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 Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 7:24 pm
 With fewer mothers-to-be in the pride at the moment, Caritas had a great deal of free time. This was probably one of the biggest perks to her position as Midwife and she was enjoying it! The black lioness was sunning herself, resting on a rise of earth that overlooked the watering hole. Below, she could see the looks and probably whispers following one particular brown lioness as she departed, to return to her cubs. She hadn't been the one present when Laelia's cubs were born, but she was fully aware of the tension (and, dare she even think it, drama) the whole mess of a situation had caused. Caritas had known that Laelia and Yareha were an item, but no one had expected the rogue Ieiunium to return with cubs - and just dump them on their father, one Yareha Afaer. She couldn't help but be aware of the couple's falling out after that. And then when Laelia had started showing signs of being pregnant...well, that just stirred the pot again. Any intelligent female could see that there was no way the cubs were Yareha's, but with the amount of time the brown lioness had spent refusing to name their father, it drew a lot of suspicion. Caritas was well aware that Laelia had named Mazin the cubs' father and the Lion knew he was doing a good job of it! But...she wasn't buying it. Not completely.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 7:45 pm
Orion was more than happy to stay out of everything that did not involve him. He was only a hunter, though he was in the high class, and he was happy to do a good job and be happy as things were. He was one of the lions around the waterhole when Laelia happened by but he didn't pay her any mind- and he didn't take any special notice of the attention she got, either.
He'd only come to the waterhole to relax for a little bit while waiting for the next hunting party to go out, and as the time to go approached he figured it would be best to get closer to their meeting point. He turned his back to the waterhole and started walking, unaware that he would pass directly by the sister he had mostly been avoiding. Caritas was much more loud and outgoing than him, if he wasn't intimidated or annoyed then he was annoying and that was reason enough to minimize extraneous visits with his sister.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 7:52 pm
There was always a lot of movement around the water hole. That's what Caritas would blame later when she realized she almost missed the fact that her brother was coming towards her. He, like all of her siblings (not including Stellaluna) was a Hunter and she could appreciate what he and his fellows did for the pride. She still thought it would have been nice if he'd chosen to apply for one of the priesthood positions that accepted males. But, well, that wasn't Orion and she couldn't change him. (Though Lion know at one point, she'd tried. She'd had to give up and decide to leave that for some lioness who'd take him for a mate.)
"Orion!" she called out cheerfully, her consideration of Laelia momentarily pushed to the side to make way for the brother who'd pushed her to becoming what she was today.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:04 pm
Orion nearly jumped out of his fur when he heard his name, not realizing just how little attention he was paying to who was around him. It was lucky, though, that the voice was cheerful- and he realized that very fast. He didn't miss a step, though he altered his path enough so that he was headed for his sister directly.
"Good day, Caritas," he said, offering a sheepish smile. There had been so many cubs all at once but he wasn't sure there was anybody pregnant now. She probably had more free time than she knew what to do with.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:07 pm
The black lioness smiled up at her brother, not bothering to get to her feet. She did, however, move over a bit so that Orion could get comfortable if he chose. The Midwife rather hoped he would choose, she was looking for a good talk with someone.
"Come, sit, relax! There won't be another hunt for some time yet, and your paws will last longer if you haven't been standing on them all day," she pointed out reasonably.
"That way you can tell me what was going on, down at the water hole." Okay, so Caritas wasn't really being subtle. But really. Given Orion, subtle would mean she was here all day with him looking at her in confusion.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:10 pm
Absently, he glanced up at the sky to try to judge just how long he had before the hunters were meeting up again- he wasn't sure that the midwife would know his own schedule better than him, but if she did have so much free time she probably did know and he probably did have enough time to sit and chat a little while yet. With a mental sigh, he sat down at a comfortable and conversational distance.
"What do you mean?" he asked, glancing back down toward the waterhole, "I didn't notice anything going on."
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:13 pm
Caritas kept from rolling her eyes only by sheer force of will. There were some things that she doubted even finding a mate would fix in Orion. His seeming inability to take note of anything that wasn't directly impacting him, for one. Still, the lioness forced herself to take a deep breath, to ensure that she didn't bite his head off.
"So you completely failed to notice that, not only was Laelia there, but the fact that she was the center of attention for the entire duration of her visit. And," she went on, "I suppose you also didn't pay any particular attention to what people were saying about her after she left." Caritas sighed. Trust her brother to be so oblivious.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:21 pm
Orion looked back to Caritas when she went on to explain what happened that was of interest to her. He didn't bother trying to hide his exasperation. He wasn't much for gossip but his particular topic didn't seem nearly as interesting to him as it did to the odd few- most of them lionesses. At least, that's how it seemed to him.
"I'm not sure with witnessed the same thing, Caritas," he said, "I didn't hear anything unusual at all. I'm surprised anybody would still be making a big deal out of her anymore, anyway."
Maybe it was more significant to Cartias because she was supposed to keep an eye on pregnancies but Laelia hadn't even gone that long without naming the father, however embarrassing or potentially troublesome or whatever, and he'd even stepped up. No big deal.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:44 pm
The lioness snorted. "And I'll bet you don't think people are still looking at Yareha funny either." She supposed that it might not be the ability to see that Orion lacked. It could be that he simply accepted what he saw at face value. The surface of the pride was quiet again, so from that point of view there was no longer any problem.
She shook her head and sighed. "And I'm sure you'd be surprised if I said I still don't believe those cubs are Mazin's. Oh yes, he's certainly acting as their father, but that doesn't mean he really fathered them." It was good to have someone to voice her suspicions to, even if her brother didn't really want to listen. Sister's prerogative.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:51 pm
Of Yareha and Laelia, Yareha was certainly the more interesting. He was a confirmed and well-known troublemaker, it was easier to believe people might still give him strange looks while Laelia getting strange looks even after everything seemed settled was less obvious.
"Well, they don't look like Yareha last I saw," he said, though he truthfully hadn't seen much of the cubs, "Though wasn't one yellow? But Mazin's grandmother is yellow."
He shrugged.
"They have a big family, it could be any of them I suppose," he agreed reluctantly, "But Mazin certainly seems to be one of the best of them."
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 4:35 pm
Caritas "hmphed" at her brother. That was the point, Mwezi'mtoto had a very large family in the pride and it could have been so many of his many grandchildren or great-grandchildren.
Which was, in her opinion, a prime argument for Mazin not being the father. It was certain that the mystery lion was related to Mazin, but with so very many possibilities, it was nigh impossible to determine one over another. Which was what made the slave in question so incredibly plausible. The fact that Laelia had evidently secured his cooperation helped deter all but the most suspicious in the pride.
Of which Caritas was one.
"I can see that this conversation is going nowhere fast," she replied, a growl tautening her voice as she stood up. "Have a good hunt," the lioness wished her brother before stalking off to find a more interested pair of ears.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 4:43 pm
He was expecting Caritas to be unhappy he did not share her interest in speculating on the true identity of the father of Laelia's cubs.. but he had agreed it could be one of many other lions in Mazin's family. That was something, and he didn't even really give that much thought.
"Alright," he said, getting up and stepping back as Cartias left, "Have a good day, Caritas."
Orion watched her go before turning to continue on his path to where the hunters would be meeting soon, his relationship with his sister now on his mind. It seemed they could barely chat cheerfully, but he didn't expect it would stop either of them from trying again sometime.
Fin.
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