Going into the meeting both lions were nervous, though perhaps it was actually the older male who was more nervous than the younger female. The pair reclined in the front portion of Lyti's family den, where Lyti's parents could keep watch from within and any passersby could do the same from without if they were so inclined. The potential for an audience was the source of Brenning's discomfort and Lyti's lack of such.Bren cleared his throat awkwardly. He had requested this match, speaking to the younger freeborn's father and laying out his case before the older lion. Both Lyti and Bren had parents who were outlander born, but there was not a great deal of similarity between the two parental sets anyway. Sakhr was a far more erudite sort of lion than Hinoko, and Parmelia was much less prone to violent outbursts than Melinoe was. Throughout his entire meeting with Lyti's father Bren had been afraid that he would say something stupid that would make Sakhr refuse his suit out of hand.
Now he was much more worried about saying or doing something stupid that would make Lyti do so. In the pride where here parents had come from, Bren had learned, a father could give his daughter to another lion in marriage without consulting her, but that was not the way of it in the Stormborn. A lioness could refuse a lion's suit or even divorce him if he did not please her. Bren knew there was a lot about him that was not pleasing, but he hoped that he would be able to conceal it, or that she would be willing to overlook it.
"So, your father told you what I asked him?" he asked and then felt like a complete moron. "I mean, you know why we're meeting here like this?" That didn't help at all.
Lyti glanced over her shoulder with a minute turn of her head, wondering if anyone would step in to save her if this meeting became too awkward. She wondered if she should have set up some sort of code with one of her siblings for them to interrupt should she find that she had no wish to continue. Getting out of awkward situations was one of Lyti's least favorite things to do, although she wasn't actually bad at it thanks to her mother's hand in her upbringing. The Ukuucha'Wafalme-born lioness knew a great deal about smoothing things over with good manners and a sweet temper.
Now, Lyti realized, she ought to be putting her mother's training into practice and do her best to put this prospective suitor at ease. This was obviously not a comfortable situation for him, either, and although she couldn't help feeling that the responsibility to be interesting really ought to lie with him, as the initiator of this meeting, good manners dictated that she at least make an effort.
"Yes. He said that you've paid me one of the highest compliments a lion can pay a lioness. I'm flattered." She was also confused by Brenning's proposal, to be honest, because she had never been even peripherally aware of his existence until he spoke to her father.
Bren wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel based on Lyti's response. It was a little confusing and he wondered if it meant that she knew he had asked to marry her, or if she had only been told that he had paid her a compliment. He also could not tell how she felt about the affair. She wasn't giving away very much, although she presented him with a very pleasant mien.
"I know you don't really know me, and I wouldn't want to ask you to marry someone you don't know, but I thought maybe we could get to know one another, and maybe while we're doing that you won't accept any other proposals." Bren made a face and then apologized immediately. He had worked all this out in his head and thought his plan was a good one. When he'd discussed it with Sakhr, the freeborn had agreed it was a reasonable plan. Now he couldn't put into words what he wanted to say.
He took a deep breath and tried again. "What I mean to say is, I want to ask you to marry me, but I want you to have the chance to get to know me before I do. While you're getting to know me, we could go on as if we were betrothed, but without me proposing until I think I might have a chance that you'll accept me."
Lyti listened to Brenning present his plan and did her very best to hold completely still. She was relieved that he had not simply proposed to her practically out of the blue since there was no way she could accept such a proposal from a complete stranger. At the same time, a part of her was alarmed at the idea of entering into a sort of pre-betrothal betrothal that she couldn't get out of until he actually asked her to marry him.
"That sounds very well thought out," she said diplomatically when he finished speaking and looked at her in such a way that she knew he expected her to say something or have some sort of opinion on his plan. "There are a few points I'm not quite clear on though."
It was Bren's turn to feel alarmed now as he gathered she had found something about the idea objectionable and was now trying to find a polite way to refuse him. Or maybe it was Bren, himself, she found objectionable. He had not anticipated that she would be so difficult to read before he had actually met her. None of the females in his family were anything like that.
"Um. Okay. Which parts were those?"
Lyti's tail escaped her control and twitched, giving away her discomfort. She really would have preferred in some ways if her father had simply told her she was to marry Brenning and presented the betrothal as a fait accompli instead of making it her choice. Now it meant that if she rejected his pre-proposal it was really her rejecting it, and not her father. There was nobody for her to hide behind.
"Well, to begin with I want to know if it would be too much if I considered other lions' proposals, but refrained from answering them until after I gave you an answer. Assuming, of course, anyone else does ask for me. Your proposal was really a surprise." She paused, but Bren did not immediately answer her and so she continued. "Which brings me to the most important point, I think. The timing of your proposal is left entirely up to your discretion which means, in theory, you could simply never propose and thereby prevent me from ever marrying anyone."
Both lions were silently astonished for several moments after she spoke her piece, neither one aware that she had it in her to conceive of such an underhanded way to abuse the agreement Bren suggested. It hadn't occurred to Bren, for one thing, and Lyti had never considered herself devious, but her concerns about being taken advantage of proved that she had it in her somewhere.
After the silence had drawn on for too long Bren began trying to stammer a reply, but had to stop himself twice before he could get the words out. Accustomed to Naaja, who had similar difficulties when she tried to talk and think at the same time, Lyti waited patiently for her would-be suitor to work things out in his head and then communicate them to her.
"I would never do that. Ever. What if we say I have a year? That isn't too long, is it?"
It seemed like forever to him. Even as uncomfortable as he was, he could not deny that Lyti was lovely. She was so small and dainty and everything about her was like it had been designed to please. Even her coat colors were soothing. And, like him, she had eyes that were special. He really liked her mismatched eyes and hoped that their cubs would have mismatched eyes with flames over them.
To Lyti a year seemed like an awfully long time, during which a number of young lions would become reavers, and reavers would become captains. There could even be a new warlord in a year's time. It made her a little anxious to think of all the things she would miss out on if she had to consider herself off the market for the next year. How many of her friends' marriages would she have to attend, watching better prospects vanish? Because realistically, she knew she could probably do better than Brenning if she put her mind to it. He was doughy and unsure and not even a reaver.
"Let's say half a year," she countered. "And you still haven't said whether I can consider other proposals during that time."
It seemed to Bren that Lyti was not all that enthusiastic about his suit, and he was a little insulted, but mostly he could understand that. He was glad she was willing to consider him at all, frankly, and maybe if she didn't receive any offers in the next six months she would accept him as a default. It wasn't all that flattering to hope to be someone's fallback, but a lion like him couldn't really afford to be picky about such things.
"Half a year," he agreed with a somewhat disappointed inflection. "And...I mean, I guess I'd rather you didn't, but realistically I don't think there's much I can do to stop others from proposing to you, or you from thinking about their proposals. But I'd appreciate it if you didn't accept any of them until after I've had a chance to ask you."
Lyti was about to say something else which Bren guessed would be a polite brush off, and so he hastened to add, "Please give me a chance, Lyti. I think we could be really good together."
Lyti couldn't bring herself to refuse him after that, and so she repressed a sigh and answered him, "I don't know what you're basing your supposition on, but I'll give you a chance, Brenning. Six months."
Word Count: 1,716