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 Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:37 pm
Since that one attempted adventure, Selene had been stuck with a personal guard of sorts. Of course, he was supposed to keep an eye on her brothers, too, but to a smaller extent. He hadn't been acting as royal nanny long and she'd been avoiding direct confrontation with him now, it was awkward to have to face him after what happened and where it had landed them. Mostly she pretended he was not there and it usually worked.
But now she had gone off by herself and he had come along. So she stopped, sat down and was now in the midst of a staring contest of sorts with him. She kept her distance but she just sat and stared, thinking about this unusual change to her routine.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:42 pm
 A...staring contest. He was tempted to say "how immature" but wasn't it something very like that which had gotten him INTO this damned mess? He ran into the Heiress once - one time! - and suddenly that qualified him to be the Royal Nanny. The lion's nose wrinkled in distaste. What self-respecting male lion wanted to be called a Nanny? Especially when he was still technically a Guard anyway.
He knew why he was doing this and he'd agreed to it because, well, you just didn't argue with something like this. But that didn't mean he had to like it. And, obviously, Selene agreed.
"You know this wasn't something I wanted either," he finally said out loud. It might be true, but the powers that be didn't care and they were stuck with each other until Selene was officially an adult.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 9:23 pm
"Are you allowed to say that?" she asked, raising her voice so she could be heard despite the moderate distance between them. Selene knew she wasn't really supposed to complain about her job, even if it wasn't really a job yet. That was one lesson after her little escape attempt that landed Uchanjaa here with her now.
Why should anybody be allowed to complain? Especially to her when their job was to keep an eye on her.
Selene was getting used to things she deemed unfair, and she was good at keeping her emotions under control. No good would come of a tantrum right now, though she did think it would be interesting to see what she could get away with with Uchanjaa around.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:29 am
The older lion blinked and considered the question. Then he snorted and shook his head at himself. "I should hope so, considering that I was perfectly happy as an ordinary Guard and they knew it." In truth, he'd pointed out several reasons that this was a bit annoying, but he'd been shot down with responses such as "who else could?" and "it's all right, you're mated." It did seem that there was no one else who could fulfill this role.
"However long it may seem to you until you're an adult, I assure you will be at least as long for me," he pointed out dryly. Probably longer, but he didn't say that out loud. He doubted anything would convince her that someone else's experience could trump hers. Wasn't that the way of cubs everywhere?
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:09 pm
Hmm, more complaining.
"Well, if you hate it so much you can go away," she said sourly. Selene didn't have much power yet, really, but she was willing to give it a try. She outranked him and if he didn't want to be here, her word should be enough to send him away. Maybe.
No, he'd probably do like everybody else and say that wasn't what her parents said. It was useless being small.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:01 pm
Uchanjaa raised an eyebrow at that. Was that more petulance, or was she trying to order him? Though it could be both...hm, he'd have to figure out how to deal with the fact that she was going to grow up to command the whole pride. He also had to respond in a way she'd understand and accept.
"I could go away...but then I'd be abandoning my duty. Yes, your parents would be upset, but more importantly, Nyota, my commanding officer, would have my mane and tail," he pointed out, not bothering to conceal a shudder. He didn't care to end up on the Head Guard's bad side.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:42 pm
Selene hadn't been expecting Nyota's name to come up in the conversation. She thought he was rather scary, where his eye was so messed up. Of course, she knew the story and it was enough to put him in a sort of superhero category but that didn't make her any less comfortable around him. He just.. was scary.
"Fine, I'll go," she said decisively, though she was sure it wouldn't be that easy. Rather than run off, she simply got up and started to walk away, curious to see what exactly Uchanjaa would do. So far he wasn't very fun or interesting and while he was supposed to be keeping her safe, maybe she would be able to explore more.
She would find out.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:18 pm
The older lion blinked. Well, he should have expected that. It was a straightforward solution and that was no bad thing...except for his new job, of course. Sighing, Uchanjaa got to his feet and followed Selene, though he stayed a few lengths behind her. Close enough that he could be at her side or in front of her within breaths, but far enough that she could have the illusion of privacy.
