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 Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 4:37 pm
 Halili had just spent most of her day running messages (and a loose cub) from one end of the pride to another and she was tired. But, rather than go to her own family's den to relax, she'd opted for the slave dens. It didn't matter to much to the juvenile that she wasn't yet old enough to have a place of her own, it was just a comfortable place to relax around other people in her class. She'd never tell Kibetinyota to her face, but Halili's mom was as high class and high maintenance as they came and that sometimes made it awkward to be a low class daughter. Well, the whole litter was low class. But that was beside the point. And there was Mazin, outside his den! She hadn't spoken to him in a while, so it was clearly time she'd done so! "Hi there Mazin!" the young lioness called out cheerfully as she aimed her steps his way. The sun was going down, and the shadows kept her from seeing his healing injuries for the moment.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 4:46 pm
It had been a few days since the attack and it was official that Yareha was not really being punished. Mazin had been right to guess that his injuries would help him get away with it but what he wasn't expecting was how he'd been able to take it easy since then. It was no mystery that the slaves all tried to watch out for each other but he had seen a few step in before someone could approach him.. and considering how he was in a fair amount of pain just letting his muscles recover, he was very grateful for it.
He was contently resting outside of his den, no longer looking so awkward when he was laying down. He was surprised when he spotted a familiar little lady walking his way.
"Good evening, Halili," he greeted her with a small smile.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 4:49 pm
"It is evening now, isn't it?" she replied with a grin. Halili always enjoyed talking to Mazin, he knew better than to treat her like a kid. After all, she was a productive member of the pride, always helping out! Well, that's what the low class did, but she did it really well, better than any of her sibs!
"I never see you anymore," the younger lion complained. "You're always out doing something or over by Laelia." She paused, then looked around furtively. "I even heard something funny about you the other day. Someone said you were in a fight! But...that doesn't make sense. You're the most gentle lion I know." It was something that really confused the cream lioness and she turned wide purple eyes on the grey lion, silently begging for an explanation.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:01 pm
It was weird, seeing other cubs who grew up as slaves. Perhaps it shouldn't have been but in Mazin's lifetime, Halili and her siblings were the only other ones born into the low class. He knew Imarika and Andama weren't much older than him but they were still old enough to feel separate, different.
"No, it has been a while," he agreed, tilting his head when she glanced around before bringing up the fight. He couldn't help but smile at how she said it didn't make sense, and she was right. He never would have fought unprovoked, and even then he'd barely done it.
"Well, I'm afraid it's true," he said carefully, decidedly not withholding information when, if it were a little lighter out, she would be able to see for herself that he had been hurt, "That's why I'm not busy now, I'm not terribly useful limping around."
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:07 pm
She was smiling and nodding as he replied about how it had been a while when he confirmed the awful rumor. The juvenile's smile was frozen on her face for several long moments as Mazin finished and the silence came. Halili quickly closed the distance between them.
"Limping? You can't be limping, it can't be true..." her voice trailed off as she finally came close enough to see the healing wounds. The young lioness turned to face the older lion, expression completely and totally serious for once, completely transforming her face.
"Who were you fighting? Was it some nasty old rogue? Were they trying to invade the pride or something?" It had to be something like that, no way would anyone in the Mwezi fight each other!
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:16 pm
While it would have been impossible to deny the reality of the fight, the circumstances were something else entirely. He was not supposed to speak ill of any other members of the pride but lying seemed inappropriate, if she heard about the fight there was still a chance to hear more details. And only a few details were universally agreed upon.
"No, it wasn't with a rogue," he said thoughtfully, watching her carefully, "An old friend of Laelia's was jealous, he was angry that she picked me."
It held some truth, though it was perhaps a touch romantic. But Halili was young, she didn't need to know all of the details. He certainly didn't want to tell her it was his cousin, the idea that family could turn against each other like that was still hard for him to bear and he was a grown up.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:22 pm
Halili's eyes widened again as Mazin explained that he'd been fighting with someone from inside the pride. She knew that she and her sibs didn't always get along, but to really fight? And leave each other all scratched up the way Mazin was? They'd never do that. Not at all.
