Nasrin was pretty old to still be living with her father but as far as she knew, nobody had shown any interest in her and she had seen no opportunities worth pushing for herself, either. So she was an adult banu, stuck in her father's care and she had decided that was preferable to any alternative she could imagine for the moment. Her family continued to grow in her presence and she tried to keep up with it but it was awfully crazy. Still, that would have been low on her priority list of complaints. She did love her family.
She was laying out in the sun, watching the coming and going of many family members when she spotted a shifty blue juvenile looking like he was up to something, sneaking by.
Aladdin was trying to sneak away from the family unnoticed, he didn't want anybody on his tail today. He had no idea where he was going to go or what he was going to do but he would decide once he had successful extricated him from the gigantic family he was a part of. It was busy enough around the den it shouldn't have been hard- and it wasn't! Until he straightened up triumphantly and realized there was a pair of pink eyes on him.
One of his older sisters, he thought as he stared back, she looked a lot like their father. Well, she was dark and had his eyes. But that was about it. Nasrin didn't stand out in his mind much more than any of his other older siblings that had their own homes and families.
"What are you looking at?"
"A sneaky little cub," Nasrin observed plainly, looking calmly back at her small brother as he tried to stare her down. She wasn't going to tattle on him without a reason and while she assumed he was up to no good, it wasn't worth it yet.
"Where are you off to, little brother?"
He made a face. He didn't care for either sneaky or little being used to describe him- he wasn't a cub anymore, he was plenty big and he was hardly sneaky. Not in the way she said it. Stealthy or crafty would be more appropriate, he was better than sneaky. Much so.
"None of your business, Banu," he said, straightening himself up importantly but immediately feeling a twinge of guilt. He had no idea what kind of pad he wanted to be when he grew up, he wanted to be tough and awesome but something just felt wrong being too mean. But now he said it, he had to stick with it.
Nasrin snickered at the response she got from the little blue fellow. It might have hurt or annoyed anybody else but she found it funny- she was lucky he didn't try to call her Kajira. That would have been dangerous.
"I suppose you've got me there, Pesar Aladdin," she responded, in mock formality, "But what do you suppose would happen to me if I witnessed you sneaking off into trouble and didn't say anything?"
He glared when she laughed at him- laughed! How rude and annoying. He felt ridiculous, he didn't need her laughing to show she saw it too. She probably thought his glaring was hilarious, too. He'd have to work on a mean face when he grew up more, maybe when he was his father's size it wouldn't be so funny to everybody.
"Uhhhh.."
She had a point. He might outrank her but plenty of adults outranked the both of them. Their father in particular but also Nasrin would have to deal with all the mothers in the family.
"You're a smart boy, Aladdin," she commented, watching the look on his little face as he worked out why she was obligated to ask where he was going.. but that was all a technicality anyway. She would happily let him sneak off, she wasn't the most strict rule-follower herself. She was having fun with it now.
"How about this," she said, "You apologize for being rude and maybe I'll chaperone your little adventure to wherever you're off to."
'Smart' sounded like it was probably the nicest thing she'd ever said about him.. except he wasn't sure they'd really had much direct interaction. So far, based on this conversation, though, it sounded probable.
It didn't make him want to apologize, though. It was a mighty big request from a Banu. Wasn't it? He wasn't sure anymore.
"But you're a banu," he said, wrinkling his nose, "Shouldn't you need a chaperone?"
Nasrin blinked when he went in a different direction than she thought he might following a 'but you're a banu' statement. It might have been worse if he didn't sound so confused, it was apparent he was still learning how to handle himself outside of a larger group.
"Not around the majority of the pride lands," she answered, "You know we're not restricted to the den, don't make me take back calling you smart."
She considered offering to let him say he was out keeping an eye on her while she went for a walk but she didn't feel like playing that part. If she were happy to, she could be somewhere very different now.
He had to stop to weigh his options. He had been caught by a Banu with reason to be keeping an eye on him, he wasn't sure she had enough to really get him into trouble but he naturally wanted to stay out of trouble. But he had been sneaking off for a reason, he didn't want to have to go with anybody and he didn't want to get into any trouble.
At least, if he did have Nasrin with him, she wasn't any of the specific family members he was trying to avoid. Maybe she would make it more interesting, someone else along the way might have spotted him and really stopped him.
"OK," he said finally, glancing around shiftily, "Can you keep it a secret?"
She smiled when he brightened up, happy to see his attitude mostly seemed to be a defense mechanism. Games were more fun, that was what he ought to be more concerned with!
"Of course," she said, pushing up to her feet and shaking off, "You lead the way, little brother."
"Alright! Follow me, sister!"
Now that he had an adult with him, he could be more open about it but that wasn't nearly as much fun. He glanced around them before scrambling off in the direction he had been going before getting stopped by a nosy older sister.
Nasrin smiled as she watched him glance around and start off. This would make her day more interesting. And since he was kind enough to call her 'sister,' she decided she would drop the apology demand rather than stop him now.
Fin!