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 Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 1:44 pm
Eione was taking a day off from healing. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she couldn't throw herself completely into it but she found it to be a nice distraction from worrying about everything else, even if her work was a harsh reminder of everything else. She was laying in the shade near the center of the pride, though away from where the healers and sickest lions could be found. She had no plan for the day but she was having trouble not thinking about some unsettling things. She couldn't help but wonder how Dabulamanzi was doing now that he was mostly healed but definitely stuck here. Or how little Kua was doing, and if his brothers were showing symptoms of the plague as early as him. And, of course, there were plenty of things she had seen since starting as a healer that stuck with her.
Breaktime wasn't mentally peaceful but she was trying to make it work.
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 1:49 pm
 Lutum was wandering around, as was his wont, when his eye fell on the one person in the pride he was guaranteed to pay attention to. Eione, his one and only sister. The yellow lioness was lying down, staring off into space. Thinking, probably. As a Healer, she undoubtedly had a lot to think about. He was still impressed that she'd decided on such a path - not that he'd ever doubted she could do it, just the fact that she wanted to. "You," he said, coming up to her, "look like you've got a lot on your mind." The brown lion flopped down beside her. "Want to talk about it?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 1:56 pm
Eione started, coming back to reality as her brother suddenly appeared at her side, offering an ear. It took a second for the stunned look to turn into a smile and she nudged Lutum.
"You startled me," she said, "I guess I was lost in thought, nothing you should have to worry about, though."
It was nice of Lutum to offer to listen to her but she wasn't sure how much he really wanted to hear about the things that were on her mind. His cynicism wasn't what she needed right now and she was sure he'd have too many things to say if he heard about her new friend.
"It seems like I haven't seen you in forever!" she said, "Are you keeping busy?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 2:00 pm
"Well, that's good to hear!" he replied with a grin. It's not that he wouldn't listen if she did want to talk, but, well, they didn't always see eye to eye. Eione was much more willing to give her all to this pride where they lived and he...
...well, he had some questions he'd very carefully avoided asking himself for a very long time now.
"Eh, busy enough," the brown lion told her. Really, he didn't do a lot. Sometimes a bit of hunting, sometimes a bit of covering for a Guard...little things. He hadn't really found an aspect of the Kitwana'antara that he wanted to dedicate himself to the way Eione had.
"And what about you? Enjoying being a Healer? Or is that the right word for it..." he fumbled verbally, realizing too late that in this pride, "enjoy" might not be the operative term.
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 2:07 pm
Despite his easy acceptance of her brushing off her thoughts, Eione smiled. They both knew how to get along, they never held things like this against the other. She liked to hear he was busy enough, though she knew he hadn't deemed anything worthy of his full attention and she would have liked to hear he had.. it was better than nothing.
She really wanted to ask if he had made any friends, though.
"Yes," she said, snickering at his fumbling, "I do enjoy it, though I still need a lot of practice. One of my patients was a cub and he did not seem very impressed with me."
No point commenting on who it was, it was rather funny that he had been so unimpressed with her, though. She was far from being able to walk into any situation and having all the answers, though she sometimes got that impression from some of the older healers.
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 2:44 pm
 (( =D !!! ))
It could not be said that Dabulamanzi was happy with how things had turned out. Being struck down by plague and living the rest of his life in one place, forever separated from his family, was not his idea of a happy future. Especially for a lion who had been a bit of an adventurer and one with a competitive streak, too, even if he had only rarely come out on top. However, whilst this life was not what he would have chosen, he had begun to begrudgingly accept it.
He loved life and even though being plague-ridden was not much fun and promised only suffering and an early grave, he was all too aware that he could have been killed that day when he had strayed into Kitwana'Antara hunting grounds and suffered the injury that he had. Left untreated the deep wound would have likely festered and there was no saying what might have happened under those circumstances. So, in a way, things could be worse and that's how he had been trying to deal with what was happening to him. He was still grumpy - particularly when his condition swayed back into the 'bad' category - but when the sickness was 'bearable' the spark of his old self couldn't help but shine through. Eione had helped with that, too. She had found him, helped heal him and broken the news to him about what was in store for him. And, when the sickness was confirmed and his fate was sealed, it was she who had come to cheer him up and encourage him to try and make the most of what life was left to him. He'd been doing okay at that, too. He was getting about a bit more and had made sure to eat even on the days when he really would have preferred not to. His only problem was that now he had been turned out of the medical dens he was struggling to come up with excuses to visit with Eione (apparently being her friend was not enough of a reason).
So, that day when he was picking his way very carefully down the rocky terrain, he brightened at hearing her voice. The only problem this presented, however, was the fact that if she was talking she was not alone. Perhaps he ought not to bother her...
Glancing around quickly, he decided he would try to cut across the rocky slope to circle back the way he had come and make sure that he kept his distance. Unfortunately for him, his balance wasn't what it had once been and his hind legs slipped out from under him, rocks rolling free beneath the pads of his paws and clattering down the slope.
And, if that hadn't been enough, he'd yelped in surprise, too. He really needed to work on his finesse.
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 5:02 pm
Well, that was good! Except for the unimpressed cub...but he supposed if he'd been the cub, he wouldn't have been too impressed either. Since he'd been that kind of cub. It wasn't that uncommon, or so he thought. But he wouldn't comment on that.
