[FIN] Darkness (Ukarimu & Gealach Scath)

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It was dark at night.

Which was kind of a stupid thing to think, but it was. Sometimes Gealach slept outside just to feel the sun's heat on his fur. It made him nostalgic for being able to doze in the sunlight, even though he'd slept at night as a cub. Being awake all night still felt odd, as if he was doing something forbidden.

Was it bad that he had trouble thinking of himself as an adult and functioning member of the pride? He still lived in his parents' den half the time too, regardless of what his brothers did or didn't do.

At least they didn't change, no matter what happened in the pride.  

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"Huh? Uh, nothing, Dad," Gealach answered out of habit. No, he wasn't hungry, ill, or dying. He wasn't seeing anybody romantically, at least, not since that encounter a couple years ago. He was a Lord and so didn't have many responsibilities in the pride...so there was nothing. Nothing to go right or wrong. He just was.

"I don't know," he replied. "Do you miss the sun?" It was a strange question, he supposed. He knew the sun wasn't gone, but the fact that he wasn't encouraged to see it hurt.  

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Gealach pondered that. He was glad he wasn't the only one, but he wasn't sure what his Dad's comment about his Mom meant. And he wasn't sure that his Dad had really addressed the problem.

"Yeah, I can see the sun now and then, but it's not the same. Now I don't always see it when before I'd be in it every day," the younger lion stumbled over his words, trying to explain. He wasn't very good at it.

"What does Mom have to do with you not seeing the sun?" Gealach asked, trying to avoid his own awkwardness.  

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Gealach had never thought about relatives through his dad, so the revelation that such people existed was completely unexpected. Oh sure, he knew he had relatives, he was related to most of the pride it seemed, but he'd never really thought about the fact that none of those people shared blood with his dad. This strange new information overwhelmed Ukarimu's words about seeing the sun, and his questions about what it was that the boy truly missed.

"I have an aunt and a grandmother outside of the pride? Why don't they visit? Or did they come during the daytime when nobody's awake?"

Gealach was not the most focused individual in the world, especially if he could avoid looking like a failure of a lion by changing the subject.  

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"Oh, I see," the younger lion replied. He did, kind of. Things were so tense, nobody wanted to draw any attention to themselves if they didn't have to. And his mom wasn't exactly in the safest of ranks, which could sometimes splash on her family. His dad more than him, but he was still related.

"No, I don't think I have any other questions," Gealach added in answer to his father's query. Which actually meant "Yes I have so many more questions but I would never ever ask any of them for fear of being seen as a completely moronic idiot and because you're my father and that would just be awkward in multiple sense of the word."

Having family was kind of tough, sometimes. So was being an adult. You were supposed to be able to rely on your parents, but there was always a point where you simply couldn't ask questions anymore.