[LOG] Gimme Sympathy (Mana, Abhi & Sanji)

[Princess_Feylin]

Abhi

The last few pound sof carrying her son in her for so long were gone. Abhishri was back to her slender form and she'd been showing herself off for the better part of the month. What entertainer wouldn't? After having a kid she finally got her figure back before the cub had grown very much. Nowit looked as if she never had a kid. If it wasn't for Sanji calling her mom all the time, the boy could pass of as a relative or something. But he opened his big mouth every time and she was getting less and less customers for it. She would seriously have to leave him in the den by himself while she worked. Or maybe with Mana. It's not like she saw him doing much ever, even if he said he is.

Coming back to the den, she spotted her son to the side of it, outside and blinked. Why was he sleeping out of the den? Blue eye snarrowed slightly as she watched her son.

Sanji

Sanji, however, was snoring away on his back, fire belly up to show the world how awesome it looked. Sanji prided himself on his looks, something he learned from his mother, but he also prided himself on sleeping anywhere, any time. There weren't too may cubs to play with, but he still managed to play hard every day he wasn't tagging along with mother. At times, he wished his dad would let him tag along. He wanted to tag along when his dad had to work. It seemed so much more entertaining than watching his boring mom flirt with guys for no real reason other than to keep them happy. That was kind of dumb in his young opinion.

Mana

Mana bid farewell to his oldest daughter with a fond smile. The girl was growing into a cheetah a father could be very proud of. She was learning to fight, and apparently she was damn good at it. Better than Mana ever had been, or probably ever would be. She wanted to be a fighter, though, so that made sense. Mana had been raised in a militant setting, but even there he had been valued more for his ability to run than his ability to fight. For him, the ability to fight was something he'd acquired through trial and error rather than training, and he was still nowhere near good enough to hold his own against a skilled opponent. But Imbra was.

However, Imbra and her siblings were not his only family, and it was not with any feeling of disappointment that Mana left her to practice some more while he went to Abhi's den. There had been a brief time when Mana had been unsure how to react to the lovely entertainer's son being undeniably his, but there was only the one cub and even Mana had to admit Sanji wasn't so bad as far as cubs went.

He arrived at Abhi's still smiling and glanced down at the cub outside of the den. His tone was wry as he asked his son, "What did you do to get kicked out?"

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Sanji

A yelp of surprise is how the cub woke up, flailing and flopping over to his stomach, cracking open his eye and looking up. Oh gods above, it was just his dad. "You scared the crap out of me!" He said, getting the language from some of the men mother entertained. It never occured to him he might not be able to speak that way. Ears flattening he shook his head and yawned widely. "I was napping.... cause the den's empty and it's kind of dumb to be in there so bored by yourself... Least I get to talk to whoever walks by.." He sat down and scratched his ear with his back leg, tongue poking out as he did. He was a bit of a goofy cub sometimes, but he tried hard at what he did.

"Dad, why can't I go with you? Mom's job is sooooo boring. Laughing at bad jokes, sitting with smelly leopards, too?" He didn't much care for the bulky leopards. They looked funny and couldn't keep up in play with him.

Abhi

Meanwhile, Abhi was watching the pair from a far, a grin on her face when her son got scared like a little girl. That sound even sounded like a girl. But now she was curious too. What would Mana say to such a direct question like that? Probably because it was dangerous. Grunt work wasn't ever easy, but she certainly didn't want to dirty her paws doing it. She had something of respect for even the lowest grunt. They did a good days work and were physically tired from it. She had more of an intellectual and job that required beauty. Maybe if she wasn't so damn beautiful she would have been a grunt. She shuddered at the thought and sighed, her once smooth fur being ruffled from it.

Mana

Mana grinned at his son's reaction, still juvenile enough that he couldn't help but be amused by the cub's fluting voice. In his defense, he hadn't realized his son was truly asleep. He'd assumed the cub was simply enjoying the sun with his eyes closed, because that was something cats tended to do.

"You can't come with me because I was able to sneak up on you," he replied. "If I can do that when I'm not even trying to be quiet, you aren't ready to spend time with the people I spend time with."

Of course, the people Mana spent time with weren't all the grunts he was presumed to work with. He spent a great deal of time with Boss Lady Nyoka. His first litter knew that, and knew about his rank, but they also knew that they weren't to discuss it with anyone. He had been very irritated with Tomkrie for revealing his true position within the pride to them, but then she had been very circumspect about everything else, so he had forgiven her. Mana had not told Abhi or Sanji the full extent of his duties.

