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 Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:08 pm
"Ma~!" came the bleated protest from the dark-furred adolescent lion pinned beneath his golden mother as she fussed over him, rough tongue sweeping through his unruly, youthful mane.
"Oh, hush," Shomoro told her son in between grooming licks, "You're dirty. You don't want ticks now, do you?"
"But maaa," Arasi complained, ears flat against his head. "It's embarassing!" He was too old for this! He was just as big as she was, for crying out loud!
"There's not even anyone here to see," the huntress insisted, grooming with renewed vigor. "Besides, if there were, your lack of hygiene would be embarassing to me. So," she added, biting his ear in reprimand when he tried to wiggle away, "Stay still already!"
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:47 pm
Well unfortunately for Arasi, there were in fact, two lionesses heading in their direction now. Mosi had been "bonding" with her daughter, Kani, on Kani's insistance that Mosi never did anything girly with her. To this, Mosi had scoffed in disbelief and turned away from her daughter, because when had Kani EVER known her mother to be girly, EVER? She'd lost the argument however, when Kani smartly pointed out that Mosi was in fact plenty girly for "daddy" from time to time.
"You know, I used to think you were innocent and sweet. This is low........... I'm so proud." She teased, smirking at Kani, who looked torn between being appauled and smug.
"Well, I -am- your daughter, mom. I had to learn something from you...... Mom?"
Mosi wasn't really listening though, one ear twitching as she focused her senses for a moment, answering Kani absently. "Shhh... I know this scent!"
Sheshe'kani couldn't do much more than watch her mother suddenly take off with long strides, surprised. After a quick mental kick, however, the tan female was after the darker lioness, only slowing to a stop when Mosi did.
"Shomo!" The grin was wide, golden eyes taking in the sight of the lioness she'd met so long ago, and a young male not much younger than her son, it seemed. "It's been forever and a day since I saw you last, how are you? .... And is this one yours?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:01 pm
Subdued for the moment, he stilled himself and sulked. It was true, at least there wasn't anyone arou- oh god! Apparently he'd thought too soon, because just then he caught a glimpse of a pair approaching from between coarse strands of mane.
A-and there was a girl, and...oh god! Arasi could have died on the spot, but chances were not even that would be an escape from his mother's fussing. Taking advantage of her surprise, the adolescent fled Shomoro's grasp and immediately set to trying to fix his mane, which she'd been so unkindly motherly as to mess up.
Shomoro let him go without a word of protest, staring wide-eyed at the lioness suddenly before her. A lioness who looked suspiciously like a certain cub she'd once known.
"Mosi!" she cried in joyous disbelief, rushing forward to embrace her. "Oh, Mosi! Is this your daughter? She's beautiful!"
"Oh, oh...yes, this is Arasi, one my sons - Arasi, where are you going? Come back here and be social!"
The young lion heaved a sigh and returned to his mother's side, caught.
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:15 pm
Kani looked on the scene with quite a bit of mirth, but much to Arasi's good fortune she got her manners from her father's side of the family, and actually attempted to repress it. The only sign that she'd noticed his mortification at all was the small sympathetic smile.
"I'm so glad you're still here! It's like everyone else I used to know just vanished into thin air!" The lioness replied with a joyus laugh, returning the embrace and ending it with an affectionate headbutt against Shomoro's shoulder, moving back enough to speak again, grinning. "This is Sheshe'kani, she's actually my middle child. Her older brother is around here somewhere, and the cubs are back at the den... four more." She sighed with a soft chuckle, sheepish. As Shomoro introduced the dark youth beside her then her eyes roamed to Arasi, winking. "Nice to meet you."
Kani, meanwhile, had pinned her ears back bashfully at the compliment, and if lions could blush her face would surely be red right then. Her pale eyes darted nervously just once, inclining her head and murmering a soft "It's a pleasure to meet you." just above a whisper. She wasn't used to being flattered by such kind words unless from her father, who was technically biased anyway.
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:26 pm
Arasi, having grown up with a rowdy bunch of brothers, was expecting to be laughed at, and so when he lifted his gaze and saw only a sympathetic smile, he found himself smiling as well, gratefully.
"Hello, ma'am," he mumbled at the dark lioness' greeting, recalling at least a little of the manners Lemaa'sheshe had taught him.
