Since the day she found out Yareha had had cubs with another lioness, Laelia had been sulking and hiding in her parents' den. They had made sure she was free of guard duty while she was in such a bad mood but eventually she tired of sitting around being angry and put herself back into the rotation. Besides, she too was aware of her temper and she knew her parents were getting tired of it even though they tried hard to comfort her.
She still wasn't her normal sweet, cheerful self but it was something to do and she was glad to be out and about. Everything seemed a little less dramatic and upsetting out on the worn paths the guards followed. It would have been nicer to be out at night under the moon but she did not want to risk running into Yareha. It was doubtful he was on the same schedule where now her had cubs to care for.. but that simply meant there was no real safe time. So she opted not to overthink and was out in the dawn. Hopefully too early to be far with cubs and too late to expect him to be about if he was working.
It was very peaceful.
Badiri was not having a good time of things, either, though his life was thankfully less dramatic. It was more tension and silence than anything else and it was eating away at him. He and Ukene still hadn't quite bounced back from what happened with Mazin and Mitsuki. He still loved his mate but he didn't know how to fix it. He was also using guard duty as a distraction, though he was on a route by direction and not by his own design. He wasn't expecting to see any other guards about and when he spotted the familiar brown lioness walking not far away from him, he was surprised.
He knew Laelia, he had been close friends with her grandfather.. but they were still barely speaking, too. Not to mention he wasn't unaware of what had been going on with her and his nephew.. and how it had all very suddenly ended. He had half a mind to avoid her entirely for both of those reasons. He hesitated but ultimately picked up his pace, making their paths cross sooner.
"Good morning," he called out.
Not paying attention to anything behind her, Laelia was startled when suddenly she heard someone calling out to her. She turned about and for a second she almost thought she had run into Yareha- but she realized quickly she was being ridiculous. Yareha and his uncle barely looked alike, though his uncle and his father were not quite so different.
She sighed, unable to stop herself.
"Good morning," she said.
Laelia was not quite as familiar with him, she knew him as a friend of grandpa and as part of Yareha's family, of course, but she had not really interacted with him, even as a guard.
It was immediately apparent that he had startled her and he offered her a small, sheepish smile. If she was trying to patrol, her head wasn't in it because she shouldn't have been so alarmed to be approached.. but then, he might not be someone she really wanted to see simply because he was related to Yareha.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," he apologized, "I wasn't expecting to see another guard out on this route, I thought I should say hello."
Simple truth, couldn't hold that against him. Right?
Her tail moved quickly behind her. She was unnecessarily anxious- if he mentioned Yareha at all, she might lose it and then that would be the end of this attempt to relax a little bit. She made no secret of looking him up and down thoughtfully, mentally comparing him to his nephew. They shared some colors and the cloud markings but they really weren't all that similar in the end. That made her less uneasy.
"Oh, yes," she murmured, "I must have gotten off track a bit. Sorry."
Some guards liked to work alone and some didn't like when their route was taken over.. and she certainly didn't have seniority here. She glanced back the way she had come, mentally preparing to back track.
"Don't apologize," he said, his voice brightening up a bit, "I didn't mean anything by it, it would have been stranger to follow you and never say a word, I think."
Trailing another guard without announcing yourself could be trouble. Add that this one was a pretty young lady and it'd be easy to get the wrong idea. The last thing he needed was even a joke about that kind of thing getting back to Ukene. How much trust could she had in him if they barely spoke now?
"Have a lot on your mind?" he asked. That was the most common reason to lose track of where you were headed on patrol, it was a common occurrence for all guards when there wasn't something to watch out for.. and she was staring off in the distance again. And, of course, he knew there was something on her mind.
"Yes," she snapped shortly before she could stop herself. Laelia didn't want to be so temperamental, he was being perfectly friendly, but it was stupid to ask that when he must be aware of what was going on with his nephew. Everybody knew. Everybody who knew the families, anyway, she guessed. She wasn't positive how close all of Yareha's family was to him exactly but he was a fairly big spectacle so it'd have been of particular interest to them, right?
"Sorry," she sighed, "I'll just go back on my route, I didn't mean to get in your way."
Badiri started when she snapped at him, immediately regretting his decision to put that out there. Obviously it was still a sensitive topic, it seemed a while ago to him but he wasn't directly involved like her.
"I'm sorry," he said, not moving as she took a step to start back to where she had come from, "I'm sorry. That was a stupid question, I know."
He smiled apologetically at her.
"You don't have to go," he added, "I wouldn't mind the company and mornings are usually pretty boring on your own."
What was he doing?
Laelia had barely taken a step before he apologized- twice. It made her hesitate. She had half a mind to agree with him about it being a stupid question while trying to think of something mean to say.. but she wasn't sure she had the energy for it. She'd been alternating between sad and angry for a while now, he wasn't bad enough to push herself to be angry more.
So she sighed, decidedly not responding until he invited her to join him on patrol. She considered, much as he did after he finished his invitation. Only she had less to hesitate about.
He felt a rush of panic when she stared at him, he didn't really know what he was doing anymore- and that was probably more worrying than anything. It was a simple invitation between guards, he didn't have to feel so guilty but he did.
He opened his mouth to take it back, to tell it was OK but he didn't get a chance.
"OK," she said, cutting him off before he could take it back, not realizing it. And, for the first time in days, Laelia smiled.
Surprised and then completely distracted, Badiri smiled back. He didn't say anything else before stepping around her to take the lead on the path they had both been going along.
Fin!