"And there's more to what your mom does than you think. Have you ever noticed that everyone likes her, and that no one goes away from her unhappy? That's a talent few people have naturally, and so they have to work very hard to be clever or charming or beautiful."

He looked around and saw Abhi watching. A smirk quirked his mouth and he said slightly more loudly so that she could hear, "You're lucky to have two parents who have all those traits. You'll never have to work hard to win friends. As long as you don't go out of your way to make enemies."

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Sanji

"Ew, stop getting mushy when you talk about mom. That's gross!" Girls still had cooties to Sanjirou. He wasn't fond of them because they didn't play like he wanted too. He wanted to play rough and leave marks, but noooo, girls didn't like to scar. He thought scars and scabs were so cool. If he had friends to flaunt it to, he would have flaunted the scab on his nose from the time he ran into a wall.

"Besides, I can't be sneay because someone," a very pointed look at his dad, "won't teach me. Mom's not at ALL sneaky."

Abhi

Oh? Not sneaky? Abhi had been listening, indeed and now knew Mana, at least, spotted her or felt her there. Walking and giving them plenty of room, she slowly, silently crept up behind her son and waited. She wanted to see how long it would take him to figure it out. So she sat dow, again silently, and motioned to Mana to just act normally and carry on the conversation as if she wasn't here. This was bound to get interesting. It's not like she would get mad with it.
"So... take me with you!" Sanji demanded, already round cub cheeks puffing out even further.

Mana

"Who was talking about Mom?" Mana asked. "I said two parents. I'm included in that, you know, and a lot of your looks come from me."

That had been a problem for them actually, when things had to be explained to the leopard Bugie. Some basic facts about life were left out of that explanation, but Mana hadn't been the one delivering it. He'd simply been there to support Abhi, and protect her should Bugie go into a violent rage, as he sometimes did. Mana had seen him do it before, and it didn't matter how many times he was told the leopard wasn't like that all the time. The fact that he was like that even some of the time, and then claimed not to be able to remember it, made Mana distrust him.

"Sorry, kiddo. You're not coming with me. I guess if you're bored here, though, I could find you a nanny. Though that would limit your freedom a lot."

He was going along with Abhi's wishes that he carry on as if she wasn't there. He was also trying to decide how much he could tell about what he did before it would become problematic, and also what activities he did that would make Sanjirou lose interest in coming with him.

The real problem was Sanji's ignorance, which was also Mana's fault. Mana had been able to take his other cubs with him while he worked, and they'd actually thought of it as a treat. Several of them claimed they wanted to grow up to do what he did, which had already caused some pretty deep rivalries. He didn't want to create more of them between litters. Sanji was young and his older cubs had grown up ruthless. It wasn't comfortable to think that one's own cubs might be dangers to each other.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Abhi

Sanji didn't have the firey cheetah in him that Mana's first litter did. Abhi was fine with him growing up in ignorance to the hardships of life. If she could, she would protect him and shelter him from even seeing leopards. After seeing how badly she'd hurt Bugie; she had grown really fond of him, it was hard to see leopards anymore. But of course, Abhi wuld put on her mask and work. It's why she came home late, though. She'd have to calm down her nerves and stomach before going back to her boys. She couldn't very well show up looking as shaken as she felt every time a male leopard flirted with her or made any kind of kind remark.
Bugie was, after all, the one who found Abhi above ground and took her here. If it wasn't for Bugie, she wouldn't have met Mana and she wouldn't ever have a son that she loved so much. Yes she loved him, but he complicated so much of her life. It wasn't his fault, she knew, but it was hard to remember that when a customer looked at her like she was dirty when he called her mom. Sighing silently, she shook the darker thoughts from her head and just listened, grinning wide at the nanny idea. She didn't like nannies. In Abhi's opinion, if you had a litter, you need to take care of them yourself. Unless you have more than three. Then nannies were quiet handy because it was hard to control even three of them from what she'd seen above.

Sanji

Sanjirou's blue eyes narrowed as he let out a needy whine. "That's not fair! I never get to see you. You're always working or with mom. Why don't you ever play with me?" He was pouting now. He knew Mana played with him when he could, but he sometimes felt like he was second best to the first litter his mom had told him about. It's not like he'd met any of his half siblings. He was eager to meet them, but he didn't want to push it because mom seemed really upset when she'd told him about them. "I want you to teach me things like sneaking and pouncing and.... Daaaaad!"

