[SRP] Home and Hearth (Destati x Arimathras)

[Epine de Rose]

"I'm keeping you. Thx."

 

[Epine de Rose]

They had always had a strange relationship; one that wasn't entirely understood by themselves, let alone anyone around them. For the most part, the pair of lions had been a source of amusement by observers, but beyond that, no one had ever been quite sure of their relationship. In the eyes of many, Arimathras was a nuisance to the Justicar who simply entertained her due to her divine nature... But to others, there were arguments that there had always been more there. After all, the Justicar didn't suffer fools and he certainly didn't pander to the whims of even the most high ranking of officials, so what made this one different?

The debates had continued for much of their stay in the roguelands, a topic of conversation for bored Collective members who needed a distraction from the current circumstances they found themselves in. Or rather, it had continued until the game had changed and the Scourge had retreated. The resulting reaction had been joyous; or it had been for a time until it became clear that their Justicar was less than happy.

Not everything was as it seemed, and while they all had leave to return home for now, none were encouraged to return to a life of normalcy. Thus they had all returned to the Al-Siq Sayir and had picked up roughly where they left off, only one remained close by due to the complexity of his relationship with both the Justicar and his duties deep within the warrens. It was this individual who was granted a unique perspective when it came to the Justicar and the rather bizarre behaviour he began to exhibit on his return to the Blue Province.

He was polite of course, Destati was always courteous to those around him; but while the province celebrated his victorious return, he didn't echo their sentiments. Those who observed him had assumed this was due to settling in after a considerable amount of time elsewhere, but to those close to him... Well, it was safe to say they knew what was wrong with him. The moment he had returned home it had become abundantly clear that the strange relationship he and the deity had was nothing short of complete and utter adoration... The problem was that both of them were terrible at expressing it.

The Justicar was pining.

Even he knew it; he'd entered a stupor and continued to live in that stupor as he gazed out across a province that he should have been happy to return to. Instead, all he felt was that cliched sense of emptiness and isolation. He was back in his homeland, but without anything that really felt like home...at least not anymore. Years ago he would have been satisfied with his own company but now he rather missed the antics of not only his collective, but his family. Yes, the spotted lion had grown used to the constant chittering of the mother of his children and to some extent, his children.

...Their chittering was slightly different though; it was more like bickering and battles of wits and sarcasm. However, it was still a buzz that he'd never had before and until very recently, hadn't understood why his father had deemed it such a vital aspect of life.

"Fancy that," he murmured quietly to himself as he rested the side of his head against the cave entrance and continued to stare out into the seemingly endless expanse.

"Fancy what...?" The voice asked, tone one of confusion as the white lioness peered out from over his shoulder and into the land beyond. It was certainly pretty - it was vibrant and filled with colour, not a far stretch from the Bahari in terms of the amount of water in view, but she still couldn't pinpoint exactly what had caught the male's interest. Then again, she'd never quite worked out how to read him - up until this point she had just sort of arrived and he had put up with her. At least that was the feeling she had always got whenever she entered his very hectic lifestyle and often left bombs in his wake; largely in the form of squirming cubs. In her defence, she'd raised them on her own and kept them out of his mane.

However, his reaction was not something she was expecting. No sooner had she opened her mouth than he had practically leapt out of his own skin, lost his footing in his attempt to stand up on the smooth surface, and was now staring at her in astonishment.

"Hi," She offered. "Maybe I should have started with that."

"Hello," he replied slowly. "Where did you come from?"

"Behind you."

"Well yes, but where," he nodded to the fact that this particular ledge didn't have a back entrance, he'd climbed up here to achieve this vantage point, a sneak attack shouldn't have been possible.

"Oh," she followed his gaze and then gave a sheepish smile. "Right, I guess I never did that before did I?"

"Just showed up?"

"Uh huh."

"That's a thing?"

"Yep."

There was a moment of silence as the two regarded each other in silence; Arimathras not entirely sure of how to proceed given his much more dramatic reaction to what she thought he would have been used to by now...and Destati because she had never actually done that before. More to the point, he wasn't entirely confident he knew what the purpose of her visit was. Didn't she prefer to remain in the roguelands, an occasional visit to prides here and there, but ultimately once her playthings left, didn't she find another...?

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" He said finally, recovering at least a semblance of his dignity. He'd righted himself in the process and looked as regal, if a touch confused, by her unannounced arrival into his life.

Again.

Frankly, this should be considered normal now rather than unannounced, but Arimathras would probably hold that discussion at another time.