"Oh, no! I could never leave." The lioness' eyes, which shone with excitement, were touched briefly by regret at how much time has passed since she'd last seen her friend. "Six?! You have six?" Shomoro laughed, hardly able to believe it. Mosi, little Mosi, with six children! "I have four," she beamed, looking over at the son who had her eyes. "All boys, and all trouble!"
"Wonderful to meet you, Sheshe'kani," she returned, nudging her son. "Isn't it, Arasi?"
The adolescent wanted to crawl into a hole more than ever! Was everyone's mother this embarassing? "Uh...yeah. Sure, sure it is."
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:49 pm
"Yes, I have to claim them. Seven if you count their father." She rolled her eyes, but didn't really mind it at all. In fact, she was just as guilty of being childish as Juhudi was. "And don't worry so much about the time. It's just way too easy to loose track of other people in a pride this size. Do you stay at, or anywhere near Pride Rock? Near here anywhere?"
Kani smiled a bit and nodded in acknowledgement, but then cleared her throat gently, glancing to Arasi, then back to Mosi, wondering if it might be alright for them to go since it was clear the older females wanted to talk, and Kani could tell it was going to be mostly one of those "catching up on old times" kind of things. It was plain as daylight that Arasi was hoping for a way out too, so the young adult spoke up on both of their behalfs.
"Well... you two probably have a lot to catch up on. We'll just leave you to that...."
"Hmmm..."
Mosi narrowed her eyes playfully at the two, then quirked a brow at Shomoro, as if asking if they should let the two off the hook so easily.
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 10:04 pm
Shomoro chuckled. "A mate, hmm?" The older lioness' eyes twinkled. Though she had indeed met a very dashing male, the relationship hadn't been long term. "Oh, yes! Not far from Pride Rock at all. There's another lioness who stays with us, Lemaa'sheshe, and it's better for her to be close in. She has a bad leg, you see."
Arasi brightened visibly at Sheshe'kani's suggestion - oh, please, he'd go anywhere that wasn't here! He adored his mother, he really did, but all of a sudden he didn't want to be anywhere near her. She was embarassing him, and in front of other lions! Maybe it was something to do with being around another mother; maybe they fed off each other or something.
"Hmm," Shomoro echoed, making a show of considering. "I suppose it couldn't hurt. They're that age, you know, where they always have better things to do. It would be cruel of us to keep them."
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:11 am
To this Mosi just chuckled, shaking her head a bit.
"I guess it would." She remembered that not all that long ago she was the same way, doing everything in her power to sneak away from her father's overprotective presence. "Alright, alright. Get out of here." She smirked.
Relieved, Kani smiled a bit akwardly and bowed her head again. "It really was nice to meet you, Shomoro," Before turning to head away, glad to get away from the akward scene, and sure the younger male would be too.
"I'd say it gets easier with age, but it really doesn't." Kani chuckled, once again taking a moment just to enjoy the grass brushing against her legs as they put some distance between the older adults.
"So four boys? Are they all Arasi's age?" Mosi wondered, smiling a bit more relaxed now.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:09 am
"R-right...nice to meet you, Mosi!" he said, taking a cue from Kani before following her lead away from the chattering mothers. He moved briskly, wanting to get away before one of them could change their mind and call them back. That would be horrible!
"Thanks for that," Arasi said gratefully, heaving a sigh of relief. "Are all moms that embarassing?"
Shomoro nodded in answer to Mosi's question, flexing her forepaws against the ground in a little stretch. "All the same litter." The huntress seemed to pause for a moment, glancing at the disappearing figures of the children. "Well...no, that's not entirely true. They were all much too young to remember it now, but one of them I adopted. They don't know, of course, and he doesn't look so far different that they suspect anything."
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:36 am
Mosi wasn't all that surprised to hear it, after learning that her stepgrandfather's sister had done the same, and those cubs looked nothing like one another. "The number of parentless cubs seems to be dropping, at least. Counting yours, and my mate, and my great aunt's two I don't think I've heard of any others being abandoned or orphaned. So, have you been up to anything, aside from raising your hoarde of boys, that is?"
