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 Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2015 8:45 am
 Asoiaf, Soja to her family and the very few lions she considered friends, was drenched. Given she had just come out of the ocean, that was hardly surprising. The fact that she was grinning broadly was pretty unusual though. She wasn't much for pleasant expressions. She was pretty much a sourpuss. But she loved swimming.
On the sandy shore Soja shook herself vigorously to dry off, still grinning as the water sprayed around her in a salty halo. This was shaping up to be an absolutely splendid day. Even though there was sand clinging to her paws which would make her every step gritty for a while. That would suck.
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 11:11 am
 Brynhildr loped along the coast of her home pride, letting the ocean's spray mist her coat till she was dripping with salt water, but with a feverish shake, she was dry. She padded along the ocean, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a lion-shaped form emerge from the water. Until she realized it was, in fact, just a lioness and nothing paranormal or supernatural to be afraid of. As a matter of fact, she even recognized the lioness. It was Kekäle's sister, Asoiaf. Since their families were about to have a lot to do with one another (whether Asoiaf knew or not, Bryn wasn't sure), the white lioness thought it best to extend pleasantries. "It is a good day to die, Asoiaf!"
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 4:19 pm
In the ordinary course of things, Brynhildr's greeting would have met with stony silence at best, with other possible results ranging from Soja simply walking away to a sharp retort. However, Soja was in a good mood from her swim, and besides which, this particular lioness was one she actually wanted to speak to.
"So it is," she agreed. "You're...Brynhildr, yes?"
As she spoke Soja was giving the pale lioness a thorough once-over, as if that would give her some insight into her brother's unconventional approach to solving their mutual problem with parental pressures. Definitely pretty, and apparently related to that former warlord whose family had such distinctive markings, so she had some old pride blood, which would please their parents. As long as she wasn't stupid, Soja supposed she would probably serve Käle's needs.
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 5:33 pm
Bryn swallowed hard and nodded, her nervousness scarcely visible. While she and Kekäle weren't going to be married, she did still care a little about whether his family liked her or not. "Yes, that's me. Good to finally meet you." She offered the lioness a smile, but she noticed the scrutiny with which the lioness was staring at her. She wasn't sure what Asoiaf was looking for, but she hoped she'd find it. Brynhildr shifted her weight, almost uncomfortably. How close was she to Kekäle? Did she have the power and influence to change his mind if she didn't like Bryn? Wait... There wasn't anything wrong with her. She didn't have to worry. She was an Ironborn reaver. She could pass any test!
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 8:18 pm
"If you think so, I suspect you didn't hear of me from Kekäle," Soja replied in an arid tone. "He doesn't tend to speak well of me."
She and Kekäle had never been particularly close, although she took an interest in the doings of her siblings, regardless of their personal closeness. She liked to know things, after all. It made it much easier for her to torment her siblings if she had good dirt on them.
"But I hear you're going to be family. Is that true?" While her emphasis might not have been the most tactfully placed, implying a degree of dismay at the thought, she was really just terribly curious. When Svana had let slip what Kekäle intended, Soja had thought she was trying to pull one over on her, so it would be nice to have word from the source, as it were.
Unless it was an elaborate set-up, and Brynhildr was in on it.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 5:57 pm
Bryn nodded. She could empathize. While she was closer to Hroovitnir than to any of her other siblings, she still didn't think that would mean he would speak especially highly of her to others. Between being a male and an Ironborn, he wasn't especially in touch with his feelings. With a heavy sigh and slight widening of her eyes as she looked at the ground, she nodded. "That's the plan. You know, my grandmother just had another litter? I'm babysitting my half-aunts and uncles." She shook her head and shrugged. "So now all eyes are on my generation, and with the amount of time I spend around my mother and grandmother, they're asking me a lot of questions. I'd rather get on with my reaving career, but I guess I've decided to put this first." Another shrug. She wasn't dreading motherhood. She wouldn't do it if she abhorred the idea entirely. It was just reorganizing her priorities, Her new half-aunts and uncles (as awkward as that was) were awfully cute...
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2015 8:38 am
"Your...grandmother?" Soja repeated, making sure she had heard correctly.
While lions aged at a rate that certainly made it possible for grandmothers and their grandchildren to be of an age to bear children at the same time, that didn't make it significantly less weird for Soja to think of her own grandmother - on either side - deciding out of the blue to have another litter.
"Perhaps you could gift them with a congratulatory nanny-thrall?" she suggested.
Not that she didn't like her own aunts and uncles well enough, but the idea of possibly having to babysit them was deeply unappealing. Well, that's what thralls were for, she supposed. Hence her suggestion.
"Well, I guarantee you the cubs' grandparents will be delighted, apparently on both sides, so you won't lack for volunteers when it comes to looking after them." She was making an uncharacteristic attempt to look on the bright side here. If she was going to have nieces and nephews in the near future, it seemed prudent to make a decent impression on the lioness who would be providing them.
"And you seem to have things well in hand," she added a little vaguely.
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 9:15 am
Bryn nodded. Her grandmother. The the lioness rolled her shoulders in a shrug. "Not so sure how well that would work out... My brother captured a thrall, next thing you know they're practically married and trying for a litter together, too. I feel like it would be an infinite loop of capturing thralls to be nannies, then someone trying to have babies with them, then needing a nanny thrall for those babies... And, well, you get the picture." Bryn sighed. She didn't even mention the rest of the strange relationship her family had with thrall-dom. She only existed because her mother and grandmother had been captured as thralls into the pride, then Chayah mated with Calder so she wouldn't become taken as some stranger's salt wife or thrall. Her aunt claimed them as family and they were freed, but Bryn's mother and grandmother still had a lot of contempt for those who would keep thralls. It was a source of conflict that her brother had taken one, even if they were in love now. It made Bryn's head hurt. "Family volunteering would probably be optimal. Who knows, maybe by the time they actually come around, my aunts and uncles will be of age to watch them. It'd be the least they could do to repay me for babysitting them." The notion made the white lioness grin. Yes, at least she wasn't a lone rogue who was pregnant after a one night stand with a roving male. Instead, this was a litter thoughtfully planned out and expected with a large pride to protect them. She should count herself lucky (grandmother having cubs or not).
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:09 am
Soja wrinkled her nose at the thought of mating with a thrall. She and her sibs had been partially raised by one, Txuratan, and they were all fond of him, but she couldn't imagine anyone in her immediate family actually choosing to reproduce with him. Of course, there was her father's father, who had done just that, producing one of their mother's friends, Auntie Lissa. But that whole situation was a nightmare best not gotten into.
"Yes," was all she said in response. It more or less covered everything Brynhildr had just said.
"I don't babysit," she said abruptly. More cordially she went on, "But if you need help in other ways, please ask. I was not as involved with my siblings growing up as I should have been."
That was awkward-sounding, Soja reflected ruefully, but she couldn't think of anything to say to salvage the situation. Perhaps that was a sign that she'd had enough social interaction for one day.
"Anyway, I'm glad I got to meet you, Brinhildr. I hope you know you could probably do better than my brother though. No matter how he talks himself up."
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