He flinched when he got a knock on the back of the head and turned around to see his mom looking not so happy. "I've told you about whining like this, Sanjirou. It's not very becoming of a future entertainer now is it?" Abhishri raised one brow at her son and watched as he shook his head. "Wasn't it you that wanted to tag along with me anyway? If you are bored I can send you to a nanny." She wouldn't, but she didn't think he knew that. "Some nannies aren't nice, either."

Mana

Mana's ears flattened against his skull and his eyes narrowed. He knew whining was something cubs came with, but it was also one of the many reasons he'd avoided cubs for most of his life and left his first litter in the care of a nanny. There was a pitch that cubs' voices hit when they were whining which was just horrendously unpleasant to listen to. Adults whining was annoying, but they could be told to shut up. Cubs, well, you could always cuff them as Abhi had done.

He was relieved she had taken care of the matter. He didn't really like having to be a disciplinarian, though he could certainly do it. It just seemed a lot like bullying when it was turned against cubs. Like that lion cub he'd brought back. He'd been only too happy to turn her over to others to train and work with. The combination of her being a lion and a cub had made it uncomfortable for him to be around her. If he was told by Nyoka to do a thing he found distasteful, like strike people weaker than himself, he'd do it, but otherwise he avoided such tasks.

"You want to learn about sneaking and pouncing?" he said. "Fine. You can follow me tomorrow when I work, but if I see or hear you, you have to go home. The same if anyone else I'm working with sees or hears you."

That was more or less how he'd done things with Imbra when she insisted on spending more time with him than he'd originally allotted his cubs. That way he didn't actually have to look after a cub, but the cub still got what they wanted. He'd thought it was a clever solution. It was Tomkrie's idea.

"She's right about nannies, but if you want a taste of nannies I could probably convince one of your half-sibs that it would be good training to look after you for a few days." He looked at Abhi questioningly. It wasn't something he would do without her approval, even if it would probably cure him of any desire to spend time with a nanny or see his older siblings, and might reassure them that Sanji wasn't a threat to their ambitions. He wanted to be an entertainer, by the spirits.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Abhi

This was something she didn't care for either, the whining and the crying over every little thing. If he was going to be any kind of entertainer, he'd have to learn to shut up and suck it up like she did. Often times Ahbishri found herself in uncomfortable situations where she didn't want to be, but did she whine and cry? No, she did her job like everyone else

"I think that's a good plan, Mana. When you get sent home, Sanjirou, you best come straight home and not stop on the way. Unless you want to be cuffed and grounded. You seem to enjoy it," she smirked as she pulled her son between her front paws and started licking his white mane. He looked so much like his father sometimes it was a bit creepy. Still, they both had that charming fire color to her that drew her eyes toward it. With her tail, she tilted Sanji's head up and licked the red moon on his forehead before messing up his mane on purpose.

"Mana, there's something I wish to speak with you about since you're here. I'm going to.... go before Bugie and see about a promotion. I've met the requirements and then some, so perhaps.... he'll let me. I ...would like you there, however." Abhishri was terrified of Bugie ever since she told him the news about the cub. She had been hoping it wouldn't look like Mana too much, if only to appease the leopard, but it hadn't happened.

Sanji

Sanjirou wriggled and grunted, trying to crawl away from the sudden bath and even reached out for his dad. However, he knew his dad wouldn't help him out of this mess, so he grumbled and then made a grossed out noise when she licked his moon. Moving away from her and sitting to the side, the cub began to smooth down his fur and then looked to his daddy.

"You mean it? I can go with you?" His eyes shone with excitement he could barely contain. But for image sake, he did and got away with a little dance around both his parents before his mom stopped him with a single glance. Now he was curious. Bugie? That was the leopard who thought he was a cheetah, right? One of the bosses or something like that? Sanji still didn't know who ran the pride or most of the pride rules, so he would have to be taught, and he hoped, he'd be taught by his dad. It was a classic case of the boy wanting more time with a dad who was always working or napping when he saw him. Inching over, got between his parents and practically laid on Mana's paws, twining himself around them with a purr. It was clear which parent he favored despite wanting the others' job.

"I won't be seen, mother," he said in a voice that clearly sounded like disapproval. How could she even think he'd get seen?! With his dad there, he'd be super sneaky and impress his daddy. "BUT," he said, seeing how she was raising a brow, "I'll come straight home IF it happens. If. ....not when. If."

