[PRP] Fortune Days - Valena x Blomkvist

[bipolar bee]

Valena was bored, and a bored Valena was a dangerous Valena. A bored Valena was prone to giving advice where it was not necessarily appreciated. When many young females of the pride saw Valena wandering about with a look of determination in her pale green eyes, well, they usually immediately made themselves unavailable for conversation.

The sudden disappearance of the young, eligible lionesses in the pride was not completely lost on Valena. It was frustrating, really, as all she wanted to do was offer advice and opinions on keeping a husband happy - which might come off as bizarre, as Valena was a single freeborn lady who had never taken a husband.

Ever.

The look of determination on her face slowly turned to one of annoyance, and it wasn't long before she found herself outside Blomkvist's den. When she couldn't help, she could gossip - and gossiping always helped lighten her mood.

She only hoped he was home.

"Blommmm-kviiiiiiist," Valena sang out, loudly. "Are you home, dear?"  

[Princess_Feylin]

Blomkvist shouldn't have been home. He was supposed to be out viking. Unfortunately the change in leadership had thrown off everyone's plans, including his captain's, and the viking had been delayed. At least that was what Blomkvist had been told, but he hadn't seen any members of that band around the pride lately, so he had his suspicions that he had been deliberately excluded and they had gone without him. It wouldn't be the first time. Some people had no appreciation for the finer things in life.

"Of course I am, Valena. You're welcome to come in, if you like, or I can come out if you prefer. I haven't been out yet. What's the weather like?"

If the weather was wet, he would rather not go out, but Valena was interesting enough that he would get wet for her. Besides, he had heard the most interesting thing about a certain striped outlander making accusations about a respectable lioness.  

[bipolar bee]

Princess_Feylin

When Blomkvist invited her in, Valena wasted no time in entering his den. Sure, the weather outside was nice enough, but Valena had the need for gossip - and even Valena knew that gossip was best done where eavesdropping ears could not follow.

"It's hot," she replied rather flippantly, arranging herself before him once she'd made her way into his den, "and much cooler in here, so I'll come in and that way we can both enjoy some solace from the heat."

Valena was silent for a heartbeat's time. She gave Blomkvist her most intrigued look.

"What news have you, Blomkvist, dear?"

This certainly hadn't been the first time the lioness had stopped by the reaver's den looking for 'news' - and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

Her intrigued look turned a little sly.

"I've got news to share, as well."  

[Princess_Feylin]

"All right. Be welcome," Blomkvist said bloodlessly. He was glad to see Valena and hear her news, of course, but he wasn't about to start hopping around in a madness sheer, unadulterated delight he didn't feel.

"There's still a block of ice in the back, if you would like to cool yourself," he advised her. Whether she licked it or simply sat near it and allowed the coolness to radiate toward her made no difference to him. He was merely being a good host and offering hospitality to his guest. Not that he would have told many other people about his ice block. A number of Stormborn kept one for the warmer months.

"Why don't you begin with your news, then?" he suggested. "After some consideration, I have reached the conclusion that mine isn't all that interesting, and if it turns out to be less interesting than your news I won't waste your time with it."

At least not until he found a way to make it more interesting. Perhaps he could intervene and prompt one of the parties into action. Like a holmgang. It had been a while since one of those had been fought in the pride.  

[bipolar bee]

The offer of ice was well-appreciated, but Valena did not move towards it. Instead she merely nodded her head out of gratitude and then began speaking of the news she'd heard.

"I heard that Thorgrim is going to ask Ru to take one of Njal's daughters as his consort - but then, I also heard that he's going to ask Ru to take the High Priestess Brynja as his consort." She didn't stop there, and didn't even take a breath to continue.

"I also heard that Yakuti's cubs are not Yakuti's cubs, but Brynja's instead. Someone also said that Captain Thorgrim and his wife are trying for another litter of cubs."

Fascinating news, really. So much gossip surrounded that entire family.

"Then again I heard that Ru was seen with a golden striped lioness who came to see him on the sands, but they disappeared soon after her appearance there. I do have to wonder where they went off to."  