"Oh, well..." The white lioness soon lost her exhuberance and became much more withdraw. She was nervous, certainly unsure of herself, and it was a rare moment in which Destati looked alarmed. Even when she'd brought news of more cubs she'd looked delighted, so what would cause that kind of shift?

"Is everyone all right?"

"What?" she looked up abruptly and then shook her head. "Oh no, no they're all fine, I checked." She confirmed. "All healthy, even Tethys is settled back home with Dione," she added.

"Then what's wrong?" he pressed.

"Um..." Another hesitation. "So now that the bad guys have run away, you're staying here right?" she said finally.

"Yes," he replied simply. "This is where I come from."

"Right," She nodded. "So if any of your children want to come here and stay with you, they can right?"

Destati lifted a brow, he hadn't been aware this was even a question and he had made that abundantly clear, though they were also free to choose their own homes if they desired.

"Of course," he reassured her. "Was there any -"

"What about me?" She interrupted.

"Pardon?"

"Me. What about me?"

Another silence followed as both lion and deity stared at each other, one increasingly more vulnerable as time went on, and the other a little lost for words. Eventually the spotted lion did manage to formulate a reply though, even if it wasn't the most eloquent he'd ever mustered.

"You want to come here?" He asked slowly. "As in to live?"

Suffice to say he'd not be a politico any time soon.

Nor would she.

"I mean, this is where my family is," She murmured. "I think." She winced as the lion raised a brow, he couldn't even help himself.

"So you want to know if it's acceptable to move here in order to be with our sons in the event they do opt to live in this region?" he clarified. It made sense, he could certainly see why a mother would want to make this decision, and she wasn't a warmonger so she would find a place here in several provinces if she so choose.

"Oh, no I can show up to say hello to them whether anyone likes it or not," she pointed out and wrinkled her nose. "I do that all the time with the twins," she added.

Now he wasn't following.

"Right..." he said slowly.

"I meant you," she sucked in a breath and then, seemed to speak so rapidly that she left the male's head spinning. "I mean I know that I never actually said anything about it and you didn't either but we have a family together and I felt like you didn't really mind me being round and I just thought that maybe there was something there but I'm not really sure because you're really hard to read and honestly I figured if one of us didn't say anything then I would end up all alone again and I don't like that because I love you and I don't want to be alone anymore."

"Erhm," he cleared his throat and shook his head.

"Don't ask me to say all that again I don't remember all of it word for word," she interjected.

"Well I think I got the jist of it," he said finally after he'd had an opportunity to process the information. He wasn't about to admit that his stomach had developed butterflies, no grown male was going to admit he'd transformed into a giddy teenager internally.

"Jist?"

"All of it," Destati responded sharply, a tone that caused the lioness's ears to flatten apologetically.

"Oh ok," she murmured.

Another delay, one of many that had existed in this conversation. Destati had never been known for making an atmosphere awkward, but he was becoming rather adept at it. Arimathras was beginning to squirm under his gaze by this point and as a lioness who had never felt the need to flee before, she was certainly beginning to appreciate why some creatures did it.

"So when can I expect your official arrival?" he asked at last.

"Really?" The transformation was immediate, green eyes positively lighting up at what was arguably a very important moment in her life. Well she would regard it as a very important moment, he'd been totally ok with what she said, he'd accepted it.

...Hadn't he?

He raised his brow again, this time more in line with his usual expression.

"Well I was thinking that it would be uh..." Maybe she shouldn't push too far too quickly, what was it that her leopard friend had said? Something to do with cub steps, sometimes if you took too many you fell over again.

"Now?" Destati made the decision for her. "Excellent, I'll let the help know that we're expecting a new occupant," he added. It was a declaration that made her gape on this occasion and sure enough, she was almost back to her giddy self. She really was squirming now, but not so much from discomfort as absolute delight.

"O-oh yay!" She declared. "An occupant, how very swanky." She added.

"Well I would say wife," Destati shook his head. "But we're not married yet."

"Wait, wait, wait...what did you say?"

"Nobles don't have live in mistresses, it's unbecoming." He stated as the tiny, winged bundle of fluff continued to vibrate beside him. Now this was a rather new reaction from her, he'd seen excitement before but this was on another level. "Perhaps you should take some time to let that sink in," he suggested softly and returned his gaze towards his province. He couldn't prevent the impish smile from creeping on to his lips as he heard the high pitched 'eee' behind him, and then oddly, a small 'poof' noise.

He was going to go out on a limb and say that she probably wasn't behind him anymore but it was good to know that if he listened very closely, he could detect her arrival and departure when she utilised that mode of transport.

Total Words: 2002