"Practice makes-" Lutum failed to complete his thought at the sudden noise of falling rocks followed by an unknown brown lion falling into their conversation with a yelp. The dark brown lion craned his head around to stare at the intruder.
"Do you need a Healer, after that fall? My sister Eione could probably help you out," he offered dryly. True, the lioness might swat him with her claws for promising her help without even asking, but the timing was too sublime.
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 5:39 pm
Eione was nodding even before Lutum could finish his thought, knowing which cliche he was going say, but she jumped when she heard the falling rocks and yelp. She was on her feet even before her brother finished offering her help, smirking at him and shaking her head before taking a few steps towards her friend.
"Dabula," she greeted him, smiling, "Are you OK?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:48 pm
"Oh, hahaha, um...n-no I'm fine." He looked incredibly embarrassed as he pulled himself back up onto his feet, coughing as he turned to look across at Eione and her friend. Or, not friend, but brother. The pair of them had such unusual markings that it would be impossible to not realise they were related. The realisation had him craving his own brothers. They fought a lot but he loved them, too.
"I'm totally fine." He said again, using a fore paw to brush the dust off of the front of his mane. "I...wasn't listening in or anything. I was just...wandering by and tripped." His ears dropped a little. "Just getting some exercise, you know? To, uh, build up some strength."
He gave them a large, sheepish grin. "I'll--just be going now."
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:13 pm
Grey eyes widened, then narrowed as he realized that not only did Eione recognize the other lion, she knew him by name. Well, he wasn't her keeper, but he was a bit anxious that he didn't know this other lion at all.
But Lutum did know cubs who were better liars. This Dabula, as Eione had called him, wasn't particularly good at concealing a guilty conscience. Or maybe that was just embarrassment. The dark brown lion decided to give the other male the benefit of the doubt for now.
"No need!" he told the other lion heartily. "We weren't discussing anything particularly important. But tell me, how do you two know each other?" he asked, with a sharp look for his one and only dearest sister.
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:25 pm
It took her a second to decide that his nervous laughter was a good sign, he wasn't hurt or ill at the moment.. he was just embarrassed, and she couldn't help but smile at that. Eione's eyes stayed on Dabula, shaking her head, though she answered her brother's question.
"Dabulamanzi was one of my first patients," she said, "Now he's my friend."
This would have been a good opportunity to point out that he was new to the pride and needed friends- especially since Eione loved to go on about how Lutum needed friends sometimes.. but suddenly she was feeling shy of introducing the two. Then she realized she stayed quiet (and staring at Dabula) too long. So she looked back and forth between them awkwardly.
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:38 pm
"Oh...okay then." He paused and turned back to fully face them, nodding a little in agreement. "That's right. But you can just call me Dabula if you like." His name could be a bit of a mouthful at times and Dabula worked just as well at getting his attention.
"Yeah...I was kind of an idiot and got myself hurt so Eione helped me. Then I got sick." He trailed for a moment and then picked up again. "You're her brother, right? Nice to meet you."
He wondered if the adult male was immune, too, like his sister. They must have had strong genes, if so. "I'm kind of new so...I don't know too many people yet."
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:52 pm
A patient, ah, that did explain it. And he'd heard that Healers often became friends with patients they worked closely with, so that was also unsurprising. What did seem off was the fact that Eione, Eione of all people was suddenly shy. Lutum raised a mental eyebrow as he turned to give Dabula his attention.
"It's nice to meet you too," he responded - the phrase had finally become automatic thanks to Nawiri's reinforcement. His gaze flitted from one to the other. It was almost as if they were both hiding something...from him? Must be from him, since he was apparently the only person not in on whatever it was.
Some suspicions reared their ugly heads, but he didn't know Dabula well, and he'd long ago given up trying to predict Eione.
"It may seem like there are a lot of people here, but if you make the effort you'll find out there aren't so many of us. Not hard to meet most people," he offered at last.
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 3:02 pm
Eione kept looking back and forth between them, her expression changing from awkward shyness to thoughtful consideration. Similar views on the world had to be helpful in making friends and it almost made her think she should push them to get to know each other despite herself.. but they both had tendencies to be grim, she didn't want to encourage that in them even if they both could use more friends.
Of course, it wasn't looking good when her brother failed to offer his name.
"His name is Lutum, by the way," she said, giving her brother a look before smiling at Dabula, "You're welcome to join us if you aren't busy. It's a nice spot." She took a few steps back to where she had been laying, sitting down by her brother's side.
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 3:10 pm
"Lutum. Right." Dabulamanzi gave another nod (accompanied by a short cough) and moved closer, finally taking a seat. His fur was looking in slightly better condition now - something he was thankful for. Meeting others with a scraggly pelt wasn't the best way to make a good first impression.
"And there are...non-lions here, too?" He wasn't used to that, seeing canines and other felines wandering about at ease around lions and one another. "Can't say I've interacted with them much before." Not at all, in truth, though he didn't want to admit that out loud. It might seem a little rude. Still, he'd been taught to steer well clear of most other species when possible.
"I'm not really all that busy." He continued, hoping that Lutum wouldn't mind. "Are you a healer too?" He asked the other male, not sure whether Eione might have mentioned it before or not. He blamed his sickness on being so forgetful.
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