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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:53 pm
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Now that she had actually experienced it, no thanks to a certain god, Mittere could agree that childbirth was not a pleasant experience. Of course, she'd had worse pains, and they'd healed. The problem in this case was the six balls of pink, white, and black fur that had come into her life.
She'd already been a mother once, to Tarafa's first litter. As well as Nyesha's kids. And Kestven as well. Moto'nafsi's kids lived with him - at her insistence - and she didn't have to raise them. But she was completely stuck with this lot.
The pink lioness released her breath in a sudden rush out her nose. There was no hope for it, she couldn't fob off the parenting on anyone else without raising quite a few eyebrows. But damnit, if she was going to do this, on her own, she was going to do it her way. And that meant that even if none of them chose to become Warriors, they'd still have all the training for the job anyway.
Thank all the gods there were that the six cubs were asleep for the moment. Maybe she could actually catch a few winks as well.
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:01 pm
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She thought they were asleep, anyway. Odd eyes popped open as he heard rustling around of his mother-dearest seemingly settling down for a nap while her cubs were.
Mitternacht, he was called, or Nacht for short, so they didn't get confused because his name sounded an awful lot like his mothers... At least the first part of his name. His ears swirved to watch the pink lioness, narrowing his eyes at her. Training had happened a little, today. It wasn't easy to train six cubs who's attention span was hardly any better than a gnat. Still, he figured she thought her cubs would be completely exhausted. Nacht didn't sleep much. He prefered staying awake in case he missed something.
He moved away from the rest of the litter who were completely curled up on top of one another and tried his hardest to be quiet, to stalk behind her. Blue and black eyes focused on her back, wanting to catch her by surprise and bite at her. Stealth wasn't exactly his strong suit, considering the fact Nacht hadn't quite paid too much attention to that lesson, but he was trying!
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:07 pm
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The pink lioness was in the process of settling herself more comfortably when she heard the unmistakable noises of someone else moving around the den. Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment she wondered why it had to be her. Stupid question, really. Or rather, one that served no real purpose, for there was no good answer and it was a waste of time to even ask it.
Despite the fact that all the cubs had names and were awake at least half the day now (though not all at once, they needed an awful lot of naps), she hadn't yet gotten to the point where she could predict which one would do what...such as which one was most likely awake and moving around.
She wasn't even certain what the child was trying to do, other than avoiding taking their nap. The question worth asking was should she interfere now on the basis that the kid was likely to wake up the rest, or should she just let them attempt whatever it was they thought they were doing?
Mittere had taken both roads in the past, and truthfully, both had merits. It varied based on the cub. Giving a purely mental sigh at the loss of her own nap, the Master Warrior opted to be proactive. Turning slightly and reaching out with one paw, she set it down - gently, where the noises indicated the cub should be.
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:14 pm
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:23 pm
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Well, that solved that problem. Once she'd turned, the lioness could easily identify Mitternacht, or Nact as he generally responded to, as the culprit. This time. He was one of the usual suspects in fact, so perhaps she should have guessed it was him sooner.
Him biting on her paw was more annoying than anything else, but she'd put up with worse and ignored the sensation. The talking, however, was a bigger problem. Movement wasn't as likely to wake the rest of the litter as talking was.
Turning her paw so that it cupped the cub from behind, Mittere slid her son along the floor of the den, away from the rest of the kids, so that he was up near her head, instead of her tail. That made him less likely (for she couldn't entirely count out the possibility) to step on any of his siblings and wake them up. Hopefully he'd stay quiet as well.
She didn't speak, not yet, simply gave the boy a Look and a raised eyebrow.
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:30 pm
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:36 pm
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Again, there wasn't much Nacht could do that Mittere would truly qualify as "pain", but it was annoying. On the other hand, aside from his scuffling around on the floor with her paw and part of her foreleg, he wasn't really make much noise. Well, not that the other kids would notice. Mittere's awareness was a bit more fine-tuned than most.
So she allowed him to "fight" her paw, and even obligingly moved it near and far, tempting him to pounce on it. There were worse things he could spend his naptime doing, she knew.
At least he'd stopped talking for the time being. And really, that was her goal. Keep him quiet, let the rest sleep. Fewer headaches for her.
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:42 pm
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:50 pm
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:55 pm
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 5:00 pm
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 5:06 pm
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"That may be, but I don't want to always wrestle with girls. They only play so much and I want to play more." He wasn't whining. At least.. not quite yet. Nacht's voice did take on a higher pitch at the end that was close to a whine, but he didn't whine so there. Turning his head to his mother's stomach, he yawned against her and just sighed a little more. Maybe he should nap. She was going to nap. If he stayed here, he could wake up when she did.
His eyes drooped after a minute and he just snorted. Slowly, he just leaned against her again and let his tail curl around him, seeming very much like he'd settled on it. Nacht was going to nap right here and if she moved he would move with her, simple as that.
"....Don't move," he whispered, resting his head on her stomach, eyes finally fully closed. She was warm and that was good, and he had a heartbeat to listen to, which was also good. If she did move away, he was more than likely just going to flop over and stay asleep.
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 5:10 pm
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