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Mundoo never really slept much at night. In part, it had to do with the fact his chosen muse was the moon (and she was apparently, horribly loud - he'd never realized that at first, but as time passed, her voice had grown horribly insistent). Not even when he spent time in the Ushers caves, away from the night sky, did she become silent; her light would filter through the cracks and holes and she would demand attention.

As such, it was hardly surprising that come sunrise, the male lion was usually exhausted and ready to fall to sleep. Which meant that right around the time he usually managed to find peace and quiet... most of the pride, including his mate, were ready to jump up and enjoy the new day.

Mundoo mumbled something unintelligible as he flicked an ear, cracking open one eye to look at Aviva before groaning, "I've got no work today - I am sleeping in," there was, after all, no need for an Usher when there was no one dieing. He had the right to sleep in if he wished to.

He'd been about ready to voice that when a merry voice spoke up from the near distance, "My, my... you were never one for sleeping in, Mundoo. Not that I recall anyhow," out of the nearby foliage came a brown hued lioness, her form covered with strings and bells; every single step she took was accompanied by musical chiming. Needless to say, all that noise would probably make her the world's worst huntress, but then again, since she'd returned, Nyoni hadn't needed to hunt.

She rarely hunted, really, even though she was rather adept at it - she found that trading her services with other prides in return for food and shelter pleased her more than having to do the actual dirty work. She'd come to the Kizingo'zaa in passing, really, but the sight of her brother settled there with his new family made her decide it was Fate calling to her and telling her to stay too. Thus she had requested to be accepted and had taken the title of story seeker - it suited her traveling purposes but gave her a home to return to, "You look fine," her eyes traveled to Aviva, "Both of you."

The sound of bells did nothing to rouse Mundoo up from his half asleep state, however, when the brown lioness' voice called out to them, his eyes snapped open instantly. that voice - he would have recognized that voice just about anywhere. How could he not? When all was said and done, Nyoni had been the one to rescue him when he'd been metaphorically drowning. Granted, she had left him alone, broken and confused on the shore after his rescue, but he could not forget that she had been the one that had saved him back then.

The press of his mate's body against him seemed to drag him out of the 'then' and back into 'now', also serving to remind him whom it was had found him alone and confused on that shoreline and had made it her job to also save him and put the pieces back where they belonged. His head slowly lifted from the ground and turned to face the brown lioness, though he remain silent.

The silent treatment was not new to Nyoni - after all, she had met Mundoo at his worst and had brought him out of his shell. She'd endured countless days of the silent treatment back then, "Aviva, Mundoo," she voiced after the green lioness spoke, a brown arching, as if she were mildly amused by something or other, "Time has done you both lots of good I see?" if Nyoni could feel the tension... she wasn't really showing it.

Her eyes, pale in color, watched the pair, her tail swishing lazily behind her, "I'm guessing that you're both together now?" there was absolutely no venom in her voice, whatsoever - in fact, there was warmth and some sort of accomplished undertone, as if she'd meant for this all along when it was clear she'd planned none of it.

"What are you doing here? I thought you left," Mundoo had finally found his words again, apparently, but they remain carefully guarded.

"I did," she said, then let out a sigh and sat down on the ground, as if the three of them had been friends for ever, "I traveled for a long time, and was passing by - I was planning to leave, but I found Enok, my brother, here... and I thought it was pretty much Fate calling to me, so I staying. I'm one of the pride's new Story seekers."

If Nyoni had noticed the fact Aviva was feeling restless enough that she'd snapped... she sure wasn't showing it. It was hard to tell if the brown lioness was oblivious to the fact, or had simply chosen to ignore it, "That's wonderful, dear! I'm very happy for the both of you. You truly deserve eachother. I'm glad that the story played out nicely while I was gone," despite the fact her words were well-meant, hey could be taken the wrong way by some people.

Mundoo was clearly one of them, because he physically flinched as the lioness spoke, his ears flattening back against the blackness of his mane, his eyes narrowing a notch. Aviva might have no noticed it, but the male was considering getting up and leaving, rather profoundly; the only thing that was keeping him in his place was the soft contact of his mate against his side. He'd thought he'd gotten over Nyoni, but he hadn't. not entirely anyhow, however... what he was feeling was not in any way what his mate was fearing he might.

It was resentment and mild anger which he was feeling. Annoyance and the need to storm away in a huff and hide from the world; he'd always taken things to an extreme and was prone to being over dramatic dealing with most situations. He needed time to ponder things through because everything was, in his opinion, moving way too fast for comfort.

While it was true he did not move, Aviva might have noticed how he tensed up - horribly so, almost as if he were preparing himself for some sort of fight, mental or otherwise, which could have been misinterpreted.

Nyoni was still rather oblivious, "They're charming, all of them. His son Eros... I feel a kinship with him, I'm glad they're around. I've been without family for so long," a pause, "What of your family? Do you have any?"

"How lovely!" she seemed genially pleased, for whatever reason, "I'm sure Miakis enjoyed having some siblings to play with - I was always a tad upset she was a sole cub, and had no brothers or sisters to be around. I wish my traveling hadn't imposed such a difficulty on her growths - I saw her recently. I thank you both for taking care of her," she was apparently, not taking the hint and seemed happy enough to be talking to them, but then again, she'd always been a hard lioness to talk to if only because she was so flighty and laid back.

It was probable that the land's blessing had little to do with it, for she'd always been that way, "Ahhh... no, no mates. No children either. Alas, I am a free spirit. I don't think I'll ever find someone to truly belong to. In that, I envy you."

Mundoo tensed up again, growled low, under his breath, just loud enough that only Aviva could hear and slowly pushed himself to his feet. He remain silent for a few moments, and then looked at the green pelted female, "I'm sorry," he told her and then lifted his head to address Nyoni, "I have duties to tend to," and with that, he turned around and left - he needed time to process this all, least he open his mouth and snap something he might regret later. It never occurred to him that his actions might be misinterpreted.

Nyoni watched him curiously, tilting her head to one side. She'd lived with him during his worse times... and this was familiar behavior to her, which didn't seem to bother her to much, "He's not changed that much, has he?" she asked when the male left.

Nyoni's head tilted to one side as she watched Aviva turn around, her smile still in place, even as the other female left. Her head lifted up to watch the general direction in which both lions had vanished and then let out a soft chuckle, "What an odd, odd pair, both of them," she murmured as if to herself. It wasn't till a small black crow flew down and perched on her rump that it became clear she was talking to the bird in question, "Don't you think?"

The bird eyed her carefully through ice blue eyes for one long moment, and then silently spread his wings and departed again, almost as if it'd never been there in the first place.

"Yeah," she told the bird as it left, "I think so too; coming here was a good idea. Maybe it'll force them to face their demons. If they can't get over it... then their love was surely not worth anything in the first place," That said, the lioness left in the general direction the crow had vanished off towards.