[Princess_Feylin]

Blomkvist listened avidly while Valena launched into her news. She always seemed to have better gossip than he did. He knew part of that was because she didn't mind making things up to embellish the rumours she passed along, and he took what she said with a grain of salt, but that didn't mean he didn't love to listen to them. Later he would puzzle out what was the truth and what was fabrication.

"If I were Ru, I'd probably take one of the daughters. Way less creepy and psycho. Though the brothers in law would make family time so deeply unappealing." He grimaced at the thought. Blomkvist wouldn't marry any of those lionesses for anything. Not if the stormlords themselves commanded it of him.

Thorgrim's family. Dear gods. Those things were all interesting. But very difficult to prove or disprove, one way or the other. Except maybe the cubs not being Yakuti's. When they got older they might grow up to look like their mother, whoever she really was.

"Why would they have more cubs? They're so old. And...kind of evil. Can you imagine what they'd do to another bunch of cubs?"

It was really the bit about Ru and that golden lioness that he found most interesting. He had passed along a similar piece of information and was currently stewing over the results of having done so.  

[bipolar bee]

Princess_Feylin

Valena liked to talk. She made little attempt in toning down the pretty blatant gossip she spread. Part of her realized that what she said might be hurtful, but there was something far too entertaining about telling lies and spreading gossip just to see what happened when things unraveled. She'd never admit to being entertained by being a malicious lioness, but deep deep down, Valena sort of was an awful female. She was meddling, and spread lies, and most of all she found it all fun.

"Yes, well, I think we should all be surprised that he's showing any interest in females at all. I heard that Aesir actually banished him because he'd put the moves on Aesir and not his daughter Kazul."

She'd just come up with that one. She hadn't actually heard that, but if she was confronted with her lies she'd blame it on a stupid thrall. Thralls were the perfect target. They gossiped more than anyone, Valena knew that as a fact.

"Ruin them just like they've ruined the others. Some are saying that Dalla's cubs aren't even Gaved's. They're saying that he can only rut on that poor lisping beast he's taken to wife."

Valena fell silent and settled her pale eyes on Blomkvist.

"Now, what news have you?"  

[Princess_Feylin]

"You don't say," Blomkvist replied with a perfectly straight face. "Well, I suppose we shouldn't be looking for any gold and black striped babies any time soon, in that case. Who would you say is responsible for Kazul's condition, in that case?"

He didn't believe a word of that particular rumour, but he was happy to play along for the fun of it. He liked listening to Valena spin stories. If she could restrict herself to telling stories about fictional people, she would have made a hell of a skald, but she liked to talk about real people who were still alive, and that demanded a higher fact content than her stories tended to deliver.

Gaved and Dalla's cubs seemed more likely. His first litter was all grown up and earning captaincies, after all. He really ought to have had more cubs in the mean time. Being unable made a lot of sense. "I'm sure they could find a way around that, if they really worked at it, but it would require a good deal of practice and flexibility, I imagine."

He closed his eyes and reviewed his news, selecting only the best to pass along before he spoke again.

"That no-account outlander who got Naja with cubs...Daffy? Anyway, one of his daughters, through a convoluted series of misunderstandings on her part, got herself knocked up by that flowerly striped outlander from the desert. And now Daffy's going to challenge him to a holmgang. If the striped one loses, he'll have to marry the girl. Honning."

pinchmonster

 

[bipolar bee]

Princess_Feylin

"Gods, probably one of Taraxa's ilk, or to be quite frank it was probably one of Thorgrim's thralls looking for ways to kick up any sort of drama that might weaken Aesir's resolve. It really is hard to say one way or the other with any measure of confidence."

Valena paused with a gleam in her pale eyes. She knew that he knew her tales had little truth in them, but it was still very entertaining to tell stories to a willing audience. She had little doubt that there may come a time where someone might blatantly call her out, but until that day came Valena was going to continue on as she'd always done.

"How delightful," Valena fairly crooned when Blomkvist shared his news. She hadn't heard that particular little tidbit, but then she really wasn't surprised. Anyone who affiliated themselves with Thorgrim's clan obviously didn't have much in the way of scruples, and it only made sense that one of the Captain's bloodline had gotten herself infected with outlander cubs.