Mana

Mana was a little taken aback that Abhi had agreed to his plan, but then she also didn't know the full extent of what he did in the course of his work, so there was no way for her to know that there was a possibility of Sanji following him to one of his frequent meetings with the Boss Lady. That probably wouldn't go over very well with Nyoka, but Mana couldn't easily go back on his word. So he'd just have to spot Sanji before that happened, obviously.

"See that you do, kid," Mana said sternly as he looked down at the cub at his feet. It still took an effort of will not to step back and away from the fiery-colored little cheetah. He just wasn't fond of being crawled over by cubs. Even his own.

He raised his gaze to Abhi and nodded. "Let me know when you want to go, and I'll be there."

They had never really spoken about her feelings for Bugie, whether or not she still had any. Mana preferred not to know. It was enough of a challenge some days to live with the fact that she was an entertainer and pleased many of the males of the pride in many ways. Mana wasn't exactly the jealous type, but that didn't make him any better at sharing. On the other hand, Abhi had to deal with the fact that he had another litter of cubs, and that probably wasn't so easy for her either. Things evened out.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Sanji

The cub beamed up when his daddy didn't move away, usually he did, but he seemed to be in a good mood today. He wasn't about to ask why and ruin it, but he just stayed where he was with a purr and a nod. Sanjirou wasn't going to spoil his now happy mood. Most of the days he was annoyed, like his mother seemed to be after entertaining leopards. But today? Well, he was a daddy's boy today. He'd do anything his daddy said to keep him happy so he could keep going to work with him. Maybe he'd change jobs if he liked it enough. Not that he had to pick right now what he wanted. So, he'd listen to his parents conversation while just being content.

Abhi

Abhi didn't really think of his other litter, she hardly saw any of her... step-cubs? So it was still came as a surprise to her when one of them did cross her path. It wasn't like she didn't like the cubs, they just weren't hers and it did make her a bit jealous to think that Mana had been with another female. When she started feeling jealous, however, she remembered that she had feelings for both Bugie and Mana at one point. Then it brought her out of her jealousness and into depression. She'd hurt Bugie so bad by having a cub with Mana. She never meant to hurt the leopard; he'd been nothing but sweet and kind to her.

It wasn't that she still had feelings for him, it was just... she wasn't comfortable going there by herself. What if Bugie went into a rage when he saw her? What if he tried to hide her away or something. Not that he'd ever force her to do something she didn't want to, but the thoughts were still in her head and very little put her at ease like Mana did. "I was thinking sometime next week. I have a day of nothing, no appointments... after... maybe the three of us could do something. ... Maybe teach him to hunt?"

Mana

The fur along Mana's spine twitched from the crown of his skull to the tip of his tail as he held still despite the contented purr coming from his son at his feet. It was a horrible thing for a father to think, but Mana hoped Sanji wasn't likely to fall asleep against him. He couldn't help it. He didn't like to be held down or constrained, particularly not physically. It was just something he dealt with very poorly.

"That will work," Mana said.

And perhaps by then Sanji would have tired of his new fascination. That is, his desire to follow Mana around while he was working. In truth, much of what Mana did was not very interesting, and when he wasn't performing specific tasks for Nyoka his job was mostly just to listen and report what he heard to Nyoka. To do that he would usually just show up and work with other high grunts.

"I'm not sure how helpful I'll be in teaching him to hunt. It's been a while since I've had to hunt. But I can teach him to run."

Mana really was the best runner in the pride, despite the scarring which ran up his right foreleg from his paw most of the way to his torso. That had healed and he had forced himself to work back to his former level of skill and endurance. He grinned at Abhi. "Come to think of it, have you ever seen me run?"

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Sanji

Oh the boy was going to fall asleep against him, however, he rolled over on his belly again, rolling away from Mana and started to softly snore. Interrupt a cub while napping and they fall asleep quiet easily when the attention wasn't on them. All his legs were drawn to his belly and chest as if that would protect him from anyone who'd want to rip open his tender underbelly.

Abhi

Looking down to her son who was snoring away, she rolled her eyes and shook her head before turning her attention back to Mana. "I've seen you coming back from running, but I've not seen you run yet."

