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 Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:10 pm
Laelia had spent a long night on patrol around the borders. As much as she liked the night, it was harder than it seemed, staying awake and alert the whole night when it was for work and not play. After she switched up with another guard, though, she got a second wind and had decided to go see the early risers by the waterhole. Unfortunately, she was there first and made herself comfortable so she could see out the early morning. Perhaps one of her sisters would happen by.
She sat by the water's edge, idly dragging a paw through the shallow water, thinking. Everything around the pride was so much more calm and quiet than it had been, it was nice. Sitting quietly now, even the bitterness that lingered didn't seem so bad.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:17 pm
 If Laelia's night had been long on the border's, Yareha's hunt that same night had been equally long - and fruitless. The white lion was unaccustomed to failure and it didn't sit well with him. His goal had been to get a long drink from the watering hole, then go home and collapse. He was surprised to see the lioness there. "Laelia!" the surprise was evident in Yareha's voice. Then he overcame it enough to see the exhaustion in her face and body. "You look awful." It wasn't the most tactful thing he could say, and by the sudden flush of blood to his face, the lion realized it a moment too late.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:22 pm
She perked up when she heard her name, turning to see who had appeared. She wasn't disappointed to see Yareha, in fact he was one of few she would have been quite happy to see. The only unusual thing was she hadn't thought he was much of a morning lion.
His tactless comment told her she was probably right. Had it been anybody else, she might have exploded.
"Not looking too nice yourself, Yareha," she said, glancing back to the water, "Just getting up or just heading for bed?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:40 pm
"Heading to bed," he replied with a weak grin. His muscles were reaching the point of too much strain and he quickly lay down next to Laelia. Hopefully he wouldn't end up falling asleep here. That would be embarrassing, but the white lion wasn't entirely certain he'd be able to get up again without a nap.
"What about you?" Yareha asked once he was seated and not in danger of falling.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:01 pm
Laelia couldn't help but chuckle when Yareha flopped down at her side, he did indeed look very tired- at least she was managing to stay on her feet. But then, she had do- her job required less adrenaline and action all at once.
"Same," she said, "I was out on patrol all night. You?"
Hunting at night wasn't uncommon, but there were other reasons one might be out and about through the night. Many of the Mwezi lions simply enjoyed the night, and with the moon so big, more tended to stay up late.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:06 pm
"Hunting," the white lion almost spat the word as he made a face. "And a less successful hunt I've never been on! We left before the sun had fully set and have only now returned - with nothing bigger than a couple hares to show for it." He shook his head.
"Worst night I've had in a long time," he concluded. "You're lucky that patrolling is so much more straightfroward."
It was almost enough to make him wish he wasn't on the night hunt. Or that he could afford to sleep through the coming hunt the next night. That would be nice.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:21 pm
She could tell by the way he said 'hunting' that this little story wasn't going to have a very happy ending to it- the fact he came to the waterhole apparently to sulk wasn't a good sign to start with. She set out to shrug and ended up fighting back a yawn as he finished his story.
"I don't know," she said, shaking her head to perk herself back up, "At least hunting has some excitement, though I'm quite content when there's none on patrol."
If guard duty was exciting, something bad was happening. She had come to appreciate the quiet.
"Is it keeping you out of trouble?" she asked with a small smile, "That was the point of putting you on the night hunt now, wasn't it?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:01 pm
"Fair enough," he responded, considering the fact that as a guard, a busy night was a bad thing. It was the opposite with hunting and he supposed that meant that they'd tend to have different reactions to a single night.
"Nah, I've been a night hunter from the start," Yareha answered. "The punishment is that I don't get nearly as many rest days as before." He brooded for a moment, staring into the water. "I do love the night, though with my fur, it makes no difference to concealment," the lion ended with a crooked grin. White...showed up. Period. Nothing he could do about it except try to offset what the Great Lion had given him with skill.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:10 pm
There was a short silence and then Laelia was smiling too.
"That completely evaded the first question I asked," she observed, "Does that mean you have been getting into trouble?" Not that Laelia was a particularly bad person to admit such things to, they had originally gotten along so well from similar opinions of goings-on around the pride. She didn't expect him to actually be causing trouble, she didn't want him in any worse a situation than he was, but it was fun to poke at.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:11 pm
Drat! She'd noticed! He considered saying it out loud, but opted not to. It wasn't that he'd actually been getting into trouble, he'd just gotten sidetracked and forgotten that the question had been asked.
So Yareha smiled suavely at the lioness. "That depends...are you considered trouble?" he asked with a wink.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:17 pm
Under any other circumstances, Laelia might have had half a mind to play along. As it was, after a long night of quiet patrol that was catching up with her, she simply looked at the stupid suave smile Yareha wore.. and completely lost it when he winked.
Consumed by laughter, she managed to give him a playful shove before burying her face in his mane as she tried to collect herself once again.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:20 pm
He couldn't stop grinning as Laelia was utterly consumed by her laughter. He was almost tempted to give in himself, but he was just too tired. Laughing was too much work. However he was smiling so much that his jaws were starting to hurt!
Instead Yareha kept grinning and continued speaking. "I'll take that as a 'yes.'"
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:31 pm
Eventually, Laelia became quiet but she stayed where she was, shaking her head into his mane. It wasn't a bad way to start the morning, though she wasn't intending to stay awake much longer. After another moment, she sat herself up and shook herself off.
"I think that took the rest of my energy, I better head home now," she said, shaking her head and smiling.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:34 pm
Yareha watched Laelia stand up and sighed. It would've been nice if they'd been able to get father, but the cubs would be up soon with the sun and he was pretty tired too. The white lion sighed and heaved himself to his feet.
"You're right, of course," he replied. "At least let me walk you home?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:37 pm
"Alright," she agreed, getting to her feet and brushing against him as she walked by to take the lead, "But I don't want any trouble."
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