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 Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 8:32 pm
Kihalua inhaled deeply, and felt loved every bit of it. It wasn't easy, moving to a new land and adopting a new set of beliefs, but he liked to think he was adapting rather well. Lately, he was able to pass a female without bowing his head and didn't feel the need to hunt with the boys just to pass the time. It was strangely relieving to have a specific purpose. And while someday he may come to hate it, today, he was happily humming a tune while working.
The golden tip of his tail matched the rhythm of his bum when he swayed from side to side. "Hrm...blue or green? Blue...? or....green?" Kihalua stuck his tongue out and rotated different colored stones in the necklace setting he'd just created. Some might have called it excessive, but on the right neckline, it would look magnificent. "Why does this always happen? I get right to the colors annnnddddd...stop."
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:25 am
Pur'Jed was finding it something of a challenge to pretend that everything in her life was fine and normal. It seemed as though she never had any time to herself, since what time she did have was divided between fulfilling her familial obligations and those which weighed on her as a member of the noble class. Not to mention a project she'd taken on for herself, that of caring for Koursi as he convalesced.
Nevertheless, she had to either find or make time, and so far she was managing well enough. True, she was tired, and maybe a bit snappish, but she hoped that could be forgiven. Everyone knew adolescence was a difficult time for a lioness, and so perhaps she wouldn't be held to the same standards of perkiness as a cub. Besides, at least she hadn't turned up pregnant like Nyota. Gods, what a fiasco that had been.
It helped that Pur had a plan for how she would win people over and distract them from her frequent and prolonged absences - she would go among the lower classes and compliment them on their work. That should throw everyone for a loop, given everyone knew how she felt about lower classes. She didn't think her attitude was inappropriate or incorrect, but she did know it was not the most popular one under Bwana's rule.
Today's task was to bestow a compliment on the costumier who had worked on the play she'd watched last night. She thought his name was Kihalua, but if she was wrong, she could simply make the necessary corrections. There probably wouldn't be an apology forthcoming. But she didn't concern herself too much as she made her way through the area where artisans and those who worked on the plays lived and worked. He should just be grateful for her attention, right?
"Excuse me," she said to the first lion she saw dealing with something artistic. "I'm looking for a lion named Kihalua."
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 5:38 pm
"Hmm?" He turned around to face the speaker and widened his eyes when he saw her pelt color. A noble, most likely, with that amount of purple. That air in which she carried herself was also a big indicator, but most females in his old pride acted like that, so he paid little attention to it. He didn't know her name, and felt slightly ashamed because of it. "I am he. Is there something I can do for you, mistress?"
He moved to stand up, and with a hurried flick, pushed his mane out of his eyes. The necklace lay exposed where he'd left it like many of the random objects he'd had his paws on since birth.
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Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 8:23 pm
Well. That would certainly make this easier, Pur'Jed thought to herself. She hated to waste time looking for people. If the lion had not been the one she sought, as she had expected he would not be, she would have sent him to find the object of her interest. It was one of the perquisites of being nobility, being able to do that sort of thing, and it really made everyone's life much simpler, she believed.
"Ah. How convenient," she said, putting on one of her Nobility Among the Commonfolk smiles. There were actually a few smiles which came under that category, and they each had different purposes. This particular one was meant for bestowing gifts or compliments. Magnanimity and generosity were key.
"I am very pleased to meet you. I greatly admired your work in a production I saw recently, and wished to congratulate you on a job well done. Your efforts truly enhanced my enjoyment of the play."
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Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 12:03 pm
Her smile washed away what worry he had of reprimands and chastisement. With it came a smile of his own, as pure and simple as the sun itself. Kihalua didn't have different masks for separate situations; just the one he was born with that rang true to his soul.
"Oh! Thank you, mistress. It's always a pleasure to have compliments on ones work, especially by someone of your standing." He wasn't completely used to the way of wording in the pride yet, but the a** kissing was already there. "Speaking of, would you mind having a look at this?" He gestured towards the necklace. "I can't decide between the green or the blue stone."
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 5:53 am
Simple people, simple pleasure, Pur thought to herself as the lion's concerned expression vanished and was replaced by a smile so bright it could only be genuine. It pleased Pur to know she'd brought so much pleasure and delight to this simple creature's day, simply by remarking that he had done his job a little better than average. For a minimal expenditure of effort, she had improved the morale of the pride. Her mother would be proud.
"I expect it is," Pur said without thinking about her words.
Her mind was on the fact that when nobility did its job well, no one complimented them. Everyone just assumed that they were all born graceful and beautiful and with a complete knowledge of etiquette for every possible situation. No one thought about the work, the endless repetition and practice involved with acting the part of a noble. In many ways, it was more difficult than what players had to do, for although players had to assume multiple roles and personalities, they could be themselves when the production was over. A noble could never relax. Pur had relaxed once, and that had been a mistake beyond reckoning.
"But it is no more than you deserve," she added automatically while mentally chiding herself to pay attention.