But...Mazin had said that Laelia's old friend was jealous. Was a he. The juvenile's expression perked up again.
"Oh...that's so romantic! You fought over Laelia? And I'm sure you won. Because everyone's being so nice to you and because you're such a nice person and Laelia's cubs are so very lucky to have you for a father!" Yes, Halili had an opinion on cubs - even though she wasn't that much older than the kids in question. The whole idea though, of two males fighting over a single lioness...that was what the best stories were made of! In her wildest daydreams, the juvenile liked to imagine that she grew up so pretty that lions fought over the right to be her mate, and the tidbits of information Mazin gave out simply fanned that flame higher.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:30 pm
"Well, I didn't lose," he murmured with a shrug and a half-hearted smile before she could even finish her statement, not really intending to make a discussion out of it. He wouldn't really say he won but if he had lost, he'd probably be dead. That was definitely not a part of the story that she needed to hear, as far as she could image, they were scratched up but they had settled it once and for all.
"You're very sweet to say so, Halili," he said when she concluded, smiling, "Can you keep a secret?"
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:34 pm
Well of course he hadn't lost, he'd won! Obviously. Halili was about to say as much out loud when Mazin spoke again. She smiled cutely when he complimented her, but her expression firmed again when he asked about secrets. The lioness cocked her head at the older lion.
"Of course I can keep a secret!" She paused, then added, since it seemed important, "but nobody's ever asked me before."
Not that she'd ever share a secret anyone asked her to keep. Especially not a friend like Mazin. In fact, she felt pretty proud that he had asked her! She'd love to keep a secret for him, if only because he was living part of her favorite dream.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:40 pm
He hesitated before revealing his secret, enjoying how she insisted she could keep a secret even if she had never been asked before. She looked almost excited about it, though he wasn't sure it was that big of a secret. Her enthusiasm would help, he supposed.
"Laelia and I are going to get married," he said, now smiling more brightly than before. Halili was old enough to understand that you didn't necessarily have to be married to have cubs, and even if she wasn't old enough to really understand that, she knew that if Mazin was already married, he wouldn't still be a slave. His cubs would be too small to really appreciate that yet, though they would be excited by the idea of a party.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:43 pm
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Halili nearly jumped up and down for joy with Mazin's quiet announcement, the secret. She couldn't imagine a more perfect ending for the story, how after Mazin had defeated the other lion Laelia would finally take him for mate, take him out of the low class, where he could raise his cubs properly at her side...oh it was even more romantic than it had been a few moments ago!
"That's wonderful!" she told him, finally capable of forming real words again. "I won't tell anybody, promise! But oh! I'm so happy for you!"
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:51 pm
"Shh!" he hushed her when she nearly bounced away excitedly though he couldn't help but laugh. This was the kind of reaction that a wedding deserved, he thought. He would have liked to be more excited but everything was so complicated and, of course, he could hardly jump around in the state he was in.
"You're the only lion who knows that now," he said, "We haven't even told the cubs yet."
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 6:08 pm
Halili obediently calmed down, still grinning from ear to ear. "I won't tell a soul! But oh...can I come? Please? This'll be so much fun!" It would be a wonderful surprise for the cubs, for the low class...for the whole pride! The juvenile's tail flicked around excitedly, though she managed to keep herself rooted on the ground.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 6:16 pm
"Of course you can come!" he exclaimed, taken aback by the question. If anybody could be counted on to come, it would be the low class. They had discussed how it was going to be awkward for several reasons, regardless of how exactly everything came together. Their wedding might get more attention than the typical wedding involving a slave if only because of his own history with Selene. Everybody would want to see it for themselves, especially since Selene would have to be there. Something else they had discussed for the first time.
"I wouldn't want a wedding without all of my friends there."
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 6:19 pm
"Oh eeeeee!" Halili couldn't help squealing with joy. There were a couple other lions nearby who surely had to have heard that, but one and all they shook their heads, mostly with smiles, and went back to whatever they were doing. It was Halili. She was easily excited, and not known for containing said excitement.
"Thank you Mazin and thank you for telling me and I won't tell ANYBODY but eeee!" There probably wasn't anything else the older lion could say that would get Halili more excited at this point. Which was a good thing.
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