He thought about commenting, but really, what was the point? They were stuck together until the day Selene became an adult. And that was going to be a long, long time. All the more reason to set precedent now that she couldn't go anywhere by herself.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:14 pm
The idea that she could go almost anywhere she wanted while Uchanjaa was around was still growing on Selene, but the distance he kept was encouraging- though curious. So far it seemed promising, but she wasn't doing anything risky or going very far.
She had no ideas of dangerous places to go but it was simple to test how far she could go before he started trying to bring her back in. So she headed outward, away from he central lands. She had no obvious destination in mind, followed no direct path and eventually began humming to herself. Of course, every once in a while, she would glance back at Uchanjaa.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:19 pm
Uchanjaa stifled a smile as Selene looked back at him. Clearly she hadn't realized that he was there just to make sure that she stayed in one piece. His instructions had been less "keep her nearby" and more "keep her safe." The Guard had decided to interpret his duty in such a way that he stuck to her like a burr.
And so if she wanted to range farther out, it was okay as long as he was with her.
There were some places of ill-repute of course that he'd rather she didn't go, but aside from that, why not give her something in exchange for inflicting this on her? There might be less privacy, but there would be more freedom.
Besides, he had a sneaking suspicion that if he had to guard her AND they were stuck in the safest of the pride's lands, they'd both go mad within a blink of the God's eye.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:27 pm
Whenever she looked back and caught him almost-smiling, her eyes would narrow and she would turn back to where she was headed quickly. No, she wasn't going to socialize. She was determined not to give him a chance to become liked.
She led them quite some ways away before she stopped and really realized how far she had taken them. Everything felt familiar but not in the same obvious way closer to home did. In fact, she wasn't sure she'd ever been here before. And- looking around- she wasn't sure she knew which way exactly home was. She hadn't been going in a straight line.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:35 pm
He could almost see her thinking, and hard, about him and the choices ahead of her. She was smart enough to start to put the pieces together. And he was intelligent enough to know that they'd only begun to build this relationship, and that he couldn't possibly foresee all the places it was going.
The older lion watched Selene look around and read a touch of uncertainty in her pose. Perhaps he should speak up.
"We're still in the lands claimed by the pride," he told her. "Much closer to the border, but still safe lands." He considered offering to bring her all the way to the border, but no, that didn't seem wise. It was one thing if she chose to go there. It was a very different thing to offer it to her.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:21 pm
"I knew that," she said defensively. It was impossible to hide the tone of voice, even if she wanted to. No, he couldn't be helpful, only annoying.
They hadn't said or done much but they had walked far in their silence and determination to socialize with each other as little as possible. At least, it was far for the young lioness. Starting to feel it catching up to her, she decided it was best to start for home.. and she walked back the way she thought they had come- though she couldn't help but look at Uchanjaa as she walked past him.
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:23 am
The older lion only raised an eyebrow when Selene looked at him as she turned around. So, that was enough adventuring for the day? He supposed that as she was still just a cub it was only to be expected that she tire much faster than an adult.
She was probably heading home now. Uchanjaa wondered if he should correct the young heir's course, but decided he might as well just let her lead and he'd follow. She'd learn eventually, of course, that there was no shame in relying on other people. It was even probable that she'd learn how to ask for something without asking and without either party losing face.
For now he'd just follow, keep an eye on her, and try to keep the smile off his face.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:38 am
Still silent, she led them back towards home- sort of. They were at an odd angle and she seemed to be weaving less now so they never really seemed to get on the right course.. and she was slowing down as she was running out of energy and motivation to keep going. All that kept her from complaining was that Uchanjaa was the only one there with her.
It was a while before she finally spotted something familiar. Trees were spread out nicely around the flat, expansive pride lands and they happened to come across one of the few clusters of trees. All that she had to go now was figure out which one is was and which way that meant home was.
She didn't stop until they reached the trees, then she took a seat beneath one to think about it.
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