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When there was nothing else to do, Asante's go-to activity for any day was to play a game- and she and Thaddaeus were almost never on the same team. Today, she proposed a hunting challenge. They had gone in separate directions and they had to see who got the most impressive meal. While she had intentionally left out a rule saying you had to hunt alone in case she found random help, she ended up by herself. Still, she had returned to their meeting point with a hare- and she had herself convinced that was a perfectly impressive catch by herself. Hares were fast and clever, but she got one.

Now she just had to wait for Thaddaeus to return, preferably empty-pawed. Then she could tease him and apologize by sharing her snack. But, squinting out in the distance, it didn't look like he was going to be back any time soon.

Thaddaeus enjoyed the random games with Asante, it kept things interesting. But he had to stay on his toes if he wanted to best her, and it wasn't usually in any obvious way. Never once imagining that recruiting random help was allowed, he had to accept defeat and now he was on his way back with nothing to show for himself.. but he was sneaking back. She was a more experienced rogue, unless she was struggling to take down something ridiculous by herself , she would be back first. And that was his back-up plan. If he could catch her, she would have to declare him the victor.

He was doing pretty well, once he had spotted her sitting at their meeting point he was careful to approach from behind where there was less chance of being spotted. He'd know if she saw him. Hopefully.

It didn't take more than a second to realize who was speaking to him and it very quickly threw him off his game. He stumbled to a stop and was standing up straight, looking around but not finding his mother-- until she let him.

"Mom!" he cried brightly, immediately bounding over to meet her, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Asante didn't realize what was going on behind her right away but it didn't take her long to check behind her and find that, very suddenly, Thaddaeus was there- much too close for how long it had been.. and he wasn't alone.

"Huh?"

She watched him practically jump over to the other figure before getting to her feet and heading over to see what was going on, abandoning the hare she had caught.

He made a face when she 'scolded' him for sneaking up on a girl and put no effort at all into hiding it.

"You don't know Asante," he said with a laugh, deciding to leave out that he was already in her heart. Sneaking had nothing to do with that.. maybe. There was no time to overanalyze it.

"I'm very happy to see you!"

Asante walked at a very relaxed pace though her smile grew the closer she got. It was impossible not to figure out who he was talking to, the colors said they were related and the wings said it had to be his mother. It was lucky she wasn't shy- but she did want to make a good impression so she didn't jump right in like she might have in any other situation.

When she was close enough to be heard, she stopped and simply watched, waiting for Thaddaeus to smarten up and introduce her.

Thaddaeus nodded enthusiastically in response to her remark about the name before looking over to the lioness in question with a smile. He hesitated a second, trying to decide where exactly he ought to be standing. He decided to walk over to Asante, though staying a small step farther away than normal, still too excited to see his mother.

"Alright, alright," he said, "Mom, this is Asante. Asante, this is my mother, Mo'onasi."

He added on his mother's name almost like an afterthought.

She did a fair job of hiding her curiosity, resisting the urge to stare outright or looking the goddess up and down. Asante had never, ever met a god before and this was extremely fascinating to see in person. She knew about the goddess of love, of course, but it was different seeing her. Momo was almost exactly how Asante imagined she must be.

"Pleased to meet you," she said, glancing over to Thaddaeus, unable to suppress a grin. Maybe he won this round, 'catching' a god. It put her hare to shame.

"Don't worry about that!" he said brightly, nearly cutting Momo's apology short, "I'm very happy to see you! We were just trying to pass the time anyway."

He didn't mean to imply that they were wasting time or it wasn't fun but he didn't think a visitor was unwelcome or that Asante would take such a remark badly. He could see her grinning at him from the corner of his eye and it took a great deal of effort not to look over at her- and it was impossible not to grin as well.

"A hunting contest, I'd say he wins this round," Asante said, looking back at the goddess, beaming, "Would you like to join us?"

She wasn't sure what the goddess had in mind for a visit but an invitation to stay and play was all she could think of.

"We don't have to hunt."

Thaddaeus knew the games- any of them that they played- had Asante's name and influence all over them. He wasn't as creative or mischievous as her but he loved to play along.

He was beaming at the two of them until his mom daringly comment on the fact he had found love. He wasn't necessarily embarrassed by the observation, he and Asante were hardly oblivious to their relationship, but there was something about it being stated, especially by his mother.

So he chuckled awkwardly.

Asante was pleased to have Momo accept her invitation and her grin only widened when she said she was excited to see her son had found love. She was nearly impossible to embarrass and the chuckle it got out of Thaddaeus was priceless.

"Let's use that energy for something fun, then!" she said, looking back and forth between them, "We'll think of something, come on."

They could have made a plan from where they were, of course, but their starting point was fixed in Asante's mind, partly because it also doubled as their current temporary home. So, when she turned about, she lead the way there.