"Daffy's got quite the nerve insisting that this outlander marry his daughter, especially considering the fact that he's never done right by Naja himself. Nothing but a hypocrite, in my humble opinion."  

[Princess_Feylin]

"Too right," Blomkvist agreed.

He was not as strictly traditional as Njal and his friends, but he did believe that a lion who got a freeborn lioness pregnant had an obligation to do right by his cubs by marrying her so that the cubs would not carry any stigma. If they chose to divorce later, that was fine - more grist for his gossip mill - but they ought to be married before the cubs came and stay that way until they left the home. In his opinion.

"Well, Daffy's an outlander himself. We can't really expect them to know what's right and proper. Though I wonder Naja's father didn't force Daffy to marry her. He really should have done."

Blomkvist shook his head, saddened by the lax morals of his beloved pride. He did not think that matters would improve under this new warlord who was an outlander himself.  

[bipolar bee]

"It's true. And quite disappointing, if I might say so. I fear that the pride will be overrun with outland blood and all hope of finding a good, strong old-blooded husband will be simply impossible for a fine freeborn lady - such as myself."

She very slyly batted her eyes at Blomkvist for no reason in particular - aside from the fact that it was what fine freeborn ladies did. If they didn't, well. They should.

"And now look at us. Forced to live under the rule of a new Warlord - an outlander, no less."

Valena shook her head and gave a wistful sigh.

"What's to become of us, I wonder?"  

[Princess_Feylin]

"Aesir was an outlander," Blomkvist remarked thoughtfully. "Things weren't too awful with him. And the new warlord was close to him..."

He couldn't continue, thinking about the ridiculous supposition Valena had brought him about Ru and Aesir's relationship. He just started laughing. If there was even a smidgeon of truth to it, Ru had been very close to Aesir indeed.

When he stopped laughing his smirk remained, but he was serious enough when he answered Valena: "I can't imagine you would have any difficulty finding a husband if you were really serious about it. As for me, I'm not too opposed to the idea of an outlander as a wife...well. As a saltwife, anyway."  

[bipolar bee]

Valena let out a soft laugh, her own thoughts derailing much like Blomvkist's had. There might have been truths regarding her own tale after all.

She couldn't help but preen just the slightest when he told her that it wouldn't be difficult for her to find a husband if she were serious about it. It was a compliment, Valena was certain of it - even if it was a little off-handed. Was he putting the moves on her? Probably he was.

Goodness, nobody had ever put the moves on her.

"I've always felt a little sad for saltwives. Now, I understand it's completely reasonable for a male to take one, but... honestly, if a wife knows what she's about - I assure you, I do - there shouldn't be any reason for a saltwife."  

[Princess_Feylin]

"Your husband will be a fortunate man. But, you know, saltwives aren't just for satisfying a lion when a wife doesn't." He grinned.

This was actually a pet theory of his, but not one he tended to discuss with females because it gave them entirely too much insight into the male psyche. For Valena he would make an exception, even though he knew telling her anything of importance was a colossal mistake. She probably wouldn't believe him anyway.

"Lions keep saltwives because they give them a way to control their true wives. A smart lion will make sure that his wife is always a little uncertain and insecure, and that when he turns to his saltwife for anything she worries that she's failing in her wifely duties and strives harder in the future." After bestowing this pearl of wisdom he laughed, playing it off as if he was talking nonsense.  

[bipolar bee]

Well now he was just talking nonsense, but Valena laughed regardless. Everyone knew that a good wife never let her husband want for anything in any aspect of their lives together, and so a good husband would never go astray and pick up varying saltwives here and there, or father bastards on thralls, or... well, anything distasteful.

Goodness.

"My husband will never have need to take a saltwife. I will not need to be kept on my toes, I assure you."

She giggled.

"I should go. I'm afraid I've already taken up too much of your time already. It was... so very nice to chat with you. And please, if you do find yourself with a prospective wife, I would love to chat with her before you tie the knot. I have a lot of advice to give - good advice, at that."