to a stop, refocusing on her mother.
"That's right, we're friends, Mother. Just because you've never had a male friend who wasn't your lover doesn't mean that others can't," she pointed out stiffly, rolling her eyes. "Really, how Rai puts up with you..."
She cast Raiquen an apologetic look, though she was a little saddened at his denials. Was that idea really crazy? She withheld a sigh. Well, she still had a friend, at least.
Lari was delighted, just plain delighted at Raiquen's stumbled response. If the male didn't find Ili'ella attractive, he would have simply denied it and moved on, but he'd stumbled and tangled himself up in explanations - not to mention the look he sent Ili'ella. This was such fun.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you two," she murmured, feigning an apologetic tone. "It's just you'd make such a lovely couple." They really would, but it wouldn't happen with Lari's pushing, it seemed. "Please forgive my comment then."
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:01 pm
Oh this was awkward. Raiquen was hoping, praying even that neither female could read his thoughts. Though the way Lari reacted made him nervous. Had he said something wrong?
Ili'ella's apologetic look made the lion feel off as well. Why was he so troubled by this? They weren't lovers - that was for certain. So why wouldn't his heart behave? They were just friends. "Just friends." He repeated softly under his breath, his gaze turned away from Ili'ella so she wouldn't catch the flickering emotion there.
"It's alright." He replied with a faint smile, "Mistakes happen." He looked startled at her comment about them making a lovely couple, but decided to look over it. Though it was obvious to anyone really paying attention that the way he peeked at Ili'ella when Lari said that meant that he was actually listening to the lioness. Listening and really thinking. Even though his mind was telling him it was not a choice for him.
But he still couldn't stop the wierd way his heart thumped in his chest.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:13 pm
Ili'ella knew her mother was lying when she 'apologised' but she didn't call her out on it. Her scheming mother was up to something and she wasn't sure if she liked how happy she looked about it. It never bode well. She gave her a sharp look for the 'lovely couple' comment, although she had to admit Raiquen's markings were lovely and would match hers...ohgoodness. Her mother had gotten her thinking such thoughts! And after Raiquen had quite obviously said they were friends. Craziness was catching, obviously.
"Didn't you say you would show me around the shrines sometime?" She asked Raiquen, trying to change the subject, and sending him a warm smile. "Does that offer still stand?" She wondered if he'd mind her mother tagging along - though Ili'ella wouldn't mind trying to lose her along the way.
Lari continued to smile at Raiquen, before brightening abruptly at the mention of a walk around the shrines -she wasn't sure what the shrines were but it sounded cosy. "Oh, you had planned a romantic walk together-" she purposely made it sound like they were lovers once again, "- and here I am intruding! I wouldn't feel insulted if you wish me to leave you two in peace," she simpered.
She knew Ili'ella wouldn't hesitate to ask her to leave, if only to get her away from Raiquen, but hopefully Raiquen would have better manners than her daughter did.
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 5:58 pm
Raiquen looked over at Ili'ella with obvious delight, "Yes! I did say that, didn't I?" He smiled over at her, "Of course it stands. But not only because it is my duty to my pride, but my pleasure as well." He was eager to show Ili'ella the shrines - not only to show his pride's dedication to the gods, but also to show her his home. It was a weird thought, but true. Raiquen felt that she needed to see where he lived and how beautiful the pride was to him.
His thoughts were distracted by Lari. "Romantic walk?" He asked puzzled. Why did this lioness make him sound like Ili'ella's lover? He was fortunate enough to be the lioness's friend. Not that he minded the thought of being more but still. Raiquen shook his head before Lari's next comment made him pause."Intruding?" He looked over at Ili'ella with a small, possibly apologetic smile, "I don't think your presence will be an intrusion. It's my duty after all as a guide to lead visitors around the shrines." He nodded to both of the lionesses, "It would be a pleasure to escort you both if you wish."
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 7:32 pm
Ili'ella smiled in pleased embarrassment. A pleasure to show her around? She doubted it, but it was a nice thought at least. "You're too kind, Raiquen," she told him, sounding more earnest than her mothers flattery, as she meant it honestly. "Thank you." She shifted, and was a little disappointed that her mother wasn't going to leave, but she could put up with her. Hopefully. She just felt bad for Raiquen, who was not used to her mother's...flamboyance.
She stepped closer to him, in the guise of wanting to start the tour, though she dropped her voice to a quiet tone so as to speak with him. "I'm sorry about her. She's an...acquired taste, I think," she apologised honestly, slightly embarrassed by her mother's actions. She'd grown used to them over the years but it was still normally a shock for other people to meet Lari.
"Oh thank you, dear," Lari said brightly when she was 'invited' to come along, pleased that she would get to watch the pair more. She saw her daughter step closer to the male, and purposely glanced away, as if to give them privacy, though she strained her ears to try to hear what her daughter felt the need to whisper to the male. Unfortunately, age was not kind to her hearing and though she heard a whisper, she could not make out the words.
She pouted lightly, frustrating that they were conversing without her knowledge, though if she butted in, Ili'ella would likely try to send her home. She already had a feeling her daughter was going to try to lose her in the forest, she didn't want to be told to go home outright - that'd just be embarrassing.
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