With a mind to her duties, Pur nodded her assent and stepped closer to get a better look at the necklace Kihalua was at work on. It was a very nice piece, she thought, and for just a moment she felt a magpie-ish craving to possess it, but she ignored the desire. Necklaces and other pretty things were for lionesses who didn't allow strangers to have their way with them.
"My personal preference would be for the green," Pur said, and then laughed as if at herself. "But then I am quite obviously biased."
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Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:05 pm
As a Parastar in the Kunanda, Kihalua had been raised to follow his betters, namely the females of the pride and his family. Kind words came in the form of clipped phrases and the only real words of open companionship came from his sisters. Yet, when he'd become an adolescent, even those had ended. He'd prayed for a little brother in his mother's next litter so he wouldn't had to stay on his own, and the God's had shunned him.
And now, even though it was a female who was above him, he felt better about it. More relaxed. Even though she was exactly the person he should be trying to impress, he wasn't, because he didn't feel the need.
"The green?" He stepped forward and with a bit of wriggling, managed to fit the stone into it's proper place. He chuckled, and turned around, holding the bit of jewelry in the palm of his paw. "Biased or not, you have a good eye. Would you like to try it on?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 7:44 am
Pur'Jed watched as Kihalua fitted the stone into its setting. She'd never really taken the time to watch artisans work before. She preferred just to see the finished product as it was meant to be seen, rather than in its unfinished stages. Similarly, she had never cared too much for watching the players rehearse. In her opinion, it was always better to see the end result of all the work, presented in the best manner possible. What need had she for unfinished works still in-the-works?
"I thank you," she said a little stiffly, "but I had better not. It looks far too beautiful just as it is, and I fear if I tried it on I would become entirely too attached to the piece, and I imagine it is being made for some purpose other than to adorn me. I would mourn it, were I to try it on and then have to return it."
It really was a lovely bit of work, after all, and Pur knew herself to have a weakness for pretty things. Particularly pretty adornments. It was only because her mother had always cautioned her on the dangers of being too ornate, and thus risking becoming gaudy, that she managed to restrain herself when it came to acquiring such decorations as jewelry and other things of that nature.
As it was, she had a bracelet that she'd commissioned when she was only a juvenile which had been a reward for exemplary behavior from her mother and which no longer fit. She also had another, larger bracelet which had been her father's gift to her when she crossed into adolescence. She treasured both pieces, and would happily have added more to her collection, but that was not her purpose in coming down to see the crafters and artisans today.
"Perhaps some other time I could come back with a specific request for you to make me something," she said.
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 12:49 pm
Kihalua couldn't say that her reaction was unexpected, but he was still disappointed. A part of him was hoping to see how his work would look on such a delicate neck, but that would have to wait. "Actually, it's just a trial piece. I had thought of presenting it to the Queen herself, but I fear that she wouldn't appreciate it as much as we."
Had he any way of sending it back home, he would have dropped it off for Doitsu as proof that he hadn't abandoned her, but what was he to do? To him, there was nothing better than bathing fine females in fine things, and that was just what he was going to do.
"I would be honored." He gave her a half bow. "However...what am I to do with this? It's too pretty to be used as mere costume jewelry, and yet..." He shrugged.
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Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:49 pm
"I think the queen would be appreciative," Pur said.
But her eyes lingered on the piece. She wanted it, but knew better than to accept it. It wasn't right that members of the lower classes should gift nobles. It gave them ideas that they could later request favors based on their action, and Pur knew it was crucial to be scrupulously fair when dealing with the commoners, and show no favoritism at all.
"It wouldn't be appropriate for a noble like me to accept a gift so fine, since my blood isn't particularly royal, and such gifts are more given to liege lords than just anyone of the noble caste. Of course, if you didn't want to offer it to the queen, it's definitely of a quality to be sold for a good price." Or so it seemed to Pur, who agreed it would be wasted on being a costume. It would probably upstage the player wearing it.
"I will speak of your work to my sisters," she said truthfully. Well, not to Nyota, who had left the pride, but to her other sisters. Gali and Ela and Dunia. "But I should probably go now. Thank you for your time."
Before she could become any more attached to the piece of jewelry she turned tail and set off for home. What had she done lately to deserve a reward of jewelry, anyway? Nothing. If anything, she ought to be castigated for behaving in such a base fashion. What a misery life could be.
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Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 2:33 pm
Kihalua sighed. It didn't seem like his plan was going to work out today. Still, at least he had the oppurtunity to meet a Noble. That was something, right? "I hadn't thought about that. Maybe I'll try trading it away to a proper home, or I might even keep it myself." After all, he wouldn't stay a bachelor forever.
He gave Pur a half bow by lowering his mane out of respect. "It was a pleasure meeting you, mi'lady, and thank you for your help, in both the present and the future. " He smiled, and sat back to watch her go. Were all Nobles like that? So cold with a warm center? He knew there was much more to Pur than what she wanted him to know, and that made him all the more curious.
"Let her go," he murmured. "Your better off not thinking about it. You've got work to do." And with that, Kihalua turned back to his work.
(Fin)
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