A smirk came to her face before she chuckled to herself. He must be quite a sight when he runs. The scars on him was something Abhishri appreciated when she could. Oh, she'd never touch them, but her eyes were drawn to them right after his fiery colors

"You'll have to show me if you're better than me." This female thought herself good in everything she tried. Be it mothering, or running, joking, entertaining, story telling, dancing, singing... Every entertainer had an air of arrogance about them. It's what made you look at them. Just more of them had an ugly personality than she did. The cheetah knew she could get down right ugly from time to time.

"But teaching him to run would be better than hunting. I doubt he'd want a task where he gets dirty."

Mana

"I am," Mana said simply.

There might have been a bit of braggadocio behind his simple statement, but really it was just that he was absolutely certain of himself in this area. He had been raised to be a runner and he had been the best in the Mizimu'Tungika before the uprising. It was more than a matter of ability. There were other considerations, like how to treat common ailments suffered by runners, how to survive on one's own, how to run for long periods of time rather than just sprints. Many things.

"But I probably don't look quite as pretty doing it," he admitted, intending to assuage her ego in the event that he'd bruised it.

Since Sanji was asleep, and not leaning on him, Mana paid him no further attention. It had always been easy for the fiery cheetah to dismiss things. He could actually do it to the point where it would be as if a person no longer existed, though he had not done so very often since joining the 'Nera. Nyoka wanted him paying attention. He wasn't sure how he'd failed to notice his son's finicky, fastidious nature up to this point, but a small part of him was disappointed to learn that Sanji was so anti-dirt.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Abhi

"You never know. I could beat you in running." Abhi was just talking now. She had a feeling Mana was telling the truth when he boasted about how well he ran. Most cheetahs sprinted, but he said he ran. There was a big difference ther. She could run if she wanted too, but much like her sprint, her energy was eaten up pretty quickly. Humming to herself, she looked down to her cub again and sighed.

"Maybe if he follows you, he'll be a bit less..... vain. I know I am, but I'm a female and have every right to be. I find it so odd he won't get dirty with other boys."

Her paws were trying to catch her sleeping son's moving tail, something she did often while he was napping. His instincts were good, she had to admit. She hardly ever actually caught his tail which made her think Sanjirou was faking being asleep a lot of the times. However, she knew that wasn't the case today.

"But you're right. You wouldn't look as pretty as me." Smirking, she reached out and tapped Mana's nose with her paw playfully and then sighed. "I suppose I should bring him home so he doesn't get stepped on while he sleeps. Can I expect you back soon?" She needed to know so she could have a grunt bring her the right sized meal for them.

Mana

"Maybe we can race," he suggested. "There should be a prize for the winner."

The tone of his voice did little to indicate what sort of prize he might enjoy getting, but his expression was more telling. He wasn't trying to be opaque here. He was simply taking care in case little ears were listening. It didn't seem quite appropriate to make passes at Abhi while their son listened, after all.

"I can bring him," Mana offered. "I don't think I have anything else to do today."

There was always the possibility that Nyoka would want him later on, but that wasn't the sort of thing he could predict, and he wasn't going to live his life waiting for a summons that might never come. If he was needed, he would be sent for. Otherwise, he was through for the day. And since Nyoka hadn't mentioned wanting to see him later that day, he assumed he was all right.

"As for him being too vain...he may grow out of it or he may not. He can't possibly be more effeminate than that dancing boy that came into the pride with his mother. Ajani? If no one's beaten that one up for being too girly, I think Sanji will be all right." He didn't mention how odd he found his son's vanity. What point was there in worrying about it?

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Abhi

"He shouldn't wake up much of you roll him over and pick him up by the scruff. It's what I do, anyway. He usually falls right back asleep." She had smirked at the mention of a prize but thought it best not to respond until ....a later date. After all, it's not just their son that could be listening.

The mention of the dancing boy made her skin crawl. He had gay written all over him, but she couldn't judge. Sometimes she was summoned to keep some of the ladies happy, and it got VERY uncomfortable. Oh, no, she'd never out right tell them she was uncomfortable. Abhi had more class than that. She would simply excuse herself, claiming she had another appointment. No, she didn't hate gays, but she'd much prefer if they would keep that to themselves rather than try to make a pass at her. At least with gay males she didn't have to worry about such things.

Waiting for Mana to grasp their son by the scruff, she shook her head and sighed. "It'll be good to have you to myself for a change... I am done for the day, as well..." The only reason she stopped was to tell a grunt to bring them food to their den. Then she went right inside their dark little den and that was the end of her day.