Mirsajadi left Gliri's den late in the morning. She had already gone her own way and he had watched her departure with mixed feelings. The grey colored lioness had been the first lioness he'd met since leaving his pride and entering the rogue lands who had really suited him, and it was not without regret that he let her go. He had asked her if she would come back to his pride with him the night before, in the midst of a rain storm and only moments before they shared a kind of physical intimacy which had been almost frightening to Mirsajadi. Not because the sexual act itself frightened him - how could it after the time he'd spent with Gintare? - but because he and Gliri had seemed so unnaturally well-matched to each other in every way. Not just physically, that is, though she had been a perfect fit to him in that respect, too. In the hours before they consummated their growing attraction they had exchanged the stories of their lives, Mirsajadi baring more of himself than he had ever told anyone before, even Arezoo and Badiah. It was unusual, perhaps, that he could only really relax and be himself, even a little, with lionesses and not with other lions, but maybe not. After all, what lioness would ever oppose him or set herself up as competition for him? But in the back of his mind Mirsajadi confessed to himself. He had known after hearing her story that Gliri would not come with him. It was probably why he had felt free to tell her so much more about himself than he had ever revealed before, to anyone. If she was not going to come back to the Ukuucha'Wafalme with him, she could not possibly tell anyone the secrets he had told her. At least, she couldn't tell them to anyone who mattered to him. Not his father, who would think him weak and pathetic if he were ever to learn of his son's failings, not any of his brothers, who would undoubtedly use the information to his detriment, and not his beybanu, who would probably be hurt that he had told this almost perfect stranger so much about himself when she had been forced to work so hard to earn his trust. In point of fact, he had not trusted Zoey with his secret until he had been forced to share it because she triggered one of his hallucinatory seizures and then witnessed the effects. She'd done it by confessing her love for him, of all things. He and Gliri had not spoken those words to one another, and though there had been an undeniable something between them, Mirsajadi wasn't sure it was really love. He had wanted to look after her and protect her and make sure that she was never unhappy again, and that might have been love, but in truth the striped lion doubted he would ever really understand what love was, or experience it for himself. This brief period of connection might be as close as he ever got. The thought did not distress him. In hindsight, it had been unnerving to find that he got along so perfectly with someone - anyone - he had been under the impression that he would always be keeping some part of himself back, and that it would be necessary to do so. That he might have been mistaken in his belief was a little unsettling to him. He pondered it as he walked, taking even less notice of the adornments he had been given by Gintare than he had when she first gifted him. Except for the hoop in his ear. That one still throbbed enough that he couldn't easily ignore it, even when he was very deep in thought. So he had met two lionesses who were interesting and valuable in their own ways, but neither of them had ever really been potential banu. He had known from the outset that Gintare would not make an appropriate banu. For one thing, she had been quite forthright in letting him know that she knew who he was and where he was from and what he was doing, and that she had no interest in being part of it. At least, she wasn't interested in coming back to the pride with him to be subjugated and limited to just one lion for the rest of herself. Mirsajadi found it hard to believe that all she wanted was to have sex with him, and he had been torn initially about getting so close to someone, but he had learned a valuable lesson from her, one that she probably had not meant to teach him at all. He suspected that she had meant to teach him just about the rudiments and fine points of having sex and pleasing a lioness, but what he had also learned under her tutelage was that he could become physically close with someone without giving away any part of himself. Not that he was likely to go about seeking physical contact or anything because it still made him uncomfortable, but he could not deny that he had enjoyed sex a great deal more than he had expected and he knew that he would be wanting it from his banu when he came back. Though the thought of having sex with Zoey was still a little odd. But not too odd. She said she loved him, after all, and that was part of it, was it not? And, he thought to himself, she would probably be pleasantly surprised by all that he had learned. Being with Gliri had taught him more about the act, about how much more enjoyable it could be to take emotional and intellectual intimacy to the level of physical intimacy, too. He did not doubt for a minute that Zoey, who seemed to crave intimacy with him, would appreciate this. But before he could go home and show off his skills he had to find a banu to take back with him. He sighed shortly and kept walking. Not realizing that he was now following Gliri's path.