She questioned with a light grin, motioning for them to walk as they talked, sure that the adolescent and adult would find their way back later.
"No problem. And I think it's a general rule, yes." She laughed, shaking her head. "At least your mother only does the usual stuff. My mom's the type that blurts out all kinds of embarassing stories from when we were cubs, and doesn't even think twice about it."
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:53 am
"It's a good thing to hear." Shomoro nodded, thinking of her handsome Auri'mwezi. No one would ever guess the yellow and black adolescent wasn't really one of hers. "Not much, besides that," she admitted, laughing, "They're a full-time job! Although more and more they're off doing things farther away instead of upsetting the den with their antics."
"Thank goodness," she added with a chuckle as she walked beside Mosi. "It seems like there's plenty of room until they start wrestling!"
"Good, at least mine's not the only one," he chuckled, a touch of nervousness in the sound. The feminine presence in his life so far had been limited to his mother, his nanny, and more recently little Sen. He couldn't help but feel awkward. "She does, really? I don't think I did much embarassing, except for getting stuck in the termite mound...and that was so not my fault."
Arasi grinned sheepishly, flicking his mane out of his eyes.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:38 pm
"Sometimes I think we'd be so lucky. Kani and Shin may be the oldest, but they still bicker like they're cubs. And I know what you mean, there's plenty of space until someone decides to declare war."
Though she wouldn't change it for anything, really. Mosi was the kind of lioness that enjoyed roughousing rather than cuddling so much, though she certainly didn't mind that either. It was a little hard to believe that she'd been so much smaller when she first met and last saw Shomoro, though, she was glad for this chance to catch up and talk again. The yellow female was one of the few adults that Mosi enjoyed being around back then.
"It's probably their way of venting from when their mothers did it to them as cubs." Kani giggled a bit, at first not noticing anything out of place. Her experience with males was drastically short as well, so rather than chalk this up to being her presence causing his reaction, she thought it was more likely because of the topic. "Let me guess, one of your brothers was responsible?" Just a hunch she had, really.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:25 pm
"You've got brawlers too, huh?" Shomoro chuckled fondly. She wouldn't trade her rambunctious sons for anything, even if she sometimes woke to being smacked into by tussling children. "How is it having a daughter?" she asked curiously.
"You think so?" Arasi flicked his ears forward. It sounded like a reasonable explanation. He nodded then, in answer. "We were playing tag, and Feo ran in a hole that wasn't quite big enough for me."
His tail hurt just thinking about it. That was how his other two brothers had tried to pull him out at first. "How about you? Little siblings must be a pain."
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:40 pm
"I'm lucky for now. Kani doesn't like to wrestle but, we adopted a wolf pup that's about Shin's age, and they wrestle a lot. Kani's always been on the girlier side of things. Not really sure how or where she gets it from." Mosi blinked, expressing her confusion.
"It's tiring sometimes, but we girls outnumber the boys. I guess I should probably be finding my own den by now, but, I've gotten so used to being with my family that.... well..." The idea of living alone, even within the pridelands, was daunting. And she knew Shin wouldn't be able to put up with her if they were roommates, so she didn't even dare to suggest it. "My brother, Shin'jougen, is really the only one that gets on my nerves."
She loved him dearly all the same. He was her brother.
"He's gross, bossy, immature, loud, and he's always convincing Totoro, his wolf friend, to help pick on me. I mean, we're grown adults by now, we're too old for pranks like that!" She ranted, frowning with genuine irritation before she realized how carried away she'd gotten. Suddenly she looked embarassed. "Sorry... I guess I get a little worked up when I think about it."
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:51 pm
"A wolf pup?" Oh my! "Dear me, everyone must be adopting these days." Though she joked, it was actually very heartwarming how open the families of the Pridelands were. She hoped that would never change. "I guess it just happens that way sometimes. I mean, I certainly wouldn't consider myself boyish, and certainly not Sheshe, but my boys are...well, very much boys."
"Finding your own den? We're supposed to do that?" That one did such a thing had never before occurred to Arasi, and so he was quiet for a moment as he thought about it. He wasn't sure he liked it. "But it would be so cold. And quiet."
"It's okay," he assured her hesitantly after her brief rant. "My brothers and I all get on each other's nerves, too."
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